>> dash for cash, the obama campaign, and the democrats break in 00 million in 2011. does team obama have the fund-raising advantage. israel denies taking out an iranian scientist with a bomb strapped to his car. but is there a covert war going on right now? and bombshell new details about casey anthony's state of mind before her trial. including claims that she became pregnant with her daughter caylee after being date raped. hi, everybody, good to have you with me this morning. i'm thomas roberts. a lot of news to get to this hour. and right now, south carolina is the center of the political universe. five republican candidates pulling out a the stops to catch mitt romney and keep this race alive. the players are blanking the state trying to slow mitt romney's roll as romney plans a multi-facetted counterattack. a super pac is already on the offensive targeting newt gingrich over his attacks regarding bain capital. >> newt gingrich's attacks are

called foolish, out of bounds, and disgusting. newt attacks because he has more baggage than the airlines. don't be fooled by newt's desperate attacks. >> for his part, newt gingrich is catching heat, not just from republican establishment figures, but from south carolina voters. take a listen. >> i want to beg you to redirect and go after his genuineness about the conservatism and lay off the corporate versus the free market. >> nbc's peter alexander is live for us in south carolina. and romney already on his way to florida now. let's talk about south carolina. what's romney's strategy as he pushes ahead? >> reporter: well, one thing as he pushes ahead is he's getting some push back on his behalf from some of the other conservative leaders in this state. senator jim demint who is really a tea party favorite coming out this morning as he did again yesterday. he has not endorsed mitt romney, but he has shown support for

him. here he was on "morning joe" defending against these attacks on romney's time at bain. take a listen. >> but this is something that would've been an attack on romney if he's the nominee anyway. he needs to figure out how to explain to america that these decisions have to sometimes be made in business. now that newt and others do not appear to be in the game to damage a front-runner makes no sense to me. >> reporter: and mitt romney is expected, his campaign is expected to be rolling out new ads that show the success story from his time at bain capital and the people who actually got jobs as a result of bain. mitt romney has said 100,000 jobs were created then to counter attack the attacks he's been taking from newt gingrich. to give you a sense, as we travel around this area, we are seeing those attacks resinate a little bit. late yesterday when he first arrived here in south carolina, there was a guy dressed up like

the famous character from wall street gordon gekko saying greed for lack of a better word is good. they're hoping that resinates. the romney campaign said they expected this, just from the democrats, not from their republican rivals. >> thanks so much, peter. we want to talk about the fight that we're going to see over the next nine days with our panel, politico executive editor jim vandehei who writes about why south carolina is the snake pit. here's rick santorum actually defending mitt romney over the bain attacks that have been launched by gingrich and rick perry. take a listen. >> i hate to sit here and be a defender of mitt romney, but to me this is a defender of capitalism. and, you know, i have to say that you know, this is an attack that's probably not warranted. there's plenty of mitt romney's record as governor of massachusetts to attack and go after it.

>> so is rick santorum taking the high road here? basically a conservative rallying to romney's defense? >> i think he clearly is. and you can see a lot of other republicans outside the romney camp doing the same thing. this isn't a debate that the republicans want to have. well, this is a debate that newt gingrich wants to have. and it's a debate that rick perry wants to have. they want to go after what they see as one of romney's strengths. certainly one of the things he's talking about most on the campaign trails. they want to turn that strength into a weakness. and there aren't signs they're going to back off. the comments are going to flow

black in the last cycle, fred thompson had a website put up against him talking about phonyfred.org. in addition to what you see, i think mitt romney supporters were bracing for attacks on his mormonism that kind of low down phone calls. so it will be a rough race. it is always a rough race in south carolina. >> as we talk about the attacks from newt gingrich, they aren't just on the trail. take a look at this. >> i like being able to fire people who provide services to me. >> corporations are people, my friend.

>> who let the dogs out? who who? >> just using the candidate's words against him right there. does the obama reelection team just start to take pages from the gingrich book when it comes to these? >> there are certainly attacks you're hearing from gingrich and from perry, in particular that the obama team would love to use in ads down the road. but the truth is, this attack was coming. the there's no doubt about it. the obama team has been putting together every piece of material they can because it is one of the strengths that romney's going to try to project in the general election just like the primary races. he's going to come under fire either way. and the romney line now is this is good stuff because i get to practice my defense against what i know is coming from obama. i didn't think it would be coming from republicans. and there's probably some truth to that. it's going to get a lot worse

once he gets to the general elections, assuming he does. so south carolina, the next nine days, will be some nastiness. it's not going to be just about bain, about his record in massachusetts, about his flip-flopping on several issues over the course of his career. >> the economy is the biggest thing people are concerned about in this country. michelle, really quickly, i have to show this graph to everyone. income per person in the palmetto state is below average. but south carolina is considered a highly friendly business state. how much do you think these attacks are going to matter in the end? >> well, obviously mitt romney comes from a corner of capitalism that people are ticked off about. the financial manipulators and things like this. at the same time, though, this is a republican party that has been preaching that class warfare is a bad thing. that, you know, any kind of attack like that is all about democrats and class warfare. so right now you're seeing the party kind of fighting, you

know, two different messages of the party fighting themselves. and so it won't work as well as it might have, you know, in other circumstances. but i think it will. i mean, this is a state with high unemployment, as well. it will have some affect. >> thanks to both of you. i appreciate your time this morning. >> thanks. well, if the road to the white house is paved withç gre backs, then president obama seems well positioned. in the fourth quarter of 2011 alone, president obama raised $68 million. the total for 2011 $202 million. and the president slammed the gop for putting the next election ahead of the next generation. >> when you've got the top republicans saying his number one priority isn't creating more jobs, isn't solving the health care problems, isn't making sure that we're competitive in the 21st century, but is to beat me. then you know things aren't on the level.

>> nbc's kristen welker joins me from the white house. kristen, money and lots of it is coming in. how does team obama versus the romney account stack up? >> reporter: well, thomas, good morning to you. as you mentioned, president obama, the dnc raised $68 million during the fourth quarter of last year. mitt romney raised $24 million. but it's really tough to compare a sitting president to a republican candidate. if mitt romney does win the republican nomination, you will start to see those figures go way up as the republican party starts to coalesce around him. politico made an interesting point, which is that the bush/cheney team in 2003 actually raised more than the obama/biden team in this fourth quarter. bush/cheney team raised about $70 million as compared to president obama's $68 million. having said that, president obama's reelection team are really encouraged by the strong

grassç roots efforts they are seeing. and when you think about it. they point out that 1.3 million people have donated to the obama reelection team. 98% of those donations were $250 or less. >> nbc's kristen welker this morning, thank you. in other news for you. pentagon officials say they have identified the four marines seen in the video desecrating the bodies. they are only releasing a still image with the most offensive parts blurred. secretary of defense leon panetta spoke with hamid karzai after seeing the video. the video was called "utterly deplorable" saying it doesn't reflect the values that our veterans are sworn to uphold. >> thomas, the u.s. marine corps and just about everyone who has seen this video call it disgusting.

and now the marine corps tells nbc news, they have, in fact, identified the four marines in this video. the video itself shows these marines in full combat gear in southern afghanistan standing over the bodies of three dead militants. and it's evident by the video that several of them are, in fact, urinating on the bodies. and at one point, you hear them chuckle and somebody in the group talk about golden showers. now, the reaction from the u.s. marine corps, the pentagon, and the military has actually been an avalanche. the commandant has ordered a full investigation and warns that if,b)rfact, these marines that have been identified are charged and found guilty, they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. secretary of defense leon panetta has called hamid karzai, the president in afghanistan, and offered his apologies for what happened, and he too condemns the act. now, according to military officials, these four marines could be charged with the

desecration of a body and taking what are called trophy photos. all criminal acts which could, in fact, could eventually land them in jail, thomas. >> thank you. three billionaires that could drag out the gop nomination fight long after south carolina. we are following the millions that are going to these nasty campaign ads. who is funneling this money? basically enough money to feed a small country or solve some of america's economic problems. and, will former mississippi governor haley barbour's actions criminal? now the state is launching its own investigation.

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super pac cash has been pouring into south carolina. the next advertising

battleground for the gop nomination. now the pro-romney super pac restore our future spent $2.3 million in south carolina this week alone. now the pro-gingrich super pac committed 3.4 million behind these super pacs. patrons willing to spend to keep their candidates in this race. joining us now from washington, nbc news political reporter. explain this. campaignç season has seen the evolution of the super pac. who are these super pac billionaires? >> well, there are a ton of people we could look at. let's take a look at four right now. we're looking at the newt gingrich pac which has gone back and forth with mitt romney, super pac restore our future. a casino out in las vegas. given about $5 billion to living our future. look at jon huntsman. this is jon huntsman's father who -- he's essentially the principle backer of our destiny

pac, worth about $900 million, the inventor of the burger king clam shell, the cartons. another person, bob kerry who has been giving a lot of money to the romney, pro-romney super pac restore our future worth about $660 million, given about $3 million so far, and romney's got a lot of other people with even deeper pockets than that who could help him out. guys like john paulson on wall street. a lot of money given to romney's super pac so far. and the last person i'll mention is foster frieze. he's an investment firm founder from wyoming. worth about $250 million. he's given about $400,000 so far we've heard to the -- to the red, white, and blue fund for rick santorum. but expect that number's going to go up. we've learned that they're going to be spending another $600,000 or so in south carolina. so lots of money flowing around.

remember, democrats also have super pacs lined with them and also supporting the president's reelect. so the money is going to be flowing on both sides of the aisle. >> yeah, changing the dynamic for sure. thank you so much. appreciate it. nine days until the primary in south carolina and even notorious mitt romney critic rudy giuliani is defending romney with the attacks regarding bain capital. take a look. >> i'm outraged by what he and rick, who is a very close friend of mine. i'm shocked at what they're doing. it's -- i'm going to say it's ignorant, dumb. it is -- it is building something we should be fighting in america. ignorance of the american economic system. >> joining us now from south carolina this morning is wesley donahue. i'll start with the first question. you said selling romney to tea party groups in south carolina

is selling rib eye steaks to vegetarians. they even quoted you yesterday on this program. do you see that changing at all as we ramp up to south carolina and beyond? especially to florida? >> yeah, man, those vegetarians are starting to like the taste of meet a little bit. >> when you talk about that. >> you mean that because if we talk about this, the tea partiers, nikki haley has backed mitt romney in south carolina. but as i was saying and i'll reference this interview yesterday with amy kramer. she said the tea partiers aren't going to be happy about anybody who gets up behind mitt romney. where does the tea party fall in all of this if they can unite and get behind the candidate of mitt romney? >> well, the tea partiers right all over the place. they are not speaking with any kind of unified movement. and a lot of them upset with nikki haley for going behind mitt romney. some of them are with newt, some are with santorum, and some are with mitt romney, but there's no

collective voice right now. >> right now, looks like not a lot of kneecaps left for romney as he tries to get out of the south because of these political attacks. they go after his foundation, some political watchers assuming, though, romney is going to win this nomination. and they're looking at who will be his dance partner. romney has to be thinking about that. which running mate would you make romney more palatable to conservative holdouts? is it santorum, is it christie? is it nikki haley? >> if i were mitt romney, i'd grab marco rubio. the guy is as conservative as you can get, it'll shore up the conservative side. those tea partiers, and let's not forget, florida's a huge swing state. marco rubio makes a lot of sense to me. >> when we talk about that, what do you think the odds are this is all kind of predetermined as we speak right now? this stuff's already figured out. >> about who the running mate is? >> yeah. >> you know, who knows, man.

we've got a long way to go. but if i was a mitt romney adviser, i would be telling him to talk to marco rubio every day. >> we'll talk when he's in florida. thanks for your time. i appreciate it. >> thank you. a nuclear scientist killed by a blast in iran is the fourth targeted in two yearshin that country. the big question, is there a covert war against iran? and if so, who's waging it? and was casey anthony date raped when she became pregnant with her murdered daughter caylee? stunning new details about what she told health experts before her trial. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover? if there were buttons for this? wouldn't it be cool if your car could handle the kids... ♪ ...and the nurburgring? or what if you built a car in tennessee that could change the world? yeah, that would be cool. nissan. innovation for today.

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campaign to set back iran's nuclear ambitions. colonel jack jacobs joins me now. jack, we have this latest killing of this iranian scientist. what are the odds that there is a covert war going on right now under our noses? >> oh, you can bet on it. these guys aren't blowing themselves up. somebody's after them. and i think there will be more of those. the whole idea is to keep iran from getting nuclear weapons. and in particular, nuclear weapons that are deliverable. because you have to make them smaller in order to make them deliverable by missiles. deliverable to israel. >> iran's not isolated. let's talk about who would be someone supporting them and also of the mind set around this enemy's enemy, my friend. >> russia, china in particular. but particularly russia have been against sanctions, against squeezing iran, at least partially if not wholly because they have lucrative oil and gas leases with them. china does not want sanctions on iran because it makes their

lives very much difficult economically. china imports lots of iranian oil. we're getting no cooperation whatsoever from china and russia. >> and the threat of closing the strait of çhormuz. >> whatever iran is trying to do, whatever it is thinking about doing, it does not close or threaten to close the strait of hormuz. if commercial shipping then dwindles, the world economically is in big trouble, oil goes to $200 a barrel, nobody wants that. >> this is something everybody needs to pay attention to. jack jacobs, thank you so much. >> you're very welcome. former mississippi governor haley barbour is facing a legal challenge for 200 pardons of convicted criminals. the winter weather stormed in right after. we're going to bring you a live report from new england. also, why barbie might be

losing her long blond locks. details of that in the news now. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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welcome back, everybody. a mississippi judge has put her foot down in putting over 21 of over 200 pardons barbour made on hold until they can be reviewed. state officials still are fuming over this. >> it's a slap in the face to me as prosecutor for serving 20 years that we have to go back and try to round up all of these convicts that have been turned loose. and try to fix the mess that he's created. >> nbc's mark potter is live for us in jackson, mississippi this morning. have we heard anything from governor barbour's office about this and how it's being handled post his departure? >> reporter: good morning, thomas. the governor has not spoken despite numerous interview requests. he's not spoken publicly, but last night he did issue a statement in which he tried to explain the pardons he granted.

let me read a portion of the statement in which he said, some people have misunderstood the clemency process and think that almost all the individuals who received clemency were in jail at the time of their release. approximately 90% of those individuals were no longer in custody and a majority of them had been out for years. he also said that most of the people whom he granted clemency were approved by the parole bosrd. but there is a lot of concern in his statement he missed what everybody's concerned about, which is that a lot of the people being released, a lot of the people being pardoned for crimes were violent criminals. families are concerned that they were not notified, that they did not have a chance to weigh in. as you reported, state officials are concerned about the process and a judge has put a temporary halt on this until she can review the case. there is a lot of concern about this.

lawmakers here at the state capitol are considering legislation, putting out a constitutional amendment that would limit the governor's ability to pardon violent criminals. thomas? >> mark, thank you. i appreciate it. presidential candidates are touting ahead of the south carolina primary. winning the conservative vote in the state may be a tougher sell than what we saw in iowa and new hampshire. this gallup poll shows the most conservative states in 2008. south carolina considered above average in the amount of conservative voters back then. in 2009, we see the country growing more conservative. while 2010 shows an explosion of above average conservatism. nbc's richard lui is here with a look at the different flavors of conservatism. is this more or less than baskin robin's offers? >> each state has a different type of conservative. exit polls describe really two types. that's one way to look at it.

first, the somewhat conservatives group who make up about 2/3 of gop voters. generally they resist radical change. they prefer establishment candidates like mccainç in 200 a three-decade congressman. this year it is mitt romney and to some extent huntsman, as well. the second type is considered very conservative. they make up about a third of gop vote rs and generally open o change. this year, it's santorum, paul, and the rest as you see there. now, that mix in mind, the first four states, as we can see them all drawn out here at the bottom here have differed in many big ways. very conservative first as we were talking about, 47% according to the exit polls in 2008. of the voters in iowa were of this group. we move on there to the area of new hampshire. we look at the numbers in new hampshire. that dipped to 21% as did

santorum finishing fifth. for south carolina, we have the middling 34%, and in florida, 27%. santorum, paul, and perry will not have the very conservatives to help them in the later states. now to somewhat conservatives, the lion share of gop voters. they vary very little from 37% in iowa to the rest at 34%. you see here, that favors romney and huntsman too to some extent. another way to see the contrast, religious conservatives. santorum thrives in iowa, 60% of those voters think they were evangelicals. new hampshire, though, the dip down to 23%. but then you've got to look at south carolina, a jump up to 60%, santorum, and non-romney in that state. another view, conservatives' top issues. the federal deficit way in front for all of these states. but you canç see the distant

third, those top issues vary from abortion to jobs to healthcare. that's a tough balancing act to try to win over the different types of conservatives. one person who did that well, though, that's ronald reagan. >> that's why they talk about him so much. richard lui, thanks very much. i appreciate it. despite south carolina being the buckle of the bible belt. many mormons believe this is mitt romney's moment to shine. according to a pew survey, 56% of americans say he's ready. others feel ill at ease and worry about discrimination. joining me now is billy epstein and joe watkins. and i want to show everybody some other numbers we're getting out of this poll. mormons are more conservative as we look at this than the public at large. 66% and are more likely to be republican or republican leaning at 74%. yet romney's fellow candidates keep piling on out there.

is religion a silent subnarrative in this race? >> yes and no. i think a lot of voters who want a republican elected president are thinking practically, as well. and they're saying who has the best chance of winning against a well-financed candidate like president obama? and i think a lot of them will say to themselves, mitt romney is the guy that sounds like he's best prepared to do that as the best match-up to barack obama and whether i'm a religious conservative or an evangelical voter, i'm likely to give my support to the guy who is going to win the nomination. >> in 62% of mormon, or registered mormon voters, they say they're of a democratic view. they have a favorable view of romney. aj roll in all of this? >> i think religion is playing a role. and i don't think it's had enough attention. i've said before, i don't think that mitt romney could get more than 20% of the evangelical vote

if he were running against howard stern. and i think the significance here is that he still does not seem to be gaining very much ground with social conservatives, romney, that is. and now you have gingrich and perry attacking him from the political left saying he's not a credible messenger on the economy. you put these two factors together, the fact that he's not appealing to social conservatives and now even republicans are saying that romney is not a credible messenger on the economy. and you begin to question romney's central calling card, which is his electability. particularly when you contrast that with the fact you've got a president obama who has turned an economy around from that one that was shrinking at 6% a year to one that's growing at 2% a year. one of the most dramatic turn arounds in our lifetime. it questions whether romney is, in fact, electable. >> i want to talk about this tea partiers holding meetings to try to take romney out. and i want you to speak as a pastor who happens to be a republican, as well. how much is that deep in

anti-religious sentiment? and how productive is that approach for the gop as a whole? >> i think what helps the gop as a whole is to look at who was most electable. and just no matter what wing of the party you're in, whether you're in the evangelical wing or the fiscal conservative wing, you've got to look at which candidate will best serve the party going forward in the fall. and that looks like mitt romney right now. >> with all due respect, you're avoiding the question here. i think the message coming out of the meeting is many of the southern conservative evangelicalsç don't want romne because he's a mormon. you put that together with the fact that you have these statements from gingrich about blacks on welfare, you put that together with santorum's comment where he talks about food stamps. and the message out of the republican party is one that doesn't recognize we're not living in the 1950s. >> we're living in the 21st century, and this a new day and

a up in age for evangelicals, i think getting past whatever doubts or concerns they have about a mormon president is doable. as it was for john kennedy to make a case in 1960 that as a catholic he could be president of the united states. >> unfortunately, i've got to leave it there. i've got to get to breaking news from the secretary of state. thank you, gentlemen, so much. and as i was saying, i want to get to this statement from secretary of state hillary clinton. condemning the video of u.s. marines desecrating the bodies of afghan bodies. >> i reflect the views of secretary panetta earlier today. i join him in condemning the deplorable behavior that is reflected in this video. it is absolutely inconsistent with american values, with the standards of behavior. that we expect from our military

personnel. and that, you know, the vast, vast majority of our military personnel, particularly our marines hold themselves to. >> secretary clinton making these statements and a joint press conference with the algerian foreign minister. this video surfaced out youtube, nbc news is only airing a still image with the mos(o offensive parts, as you can see, blurred out. i want to give a look at other stories topping the news. business canceled because of a winter storm expected to drop up to 9 inches of snow around the state. eric fisher joins me from concord, new hampshire. what's in store for the rest of the state throughout the day today? >> reporter: winter for a change of pace, thomas. you have that freak storm before halloween, almost nothing since. and there is the state house you were just mentioning. there are two big stories coming out of the storm in new hampshire. number one is, in fact, the first snow day for students of

the year on january 12th. and the ski resorts having a great weekend in otherwise a very trying season. and the other story is the travel. general winter driving rules, but this storm has to be treated like the first storm of the winter. you have to think the week before thanksgiving and finally you're getting snow. a lot of accidents right now, including in vermont. 93, 90, 495, all interstates. people need to be safe today. accident reports continue to come in. we're going to see snow up through the afternoon. >> i think most people are fans of the useless snow shovel, but that's me speaking out of turn. it's a real life version of home alone when francisco gonzalez heard an intruder break into his house yesterday, he called 911 and grabbed his camera to tape the scene. greeted at the door by the intruder pretending to be the homeowner. but thanks to gonzalez' 911 call, police caught and arrested 42-year-old hernandez. well, we've seen many different versions of barbie,

there'sç astronaut, tattoo barbie, barbie in a wheelchair. now there's a movement that makes barbie bald. they are urging mattell to create a bald barbie to support kids and women with cancer. it's up to more than 30,000 fans. more than twice the amount the group had yesterday afternoon. a week after she surfaced in a youtube video diary, we're learning more shocking details about casey anthony in a newly released court document, jail psychiatrists say when she was utterly emotionless when discussing the murder of her daughter caylee. more now from orlando for us. >> reporter: hey, thomas, good morning. these are very explosive documents. they are actually depositions from medical professionals. psychologist or psychiatrists that have just released and we get a little more insight to casey anthony and what she was thinking and saying ahead of the

trial. most notably, she said that she believes her daughter caylee was actually conceived during a date rape. but she also talked about who she thought killed her daughter. and she blamed her father george anthony. yesterday george anthony as he has before denied any involvement with his granddaughter's death. but casey says she believes her father may have drowned caylee marie anthony. these medical professionals who talked to casey said she seemed very upbeat for somebody who had just lost her daughter and that she showed no signs whatsoever of any type of mental illness. casey anthony remains here in florida. she is continuing to serve a one-year probation sentence on a charge that is unrelated to the death ofç her daughter. but again, these documents coming to light yesterday and giving us just a little more insight into what she was thinking and saying. that's it from here in orlando. thomas, now back to you.

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newt gingrich broadening his attacks on mitt romney. making them not just about business but also the measure of a man. take a look. >> it's not about capitalism, it's not about free enterprise, it's about values, character, and judgment. and even he said, i think it was in 2007 that he looks back at some things he'd do differently now. so the question is in terms of values, character, and judgment, were those the right decisions in those circumstances? >> dylan ratigan is the host of the "dylan ratigan show" here on msnbc. dylan, as we talk about this narrative that's playing out

right now about good capitalism against basically vulture capitalism. >> well, the interesting thing, as people learn about the difference between vulture capitalism really extraction, taking money out of the system and calling it capitalism and value creation. you and i partnered to make something and sell it, that is a remarkable teaching moment, not only because of the insight it provides the republican party, but as you learn it, you'll see that the very people who are making loans to the republicans, like mitt romney and others are the people that work in the obama administration. if you're wondering why it is that we're stuck fighting about who believes what and what religion and not talking about why it is we have a massive bank tax and trade extraction in this country is because while 311 million of us argue, it prevents us from confronting both corrupt political parties taking money

from the banking system that profits from the vulture system isn't it the media's fault? when you look at all of these interviews. have you seen a debate yet where somebody moderating the debate has said forget all the who's gay and who believes what, why do you believe it's a good idea for america to have a financial system that doesn't invest money in the country? why is that good for america? >> don't you think the social issues -- >> no. >> -- social issues do deserve a place at the debate. >> they do if the place is not burning to the ground. if you're in a situation where there's not tens of trillions of dollars being sucked out of the country corrupting your educational apparatus, your energy apparatus, the totality through all the decision making in your country, the political environment is designed for the debate of social issues. it's why we have a government. but when the debate over social

issues is used as a way to paralyze 311 million people in conflict so they don't unify to the obvious issue of the fact that the democrats and the republicans are both being purchased by industrial special interests from banking to trade to energy to health at the the of us, that is then not only a tragedy, that is a remarkably dangerous way to run a country when you ignore the fact that you are getting the destructive forces applied to you while you're arguing about what people believe. >> it has a time and place, but i don't know that this is the year. >> let's talk about greedy ba " bastard$!" the book. >> "greedy bastard$!" is real simple, it's an attempt on my part to connect not with the people, but the cartoons and thç maps. you cannot solve a problem you don't understand. and what "greedy bastard$!" is an effort to help people understand what is at the root of the misaligned interests between the people, the money,

and the problems of this country and why we're not seeing the people and the money work together to solve those problems, has nothing to do with social issues. it has to do with the financial impact of campaign contributions on both parties who refuse to ultimately deal with those problems. and so my hope with "greedy bastard$!" is to give people a better understanding of the problems, because once you understand the problem, you can solve the problem. and what you see is that we are this close to a renaissance. there are people all over this country that are doing incredible work in energy, in health, in education. and it's just a matter of the rest -- the other 311 million of us telling the media and telling the politicians we will not tolerate this conversation any longer. we demand an actual conversation about the systems that are depriving america of the critical investment necessary for its transition from the industrial to the digital aid. >> dylan ratigan, congrats on the book. it's called "greedy bastard$!." you can catch dylan right here at 4:00 p.m. today on "the dylan ratigan show." again, congrats. i like the cover a lot. we're back with much more right after this.

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all right. that's going to do it for me today. thanks for your time. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. until then, follow me on twitter @thomasroberts. but "now with alex wagner" is coming up. >> hi, thomas. coming up in a few minutes, we'll take a look at the millions of dollars going into the 2012 race and the people that are making it rain. willie geist will be in the house and we'll explore this question -- can whatever doesn't kill mitt romney make him stronger? ? tavis smiley and dr. cornel west will be with us to talk about the american rich and poor and whether the american dream is in danger of extinction. r science r helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science.

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the race is on and the dollars are flowing. it's all about the benjamins. it's thursday, january 12th, and this is "now." joining me today from "the nation," msnbc contributor ari

melber, "new york daily news" columnist,s columnist, s.e. cup, and michael scherer who has an article in the new "time" magazine. this new political beast came about after a 2010 supreme court decision. super pacs can blanket the air waves without candidates so much as lifting a finger. >> newt will take on radical judges and fight against abortion. don't let the liberal republican establishment pick our candidate. newt gingrich. winning our future is responsible for the content of this message. >> newt gingrich's attacks are called foolish, out of bounds, and disgusting. newt attacks because he has more baggage thanç the airlines. >> that is what the voters of south carolina have to look forward to in the next ten days. the voters of florida. >> and all of us covering this. >> michael, i want to throw this to you first since you do have the article out. in terms of the rise of the super pacs, what do you think are the long-term implications for the electoral