the next few months. > monster of a storm. schools closed all over colorado and hundreds of flights canceled as denver braces for a snowstorm that could rank in the city's top ten. plus, ad bowl. it's the second biggest reason to watch tv on super bowl sunday. which ads are already causing a buzz ahead of the big game? we're going to give you a preview on that. hi, everybody. i'm tom roberhomas roberts. got to have you with us on this friday morning. this report from the u.s. labor department is a much needed shot in the arm. unemployment drops again this time to about 8.3%. 243,000 jobs added yoifr all. and it is the 23rd, 23rd straight month of growth in the private sector. we see strong gains across the board, but in major sectors including manufacturing and construction. and this is the perfect timing for the president with americans feeling better about his

handling of the economy, president obama plans to unveil another initiative from his american jobs act this hour. a veterans jobs corps the white house says will put 20,000 vets to work. i want to crunch the number with our expert. we have cnbc contributor ron insana and the former chief economist to vice president joe biden. gentleman, it's good to have you here. ron, i want to talk with you. let's talk about the numbers, the growth. why is this so surprising, so unexpected? >> in the first case, thomas, the numbers doubled. they were looking for about 120,000 jobs that the prior two months, november and december reprised as well. many thought we pulled back a little bit in january because of the temporary hiring that takes place around the holidays. we didn't have any of that. the really good news was on the manufacturing front. those jobs continue to grow, and that's a very good sign as we

move into the goods producing sector of the economy. it's getting stronger month by month. >> so, jerry, it didn't take long for republicans to weigh in on this report. take a listen. >> the american people have seen the same story now for 36 straight months. while there are flickers of hope in our recovery and certainly they're welcome, the unemployment rate is down slightly and a few more machineries are at work. we welcome the positive news today. i think our point is very simple. we can do better. >> flickers of hope there, according to the speaker. how much does this hurt the republican argument that the republican polls have failed? >> i think it hurts a not. the president can point to not just a month of decent growth but a real trent. it was october 2009 when this unemployment rate piqued at a terrible 10% level.

it's not that everything is all better. you'll hear the president echo boehner's point that we're got do more. but the idea that we're somehow not moving in the right direction or there's not momentum thanks to some of these policies, i don't think that's going to float with most listeners. >> as you say, coming up this hour, we're going to hear from the president. but let's talk about what we're expecting to hear, the announcement from the president this hour, that is the initiative to create tens of thousands of jobs for vets and doing so over a ten-year period of time, really giving communities a chance to fortify police and fire departments. are these small economic measures moving the dial in any way that are going to be something that the right can jump on board with as well? >> quite frankly, thomas, i'd rather see them put the 20,000 vets to work this year, not over the next five years for a lot of

reasons. they served the country well and deserve jobs when they come home and should be ahead of the line. this will only affect the margin. 25,000 people is nothing when you're talking job gains of 25,000 a month that are necessary just to keep things in good step. the one thing also about the unemployment rate, there are two things we didn't talk about. the labor force participation which fell and the rate which includes temporary workers, those working part-time and those who have jumped off the labor force. those are two of the flies in the ointment. >> you were putting up the markets. >> markets love the numbers. that's a big deal. wall street has been rallying on the in fact the economy has been getting stronger and stronger. >> seeing green arrows across the board. jared, mitt romney spoke yesterday to jon ralston. he's the host of "face to face." take a listen to this.

>> if they feel that the economy is going in the right direction, they ought to vote for barack obama. >> so that was mitt romney discussing the president's mortgage refinance program specifically. so will those words come back to haunt him if given, you know, where we're seeing the economy headed right now, especially to start off 2012? >> it's a real possibility, thomas. i mean from the president's perspective -- and i would actually say from the economy's perspective, from working families' perspective, what really matters is the trend. now, in terms of levels, 8.3% is too high. and there's 40% of the unemployment who have been so for at least half a year. there are still real problems out there. but the key is what economists call the delta, meaning where you are relative to where you were. and i think what governor romney said right there is precisely what the administration is going to keep hitting on and deservedly so if they keep getting reports like this. unquestionable movement in the right direction. one further point.

we've had good movement in the right direction with banks, interest rates, gdp. what matters most to people are jobs, and that's been a missing ingredient. you're starting to see some momentum on that front, probably the most important one. >> the headwinds are still strong but there is still movement. ron insana, jared bernstein, thanks so much. you'll see the president speak live this hour on msnbc. rolling the dice with 28 delegates up for grabs tomorrow in nevada and what happens in vegas could mean big momentum for mitt romney. he's seeking his first back-to-back wins, and local polls give him this desiebsive edge with over 40% supporting the former governor. still mitt romney remains in damage control mode over a remark he made and made him sound more like marie antoinette than commander in chief. >> spoke, i wish i wouldn't have said it that way. i made the same thought part of my speeches over the last year or two, which is that i'm really concerned about middle income

americans. i want to help middle income americans. i want to get people out of poverty into the middle income category, but, of course, i'm concerned about all of them. >> republican rivals are hitting romney really hard, questioning whether he's a man of the people. >> out of touch much? who's hurting the most? >> could it be used to stack the deck against him? >> i'm just watching in amazement. >> why is it amazing? >> because some people have this knack of gathering attention. >> all right. joining me this morning is patricia murphy and an joannette. it's nice to have you with many this morning. pa trir ya, this comment romney made about the poor, will his explanation be enough to smooth this over, or will this gaffe

continue to resonate in a state like nevada continue to resonate on the heels of other gaffes where he has really not shown his compassion to the plight of the poor in this country? >> yeah, it's going to hurt him in nevada. it's going to hurt him everywhere. you have someone who's starting to appear and be labeled neither as compassionate nor conservative. he's absolutely in defense mode. it's going to hurt him across the country, absolutely. we have trump being a self-described billionaire and romney being a rich guy out of touch with the common man. will trump's endorsement do more harm than good with hours before nevada heads to the polls? >> that's certainly a matter of a lot of discussion. when i was at a mitt romney event last night, i asked a lot of supports about that wachlt what do you think?

he $have this problem of coming of as out of touch, being a wealthy man, his stumbles with the rhetoric on the campaign trails certainly don't help that. >>patricia, when we talk about religion, it's certainly a factor but it's going to be a different factor. the poll shows that he has more than 80% support of those in nevada of mormons who made up all caucus voters back in 2008. will the region become an asset for romney instead of a weakness, something he can tout moving forward, gaining the momentum that his campaign wants and needs? >> i think really for romney, his religion is mattering less and less as he started to rack up more victories. if he can put together one in a row, two in a row, three in a row, i think it becomes a nonissue. when you look at the economy being absolutely the most

important factor. his biggest danger here, thing, and we're starting to hear this among republicans, they thought newt gingrich was going to be the guy who was going to blow himself up, be erratic and get himself in trouble. now romney has established such a lengthy pattern of saying things he can't erase, get rid of it. you can't say i like to fire people, i don't care very mucher the poor. it's a series of blunders that are starting to make the republicans across the country who says is this the guy who's going to take us there? or maybe is it newt gingrich? i think newt gingrich is going to pick up steam. >> ladies, thanks so much. make sure to watch nbc for the results. our prime time coverage starts tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. eastern time. >> we have breaking news to report to you. two americans who were taken hostage in egypt have been released. the two american tourists were kidnapped in sinai. they were taken hostage on the road leading to st. catherine's

monastery. we'll take you to it. the two americans have been released. a big question that's being discussed today, is israel planning an attack on iran? defense chief leon panetta says there's a 50% chance that israel could launch a strike in the next few months. that has the u.s. and other western allies feeling very nervous. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more. what kind of response would an is wrayly attack on iran ignite? >> reporter: well, what kind of a response would an israeli attack is a sensitive question. u.s. intelligence officials have been telling me they are concerned that israel is serious. obviously some of this is blufter. at the end of the day, what is the goal? what does israel want? what does the united states want?

israel in particular wants iran to stop its nuclear program and stop developing its nuclear weapon which israel is convinced iran is trying to do, which the united states is convinced iran is trying to do. iran says it is not trying to develop a nuclear weapon. that is the goal, not to just launch some sort of attack on i rehab. you can achieve that goal by either launching the attack or at least threatening to launch it. but what we saw in the last few days in particular is that u.s. officials were becoming incre e increasingly concerned that israel was going to actually do it. and what kind of response its would incur, i think, the two sides see very differently. the israelis think there'll be a fairly limited response, three, four, five difficult days for israels, difficult days for jews around the world with several hundred israeli casualties potentially, some cultural sites, synagogues being attacked. the united states see a more

unpredictable situation where we have hezbollah getting involved, firing rockets. that was the u.s.'s concern that prompted the public statements. it's unclear if the public statements are going to dissuade israel. perhaps it could just delay this military strike if it ever does happen. >> nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel. nice to see you. thank you. newt gingrich's gamble on florida. how he hopes to gain a few more delegates. i'm going to talk with one of his campaign supporters next. plus, super hot super bowl ads including a sneak peek at soccer star david beckham. specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care.

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welcome back, everybody. some major breaking news right now on msnbc regarding komen. it is now apologizing for

pulling grant funding from planned parenthood and will restore that funding. the group's ceo has been stressed by the presumption that it was done for political reasons or to penalize planned parenthood. that's coming directly from the top, the ceo, and the founder of the susan g. komen race for the cure, right there, nancy brinker. donations to planned paurnlthood has sky rocketed since funding was pulled. some 600,000 people -- some 6,000 people have given $400,000 in small donations over 24 hours. even new york city major michael blo bloomberg has plemged to give $250,000. he'll be with andrea mitchell and a guest on her program here on msnbc today at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. once again, the major breaking news this morning, that the susan g. komen race for the cure foundation has now reskrimded the fact that it will be pulling grant money from planned parenthood. there was major backlash about

this rift between two of the women's biggest health organizations. a lot of people had speculated it's because a new vice president had come on board. lisa, i know you've had extensive reporting done on this very issue. dwlou think they've been able to process this over the last 24 hours of media attention to now come to this decision? >> thomas, i think that the komen people who have been in this -- doing good work for 30 years were stunned by the outpouring of anger. they greeted their decision to cut off funding for planned partihood. they face add revolt from their denver affiliate, affiliates in california. sponsors were threatening to quit. people were saying they would never give money again. some of their scientists were upset. this morning there was a meeting and they decided they would reverse the policy. in the statement they pointed out two key lines. one says we will continue to

fund existing grant rs, including those of planned parenthood. the other thing is they have amended their criteria. there is a knew rule which says any group under investigation could not receive funding. now they're saying that for it to be disqualifying, the investigation must be criminal, it must be conclusive in nature, and not political. well, a lot of folks think most of the investigation of planned parenthood are political. so basically komen has completely reversed itself. >> it really is a major development in what has been a quickly fast-moving story with all of these developments. lisa myers, nice to talk with you. >> thanks, thomas. mitt romney's gaffe about people being derailed on the left and the right, now newt gingrich called mitt romney a food stamp president is waterfalling no time slamming romney for those remarks. >> i really believe that we should care about the very poor,

unlike governor romney. but u believe we should care differently about barack obama. they seem to believe, quote, a safety net is all the poor need. >> bob is a former nevada state senator and newt gingrich supporter. it's nice to see you. as we talk about nevada having the highest unemployment, some households gets food stamps went up by nearly 50%. newt gingrich is commenting on romney's comments. don't his comments appear just as heardless when taken in context? >> i dope think they do. newt's point is we've always had tremendous ability. a key anyotenet is working out

it. i was below poverty myself many years ago. >> what's your reaction to his endorsement yesterday of mitt romney and is there any fear of losing support from the billionaire that is bankrolling newt gingrich, sheldon adelson? >> i don't think it changed my vote, first question. second question, i don't think it's changed much of newt's support. it's the people who are undecided that are in play, of course. i'm not terribly concerned that newt has a major donor because let's face it, governor romney is his own major donor and eclipses the support that the speaker had. >> it's going be a tough month. mitt romney winning nevada in 2008 with 51% of the vote. he's ahead of gingrich by 20 points more nr in the latest pool. super tuesday is a long 32 days away and there wornlt be another

debate which newt soars in. if he's expected to come back from the dead, dwlou expect he's going do it? >> well, i think you've got a front runner in this race who has less than 50% of the delegates in states where delegates has been chosen, and that sets the stage potentially for a convention where we go in and have a free-for-all with a group of people have less than the leading number combined and above that leading number because the leading number is less than 50%. we'll see what happens. it ooh going to be an exciting year. >> it's going to be an exciting day tomorrow in nevada. thanks for your time. >> two super bowls in one weekend. >> i know. it's big time. thanks. and a programming note for everybody. newt gingrich will be one of david gregory's guests on "meet the press" this weekend. so mark your calendar for that. a live look at the fire station in virginia. this is where president obama is expected to talk in just minutes about the january jobs report,

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and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. welcome back, everyone. we're keeping a close eye on the fire station in virginia. the president is expected to speak moments from now. he's going to weigh in on the jobs report as well as his plan to get 20,000 military vets back to work. again, that speech coming up moments from now. we'll keep an eye on it for you. here are other stories topping the news right now. an elementary school is rocked by its second sex abuse scandal this week. a teacher was removed. this teacher is being investigated by police. no charges have been filed. earlier this week, though, third grade teacher mark brent was charged with photographing students for sexual thrills. in a rare move, the senate

quickly passed a politically popular measure banning insider trading for lawmakers and their staff. the senate's stock act passed, 96-3. the only senators to vote no were senator jeff bingaman, senator richard burr and senator tom coburn. officials are telling consumers throw away any raw milk from the family cow farm in chambersburg, p.a. they've seen growing demand because of concerns in hormones or traditional dairy products. >> back to that breaking news from egypt where two american women kidnapped earlier today have just been released. nbc's eamon modin has the latest from cairo. eamon. >> reporter: good morning,

thomas. two american tourists have been released after being kidnapped on friday morning according to security officials. there was a group of tourists. it was there that armed bedouins intercepted this group of americans. two were kidnapped. they began intense negotiations with the local bedouin tribes to try to secure their release. we don't believe it was politically motivated for any reason. so we understand that they have now been released. all of this coming against the backup of a lot of political upheaval in the country for a third day in a row. protesters are clashing with security forces in cairo and other places across the country. police have been trying to disperse the crowds using tear gas and in some cases live am nice. >> ayman, thank you so much.

we want to go back to developing news. susan g. komen foundation now apologizing for pulling funds from planned parenthood and will restore full funding. the group's ceo nancy brinker was concerned. some 6,000 people have given $400,000 in small donations in just a matter of 24 hours. again, we are just minutes away, though, from president obama and his remarks in arlington, virginia. he's going to be announcing another new initiative to get vets back to work. our mike viqueira is standing by for us at the white house. mike, this comes, the speech, that is, on the heels of this really resounding jobs report that is out today. how likely is this going to play into the original remarks that president obama had scheduled for this morning? now it's probably going to overshadow that. >> reporter: well, thomas,

there's no mistakes the white house regularly schedules these things every first friday of the month. when the jobs numbers came out, ever since august, largely by and large it has been a downward trend and the trend is certainly the president's friend, not only economically but politically for the president during this election. down 0.2% from 8.5% to 8.3%. some 240,000 jobs created during last month. that is certainly the kind of growth that economists have said all along is necessary to bring down a significant -- bring that unemployment rate down by any significant degree. it comes on the heels of a lot of good news about the economy. but one thing you're not going to hear the president do is declare victory, talk about green shoots. it's gotten way ahead of what the economic reality was in terms of their political rhetoric. we can always talk about what great numbers they are, and i'm sure the administration is going

to count on that. you can expect the president to say this is good news, there's more work yet to be done. and here's the president now entering the room. >> there he is. he was introduced by jacob johnson, an arlington fireman and a former iraq marine vet. let's listen in. >> thank you. thank you, guys. thank you so much. everybody, please have a seat. well, good morning, everybody. >> good morning. >> jacob, thank you for that introduction. more importantly, thank you for your extraordinary sfs ervice t our country. i want to acknowledge two outstanding members of my cabinet who are here today. veterans affairs rick is in the house, also one of our finest, himself one of our finest veterans and obviously an extraordinary leader when he was in our army. i also want to acknowledge interior secretary ken salazar who's in the house.

and we're joined by another president, the international association of firefighters president harold is here. now, this is a fire station that holds some special significance for our country. on september 11th, the firefighters of this house were among the first to respond to the attack on the pentagon. you guys answered this nation's call during its hour of need, and in the years that followed as americans went to war, some of you answered that call as well. today's 9/11 generation of veterans has already earned a special place in our history. our veterans and all the brave men and women who serve our

country are the reason why america's military is the greatest in the history of the world. in the face of great odds and grave danger, they get the job done. they work as a team. they personify the very best that america has to offer. that's true on the battlefront, but we're here today because it's also true on the homefront. after a decade of war, our nation needs to do some building right here in the united states of america. now, this morning we received more good news about our economy. in january american businesses added another 257,000 jobs. the unemployment rate came down because more people found work.

and all together we've added 3.7 million new jobs is over the last 23 months. now, these numbers will go up and down in the coming months, and there are still far too many americans who need a job or need a job that pays better than the one they have now. but the economy is growing stronger. the recovery is speeding up. and we've got to do everything in our power to keep it going. we can't go back to the policies that led to the recession, and we can't let washington stand in the way of our recovery. we want washington to be helping with the recovery, not making it tougher. the most important thing congress needs do right now is to stop taxes from going up on 160 million americans at the end of this month. they've got to renew the payroll tax cut that they extended only

for a couple of months. they need to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance and do it without drama. without delay. without linking it to some ideological side issues. they just need to get it done. it shouldn't be that complicated. now is not the time for self-inflicted wounds to our economy. now's the time for action. so i want to send a clear message to congress. do not slow down the recovery that we're on. don't muck it up. keep it moving in the right direction. [ cheers and applause ] beyond preventing a tax hike, we need do a lot more to build an economy to last. we need to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. give the tax breaks to companies

that are investing in plants and equipment and people that are here in the united states of america. that makes a lot of sense. to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. we need to stop subsidizing oil companies that are already making record profits and double down on clean energy that creates jobs and creates opportunities in new industries but also improves our security because we're not as dependent on foreign oil. to make sure our businesses don't have to move overseas to find skilled workers, we've got to invest in education and make sure college is affordable for every hard-working american. and this is the reason we're here today. we need to make sure that as our troops return from battle, they can find a job when they get home. that's what i want to talk about today. [ cheers and applause ] the war in iraq is over.

the war in afghanistan is moving to a new phase. we're transitioning to afghan leading. in the past decade nearly 3 million service members have transitioned back to civilian life. when these men and women come home, they bring unparalleled skills and experience. folks like jacob, they've saved lives in some of the toughest conditions manageable. they've managed convoys and moved tons of equipment over dangerous terrain. they've tracked millions of dollars of military assets. they've handled pieces of equipment that are worth tens of millions of dollars. they do incredible work. nobody's more skilled, more precise, more diligent, more disciplined.

our veterans are some of the most highly trained, highly educated, highly skilled workers that we've got. these are americans that every business should be competing to attract. these are americans that we want to keep serves here at home as we rebuild this country. so we're going to do everything we can to make sure that when our troops come home, they come home to new jobs and new opportunities and in ways to serve their country. now, this has been a top priority of mine since i came into office. already we've helped 600,000 veterans and their family members go back to school on the post-9/11 g.i. bill. we've hired over 120,000 veterans to serve in the federal government. we've made it easier for veterans to access all sorts of employment services. we've set up online tools to connect veterans with job openings that match their skills.

michelle and jill biden have worked with the private sector with businesses to secure a pledge of 135,000 jobs for veterans and their families. and with the support of democrats and republicans, we put in place two new tax credits for companies that hire veterans. so these are all important steps. we've made progress. but we've got to do more. there's more we can do. in my state of the union address, i proposed a new initiative calls the veterans jobs corps. to put the veterans back to work protecting and rebuilding america, and today we're laying out the details of this proposal. first, we want to help communities hire more veterans as cops and firefighters. you guys have seen what great job jacob's doing. well, there are a whole bunch of

folks like that who could be doing the same outstanding work all across the country. but it's not that easy these days to get a job at a firehouse. over the past few years, tight budgets have forced a lot of states, a lot of local communities to lay off a lot of first responders. my administration, when i first came in office, one of the first things we did was through the recovery act was make sure that states' governments helped or got the help they needed to prevent some of these layoffs, and thousands of jobs were saved all across the country. harold and i were talking as we came over here. thousands of firefighter jobs were saved because of the actions we took, but budgets are still tight, and that's a problem we need to fix. jobs that affect our families and our communities shouldn't be the first on the chopping block. they should be one of our highest priorities as a neigh. nation. over the past three years my administration's made it

possible for states to keep thousands of first responders on the job, but today we're announcing that communities to make it a priority to recruit veterans will be among the first in line when it comes to getting help from the federal government. and i know that's one of the things, chief, that you've been doing here in arlington. we want the prioritize veterans and help states and local communities to help veterans to house fire stations and police departments all throughout the country. the next thing we want do is connect up to 20,000 veterans with jobs that involve rebuilding local communities or national parks. that's why ken salazar is here as the interior secretary of state secretary. he nieeeds some help. they've already risked their lives of defending america. they should have the opportunity to rebuild america. with we've got roads and bridges

in and around our national parks in need of repair. let's fix them. of course, congress needs to fund these projects. congress should take the money that we're no longer spending on war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation building here at home, to improve the quality of life right here in the united states of america. and to put our veterans to work. so let's get more cops on the beat, let's get more rangers in the parks, let's get more firefighters on call, and in the process, we're going to put more veterans back to work. it's good for our communities, it geesd for our economy, and it's good for our country. and for veterans who want to do something else, maybe put their leadership skills to use starting a small business, we're going to start offering entrepreneurial training to our veterans. we want service members prepared

for battle and for professional success when they come home. so we should do all that we can to support our troops and our veterans in helping them start a business, in helping them get a foothold in a fiere station lik this one and start moving up the ranks, doing outstanding work the way jacob's been doing. but we also need to follow their lead. we want to help them, but we should also learn from them. we should remember from our veterans that no matter what the circumstances, those men and women in europe form, a lot like the firefighters in this fire station work together. act as a team. finish the job. that's what we've got to do when it comes to our nation's recovery. you know, these are challenging times for america, but we've faced challenging times before. on the grounds here, you've got

a stone from the pentagon and a beam from the world trade center. and that reminds us of our resolve as a people. they remind us that when we come together as one people and as one community, one nation, then we prevail. that's who we are. this is a nation that exists because generations of americans worked together to build it. this is a nation where out of many we come together as one. those are the values that every veteran understands. those are values that this fire station understands. we've got to make sure that we return to those values, and if we do, then i guarantee you we'll remind everybody around the world just why it is that the united states is the greatest country on earth. thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. god bless america. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ president obama wrapping up his remarks this morning in

arlington, virginia, at firehouse number 5. he was introduced by jacob johnson. he's a former iran marine vet. he said he'd like to see so many of our returning vets finding work at home. right now the unemployment rate among the returning veterans is 13.1%. i'm going to talk more about the president and the economy with david as well as the strategist. gentlemen, it's great to have you here. and, john, i want to start with you. the economy issue being number one, but americans are still going to make a choice when we talk about this election, so to speak. so when we see what the president is saying this morning and we know what the economy is doing right now with the job -- unemployment rate being at 8.3% and initiatives like this to get vets that are returning to this country back to work, what do you think of the president's plan, and what do you thing when he says to congress, don't muck

it up? >> well, let me say that the president's exactly right on one point. that is veterans coming back have to be able to find a job. it's really important for the country and the folks of the families defending this country. i agree with the president. o the super bowl weekend it's too early for the president to spike the football. we've got a lot of work do. it's at a 30-year low. people have decided to give up looking for jobs, and that's a real problem for this president. how this translates politically is the president has to get some accomplishments. he hasn't gotten any accomplishments in two years and he's got to work with republicans in congress and find some way for people to have more confidence in the economy. we're not out of the woods yet. what you might see is the unemployment rate come back up again and that's problematic for

the president. >> that doesn't mean the markets don't reflect confidence, because as we see, david, ton employment rate is going down. we've hat these months of city growth. john is right though. because we have 13 million people out of work, it's a high jobless rate there the cbo says is going to go back up. so is this a chance for the white house, david, to push harder for their initiativeinit? talking about american heroes who come back home and can't find work? >> absolutely. you know, one thing i want -- i want to pick one bone with john. the president does have achievements. each after the republicans took over the house and the extension of the payroll tax holidays as one of them. it's up to congress to decide whether to keep that going. the president taking action, making proposals doing things where it can call for congress.

congress, tied in knots, squabbling at a partisan level. look. 83% of the americans polled said they thought the ideas that the president put forward would help the economy. now, if you throw that to a congress that then does nothing with it, who do you thing that hurts? the president or the republicans stopping action in the senate? i think it's working. i think what the president is doing is setting up such a stark contrast between the trends that are in motion now and the further action he would take versus obstructism by republicans, it's going to be very hard for the republicans to break that need going into the next election. >> this is from t"the wall stret journal" today. i want to read it to you, quote. democrats have their own enthusiasm and it's disproportionism that's centered on the house. they have rechanneled their energy into putting the gavel back in the hands of their hero nancy plelosi. if conservatives do want to

reverse the obama agenda, they'll start looking at the house as a priority, not an afterthought. couldn't we see yet another wave happen? >> i don't think so. what's going to happen is if you look at what's going on with the house races, i think the house republicans are looking pretty strong. they're going to keep their majority. if you look at what's happening with the unemployment rate, the republicans have been in charge, they've been able to stop a lot of the bad regulations, bad laws coming from when the democrats ran everything. so i think what you're going to see is the republicans are going to keep the house, the republicans are going to take back the senate and the big question is what's going to happen at the top of ballot. right now the latest polls have mitt romney and president obama tied. all the name calling and negative ads, they're tied. >> john, you come with a lot of predictions this morning.

thanks. again, the breaking news that we've been following this morning, the susan g. komen foundation reversing its decision on funding. [ male announcer ] what's the beat that moves your heart? how about the beat of a healthy heart? campbell's healthy request soup is delicious, and earned this heart, for being heart healthy. ♪ feel the beat? it's amazing what soup can do. feel the beat? i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas.

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>> welcome back and we continue to follow the developments of breaking news, planned parenthood reacting to the breaking news that the susan g. komen's decision, to supply grant funding reversing their decision from earlier this week.

lisa meyers joins us. we had the reaction from the komen side of thing and now planned parenthood is reacting to the reversal. >> planned parenthood is quite pleased about all this and i thanked people for the outpouring of support. the komen board had come to the conclusion the last 24 hours that there was no way to dig themselves out of this hole they had faced an explosion of anger and their affiliates were in rebellion and scientists were upset and donor base and sponsors were upset, so it was a matter of time before they would need to change this policy. and what was the statement put out today, it would appear to be almost a complete turn around. >> when we talk about the fact, and as you point out, they put

themselves between a rock and hard place, as planned parenthood goes back to apply to komen in the future, how do they know there's not a prejudice aligned toward them? >> given the experience, i think they would not stack the deck against planned parenthood, and the statement says that they will allow local affiliates to have a say where the money goes. one of the issues that remains unclear, we interviewed nancy brinker yesterday, she said that so many of the planned parenthood applications were pass throughs and they did not do the work themselves. this is silent on that matter. >> raises more questions but the grant funding from komen will go back to planned parenthood. lisa meyers, thank you. and thank you to all of you,

i'll see you back here on monday at 11:00 eastern time, until then follow me on twitter. "now" is coming your way next with more on the komen planned parenthood controversy. stick around for that. we are back with more after this. i have a cold. and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] sorry buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold and flu formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold and flu symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, try new alka-seltzer plus allergy. most powerful trading app ? total access - to everything. from idea to research to trade. including financials, indicators and real-time streaming quotes. whether you check your investments every day

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president obama has just finished speaking, unemployment is down, job creation is up and he is still fighting for the middle. joining me today, the always dapper johnathan, of washington post. and alice stewart and cnbc, velma hart and ben white. we have breaking news that the planned parenthood funding will be reinstated. and we will be talking more about that in great depth