wears off. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. the end of trial and error has arrived. try a free sample at eucerinus.com. >> your holiday weekend might be over on monday. it looks like congress will go on and on. by the start of this thanksgiving weekend, we are finding ways to question the status quo. congress is on track for one of its least productive years ever. in just a minute, we'll talk about whether it has to stay that way. also the story behind one handwritten letter to president obama by a concerned citizen i believe has been misinterpreted by the right. plus it will give me an excuse

to tell you my story about having the president as a pen pal. what does the iran contra scandal have to do with the pardon of the white house turkey? pretty much everything. we will, plane ahead. it seems on thanksgiving itself here to make a plea for us to stop the insanity and finally, helping me, i usually call finding ways to humiliate me. earlier this week they have found a way to do it on national television. they arranged for me to dock a turkey on the air. since i only recently learned how to turn an oven on, this could get a little ugly. stay tuned for that. speaking of recipes for disaster, though, we gen this morning with what congress is doing or rather everything that congress is not doing. we are about to reach december. there are some serious budget issues to work out, some key deadlines looming. congress is right now scheduled to be in session this coming

month for a grand total of four days. msnbc news ran the numbers and reported in the 11 months since speaker john boehner gavelled congress into session in january, congress passed 52 public laws. you take out the ceremonial issues caller for the memorable hall of fame or honorable naming of local post offices, take all of that you, congress has passed 44 actually stnttive bills this year to put this into perspective, congress has averaged 70 substantive bills since 1999. >> that moans they are achieving 60% not much more than half. this isn't an aberration or a querk. its not an accident t. last congress, the 112th congress which ran from 2011 to 20 thrown managed to do even less and

passed only 41 substantive bills when it was in session. that's three fewer than this one. >> that 112th congress, which was elected in the 2010 tea party mid-term wave went on to make the old do nothing congress that harry truman railed against in 1948 was prolific by comparison. 112ing congress passed the fewest number of bills in history. more than a quarter were symbolic, gimmicks, not substantive new laws. the head linings in news stories that flow from statistics like these, current unproductive congress is even worse than previous unproductive congress. those sorts of headlines help explain why you have been hearing this pretty much for years now. >> if america's elected officials got report card, they'd be flunking. >> 10% aprofit of the job congress is doing while 82% disapprove. >> this congress has now passed the fewest bills -- >> there is a higher percentage

of dentists who represent shugry gum than people who approve of congress. >> no wonder congress has an approval rating of a toilet. >> to be fair, part of this isn't surprising. congress as an institution has never really been that popular. it is best in history its numbers have been mediocre at its best or worst you are probably locking at it right now. it's not like we had a golden age, people are walking around saying, you know what i think is great? congress. there is something else here, too t. bottoming out is a part of a broader trend, a trend of the major institution. confidence in banks and the criminal justice system. media, labor unions. it's dropping for them, too. congress is at the very, very bottom of that bottoming out. you might think there is an easy solution to this. if everyone in congress is sick and tired of being hated. sick of all the vacation days and the chronic inaction and the record shatteringly low output,

you think maybe they'd come together and you know do something. but here's the thing. it actually makes perfect sense from the standpoint of both parties that they don't right now because we are caught in a trap. this has to do with something we saw on this show a lot. over the last generation or two, the two parties have sorted themselves out id logically. the republicans are the conservative party. the democrats the left of center party. the american people sorted themselves out, too. parties these days are almost like try, there are deep, clear, obviously cultural geographic racial and id logic divisions that separate the public party and the democratic party. just about every voter decide which side of that divide they're on. >> that old notion of moderate swing voters jumping back and forth between the two party. >> that doesn't happen much anymore. those two parties with those vast deep lines of division separating them. they have since 2010 been forced to share power in washington.

democrats have the white house in the senate. now throw in this. it's not just the republicans are the conservative party and the democrats the liberal party, republicans have moved much farther to the right than democrats have moved to the left. senator powers is primarily interested if dismantling government in opposing the white house on basically everything. there is not a ton of natural space between the parties to start with. that pretty much discuss away with whatever space there is. so you have gridlock. so you have record set theing gridlock t. question is whether there is a solution. back in harry truman's day, it was truman who launched a campaign against the do-nothing republican congress. he called congress back into a special session to put their votes where their mouths were. when they kept on doing nothing, truman called them the worst congress ever and voters side with them. they reelected in 1448 and at

the same time they gave democrats control of the house. it was a seismic gape i gape. 75 seats for democrats that year. president obama tried pretty much the same trick last year, though, while the voters did side with him and did keep democrats in charge of the senate. they also reelected a republican-led house for two more years. whatever their motives, voters in 2012 did not break the gridlock. they sustained it. if you lock at how the district lines are drawn, how the population is distributed in america these days. how mid-term elections tend to favor the party not in the white house. it's hard to see a scenario on the immediate horizon where one party is rewarded with what now is apparently the essential ingrodient to get real things done in washington. total control of the white house, of the senate and the house at the same time. that's why a memo from a former bill clinton pollster attracted so much attention this woke. tray lock at the futility democrats passed passing a republican-led house. they locked at the political

landscape. he concluded we are stuck with this maddening state of gridlock politics through the end of the decade at lowest. is he right? is there a way around it to break the law, to jerk american politics out of this funk? well, joining me to discuss these questions we have emily heil of the washington post who writes for the paper's "reliable source column" and an nsnbc contributor, jeff borrow at business insider.com. and the founder of the public affairs firm. so, first of all, that stinks for taking your holiday weekend and spending them where i'm sure you love to 8:00 a.m. coming no this cold studio. i really appreciate that. with so we talk about that seismic memo printed in politico. there was a lot in it. he thaux about maybe theoretically there is room for a third party, something that metro detroit spring up because

the two parties aren't necessarily coping up with all the changes in the electric. i thought for the sac of our discussion today he itemized in his mind a list of the specific challenges that each party is facing right now, will be facing for the years going forward. i thought we would go through a few of those and talk about the state of both parties right now. we will start with the republican party. we spent a lot of time since they lost the election in 2012 diagnoseing things. let's lock at a few things doug seismic cites, the med one is there is no post-2012 consensus. when he writes in that memo. he says it would have been better for republicans if rick santorum, not mitt romney had been the nominee in 2012 in his view, if you give the candidate that it wanted. you don't give the sort of mushy moderate, you goive the far right candidate, then there is a little more clarity in the results. then you lose the election and can you say, all right the tea party when, it's not electable.

now you can have the party move back to the middle? what do we the of that as a -- >> i don't think that will work. lock what happened in virginia t. right wing the party got the candidate they wanted. they lost. what is their story afterwards? the party establishment boat us. cuccinelli didn't focus on it enough. >> it's a blowout. >> it's a teary of if you nominate the right candidate next time you will be able win. i think the problem for the republican party is its base got in such a media bubble. it repeats to itself the way they wish the wofrl was. they should have learned a lesson and from the fact that they thought mitt romney was going to win the 2012 election because they thought the polls were wrong for about two months after the election. you had a period of reflection, people said, gee, we seem to

have misunderstood this. what can we do to make better predictions going forward. >> so what happened? i remember that around this time last 84 carl rove, megan kelly, now a prime timer on fox news was basically keling him you are doing math to make republicans feel good. what happened to change that? >> they had that move him where they were examineing their losses. they produced that autopsy report. remember, that was something done by the so-called party establish. by the elselders. when things don't go their way on the outside, they become increaseingly obsessed with the ideological purity test. in a sense, i wonder have they nominated someone like rick santorum if that base would have demanded they shift further to the right, if that's possible. >> right. >> it makesch more embolding, right?

we elected more congressional folks so what we need is more of them, so how do we get out? it's mainly a vocal and a state game they are playing as opposed to the national game. we didn't warn the president, so what, on if local levels and state legislatures in congress our congressional representatives are who we want. twhoots they are pushing for. >> raul was talking about the lack of party elders right now is seismic sites. as an example. if you had to say who is a republican party. this is jeb bush on twitter this woke. you may have heard him emerge the embassies as the vatican and why would the president close our embassy and the vatican, hopefully it's not retry bougs for catholics opposing obama care? this is the elderly.

>> obama care is the answer to everything, a republican, you ask them what the weather is like, they'll tell you obama care stinks. that's the line they use for everything. it's not a surprise jeb bush has to say, it's the code to what every republican has to say. >> it's like retweets. >> what gets me the sound clip that will play on news we can say it's crazy. at lowest you get that clip. >> the question, too, though, we talk about a lack of a party elder, the republican party has been in this mode of since the affordable care act of 2010. this law is pure evil. we are willing to flirt with a debt ceiling issue. where is the party elder who can say, it's the law of the land, now we got to work at tweaking it, here's a party elder maying the same base. >> the party elder is pandering. jeb bush is supposed to be the

grownup. i this i in this case, these weighing the political can you lus just going further to the right as he did on immigration where he put a book out saying that we should have immigration reform then as soon as it was out he was already backtracking. i think in shins it was purely a political move. >> i think with jeb he is breaking with the party on certain issues, he is for the core curriculum for education. some thits an evil plot to take over the state systems. he has been all over if map on immigration. lately, he is sort of in a reformist direction on it. so i think when you break with the party on certain issues, you look for other opportunities to connect with the base and say, you know, i'm one of you. i hold the same suspicions about the naked political motives of obama. >> there was ab interesting set of democratic run focus groups on different parts of the republican base that looked an sea party and moderates.

they found the mod moderates were leery and nearly as negative about the president as the more conservative parts of the party. so they don't want to run so far to the right, but it probably works just as well for them to they can this kind of suspicion. >> we got one more here and the republicans i want to get to. we got a few on the democrats, we will pick it up with more right after this. and we're here. to help secure retirements and protect financial futures. .

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. >> so we're going through talking about this memo, a former poll bill clinton put on about the calgary of the ways of the party. ways to break the gridlock. one more republicans wanted to get to. he calls this the end of conservative think tanks. there is a new article about the heritage foundation the staple of think tanks on the right,

these used to be genuine original mandates based on a generation ago. now the vehicles are part sand warfare. he's the ceo. this is his miami right now. >> president obama's re-election is a devastating below. it's not a decisive defeat. over the next four years he will continue exploding spending to hollow out our nation's military and seek and impose a scheme. we are in a war to save this natio nation. >> the thing that strikes me about this. >> being invaded? it was presented to us. you need to be scared. they are taking something from us. they are taking this country from us. they or everything who don't agree with us.

be scared. give us money to protect you. >> that fear mongering approach, what you are saying, i saw the article, they talked about i think that's the heritage action arm. >> right. >> they did used to have more renowned conservative articles, the white papers. thif things they were plow producing. now everything is so centered. i think this works with the base the messaging that's coming out from the conservatives is increasingly so negative, doom's day. be afraid. >> it's tied to the economy. people don't have, there are millions of peopleen employed, there are small business who aren't making as much money as they feel the doom of my tomorrow, my next month. my next year as i promised because of all of these things. >> that feeds into that i am already scared about my status

of taking care of my family. >> i think that the lack of a think tank. >> as you mentioned in your intro with the do-nothing congress, a lot of the republican agenda right now is stopping things from happening. it's not like they need some white pages to help them. >> i want to show you the lean they used on obama care is repeal and replace. >> there is no replace. >> i think the death of the think tank is overstated. first of all, this is not an entirely new phenomenon. it was an alternative and the fundraising efforts always look like this, now it's getting out more publicly, heritage has the shift. there are people deep within the bowels of aei and other groups like this putting together

conser conservative health care. i think you see an interesting split where you have some people doing policy work. it is often the state versus the state level, there is room on education policy and crime and various things locate that. >> and to implement that. is that where a lot of that work is going is in the estates. >> often you see the state level is better than the federal work t. staff is there with the ability to produce real policy, i agree. the think tank is there. will they listen? >> let's get the democrats in here, too. these are challenges the democrats are peaceing. one is this is, one is motivating the post-obama america. all the new voters in 28. we're not there in 2009.

we're not there in 2010. is this a block of voters democrats will be able to depend on in future elections? some would say maybe we got a preview in the 2013 race in virginia this year. the answer is yes, terry mcauliffe was able turn out a lot of that coalition. is that long term, is that sustainable? >> during obama's first race the obama machine has proven they can elect obama. in 2010, the states and places they were helping in turning people out, that same population that came out and voted for him did not do so in 2010. that's why we have the congress we have now. the difference will be in the state of the economy is and do we have a candidate that will speak to that population to encourage them to come out? that is going to be the difference is will we be able to educate and mobilize?

it is already registered. it will be do we have a candidate that speaks to that and we can mobilize. we have proven in virginia that can happen. as we go throughout the states in looking at the mid-term elections coming up and into the governor's race, what is it 28 states or between states in terms of the governor elections, where we can speak of that population pullout. their vote is already there. >> we got a few more. >> first one when we come back.

. >> a few more of these challenges, a point made quickly about the obama coalition. >> i think the suppression levels we have seen across the country. i know in the 2012 elections more latino voted then. part of that was the motvation,

a backlash among people of color when there was a grass roots effort to make people aware of these voter suppression attempts. >> another one here is a rising populist block in the democratic party. dplnt years the story was the democratic party sort of had a marriage with wall street. a lot of money was raised. wall street were brought into the administration and the obamaed a men straegs and the backlash taking pleas is that will be one of the stories of next year as an example you can lins to this bernie sanders, this is a taste of that backlash a little bit. >> the reason we're in a deficit today is two unpaid wars the medicare part d program unpaid for large tax breaks a. trillion dollars which went to the wealthy. i only say that is that as we go forward to figure out where we want to be as priorities. you got to remember that fact as well. >> it's small things, we get to anger at the banks, anger at the

financial institutions. in a lot of casings in the clinton years, democrats were saying he says his could be coming to an end. >> that sort of anger plays very welon social media and that particular group of voters is very active with social media. i think progressives have done a good job on capital collateralizeing on that medium. they are adept at using those medium to spread their message and keep the heros like elizabeth warren and keep their elected officials pure in the same way you see conservatives do. >> i think in congress you can sort of do what bernie sanders does and stake-out as far left a position you want. there is a clearer ability to develop an activist base from that. at the local level, particularly with bill deblassia in new york

city. we will come into office raising all these hopes and will be facing the budget pressures and make more or less the same decisions on fiscal policy. there is so much you can do as a governor or a mayor. so i think as these populist parties are checked at the state level, you could seeen creaseing a move to the left in the democratic caucus in congress. >> the other question, this has been asked four plus years ago the idea of could there people be some kind of common ground between the progressive movement and the democratic side. it's angry about the banks and the grass roots and the tea party rights. it's angry about the bailout people have been asking about it. >> particularly if it boils down to the polls, people have a i'm

conservative, i'm progressive. if you boil down and ask them questions ability what are we actually upset about, you can see common ground about it is unfair. you know, these corporations can pay less and progressives agree. if you go down to the actual issues, there is some agreement t. question is whether or not you can agree and get them in the room to agree to not keep these partisan monikers and sort of come together on the issue and i agree with you, i don't see that yet. >> the far right, they're so toxic towards anything with our president with his name attached to it. we are seeing different examples on polling on obama care within they ask far right conservatives, tea party, without calling it that calling it the health care law. they do like it. as long as his name is attached to it, anything with this

president. it is racist. >> tribalism plays a big role t. red tribe doesn't help the blue tribe. >> maybe when president obama is not the president, maybe there would be. there is also the issue of not only his name an face, if those things are removed. >> i say in the clinton year, they say clinton was the by-gone era. >> that moderate obama we already like. so i'd probably mention it once or twice in his ear. >> our team forced many tow watch thiscliff clip this week. i have to say yes whennist it comes to the west when they did get it right. >> i ned to you pardon the turkey. >> you need you to pardon other one. >> didn't i do it right? >> i need you to come out here and pashden other one. >> aren't i going to get a reputation on being soft on turkey? >> can you come out here? >> no. what the hell is going on? >> they sent me two turkeys, one gets a full pardon.

the runner-up gets eaten. >> if the oscars were leak that, i'd watch. >> what if i told you the custom of a presidential pardon in the eastern contra scandal are linked. you'd say, oh, that's interesting. i will tell you exactly how right after this. eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. .

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. >> it's as much a part of the ritual leading up to the holiday as cramming on to packed trains or waiting in a grocery checkout lean. >> that wraps around the store. on a wednesday before thanksgiving, the president pardons a turkey this past wednesday was no exception. >> 80 turkeys competed to stay off the thanksgiving table. it was quite literally the hunger games. president obama solicited help, he turned to certainly media with the question which turkey

fwets the pardon, popcorn or caramel. popcorn won. they didn't kill caramel. this is a pointless contest. wane way this got us wondering where did this whole pardoning come from in the first place? some think it began with ap practice lam lincoln. he established a regular holiday inn 1863 to promote national unity, honest abe did spare a turkey that year his young son tad came to love as a pet. that was christmas, not thanksgiving. so it didn't start two lincoln. others think it began with harry truman who did receive ceremonial turkeys in 1947 fully they're wrok wrong, too. he let them know they were dec tend for his family dinner table. so he was going to eat them this

photo from 1949, give 'em hell harry, there wasn't much subtlety there. known 55, dwight eisenhower, it was presented to vice president nixon. john f kennedy reportedly locked down at this bird the week before trfg in known 63, just days before he went to dallas. he said, quote, let's keep them going, perhaps the earliest stage of passion. maybe we wanted time for the turkey to grow fatter. linden johnson the man of many appetites. this turkey in known 67 with the wish of good eating, you can see the theme here president ford was presented with a live turkey all wrapped up from the supermarket. it wasn't until ronal reagan, morning in america for america's

turkeys. he said the bhird of honor was headed to the peting zoo. he dodged the question of actually pardoning turkeys enter the eastern contra scandal they secretly arranged for funding anti-communist groups turkey photo ops were no exception. in known 67, iraqen said as expected the 55 pound bird was headed to the peting zoo. reporters did her to job asking for pardons for the former aids in the iran confrom scandal. reagan would say, quote, if they had given me a different answer on charlie and his future, i wouldn't have pardoned him he was talking act the bird. with that bit of classic reagan

evasion may have given his vice president his successor as president an idea. it was george h.w. bush in known european offered the first official presidential pard on the a thanksgiving turkey. he also partbed several consirtors on his way out of office in 1992. there is also that yo, yo, yo. aflac. wow. [ under his breath ] that was horrible. pays you cash when you're sick or hurt? [ japanese accent ] aflac. love it. [ under his breath ] hate it. helps you focus on getting back to normal? [ as a southern belle ] aflac. [ as a cowboy ] aflac. [ sassily ] aflac. uh huh. [ under his breath ] i am so fired. you're on in 5, duck. [ male announcer ] when you're sick or hurt, aflac pays you cash. find out more at aflac.com. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult.

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♪ 3 creepy gnomes ♪ 2 angry geese ♪ and a giant blow-up snowman ♪ that kind of freaks me out [ beep ] [ female announcer ] no one delivers the holidays like the u.s. postal service. priority mail flat rate is more reliable than ever. and with improved tracking up to 11 scans, you can even watch us get it there. ♪ . >> if you have been watching our weekly current game show "up against the clock" you know we take it from the heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, sale of the century, card sharks, the $25,000 pyramid. maybe you remember them. here just in time for the holiday weekend is a special blast from the past thanksgiving greeting from the host of what may have been the best classic game show of them all. >> yo, hey,pilgrim, you want to get off my rock? >> yo o. hey, what do you think?

>> i'm an idiot. i want to say happy thanksgiving to everybody out there. >> from the late peter to mark to press your luck thing. like those pesky wammies on press your luck. we hear it, do not rest on the holidays. it's a special thanksgiving edition and it's next. the bar? you need a bunch of those to clean this mess. then i'll use a bunch of them.

. >> live from steroid 3a, rockefeller center, it's time for up against the clock. originally from virginia from the beautiful eastern shore of the commonwealth it's emily heil. >> from monterey park, catch, home of the first sealed potato chip bag. welcome raul reyes. returning champion from brooke len, new york four day winnings total $13 in cash and sweet

potato kass roll. say hello to l joy williams. now your host, steve kornacki. [ applause ] >> thank you, our special guest announcer on this holiday weekend we thank you for teening in at home. raul, thank you, welcome contestants, raul you have found your own way of saying hi to me. i say hi back. i think you all foe the rules of this game by now. a quick refresher, three rounds of play, wrong answers will cost you. there are a now instant bonuses scattered in here. to our studio audience, i beg you as always, please no outbursts, these contestants demand absolute concentration on "up against the clock." with that, contestants, are you ready to play? >> never better than ever. >> we will start with the 100 point round and with this we

go...luckle berry, peach, pecan, strawberry are yrhubarb, which was not served at the white house for thanksgiving. >> peach. >> incorrect. >> rhubarb there that's correct. strawberry rhubarb was not served. 100 point question, this former massachusetts senator dropped the state abraefiation ma from his twitter. >> scott brown. >> dropped massachusetts from his twitter handlet his week. correct. 100 point question this conservative former presidential hopeful announced on wednesday he is ending his nationally syndicated radio show. >> mike huck abbey, that is correct. 100 point question an article in the new issue of forbe's states which former slpt has become a vegan. raul. >> gore. >> al gore is a vegan now.

correct. instant bonus you can double your winnings. when al gore was elected in 1992, who was his opponent? >> could you repeat that. >> when al gore was elected in 1992, who was his opponent? >> dan quayle. >> dan quayle is correct. spoken confidently. 100 point question. on the heels of a two-day iowa tour, this southern governor who is not shy about his 2016 presidential ambitions will gain trip this week to the early prime ministerary state of south carolina joy. >> incorrect. time. rick perry. 100 points. democratic control of the legislature in this swing state was preserved this week. >> it's colorado. >> colorado it is. 100 points for raul. >> that brings us to the end of the round. emily 100. raul into the load with 200 after an early slip-up.

now joy with 100 points. this brings us to the 200 point round. questions get a little more difficult. stakes a little higher. you still have 100 second on the clock. we will put it up there and as soon as it is, we will go with this. this former senator who vowed never to be a lobbyist file to be in u.s. government relations. >> lieberman. >> joe loeieberman is correct. >> how many votes separated mark openshane and mark herg. >> 135. >> incorrect. >> 135, 165 or 185, how many votes separated. raul. >> 165. >> that's correct. raul, an instant bonus question.

who was the last virginia attorney general toby elected governor? >> to be elected fwof? >> i node an answer. >> time. >> i'm going to cry. >> 200 points. >> no penalty. 200 point question, cap choufrd in 2007, retired fbi agent robert levinson became one of the most held captives in history this woke. he was kidnapped almost seven years ago in what country. raul. >> somalia. >> incorrect. >> the answer is, time, iran was the correct answer there. 200 point question, quote, trickled down theories were criticized in ra 224-page document released on tuesday by what world figure? >> time, the answer is the pope. 200 points in a new biopick

opening in theers this the weekend. this former star of in the can wire." >> l. joy pulls into the lead with that. she has 300 points. >> that brings us to the round where champions are made. this is the ph.d. level. 100 seconds on the clock. senators dick durbin and al dur ken teamed up to reduce the costs of this college necessity. encorrect. of this college necessity to this skyrocket in price in the last decade. >> can i answer again? >> textbook. >> the resolution officially designateing the fourth thursday in november as a federal holiday was signed into law by what president? >> time, frank len roosevelt. 300 point question, amitd delays

in getting their insurance market off the ground, the executive director of this blue state announced her resignation last friday. emily. >> illinois. >> incorrect. >> and the answer. correct answer is hawaii. 300 point question. the state department announced this woke the embassy to the holly sea will now share the same complex as this existing embassy. emily. >> rogue. the italian embassy, correct. instant bonus question, 300 additional point, formal diplomatic relations and the appointment of the first official u.s. ambassador to the vatican came under what president? >> kennedy. >> incorrect. ronald reagan. >> this former reuters journalist and cable news guest won a special election on monday to represent a toronto district

in canada's parliament. time, freeland, president obama told abc news this week he might stay in his presidency so his daughters with stay in sit-com, which would make him the first president to stay in town since this president famous for his 14 points answer? we will call time t. last president stayed in office, woodrow wilson. >> that ends the round. emily heil with 400 point, congratulations, you have won a prize pack annual. we will now tell you all about. you will get to take this mug home with you. show it off to family and friend and school children for one woke. will you see an appearance this upcoming woeg on msnbc "the

cycle," airing weekdays. you will get to play in our bonus round for today's grand prize of $50 gift certificate to clifton, nuvenlt serving up the best franks in the greater meadow land area. back to you, steve. >> that is quite a prize package, emily, we have unfinished business. here is your question. we all know that the pilgrims left england, settled in plymouth, massachusetts and held the first thanksgiving in 1621. but after leaving and before making land in north america, what modern day europe pine country did they first live in? >> can you repeat the question '. >> what modern day pilgrims first time settled in before arriving in north america? in there spain. >> it was the netherlands, holland. i'm sorry t. gift certificate is safe. are you still our champion.

raul and joy you get the home edition. thanks for playing. emily, you might be back for our tournament of champions. we will be back right after this with the real show.

. >> you are obviously familiar with thanksgiving. what about franksgiving with an f, if you are in your 70s or older chances are you never celebrated that holiday. it's from 1939 when president franklin d. roosevelt decided to move it up a week, there is an extra thursday in that year in the great depression times were extra tough. he wanted to make sure there were plenty of shopping days to get the economy going. he switched the date of thanksgiving. he messed around with american's notions of turkey an gravy and tradition and the people were not too happy with this.

senator styles bridges a republican into seeshsly argued roosevelt should cancel winter. a letter came into the white house like this from shelby bennett, she wrote, dear mr. president, thanks for moving thanksgiving up. while you are at it, would you move sundays to wednesdays, turn mondays into christmas. reserve friday and saturdays as days for fishing trips trips down the potomac. there was simply general confusion telegrams from a restaurant in alliance, ohio asked when should we serve our thanksgiving turkey. some states, some fdr friendly states chose to act knowledge the date set by president roosevelt while others didn't. a nation with two thanksgivings just didn't work. in 1941, two years later, the holiday was changed for good. congress officially declared the fourth thursday in november a national holiday, thanksgiving.

roosevelt admitted his experiment had failed. and that was that. thanksgiving and not franksgiving. now more than 70 years later, we are once again grappling with the idea of a holiday changing on us. this is what thanksgiving looked like for many americans this yearle. not just shoppers, but also all of the people who work in the stores for which black friday has morphed into, now starts a day earlier on thanksgiving thursday old navy, target, some of the stores opened on thanksgiving day this year. to me black friday never made much sense, stores slashing their prices only to be dede scending upon throngs of shoppers, that misery, the traffic the parking lots the crowd, the lines trying to pull yourself out of bed with a

turkey hangover at some ungodly hour. it sound like misery to me. even worse, instead of all this happening after thanksgiving, the fact that this is beginning to happen on thanksgiving, itself. the holiday season is starting earlier and earlier. music, more decorations, more chaos. i have my own reasons for thinking this is ridiculous. it raises questions when do workers get to watch? why is it that so many people are apparently ready to spend their thanksgiving roaming the aisles of a wal-mart instead of staying with their nieces and testify news, he may change the date for thanksgiving that teams the definition of when thanksgiving begins and end, what that holiday still represents continues to morph. here to discuss this, we are still joined by business insider.com political strategist l. joy williams and emily heil.

battles, michael, jr., thanks, everybody, for being here i guess start with what our own experiences are. it's saturday, we have been through thanksgiving and black friday. did anybody here do any shopping on thanksgiving or on black friday? >> at the drug store. may two days leading up to thanksgiving cooking like i was going to have an army at my house and there is only six of us. because this is what my view of thanksgiving is. you cook a bunch of food no matter who is coming. i find we are so surprised that companies who exist to make profits and money will try earlier to get a jump on their competitors. particularly on line site, amazon doesn't close. ebay doesn't close, websites don't close where you can shop online and other companies have opened on thanksgiving in the

fast. so people are trying to make money what was concern for me are people who work at these retailers going to be penalized for not wanting to come in on this holiday and whether or not the stores will use seasonal workers in making sure that people aren't penalized for doing that. i don't understand why we are so surprised. the reason why dimes are a girl's best friend, they went into high schools saying doimt diamonds are for girls and you do want to get married. >> obviously, i get it. personally i have never gotten the particular misery of going out shopping. you are packed like sar don'ts in these places i consider the $20 money spent to not have to deal with that horrible grove i

don't know, are you a part of the people that want to go to best boy? >> absolutely not. my idea of black friday is at home in fuzzy slippers. "it's a wonderful life" on repeat. we shouldn't be surprised. american consumers are urged to consume. american congress voted on a deal that ended the government shutdown. they purposely left a dead lean out to january so it wouldn't affect consumer spending during the holidays. i think consumers are encouraged every turn to spend, whether by fdr or this particular congress. the fact that they're out in stores it is the statistic. holiday sales represent 19.3% of all total retail sales in 2012 from this thanksgiving to christmas season. >> we shouldn't be bothered.

nobody says the poor concession airs that have to work at the stadium on thanksgiving. i think it's a cultural thing that you have all of us around the table, none of us shop, i feel like pauline kail who said in the 1972 election. she said she couldn't believe nixon was getting elected. everybody i know thinks black friday is a bizarre tradition. people do it. i think this is a part of why you have this negative reaction to the media. people say it's so terrible their opening, none of us want to go shop. there is no loss to us. if the retailers decide they will close on thanksgiving, that's why you don't have the same negative reaction. nobody is angry starbucks is opened. i think it's sort of a cultural superior superiority thing where people feel it's distasteful.

>> i find missile thinking about it more this year than in the past. i went to see some family, a day trip at the beginning of this show. i came back and there are buses, the subway is running on a reduced schedule. it's a question of where that lean is drawn. you talk about the football teams. i know the nba used to be like one game on christmas. now it's five games. jeff van dund di used to coach the nets. sam van dundy, the nba, knock it off. everybody should get that day off to have with their family. there will always be something opened. where do you draw that lean? >> i'm waiting for the big we'll from my mother. it's this inconspicuous consumerism. we see all these folks a day after giving thanks, for what we have go with these sharp elbows

to try to get more. we are hearing all these stories about the disparities in income. you talk about the folks actually going to work that day t. median income for the folks behind the register is $20,000 a year. with relooking also at the fact that with the november 1st food stamp cuts, you have millions of families losing a lot of their benefits. 72% of those families have children and a quarter of those households are elderly and disabled. so while we are looking at pictures of people rush in to boy a lot of stuff, we are hearing a lot of stories of families losing so much at the same time w. rewondering how corporations could be pushing all of this consumerism. >> this is from a wal-mart in ohio, wal-mart says you can put basic food items.

they don't have enough money from what they're getting paid there which raise a question, these are the sorts of people, maybe it's a choice. they don't feel a choice. >> you give up that $20 to be able to stay at home and not shop. for some people that $20 is a real amount of money. if they need to boy presents for their kids, then they're going to be out to save that $20. they will elbow that person. >> also for people who can't afford the normal prices for which the tv is and want to get something for their family, they go out and do that it was interesting seeing people say it's ridiculous we have to shop in the lean, this is ridiculous for themes, i agree with you, those who think it's crazy will stay at home, those who want to go out there and do it can. i'm not completely surprised.

what i think should have gotten more attention were the protests about wal-mart and other stores who they are not being paid rages to allow them to feed their families. i think that should have been more of the story that took play on black friday. >> i think if we want the labor to improve and rise, we ned to get back to the economy of the noon 90s. we need people going out, consumeing and spending. >> which need banks to lend to people to buy houses. we need all of those things. it's not just about the american people shopping. >> it's close. it's a number of things. i think i would rather have an economy driven by spending than another housing bubble. i think we want the only.

you can have laws that impose higher men mum wage, that will raise the standard to an extent. to get us a sustainable labor market where you get real returns to workers, not just to capital, we need to close this gap. >> it's interesting, few look at those numbers, there is some silver lining for the president if you will, there are some suggestion the economy is doing a little better. the dow is over 16,000 nasdaq reached 14,000. for the first time in years ago it's down. retail establish . think people have numbers that do farewell for the president. i think it goes back to this disparity we are hearing about these folks doing better, there are so many people sort of at the lowest rungs economically of

our society. >> we talk about those protests at wal-mart. it wasn't just the fact that they are opened on thanksgiving, they are opened at midnight on black friday. it's about the wages, wal-mart workers are being paid and states are setting. there is movement on the state level. we will pick that up right after this. you get your hair cut here.

. >> so we started talk before the blake how the attention to wal-mart partly ties into the companies now to raise the minimum wage, president obama called for the state of the union address. >> that does leave a lot of potential at the state level. can you look at the screen here, there are 19 states and the district of columbia currently

with minimum wages higher than the federal level. a lot not consequence dentally blue states. this is sort of the next story at least as long as there is a gridlock at men mum wage the push will take place at the state level. >> i think there is resistance. i think that the house republicans are not in favor of this. you won't see this in washington. so your point about it being a state and local issue is absolutely right. >> i think it makes sense. a modestly higher men mum wage would be a policy around $9. you have different costs of living in different states. it makes sense somewhere in connecticut than you would have somewhere in alabama. i don't think it's necessarily a problem that states are taking this up in addition. >> the other thing i wonder too, to get back to black friday and whatever you call it is it grey thursday? is that what we call the should have beening?

so we talk about old navy, maesy's, wal-mart, target. they opened up on thursday. we'll see how much money they actually brought in from those days. maybe this is one of those things they don't take in what they expected this is a one year wonder or something. i don't know. it struck me a list of stores like apple, the home depot, marshalls, nordstrom's, costco, they made a statement of saying we are not opening on thanksgiving. i wonder given a bit of a backlash in the air over this, if a company makes a statement like that and gets rewarded in a way. >> i think another thing the stores aim at an upscale audience. i think it points to the fact this black friday is this quite middle class tradition. wealthy people are not rushing out to the mall. nordstrom can say we care about giving our workers off. it may be the examiner base is not interesting in coming in and shopping on thanksgiving.

>> it's important to note the shops that were opened the reason why they were opened is not only competitive, the competition of their competitors being opened, also they did research on this. they asked their membership you know the business cards or whatever that you get if we were opened on thanksgiving, would you shop? they ask people. leak they said, they don't make money, all right, we will not do it next year t. trial and error, we saw the lean, people came as many of them that said it was ridiculous, they were in len to say it was ridiculous you are right. you go for the wal-mart. 40% of their client base and customers make under $35,000 a year. so they know their client. they're going out there marketing and bringing back lay away. they are trying every opportunity to get people to come into the store. the middle class, upper middle

class buying the luxury items. it doesn't affect them at all. there is no backlash. >> it's one of those things, too, i get it from the stand point if there are items your family needs and you are going to get a deal on thursday or friday you will not get any other day of the year. i get it. what do you do? you are in a trap. at the same time i have to say i have been very lucky the last couple years ago i grew up middle class. it was a different point in my life. i probably wouldn't, the fiscal responsible thing would have been to go shopping on thursday or friday. i still always wait until december 24th. >> you probably didn't pay extra. they create a frenzy, very often they are lowner december and they r. i think to some extent the shoppers don't realize that. i think people are going because they're counting their penneys and saying this is the day my dollar will go farthest. i think for some people, this is

a cultural experience. they enjoy getting into this i don't fully understand it. i don't think this is about people desperate for the lowest price lining up. >> it's not a question of desperation. it becomes i knew some of these people growing up, parents, it was a game, their sport some dads played golf, others look for, hey, i spent three weeks. i got an extra 200 bucks off the new ford i bought, whatever. it wasn't that he needed to save $200. he wanted to brag he saved $200 bucks. >> there is a time element to this. you have the day off. if you don't have anything pressing to do then maybe you would use that time you don't necessarily have when you are running to soccer practice or working to use that time to shop. it's something you ned to get done. it's another errand on your list. >> how about going online?

can it free us all? >> cybermonday. >> small business saturday. >> yesterday, i talked to family members. did you eat already? what are you doing now? >> shopping. >> you are online buying shoes or something like that. i think also when you mention the culture that has been drilled into us. everything in terms of the culture is you eat, you go shopping. that's what christmas is about. we see that from the drug store turning over from halloween to christmas stuff, right? it's earlier and earlier. >> i remember covering new jersey at the end of the year, we will be talking about the budget is coming out in a few months, what will they be calling for? the state treasurier would say i'm not going to answer that. such a big part of the revenue for the government, what comes in. so government is sort of invested in this. getting that shopping frenzy out there. i will wait until december 24th.

you will get the leftover gifts this year again, but my love comes with it. so anyway, doctors are phone for their poor penmanship, nobody 93 knows why. the same goes for presidents. at least that is based on my experience of getting a really long, really though oh and indecipherable handwritten letter from an american president i will tell you who, why he was writing to me after this. ♪

. >> so i want to tell you about the time me and bill clinton became pen pals. sort of. i'll explain. i think if i'm going to explain, you probably first need to know about where i'm from. this was the paper my family and i got every day when i was a kid, the lowell "sun" in massachusetts. do you remember the movie "the fighter" from a few years ago with mark wahlberg playing the

boxer, mechy ward, christian bale was his brother. it was set in lowell. it got it right. i am not that tough. i'm from one of the towns outside, one that is a lot less tough than lowell, within i was growing up, lowell was the closest city to us. we were checked to it in a lot of ways. it was a city that had seen its better days. it got attention from outside our area, it was usually for the wrong reasons mostly the place i am from didn't get any attention. it got a lot of attention for an exciting reason because this guy paul tsongas. now in 1992, he was running for president. this was within i was starting to get interested in politics. i didn't know much about the parties and i did know it was cool if someone who lived a few miles from our house was running

for the white house. for the most important job in the world, a guy from lowell so i became obsessed. every afternoon, the lowell "sun" would land on our doorstep. i wanted paul ssongas to win it for a minute it looked like he might. he had momentum. he had maryland. then bill clinton kind of overwhelmed him. there are a lot of reasons he didn't win, reasons i didn't fully understand. one thing i did know was that he had gotten rough. he bushed the line, he crossed the line. i was mad at bill clinton then and now i admit i held a bit of a uj from now fast forward to 2007, i'm writing a column for the new york observer, a freelance column, i'm getting paid almost nothing. i'm a nobody. not that i'm an anybody now. i was really a nobody back then

with hillary clinton setting out to run for president, i thought back to that 1992 campaign. i decided to write a column about it. it was a warning i guess to hillary's democratic opponents of what they might be in for. like all of my columns it ran and nothing happened. i think one woman from the upper west side wrote to me. she always wrote to me. usually to tell me how much she didn't like me. besides that, i got no response. then a month or so later, this comes in the mail from harlem from bill clinton's office, look at the upper right. when you are the next president, i guess your signature counts as a stamp. so i opened it up. i figured it's a form letter. i must have been added to a mailing list. maybe it's an offer to meet him for a round of golf if i do nate $50,000 to his charity, something like that. i don't know. it turns out it was this, a personal letter, a handwritten four page personal letter, also indecipherable. his penmanship is sloppy.

fortunately, it also came with this a typed translation, "dear mr. kornacki," clinton wrote. i rarely write articles, it was so selective in its use of the fact i can't resist pointing out a few things you overlooked. i read the whole thing feeling a mix of emotions. i was flattered to get it. some of his points resonated with me. some irritated me. mostly i was confused. did the former president of the united states really take the time to write to me, a complete nobody, a four page hand when we return letter to litigate details of the 1992 presidential campaign? i realized i had gotten under his skin. i started to get it t. clinton-tsongas race had become personal. tsongas zooid do you id in 1977. someone told me he never had forgiven clinton for how that '92 company went down. i was saying things in that

column things he probably never stopped hearing from tsongas' friends. i couldn't deny, too, a lot of the media into 1992 painted tsongarizona the good guys, clinton as theville label. i had no problem at 12-years-old, i believed i it. now i see more o. complexity. i wish the conflict hadn't become so personal, clinton wrote to me, the premise of your campaign was in part its pirety, the fact that anyone who disagreed with you was a pander bear. i also realized at that moment bill clinton thought i was around 40 years and and had been a staffer for the tsongas company, i decided to write him back and tell him the story i told you. i basically a had no money, no printer, no fancy stationary, anything like that. i fixed my letter had to look professional. so i went to kinko's. i paid to print on their fancy paper and tried to cut it into the same saul size that clinton's note was wren on.

i wanted to make it like my official stationary or something. i ended up botching that and the paper was uneven, it was slanted. it was diagonal. i didn't want to pay for more fancy paper. i send sent that anyway, a disaster of a note. a few weeks later, i got another note, dear steve, thanks, for your letter. i read it carefully and was very moved, by how paul tsong as touched your life. i hope we get to meet some day, sen searly, bill clinton. i'm not sure how much he meant a that last part, because i have put in a few requests for an interview since then t. answer still keeps coming back no. i'm trying not to take that personally. the reason i'm sharing this is because of this. it's the latest outrage prop for the right. it's supposedly a handwritten note from barak obama to a man who wrote to argue against the healthcare law and say quote any

citizen that disagrees with your administration is targeted and ridiculed. obama's response is respectful. he tells him he welcomes dissent and understands the health care law is popular but believes it was the right thing to do. the right is all upset about this, obama uses the word tea bagner that note. he's using it to address ritter's claim you make fun of tea baggers. anyway, we don't have official word this is an authentic word from the president. he is trying to sell it online. the letter is words on a paper. ritter told the new york post, it doesn't mean anything to me, obowl doesn't mean any of it. and i really got to disagree with him there. to me, this is a very healthy thing when a former president sends a night like this it's broof they aren't as insulated as we fear they are. criticism does get threw to

them. they hear it. they feel it. they carry it around with them. they're human, sometimes they just can't help letting someone know that. by the way, you may feel leak you are having de ja vu right now. if you saw me guest host rachel madow, you heard me then. we felt we had to tell it again. i was the editor back within i had that exchange with bill clinton, he passed away last night t. name was peter cap lan, he was a legend in the new york media world. the observer was an incubator of writers happy to learn from and work with a truly one of a kind character. if you have a minute today, i hope you will read their recollections of him. i do foe if it western for him or his deputies talking his ear off years ago within i was a

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. >> save the neck for me, clark. >> okay. eddi eddie. >> sorry. >> why are you crying? >> i told you we put it in a little too early. >> it's just dry, it's fine. >> pretty sure i couldn't have done better than that at the food network, the turkey is the bird of the season.

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the united states population is going to grow by over 90 ovemillion people,ears and almost all that growth is going to be in cities. what's the healthiest and best way for them to grow so that they really become cauldrons of prosperity and cities of opportunity? what we have found is that if that family is moved into safe, clean affordable housing, places that have access to great school systems, access to jobs and multiple transportation modes then the neighborhood begins to thrive and then really really take off. the oxygen of community redevelopment is financing. and all this rebuilding that happened could not have happened without organizations like citi. citi has formed a partnership with our company so that we can take all the lessons

from the revitalization of urban america to other cities. so we are now working in chicago and in washington, dc and newark. it's amazing how important safe, affordable housing is to the future of our society. . >> one thing i never got was cooking, finding ingredients, tediously measuring them in the kitchen. standing at the stove or over a frying pan or whatever you have for all that time t. reward of finally eating whatever it is you make, you have to clean et all up. row have a refined palette. my diet for years has been crackers and gator aid in the morning. maybe a salad but not a salad, lettuce with cheese and sour cream and dressing in a delicious taco shell bowl really

i know nothing about how to took or eat right. i made it my goal a few months ago to learn and it's been rocky. i tried to cook chicken this summer, hearing here's what it looked like. >> oh my. >> i made this a few weeks ago. some kind of grounded beef with a vegetable i struggle not to gag on. i thought i would try hard boiled eggs as a snack. i asked my friend how'd how to make tell. they laughed at me. what a dumb question. everyone knows how to do that they thought i was trying to be funny. i tried to make them. this is what happened. dam it, i'm not giving up. christmas is a few weeks away. if it was the bird of the season, it would be the turkey. of course i have no idea how to cook, capture or kill one t. butterball turkey company has a

hotbean. we figured in the spirit of this holiday weekend, let's give them a ring. maybe it will help you, too, who knows? so let's give this a try. we have l joy williams, cooking extraordinaire with us. we have marty van ness, the service of butterball on the phone to take us through this process, marty, can you hear me? are we connected here? >> i apologize, we are not using a butterball there is something called deep thrusting. there is a rye-hole slaughtered cookie. let's begin i guess it's frozen. >> fresh, thawed? >> what is it? >> a turkey. >> how would you describe it? >> fresh, thawed out turkey.

>> what are we doing here? >> by the way, at 1-800-butterball, we take calls. we are happy to help anybody. i always at the end of the call, i say you owe me one. if you have this turkey, whether it's fresh or a thawed out frozen turkey, what you want to do is -- somebody has opened it for you. i recommend they open it in the sink. clean the sink first, open it in the sink. there will be raw juices, those drain down the drain. >> you see the juices. >> take it out, put it on a pan inside a roasting pan. you probably have that in front of you. >> we got all the juice in the pan. we got the plastic bag i'm going to put aside.

>> you did everything we said not to do. >> you have no sink. >> you can open it in the pan. all those juices can be blotted up withtime. it will keep the turkey safe and the heat in the oven. >> go ahead. >> so if you padded patted it dry with paper towel. inside there are two cavities. there is a place to put stuffing two places in the turkey. the large cavity between if drumsticks. >> this way. is usually where you will find the neck of the turkey. >> what do we do? >> this way. >> put your hand in there. >> i don't use gloves, some people use plastic gloves. >> sitting there. >> inside. >> like a treasure there or something. okay. >> some people like to cook the neck i don't anymore. some like to simmer it in water

and broth and use it in their stuffing or make gravy. >> we got the neck. i'm seeing other vital organs. should they be removed as well? >> if it's in the large cavity, that would be a container or a bag of gibblet, which is the heart and the ghiz ard and the liver and some people like to cook those organ meats and chop them up and put them into gravy or stuffing. i kind of drop them in the wastecan. >> this is, this is just, i got my hands in something what's the apen diappendices. >> i don't think so. >> it has a lot of ten donees on it. >> don't look real closely. i tell callers, don't really inspect it. if it smells like fresh poultry, it's fine. >> what do be we do now? we've gutted the turkey. >> neck and gibbments are out?

>> yes. the next thing you want to, do it's already in the pan the roast pan. you will want to maybe stuff the turkey. do you have stuffing there or do you want to stop the turkey? >> we got a plate of stuffing. >> okay. >> we recommend lightly stuff. that bread will expand even more once it is in the hot cavity the juices are into it. some people cook it inside if you don't cook it all the way you can have bacteria in the stuffing and chicken and you can get food poisoning. >> she is a wealth of knowledge. i was going to get to that, about the thermometer. >> yes. >> you can stuff the little cavity at the other end. >> so a lot of people cook it separately. >> so we remove like the real

insides of the turkey. we are giving it like an artificial inside here? >> yes. for the pretty picture. >> that's kind of insulting to the turkey. you are saying your internal organs aren't good enough. >> not too much. >> you can cook the other things an use them as well, which would honor the turkey i suppose. >> in its part in the after life. >> we bought the the stuffing in. what are we going to do now? >> then you want to place a meat thermometer. we request have you brush with oil or place meat thermometer. >> got it. >> now, the thermometer if you have a stuffed turkey, you should probably put it right in the stuffling. it will most likely be the best place we can send information from our butterball.com e-mail. the temperature has to be 165 in the stuffing, a usda guideline

and because you have a product that you inserted into the turkey and it is in a raw area. that's why it needs to reach a men mum of the 165. now 170. it's perfect between that range. but the thigh meat needs to cook higher. because it's a little more muscular and needs to tenderize so 180 is done in the thigh meat. >> you baste it, right? >> we have a minute. >> you can brush with oil or spray with oil. i put it in naked. >> we got butter. >> you can wipe butter on it. sometimes the milk solids cause little burn spots. i would spray with oil or -- whatever you have. >> i dumped the tray of butter on it. then we put seasoning on. >> this is all if you havenyou .

>> marty, they told me our time is up. you've got us halfway through and we really -- >> that is nowhere halfway. >> good enough. >> the last thing, the most important, after two thirds of the cooking time tent with foil. 325 oven after about two hours on a 12 pound turkey tent with foil and cook until the thigh is 180 and the stuffing 165. >> marty, thank you so much. i'll take this turkey home and try to fit it on the subway. put it in my oven. >> go to butter ball.com and look at the videos on line. >> there it is. and i'll let you know how this turns out tomorrow if i survive or if the turkey attacks me. i want to thank marty van ness. what do we -- i still don't know how to cook a turkey. answers coming up after this. i love having a free checked bag

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time to find out what our guests know now. emily. >> let's see. look out bo and sunny. there is a new dog in washington. secretary of state john kerry adopted a yellow lab. he is adorable. >> cowboys alone at the top of the nfc east. 9 million people get access because ever medicaid expansion but not enough doctors to take care of them. >> i know not to go to steve's for thanksgiving dinner. you don't have to make a turkey. my mom made a roast. there are no giblets. >> a recent high court ruling in the dominican republic is causing a lot of fear and misinformation regarding citizenship for haitians in the country. so we should be on the watch for that what's going on in the country because there is some fear and violence on the ground

even though both countries haiti and dominican republic are in talks to hammer this out. we should be on watch. >> you also learned valuable cooking tips from me. >> no, i did not. >> you're welcome. i learned bazle has something in common with chris christie. one of two new york area cowboy fans apparently that i know of. so my thanks to emily, josh, l. joy william, raul reyes, thanks for getting up today and thank you for joining us for today's up. tomorrow we'll find out if my turkey experiment proved to be anything close to edible. stay tuned. we'll talk about politics and your family. how did it go on the thanksgiving table. up next is melissa harris-perry, walmart and workers demonstrators fanned out nation wide on black friday protesting the practices, how is walmart reacting, plus how to be happy. might sound simple but it is anything but. melissa and her panel of happiness experts help you sort

out how to achieve it. it's the holiday weekend so be happy. stick around. melissa is next. we'll see you tomorrow at 8:00, thanks for getting up. [ grunts softly ]

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yep. got all the cozies. [ grandma ] with new fedex one rate, i could fill a box and ship it for one flat rate. so i knit until it was full. you'd be crazy not to. is that nana? [ male announcer ] fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex. this morning my question, what makes you happy? plus, what your college tuition dollars are really buying. and, the young entrepreneur, building a business and rebuilding lives through lobster. but first, a new holiday tradition. the walmart wars. good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. diehard fans who have been watching since last thanksgiving should be prepared to feel a bit of