lost since it began in december of 2007. you can bet we're going to hear from the president on this. he's on the road, of sorts, talking to small business owners in maryland today, weather permitting, of course. meanwhile, senate democrats, expected to move on a jobs bill on monday. >> senior aides say they're going to do jobs piece by piece, hoping they can get bipartisan support. let's get right to mike viqueira who has the early reaction to these jobs reports and bracing for what we like to call snowmageddon here in washington. >> reporter: or the snow-pocalyp snow-pocalypse. you remember back in early december, the president had visited allentown, pennsylvania, that same day, the numbers had come out for november. the numbers had ticked down 0.2%, and hugs all around in the white house. this time, down 0.3%. any minute, we can expect to see

david axelrod do a tumbling run up the driveway at the white house, because as a political matter, that number is what everybody is focused on. the administration itself, and the budget that was released earlier this week on monday, had assumed the unemployment rate would stay up around 10% for the remainder of this year. that city may happen. there's no question about it, but from the short-term, this is good news for republicans, even as yesterday the democratic leadership of congress, nancy pelosi, harry reid, steny hoyer and dick durbin were here, talking about a jobs bill and health care, but talking about a jobs bill, the senate says they're going to try to take something up next week. that is the biggest part of the urgency, as far as democrats are concerned on capitol hill. meanwhile, republicans already out with a press release, e-mailed to all of us, i'm sure you got it today, showing the current jobs number evidence of stagnation. >> a word we're probably going to hear more and more. thank you, mike viqueira, and savannah, by the way, notice we have not seen any news this morning of some sort of health care plan after that meeting between the president and congressional democrats. that's not good news for health care. >> well, they're tabling that until they do jobs.

>> exactly. the other big story this morning, toyota, the company is still in damage control mode. we now have the first apology from the top. the ceo, akio toyoda. >> people, people who drive the toyota, who care about toyota, i'm a little bit worried about while they are driving, they be a little bit cautious. but, believe me, toyota's care is safety, but we are trying to increase product better. >> grandson of the founder there, but with millions waiting for a gas pedal fix anda another possible recall looming for prius models, the worldwide mess seems far from over. nbc's tom costello joins us now. let's start with that rumor of a full-fledged recall of the prius. where do things stand this morning? >> well, the company would not address whether it's going to do a recall. this is interesting, because

yesterday, the nikkei news service in tokyo, which is really pretty reputable reported that toyota was going to recall 7,000 priuses. we reported that the nikkei news service was reporting that. toyota's stock is down some 20% in the last two weeks. toyota's ceo bowed very low and he apologized, as you saw there, but he also said that the company is in a crisis. he, however, did not talk about whether the company had ever refused to release information regarding safety. it is now under extraordinary pressure from the u.s. government and the japanese government to launch an investigation into the brakes on the prius. yesterday, yesterday morning, the u.s. government had 124 reports of brakes not responding quickly enough. now that number has jumped to more than 300. this has become the latest concern for toyota, as it is in full damage control. there is a wide body of speculation out there that the company simply let quality control get away from it. >> well, tom, they've got a

public relations problem, just the tip of the iceberg there. thank you for your report. we'll check in with you on this next week too. moving to politics, the eyes of washington will be on nashville this weekend for the first annual tea party convention. and the grassroots conservative group has a big name for its headliner, former alaska governor, sarah palin. domenico montanaro is in nashville for us this morning. what can we expect from this weekend? >> reporter: you can see behind me, people are starting to fill in, having some breakfast. we'll see other speakers this morning, there's guy from junkscience.com, climate change doesn't exist, that kind of stuff. you'll see a lot of other speakers throughout the day. but, you know, palin is the main attraction. there's been a lot of controversy surrounding this convention, surrounding -- talking about its organizers, personal finances, whether or not this should be a for-profit event. but, you know, people here, they just want to see sarah palin. they don't mind that the prices

were as high as they are. of course, they'd like to pay less, but they want to see sarah palin. they're fired up and we've got -- we're having a lot of fun out here this morning. >> looks like you're having breakfast too, domenico. is that the buffet right behind you? >> reporter: you know, we're not allowed to kind of take any of this stuff. i tried to sneak something a little earlier, but they were like, no, not allowed. we'll see. >> all right, domenico. we'll be checking in with you all weekend. you are nbc's presence there in nashville. too bad it's not memphis, you'd have some good barbecue. >> reporter: nashville's good too. >> fair enough. we'll see you. moving on, in los angeles, this could be the day, maybe, that michael jackson's doctor is charged in connection with his death. or then, again, maybe not. either way, dr. conrad murray reportedly plans to surrender. nbc's stephanie stanton is at the courthouse for us this morning out there. so what do we know now? >> reporter: well, good morning, chuck. this appears to be a game of chess between the d.a. and dr.

conrad murray's attorneys. and everyone is waiting to see what the next move will be. so far, no charges have been filed, but the media has descended here upon the courthouse at l.a.x., waiting to see what will happen, waiting to see if dr. conrad murray will, in fact, show up. there was supposed to be a hearing here this morning at 1:30 this afternoon. that hearing canceled when talks broke down between prosecutors and defense attorneys. now, defense attorneys don't want murray to make a formal court appearance, where a judge would then set bail. they want to avoid a public hearing. instead, they want murray to be able to post bail at a police station. now, the sheriff department's spokesperson here in los angeles told us yesterday that dr. murray will not be arraigned here today. in fact, he gave his officers a stand down order. but late last night, a spokesperson for dr. murray came out saying that he and his lawyers are fed up waiting. they say that they've been negotiating since tuesday and they just want this thing to be done. a spokesperson saying that dr. murray will show up here today

at 1:30 p.m., whether or not he is charged. they say that if he's not charged, he's then going to hop a plane back to houston. that's what's happening here in los angeles. back to you guys. >> nbc's stephanie stanton, a little bizarre, but would you expect anything else from the michael jackson case. >> i think it's just par for the course. >> yeah. business as usual. >> exactly. all right. we've dispensed with the real news. let's get to sports. apparently there's a game this weekend. lindsay czarniak covers sports for our local nbc affiliate. >> you know it's football, right? >> i was apprised of that this weekend. >> you don't have to be a sports nut to understand why this game is going to be huge and it's going to be so memorable, it's because of the story line. and when you look at new orleans and that team and since that city had the devastation of hurricane katrina, this team has really been a distraction for them. so for them to make it all the way to the super bowl is another thing that they can just hitch their star to. it's like, drew brees is a

phenomenal quarterback, but when you look at the opposition and you have the indianapolis colts and peyton manning, peyton manning is an absolute surgeon of the offense. he was a guy, if he was a doctor -- >> i was just saying that this morning. >> we should have had that conversation. >> in fact, that was my line. sorry. >> if he had a group of interns, he could turn them into very qualified physicians and make it look very, very easy. this is going to be a game where it will come down to the two quarterbacks dueling it out against one another. but the emotion that is following the saints is incredible. >> already, they've planned a parade on tuesday. >> yeah! >> they've already planned the parade, even if it's a loss, they're that excited. the other stat i heard yesterday, 87% of all televisions in new orleans were tuned to the new orleans saints/vikings game. it's an unbelievable number and how excited. quick, archie manning, the former saints quarterback, father of peyton manning, how many times will we see him on the tv screen on sunday night? >> biting his nails -- >> who is he rooting for?

>> he said he's going to root for his son, he has to root for peyton, but they're from that area. and they've been referred to as the kennedys of new orleans. that's how revered -- >> peyton's son went to newman school, right there in new orleans. >> i was down in miami yesterday and i went to the saints availability pre-super bowl and we were talking to drew brees and a couple of other guys and they were all talking about the emotion that was backing them. but this is why i think it's going to be very difficult for the saints to pull it out, because they have never been to a super bowl. and when you've got a week leading up to a game and all these distractions, they're pros, they'll be able to put it aside, but it's something people don't think about. >> who's favorite? >> colts. it's going to be a great game. >> by the way, to haitian natives, pierre garsewn of the colts, both will be going to haiti after the game. they have a double-edged sword. >> very emotional. >> lindsay czarniak, thank you

so much. the weather is the other big story, particularly well for us. and when it's about us, we'll talk about it even more. a massive snowstorm is expected to move into the nation's capital and point south this afternoon. the weather channel's paul goodloe is monitoring this blast, winter blast that's coming at us. okay. how many inches are we expecting right here at the nbc washington bureau? because, really, that's all we care about. >> reporter: locally, we could see easily 1 to 2 feet of snow. in parts of the west, you're thinking, that's just a regular snowstorm. but here in d.c., that's a huge amount. could be a historic amount of snow. last time we picked up more than 20 inches of snow here in d.c. was back in 1922. so we're talking 88 years ago. and in fact, if we get above, say, 21 inches, that will be the second biggest snowstorm on record, ever here in d.c. and we're expecting the snow to start literally in the next couple of hours. right now, it's cloudy and

temperatures in the mid-30s. temperatures will fall back to the low 30s, upper 20s as we head throughout the next 36 hours. starting in under an hour, 10:00 local time, we have a winter storm warning in effect from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. on saturday, because we could see that 1 to 2 feet of snow. and even just back here, the week before christmas, december 1 18th, they picked up 16 inches of snow. that shut down the city, closed schools for three days. i guess the only good thing about this snowstorm is the timing. it starts later on this afternoon and continues into the weekend. the problem might be, though, still trying to get those schools open for monday morning. chuck? >> thanks a lot. you say it's good news that this storm's coming on a weekend, some of us say, maybe not so much. >> we don't look at it that way, but thank you for trying to be positive. up next on "the daily rundown," good news/bad news today on the job front. the unemployment rate may have dropped, but it's not good news behind the numbers. we'll ask some experts. and later on, should accused

terrorists be tried in u.s. civilian courtrooms? we'll talk to a man who's done it. the attorney who defended 9/11 co-conspirator zacarias moussaoui in federal court. he'll be here live in the studio. but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. he's on the road today to suburban washington, maryland, weather permitting. you're watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. i never as a woman thought i'd get a heart attack.

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one of those mixed messages on the job front this morning, the unemployment rate, surprisingly dropped below 10% to 9.7%. that's the good news. the bad news, 20,000 more jobs were cut last month, adding to the 8.4 million jobs that have disappeared since this recession began. >> meanwhile, washington is working overtime to look aggressive on this issue. the president is pitching small business help today in maryland and senate democrats are looking to pass a jobs bill, perhaps as early as next week, perhaps with some republicans on board. joining us now, two exerts, cnbc's steve liesman and greg ip with the economist. when i hear the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7%, call me crazy, that sounds like good news, and yet we hear the early reaction expressing some caution about this, that there's more than meets the eye here. explain. >> there are some cross currents in this report. the reason why, when the government does its jobs report,

there are actually two reports in there. the first one, they go to employers and they say, did you hire or fire people? and this month, they said, we cut 20,000 jobs. in the second report, they go to families and ask, are you working or not? when they asked the family, they discovered over 500,000 more had jobs and about a similar number had come off the unemployment rolls. so you have two different signals. >> what do you make of that? >> which do you want to believe? the truth is probably somewhere in between. i think that by and large, this is a very positive report. the unemployment rate had been unusually high, given, we know, what was going on in the economy overall. we also saw the first gain in manufacturing employment in over two years, which lines up with other data we see. and the other thing is a lot of people have been concerned about the hidden unemployed, the people who have just given up the job search. and that number dropped to about 16.5%. so aside from that puzzling and somewhat discouraging number from the employers, there's a lot of good news in this report. >> interesting. hey, steve, both the jobs nourm,

but then we have this stuff that's going on in europe, which is really sort of beating up the market over the last couple of days. how's the market going to react to this jobs report or is it ignoring it and still sort of feeling shell shocked over this issue in europe? >> well, at the moment, chuck, the jobs number is trumping concern about debt in greece. just to be clear, the problem with greece is not a big problem in and of itself. what they see it as is emblem attic of a problem with governments borrowing too much and then not paying it back. you wouldn't get too excited if georgia had a debt problem in the united states. that's really what it is, one component of the european union. the trouble is, you add in what they call the pigs, right? portugal, ireland, italy, greece, and spain -- >> a horrible name. >> that's what they call -- >> i'm sure they mean that in the best possible way. that's crazy.

you guys and your acronyms on wall street. we think washington's bad. >> apparently barkley sent a memo around saying don't use that anymore, but it's a convenient way of putting together five countries that have very similar economic troubles. >> fair enough. fair enough. going back to this jobs report, what is it now that needs to be done by the administration in this jobs bill that will continue to lower this number? >> well, one of the puzzles is, with the economy now having been growing for over six months, why aren't employers hiring? there are a couple of reasons. first of all, it turns out they've been able to produce a lot of stuff using the people they already have. even though profits are up, they don't have a strong compulsion to hire. and the other is uncertainty. they keep being told how bad the economy is and how this has been a terrible crisis and so on and they're not really sure what's happening. so the administration has wisely put forth this plan that would give employers a $5,000 per job credit to hire people. and there are employers out there who are just on the fence, do i hire or don't i hire? and this is designed to push them over the hiring side --

>> we've got -- steve, i was going to ask you real quick, is it officially a jobless recovery? >> no, not yet. right now, some of the metrics are showing we're doing better than we were in the place where we got the jobless recovery, which was the '91 or 2000 recession. it's still early yet for when we think the recession ended, which is, say, june, maybe july, it's not been officially declared over yet, but when it is, we think it's going to be in the summertime. i would just want to add to what gregg was saying. the amount of hours worked actually increased in this, as did overtime, and wages were pretty good. those people who are working are doing better. and i know it's hard to look at a 10% unemployment rate and say, how do we ever get out of this. in fact, the recession ends, it's the fate of the 90% who are employed that will find our way out of this recession. if they work longer hours and make more money, the economy will come back that way. >> interesting. steve liesman, greg ip, thank you for getting us behind the numbers this morning. it's always very important to do

that. up next, today's top ten in the 2010. which governors are ripe for the picking? plus, another big blow in illinois politics. this is the democrat running for lieutenant governor. >> i assure you, i promise you, i never touched the woman, i never tried to cut her throat, i never did anything like that. >> well, there you go. >> oh, was that a campaign slogan or -- >> i didn't cut her throat. wow. >> well, we'll delve into that. but first, thanks to the toyota recall, detroit speak has become washington speak today. today's glossary word, "electronic throttles." turns out toyota uses an electronic throttle or a computer-controlled acceleration. the problem is, the transportation department thinks electromagnetic interference may be causing the accelerator problems. all the electronic hardware in the car gives off interference, anti-lock brakes, keyless entry, chuck's blackberry -- >> i was just going to say. >> i hope you get the idea me

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accu-chek customer care born in the usa. here we are in the 2010. just 270 days, eight months and 28 days until e-day in november 2010. and since it's friday, it's time for a new nbc news political unit top ten. this week, governors. which governor mansions are most susceptible to a party switch this year. here are our top ten takeovers. start at number ten, put wyoming there. the current governor, freudenthal is term limited. he might challenge that, run for a third term, if he does, he would drop out of our list because he would be favored to hold it. number nine, connecticut. a red to blue we're expecting, an open seat. current governor jody rell not running again. number eight, iowa. chet culver, the democratic governor is officially the most vulnerable incumbent seeking re-election.

former governor terry branstad is the favorite on the republican side. number seven, pennsylvania, blue to red. a big get for the republicans if they get this. their field much stronger than the democratic field. ed rendell, term limited, can't run again. number six, michigan, another big get. that is very much in double digits. the republican field has a ton of strong candidates. the democrats are still searching for a candidate. number five, tennessee. another one that's expected to go from blue to red. democratic governor phil bredesen can't run again. there's no other conservative democrat that seems to be as strong as he is. the republican field crowded, but the winner of that is expected to be favored. number four, vermont, a potential democratic pickup here. the current governor, jim douglas, not running again. his republican governor, jim douby could keep it close. anything could happen in vermont, but the democrats feel good about it. number three, oklahoma, see tennessee. ted henry, the democratic governor can't run again.

the republicans are favored to pick that one back up. number two, hawaii, this is one of those rare red to blues that we're expecting. lindali lingle, she can't run again. and number one, kansas. kathleen sebelius left there to join the obama administration. her lieutenant governor, a former republican, mark parkinson, not seeking another term. it's sam brownback who almost has a clear field for this entire thing. that's today's top ten, but it's these highly competitive races that political junkies will be looking at them. 11 of them. arizona, colorado, florida, illinois, massachusetts, minnesota, nevada, ohio, rhode island, texas, and wisconsin. look, 36 governorships are up. so many of them are going to be close. and they don't necessarily move in the way the nation moves, because internal dynamics will move those things in-state

dynamics on that. it's going to be a wild year. winners of these governors' races matter though, when it comes to congress, because the census is coming and reapportionme reapportionment. got to move on to one governor's race that is getting wild. less than 72 hours after the polls close in illinois, it's a big mess. scott lee cohen, he's a little-known millionaire pawn broker who came out of nowhere to win the democratic primary for lieutenant governor. now, he's admitted to using injectable steroids, which allegedly resulted into fits of rage, a 2005 arrest after a prostitute he was living with claimed he'd put a knife to her throat. you heard earlier, he denies that charge. he also allegedly skipped child support payments to his ex-wife, even as he was pouring $2 million of his own money into his campaign. so last night, cohen appeared on chicago tv with that ex-wife and he said he would not step down and he tried to explain. >> i never knew her as a prostitute. she was a massage therapist. i still don't believe that she

was a prostitute, even though, you know, she pleaded guilty to something. it was a bad time in my life. you know, i was trying to put muscle on. >> okay. she was a massage therapist, i thought, so he claims. look, here's the real problem here. the current governor, pat quinn, illinois's crazy, they elect their lieutenant governors separately in primaries, but for the general, he actually would have to run with him as his running mate. it would be the quinn/cohen ticket, and republicans are just licking their chops about this. quinn's trying to get him to quit the race. i'll tell you what could happen. 20 years ago, la ruchy won the lieutenant governorship nomination in the democrats and the democratic nominee left the party and tried to run as an independent so he wouldn't have to be associated with him. this is barack obama's home state. what has happened? this place is completely starting to rot away on the democratic side. rod blagojevich, our friend, mr. cohen here. unbelievable. >> that's crazy. all right. well, chuck, i'm glad we had it on tape, i might not have

believed you. >> by the way, politics is cutthroat, apparently. >> apparently. coming up, from cyberspace to currency and now chicken feet. the tensions are build between the u.s. and china. but first, today's trivia question from "the almanac of american politics." where did democratic congressman heath shuler of north carolina play immediately after he left the washington redskins? this is "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] crunch time, wheat thins. you and your tasty whole grain. this can only end one way. [ crunch ] wheat thins. toasted. whole grain. crunch. the crunch is calling.

and you have a heart attack. that's what happened to me. i'm on an aspirin regimen now. my doctor told me

it's the easiest preventative thing you can do. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. see your doctor. simple. well, we know you're still recovering from illinois lieutenant governor politics, we're going to reset the day with a look at the top stories. >> the january unemployment rate is the big story today. it dropped unexpectedly to 9.7%. that's the lowest in five months, but overall the jobs picture is mixed. revised data for the past year

shows the economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the start of the recession in december 2007. for the first time, toyota's chief executive is apologizing for the safety problems affecting his company's cars. but at the same time, a japanese transportation official is criticizing toyota, saying the company is not taking the prius brake problem seriously enough. and what we like to call snow-pocalypse. a major weren't storm already dumping snow on parts of the carolinas. as much as 2 feet of snow could fall here in d.c., which is needless to say, this town doesn't really handle it that way. >> we just got pounded with a foot and a half of snow last month. it's like we're minnesota all of a sudden. >> we can't handle it. the latest news is the escalating battle between the u.s. and china. the latest incident is a dispute over chicken feet. china is moving today to slap a huge tariff on imported chicken feet, accusing the u.s. of flooding the market -- who

knew -- and hurting u.s. producers. >> it may sound bizarre, but it's the latest of a series of disputes between the united states and china. daniel damby is the u.s. diplomatic correspondent for the u.s. times. i got this morning, the economist, there it is. the u.s. first, china here, the big dragon, and a little barack obama sitting in his chair. look, this has implications on iran, this has implications on all sorts of issues that's going on. how bad is it right now, relations between u.s. and china? >> i think the big point is that china isn't the pushover, but that doesn't make it a superpower. we've seen two big events in the last few weeks. we've seen the google news, the dispute over google. we've seen the $6.4 billion in sales to taiwan, which really made china furious. and we've got one more big thing coming up, which is the dalai lama, what's going to be in town in about ten days' time, and that's making china wild.

so the relationship is bumpy, it's going to get bumpier, but i don't think anyone should believe that china is an equal of the u.s. right now. >> what do you mean by that? a lot of people have the perception that we're in hoc to china, they hold so much u.s. debt, that they really do old all the cards? >> i think we need to get real. china is going to be a difficult partner, it's not always going to do what the u.s. says, but its economy is a third the size of the u.s., it's going to be a long time before it overtakes the u.s. its army and military is only now beginning that whole process of modernization. and yes, the u.s. is in hoc to china, but only a tiny proportion of u.s. treasury bills overall are owned by china. and actually, china has an awful lot more to lose if the value of that goes down than people normally think. >> it's interesting, the first year, it seems, of the obama administration, it was all about reaching out to china. it was almost like creating a g-2 of sorts instead of a g-8 or

g-20. all the backgrounders that i and savannah would get would be like, no, no, we're retaching ot to china, trying to make this new partnership. and all of a sudden, it seems like there's a change in tone. >> i think it's more likely to be more of a screwup than a change in tone. they deliberately delayed two of the most contentious issues, which is the arms sale to taiwan and the meeting with the dalai lama. they didn't want to do that last year, because you had obama going to china in november, copenhagen in december, they didn't want to hurt the atmospherics. >> so to make it feel as if there's some sort -- >> and there's one extra thing as well. the last three presidents, the bushes and clinton both had a bad start with china, various disputes, and then got better. obama looks like he's got it the other way around. >> and one other piece of this is iran. the foreign minister from china not surprisingly said, quote, to talk about sanctions at the

moment will complicate the situation and might stand in the way of finding a diplomatic solution. a shot across the bow that, once again, china may be the obstacle to the u.s. trying to build a coalition for sanctions against iran. >> yeah. that's really interesting. a few years ago, i remember talking to a senior diplomat, two or three years ago, and he says, china won't ever want to just be standing out there alone. it will always hide behind russia. but if russia moves, china will move. >> that's what they kept saying. >> that's not so certain anymore. on the other hand, you have to bear in mind, that all this u.s. language about isolating china diplomatically doesn't look like that in large part to the world. you go to africa, you go to parts of latin america, talk about isolating china, doesn't sound sensible. >> daniel dombey, thanks for putting some perspective on this, every day it seems like there's a new headline about u.s. versus china in the last few weeks. >> thanks so much for the perspective. >> we won't put him on the spot, but where did democratic congressman shuler play after he

left the washington redskins? >> this is a super bowl-themed question. >> we're like jeopardy here. >> it's either the saints or the colts and in this case, the answer is, the saints. moving on. in honor of black history month, nbc's partner website, thegrio.com has compiled a list of 100 people who are changing the course of american history. >> more than a dozen of thegrio's history makers in the making are in politics. joining us now is david wilson, founding and managing editor of thegrio.com. david, we want to get to your list in a second, but let's start with the news. we, of course, reported along with everybody else, unemployment down across the country. but for african-americans, inside those numbers, a different story. >> yes, the numbers are actually up. the african-american numbers, overall, about 16.5%. for black men, it's over 17%. so the president, it's good that he's addressing jobs. you know, he mentioned that in the state of the union address. but soon he's going to have to really talk about the disparity.

you know, why is african-american unemployment going up, while everyone else's is going down? i think that's very important and the administration will have to tackle this. >> you know, it's interesting, david, every time he's asked that question, he really ducks it. he always says, well, look, this isn't -- we need to work on the overall situation and it will help everybody, but he ducks it. do you think we're going to come to a point where he can't duck this anymore? >> i think he will. i mean, look, you had the black caucus come out last year and really, you know, take on the president and say, look, you have to address the african-american community. you know, what works for everyone else doesn't seem to be working for our community. so i think he will have to, you know, really be very specific about what he will do and what he intends to do for african-americans, for latino americans and everyone else. and i think that's something that he hasn't done quite clearly yet. >> and let's talk about your list, as we said. thegarriagregri thegrio.com has put together a list of 100 history makers in the making.

we had melody barnes the white house domestic policy adviser on earlier in the week. the talk to us about why you selected these people on this list. i see erik holder, lisa jackson. you had a lot of folks to choose from. >> one of the requirements is that these individuals, you know, shouldn't just have an impact within the african-american community, but they'll eventually have an impact throughout all of america. and that was the big requirement. and we have some very interesting people. i see you have a lot of the more established individuals on the screen there, but we have some other folks who are really up and comers that, you know, we say, look, you better watch out for these folks. one is anthony woods. he lost a bid for a congressional seat in california. he was in the military, kicked out for don't ask, don't tell, because of don't ask, don't tell policies. now he's based in d.c. and, you know, you're certain to hear more from him. vernon parker, mayor of paradise valley, arizona, a republican, who's running for congress soon. he's planning a run for

congress. these are some individuals. bakari sellers, a yunlg individual from south carolina, a state representative of south carolina. he's another trailblazer. there are a lot of people that we believe you guys will be talking about for some time to come. >> david, i love your list, and i'm glad you included a lot of mayors. that's where it starts. mayors are on the front lines of american government here. fascinating read. you've got to get folks to keep looking at it all year. >> and a reminder, you can read about the 100 people on t thegrio's list of 100 history makers in the maker on thegrio.com. coming up, the messy fast food must have that's getting a much-needed makeover. plus, the uproar of putting suspected terrorists on trial in civilian courts. we go inside the debate with someone who's been inside the room, the courtroom. defendant ed mcmahon defended 9/11 co-conspirator, zacarias

moussaoui. we'll ask him his opinion on all this. but first, white house soup of the day. and it looks like the white house has picked a favorite in the super bowl because of the soup of the day, seafood gumbo. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol... a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthris pain all day. and when it comes to the playoffs, we get together every year to watch it. with walmart's prices, i can afford all the food it takes to make everyone happy -- no matter how many times they come back for more. [ female announcer ] people who spent $100 a week at the leading national supermarkets on frequently purchased groceries could have saved $55 in just one month by shopping at walmart. [ mom ] game time costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart.

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the obama administration has been under fire for its decision to try the 9/11 mastermind, khalid shaikh mohammed, in federal court instead of in a trial. >> other terrorists have been tried in federal court. one of those cases was the trial of 9/11 co-conspirator, zacarias moussaoui. edward mcmahon was moussaoui's defense attorney. i'm just going to ask you, where do you come down on this?

khalid shaikh mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, should he be tried in civilian court, something you have experience with, or in a military commission? >> i believe he should be tried in civilian court. i believe the civilian courts are the ones that are capable of handling these tries. and frankly, the military commissions, especially as constituted in guantanamo, were just atrocious. they couldn't put on a case. >> what do you mean by that? >> well, they couldn't -- for example, in the 9/11 case in guantanamo, in the year -- i was there for a year and a half, and we never got one item of discovery that didn't have a moussaoui exhibit sticker on it. they don't have paralegals, they don't have any experience in trying death penalty cases. the military has had two death penalty trials and the fed have had a couple hundred of them. >> but what about this notion that in military commissions, there are not as many legal rights granted to these detainees? some people think it's really offensive to give these terrorists u.s. legal rights. >> well, that doesn't bother me. if you're going to have a

trial -- i mean, i heard gibbs on the radio a couple days ago guaranteeing an execution. how do you say you're going to give somebody a fair criminal trial and say this is our standards of justice and then announce the sentence beforehand? you know, khalid shaikh mohammed would agree with him perfectly. he's ready to be killed and he would let gibbs do it himself. >> what about the other criticism here is just simply the platform. is it this idea it himself. >> what about the platform? this idea you would give ksm this public platform to maybe decide to get his own -- represent himself and go up there and start railing and ranting and raving in the courtroom. >> the federal -- >> moussaoui did do that. >> dedo that but when is the last time you heard from him? >> do you not think there's a difference between a moussaoui and a ksm? >> i'm not sure there is. moussaoui was more effusive person and hadn't been treated

the way ksm has been treated the last few years. i don't think that's any -- look, in guantanamo ksm wrote a manifesto as to why he did 9/11. it's offensive and rude. what did the judge in guantanamo do? put it on the internet. >> you're saying there's a platform in military commissions just as much as there's a platform in federal court? >> the platform comes with the territory. if you're going to have a trial, just go ahead and detain him forever if you're afraid they may not get executed or might say something in open court. come on. don't we have any faith at all in our legal system at all? >> are they still in legal limbo? i know the president has made some changes that he thinks will make them pass constitutional muster. is it more a question mark whether these would be upheld by the supreme court? >> there's another case pending that's going to go to trial in guantanamo despite the promise to close the place. i don't know but i would imagine

they will appeal like the case in new york to decide whether or not the procedures in the military commissions act pass muster. it will just be delay and delay and delay. it wouldn't be in a federal court. >> most likely whatever compromise they come up with, they will move to some secure location because clearly politicians have decided like the mayor of new york city, hey, i will say it will cost me too much money so move it and they may pull funding. is that a realistic way, to go to a military base and conduct a trial? >> i think it would be. i wouldn't have a problem. security concerns, how do you really secure foley square if you decide to have a trial there? that's a legitimate concern about closing down chinatown and the financial district and even in alexandria since i saw savannah there at that trial, the patent and trademark office, the huge hotel. you would close the courthouse

down. >> ed macmahon thank you. we hope you'll come back. >> one of the biggest changes in fast food in generations. ready for football is this the saints and colts may be play in for the trophy. that's not the only thing this sunday. how members of congress are getting into the game. i keep track of my entire business on this spreadsheet... and all of these. paid invoices go right here. bang! - that hasn't been paid yet. - what? - huh-uh. - all my business information is just a phone call away-- to my wife... who's not answering. announcer: there's a better way to run your business. intuit quickbooks online organizes your business in one place. it easily creates invoices and helps you stay on top of your business anytime, anywhere. this is way better. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com.

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okay. the shallow end before we go. big change in the fast world to tell you about. the heinz ketchup packet. you can dunk it, dip it, and if you're a traditionalist you can still squeeze it. such a feat of engineering. people have complained about the tiny packets. now heinz is catching up. get it? for a better on the go condiment. i didn't know that bothered me until i saw that. >> stomping on ketchup packets was one of our favorite pastimes. >> you can test it out. >> i don't think we can stomp anymore. colts/saints, the super bowl. 56 short hours away. the pregame show starts in about five minutes. that means it is time for the l lawmakers from the teams' home states to make their bets and then broadcast it to the rest of the world. let's talk about the high stakes. how about louisiana republican steve scalise and andre carson.

one has to wear a tie with the other team's logo on it. surf against turf. five pounds of indiana steak against five pounds of louisiana gulf shrimp. of course the governors are making a bet. i don't know. maybe the mannings will make a bet. >> we'll see. enjoy the super bowl. see you monday. oh sure, we have plenty of employees that... you can label as "different." like janice. uh-huh. yeah. fashion deficient.

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a massive winter storm is expected to dump up to two feet of snow in some areas including washington, d.c. complete details ahead. good morning. i'm david shuster reporting from our studios in burbank, los angeles, california. breaking news on the jobs front. an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate from 10% to 9.7% but how many more americans have stopped even looking for work?

plus, the revised labor department figures show 8.5 million jobs have been lost in this recession, the most since world war ii. we'll talk with white house senior economic adviser christina romer. plus, breaking news on sarah palin and the actions her husband took while she was governor of alaska. shocking e-mails describing his role as the so-called first dude. >> i knew that there is a possibility this could turn into a frenzy because of the amount of blood that was in the water. we've got an exclusive interview with the lifeguard who risked his life to try to save a surfer from a swarm of sharks. and a truck plows into a convenience store, but it really wasn't a surprise. we begin with breaking news on the jobs department. january's unemployment rate