to advice from her caddie rather than his economicadvisers. >> ooh. still to come, christine o'donnell and dirni idining wit president. tomorrow night's dinner. congresswoman sheila jackson-lee sdwro joins us this hour and plus the exploding poverty rate. good afternoon, i'm kelly o'donnell andrea mitchell is still on assignment. the annual voter summits one of this year's biggest gathering and practically a required stop for republican presidential hopef hopefuls. most anticipated moment of the day is about to come up in two hours when the tea party's latest sensation christine o'donnell takes center stage. and nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins me now. kelly, all right, there are a

lot of different things going on at this value voters summit, but i guess the main thing is, bashing president obama? >> reporter: that certainly is a big part of it, nora. an eclipse here. two o'donnells talking about a third o'donnell, all unrelated. been a strange few days. >> yeah. >> reporter: here you have a newcomer from, really, the movement. the tea party movement. never held office before but she'll hold the attention at this value voters' summit. and the presidential context is almost taking a back seat to that. when you look at some of the kind of clips we've assembled of key moments today to give you a sense of some of the emotion and ideology and political strategy involved, here are some of the headliners. >> i think it's going about to great time for us to convene those death panels and finally offer a lethal injection to the kind of congressional arrogance

that we have had lording it over us for so long. >> or like speaker pelosi who has been busy sticking the taxpayer with her $100,000 bar tab for alcohol on the military jets that she's flying. >> a recession is when your neighbor loses his job. a depression is when you lose your job. and a recovery is when nancy pelosi loses her job. >> i guess it is welcome to it nancy pelosi, harry reid, president obama farewell party. it's been a pretty tough year for those three. their numbers are going down the chute faster than a jetblue flight attendant. >> republican leaders need to be careful about being overconfident. 's in a setting like that, it really is playing to the room and you definitely had some of that red meat tone.

it was interesting when how moderate views were in delaware reaching out to voters who might not agree with her and clearly trying to appeal to potential independents if she has a real shot at winning in november. >> that's right. we'll be waiting to see christine o'donnell later. kelly o'donnell good to see you. thanks so much. and the tea party movement is forcing a redraft. a subject of mike's sharer's cover story for "time" magazine. the white house correspondent and joins us now. michael, great cover story and, wow, a week of sort of tea party discussion, certainly with christine o'donnell as their latest candidate to really deliver an upset. talk first about the tea party. one of the most fascinating things about it, it's not a hierarchical. how does that benefit? >> anybody can join it.

people feel they can come soo into it. one of the defining thing, it's difficult to define. mostly collected around fiscal issues and a number of them are polling well. a majority of america is concerned about deficits now. very concerned about government spending right now. these are the core tea party issues. the question we're seeing in delaware whether the tea party can break out of basically a movement with the republican party having a lot of impact on the primaries to the broader public, independent voters, do they begin to take a second look at this group of people who once upon a time were a group of funny hats and signs, and say, wait. maybe something's here. >> first saw the tea party united in anger. anger at washington, anger at institutions, at president obama, anger at deficit. now the question becomes, once a movement starts to gel, people want to know what do they exactly stand for and what does christine o'donnell stand for? anything we know they actually stand for in particular, other

than being against this big spending? >> it depends. just said, it's a diverse movement, lots of different people will tell you different thing, but it is around fiscal issues. christine o'donnell will speak to value voters and sort of an exception to the rule of tea party right now. a lot of overlapping social conservatives and tea party activists but not the same movement at all. what it stands for, broadly speaking, is unhappy with movofe president's packages, health care, the stimulus. right now mostly a reaction what we've seen over the last year and a half. >> i want to read this part of your article congress has seen a sudden influx of no-compromise conservatives before. in 1994, 73 new republicans stormted into the house. newly rubben-controlled congress, votes on congressional

term limits and a balanced-budget amendment to the constituti constitution. at a result, of the gop newcomers -- i don't know how many tea partiers but republicans who field beholden to tea party supporters and voters. right? >> it will be a minority. and it will be a question of how much they stick together and how much they really do become obstruction ichts and part of the congressional body. we're seeing in this country an increase in a cycle of political revolt. obama came in on a wave in 2008. looked like we have another wave going in the other direction in 2010. there was a -- had you the wave in 1994. go back to barry goldwater. popular uprising of people unhappy with what's happening. >> happy to see a united states senate with christine o'donnell, sharron angle, rand paul -- >> make it fun for us. >> absolutely. another difficult story. how did natalee holloway's

mother sneak into a peru priz ton surprise joran van der sloot behind bars. plus hurricane karl now a category 3 storm roars ashore in mexico. and we're watching the white house where minutes from now president obama will name elizabeth warren to start up his new consumer protection agency. warren, a harvard grad and top wall street critic lobbying heavily for the job. inspired? yep, this online rap video. ♪ it's not about the money and the greeno ♪ ♪ it's an working class and bring them out of the financial crisis ♪ she wants to stop the greed and give necessary fees which mean more money no more pocket, make you stop it ♪ gone to make a profit ♪ got to be sheriff ♪ after using rogaine for a while, i went to my stylist

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a power struggle on capitol hill. an unexpected boost tuesday with tea party pick christine o'donnell winning the gop primary. what do dems need to hold the house majority this fall? reid wilson editor and chief of "national journal's" hop line an joins us now. you've been bullish on democrats' chances of holding the seats despite the massive wave out there's pt first thing to talk about it can they get the congressional ballot back to even? a number of, you might say, optimistic sign this weekend in in of the polls. in the a.p. poll among registered voters we should point out 47% want dems, 47% republic republicans. 48% democrats, 38% republican uns. >> not a significant change. make the registered voters

likely voters. republican have a significant head start, significant margin, but if democrats are able to turn out their base, excite their base and get them as jazzed up as in 2008 they can cloet the gap. that what democrat, focusing on. >> how do they do that? >> use president obama and they've started to do so. president obama endorsed a couple incumbent members of congress in some sort of marge's the districts, what i think is interesting. congressman tom paerriello. trying to get them engaged. they've pledged $30 million to turning the same voters out who turned out first in 2008 to vote for president obama. >> money is the mother's milk of politics. you've reported as others that, of course, the committees here in washington that help augment democrats in their districts have had more money than the republicans, and yet we saw a

report just this week that there's been more spending on behalf of the republican candidates, in part because, why? those outside groups are pouring in a lot of money. where do we stand about who has the advantage? >> at the moment the outside groups are giving republicans the advantage. it wasn't present if 2008. the outside groups on republicans' behalf. groups like americans for prosperity and american crossroads, other groups pledging to spend millions of dollars on behalf of republican congressional candidates. we've seen big investments in states like colorado and wisconsin just this week, with you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars going in specifically targeting incumbent democratic senators. whether or not that money filters down to the house will be interesting to see. at the moment, the vast majority of the spending is going towards senate races. that's something that has at least some republicans wishing that maybe the groups would focus more on the house. >> your prediction today? >> you know, it's going to be a tough slog. i think republicans are going to pick up a number of seats.

as many as between two and three dozen. i'm not quite as bullish on chances of actually taking over the majority as much of the rest of washington is. >>ed lone holdout. we'll have you back an election day, thanks. and the summer of recovery failed to register with voters. what are democrats hoping to hear from president obama now? and how's this for opposing political rallies? john stewart and stephen colbert will host events on the national mall just before the midterms. what a picture that is. stewart is promoting a ral toy restore sanity for those who have been too busy with normal lives to go to other rallies why colbert is promoting a march to keep fear alive, encouraging participants to bring an overnight bag and five extra sets of underwear. and speaking of late-night comedy, late-night's jimmy fallon was talking with actor john hamm about the actor and they spoke about sort of the unique experience of hosting

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the president and first lady will don their black tie duds for the annual black caucus gap

j gallup. one in three is lives in poverty in this country. hosting a forum on the state of the african-american child today. congresswoman good to see you. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me nora. it's a pleasure to be with you. >> this is a gig gala the president is attending for the congressional black caucus. we'll talk about that in a moment. first i want to talk about the alarming statisticses that tovty now affects one in seven families an among african-american children, 35.7%. congresswoman, that's a very troubling statistic. isn't it? >> well, the house is on fire. it's more than a troubling statistic. even beyond that number of 75% of our children at sometime in their life live in poverty and some 43 million americans are living in poverty, and it's not for lack of looking for solution, but ki tell you that i spent this morning in addition

to having a summit on energy, i spent this morning in a number of sessions talking about saving our children. poverty has to be our number one issue for the men people. beyond this whole question of the phony debate about taxes for the rich, or not, we have to realize that people are actually suffering. this morning one of the news headlines was, a child in the main thorough fair sitting down on a main thorough fair a street. why? not because they left their house. because they left the bushes that they and their mother were living in and sleeping in overnight. i believe the president tonight will be speaking eloquently about what we have to do for people who cannot do for themselves, but what i believe la to be done is everybody in america has to stand up and say, that the extinguishing of poverty is real, it's important and must be done in terms of job creation, education and places for people to live. that has to be a top priority. >> congresswoman, let me get you, then to address some of the critics out there who voted for

president obama, seven points over john mccain, because the president promised change. and since his administration began, unemployment has gone up and now these figures, the child poverty has gone up. especially among african-american children. what's not happening? >> what's not happening is that we can't fix decades of ignorance, decades of ignoring the problem that now fall in the lap of this president. this growing poverty dilemma and this dilemma between the haves and the have nots has gone on from the time when president johnson declared this a great society and others declared a war on poshty. part of his administration. we freed to stay focused and we're not. we're either drawn off because someone spends a lot of money on war wes should not have been in or drawn to looking at issues who's getting a tax cut and not. you have to stay consistent to cure the cancer of poverty.

we've got to stay consistent on headstart, places for people to live, and i will tell you swreshgs seen an increase in housing and urban development and trying to improve conditions for the homeless and conditions for those who need low and moderate income housing. >> and congresswoman, the president, of course, is going to be at the gala, the congressional black caucus gal l. what does he need to do, what does he need to say to address critics out in even in 9 african-american community? >> nora, first of all, thank you for noting the congressional black caucus of which i've just come from at the washington convention center. there is so much substance and advocacies for doing what is right there and overcoming poverty, fighting crime and, of course, improving the lives ever all americans. the president has to roum his sleeves and be president barack obama, the man whose mother taught rim about sharing and caring about other people and letting people know what he has done, because he has, and what he is doing.

we hear a lot of opposition to the health care bill. on september 23rd we will have the new provisions that will keep people from being thrown out of hospitals. people need to know -- >> sounds like you're saying you don't think the president is fighting hard enough? >> no. what i'm saying is, too busy working to cure the cancer, than to let people know how he's done it. tonight, or when he comes on saturday night, we're looking for him to give that message as we know he can do, and when he does it he will have people on their feet. the real issue is, when he gets people to act, use the system li dollars, recovery dollars to invest in the very impoverished that are there. we partnership with state and local government. we've got to make sure those monies are not blocked. that's one of the key issues with our republican friends. we send money to those states. and the question is, do they use it to empower's president? this prid president has a record, the congressional black caucus has a record and we're

going to march in tandem to let the american people, regardless of what color they are know that work they're doing is to change the lives of these impoverred people. 75% of african-american people cannot succumb to be this. can the african-american child survive. at the washington convention center we hope people will come running to stamp this out. couldn't be more timely. we're going away with a message and agenda to save the lives of these children and stop poverty. >> could not be more timely. great to join us. thank you so much. appreciate t. thank you for having me. with a month 23456 to go before the midterms president obama is making his presence known on the campaign trail. upcoming rallies are going to take place in pennsylvania, wisconsin, ohio and nevada. how does the president ensure his message is helping and not hurting? his party, politico senior white house reporter, an article "what

democrats what obama to say" in today's politico. good to see you. you recommend the president should stop saying the plan is working. which plan are you talking about? >> i don't recommend that a bunch of democrats do, what i've been hearing talking to about two dozen of top party strategists and politicians essentially to do the opposite of what congresswoman sheila jackson-lee just said, which is stop looking in the rearview mirror. stop talking about the stimulus. stop telling people that your plan is going to work an start talking about the fight that you're making. look towards the future and emphasize the conflict with republicans. >> also, some of the other strategists you spoke with said that the white house needs to focus, focus, focus, on a message. sort of repeat over and over again one meg, and not get, have a diluted message. right? >> right.

to a certain extent a lot isn't their fault. they've had to deal with all of these crises. but there's a political a.d.d. in the west wing. they hop from issue to issue, not a coherent strand that pulls everything together. the next 50-some odd days, i'm hearing all democrats out in the field want is a consistent economic message. howard dean tells me he'd like to see the president out on a road four day as week. >> wow. that would be a lot of campaigning and not governing, but clearly there's a lot of democrats throughout that want the president throughout delivering a very red meat message. is there any indication that the white house is listening to some of this advice from democratic strategists? >> i think the consensus is they're starting to turn the battleship and that he's getting out there and putting out the message. the irony, of course, is democrats wanted to get out and do it, not in their districts. a little twist on the theme there. >> right. >> but he's definitely getting sparkier. someone said to me, a top party

strategist said it's like they flipped a switch on labor day and president obama came back to life. >> there you go. we have got a stretch now before election day, pd i'm sure we'll heal a lot from the president. thanks so much. appreciate it. >> take care. and president obama is set to formally appoint elizabeth warren as the new watchdog over wall street. live coverage right here on msnbc when it happens. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time... time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®.

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in britain, tear rirrorists target the pope. u.s. intelligence officials described the threat as little more than talk. after five agonizing month, bp blowout well is on schedule to be permanently sealed tomorrow. the relief well successfully reached the ruptured mine. the next step, pump in mud and cement to seal the well once and for all. and natalee holloway's mother confronts joran van der sloot face to face. beth twitty brought a tv crew with her inside the prison will van der sloot is being held on separate murder charges. prison officials husband manied her out after they realized she was taping it all for tv. awaiting president obama in the rose garden we'll he'll announce elizabeth warren as the new consumer watchdog. she's not going to be the

agency's first director. democrats feared her nomination would end up being blocked by senate republicans. at the white house, mike and john, cnbc's chief washington correspondent. nice to see you guys standing next to each other. we'll give you equal time. >> good afternoon. >> mike, i know we're understanding now that the president will come about 1:55. that's the president going to say? >> well, he'll be appearing with elizabeth warren by his side. this is more or less her brainchild, something she advocated. she will not, you pointed, have the official title. the first official head of the financial protection board. instead a special adviser. why? it was thought by not only democrats on the hill, as you point out, but by the administration, who can do the simple math, carry the one, she would not get the votes necessary for confirmation and, of course harks been the bane of wall street, champion of the little guy. something mees been after a while. her brainchild but not walking

in the front door of the new agency. metaphorically in the side door because of the method by which she's being appointed which will not require confirmation. >> so, john, we saw elizabeth warren post on the white house blog this morning that people that -- her new job, people ought to be able to read their credit card and mortgage contracts and know the deal. shouldn't learn about an unfair rule or practice only when it bites them way too late to do smig anything about it. the time for hiding in the fine print day, over. she wants to be the tough cop out there. will she really have that power? >> reporter: she'll try to set up an agency through this legislation, financial regulation that passed congress el early in the year, will have that power. you've got to presume the business community thinks she'll have power because they don't like the fact the administration is moving ahead on this's one of those things with a direct collision of interests between somebody who wants the status quo to be changed and changed to the benefit of consumers, and businesses making the argument that she is going to make it more difficult for these

businesses to operate, which is not what we need at the time when the economy is weak. you've got a clash leer, but we know which side the president son and which side his party is on and think politically useful in the election. >> john, for the average consumer, break it down. how will things look different on my credit card statement, if i go and get a new mortgage, for instance? >> well i think they're talking about dramatically simple la phied paperwork. you've had the experience, as i have, nora, and many millions of americans have, you go to a real estate closing, for example, and you sign endless stacks of paper, and you don't know what they are. they say sign there, put an x on the paper. the idea is it's always going to be complimented, but they're going to try to simplify that. stape with your credit card statements. fine print goes away or is dramatically reduced and people kunds better exactly what penalty fees will be charged what's happening with interest rates and try to have better, clear rules of the road at a

time when the american people are trying to get their household finances back in order. >> mike what about that, too? certainly also when you open up a new checking account, or savings account, somewhere buried in the fine print are things about overdraft fees that can be quite high, or just, i know people who have opened up accounts and get charged $5 every month, and didn't even know that was -- leveled this charge. >> not to mention what everybody deals with with credit card fees. 6:00 sharp this morning posted on the white house blog was that message from elizabeth warren there. the first sentence of that blog i believe, i enthusiastically agreed with way the spread going about this. there was not a day that went by here at the white house when officials like robert gibbs and other was not asked and the president himself, when are you going to appoint someone to head this financial protection board, and will it be length beth warren? a champion 6 the left. the fact he he is was out there

posting this, endorsing the way they're going about this, obviously not towards the left, championing her cause all along, and would have been sorely disappointed, in this a political season if the president had shucked her aside and appointed someone else. >> yeah. a really important point. glad you brought that up. i am hearing president obama is expected shortly now in the rose garden. so i'm going to continue to talk to both of you. john harwood, why is wall street so worried about elizabeth warren? >> reporter: well, look, this is a very difficult time in the economy. they're making the argument that this administration is anti-business. that they have taken a variety of steps in terms of regulatory policy, in terms of rhetoric and tax proposals they've made that make it more difficult for them to make money and operate had a time when the economy needs them. that's their argument, and they're trying to -- looking for signs that the administration hears them. this is one the administration

is saying you know what? she suggested this agency. i embrace the idea and i want something to do that job effectively and aggressively, an that's difficult for them. >> that's right. now we see the president of the united states, barack obama, along with elizabeth warren and the treasury secretary. let's listen now to the president. >> good afternoon, everybody. before we begin i just want to mention a report that was released by the census bureau yesterday about what happened to wages during the last decade. it revealed that between 2001 and 2009 the incomes of middle class families fell by almost 5%. i want to repeat that. between 2001 and 2009 the incomes of middle class families fell by 5%. in the words of today's "wall street journal," this lost

decade was the worst for families in half a century. a decade that obviously ended in a devastating recession that made things even worse. we know that a strong middle class leads a strong economy. that's why as we dig our way out of this recession we've set our sights on policies that grow the middle class, and provide a latter for these who are struggling to join. that's why i am urging the leaders of the other party to stop holding middle class tax cuts hostage and extend this relief to families immediately. they need it. they need our help. and that's why we're here today. you know, part of what led to the financial crisis were practices that took advantage of consumers. particularly when too many

homeowners were deceived into taking out mortgages on their homes that they couldn't afford, but we also know that these practices pre-dated the crisis, and we know that these practices don't just exist in the housing market. for years banks and mortgage lenders and credit card companies have often used fine print and confusing language and attractive front-end offers to take advantage of american consumers. we've seen banks charge unreasonable overdraft fees. we've seen credit card companies hit folks with unfair rate hikes. we've seen mortgage lenders officer rates that later skyrocketed. all of this cost middle class families billions of dollars. tens of billions of dollars. this, in e could have used to pay the bills or make the mortgage or send their kids to college.

and i have to say, when michelle and i were first starting a family, we had to navigate a lot of these financial decisions. whether it was buying a first home or paying off our college loans, or putting a lot of debt on credit cards, and obviously, we were bet you are off than a lot of family, but we still often found ourselves confused or finding ourselves in tough situations as a consequence. so we've got a pretty good idea. i've got a personally good idea of how this can be difficult and sometimes confusing for the average consumer. and that's partly why even when i was still in the u.s. senate, i took such a great interest in the work of the woman standing next to me. i have known elizabeth warren since law school. she's a native of oklahoma. she's a janitor's daughter who has become one of the country's fiercest advocates for the middle class. she has seen financial struggles

and foreclosures affect her own family. long before this crisis hit she had written eloquently, passionately, forcefully about the growing financial pressures on working families. and the need to put in place a stronger consumer protection. and three years ago she came up with an idea for a new, independent agency that would have one simple overriding mission. standing up for consumers, and middle class families. thanks to elizabeth's efforts as well as the dedication and persistence of the person to my right, secretary of treasury geithner, as well as leaders in congress like chris dodd and barney frank that agency will soon become a reality. the consumer financial protection bureau, which was one of the central aspects of financial reform, will empower all americans with a clear and concise information they need to

make the best choices, the best financial decisions, for them and their families. never again will folks be confused or misled by the pages of barely understandable fine print that you find in agreements for credit cards or mortgages or student loan. the bureau's going to crack down on the abusive practices of unscrupulous morage lenders and reinforce the new credit card law we passed banning unfair rate hikes and ensure folks aren't caught by overdraft fees when they sign up for a checking account. it will give students who take out college loans clear information and make sure that lenders don't game the system, and it will ensure that every american receives a free credit score if denied a loan or insurance because of that score. basically, the consumer financial protection bureau will be a watchdog for the american consumer.

charged with enforcing the toughest financial protectioning in history. now, getting this agency off the ground will be an enormously important task. a task that can't wait. and that task is something that i've asked elizabeth to take on. secretary geithner and i both agree that elizabeth is the best person to stand this agency up. she was the architect behind the idea for a consumer watchdog. so it only makes sense that she should be the architect working with secretary of treasury geithner in standing up the agency. she will help oversee all aspects ever the bureaus creation from staff recruitment to designing policy initiatives, to future decisions about the agency. she will have direct access to me and to sex geithner, and she will oversee staff at treasury department that has already begun to work on this task. she will also play a pivotal

role in helping me determine who the best choice is for director of the bureau, and given the importance ever these economic issues i also want elizabeth to have a role as a without adviser as well as adviser to secretary geithner on consumer issues. elizabeth understands what i strongly believe. that a strong, growing economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class, and that means every american has to get a fair shake in their financial dealings. four years. financial companies have been able to spend millions of dollars on their own watchdog. lobbyist whose look out for their interests and fight for their priorities. that's their right. but from now on, consumers will also have a powerful watchdog. a tough, independent watchdog whose job it is to stand up for their financial interests and for their family's future, and

i'm proud that we got this done and i'm equally proud that elizabeth warren will be helping to make her original vision a reality. so we are extremely proud of you, elizabeth. good luck. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you. thank you. >> thank you, mr. secretary. >> what about -- making a director, mr. president? why not submit her to confirmation? >> there you hear mark knoller of cbs asking why he did not submit her to confirmation by the united states senate? part of the reason, this white house did not want that fight with republican whose would oppose her as the head of this watchdog agency. instead, she's going to be adviser to the president and essentially may have a lot of the same powers. let's bring back in john harwood, cnbc's creef washington corresponde chief washington correspondent. out of the gate, american income, the middle class lost

about 5% of income and used that to hammer republicans for not moving forward on extending the middle class tax cuts and then went on to talk about elizabeth warren and this new watchdog group. so some politics involved here? >> reporter: big time politics. the reason, the president himself and his party are getting hammered by voters now who look at him and say he's been in office almost two years. where are the benefits? where are the jobs to his administration? the country is in a colossal downbeat fearful mood about the state of the economy and the party in power bears the brunt of that. president br b obama is trying shift attention to the choice between democrats and republicans and say, they'd be worse. they're what got us into this mess. >> john, the party in power taking the blame. i can recall vividly just months ago listening to the dnc chairman tim kaicne saying

they'll be the party and campaign on this. boy, they're having a hard time translating those legislative accomplishments to voters, who still feel like they are suffering. >> reporter: exactly. they have the legislative results and the bureaucratic results in elizabeth warren. they don't have the economic results. those the ones that count in the election. >> well said. good to see you, john. thanks siege. >> reporter: you bet. what a week it has been in politics. mike castle is out. christine o'donnell is in. lisa murkowski was out, but may be back in again today. she may run as an independent. talk about the aftershocks of the shake-ups and will they be felt in nofr, and what about in 2012? democratic strategy steve mcmahon and republican strategies vin weber. great to talk with you both. what a week it's been. "the washington post" has a great pete about the republican party. are they now rethinking their

playbook? vin? i don't think so. first of all, the republican party didn't dictate this playbook. the voters dictated this playbook. that's one of the things that amuses me. people get in an uproar about christine o'donnell winning or sharron angle in nevada. there's not a secret thing that hoisted these peel on us. the voters of those states chose them. i think in the -- >> vin, hold on. let me read from karen's piece. she make as good piece. she said, the new force with the republican party is con temp cheous of safe, pragmatic cal lations for winning swing voters. and offers no forgiveness for political compromises and ideological inconsistence sis. i don't recall a republican candidate lashing out against karl rove, denouncing what she called political cannibalism and karl rove calling a candidate nutty. >> i've never met christine o'donnell, but she had a lot of stuff dumped on her she was

reacting to. look, i think we nominated the wrong candidate in delaware. i would have been for castle. she won fair and square, didn't cheat her way in. for republicans, my friend karl rove other anyone else, treat her con temp cheous, i understand why she reacted that way. she won fair and square. the people in the tea party are not contemptuous, they are concerned about their party and have every right to expect this. >> let me play for you mitt romney before the value voters summit, sevtephen, and get you respond. listen to mitt romney's attack on the president. >> if only he, in fact, been transparent and bipartisan and uniting as he pledged in his campaign. then, perhaps, he could have delivered on his promise of yes, we can. instead we know all too well that, no, he didn't. >> yeah.

>> i think part of his speech sort of fell flat even with that group, steve, as i listened to it. let me ask the group, steve, as i listened to it. but let me ask you, mitt romney, in many ways, is the the establishment candidate in the republican pari think think it' bad for somebody who has changed his principles so often. they don't have much tolerance for politicians who wiggle around on issues and try to have it both ways. mitt romney has done more of that than anybody else thinking of running for the president. i think the emergence of the tea party for mitt romney is not relevant. >> i'm a great admirer of mitt romney. i think he would be great president of the united states. voters in republican primaries

are setting a very high standard and not forgiving easily. >> that's a great point. it will be difficult for those running in 2012. steve mcmahon, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 what if every atm was free? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more $2, $3 fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more paying to access your own money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it'd be like every atm in the world was your atm. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking(tm) account. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 zero atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a great interest rate. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no minimums.

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new information about palin. "dancing with the stars." tmz reports sarah palin will be in the audience for her daughter bristol's "dancing with the stars" debut next week. she will dance to the song "mama told me not to come." which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? jonathan alter is an msnbc political analyst and columnist for "newsweek" magazine. he's also the author of "the promise." lots of big news tomorrow. the elections in afghanistan. a lot of foreign policy on the president's plate. >> absolutely. look. i don't expect much from these afghan elections. the political situation over

there is so messed up. karzai stole the last election. . but it will indicate whether general petraeus is fairly optimistic. recent reports that there is progress there. at least baby steps in afghanistan. whether there's anything too that, we may get a better sense of in the next couple days. the u.n. general assembly, every fall they have a big gathering. president obama and hillary clinton will be there. the two big issues to look for are iran and nukes and middle east peace to keep that on track. hillary is just back from the region, and we'll see whether some other nations can get involved in giving a little momentum to the peace talks. >> well put together. jonathan alter, you're right. and the two american hikers that are still there. >> thanks, norah. >> that does it for this

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hi, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. tamron is on assign. now elizabeth warren becomes the nation's new financial watchdog. will she talk about how she got the job? or will this also keep her from getting her job done with people against her in washington? she lied. how police found out a woman who said she was attacked by acid, turns out she made the whole story up. was it or wasn't it? the massive cleanup after a possible tornado touches down in the big apple. plus, does it go too far? the ad that takes aim at a mcdonald's created by a group of people who say they want you to eat healthier. syndicated talk show host michael smerconish joins me to talk about that one.