counter that -- that image. now as for money and schools. yes, you're right. newark spends a lot of money on schools. it's littered with corruption, patronage. the big thing is that the mayor is trying to take control of things and be accountable and change the way things operate in the school system. >> it will be interesting if he gets control of the $100 million. that's a lot. >> and more. >> ron allen, good to see you. thanks so much. >> thank you. the new york mayor, cory booker will be with andrea mitchell live on monday at the plaza as part of the education nation week. and msnbc and the networks of nbc universal are focusing intensively on this question -- how do we improve america's classrooms? so education nation is going to kick off this sunday, noon eastern. brian williams is going to be hosting a town hall with teachers. sunday night, joe scarborough and mika will host a town hall on the ground breaking documentary "waiting for

superman," on monday, president obama sits down with matt lauer with a live one-on-one interview that will air uninterrupted for an entire half hour. that's starting at 8:00 eastern on nbc and msnbc. and, of course, join andrea mitchell live on the plaza in new york. they're going to include education secretary arnie duncan, randy wynne guarden and the mayor of boston and two journalists featured in "waiting for superman," jonathan alter and jay matthews. that's next monday, september 27th only here on msnbc. now to politics -- because fresh off of a trip to iowa, sarah palin is now saying for the first time that she may run for president. unless someone with the conservative credentials she thinks are right with america gets into the game. >> if nobody else wanted to step up, i would offer myself up in the name of service to the public, but, i also know anybody, anybody can make a huge

difference in this country without a title, without an office, just being out there as an advocate for solutions that can work to get the country on the right track. that's where i am now. it's a comfortable place to be. >> democratic strategist tad divine and vin weber joins us now. vin, you heard sarah palin say, if nobody else wanted to step up, do you think that's the case that nobody else would step up. >> she left herself a very big out. first of all, a lot of candidates, especially if the republicans do well in the midterm elections, there's going to be a vulnerability on the part of president obama. we'll have many running. second of all, those candidates have seen the politics, everything else. they'll be running as conservatives. the criteria she established are not going to be met. having said that, this is the closest to say that she might seriously run. everybody knows when she gets into the race, she's a huge factor. >> no doubt. i want to play another clip from

that interview where sarah palin says if she were to run, it would not be about self-gratification. listen. >> if my candidacy wasn't good for my family, if it wasn't good for the common sense conservative agenda that needs to be add mered to, then certainly i wouldn't run. i don't -- i don't need the -- the title. i -- i don't need for any kind of self-gratification or personal power seeking of my own to run for office. >> do you believe her? >> i think she'll look seriously at running. i think she should. she's a serious credible candidate. the tea party is demonstrating the strength. the nominating party is dominated by small states, iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. she's had political success in all three of the places already. 1500 people in the ronald reagan dinner in des moines for her. i don't think she's taking advantage of social networking in the way that candidates in the past never could have. someone could live in alaska and

tweet and get the whole country to pay attention to what she's saying. she's seriously credible and i wouldn't be surprised if she does it. >> and is it good for the republican party? do you think sarah palin is good for the republican party. she's elevated and embraced some of the tea party candidates that have knocked off some establishment candidates but make it more difficult for the republicans to hold the seats in delaware. last night in defending christine o'donnell. she said it's funny we're learning more about christine o'donnell's college years than anybody ever bothered to ask about barack hussein obama as a candidate. that's her words. >> yeah, i don't like that. that's where republicans ought to be going. having said that, though, most of sarah palin's impact on this election have been positive for the republicans. she's mobilizing folks. the tea party moouchltvement or whatever you want to call it produced a couple of candidates that are weaker than the establishment would have liked.

delaware being the most established the overall phenomenon is producing large voter turnouts. it will be damaging in the fall. sarah palin deserves credit for that. the only thing i would say is sarah palin emerged as one of the most influential figures in the conservative movement. she stands to lose that standing should she run for president and lose. anybody else, probably gains their standing, but not sarah palin if she loses. >> tad, what about that in terms of her standing her use of social networking? i mean, yesterday she was talking, tweelting abo itweetin woodward book. she was tweeting about the people should look into the shadowy background of pete rouse who is up for chief of staff to replace rahm emmanuel? >> well, listen -- i think she's a powerful force. but if she does step into the arena, she's going to attract the same scrutiny that she attracted when she was candidate for vice president. i don't think she does well in that scrutiny. i don't think she does with the

substantive scrutiny or the personal scrutiny or the political scrutiny. from the democratic perspective, we welcome her to the arena. she's a polarizing figure and hopefully she'll be the nominee. >> there you hear it. the democrats want her. >> they're rooting for her. >> yeah. i'm sure she has a lot of democrats rooting for her. i believe she may run and if she does, she's a powerful force. i do not think she's the inevitable nominee, though. that's the risk for the republicans. because certainly her base of support is wildly enthusiastic for it. should she run and not get the nomination, they're going to get turned off to whoever does beat her. that's not a good thing for us. my guess is she doesn't run, she likes being the leader of the conservative movement. she has a lot of influence in the republican party and she doesn't want to risk diminishing that by failing for the run for the presidency. >> that's a brilliant point, if someone defeats her, her supporters would not be happy with that person. ben webber, tad divine, great to

see both of you. thanks so much. >> thank you. more worries about the pace of economic recovery after jobless claims rise unexpectedly. trouble on sesame street? oh, a segment featuring katy perry and elmo has been yanked after parents firing off letters about the singer's cleavage. the segment to air on new year's eve ignited a firestorm. wow, looks like my play date well mow has been cut short. [ male announcer ] if you have type 2 diabetes, you struggle to control your blood sugar. you exercise and eat right, but your blood sugar may still be high, and you need extra help. ask your doctor about onglyza, a once daily medicine used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar

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the number of u.s. workers filing new unemployment claims rose to 465,000 last week, more than economists expected, the latest reminder of the job market as the federal reserve weighs whether to take new steps to bolster the economy. the u.s. economic senator for the economist, and joining us, he's the author of "the little book of economics," how the economy works in the real world.

thank you so much for joining us. >> good to see you, norah. let's talk about the problems. two problems that the white house has. they have the reality, of course, of these weak job number mgs. th and then the perception of the job crisis. the upheaval in the political team, the weak implications and the unemployment, what can they do about any of those problems facing them? >> precious lit until the short term. certainly not enough to change anything about what's happening in the midterm elections. i mean, this has been the story of the recovery, norah, which is that the economy is growing again, but not by enough to create the jobs that will bring the unemployment rate down. so when you ask people, what do you think of the president's $800 billion stimulus, they're convinced it didn't do any good. the economists say, no, it would have been worse without the stimulus. but perception becomes reality. >> the perception as we mentioned, not just the jobless numbers but the white house

team, whether there's a shake-up. and this perception is that the president is anti-business or that wall street doesn't like him. paul volcker, an economic advisor addressed this the other day, he said, this, quote, he's not a wild-eyed leftist radical, it's ridiculous since he has been in office. he has been a thee fedefender t leftist markets. then you hear obama has not cornered them or listened to them. they will appoint someone from wall street, with wall street experience in to larry somer's old job. >> it's really important. if you press business people on this question, it's hard to come up with specific instances of the things that the white house did that's hurting their business outlook outside of the few specific cases like some of the banks and health insurance companies. in the business world, body language and rhetoric matter a lot. you know, george bush did a lot of anti-business thing. he's under his administration that arthur anderson was put in

to bankruptcy by the justice department. but people kind of trusted bush because he seemed to be one of them. i think obama realizes they don't trust him the same way and that's why they're hunting around for someone with the ceo mystique to them that can help bridge that gap. >> a great point, certainly about the difference between perception and reality. good to see you. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours. maryland congressman chris van holland joins us next. my name is vonetta, and i suffer from allergies. [ male announcer ] we asked zyrtec® users what they love about their allergy relief, and what it lets them do. the thing i love most about zyrtec® is that it allows me to be outside. [ male announcer ] we bet you'll love zyrtec®, too -- or it's free. [ vonetta ] it is countdown to marshmallow time. [ woman laughs ]

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house republicans unveiled their pledge for americans today. congressman, here it is. the this is 21 pages. this is a pledge to america that the republicans unveiled today. they say this is proof that they are not just the party of no. they have ideas. >> well, norah, it's proof that they're the party of the same old, same old. what they've unveiled here are

some ideas, but they're the same ideas and the same economic policy that got us into this mess to begin with. interestingly, today in the house we are going to pass a small business lending bill. republicans, who say they support small businesses are all going to vote against that bill. that looks like it's shaping up. and there's a very clear example of how their policies in this particular agenda support big special interests but do not support consumers and taxpayer ps and small businesses and workers. >> for example what? >> for example, they're listening to america hot line. you'll find one of the biggest winners on that was to end these perverse tax incentives that reward corporations that outsource jobs, ship jobs overseas. nowhere in that entire document did you find any mention of that. they clearly ignored the american people on that issue. it's clear why.

we had to vote on that issue not that long ago. all the republican colleagues voted against shutting down the loopholes. they voted to keep provisions that encourage corporations to outsource american jobs. that's the special interest policies you had in the bush administration. >> you're the chairman of the congressional campaign committee. i don't have to tell you that republicans in this country are energized. they are driven by not just the tea party movement, also a lot of independents are leading republicans. they're fed up with washington and the size of washington and the sort of fiscal recklessness that they think is going on in congress. so the republicans say let's cut government spending to the 2008 level. that's cap new discretionary spending. let's cut congress's butt and free non federal security workers. >> it was a freeze. the budget resolution, the budget enforcement resolution passed by the democrats cut from the president's levels.

and what's interesting, norah, is the same time you hear about republican colleagues talk about getting the budget under control. they're proposing tax breaks for the folks at the very top that blow a $700 billion hole in the deficit and voted against statutory pay-go. you can't live beyond your means. you have a lot of rhetoric th e there, but when you look at the document, and we encourage every american to take a look. i think people will find the people's whose interests are served are the same interests that did well during the eight years of the bush administration and ignores the interest of consumers. you were talking about wall street earlier. there's a reason a lot of folks on wall street aren't happy with everything the obama administration is doing. we passed wall street reform to make sure never again do the big financial institutions hold the rest of the economy hostage. the republicans want to repeal that. they want to turn it back over

to wall street. all these decisions that affect the entire economy. so there are major differences here. >> all right, congressman. well, i know certainly the american people want to ask about specifics when it comes to this. i asked mack thornbury some of the consumer proposals that allows no for no copayer, no deductible for mammograms or colonoscopies. he would not answer yes or no. he said that's not what this document was about. >> as of today, kids for the first time will not be allowed to this be denied insurance coverage because they have a preexisting condition like as asthma or diabetes. and republicans say, well, we're going to repeal health care reform. they won't tell you what they may or may not put in its place. it is very important that people focus on these issues.

the insurance companies during the previous eight years of the previous administration, the premiums doubled and the profits quadrupled. what they're proposing by going back is to once again allow the insurance companies to call all the shots. that's the kind of thing we're seeing in this document. >> all right. congressman van hollen, we are out of time. thank you for joining us. >> tomorrow on the show, florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. some conservative republicans are firing at the pledge as well. msnbc political analyst pat buchanan will join me. plus, what new advice is former president bill clinton offering to president barack obama? and the texas board of

education, under fire again. this time it's because some people feel history textbooks are focusing too much on islamic beliefs. this is an entire school board that is looking at this. more ahead on msnbc. ching to geo really save you 15% or more on car insurance? did the little piggy cry wee wee wee all the way home? piggy: weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeee weeeeeeee. mom: max. ...maxwell! piggy: yeah? mom: you're home. piggy: oh,cool, thanks mrs. a. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. [ male announcer ] ever have morning pain slow you down?

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"5 days, mom. 10 days, mom." i think after 30 days he got tired of counting. [ male announcer ] talk to your doctor about chantix. find out how you can save money on your prescription and learn terms and conditions at chantix.com. i'm tamron hall. right now on msnbc, the gop announces its new pledge to america. now some conservative republicans taking issue with the strategy. will it allow republicans to take back control on capitol hill? adamant denials of sexual misconduct. what a prominent southerner is saying and doing today. and