good monday, everybody. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast. on the steps of the capitol. the old guard comes face to face with the new kids on the block and we just got our first photo op of these new members of congress all gathered on capitol hill, say cheese. this just into msnbc. >> i believe the american people sure have chosen outstanding members to join the united states senate. >> reporter: meet the newbies, freshly minted members of congress. >> jeff denim, farmer, veteran representative from california. >> reporter: armed with public support and an agenda all their own.

>> i think i've made myself pretty clear and i'm not going to be bullied. >> reporter: among the group, veteran, small business owners, even one not so fresh face. newly elected republican senator dan coats of indiana is actually a returning member. he also served as ambassador to germany and a lobbyist during his break from congress. he's part of the new crop of congress. those tea party representatives. five senators and 40 house members. and left they forget who got them here, just as think rive, tea party patriots with personal e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers for newly elected members of congress. the group says it should be easier for constituent to communicate than for the lobbyists who intend to sway them. the new guard takes over in january, but the old guard has a lame duck chance to decide what to do about those bush tax cuts. >> there's no bend on the

permanent extension of tax kits for the wealthiest americans. >> reporter: president obama has signaled support for a temporary extension of tax cuts for the wealthy, but he wants to know where republicans will come up with the $700 billion to pay for t. i'm hoping that -- >> i'm hoping that nancy pelosi will step aside. >> reporter: and unsettled, who will lead the democrats? nancy pelosi wants to stay on as minority leader, while some members of her own caucus want her to go. >> if it comes down to this coming week and she doesn't step aside, then i will challenge her. >> nbc's luke russert is live in washington, and, luke, while we're watching the fight over leadership on the democratic side, on the gop side, will we see real fireworks over earmarks? >> reporter: a contentious issue, contessa. this week when the senate republicans meet in their conference meeting, that introduced will be an earmarked moratorium, earmarked ban.

support of 13 republican senators. a lot of that support comes from newly elected senators. people has use the tea party to their benefit. now mitch mcconnell is not on board with this idea. he feels if you ban owl congressional earmarks it gives way too much power to the executive branch. president obama said he would have a blank check in terms of government spending because congress wouldn't appropriate specific projects in their districts allow them to be held hostage, shall we say. an issue interesting to see thousand will play out. it's more symbolic, even if the republican conference votes to have an earmark ban, a nonbinding vote. can go in the non-congressional session and vote earmark. symbolic more than anything else. >> another event we're watching unfold here on capitol hill. charlie rangel on the hot seat for his ethics trial in the house. what's happening so far? >> reporter: charlie rangel's

ethics hearing trial was scheduled today. he showed up around 9:00 a.m. and showed up without legal counsel. we were expecting that. not showing up without any lawyers. he then said because he does not have counsel present he would walk out of the hearing and not participate this week. so far he's in his office. his spokesperson said he has no inclination of going back to the ethics trial as it's being carried out this week. charlie rangel has spent about $1.6 million on legal representation. his lawyers said they would charge $1 million more to appear at the trial. he simply doesn't have that money, hence no lawyers present. what's interesting, contessa, we want to talk about the little trial. representative butterfield of north carolina essentially the prosecutor. staff director of the house ethics committee, asked, do you think charlie rangel is corrupt, the prosecutor said not necessarily he's corrupt, more a victim of sloppy bookkeeping. while charlie rangel is not

appearing there today, something that's happening in the trial, the directive now is that she not, charlie rangel himself is not corrupted. no corruption. innocent, not guilty of the charges. contessa? >> luke, thanks. again, we're watching those freshmen representatives in the house just arriving on capitol hill getting their first taste of where they will live, how do they get to congress, where's the commissary. meanwhile, political ar arm-twisting and calls from constituents. my big question today, can any member of congress truly withstand the pressures of governing in washington? i'd like to hear your thoughts. twitter me or my e-mail. a 13-year-old girl who disappeared in ohio last week was found alive but her mom, brother, another woman still missing. sarah maynard found alive, bound

and gagged ten miles from her home in the basement of 30-year-old matthew hoffman. police blocked off a park near that home now and so far hoffman is not cooperating with police. >> we don't know whether he's connected to the family or whether he connected himself to the family. a lot of that remains to be seen as the investigation continues. >> authorities are desperately searching for sarah's mom, brother and a family friend. peter alexander is following developments in ohio. do you know what they're looking for at the park? why they've cordoned off the park? >> reporter: good question. we're speaking to authorities. they wouldn't let cameras near the park but shut it down and went inside overnight a sheriff's deputy was patrolling that area and saw items as they're described to us that he or she believed may have been related to this case, to the young woman, 13-year-old sarah maynard, the young girl, as well as her mom, her brother, just 10

years old, cody, and a family friend. where we're standing now, this is the home where sarah maynard and her family lived. she was found yesterday about ten miles from here in the basement of a stranger's home. that's matthew hoffman, the suspect in this case. a short time from now he is expected to be in a knox county courthouse. he will be arraigned facing charges of kidnapping and other charges, the sheriff in this area has said as well have not yet been determined. the real question, what happened to sarah maynard's mom, her brother and to that family friend? searching going on over the course of the last several days. they disappeared wednesday evening. other sovereigns this morning. planes were up with infrared technology looking for heat on the ground hoping they'd be found's in a remote part of this rural area in ohio. contessa, the real concern what does matthew hoffman know and what can he tell authorities? he's been uncooperative so far. she, sarah maynard harks been

speaking to authorities and haven't told us what she told them. hoping she could be a key piece of evidence, key character to help them learn where her mom and brother and friend are. >> what a rohoar risk experienc. found bound and gagged. is she physically okay? >> reporter: she is, good condition. still being taken care of as a nearby hospital. doctors looking after her. they say she doing well. the real question what does she know? questioned posed to authorities if in fact she'd been sexually assaulted, they did not answer those questions. >> peter, thank you for following the story for us. appreciate that. the white house will reveal a new plan this week to end combat operations in afghanistan by the year 2014. nbc's jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon. changing the way it's dealing with afghanistan. did one have anything to do with the other?

>> reporter: those remarks got the attention of military and pentagon officials overt weekend. when hamid karzai wanted the u.s. military to end nighttime operations and special forces raids and actually reduce the overall footprint of american troop there's in afghanistan, and one senior pentagon official told me this morning, this raises new questions about karzai's reliability as a partner in the way ahead in the war in afghanistan, but most officials i talked to, they say they've got reassurances from the karzai government that karzai said these things for domestic political purposes. that he's getting beaten up politically there in kabul for some of the u.s. military operations, and the overall presence of troop there's in afghanistan, and they felt that it had something to say now. the timing is not really good, because the u.s. and nato are about to reveal this new overall strategy in lisbon later this week, at which point the new

strategy is that beginning in july 2011, you remember that deadline, that president obama set during his initial months in office, that july 2011 deadline is when the u.s. will start handing over responsibilities to the afghan government, and by the end of 2014, afghanistan should be in a position to take over security governance and development. u.s. military forces, however, will not withdraw entirely by that time frame, and could remain in afghanistan for years to come, much like they are doing now in iraq and in sort of a caretaker position. contessa? >> we'll watch for that. jim miklaszewski, thanks. >> reporter: you bet. officials are countying votes in alaska's senate race. why today could be such a big day for senator lisa murkowski or joe miller. plus, a man declared legally dead 16 years ago found alive and kicking, and now in jail. we'll tell you why.

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ed fbi arrest add man declared dead 16 years ago. topping our stories foreign wide. thomas sanders accused of kidnapping a girl. the girl's mother missing and police fear she's dead, too. court records show he was declared dead seven years after he allegedly abandoned his family. lived in five different states and racked up multiple arrests including traffic violations and drug charges. a new search for ki kyron

horman. his biological parents believe their son's stepmother terri horman is responsible for his disappearance. kyron's mom says a group of e-mails that tearri had sent to friends about the 7-year-old. >> she discussed in great detail her hatred for kyron. i now believe without a shadow of a doubt, that not only is she capable of hurting kyron, that it's clear that she could have hurt him in the worst possible way. >> terri horman has never spoken to the media, but denies any involvement. >> must-see tv for sarah palin and critics. her new reality show appeared last night on tlc. the jury's out whether it was a commercial for her home state or the first installment of an eight-hour long political ad. norah o'donnell joins us live from our d.c. bureau. well, what did you have to say

about the new show? >> reporter: well, good morning to you, contessa. you know, the producers of sarah palin's alaska calling it a family adventure show. it was also an advertisement for alaska that showcased sarah palin as a rugged outdoorswoman, all positive images that will no doubt shape her image if she runs for president. in the first episode of "sarah palin's alaska" the former vice presidential nominee is the ultimate frontier'swoman. >> amazing to watch. this grizzly bear protecting her cub. >> reporter: fishing for salmon. >> hoop going to catch the first fish? >> reporter: even scaling dangerous glaciers. >> you've always wanted to be a rock climber, sarah. >> a rock climber or rock star? >> reporter: she's a tv star, too, with the studio inside her home. >> this is so much better than the shot against that wall. >> reporter: and her husband playing cameraman and confidant.

>> business is about rolling the dice. >> reporter: living next door, joe mcginness, investigative -- >> bits a 14-foot fence others could look at, this is what we need to do to secure our nation's border. >> reporter: mcginnis is writing a book on palin. >> it's none of his flippin' business. >> reporter: they call the picturesque series a document and they see politics involved. >> this is effectively giving campaign advertising for someone who perhaps will have a presidential bid coming up. >> reporter: palin the political standing has take an beating recently. a new gallup poll shows number of americans viewing her unfavorably hit a new high. more than half american, 52% view her negatively making her the most divisive of all potential candidates in the 2012 republican field. but is a reality show the way to prove presidential readiness? karl rove said, no in a recent interview. there are high standards that

the american people have for the presidency, and they require a certain level of grauv tass. gravitas. palin's response. >> those standards have to be high for someone who would ever want to run for president, wasn't ronald reagan an actor? >> reporter: despite media coverage of her children, cam rathers inside her home, and bristol seen on abs's "dancing with the stars" is absent the first episode, the feisty sidekick piper takes center stage. >> mom is super busy. she is addicted to the blackberry. >> reporter: and cameras catch a teenage boy trying to sneak upstairs with palin's 16-year-old daughter willow. >> see this gate? it's not just for trigg. it's for no boys go upstairs. >> reporter: interesting moments. huh? later this month, palin is heading owl on a 16-state tour. 14 states promotesing her new book and the tour includes two

stops in iowa and one in south carolina. you know those two states are key to any republican nomination. >> could not be anything to do with politics. could 2? >> reporter: exactly. >> norah, thanks. and counting ballots in the one senate horse race that's still undecided. incumbent lisa murkowski trails joe miller by nearly 9,000 votes. about 9,000 more write-in votes still need to be counted, and the state says an additional 7,000 disputed ballots belong to murkowski. murkowski ran as that write-in candidate after she lost the gop primary to mill perp the write-in vote count is expected to continue through wednesday. airport security, a touchy top ic right now. in fact, a little too touchy for some passengers. all right, before the break a look at what's caught on the webisode. universities competing for obama's presidential library, according to msnbc.com. the university of hawaii's already in talks with the national archives and the university of chicago has also

signaled and interest. jessica simpson is engaged to a former nfl player. she started dating eric johnson over the summer. johnson popped the question thursday. just days after the news broke about jessica's ex-husband nick lachey's engagement to vanessa minnil minnillo. coincidence? and the "today" show goes viral. one of my favorite stories of the day. ♪ i told you one and now i told you twice ♪ it's dynamite ♪ oh, oh. >> i think i could do this, too, but they didn't invite me along. we'll be right back. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week, one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box.

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newly ewlected members of congress looking for ways to reduce government spending may have an eye on the stimulus, which includes federal dollars for everything from tax rebates to education, and a big chung ever the stimulus is devoted to the environment and the promise of green jobs. but most of that money has not yet been spent, and now could become a prime target for republicans' red pen. anna aurilio, the d.c. director of d.c. america. good to see you again. looking at about $90 billion of the $880 billion in stimulus, set aside for green investments. how concerned are you that so far, $5.4 billion has been released and it looks like republicans are getting ready to find places to chop? >> well, i say let's chop the budget with green scissors. let's get rid of the $100 billion every five years we spend on coal, oil and nuclear power before we go after some of the projects and the economic

stimulus bill, which number one are creating jobs. number two are cleaning up our environment, and number three actually generate more jobs per dollar investment than equivalent investments in oil, coal and nuclear. >> what arguments can you make, anna, when you're looking at government spending on private industry and saying, look, there is a reason to take taxpayer dollars and put it towards, say, converting an old auto plant into a plant that makes sun panels? >> sure. i mean, wind energy and solar energy have been one of the few bright spots in today's economy, and they're creating jobs. and they do need more incentives to keep going. we do need money to convert those old factory, but we're putting people back to work and we're cleaning our environment in the process. at the same time you have the oil companies who are getting billions of dollars in handouts every single year, and last i checked, they're making

record-breaking rof ining profi creating enormous environmental damp not just in the gulf of mexico but worldwide. >> part of the argument goes there are other countries already doing the research. look at china, now pretty much manufacturing all the consumer goods that we buy here in america, that we've got to come up with something that we can manufacture here at home and export. is this it? is the green industry the wave of the future and are other countries already spending to develop those industries? >> yes, contessa. this is one of thes did appointments of my advocacy in d.c. for the last several decades. the u.s. invented many of these technologies. they were invented right here at home, yet other countries, because they're giving more support to wind energy and solar, are eating our lunch. we freed to bring those jobs back into the united states. we can weatherize homes, you can't do that and bring it back from china and become an exporter to the rest of the world of these technologies that again were mostly invented here by our smart college graduates.

>> is there a commitment from conservatives to protect the environment? will we see that happen if conservatives are in power? >> look, as an environmental add voe admit washington, d.c. i have one message. it's conservative to conserve and energy efficiency programs, which return $4 in consumer savings for every dollar invested. an excellent bet for our money, and finally, also conservative to want to reduce our oil dependence. we've got lots of opportunities to do that as well. >> anna, thank you very much for your time today. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. talk about a high-flying stunt here. check out the death defying british daredevil. lewis, let the wind do the work for him. and with one gale force gust, went sailing -- high over the post of brighton pier. stormy weather along the english coastline is the reason. he was able to make that jump. spider-man may do whatever a spider can, but doubtful he's done what this guy's going down under.

an australian man helping a kid's charity living with 400 deadly and poisonous spiders in his storefront window. he'll be there the next three weeks. he hopes to raise $50,000 for the kid's cause. can you just say arachnophobia? and finally freed after 3 8 days from somali pirates. the dramatic details ahead. plus, a new role for former president bill clinton. here's a myth:

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welcome back, everybody. i'm contessa brewer. another problem for qantas. a boeing 747 jumbo jet bound for argentina had to return to sydney after a suspected electrical failure. retail sales up last month.

biggest increase in seven months. some reusable grocery bags have lead in them. new york senator chuck shochuck for an investigation. and the oil spill in the gulf and vuvuzela from the soccer tournament. and after being held captive more than a year by somali pirates, the couple sailed near the coast of africa. pirates thought they hit the jackpot and demanded a $7 million ransom -- at first. what they didn't realize is that the chandlers aren't rich. poured nearly their whole life savings into that boat. live in london now. so for almost a year they are in captivity. what are they saying happened to them? >> reporter: well, at the moment they're in kenya, recovering

after their 13-month ordeal, come back to the uk soon and want space dealing with the news that one of their father's died. during a press conference in front of the world's media, flown to nairobi and kenya. they're thin and weak. you can see in the pictures. spent time in solitary confinement pleaded for lives on a number of occasions moved around a lot, ate little. given spaghetti and very little goat meat and no idea when the ordeal was actually going to come to an end. now that they're free though, they're absolutely thrilled. >> how did that freedom come about? why did the somali pirates decide to let them go? >> reporter: there's a lot of talk about ransom. a question everybody wants to know the answer to, but nobody wants to talk about. it's very controversial, because the british government has a strict policy about not negotiating or paying a ransom for release of hostages.

the family won't discuss the details, because they're worried it could lead to more kidnappings. what we do know se that the pirates asked for $7 million. in the end, apparently almost $1 million paid. paid in two parts. the first raised this summer by the family and then the rest of it came through a combination of private sources and somali government officials, but contessa, no official confirmation of this at the moment. >> we'll be watching for that. thank you. full body scanners are showing up at more airports across the country and for some passenger, the searches are rather touchy. secretary of homeland security janet napolitano says body scanning machines are safe, efficient and protect passenger privgsy. a man was tossed out of the san diego international airport for refusing to get into the scanner and refusing the patdown. joining us live from our d.c. bureau. it wasn't that he initially refused the patdown but he thought they wanted to go a bit

too far. >> reporter: that's right. bottom line here is, i just talked to john tyner a few moments ago in san diego. didn't like the idea of going through the full body imageer, he believed, a lot of people believe, it reveals too much and then had to go through the patdown because he refused to go through the full body scanner, and that's when he said, no. it was 6:00 a.m. in san diego saturday when john tyner's cell phone went through the airport metal detector faceup and recorded him telling a tsa screener he did not want the screener touching his grin. >> you touch my junk i'll have you arrested. >> reporter: that touched off a 30 minute standoff with supervisor insisted he had to be patted down since he declined to go through a full body scanner. tyner refused. >> i don't understand how a sexual assault can be made a condition of my flying. >> reporter: a full body scanner are the tsa's latest tactic able to peer underneath clothing and for passengers who opt out of the scan now a much more personal full patdown.

since the first of the month, officers now are using the front of their hand and more vigorously searching for weapons and explosives. the tsa chief says it's a direct response to al qaeda. >> we believe this provides the best possible technology to identify the non-metallic explosive devices that we know have been used before. >> reporter: the challenge for the tsa, searching those private areas of the body most consider off limitses but used by criminals and terrorists to hide weapons, drugs and explosives. most recently by the underwear bomber who nearly brought down a delta-northwest flight last christmas. the full body scanners obscure passengers' faces while a screening officer in another room has but a few critical seconds to look for anything suspicious. >> the tsa uses two different types of images technology called back scatter and millimeter wave. right now, 317 units are in use at more than 65 airports nationwide.

it uses radio waves to peer under et clothes while back scanner systems use x-ray technology for travelers over privacy trade-off often comes down to gender. men less offended. >> it's what you have to do to travel. it is what it is. >> reporter: women more. >> personal space. invasion of my personal space, my body. >> i understand why it's needed, however, you know, from a personal standpoint, it is an invasion of privacy to an extent. >> reporter: and 2 million moving through checkpoints every day. 2 million people. the fda said the x-ray scanners are safe. the equivalent of what you get raciation exposure for two minutes in a commercial plane. we're all exposed to radiation when we fly commercially. of course, it's a balancing act, isn't it? one hand, underwear bomber trying to bring down the plane. 9/11 suspects killed 3,000 people. shoe bomber tried bring down the plane and the tsa trying to come

up with the response to all of that, and now some members of the traveling public feeling like the response may be too much. the balancing act here is one that the tsa is struggling with. the tsa hinted today it may be willing to find another way for pilots to go through this process without always having to go through that full body imaging scanner or the patdown, since once they get in the cockpit, they, themselves, have control of that plane. right? it's the ultimate weapon, if they chose to do so. it's a constant balancing act here. >> the thing is, though, for pilots and for anyone who flies frequently, you're already exposed to the radiation in this commercial plane and then go through it every time you're going to fly. all of that accumulates. it's the reason why when you are at the dentist office the tech anything goes in the other room so that over time the radiation doesn't accumulate and pose a risk. again, as i said before, janet napolitano says this is safe, that it's an efficient way of checking people. so -- >> reporter: it's bornt to put it in context.

not talking about the same amount of radiation as if you fly your entire four-hour trip. two minutes of exposure as if were you in the plane. this is not for every single scanner. only for those that use the back scatter x-ray technology. >> thank you, tom. >> reporter: all right. the state of virginia considering tough new immigration laws has look a lot like the strict measures now in place in arizona. the washington examiner reports that virginia state legislature will consider the proposals in january. they include locking illegal immigrants from getting drivers' licenses and checking immigration status of anyone taken into custody. msnbc airs a special two-hour event tonight. lawrence o'donnell co-hosts and maria teresa kumar. take part in tonight's town hall. e-mail questions to msnbc town hall questions at nbc.

ni dot com and make sure your voice is heard. a tough two weeks for president obama. his party took a beating in the midterms. his trip abroad not as successful as hoped. the president is back at the white house keeping a low profile. power players are setting their sights on pushing him out in 2012. sophia nelson is a "jet" magazine political communist, writer and contributor for the brio and "washington post" as well. >> good to see you. >> do you think, say you've got the lame duck session now prepared to deal with tax cuts. the president still has, as we're speaking now a democratically controlled house. is that something he can prevail on? >> probably not, because i think he wants to reach out. as i talk about he wants to work with republican s on the tax cuts, work with don't ask, don't tell, move things. what's going to happen on the tax cuts, they're going to find

way to accommodate one another going into the new congress so that there is at least a dialogue that's positive on both sides where they can try to get some things done. >> my question is, is he going to do that, work with republicans at the expense of his democratic base? >> no, i don't think he can do that. an interesting kabuki dance. keep his base intact and move a little to the center in terms of what voters told us on november 3rd here, that they wanted, i think, the president will moderate himself a little bit. >> and what about health care? this was one of the cornerstones of the work he's been doing the last two years. the fact he was able to get that reform passed. is that in jeopardy now? >> i think one of the things i talk about in the "jet" piece in stands today, that this republican congress and house of representatives is very conservative and came in with a lot of tea party support and feel they have to repeal health care. at the same time i think the president is clear that was a top priority and something he thinks is important to the american people. so i think it's going to be

interesting to see what happens. i think parts of it may get repealed back. interested to see if it all gets repailed back. >> good to talk to you. bill clinton is following in the footstepstyson. tmz reports the former president shot a cameo for the sequel to the blockbuster film "hangover ". it happened in thailand. the former president will play himself's in "the hangover ii." liam neeson took over mel gibson's planned cameo role as a tattoo artist. facebook is about to make a big announcement. why hotmail, yahoo! g mail, might all are a little worried about this one. and there's a war being waged against lionfish. the president ter fish is not native no the united states knop there you thousands along the u.s. coastline. described as a vacuum cleaner because it eats anything that will fit into its mouth up to

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heartburn solved. a massive fire in shanghai. that story tops our world view. a towering inferno in china. a skyscraper fire killed at least 42 people, injured almost 100 others. flame was so intense, residents jumped from their windows to escape. in playa del carmen, mexico,

swamp gas may be to blame an explosion as resort. five employees and seven tourists dies in that blast. in the kunar province of afghanistan, flames and black smoke poured from the heart of a u.s. military base hit by a rocket attack. the taliban claims responsibility. nato and u.s. commanders have yet to confirm that. facebook says it's making a major announcement in just 15 minutes. the rumor is they're launching an e-mail service designed to compete with archrival google. cnbc's jewel ra gores thanh is live inshaping up to be a tete-a-tete, mano a mano. >> something like six announcements. announced facebook places and now facebook is expected to announce a new type of e-mail service. right now facebook, of course, has an e-mail service where you

can e-mail internally. e-mail your other facebook friends, but what we've ladder is that this facebook e-mail service is going to allow you, the facebook user, to e-mail absolutely everyone. this, of course, would compete with google's g mail, and it could come to be quite an interesting competition here. facebook, of course, says 550 million users around the world. we don't know details but do think it's going to be e-mail oriented, because the invitation for the event looked like an international e-mail -- international mail letter. now, knowing facebook, though, this is not going to be a traditional web mail, like yahoo! mail or like microsoft's hot mail. this will reinvent how we think about e-mail and communication. now facebook allows to communicate many ways. chat with friends, e-mail groups or do internal e-mail. i wouldn't be surprised if they try to incorporate it all into a new type of web communication. >> we'll pay attention now in 12

minutes to see what that announcement is. julia, thank you. >> reporter: that's right. also happening today in just less than two hours, christina aguilera receive as star on the hollywood walk of fame. that makes 2,423 stars. not all forkristichristina agui. she only gets one. and wanted in texas on charges of bigamy, assault and aggravated sexual assault. at 6:00 here in new york, the u.s. debut of the final "harry potter" flick. "harry porte and the deathly hallows part i." that can't be the final if it's part one. right somewhere there's got to be a part ii, makes another film to come. it's all right here, folks. all right here. be right back. ah, this is just what the eight layers needed. hey guys. sorry we're late. milk looks warm. finally got the whole gang together. maple brown sugar, strawberry delight, blueberry muffin. yeah, a little family reunion. [ wind rushes ]

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freshmen orientation on capitol hill today.

all the idealistic representatives getting a crash course on how washington works. maybe we should enjoy that idealism while it lasts. the conversation online indicates a lot of skepticism ourt there about whether anybody can withstand d.c. a liberal mom tweets, did you see them walking with goody bags into a luxury hotel? start as you mean to go, guys. billy thomas writes, washington is crawling with lobbyists and easy money. no, i don't think that today's politicians can withstand the temptation of money. anyone whoen read anything about our founding fathers knows that this is not what they had in mind. and marty conroy writes, where's the back of the room? none of them are getting anywhere close to making real decisions. gop used them to get back in control, but that's it. welcome to washington. i always like hearing from you. reach out e-mail, facebook, twitter. all good ways to get ahold of me. when 2 comes to growing the economy a lot of americans see sgreen. according to a recent survey,

87% care about protecting the environment personally. 75% of americans believe prau s projects can give an economic boost. who do they want to take the lead? 38% say the government should be most responsible for protecting the environment. the founder of practically green, living greener. susan, everybody says in a survey, do you want to live greener? do you personally care about the environment? yes. willing to spend extra? not so much. in gas for fuel? >> what's interesting, moms are leading the charge. recently a survey came out saying 69% of all women are now considered echo awa eco aware.

concerns about toxins and products. we see that in our online service. interested in finding actions that save money, reducing energy in water and also those that rid cleaning products and personal care products and food from the toxins they believe are hurting their kids. >> these are actions we all take. i'll play devil's advocate i'm on the record saying i care, have my own compost bin and use bio degradable soaps and all that. we can do that all we want, until government sets policy. government says these are the standards everyone has to aspire to, we're not really making progress. >> well, there's a great quote from paul hawken that says in order to change the world you have to change your own practices. we're big believer, at practi practically green, you start to become krgs aconscious. even if your home is a green

bubble you send your children to a wold that may not be pesticide-free or have ecofriendly products or healthy food. that causes people to become engaged. that leads to voters. voters lead to government. >> there are incredible ideas on your website. i went on today and checked it out. >> thank you. >> i appreciated some of the ideas, because takes a tiny baby step first. thank you. >> yes, thank you. that wraps up this hour for me. doing green segments all week long. keep it right here on msnbc. see you back here noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. if you live in the west. president obama awards staff sergeant salvatore giunta's medal of honor. and talking with joseph lieberman next on "andrea mitchell reports." be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪

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mitchell reports," back to business for congress. the lame duck session kicks off with a showdown over the bush tax cuts. can republicans in the white house cut a deal? sorry, charlie.