number one story right now on msnbc.com, the most-read story, sarah palin's new book, as we told you, knocksevi johnston and she gives her long awaited take on american idol. we asked you at the top of the show what you're doing up at this hour. rob is back in new york with answers. >> willie, mike says my cell block is on lockdown. >> surprise you have access to a computer and a television, must be a nice jail. one more? >> wayne says i'm worried the royal engagement announcement is a ploy to distract from willie's book. >> let's get our mifshd off the entitled rich kid, get line and order ""american freak show." madam speaker, over 16 house

democrats lost in this cycle. your positive rating with independents stands at 8%. why are you the best person to lead democrats in the current political landscape. >> let me put that in perspective, how would your ratings be if $75 million were spent against you. because we got the job done on health care and wall street and reform and consumer protections, the list goes on. you take 9.5% unemployment, burn a dollar bill, $75 million spent against one person, and i'd like to see what your ratings would be. >> good morning. it's thursday, november 18. welcome to "morning joe." nancy pelosi -- >> i like that. >> i think she's a disaster for the democrats politically right now because she does have an 8% approval rating, but i like the

fight. boom. hey, look, boom. right there. didn't you like that? >> i did, very much. >> an 8% approval rating among independents, that's bad. >> that's not good. >> i will say one other thing. jerry brown had like $800 billion spent against him, against meg whitman, i think those are rounded numbers. >> one of the biggest in history. >> his approval ratings are still pretty good in california. >> he does okay. we have mike barnicle with us, "new york times" columnist charles blow and managing editor of fortune magazine andy serwer. willie geist is in washington because he was celebrating his book. >> no, no. washington was celebrating willie's book. >> was it a good event? >> incredible, norah o'donnell and her wonderful husband jeff were kind enough to host a party. i'm merely here as the advance team for tomorrow's big interview with joe biden. >> he looks hung over.

>> he is hung over. >> are you hung over? >> no, just haven't slept in weeks. you know how it is. >> we were out late last night at the rfk ripple awards. >> it was great. kerry kennedy was an amazing job. >> we were co-hosts and passed the baton to jon stewart. it was quite a crowd, really impressive. >> jon stewart told a couple of jokes we can't repeat here. >> they were -- oh, my gosh. >> oh, my lord, it was great. >> unsensored. >> don't do it. big show this morning, we have senator john kerry on the show and t. boone pickens comes back to join the table. tomorrow we have the vice president. >> charles, can we go around the table really quick. >> go around the table. >> the more i go out, the more i realize that women are deeply offended by the likes of joe

scarborough and mike barnicle in the morning. >> what? >> hey, hon, can i go around the table and ask a couple of questions? is that okay? >> that's really going to help you. >> that's going to help me at home. >> just go around the table. >> charles, listen, we had the same problem with newt gingrich. at one point i went to joe gaylord who is newt gingrich's guy and said, listen, it's not personal. i have problems with newt, but this is not personal. we can't pass anything through this house without newt gingrich's name getting wrapped around it and it being thrown to the bottom of the potomac. newt is hurting the cause. in this case nancy pelosi, 8% approval ratings with independents, how does she help the democratic cause? >> it's an interesting thing. i think she has a point in the sense that she was made out to

be a bogeyman. there's a lot of money spent to paint that portrait of her. she's not running against that. she's trying to get things done in the house. to that degree, it worked. she did what she set out to do. now, the fact that she can corral the cats and get votes on things she wants to get votes on, that's an effective leader. that's an effective leader. i kind of -- >> is she good for the democratic party? >> i think the fact that she can pull people together and get votes on things she wants to get votes on and she can keep them in line -- that is not anything to do among democrats. >> so you would have voted, if you were in the caucus, you would have voted? >> i think she has been effective at getting the votes, and i think to me that's what the leader does. you're not necessarily running against the portrait that people paint on the national stage.

>> mike, a horrible portrait was painted of newt gingrich. "time" magazine had him as the grinch, even before she got sworn in, when he was named person of the year the year later, the colors were naus eighting, you couldn't look at the color. it made you want to throw up. he was savaged by the media, by democrats, the afl-cio probably spent $50 million, $60 million killing freshmen republicans with newt gingrich's image. it's politics. it happens. at some point we had to cut newt loose because he was hurting the party. >> i think the degree of difference between the velocity, the artillery against newt in 1996-'97, you can't compare it -- >> oh, my god, it was worse. newt gingrich was savaged. i could show you the quote. things were said about newt gingrich in the mainstream media and by democrats that probably

weren't even said about nancy pelosi. >> but look at the different platforms available today to attack someone. you've got all the cable channels, the internet, blogs, all sorts of things. nancy pelosi, the reason she won i think, if you show that clip again, she won first and foremost because she is tough. she is tough. >> and democrats don't have a lot of tough people right now. >> exactly. >> well, i think, first of all -- >> people looking at barack obama, that's all i hear from democrats, i wish you were tougher. maybe they like nancy because she's tough. >> i think that's right. you said 8% approval rating that means a 92% disapproval rating. she's always been a lightning rod, always confrontational, not seen as a great compromiser. and i think she's not the right person for the democratic party anymore. i think she's tone deaf, i don't think she gets it. i have to wonder, i want to play this card, whether there's a little bit of share shayla fem and i don't have a good french

accent. they say the same things about hillary clinton, they say the same thing -- >> for the woman? >> there's a bias against her because she's an assertive woman. i don't think it's her main problem but it's out there. i was talking to my 16-year-old daughter about it. it's there. having said that, i still don't think she's the right person, but it's a part of what's going on. >> what does it mean to be tone deaf if you are the democratic leader pushing for the democratic agenda, the things that you have established as what you want and what the president -- you've agreed with the president, you want to put on the agenda and getting the votes you say you're going to get. >> charles, any time she's given a speech, she always say it is republicans aren't listening. instead of being inclusive, she's divisive. >> it's to easy to put that divisive label on the democrats. >> you could say the same thing

about boehner. it's politics. i agree with that. >> they spent the last two years being the most divisive group of politicians that you have ever seen, the most obstructionist, never agreeing the anything: so to try to flip that back on nancy pelosi -- >> just because the wrecks are, doesn't mean the democrats aren't. >> i think nancy pelosi is the number one divisive democrat in congress. >> this is why we're where we are. >> but when you put someone else as speaker of the house, you'll have a speaker more conservative than middle america and the middle of the republican caucus. when you get a democrat from san francisco who is seen as being too moderate -- >> flowers in your hair, is that what you're saying? >> i love that song. every time i hear it.

>> scott mckenzie. >> not mckenzie, scott mcgowan or something like that. >> i think it was scott mckenzie. >> i'm better with names than french. >> i wish i had been in san francisco in 1967 before the bad stuff really start going down in ha hait asbury. and then i light up a joint. i'm joking. i don't do that. never done that. >> would you agree with this premise that 1994, you guys come in, gingrich becomes speaker. you said a conservative from east overshoe, georgia, or wherever. but since 1994 the right has moved further right, the left has moved further toward the middle to get to the ride. >> not nancy pelosi. >> i know not nancy pelosi.

but the entire schematic of politics has been moved. there's no more middle. >> we're a center right nation. i think if you had steny hoyer running the democratic party, he certainly would be in a better position to compromise. and john boehner, i'm sure somebody is going to give me quotes that john boehner did that's going to make my hair fall out, i've knocked john boehner for a lot of reasons, never for being an ideologue. he's careful with what he says. i think he votes a very republican ticket. but i never -- when we were fighting and yelling and screaming and trying to balance the budget, john was just keeping quiet. so i don't think nancy pelosi -- if you want bipartisanship, nancy pelosi is not your person. if you want to fight her and you're a democrat and you think barack obama is too weak, she may be the choice. we have sarah palin who says

she can beat obama. new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows americans want change and voted for change in the midterms. but are doubtful they'll get it. okay. just 32% think the country is headed in the right direction compared to 58% who believe it's on the wrong track. president obama's job approval rating ticked up slightly to 47% with the same percentage disapproving of his performance. >> we have to kind of keep that in mind as we sit here and talk about gloom and doom. when asked to give their feelings about this year's election, 61% says they have a positive reaction to the midterms. however, nearly three quarters of americans are pessimistic the new split government will lead to change. majority of 52% believe congress should set policy over president obama on specific agenda issues. 49% say tax cuts for the wealthy should be allowed to expire while 46% want them to be extended at least temporarily. >> pretty even.

>> when asked to weigh in on the bipartisan deficit commission proposal, just 25% of respondents said it is a good idea. >> time for leadership. charles, you wrote -- >> opportunity, actually. >> it is an opportunity. you give the american people the facts, the american people will do the right thing. i've seen it time and time again. charles, tell me, this past week you wrote a column about sort of the jumbled electorate. how do those numbers line up with what you wrote in "the new york times"? >> they're very different. if you look at -- there are a lot of polls coming out of this election trying to gauge how people feel about it. a poll i used last week, people were not as positive. >> was it the pew poll? >> yes. there's a new poll out today that has another mixed message. i'm interested -- i was trying to get it on my iphone.

part of it is the way you ask the question. part of it is are you very optimistic. that goes down to single digits. are you somewhat optimistic, then a bigger group of people. people kind of want to feel good about it. the real hyperenthusiasm isn't necessarily there among republicans, but they feel good in general that they did the right thing. >> it sounds like a pragmatic public. it sounds like people are saying, we don't like either side. the president, he seems like a pretty good guide. we're not thrilled with his policies. that was a big split, right? 47% approval rating which i will continue to say with 15% real unemployment, right track/wrong track, those are incredibly high numbers for the president of the united states, we see by about a 20 point spread they want republican parties instead of his policies. this is an electorate, they want checks and balances. >> what you always have to remember about the approval

numbers, you've gotten down to the bedrock. you're down to the group of people it's blacks, lesser degree hispanics, devout liberals. those numbers aren't moving very much. >> no. >> he is kind of -- this is kind of his bottom in a way. >> guess what, too? if that's your bedrock, 47%. >> it's not bad. >> mike, you need 3.1% to get re-elected. >> what the heck is that? >> that's the math alarm. any time somebody does math, they get scared. >> mike, what are your thoughts on this? first of all, ask permission from madam speaker. madam speaker? >> maybe. >> first of all, the right track/wrong track thing, anxiety is contagious, a contagious emotion. i think that accounts for a lot of the wrong track stuff.

people like the president. not ever one likes him, but a lot of people like the president. they do not like some of the policies, but they like him. >> i should have said no. when we come back -- >> andy, scott mckenzie in our ear. >> i love this song, too. >> it reminds me, bill karins tells me he still goes to harit asbury, drops acid and looks at cloud formations. when we come back, how rnc chairman michael steele feels about chances for re-election this january. also, what does it take to be named fortune macmagazine's business person of the year. andy serwer reveals this year's winner coming up. see this picture behind me? this picture? it's all, like, glowing. >> how do you know that's the impact of acid on perception.

go ahead, broadway bill. yesterday was an amazing day of wind and thunderstorms in the northeast and all cleared out. today is actually going to be a beautiful day. partly cloudy sky. not even that cold. temperatures in the 40s. enjoy a little bit of warmth while we have it. highs today 55 near 60 degrees, buffalo, syracuse, a little cooler for you. only in the 40s. the rest of the country, quiet today anywhere east of the rockies. the only troublesome weather in northern, california. portland and seattle is where the next storm moves in. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

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personal memoirs by ulysses s grant. >> i could not rejoice at the downfall of a foe who fought so valiantly who the cause was worst for what people ever fouad. >> dwight d. eisenhower. >> the defensive barrier to the heart of germany was pierced. the final defeat of the enemy was just around the corner. >> "decision points" by george w. bush. >> are my testicles black? >> i still don't know the context. >> how can they be taken out of context? >> willie geist in washington, willie -- >> oh, no, oh, no. >> too much information. you and i have both asked that question repeatedly for a lot of different reasons. we won't get into the details. can you give us the context of

george w. bush's question? >> please. >> no, i cannot is the answer. all i know is david letterman is reborn with these interviews. it's given him months of material. >> that line can be used for great moments in history. >> is it real? >> it is real. >> i think it has something to do with something that his father meant to say but it obviously came out wrong. it came out are my testicles black? >> he was quoting a misspoken line. >> look how excited they all are. >> note to self. don't do that. don't do that. >> what he is trying to say is the wall has come down and freedom and hope has spread across eastern europe. but it came out -- exactly. >> wondering how women kind of receive that. i don't know -- >> how does that happen, joe?

>> instead of saying ask not what your country can do for you, say are my testicles black? >> how many more times would you boys like to say it? it's so funny. >> seriously mika, it beats "i am a jelly doughnut." >> say it one more time barnicle? we'll put it on a loop. let's take a look at the morning papers. "new york times," three years after a landmark agreement to cut class sizes in new york city's public schools, classrooms are swelling across the city, a result of budget cuts, spending decisions and a reduced teaching force. "the washington times," a major setback to the white house, plan to prosecute suspected terrorists in new york quotes. yesterday a gitmo detainee was acquitted for the 1998 u.s. embassy bombings in east africa. "denver post" despite on going criticism, the head of the tsa refused wednesday to back off the agency's position.

>> what is he doing? >> tougher airport screening -- >> is he checking for a gun in that guy's pants? >> are my -- >> no, no. they're white. >> wow. >> "st. petersburg times," a story we told you about -- the "st. pete times," bad buzz brings changes for makers of blackout in a can. that's all i got. let's go to willie. willie, what's going on? >> that's your toss? can we go back to that picture one more time, t.j.? it's early i wasn't able to really absorb it properly. >> i don't know where that is, but digger phelps wishes he were

there. >> the best part is the grin on the tsa agent's face. >> what's going on there? >> wow. it's a different world. let's turn now to our good friend, our main man patrick gavin, he's here with a look at the morning playbook. "stray account strut" i'm hearing. >> haven't heard that one yet. we have "cat power." >> an entire catalog of them. i have a feeling we'll hear a lot of them. we'll focus. a little business, rnc chairman michael steele up for re-election. a lot of people around him, despite the fact his party blew away democrats, that he should leave. >> he hasn't said whether or not he wants to seek another term. despite the fact he's come under a lot of criticism and praise as a result of november. but just for sort of saying things off the cuff or being controversial leading up to the election, i think he probably,

if he wants it, it's his. nobody has really stepped up to get these 85 votes they need on the committee. he has about 45 to 50. what's ironic is this is basically the same way he won last time which was on several ballots. unless somebody can step up, somewhere a few people, the news has said he's interested. there's rumored other people. the former oklahoma governor whose name is being tossed around. despite the love him or hate women hymn within the republican party, if michael steele wants a job, it looks like it could very well be his. >> for somebody outside the beltway, this is going to sound crazy. he just won. what's the biggest criticism? mismanagement, fundraise sng. >> fund-raising has been criticized. michael steele says that's been poorly spun in the media. you look at nancy pelosi. everybody argued that she shouldn't re-elected in her democratic leadership position because her party lost. she got it anyway.

the converse with michael steele. it would seem to be since his party won that he should be re-elected and the naysayers should be quiet. the reality is that is a huge boone for him, that he can say, look, this is a historic victory, why not put me back. >> brfr we let you gorks charlie rangel was convicted yesterday. they're not going to expel him? >> he'll probably get a censure which is like a slap on the wrist. a few people are saying he should resign or be removed. but very few people, the fact of the matter is, this guy has a lot of friends, a lot of people supporting him. don't expect him to be removed from office and i don't think he'll resign and people aren't going to ask him to resign. >> a gentle reprimand, by the way is what that tsa agent was doing to the guy at the airport. >> what is this guy? we know it's cat related. five seconds. ♪

>> i don't know. >> it's tom jones, "what's new pussy cat." >> speaking of the tsa picture, patrick will tell you, always spay your cats. it's the right thing to do. coming up, leaked -- oh, god. >> that's a great christmas card. >> leaked excerpts from sarah palin's new book. turns out she's not done with levi. we'll be right back. so, during sign then drive i can get a cc for just my signature? that's right, right now you can take home a volkswagen for just your signature, like the cc or the tiguan. huh. yeah, plus every vw includes scheduled carefree maintenance. really? that's great.

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♪ we've been talking about this song for some reason during the break. >> we were talking about burke back rack and songs like this back then. >> slid into in the middle of listening to the beatles and ac/dc. i love this song. herb al best "this guy is in love with you." little known fact, this was the first hit to go number one, a

trumpet player singing. you won't hear herb singing only any other songs. >> when puffy remixes it, i'll get onto this. >> i'm sure he probably will. >> that's a classic. ♪ they say you think i'm fine after confirming in a "new york times" magazine article this week that she's considering a run for president, sarah palin is apparently taking it a step further. in an abc news interview with barbara walters, she says she believes he can beat president obama. >> i'm looking at the lay of the land now and trying to figure that out, if it's a good thing for the country, for the discoarse, for my family, if it's a good thing. >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> interviewed by "inside edition" about this yesterday at the ripple of hope awards. what's going on here? >> this is classic "the art of

war." when you're strong, look weak. when you're weak, loong strong. sarah palin had some real embarrassments. this is the sort of thing i say and people get really really angry and scream and yell and tell me i suck on the right. and then i'm proven right. all the people who said i sucked for saying the things i said about george bush in 2004 were saying the same thing in the 2010 election. but anyway, she's not going to run. it's the art of war. the reason she's saying this is because she knows she can't win. she knows she's got the keep her name out in the press. she knows her poll numbers are dropping. she knows he was humiliated in the home state of alas kachkala. i hate to say it. it's about money. this keeps things ginned up. if she wasn't saying this right now, people would be writing her dan quayle political obituary. she's going to stir it up and

get people talking about it to get in the mix. listen, you can hate me at home if you want to. mom, write the e-mail, call me a marxist. it's the reality. it's what's happening. it's so patently obvious, i'm surprised more people haven't picked up on it. >> i think it's both. she rev elling in it to make money. she's being filled with so much kool-aid she may actually do it by so many people. >> i think she's much more cunning, much more clever than a lot of people -- >> -- oh. >> i think so. it's a money ploy. >> if she comes out and becomes a bold faced clear candidate, i am running, i can beat this guy, her income scale is going to drop off, but she stays up there ride in the headlines, people still talking about it, can we get her here, $100,000 for a speech or whatever, she's making money. >> the tv show is working, right? >> highest ratings. >> i have excerpts from her new book "america by heart," sarah

palin taking aim at levi johnston and reality tv stars. on levi she writes, of course, we all had to bite our tongues more than once as tripp's father went through a media tour through hollywood and new york spreading untruths and exaggerated rhetoric. i'm reading this because chris is telling me to. >> it was disgusting to watch as we watched his 15 minutes of fame exploited by supposed adults taking advantage of a lost kid. but we knew the price he would pay. her daughter bristol may be featured on "dance being the stars." on "american idol," the self esteemed enhanced but talent deprived performance eventually learn the truth. after they embarrass themselves for the benefit of producers, they are told that they can't sing. in the wider world these kind of instance ps of hard truth telling are increasingly rare.

instead of confronting the limits of their egos when it comes to paying the rent and putting food on the table, americans are told not to worry about it, someone else will provide for them. >> that's so bad, she may have written that book. that accomplished nothing. we just did exactly what you said she's doing. >> i'm saying this book will sell tons and tons of copies. and you can't just. i'm not dismissing sarah palin as a phenomenon. i'm sure she's a great wife. i'm not dismissing her at all. politically she can't get elected president. >> she's under the delusion she can, for the theater of it.

she's hopeless -- i think you're right. she's a hopeless candidate. >> i like how you're channelling sun sui, "the art of war." >> you know the greatest general, he wins the war before the first shot. let's go to willie with sports. he's going to tell us what on the field generals who commanded most effectively last night. actually no generals or commanding of troops. mika's favorite athlete, tiger woods. the image rehab campaign has really started to take shape. yesterday tiger opened a twitter account for the very first time, joined all the people on twitter. officially sending out his first message. where he wrote, yep, it's me. i think i like this twitter thing. you guys are awesome. thanks for all the love. >> my wife may be calling you. >> the biggest outreach to the masses was an essay he wrote for "newsweek" magazine titled how i've redefined victory. he reflects on mistakes and lessons he's learned.

he writes this, this is going to be hard to get through. the physical pain from that car accident has long healed but the pain in my soul is more complex and unsettling. golf is a self-centered game, in ways good and ways bad, so much depends on one's own abilities. but for me that self reliance made me think i could tackle the world all by my lonesome. i'm not the same man i was a year ago. you know what? that's a good thing. ♪ >> seriously, start the day with black testicles. >> did you just say that? >> willie, i say we give tiger a mulligan on this one. >> he's got to fight his way out of the rough here. >> he sure does. guess what? this guy, he's going to finish strong. he's going around the asia right now and he's going to win it

all. >> tiger writing a "newsweek" column. let's talk about john daly. weight loss -- >> this is two-time major winner, recently dropped more than 100 pounds. he now weighs only 195, good for him. the only problem he says since shedding the weight, his putting game has gone to hell. he said this, the biggest problem is my putting because i have nowhere to put my elbows. i used to be put my elbows on my love handles and putt pretty good. now they're all over the place. daly tees off wut those love handles. see, mika, they actually have a functional purpose. >> i haven't heard a sports story yet, have you? >> no. i have another one that's not a sports story. we didn't think this was going to happen. actress eva longoria filed for divorce from her husband of three years, nba star point

guard tony parker of the san antonio spurs. what happened here? in court filths longoria cites irreconcilable differences. but according to her close friend and "extra" host mario lopez, longoria found hundreds of text messages from a mutual female friend on parker's phone. but it doesn't end there. a source close to the situation tells "sports illustrated" the mutual friend is the wife of parker's former teammate brent berry t player on the right in that photograph. so with all this swirling around them, how did tony parker respond? he wasn't bothered at all. 21 points. spurs beat the bulls. they won eight games in a row. >> okay. we got a layup. that's your sports. three hours of sports and one layup. >> the story was off the court. >> willie, could you send a message to professional athletes

across america to disable the text function on their cell phones. >> i know. >> eva longoria, you're sending text messages to somebody else and eva longoria is hanging out in your house? >> tiger with the voice mails. >> i mean tiger's wife -- >> you're better than that guys. >> these guys have too much time on their hands. >> text deviants. sglfrnlt innovative technology, and inspired design. and now, they want to give as much as they can to as many as possible. your chevy dealer is giving back to the community. come see how chevy is giving more. right now, get no monthly payments till spring plus

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the show's real star is the

state of alaska where bountiful lands are steamed with metaphors. >> i love watching these mamma bears. she's trying to show her cubs, nobody is going to do it for you, you get out there and do it yourself. >> todd and his buddies built a 14-foot fence. i was very thankful example. who are can look and say this is what we need to to secure our nation's border. >>. i'm not even sure that fence would keep out raccoons. >> 46 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." mike barnicle, charles blow and andy serwer are all still with us. andy is here to reveal fortune magazine's business person of the year. we knew you were here for a reason. >> who is it? >> we went through a whole bunch of people. business people of the year, do

they really deserve tore called out like this. >> look at this. >> we'll talk about the top five, alan coleman from dupont, mark zuckerberg from facebook, obviously 50 million users, steve jobs, an incredible year with the ipad. alan mulally from ford. but the number one guy and not as well known reed hastings from facebook. this company has been transformed and the stock is up 200% because reed hastings has cannibalized his own business, something you don't see very often in the world of business where you see the red envelopes, now you're able to stream them. so he's cannibalizing his own business. >> you can stream these things now? >> exactly. >> i was going to say he's dead if he's counting on dvds being

delivered. >> by the u.s. mail, exactly. >> you stream them. >> yeah, ipad, on the wii, on desk tops, everything. he was able to transform this business. >> how did this guy get the exclusive -- get the rights from the movie people to do this? >> he negotiated a bunch of deals. the word in hollywood is what is your net flix strategy. he leapfrogged ahead of everyone. >> how? >> by say fg you want to have your movies distributed, you have to come to me. he was able to move forward. >> so blockbuster obviously exploded in the '90s, bankrupt now. >> they weren't able to cannibalize their own business. they were never able to distribute movies online the way netflix has. >> off of what joe asked, run this by me again. i have netflix on my ipad. you can watch great history channel documentaries, everything, movies. >> 15 million people.

>> who does he pay? >> he pay it is movie studios. they distribute their movies after they're in theaters. they're looking for ways to distribute them online. they've been doing this with apple. now they're doing it through netflix as well. >> why doesn't steve jobs cut a deal? >> he has and he's tried. it's distributed in more places. wiis and also desk top computers in ways that itunes hasn't. >> fascinating, number five, alan coleman, dupont. that is an old established corporation in this country. what is dupont doing now that's innovative? >> dupont has moved into all kinds of agricultural businesses like seeds and also chemical business is doing well. that company was kind of on the rocks. she's taken that thing back and the stock is up 40% this year. >> what's he done? >> she's restructured it, moved out of a bunch of businesses and

emphasized that agricultural piece. >> all right. alan mulally, is that hard not making him number one? >> it was hard. he really in a way in business is the closest thing to a hero, right? this guy didn't take any government money. the company was on the brink. he came from outside detroit and, you know, now he's doing all kinds of deals. they closed down mercury, sad to say, but emphasizing lincoln, building plants in china. the chock has gone from low single digits to the high teens. netflix is smaller. it's hard were a big company. >> why don't you put your number three guy number one everywhere. steve jobs has not only transformed business, not only transformed technology, but transformed our culture. who is the last ceo who transformed our culture this way? >> that's a good point. we made him ceo of the last decade, so we have to give someone else a chance. >> looking for innovators.

>> customer experience. >> apple has transformed a lot of other businesses. "fortune" magazine, 2010 business person of the year, reed hastings. >> one thing about netflix, the vacation policy, they don't have one. you can take as many days off as you want or not. >> i like that. >> chris, do we have that here? or is that just me? >> just for certain people, selectively applied. >> chris is off tomorrow, by the way. >> a very liberal leave policy here. still ahead, andrew ross sorkin will be here and later dr. jeffrey sachs. uhoh. we get double miles every time we use our card. i'll take these. no matter what we're buying. plus the damages. and since double miles add up quick, we can bring the whole gang. it's hard to beat double miles. no, we ride them. [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day.

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all right. tell me it's time. >> time for news you can't use. i have a good one for you, joe. >> i feel like the whole show has been news you can't use. >> i have no idea what's happening right now. governor charlie crist in florida leaning strongly toward getting the pardon for jichl morrison for exposing himself in '69. crist telling "the new york times" today the more i read about it, the more convinced i am an injustice has been done here. jim morrison looks like he'll get that pardon 41 years later. >> there is really no direct evidence -- >> photographs do not show -- >> they do not show. you have more chances of

exposing yourself in a tsa line today than jim morrison did on that stage in miami so long ago. >> don't do it. don't do it. >> let's get the picture. >> no. an interesting ad out from citizens united, the conservative group welcoming nancy pelosi's victory as a minority leader -- her election we'll say. we'll play the ad and let you decide. >> the neat thing about that, guys, there is a website if you want more information.

pelosifruitcake.com. >> that was a waste of time. >> do we have the photo? >> seriously. >> let's drink it in. let's drink it in. >> what was the quote, "don't touch my junk?" >> thank you denver post photo editor. >> you want to say it one more time. >> ready, willie? >> one more time. >> don't do it. don't do it. thank you, willie. >> no idea what's going on. andy thanks. top business leader in the new issue of "fortune" magazine. andrew ross sorkin next on "morning joe." [ wind howling ]

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we do the impossible immediately, miracles take a little longer. well, tonight after eight weeks, i think we can say our miracle is here, our miracle is here. there's no turning back. there's no looking back, and what a wild, wild two months that has been. but what held me, what kept my course, and lilly, this takes it back to your dad.

ted's motto was to hell with politics, let's do what's right for alaska, and that's what we did. that's what we did. >> that is unbelievable. >> write-in candidate lisa murkowski. welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour. mike barnicle is still with us. willie is in washington. and joining the table -- >> she sounds disappointed. >> business columnist andrew ross sorkin. >> let's keep this music going. ♪ all i need is a mere ak >> somebody wins as a write-in candidate. this hasn't happened since strom thurmond in '54. >> 1954. >> your friend. >> listen, an amazing thing. you don't think it's a repudiation? >> of course it's a repudiation.

>> why aren't you casting it in that light? >> trying to talk about the positive. >> this is all about one person, sarah palin, that's what this story is. >> it's about lisa murkowski. >> yes. >> you think i'm not giving her enough credit? >> i think you are overly negative. i think you need to look deep into your soul and try to find a ray of sunshine in this story. and i don't know what the other kids at the prep school have done. maybe they've beaten you up, bullied you, maybe they took your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. i don't know why you're so negative. >> i'm not trying to be negative. what i'm trying to suggest to you is the reason this is a story, the reason this is a national story is not because she won. most people didn't know who she was. it's because of the larger context of the story, and that namely has to do with sarah palin. >> how sad it is the young are so cynical. this hasn't happened since 1954.

i say let's give murkowski her moment. >> it's a story even without sarah palin. it involves tea party candidate joe miller, put up front by sarah palin. i get that. but the degree of difficulty in her winning as a write-in on the ballot is astounding. >> it's like brzezinski. i mean spell brzezinski. mauer c murkowski. >> is it possible you could have a write-in on a larger scale? >> i think you'll see more and more independents getting elected. >> is that the larger story? forget about palin? is this really about the idea of independents emerging? >> this is really an old story, something we repeat time and time here, that america is in the middle, whether you're in alaska and your party nominates joe miller or you're in connecticut and your party nominates ned lamont.

america is in the middle. and when either party strays too far from the middle, they get slapped down by voters, from alaska to connecticut. >> it is devastating for sarah palin though. >> now you're going to -- >> i'm going to say that. in her own home state. there's nobody, mika, who is a bigger political rival than sarah palin. it would be hard to draw a scenario where a national political figure got more of a rebuke than this in her home state. >> to have that happening in her home state, yet she rakes in so much dough with books. >> she has a right to do that. >> i'm not saying she doesn't. i'm saying it's interesting on one hand she's a huge draw, she can bring in a crowd, but this woman, a write-in candidate. >> the question is, is she a huge draw in alaska anymore? >> no.

>> people in alaska are like -- >> just do clarify where we are here though, nbc is declaring her the apparent winner. is that the wording, chris? >> yes. >> joe miller says he has no plans to concede and argues that the race is far from over, adding his campaign is looking to investigate. >> oh, god. >> we may actually ask for a hand count of our ballots as well. that was the benefit she got. we'll probably ask for that as well. we are going to ensure we maintain our position, that the integrity of the vote matters and especially these military votes matter. we want to make sure, like i said earlier, those ballots went out. >> he went on to say that if that did not happen, he was going to handcuff officials with his personal security. >> oh, ter rifb. the election commission is expected to certify the results in a week or so. so we shall see. house democrats have voted to make nancy pelosi minority leader in the new congress despite the party's landslide defeat in the midterms. pelosi beat out heath shuler who

argued that pelosi alienated voters and became a liability for democrats. speaking after the vote, the outgoing speaker said she was willing to work with republicans. >> the message we received from the american people is that they want a job. they want jobs. 9.5% unemployment is a very tough screen to get through with any other message. i would say to the american people, we extend a hand of friendship to the republicans. we look forward to hearing their ideas on job creation and deficit reduction. >> you know, i've really liked her tone. i liked her defines up top. i'm saying this, even though i think politically this is bad for democrats, but i liked her defines defiance up top. we know americans want us to work with republicans, we're going to work with republicans. >> you said we're all supposed to be coming the the middle. and then -- i'm sorry to say ms. pelosi is not necessarily down the middle.

she says she wants to work with republicans. the deficit commission thing comes out last week and she doesn't even want to have a conversation about it. >> she backed off that. i will say, though, that she's in the minority. when you're in the minority in the house of representatives, you are going up against -- as lawrence o'donnell says, it's a dictatorship in the house. so you really do, in the minority you want tough fighters. i think the biggest problem for democrats comes two years from now. mike, imagine this, when they start trying to recruit candidates in the deep south, democrats, where rahm went to make the democrats a majority or where they tried to recruit democrats in the midwest. think about the guys that lost in virginia, the democrats. they're not going to get a business guy or business woman to quit her job in virginia to run as a moderate to conservative democrat who could make nancy pelosi speaker.

it's such a stretch. >> it's not just the south. they lost seats in ohio, they lost seats in indiana and illinois. but i would submit that this story is of the moment. the future for the dem rats rests on the shoulders of one guy, barack obama. barack obama. a week from now we won't be talking about nancy pelosi. we'll be talking about whether the president of the united states slapped back against people like jon kyle who wants to stop the stark treaty. >> i think what she'll do is run a very effective minority operation in the house. >> which means what though? >> the whole dynamic. >> which means in the house of representatives, trying to stop everything, slow down everything that a very conservative republican congress is going to do. listen, that offends a lot of people. i hear people saying the republicans -- listen, i was

never in the minority in the house. i was always in the majority, but ki just tell you, if you're in the minority, it ain't a partnership. it never has been a partnership. it's far, far different than the house. so maybe you need somebody like nancy pelosi to fight. >> to balance it out? >> to fight, to be tough, and to give no quarter. i know it sounds inconsistent. >> for a man that argues for the middle -- >> i know it sounds inconsistent. i'm talking strategy. it's not good electoral strategy. but procedurally inside the house of representatives, it may be the right call for democrats. i've got to say, also, i think, mika, this is about barack obama as much as it is about nancy pelosi. the left really believes this president is not fighting hard enough for their core values. and nancy pelosi right now is the only progressive leader in washington, d.c.

>> well, think that's a huge opportunity for this president to put it on the republicans to come up with some ideas. don't you think that they have gone very left with some of their policies and given -- >> democrats? >> yes. >> oh, yeah. mike, you understand what i'm saying. in the senate you have to get somebody in the manial that can bring everybody together. in the house, again, when you're in the minority, you better have a street fighter on your side. >> you mentioned sun siu last hour. nancy pelosi will be reading "the art of war" in the house. it is guerilla warfare, especially when you're in the minority. you're absolutely right. you don't have the chairmanships. you involvement to slow things down. >> slow down the rules t votes, do whatever you can to throw yourself in front of the train roaring down the track. >> on the other side of the hill, you had at least to me -- >> does thant seem tlik a

horrible system? >> it's a system -- i've heard whining of this system for years. now i'm defending sem kratz. it's a system that served pretty damn well over the past 220-some years. >> i'm saying the politics. the politics we're saying you have to play the strategy over the policy. >> here is the deal. the house of representatives was put in place specifically to do what happened, which is to react sharply to quick changes in public opinion. that's why they elect them every two years. >> i appreciate that. >> americans have moved aggressively to the center right and in response to barack obama and nancy pelosi. over the next couple years, the house is going to constantly be pulling the senate back to the center. it happens. listen, but it changes. mika, back in '93, '94, i loved the senate because they slowed everything that bill clinton and tom foley did.

i loved the senate. in '95 and '96 when they were killing everything that newt gingrich and people like me were trying to push through, i hated the senate. i sounded like democrats over the last two years, the senate is a broken institution, blah, blah, blah. overtime you realize the whole system pulls us to the center. extremists don't like it. >> i'm not sure we have time for this anymore, for the strategy game. when you talk about the deficit commission. >> that's a really good point. >> you talk about all the problems we have right now. we don't have time to sit around and play this game for two years. >> you know what? we always have time. we always have time because when we rush, when we rush into things like iraq,ly still say t.a.r.p., the way it was structured, we always make mistakes. people always say that. you know, 1968, where were you in 1968. >> pre womb for me.

>> oh, yeah. >> hold on one second. you say we have so much time. >> i didn't say so much time. >> you said there's always time. any lesson we learned from the financial crises, it's actually we're running out of time. all the decisions we need to make we need to make in advance -- >> in realtime. >> in realtime ahead of the problem before we have to make decisions we don't want to make after the problem. >> let me ask you this, andrew, this is in our "keep calm and carry on motif" here. let me ask you, do you think the situation is more perilous today than it was in 1968 when martin luther king was assassinated and bobby kennedy was assassinated and cities were burning and we were tied down in vietnam and it looked like the social fabric of this country. >> no -- >> let me continue, was coming apart at the seams. do you think it's worse today than it was in 1932 during the

height of the great depression? do you think it's as bad as it was? we've been through tough -- we have been through 13 recessions over the past century, a flu epidemic that killed more americans than were killed in world war i and world war ii. we've been through some pretty bad -- >> he's today's modern child. they want everything right away. he wants to click and fix it. >> i live in an a.d.d. society. >> you're not alone. >> i'm not alone. that's part of the problem as well. >> we have tough problems, and i'm sorry for the sive viccivic. our system was created to make sure we didn't dart too far right or too far left. there's always a senate to pull everybody back to the center. it always -- i'm going to say it on both sides, this system frustrates extremists. guess what? this system is created to frus

straes extremists. it is not a coincidence that this system has worked for over two centuries. >> you know, this is not personal, this is not directed at you, chris. >> i know where you'll go though. >> one of the great problems we confront today in this country is we no longer teach the history of this republic to people. so people come into in with their blackberries and beepers and everything is wired. and we forget. the most resilient nation ever created. the things we have endured, the things we have suffered through, the things we have achieved victory over, whether it's through the depression, whether it's through fighting two world wars on two fronts, whether it's rebuilding the country after world war ii, we've managed to do it. what we're going through now, sure. 15% real unemployment is terrible. there's no doubt about it.

job is the most important word in the english language. we can get this done. >> if you are correct, and you may very well be, we shouldn't sitting around on this set talking about how awful things are and all the things we need to fix as quickly as we need to fix them. >> we need to fix them, but you don't fix them with extremists and extremism. >> i'm not suggesting you do. >> all i'm saying is we've got problems. the thing i love about our country is we do beat the hell out of ourself ef re day, that we're constantly trying to figure out how to be better. i'm saying we've got a system that you move these problems through. it doesn't jerk too far to the right or too far to the left. as mike said, it's gotten us through a lot. 13 recessions. world war i, world war ii. as i said, a flu epidemic that killed more people -- if it happened today, people would be jumping out of buildings. a great depression. i could go on and on. but we're going to get through it, buddy.

it's okay. listen, we will get by as the dead are saying in my ear. >> you were doing so well until you did that. >> don't worry. you'll be able to play your xbox for years to come. >> do voters think the midterms will bring a change to washington. chuck todd has a look at the new polls next. later, senator john kerry joins us as well as t. boone pickens. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> good morning. what a windstorm we had yesterday through areas of the midatlantic and new england today is a much quieter, beautiful fall day for everyone. mostly sunny skies to start. we will have clouds moving in. mixture of sun and clouds, highs today in the 50s. no bad airport problems. chilly in buffalo and pittsburgh today. the rest of the country looking very nice. deep south to florida, very quiet weather. the only bad weather, the pacific northwest, oregon and washington state especially,

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this is a business where having a majority is pretty darn important. i think unless there is some common ground that can be found, it may be difficult for the republicans going forward. if there's a further movement to the right that's going to be difficult for successful races in the future. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> just thinking about that. if charlie crist had won, and he didn't come close. but if he had won -- talking about independent tickets. think about bloomberg from new york and charlie from florida. if you could move him off the republican party, i don't think

you'd be able to, can you imagine jeb and bloomberg. >> 2012? >> independent. they would win. >> you think they would? >> oh, yeah, they would. they would run away with it, baby. well, it depends. >> you think bloomberg could win the presidency? >> if i were a damaged barack obama with 10% unemployment and let's say mitt romney running against him. >> who is at the top of your ticket, jeb or bloomberg? >> that would be up to them. jeb would win florida and the deep south. >> bloomberg would never do number two. >> he likes to run things. >> jeb is not a shrinking violet. >> you think he would poll well nationally? that's the issue. >> they are data people. if they put up romney who, by the way, the bushes like very much. so jeb probably wouldn't do it. if they put up romney versus

obama, versus jeb and jeb won with bloomberg, they would look at the data and go that way. >> i'm still voting for you, my friend. >> thank you so much. >> let me tell you something, the elk's club needs a proven leader, and i will be that man. >> joining us from the white house, nbc chief white house correspondent and political director and co-host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. >> a lot to take us through this morning on approval ratings. let's start with a number i've got to say really impressive. barack obama's approval rating. >> certainly he is back to even. he is back to a 47-47. it's the first time in six months he hasn't had a net negative job rating. look, the job rating has held up even through all of this. it's -- it is why i think you talk to a lot of folks, even republicans who sit there and say, look, he's not going to be somehow easy to beat for -- in

20126789 he has a base, a very strong base of support. by the way, i'm be honest. i laugh at all this bloomberg talk. just so you know, because if you understand three-way presidential politics, and if you understand barack obama's base, joe, in a three-way president race, do you know who will sweep the south? >> who is that? >> barack obama because african-americans would help him hit automatically 35%, 40% throughout the entire -- from mississippi, alabama, georgia, south carolina, throw in north carolina. the republican south would become the obama south in a competitive three-way. >> we'll see. bloomberg spending $3 billion is not ross perot. you're right, though, you look

at south carolina -- >> i would say the numbers are very difficult when you look at it suddenly, the president's base and you see it in his job approval rating. the president's base of joung voters, african-americans, hispanics, give him a floor that is higher actually than for instance the republican party in the south. >> the president's approval ratings in a lot of those states are probably mid 30s, low to mid 30s. it would take a weak republican candidate in the south like mitt romney and strong, independent ticket to pick up 36, 37% and win. it would be threading the needle. no doubt about it. >> let's look at the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll numbers. direction of the country, right track, wrong track. 32% think we're going in the right direction. 58 brs, wrong track. chuck? >> that hasn't moved. that is directly tied. nothing can tell you more about the state of the economy than

that number. it's the most important number to explain the political tumult we've seen over the last three straight election cycles. other than a blip right after the president's inauguration where we went to one to one on that, about 44-44 on right track/wrong track, the country's mood about the direction of the country has been a net negative, basically going back to katrina in 2005. we're looking at five straight years of having a pessimistic view on the direction of the country. that's two presidents. that's three elections. think about that. it's really stunning. three -- we've already gone through three straight national elections, and in all three cases over a five-year period, the country is believed we're heading in the wrong direction. >> also findings that people voted for change, but they don't think anything is going to change, joe. how do you assess that along with what chuck just said in terms of what can happen the

next time around. >> chuck, it's always counterintuitive, gingrich, clinton get into town. they hate each other. suddenly things start moving. tip o'neill, ronald reagan couldn't be further apart. they pass landmark legislation and win the cold war together. you never know how things shake out, do you? >> that's right. you don't know what the moment in time is. i do warn folks to say is this like '94, '95, '96 all over again? there are a lot of things that are different. it isn't a fully republican controlled congress. it is split control. that means john boehner may not have to come and cut deals with barack obama. the only person he may have to figure out how to cut deals with if he wants to pass anything is going to be harry reid. think about that. boehner and reid have to become the next reagan and tip o'neill. >> chuck, when you look at the numbers that talk about what type of change the public expects and it says we don't expect much, is that actually a function of the fact that the

republicans now own the house? is that the issue? if we all believe in gridlock, that would be sort of the expected number. am i wrong? >> what you're saying is the period, we have another poll number in there, 73% also believe that 2011 is going to be a period of divisiveness, not a period of compromise. you put all that together, it's the -- they're happy about the election results. they feel good about it. they love divided government and they think not much is going to change and it's a period of divisiveness. >> nobody is coming the the mid sgll you can draw the conclusion that, yes, it's the prospect of gridlock that has folks assuming cynically so, frankly, that not much is going to change. >> you're so cynical. >> i know i'm cynical this morning. >> you need to look back to great historical figures and be inspired by their words, be lifted up by the words of neville chamberlin, peace in our time, it's going.

>> i thought this was going in a bad direction. >> neville chamberlin is a pretty bad direction. he appeased hitler. >> oh, i thought you were -- >> i wasn't going to talk about black testicles. we'll put george w. bush's words in proper context. you can catch chuck on "the daily rundown -- >> have we been getting better. i think we're getting better getting it to you. >> you're doing great. right on time. no complaints. >> we're going to keep trying really hard to get it to you at 9:00 straight up. >> it's been a nice, smooth transition. look, if we can do it, why can't america come together? >> amen. tomorrow joe biden. but next, rick stengel with "time."

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>> "decision points" by george w. bush. >> are my testicles black? >> this has been great moments in presidential memoirs. >> it doesn't get old. >> i can't figure it out. >> an hour or two ago we asked how ke with get this in proper perspective. someone e-mailed you. give us context. why was george w. bush talking about his netherworld regions. >> he was writing about something that happened to his father, george h.w. bush. >> a great man. >> one of the greatest man of our time. the presidential medal of freedom soon. >> bill russell is getting it, too. isn't that great. >> president 41 bush is having his physical done. after the physical is over, he turns to the nurse and he says or wants to say "are my test results back." it comes out "are my testicles

black." >> i'm sure george w. and barbara wish he left that story out. >> yeah. >> sometimes it's what you don't say as rick stengel taught us a long time ago. >> i heard that in my ear, perfect segue to rick stengel. >> a collaboration with the pew research center on the state of our union, on the state of marriage in america today. it's a study we've done over the past year. they also looked at census data of the last 50 years. the headline of the study which i'll go right to is that marriage has become an institution for the wealthier rather than the less wealthy. before world war ii, the marriage rates among people who were poorer and less educated which higher than people with more education and more money. now those lines have crossed. >> you also say in the study that men need marriage more than

women. >> well, they benefit from marriage more than women do. they live longer, more prosperous, happier. women who are married aren't necessarily happier. >> are they less happy? >> less happy than women who are not married? no. more happy than women who are not married. more and more women say that marriage is not necessary to their happiness a. higher percentage of women say marriage is not necessary to their happiness than men say. >> what's the basis? >> i think men are saying it to please the women. >> i'm wondering how skewed the answers are. >> what is emerging is a marriage gap which is a really interesting thing. i think it's an unintentional consequence of women's equality which is that once upon a time doctors married nurses. lawyers married secretaries. now doctors mariry doctors, lawyers marry lawyers. it's keeping that income class up higher and it's separating them from lower income.

it's an example of incoming equality in america. that's a whole other idea. >> mike? >> the incoming equality within the context of marriage, how does that play out according to this? >> it plays out that particularly since the recession started people with less education and less income feel they can't afford to get married. marriage is more and more becoming a luxury for people who can afford it. men and women who have higher education, higher incomes than people with lower incomes. >> why do they feel that way? >> that i don't really know the answer to. one of the things that's very interesting is a majority of mayor cans think that marriage is obsolete. but a huge majority of americans still want to get married. something like 60% of people under 30 think marriage is obsolete. >> how do children play into this? are people feeling comfortable having children out of wedlock does that address that issue? >> compared to 1960, eight times

apz many out-of-wedlock births. the other thing that the pew study really saw is the notion of marriage itself -- the notion of family has changed. it's a much broader definition. single men living with children, unmarried couples living together. people consider this family. i would argue that's a good thing in the sense that family is a good thing and our definition of family has expanded. >> i want to go off topic for one second which is we have -- the state of the magazine industry, tina brown who is often on this broadcast is taking over your competitor, "newsweek," formerly run by jon meacham. what do you make of this and what do you think about your own magazine? >> i so welcome it. i think she's a fantastic magazine editor. she'll do a wonderful job. i think it's not an easy job. any great journalistic institution that can be revived is good for all of us. >> so what do you really think?

>> that's what i really think. >> are you scared, are you nervous? are you scared, are you nervous? >> of what? the new cover of "time" magazine "who needs marriage?" >> men do apparently. >> we do. hi honey. we do. >> wee are the weaker sex. it ain't even close. >> i'm not arguing. >> poor women. is the pickens plan the key to energy independence? we'll talk to t. boone coming up on "morning joe." during sign te i can get a cc for just my signature? that's right, right now you can take home a volkswagen for just your signature, like the cc or the tiguan. huh. yeah, plus every vw includes scheduled carefree maintenance. really? that's great. there you go. that guy's pretty good too. yeah, he's ok. [ male announcer ] it's amazing what you can do with a pen. sign then drive is back. for a limited time get any 2011 volkswagen

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we'll be talking to t. boone pickens. joining us for our power in progress series, t. boone pickens who says we need to get

off opec oil. good to have you back ton show. >> i apologize for being a few minutes late. i'm telling you a crowd out in front is passing these out. >> what do you have? can i see? >> oh, good lord. >> look at this. go joe and mo joe. >> the go joe go were younger folks. >> all we need is just a little money. you got any? >> i was going to say this is a problem because your guys got the names backwards. they have bloomberg first. >> i'll go back down and get them. there was another group forming there. >> a troublemaker. >> funny. troublemaker. you're stirring it up. let's talk about the election that just happened. somehow that going to impact the pickens plan? >> we're okay.

the plan is totally nonpartisan. you ask any group, say okay, if you don't like the plan, what do you like? and the other day they had a guy on, and he was talking about, well, oil, talking about all the oil he was finding. it was obvious he was talking his book and i'm talking my book. my book is america. and so it's -- if it's american oil, good. listen, coal doesn't bother me. there's nothing that bothers me if it's american. >> it needs to be american. >> that's right. >> get off foreign energy. >> i want off opec oil. >> let's go down the checklist of the new leaders in washington. first, barack obama, obviously there for two more years at least. >> you saw what he said. there are certain things we can agree with on with the republicans, for instance, energy. he said natural gas and the electric car. well, that is harry reid's bill.

that's what he was saying, yeah, he's on board. >> the pickens plan was good for the president s. harry reid on your shied? >> sure. he's a guy that's doing all the plowing. >> what about john boehner? >> oh, yeah, john boehner and i have talked about it. and john boehner -- >> look at this -- >> you got the leaders in washington. >> cnbc is saying the plan was polled by senator harry reid because it couldn't get enough votes foreclosure. what happened there? >> harry said a couple days ae go. he said now orrin hatch and republicans are wanting the talk and they see the reason for the bill, and you need to go to resources in america and everything else. i think they're coming together. i was happy with them putting the vote off. >> who could be against breaking our dependence on opec oil? who in the house or the senate could be against that? >> if anybody popped up and said

it, they are vulnerable to saying you want opec oil, you're un-american. that's about what can come out on that. >> it's not good, mike barnicle. >> one of the things that concerns i think people or at least concerns me when you read about it is that coal, nuclear, gas, whatever is here in america in terms of getting us off opec oil, the permitting process for anything takes so long, there are so many hurdles before you can build anything, before you can convert anything, what do we do about that? >> okay. mike, first, when you say nuclear and coal, they do not get you off opec oil. the only thing that gets you off opec oil is something that will replace oil. >> natural gas? >> natural gas or more oil here, which is good. 70% of all the oil used globally every day goes to transportation fuel. so you have to attack opec oil with a resource that will

replace oil. >> andrew ross sorkin. >> i want to get down to brass tacks. we say everybody is in the middle and everybody should want to pursue this plan. you've been talking about this plan, sir, for two years. >> 2 1/2. >> sadly for all of us who think it's a good idea, it hasn't moved off the block just yet. what's going to happen in the next two years to get it there? >> it's going to happen. i promise you, i think you have a 50/50 chance of seeing reid's deal pass in the senate in the lame duck. if we miss the lame duck -- >> you think pre christmas? >> yeah. listen, i've been in here really grinding on this thing. i've really truly believe i have something that's saleable and ready to be sold. now, i don't know how much experience you've had -- >> he's had none. look how young he is. >> i just had my bar mitzvah.

this is all new to me. i'm asking questions out of complete ignorance. >> andrew, go to wash want and get something passed. >> i've heard it's difficult. >> give me 30 seconds on this point. >> he's basically telling you stop interrupting him boy. >> i'm 82 years old, andrew. i promise you, i have lobbied in washington for good stuff. some say how much have you ever got passed? i said nothing, zero. i spent my money, up and down the halls. i did kill a few things. joe knows it's a lot easier to stop something than start something. >> much easier. >> now this is the only thing, if i get this passed, it's the only thing i have ever gotten passed. give me a little time, andrew. >> okay. >> you're impatient because of your age and everything. >> i've been hearing that all morning. >> i'm impatient because of my age, too. >> so give us -- for people that are watching right now that

haven't seen the commercials over the past two years that may want to call their congressmen or senator, tell them what the pickens plan is and why their congressman or senator needs to vote for it? >> it's down to -- very simple. it has two parts to it. one is i want to get natural gas on heavy-duty. first thing somebody says. >> heavy-duty trucks. >> that's right. 18-wheelers. there are eight million of those trucks. just like that, we got them on there, that would be 2.5 million barrels a day and we import five from opec. >> can you believe that? 2.5 million a day. >> it costs $65,000 for these 18-wheelers? >> that's right. >> what about the regular ones? >> $20,000. this would be $265,000. >> who is going the pay for that? >> i've got get that. know this.

>> that's a real number probably. >> wait a second. >> that's a real number. >> to you and me, $4.5 million is a real number. in the overall scheme of things in washington, $4.5 million, we'll sweep it off the trabl. >> all i want is the 4.5. that will get me 150,000 out of eight million. that's all it will get me. that's all i want. just get me started. just get your orr nefrnlths the water. show them this is a good pilot program. >> if we convert these 18-wheelers. >> not converting. these are new. jobs. >> if we get new ones, create the jobs, you're telling me we can cut our addiction to opec oil by half? >> exactly. >> by half. >> how long will it take to do that? seven years. seven years, phase out all 18-wheelers, go to natural gas. >> that is transformational. >> who is against this and why?

>> you can't find anybody that's against it. the chemical companies are against it because they want cheap natural gas in their process. they want to give you -- >> the oil guys have to be xens it. >> how crazy is it that we could do with within seven years, wean ourselves from opec oil after everything we've been through and can't get it done. >> how what? >> how crazy is that? >> let me tell you, mike, if we end up not taking advantage of this, if we don't take advantage of this in this country we're going to go down as the dumbest crowd that ever showed up in town. i am not kidding you. you have a resource that's 30% cleaner. natural gas at $4.00 is $22 oil. we have $88 oil. here you say, wait a minute, oil has got to come down or natural gas has to go up. that will be the case. natural gas -- if you start

bringing it in as transportation fuel, it will go up. one mcf of natural gas equals seven gallons of diesel. the stuff is powerful. you don't need a refinery. >> this is great. >> we're already looking like the dumbest crowd. >> it saves us money, creates jobs and breaks our dependence on opec oil. it makes too much sense. >> one other point, one other point we have 4,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. that is equivalent to -- to what i'll actually be doing. so in the rest of my life i like control, especially in my finances. that's why i have slate with blueprint. i can make a plan to pay off everyday things and avoid interest. or pay down my balance faster on the big stuff. that saves money. with slate from chase i have everything under control... financially. debit card control... credit card flexibility. get both with slate.

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we interrupted the important discussion of energy policy with t. boone pickens to bring you this breaking news. it's not breaking at all. tiger woods, tiger woods trying to get his way back into the heart of america. he's start being twitter. what better place to start. he's opened a twitter account. now that his season is over, a season he'd like to forget, he's going to start rebuilding. he joined the site officially tweeting his first messages yesterday. one of them, yep, it's me. i think i like this twitter thing. you guys are awesome. thanks for all the love. that wasn't his biggest effort to reach out. in an essay he wrote for "newsweek" magazine called "how i've redefined victory" woods and his management team reflecting on mistakes, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. he writes, in part, the physical

pain has long healed, but the pain in my soul is more complex and unsettling, very emotional. golf is a self centered game in ways good and bad. so much depends on one's own abilities. for me that self reliance made me think i could tackle the world by myself. i'm not the same man i was a year ago friends. that is a good thing. the word of tiger woods. now you know. senator john kerry joins us next when we send it back to new york city. also, dr. jeffrey sachs standing by in the green room. "morning joe" is coming right back.

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i tell you, i am thinking about things. i'm looking at this country, george and what's happened in terms of respect. i have many people from china that i do business with. they laugh at us. we cannot let the rest of the world beat us up. we're like a whipping post right now. >> so if you ran, you'd run as a republican, correct? >> i am a republican. i would run as a republican, yes. >> are you pro choice? >> well, i don't want to discuss right now, but you will be shocked when i give you that answer. >> how can i be shock snd. >> you be l be surprised what i give you. when i make a decision, i'll let you know about that. >> welcome back to "morning joe." mike barnicle and andrew ross sorkin are still with us. willie is in washington on capitol hill. democratic senator from massachusetts and the chairman of the foreign relations committee, senator john kerry. thank you for being with us.

also at the table, the director of earth institute, dr. jeffrey sachs. mika, you're going to be calling donald trump. >> how about bloomberg and trump together? >> he has to win our vote, at least mine. let's call him and find out what's going on. >> will you literally going to call him right now on the air. >> i'm going to talk. >> i'll put him on speaker. >> we have work to do. let me ask you dr. sachs, then to senator kerry, let me ask you about t. boone pickets coming on talking about the pickens plan. he wants to break our dependence with foreign oil. this idea about natural gas in 18-wheelers could cut our dependence by half. that's pretty good, right? >> gas is part of a solution. it's a modest part, but it's a part of a solution. it actually fits in with the other kinds of energy source that is are also part of the solution because you put gas together with wind, you put gas together with solar.

when those intermittent energy sources are down, gas kicks in. it is cleaner than coal. it's not going to be clean enough for the long term to really solve all of our problems. but it's a piece of the solution. >> part of the solution. >> absolutely. like always, we need a little bit of a plan. not just one piece. we need to lay out what we're going to do with the infrastructure. what kinds of energy sources. and we still don't have a plan. we don't have anyone apparently even preparing it. >> senator kerry, let's bring you in here. we want to talk to you about the stark treaty and other issues. let's talk first about this issue of breaking our dependence on foreign oil. where do we stand in that battle right now? >> let me correct jeff who is a friend, but let me correct him as bluntly as i can. we had a hell of a plan last year, worked like crazy to put a plan together and we have a plan to go forward for alternative

energy, renewable portfolio standard, energy efficiency for incredible investment in our future. but the fact is we have a huge ideological tension in america about where we want to go. the united states ranks 10th competitively among the g-20 countries. we're behind france, behind china, behind germany, japan. this is ridiculous. we're not investing in america's future. a $600 billion investment the private sector is going to put into clean energy over the next 20 years. 90% will be in other countries. the united states isn't even in the game because we don't, congress hasn't bought tint notion that we have to price carbon, accelerate our investment, excite the private sector's investment into these clean energies. the pick kens plan was a -- we need to convert the 18-wheelers, but we need to do a lot more

than that, build a legitimate grid in the united states of america so you can take energy from the southwest part of our country, solar thermal and sell it in new england or minnesota, wisconsin and places. we're so far behind the curve with other countries, it's embarrassing. >> senator, hearing you talk, i know a lot of americans out there, actually, forget ideology are going, okay, this sounds pretty exciting. you take what t. boone pickens is talking about. i didn't realize we convert our 18-wheelers to natural gas. he said that cuts half of our dependence on opec oil. let's talk about high speed rail for instance. in china, it's embarrassing how far they're ahead there. i believe and i say this as a small government conservative, i believe the middle of america could be convinced if washington would come to them aggressively, if the president, you and others, and say, hey, let's transform our economy.

we have to keep up with the chinese and the french, this is how we do it. isn't that a salable notion in america right now? >> you would hope so except that too many of the people who have come into the congress on the other side, all they want to do is cut. they're not talking about investmenting in america. if all we do is come down here and focus on the deficit without focusing on future investment, the united states is going to fall farther behind t. market that created the wealth of the 1990s, greater than in 2 '20s with the carnegies and melons and rockefellers. every single quinn tile of american income earners went up in their income. the market that drove that was the technology market. it was a $1 trillion market with one billion users. the market we're looking at in clean energy is a $6 trillion

market with 6 billion potential users growing to 9 billion over the next 20 to 30 years. we're not in the market. two years ago chin fla produced 5% of the world's solar panels. today they produce 60%. the united states doesn't have one company in the top 10 producers even though we invented the solar cell at the bell laboratories 50 years ago. it's embarrassing. it really is embarrassing. >> dr. sachs, what we've been talking about for two years. you've been talking about it much longer. that's how long we've been talking about it on the show. whoever controls the next wave of energy controls the world economy for the next century. this is transformational in ways that, my gosh, forget sending satellites up in space. >> front page story in "the new york times," how china is completely now dominating the

fast rail all over the world. they've mastered the technologies. now they're going out to do it. senator, i agree with every word you said. i hope you could strip out the cap and trade piece of the plan. >> cap and trade is gone. it's finished for now. it's unfortunate because it was the best way to provide funding in order to cushion the impact of any rise of prices because of your investment or because you want to provide grants. the utilities supported it. the nuclear industry supported it. gas, oil, environmentalists supported it. >> it's a losing talking point. that's the issue, right? >> i think even a very small gradually rising gasoline and other carbon tax, rising over the next 20 years would do more. >> you won't pass a tax. >> would do more than cap and trade and win the support of the american people. >> the american people don't support a tax because the united states congress and the republicans have made an art form out of calling everything a tax and running against it.

>> but if the idea is that it rises gradually over a period of 20 or 25 years, because what we need is the revenue not now, we need the revenues in 20 years. >> good luck. we need to spur investment now. >> exactly by giving incentives for forward investment. >> the best incentive you can have, the best incentive you could create is not gradual because you don't change behavior with gradual. >> you can announce today the feed-in tariffs. you only have to pay for them in future years. dwrount have to pay for them with current revenues. >> that sounds very american. let's put it off into the future. >> senator, it's not putting it off. it's actually making a plan that can win bipartisan support. >> i'm not sure it's a plan that works to get you tint game. don't you understand? other countries are moving so rapidly -- >> no, no, senator. i'm not talking about delays the incentive. i'm talking about putting in the same kind of feed-in tariffs

that germany is using, that other countries are using to get the incentives in place now. you only have to pay when the capacity comes online. that means you can gradually ramp up the collections later on, not today and pay for them in realtime. >> i'd take a hard look at that. i think anything at that point that is creative that begins to drive investment is critical to us. >> senator, the thing you raise is very interesting. we're at a time where everyone is talking about the deficit and everybody is trying to talk about everything across the board and you're talking about we do need to invest, but if we invest are you willing on other issues, we haven't talked about the deficit commission to actually cut? what we keep hearing over and over again is nobody wants to make the cuts necessary. >> absolutely. >> when it comes to the legacy costs we have. we do need to invest and how do we actually reach a middle ground as joe would like to say? >> first of all, i know time is very pressed.

first of all, yes, we have to make cuts. there's no question about it. if we make cuts without investing, we're in trouble. we could make some cuts -- government doesn't snead to grow. we can shrink the size of certain things. i think there are things we can do. but we've got to have a willingness for people to sit at a tail and say we also need to invest. i will be introducing next year a major infrastructure bank proposal that will take a certain amount of money and leverage hundreds of billions of dollars of private sector investment so we can begin to build those high-speed rails. question begin to renew our grid and do the things we need to do. >> senator, that's a great proposal. that's a great proposal. we desperately need that. that could leverage a lot of investment. >> mike barnicle, senator, you're talking to us this morning about an institution, the united states senate, congress actually, dominated by ideology in a country that is fueled and run on common sense.

everything you've said, the numbers that you've given us, the billion market, the future of energy, why don't you take this show on the road to the country. >> i am. i'm planning to do exactly that. i'm going to make a speech about it somewhere in the next weeks. i intend to take it out to the country. i hope the president -- i'm confident the president -- the president supports the infrastructure bank proposal. the president wants to do these things in energy. i'm convinced that we can begin to change it. here is what happened. look, we had $50 million spent on lobbyists alone in washington last year to prevent many of these ideas from taking hold because they wind up changing the outlook for some producers of energy in the country, and they don't like it. you've got some fully depreciated, fully paid for coal-fired power plants that are contributing to global climate change,i contributing to the

problems of agriculture and fisheries. they fought back by scaring people, that it was all a tax, that everything is a tax. if we're locked into that kind of a political discussion in our country, we're in serious trouble. we've got to get the american people to start to focus on the facts and make real choices around some real proposals. >> okay. i'm supposed to ask you, senator, about the stark treaty, if we can't agree on energy, everything you're saying, you're right, it's embarrassing. what can this president do to create -- >> we have to reenergize a political movement in the country that really is willing to fight for these kinds of choices. >> what does obama need to do? what does president obama need to do to deal with the current situation in washington that has us arguing over the future of our country and obvious things

we need to do? >> the president needs to do what he's doing. he's going to lead, go out there i think with this kind of a set of proposals and give the american people a choiz as we go into 2012. and the choice will be between the future and the past. there are those who want to go back to the very same policies that put us in the predicament economically we're in today. and we just need to do a better job of making it clear to people. we want every seat in massachusetts and the governorship this last election because i believe every one of those congressmen and the governor went out and gave that kind of choice to people and stood by their guns and defined what the future could look like and what we've done in order to try to get there. i don't think that happened well enough on the national level. i think we have to make sure it does. >> how do we get the treaty back online? how do we get that moving forward? >> we're working very hard. we have a meeting down there with several former secretaries of defense and secretaries of

state with the president, the vice president, secretary clinton. we will continue to work with the republicans. i'm meeting later this morning with john mccain, senator kyle and others. we're going to try to see as hard as we can if we can embrace their needs into this resolution. >> have you been talking to jon kyle? do you think you can move him back on the side of the treaty? >> i've never stopped talking to jon kyle. i talked to him all through yesterday. he's a very intelligent man, he's thoughtful. we're working with him very closely on this. i'm hopeful in the end we can get him to support this treaty. >> what's the main sticking point with senator kyle? >> he's been very focused on the modernization, he believes, and he's correct, that we need to modernize our current nuclear stockpile sufficiently that we have the reliability that we need to know to have the deterrence, and our laboratories need refurbishing. the president is completely committed to that.

he's put $80 billion on the table over the next ten years. now an additional $4.1 billion for modernization which is huge increase over what george bush ever considered doing. so we think jon kyle and the republicans ought to be unbelievably happy with what the president has offered. wle make it clear that this will not impede the current missile defense deployment. and my judgment, this treaty ought to be able to win with significant votes. the most important thing, this is really important. they have nuclear warheads aimed at the united states of america today. we have them aimed at them t. potential of some of that terrell escaping to tear rivets is real. the notion that we're not going to ratchet down and increase our inspection and make the world safer and find republican and democrats alike who want to protect the security of the united states is just extraordinary to me. we have to cross the divide

here. and this is the first step to prove to the american people that we can work together and get something done? >> senator, i know you have to go to to white house really quickly. mike barn curveball and i, mika, most of the people around this table over the next two years expressing concern about mission creep in afghanistan, a 2011 deadline pushed to the end of 2014. we don't see an end game still. are you going to be more aggressive over the next to years pushing the get our troops home? >> i want our troops out of there. but i want to see it happen in a responsible way because there still is a legitimate al qaeda threat in the western part of aft pakistan and into afghanistan. i don't think we need in the long run 147,000 troops to do it. i think there are a lot of lessons we could apply from past wars that would facilitate the end game. i'm convinced that's the direction we're moving. the president in talking about

2014 is talking about -- is really trying to clarify for people that next july there isn't going to be some wholesale evacuation so that the people on the ground in afghanistan and pakistan will adjust their calculation to the notion that we're going to stand up the afghans sufficiently. i'm not saying not a jeffersonian democracy, sufficiently, sufficiently we have a platform to be able to do the counterterrorism and protect the interests of the united states. that means a diminishing level of troops in afghanistan. it means increased cooperation in pakistan and i believe we're on the track to be able to make that happen. >> senator, great talking to you. we'd love to have you back. i know you've got to go. we're up against a hard break. we'd like to get you back and talk to yu for about 20 minutes on afghanistan. >> let's do it. >> that would be great. >> look forward to it. incidentally we've held 14 hearings, we've had 14 hearings

on afghanistan and we're going to continue the process of oversight on afghanistan. >> very good. have a great thanksgiving. >> thank you. same to you all. >> thank you senator. looking ahead to tomorrow, vice president joe biden will be here. coming up -- >> we'll ask him about afghanistan. >> our political profile with jane hamsher t. politico playbook is next. sure i'd like to diversify my workforce, i just wish that all of the important information was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com.

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mika, did you called donald? >> i did. >> he was on abc a few minutes ago saying he might run for

president. >> he's on the phone right now. >> are you kidding me? >> good morning, mika. >> donald, you're not breaking news on abc, are you? >> no, no, i would don't that in a million years. only one place to break news. >> where is that? >> right there. >> it is the truth. you were talking to george stephanopoulos. you're thinking about the possibility of running for president as a republican. >> i'm thinking about it. i really enjoyed being with george. george is terrific. the one problem where not doing a live enter slew, you can say things, i said great things about mike bloomberg, but you get cut off. when you do it the day before, they do editing and cut. i said great things about numerous people and they cut. what i didn't say great things about was china and opec and various others. they even cut that. i like sort of the live thing where you can full out have

beautiful sentences, flowing tib buts, beautiful people. we had boone pickens on. from boone pickens to john kerry, joe scarborough to dr. sachs. we all think we need to break our dependence on foreign oil. >> we need to break opec. half of these people are there because of us. we created opec by protecting them so that saddam hugh san and others didn't take them over a long time ago like kuwait, now big investers in other countries outside the united states. they don't want to invest in the united states because their frp their return isn't good enough. >> we put all the firsz of the oil well. they're out there saying i would rather invest in china because the return on the investment is

better. as an example, with ear going to leave iraq and that's going to be it. what do we do? it's going to blow up. guaranteed that iraq stake en over by arepublican. what happens with opec is an all-time classic. these 11 million -- not nice to say it, but it's all men. these 11 men sit around a table and fix the price of barrel, a. the way we run this country is an absolute disgrace. senator kerry who is a friend of mine, and i was just listening, talking about all this stuff, they've been in office for the last number -- why aren't we doing this stuff? we're talking about it but nothing ever gets done.

i can tell you i buy a lot of solar panels. they're all made in china. why aren't they made in this country? >> mike been curveball. >> as long as we're on the trump magical mystery tour of the world. let's stick with china, high-speed rails, taking apparently everything from us in terms of manufacturing. what do we do about that? >> the big thing we have to do is start making our own products and stop going over to china where they manipulate their currency. i buy a lot of things from thine nah, not that i'm proud of it. by the wear, the american products are better. buy large amounts of furniture sometimes from china. it's always breaking. how about buying their sheet rock where housing projects are being abandoned because the sheet rock is a disaster, as you know and you've read about. the products are not nearly as good as our products. somebody should start saying

that, the american products are better. the problem is there's a manipulation by china very intelligently. if i was in china and i could get away with this, i could be doing it, too. we're sucking the blood out of this country. opec is sucking the blood out of this country. any time there's a little good report that we're starting to do better, oil prices go up. every time oil prices go up, this country goes down. we have to do something about opec, chin nand other countries. if you have a credit card problem, mike, you call the credit card. this isn't a person from iowa. it's a person from india. >> well, that's true. so donald -- >> yes. >> that's a very, very familiar voice. i always like it when mika calls me. >> when -- >> hello. come on. >> go ahead. ask him a question. he's trying to throw you off. >> she's very different than she portends to be on the show.

>> she is. >> she's a very different woman, but a great woman. >> that's repetitive. >> this truss registration you feel, is that why you're thinking of running for president. >> i am a republican. i'd prefer not running. i'm having a great time as you know doing what i'm doing. i build great things. i'm buying a lot of things right now. it's a great time to buy if you're in my business. >> i stand by the trump vod kachlt is there a frustration that you feel that may put you over the edge? would bit with the republican party. >> there's a frustration not with the republican party, not with anything. there's a frustration about how stupidly our country is run. we are giving this country up. we're moving jobs to mexico, china is making many of our products, soon it will be making all ouf our products. we're rebuilding china.

then they talk about fair trade and they talk about open markets and free trade. i don't want free trade with a country that has hundreds of billions of dollars of -- let's use the word profits against the united states. i don't need that kind of free trade. we should tax chinese products. by the way, you will very quickly pay off the chinese debt. when people say, gee, they're our banker, how can we do that? that 25% tax will pay off the debt very, very quickly. we've lost our drive in this country. you co-go china, and i heard your father say it, and i love your father. to me he's the all-time favorite guest with all due respect to everybody else. i think he's great. he came back into this country after visiting some of these other countries that we're talking about, in particular china, and it was like coming back into a third world country. it's true. >> it is. donald, let me ask you this, if you run in 2012, you'd be running against barack obama.

rate barack obama as a leader? >> i respect him. i like him. i think he's wonderful in many ways. i think he has been not good for business. and honestly, very sadly, the world does not respect this country, and, therefore, i assume the world does not respect our leader. he's a nice man. i think he's totally over his head. >> all right. >> wow. >> donald, thank you very much for calling back. >> thank you very much, mika. >> take care. we'll talk to you late sgler you two seem to have a good relationship there. >> don't be ridiculous. >> when he says you're different off the air. >> he said that last time. >> he's frustrated with the state of this country. what's wrong with you? >> jeffrey sachs, we'll get your response when we return. trade wars straight ahead. orld.

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35 past the hour. live look at new york city. wall street. while we're on wall street, let's get a check on business before the bell with erin burnett live at the new york stock exchange. >> good morning. jobless numbers out. that's the headline of the moment. claims for unemployment benefits up a little, consistent with a labor market that is improving

gradually. the one-month average for jobless claims is the lowest since 2008. we're still seeing that very slow tortoise economy in terms of economy. the attitude on wall street is driven by overall optimism. some of that coming from the fact we can get an ipo done. the biggest ipo in history. right now the numbers are, and gm will be opening for trade, pretty exciting. this is going to be a big day for us. in one hour's time, $33 a share, very high end of an already increased price range given the excessive investor demand for gm. this could put it at $23.1 billion for the ipo which would be the biggest this year, ahead of the agricultural bank of, yes, china. this comes 16 months after gm filed. so keep in mind that treasury, ie u.s. taxpayers will get shy of $14 billion from this offering. at $33 a share, the treasury would have to sell the rest of its steak at an average of $53 a

share to break even. somewhere a long way to go. one thing to weigh in on, when donald truchl was talking about china, chin ma is a place where gm is number one. it does it via a joint venture with a chinese company. sometimes that ends up with the company taking the into lengthsal property and moving on. under the radar today, i wanted to raise this, have you guys ever heard of or flown a plane called a c1-19 soon will be in the skies, a 156-seat jet, a chinese built plane. right now ge, honeywell, rockwell are doing all the interiors. a big air shae going on in china and already gotten 100 jet orders. boeing, america's biggest exporter will take a big hit as china rises an has its own plane. >> what are people saying on the floor about where gm will ultimately end today?

we need to get to $53 overtime. we are on the high range of tiripo? does that mean we've othver prid ourselves. >> the expect is maybe hold for the day. if it gets a 10% gain today off the 33, then there's going to be frustration that treasury didn't sell it as high as it should have and short changed taxpayers. for everyone to be a winner, you want it to go up today, but less than 10%. that's what i'm hearing. >> erin burnett, thank you very much. we'll see you tomorrow. founder of the blog firedoglake.com, jane hamsher is next on "morning joe."

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i'm looking at the lay of the land and trying to figure out if it's a good thing for this country, for the discourse, for my family. >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so.

>> okay. 41 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us from washington, founder of firedoglake.com, jane hamsher. thanks for being on the show this morning. you've written about the tsa very critically. we'll get to that in a moment. let's start with some of the polls. >> jane, we've been asking progressives around this table for the past couple of weeks how does the president enact a liberal agenda with about 20% of americans saying they're liberal while pulling enough people in the middle over to win in 2012 and get the house back? >> well, i don't think that the president should focus on fulfilling a liberal and en dachlt i think he should focus on fulfilling a popular agenda. the popular and dane is not doing free trade deals with south korea along the lines of the nafta deal, of not courting social security. those are things that appeal to liberals, but they also appeal

to conservatives and people in the middle. i think the problem of straying has been straying from populist politics in favor of insider corporate politics more than right/left. >> you look at the new quinnipiac poll, 59% of americans are saying barack obama should change course. of course, you would agree, but the problem for the president is he's got conservatives in his party saying he's gone too far left. he's got liberals in his party saying he's gone too far right. what does he do? >> i think the greater problem is that if policies they've pursued have not made a real difference in the lives of americans. if you've got somebody who needs health care, they don't care whether the solution is right or left. they just care that it works. and they've compromised so much with corporate interests and passed bills with insurance companies and the drug companies that they didn't make a real difference in the lives of real people. everybody may have their explanation as to what should be done, but people are in

agreement that it hasn't benefited them. i think that's the greater problem. >> jeffrey, do you believe the president has cut too many deals with corporate interests over the past two years? >> i don't think he's put forward his own strategy even until this day. so the way they've governed is basically back room negotiations. and you may pass a bill or two, but you lose the country that way, and what he really needs to do right now, and i don't think it is lib ram or conservative, i think it is defining how america can get out of this crisis and where we ought to be in 2015, where we should be in 2020, what we are going to do about competition with china, what we are going to do about energy and climate and so forth. i think if he tells the american people clearly this is the way to go, whether it passes this congress or not is actually less important than designing an approach for the country. >> defining his message. andrew, how do we grow the economy? >> here is my question for this

table and for her as well. we're talking about investing in america, yet at the same time we're having a very different conversation is that we have to do something abo the deficit and cut, consult, cut. the real question is, how can we do both at the same time? >> you talk about the people around this table. i remember specifically while we were having the stimulus debate, dr. sachs, joe scarborough and mike barnicle were saying the same thing. hey, if you want to invest in america, fine, write a $2 trillion check. invest in this country structurally. they didn't do that. it was a stupid stim laos package, an ad hoc collection of individual projects. it was a nightmare, mike. i still think -- >> are you saying the stimulus with a failure? >> yes. >> a 100% failure. >> dr. sachs -- >> it was a mistake. >> we have not had any stimulus

like this, where do you think we'd be on unemployment today? >> pretty much the same place, by the way. interestingly, this study by the congressional budget office which is always cited, if anyone would actually read it, there's no evidence in it. it's just based on runs of an economic model as if they didn't look at any data at all. that's literally the case. >> the cbo said we saved 2.5 million jobs. read the report. it's nothing about the actual outcomes. it's what their model predicted or predicts, but not verified by actual data. >> dr. sachs, just to be clear, you're not critical because the stimulus package spent too much money, it just didn't address our structural problem? >> i thought they should have taken some time and defined what are we going to do about energy? what are we going to do about infrastructure? when you were talking the last hour about taking time. it's not a matter of years, it's

a matter of thinking what you're going to do. they said we got to do it this week, we've got to do it this month. that's not the way to define the way forward. >> final question for jane about the tsa. we've been showing an absolutely ridiculous picture all morning long of a very unyooushl screening takes place at an airport. i don't started jane an online petition to investigate the tsa regarding a passenger who refused the full-body scan. >> obviously not this guy. he was leaning forward. >> prosecuting this passenger is a blatant and public way to intimidate people. >> one of the things you were talking about in the stimulus bill. that's actually the reason we're having this problem, these porno screeners that take very graphic images of people. >> i love that, porno screener. >> pictures that look like they're naked. congress actually voted against them because they didn't work and they were intrusive.

when the christmas bomber event happened last year, the tsa used it as an excuse to say we want these porno screeners, we're going to buy them with stimulus money. they spent $25 million on them. two things, number one, the gao issued a report saying there's no evidence these screeners would have caught what the christmas bomber was carrying. number two, the screeners, they don't work. so -- and they saved one job according to the government's own statistics on the stimulus website. >> it's ridiculous. look at this picture. >> joe. >> talk about a stimulus project. jane, i'm so sorry. thank you for being with us. we shall return. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail

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welcome back to "morning joe." 52 past the hour. the first known case of cholera linked to the outbreak in haiti has reached the u.s. it involves a florida woman who recently visited her family in the earthquake battered country. although the disease is unlikely to spread to the u.s., in haiti the epidemic has already killed more than 1,000 people. joining us now, the president and ceo of non-profit disaster relief organization americares kurt well hers joins us.

you reached a remarkable goal in terms of fund-raising. >> we were pleased to be able to celebrate last night that we've crossed the $10 billion mark in terms of cumulative aid we've delivered since the organization was founded 28 years ago. while dollars are not a terribly precise measure of impact, it says we've been doing good work for a long time. >> the percentage that americares gives to people that need help is remarkable. >> in excess of 98% of everything we get goes into program activity. we're fortunate to have the support of hundreds of america's great pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies and hundreds and thousands of individual donors. >> mika has been involved, her father is involved. my family is involved. it's really quite an organization. can you tell people what americares does, especially in haiti right now? >> we basically do two things,

the largest receiver and distributor of donated medicine and medical supplies, all of which are new, highly useful to over 100 countries in the developing world. we also do rapid response to emergency sies and natural disasters around the world. it means a couple dozen places that most people with the exception of dr. sachs would never have heard of. they're small scale emergencies that don't make the press no the united states. >> even the floodings in pakistan didn't -- the displacement was horrific. it didn't get a lot of press. dr. sachs, let's talk ability haiti, the situation is still dire? >> it's a disaster, and you can see it coming from the beginning. when the earthquake happened, i said give the professionals the responsibility, put it at the intraamerican development bank. it's the one organization that knows how to move large scale finance. it has the engineers and so forth to get it in.

the u.s. government said no, no, we'll do it. we love haiti. bill clinton to be co-chair of a commission and so on. you could see it was politics, but not capacity. and so all through this year unfortunately, nothing has happened. and then when you leave, hundreds of thousands of destitute people on their own basically, in the end, you get disaster. this is predictable and it's tragic. and it's partly our responsibility once again. not that the earthquake was our fault, but we did not go professional. >> americares down there working around the clock. >> i completely agree with jeffrey's assessment. i would say that there's a lot of revisionism around this whole issue of haiti. it's sort of a perfect storm. you had a government not functioning very well and not doing much on behalf of the people for the last 50 years. that government is even less functional today. there's been this enormous

infrastructure destruction and the international community which is there with lots of smiles and promises of assistance when the lights are on sort of recedes into the weeds when the lights go off. so what jeffrey said was totally predictable. the thing we're focused on right now is this kol regard epidemic. we've done several air lifts of cholera meds. the critical thing about cholera is they need clean water and rehydrate people or they die in 12 to 14 hours. >> curt welling, ceo of americares. thank you. when we come back, we'll talk about how you can help and what we've learned. 's a book? so we tailor plans for individuals, featuring a range of integrated solutions. you at your usual restaurant? son: maybe. see you tomorrow. stairs? elevator. to see how our multi-faceted approach... can benefit your multi-generational wealth, look ahead with us at northerntrust.com.

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