nato summit. a lot on his plate the next couple of days. we'll talk more about that coming up on "morning joe." we asked you at the top of this show what you're doing awake this hour on a friday. i hope you've got some good excuses. rob? >> isabelle says, "i'm up early because president obama has made me homesick? she wishes she was home in lisbon, portugal. >> i hear it's lovely. perhaps the president can bring back souvenirs. >> nancy says i'm up because it's my birthday and i want willie to congratulate me. >> happy birth. start drinking now. "morning joe," big interview with joe biden, stick around, starts now.

that was in china. that's the definition of a man without an exit strategy. >> did he say that? good morning everyone. it's friday, november 19th. yes, you can have your blackberry, andrea. we're in washington. you can have it. mine goes off during the show. it's no problem. >> pat buchanan joins us as well as nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of "andrea mish el reports" andrea mitchell and chief msnbc washington correspondent norah o'donnell. and in new york -- >> we've got willie geist. willie, rave reviews coming from andrea mitchell -- by the warks you can have your cell phone on ton set because you have at&t and it doesn't work. it won't mess up any transmissions from our

microphone packs. andrea gives rave reviews to george w. bush, got a huge standing ovation when he walked out. >> well -- >> she's clarifying. >> i want to say he was very funny on "leno" and got a great audience reaction. >> at the beginning, the famous pat-down scene, sort of a tsa moment. did pretty well. >> he's been getting good receptions. he got a standing ovation when he went on "oprah." this is where he excels in some of these loose areas. it might be other areas of business, i don't know, that he's not as good at. >> i heard a james carville quote on "way too early." >> i had to read it out loud. i'll do it later. >> not too close to 8:00 because that's when the vice president of the united states comes in. we'll be respectful. i'll even tuck in my shirt. >> that would be good. hold in your stomach.

>> god. >>ers skin bowls and alan simpson will be joining us. >> back in the '80s sung "reunited," one of my favorite shows. >> you've been on the hill talking s.t.a.r.t. >> talking s.t.a.r.t. the administration didn't fight for it early is the talk. why didn't they and harry reid bring it up earlier. now there's two weeks left. part of that is thanksgiving and very little chance they'll get past jon kyle. >> norah, charlie rangel, a sad scene. i'm not saying he didn't deserve what he got. but a sad scene. it's in the news. still, kind of a tough day. >> very tough day. he was very affected. he was very tearful almost, sort of looked really broken down. he got a censure. the full house is going to vote

on that. that's the second toughest punishment that the house can give. they recommended that. this is 30 years i guess -- almost 30 years since the last censure which was the two congressmen who had sex relations with pages. this is tough for a man who is 80 years old to be brought down by this moment. >> yeah, no doubt about it. pat buchanan, we're getting to you about sarah palin and some things she said about the first lady. >> i don't want she went back into reverend wright, michelle obama's statements about, i've never been proud of my country until now. i don't know why they're leaking it other than maybe they want to sell some books. >> i think most of this is about selling books. >> yes, it seems to be. there's a lot going on there. we've got to get to news because we have got a lot to cover this morning. vice president joe biden weighing in on key players in the political landscape on "larry king live." among the topics, biden offered

his praise for nancy pelosi who was just elected minority leader. >> she also is the most effective person in generating results in the house. the house members decided she was the one. >> people either like her or don't like her. there's not a halfway. >> i think that's the case with almost all great leaders. people are going to like ronald reagan or not, they like george bush or didn't, liked bill clinton or didn't. >> do you think nancy pelosi is a good lead sner. >> i think she is. i think she's a very effective person, competent person, she gets things done. >> the vice president then addressed speculation that he and hillary clinton will switch jobs for the 2012 race. >> hillary has made it clear from the first time i came out, joe, i don't want to be vice president. the president has made it clear, joe, i expect you to be on the ticket, i want you on the ticket. it was really kind of sort of a washington parlor game.

>> we're not laughing about joe biden. pat buchanan, you behave. >> pat, it's usually donny. all right. excuse us. anyhow, back to the vice president, biden also gave his prediction on how president obama would fare if sarah palin ran for president. >> look, i think sarah palin turned out to be and she is a real force of the republican party. and i think sarah palin, were i a republican senator or republican political leader, i would look and say, she's got a good chance of getting the nomination. but i think in that race it would be a clear, clear choice for the country to make, and i believe president obama would be in very good shape. >> we're going to have the vice president live on the show later this morning. wouldn't they want her to get the nomination? >> of course. >> talking her up. >> talking her up. isn't that nice?

>> that would be a gift. >> if you look at her support in the republican party, 80% support in the republican party, not in the general population, she's got roadmap to the nomination if you look at south carolina, iowa. >> norah? >> overall her approval rating is 48% which is the highest of any of the potential republican candidates. it would be very difficult for her in a general election. the cake is baked on her. most americans have already made up their opinion about sarah palin. the republican party, the republican base likes her. she's a base whisperer in many ways, that's why the republican party is concerned about her. she's everywhere. >> a base whisperer as opposed to a base -- like a torch shooter, like pat buchanan. >> she does more than whisper. you the iowa straw pole in ames in august. if she can get out 500,000 people to the memorial on the mall, you get out 10,000. bush got 7,000 out there and it

was a tremendous turnout. you get out 20, 25,000 you'll wipe out everybody except one other kachbd dat will be standing by the time you get to january, joe. i'm talking about the iowa caucuses and the iowa straw poll. >> i think that there is a lot of dissing of sarah palin. to some degree she has a close-knit secretive set of advisers. she doesn't consult with a lot of people. but there is a bit of cunningness about her in how she sort of plays the media. she has certainly her reality show. she has her daughter on another reality show. she is taking pot shots in this book. her daughter may win "dancing with the stars" and everyone will be talking about bristol on thanksgiving. this very strange track which is both celebrity and being involved in the political debate at the same time. >> norah is talking about, she's got a certain political savvy. certain natural savvy that comes through and gets statements out and knows how to elevate issues.

>> it's a pr savvy. >> she's a publicity machine. >> it's a publicity savvy. >> she's leaked quotes from her new book criticizing "american idol" while her daughter is on "dancing with the stars" and she's on tlc with a travel documentary. >> i would say politically savvy would be to basically put her head down ever since she stepped out of the race or they lost and study and then come back out ready to debate. >> a lot of us thought she was dead and gone when she quit and had that press conference. all of the sudden she's back, and i wouldn't be surprised to see the tea party and her on the cover of "time" magazine as person of the year. >> pat, come on, let's look at the past year for sarah palin though. joe miller lost in alaska, her biggest political enemy on the face of the earth. she hates murkowski more than she hates barack obama or anybody else.

murkowski just knocked her to the floor with a write-in candidacy. christine o'donnell, her creation. she lost, it was a disaster. >> sharron angle. >> sharron angle. these cost republicans seats they should have picked up easily. pat, let me ask you. if in the end of 1966 richard nixon, and you were -- were you advising nixon by '66? >> i traveled with him. >> what if nixon started attacking lady bird in 1966, what would you say? would you say this is a guy who has what it takes to be elected president or he wants to stir up the right wing base? >> the point is nixon was basically trying to bring together a party, a rock feg her-reagan party that had fallen apart. he campaigned for everybody but birch society guys. he was a builder of a coalition. she is not. she's a goldwater type. she's a movement type, like a mcgovern.

you i'm passion people. >> she would be wiped out in any general election, wiped out. won't be close. i think she's selling books. all right. let's get to the rangel story. the house ethics committee has voted to censure charlie rangel after finding him guilty of financial misconduct. apart from expulsion, censure is the most serious penalty the congress could receive. it's the first time in more three decades that a house member will face that punishment. the 80-year-old democrat was emotional. >> i don't know how much longer i have to live, but it always will be to try to help people and to thank god for what he's given to me. and i apologize for -- for any

embarrassment i've caused you individually or collectively as a member of the greatest institution in the country, in the world. >> rangel repeatedly denied he was corrupt sparking a clash with a republican congressman. >> the failure to pay taxes for 17 years. what is that? what is that tantamount to when we're all expected to pay our taxes? you of all people as chairman of the tax committee writing laws for the country, what is the difference between that and mr. traffican who didn't pay taxes for two years? >> the full house must now take up the recommendation to censure rangel which will probably happen after thanksgiving. if they adopt the punishment he'll get a formal sdoelding in front of the speaker and his colleagues. it seems like he could have avoided this. >> i wish he would have.

not only for the house's sake, but for the democratic party's sake and charlie's sake. i wish he would have just sadrly on in this process -- >> people who are close to him don't understand why. >> why didn't they go -- a reprimand? you stand on the floor and are condemned by their colleagues. >> seeing john lewis come out to stand by him, that was the most dramatic moment of civil rights standing by his friend charlie rang el. >> good for john lewis. a lot of people scatter during these times. we've all seen it, though. these guys live in a very cloistered world. people are, yes, sir, mr. chairman. you get that for 30 years. pretty soon you think you're bulletproof. >> we came down very hard on him during the process of covering this because we just didn't

understand how he was seeing things so differently from what appeared to be reality. >> he's very well liked inside the city by both parties. but out in the country they don't know charlie rangel. they're looking at here is a guy who did this corrupt stuff, get rid of him. >> if you don't pay your taxes for 17 years and run the ways an means committee, take the reprimand. >> another sarah palin story for you. sarah palin's new book isn't even out yet, apparently it's already stirring up controversy. in a passage of "american by heart" palin slams president obama who she asserts, quote, america is a fundamentally unjust and unequal country. the former governor then appears to take a shot at first lady michelle obama, his wife expressed this view when she said during the 2008 campaign that she had never felt proud of her country until her husband

started wing elections. that shouldn't surprise us since both of them spent almost two decades in the pews of reverend jeremiah wright's church listening to his rants against america and white people. >> that is not, pat buchanan, the words of a woman who expects to win bucks county. i can't thing of swing states or philadelphia, tampa, the suburbs of chicago where she's going to win. >> she's going the goldwater route. you know what goldwater said about bucks county, we ought to saw the whole eastern seaboard off and let it float into the atlantic. >> can the republican party afford a historic landslide in 2012? >> i'm not arguing for it or against it. what i'm saying is that's the way the ideological candidates, the movement candidates win.

they elevate the base and get the base rallied. >> do you really think she wants to sell books or do you think she wants to win votes? >> she obviously wants to sell books. i think she's wide open about running for president. i noticed in "the new york times" thing her monther and factor both said we hope she doesn't do it. >> i think what she said to barbara walters is very instructive, that she thinks she can beat obama. >> what is she supposed to say there? >> if you're trying to sell books and do a little tease about this -- i think she's more out there now. it's evolved. it started out as making money, selling books. now i think she sees she can do it. >> joe, your vacuum out there on the right may draw her into the race whether she wants do run or not. >> norah? >> i think this country is facing a massive deficit with 40 cents of every dollar is going to pay the debt. there are real issues.

there needs to be a question about whether those topics come up, whether serious policy issues are being debated or whether we're trashing american idol. >> when people go on book tours, mika, they do something -- every time a book comes out, newt -- willie geist did it before "american freak show." he said the most horrific things about mother teresa and the pope and billy graham and then dropped in there that he might be running for president. >> and his own mom. >> now it's a "new york times" bestseller. i guess it works for you. >> governor palin taking a page out of my book, not to brag. >> and your book is called? >> player can't freak show. when we come back, an exclusive first look in the politico playbook including harry reid making changes to the way things are done in the senate. also a florida airport says it's done with the tsa government

security. details coming up. we're not showing the picture again. >> please. >> we'll show george bush being pat down. >> no. a little later, willie's week in review. find out which of these stories are make news. first here is bill karins with a check of the video. >> good morning everyone. happy friday. the week end forecast looking pretty nice around much of the country. we're starting off a little cool in the burbs. the rest of the country looks nice everywhere east of the rockies w. very a big storm on the west coast that will affect many of those people this weekend. a look at your weekend forecast, everyone east of the rockies, you'll be dry and actually pretty mild in most cases. your saturday forecast in new york and d.c. will be in the 50s and even into sunday we'll keep things rather nice with temperatures in the 40s and 50s, but dry. you're watching "morning joe" on this friday, brewed at sunrise by starbucks. i love winter.

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i had too much to drink and i was sitting next to a beautiful woman who was a lot older than i was. my mother and dad were there, my brothers, sister and wife. i said to her, what is sex like after 50? there was a lot of unhappy people at the table. so i woke up with the remorses of the next morning and called her to apologize. when i turned 50, i was the governor of texas, and i got a letter from her. dear governor, what's the answer?

>> live look at the top of the rock as the sun comes up over new york city. >> can you imagine what barbara bush did to him after that? >> how about laura? >> and laura. >> i think someone had a few moments. >> and his father. oh, my lord. that had to be a rough night for him. >> let's take a look -- >> i love the end of that story, governor, what's the answer? >>. all right, "usa today," coalition forces have increased the pace of military operations against the taliban. warplanes dropped a record 1,000 bombs in october while special forces have dramatically increased raids against insurgent leaders. >> we'll talk about this in a little bit, and talk about it with the vice president. boston globe, senator scott brown teamed up with ron widen, states will opt out of certain parts of the president's health care plan. "new york times," on the same day steve rattner was being

celebrated in his role in turning around general motors, the former car czar was formally accused by new york attorney general andrew cuomo of engaging in a kick-back scheme. >> i thought cuomo won? >> steve rattner will be on the show on monday. >> we'll ask him -- >> check it out there. >> maybe it's for cuomo's next election. the hartford cure rant, armed with home made wines, some slightly older harry potter fans who are in serious need of a lifelined up for the midnight showing of the new movie. by the way, it's going to be andrew scarborough reports is going to be very dark and bleak. >> really? >> yes. >> okay. too close for comfort. no, you guys aren't doing it. >> do we have another one? this morning's tsa newspaper photo of the day courtesy of

"the new york times." >> yesterday, in case you missed, norah o'donnell, yesterday the denver post, norah, you said yesterday you spit up your oatmeal a couple of times. had somebody stop me on the train saying stimulus program? seriously? scarborough? i'm having breakfast with my kids. >> i think the funniest thing actually or most pathetic was how many times the boys on the set wanted to repeat the line, are my bleep black. first, it was first grade toilet talk, potty talk. >> and you're surprised? >> no, i'm not surprised. you know what i did? i just sat back. i'll count, one, two -- >> let's see if we can grow up a

little bit. speaking of black testicles, let's go to willie geist in new york. >> i don't even know what that means. >> come on! >> what george h.w. bush trying to say is "are my test results back?" >> but what he said to the nurse was -- i'm not going to say it again. >> you'll have a serious case of the remorses after this set. what is that? >> what are the remorses? willie geist, what are the remorses? >> i think i know what they are, but i've never heard it expressed that way. >> you have remorses at 9:00 eastern every day. >> it's not like a misstatement. it's in his lexicon. let's get bailed out by our friends from politico, mr. john harris. >> it's my job to lift the tone

a little bit. >> thank you. we need it desperately. let's talk about harry reid, you guys reporting he's going to be making changes to the way things are done in the senate. what does that mean exactly? >> no question. it's a recognition of reality that although harry reid and democrats were able barely to hold control of the senate, they got a huge challenge of 2012. they basically won in 2010, kept the majority by luck and a couple of bad choices that republicans made. there's widespread recognition in reid's caucus that he may be a great inside player in terms of knowing where the legislation is, controlling the schedule, cutting back room deals, but he's really pretty bad at message and communications. reid is essentially acknowledging that. he's giving up control which had been tightly held within his office and spreading it out around the caucus. he's giving a big part of the communications and message strategy to senator chuck schumer. schumer's deputy, deputy stabenow. the two will have much more control over the public

messaging, what does it stand for, taking it away from inside harry reid's office. >> harry reid no long ter face of senate democrats? >> he himself has acknowledge pd he's not good at communications. some democrats are saying, he admits it, why is he controlling our message strategy, he and a small group of aides within his office. at the same time, a widely regarded figure, jim manly, harry reid's press secretary has decided to move on. he eve gwe've got a lot of chan >> there are a lot of centrist democrats up two years from now that will do very well to see what harry reid did in nevada. i think it's a success story in terms of organizing 2012 at least on the democratic side. talk about, you guys also have a story about bill nelson, a guy from my home state, soft spoken. i think his name might be in florida below 50%. he does not make waves.

yet yesterday a raucous caucus as politico reports. >> that is what one senator told our glenn flush, a three-hour meeting, it amounted to a three-hour group therapy session. another way of putting it, a three-hour bitch session. democrat after democrat got up and talked about how unhappy they are with barack obama and the political and messaging operation coming out of the white house including mild mannered bill nelson as you say. >> politico's john harris. thanks so much. we'll talk to you later in the show. >> willie, can i ask you a quick question? >> of course. >> i thought john was going to raise the level. i think we actually brought him down. >> he's using some foul language at 6:28 in the morning. >> exactly. i hope the kids are still asleep, at least in my house. my wife is going to kill me. >> let's turn the page. maybe this will help. chicago bears making nfl history in the nrz night game in miami

last night. it was ugly, but it was historic. sports is next. also, why is our man alec baldwin, the oscar-nominated actor, the co-star of "30 rock" selling pies in grocery store commercials? this is too good. you'll see it when we come back. this new jetta is awesome. yeah, right now during sign then drive, you can take home a volkswagen for just your signature. really? that's great. yeah. plus, it includes scheduled carefree maintenance. huh. light's green. there you go.

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all right. a live shot of capitol hill at 33 past the hour t. sun is coming up over washington, d.c. which is where we are this morning. welcome back to "morning joe." just minutes ago, president obama arrived in lisbon, portugal for back-to-back nato and european union summits. today world leaders are expected to decide on the shift in strategy in afghanistan including a timetable for a gradual withdrawal of most of the nato's 150,000 troops within four years. the other items on the agenda

this weekend include a discussion on missile defense shield to protect europe and north america. and as he meeths with his eu counterparts, officials say the president will seek to reaffirm his partnership with europe which some claim have suffered as the united states expands its ties with asia. we'll be talking to my brother and the vice president about that coming up. but now, to willie for sports. thank you, mika. a little nfl last night. thursday night game between the bears and the dolphins. this thing was not pretty. miami was starting third string quarterback tyler thigpen after losing chad pennington and chad when any to injuries. it was rough going for him. 26-year-old out of coastal carolina. the first quarter underthrowing the receiver. the ball picked off by tillman. they were 9-0 deep in the third quarter. all field goals here. urlacher get together thigpen in

the fourth quarter. the bears go on to win this one 16-0. the bears improve to 7-3. the dolphins are 35-5. roll tide, joe. a thursday nighter, 11th ranked alabama taking on georgia state. this was mean. in the second quarter, alabama already up 21-0. watch the catch by julio jones, ten-yard touchdown from mcelroy puts the tide up 28 points. they scored on special teams, too, williams blocks the punt. brab done gibson scoops up the loose ball and returns it 22 yards for the touchdown. alabama beats up on georgia state 63-7 in a tuneup for next week's game against auburn which alabama will win. >> thank you for that, willie. do i understand bill curry coaches at georgia state? >> he does. a great story. they didn't have football until a couple years ago. built the program up from nothing. they have six wins this year, doing a great job over there.

>> you see the schedule. of course they're playing penn state and florida and lsu and auburn. i didn't know until -- bill curry, of course, coached at alabama for a while. they must have done that to help him get there -- >> a bye week getting ready for auburn. tonight boise state hosting fresno state. a lot of people saying fresno pretty good. this could be the week. the line right now, boise by 30 1/2 against fresno state. i think they'll go undefeated. >> what happens if alabama beats auburn and oregon keeps win sng. >> i think it's oregon-boise state based on virginia tech's win, boise state beating virginia tech starts to look better and better. it could be oregon and boise state for the national title. >> willie, i recommend we go over to to holiday inn and start drinking early because i'm not

staying there for that game. >> i'll see you there 57th street. former member of the national security council during the clinton administration and mika's brother, mark brzezinski and much more with pat, andrea and norah. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

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no higher national security priority for the lame duck session of congress. the key point here is this is not about politics. it's about national security. this is not a matter that can be delayed. every month that goes by without a treaty means that we are not able to verify what's going on on the ground in russia. if we delay indefinitely, american leadership on proliferation and america's national security will be weakened.

that's president obama. chris licht, here is the problem, when you come in in a black and white shot and there's no music under it, you just show my face, it's kind of like i died. it's like an obit. they think i choked on a chicken bone while we were at break. this is the second time t.j. screwed up this morning. can you tell him that when we come in, we actually play music over the pictures. >> you want the music? >> yes. >> that's my bad. that's my bad. >> actually, we want the music or we want to do what you did in that break where you have silence for three seconds, play the music for half a second, then it's quiet again and then you go to obama. >> it's dramatic, isn't it? >> it is. way to go, t.j. let's show t.j. t.j., are you drunk? he can't even take his own picture. >> mario was trying to do his job -- >> thanks, five seconds later. what are you, in portugal?

do we have a seven-second delay? pat buchanan and norah o'donnell. nora stepped out to have another drink. joining the table, former member of the national security council during the clinton administration and now executive director of the atlantic council's task force on iran -- i didn't know that -- mark brzezinski. >> mark just got back from china. your father was shocked by the differences anywhere china is right now and where the united states is. tell us hourks do you think china is taking the lead on us in innovation, trade and a lot of other areas? >> it's taking the lead on us most obviously in its investment in the social infrastructure of the country. i mean you arrive in beijing and there is an airport that is 20 times the size of dulles airport, that moves with great efficiency. you get out on chinese roads --

do you know that beijing doesn't have one belt way or two beltways. it has six beltways just around the major capital. there are roads in china to nowhere. six-lane highways that lead out from beijing and shanghai, and right next to those highways are bullet trains that go past you even as you're driving fast down the highway. imagine that thought, driving fast down a highway? our highways are so clogged, it's hard to do that. the most obvious thing is the investment of social infrastructure. at the same time, the american influence is still very prevalent. i remember walking through the ancient forbidden city in the center of beijing which is that ancient historic place. the guards that guard the forbidden city which are six little cities within this ancient city in the center of beijing are playing american basketball on the side. they've set up american basketball hoops.

the nba is loved. there's a strong pervasive american presence. >> we still have an impact. we're hearing this from so many people, that china in terms of infrastructure in other areas is leaping far ahead. >> the changes are so dramatic. in 1995 when i was there at the women's conference covering hillary clinton and trying to do one of those on camera standups in the middle of the night, i got picked up. we got stopped. they wanted to take our tape. they were so -- still so vigilant about foreigners. the change has been dramatic, it's been fast. the bigger change in a strange way externally is the way china is buying up the world, buying up minerals. they're in africa, latin america, cuba. they're in our hemisphere and all over the world making investments -- >> we're fighting wars across the globe. they're making investments, and iran, they are connecting with iran more closely. >> absolutely.

they're a strategic investor. andrea is entirely right. they're buying up around the world. president obama goes to europe for the summit. the chinese have bought up a lot of european debt. they're not just holding it but trying to influence their own sberest in europe. the chinese are pushing the europeans to lift the eu arms echl bar go so the europeans can sell defense technology. that's something the americans don't want. key european countries, france, romania with strong defense industries, we don't want that technology to get there. they are a strategic investor in iran. the chinese premier has said that their investment is not just in the commercial context. it is a strategic -- in the strategic context. they want an iran that more closely cooperates with it than with america. >> pat, donald trump, a big fan of yours, is starting to channel you. we had him on yesterday talking about running for president.

he went after china and went after them hard. he suggested a tariff against chinese products. he says they're playing with a currency, that they don't play fair. >> what they've adopteded against our globalism is working like a charm against the chinese. the americans are destroying our own dollar. aren't they doing it the right way which is the way the americans did it in the late 19th century when we were taking down the british? >> i saw donald trump's comments yesterday. i think it's a fair question that a country that has a 10% unemployment rate has a 10% growth rate to do more in terms of stabilizing the world financially. there are different ways to skin a cat. the chinese are feeling their oats. at the same time what's happening in afghanistan, what's happening in pakistan is nearer to china than it is to us.

a meltdown in pakistan and afghanistan hurts them more immediately. the chinese have tremendous influence in pakistan. i think we can try to draw them in. they have a self-interest in cooperating with us there. >> we're not dealing with strength. >> the guests we'll have on later, simpson and bouls will tell us why we're where we are. >> i want to get the brothers in fighting. i want -- >> you don't understand. >> ian rode does an article talking about staying in afghanistan -- >> here the problem. we have a thing here keep calm and carry on. that would end up outside. >> perfect harmony in the brzezinski house. >> i'll see you at the event tonight at our house. thank you for coming on, mark

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. oh, yes, please tell me it's time. >> it is time for a special edition of "news you can't use." weighty political decisions being made in washington, large meetings abroad with foreign leaders, none of which will be found in the week in le view. >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> at number three. the palin's tv takeover.

>> this mamma grizzly, brown bear really, protecting her cubs. >> sarah palin rolled out her new reality show this week where she introduced the country to the levi johnston memorial, no boys upstairs gate. >> see this gate. it's not just for trig. it's for no boys go upstairs. >> from sarah palin's alaska, we traveled south to watch bristol palin's paso doble. despite multiple reports that she's not very good at dancing, bris stop survived another week on ""dancing with the stars"." >> brandy and max. >> those boos were echoed online by competitive celebrity dancing activists who suspected the integrity of the show had been compromised by a tea party conspiracy to keep bristol around. >> tea party americans, you're winning. >> at number two -- >> if you touch my junk, i'll

have you arrested. >> american travelers expressed a frustration that they hadn't at least been bought dinner before being exposed to the tsa's pat-down policy. >> an invasion of my personal space. >> i felt violated. >> used her hand to go up my skirt. that's when i freaked up. >> at least one tsa agent appeared to be enjoying the controversial new hands-on policy. ♪ when i get that feeling i want sexual healing ♪ >> some travelers worry, too, the new x-ray body scans violate privacy and more importantly are unflattering through the hips. you know a story has reached critical mass when taiwan rolls out an animation. >> the number one story of the week -- >> tonight at 6:00 at buckingham palace, a royal wedding. >> prince william and his girlfriend kate middleton have

announced their engagement. >> what will they represent to modern britain? will people care? >> while most of the world press obsessed over the engagement of two rich rosie-cheeked british people, a small band of brave reporters remain focused on the real issue that affects the lives of ordinary folks. >> let's break the ice with a story of a horse. >> a family traveling on u.s. highway 75 in kansas came upon a sedan that appeared to carry its giant dog in the back seat. >> okay. there's a car here. we're going down the highway. >> as they pulled up next to the car, a horrifying ek quin discovery. finding a horse in the back seat of a car incidentally is a big score in the i spy family travel game. >> in the back of this car there's a horse. >> the horse in question is a miniature trick pony named rascal who tours kansas in the back seat of his owner's old

toyota. britain may have wills and kate, but by god, the colonies have rascal. >> smile horsey. >> there's a horse in the car! >> oh, god. i love it. >> the horse in the back seat of the car was the number one story of this week. i think we did well. >> that's journalism. a little addendum for you, the guy we love, alec baldwin, the "30 rock" star, he also loves wegman grocery stores. it's a food market. his mom is a huge fan. so alec baldwin agreed to do -- remember this is totally serious, a commercial for wegman's. let's watch. >> wegman's brings delicious to the season with our bakery fresh cakes an pies. enjoy home made taste with a variety for all your family gatherings. >> i don't want to bother my mother with choosing.

let's have one of each. low prices, incredible service, best ingredients, help with meals and friendly caring people who make you feel like family. what an amazing experience. >> every day you get our best. >> is it serious? >> there you go, alec baldwin for wegman's. >> what a nice thing to do for his mom. >> he was on letterman recently and asked his mom to move west. she said i'm not moving west, they don't have wegmans there. wegmans heard about it and got him to do the ad. there you go. >> that's great. still ahead, vice president joe biden right here on "morning joe" in washington with you guys. we'll be right back with sam stein from the "huffinigton post." [ male announcer ] humana and walmart are teaming up

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holidays coming up. you must be excited except for the travel part. that's the part people are worried about especially with the new pat-down procedure. people are worried about it. this is the latest.

tsa chief john pistol says he and his boss, homeland security secretary janet napolitano have each personally received the new more invasive tsa pat-down. they both had it. it's being called the world's least sexy threesome. >> welcome back to "morning joe." beautiful shot as the sun comes up over the white house. we're live in washington. joining us now, moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. traveling with the president in porlt gal, political director and co-host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. >> david gregory, we were talking about george w. bush on leno last night. it's been something to see. got a standing ovation coming out, part of his pat-down skit beforehand. you covered this guy. what's it been like? >> for me it's so interesting having been there through every moment of his presidency to hear his reflections, to read his

reflections in the book and hear him. you made the observation a minute ago, i think it's been effective as somebody who has stepped away from the spotlight, very much wanting to get out of the spotlight and stay out of the spotlight. there are those who say, look, he has an obligation to play a constructive role in tamping down some of the excesses within his own party. but he's made a determined decision to say, look, i'm not going to be that guy. he hasn't criticized obama. seeing him on ""the tonight show"," in 20000, there was a poll ha showed him closing the gap ever so slightly with al gore and rove said we're going to win california. went into the green room with bush, and i'm from l.a. and i said, gregory, you watch, we're going to win california. i looked at him and i said, no, you're not. he was caught up in that moment. >> did not happen quite that way. did not happen quite that way. chuck todd, obviously you are

with the current president in portugal. what is the president's goal today? people critical of his last trip overseas. what does he want to come back with? >> reporter: well, this is a pretty busy trip in comparison as far as near-term policy issues sitting on his desk. number one, getting nato nations to buy into this afghanistan plan. i think some in the white house want to call it a long-term withdrawal plan that could conclude in 2014, and they're going to try to make the argument that some of it is going to begin in 2011. the other part of this trip has to do with the politics back home with this s.t.a.r.t. treaty, this nuclear arms treaty with russia. russia's president is over here. they're going to have a meeting. president obama is also meeting with the georgia president for the first time of his presidency, and the first time an american president has sat

down with the georgia president since russia and georgia had that very, very quick war, if you want to call it that. so it's one of those precarious trips for president obama with a couple of hot button foreign policy issues. >> you've got the secretary of state on this weekend, david. what are you going to ask her? >> i think the fight over foreign policy and national security is part of the start treaty. i think the president is calling out republicans saying the voters wanted things done in washington and you're going to stay in my way on this? he pulls out henry kissinger and others to make the point. i think secretary clinton can talk about the strategy, are we talking about july 2011 or are we really talking about 2014? what's the role nato is going to play? i talked to commanders who say nato's participation in the afghanistan campaign the about the latest episode of them suffering casualties.

that influences politically whether or not they'll stay on the ground. >> will that be on the table, chuck, as a point of conversation, especially meeting with nato leaders? >> reporter: it may become a point of contention, mika. the president of afghanistan is here, at the same hotel as us and the white house press corps. he's going to be meeting the nato nations and making his pitch. earlier this week he was making the claim that he'd like to see the united states start pulling back a little sooner. he's not happy with some of the combat mission. and the question will be will that be the message karzai sends to nato nations. it goes to what david pointed out, these nato nations don't have a lot of patience. they want to get out sooner rather than later. >> david, they don't have a lot of patience, but they don't have a lot of troops in there either. >> a full third of the fighting force is dependent on nato

nations. there's no question the united states is fighting this war and carrying the burden. they do have a role. i think the question for karzai. he's talked about reducing the footprint of special ops there. our tempo, special operations has gone dramatically up since petraeus has gone there. that's a key part of this. i think one of the questions that will come up, is whether there's a permanent air base as to whether we can deploy air power and special forces to keep the taliban contained. >> you're talking about the special ops tempo going up. the drone attacks are at record highs. we are killing more suspected terrorists than ever before. it looks like we may be moving toward that strategy. >> we still have to rely on pakistan to deal with the fact that the taliban can run across the border into the sanctuaries in pakistan and move back and

forth easily. as long as that's the case, american troops are in danger. >> chuck, let's talk about politics at home. as political director what do you think about the back and forth, about the extension of unemployment benefits? this is the sort of thing that bill clinton would have pummeled our republican congressman back in the '90s, they'll cut unemployment benefits at the holiday season while giving tax benefits to millionaires. >> reporter: there doesn't seem to be a cohesive strategy by democrats and capitol hill on the white house on how to deal with the tax cuts issue and unemployment benefits. it's almost as if the house went ahead with their own plan, they did the suspension of the rule, it doesn't matter if you get a majority, you need a supermajority in order to get this passed because they didn't want any amendments tacked on. i have to say it. what i don't understand, again, you brought up bill clinton would have pummeled you.

like i said, no cohesive strategy. if the unemployment benefits are important, is that -- should you be use that as a negotiating stand when it comes to the extending of the bush tax rate? that's what i don't get here. are they moving together? >> chuck todd, live in portugal, thanks very much. we'll see you at 9:00 eastern time right here on msnbc for "the daily rundown." chuck, thanks. >> mika, bill clinton actually was on the ropes. we had him on the ropes in the spring of 1995. and then he just -- dick morris gave him a speech he repeated ad nauseum. i thought nobody is that stupid. the republicans want to cut medicare for tax cuts for the rich. we said nobody is going to believe this. but he played the game and he brought us to our knees. >> if you're going to call the republicans out on this, i don't understand why the president doesn't position himself as a

fiscal conservative. everybody agrees we should extend the bush tax cuts. on upper earners, i can see the point. in this environment let's extend them temporarily in an economic climate we've got right now. show me where the corresponding spending cuts are. >> chuck is right. if they wanted to negotiate, it makes logical sense to say, fine, wheel give in for a temporary extension on the tax cuts for the rich provided you give us the stuff for the poor. what i got this past week is there's real frustration over what chuck was talking about, this lack of cohesive strategy, stick tuiveness, and failure to actually blocking the measures when the argument is so logical and right there. >> david axelrod on sunday on met the press couldn't admit they're willing to compromise s. that a sin now, because you're so afraid of what the left is going to do to you? there's lots of ways to go about

that. if the position is we're not going to bend on this -- >> he did an interview with the "huffinigton post" and he sort of admitted, he said we're living in a new world, in a new reality. that was about as close in washington as you get to saying, yeah, we're going to have to compromise t. problem is exactly what chuck was talking about, you can compromise, but what do you get in return? >> but norah, he's getting torn apart by both sides. you have the electorate that came out and very clairely said these i understand dents independents saying you've gone too far left. this is a president who can listen to the voters, the independents, or he can listen to his progressive base to fund the campaign. he can do bill clinton and what bill clinton did after his major losses or what truman did. harry truman ran against the republicans and decided that worked for him. just as you said, bill clinton took that issue. he also said the era of big government is over. it worked for him. i think we haven't seen i don't think which route obama is going

to take. >> look, again, i go back to the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. this is an area where he wants to make republicans look bad. the president has to have some fight in him. no question here. >> now would be the time. >> but there's got to be fight and compromise. >> david, thank you. >> you have secretary of state clinton? >> and bobby jindal. "meet the press" this sunday. coming up, vice president joe biden will join us. from the bipartisan debt commission, erskine bowles and alan simpson. >> bowles and simpson, what was their song? "reunited." it feels so good. [ man ] ♪ trouble ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born

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learn more about the connection between atrial fibrillation and strokes, and get advice on how to live with afib. and with this valuable information in your hand, talk to your doctor. call 1-877-904-afib today. now to a hollywood murder mystery. ronni chase en was gunned down in her car in beverly hills on tuesday morning. as george lewis reports, police say they don't know what the motive may have been. >> a glittering hollywood premier for the movie "burlesque." as the stars of the film, cher and christina aguilera pose for photographers, publicist ronni chase en can be spotted on the sidelines, the last pictures of her alive.

>> she was such a greatperson, and to have such a violent, horrible thing happen just did not commute at all. sglp police say early tuesday morning chaseen drove her mercedes west on sunset boulevard into beverly hills, calling her office voice mail at 12:22 a.m. to leave a to-do list for the following day. six minutes later shots rang out. >> the likelihood of gunshots in this neighborhood is so unlikely, i really didn't think that's what it was. then i came to realize it probably was something, about 15 minutes later when police arrived. >> chaseen's car wound up on the curb. paramedics frantically worked on her, multiple gunshots in her chest and took her to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. the phd reporter quoting an unnamed beverly hills official say police believe the killing was planned in advance, though it's unclear where she was personally targeted. the theory, according to the

story, is that another vehicle pulled up alongside chaseen's mercedes and the shots were fired from that second car. police would not confirm the report. >> people in hollywood are more than horrified. they are in absolute shock. >> reporter: ronni helped create oscar buzz for countless movies and the people who make them. "on golden pond," "driving miss daisy," "slum dog millionaire" and once her specialty was music, representing film composers and musicians. police have removed items from her office and home. rewards totaling $125,000 have been offered for information leading to the capture of her killer or killers. george lewis, nbc news, beverly hills, california. >> terrible story. up next, is school reform

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what are the two best things the president has done since he took office? >> i think certainly -- >> seriously. two? that's tough. if you said one, that would have been a fair question. >> i applauded him when he -- in afghanistan. secondly, if he's serious about this, pushing through the free trade agreements, i think that's a good thing. >> all right, i'm sorry governor t correct answer was education reform. >> pretty well on that, too. a good start. i want them to see it through on charter schools, rewarding

teachers for performance. i want to make sure they consistently stand up to the teacher unions. it's complete, but it's a good start. welcome back to "morning joe." that was louisiana governor bobby jindal on "morning joe" this week naming education reform, after joe pushed him, as one of the things he think it is obama administration has done well. after the midterm elections gave republicans control of the house, is education the last hope for bipartisanship? joining us now from the white house, secretary of education, arne duncan. arne, good to have you back on the show. >> thanks for having me. >> you urged congress this week to pass important legislation that pertains to education. that's to improve childhood nutrition. what specifically needs to be done, and even more specifically can it be done because it must be done? >> i think -- i agree with you, it absolutely has to be done. we want our children to be healthy. we want them to be fed nutricius meals. we want to get the junk food out of the vending machines.

secretary tom vilsack has been a great partner. he's leading the effort. we want to make sure our children are healthy every single day in school. our children collectively eat eight billion meals in schools each year. they can be nutricius meals or junk food. we owe it to our children to do the right thing. >> recently there was a cbs story on kids meals at fast food restaurants where a lot of kids go for lunch. there's no value to them at all. no absolutely no value. in fact, it makes you unhealthy. you can't learn when you're unhealthy. >> we have the secretary of education with us. can we stay off this kick? i would say many people who might be turned off by mika's food excesses do agree that if we taxpayers are going to pay for free lunches for these kids,

they should at least be healthy. >> they have to be. two sides of the same coin. one is nutricius meals, the second is more exercise. recess, after school, before school, our students need to build healthy lifestyles. there's so much we can do to feed better meals and give them a chance to exercise. >> we talk about -- we have a focus on obesity in this country, very concerned about it with our kids. we talk about food. that's always my other side to the story. i'm glad you touched on it. growing up i had a horrible diet, but i ran all day, exercised all day. our kids are sedentary, they sit down, play video games, wash dvds. >> p.e., recess, before school, lunchtime, after school. it's interesting. there are lots of studies that show when students are active and healthy running around, they do better ak dechl cli. i speak for myself as a young boy, it was very challenging for

me to sit still for five or six hours straight in school. i needed to get outside and burn off steam and come back in and concentrate. sometimes it seems counterintuitive. when students are active, healthy, they'll be a better job of concentrating and paying attention in class. >> let's talk about the potential for bipartisanship when it comes to education. what do you expect you can get past in the coming months with the new congress? >> i'm very hopeful we can reauthorize the elementary and secondary education kt a. we need to fix no child left behind and do it together. as i've said repeatedly, when it comes to education we have to put politics and ideology to the side. somewhere to educate our way to a better economy. this is about strengthening our nation. we're nowhere near where we need to be educationally. we've drop from first in the world to ninth in terms of college graduates. our high school dropout rate is staggering. we have to do better and do

better together. secretary duncan, it's norah o'donnell, we've certainly fallen behind. a lot of people do say education reform is an area where the president can find bipartisan agreement. jeb bush, the former governor of florida, is coming to washington with a lot of his advisors for a big summit december 1st. what are you hoping comes out of that? >> i think the president has shown tremendous political courage. he has done everything right on education. he's saved hundreds of thousands of teacher jobs in a very tough economy. we've seen more reform thanks to his leadership in the past 18, 19 months than the previous decade combined. working with, again, everyone, democrats, republicans, parents. it doesn't matter. all of us have to work together and do the right thing for our country, educate our way to a better economy. that's the only way we'll get there. >> what about jeb bush? >> i'm very happy to work with jeb bush. i'm actually going to his conference to speak with state superintendents there. we want to work with everybody

across both political parties. we have to. >> pat buchanan? >> mr. secretary, the act was passed in 1965, 45 years ago. we put trillions of dollars into education. we had no child at risk or whatever it was. all of these reforms have failed to bring us back to 1964 scholastic aptitude tests and the racial and ethnic gap continues where it's always been. what is the single biggest reason for the failure. >> we have to invest in reform u not the status quo. what we've seen is states have dummied down standards, reduced standards. it's good for politicians. we've been lying to children, lying to parents. we've seen 38 states raising standards, about three dozen states remove barriers to innovation and charter schools. we have to professionalize the teaching profession, elevate the profession so there's not one

answer. if we do all those things well, we'll get where we need to go as a country. >> secretary duncan, thank you so much. with all the talk about what needs to be done over the next two years, you're exactly right. we've got to improve our educational system, k-12, if we want to grow this economy. this has got to be at to top of everybody's list. >> thank you for putting up with the cars in reverse. are they going in circles around you? i don't know what is that? it's ridiculous. vice president joe biden will join us on the set in just about 15 minutes right here on "morning joe." up next, giving green -- going green by reinventing something as basic as cement. our power in progress series is next. >> look at that beautiful shot of the upper west side. it is gorgeous. >> you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. in 1968, as whaling continued worldwide,

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welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now to continue our weeklong conversation "power in progress" the ceo of ceratech, he's an army veteran and his

company produces ecofriendly cement, used overseas by soldiers making infrastructure repairs in iraq and afghanistan. >> t. boone pickens, of course, has the pickens plan. it is transformational, and what he said is if we can just start with a federal government converting like, for instance, cars to natural gas and trucks to natural gas, in their fleet, it would make a huge difference, but the pentagon is doing that as well already with you guys. >> the military has. they were our original first customer back about ten years ago. and they picked up the material and they used it in iraq and afghanistan for the war. we were a big part of the infrastructure repair process. >> and what you gives do, though, is you actually take pollution from coal and turn it into cement ash. >> it's fly ash, which is the coal, the part when you burn the coal, you create a noncombustible, it's fly ash. that's what's collected in

typically it's landfilled. what we've done is we've developed a green cement which takes fly ash, and it combines some proprietary materials and we create a cement. it's a one-to-one replacement for portland cement. >> wow. >> it can be used in virtually any application to create concrete. >> what's the difference between that and cement being used now? pluses and minuses? >> well, it's a better product overall from a performance standpoint. it's more durable, from the mechanical properties it's stronger basically. >> so -- i'm sorry, go ahead. >> no, go ahead. >> norah, we're hearing this more and more, both parties talking about creating a green economy. the federal government could make such a huge difference if it started in large and small things, started doing things like this. >> right. and it makes business sense to do this, because it can be in many ways cheaper. it's better. and i think as tom friedman says brilliantly, energy technology is the new information

technology, e.t. is the new i.t., if you want to be big in anything, like ge, they are big in green technology. what are the ways you see in your business and other ways the pentagon is using green technology? >> the pentagon like the military in many cases led on a lot of these initiatives, so they pushed out green into the field, and really it's more a performance issue than green for them now. but this rolls back into general construction. the government is the biggest user of concrete in the united states. >> wow. >> pat? >> pat, looking historically, you look at the internet, it started back in the 1950s with the united states military. >> sure. >> you look at a lot of i.t. advances outside of that, started with the u.s. military. >> sure. >> the federal government has such a huge footprint that in this sort of green technology, they really could make a big impact. >> look at the space program. but a quick question, why

wouldn't the cement be better than portland cement? does it cost more? >> a good question. when thomas friedman was on your show earlier this week. >> price. >> it's always price and adoption in the marketplace, and we are now price competitive with portland cement. and that just happened in the last year. >> yeah. >> we've been working on this technology for a number of years and now we're price competitive. we'll see a wider adoption, we expect a wider adoption over the next year in the marketplace. >> all right. it's exciting what's going on, and, you know, pat, you're a big green guy, aren't you? >> i spoke to the guys, he was terrific in arizona. recyclers, they take the filters, oil filters, and they have oil in them and we used to bury them and oil would seep into the water and they burn it out at 1,700 degrees, and guess who is going to get the oil? the chinese has shown up and they buy all the used junk and take it back to china. >> and process it. >> sure. >> and they turn it into something beneficial. >> sure. it used to be used in asphalt,

still is. >> thank you so much, john. greatly appreciate it. and coming up next, vice president joe biden, he's making his way to the set. we will be talking to him right after the break. >> i think here he is. >> they move me out of here, don't they, joe? [ female announcer ] this is not a prescription.

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it is the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." we're live at the nbc news washington bureau, and here with us now, the vice president of the united states, joe biden back on the show. very good to have you on. >> mr. vice president, great to have you here. >> good to be back. >> you look good. >> i feel good. >> good. >> you feel good. for a lot of people that haven't spent a lot of time in washington, and i put the president in this category, and bill clinton was the same way, they don't realize the tide comes in, the tide goes out. but the tide always comes back in. are you telling them to keep calm and carry on in the white house? >> i don't have to tell him. he is as my mother used to say cool as a cucumber. you don't have to tell the president to keep calm, but you got it right, joe, i do reference with the rest of -- some of the younger white house staff, let's calm down here. >> remember in 2004?

karl rove's permanent majority? and 2006, nancy wins. 2008, you win. it is a new map. >> that's right. >> two years later. >> it's the republican party's dead. >> i watched the republican party die and come to life and our party die and come to life five occasions since i've been in office. >> i remember 1995 seeing the cover of a "u.s. news & world report" and it had the burial of the democratic party, when we all swept in. the next year, bill clinton wins. democrats have a big year. what do you guys need to do to turn it around politically? >> isn't it the new map or the shellacking as the president put it, isn't it actually a moment of opportunity for this administration? >> it's both a moment of opportunity and also a pretty clear message sent. if you take a look at that map, there were a lot of races, everywhere you saw unemployment hovering around 10%, you saw an "r" put on that district almost, with notable exceptions. you go from the southern tier of new york all the way through my home state of pennsylvania,

ohio, indiana, out into wisconsin, and i mean, it was a -- you know, it's awful hard to win in the district when you got that kind of unemployment. and, look, what we have to do, you guys were talking about china. i watch you every morning for real, and the thing i find is that, you know, if you take china as an example, we're sitting here, everybody's talking about what china's doing, and they are, and we can write chapters in books about it, and yet there's this notion that somehow it's inevitable and how can we compete and, you know, god, why are we out there, it's over. >> by the way, 1989, they were saying the same thing about japan. we weren't going to beat japan. how do we turn it around? >> i think, look, i think we turn it around in two ways. one, we have to make sure that not only we actually focus on, but the entire nation knows we're focusing on, growth and competition within the united states of america and compete internationally.

i don't know anywhere where it's written that we have to be number two. you know, i am the son of an automobile man, a guy who sold -- managed an automobile dealership his whole life. he said, just give me product, joe, give me product, i can sell it. now they're given product and we're winning. the first time in 23 years, j.d. powers say, look, americans think automobiles made in america are better than automobiles made abroad, you know? the idea that you just had a fella on, caught the tail end, talking about the green economy. >> yeah. >> we put $100 billion in the recovery act for clean energy and people said, oh, my god, government interference, why are you doing that? the government's taking over. all we're doing is providing money, start-up money, for organizations to get out there, start to compete. >> go ahead. >> i'm sorry, mika. but let's talk, though, about the election losses. >> yes. >> obviously you guys feel like you did a lot of good things over the past two years. a lot of americans disagreed. sure, there's part of a

communication problem, but you guys also understand, don't you, that the actual substance of some of those bills were unpopular with independent voters? >> look, joe, we made mistakes, we could have done things differently. we could have prioritized things in a different way. and what we have to do now is learn from those lessons and move forward. and part of what people are looking for is they're looking for us to actually be able to lay out for them how are you going to get from here to there. what's -- what's next? when you are sitting there and you don't have a job, and you're going to bed staring at the ceiling every night wondering how in god's name you're going to make it, you don't want to hear anything about anything other than how am i going to get a job. >> all right, and those people face potentially losing their unemployment benefits. how are we going to get something done on that? there are republicans and democrats voting against extending them for another 90 days. >> i think they're making a gigantic mistake, not only what

the society has done with unemployment, we've always extended it, but also the economy. the single biggest stimulus to the economy are the unemployment benefits we're paying, the people go out and spend the money, they have to get by from paying their mortgage or paying for food or just getting by. it has a significant impact on economic growth and the continuation of economic growth. i got criticized by saying we'll create 100,000 jobs a month a year ago. we created 100,000 jobs a month. it varied, but we created private-sector jobs. that's not nearly enough. but now if we're going to pull out of the economy, the unemployment benefits we're paying, if we're going to pull out of the economy, you know, the tax cuts for middle-class people, i mean, it not only goes to equity, it goes to economic growth. >> let's talk about an issue, if you watch every morning -- >> i do. >> -- you know we talk about, especially when barnicle and i get together. i think he actually likes me.

>> yes, he does. >> who do you think started the no-attack joe zone around here? it was mike. >> it was. >> despite the fact the first time i met joe biden, he came up to me at a reception and said, my father warned me about people like you. he said never trust a democrat that gets money and becomes a republican. >> like my father. that was affection, joe. >> and speaking of no money, i mean, my parents did well, but my dad was out of work. he got laid off by lockheed in '73 during the recession, rolls-royce went bankrupt, lockheed collapsed and he was looking for a job. we were looking for work for a year and a half. unemployment benefits got us through. how do you, though, tell americans, there are the truly disadvantaged that need the unemployment benefits, but we're not going to extend these things forever. how do you do that balance? because obviously there's some unrest out there. >> well, no, i think the way you do that is -- first of all, you

point out, these unemployment benefits don't go to the problem you're going to have the -- my friend allan simpson talking a little bit later, and that is the long-term debt. these have life -- look, if this going on five years from now, we're all gone. so, the idea of unemployment benefits at this level will be extended indefinitely is just not true. >> and this is not the problem -- >> this is not structural. this is something that doesn't add one hundredth of 1% to the gdp, but it has a positive impact in the growth. but beyond that unless you sat around the kitchen table when the recession hit, some adult around there is going to lose a job, it doesn't seem important, but it's life and death. >> so, while we're on the topic of the economy and what we're supposed to do to help people, we had dick cheney speaking this speak at george w. bush's

presidential library groundbreaking, and he took a shot or two at the administration. take a listen -- >> of course, the george w. bush presidential center isn't much to look at just yet, but the workers are ready. construction will move fast. after today's groundbreaking. this may be the only shovel-ready project in america. >> okay. >> you laughed at the joke. the guy's had a tough year. but he's still got the left hook. >> i'm just glad to see he's up and -- really nice. i keep in touch with him. >> yeah. >> and i, you know -- >> but after we ran that bite on our show, i believe it was dr. sachs or someone else, there are some people who vehemently believe the stimulus plan did not work. >> it could have been crafted better. instead of being a grab bag of house and senate projects, some people are saying -- and we've said it -- you guys needed to organize it. in a much more effective way. >> well, joe, we did. what we sent to the hill was a

different bill than we got. we -- you know, our republican colleagues insisted to be even contra consider it, it had to be more heavy on the tax-cut side than the infrastructure side. we had to deal with cyclical help to the state. we sent up a bill that was probably about $120 billion more and it had more to do in infrastructure. but, remember, we could have done better. but, joe, i had to do everything but promise my sixth-born grandchild to get three republican votes to get it passed in the senate. and so the idea, well, you know, we could have done better. you and i do politics, man. >> right. >> you got to count. you got to count the votes. and what we did do, no one is now arguing that it didn't have an economic -- positive economic stimulus impact on jobs. they argue you could have done better instead of 3.5 it was 2.7. nobody argues that it didn't have an impact on the growth of the gdp. >> right. did you guys oversell it,

though? i know at the time you said unemployment wouldn't go over 8%. you put a marker out there that -- >> yes. >> -- obviously that the bill didn't match. >> yes. some will tell you that i had a little disagreement on whether or not we should focus it the way we were focusing it, but, yes, the substance was the same. and i do think -- the other thing is most people thought it was $787 abobillion in new high projects, but only $260 billion had to do with projects of any kind. >> so, let's talk about something that we do talk about on this show every day. it's afghanistan. >> yeah. >> we -- i believe, if you believe woodward's book, our position was your position. we thought afghanistan was an unwinnable war. we didn't think the president should have given the generals three times the troops. and i didn't say this to you, but i told other high-ranking officials, you're going to get your troops, and then the generals, they're going to have

their way with you, and they're going to keep pushing that date out and -- and it's happened. we've gone from 2011 to the end of 2014. >> no. >> we can't stay there for another four or five years, can we? >> no. i don't think we can stay there for five years with 100,000 american forces 150,000 nato or isaf forces combined. but, joe, what we said back last thanksgiving and repeated again and we've gotten the living devil beat out of us by good friends like john mccain and others, we said, look, beginning the summer of 2011, we're going to begin the transition. we're going to begin the transition out of iraq -- i mean, afghanistan. >> right. >> we are going to begin to transition. we're keeping that commitment. that commitment will be kept. we said the pace at which we get out depended on the circumstances, but we will begin to transition. and 2014 is now a date that everyone has agreed upon, nato as well as the afghanis, that's

kind of the drop-dead date. but that doesn't mean we're gog to have anywhere near 100,000 troops in 2013. this is -- it's just like the commit the we made in iraq. we've actually kept that commitment. we said we'd get out of the cities last year. we said we'd bring 100,000 troops home this year, and we're going to bring them all home next year. >> what is our exit strategy in afghanistan? >> the exit strategy in afghanistan is twofold, one is that the afghan government gets to the place where they are able to compensate for the help that the taliban gets in the villages and in the communities, because they're no longer the better alternative. so, slightly better government. do doesn't have to be perfect. it doesn't have to be a great democracy, but better governance. secondly, they have enough trained forces that the taliban cannot bring that government down or occupy population centers. but our fundamental

responsibility and the president stated again and the guys keep missing it, it's not to defeat the taliban, it's to degrade and ultimately defeat al qaeda. and we are making great progress on al qaeda central. as long as we continue to have the platforms to be able to do that, you're going to see we will need fewer and fewer troops down there. >> but the taliban can obviously scurry over to pakistan. that's the biggest problem. leon panetta said 50 al qaeda members left in afghanistan. >> you know my view, joe, look, one of the things that we have to decide is what is good enough. >> right. >> and what is good enough is us being able to guarantee our own security by making sure the taliban continues to be degraded, cannot come back and occupy afghanistan. secondly, that the afghan government is stable enough that it is able to maintain while it's going through this whole reintegration progress with the taliban, its ability to stay in

power. and, thirdly, for us to be in a position where we are able to ultimately not be spending the kind of money and have the number of troops we have there, and the sooner that happens, the better. >> i think people would like to hear a little bit about the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, and i'm going to read from the president's piece in the "international herald tribune." just as the united states and russia have reset our relationship, so, too, can nato and russia. in lisbon we can make it clear that nate though sees prussiaan. we can deepen the ties, and by moving ahead with cooperation on missile defense, we can turn a source of past tension into a source of cooperation against a shared threat. the president, of course, in portugal meeting with nato leaders. how important -- or maybe what's the question is, what's the damage that can ensue if it's not passed? >> first of all, just on the

merits, the treaty all by itself, unrelated to the overall relationship, we're blind now, as they say. we're not able to verify what the russians are doing or not doing with their nuclear stockpile, because -- that's why we need the treaty for the verification purposes. yesterday i had a group of gray beards, as we call them, significant republican leaders, five former republican secretaries of state, three of whom were in the room, former secretaries of defense, national security advisers, and so on, all republicans, pointing out the absolute necessity for us just from a purely strategic standpoint to have this treaty. but what a lot of americans don't know, the only way we're able to continue to conduct the war in afghanistan, 50% of all of our lethal and nonlethal material goes through russia to get into afghanistan. the reason why the -- we're having such success in real sanctions against iran is because russia's cooperating. they're in the deal.

there's a lot that is at stake here in terms of the overall relationship with russia, and particularly with, as people will point out, this thing everybody's trying to figure out, the relationship between medvedev and putin. medvedev stuck himself way out on a line on this. and so we found he's someone we can work with and cooperate with, and so there's an overwhelming and overarching interest in getting this treaty passed from a purely strategic standpoint as well as a geopolitical stand point. >> and yet only dick lugar seems to be cooperating with you guys. does that speak to how poisoned partisan relations are right now in washington? >> well, it spooks mo s >> well, it spooks mopeaks more, joe, to the circumstances in the republican party. because i'm confident that there are 15 of my former republican colleagues who are inclined to support this treaty, but they'd rather have as we catholics say the cup passed from them, you

know, because they'd rather not have to take on what is the internal dynamic in the republican party. at least as i read it. but that's why i'm convinced that faced with the choice of this going down and losing what you and i should always talk about, this stockpile stewardship program, the fancy word for saying all the nuclear weapons that are left reduced to make sure they remain reliable without having new testing. >> right. >> that's a very expensive proposition. we're committed to doing that so we don't have to build new nuclear weapons. all that's in the balance now. and i think when faced with having to vote yes or no, they'd rather not have to make the vote, but yes or no, i think you'll find there's another eight or nine, ten republicans that will come on board. >> you got on board in 1973? >> yes. >> 29-year-old kid, 30, i guess, by january. talk about how things have changed? because as you know, every day on this show, we talk about how

at least since clinton was elected, the second a president gets elected, the other side tries to delegitimize that president from day one. you've seen that from the outside since early '93. have you been shocked since you got on the inside at just how tough it is? the >> or not surprised. >> well, i've not been surprised, unfortunately. i wish i were shocked. i've been here for eight presidents. this is the eighth president i've worked with. and what i found is that there is a -- there's a plethora of outlets for people on get their news from. there's a plethora of outlets for people to organize through. and so you get, you know, a couple hundred thousand people with one point of view, and you've got yourself a platform. and there's a cacophony of voices out there that make it very confusing for serious

people to try to figure out what is -- what are the facts, what's the real deal here. and things have just gotten a lot more complicated. and unfortunately we always learn the wrong lesson from one another. you know, we learn how to take down a president, and the next guy, they learn. and now there's a big debate in the united states senate about, okay, do we now change the rules of the senate. >> right. >> filibusters. do we -- i mean, it's a -- you know, i keep reminding people when, you know, going up the ladder is good, but you're going to come back down the ladder. remember. >> always remember that. >> all of us can go up the ladder and down the ladder several times. before we go, let me just show you sarah palin, your former rival for the vice presidential position, talking about 2012. take a listen -- >> 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 discourse, for my family, if

it's a good thing. >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> well, look -- i don't -- you'll get me in trouble. >> okay, okay. >> i don't think she could beat president obama, but, you know, you know, she's always underestimated so, you know, i think -- i think i shouldn't say any more. >> there you go. >> so, what's your -- what's your top goal moving forward? >> top goal is to create jobs. top goal is get the economy moving. top goal is to keep some momentum. and the top goal, i mean, the really my goal -- our goal is america has to be able to lead the world in the 21st century, and we cannot do that built on the basis of the old economy. we've got to create not only new jobs, but new industries. that's why although i know you can't create 50 million jobs

from green energy, i know one thing, i don't want to go from importing oil from saudi arabia to importing windmills from china. >> right. >> there's no reason why we cannot compete, and i'd argue look at the automobile deal as an example. there's -- we can make things better. we can compete. we can -- we are the most innovative country in the world. and we got to -- you know, we got to start remembering who we are. >> yes, we do. >> vice president joe biden, thank you so much for being on the show. >> great to have you back. >> good to be back. >> thank you for watching. >> in our control room, chris licht moves fast and he says thank you. there you go. all right, come back soon. great to see you. >> i'd like to. thank you very much. up next, their plan as to why $4 trillion off the books in ten jeers. the co-chairs of the debt commission, erskine bowles and

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this election showed us

anything, it's that american don't want congress passing massive trillion dollar bills that have been thrown together behind closed doors. they want us to do business differently. americans want us to take our time and get things right. and they want us to spend less. the voters have spoken. we need to show that we heard them. >> welcome back to "morning joe." this is video from moments ago. new members of congress taking their class photos on the steps of capitol hill. you did that, joe. >> poor, poor, guys. yeah, i remember it. given what we did, and alan simpson will remember this. so, we went in in '95, and alan simpson at the time had all this hair, and after the first week since we were there, gingrich and me and his hair just fell out. i went up and warned him yesterday, senator, i said, listen, here's the deal. you got big issues with social security, medicare, stay away, they didn't, and the first day

they had kids crying and scarborough wants to kill big bird. you got to keep your focus! >> here's the door. >> yeah, yeah. no, it was -- it was -- we got distracted by so many things and i hope these new people -- >> joe wrote a piece in politico for the incoming freshmen advice to live by, advice he wished -- >> all the things i didn't do. keep quiet, keep your head down. work hard. >> joining us now -- can i -- let's do a proper introduction. can we get them reunited? joining us now, the co-chairmen of the white house fiscal commission former republican senator from wyoming, alan simpson and former chief of staff to president clinton erskine bowles. >> we're big fans. tell us, senator simpson, please, about the recommendations and why they have to be passed. >> well, they're wonderful, because we've irritated everyone in the united states. >> you sure have.

>> we wandered through airports, i can tell you, i used to get all sorts of signals. i get more thumbs-up now than other digits. >> really? >> that can tell you, the american people, anybody that says if you get rid of earmarks and waste, fraud and abuse, all foreign aid, you'll get there. that will get you 5% of the hole you're in. just babble to them next time. don't listen to anybody telling you that. you got to go where the meat is, the meat is health care, medicare, medicaid, social security, not balancing the books on poor all staggering seniors to make the damn solvent for 75 years. >> we were stunned, erskine about some of the things after the commission report came out, saying seniors were going to be thrown out in the street. i looked at the numbers to be really honest with you, and i didn't think you moved fast enough on social security and medicare. we calculated that i guess -- i think it was trumka said that this throws old people on the

street. my 2-year-old son jack will get social security at 69. >> right. >> people in their 20s and 30s are going to be just fine. >> in fact, i think you could have gone further. >> yeah. i got eight grandchildren. eight grandchildren. they'll get it. >> he knows what he has to do. i know rich very well. he's a good egg. he has to say what he has to say for his membership, but he knows we're on the right track. >> but what we've done is make social security solvent for the next 75 years. it runs out in, and that's the law. and the benefits will drop by 22% that year alone. >> can you explain to people what the senator started on? i saw nut gingrich on "meet the press." lee said, you know, if we just freeze the budget for a few years and get rid of waste, fraud and abuse, then everything will be fine. it's like saying you're going to sell the spectrum and make money. that is -- that's witchcraft. >> it is -- he knows better, too. that's the thing that drives me crazy. because i newt well. i negotiated the balanced budget

with him in 1997. he knows the arithmetic. we are headed down a path of absolute disaster if we don't get this deficit under control. it's just plain arithmetic. >> you got social security, medicare. the pentagon. >> you got to hit defense. you got to hit all the tax earmarks in the tax bill itself. because that's what they are. >> do either of you think you should have gone farther on social security? >> no. what we wanted to get it to 75-year sol venlssy. that was our goal. we did that. could we have done it in different ways? could we have balanced it more? sure, but we didn't need to to get it to 75-year solvency. >> i always found in office, when you told people the truth -- >> the truth. >> -- you won votes. >> you did. >> i remember i got stem goide g demagogues, i wiped out my opponent. and marco rubio talks about

raising social security to 70%, he runs away. >> that's right. >> the senator and i were partners in the reagan years, and the cold war, we needed the bases all over the world, the mighty soviet empire, the empire is gone and the soviet union is got, we got between 700 to 1,000 military bases abroad. even the head of the air force said we have too many bases, we need to get rid of them. >> we have 1,000 bases. >> we recommended a cut of a third of them. i was in germany, i was stationed there, i was in the occupation. it was madness. heidelberg, wiesbaden, you don't need that, you need ramstein, which is the big hospital center. >> but not on the other side of the line. >> i think the congress people said if they came up here they would get punished for making tough decisions. i think it's the other way. they'll get penalized if they don't make the tough decisions. >> i can take a poll of anything. right after you put the

recommendations out, everybody was talking about how unpopular it is. if they talk about it. if they say this is why we need to save social security. like marco rubio, who, again, i can't say it enough, in the state of florida. when he was behind charlie crist, he said we may have to raise social security to 70. he won! >> sure he won. he told the truth. >> i think during hard times people actually want the truth more than ever. >> yeah. >> than to feel like they're being, i don't know, played. >> right. we had a congress person come to us, not involved with the commission, he said in the new troops they can't get anybody to come on the appropriations committee of the house. those used to be the cardinals. you remember, joe? they were kings and queens. >> you know, people are talking about our defense budget cuts. they're tough. they're really tough, just like everything else, but admiral mullen the head of the joint chiefs of staff last week said the debt is the biggest national security problem. >> are you going to get 14, 18, are you going to get unity to get it out of commission?

>> we aren't going to do a whitewash. we aren't going to make it softer than it is today. it's going to be a tough report. if we get 14 votes, great. if we don't, then by god, we put it out there. >> are you close to the 14? >> we feel like we've got a shot at it. >> we feel like we have a shot. we'll be back next monday and tuesday and the day before the commission report. we will issue the report. we've told the administration. >> right. >> senator, what do you say to our fellow republicans, that seem to be pressuring barack obama to stay in afghanistan longer, a war that's costing us about $2 billion a week, now it's pushed to 2014, and republicans seem to want to stay there even longer. >> i tell them that the american people are tired. they have war fatigue. and i tell them another thing, which really irritates them. we've never had a war in our history that didn't have a tax to support it, including the revolution, and now we have two wars and no tax to support it. and what do you do?

every penny -- every buck we spend, we're borrowing 41 cents. and that's what i tell them. and then they go, well, i didn't know that. i mean, you can come in here -- you can come in here with your no taxes, i mean, i think grover norquist will be irrelevant in a year, because if he's calling this a tax increase, he's in disneyland. >> yeah. >> where did you guys come up with the 15 cents gas tax? what was the genesis of the idea? >> i like it. >> and how do you like to implement it? >> you might not like it as much if you read it. what we said was -- >> no, no, hurep nyou're not su to do that! you want to upset people, don't you? >> tell the truth. >> what we said is we're now spending, you know, more than we take in on infrastructure. and we said, let's either cut the spending back, you know, to what we're taking in or, by god, let's pay for it, and to pay for it we've got to raise another 15 cents in gas tax. >> what's wrong with that? >> that's the truth. that's what we said.

some people that really want a gas tax really like it. and some people that don't want one don't like it. but let's pay for what we spend. >> in the trust fund. >> i thought it was a great idea. i thought there was a great secret that you didn't tell me. >> you look at what's happening in china, everybody that comes back said their infrastructure is moving so far ahead of ours. we've got to figure out a way to keep the budget in line, but expand it. >> let me give you an example. china is the third the size of our economy. a third the size of it. they're spending $100 billion on high-speed rail. we're spending $9 billion. it's our money they're spending! because we borrowed all this money so we can consume their goods and create the jobs over there and then we have to pay that money back, and it's the interest on that debt. >> unbelievable. >> it is unbelievable. it's the worst-case scenario. >> it will be $1 trillion in interest if we continue to let it sit around.

>> thank you, guys. the most popular duo. >> get a hairpiece! >> get a couple. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you for the truth. we appreciate that. when we come back, brian williams' exclusive interview with prince charles when we come back. i do a lot of different kinds of exercise, but basically, i'm a runner.

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for many years you raised two children as a single parent, and you have both children in the military, which must wear on you. >> it certainly did obviously when harry went out to afghanistan, he was terribly keen to do so, and it was very difficult for william, my eldest, not to go, but i did say to him, you know, when i was in the navy the five years, in the early 1970s, i had the same

problem, they wouldn't send me anywhere. but when harry was there, yes, i worried the whole damn time. >> it looks like an absolutely fascinating interview. brian williams in new york late last night, at a benefit for the museum of natural history, helping them out. we're very excited to have him here early this morning. >> i know. because he's not a morning person. >> he's told us he's not a morning person. >> he's a little kank tankerous. he does the evening news. >> we've got the anchor and managing editor of the "nbc nightly news." you went to scotland to talk to prince charles. brian, it looks absolutely fascinating. tell us about it. >> it's fantastic. we actually got a glimpse into the guy's life between buckingham palace, and we went to his -- we went to his kind of estate house outside london, and then we met him for the actual interview. as far north in scotland as you can go, and we got a beautiful run of nice weather, and we got a glimpse into the life of this

62-year-old man, who becomes king of england, of course. he reminds you when you bring up the subject that it would require the death of his mother, and it would also require him to drop all these subjects he's passionate about, because the monarchy is not supposed to delve into actual politics and policy. but i can't imagine that it wouldn't be a different kind of monarchy. >> brian, a little bit of serendipity this week as we got the big royal engagement during the same week that you spoke to prince charles. we've been talking about on this show, we haven't covered it a ton, but we know people are fascinated, what's the deal with royals? we understand why brits would be fascinated, but why here in america are we still interested in them, if we are? >> never understood it. i grew up in a new jersey household where my mother had the commemorative coffee mug of the charles and diana wedding. it was on our windowsill in the kitchen. just one of those memories from growing up. it was always there.

and my mother had no reason to be interested in the royals. i don't know what it is. ever since we broke free and formed ourwn republic, we can't stop following this -- this royal family. i guess, you know, one of the last great traditions on the planet. and yet, you know, many americans say just scratch beneath the surface and it's all, you know, it's just exists because we keep perpetuating it so -- i don't know. >> pat buchanan's got a question for you. >> bless you, son. listen, brian, there has been talk that william is so popular and charles is not that they may pass over or charles might go along with being passed over when frankly something happens to his mother. did you hear any of that talk, or did you question him at all about something like that? >> the brits i've spoken to say

not a chance, will never, ever happen. and, of course, the big question mark is charles' age upon, should he live a long life, upon taking the throne, but not a chance. it doesn't skip. it won't skip. take that out of your mind. i did ask, because i knew you would want to know. >> yeah. >> hey, brian, when news broke of the marriage, we had tina brown on the set, who was talking about how william, of course, after diana's tragic death, everybody assumed that the mother was the warm one and the father was cold and remote. but i say is william more diana or more charles, and she laughed and said, oh, he is his father's son. they are close, and they adore him. i don't think we understand just how close this man has been with his children his whole life. >> well, he really is. they just don't, you know, they don't lift the veil.

this is -- this is a very private family. boy, if you ask them, joe, they've had way too much of their family business in the news media. but when you're in this house, especially the house charles uses outside london, where he and camilla and the boys go, i mean, there are the wellies, the boots they wear in nasty weather with the boys' names on them in the mud room with their hats and jackets, and you see the kitchen and you see a functioning, modern home that four people use. now, yes, of course, it's in the -- it's in the context of the monarchy, and there are range rover -- you want a range rover, you just call somebody and they produce a range rover. so they're not all -- >> hey, that's like the brzezinski house. >> no, it's so not. >> it's like growing up geist, which is our new series here. >> yes, it might be.

at our house you get a ford 150. >> it's like an american freak show, man. >> brian, can we just say, we've all read a lot of blurbs on the back of books, but yours on the back of "american freak show" was the best. >> it's the kind of putdown i send willie once a week by blackberry, he said, do you know what, i'm using this. it's the best of all. it had the intellectual heft of an airline safety pamphlet, and i stand by that critique. >> i didn't know you did blurbs. i'd like one. will you do one? >> bring it on, yep. >> no, you don't want that. >> i don't want that? >> they're not nice. >> brian williams, thank you. >> thank you, brian. >> thanks, guys. the "dateline" special "the man who will be king" airs tonight at 9:00 on nbc. it will be followed by "harmony, prince charles' documentary" on climate change, at 10:00. a big night on nbc.

up next, "the week in review." ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. princess of the powerpoint. your core competency... is competency. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i'm getting an upgrade. [ male announcer ] indeed, business pro. indeed. go national. go like a pro.

with beauty... ♪ ...and brains. ♪ a phone that gets you to the stuff you love faster. only from at&t. rethink possible. our research and development team has just returned from the lab with this, the top three stories of the week -- >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> at number three, the palin tv takeover. >> this momma grizzly -- brown bear, really -- protecting her cubs. >> sarah palin rolled out her

new reality show this week where she introduced the country to the levi johnston memorial, no boys up stairs gate. >> you see this gate, it's not just for trig. it's for no boys go upstairs. >> from sarah palin's alaska, we traveled south to watch bristol palin's paso doble. despite multiple reports that she's not very good at dancing, bristol survived another week on "dancing with the stars." >> brandy and max. >> those boos were echoed online by competitive celebrity dancing activists who suspected that the integrity of the show had been compromised by a tea party conspiracy to keep bristol around. >> tea party americans, you're winning! >> at number two -- >> if you touch my junk, i'm going to have you arrested. >> american travelers expressed a frustration this week that they hadn't at least been bought dinner before being expokesed to the tsa's new aggressive airport

pat-down policy. >> invasion of my personal space, my body. >> i felt violated. >> and started to go up my skirt, that's when i freaked out. >> while the flying public protested the heavy petting, at least one mustached tsa agent appeared to be enjoying the controversial new hands-on policy. ♪ when i get that feeling i want sexual healing ♪ >> some travelers worried, too, that the new x-ray body scans violate privacy and, more importantly, are unflattering through the hips. you know a story has reached critical mass when taiwan rolls out an animation. and the number one story of the week -- >> tonight at 6:00 at buckingham palace, a royal wedding. >> prince william and his girlfriend kate middleton have announced their engagement. >> what will they represent to modern britons? will people care? >> while most of the world obsessed over the engagement of

british people, a small band of brave reporters remained focused on the real issue that affects the lives of ordinary folks. >> let's break with the story of, the question, you got one of those -- >> a family traveling on u.s. highway 75 in kansas came upon a sedan that appeared to be carrying its giant dog in the back seat. >> okay. there's a car here. we're going down the highway. >> but as they pulled up next to the car, a horrifying equine discovery. ♪ finding a horse in the back seat of a car incidentally is a big score in the eye spy family travel game. >> in back of this car there's a horse. >> the horse in question is a miniature trick pony named rascal, who tours kansas in the back seat of his owner's old toyota. britain may have wills and kate, but, by god, the colonies have rascal. >> smile, horsey! >> and the horse in the car.

>> take that, great britain. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? holy sci-fi. steve. no, i know. it's great, right? but, dude, i've been thinking like, this is such a great opportunity for us to write at least an hour to two every single day. you can see this? of course i can see you. but, steve, i'm thinking-- it's like you're standing-- it's like you're standing right there. it's like i'm touching you. yeah. introducing cisco umi, together we are the human network. cisco. it's like i'm talking to you from the future.

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hey, what a great show today. >> yes. >> talking about what we learned, but a big shout-out to alex and ann, vice president brian