aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal. good friday morning, i'm chris jansing. this is "jansing & company." a big victory for president obama. he'll sign the tax cut deal he brokered at 3:50 this afternoon. but he did take some heat from his own party first. here's just a snippet of the anger on the house floor last night. >> but i want the republicans to stop holding us hostage.

>> tax cuts for billionairs don't create jobs. >> we're clearly not serious about bringing down the deficit. >> but whether you call it a comeback or triangulation, it appears the president may be moving toward the middle. joining me now pennsylvania governor ed rendell. good morning, governor. good to see you. >> good morning, chris. >> politically, i've been reading that this president is the comeback kid. how do you look at this tax cut deal? >> well, far too early to call him the comeback kid. the president took a good step in the right direction in leading and governing. but the public wants to see, what the public wants to see is a president, mayor, governor, who knows how to get things done who can lead. when you have a divided congress, which we're going to have, it's essential that that president compromise and that's what i don't think the democrats and the house understood. this was a step in the right direction. but i think the president to consolidate doesn't have to move to the center per se, but has to get things done. that inherently means

compromising. he has to get a good energy bill passed. forget cap and trade. he has to get a good education bill with accountability and every side agrees on that and we have to get serious about deficit reduction. if he can do those three things on top of what he's done, it will show that he's a leader and it will show he can move the country forward. will that mean moving to the center? yes, because that's the nature of compromise. >> do you think these house democrats who have been yelling, not just last night on the floor, but also they've been doing that for weeks now and really trying to do what they can to express their anger, is that real righteous anger or playing to their own base and their own constituency? do you think they don't get it? >> well, it's not that they don't get it and i think they really are sincere about this, but where was this before the election? that was the time for us to have made our stand on these issues, but we ran away from this before

the election. if we're so fired up now, we should have run on it. if the polls are so good and show 62% of the american people don't want tax cuts for the wealthiest, why didn't we run on it before the election? why didn't we force a vote before the election? those are the questions that some of the house democrats and those in the house and senate have to answer. >> you mentioned a few different things that you think the president needs to get done, still, if he will officially be called a comeback kid. if you talk to some members of his administration they'll point to this and say it's a big victory. you're looking at the stock market and it looks pretty good right now. retail sales are going in the right direction, it seems this holiday season. but in the end, and whether you're talking about some of the bills you mentioned whether it's don't ask, don't tell or the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. did any of those in the end for the broad american public really matter or is the only thing that is going to make him the comeback kid when that unemployment rate comes down?

>> i think they matter, i think they matter because those are issues that americans do care about. not as much as the economy and jobs but they show the ability to lead. some people were questioning whether the president had the ability to lead. not me, i always thought he did and i thought he took some courageous stances and this will prove that he's an effective leader. now, again, the best thing would be for the economy to rebound and, chris, yesterday we released a report from the federal department of labor. pennsylvanian's unemployment rate dropped to 6.8%. we added 65,000 jobs this year in pennsylvania alone. so, there are signs that we're getting there. in the retail, you talked about sales tax and retail sales, those are signs that we're getting there. it has to be a two or three-front for the president but surethry economy is the most important front. >> i hear one of the new jobs in pennsylvania goes to a guy named cliff lee. is that right? >> that's right. >> i actually think it's great that you're not gloating about that. with all the yankee fans back

here in our studio. thank you so much, governor, always good to see you. merry christmas. apparently you got a present early. >> yes, we did. cliff lee and good unemployment figures. >> thank you so much. let's bring in the company not to talk baseball, but politics. steve cornacki and simon ros rosenburg and republican strategist mindy finn. ste what do you think about the president? is he moving to the center, is this triangulation. what does this tax cut bill tell us how he is going to govern going forward? >> i think this is very similar to his presidency from the beginning. he knows he is only there for eight years. america has enormous challenges and he's trying to tackle them all at once. i admire his ambition and applaud the way he's working with whoever's in power to tackle the challenges in front of america. it was a huge win for him and

big win for the country. >> house democrats arant so mad that there is a big problem there? >> obviously, there was descent in the democratic party. this is not news. it was a rough couple weeks but the president did the right thing. the public is with him and most importantly for his re-election as ed rendell said the most important thing for this president is to get the stimulus going. it is what he needed for his own re-election and i think this was -- i think the president got the best out of this deal. >> let me ask mindy about that. this is being played as a big win for the president. the republicans, the need leadership who came in said they won and the priority to deny him a second term. is this a game changer in terms of his relationship? >> president obama was elected by new voters and independents who thought he would be a consensus builder and right out of the gate with the stimulus bill with the health care ramming through the health care bill with ramming through obama

care, they saw right away they got a raw deal. with the first elections after his presidency, the virginia governor's race. >> do you think when they wake up on january 1st and they see their taxes are going down, do you really think that that stuff is what is going to come to mind or who's going to get credit for this? >> well, you know, i think it remains to be seen who gets credit, but i find it interesting that after republican wins in november, all the talk was republicans in charge now, you know, their responsibility for what happens and when it becomes their responsibility, it also means that they get cred for big wins and whether it's true or not, the president is a democrat, he's in charge. democrats are still in charge in congress in both houses. republicans don't take charge until january, but, clearly, had there not been the results that occurred in the november elections with republican wins, this tax deal probably would not have happened and because of that i think republicans will at

least reap a share of that credit. >> steve, let's look forward for a minute because we just heard from harry reid that the senate will work on saturday morning and he thinks they could be done for the year tomorrow night. two things they're looking at, dream act and s.t.a.r.t. and don't ask, don't tell. what is likely to happen here? will they get more done now that this tax cut bill is done? >> the real drama you're looking at is a decision between don't ask, don't tell that the votes are now, you can say -- >> dream act is not going to happen. >> for the first time there are more than 60 senators saying they are willing to vote for this bill that will repeal don't ask, don't ptell. the votes are actually there right now. the question is, if you go ahead and do that and you do don't ask, don't tell, is there a movement among the republican resistance to the s.t.a.r.t. treaty you moderate republicans who want to vote for don't ask,

don't tell, go ahead and do that. the condition of staying on good terms with your fellow republicans you are going to stay with us and we'll obstruct s.t.a.r.t. they're there right now. are they willing to do that and also turn around and support the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. if that happens, there is a chance to get both of these done next week, possibly. >> an interesting end to this lame duck session. simon, steve, mindy, thank you, as well. julian assange is declaring his innocence less than a day after being released on bail. he is staying at a 600-acre mansion. this morning he said expect much more from wikileaks. >> as we have seen wikileaks is a robust organization. during my time in solitary confinement in the basement of a victorian prison, we continue to release media partners continue to write stories of the

important revelations from this material continue to come out. we are approximately 2,000 ca e cables to 250,000. >> jenny is in london and he's making it clear, exactly what he intends to do. working with wikileaks sounds very defiant. let's talk about what house arrest is really like for him. is he restricted at all, either in his movements or his access to the internet. >> well, it's actually not quite house arrest in the sense that we would imagine it to be. his bail conditions mean he can't leave the country, but he can leave that manor house. he has to stay inside the house between 10:00 and 2:00 at night and 10:00 and 2:00 in the day time. he has to report to a local police station between 2:00 and 5:00. that is probably where he is right now. outside those hours he is free to do what he wants to. he can go shopping in nearby cities and go for a pint in the

local pub just as long as he's back at home by 10:00 at night. he will probably spend a lot of time with wikileaks, his whis e whistleblowing website. he was joking earlier today that he has a pretty good broadband connection, chris? >> he, again, today vehemently denied the rape charges against him. talked about conspiracies and so on. what is the next move legally for him? >> like you say, he is accused of several allegations of rape and sexual assault in sweden and he claims she innocent and the next move to move towards his extradition which the next hearing is in the new year. but he's already saying that the prosecutors because they initially dropped charges against him, he's now saying that the swedish authorities are awaiting a vendetta against him. >> this has been very successful smear campaign so far.

that i think it stays outnumbered and people are starting to wonder. it is what is claimed really true and if it is true, where's the evidence? why has no evidence been provided even to me and my defense attorneys. >> and, clearly, if you look at the high-profile figures all those people who contributed to all his bail fund there are a lot of people in julian assange's side, including high-profile figures like michael moore, the documentary filmmaker who put up 20,000 pounds, $20,000 to help get him out of prison. >> jenny, thank you so much. new video we want to show you just coming in to msnbc. police widening their search on long island after the gruesome discovery of four bodies along a desolate beach. officials say none of those remains match a prostitute who went missing in may. that is a bit of a setback for investigators and their hunt for a possible serial killer. clint van zandt former fbi

profiler. clint, one officer said four bodies in the same place can't be a coincidence. so, if police are dealing with a serial killer and now their thought because of a mother who said maybe one of those daughters is mine, she's an escort. that has turned out not to be so. where do they go from here? >> yeah, i think the general idea, chris, like the unsolved murder of four women in atlantic city, new jersey, about three or four years ago, they thought perhaps these unaccounted for women may have been prostitutes. that doesn't necessarily there to be the case. as you know from your reporter, the first thing they have to do is identify these four female victims and then they have to find out who and what they had in common to start this case. >> police in new york are also working with officials in atlantic city and i think partly because they thought one of these women might have been this missing escort, four prostitutes there in new jersey were killed

back in 2004. so, will they, at this point, stop looking for a connection there? >> no. i think they have to. chris, i mean, four dead women in two different locations not that far removed from each other. investigators don't like coincidences and that can't necessarily be a coincidence. but they're going to be looking at dna, they're going to be looking at dental records and, chris, interestingly enough, they also will have some forensic sculptures. what they'll do is take the skulls of the four victims and try with the sculpture and computer analysis to come up with what these women look like to help try to identify them. >> clint van zandt always good to see you. have a good weekend. >> thank you. someone more than worthy of the team hero. my interview with school board shooting survivor mike jones. just days after surviving the

lives of his friends. we're moments away from president obama signing the tax deal into richard lui, what is in it for us? >> i'll show you two tools you can use on your own to plan out 2011. ♪

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breaking news to tell you about. lawyers reached a deal to recover $7 billion for victims of convicted swindler bernie madoff. an official announcement expected in the next half hour. the settlement money coming from the estate of a florida businessman who has been the single largest beneficiary of madoff's ponzi scheme. proving worthy of the title "hero." that florida security chief who saved six men in a shootout was

almost back to form. he was shopping yesterday for presents for needy kids for christmas. after an emotional news conference yesterday mike jones and his wife, colleen, talked to me this morning. you could only imagine what it was like to be in her shoes when she heard her husband was in a gunfight. >> it took us forever because i had to get through the police barricades and a lot of those new officers don't know who i am and he's like, where are you at? i thought you were coming. we were trying to call each other on the cell phone and couldn't reach other and then when i first seen him he was on a stretcher facing away from me and i couldn't tell if he had been shot. no one had told me any details and i'm just, you know, trying to get to him we're taking him in the ambulance to the hospital and at that sometime i still didn't know details until they pulled him out and turned him around to me and i st was able

to touch his hand and that was it and he was off to the hospital and i, you know, didn't even have a chance to talk to him until we got to the hospital. >> mike, you're smiling, i guess it must be in part because everything is okay. at the time, i'm sure it was traumatic for you, as well. i have to say when i was looking at the news conference yesterday and was looking at colleen i thought, wow, she's beautiful and, obviously a wonderful person, as well. are you going to look at your family and look at life in a different way than you did before, do you think? >> absolutely. my son just graduated from the police academy and she's telling him his academy is already over. he's not going into law enforcement. we will have to discuss that a lot. he's a good, young man and i'm very proud of him. we're going to talk. he wants to talk to me and i think the best thing for me was i got to see my daughter and i

gotto see my granddaughter and that helped me a lot. i got to play with her a little bit. we have to get back to normalcy and i don't think that is going to happen until after christmas. >> let me ask you about that. you're pretty well known in those parts. you spend your free time fixing old bikes and toys for needy kids. are you going to be santa this year? >> oh, yeah. we're geared, we're moving all of our toys tomorrow and we start our big give away monday morning. we'll be giving toys out all next week right up until, we even give out toys on christmas day. we had people come to our house on christmas day. that's the way we celebrate christmas. helping other people and being there for the community. >> there's an awful lot of people who believe you get back what you give. if what happened in that room is in part because of the person that you are, it all seems to be just about right. so, you're so kind to talk to us and merry christmas to you and your family and good luck with

that talk with your son, by the way. >> yes, ma'am, merry christmas to you all. thank you. that now famous purse, remember that used to fend off the shooter that school board member who tried to knock the done out of the shooter's hand. ginger littleton is going to put her purse on ebay and, get this, she's giving the money to mike jones' charity, which is called salvage santa. we love these people. these people are fantastic. and to put a smile on your face, a rhode island police officer dancing to a beat while on the beat. tony lepore also known as the dancing cop is actually officially retired from the job but every holiday season he goes back on the traffic beat busting out the uniform while busting some moves. he will change the uniform for a red santa one on christmas eve and also pass out candy canes to drivers at the same time. merry christmas, tony.

brian jones loved the holiday movie "a christmas story." after licensing the right, he started selling versions of the film's iconic leg lamp and he used the profits to turn the cleveland house where the movie was filmed into a museum. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage. its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different --

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the morning after the house passed an $8 billion tax cut bill that soon to be speaker talking about it right now. let's listen. >> has led to the uprising that we saw over the last year that helped create a new majority in the house. we're ready to get to work. we're ready to be held accountable. and, as i said before, if we don't do what the american people are demanding, they'll throw us out of here in a heart beat, not quite yet. all right, questions. yes, ma'am. >> on the earmarks -- >> i think the spending levels were totally out of control. >> nice, red shirt. nice christmas shirt. >> nice tie, sir. >> snowmen. >> to the question of spending -- >> john boehner with a little

back and forth with some members of the press. just before we went to him, he was saying that he thinks it's a good bill that passed last night, but he also thinks congress has to get to work on it. i'll quote him here, the job killing spending binge that the government has been on. let's bring mindy, simon and steven back. it is the season. i believe in santa claus. so, i like to believe, as some people have suggested, steve, that this bipartisan achievement could be and i'm going to read from "new york times" the pro prototype for future hard bargain compromises. is thought what we saw? >> the congress that negotiated is going to change significantly in the next few weeks and you have a congress coming in. if you look, there's an ominous sign of what happened in the senate last night where the spending bill basically died. they're not going to vote and they're going to pass another temporary extension. why did it die?

it died because of a republican result over earmarks. it makes up a fraction of over 1% over this whole thing. earmarks is a powerful symbol to the republican party base and every republican senator looked at that and looked at the carnage in republican primaries and said y don't want to take the risk of voting for something that symbolically is going to offend the republican party base and if that's what is motivating republican senators and republican members of the house for the next two years, the fear of a primary challenge much more than the fear of losing the general election will make any kind of bargaining and any kind of compromise with a democratic president very difficult. >> mindy we were hearing again before in the break that john boehner was talking about the bill and making some of the criticisms that steve just articulated. but, really, is that what they should be talking about right now because as steve pointed out, those earmarks are such a small percentage. yes, they're symbolic, but such a small percentage of this bill.

>> what john boehner talks about often both parties need to find common ground in places that they agree to cut. earmarks are just the beginning, but a good first step. you also heard john boehner talk about certainty and the certainty for small businesses and businesses who are looking to hire, looking to invest but weren't sure it was going to happen with their taxes come next year. that's why this compromise, as you called it a prototype calling "new york times" it is a good first step and, obviously, republicans in the house are looking to provide more certainty and not just certainly, but relief when it comes to taxes next year so businesses can actually create jobs. >> i don't want to be scrooge just after i said i believe in santa claus, simon. what are really the prospects for significant cuts in spending here? it's something people like to talk about on capitol hill. it's not something they ever proved to be very good at. >> i think it also is going to reinforce the difference between attacking the deficit and attacking spending cuts. you notice the republicans don't talk about deficit reduction any more because there's not a

single republican anywhere in the country that actually has a plan to reduce the deficit even by a penny over the next ten years. as long as they stay wedded to the huge tax cuts that they've been promoting, they'll never reduce the deficits. instead of talking about that, they're now talking amarginal spending cuts on the margins that will not amount to very much and fundamentally change the deficit pictures. i think this is all politics in the republican picture right now. >> to our company, thanks for spending the last friday before a big holiday. when is the holiday? one week from tomorrow, right? i can't believe it. i better get shopping. you guys better go get shopping. >> i haven't even started. >> thank you. after a 25-year run larry king has shut off the mike from his talk show. his final broadcast featured a list of celebrities, news anchors, presidents. so, as we go to break, here is the 77-year-old legend interviewing himself about those famous suspenders. >> now, besides holding up my

pants, why do i wear suspenders? can the suspender industry survive the end of larry king live? >> i will not stop wearing them. so, you've heard it first, no matter what i do in life other things, the suspenders will remain. so, larry, you can keep wearing them. called the humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. it's a new plan that covers both brand and generic prescriptions and has the lowest-priced national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as low as $2. when you could save over $450 a year, you can focus on the things that really matter. ♪ go to walmart.com for details. ♪ exchange traded funds. some firms offer them "commission free." problem is they limit the choice of etfs to what makes financial sense to them. td ameritrade doesn't limit you to one brand of etfs...

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if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart. all of a sudden, it's like an earthquake going off in your body. my doctor put me on an aspirin regimen to help protect my life.

[ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone. so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. to my friends, i say, you know, check with your doctor, 'cause it can happen to anybody. [ male announcer ] be ready if a heart attack strikes. donate $5 to womenheart at iamproheart.com, and we'll send you this bayer aspirin pill tote. the big tax deal will be signed this afternoon by the president, so, as you look forward to 2011, we thought we'd show you where you can spend a couple moments to get an idea of what your new tax bill will look like. richard lui, you have a couple tools for us, i understand. >> that's right. we may be able to start counting our chicks here, chris. we want to look at a couple tools to help you understand how much you might save. first tool comes from "washington post." two ways really here to see how you fair with the tax cut. on the left-hand side of this "washington post" tool they give you the different income ranges and on the right side it shows

you what you can save. the circles, the big ones show more money and the small ones show less. if you take $2.7 million or more the people in this tax bracket they save $20,000 and at the bottom $20,000 or less roughly speaking that is about $300 in savings. the big percentage winners are right in this brown area, about 2.6% savings there and about a 3.4% there. so, bottom line is, if you make more percentage wise, you're not saving as much. if you make less, you have a higher percentage savings. if you want more detail, i have this other detail on you from "washington post" you can click on here and say you're married and let's say you have one child under 17 and one that's over and one's in college, stick with me here. and then you also have, let's say a joint income with you and your significant other, $100,000 and i'll throw in some taxes here. about $3,000 for your state and let's say on a house about

$2,000 there and i'll hit the calculate and my tax bill, the reason why i went through all that, chris, i want to show you this. the difference between the three different possibilities. 15,300 in this scenario. and the democratic plan and the bush cuts if they were to expire. just a comtouple tools if for y. it does get to be signed this afternoon as expected. >> or, if richard wanted to know how much money he could spend on his co-workers for a little holiday cheer. >> you know me very well, chris. >> thank you, richard. did you ever feel so passionate about something that you just had to do something? msnbc lawrence o'donnell, host of "last word" spent a week in the impositiverished nation of malawi. >> when you ask teachers what

they need most they'll all say the same thing, chairs. most students sit on the floor all day. they read and write sitting on the floor. they take tests sitting on the floor. they lean on each other, literally, to keep their bodies up and try to keep focuses on what the teacher is saying. when i went to malawi i hoped to provide some desks and chairs to malawi students. i didn't know how to do that until i arrived in the country and with the help of unicef i was able to furnish a classroom for all its 90 students. >> lawrence joins me now, good morning. >> thanks, chris. >> we think in this business we really know what's going on in the world and then you see something like that and i wonder what it was that really got you going on this. >> really just a friend of mine in boston who has created a charter school and one of the saints of public education in this country and she had visited malawi recently and told me about visiting schools there and how everyone in the schools just says when you ask them what do

they need, they say we need chairs. they don't expect to get desks and chairs. they don't even expect to get chairs. but if you ask them what they need, they want to get those kids off the floor. you know, they're sitting on dirt floors and cement floors seven hours a day. >> that's unbelievable. >> teachers do not have chairs. the teachers are standing for seven hours a day. and, so, you know, to try to get an actual effective educational experience going in that environment is incredibly difficult, but, getting chairs, that sounded simple to me and i said, well, can't i do that? and so i naively went to malawi and got there without having a plan about what to do. and, by the way, having been discouraged in the preparation i was making to go there by people who know the country well saying they don't have the resources. it's not going to be easy. you might not find anything that would work as school furniture. i found someone who could make the chairs and make these desk chair combinations. >> let's show that because i think it's so simple and yet

when you think about it -- >> beautiful design. >> serves two purposes. first, obviously, for the kids, but, you're also going to create jobs with this. >> yes, that desk is designed for two students. the school i supplied, i supplied one classroom, three kids easily fit on to that bench in malawi. that's the classroom that i supplied right there. and the work is done in malawi and i found this guy who is willing to make them quickly. i said how are you going to do this? make them in two days. >> i will pull in extra workers and work 24-hour shifts. what we end up doing with the $48 that it costs to buy one of those desks and deliver them to a classroom in malawi, you're employing workers in malawi that will feed their families and when that truck shows up at the school you take these children off the floor for first time in their lives. you give them a platform and a

stage to perform from that they never had before. even if you just give them eye contact with the teacher. in the classrooms now, they're literally falling all over themselves. holding each other up as the day wears on. it is physically painful to sit the way they sit. >> i said to a lot of people this year y don, i don't need anything. don't get me a present. >> you can go to the website and you can call 1-800-4-kids. we set up a special partnership with msnbc to create the kind fund at unicef. unicef will process these contributions for us and get these desks made in malawi, delivered to the schools. you can, for $48, buy chris jansing a desk for christmas. she will get an e-mail from unicef saying you have just gotten a desk that is being delivered to malawi and chris jansing is going to feel better about that $48 spent on her than

any flowers -- >> you just solved a lot of my shopping difficulties. honestly, so great. so great. >> everyone is getting these for me for christmas. >> lawrence, fantastic stuff. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> happy holidays. >> you, too. >> you can catch "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." if you think our government debates can be contentious, what led grown men to behave like this? ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage.

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you don't love me anymore do you billy? what? i didn't buy this cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. so i can't have any? if you can deprive me of what can help lower my cholesterol... and live with yourself. right. mmm, i worry about your mother. cry herself to sleep every night over my arteries, but have yourself a bowl. good speech dad. [ whimper ] [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and its whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. stella: hmmm. we're getting new medicare benefits from the new healthcare law. jane: yea. most people will get free cancer screenings. and 50 percent off of brand name prescription drugs if you're in the donut hole. stella: you read my paper. jane: i went to medicare.gov. it's open enrollment, you know. so i checked out all the options and found a

better plan to fit my budget. stella: well, you know what they say...knowledge... jane: knowledge is power. ready, nerf. did i get anything? no. in an effort to lure last-minute shoppers some stores are going to extremes and i could not be a demonstrator. toys "r" us beginning tuesday will be nationwide open 24 hours a day and flagship in new york city already open around the clock. that place is crazy. but do more hours equal more

sales? gerald is sales for toys "r" us. we cover a lot of the economy. early indications, do you feel good on where the economy is going based on your sales and depending on your answer, i might ner, if you. >> you're getting better. >> yeah. >> it started very strong this year and now a little bit of a holding pattern and with the eight days left to christmas we know people are going to be absolutely repatients about going shopping. a big sale today, saturday and sunday. we will provide the value people are looking for. we know a lot of our customers have procrastinated. we heard it from them and in the surveys and with christmas coming on a saturday, i think some people think they have a long time to shop but it will be here before you know it. >> let's look at some of the cool things you brought. dave the shoulder monkey. >> dave is the hottest toy right now in the united kingdom. we have 60 stores in the uk and we brought him over just in time

for christmas. >> let's say, i would say to him, do you want a banana? >> you can ask him lots of questions. >> he doesn't want a banana. >> he's not hungry. >> am i hilarious? i guess he thinks so. >> this is the blades battle metal fusion. >> they beyblades were a hit several years ago and now coming back. >> boys love to play with this. they stand out in line in the snow and all over the world to get these. just reentered the u.s. this year. we think it is going to be really hot as we go forward from here. >> justin bieber when he was on "today" show i literallies can not get into this building. there he is. he will sing for you. >> you need the singing doll. got a great supply of these in

just for the last week. >> we'll see how long justin is going to stay hot. buzz lightyear, he's always cool. buzz never goes away. >> buzz never goes away and it technology increases. he looks the same year after year after year. this guy is a robot and he walks and talks. >> that's 63 bucks. is that one $63. >> he's fantastic, though. more technology than my first computer. this guy can do anything. we have buzz lightyears at every price point. they all look the same on the outside. >> i am thinking this is a little less. how much is this? >> $10.99. >> that's very good. this comes in a variety of blasters. this is -- >> will i get in trouble if i go for your lens? oh, bad. >> it's our exclusive fluorescent green sonic series and comes in a variety of

blasters. the this is one of the smaller ones. the envy of every boy's eyes. >> this is a singamajig. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> happy holidays. >> you, too. >> a sign that says obama is -- >> oh, there's mow mistaking comedian robin williams bringing christmas cheer to troops in afghanistan. just today joined by other celebrities as part of the holiday tour. they have been entertaining troops since 1951. this is robin's fifth tour. members of the ukraine parliament got into a violent brawl and lawmakers got bloodied and bruised after they protested

against the opening of a criminal case against the former prime minister. now, i should say the physical confrontation isn't unusual in ukraine's parliament, this, though, was a little over the top and it sent four members to the hospital. who's your someone? campbell's healthy request can help. low cholesterol, zero grams trans fat, and a healthy level of sodium. it's amazing what soup can do.

if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart. all of a sudden, it's like an earthquake going off in your body. my doctor put me on an aspirin regimen to help protect my life. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone. so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. to my friends, i say, you know, check with your doctor, 'cause it can happen to anybody. [ male announcer ] be ready if a heart attack strikes. donate $5 to womenheart at iamproheart.com, and we'll send you this bayer aspirin pill tote.

you can tell it's the end of the year. magazines out with their best of, worst of, and a list of the most interesting people. "time" magazine named facebook millionaire mark zuckerburg for their person of the year. "people" nominated sandra bullock as their woman of the year. who is going to make the biggest headlines next year? we've got some of our favorite people here to give us their picks and predictions for 2011. the "today" show sarah haines and contessa brewer and richard

louie. i don't have your list. i'm curious to find out. sarah, your top three. >> julian assange, mark zuckerberg and this is maybe not the appropriate choice but the tea party as a whole. i would say mark zuckerburg. >> you're going with the "time" magazine pick because? >> with the release of the movie and how he continues to ride the tide. you feel like there's going to be a breaking point for facebook and what it can do. from advertising dollars and trying to turn it around i just found him fascinating but also because he's the head of this empire of social networking. we don't know much about him. whenever -- he's known to be somewhat socially awkward, which is ironic, if i'm using the word correctly. but i just find him fascinating. i think the movie uncovered and made me more intrigued by him. >> contessa, i always count on you to have a unique perspective on the world. >> my three, the chilean miners as a whole. they are changing the labor laws

right now for the workforce as whole in chile in large part because they're national heroes. harry reid, here's a guy who delayed on don't ask, don't tell, the middle class tax cuts, the dream act. >> given up for dead at one point for sure. >> rally with a shocker candidate, tea party candidate sharron angle and then comes back and in a lame-duck session has to deal with all those issues again. i think that's intriguing. >> number one? >> number one. >> that's my drum roll. >> oprah winfrey. >> that's a good one. >> good one. >> here she's coming up the show that made her a talk show queen, made her a king maker, to starter her own network, which is frought with risks. >> going out still pretty much on top. >> richard, my friend, we have a token man here. >> token, but i'm loving it. it's a good place to be. >> i don't blame you. >> i don't blame you being between those two. >> hello, pell low. i'll start with ben bernanke, not the most exciting person but

i must say based on where the economy has been and where we are going, we have concerns about, you know, liquidity and the interest rates. he's also been the most open of many of the fed reserve chairmen in the past. ben bernanke is on my list. number two, well, tea party, i think you and i are together on that. >> but your number one? >> my number one would have to be "the jersey shore." >> what? >> who invited this guy. >> you know, they kicked out "the hills." that's been canceled. >> you find them intriguing? >> they are intriguing. you are stuck to the screen watching them. >> have you watched it? >> it's a great show. >> tell me you have watched it. >> four or five episodes. >> which character do you find so intriguing? >> well, snooki, the situation, they're both -- >> wow. >> those two would have to be the top. >> really quickly, top person you think is going to be the most intriguing person in 2011? >> kate middleton. >> i'm not so sure about that. i'll tell you why.

i think that diana had that thing called the "it" factor. i don't think -- >> i think she does, too. >> i think she's lovely. she seems very nice. i'm not sure if she has the "it" factor. >> she didn't want to screw up the engagement. >> all right. >> certainly. sarah palin. who knows what's going to happen with the republican party in 2011 going forward to 2012, they move forward. >> all right. last chance, sara? >> kate middleton but i feel the same way you do. gauging the public, the obsession with her, the wedding happening in april. i agree with you. >> i can't wait. >> that's going to do it for sara, contessa, richard. thanks. have a great weekend. see you back here monday and every weekday 10:00 a.m. eastern and my great and good friend contessa brewer will continue right here next on msnbc. have a great weekend, everybody. for strong bones, i take calcium.

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