you just know you're going to ace it. ready for your check-up? i'm so ready. [ female announcer ] crest pro-health invigorating clean rinse. its invigorating action lets you know it's working to fight plaque and gingivitis. and provides all these other benefits. crest pro-health invigorating clean rinse. clean, protect and invigorate your way to better dental check-ups. [ laughter ] good morning, everyone, i'm al alex witt. did the u.s. cross the line in targeting americans even if they are terrorists? never before released video of casey anthony. what role they play in her trial and why they are important now. a new ad for michele bachmann tackling the immigration issues and tries to take down one of the top contenders. rachel maddow, the focus of

this week's office politic and she talks about the president's approach to job problem in u.s. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we'll bring you up to speed in new developments in the targeted killing in yemen. u.s. says the drone attack that killed al awacky also killed the number one bomb maker, who tried to make the underwear bomb. also blamed for that scare last year over bombs being sent to the u.s. in printer ink cartridges. al awacky may have been the target but he wasn't the only american killed. samir khan lived in north carolina before heading to yemen. he edited english language website called inspire. a propaganda magazine.

>> al awlaki combined two things, he was an operational commander and inspirational. he was inspirational to english speakers in the united states and across the west. that made him a really important target. but also he was seeking both ricin and cyanide and we think he was doing that to attack the united states. >> we'll have more on this major drone attack, including the legal concerns over the u.s. targeting its own citizens abroad in a few minutes. ron paul had strong criticism for the president on the killing of al awlaki, saying it's the beginning of a dangerous new practice, giving the government power to assassinate an american without due process. >> al awlaki was born here, an american citizen. he was never tried or charged for any crimes. nobody knows if he ever killed anybody. if the american people accept this blindly and casually, we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. i think it's sad. >> meanwhile, governor rick

perry had a much different response and offered rare praise for the commander in chief. >> i want to take a moment and congratulate the united states military and our intelligence community and president obama for sticking with the government's long-standing and aggressive anti-terror policies for getting another key terrorist, young men and women of the military and our intelligence and the administration. i want to say thank you to them. >> that wasn't the only unexpected bit of priz from a gop candidate. on "the tonight show" jay len mow asked for herman cain's first thought on the other contenders and cain had nice words. >> rick perry? >> you know this is going to get me in trouble. >> i'm trying to get you in trouble. >> rick perry. good nov nor. good governor, all right. >> mitt romney. >> good hair. >> and cain went on to say newt

gingrich is, quote, brilliant. we have information this morning about new jersey governor chris christie and whether he's staying out of the race for the presidency. a live report from the white house will be coming your way at the bottom of the hour. there is new word from president obama this morning, leaning harder on congress to take up his jobs bill. in his weekly address, the president stresses he sent a proposal to capitol hill three weeks ago and now says he wants to back -- wants it back so he can sign it into law. >> economists from across the political spectrum have said this jobs bill would boost the economy and spur hiring. why would you be against that? especially at a time when so many american are struggling and out of work. i know one republican was quoted as saying their party shouldn't pass the jobs bill because it would give me a win. this isn't about giving me a win and it's not about them. >>. >> last night the president held a private fund-raiser for his fund-raising campaign and they expect him to beat his goal of $55 million this quarter but

don't think he'll top last quarter, $85 million raised. new video released by the state of florida and shows casey anthony's reaction when she first learned her daughter's remain had been found. they were taken at the orange county jail in december of 2008 and they show casey anthony watching a breaking news report on the tv announcing her daughter caylee's remains were found. anthony appears to double over when she hears the news. the video was sealed in 2009 but a judge approved the release friday. anthony was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter in july. in los angeles, a dramatic day in the trial of michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray. a key witness is shedding light on exactly what happened the day the pop star died. two paramedics who first arrived at the mansion arrived friday. one described what he saw when he arrived. >> when i first moved the patient, his skin was very cool to the touch. when we -- i took a first glance at him, his eyes were open.

they were dry. and his pupils were dilated. when i hooked up the ekg machine, it was flat line. >> well, the paramedic said he then asked dr. murray about jackson's condition but the answers weren't making any sense. >> i asked again what his underlying health condition was. he did not respond. and then he -- i think it was the third time he said nothing, nothing, he has nothing. and simply that did not add up to me. >> dr. murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter and faces up to four years in prison and could lose his medical license. from southern california this morning, new information from the scene where a man was pulled from a car six days after driving over a cliff. authorities say that same ravine also led them to a tragic discovery. the body of an 88-year-old man was found in a different car that police believe went over the cliff in a separate accident. that man had been reported missing two weeks before he was

found. more confrontation. the occupy wall street protesters who have been camping out in lower manhattan for the last two weeks march on police headquarters friday. they were protesting how police responded. some with pepper spray, when they arrested demonstrators. last year's march was peaceful and no arrests. inspectors will be back at the top of the washington monument this weekend. they're taking a closer look at the damage caused by an earthquake in august. in the meantime, new pictures are out this morning of some loose mortars and stones. although those repellers found cracks they say it's structurally sound. they hope to be done with the inspection by tuesday. to texas. a 6-year-old boy brought tens of thousands of fans to their feet, many with tears in their eyes. here's the story. young cooper stone tossed out the ceremonial first pitch to kick off the texas rangers playoff run. keeper's favorite player

outfielder josh hamilton caught that pitch. you may remember, cooper's father fell to his death back in july trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands by hamilton. >> just a good moment. i wondered how the moment would be. you know, when it happened. obviously, expected emotions wrapped up with it and excitement for the little one. but overall, it was a good experience. >> yeah, that was touching, wasn't it? cooper's mother thanked the rangers for what she calls a once in a lifetime experience for her son. we'll have more on this story in our 10:30 half hour. now back to the deaths of three of the world's most wanted terrorist in yemen, two of of whom r7 american citizens. al awlaki was born in new mexico and khan lived in new yk and north carolina. also killed in the drone attack al qaeda's top bomb make he, al

asiri. a national security reporter for "the washington post" and a good morning to you, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> al awlaki, top target and in this morning's washington post you write he was more linked to terror plots against the u.s. than even osama bin laden? i mean, what was his role? >> yeah, the administration calls him al qaeda's operations planner. i like to think of him as al qaeda's pied piper. ef the top propagandaist, top recruiter. linked to so many different plots, from the ft. hood bombing to underwear bombing plat, cargo planes and inspired so many others. there's no question he was highly effective, a very busy man. the u.s. considered him very dangerous. >> now, there are these legal questions, as you know, that have been raised as a result of the killing of him and also of khan. these two men, they were american citizens. no trial. no due process. what are the arguments from both sides here? >> well, the administration says

there's due process and due process during war time. the legal scholars at white house wrote secret legal opinions saying he was not protected as a citizen because he was at war against the united states, planning attacks and not protected by citizenship any more than a japanese american would have been presented by citizenship when he was planning the pearl harbor attack. the flipside of this, what makes it interesting is whether this is a war and really fits the legal definition. if it's not, then libertarians would argue this is essentially an exjudicial execution by on you country and you could argue it was -- you know, helped in this particular case but it could happen again and what are the controls on it, who's overseeing it? this is where it gets very complicated. i think there's no question that in al awlaki's mind he was a combatant and very much at war with the united states. in that sense, he was a dangerous opponent. >> how about al asiri, the bomb

maker behind the so-called underwear bomb on christmas day in 2009. what was his story? where was he trained? what's he capable of? >> the bomb used in detroit attempt was quite sophisticated. it showed -- you know, it didn't go well for a number of reasons. but the technology, the materials used were quite good. so, when this man was taken out, along with awlaki, it's a three-fer, and taking out propagandaist and it was quite a coup with a single strike. >> what's the big picture here? >> just yesterday we considered al qaeda in the arab peninsula to be the greatest terrorist threat against the united states, far eclipses core al qaeda in pakistan. here you've taken out the public faith of this organization. if not, it's external planner.

interestingly, this was an effective prop dpan da team that spoke in american accent and the entire face and propaganda wing of this organization has been taken out. after that, anyone -- any major commanders left are penned in on all sides by these drones, new air bases across the border in djibouti, you have to think they are going into hiding and nervous looking over their shoulders. >> that's the practical fallout of these leaders. but from an emotional level, do you expect this at all to dampen the efforts by al qaeda? >> no question they'll try to strike out in some way because they've lost now bin laden, they've lost this other important leader and yet they haven't been effective at doing this. as we continue to put pressure on them, it will be harder to put together anything that's an elaborate, complicated plot. maybe lone wolf operators but in terms of organizing something as sophisticated as 9/11, it will be very hard for them to do. >> thank you. so, did the u.s. do the

right thing by taking out al awla awlaki? talk to me on twitter, and i'll be reading your tweets throughout the morning on the show. let's move to the weather where the weekend is off to a wet and wild start. let's take a look at lake shore drive in chicago where 50-mile-an-hour winds pushed waves from lake michigan up onto that pathway. police closed the area but not until quite a few joggers and bikers took a tumble. heavy rain was the issue in the bronx where downpours caused the playoff much to be suspended. will they get the game in tonight? bill karins will have details later in the show. in a matter of seconds, a day of fun on the ferris wheel turns into a nightmare. what created all the chaos next? michele bachmann takes off the gloves and goes after a main rival. office ol picks it rachel maddow. how successful has the president been in selling his jobs initiative.

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in australia this morning, a dramatic rescue after an ultralight airplane crashed into a ferris wheel. two children were trapped on the ride for about 90 minutes. two adults in the aircraft. there were no serious injuries. can you believe it. a new ad by michele bachmann attacks rick perry on immigration. they say week-long offensive on the text governor for comments he made at the last debate. he defended in state tuition

rates for illegal immigration. in is bachmann's response. >> last week we conservatives were accused of not having a heart. nothing could be further from the truth. it's just is that we have a mind to go with that heart. we can't settle for a president who doesn't understand illegal immigration is illegal and shouldn't be rewarded. >> joining me now is susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." good to see you. >> nice to be here. >> so, susan, we had romney also releasing an ad hitting perry on that comment. is immigration an issue that could turn the gop primary and if it is, who stands to benefit? >> this is rick perry's biggest single problem. the biggest problem isn't that he gave that wandering answer when he was asked about pakistan and the debate. it's that he was at odds with his republican base and his core voters on the issue of immigration. while he's tried to walk back the comment he said where if you had a different view, you didn't

have a heart, the fact is he hasn't walked back from the position he took, which is a good thing in texas to allow in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants who are here illegally themselves. >> okay. let's take a listen to perry going after romney in a speech yesterday in atlanta. here's that. >> i'm confident we're going to chose a nominee that has governed with conservative principles, not paid the way for obama care, a path that blazed this world with higher premiums and with the loss of thousands of jobs. >> so, perry's trying to hit his biggest rival here, but when will the rest of the field start giving romney some heat? it still seems to be pile on perry time. >> well, you know, i don't think the race now is between -- among awe the candidates is between romney and the rest of the field. so everybody else wants to be the anti-romney candidate, which is why we see michele bachmann and rick santorum and others really targeting rick perry, who

is at least at the moment romney's biggest contender. you know, we're not going to settle this race right now. we're going to have a contest in iowa and new hampshire and nevada and south carolina and florida. there is going to be at the end, i think, most analysts believe, two finalists. one will be romney. what we don't know who is the other -- it's as if that's the case, that means everybody else is battling amongst themselves, they can portray themselves as the most conservative and be that person against romney? >> that's right. most conservative, most appealing to the tea party candidates. what do we see from the flurry about will chris christie run or will someone else jump in this race? it's that there are a group of republicans that are not happy with their choice. especially with the option of mitt romney as the nominee. now, he may still get the nomination. some things that give him problems in the primaries could actually help mitt romney in a general election. but that is the race we're going to see. >> in the latest fox news poll this week, herman cain seems to have jumped into the top tier.

are you surprised by this, susan? do you think he can maintain this? >> you know, i think this also reflects a little bit of dissatisfaction with the choices republicans have. i was down in florida last weekend covering that straw poll that herman cain actually won. when i talked to delegates there who were going to vote for herman cain, it was because they were uneasy about rick perry. a lot arrived at the straw poll thinking they wanted to support governor perry, unhappy with his position on immigration and his performance in the debate. cain is someone that resonated with a lot of republican voters but even the delegates i talked to did not think they were going to be with him in the long haul. he's a none of the above candidate. >> do you get a sense of any momentum? you're there in orlando, you waf the latest debate. where do you think the momentum lies? >> the momentum, you know, we have a slow and steady candidate, mitt romney, the tortoise. rick perry as the hare. he jumped into the race and got to the top of the polls. he has stalled some. i think we're waiting to see the

next couple of debates. one in new hampshire on october 11th to see whether rick perry can recover. rick perry has a lot of strengths. he connects well with audiences. he has a long history. the nation's senior serving governor. he does have some harm to repair on the immigration stance and looking a little more self-confident and informed on issues in the next debate. >> who do you think will be the first to drop out? >> you know, i don't see why anyone would drop out at this point. because we're seeing even candidates with no money like newt gingrich can give speeches, get a little attention. with the field in such flux, why should somebody drop out now when it's possible lightning could strike on them? the race isn't settled. we is see a lot of fluidity. i don't think anybody will drop out in the long term. >> as long as you don't drop out from seeing us. >> thanks. in arkansas this weekend former president bill clinton is marking 20 years since he

announced his run for president. he ofd a message of cooperation saying americans need to work together to get america back on track. coming up at 11 a.m., we're going to talk about what's on tap for this weekend and also the 2012 strategy for president obama with president clinton's former chief of staff, john podesta. rachel weighs on the president's plan for job. is he calling the republicans' bluff when he calls for higher taxes for the super rich? coming up in our "office politics". in our playback, the two bears that stopped traffic in a national park. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar.

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♪ i know that we will recover now there's no need to hold back. new revolutionary scope dualblast obliterates strong food odors leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... new scope dualblast. let's go now to the weather where the northeast is off to a rainy start for the month. a look outside new york city

where yankee fans hope they get to finish game one of their playoff series against detroit. will the wet weather continue and how will it be where you are? bill karins is here with all the details. good morning to you. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm well. we're get to your news in a moment but how is the weather? >> the weather is quiet, i guess is the word for it. that's good. i don't know if anyone -- if anyone has vichtd the northeast f you live in the mid-atlantic or northeast, september was incredibly wet. we had not just irene but numerous storm after storm. unfortunately, the first day of october was also looking damp. we have another cut-off low. when you hear a weather person say, a cut-off low that means we have a storm not moving quickly. if it's dreary where you are, it's going to stay that way. it's that way in ohio, pennsylvania, vest virginia. i got a report of snow flurries in the mountains of north carolina and upstate portions of new york and new england. that's where the wet weather continues. all the green on the map is rain. cleared out of boston.

hartford, sprinkles left. much of the wet weather up in the mountains in vermont, new hampshire, maine. we're getting into the leaf season. leaves are changing quickly. today's forecast, we'll sneak in peeks of sun. cloudy, cool, chance of showers. if you want to talk about gorgeous weather, though, the southeast, middle of country, fabulous today. alex, tomorrow looks fantastic in the middle of the nature. the worst weather by far, unfortunately, right here where we are. >> yeah. talk about life looking fantastic it's pretty much all about you and your home. we have tell people about the big story from the life of our favorite meteorologist. look at her, taylor bay, born ' 7.11? >> 7 even, 7 even. you have a little girl and i'll be asking lots of questions. >> color may be the key when it comes to fruit. a new study found fruit sales increased dramatically in school

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." half past the hour. governor christie, will he or won't he? the new jersey governor is reportedly rethinking his decision to remain on the sidelines of this presidential race but with filing deadline weeks away, christie has little time to make up his mind. mike is at the white house. what's the word? >> reporter: you said it, will he, won't he? how many different ways has he said no over the past several months. he says he doesn't think he's ready to be president of the united states but now after urging, over the course of the last week from party faithful,

from party big wigs, from party donors, apparently chris christie is having or may be having a change of heart. >> over 60 years -- >> reporter: as chris christie himself might put it, it's put up or shut up time. >> get off the beach. >> reporter: after months of flat refusals -- >> no, i'm -- >> no, i'm not running. >> if you don't feel it in your heart, you have no business running. >> reporter: after months of flat refusal, the tough talking governor is said to be having second thoughts on a white house run. even with the gop race well under way, many aren't satisfied with the field. and christie is hearing pleas from party faithful. >> we need you. your country needs you to run for president. >> reporter: some republicans see christie as the ultimate anti-obama. >> he seems to be the straight-talker everybody wants. i think most of us go to, you know, have dreams about what it would be like to see governor christie debate president obama. >> reporter: but if he does run, christie would already be playing catch-up. deadlines to enter crucial early

primaries are less than a month away and many believe he must finally decide within days. >> have you to do the little things, building the campaign, fund-raising team, putting organizations into key states, rolling out policy proposals, all without not a whole lot of time to do so. >> ways in which the -- >> reporter: another challenge facing christie. >> number eight, cabinet now the secretary of cake. >> reporter: christie is overweight, a fact he says he struggles with. >> where do you fall down in items of that? >> i eat too much. it's not a complicated thing. >> reporter: american attitude over the overweight, concerns about impact on the president's health and electricitiability are all being raised. does his struggle with weight humanize him or struggle against him? one top gop pollster dismisses the claim. >> ultimately people want a good president who will make the right decision, people believe have the right solution. >> reporter: alex, amid all of this frenzy, a lot of people are

saying, this whole christie thing is a mirage. they point to rick perry when he suddenly got in the race over the summer, he shot to the top of the polls. he had some views that didn't jibe with what a lot of conservatives are thinking, particularly on the issue of immigration. christie himself has views on immigration that he's talked about over the course of his term as governor of new jersey. over the course of the last two years, that are also not part of the orthodoxy of conservatives within the republican party. a lot of people feel as though this isn't going to be all that everybody is thinking it might be at this point. meanwhile, meet the new front-runner, same as the old front-runner, mitt romney again leading in polls among active candidates. >> the thing about weight thing, president cleveland was a hefty guy. he got elected twice. >> reporter: same with taft. of course, that was 100 years ago. >> i'm just saying. thank you very much. well, president obama called the death of al awe awlaki that

they will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. but details are scarce and in a radio interview the president refused to say more than the government has been working with the yemeni government. >> this was a guy operationally involved in trying to kill americans and the fact that he is now no longer around to initiate the kind of propaganda that also was recruiting people all around the world to that murderous cause, i think, is something that's very good for american security. >> i'm joined by michael, nationally syndicated radio talk show host, esteemed msnbc contributor. good to talk to you before yesterday and now the aftereffect. how do you think the interview went? >> i think it went well. it's a hard drill, alex, that you as a journalist would appreciate because you can't usher the president along. so you sit there with, as in my case, with a legal tablet of 12 or 15 things you hope you'll get

to, but it's not like having a conventional guest where you can say, let me just interrupt you and move you to the next question. >> no, exactly. he knows what he wants to say. and he clearly says, michael, that al awlaki was involved in terrorism but critics say much of that information is classified. the tar getting of an american, is this a defining moment in the war on terror? >> i think it's a critical moment. i don't know that it's more significant than the takedown of bin laden but i found it interesting that yesterday, in addition to speaking to the president, i also interviewed peter king, who's the chairman of the house committee on homeland security. he told me, and i think this speaks to the issue that it's both sides of the aisle and everybody with the intelligence information in front of them, he told me that he thought that al awlaki posed more of a risk to the united states at the time of his death than did bin laden when we got bin laden back in the spring. i think that's pretty significant. >> okay. i want to get to the economy, of course. the president speaking about that to you. here's the message he had for business owners.

let's listen. >> if you are a small business person or a large business person, go out there and hire. you know, take a bet on america. there is a market out there to be had as long as people start getting a little more confidence. >> okay. michael, you talk with a lot of people every day. do you think many of them are willing to take a bet right now by hiring more people? >> i'm dubious, alex. and i said this to the president yesterday, there's a funk. there's this mental malaise, a psychological factor where even those in a position who can invest or can hire, i think, are weary to do so. that answer, if i'm correct, it was prompted by me relaying a question from a radio listener. i thought it was a great question. it was a woman named susan. she said, ask the president what should we be doing? should we be saving? should we be spending? should we be hiring teenagers? should we be planting a garden? give us marching order. his answer, the short version,

is to say it's dependent upon your circumstance. and with regard to employers, he said just what you aired. >> that was a great question from one of your listeners. going to a lighter note right now, you spoke with the president about the first lady's trip to target. here's what he said about that. >> i don't even want to shop. all i want to do is take a walk. as she reminds me, nothing i do is undercover. i'm glad she can sneak off, though, because one thing she loves to do is go shopping at target. >> and she almost made it out of there clean. only the cash register -- the sales lady was able to find her and go, wait a minute, that's our first lady. anyway, was that trip real life or a photo op, the timing to go along with his warrior for the middle class image? >> you know, look, a skeptic is going to say that's only intended to bring about some middle class cred for them. i don't believe that. i got to believe that if you are at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, are you dying to get outside those walls. if only for a half hour.

to lead a normal existence. so, god bless her she went to target. i figured she was going to say dick's sporting goods and he didn't. instead, he said i'd like to just go for a walk. >> yeah. i'd expect him to say he's going to five guys, but anyway, you know, it's the sixth time you've talked with the president. give me a sense of how you're reading his mood and how he's changed. >> he was all business yesterday. and every time i've had that privilege of interviewing him, i find myself saying, man, there's a lot on his plate. and it seems to grow deeper and deeper and more expansive just because of the dynamics of the economy and world events. he's got, you know, a graying hairline to show for it. we live in difficult times. >> yeah, doesn't every president go in and come out far more gray after four years if not eight? it's always remarkable to watch. >> no doubt. >> michael, well done. thanks for speaking with us. >> good to see you. have a good day. we invite all of you to

watch "meet the press," dade gregory will have an exclusive interview with massachusetts governor deval patrick and bob mcdonnell. in office politics this week i spoke with rachel maddow. i asked her how the successful -- how successful the president has been in selling his plan and about his self-declared role as a warrior for the middle class. >> what he's trying to do is sort of, i think, call the republicans'bluff. right now republicans control one house of congress, the democrats control the white house and nobody knows how the country is going to go in the next election. is there an ideological split down the middle of the country that mirrors the split between the republicans in washington and the democrats in washington? republicans say there are. republicans say, the things we want in washington are our public suspects us. we want to you take it to the voting booth and people will come down on our side.

the president is saying you know what, your republican policies, especially on economics, nobody supports them. nobody support them. what i am proposing is not a lefty idea, right idea, very main stream idea and i want to make sure republicans disagree with me on this. is something liberals have been asking him to do but it's not a very liberal thing -- >> shouldn't this have been coming earlier? >> 14 months till the election. 13 1/2 months to the elections. and i think they think this is what they'll be talking about. >> but is there a concern this thing has gone so south, that really pulling it around, not only for the goodness of the country and the sake of this country and raising unemployment, but just to get himself re-elected? it may be -- you're reaching too late. >> well, i think the economic problems of the country are hugely worrying to everybody no matter -- whether you care about politics or not. whether you care about the fate of any individual politician or not. the situation with the economy and the country is very bad. so, whether or not it is good

politics, the only responsible thing to do right now is work on jobs. and to work specifically on skrobz. it's not the economy as a whole, fiscal policy, monetary -- actually, you know what, you want to talk about some sort of ideologically redriven restructuring of the american economy, that's fine. right now we actually have a jobs emergency. so, to focus -- to get washington talking about jobs and focused on jobs is a heroic thing. i don't know if it's going to work. it's really the only responsible thing to be doing. >> the millionaire tax proposal. this is something you would think because so few people actually are millionaires in this country, that this thing would go over fabulously. and yet you even showed in a recent poll on your air that suggested 73% of those people out there are in favor of taxing the rich more. so, you're seeing that much and yet what's happening here? how is this is not just sailing through? >> yeah. 73% of americans support the idea that millionaires shouldn't pay less taxes than people who

aren't millionaires. it's really -- it's such a fundamentally basic idea. republicans think it is an outrage. people are attacking this idea from president obama as if this is some radical class warfare but a significant number of republican voters like it, independent voters, 73% of voters overall like it. that's what i mean about the president calling republicans' bluff. that millionaires need to hold onto their tax status, a really small minority. >> i have to ask you about some things in your office. >> you are in the office. >> what i need to know about -- first of all, this is beautiful. what is this picture of? >> so,ing all of the art in my office is done by my partner, susan, who is an artist. even though this looks like a painting it's a photograph. >> really? >> susan is an -- essentially an abstract visual artist and her medium is polaroid photography. that's a polaroid image.

it get this big, scanned at high definition and printed out large scale and it's this beautiful abstract -- these are her more landscapy things. abstract stuff. i think it's awesome. this is her new show that opens this weekend, actually. a show of portraits. >> you'll be there. you're not going to be watching "office politics." you'll be watching you go out to the opening, alex. >> rachel? >> that's not a paining. it's a photograph. i think it's great stuff, so. >> oh, rachel, you can't go anywhere for a bit because we'll have more of my interview with you coming up later this morning, including why rachel has a baseball bat in her office. of course, you can catch "the rachel maddow show" right here on nbc. [ male announcer ] in 1924, italian food came to ohio.

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republican presidential candidate herman cain is surgerying in the polls, coming in third behind romney and perry and he was first in the florida straw poll last weekend.

cain also sparked controversy when he made a comment about traditional african-american voters. >> many african-americans have been branwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view. i have received some of that same vit real. it's brainwashing and people not being open-mined. pure and simple. >> i'm joined by msnbc analyst michael steele and msnbc contributor joanne reed, managing editor. welcome to both of you. >> good morning. >> michael, i'll reach out to you first and ask about herman cain's brainwashing remark. do you think he's right? >> i wouldn't necessarily have used the word. i would have chosen something stronger, knowing me. but i think the essence of what he said is true. there has been over the years a sort of systematic, you know, ongoing conversation about how

bad republicans are within the black community. now, having said that, i think, you know, the republican party also has to acknowledge that it has been woeful in its efforts to cultivate a relationship and build on the historic relationship of gop. certainly something that we focused on when i was chairman of the national committee, elected to african-americans to congress. several to state legislators around the country. so, you know, if you put your foot on the ground and work hard in the ground to build that relationship, you will. but i think overall certainly over the last 40 years, you do have this one-sided conversation in which a lot of african-americans, you hear -- i have experienced it. i'm sure herman has on the campaign trail. but republicans generally. >> but just -- can you see how some people were offended by his

comments, michael? >> absolutely. i think everything he said after the word brainwashed should have been the full story here but, you know, you focus on the one word which is the excitable utterance and then you're off to the races. >> yeah, absolutely. how about with this race, joe want? >> i hear that a lot from black republicans, i think black republicans feel marginalized. but at the same time, if you look at black elected republicans, two black members of congress, they are elected by white constituencies. allen west is a fourth black vote. african-americans vote on mass

for the liberal party. when things flipped in the '60s and republicans became the party of the deep south, african-americans said, we don't want to be with that party. we're going with the other direction. >> how do you go about changing that? >> right. i think that joy-ann would. >> i'm just saying, how about you? >> i tell you what it really is, it's listening to the joy-anns of the world particularly over the last 50 years. our party has failed to fundamentally speak to those core issues that concern the black community. we are a party that founded and created affirmative action and yet we stand in opposition to it. we are a party that talks about empowerment and creates those avenues to well creation and it's perceived within the black

community that we take steps to minimize that for african-americans. i think it's important that we begin to get in the face, if you will, of the community. and take the push back that we rightly should get about having walked away from the black community in the 1960s. >> joy-ann, does the overwhelming african-american vote that goes to barack obama, does that reduce any of their political leverage? >> you know what? it's not just the barack obama. there's been an overwhelming vote for democrats that we've just been talking about. >> what about the upcoming cycle? >> well, i think the problem is, it's not about leverage. because the republicans are offering something that feels hostile to african-americans. because the tea party has taken an a racial vibe, there has been such hostility to african-americans, i don't see how they could sway many

african-americans when their message is, we can't stand barack obama. so that's not enough to get african-americans to take ta look. herman cain does not help people when he says, you don't know your own interest. you're just brainwashed. so they would have to change stylistacally. >> as more and more african-americans and hispanics grow in this country, the party had better get in the game with respect to reaching within those communities and touching those folks. otherwise, mar. more in the trial of michael jackson's personal physician's trial. sexy underwear ads. why some women say it's downright insulting.

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