good morning. i'm chris jansing. we begin with breaking news. kansas city police have issued an amber alert for a 10-month-old baby girl who was apparently snatched right out of her crib. this is her, lisa irwin, last seen around 10:30 last night asleep. joining me now on the phone is the public information officer for the kansas city police. thank you so much for joining us. what do investigators think happened here? >> chris, we got a call this morning about 4:00 a.m. from the

father of the child stating that he went to check on the child and she was missing out of her crib. there are signs of forced entry at the bedroom window, and we're believing that someone possibly entered through that window and abducted the child. >> so somebody just came in, took this baby, and took off? >> that's what the evidence shows right now. we don't have any eyewitnesses to the incident. we have no suspect information, but from the evidence at the scene, that's what appears happened. >> well, we're showing a picture of the little girl. she has blue eyes, blond hair, is 30 inches tall, 26 to 30 pounds. what can people do to help? >> please, if anyone in the neighborhood or if anyone see this is child, please call us. we need any information that we can get. right now we have absolutely nothing. we're canvassing the neighborhoods, knock iing on doors, seeing if anyone saw anything between 10:30 and 4:00 this morning so if anyone has anything, any strange vehicles in the neighborhood, any suspicious person that they saw that they did not the call about, please call us today and give us that information. >> now we typically know when things like this happen it's

often a family member or someone known to the family. about but are all indications right now that this may be a stranger abduction? >> you know, we're interviewing family members and also friends of the family to of course eliminate possible suspects if we can, so we're at that point now. right the now we don't have in i idea the suspect. >> the pio for kansas city police, thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> thank you for your assistance. we've also got breaking news on the race for 2012. we have just learned that new jersey governor chris christie will hold a news conference at the 1:00 eastern time today in trenton at the state house. sources tell nbc he will disclose whether or not he is running for president and, of course, that has been the subject of great and widespread speculation. whatever happens, it will have a significant impact on the race right at the time we're getting some new information about how much money the various candidates are taking in and we also have a new poll on the republican race. so we're going to have that

decision coming up. again, nbc news has learned chris christie will announce his decision on whether or not he will run in 2012. a lot of people would suggest, well, if he's doing it in tr trenton, he's doing it very quickly, that usually probably wouldn't indicate that he would be running, but we just don't know. we know there is a lot of pressure because some of the primaries that have been moved up. the other big story we have been following, amanda knox. well, she's heading home right now. in fact, she just arrived in london after boarding a plane in rome. we're getting new details about what happened on that trip. knox's trip coming one day after an italian court overturned her murder conviction and that of her ex-boyfriend, raffaele sollecito. she practically collapsed knowing she would soon be home with her family for the first time in four years. nbc's stephanie gosk, what have you learned about her flight so far?

>> reporter: good morning, chris. well, it's not entirely surprising that the family has gotten amanda out of italy as quickly as possible. they boarded a flight out of rome this morning. she was with her sister, her mother and her stepfather. that flight then went on to london. according to someone onboard, they said they were the last people to get on the plane and that once they got on the plane and the door was shut, flight attendants made a unique announcement asking people on the plane to please respect the privacy of other passengers. what we know is that from london she is expected to get on another flight here to seattle. they should arrive later on this afternoon. and we are told they will be giving a press conference -- they won't be taking any questions, but it does seem that amanda will be giving some sort of statement at that time. after that where she goes and what she does is being held -- kept very, very private. chris? >> meantime the prosecutor back in itly has said in no uncertain terms he will appeal this verdict to the high court. is there any concern from the knox family that this ordeal

might not be over? >> reporter: well, it's certainly concerning that he's going to appeal as well but it seems like the chips are really stacked in her favor, that they're going to have to find some sort of technicality to overturn this latest version of events. i think right now the fact that she is out of that country, that she's out of jail, that she's almost home is reassurance enough for that family and they're going to come here, chris, and try to put their lives back together. the family is in debt. amanda, some say, has no idea really how famous she's become over the last four years. it will be very difficult for her to get back here and try to at least find some semblance of normalcy to her life. >> nbc's stephanie gosk in seattle for us, thank you. two friends of amanda went to perugia to join her for the verdict. andrew and jessica. good morning to both of you. >> hi. >> good morning. >> let me ask you, first, jessica, were you in the courtroom?

where were you when you heard the verdict and what was your reaction? >> the courtroom was unbelievably crowded. it was just family and press actually that were allowed into the building for the actual verdict, so we watched from a live feed here in the town. i don't think i've ever had a happier moment than when we realized that they were going to let her go that night. >> andrew, as i what happened her reaction, which was -- first she looked terrified, and understand understand that her future was on the line, and then literally collapsing into the arms of her lawyer. give us a sense of who the real amanda knox is and what you think these last four years have been like for her. >> she is an incredibly happy person by nature. she is my friend that's always wanting to make everyone feel better no matter how their day is going and has always put other people before herself. i don't think that part of her has changed at all. >> jessica, have you had a

chance to talk to her family or have you had a chance to even perhaps talk to amanda? >> no, we haven't even tried. we were just so excited she was going to get to leave, we wanted her to get on the plane, spend time with her family and get home. i can call her on the phone now if i want to, so i'll probably try to do that later today when i know she's back in seattle. >> andrew, i can't even imagine what it would be like to be not just obviously in jail but to be in a foreign country, to be separated from your family and friends. have you or any of your other friends been able to be in touch with her over the past four years? >> yeah, we've done our best to stay in touch via letter. jesse and i ourselves have vi t visited her over a dozen times in prison and other friends have done the same. her close friends and family have done their best to keep her involved and give her a sense of normalcy outside of her everyday reality, a cell, for the last four years. >> did she have a sense when you visited her and spoke to her the

last four years how huge this story had become, how much attention was focused on her in this case? >> in the first trial, i think she kind of tried her best to tune the outside world out because it gave her a better sense of staying grounded in who she was. i think she realized the media and the general discussion about her character and her story had played a big role in being convicted the first time. so this time she has been more aware of that, and i think that it's -- it's very weird for her, because that's not really the kind of person she is. she's not the kind of person to go seek iing the limelight all e time. it will definitely take some adjustment for her to realize that although she gets to have her life back, she is never going to be the same. >> andrew, when you spoke to her, were there things she dreamed about that she talked about that she couldn't wait to do when she got back to seattle? >> i think first and foremost she wants to be able to go outside. she's a very outdoorsy person. i think she will just want to

see the world outside of a preside prison and make decisions for herself again. >> and when are the both of you going back, and do you think you'll be able to see her soon? >> we're going to be in italy for a little while longer. we really enjoy being here and want to see the best parts of it now that there's not the specter of all of this going on but absolutely when we get home, she's got a pretty good bear hug coming. >> jessica nichols, andrew, i'm sure she's looking poured to that as well. what good friends you are to have been so supportive to her over all these years. thank you for taking the time to talk with us. >> thank you. and sometimes, seeming to get lost in all of this is the victim. the family of meredith kercher reacted with anguish, grief, and confusion. >> we are now left obviously looking at this again and how a decision that was so certain two years ago has been so emphatically overturned now.

really for us it feels almost like we're back to square one and the certificasearch goes on out what truly happened. >> although knox and her ex-boyfriend are now free, a third student, rudy guede was convicted. his appeal failed. thousands of people from boston to los angeles to chicago mopping t among the cities with rallies blaming wall street for the nation's economic problems. be and now a movement is getting a boost from big labor. nbc's mara schiavocampo live now amid the protesters and, mara, how are things there? good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning to you, chris. you know, the day is just getting started here. in fact a lot of those camping out here overnight have started to wake up and get dressed and get their day going. now, as you know, there is no official leader of this movement but there is some de facto leadership that is starting to emerge just in the form of volunteers that are taking on an active organizational role.

they tell me today is going to be a light day in terms of events. they don't have a lot of big events planned. today will primarily be a planning day, they're going to be holding logistical meetings and the like all in preparation for tomorrow which they are expecting to be a very big day. they will be holding a rally here at this park and a march originating from this park. they are expecting thousands of people and they are hoping that many of those that will swell their numbers will be union members. they are getting a lot of support from several unions including the united federation of teachers and the transit workers union. in fact, yesterday city bus workers announced they were suing the nypd for making them use city buses to move, detain protesters over the weekend. they were arrested trying to cross the brooklyn bridge and the police used city buses to move them around and the transit workers are saying they support the protesters and do not want to be used in that way. now those arrests over the weekend did help the movement gain a lot of visibility and a

lot of steam. yesterday we saw protests spreading to metropolitan areas all over the country from chicago to boston to los angeles. now we're hearing word there are going to be protests planned all over the country in much smaller cities and, in fact, now protesting to be spreading all over the world. we're getting word that there will be solidarity protests as far away as japan, canada, and australia. chris? >> all right, mara schiavocampo, thank you so much. in the meantime new details leaking out about the apple announcement this afternoon. apparently it's about a new iphone. we'll tell you what you can expect coming up at 10:30. well, in a kiss that could set a precedent for suspected terrorist trials, the so-called underwear bomber is due in court this morning. jury selection gets under way for umar farouk abdulmutallab, accused of trying to detonate his underpant aboard a commercial jet christmas 2009. he has pled not guilty and he says he will represent himself.

. it's grassy. it's green. [ facilitator ] go ahead and take your blindfolds off. oh my goodness. are you serious? [ male announcer ] febreze air effects eliminates tough odors so you can breathe happy guaranteed. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

later this afternoon congress will vote to avoid a government shutdown. the house should vote around 2:30 eastern time to fund the government for six more weeks. the president is expected to sign it. it should give both sides a little more time to work out a budget deal. meantime, the president heads to texas to push his jobs bill this afternoon. and he made an admission that stunned a lot of people. >> i don't think they're better off than they were four years ago. they're not better off than they were before lehman's collapse, before the financial crisis. before this extraordinary recession we're going through. presidential hopeful herman cain is still in new york city meeting with ed koch and then yesterday he spent the afternoon with the donald.

>> you've heard that old expression, we hit it off right away and we did. i think there is mutual respect for one another, the fact we are both businessmen. weigh are both able to think in terms of big picture items and big issues as well as big ideas. i very much enjoyed it and i think he did, too. meantime, form er illinois governor rod blagojevich has not been sentenced after being convicted of corruption charges. he is spending time now trying to sell his house. blago is asking just over $1 million for the brick home. it's where he made that infamous phone call talking about how to profit from naming someone to president obama's old senate seat. chris christie will hold a news conference at 1:00 p.m. eastern time to talk about the 2012 race. we will keep our eye on it for you. well, an incumbent president

an underdog? without hesitation president obama thinks that's just what he is. >> are you the underdog now? >> absolutely. because, you know, given the economy, there's no doubt that whatever happens on your watch, you've got -- >> you embraced that pretty quickly. >> i don't mind. i'm used to being an underdog. >> the chairman of the democratic party in south carolina joins us now by skype. good morning. >> good morning. >> do you really think that the president is an underdog? >> i think absolutely. i think there are circumstances beyond his control that put him in that underdog position. but let's remember this is a lot like a football game. we've been through three, almost three quarters. we have another quarter to go. my team clemson comes back in the fourth quarter and i believe president obama will come back.

>> one name talked about a lot is chris christie. we should know in a couple of hours whether he's going to run or not 0. what's your take on that? >> well, i think a guy that's been governor for less than two years has a hard time abandoning the commitment he made to the people of new jersey to serve a term -- >> a lot of people said he has been senator for only a couple of years when barack obama ran. >> i think there's a little bit of difference between being a senator and a governor committed to governing a state for four years. number two, i think chris christie would be just the flavor of the month, just as we've seen perry and romney and michele bachmann sort of float through this process. >> one of the reasons that he was really pressured to make a decision is because so many states are moving around their primaries including yours, moving your primary up to

saturday, january 21st, after florida moved its primary up to january 31st. now new hampshire, nevada, iowa, all moving up. what does this mean, dick? >> i think, for instance, chris christie would have to jump in less than 90 days away from new hampshire, iowa and south carolina. and he would basically have to abandon being the governor of new jersey to spend enough time in those three states and then florida after that. i think it compresses it, it's going to favor people who are already in the race, perry and romney particularly. and i think that basically because it is coming so quickly and is so compressed, if you haven't raised the money, if you haven't done the homework, you haven't gotten involved, it's probably too late to get in. >> dick harpootlian, always good to see you, sir. thank you. football fans might have noticed something missing from last night's game. well, it's a classic theme song

performed by hank williams jr., and it was yanked off of the monday night football because he compared president obama to hitler in a fox news interview. williams is criticizing speaker john boehner for playing golf with the president. williams is also considering a run for u.s. senate from tennessee. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. mobile medical international, a builder of mobile surgical units, hit hard times in its first years of operation. the owner rick cochrane asked employ yes, sir employees to work without pay. soon the company boomed and was named the 2011 small business of the year. [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create

hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. but i've learned a lot from patients who use flexpen. flexpen comes pre-filled with the insulin i take and i can dial the exact dose of insulin i need. i live my life on the go and need an on-the-go insulin. i don't need to carry a cooler with flexpen. novolog is a fast-acting, man-made insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. do not inject novolog if you do not plan to eat within 5 to 10 minutes after injection to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. the most common side effect of novolog is low blood sugar. other possible side effects include reactions at the injection site. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions,

body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat or sweating. ask your healthcare provider about novolog flexpen today. learn more about the different insulins available in flexpen at myflexpen.com. flexpen, insulin delivery that goes with you.

huge news coming up. one with the potential to totally remake the 2012 race. this man, new jersey's governor chris christie has been getting pushed from all sides from money people, from political organizers, from every day men and women in the crowd saying we need you in this race. he is the picture of the discontent within the republican party right now. so many people not happy with the field they've been pushing him to get in even though in interview after interview after interview for months now he's been saying, i am not going to run. then, in a big surprise last week, he said, maybe, or at

least his aides said, he's giving it some consideration. there were reports that over the weekend he was talking to his family and talking in particular to political experts about how quickly could he get ramped up in some of these early primary stat states. well, now, 100 this afternoon, and you'll see it here on msnbc, chris christie is going to hold a news conference in trenton in new jersey and we will know whether or not he is going to jump into the race. well, we've all seen those signs along the roadside, please help, hungry. the simple heartbreaking messages that are often scribbled by those out of work, out of luck and homeless. this morning's cover story in "usa today" points out that those same headlines are popping up on craigslist as the popular website evolved into a place where desperate americans have been turning for help. joining me now is investor and entrepreneur who is co-author of "midas touch" with the man you recognize there, donald trump, robert kiyosaki.

there are endless examples of posts, places like craigslist. craigslist in particular, people who essentially will do anything, give you a ride to the airport. is that an effective strategy just to get something? >> i don't think so. the reason donald and i wrote "midas touch" is he and i are both entrepreneurs. and we thought we'd write about what it does take to be a entrepreneur. most of those people are hustling money, not building a business. and what entrepreneurs do is build businesses. businesses and entrepreneurs are the only people who really do create legitimate jobs. the government can't create it. labor unions destroy them and all this. that's why we wrote the book "midas touch." what does it take to be a entrepreneur? most people are going, i could do that. that book was just for them. >> don't you think especially in this job market a lot of people are saying, i can't. they don't have money. maybe a reason they're out of a

job they feel they don't have up-to-date skills. >> yes. >> if you live in the midwest and you've been in manufacturing all your life and your plant shuts down, the idea of becoming a entrepreneur seems completely out of reach. they just want to be able to get a job and put food on their table. >> exactly. >> so what do you say to someone like that? >> well, i guess that's why i wrote the book. we are entrepreneurs. i mean, most books are written by people who are professors, people who have never run a company. our president never ran a company. and so donald and i wrote "midas touch" to give you one of the five things that real entrepreneurs do that cause them to be successful. as you know, nine out of ten will fail. but we want to tell you what it takes. >> small businesses are the job creators and obviously that's what everybody is interested in here. so what is the number one thing that someone can do to be successful, because just as we hear that small businesses are the engine that fuel job growth, we also know how often new

businesses fail. >> right. well, the five things that we write about. one, strength of character. two, you have to focus. this is what you stand for. it's your brand. the ring finger is your relationships and the little finger, you have to do something that nobody else does. and so we wrote the book to get people's brains thinking along that vein of thought. it is higher risk but it is also the most rewarding thing i've ever done. >> robert kiyosaki, thank you for coming in. >> thank you. was michael jackson's personal physician distracted by phone calls to three separate women while michael lay dying? so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash.

what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] [ tires screech ] [ crying ] [ applause ] [ laughs ] [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] your life will have to flash by even faster. autodrive brakes on the cadillac srx activate after rain is detected to help improve braking performance. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs.

over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. welcome back. we are on the edge of some better weather, folks, in the northeast. we'll start with the bad news. some significant flooding authority of boston from this morning's rains. the we are going to see

improving conditions. this area of low pressure will get out of here. by midweek it's up in northern new england. high pressure is building in. the sunshine will return and for folks in the northeast, that also means a return to warmer temperatures. new york city by this weekend could get close to 80 degrees. some of the storms we're going to be seeing across the west bringing heavy mountain snow to the sierras and in through nevada. that will continue through the midweek and eventually we'll see things improve but not until thursday or friday. chris, back to you. >> maria, thank you. a look at other stories people are talking about right now. amanda knox and her family have arrived in london on their way to seattle. they left italy this morning boarding a passenger plane just moments before it pushed back from the gate. knox and her italian ex-boyfriend's murder convictions were overturned yesterday. prosecutors in the manslaughter trial against dr. conrad murray say that when michael jackson was in his final hours, murray was distracted calling three different women he had been dating and two of them are

expected to testify about their conversations prior to jack some's death. prosecutors also say murray was supporting several girlfriends along with seven children. on the $150,000 a month salary from jackson. fire officials say that massive fire that broke out after an explosion at a texas chemical plant is now nearly contained. about 1,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes but they've been allowed back in. the fire started when workers mixed chemicals, flames, and huge plumes of smoke could be seen for 50 miles. experts who tested the air around the plant have found no health threat. mercedes-benz has bought the naming rights to the superdome in new orleans for the next ten years. the deal tops off a complete renovation of the home to the saints. the louisiana's governor, bobby jindal, says this is yet another sign that new orleans comeback after katrina. jenna fischer welcomed a child,

weston lee. they wrote her pregnancy into the show. her character, pam, is expecting a son. "dancing with the stars" performance that moved several celebrities to tears is coming up when we go down to the wire in 20. long lines and delays going through airport screenings are frequent complaints of air travelers but that might change. a new pilot program being unveiled by the transportation security administration. brian shactman is here with what's moving your money. good morning to you, brian. so what's this new plan? >> reporter: it's called precheck, chris. it's not the going to be for everybody. if you have a delta frequent flier, america frequent flier, or three other government trusted agencies that are going to do a pilot program called precheck and you can do it in miami, detroit, dallas, and atlanta. basically you give the tsa some more of your personal information, then you can get in a shorter and different line. they're going to start with approximately 5,000 to 8,000 passengers each day and they say

if it's successful they will expand it and, of course, it's part of the effort that goes up to the white house to try to get rid of this one size fits all security procedure. if you're a secure traveler, the thinking is you should be able to find a way to get through more quickly. >> i'm all for that. ben bernanke has been on capitol hill. let me play a clip of what he said a few moments ago. overall the recovery from the crisis has been much less robust than we had hoped. recent revisions of government economic data show that the recession was even deeper and the recovery even weaker than previously estimated. slow economic growth has in turn led to slow rates of increase in jobs and household incomes. >> so how is wall street reacting to that? >> reporter: wall street was kind of in the dumps even before he started talking, chris. here is the deal with what's going on. right now wall street seems to be very focused on europe. what bernanke said is important. it's not necessarily anything new.

we knew the recession was worse than we had previously thought and we are not bouncing back the way we thought we would. he's not saying we're going back into a second recession but the market was already down more than 200 points when he started talking. the fear continues to be today about european banks and what's going on in greece. the best way to explain it is we feel the way europe felt in 2008. we had a crisis, we dragged down the rest of the global markets. this time it's europe and they're dragging us down and we feel powerless right now. >> cnbc's brian shactman, good to see you. now we have a very big clue the invitation to journalists from normally secretive apple says let's talk iphone. kind of confirming the speculation that apple will unveil the latest iphone just about two hours from thousand. and that's not all. there are rumors that at&t and verizon are out. cnbc's john forte is in california. so tell us, what are we going to

hear? >> reporter: well, i'm expecting we will hear about and see an iphone 5. we're expecting it to be thinner, the screen bigger, still high resolution, probably a bigger battery, and we know it's going to have ios-5 and be connected to the new i cloud service which is to keep all your various services, all your data in sink sink. >> and sprint has never had the iphone and they were slated to be joining at&t and verizon for the next phone. now there are some rumors they might be exclusive? >> reporter: yeah. don't know how much stock to put in those. if sprint does get this phone first, it won't be first for long probably. a couple months would be huge for sprint to have this exclusively for the holidays would be huge. not sure apple wants to do that. that is a rumor. regardless, within a few weeks, all three carriers probably will have this phone. also expect to see some updates to the ipod line.

they always do that around this time of year, too. young people buy that. >> the countdown is on. jon fortt, thank you. not so long ago a lot of people dreamed of a retirement of travel, hobbies, relaxation. now not the only are a lot of people delaying retirement, a shocking number of women are wondering if they'll be able to afford to retire at all. research shows single women of the baby boomer generation are the least prepared financially for their later years. terry has been a nurse for 32 years. the last 12 where students have medical issues. it's rewarding. >> look at this. one of my kids is in the hospital. >> and exhausting. >> it's caught up with me. i would really like to slow down a little bit. >> but at 64, she has no big pension coming, no real savings. after a divorce with two small children, she lived paycheck to paycheck. >> i don't want to be dependent on anybody.

that's my biggest fear. >> so now she's not sure when she'll be able to retire. terry lives here in cleveland but her story is playing out in neighborhoods across the country. 40% of boomer women, 17 million of them, are single. and for many retirement is a financial time bomb just waiting to explode. as they head into retirement, a shockingly low 10% of women boomers have pensions, only 32% have 401(k)s. >> it's very bad. >> jane haas advises single boomer women, many with little or no savings but an average life expectancy of 85 years. >> i don't think any generation of women has faced so many changes at one time. >> when nan crawford's husband died, she discovered they were in dead and had to borrow to pay for his funeral, so at 66 she's back at work in california. >> little girls growing up are told to get married, have children, take care of the house and a husband, and that's your

future. >> she has had career counseling and says she's happy to have found a job at all. >> it's like going to step school, step back. you're further ahead than you were yesterday. >> a generation that redefined what it is to be a working woman now wondering if a woman's work will ever be done. now while women are the worst off, the overall picture isn't great. 63% of married couples and 43% of single men have retirement accounts. we went a little early to that which is chris christie, as you know. the big political story of this day. we just found out in the last hour that the new jersey governor is going to hold a news conference at 1:00 eastern time to discuss what republicans have been waiting tore and, frankly, democrats as well. will he jump into the race for president?

ask me. if you think even the best bed can only lie there. ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves. talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america. ask me about my tempurpedic advanced ergo. ask me about having all the right moves. these are real tempur advanced ergo owners. find one for yourself. try your friends on facebook. see what they have to say unedited. ask me what it's like to get a massage any time you want. tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. ask me why i'm glad i didn't wait until i'm too old to enjoy this. start asking real owners. treat yourself to the ultimate sleep experience and save up to $400-during the tempur ergo savings event.

plus, visit tempurpedic.com for full details on our 4 years special financing. don't wait-the tempur ergo savings event ends october 16. visit tempurpedic.com now. temur-pedic the most highly recommended bed in america. just having some chicken noodle. starting my progresso soup for lunch plan, huh. nope, just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see... south western vegetables... 60 calories, oh beef pot roast... ...ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup. so you were checking me out? yup. [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

children who go to bed early and wake up early are healthier than their night owl peers. a new study finds early to bed, early to rise kids weighed less and exercised more than those who went to bed late and woke up late even though they got the same amount of total sleep. res researchers say mornings are more conducive to exercise versus nighttime. hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts. next hour of msnbc, the suspense is nearly over. chris christie will announce at 1:00 p.m. eastern time today whether he's going to make a run for president. but, believe it or not, not a majority of americans, even know who he is. and we're tracking amanda knox on her flight back to the u.s. she is now a free woman after her murder conviction is overturned in italy. is her legal nightmare over? and on a different note, apple ready to reveal the iphone 5. breaking down all the latest upgrades and how you can get your hands on the hot new

gadget. that and more coming up in the next half hour. there are apparently money troubles for presidential candidate michele bachmann who is losing a couple of top campaign aides and some others are being re-assigned back to her congressional staff. now officially we'll get a picture of everyone's campaign cash with new numbers for the third quarter which are due out by the 15th. one big advantage for the republicans, though, tea party money. msnbc's richard lui joins us. it is time to break out the campaign cash wall, mr. lui. >> that's right. we do have the cash wall to my right. if cash is king the tea party is becoming royal. we have some numbers. groups adopting the tea party mantra have only seen fund-raising records pre-tea party in 2008, for instance, $26.1 million. you see right there, the top five groups according to politico. then the year they got traction it almost doubled to $49 million. 2010, it almost doubled again. look at that. and then this year you'll have to crane your neck up, just two of the groups say they will

raise more than $150 million alone. and when the president questioned where the money came from, americans for prosperity, one of those groups fought back. >> america is attacking americans for prosperity because our citizen activists are making a difference. so keep knocking on doors, making phone calls and speaking out. november is coming. >> the groups say the money is used for training, seminars with titles like online strategies, activism, and controlling the narrative. the and some leaders are getting paid $300,000 to $500,000 taking on the look of the centralized political groups. with more sophistication, has come some backlash, too. some of the thousands of groups worry the larger groups are now sucking up the money, doing things running contrary to the movement's roots. strategist james carville, for instance, wrote in a fund-raising letter, quote, picture washington under total

tea party control. mitch mcconnell will privatize social security, jim demint will end medicare. end quote. they are not the largest from the right, chris. karl rove expects to raise nearly a quarter after billion dollars. >> record presidential campaign. thank you so much, richard. this afternoon president obama will urge congress to pass his jobs bill. this time at east field college in mesquite, texas. republicans are having none of it. majority leader eric cantor saying, quote, the president continues to say pass my bill in its entirety. as i've said from the outset. the all or nothing approach is just unacceptable. good to see you. americans are fed up. you know that. you've seen the polls. is the biggest problem that president obama's jobs plan essentially frankly republicans don't want to give the president a victory heading into election

day? >> no. i think the problem we have in this particular case, taking this issue itself, the stimulus 2.0 plan of the president, is that you have republicans like eric cantor and the majority in the congress that are willing to work with the president on a number of the issues that he's put on the table. however now after giving the speech to congress, the president's real problem here now is that he's not getting any support on the democratic side of the aisle. harry reid is in no hurry to take up the bill. no one has co-sponsored the bill of the president. the one guy out there, the many like eric cantor and the speaker, are the ones saying, look, let's get this done. let's do this part of your bill you want to give incentives to businesses to hire veterans. let's look at the payroll tax deduction. so we're out there wanting to work with the president.

a lot of the things he's put on the table but now the president has pulled back and said, well, now it's all or nothing. so you need to do everything that i have on this piece of paper or otherwise we're not going to agree on anything. it's childish. >> if you look at the polls, it does seem that you guys, the republicans, should be worried. when asked who is to blame for the economy, only 12% blame obama. they blame the bush administration, they blame wall street, they blame congress. are these worrisome numbers for you? >> no. i mean, you're one of the few people saying those things. the reality is that the fish rots at the head and the president has take then economy into the ditch. he's really not offered any substantial way to get the economy back on track and of the the things that he has offered, you have republicans now trying to work with the president and he'd rather campaign in texas and missouri today because he has about six or seven fund-raisers on the schedule and that's what this president is

interested in. so, chris, i hear what you're saying. i know people are frustrated with everything in washington. at the end of the day the president will have to answer the question to americans in agreeing that americans will say that they're not better off today than they were three or four years ago. >> can we talk about another frustration and the frustration seems to be within the republican party. there has been a call for chris christie and it's been loud and it's been broad and it's been interpreted as dissatisfaction with the republican field as it stands now. does chris christie need to get into this race? >> i'm going to leave that up to chris christie and he's going to have a press conference today. i'm not going to step on his press conference. i'm going to let him make that -- whatever he's going to talk about. i'm assuming it's this issue and i'm going to let him do that. no, i don't think it's dissatisfaction. it's frustration with who is in the white house today and i

think the republican base is excited about having an opportunity to take back this country and put a republican in the white house. i mean, just as one of your guests noted before i got on the air here, over half of americans believe that this president won't be re-elected, and that includes half of all the democrats that were polled. so, you know, i think people are ready to move on from a president more interested in campaigning than leading and i think what you're seeing on the republican side of the aisle is just desperation to beat this president and there's a lot of excitement. >> i have to let that be the last word. >> hillary clinton -- >> good to see you. >> -- went toe to toe through june and it worked out well for him. >> thank you very much. reince priebus, good to see you. let's bring in karen finney. let's start with the chris christie issue because we are waiting for the news conference at 1:00. >> sure. >> the factthat there is so much heightened interest, do you

see it as a sign that republicans are just dissatisfied with the field as it stands or is it just shopping which may not be that surprising this early in the race? >> look, no, i think it shows the kind of fractures that exist within the republican party. you have the social conservatives and the economic conservatives and there are real differences between their candidates. they represent different factions, as i say, within the republican party. >> karen, can i interrupt you for a second because we are hearing from brian thompson at wnbc at one of the political reporters over there that chris christie ty is not going to run. if that is indeed the case, is that good news or bad news for the democrats? >> i don't think -- it doesn't matter for the democrats. i think it's bad news for the republicans because it's an unsettled field. i have to say something about reince priebus, i cannot let that go. the two points i would make. if i was the rnc director, i would be pleased. a lot of good spin in there.

a couple things we should be listening to. you've had the republicans saying time and again that -- now they're saying -- they used to say they just wanted the pieces that they want. others are saying we don't want a holistic approach. the parts they want are going to benefit the people at the top and president obama, that's why obama is saying it's not that he's saying take the whole thing or nothing. he's saying we have to have balance here. they also don't like the idea that he's out on the road selling this plan because what it does is puts political pressure on the republicans. i think you're seeing this in the polls, to say what is it that you are against? if you are against money for schools and infrastructure, then have the guts to go to people and say that. >> okay. karen, thank you so much. i'm sorry we've run out of time. we're going to take a quick break. but now it's time to go to the next level. so let's do a little detective work. pick up what we need. roll out... caulk...and install. and pretty soon, we're seeing the fruits of our labor

right there at our bottom line. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. owens corning ecotouch attic insulation is only $9.97 a roll. owens corning ecotouch attic insulation ♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card -- "buy books, not beer!" ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for her whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. challenge that thinking with olay. ♪ there's more than a jar of olay moisturizers in every bottle of olay bodywash to leave your skin feeling soft and smooth. with olay.

new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™.

nbc news now confirming that new jersey governor chris christie will not run for president. he'll make it official and we'll have full coverage at 1:00 eastern time right here on msnbc. i'm chris jansing.

thomas roberts up next. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose.

[ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth!

my son and i never missed opening day. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. [ whistle ] with copd, i thought i might miss out on my favorite tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free.