the disrupted attack or potential -- alleged conspiracy by the parts of the iranian government to assassinate the saudi ambassador of the united states here on u.s. soil. the president said we don't take any options off the table in terms of how we operate with iran. seemed to indicate that more sanctions were coming. i want to bring in jamie ruben, a former spokesperson for the state department during the clinton administration. now editor, i think it's. decipher the speak there from the president. >> what he's trying to do is put the pressure f ?hinternational pressure as best as he can on iran. show the level of outrage that the world should feel on these facts. and have his people both at the state department at the united nations security council

convincing others of the facts. but once you get to those facts, you envisage a rather dramatic development, that is another government, essentially engaged in a kind of act of violence, if not war against saudi arabia on american soil, with americans potentially dying. so this is a about as serious thing as one could imagine if it took place as it happened here since 9/11. and so the president is going through the facts very carefully. he's threatening further sanctions on iran. and i think what is unspoken, which is probably where the irritation at mitt romney's spokesman, the questioner in the journalistic pool, is what does this mean for our policy towards iran? if this country got nuclear weapons and they are prepared to do this kind of thing, kill the

saudi ambassador, what are we going to do about it? and we're not any closer today than we were during the bush administration or the last three years to solving that difficult dilemma. >> it seems that based on the reporting that we've seen this morning and what3 there was parts of the iranian government that were likely involved here but not the lea r leadership or at least not the leadership we're used to saying as the face of the iranian government, namely ahmadinejad. it's very possible that ahmadinejad sort of wing of the power they call it a three rings of power i guess you could argue, didn't know anything about this but another another part of the government did. is that a fair assessment here? >> that's exactly right. chuck, it's a little complicated in their system but the last time an act of this nature was

reportedly con seefd by the iranian government by officials in the government was a 1995 towers attack in which the justice department also issued indictments for iranian officials. in that case, i think i was in the government in the time and as i recall, we believed that the president then what we call a good guy as compared to ahmadinejad, did not know about it, but that the supreme court leader ham eni through this revolutionary guard force under his control was engaged in terrorist activities. so yes, the president may not know but the leadership there does nknow. and that's why it is so troubling. >> jamie rubin, bloomberg view is turning to my favorite editorial online page to read,

more electronic than anything. always good to see you, sir. >> thanks, chuck. >> let's move to politics. primary season is closing in on the republican race for president. may be as wide open as ever. herman cain shot through the pack but bear in mind we have donald trump near the lead about five months ago. then there was the michele bachmann surge. we also had the rick perry surge last month. what is going on here? msnbc contributor and manager of post politics.com chris cilizza joins us this morning -- this afternoon. my apologies, i have to remember what hour i'm on. >> you're on so much. >> i'm going to talk about a private e-mail exchange, which you said, why shouldn't we -- why shouldn't we think there isn't a real path here for herman cain? go.

>> i do not think herman cain is the front-runner of the nomination. that said you look at your poll and there is a path. number one, already in the top tier. he's at 27, romney is at 23%. number two, one in four republican voters in nbc wall street journal polled don't know enough about him to offer an opinion. among those who do, 52% view him favorably, 6% view him unfavorably. that's pretty good. the other quick point, you've got 40 plus% of people saying a candidate who has the right views, views they agree with on the issues and more important to them is most important to them, more important than electability and even more important than leadership style. if you compare herman cain and mitt romney,(

if you look at the money -- look at your numbers, there's a path. >> not only that, what's interesting is the coalition that was cain overperforms with compared to9a romny, he ov overperforms with high interest voters, they are paying close attention, i was kind of with perry but he's terrible in the base. i'm with cain now. he does better with men, better with 55 plus, more likely to be voters. senior vote in heavier numbers. college educated. romney doing better among noncollege educated. tea partyiers and conservative vote. let me throw one more thing at you, chris, in our head to head of romney and perry, went ahead and tested that's. romney substantial lead, 52-39. 54-39, was the exact number. however, among those that describe themselves as very

conservative about a third of the republican ee lek tore rat perry led. >> through all of those numbers you just detailed in terms of where cain's support is the strongest, that's all the people who are the most likely to vote in primaries if past is any indication, the most passionate, older voters. rick perry went down 22 points from the august nbc wall street journal poll to this one herman cain went up 22 points. you said a perfect point to be made. the writing him off feels to me at lot like what we did with mike huckabee, i'll never win the iowa caucuses. he didn't have a big organization and still won. >> i want to talk to you about something on earlier today from house democratic leader nancy pelosi, some heated rhetoric.

listen to what she said. >> when the republicans vote for this bill today, they will be voting to say that women can die on the floor and health care providers do not have to intervene. if this bill is passed. it's just appalling. >> abortion politics getting on capitol hill. how serious is this actual legislation to be coming law? it's not going to become law, correct? >> it's not going to become law, we have a democrat controlled senate and democrat in the white house, it's not going to happen. abortion politics at this point chuck, i think at this point where we are in the political process is largely a play to each of the party's bases. there is a significant element in each party's base for democrats, pro-choice, for republicans pro-life, the only issue they care about. the vast middle with the economy where it is, not as important. >> chris, we'll be checking back

in with you later. thank you, sir. i want to bring in sometime republican strategy mark mckenna, also a co-founder of the nonpart season political group no label, is that fair to say? >> i'm april radical centrist, chuck, recovering political consultant. >> my magnetic strip has worn thin. >> if i told you that candidate x in a republican primary had the support of high interest voters, voters over 55, college educated and the very conservative and i told you candidate y was winning among less interested voters and women and moderate to liberal idealogical wing of the party, would you rather be x or y? >> well, you and cilizza pulled the covers off the poll and said all of the things i wanted to say. but the most important is what you just said, the people most

likely to vote are the people who are supporting herman cain and rick perry. it's the casual voters playing very little attention supporting romney. his support is very thin. i also think the observation that cain is a potential mike huk abee is a good one. huckabee won that with a lot of passion and not a lot of organization. you have two people out there right now, you've got herman cain with a lot of passion going. and you've got rick perry who is sitting out $17 million and that can't buy you love but rent you some organization. i think there's a -- this thing isn't over yet. everyone wants to write the race off and say romney has it wrapped up. another smart anl sift said the insiders have it figured out but voters have yet to express their opinion on the matter. >> speaking of somebody who has been the beneficiary and then all of a sudden lost a moment in time in this race, here's michele bachmann earlier today reacting to the latest poll numbers. >> i think what it says is that

this is absolutely volatile and it's anyone's to win right now. it is not solid. every day it's a new person who could be president of the united states. we think we're very well positioned. i'm the only candidate that won the iowa straw poll. >> it's been fascinating to watch her. everyone wants to get -- wants to feel like they want to get her hockey stick moment at the right time. for her it came right at the straw poll, was a good time then she lost it. let's talk about this if you're mitt romney. i thought scarborrow said, if i were mitt romney, i'm doing everything i'm supposed to do, staying on message, figured out how to get out of the health care thing and if i were in a hotel roomy would be throwing things around in frustration. what do you do if you're romney at this point? >> to their credit, i think very haven't been spooked or gotten off the strategy. he's been a much better candidate than last time.

the key is there's been all of these hockey stick moments and there's likely to be several more. the question is the timing and that's why it's so interesting watching the primary debate schedule and when that might happen because you know, it's going to be a matter of who's hitting the wave at the right time but we don't know when it's going to be. could be in december or january. romney has got to be factor all of that in and figure out, do we kill cain in the crib in and out or let the media do its job and layoff because we're not sure when the election is going to be. >> speaking of a rough start, i want you to listen to you're a texan, you know anita perry and you've seen her. i want to play you this moment today from anita perry talking about the state of the race. >> it's been a rough month. we've been brutalized and beaten up and chewed up in the press. we're getting words about the opponents, so much of that is

they look at him because of his faith. he's the only true conservative -- there are some conservatives and they may feel like god -- but i truly feel like we're here, whatever. >> this happened with the clintons where hillary clinton would never let her frustration show but bill clinton did sort of for her. i think like we've seen this a couple of times, anita perry expressing the frustration that maybe the candidate feels. >> clearly, you know, showing a moment of emotion there, but it's -- remember that's also the moment of emotion that very similar to what hillary clinton showed in the new hampshire primary when she showed a little humanity. that's part of this process. it grinds you down. but that's also what happens when you jump in a race and got to go from zero to 60 overnight. and perry still has got $17 million tucked away. i think they'll spend it

smartly. and so just as much as media like to jump on perry collapsep story, they'll be just as anxious to jump on the resurrection story if it happens. >> mark mckinnon, thanks for coming on. >> thanks. >> what is the silver lining for president obama in our poll? we'll bring down those results with "washington post" eugene robinson. >> social conserve i haves haven't found what they are looking for among the crowd of candidates, does the perfect candidate even exist? we'll ask tony perkins joining us later in the show. this is "andrea mitchell reports quts only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] for sore muscles use new bengay cold therapy, it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a $3 coupon. clorox disinfecting wipes and...a digital recorder.

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well, as republicans fish for the candidate, democrats are rallying around the renomination of president obama, his approval rating is stable but that's not a good place to be stable at. given the state of the economy it's a tough climate. eugene robinson, prize winning columnist for the "washington post." let's get the rumor mill out of the way. the acela corridor, which i like to call the media machine, likes to talk about this idea there's a growing movement of disgruntled democrats that would love to see a different nominee. well, we actually asked people and here's what they said when it came democrats about the president's remom nation, 73% in favor of it. at bill clinton's highest point in 1995 among democrats he got 67%. one thing about the president is he does have when it comes to

sort of -- i think there's a difference between the liberal elite and the liberal grass roots. >> there is a difference. this was never real. you know, the chatter about democrats were going to dump oba obama. it was never going to happen, as unreal as the chatter about obama losing african-american support or losing this or that the. there is a difference between progressives or others being either disenchanted or disappointed and the biggest distance between that and saying -- he shouldn't be renominated. of course they are going to renominate him. he still has not just majority support but overwhelming support in his party. >> let's talk about though the real head wind that he has. it's more than the economy. it was two numbers in the poll that struck me, one is this right track/wrong track, 73% wrong track, second month in a row set the record of his

presidency. now another record high of wrong track. and then 82% saying the federal government was unhealthy, stagnant and in need of major reforms. there's a loss of pessimism about washington, can he somehow share this blame, distance himself? how does he deal with this? >> maybe not in this poll but in polling in general, i'm not seeing a whole lot of optimism about the republicans. but you're right, chuck, especially that right track wrong track number, historically it's been one of the keys to assessing whether an incumbent president is going to be re-elected or not. now these days, i don't know what sort of value you give to those sorts of historical markers because so much has changed. i'm not sure the past is pro log now but they can't be happy with that number at the white house. >> our polls show that the

president's jobs plan has enormous popularity, 2-1 in favor of it. his vision on how to pay for these things, is that glass is half full for the president or is that also exposing this idea that boy, you've got public opinion on his side and can't get it done in washington? which is the issue here? >> at this point i think in the white house you would have to see it as a glass half full and say, it's working. he's going out and he's selling the american jobs act around the country and it's working in terms of public opinion. now does that translate into electoral support? we don't know. does he have have to get a victory on the american jobs act or major parts of it in order for that good feeling about the bill to translate to something at the polls? i don't know, maybe he does. but they have to look at it as half full, better than the

alternatives. they could have sh numbers showing and they don't like it. >> thanks for coming on. always good to have you. >> good to be here, chuck. >> team obama making a big gamble on immigration. you know what you're watching. mobile medical international, a builder of surgical units hit hard times in the first years of operation, the owner asked employees to work without pay maintaining their health insurance, business boomed and the company was named the sba 2011 small business of the year. for more watch "your business" on msnbc. having triplets is such a blessing. not financially. so we switched to the bargain detergent, but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. thanks, honey. yeah. you suck at folding. [ laughs ]

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state department officials just revealed that they have been direct contact with iran over the alleged plot to kill the saudi ambassador on u.s. soil. we'll have more information as we get. how did iran respond to that direct contact? in the politico briefing with immigration reform going nowhere in congress, the obama administration is scaling back deportations of illegal i will grants, a move that could pay dividends for latino. you know, josh, with immigration, every time you think the issue is not front and

center in american politics it's amazing how fast one little thing can get it there. we've seen the republican primary. all of a sudden the college tuition boom, it is still a hot button issue. >> there's no question about that. i think we all understand the basic calculation, the obama administration is making, they wants to appeal to at the time latino voters and immigrant right side of this debate. my article is basically talking about wrinkles that could be in there. one involving really high expectations among the hispanic community for this program that basically some people thinking almost everyone who is subject to deportation could be off the hook. the other is this possibility of sort of a will hi horton style incident. they are going to go back through 400,000 pending deportation cases and giving many of those folks a reprieve. i think the odds that at least some of those people will get in trouble in a serious way are pretty high. this program could be on the front page of not just the

spanish language papers but the english language ones. >> that is always the risk in some of these things. givening where immigration reform is, i think we know where the white house is calculating. josh, thanks very much. >> sure. >> up next, we know what the occupy wall street protesters are railing against. but what are they fighting for? that's what bill clinton is asking. new pressure on delinquent homeowners the number of homes receiving noticed increased 14% indicating banks are moving more aggressively than borrowingers falling behind. >> expect to pay a record amount to keep your home warm. bills are expected to spike nearly $200 more than last year. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits...

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andrea mitchell reports, eight people are dead and ninth in critical condition after a gunman open fire in a southern california hair salon where his ex-wife worked. they were apparently locked in a custody battle over their son. police haven't said if that triggered the attack or even if the ex-wife was among those killed. prosecutors nearing the end of the case in the conrad murray trial after a string of experts testified that the doctor acted with gross negligence in his treatment of michael jackson. the defense is expected to present its case starting next week. a listeria outbreak is is the deadliest in the u.s. in more than 25 years, the source, contaminated cantaloupes being blamed for 23 deaths in a dozen states. and good news for blackberry users, the company says service has been fully restored following a global blackout that lasted three days in spite of

the iphone sales -- i'm kidding about that. it is considering some sort of customer compensation for the inconvenience. on the surface of the occupy wall street protest, it may seem like a rag tag group angered by corporate greed but some subject they are more accurately a voice for average americans feeling the effects of an economic deck stacked against them. i'm joined by major garrett. it was interesting last night that bill clinton went on letterman and he asked him about occupy wall street. and he seemed to channel what you were sort of saying -- you've got to be more specific about what your upset about because everybody agrees you have something to be upset about. >> i wrote in my column wednesday, i don't know what they are for. all i know is something it happening out there and the political class better pay attention. when you see something only in new york, if you saw something only in new york, chicago, los angeles, you could see it's isolated and urban. this is something that is at least percolating at one level

or another all across the country. one thing i suggest in my column, if you're angry at the banks, what is there to be angry about? you could be aroundry about t.a.r.p., 411 went out and most expectations are it will be paid back. think about this, chuck, almost $46 billion was set aside to deal with the mortgage crisis. less than 8 billion has been spent. 1.6 million loan modifications were initiated. but almost 800,000 of those have already been canceled. the vast percentage of bank intervention in mortgage issues has been not to help homeowners but to cancel or terminate modifications in process. >> this has been -- i completely agree. the housing is -- this is at the nut of what everybody is truly upset about, why we can't get out of this mess. i talked to a couple of administration official and said this program you unveiled. we were traveling, both covering

the president in phoenix when he did it and said our hands are tied by t.a.r.p. in this respect. they could not force the banks to modify the loan. >> they had to ask the banks to voluntary do this. >> why would banks voluntarily do it? more debt on their books. >> and when you have fannie and freddie backing the loans, nobody has an expectation it's going to be paid back. many economists believe the actual cost of dealing with this principle problem and huge backlog is going to be twice that. what i'm pointing out and what bill clinton is referring to, we're not wrapping our arms in this town around the central economic problem. congress isn't thinking about it. i'm skeptical of the super committee on theo&ub deficit. i would not be skeptical of a super committee on real estate. this issue has got to be dealt with and dealt with at some point sooner rather than later.

until we do, you'll have continued crashing consumer confidence and won't be confident about their future because their principle asset is dying before their eyes. >> we should give people a homework assignment. he tackles this today in the new york times, everybody is going to have grin and bear it. it's going to cost taxpayer money but only way to stop -- >> great undiscussed issue in this economic plight right now. >> always good to see you. today as protests continue, some in congress have called on justice department to investigate the very banks the demonstrators are speaking out against, specifically bank of america and recently announced plan to begin charging customers to use their debit card. we're joined by "financial times" reporter demos about that. let's get our arms around why the banks believe they should be charging a fee like this for debit cards? >> they feel like the thrust of

recent legislation, point to the durbin amendment that will force banks to pay -- charge fees that are paid between the merchant acquirers who work with the retailers and then the banks themselves. they feel like they are passing on the cost of legislation to consumers with this fee. this is them saying, we'll charge the people who use it. >> so the investigation then would look at what? what exactly are they wanting to find out inside the banks with this investigation? >> well, i think the question is has been for a long time, what exactly are the these paying for? are they just something that banks are able to charge just because they can because they have historically can and they become use fees. do they work with credit card network providers, visa and mastercard and others to sort of enforce these on banks? we've seen lawsuits against some

of the major credit card customers. it seems there's question about exactly what do the banks need this money for? what is it paying for, sort of an excess fee that they are using to get some -- draw some money out of these transactions. it just continues to go to the fact there's a total lack of trust on a lot of issues that regulators and banks are working on. >> have banks offered to be transparent about what they say the fees have gone to? >> they certainly have always said they are necessary to pay for the infrastructure and for the processing as well as some of the risks that they take on, extending small little credit card loans to people every day. they think the reasoning is clear. >> actually, i've never understood -- let me be unfrozen caveman here. ever since a.t.m. machines came around, i can't remember the last time i walked into a bank. shouldn't they be saving on buildings on how many people

they employ? >> well, part of the confusion is there are different networks. you know, sometimes when you use -- when you go to grocery store and you use your debit card and have to sign, that's going on a different network than when you use a debit card and enter your p.i.n. number. so there are still transactions that are taking place. and sometimes they are extending you credit even though it's really coming out of your debit account. it's -- it's not an entirely transparent system. so without sort of rethinking this from the bottom up, they are saying there's still some costs here. >> obviously they do benefit the more people use, the credit cards and debit cards, do benefit. >> it should bring down the costs. >> tehanks very much. social conservatives seem to be in the same boat as republican voters, haven't found

the perfect candidate. tony before i get to the larger question about where social c conservatives are, i want you to get you to respond to something romney said. here was governor romney about patrick jeffress and rick perry. >> he then used religion as a basis for which he said he would endorse governor perry and reason to not support me. and governor perry then said that introduction just hit it out of the park. i don't believe that that kind of device based upon religion has a place in this country. >> i want to ask you about the first place. governor perry selected that individual, is that true? >> it's not true, chuck. pastor was recommends by supporters in texas. we -- i know the pastor.

i sent it up the chain of the campaign and they didn't think anything of it either. by the way, these comments were not made at the podium that have created a little bit of the stir. they were in a side bar conversation with reporters. to say that the governor perry is responsible for what was said, that's not realistic. he was not responsible and he has said, you know, that he doesn't support the comments that were made. >> why not -- already patrick jeffress is admitted that the wordphu was probably not a fair word. but it does seem that there wasn't a denuns yags you would expect faster and quicker from folks if the evangelical community. >> this is from the political realm to the church realm. i've been very clear as i addressed this. i'm not going to go over the fact there is a significant thee

logical differences between evangelical christians and mormons, that's not what the family research council is about or those involved in political process. it's about building coalitions around shared values. that's what we're focused on. values of family and marriage and of religious freedom. >> explain how ron paul is the favorite? i always say that because he doesn't strike me as somebody that ee spouses the agenda you talk about. >> there's a back story. we had 3400 people register for the event saturday morning when ron paul spoke. we had 600 show up. to their credit they paid and registered and they have a great organization and they came in and heard his speech then they left. they were not with the majority who were there simply coming to hear the candidates. i wouldn't say that's a true reflection of where value voters are. however, let me say this, i think that there are some

principles that ron paul advocate that are shared by values voters and i think just as you mentioned earlier in your previous segment about what's happening on wall street, i think politicians should be slow to write off what's happening on the left or on the right with those who are discontent with what's happening in the nation. >> are you concerned that a guy like rick santorum, probably the most vocal when it comes to speaking on social issues is the one guy who hasn't had his hockey stick moment in this campaign? it's not been the social conservative issues that have motivated conservatives this year. >> i heard you earlier talking about mark doing the analysis of where things stand. it's very volatile. as you were talking earlier, four years ago this time, all of a sudden you saw mike huckabee take off. is that herman cain doing that now? is he going to stay up? will he come down? will rick santorum have his

moment? i think it's still very fluid. we don't have an eharmony of politics. no way for a perfect match. this is part of the process. >> eharmony, the last thing we need to introduce into this. who knows, maybe we should. tony perkins, i have to leave it there. thanks for coming on today. >> thanks, chuck. up next, road trip, this was a fantastic piece. joe klein heads to the heartland to hear what's on voters minds as they decide who they support in 2012, which party, wherever, it was a good read. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." only on msnbc. [ boy ] hey, i thought these were electric? uh, it is, yeah, it's a chevy volt. so what are you doing at a gas station? well it still takes gas to go farther. but you're not getting gas. true. not this time. uh, don't have to gas up very often. so you have to go to the bathroom? no. yes you do.

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uh yeah, it's a chevy volt. so you're just here rubbing our nose in the fact that you don't have to buy gas? just plug in and go? that make you feel better? well i still pay about $1.50 a day in electricity... on average. you know he's just here to use the bathroom. customers only. no gas, no bathroom. ok, i'll buy gas. [ father ] whoa, what are you doing? thought these were electric? coming up on "news nation", the tea party is going after the wall street protesters. politico is reporting members of the tea party are trying to delegtize the protester by searching for evidence of drug

use and even posting these things online. we have the details between the war of the grass roots organizations. can herman cain keep up the momentum? some are calling him a clear and present danger to the democratic party. just ahead on "news nation." thank you, tamron. one may only look at the tea party and occupy wall street movement to see the discontent spreading through the american public. >o of "time" represents, no matter how you cliche it, the author behind the story spent 19 days on the road gathering the thoughts of average americans and joins us now. joe, i know you do this every ÷ debrief after you do this. so you come back, occupy wall street is there and you've got the tea party movement. i'm going to give you two poll numbers out there, 74% say wrong

track. 82% say the government up hegty and needs major reforms. what did you find? >> "time" found 81% wrong track. but at the same time we found 89% thought that politicians in washington should compromise to find solutions and support for the tea party was at 11%. it is always an -- americans are so cool. they are really wonderful. and what i found was that they were kind of mystified about how the tea party was able to get this big mega phone and influence the public debate in washington, influence the agenda in washington when most of the people i talked to -- and i was going through a pretty conservative part of the country, felt they had no impact on their views which are moderate and conservative, have no impact at all on the politicians on the big issues

like the deficit and so on. >> what struck me about -- part of the tea party is there was the initial tea party then there was what has become today a professional more professionalized. but the initial tea party and what we've seen in the initial occupy wall street seals to have a similar -- this feeling that things are just unfair. >> right. and it's interesting. i was on the road before the occupy wall street movement really kind of went viral but the one group that i met with that really kind of agreed with occupy wall street on a depridations of big business was a tea party group in texarkana, arkansas, talking about bank bailouts and so on. you don't get that so much from most of the people in the middle. >> and on the political sense,

also the article you talked about the different dynamics on one hand they agree they like to see compromise and like to see action out of washington but specifically what did you find about the president's leadership? >> well, they like the president personally. they think he is try hard and they think he is smart and they admire his attempts to compromise. they don't like the fact that they are just attempts. you were saying it before. they don't see him as a strong leader and that's a problem for him. one thing i thought is a lot of learning who can stand up next to obama because of the debate and seems strong. >> what is it they want to replace obama with. if they are not happy with them, they want a stylistic change more than a stub standive change? >> they want progress. they don't want gridlock.

they like obama's policies and like where he is on a lot of things although they are worried about things they don't quite know that they will be like because of the health care plan. i think they want to have a leader who can get things done. the perception of obama is he hasn't been able to get things done. >> i have to leave it there. it's the cover story of time and a great read. a great moment about joplin in there i want people to take a look at. great to see you. >> what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next on "andrea mitchell reports."

which political story will be making stories in the next 24 hours? i know what you are going to say and i'm going to agree with half of it. it's perry, but i say it's anita. go. >> rick perry is speaking in pittsburgh. this is a major speech.

the first major policy address. it will be a piece of his jobs and economy speech. it seems weird. it will focus on energy and tried to bring things around to the debate and didn't work that well and he can do better tomorrow. what do you say about anita? >> anita has been in south carolina today getting tough on mitt romney and getting tough saying he implied he may not have a moral that is the same compass that keeps him from being wishy washy and emotional. she is become an aggressive sur gal surigate. >> maybe she should be the candidate. >> it will be a big rick perry push on national coverage as well. thank you, sir. i'm chuck todd and tamron hall has a look at what's next. >> we are following developing

news and the fallout of a major teacher's cheating scandal and the teachers could lose their licenses. this is a big scandal. plus, how can hurm an cain keep up with momentum now that he is leading in one poll. no prominent republicans have endorsed him and some people are calling him the front-runner who is doomed. the tea party attacking the occupy wall street protesters and members are launching a new attack campaign and trying dig up dirt on the protesters. "news nation" is minutes away. woman: we love ordering sushi, but it was getting expensive.

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>> right now on "news nation," hurricane watch. it won't lead him to the gop nomination and his relationship with african-american voters. one claimed that cain is