joe." willie, what did you learn today? >> i think we should have david axelrod on everyday. >> what did you like? >> to quote richard haas. >> next time we should tweet we're going to war. it's "morning joe." stick around right now for "chuck". president obama's bus tour rolls from north carolina to virginia. he's pitching his jobs plan, but are these new blue states his insurance policy for 2012. senator kay hagan joins us in a few minutes. someone skipping a debate and some might skip the entire early caucus ets. will pressure from new hampshire nix what is already a very

fragile lesion. plus is hollywood's new republican elite holding back on 2012. find out why some of the conservatives aren't dirk out. i am chuck todd. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. tonight, seven republican hopefuls in their fifth debate. mitt romney, still the fragile front runner. herman cain is leaving nothing to chance. he is out with a very tough web video called the facts attacking rick perry's jobs record in texas. >> your opponents point out that unemployment has doubled and that about 65% of the texas job gains sense 2007 are actually government jobs. is that the model for the country? >> i disagree with those

numbers. >> we've begun to see progress all across the country. businesses are beginning to hire aga again. >> that's a romney video out this morning. guess they're preparing for what could be an attack night in vegas. what have we learned from all these debates? for rick perry who now has the participated in mar debates as a presidential candidate than as a texas politician, 26 years, mind you. he's in the a very good debater. >> is it the mitt romney against the second amendment before he was for the second amendment. was it before he was before the social programs from the stand point of he was far standing up for roe versus wade before he

was against roe versus wade. >> mitt romney has been given a virtual free pass by many of his rivals, attacked at just debate so far. >> some might say because of your past employment with bank capital, somebody who breaks down businesses, destroys jobs. how would you respond to his criticism of your signature legislative achievement. >> can you name all 59 points in your 160 page plan. >> that could change tonight. remember, it was about this time, an october debate when chris dodd made that damaging hit on hillary clinton. i want to go back to romney here. what has been amazing about this is in 2007 and 2008, the republican field didn't like mitt romney. you could tell and they went after him all the time at the deba debates. that's not happening this time. that's got to make the romney

people feel good. the down side so far this cycle is that while the republicans are paying a lot of attention, the more attention somebody pays to this race, the more likely they are to support somebody else, at least if you believe the nbc wall street journal poll. cain did better than those paying the most attention. immigration wasn't a top issue. now it is. michelle bachmann was quick to take advantage of herman cain's quote, unquote joke about an electric border fence at a stop in arizona yesterday. >> this is no laughing matter, the border fence. we've seen jokes made about presidential candidates about the fence. it is not a jek. >> well, cain who was also in phoenix for a media appearance with staunch immigration was

asked to explain those comments. >> let me say to the joke, some people don't think it was a good joke. probably not a joke you're supposed to make if you're a presidential candidate. i apologize if i offended offended anyone. i think we're splitting hairs here. i don't apologize for using an electric fence. >> maybe it wasn't a joke. arpaio met with loud protesters. >> i have illegal immigrants on the chain gang. so nobody goes after me. it was a joke. >> he just said the fence might be electric.

>> i don't know. i got an electric fence. it doesn't kill people. it shocks you. >> well, there you go. but it's one thing that has come out of these first five debates. immigration. just like it did in the 2007 politics. it disappeared in 2008. we're seeing it happen again in this republican primary which brings us out to this western question. republicans have not done well out west, even in 2010 where they were sweeping the country, winning back the house, winning all these senate races. places they thought they were going to win they lost were at west colorado, nevada. one explanation is hispanic voters. the president is in campaign mode. his august tour was all about the aftermath of the bruising debt ceiling fight. this time it is about jobs and his jobs legislation which is

friendlier terrain for the democrats. president kicked off his north carolina swing with a new talking point saying he's giving congressional republicans another chance at the bill. >> the republican plan boils down to a few basic ideas. they want a gut regulations. they wanna let wall street do whatever it wants. they want to drill more and they want to repeal health care reform. we're going to give members of congress another chance to step up to the plate. maybe they couldn't understand the whole thing all at once. so we're going to break it up into bite-size pieces. >> we may be 13 months before the election but it sure didn't sound like it yesterday. here is republican john mccain. >> the president is now

traveling attacking the republican plan. i think the question might be, though, is that appropriate on the taxpayer's dime since it is clearly campaigning, and i must say again, i have never seen an uglier bus than the canadian one. >> first of all, little correction there. it's the secret service that bought these buses for both nominees after what happened in 2008. so, these are buses that were bought by the secret service. but as for senator mccain's other point, are we shocked that politics is going on between the two major parties. all right the president's piece mill approach for jobs bill is starts with $30 million. nbc's christian walker is traveling with the president in jamestown. walk me throughout schedule today. goes to north carolina and i believe overnight in virginia. >> reporter: that's right,

chuck. we expect the president to arrive here shortly at this community college here. he's going to talk to a group of educators then he'll speak at the ymca. as you mentioned, again urge congress to pass that $35 billion come point of his jobs bills that he says would put teachers and first responders back to work. this has been incredibly heated rhetoric that we've heard from the president so far on this trip. we expect that continue today in jamestown. then when he headed to virginia a little bit later on this afternoon he'll speak at a local high school there. as we've been talking about, north carolina, virginia will be the key to the president's re-election prospects. virginia is particularly interesting. no democrat hasn't won that state since 1964. president obama did it back in 2008 thanks in part to a lot of independent voters. a lot of those independent

voters have really soured on him. 62% disapprove of the job he's doing. he is going to try to woo some of those independent voters. the first lady will join the president in virginia tomorrow on this bus tour. >> all right. kristen welker traveling with the president. thank you very much. the white house insists that isn't a campaign tour, president clearly needs to boost his numbers if he plans to hold onto north carolina, a state he won last time by just 14,000 votes. joining me now north carolina democratic senator kay hagan. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> i want to start with your reaction to what the president told wcnc about his prospects in north carolina last night. >> my intention is to win north carolina again like we did last time. it'll be close because obviously folks are frustrated with the challenges we still face in the economy. i think ultimately the people in

north carolina, they know we're not going to be able to go back to the old ways of doing things. >> you agree with the president's assessment? >> i do. i think people in north carolina right now are concerned about jobs, jobs, jobs. i'm pleased he's in north carolina so he can speak to people one on one, hear the fact that they are frustrated with unemployment where it is right now. we've got 10.4% unemployment. 450,000 people out of work. they want congress to quit the partisan bickering, come together and do what's right. >> the last time the president was in north carolina, just a few weeks ago he was pushing the original jobs bill which of course is being broken up into pieces. he was talking about bridges that he said in north carolina were falling down. you took issue with that. you think he was overselling this issue of infrastructure decaying in north carolina? >> we need money for infrastructure. we do have very old bridges. we have bridges that need to be

rebuilt. we have new bridges that need to be built. the idea is it's going to put people back to work and it is going to improve the infrastructure that we have. i was with him in nashville. it is a beautiful city, a beautiful community, but we need to have infrastructure funds to help our economy. >> is there -- so you don't think he was ever selling it before? you still think he was overselling it when he was talking about those bridges? >> you look across the country. we need to improve our road system, our bridges, our airports. we need to have broad band access throughout the krcountry. there are many places in north carolina that don't have access to high speed broad band. i have farmers that need to check in daily with their suppliers and yet they've got to drive 20, 45 minutes to get to a

dial up internet than that slows down their business and the economy. we need that. >> so, walk me through what you believe the senate is actually going to take up this week. i think senate majority leader harry reed said he hoped in the next day or two there would be a vote on the teacher aspect of this jobs bill. is that correct. >> that is correct. the president has askedtous look at a $35 billion part of the bill to go to teachers, firefighters, put more policemen on the street. across the country those jobs have been cut by communities, counties, cities because of the budget cuts. this would be a great infusion to put more teachers back on the job. education is one of the most important things our country needs right now. we need to invest in the future and that's what this bill does. it also has been voted on before by democrats and republican.

that's what i'm looking for snrz what is a specific way you pay for this $35 billion? >> the way this is is to tax a little bit more on people making a million dollars or more. last year 144 million tax payers filed tax returns. only 500,000 made a million or more. 7,000 of those paid zero in tax. that's what we're looking for, to be sure we have an equitable system in that regard. >> so, this bill, if passed separately will kick in that tax increase or no? >> it would be paid for by looking at people who make a million dollars or more. >> so if this passes, gets the 60 votes and you expect that it will? >> you know, what we need to do is come together, democrats and republicans. i done care whose idea it is. right now senator john mccain and i have a bill the foreign earnings reinvestment act. right now in our country we have

a trillion dollars of american companies sitting overseas doing no good for the american economy. we need to pull that money back as bipartisan. it would be a huge infusion to our tax base and to put people back of work. >> did you ask the president yesterday to support that? >> i have talked to -- we talked to his staff. i didn't have a chance yesterday but i certainly will. the key to this is the more the companies hire the more they pay in taxes. if they lay somebody off, there is very stiff penalties. >> senator kay hagan, thank you for coming on. show biz stars stepping out in the spotlight as republicans. it is growing more and more lately. so who are the hollywood republican elite and which chb getting red carpet treatment. plus, will what happens in vegas stay in vegas.

as republican candidates prepare to take to the debate tonight we we're going to get a daily run down on how much primary debates really do matter. first, the president's schedule. we already gave you a trek through it. a busy day on that big secret service bus. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. clorox disinfecting wipes and...a digital recorder. i'm finally feeling better. good honey, you turn into such a little whiner when you're sick. no i don't. [ bawk! ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote. that sounds nothing like me. [ beep ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote.

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now that sylvester stallone has endorsed me, i'm sending it over to help chuck norris right away. >> hollywood has a long history

of supporting democrats. after years of relative silence, there is a growing number who have been speaking up and now would like to get involved in presidential politics. this year ron paul is being boosted by vince vaughn. mitt romney has cindy crawford in his corner. that leaves some names still on the sideline. there really is a hollywood conservative elite. ted johnson covers politics in hollywood. ted, i did this little teaser on twitter and e-mail. i've gotten all these, okay, what do you have a 15 second block to fill as one house republican said to me. but in all seriousness this is a growing block of folk folks. tell us about it. >> you mentioned gary. he was a group of republicans

that call themselves friends of abe. it really is a lot of the conservative rank and file from the entertainment group. they get prominent republicans coming and visiting. john boehner was there. michelle bachmann was there earlier this year. herman cain is going to be there next much. i see a group more organized and more energized than they were back in 2008. >> what is it they are looking for in a candidate? you said a lot of these haven't sided with anybody. is this a stereotype they are wanting the socially moderate fiscally conservative or is there a culture hook? what is it exactly they are looking for? >> well, certainly socially moderate and fiscally conservative and also strong on the fence. they are definitely looking for that. hollywood tends to have the more lib tear january types of

conservatives. but also there is a sense of are we really ready to commit to mitt romney. now romney has gotten some of what i would call the corporate support. but there is this sense of is he going to shake up the system enough? i hear people over and over again saying we want someone who is going to shake up the system and really get in there and kree yaet a new kind of politics. i talked to a prom nept writer-produce who are said to me, you know, i'm really looking for someone. i'm looking at herman cain right now. i asked him, what about mitt. will you support him. he said i guess. there is this sense, to an exten it reflects a lot of the rest of the republicans. >> how much money is there to be gotten in hollywood for the republicans? >> well, the break down is about 70% to 30%. 70% for the democrats, 30% for the republicans.

i think in the last cycle, john mccain came out of here with about $2 million. now, that was based on an estimate. anyway, that 30% is actually a significant number when you think about it, not only because of the dollars involved. but these are highly visible figures. >> right. >> who will get out there and get on the campaign trail. they'll raise money. and because they are hollywood republicans which people sthi an ox si moron, they get more and more attention. >> well, we did this entire segment, we never even mentioned arnold schwarzenegger. ted john son. always good to have you on. ted, thanks very much. >> thanks. will stocks slump back into the red on monday? what can we expect on wall street today? we'll get a market preview next. still to come, the not so full house in vegas tonight is looking like a theme for nevada politics.

we have my man john ralston will be here to talk about why the michigan wolverines can't go undefeated anymore but in all seriousness why nevada should be a caucus state or not. first, the trivia question if what year had the most candidates on the ballot for new hampshire primary counting both democrats and republicans. it only cost a thousand dollars. you, too, can run for president. the first correct answer will get a follow tuesday promise. the answer and more, coming up on "the daily run down". we'll be right back. for fastidin emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor,

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turning to the markets. stocks trying to bounce back after a rough monday.

the market run down. i assume the goldman news is going to send shock waves or no? >> i don't know about shock waves. we are looking at a lower opening this morning. goldman sachs losing 428 million in the first quarter. the second time they have lost money since they have been public. that is big news. some people would argue it was baked into the cake. bank of america actually making money this quarter over $6 billion. so that actually looking a little bit healthier. when you get into the numbers it is a little bit more complicated than that. coke cola also out with the race today. that was in line with expectations. interesting, sort of policy perspective, johnson & johnson also had earnings. in the united states it declined about 7%. outside of this country, up 27%. so you can really start seeing

where much of the investment is going. chuck. >> how much of that, though, let me ask you this. maybe i'm asking you a question we don't know the answer to that yet. so many other countries buy prescription drugs in bulk. >> that is part of it. you can really sort of, looking through the johnson & johnson numbers, there is a much bigger issue that we can take care of. >> andrew, good to have you back here. >> thank you, sir. >> "daily run down". we'll be back in 30 seconds.

back now with some other stories making headlines today. there are celebrations in israel as a soldier held captive for five years by militants finally is reunited with his family. he was freed as part of a prisoner swap. he was captured in 2006 during a cross-border raid. under the deal more than a thousand pal sten january prisoners will be released. secretary of state hillary clinton is in libya on an unannounced visit. the u.s. is pledging millions of dollars including medical care for soldiers as well as finding weapons looted from gaddafi's compound. the occupy wall street demonstrations are opt move

today as protesters plan to gather near the district attorney's office in lower manhattan. they would like an investigation on what they see as heavy handed tactics by the police on the protest movement itself. president obama's southern swing ran into some trouble. a truck carrying the podium and a tell prompter was stolen from a hotel parking lot. nbc 12, our affiliate reports 200,000 worth of sound equipment was also in the vehicle. the truck was found a short time later. not clear what, if anything, the thieves made off with. may be simply they accidentally stole the truck. remember, this is a combination of advance and secret service that deals with this material. tonight marks the eighth debate of the presidential election cycle. but just how much does all this impact the decision of the real-life voters. nbc political reporter took a

closer look at that question. joins me now. in these debates people think it runs on. the moments matter. tell us about it. >> that's true. over the past decade we've really seen more and more of these debates. in fact, on this year on the republican side we're on pace for the most ever. >> republican presidential candidates will take the staej tonight for the eighth time in this election cycle. do primary debates matter? they can be used to pile on a front runner like in 2003 when howard dean was leading in the polls. >> the reason i knew i was the front runner is because i keep picking buck shots out of my rear end all the time. >> it can also be a turning point. just ask hillary clinton when she stumbled talking about driver's license for illegal immigrants. >> i certainly recognized why governor is trying to do it and we have failed. >> no, no, no. you said yes you thought it made

sense to do it. >> no, i didn't, chris. >> primary debates can't necessarily make a campaign but they can break it. back in june, tim pola nrgs e balked when given the opportunity to back up a tax on mitt romney's health care plan. >> using the term obama care was a reflection of the president's comments that he deseened health care. >> that was seen as the beginning of the end for the former minnesota governor. a month plaiter after a third place finish. >> thank you for loving america. >> he dropped out. >> after rick perry bursts onto the scene in august a string of poor debate showings. >> was it before he was before the social program's. >> led to a collapse in perry's poll numbers. >> he went from 38% and in first place in the nbc wall street journal poll in august to 16% and thi place this month. the latest republican front runner herman cain was the focus of the last debate. >> my 9-9-9 plan.

>> the 9-9-9 plan. >> the 9-9-9 plan. >> this is why we developed 9-9-9. >> he has spent the last week defending and explaining a plan. he had touted for its simplicity. mitt romney has been the steadiest so far, but with several debates to go, the man who many think is still the one to beat for the gop nomination has to avoid any big mistakes. >> during the 2000 election the first debate wasn't until december of 1999 and chuck, in the 2004 election first debate wasn't until 2004. here we are -- >> times have changed. >> by the iowa caucuses are going to be the day after new year's that we recognize the new year's holiday. >> calendar moves up. >> good stuff. thank you. >> john huntsman won't be on stage. he is boycotting the event because of nevada's decision to go into a primary counter. let's take a look at what's

causing the mess. iowa made it official last night. republican party voted to hold their caucuses on january third. they felt forced to move up followed by south carolina moving theirs to january 21st. here to help us make since of the calendar mess is john ralston. he is host of the face to face in nevada. a man who watches his michigan wolverines lose pretty -- when was the last time they beat michigan state? >> i don't want to talk about it, chuck. it's been too long. >> let's tack about what's going on here with nevada. the nevada republican caucuses first of all. with they at all -- are they feeling the pressure, the state

party, feeling pressure to move this simply to january 17th and end this little feud? >> i think they're feeling tremendous pressure, chuck. i spoke to the chairwoman yesterday. she said the calls are nonstop and she's having a big party meeting on saturday where she thinks a lot of the faithful are going to try to get her to move the date. the governor seems to be holding if i recall on january 14th. hey, there are plenty of days for bill gardener tor set that new hampshire primary. why not do that. >> the question though is are republican candidates simply taking advantage of the fact that they have no chance of winning nevada. mitt romney who wasn't a very strong candidate win the nevada caucuses, won them going awe way. so it is easy to skip something you have no dhans at anyway. >> everyone seems to think mitt romney has nevada wrapped up

because of 2008. john mccain didn't even play here. he finished in third place. ron paul finished in second. the ron paul contingent out here is still formittable, chuck. romney while she the favorite is not a lock. the highest elected public official in the state who endorsed rick perry if perry can suddenly get going again could sand sand sandoval bring only organization behind perry. this is florida's fault that this all happened. >> i know it is. it absolutely is. national parties didn't seem to have an enforcement mechanism to do this and then the states go ahead and run amuck. >> tell me this, how are the caucuses going to be held? will they be improved upon for access to voters than they were four years ago. i'm talking about the republican side of this. >> the republicans, if you remember back in 2008, they were very slow to react.

harry reed got the early caucus. suddenly the republicans realized this might be a good thing to do and move their date up too. will is no seen yet this they are very well organized. at that meeting on saturday, the state party is going to decide essentially how to run this weather. there is going to be same day registration. democrats registered 30,000 voters in one day. there is a lot of paranoia as you know among the faithful about same day registration among republicans. the fact that we are a young state also hurts us i think. >> is there any thinking with the nevada republicans that says they would -- it's better to have a weak buffer, a one week buffer with new hampshire so go to the 17th so that you encourage candidates to spend

six days campaigning in nevada rather than potentially having new hampshire squeeze nevada going to the 10th and making it easier for candidates to say three days in nevada. forget it. i'll go straight to south carolina. >> i think that is an argue that is being made, chuck. you know better than anybody. we don't know what the race is going to look like come january. nevada may be unimportant. may be very important. i think the problem is now there is a certain amount of nevada pride, not that i have contributed to that at all. >> not at all. >> but the governor and a lot of elected officials are saying wait a second. bill gardener, the secretary of state of new hampshire told nevada to set its date. nevada sets its date. he doesn't like it and now suddenly there is this big mess over it. i think some of these nevada officials have their back up over it. >> sure. >> i noticed from chairwoman tarkanian yesterday, she did not seem to have the resolve

yesterday that she had before. i think she's getting a lot of pressure to move the date. >> february 14th, there is nothing going on in february. nevada could own february. valentine'ses in vegas. it even goes together. come on, john. get on the bandwagon. >> you're trying to take us out of the early caucus. we cannot get out of that. we'll never get it back. people like you are just in love with new hampshire. >> actually it's iowa that i love, but that's okay. john ralston, always a pleasure, my friend. we will see you back soon. >> all right, chuck. >> john huntsman is going to be live on andrea mitchell reports at 1:00 to explain his decision to boycott nevada. he'll be joining her, of course, from new hampshire where he's moved his entire campaign. coming up, even more 2012 news with the super tuesday panel. but first, of course, soup of the day. miso would be upset if i didn't

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call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details. president obama became the first democrat sense jimmy carter to win north carolina when he carried the state by just over 14,000 votes in 2008. this time around with unemployment an double digits in the state, the president, vice president and first lady have made 13 trips to state officially. only ranks really behind we believe florida and ohio. political analyst michelle bernard. fred yang and kelly o' donell. >> good morning. >> you poll north carolina a lot. you have had clients there for years. have always argued it was a swing state before the rest of

the country acknowledged it was a swing state. when i give you these numbers, official trips, vp biden, 21 to ohio. florida, 19 since he took office. north carolina, 13. is that a smart use of official resources when it comes to swing states. >> the other thing is the dmc conventional. no. i think north carolina, virginia, ohio, i think those are among the three states that could determine the presidency next year. >> what is it about north carolina that republicans have failed to understand which has cost them some of these elections, mainly what happened in 2008 but even the fact they were able to hold. >> i think two legs of the strategy. number one, strong african american population. a lot of those voters don't vote. enthusiasm for the obama poll drove a lot of them to the

polls. there are white working class democrats in the north central part of the state and the eastern part of the state that have drifted between the parties. >> and they still drift. >> yeah. they still drift. this is a pure toss up state for both. >> the president is there to talk about the jobs bill. here is his campaign against the republican verse of what they're trying to push in the senate. >> their basic agesic argument you led them do what they want p to do without any rules in place, that will automatically lead to job growth. we tried that for ten years. we tried it before i came in office and we had the lowest job growth that we had seen during a time when the economy was actually expanding. >> this appears to be the president's description of the jobs bill. what is the status of this

thing? >> what we're going to see on the democratic side today, in just about an hour they are going to be talking about the kind of chopping up in bits the president's own pln. so the republican plan wants to go after regulation. wants to go after things that would infuse businesses with more confidence long term. kind of the typical arguments we hear between the parties. what will be interesting to see, democrats in the senate are going to put forward first. can they get any of those sort of wayward democrats to go along because it does include a sliver of the millionaires tax as well. .5%. they are going to do it incrementally. that still would qualify as a new tax. >> and that could unify the republican party. >> easily. i have had republican office holders in north carolina say to me they are surprised the president has invested as much time in north carolina notwithstanding the convention being located and saying he better do it early because later

in the election that's not going to be a place. >> it's interesting republicans have been trying to push this. they think the mccain cam pane was discome boblated and forgot to target north carolina. >> i think that is inaccurate. if you look particularly i don't think nen could underestimate the importance of the african american vote in north carolina and in the south. every census. and non-native wiet folk, too in north carolina which is transplants. >> absolutely. you have people that are educated in north carolina, very highly educated people. people who are more and more self-identifying as democrats and who were very happy with the obama campaign. i think we will continue to see it in the south. >> let me ask you this on what the republicans are pushing as a version of the jobs bill. if they are not able to make a case that they are creating jobs, how are they going to sell

this? >> quite frankly i think the democrats and republicans are going to have a very difficult time settling both of their jobs bills. it is going to be even harder fb republicans, particularly if you look in a state like north carolina where certain segments of the population are struggling. they cannot find jobs. it is a very difficult time period in these states. >> we're going to go to the republican race right after the break, michelle. we asked what year had the most candidates on the ballots for the new hampshire primary. the answer was not 2008 as most of you guessed. it was 1992. there were over 60 from both parties on the ballot that year. remember, a thousand dollar check, you too can run for president in new hampshire. you'll be right back. you're watching "the daily run down" on msnbc. nists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses...

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. let's bring back the super tuesday panel, michelle bernard, fred yang and kelly smith.

tonight, we are wondering how much the middle or second-tier candidates will pile on herman cain. in questions about whether he is really taking this campaign seriously. he took issue with this. >> one myth is that i am not in this race to win it. that i am just trying to get my profile up so i can get a tv show or a radio show. if you know herman cain, you know that nothing is further from the truth. if you don't believe me, i invite you to get a copy of my new book "this is herman cain." they are going to be selling like hotcakes. >> michelle bernard, is this something to be joking about? we do have a report that he is spending quite a bit of money to buying his book.

this is standard for campaigns to do to use at fund-raisers. what does he have to do to make sure he stops getting those questions? >> i think it is critical that herman cain really understand questions about immigration policy and foreign policy, now that he is the front-runner in the republican party, people should begin to really take a very serious look at number one does he know what a neocon is. what's his policy to deal with muslims in this country. he has to make the american public understand what he stands for and does he know anything about foreign policy. >> transitioning from the loud guy on a talk show to a serious presidential candidate. fred yang, we see the romney campaign put out a video attacking rick perry. rick perry put out a positive

view with the job plans. romney is trying to go for a knock-out blow while perry is trying to reintroduce himself. >> the other thing mitt romney is trying to do is show he can take on barack obama and the democrats next november. this happened for democrats in 2008. it has happened to republicans in 2012. they want to win. part of the romney message is, i'm the person who can take the fight to the democrats. >> kelly o'donnell, polls are showing that most people view him as the guy most likely to beat him. at the same time, when you ask who is most likeable and who agrees with you on the issues, they pick herman cain. >> is one of the things we see early in elections. people want to get to know someone they haven't known something about. it has been exciting and fun to talk about herman cain. many didn't know anything about his buy ou or the fact that he

would perform. he has gotten past the like ability and opened up the door exposing some weaknesses that they may drive a truck through. if. >> if it is another night challenging herman cain, that's a win for mitt romney, is it not? >> yes. >> shameless plug. >> howard university's homecoming week. this afternoon, i will be over there from 1:00 to 3:30 doing the leadership panel. >> the super tuesday panel, i like it. >> we are going to be bringing back super tuesdays very seen. kelly o'donnell? >> i'm not sure where on the shameless scale this follows but come follow me on twitter @kellyo. she had a fake twitter account that somebody was using. >> flattery, they say. >> that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." tomorrow, we will be debuting new poll numbers from florida and south carolina, two critical

primary states coming up next, chris jansen and company and at 1:00, jon huntsman, the man who has become a new hampshire resident. temperatures very warm back in atlanta. 97 in phoenix. ♪

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