help struggling americans laughable. will the president be the one laughing come election kay day? hillary clinton 2012? a new poll saying she fares better against the republicans than obama. should president obama put her on the ticket? the wounded iraq war vet whose story is a cry -- his uncle joins me live to discuss what his family is doing to get justice. what's next for gays in the military. a number of service members now suing over the defense of marriage act. we're going to speak with one soldier battling cancer who is concerned her spouse and child will be left with no benefits. hi everybody. good friday morning to you. i'm thomas roberts. we begin with a war of words over the president's plan to issue executive orders to help get the economy back on track. the president unveiling a number of those in a west coast swing this week including those helping struggling homeowners, also helping students that are

crippled by student loan debt and today we lerp the president will announce two executive orders to stimulate the marketplace and help small business. john boehner says the president is overstepping his executive authority. take a listen to what he said on the laura ingram showment. >> i thought that we were a nation of laws and that our country was governed by our constitution. this idea that you're going to go around the congress is just almost laughable. >> john harwood is chief washington correspondent for cnbc and joins us now. speaker boehner says president obama is overstepping his constitutional thorpt. first off, is he? what do republicans have to gain with the argument dore they continue to look like obstructionists to the obama administration? >> i'm not a constitution lawyer. i don't know how to evaluate that claim. i do know that presidents take executive action all the time. i'm sure that speaker boehner that the president is traveling from one end of the country to

the other trashing republicans and accusing them of holding him back. that's behind some of his rhetoric, i'm sure. the question is whether the executive order will do anything significant to boost the economy. and i think the odds of that are not particularly good. >> when we look at the markets, the dow on track for this historic october after closing yesterday. europe looking like it's getting its act together with the debt crisis and new numbers out this morning that show consumers are spending more. john, will there be any long-term benefit to the president on this one? >> better than that the dow is up than down. better the gdp was 2.5% in the third quarter rather than much lower in the second quarter. but under any reasonable forecast, unemployment is going to be very high. growth in the economy is going to be slow. so that people don't feel like we're in good times. that we're recovering robustly. that's going to be a political problem for the president. what he has to do is make the

argument that weak as it is, it's getting better and my ideas are better than their idea. >> the unemployment figures are bad for both sides. the fact that consumers are spending doesn't sound so good when you look at the fact that incomes didn't budge in september and americans saved at the lowest level since the start of the great recession. what's the bottom line for both sides when it comes to the economy? >> bottom line is that congress is unpopular and republicans have to be concerned about the durability of their ma skrort in the house. on the other hand, the opportunity for republican gains in the senate is outstanding given the seats that are open. and the president has a tough reelection campaign. >> cnbc chief washington correspondent john harwood. great to see you. president obama may want four more years in the white house. there's another figure in the democratic party who fares better in matchups against the cream of the 2012 gop crop. secretary of state hillary clinton has big leads over mitt romney, rick perry and herman cain in the latest time magazine

poll. a sign of her success in the president's cabinet and the place that she still holds in hearts of progressives in this country. politico editor in chief harris johns joins me. in each poll she tops the republican by well over 50%. comparatively, president obama reaches 50% in one matchup, that's against perry. john, could this lead to more calls for hillary clinton to run or at least be considered to be on the ticket? >> well, this has been a parlor game that's been buzzing in washington for months now. i think the game is spreading outside washington. in my travels in recent weeks to minnesota, california, elsewhere, people are always asking is hillary going to be on the ticket? i just say bluntly, i would be stunned. president obama says he's going to reappoint joe biden to run with him. biden has said he wants the job. for him to reverse course on that at this point would be a major signal of panic within the

obama operation. so i think we can enjoy that power game but know that we're being a little bit fanciful with that. the numbers do show, however, just what a formidable figure hillary clinton has become. not just for democrats and progressives as he said. these numbers show that she's become a popular figure in the center and among independents. that's pretty striking if you think back over the years at just how polarizing hillary clinton used to be. she's now a unifying figure. more popular than almost any other politician. >> ironically, secretary clinton and the president they'll be meeting later today. do you think that this is the elephant in the room so to speak, that hillary clinton knows where she stands in terms of what the nation thinks of her, the president obviously knows that. do you think this is something that they have in the back of their minds or you say no way? >> probably when they get together, there's an elephant in the room because of their shared history and the tough competition in 2008.

i think they've long since learned to overlook that competition and have a pretty good working relationship. in fact, the reason hillary clinton is popular one main reason is people see her working hard, loyally, persistently in her job as secretary of state and they see that work not so much in a political context but in a broader leadership context and people find that appealing. so i doubt it's especially awkward. >> right, but he you know it's in the back of that ir minds. i'm sure it's satisfying to see how popular she is, frustrating on another level, i could have used this four years ago. >> do you think that -- michelle obama is the secret weapon, do you think hillary clinton is the secret, secret weapon on the came pan trail. >> i don't expect to see her on the campaign trail a lot in 2012 because i expect her to continue as secretary of state through president obama's first term. it would be unusual to have a secretary of state on the road in a partisan sense. i do expect the speculation

about her presidential ambitions to stay with us as long as she's an active figure in public life. we'll hear speculation about 2012 and we're going to hear about 2016 especially. politico's john harris. nice to see you today. >> thanks, tom. thousands of protesters are rallying around the war vet, scott olson. his skull fractured during a rally in oakland tuesday night. witnesses say he was hit in the head with a tear gas canister, fired by police. family members say he can now talk and write. but doctors still haven't ruled out surgery. the marine vet survived two iraq tours and won medals for his service. now the 24-year-old has become a defining symbol of the occupy movement. thousands holding vigils in his honor. last night the oakland mayor issued this apology for the excessive force used by police. >> i wanted to say to you tonight is how deeply saddened i am about the outcome on tuesday. it's not what anyone hoped for.

i understand its my responsibility and i want to apologize to everyone about what happened. >> i'm joined this morning by george, the uncle of that injured iraq vet. it's nice to have you on. first off, how is scott doing and does he know exactly what happened to him? >> well, i guess he knows what happened to him. maybe not down to the absolute detail, obviously. but he's doing a lot better. i guess his verbal skills have not returned. apparently they tested him with math skills and he was okay there. it seems to me, whatever injury he's sustained temporarily or permanently has to do with his verbal skills. >> the prognosis for potential surgery, that remains undefined right now? >> i'm sure it does. i'm not in contact enough to know what the decision is on

that. >> do you know why scott decided to join that protest, why he felt compelled to be there with the people of oakland? >> i certainly do. i mean, scott is a pretty dedicated and patriotic guy. i mean, that's why he joined the marine corps. he recognizes, he has a fairly good job. he recognizes that there is a lot of inequity and he was especially concerned about the problems that fellow veterans were having finding jobs. >> we hear about the thousands of people around this country that are rallying support prayers for your nephew. as we saw earlier, the mayor was apologizing launching now an investigation. george, is there more that you think should be done to get justice for scott? >> yeah. actually, i'm very encouraged by seeing that jean kwan has made those statements that you just

had on and she actually visited scott yesterday. i think it has to go further. and i think that it seems like the police and the prosecutors are doing an investigation and certainly if there was -- appears to be criminality involved here as far as the police actions then i just hope that they pursue it to the rightful end. >> george, the your nephew is in the thoughts and prayers of millions of americans around the country. we wish the best for you and your family. we appreciate your time today. the uncle of scott olson, the iraq war vet hurt in the oakland protests. overnight, a tractor-trailer slammed into the back of a minivan with ten people inside in indiana. witness accounts suggest the van may have hit a deer before slowing down or stopping. police believe the seven killed were members of the same extended family. none of them were wearing their

seatbelts. so it's not even halloween and the first big snowfall of the year is upon us. i'm not kidding you. heavy wet snow from virginia up into maine with some areas getting up to a foot. more expected than that on the way for the best in weather coverage. let's go to the weather channel's carl parker. this is a trick-or-treat for some, right? >> this is shaping up to be a serious storm. i nia long the 95 corridor. it's not going to be as much. farther west it will be. the developing storm is now across parts of the southeast. we have heavier rain into tennessee and florida right now. we'll see more of that going through the afternoon and then the storm will lift up and move into the carolinas tonight. it's going to be getting stronger as it moves up the coast and then heading into saturday morning, we'll find snow developing here across the interior part of the northeast. by saturday night, the storm is going to bomb out. which is to say it's going to get more intense. heavy wet snow coming down here. generally west of 95. you see the snow/rain line along

95. that's why it's a difficult call forecastwise. this is what we're thinking. probably about 6 to 12 inches. maybe more. again, to the west of 95. we're talking about lancaster to allentown getting up into poughkeepsie and into worseter. couple of inches in new york and boston. about 3 to 5 in philly. on top of that, you have a lot of wind. 30 to 40 mile an hour wind and a lot of leaves on the trees. that combination could lead to widespread power outages. i suspect people should get candles and flashlights out. >> it's going to be a mess for some. carl parker from the weather channel. thank you so much. developing news to pass along. detectives on board of a cruise ship in boston after two separate deaths. the cruise ship docked this morning after two passengers on board died. police say a 67-year-old woman died of natural causes. and they don't know how a 23-year-old man died. we're going to get more details on this and keep you posted on that story. the smoking campaign

manager. herman cain's right hand man is an internet sensation. but new details this morning about his questionable past. could mark block do damage to the cain campaign? >> if you're tired this morning, it might be because you stayed up late watching what turned into an unbelievable world series game. get some rest. game 7 is tonight. details, highlights coming up. d. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. dad's a real cleaning machine. and look at mom whipping up some kraft homestyle mac & cheese. sure it's easy to make,

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welcome back everybody. let's take the political pulse across the nation. in less than han hour, rick perry will meet the filing deadline for the new hampshire. perry, unlike michele bachmann will make it official in person even as his polls number have had a steady decline. the republican brand is growing. 40% of americans considering themselves to be member of that

party. that's up 3% from early 200. a few average americans caught a meal with president obama. he had dinner in a virginia restaurant with winners of a contest that was sponsored by his campaign. herman cain is keeping up his tour of states that aren't critical for the january primary calendar. this morning, he attended a tea party breakfast in alabama. his first of five stops in the state today. take a listen. >> this campaign is about let people be people and get the government off your backs. i don't have ka jill i don't know dollars to self-fund my campaign. but i got good news for you. thanks to you all the contributions have gone up in the last few weeks so we're going to be in there to the end. thanks to you. >> campaign andrew rafferty is following the campaign and joins us by phone. andrew, since the cain surged to the top of the polls, his fundraising has been up and as

he's saying there, keeping them in the race. are these stops to help him politically or financially motivated? >> caller: thomas, earlier in the week we were in texas, again going along with the narrative that these are not critical early primary states. before an event, he had a fundraiser where herman cain supporter was appealing to donors saying listen, it's a critical time for the campaign. they need to be spending time in iowa, new hampshire. we're very lucky to have him here in texas. show your gratitude by writing big checks. essentially the argument she was making. but what we don't know is how many donors are looking at his schedule and saying, listen, i like the guy, but look at his schedule. i don't know if he's a serious candidate. the campaign has said that they've raised over $20 million. it's eclipsed what he raised last quarter. the thing to watch in november is certainly going to be if those donations taper off based

on the schedule and based on the scrutiny of what he's going through as a top tier candidate now. >> cash is king for any candidate. andrew rafferty. andrew nice to talk to you this morning. thank you. dan stone is the white house correspondent for newsweek and joins me to talk about herman cain. dan, herman cain is the second in the latest of the early primary state. every national poll that we talk about, we see him on top. should he not be focusing on a larger footprint in iowa, larger footprint in new hampshire and as he talks about, do you think that the campaign contributions are growing. do you think he'll have the finances to do that? >> those are the states that he's going to need to compete in, iowa, new hampshire. those are the first primaries. his strategy at this point seems to be fundraising like you were talking about with andrew previously. to go to areas where there are people willing to write big checks. that will get him media visibility and he can take his message to the airwaves without going there himself.

of course, he needs to win a primary somewhere to win the nomination. he has to start looking toward the traditional balance will grounds. dan, mark block, the cain campaign manager became app overnight sensation with the cigarette smoking ad earlier this week. there's also a new report detailing his ban for running political campaigns in wisconsin, a tax warrant and lawsuit for an unpaid bill. could block potentially be a liability for the cain campaign? >> he could. mark block is more well-known and more recognized this week than last week. he's very much, even a sort of mascot for the cain campaign. it's not flattering attention considering how much that ad has been played. now details about the checkered past with a couple of drunk driving incidents. he's not the kind of character that mr. cain will want to carry

with him. the extra attention is good for mr. block sneemt. >> he has said he doesn't drink any longer. as 9-9-9 is a big part of the campaign. you did some digging and found out what? >> he talks reforming the u.s. tax code across the board. in 2006 while mr. cain was undergoing treatment for stage 4 cancer, he had a tax lien filed against him for that period. he had about $8,000 in unpaid income tax in 2006. he eventually paid it later in 2008 and it was lifted. but his accountant went to battle against the georgia department of revenue and the federal tax officials to try to combat that lien. this is a man, remember, worth many millions of dollars up to $7 million according to the latest financial disclosure form. $8,000 is not much. but he did not pay that amount and he did have to have a lien

filed against him. >> dan stone, thank you so much. nice to see thu morning. want to pass along, you can pick up the latest issue of newsweek on newsstands right now. ohio voters hoping to put an end to governor's anti-union law and putting a ton of cash to make it go away. labor leaders are warning their members are in for a tough fight ahead. you're watching msnbc. look, every day we're using more and more energy.

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the new york times calling it one of the most iconic moments in baseball history. the cards coming back from behind five times to beat the rangers in game six. all thanks to an 11th inning homer by david freese. he was mobbed by his teammates. the world series will be decided tonight in st. louis. he'll be getting a new shirt for that one tonight. the fight over ohio's new collective bargaining law is turning into a battle of the bills. millions of dollars are gushing into the state ahead of the november 8th electric. union groups pushing for the repeal of that law which robs 350,000 public employees of their collective bargaining rights. the fundraising for this ballot battle could -- i'm joined now by andy control, staff reporter. new finance reports showing that one union group spent upwards of 17 million bucks so far. is this law going to live or die based on who coughs up the most cash? >> if it's a cash battle, then the bill is going down.

union groups,we are ohio which is the flagship union group is outspending building a better ohio, the group that's pro kasich. the money battle going towards the union. the questions is how dirty will it get in the next couple of weeks before the election. >> 57% support the repeal of the law. 32% oppose the repeal. how do you expect this to play out come november 8th? you're saying it may get dirty up until the very last minute in. >> it's going to get really dirty right in the run up to november 8th when there's the actual vote. a union group had an internal memo that leaked saying folks don't get too giddy about this. this kind of referendum is unprecedented yet. the polls aren't as accurate as a presidential race or a gubernatorial race. but we do know that the ads will get dirty, a lot of mud thrown

around. it will get pretty nasty until that vote. >> we're going to keep our eye on it. andy kroel with mother jones. nice to see you. >> thanks. an anti-abortion measure up for a vote in mississippi that would actually declare a fertilized egg to be a legal person. could outlaw some in vitro treatments that help women have kids. less than a handful of doctors in the state perform this and we're going to speak with one of them live. plus, a potential glitch in the trial of dr. conrad murray. why it could go on longer than expected and why the judge is concerned he could lose some jurors. triggered my stop loss o. saved me a pantload. [ crying ] oh great. every time i fly. my ears! swallow! [ male announcer ] upgrade to first class investing technology... at e-trade.

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the same mum that i don't know that -- number that i don't know that they found any democrats in house and senate to vote for. i don't think it's a reasonable number. >> new details emerging from the bipartisan super committee charged with trimming 1.5 million from the deficit by november 23rd. surprise, surprise, democrats and republicans can't see eye to eye on spending and cuts and taxes. luke russert covers capitol hill for us. it's nice to see you this morning. everybody wants to know what are the real chances that they'll meet this deadline? >> well, the chances that they'll meet the november 23rd deadline, thomas, are pretty good to reach what the target number is $1.2 trillion in cuts. a lot of folks on capitol hill feel that that number is attainable. the question is does this committee do something big and bold which both sides think is needed to preserve the credit rating and show the economy that the u.s. is serious about

bringing down its national debt and doing something big and bold does not necessarily look like a real possibility. kr? well the battle lines have been drawn over the last few days with republicans and democrats putting forth their plans to cut the deficit. you still have a problem between taxes versus entitlements. republicans don't want a tax increase. the democratic plan has $1.3 trillion in revenue. they don't want cuts to medicare and medicaid, that's what the republicans have. >> luke, nice to see you this morning. thank you. >> you too. it was a label john kerry couldn't overcome. now republican presidential candidates are trying to make the term flipflopper synonymous with mitt romney. but do they make great presidents. we have a historian here. allen, nice to see you. >> good to see you again. >> lets get to the flipflopping, whether abraham union, fdr out

of foreign conflict. it may be bad politics, but does it make them bad presidential material. >> the label is certainly pejorative. but being flexible as a president absolutely essential to success. before his death he became the world's greatest advocate of peace. you have to have practical idealism he said. by that i mean, you do have to have a core. you have to have a certain core of values and if you don't have that, you're not going to be a great leader. but you also have to be able to adapt to changing circumstances. >> allen, let's go over the romney flipflops, whether abortion, gay rights, gun control, immigration. this has been an issue for him over two presidential campaigns. but will it be as bad for him as we saw with john kerry, basically swift voted into being a flipflopper? >> i don't think it will be as

bad as john kerry. it's going to be a big problem for him. because voters want to know who you are. what is your ee tension core. for example, abraham lincoln did move from being a gradualist to being an emancipationist on slavery. people always knew that he thought slavery was a moral abomination and it was a matter of tactics. on something like abortion, for example, that affects your core values. you think about life and death. that's hard to flipflop on. >> the right may have this argument to make against president obama because he took some heat when he extended the bush tax cuts, something that he was adamantly against to get unemployment insurance extended. so do you categorize the president as a flipflopper or do you think it's a narrative that the gop could use? >> i don't think it's a very strong narrative for the gop. they call him a socialist a radical and a leftist. it's going to be pretty hard for them to pin on obama that he's flipping too hard to the right.

you know, there were certain reasons why he had to extend the tax cuts even though his core beliefs went in the other direction. same thing with so many of the policies of franklin roosevelt. in the campaign, he said the government is spending too much. then of course, became a big spender. but at its core, people knew that franklin roosevelt, unlike herbert hoover, believed in a positive role for the government in social justice and economic prosperity and that in the end is what matters. >> american university's allen likt man, nice to see you sir. other headlines in the news. another dramatic rescue in turkey. a 13-year-old boy was pulled out alive from the collapsed building following sunday's massive earthquake. it killed 570 people. relatives say he was trying to dig himself out of the rubble with a rock. a potential glitch in the trial of michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray could push this case well into week six. prosecutors say they need more

time to review new evidence. >> the problem from the start, the judge told the jurors they would be done by october 28th. that's today. nbc learned that the judge expressed concern that he'll start losing jurors before the case even wraps up. there you're seeing pictures of baby lisa. new developments in the search for that missing baby. the local attorney for the parents of the case leaving high-profile new york defense attorney to represent them. this comes hours after we learned planned interviews of lisa irwin's two half brothers were canceled. no new dates set for the interviews yet. another police search not far from the home turned up no new clues. in ohio, six of the surviving animals released into the wild by their owner last week are being kept under quarantine for now. meanwhile, the owner's widow will fight to get them back. if it's up to expert jack hannah of the columbus zoo, the animals won't go anywhere. >> you think i'm going to send

those animals back to that situation. i'm not going to. unless somebody drags me out there and throws me in jail. in my 40 years of doing this, this will be down in my my -- this is like september 11th of the animal world. that's how i describe it. >> john yang, those are remarkable statements made by jack hanna, someone everybody knows in this country and his respect for animals. >> that's exactly right, tom. it's strong words from jack hanna. this quarantine order came from state officials just as marianne tomorrow an, the widow of the owner was on her way to reclaim the animals. we're talking about three leopards, two monkeys and a small grizzly bear. it's an indefinite quarantine. but thompson has 30 days to request a hearing. the zoo was horrified by the conditions they saw at the zanesville farm and jack hanna says they'll go back to zanesville over his dead body.

thomas? >> nbc's john yang at the columbus zoo for us this morning. jop, thank you. the fight is on in mississippi to find out where life begins and who is a person. in a week and a half they will approve an amendment to the state constitution defining life as beginning at the moment a human egg is fertilized. if the amendment is approved, abortion would be considered murder. advocates of reproductive rights are concerned if the person had amendment passes, it could limit infertility treatments and outlaw some form of birth control. dr. john isaacs is a reproductive specialist. he's one of the four doctors who perform in vitro fertilizations. it's nice to have you on with us this morning. we want you to explain the i am makt to women and figures like yourself if this amendment to the mississippi constitution passes. the impact that it's going to have across the state.

>> well, the problem with this amendment is that none of us know what the impact will be. the language is they and could be applied in many different ways. our fear in the field of in vitro fertilization is that the target will be these fertilized eggs that we work with in the laboratory. and that judges or the legislature will take measures to either prevent the freezing of embryos or to limit the number of eggs that can be fertilized and could mandate the number of embryos that we have to transfer to our patients. >> what does this mean for any possible criminality against the work that you do? >> again, that's a fear. but it's something that we don't know. it's really the uncertainty around how this amendment would be applied towards doctors that is leading medical organizations

in the state, like the mississippi state medical association, the mississippi nurses' association to oppose this measure because of the precarious situation it could put doctors in from really all aspects of offering women's healthcare. >> doctor, the people who -- they say the opponents are using scare tactics, though. they believe that this measure would help protect women and babies. when you hear that, what is your response? >> well, i am scared. i don't think i'm using a scare tactic. i think i'm presenting the facts that scare me and those facts are that i work diligently to help couples who are very determined to have a baby. we do everything within our power to help make that happen. and to think that this would introduce the ability of judges or the legislature to make those decisions for patients and to

hamper our ability to help patients have a pregnancy, it is a scary thing. and it's something that for my patients would lead to a reduction in their chances for having a pregnancy or increase their risk of having a multiple pregnancy. >> doctor, we'll see how this plays out in a week and a half. dr. isaacs of the mississippi fertility institute. thanks for krur type. we appreciate your candor. >> thank you. coming up, gay service members don't want to make history. they want to be treated like everybody else. will a lawsuit against the government make that a sure possibility? this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ?

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i'm a lesbian. >> charlie, congratulations. do you remember that september 20th. charlie morgan making history on this show in september on the day that don't ask don't tell was officiallily repealed. it may be history, but the fight for equality is far from over for lgbt military members. charlie morgan joined seven other current and former service members in a lawsuit against the u.s. government over the constitutionality of the defense of marriage act. now, the act prevents the u.s. military from row vieding medical and survivor benefits to service members, same sex partners. charlie described one of her worst fears at a news conference. take a listen. >> i'm a breast cancer survivor and was recently diagnosed with a recurrence. what i worry about most of all is that my health will take a turn for the worse and karen will not be eligible to receive the survivor benefits to which she is entitled to to help care for our daughter. >> charlie morgan joins us again today along with her wife. karen, it's nice to have both of you with me today.

charlie, you're becoming a regular on my hour. it's nice to have you back. >> thank you, thomas. >> with over 14,000 discharged over don't ask don't tell, that's an average of two a day. you can't deny there's a scope to this fight. do you think one lawsuit is enough to win these equal benefits that you deserve? >> i think it's a start. you've got service members who are willing to die and fight for their country but they're also willing to fight for their families as well. >> karen, in a statement the pentagon said they will carefully evaluate the complaint and consult the doj. in the meantime, we'll continue to follow the law. karen, as you do hear that, what is your reaction and if god forbid, you were to lose charlie, what are the resources available to you and your family? >> we just take it one day at a time right now. we're optimistic. we hope that things will turn out for the best and just take it one day at a time. >> in september, i think a lot of us remember during one of the

republican debates a service member captain steven hill was booed after asking about benefits in the wake of the repeal. steven hill is one of the eight service members involved in this. charlie, what do you take away from the reaction of what happened when his message and question was played during that debate? were you surprised? >> i was surprised in the sense that most of the time when we're speaking, folks tend to thank us for our service. i was surprised about that. but like i said in the beginning, we are all willing to fight for this country to defend these rights but we're also willing to fight for our family members as well. >> do you believe that the biggest disparity seems to be between the old school military, the honor guard as some would say and a whole new generation of warriors and soldiers recognize that one sexual preference has nothing to do with how one defends one's country. do you believe it's the obstacle progress here? >> speaking for myself.

karen and i attended an event last weekend and we were received warmly by our command. as far as our personal experiences, the command has been very supportive. >> karen, for you how have people responded now that you are an out front public couple, what are their reactions to your family and to the life that charlie has serving this country? >> i've gotten a lot of support. people are proud of charlie for her service to her country. but also for her support to her family. it's been nothing but positive. >> charlie, before we go, i want to ask healthwise, how is everything going? >> i take it one day at a time. i have a lot of tests scheduled next week to decide the treatment plan. i am optimistic and i will fight the fight. >> we keep you in our hearts and prayers. chief warrant officer, charlie morgan and karen. thanks again for being mere. >> thank you, thomas. >> thank you, thomas. absolutely. >> happy birthday to lady liberty. the statue of liberty turning

125 today. here she is inside a paris studio around 1880 before making the trip to the u.s. the national parks service is planning a big party big party fireworks, hopefully a cake, but we do extend lady liberty a happy birthday. doesn't look over 100. what drives everyone a little crazy once a year? our flip side next. [ male announcer ] new vis nature fusion cold & flu syrup. flavored with real honey. powerful cold medicine that leaves out artificial flavors and dyes

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welcome back, everybody, it's time for our flip side, a look behind the headlines. tax reform has been a headline with candidates taking shot at a code they just can't stand. >> you know, central to my plan is giving every american the option of throwing out that 3 million words of the current tax code. >> the current tax code is a 10-million word press. >> who's in the ballpark with

the number of words in the tax code? rick perry is on the right track. their 2010 report has the code at 3.8 million words. that includes cross references and effective dates. let's talk about how much the tax code has grown. in 1955, the code was only 409,000. in 1914, that count was 11,400, but that is nothing compared to this figure, the report american individuals and business spend $ 6.1 billion hours filling out their forms. that's it for me today, until then, you can always follow me on twitter. @thomasaroberts. craig is going to be here to pick things up next. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card.

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good day, there's new hope this friday that we are not headed for a double-dip recession. the stock market surged thursday when a european deal helped diffuse the debt crisis in europe and greece. meanwhile, the commerce department says the economy grew twice as much in the third quarter than it did in the second, and the administration just announced two new executive actions. could it be the president and the economy, on a roll? >> i got so excited when i saw that the u.s. economy grew at 2.5%. >> the good economic news rang in a rally on wall street. the dow up nearly 340 points, but will this be reflected on main street? >> typically when you have a run of stocks like this, it signals happier times are here again, because some of it is based on real term. most importantly, seeing construction in the country for the first time in five years.

>> this week the president announced helping pay down student debt, refinance mortgages, and find jobs after serving our country. and yesterday, the house pass e portions of the job bill. >> economy doing a bit better than expected. obviously, not great, but a little bit better. dow is way up. you know, it's going to put people in a better mood about the incumbent. >> not so fast, says house speaker john boehner. >> this idea you're going to go around the congress is almost laughable. so we're keeping a very close eye on the administration to make sure they are following the law and following the constitution. >> he should and the house should focus on what the american people are insisting that washington in general focus on, which is the need to grow the economy and create jobs. >> kristen, tell us about the new executive actions