close to enough. >> we need to double numbers like that. we needome months with 200,000, 250,000 if we're going to make a serious dent in the unemployment rate. >> are lawmakers missing? >> on the vote the -- >> thursday, senate republicans blocked a $60 billion infrastructure bill part of the president's jobs plan. >> the motion to proceed is not agreed to. >> it seems the only thing democrats and republicans can agree on is to disagree. >> the truth is, democrats are more interested in building a campaign message than rebuilding roads or bridges. >> their goal is to do everything they can do drag down this economy. i say to my friend, we can stay here all day. i will get the last word. >> i say in all due respect to my friend, he made another campaign speech. >> these people are jokes. >> people have been unemployed for months on end. the real unemployment rate is probably 14% or 15%. >> as for the real unemployed -- >> i'm willing to take anything.

president obama is in france for the g-20 summit. he just wrapped up a news conference there. he was asked about his prospects for re-election. the president brought the discussion back to jobs. >> the least of my concerns at the moment is the politics of a year from now. i'm worried about putting people back to work right now because those folks are hurting. >> nbc's adrianne long is live in cannes with the president. did the president specifically talk about today's jobs numbers? >> good morning, craig. yes, he did. he actually said the figures that were released this morning were positive, but still also showed that the economy is growing too slowly. and that he hoped that this would mean that members of congress would think twice before voting no again on his jobs proposal. he also said that the work that lies ahead for america mirrors the work that lies a s ahead fo

europe. obviously with the european debt crisis which has basically taken the continent by shock. he said that they need to sort this out in order to help america get its own fiscal house back in order. now, europe is america's largest trading partner, so he said they have a vested interest in seeing europe succeed. >> let's talk about the g-20 summit. what happened with the summit today specifically? >> reporter: it looks like the leaders of the g-20 agreed they wanted to look at expanding the role of the international monetary fund as a possible solution to fighting this debt crisis in europe. there's a bit of disagreement about how exactly to do that, what kind of tools they should give the imf or enlarge for the imf. the u.s. has been resisting this idea a little bit. they invested a lot of money, obviously, there, and maintain as president obama said all day today that this problem is a problem that europe can and

should solve on its own. there are other countries like france, of course, and also china which would prefer to funnel their investments through an agency like the imf rather giving more money directly to bailout funds. >> adrienne long with the president in south of france. i want to bring in steve liesman with cnbc. let's talk about the jobs numbers today. again, the unemployment rate did tick down ever so slightly. and we did see 80,000 folks added to the jobs rolls. first of all, where are the new jobs we're talking about? where were they added? >> you know, if you don't mind, craig, i'd like to tell you where the jobs are not. they're specifically not in government. one of the reasons we're at 80,000 and not 100,000 or 125,000 is because each month what you've seen is you've seen a continued decline in government jobs. you were down 24,000 this month. it was plus 30 the last month. now i can answer your question about where the jobs are.

they seem to be in the service sectors specifically. we had job growth in retail play, leisure and hospitality. we did not have job growth in construction. but there was a tickup in manufacturing. >> government jobs, we're talking state and local government jobs primarily, right, in terms of the jobs lost versus federal government jobs? >> that's exactly right. that's where we've seen big declines in employment. it was down i think 2,000 on the federal level which has been up around 5,000. it's the state and local areas we've seen big job cuts on a month to month basis. it's worse than it appears. in a normal economy, government is adding workers to payrolls to keep up with the expanding economy. it's not minus 24,000 but minus the 20,000 they might have otherwise created. >> again, we're using 9%. we heard mike barnicle at the top there talk about the real

unemployment rate in this country. what do we expect is the actual real unemployment percentage right now? >> well, just to be clear, we use this term of the real unemployment rate, craig, which is actually a figure the government publishes. it's about 15.8%. what that includes is people who have left the workforce because they're discouraged. they're not even looking for a job anymore. people who are working part time for economic reasons. that is they cannot find full-time employment. as well as the unemployed. we don't have to suspect what that number is. we know what that number is. it's very elevated. it did come down. you did have a decline in those working part time for economic reasons and also seen the workforce grow a little bit because people are attracted back with better numbers. we have to mention one other thing that makes wall street relatively optimistic about this numbers is that in the prior months, july, august, september, we've revised up that data by 102,000. i don't know if you remember, craig, but there was a big goose egg printed in august. that number has been revised to

plus 72. that's why wall street is somewhat optimistic about this. >> steve liesman, i love it when you leave us on friday with some good news. >> some good news. >> appreciate if. have a good weekend, sir. herman cain will speak to the conservative group americans for prosperity today in washington, d.c., as he tries to get his campaign back to business as usual in dealing with the allegations. lisa myers live in washington this afternoon. lisa, what is the latest? >> craig, the latest is we're wait to see if we'll get a statement this afternoon from cain's accusers in what she says is inappropriate sexual conduct. that depends on what the national restaurant association says about whether the statement would violate her confidentiality agreement. we should hear from them at any time now. cain is comparing his ordeal to what happened to another black conservative, supreme court justice clarence thomas who famously complained of a high-tech lynching.

the message was not subtle. herman cain showed up on a conservative website being interviewed by jenny thomas, the wife of justice clarence thomas. >> that is the d.c. culture. guilty until proven innocent. >> this is a circus. >> reporter: thomas was accused of sexual harassment by anita hill during his confirmation hearings. >> this is a circus. >> reporter: cain supporters used that as a rallying cry in a new web video that features thomas, himself. >> it is a message unless you kowtow to an old order, you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured. rather than hung from a tree. >> reporter: in the eyes of many conservatives, cain, like thomas, is a victim of the media. >> we're getting the high-tech lynching of a beautiful man, herman cain. >> reporter: his contributions have soared. more than $1.2 million this

week. on thursday, cain took a brief break from the controversy to meet with former secretary of state henry kissinger. later he was back to telling sean hannity that all of the allegations swirling around him are false. >> sean, this is absolutely fabrication, man. i don't know what else to say. how many more ways can i say this stuff is totally fabricated? >> reporter: politico is reporting the incident with one of cain's accusers was overtly sexual and serious enough she complained that same night to top officials at the national restaurant association, where cain was then ceo. cain emphatically denies he ever did anything inappropriate. >> did you tell a woman she looked good? that that dress looks hot? >> nope. >> anything -- >> nope. >> any flirtation you can think of? >> nope, nope. >> reporter: today the other woman who formally accused cain of inappropriate behavior and received a settlement hopes to

release a written statement of her account. while maintaining her anonymity. >> she had nothing to do with this becoming public and is anxious for it to go away. >> meanwhile, cain says his wife, gloria, is still 200% supportive of him as a candidate and 200% supportive of him as her husband. craig? >> lisa myers in the bureau in washington. lisa, thank you so much. >> thank you. in just the past few moments, breaking news here about a new headache for the herman cain campaign. there has been a legal complaint charge, legal complaint charging illegal corporate funds were used to pay for campaign expenses. nbc's national investigative correspondent michael isikoff has more from washington. >> this is a complaint just filed by the citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. a public watchdog group accusing the cain campaign and campaign

manager, mark block, of what it calls serious campaign violations by using corporate funds illegally to pay for cain's presidential campaign expenses including charter flights around the country and paying for ipads. what happened is, these are based on documents that were first put on the web by the "milwaukee sentinel journal" from a group called prosperity usa, a non-profit founded by mark block, the cain campaign manager. they do show payments of $40,000 to the cain presidential campaign. you can't do that under federal election law. it bars non-profits or charities from paying for presidential campaign expenses. the cain campaign, when this first broke this week, when the documents became released, said they were taking these allegations very seriously. they hired an outside counsel to investigate. they have not commented further,

but crew in this legal complaint just filed says that's not good enough. the cain campaign doesn't get to investigate itself. this is a matter for the federal election commission. >> michael isikoff, senior investigative correspondent there in washington. michael, thank you so much for the very latest. i appreciate that. >> thank you. the struggle in washington. the struggle in washington, fresh criticism facing president obama. not from the right, from president clinton now. what the former president is saying about mr. obama. that's up next. the employee of the month is... spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark

the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details. helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. ♪

[ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

the fate of michael jackson's personal physician is in the hands of the jury.

dr. conrad murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the jackson death. jurors started deliberating a short time ago. closing arguments from both sides gave a very different portrayal of murray and the case against him. >> conrad murray gave him propofol and abandoned him. >> conrad murray is criminally liable. justice demands a guilty verdict. >> the prosecution during these six weeks have absolutely failed to prove a crime. >> nbc's kristin dahlgren live in los angeles for us this afternoon. we know the jury is deliberating right now. can you give us an idea of what will happen when the jury does reach a verdict there? >> reporter: yeah, hey there, craig. we don't know when that could happen. it could happen as early as today. the court has said it will give us two hours notice between the time the jury reaches its verdict and that verdict is read in open court.

this morning we haven't seen the jackson family here yet. they've been here every day for this trial. presumably they're waiting for the notice as well. during the two hours they will make it down here to the courtroom. we see fans and protesters out here today. that crowd expected to grow as well, when verdict is finally reached here. now, this is a seven-man, five-woman jury. they've within deliberating for the past 45 minutes or so. yesterday the judge read 26 pages of instructions to them, what they can and can't consider in this case. there's a lot to consider. there are about 330 pieces of evidence entered in this case. also, 49 witnesses that they heard testimony from over six weeks here. so there's a lot for them to consider. those spiriting closing arguments yesterday. the question really how did that fatal dose of propofol get into michael jackson's body? did he take it himself? or did dr. murray give it to him? and then ultimately the question for the jury is, is he

substantially responsible for michael jackson's death? so all of that being considered now and we are waiting for that verdict. we'll let you know as soon as we hear anything. >> kristin dahlgren from outside the courthouse. thank wrote so much, kristin. john k. kelly, former federal prosecutor. let's bring you in here now. let's start with what kristen just said there. responsible versus significantly responsible. >> right. >> the difference there, what is it? >> well, the doctor's actions would have just been a contributing factor, but not the fatal factor. there would be less than substantial, substantial means the doctor's conduct more so than anything else contributed to michael's death. >> you watched the case very closely. how do you think both sides did? >> i think both did well. i think it very unlikely you'll see a verdict today. if there is, it's not going to be good for dr. murray. i think it's possible that you might see a hung jury. >> really? >> yeah. i do. i think you might find a couple jurors who look at his medical

malpractice case and that conrad murray's been sort of being selectively prosecuted in this case. unlikely prosecution a very strong case. it's l.a. and you never know what's going to happen. it could end up being hung. >> the jurors are in this room right now. they started deliberating. they're talking about the facts of the case. >> sure. >> what's happening in the early stages of jury deliberation? >> they'll pick a foreman, first of all, take an initial vote, see where the breakdown is. presumably, there's not an unanimous verdict yet. when the verdict comes in, it's dramatic. the jury will file in, hand the sheet to the judge, the judge will look at it, make sure everything is filled out right, hand it back to the foreman and we'll hear it then. >> the case was as many thought it would be, it came down to a battle between the propofol experts. who do you think -- which of those two experts came out more convincing? >> i think the prosecution did. they had more experts to begin

with. they were much calmer on the stand. the defense expert looked like he took it personally and was sort of antagonistic toward the other experts. that being said, the prosecution's got the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt for what they have to prove. dr. murray may squeak out of this. >> do you think he should have taken the stand? >> no, absolutely not. he made his statements afterwards. he didn't want to do cross-examination. no chance of him taking the stand. >> john q. kelly. we're going to keep you around. if that thing comes down this afternoon, we want to talk to you. the struggle in washington to solve the jobs and the deficit problems. now new steps are being taken to defuse the growing criticism in the nation's capital. we'll talk about that. plus will the judge videotaped beating his daughter years ago face jail time? we have the answer to that question. we're also hearing this side of the story. ♪ ♪

♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ most powerful trading app ? total access - to everything. from idea to research to trade. including financials, indicators and real-time streaming quotes. whether you check your investments every day or every minute, our app can take them from thought to trade. at scottrade, seven-dollar trades are just the start. try our powerful mobile app. it's another reason more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade.

you expect republicans to take shots at the president, u expect a few insiders of the party to do. it a popular president? that's what bill clinton does in his new book out next week, entitled "back to work." mr. clinton also to quote the "associated press" dings president obama. and his leadership skills. joining me to talk about it, karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications director, robert tra trainam. the washington bureau chief. good to see you. in the book, your former boss wonders why president obama and congressional democrats did not make a stronger case for stimulus back in 2009. he also blames the democrats for not crafting a national message. how much of a problem has messaging been for this administrati

administration? >> it's been a big problem. everyone from president obama to lots of folks admitted that. the point of president clinton, there's two big points to make about president clinton's comments here. this point was, there were a lot of good things in the stimulus and a lot of things that worked. democrats should have and could have done a better job talking about what those things are and he's right. i think, again, the obama administration has admitted that communication in the beginning was not something they were as strong on as they could be. another strong point on president clinton, remember that president clinton when he came to office, he was very much, and i happen to agree with this, that there is a role for government in people's lives and a fundamental compact between that role of government and the opportunity and responsibility of us as individuals, as part of a community. and part of what he's actually saying is as democrats, we've got to be willing to stand up and fight for that and not let the right wing and the tea party attack government and attack the people who come to government

and serve because they want to try to help this country. >> robert, i want to talk to you about the election now. there's a new gallup/with t"usa" poll out, it puts enthusiasm among swing state republicans at 59%, democrats at 48%. we saw a similar dynamic back in 2008 when enthusiasm was extremely high among democrats. lower for republicans. not just the enthusiastic supporters who vote, but these are the folks that we're talking about who volunteer, who put signs in the yard, who drive their grandmas to the poll. how do you revive the enthusiasm if you're part of this administration, robert? >> it's interesting. i call them grass tops people. to your point, these are the folks that literally rolled up their sleeves, worked the phone banks, drive grandma and grandpa to the voting booths. those are the people who are important in the presidential battleground states. your point, craig, whether pennsylvania, michigan, ohio and florida, that's the real issue here that i think the obama

administration has to scratch their head and say, okay, how do we deal with this? we don't know who the republican nominee is going to be. it's fluctuating between michele bachmann, herman cain, rick perry and herman cain. what the poll numbers are telling me, mickey mouse could be running for the republican nomination and they still would roll up their sleeves and vote for him. they feel the country is going in the wrong direction. what the obama administration or obama campaign needs to is figure out how to ramp their own democratic base. that's the real question. why isn't the democratic base as enthusiastic at the republican base? >> do you think it's because the election is so far out? do you think the enthusiasm returns next summer for the base? >> absolutely. plus, i think, let's take a look at fund-raising. that to me tells you a lot about enthusiasm. the dnc out-raising the rnc. president obama out-raising all the republican candidates combined. i say that because the rnc could be making its case to its

supposedly more enthusiastic base, hey, when we have our nominee, we have to be ready to go, so help us now. that's the message resonating with their own base. >> karen makes a good point there. the president despite being wildly unpopular, according to some, depending on which poll you're looking at, he has been able to raise real barrel loads of money. why is that? >> well, because, he's the incumbent. he should be raising obviously gobbles of money. the reason the republican national committee cannot raise the type of money at the same clip the democrats are, obviously there are eight people running for president. that's little being split eight different ways. it's not comparing an apple to an apple but an apple to an orange. >> this argument was made against me at the dnc. you can give to a presidential campaign in the presidential cycle and not just give to your party. if you're a big supporter, you can afford to do it both.

>> ladies last. karen, robert, appreciate you time. the one thing washington can do, the one thing washington can do to get people back to work. we're going to hear from two members of congress next. also, the mission to mars that never got off the ground. ♪ whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ we never can give enough ♪ i got something for you and you... ♪ [ female announcer ] may your holidays be merry and bright. merry pringles. a sony tv with media player. ♪ ♪ ♪ how did it fit down the chimney? [ male announcer ] get low prices on the gifts they love, like this sony bravia tv with clear hd picture quality. now eligible for our christmas layaway. save money. live better. walmart.

free gold ! we call that hertz gold plus rewards. you earn free days, free weeks and more fast. that's a plus. upgrade your ride. that's a plus. rewards with no blackout dates so you can redeem anytime.

and it's easy to redeem your points online. already a gold member ? just select gold plus rewards in your profile and start rewarding yourself now. just go to hertzgoldplusrewards.com to join. hertz gold plus rewards. journey on. welcome back to msnbc. i'm craig melvin. activists in syria say at least seven protesters have been killed by security forces today. it happened after thousands of demonstrators took to the streets saying that president bashar assad never intended a plan to end eight months of bloodshed in that country. a texas family law judge whose daughter released videotape of him beating her will not face criminal charges. that beating took place seven years ago. authorities say the five year statute of limitations expired. judge adams says his 23-year-old daughter posted the video out of spite because he was going to

reduce her financial support. the crew of a long isolation study emerge from their cells in moscow today. the six male volunteers had been locked in windowless modules for 520 days to simulate the length of a journey to mars and back. former new jersey governor jon corzine steps down from running a firm that collapsed after his bets on european debt. corzine declined payments from a severance package worth $12 million. for the third time, senate republicans have now blocked a $60 billion stimulus-style jobs bill backed by the president. the 51-49 vote killed the legislation to build and repair roads and rail lines as well. another projects meant to upstart the sluggish economy. i want to go live to washington, d.c., and nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly, what happens next? >> well, there will be yet another attempt, craig, to have an installment of the president's jobs bill come before congress. this might change a bit, because

it will be next week a very narrow, almost clerical piece that deals with some withholding tax for contractors who work for the government. there's bipartisan view that it's a way that they could make a change to the tax code that would benefit those people who do business with the government. we might see some movement there in a more positive way because it is so narrow. when you talk about the infrastructure, boy, that's a popular topic, but even those who voted against it including two democrats, joe lieberman who's an independent, working with democrats, and ben nelson of nebraska say they like those projects but feel the congress really needs to deal with cutting the deficit first. that, of course, is the domain of the supercommittee. that has been crickets of late, not knowing what they're doing to do. i was on a conference call a short time ago with senator patty murray, a co-chair, and says she and her counterpart, jeb henserling, a republican in the house are working together, having conversations. even know the wider committee has not been meeting. that's been a signal many people

think they may not be able to reach some kind of deal. >> kelly o'donnell, from washington, d.c., this afternoon. have a great weekend. >> you, too. less than three weeks remain for the supercommittee to reach a deal reducing the deficit over $1 trillion. house members signed a letter pushing a $4 trillion deficit deal. the move was spearheaded by heath shuler, democrat from north carolina and republican mike simpson of idaho. gentlemen gentlemen, good afternoon to both of you. where are you getting this $4 trillion figure? >> the $4 trillion, we've looked at it, you can look at multipal plans, the gang of six, there's ideas that have been thrown up on the table. what we have ask ted, we can't settle for 1.2 or sequestration. we've had the opportunity and the time is now to get $4 trillion in savings over the next ten years. >> congressman simpson, as of

wednesday, i know you guys had 40 republicans, 60 democrats signing on. more takers since then? >> we've had a couple other republicans sign on and have several looking at it. you cannot stabilize our debt if you don't get to the $4 trillion level. that's what every organization, what every committee says. we think that it's as a minimum, they need to go to $4 trillion otherwise we're kicking the can down the road. frankly we're out of road. >> how realistic is it to expect the so-called supercommittee will be able to achieve that kind of deficit reduction deal when they've had so much difficulty, when so many other groups have had so much difficulty in the past receiving deals, 25% of that size? >> it's going to be difficult, but there are plans out there. as heath said, there are a number of plans, whether it's rivland, or diminichi and rivland and bowles/simpson. they're in the gang of six.

they don't have to reinvent the wheel over again. we have to get to $4 trillion. to get to $4 trillion, everything has to be on the table. that's what our revenue said. >> new revenue. >> there are 100 bipartisan members willing to work on this together to solve this problem. >> now revenue, congressman simpson? >> yeah. >> new taxes? >> you know, you can look -- you can increase revenue several different ways. some people think it's increasing tax rates. other people think it is lowering tax rates, expanding the base, getting rid of all the exemptions underneath and you're going to get more revenue for that and some can go to deficit reduction. that's where i'm coming from and a majority of us are coming from. >> congress man shuler, they were nervous about the supercommittee reaching the $1.2 trillion goal by november 23rd. to you think he should be? >> i'm hopeful of the support of 100 statesmen and women who came forward and said we must go big and everything must be on the table. that takes great courage.

we're hoping the leadership in the house and the senate will take our lead along with our other colleagues, the gang of six in the senate, with the 45 signatures that they have, that we can take this approach and say, look, we are putting everything on the table. we want to go big and we have the support of the american people, but we also want to know, have the supercommittee to know that we have their back. we want them to go big and can support what they bring forward. >> let's talk about the infrastructure portion of the president's jobs plan that didn't pass in the senate. do you think it didn't pass because of the millionaire surtax that was attached to it? is there thing else behind this? >> you can throw as much money as you want at it, you can cut taxes, you can raise taxes, you can do all you want until the supercommittee comes out with a very robust plan that puts everything on the table and at least gets to the $4 trillion mark.

there's nothing we can do for the economy until the american people and the whole world recognize that we together can work in a bipartisan way and a bicameral way that we can get something done and ultimately compromise and put the american people first. and not our parties. >> -- believe that we should even consider other piecemeal job creation measures until the supercommittee has spoken? is that what i'm hearing? >> i think it's the most important thing that is in front of us. we have to get this done. >> that's the biggest thing we have to do. it's the most important thing for the future of this country. no matter what the supercommittee comes out with, if they can get the $4 trillion, $6 trillion, it's going to be a tough vote for everyone. there are going to be parts of it you don't like. that's the nature of politics. i don't mind taking a tough vote, but i want my tough vote to mean something. that's what we're asking the supercommittee to do. >> representative shuler, simpson. if i had more time, i'd talk to you about the washington

redskins. >> there's always a next year. we've been saying that for, what, 20 years now? since the early '90s? >> thank you both. appreciate your time. the prime minister of greece facing a confidence vote scheduled for later this evening as his country teeters on collapse. michelle kosinski is live in athens, greece. what is the latest there? >> reporter: economic and political collapse as well. george popandrau, the prime minister, yesterday, put up this idea of let's take the european bailout of greece that just happened last week, nearly $200 billion that would also institute reforms here in greece. let's put that to a public vote. let's let the people decide whether or not they want it. well, other european leaders were saying, you got to be kidding. what are you doing? we agreed to bail you out, now you say you're going to let the people decide? problem is, of course, the people voted no on a bailout,

that would likely mean economic meltdown here. a default on enormous debt, a running out of money and greece abandoning the euro. so after high-level calls for the prime minister to resign, he finally said late yesterday, okay, okay, no more referendum, we won't do that. now all the opposition parties have to come together. everybody needs to agree on the bailout with the strict awe sterty measures that have been so unpopular in greece and we can work together and everything will be fine. it remains to be seen if that is going to happen. because he has -- it's been reported as a one, possibly a two-person majority in parliament. his party's been in trouble. people have been deeply unhappy here. taxes have skyrocketed while their wages have gone down. so with this society that's really sort of torn at the seams, what will happen tonight, some are speculating can't imagine that anybody is going to want to destroy this government now and force a snap election at

such a critical time. it's what everybody is waiting for and it will happen just in a few hours. craig? >> michelle, thank you so much. appreciate that report from athens. let's take a look at how the market is doing right now in this country on this friday. ahead of that vote in greece. as you can see, the dow down about 150. s&p, nasdaq, also down. one step forward, two steps back. why some say the u.s. is hurting its future in the mideast following arab spring. hey, everyone's eating tacos outside bill's office.

[ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps.

[ phone buzzes ] oh. [ chuckles ] yeah. hey. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it faster with 4g. at&t. ♪

fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. low birth weight babies face an increased risk for autism. according to the latest research. researchers at the university of pennsylvania found that low birth weight babies were five

times more likely to be diagnosed with autism when compared to the general population. i'm chris cillizza. coming up on "andrea mitchell reports" 80,000 jobs added in october. the white house says it's not enough to get the economy back on track. we'll break down the numbers with labor secretary hilda solis. plus as the deadline looms for the supercommittee, we'll talk with anti-tax activist grover norquist. and who had the worst week in washington? we'll see you in 15 minutes on "andrea mitchell reports." >> looking forward to that. not just europe that the president is having trouble with but the middle east as well. the old u.s. playbook of supporting whomever could maintain power, went out with arab spring. the question is, how should the world's lone superpower deal with a people newly empowered? joining us to talk about it, aman. good to have you with us on this friday afternoon. we were talking about the role in the united states in the middle east earlier.

you said in the past that every time that the u.s. does something that wins arab approval, they turn right around and they blow it. what are some examples? >> well, i mean, the most recent one obviously was the vote that took place on monday at unesco. that was this united nations education and scientific body, authorized full palestinian membership. the united states turned around and decided to cut $60 million of supporting one of the most, you know, popular united nations organizations. and what that does is it sends a message across the arab world that the united states is once again punishing the international community or u.n. body for admitting palestine into this body. so what it really does is it sends a mixed message to the arab world, particularly the palestinian issue. >> let's turn to syria now. as we reported earlier in the broadcast, seven protesters skilled by security forces. happened after demonstrators took to the streets there. the demonstrators upset that president bashar al assad, looks

like he has no intentions of doing anything that he said he is going to do there. what is the end game in syria and what is the american role going to be? >> there are a couple of key variables in key. the people of syria protest eight months on despite the bloodshed. they have not been deterred. that's an important message. they've seen what has taken place in libya own other countries and stayed persistent. for the united states, they have to ramp up the pressure on the syrian regime. the problem is they don't seem to be willing to take the same course as in libya. >> why is that? >> domestic considerations. syria is a different country that libya and has different dynamics at play. iran, hezbollah, has different implications. for the perspective of the united states, they don't want to deal with that headache. at the end of the day, it's the same type of protest, people demanding freedom and change in the government. >> really quickly, last question before i let you get out of here. i want to talk to you about

national security threats. an hour ago, we got a note a senior u.s. official considers iran the top threat in the middle east. in the past, defense secretary donald rumsfeld said it was yemen yemen. others in the past said it was the haqqani network. what is the greatest threat in the middle east right now when it comes to american interest? >> to be honest with you, perhaps from the perspective of those on the ground, the biggest is the lack of stability. that comes from a lack of democracy. if you want to take to look at issues you talked about, pack stage, iran, yemen, stay don't have democratic societies and are unstable societies. if the u.s. worked to promote stability, they would get much more stable governments and perhaps less risky ones. >> appreciate that insight. our newest foreign correspondent, aman, looking forward to working with you. >> pleasure to be here. sidebar now. a man who knows a lot about law from both sides of the tv camera is now weighing in on the herman cain controversy. can we hear it again? did we get it there?

former senator fred thompson who, of course, played a district attorney on "law and order" has a new editorial in t "national review." in it, he asks if a republican is responsible for leaking the original story. however, thompson also writes herman cain's wounds -- thank you, dee, are self-inflicted. thompson telling, cain, quote, a type of guy well known to every defense lawyer. the kind who made his money as an effective communicator but can't understand that sometimes less communication is many. republican congressman and former philadelphia eagle john runyon is feeling it today. he and members of congress faced off against capital police in a football game. runyon, who played 14 seasons in the nfl, mostly at right tackle, seems to have aggravated a post-nfl injury. we should note also that cops beat the congressman 27-14.

my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. they won't be beat. oh, actually... then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! oh, load up the sleigh; this is going to be a great christmas. [ male announcer ] get more christmas for your money, guaranteed... during super saturday with big savings on electronics and small appliances. plus kids can build their christmas wish list in toyland. this saturday only, november 5th starting at 11 a.m. save money. live better. walmart. ♪ ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8.

how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. here's a bright idea. trade in any light string and get up to 5 bucks off the latest christmas led's.

the state that turned dice and cards into a powerhouse industry would have the high stakes senate showdown in 2012. joining me to talk about it, john ralston of "las vegas sun." shelley berkeley making headway to unseat republican dean heller, correct? >> the race is going to be close no matter what happens. it's way too early to tell which way the winds are going to blow. the democrats have registration advantage. dean heller is a more disciplined candidate and going to have probably what looks like a republican year here going for him. it's too early to tell. this race is going to be close. >> nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 13.4%. housing crisis hit that state especially hard. how are the candidates going to frame their message with those

things in mind? >> well, shelley berkeley is going to talk a lot about what she has done with constituent services. her district, her congressional district is the urban core of las vegas which has been hit, as you mentioned, hardest by the foreclosure crisis. she has done a lot of outreach on that. she will tout that. on the other hand, dean heller is going to blame the obama administration and tie shelley berkeley directly to the economic crisis and foreclosure crisis in nevada. shelley berkeley is going to have to take the message and not be closely tethered to obama outside of very democratic clark county which is where las vegas is. >> let's talk about clark county. is clark county going to be the make or break county for both of these candidates? >> clark county has about three quarters of the population. a little bit less. when harry reid who ran for re-election last time won, he won clark county overwhelmingly. shelley berkeley has no chance to win this race unless she wins

clark county overwhelmingly. that means getting up to about 55% of the vote or so. because rural nevada and northern nevada will not be as friendly to her. she's not well known up there. she's been making some appearances up there. that is the real question for the race. you hit on it. she has to win clark county very big or she will lose. >> last question here. we saw a republican presidential candidates in last month's debates in nevada tiptoe around immigration, tiptoe around that question. how big is that particular issue going to be there? which candidate has the advantage? >> you know, it's interesting because we're not a border state, but the immigration issue has shown up very high in polls of republicans here for a couple cycles now. and the real question is, i don't think they want herman cain's electric fence but i think they want somebody to talk intelligen intelligently about it. a quarter of the population in southern nevada, maybe a little bit more in clark county is hispanic. a lot of hispanics actually more than you might think are

registered republican. you saw some of the candidates during the debate trying to do outreach to the hispanic population. >> john ralston, thank you. appreciate your time. have a great weekend, sir. i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching on this friday. "andrea mitchell reports. qu " chris cillizza in. the jobs report does little to dazzle wall street and the finger pointing between republicans in the white house. we'll cover it all with "meet the press" moderator david gregory and hilda solis. we'll talk dollars and anti-tax man, himself, grover norquist. "andrea mitchell reports" is next on msnbc.

♪ ♪ ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪

♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups ♪ ♪ that's logistics. ♪

right now on "andrea mitchell reports," where are the jobs? numbers for october offer a glimmer of hope, but it's still not enough to put a dent in the 14 million americans desperately searching for work. president obama reacting to