today, election day 2011 here on msnbc. it is super tuesday. several battles playing out all over the country right now. two governors races down in the south. a number of very important ballot initiatives as well. coming to you live today from zucati park. lower manhattan where the occupy wall street movement got started 53 days ago. we're going to spend a fair amount of time during the hour today talking about the movement. also, talking about what the movement could mean for next year's presidential election and also what it, of course, could mean this year as well. i want to turn to my guest now. jeff smith, spokesperson for the occupy wall street movement. and, bruce, i want to get to you in a moment to talk about the union rule. jeff, 53 days ago, talk to me physically about the park then versus the park now. >> well, it's gone through a

huge transformation, of course. i think what people realize is you go here and it almost changes every single day. the first couple of weeks it was maybe 100 people. you know, sleeping on the ground with a tarp pulled over them and a backpack or in a sleeping bag and now we've started to see tents pop up and as really as the city has started to give us more space to do what we want to do which is express our first amendment rights. i think it's allowed us to try to get more organized. that's why this movement has come so far. >> talk to me about the tents. i've seen a number of what appear to be sort of military-style tents. >> it is. one of the things we've realized in terms of space in the park that if we move to a larger style tent have more communal living spaces that it will not only be safer but also that will allow us to have more people in here. >> you say safer. there has been something made of some safety issues here in the park. drug use, sexual assaults as well. speak to that.

i mean, have there been problems here in the park over the past 53 days? >> there have been a few, but this is a public corner in new york city. so i really don't think there's more crime here than there would be in virtually any other part of the city. there have been a few isolated incidents. when you are open to the public, sometimes people get a little rowdy or some anti-social behavior. i think we've done a good job of policing ourselves and now continuing to work with the nypd to keep this space safe. >> talk about the make-up of the park. the folks who are here. >> the folks who are here? well, i think we represent a really broad section of america in a lot of ways. certainly it's a lot of young people here, but there are older generations and people that remember protests past. and i think what's going on here is really an awakening of the entire country that we can become politically involved again and actually take control of our government peacefully. >> bruce, i want to bring you in now to talk to me. first of all, your last name?

>> hamilton. >> you are with local 1700 here in new york. the union got on board a few weeks into the move, correct? >> yes. >> the role that you guys have played in all of this. >> well, i think the really important thing to me is the way that outreach, that occupy wall street has reached out to the labor movement, to environmental groups, social justice organizations and has established links that are, i hope, permanent links. and, you know, this battle is going to continue for a long, long time. and the fact that we are all working at it together now is just, i think, adds to our strength. it's really awakened a lot of -- certainly an awful lot of union members. our members have been involved from florida to ohio, right now where we're at trying to defeat the anti-union legislation out there. we're working with occupy wall street in ohio. >> let's talk really quickly here, jeff. i want to come back to you because originally -- i shouldn't say originally. early on kn, one of the knocks

you were out here smoking part, you were hanging out in the park, using the bathroom in public and not really taking care of the space. over the weekend, you guys put out some video, some commercials if you will. it seems as if the occupy wall street movement has become a tad more sophisticated. >> well, i think that's to be expected. i think honestly some of the reports about the things that were going on in the park really here were not entirely accurate. again, i think there were some people here working very hard to move this movement ahead and then there's also some people that just come here to hang out. and when you have an open space in new york, they are all part of our society. so we don't want to exclude them a buat the same time, the organization that you see here is very much a concerted effort of smart and hardworking people. >> you say move the movement ahead. what is the next step for the movement? >> i think that we're still obviously an expansion phase. i think what this park really here and the similar occupies all over the country have done is they've opened up a space for people to come down to the streets and actually talk to

each other. these are the conversations you would never hear anywhere in this city between strangers that have just met. so what's going on here is really special and replicable all over the country. >> i walked through today for the first time. i had not walked through before. i heard some of those conversations and also heard what appeared to be a number of different meetings going on. what happens down here during the course of the day? >> there are all kinds of meetings. the way this is structured is we have separate working groups. and they have autonomy so the kitchen takes care of their business and sanitation and media and press. everyone goes to where they feel they can be most helpful in this movement and they join that group. and then everyone comes together in what we call a general assembly and everyone has a voice on the really bigger issues. >> super tuesday here at msnbc. we're spending a great deal of time talking about the upcoming presidential election just 365 days away now. what role will this movement have in next year's presidential election? or is it too early to tell? >> oh, i think it's definitely

too early to tell. i mean, i think what we're seeing is that the politicians are starting to react to this without us having to do anything. so i think as it becomes more popular, we may end up changing the conversation in washington as we already have even more. >> jeff, bruce, appreciate your time this morning. i want to bring in reverend al sharpton, of course. host of "politics nation." you have been down here before. >> yeah, i was down here earlier and let me say two things. i think they have changed the conversation. and i think that they have been in the tradition of the most effective social protest movements. and that is to get people talking about your issue. they have the whole country talking about economic inequality. and that's a good thing. >> one of the things and it's my first time down here to walk through. one thing that does strike me is there are not a lot of folks that look like you and me in the park. >> well, i think the issues they

raise, though, disproportionately impact us. and that's why when i came down, we wanted to show an inclusion of blacks and latinos. there was a big march yesterday that showed that. so don't be deceived by the daytime. everybody is impacted by what they are doing. occupy wall street, i think, is a message for blacks, for whites, for latinos, for everybody. >> i want to talk about this new poll. it's a new "wall street journal"/nbc news poll that's just come out. we asked a number of different questions. talk about the support president obama again, a year out. support, not just for him, for democrats. support for republicans as well all over the country. and also some of the issues that you just mentioned that are being raised here in the park. here we are again, a year out from now. how do you think -- how do you think this movement is going to shape next year's presidential election? >> i think it will shape the discussion because the discussion now will be around economic inequality, around

distribution of wealth, around jobs. the republicans and the right wing had tried to frame it around deficit. i think this movement has helped push it in the direction that many of us in civil rights and others wanted. economic inequality and jobs. i think that that is where the message is, then the results will be where many of us on the progressive side of the column would want it to be. >> 53 days ago, this movement started. is this what you thought it would look like 53 days later. >> i have no idea but i'm glad 53 days later they are still here and even more important that the world is still discussing that issue. that's what's important. an effective movement is a sustained movement, and they've been sustained. >> what -- 53 days from now, do you think -- are they still in this park? >> i think however long they stay they will effectively change the location of the argument and the discussion.

53 days from now, if we start seeing a real altering of what is happened in this country, how long they stay is immaterial to how long we stay in this economically unequal situation. >> in the same nbc news/"wall street journal" poll we just mentioned, we asked respondents which party they identified with. tea party, occupy wall street. about evenly split according to the poll. what does that say about the divisiveness right now in this country? >> well, i think that since the tea party has announced a party and occupy wall street has not, i think it should be a big boost for occupy wall street. >> you don't think that this movement is more closely identified with the democratic party? >> they stay away from party affiliations. i think they've opened themselves up to anyone who wants to deal with the 1% versus the 99%. so if in 53 days they are equal

to a party, they've won. i think it's about making america win for everybody. >> let's talk about herman cain. i know you guys devoted a fair amount of time last night on your broadcast. do you think this is it for herman cain, or do you think that as many have said that the more the media -- the more the media focuses on all of this, the better he does with certain parts of his base? >> i think the problem he has is that he made it a story with his inconsistent responses. it was him that first said he didn't know what anyone was talking about and then gradually the next day started saying it was a little of nothing. then he said i hope they didn't pay a lot. then he said maybe he told someone he used to work for him -- if he had said i'm not address anything of this. this happened years ago, no comment, or if he said i'm going to tell you everything it would have been over in one day. he made it a story, and you i think he's trying to spin himself out of his own web. >> before i -- one more question

here. i want to pick up the herman cain conversation in just a second. there was an interesting piece that joe scarborough wrote this morning for politico and talked about the president's association with wall street. and how hypocritical it is to a certain extent, how hypocritical it has been for this administration because the president has raised more money from wall street than any candidate in u.s. history. but yet he spends a fair amount of time bashing wall street, hedge fund managers and that ilk. >> well, the problem is not what the president gets from them. it's what they get from him. show me where his policies have helped them. if wall street gives donations to anybody, it does not mean that there is a contradiction unless their policies -- >> but you can appreciate how it looks. >> well, i can say that union

members gave to the president. a lot of people gave to the president. so i think in the president you'd have to say based on that, these policies have happened. so the -- he's taking a position that is against what some people have donated to his campaign. i don't see an inherent contradiction in that. that's saying because someone busy a commercial on this station that you and i can't take a position that may disagree with them. >> "politics nation" every weeknight, 6:00. appreciate your time, reverend al. >> i want to continue the conversation here. want to bring in ann. are you there with me? okay. anna palmer here with politico. let's pick up -- let's pick up where reverend al just left off with this herman cain controversy. first of all, we've been down here at the park for a few hours. has there been a new development? has there been something new today? >> so far we're still waiting to

see what cain is going to say at 5:00 p.m. eastern standard time. the big, obviously, news yesterday was the woman from chicago coming out and kind of speaking very forcibly about what actually, you know, she alleged to have occurred in 1997. >> let's talk about what happened yesterday and the specific allegations that were made yesterday and cain's response to those allegations. >> sharon bialek was a woman employed at the national restaurant association's education foundation in chicago. she alleges that after she was fired from that foundation, she met cain, had dinner with him. was looking for advice, frankly, to find another job. and at the end of that, he was in a car with her and he groped her, she alleges, and pushed her head down toward his groin, in her words. she came forward yesterday, had a very big press conference. cain addressed it. he and his press spokesman came

forward and said he was on late night tv last night and made some jokes but said he is going to address every quote/unquote firestorm that comes forward. and now that there is a face to it, we've already seen the cain supporters really try to dismiss the claims of this woman saying she was a fired employee. >> she spoke out. let's take a listen to what she said this morning on "today." let's take a listen. >> it's not about me. i am not the one running for president. i think maybe mr. cain's definition of harassment might be different. maybe he doesn't feel he harassed them. >> amy, talk to me a little bit about that. i mean, because here's the thing. it certainly looks like -- it looks like this woman could have an ax to grind. >> well, i think there are, obviously, any time a woman comes forward or anybody comes forward with allegations that at

that time weren't addressed or there wasn't an official complaint that was filed so you have kind of paper and documentation, there's always going to be an attempt on the part of whoever the party is that's being wronged or who said that they've done something wrong to say this has no -- this is no credence at all. and you've already seen that starting to happen. but, you know, she isn't the first woman. we reported more than eight days ago that, you know, there were two women who actually had signed documentation of allegations and payouts from the national restaurant association. >> all right, amy. thank you so much from politico. appreciate your time this afternoon. >> thank you. >> much more ahead on this super tuesday from the home of occupy wall street here at zuccotti park. a number of unemployed americans no longer receiving unemployment benefits. ♪ ♪

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welcome back. i'm craig melvin here. it is super tuesday on msnbc. live to you from the occupy wall street headquarters here in lower manhattan. zuccotti park. behind me you can probably hear the drums. it sounds a bit like a street party. more on precisely what happens in this park coming up a little bit later in the hour. right now, though, we want to talk about election di 2012. 365 days away. four battleground states. four states hit especially hard by this economic recession could prove -- could prove very

important next year for the white house. want to go down to richard lui at msnbc headquarters to take a look at the battleground map. richard, what do you have there? >> expect to hear it's the economy, stupid, a lot in the coming months. why? issues such as unemployment at 7.8% at the start of president obama's tenure. now all the way through four to 2011, we're looking at 9%. that's close to 14 million people who don't have jobs. and can vote. all potential voters and the people they talk to as well, they can vote. now the negative halo effect also could affect those around foreclosed homes. another issue about the economy. there are more than 200,000 foreclosed homes at the moment. the neighbors of these foreclosed homes feel the pain, too, as it takes down the value of their number one asset. they could vote their wallet, too. here's three toss-up states you were alluding to to watch where it's tough to say whether they'll go democrat or

republican and where local economic conditions could hurt the president come voting day. florida, where unemployment is right now at 10.6%. above the national average. it did drop a hair last month. more than half of the new jobs are low paying. foreclosure rates, 1 in 368 homes and more than half of the homes in default are two years behind in their payments. also, i'm going to show you michigan. another state to watch here in the coming election. 11.1% unemployment. that's about two points higher than the national average. foreclosure rate also higher than average. this is the home here of where homes are valued at some $500 right now. hiring is stagnant. it's a land of $500 homes. also here, let's go out west. nevada, a third state to watch. the unemployment rate is killing the state. 13.4%. that's the highest the ones i'm telling you about. and 1 in the 118 home units going into foreclosure.

that's like one on every block. okay. there are also some states that could help the president. i want to show you those, too. the states where the economy might not hurt and may actually help the president. iowa, virginia and new mexico. look at iowa here. their unemployment rate 6%. that looks great. about one-third lower than the national average. virginia also, 6.5%. that's a really low unemployment rate compared to the rest of the country. and new mexico, too, 6.6% and look at the foreclosure rate. 1 in 943. craig, the number one issue for voters, over half in recent polls, they are saying that jobs and the economy for candidates, this is certainly an issue they have to be smart about. >> yeah. richard lui, thank you so much. unemployment insurance -- unemployment benefits, one of the life rafts that's helped millions of americans throughout this economic crisis. right now, though, congress still considering whether to extend those benefits from 26 weeks to 99 weeks.

congressman sander levin, ranking member house ways and means committee joining me now. congressman, at this point, what would you say is the likelihood that congress is going to reauthorize and extend? >> i think we have to. there is some resistance to it. the republicans often drag their feet. but we're trying to do is put a face on the numbers. if we don't act in january alone, 1.5 million people will lose their benefits. by mid-february, it will be over 2 million people without their unemployment benefits while they look for work. that is just intolerable. we have to act. >> why is it taking so long at this point, congressman? >> well, because i think some people in the republican party think that unemployment insurance is a disincentive for people working. that may be true are a very few people but for the vast majority

what we've done is to put on the web our web, levin.house.gov a way for people to tell their stories. the unemployed. we have now over -- well over 200 stories and what people are saying, we're looking for work. we need unemployment insurance to keep us going. that's what it's all about. for the vast majority, it's an incentive, not a disincentive. >> congressman levin, thank you so much. appreciate your time. >> thank you. up next on this super tuesday, two states, very important next year. early states iowa and new hampshire. we're going to head to our campaign embeds and hear from them. [ ben harper's "amen omen" playing ]

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less than two months until 2012 ballots are cast, iowa caucuses on january 3rd. first up, nbc news campaign embed alex moshi is in iowa on the ground. alex, who is banking on a win in iowa? >> well, i think all the candidates right now are really trying to, you know, grasp all the voters in iowa. they want to win here. it's obviously the first nominating process -- state in the process. we've seen rick santorum here a lot. he's visited all 99 counties. mitt romney was here yesterday. drawing crowds of over 200 people. so we're really looking at it's a wide-open game. herman cain and mitt romney are still in the lead here with less than two months to go, but any of these candidates can come from behind and pull a mike huckabee from 2007, 2008. >> it's been very interesting

there, alex in new hampshire, to see what's happened to michele bachmann. what does the bachmann campaign say about that? >> well in iowa, i think michele bachmann's ground game is still pretty well handled here. she's doing lots of events. she's here practically every weekend holding three or four events a day. so what's been happening in new hampshire hasn't really affected her iowa ground game and she's still banking on a win here. that would help her launch pad into new hampshire, south carolina and some of the other early states, greg. >> thank you so much. jolie kent now in manchester. let's go to you. what's happening there? >> well, we've got two months to go until the first in the nation primary. you can see the intensity is ramping up. tomorrow, mitt romney himself may be at a debate but governor chris christie will be here stumping on his behalf. jon huntsman has decided to go on the offensive, attacking mitt romney in the state where he is campaigning.

only he's reduced his multistate strategy and he launched a website which is entirely dedicated to attacking mitt romney. we have a lot of other candidates coming through. rick santor sum back in new hampshire visiting headquarters. he did 11 stops in two days. very impressive for the campaign trail here. >> jo ling, you've been in new hampshire. you've been an embed for a while now following these candidates. talk about the transformation. what you see four, five months ago there in the granite state versus what you see now. >> well, basically, there's a lot of undecided voters that are getting closer and closer to making their final decisions. they are asking pointed questions. shaking hands with the candidates multiple times. people are nearing a decision. as secretary of state bill gardner told me, people here in new hampshire don't always make a decision days ago throughout

broadcast. we've been talking to folks, of course, about what's going to happen 365 days from now. 365 days from now. in addition to some very important ballot measures throughout some very important ballot measures throughout the country. also two governors are up as well in southern states. again, this is where the occupy wall street movement began 53 days ago. let's take a look at how it's transforming.

>> robbing this generation from the american dream. >> for over a year now, we're -- >> what do you want? >> justice. >> for persons who represent us. >> all right. clearly we're having some technical issues there. we're going to take a quick break. we'll come back and reset. this is msnbc. live from zuccotti park in lower manhattan. solution? td ameritrade mobile trader. i can enter trades on the run. even futures and 4x. complex options, done. [ cellphone rings ] thank you. live streaming audio. advanced charts. look at that. all right here. wherever "here" happens to be. mobile trading from td ameritrade. number one in online equity trades. plus get up to $600 when you open an account.

but don't just listen to me. 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. welcome back on this super tuesday. craig melvin live from zuccotti park. this, of course, where the occupy wall street movement was born some 53 days ago. we'll talk more about the movement. we'll talk about what happens here in this park as well. and the effect that it could have on next year's presidential election in just a few moments. first, though, we want to return

to ohio. of course, a very important battleground state this year as well. there's a major referendum issue on the ballot there. it's called issue two. tens of millions of dollars have poured -- have been -- tens of millions have been spent on the issue which seeks to overturn a law passed back in march. the law limits the right of union -- limits the right of public workers to bargain collectively. it mirrors a similar measure that was undertaken in wisconsin last year as well. i want to bring in congressman sharon brown now -- excuse me, senator sharon brown of ohio. are you there with me? >> i'm here, yeah, thanks. >> yeah, i'm here, craig. >> okay. a lot of folks who aren't familiar with what's happening with issue two in ohio, give us a little background, please. >> the legislature, on a totally partisan vote, ran through

repeal of collective bargaining rights back in march. lots of protests like in wisconsin. to put an issue on the ballot, in ohio you can have a referendum on the, on the new law. you need 250,000 roughly signatures. we got 1.3 million signatures in ohio to repeal this law. it is now on the ballot. it will be voted on today. it's being voted on today in ohio. it's significant to ohio, but it's the first time in american history where collective bargaining rights have actually been on a statewide ballot. so this vote today has a whole lot to do with what you're doing right now in new york, craig, that it's about the broad middle class in its representation. and are we going to fight back? in ohio, they are. that's why we have a very good chance to overturn this anti-collective bargaining law. i think it's not -- it will be good for democrats, but more

than that, it's good for the broad middle class because this bill, this law that the legislature passed was a direct attack on the middle class. it's a kind of class warfare aimed at the middle class that we've seen far too much of in this country. >> senator, are democrats in ohio also using this as a way to mobilize union workers and mobilize that labor base in ohio that could prove a very important to the president's re-election chances last year? >> i think that's what will happen. here's what else happened in ohio. the legislature again, not paying attention in the gofr job creation, they went after bargaining rights. they also did a radical rollback of voter -- of the voter laws that were passed ten years ago bipartisanly in the legislature. and so you've seen people who care about voting rights and people who care about collective bargaining rights coming together in a way they haven't particularly well in the past. and i think that's bad news for

john kasich, the governor. the governor is personally and politically very unpopular in ohio now. i think that will -- i think you'll see him not on the ballot in 2012 but you'll -- because he's not on the ballot. but you'll see him talked about a lat because he's trying to take the state in the wrong direction. >> senator sherrod brown, appreciate the time. want to remind folks that ed schultz will be bringing the ed show live tonight from ohio. again, a very important battleground state in next year's presidential election. voter i.d. is another important issue we've been following closely here at msnbc. a number of folks who go to the polls today, a number of folks who go next year will have to show an i.d. card. many of them for the first time. those who support measures like this is a that it prevents voter fraud. those who are against measures like this is a it's voter

suppression. want to bring in pete williams now from our d.c. bureau, our justice correspondent. pete joining us with a closer look at some of these voter i.d. measures that states have been looking at and implementing around the country. >> craig, in fact, mississippi voters are trying to decide today whether they will also impose the same requirement in their states. it was three years ago that the u.s. supreme court said that requiring voters to show a government-issued photo i.d. at the polls did not violate the constitutionally protected try to vote. and once the court made that ruling, many other states jumped on the bandwagon. the push for voter i.d. laws came in the wave of calls for election reforms after the 2000 bush/gore debacle. it started in indiana, the first state to require that registered voters show government issued photo identification like a driver's license to cast a ballot. voters without one can still have their ballots counted but only if they produce a photo i.d. within a few days.

since the u.s. supreme court upheld the indiana law three years ago, the idea has spread and six other states have passed a similar strict requirement. kansas, texas, wisconsin, tennessee, georgia and south carolina. now voters in mississippi are deciding whether to amend their state constitution to require photo i.d.s at their polls. the idea has strong support among republicans. >> we just wanted to make sure that once you are properly registered that when you show up to vote that you are voting one time and you are voting for yourself and not for somebody else or a deceased relative or neighbor that can't make it to the polling place that day. >> seven other states have chosen to ask for photo i.d.s at the polls but they are more permissive allowing voting on the spot with other ways to prove identity. and more may be joining the list. photo i.d. bills were introduced in 34 state legislatures. but opponents say some minority, poor, elderly and disabled voters do not have i.d.s. they say the laws are nothing more than an effort to discourage democrats from vote.

>> we know that there are millions of people who are eligible to vote who just don't have these specific kinds of i.d. and we shouldn't let the phantom threat of voter fraud have a very real impact on these real voters. >> now if this passes today in mississippi and the requirement is imposed there for photo i.d.s it would not go into effect immediately. probably not more for several months, but supporters and opponents there both agree that if it passes, it would probably be in effect for the presidential election, for the general election next november, craig. >> pete williams from washington for us this afternoon. pete, thank you so much for that look at some of the voter i.d. laws. of course, in addition to that today in mississippi, the governor of mississippi up also the governor of kentucky as well. lots more on decision 2012. next here, lots more on super tuesday. we are live from zuccotti park. a closer look at what happens here in this park and what the occupy wall street movement has

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craig melvin here from occupy wall street, zuccotti park. this is day 53. day 53 of the occupy wall street movement here in new york city. this, of course, where it all started. right now, a quick look back at how it all began. >> we are the 99%! >> reporter: it started as a call to action. a blog post asking, are you ready for a moment? harkening back to egypt's moment. but this time seeking a movement. >> so demonstrators came to occupy wall street.

they took over a nearby park and the movement took off. from new york. >> we are a force to be reckoned with. >> reporter: to chicago. to los angeles. even rural alaska. occupy wall street went worldwide with a global day of protests october 15th. in europe, mostly peaceful protests. but in rome, demonstrations turned violent. italian police firing teargas into crowds. a precursor to what would happen back in the united states days later. officers in oakland, california, firing teargas into the crowds after protesters refused to clear out of their camp. but it did not deter demonstrators. >> we keep running away. nothing is going to happen. >> the system was never set up to serve me. it was set up to keep the rich in power. >> new government figures seemed to back this up showing the country's biggest banks raking

in near record profits. so far this year, $34 billion. last year, financial firms handed out nearly $21 billion in bonuses alone. >> there's something out of whack with our country if at a time of such hardship for so many families our financial institutions who got government help can be doing well. >> some workers on wall street support the movement. >> i think some of their grievances are legitimate. >> to a point. >> i think the economy is a disaster and people need jobs. but i don't know how protesting gets jobs. >> reporter: nonetheless, occupy wall street has definitely struck a chord. >> the real test of the movement is whether it can last a year until the next election. >> now most americans will never see a wall street -- an occupy wall street demonstration firsthand. so over the weekend, organizers here started running commercials like this one. >> i want a greater regulation

of the banks and the markets. >> i want my kids to have a job and health care. >> i want true democracy for the 99% of white house don't have it anymore. >> justin elliott has been covering this movement since it started. he is a writer with salon.com. again, you've been here from the beginning. how has this thing changed? >> for one thing, there's tents up. they are getting ready for the winter. mayor bloomberg, i think, was hoping this would peter out when the weather started getting cold. but i'm hearing from people inside the park that really the problem is they don't have enough space. the park has just filled up with tents. they are getting higher grade tents, higher grade sleeping bags. it's still going pretty strong. >> how are they going to endure the winter here in this park, or are they? is this thing going to be peter out once the temperature hits about 25, 30 degrees? >> i think really only time can tell. but they are preparing. they've raised, i believe, about $600,000 at this point. they've been investing some of that money in higher grade, i

think, military grade tents and sleeping bags. but the park is really sort of a base for activism and organization. and they do have some indoor spaces. there's one nearby on wall street on the ground floor of deutscheank where they are meeting. that's where a lot of the organizational work gets done. >> for folks at home who can hear what sounds like a midday concert going on now in the park. what happens here throughout the course of the day in addition to the drum banging? >> a lot of things happen. a lot of organization. people, passersby and tourist comes by, talk to people about the issues that they are protesting. you know, basically economic justice issues. at the same time, there's literally dozens of working groups, working on all sorts of different issues who meet here, talk about what they are doing. for one example, there's a labor working group that's getting -- that's helping some unions in new york city and different labor disputes. there's dozens of examples like that. it's really a base. >> we've seen how it's spread across the country as well.

and over the pond as well. >> right. and, i mean, there's a media working group that does a live stream of everything that's happening here. it's really sort of a base of operations where a lot of different things can happen. >> justin elliott, salon.com, appreciate your time, sir. more from zuccotti park right after this. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs

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all eight major gop republican presidential contenders will be in rochester, michigan, tomorrow night for a debate. cnbc's john harwood is one of the moderators joining me live from rochester with a preview. >> hey, craig. and you know, some of the same issues that you are hearing about in zuccotti park are going to come up in the debate. look at the nbc/"wall street journal" poll that we just came

out with that showed three-fourths of americans believe the economic structure of this country is tilted to favor the wealthy. these are the kinds of issues that republican candidates will get an opportunity to address in our debate as well as the more topical stuff like we've been following this fast-moving herman cain story. >> all right, john harwood there from michigan. looking forward to the debate tomorrow night. thank you so much. thanks to you as well. live from zuccotti park. again, as i mentioned at the top of the hour, i had not been down here before. i imagine most of you have not seen one of these occupy wall street movements firsthand as well. if you live in new york city and you get an opportunity, i encourage you to come down and at least walk through. two things will happen. some of the stereotypes will be reinforced. some of the stereotypes will be shattered as well. very eye-opening. folks here talking about a lot of the issues that will

undoubtedly shape next year's presidential race. we'll continue to follow all of that. super tuesday here on msnbc. andrea mitchell up next from washington, d.c. with "andrea mitchell reports." i'm craig melvin. i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, 9:00 out west. ? 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. looks beautiful, honey. [ rattling ] jason... really buddy, wow. samantha jane. ♪ guys, christmas dinner

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," a year to go and it is super tuesday on msnbc. our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows voters are trading hope for fear. president obama has an uphill climb, but the mountain is even steeper for republicans. and in off-year races, people are going to the polls today. in mississippi, republicans are voting on the toughest anti-abortion amendment in the country. an amendment that says life begins at fertilization. we'll ask mississippi governor haley barbour about its impact.