rick perry shows he's still kicking with a new ad slamming the president for a quote about american businesses being lazy but are the president's words being taken way out of context? there is morning, the occupy wall street protesters mark their two-month anniversary calling for a national day of action. one target today -- the new york subway system. and after a four-day search, secret service officers arrest a man in that white house shooting. we're learning the suspect may have had an obsession with the president. it's thursday, november 17th. 011 and this is "the daily

rundown." chuck todd is traveling with the president to bali. we'll hear from him in a moment. but let's begin with this developing story. the occupy wall street movement turns two months old today and protesters in new york are planning a massive protest aimed at shutting down streets, bridges and even the subway. mara? >> reporter: chris, good morning. you can see behind me the park is empty. there is a lot of activity takes place just a few blocks away. a march is taking place, protesters are headed to wall street by our count, about 700 people areç there right now. their plan was to get to wall street and actually disrupt the beginning of the work day. i spoke to someone who said they wanted to take all of their anger and frustration directly to the financial institutions that they were directing that at but they were not able to reach wall street because of police barricades that had been put up. police have also erected

checkpoints around the stock exchange where they are checking people's work i.d.s to make sure only people headed to work can actually get there. they weren't allowed to actually reach wall street and the stock exchange but they are right in that i have siarea trying to di morning commute. other events are scheduled around the city and around the country today. the group here in new york plans to also hold actions at subway stations around the city this afternoon and then later this afternoon they're going to hold another big march and rally. they say they're going to be joined by unions and their plan is to march across the brooklyn bridge. they've had the support of unions for quite some time now. they hope this will swep their number to the thousands today and they hope it could be their biggest event yet. in terms of the long-term goal, they've been evicted from the park. the question is what to do next. they say they are still figuring that out, move someplace else, move indoors or simply wrap up

this phase of the protest movement in terms of occupying public spaces. >> mara, what is the city doing, police presence, mayor bloomberg, what are they doing either to counteract this, to deal with it, to ensure that people trying to travel in and out of the city aren't disrupted too much? >> reporter: the city has taken a very measured approach overall in terms of trying not to initiate too much confrontation but in trying to make sure the streets are clear and that everything is handled in a way ãa!q city. for today we've seen the same kinds of things. barricades are up, they're trying to make sure protesters aren't interfering with people's work days. we've seen very few scuffles or arrests. but if there get to be too many people in the streets blocking traffic, we have seen in the past they will step in at that point, take action, start arresting people and clearing people out. remember in the very beginning of this 700 people were arrested

on the brooklyn bridge. they have stepped in when they needed to. >> thank you. now to politics and our first read of the morning. stuck in single digits in national and state polls, rick perry has settled on a comeback strategy of sorts. attack president obama. he's up with a new ad that does just that in iowa. >> we've been a little bit lazy i think over the last couple of decades. >> you you believe that? that's what our president thinks is wrong with america? americans are lazy? that's pathetic. obama's socialist policies are bankrupting america. we must stop him now. >> mark murray is nbc news deputy political director. he joins me now. those are some strong words. i circle the "pathetic socialist, we must stop him now." this idea picking up on the lazy comment that the president made in an economic forum in hawaii, mitt romney has now commented on it. we have perry running an ad in iowa on it.

what es there, mark? what do republicans think? >> what they think is the president is not sticking up for america. this is a theme we've seen over the last several years. president obama is apologizing for america. he doesn't believe america is an exceptional nation. it is on the same theme. i have to say th)áq remarks president obama said are being taken out of context. what he was referring to in hawaii on saturday was that u.s. business practices have become laysier and complacent in bringing foreign investment to the united states. not that americans are lazy. the president followed up and said and here's what we should do to actually do a better job on that type of foreign investment. >> gosh forbid, a political ad take something out of context. >> it is politics. >> the dnc released a web video this morning about this whole lazy controversy showing they were a little worried. let's watch and come back and talk about it.

>> so playing off of the "oops" moment of rick perry. does this show a level of concern that exists, that democrats don't want this to kind of get out of control before they can point out an they do so in their as you pointed out the context of this comment? >> right. chris, this is just politics. you take your whacks whenever you can get them. the republicans are piling on president obama for saying the lazy comment. now you see the democratic national committee fire back. i will see this about rick perry as he focuses on president obama right now. remember back in august when perry was taking up in the polls, suggesting fed chairman ben bernanke should be lyncheded. we haven't heard this type of aggressive rhetoric from rick perry in a while. he's been on defense, he's now

going on offense. >> the thing that republican primary voters seem to want from donald trump all the way through to rick perry is someone who's willing to say those kind of things about president obama. let's talk about someone who haç amazingly recaptured magic, newt gingrich. he's now at or near the top in most national polls but lot of controversy about his $1.6 million from freddie mac. now he was all over yesterday talking about what happened and here's a little bit about why he got so much money. here's the explanation he's giving. we'll come back and talk about it. >> i was approached for strategic advice. i was glad to offer strategic advice. and we did it for a number of companies. >> i offer strategic advice to a lot of different companies. i did no lobbying of any kind. i was speaker of the house and strategic advisor. >> will you make those records public? >> to the degree we can, sure. >> the buzzword he said,

strategic advice. what does that mean? is he trying to square a circle saying i wasn't a lobbyist? >> right. he's saying technically i wasn't a registered lobbyist. technically. as we know in washington, d.c. there is a thin line between being a registered lob buyest and someone offering strategic advice. remember tom daschle, the former democratic senate majority leader was caught up in a similar type of distinction and this is the imaging for newt gingrich because this goes to the very heart of what is one of his big liabilities, he is a creature of washington. it's one reason herman cain has taken off in the polls, people say he's not a politician. ghu whole story is a reminder

the last stop on a trip designed to bolster u.s. allies in the face of china's growing strength. chuck is traveling with the president. >> reporter: good morning, chris. i'm still in darwin, australia but right now i'm actually in the air on the way to ba will, indonesia. president obama's already there preparing to overnight. got a couple of more days of economic summits with southeast asian countries. a few bit llaterals the preside will have the next few days. focal point of this troip to australia where the speech to parliament where he outlined security reasons why the united states is going to be placing up to 2,500 u.s. troops stationed right here in darwin, australia where we are right now. now the reason being that allies like australia and the philippines have been concerned about some of the chinese military maneuverings in the south china sea. they've been looking for a

counterweight to that, so the u.s. stationing troops there is one way to do that. now the united states is saying this isn't fully about whooin china. they note having troops in australia will help respond to natural disasters in the region and as well as deal with some of the al qaeda affiliates that are in the philippines. of course, and pop up in indonesia. but, it is sending a strong signal to china, the same time we've seen in the economic front during this trip with all the various economic partnerships that the united states has been trying to put together with a lot of asian pacific countries not named china. so very much the theme of this trip that aedz will privately concede is taking a tougher tone with china. that is popular domestic politics at home. so chris, i'm off, off to bali, i'll be in the air when the show airs. i'll see you tomorrow. >> chuck todd, thank you. ç prospects for a super committee deal are fading by the day. remember, we're only six days away from the deadline.

instead of using the time left for negotiations, the two co-chairs now seem intent on blaming each other for the impasse. >> i am still hopeful that the republicans will see their way to bringing to us a real package. that's what all of us are looking for in terms of fair and balanced. >> i'm waiting for the democrats to put fundamental reform on the table. i am looking for a solution. they've rejected a republican solution. they've rejected a bipartisan solution. we await for their solution. nbc's capitol hill correspondent luke russert joins us now. luke, that sounded -- >> aye-yi-yi, huh? oh, my goodness. >> it sounded a lot like politics and not a lot like policy. is that where we're headed? >> reporter: chris, it is really quite striking. in the last few days a group that's really been nonpartisan that's tried to say each side is very honorable has gotten into the partisan snipg which has gripped washington. really we're at an impasse based on the issue which has plagued

this committee and congress -- taxes verse entitlements. republicans don't want to see taxes raised in any capacity. jeb hensarling said two days ago $250 billion in new revenue was the last offer he'd give. yesterday he said he was waiting for a democratic plan. democrats countered saying we would be happy to do $400 billion in revenue with $876 billion and other types of savings but you can't touch anything in regards to social security or medicare or any of the entitlement programs. same issue, entitlements versus taxes, still not able to be figured out toward the end now. with the clock ticking a lot of folks on capitol hill are very pessimistic. i spoke to a few aides yesterday that said they might have to do a much smaller package. there's talk ofç possibly chain deficit reduction president obama definitely needs like the extension of unemployment benefits which expire at end yeefrt. something else this committee can punt on. but in terms of getting some sort of agreement that it needs to come by monday for the congressional budget office to

score it, it is not looking very good right now, chris. that has a lot of people on capitol hill worried. >> luke, obviously the president is in indonesia. what is the sense on the hill in terms of the leadership getting more involved to get something done, even if it is something small? do we expect that in the next five, six days, that they're going to step in? >> well, the word from the republican side is that the president has had no involvement. they say that he called up jeb hensarling last friday on his way to the basketball game between michigan state and north carolina and that's all that he's done. democrats say that's not true at all, he's very much played a role in the process in terms of what they've presented. in terms of harry reid and john boehner, there was talk they would try to bring the agreement through across the finish line. that's been walked back a little bit say they're delegating it to committee members. these tinhings have a tendency working themselves out in the 11th hour. but i'll give you a hint of how

hard this is with republicans and the tax issue. i spoke to some rank and file guys last night. they said even getting $250 billion in new revenue, an offer the democrats have rejected completely -- would be as they quoted to me, near to impossible for john boehner to pull off. that is how difficult revenue is on the republican side. you could pass the senate most likely easily but getting any revenue through the house gop is a real tall order in november of 2011. >> nbc's luke russert on capitol hill, keeping track of all the super committee developments. >> keep it super, çthanks, man. keeping an eye on downtown manhattan where the occupy wall street protesters are gathered near the new york stock exchange. obviously we see some folks right there being dragged away by the new york police department. protesters are marking the two months of occupying the area with big marches planned today. this is a develop story that we are going to stay on top of all day. the gang of 147 doesn't

exactly have the same ring to it as "super committee." up next, we'll hear from one of those lawmakers urge being the panel to strike a grand bargain on the budget. plus, what we're learning now about the man authorities believe fired an assault weapon at the white house. but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule as you heard from chuck -- the president has arrived in bali, indonesia. it's nighttime there now so the president and chuck are in for the evening. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan

gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. pnc virtual wallet gathers your spending and saving in one place. credit and debit purchases, checks, bills, and other financial information.

it lets you see the details as well as the big financial picture. so you can do more with your money. see what a complete view of your money can do for you at pncvirtualwallet.com. ♪ pnc bank. for the achiever in you. ♪ you ooohoohooh... ♪ you are my heart... [ male announcer ] vera wang love. ♪ oh yes you do... the new diamond bridal collection from vera wang. exclusively at zales.

the men and women here today have taken a hard look at the challenges that faces the super committee and have said we stand behind you, we want you to

succeed, we'll do everything we can to help you, but we encourage you to be bolder in your mission. >> and unusual group of nearly 150 members of congress from both parties -- yes, both parties -- came together wednesday urging the super committee to strike a big deal. but right now, the hope for any deal as you just heard from luke russert seems to be slipping away. north dakota republican senator john hoeven is a member of the appropriations committee and he was one of the wednesday's gang of 147. senator, thanks thanks ffor joi. luke russert just said he talked to some house members, republicans, yesterday and they are concerned they cone even get the votes for $250 million more in revenue increases. how can we go big if we have even on that small proposal which democrats have already rejected, we can't even get enough republicans in the house to sign on to it. what's the way forward? >> look, we're trying to encourage the joint select

committee to work hard and bring us a product and what we're saying to them is that you've got members in both the house and senate that recognize that we've got to put together a plan to reduce the deficit and the debtç and that means not only tx reform, entitlement reform, finding savings but all of these things and we've got to do it in a bipartisan way. by we are encouraging them to put together a proposal, and let's work on it in a bipartisan way. >> your colleague jim demint had this to say about taxes. >> we're supposedly in a recession. americans are tightening their belts. many are out of work and what we're talking about here is let's continue to spend and take more from hard working tax paying americans so we can keep our spending addiction going here in washington. it is utterly irresponsible what

we're doing. >> now, senator, what do you say back to senator demint who has held a very hard line, a tea party line, on spending at all. what do you say to him because that does not sound the like the beginnings of a bipartisan deal? >> chris, republicans on a broad basis feel that we do need to engage in tax reform in closing loopholes and that truly revenue comes from economic growth. that is something that we all believe in. but for us to get to a big package where we're not only going to have to have tax reform and get growth in the economy, but we're going to have to have entitlement reform and find savings as well. the important point though sufficient's got people out there saying that the joint select committee may not get to something or they're discouraged. what we're saying is, hey, we need to get this work done for the american people. is about on a long-term basis reducing the kef sdeficit and reducing the debt. that's something we have to

continue to push to get done. >> now senator,ç before were y a senator, you were a governor. before that the president of the bank of north dakota. you're used to executive positions. how frustrating is it to be on the outside looking in at the super committee process? >> it's challenging. he again that's what i'm saying. we need to get everybody involved. we need to do it on a bipartisan basis. we have a responsibility to the american people to start reducing the deficit and the debt. but remember, a big, big part of that is fostering economic growth and getting people back to work. so that means creating a legal tax and regulatory environment that stimulates private investment, gets job creation going and that economic growth is vital to solving our deficit problem. >> let me just ask, senator, because i think these policy fights especially as close as we are to 2012 have political consequences. how do you get beyond the politics of this? you are from a republican state in north dakota. you won your race with 75% of the vote. but many of your colleagues,

democrats and republicans, are in much more competitive states, they won with smaller margins, they're up in 2012. what do you say to them as they worry about the little bit political fallout as a compromise that their side may see as insufficient. >> the american people want us to work together. they are saying come together in a bipartisan way and meet these challenges. and that's what i hear every day and that's what we have to do. >> senator john hoeven of north dakota, thanks for joining us. >> thanks, chris. with protesters trying to shut down wall street, we'll get a preview of the markets. that's next. plus, what goes up must come down? an inside look at newt gingrich with two former lawmakers who:6 served with him. does the former speaker have what it takes to be president? but first, today's trivia question. who was the first u.s. governor to have his or her own action figure?ç you can tweet us@dailyrundown.

i expect you political youlittp to know that answer. more on the dr coaily rundown cg up. what's better than gold ? 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.

developing now. police are now estimating 700 occupy wall street protesters are gathered at wall street. protesters are reportedly trying to block the entrance to the new york stock exchange. we'll go live to downtown manhattan in just a few minutes. but first, the opening bell is about toç ring which means is time for the market rundown. for that we go to cnbc's becky quick. >> the protesters are outside wall street, inside at the stock exchange things are getting ready to open. right now it looks like the market's going to open flat. that may not sound like much but we've seen quite a bit of improvement this morning. market came back from relatively

low levels where it looked like the dow was going to open down by 60, 70, 80 points and it all happened at 8:30 this morning eastern time when we got the jobless claims came out which showed there were 388,000 new jobless claims. it doesn't sound like a great number but it is the best number in seven months and it is key improvement that brought the futures back at that point. 400,000 has been the level. anything above 400,000 shows we aren't really making much improvement at all in terms of the jobless outlook. if we get below that number it says we can start to chip away at the unemployment rate and that's why futures picked up at that point. earlier this morning additional concerns about europe had been really weighing on the markets. auctions from both france and spain they auctioned off government debt. this is their way of going into the market and saying will anyone lend us money? it cost both of those nations quite a bit more money to borrow money this time around. in spain the borrowing costs were the highest since 1997. that's still going to be something that overhangs this market. >> absolutely. thanks, becky. "the daily rundown" will be back in 30 seconds.

back now with theç daily rundown. developing news now out of lower manhattan where occupy wall street protesters are trying to block entrances for wall street employees. there are also reports of protesters blocking subway exits. >> reporter: this story is developing pretty quickly now. all of what's happening right now is part of what was a long planned day of action and disruption and the stated goal

was to take the frustration and anger that this movement has been feeling directly to the financial institutions that they feel are responsible. this morning they're trying to disrupt morning commute and disrupt the beginning of the work day. it is fitting this all seems to be coming to a head around the time the opening bell is scheduled to ring. 700 protesters tried to get to wall street earlier today and police barricaded off the area so they weren't actually able to get to wall street or the stock exchange. police set up checkpoints so only people with work i.d.s could get through but now protesters are trying to block those checkpoints. they're trying to surround wall street. wall street is a very short street so it is not hard to block all of the conceivable entrances there and they are trying to do just that to block them to disrupt the work day so people can't get through to get to work to start their day. they are also trying to do this by blocking the subway entrances and exits that lead on to wall street. they are directing protesters to the entrances that are still open that are still allowing people to get through so that by

the force of the crowds they are keeping people from coming out and getting to work. so police are monitoring that situation there. there have been some arrests, we're hearing between a dozen and two dozen. no confirmed numbers at this time but at this time there haven't been any large-scale scuffles on could be frontations but police are trying to maintain order and make sure people can get to work, contrary m are doing. they plan to also disrupt the subwauz and later this afternoon they are planning a big march and rally across the brooklyn bridge so it remains to be see how this two-month anniversary will unfold. >> mara, thanks for staying on top of it all for us. other storiesmakering headlines this morning -- the attorneys for jun of jerry sandusky's alleged abuse victims says his client is ready to testify and claims more young men will be coming forward. meanwhile, penn state police are disputing mike mcqueary's claim he reported a 2002 incident in

which he saw sandusky allegedly abusing a young boy. new amateur video out of syria shows escalating violence as military defectors take up arms against the government. president assad's troops are responding with tanks and heavy weapons. syria's allies in russia say the situation looks like the start of a civil war. the white house has announced $25 billion worth of trade deals with america's south asian partners. timing it to coincide with the president's trip. white house officials estimate that the agreements will support 127,000 american jobs. an eagle eye hotel employee is being credited with saving the day and leading authorities to oscar ramiro ortega hernandez, the man suspected of firing an assault rifle at the white house friday night. nbc justice correspondent pete williams has more on that story. pete? >> reporter: chrissing with , h arrested yesterday about 200 miles away from washington, d.c. at indiana, pennsylvania at a motel where investigators discovered he had stayed

earlier. in going back and trying to trace his movements, they sent pictures to places he had been before. the secret service told motel employees that he might return and to call if he did and he walked in to the lobby, they called the police, arrested him and he will appear in federal court this afternoon.ç he's 21 years old. he has a long report of arrests for minor crimes in three states -- idaho, where he is from, utah and texas. and his father told nbc's spanish language network telemundo that ortega had recently become obsessed with the date 11/11/11. november 11th. it was the date of last friday's shooting and worried that that's when the world would end. investigators also say that ortega had made threatening and bizarre comments about president obama, chris. >> pete, just quickly, i've read in some places, there is reports that he was obsessed in some way with the president. do we know anything more about that at this point? >> that he considered the president the antichrist, he's told some people. i guess the theory is sort of

this confluence of things. his focus on the president and his concern that the world was going to end on november 11th. so obviously a young man with some mental issues. now right now the only charge he faces is carrying a dangerous weapon. but prosecutors are considering a charge of attempted assassination. it is the same charge that they brought against francisco duran who fired on the white house during the clinton administration. didn't hurt anybody, but he was convicted, got a 40-year sentence and that sentence was upheld on appeal. >> pete, thanks for the report. >> you bet. newt gingrich is the latest gop hopeful to make a surge to the front of the pack. the latest poll from fox news has gingrich in the lead. yes, you heard me right -- in the lead. besting mitt romney and herman cain. but can gingrich sustain his momentum and does he have what it takes to actually be the president of the united states? i'm joined now by former texas democratic congressman martin frost, and former louisiana

republican congressman bob livingston. congressman livingston, this is someone you know well. you have a long relationship with. you are supportiveç of news gingrich. are you surprised that he went from the political valley and now he's back on the political mountain in the space of six months? >> actually not, chris. i was with him about four months ago and he was doing terrible. he got off to an awful start and we talked a little while. he told me watch the debates. and i did. i watched every debate. i watched his performance and he was, by far, the best guy on the stage. i love all the other people. they're all great. i'm for any republican that can beat president obama because i don't think he's been good for this country. but, in fact, newt is the smartest. we've got terrible problems in this country. we've just got unemployment, the debt problem, but when newt took over as speaker of the house as a revolutionary, turning over the house from the democrats to the republican for the first time in 40 years. we cut programs.

we actually eliminated programs. we cut spending. we provided welfare reform. we balanced the budget. and when we left after four years, the debt was too high at $5 trillion. today only 12 years later, it is $15 trillion. three times what it was. newt was a revolutionary but he was also a great administrator. as has he got issues? sure, we all do. but i think newt would be the best president -- >> i have a slightly differing view. >> i want to know. martin frost, newt gingrich, both class of 1978 in congress. >> that's right. >> what's your sense of -- i'm fascinated, both of you have spent time with him, served with him, know him better certainly than the average layperson. >> my view is very different from bob's. first of all, the reason newt is doing so well right now is this is an extraordinarily anemic and weak field. you've got cain, you've got perry, you've got bachmann whop% know very little about national government.

romney's the only one who's demonstrated that he really knows very much. newt knows a lot. newt's problem is that he's accident prone. he's very experienced guy. he knows the issues. but he can get off message very easily, he can have a problem and i want to tell you a little personal history involving newt, bob and me. and i don't know if bob remembers this. 16 years ago when there was newt threatened to close down the federal government, bob came and testified on a continuing resolution before the appropriations -- excuse me, before the rules committee that i was on. it was carried on live television. and i asked bob on live television, bob, don't you think newt is acting like a cry baby? the next day, the "new york daily news" had a full page cartoon about newt in a diaper with a bottle and that came out of the exchange that bob and i had in the rules committee 16 years ago. bob denied that -- >> i don't remember that. >> the problem is, newt is a big figure. he is a smart guy. but he also makes big mistakes. now he is benefiting from the

fact that this is a horribly weak field. none of those other people are qualified to be president of the united states. the only one who has anything to say other than newt and romney is huntsman and he's positioned himself to the left of the field so he's not going to be nominated. so it is an interesting situation. >> that said, congressman, he has gotten himself -- at least a surprise to me, he has gotten himself back into a> as chairman of the dccc. >> how does he avoid it? >> well,ç he does make occasiol mistakes. but they always are tactical mistakes. >> but they're big mistakes! >> no, they're small mistakes. he was taken out because in

those days he paid attention too much to clinton's problems when he should have been bragging about the fact that we balanced the budget, cut taxes, provided welfare reform and kept the debt as low as possible. for the first time. i might say, we balanced the budget for the only time in about the last 50 years. >> and he made an enormous tactical mistake when he went in the closing days of the 1998 campaign going after clinton saying that clinton should be impeached. that turned the tables. we picked up five seats in a year that everybody said the democrats were going to lose. >> let me parse that. because in my opinion, clinton lied under oath, he ended up having his law degree suspended. the fact is he -- a lot of people went o jail for doing what clinton did. so whether he should have been impeached or not is a different issue. it was his tactical -- >> it cost newt his speakership because he was paying more attention to clinton than his leadership. >> looking forward, "the

washington post" wrote a story and he's acknowledging where he said i hope i can do better in terms of staying on message. w "what leads you to believe as his supporter that he can do better? we've seen these boom-bust cycles. >> newt is one of the brightest political stars on the horizon in 50 years. he's older, he's wiser, he's settled now, he's gotten religion. >> he said he had 12 years to rest. >> well, you look, he's been a very productive guy in the outside of government but he's got the historical knowledge. a ph.d in history. he's got an understanding of the problems of this government and this government is broken. right now thatç super committe is about to bust. i'm worried about it. >> the problem that he's got is that the brain and the mouth are not always connected. newt says things that are somewhat outrageous. he says things that are clearly wrong and then he has to go back

and clean up his act. he is clearly the class of the antiromney field. i agree with that. we agree with bob. none of these other people come even close to newt as being a credible anti-romney candidate. the question -- >> but is that enough? >> the question, is that enough. i've had an off-the-camera exchange with chuck todd on this issue for about six months and which i have taken the position that newt is a credible candidate. chuck -- >> we will be back. we will have you guys back to talk about this. i didn't think chuck had any off-camera exchange. thank you, both. >> newt's a wiser guy today. six days and counting. we'll game out the chances of a super committee deal with our political panel. next. but first, the white house soup of the day. tomato bisque. i guess that sounds fine. it's filling. kind of a rainy, cloudy day here. little soup, salad, sandwich. sounds good. even if it is only 9:40 in the morning. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc.

what's better than gold ? 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. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas.

it's this... the etrade pro platform. fast. beautiful. totally customizable. finds top performing stocks -- in three clicks. quickly scans the market for new trading ideas. it can even match options strategies to your goals and lets you see the potential risk and reward. and, it also comes with a dedicated elite service team. got it? get it. good. introducing new etrade pro elite. ♪ ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian

♪ gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. that stays even after i treat... [ male announcer ] truth is, most sinus formulas don't treat a cough. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus sinus liquid gels fights sinus symptoms plus cough. you're good. [ male announcer ] thanks.

that's the cold truth! we're keeping our eyeon the developing news in downtown manhattan. police are arresting some occupy wall street protesters who were sitting on the ground and blocking traffic near the stock exchange. on to politics. with just six days until the super committee has to have a final deal done six days, a growing number of republicans are bucking party orthodoxy saying taxes have to be on the table to achieve real deficit reduction. >> the right thing to do is to go big, go big may mean $3 trillion, it may mean $4 trillion, it may mean $5 million, it may mean $6 trillion to some people. >> we now have republicans to put things on the table. both need to put more on the table and get a result and we're here to support them. >> a central question -- can they sell it to their own

parties. here to talk to us about it, msnbc political analyst michelle bernard is president of the bernard center for women. politics and public policy.ç michelle, let's start off on that central question -- we had john hoeven, north dakota republican senator, on earlier. he said we need to do a big deal. then when you have the jim demints of the world saying no, how do you sell tax increases of any sort, closing tax loopholes, to a republican party that does not seem to want them at the moment? >> the question is to me at least is who is it within the republican party that's really ready to sort of ignore party orthodoxy at this point in time and explain to their constituents and explain to the american public that this what we need to do in their opinion in order to -- what is the

saying they use now? american exceptionalism to keep america exceptional, this is what we have to do in addition to looking at entitlement reform. it has to be both. maybe constituents will be happy if they are cutting big and looking at both. >> jeb hensarling, republican from texas, on the committee, very outspoken about where we stand. he had something to say yesterday. listen to it, then let's see where this leaves us. >> i'm not rejecting any offer out of hand. quite the opposite. i'm still waiting for a new offer to be put on the table. >> congressman, last night when you said that $250 billion was as far as you were willing to go, did you mean as far as you were willing to go until you get a democratic counter offer? >> that's the offer. we're not changing this offer that we have on the table. >> so the politics and positioning of this are fascinating. couple days ago it looked like jeb hensarling was saying we're done, this the door is a little bit open? >> right.

i think the question is doesç really mean it when he says this is our final offer. like is this your final answer? are you sure? are you sure about that? i think that what we're going to see play out in the next few days, are democrats going to reduce their $1 trillion expectations for revenue growth? or are they going to move that down a little bit? try and meet republicans somewhere in the middle? maybe. i really wonder if that's truly his final, final offer. >> the focus has been on republicans and the divide within the republican party on tax increases or not. but there is something of a split in the democratic party as well on entitlements. some people a lot of political strategists saying let's not even get into the medicare/social security conversation. is your party ready to have that serious conversation to michelle's point about challenging party orthodoxy for the "good" of the country? >> they've already proved that they are. in the last round of deficit negotiations president obama proved he's willing to talk about it. president obama and the democrats deserve some credit for having gamd out a strategy that i think works to their

benefit. if congress does nothing, you still get $1.2 billion in deficit reduction an if you do nothing on the bush tax cuts they expire. if you add those up you get $7 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years. that's a good outcome. now the challenge is for democrats to uphold those, not to change the law, not to start to waffle on the $1.2 billion deficit reduction. >> the criticism in all of these deals until now -- i'm not suggesting we have a deal -- but in the deals up to now, debt ceiling, the budget, was that the democrats gave away too much. how big a concern is it of yours that democrats give away too much again in order to get some -- >> i think that's the concern about what deal might come out of the super committee. it looks like the republicans aren't willing to put tax revenues on the table. if you aren't willing to do that, you'll havaç massive spending cuts that disproportionately impact the middle class and middle income folks. let's just fail and do the

sequestration and kill the bush tax cuts. >> we'll be back with all three of you shortly. but it is trivia time. we asked who was the first u.s. governor to have his or her own action figure? lots of you guessed arnold gue schwarzenegger. no. jesse the body ventura, the former wrestler. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. [ ben harper's "amen omen" playing ] we believe doing the right thing never goes unnoticed. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

♪ and just let me be [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ your ticket home ♪ [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center recommends the custom-fit orthotic that's best for your tired feet. foot-care scientists are behind it. you'll get all-day relief. for your tired achy feet. for locations, see drscholls.com. thank you...

i have never profited, never profited, from public service. i've earned every cent and in all of my years of public life, i have never obstructed justice. i welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president's a crook. well, i'm not a crook. i've earned everything i've got.

>> i am not a crook. daily flashback to this day in 1973 when president richard nixon uttered that now famous phrase. nixon spoke in front of 400 news executives, vigorously maintaining his innocence in the watergate case. let's bring back our panel. we're going to do a speed round. i was fascinated by this bloomberg poll in iowa. the numbers for mitt romney are striking. 77% of people say he's qualified to be president. 75% has business experience to create jobs. now, also, 48% say he will do or say anything to win. but romney in iowa, i'm fascinated by. he has done very little there. do poll numbers like this either entice him or force him to play in that january 3rd? >> i think polls like this probably tell him that he's okay. he probably doesn't need to do much more in iowa. the numbers are surprisingly

good. when you look at whether he'll flip-flop, i thought the numbers would have been high er in iowa. >> does he just stay the course? iowa be iowa, i'm not going to do too much there. i'm going to win new hampshire and worry about it from there, or does he go for the political death blow? >> i think it's got to beç tempting. if i'm him, i wait, i see how the rest of the field settles and maybe just flood the air waves last two weeks in december. >> on romney, he's struggling, so i want to help him out. he's shown himself willing to sell out conservative causes and for that reason, i want to lepd my support for him. >> we're going to let you have another one. go ahead. >> newt gingrich's only problem is not freddie mac. we document his lobbying for health insurers and many others.

>> everything you wanted to know about 2012 races at roll call's preview. >> just got a weird sinking feeling in my stomach. >> saturday's at the office ringing a bell? >> i love great education institutions. i want to plug the lab school of washington where my son is at school. it's a wonderful school for kids with learning differences. >> that's great. i'm going to plug a thing. the robert wood johnson hospital in trenton, new jersey, the doctors helped him after i fed his allergy a peanut butter cookie. thank you, doctors, you saved my marriage. that's today for this edition of "the daily rundown." tomorrow on the show, chuck's interview with secretary of state hillary clinton. coming up next, chris jansing and company. now with alex wagner is on at noon. shealy speak to jon huntsman's

daughters. then at 1:00 p.m., don't miss "andrea mitchell reports." have a wonderful day. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday. [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance.

northrop grumman. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness.

this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. whoa, wait. whoa, whoa. wait a minute. what? just like that? did you even see the allstate? it's cute. what is it? great insurance. you get accident forgiveness, deductible rewards, safe-driving bonus checks, plus a free lifetime membership in good hands roadside assistance just for calling. sold. tiny tow truck -- works every time. shop less. get more.