tv Weekends With Alex Witt MSNBC November 19, 2011 9:00am-12:00pm EST
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least $1.2 trillion from the deficit ov the next ten ars. all 12 members have to vote on a plan by wednesday. but the key date we're looking ate right now is monday. that is actually when a deal has to be reached because then it will take time to prepare it for a vote. if the supercommittee fails, more than $1 trillion in painful spending cuts will automatically take effect. with a good saturday morning to you, my friend, what is the supercommittee doing today? >> reporter: they say the darkest hour is right before the dawn, and it's looking gloomy at this point. a few tentative offers on the table put forward by republicans. democrats haven't countered but they have rejected. they're holding out for tax raises to the wealthy, ending the bush-era tax cuts. republicans say, no way, they're digging in their heels. you remember last summer when they came to that agreement, the deadline as you outlined on wednesday, november 23rd, they have to come up with $1. tr2
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trillion or face triggers, sequestration, draconian, medicare cuts, but the problem is those cuts don't take effect until 2013. the effective deadline really isn't wednesday. a lot of people are looking at this and saying, congress will have an effect over the course of the next year and after the election to try to make this right before those cuts go into effect. a lot of wrinkles here, alex, but it's not looking good for them to meet this first deadline of wednesday. >> are you a betting man, mike? if so, what do you think -- >> i always lose. >> we don't to want go there. >> reporter: you might be disheartened by the fact if i could put my money on, it i would put my money on failure. >> gosh, don't want to hear that. we'll get back with you later in the morning. thanks. let's go to 2012 politics and the herman cain camp facing more questions. cain was speaking to voters in orlando about the interview in which he struggled to remember why he disagreed with the president on libya.
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defending himself, cain appeared to stumble again over libya, suggesting the taliban is taking hold there. >> do i agree with saying that gadhafi should go? do i agree that they now have a country where you've got taliban and al qaeda that's going to be part of the government? do i agree with not knowing what the government was going -- which part was he asking me about? >> well, cain's capital pain says he was referring to a promise nebt libyan rebel that fought for taliban in afghanistan. rick santorum held a town hall event at a godfather's pizza in iowa. >> take a bite. good job, herman. >> ron paul took a president ja president last night. >> what the president's doing at
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this current moment, he's in the far east. he's decided to put thousands of troops in australia. he says, well we have to send a message to china. i didn't know china, i thought that was over, you know, quit fighting china after the korean war. this idea we're over there looking for a fight. >> other news out of the hawkeye state, nbc learned mitt romney will set up a campaign office there, adding to speculation the former massachusetts governor is planning to prepare a stronger iowa offensive but he's decided to skip socially conservative family leader forum tonight in des moines. rick perry, ron paul, herman cain, rick santorum and michele bachmann have committed to that event. joining me, political reporter for "the washington post." good morning to you. nice to see you. >> good morning. good to see you. >> with newt gingrich's rise in the poll comes scrutiny. bloomberg reported he collected $1.6 million from the freddie mac and washington post wrote
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the think tank gingrich found made $37 million. which do you think will hurt him most and do you think his front-runner status is going to be the shortest one yet? >> no, i was going to jump in, as soon as you asked that question and say both. these are going to be very damaging to his front-runner status because they are really going to reveal he is an inside the beltway politician. and he's benefitted from people not being on board with mitt romney, people having second thoughts about herman cain and benefitted from these great debate performances he's had but the years and years he's spent in washington and then outside of elected office, essentially being a lobbyists, are final willing going to catch up with him and hurt him. >> i would agree with the exception of this is not news that newt gingrich is an inside the beltway guy. and yet he still seems to be rising. i mean, everybody knows his
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past. everybody knows his leadership and then lack thereafter. >> i think when you put a dollar figure on how much inside the beltway, $37 million, he profiting off who he is, off that access, i think that puts a different spin on it. as well as if you look at some of the pogs positions whefs at this think tank, essentiallily for the mandate. he said anybody making over $50,000 should have health care insurance or post a bond. that puts him in the same league with mitt romney. >> i'm curious of your thoughts on herman cain because one poll out of iowa shows he's leading by four points. he's still hanging around despite the gaffes. how is he doing that? >> this is a good question. i think some of these polls, there's like a delayed reaction, i think. you saw him -- some support start to peel off off all the allegations of is sexual
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harassment came out. some softening of support. i think you'll see that again. with all of the stumbles lately over libya and china, there is a sense he's giving away the franchise. that is, the whole idea that republicans are supposed to be leaders on foreign policy, on national security. he has really displayed a real gap in his knowledge base in terms of foreign policy, conflicts and foreign policy questions. i think that's going to start to hurt him. we'll see him on the debate stage tuesday. these answers he's essentially given which is that merndz need a leader, not a reader when it comes to foreign policy, i think, eventually that's not going to wash with a lot of these republicans. >> yeah. let's shift right now to the supercommittee. if they come up with nothing, who will that hurt more in 2012, democrats or republicans? >> it's hard to say. congress is, what, 9% approval rating at this point. you know, i think to their
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credit, or to their -- what will benefit them is this is coming up around the holidays. people will be eating turkey and flying home to get mac and cheese, so i think in a lot of ways people won't be paying attention to this. people went into, this americans went in with such low expectations that this would actually happen that i don't think there will be a surprise. i agree with mike who said if he was a betting man he'd bet on failure and i think a lot of americans agree with him as well. >> all right. hate to admit it, but i think a lot are thinking that way. good to see you. >> thanks. take care. new word this morning from president obama delivering his weekly address from indonesia. the president says he's made new progress in the asia-pacific region that will help american economy and unemployment picture. >> here in indonesia i was proud to join leaders from our nation's top countryss' they announced trade deals to support 130,000 american jobs and increase u.s. exports by up to $39 billion.
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these agreements will help us reach my goal of doubling american exports by 2014. a goal we're on pace to meet. >> well, president obama left bali early this morning and will arrive back in washington early tomorrow. a story developing this morning in libya. moammar gadhafi son saif was captured in southern libya as two aides were trying to smuggle him into neighboring niger. meantime, reports this morning that the white house plans to impose new sanctions on iran. the new measures would ban foreign companies with iran's petro chemical industry. obama administration is expected to announce sanctions monday and comes on the heels of a recent u.n. report saying iran has the technology to built a nuclear weapon. new developments in the penn state sex abuse scandal.
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a new investigation by the ncaa has len launched against jerry sandusky. this as nittany lions get ready to play ohio state today. investigation will look into actions of other university officials and the school's control of its athletic program. federal prosecutors are also looking into this case. sad news just out last night that former penn state head coach joe paterno has what's called a treatable form of lung cancer. he was diagnosed last weekend and is now getting that treatment. and an uncertain future for the second mile. the charity founded by jerry sandusky. a report in "the new york times" this morning saying the organization is preparing to fold but second mile's chief executive says the charity is still considering other options and closing down is just one of them. a surprising new twist today in one of hollywood's most enduring mysteries, the death of actress natalie wood. christopher walken hired an attorney after police reopened the 30-year-old case. walken is not considered a
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suspect in her drowning death in 1981 but he was on that boat that fateful night. nbc's george lewis has more on the investigation. >> reporter: 30 years natalie wood's death by drowning at age 43 was big news. >> natalie wood, the actress, was buried today in los angeles. >> reporter: and a mystery. her funeral attended by a who's who of hollywood. natalie wood had three oscar nominations to her credit, married actor robert wagner twice. >> we were considered the princess and the prince of hollywood. we had a lot of pressure on us. >> reporter: the boat she and robert wagner owned was named "splendor." wagner in 2008 -- >> we came to the conclusion that she had slipped on the swim step on the aft end of the boat. and had hit her head and rolled into the water. a tragic, tragic night. >> reporter: christopher walken was a guest on board the boat prompting gossip about a possible love triangle. wagner admits he argued with
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walken, smashing a bottle of wine on a table. the coroner they'reized the actress tried to board a rubber dinghy but that doesn't add up because of a phobia. >> i'm still terrified of dark water seawater. >> reporter: it was ruled an accident, case closed but today this. >> we have received information which we felt was substantial enough to make us take another look at this case. >> reporter: based on new information from the boat's captain, dennis daver, he spoke to david gregory on the "today" show and was asked about robert wagner. >> was he responsible for her death in some way. >> yes, i would say so, yes. >> reporter: in a book published two weeks ago he said after natalie wood went missing, wagner ordered him not on to search for her or alert authorities immediately. the sheriff's department says wagner is not a suspect. >> and that was nbc's george
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lewis reporting. we'll have a lot more on that investigation later on this hour. here's my question of the day for all of you. should the natalie wood case be reopened? you can talk to me on twitter, my handle is @alexwitt. firefighters in reno say improving weather conditions are helping. 10,000 people were evacuated. officials say wind gusts friday sent embers as far as a mile away and shot flames 50 feet into the air. overnight the winds reportedly calmed down along with scattered snow which was falling in the region. he said what? a teacher under fire for what he said to his developmentally disabled student. you'll see the cell phone video that stunned school officials. getting a handle on the deficit. how big does the supercommittee need to go to get our debt under control? and a bit later, top 2012 advice for president obama.
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16 past the hour. welcome back, everyone. let's get to the weather. good news for skiers. snow is falling in st. lake city, utah. up to a foot of snow has fallen there. powder expected in some of the mountain areas. what can you expect outside where you are? nbc meteorologist bill karins has all the details. good morning, bill. >> good saturday morning to you, alex. nothing too dramatic out there this weekend weatherwise. we have a little snow event in the northern plains and a warm-up for everyone on the east coast. let me show you yesterday's map. yesterday was a chilly day up to the north and east, also the great lakes with highs only in the 40s.
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this morning we're waking up to low temperatures that are the coldest up in the northern plains. look at billings, montana. morning low of 6. temperatures have been down to the upper 30s from the big cities from boston to d.c. but what catches my eye is 60 degree morning lows in texas. that means a storm system in the middle of the country pumping up warm air from the south and heading northwards. 78 areas will be significantly warmer today than yesterday. we're talking st. louis, kansas city, chicago, detroit, all through the ohio valley. and eventually by sunday, that mild air is going to head to the eastern seaboard. now, in between the cold air and montana and warm air in the middle of the country, that's where we have our storm system. that's where we'll be dealing with snow during the day today, especially in south dakota and then this afternoon as we go through minnesota, minneapolis looks like a rain and snow mix for you but areas north of minneapolis is who will see the worst. weekend forecast, not bad. boston to d.c., temperature in the low 50s. southeast, we're warming it up for you. mild around san antonio. rain and snow mix around minneapolis. by the time we get to sunday,
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that's when we really warm it up on the eastern seaboard. temperatures as far north as boston could be 60 degrees. if you're worried about wet weather this weekend, it will be sunday california and a little dallas to arkansas, tennessee and kentucky. overall, not a bad weekend. just a little difficult travel in areas like south dakota. back to you. >> we'll take it. thank you, bill karins. penn state university may pay a big price because of the sex abuse scandal involving former assistant coach jerry sandusky. an inquiry has just been launched by the ncaa into sandusky's actions and the university's handling of it. joining me now, veteran sports reporter bonnie bernstein. welcome back. >> how are you? >> i'm great. let's talk about what this ncaa inquiry is. potentially big development and what they're talking about is they're looking into how it is tried not only the integ ritd of the university, all these actions but that of intercollegiate athletics as a whole. a hard thing for them to regulate, a nebulous area, but ultimately could this come with
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sanctions? >> can >> it could potentially. it's important to remind our viewers, this is an inquiry. the very early stages. what they have done is they have issued several questions to penn state they need to answer by mid-december. then at that time they will determine whether they'll actually launch a full-blown investigation. we've started hearing a lot throughout college athletics the phrase of lack of institutional control. as we've sort of bandied about how involve the ncaa will get -- they do tend to wait until the legal process plays itself out to determine, you know, what if anything they'll do in the way of sanctions. lack of institutional control has come up. in this particular instance we're not dealing with like ohio state with, you know, players selling memorabilia or getting tattoos and stuff like that. we're dealing with, you know, potentially a pretty huge criminal investigation. it's foreign waters for the ncaa. >> but can you understand how some people are not going to understand the difference and
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would suspect and feel the charges against penn penn state are far more serious? i'll grant you the ncaa, they have rules. those regulations and rules when they are broken, that will lead to, say, the -- you know, the situation with ohio state, trading jerseys for tattoos and -- >> but it's a different thing because a lot of what the ncaa deals with are broken rules within their rule book. we're dealing with criminal allegations here. it's a completely different bag. it's not -- they're not -- these are not recruiting violations. this is not coaches making too many calls or boosters giving money to players. these are rapes of -- allegations of rape. it's a whole different thing. >> yeah. i guess you just kind of wonder, the jurisdiction of the ncaa, i guess is what has yet to be established. >> that's why it's lack of institutional control. did the athletic department fulfill its department to report? and the people specifically in the athletic department we're dealing with, it's tim curley, athletic director, joe paterno,
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it is coaching staff. was there a failure to report? but we're dealing with a bigger institutional thing here. we're dealing with the president. and the ncaa's not going to deal with did the president of penn state report, did the senior vp of business and finance report? have you to be able to separate those two. >> what's going on with syracuse, this other scandal. were there whispers about this as there were withierry sandusky? >> the initial allegations about bernie fine, the syracuse assistant coach stems back to 20 03. it was brought to the attention of investigators, it was brought to the attention of the media, but media never went with it because they couldn't find corroborating witnesses. when you're dealing with these sorts of crimes, have you to make sure you have all of your ducks in order, there are witnesses. so, basically, it disappeared in 2003. what happened this week is that the initial allegations were
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supported by another ball boy on syracuse. now you've got two people. keep in mind that the assistant coach came out last night vee plentily denied the allegations. long-time head coach of syracuse is vehemently defending him, so we really -- we got to, again, wait and see how this plays out. >> i tell you f only the days that rabid boosters were giving money to players. >> we've talked about, you know, how does this impact college athletics? has college athletics gone awry? i think it's a microcosm of what we're seeing, you know, throughout the country. child abuse is not a problem that's exclusive to college athletics. we see it all the time. you just hope high profile cases like this bring more attention, change laws to force people to report, to change the statute of limitations that give victims more of an opportunity to come forward.
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sthu we're now day as way from the biggest travel days of the years. more than 42 million americans are expected to hit the road to visit their family and friends. to our friend, michelle franzen joining me in studio with more on that. >> good morning. that number you mentioned, 42.5 million people, it's the highest number of holiday travelers since the start of the recession. aaa says 4% more americans than last year will travel at least 50 miles from home.
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about 90% of those travelers plan to go by car. another 8% plan to fly. aaa representative says cars are the more economic choice this year. >> when 20 11 it's 20% more to buy an air ticket and about 6% more to get a hotel room. on the other side, car rentals are down by 11% in items of rates. >> car rental rates may be down but drivers will be paying record high gas prices during the holiday weekend. a new report shows gas will probably average about $3.37 a gallon. that's up 5 1 cents from this time last year, despite average gas prices dropping across the u.s. if you're traveling by plane, you'll have to contend with higher airfares and fewer available seats. plane travel is actually up this holiday season in preparation for the flood of passenger set to hit the airports around the country, tsa is easing sop
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security procedures. the full-body scanners are getting a software upgrade. and children younger than 12 years old can keep their shoes on while they go through security. so, we're ramping up for what is going to be a busy, busy week. >> certainly with a few changes in store. thanks very much, michelle franzen. more on the congressional supercommittee and its looming deadline. ever since it was charged 14 weeks ago with reducing this nation's debt, many have poked fun at its name. in our one minute play back jon stewart of "the daily show" puts it all in perspective. >> most will be proposed by a supercommittee. >> oh, yes, the supercommittee. a group of 12 lawmakers who gained their powers after having been bitten by a radioactive accountant and are now called upon to slash our deficits! go forward, supercommittee. the fate of the nation is in your hands. >> it's super-d committee can't even agree on -- >> they can't agree on wheets going on at their meetings.
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>> some have complained senator john kerry is talking too much in the closed door meetings. >> really? john kerry talking to much? of course he's talking too much. that's his super power. ♪ ♪ mama said there'd be days like this ♪ ♪ "there'll be days like this," mama said ♪ [ male announcer ] the toughest job on the planet just got a little easier. with one touch technology and even an air scrubber. the nissan quest. innovation for family. innovation for all. get up to $3,050 total savings on the 2011 nissan quest. ♪ fantastic!
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[ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] write your story with the citi thankyou premier card, with no point caps, and points that don't expire. get started at thankyoucard.citi.com. here's the latest on what's happening at penn state university in the wake of the section abuse scandal involving jerry sandusky. the legendary former head coach at penn state, joe paterno, is now facing health problems. he's been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer. our colleague jay gray is on the campus with the very latest. good morning to you. what do we know about coach paterno? >> reporter: good morning, alex. according to his family, who released that information last night, it is a treatable form of lung cancer and his son jay, also an assistant coach with penn state football team said last night he expects his father to beat this. the doctors have given him a
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good prognosis and that he can get through this and move on. understand, he's 84 years old. he has fought through other health issues in the past couple years but, again, it looks like they are hopeful he will be able to move forward from this diagnosis with treatment. >> yeah. i was just talking with bonnie bernstein quickly about the ncaa inquiry there. so, we kind of went on that, but i know there's this big game today. you know, last week had a certain tenor to it. how about today with ohio state? >> reporter: yeah, i think the same. there's a pall over the program. i spoke with someone traveling with the treem that found out last night about joe paterno he's illness and they said that added to what was already a glum mood for the team. theets their word, not mine. they said they haven't been able to get on track. you can understand that with all that surrounding the program and the school here. this is a rival game, playing ohio state. ohio state put out a public
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service announcement during the week saying let's be good fans, support our team but not take it out on penn state. >> thank you for that live report. a new development this morning concerning the occupy wall street movement. a well-known washington, d.c. lobbying firm has proposed a plan to one of its biggest clients to attack the occupy movement. politicians who might side with protesters. a memo spelling out that plan was obtain exclusively by msnbc's "up with chris hayes" show, coming from clgc, sent to american banking association, suggesting they do, quote, opposition research on occupy wall street in order to construct, quote, negative narratives about the protests and allied politicians. chris hayes host of "up with kr chris hayes" joins us. 20 minutes since you left the studio. give me a brief description of what's in this memo and what you find alarming? >> a pitch document this lobbying firm has two former john boehner staffers, run by
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them and their client is the american banking association and the pitch to american bankers association saying, look, you have a real problem on your problem on your hands. occupy wall street has captured public attention and we're worried it's going to intimidate republican politicians who may no longer back wall street. you need awe plan to go after occupy wall street, polling in battleground states to put together opposition research to take them on. >> isn't this sort of a standard washington practice? i mean, this is what lobbyists do, they try to generate business and -- >> yes, yes. there's a degree to which i don't think it's surprising. it's just knowing in black and white what we suspected, which is that there is now a coordinated effort to push back on occupy wall street. i think this is -- this is standard. there are memos -- we don't know how many memos there are circling around. this is the one we got our hands on. i think it means -- i think the significance is this, there's not anything wrong per se with a lobbying firm producing this
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document. what it means, though, is that occupy wall street is having an effect in the beltway. that's what it means. is that it has reached into the beltway and it has captured enough public attention that there's actual -- they're paying attention. >> you wondered how long that would take. you're seeing that at this level. the american banking association, any word of whether they bought into this? >> they responded. they confirmed the authenticity. they said our government relation staff received this and we chose not to pursue it. we don't know who else this was pitched to or what other kinds of similar projects are going on right now on capitol hill. >> so, if we look at the occupy wall street movement in zuccotti park, what do you see as the next step, the next direction to go in? >> that's a fascinating question. it's remarkable in this sort of -- just the short life span of two months, it has proliferated as much as it has across the country. 4500 arrests, encampments in dozens of cities around the
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country. >> and the world. >> and the world. it's tapped into some deep core sentiment in the american populous. i don't know what tactics are going to be the next chapter because it's so hard to predict what's next. i do know that there's a bunch of people now talking about an occupy congress movement in december to go down to capitol hill and sort of bring the force of the occupy movement to the legislative body there. i think that's going to be interesting to watch. >> yeah, because there's something that congress would not be able to ignore that's for sure. we'll see you tomorrow morning, 8 a.m. >> right here. >> i'll sleep in a little more. i start at 10:00. thank you so much. it is time for "office politics" and we talk our cameras into the host of chris matthews. chris has a great new book out called "jack kennedy: elusive hero" and giving plenty of thought to this president. i began our conversation with a quote from his book. >> you say, nations die or thrive on the ability and judgment of their leaders to
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stir them at perilous times. does barack obama have that ability to pass the proper judgment, to properly analyze and to stir this nation? >> well, he has great analytical ability. he has clearly made the right judgments in his executive leadership. he has moved us effectively in self-defense in fighting terrorism. i'm not sure he's able to move the country. he had that ability as a candidate. and then the day he was inaugurated, mall filled with people, african-americans and everyone else, sent us home. worst mistake of his presidency. the day he got inaugurated, he sent us home and said, thank you now. watch how smart i am. that's the worst kind of notion of the president iscy. the presidency's not about being smart. most of our
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why does he want a second term? what's he going to do in the second term? more of this? is this it? is this as good as it gets? he has yet to tell us. he has not said one thing about what he would do in the second term. he never tells us what weiss going to do with reforming medicare, medicaid, social security, deal with long term debt, deal with the tax system? tell us why we're in this fight. commander, give us the orders and give us the mission. he hasn't done it. and i think it's the people around him, too many people around -- little kids with propellers on their heads. they're all virtual.
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politics, social networking -- i get these e-mails, you probably get them. i'm tired of getting them. i want to meet people. their idea of running a campaign is virtual universe of sending e-mails around to people. no, it's not. it's meeting people, forging alliances. it's white house meetings and dinner parties that go on till midnight. he should be sitting late at night with senators and members of congress and governors working together on how they're going to win this political fight that's coming. >> you're -- >> i don't have a sense he's ever had a meeting. i hear stories you will not believe. not a single phone call since -- >> tell me one. >> they don't call. he never calls. that's the -- that's the message. members of congress, i keep asking, when did you hear from him last? >> silence. >> he doesn't like their company. >> you've just -- >> that's a problem, by the way. >> you're just giving a bunch of contradictions in terms of the differences between jack kennedy and barack obama. are there -- >> differences. >> differences -- >> well, both young, well educated, idealistic, incredibly
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well spoken, articulate, they have a great sense of poetry. they know how to say the right things about our country. obama is wonderfully skilled at evoking what america's all about. i think he's great at it. he thrills me when he does it. in fact, that's one of the reasons i was inspired by him. he talked about our country. he evokes our country from his background. but once having won the office he thought that was the end of it in connection to the american people. don't you feel -- i think everybody feels an absence of communication from the time he's been elected. it's not about not being left wing or too left. that's not his problem. it's connection. mrs. obama, she's an amazing asset. what has she done? obesity? how about connecting with the american people about being americans? i don't think she's -- i don't think she's happy. i don't think they like being in the white house. the american people can tell that. they don't seem thrilled at the fact the american people selected them as our first family. i don't sense the gratitude, happiness level, the thrill of
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being president. bill clinton loved being president every minute and you knew it. >> you did get that sense. >> that's what the american people liked. they like knowing the president's happy. >> franc talk there from chris matthews. coming up later in the show we'll bring you part two of "office politics" with chris with more insight into chris's view of the presidency. we remind all of you to watch "hardball" every night right here on msnbc. up next, a second look, the re-investigation into natalie wood's death. robert wagner is not a suspect, but should he be under suspicion? we'll talk with co-author of a recent book raising lots of questions about this case. ♪ ♪ let's go ♪
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♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian ♪ for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right,
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a 15-year-old special needs student says ee a victim of a bully and he says the bully is one of his teachers. his parents didn't believe it at first and then the boy recorded the teacher on his cell phone. >> all right. >> i'm just telling you don't call me special. >> i'll say whatever i want to say. you don't like it, oh well. >> >> this ain't going to be calling me special. >> you know what, i'll what are you going to do? you going to get a chopper and chop me. you said whenever you get out of school you're going to do something. >> get out of my face. >> you didn't say -- >> get out of my mace. >> you didn't say you were going to do something? >> yakz. the school district has put the teach other administrative leave while it investigates. the parents are outraged. the teach he said he was just
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trying to motivate the boy. natalie wood's sister is speaking out on the 1981 drowning death. her sister says she does not believe what happened was deliberate but she also doesn't believe wood fell on heir own from the boat she shared with robert wagner. investigators are dealing with conflicting reports of what happened that night. the boat's former captain told david gregory he believed wagner had something to do with it. >> was the fight between natalie wood and her husband, robert wagner, what ultimately led to her death? >> yes. >> how so? >> like i said, that's going to be up to the investigates to decide. >> was he responsible for her death in some way? >> yes, i would say so, yes. >> i'm joined by marty rolle, co-author of "good-bye, natalie, good-bye splendor," splendor the name of the boat.
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you co-authored this book with the captain we saw on the "today" show. >> yes. >> and he -- he's alleging robert wagner may are had something to do with natalie wood's death. is the captain credible? >> i believe he's credible. his story is the only one that makes sense. and i set out a long time ago to substantiate what he told me because everything that had been put out there was based on theories. and i think a lot of people are missing the point here. this new re-opening of the case is not something that's based on what's new now. it's based on the fact that natalie's case had never been investigated. her case was closed within days. her case was closed based on theories alone. everyone had theories. no one came up with logical conclusions. she was found floating in the ocean in her pajamas and a coat.
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so, now what i believe that with the new department, what they're willing to do, is take the case file, and it's an entire body of evidence, not just the captain's account, not just the other witnesses' accounts. there's forensics involved 37 why was natalie floating in her red down jacket and pajamas? there's lots of things to investigate here that was never investigated before. >> the captain said that he, robert wagner and christopher walken, got their stories together and they all put forth one communal voice. >> i asked dennis about that because dennis and robert wagner had waited four hours before calling for help, professional help for natalie. that was upon wagner's request. and that was when robert wagner asked dennis to not be forthcoming with everything that
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had happened. there had been an argument -- >> what was that argument about? >> just jealousy. they had had dinner, went back to the main salon. natalie was chatting with christopher walken and -- >> who was upset, robert wagner? >> robert wagner robert wagner upset, accused walken of wanting to have sex with natalie. it was a rainy, cold weekend. maybe a little more drinking than usual but that's what they did on their boating outings, from morning until night they would have cocktails. so it wasn't much different than any other pleasure cruise. but on that particular night the argument carried over to the state room and carried on on the back deck. wagner asked davern to tell
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anyone about that argument. they were flown off the island in a helicopter right away. and now with a new, fresh crew, ready to investigate this, i think they are going to see a lot of the old evidence. >> in part, because they have the three principles, they are alive and healthy and ready to talk about it. marty, thank you. i think we'll be speaking with you again. >> thank you. the supercommittee continues its talks today to cut the budget. what could be on the chopping block and how might it affect you. that's ahead on "weekends with alex witt. so, kathryn, post more youtube videos of your baby acting adorable. baby. on it. matt, ignore me and keep updating your fantasy team. "
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huh? jeff, play a game. turbo-boosting now, sir. dennis, check in everywhere you go on foursquare. that's mayor dennis... of the water cooler. you're the best. liz, rock out to pandora. oh, no i'm an only child. and nick, you shouldn't even be here, you can do everything from the golf course. good? good. [ male announcer ] on at&t, blackberry® torch moves at the speed of 4g. ♪ you could spend as much as $200. olay says challenge that with an instrument that cleanses as effectively as what's sold by skin professionals for a whole lot less. new olay pro x advanced cleaning system. lugging around a hot water extraction unit can be a rush! that's why i'm carpet for life. but if things get out of hand, there's no shame in calling us. ♪call 1-800-steemer.
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taking a look at what the super committee is up this week, they crossed the $15 million debt and it just keeps on rising. the committee has until monday to tackle the deficit and wednesday to vote on it. mya mcguinness has worked with republican and democratic lawmakers on capitol hill. good morning to you. thank you for being here. >> good morning. thank you. >> look, i'm not an economist, but $15 trillion seems insur mountable to me. >> don't forget, we're going to add nine or ten million over the next few years. and the sad truth is, one, it looks like they may be on track not to have a deal at all, which is just a terrible disappointment and wasted opportunity. and, two, that the deal they
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were trying to come up with, $1.2 trillion, is so far short of what we need to get to address this problem. we should be talking about finding three, four, five, $6 trillion in savings to get a jump-start on this huge problem that we have. all you have to do is look at that number to know that this is daunting pressures on our economy and environment. we need to make big changes. >> yeah. i know that you worked with the gang of six for some time and over the summer they were able to come up with their suggestions, a bit too lit for the debt deal. what is different about that group versus this group of 12 that put something together where this one seems to be ann impasse unless something changes in the next 48 hours? >> i've been watching the super committee work. i think one of the initial problems may have been starting out with a democratic offer and then a republican counsel d
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and then as they put together these big bipartisan deals, he didn't break into matter from the beginning and dealt and priorities that they couldn't compromise on and it was that by partisan effort from the very beginning that kep it together. they have grown to 45 in the state, 100 in the louse, all of these outside business associates and what you're seeing is the ground swell of support to do this in a bipartisan way and a way that is big enough to fix the frob. aum parts of the budget need to be part of it and it has to be a big fix. >> pat toomey is talking. here is this. >> the best part is to reform our tax code and throw out the
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unfair monday tros tea and replace it with a system that will lower tax rates for every single american, simplify the code and get rid of the special trac tax codes that have to go. >> mia, part of what he's calling for is the tax deduction that homeowners take for their mortgages. wouldn't that be a problem for the entire middle class? well, what congressman tomb omes talking about is a broad sweep of the tax code. and use the savings to bring rates down, which helps grow the economy and to add new revenues to help close the deficit. and, yes, the home mortgage interest deduction and lots of other tax breaks would have to be part of the solution but you can do it in a way where you cap all of those and reduce them gradually so it ends up being
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far more good for growth because of the broad base reforms. i think senator toomey has done a lot by putting this on the table. but it's been real progress to have him talking about we do have a space. >> mia, i know it's been said that you take the calls for everybody when they call from congress. thank you. >> thank you. a patriot millionaire talks about why he's all for paying more taxes. also ahead, some may call it a turkey of an idea. more stores opening on thanksgiving night. and pedal power. stay here on "weekends with alex witt." [ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ]
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so to save some money, i trained mathis team of guinea pigs to brrow this tiny boat. guinea pig: row...row. they generate electricity, which lets me surf the web all day. guinea pig: row...row. took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to get the guinea pig: row...row. little chubby one to yell row! guinea pig: row...row. that's kind of strange. guinea pig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. capitol bloom as the deadline nears. who is getting hurt the most.
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also, how extreme weather may be the new normal, from tornadoes to floods. a new report that explains why these wild swings could be here to say. plus, versace hits main street. good morning, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we're learning a bit more about president obama's meeting with the chinese president. mike vicqueara is at the white house for us. >> reporter: good morning. the president is wrapping up his meeting with the asia leaders. he went on to australia and now a meeting in bali, indonesia. in the south china sea, between chin narks the philippines, it's
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a tree trading route for ships. there's an oil field and close to military confrontations over the course of the last several years. this is an ongoing issue and the president has brought it up again with the chinese premier. we're told by senior administration officials where there were 18 leaders at present, including 16 of those leaders brought up the territorial issues with the south china sea. a number of those countries very frustrated with china there. this comes on the heels of president obama announcing while in australia that 2500 marines will be stationed in australia. that is seen as a shout across the diplomatic bought of china as well. the president bringing up with the chinese premier, chinese currency. accused of keeping the currency devalued to make their goods in the united states and the
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president brought that up. a lot of tough talk in these bilateral and multilateral talks over the course of the last nine days, alex. >> mike vick ke, thanks. cain appeared on the david letterman show. >> there's mo more no more documentation, nothing has come forward. >> so all of these women are lying? >> yes, they are. >> four women, similar circumstances -- >> how did you get four in. >> well, you tell me. is it 9-9-9. >> no. >> meanwhile, rick santorum had a compliment for cain. he was at the godfather's chain which herman cain once ran while ceo. >> good job, herman, good job.
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>> else well in iowa, ron paul suggested that the president is provoking a war with china. >> what the president's doing at this kournt moment? he's in the far east. he's decided to put thousands of troops in australia. he says we'll have to send a message to china. i didn't know china -- i thought that was over and we quit fighting china after the korean war. but this whole idea that we're over there looking for a fight -- >> other news, abc news learned that mitt romney will set up a campaign office there which leads to the speculation that the former massachusetts governor is going to have a stronger offensive. today he's campaigning in new hampshire. he's decided to skip a forum in iowa. the six other candidates say they will attend. meanwhile, on capitol hill, the super committee's hard at work after friday's negotiations
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made no apparent progress. the deadline is looming charged with cutting at least $1.2 trillion from the deficit. the committee must send the congress nas budget office a proposed plan by midnight on monday. joining sme white house reporter for the washington post. a good morning to you. >> good morning. >> okay. ramifications if there's no agreement by monday and we don't need this deadline, what happens? >> the immediate ramifications are nothing. the sky doesn't fall because the first cuts don't take effect until 2013. very severe budget cuts across the board hanging over their heads, that's why they want to have a deal. even if they don't reach a deal, they have all of 2012 to try and get it done. if they fail, and there are a lot of people betting that they are going to fail, all of the negotiations are going to continue and come down to crunch time next year at the same time
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when there's a lame duck and whether barack obama wins re-election or not, they will get it done then. so essentially kicking the can down the road. >> this is about a cynical position and we are all looking at it that way. what does that say about the congress and what they are going to do or lack thereof? >> the ratings are lower and people are angry at washington and you hear a real anti-incouple ben see this year. expectations are so low that i don't think it's going to do anything, for example, to move the markets on tuesday or wednesday. it might, however, suppress holiday shopping and that may have an effect on economy and a real effect on politicias. >> okay. let's hear the ad that rick perry played on the president. >> we've been lace zee over the last couple of decades. >> can you believe that? that's what our president thinks
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what is wrong with america? that americans are lazy? it's time to clean house in washington. >> a lot of republicans have seized on this, even though it's been taken out of context and the words with which they drew. do you think the administration still wishes they hadn't set it? they now how it works. >> they do. he was trying to say something knew wants and his words were ripped completely out of context. everything he says is going to be miss interpreted. and also on talking and president clinton is going to be the season of fact checker as that's what we're here for. >> herman cain in new hampshire, an interview was scrapped with him an hour before it was supposed to happen. the publisher saying, i don't think he's going anywhere from
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here. >> well, he's in a war with the media overall. we've even him cancel a number of interviews, although obviously he had his talk show interview that he had. it's never a good idea to bash the media. it could be problematic at the local level because people turn to those endorsements to make their decisions but i don't think bashing the media really harms them, probably not as much as the other things that have happened to him in recent weeks. >> don't go too far. back for the big three later. >> thank you. a millionaire who actually wants to pay more in taxes. that interview coming up at the bottom of the hour. more on the developing story in libya. moammar's son saif told a reporter that he's feeling fine after his capture. the militia leader says that he was caught in southern libya as two aides were trying to smuggle him into a neighbors country.
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the latest on penn state. there is an official inquiry into jerry sandusky. this is as the lions get ready to play the ohio state today. federal prosecutors are looking at the case. new health problems for joe paterno. his doctors say he has what was called a treatable form of lung cancer. he was diagnosed last weekend. also the second mile, the charity founded by sandusky is having trouble. the organization is preparing to fold. the second mile chief executive is still considering over options. another twist in one of hollywood's biggest mysteries, the death of natalie wood. christopher walken has hired an attorney after police reopened the case. walken is not considered a a
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suspect. but he was on the boat that fateful night. police have compelling reasons to believe there may be more to the story. >> we're always open to receiving additional information about older cases as well as current cases. we assess that information and deem it to be credible and reliable and, if so, we're not afraid to act upon it. recently we've received information which we felt was substantial, enough to make us take another look at this case. >> police say wood's husband, robert wagner, is not a suspect. there has been an alleged love triangle between the couple and christopher walken. we've been asking you all morning, should the natalie wood case be reopened? no. why is testimony more reliable now than it was 30 years ago? the cap extent promoting his book. and, yes, it's about time. justice delayed is justice
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denied. and no, there are far too many pressing stories in this political season. it is a personal matter for robert wagner. and of course the case should be reopened. the circumstantial evidence has always been disconcerting. keep sending me tweets. let's turn now to the big three money headlines generating the most headlines. black friday brouhaha. vera gibbons is joining me. many retailers are not waiting until black friday. >> right. there's a whole new protest brewing. occupy consumerism. a dozen or so retailers are opening thanksgiving night and employees are mad because they want to spend time with their
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family. other employees are remaining mum because they have a job and need to protect their job and need the money, whatever the case may be. but shoppers are also disgusted with the way that the stores are opening. you don't see the staggered openings that we've seen in previous years. one opening at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and then 7:00. >> so versace and main? >> this is amazing. i think it's already qualifying as a success, given all of the brouhaha that is leading up to this. they have the animal for instance prints available today at 3 h and m stores. the doors open al 8:00 a.m.
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it will be crazy but not as crazy as the misoni target shopping. there are shopping limbs, time limits. it's more controlled and you won't see the crashing of the website because it's not available online. it's only available at the st e stores. >> what about heels? >> when things are down, people go higher on the heels. the medium heel height has been coming down. we're down two inches since then and heading towards flats, regrettably, for me any way. >> i know. i'm a heels girl. who will get most of the blame while the super committee and wild swings may be good for here. you may bite the bride. is it a must see? we'll take a look here on
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the super committee plans to work through the weekend after failing to reach an agreement last night. optimism on capitol hill with six drem krts and six republicans reaching an agreement rapidly faded. here with me now, peter finn, also former aide to george w. bush. that would make him a republican. >> good morning, guys. >> hi. >> the white house director said there's one reason why the super committee may fail. because the republican party, by the way, in opposition to what most republicans in the country think, refused to ask millionaires and billionaires and corporations to pay their fair share. joe, does this mean that
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republicans will get blamed for this? >> i don't think so. at the end of the day, taxpayers become job killers. we have 14 million americans that are not working that we want to put back to work. new revenues or taxes are job killers. and the republicans said that they will do three billion in their plan but democrats are saying $300 billion in job killing tax hikes. and we say, like pat toomey says, you can raise a lot of money for the government by raising taxes by revamping the tax code. >> okay. we're going to get more details in a second. but, peter, i want to talk about the ramifications. if there is no agreement by the super committee, does that help or hurt the president? >> well, i tell you, i think the republicans are handing politically the democrats everything on a silver platter, alex. this is killing the middle class not coming to an agreement.
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and, you know, i disagree with what joe said in one very basic way here. the american people, by over two to one, want to see millionaires and billionaires pay for taxes. even billionaires and millionaires by three to one believe they should pay more taxes. and this bill not only makes permanent the tax cuts which reduces the taxes for those folks from 39 to 35%, this takes it down to 28%. and you need this revenue. $3 billion for owners of private jets doesn't cut it. if they really want a four to $5 trillion deal, a big deal, and they are not even going to get to $1.2 trillion now. and what happens is, the middle classes, we get more cooperation, more camaraderie, more compromise on a nursery
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school school yard than we get from these guys, let alone the maturity factor. >> joe, could i ask you, though, are there come republicans, though, that are really frustrated with what is going on here? there are the 72 house republicans who sent the letter urging no tax increases and the washington post was supporting the gop leader on the committee and congressman jeb has been lobbying to embrace some tax hikes. are there some republicans thinking, look, commonsense, looking at the numbers, 16% of those millionaires suggestsing that they want to pay more in taxes, is this a uniform voice from the republican party? >> well, of course you have people in the republican party, some that are more willing to compromise than others and others saying we have to bite the bullet. there have to be some new revenue, some new revenues coming out of all of this.
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and that's understanding for those republicans that believe that. but there aren't enough millionaires and billionaires to right what is already wrong. we have spending cuts and some new revenues. >> is there enough within the millionaire, billionaire to make a dent at least? >> i don't think there's enough to make a dent with what we're talking about. it's easy to blame millionaires and billionaires. what you don't want to do is take the people that are job creators, those that have made some money and responsible for creating some jobs. you don't want to punish them and say, these are the people who we need to punish apay their fair share. if you raise their taxes, what they will likely stop doing is creating jobs and that hurts everybody, certainly the middle class. we don't want to do that.
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>> there are a lot of folks who have to go skyrocketing up. the biggest gain ner in the last ten years have been those who made $10 million or more. the point is, folks who sign these pledges, saying i will never raise revenue, taxes, this is a big mistake in our kournt economic situation. so i would agree with joe, look, do we have to cut the budget? absolutely. do we have to cut entitlements? absolutely. the problem is, if republicans won't go anywhere near, we are not even asking for halfway here, they are going to be blind from this. >> last word, joe. got to go. >> it takes both, republicans and democrats to come together. remember, we don't have the majority. we just have the house of representatives, not the senate. it's going to take republicans and democrats working together. >> correct. >> thank you so much. good to see you both.
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>> great to see you, alex. so the millionaire is crying out. tax me more. will congress listen? you'll hear from one of them next. ♪ ♪ ♪ 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. ♪
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♪ pnc bank. for the achiever in you. welcome back. new information about the penn state sex abuse scandal. reaction today that head coach paterno has lung cancer. jay gray is there for us. good morning. let's get the latest on coach paterno's health, jay. >> reporter: his family says this is a treatable lung cancer. he's 84 years old. he's been through rough health issues over the past couple of years. knee and leg problems. now he faces this, again, what his family calls treatable lung cancer. in fact, jay paterno said last night that he believes if anyone can beat this, it's his dad. he feels very confident. the doctors say it is treatable.
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he will get through this and make a full recovery. so that's the good news for the health side of joe paterno. >> and ohio state, a huge rival game today. the campus emotions running pretty high or have things settled down a bit? >> reporter: you know, it's thanksgiving break. it started yesterday. a lot of the kids left penn state yesterday. and i think it has calmed down a little bit, alex. there is still a lot of frustration, anger, and a potential for a federal investigation. a lot of people don't know where the university stands and that may be the most frustrating part of all this. >> jay gray, many thanks. back now to weekend on the hill. they are trying to slash more than a trillion dollars from the deficit over the next ten years.
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there is intense scrutiny and pressure from all sides. lawmakers signed a letter opposing any tax increases at all. but also this week, a group of millionaires traveled to washington and said, go ahead and raise my taxes. it is what america needs. part of that group is patriotic and an attorney in philadelphia and he's in the 1% that we've been talking about of late. you want to have your taxes raised? >> well, we're willing to have our taxes raised as a part of a program that applies to everybody and basically for two reasons. first of all, the math involved, this would be the single most effective thing, action that can be taken to deal with the deficit without a short run economic downside. that's number one. and more importantly, it's an issue of fundamental fairness. this proposal has been attacked
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as part of free enterprise and against the culture of work and self rely generathat's not true. it's an issue of fundamental fairness. the rich have -- and when i talk about the rich -- that is that 1% that. basically corresponds to the top persons who earn $1 million a year or more. and they pay somewhat more in tacks but they make disproportionately more, even taking into account that they make more and they pay disproportionately more in taxes. so -- and it can illustrate this with a simple question. would you rather pay 70% more in taxes if you would have an opportunity to make 1500 to 5,000% more?
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>> in effect, you invest now in certain things and gives the opportunity for growth for the country as a whole and thereby your businesses? >> well, on the fairness point, it is really this. that, you know, even though we would pay a little bit more, we make disproportionately more. that's an indication that the relative tax burden does not rest on the 1% or on the rich but on other income classes. so the rich pay -- the 1% pay a lot in income taxes but they make disproportionately more. so from the standpoint of fairness, it's a strong indication that the relative burden applies to other tax groups other than the 1%. on the policy issue that you're raising, if you want to solve the problem of the deficit, the single most important thing that you can do would be to raise
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taxes and, remember, this is a very limited proposal. the proposal just says -- it's not confiscatory. all it says is, return the tax rates from where they are now, at 35%, to where they were during the clinton years, which was 39.6%. that represents a 4.6 percentage point increase, or 13% increase. >> all right. i want to talk about what you are a class action attorney, a successful one at that. the philadelphia enquirer where you live, says that you've given money to democratic liberal causes since the beginning of the president's term. do you think that millionaires from both parties, from the left, from the right, do they agree on this proposal or is this merely those on the left who you think are colesting around this concept. >> i think there are a lot of
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affluent people who are progressive in outlook. there is also a lot of opposition, to be candid with you, because there are people who have different points of view and who follow different social, political, and economic values. i don't expect the coat brothers, who are right-wing extremists and believe that naked self-interest drives economy and that that is an engine or force for good. i don't believe that they would agree with this. but i don't think -- you know, naked self-interest is another word for greed. >> yeah. >> and i don't think that greed represents the heart and soul of america. >> well, daniel berger apparently doesn't represent your heart and soul. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. can the super committee come up with a plan?
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john kerry and jon ykl will be speaking with "meet the press" on sunday. four companies would be banned from doing business with petro chemical company. the new sanctions come with iran needing to build a nuclear weapon. three people are dead. 35 injured after a 52-vehicle collision on germany's autobon. the weather was foggy at the time of the crash, though it's not clear what caused the pileup. the highway was closed for more than 12 hours. violent weather came hours before a climate change which says we should expect to see more extreme weather.
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anne thompson explains. >> reporter: if you think the weather is whacky now, just wait. intergovernmental panel confirms what many already suspect. our weather will only get more extreme as greenhouse gases continue to be pumped into the air by burning fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. >> the frequency of the hottest days will increase by a factor of four within the next 30 to 40 years. >> reporter: and by the end of the century, a once in 20 year hot day has a chance of happening once every two years. along with more frequent and longer heatwaves, we can expect an increase in heavier rain storms. and though the number of hurricanes is likely to stay the same or even decrease, the hurricanes that do form will have higher wind speeds. but it's not all doom and bloom. this report is aimed at the world's policy maker to show what can be done to reduce the
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devastating impact of extreme weather and save lives. in the first eight months of this year, 10 events costs $1 billion or more, a new record from the groundhog day blizzard, the damage topping $45 billion. scientists say it doesn't have to be that way. >> we can build more safely, we can climate-proof or infrastructure such that when there are extreme impacts, our buildings are safe. cities can plant more trees and greenspace to reduce the effect and coastal areas at risk from sea level rise. >> extreme weather events do not have to have extreme consequences. >> reporter: a warning from which people and the planet can benefit. anne thompson, nbc new york. now for number ones. politics releases the wealthiest
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ranking in congress. that's 249 congress members. and the one who leaves the way of the wealthy, california's darryl issa with a mere $448 million. and $308 million and john kerry worth $231 million. you don't have to go far from washington to find the state with the greatest concentration of millionaires. just go to maryland. those numbers were crunched and found that more than 7.2 million marylanders are millionaires. and followed by hawaii, massachusetts each millionaires make up more than 7% of the households. business week is ranking the best place in america to raise children. coming in at number one, blacksburg, virginia, giv top honors for it's amenities and great schools and low crime. you've probably heard that
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itself more than $30 million. they get married and then get a surprise. let's take a look. >> how is that possible? can this happen? whoa. >> oh, yeah, it's happening. joining me now from the daily beast is ramin. good morning. >> good morning. >> we saw this movie, we were in the same screening this week and chatted a bit afterwards. so must see or must avoid? >> you know, the critics hated this movie. it got really bad reviews. i think they didn't quite get it. i don't know if it was the best "twilight" movie but it was slower and kristen stewart gave
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a really deeper form mans. >> she did. i will agree with that. >> it is the grittiest of the films. it was the grittiest part of the four-book series. >> and also the most risque. the scene where edward and bella go on their honeymoon is i think a little steamy for 11 and 12-year-olds. >> so i'm going to suggest it is a must see if you're a twi-hard fan. >> if you're not a tween girl, you probably shouldn't see it. but if you are, then you should see it. >> just a word of precaution as a mom, moms of maybe 12-year-old kids that want to g. just be careful, moms. you know, be right there with them or maybe wait for dvd and watch it with them. but it's good. all right. aiming for a somewhat different group, we have george clooney in "the descendents."
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i heard there is osc buzz. >> there is. there's a drama where george clooney is a dad in hawaii and his wife goes into a coma and he tries to bring his family together. it's a must see for adults. >> a must see? >> yes, a must see. >> and bringing back the muppets? >> yes. they haven't been back in 11 or 12 years. they are back. if you have kids and you want to see the movie, it's a lot of fun. there is a lot of music and miss piggy doesn't look like she's aged at all in all of the time that we've known her. >> i find that hard to believe. just kidding. thank you so much. >> sure. russian prime minister vladimir putin took to the ice in moscow on friday. he did everything they could to help putin score.
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. more information this morning on how costly the penn state scandal may be for the university. now digging into jerry sandusky and how the university has miss handled the scandal. joining me from columbus, ohio, is corey. good morning. >> good morning. >> i'm curious if you think all of this inquiry by the ncaa now could turn into sanctions for penn state football. >> there very well could be sanctions. this is unchartered territory. it's really not the kind of thing that the nca investigates the university for. but the institutional control aspect or umbrella of the nca
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jurisdiction very well -- the scandal could fall under all of that. >> do you think there's a shot that it could mean t end of penn state football? >> i don't think so. that would be jumping way, way ahead to a conclusion. maybe they will get some penalties, probation, or lack of, ball ban or no tv or something. but penn state football as a whole is in jeopardy, nor should it be. had helps fund and support other programs at the university. you would be punishing hundreds of kids who play sports as well. >> what do you know about coach paterno, who was just diagnosed with lung canner? >> this is very sad news. many of us who have been around joe for a lot of years, we have great respect for joe. he's a tremendous person. i was asked very early on in the scandal, do i think joe is a bad person? absolutely not. joe is a tremendous person. he's made some bad decisions
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here that made it impossible for him to continue as a football coach and we've been critical of him as a football coach in the past. football decisions, not personal decisions. so it's very sad to hear about the lung cancer. it's good news that his son is saying that it's treatable. but he is 84 and he's retired now and he's forced to deal with all of this. a lot of people are worried about joe and how he's going to handle all of this, from mental and physical standpoint. he's done so many wonderful things. you just wish the best for him. >> so, i understand you wrote a book about joe paterno. what is the one thing that leads to coach paterno's success? both on and off the field? it's something that he has in his personal life that he takes on to the field. what is that? >> well, it's going to be interesting and ironic to a lot of people. he's always tried to do the right thing throughout his entire career and that's what makes what happened following the 2002 scandal so appalling to a lot of people. >> can you explain, then, why in the minds of so many he did not
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do the right thing? perhaps in terms of following the system and doing the right thing on a legal or university rule standpoint he did but why morally he did not? >> i can't explain exactly what was going on in his mind at that time. maybe he thought it would all just go away. maybe he was trying to protect the football image. but clearly he made a lot of bad decisions but he's not the only one. a lot of people at penn state made a lot of bad decisions over the years and not bringing this forward. justice needs to be served here. we have to make sure that the kids and the victims are first and foremost for everyone and not that we're looking out for sports programs or coaching legacies. >> okay. corey, thanks so much. >> thank you. another libya flood for herman cain. his latest comment on the campaign trail. the best door buster deals
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up next, a gaffe again. herman cain blunders on libya. the son of moammar gadhafi finally captured. the natalie wood case reopened. why is a key figure in the case reportedly hiring a lawyer? and chris matthews recalls how prevented nuclear war. good morning, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." it's 11:00 right on the nose out west. herman cain appeared on the david letterman show last night. he talks about his 9-9-9 plan and the sexual harassment claims
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against him. an grew, good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> do you think herman cain is happy as he thinks about his appearance on letterman last night. >> well, alex, that's his second late night appearance in two weeks. it's not something that many presidential candidates open themselves up to because there's so many opportunities to look nonpresidential. and for herman cain to do it, it shows that he's trying to put things in a light context. he went on jimmy kim quell right after sharon bialek went public and last night he was on david letterman, taking a soft tone to these allegations. he said last night that all of the women are lying and kind of almost taking it -- trying to make it as light and as less of a deal as he can. >> what about these comments on libya? tell us about the problem with that.
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>> well, yesterday down in orlando, talking about that now infamous meeting with the milwaukee journal centinal suggesting that the taliban is part of the libyan forces now. it's been well-documented that there are concerns that al qaeda might be part of the militia of the uprising and the taliban is a curious comment, something that has not been heard before and his campaign has put it back, trying to cite certain individuals that have ties to the libyan and taliban militia. it really build's on the strong narrative. >> andrew from des moines, thank you. >> thank you, alex. ron paul ridiculed his fellow candidates last night in iowa while telling the texas
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congressman slammed his rivals for his hawkish position on iran. >> all you have to do is listen to the debates. i mean, the other candidates are ready to go -- when are we going to attack iran? can't even make enough gasoline for themselves. they don't have a a nuclear weapon. they are no ready to attack us. >> rick perry focused on domestic security in new york. he criticized what the current administration has done to stop violence along the southern border. mitt romney is planning to step up his presence in iowa. he will soon set up a campaign office there but he's decided to skip the family leader forum tonight. it's in des moines. the rick perry, rick santorum, and michele bachmann have all committed to that event. let's get a little bit more on the story out of the libya.
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moammar's son saif has been captured. he was caught in southern libya as two aides were trying to smuggle him into a nearby country. richard engel has that story. >> reporter: good morning. we've been speaking all mornings to rebels. between 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning, rebels were following saif. they got a tip from potentially one of the two -- one of the drivers of the convoy. he was traveling with several aides and they surrounded his vehicle. sachlt aif was inside and surrendered without putting up
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any kind of fight he was dressed in very distinctive clothing he was dressed as the people that live in this area and the reason it's distinct is there is a very elaborate turbin and they are the only people in the world where the men cover themselves with a veil but the women don't and this disguise did not help him. the rebels put him in a car, drove him to a nearby airport, and then flew him to the mountain town. when that russian plane carrying saif and many other people who wanted to be along for the ride landed, it was mobbed by people. mobbed by some of thm very angry. sort of like they killed his father, moammar gadhafi. the rebels formed a human chain around him and prevented him from being killed by the mob. they said that they will hold
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saif in the mountains for the next few days. it's not clear how long exactly beforehandi before handing him over to a government to be tried in libya. >> thank you so much, richard engel there in turkey. washington could be the most biggest compromise all year or the biggest breakdown. they are facing a tight deadline to cut more than a trillion dollars from the federal deficit. here's the calendar. the committee needs to hold a vote by wednesday at the latest. if it does not, a massive group of across the board budget cuts will automatically begin and it takes time to prepare votes. in order to vote on wednesday, the committee needs to reach an agreement by monday. that's two days from now.
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mike vigueira is at the white house. >> reporter: they are meeting this weekend and, alex, after high hopes this summer, you remember the agreement between the president and congressional republicans, they were going to come to an agreement to cut at least $1.2 trillion, as you've described, in deficit spending in the national debt. if they didn't, there were going to be the drew cone general cuts that are near and dear to both sides. as it turns out, failure is an option after all. it is very bloom me. they say the darkest hour right before the dawn. not too many people are optimistic that they can come and meet that deadline that you just described. one bright spot, perhaps, those cuts that we're talking about actually don't cut in until 2013. in essence, if they didn't come to an agreement next week, they
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would have all next year to either delay them in one form or another, it's always a popular option for them to puntd any difficult decisions or to perhaps go big. another version of the grand bargain. there are a number of people in congress that are pushing for that across the board tax structure overhauls, cutting spending and things of that nature. so there is still hope, just not in the short term. >> i'm curious, mike. if a deal is not reached s. there a chance that the u.s. credit rating will be downgraded? >> well, there are two things that you have to look at. the political fallout and the economic fallout, alex. everybody is expecting this. they are saying, let the chips fall where they may. confidence in american political institutions is pretty low at this point. here at the white house they are pretty confident that they are on the right side politically and republicans are as well. economically, of course, after that debacle last summer, the united states government's credit rating rwas downgraded t
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aa. it's so low at this time that it's baked in that the united states is not going to be able to come to an agreement. so it remains to be seen what the economic impact will be. >> thanks, mike. new word from president obama delivering his weekly address from indonesia. he says he has made new progress that will help the kmeef and the unemployment picture. >> i was proud to join leaders from some of our top countries as they announce deals that will support 130,000 american jobs and potentially increase u.s. exports by up to $39 billion. these agreements will help us reach my goal of doubling american exports by 2013, a goal that we're on pace to meet. >> president obama left bali early this morning and will arrive in washington early
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tomorrow. the reopening of the case of natalie wood and the circumstances surrounding her tragic death are being reexamined. christopher walken was on the boat and he has hired a lawyer. police he is not a suspect but they believe they have evidence that proves that there is more to the story. >> we're always open to receiving new information about older cases as well as current cases. we assess that information and deem it to be credible and reliable and, if so, we're not opposed to act upon it. recently we have received information which we felt was substantial, enough to make us look at this case. >> earlier i spoke with a woman who co-author as book that looks at what happened. >> i believe he's credible. his story is the only one that
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makes sense and i set out a long time ago to substantiate what he had told me because everything that had been put out there was based on theories. and i think a lot of people are missing the point here. this new reopening of the case is not something that is based on what is new now. it's based on the fact that natalie's case had never been investigated. her case was closed within days. her case was closed based on theories alone. everyone had theories. no one came up with logical conclusions. she was found floating in the ocean in her pajamas and a coat. there are forensics involved. why was natalie floating in her red down jacket and pajamas in there is a lot of things to investigate that was never investigated before. >> we're going to show you right now new footage of the
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"splendour." it's now a key piece of evidence. it was the last place that wood was shown alive. it was purchased in 1986 and has been in hawaii for nearly 18 years. >> this was the state room so this is where she would have came to that fateful night and this door is where she would have gone to to the swim step where the dingy was tied. in a moment, is the super committee doomed to fail and who will be blamed if it does? plus, the calm before the storm. what you should do to cash in on big bargains. and she appears to be a sweet, innocent child. why is one newspaper asking if she is the scariest child ever? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." new stride whitemint is a hit but it lasts too long.
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a teacher is on administrative leave after being accused of bullying is special needs tud student and it all happened during class. the student claims that it went on repeatedly and the parents were skeptical at first but then the student recorded it on a cell phone. >> what is going to happen? >> i'm just telling you -- >> i will say whatever i want to say. you don't like it, oh well. >> you ain't going to be calling me. >> i will kick your [ bleep ]. what are you going to do? like i'm scared. >> you said whatever you get out of school you're going to do something. you didn't say? >> i said when i get out of this school, what you going to say then? >> his parents are outraged and the boy's father says the teacher told him he was just
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trying to motivate the boy. the school board will decide the ultimate fate at a meeting next week. the pressurecooker that is the supercommittee negotiations. they sent a letter demanding there be no increase in taxes. not a single cent. i'm joined now by joe wilson of south carolina. he's one of those lawmakers that signed that letter. representative wilson, good morning. thank you for being here al electric, it's great to be with you. i even left the usc game to be here with you. >> and of course you and i are discussing different uscs. >> that's true. it all feels the same here on the east coast. let's get to the pledge and what this is all about. why can't tax increases be on the table to some degree? >> because tax increases will destroy jobs. we know that when you take money from the public, that this
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affects small businesses, they can't hire people, people don't have money to byproduct. and so this is not the time and even the president on july the 10th indicated that you do not increase taxes in a recession. he said the same thing last december. because indeed when you increase tacks, you destroy jobs. we have 14 million people unemployed today. >> all right. so you and all your colleagues, particularly those with this group of 73, you're against raising the revenues but here are the numbers from a pair of recent polls. we have 68% of americans saying taxes should be raised on people earning more a million dollars or more per year and 68% of the millionaires agree. so why not accept more money from the very top earners to make at least some sort of a dent in a $15 trillion debt for the greater good of the country? >> well, the actual vote that's most important is last election,
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last cycle, 87 conservatives were elected. 60 liberals were defeated. it indicates that people want to decrease spending. in fact, last week the republicans gained a majority in the state of house of mississippi and for the first time in 130 years, the people are voting for cutting and spending. that is how we should address the issue and we should be working together. we did this week. house republicans and the senate and also the president. we worked for a program for veterans to create jobs and we can work together and that's what we should be doing. >> and absolutely agree there and i think the majority of people due to the lack of confidence and support for congress is going to say that you should be working together. >> yes.
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>> but back to this millionaire tax, if you got 58% of the people out there saying, tax them and you have a large preponderance of those millionaires saying, tax us why not do that in a way to show that there's a bipartisan support and do something that benefits the greater good? >> well, it wouldn't benefit the greater good. it would destroy jobs and it would be affected by the tax increase. we don't need to do that. >> why can't you tax the millionaires and reduce spending? they are both necessary. you are not going to achieve the ends of cutting $1.2 trillion and more and bring down a $15 trillion deficit without doing both. >> i believe that if you increase taxes, the consequence would be to reduce revenue because people would lose their jobs. we have a crisis now of 25
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million americans looking for full time employment and do not have the employment that they are looking for. we need to be increasing jobs. the way you do that is you reduce taxes. that's what happened. the revenue went up by 5% in 2004. 15% in 2005 and 12% in 2006. by increasing taxes it would destroy jobs. and we are in a crisis 11% nationally, the president had his program and said that unemployment would not, exceed 8%. it's over 9. so we need to reduce spending. we need to. >> back to -- if we reduce spending back to 2007 or even by 50%, we can reduce the deficit by $4 trillion.
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don't you think the national debt is making people skittish and don't you think that would play out if the buck gets passed, if the supercommittee does not reach an agreement by monday and gets to a vote by wednesday? don't you think that plays out politically as well? doesn't that concern you? >> well, and, alex , in fact, yesterday was a bad example. only 25 democrats voted for this. we needed 23 more for it to be successful. this is the same week that we reached a $15 trillion debt and 49 states have a balanced budget. this is a very mainstream position and democrats are doing do nothing and voted no.
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and is it not congress responsibility. >> alex, you're dead right. that's not the way washington works. it will be spent on something else. it's diverted. >> and then it goes to the senate and the senate hasn't passed the budget now in almost 1,000 days. this is truly something that the senate needs to know. that's why we have not had the restraint that i believe that we should. but we have a positive agenda. we've passed 15 bills to create jobs. actually, 20. i really appreciate congressman jeff miller, chairman of the
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veterans affairs committee. his efforts on behalf of working with the president. >> i'm going to let you go back to your game and i'm rooting for usc. >> yes. >> thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. we all know or are led to believe that money cannot buy happiness. right? well, the study shows that the more you make the happier you become. but only up to $75,000. after that, your happiness levels off. you also need to have friends to be happy. do you think? money's not going to keep you warm. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium...
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biggest and some would say the most frenzied shopping day of the year. it's black friday which is said to be the most profitable on record. pumping out more than $460 billion in sales. good morning to vera gibbons. >> hello. >> this is not just an important day for retailers. it's a significant day in so many ways, right? we have expectations for this year that you want to meet. >> yes. it sets the tone. the expectations and that's a decent number and it will push the sales up to $460 billion overall with an 11% coming from black friday alone it's a nice chunk of that. >> what are some of these door
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busters? >> you don't go out on black friday. >> i'm working is why but -- >> you're working. very good deal on electronics. you have a 42-inch black screen tv available in best buy for $200. >> what? >> it's a name brand. it's a sharp tv. that's one of the better ones. you have laptops for under $200 in that range. appliances on sale. sears has a kenmoore dishwasher. you've got to get in there and have a system. >> you really have to have a strategy. not for the faint of heart these days. >> no. you have 225 million people shopping on black friday so -- >> is that in stores or as well as online. >> in stores. you start by going to the designated black friday spots, go through there, who has the best prices, you do your comparisons, check out the
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opinions. just because something is on sale doesn't mean it's a good product and then divide and concur with your team. >> yeah, good luck with that. >> a lot of folks are getting annoyed that the black friday deals are starting in stores slightly early. >> yes. >> they are pushing the envelope. what is this all about? >> i think time is really confusing. it's adding to sort of the overall confusion that stores may be opened earlier but the door buster sales on specific items may not start until later. >> so you can come at 8:00 at night but may not get anything until midnight? >> exactly. you have best buy, wal-mart, target, macy's all open on thanksgiving day, much to the chagrin of customers. you really do have to have a plan and you've got to do your research well in advance nlts you've got a major disadvantage. >> stick around. >> thanks, alex. there's a toddler that has become an internet sensation all
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because of this video. take a look. [ laughter ] >> okay. this little girl's generating lots of buzz because of her alleged likeness to chuckie, that demon doll from the movie. a newspaper in london thinks that it is and asks if it's the chucky doll that has stolen the dark side. is that nice? this kid has to live with that. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.
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plus veggie nutrition. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life... especially my finances. that's why i have slate, with blueprint. i can create my own plan to pay down large purchases faster... or avoid interest on everyday items. that saves me money. with slate from chase, i'm always in control. financially, anyway. get slate with blueprint and save money. call 855-get-slate today. time is running out for the supercommittee to reach a beel deal by wednesday. will they succeed or fail? good question for today's "fact
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or fiction." joining me is david. we're going to get to is there a chance of a deal? house boehner is pessimistic that a deal will be reached. >> that's a fact. it's very pessimistic. they've offered their last best offer and would only go halfway towards that $1.2 trillion target thaw mentioned but it would avoid the tough cuts to medicare and medicaid that the republicans think is essential to a big deal and the tax increases that the democrats think are ee senssential to geta big deal. >> if the supercommittee does not reach a deal next week, automatic spending cuts will go into effect right away? >> that is not true. that is a fiction. that's one of the main reasons why it seems unlikely that we will get a deal.
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because unlike the two times earlier this year, the time in march when the government came within 15 minutes of shutting down and than there was a deal and then in august when the government came within a day or two of defaulting on it is debt and there was a deal, this time the punishment or the consequence for no deal doesn't take effect for more than a year. not until the start of 2013. and it will make the deal a little more complicated but the punishment is not going to take effect until the start of 2013. fact or fiction, if the supercommittee dose reach a deal next week t. would automatically take effect without passing congress. >> that is fiction. the rules are that if the supercommittee reaches a deal, congress would have one month to take it or leave it. they can either accept it or
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leave it. it would be an up or down vote in the house and an up or down vote in the senate with 51 votes required as opposed to the usual 60s. there are going to be if the supercommittee does not reach a deal next week, the issue could be decided in the 2012 elections? >> that's a fact. if there's no deal, that's because the rank and file on both sides, republicans and democrats alike, say we'd rather argue about this on the campaign trail and repeal the tax cuts on the wealthiest and that's what they will argue about all next year. >> okay. a very stylish david hawkings
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with his bowtie. >> thank you, alex. it's time for part two of office politics. i sat down with chris matthews in washington. we spoke with jack kennedy and how we came close to a nuclear war. take a listen. >> i first want you to tell me about the book and what fascinated you about it. you grew up in a republican family and at home you're dealing with a very republican father who didn't want you to discuss otherwise. >> well, i was a republican, too, because i was a good son. i think he's the most interesting politician since world war ii. roosevelt was pretty interesting. most of these presidents are not interesting. they may be great presidents like truman or eisenhower or reagan. but they are not interesting
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people. he's fascinating in many ways. kennedy was fascinating to me as a person. i wanted to write a book about the guy, not about the president, not about the politician, but the guy who born to wealth, grew up to become the great president of our modern times, the one who got us through the cuban missile. i wanted to bring jack back. >> after writing this book, do you feel as ee nam moured, more ee nam moured? >> all throughout his career he builds an army that is totally loyal and it comes time for the cuban missile crisis. and he has to deal with the incredibly dangerous war guys.
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and they are all saying to bomb cuba. if they go for berlin, he knew what was going on, the conviction f consequences, and then how world war i began and then it turns out there's 43,000 russians on that island and they would have gone to world war 3 on that island and far worse, he intended to get through it. but if he with one or two left and reached new york and said, i may not kill everybody in new york but i will teach that country what it's like to fight a war in its own tear toefr. that was his intention if we struck cuba. he was already warning that he was going to struck berlin. there's 350,000 troops surrounding our 15,000 nato force. we would have had to do it. kennedy said, no, i'm not going
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to let this happen and stood up against everything and cut the deal and got us through it. so all of us growing up in the cold war got through t that's why we're here. kennedy, one guy did it. >> let's talk about what is in this office, chris, because there's some pretty cool stuff. >> sure. >> i want to ask you about a picture behind you there. fdr and win con churchhill, why is that on your wall? >> because i'm a churchill nut. he was a lover of frank lynn roosevelt. he carried roosevelt up those stairs because he wanted to see his favorite view in the world. he was a painter, a serious painter. and this was after -- this was at the time of the casa blanca conference right after we took away north africa from the italians and nazis. he carried him up there. >> it's a beautiful picture. i see you and tip. >> that was about 1983. we were walking over -- i
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think -- i think that picture has a -- we're going over to i like the way we both look like irish guys. who's that guy over there? >> we're going to have more of my interview with chris matthews tomorrow on my show and that will include more advice from chris to obama on the re-election effort and his take on why being likeable is a bad thing in 2012. more on that tomorrow for you. watch hardball each week at 7:00 p.m. on msnbc. straight ahead, sizing up president obama's leadership amid the debt cutting deal.
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it's time now for the big three. hardball's advice for 2012. joining me is joy-ann reed and joe watkins. we're glad you're here. i want to play a sound bite from the interview with chris matthews that we played earlier. here it is, everybody. >> the worst mistake of his presidency. the day he got inaugurated, he sent us all home and said, thank you. watch how smart i am. the presidency is not being smart. most of our best presidents have not been that brilliant. kennedy was not that brilliant, truman wasn't, but they led us. this is so simple. if i could say one thing to barack obama, stop showing us how smart you are and lead us. >> what do you think, joy-ann? is he right?
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has this president failed to bring us along and tell us what we need to do as a country? >> i think chris matthews is aguy who is a lover of history and -- >> and a fan of barack obama. >> right. >> he's not trying to bring him down. >> absolutely. and truly one of the great speeches that i've ever heard in my lifetime, inspirational obama met the brick wall of republicans coming into office and it is true that the obama administration shifted into tactical mode. this is not a congress that is not going to be persuaded by a great speech. these guys said, we just want to bring this guy down. we're going to obstruct everything he does and this is war. >> joy, i would caution and say this, when president obama was elected, i thought he had democratic majorities in the house and the senate. >> not really. >> it wasn't until the midterms that they won that main chamber.
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>> that isn't true. there was an unresolved in the senate. they had 60 votes after the al franken race was resolved. but even closing gitmo, there was not a magical 60 votes. >> joe, i want to ask you, how does a president go about asking for help from americans? >> well, i think you have to do -- first of all, i love chris matthews. i think he's so -- he's got so much in the way of guts. he's so honest and tells it like it is and it's not easy for him to say anything at all harsh about this president. but i think he makes a good point. what you have to do as president and having worked for one, you have to do the hard work of working for congress. it's too easy to sit back and say republicans are construct n constructionists and just don't get it done for us. they are the reason for all of
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your ails. but when you are the sitting commander in chief and you have it on your hands to get people back to work and to bring americans back together, that means real work in terms of come pro-mighting, going to republicans and winning republican support for the measures that you want to get past. instead, he said all or nothing at all. >> here's the interesting thing that chris talked about. he said that this president does not seem to be happy in his job at the white house. he doesn't seem to be enjoying himself as many previous presidents had and he looked specifically to bill clinton. he always looked like he was enjoying the job, no matter how tough the waters got. >> right. you use the word political romantic and barack obama is not that. he's not interested in a lot of the tactical fun of being president. he doesn't really seem to be enjoying exercise power behind closed doors. >> how do you think americans
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think about that? >> i think that's what they liked about him during the campaign. you get there, you get into the white house and this had is what you have to do 24 hours a day. look, we know covering him and sometime it's a good thing, he doesn't like to do this all weekend long. he to do this all weekend long. he goes golfing. hoe doesn't want to be doing this until midnight like bill clinton did. >> as the clock ticks down here, which party has more to lose? >> to be honest, congress has such dismal approval ratings, i don't think anybody can win. but liberal democrats are going to be the winners when this fails, because they're the only ones getting what they want. deep defense cuts -- >> you're talking about the cuts that automatically kicks in. >> and it kills the bush tax cuts. >> joe? >> i think everybody loses if they fail. all americans do. we all lose. what we're trying to do is put
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14 million americans back to work. >> how does deficit reduction do that? >> if you revamp the tax code and you do away with loopholes and encourage the job creators to continue to create jobs. >> how? >> you don't do it by raising taxes. when you raise taxes, you put a damper on the people who create jobs. >> joe, can i ask real quick about the raising of the tax revenues here. there are some republicans here that are embracing that. do you think there's a general consensus it will be better to punt on this one, wait and deal with it until later on, push it down the road? >> i think it's going to be hard for any republicans to take on new revenues and hope to be re-elected. so that becomes a real challenge. they may punt and wait for 2012. >> deal or no deal, what do you think? >> probably not, but you never know with congress. >> no truer words have been
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said. in just a moment, the big three panel is going to rate the week and who gets the high marks? we'll take a look. ♪ [ male announcer ] the most headroom per dollar of any car in america. from $10,990. the all-new nissan versa sedan. innovation upsized. innovation for all. ♪ ♪ small talk, big thoughts, gonna tell them all ♪ [ male announcer ] the most legroom per dollar of any car in america. from $10,990. the all-new nissan versa sedan. innovation upsized. innovation for all. ♪ ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.
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before we end this morning, it's rhyme to rate the week. back with me now, my panel. welcome back to all of you. let's get right to it, joanne. who had the best and worst week? >> wow, i would say congress as a whole had a terrible week once again. and i would have to say newt gingrich, just because he's getting talked about and he's always happy to be spoken about. so i give him the best week. >> ann? >> i think it's fair that herman cain had another bad week. he's been topping that list. and i think president obama by being out of the country had a great week. >> despite some people saying he was out there for political reasons. how about you, joe? >> i think that mitt romney and
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newt gingrich had a great week. newt is getting a lot of attention. he brings a lot to the campaign. i would agree with joanne that it was a very bad week for congress. another beating. they continue to take that in the polls. people always like their member of congress, they don't like the congress. >> and mitt romney getting one of the best nods. why? >> mitt romney is steady at the trigger. he's doing very, very well. no runs, no drips, no errors. he continues to remain strong with all of the polling data and he's not giving the opposition anything to shoot at in the general election. >> can i change my best to david letterman? he's like the go-to guy for politics. i'm going with letterman. >> i love letterman. he rocks. so i'll agree with you. thank you so much. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> that's a wrap, everyone. i will look for you again tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.
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eastern. stay with us. we have breaking news as it happens. once again, i'm alex witt. i have to get a new picture there. that one is old. have a great day. we'll come back with a new picture soon too. we will see you. mine was earned over the south pacific in 1943. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families
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