baseball game eating candy. am i right? >> or how about going to see the super committee in action. would you love that? boys, i have a question for you. don't you think that all the problems would be solved if there were more women on the super committee? say yes. i think that would actually fix everything. willie, if it is way too early -- >> it is "morning joe." see you back here tomorrow. stick around for "the daily rundown" hosted today by -- luke russert. >> get out! whoa. it turns out failure is an option. after ten weeks, the congressional super committee is unable to cut a deficit deal. attention now turns to what comes next in the inevitable blame game. republican candidates get weepy at a family leader forum in iowa where talk turned to faith and morality. not attending? mitt romney who is busy picking up some key endorsements and jon huntsman who is busy poking a little fun at himself on "snl." was he a lone wolf?

a new york man is accused of plotting to bomb post offices, police officers and returning american troops. the latest on the investigation just ahead. it's monday, november 21st, 2011 and this is "the daily rundown." i'm luke russert filling in for chuck todd. let's get right to the first read of the morning, the big story -- super bust. despite 2 1/2 months of talks, the panel empowered to trim more than $11 trillion in red ink has failed to strike a deal. nobody blinked. >> now we're down to just trying to get the small $1.2 trillion to avoid sequester. i still believe it is possible to do it, but it requires compromise, genuine compromise on both sides. >> nbc's deputy police cal director, mark, what is the political fallout? >> if you're an incumbent running for re-election in 2012

you have to be very worried. we talked about this during the summer when there was an article entitled "worst congress ever." this failure for the super committee to come to any agreement is just more evidence that this particular congress isn't working right now. >> the collective will just isn't there to do anything major. >> we're seeing this blame game. democrats are blaming republicans, republicans aren't able to budge on taxes. republicans are blaming democrats for not putting serious efforts to curb entitlement spending. then republicans including republican presidential candidates are all blaming president obama for not trying to get together. it is this huge blame game. no one's working and you look at what's already in congress right now where a lot of approval ratings for congress are at 13% or lower. even look at the productivity. this particular congress has just passed and enacted 5 public laws. 34 of them actually just extending existing law. most first sessions for a congress have produced almost 150 laws. people aren't liking it and it

is also not doing a lot of work right now. >> the stats do not lie. now we mentioned those presidential candidates. they were in iowa this past weekend and some got pretty emotional including newt gingrich and herman cain. listen to what happened out there. >> it was almost like the harder i worked and the more things i did the hollower i got inside. finally a friend of mine who was a banker in griffin, georgia, actually gave me the two books that are the base of alcoholics anonymous. i wasn't drinking but i had precisely the symptoms of somebody who was collapsing under this weight. >> no one is perfect and i believe that i have had a series of little failures rather than one great big disaster. >> so you heard there the candidates getting deeply personal. how much does that really have an effect in a state like iowa? does newt gingrich saying he felt shallow and hollow at times enough to make up for the fact

that he's had multiple marriages? >> social conservatives really do dominate the iowa caucuses. we saw that in 2008 when mike huckabee was able to win that. this forum was sponsored by a very conservative organization. george w. bush in his original run for president in 2000 and also in 1999, something that often connects is expressing your sins, admitting to your sins, your own moral failings and we saw a lot of that on saturday. rick santorum was also getting very emotional talking about his disabled daughter. so a lot of emotion going on on saturday in iowa. >> who comes out of those types of for ruums best? is it newt gingrich saying i've sinned in nmy past, purity is upon me. >> it just depends on who is going to be the social conservative. santorum has always been there

with republicans he just hasn't been registering in the polls that much. you mentioned newt gingrich's past failed marriages which would be problematic. then of course it is interesting there were two republicans who weren't there, mitt romney and jon huntsman. everyone's going for the social conservative vote just because it is so important in republican politics. >> you mentioned jon huntsman. he had a little bit of fun on "snl" this past saturday. let's take a look. >> you know a lot about new hampshire, seth. >> i'm from new hampshire. >> well, that makes sense. because you're kind and good looking -- >> there is a crowd in new hampshire and i can tell that you we do not fall for easy compliments. >> that's because your wives like a dartmouth professor. >> is this the huntsman strategy to gain traction, kind of say we're not going to go on the ground, we're not going to go to the steak fries, we're not going to shake hands in iowa, we're

going to try to make an impact saying he's on "snl"? it seems like a lot of prominent figures on the conservative side say this guy has serious ideas. is this the only way for jon huntsman to cut through, "snl"? >> name recognition is very important so going on "snl" or any other program, comedy show, boosts that name i.d. you heard the one state that jon huntsman and seth meyers were joking about, that's new hampshire. that's central to jon huntsman's strategy. there is a pro-jon huntsman super pact aided in part by his wealthy father and this spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. it's all about new hampshire for jon huntsman for first contest is iowa. jon huntsman has hits sights focused on the granite state. >> still a lot more to go, mark. thanks for joining us. in egypt the death toll now stands at 22 after a weekend of violent clashes between protesters and security forces. still thousands of protesters turned out again today in cairo's iconic tahrir square

calling for an end to the military's total grip on the country. activists are demanding the military turn over power to a civilian-led government. richard engel is in cairo. richard, i was reading there is a real fear amongst the civilian population of the military don't want to give any power bark to the people. is that what are you hearing on the ground and how much fear is there from the people they are essentially trading one dictatorship for another? >> reporter: well, that is exactly the reason we are seeing thousands of people once again in tahrir square. it was in february last year when hundreds of thousands of people came to this very square and demanded that president mubarak step down. since then a military council has been ruling this country and now people say that that military leadership has gone on too long. the military has only promised a transitionary process. there are supposed to be parliamentary elections in this

country in one week's time. after the parliamentary leaks the military would still remain in charge. after that there would be even more political steps, writing a new constitution, a referendum, presidential elections. it is a process that leaves the military in charge for at least two more years and people here say because of the military's behavior, because of continued abuses against egyptian people, detentions, convictions in military courts, they say it's time to come back in to the streets and there were clashes yesterday, clashes the day before yesterday, and then all day so far there have been clashes. i just came back from a field infirmary where people are arriving almost one a minute and the death toll according to medical officials has gone up from 22 to around 33. >> richard, i read that a lot of protesters are young people but there's also some radical islamists within the group. how much is there of a radical islamic sect in these protests and is there an idea among them to simply create chaos to move

egypt further away from a democracy? >> reporter: there are many accusations that this is all a plot by the muslim brotherhood to destabilize the situation to create animosity against the ruling military and then to win in all of these different elections. the parliamentary leaks in one week, then all of the subsequent elections that are supposed to follow. but being in the square, yes, there are members of the muslim brotherhood. yes, there are even more radical islamists but there are also just students, the same people who were here nearly a year ago to demand that mubarak step down. also you have to understand since mubarak stepped down, a lot has happened in egypt. people have been arrested. people have been sent to military trials. a lot of those family members, people who feel that they were egrieved by this military government have also come out into the streets. >> richard, thanks so much. stay safe. officials in new york city have arrested a man accused of

plotting to bomb nypd patrol cars and postal facilities. police say the 27-year-old man was an al qaeda sympathizer who planned to target u.s. soldiers returning home from the wars abroad. wnbc's investigator reporter is here with the latest. jonathan, the suspect was inspired by al qaeda propaganda but he didn't have any direct links to the group. correct? >> that's what authorities are saying. they are saying he was literally reading al qaeda's "inspire" magazine to learn about bomb formulas, how to build a bomb at home. he was in contact with an nypd informant and apparently traveled to home depot and some other stores picking up supplies that he thought could be used to build pipe bombs. authorities are saying, look, this is not a major terror plot targeting the city. he was only trying to build three or four pipe bombs, if you will. but nonetheless, they were concerned because he had a radical website that he created of his own calling for attacks on u.s. soldiers, voicing

support for al qaeda, and they say he then went and took overt acts, positive steps in trying to obtain materials like the ones you are seeing here that were presented at a press conference last night to show the type of device he was trying to build. not very sophisticated but they did play a tape at that press conference that showed the type of explosion, the type of force that type of device could have had if it had gone off, here's the video. that's the type of device they say he wanted to set off. the defense lawyer says, look, this guy's not sophisticated and he was not shy about sharing his views but he's no terrorist and there will be a lot of questions about this informant as to whether and how far he went in terms of providing the supplies, leading this guy along. we're hearing there may be some mental issues. there may be some drug problems. so some questions as to how much a "terror" suspect this really is. the fbi was apprised of this case and decided not to get

involved. this was an nypd case and state charges. but if convicted on the state charges, they could carry 15 years to life in prison. >> jonathan, thanks so much for that report. surprise, surprise, the super committee turns out not to be super after all. with the blame game now in full force, here comes the fallout. can congress accomplish any of the big-ticket items left on this year's to-do list? house republican whip kevin mccarthy joins me next. plus, something old, something new. we've got a "daily rundown" look at newt gingrich's many flip-flops over the years. but first a look ahead at the president's schedule. you are watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. ♪ ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian ♪

it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. but we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. the only place to go on black friday. walmart.

no super committee deal means no deal on taxes or entitlements and no plan of what to do with the major budget components like the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits. now instead of 12 people trying to figure it out, it is up to the full congress. california congressman kevin mccarthy is the republican whip in the house and he joins me now. thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks for having me, luke. >> so whip mccarthy, from your vantage point, you know these guys, why did this super committee go down? they're not ideological flame throwers. why wasn't there even some semblance of usuccess at $1.2 trillion in cuts. >> there's a little time left, but it doesn't look promising so far. i think sometimes politics plays into this. i think sometimes people want to have it not be successful. some of the message i've heard

coming through from the other side -- not members on the committee -- trying to make this fail from the very beginning. but that cannot be the case. remember this was all devised by harry reid. this was his idea in the process because he couldn't get 60 votes through. when you look at the senate, they haven't passed a budget in more than 930 days. the house has produced a lot of different bills through that have been sitting over on the senate side. this cannot end. we've got to be able to solve this problem and be able to find common ground. i mean i think you found that republicans put a proposal out there that you found from the president's commission even a lot of ideas out there to deal with something. maybe we can grow from this and still pass something on the floor and move it to the senate. >> democrats would say that republicans were never serious on the issue of taxes, they were never serious about revenue in the size and scale really needed to pay down the deficit. this sort of blame game with republicans thinking they were

never serious about entitlement cuts? you think by 2012 you can have sizable reform and sizable tax hikes? is that possible with your conference? >> what i think has to happen, our conference is really looking for tax reform. close the loopholes. we did that in passing our budget. we closed the loopholes. we made it simpler, we let america be more competitive worldwide from the standpoint of our tax proposal. if you really want to save, medicare and social security, you have to reform them. we put serious proposals out there to do that as well. there is no person -- if anybody in congress ignores any medicare and others, you add $11 trillion every year to the unfunded. and it has to be a serious discussion if you want to save it for a future generation. >> mitt romney was on the campaign trail and he had this to say about the president in regards to the super committee. please take a listen here. >> some of the democrats were asked, what's the president's role been to try and help the

super committee come to consensus? the answer is he hasn't had any role. he's done nothing. it is another example of failed leadership. he has not taken personal responsibility to get this super committee to find ways to balance our budget and cut spending. >> is the failure of the super committee president obama's fault? >> i think there is some fault there. it's not just him saying that. you have senator manchurian who says it from west virginia as well, a democrat. the most depressing thing that happens here, luke, normally in divided government america achieves big things. think for a moment -- when ronald reagan was president, tip o'neil was speaker of the house. they reformed the tax code and they expanded the growth of the economics in america. bill clinton had newt gingrich as speaker and bob dole as a leader on the senate side. they balanced the budget.

they had a surplus and they reformed welfare. this president cannot sit on the sidelines and divide the nation hopefully to try to win his own election. he needs to unite this country, engage in this process. if you're president you're leader of this nation and of the world. you've got to show leadership, not just going campaign and divine the nation. >> but as you know, president obama and speaker boehner were very close to some type of deal over the summer but the white house said that any type of tax increase cannot go through your conference. how can you solve big issues like they did in the '80s if you guys won't take any type of a tax hike? people are saying grover norquist will primary anybody that votes for that. >> remember what are you talking about right here. republicans have passed a budget, the senate has not. republicans have proposed ideas on the table. even clyburn who is a leader in the democratic congress who is on the super committee said last is under the problem is that the democrats can never coalesce

around one plan. if you can't put an idea out, the other side can never agree to something. republicans have made offers. they have made offers where they closed the loopholes, where it changes and expands the revenue into government simply from the fact that we expand the economy and grow. that is a fundamental difference that's out there. but the democrats have never even proposed a plan. what has the president done? now and then he phones in. well, you can't be e.t. you actually have to lead. >> lastly, there are some things that are going to be expiring at the end of 2012 the payroll tax extension, jobless benefits, possibly the doc fix. those all add $300 billion to the deficit. there is a lot of consternation among both democrats an republicans that those will be very hard to renew through your conference by the end of the year. do you think that unemployment benefits as well as the payroll tax extension which is important to a lot of middle class families will be able to be passed by the house gop by january 1st, 2012?

>> i think you'll see a lot of ideas on the floor when we go back in, the super committee, of taking up those issues and also when you talk about the doctor fix. all of those, whatever comes through the house, would have to be paid for and i think you'll see the house time an again actually bring ideas up. the challenge has always been in this congress what can the senate do. the whole idea of why the super committee was created was harry reid, because he could not get enough votes. sew wanted some super committee with only 15 votes to pass something and democrats could never even come to an idea. but you'll find republicans will have an idea to move this economy forward to create jobs, and at the same time pay for it that we put us on a more level playing ground to actually grow this economy as well. >> whip mccarthy, thanks for joining us from detroit. how will all this super committee drama affect wall street? we'll check on that next in the market rundown. plus, when those sweeping

automatic cuts are triggered they'll hit defense especially hard. what it could mean for national security. and newt gingrich is the latest republican candidate whose star is on the rise but will a series of controversies an flip-flops take him down? but first, today's trivia question. it is a photo challenge. take a look at this picture and tell us what's going on here. if you need to take another look at the picture, check out our twitter feed@dailyrundown. the answer coming up on "the daily rundown." i'm your gps.

turn right up ahead. you never update me. so, now i just have to wing it. i meant turn left up ahead. recalculating. turn right now! [ horn honks, tires screech ] [ laughs ] [ crash! ] and your fifteen-minute insurance might not pay for all this. so get allstate. you could save money and be better protected from mayhem like me. recalculating. [ dennis ] dollar for dollar nobody protects you from mayhem like allstate.

it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. but we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. the only place to go on black friday. walmart.

members of both sides of the super committee expressed concern over what their group's failure might mean for the markets. >> there is a real threat that not only will there be a downgrade but that the market on monday will look again at washington and say, you guys can't get the job done. >> i don't know what the impact

in the market will be. i would hope there wouldn't be again an adverse impact in the sense that the american people are still going to get the deficit reduction that was contemplated under the law. but it is a huge blown opportunity. >> and with the opening bell set to ring in just a few minutes, we go to cnbc's becky quick for a market preview. becky? >> hey, luke. what those two gentlemen were talking about is what's been playing out in the markets. we are seeing a sell-off. part of it is because what's happened in washington but a lot of it is really focused on what's happening in europe, too. people are looking at the debt committee and there was a great sense among traders that there was nothing that would really get accomplished by this. they're seeing that playing out today and so maybe there is a little bit of disappointment there. but a lot of the weakness from the dow jones industrial average -- it does look like we're going to open down by about 150 points this morning on the dow -- a lot of that disappointment that's coming out of what's happening in europe, too. now in europe overnight there were some more concerning developments.

moody's is warning that france could be in trouble. its debt rating could be in trouble because it looks like they have very weak growth prospects there and the yield on the french government debt has been climbing, too. it makes it a lot more expensive for the french to borrow money. moody's saying that could put their credit rating at risk. that has a lot of people concerned. in spain a new government came in and took over. they've asked for more time from the markets to get things done. they got about an half-an-hour before the markets jumped back in and drove spanish debt yields back up to higher levels. people are not pleased with what they're seeing out of washington, that's for sure. nobody is giving them any rounds of applause but there are a lot of bad things happening in europe, too. >> down 150 points here in america to start the day. "the daily rundown" will be back in 30 second. don't go anywhere.

bottom of the hour now. a quick look at what's driving the day. president obama fresh off his trip to the pacific rim will sign legislation later this morning providing tax credits for businesses that hire veterans. in state college today, the special penn state trustees panel tasked with looking into the sex abuse scandal there are meet and speak to the press about their ongoing investigation. and the opening bell has just rung on wall street. futures pointed to a sharply lower open today thanks to more volatility in europe. stocks there reached their lowest level in six weeks prompting more concern here at home. other stories making headlines, michigan congressman

dale kildy is denying allegations he sexually abused a young cousin some 50 years ago. the democrat called the accusation shameful and blamed distant relatives and his political adversaries for conspireing to destroy his reputation. the chief of police at uc davis in california has been placed on administrative leave following friday's incident during which police pepper sprayed student protesters. in addition the head of the university of california's system is launching a review of law enforcement on all ten campuses. seattle mariners outfielder greg halman has been stabbed to death. his 22 yearly brother is being questioned in the incident. he appeared in 44 games with the mariners over the last two seasons. despite having more than 14 hours left before its deadline for a deal, the super committee is expected to officially throw in the towel today. kelly o'donnell is nbc's capitol hill correspondent. kelly, great to see you.

from this side of the camera. how did this all break down so poorly? how did this break bad? when did we know that this thing was going down? >> well, just a little story happening here while you're in the big studio, luke. we're having fun here. this really broke down a long time ago and what they've really been doing in the last 24 hours is trying to find a way to announce failure and to give proper burial to the super committee after a few months of promising they could get something done and i think making an honest effort. both sides, a lot of good people were on this committee but they just couldn't bridge that divide. you know it is about the most fundamental differences between these two parties and it centers on taxes. republicans wanted to secure the bush era tax rates for the foreseeable future making those permanent and they were willing in exchange for that to do some adjustments to popular deductions. democrats wanted to see higher

end marginal rates and they wanted to do that in exchange for making cuts. they just couldn't get there. so now the big question is, is there a way out of the booby-trap they gave themselves which is this automatic sweeping spending cuts that would happen in january 2013. that gives them plenty of time to try to figure out a way around that and that most will focus on defense because half of those cuts will fall on defense after it has already made cuts in the last round ever budget wrangling. so there is a real kind of thud at the end of this so-called super committee which is anything but super in its result here. lot of frustration on both sides. and a lot of kind of slow expectations dwindling that got us to where we are today. if people are wondering why today and not wednesday? they needed to have a bill put in writing by today to give the 48 hours required before a vote would have been on the wednesday deadline. that's why today makes such a difference. >> kelly, from your conversation with aides, is anybody there on the hill really surprised that this went down?

it seems there wasn't a lot of optimism especially in the last few weeks? >> the optimism vanished not long after it all began. i think when they saw where these sides were going -- and they gave proposals back and forth. they talked at a staff level, at a member level. there were only a few public hearings which were really more about how big is the problem than trying to get anything accomplish. so there has been a sense for a long time that this was a very heavy lift and despite people saying failure is not an option, it turned out it was an ops and it is not a surprise and really the issues today is how to put the best public face on it and to prepare for the inevitable blame and what comes next in terms of how to deal with these cuts and all of the end-of-year business that they thought might have been wrapped up had they made a deal here, things like the payroll tax cut, would that be extended, things like unemployment benefits. lots of important stuff needs to be done before the end of the year and now they've got to turn their attention to that. luke? >> and it will be interesting to see whether they can reach any

semblance of agreement. kelly, do not work too hard. i'll see you in a few hours. half of the automatic spending cuts will come from defense. nearly half a trillion ondollars over ten years. defense secretary leon panetta says the plan will be devastating and leave what he called a hollow force. nbc's jim miklaszewski is our chief pentagon correspondent. mick, what's the immediate impact of these cuts that the military just does not want to see in any capacity? >> well, luke, the immediate effect here at the pentagon is to get military and pentagon officials scrambling to try to figure out how to avoid the deepest of cuts. to follow up a little bit on what kelly was talking about, some officials here are confident that since the sequestration would not kick in until 2013 that there is time for congress to modify the impact and that the defense budget will take a smaller hit than it would under the formal sequestration. now in total, while the pentagon would take about half of that

trillion dollar budget cut, they've already decided that they're going to cut $450 billion to $500 billion bringing it to a total of $1 trillion. pentagon officials are confident they can get that down to somewhere around $600 billion. but if they don't, secretary panetta has warned that it would have a devastating effect. it would bring the overall military force down to the smallest since 1940, the fewest number of ships since 1915, the smallest air force ever. then there is the industrial military complex because there's a huge trickle-down effect. it would affect major defense projects like the f-35 strike fighter and ship building could come to a screeching halt. so in the end, it's like everything else now in this political season, luke. it is all about jobs, jobs, jobs. >> indeed it is, jim. thank you so much for your report from the pentagon. >> you bet.

newt gingrich is not just rising in the polls. he's now leading the republican pack. according to the latest "usa today"/gallup poll out this morning, gingrich is ahead of mitt romney with 22% among registered voters. with all this new attention there is the accompanying scrutiny. it is not just mitt romney who has to account for his shifting positions and inconsistencies. nbc news political reporter has that story. >> we found on at least five separate issues newt gingrich has been completely inconsistent or reversed himself. >> mitt romney's been criticized for inconsistencies but he's not alone. newt gingrich has been on both sides of a long list of issues, some time in the same week. on climate change, he cut this ad with former house speaker

nancy pelosi. >> we don't always see eye to eye, do we, newt? >> no. but we do agree. our country must take action to address climate change. >> but while running for president, gingrich did an about-face. >> it was probable the single dumbest thing i've ever done. >> as far back a is 1993, the speaker supported health care mandates. >> i am for people, individuals, exactly like automobile insurance, individuals being required to have health insurance. >> but this year he said he rejects them. >> i'm against any effort to impose a federal mandate on anyone because it is fundamentally wrong and i believe unconstitutional. >> on libya, gingrich said he favored a no-fly zone. but just two weeks later after president obama and u.s. allies began strikes on the country, he said he was against the idea. >> i would not have intervened. >> reporter: on paul ryan's controversial budget plan, gingrich said if he could he'd vote for it but less than a month later he said -- >> i don't think right wing

social engineering is anymore desirable than left wing social engineering. >> reporter: two days after that he backtracked. >> i played a mistake. >> reporter: but this month he said he was against how ryan would restructure medicare. on freddie mac, the government-backed mortgage lender, gingrich said in 2008. >> what you have today is the rich on wall street and the powerful at fannie mae and freddie mac had so many politicians beholden to them that in fact nobody was going to check them. >> but after he left congress, freddie mac paid gingrich at least $1.6 million as a consultant. >> i was speaker of the house and a strategic advisor. >> newt gingrich may be the latest candidate to see his star rise in the polls, luke, but if primary voters don't buy his explan nation explanations, that star could burn out pretty quickly. >> do you think someone with such close ties to the lobbying industry -- i read he got $30 million from health care groups, one of his think tanks did did.

can somebody like that really appeal to the tea party and the conservative voters who very much are going to be needed to win these early states? >> i think you get at what's probably his biggest weakness which is his strong ties to washington generally. right? he was speaker of the house. he took money from groups like this. he was not a lobbyist but as we know, strategic advisor, that line -- >> a consultant. >> that line can be kind of blurred. but why is he risen in the polls? we saw his stridency at debates. he's been able to harness a pretty harsh anti-obama message and frankly a anti-media message that resonates well with tea party supporters. herman cain fading especially on issues of substance like libya. they see newt gingrich a articulate, he's a pretty smart guy. >> the man with the doctorate in european history is finding the groundswell of conservative support.

unbelievable from the grassroots. >> see if it lasts. >> thank you very much. game on. our political panel joins me next for the latest on the super committee blame game. plus, is mitt romney finally playing to win in iowa? that's coming up. but first the white house soup of the day -- pretty standard -- tomato. that's a good one. i'd eat that. put some pepper on it. not too much salt. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. act my age? -why? -why? -why? [ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. she's a black friday living legend. she even named her kid "black friday." [ woman 2 ] whoa. [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. but we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. the only place to go on black friday. walmart.

and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as 1... -2... -3... [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. [ toy robot sounds ] apply online or at a bank of america near you. smal l bu apply online or at a bank of america near you. sinesses are the smal lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop.

allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday.

daily flashback to this day in 1973 when president richard nixon's attorney revealed an 18 1/2 minute gap on one of the white house tape recordings related to water gate. the now famous gap is part of a recording made on june 20, 1972 as nixon chatted with his chief of staff h.r. haldeman. those 18 missing minutes were a huge blow to nixon's credibility

as the water gate scandal unraveled his presidency. members of the super committee and congress at large have become experts at pointing fingers but not so much at finding solutions. so who will americans blame for the almost certain failure of the super committee and where do we go next? for that answer let's bring in our monday panel, the pulitzer panel. dan balls, susan paige and clarence paige. >> on this issue of the super committee, john kerry and jon kyl were on "meet the press" yesterday. they had an interesting thing to say yesterday. let's watch the tape. >> when our democratic friends are unable to cut even a dollar in spending without saying it has to be accompanied by tax increases, i think that tells you all you need to o know about our run-away spending. >> what john just said is patently not true. we just cut $917 billion without

one dime of new revenue. he knows it. we just did it. >> deja vu all over again. it seems like this issue of taxes and entitlements that's been plaguing both parties and this congress for the last few years showed its face in the super committee. dan, what does this say to voters about the collective will of the congress to make any decisions? >> luke, i think most americans had already judged had congress to be incapable of doing these things and in fact washington in general. i mean this committee failed to live up to very low expectations. i don't think anybody thought they'd do a grand bargain. they thought they might muddle through but this is a repeat of what we went through with the debt ceiling debate and it reinforces to people that washington's broken. >> susan, how do you think this will play out in 2012 with the individual voter? >> we saw what happened earlier this year when congress failed to raise the debt ceiling when

we had the budget showdown, we had the perspective shutdown in april. of confidence in congress fell. hard to believe can you go much lower since it is now at 13% in the gallup poll and it hurt the economy. it makes the economy worse for americans to believe that congress can't do anything to address these issues, that there's no way out so it actually make the reality -- the perception that congress can't do anything makes the reality of the economy more at risk. >> mitt romney this morning is doubling down on this idea that president obama is to blame for the super committee not being able to come to an agreement. let's listen to what he said in new hampshire. >> i would have anticipated that the president of the united states would have spent every day and many nights working with members of the super committee to try and find a way to bridge the gap. but instead he's been out doing other things, campaigning and blaming and traveling. this is in my view inexcusable. >> clarence, do you think this attack that obama's had a lack of leadership on the super

committee, will that really resonate amongst primary voters? will it help mitt romney appear more presidential that he's the one taking the lead on this issue? >> very much is a national thing. i think there is an argument to be made that obama should be more of a leader along the way. the way mitt romney's looking at it, talking about the president was out traveling. he was out traveling with the major nations of the world out in south asia. and was a very important business trip, you could say. but the question is, is obama at fault here. i'm reminded of the showdown between president clinton and newt gingrich back in the '90s and the public generally in this kind of situation sides with the president and sees congress in a more negative light and there's also the question, will people remember this a year from now when it is election time. i think obama probably figures they won't remember all the

details of it. but contests will really begin after mitt romney gets the nomination, if he gets the nomination. >> susan, are you surprised this committee with only 12 people that was really supposed to take out the 535 congressional block which is so much prone to lobbying and special interests, that these 12 locked in a room couldn't come to an agreement? does it surprise you as a seasons political reporter? >> i think there is no surprise that they failed. i mean it is hard. it is hard -- >> what does that say about the country that you're not surprised at all? >> was anybody surprised? no. the surprise would have been, wow, they got a deal? that would have been pretty stunning and worth the coin if they had been able to do that. congress is clearly having great difficulty moving ahead on these big issues where the two parties are divided, they're polarized and both looking to the 2012 elections. >> not surprised congress cannot get a deal. amazing. trivia time. we asked a photo challenge question today. what's happening in this

picture? no, it's not a 3-d baseball game. that's former president george w. bush and nolan ryan sporting shades at a texas rangers night game in june. they helped break the guinness record for most people wearing sunglasses in the dark. we'll be right back. you are watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. you can put a force field on him and be invisible! [ child 2 ] i call first player. no. i already called it.

[ dad ] nobody's playing anything until after we get our homework done. thank you. hello? test drive's not over yet. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. [ louder ] hello? but we still need your signature. right now during sign then drive it's never been easier to get the all-new passat, the 2012 motor trend car of the year, for practically just your signature. that's the power of german engineering. visit vwdealer.com. what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. she's a black friday living legend. she even named her kid "black friday." [ woman 2 ] whoa. [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. but we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. the only place to go on black friday. walmart.

let's bring back our panel today. susan, "usa today" has a new poll out among registered voeter, nut gij rich, 22, mitt romney 21, ron paul 9%. newt is resonating. >> he was at 3% this summer. he's now the sixth candidate to lead the "usa today" gallup poll

this year. two weeks ago it was herman cain. he's fallen big-time. gingrich has picked up support among older voters and highly educated voters and he's the latest guy at the top of the field. >> in your recent column you had a great line from an iowa voter that said newt gingrich went to 1-800-way-too old to 1-800-he's-so-great. how did that happen? >> a number of people at the top at one point were disappointing to the iowa voters, and the second is the debates. there's no question that newt gingrich has used these debates very effectively. these group of voters i talked to last week i talked to in february. at that time they said basically newt gingrich, smart guy, too much baggage, not electable. now they say he's got baggage, but you know what? he knows what he's talking about, and we're impressed how he handled himself in the debate.

he has momentum right now. we'll see whether he can sustain that. >> michael had a great line in a column a few days ago. you said there's a scandal of sanity that falls upon republican candidates if they were doing something like gingrich's cap and trade and possibly be open to any red meat issues that concerns them so much. can newt gingrich survive hthis? >> the good and bad thing for gingrich is that he has a long record. he's well-known to a lot of people. people know a lot of the foyables that he has and know about his marriages. there's a lot that will come back up and back up. i think the real issue is whether as people are reminded of that again and the question of can he then run a general election race, whether he'll be able to hold up. >> now as he's a national candidate, he's weighing in on national issues. this is what newt gingrich said about the "occupy wall street"

movement? >> it starts with the premise that we all owe them everything. they take over a public park they didn't pay for to go nearby to use bathrooms they didn't pay for to beg for food from places that don't want to pay for it, to obstruct those going to work to sustain the bathrooms and park to pay tax. that's a symptom of how much the left has collapsed as a moral system in this country and why you need to reassert something as simple to them saying go get a job right after you it take a bath. >> wow. clarence, how do those comments resonate in a national campaign in a state like ohio and with his? two things are happens here. newt gingrich is having a resurgence because of what george bernard shaw said about second marriages. this is a try jump of hope over experience. initially people, republicans say newt again. this is the year for new people. they've been through all the new

people. by the time they got back to newt again, they forgot why they didn't support him in the first place. they will remember as time goes on. were he to get the nomination, you would see a lot of negative resonance for polarizing comments. he's part of the right's effort to smear the "occupy wall street" movement and the rest of the left along with it as a bunch of dirty hippies, and that's what you heard there. >> shameless plugs. do we have any here? >> i have a double-shameless plugs. i'll plug my parents as a contestant in next week's funniest celebrity in washington contest. >> you are? >> one of the judges is grover norquist, so i get to be judged by grover for a change. along with scott brown, alan west, blumen haur. >> allen west? >> all for a good cost. the susan g. komen for the cure anti-breast cancer foundation. come one, come all. >> you guys have anything it to

add to that? >> we shamelessly plug clarence's appearance. >> we're voting for clarence as the funniest celebrity in washington. >> thank you so much for joining us today. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." we'll see you tomorrow. i'll be here. up next is chris jansing and company. at 1:00 don't miss andrea mitchell. she'll speak to john kerry about what's going on behind the scenes with the super committee. have a great monday. thanks for watching. we go throughout this busy travel week many issues throughout the country. not too much snow or ice. we can deal with the rain i guess. d.c. chance of showers today, new york city drying out during the morning hours. other areas of concern today, dallas and much of texas and definitely back to phoenix and

seattle. have a great day. you're not sa% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups. tried to deep-fat-fry their turkey. 15 succeeded in setting their houses on fire. at christmas, there was a lot of driving over the river and through the woods. and a little bit of skidding on the ice and taking out grandma's garage door. so while you're celebrating, allstate will be standing by.

trouble never takes a holiday. neither should your insurance. that's allstate's stand. are you in good hands? ♪ 'cause i'm like a savings ninja. ok... [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. but we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. the only place to go on black friday. walmart. ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian ♪