>> our democratic friends had a different idea. their idea was this was the opportunity to raise taxes. >> but let the blame game begin. republican candidates already attacking the white house. >> he's failed to lead on issue after issue. he failed to lead when it came to how the trillion dollar stimulus would be spend. he failed to lead on the budget negotiations. he failed to lead on raising the debt ceiling. now he's failed to lead on the super committee. >> part of the president's fault. >> is the gingrich surge for real? and mitt romney finally makes a play for iowa. the pepper spray attack that shocked the nation. and almost a year after the tahrir square upraising, a third straight day of violence in cairo. is egypt's revolution coming apart? we're live in cairo with richard engel in tahrir square. i'm andrea mitchell. the new steps for the super committee, if there are any, are

unclear but the blame game is being played from capitol hill to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. that's where we begin our daily fix with chris. this was ultimately predictable, but at the same time there is still an effect. >> yeah. sadly predictable, andrea. for people who watch washington, the idea that the two sides were going to come together a year before a consequential presidential election, and you have the parties divided by the right way forward, probably the outlook was never all that bright. there are consequences. this is a congress that had somewhere between 9% to 14% approval. this is not going to help. i think there's already an anti-washington, anti-status quo sentiment in the electorate. i think this will double down on that in some meaning way. i think it could hurt both parties. i think washington generally will come in for blame, but not

a great day for congress and for politics. >> at this hour, john kerry, senator portman, senator kyla couple others meeting on the senate side this was kerry earlier on "morning joe". >> we're the only ones who put almost a $4 trillion deal on the table. we did that. you don't think we have not put pain on the table? we put a hugely reasonable amount with painful reductions in it. and they said no. then we kept whittling backwards from there. some people never wanted to do a big deal. now we're down to just trying to get the small 1.2 trillion to avoid sequester. >> it's unlikely they'll reach any kind of agreement. they do say there will be talks between now and midnight, but they have already gone past the deadline they set for themselves to get it to the congressional budget office. this is a question of what steps next? we will see real effects with unemployment insurance and a couple other things that will

run out. but no downgrading in terms of the credit agency. this is not the same as the debt ceiling debacle. >> no. you mentioned this was somewhat predictable. one of the pieces that makes it so predictable, is these automatic cuts don't go into effect until january 2013. congress does generally work best or well -- i don't know if congress works well at this point ever, but they work best under pressure and under fierce deadlines. it's like a college student having to get that paper in. because these things don't go into effect, the mast majority, until 2013. congress looks at it and says we have a year to fiddle with this. we'll look at it then. the election will have happened by then. when will it get solved? probably january 2013. >> let's talk about political life, at least a resurgence a

resurrection of newt gingrich. the gallup poll today has him on top. he is the sixth republican who has occupied the top slot in this roller coaster of a race. >> amazing. >> is gingrich real in terms of his ability to sell himself as the new shiny object? >> he's real in the sense that he has more experience on the national stage than those who have come before him. there were people are limited successes whether in the business world with cain, or in politics with bachmann and perry. newt has been on this stage before speaker of the house in 1990s, battled with clinton unsuccessfully. so he knows his way around better, by the same token he has a lot of thin that he said in the past that will contradict things he's saying now. he'll have to answer for those. i think he as a person is more able to deal with the scrutiny. he knows what it means to have

the national spotlight glare on you. but his past record is longer than perry, bachmann or cain. that's what ultimately will make it tough for him to keep his poll position. >> by the way, just getting this note, this meeting was called together, there are a couple other people there besides portman, kyl, kerry, max baucus, patty murray and chris van hollen. we will see if they produce something. you have been writing about president obama and his own approval rating with his base, and how that is holding up. >> yeah. i think there's a persistent story line out there that president obama has problems with his base. there are clearly people, a lot of them are commentators on networks or in print or in blogs, who are upset with the president. but if you look broadly -- i know you're showing the numbers, if you look broadly this is a president who has significant support among his base.

stronger support among african-americans than any past democratic president. he won african-americans with 95% of the vote in 2008. he's likely to approximate that again. it makes the story that his base is leaving him something of a myth. >> thank you very much. now to capitol hill where all the action is. nbc's luke russert on capitol hill. let's talk about the key players and whether this is just an attempt to avoid the blame or is this a real attempt to try to put something together? >> that's the million dollar question. we can report what you mentioned before, that senator kerry, kyl, bachus, portman, chris van hollen are meeting in senator kerry's office which is on the second floor right below where i am. we were told by an aide that this meeting was not planned at all that senator kerry saw senator kyl today. they started talking. they decided to go back to his office see if there is any deal they can come to at the 11th

hour, maybe get that 1$1.2 trillion in cuts. a lot of people think this is purely for aesthetics, to show the country that this group was working to the end it came out today that they have not met as an entire group since october 26th. a lot of folks believed that was detrimental to not only their cause but the appearance of them being a bipartisan working group. in reality, if they could come forward with any agreement now in this late time, it would most likely be low-hanging fruit. maybe somebody in the billions they could agree on. this will not be big, bold and balanced in any way. >> luke, just briefly, is there still a move largely by republicans to try to soften the blow on those automatic cuts on the defense side and rewrite that or perhaps take it away? take away the triggers in some legislative way? >> i was told by a high-ranking gop aide that will be a focus on

2012. these triggers don't go into effect until 2013. there's a lot riding on getting rid of those triggers, including the special interests from the defense industry. they don't want to see the ships being built stopped, the airplanes being built stopped. it would be a painful thing for a lot of republican interests if that republican sequester would go into effect. >> luke russert on the hill, thank you very much. the super committee has all but admitted defeat. investors are taking notice. the dow at this hour is down close to 300 points. jillian ted has more on what has led to a wild ride on wall street. there is a lot of european action going on. we were talking earlier about china. >> yeah. once again it's a somber mood out there on wall street. the s&p 500 has gone down through 1,200. it's not just the disappointment about the super committee. it's the fact that the eurozone

problems are still bubbling, and just this morning we had an interview with the chinese vice premiere who was warning that china thinks the global economy could be hovering on a deep and retracted recession. until now, china has been one of the few bright spots on the global picture. >> is the slowing of the economy in china cyclical effect or is it also part of this -- what we've seen elsewhere? because they don't face the same stresses that the eurozone and the u.s. has been facing? >> the vice premiere was talking about the entire global economy. i was in shanghai last week, there is concern about the stresses building inside china and there's speculation that china could be preparing for more monetary easing to ward that off. the big question now is you're seeing investors and the public losing faith in the eurozone and the ability of governments to deal with that proactivity. the question now is whether we will see a similar reaction in the u.s. we have not thus far.

the dollar actually strengthened this morning, treasury yields fell because people are so worried about the eurozone, but tensions are building. >> is it likely that european investors are turning to the safe haven of the u.s. for investment? so that's sort of propping up the dollar artificially despite what's going on here domestically. >> right now america is being given an incredible free pass because people are so focus the on the eurozone. if you look at the inner dials of the financial rkets, you can see signs of stress building in the eurozone now which is helping to support the gulf price and the eurozone dollar as well. >> there's no immediate threat of a downgrade. the rating agencies have been quiet. is it all discounted this budget process? >> the ratings agencies have been quiet in some ways what the s&p did over the summer in terms of downgrading the u.s. debt is almost foreshadowing what would happen this time around.

they were making a statement about the political gridlock in washington. that's what we're seeing here today. >> we're hearing out of the white house that the president called mario monti, the new prime minister of italy, propping him up and giving him support for the issues he has to face. >> the single most encouraging thing to happen in the eurozone the last week is that you have two technocrats in charge of italy and greece, not elected officials. people are saying maybe we are moving to a period when people get more and more frustrated with democracy and start looking for alternatives. >> until they don't. >> let's hope not. >> great to see you in person. mitt romney, raw and unleashed and tifinally wantingo win in iowa. we will talk with todd purdum next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. i refer to her as "that woman with the great gums."

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tonight mitt romney is going to really let loose. get ready for mitt romney, raw and unleashed. because just like herman cain, i got a whole heap of skeletons in my closet. in fact, sometimes i open my closet and i think is this a graveyard? >> the real mitt romney. and romney is in new hampshire on sunday having some self deprecating fun, but he is serious when it comes down to iowa. his headquarters there is now open and will be running at full speed when romney returns on wednesday.

todd purdum writes for "vanity fair" and has a fascinating story about the iowa caucuses. the evolution of the iowa caucuses is a real deal and romney apparently now does want to take the plunge, even having been burnt four years ago. >> yes, iowa is not always a predictor of things. people who win the iowa caucus don't quite often win the nomination. i think he thinks if he can make a strong showing in iowa or win in iowa, and he probably would win in new hampshire, key hope to wrap it up early and not have the contest drag on. >> rahm emanuel, the mayor of chicago was in iowa this week and campaigning saturday night for the president and poked fun at the republican field and at their faith and valuesers for rum. let's watch. >> their debate was called the thanksgiving family forum. which is fitting. because i've never seen a greater collection of turkeys.

>> it has been an opportunity for the democrats to poke fun at the republicans, but the republican field this year is more lively and interesting than in years past. >> i can't remember any cycle in which there was one serious person, and a lot of other people who did not seem up to the task. i think the republicans have been going through an extraordinary cycle this year, as you pointed out, where everybody has his moment in the barrel. this is kind of newt gingrich's turn to be the flavor of the day, week or month. we'll see how long that lasts. it's a testament to how reluctant the party is to settle behind mitt romney who is seen as not conservative enough for the party's base, the fwhbase t dominates the iowa caucuses. >> i think what mike murphy and ed gillespie were saying on "meet the press" is whether this

25% for mitt romney is a floor or ceiling. >> it's an interesting question. there's something about him that is making republicans, rank and file republicans around the country unwilling to close the sale. four years ago, john mccain faced a bit of this problem. his mother, roberta, thought the republicans would have to hold their nose and take him. it may well be something like that happens with mitt romney. then the question, of course, how enthusiastic would the base be in the fall and the general election and how hard, if they would work for him and support him. >> one thing you write about in "vanity fair," the thing that makes iowa different is one of mcgovern's young aids sketched out a plan to win early support in the 28 states where convention delegates would be chosen in caucuses or local conventions, instead of the

states primaries which cost a great deal more. the result was mcgovern's spruzingly strong showing in iowa, the beginning of the end for that year's presumed favorite. there is a built in sort of networking in the small scale of the iowa caucuses. >> absolutely. >> they can give someone an instant campaign. >> we saw what happened with president obama not only in iowa but in other caucus states where he was able to rack up delegates in those places where the caucuseses could be tightly organized, tightly controlled by the forces of the obama campaign in a way that it's harder to do in a big state like texas or ohio, where the primaries have a much larger audience, and that's where he had trouble closing the sale against senator clinton. what's funny about iowa, it got started because the democrats were looking to reform the process after 1968, they opened up the process, and concentrated on iowa, because that's where liberal opponents of the vietnam

war could make an impact. now it's conservatives who have the disproportionate impact and that's why romney is having trouble. >> great piece in "vanity fair." todd purdum, thanks. >> happy to be here. failure is an option, what happens if the super committee does not cut a deal, which is likely. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. time for the "your business" entrepreneurs of the week. small businesses in austin, texas are thinking local. mason arnold runs greenlling which distributes produce and baked goods. they're champions the buy local movement and helping the economy of their community. for more watch "your business" sunday morning at 7:30. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. 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

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time has all but run out for the super committee, but a few die-hard optimists are still trying to come up with something. what is the latest between the meetings between kyl, kerry and the others who are trying to get together -- i guess patty murray and a few other leaders of the committee? >> we have about half the members in there right now. they're trying to see if there's anything they can do. they've been meeting for months now, they've been unsuccessful and unable to resolve the issue

over how to deal with taxes and higher revenues as part of a broad deficit deal. they have been meeting for the last couple hours. they just broke temporarily. it doesn't appear they're going to reach a deal. but some of these members think there's still some hope, and this is their last chance to do it. >> what happens to the payroll tax holiday and the extended unemployment benefits and some of the other important issues that are still on the table? >> that's really one of the big problems left, if the committee cannot reach a deal. they were planning on adding a lot of those provisions that are expiring at the end of the year into the package, something that would have to be voted on before christmas. now that it looks like they won't get a deal, congress will have to come up and deal with these expiring provisions before the end of the year. some of these can add to the deficit. you tie that in to mid-december when government funding runs out, there's a lot left to do in the congressional agenda and there will probably be a fight

over how do it and whether some measures so be paid for. >> do they have to pass continuing resolution, government funding will run out by the end of the year, do they have to deal with something before christmas? >> they do, by mid-december, septemb december 16th. we've seen shut down fights happen before, and that could happen again if there is not a deal and deficit politics are brought back to the forefront. >> it seems it would be difficult for congressional support for the favorable ratings to get any lower than 9%. this potentially is going to have a big impact on both parties. >> i think so. as you saw yesterday and on the sunday shows and leading up to that, both parties were trying to shape their message around this failure. democrats saying, look, we are not going to allow for lowering the bush-era tax cuts, in addition to the cuts to the

entitlement programs like social security and medicare. and republicans are saying we're not going to agree to a trillion dollars in new taxes. those are the issues that are going to be facing voters next year and both parties will use this failure as a way to shape election year messages. >> already are. thank you very much. is egypt's revolution unraveling? we'll be live with richard engel in tahrir square. and it's newt gingrich's turn on top of the polls. can he stay there? we'll talk with stu rothenberg next. ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪

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tops topping the headlines today, 27-year-old jose pimentel was allegedly planning on

bombing police and post offices and returning troops. he was arrested in his apartment on saturday. police say he was almost finished completing three bombs. the nypd released this video showing the potential damage that one of the bombs could have cause. penn state's trustees have brought in louis freeh to investigate the jerry sandusky scandal. he says he will look back as far as 1975 for information. sandusky's first alleged victim has reportedly dropped out of high school because of bullying over his role in the case. the idaho man suspected of firing shots at the white house on november 11th is back in court. oscar hernandez is facing live in prison. he was charged with attempting to assassinate the president. one of the shots cracked a window in the second floor family quarters of the white house. hugh grant is taking a different stage as a witness in london in the rupert murdoch

hacking scandal. >> are you suggesting there that the -- that story must have come from phone hacking? >> i cannot, for the life of me, think of any conceivable source for this sorry in the mail on sunday except those voice messages on my mobile telephone. >> grant alleged that britain's "mail on sunday" tabloid hacked into his phone. testimony that indicated the practice went beyond rupert murdoches now defunct "news of the world." he is one of a handful of witnesses who are expected to say they were harassed by the british press. in cairo, protesters are in tahrir square for the third straight day. the white house weighed in a short time ago calling on all sides to show restraint and stop the violence. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is live in tahrir square. what's happened there today?

>> reporter: what's happened here today is in the morning there was a relatively small demonstration, people came out, they were very angry after the army and police collectively cracked down, beat back protesters yesterday and killed about 20 of them. then throughout the day that small protest grew into clashes. those clashes continued. at one stage part of this square was filled with tear gas. now there is a very large demonstration, tens of thousands of people. it's hard to estimate the size of the crowd. i would say between 50,000 and 80,000 people at the very least. it is a peaceful demonstration at this stage. and people are saying they will continue these peaceful demonstrations, potentially more clashes with a bigger demonstration tomorrow. they are calling it a million man gathering. >> of course, these past three days have led to deaths. the violence has been really unprecedented. i guess since the beginning of the revolution. how many people have died as a

result over the last three days of demonstrations and the counterattack by the police? >> according to hospital sources, it is at least 30, perhaps even 33. the number of injured, however, is around 2,000. it has certainly been a bloody period. that's what inspired people to come out in such large numbers today. particularly the televised images yesterday of the army and police rolling into tahrir square with armored personnel carriers, setting fire to some of the protesterers tens. then there was one iconic image of egyptian forces dragging what appeared to be, last night, the body of a dead protester and throwing him into the garbage. that was just a tipping point for many people. they say this is just a culmination of abuses that have been carried out by the military regime. there's been protests in egypt before as we all know, but this is different. this is not against a dictator this is against the military,

which is supposed to act as the caretaker government to transition to democracy. >> that's why it's so important and so troubling. richard engel in cairo, thank you very much. newt gingrich leading in the polls today. he is the sixth didn't republican to leap to the top of the polls in this election cycle. according to the latest poll, gingrich is ahead by mitt romney, barely a statistical dead heat. 22% gingrich holds. with me now, stu rothenberg. i don't think any of us have seen anything like this campaign. can gingrich have staying power? he hasn't had the staff, the campaign, the money since the ups and downs in june, but now he's riding the wave of the skill of his debating and is recasting himself. >> does he have staying power? i'm not sure. i'm agnostic on the subject.

i'm waiting to see, frankly. if you talk to most republican strategist insiders, they skeptical. they think he's carrying so much baggage, whether it's personal, about his business side of who and what newt gingrich is, they have a hard time believing he'll be the nominee. there's no question where he is in the race right now. he's one of the front-runners. he caught that anti-romney wave and he will ride it as long as he can. >> he was at the thanksgiving forum on saturday night and broke down as some of them did. it really was a crying game for some candidates on truly personal and painful issues. in the case of rick santorum and herman cain. here is gingrich talking about his own past. >> was almost like the harder i worked and the more things i did, the hollower i got inside.

finally a friend of mine who is a banker in georgia, gave me the two books that are the base of alcoholics aanonymous. i wasn't drinking but i had the symptoms of somebody who was collapsing under this weight. >> watching that forum, it was like a "dr. phil" moment. the bottom line is that this is very compelling with strong numbers of iowa voters, at least in the republican caucuses. it can be very effective. >> absolutely. this is particularly important for the former speaker of the house, because there are questions about his character, his judgment, who he is, how he organizes his business. so, to emphasize the appealing human qualities, the weaknesses, he is acknowledging that -- that he misstepped during his life and his personal relationships. so being able to talk about this is probably a rather positive

thing for the speaker who is going to argue that he has weaknesses like everybody else. but that republicans, the country should focus on his strengths. >> and on his website he put up 13 answers to common criticisms of his past, of his support for the individual health mandate. and he had rebutted, including his past marital record. so he's confronting it head on online with his own particular formulation, self serving. >> is he trying to tackle this head on one strategist said what he may be try doing is roll all of these problems, personal, political, business into one and say, okay, i had all these problems, but all these attacks are from my critics, from my opponents, from liberals, the national media, trying to get rid of them all at once. i think you'll see a series of

questions about his behavior and what he believes in and how -- and what he said in the past. so i think he still has a long way to go to fend off the criticisms. it won't be so easy to post some answers and say here's the answers, let's move on to why i should be president. >> stu rothenberg, thank you very much. hillary clinton came the closest to cracking the glass ceiling in politics. did she and sarah palin pave the way for what michele bachmann is doing. christina dell debellatoni join us now. is bachmann following a model and following the same problems along the way that other women in both political parties have experienced? >> that's right. thank you very much for having me. i spent time with bachmann over the summer to explore this

question of what's changed in 2008 when i spent a lot of time with hillary clinton and sarah palin. bachmann is embracing the naturalness of being a woman in a way that those two candidates did not. they each were sort of extremes in their positions, where bachmann, she talks about being a mother. she's out there embracing her femininity now. her stance on a lot of the issues are not middle of the road or that natural. she's pretty far to the right. we did find that what she is as a woman is something that a lot of women can identify with. i asked her about what has she been confronted with, she said she expected that, and she had already seen it, we had seen it all summer. as she has gone done in the polls, there's a little less of it, but she said she was ready for it. >> she has gone down in it the polls quite a bit, some would say it's because of her performance. this is her explanation putting

her best face on the low poll numbers. >> what we're seeing is that probably 60%, 70% of the people in the country are undecided. they've been shopping. going on a shopping trip with the candidates. i have not given any surprises. i'm a consistent conservative. i care about core values. i think what will happen on january 3rd in iowa, i think people will come back home and i think i will be their choice. >> bamman with hoda and kathy lee, and she will be on jimmy fallon tonight. she's here at 30 rock doing the tour. >> yeah. she's hanging in there for all kinds of reasons, as you were just talking about with my colleague, stu, you have all kinds of volatility in the republican electorate. she is thinking if she can keep the money going and keep this going in iowa, there's a chance she could come back up. there's all kinds of reasons why she has gone down in it the polls, but it's not because of her gender.

she's identifying with women as a mother. she brings up her five children and her 23 foster children at every opportunity she gets because she knows she can identify with voters that way. >> as ginger rogers once said, women have to do it in high heels and dancing backwards so it is tougher. >> that's right. >> thank you very much, christina bellatoni. deep cuts, the super committee's super failure could hit the u.s. military hard. senator jim webb will be here next to talk about the impact on national security and other big changes in foreign policy. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. 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. it's a great hd tv. shh. don't speak.

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there's some leftover cake. [ male announcer ] the new htc vivid. stay a step ahead with at&t 4g lte, with speeds up to 10x faster than 3g. ♪ hi, everyone, i'm tamron hall, coming up at the top of the hour, occupy protesters in california are holding their first major rally since this infamous video was made famous of campus police at uc davis

pepper spraying peaceful protesters at close range. and i'll get an expert's analysis of the video, and what should be done next in the video of the campus police. newt gingrich's reaction to the occupy movement is still getting reaction of its own. >> go get a job right after you take a bath. >> during that same event newt teared up while discussing his failed marriages and personal choices he made. was he looking for the sympathy he's unwilling to offer the occupy protesters? moments ago on capitol hill, there was this discussion on whether or not they're going to reach a deal. >> senator bachus, is there still a chance for a deal? >> always hope. there's always hope. >> always hope. that was, of course, senator max baucus on his way into a last-ditch meeting of super committee meetings without a

deal, automatic spending cuts are supposed to kick in the end of next year. republicans are talking about protecting defense from such a hit. senator jim webb joins me now to talk about all of this. senator, thank you very much. we want to also talk about myanmar and the iran sanctions coming later today. first let me ask you about the super committee, the apparent failure if they don't come up with something, and a lot of this will come out of defense unless republicans come in and change the deal. >> i'll go with senator bachus, there is always hope. the process has been an opaque one for those of us not on the super committee. i would not want to prejudge what will happen through the rest of the day and maybe the next two days. >> what has also happened in the last 24 hours, and what we've seen this witness in california at uc davis, i want to ask you about the pepper spraying. you came through the vietnam

era. what should we as a nation think about the spraying of peace approval te protesters, students lined up. peaceful protests. what about the way these protesters were treated? >> actually, i have not seen the video on it, but as you and i both know, we are a nation founded on the right to dissent, proper dissent. i support any peaceful dissent in this country. as i said, i would like to have my moment if i needed it at some point, too. >> do you think this is something that congress should look into? this is a state school. >> well, let's wait and see how the report goes. you know, i wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions. >> president obama has, of course, recently reached out to myanmar and what used to be known as burma. you are the, i think, the official who most recently went

there in 2009. secretary clinton will be going next week. is this the right step at this time? >> i've been saying for a number of years that it's in our national interest and in the interest of stability in the southeast asian region for us to bring burma back into the international community in a positive way. i spent a good bit of time working on that issue as with a number of other issues in east asia and southeast asia. and i really am gratified to see what's been happening with secretary clinton over the past year and a half or so, and this administration stepping up to reestablish the validity of the united states in this part of the world. we kind of lost our focus with all of the blood and treasure that went into iraq and afghanistan. we need to re-emphasize that for the good of the united states and for the good of east and southeast asia we need to remain

as the balancing force there. and the trip is forthcoming into burma to work on taking advantage of recent political improvements there. i think that's a big part of that. >> later today, secretary clinton and tim geithner at treasury will announce new sanctions on iran. they will not go so far as to sanction the central bank. they are going to indicate that it is an area of concern, of terror laundering, and that is considered a warning to others in europe and asia to stop doing business with the central bank, a first step. are they going far enough? >> well, when i look at -- i think they have been doing a very responsible job. when i look at our situation with countries like iran, burma, north korea, and even afghanistan, one of the thoughts that keeps coming back to me is that we must bring china into

the forefront overtly in helping assist us in solving these problems. everywhere you see this kind of a problem, where there's iran and korea, you see there is room for china to do more and work more with us in concert with the growing status around the world. i hope that the administration is asking them to be more responsible with respect to the economic relations in iran. i called many times for china to assist us with the situation in pakistan. pakistan views china as its greatest friend. we have work to do in redefining the relationship with china in other areas around the world in a positive way if we can get it right. >> jim webb, thanks for being with us. >> what political stories will make headlines in the next 24 hours. [ male announcer ] what if you have potatoes?

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? from new hampshire, the president is going. now we hear that herman cain will make a date with the yup yon leader and mitt romney may have his first tv ads going up. >> new hampshire will be a huge focus. we know that this is a place he has to win, but i will say, casting it forward, if mitt romney was the nominee, he was up ten points on president obama in new hampshire. this is going to be a swing state. in 2004, new hampshire was the only state that went from george bush to john kerry in 2004. president obama wanted in 2008, but in 2010, republicans made a bunch of gains including an open senate seat. this is going to be a swing state, particularly if the massachusetts neighbor was the nominee.

>> thank you very much. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." rachel maddow is here and follow the show online and on twitter @mitchell reports. >> we are following breaking news. occupy protesters in california are about to hold their first major rally since this now infamous video was made public of campus police at uc davis pepper spraying peaceful protesters at close range. i will be joined by annex pert to give her analysis of this video and what she thinks should happen next in the investigation of the campus police. plus, failure was always apparently an option. the super committee appears to be mere mortals with the great divide in congress. our "news nation" gut check. is this the worst congress ever?

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>> big breaking news this hour at the university of california davis. occupy protesters are holding the first major event since the disturbing video of officers pepper spraying protesters hit the internet. demonstrators were on the ground with their arms locked, peacefully protesting orders to move. video of the pepper spray spread like wildfire and sparking outrage across the country. error the university put the police chief on leave and two other police officers were put on leave yesterday. the day this faculty association is calling for the chancellor to resign. the massive rally is scheduled to begin an hour from now and thousands could be there. kristin dahlgren joins me now from the campus. catch us up to what happened today so far. >> hi, tamron. we heard that the campus police chief has been placed on