good morning. i'm chrisjansing. breaking news to tell you. barney frank, one of the best-known members of congress, one of the longest serving members of congress, i think he's been in the house of representatives since the early '80s, is apparently not going to run for re-election. we're told he's going to hold a news conference later on today and will make that announcement official. he is a high-ranging member of several committees and, of course that will allow some openings there, in addition to obviously a seat in massachusetts. barney frank not running for re-election. we'll have much more on this coming up. in the meantime, newt gingrich is campaigning in the key early state of south carolina today. shaking hands and raising money. but it's a key endorsement in another early state that's getting most attention. the new hampshire union leader, the state's most influential

newspaper a conservative paper, endorsed him. the publisher admits gingrich is not the perfect candidate but quote, we'd rather back with someone who we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear. good morning. >> hi, how are you? >> sound likes, in addition to an endorsement of newt a shot at mitt romney. start with the obvious question, why newt? >> well, i think everybody knew that the paper was probably going to go with one of the more conservative candidates and probably not mitt romney, for example. and i think it probably came down in the end to gingrich might have had a chance and cain and perry and a suppose perhaps bachmann. but i think that on some level newt is a guy who not only knows what he believe but was can explain why he believes what he believes. >> there was a column in "the washington post" today, let me read a little bit, this is sort of the question like why newt of

anybody. the endorsement includes no recognition that gingrich was creamed by clinton in the budget stand-off new york mention of the ethics violations and pen chant to compromise away conservative principles no mention of the house of representativess' attempted coup of gingrich's leadership. did they ignore obvious history? >> my understanding of everybody running for president right now is they're humans and therefore they have good things and bad things about them. i guess prob pably shol be surprised except "the washington post" an editorial in favor of somebody doesn't mention the negative aspects of somebody. >> let's talk about the history of the newspaper. they did endorse steve for bes, pat buchanan in the past, there's a question at this time, how much do endorsements matter, how much do newspaper endorsements matter? what is likely to be the impact

of this on what has been an up and down race for the republicans for months and months? >> i think there's no more important endorsement in new hampshire, particularly for conservatives, than the union leader. and the republican primary they're extraordinarily influential. i think for people around the country to try to understand this is the equivalent if the "wall street journal" were to endorse a candidate and editorialize about the candidate three or four times a week before the primary. that's half of the value, they don't just back you once, they back you over and over and over again. >> thank you so much for taking time to talk to us this morning. >> my pleasure. >> the other gops tries to downplay the endorsement, no surprise. >> it would have been unthinkable a month ago for newt gingrich to get the endorsement of the "union leader." it would have been unthinkable. >> looks like newt's the guy right now as the chief foil against romney and i think they

latched on to that train and that's fine. >> there's a lot of different endorsements that come from a lot of papers and the main endorsement that i'm looking forward to is the one here in iowa january 3rd in the caucuses. >> ezra klein is "the washington post" columnist, clarence page a columnist for "the chicago tribune." good morning. ezra, does it matter? >> we'll see. as your previous guests said one of the things about the paper, once they endorse you, they forever back you and attack your opponents. this happened to mitt romney in 2008 when the paper endorsed john mccain and lashed romney throughout the primary. but the union leader doesn't always pick the winner. in 2000 they picked steve forbes, before that they had pierre dupont. sometimes they're on the right call, sometimes they're not. they had patrick buchananen, an msnbc contributor. they're on the fringe than the iowa comfort, the republican primary always is.

it certainly doesn't hurt newt gingrich to have their endorsement. >> if you look at history, there was a great analysis of this by nate silver, it does give a significant boost in the polls, maybe you don't end up being the nominee, but it does give you that punch. let me may what president clinton told news max. >> he's articulate and he tries to think of a conservative version of an idea that will solve a legitimate problem. for example, last night, i watched the national security debate last night, and newt said two things that would make an independent voter say, well, i've got to consider that. >> clarence, he was talking about the immigration issue. do you think that's sort of a bit of proof that newt is already playing to a general election audience? could this be the real deal where the other republican candidates who have gone up ahead of romney have all faded? >> chris, my reaction, when i saw clinton's remarks, was don't do it, newt, it's a trap!

remember, newt gingrich and bill clinton have a long history together on the podium together back in the '90s. both debate, discussing, social security reform. newt gingrich can turn into a wonderful middle of the road policy wonk when the occasion calls for it and snapback to the fire-breathing right winger when he feels like it. i'm not surprised the union leader would go for it. he does articulate the conservative views of the union leader better than the other candidates. does he have baggage? yes, his baggage has baggage. new hampshire republican voters love to send quirky messages, too, that's why they voted for pat buchanan one year, nominated him in new hampshire. if mitt romney were to lose the new hampshire nomination that would be not necessarily devastating or crippling but very bad for him because he's from massachusetts, right next door. he had been way ahead in the

polls in new hampshire. >> and he has a house there. i mean, there is a lot of talk for a long time, ezra, that new hampshire was sort of his to lose. is he still the presumed nominee? >> certainly in new hampshire he's the presumed front-runner. the scenario which this begins to hurt him, imagine newt wins in iowa where mitt romney is weaker, he gets momentum out of that, with the help of the union lead somewhere other endorsements and his campaign and general momentum, he's been running a close second to mitt romney in new hampshire, maybe romney has a bad debate or an ad comes out that's effective against him and he loses new hampshire. south carolina isn't friendly to mitt romney. similarly, you have a large momentum hit on him. romney has resources and the campaign apparatus to do a long fight but this is the nightmare scenario for the romney team. not that somebody is going beat him in a traditional way but they'll beat him with catching right lucky breaks and romney will get the wrong breaks at the wrong time. >> the question becomes, how does he avoid that?

i'm sure you saw the headline in the "new york times" that gingrich is eager to be more than the anti-romney. i mean, is he clearly a candidate, in his own right, or do you think really the way he's surging is the way the other candidates have surged and that he's not mitt romney? >> i think he's another whack-a-mole. we've seen republican front-runners pop up to be like a whack-a-mole game to be knocked down by themselves half the time by their own statements while mitt romney has consistently run, what, sometimes front-runner, usually second place. rather consistently there's a romney base and there's the anybody but romney voters. when push comes to shove, romney will still get the rom nation and the other tea party folks who are talking about the right wing of the party, they'll fall in line because they hate obama worse than they hate romney. >> clarence page, ezra klein, gentlemen, thank you so much. newt may have that new

hampshire newspaper endorsement but the dnc has mitt romney squarely in its sights. will the flip-flopping charges work? today, thousands of egyptians are casting their votes in the first parliamentary election since the fall of the mubarak regime. lines are long, and peaceful, while just a while ago violent clashes between protesters in the military almost put elections in doubt. right now, a little past 5:00 p.m. in cairo and that's where we find nbc's amman. i understand this is sort of a staggered election process. give us a sense of what's happening there right now. >> absolutely, chris. let me bring you up to speed on what happened in the last couple of hours with the decision by the high electoral team to extend voting for two more hours. this is a long, dragged out process. there are 27 governorates in egypt. only nine are electing candidates today. that's going to take place today and tomorrow. in three weeks' time, another set of nine, ultimately three

weeks after that the final set are going to the polls. now all of this is going to last for about four, five months. we will not have a fully functioning parliament in place in egypt until march, because they're going to do the same thing they're doing now for the lower house of parliament for the upper house of parliament. the reason why officials had to do that was ensure that technical capabilities of the elections were to be free and fair. they needed judges on every polling station, they needed to make sure there were enough security forces deployed at polling station and that's why it's a long and dragged out process. >> it is an historic election, though it's going to go on for months. but whatever happens the central question is, how much power are the ruling generals of the military counsel likely to give over to the new parliament? i guess that's a question that we'll have to wait and see the answer to? >> reporter: absolutely. you know that's a very good point that you're raising because one of the issues that the generals have been saying, ever since they assumed power, was that they're the only institution in egypt that has

any legitimacy, anyone else did not have a nationwide legitimacy. what these elections are, not necessarily which party emerges, by there will be another institution, another statewide institution that can claim legitimacy from the people. if they get the record turnout they're expecting, which could be as high as 30 million or more, they're going to be able to claim this institution of the parliament can begin to challenge the generals for that legitimacy that the military has claimed they had a monopoly on and that's what's at stake here. >> thanks for that live report from cairo. police started clearing out demonstrators involved in the occupy los angeles movement around city hall just a few hours ago after a couple of early arrests. there hasn't been any real violence there. philly, a similar situation. police using a deadline to clear protesters from encampment. the city of brotherly love had a party-like atmosphere with a

large police presence and no reported arrest.: nal congesti. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

or creates another laptop bag, or hires another employee, it's not just good for business. it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $13.2 billion to small businesses across the country so far this year. because the more we help them,

the more we help make opportunity possible.

senate democrats are getting ready to force a vote on exte extending the payroll tax cut. that move could come this week. the debate, how to pay for it. democrats suggest a tantax incr on million airs. >> it supports social security and you can keep extending the payroll tax holiday and have a secure social security. the payroll tax holiday has not stimulated job creation. we don't think that is a good way to do it. >> i can't believe that. at time when working families in this country are struggling paycheck to paycheck, we need them to have resources to buy things in our economy, to create

to wealth and profitability and more jobs, that the republican position is they'll raise the payroll tax on working families? i think that that just defies logic. what we should do is help these working families struggle through. >> look like somebody who could be called the most controversial share riff in america hitting the campaign trail for president this week. sheriff joe arpaio will endorse rick perry. arpaio was a vocal forrer of his state's arizona tough immigration laws. herman cain released a five-minute movie 9-9-9. has its own trail. >> 9-9-9 is simple enough to vanquish squirrely democrats. that's what 9-9-9 is all about. >> well historic voting continues in egypt right now, three american students who were

jailed there are happy to be back in the u.s. they were captured by egyptian security force as week ago. derek sweeney one of three students. he joins me from jefferson city, missouri, via skype. i'm guessing that you're sleeping in your own bed never felt so good. how are you doing today? >> i'm feeling excellent. also watching a football game yesterday. >> that's certainly a change from where you've been for the last week. tell us a little bit about how this all unfolded, where were you, what happened when police took you into custody? >> we were on mohammed mahmoud street off of tahrir square and police just fired something into a crowd and a group of plain clothed egyptians came up to us offering to take us safety where upon they brought us into a building, put our shirts up over our heads so we couldn't see.

>> which point did you realize, okay, this isn't right, we're in trouble here? >> yeah, after -- well, we crossed a police line where other protesters were not allowed to cross and at that point we started to resist a little bit and then they started dragging us and punching us. >> what was the worst of it? because i understand, as bad as it was, that you were dragged and punched that that night things got pretty terrifying. >> yeah, that first night still give me chills. we ended up spending seven hours in a dark room with guys with guns, presumably egyptian policemen with guns behind us, and they told us that if we moved, we would be shot. so we sat there in the fetal position with our hands cuffed behind our back. >> i assume, given the fact where you were, the fact they did have guns pointed at you, you took them pretty seriously.

were there times during this almost weeklong captivity you thought, i'm not going to get out of here? >> there were many times where it seemed quite plausible that we weren't going to survive. however, fortunately, i tried to stick firm to a belief that the universe was good and we would make it. but it seemed like death was quite plausible. >> we were able to see on tape homecomings of the three of you, which was wonderful to see. what's next for you? >> i'm going back to georgetown in the spring. i'm going to continue to study arabic. hopefully one day i think i'll maybe go to law school and the military and maybe become president. >> we can say that we knew you back when. in any case, we're so happy to see you home and safe. we thank you so much for taking time to talk to us. >> thank you so much. >> derrik sweeney nor president. greg porter will be talking to thomasoberts in our next hour

here on msnbc. millions of dollars spent on campaign advertising with the ã= made in the usa. for more, watch "your business," sunday mornings 7:30 on msnbc. ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ v.o.: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com

just under a year out, the 2012 presidential race could see a record smashing $3 billion in tv ad spending with negative ads starting earlier than ever before. >> higher taxes. taxes. taxes. >> i personally don't believe we ought to be raising taxes. it won't solve the problem. >> our country's got this huge debt, and obama says raise taxes and keep spending more? >> it's going to take a new direction. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> "the new york times" reports that in just the past six months, $13 million has been spent on negative ads targeting president obama. i'm joined by "new york times" columnist charles blow.

good morning to you, charles. >> good morning. >> where do you ooeeven go from here? they're already so negative, already spending to such money. >> this is nothing. we'll spend $3 billion on advertising. >> does that blow your mind? >> it blows your mind. last time around we spent a little over $2 billion, right? you're going 50% more in advertising. there's not 50% more in the day, time in the day. so it's great for, you know, television, it's great for newspapers. it's great for radio. >> we'll take those ad dollars. >> we'll take those ad dollars. but for people who have to sit through this -- >> you know what it's like. you go to iowa, new hampshire, any of these -- i'm from ohio. >> right. >> they are sick of this. >> yes. >> long before they go to the polls. >> already. but here's the thing, so first you're working on independents, so you're trying -- the people -- i don't call it independents, people truly in the middle, fence sitters, people who have a hard time making up their mind, you have to work on those people can you

make something crystallize early. two other things people are doing, one is you have to get your base enthusiastic, the door knockers, feet on the street. you have to say, our guy -- the guy on the other side is bad, he has a weakness. if you get out, we can beat him. the second thing is, do you want to dampen enthusiasm of the other side to say, you know, you really don't have that great a shot because of all of these negatives. >> don't waste your time, sleep in on saturday morning. >> exactly. it's a lost cause. so they're doing both those things. >> today the dnc is out with an ad, aimed at mitt romney. let me play a little clip of that. >> from the creator of i'm running for office for pete's sake, comes the story of two men trapped in one body. mitt versus mitt. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose. next step, see roe v. wade

overturned. >> we put together an exchange and the president's copping that idea. glad to hear that. obama care is bad news. >> do you think, i mean, cleav, give -- it's funny, clever, it's catchy. but does it only preach to the converted, or does that work? >> well, it works for some people, right? what they're doing is saying, obama has one positive, people actually like him. they -- >> and they like him a lot. >> poll after poll finds, even if people say he's not doing a good job on whatever part of the polling they do, most likely the economy, they still like him. they're basically trying to say, this not a real person. this is not a likable guy. this is slick mitt. you don't like this guy because he'll say anything. and if they can get that across, that hurts mitt. >> or is it already helping the other republicans like newt gingrich? >> actually, the more they go after mitt the more it helps

mitt. the more that obama pitches mitt romney has hisse adversary, the more it helps mitt romney. they love this. they love that. >> charles blow, great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> thank you. president obama is about to unleash one of his greatest political weapons in the all-important swing states of ohio, pennsylvania, and florida. we've got details. i ate breakfast and got heartburn, third day this week. so i took my heartburn pill and some antacids. we're having mexican tonight, so another pill then? if i get a snack now, pill now? skip the snack, pill later... late dinner, pill now?

aghh i've got heartburn in my head. [ male announcer ] stop the madness of treating frequent heartburn. it's simple with prilosec otc. one pill a day. twenty-four hours. zero heartburn. prilosec otc is available at walmart's low prices. every day. every store.

welcome back to "jansing and company." i'm meteorologist maria larosa at the weather channel. no mess in the west, it's all east. it's a lot of heavy rain from the gulf coast clear up into the canadien border. what we're concerned about over the next couple of hours is this spin here. that's going to be the cold air that's going to transition some rain over to snow in parts of the south, significant snow, considering now we have winter weather advisories for birmingham, memphis. winter storm watch, tupelo,

tennessee. half a foot of snow arc cumulating snow. generally a one to two in birmingham, enough to wet the streets and accumulate on the grassy areas. one to three in memphis. this wintry weather will be pulling off to the north and east with the area of low pressure and that means more snow arc cumulating snow for the ohio valley as we go from monday into tuesday and tuesday into wednesday eventually moving into parts of the northeast. chris, back to you. >> thank you so much. let's talk more about that breaking news. we told you about at the top of the hour, democratic congressman barn barney frank of massachusetts expected to announce he's retiring. frank has spent more than three decades on capitol hill, first elected to the house in 1980. as chairman of the finance services committee he helped pass legislation to overhaul the nation's financial system. barney frank, going to announce that he is retiring. now let's take a check of other story peemz aople are tal

about. u.s. scrambling to control the damage from the nato air strikes that killed 24 pakistani soldiers. tensions could be heightens more following claims by pakistan the strikes last two hours and continued after pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop. nato says the incident was tragic and unintended. an american airlines flight had to make an emergency landing when smoke began filling the cockpit. emergency crews were waiting on the tarmac, as the flight originally headed to san francisco, landed in buffalo. all 173 people on board are okay. mechanics are trying to find out what caused the problem. one new york's finest is being hailed a hero for taking done an intoxicated passenger who attacked a flight attendant on a jetblue flight. the officer wrestled the drunken passenger to the ground, after the suspect punched the attendant in the face when he was told to stop drinking. the suspect was restrained in

plastic handcuffs, and he's being arraigned today. a severely obese 8-year-old boy in ohio has been take friend his parents and put in foster care because officials say his mother is threatening his health by not doing enough to control his weight. he tips the scale at about 218 pounds. that compares to an average third grade boy at 57 pounds. the mop's lawyer says ohio is out of line. this is the first time the state has done anything like this. a kansas teen is supposed to apologize for insulting her state's governor on twitter. but emma sullivan says she's not sorry anden an apology letter would be insincere. quote, just made mean comments at government brownback and told him he sucked in person. she never vocalized the comment but the governor's office saw the tweet, and her principal told her to apologize. grandpa versus grandpa, inspiring match for the ages. what is going on?

we'll explain when we go down to the wire in 20. syracuse university fired its longtime associate head basketball coach bernie fine after a third alleged victim of sexual abuse has come forward. espn has released a chilling phone call reportedly between fine's wife, lori, and another accuser, bobby davis. >> i know everything that went on, you know, i know everything that went with him. he has issues. he trusted somebody he shouldn't have trusted. bobby is in denying. he did things he did but he's somehow through his own mental tell lel pa think erased them out of his mind. >> i think there might have been others. there was something about you -- >> i'm wondering why -- >> nbc's jay gray is live in

syracuse with the latest developments. that's hard to listen to, jay. let's start with the phone call. put it in context for us. >> reporter: well, chris, what we know that is it was recorded nine years ago by the initial accuser in this case, as you talked about, bobby davis, and he recorded this call secretly but legally because he was told by local newspaper reporters they needed more evidence. he brought the case to them initially, trying to figure out what to do and how to move forward and they said, look, we need more evidence. we need someone else to talk about this. obviously they did not think that was enough evidence at the time of the recordings. so it's been around for nine years and just coming to light last night, chris. >> what about the latest accuser to come forward, jay? >> reporter: it's interesting. his name is zack, he was abuses in a pittsburgh hotel in 2002, the same year, by the way, that recording was made. and says that he met bernie fine and through his father, and attended some basketball games, was at a road game in pittsburgh when this happened and was also

approached in fine's home at a party later, and his wife was there and knew exactly what was going on. his father, fred, says, no, this is not the case. my son is not telling the truth, this ises a lie. but he sticks to the story. >> what are we hearing about -- from bernie fine? also his boss, jim boehim who called accusers liars? >> reporter: yeah. jim boehim was very strong at the time of this initial accusation. let's start, though, with bernie fine. no response from him, after the news that he was being relieved of his duties here at syracuse. his attorneys released a statement last night, mr. fine remains hopeful of a credible and expeditious review of the relevant issues by law enforcement authorities. so they will take that tact and they've said that fine will have nothing to say until his day in court. as for the coach here, the legendary coach, jim boehim, he initially came out very strongly in support of bernie fine, said

it was all lies and that the accusers were just after money. obviously, he's backtracked on that statement to this point. here's part of what he said in a written statement last night. the allegations that have come forth today have disturbing and deeply troubling. i am personally very shocked because i have never witnessed any of the activities that have been alleged. he also says that he regrets saying anything that may have been insensitive to any potential victims here. he is calling for a full investigation. chris? >> jay gray in syracuse, thank you. in the meantime, the first critical court hearing penn st comes next week. what did they know about the allegations about football coach jerry sandusky? what did they do about it? nbc's chief investigative correspondent michael isikoff has been following the case throughout. what are we expecting at this hearing? >> reporter: this is the first big test of the pennsylvania

attorney general's evidence in this case. remember, what elevated the penn state stanzel was the charge that penn state officials, tim curley and vice president gary schultz lied to the grand jury and failed to report serious evidence of child sex abuse. this is the preliminary court hearing in their case and it rests to a great degree on the testimony of mike mcqueary, the offensive coach who say his saw jerry sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the locker room. defense lawyers indicated they are going to hammer away at mcqueary's testimony at that hearing. they're going to present evidence he contradicted himself in an e-mail that he, himself, failed to report what he says was a serious child sex abuse, and first reported by nbc news that he attended a charity fund-raiser just weeks later with somebody he accused of a very serious crime.

this is going to be a really interesting court hearing next week. >> could get very nasty as well. what do we think about the possibility of any other criminal charges? >> reporter: the attorney general's office has repeatedly said this is an ongoing investigation, it is active. we have reports of more victims going forward. and also indications they are looking hard at that second mile charity that jerry sansandusky , did it protect sandusky and possibly penn state officials. at the same time, civil suits. clearly lawyers are indicating they are getting ready to file civil suits. we had just on friday one of the -- one plaintiff's lawyer saying he wanted to preserve second mile as celts because he was potentially preparing a case on one of the victims, victim number four. we can expect, i think, civil suits in the offing as well. >> michael, thank you so much. president obama makes a new push this week to extend and

expand the payroll tax cut. he'll do it on wednesday, in vice president joe biden's hometown, scranton, p.a., a state crucial to their re-election. we can expect to see more of biden himself in pennsylvania in ohio and florida. battleground states where democratic strategists say he could be a stronger asset than the president himself. i'm joined by cnbc chief washington correspondent john harwood. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. >> let's start with pennsylvania. obviously a critical state. always is every year. and it went for obama in 2008. unemployment now just about at the national average. why would joe biden help here? >> reporter: pennsylvania's sort of joe biden's second home state, that is, he served the -- in the senate from delaware for decades. but there's a huge overlap between the media markets in pennsylvania and in delaware. he's very well-known, not to mention the fact that scranton's his hometown. and ultimately, joe biden is a connection to the kind of white

working class voters that president obama has a hard time connecting with and that's one of the things that the administration and the obama re-election campaign is hoping to use him for. >> is that the thought in ohio, he'll be able to connect to white working class voters? >> reporter: absolutely. we all remember the difficulties that president obama had against hillary clinton in the 2008 primaries. ohio is a tougher state than pennsylvania. pennsylvania's gone more consistently for the democrats. ohio, the president carried it four years ago, but it's a hard lift for him. it might be one of those that fall off. i should say, chris, i don't think anybody in the obama campaign is under any illusions about the extent to which joe biden is going to make a difference in these states. but on the margin, you try to send a bread and butter democrat like joe bide tonight places where he can make a difference. >> speaking of margins, it was very close in florida, but the president did win in 200 8. very different dynamic there than the midwest. how does biden play in florida?

>> reporter: joe biden was a longtime chairman of the foreign relations committee, member of the foreign relations committee. he's got strong ties to israel. president obama has come under foo fire from some in the pro-israel community for not having been sufficiently close to nettena hue, for example, and for pressing israel on peace -- on the peace process. joe biden can help with his bona fides with the pro-israel community there. a lot of older voters in south florida are jewish, and older voters, by the way, are also people who have about most resistant in 2008 to president obama, more tradition minded, less open to the idea of a different kind of politician, african-american president. so older voters is also a target, a place where joe biden could help. >> john harwood, always good to see you. after a record-breaking black friday, retailers are hoping the good times keep

rolling today. it is cybermonday. online merchants offering deep discounts in the big of the day of the year for online shopping. mandy drury is here. wall street, thrilled with what they saw on black friday weekend. >> yeah, absolutely. as you said, it was a record breaking black friday weekend, chris, raking in $52 billion in sales. that's up over 15% from last year with a record 226 million shops are visiting stores and websites over the weekend. how much did you spend? the average holiday shopper spechbts spent $400 over the weekend. that is up from 365 per average shopper last year. the hope is, of course, chris, that all of that translates into a good day today. it is cybermonday which, by the way, was the biggest online shopping day of the year last year. so we have a lot to live up to. the stats say so far that over 50% of the adult u.s. population, that's about, what, roughly, 123 million people do

plan to shop today from the safety of their office or home computer. i say safety, chris, there is a woman who is under investigation, you might have seen this story, for allegedly attacking 20 shoppers at a walmart on black friday. >> yes. >> with pepper spray. authorities had alleged she was a quote competitive shopper. that's a nice way of putting it, who purposely used pep spray to gain advantage to grab an xbox game console on sale. >> she had two little kids with her, setting a fine example. >> might be safer to shop online today. >> mandy ddrry, thank you. >> the muppets were no match for the vampires this weekend. breaking down part i took in another $62 million since wednesday. check this out, worldwide, this film has brought in almost half a billion since opening on the 18th. the muppets debuted in second place, $42 million over a

five-day period. happy feet, third, $18.4 million. arthur christmas and hugo round out the top five. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth!

when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll.

put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare,

to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. hi, everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. in the next hour of msnbc, another child sexual abuse scandal rocking college sports. syracuse firing bernie fine. new insights include strange twists and turns, including claims that fine's own wife slept with one of the accusers. newt gingrich wins a coveted newspaper endorsement in new hampshire, but will it help out in iowa? a new, fascinating look how gingrich went from political outcast to multimillionaire and back on american soil, u.s. students detained in egypt say they were beaten behind bars. we'll speak with one of the students next hour. the thanksgiving table for

many americans weren't bursting with turkey and trimmings. the new poor are finding it harder and harder to find ends meet. turning to government assistance to put food on the table. they're changing the way the nation's largest retailer does business. kate snow has a preview of the piece she's been work on for "rock center." talking about the crowds on black friday, i heard you talking about cybermonday shoppers. tonight a new shopping trend you aren't aware of, 46 million americans on government assistance. >> reporter: the first day of the month, james dougherty and jessica are filling up their shopping cart at walmart in idaho, buying food for themselves and the five children in their blended family. >> syrup, flour. >> reporter: this may seem like your typical shopping trip until you look outside and realize

it's pitch black, it's midnight, they aren't shopping in the middle of night because they want to, because they have to. they're out of food and just moments ago got their monthly allotment of food stamps. it's a brutal waiting game for a growing number of american families. so many people are shopping the instant they get their assi assistan assistance, it's changes the way walmart, the nation's largest retailer, does business. carol johnston, senior vice president of store operations for walmart. >> a few years back we started seeing customers were literally sometimes at midnight, really showing up in our stores. >> reporter: the first of the month? >> on the first of the month. >> reporter: that's when james and jessica shop. part of the nearly 46 million americans 15% of the population, that depend now on federal assistance for food. but they're not chronically poor. they're a working couple. last year, the couple made $48,000 a year, today they make less than half.

without their $691 in monthly benefits, they say, they wouldn't have any money for food. is it humbling to have to ask for help? >> it is humbling. >> we're not habitual abusers of the system. this is to stabilize our family and help give us a platform to launch ourselves into being able to do it ourselves. >> reporter: >> james and jessica are working but that's true of a growing number of families who receive food stamps. meet another family tonight where the husband works part time, flipping burgers, commutes an hour and a half round trip, the wife is home with their 2-year-old, hear why he says that he can't get a second job. >> so many people who never, ever thought they'd find themselves in this situation. looking forward to it. "rock center" with brian williams, tonight, 10:00 p.m. eastern. we mentions cybermonday and it is trending on twitter. today's tweet of the day comes from you. i hope i can make through the day without buying something.

good luck with that. back to work after a great break, need to take more. happy cybermonday. and ryan p. duffy says can't believe it's 2011 and we still use the word cyber. use the word cyber. like information superhighway. [ man #] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. [ man #2 ] i always wondered how did an airplane get in the air. at ge aviation, we build jet engines. we lift people up off the ground to 35 thousand feet. these engines are built by hand with very precise assembly techniques. [ man #3 ] it's gonna fly people around the world. safely and better than it's ever done before. it would be a real treat to hear this monster fire up. [ woman ] i think a lot of people, when they look at a jet engine, they see a big hunk of metal. but when i look at it, i see seth, mark, tom, and people like that who work on engines every day. [ man #4 ] i would love to see this thing fly. it's a dream, honestly. there it is.

awesome. that's so cool! yeah, that was awesome! [ cheering ] i wanna see that again. ♪ how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. the equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea.

grandpa fight and the 12 days cost. down to the wire. unsportsman like conduct from the buffalo bills steve johnson. in his touchdown celebration he pretends to shoot himself in the leg, a not subtle jab at jets' plaxico burress. after the game, johnson called it a bad decision. perhaps johnson should have toasted with yao ming wine. the former nba player debuted his 2009 wine in china yesterday. but you'll have to pay up. sells for $289 a bottle. you just have to see this. at a canadian football league

alumni luncheon, 73-year-old joe capp offered a single nower to mossca. the two started shoving each other. they've been at odds since 1963. it will cost your true love more to sent you all of the items mentioned in the 12 days of christmas. for the first time ever, the price tag has topped $100,000, a 4.4% increase. two turtle doves are up the most, 25% from last year. and that wraps up this hour of "jansing and company." i'm chris jansing. thomas reports is up next. now with alex wagner at noon.si . you may need to soak overnight. nurse...! [ female announcer ] dawn power clean can give you the power of an overnight soak in just 5 minutes. [ sponge ] it's a scientific miracle! [ female announcer ] dawn does more. [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. i took some steep risks in my teens.

i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d.

and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing.

syracuse fires legendary assistant basketball coach bernie fine after a third accuser comes forward. but the story has several stnge twis and turns, including claims that fine's own wife sle