unemployment numbers dropped for whites it went up for african-american to 15.5%, hispanics it was unchanged at 11.4%. >> despite some strong head winds this year, the american economy has created in the private sector jobs for the past 21 months in a row. that's nearly 3 million new jobs in all. more than half a million over the last four months. so we need to keep that growth going. partly in reaction to all of this, take a look at the dow up a bit 3.3 points of investors also encouraged about remarks earlier by german's chancellor concerning europe's death crisis. joining me arthur delanie. arthur, the republican response at least from speaker john boehner was lukewarm. how do we process these numbers and the very different stories, depends if you're talking to democrats or republicans here. >> well, there's a lot of different ways to interpret the report. of course, the unemployment rate

going down is a positive sign. the headline number is a little simple and there are a lot of numbers behind it. one of the main reasons the rate went down is 300,000 people actually left the labor force. that probably is a sign they had no hope of finding jobs. >> as far as the number of people giving up looking for work, their count -- >> it's the numbers we see. >> that's right. there are different groups of people counted in this report and discouraged workers, marginally attached workers. what i'm talking about is people completely given up, discouraged looking, wouldn't take a job if they could find one. the shrinkage of the labor force is a big problem. another problem behind the headline number is the long-term unemployed, very long-term

unemployed. this time last year 1.5 million out of work 99 weeks or longer, now 2 million. there's nothing to be done for them. they are beyond the reach of unemployment insurance and nobody is talking about them. >> arthur, thank you for the closer look at these numbers. we'll talk more with our political panel. we are just confirming donald trump will moderate on december 27th in des moines, iowa, joining us is donald trump. thank you so much for joining us, mr. trump. >> absolutely. my honor. "new york times" put out the note it's official you would be moderating this debate. you're doing it why? >> i was asked to do it by a couple of people, including some of my friends that are republicans, strong republicans. i thought it would certainly be a change of pace for donald trump. i'll do something i haven't done before. this is what you should be doing, not me. i'll do something i've never done before and give it a shot,

see how it is. i think i have a lot of good questions to ask. i feel very strongly about the country. we'll see how it turns out. it could be the last debate for the primary in iowa. quote, our readers in the grassroots really love trump. they may not agree with him about everything but don't see him as owned by washington establishment and media establishment. it's interesting he says that's how some of the people see you as not being bought by washington. when they are asked about newt gingrich, mitt romney, that's exactly when they say about those candidates, that they appear to be too inside or focused on the 1% here. how doug the best out of this group. >> i think therefore it should work out well. i am not bought by somebody. from my standpoint i care about one thing, that our country comes back and our country is great again. i think we'll have an interesting debate. not only the two, but you have

some other folks. some should be in it, some shouldn't. >> you've had interesting things to say about both men in the past and they are not always good comments. >> i think we'll find out how they folly about outside sources. i think you know very well because you've reported it very well how i feel about the outside world and taking advantage of this country, opec or china or so many other countries. we're also going to get into other things, the environment. we'll get into education. we'll be discussing pretty much a large gamut of things, tamron. >> newt gingrich is coming to meet with you on monday. why do these people keep filing into your office on the upper east side of manhattan. what do they want from you? what can you provide them? >> i think they feel i have a wonderful personality and they like me so much. >> that can't be the only reason. are they looking for an endorsement? are they asking for you to contribute later on. >> the truth in all seriousness they want -- they are not looking for money, they are looking for the endorsement. the fact is i have a huge

following of people that see what's happening with respect to other countries in particular taking advantage of the united states. for some reason that has not really been brought up much in the debates. it's happening a little bit but not much. it surprises me because i think it's one of the main reasons our economy just has not been doing very well. >> you've said in the past that this group of candidates you consider them to be a weak field. you yourself say you may get into the race as an independent. you've thought about it on different levels. bottom line how do you rate the two republicans, at least the front-runners at this point, newt gingrich and mitt romney. >> i rate them very differently. they are very different personalities. you have mitt romney, steady as she goes. a really good job in one sense. i'm surprised every time somebody crashes and burns he doesn't pick up more. probably a lot of people are surprised, perhaps you also. but he has been very steady, done a really good job at the debates. i think the big surprise is he

doesn't pick up more in the polls when somebody else goes down. then you have newt, who has been a rocket ship the last couple of weeks. the reason is he does have some interesting ideas and good ideas but he's done well in the debates. they probably have done the best in the debates. that seems to be a big factor this year and probably like never before. >> after the debate you moderate on the 27th of december, will you give your endorsement to one of these candidates. >> i'm going to give an endorsement to somebody. if that somebody obviously gets the nomination i'll be satisfied to see how that somebody does. if not, if it's somebody i don't think is going to win or if the economy is very bad, which it has a very good chance to be, frankly, we'll see what happens as to the independent. i'm not looking to do the independent thing. as most people know, i love what i'm doing. i really love what i'm doing. i think i do it really well. but i will be probably endorsing somebody right after the

debates. >> so before i let you go, i've got to ask you quite honestly a lot of people said these candidates come off as comedic and they have got all kinds of personal issues, especially with herman cain and past personal issues with newt gingrich. the front page of a magazine with mitt romney saying, why don't they like me? are you worried this debate could look like an episode of the apprentice. >> i hope it does as well as "the apprentice." "the apprentice" has been an amazing thing. we have equal time provisions. unfortunately that makes it impossible for me to do what i would like to have done. i was doing really well and leading in the polls when i left. the fact is you have some very talented people. i think they are tough. i think they are smart. i think they have some good ideas. not all but i think some of the ideas are really good. we'll see how it goes. i will be at some point endorsing somebody. >> all right. december 27th, debate moderated by donald trump, according to the "new york times" waiting to

hear from the candidates as far as if they are going to accept the invite. thank you, mr. trump, for your time. we'll be watching it. >> thank you, great honor. >> let's bring our political panel republican strategist david winston, "washington post" white house reporter and cnbc contributor keith boy ken. >> i'll start with you donald trump moderating the gop candidates that show up. >> it will be a great evening. >> what do you mean great? >> it will be fun. it will be someone everybody will be comfortable with. he'll keep the focus on the economy. >> he could upstage them. let's not kid ourselves. they are coming to his office. he's not going to their offices. he could potentially upstage those people that night. >> i don't think you'll see that happen. at that point we're going to be really close to the iowa caucus. everybody is going to be really interested in terms of how the candidates perform. but certainly, you know, he's

going to have the opportunity to define the questions he wants and some of the issues he wants to bring up. it will be an interesting evening and good edition to the whole debate process that's occurred in the republican party. >> ann, let me bring you in. "new york times" reached out to candidates or representatives and did not hear a response as to whether or not they would accept. why wouldn't they accept to moderate? they have all gone up including newt gingrich on monday to trump tower? >> well, look, they don't always immediately accept every debate. there are so many on the calendar. actually, i think that close to the iowa caucuses, the bigger concern rather than being upstaged they need to campaign. this is a different election cycle. debates seem to have more influence on the subject and people's minds. >> they really have. >> in the past people would have made a very convincing case, no, they need to be on the ground, retail politics. this time maybe not so much. that said, that close to the voting itself, i would expect to see them all in coffee shops on

the ground, in iowa, that's traditionally the way it's been done. not doing that even for a few hours could be risky. >> we hear people say these days with cable news, with the debates having huge audiences, the traditional walking around, kissing babies, shaking hands, mitt romney doesn't want to give interviews. newt gingrich has not put up an ad-in iowa but you have news max media, a very influential conservative media outlet sponsoring this debate here. >> if this is true and you just spoke to donald trump, donald trump is a huge ratings draw. i can't imagine most of these candidates wouldn't want the attention being associated with donald trump. yes, there is a danger he would overshadow them. in terms of television, this is great television. the problem for republicans, it shows again the litany of candidates, donald trump, sarah palin, michele bachmann, one

after another, the question is who is going to be the serious candidate, mitt romney or someone else. >> david, let me go back to herman cain once again keith pointed out at the top of the list, a big announcement tomorrow. do you believe that announcement is that he's dropping out. >> at this point i clearly have no idea. when you take a look at what's happened in the polls. >> what do you think is right? what do you think he should do at this point? what would your advice be? >> i'm not sitting there with he and his wife and family, i'm not the person that should comment on that. it's clear aggies have had a negative impact in terms of his candidacy. he dropped significantly in iowa. he's facinga difficult situation. you have to leave it up in terms of his personal situation with his family and wife and resolves that and that's not for me to judge. >> ann let me bring you in, showing pictures of herman cain, live at an event in iowa, have the meeting with his wife to

determine his future. he'll make the announcement tomorrow. even with all this turmoil and people leaving herman cain, they are not going to mitt romney. as i pointed out you've got this article with the front page saying why don't they like me. when is that question going to be addressed? also, will mitt romney need to up his profile on shows like "meet the press" and get some control here and not appear so fidgety as he did on kind territory, you might call it, with fox. >> the flip side of that, he's had this 25% or so that's stayed relatively stable for him and done so in the absence of his appearing on any of these -- >> the same 25%. >> right. i don't know that a single tv appearance would make the difference for mitt romney between now and the iowa caucuses. i think the last thing his campaign is going to want to do is make him seem desperate in the face of a newt gingrich rise or some other candidates, voters not moving toward him.

it's hard to see him completely shifting gears so far. they are not in as bad a shape as it might look to us. when are we going to answer? we'll start to know january 3rd. i think that's another reason that the big announcement we see out of herman cain land maybe won't be that he's dropping out. we've seen candidates make announcements before we assume her going to drop out, turns out they simply announced they are staying in. >> no one would be surprised. let me quickly play ginger white, the woman who said she had the 13-year affair with herman cain. she was asked her opinion on whether or not he would drop out of the race. let's play what she had to say. >> you know, i'm really not quite sure. i do believe him when he says he will have that discussion. he has never and to be a quitter. he, you know, is a person that pretty much goes after whatever he wants. however, whatever decision is

made, i will respect that decision. as i said many times before, this has never been political. >> keith, she says she respects the decision, i don't know if that means she'll go on her way if he continues in the race, but the video lives forever. >> this is herman cain's decision. his brand is tarnished. the fact he's running for president -- nobody thinks he's running for president. he's running to sell books. this will hurt his ability to sell books, hurt his relationship with his wife. whether it's tomorrow or soon after, i don't see how he can stay on. >> thank you for your time. we greatly appreciate it. coming up, which republican candidate do voters say is like the, quote, dad that was never home. that's how they describe one of the candidates. a focus group about the words and thoughts they associate with each candidate. the west coast gets a break from dangerous winds described as a once in a decade event.

other areas not in the clear. we'll update you on that. fizzling out, how coke is responding to customer outrage over the new white christmas coke cans. join our conversation on twitter. a lot of you tweeting about donald trump. you can find our page at "news nation." [ alarm rings ] [ male announcer ] take the fixodent 12 hour hold challenge. fixodent denture adhesive challenges you to a 12 hour hold test. ♪ thanks to its time released formula, you apply fixodent once, and it holds all day. ♪ take the fixodent 12 hour hold challenge.

guaranteed, or your money back. ♪ and for guaranteed freshness try fixodent cleanser, plus scope ingredients. and for guaranteed freshness at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, man: good job. where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life. so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. looks really good. call us at...

or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? there's no time like the present to consider all your health insurance options. well, now is a good time to take a look at an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. get started by calling for your free information kit and guide to medicare. as you probably know, medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. a medicare supplement insurance plan helps cover some of it. that could save you up to thousands of dollars a year in out-of-pocket costs. and you can visit any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive. and these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans exclusively endorsed by aarp. so don't wait another minute. be sure to call today. call now for your free medicare guide and information kit

about aarp medicare supplement insurance plans, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. right now u.s. state department working with pakistani authorities to locate a man kidnapped by al qaeda. abducted 70-year-old warren winestein in lahore back in august. in a video message posted on a militant website al qaeda leader al zawahiri demanding the release of guantanamo prisoners with ties to her-of- his terror network as well as the taliban, also demanding an end to airstrikes. live from kabul afghanistan.

obviously when these demands were made, they knew they would not be met here. what is the goal? >> that's what america, pakistan, everyone is waiting to see primarily the family. in the jihad website they made the demands all prisoners in guantanamo bay and secret prisoners america is holding prisoners in. he's asking for release of anyone suspected to be tied to al qaeda and taliban. the fear here is they are holding him and what will happen in the end when demands aren't m met. there are suspicions he was taken from one group, passed to other groups, now in the hands of al qaeda. there was suspicion there was a dreaded pakistani taliban group behind the abduction of a polish citizen in pakistan in 2009 whose demands weren't met and then they executed the man just

a few months later. tamron. >> thank you very much. right now crews in southern california are scrambling to get the lights back on for a quarter million people who still have no power after winds tore through the state. more violent winds tore through. dozens of schools closed for a second day after what's called a once in a decade event. also cleanup crews picking up debris left behind. look at this damage. still unbelievable. downed trees as well as power lines there. in northern california those dangerous winds were fanning about a dozen fires that scorched nearly 400 acres yesterday. coming up u.s. military turns over saddam hussein's palaces to iraquis. details on the important milestone for troops in iraq. plus -- >> i have my own army in the nypd, which is the seventh biggest army in the world. i have my own state department much to foggy bottom's

annoyance. >> forget the presidency, michael bloomberg has floated with presidential in the past. being mayor of new york city gives him more hour. i'd race down that hill without a helmet. 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. [ coughing continues ] [ female announcer ] more pollution from power plants means more childhood asthma attacks. [ labored breathing ] there's technology that makes the air cleaner, but too many plants don't use it. we can't wait. epa must update power plant standards

to protect our kids. [ baby coughing ]

welcome back. more troubles for jon corzine, a house committee issued a subpoena all has to do with leadership of mf global, the bankrupt brokerage firm. it lost millions of investors money. many were farmers who relied on the futures. now the house agriculture committee says they have questions for corzine. >> it is this committee's responsibility to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the bankruptcy. we agree his testimony is essential to fulfill our objectives on behalf of our constituents and to complete the hearing record. >> the hearing is scheduled for next thursday. coming up hours after the wife of a mega church pastor, bishop

eddie long announced she was filing for divorce, apparently she's changed her mind. what she is saying now. plus -- >> do i take the recall seriously? absolutely. >> he should wisconsin governor scott walker braces for potential recall election as protesters take a stand at the annual christmas tree lighting. 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!

how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions

by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. can you smell those savings? fresh cut christmas trees are arriving weekly. here is what "news nation" is following now. major milestone, u.s. military headquarters in iraq handed back over to the iraquis. what it means for our troops. gaining ground, organizers of the effort to recall governor scott walker say they have more than half the signatures they need to force an election. is your smartphone spying on you? a major class action lawsuit is filed. we've got details. plus hidden message, what a story. why some parents believe the two most popular children's movies out right now are pushing an

agenda. what agenda. a deeply symbolic moment in the final month of a decade long war. they have control of camp victory u.s. headquarters outside of baghdad. the sprawling marble palace built by saddam hussein, the center of gravity in iraq for nearly nine years. the base once housed 6,000 military personnel and contractors. i'm joined by msnbc military analyst and general mccaffrey. thank you for your time. let me get your perspective on camp victory. >> it's a turning point in the war. that victory complex captured by the third infantry division almost nine years ago. as you mention at the height of the war when we had 170,000 troops in iraq, there was as many as 30,000 plus military, maybe 20,000 civil yonc working

in the giant base. it was bigger than fort bragg. it underscores by 31 december largely the war is over, we're out. we leave a strong diplomatic mission. hopefully the iraquis will hold this together. >> there are currently 12,000 u.s. troops in iraq, five bases down from 170,000 at 500 bases, we saw 2007. at the end of the year, they will all be gone. i'm going to play what the vice president had to say on his visit there. his sons returning from iraq. emotional words when talking with ann curry. let's play it. >> so damn proud of you. i'm so incredibly proud of him and these kids. these kids -- they are not kids. >> make of them are. >> make of them are, but some of them are also considerably older.

they are just -- i apologize. they are -- they are amazing. >> of course, general, the vice president is not the only one who gets emotional when you think about the work done by our soldiers, the men and women over there. they are coming back home with great challenges, the unemployment rate with veterans, just getting acclimated back into their marriages, relationships, friendships is a long struggle ahead. so these milestones we see and that we mark are just the beginning for them in many ways of rebuilding their lives. >> well, right. vice president biden is a wonderful man, a very compassionate man. we do need to remember, 36,000 killed and wounded u.s. casualties pulling that thing together. i think we leave, most of us are confident that that blood shed at least left the country without nuclear weapons, not at war with its neighbors and not

trying to commit genocide against its own people. we'll see what happens. i think we leave having done the best we k it's probe appropriate. i'm glad the president pulled us out. the treaty was just i think a lucky break for us. it was time to leave. this was a good turning point in the war. >> general mccaffrey, thank you very much. good to have you on. >> good to be with you. the effort to recall governor scott walker collided with the annual lighting of wisconsin's christmas tree at the state capital. take a look at this. this is an incredible sight. protesters turned their backs as governor walker lit the tree. many carrying recall walker signs. recall organizers have more than half the signatures they need to trigger a recall. governor walker says he's taking this effort, this recall effort seriously. >> do i take the recall seriously? absolutely. if the unions who spent in total there was about 40 plus million dollars spent on six senate

recall elections in my state, i spent $13 million running for governor. so if that many outside influences of my state are going to come in, i'm going to take that seriously no matter what. >> joining me via skype milwaukee daniel, thank you for your time. protesters turning their backs on governor walker there. this image reminds people how tense and i guess how the anger exists there. this is not the headline as it was several months ago. the anger and the divide still exists in that state. >> the hostility is clearly still here. you know, early on in the recall process, i was telling people i thought the first 300,000 signatures would be easy to get. it would be the second 300,000 would be difficult. it's been much easier than anyone expected. even the democrats have been surprised how quickly they have been able to gather signatures this time. the electorate is here is

undecided. there aren't many people undecided about who scott walker is. >> he's done ads to counter the recall. what else is he doing to shore up the support in that state. he's incredibly unpopular. >> he's shoring up in the state by going out of the state. he's going to a number of locations. in fact, sometimes we don't even know where he is until we see in the media that he's in another location. the other thing, as you said is tv. look at the numbers today. it appears in just the last four weeks he spent $1.7 million, which would be the equivalent of what you would expect in the final month of a gubernatorial campaign here. >> that's interesting that you would take his message out of state. as you know, that was part of the influence, the brothers influencing this governor's agenda against union workers in that state. >> actually the allegations have

gone both ways. you just heard him talk about out of state unions and how much money they spent here. >> you're right. >> both sides are trying to play that up. he's got a lot of support, a lot of national publicity. so he's gone to a number of locations where people like what he has to say and raise money. in this race, he can raise as much money typically in a governor's race someone can contribute $10,000 to his race. in a recall lec, wisconsin has this unusual thing that allows him to raise unlimited contributions. so that's part of the reason. he can raise as much as he wants anywhere across the united states. >> all right, daniel. we'll see what happens. both sides still digging their heels in there. thank you very much. a change of heart for the wife of a mega church pastor caught in a scandal. just hours after announcing her divorce filing bishop eddie long's wife vanessa says she's withdrawn the petition.

earlier four young men sued long claiming he talked them into sex by lavishing them with gifts and trips. that was settled for $14 million. in colorado another arrest in drugs for sex case that already landed a former sheriff behind bars. 49-year-old man charged with selling meth to retired sheriff. the former sheriff of the year accused of offering meth to a young male acquaintance in exchange for sex. he's behind bars in the county that bears his name. honda recalling 750,000 vehicles in the u.s. because of bad airbags of the japanese automaker says airbags may deploy with too much force. honda says faulty airbags killed two people and injured 18 others. the popular honda accord included in the recall. interesting findings from a focus group of a dozen voters. conducted by pollster peter hart

and may explain why republicans are not embracing mitt romney more. asked to describe romney as if he was part of their family, one said, quote, the dad that was never home. newt on the other hand was described as a, quote, favorite uncle. joining me domenico, thanks for your time. it's interesting. we'll learn more about the poll coming up. let's break down some of the things they have to say. we have newt first. let's bring it up on the boards on the screen. positives, moral character, strong leader, rolls up his sleeves, he's a role model. those are some of the positives. let's look at the negatives for mitt romney. not strong enough. republican in name only. wishy washy. romney care. what does that tell us at this point? >> it tells us they are really not warmed to mitt romney. for people wondering why mitt

romney hasn't caught on with the conservative base, this is one example of that. we have to be cautious here in one respect because even though as our pollster peter hart pointed out there isn't any warmth or connection some of these conservative voters feel toward mitt romney. they do think he'd be a good president. some called him a place holder but also called him a safe bet. this eq, emotional quotient, he said, look, richard nixon became president. mitt romney, smart, competent enough to be president, good family values and he's steady. that's one thing that you see. of course the overall arching thing here is the economy. >> let's look at gingrich's positive, proven track record, knows how the system works, negotiator, the other word, doer. negatives, morals, marriage. we know he's married three times. these things sound pretty typical of the reaction you

would get regarding positive and negative. >> there may be so many things with newt gingrich, some may be white noise. some of it are older things. people feel like they know everything that's come out about newt gingrich. one kind of cheeky thing one guy said, they called him the favorite uncle who brings home a lot of wives. so you know, they look like they are willing to look past that today on first read maybe he's teflon newt for some of these folks. they will look past some of his baggage. if they think he's smart enough to be on stage with president obama, debate him and do well and beat him intellectually they are willing to go with him. this is the matchup that we're going to see for the next 30 days. >> we know herman cain is in south carolina. he's going to meet with his wife later in georgia. he says he has a big announcement tomorrow. these people asked, this word association with cain, they said, trouble harks no chance, damaged, unelectable.

positives, outside the beltway here. this was the guy everyone called likable. that's how they were explaining his surge in the polls he was leading mitt romney in some of them. >> his likability was one reason why he had surged. we saw last month he had surged up to 23, 28% in some polls. the des moines register, their poll comes out saturday night, they already released a number on cain that he's dropped to 8% in their poll all the way down, which us really quite the drop-off. a lot of voters gone with newt gingrich. >> what do i think when i see you, classy. i do. that was a sincere reaction. thank you. i won't ask about myself. see you later, good-bye. icy reception, coke drinkers outraged over the new white christmas cans. some accuse coca-cola. trickery, that's what they said,

word association. we'll tell you how coke is responding. a lot going on on friday. here are things we thought you should know. republican candidates not throwing around a lot of cash this season. according to bloomberg one of the cheapest primaries in a decade. they spent only $53 million through september. that is less than half of the $132 million spent during the same period four years ago. interesting. president obama gave a thumbs-up to news that the nba lockout is over but the downside for the commander in chief, they will have to postpone his celebrity fund-raiser. the obama classic set for november 12th benched when the training camp was three days later. the classic will be held next summer. under fire for hyping up his position as new york city mayor. some say he got carried away talking to students at mit tuesday. take a listen. >> i have my own army with the nypd, the seventh biggest army in the world.

i have my own state department much to foggy bottom's annoyance. we have the united nations in new york, so we have entre into the diplomatic world washington does not v dinner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! i want a mace, a sword, a... oww! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. i wonder what it could be?! what's in your wallet? and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now.

we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas.

.

i'm martin bashir, coming up at the top of the hour. perfume on a pig. guess who used that analogy to describe the lowest number. blame yourself? i doubt it. herman cain is set to make a major campaign announcement. as i hand back to tamron, i want to congratulate on her scoop just now with donald trump. hit the wires and he was on the phone seconds after. congrats, martin. dear friend martin bashir. a nationwide class action lawsuit filed in connection with software on at least 140 million smart phones. it all has to do with software on android, htc and other smart

phones. some computer experts say the technology recorded in the devices records everything a user does including text messages. nbc correspondent joins us, one of the lawmakers concerned about this as well? >> he's written to the company asking questions how this worked. the class action filed in missouri court on behalf of an illinois woman. names the maker of the software and the maker of the phone. the software is, in fact, in about 140 million phones. but it says the whole point of the software is to make the phones work better by diagnosing common problems. problems that may cause it to break down fast, be dropped or messages not to go through as written. the company has a revised statement out. the whole thing started when there was a youtube video out. you're looking at it from a

computer program in connecticut, claimed it was storing and sending virtually every key stroke. the company says the following. our software does not record, store or transmit the contents of what are basically text messages, sms messages, e-mails, pictures, audio or video. it says it does analyze keystrokes to make sure text messages are sent accurately but says it does not record or transmit the content of the text message. it says the whole point is diagnostic information. that's why the software is on the phones in the first point. it says the whole thing is to make a better experience. it says, for example, the phone company looks at where calls are dropped but not in the phone itself that causes problems that's where the software comes in. >> thank you very much. have a great weekend. >> same to you. a country music star's

custody battle, hollywood's alleged agenda in kids' films and the coke controversy of let's get the scoop from courtney hazlett. mindy mccready, so sad for her child, her. >> something sad for everybody involved, people have been following carefully. a lot of the reason mindy mccready has been in pop culture news not just for successes but troubles, too. she and on celebrity rehab with dr. drew not long ago. she and billy mcknight have a five-year-old son they share together. she had visitation and refused to return him. the judge said you have to return him to her ex billie mcknight. he was on the "today" show and matt lauer asked her given her past, she had suicide attempts before, was she afraid she might hurt her or her son. this is what he said to say. >> she has in the past. i pray to god she doesn't.

it does give me concern. i don't want her to hurt herself. i certainly don't want my son to live a life without his mother. >> so that was billy mcknight, mindy mccready's ex and father of zandter. i apologize. it's mindy's mom who has custody. everyone keying an eye on how this unfolds. >> this other topic involves was it "happy feet 2" the movie "cars 2" very popular with kids. >> that's right. this isn't the first time hollywood has been accused as being part of the liberal media. >> is that the accusation? >> the accusation is now they are trying to push the agenda through kids movies. "happy feet 2" is the bess example. the sequel that came out did not do as well as the first one. 2006 $42 million opening weekend. 2011 it took 10 days to make that much money. the director, george miller,

said in the past he redid the script so it would emphasize global warming issues. now you've got a huge concern the base has to take their kids to the movies. they are the ones who take the movies to kid and if you're a alienating -- >> they are saying happy feet focuses on global warming, cars 2, oil. >> these messages not palatable to adults by them not taking kids to the movies, what people are saying. now to the big coke controversy, something that will rock your week i'm sure. you have the new coke can. it's white. it has white polar bears on it. looks winter themed. a lot of the holiday themes are out in the stores. you're not going to see this much longer because coke is phasing it out. people think it's getting confused with that.

you can see diet. >> they think the holiday special can is diet coke. >> they are duped. going into the stores grabbing diet coke, going back saying i thought i got something else. these are off the shelves to be phased back in with the regular. >> which is a bummer some of the money from the can was going to help -- >> partnership with world wildlife fund to raise awareness for polar bear. apparently they have to fend for themselves because they were confused. >> it's showing up on ebay. >> collectors item. >> logon to scoop.com, be a fan on facebook. back with friday gut check. follow the wings.

a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

of course you can join "news nation" on twitter. find our twitter page @newsnation. i'll spend the entire weekend reading tweets. school officials in ft. worth, texas, my hometown,

taking a stand against christmas saying it doesn't belong in the classroom. this year students won't be able to exchange gichts or hand out holiday cards in class. in a statement the district says, quote, no longer can the district endorse or sponsor religious activity or doctrine. a spokesperson for the district says we have precious little time with our children to begin w to get across a tremendous amount of educational information, that's our primary job. as you can imagine, many parents are upset about this decision. they are pushing the school district to lift the new rules. what does your gut tell you? should christmas be allowed in the classroom? go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast your vote. we'll have the results monday. in the meantime take a look at what newsnation is saying about yesterday's gut check. a woman who sued denis after signing a contract preventing negative reviews online. should dentists or doctors be

able to require patients to sign those contracts? 100% said no. that does it for this edition of newsnation. i'm tamron hall. thanks for joining us all week long. you can get newsnation every day right here on msnbc. martin bashir is up next. opens its doors... 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. photo center prints and... two htc sensations from t-mobile. hey dad! hey son! i'm at study hall. that's great, you make me so proud. thanks dad. [ clatter, scream ]

what's that? nothing... [ man ] game on! ♪ i gotta go! was that a chicken? [ male announcer ] get low prices on the latest smartphones. for a limited time, buy any smartphone and get a $100 walmart gift card. save money. live better. walmart. test.. everything. and what it doesn't cover can cost you some money. that's why you should consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. all medicare supplement plans can help pay some of what medicare doesn't, so you could save up to thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses. call now for this free information kit and medicare guide. if you're turning 65 or you're already on medicare... you should know about the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp; see if one's right for you. all medicare supplement plans let you choose any doctor or hospital, that accepts medicare patients... and could help you save up to thousands of dollars

in out of pocket expenses. plus, there are no networks... no referrals needed to see a specialist... and virtually no claim forms to fill out. how's that for convenience? and when you travel, your plan will travel with you -- nationwide. so call now for a free information kit and medicare guide. choose from a wide range of plans to fit your specific needs and budget. with prices that are competitive -- thanks to the group rates available only to aarp members. if you're considering a medicare supplement plan, you should take a look at the only ones endorsed by aarp... these are plans millions have chosen... and even better, 9 out of 10 members would recommend their plan to a friend or family member. why wait? help protect yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay and save up to thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses with a medicare supplement plan. call now and learn more about aarp medicare supplement insurance plans, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

get this free information kit and medicare guide you don't need to be an aarp member to call. don't wait. call now for free information about the additional coverage you may need. ♪ good afternoon. it's friday december 2nd. here is what's happening. a party, holiday cheer at the white house. president obama welcomes santa and jobs. >> despite some strong head winds this year, the american economy has now created nearly 3 million new jobs in all. >> while one republican plays scrooge. >> he's going to have a hard time putting perfume on this pig. >> the gingrich. >> do me a