but he will also argue that this is a pivotal moment for the middle class, that americans can go in a direction that essentially supports the middle class or they can go in the opposite direction. you're going to hear similar themes unearthed, similar themes that then ex-president teddy roosevelt talked about in his famous 1910 speech when he called for a square deal for americans when he essentially advocated more government regulation and said that people needed to pull together to help the middle class. so certainly steeped in history. interestingly, when roosevelt spoke, the republican party was quite divide that can then as well. so the president will be speaking as lawmakers continue to debate the payroll tax cut here on capitol hill. democrats, republicans basically divided about how to pay for this. democrats want to tax those making $1 million or more. but republicans say that they're opposed to that because they

think it could ultimately wind up hurting small businesses. democrats this week offered a compromised bill. but republicans say it's still not enough. here's what senator mitch mcconnell had to say on the senate floor earlier today. take a listen. >> this was not a compromise. this was nothing more than another bill designed to fail. so democrats can have another week of fun and games on the senate floor while tens of millions of working americans go another week wondering whether they're going to see a smaller paycheck at the end of the year. i hope the majority leader comes forward with a real proposal soon because time is running out. >> reporter: now, the senate will take a procedural vote on this issue on thursday. but, remember, thomas, even if this does wind up passing through the senate, it still has to pass through the house. a lot of house republicans still quite opposed to increasing taxes on folks making $1 million or more.

by the way, by our own independent analysis, thomas, if these payroll tax cuts do expires, the average american family, families making about $50,000 would ultimately wind up paying $1,000 more in taxes. >> kristen welker, thanks. a programming note, msnbc will have live coverage of the president's speech just before 2:00 eastern time. so be sure to keep it locked in to msnbc for that. obama supporters want americans to know the president understands the economic pain americans are facing and the fears they may have for the future. >> i think the defining issue of our time is middle class economic security. for millions and millions of those in the middle class, they're no longer sure that if they work hard and play by the rules, they'll have opportunity to get ahead and they're not sure that they're going to pass on to their children a country that has as much opportunity or more opportunity for them than it did for their parents.

>> jared bernstein is a contributor for msnbc, cnbc and the chief economist for vice president joe biden. as we say that the obama administration is saying they do understand the pain that america currently feels, that it fears for the next generation, i think americans right now don't want to hear that they understand. they want to see the president get something done. is the president saying this make-or-break moment for the middle class is truly it for what's coming out of his administration or what? >> thanks for inviting me, thomas. i find this to be a truly fascinating moment in political economy right now. this is not new. it's active in the 2011 economy. it's a 2% on payroll. it's not the most exciting thing you've ever heard about. but it's a microcosm.

many on the conservative side seem to be preserving the gains at the top, the one group that's done well. you're right, without action, the words will be hollow. and the president is hitting very hard on this payroll tax holiday which means as much as 1,500 bucks to a middle income family. that's real money to a family with an income around 50,000 bucks. that's in the middle of the scale. he's trying to do and he's going to continue to point out who's standing between american families and their economic well-being. >> the numbers have been out there for months about how the middle class is shrinking. let's take a ook at the numbers. the families that lived in middle class neighborhoods took a 20% drop from 1970 to the mid 2000s. we saw the number of families living in poverty rise by over 9 million. why aren't these numbers -- major numbers here, creating more urgency on capitol hill to provide help? >> it's a great question. if you look at the writings of

someone like myself and the center on budget where i work, that's exactly what we've been focusing on. but what you hear is the way this is structured in the current debate, it's very upside down. yes, that's true, we get it, lots of people are hurting. that's why you have to cut taxes for millionaires. the republicans continue to push supply-side trickle-down economics. you can directly connect those policies to the very negatives outcomes you're documenting as well as the fact that the only part of the economy that's really recovered since the recession has been corporate profits. compensation is still down. it's this twisted connection between supply-side trickle-down policies and the pain that people are feeling in the middle class. >> president obama has our first read notes, loved to invokes past presidents. he's used lincoln and ronald reagan. and now teddy roosevelts.

but republicans are saying, he should try being president. it's great when you think about that. instead of trying to be what you think are, just be it. and being president, obviously it's big shoes to fill. can he get past this perception that he can not lead the economy and lead us into a better place? >> i think so. i think what the president continues to do on this particular point is to really tell america something that america knows very well, which is that he is trying -- continues to try to, quote, be the president and is blocked every step of the way by a develop of dysfunctional partisan politics i've never seen. and i'm a veteran here. this is a government that argues just about practically everything, including keeping the lights on. and the president very much has the country's best interest at heart. i think the more he gets out of the beltway and explains what he's trying to do, link it to history, even to republicans

like teddy roosevelt, i think he will convince most people of where the blockage really is. >> hasn't the right always tipped their hand because they say they want to make obama a one-term president. they've never hidden that. >> if your goal is to throw the economy under the bus in order to defeat the president, that's a level of despicable political that is people recognize as completely inconsistent with what this country needs right now. >> jared bernstein, thanks. we'll get more on the payroll tax cut fight on capitol hill from senator bob casey in a few minutes. newt gingrich's poll numbers are on a meteoric rise in two key states. in iowa, the new "washington post"/abc polls put gingrich first with 33%. mitt romney and ron paul tied at 18%. and the winthrop poll shows gingrich getting a whopping 38%. romney has 22%. rick perry in there at 9%. joining me is former democratic

texas congressman martin frost and msnbc political analyst michelle bernard. nice to see both of you. congressman, this new gallup poll shows that newt gingrich is right now doing so well. what does it mean to you when we look at these numbers with gingrich at 62%, mitt romney at 54%? are these only the two candidates that republicans say would be acceptable nominees? >> well, of course, i was elected, thomas, the same year newt was in 1978. so i've followed his career. he has benefited from the weakness of the field. people like herman cain, michele bachmann, rick perry demonstrated they didn't know very much about national issues. newt's problem is that he will go along on a straight line for a while. then he'll veer off suddenly into space. and that could happen this time. he talked about the ryan plan for the budget being right wing social engineering. he's now talked about changing our child labor law, putting kids to work in schools. newt has some interesting ideas.

but he also has very peculiar idea. we'll see if he has staying power. but he's benefited from the fact that the field is so weak. >> michelle, there we have it. the congressman saying it's a weak field, boosting newt gingrich to the top. if he wins in iowa and in south carolina, is he a shoe-in? >> anything is possible. four years ago, we would have said yes. but we cannot tell anything with this republican electorate. this presidential cycle -- again, newt gingrich might implode. quite frankly, i don't think anyone can count jon huntsman out yet. he is truly the most conservative of all the republican candidates. there is something that is likable about him, that is respectable about him. his numbers have not peaked yet. but in this time period where we're seeing anybody but mitt romney, anything can happen. i don't think jon huntsman can be counted out.

>> there is a big difference this year. the republicans used to do winner-take-all in their republican primaries. this race could go on for a while. it might not be over early fefen newt wins a couple of these early races. >> michele bachmann struck out on gingrich earlier today. take a listen to this. >> the fact that he has been on the take for more than $100 million to influence peddle in washington should tell people something about the fact that he is no outsider. you see an ability that he has to project himself as a conservative but there's nothing to back it up. >> congressman, is her assessment accurate on this one? >> clearly he's not an outsider. he was speaker of the house. he's been a very well-paid consultant. he didn't say he was lobbying. but i don't think he was paid just to be a historian. newt is a classic insider no

matter what he says. the question is whether michele bachmann or somebody else can really carry that message. she's tough but if she does poorly in the iowa race, she may drop out. somebody can go after him. it might be ron paul or michele bachmann. he's not out of the woods yet. he is an insider. >> great to see both of you this morning. thanks for your time. >> thank you. we have breaking news we need to pass along from afghanistan where coordinated suicide bombings have killed at least 59 people and wounded scores of others. the deadly attack came in the capital of kabul and the northern city of mazar-i-sharif. a man blew himself up in a crowd of men, women and kids that were gathered at a shiite shrine to mark a holy day. they were the first sectarian attacks in afghanistan since the fall of the taliban a decade ago. in an extraordinary move, the

taliban issued a statement condemning those very attacks. the road to reelection may go squarely through the state of pennsylvania. we're going to talk with the senator who knows that state better than anybody else, senator bob casey, who is also in the middle of the payroll tax fight going on in congress. plus, another way the recession is changing american homes, the role of dads in the household. we'll explain after this. my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards

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we've taken the position with senator bob casey's amendment here when it comes to payroll tax cut that it is not unreasonable to ask that the wealthiest people in america, the top 1% in america, pay a little bit more in taxes so that we don't add to our deficit. unfortunately, some republicans oppose that.

>> the push for a payroll tax extension has senate democrats on the offensive putting plans on the table but unable to find the support needed from the other side of the aisle to seal the deal. senator bob casey introduced the democrats' original plan to extend the payroll tax holiday and joins me now. nice to see you this morning. >> thank you. >> you pushed the plan on the senate floor to keep that payroll tax cut in the pockets of americans. is there a desire to find a compromise and get a clear way to get there? >> i've heard a lot of folks on both sides wanting to work together to make sure that we cut the payroll tax this year as we did last year. i'd like to do more than just extend it. in other words, the 6.2 down to 4.2 as we did last year. we should cut knit half. that should help our families and workers at the time when the

economy is in need of another kick-start or jump-start. i also hope we can come together in a bipartisan way so we can put more dollars and folks' take-home pay, especially as they head into the holiday season and get ready for a new year. >> for americans out there listening to this that may glaze over when they hear about bipartisanship in washington, d.c., we keep hearing generic statements from lawmakers and pundits that the payroll tax cut extension is going to get done. but the latest proposals have both sides far apart on this issue. is this going to be another last-minute compromise that frustrates the american public who are watching closely to see how it all comes down? >> here's what i hear from folks in pennsylvania. they say to me two things -- work on job creation strategies to the, collusion of almost everything else, focus on jobs. and secondly, work together. we're trying to do that. this is difficult. this is not easy to do but it's essential that we bring folks

together so we can provide some certainty to 160 million americans. i think it's the right thing to do at the end of this year. when we did this in the past, it had a tremendous impact on job growth. we can do it again. it might take a while, may not happen today or tomorrow. but we have to stay at it. compromising and working together is the way this place should work and sometimes it takes time to bring folks together. >> i want to talk about pennsylvania. it's a toss-up state for the 2012 election. you'll be on the ballot as will president obama. is the president in jeopardy in a state that's backed from democratic presidential candidates all the way back to 1992? and do you think the president is going to be an asset to you on the trail for next year? >> i think a lot of those assessments are made by political scientists -- i think it's pretty early or premature

to make an assessment. i do believe, though, that people in pennsylvania are going to make their determination about 2012 for all the candidates at every level based mostly upon the economy and jobs. that's why passing an extension in an expansion, i would argue, of the payroll tax is critically important for the people of our state. 6.7 million pennsylvanians will benefit from this -- have benefited, i should say, already from last year. we have to make sure they have some certainty, some measure of confidence that we can begin the new year with more dollars in their pocket. taxpayers should have the 1,5$10 that this kind of a cut would provide in their pockets so they can spend, jump-start the economy and that will create jobs. that's what i'm hearing mostly back in pennsylvania. >> when it comes specifically to the president and the ballot that you both will share, is he an asset or a liability come 2012 to you? >> i can't make that assessment. but i have confidence that he's

going to carry pennsylvania. and i know it's going to be a long, tough year. but i think it's going to be a good year, if we all stay focused on the central issue facing the american people. and that's jobs. >> senator bob casey, thank you for your time this morning. i appreciate it. >> thank you. young voters helped president obama win the white house. why some might have a harder time getting to the polls next year. plus, amanda knox is getting ready to spill her secrets to all of you. find out how you can learn. ♪ when your chain of supply goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me,

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bush. talk about the perfect body. h & m catching heat for admitting its lingerie models are half-human, half-computer generated. a spokesman says it wants to draw attention to the garments and not the bodies. and mr. mom. >> reporter: daddy day care aren't just movies, they are reality, according to the census bureau. a third of dads are now the regular source of child care, up from 26% back in 2002. tough new voter identification laws in 15 states have college kids struggling to comply, because their college id won't be valid for voting. joining me now, heather smith, president of rock the vote, dedicated to getting young people involved in the political process. heather, these new voter id laws are really shaking up college campuses around the country. explain how rock the vote is trying to combat that to make sure that kids get involved with the democratic process and don't feel thwarted from getting to the ballot box. >> thank you, thomas.

as young people started to flex their political muscle back in 2008 and show up at the polls in record numbers, instead of celebrating this, we're putting in place state-by-state laws making it harder for them to show up and vote. texas just passed a voter id that says if you're over 65, you're exempt. and if you have a concealed gun license, you can show that to vote. but a student id, that doesn't count. or, for example, wisconsin where they said, sure, student ids count to vote but only a very specific set of ids that meet this particular criteria that, in fact, not a single id in this state meets. so at rock the vote, we're working to make sure that in places like wisconsin, those students are actually getting new ids from their universities that will work on election day. and in states like texas and others across the country, that these young people know that the rules of the game have changed on them and get the information they need so that they're able to cast a ballot on election day. >> heather, democrats are saying

that these voter id laws are aimed at reducing the youth vote which help soar president obama in 2008. he got 66% of the youth vote. it could be critical to the reelection next year. is that what you're learning through rock the vote or is this just trying to combat against potentially voter fraud issues? >> it starts to feel like people don't want these young citizens actually voting on election day. when you have laws that do say a concealed gun license counts but not a state-issued student identification card from a university in your state, as they start to flex their muscle, as we said, and have a real say in who represents them, it appears that those in power are now trying to decide who the electorate is rather than letting the electorate decide who they elect and who gets to represent them. we can't be stopped. we have to make sure that this confusing process is made clear to young people and that they get the information they need to ensure that on election day, no

matter what barriers are put in place, they're able to show up and have their say. >> have we heard anything from the right talking about this? rock the vote is encouraging anybody to get out there, whether you fall, independent, left or right wing. but is the right complaining about any of this? >> for young people, for example in new hampshire, there were residency laws that were proposed and the college republicans, the college democrats, the young libertarians from the youth perspective, our point of view and the point of view of all young people has really consistently been, if you don't like how we're voting, don't suppress our vote but instead, try to win it. that's what we stand behind at rock the vote. >> heather smith, great to see you today. thanks for your time. later this week, we're going to speak with the naacp chairman about the impact of all this on minority voters. and tune in for a special series "block the vote," an investigation of new voting laws around the country all this week on "politics nation" with the

reverend al sharpton. that's at 6:00 p.m. eastern time only on msnbc. so this just in, what lady gaga is reportedly doing today at the white house. we'll tell you. plus, newt versus nancy, nancy pelosi says she has a ton of background info on the former house speaker. why he says "thanks" for this early christmas gift. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories --

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pelosi is firing back. we have two former speakers going head to head over this. what are they saying from the left? >> nancy pelosi's staff today saying that all this information is in the public record. i'll read you her statement. she says that -- this is her office. leader pelosi was clearly referring to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record, including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware. so the idea here is that it's available to the public but the public may not be familiar with because the story has gone away. lo and behold, the 1990s are back. >> explain how things have heated up, especially over the last week or two. >> well, yesterday was this funny, i'd call it a unique press conference, a wide-ranging discussion which began with a

clarification on his comments about poor schoolchildren that's been the story about newt all week. and then wide-ranging questions from the press. and then all of a sudden the kind of meteoric story to come out of the press was the back and forth between he and nancy pelosi. what you discover on the road is that every day something new comes up and the news cycle takes a right turn and the story that was big yesterday is yesterday. >> just have to wait for the winds to change. jamie, great to see you. mitt romney going on the attack against president obama bashing him for taking his hawaiian vacation rather than dealing with the nation's problems. take a look. >> i just think it's time to have a president whose idea of being hands-on does not mean getting a better grip on the golf club. >> but romney supporters say he needs to direct his attacks toward newt gingrich. joining me is garrett haik. what are they saying now?

>> this has been the subject of the day for the last few days since newt's seen this rise in the most recent polls. i saw a quote saying that romney has to step up and go after newt. they can't sit back and watch him rise. it's a question of how deeply do they want to engage? do you send romney out there to attack newt gingrich? do you stay back and not say anything at all and risk newt pulling a mike huckabee and rising even farther or do you go a middle path and have surrogates like chris christie or maybe romney's superpack sitting on mountains of cash try to engage him. but mike huckabee snuck up on him in ohio and they're determined not to let that happen again. >> dan quayle is endorsing romney. how are the romney camp responding to that? >> the romney campaign has been racking up these sort of establishment endorsements for a long time.

this is just another in a long list for them of traditional washington figures who have gotten in line behind mitt romney. it's not liable to move a lot of votes toward him. i picked up a copy of the newspaper this morning. the quayle endorsement is not on the front page. but it signals to other donors. it signals to folks who are donors and who might be on the fence that this is the guy we are all getting behind and they hope that that kind of momentum can continue to build. >> garrett, thanks so much. appreciate it. a resurgent newt gingrich is on top of a third straight poll of eligible iowa -- in the caucus, that is. a new poll shows the former house speaker commanding 33% of the vote. mitt romney is tied with ron paul for a distant second with 18% with less than a month until the iowa caucuses. can romney recover? i'm joined by iowa secretary of state matt schultz.

matt, good to see you. how is newt gingrich able to win so much support from iowa voters despite the controversy surrounding his personal life? he has the perception of being a flip-floppers. how is this going over with the conservative christians in iowa? >> you see that mitt romney and ron paul have had steady support. everybody else has been pretty volatile. with less than 30 days to go, you're going to see a lot of people moving one way or another. if you look at the polls, i think 60% of iowans in the new iowa poll said they'd be willing to change their mind. i think it's up for grabs for anybody. i think people will be looking at newt and mitt and ron paul, as well as rick santorum, michele bachmann and the other candidates very closely. i think you'll see that nobody is going to sit at the top for

very long. >> romney, though, has been campaigning for years in the state of iowa, all across the country, for that matter. does this mean the romney message is not resonating with the people of iowa and the fact that they're just waiting for anybody else to come along that they can throw their support behind? >> i think mitt romney has a solid support base that's residual from four years ago. i think you're seeing this time instead of it being a two-man race between mitt romney and mike huckabee in iowa, there are a lot of players. i think people are taking their time in iowa. people like me, conservatives, are trying to weigh their options and decide who is the best candidate to take on barack obama. >> when we look at this clip that i want to play for everybody, it's a political ad for iowans for christian leaders in government. the group is blasting newt gingrich, however, for his extramarital affairs. take a look at this. >> as somebody who believes strongly in family -- >> newt gingrich is set to run

for president in the 2012 election. but he is currently married to wife number three. >> you've been married three times. you had extramarital affairs. so patriotic and so passionate that you cheated on your wife. >> are these personal attacks going to resonate with the christian right and derail momentum from newt gingrich there? >> i don't know. the bible teaches us that we need to forgive people. and the savior himself said when talking to those people that he who is without sin throw the first stone. i think people in iowa are going to take that into consideration. they're going to listen to newt gingrich and determine whether or not they believe he's being honest. i think iowans look more at issues and are going to look more at the inconsistencies he's had and are going to weigh that more than anything. i think people are looking for a true conservative who will stand up for their issues. so it may become part of the message and part of the things that are going on in iowa. but i believe iowans are

forgiving people and will be looking at what people's message is and what they're running on and will weigh it all when they make their decision. >> four weeks to go from today. matt, great to see you. thank you, sir. >> thank you. keeping a close eye on wall street for you today after the s&p credit rating agency warned that 15 european nations might get downgraded, their credit rating, that is, unless they come up with a plan to curb europe's financial crisis and do it fast. investors were surprised by the threats to germany and france, europe's strongest economies. in the wake of all of this right now, take a peek at what the markets are doing. the dow is up by some 23 points but above 12,000 points. the s&p and the nasdaq, if we can take a look at those, guys. down two points, i'm hearing in my hear. treasury secretary tim geithner now in germany for these critical talks this week on dealing with europe's debt crisis. that's ahead of meetings of european leaders on thursday and friday of this week as well.

here's a look at some other stories topping the news for you right now. tsa agents at newark airport found a stunning surprise in a passenger's bag this weekend. five grenades, all five were already disarmed. the passenger was allowed to board her plane. tsa officials say there was no impact to airport operations. faa administrator randy babbitt requested an immediate leave from the agency after a weekend dwi arrest in fairfax, virginia. officials within the department of transportation are in talks with their lawyers about babbitt's future employment status. the deputy administrator will serve as acting administrator. a sentencing is under way in the rod blagojevich trial. the two-day hearing for the disgraced former governor will determine his length of time behind bars. prosecutors will argue blagojevich should have a 15 to 20-year sentence. blagojevich was found guilty on 18 counts of corruption in illinois. all eight of the boys that jerry sandusky is charged with

molesting will reportedly testify at sandusky's preliminary hearing scheduled for next week. the former penn state assistant football coach is facing 40 counts of child sexual abuse. his preliminary hearing scheduled for december 13th, that is a week from today. meantime a man who claims the former syracuse assistant basketball coach, bernie fine, molested him reportedly admits he subsequently abused a young boy himself. he says he knew the boy and worked at a camp the boy attended. he said he's now getting counseling and understands that he was subconsciously grooming the boy for a relationship as is often the case with pedophiles. he said he's glad he was caught before the news became worse so he could get the help that he needs. the london olympics next year could cost the capital a whopping $11 million per hour. the expensive tap due to beefing up security which could run them $1.5 billion. the cost to fund the olympics

has quadrupled since 2005 when london took on hosting that event. next up, the battle for the billionaires. which presidential candidate is in the lead? plus, fact-checking the candidates, who changes political positions the most? and a programming note, "andrea mitchell reports" live from tel aviv today as msnbc launches hot tv in israel. she'll talk with an opposition leader about what people are calling a secret war with iran. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ at bank of america, we're lending

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time for the political sidebar. mitt romney is trailing newt gingrich in the latest polls. but he's leading in the battle for billionaires. romney leads that race with 42 supporting his campaign. president obama trailed with 30 billionaires. rick perry, 20 on his side. jon huntsman, 12. four billionaires were supporting newt gingrich back in october but that was before his rise in the polls.

it doesn't cost a billion dollars to reportedly hide records, only 100,000 grand. mitt romney spent that much in 2008 to replace computers in his office and then hide documents during his tenure as massachusetts governor. romney was gearing up for his first presidential run. state officials say it's all legal. ron paul is adding bark to his campaign ads. check out in new commercial running in iowa. it's called "big dog." >> what's up with these sorry politicians? lots of park. when it's show time, whimpering. you want big cuts? ron paul's been screaming it for years. budget crisis, no problem. >> the two gop's leading presidential candidates, newt gingrich and mitt romney have amassed what many voters considering a long list giving them the dreaded flip-flopper

label. gingrich supported a health care mandate and now opposes it. he says appearing with pelosi in a climate change had dumbest thing he's ever done. one of romney's major so-called flip-flops comes on the issue of abortion. as massachusetts governor, he said he defends a woman's right to choose. now he says he's firmly pro-choice. he also said there's evidence to support the notion that climate change is occurring. in 2009, romney said the u.s. needed an economic stimulus this. year he said he never supported the president's stimulus. so i'm joined now by glenn kessler, writer for "the washington post." voters want to know which of these men is the most trustworthy.

>> you have to look at the context in which these statements were made. i think that a lot of the statements that romney has been accused of flip-flopping on indicates a shift from left to right. so their voters might look at it as a matter of political ed teed yen expediency. he used to be a governor in a very liberal state. did he makes these shifts out of conviction or expedience? in the case of gingrich, his flip-flops, so to speak, aren't left to right, right to left. it's kind of a restless mind trying on new ideas and then discarding them. so a voter might look upon those and say, maybe it's not political expedience, that's more a matter of changing his mind. in the case of romney with abortion, he argued that he

changed his mind because of discussions he had looking into stem cell research and that's why he moved to a more pro-life position. there are some republicans that have looked at that and said, you know, that's an acceptable rationale for changing your mind. voters could look at it and say, maybe it's a coincidence he changed his mind just as he's trying think abrunning for the republican nomination. >> which of these two candidates stand to lose the most by being labelled the dreaded flip-floppers? is it gingrich who actually seems to be able to absorb a lot of the criticism in way that is romney can't? >> i think it has to do with the political persona. newt gingrich is known among republicans as the man who brought republican majority to the house of representatives for the first time in 40 years. so he's trusted as a movement conservative, so to speak. so that gives him a little more leeway to move away from the

ideology such as on amnesty for immigrants. romney has a more difficult problem because when he was in massachusetts he took positions that many republicans would have considered to the left of the party. now he's taken different positions. though i have to say that for some of those examples you ran up there like on the stimulus, i looked into that. that's a very unfair charge. he was not specifically talking about the president's stimulus plan. >> which was he specifically talking about then, glen? >> stimulus in general. which is different than actually talking about the specific plan that president proposed where you can -- lots of people at the time were saying you should have similar will you have, but then the president came out with a plan that leaned much more heavily towards spending increases as opposed to tax cuts, which is a more traditional republican position. and he looked upon the tax cut said in obama's plan is not

really tax cuts but tax credits. so you can have a philosophical dispute about the aspects of the stimulus plan. >> glen kessler of the "washington post," appreciate your time. >> you're welcome. amazing discovery by nasa. could it be a planet similar to earth? we'll show you. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil 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!

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released a presidential memorandum about the global gay and lesbian community. nbc's crystal welker live at the white house to explain. what's the update? >> reporter: this presidential memorandum really the first of its kind. it states that this white house will consider how foreign countries treat the lesbian, gay, by sexual and transgender community before they give out foreign aid. so certainly a first here. secretary of state hillary clinton traveling abroad this week. she will be talking about this very topic today in geneva. and by the way, this also marks human rights day. so the white house saying that they will consider how different countries treat the lgbt community. on an unrelated matter, this comes on the same day that pop star lady gaga will be paying a visit to the white house. she'll be meeting with officials here to talk about anti-bullying measures. something she cares a lot about. >> take any bets on the wild rain gear she's going to have on? >> i am certainly looking

forward to seeing her outfit. we'll try to get pictures. >> that's going to do it for me today. i'll see you back here at 11:00 tom morning eastern time. alex wagner comes your way next. is to keep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the other guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. the pioneers. the aviators. building superhighways in an unknown sky. their safety systems built of brain and heart, transforming strange names from tall tales into pictures on postcards home. and the ones who followed them, who skimmed the edge of space, the edge of heaven, the edge of dreams.

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will newt gingrich sechz destruct -- self-destruct in time for nut romney to save the day? joining me jonathan capeheart. jimmy williams is a co-founder and senior strategist for united republic. susan molinari, former new york congresswoman and -- democrats are reviving newt gingrich's ethics violations. but while attacks are mounting on the surging candidate, his biggest problems may come from within. luke