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tv   The Last Word  MSNBC  December 9, 2011 1:00am-2:00am EST

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that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow night. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell," including his exclusive interview with elizabeth warren. please stay tuned. tonight, an exclusive interview with the new front-runner. no, not newt gingrich. we've got elizabeth warren. >> let's go to newt versus romney. >> yeah. >> romney unloaded today. >> mitt romney has no time to lose. they are turning the fire hose on newt. >> in florida, gingrich also beat romney by 23 points. >> a lot of the tea party people are for mitt romney. >> gingrich has made the calculations so far that romney is still having a difficult time with tea party supporters. >> newt gingrich over obama in ohio in a head to head match up, 43-42. that is a heart attack. >> that is mind bending. >> conservatives like mitt romney.
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>> gingrich on top in iowa with 33% support among likely caucus goers. >> gingrich is not the only front-runner, he's eroded romney's electability. >> this is clearly a statement from the american people and has less to do with newt gingrich than it does with the state of american politics. >> newt gingrich has an argument against obama that is entirely based on hatred. >> i have one opponent, barack obama, and that's how my campaign is going to keep moving forward. >> just wait and see. that's what i tell him. >> it is hard not to see that the romney campaign is at least doing implicit comparisons with newt personally. >> this is a guy who's a father and a husband and who loves his wife and his kids. >> i've been married to the same woman for 25 years -- i'm sorry. i get in trouble. for 42 years. i've been in the same chunk my
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entire life. >> this is not subtle, folks. this is a full-fledged pivot. >> let them do what they want to to. >> gingrich wants to look discipline. he's got a discipline problem. >> erratic, undisciplined, a train wreck. >> newt gingrich is never going to be president of the united states. >> newt gingrich all he cares about is newt gingrich. >> i wish everybody had loved me. the new republican front-runner, newt gingrich, is soaring in the polls now. not because republicans love newt. who could? it's not because they love him. it's because they just hate mitt. they just can't stand mitneys. so with 26 days to go before the iowa caucus, team romney has decided to treat hatred with hatred. he wants to get all of that
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republican hatred flowing towards newt gingrich. the top guy in new hampshire had this to say to chuck todd. >> the way he deals with issues in a way that is more about him than about the principle behind the issues. paul ryan's situation is such an ideal example. look at the way the faux conservative gingrich handled it and the real conservative mitt romney handled it. >> i believe newt gingrich is a gingrich-ite. all he cares about is newt gingrich. >> nbc's luke russert obtained a copy of the anti-gingrhas been n capitol hill. that includes newt gingrich opposed paul ryan's conservative budget. newt gingrich claims to be a fiscal conservative but when he attacked paul ryan's budget he
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threw the conservative cause under the bus. mitt creates jobs. mitt romney is the only candidate who can beat barack obama. oops. the trouble with that last talking point, of course, is the polls disagree. polling now indicates that romney and gingrich are evenly matched against president obama. a new batch of early state polls now shows gingrich roaring ahead of romney. in iowa, gingrich has a 13-point lead over romney. in new hampshire, the former state of massachusetts pretends to leave, gingrich has closed to within nine points of romney. until now, romney has had at least a 20-point lead in every new hampshire poll. and in both south carolina and florida, gingrich is running away from romney 23 points ahead.
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a new poll out today confirms gingrich's commanding lead in florida. and when voters are asked to choose between just gingrich and romney, gingrich's lead surges to 52% while romney only gets 34% and only 9% undecided. which means if romney converted every undecided republican voter in florida, he would still lose by about ten points. with romney's unprecedented history of political flip-flopping, his team has concluded there is no way they can beat gingrich on policy even though gingrich, too, has been inconsistent. team romney is now trying to deliver the message that gingrich has had too many wives, too many girlfriends, and not enough private sector jobs. they are doing this essentially by pointing out how thin romney's romantic resume is compared to gingrich's.
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>> i think people understand that i'm a man of steadiness and constant see. i don't think you're going to find somebody with more attributes than me. i've been married to the woman for 42 years. i worked at one company for 25 years. and i left that to go off and help save the olympic games. if i'm president of the united states, i will be true to my family, to our country, and i will never apologize to the united states of america. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> chris christie's whose endorsement of romney did not win romney one point in the polls is following the campaign's order to talk about newt's love life without every mentioning newt. >> i think the first test for anybody we're thinking about supporting, before we examine their record, before we listen to their speeches, is, is that somebody that i would be proud to be representing my country? is that somebody i believe in my
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heart shares my values, love of family, love of country? examine his record. they are important. examine the politics and whether you think he's the best person to lead our party against the president. but first owe foremost, when we look at these candidates, say, is this the kind of person that is always going to make me proud in the oval proud and never have to embarrass america or worry will do something that just will make me ashamed? >> something that will make me ashamed? not something that made me ashamed. past tense, as in newt's romantic history. christie's asking republican voters to think about what newt might be up to right now. tonight. or what he might try to get away with in the future behind callista's back, especially if he has the power of the white house. newt in the white house. when callista's not looking.
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that's what christie is asking republican voters to think about. something that will embarrass america. those are christie's words. embarrass america. something that will make me ashamed. chris christie, a man of self-confessed uncontrollable appetites, thinks he sees something he recognizes in newt gingrich, an uncontrollable appetite for things that could embarrass america, make chris christie feel ashamed. and this is on day one of the attack newt strategy. where are we going to be by christmas eve? joining me now are joe klein whose piece in tomorrow's issue reads "why newt makes my head spin." and thank you both for joining me tonight. >> joe, he makes your head spin, makes chris christie fear that
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america could be embarrassed by this man. ashamed of this man. >> the republican party makes my head spin. it's -- you know, it's like this malaria swamp subject to these vast features. vast fevers and then sudden chills. where is herman cain? he's gone? and so it's extremely volatile and newt is extremely volatile. so because he's so extremely volatile he may be the man for the moment. >> let's listen to how cool newt is playing it, at least on day one on the attacks against newt. this is him today in south carolina. >> i'm going to stay positive. i'm going to talk about how we solve the country's problems and i have one opponent, barack obama. and i'm not -- that's how my campaign is going to keep moving forward. >> do you think he's attacking you on a really personal level, though? >> no. no, he's fine. >> howard, how long can the newt gingrich you know keep that up?
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>> i don't know. i saw him the other night. i -- at the kennedy center of, of all places, and never saw a more self-satisfied confident version of newt than the one i saw the other night. but having covered him as joe has for years, i can tell you that newt's biggest moment of danger is when he's feeling the most confident. what he's done in the last month is nothing short of remarkable. joe's right. it is a malarial situation but i think newt waited for his moment and now that he has it, he's going to enjoy it. and the fact that he's drawing other people to attack him is making the others look bad. you just spent the first part of the show justifiably making fun of mitt romney. this is newt gingrich's game. i feel like i'm watching something where newt gingrich is the guy from the ultimate fighting, in the octagon and mitt romney looks like something out of a gilbert and sullivan
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play. he's got to bring in john and chris christie, like the entire linemen from the new york giants because mitt romney will not do it himself. >> they are trying to trying to go discover more adultery than they are of putting into law an individual mandate for law in massachusetts. >> a month ago newt said they have world view but what newt and romney share, which is the dirty little secret here and help to publicize like the
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individual mandate, like health care he can changes, like cap and trade, like the earned income tax credit, like responsibility in the inner cities. this was how newt defined himself 15 years ago and it's how romney came into politics at about that time felt most comfortable. and now you have a situation where the from front-runners in the republican party are running desperately away from who they are. >> howard, is this a matter of excitement? meaning the republican voters seem to have been jumping from one center of excitement to another. sarah palin, exciting. whatever else you want to say about her, she could excite republicans, some republicans, michele bachmann had the same effect for a while. herman cain obviously had that excitement effect. the one guy who absolutely cannot deliver any excitement through the microphone to a republican audience is mitt romney and as unexciting as newt might be, he's ten times more exciting than mitt romney.
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>> yeah. first, joe is right on the politics of it. the romney people cannot complain for being secret moderate so instead they go the personal direction which is just anathetical to romney. whatever you want to say about him, he's not going to run a campaign for attacking his former wives. i've covered romney for years. i've covered him in boston, in new hampshire, i'm covering him this time. he just can't reach a crowd. newt gingrich is not exactly user-friendly either. it's just because newt, because of his rhetoric, because is he a master of attack politics, thrills a certain portion of the republican base just because of his almost sort of, you know, mad scientist's ability to make the democrats mad and newt knows how to do it. he knows how to use the dog whistle politics, the food stamp president yesterday. he knows just the kind of
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sophomoric type of rhetoric that the older baby boomers like and i think the young conservatives like. that's why ron paul went on the attack against newt gingrich. because newt gingrich, whatever his record is. >> it turns out rush limbaugh is one of those people who likes the gingrich rhetoric, even though months ago he was attacking him viciously for having criticized paul ryan. let's listen to where rush is now on newt. >> while the establishment of the republican party is doing their best to take gingrich out, people are catapulting gingrich
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way ahead of everybody. we're not doing it this time. you've given us loser after loser every four years you've given us people that won't fight for us. you're giving people that won't go after obama, after the democrats, people that aren't conservative. >> joe, how much is john mccain to blame for this? the republican voters did what they were supposed to do last time around and they nominated the safe guy, the guy whose turn it was and they just don't want to go down that road again. >> romney was safer than mccain who was trigger happy during the campaign. but i think at this point maybe the republican party should just go with their heart and go with somebody like ron paul who is -- says what he believes, is as conservative as you possibly can get on everything except for foreign policy and clobbered in the fall and then next time they can go to the deep bench of candidates that they have in the wings, like chris christie, like jeb bush, and so on.
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the republican party has to get rid of this fever, has to get rid of the malaria. >> i feel like i'm listening to dr. oz here. >> yes. >> but -- >> ginatonic, perhaps. >> i think joe is right here. you're seeing the tail end of something here. this doesn't feel like the beginning of anything. as a matter of fact, newt is a throwback. newt's 68 years old. to some of the older conservatives, he reminds them of the days back when republicans were on the rise. newt violated a lot of their principles but they are not thinking of that. there's a nostalgia to this. you had ronald reagan and george h.w. as the remainder man and then the remainder man of the remainder man and now that whole generation has run its course and there is probably a new one waiting in the wings.
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it obviously is not newt gingrich or ron paul. it's a whole new construct of some kind that the republicans really haven't put together yet. >> i think howard's on to something here. the real problem is that we baby boomers are secret juveniles. >> there you go. >> joe klein and howard fineman, thanks guys. sarah palin urged the republican candidates to participate in the donald trump debate and so, of course, the other two republican candidates immediately dropped out of that debate. we'll have an update on who's in and who's out of the trump circus. it's going tbe a lonely debate. and later, my exclusive interview with elizabeth warren. she now has a commanding lead over scott brown. and so the republican attack machine is trying to destroy her. i wouldn't do that. pay the check?
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here's one good reason why it's good to be alive. narrating the next presidential debate, donald trump. donald trump. apparently pat sajack was unavailable. >> and today, possible nominee, front-runner mitt romney declined trump's invitation, which means he'll except trumped invitation. it's like... it's gonna be a casual thing.
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♪ obviously we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. for example -- no, seriously, in an episode recently of "celebrity apprentice," at the steakhouse the men's cooking team did not impress the folks from omaha steaks and there was a lot of blame to go around but you, mr. trump, realized it was a lack of leadership so ultimately you didn't blame lil jon or meatloaf. these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night.
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>> that was president obama effortlessly humiliating trump and now they are humiliating trump that they won't show up for his ridiculous debate. today, a week after he was invited to participate, rick perry's brain unfroze long enough to decide to decline that and now bachmann will not participate either. so the total stands at two acceptances. the man at the top, gingrich, and the man at the bottom, rick santorum. five rejections. here's perry explaining his decision to some disappointing viewers. >> i talked to donald the day
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before yesterday and said, i really want to do it. >> say, if you want me to, pick me up for the debate and -- >> i'm not sure he would do that for me. >> the chairman of the republican party is discouraging people for participating in the debate. >> we appreciate what mr. trump has done but if you are still talking about potentially running for an individual candidate, then i think that's a problem. it would be malpractice for me as an rnc chairman not to discourage it. >> trump stupidly dangles the possibility of running in front of a gullible media. >> people have expressed that
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and i don't want to give up that option because it certainly is an option if the republicans pick a wrong candidate. >> republican candidates are paying more attention to the chairman of their party than the woman who pretended was going to run for president but never fooled visit viewers of this program. >> i think candidates should not be afraid to debate in front of the nation no matter who the host of the debate is and consider the diverse audience that perhaps he can attract. i think romney could and should still change his mind and huntsman, too, and participate. >> and so we shall have a so-called debate and a former senator who couldn't win re-election in his own state and it will be moderated by a vulgarian who lies almost as
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much as he breathes. joining me now is roger simon. roger, newt gingrich is out with his defense now. he's playing defense now he said they are going to be the leader of the free nation and can't face questions from donald trump? you might want to re-evaluate if you're ready. how about that? >> i somehow think the other candidates are not saying no to donald trump because they are exactly afraid of his key mind and knife-edge intellect. we're down to rick santorum who believes he's never been allowed to talk enough during these debates and newt gingrich who wants to talk forever during these debates and donald trump who really never allows anyone else to talk when he's in the room. it may accidently be exciting tv but all debates are political
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theater. but this is really the theater of the absurd. this is as low as it has ever sunk. >> roger, there could be a risk for gingrich in the debate. this is rick santorum's chance. he's always thought it should be me. i'm the real conservative in the anybody but romney sweepstakes. it should eventually come to me, rick santorum. he should spend this entire debate trying to beat gingrich to a pulp and he just might be able to do it. there's a risk here. >> he might and the seven or eight people watching might take that seriously. you know, i have a sinking feeling that this debate is not going to be about gingrich or santorum or about the donald. the donald is a figure that makes p.t. barnum make look like a serious factor in american
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history. throughout this entire political year i have never heard anyone say, what we really lack is more and that's what donald trump can bring to this debate. also, i'm not sure that donald trump has ever been in des moines where this is going to take place. gingrich has not spent much time there. but i would warn both of them, the nearest tiffany is chicago. so if either of them are thinking of having a spending trip out there, they are going to be disappointed. >> and donald is afraid to go into the television studios that's why he makes everyone come to his place. it will be interesting to see how much time he spent with the lighting folks in iowa. >> it will be a hoot. i'm sure newt gingrich thinks
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this is his opportunity to have 90 minutes to himself but in the end this will probably not be a good time for anybody. >> roger simon, thank you. >> thank you. coming up, elizabeth warren is leading in the race against scott brown. she will speak why senator brown to ahead of the consumer financial protection bureau. and later, a standard in greed is rewritten by the ceo who resigned from his company because he refused to use bankruptcy procedures to break the commitments to that company's workers. ceo of american airlines teaches corporate america a lesson in tonight's "rewrite." do you thik it all comes from?
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no one thought he had a chance but he won and won big and did 24 distinguished years in the united states senate. is elizabeth warren going to be the next patrick moynihan? republicans are panicking. what does elizabeth warren think about the republican's reaction to her campaign? their attack ads against her. she's going to join me next.
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elizabeth warren has her biggest lead yet over republican incumbent senator scott brown in a university of massachusetts/boston herald poll today. 49% to 42%. that's an absolutely devastating poll for an incumbent senator. any sitting senator running for re-election goes into full panic mode as soon as her or her polling number drops below 50%. it's an incumbent polling at 42%? absolutely cannot win re-election, even if the opponent is polling below that number. because usually the undecided voter breaks for the challenger, instead of the incumbent. but in this case, the incumbent's challenger is at 49%. 7 points ahead with only 6% undecided. republicans know how much
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trouble they are in in massachusetts in that senate race, which is why karl rove's group is running this ad against elizabeth warren. >> the first thing i'm going to promise is that i'm going to be a voice of middle class families. >> they are bailing out the same banks that bailed out the financial meltdown. middle-class americans lost out. later, warren went on a charm offensive with some of the same banks that got bailed out. tell professor warren, we need jobs, not more bailouts and bigger government. >> joining me now for an exclusive interview, massachusetts elizabeth warren. thank you for joining me tonight, professor. >> thank you for having me. >> i can tell in that fact ad that they are using the word professor as an insult, as something you should run away from, that how dare a professor,
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a harvard professor run for the united states senate. how are you countering that mild neighborhood in rochester from avid square? >> you know, all i can say is, yeah, i have a job at harvard. but i wasn't born at harvard. i worked hard. i grew up in a family, kind of on the ragged edges of the middle class and got a good education. i grew up in an america that invested in kids like me and ultimately that's how i ended up at a place like harvard. but what i really care about is keeping those opportunities open for the next generation of kids and the next generation and the generation after that. that's what i really think this election is about. >> now, did you see it coming, that they were going to attack you as a friend of wall street and protector of wall street, koddler of the billionaires? >> well, let me put it this way. i knew that wall street was going to come after me with everything they had. they want to make sure that i'm not the next senator from
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massachusetts. but it seems like the strategy now is the kitchen sink strategy. you know, throw anything you can at her and let's see what happens. you know, let's keep in mind what was going on just a little over three years ago. karl rove was part of the inner circle while george w. bush is telling congress and a nation, we've got to bail out the big financial institutions, his secretary of the treasury is handing out money to the largest financial institutions. no strings attached. i go down to washington and i'm calling him out for it. i'm calling him out on executive bonuses, i'm calling him out on the fact that they are giving this money away no strings attached and i get attacked for it. okay. then we roll forward three years. now karl rove takes money from wall street in order to attack elizabeth warren for being cozy with wall street? this one just goes beyond anything i had ever imagined.
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i really am. i'm just amazed. it leaves you speechless. >> well, i think rove's going to find out that massachusetts voters are a little smarter than that. i'm going to do my whole interview in my boston accent, by the way. >> i love it. >> now, richard cordray was up to run for the consumer financial protection bureau, something that you helped and got 53 votes, which we now is no longer good enough because they were trying to move to the actual nomination vote. there was one republican vote in favor and that was the republican senator from massachusetts. >> that's right. >> did you think you might have had any effect on him already? >> you know, i don't know. but i'm glad to see him vote in favor of rich cordray. i just wish that every other republican had not been out there trying to block it. i just want to tie those two
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together because the consumer financial protection bureau is there for regular families. it's there so they don't get gouged on credit cards and mortgages and on student loans but they won't get their full power until they get a confirmed director. and we have now got wall street's best friends in the senate blocking confirmation of rich cordray solely to try to hinder this agency, to try to keep it from -- calling for some real accountability over wall street. so, you know, both these people are tied together. wall street is still calling the shots for a whole lot of folks in washington. >> now, that's clearly to me, senator brown trying to pick a spot where he can vote the way you would. he's trying to narrow the gap between the two of you. i imagine he's got a bunch of votes in his time in the senate now that he would like to have some do-overs now that he's on a campaign against you?
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>> yeah. you know, you remember last month, we had votes on three jobs bills in a row. the first one would have supported 22,000 jobs in the commwealth of massachusetts. and at a time when we've got about a quarter of a million people who are unemployed. scott brown and every other republican voted against it because it would have meant a tax increase, just a tiny one for those making a million dollars or more. the next week, a vote to try to prevent lay offs for firefighters and paid for a small tax on millionaires. scott brown and every other republican voted against it. and then the third week, 11,000 jobs in the transportation industry, primarily infrastructure, good construction jobs that we really need in massachusetts and work we need to get done. would have created a 7/10 of 1% increase on those making $1 million or more, scott brown and
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every other republican voted against it. you know, i think in this election, all i really have to do it get out there and tell the truth. >> a professional analyst look at polls and they look at the so-called internals, the questions asked inside the poll beyond who do you favor? it was a very powerful one in this university of massachusetts boston herald poll that you're leading in. 43% say that elizabeth warren would do a the better job looking out for the middle class. 33% say scott brown would do a better job. that seems to me to be the essential internal question of this election in voter's minds and that, by the way, is not a poll that the boston herald can be all that happy about. i'm going to have to share with our audience what we know, chance of the conservative boston herald, endorsing elizabeth warren. but there it is. they have a poll showing you a substantial margin above scott
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brown, regarding trust from the middle class on their issues. that seems to me to be where this election is going to be fought. >> you know, you are right that this election is going to be fought over what's happening to america's middle class. they've been hammered hammered for a generation now and washington doesn't get t washington is wired for those that cannot hire its lobbyists, to work for wall street. i go out around the commonwealth of massachusetts all i can, every day, and i talk to families and they just keep saying, it's not working for us. washington isn't working for us and that's why they want to get involved in this campaign. you know, people are enthusiastic about this. they want to make some changes and i'm there with them. i think that's right. >> elizabeth warren, thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it. coming up, the ceo of american airlines quits rather than break the promises made to workers. that's in tonight's rewrite.
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and the true tragedy of herman cain suspends his presidential campaign. the late night comedians are really going to miss him. the last herman cain jokes are coming up. ♪ and just let me be [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ your ticket home [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide now through sunday. is best absorbed in small continuous amounts.
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in tonight's "rewrite," a ceo refused to take a golden parachute. last week american airlines filed for bankruptcy protection that will allow it to cut costs to become more competitive with other airlines that have already profited from the cost-cutting protection from bankruptcy, including cutting pensions and other benefits from workers who have devoted their working lives to the airline. after the american airlines board voted to put the company in bankruptcy, they asked that chairman and ceo gerard arpey to continue running the company even though he opposed the decision to put the company in bankruptcy. mr. arpey clearly understand why the board wanted bankruptcy
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protection. he said, our bankrupt colleagues all made net profits, good net profits last year and we didn't and you can mathematically pinpoint that to termination of pensions, termination of retiree medical benefits, changing in the labor contracts. mr. arpey simply couldn't bring himself to break those commitments. and so he resigned immediately with no severance package. none. not a $30 million golden parachute, not a month's pay, nothing. the tragedy of september 11th, 2001, was also a business disaster for the airline industry. no airline suffered more than american airlines which lost two planes on september 11th, as did united. it's been ten years but you can still sometimes see the pain of that day in the eyes of american and united workers, especially
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in los angeles where most of the planes we lost that day were supposed to land. recognizing the depression that had hit their company, american airlines workers made huge concessions in their union contracts in 2003. but robert crandall, the former ceo of american said, the other airlines that went bankrupt cut their costs much deeper than american. gerard arpey believes american airlines workers deserves something better than bankruptcy. i believe it's important to the character of the company and its ultimate long-term success to do your very best to honor those commitments. he told the new york times, it is not good thinking either at the corporate level or at the personal level, to believe you can simply walk away from your circumstances.
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mr. arpey sent a farewell letter to everyone working at american airlines saying, my heart is heavy today. to the airline that suffered so profoundly and personally on september 11th, he gave the parting gift of optimism. the men and women of american airlines have met challenge after challenge with perseverance, skill, determination, and grace and i know you will continue to do so for many years to come. gerard arpey, tonight's corporate profile in the courage. [ coughs ]
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what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop.
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for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. metal,@ material anytime.blgr
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from rockwell, making your jobs the rockwell blade runner is one of the most versatile saws you could ever own. with the blade runner you won't need a work bench, with the optional wall mount the blade runner mounts directly to your wall, it is convenient and it saves garage space. and now the week in comedy. >> herman cain, remember herman
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cain? herman cain was on the show. he suspended his campaign. he has asked the secret service if they could continue to provide him protection, at least until his wife cools off. >> even though herman cain is suspending his campaign, he's launching a new website, called thecainsolution.com. >> herman cain announced he was suspending his campaign. he said, i will not be silent and i will not go away. and then he stopped talking and left. >> when cain dropped out of the race, i felt disupon dent. i was depressed. i was losing all hope that my job would ever bring me joy again. and then -- >> we are just confirming that donald trump will moderate a republican debate on december 27th in des moines, iowa.
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>> thank you, jesus. you know, sometimes when god closes a door, he opens a window. and sometimes standing outside that window is a circus peanut wearing a badger. >> i like the idea of bringing in some very good talent and people that are knowledgeable on certain subjects. i'm pretty knowledgeable on most of the subjects. i'm actually very knowledgeable on foreign affairs and things of that like. >> so, candidates, be prepared to be drilled on things of that like. items of that such, topics of this stuff, and fluency in, you know, that one thing. >> newt gingrich is now riding very high in the polls. he's the front-runner now, i believe.
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i'm surprised that newt's doing so well because if you've seen him, his campaign ads, his message, it isn't very positive. >> the america we know and love is a thing of the past. >> america. it's over. newt gingrich 2012. it's over. >> that guy's been around forever. >> that's newt gingrich's pitch. i'm the thing that has been in your pantry forever. you can try a pop-tart and eggo waffles. but if you look way back in there, there's a can of la choy baby corn. it may still not be offered by la choy. you don't remember buying it yet you don't remember ever being without it and now you have no choice but to elect it president. i'm newt gingrich and i approve