up way too early. >> asleep and pounding of you, up in bed, your husband asleep and you're pounding kaluha watching "way too early." nothing makes me happier.

internationally, president obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. >> appeasement. >> nothing but appeasement. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken out of the field whether i engage in appeasement. or whoever is left out there, ask them about that. good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is friday, december 9th. with us on set, msnbc contributor mike barnicle, former governor of pennsylvania, msnbc analyst ed rendell, michael steele and jillian tekk. i'm literally catching my breath. i sprinted down the hallway. that quick first step out of the

control room. >> you need that. >> first thing out of the box. you need that quick step. >> jillian, let me start with you quickly on europe. i was listening to sarkozy yesterday saying friday, today, is make or break time for the eu. what did he mean for that? >> well, in many ways, it is. what's happening right now, it reminds me of a friend having a really bad relationship and every night they get on the phone and you hear them saying you'll never guess what he did, we can't -- another argument and stuff. the last few weeks we've had over and over again the euro zone going through a relationship crisis. you kind of field like it's groundhog day. yesterday they failed to resolve it. nobody dumped anybody but nobody got to deal with their questions and we're still hanging in limbo. the financial markets are getting really concerned. unless they pull out the infamous euro zone bazooka, something strong enough to shock everyone to calm down, it's

going to get very big -- >> and angela merkel holds that bazooka, right, germ sni? >> it's not just angel merkel. you had one finger on the trigger. the problem is that you have 17 fingers on that trigger. you can't fire a bazooka with 17 fingers on that trigger. unless he buys into something, there ain't going to be any answer. >> and what are germany and france asking specifically of the rest of the euro zone countries? they want a lot of belt tightening to move forward here. >> a lot of belt tightening and eventually transfer a lot more power to france and germany. they'll have the ability in the future to set the rules and, essentially, that everyone signs up to a very, very strict, if you like, diet. that in the future everyone's going to promise that they're not going to have too much debt. the problem with that is that that's kind of what they

promised ten years ago and we all know how well that work zpld don't say anything, but ed rendell thinks we're doing the show from brussels this morning. >> let's talk about newt then, shall we? mitt romney, to cast the former speaker as unreliable and unelectable. in an e-mail obtained by msnbc news, congressional supporters are offered a laundry list of talking points in an effort to raise warning flags with conservative voters. in addition, one bullet point reads gingrich creates theories, mitt creates jobs. for now, newt gingrich is brushing off the attacks, vowing to stay away from the negative campaigning. >> i have one candidate, barack

obama. my only observation is every time these guys have attacked each other, they've gone down. so, i don't know that being the attack dog in the republican party is necessarily a big asset. it's not a game i'm going to play. he goes on the attack. that's his perfect rerogative. they should run the campaign that they feel comfortable with. >> spoken like a guy in double-digit poll readings. >> he maintained that, you know, steady course. i'm not going to go after these guys. this is one of the problems as i see it. for seven months now mitt has been basically persona non grata. now he's going to come out fighting just as people are beginning to settle on someone like newt for the nomination. and he runs the risk of really turning those voters off and watching those numbers drop even further.

because newt is able to maintain that posititure and not push ba he looks really aggressive after having done nothing. you haven't fought for this up till now. all these other folks in line -- so now you want to run for president of the united states? that could be a real problem for him. >> governor, we haven't seen you in studio, i think, since this newt gingrich bubble was blown up, if it is a bubble. >> i found him passed out in the green room. i had to revive him. >> what do you make of the way the field has evolved over time and how we go into the polls in 3 1/2 weeks? >> i think newt's turn has come. he did do a good job in the debates. michael's right. he did a good job staying above the fray. this isn't exactly a new posture. two problems. look inside the polls. in iowa, for example, 55% of the people polled hadn't made a final choice.

they like newt gingrich but hadn't made a final choice. it's still very fluid. you've seen him drop in the national polls six or seven points in a little less than a week, number one. number two, peggy noonan wrote a great article saying he's interesting. if i were running mitt romney's campaign, i would let ron paul, rick perry go after newt and i would stay, as michael said, stay the course. you have to assume that somewhere along the line, newt's going to explode. mitt romney, slow and steady, the mature canndidate, would have, i believe, have been the one to pick up the pieces. i'm not so sure now. >> the problem is, as you know, in football when you play that preventive defense, what happens? the other team winds up whipping you. this prevent defense that they've been running in terms of waiting for newt to fumble the

ball, i just wouldn't risk it. it's a little too much to take at this point. >> i was chatting last night with some of romney's team. the big question now has got to be, do they wait until ten days ut and try to come in with a real assault and really try to change the terms of the debate just ahead of the primary? that's the real question. do you come in with a killer punch? >> gillian, i saw the first round poll commercial on newt was really effective. don't you think they could wait a while to see -- >> you let michelle back the running. she can go forth, do aggressive stuff and basically mitt romney looks cleansville. >> somebody on this show said a wicked commercial, romney, if i had been married to the same woman -- voters don't think it's a wicked commercial.

voters think -- >> i think they go to what michael was talking about, you know. throw a punch, mitt. >> yeah. >> if you want this job, throw a punch yourself. don't circle around, yeah, i've been married for 73 years and i have 406 kids. >> only five. only five. >> you got to. running for president is not a cake walk. you've got to show that you really want the job, particularly dealing with a field like the republican field is right now, where any opportunity for you to take the charge is there. and if you don't take that moment, the voters sit back and go, really? okay. >> does anybody here think if gingrich does succeed and does get the nomination of your party, a third party candidate emerges? >> i'm not convinced of that yet. i don't know what the upside is, necessarily. i guess it would depend on who that third party candidate is. the real question is whether or not it helps or hurts the president. >> right. >> a certain third party

candidate could wind up drawing independent voters away from him. so, democrats have better be careful about what they're wishing for as well here. it's not as clean and cut as they would like it to be if newt, for example, is the nominee. >> what are you hearing about from your friends in washington about -- >> friends in washington. >> he's out of all those. >> working for us, he has lost those. >> talking to my dog -- >> how hard is the republican establishment such that it exists pushing mitt romney to get more aggressive and to edge newt gingrich out of this race? how fearful is it to blow up the republican party? >> a huge push behind a lot of closed doors on k street and capitol hill to bring the pressure to bear. find out who is willing to go on the record to smackdown on newt, to push back, to tell the story, the truth. this is the problem. a lot of that is old news. and the newt of 1994 and '98 is

not the same newt of 2011-2012. and the sooner people get that, the better they'll understand why he's sitting in the polls. you can't go after newt based on what you knew of him as speaker. he's a very different man. >> absolutely. he starts in people's minds with maybe an f grade and he can only go up, right? somebody like mitt romney starts with n aa, boring kid, always done god in class and he can only go down. >> good point. >> everybody here knows about n newt. everybody on k street. everybody inside the beltway. i'm not sure that the voters had any idea he did a commercial with nancy pelosi, pushing global warming. >> don't you think -- >> i think that matters. >> they know the personal stuff. >> absolutely. >> they don't know about any

inconsistencies in his record. >> had you not been to iowa in four years, in iowa and parts of new hampshire and other primary states, the bulk of the people who are for newt gingrich are for him for one reason and one reason only? they believe that of all the candidates he can roast barack obama? they so detest the president of the united states that they think this is the guy that can get in the ring with him and cut him. >> maybe, mike. if i'm a republican voter and i don't want to see the president reelected, i'm interested in not the candidate who can roast him. i'm interested in the candidate who can beat him. >> but they're not. they don't seem to be. >> you make a good point, mike. that's one of mitt's growing concerns. the question of electability. when the numbers are showing that newt is as electable in a general election as mitt, for example, it becomes a problem. look, that's one thing that's held mitt in place, that electability question.

of all the folks in the field he's the most electable. everyone else is going to settle for mitt. now you don't have to settle for mitt. you have a fighter. you have someone prepare d to g out there and do the smackdown with the president, go toe to toe. one of the buzz -- i'm sure you've heard it, too -- can you imagine the debate with his the president on stage, the mono e mono? it motivates people. >> for the last republican debates, mitt romney's the best. he did great. he did great. he's ready to take on the president. what happened to all of that? >> i think all of that was thrown out the door by the consistent, steady performance of newt gingrich, going back to the implosion of his campaign. he very methodically -- >> romney was judge d to have wn virtually every one of those debates. >> it comes down to not just who

can manage the country but likability. we're going into the holiday season. everyone knows what it's like to hang around the table with your relatives. there's two key things. who do you want to sit on a bar stool late at night and shoot the breeze? that's got to be newt. >> i don't know about that. >> reporter: oh, no. >> no. >> newt is actually john belushi, the guest who won't leave. this know it all to my right. >> do you want to be on a bar stool with mitt romney? >> no. >> you answered the question. >> drinking alone again? >> absolutely. >> my own best company. >> exactly. >> donald trump debate scheduled for december 27th. starting to look like it might be an intimate affair. rick perry, michele bachmann, the latest republican contenders to say they will not attend the trump debate. newt gingrich and rick san toto

says they'll be there. >> we appreciate what mr. trump has done. if you're still talking about potentially running as an independent candidate, that's a problem. that would be malpractice for me as an rnc chairman not to believe that that is an issue. >> i wouldn't recommend it, but i would also say to the candidates that they can do what they want to do. >> spokesman for the gingrich campaign commented on the field, turning away from the trump debate saying they are going to be the leader of the free world and they can't face questions from donald trump? you might want it to re-evaluate if you're ready. the nignrich campaign, apparently they're ready. >> quick commercial for the ft. i'm really proud of this front page. partly because angela merkel isn't on it again but more importantly, isn't that a great

quote? i simply do not know where the money is. at this point he's either presenting himself as an idiot or as a criminal in some way and he has gone for the idiot choice. how the ceo of a company can stand up and say i have no idea where that money has went, they were doing this stuff in the back office and i kind of wasn't watching is pretty striking. >> $1.2 billion, not knowing what happened to it, right? >> a lot of customers' money and there are a lot of pretty angry customers right now. my theory is partly that corzine came from goldman sachs, which has its logdggistics really sor out. and he didn't have to worry about what the hobbits in the back were doing but when it got to mf global, it really marry mattered what they were doing in the back room. >> obviously in the forefront of everyone's mind, including mine, are the varying reports that customer accounts have not been reconciled. i was stunned when i was told sunday, october 30th, 2011, that

mf global could not account for many hundreds of millions of dollars of client money. i simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date. >> this is the guy that joe biden and barack obama were looking at for secretary of treasury and was going to as the first lead in helping them solve the debt crisis? and he doesn't know where the money is? look, to be partisan for a moment, if this guy were a republican, all my friends on the left would be jumping up and down and screaming. the crickets that are deafening right now in terms of the silence that you're hearing. yeah, you haul him up to capitol hill and do the showplace and you drill him down. but the reality is, this is pure incompetence. to play the stupid angle, i'm sorry, no one's buying it. it's criminal. over a billion dollars you can't account for and everybody is going to sit back and say, well, you know, that's just how it is.

it doesn't make sense. >> first of all, gillian said this doesn't look like the press is laying off on jon corzine, number one. number two, jon corzine was supposed to show up to a meeting to raise funds that mayor bloomberg and i were hosting. i it talked to him three days before the meeting. he said i'm going to be there. i said will you say a word? he said yeah, absolutely. mf broke two days later and he didn't come. so, i don't think he had a clue. because he wouldn't have been saying, i'm going to come to a meeting with 50 of the heaviest hitters in new york. >> that just defies belief, though, that the ceo doesn't know where $1.2 billion is. >> i think gillian's analysis is right. >> if the eu crisis weren't happening, this would be bigger news. how the companies are being run and how the customers of other companies need to worry about. >> not exactly like misplacing the car keys. >> $1.2 billion down the back of

the sofa. >> more on this later. coming up, congressman emanuel cleaver will join us, lawrence o'donnell, eugene robinson and andy cohen from bravo. what a day in sports. albert pujols, arguably the best player in baseball bolts st. louis for anaheim. and nba, kobe bryant thought he had a new teammate in chris paul until the deal was shot down, that the lakers would be too good as a result of the trade. >> i'm too good. >> bill karins. dwight howard coming to brooklyn maybe, who knows. >> he'll see you. >> come stay at my house a couple of blocks away. we'll watch some snow this morning. a little bit last night in chicago. first flakes of the season. very late for that. it did happen. detroit, a little coating out

there, too. same for cleveland. it will snow pretty good in buffalo today with lake enhancement. you're under a lake-effect snow warning, 6" to 10". that's very isolated. from new england down to d.c., it will be warmer today than over the weekend. we have a big arctic air mass in the northern plains that will sweep across the country. today, high temperatures in minneapolis and chicago will struggle. we're 8 right now in minneapolis. this afternoon, it's going to be very cold. only 14 for your high. good news this weekend, no big rain or snows heading anywhere. temperatures are pretty chilly around the country. this is how we should be this time of year. for all your travel plans and holiday parties, the weather is not going to cause you any problems whatsoever. looking nice at 30 rock, too. you're watching "morning joe" on this friday. we're brewed by starbucks. ♪ i'm burning out this useless telephone ♪ ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne

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let's take an early look at

the newspapers this morning. "the new york times," in a rare personal accusation, russian prime minister vladimir putin accused hillary clinton of inciting unrest. facing large-scale political protests after russian and international groups have condemned as fraudulent. also in the times, u.s. intelligence officials are analyzing a new video from iran that claims to show an american cia drone that crashed over the country several days ago. the top secret aircraft was brought down by the country's military in a, quote, sophisticated electronic attack. but the united states says a malfunction caused the crash. the video shows an aircraft with minor damage to a wing, draped with anti-american propaganda. and in the parade sunday magazine, matt damon talks about his new movie "we bought a zoo"

and what it's like raising four daughters. singer, songwriter and our good friend, the great carole king. mr. mike allen has a look at the playbook. mike, hello. >> hey, happy friday. >> there it is. that's our starter's pistol to start the weekend. thanks, mike. >> bang. >> your lead story this morning, mitt's granite fortress under siege. you put out the story that the former massachusetts governor starting to feel a little bit of heat in new hampshire, a state he probably thought he had locked up. >> he is. nobody knows new hampshire like polit politico's john martin. he's seeing signs that the governor's adopted state may be moving away from him. a rag tag organization there. his office opened november 11th. mitt romney, as john points out, has essentially been run ining there for five years. so, this could be a real test of whether excitement, momentum can trump organization and the

long-time conventional wisdom that new hampshire will only reward people who focus specifically on them. of course, mitt romney is strong in new hampshire, now spreading his love to iowa and across the country. >> a poll out just this week. latest polling from time magazine showing how close things have gotten over the last couple of months. about a month and a half. now the lead for mitt romney over newt gingrich, nine points. gingrich up 21 points since mid october. how does mitt romney stem that? >> well, one of the things that he's doing is being much more aggressive. we've seen him doing more interviews, fox news sunday this weekend. we've seen them beginning to hit gingrich. exclusive for you, we're letting you know right here that in iowa today, mitt romney will be getting radio ads emphasizing conservative credentials. the voice of ann coulter, little clip from tv. new sound for senator john thune

of south dakota, a quote from house budget chairman paul ryan, all say iing that mitt romney ia real conservative, ann coulter saying i think it's going to be romney getting back that air of ine ine inevitability. >> so he's playing in iowa? that was the big question, will he play in iowa? >> he is. they're saying he doesn't need to win. chuck todd will tell you that front-runners can't skip states. there's no way the presses will avert their gaze from that. now that he is there, he has an office open there, advertise in there, campaigning there. certainly has to finish in the top couple. new hampshire is just a week after, so he could go into new hampshire with a head of steam or limping. >> mike, maggie haberman writing paul gears up for long primary

slug. maggie writing that this time could be different for ron paul. why? >> this is fascinating. ron paul announced yesterday he was opening states in five -- opening offices in five states that are coming up. he's going to be strong through super tuesday on march 6th. maggie says he has enough organization in place to ensure he will be a player at the republican convention in tampa. and a little sneak peek from playbook for you here. on sunday, george will raises the strong possibility that ron paul is putting in place the ability to run as an independent if this nomination thing doesn't pan out for him. george will does the math to show that ron paul running as an independent makes it much easier for barack obama to get elected. >> 20-point leads in the early states. ron paul is climbing, right there with mitt romney in every single one of those polls.

>> absolutely. before i left the rnc, put in place a real dynamic effect here. my hope was for a broken convention, quite frankly. i think the idea of the base slogging through, deciding who ultimately will be the best it person to go head to head with the president is a good thing. >> give us two or three names that pop into your mind about a broken convention. >> you could have a mitt, newt, ron paul scenario. >> jeb bush? >> no. i don't think a third party, third individual will come flying in at that convention and, you know -- ♪ i'm here to save the day no it will be the delegates deciding who is in the best position to go forward. >> background in anthropology in the afghan region is a great

strategy to understand not only wall street but the republican party right now. >> i would say they're extremely low. the press lovers the idea of a brokered convention just as the press loves to talk about a divided government. it's because one of the playbook laws is money matters. in sports, relationships, certainly in politics. somebody is going to develop momentum. >> mike allen, great stuff today. have a great weekend. still ahead, will ferrell takes a dip in the mississippi river to show his love for an american classic beer. >> just doing a little hand fishing here in the mississippi. haven't caught any cat fish yet but did catch this little piece of america, old milwaukee. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there?

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that was tim tebow from his visit to "morning joe" earlier this year. after the nba stepped in to kill the trade just a day before training camp begins. hornets agreed to send the player as a multiplayer deal and

team him up with kobe bryant. the league, which has owned the hor hornets, vetoed the plan. he was lobbied by nba owners to stop the deal over concerns that the lakers would be getting another huge game at the expense of a smaller market franchise. cleveland cavaliers dan gilbert, you remember him from the nasty back and forth after lebron james was sent down, he wrote commissioner, it would be a travesty to allow the headachers to acquire chris paul in the apparent trade being discussed. the this trade should go to a vet of the 29 owners of the hornets. i just don't see how we allow this trade to happen. i know the vast majority of the owners feel the same way i do. when will we just change the name of the 25 of the 30 teams to the washington generals? please advise. the move was based on, quote, basketball reasons. whatever that means. making for an awkward start for the season for paul gasol and

lamar odem. they'll be expected now to report to practice today instead of the trade. odom tweeted this. when a team trades you and it doesn't go down, now what? expected back in new orleans. >> when are you going to get to the real sports news? nobody cares about the nba. let's get to albert. >> that's a bizarre story when a group of owners gets together and says the lakers are going to be too good. you can't let that trade happen. and the commissioner does it. it's amazing. the bidding war for albert pujols is over. the los angeles -- david gregory reminded me yesterday, they're not the los angeles angels. >> anaheim angels. >> there's one team in los angeles. they play chavez ravine. >> that's why they signed pujols. >> they win the sweepstakes, three-time mvp agreed to a

contract with the angels, leaving the cardinals after 11 seasons where he racked up a rookie of the year award, couple of gold gloves. what happened here, mike barnicle? >> two things happened. they had two years to negotiate with albert pujols and didn't want to go the distance with the money. los angeles angels of anaheim, whatever you want to call them, they realized with dodgers new ownership on the horizon they're going to need a big name to stay on top of that media market. they just got two because they get c.j. wilson. >> yanked him over from the rangers. >> it's not that they paid him $25 million a year. it's ten years. >> yeah. >> albert pujols to have played 21 years in the major? anybody think in his 19th and 20th year he's going to be as effective as -- >> it's like me getting in the box in spring training and batting third at the end of the ten-year deal. >> let's get albert on the

phone. let's get albert on the phone and see what he says about that. >> it's the second biggest deal in the history of baseball behind the one that the yankees gave a-rod. >> but a-rod was younger. >> no, the extension a couple of years ago. >> and a-rod has six years left in that deal. >> don't remind me. >> wow! >> pittsburgh steelers got a big scare. ben roethlisberger sent to the locker room after a punishing hit by the cleveland browns. big ben drops back, hit by a couple of defenders. kind of gets high/low there. comes down awkward on the left leg. hauled off the field for an x-ray. start of the second half, look who's back. roethlisberger hobbles on the field, getting a big ovation from the crowd. making a mockery of the browns defense. under throws it a little bit. turns and gets it. turn you that way, back that way and i'm gone.

79 yards for the -- roethlisberger will have an mri to check on that leg. a week from monday in san francisco. >> you think roethlisberger could get in the republican primaries? is it too late? >> he would win pennsylvania. that's one thing we know. lawrence o'donnell will join us here on the set. and, up next, mika has faxed in her must-read opinion pages.

[ knock on door ] cool. you found it. wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. priority mail flat rate shipping at usps.com. a simpler way to ship.

welcome back to "morning joe." mika and joe have the day off today. mika was kind enough to send in her must read. you haven't noticed ?

>> no. >> you're sitting in joe's chair. mika sent in her must read op-eds. >> in kansas, obama lamented that millions are now forced to take their children to food banks. you have to admire the audacity. that's the kind of damning observation the opposition brings up when you've been in office three years. yet obama summoned it to make the case for his re-election. why? because, you see, he bears no responsibility for the current economic distress. obama can't run on stewardship. he can't run on policy. his signature initiatives, the stimulus, obamacare and the failed cap and trade will go unmentioned in his campaign ads. indeed they will be the stuff of republican ads. what's left? class resentment. got a better idea? >> what do you think of the strain of the president that it invokes or adds to class war? >> i think it's bull. what the president is talking about now is a lot of what the kids talked about when they

occupied the different cities. basic fairness. if there's been class warfare over the last 30 years, the warfare has been against the middle class and the poor against this country. that's been the policy. to bring it up and to talk about fairness and equalizing opportunity in this country, it's absolutely appropriate. and i just think it's a dodge from people who try to defend an undefendable system. >> the president can't dodge his record. and i think krauthammer hits it out of the park here. he's not going to do that dance with the american people because they flatly rejected it. they do not, they have not liked those policies. he's not going to run on it. >> they don't even know what obamacare is, though. >> they know what it is. they know very well what it is. we spent a year talking about obamacare. they also know what comes online with obamacare. small businesses know what that

means, having to meet the mandates. >> i think some people might join me in this. our 25-year-old son is still in our health insurance. he had a procedure last week that was covered that would not have been covered. >> and seniors are getting $250 more to fill that donut hole in prescription drugs and kids 25 years and under can't be disqualified from getting health care because of a pre-existing condition. >> obamacare costs a lot of money. it's not paid for. it's starting to worry a lot of small business owners, a lot of small business owners out there cannot plan effectively because they see these mandates coming down the pike. don't sit here and think that people spent a whole year listening to this administration drum down obamacare and they're sitting there going, duh, we don't know what it is. let's pass the bill before we know what was in it. the people in this country knew what was in it before they even had to pass the bill. they rejected it. that's why he's not going to run on it in 2012. >> no offense. i like michael --

>> uh-oh, here it comes. >> when liberal says they like you -- >> usual bull. number one, ceo, not a democratic organization, has said this will cut the deficit in the first ten years and cut it big time in the next 20. that's number one. that's the cvo. >> it's only as good as what you put into the cvo. >> let me finish. i don't want to sound like mitt romney, but let me finish here. number two -- number two, in this current bill, small business owners with 25 employee s or less can get a 35% credit on their federal taxes if they offer their employees health care. how bad is that for small business? they don't tell you that stuff. >> then why won't the president run on that? why doesn't he talk about that accomplishment? it is an accomplishment. why doesn't he talk about it? >> he was outspun from the beginning. people have this idea that was drummed into their mind, they don't know what's in the bill. if you break down the components of the bill and ask the average

citizen, do you like this? oh, yeah, that's great. do you like this? that's terrific. they don't realize that's what the guts of the bill is. >> you're asking them stuff that they like. but then when you drop down the curtain and say, you know how much this is going to cost? >> the cvo says -- >> the cvo is using the numbers that they got from the administration. they weren't honest. you can quote vco until the cows come home. it's only as good as what the administration tells them the numbers are going to be. they don't make up the numbers. you give them the facts. they run the numbers and they come out with something that you think you like. >> cuts in the medicare program. >> democrats cutting medicare. >> $500 billion. >> and they're going around the country saying we didn't cut medicaid. you've already cut $500 million. >> what the american people know is that there's going to be a big bill in the form of a lot of debt around and somebody has to pay it. class warfare, it still is not clear right now as to who is

going to take the pain, who is going to pay the bill in the future. that question is completely unresolved and it's going to go on and on through all the details about the numbers here, numbers there, statistics, that fundamental question of how are you going to allocate pay. >> let's raise taxes on the rich, democrats say. taxes go up to 45.7% for the top rate in, what, 2013, i believe it is. there's already a tax increase built into the health care bill. but people don't know that. yeah, they do. they know what the deal is. all this talk about we've got to raise taxes. >> the top rate goes from 39 to 45%. >> no one's going to pay that. >> the top rate. >> they don't pay it! >> who ought to be paying the top rate. >> you're making the point let's raise it to 60% and they won't pay it? why are you screaming to raise taxes if they won't pay it?

>> businesses pay 35%, highest in the world. well, in fact, forbes released a report saying businesses pay 17%, which would put us in the lower half of the world because of all the loopholes. mike is right. loopholes, loopholes. but do you see anybody close them? >> no. that's washington's job. >> occupy k street, not occupy wall street. >> there you go. >> good discussion. news you can't use is next.

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oh, yes! is it time? >> it is time, prerecorded mika, thank you. time for news you can't use. will ferrell has a new ad campaign he's starring in for old milwaukee beer, airing in only small mid western markets, iowa, illinois and in terre haute. old milwaukee says that will ferrell came to them and claimed that he loved their beer and wanted to make some commercials. >> when i'm not busy being an old phony for hollywood i lo everybody to come out here and crack open an ice cold old

milwaukee. truth be told, i've never been to davenport. this is my first time. but it's something i want to do, you know. i mean, it looks like something that would be fun to do, come out here, sit on a log and drink old milwaukee. >> just doing a little hand fishing here in the mississippi. haven't got any cat fish yet but i did catch this little piece of america. old milwaukee. yeah. i know you remember it, davenport. i sure do. in fact, why don't you go try yourself one while i go look for some more? >> got to love that man. he's going to bring old milwaukee back. >> bring iing it back. one more thing on friday. we usually do the week in review but we're going to dedicate the entire thing to a man we lost, so to speak, last saturday. >> good call. >> herman cain. he left us.

left the race anyway. a heartfelt good-bye to the h hermanator. >> i am herman cain and i am running for the president of the united states of america. ♪ i will remember you zblncht will you remember me ♪ >> my 9-9-9 plan. 9-9-9 doing fine. deep dish. ♪ ♪ imagine there's no pizza a real fence with barbed wiring, electrifying. >> i'm their brer from another mother. >> there's not a pizza deal. ♪ amazing grace will always be >> oh, shucky ducky, i feel

pretty good today. ♪ imagine eating pizza ♪ america one voice united we stand ♪ let herman be herman, let mark be mark. let people be people. there's a difference between the flavor of the week and hagen das. stupid people are ruining america. no, blitz, that's -- i'm sorry, i meant wolf. oh, shucky ducky, as the man would say. you don't need to know the details of foreign policy in order to be a good commander in chief. do you really believe that? becky, becky -- stan. libya. i do view china as a potential

military threat. they're trying to develop nuclear ability. i got all this stuff twirling around in my head. we need a leader not a reader. i have never acted inappropriately with anyone. i don't even know who this woman is. >> there was no sex? >> no. >> i talk to a lot of people. >> so, yes, getting out is an option. let me leave you with this. i bhe believe these words came from the pokemon movie. life can be a challenge. life can seem impossible. it's never easy when there's so much on the line. ♪ my heart will go on and on >> imagine. >> fare thee well, herman cain,

fare thee well. >> that was a moving tribute. >> any time you can sandwich "titanic theme" into "morning joe," it's good. ♪ when the things that you need come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups that's logistics. ♪

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storewide now through sunday. couple of nights ago, i responded to the outrage that many christmas participants feel when they are not able to celebrate chris mat at all

times, in all places and i addressed our nation thusly. my fellow americans, i humbly come before you to declare war on christmas. last night, one of santa's unusually large elves fired back. >> our pal, jon stewart, is following the christmas controversies very closely. now there is no question that mr. stewart is going to hell. [ applause ] >> i know. but here's what you and your minions don't understand, ri understand,o'reilly. your hell doesn't scare me. i spend a living watching fox news eight hours a day.

i'm already in hell. boom! boom! your move, o'reilly! welcome back to "morning joe." live picture of the white house. 7:02 in the morning. ed rendell, michael steele, mike barnicle still with us and joining us now lawrence o'donnell. more nights than not. >> can i ask a question? >> you may. >> you haven't mentioned the brewing scandal. jon stewart's clip, the republican national committee is having a holiday party, not a christmas party? >> really? i went to a christmas party the other night in washington, d.c., a christmas party. >> were you offended? >> reporte >> no. it was old times, like when we used to have christmas in this country. >> what about the rnc, having a holiday party? >> we had christmas parties when

i was there. >> go on record. take that. >> hey, lawrence, 3 1/2 weeks out now from iowa. newt gingrich is up 23 points in florida, up 28 points south carolina, 23 in iowa. how did we get here? >> at the christmas party i went to in washington, d.c., the glee among white house personnel, they have this gingrich smile now. it's a whole different thing. like nothing you've ever seen on their faces before. they've never been more confident of the president's prospects for re-election under these circumstances. it is a gift that, you know, no democrat could see coming. all of us smart guys declared gingrich's dead at tiffany's checkout counter months ago and here he is. it's just amazing. >> so what happened? is it just a weakness in the economy? >> what happened is that republican voters hate mitt romney, can't stand mitt romney.

there he was. he's the guy. he's supposed to be the nominee. he's the one in with waiting, l mccain was, the one you're supposed to go for and 75% of republican voters said no, no, under no circumstances. who else have you got? michele bachmann. right up to the polls. okay. that's not going to work. who else have you got? herman cain. and now newt is that survivor of who else you got thing. and they simply are prepared and they are predominantly a christian group, these voters. christian religion guides them to forgiveness. christianity was invented for forgiveness. religions weren't great at forgiveness before christianity. we came to a point that, hey, everyone is going to go to hell if they can't be forgiven so christianity came along and said you can be forgiven. everything newt is being

forgiven for by these voters is a violation of one of the ten commandments. they simply cannot bring themselves to forgive an individual mandate in health care. that is not in the 10 commandments. there is no provision for christian forgiveness for enacting an individual health care in massachusetts. so, mitt romney is condemned by these voters to his 25%. >> ironically, newt was for the individual mandate. >> he is. but there's a huge difference talking about it here and there. >> and doing it. >> and putting it into law. let me clarify the history of this republican individual mandate. there's a little bit of a mirage here. the real history of it is that in 1993 when bill clinton and hillary clinton were going to come out with this big health care plan, the normal reaction in washington, as it usually is in the other party is we have to have an alternative. that, by the way, is no longer the reaction to these kinds of

things but it was then. we have to have an alternative. liberal moderate john chaffey in the senate worked on an a alternative republican bill and there were people in the houseworking on an alternative bill. it had an individual mandate in it rather briefly. as soon as we had our first hearing about how these things would work and how the individual mandate would work, they started abandoning it in droves. bill crystal at the time with his a key motivator here. he wrote what was then considered a bold and reckless political memo to republicans on the hill saying never mind this alternative to clinton health care. kill the bill. kill it. and newt gingrich was the first one to see in the literature to see the wisdom in that. bob dole was very slow to come around to that position. but gingrich very quickly saw the wisdom of kill the clinton bill, the right political thing to do. that's what they did. in policy terms, newt gave the

individual mandate a brief hearing in '93, got rid of it as soon as he kind of understood the politics of it. and then again, because he's one of those try to please everyone kind of guys, later -- about five, six years ago, he started to make mutterings of an individual mandate again. that's in the professor newt category of just thinking about things in seminars and so the voters are letting him go on that. >> mike, are conservatives so offended by mitt romney's positions when he was governor of massachusetts, not just health care, but gay marriage and things like that, that they're willing to get behind newt gingrich? in other words, are they willing to give up mitt romney, a guy more likely to win moderates and independents in a general election than newt gingrich? >> couple of things. folks at the white house at that christmas party, be careful what you wish for. number two, in terms of where a

lot of the core of the base is right now on mitt, a lot of it has to do, i think, really in a matter of substance, not so much the substance of the health care issue. it's how you've talked about your own legislation. how he has presented the arguments for or against positions that he has held. and so if nothing else, a lot of folks out there are just principally oriented in the idea of be who you are. if that's what you believe then damn it go fight for that. if you're going to tell me in one moment i'm for a woman's right to choose but then the next moment say i've always believed that roe versus wade should be overturned, people look at you and go, what? it's the conviction issue that's really driven that wedge, i think, between him and the base. >> i'm sticking with the theory that the bulk of the base wants newt gingrich because they know he is the one who will take a flame thrower. >> that's a big part of it. >> isn't there a larger problem

with the republican party falling to barack obama the likelihood that there is no republican majority in the senate. there is no republican mantle in the house. it goes down like the hindenberg. >> i don't connect that thought -- no, i'm thinking through the scenarios that mike is working around this. i just don't think you can connect that dot and make the assumption that if he's the top of the ticket, all the other pieces fall apart necessarily. i don't necessarily -- i'm not at that point yet. i don't know how the voters are going to size up a newt candidacy for the presidency versus a senatorial race or congressional race. i've always said that republicans need to be careful. they're only 25 seats between them and the minority. so they need to be careful and guard those seats that they have. there are a couple of seats that are going to be a question mark based on redistricting.

in florida, for example, allen west's district changes. and elsewhere. there are things they need to mind in terms of their store. i don't know that we're at the point, governor, where you can make the correlation that you're going to have this one for one from the top of the ticket on down to the other races yet. >> it's pretty hard. if mike's supposition that newt gets wiped out at the top of the ticket -- >> i don't buy that necessarily. >> remember, presidential candidate from about june on, the focus on the candidates intense. and if peggy noonan's right -- and i think she is -- that newt is a hand grenade ready to go off, there's plenty of time for that to happen. it will happen. the great thing about barack obama, when it happens -- a, people like him, even if they don't think he has done a good job, they like him. b, they think he's stable and he's sort of -- he's not exactly who i want but he's not going to wreck the train. >> right. >> that's his long suit. and newt's the absolute --

people don't take chances with the presidency. >> i submit this, though. lawrence, it goes to the point you made about where we were in june, july with tiffany and all of that. at that time, you admitted -- stick a fork in it, it's done, right? here, we're sitting talking about what the campaign is going to look like in june of next year if mitt is not the nominee and newt is. my submission to you is that the voters are going to have a lot to say about that and how -- yeah, those performances by both the president and the nominee of the republican party will come into play. but how the voters a s react to that. >> newt has shown us that he knows how to recover from the tiffany. so, he's going to stumble again. no question about it. it's in him. he's going to stumble. the question is where on the calendar is he going to stumble? how much time does he have to

recover from the stumble and how much time does he have to get back in sync with his base after whatever stumbles he has? the thing about the top of that ticket is what we absolutely know for sure is that there is no republican candidate in the field now who shows any evidence of having any kind of coat tails, any kind of positive effect on the rest of the ticket. now you are left to speculate which one of them hurts the ticket more? no one is going to suggest to you one of these guys who actually lifts the ticket. >> as we've seen in recent special elections and as i think we'll see next year, i don't know what kind of coattails barack obama will have either. we're sitting here talking about the republicans are concerned about the senate. a lot of democrats aren't going to be embracing the obama agenda running into 2012 as well. >> one. at least one. elizabeth warren. she doesn't need coattails. >> she's ahead right now. >> she doesn't need obama. >> she's the best candidate the democrats have had for the senate in a long time. >> that's true in a lot of

places. bob casey in pennsylvania doesn't need barack obama's coattails. remember, what motivates people generally in elections, six, eight and ten is negative. if there's a negative feeling, that's the thing that motivates down the line. positives don't necessarily motivate. i got reelected by 22% of the vote. i barely added any democrats in harrisburg. >> we had a quinnipeac poll that showed newt gingrich and president obama tied in the state of ohio that jumped out at us. what does that tell you? >> the economy is pretty rough in ohio. that's an economy poll. that's all that is. neither one of them has done any campaigning there at all. >> what work he has. >> it's an economic barometer

that makes perfect sense. it would be shocking, wouldn't it, if he's seven or eight points up in the state of ohio at this economy, at this stage? >> i think that's right. i think you touched on it. how they go into a state like ohio is going to say a lot about how this campaign unfolds. >> the obama team is really practiced at that. >> they are. >> the gingrich and/or romney team is not. they never had to do that before. >> we got an ad up from rick perry in iowa, where he's spending a lot of money right now. >> rick who? >> rick perry. >> i thought he and herman cain went on vacation. >> no, rick perry is still with us. >> oh. >> he's lumping together newt gingrich, mitt romney and president obama. watch this. >> we don't want government mandated health care, yet newt gingrich supports it. and mitt romney, he put it into law in massachusetts. worse, barack obama forced it on the entire nation.

rick perry, he'll repeal it, starting day one. >> i won't let the big government liberals ruin this country. i'm rick perry. i'm an outsider who will repeal obamacare and i approve this message. >> say what you will, lawrence, about rick perry and his candidacy at the current moment. lumping romney together with president obama, obviously, is a strategy we'll see from other candidates as well. >> that's not bad. by the way, on the individual mandate, when we think about the flip flopping of newt gingrich on the individual mandate, who is the most prominent flip flopper on the individual mandate in the history of the subject? that would be the president of the united states. >> sure. hillary was for it. >> one sentence difference between the two democrats running for president last time around. >> hillary. >> i'm for the individual mandate and i'm not and president obama was the i'm not guy. and he got into office and completely ended up going the other way. and so, you know, you're not

going to get a nominee who hasn't had more than one position on the individual mandate. >> he has done that on gitmo, the war on terror, a number of things. those contrasts are going to be played out very nicely over the next year. >> look, the president has a much clearer explanation of how he got to where he got. what he was all along with his a major health care reformer who want wanted to do a major bill. and then, as i was working my way through my major bill i made this one adjustment because the policy guys said this tough. >> the best thing about newt gingrich is throw his name out there for -- >> exactly. exactly. congressman emanuel cleaver will join the conversation and bravo's andy cohen will be here. and chuck todd is coming up. first, bill karins has the forecast. holiday shopping, holiday parties. the weather will cooperate.

feels like december out there across the country. exceptionally cold air is head ing through the midwest. cold air will arrive, slides into d.c. and boston. overnight lows will be cold. west coast, no problems athrough saturday. middle of the country, you'll warm it up by sunday. the only spot that has a chance of wet weather over the weekend will be california. that looks like that will bring showers into san francisco. overall, one of the dryest, quietest weekends we've seen in a long time. about time, too. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] kinect for xbox 360,

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internationally, president

obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. appeasement. >> consistently engaged in appeasement. >> nothing but appeasement. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in appeasement. or whoever is left out there, ask them about that. >> even michael steele nods, approvingly. >> that's a kick in the you know what there. i thought that was square on. look, you can say what you want about the president on the economy and health care and a lot of things. but on foreign policy, he has been -- he has been bush times two in terms of drones, in terms of taking -- >> that's exactly the way they want to frame it at the white house, too. we're bush, times two. >> bumper sticker. >> that's the brand.

joining us from washington, the host of the daily rundown every day at 9:00 in the morning here on msnbc, chuck todd, good morning. >> mr. geist, good morning to you, sir. pretty remarkable press conference not just because of that comment from the president but payroll tax cut extension, unemployment benefits, the fight he has on his hands. how does he move the ball? >> there is not a big golf between republicans and the president, compared to the real golfs we've seen over the last year. this is nothing. they both agree on extending the payroll tax holiday. they both now agree on unemployment insurance benefits. republicans are trying to save face, right? they tried a different argument. they weren't going to win. democrats are winning this message argument on the payroll tax.

and it seems to me that republicans simply want to save a little bit of face somewhere. and i think the keystone is where they think they can save a little face in which, by the way, it's something secretary clinton initially was in favor of approving. it has to be approved by the state department because it crosses international lines. and the president was somewhat in approval of it. they were just delaying it because of some concerns, i think, political concerns they had with enviros on the left a little bit. but, you know, it's something that they're basically in favor of. if that's their, quote, big give, this is sort of a lot of hot rhetoric and not a lot of real substance here. >> chuck, the president said even again yesterday, the keystone pipeline thing is off the table. do you think that's not true? >> i think he has been very careful. if that thing gets 60 votes in the senate, i don't think his -- i thought he was couching that threat very carefully, you know. it was he doesn't want it in there.

he doesn't want to see it dressed up, you know, as stuff added to this pay roll tax unemployment. but i saw wiggle room in what he said. you know, the white house has said they don't think it's going to get 60 votes in the senate so it's not going to get to him. i wouldn't be surprised, though, if it did. >> barnicle? >> chuck, the clip coming in, the appeasement clip, where is that coming from? is that coming from the two davids, plough and axelrod or is this coming from an angry president being called an appeaser? >> swegagger, you don't see thaa lot from president obama. >> right. >> no, that's him. that's always been around team obama. they wish they could have a foreign policy debate. that's been one of his strengths in the first three years of his presidency. ultimately they know they're not going to have one. yesterday was an exception. on wednesday you had the

pander-fest, if you will, of most of the major republican presidentials going before a republican jewish audience, all of them saying what that audience wanted to hear about iran, playing into this stereotype that somehow the president doesn't like israel, which when you -- it's really hard to -- i think what's clear is that the president and netanyahu don't get along. that's pretty factual. beyond that, when you look at the policy, there hasn't been anything other than a continuation of the close u.s. policy to israel as a partner and ally in defense. >> the republicans clearly know enough to stay away from this debate because, breaking news here, michael steele was given the president props on that comment. >> chuck, we have it on tape, too. >> look i'm not going to have that conversation. >> i'll give the president props where props are do. in the area of foreign policy,

from the beginning he has aligned himself and republicans have aligned with him of how to proceed forward. issues that were a little hot for him on the left, he has had the cover from the right. so on this point, he has gotten the job done with obama and al qaeda and others. and i think you can't take that away from what the president has done. i'm not going to play that political game. the reality is that there are other issues. you're dead on. that's not going to be the driver for the 2012 election, foreign policy. >> it's jobs, baby. it's jobs. >> problem -- chuck, i think you know this very well. the problem with the keystone pipeline being the key to this, the keystone pipeline should be part of a comprehensive energy package we all look at. that's the way we should legislate. we do need to get that oil sands benefit. the western hemisphere can produce a lot of our own energy if we do it right. you can do the pipeline and have environmental protection. it should be part of a bigger bill. if that's the key to getting this done, it's jobs, it's

necessary and we can, if we're good about it, we can regulate it environmentally. we should do it and go home. it's not good legislation to be part of an energy bill. let's do it and go home. >> it could serve the president a great opportunity. >> yeah. >> because what he could really use going in to this christmas recess is a very strong veto demonstration, which he did not do at the end of last year on the tax bracket issue. and this one -- if they send him up a bill with something he has publicly said he doesn't want on the bill, he could veto it, send it right back. and what choice do they have? everything chuck said about the pressure to extend the payroll tax cut and every other thing that they need to do in this bill, they still need to do as soon as the president vetoes it, they still need to do it. they can do it in an hour.

>> yeah, lawrence, i -- >> and for the president to take that moment and realize he has got them exactly where he wants them and to show his environmental constituency that he's serious about thinking about this longer, but primarily to show that presidential power of the veto and the boldness of this leader on this issue would be, i think, a great opportunity. >> chuck? >> i think we should use the veto, but on the right issue. >> chuck, what do you think? >> it's very hard. i agree with you overall. i can't believe the president hasn't done a veto on anything. i think there have been -- i think the opportunity came very early in his administration. he blew it. i think it's one of the -- it was a big spending bill filld with ear marks that he said he didn't like. he signed it anyway. i always thought as one of the top five biggest mistakes he made in the first year of his presidency. but i think it's tough to veto something that is going to have bipartisan support.

if it comes to him -- harry reid has been the pocket veto to the president. he hasn't had to veto anything because harry reid makes is sure something doesn't get through. if something gets through the senate, it's been so difficult to get anything through, i think the pressure to sign that is going to be great. the history of this president is that he isn't that confrontational. >> i'm going to put you in the political director's seat to talk about the race and the dynamic right now between gingrich and romney. nbc got its hands on a memo say ing they're going to paint gingrich as unelectable, unsteady guy. gingrich, meanwhile, we played a clip earlier, he is sitting back with a smile on their face and is saying i'm not going to go there. i think mitt has a wonderful family, they're great friends. >> the dog. >> the dog. what does romney do to angle his

way back into this thing? >> this is going to be the real trick, right? plenty of people in the republican establishment, frankly some in the conservative establishment who personally don't like newt gingrich. who will do whatever it takes. it's papable here in washington, the stop newt whispers that are going on. the problem for romney is even though he has all these people whispering, you can hit newt on this and hit him on that. i'll do it. i'll raise my hand. i'll attack him. it could backfire. the more the establishment looks like it's the empire strikes back and you make gingrich look like the guy that's fighting washington and his rebuttal gets to be, yeah, i stepped on some toes when i was there in the first four years because when you do some of these things that some parts of the establishment don't like it, it could make him stronger if you're not careful. i think what the romney strategy really is, is hoping they bait

gingrich, right? can gingrich be disciplined enough not to have some attack get under his skin where he gets angry and has a bad moment on television? >> perfectly reasonable. >> perfectly reasonable. >> that's understandable. >> i wouldn't bet on it. $3.1 million ad buy in iowa with a romney. >> why is this man smiling? because his plan is working. brutally attack mitt romney and hope newt gingrich is his opponent. why? newt has a ton of baggage, like the fact that gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations or that he took at least $1.6 million from freddie mac just before it help ed to cause the economic meltdown. then there's the $37 million gingrich took from health care and industry groups. on the issues? newt has been on all sides. he supports amnesty for millions of immigrants. he teamed up with nancy pelosi

and al gore on global warming. and long-time supporter of national mandate. maybe that's why he was called the least conservative candidate. check the facts at newtfacts.com. restore our future, inc, is responsible for this message. >> i love this republican campaign. beautiful commercial. so well done. totally accurate. >> except for one thing. how many iowans know who george will is? >> there's enough in there besides george will. >> governor rendell, you know this better than anybody. that felt a little kitchen sinkish. when you get kitchen sinkish in an ad, you know, you're trying to get it all in there -- >> too much. >> -- none of it might break through. >> it doesn't. >> they throw in everything in there, in that one ad. isn't that the ad you do when

you're 50 points behind? >> chuck, you're absolutely right about that. and the fact that this is some anonymous, you know, third party source that's piling on newt when his numbers are growing -- again, it backfires because the base is not about that. they're just not there. >> i disagree. you're in iowa, you're indoors from thanksgiving to st. patrick's day. >> that ad will not move one voter away from newt gingrich in iowa. >> this shows that the republican nominee is going to be very damaged by the time he gets the nomination, whether it's romney or gingrich. they are really going to damage that nominee. >> that's why you have that white house smile. >> the white house smile. that's the white house smile. >> for a guy who is 31, 32 years old, what do you think? >> how do we not put bill wolf on, give him an hour -- >> he's coming on! he's coming on. >> excellent. i'm pulling for the marlins, to

do good things with that team in miami. >> you got mark buerhle. >> i do not want them to take albert pujols. he deserves to be an icon in st. louis. >> absolutely. >> i can't believe this. who wants to live in anaheim? who lives in anaheim? >> i suspect he won't live in anaheim would be my guess. >> of course he won't, but that commute is going to stink, buddy. >> our friend, bill wolf, executive producer of the rachel maddow show will be on. furious. his hero just left st. louis. >> his best line was something about enjoy applebee's. >> yeah. is there some confusion into america as to why someone would want to live in southern california versus st. louis? >> anaheim. it's anaheim, lawrence. >> something called loyalty, lawrence. >> if it were dodgers, it would

be a different story. >> that's right. chuck, we'll talk to you soon. see you on the daily rundown. >> you really think santa monica is better than -- senator joe manchin will be on the show. coming up, congressman emanuel cleaver. ♪ i'm burning out this useless telephone ♪ ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪ we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned a holiday trip to the big apple twice as fast!

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7:39 in the morning. central park, upper west side off in the distance. jon corzine continues to face tough questions over the failure of the security firm, mf global, that he ran. former governor of new jersey was pressed to explain an estimated $1.2 billion in missing customer funds. >> obviously, on the forefront of everyone's mind, including mine, are the varying reports that customer accounts have not been reconciled. i was stunned when i was told on sunday, october 30th, 2011, that mf could not -- mf global could not account for many hundreds of millions of dollars of client money. i simply do not know where the money is.

or why the accounts have not been sec siel ee ee eed -- recoo date. >> corzine, once the ceo of goldman sachs said repeat edly he did not authorize the movement of any funds. the eighth biggest bankruptcy in united states history. great state of missouri, which includes the great city of st. louis, emanuel cleaver will join us. we'll be right back.

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look at that picture, lawrence. beautiful picture of the st. louis arc. great american city, right?

>> big river. >> under the plains somewhere. >> is that where it is? >> i've never seen that from the plane. >> living up to the stereotype. elitist. chairman of the congressional black caucus and proud resident of the great state of missouri, representative emanuel cleaver. >> good to be here with you this morning, even though i have been sufishmently insulted. still good to be with you. >> all in good fun, congressman. all in good fun. we want to ask you out of the gate about the debate going on into washington. republicans have proposed putting in the keystone pipeline. is that something you could live with in order to get an extension in the payroll tax cut? >> i think most of the members on the democratic side are going to look a little suspiciously at

that. however, we've got to get a deal done and if the president was serious about vetoing that, then i have a feeling we're going to probably be here during the christmas holidays. it's not an easy vote for people like me, who are considered to be an environmentalist. i consider myself to be that. environmental committee does as well. i think what we're seeing is desperation now. because it is inevitable that the payroll taxes are going to be insurance. they can't go home without that being done. they're going to try to throw something in that might suggest they were the winners. >> on balance, congressman, is it more important to you to get an extension of the payroll cut -- payroll tax cut than to prevent the keystone pipeline from moving south. >> someone said earlier -- i think it was the governor,

governor rendell -- and i'm right with whoever said this, and that is, look, this pipeline should be discussed and debated in and of itself. if that -- if we throw the pipeline into this deal, it means that there will be no hearings on that. the public will get no information on potential environmental damage, if there is -- if there is some. and i think that's unfair to the american public. so, i do think that if i had one minute to vote, i probably would vote to accept the deal. but it's not good government. >> no. and this is ed rendell, congressman. you're absolutely right. the thing that people -- bothers people most about washington, or one of the things, is that we do these things without doing something comprehensive. i think we need a comprehensive energy bill. i think we've got to do more to make sure that new resources

keep developing in this country but i think we also have to be conscious about the fact to use our resources and the pipeline, on balance, is a good idea with the right protections. it's also, no question, a great job creator. we shouldn't legislate that the way it's being proposed. >> no. we're making stew. we're just throwing something in and hoping it will taste fine in the end. >> right. >> and it's -- the public wants us to pass the ui as well as the payroll tax, but nobody will ever have an opportunity to make an intelligent zitdecision in t united states congress. not that we're trying to make intelligent decisions here, but this will be a dumb decision. >> that's good. >> congressman cleaver, lawrence o'donnell here. of course, you know, i love st. louis. it's my favorite place that i've never been to in north america. but, you know, you said something about the president's veto. you said if the president is serious about his veto, is there some reason to think he is not

serious about his veto threat on that? >> well, look, i think the president probably feels that throwing in the pipeline is not a good deal. i think the president is a good government president. but i think whether or not he will delay the deal is another issue. so, i think he is serious, but at the end, it may be here is an opportunity to get a deal and get what i want and we go home. so, you know, consider the fact that in previous debates like this, before the end of the summer, the president never said i will veto. i don't know the strategy in washington, in the white house right now. i've got to say that the president is serious. but in politics, i think everybody understands that you get the best deal you can. >> congressman, let's talk about

infrastructure for a moment. how are the cardinals going to replace albert pujols? what's what's the mood among cardinals fans today in st. louis? >> good point. good point. and that brings me to discuss i-70 which runs from closest into st. louis. and we know that we need a transportation bill because for every billion dollars spent, 40,000 jobs are created. and that's good government. and we need to be debating a transportation tax as opposed to playing chicken as we approach the end of the session. >> and you just saved a quarter of a billion dollars on albert pujols. you can put that money back into your district. >> see the royals play. >> exactly. >> i think that was a brilliant segue. >> well done.

emanuel cleaver, we appreciate your time this morning. >> take care. up next eugene robinson weighs on in 2012 you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today.

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the motive in yesterday's deadly shooting at virginia tech is still unclear this morning as a shaken campus struggles to deal with its second act of gun violence in five years. a gunman killed a campus police officer in a school parking lot after that officer pulled over a different person in a routine traffic spot. the gunman fled the scene and apparently killed himself nearby. the officer was an army veteran and a married father of five. an official vigil is planned for tonight. yesterd yesterday's shooting brought back thoughts of the massacre where a gunman killed 33 people and himself. it remains the worst mass shooting in united states history. a veteran of our wars. he had a wife and five kids at home, pulled over a routine traffic spot. lost his life. >> i understand all the tweet

messages you get. but the availability of guns to unstable people in this country is an epidemic and it is a disgrace. >> we don't know details about the relationship between the two or anything about the shooter yet. >> you know, police never know when a car stop can turn into fatal. >> that's nothing ru teen about what those men and women do on the streets. my heart's out for them. it's a tough job. >> you think of his wife and five kids this morning. we'll think about them. more "morning joe" in a moment. ♪ i'm burning out this useless telephone ♪ ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man

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good morning. it is friday and it's 8:00 on the east coast as you take a live look at new york city. back with us on set mike barnicle, governor ed rendell, michael steele, and gillian tett. let me start with you on europe. i was listening to sarkozy yesterday saying friday is make or break time for the eu. what did he mean by that? >> in my ways, it is. what's happening now in the eurozone reminds me of a friend with a bad relationship. every night on the phone they say you never guess what he did. we got in another argument. the last few weeks, we've had the eurozone going through a relationship crisis. yesterday they failed to resolve it. nobody dumped anybody, but nobody got to deal with questions.

and we're still hanging in limbo. i think the real problem right now is the financial markets are getting really concerned. and unless they pull out the infamous eurozone bazooka, it's going to get very messy. >> merkel holds the bazooka? >> hank paulson had a bazooka and had one finger on the trigger. with the eurozone is you have 17 fingers on the trigger. and you can't fire. angle and merkel are crucial. but the other person is the head of the central bank. unless he buys into something, there ain't going to be any answer. >> and what are france and germany asking of the eurozone countries asking. >> they want to transfer a lot more power to france and germany

and they're going to have the ability in the future to set the rules and are demanding that everyone signs up to a very, very strict diet that in the future everyone's going to promise that they're not going to have too much debt. the problem with that is that's kind of what they promised ten years ago and we know how well that worked. >> don't say anything, but ed rendell thinks we're doing the show in brussels this morning. >> all right. let's talk about newt, then. mitt romney is dispatching campaign surrogates to cast the former speaker as unreliable and unelectable. offers supporters a laundry list of anti-gingrich talking points to raise flags with conservative voters. in addition to highlighting the budget plan, it moves to frame gingrich as an insider. creates theories, mitt creates

jobs. for now he is vowing to stay above the negative campaigning. >> i only have one opponent. that's barack obama. i'm going to continue to run a positive solution campaign. others will do what they want to. my observation is every time these guys have attacked each other, they've gone down. so i don't know that being the attacked dog in the party is a big asset. it's not a game i'm going to play. mitt romney is on the attack. which is his prerogative. my answers will be positive. >> michael steele, spoken like a guy with double digit leads. he's above the fray right now. >> he's been consistent in that. even when he wasn't on the radar screen and was going through some of the worst parts of being a candidate for the presidency, he maintained that steady course. this is one of the problems as i see it. here you have for seven months

now mitt has set on the sidelines. now he's going to come out fighting just as people are beginning to settle on someone like newt for the nomination. and he runs the risk of really turning those voters off and watching those numbers drop even further. because if newt is able to maintain that posture and not really push back, then he looks really aggressive after doing nothing. you haven't fought for this up to now. now you want to run for the president of the united states? that could be a problem for him. >> governor, what do you make of this field over time and looks like gingrich will be at the top of the polls as we go into iowa? >> i think it was inevitable. i think anyone but mitt for awhile with the base. and newt did do a good job in the debates. he stayed above the fray. this isn't a new posture. there are two problems. one, if you look inside the polls, in iowa for example 55% a

the people polled said they hadn't made a final choice. they said to the pollster they liked newt gingrich but it's fluid. you've seen newt drop in the national polls six, seven points in a week. number two, peggy, great article saying he's like a hand grenade. i think if i were running mitt romney's campaign, i'd let ron paul, rick perry go after newt. and i would stay as michael said, stay the course. you've got to assume somewhere along the line newt's going to explode. and mitt romney slow and steady, the mature candidate would be the one to pick up the pieces. i'm not sure now. >> the problem is as you know in football when you play that cleveland defense, the other

team whips you. this defense they've been running in terms of waiting for newt to fumble the ball, i wouldn't risk it. i think it's just a little too much to take. >> i was chatting last night with some of romney's team. the big question now is do they wait until ten days out and try to come in with a real assault and change the tone for the debate just ahead of the primary. that's the real question. do you come in with a killer punch and really try to get aggressive. >> don't you think, though -- i saw the first ron paul commercial unloading on newt was effective. wouldn't you think they could wait for awhile to see. >> or let ron paul take the running. that's the way to go. have a hands-off approach. they can go forth and do aggressive stuff and mitt romney looks clean still. >> the only thing i would do -- look, the commercials. somebody said a wicked commercial. voters don't think that's a

wicked commercial. voters think, you know. >> i think they go to what michael was talking about. you know, throw a punch, mitt. if you want this job, throw a punch yourself. don't circle around, yeah i've been married for 73 years and i have 406 kids. but no. >> running for president is not a cake walk. you got to show you really want the job. particularly when dealing with a field like the republican field is right now where any opportunity for you to take the charge is there. and if you don't take that moment, the voters sit back and go oh, really? okay. >> anybody here think if gingrich does succeed and does get the nomination of your party, a third party candidate emerges? >> i'm not convinced of that yet. i don't know what the upside is necessarily. i guess it depends on who that is. and the real question is whether

or not it helps or hurts the president. because a certain third party candidate could wind up drawing independent voters away from him. so democrats had better be careful what they'rish withing for here as well. because it's not as clean and cut. >> what are you hearing from your friends in washington about how hard -- >> oh, friends in washington. >> people you've worked with in washington. how hard is the republican establishment as it is pushing mitt romney to get aggressive and edge gingrich out of this race. how fearful are they? >> there's a huge push behind a lot of closed doors on k street and capitol hill to bring the pressure to bear. find out who's willing to go on the record to smackdown of newt to tell the story, the truth

about -- this is the problem. a lot of that is old news. and the newt of 1994, '98 is not the same newt of 2011, 2012. the sooner people get that, they'll understand why he's at the numbers he's sitting at on the polls. you cannot go after newt based on what you knew of him when he was speaker and running him out of office up. it's a very different environment. he's a different man. >> absolutely. i think the great thing about newt is he starts in people's mind with maybe an "f" grade and can only go up. like mitt he starts with an "a" and he can only go down. >> also you can't make the mistake of saying everybody knows about newt. everybody here knows about newt. everybody inside k street or the beltway. but i don't think the voters knew he did an ad pushing for global warming. i think that matters. >> they know the personal stuff.

they don't know the inconsisten inconsistency. >> did you know in iowa and parts of new hampshire and other primary states, the bulk of the people were for newt gingrich are for him for one reason and lye reason on. they believe that of all the candidates, he can just roast barack obama. they so detest the president of the united states that they think that this guy is the guy that can get in the ring with him and cut him. >> maybe, mike. but if i'm a republican voter and i don't want to see the president re-elected, i'm interested in the candidate who can beat him. >> but they're not. they don't seem to be. >> yeah. you make a good point. i think that's one of mitt's growing concerns. is the question of electability. when the numbers are showing that newt is as electable in a general election as mitt, for example. it becomes a problem.

that's what has held mitt in place is the electability factor. he's the most electability. we're going b to settle for mitt. now you don't have to settle for mitt. you've got a fighter. you've got someone who's prepared to do the smackdown with the president. go toe to toe. it was on the buzz, can you imagine those three debates with the president and newt on that stage? that in the minds of political junk kies motivates people. >> for the first 18 republican debates, everybody says mitt romney did the best. what happened to all that? >> well, i think all of that was thrown out the door by the consistent steady performance of newt gingrich. going back to the implosion of his campaign, he methodically -- >> michael, romney was judged to

win every one of those debates. >> not just to who can manage the country, it's about likability. it's coming up to the holidays and in my mind there are two key things. who do you want to sit on a bar stool with at night and shoot the breeze? that has got to be newt. >> oh, no. >> newt is actually john belushi. the guy who won't leave. this know it all to the right. >> you want to be on a bar stool with mitt romney? >> no. >> so drinking alone. >> exactly. >> by the way, speaking of debates. donald trump debate looking like an intimate affair. rick perry, michele bachmann the latest to say they will not attend.

rnc chairman says even those two ought to reconsider. >> we appreciate what mr. trump has done, but if you're still talking about potentially running as an independent candidate, then i think that's a problem. i think that would be malpractice for me as an rnc chairman not to believe that that is an issue. i wouldn't recommend it, but i would also say to the candidates that they can do what they want to do. >> spokesman for the gingrich campaign commented saying they're going to be the leader of the free world and they can't face questions from donald trump? you might want to re-evaluate if you're ready. that from the gingrich campaign. gillian i want to get one more from you. k corzine saying i don't know where the money went. >> i'm a fan of this front page. but more importantly, look at

that. isn't that a great quote? i simply do not know where the money is. at this point he's providing himself as an idiot or a criminal in some way. and he's going for the idiot choice. how a ceo of a company can say i have no idea where the money went. they were doing this stuff in the back office and i wasn't watching, is pretty striking. >> we're talking $1.2 billion, not knowing where it went to. >> a lot of customers' money. there are a lot of angry customers now. my thought is corzine came from goldman sachs which has logistics sorted out. people like corzine never had to worry how the hobbits in the back room were putting the details. unfortunately when it got to mf global, mattered in the back room. >> let's hear from corzine. >> obviously on the forefront of everyone's mind including mine are the very reports that customer accounts have not been reconciled. i was stunned when i was told on

sunday, october 30th, 2011, that mf global could not count for many hundreds of millions of dollars of client money. i simply do not know where the money is or why the accounts have not been reconciled today. >> and this is the guy that joe biden and barack obama were looking at for secretary of treasury and was going to as the first lead in helping them solve the debt crisis and he doesn't know where the money is? now, to be partisan for a moment. if this guy were a republican, all my friends on the left would be jumping up and down and screaming. but the crickets are deafening now. you haul him up to capitol hill and do the showplace and think you drill him down, but the reality is this is pure incompetence. and to play the stupid angle, i'm sorry no one is buying it. it's criminal. over a billion dollars you can't account for and everybody's

going to sit back and say well, you know that's how it is. it doesn't make sense. >> first of all, i think this doesn't look like the president's laying off on jon corzi corzine. number two, corzine was to show up at a meeting to raise infrastructure funds that mayor bloomberg and i were hosting. i talked to three days before the meeting he said i'm going to be there. i said will you say a word. he said absolutely. mf broke two days later and he didn't come. so i don't think he had a clue. because he wouldn't have been saying i'm coming to a meeting with 50 of the heaviest hitters in new york. >> it just is hard to believe. >> if the eurozone crisis wasn't happening, this would be bigger news. really the questions about how these companies are being run and how many customers of other companies need to worry about. next we'll bring in eugene

robinson. he tries to envision what the donald trump republican debate might look like. also six weeks a winning the world series, there's no joy in st. louis. two of the most die hard cardinal fans on the face of the earth morn on the departure of albert pujols. but first a check of the weekend forecast. >> morning to you. the weekend shaping up nice. the only areas that need to be aware of bad travel conditions are around buffalo off the lakes. little bit of light snow last night. but not a big deal. it's really in buffalo today where the snow is going to fly. possibly 6 to 10 inches. the cold air moving into chicago. minneapolis you're in the icebox today. for today, it's a chilly day. especially in the middle of the country. east coast recovers nicely but then your cooloff will come. temperatures chilly this morning

up. the west coast looks just fine. haven't had bad weather in awhile. by the time we get to sense, got some rain showers in san francisco. but nice little warm-up for the middle of the country. you're going to need it after being cold the last couple days. chicago finally above freezing. and florida starts to warm up. there's no snow on the map. only two weeks to christmas. doesn't look like a white christmas for many of us. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. i'm an expert on softball. and tea parties.

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could mitt romney newt's main rival match him? he got applause. he actually, too, got a standing ovation at his speech. things are looking good for mitt. >> when they're laughing about applauding, you sit down. >> misquoting seinfeld in front of a jewish audience. that's going to cost you. see first of all it's not a george costanza line. it's a jerry line. >> say good night and walk off. >> and you got the line wrong. it'd be like saying the facious soup vendor would say i'm out of delicious soup. >> joining us now from washington the pulitzer prize winning good friend eugene robinson. good morning. >> morning, willie.

>> you're bravely taking on domd trump this morning. you write do you suppose trump will ask gingrich about the ethics violations he committed while he was speaker of the house or the fine he had to pay. do you think he'll press gingrich on the lobbying he's doing on another name behalf of clients such as the government-supported mortgage giant freddie mac? no, no and no. this debate will be about donald trump. trump will actually utter the phrase you're fired. and from the white house you'll hear the sound of high fives. we only have two people who have signed up for this if. newt gingrich and rick santorum. all on the right have declined the invitation. if the debate happens, we'll look at it. let's look at your larger point about newt gingrich.

he's full of contradictions. >> full of contradictions doesn't quite say it, willie. he will contradict himself in the same sentence. that's kind of a problem. but it's reflective, i think, of the republican race. which is the basic theme has been establishment was happy with mitt romney and the rest of the party wasn't. and they kept looking for somebody new and newt is the latest. he seems to be peaking at the right time. maybe it'll end up being newt. this has been a weird year. >> and how remarkable through a jedi mind trick after being in washington, newt gingrich is positioning himself as the outsider telling us why

washington is broken. it's remarkable. >> it's not remarkable. it's ridiculous, really. i mean, it's crazy. no one could be more inside washington than newt gingrich. and he has a long history. it's all on the record. so i think he's going to have to finesse that in a way. and that was my evil twin or i don't know what his defense is going to be. >> he doesn't have to worry about it, gene. we have become a nation of amnesiaics with remotes in our hands. the navy s.e.a.l.s killed osama bin laden and nobody talks about that. it's an amazing culture. >> i want to get to your conversation that newt had earlier this week with a group of conservatives in washington. in which they grilled him rather

sufficiently on the things you're talking about yet at the end they gave him a standing ovation. and so to your point about all the stuff reno about newt and loaf about newt in washington, he has managed to work his way through that particularly with the base, don't you think? >> there are nothing but second acts in american lives, i guess. and so maybe newt has confessed his sins and atoned for them and begun a new. not everybody in the country knows everything about newt gingrich. there is a target rich environment there for the democrats to carpet bomb if he is the nominee.

that's going to do damage. >> i think the key player in the trump debate is rick santorum. is he running for vice president in which case he should be nice to newt because newt has a very good chance of picking the vice president. he also should be nice to romney. but if he's really running for president and he's given a one-on-one with the front runner, he has an opportunity to beat newt gingrich to a pulp. using every single thing that is in his record. and this is the santorum opportunity to become the alternative to romney. so it is -- we will discover, i think, in the first ten minutes if santorum is running for vice president or president. >> you make a great point because santorum's campaign did the throwdown earlier this week saying everybody wants to run up to new york and kiss donald's ring but when it's time to have a discussion with him, you don't want to show up?

that was an interesting moment. i understand the bachmann campaign was miffed about that and others. >> and to lawrence's point, too, santorum is capable of doing that. he can be very sharp tongued. and he was there. he was first hand. saw a lot of newt' career. >> gene, you spent some time recently and wrote about china. tell us about what you found when you traveled over there. >> it was my first trip to china. and i think that even though i read a lot about china and rich history, obviously i kind of kept up with what was i think go on there. i don't think there's anything that prepares you for the scale of what's going on in china. because nothing like this has ever happened before this. enormous migration of people from the countryside to the cities. and this wave over there which the word tsunami is not

adequate. i came away with impressions that this is perhaps more durable than some people would like to think. economists are always predicting that there's going to be a crash, that the chinese banks are unstable. that this can't last, this rate of growth. you know, they've been pretty good at it. and i think they'll have some ups and downs, but i think this might go on for awhile. >> what's the view from beijing of the united states? we're always curious. of our politics, economy, culture. what do they say about america many. >> first of all, there is an enormous love for american culture and for america there as evidenced by the fact that you can't go anywhere without bumping into an apple store or a kfc or a whatever. they're trying to live like americans. so on the street there's a lot of admiration.

you know, the government is particularly ill at ease right now. especially over the recent military moves that president obama has ordered the troops to australia and the visits that u.s. officials have been making to southeast asian countries. they describe this as -- you know, they essentially say we wouldn't like to think that the u.s. is trying to encircle china, but we're not wild about this. by the same token, there's a realization that our two economies, two biggest economies in the world, they will be the two biggest economies in the world as least through my lifetime. and they're so intertwined at this point. they own a trillion dollars of our debt. we have $365 billion of their exports last year. you can't just unravel that pl

we're going to be together whether we like it or not. >> the first time i went to china was a long time ago, and every meal i had was the worst chinese food i'd ever had in my life. has anything improved in the chinese kitchen? >> oh, i had the best chinese food. >> oh, good. i'm ready to go back then. >> absolutely the best. >> i wouldn't ask you what the chinese thought about pujols. >> you have some great pieces on washingtonpost.com. thanks. we'll talk to you soon. >> great. coming up next, real confessions of two die hard st. louis fans. andy cohen on the left. mr. bill wolff, executive producer of the rachel maddow show. he's furious this morning about the departure of albert pujols next. ♪

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i wouldn't say i was happy for him, because i think that the players are all paid too much money to begin with. what i think is unfair is the big market teams have been a huge advantage over the small market teams. but doesn't matter. we won the world series anyway.

>> we can take that money spend it somewhere else. we have good players on our roster still. i'm not too worried about it. >> i'm not going to sit around and mope all day. life still goes on. cardinals will be great whether he's with us or not. >> that is st. louis. buckle your seat belts. joining us now host of watch what happens live which goes five nights a week beginning january 8th, andy cohen. also with us the vice president of primetime programming for msnbc. the executive producer of the rachel maddow show. and i think you're the two -- i'm going to say it. most die hard cardinals fans i've met. >> if you ever met a cardinal fan, you've met the most die hard cardinal fan. once you're in on the cardinals, there's no level. it's just pure lifetime dedication for all of them. >> bill's right. we're here to announce we're buying the blues. st. louis blues. >> i want to say this.

we're here to talk about the payroll tax cuts. >> is that why we're here again? all i talk about. >> this is part of it. but last night the mighty ducks of los angeles, anaheim, irvine wherever they're from had a game. >> formerly the arena. >> st. louis 4, anaheim 2. bring it. we settled that score. >> i was up all night watching that game. >> no doubt about it. >> so albert's gone. how much of it do you think as a fan should be laid on the doorstep of the manager of the cardinals? >> i think they made the best play they could. they got him for 11 amazing years. they went as far as they could go. now they're out. >> i completely concur. i thought when they were offering him $22 million a year for ten years that it was probably a deal that was going to hurt the team starting three

or four years from now. and the owner, dewitt, is a guy who wants to keep his payroll manageable. 110, 115, 120. >> i love you say the owner dewitt. >> well, he's the owner. but that's a reasonable thing to do. so if you're going to commit 20% of your payroll to one guy, you are burdening yourself and limiting your ability to acquire other talent. even at 22-10 i would have been happy to have albert pujols be a cardinal the rest of his life but i didn't know if it was a good deal. i thought they made a good play. if a guy can't be satisfied in a town that adores him that wins all the time and where he has a chance to go down in history as an icon for a region for $22 million for a year. if you've got to make $25 million a year playing next to

the 57 freeway in a made-up ballpark, then go ahead. have it. >> and the highways. >> the mixing bowl or whatever you call it. you tune into the radio in los angeles somewhere. and the 22 and the 50 -- you don't even know where that is. they're talking about things you don't know. that's where he went. he went to the place where you don't know where that is. 57. he's the first baseman for apple bees. have a great time at the mall. >> i would like to point out -- >> official food of anaheim. and it's delicious. >> if deidra pujols auditions -- >> that's his wife. >> if she ever puts her hat into the ring to be an orange county housewife, i just want to say it here and now, don't bother. it's not happening. >> whoa, whoa. >> he really shot himself in the foot. >> unintended consequences. >> we should point out you two

went to high school together. >> actually we grew up together. >> the whole thing. you got it, pal. only the greyhounds. don't get it wrong. >> tell me about a little boy, a sweet little boy, a 7-year-old henry shaw. >> i got a friend. here's the problem with pujols. he's responsible for himself. they offered you 22 boston cream pies for dessert but you wanted 25. >> it was a little more -- in fairness -- >> they offered him one more year. >> the difference between the cream pies was larger than 22 versus 25. >> how do you mean? >> they offered him a lot more money. >> no, they offered him about 15% more money to live in a place -- let me just add this before i get to henry shaw. i went to bank rate.com. this is america's conversation, i want to have it.

bank rate.com there's something called the cost of living calculat calculator. i went there to find out what does $22 million in st. louis mean in the irvine, anaheim metro area. $22 million in st. louis equals $35.5 million. so congratulations to albert and his agent. you just gave up $10 million in your blind quest for money. but not my thing. >> can i point out it's 5:35 in l.a. we're doing all this bashing in l.a. >> he's lived in l.a. >> 11 years in the southland. >> but my heart hurts for this little boy henry shaw. he's got a face like an angel i'm told. >> i got a friend. dennis is one of the greatest guys who were ever born. he is pure sweetness. if you met him and knew he was a

cardinals fan you would be a skardales fan. he has a tremendous son henry. henry shaw is 7-year-old boy. daddy can i stay up late and see the game? you got to go to bed. run to bed. wake up first thing in the morning, i'm not making this up, what'd the cardinals do last night. they won. oh they lost. the kid's life and his life with his father centered around the cardinals. how do you think yesterday went? be a cynic. hey henry the world is rotten. they all go for the money in the end. no, no, hey. unintended consequences. the man who signed the contract is responsible to his family and himself. he's not responsible for the heartbreak of a 7-year-old. >> how could he? >> these are nonpartisan

comments. >> andy are we going to talk cardinals on the new show five nights a week if. >> i always do. >> you have more time to talk. >> david freese. >> i'm trying to get him now. >> bill wolff, you're a good american. you're rooting for the right team. >> birds. bat. >> red birds. >> talk about the yankees next time, i know you love them. >> andy cohen "watch what happens" live. >> sorry. >> don't be sorry. we're still the cardinals. >> cardinal nation. >> until they take away the uniform, we've got to problem. >> no. >> tribute to herman cain coming. >> stay tuned for that. great prices. i just wish you could guarantee me

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let's get a check with brian shakt m shactman. >> listen the eu summit, they worked through the night. they agreed to more fiscal unity. there was no grand bargain if you will. there was real tension between the united kingdom and france and germany. the uk is not even using the euro. he's a quick sample. >> we're never going to join the euro. we're never going to give up the sovereignty that these countries are having to give up in order to enter a fiscal union. so in some ways the fact they're going to do this in a separate treaty without actually, you know, distorting the european treaty itself in many ways given we couldn't get the safeguards, perhaps it's a better outcome. >> stock futures are out today

after we lost 200. so i would say this deal was positive but not a home run. this is read my lips, no new taxes moment. when you hear never, that just is kind of striking. >> it is, brian. you can't imagine why he would even consider it at this moment. as he looks across what's happening. thanks so much. we appreciate it. coming up next, a "morning joe" tribute. a special one today to mr. herman cain. great prices. i just wish you could guarantee me

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well, it's been six days now since mr. herman cain left the 2012 presidential race. but he left behind six months worth of wonderful memories. >> i am herman cain and i'm running for president of the united states of america. ♪ i will remember you ♪ will you remember me >> my 9-9-9 plan. >> 9-9-9 plan. >> 9-9-9. >> 9-9-9. doing fine. >> deep dish. ♪ weep not for the memories ♪ imagine there's no pizza

>> a real fence. with barb wire. electrified. >> i'm their brother from another mother. >> it's not a pizza deal. ♪ amazing grace will always be >> oh shucky ducky i feel pretty good today. ♪ imagine eating pizza ♪ i am america ♪ one voice united we stand >> let herman be herman. >> there's a difference between the flavor of the week and haagen-dazs black walnut. >> stupid people are ruining america. >> no blitz. that's oversimplifying it. i'm sorry blitz. i meant wolf. >> because nancy sat the at the committee and it stayed there. >> you don't need to know the

details of foreign policy in order to be a good commander in chief. do you really believe that? yes. >> ubeki -- beki -- stan stan. >> libya. >> i do see as a military threat. they're trying to develop nuclear capability. >> got all this stuff in my head. >> i have never acted inappropriately with anyone. i don't even know who this woman is. >> there was no sex? >> no. >> i talked to a lot of people 61 times. >> so getting out is an option. >> let me leave you with this. i believe these words came from the pokemon movie. life can be a challenge. life can seem impossible.

it's never easy when there's so much on the line. ♪ my heart will go on and on >> yeah. we'll miss you herman cain. indeed as celine deon sings, our hearts will go on. up next a what we learned today. ♪ it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and $250 goes to your choice of 5 charities.

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i'm not too busy being a hollywood phony. i like to come out here to davenport, sit on my favorite log and crack open a ice cold old milwaukee. something i do. well, truth be told i've never been a davenport. this is my first time. but it's something i want to do. you know? i mean, it looks like something that'd be fun to do. come it here and sit on a log and drink old milwaukee. >> will ferrell could almost make we drink that beer. >> i learned the chinese food in china is way better than it was the last time i was there. >> i hear mixed reviewed. michael, what'd you learn? >> what i learned is these words i simply do not know where the money is will be words that come back to haunt him and other people. >> not good enough. sir? >> i learned if i'm ever