president obama's aratings on the rise as americans say he's the better guy to help the middle clagsz. it's all tied up many the race for the republican nomination. a new poll shows newt gingrich and mitt romney neck in neck as an onslaught of anti-newt ads that i can their toll. plus a deadly storm across the great plains. it's having an impact on travel all across the kuhn terrorism we'll bring you up to speed on that one. great to have you with me on this tuesday morning. careening towards a christmas stand off. house republicans are scrapping a direct vote on a payroll tax cut plan overwhelming passed in the senate. instead they're voting to send the whole matter to a conference committee to sort out the compromise. that's left a lot of people scratching their heads over what it means and what's going to happen next. what we do know is unless a deal is reached by december 31st, 160 million americans will see their taxes go upstarting in 2012. and 2.2 million americans will see their jobless benefits end.

here's what democrats had to say about the state of affairs over an hour ago. >> let's really be clear, republicans said we were going to have a vote on the senate bill. they're afraid it wouldn't win. they pulled that. now we have to be engaged in these process maneuvers. >> don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain here. we're not doing anything. we could have, but we are not. >> let me inform my republican colleagues that this is real life with real people and real consequences. i would say to the republicans leader of this house, show us that you can governor. >> we're going to throw our families and economy into chaos for the sake -- for the sake of trying to make political points. >> nbc's luke russert following all of this for us. if republicans won't pass the senate bill, democrats won't go to conference, what's going to happen to this extension? >> nobody knows, thomas. it really is an anomaly here on

capitol hill. usually somebody can chart a path forward. and right now we are in what i like to call a real stalemate city situation. you might as well remain washington, d.c. that. what we're going to see around noon is the house voting on the motion to go to conference with the senate. now originally the house was going to vote down the senate compromise, then house republicans in the leadership got weary about having their members vote for a tax increase. so that has since been scrapped. it's suppose'd to be as a gop aide said an outright rejection of the senate plan when you vote to conference. usually when you have different bills that deal with the same thing from the house and senate leadership on both sides can appoint conferees to work out the differences. this usually happens on big budget bills. however, in this case, harry reid the majority leader has said i'm not going to appoint conferees is senate is gone. we passed our deal with 90% of the vote.

also on top of that nancy pelosi said she would not appoint house democrats to conference. the question is if republicans vote to go to conference and the democrats don't send conferees does a conference exist? >> when we talk about what's happening on the hill, we're watching everybody come out saying what's happening behind the scenes. what really is happening behind the scenes, especially when people say about this war in the republican caucus and the fact that speaker boehner doesn't have control? >> a few interesting things on that. number one, this is from conversation i've had with individual members, had they put that senate bill on the floor, there's a slight chance it may have passed with enough republican votes to crossover simply because they did not want to be on board with a tax increase. you saw a lot of republicans in the senate saying we disagree with the house on this. boehner and his leadership this is the same story all year. he by nature is a deal maker. he's been here since 1990, his

conference is very conservative. and they do not like to give an inch unless they feel they're giving enough back. in this case they felt that the president of the united states could use this issue for two months and hammer away republicans saying you're not willing to have a tax cut for the middle class. and they were weary of that. and boehner was pulled back in. for all intensive purposes from folks you talked to boehner was on board with that senate deal. he said he wasn't. there's been all sorts of speculation on that. at the end of the story there's a lot of contention in this conference. we don't know what the final outcome is going to be. >> luke russert on capitol hill. thanks so much. we want to bring in our panel. great to have you both here. we're listening to what luke's talking about, certainly the facts of what we do know and what we think is going on behind the scenes. boris, i want to start with you. this new gallup poll shows

congress with the lowest rating since 1974. senate republicans, senate and house democrats, the white house are all on the same page. is the decision by house republicans not to vote on this compromise going to come back to bite them in the butt later on? >> it's a problem. it's a bad decision. house republicans should have stood behind their leader and said, listen, what we want to do is this for the whole year. let's pass the two months stopgap. maybe we disagree with the senate about walking out and going on vacation, but something has to be done. also let's remember before this point they outmaneuvered president obama putting that pipeline in there. >> on keystone. >> right now house republicans are are looking weak. speaker boehner is looking weak it is a problem. is it a problem for the 2012 election? it's not. >> karen, we have speaker boehner saying we can't keep kicking the can down the road. all i get is this mental image of lucy with the football and charlie brown trying to come

forward. this is a football kicked with money that we need to kick to middle class americans. but boehner keeps moving this ball. why? >> the ball is the american people. they are kicking the american pe people. >> it can be whatever you want. in my mind it's the money. >> we look at the 7%, is that they forgot about us. you're look at the millionaires, boehner $2.4 million, cantor, $3 hadn't 4 million net worth. >> obama obama's not poor either. >> he's fighting for the little guy. >> it seems like they're so disconnected. for them it's $1,000 it's benefits. >> annually. >> it's benefits for unemployment and they don't care. >> karen, hold on a second. the people in the tea party, which is really the right wing of the republican party. a lot of that are southern republicans in whose districts the voters are not millionaires.

those are not 1 per centers. >> when we look at the numbers and let's take a peak at the bump in the approval ratings, we haven't seen the numbers like this at 49% in a long time since mid july. boris, should republicans be worried? the president's message is working. here we go, we have a gop boogie man which is the fringe aspect, the tea part that's holding everything hostage. the middle class is going to suffer. i'm here fighting for you. >> republicans should be motivated. not worry, motivated. seeing this republican has not had real achievement in three years. under 50%. no president has been re-elected under 50%. is this president doing a good job right now? yes. it's the holidays. the jobs are partly up because of the holiday retail. we'll see what happens in the next two months. >> the president is doing a great job. >> we agree on something. >> a christmas miracle. >> never in history have we seen congress perform so poorly. you have mitch mcconnell, marco,

rub owe, coburn has been a hawk on budget cuts. all for this -- >> karen, you have harry reid not re-opening negotiatings. this isn't of the republican house, it's of the senate controlled -- democrat controlled senate as well. it's both republicans and democrats. >> we're not talking about 100 million americans have fallen below the poverty line. these people are fighting over something that is just unconsciousable. >> there's no question that congress is doing the wrong thing. the republican congress and the democratic congress. >> and president obama. >> one last thing president obama's strong approval and strong disapproval minus 18. strongly disapprove 18 more than strongly approve. >> that sounded like a rick perry moment. >> i feel like i'm back at my thanksgiving table with the two of you. >> strongly approve less than strongly disapprove. >> merry christmas. >> thank you so much. we're going to be speaking with

congressman michael grimm from new york in a moment. he's dealing with the hard work that's taking place on the hill. we're going to ask him about what is going on behind the scenes in washington, d.c. will this work get done, or will republicans give the middle class a tax hike? the markets are way up today. not because of what's going on in washington, but take a peak at this. the dow almost up by 300 points boosted by some positive economic news out of europe and a jump in apartment construction here in the u.s. we see green arrows with the s&p as well as the nasdaq. dangerous conditions to tell you about from eastern new mexico to kansas where whiteout conditions and icy roads are sending drivers spinning in all the wrong directions. the storm being blamed for six deaths already. let's go straight to weather channel meteorologist mike slidell. he joins us in garden city, kansas, with more on this. i was watching you earlier today, it seems the winds were a problem as well as the storm. >> reporter: the winds have backed off. it was the combination, thomas,

of 50 miles per hour wind gusts and heavy snowfall that led to the drifts. we just got a report in colorado of eight-foot drifts. last night near pueblo ten-foot drifts. in kansas we had drifts three to four feet. upwards of two feet of snow in new mexico. behind me you get a sense of what little is going on in western kansas. most folks are sitting tight. just about everything is closed. the stores within eye shot of here are closed. the roads are a sheet of ice. the cars are going by, because we had some rain it froze, we've got a layer of ice and then snow packed on top of that. they plowed the roads. until we get some sun sunshine, which will be tomorrow, we're going to have problems with slippery roadways. i-40 is shut down between amarillo and albuquerque. they'll likely get that open at some point today. and i-25 out of albuquerque up towards the colorado line. so northwest new mexico virtually shut down as well as

western kansas and southeast colorado. travel not advised today. things will loosen up later today. certainly tomorrow here thomas. a white christmas at least for some. here in kansas 50% of us who had a white christmas last year will not have one this year because of the snow drought. back to you. >> thank you, mike. appreciate it. newt gingrich losing steam in the polls while taking a beating from a barrage of negative attack ads. his old nemesis bill clinton says don't declare newt dead just yet. can a key endorsement from the religious right change the game in iowa. and mitt romney lets loose on "letterman." >> what's up gangsters. it's the m-i-t-t. >> a side of romney we rarely see. see. that's ahead. [ female announcer ] applying lip balm over...

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welcome back, everybody. the white house and senate democrats turning up the heat on the payroll tax extension saying the only option is to pass a bipartisan deal already reached by the upper chamber. >> when you want to kill something but not have your own fingerprints on it, send it to a committee. just have a simple up or down vote on a bill that passed the senate 89-10 with a majority of republicans for it. if it's good enough for mitch mcconnell and john kyle and marco rub owe and tom coburn, it should be good enough for a bunch of house republicans. >> michael grim is a member of the house financial services committee. he opposes the short-term payroll tax extension. it's good to have you here this morning. why do you oppose it? >> i think everyone across this country knows that two months is not enough. it's not enough to be effective.

and just for the record, it's amazing to hear this democratic rhetoric. it was the president of the united states, last time i checked he was a democrat is the one that said it will be unconsciousable not to do a one-year extension. the president set the marker on this. we passed a bipartisan bill in the house that said one year. why couldn't the senate accept that. that would be my question. most people in business, i think everyone you ask they're going to tell you one of the biggest problems we have in america is a lack of certainty. one year brings a little certainty to the marketplace. why are we punting the ball again because it's politics as usual for the senate. >> why not take what the upper house has done and look at that is two month extension that it has passed 89 senators approve of it and make that for 12 months? >> i think that's -- you can't do that without a conference. that's the whole point. we're saying we're at a year which is where the president wanted to be and where all of business wants us to be at a year. you want us to be at two months.

that's unacceptable it's a band-aid. it's a part of the problem that we've had here in congress. i came to congress to change things. punting the ball. band-aids that's not real solution. we're saying let's bring a real solution and it was thoughtful. if they want to change certain things let's sit down in a conference and do that. that's fine. that's what conference is for. >> this is not the news that americans want to hear so close to the holidays at least being under this much pressure thinking this might not go through for them and they're worried about this tax hike. millions of american families worried about their private economy and their own family economies. when you think about what this is going to do to the american people, doesn't it make you consider what the senate has already put back in your laps? >> well, that's exactly why i'm here. here's the difference, where's harry reid in the senate? they went home to be with their families. i'm here work i've heard the american people. we're actually listening. the house republicans are listening and the american people are telling me they're

tired of us voting in the middle of the night 2:00, 3:00 in the morning and going home. we don't do that. we stayed. we're here to work. the american people are not upset we're going to have a congress. >> the american people support this extension, why don't you? why do you want to hold the american people hostage over the fact -- >> i think you're dead wrong. >> say again? >> i'm not holding anyone hostage. your question is loaded. i don't know who you're speaking to. my constituents told me come here and get the job done, bring real solutions not two-month band-aids. first of all, i voted to pass this for a year. >> your constituents are asking for you to protect the 1% as opposed to be there representing the mass, the 99%? >> that's such an absurd question this is -- >> how is that an absurd question? how is that absurd? >> i'll answer it. i voted for a one-year extension for the middle class tax cuts. did i or did i not? yes, i did. it passed bipartisan. that's what the president of the united states the democrats said

to do, pass it for a year. we did that. why are the democrats now playing politics and politics as usual with a two-month band-aid. it's unacceptable. we're here in washington ready to work. ready to get this done. if it takes a conference, we're willing to do that. if the senate wants to come back and talk to us, we're willing to do that. >> if there are senate republicans who support this, also house republicans who support this, why should the tea party hold this hostage? >> that's a perfect example of why i know that you have no idea what's going on within the conference. this has nothing to do with the tea party. >> does speaker boehner know what's going on in his conference. he said he supported this? >> that's not true. no one in my conference supported two months. everyone knows that two months is not solving the problem. all we're doing -- >> what you did support was the keystone pipeline which did get into this. now that the keystone pipeline is in what's been passed from the senate, why can't you get on board? we're kicking the can down the road. how is anybody supposed to know

where the can really is if speaker boehner and the rest of the republican caucus keep moving the can? >> we haven't moved the can. our vote was loud and clear. maybe you didn't hear it the first time. the american people did. we voted by a one-year extension. that's what the president asked for. we delivered. we stat down. we thought up a thoughtful bill that makes sense. it's a reasonable pragmatic bill. that's what the american people want. they don't want more band-aids and they don't want us to push things off. for this to be effective. the people in business plan ahead. they want to plan ahead. two months is not enough time for them to plan. the doc fix, we've been hearing from -- >> you're giving them no opportunity to plan for anything. >> that's not true. >> you won't give them two months. you know that washington is working in gridlock fashion. why not accept the fact that two months gives you guys time to get your acts together to provide the american people with a longer term deal? >> that's exactly why we didn't go here. we're here working.

we want to get it done before the first of the year. there's plenty of time to work now and get this done through a conference. i appreciate you helping me make my point. the senate should come back and we should work through these details. we think a year makes sense on every level. we think that's what the american people expect of us. not just another band-aid, but to do some long-term solutions. that's what we're fighting to do. to say that we're abandoning the american people, we voted and passed that in the house on a bipartisan way a one-year solution. the senate disagrees with that. that's what conference is for. sometimes the senate and house don't always agree. i think that's what the american people expect and that's exactly what we should do. >> what's the likelihood that this will go to conference, then? >> i think it's very high. at the end of the day harry reid has gotten the politics and his press op, now he's going to know he has to do his work and he's going to come back to the table and get the job done, which is exactly what we're speciesed

spoezed to do. everybody else in my district in statin island and brooklyn are working today. they're going to be working after christmas. there's no reason we can't work as well. i have no problem staying here and working until this thing is done. we have to have a solution that makes sense. not another band-aid that is what's wrong, quite frankly, what's wrong with washington. we came here to change that. i think you saw that last night. you should be very proud of the fact there was no 3:00 a.m. votes. that's what the democrats wanted. but that is i know for a fact is not what the american people want. they want transparency. they want to know we're out there working for them. what i'm hearing in statin island and brooklyn is people want more certainty and two months is not certainty. >> michael grimm we'll let you get back to work. house majority eric cantor is going to be speaking on "andrea mitchell reports." that's at 1:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. congressman, grimm, thank you for your time. ahead, who do tea party

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get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. candidly it's very disappointing to see some of my friends running put out so much negative junk. >> newt gingrich firing back against the constant a raj of criticism against his republican rivals. gingrich is launching a 44 stop bus tour in iowa. is it too late for gingrich in iowa in is he losing his momentum like others before him. new numbers suggest an onslaught ongoing rich has eroded his once sizable lead among gop voters nationwide. if you take a look at those two polls, one from qvc and the other from abc news and "the washington post" both put gingrich in a dead heat with mitt romney.

ron paul rounds out the top three in both polls. ron, it's going to have you on with us this morning. president bill clinton of all people on the "today" show this morning talking with ann curry about whether gingrich's days at the head of the pack are coming to a close. listen to how the president responds. >> when you're just getting the living daylights pounded out of you and people continue you out and you're down, i was pronounced dead more times than a cat has lives in '92. >> do you agree with that one? is newt experiencing the same eventual fall as other front runners have before him? >> i do think of the momentum is slowly leaking out of the newt gingrich balloon. the question is whether or not he can still gets it together, turn it around and win the caucuses. i wouldn't rule him out. i do have to say, president clinton is a genius. the last thing newt gingrich wants in a republican caucus is a compliment from bill clinton.

>> this morning on "morning joe", mitt romney was asked about the perception that he couldn't sale the deal with the republican base. take a listen to how he respondsed to that. >> i would think if you look over history and you say how many people have been able to get to 25% of the support in their party this early when there are eight or nine candidates, there's not very many. >> was he trying to temper expectations for what's to come? >> yeah. he wants to make sure if he finishes second or third and go into new hampshire a state very favorable to him with momentum. i happen to agree with romney on this. i always thought that his poll numbers were more of a floor and not a ceiling. what could happen here in these early races he could pull together the establishment. i still think he's the most likely person to be the nominee. >> ron, when we talk about ron paul coming in third in these new polls, politico writes that republican conservatives in iowa are in ron paul panic.

so could he take iowa? where does rick santorum factor into this? >> both santorum and paul have two of the both grounds games in iowa. santorum is an interesting guy. he's starting to poll a little bit better. he's drawing big crowds. he certainly lines up much better than any other candidate with the 40% of the iowa caucus goers who are evangelicals. last week when i was talking to the wise men and women who really know that state, they were saying there's some buzz that santorum seems to be coming up. i would certainly watch him. i would certainly watch paul. this is a caucus race right for a big surprise. >> if you were to say who has the best ground game, number one? >> number one, it would be paul. this is his second time out there. he's really well organized. a lot of people will literally run through a burning house for him. >> thank you, sir. appreciate your time this morning. a quick programming note for everybody, chuck todd is going

to be spending the day with mitt romney tomorrow joining him on the campaign trail in new hampshire as he makes his final arguments. we're going to have a live interview on "the daily rundown" here on msnbc the place for politics. here's a look at other stories topping the news now. the body of north korean ruler kim jong il was displayed in a glass coffin today. among the first to pay his respects his son and successor kim jon-u nurks. there are concerns about transition of power issues to his are young son, the country has remained very quiet. no quiet at all in egypt where prodemocracy protesters aren't leaving ta rear square without a fight. activists are returned at least 14 people were killed in five days of clashes and egypt's ruling party is under severe scrutiny for using excess ir force.

breaking news unfolding out of northern new jersey. a small plane crashed on busy intertate 287. new jersey state troopers say three people could be dead. this single engine turbo prop had taken off from the airport when it disappear from the radar. we're going to stay on top of the story and bring you the updates as soon as we get that. that crash along interstate 287. the california car chase with a dramatic ending for a 4-year-old little girl. the girl's mom calling with a report of a possible kidnapping. video then captures police chasing down a car in l.a. the man behind the wheel opens the door. the child in his lap. today the driver is in custody. that little girl is now safe. never easy to say good-bye. now that at&t has ended its bid to end t mobile. there's a fukushima daiichi over how much the giant owes t mobile for its troubles.

at and t says it will pay a $4 billion break up fee. we're talking about one of the biggest breakup fees of its kind on record. that is a lot of money. new meaning to the expression shop til you drop. toys r us announced its stores are going to stay open for 112 uninterrupted hours a shopping marathon for procrastinators and night owls. the shop clock started at 6:00 this morning. you won't see a closed sign go up until 10:00 p.m. christmas eve. the white house is pressuring house republicans to pass a short-term payroll tax extension before the end of this year. with time running out the white house has changed the countdown clock to read if the house doesn't act middle class taxes increase in, you can see the countdown clock there. let's take a look at what this tax hike will mean across the income scale in america. the more you make, the more you give up. $1,000 for people making $50,000 a year. $1500 if you make $75,000.

$2,000 if you make $100,000. robert riesh is a professor of micks at the university of california berkeley. professors, a lot of pain across the board when we talk about what's happening in this country. a lot of pain for the middle class if the tax cuts expire. give me your general impression first of what the republicans are doing here and what do you think their end game is in this fight? >> thomas, this is another example of brickmanship. we've seen this again and again this past year. in fact, the past four years. republicans particularly the radical right tea partiers they do not want to compromise. they want to use every bit of bargaining negotiating power they have even if it means the middle class are not going to get a tax cut. they want a pay for, that is they want kind of demand and get the president and democrats to pay for this tax increase. it's actually a tax cut

technically because if that thing is not extended it's going to be a tax increase. but to pay for the continued payroll tax cut by doing all kinds of things. and the president says no. the middle class needs this, the economy needs this. we're not going to cave to the radical republicans. >> when we look at what we're hearing from the gop in washington, d.c., we just had congressman michael grimm on the air saying this two-month extension that we've gotten moved over from the senate to the upper chamber from the house is a band-aid. we want 12 months. is there anything that we're going to hear from the right as to the real reason why they're holding this up? >> i doubt it. i think what the radical right, we're talking about not all republicans, we're talking about the republican caucus that is primarily tea partiers. many of them elected in 2010, they are very, very radical. they want a much smaller government. that's all basically they want. and they probably are not going

to say explicitly, certainly john boehner's not going to say why they're doing this. their official statement -- i mean the spin is two months is not enough let's do a year. but democrats wanted a year extension. many democrats wanted more than a year extension to the payroll tax cut. that's not going to watch. i think a lot of republicans who are not on the radical right are worried justifiably that this kind of behavior, this close to the new year, this close to christmas, this close to the holidays when people really do not want their taxes to go up, obviously. middle class people ark lot of people in this country are still in very bad straits because of the economy. many people also need an extension of unemployment benefits. we have more unemployed people than we've had in living memory right now. particularly long-term unemployed. a lot of republicans who are

moderates to the extent there are any moderate republicans left, are concerned that the entire party is going to be blamed. >> professor, when we talk about the white house and what the president's next move should be, we have a new "the washington post" poll showing the americans trust him much more as republicans as a whole, when it comes to protecting the middle class, how should this affect what the white house's next move is. >> you're asking me to be a political strategist here, thomas. i think what the white house probably will do and harry reid certainly in the senate is going to do is to say, look, two months is better than nothing. and the senate has overwhelmingly, i mean overwhelmingly voted in favor of extending the payroll tax cut at least two months. now remember, most republicans in the senate voted for this. so what harry reid and the senate and the president are probably going to say is at least help the middle class to this extent. there is a larger economic issue here, obviously, the payroll --

extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment benefits is not going to be a giant shot in the arm for the economy, it is going to be useful to keep whatever momentum we have toward more employment and there is slight momentum toward more employment to keep that going. >> former labor secretary robert riesh. thanks for seeing you. >> thanks, thomas. breaking news from iowa, a key religious group says it is not endorsing any of the gop candidates. any of them. how will this impact the race for the gop nomination? for the gop nomination? that's next. a holiday trip to the big apple twice as fast! dinner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! i want a mace, a sword, a... oww! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. to capitalone.com.

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see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups. welcome back, everybody. i want to take you to iowa. we're just learning that family leaders there are not endorsing anyone right now. any of the gop candidates. chuck hurley is the man we're seeing there. earlier the ceo personally endorsed rick santorum. as a group, family leaders, the

family leaders ceo endorses santorum. do we have that right? the family leader is not endorsing a candidate. the ceo is personally endorsing santorum. i want to make sure we're reporting on this correctly. we're hearing that they as a group are not supporting a gop nominee. they helped republicans ride to victory in the how's in the last election. where does the gop stand on candidates. the tea party group picked newt gingrich as their favorite just ahead of michele bachmann. mitt romney came in third with 20%. here to talk about this is debbie dooley, the national coordinator of the group tea party patriots. >> nice to be here. >> explain to all of us is appeal of newt gingrich within the tea party. why do you want to pick him as your person for the presidential nomination over bachmann, perry

or even ron paul? >> well, let's clarify the poll. that was actually our activists and supporters throughout the united states actually logged on, voted in the straw polls. so it's actually tea party patriots does not endorse. we have no plans on endorsing. but that was our activists stressing their opinion. from what i have spoken to tea party activists throughout the nation that are supporting speaker gingrich is because of the fact that they feel like they like his performance in the debate. he's bold. he's brash. and the gop establishment is going in meltdown mode at the thought of mr. gingrich winning the nomination. so that's appealing. the tea party vote is really divided. this is no one candidate. michele bachmann finished second at 28%. you had mitt romney, 20%.

in other words, 80% of the tea party activists and supporters that voted in our straw poll voted for someone else other than mitt romney. you had rick santorum finish fourth with 16%. rick is actually coming up. he's advancing so is michele bachmann. so this race is still up for grabs. anyone could be the nominee. the iowa straw poll i think the majority of ron paul supporters will turn out in iowa. there's i think he will finish first or second. but i think he has the most loyal and most motivated supporters would be ron paul. i think michele bachmann on our straw poll, michele bachmann finished first as far as motivation. 36% of the people would be motivated if she were the nominee and only 35% for newt. so it will be interesting to see. i have not seen a primary season like this in my lifetime.

>> i haven't either. we'll continue to watch this as it comes down to the wire. debbie dooley, great to see you this morning. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me on. a simple ceremony at joint base andrews -- excuse me in a joint ceremony at andrews air force base in maryland today, president obama and vice president joe biden will mark the end to the war in iraq. that happens a view minutes from now. president obama will receive the military flag that knew over the iraqi capital. the last of the combat troops crossed the border into kuwait sunday evening after nine years of war that killed nearly 4,500 of war that killed nearly 4,500 americans. [ male announcer ] what can you do with plain white rice? when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it...

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and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. welcome back. time for the poli-sci bar. newt gingrich's daughter wants to set the record straight on her father's infidelities and three marriages. she says there's a lot of things that aren't true. she says her father never

abandoned her, her mom or her sister. she set the record straight years ago when she overheard someone talking about that in a bar in atlanta. >> excuse me, i'm his daughter, jackie, he's never done that. you are so wrong. it just so happens that the night that she introduced her father to her future husband, by the way, jackie will be joining me on thursday to talk about her father's campaign. we look forward to that. grammy winning singer loudoun wainwright the third had some fun with newt's married life to the tune of santa claus is coming to town. ♪ newt will solve our problems newt's been married ♪ three times ♪ and mitt romney has one wife ♪ in the top ten things mitt romney would really like to say

to the american people -- >> isn't it time for a president who looks like a 1970 game's show host. what's up gangstas. i have no proof, but i have a feeling canada is planning something. i'm actually only here to meet tom cruise. my new clone is now available at macy's. it's mittstified. i used my campaign money to buy a zoo with matt damon. i can do a lot, but even i can't fix the indianapolis colts. newt gingrich really, really? it's a hairpiece. >> mitt romney is going to be on "the daily rundown" tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. we'll be right back.

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the truth is, we're not far apart on this issue. the negotiators got extremely close. we owe some stability and good tax policy to the hard-working people of this country, not more gimmicks and political gains. >> there you have it. house majority leader eric cantor moments ago keeping the political train on the tracks and away from dysfunction junction is a much needed goal considering what's going on in washington right now. 14-year-old started hission group united now. his goal is to target partisan ship and encourage elected officials to work together. joining me now from dallas is that teen himself, conner brantley. conner, it's great to see you today. >> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. there's a lot of adults who aren't as political motivated as you have been in your brief life so far. you're 14 years old. so what prompted you to start this group when you did? >> well, washington is just so partisan and they focus more on

scoring political points than they do serving us. people of all ages need to realize that is a real problem. they work for us and we hire them and they should stay true to their word. it's unbelievable what's going on. i was in washington last week with a group called no labels where they unveiled their 12-point plan to make congress work. whenner we were up there we got to the witness firsthand, especially during these payroll tax cuts in the super committee, just all of these things, americans are very, very sick of it. and we're ready to do something. >> you make a great point about what's going on the payroll tax issues right now. as we are watching the gop candidates ramp up to the iowa caucuses now a couple weeks ago, do you have any predictions, any picks of who you would hope to see take the lead there? >> you know, i'm not supporting any candidate, but it's going to be interesting to see what happens. it seems like every month there is a new front-runner in the gop. so it will be interesting to see what happens, especially with

these super packs that are running against newt gingrich and it's going to be interesting. i think we should definitely keep a close eye on it which i know we will. >> we don't want to put you on the spot having to predict that, was the payroll tax cuts, d.c., you just got back. are you surprised at the lack of unity? >> oh, absolutely. they just can't find common ground. and it's to score political points. they focus more on party than they do on us. you know, it's -- washington is playing a game with the american people just don't want to play. and you would think it would be a very simple task. coming together, find issues, find the consensus to work for the people of this country, the people who put them in the office in first place but they aren't doing that because they look at the next election instead of right now. >> your group is called united now. 14-year-old connor brantley, connor, great to have you on this morning. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. thank you for your time.

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in a few minutes, president obama will be marking the end of the war in iraq, while republicans in congress remain at war with themselves. it's tuesday, december 20th. this is "now." joining me today from "the new york times" op-ed columnist frank bernie, sasha eisen birg is a columnist for "slate" and bill burton, a deputy press secretary for the obama white house and msnbc contributor meghan mccain. moments from now president obama will officially mark the end of the iraq war as a u.s. forces iraq returns from baghdad. the ceremony caps off a string of events for the president relating to the end of the war. last week he welcomed home troops at ft. bragg and alongside