minister norry al maliki regarding the future of iraq. we know the president was actually supposed to be on the beach in hawaii right now but i think, you know, this is, in some ways, a very -- hesitate to use the words opportune, but it's a minder that he's the commander in chief and against the war and backdrop of wild congressional infighting on the hill. what do you guys make of it? >> i think it it's a great move for the president because he didn't just keep a campaign promise, he did something that was very difficult. a at time when people are looking at the washington to see who are the leaders and who will step up and do the hard things even in the face of political adversity. it was a hard thing. people didn't know if he would be able to get it done. we he got it done and now he can prove on to different things. >> as -- after the spoke at ft. bragg and then as the war has sort of officially wound down, there has been some, if not blow-back, i would say sharp

analysis as far as what it really means on the ending the war in iraq and whether it's worth it, quote, unquote. as he continues to highlight his end, is it potentially hazardous insofar as it reminds americans, again, of the war and the treasure lost and the blood sacrificed and so on and so forth and the fact that the country itself remains unstable today? >> there's a lot of people out there that supported him and me including. i was just pulling out and i wish he would have left 30,000 or 40,000 troops in iraq. for me personally i wish he would have made a speech at ft. bragg and recognized the fact this is an end and still a controversial end to people like me who supported this war. >> for iraq he did make comments and tried to give almost an angelic capping off to the return of the soldiers. at the same time, this is a war that president obama never supported and a lot of the american public didn't support. i think there are a lot of cross currents he has to negotiate. >> as meghan suggested there are

going to be a lot of questions about whether we're pulling out at the right moment. the war happened. he didn't support it. he inherited. there are headlines about how unstable iraq seems to be. in a couple of months if this country begins to unravel, of course because he's president, because he was the one who ended the war, there will be questions about how he did it and whether he did it the right way. >> let's talk a little bit about the contrast tweeng the congressional sort of infighting and where the president is at and implications for him after this payroll tax cut situation is taken care of. certainly it looks like the wednesday is at the democrats back right now. purely on messaging. obama is above the fray. dealing with matters of national import and mitch mcconnell and john boehner and some degree eric cantor in the shadows trying to work out the basic payroll tax cut. >> i have trouble following it. i am sure that voters are not clearly processing the deliberations about whether there is chamber should take different bills.

i think that if the white house is counting on being able to sell whatever happens on january 1st to the american people as the result of sort of complex congressional maneuvering one way or the other, it's a tough story to tell. >> speaking of complex congressional maneuvering, i want to bring in here the stage of capitol hill luke russert who can update us on the latest comings and goings as the payroll tax cut battle continues onwards through the night. luke, tell us what's happening over there. >> well, as of today, alex, what you're going to see is a vote on the house floor to go to conference. and for a lot of folkses out there who -- that means essentially is there are differences between the house and the senate bill, sometimes you can appoint leadership on both sides would do that, to work out those differences and try to come up with a by paiparn agreement between both chambers. what's interesting though is to have a vote go to conference, the house gop leadership is not going to have a vote on the

senate bill to have support on saturday. why? i spoke to a view gop members that said there is a real chance that bill could have passed the house, the one that leadership did not want to move forward. it's optics. 2012 campaign commercial i'm sure bill burton right next to you would write one saying -- >> he may have, luke. >> he may have, indeed. the gop was voting against the tax cut for the middle class. they did not want to be on record for doing that. they're going to vote to go to conference which a gop aide told me is supposed to i'm plooi that they were against the senate bill. now, the interesting thing is nancyosi said the senate is not coming back. so if there's a conference, if the only one in the house, does the conference really happen? it's one of those -- if the tree falls in the woods, is anyone there to hear, is it really making noise? honestly, alex, i have spoken to

people on beth sidoth sides, nos any clue how this is going to play out. >> the person in the hot seat here seems to be john boehner because there's the high five that was seen around the world. i can't believe i just said that. but the high five, the mcconnell gave after the passage of this bill in the senate which would presume -- i would presume that meant that the republicans were together. they wanted this thing to pass. boehner seemed to be ready to get through the house and all of a sudden we can't get his caucus today. how much is this an issue for senate boehner? his leadership has come under fire again and again. this seems to me like you can see the threads anging off the seam. >> i think in this issue you've got two men whose careers are at stake and public position is at stake. john boehner. but what we found out here is what we already knew, he does not have control of the tea party and tea party is leading their party off the cliff here. if the tea party gets their way

taxpayers will go up for 160 million american families. other guy is mitt romney? where is he? how come he's not slowing any leadership? maybe he ought to tell us what heities about this. >> bill, let's be fair. at the end of the day, john bane -- someone has to be the adult in the room up there and say, guys, you're not getting everything you want for cyst nas. >> you i think for republicans either way it's going to be something that democrats are going to be able to spend reflecting poorly on republicans. no matter which way you throw it it can be seen republicans in this time of need are not helping out the middle class. this is bad for republicans and everybody needs to get their act together. >> i agree with meghan there. >> it's difficult for me -- >> i think most of them know that this is not going to play, you know, not going to look to voters good and yet they have this group of people, tea party people in the house who they can't control. it's a big party going forward, here we are still, what, nine, ten months away from the election. if this is the congress we had for the past year, what's it going to be like for the next year, the next ten months?

it's going to be pure stasis. >> we have some polling on this which is overall voters are trusting obama and the white house more to handle taxes, to handle the economy. shis polling numbers are going up. this seems to be working well for them. it's ironic that no matter what if they pull out a one-year payroll tax cut plan it could be seen as a victory for the white house. if they do a two-month extension the democrats get to keep talking about this come groundhog day. if you're a republican congress, i guess the question is how do you not see the writing on the wall? sasha, you said you're not quite sure the american public carries about congressional maneuvering but i feel like the sausage making on this one is out there in the open. >> i think one of the things that boehner needs to start wor iing are about as congressional districts are redrawn, is the closer it looks like there could be a change of control in the house or really tough margin the more he's going to be worried about the leadership vote that takes place after november. if he's been running scared because of where his conference

is, caucus is, over the course of this year, it's only going to be worse in 2012 if you start saying predictions that, you know, is going to need every vote to keep his speakership. >> this is like fresh meat for ads. you tell me. i just can see this put in a ad, while 3w78s is away, republicans don't care about the middle class. i can see the way the ads will be placed. >> would seem to be fodder through the re-elect bid. >> you tell me. >> real political mp my indications. no doubt. implications for john boehner's tenure as the leader of the republican party in the house. i know we're talking about the washington and politics matters but not enough people are looking at what the economics are here. independent analysts are saying if the payroll tax cut does not get extended within the next year, economic growth could go down up 1 to 1.5%. that is a big problem. it's not just a big problem for john boehner's leadership potential, it's a problem for the american people and american economy. more people will be out of work

and the economy will be growing slower. >> this happening again as a backdrop of christmas, of course, is in terms of optics. i want to go back to you, luke russert. in terms of the dynamic between john boehner and mitch mcconnell on this, mitch mcconnell is gone. what is the line of communication there? do we know at all -- usthe sena would where to come back if they change the bill significantly. >> correct. from aides i have spoken to, there is -- they're employing there's conversations ongoing. but even if the senate were to do something, the way in which it would happen is there would be some sort of an agreement between harry reid, mitch mcconnell and john boehner that the house would pass something that could garner democratic support in the senate. you can pass it through the senate without bringing everybody back because the senate is going to go into a pro forma session. it could be done through anonymous consent through an

empty chamber if they so decide. that being said, harry reid has stuck to his gun and said they would not bring the senate back. i've spoke to a few republicans saying, look, i don't mind coming back after christmas, december 26th. people are little bit too chicken little right now saying the sky is falling. we still have 11 day or so or whatever the number is. never the less, it looks increasingly like this is a classic washington stalemate and what makes it a little bit different though is that no one obviously knows the end game. but you actually have i think for the first time all year in congress democrats really have the upper hand. i mean, there is -- i think bill would be the first one to tell you, john boehner got 98% of what he waped out of the debt limit. republicans have kind of been running the show. putting the line in the sand. taking positions that were so difficult to negotiate with that they really ended up getting a lot of what they wanted. in this case, it's almost like a lot of democrats say, wait, why are we going to bend under this

pressure? we won this issue. not only did we win it we have a bipartisan vote. there is no way we want to come back. you want to talk about them feeling emboldened. i spoke to one aide saying this is our christmas present. we finally have a victory in this year. >> it's kind of like the democrats or seabiscuit, they might pull this one out after so many injuries. lowered expectations. we will be talking more about this and we will also continue to monitor the president's arrival at andrews air force base to officially close down or cap off the iraq war. we'll be back with a lot more of the break. [ female announcer ] where will you be when you have to change your pad? now with stayfree you don't have to worry. inspired by athletic wear, only stayfree has thermocontrol to wick away moisture. so you're dry and comfortable up to 8 hours. stayfree. helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea,

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we are back, and we are

waiting for the president to receive the flag from the joint u.s. forces base in iraq, in baghdad, specifically, marking the very end of the iraq war. we were talking earlier before the break about the dynamics in congress and setting that again obama's commander in chief. and we've known for a while that the house -- or the republican caucus is in some sort of disarray. what i wanted to talk about a little bit is the tea party, not as it comes into policy making but in terms of the national election. because what it seems -- we know the republican race to nominate a presidential candidate has been erratic, at best. i want to talk to you guys about how potent you think the tea party is from nominating a nominee. the straw poll is split. there is 31% of gingrich, 28% for bachmann, 15% for santorum, perry is 2%. it just seems to be all over the

place. you know, some of them are extremely enthusiastic for santorum, romney, bachmann, gingrich. 65% are not enthusiastic for huntsman, paul, or perry. to what degree do they choose the nominee? >> i don't think this is a whole lot of movement anymore. i remember in 2008 there were a lot of republicans who went around, including the nominee of the party, who said that congressional spending and scandals have given republicans a bad name and i think republicans realized they could pick another name and tea party sounded good. and what we see is that a large part of the party in various polls, you know, tea party/republicans but none of the institutions including the tea party patriots really represent anything. mitt romney is reaching the same number in the polls as a tea party patriots stunt as national media polls. so either mitt romney isn't the person we thought it was, the tea party isn't what we thought it was, or the republican party is -- >> calculating, they say they want to bet on a winner.

>> i think it does look -- in 2010 it looked organized that may be glowing. now you have to wonder if it is just an expression of unfocused anger. that lack of focus being reflected in how widely disbursed the support is. >> power phil though in the house. the core group of tea party republicans have had out-sized impact on the legislation that's been put forward. something like the ryan budget which is this document that would have been considered political suicide in any other year. as the "wall street journal" puts it, it would essentially end medicare. but the tea party has been so powerful in the house a guy like mitt romney leading the polls in the republican party would embrace it. >> jon huntsman is one that signed on earliest to the paul ryan budget. >> it's going to be a big problem for whoever the republican nominee is. >> that f. they will last. house members are all up for re-election, too, in 2012. >> if they last. you know, the subject at hand, if they last. i think what these polls are

saying, i mean, i had a frentd friend describe the tea party as temperament aal mistress that i unpleasable. >> meghan. >> i have a friend who is very poetic with words about politics. these people are unpleasable. in theory michele bachmann should be their candidate, literally the head of the tea party movement and she's not good enough for them. no one is good enough for them. it is ravaging my party. the problems right now, the fear that every single week we're going to have a different nominee and somehow mitt romney is never going to be good nufd. >> doesn't mitt romney benefit here? if you're a tea partier, theoretically mitt romney is the last guy you want so you're splitting the votes. evangelicals, conservatives, tea parties don't flock to any number of candidates and on a numbers game mitt romney, conservative, but more of a progressive than anything else. >> if the tea party vote is split up, and he's the non-tea party vote, of course he's going to benefit from this. i think as we all sit here today

he's probably still the odds-on favorite to get this nomination. gingrich is falling already. >> is the tea party really going to vote for obama over mitt romney? >> yes. >> or do they stay home? i think we should also talk about maybe their influence is not to be felt in terms of a presidential candidate but they're looking closely at the senate. they know they can wield some out sized influence on the hill and maybe that's where the tea party comes to rest as it were. >> also sarah palin is now saying it's not too late for her to run for president. maybe now it's going to be a third-party tea party candidate. >> it's not too late. i hope she gets in. i think there's definite short -- >> he says, in the most understated fashion, yes. >> there is short-term benefit for -- or short-term consequences and the tea party and the impact they can have. long-term effects, i think, cannot be seen just yet because things that mitt romney has signed on to as a result of their tea party and influence are going to come back to haunt him in a big way come next fall. >> that's where they hurt him. even if he gets enough support outside of them he has to move to the right to pick off some of them during the nominating

process. he's going to have as difficult to pivot back to the center as any republican. >> isn't he such a good pov vitter, frank? >> that's true. pivoting, flopping, pivoting is a nice word. >> as he wraps up mickey haley enforcements, chris christie, as he gets more confidence, with romney that's a loaded word, i feel like he's in recent days sort of come a little bit back to the center. does that seem true, sasha? his comments on raising taxes on the wealthy and even on gay marriage were more progressive than what we had heard on the national stage from that field of candidates. >> i think the one lurch to the right that will have the most damage for him or difficulty in the general election is liberation, which is not what we typically think of as tea party priority but is clearly where there's a lot of enthusiasm in the right of the party. salient in iowa. far more so in this election than people thought going into it. romney, one place he's been able to put himself to the right of

gingrich and perry consistently and seems to be comfortable there. i think that's the biggest demographic change, the biggest strategic challenge of his and in the fall will be figuring out how to get back to the center on that. >> that is right. when you look at the quinnipiac poll, romney won civil support of voters. it's where john mccain was in november 2008. if mitt romney goes behind the general election, last time around got trounced in the election by the hispanic voters -- >> if he chooses mark rube you, that solves the problem. >> some polling suggests that mark arubio does nothing to help the ticket. >> who believes polling? i love him. >> we are still waiting for the president. he's at andrews air force base. he will be receiving the u.s.

joint forces flag in baghdad k57 capping off the iraq war. luke russert, we still have you from capitol hill. i want to talk to you about the tea partiers in congress. if you're a republican and you've been there and doing the bli business and you know how this works and they're in there koging up the wheels, is there any sense of resentment among long-term republican congress votes and the tea partiers, johnny come latelies who is gumming up the machine, if you will? >> sure. those are split in two camps. half of them really like the tea party because they are very much conservatives and they see, okay, here's this new blood that can finally prepet chew wait all of these conservative ideas we've had on the back bench for years and can finally bring them to fruition because we have the numbers. the other group says these folks have no idea how washington operates and they're more than happy to blow up everything if they don't like it and they

don't realize you have to govern. the issue of earmarks is a fine example. tea party railed against earmarks. waste of money. there's a lot of older members who have been here for a while of who say earmarks is a way to prove to my constituents that i'm doing something in washington, i built that road, i built that hospital, i built that park. you see the divide there. what is very fascinating though on the hill, alex, is that of the new gop freshman class, about 63, i believe the number's around 39 or 40 of those members had never held elected office before. as we see the divide, folks who have never had elected office in my capacity that have come from all different walks of life, i mean, in the freshman gop class, you have a guy who is an auctioneer, a guy who owned a pizza parlor. >> pizza magnet, don't count them out. nothing bad about pizza. >> not at all. but you have these folks who come from very different backgrounds that are not usually political ones and they're sort

of input on how things get done here is very different than what you would expect from a politician. and you can kind of see the divide between people who have served in the state house before and those who haven't. those who haven't say, wait, why aren't we getting what we want? i was sent to washington to do this job. i want to get the job done. why are you prohibiting me from doing that. there's not a lot of give and take mentality. they want to do it by any means necessary. that's what i think the media has failed to really understand and democrats have failed to understand, is to be the length at which these individuals will go to get what they want because they've never been here before. they don't mind blowing it up because my nature they discllik it. they're going to do whatever they want to do and you're starting to see that now in its full-fledged just -- >> its glory. the ineptitude in all of its glory. i don't know how this makes the argument that we need less seasoned political leaders.

you look at this and it just seems like a hot mess. and we will be talking more about that. we are, of course, still monitoring the president at andrews air force base where he will be receiving the u.s. joint forces flag officially ending the war in iraq. when we come back we will talk mitts blitz. will it carry his campaign through the primaries? that is coming up next on "now." sam: i'm sam chernin. owner of sammy's fish box. i opened the first sammy's back in 1966. my employees are like family. and, i want people that work for me to feel that they're sharing in my success. we purchase as much as we can on the american express open gold card. so we can accumulate as many points as possible. i pass on these points to my employees to go on trips with their families. when my employees are happy, my customers are happy. vo: earn points for the things you're already buying. call 1-800-now-open to find out how the gold card can serve your business.

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doors from morning until kuwait late in the evening. we didn't convert one person in five months. so you understand rejection, you know that that's a pretty high level of rejection and you get used to it. >> that was mitt romney on "morning joe" today talking about his work as a mormon missionary. joining the panel now, michael steel, msnbc analyst and former head of the rnc. >> i thought he was talking

about his campaign, i'm sorry. >> that's right. i thought -- in the new -- >> my bad. in the new humanization of mitt romney where he talks about his family and spouse and time as a mormon missionary. that was the eureka moment. he was in a town of 250,000 and for five months didn't sign -- not sign, convert anybody. and said, you know, i learned to perseve persevere, it didn't affect me. this is why this guy is able to withstand months and months of people saying we're not going to put a ring on it, we're not sure if you're the guy. i thought it was telling. >> training for political rejection. >> it really is. >> absolutely. >> i just blov the blitz where he's trying to go out and convince people that are humans because most humans don't have to convince people that they're human. >> oh, bill burton. does it work? does the humanization push work? >> i think it does. sure, it does. because everyone has these idealized visions and views of guys and gals running.

they think they're better than us in some respects, that's why we elevate them to that position. then you get to a point where you like to know they put their pants on the same way you do, eat their breakfast the same way, get upset at the little things that go on throughout the day. things like going on "david letterman" brings you closer to them in the sense they get it right because you still have to get it right when you're trying to show that you're human. >> i think he's getting better at it. frank, you have an op-ed today talking about the usefulness or uselessness of the spouse. >> they're talking about ms. romney, she's been available to reporters. it's meant to show he's a committed husband and that's a direct -- very interesting oblique attack at newt gingrich and his marital history by putting ann out this tl saying we've been together for sglefr are spouses useless, in your opinion? >> no offense to -- >> none at all.

excuse me. no -- >> i can't answer that. i don't think spouses make a big difference. >> look at michelle obama in the last election. i think ann romney -- >> you think the spouses make a big difference? >> i do. >> i look at kerry's wife. >> i'm sorry, i don't find this woman, newt gingrich, terribly appealing and the fact that she's a mistress is not helpful. >> speaking of michelle obama, her president -- her husband and our president is now receiving the joint forces flag at andrews air force base marking the end of the iraq war.

>> i would like to report the safe return of the colors to the united states war in iraq, directly place the united states of america. >> present. >> present. >> halt. >> present. ♪

♪

>> please be seated. >> that was president obama receiving the flag from the u.s. joint forces base in baghdad, officially concluding the war in iraq. it is -- >> the end of war? >> well, ceremoniaceremonially, how you end it. it is a good reminder of what is at stake here and the heights and the depths of holding the office of president and talk about who may occupy 1600 pennsylvania avenue next in 2012. we were talking earlier before that about republicans who were vying for that seat in the evil office and how much their own humanity matters and humanity of their spouses, character is at this. meghan, i know that you thought, you were saying you thought that the spouse is an intricate part of communicate that message. >> i do. no disrespect to your column. i do think behold the power of a woman standing next to a man.

from my personal experience, the fact that my mother was a second wife was a big issue for the voters and obama just had one marriage together and seems very much in love and partners with the fist bumping in my opinion had a lot of impact and as much as you don't think of call list a gingrich, he was a third wife and mistress and icy and reputation of being comp tro ver verse shul within their campaign is doing damage. >> part of that, but i think the other side of that is, there is that human component. as bill was mentioning, romney being human and all of that, people want to know, you know, what your life is like and what are you going through. so when you have a situation where this is your first marriage versus your second marriage or your third, there are people out there who have been married more than twice, more than three times. so, you know, that's a nice element as well. i don't think it's dispositive as a negative.

>> do we want a norman rockwell marriage? >> it's the fact that there have been three marriages and it's all the reporting on how those marriages broke up. it's a much bigger bigger. >> keep in mind newt gingrich is winning. at the end of the day -- >> talking at newt gingrich, is he really winning? >> give it another week. give it another week. >> it's going up and down. just the last thing on spouses, i don't know that it necessarily gives a huge boost of support but we've done a lot of polling and focus grouping of vote these last year and i will say one thing that americans really like about the president is the fact that he has a very strong wife and they have a great partn partnership and the more people have gotten to know president obama and his family the more respect they have for him as a human, as mitt romney would say. >> two things. one is part of the issue is calista is a chief moral officer for his campaign and huge force -- >> very strong woman. >> we still don't know a lot about her. maybe we will see more of her.

i will say whenever mitt romney talks about ann romney and when she was diagnosed with m.s. and the thing he has done as husband to care for her and ensure she is getting all the medical attention she needs, it is to me some of the most touching stuff he has said on the campaign trail. >> fits working it's also working because she's more than a person in this situation, she's a metaphor. big wrap against mitt is he's flip-flops and for and against everything over time. he can turn to ann and his marriage and say this has been constant. they've been married forever. >> we have to take a break. when we come back we have more on newt's crazy talk and more on the future of the payroll tax cut extension in waug congress. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. 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.

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welcome back. the house is now voting on the motion to go to cong conference which will no doubt determine the future and fate of the

presently passed senate bill to expand tend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance. meanwhile, newt gingrich is doubling down on his comments on strong arming the judiciary. he is the focus of an fec complaint. three now polls show gingrich's lead lead erased nationally and in a statistical dead heat with romney. i want to focus on the fact that whenever newt gingrich gets into a tight spot he doubles down. and specifically his comments regarding activist judges and questioning the sprageparation powers. how much do you think those comments and evidence that newt has not changed his crazy ways, at the fruit of this slippage? >> i think republicans with asking who is electable.

so much of what comes out of newt's mouth becomes a problem for him. he loses so much time. i think there are voters who look at that and say that is not going go the distance against obama. forget it. >> yeah, i think the thing you've got to keep in mind is we are in a republican primary we not in a general election. the position that newly spoused on the judiciary is wildly popular in iowa. >> eiowa. >> yes. but look, you know how politics go. bill can talk about the 2,0 200 race where comments were made by candidates to position themselves to get that edge to go to the core base to get to the polls and vote. you worry about in the general cleaning that stuff up. you're not going to focus on a general election fight right now over the judiciary. you're going to focus on what is going to drive the base, what's going to motivate to show the conservative one, i'm going to fight for them, whatever that

point happens to be. >> do you clean up the mess that he's making? >> sure. >> control the size of the mess? >> different. that's the different. >> some statements you can't come back from. he's talking about the separation of church and state in america and arresting judges. these are things by most people's standards i know what goes on in iowa is somewhat different but what goes on in rest of america this is something as joking as it is and much as i say something like a science fiction movie this is something that quite concerns me. actual thoughts he thinks he should go out and arrest judges in come on. >> he has keyed in on an issue that has not been talked about in this primary though, which is judges. what is the future of the judiciary. and mitt romney and all the other candidates have gotten a free pass when you talk about well, what do they want the future judiciary to look like? all romney said is that he would pick like like scalia. what about the prior, the republicans who put so much force in trying to get passed.

would he try to appoint a justice like that? that's where the rubber meets the road and that's where these candidates haven't talked about which newt is bringing to bear. >> the thing within the rank and file of the party, the idea of a activist judiciary is there, so there's going to be a natural pushback against that. so newt to bill's point is addressing that and n. a very direct ways. >> it does cut both ways. you kick out the bums you don't like. what happens when, you know -- >> exactly. >> that question was pos is itted and the answer was not as clear. >> also michael, i would say, if you want to win iowa shouldn't you be in iowa instead of listening the your wife play the french horn over the weekend? >> maybe if she's your third wife. >> wow. >> french horn plays well with the bass. >> i think coming off more like he's run for dictator than president at this point. it's my world. you're all just living in it. i'm wrong. i'm doubling down. >> that is a perfect segue, meghan, to a clip that we have to show. in 1994 incoming speaker

gingrich was on "meet the press" and was asked about then hillary clinton's response to idea to kids whose parents afford them put them in orphanages. she called the idea unbelievable and absurd. this is how newt gingrich responded. >> i would ask her to go to blockbuster and rent the mickey rooney movie about boys town. >> rent the mickey rooney movie about boys town, about which is about abandoned children. i actually haven't seen it. >> good movie. >> well, newt gingrich later that month hosted the film on tnt. newt gingrich -- >> are you kidding me? >> he has this almost like charles dickens idea of like children who should be cleaning, you know, schools and going to orphanages. it's like this david copperfield notion of, like, social policy that just seems totally outmoded and his national policy -- national security policy comes

from or son scott karr. >> i get what you're saying on all of that. >> or rirks it's funny. >> it is funny. it is funny to a certain point. but the other side of it is, is that by asking these questions, making these points, and, look, some of it is out there for sure. it causes a discussion about issues as bill noted that we otherwise are not paying attention to and not talking about. we do have a problem not necessarily with the working poor but with the very poor in this country. and how those children are treated, how in many cases they are abandoned. and so society has a responsibility to respond to that. maybe not in creating an orphanage but i think the idea -- >> generous. >> but that was a period of our history though. we did have orphanages. but my point is it causes -- it causes, you know, if nothing else, a conversation forred good, bad, or whatever, to care about issues that otherwise don't get discussed. i don't know if you do that in a presidential campaign but it is something that is out there. >> provocative comments can

start conversation. but when you get really broad and careless you can do damage. calling the palestinians an invented people, i don't know any zionists who find that helpful and constructive. that's just inflammatory and that's why people worry about newt. >> going back to the first part, that was the political re-enforcement for support of israel and appealing to a certain -- >> rhetoric in this language is easy -- obviously everything i do is concentrate to think youth vote and i'm worried about the young voters in the republican party. i worry about this kind of language so alienating young voters and the new era of the republican party which is, you know, unfortunately not growing so great right now. >> it's not. a lot of people don't really know how to approach that new segment that is going to define what this party's future looks like. >> the question is can newt gingrich pivot off of orphanages and child john tejanitors. we will be back after the break with more on "what now," mtv's

fantasy election of 20 12 and other hot topics. that will be next on the show. i'm chris, coming up on "andrea mitchell reports," the payroll tax showdown, growing more intense by the minute on the hill. wheat get the latest from eric cantor. and hoyer and michake kelly. and latest poll numbers two weeks before iowa. we'll see you at the top of the hour for "andrea mitchell reports." apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. now with stayfree you don't have to worry. inspired by athletic wear, only stayfree has thermocontrol to wick away moisture. so you're dry and comfortable up to 8 hours.

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welcome back. we have breakingish news that the house has indeed voted to go to conference, throwing up the future of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance. we will be monitoring that throughout the day. we are now going to our "what now" segment and first thing i want to talk about the ron paul. we talked little bit about newt

gingrich crazy talk but we had reports that resurfaced in the wake of ron paul'ss a send dents about things that were said in the ron paul leaflets dib bruit bid his consulting firm during his brief absence from congress. some of the comments include things like this regarding the l.a. riots over the rodney king verdict, quote, order was only restored in l.a. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks. and, aides can be transmitted by saliva. ron paul told cnn in 2008 he didn't write them, he doesn't faux who did. his campaign is totally disavowed the comments. what does this mean for someone who is ascended. >> he is polling in the 21% if iowa is a bit of a anomaly but still the same buy that left the republican party, has been outside the mainstream and is doing well.

i'm not any great scholar of hierarchy of code words but newt gingrich is on the trail today calling barack obama a food stamp president. >> the good news for america is that ron paul will never be president. the bad news for the republican party is that a fifth of republican primary goers in iowa think that he ought to be. what does that say about the state of the republican party? >> there is great fear among the republican party that ron paul may take iowa. >> if he does win the iowa caucus it does show how irrelevant the iowa caucus has thus become. it's never i have never put great credence in and if ron paul it's tend of it oi aye oh what caucus. >> let's move on to mtv. mtv is launching a revamped fantasy election game, the power of 12. so we know those of us who were around in earlier years that choose or lose used to be their slogan. now it's the power of delve. one of the sort of assessments

as to why mtv is changing the slogan is because the youth of today is considerably disenfranchised and losing is something very much with them. i wonder what you guys make of the change and the gaming of the presidential election. sn apparently it's going to be a lot like fantasy football. >> i don't know how we get youth back. we started this hour with the payroll tax extension and what congress looks like right now, a dysfunctional mess. if you're a young person in this country watching that i don't know how you decide to get engaged and how you draw hope or optimism from what you see in washington. >> fantasy football is a good option. last one, francis poll names ann sinclair, wife of former imf head dominique strauss. kahn as woman of the year. what do you think about that? >> i don't know. >> a third act in french politics. >> feminist statement. >> i don't know what that means.

>> christine laggard doesn't beat her out. fascinating in terms -- >> carla bruni. >> as we talk about the redemption of, you know, american figures on the national stage. certainly you can look to france as maybe a precursor of what we will have. we'll see. >> thanks. >> the role of spouses. so much more to talking about tomorrow. that's all we've got today, though. thanks again to frank, sasha, bill, and meghan for joining us on the panel. that's all for us. we will see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern. until then, you can follow us on twitter@nowwi twitter@nowwithalex. my good friend is in for andrea. good day, chris. >> hello, alexs. up next, the showdown on the hill. the house voting to reject the senate short-term deal. we'll get the latest from house majority leaderer eric cantor and democratic whip stan any hoyer. all that and how the death of kim jong-il is exposing gaps in u.s. intelligence. "andrea mitchell reports" is

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let's send the senate a message. come back to washington. do your work. give the american people a year, not two months. >> what is happening here today is shameful, disgrace, it is unreal, it is unbelievable. we can do better. if we fail today, how will you face your neighbor, family who are suffering? where is your compassion? where is your heart? where is your soul? >> right now on "andrea mitchell reports" emotions running high on the hill as the house looks at the tax cut. they just rejected the senate's two-month extension and the se