rate goes up. jobless rate goes down. there are so many ambiguities that go into consumer confidence, business hiring, fiscal policy, monetary policy. any economist will tell you their field is an inexact science. as a matter of fact, many economists including the fed and economists at the white house predict aun employment rate in the high 8 percents come election year. that could be true, but the trend is the friend of the administration on the economic sense and political sense, this month anyway, tom. >> mike, thanks so much. that does it for me for today or thomas roberts. don't go anywhere. we are closely watching for the president's arrival at the consumer financial protection bureau. alex wagner is standing by to take over for the next hour. hey, alex. >> hey, thomas. the cain train is moving in. joining me today, jonathan

capeheart. steve cornaki, new york daily news columnist se cup and politico's ben white. the president's speech comes just two days after addressing richard cordray. unemployment has dropped to 8.5%, the lowest in almost three years. the president is expected to talk about these numbers and cordray. we know that president is flush with anticipation at his new agency chief and actually taking his post. and also the good jobs numbers. mike, i want to ask you, should we expect a little victory jig over there at the cfpb? >> reporter: well, i don't think you are going to see jubilation or champagne corks popping. i think that you are going to see cautious optimism on the

part of the president. look, they've been burned by getting out a little bit of in front of where the economy is over the course of last year. you remember the green chutes in the economy in 2009. you remember the prediction on the stimulus package and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. yes, we are aware of caveats, yes we have heard the president and his aides say time and time again, had they known when they took office, but there is no upside for them to dance the jig you are talking about. they will let other people do that. the number is self evident. it is undeniably good news and we have heard that at every strike today. even republicans have sort of begrudgingly said it is good news, but we need to continue with certain policies and policies and initiatives of the president. so it is a political game at this point but unmitigated good news for the president at this point. >> ben, we have talked about the economic picture going into 2012

and you, on this show, have been somewhat bullish. what do you make of the numbers we have this morning, the fact we are adding 212,000 jobs. the picture post hok on 2012 is better than we initially thought it was. >> there is no way to spin the numbers other than really very good. it is both the reduction in unemployment rate of 8.5, and how the rate went down. it is no longer a mass of people leaving the labor force. it is actual jobs created. that's good. i think mike is right. there won't be a victory lab in this speech. >> not even a little two-step. >> no, with the blackberries in the west wing, there was a victory dance there. this is very good for this white house. they are putting in this strategy of running against a do-nothing congress. richard cordray con is a good example of that. they will do what they want to do. it is moving forward in way we thought it might last year. it doesn't because of europe and

a number of other things. it is doing it now at just the right time for him. >> can i ask a question? this is not a partisan question. i really want to know, how much of this, honestly, is post holiday bump? i'm curious. >> i would say probably a little bit of it, but not a lot. there are retailers add jobs in december. but you don't get to 200,000 just based on temporary jobs added by the service industry. you look at manufacturing, that's up. component of this number are actually very strong. it is not just a temporary bump. and i think we can see 200,000 and more going forward on a regular basis. >> speaking of jobs and big ideas, we are very happy to announce that herman cain is hitting the road. not as a candidate. but he is launching a bus tour called cai fl's solutions and revolutions. joining me live from washington, d.c. is former presidential candidate herman cain. mr. cain, thank you for joining the program. >> thank you, alex, i'm lappy to be here. can i start out by making a statement about the jobs report?

>> please, go ahead. >> i disagree with the comment that the 200,000 job increase was steady and solid and it wasn't because of retail and service. remember i came out of food service industry, and all i'm saying is, i would add a word of caution because a percentage of that is temporary jobs. so let's wait until february before we start taking any victory lapse. that's all i'm going to say about that. thank you alex, i'm happy to be here. >> we're happy to have you, mr. cain. tell us about solution revolution and the bus tour and what's going on over there. we know who this is a newly launched initiative. we would love some details. >> yes. i launched cain solution revolution and the lead solution will be 9-9-9 the revolution. because here is what i have found out. even with all of the politics that's going on, even with all of the back and forth, administration and congress, the american people are saying, they want to focus on something positive. solutions are positive. and one of the biggest things

that we can do to help this economy permanently, is to replace the tax code. that's why i gained so much traction during my campaign. so solutions revolution will continue to promote the message. it. continue to try and influence members of congress before they get elected to get behind and get on board of 9-9-9 the revolution. this is what america needs in order to sustain economic growth, in order to get everybody back to work. yes, that 8.5% is a good sounding number. but don't forget, if you add in theeneder employment and those that have given up, that number is 18%. so we still have some long-term problems and that's what 9-9-9, which i know you have heard of, the revolution, is all about. >> say it again, i'm not sure i have heard it. i'm actually being facetious there. mr. cain, i wonder if you see yourself in the model of sarah palin, someone who captured the american imagination and gone

rogue, as it were, and whether you think you can still affect policy and the political dialogue on the outset. a lot of folks say sarah palin's star has fallen. she is not as influential as she has been and the way it influence politics is to serve as a politician and serve in public office. >> in terms of her being a voice for the conservative movement, i would say yes. i am also a voice for conservative movement. but in addition to that, what i have added in my efforts to s to bring specific solutions to problems. americans are dying to hear about solutions on top of the other political rhetoric, on top of the partisan slip and everything else going on. that's what i'm doing with 9-9-9 the revolution. people can sign up at cainconnections.com. what that will do, is it will then allow us to keep them informed about what's happening on the solution that i'm talking about. we're not going to -- this is

not a republican initiative. democratic, conservative or liberal. this is about the people basically saying, we want the impact to whoever gets elected to congress, with this very serious solution. >> mr. c ai n, you say it is an agnostic proposal, but you were on the republican stage running to be the president of the united states as a republican. and certainly a lot of conservatives have had not particularly kind words to say about some of the things you've done. i want to paraphrase george will and peggy noonan who wrote that the worst trend is candidates who run as a quote branding exercise to sell books and get a cable contract. george said you used this as book tour. how do you respond to that? >> they are fundamentally wrong. they do not know me or my character. this is about helping to solve america's problems. i said that from the beginning. they fail to understand that i

was doing okay with branding when i ran godfather's pizza. but i moved on because i have a higher calling now. and that is to help this country get on the right track economically, energy wise, et cetera. naturally they would say that, because they are basically looking at when i ran for president under what i call the traditional political model. and i didn't fit their traditional political model. i was an unconventional candidate. resonated with the people. i have presented some bold unconventional solutions because the american people know that tax code is broken. they know this economy is not growing and that's why the message is resonating, and it is not about a self-branding tour. >> let's talk about 9-9-9 a little plor. i know there was blow back from conservatives and liberals alike. i want to toss the mic over to ben white from politico who has more specific and detailed

questions about 9-9-9. >> mr. cain, thanks for being with us. we appreciate your time. you took a lot of heat about 9-9-9 being a tax increase for the poor and very big tax cut for ultra wealthy. i wonder how you respond to that now. is that true? is that characterization of your plan correct? >> that is a mischaracterization, ben. for the following reasons -- for people who didn't read the entire plan, there is what we call a poverty level exemption built into the plan. most people who criticize my plan, especially during one debate night when everybody took shots at me, they didn't read the entire plan. secondly another attack came out against the plan that changed the assumptions. any time you change the assumptions you will arrive at any solution that you want. so the fact of the matter is, the biggest thing that we can do for everybody in this country, including the poor and the middle class is to get serious

job creation going. that's what 9-9-9 does. this isn't about arguing over which set of loop holes you want to take out and put in. and if you look at a lot of the other discussion, it's all about tweaking a broken tax code. 9-9-9 throws it out so we replace it with a much more effective structure. >> mr. cain, i want to ask you a little bit about what your former fellow republican candidates have been saying about the working class and poor. specifically minorities. rick santorum said on sunday that black people's lives, he didn't want to make black people's lives better by giving them someone else's money. since then he walked it back and said he tried to say another word. newt gingrich said people should demand paychecks instead of food stamps. as an african-american, what do you think of those comments. >> first of all, youj+]

i just think it was way on their part of trying to illustrate just how bad the problem is. after the break we will come back with more of mr. herman cain and who he thinks is best for the republican party.

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welcome back. we are speaking now with former presidential candidate herman cain. mr. cain, as a voter and no longer a candidate, do you think that mitt romney is the best hope for the republican party? or are you a number of the anybody but mitt crowd? >> no, i'm not a member of the anybody but mitt crowd. i am a member of the -- >> is that an endorsement? >> i am a member of the solutions crowd. no, it's not an endorsement. alex, i'm going to make an endorsement on thursday before the south carolina primary.

but let me warn you, will be an unconventional endorsement. underscore the word unconventional. this is why. my priority is solving or helping to solve america's problems. putting solutions on the table, and that gets back to where we are. >> next thursday, mr. cain, you're making the endorsement. i invite you cordially to make that endorsement on "now" with alex wagner on msnbc. >> alex, you're missing something. i said unconventional. >> that would mean an unconventional place to make the endorsement. >> thursday at a conference i will give a keynote speech and i will give my endorsement. look, alex, i have been the unconventional candidate who put bold ideas on the table that resonate with the people. 9-9-9 is the example. and later i will have an energy plan to put on the table for

energy independent. my focus is on solutions. because i happen it believe that solutions and focusing on solutions will raise the hope, expectations of the american people, that it is not just all of the political banter. >> mr. cain, saying the word unconventional over and over again would seem to be not an endorsement. it would be the implication the there would be maybe not mitt romney. do you think he is too much after conventional candidate. do you think mitt romney is conventional? >> i believe all of the remaining can dates are conventional. so i'm saying, my endorsement would be unconventional. that is an adjective that i'm aplaying to the word endorsement, not to any particular candidate. >> okay. you have us guessing. i want to turn the mic over to se cup who would like to talk to you about the tea party. >> sure. >> hi, mr. cain. good to see you again. >> my pleasure. >> you ran as tea party

candidate and were seen as the only candidate on the stage that managed to capture the tea party's attention. michele bachmann had that in your absence and now of course she is dropped out. do you think there's anyone left in the field who can affectively reach out to the tea party voters? >> i believe that many of the tea party people connected with my campaign because of how clearly i talked about specific solutions. many of the other candidate initially were generic and general. that's not resonating with the american people. so yes, i believe i attracted a lot of tea party support. now, what i believe that the tea party people are going to do, because i have been in dialogue with many of the tea party leaders around the country to talk about the 9-9-9 revolution that i'm leading, and to talk about the solutions, and they are looking for something else to rally around. remember the tea party was based upon three sim principles.

they were looking for candidates that represented fiscal responsibility. that represented promoting the free market system. and that represented enforcing the constitution. that hasn't changed. >> do you think that sarah palin should get in then? would it be a good time for her to get in and speak to the tea party group that you're talking about? >> well, first of all, she has to make that decision. and secondly, i don't believe any one person can immediately galvanize all of the tea party support because the tea party, as i indicated, is really galvanized around those three key principles. so her getting in wouldn't necessarily reshuffle the deck what is going on right now, even though she is very popular and she would garner a large amount of support. >> let's talk about in the future if there is a republican president, mr. cain, you said you would like a cabinet position of secretary of defense. the comments you have regarding

libya, i have all of the stuff twirling around in in my can head with china and their nuclear capability. now you will be driving around talking about tax reform. why nwhat of the secretary of defense position speaks to you? >> it was one of those hypothetical questions, let's underscore that. secondly, it was a hypothetical question and i gave a hypothetical answer. and i'm going to stop answering hypothetical questions. here is why. my point relative to saying secretary of defense is because next to getting this economy growing, is national defense the defense department needs, if we have a republican president or democrat president, a leader. a leader in that critical job that understands how to strategically prioritize our defense resources. that's job one of the head of the defense department.

i have run big organizations before. i have taken on issues where we have to do serious strategic reprioritization. that's needed more than a defense expert. and the second reason i indicated the department of defense is that i want to be in the position to influence the president on helping to rebuild our military. the world is not safer. and that's why i believe we need some new strategic priorities in that job. it was a hypothetical condition, and i gave a hypothetical answer. one of the reasons i happen to be believe that i can bring something to that job. i am not putting out my resume for the job. don't misunderstand me. is that many people may really in eyes i spent many years serving on the citizens advisory board for the strategic air command based out of omaha, nebraska when i ran godfather's pizza. so i do know something about strategic prioritization when it comes to the military. it was a hypothetical answer it

a hypothetical question. >> we will stop with the hypothetical questions, mr. cain. thank you for joining us. usually for the show we have out music to take us to commercial. we thought we would offer the chance, we could wo give you the mic, if you want to sing us out. imagine, amazing grace. the mic is yours if you want to. >> alex, you are way too kind, and you have been very kind with the time. but i am going to pass this time. but let me use this as an outro. america deserves solutions to its problems. that's why we have launched cain's solutions revolution at cai flc cainconnections.com. >> your message should be put to music. just a suggestion. >> we doring that, alex. >> thank you for joining us. good luck on solutions ref nugs. coming up, we will have mrs.

mary kay huntsman. mary kay will join us live on "now." that's next. ♪ ♪ what's with you? trouble with a car insurance claim. [ dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. yoo-hoo. hello.

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o we are back. the cain train just left the station. i have to ask you guys, he said he was going to make an unconventional endorsement. who do you think it will be? >> notice he said -- none of the candidates right now in the race were unconventional. remember, he only suspended his campaign. my prediction here right now, is i would not be surprised if herman cain jumped back into the race and endorsed himself. >> that's crazy. >> that's like trying to kiss yourself. you can't physically do it, right? >> let's not forget this guy left the race under a cloud. lot of unanswered questions. he gave up with a very bizarre

conspiracy theory for why questions were raised that never added up. unconventional here might be like gloria allred is coming on stage with him or something. >> we don't know the answer. perhaps mary kay huntsman does. she will join us next after the break. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar.

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and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. the new hampshire sun shine for jon huntsman sne picked up an endorsement from the boston globe and wracked up nearly 160 events in the granite state. even though he is trailing in the polls, his wife said he is not a shooting star, he is a rising star. mrs. huntsman, thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks for having me. how are you? >> i'm great. let's talk about the boston globe endorsement. i thought well-worded language, the boston globe said, jon huntsman would be a better

president. but if he fails, he could still make mitt romney a better candidate. i want to unpack this in two separate questions. the first is, does the boston globe endorsement help your husband or is it potentially -- does it potentially hurt him insofar as he is seen as too far left or too moderate, as it were? >> listen, i think it always helps when you have someone doing their due diligence and looking into the candidate, and making judgment on that. what they said in there is that he is a bold leader. whether you are republican, independent or democrat, you find that jon has the characteristics that is reunique in today's race. >> as far as helping mitt romney, i know it's been difficult for your husband to sort of get out of the bottom of the pack, and i'm wondering, your husband spoke of being up against the tyranny of the clock, saying he wished he had time to get to every corner of new hampshire. today he is polling at 7%, which

is night with newt gingrich and in national poll he is placed at 2%. is there a feeling he might be able to pull a rick santorum in the granite state in how much more time could you actually spend there? from what i understand, you guys have set up camp there, over 150 events. >> we certainly have. and new hampshire is a very special and unique place. we have come to find that and love this state. people want to know your heart and soul. they want to know what you are about. and i think that that is what will be rewarded in the end. and i believe that he will do much better than what we see in the polls. we don't even look at polls. we know what we are feeling on the ground. last night we add town hall meeting that was packed. people came in undecided. walked out. committed. taking signs and bumper stickers. standing ovation. saying this is the real deal. he is genuine and he is a committed leader. and i think people are beginning to see that and sign on.

>> mrs. huntsman, i just wanted to follow up on the point that alex was raising thereabout the image of your husband, maybe within the republican party as a bit too left of center, bit too cooperative with with the obama administration. you have the boston globe endorsement. i wonder if there is something more fundamental here. he struggled in the polls. he did better in new hampshire but struggles elsewhere. i want to ask a more basic question. do you their your husband would be in a substantially different position if he hadn't accepted president obama's offer to work for him? >> that's hard to say. i do feel that he was passed over when he first got into the race. some of the republicans said no way, no how will revote for someone who crossed a party line. pour me, as a wife, i'm very proud of the decision he made. we have two sons serving in the united states navy. what kind of father would he be to say, i'm not going to serve,

when we try to teach our children about serving. i think that people are coming around to the idea and understanding as they look back and say, we forgot to look at your record. you are the most consistent conservative of anyone on that stage. i think the electability thing, when you come down to the end and put your check on who you want to actually vote for, you have to look to say, you know, they had government experience, preferably running a state. had they had business experience where they can help with the economy. is it a candidate who has foreign policy and can unite the country. i think those are things that john stands out in. and i would say that the reason that people perhaps say maybe he seems more moderate is because he has the ability to unite people. and he is not an extremist. he has the ability to pull people together. >> mrs. huntsman, ben white from politico, here. thanks for joining us. i don't want to talk about the polls any more. i'm sure you're tired of taking about the polls and where your

husband is. maybe one of the problems he has, where people can see limb and talk to him on a day-to-day basis, but nationally, people aren't sure where he fits and what his message is. what are the first two things that president jon huntsman would do in office that would be different from romney or obama. what exactly would he do as president his first few days in office? >> i think he has a clear message. i think he will tackle two deficits. one is the economy with, which is number one on everybody's minds. but a second deficit which he said is just as corrosive, is the trust deficit. he is the only candidate that is in there saying we must have term limits for congress. and i know that it may not be the popular with congress and some others but it is popular with the american people. and when he ran for governor of utah, he ran with a platform as well. he actually got the support of one legislator, the rest of the status quo went with the other candidate and jon ended up winning, because he had the

people behind him. he is running on a trust deficit message, which is term limits. he is also talking about closing that resolving door that allows congress to go out and lobby and make millions of dollars. nobody is talking about that. because you can't talk about it if you have congress in your hip pocket helping you. and i think that on your campaign. so he is talking about banks too big it fail. nobody else is talking about that. he is talking about some very bold things. i think going bookback to the boston globe, one of the things they looked at, is that he is courageous, a bold leader and he will not sell his soul for a vote. he will tell you what is in his heart and soul and i think people are beginning to see that he is genuine. >> mary kaye huntsman, thank you. we will be watching with baited breath. >> thank you. after the break, weekend warriors. who will survive new hampshire. that's next. oh it's clearance time! yeah, our low prices are even lower.

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sure they extend the middle class tax cut for all of this year, to make sure we keep this recovery going. it's the right thing to do. there should not be delay. there should not be a lot of drama. we should get it done. >> that was president obama speak at the consumer financial protection bureau earlier this hour. he talked about the monthly jobs report. we didn't go live to it because the pool feed was down, but that's more detailed than anybody needs to know. let's talk about the job numbers. a rosier picture for the white house. though there is still a bit of time between now and november. it'll be interesting to see how the white house plays this as we get the economic picture further develops. >> ats the top of the program, the administration is wise to be very cautious about these numbers. great numbers, they have been coming down month after month for the last, i guess, three or

so reporting periods. but when you take the improved numbers plus the president's new tax in september, since the joint session of congress meets september 8th, of going after congress, you have a reenergized president and reenergized white house to say to the american people, look, look at everything we are trying to do. and on the one hand, the republicans and congress won't allow me to do everything that i need to do. but on the other hand, what we have been able to do is bearing fruit. yeah. >> what is interesting, steve, is how republicans just -- and we will talk to you about this, how the statements out of boehner's office, there is no credit given. fairly obviously in an election year. >> absolutely not. but you know, the interesting thing about when you look at the correlation that exists historically between where the ek

economy is and where president's approval rating is, they will give the credit if the ecannot my comes around in the right direction. what i've been tracking the last year or so, this race is setting up, the 2012 race, is setting up like the last time we had an incumbent president thrown out because of the economy and that was bush. in the middle of that year, may, june, july, the unemployment rate spiked from 7.2 to 7.9. that is what really cemented the idea that the country was in recession, and we had the wrong leader. so you know, this is good news today for obama, but the risk is, do you get the good news out of the way in january and bad news in july. >> that's the problem. if you get people returning to the labor force in mass, which is quite possible later in the year as you see the numbers and feel better about them, i don't want to get too wonky about it, but the jobs number -- >> get wonky. >> -- if that number goes up, it could be a good sign that the rate is going up. when you get to 8.2, 8.1, then

back to 8.3, 8.4, people don't get into -- >> they just look at the number. and republican fields for president seems to be betting on grump. which is to say, it's not going to get any better. even when it gets better, it's not going to get better. which i guess is the long sterm strategy for this year. the washington post has a great piece about how it is the grumpiest field of candidates ever. the guy that just gives the face of grumpiness is newt gingrich right new. i want to talk a little bit about -- >> angry face. >> yes. peggy noonan called him an angry little attack muffin. >> that's fantastic. >> what about the quote unquote unholy alliance between santorum and gingrich. looks like it will be hell week for romney in new hampshire. >> i think on this show i predicted mitt would win in iowa. i think it is going to be fairly decisive. >> i believe you put $10,000 --

>> i put my favorite money on romney winning. i think he will win new hampshire. then it looks like he could fair pretticallywell in south carolina. imagine what we are all talking about the next day, guess we all got it wrong, talking about this, you know, anti-mitt sentiment that just didn't bear fruit. then he literally runs away with the election. >> the anti-mitt sentiment -- >> i think we are totally misunderstanding what gingrich is doing to this race with his presence and with his attack dog anti-mitt strategy. the idea it is a tag team. that's what people are saying. but i'm looking at it and saying, you know, newt gingrich only became a player in this race because he performed so well in the debates. sew goes to the two debates in new hampshire and he steals the show. there is a new poll in south carolina that has romney at 37%. that's huge. the best he has done ever. but the sub head is 19% santorum. 18% gingrich. that's a high race if newt gingrich gets out of the way.

>> put it this way. no one will be surprised to learn that if gingrich is a very petulant person, taking it personally, so i think he is personally miffed at mitt romney and he is still in this race to bring him down. >> oh, absolutely personal. i think a lot of gingrich -- i mean, gingrich is all about personality. all about newt. i wonder when we talk about santorum, he talks about ace lucrative career, consulting for companies, not lobbying. does that hurt rick santorum or again, the protest vote as it were. >> it depends on what we find out. we knew everything there was to know and then some about newt gingrich. we know a lot about mitt romney. we know a whole lot about ron paul. but still, even though rick santorum has been on the national stage for a long time as senator from pennsylvania, we don't know enough about him now that he is standing on the presidential stage, as a very credible candidate.

>> i mean, that's right. that's why we were saying a couple of days ago on the show or i was trying it make the argument that rick santorum winning iowa or doing really well in iowa is great news for mitt romney. because the spotlight is on him for a full week. if he does well in new hampshire, it is on him again. and it gives mitt romney the chance to do exactly what he has done, which is chug along at 25% while other people hog the spotlight. >> it gives new meaning to my enemy is my friend. because initially if newt gingrich is pairing up -- anyway, this is chess i can't do. it is the end of the week. when we come back, what just happened? was iowa the field of dreams? that next on "now." >> i'm andrea mitchell and up next, we are live new hampshire where candidates are react it a strong jobs report. plus, jon huntsman, what he says about his poor performance so far in the polls. and romney supporters and former new hampshire governor,

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this week voters cast the first ballots of the republican primary and reshaped the race. it's time to look back and ask, what just happened? >> is this happening? >> no. it's iowa. >> the gop field of dreams. or nightmares? expectations were riding high before caucus night. >> sometimes the best isn't that great, but it's the best. >> whatever i do tomorrow night will be a victory because i'm still standing. >> when you lay your head down on pillow at night, do you see yourself in the oval office? >> not really. >> but only one team would win. some took the high road appealing to the heartland. >> oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.

corn count, doesn't it? >> and feeling it again. >> for amber waves of grain. if corn counts. >> and began. >> if corn counts as an amber wave of grain. >> and others play dirty. >> all we want is a massachusetts moderate who in fact will be pretty good as man anling the decay. >> and others just struggle to keep score. >> put the other two together we're in second place every time. >> every time, true believers won big. >> if you build it, they will come. >> folks who believed in the message in the message. >> as one was benched. >> i have decided it stand aside. >> and another, walked off the field. >> i have decided it return to texas. >> before suiting back up in spandex. >> it was a pretty loosy goodsy process. >> watching from the bleachers, a former player, longed for the stadium lights. >> the job i would most like would be secretary of defense. >> a self proclaimed superstar

still shuns the big leagues. >> the only person i hear talking about a donald trump run for the presidency right now is donald trump. who is urging you? >> there are millions of people. >> triple campaign beg ford a turn at-bat. >> can you get all of the mccains in world as romney probably will. nobody cares. >> we forgot con grat him on his landslide victory last flight. >> and most valuable player hoping the next game would favor the home team. >> we will see you 10th of july -- june -- january. >> what did just happen? i asked you guys, was iowa really a field of dreams? >> i will give you $10,000 of my own money if you can get mitt romney to stop doing the america the beautiful speech because it drives me crazy. >> the more you see of it, the less you like of him. drems or nightmare? >> like rick santorum, who i would love to buy some sleeves -- >> for his sweater vests.

>> yes. and also, poor michele bachmann. i have written lots of things about her, not terribly nice. but i have to give her credit for sticking it out there and getting out, you know that line from fried green tomatoes. where she saysing with i'll paraphrase it. michele bachmann was lady and a lady always knows when to leave. >> and that, she did. speaking of people not knowing when to leave, rick perry still in the race. >> you know, a dream night for rick santorum because he got the opportunity to be the conservative who will go toe to toe with romney. then it turned into a nightmare the next day because the other guys wouldn't get out of way. then he needed perry out and gingrich out, and he needed guys like rush limbaugh to be like, listen, this is the moment. if we are ever going to stop mitt, it is now. instead, limbaugh was saying on his radio show, this will be fun to watch. this is kind after train wreck. >> ben is right. mitt needs to realize we are in the age of youtube when never

can say, we can see what you said the night before, so don't repeat it. come up with a new line. and i'm looking forward to the new hampshire debates where i'm sure jon huntsman will roll out some kind of stone temple pilots reference to the granite state. >> no one will get it. >> i, myself, am looking forward to herman cain's unconventional statement. thanks again to jonathan, steve, s.e. and ben. see you back here monday at noon eastern. until then, follow us on the twitter machine. andrea mitchell report is next. hi, andrea. >> hi, alex. see you. will evangelicals come together to back one candidate? we will ask the southern baptist

convention. republican candidate jon huntsman. and rewe reveal who had the worst week in washington. and we have john sununu all here next on msnbc. 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.

we have now added 3.2 million new private sector jobs over the last 22 months. nearly 2 million new jobs last year alone. there is still a lot of struggles that people are going throughout there. a lot of families are still having a tough time. a lot of small businesses are still having a tough time. but we are starting to rebound, moving in the right direction. we have made real progress. now is not the time to stop. >> right now, on andrea mitchell reports, a surge in hiring pushes unemployment down to a three-year low. will it last? it certainly won't silence the republicans. >> remember he was early in his administration and he said, look, if you let me borrow $787 billion, i will