♪ new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation from [ babbling ] ...covergirl. that's what i'm talking about. see? what did you just say? i'm looking for some "beeza-beeza-vuza-vuza." yeah it's getting ugly. accusations fly as mitt romney and newt gingrich battle it out in florida. we will show the results of a latest poll and new ad that is stirring controversy. president obama selling his state of the union message. we are going to bring you some of the highlights from his five-state tour and what is next. desperate times call for desperate measures. some states across the u.s. are turning to gambling now in hopes of raising cash but at what price? we will take a look at a new report. office politics. former congressman harold ford jr. make his case for president obama's election and he sizes up the gop field. good morning. welcome. it's 9:00 here in the east and 6:00 a.m. out west. get to happening out there now. the fight for florida is

entering its final stretch with the state's primary now three days away. newt gingrich and mitt romney a busy day ahead of them with events planned across the sunshine state and we have team coverage with you with nbc's ron mott in port st. lucie and peter alexander in pensacola. ron, i know you sat down with the former house speaker. what did he tell you? >> reporter: hey, there, alex. good saturday morning. we have the former speaker on the record on a number of things. he says his campaign is a threat to the political status quo in washington and that despite all of the money being spent against him, he says the people power back in his campaign will ultimately prevail. in winning south carolina's primary a week ago, newt gingrich shook up the gop establishment, which he says favors mitt romney and with florida's primary tuesday looming as a possible springboard toward the republican nomination, anti-gingrich voices are growing in tenor and tone. >> i think we ought to send newt

gingrich to the moon and mitt romney to the white house. what do you think? >> reporter: on the campaign trail friday, gingrich continued firing rockets at romney, hitting the air with a new ad. >> what kind of man would mislead, distort, and deceive just to win an election? >> i thought it was a delightful debate. i loved it. >> reporter: romney labeled is desperate and some are using to sgrib establishment fears triggered by gingrich's south carolina comeback. >> there was almost a full line panic at the top of the republican party. gingrich is like a wild date in the primary but in the general election he's not the winning horse. >> reporter: no matter how rough it becomes gingrich says he's in the race to the finish line and acknowledging the forces mounting against him. >> if you're an staebleed republican and enjoying life in washington and you don't mind presiding over the decay, i'm a threat. and you can tell who they are by how hysterical they get. the fact is ronald reagan had

exactly the same opposition. and in the end, he's the guy who created the majority. >> reporter: gingrich hopes a majority will eventually warm to him and his conservative message as they did back in 19 owl for reagan. >> this is exactly what happened with reagan who was 30 points behind carter in december, but just gradual people listened to him and said that is probably right and gradually, you build a sense of momentum. >> reporter: a sense of momentum he wants to carry out of florida along with victory. >> we are either going to win or be very, very close and i think we probably will win. >> reporter: newt gingrich and mitt romney will crisscross florida today stumping for votes. expect to see the former speaker here in port st. lucie two hours time. ron paul and rick santorum have left florida. ron paul is up in maine campaigning and rick santorum has a scheduled fund-raiser tonight in washington, d.c. >> ron, we are on the air still in a couple of hours so head back to you to see when newt gingrich takes the stage there.

nbc's peter alexander is in pensacola, florida. what is happening there? >> reporter: it's going to start about 30 minutes from now and pan the camera around and give you a sense what is the famous fish out here on the shores of pensaco pensacola. if you're a politician you have to make a stop here. governor romney is feeling very confident right now in conversations with advisers of the last 24 hours they feel pleased how well they did in thursday night's debate. as you saw in ron's piece a short time ago the governor himself described it as being delighted. he even mocked his opponent newt gingrich during the course of a visit we were at last late evening in orlando saying he is like goldilocks. if the poorch is too cold, he complains and too hot, he complains. gingrich upset the crowd was too quiet. gingrich is upset the audience was too quiet. important thing to note as they hit on the team of grandiosity.

mitt romney speaking to tin cap canaveral. mitt romney said clearly to the audience there i know you want me to tell you that i'm going to give you the moon but i can't promise you those things if we are going to try to balance our budget. >> that was an interesting exchange right there. peter, we will check in with you again because things are happening. thanks so much. a new poll shows mitt romney has a lead among hispanic republicans there in florida. a new poll shows 35% of them would vote for romney. 21% say gingrich is their choice. rick santorum got 7% and ron paul received 6%. voters who describe thelmselves as likely to vote in tuesday' primary. rick santorum taking the day off and returning to pennsylvania. before leaving florida he spoke friday at the latin builders

association in miami taking aim at president obama. >> this is the most important election in your lifetime. if we don't repeal obama care and dodd/frank and all of these things the government will take control of you then this room will be half its size within ten years. and half again in ten more. >> he will return to the florida campaign trail tomorrow. ron paul is far away from florida this weekend. he is greeting voters in maine and holding town hall meetings and essentially ignoring the florida primary on tuesday. >> sometimes the media will frequently say you don't want to win and all this. you are just running to -- there is no doubt i'm running to promote ideas. but the best way to promote ideas is to win elections! >> unlike florida, paul hopes to

win some delegates in maine which holds republican caucuses a week from today. today is the last day of early voting in florida. state officials say more than 10% of registered voters already cast their ballots. nearly 225,000 absentee ballots have not been returned yet. looking at the campaign calendar. next month coming up the caucuses in colorado and minnesota and maine and primaries and michigan wrap up the month. meanwhile, the latest gauge of the see saw gop race is out today. a poll shows mitt romney at 38% along likely republican voters in florida compared to 29% for newt gingrich. joining me is david of yahoo! news. how do you think romney regained the momentum there? what has he done and can you attribute this to the thursday debate performance on or

something else? >> i think we saw in several of the polls earlier just prior to the debate that the gingrich surge had kind of halted somewhat and i think that is largely due to the campaign tactics of the romney campaign. it has been a kitchen sink strategy for them. they have been unloading on newt gingrich even more aggressively than they did in iowa in december when gingrich first emerged as a threat to romney sending surrogates now to every one of gingrich's events to immediately talk to the press when the former house speaker is done addressing their crowd. somebody is there from the romney campaign to talk to the press and try to bracket him. i think the romney team has really worked aggressively in florida to rattle speaker gingrich and then i think that actually came to fruition in the thursday night debate which was clearly a very good night for mitt romney. i think he has been able to build on what is a successful week for him. >> in addition to throwing everything but the kitchen sink there, they are throwing in money, because as you know, the

pro gingrich super pac is outspent 4-1 in the ads by romney and coupled with the pro romney super pac. how much is that doing damage to gingrich? >> clearly, that is definitely halting gingrich's ability to surge over romney at the moment. when you get outspent to that degree, that is a huge dynamic in a race. but we have seen, alex, in previous contests, the underfunded candidate, the one who is being, you know, a wash in negative ads from their opponent still able to ride momentum and surge in the polls. so it's not a definitive and determinative figure. it makes it much harder for speaker gingrich when he is outspent that way but it's not impossible for him as we saw in south carolina. he was outspent there but he was able to rise up and win. >> yeah. anything can happen in three days. i keep thinking back to that thursday almost ten days ago prior to south carolina, it was like, my gosh, what a day. this is a winner take all primary for 50 delegates in florida.

do you think gingrich can compete after florida from a financial perspective or if he does not get these 50, is it over for him? >> it's a great question, because as you know, in politics, nothing sort of adds to somebody's success better than success at the polls, right? once you have a victory people want to come on board and write checks. if gingrich suffers a big loss on tuesday fewer people will open their checkbooks. however, i think it is way too soon for us to say it's over. we have seen how volatile this race is and we have seen on the super pac side shelley adelson out in las vegas who is the big funder of the pro gingrich pac willing to put in $5 million to the gingrich effort this week and no sign that is going to stop, that he is going to close his checkbook. i think newt gingrich probably will still be able to compete. he may not have as much money. he may have to live off the land

a little bit more, but i would imagine we are going see through these february contests newt gingrich not going anywhere in terms of leaving the race. >> you willing to make a prediction for tuesday? >> i don't know. as you said, we're 72 hours away and we have seen unbelievable volatility here. i think it would be tough to predict but i would much rather be mitt romney today than newt gingrich today heading into this final stretch but there's a lot to see between now and tuesday. >> that is a soft prediction! anyway, david, thank you so much from yahoo! news. >> take care. the gop debates do they help republicans or president obama? talk to me on twitter. i'm going to get to some of your tweets throughout the morning. we will talk to florida's republican party chairman and what is the best message on immigration on the gop? then office politics, harold ford jr. on where he thinks the

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♪ seal ♪ cecilia i'm down on my knees i'm begging you please to come home ♪ ♪ come on home >> with the florida primary only three days away the republican battle is getting uglier. on the campaign trail in a slew of tv ads, mitt romney and newt gingrich are striking directly at each other. so the big question, to what end? joining me from jacksonville is florida's. party chairman lenny curry.

nice to see you. >> glad to be here. >> the republican contenders are beating each other up so. are they potentially damaged goods by the november election? >> i don't think so. look. in the primary, i'd rather they not beat each other up. what the super pacs is doing back and forth. my preference they talk how job creation will affect families in individual lives. attacks the throw at each other the same attacks that obama will eventually throw at our nominee, so i think we will be okay in the long run. we will have to make our argument in the general election. our vision for florida and for america. >> but with all of the negative tv ads, lenny, in your sunshine state there, they got ten separate media markets and mitt romney outspending gingrich by 4-1 on these ads. do you as a republican see the negative ads as just a negative

aspect for your party? i mean, at some point don't the ads do more harm than good? you're eventually going to have to go up against someone who will look at the ads and put them altogether and use them as ammunition? >> what they do in the short term is turn off the electorate going into this primary. i've been saying whichever candidate emerges with a positive compelling vision that will affect families and lives based on the free enterprise system which robust economy will allow us to fund education, have a safety net for those that are in need, whichever candidate does that consistently will emerge victorious on tuesday. if the candidates stay negative the whole time it's a tossup but we will have a pretty clear winner if one person emerges with a positive compelling message. >> what about thursday night's debate? the issue of immigration as you know set off some of the bigger fireworks of all. let's take a listen to this question and the exchange together. >> is he still the most

anti-immigrant candidate? >> i think of the four of us, yes. >> go ahead, governor. >> that is simple inexcusable. my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was borne in wales. they came to this country. the idea i'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. don't use a term like that. >> what is the best message as you look ahead to florida voters in november? >> this is an emotional issue. it's a complex issue. we have families that have been living here for years that have raised children here, hard working families. but i think we need to step back and take a deep breath and recognize that the reason we are even having this debate is because america is still the best place in the world and people want to come here, they want to live here and raise their families here and they know this is the place they can pursue their dreams. we can all agree on that point. it's the sausage making in the process to fix the issue that is ugly. >> lenny, what about the early voting which ends today?

how do you feel about the numbers as you look at how many votes have come in already. >> even if you look at absentee requests, they are far ahead of where they were in 2008. and an important note is that the party isn't pushing voter turnout hard in a primary, the candidates are. so if we have a significant turnout on tuesday, high level of energy, imagine what it's going to be like in the general election when we invest our resources and push turnout. i think we are going to have a really good year for republicans in the state of florida. >> okay. lenny curry, thank you very much from jacksonville. appreciate it. >> always a pleasure. martin bashir on the "one-minute playback."

when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years.

thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home.

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fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold...medicine. ♪ this morning off the coast of italy more delays in recovery efforts two weeks since the cruise ship cota concordia ran aground. divers having trouble locating victims and mounting pressure to remove half a million gallons of fuel because that becomes an environmental disaster. michelle kosinski is live with the latest for us. >> reporter: it's hard to believe it's been two weeks. just morning drivers recovered the body of a woman from one of the submerged cabins. that brings the total number of found now to 17 but at least that number is still missing. and even getting to the point of beginning to remove the fuel is also a long difficult process. these mediterranean waters look clear blue until divers jump in and start descending deck by deck along that ship.

the murkiness and mess soon overtake them. here at the bottom are the crushed edges of the concordia, the toughest to reach, if at all. through a cracked window, only a pile of plates is visible. sideways cabins are shaken apart. and on the reef itself a most unnatural tangle of mattresses, furniture, everything eject out with the stark reminder of the humanity on board. divers try to reach more than a hundred cabins each day prying them open, going through that jumble one-by-one, but the victims remain hidden. wrenching for the families waiting these two weeks. missing americans barbara and jerry heil family website the familiar hi writes needle in a haystack seems like an appropriate comparison.

but second task needs to happen at the same time. drilling into the ship's 17 tanks, heating them, pumping fuel out and sea water in to keep the massive wreck stable. >> there might be some difficulties, but this workable. the only problem we can have is rough sea and marine conditions which could be against us but that's part of the game. >> reporter: another phase away from here has also begun. announced a compensation plan for passengers who were not hurt up around 15,000 each plus travel and trip expenses. some have already rejected it. this lawsuit was just filed in miami by six passengers alleged, among other things, gross negligence. and seeking $450 million in punitive damages against parent company carnival and others. saying passengers were left to fend for themselves. because of this wind and the waves, fuel removal now might

not be able to start until mid next week. because it's so difficult for divers to recover those victims this weekend they plan to use more robotic cameras to get to the less reachable areas inside and around that ship. alex? >> lots more news still to come from that. michelle, many thanks. in this morning's one minute playback the tense moment on the tarmac in phoenix between president obama and arizona governor jan brewer. much said about her pointing the finger at the president and last night on real time with bill maher here is what he had to say. >> i don't know of any other instance where someone has been this disrespectful to the president. and, you know, i don't know who miss daisy think she is talking to. >> i think that this is the physical embodiment of what has happened over the period of this

presidency. they have started by accusing him of not being american so his very identity is called into question. then people say he is a muslim and not a christian even if you read anything he has ever written or attend the churches he has go to he is a committed children. >> jeremiah is a christian. >> that's right. >> you move on. donnell trump accuses this president of never having achieved any of his own academic qualifications. what she did was the ultimate outcome of behavior and beliefs that have been allowed to spread and continue and that is why that happened. [ male announcer ] the inspiring story of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees...

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and the father of actress angelina jolie and he is stumping as well for mitt romney. we will be following the action there and see what they have to say when they take to the podium. you see the candidate mitt romney and there is john mccain with his hat on. you know he always wears a hat. he is very sun sensitive and had bouts with skin cancer and doing what he should be there. president obama is pushing his state of the union agenda. he went on a three-day tour to five states carrying that message. here are some of the highlights. >> there are people in washington who seem to have collective amnesia and their philosophy what there is of it seems to be pretty simple. we're better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves and everybody can play by their own rules. and i'm here to say they are wrong. if a company wants to do business overseas, of course, it's their right.

but we shouldn't subsidize it. what we should do are subsidize and help and give tax breaks to companies that are investing here, that bring jobs back from overseas. so we have got to have an all-out, all-in, all of the above strategy that develops every source of american energy. a strategy that is cleaner and cheaper and full of new jobs. most importantly, it's an economy built on renewal of american values, hard work, responsibility, and the sense that the same rules apply to everybody from wall street to main street. we are putting colleges on notice. you can't keep -- you can't assume that you'll just jack up tuition every single year. if you can't stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year

will go down. we should push colleges to do better. we should hold them accountable if they don't. >> appropriate the president's talking points this week. mike viqueira is at the white house with us. >> they are quite happy with it. might not surprise you to learn yesterday you saw the last clip the president was at the university of michigan. he talked about something he calls the american promise and that is exactly the way the white house and the obama campaign wants this campaign coming up in the fall of this year to shape up. the way they portray this is the republican side of trust funds of unbridled capitalism of creative sdrux this dog eat dog world where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and widening income disparities between the rich and the pair and where everybody gets a shot

to grab at that brass ring and essentially what the president, the themes he hit through those states that he traveled to and nobody needs to be reminded that many of those states are in play. those are swing states. iowa, nevada, colorado, and, of course, michigan which is vital. he even went to arizona which a lot of people consider to be a solidly red state but democrats will tell you that it is trending blue because of the burgeoning hispanic population there. he struck on the themes and laid out the details of some of the things he talked about in the state of union. college tuition was one of them and energy policy is another one he talked about in laes vegas i a coming speech. expect him to expand on mortgages and crisis with homes there in foreclosures a drag on the economy. monday, he has a virtual town hall at google plus. he will be continuing these themes throughout the week and in the foreseeable future. >> no doubt he will.

thank you very much. we will see you again. let's go to gop race for president now. newt gingrich is widening his lead nationally in a just released poll that shows 32% of registered republican voters nationwide support gingrich which is the highest level of support since the 2012 primary voting began. 24% say they support mitt romney. joining me is rick tyler who runs super pac winning our future. good morning. >> glad to be here. >> that national gallup poll has to be good news for your candidate. let's also take a look at a new nbc/wall street poll that shows newt gingrich fares the worst against president obama. you have the gaps to jump through. how much work would it take to make him appeal to general election voters if he is the nominee? >> i don't think it would take much at all. this is a conservative country.

the country is going in the wrong direction. once we take aim at barack obama and his direction he wants to go he laid it out in the state of the union address. he believes to raise more taxes. gingrich has a clear record of the opposite. when you line the two things up people come over to our side. >> that may be in a matter of time if he gets the opportunity to be the nominee. but at this point, it would seem as if you have your work cut out for you. >> we sure do. you notice that we're ahead in the national poll by a large margin. but here in florida, it's quite different because, you know, newt gingrich hard carpet bombed by the romney destroy america super pac and they have spent somewhere between 15 and $20 million. an i don't say ston nic they do have an effect but we're fighting back. >> you talk about that cleverly named by your standards the super pac there up against you for mitt romney. >> did i say the wropg thing th?

>> i think you did but we got that. another thing to talk about is the republican establishment. which way are they leaning in the past, they have not leaned toward your candidate. >> no. why should they? newt has made a whole career of being anti-establishment. when he was elected speaker in 1994, it was a disruption not only to democrats but to republicans. newt subsidiaried the send owneriowne -- seniority system for chairman. a lot of republicans who wanted ear marks and pork barrel politics, he said no. >> so of course, they are mad. >> i want to talk about bob dole had to say. hardly anyone who served with newt in congress has endorsed him and that fact speaks for itself. in my opinion if we want to avoid an obama landslide in november, republicans should nominate governor romney as our standard bearer. so look. . bob dole suggests that gingrich

at the top would cost republicans the house seats as well. i mean, these concerns are not just from him, there are a lot of republicans who have come out with similar sayings. how do you defend against this? >> with all due respect to senator dole, that is just baloney. senator dole knows better. when newt gingrich led republicans to victory in 1994 we won 52 house seats, okay? look. as conservatives, we all marched off the cliff with bob dole and marched off the cliff with john mccain and now the establishment wants us to march off the cliff with mitt romney because they pick candidates who lose. romney is from the northeast in new england. they have that strategy up there let's recruit moderate candidates to defeat democrats and guess how many members of the u.s. house of representatives are from new england? not one, zero. you have three senators, two voting for the obama budget. >> you're citing 1994. things are a lot different now than they were in 1994. >> what is different? what is different? people still want lower taxes and limited government and still want to own guns.

they still majority of people are pro life in this country. not much is different. i think that the principles are the same. >> all right. what about the female factor here? we have another poll which says women will vote for obama over gingrich 69 to 21%. with if you look at the gap between obama and romney narrow there there. how do you combat that? >> newt gingrich won the women's vote in south carolina. >> was that a unique snapshot? you had a lot of evangelicals there were about redemption and forgiveness and plays strongly in their consideration. >> and a lot of christians throughout the rest of the country believe forgiveness and redemption is an important thing. you said it. polls are a snapshot. that's a snapshot. we understand it's not a good snapshot for us so we need to move that data and work with that to move that data. >> how about the super pac money

being spent? the fact romney is outspending your candidate 4-1 at this point. how do you narrow that spending gap? can you? are you confident you can? with big donors? one from nevada certainly but do you need more and do you think it's going come on board? >> we certainly would like to get more money but what i've noticed about these gingrich rallies is, you know, they are huge. we have had big numbers turn out. in naples, florida, almost a thousand people turned out for newt. and one youtube the person who is wearing a romney t-shirt confessed he was paid and said he was a gingrich supporter. >> look, look. stuff on youtube you can't always say that it's legit. i will say we do know that romney campaign is bringing a lot of supporters in. part of what they are doing. whether they are getting paid we have to check that out. rick tyler, appreciate you coming on and talking about your candidate newt gingrich. >> thank you, alex. office politics this week

former congressman and msnbc ab lift harold ford jr., ford gave us his take on the president's most effective message, plus what the president needs to work on the most. >> i think a few things. first off i'm glad to be on office politics. i'm glad to be with someone who understands tennessee. >> right on. >> like we get it. i think a couple of things about the president. one, he's got a story to tell. the car industry. the banking industry which he is hesitant to talk about. but, in fact, all of the money loaned to the big banks has been paid back with interest. so the taxpayer, conclude you and i and everybody watching, we actually made a prolvet off what we call t.a.r.p., the money invested in the large bankers. the money invested in fannie and freddie and aig the number not recouped nor the money in gm but the money for the banks has been paid back. so the president can talk

positively about that. >> why is he not pursuing that? >> because we face so many head winds and so much hardship still as it relates to mortgages. but the president has a lot to be proud of. the job creation is not nearly the clip we want but the economy you can feel it beginning to come back so the president has got to talk about how we have to make different investments going forward and he is fortunate he has a cast of characters on the republican side who not found a serious and consistent or sustained serious stride. i would probably stray away if i were him from criticizing the republicans too roundly right now and stay out on how the things he's done and how the next four years here is what he intends on doing. reducing the debt, taking serious steps to do that. hopefully, congress will cooperate with him and getting in those industrial states including michigan and pointing out how the saving of the car industry has helped preserve big chunks of jobs in those states but we got to do better and do more.

>> what do you think is his least effective message out that is not hitting home? >> i'm not a huge fan of the 1%, 99% argument. >> really? >> no doubt we have an income and quality challenge in the country. i don't think it's healthy to pit people against one another. now, having said that, people who are on in the top 1% and top 0.56% have to accept the fact that higher tax rates, greater responsibility, greater sacrifices is a part of what it means to be american and particularly now as we run up our huge national credit card, and our national debt. i think the more the president focuses on how we grow and how we create more and then asking those who are the most fortunate and the most blessed to be willing to pay a larger share to help our veterans, to help make investments in education. >> how much of what barack obama is saying right now do you think syncs up with his candidate obama message of hope and change? i think he gets a bum rap for not being a change agent.

. changed the health care system as we know it. the problem in our country change is determined and measured by one metric. are you doing better today than four years ago and am i doing better today than four years ago today and every american is asking that question. the president has to construct a narrative yes, can we do better? you better believe it and four more years i will make it better. i genuinely believe this election will be as monumental presidential race as any we have seen. i think the visions of the two candidates be it mitt romney or newt gingrich or someone else. gingrich the way he envisions the country being the next 20 years is very different than president obama and mitt romney i would argue is as well. the argument over the role and shape and size and contours of government involved in our everyday lives there has not been a bigger presidential race at least the way it's shaping up in late january than we have

seen in our lifetimes. >> who are these people behind out the desk that mean significance to you? >> that is me mountain middle and dad to the left and two brothers and my wife there and i. >> i understand why you put up those. she is beautiful. >> here is my picture of my guys from my wedding, my best men in my wedding. >> you had a huge wedding! >> i did. i got a bunch of friends. >> you can understand why he has a lot of friends. he's a great guy. coming up in part two he will explain why his dad is his best friend. america's betting bonanza, casinos sprouting up across the state. the why's and worries are coming up next here on "weekends with alex witt." ♪ i got a feeling that tonight is going to be a good night ♪ specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all.

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to inject vef knrevenue into sa economies. could they do more harm than good? i'm joined by nancy. good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to get a sense of the scope of all of this. which states are involved? i know i've read about florida and massachusetts but how desperate are they for catch? cash? >> a number of states are using this as a way of raising revenue through taxes. they say that it can create jobs and attract tourism and so you're looking at illinois, florida, new york. these are major states with major cities like miami, chicago, and new york city. >> yeah. i know. boston also talking about adding one as well. there is some gambling analysts as you know, nancy, that say casinos do not make a state more fiscally stable in the long term. what do casinos do to the surrounding neighborhoods and quality of life for residents? >> a lot of study out there. it's a contentious issue.

some people say it provides more jobs. more tax revenue. and then others say it creates gambling problems which gamblin problems, which can lead to bankruptcy, to divorce and crime. >> okay, how about the money? what have they figured out in terms of analysts saying this is how much each state can gain? >> each state taxes casinos differently, but they can tax them high. the potential is huge here. let's say you paut casino in miami beach, which is a tourism attraction. that can be very successful. >> okay, if all these pendinging projects are are approved, how does that affect say vegas and its reputation being the heart of casino gambling? could it give them a run for their money? >> people will always go to vegas. as long as you have movies like the hangover made there, it's going to be fine.

>> that and oceans 11. this final question, what are the major hurdles for this state to get this approved and how long do you think it is until we see casinos popping up in miami, boston? >> it's going to be a while. people talk about the possible negative social impact of this, so there's going to be a lot of debate. i expect a few years. >> thank you, nancy. >> thank you. president obama's call for increasing taxes on the rich may be louder than it has been in years, but raising them may be much more complicated than the president and his supporters would hope. we're talking about that next here on weekend with alex witt. if you're one of those folks who gets heartburn

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president obama's pushing for a new tax on the richest americans. in his state of the union, the president said the so-called

buffett tax is about fairness. >> when americans talk about folks like me paying their fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. you can call this class warfare all you want, but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much his secretary in taxes, most americans would call that common sense. >> joining me from washington, annie lowry. >> thanks for having me, alex. >> i know you wrote this this week, the president's idea to tax the rich more faces tough realities. >> so, essentially, we found despite the fact that democrats very much want to raise taxes on the rich as part of a broader deficit reduction plan, in the past, democrats have balked at this and nobody has much incentive to do anything until the lame duck session, which is when they're going to have to confront the bush tax cuts expiring. >> and you quoted back some

democrats who want to make the buffett tax happen this year. but is that just election year rhetoric? >> i think it is. i think it's going to be hard to find the votes for this in congress. you're not going to see a single republican crossing the line to pass this. i don't think anything will happen until people have to take action and that's not going to happen until after the election happens. again, despite the fact some democrats say this is the right plan, in the past, they haven't passed such tax increases. >> so, what do you think, if the president gets re-elected, does the environment in which to accomplish things, does it become better even if the house and senate don't change hands? >> i think analysts would say you might have to have a scenario in which the bush tax cuts e pyre, in which congress doesn't get to together, so they're forced to do something

unless they want to let the taxes go up for everybody. it's not the worth thing. it's not going to be good for poor families, but it does raise a lot of revenue. his current plan to raise taxes only on the rich, it doesn't raise that much. $1.5 trillion over ten years, which is a lot of money, but it doesn't actually solve the deficit problem. if the bush tax cuts entirely expire, it does that. a lot of folks in congress think that would be too much of a burden. >> i've got a lot of stuff here highlights and there are tax experts who say the changes are like using a baseball bat with a scalpel. is it too complicated? >> essentially, a tax expert looking at this plan to say if you make more than $250,000 a year, you're going to see your tax rates go up and you're going to see your expenditure, your credits and deductions, those are going to be lowered. if you make more than a million dollars a year, there's going to

be a new 30% instead of one instrument. you're going to have to pay 30% regardless of how your tax bill comes out, but it doesn't clear up the under brush of deductions, credits and everything else and tax experts say that's very important in terms of just making a cleaner, better tax code. it's something barack obama has called for in the past, simplifying the tax code. >> this means you're going to have to come back and go through this again. >> it's complicated. >> it is. the attacks on mitt romney are really taking a toll on his standing in the polls, but there's one poll in particular that could point to big trouble for him. and a focus on the white house most influential lady since 1900. we'll share.

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new polls out today, mitt romney is widening his lead over newt gingrich, so is this a resurgence or too soon to tell? all your frequent flier miles taxable. plus, we have a spoiler alert. ♪ >> oh, that is so "twilight," right? we have a sneak peak of the super bowl ads for you. it is an all out sprint to the florida finish line with just three days to go until the crucial winner takes all primary. mitt romney and newt gingrich are campaigning across the sunshine state. romney spent friday going after the former house speaker. >> now, speaker gingrich said the debate before last night, he said that the crowd wasn't allowed to cheer and so he couldn't do so well because the

crowd was too quiet. then last night, he said the crowd was too loud. he couldn't -- it's like goldilocks. look, i'm looking forward to debating barack obama. i'm not going to worry about the crowd. i'm going to make sure we tell the truth about barack obama and get him out of the white house. >> he picked up another endorsement friday. this from the governor of puerto rico. gingrich fired back while meeting with votes in dell ray beach. >> but i really believe the longer we campaign, the clearer we are about governor romney's record in massachusetts. the more people realize the degree to which he governed essentially is what republicans would consider liberal. >> a new quinnipiac university poll shows romney leading gingrich among likely republican voters in florida. newt gingrich kicked off the day attending a breakfast in stuart, florida.

ron mott is in port st. lucie cov coveringing the gingrich campaign. what is gingrich saying this morning? >> hey, there, alex. good morning. we're looking forward to hearing what he'll say when he gets here. he's running a few minutes behind schedule. i sat down with him yesterday. he spoke very matter of factually when he said mitt romney is the gop establishment's candidate and to compete against him, he says he knows he's going up against a very powerful machine. we got him on the record on a number of thing, including how he plans to appeal to the women voters. we also talked about the fears and concerns being expressed by the republicans, that newt gingrich if he becomes the nominee, could be hurtful to the gop brand. and i also asked about the future of his campaign should he not take florida on tuesday. >> we'll go on. we're either going to win or be very, very close and i think we're going to win. but we're going to be close

enough to go on. i think the more people come to understand how liberal romney's record was as governor, inning the weaker he's going to get. >> now, i also asked him about the future of his campaign. you heard it there. he says they're planning on going to the republican convention in tampa. he wants to win this race on tuesday. >> thanks for keeping an eye on things there. that pga house there. let's get more on the new polls shows mitt romney widening his lead over newt gingrich. the quinnipiac university poll shows here that among likely republican voters in the sunshine state, 38% say they support romney. 29% say they favor gingrich. joining me now, alex burns from politic politico and dana millbanks. did you change your byline to alexand

alexander? is that the same guy? >> it is the same guy. i i sure you. >> i'm sure, but that's kind of different. i'm just observing. we'll get to the meat of what we're talking about. alex, what is the sense on the ground in florida? does this poll reflect a romney resurgence or is it hard to tell? >> i think that romney has really benefitted over the last week from an enormous paid media offensive on the air waves here. you see advertising on all sides of this race, but the romney ads are just overwhelming the gingrich ads at this point. newt needed those two debates as an opportunity to level out the playing field and i think the general consensus among republicans here, he didn't have the kind of electrifying moment he did in south carolina. he's still drawing crowds, putting in strong performances, but there isn't that sense of a run away train as in south carolina. >> you write that romney's surrogate john mccain says stop the debates because he's tired of the mud wrestling.

if romney becomes the nominee, how much of that mud is going to stick? >> first of all, i would note that's a different line than the romney campaign took in october when they were saying the more debates the better because they saw it as an opportunity to crush rick perry. republicans down here and democrats nationally, they feel that romney has taken some blows in the last couple of weeks that aren't going to wear off easily in the general election. all the stuff about tax returns. bain capital, the attacks that have helped define him as a rich guy more than a business man, that is an avenue of attack we're going to hear more of. >> dana, your article a couple of days ago, very interesting one. headlines gingrich is obama's best surrogate. a new poll shows the damage done. two weeks ago, romney was viewed favorably by 39% of americans. unfavorably by 34%. now, by 31% and unfavorably by

49%. do you think that romney can recover from gingrich's attacks? >> well, sure he can. first of all, i'm pleased that you have not changed your name to alexander. but -- >> alexandera. but any way. >> i'm keeping mine at least for today. i think the damage has been done regardless. if we step back, we've been looking at the daily fluctuations of who's up and down. the trend has been really going in romney's direction. what newt has succeeded in doing is making romney as unlikable as gingrich is and that's -- by 1 in 3 americans. because of the reasons the other alex was just stating, these are enduring traits that have become a caricature for romney, sort of this rich guy who has not comprehension of what ordinary americans are feeling.

he can thank newt gingrich for that and when he ultimately wins the nomination as is likely, he's pau not going to be able to get rid of that so easily. >> what about the negative ads down there, alex? i know you're in florida. what's it like as you turn on the tv? >> i don't know that it's at the same intensity level we saw in iowa and new hampshire where air time is a a lot cheaper. there are ten media markets in florida, a lot of those in big cities, but you can't turn on the tv, the radio, without hearing some sort of political ad, usually for mitt romney. at the beginning of the week, his campaign and the super pacs support i supporting him had put down over $13 million in tv and radio for this primary. it's an awful lot for any candidate, an awful lot for a guy running against a guy like newt gingrich, rick santorum, who aren't answering that offensively. >> i want to talk about shell nadelson. do you expect he will continue

doing so and were it not for m him, would the gingrich campaign be over? >> i think without question and this shows the folly of that ruling from a couple of years ago that allows basically one person, one family, to funnel unlimited amounts into this election. now, as alex was just pointing out, florida has a bunch of norm media markets, so the same amount doesn't go as far. one guy or one family putting $10 million into the race had a lot to do with skewing the race in south carolina and i think republicans are now coming to realize this ruling bringing unlimited cash into politics can hurt them as well. >> i'm going to ask this to both of you. are the republicans making it easy for the president's advisers to start plucking talking points for a general election? >> i think that the obama campaign should be putting newt gingrich and others on its payroll.

>> okay, there's that. how about you, alex? what do you think? >> well, i think dana has a great point there and after tuesday, if romney does win in florida, which it looks like where we're headed in the polls, i think you're going to start hearing romney survrogates sayig we got to stop this food fight before it compromises us for the general election if it hasn't already. >> i think you could call stephen colbert or jon stewart. very good. >> only for early morning. >> maybe so. appreciate you as well. thank you so much, guys. we invite you to watch "meet the press" tomorrow. among the guests, rick santorum, senator john mccain and gingrich supporter, fred thompson. david's also going to have an exclusive interview with david axelrod on the president eets's re-election campaign.

some of the other stories making headlines, the dutch salvage team tried to begin removing fuel from the capsized cruise ship today, but the seas were too choppy, so they had to stop. also, the body of a woman was recovered this morning. 17 people remain unaccounted for two weeks after the costa concordia ran aground. a federal judge friday sentenced a serial burglar to six and a half years in prison. he stayed one step ahead of the law as he broke into homes, stole cars, boats and planes across nine states and british columbia. he earned his name because he committed several of the crimes without shoes. a new report shows half of all delays are caused in new york city and philadelphia. the problems persist despite changes by those airports and airlines over the years. flight delays last year in new york were as bad as they were five years ago. can uncle sam tax your frequent flier miles? officials at a major bank think so.

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mitt romney campaigning today in pensacola, florida as we get choloser to tuesday. >> now, my most fun yesterday was going to a debate. wasn't that fun? i'll tell you, we've had about 18 debates so far.

they're getting more and more fun as time goes on. >> covering the campaign in pensacola is peter alexander. good morning again to you, peter. what's the crowd like there today? >> they just wrapped up a few moments ago. you can see for yourself, many people stuck around to have a chance to meet and greet governor romney here. he's been stumping across the state for more than a week and it's become clear for us having traveled with him, he's starting to feel more confident in the last 48 hours or so since the debate. he began by mocking newt gingrich, comparing him to goldilocks and the porridge. he's starting to feel real comfortable here after the forceful performance where he relentlessly attacked his opponent. yesterday, we were with him late in the evening and went to the space coast to the folks in that community that heard from newt

gingrich that he would build a permanent moon base. mitt romney said i wish i could promise you the moon, but we can't do that and effectively balance the budget. >> can we talk about all these political ads? is he talking about the negativity out there? >> yeah, there has been certainly a lot of that as we woke up. when he's on the stump, he's general generally very positive, but his supporters, the super pac, spending a lot of money. even before we came out to speak with you this morning, just flipping on the local channels, there is one after another restore our future ad against newt gingrich and the romney campaign just a few minutes ago e-mailed me the fact they have a new ad going up in this state which has three days to go. the biggest primary yet, the biggest prize so far. >> real quick, how far is romney's endorsement by the governor of puerto rico.

that one just came in. >> it was a significant one. he was there yesterday at an event. he had that event at a business owned by hispanic family and they think it's significant. there are about 1.5 million hispanic voters in this state. 1 in 10 republican primary voters are hispanic and mitt romney recognizes the significance of that. newt gingrich went after him and he was very strong in rebuking that statement saying don't call me anti imgramigrant. using that word is repulsive. >> thank you, peter. well, the back and forth bickering and the ads and the debates is defining the gop race, but thursday, one candidate said he had enough. >> in the spirit of openness, should tell us how much money he's made off how many households that have been fore close closed by his investments. >> but have you checked your own investments? you have investments in funds that invest in fannie mae and

freddie mac. >> can we set aside that newt was a member of congress and used the skills he developed as a member of congress to advise companies and that's not the worst thing in the world and that mitt romney is a wealthy guy because he's working hard and you guys leave that alone and focus on the issues! >> rick santorum, that voice there. joining us live, former louisiana governor, buddy roamer. thanks for joining us again. >> good to be with you. >> i'm going to talk about this constant sniping with you, governor. do you find it constructive or does it help president obama? >> it's not constructive. and i don't know that it will help obama because he won't be constructive either. politics in america has become spending large sums of money hidden from the public view and to quote mitt romney, oh, i didn't see that ad.

they ran it. well, you know who they are? his former campaign manager who raised millions of dollars so they could spend the money attacking his opponents and mitt romney could be above the fray. i guess that's american politics. i'd like to see a different system. >> yeah, i know you would. you've talked about it a couple of times. we'll get to that, but the so-called gop establishment went after ngds this week. even bob dole says a gingrich ticket could cost congressional seats let alone the election overall. do you believe that's the case? do you think mitt romney has a better case than newt gingrich? >> no, not particularly. they're both in trouble. newt, i mean mitt is the 1% and newt is the lobbyist for the 1%. i mean, republicans are making a mistake. our party is going backward rather than forward. we ought to stand for people who hold jobs cht we ought to stand

for people who's like to have a job. we ought to stand for small business people, do mitt romney and newt gingrich do that? of course not. >> well, what do you think they are doing wrong? i mean, just overall, not reaching that element of the public? because there have been those as you know, suggesting particularly with mitt romney that he does seem to be unreachable, that people can't relate to him very well. what does he need to do to change that? >> i know them both. they're decent people. i would value their advice. i appreciate their leadership. but this is a crucial election and leadership is needed here on the freedom of the system. we need a president free to lead and i think the winner in this group, obama, newt or mitt, will be the person who stands up for

the american people and say i will be free to lead. i will say no to wall street money. i will say no to money from banks too big to fail. i will say no to insurance company money. i will say no to special interest money. i will be owned by the american people. if a person were to do that, they'd be president. >> well, you are the person who is doing that. you have been doing that. you've been beating that drum as loudly as you possibly can. you are all about campaign finance reform and i hear that there are reports with you considering a third party run? you had told me previously you didn't intend on doing that, but where does that stand right now, that possibility? >> no third party. there is a group called americans elect, an excellent group, that will be on the stage, on the ballot on all 50 states. they've built a platform on which a candidate can stand, but

here's the key. i would stay a republican, but would select an independent or conservative democrat to run with me. it would be a unity ticket. it would not be a third party. we're not trying to establish another party. i'm a republican. i'm a proud republican. but i'm a prouder american. and i'm telling you, alex, we have debt we can't repay, we have a tax code you can't read that's unfair. we're not creating jobs. you saw the report yesterday. the economy was up 2.8%, but was down this year worst than last year. we are in trouble and no one running for president has the guts to stand clear of the special interest money and by the way, i'd love to be on a debate. i know mitt romney's making fun of them because he's been on 18. i've been on none. i'm the only guy running who's been a congressman and a governor. i'm the only guy running who dropped the unemployment rate in

his state by six percentage points. i'm the only guy running who's built a billion dollar bank and didn't take any bailout money. look, there are better candidates than this in america, but you haven't heard them. they don't have a big bucks. >> with regard to campaign finance reform, i've got to ask you. i'm going to tell you, i have conversations with people all the time reflect the views you espouse. we realize you're tethered to certain thipgs, but every time i have these conversations with people, they end up like a dangling participle. there's no conclusion because the reality of running a campaign without the money to do it, it's just not there. >> it's true. it's true, alex. let's be practical. it's just me and you in the room. it takes a hundred million do

dollars. how do you get it? do you get $5 million checks from 20 people and they become ambassadors to the world and they tell you what the tax policy looks like or do you get $100 from a million americans. so, i'm not against money in politics. what item against is hidden money, under the table money and large sum of money to special interests who write the laws. it takes money in america, but we ought to form an alliance regardless of your party and we ought to buy back this country from the special interests. that's what my belief is. i believe in budget reform, tax reform, job reform, energy reform, health care reform, but none of it will happen. when the special interests who are making ungodly profits on the system. >> all right. beating that drum loudly again here. thank you so much.

>> thanks for having me, alex. you're a special person. >> thank you. spoiler alert. we're about to show you some of the ads you might be seeing next sunday during the super bowl. last week, volkswagen released a teaser ad. the big game has a number of companies putting out similar teaser ads. some are going to air, in fact, so here's a sneak peak. ♪ >> a blindfold mom, really? is this necessary? >> happy graduation, sweetie! >> i can't believe you got me this car! amazing! >> status update. >> best day of my life! >> should we tell him? >> no, let him tire out first.

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american skills and education and a return to american values. an economy built to last. >> the president also said both parties are to blame for partisan tactics. newt gingrich and mitt romney are fighting for the crucial hispanic vote in florida's primary on tuesday. in a new abc news poll shows that 35%% romney. gik gingrich comes in at 21%. joining me now, danny vargas and former democratic congressman from texas, martin frost. gentlemen, good morning. i'm curious, martin, your thoughts as to which party you believe is better positioned to take advantage of the country's changing demographic and is it really party related or do you think people look at it candidate by candidate? >> when i was a congressman in texas, i had a large hispanic constituency. they are culturally conservative, patriotic, they

ought to be natural vote rs for the republican party, but the republican party keeps giving them a stiff arm, pushing them away. rick perry came out for the dream act. he had to back off. newt gingrich came out for earned legalization and he had to say, no, no, no, he doesn't mean amnesty. in texas, great hispanic growth in the last ten years the legislature reduced the number of hispanic districts and has been sued by all the hispanic organizations in texas. somehow, the republican party can't figure out how to really appeal to hispanics. they should be natural constituents. >> i want to pick up on this dream act. this is part of what president obama said during his state of the union address this week. here's how he addressed it when talking about immigration reform. >> if election year politics keeps congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let's at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, defend this

country. send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. i will sign it right away. >> danny, doesn't this give president obama a leg up on the gop in the general election? >> well, president obama did very well with the hispanic vote back in 2008 and the congressman is right. generally, they are more conservative than liberal. unfortunately, my party has not done a great job in communicating with that demographic of the population. i think immigration situation has led to a really rankerous negative party that we need to get bas because from a values perspective, even policy perspective, hispanics have a home with a republican party. the dream act is one of those things we ought to be able to find common ground on. both newt gingrich and mitt romney the military aspect, they would sign into law right away.

i think in general, we know the hispanic vote is going to be important, not just in the big states, but smaller states like pennsylvania and ohio. >> let's look at the way the hispanic vote went in 2008. 67% for obama. 31% for mccain. did economics drive that vote if 2008 and do you think economics may turn voters away from the president regardless of his dream act stance? >> no, i think what drove hispanics away to the president was the anti immigrant rhetoric on the part of many people in the republican party. they can't get over it. they have to bash immigrants, but this country was built on immigration. actually, we have a lot of people now who came here seeking economic opportunity. they've been here for a long time. we can't expel all those people. we have to provide a citizenship

for the folks who haven't broken the law and have jobs, but the republican party keeps attacking immigrants. they keep saying no, we don't want to do that. we want to expel these individuals. somehow, i think that that's an awfully high hill for the republicans to climb. i think obama will continue to do well with hispanics and i don't know how people like our other guests today can change the republican party and make them less anti immigrant. >> danny, martin says immigration is the hot topic. it was the hot topic at the debate thursday. let's listen. >> and the original conversations about deportation, the position i took which he attacked was that grandmothers and grandfathers aren't going to be successfully deported. we as a nation are not going to walk in to some family and by the way, they're going to end up in a church, which will declare them a sanctuary. >> i'm not going to go find

grandmothers and take them out of their homes and deport them. those are your words and to use that rhetoric suggests to people that somehow if you're not willing to keep people here who violated the law that you're anti immigrant. nothing could be further from the truth. >> there was another heated change that i'm sure you're familiar with. but danny, what is the best gop message to the hispanic community? >> the congressman points out the republican party is not anti immigrant. there are folks that have a real concern about allowing folks who came to the country and allowing them to stay. it's not a position that i necessarily share, but it is a genuine and sincere issue and there is a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants. now, the message we would have to send as party is that we do share values in terms of cultural issues. we have a plan to improve the economy. we do have a way to be able to increase jobs and get your gets

better educated. those are the things we want to communicate. unfortunately, the rhetoric surrounding immigration reform had has laid over that dialogue, has made that communication more difficult. in that respect, i agree with the congressman. we have to move forward as a country. we have these big issues we have to tackle together. >> and it would be nice if danny were setting the policy for the republican party. unfortunately, he's not. >> well, there you are. i'll let the two of you end on a note of agreement. thank you. be sure to watch tuesday for live coverage of the florida primary. we'll have live reports from the sunshine state day and night. let's go to the three biggest money headlines. half empty, half full for good fli flier practice and restaurant reboyens. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> so, these new economic growth

number, they are in and the glass is, is it half full or empty? >> probably half empty. the economy did grow nicely in the fourth quarter, but the numbers fell below expectatione. everyone was hoping for the wow factor. we didn't see that. consumers spent in the fourth quarter, but numbers defied expeck tactation expectations. which is why rates are going to stay at rock bottom levels, at least until late 2014, which of course is is very good news for borrowers, consumers but not saver er es. >> how about citibank saying frequent flier miles are taxable and what are the implications. >> citibank's been sending out notices whom it rewarding miles as a thank you for opening up an account and now, they're saying these are taxable. so, if you get a notice from

city bank, you're going to have to pay taxes on those because they're sending them to the irs as well. in the past, the issuers have not seen these miles, so this is something new and different that the irs is going to have to process. if you do banking with another bank, you don't have to do anything. >> okay. that's a good one. thank you. what's with the restaurant makeovers? >> a lot of it going on this year, 2012. 24% of restaurant owners budgets according to statistics, are investing in reramping this year. it's about staying come pestive. taco bell is entering the lucrative profitable breakfast. starting this week, they're going to come out with burritos. 750 locations are coming out with that. starbucks is also going to be offering wine and beer at more locations. and you've got the olive garden,

doing a complete makeover. the whole nine yards. >> you know me with my starbucks addiction. we'll get florida numbers for you next hour. all right. now to today's quick list of number ones. first, they made their mark at the white house, but weren't president. they were first ladies and "the daily beast" spoke to a panel of expert to come up with a list of the most influential since 1900. the top score, eleanor roosevelt. perfect scores for public advocacy, and leadership after her white house years. hillary clinton was just a half point behind, followed by becky ford, carter and lady bird johnson. and tampa, florida metro is the most stressful city in the u.s. you would think the sunshine would allow you to chill out. strangely enough, three made the top five. las vegas is second.

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a host of new releases in theatres this weekend. here's a new release starring liam niecen that takes place in alaska. >> what are you doing? >> i said we need a fire. >> it's about ten below. >> so, we don't die, we build up a fire and we find food and daybreak, we figure out what way is south and we start walking. nobody's going to find us out here. >> kim joins us now.

good morning. is this flick a must see or avoid? >> this is a must see. liam neeson is so good in these thriller movies. it's about an oil drilling team that gets stuck in the alaska wilderness and he's known for things like "taken," "unknown." it actually did better than expected judging from the numbers from last night. >> how about to catherine heigl? he's been getting these kinds of films right. >> if you're a fan of the novels, this detective, she's a former lingerie salesperson who becomes a bounty hunter. it wasn't projected to make that much, but it did really well last night, so if you're a woman, a fan of catherine heigl,

a woman over 25 especially, go see this movie. but if not, you probably won't like it. >> so, a must avoid overall unless you're in those special categories. >> but if you're a woman, a fan, these novels, which are hugely popular, go see it. there's not that many movies out there for women. >> how about "man on the ledge"? >> must avoid. didn't get very good reviews. kind of a generic thriller. an ex-cop standing on a ledge threatening to jump then you find out maybe there's something more to the stunt that's going on across the street. really called cliche, generic. >> what about these oscar darlings, "the artist" and "the descendants." >> increasing to about 2,000 theatres, so if it wasn't in a

theatre near you, it will be now. go see that. that is probably the one or two running for best oscar and then "the artist." that's also expanding. so good. black and white silent film, but so much buzz. this could be a lap for best picture as well. >> thank you so much. office politics, harold ford jr. gives us his take and is going to explain how kindergarten graduations helped him get elected. hey, it's me -- water. i was trying to figure out how i could get rid of 99% of the lead i can pick up traveling through your pipes, and then... [ click ] it just clicked. get it? it clicked... like the thing...click... forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future.

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friday marked the one-year anniversary of the day of rage in egypt. a year later, protesers were back in the square. the anger now focused on the military counsel presiding over egypt. >> i wanted to ensure that

revolution would not stop. that revolution would prevail until this country being democratic and social justice is the fairest step in democracy. >> one year later, new tensions between the u.s. and egypt as ten american and european consultants including the son of a white house cabinet member are not able to leave egypt after being banned to do so by the government. jobi moore has the latest. good morning to you. what is up the keeping transportation secretary ray lahood's son there so he cannot get home? >> it's hard to fathom. in this middle of this unrest, you've got to strange standoff between the leaders and these ngos who are trying to promote civil society and democracy and caught up in the middle is the son of the u.s. transportation secretary. there's a real possibility these

people could be put on trial and sent to jail. >> so, what is the state department doing about is this? >> the president's been on the phone with egyptian leaders. one of the under secretaries trying to talk to them. the message that's being sent is this is not sustainable. if you're going to want money from the u.s. we give them a billion dollars in military aid a year. if you want this to continue, this behavior has to stop. >> this is something clearly unresolved and we're following this closely, but a year later, what has changed for the better? everything is changing really fundamentally in egyptian society and yet you see these continuing tendencies. mubarak, the former dictator, also went after these groups. harassed them, refused to give them licenses, would round them up occasionally. you'll see that continuing and now, you've got a new phase we're moving into and it's hard to tell whether there will be

increased democratic impulses. it's really yet to be seen. >> in terms of bottom line, is the u.s. happier with the dealings with this regime? you know, temporary or otherwise or is this imposing more of a challenge that hosni mubarak did? >> a lot is sill uncertain. there are many bad outcomes we could see in the weeks to come ranging from increased dictatorship to some kind of islamic government. there's a parliament that's just been elected that's 70% islamist. so all kinds of really potentially bad things could happen. i think the best we could hope for is some kind of stable transition with a moderate islamist government. >> joby, this warrants further conversation, which i promise we'll have. thank you so much. fact or fix on newt gingrich promising the moon. why some say his push is worth a serious look. [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient

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romney rising, gingrich falling. new polls tell the story of a dramatic battle for florida. why is a change of sentiment in the sunshine state? we're going to find out. plus, the president's road show. did his message hit the mark? also ahead, lunar or loonie. newt gingrich's moon calling the idea. we're going to put it to the fact or fiction contest. and harold ford jr. on the biggest challenge facing romney and it has nothing to do with tacks taxes or religion. good morning. we're going to get to what's happening now out there for you. newt gingrich and mitt romney are are battling for votes this weekend in a furious dash across florida ahead of tuesday's primary. gingrich has held two campaign events this morning and wasted no time attacking president obama. >> i think that this particular president is so totally out of touch with reality that he is a

fundamental threat to the united states' safety. >> we're going to check back in with ron mott in florida for us. another good morning and what else is gingrich saying? >> good saturday morning to you. speaker gingrich just wrapped up comments here at the pga museum of golf. he says the answer people are -- from how to get people back to work, how to fix the housing situation can be summed up in three words. defeat barack obama. yesterday, i got a chance the sit down with a former speaker. we talked about a number of thing, including how he plans to broaden his appeal with the voters who might decide this election in november, being independent and women voters. we also talked about a lot of concerns and fears that are out there among republicans that newt gingrich is too polarizing to figure out he could hurt republicans running in the fall and this is what he had to say about who he thinks is the best candidate to defeat barack obama. >> we tried a moderate in 1996

and he lost. in 2008, and he lost. moderates cannot draw a sharp enough distinction with somebody like obama. how are you going to distinguish romneycare and obamacare? i think you've got a problem of you need a conservative who can draw a sharp distinction so the country chooses. >> i asked him also if anything surprised him while he's been out here campaigning. he says the depth and scope of attacks from the romney campaign took him a little by surprise. he says his team is weathering that storm pretty well. he's out here meeting and greeting folks on a beautiful saturday morning here. >> thanks for that live report. just a short time ago, mitt romney spoke at a veteran's rally in pensacola, florida. he's hitting the tail hard today ahead of tuesday's crucial primary. polls show the massachusetts republican is surging after two strong debates this week. garrett haake joins me from

pensacola, florida. what? no navy blue blazer from the beach? >> we're stick iing to the pasts today, trying to get into the spirit of the sunshine state. >> the pastel's working there this morning. tell us about what's going on. >> absolutely. this was a very comfortable, relaxed romney. seemed to be having a good time. had a couple of big introduchovnies. bob mcdonna from virginia, john mccain was here cracking jokes. they got an introduction if jon voigt, the actor. less talk about gop characters in the race and more talk about president obama. he went back to one of his favorite lines hitting obama for the speech he gave in disney world and the state of the union, talking about fantasy land. listen to this. >> that state of the union address, that really was amazing. did you listen to that?

i mean, he was in florida at disney world a couple of days ago speaking at fantasy land. i don't think he left for the state of the union. >> bit of an old di, but goody from romney, but sort of hyped up by the crowd here. several hundred leaning off balconies and john mccain warming everybody up with jokes. >> thank you r for the update. appreciate that from pensacola. meantime, newt gingrich is widening his roll nationally. 32% of voters nationwide support gingrich, which is the highest level of support since the 2012 primary voting began. 24% support mitt romney. the early voting ends today in florida. meanwhile, the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows president obama leading both mitt romney and newt gingrich in the head to head national match-ups. romney fares the best, weighing in 49-43%. gingrich trails obama 55-37%.

joining me now is erin from real clear politics and -- good morning, to two of you. mark, i'm going to get to the early voting, but first, president obama is beating all his gop rivals nationally. at the sam time in florida, the gop has negative ads against romney and gingrich. put this into perspective. how might this play out in florida? >> well, you never really know. there's a reason that you have elections and that's to see who's going to win. first, everyone has to get through the primary, then the general election will begin. trying to call a november election this early is silly. heck, even trying to call tuesday's is kind of silly considering the volatility in the race. >> what about the clear momentum? who do you think has it now and is this nor excitement being generated now at romney's rallies or gingrich's or is it hard to tell?

>> i would say that momentum and at the rallies is hard to tell. i've seen the rallies for gingrich have been much bigger. i went to one romney had yesterday in cape canaveral and it was much smaller than some of the gingrich rallies. i seems romney has momentum going into tuesday. he's leading in the polls here, but the romney campaign just released another negative ad about newt gingrich this morning. going into tuesday. they don't think they're out of the woods yet and no one knows who's going to win tuesday even though romney's starting to generate a lead in this state. >> here's something interesting r for those on the space coast. i want to play this exchange from romney and gingrich from the last debate. >> i do not want to be the country that having gotten to the moon first, turned around and said it doesn't really matter. let the chinese dominate space, what do we care. >> if i had a business executive

come to me and say they wanted to spend a few billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, i'd say you're fired. >> last night, you had mitt romney saying a strong space program is part of being an exceptional nation. they're in florida. the folks who rely on the space coast for livelihoods, how are they reacting? >> it's good to talk about what's important to people in their own neck of the woods, but you've got to give the voters more credit. these are are literally rocket scientists and they understand how the economy works. one of the things in that debate that romney called gingrich out for is kind of campaigning like a congressman. going to each little different district and doing little pork barrel promising. that might not play well statewide. the polls do show a good widening of the lead. we're looking at somewhere between six, seven, eight, nine percentage points for romney. he's had better organization. he's been banking early and ab

seen tee votes. dwoent have one election day. we have like 30 of them. romney's going to probably win tuesday. if you had to bet, this is going to be romney's to lose and no matter how much you promise the moon, it's going to be really difficult to gingrich to pull it out. he needed a good week and he didn't have one. zwl. >> there's like 30 elections there with the preelection voting that you can tabulate and update people on. do you get any sense of election fatigue from the voters there? >> no here. i've gotten it in other states. i have noticed a lot of energy and one thing i would point out about how this campaign has been shifting day by day and one day it seems like -- the tea party is coming out for newt gingrich and we're going to see more for

the tea party faithful and that could swing things back his way say monday. >> you so never know and 72 hours is a long time in this election so far with these primaries. to you marc with the early voting, any conventional wisdom with how that could affect the outcome? >> well, if it's a close election, it's probably going to put romney over the top. i mean, he sent out four, five mail pieces to people who requested absentee ballots by mail. he was up on televion for weeks before gingrich did. he was up on spanish language television reaching out to voters, probably backing those votes. gingrich probably won a lot of votes during the south carolina primary season while we were here in florida, but since then, if you just look at everything from gingrich's tone to the way the polls are playing out, it looks like romney is going to wrap this up. again, we won't know, but it's a safe bet that romney's a winner,

but safe bets don't always pan out. >> erin, do you agree with that safe bet statement of marc's or do you see something else, that tea party's going to make a difference? >> i agree with marc, but i think the caveat is we'll see what happens with the tea party. >> two very wise political types clearly working the system. guys, thanks so much. well, the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows the majority of americans think the country is going in the wrong direction. but do they hold that against president obama? and the sweet sounds of renewed success. the president's vocal set off new sales of a long ago hit song. [ female announcer ] experience dual-action power, with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth.

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how well are the crop of republican presidential candidates really doing? look no further than facebook. a new poll shows mitt romney and ron paul have the newest amount of followers. you can see the strong gains romney had. paul had the big e month, but romney has the most with more than 1 million. mitt romney has another friend in the governor of puerto rico. r romney's campaigning in florida. later today, he will get an endorsement from the puerto rican governor. he supports romney because of his record, leadership and experience. romney says it is an honor to get that endorsement. president obama took his state of the union message across the country this week and

here's a little of what he had to say. >> if a company wants to do business overseas, of course, it's their right. but we shouldn't subsidize it. what we should do are subsidize and help and get tax breaks to companies that are are investing here. that bring jobs back from overseas. >> joining me now is the vice chairman of the democratic national committee, also, mayor of minneapolis. good morning to you. welcome back. >> good morning, alex. >> well, some democrats as you know have expressed last year the frustrations the president was not ar it canlating a winning message for 2012. what do you think is his most effective message out there? >> i think this past month has really crystallized the choice we're going to have in this election. the president is out with a clear message about an economy built to last, which means pretty direct things for people. saving in auto industry, making sure college is affordable.

investing in the u.s. up against you know, mitt romney, who as the information comes out, it's clear to say that here's a guy who's investing in china, moving bank accounts to canman islands, et cetera. he's had you can success in business, but a lot of cases where people have lost their jobs. what we have is the president standing up for the middle class and mitt romney being expoedsed for what he has, somebody out of touch with middle america. >> i'm sure you're not surprised by the numbers of the polls, saying 61% of people thinking this country is on the wrong track. what do you think is driving those numbers and how does the president turn that around? >> we're in very tough times. there's no doubt about it, but we are moving in the right direction and i think we continue to just have to make the very clear case that americans are understanding. when the president came in, we were hemorrhages 750,000 jobs a

month and the auto industry was on the brink of collapse. 22 straight months of private sector job growth and a million more cars are being made in this country solely because of the president's leadership. mitt romney would have collapsed that industry. so, the fact of the matter is, these are tough times. when you hear what the president talked about, this built to last economy, it's clear there's no simple turn around and people aren't going to be thrilled about the tough economy we're in, but they see it's moving in the right direction and people are recognizing that with the president and about the last thing we need is to go down to the trickle down economics that romney and gingrich are espousing, which were really what bush did to get us into this mess in the first place. >> there are some numbers here i'm sure you appreciate. that is a poll that shows if the president were to go head to head with the rest of the gop field, he leads all the contenders. how much though do you think this is the function of the fact

that the contenders are just beating each other up? >> i think couple of things are happening. one is it's being, it's clear where the republicans are at, which is increasingly off the right wing and increasingly i think about going back to the past, it's clear where the president's at. right where the middle class is. now, i don't think anybody should get too excited about polls, but we're doing with this re-election what we did the first time. going out one by one and making the case for people. the republicans are having a slime fest here in florida that i don't think anybody could find very appealing. we're here on the ground. got 11 offices going. in florida, they have beautiful weather, but every once in a while, a hurricane comes in cht that's kind of what this slime fest republican unuplifting primary is about. i'm going to st. petersburg this morning to open up another office and we're just doing door to door connections with people.

talking about middle class issues and americans are getting that. >> having watched the debates and seeing whaktly the positions and further getting to know candidates newt gingrichi inand mitt romney, who would the white house prefer to face. >> frankly, i'm liking either at this stage. i think one of the things, especially with romney, who over this past month, as he opened up his tax records and you began to see what was happen, they were very inconsistent with the financial forms he filed and yet he only gave us one year of it. over the next few months as hopely mitt romney comes clean, we'll see this is not some sort of great leader who's going to come in and turn the economy around. but he's been about taking the kind of course that's put people out of work. between now and the election, i hope that mitt romney gives us what he gave to john mccain last

time around, which was 20 months of tax returns. why do we only get when we're trying to pick a president only one year? i'd like to see all that, but more than anything, i think we have a president in the right direction. >> okay. mayor of minneapolis, good to see you. thank you. it is one of the worst problems in florida that voters will probably be thinking about when they cast their ballots on tuesday. gomery and abigail higgins had... ...a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit. which provided for their every financial need. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced.

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me with that. the unemployment in florida, where does it stand? >> not the highest, there are four other states that are higher, but the underemployment, it's closer to 20%. it's no one's too optimistic there. you've got about a million people in florida looking for work. tough for the older ones. you have about 4 million with no health insurance and that level continues to rise and poverty level continues to rise and one in six on food stamps. >> and housing is a huge part of the malaise there economically speaking. how does that stand? >> this is a state that has been ravaged by the housing crisis. particularly since prices dropped. prices are down 45%. >> 45%? wow. >> some pockets, even more than that. so you have also about half of homeowners who owe more on their homes than they're worth.

20% are delinquent or in foreclosure. this is a state that has such a backlog. >> and the candidates, this is something they can't escape. >> they have concerns about the issues, but their take is that washington essentially should stay out of it. which isn't sitting well. >> thank you for that. well, a few golden bars from the president is adding up to some serious green. al green saw sales jump nearly 500% after president obama sang "let's stay together" last week. the song was downloaded nearly 16,000 times last week. he did a really good job. he really did. my name is brad anderson

and i'm a master roaster at starbucks coffee. brian hayes. i'm a master roaster at starbucks coffee. sitting right here we have 40 years of roast experience. how can we use that and do more with it? new starbucks blonde roast was created to increase the offerings that we can give to our customers. [ anderson ] we decided that we would take our experience and apply it to the lighter, mellower, more subtle side of the bean. it's for the person who always wished that starbucks had a roast like this. [ hayes ] they're gonna love it. i mean, it's a fantastic blend. all week long, president obama's been campaigning hard on the jobs front, emphasizing his efforts to bring down the unemployment rate and create jobs. >> we righted the ship. we did not tip into a great

depression. the auto industry was saved an over the last 22 months, we have seen 3 million jobs kacreated. the most since 2005. more jobs in manufacturing than we've seen since the '90s. i'm joined by the mayor of los angeles. he is in d.c. that is where more than 250 u.s. mayors have gathered for a conference. let's talk about los angeles county because there, the unemployment rate is exteamly high. more than 11%. how does that compare to when you first took office and what are some of your greatest challenges? >> when i first took office, the unemployment rate was about 6.5%. i can tell you that there are 80 metro economies across the country, 80 cities across the country, that went regain the jobs they lost before the

recession for another five years. and so, while we're beginning to right the ship, the congress who are the captains of our democracy, are like the captain on the costa concordia. they jumped ship. it's time for them to get back on, pass a surface transportation bill, which is currently in committee in the senate and i believe in the house. and that will create millions of jobs. pass america fast forward, which is an effort to get cities like my own to put up their own money. the federal government loans us some money, we pay it back and we can create another million jobs. those are the kinds of things that congress is going to have to do. pass the payroll tax extension as well. do those kinds of things to put people back to work. >> now, you were talking about congress. how about the president? has he done enough to put people back to work?

>> the president has reached across the aisle trying to pass a jobs agenda. a jobs agenda mirrors the common sense jobs agenda that the u.s. conference mayors put together. we went to think tanks and came up with initiatives like the ones the president has proposed. the payroll tax extension, investing in our ports and airports and roads and highways and up to now, the congress has done little to pass that agenda. they did pass the trade agreements. that was good. we need to do a lot more so that cities like l.a. and cities across the country can put our people back to work. >> put in perspective los angeles in terms of economic hardship as compared to the rest of the country right now. >> well, as i said, it's going to be another five years before we regain the jobs we lost before the recession. now, we're doing a lot. we're investing at our airport.

at our port, a billion a and a half. 20,000 jobs. we have a plan measure to double the size of our rail system. we're trying to do it in ten years with the money that we have, but we need a federal partner to do that. so it's very difficult for many people. we have one of the highest foreclosure rates in the united states of america. but we're making our effort. we need a congress that will work with us to accelerate job creation in our city. >> california as you know very well is a very blue state. do you ever worry about the sense that democrats may not do enough there nor focus enough there because they just think it's easier to get votes? >> i hope not. i am a democrat, but i'm in a nonpartisan job and what i've said to democrats and republicans alike is that job number one is putting people back to work. it's investing in our infrastructure. the it's making sure that our institutions of higher learning are the best. it's investing in workforce development so we're training people for jobs of the future.

so whether you're a democrat or republican, if you're not focusing on job creation, then you're frankly not doing your job. yes, it is a blue state in no small part because unfortunately in this state, the republicans are gone beyond the mainstream. they're not really speaking to the middle of california. but the democrats, if they want to continue to lead, are going to have to do a lot more to create the jobs we need right now. >> well, it is very nice to see row and thanks so much. i may live in new york, but as you know, you're my hometown mayor, so thank you very much for joining me. >> that's right. well, newt gingrich sparked a lot of controversy in florida this week by making some promises about a new goal for the u.s. space program. >> by the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon. and by the end of 2020, we will

have the first continuous propulsion system in space capable of getting to mars. >> a base on the moon is a perfect topic for a sign fact or fiction. joining me is james ober. here's the first fact or fiction question. newt gingrich's plan for a moon base is not technologically feasible right now. >> well, that's fiction, alex. because the technology is out there to be developed. not only american technology, but russian and chinese technology, so building a base with the right amount of money. >> okay. how about this. the other republican candidates criticized the cost of the plan. here's the fact or fiction. setting up a moon colony could cost hundreds of billions of dollars. >> that's probably true. it would cost thatch money. the issue is who's going to pay it. it's not well-known there's moon

robots getting ready to be launched to the moon in the next year or two and it's a privately funded space tourism rocket system for carrying paid customers within a year or so, so there's a lot of private money available and that's part of the gingrich plan. his claim to say that's getting a lot of private money in there, too. we're starting to see at small scale, that kind of flow already. >> here's the $64,000 question people want to know. the potential benefits here. the fact or fiction question, there are valuable materials we could mine on the moon to cruise on earth? >> using the fictitious part is using them on earth. it would have to be very valuable to bring things back from the moon down to earth, but there are things on the moon that can be used on to moon and in space. there's a lot of water. you could make rocket fuel. there's materials on the moon you could build many space facilities, so there are things

on the moon we know about and history teaches us that most of the valuable things we discover by exploration, we didn't expect to find and we found them by surprise. that's a lesson from history. >> what about the future of space exploration. a moon base would be needed for a later mission to mars? >> that is still in dispute. some people claim the fact, others dispute on technical realms. it is almost true. it's an argument. you can use fuel, you can learn things by living on the moon to make flight deeper into space, longer into space, more safe. that question is being debated and we're now working on a space station and for other projects that the new obama policy has put in place to look for further flights into space. the role of the moon is in dispute. >> we appreciate your time.

thank you. in office politics this morning, one of my conversations with former congressman and nbc analyst, harold ford jr. in part two, he assesses the gop field and explains why everything he needed to learn in office he learned from attending kindergarten graduations. >> newt gingrich, give me your assessment of him. >> provocative, smart, big thinker. thinks he's a little smarter than he is at times. prone to exaggeration about what he is, but republicans and particularly conservatives are intrigued by him. in some way, there are some parallels between him and president obama in '08. core democrats wanted to hear that message. you have a lot of core republicans, sometimes fudges it a little bit, compares himself to dpraet, great world and american historical leaders, but he's unafraid of the media. he's unafraid of the republican

establishment and appears to be up afraid of barack obama and republicans like that right now. >> how about your assessment of mitt romney? and i would like to see your thoughts on his faith. has that been dealt with and put aside? >> with me, it has. i think the press will continue to explore. there have been a number of articles around it. there's some confusion and ak by guti about what mormons believe. that won't be a factor with me. there are a number of other reasons i'm uncomfortable with a mitt romney presidency. his biggest challenge, his authenticity. he has been unable effectively to explain and justify change positions. and i think the american people, we're very forgiving group. we're a very understanding group. we live our lives and know that we make different choices. we make one choice one day, may make another a few months later, even a few days later.

but you've got to explain it. and if he does that, i think he'll probably emerge in this primary and we will have -- i think this is going to be a very close presidential race. if it's romney, i think it's going to be a little tighter race because i think romney has a compelling story to tell about his life, his family. his wife and business and even government. >> in that story, how much can you relate to mitt romney because he is the son of a prominent politics that largely influenced the path he's chosen in life. same with you. which by the way when i look at a picture of you and your dad, which one's which. >> i'm blessed. my dad is my best friend. he's still living. we talk regularly. my greatest adviser and mentor and my mom and my dad have been central parts of my life and i'm fortunate to have them both today.

i don't think i'm alone. i did the job my dad did because he served in congress for a long time. >> what's the tennessee in you? my father's from tennessee. we immediately connected on that. >> memphis is home. my wife and i still own a place there. the voters -- >> beale street, oh, my god, so fun. >> the food and the music, but for me, my start in politics came kindergarten graduations. and my elementary school princip principal, hattie jackson, one of my campaign managers. she ran into the office and was so excited because she secured these speeches. the only way i could track crowds or attract interest, i would show up where events were going on.

i'd show up just to shake hands and ask people for their support. but the first time i got invited to speak anywhere, old principal came running in said she got these 35 graduation speeches. i thought they were high school graduations. then thought they were middle school. then said miss jackson, what did you secure me? she said, i got you 32 kindergarten speeches. three elementary school. so, i started on this tour and i'll never forget the campaign began to turn around. i was low in the polls. hadn't raised much money. the benefit of my father's name and his organization, but people didn't have confidence in me. before you know it, i had moms and grandmas and aunts across memphis adopting me as their own. >> i'll bet. tomorrow in part three, he critiques president obama's play on the hardwood. straight ahead, the big three panel. three topics generating lots of talk including the tarmac tip.

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honey nut cheerios. it's time now for the big three. our topics today, it's getting ugly. tarmac tip and president obama on the road. and joining me now, democratic strategist and msnbc contributor, crystal ball and robert traynham and i like that title. well done on getting that one. and msnbc contributor joy ann reed. welcome to you. >> good morning. >> joy ann, i'm going to begin with you here. as we talked with the president on the road this week, here's some of what he's been saying. selling his state of the union address. >> and today, three years after the worst economic storm in three generations, our economy is growing again. our businesses have created more than 3 million jobs cht last

year, businesses created the most jobs since 2005. american manufacturers are hiring again. and creating jobs for the first time since the 1990s. >> so, is this the president framing the general election debate and in your assessment, is it a winning one or is it a bit too tough still? >> i think a lot of analysts figured he would run on an it could have been worse message for 2012, but instead, he has seized and republicans have seated to him. that state of the union speech was very lunch pail, sort of yes, we can, but on a lunch pail level and i think the president is going to run on that, on a message of optimism and sort of a reagan like message, which is interesting for him and even more interesting that republicans are letting him do it. they decided to run on a doom and gloom message. >> okay, i want to show you a

couple of things. first up, president obama's approval rating, which is on the rise. now at 48%. up from last month. u.s. economy grew at a 2.8 annual rate in the final three months of 2011. the fastest growth of the year, the highest over 18 months. at the same time, you have the gop candidates beating each other up on the campaign trial. how tough is it going to be to beat the president? >> it's going to be very tough. anytime you have an incumbent president running for president, it is very tough. ask mondale, john kerry in 2004. very, very difficult. however, that's the pluses for president obama. the minuses for president obama, if you will, is that no president has won re-election with unemployment so high. you mentioned a few moments ago that the trajectory of the economy is going very, very well, however, unemployment still at 8.9%. the last president to win in

such tough economic times was roosevelt. >> the president trying to sell his state of the union message. do you think he's satisfying his calls to get tougher republicans going into ection year? yeah, i do. i think the base has been very satisfied with the shift that he's taken since the fall when he initially announced his jobs proposal and then with the speech he gave ins on watt me, kansas. his approval is very, very high. what he should be pleased about in his state of the union speech is that it received really good marks from independents and even from republicans. mitt romney himself basically said i liked what he said in the speech. i want to see him follow up on it. i followed the results from the greenberg, democratic pollster and what was really amazing is that the response to the speech was overwhelmingly positive from the democrats, the independents

and the republicans. so i think he hit it out of the park. >> okay. guys, i want you to listen to a sound bite from joe madison. i'll ask you on the other side. >> i'll just say it straight up. there are some people, not all, in this country who cannot stand the fact that this is an african-american who is now one of the most powerful individuals on the planet. >> okay. what he's talking about is this picture with arizona governor jan brewer, the finger-pointing incident heard round the world now as president obama disembarked from the plane and was doing there to do some campaigning. so i'm going give you time to think about this and talk about what it actually means this picture in context with joe madison's words. ladies and gents, stay right there on "weekends with alex witt." can't help you clean,

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back now with our big three panel with crystal ball, robert

traynam. we played a sound bite from joel madison. we suggested that racism is behind this provocative picture of jan brewer as she's pointing the picture at the president as he was disembarking from air force one to start campaigning in her state. >> first to you, joy ann, what do you think is behind this and do you agree with madison's assessment or does it go beyond racism? >> there are three driving wing, the evangelical wing, the archie bunker wing. they're mad. they feel like somebody's taking their stuff and it's not just race, it's also immigrants and all those people, and i think that she sort of showed up for that party of the party. >> okay. robert, what's your take on all of this? racism involved in this. he's saying basically, it's this undercurrent that people cannot stand that there's an african-american man at the top spot in this country. >> i don't know if it's racism, per se. i hate to use that word because it is so negative, however i

will say this, there are some people in this country who miss the america of yesteryear. they can't understand that america has changed. it is never appropriate for the president of the united states to be lectured to the way governor brewer lectured to him allegedly. i wasn't there, but based on the reports, it is totally, totally unprofessional. >> exactly right. when jan brewer after much polling and lingering over the decision decided to sign that controversial sb-1070 immigration law she threw her lot in with the far right tea party wing of the party and even if you look beyond this particular photograph, i read some of her book and the book is basically a long, verbal discussion of what that picture represents. it is an in your face to the president and everything wrong with the president in particular. >> i want to thank you, guys.

>> i'm going to wrap it right there. thank you very much. we're not -- that is the wrap-up. frank owe's counting me down. i'll see you tomorrow morning at 10:00 amp m. eastern. anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover.

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