. >> former nebraska democratic senator bob kerrey is considering a run. you mentioned the word difficult. it was going to be very difficult for democrats to hold on to this seat had nelson stayed and run for re-election. it's going to be difficult for them to win it, probably even harder but if they can get someone like bob kerrey at least it makes it competitive for them. >> i called bob kerrey as soon as the nelson news broke today. it took him a few seconds to understand what i was calling about since it turned out i had awakened him at 2:00 a.m. in india. he said he would love to move back to nebraska, that he's thought about it lately. but he has not thought about planning a race for the senate there. which we were at the -- so which means that the last word here, we officially interpret as at least at 2:00 in the morning in end yab while half aware, bob kerrey is leaving the door open. he also said he thought ben nelson's retirement was a big loss for nebraska. that was not exactly the sentiment of a senate democratic leadership aide who told nbc ne

if bob kerrey doesn't run for that seat, nebraska is virtually certain to elect another republican to the senate who will vote for mitch mcconnell for majority leader and vote against the democratic agenda. if there is one. at least 90% of the time. as frustrated as liberals have a right to be with ben nelson, they also have much to thank ben nelson for. such is the complexity of the politics of governing. ben nelson managed to hold on to a democratic senate seat in a state where george w. bush beat john kerry by 33 points, in a state where john mccain beat barack obama by the 15 points. republicans were always desperate to get ben nelson out of the democratic majority in the senate. in 2004 before the democrats got the majority, karl rove saw it coming, and he offered ben nelson the job of agriculture secretary. that would have allowed nebraska's republican governor to pick nelson's replacement giving the republicans a senate seat. ben nelson turned it down. if ben nelson had accepted that job in 2006, democrats would have fallen exactly one seat short of winning control of the senat

>> one thing -- two things i would say with bob kerrey.n there was an open seat, they floated it and he didn't run. number two, he lives in new york city. he's the president of the new school. >> right. >> not exactly credentials for nebraska. one other point i wanted to make, though, mark. the democratic committee, the arm charged with re-electing senators, they spent over a million dollars on ben nelson earlier this summer just to have him decide not to run. i can only imagine grimaces inside that building. >> well, chris, they delivered a message to a lot of members who might have been on the fence of running in 2012, let us know early if you are going to retire so we don't have to spend that type of money that we know what everyone's going to be. look, this was a race i think in addition to north dakota, was going to be the democrats' toughest race to be able to hold on to in 2012. but you're right. they probably would have liked to have gotten this word from ben nelson a while ago. and it probably prompted -- i ended up getting an e-m

is bob kerrey the kind of democrat that can sell in a conservative state like nebraska. >> it was hards harder to see na now, especially in a year when president obama is going to have his own troubles in states that are -- forget red states like nebraska and states that are swing states. >> obama got 42% in nebraska in 2008. my guess is he does no better than that this time around. >> but it's not going to stop us because everyone knows bob kerrey and he's a delightful figure to cover. >> and returns e-mails at 2:00 a.m. from india. >> our favorite kind of -- >> hard to beat that if you're a reporter. >> could be jet lag. >> good point. i feel like everyone assumes and i think it might be too much of an assumption, assumes republicans are going to win back the senate. they only need three seats if they elect a republican president, they need four if obama is re-elected. they have so many seats, so many opportunities. is there an over confidence in the republican party? put nebraska and north dakota aside, both of which are going to be very tough, so that's two. you still have to get t

opening there or bob kerrey moment? >> bob kerrey may or may not get in i don't know.makes it essentially a republic seat to lose at this point. this is good news for the republicans in that sense. it also demonstrates that barack obama and obama care have defeated more democrats than ronald reagan ever did. we saw the republicans take back the house in 2010 because of obama care. now we are seeing nelson who is supposed to be a secure, safe democrat basically bow out because he couldn't defend the cornhusker kick back. >> i don't think he is that safe. >> because of the cornhusker kick back. >> this is the death of the moderates. you just see these people, you know, one by one leaving congress. and, you know, so the issue that they chose was the cornhusker kick back in health care. at the end of the day we are not going to see senators or members of congress from extremely red states being democrats. >> shows you how ideological our politics now are remember, he was a moderate democrat and, yet, he supported stimulus and he was the critical 60th in the senate in suppo

now, top democratic aids tell nbc news that former nebraska senator bob kerrey is now considering getting into the race to replace nelson. and for the latest on all things decision 2012, be sure to bookmark our new site, nbcpolitics.com. it's your one stop shop for arrange the clock political updates. >>> now we turn to a wrenching story, a christmas day house fire in connecticut that killed five members of the same family. three children and their grandparents. and a reminder that these kind of fires peak in the winter months. especially, according to government figures, in this month of december. tonight, officials have revealed the cause of the christmas day fire in connecticut. and nbc's craig melvin has our report. >> reporter: just before 5:00 christmas morning, neighbors heard screams and saw flames shooting from the badger house on shiphand lane. >> there's a huge fire at the house next door to us. the whole house is on fire, a major, major fire, with people in the house. >> we have the fire department on the way, ma'am. >> please, please come quickly. >> reporter: today firefight

of another warmed over party machine get along go along name from the past like former senator bob kerrey whose name is already floating around and it will generate less excitement than a room temperature of old mushroom soup instead democrats in nebraska need to take note of elizabeth warren's surging popularity in massachusetts and the rise of the ninety nine percent movement in every state around the country and listen to what the people on the ground are saying which is that they want to kick corporations out of government that's the populist message that elizabeth warren has claimed and she is kicking scott brown's but right across the state of massachusetts with us. now we all know that nebraska is different from massachusetts but the anger across america is the same consider this ad featuring a brassica small businessman that progressives in nebraska ran when bill nelson was screwing up obamacare and having single payer advocates arrested in the sun. for six years i've owned a sizzling skillet here and roast in the grass. last week my health insurance agent called he told me my rat

that introduced me to long-term care, which ended with bob kerrey and that introduced me to alzheimer's. my emphasis on brain science comes with -- i'm getting emotional. the real problems of real people and my family. this is not a theory. this is my mother. [applause] i do policy much easier. [laughter] >> they will be mad at me. is she was here today, would you tell her? >> here today? she would be talking to all these people. she would be telling them how nice i am. she was proud of me most of the time. >> what would you say to her? >> she spent 27 years as an army wife, and she was in a culture that valued patriotism, duty. took a risk for this country. i would say to her that i will do everything i can as a candidate to be worthy of her. [applause] >> do you have another mom question? we have about four minutes left. i apologize. i did not mean to put you through that. >> they're helpful. >> and they are free. >> no, no, no. that's a sign you have not had children. [laughter] >> how would you like to close, knowing there are moms in this room and moms who are watching you right no

bob kerrey, former senator bob kerrey wrote the introto your book, former navy sncht e.a.l.fine and separate us from the past. how so? >> he made a comparison in his introduction where he compared his unit in 1967 s.e.a.l.s with today's s.e.a.l.s as professional athletes compared to today. you know, you always have joe namath who might have been an athlete for all times but the average level of discipline and professionalism between professional sports teams today and back then, it's a world of difference. >> it's an evolution. >> he said it's the exact same thing. techniques, training, tactics that special operation forces of 40 years ago can't even be compared with the level of methodology and stealth and really force projection that's capable today. >> top military leader that is this country has known have special ops backgrounds particularly. how does that kind of shape the way the military has changed over the last few years? >> it's really changed everything, actually. i think that the biggest difference in the post gulf war i era and today is you see a complete chang

and there is some talk that nelson's predecessor, the senator before him, senator bob kerrey would possibly run for the seat again. >>trace: what does this mean for democrats in the senate? >>reporter: it is so close in the senate between democrats and republicans that any pickup of one side or the sorry a big deal and this seat could be an easier pick up for republicans since nebraska is such a red state. senator nelson is the sixth democratic senator to announce he is not running in 2012 and most of those who have announce are from blue leaning states and independent senator joe lieberman from connecticut who caucuses with the democrats and two republicans have said they will not run again. were trace? >>trace: thank you, molly, from washington. thank you. bliss say a man admitted to killing the nine-year-old girl he was supposed to be babysitting. what he told them about this girl's murder is absolutely chilling. the details and the next step in this case is next. also, "wall street journal" -- wall street traders expect something special this time of year, a bump. where is it? [ male an

. >> i guess in nebraska unless they can convince former senator bob kerrey to run, there doesn't seembe a nebraska democrat who can really make that seat competitive. >> that's right. and democrats say he is considering a run -- >> oh, he is? >> but we'll believe it when we actually see it. it's not a sure thing that he would actually end up running after his absence from politics for quite a while now. >> six dropouts, twice the number of republican dropouts. already those numbers are putting the democrats at a disadvantage. is there any good news out there for democrats? >> well, chris, probably the best news for democrats is that this ben nelson news really doesn't change things at all. nelson was already going to face an uphill climb for re-election given the poll numbers that he had had, and you look at everything that's out there right now and if president obama ends up winning re-election and if elizabeth warren out in massachusetts can beat republican senator scott brown, democrats have a very realistic chance of holding onto the senate probably in a 50/50 tie with vice presid

bob kerrey has been talking about possibly running again. of the senate, and two of them look pretty easy to do right now. we'll be right back. when elizabeth beckford was 15 years old she showed up to school and entered the history books. when elizabeth beckford was 15 years old she showed up to school and entered the history books. she was african-american who was trying to desegregate the all-black high school. the governor ordered the national guard troops not to let that happen. what made elizabeth's story more compelling was this iconic photo that came to symbolize one of the darkest periods of american history. she is followed and heckled by a crowd of white people. most dramatically by a teenager the same age named hazell brian. there's a lot going on in that photo. journalist david mcgolic spent time chronicling their lyes and what came afterwards. the results would surprise you. he wrote a big book about the women called "elizabeth and hazel. this is great you went back and looked at these girls. one black and one white. one angry

democrats may try to persuade former nebraska senator bob kerrey to run for the seat.ato says kerry may give democrats 50/50 odds in nebraska. even that may be generous. kerry said in an interview earlier this month that he wouldn't rule out a senate run but said it's, quote, highly unlikely that he would do it. trace? >> trace: molly hen werg live for us in the nation's capital. our nation's credit limit is about to max out. the obama administration now set to ask congress to raise it by $1.2 trillion. this is all part of the debt ceiling deal negotiated over the summer. and treasury department officials say we need to raise the limit now because by friday the federal government will be within $100 billion of the current limit. president obama carving out time for work during his hawaiian vacation nominating a democrat and republic to fill two open spots on the federal reserve board. by picking a member of the opposition party the president may be trying to head off a potential senate confirmation battle. the white house has accused republics of blocking qualified fed

bob kerrey has been talking about possibly running again. four seats to get control of the senate, and two of them look pretty easy to do right now. we'll be right back. [ coughs ] what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. give me your war face! raaah! now there's no need to hold back. new revolutionary scope dualblast obliterates strong food odors leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... new scope dualblast. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job. so why are you doing hers? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious... like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis

that introduced me to alzheimer's which i did with bob kerrey for three more years. and my whole emphasis on brain science comes in directly from dealing -- you know from dealing with, you know, the real problems of real people in my family. so it's not a theory. it's in fact, my mother. host: part of mr. gingrich, former speaker, dabbing that tear. a line in "the new york times" says he cried on friday as he described his mother's struggle with depression and bipolar disorder. quote, i do policy much easier than i do personal, he said. next call, plano, texas. liz, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. how are you? caller: well, i would like to, first of all, say that i'm sure there is a great deal of stress. it does seem that when these candidates have a personal connection with something, they become more activated. i refer back to, i believe, it was one of the secretaries of state or something who went with bono to africa and came back a changed person. as far as the iowa caucuses, you know, i kind of have is a couple of

former senator bob kerrey is a democrat, he's been considering running again, but republicans will behat the once-again-popular ben nelson is retiring, and there are 23 democratically-controlled seats up this cycle. republicans only have to defend ten. they are doing the calculations on how they can regain control of the senate. >>> serious threats to christians in the middle east today. there are now warnings that christianity could possibly be wiped out from iraq and afghanistan, egypt as well possibly because of severe and persistent persecution. according to the u.s. commission on international religious freedom, it's a bipartisan group, independent group, in 2003 there were 800,000 to 1.4 million christians in iraq. a startling difference from today when there are only an estimated 500,000 christians still living there. and according to our state department, there is no longer a public christian church stand anything afghanistan. leonard leo is chairman of the u.s. commission on international religious freedom and my guest now. leonard, the statistics are startling. first, just b

jon: they have been talking about senator bob kerrey who used to represent that state. he has been in new york for a long time but would he be a possibility, a strong contender? >> if he runs. i'll be surprised if he does. you know he hasn't been back to nebraska for a long time and he was there and got elected governor and senator in a very different environment, when nebraskans and other people in republican red states were more willing to elect democrats to these sorts of positions. we live in a highly polarized environment now and i think it would be much tougher on him this time than it was in those previous times when he won the governorship and a senate seat. jon: larry sabato, center for politics at the university of virginia, thank you. >> thank you, jon. arthel: jon, when we come back we'll tell you about this story. a disaster avoided as all passengers miraculously survive a fiery plane crash. what may have led to the rough landing that sent this jet right here out of control. not even the law could keep them apart. a disabled veteran reunited with the dog he

. >> they are saying the dream candidate to replace him would be former senator bob kerrey, who has notn whether he's interested in that job. >> one of the things we've heard about very rich retirements, a number of government employees wound up with, you know, famously what is going on, has gone on out in bell, california. now in 21 states, this is going to get you, 21 states it is possible for you to do something, it's a perk that employees, various municipalities and governmentings get. you can buy airtime. what that essentially means is if you are a little short in the pension department, you can put up a bunch of cash so that you would qualify or get vested for more money when you eventually do retire. >> here's a former advisor to arnold schwarzenegger. he paid an extra $75,000 for five years of work credit. he basically didn't work those five years, he's paying so it looks like he did. when he turns 55 he will get a california pension of $61,000 a year. that's nearly $13,000 more than if he hadn't bought that additional five years of time. >> but here's the kicker, it adds up to

that introduced me to long-term care, which ended with bob kerrey and that interest me to all slumbers which it did for three more years -- to all summelzheimer's. i'm getting emotional. the real problems of real people and my family. this is not a theory. this is my mother. [applause] i do policy much easier. [laughter] >> they will be mad at me. is she was here today, would you tell her? >> here today? she would be talking to all these people. she would be telling them how nice i am. she was proud of me most of the time. >> what would you say to her? >> she spent 27 years as an army wife, and she was in a culture that valued patriotism, duty. i would say to her that i will do everything i can as a candidate to be worthy of her. [applause] >> do you have another mom question? we have about four minutes left. i apologize. i did not mean to put you through that. >> they're helpful. >> and they are free. >> no, no, no. that's a sign you have not had children. [laughter] >> how would you like to close, knowing there are moms in this room and moms who are watching you right now imams or co

that introduced me to the issue of quality long term care, which i did with bob kerrey.in brain science comes directly from dealing with -- from dealing with the real problems of real people in my family. it is not a theory. it was in fact my mother. [applause] i do policy much easier than i do personal. [laughter] >> will be mad at me, but if she were here today, what would you tell her? >> she would be talking to all these people and she would tell them how nice i was. she was very proud of me, most of the time. not all the time. most of the time. >> what would you say to her? >> she spent 27 years as an army wife and she was in a culture that valued patriotism, duty, took risks for this country. and i would say to her that i will do everything i can as a candidate to be worthy of [unintelligible] [applause] >> do you have another mom question? we have about four minutes left, and i apologize. i do not need to put you through that. >> they are very helpful. >> and they are free. [laughter] >> that is a sign that you have not had children. >> would you like to close kno

party officials are reaching out to former nebraska senator bob k kerry kerrey to run for his sea. wolf blitzer will ask him on "the situation room," putting in comments of newt gingrich to mitt romney and see what he says. >>> and the late leader of north korea, kim jong-il, funeral services took place very early new york time. the services are expected to last the two days. his son and hand-picked successor, kim jong un, walking along the front of the hearse as the world looks for signs of instai instability. paula hancocks with more on that. >> reporter: hello, alina. this was certainly a very well choreographed event. north korea was very aware that the rest of the world would be watching this very closely, and this is what north korea does best. the pomp and ceremony of these kinds of events. now, what we saw was kim jong un walking alongside his father's car, carrying the coffin, and also behind him his uncle, who's believed to be helping in his first few years of reign, and also on the other side, there were very significant military personnel. the head of the military was f