and all i tell them is south carolina is blessed. we have a great group of legislators that fight every day, that get what we want, and they fight for it. they don't just go along with the pack, they fight for it. so i am thankful that so many members came here to be supportive of tim, but i also want to make sure that we have our senior senator speak, who i enjoy working with and who has been there every time i've called him, senator lindsay graham. [applause] >> thank you, governor, thank you very much. well, tim, if you add up all the courses that we flunked together, people would begin to understand how the government works. [laughter] here's the good news -- i made 800 on the s.a.t., that's both parts, and i'm one of the smarter ones over there. so don't worry, you're going to do really well. [laughter] as to jim, i think we've been doing this for almost 20 years. if there's ever a contest for marrying over your head, jim might win that for sure. debbie is -- i really enjoy your family. you've got four great kids and grandkids c

to charlotte, north carolina. i had been an intern that summer up on capitol hill, and one of my regrets of the summer was that i'd never seen strom thurmond. because all my fellow interns said you've got to see strom thurmond. he such an unusual appearance about him. i did know what they meant really your but i had my suspicions. so i'm on the flight and a look ahead in front of me and i see a man who's got kind of orange colored hair practically, so brightly colored. first generation hair plugs. shows you how slow i am that i think to myself, that must be what strom thurmond's head looks like. then, of course, it wasn't strom thurmond. i knew that when people reaching over trying to shake his hand. i wanted to shake his hand, too, because i'd been in d.c. that summer for the first time, and i met all of these politicians i've seen a tv. i was about to go home and speak to my dads rotary club and i wanted to tell them all about the famous people i met up in washington, d.c. and so i was going to try to shake his

carolina senate.e are also pleased to have representatives from the governor's office here, including the general counsel mark davis, as well as mickey jones, and our single -- and our center -- our singer anette etheridge. thank you all for being here. as north carolina becomes more global, we are mindful that our impact in the world is significant, as evidenced by the fact that we have summit for and councils in north carolina. three of them are here with us today. the honorary consul of france, the honorary consul of sweden, and i suppose the dean of our council delegation, the honoraria council from moldova -- honorary consul from moldova. we have a delegation from st. mary's school here today watching this historic proceeding. we thank them for this moment in north carolina and united states history. as we prepare to begin the voting process for the north carolina electoral college, i would like to take a moment to reflect on the importance of this institution. this is the 56 north carolina four

south carolina's jim demint says he's resigning to run the heritage foundation. will he even have more power among conservatives on the outside? and who is on 0 the short list for nikki haley to fill the seat? and breaking news from the romney campaign. you heard me right. the final fund-raising month was an unusual press release raises a few eyebrows. causes some finger pointing and reminds us of the multibillion-dollar campaign we just went through. good morning from new york city. it's friday, december 7th, 2012. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. you should always remember this is a day that lives in infamy and if you don't know why, ask your parents or your grandparents to explain. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. as the republican party picks up the pieces and searches for the next generation of leaders, one of the conservative movements most influential icons of late and inside the senate, south carolina's jim demint, stunned his colleagues by resigning to become a full-time political activist. in effect, the ceo of the conservat

somebody conserve fiv, somebody from south carolina. maybe somebody who had a super pac. wait a second. (cheers and applause) watch where you point that thing, it's powerful. okay. now folks i'm to the going to sit here and say i should be south carolina's next senator. not when so many other people are saying it for me. "u.s.a. today" is stephen colbert running for the u.s. senate. huffington post, stephen colbert for senate. role call, south carolina for stephen colbert. "new york post", are we ready for senator colbert? (cheers and applause) are we ready? well, i get it i get it i know when i look at the u.s. senate. i say to myself, you know what they could use, another white guy. (laughter) so i want you to take to the twitters, okay, take to the twitters. i want you to tweet@nikki-- ask nikki haley why she should appoint me to the u.s. is senate with the hashtag senator colbert. (cheers and applause) s that-- that feels right. now of course we all know jim demint leaves some big shoes to fill. then again-- (cheers and applause) but i'm not surprised that the people

heavy rain from western north carolina and to south carolina and into the albany-georgia area continues to spread eastward but we have heavy snow falling through northern indiana and will bring blizzard like conditions to portions of ohio, especially lakeshore of lake ontario as well. here's the best chance of seeing the tornadoes develop today. eastern north carolina and eastern south carolina and severe thunderstorms where we could get wind gusts up to 70 miles an hour. we are looking for perhaps a foot of snow through ohio and northwestern pennsylvania and western new york state. on top of that, we could see wind gusts up to 45 miles an hour and blizzard conditions are felt through the great lakes region. >> good thing in terms of snow on the trees in many spots. >> that's a good point because snow on many trees and winds, we could be talking about more damage. that's not the case. >> holiday woes everywhere and instagram in legal troubles. >>> plus, she's the face of weight watchers. now jessica simpson is about to put the pounds back on. we'll tell you why. hing. and you really don

(cheers and applause) >> stephen: yes, i am a rock star in south carolina and not just because i ended my rally there with herman cain by biting the head off a dove. it's a local delicacy. (laughter) >> stephen: lovely with a side of palms. they love me in the palmetto state because i love it. i love the beaches. i love the mountains. i love the beautiful old estates that have no negative historical connotation whatsoever. of course not everybody is happy about my imminent appointment. for instance the atlantic called my vastly overqualified. and nbc.com said senator stephen colbert, perhaps not as crazy as senator jim demint. what? i am at least as crazy as jim demint. he wanted to ban gay teachers from the classroom. i want to ban teachers from the classroom. (laughter) with their knowledge agenda. i say let the free market decide what the atomic weight of carbon is. but mi the clear, mi the clear first choice here, folks. first of all the good people at public policy polling, publicly policy polled south carlinians today and found that of the possible replacements, i top south carol

a lot of people in south carolina at the time blamed the u.s.ccupation there in 2004 on the reason why this missionary was executed. some of the lyrics, randi, are pretty dramatic. they say kill those f'ing yankees torturing iraqi captives and calls for the death of the mothers and doubt errs and the westerners that killed and led to the execution of the south korean missionary. >> he's apologizing. >> trying to do a pr blitz and issued this apology and he said while i'm grateful for the freedom to express one's self i've learned there are limits to what language is appropriate, and i'm deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted. i will forever be sorry for any pain that i've caused. >> this is a guy who is so popular. i mean, his music, his song, that one song, has everybody getting up and out of their chair. what could this mean for his career? now has the most watched youtube video? >> very popular. when i first popular video on reddit and had 5,000 clicks and now there's 1 billion clicks. falls in line with other artists who said

state officials refused to answer for marina port archie north carolina. one argile com right now the u.s. navy has two additional warships to the north korean shores as washington prepares for possible rocket launch by the communist state. salvation can come in all shapes and sizes as scientists develop a way for the hiv virus to combat disease find out how online. nine people have been hurt after are known attackers fired at protesters camped out in cairo's central tough square this comes as egypt gears up for another day of protests by the opposition and supporters of president morsi the under a sore spot after he granted himself a sweeping powers and put a new constitution to the vote kyra based reporter bel truth has more. president mohamed morsi. on the decision to increase tax burdens on the country is a sales tax on consumer goods and services this is seen to be quite popular for him in the face of much to said the increased tax burdens were supposed to be part of the i.m.f. loan international monetary fund loan four point eight billion dollars loa

somebody from south carolina. maybe who had a super pac.rs and applause ] watch where you point that thing. it's powerful. okay. >> listen to this. the pentagon is preparing for massive budget cuts in the event the country does go over the fiscal cliff. you can tell the pentagon is scaling back. today, it became the triangle. [ laughter ] you know, there's a teacher at home going, yes. my math teacher, exactly. he learned something. >> a lot of people said after the election, what will mitt romney do? because he's out of a job, didn't get the job he wanted and, you know, honestly, you can only spend so much time with your money. so, people were saying, what will mitt romney -- he's got a job. he's working at a marriott, ladies and gentlemen. working at a marriott. he's the guy that comes out to the pool and tells the kids to stop splashing. come on, kids. hey, fellas. listen to me. settle down here. >> that could have been funnier. >>> that's what's making news in

>> anybody can lose in south carolina. what people don't realize is there's not a base in south carolina republicans that's big enough to win a general election. it's 11 points ahead of the democrats' base. so it's a voter we've had here for decades and decades in south carolina that names the winners. with that being said, we've obviously been very successful in south carolina attracting that voter in the general election, but that always makes it dicey. i do see nikki having a fairly easy path towards, certainly, the renomination and election, but nothing in politics is ever easy. it's why it's one of the most interesting political states in the country. >> and last but not least, mark sanford, someone who got a ton of media attention, much to your chagrin a few year s back. what are the chances he'd make a bid for congress and run against his wife, what is the sanford political future here? >> mark sanford is not the first politician to start dating in office and be married at the same time and also become politically s

that's why south carolina, the dissenters in south carolina were so upset because south carolina says, no, look at the best interests of the child, look at where she's lived, and they said keep her with the capobiancos. >> really quickly here. last question. let's just say the supreme court is favoring them here and now they have to assess that this little child has had about a year-plus of living with a new father in a more cognizant phase of her life. >> and if the supreme court grants review, maybe they will hear argument in march, maybe there will be a decision by june, so again, that will mean a year -- >> and a half. >> -- plus with brown, even if they win, that will mean taking her back. it's just hard to think of a good resolution to the case like this. >> exactly what i was going to say. no winners, really, in this case. jeff toobin, thank you. >> it's a real sad story. >> more on it of course, we will keep following it. >>> also, a deadly attack on a college campus. a faculty member among those killed. where the murder took place and the weapon believed to be used all coming

and politics in south carolina.mond and blacks relationship with strom thurmond. >> he won 30%. >> any republican who wean 30% of black voters today would be -- >> every high school kid that graduated from high school when i came up, got that lottery from stro strom thurmond. if your family had problems in the military, you didn't call the red cross first. you called strom thurmond's office first. he had the first black staff member. he was responsive to his constituency. he had the first black staff member, tom moss. and tim scott will get a significant amount of black votes because people will go to him in that same tradition as they went to strom thurmond. and he won't play race like a lot of them. >> i want to ask you this question. i want to see if -- because this is an appointment. the real question is, how few statewide elected black leaders we have in the country as a whole, but particularly in the south. we'll take about that after this break. ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole. it's amazi

then, will the government -- of nerve north carolina pardon the wilmington 10? >> it is not a secret an injustice has been done. now, governor perdue has an opportunity to right the wrong. we cannot go back to 1980. this is 2012. >> the north carolina governor is being urged to pardon a group of civil rights activists were falsely convicted and imprisoned 40 years ago for the firebombing of a white owned grocery store. the conviction was overturned in 1980, but the state has never pardon them. we will speak with one of the wilmington 10 who served eight years behind bars and it became head of the naacp. all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president obama is set to meet with congressional leaders at the white house just three days before a year in deadline to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. some $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases will take effect if no agreement is reached. obama and the rest of republicans remain of the impasse over the republican refusal

charlotte, north carolina, today about 51 degrees. orlando, florida, about 73. and that is your latest forecast. veronica? >> just a dusting, not a white christmas, just a dusting? >> enough so santa's sleigh has something to go through, but we're only looking at really a dusting tonight and into tomorrow morning. >> 39 degrees? my goodness. >> it's winter. >> thanks. >>> coming up next, a syrian air strike kills dozens. >>> and more on the late senator inouye. >>> and what's on the menu? america's most expensive christmas dinner. you're watching "early today." . >>> hi, i'm stationed at airsam air base. i wanted wish a merry christmas to my son and boys. merry christmas. >> i'm in southwest asia. i wanted to wish a very merry christmas to my wife, kara, and beautiful daughters. i'll be home soon, and i hope you have a great christmas and happy new year. >> and happy holidays to you, as well. >>> here are some stories making news this morning. activists in syria see government warplanes attacked a bakery in a rebel-held town killing people including children. it

republican's staff as well as the north carolina republican party as well as the voters of north carolina for helping make this meeting of the electoral college of success. if there is no further business to come before us, i wish to recognize dodi allen for the purpose of making a motion to adjourn. >> [inaudible] >> recognizing john abernathy -- don abernathy for the purpose of a second. >> [inaudible] >> all those in favor of adjournment, say aye. >> aye. >> i now turn it over to our distinguished secretary of state, alain marshall. >> thank you for a job well done. ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your service today. i want to thank the participants as well as those of you here to watch history being made. history in this historical room and people watching us across the state through modern technology, this is truly a moment to reflect upon what good citizenship is all about. before everybody does start to leave, let me remind the electorates, if i can ask you to return to your seat so we can pass those extra five. they are crucial and have to be sent to washington post case for a

eastern north carolina, eastern south carolina and even just severe thunderstorms where we could get wind gusts 50 to 70 miles an hour. here's where our snow is going to be. we are looking for perhaps a foot of snow through ohio and northwestern pennsylvania and northwestern new york state. on top of that, we could see wind gusts up to 45 miles an hour. blizzard conditions will be felt through the great lakes region. >> good thing in terms of what we're feeling so far, we don't have snow on those trees in many spots. >> that's a good point, snow on trees and wind, we could be talking about more damage. that's not the case. >>> holiday sales highs and lows and instagram's legal troubles and where folks are cutting their commute in half. >>> she's the face of weight watchers and now jessica simpson is about to put the pounds back on. >>> welcome back. some stories making news this morning. a bomb exploded at a major u.s. military base in eastern afghanistan this morning killing the attacker and two afghans. >>> and hawaii's governor may appoint a replacement for the late senator inouye

of south carolina is retiring in january. on monday south carolina governor nikki haley announced she would appoint tim scott, who will be the first african- american republican to serve in the senate since the 19 0's and the first black senator in the south since reconstruction. he was first elected to the u.s. house in 2010. this is about 35 minutes. >> good morning and it is a great day in south carolina. it's a historic day in south carolina, because, you know, first of all, we all were saddened and surprised when senator demint told us that he was not going to continue in the u.s. senate. but i will tell you, as i've told many people, that the heritage foundation is blessed. he will lift them up to an amazing new level. it's a foundation that i have always had great respect for, and they could not have made a more perfect pick. in this decision and process that we went through, there is no replacing jim demint, there is no replacing him. there is no one that can fill his shoes. there is no one that can really carry on th

state officials refused to answer for marina port archly north carolina. and coming up as we promised also discusses the ups and downs of the egyptian revolution with former presidential candidate and secretary general of the arab league. that sometime very short break. live . play live. live live. live . lol ugh. live players her mother. even though the speech. she played. her. live. i wish. it looked. like a missile good luck play lists let's look at him. a little bit of a little. he and some to see explain destruction without the legacy. of what could have been just ruins lives saved by a great sacrifice and gameplay and restored by human jets it's. a remarkable reminder of courage and selflessness. proves to be empty is a people. playing golf the russian a sight. to see this live. nearly two years after the revolution that shocked the world and removed hosni mubarak from his long tenure at the head of egypt the egyptian revolution is going through some strange times perhaps some would say some dark times with us to discuss this is none other than. a pr

columbia south carolina. adam, thanks so much for being here? >> thanks for having me. >> okay. so what is the word on the ground? will tim scott get it? >> well it appears he is the frontrunner for sure for just many of the reasons you mentioned. you know, he would be the first african-american republican senator since reconstruction. it would be a great pick for the republican side because they keep talking about trying to deversefy their party and that -- -- that certainly will be a great pick for that reason for republicans if they want to do it that way. plus several sources have told us and told other media outlets that senator demint personally told haley to pick tim scott. >> so assuming that it's not tim scott, who else is in the running? who else is being talked about? >> well it depends upon what the governor wants to do. there has been lots of talk about a sort of caretaker person, someone who would just serve for two years and then, you know, not run for re-election. a name that's come up a lot f

it also shows that this man of south carolina. he is very aware that what he does and every vote he makes a backstop carolina and our country. it is with that that i knew he was the right person. they understand that this is the right u.s. center for our state and country. it is very important to me as a minority female that congressman scott earned this seat. he earned this seat before the results he has shown. he earned this seat for what i know he is going to do in making south carolina and our country proud. with that i would like to introduce to you our senate select tim scott. >> thank you very much. this is a great day of celebration. our nation still mourning. of one to take a moment of silence for any town -- newtown. will you join me please? thank you. this is an exciting day for many reasons. i went to state thank you to my lord and savior jesus christ, to be honest with you. when you start out in a single- parent household with a mom who work 16 hours a day and you're looking at a future that is not look bright and you

is too big and thus destined to fail north carolina and the south general. were different country already and the united states and we simply need our own government we have different values different belief systems critics have dismissed secessionists as disgruntled voters angry over president obama's second term however in this you thousand a presidential election obama became the first democrat in more than thirty years to win north carolina a red state turned blue with the promise of change four years later tens of thousands of voters in the very same state believe they'd be better off on their own. the average american the things they believe in they're tired of the endless wars and here we are talking about invading iran now i can't think of anything more the white house meanwhile promises to review and issue an official response to all petitions with twenty five thousand or more. signatories at least seven states fit that category that we used to be on the interstate driving along at thirty five miles an hour by ourselves with the session as a goal no

. >> give president obama a heartfelt message from the good people of south carolina.e road, jack! and don't you come back no more no more no more. thank you. >>neil: rebel that from the republican convention? he can't sing. but that did not step tim scott from making history because the south carolina republican congressman will soon be south carolina's newest senator tapped by the governor to replace senator demint in the new year. he will be the first african-american senator if the south since, get this, reconstruction. protectly historic, pretty big. but do this "new york times" writer, petty. modern black republicans have been more tokens than sign of progress. could they get more specific? reaction, now, from senator designate tim scott. congressman, i don't know what you scale you? congratulations? >>guest: tim is a good one. thank you very much. >>neil: what did you think of the editorial you are making history and here they are getting all snippy? >>guest: well, i thought it was funny. there is no content or substance if that editorial but what i can say is t

in north carolina, he owned the only tv station.go on -- the programming was thin on the ground. he would go on and deliver these screens or harangues, rants. those of us living in north carolina, where my father worked for the university, he had studied medicine in cambridge in massachusetts. he had met my mother there. but he had moved to the family back to north carolina. chapel hill was a progressive enclave in those days and jesse helms would refer to it on his tv editorial as communist hill. in a way, that defined -- it was an early point as an antagonist, i feel as though he helped defined me politically. over the years i have tried, unsuccessfully, a sad succession of north carolina democrats trying to unseat jesse helms. i never managed to do it. we never managed to do it. my friend john actually got my wife kim and i deeply involved in the obama campaign. he is nodding his head because he knows about jesse helms. my father and his generation, i remember the first political campaign i am aware of being my family being enthu

archie north carolina. minority dot com a right now we reveal the suspect behind the recent leak of floor data aimed at separate targeting iran's nuclear program. that after granting asylum to top whistleblower julian assigns aghadoe continues its open door policy and find out who is next on the country's most welcome list on line. nine people have been hurt time after an unknown attackers fired at protesters camped out in cairo central to the square this comes as egypt gears up for another day of protests by the opposition and supporters of president morsi. was bald after morsi granted himself extensive powers and put a new constitution to the vote later backtracked on some of the create but left the referendum intact there gyptian leader has now given the military temporary powers sure as civilians in the run up to the vote raising opposition fears the country is turning to an islamist dictatorship earlier my colleague kevin overindulge a journalist. things morsi is draft constitution nation on the brink

see independence as a symbol may twentieth a consistent one is the day that north carolina sated from the union and america's stars and stripes ripping at the seams there's no doubt in my mind that it is inevitable i mean something like this with the the debt this country has with a growing disunion among in the among the people they can't last forever and that's the lesson of history big empires always collapse on their own weight secession supporters like bernard first some say washington's weight of growing debt and lists wars government intrusion and a broken immigration system has become a bipartisan destructive force is beyond reform you can't reform that federal government whether it's the republicans in charge or obama basically of the republicans are just as bad as far as we're concerned they're corrupt and are out of touch in southern former confederate states like north carolina culture and social issues play a big role for those like harold cruz who believes the us is too big and thus destined to fail north carolina and the south in general. were different country already

and that threat is going to push into the east coast of the carolinas. we could see isolated tornadoes again possible. on top of that, we are looking at possibly perhaps up to a foot of snow, especially off the shores of lake ontario and lake erie with 6 to 12 inches possible in southern indiana. that's a look at the weather across the country. now, here's a peek out your window. in boston, about 37 degrees, but that rain is going to take hold later on today. raleigh, north carolina, has a good chance of seeing thunderstorms today. and pittsburgh, looking at snow with highs today topping out in the mid-30s. >> so the storm system is going to be one that affects the eastern seaboard probably until about friday morning. >> silver lining, snow, i like skiing. >> oh, yeah, a lot of people do. and have been waiting for snow, too. >>> holiday sales hits highs and lows. instagram's legal trouble and where in the world are folks cutting the commute in half. plus, she's the face of weight watchers but now jessica simpson is about to put the pounds back on. we'll

state officials refused to answer for marina port archly north carolina. small world news now for you opposition activists in bangladesh capital detonate a bomb while enforcing a daylong general strike the police and guard to forcibly disperse protesters who smashed vehicles and hurled rocks the rest are up to it after accusations of government sponsored killings during recent protests against a popular political reform. north korea has taken its long range rocket off the launch pad in an apparent move to fix a technical problem. will be launched though by the end of the month the secluded state insists it's sending a satellite into orbit but many countries believe it's conducting a ballistic missile test banned from using such weapons technology and even sanctions with japan keeping a patriot missile system deployed to shoot down the rocket if it goes off course. u.k. based bank h.s.b.c.'s agreed to pay a huge fine for the u.s. department of justice for lapses in money laundering regulations allow its controls and poor policing of suspicious transactions