let's go to cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence. of course, the relationship with egypt in the news today, chris, the relationship between the united states and egypt is an important strategic one. american taxpayers send more than a billion dollars a year to support the military in egypt. and in a debate like tonight, that's going to come up as the situation. president romney or perry or cain can face. >> that's right. it's a great example of an issue that wasn't debated during the last presidential election cycle that always seems to surprise presidents. you know, there are things that won't be debated tonight. national security issues that will come up during the next president's tenure. so, tonight really is a chance to see how some of these men and michele bachmann would handle the role of commander in chief. what are their strategic interests, where they place the emphasis on. but it will also carry different weight for different candidates. some of the candidates, such as a herman cain who's had a lot of foreign policy answer

chris lawrence, cnn the pentagon. >> chris brings up a good topic of conversation.vid frum. leon panetta has been first in line in washington to talk about how catastrophic these cuts might be to the defense department. he sent a letter to john mccain says we would have the smallest grown force since before world war ii. the smallest air force ever. how serious are these cuts that they're talking about? is this something that america should be worried about? >> the beginning of the cuts are no t serious. they're to be phased in over ten years. but it is another example of how this one thing the rising cost of health care is breaking the capacity of government to do the things people want government to do beginning with defending the country. it is -- it is -- this is the line through every program. we have to find a way, you cannot separate government costs from private sector costs that you run this kind of health sector inflations it consumes and devours everything. >> let me jump in and let's talk about this incoursement that's coming out on sunday in the manches

chris lawrence, cnn, the pentagon. >> all right.nie fine is coming forward today. laurie fine will reportedly claim a taped conversation she had with one of her husband's accusers was doctored. bernie fine is now facing a second criminal investigation for alleged sex abuse in pittsburgh. >>> former penn state football coach jerry sandusky launching his own investigation. sandusky's lawyer hired a private investigators to prove he did not abuse anyone. the longtime coach charged with 40 counts related to alleged sexual abuse of eight young boys. in the meantime, one of sandusky's a alleged victims hired lawyers hinting a lawsuit may be coming. >>> occupy protesters in los angeles hold their ground against police trying to evict them from city hall's park. they declared victory in a rally yesterday. the park is officially closed but several hundred protesters remain camped there. police arrested only four people yesterday giving protesters more time to leave on their own. >>> a small plane with five people onboard crashed in illinois.

all right, paul steinhauser, thank you. >> let's bring in chris lawrence live at the pentagon. chris, moments ago cnn and orc released foreign policy polls. what are they showing? >> reporter: they show some of the candidates may be in a tricky position tonight when they have to defend some of the positions they've taken on national security. look at this first poll. loop at the difference from about seven years ago and how americans feel about attacking another country. the cnn/orc poll asked, should the u.s. attack another country that has not attacked the u.s.? look at in a change. only saying yes, about 24% now. no, the answer from about 74% of americans. that could cause problems for candidates like mitt romney who said yesterday that iran needs to understand that the u.s. does have military options, that america will take military action. he may be asked to explain that position tonight. another big issue on the table is getting troops out of iraq. obviously, the president announced all troops out by the end of the year. take a look at this next poll. it asks, should pres

oregon and speak with gregory mcdonald of gregor dot you asked gregory is now also running for chris lawrence of the latter gregor mcdonald welcome back to the kaiser report but thanks so much for having me max good to see you all right gregg or with the war our bank runs on political crazies in the many have missed that oil was back up over one hundred dollars how is all well and one hundred dollars a barrel when we are in the midst of a great global deflation in the near term i think that we may have just seen oil prices make their last iraq for the great reflection or period that started in two thousand and nine and clearly is probably finish you know you know in two thousand and eleven even though i think that won't prices will probably we can from here i do think that whatever level they go down to will probably be much higher than what we saw in the two thousand and nine financial crisis you know we've had no growth in crude oil supply for the sixty or now and really the way the world has has coped with that is fight taking more and more to me and out of the developed nations of europe

let's get a reality check of chris lawrence, digging into this part of the story.ou finding out? >> wolf, look. these cuts would hurt. it would sting no doubt about it. but pentagon officials were saying it would completely hollow out the military. not everybody is buying it and the threat may have done more harm than good. if pentagon officials are right, cutting $600 billion the next ten years will cripple the military. >> it is paper tiger. army of barracks, building and bombs without another soldiers to accomplish the mission. >> pa netta says the cuts would terminate the next generation fighter jets. come. submarine fleet and leave america with the smallest ground force since world war ii. >> i don't think it's deems day. >> political posturing makes it seem every military program will be slashed equally. >> that isn't the way it has to be implemented though. they said propose a budget that fits within the budget cap. and then they get to choose how cuts are allocated. >> which still means tough choices but canceling some weapons programs, and reducing peace t

. >> chris lawrence at the poent gone, thank you. >>> and finally here on reporter roulette, chad myers with talk of rain. it's been a nasty day in atlanta. and possible snow in the southeast? >> yes. tonight. the good news is everyone has some leftovers. you don't have to go to the store. you don't have to go get bread or milk. >> speak for yourself, friend. i ate all of mine. >> it's only a three-hour event. you can live three hours without new bread. western tennessee, northern misses miss and northern alabama, big snow. could be four to five inches. >> wow! >> but it will be 36 degrees, brooke, so it may be sticking to the grass but it certainly won't stick to the roadways. if it snows hard enough, especially as snow comes this way, west of nashville through memphis all of northern mississippi and alabama, not quite to atlanta because we're in this dry area here called the dry slot of the storm, you may see enough snow coming down heavy enough that a bridge or overpass may get slick. but that's it. the roads are going to be fine. the roads have been 40, 50, 60 degrees over the past

. >> i'm chris lawrence at pentagon.he navy celebrates the 50th anniversary of the uss enterprise in norfolk, virginia. facing half a trillion in potential cuts. on one hand they have to work up ways to where those cuts could be made. while at the same time, lobbying congress to keep the budget in attack. >> paul steinhauser. tuesdayarks five weeks until the first votes in the iowa caucuses, the first test. with the clock ticking, most of the republican presidential candidates spend this week campaigning in iowa, as well as new hampshire, south carolina and florida. the first four states to vote in the race for the gop nomination. >> i'm poppy harlow in new york wall street gets back too work on monday. we'll get rereadings on housing, manufacturing and then it turns to the all-important november jobs report on friday morning. this year the u.s. economy has been averaging about 125,000 job gains a month. that is not nearly enough to significantly bring down the unemployment rate, which still stand at a stubbornly high 9%

let's get a reality check about chris lawrence. chris. >> for the most part the candidates were on the mark. we did a little bit of digging and found some areas where the facts just didn't add up. >> newt gingrich suggested the u.s. could sanction iran's central bank even if they caused iran to cut off oil exports, sending gas prices skyrocketing in places like europe. >> we ought to have a massive, all sources energy program in the united states. designed to once again create a surplus of energy here so we can say to the europeans cheerfully all of the various sources of oil in the united states we could literally replace the iranian oil. >> iran produces billions of barrels a day. sanctions would take effect immediately. but any sizeable jump in american production would be years away. even though the u.s. does not import iranian oil, the world supply is one big pool where everyone feels the shortages. >> when you talk about attacking iran, it is a very mountainous region. >> herman cain said he could support an attack on iran's n

chris lawrence has the details. what is next for the defense department?e skrak belg to protect their own projects and intense lobbying as well. the chair of the armed services committee introduced legislation that will block these defense cuts. president obama says he will veto any such bill like that that comes across his desk. costs $150 billion more than what the pentagon projected ten years ago, even though it can fly faster than the speed of sound, the fighter jet cannot outrun its critics who kill the program outright. it's just one target and everything is on the table battle to cut the defense budget. >> they will have to cancel some programs, cut back on the number of items that they are buying. >> reporter: the pentagon may have to cut another $600 billion over the next ten years, starting in 2013. certain cuts can't be made that quickly. >> like closing bases, reducing personnel costs, the number of personnel, those are things that take time to implement. >> reporter: but the average soldier could see lower pay increases, even adjustments to co

chris lawrence is joining us.>> imagine a great wall of china just under ground. this georgetown professor and his students have come out with a new report that suggests that china could have as many as ten times the number of nuclear weapons we think they do right now. they got their hands on secret manuals usually only available to the chinese military and used unorthodox research methods like going to chinese bloggers to reach their conclusion. while the chinese were building these tunnels, a georgetown professor was digging into china. >> the students downloaded 200 hours of chinese video. >> dr. philip carver and his team of students have produced the largest report on china's tunnels. china admits they were dug by a secretive branch of its military. >> they had 3,000 miles of these tunnels. 3,000 miles. >> can you put that in any perspective? >> imagine a tunnel 30 feet by 20 feet high, running from nova scotia to tiajuana. >> he is a former pentagon strategist. based on the size of these tunnels, he says ch

let's go to chris lawrence. he is getting a closer look a b what both sides are saying. what do we know about what happens between the pakistani border over the weekend. >> considering that pakistan claims the airstrike was unprovoked attack and nato says american troops were fired on first, the real question comes down to who to you believe? it all went down around 2 in the morning. a little over a mile from the afghan border. the own tire incident only took two hours but may have destroyed months of hard work to prepare the u.s.-pakistan relationship. a nato says they were working with element of special operations forces in a combined mission on the afghan side of the border. . the officials say the team came from under fire from pakistan from what they believe to be an expected pal tan base. the troops requested air support. an initial indications are apache helicopters and a gunship fired on two pakistani border check points. officials say they fired from the afghan side and did not enter pakistani air spice. 24 pakistani soldiers were killed in the airstrike but de

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lawrence. "hardball" with chris matthews is up next. >>> star witness, let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews out in seattle. leading off tonight, a clear charge against herman cain. a woman has made a clear on-camera narration of what she alleges he did. and in this claim, the claim could be sexual assault. nothing in the past week has dented cain's voters. we have a new msnbc/"wall street journal" poll out that shows numbers how tight the race is right now for president. the key may be, who can take advantage of the growing anger at wall street and economic equality. >>> and guilty of involuntary manslaughter. that was the verdict this afternoon. dr. conrad murray was found guilty in the death of his patient, michael jackson. he was accused of administering a lethal dose of an anesthetic that killed the pop giant. >>> and imagine this -- you turn to the side on a plane and who's sitting next to you? mitt romney. we'll talk with the woman who shared a trip with mitt, in coach, by the way. >>> and let me finish tonight with the terrible position of the republican party righ

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lawrence. up next, "hardball" with chris matthews. >>> president cain? nah. citizen cain. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews down in washington. again, leading out of tonight, is cain still able? yes, this might be the end for herman cain. national review online broke the store that cain told a campaign conference call that he again denies unequivocally the claim by a woman that they carried on a long-term affair, but cain also said that he was re-assessing his campaign. when candidates say they're re-assessing, it usually translates to, i'm out. and that's our top story tonight. if cain does drop out, and it looks good he will, who stands to pick up his support? it could be the current gop poster boy, newt gingrich. but with so many republicans saying anyone but mitt, isn't newt the logical choice? so the obama campaign right now is focusing its energy and charges at mitt romney. it's a win-win strategy for them. help newt knock him out now or finish him off yourself in november. the dnc has put out a second anti-mitt video in two days. and wait u

lawrence. >>> eye on newt. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews down in washington. leading off tonight, neutron bomb. you've been hearing it here for a while here on "hardball," and now it's showing up on almost every poll. newt gingrich is serving in the polls. newt gingrich. to sit in lincoln's chair, and perhaps sleep in lincoln's bed. well, fact is, with cain fanning and perry paring, it's newt positioned to become the next anti-romney, and the gingrich that could steal christmas. will newt become the first republican to self-destruct, or the first one to put a real scare into mitt? he scares me. also, the spooky 1987 television interview with penn state's jerry sandusky talking about how much he loves children. we've got the ghastly video and the latest on this story. >>> and how about the law on reporting crimes against children? does it need to be strengthened? >>> plus, a new wrinkle in the herman cain alleged sexual predator story. sharon bialek's then-boyfriend backs her story that the two met cain in the late 1990s and that she told him that cain grabbed

lawrence. >>> the rain on cain's parade. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews. up in new york, leading off tonight, cain in pain. it's the political explosion of the day. the news first reported by politico that herman cain was accused of sexual harassment when he headed the national restaurant association, and that cash payments were reached with two women. in his defense, cain today said he was accused by one woman, but that the accusation was false. how will this story affect cain's dramatic lead in the polls? will it hurt him or will supporters chalk it up to a predictable attack by the political and media establishment? >>> and tomorrow's publication date for my big new book, "jack kennedy: elusive hero." a new intimate portrait. how did a rich man's son grow to the leader who got us through the cuban missile crisis? a look at the troublemaker in school, the young man who challenged his father on world war ii, who saved his crew members in the south pacific, and went on to inspire a country, even now. there's a lot president obama can learn from jack kenned

lawrence. i appreciate your throwing me the bone, but i continue consider it. you look around the country at the, just i won't name all of the names, but by way of example chris christie, and marco rubio, and brian sandoval, and john kasich and the great governor of wisconsin, governor walker, and many others, nikki haley from south carolina, and the bench strength of the republican party in the conservative movement is incredible and governor romney will have tremendous people to pick from and it will be a great pick and a great ticket, and it won't include me. i will help as best i can as a volunteer and do what i can to get it done. >> and so those names that you rattled off is proving it, it has to be tim pawlenty. nobody else in the polls. >> you are out of control. and tell rachel maddow that she has been afraid of me. she used to have me on the show, and she is ducking and bobbing and weaving. i always said, look, i don't agree with her, but i always thought that she was bold and courageous and even though i disagreed with her, she is ducking me. tell her to come out, and have it on. >> i think you said the magic words and you will be booked soon. tim pawlenty,

host: next call from lawrence, georgia. chris is a democrat. caller: i have two comments. a graduate high school in 1993 and i watched a lot of my withnds go to war in 19991 debts of storm. now iraq. -- desert storm. one of the thing they told me, they did understand why they got their why they were fighting. a lot of the people over there had the same issue. when they came home, a lot of the issues, as far as posttraumatic stress, a lot of that, they were not getting treatment from the va. we are getting to a point in humanity where we see, just because they live in a different land or across water, what ever they are telling us in a news, we are coming to a point where we have to look at each other as brothers and sisters. war is not the answer, no matter how much you talk about it, no matter how much you try to give reason to it. more is not accomplishing anything. it only puts us in a position where more of our children will have to sacrifice, and for what? that is the primary problem. the reason we go to war, and when the soldiers come home, it gets to a point where i

lawrence. >> you can have the last word on-line at the last word@msnbc.com and you can follow my tweets. >>> wait, wait, don't tell me! let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews up in new york. leading off tonight, let's go to the videotape. we have two pieces of tape tonight you just can't take your eyes off. the first is herman cain's bumbling answer on libya, which almost makes you forget that "oops" of rick perry's. if fear of foreign policy questions is a criterion for winning the republican presidential nomination, cain is a shoo-in. the other bit of must-see tv is bob costas' interview last night with penn state's jerry sandusky. to believe sandusky's denials is to believe that everyone else is wrong or lying and that he, jerry sandusky, is innocent of anything bad. well, you've got to see this interview, too. >>> plus, take me to the return window. democrats today began their effort to recall wisconsin governor scott walker. walker's one of three new republican governors in big swing states, john kasich in ohio, and rick scott in florida are the others, whose approval ratings are in the negative territory. both states, those states, could wel