joining me now, democratic new york state assemblyman, david weprin. ow did it come to this? is this anthony weiner's fault? is this barack obama's fault? who is now not popular in your district? is this the fault of your campaign not getting traction fast enough? what's happening here? >> well, first of all, the only poll that really counts is the poll tomorrow. on election day. and it's a special election. and, you know, all these polls don't really determine who's going to come out to vote and it is still a strong democratic district. we have tremendous get out the vote operation. we're going to have over a thousand people in the field. we have every labor union behind us sending people. so i wouldn't write the obituary of the seat yet. i'm confident we're going to pull out a democratic victory tomorrow. >> no one is writing the obituary. we're wondering why it's so stuff. staten island is the only place in new york city that elects republican members of congress and so we haven't seen this before. you're running against a guy who has never held publ

surely david weprin must have picked up some big-name, party endorsements. >> this is ed koch. remember me? i was once your mayor. [laughter] >> jon: you were, weren't you? i remember. why are you calling me? >> you know why i'm calling you? i want you to vote for bob turner for congress on tuesday. >> jon: holy [bleeped] ball. ed koch backed the republican candidate. did weprin get any endorsements? ♪ bob, ba, bob >> jon: that's bowser from sha-na-na. ask your parents to ask their parents. want to know how weak a candidate david weprin was? >> next tuesday morning i'm going to vote. there will probably be cameras around. i live in the district. what are you going to do? >> first of all, my mother lives in the district. i'll be happy to go with her to vote. >> jon: first of all, you don't live in the district you ran to represent, and two, you're happy to go with your mom to vote? sure. david, why are you walking so fast? we're going to vote, not put out a fire. by the way, you'll never believe who called me the other day, ed koch. he hates you. are you still running with that

the democratic candidate david weprin is trailing with 45% of the vote.ot gone republican since 1923. we'll bring you updates as we we'll bring you updates as we i go [ female announcer ] for frequent heartburn sufferers, it's a brand new day. a day when we can eat what we want, drink what we want, and sleep soundly through the night. prevacid®24hr prevents the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. take the prevacid®24hr challenge and see why 9 out of 10 users say they're satisfied. try a 28 count prevacid®24hr free. look in your sunday paper for offer details. >> greta: you've seen our top stories but here's the bet of the rest. terrifying rescue caught on camera, motorcycle driver in utah trapped under a burning car. the biker swerved to avoid crashing into the car but ended up skidding under the car his bike bursting into flames. witnesses called 911 but jumped in to help before rescuers arrived. they lifted the burning car and pull the biker to safety. he's expected to make a full recovery. the driver of the bmw had minor injuries. >

democrats picked state assemblyman david weprin to run for it. in the white shirt trying to dance under the campaign sign in this old video. the republican many the race, former tv executive bob turner has been selling himself as the antidote to president obama's policy on israel which played well in the heavy orthodox jewish district though mr. weprin a democrat is also a real hawk on israel. mr. turner has also criticized the democrat in the race saying he backed the right of an islamic community center to build in downtown manhattan. the so-called ground zero mosque. seeing the republican candidate ahead in the polls in this race has had national democrats spending half a million bucks in recent days trying to save the seat from becoming a casualty of anthony weiner's new dizmo. i made that word up. polls in new york closed an hour ago in new york. we're awaiting the first returning. joining us from queens, new york, andrew siff for wnbc. you're at republican bob turner's campaign. how do things seem there? how excited are people? >> people ar

the democratic candidate david weprin is trailing with 45% of the vote.ublican since 1923. we'll bring you updates as we i go them, here on the record. [ male announcer ] do you know how you will react when someone changes lanes without warning? or when you're distracted? when you're falling asleep at the wheel? do you know how you'll react? lexus can now precisely test the most unpredictable variable in a car -- the driver. when you pursue perftion, you don't just engineer the world's most advanced driving simulator. you engineer amazing. ♪ >> greta: you've seen our top stories but here's the bet of the rest. terrifying rescue caught on camera, motorcycle driver in utah trapped under a burning car. the biker swerved to avoid crashing into the car but ended up skidding under the car his bike bursting into flames. witnesses called 911 but jumped in to help before rescuers arrived. they lifted the burning car and pull the biker to safety. he's expected to make a full recovery. the driver of the bmw had minor injuries. >> check out this wild police chase in

i still think david weprin could win.his is going to come out to turnout and the democrats do have a better turnout machine, especially in queens. but this is an astonishingly competitive race in a district that should be very liberal, very blue. it's always been a little more conservative than even anthony weiner was. what you're seeing is a lot of voter resentment about president obama and david weprin has not run a terrific campaign. bob turner, the republican, has run a much better one. >> what about the economy? is that sort of the overarching jobs, unemployment, or is scandal still an issue? >> it's both. i mean anthony weiner's unfavorables are pretty bad. they're definitely a dragdown. i think you're seeing a perfect storm here. it's the economy. it's voter anger over health care. it's voter anger over a lot of things, and they're able to express it this way. you've also had weprin, again, i've known him for a very long time when he was in city council in new york, not a perfect candidate. has not exactly quite go

latest polls show that democrat david weprin is trailing six points behind bob turner. the big guns for last minute robocalls. >> hello, this is president bill clinton. i'm calling to ask you to support david weprin. >> this is donald trump and i'm not calling to fire you as we say on "the apprentice." i'm calling to fire you up. >> weiner's congressional seat expected to be eliminated actually by redistricting. whoever wins may only have the job for a little more than a year. it will be very telling who wins that race. look who is coming to dinner. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad getting the celebrity treatment again in new york. going to get it again next week dining with a group of students from columbia university. school officials say none of the invited students have any problem breaking bread with ahmadinejad who marked the 10th anniversary of the september 11th attacks saying the united states planned those attacks just so it could go to war. and those are the headlines. >> wonder if they'll go through the cafeteria line together. >> yeah. wasn't treated t

last night retired media executive and political newcomer, bob turner, narrowly defeated david weprin, according to the associated press. democrats outnumber republicans three to one in new york's ninth congressional district, which hasn't sent a republican to congress in nearly 90 years. turner replaces congressman anthony weiner, a seven-term democrat who resigned in the wake of a sexting scandal in june. in nevada, former republican state senator mark amodei coasted to a victory in a district that's never elected a democrat. >>> meanwhile, as lawmakers on capitol hill spar over how to pay for president obama's american jobs act, the president is on the road working hard to sell his plan to the american people. after stopping in ohio yesterday, today he takes his pitch to raleigh, north carolina. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: to sell his jobs >> reporter: the president is out there trying to pitch the $447 billion plan, new spending to create jobs. back here the super committee is looking for ways to save money. president obama pitches his jobs plan in raleigh, north

other thing is, the candidate, the democratic candidate david weprin might be one of the dumbest candidates if elected. he didn't know the -- after the debt ceiling debate he was asked the size of the national debt he thought it was four trillion, not 14 trillion. >> sean: hang on. this is charles schumer's old seat. you can't name the year when it was last red. >> i will say this, if there's an area that can turn red, that's blue -- >> sean: let me put it in other terms. the republican turner is up by six points in the last polls. results coming up. if you look at that poll number and obama's margin of victory we're talking about a 17 point swing in a year. >> look deeper in that poll. independents, the republican was up 30 points which was i thought incredible. a little background for why your viewers across the country should care about this tiny election in new york state. the strategy that the national republican congressional committee used. it was the scott brown strategy. flew under the radar for a long time. they didn't bring in big national figures to campaign for him. he campaign

this is something we saw that david weprin the democrat supported.tions about president obama's policies with regard to israel and some of the orthodox jewish community, again a lightning rod. anthony weiner's scandal, sex scandal, it was awful, i don't think it inspired confidence. as you pointed out, a lot of the independents right now are buying off of president obama. that's not the democrats. >> sean: i think your analysis is off represented by this race in nevada. mccain won by 88 votes. 26,000 vote jump in just a short period of time. look, this is a 20 point swing in new york compared to obama's margin in 2008 to now. yeah, there is a very strong jewish community in this district. they are very angry at how the president snubbed benjamin netanyahu in israel. you read comments in the paper it is about the economy people are upset they feel like he's failed in the economy. every poll shows that. >> i think what the independents right now, they are just not seeing the results they want. you know what, this was not the case -- this is where i dis

he defeated david weprin, with two decades of service.ts even sent in form er president clinton to campaign. in nevada, my home state, the democrat was trounced in a special election there and these twin losses are only the latest in a string of bad news for president obama. a new poll shows mr. obama getting the highest disapproval rating of his presidency. 55%. as for the jobs plan, it's looking unlikely it's going to get much traction if congress and if the upcoming election is all about jobs in the economy, the president's campaign could be doomed. the congressional budget office is out with a report saying the economy will grow slower than anticipated and that unemployment will stay close to 9% right through the end of 2012. so, here's the question. should president obama consider not running for re-election? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. would you vote for cable tv executives for public office? >> i've been working for cable tv, basic cable, for 21 years now and i got to tell

now, david weprin actually coming out and blaming not bush but president obama.e election turned into a referendum of the president and i was an unfortunate consequence. if this election happened when the president's poll results were better, i could have turned this around. >> here's the problem with his theory, he actually ran against the president. he would not even come out and say i am for the president's re-election. number one. and number two is anybody accountable for anything anymore? can anyone say, wow, i lost? first, he didn't want to admit defeat. after he was trailing by seven points, he's like well, we want a recount. really? you're not even close and number two, he's got to be embarrassed. you have democrats outnumbering republicans 3-1 and you lost by eight points! >> yeah, but the flip side of that, though, brian is nobody at the white house or debbie wasserman schultz who is the head of the dnc would say it was a referendum on obama so he's the only person who is actually igniting that from his own party. >> that's so important. >> thank you. >

last night retired media executive and political newcomer, bob turner, narrowly defeated david weprin, according to the associated press. democrats outnumber republicans three to one in new york's ninth congressional district, which hasn't sent a republican to congress in nearly 90 years. turner replaces congressman anthony weiner, a seven-term democrat who resigned in the wake of a sexting scandal in june. in nevada, former republican state senator mark amodei coasted to a victory in a district that's never elected a democrat. >>> meanwhile, as lawmakers on capitol hill spar over how to pay for president obama's american jobs act, the president is on the road working hard to sell his plan to the american people. tracie potts joins us more from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. while the president's out again today pushing new spending to create jobs, here on capitol hill, the deficit super committee is looking for ways to save money. president obama pitches his jobs plan in ralraleigh, north carol, today. >> what on on earth are we waiting for? >> reporter: republi

i'm proud to support david weprin for congress and i hope you will too.nks. >> i'm for bob turner. i hope he gets elected. >> reporter: donald trump and rudy giuliani making appearances for the republican bob turner. but this time, frustration with the economy trumped party line tradition here. and according to a bloomberg poll released today, across the country, more than half of americans doubt the president's jobs plan will work. and the news is even worse among independent voters he needs win re-election. the only other special election for congress went to the republicans, too, by a huge 22-point margin in reno, nevada. >> democrats would be whistling past the graveyard if they did not see this as a sign that they are facing significant risk. >> reporter: a coast to coast rebuke that has republican candidates like rick perry proclaiming early victory. >> last night's election results from new york and nevada sent signals that president obama will be a one-term president. >> reporter: or at least a signal that a second term depends on more jobs and an

david weprin. 54% to 46%. so now, the analysis starts.s it a referendum on president obama's economic policies or is it a referendum on his israeli policies or is it both? because in this district, it is 40% jewish. many people when they were polled on this, i believe it was 77% of them said they did not agree with president obama's policies on israel. >> well, here's mr. turner, the big winner last night on what the victory means. >> this is an historic race. we've been asked by the people of this district to send a message to washington and i hope they hear it loud and clear. >> loud and clear indeed. on the red state blog, they've got three reasons why mr. turner won. one is the economy. and obama, you know, it's going to be hard to spin that any other way. two, gretchen, as you mentioned, gigantic jewish vote in that neighborhood and third and unless you've lived in that neighborhood, you didn't realize this but theens of thousands of robocalls went out about mr. weprin's vote on same sex marriage here in new york state. apparently, t

jon: david weprin. veteran assemblyman and member of prominent family in new york.is blasting him as a member of the tea party. president obama's name is not on the ballot but those here tell me it might as well be. >> rightly or wrongly that is really how this will be interpreted and perceived. that is how many of the voters are looking at it. things are wrong in washington. they want to raise their voice against it. protest. >> it is a special election. traditionally low turnout. the polls are really not that significant because it doesn't determine who is going to vote, who will come out. we identified our voters early on. we have a lot of union households in the district. >> reporter: turner says he is not a tea party member but agrees with many of its principles. he has been endorsed by variety of public officials as former new york city mayor rudy giuliani and prominent democrats. among them, former new york city mayor ed koch. weprin has row bo calls from former president clinton and governor cuomo. there has been a lot of fingerpointing in this race because

. >> one of the things that hurt david weprin voted in favor of gay marriage as an assemblyman. he is an orthodox jew himself not like he's a member of hamas. >> they lost the democrat to the 70-year-old catholic ex cable tv exec. fred dicker did the president's position on israel is that what cost him or having a lame democratic? >> terrible candidate he was picked not because he was a strong candidate. he was picked because he was a weak candidate. they wanted to have a democratic congressman who wouldn't challenge the leadership next year when they apobolished the district. >> they wanted to throw the race? >> knot throw it. they wanted someone who wouldn't be a threat to other elected congressman next year when they abolished the district. >> one democratic district has to go. new york is losing two districts one a democrat one a republican. they wanted a candidate who when he abolished his seat wouldn't turn and and abolish it. they thought he was too weak to do that but strong enough to win. they had that when president obama's ratings took such a nose diver and they now a

the democrat in the race state assemblyman david weprin continues to distance himself from the president saying he would probably support obama's reelection. many prominent democrats in the stay are supporting republican businessman bob turner because of the white house's handling of israel. with 14 months to go, can the president win back support of his own party? here with analysis, former clinton adviser dick morris is back. sir, welcome. >> good to be here sean. >> sean: we got the 9th congressional district in new york 3-1 registered democrats. gore got 67% of the vote in 2000. obama carried it by 11 percentage points. turner the republican up in two polls by six points. dramatic 17 point swing. if he wins, what does this mean for obama? >> it is the equivalent of scott brown's victory in 2009. in early 2010 in massachusetts. that sent a message to the democrats that any republican can beat any democrat in any state. if a republican could win in massachusetts. this sends the same message for the house. but a more specific thing. it is going to cause house democrats to jump ship on o

polling out of the new york's ninth district shows republican bob turner with a lead over democrat david weprin district that should be reliably democratic. maybe this is the response to what they don't think of weiner. weprin has made a string of gaffes, but if almorepublicans they'll no doubt try to pin it on president obama. for dentists, the choice is clear. fact is, more dental professionals brush with an oral-b toothbrush than any other brush. trust the brush more dentists and hygienists use, oral-b. [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. >>> for generations, people will study the flight, the story of flight 93. they will learn

david weprin trying to win anthony weiner's seat. >> thank you, lawrence. >> the rachel maddow show is up right now. >> i take that as a friendly invasion. never to happen again. >> i enjoy it. i do it to ed every single night unfortunately without trying to. i can never complain about this ever. anyway, thank you, lawrence. thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour. the tiny little town of mendon, vermont, has a big problem right now, a problem most other towns across the country don't have and a problem mendon, itself, did not have until recently. this is the main highway that runs through mendon, vermont, called route 4. as you can see, it's a scenic little road lined by forests on both sides. that's what route 4 look like up until a couple weeks ago. here's what it looks like now. oh, instead of a nice, scenic road, it's now a thing that used to be a road but is now mostly just a river. when hurricane irene barrelled up the east coast a couple of weeks ago, it took most of that stretch of route 4 in vermont with it. the road vanished into the floodwaters and this,

bob turner beat david weprin by eight points. turner called his victory a message to washington. >> this message will resound for a full year. and will resound into 2012. this is a referendum and we're ready to say, mr. president, we're on the wrong track. >> the president's approval rating sits at just 43% in this district. more bad news for the white house. in nevada where republican mark amaday crownsed kate marshal by 22 points, 58-36, he won in all 17 counties. you can explain away both special elections on a localized basis, but the fact is, this is the july-august hangover that has stung the white house, presidential approval ratings nationally at low points for the president. yes, there were local reasons why new york 9, weprin made orthodox jews upset on his views over gay marriage, there's a lot of localized ways to explain this away, but if the president's job approval rating had been higher in this district, he might have been able to come in and help. the fact is he couldn't come in and help. the district will be dis

. >> the latest siena poll put report robert turner ahead of david weprin.les, is this purely a referendum on president obama or more at work here? >> clearly the president is a problem in the district, but there's not just one poll, there's two polls out that show turner up by six points and if you look inside the numbers for both polls they show the president is a problem. disapproval ratings are very high in the district but keep in mind that when you have a solid district like this, falling away from the party that usually holds it, it's often a perfect storm of factors. here i think that's the case. you have a candidate perceived as a little bit weak, maybe not up to standards. you've got some particulars in the district unique to that district, for example of all the new york city districts that have a special election, this is maybe one of the more socially conservative ones, much more middle class, so you have these other factors i think are complicating this. >> where is the district, for folks who are not familiar? >> it's in a queens and brooklyn-

congressional district in over 90 years, earlier this week he shocked the political world, beating david weprin in the heavily democrat 9th congressional district. and joining me from queens, new york congressman bob turner. good to have you with us. >> (applause) >> i want to again, just by-- do you like the sound of congressman, is that something you're getting used to now? >> i keep looking over my shoulder to see who they're talking to, but i'm getting used to it. there were a lot of people in the political establishment among republicans who didn't think you had a chance. some of the committees didn't even want to support you. do you kind of feel vindicated by the election results? they weren't really that close. >> i think i got a great deal of support from the state party, the national republican party, but mostly, it was democrats and independents coming across party lines, supporting the right ideas. >> how much i am tactful-- impact did the endorsement of former mayor koch have in your election? >> a 3-1 democratic to republican district, his endorsement gave it the right credibility

. >> ifill: turner defeated democrat david weprin by eight points in a brooklyn-queens area districtre no republican had won since the 1920s. weiner resigned in june after admitting he'd sent lewd photos of himself online. democrats got equally bad news in another special election in nevada, where republican mark amodei beat the democrat by 22 points. the chair of the national republican congressional committee, pete sessions, laid the election results at the white house door. saying in a statement: white house press secretary jay carney, traveling with the president to north carolina today, warned against reading too much into the republican victories. but the loss of the heavily democratic new york district came at a time when the president's own numbers are sinking. a bloomberg news poll released today found that only 9% of americans feel confident the economy won't slide back into recession. and nearly three-quarters of the respondents said the country is on the wrong course. the president has been hoping his new jobs plan will help turn around the economy, and put a brake on tha

republican bob turner beating david weprin. turner called his victory a message to washington. >> this message will resound for a full year. and will resound this to 2012. i've been told this is a referendum and we're ready to say, mr. president, we are on the wrong track. >> president obama's approval in new york's ninth district now just 48%. more bad news for the white house in nevada. republican mark stroupss kate marshall winning all 17 counties in the district. karen finney was the dnc spokesperson. michael steele also an msnbc political analyst, former head of the rnc. two of my favorite strategists join me in wednesday. thanks so much. appreciate you being here. ladies first. debbie wasserman schultz called the loss in new york an isolated issue smepd it's a special election of purely reflective of who showed up to the polls. there were other factors at play in the new york race. she said how much of the loss last night can be attributed to the president's plummeting popularity, karen? >> i think you have to look it at

polling out of the new york's ninth district shows republican bob turner with a lead over democrat david weprin district that should be reliably democratic. maybe this is the response to what they don't think of weiner. weprin has made a string of gaffes, but if republicans win, they'll no doubt try to pin it on president obama. whose approval in the district is down in the 30s. we'll be right back. >>> for generations, people will study the flight, the story of flight 93. they will learn that individual choices make a difference, that love and sacrifice can triumph over evil and hate. and that what happened above this pennsylvania field ranks among the most courageous acts in american history. >> we're back. that was former president george w. bush really being masterful and wonderful on saturday at an event dedicating a memorial for flight 93. though the site has opened, $10 million is still needed to finish the memorial where the plane crashed on a hillside in southwest pennsylvania. former president bill clinton announced he and speaker john boehner will help meet that goal. >> since i am n

is this a case of david weprin running a weak campaign? >> it's all of the above.here's no question there's a referendum on the president. the poll you mentioned and a new poll that came out yesterday both show president obama under water with a net negative in this heavily democratic district. it's turned into a referendum on the president in a place where the president should be the strongest. >> fred, democrats have linked pop turner to the tea party -- bob turner to the tea party. explain the type of politician he is. is he far right conservative? where does he fall? >> he's conservative but not a politician. he's pro-life, again same-sex marriage, but these social issues don't seem to matter in this election. this election is not about bob turner or weprin, it's about barack obama. because of that he's poised for a victory, but it could be a smashing victory. >> again, when you talk about this, this is a district that has been democratic for 90 years. >> this is chuck schumer's district. if democrats are going to win the presidency, if they're going to hold th

bob turner, who has never held political officer, beat david weprin by ate points, 54% to 46%.ining us. what do you attribute the loss to? >> a lot of things. the orthodox jewish vote. a lot of people don't think obama is good on israel. turner got a lot of support from the outside. on capitol hill, a lot of democrats are putting a lot of stock into what ed koch said. turnout is not good in special elections ever. so they were behind the eight ball in that sense. and determines are doing what both partieses do after losing a special election which is blaming the candidate and saying he was not a great candidate, the campaign wasn't run well. but it's definitely some sort of indication and i think democrats on capitol hill are saying that of the mood as you said of obama's popularity. steny hoyer said elections do reflect leaders. so will is blame all around. it doesn't drastically shift dynamics on capitol hill, a couple more republican votes, but it's a nasty narrative for democrats especially now. >> exactly right, jake. thanks so much for your insights. >>> and up next, elij

david weprin is locked in a tight race with bob turner.ican has ever held that seat. meanwhile in nevada another seat up for grabs in congress. mark amodei and kate marshall vying for the open seat in the second congressional district. the republicans are favored in both races right now. >>> authorities may be closing in on one of the world's most wanted tax cheats. computerland wounder pill yam miller and his wife have been on the run for more than 20 years now. michelle sedona is an investigative crime reporter. she joins me now live. this is one of those stories that had our entire newsroom just scratching our heads. first of all, how has this guy managed to stay on the run so long? >> you know, i guess it sort of is like we were just talking with one of the producers off air, it's sort of like whitey bulger, just kind of out in the middle of santa monica and hanging out with a lot of money. and this sort of seems to be the case in this particular point. just a lot of money, kind of scurrying around from place to place, from country to

to beat democrat kate marshall and the nail biter would be in queens, new york, where democrat david weprin could lose to republican bob turner. polls close at 9:00 p.m. eastern in new york. 10:00 in nevada. democrats seem to already be preparing for what is going to be potentially an ugly night of results. let's turn back to the debate. did frontrunner rick perry hold his own or did the rest of the field put some cracks in his ar snowshower with me now -- armor? with me, gentlemen, let's start with the top of the card if you will. romney v perry on social security. here's their back and forth. ron, i'll have you talk on the other side. >> the question is, do you still believe that social security should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago when your book came out and return to the states or do you want to retreat from that. >> i think we ought to have a conversation -- >> we're having that right now. we're running for president. >> i'll finish this conversation. >> rather than trying to scare seniors like you're doing and other people, it's time to have a legitimate conv

would truly be a slam dunk but polls show the republican robert turner is leading the democrat david weprinve held for 90 years. the big question is what is to blame? the fallout from the anthony weiner scandal or pessimism over president obama's policies? msnbc contributor melissa harris is a professor at tulane and columnist for "the nation." how dismal do things look for president obama if the democrats were to lose this seat that has been democratic for 90 years? >> i think this is deep breath time because we have to clarify the difference between reality and perception both of which are incredibly important in politics. on the reality side it makes very little difference. the ninth congressional district in new york is likely to be phased out of existence all together. this is part of why there was so much anxiety about weiner's self-implosion. he was a person who should have gone on to higher levels of politics in part because his district was going to be phased out. if you look at the individual realities of this race it was very much like the massachusetts senate race in that you ha