i'm back now with rudy giuliani. rudy, we'll come to that in a moment about his position on iraq, but let's talk about president obama generally because he's clearly got his dander up now. he's into election mode. he's a very good electioneer, we know that, he's a good debater, a good talker. i've noticed a real upping of the ante in the obama camp. what are you seeing? >> i think that's absolutely right. i mean, first of all, they're facing a real difficulty. his approval rating is down to 41%. i mean, any time you're below 50, it's always a big question. that's when you take on a senator a congressman a president. he's down to 41. it drops much lower than that, it's going to really be almost disaster time for him. so i believe the white house, although they're not going to say this, is feeling -- i'm not going to call it panic, but they're feeling a certain kind of anxiety about this because their numbers don't look very good for him. so what do they have good for them? they have the presidency. they have a preside

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they are driven to find a winner. >> does rudy jude giuliani coming out, is this really just giuliani's resentment against mitt romney. >> you pit your finger on what i think is the key dynamic right now. there is an open question as to whether the establishment can stop him the way they stopped buchanan and mccain in previous cycles. this is dangerous for the romney people. if the establishment says, he is a perfectly fine nominee. dick cheney's comments undermine that as well. >> all right, what a year. thank you very much. three weeks out, ann selzer will see new iowa and of course, as well. >>> jerry sandusky waived his right to hearing, hospitaling no t.o. go right to trial. he, of course, pleaded not guilty. sandusky and his wife returned home. you are looking live right now of his home. his attorney went back it the courthouse to talk about their strategy in the wake of this morning's dramatic developments. >> we're toward defend. we have always been ready to defend. today's waiver has nothing to do with conceding anything. there is no plea negotiations. will be no plea negotiati

i was stunned today when i heard rudy giuliani say this about newt gingrich. here's what giuliani thinks gingrich's appeal is all about. >> gingrich might be the better candidate. he might be able to make a connection with what we call the reagan democrats. you know, the democrats who moved over in '80 and '84 away from carter, away from mondale, because they found them to be too liberal and voted for a republican even though they're democrats. >> reagan democrats. i'm tired of hearing about reagan democrats in 2011, rolling into 2012. may i state that i would think most of the people who voted for ronald reagan, i don't know this for sure because nobody's done the story, i'll throw it out there. not most, but a good number of people that voted for ronald reagan are freaking dead. let's talk about the people who are still alive. maybe they'll really help out the newtster, right? the 20 somethings are now 50 somethings. where are they? how has the reagan democratic era worked out for them? where were the reagan democrats? let's take a look at my favorite chart

let's play rudy giuliani, please. >> who makes the closer connection to the reagan democrats?t romney? he has an aura of elitism for better or worse, or newt who comes from them to a large extent. >> basically giuliani said newt is a man of the people. he is the guy here and not mitt romney. in fact during the "morning joe" appearance, he doesn't like mitt romney. >> my disagreement with mayor giuliani is to identify who holds the cards in this election. i don't think it's the reagan democrats, but moderates and independents. mitt romney has more appeal to those individuals. whether you talk about my neck of the woods in the suburbs and the i-4 corridor between tampa and orlando, those are the individuals you have to think about who sells best to them. i always said it's probably huntsman and if he can't get out of the gate, it will be romney. >> at least going back to iowa, i want to bring this up. andrew sullivan saying this guy is being ignored too much and the list goes on and on. ron paul is showing up and showing strong and he could win in iowa here. what's your take? >>

>> mayor giuliani has interesting points. as someone that ran for president in 2008, he does have some perspective. however, at the end of the day, when you look at the tendency of overall republican voters, they want president obama defeated no matter who the republican nominee is going to be. if in fact mitt romney is going to be the nominee which i think he's very much in the driver's seat over this, the republican establishment will get behind mitt romney just because he is the anti-obama, regardless of whether or not he's a, quote, unquote, moderate or not, especially if mitt romney picks a tea partier as his running mate. >> is this a tricky argument, that the two candidates don't want to get in a tit for tat? >> it's not a good argument for either one of them to make. but if you pick the plutocrat out of the two, it's not a slam dunk that mitt romney is the stronger general election candidate. romney's been slow and steady in the primary race. he's basically stayed right at 20% to 25%. if he's slow and steady in the ge

let's go to rudy giuliani here. he's apparently joined right now, based upon his comment, he's joined the gingrich express here. he says he tried to be the republican nominee. of course, that was giuliani. he says gingrich has broader appeal than mitt romney does. let's listen to rudy. >> my gut tells me, right now, as i look at it, that beginning -- that gingrich might be the strong are candidate because i think he can make a broader connection than mitt romney, as i said, to those reagan democrats. he won't have this barrier of possible elitism that i think obama could exploit, pretty effectively. >> there you have it. who's the weaker of the two? the nasty boy newt gingrich, or the too fine, the preppie mr. mitt romney? he's saying that the nasty boy connects with the reagan democrat, the tough guy working on the factory line somewhere. >> well, that forgets the fact that newt gingrich has absolutely no discipline. he's intemperate. and he is going -- >> this past week he does. >> but that's just a week. we have

if you can win we have president rudy giuliani or president hillary clinton. they were told you can't win. nobody endorsed them in the primaries. voters didn't ask who can win they asked who can lead. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. >> your lovely daughter in town survived to see i thought you would be on the verge there. why haven't you endorsed romney yet? are you going the other way? >> i have not endorsed anybody yet. i like a lot of them. i like newt gingrich i like ron paul. like mitt romney. i enjoyed meeting herman cain. who is the best leader of our party? who can fight the obama administration? we need to figure out who is person is. i am waiting to see who the best person is. >> the person who is most electable or the person who idea logically speaking suits you the most? >> i look at ideology rather than elect ability. it's really a myth. if you look at my race for example i was the least electable in the primary the least electable when it came head to head in my opponent in the general election. i was out spent 5 to 1 in each one of tho

he was a gop presidential candidate in 2008, former i mayor of the great city of new york, rudy giuliani. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> did you see this, mitt romney said to the jewish collation he would consider nominating key cabinet positions and your name was represented as potential attorney general. >> well, that's very kind. >> i have a better position for you, though. >> you do? >> i would like to see you secretary of defense. [laughter] >> why are you laughing? >> the best thing to do is making sure we elect one of these republicans presidents and we don't hurt each other too much before we get to the big show. >> yeah. >> i mean, the networks are doing enough. i've never seen anything like this. i've told you that before the show. i think it's disgraceful and actually has implications for our country. democratic candidates don't get vetted as the republicans do. if we are going to do to us, as they did to rick perry, michele bachmann, as soon as you become number one they come after you. five minutes, find every piece of dirt, and what they did to herman cain, and now

rudy giuliani is now giving speeches for money and fred thompson is doing commercials for mortgages onelevision. i don't know what's going do happen in the next month or so. it's important for all of us, journalists, especially, not a vote has been cast so far and very often these polls are a snapshot of a given time. now when people have to go into that booth and determine who they want as their candidate and envision who they want in the oval office, the dna changes as people make decisions. >> it's interesting that you look at the poll numbers for somebody like jon huntsman, for example, which remain very, very low. if you talk to most intelligent people in washington or in the media, they are all surprised by this. is it unfeasible that someone like him could actually come from a very low base and still win the nomination? >> well, i think he has some hopes that he can do that. he is a man with a very impressive resume. he was a strong and successful governor of a conservative state, utah. he has a strong conservative record but in the republican primaries, he seems not to fit the

she represents herself in the way rudy giuliani's wife had a problem with him. >> you just present itve to say this is us, you can't say, and then my wife or whatever. >> he certainly does it. every sentence belongs with callista and i -- i want to play a little sound from earlier debates when the subject of infidelity came up and rick perry and ron paul's response. >> i've always been of the opinion that if you cheat on your wife, you'll cheat on your business partner. >> what about our oath of office? that gets to me, where you're really on the line as a public figure. that's where people come up real shoert. >> do you think the american public is making the leap, that someone's fidelity to their spouse, you can draw a direct line to the oath of office or that are we even paying attention to that? >> i think it's a bigger problem for gingrich. at the beginning of the civil war, general sherm an was skeptical about the leadership and met him a couple weeks before his assassination and asked to reflect on lincoln after he had be murdered. he said of all of men i've ever met, he posses

. >> i voted republican for giuliani, governor petacki. in my life, when a candidate is good, i don't care what they are. >> it's just called leadership. >> that's what i think tharg ret thatc thatcher was like. she turned out to be right about so many things. i would see her and detest her, and it was like medicine for bad school kids. and so much of what's going on in europe with the euro, i mean, if you read her speeches, it's uncannily scary how she predicted this cries. you'll laugh, you'll cry, rir lynn is kreet and the. >> i thought i had the best job. i think you have the best job. >> i think i do. >> thank you for coming here, have great holidays, and thank you for bringing up the plercast every time. >>> window shopping an interactive affair. the designers behind the retail industry's most ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] they've been tested, built and driven like no other. >>> they've been tested, built and driven like no other. and now they're being offered like no other. come to the winter event and get an exceptional offer on the merce

. >>> former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, why he argues that gingrich is a stronger candidate than romney. >>> also, white house director of domestic policy melody barnes, bill bennett, and mark penn will be here. >>> up next, an exclusive look at the political playbook. but first, bill karins, not so exclusive with a check -- >> come on, he's exclusive at this moment. >> would i rather be the other way? >> if you worked for a certain other network -- >> i'm bill, here's the weather. go, bill. >> thank you. >>> good morning, everyone. another incredibly warm start to a december morning in almost half the country. the only area below freezing out in the rockies. it's as warm as 53 at this hour in chicago, 49 in new york city, that's warmer than we should be for our highs during the middle of the afternoon. so there's no snow really to be found. you have to go all the way up to maine for a little bit this morning. the ski resorts are struggling up in northern new england. also some light rain there in texas. but really no travel trouble. just some light rain moving into the big citie

rudy giuliani is now giving speeches more money and fred thompson is doing reverse mortgages on television. fates can change very swiftly. you have to keep that in mind. i don't know what's going to happen for the next month or so. it's important for all of us to remember not a vote has been cast so far. and very often these polls that we talk about at nbc and "wall street journal" just had a new one out this week and it was pretty dramatic. these are snapshots of a given time. now as we move closer when people have to go into that booth, ready to determine who they want as their candidate, who they can envision in the oval office, the dna changes when people make decisions. >> i mean it's interesting that you look at the poll numbers for somebody like john huntsman, for example, which remains very, very low. if you talk to most intelligent people in washington or in the media, they're all surprised by this. and is it unfeasible that someone like him could actually come from a very low base and still win the nomination? >> i think he has some hopes he can do that. he is a man with a very i

remember rudie giuliani, the hawk? what happened to that party? we're going to ask the governor. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] you never know when a moment might turn into something more. and when it does men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ [ man ] tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. [ male announcer ] ask your doc

but it helps the dialogue a little bit. >> you said that would he consider someone like rudy giulianient than i think speaker beginning actually said this is the person i would ask. he was much more specific. i'm sort of curious, is that a job -- is there any reason why you wouldn't accept that job? >> well, again, i think it's presumptuous to be measuring the drapes in any of the offices when you are asked to serve in a position like that. it is a high honor, and i have been very privileged to have some senior positions in the justice department and the state department. so obviously that crosses your mind. but again, i think you have got to keep your eyes on the prize here, all of us do. and the prize is the 2012 election because of the threats that the united states faces. that's something i have been talking about for quite some time. i don't think we've had an adequate debate under president obama about the national security threats we face. so those are the issues i think we need to concentrate on. the personnel decisions are quite important, obviously, but i think they are seco

. >> vin weber, mitt romney was attacked by rudy giuliani.winston and other gingrich supporters who were very struck by that face-off on "morning joe" between rudy giuliani and bill bennett. >> i would say to dave winston, newt is lucky to have you because he is one of the best. but i think you made a mistake. >> why is he wrong? gingrich is ahead in the polls, running circles around mitt romney. >> i'm not so sure on that. i watched the polls the last week so, particularly in iowa. my sense is that newt is beginning to fade. particularly in the early states, particularly in iowa. i don't think he'll be the nominee. i think he had a surge and captured the interest of the country for a while as did bachmann before him and herman cain before him. at the end of the day mitt romney is the guy who built the 50-state campaign that could fight the nomination fight and campaign that could beat barack obama next year. >> fred, there's talk that the republican establishment is concerned about newt gingrich and seen him before be undisciplined. where is