with us today, the huffington post howard fineman. cnn's gloria borger and nbc's kelly o'donnell and " the chicago tribune's" clarence page. first up, president obama returns to washington and right back to reality. a new poll matching him against an unnamed republican candidate in six states he carried has him down an average of 18 points from his 2008 number. so now more than ever republicans see the 2012 nomination as a prize well worth fighting for. and right now, this fall is when they're making the big choice to go or not go. there are two paths to the nomination. first some will run as the best unobama as his opposite. opposite in gut appeal. republicans might choose sarah palin who would be red hot compared to today's cool obama. or who's a more seasoned manager? like mitt romney, governor haley barbour or governor mitch daniels? then because obama's clearly vulnerable on big spending, g.o.p. deficit hawks like newt gingrich, tim pawlenty and john thune. but there's another path to the nomination. this way of thinking goes, do

with us today, the huffington post howard fineman. cnn's gloria borger and nbc's kelly o'donnell and " the chicago tribune's" clarence page. first up, president obama returns to washington and right back to reality. a new poll matching him against an unnamed republican candidate in six states he carried has him down an average of 18 points from his 2008 number. so now more than ever republicans see the 2012 nomination as a prize well worth fighting for. and right now this fall is when they're making the big choice to go or not go. there are two paths to the nomination. first some will run as the best unobama as his opposite. opposite in gut appeal. republicans might choose sarah palin who would be red hot compared to today's cool obama. or who's a more seasoned manager? like mitt romney governor haley barbour or governor mitch daniels? then because obama's clearly vulnerable on big spending, g.o.p. deficit hawks like newt gingrich tim pawlenty and john thune. but there's another path to the nomination. this way of thinking goes, don't

the madness of the deficit reduction committee with congressman anthony weiner and howard fineman. >>> the hallucinations of the house energy committee. is this your new chairman, mr. bp. >> i apologize amounts to a shake don. so i apologize. >> or is this your new chairman, mr. bible authority. >> never again will i curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood and never again will i destroy all living creatures, as i have done. >> do we need a missile defense system against god in case he changes his mind, congressman? >>> gop secure firing squad, senator collins attacks palin. senator-elect paul attacks earmarks. senator mcconnell defends them. congressman elects wes new chief of staff. the radio radical who wants to hang illegal immigrants. she might be a bit of a problem, says the house committee on conduct. >>> so, uh, should news people donate to political campaigns? we'll ask greg mitchell and howard kurtz. i will donate equally to their campaigns. >>> and look who stole puppet theater. >> there is the puppet master here. th

to see if the senate has the cajones to do anything. >> "huffington post" senior editor howard fineman. thank you, howard. >> thank you. >>> richard wolf's new book revival describing competing groups inside the obama administration, idealists revivalists over survivalists. some lyrics and a couple of numbers and you've got "west side story." richard wolf next on "countdown." you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world. i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae are amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels that we use in our vehi

the article written by howard fineman and sam stein said obama's top adviser david axelrod suggested the administration is ready to accept a temporary continuation of the bush tax rates for everyone, including the rich. we have to deal with the world as we find it, axelrod said during an unusually candid and reflective 90-minute interview in his office. the world of what it takes to get this done. there are concerns, he added, that congress will continue to kick the can down the road in the future bypassing temporary extensions for the wealthy time and time again, but i don't want to trade away security for the middle class in order to make that point. joining me now, the co-author of that report, the huffington post's howard fineman, and from fire dog lake, a conscientious objector to many obama policies, jane hampshire. david axelrod sent an e-mail to "the washington post" this morning to your article and he said, there's not one bit of news here. i simply restated what potus and robert have been saying are two strong principles are that we need to extend the tax cuts for the middl

mark pence, howard fineman. we talk a lot about optics. about what seems to be the way people convey. they're tired of listen to the president's words, but how he acts to the voters last tuesday is important to the voters. they don't like the fact he left town. your thoughts, mark. >> i think it's perfectly typical after a midterms, for the president to focus on international travel and agenda because he's had to push that off while he worked on the m midter midterms. i think it's a good thing to take the trip. the real question, how is he really going to answer what the voters said on election day? he hasn't given them a clear answer yet. it took bill clinton months to form late that answer. maybe today with the tax cut discussion, maybe we're going to see a real answer. >> there was a great comment by one of those republicans that were in office after the civil war, isn't there something we should look like we're doing? aren't there things that presidents should appear to be doing? shaking up the cabinet, the white house, doing things th

helene cooper from the "new york howard fineman. senate should the w because every time house has flipped since world well. the senate has as to make it happen republicans need to pick up 10 seats from the democrats in the senate. we see four likely g.o.p. indiana, arkansas, north dakota and wisconsin. all four are widely expected to go republican this time with democrats losing those four seats. mitch mcconnell's already counting four out of the 10 for a majority. he holding -- he is holding them. your calling that race. >> i think tumey's going to win that race. for a long time pennsylvania's is a blue state. always been fool's gold for republican to suggest that game. polls suggest that he's going to win but this is part of that big wave. >> the democrats are going to try to win, michele obama is going to rally women voters and young voters. >> i think it still goes republican. out on a ng depo go limb and say it's possible for siesta. trying to come to the center. he's pretty far to the right. you have to realize that most penns

even the house democrats aren't going to do it gwen either. >> "huffington post" senior editor howard fineman. as always, big thanks, howard. >> thank you. >>> richard wolf's new book "revival" describing competing groups inside the obama administration, idealists revivalists over survivalists. versus clinton leftover survivalists. some lyrics and a couple of numbers and you've got "west side story." richard wolf next on "countdown." ll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. to stay fit, you might also want to try lifting one of these. a unique sea salt added to over 40 campbell's condensed soups. helps us reduce sodium, but not flavor. so do a few lifts. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ you know, if we had let fedex office print our presentation, they could have shipped it too. saved ourselves the hassle. i'm not too sure about this. look at this. [ security agent ] right. you never kick off with sales figures. kicking off with sales figures! i'm yawning. i'm yawning some more. aaaaaaaand... [ snores ] i see your point. yeah. [ snores ] [ male announcer ] w

and howard fineman is an msnbc political analyst. we talk a lot about optics whether seems to be the way that people convey. they're tired of listening to the president's words, words, words but how he reacts and responds to the voters last tuesday is important i think to the voters. my surmise they don't like the fact he left town. your thoughts, mark? >> well, i think it's -- it's perfectly typical. after a midterms for a president to focus on some international travel and agenda because he's obviously had to push that off while he worked on the midterms so i think a good thing to take the trip. i think that he needs some time to think about it is how is he really going to answer what the voters said on election day? he hasn't really given them a clear answer yet. it took bill dlont really formulate that answer. don't expect things overnight. maybe today with the tax cut discussion, maybe we've begun to see a real answer. >> howard, we'll get do that in a minute but a great comment by one of those republicans that were in office af

. >> howard fineman is senior political editor of the "huffington post" and msnbc analyst is it chumphange? >> it is in arithmetic terms. the senator's right, there are democrats and republicans, argue that these earmarks are kind of like the appetizers that whet the appetite for all the fiscal gluttony that's been going on here and it's also a way in which campaign donations can be focused to get specific projects. and of course, everybody who wants their project is going to look to give a donation to a member of congress, which is legal, rather than twist the { arms in the government, which they aren't allowed to do. in theory, it makes sense. >> but won't it give elected officials the opportunity to go home in two or four years and thump their chests and say, see, this is what i did for deficit or debt reduction, it's like flexing the beer muscles. >> if this is all they do, it's laughable. if this is just the prelude and the sort of moral scene setter, if you will, to something real, then it's valuable. there's no doubt that right now, the republicans are doing it because their ru

howard fineman quoted scarborou scarborough's carefully quoted denial.arborough describing the call with fineman. >> no. it's not going to -- i told him no! and we keep going and talking, no, no, no, like the song, right? >> why'd you keep talking? why? why do you have to talk on the record? >> it's a professional courtesy. mike bloomberg and i have not talked about this directly or indirectly or super super secret indirectly. >> so if they haven't even talked about it, even super secretly, it doesn't sound like much of a story, but it got a screaming headline at the top of "the huffington post." maybe it was a slow news day. here's what i call chutzpah. sam zell, the chicago mogul who bought the tribune company and drove it into bankruptcy, popped up on cnbc this week about the merger of "newsweek" and the daily beast, where i work. >> you know, like two ants mating under an ant pile. it's not exactly major media. i don't think anyone has talked about "newsweek" being a force for at least 10 or 15 years. i'm not really terribly familiar with the daily b

join me and howard fineman, kelly o'donnell, clarence pai and gloria borger for a great roundtable discussionr a look at what's coming up on "meet the press" here is david gregory. david? >>> thanks, chris. good morning, kimberly and aaron. coming up, the politics of the economy at home and abroad. the president returns to the u.s. this morning after facing international resistance at the economic summit in asia and a home the debate over tax cuts and controversial cuts in spending proposed by the president's commission. aftethe election will the white house and republicanbe capable of finding common ground? david axelrod and the view from the republics with senator john mccain. plus, we'll have a special economic discussion this morning with alan greenspan, newt gingrich, mclean who has written a book about the financial collapse and former congressman harold ford. it's all coming up this morning on "meet the press." >> thank you, david. what was meant to be an apology to formerresident george w. bush has turned into more drama for kanye west. >> the comedians seem to think the two might act

if he were to do something like that, it wouldn't be howard fineman -- >> but that's besides the point sorry. >> you're somebody that has your hand on the pulse of the people. as i said, you're positioning as somebody who is a fiscal conservative, you know, moderate on a lot of other issues. you're not the status quo, but you relate to a lot of people. bloomberg, i think, has been a brilliant leader. this is what we need, great business minds. why aren't you? >> oh, please. the article is not correct. >> i can see this playing out. >> do you believe this? >> if this ever occurred -- >> it's not going to! >> mike bloomberg would say i do at noon. at 3:00 p.m. that same afternoon, he would turn to joe and say, i did what?! >> i would just say, this isn't working out. this isn't going to work out. you know, i would say, it's not you, it's me. seriously, it's not you. but, no, no, think about it, donny, that's like you saying, this is just preposterous, but that's like me asking you, would you go into a new business where somebody else was going to call all the shots and you were going to

but very important point is that this guy, howard fineman, he's been around a long time.tax cuts will be extended. something doesn't smell right here. >> steve: what will happen on your show coming up shortly? >> we're going to look at some of the interview with mr. bill o'reilly and former president bush tonight and a whole lot more. we follow everything. by the way, starting monday, we'll be on at 9 p.m. >> excellent. >> brian: cool. thank you very much. it was great to see you. have a great weekend. coming up, two very important stories about christmas shipping. yes, shipping. a deadline today for getting gifts in the mail and one retailer doing all shipping for free. you have to hear who that is. >> steve: then you never know what she's going to say. the lovely, unpredictable cloris leachman dancing into our studio. come on in. you're next on "fox & friends." >>> quick headlines for you. today is the deadline for using the cheapest option to mail packages to military members serving overseas. if you want them to arrive by christmas, that's the cheapest way, you got to