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coming up, host of the last word, lawrence o'donnell.for "morning joe" minutes newsletter go to joe.msnbc.com. what's around the corner is one of life's great questions. and while it can never be fully answered, it helps to have a financial partner like northern trust. by gaining a keen understanding of your financial needs, we're able to tailor a plan using a full suite... of sophisticated investment strategies and solutions. so whatever's around the corner can be faced with confidence. ♪ northern trust. look ahead with us at northerntrust.com. everyone's eating tacos outside bill's office. [ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps. [ phone buzzes ] oh. [ chuckles ] yeah. hey. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it first with at&t. the nation's fastest mobile broadband network. period. rethink possible. that saves you hundreds of dollars a year. it's called the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. ♪ it's a breakthroug

in new york, host of msnbc's "the last word," having the first word this morning, lawrence o'donnell.r? bob's for jobs. what are you for? >> i'm for jobs, i think. >> really? >> i created 20 jobs right here. >> okay. >> you did. >> 20 -- more than us. wait a minute. >> he does have more than us. >> did you just say 20? what number -- >> i don't actually know all of the staff. so that's just a guess. there's a lot of people -- >> there might be more? what are you saying? >> he outed phil griffin. let's go to bob mcdonnell. bob, news out of your state yet, the health care law ruled unconstitutional. tell us about it. >> well, we were really happy with that decision. i had signed a bill back in march saying that it was illegal to force citizens of virginia to buy a product of insurance or get fined. and shortly after that, the bill passed and we filed suit. and the central contention of the lawsuit was that the commerce clause of the u.s. constitution is not so broad, that gives congress the ability to force a person to buy a product of insurance or suffer a penalty. meaning get fined. t

nuclear arms treaty. >> i reject. >>> i'm lawrence o'donnell. another big legislative victory for the president. this one bipartisan as the obama compromise on the bush tax rates moves one step closer to becoming law of the senate voted today to proceed to vote as early as tomorrow. enall, only 10 democrats and five republicans voted against allowing the bill to proceed. the house democratic leadership is still trying to secure a consensus before they vote on the bill despite house democrats sharp objections to some elements of the deal, all signs continue to point to easy passage in the house. >> i've been talking with several members of that body. i recognize that folks on both sides of the political spectrum are unhappy with certain parts of the package, and i understand those concerns. i share some of them. but that's the nature of compromise, sacrificing something that each of us cares about to move forward on what matters to all of us. right now that's growing the economy and creating jobs. and nearly every economist agrees that that is wh

now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >>> we interrupt this life or death battle over the tax compromise to bring you two stories of real bravery. the first, meghan mccain is here as she continues her push for the repeal of don't ask don't tell in spite of her father's relentless opposition because she thinks it's the right thing to do. and the other, a woman who demonstrated unquestionable bravery as an ordinary school board meeting was taken hostage by a man with a gun. real bravery. but first, what's that thing going on in washington? >> president obama's tax cut deal appears headed for the final approvapproval. >> i'm absolutely convinced this tax cut plan will help grow our economy. >> the tax bill that had democrats outrage predicting doomsday scenarios for the middle class. >> the more i look at this, the more it's a hoodwink. >> the same deal the republicans insisted would riouuin america extending unemployment benefits. easily sails through the senate. >> the yays are 81 the nays are 19. >> it was an overwhelming vote. >> the big question mark, what's goi

msnbc lawrence o'donnell, host of "last word" spent a week in the impositiverished nation of malawi.chers what they need most they'll all say the same thing, chairs. most students sit on the floor all day. they read and write sitting on the floor. they take tests sitting on the floor. they lean on each other, literally, to keep their bodies up and try to keep focuses on what the teacher is saying. when i went to malawi i hoped to provide some desks and chairs to malawi students. i didn't know how to do that until i arrived in the country and with the help of unicef i was able to furnish a classroom for all its 90 students. >> lawrence joins me now, good morning. >> thanks, chris. >> we think in this business we really know what's going on in the world and then you see something like that and i wonder what it was that really got you going on this. >> really just a friend of mine in boston who has created a charter school and one of the saints of public education in this country and she had visited malawi recently and told me about visiting schools there and how everyone in the schools

i'm lawrence o'donnell. as the white house's endgame on the tax cut compromise comes into focus, the president's critics on the left are running out of time and options to change the final bill. at the same time, tea party members are starting to put pressure on the republican leadership to back away from the compromise deal. is the deal done or can it still come apart? the senate or the house? and what's left of the liberal agenda in the lame duck session? joining me now are jane hampshire founder of firedoglake.com. adam green, co-founder of the progressive change committee. ezra klein, columnist for "the washington post" and karen finish ne, former commune kalgss director for the democratic national committee. let's all listen to what robert gibbs will to say today. >> the framework that the president introduced a little more than a week ago has, as you heard others say, has been changed to add the energy tax credits that were important to the president and a number of democrats. so i think the senate's g

from new york, i'm lawrence o'donne o'donnell. a new poll shows that president obama's job approval rating is tied at its lowest point, 45%, and more people believe the nation is on the wrong track than at any other point in his presidency. and yet, he still leads all prominent and generic republican candidates in theoretical matchups in 2012. 42 to 39 against an unnamed republican. 47 to 40 against mitt romney. 47 to 27 against john thune, and 53 to 33 against sarah palin. obama's ratings have held surprisingly steady over the past year and have been especially resilient with his core constituency of african-americans, democrats, latinos and younger voters across the board. people to like the president personally, but are less likely to view him as a strong leader who's uniting the country and changing business as usual. so has president obama done the best he could given the limited powers of the presidency, the deadlocked congress and the conservative nature of the american people? joining me now are richard wolffe, author of "

. >>> and now a special announcement by unicef and lawrence o'donnell.are joining to raise funds for school children in the african nation. k.i.n.d. stands for kids in neeneed of desks. why did you pick this project? you have so many opportunities around the world. >> it was a friend of mine just came back from malawi talking about visiting schools there. she told me they all needed desks and chairs badly. they're all on the floor. they can't' the teacher. it's painful after a while. teachers don't have chairs and desks. they're standing for seven hours a day. it sounded so elemental to me. can't i help them get desks and chairs? it turns out it'sç very diffict to do. i went to mau wee for a week. i luckily found a manufacturer, a guy in the capitol still that could make these desks that i managed to deliver. >> we have one here. >> we have one shipped back here. i have 30 of those made in 48 hours. outfitted one full classroom. now that's designed for two students, and unicef in their partnership with us wants to supply them to schools so only two stud

. >>> still ahead on "the last word" lawrence o'donnell talks with mike bennett about republicans usingling tactic. and newt gingrich versus the dallas strip club continues. it gets so much better. i'm looking to save in insurance. >>> george w. bush's second term. his second term in office was dominated by broad dissatisfaction with him as a president and who would lead the republican party in his wake. that process characterized by all of the major candidates running away from him like winnie the pooh sprinting from a swarm of bees. what was the big issue na made everybody hate george bush in the second term, even republicans? pick your poison. the foundational issue with george w. bush in his second term was iraq. from 2006 to 2009, 60% of the country said the iraq war was not worth fighting. when you talk with bush administration veterans now, and some of them do talk to me, although never on tv, the public's hatred of the war in iraq is what they describe as the overall limiting factor, the constraint that made it impossible for george bush to break through in his second term, to r

. >>> lawrence o'donnell talks with white house secretary robert gibbs about the tax cut deal.sing story about how president clinton and president obama ended up at the white house briefing podium together on friday. >>> first on this show, news of a literally hot, new vacation destination and interesting and surprising news, unexpected news out of the senate tonight. please stay with us. [ male announcer ] 100 potato chips a white hot travel destination. still worried about their little accident? don't be. even the emergency situations ministry says go for it. the chernobyl zone isn't as scary as the world thinks. we want to work with big tour operators and attract person troorist from whom there's great demand. why wouldn't there be? there's so much to do like swimming, hiking, fishing. you can feel the history in the air. it may just change you at a molecular level. come to chernobyl, you'll go home glowing. >> that may sound utterly ridiculous, the prospect of vacationing in a place where a nuclear reactor exploded in 1986 and hundreds of thousands of people had to be reloc

joining me now the host of msnbc's "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. you get the first word this hour. >> don't you miss chicago after looking at that weather report? >> no, i don't at all. >> don't you wish you were locked in your house not hay lowed to leave? >> let's start with what's happening with your thoughts on this tax cut deal. it looks like it will go through the senate. then you have members of the house, democrats and liberals saying they're going to fight it until the bloody end. >> a lot of that is the fake noise you hear when they're in the middle of a rhetorical reversal. for months they were saying there's no chance they would let that top tax bract continue at the bush level. now that's going to happen. many of them are rhetorically working their way around to that reversal where they will eventually give a speech saying i really hate this part of it. i hate that part of it. >> i hate the tax cut. >> it's a version of what the president is saying. but we're going to do this bill because of everything with unemployment insurance. you'

miles la-dahl of nbc partners, i love the desk initiative that lawrence o'donnell championed. will donate $18,000 to this amazing cause. congratulations. best, miles nadal. chairman and ceo of mdc partners. >> what's the website? >> lastworddesks.msnbc.com. 1-800-4-kids. desks for kids in african schools. >> i'm not good with math. >> five desks -- that's a lot of classrooms. $720, by the way, to outfit an entire classroom. $48 a desk. >> willie. >> built in malawi. helps. >> way too early. what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." see you next week. before that, stay tuned for "the daily rundown". >> congress burns the midnight oil and give president obama his $800 billion tax deal. so taxes go up on nobody come january 1st. still to go. don't ask, don't tell starts, and maybe even the dream act. >>> julian assange is speaking out one day after getting out of jail on bail. while his movements are restricted, his internet usage is not. so guess what? more documents leaked today. >>> plus, the cha vana awards. the best viral campaign ads. best presidential joke and some of the wo

. >> good evening from new york, i'm lawrence o'donnell. the senate approved president obama's tax cut deal by a vote of 81-19. sending the bill to the house where progressive members will make a last-ditch effort to lower the level at which estates are exempt from taxation, from $5 million to $3.5 million. meanwhile, tea party republicans could try to kill the deal all together. >> since last summer i've urged this congress to take action to prevent a tax increase that would affect every american next year in january. the deal is a bad deal for taxpayers, will do little to create jobs and i cannot support. >> before meeting with a group of ceo's today in an effort to encourage them to create new jobs and investment, president obama again pitched the compromise tax deal as key to economic recovery. >> i know there are different aspects of this plan to which members of congress on both sides of the aisle object. that's the nature of compromise. but we worked hard to negotiate an agreement, that's a win for middle class families and a win for

. >>> coming up on "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell tonight, megan mccain will be on. megan mccain reacting to today's vote on don't ask, don't tell. her dad, probably the single most importantly reason don't ask, don't tell hasn't been repealed yet. >>> coming up on this show, a live forensic breakdown of the new information we just got about an underhanded, disreputable, vile, shameful cheating incident, which turns out is really fun to reenact. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ♪ [ santa ] ho ho ho! [ male announcer ] get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now. and stay connected with three years of mbrace service complimentary. [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday. [ laughs ] that's so dumb. [ laughter ] nice. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it first with at&t. the nation's fastest mobile bro

. >>> coming up on "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell tonight, megan mccain will be on. megan mccain reacting to today's vote on don't ask, don't tell. her dad, probably the single most importantly reason don't ask, don't tell hasn't been repealed yet. >>> coming up on this show, a live forensic breakdown of the new information we just got about an underhanded, disreputable, vile, shameful cheating incident, which turns out is really fun to reenact. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday. sleep is here, on the wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in the middle of the night... rest is here, on the wings of lunesta. lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rested. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patient

plus the host of msnbc's "the last word" lawrence o'donnell will join me to talk about the big moves in congress. and julian assange remains behind bars right now despite a judge granting him bail. we'll get the latest from london. >>> plus why michael moore, the fame director, is now involved. the "news nation" is moments away. [scraping] [horns honking] with deposits in your engine, it can feel like something's holding your car back. let me guess, 16. [laughing] yeeah. that's why there's castrol gtx... with our most powerful deposit fighting ingredient ever. castrol gtx exceeds the toughest new industry standard. don't let deposits hold your car back. get castrol gtx. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. but my doctor told me that most calcium supplements... aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. citracal. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if

. >> lawrence o'donnell said yesterday that all of these people that came out on the democratic side opposing this bill were having to slowly roll it back, and that they were going to support this bill. and you can say the same thing on the republican side as well. the house leadership, and we've talked to quite a few members over the past week that have been very offended by the fact that the leaders did a deal with the president and then said you're going to vote on this. a trillion dollars, a trillion dollars added to the national debt with this scam bill, this stimulus package. dr. sachs and i have been saying for two years, all they're trying to do is rebuild the bubble, get people back into shopping malls. >> both parties appear to be doing that. >> they are. >> absolutely. >> both parties are doing it. >> they had an opportunity to not look so hypocritical, dr. sachs, osh not? couldn't they have come forward with a little bit of a better deal here for america and its future in terms of its fiscal health? >> of course. >> but they don't want to? >> neither side wants to. this i