i'm standing by what i did in massachusetts.he biggest issue that dogs me in the primary campaign, i'm absolutely firm that it was the right thing for our state. i'll defend that. i understand it has political implications, and if it keeps me from winning a primary, so be it. but that happens to be the truth. >> another question, if you were president this week, what do you do immediately in response to the pakistani's decision to shut off nato supply lines to afghanistan and force cia to vacate a key base used for drone operations? >> well, this ought to involve the personal attention of the president of the united states, either in person or on the phone. there ought to be a building relationship with leadership in pakistan to understand our mutual interests. i'm afraid that we're growing further and further apart, in part because of a president who simply doesn't know how to lead. we need to have a president who can be on the phone, who can have a personal relationship, with generals in pakistan, with members of the isi, to a

i'm standing by what i did in massachusetts.'m not trying to dust it aside. >> governor romney talking about the massachusetts healthcare law. spoke to him this morning in miami. what about this interview in we bring in our panel, jonah goldberg, juan williams and charles krauthammer. first an overview. thoughts, charles? >> i thought he did well. obviously he's heard all the questions before. he did very well, i thought, in defending romneycare. a little bit weaker on immigration, because there are indications that what he said in the past overlaps a bit with what he's now attacking in the gingrich plan. i thought the strongest moment was exactly that sound bite you showed, where he basically tries to change romneycare from something that will injure him into something that shows the best side. the biggest attack on him is not the substance of romneycare, although it is a difficulty he has to deal with, it's the character issue. do you believe in anything? he could say i could have jettisons romneycare, but i'm not going, i'm g

she will tell you why she's supporting the former massachusetts governor as we continue.rt on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. bass pro shops has huge savings during the 5 hour sale friday morning starting at 6. like... >> we continue from new hampshire. moments ago i sat down with new hampshire senator kelly ayotte and she tells us why she is supporting the former massachusetts governor mit romney for president. >> we are joined in this segment by new hampshire senator kelly ayotte. how are you? >> great to be with you. >> you are part of this tea party group that made it to the senate and ran paul and marco rubio and this whole group of people. strong conservatives. >> we are strong conservatives and we want to cha

were on this committee, key players, jon kyl republican of arizona and john kerry, democrat of massachusetts. >> whether our democratic friends are unable it to cut even a dollar in spending without saying it has to be accompanied by tax increases, that tells you all you need to know. >> what john just said is patently not true. we just cut $917 billion without one dime of new revenue. he knows it. we just did it. we cut $550 billion in the health care act from medicare. we didn't raise -- you know, this is just nonsense. >> reporter: and richard, why today matters so much is because originally we talked about wednesday being the deadline, but under the rules this committee would have to have an agreement turned into writing, a real bill, have it scored by the congressional budget office to give it an official cost. that would have to be done by today. they don't have it. so it appears that that really brings to a fizzling end this super committee. what happens because of its failure? well, there would be sweeping cuts triggered in 2013. again, matching that $1.2 trillion, but spread across

at the peak of the storm, we had more than 670,000 customers across massachusetts without power. that number is beginning to trend downward. as of right now, we are at 430,000 customers without power, but it will be likely not until the end of the week until many of those folks are fully restored. >> this unseasonal weather definitely caught these people by -- in a state of shock almost. do you think the teams like yourself responded quickly enough? >> well, certainly an historic storm of this nature this early in the winter season for us presents challenges, but we have response plans and operational plans in place in coordination with our local communities to make sure that we're taking appropriate steps to protect the public safety of our residents. >> give us an idea of what kind of emergency calls you've been responding to. >> we've been seeing a lot of requests for debris removal crews, chain saw crews to, get in and get debris off of the roadways so that the utility companies can come if and do the important work of power restoration. we're also seeing requests for backup

you know, we here in massachusetts know mitt romney best.hose of us who were working hard to, on various issues of importance to us in the state. and i think it's important for constituents and people around the country just to really understand how emphatic he was when he met with us about his position. he said he didn't want to be called pro choice or pro life. he said he didn't -- he would not overturn roe v. wade. he didn't think it was a good idea. i mean, he proactively offered a lot of these comments to kind of be specific about his position and it was so soon after he got elected that, you know, he voted to -- he vetoed an emergency contraception bill here in the state very soon after he got elected. and he completely changed his tune. so, i think that's an important fact to know about. >> melissa kogut, i'm glad you held on to the notes. thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >>> up next, white house press secretary jay carney joins me in an exclusive interview to discuss the 2012 race and president obama's agenda

>> he is, again, possibly hiding out in massachusetts. we'll have the very latest for you tonight at 5:00 and 6:00. >>> in other news today, a north bay teenager may not get jail time following a deadly crash that killed a 2-year-old girl and injured her mother. 19-year-old caitlyn dunnaway was allegedly texting behind the wheel when she ran over the 2-year-old and her mother. the judge in the case may sentence dunaway to three hours community service and probation instead of six months in jail. dunaway would be required to speak to high school students about the dangers of distracted driving. >>> a peninsula teacher could face criminal charges, after all, for crashing her car into a young girl walking to school in a crosswalk. the east pallo alto police deptd says it will hand over evidence to the district attorney's office, including a review of the teacher's cell phone records to see if she was talking or texting when she hit and killed 6-year-old siorelli torres. many in the community were upset that the teacher was not arrested and h

help of our schools in massachusetts. -- help our schools in massachusetts. it used to be iowa's honor, but now massachusetts is number-one in the nation. you can book that might record as a governor, but also can see 25 years in business and the olympics. i mention something else -- by the way, different candidates have different backgrounds. that still is combined with a deep and abiding passion for this country and a recognition that we have to have someone go to washington who does not care about getting reelected, who instead cares very deeply about getting american right again. and i do. thank you. [applause] i will take one more question. anything else? yes? >> hello. i am tired of name calling and i am tired of people blaming everybody. [applause] i just want to know what actions are you going to take to actually get stuff done. you have lots of ideas. what are you going to do to get it done? >> i have great experience and i consider it an enormous disadvantage. i complained about this to my family and a few friends that might legislature was not of m

the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, i thank the gentleman from florida for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: madam speaker, first of all let me rise in opposition to this yet -- this restrictive rule. yet another restrictive rule. a lot of good amendments were not made in order and members do not have the right to offer amendments as they see fit during this debate. i would urge my colleagues to vote no on the rule for that reason. madam speaker, another week and another hot button social issue is being brought to the floor by this extreme republican leadership. a few weeks ago this house debated an abortion bill. that's months after we considered legislation to defund planned parenthood. this republican leadership has tried hard to overturn the clean air act and clean

according to detailed notes taken by an officer of the pro-choice massachusetts in that meeting, romneyuse and his moderation on the issue would be widely written about. another woman who was in that meeting says romney became emphatic that the republican party was not doing themselves a service by being so vehemently anti-choice. romney said this during a gubernatorial campaign debate. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard. i want voters to know exactly where i'm going to stand as governor and that is i am not going to change our pro-choice laws in massachusetts in any way. i will preserve them, i will protect them, i will enforce them. and therefore i'm not going to make any changes which would make it more difficult for a woman to make that choice herself. >> and this is the same man a few weeks ago with mike huckabee. >> would you have supported the constitutional amendment that would have established the definition of life at conception? >> absolutely. >> joining me now, nancy keenan, president of na

the endorsement was a blow to former massachusetts governor mitt romney. the newspaper saying, quote, we'd rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear. the jockeying on the complain trail comes as washington is still trying to manage fallout from the failure of the super committee to deal with the government's budget deficit. here with us live this morning to continue that debate and find out what is next, democratic senator chuck schumer of new york, and grover norquist of americans for tax reform, his anti-tax pledge played a key role in the super committee showdown. welcome. senator schumer, i want to begin with you. i hope you had a good holiday. welcome back to "meet the press." >> i did. >> let's talk about the fallout and what comes next from the super committee failing to get a deal. one big question before the end of the year is the payroll tax holiday. the president would like to see it extended. what's going to happen in the senate? >> well, the first thing we're going to do when w

one of the worst affected states is massachusetts. >> the governor of massachusetts has declared a statewide state of emergency. he has also requested presidential assistance from president barack obama to respond to this disaster event. at the peak of the storm, we had more than 670,000 customers across the massachusetts without power. that number is beginning to trend downward. as of right now, we are at 430,000 customers without power. " give us an idea of what kind of emergency calls you have been responding to. >> we have been seeing a lot of request for debris removal crews. we're also seeing request for backup generator power for critical and the structure. things like hospitals, nursing homes, police and fire stations. we're working with our local public safety officials to make sure they have all the resources they need to appropriately respond. >> the russian maternity home page to families compensation for accidentally switching their daughters at birth 12 years ago. the story has captivated russians and made headlines when the mistake came to light recently. the girls do not want

look at his record, cut taxes in massachusetts.budget balanced after inheriting a deficit, standing and striking contrast to what president obama has done running up deficits and not fixing the problem jobs or employment issues. romney stands for traditional marriage, pro life and if you go down the major issues of concern to republican voters, economic in particular, social, as well, mitt romney lines up on almost all of those issues. >> now but in the past he's been on the other side of a lot of those issues. let's look at what one bright candidate had to say in one of the republican debates about obamny care. >> obama care was patterned after mitt's plan in massachusetts and for mitt or anyone else to say there aren't substantial similarities or essentially the same plan it isn't credible. that's why i called it obamny care and i think it is a fair label and i'm happy to call it that again tonight. >> now you are a romney supporter have he taught you how to spin that and put it in his favor. >> nbc, the transcript of the intervi

. >> ahead, massachusetts mystery. a bombshell. a bombshell report on governor mitt romney's team. why did they completely destroy all e-mail? why did they literally buy their state issued computers? what is he trying to hide? the reporter who broke the story joins us next. plus it's desperation time. starting and twisting the truth to paint the president as anti-american. massive fact check tonight. and cheer up speaker boehner. it's your birthday. and i have some special gifts for you tonight. you're watching "politician nation" on msnbc. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. but you've got a meat and potatoes guy? pour chunky sirloin burger soup over those mashed potatoes and dinner is served. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky -- it's amazing what soup can do. >>> we'll be right back after >>> we'll be right back after is is frowned upon in

molly line is live in massachusetts with more.ter: hi, jenna, that's right, barney frank one of the most well-known liberals in the country, a long-standing democrat here in massachusetts representing massachusetts for 16 terms, for more than 30 years is expected to announce that he will not be running for re-election in 2012. he's one of the most powerful democrats in congress, particularly in recent years when he was acting as the chair of the house financial services committee, which put him in the political crosshairs. it brought him power and influence, but also he got a lot of flack in that position, a lot of criticism from conservatives, from republicans, in the run up to the housing crisis for his support of fanny mae and freddie mac. he faced just a few competitive race in 30 years. one of those was in 2010 the run up to the midterm elections when a u.s. marine, a veteran of the u.s. marine corps and also a businessman kind of gave mr. frank a run for his money. congressman frank felt compelled to loan his campaign about

he is joining us live from cambridge, massachusetts.actually write that he has seized the spotlight by being more interesting, and more of a gambler. yet analysts say he may pay a price for his stance on immigration. >> well, he may. you know, going soft on immigration as it's called is very dangerous within republican ranks, as you well know. we saw that with rick perry and how he tumbled in iowa after he had come out for a variety of things that seemed to be soft. and now here's newt gingrich today. but my own sense right now is that while he will pay a short-term price, especially in iowa, he clearly has got the momentum, as you suggested. this endorsement from "union leader" in new hampshire was a terrific boost for his campaign. just when he needed it. because he is getting all this attention now. but what the question was, how do you sustain momentum with no debate this week? and here he gets "the union leader", in a state that looked like a laydown for mitt romney. this by no means -- "the union leader" has endorsed conservatives

speaking of newt, the big political story of the weekend was his endorsement by the massachusetts union leader. this people that may be happiest are sitting in the white house. in newt wins the nomination, you'd have to think he'd be a much fatter target for president obama than mitt romney is. plus, mitt versus mitt. even if the obama campaign is happy about newt, they're preparing for romney. >> look, i was an independent during the time of reagan/bush. i'm not trying to return to reagan/bush. the principles that ronald reagan espoused are as true today as they were when he spoke them. >> there you go again. that's just a small part of a new dnc video that skewers mitt romney with his own words and to a devastating effect. also, the big political fight this year. republicans are fighting president obama on extending the payroll tax holiday. so let's get this straight. tax cuts are always good for the economy, except when democrats propose them. >>> and a tribute to chicago's first lady. maggie daley. >>> we start with herman cain. chuck todd and john heilman join us. here's a portion

in massachusetts there was one candidate the republicans nominate who in massachusetts is as unpopular as newt gingrich, mitt romney. he went out of massachusetts very unpopular. a large part of the district -- in southeast massachusetts where he was especially unpopular. i think given the presidential year of the democrats look good to hold the seat. >> are you saying you are not endorsing the ranking member? >> at this point i am not. >> you might in the future? >> absolutely. >> what is your view of the european situation? how dangerous are we right now? anything the u.s. can do? >> one i can answer and what i won't. it is clear the deterioration in europe has held that -- go to the last quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010 and we are on the upswing. knocked america back. we have been suffering. did a much better job dealing with our crisis and try to come out at the european crisis held us back in a number of ways. things are starting the upswing again. if there is a serious disaster in europe that has a negative effect. we believe the american descriptions are well prepared t

>> it is in western massachusetts. it is a big liberal arts school where i did a lot of philosophy and history more than any literature courses. you have a great university library, a fabulous faculty, a lovely teacher to student ratio. you feel taken care of. the open mind is cultivated. it has a dramatically -- tremendously good education in terms of writing and opening to do research. >> what was the best biography you had read at that point? >> i was not sure i had read a biography. i read a lot of fiction. i wrote on the biographies that every kid, the red, white, and blue, the ones about women were all about women who had died. it was joan of arc, sylvia plath, women in distress. i loved those little books. there were not very many women in that series. those books were formative. >> which book has sold the best? >> "cleopatra" has sold more than the others combined. i never had a book that sold in any way before. >> y do you think? >> it has a beautiful jacket? i do not know. it is one of those interesting thing