marc morial. and columnist for the washington, kathleen parker. and in a special christmas day reflection, we'll hear from the former archbishop of washington, cardinal theodore mccarrick. >> christmas day is a season of hope, a season of expectation, a season of love. >> good morning. and merry christmas. 2011, almost behind us now, so many key questions as we head into the new year, and for the next hour we've assembled a terrific group to talk about the year ahead, and a reflection on where the country has been this year. joining me, nbc's tom brokaw. tom friedman, kathleen parker. marc morial. welcome to all of you and merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. >> i suspect, tom brokaw, that families are getting together on this holiday, and there's gifts and there's good times but there's probably a little talk about where things are. in their family, in their community, and in the country. and if you look at one key indicator, it's pretty downcast. the direction of the c

. >> marc morial, i mean, this is christmas, and what does it represent, if not hope? and yet tom referenced this, for so many americans who own a home, their nest egg was the equity in their home. for too many americans that's gone. and frankly, it's not coming back. that really dashes a lot of hope. >> you know, the an remember that americans feel, i think, is accelerated by the fact that the middle class is evaporating. that the recession has created a greater income inequality than ever before. white americans lost 16% of their net worth in the recession alone. african-americans, 50% of their net worth. you've got a disappearing middle class. and the middle class and upward mobility, and the sense that no matter where you were born in this nation, you could rise to the next level, and that it wasn't by jumping over a giant hill, or a giant wall, has really been, i think, the lubricant that has helped to sustain this nation. so on christmas day, i think americans are not only looking at the fact that they've lost their home, many have lost their jobs, but it's like

marc morial.post, kathleen parker. and in a special christmas day reflection, we'll hear from the former archbishop of washington, cardinal theodore mccarrick. >> christmas day is a season of hope, a season of expectation, a season of love. >> good morning. and merry christmas. 2011, almost behind us now, so many key questions as we head into the new year, and for the next hour we've assembled a terrific group to talk about the year ahead, and a reflection on where the country has been this year. joining me, nbc's tom brokaw. tom friedman, kathleen parker. marc morial. welcome to all of you and merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. >> i suspect, tom brokaw, that families are getting together on this holiday, and there's gifts and there's good times but there's probably a little talk about where things are. in their family, in their community, and in the country. and if you look at one key indicator, it's pretty downcast. the direction of the country. and look at the polli

marc morial.olumnist for the washington post, kathleen parker. and in a special christmas day reflection, we'll hear from the former archbishop of washington, cardinal theodore mccarrick. >> christmas day is a season of hope, a season of expectation, a season of love. >> good morning. and merry christmas. 2011, almost behind us now, so many key questions as we head into the new year, and for the next hour we've assembled a terrific group to talk about the year ahead, and a reflection on where the country has been this year. joining me, nbc's tom brokaw. tom friedman, kathleen parker. marc morial. welcome to all of you and merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. >> i suspect, tom brokaw, that families are getting together on this holiday, and there's gifts and ths

. >> reporter: in philadelphia, we caught up with marc morial, president of the urban league. >> it's cost decades of advances in home ownership to be lost. decades of advances in income to be lost. high unemployment. >> reporter: the economic recovery has generated about 100,000 or more jobs for the past five months. but economists say it will take two to three times that many to truly make a dent in the unemployment rate. roughly 13 million americans are out of work. brian? >> tom costello starting us off from washington tonight. tom, thanks for that. >>> on wall street here in new york today, stocks held on to the massive gains of this week which were sparked by central banks around the world acting together to try to stabilize europe. all the major stock indexes were pretty much unchanged for the day. for the week, monster rally. the dow up 7% of its total. second biggest weekly point gain in history. swinging the blue chip stocks back into positive territory for the year. tonight there are strong indications as we turn to politics that herman cain will tell supporters tomorrow he

duncan it was slippery slopes meanwhile in the women's portion three skiers providing early on before morial thompson crash site later tells us that star all alone to take talks. finally interest in tennis this year has exploded in china the reason attributed to lean on expected triumph at wimbledon during the summer of former players have been popping up all over the country to help bolster its stature the biggest star names touching down in chinese soil to help the cole some they don't come much bigger than pete sampras the fourteen time grand slam champion joining up with former world number one carlos moya sabine lisicki armley for an exhibition match in the central chinese city of american some pretty showing he still got it steaming up with lee who was the first ever asian to ever win major tennis title they won the doubles. and now there's all the sport for now i'll see you in under two hours time whether she's next. well. science technology innovation all the least developed mince from around russia we've dumped the future covered. limitations. cretaceous free. free. free. free. free

was laid to rest on wednesday the second and former morial day kim jong il's youngest son and successor was proclaimed the supreme leader of the ruling party the military and the people. next r.t. talked to n.b.a. star. about what it takes for a russian athlete to become a sports celebrity that's in spotlight. hello again and welcome to the spotlight i'll do you know and today my guest on the show is. kitty lanka russia supported by the world always known around the world they were always among the best in the world but after the iron curtain fell off of the soviet borders twenty years ago many russian stars started to go abroad to play in the best clubs in europe and the united states a bit later russian clubs started making big bucks and they also started hiring the best athletes in the world and sometimes recruiting the russian stars so came back so stayed abroad what does it take to make a living to make a career in big sports today we have a chance to ask a person who made it both in russia and in play united states killpack no one in the n.b.a. has a k forty seven. hundred kurylen

and morial says this apparently benign initiative however was met with an avalanche of criticism in ukraine and that's not only because there are practically no survivors left who could be helped with the money raised this political analyst says buying groceries with a famine inspired card is a blasphemy. because the idea is completely immoral it's an attempt to put a great tragedy and use it for commercial needs i can only think of a proven tragedy the holocaust but the jews are not putting it on a credit card. in fact such an attempt was made by a us company in two thousand and nine the blue card but it had no direct reference to the holocaust and it's not so popular across the atlantic where the whole of the more card will be more successful can be seen when it hits the market in late december just in time for christmas shopping. r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. ukraine as part of a commonwealth of states created when the soviet union disintegrated and in today's edition of crossfire peter lavelle's guest discuss how the blogs are becoming a growing economic force here's a quick prev

tribute to north korea's late ruler who was laid to rest on wednesday during the second and final morial day kim jong il's youngest son and successor were the claims the supreme leader of the ruling party the military and the people. next up max kaiser and stacy herbert discuss the shrinking number of brokers as the debt crisis grows in a kaiser report. max kaiser this is the kaiser report somebody is doing something right because these brokerages are shrinking they're becoming baby brokers. that's right they're shrinking they're downsizing because they suck oh right states never tell me more max london brokers shrink as debt crisis bites london stockbrokers are shrinking as europe's sovereign debt crisis and competition from international firms squeezes revenues and fees here's a little jamie diamond. and here's a little lloyd blankfein over goldman sachs look like they can play ben bernanke. circle of. little jimmy don't think this is true blood flowing. is going to do that. yes brokerages in london are apparently shutting up shop laying off brokers and heading out of town now tim lynn

. >> and yet our politics throughout the year were so broken, marc morial, and as we look ahead now, one of the things to watch in 2012, the most bitterly divided issue for this administration, health care. the president prevailed, he got health care reform but in the middle of this election year, after all that acrimony, the supreme court is going to weigh in on his signature piece of legislation. >> they're going to be a big player this year, because they've taken, obviously, the affordable health care act and it's constitutionality. the constitutionality of the ability of states to regulate immigration, they've taken the texas reapportionment case, which certainly is going to affect the balance of power in congress. so one big player in 2012 will absolutely be the united states supreme court. but i think the american people, and people who watch the court don't think that the court is insulated from politics. and one cannot predict if the court, for some reason, were to strike down the affordable care act, there will be a reaction, and there will be a counterreaction politically.

tom brokaw, tom friedman, mark morial and kathleen i joined the navy when i was nineteen.nt four years in the military and i served a tour in iraq. all the skills that i learned in the military are very transferable into the corporate and real world. chase hired me to be a personal banker. the 100,000 jobs mission has definitely helped me get my foot in the door. chase is giving opportunities to vets who don't think that there's any opportunity out there. chase and these other companies are getting a great deal when they hire veterans. chase is proud to help 100,000 veterans find jobs at home. few years, up to 1 million new teachers will be needed as baby boomers retire. who's up for the job? you can have a remarkable impact on the life of a child... the more you know.

guy who's run and been beaten before, it would be pry morial as a school of salmon heading upriver to spawn. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "politics nation" with al sharpton starts hight now. >>> i.o. what? mitt romney saw soars in iowa. wait until you hear what is leading the party. teed off? the tea party promised to take washington by storm, but instead a total washout. now the gop is paying for their mistakes. >>> and rick perry blasts the white house for not honoring the troops returning from iraq. wait a second, governor. aren't you the one who didn't want them to come home in the first place? >> the idea that a commander in chief would stand up and signal to the enemy a date certain of which we're going to pull our troops out i think is irresponsible.ç >>> well country to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, where there's a willard, there's a way. >>> a brand-new poll out of iowa has willard mitt romney back at the top of the pack. and he's kicking newton leroy gingrich to the curb. look who is number three? santorum. it's a complete rever

tom brokaw, tom friedman, mark morial and kathleen i joined the navy when i was nineteen.s in the military and i served a tour in iraq. all the skills that i learned in the military are very transferable into the corporate and real world. chase hired me to be a personal banker. the 100,000 jobs mission has definitely helped me get my foot in the door. chase is giving opportunities to vets who don't think that there's any opportunity out there. chase and these other companies are getting a great deal when they hire veterans. chase is proud to help 100,000 veterans find jobs at home. few years, up to 1 million new teachers will be needed as baby boomers retire. who's up for the job? you can have a remarkable impact on the life of a child... the more you know. and video chat with up to 9 of your friends with the galaxy nexus by samsung, or get the samsung stratosphere, and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. >>> this is a tragedy on top of a tragedy now. >> it happened so quickly. their parents in the back yard spa. their mom in trouble. >>

tom brokaw, tom friedman, mark morial and kathleen

tom brokaw, tom friedman, marc morial and kathleen parker. that's next sunday.until then, have a happy holiday week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

tom brokaw, tom friedman, mark morial and kathleen parker. that's next sunday. happy holiday week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." i joined the navy when i was nineteen. i was a commissioned officer at twenty-three. i was an avionics... tactical telecommunications... squad leader. i think the hardest transition as you get further into the military is... you know it's going to end one day. chase hired me to be a personal banker. i'm a business analyst... manager. i'm very proud to work for chase. when you hire a veteran, you get... great leadership... decisiveness... focus. chase knows, when you hire a veteran, you're hiring america's best. chase is proud to help 100,000 veterans find jobs at home. few years, up to 1 million new teachers will be needed as baby boomers retire. who's up for the job? you can have a remarkable impact on the life of a child... the more you know.

whereas the united states holocaust million morial museum reports, quote, that joseph goebbels delivered a passionate anti-is he met eck speech to the nazi party on november 9, 1938. after this speech, nazi officials ordered the storm troopers, s.a., and other party formations to attack jews and destroyed their homes, businesses, and houses of worship. the violence against jews lasted -- lasts into the morning hours of november 10, and becomes known as the kristallnacht, the night of the broken glass. several dozen jews lose their lives and tens of thousands are arrested and sent to concentration camps, end quote. whereas nazi germany and their collaborators killed six million european jews and millions of others as part of their final solution. whereas by invoking the specter of joseph goebbels the representative from florida, mr. west, thoroughly belittles the horrors and suffering experienced by the victims and survivors of the holocaust. whereas the american jewish committee issued a december 15, 2011 statement saying, quote, to make a linkage between any main stream political party