ed rendell who never lies, vin weber -- >> we make a good impression of it. >> and up next, new hope for new yorkers still left in the dark and those needing help in the storm aftermath. the fema hot line is 1-800-621-fee ha. y -- fema. go to nbc news.com and click on how you can help. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. >>> con-edson has announced plans to restore power to most of manhattan. joining me now is katie kerr in manhattan's lower eastside. thanks very much. you're on the lower eastside. what are they told about when power's coming back? >> reporter: some are told good news. 7,000 customers, about two gids are restoring later tonight. they're two very important grids. they're small grids. one is on the lower east side and the other

to talk about the strategy is ed rendell, former governor of pennsylvania and political analyst vin weber congress member and republican strategist. ed, first of all, you've heard what eric cantor and others have been saying today. what about grover norquist and the possibility that that no-tax pledge that has really handcuffed negotiators for decades is something that is quickly being shaken off? >> yeah, i think it's sort of falling apart. i think what republicans are finding out is when you pull back the curtain, like with the wizard of oz, there's nobody there. grover norquist never got one vote, hasn't been elected to do anything and really just forced himself into the american political scene. a lot of grover norquist pledge signers lost in the last election, both incumbents and people who had signed the pledge running this time. look, the american people aren't dumb. they know that we have to cut spending, but they know we have to raise revenue and that comes first. i think saxby chambliss said it best over the weekend. he said his country comes before any pledge that he signed 20