let me introduce you to weingarten realty investors, a company i've liked since '85. owns shopping centers all over the u.s. 301 income-producing properties and 11 more in various stages of development. they have a bountiful yield, doesn't have a lot of leverage. company recently sold off the portfolio of industrial assets to become a pure play on retail, and 76% of the rent it collects comes from tenants that are effectively internet resistant. they say it in their own papers. meaning they're as immunized against online competition as it gets. things like supermarkets, restaurants, pet stores, personal care service providers. 93.6% occupancy rate up 200 basis points year-over-year. very bullish guidance. let's check in with drew alexander, the president and ceo of weingarten realty investors. how are you? >> pleasure. great to be here. >> now, we obviously are all very focused on the notion that washington could get us back into a great recession if they're not careful. and one of the reasons why i have real estate investment trusts on all the time, they know their b

randy weingarten. teachers rand weingarten. >>> from nbc news in washington, this is "meet the press" with david gregory. >>> good sunday morning on a very difficult day for a small town in connecticut and for the entire country as we all grieve over the loss of life at sandy hook elementary. this morning we're getting a first look at the names and faces of some of the victims. 20 schoolchildren, eight boys, 12 girls, all first graders, and the six adults who died trying to protect them, including this heartbreaking video of a 6-year-old, anna marquez green, singing a hymn with her brother last summer. ♪ >> president obama will travel to newtown this afternoon to console victims' families and attend a community vigil. "the washington post" headline this morning sums up where we are nearly 48 hours after the shooting. wrenching details but few answers. that's where we want to start this special hour this morning with pete williams on what more we are learning about this investigation. and, pete, do we k

. >> eliot: randi weingarten on the future of organized labor and the so-called fiscal cliff and lou dobbs is always right because he says he's right except when he's wrong which is virtually always. facts matter coming up next. >> eliot: in tonight's facts matter segment misinformation continues to surround the latest right to work bill signed earlier this week in michigan. i'm all for healthy debate about any issue but a debate must be based on the factions which is not the debate lou dobbs seems interested in. >> despite the president's misleading suggestions to the contrary michigan workers still tonight have the right to form and join a union. they still have the right to bargain, collectively. and what this law changes is forced union membership. i repeat, forced union membership. >> eliot: repeat it all you want no matter how many times you say it, it will still be flat-out wrong. federal law clearly prohibits unions from requiring membership. this has been made clear in a series of supreme court cases including 1963's national labor relations board v general motors. 195's pat

i wanted to say something on randi weingarten. in college, at least i can teach. it's amazing how we sayed kags is so important. so part of the deal is to change what happens in college. that's right. it shouldn't be the job of last resort. >> will cain? >> will cain? the issue with the photographer and the subway photo continues to burn on the internet here and i think you and i just had an interesting exchange. what is the job of the photographer, his primary responsibility? first to be a human being. whether or not he could have saved him, i would have liked to have seen him try. >> mckay coppen, better version of your first name? >> not yet. the fiscal cliff, the stuff to watch there is the tea party and

. >> eliot: randi weingarten on the future of organized labor and the so-called fiscal cliff and louobbs is always right because he says he's right except when he's wrong which is virtually always. facts matter coming up >> wow! i've never seen anything like this. >> when disaster strikes sometimes the only way out is to look within. current tv digs deep into the extraordinary tales of heroism determination and escape. "trapped" experience the drama. back to back to back. >> hold on mates! >> catch the "trapped" mini-marathon saturday starting at 1 eastern. on current tv. >> eliot: in tonight's facts matter segment misinformation continues to surround the latest right to work bill signed earlier this w week in michigan. i'm all for healthy debate about any issue but a debate must be based on the factions which is not the debate lou dobbs seems interested in. >> despite the president's misleading suggestions to the contrary michigan workers still tonight have the right to form and join a union. they still have the right to bargain, collectively. and what this law changes is forced uni

the presi nt of the american federation of teachers randi weingarten.nd columnist for "the new york times" david brooks. welcome to all of you. as my wife and are trying to shield our young kids from news of this event, we realize that it's futile. this is not an exception. we cannot wish these events away. and i mention this robust social networking conversation that unites the country. and if there is one feeling, it is enough. so in that spirit, i want to have this conversation. here is the recent history of school shootings in this country, public rampages. not all at schools. and the number of victims going back to columbine in 1999 all the way to portland, oregon, at a mall. three people killed there. so the context is just so alarming. senator feinstien, we talk about guns. it often overshadows the debate about mental illness. but in the vein of gun control in this country and presidential leadership, you heard from mayor bloomberg. this is how "the washington post" described the president's leadership back in july. i'm not going to take away you

the president of the american federation of teachers randi weingarten.olumnist for "the new york times" david brooks. welcome to all of you. as my wife and are trying to shield our young kids from news of this event, we realize that it's futile. this is not an exception. we cannot wish these events away. and i mention this robust social networking conversation that unites the country. and if there is one feeling, it is enough. so in that spirit, i want to have this conversation. here is the recent history of school shootings in this country, public rampages. not all at schools. and the number of victims going back to columbine in 1999 all the way to portland, oregon, at a mall. three people killed there. so the context is just so alarming. senator feinstien, we talk about guns. it often overshadows the debate about mental illness. but in the vein of gun control in this country and presidential leadership, you heard from mayor bloomberg. this is how "the washington post" described the president's leadership back in july. i'm not going to take away your gu

>> my hopes are to raise with the teachers, randy weingarten of the federation of teachers, all talking about how we raise the point when mr. lapierre and the nra had the opportunity to say let us deal with some sane gun policies, let's talk about how people don't need a magazine with 100 rounds in it, that's notself defense, that's not hunting. and how we can back up -- yes, people have a right to protect their family, but you don't need all of this to protect your family. he did the opposite. he said let's put armed guards in the school, let's arm teachers. let's remember now, we have seen this year education budgets cut. we don't have money to give teachers raises. we had a teachers strike in chicago. we don't have money to do things that teachers need, but we'll find money to arm them, to train them, to buy them guns, ammunition. what are we saying? so we can arm teachers, but we can't give teachers money to give them the ability to be better educators? to me that's the wrong message to send. >> two sides are looking for meaningful contributions. the fact there was a gun buy-back pr

they're all survivors. >> randi weingarten. thank you so much. sure they appreciate your being here and thank you for taking the time to talk to us. >>> we said this is the fourth time in president obama's presidency that he'll be speaking. coming up i'll talk with a man with a personal connection to one of those previous visits and we'll talk a little bit about how this can help the community. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ breathes deeply ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! >>> i can tell you he's going to have a bill to lean on because in the first day i will introduce it and the same bill will be introduced in the house, a bill to ban assault weapons. it will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession, not retroactively but perspectively and it will ban the same for big clips, d

to discuss the agreement along with the president of the american federation of teachers, randi weingartenrd, but it worked. >> i think it did. >> take a look. >> i'm not exactly sure. sexiest man alive, right? >> listen, what happened was, you know, the folks in newark, cam anderson, the superintendent, joe dell gross sew, wanted to do something different. randi and i were supportive of that. we're the negotiators. and i think we've all decided that we need to do something different. and not only does it provide merit bonuses and provide advancement based upon merit, but it also involves the teachers in the evaluation process as well. and so everybody got around the table and compromised with each other. and now have created a system where it's not no longer just seniority or degrees received, but now it's how you perform in the classroom, and that valuation not just done by the administration, it's done by teachers who are involved as well. everybody has a stake in it. and i think it's going to improve the quality of education across the city of newark. >> that's fantastic. >> you know,

the president of the american federation of teachers randi weingarten.lumnist for "the new york times" david brooks. welcome to all of you. as my wife and i are trying to shield our young kids from news of this event, we realize that it's futile. this is not an exception. we cannot wish these events away. and i mention this robust social networking conversation that unites the country. and if there is one feeling, it is enough. so in that spirit, i want to have this conversation. here is the recent history of school shootings in this country, public rampages. not all at schools. and the number of victims going back to columbine in 1999 all the way to portland, oregon, at a mall. three people killed there. so the context is just so alarming. senator feinstien, we talk about guns. it often overshadows the debate about mental illness. but in the vein of gun control in this country and presidential leadership, you heard from mayor bloomberg. this is how "the washington post" described the president's leadership back in july. i'm not going to take away your g

i would like to bring in randi weingart weingarten, president of the american federation of teachers.bout the heroism inside that school yesterday. i know that you are heading up to newtown tomorrow. what are you hearing about some of these teachers did to protect those students? >> so, look, you know, we've been in constant touch, this is our union that represents the teachers and the custodians and the school secretaries. so we've been in constant touch for the last 24 hours. and everyone is still in a state of shock. so what you are hearing, though, is just about a total selflessness. and i'm sure that these, that teachers and their families would not want to be called heroic. it feels so minimizing. what they did, though, is that in the wake of unspeakable terror, they kept their kids safe and they lunged at the gunman, as the principal did, and one teacher put her kids -- hid her kids in the bathroom so she would be the only one there when the shooter came in. this level of unbelievable heroism is just something that we should, in our morning, we should honor, but what teachers a

joining me now is randy weingarten, president of the american federation of teempers and tameka mall thank you both for joining me font. >> thank you, reverend. >> thanks. >> this is really nuts. >> brandy, i mean, teachers with loaded guns? what do you think? >> so, look. some of these very same states have strict teachers rights to actually have a voice in a classroom. have any latitude over what they do with students, have any latitude over their conditions at work. but, yet, they are rushing to arm teachers and rushing to arm schools. this is really dangerous, irresponsible. what we need -- and a huge diversion from what's going on. we actually need to make kids safer. we actually need to take guns away from kids. we've had 34,000 kids injured this last year because of guns. almost 6,000 kids died at the hands of guns. what we need to do is make schools into safe san chew wares for kids. nay're rushing sto make a buck off of this. in columbinee there was an armed guard. in virginia tech, there were armed guards across the campus. where is the nra going to stop? do they want an ar

smaller flames included were amoco, weingarten we willty trust and alexandria real estate.ke the reit space. men's warehouse, the stock is getting whacked. same-store sales were down last plont. it actually blamed the fiscal cliff in part, as well as super storm sandy. the ceo said consumers were distracted by the cliff. the storm and the election. staying with clothing, vera bradley -- well, handbags. those shares also tanking and they are blaming sandy as well but also noted their holiday season is off to a slow start. jeffri jeffries raising the tart fro tm $22 to $20. not all bad news. finisar, higher demand for tranceivers. what else? the stock down 17% year to date. finally, zynga. take a look at shares. they are up nearly 7% because they filed for a gambling license. that is right. the virtual game company wants to become a real poker company. let's bring in julia boorstin with more on this zynga story. seems like if they get it, a completely transformative thing. >> it would be transformative and zynga's definitely pushing forward with its plans to eventually make m

this is -- this is what the president randi weingarten had to say.s, not armed fortresses. anyone who would suggest other ooiz doesn't understand that our public schools must first and foremost be places where teachers can safely educate and nurture or students. there doesn't seem to be an appetite or a lot of forces when it comes to teachers p introduces winnepeg inside of the schools. >> i think they were dealing with the proposals to have teachers in general be able to bring guns to school whenever they want to and they see that as a danger, and i also see that as a danger. i want to provide free training to deal with a situation that might arise. we would like them to be safe sanctuaries but we found out that sometimes a bad guy can penetrate and you want someone that can deal with it in that case. i'm not requiring that of anybody. if they do want it, i'm offering it as a free service we will provide to the schools. >> all right. thank you very much. we appreciate your contribution to the debate. >>> going nowhere fast, holiday travel now on hol

we'll talk about that with the president of that organization randy weingarten. >> passing the bar, likethe bar, should teachers have to pass the bar. >> that's how they explain it. it is like a bar for teachers. >> see you soon. >> 27 days until we fall off the fiscal cliff and neither side seems any closer to coming to a deal. this morning president obama is going to talk to members of the washington business round table. house speaker john boehner and congressional leaders will meet with small business owners on the hill. talking to everybody else doesn't look like they're talking to each other. they're not reaching across the aisle here. my next guest says that most politicians don't want to go over the cliff but some partisans might derail the discussions. there is a danger ahead, a growing core russ on both sides who insist there's no reason to fear going over the fiscal cliff y if if the cliff exists at all. call them cliff deniers. leading directly to the loss of america's aaa credit rating. listening to them again would be the definition of insanity. john who has a ph.d. in inst

today by the american federation of teachers, good men and women of the aft under president randi weingarten a difference every day in the classrooms of america. you bet. you can find out more about their good work by going to their web site, aft.org. aft.org. and we're talking about this whole gun control debate. and whether president obama is being specific enough, why won't he put out the proposals? he knows what the measures are. he knows about the assault weapons ban. the demand for a background check on every sale of every gun. why won't he come forth and say what he would support. 1-866-55-press. that's our question of the morning so far. back to your calls in just a second. but first you looking for some extra money at the end of each month? incomeathome.com. yep. they can help you make ends meet. they're america's leading work from home business. this is something you can do no matter your age education or experience. as i told you before, you can earn money on your own computer from your own kitchen table 24/7. imagine that. get a little free time on your hands, get the training fr