he's hammering willard on bain.it may be working. >>> plus -- president obama continued his relentless fight for jobs and justice today. we'll show you why his plan to win is all about fairness. >>> and we had a huge response to our story last night on willard's dog riding on the roof of his car. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] talking a big game about your engine is one thing. having a proven history that can back it all up is a whole other story. unsurpassed torque. incredible towing. legendary cummins engines. which engine do you want powering your truck? guts. glory. ram. ♪ >>> aç new poll from south carolina shows that gingrich is moving up. is that the sound of bain willard is hearing? that's next. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. trouble with a car insurance claim. [ dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. dollar for d

willard did.less sugar than leading regular juice drinks. because less sugar is a better way to fly. ♪ just not literally. capri sun. respect what's in the pouch. ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. >>> they say if you want a friend in washington, you should get a dog. and lots of politicians have taken that advice. willard romney has a dog story of his very own. on a trip in the '80s, he strapped the family's irish setter seamus to the roof of his car for a 12-hour drive. the story has been hounding willard ever since. a seamus look alike has popped up on the campaign trail. and newt gingrich is reminding voters about the story in his latest ad from this dog eat dog republican primary. >> he climbed up there regularly, enjoyed himself. he was in a kennel at home a great deal of time as well. we love the dog. it was where he was comfortable. we had five kids inside the car. my guess is he

newt is not the only one attacking willard today.paign of rick santorum, who finished just eight votes behind romney in iowa sent an e-mail out calling romney a bland, boring career politician who will lose to barack obama. jon huntsman is betting his campaign on newspaper newspaper. today he came out swinging after willard got endorsed by john mccain. this is what he said. >> i love john mccain. another dole, another mccain, another establishment endorsement. martha, nobody cares. it will mean zero in terms of any poll improvement for mitt romney, because this nation is tired of the past. it wants something new. it wants a new approach to problem-solving, not the same old thing. >> who will win new hampshire and beyond? that's a hard question. but who's ignoring reagan's 11th commandment? that's easy -- everybody. joining me live from manchester, new hampshire, is dana milbank, political economist for "the washington post," and glen jansen, politics editor of "the boston globe." thank you to both of you for being here tonight. >> go

willard and newt both have had these little questions about income. but on the tax fairness question, which is on the willard part of this look at what is going on in the republican primaries, he had suggested -- he didn't suggested, but he said that we were engaged in the politics of envy, but suspect this really about fairness? no one's jealous that he is making all of this money. it's that out of his money, he is not paying the same percentage in income tax and under the same rules that all of us have to follow. >> exactly, reverend al, that's the point. i mean, it's so interesting. we have been calling him mr. 1%. now do we have to call him mr. 0.006%? it doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well. just when you were reading the title of david's great book, which i read when it came out, this has been an obscure issue for so long but i'm glad he put it the way he did. we have two nations, separate and unequal, when it comes to the tax system and mitt romney has become the poster boy for that inequity. i mean, you and i would not be sitting here tal

but careful, willard. we know newt loves to fight. >> i think the number one thing people look for in difficult times is authenticity. they want somebody who is what he seems to be, somebody who is comfortable with himself. >> i think he's been dancing on eggs trying to figure out how to find a version of romney that will work. if people want somebody who is going to shake up washington, i think i can do it. if they want somebody who going to be timid and manage the decay, they ought to vote for romney. >> if you've been campaigning for six years and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate. and when you get desperate, you say almost anything. >> there's that word again. desperate. and while mitt and newt trade insults, president obama talked over the weekend about where the real focus should be. fairness. president obama's campaign released this video giving americans a preview of his state of the union speech. >> in a lot of ways, my address on tuesday will be a book end to what i said in kansas

willard's not connecting.is hard wired to the heart of the gop. >> i am tired of the elite media protecting barack obama by attacking republicans. >> one day to go. this is going to get to be fun. joining me now from columbia, south carolina, is dick harpootlian, chairman of the south carolina democratic party. and chris hayes, host of "up with chris hayes" here on msnbc. thanks for you both being here tonight. dick, is newt's surge real and as strong as it is appearing? >> -- around the state today because i had the same question. is this something we in the sort of political commentary class see or is it real? less than two hours ago, he had a rally in orangeburg, not 50 miles from where i'm sitting. 1200 people showed up. romney's lucky to get 20 to show up. there is something going on out there. and it's a visceral reaction to newt that he is, as you know, in the south, these politicians bombastic that excite you, that point fingers and make strong points. they excite people. he's a throwback to that. and

but perry, it is not only willard.show you what all of the candidates are saying and how extreme it was. it was on full display in the two debates over the weekend. watch this. >> food stamps is another place. block grant it, send it right back to the states. same thing with medicaid. those three programs. and including housing programs, block grant them, send them back to the states. require work and put a time limit. >> i agree with the ryan plan. i think i'm the only one standing up here who has embraced the ryan plan. what i like about it it says there will be no sacred cows. medicare won't be a sacred cow. >> my trillion-dollar proposal to cut spending doesn't immediately deal with social security. it's to try to work our way out of social security. >> so there you are. even jon huntsman who appeared to be the more moderate of the group is embracing the ryan plan. so it's like the whole stage of the republicans that are left running for the nomination seem to have the same kind of policy when it comes to working c

willard mitt romney. let me let you hear what he said about the economy. >> how do you answer the president's argument that the economy is getting better in a general election campaign if you yourself are saying that it's getting better. >> well, of course it's getting better. the economy always gets better after a recession. there's always a recovery. >> isn't that a hard argument to make if you are saying like, okay, he inherited this recession and took a bunch of steps to try to turn the economy around. now we're seeing some more jobs but vote against him anyway? isn't that a hard argument to make? >> it just happens to be the truth. >> it happens to be the truth. willard said the economy is getting better. now i'm sure willard may not say that tonight on the stage. but i didn't give anything for christmas, congresswoman. i'll give you this tape. willard said it himself. >> well, i so appreciate you showing me that mitt romney has acknowledged the economy is doing better and that's just the truth. this

willard romney?ill he be handled by newt and rick santorum who we found out today looks like he won the iowa caucus. >> well, he was probably talking to his consultants in the cayman islands to find out more about that. but i suspect that he is going to be prepared, as prepared as his staff can make him, be prepared to answer questions about that. it would not surprise me, and you have to know that i have not had any discussions with the candidates about their strategies. it would not surprise me in this debate if mitt romney makes a promise to release his tax forms, and it would not surprise me if newt gingrich is the one who initiated a discussion about the interview with his second wife. in other words, that sometimes the best defense is a good offense. it would not surprise me to see that at all. it would also not surprise me to have rick santorum spend an awful lot of time talking about his family and his approach toward family values and this kind of thing. as for ron paul, he'll probably just

willard 25%. you're a political strategist.u deal with a guy with all this money, with all of the implosions of the flavors of the month, he can't get over 25%. what's going on here? >> i think what's going on is republica conservatives don't like him. he has changed his position on fundamental issues. when i worked against romney in 1994 for senator kennedy in that senate race, he was strongly pro-choice. he said publicly he would be better on gay rights than ted kennedy. he said global climate change was happening, and now he's changed his position on all of that to appease the right wing of his own party. this was a guy who wanted to let detroit go under, but was more than ready to bail out friends on wall street when they needed minneapolis. i think the republicans don't like him for a simple reasons. they don't believe a word he says, and he's been on both sides of big issues. >> so you were pasch of the kennedy campaign that beat him in massachusetts when he was on the other side of the issues. >> that's right. i went to

tonight, willard's new talking point is the politics of envy. but i think the only envy out there is his for president obama's job. and ron paul has been getting a free pass on his ugly, offensive views. tonight, that free pass ends. and dropping the bain bomb. newt's supporters release the full movie savaging romney's record as a job killer at bain capital. these republicans really don't like each other. >> worried we weren't going to have a job. >> i never knew if i was going to have a job when i came in the next day. >> romney and bain's cash rampage would ultimately slash jobs in nearly every state in the country. >> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. tonight's lead, the gop candidates are going south. in more ways than one. the gop hopefuls are racing around south carolina. we'll see if the bain bomb will finally blow up in willard's face. ron paul is trying to roll back 100 years of progress. you better believe he's going under the sharpton microscope tonight. but let's begin with what's up in what is going to be the battle of

and willard is barely seen as favorable.best alternative to president obama? joining me now, msnbc analyst richard wolffe, the author of "revival, the struggle for survival inside the obama white house." and nia-malika henderson, reporter for "the washington post." >> thanks. >> it's great to be here. >> is the republican party ever going to be able to unite behind just one of these candidates? >> well, at some point they'll obviously have to when this thing goes to the general. and that's what you see mitt romney already trying to look forward to. he's running this race like he's already in the general, like his opponent is already obama. but you have all these other candidates. perry, paul, gingrich and santorum fighting amongst themselves for a coal coalesced conservative base. this is a vote really that looks a lot like the huckabee vote in 2008. he got about 30% of the vote. of course, lost in 2008 to john mccain. he got about 33% of the vote. i think you'll be looking at a split vote going into this primary on saturday

what do you think willard is going to do?ght now, i think that romney has a problem in florida. and tomorrow night, i -- he would have to work to dispel that. and that is he really isn't connecting with voters. in north florida inever thought he would connect. north florida is kind of southern. i never thought he'd connect in my neck of the woods. in south florida he's got an immigration policy. he's gone so far on his immigration policy that he's allowed speaker gingrich to steal that issue from him. tomorrow night i think he's got to go on the attack. but the truth of the matter is it's hard from a guy who was kind of a -- he was a presum presumptive leader for a long time. he's the establishment candidate. now he's got to go on the attack and be attacking someone that he thought was going to be out of the race by now. so i think it's going to be very difficult because i think all gingrich wants to do at this point in time is to continue to make romney less comfortable in his skin. right now romney does not seem comfortable

willard, remember that auto industry bailout you opposed? >>> and the truth about jan brewer's tarmac incident. her story is now being contradicted. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. we are the house when it comes to the big game. yeah. it's his thing. i don't even participate. boom! here it comes! bring it back! bring it home! [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chilies, you get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better. [ british accent ] i host a book club. so sexy... vaga had no tolerance for such dastardly deeds. finally... [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chilies, you get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better. >>> a wounded newt is a dangerous newt. we'll go live to florida to see how gingrich is trying to drag romney back down. next. ♪ you and me and the big old tree ♪ ♪ side by side, one, two, three ♪ ♪ count the birds in the big old tree ♪ ♪ la la la [ male announcer ] the inspiring s

is this willard's to lose as unbelievable as that might have seem three or four months ago? >> no, i think it's very much up in the air. it's very fluid and republican caucus-goers have not decided what they want to do here. they will wait until they go into the caucus site and have a chance to talk to their neighbors before they make up their decision. activists are different than ordinary voters in both parties. they pay attention to the issues and weigh it and it illustrates that. >> joe, tomorrow night one of these will come out of here and, again, this is a caucus, there will be activists working and moving and pushing. when they come out of iowa and head to new hampshire, what message have they sent in this first of the voting in this whole season? what have they sent to the states and to the nation that comes behind iowa? >> it depends on who comes out ahead. now, if romney comes out ahead, i think the message that they are sending is, we're glad we're first. we think we have a winner, as was mentioned the activists really haven't had -- particularly among the republi

can anyone catch willard in this campaign? and newt oh newt, he's at it again. >> if you in fact talk openly and honest by about the failure of liberal institutions and the way they hurt the poor, there comes a sudden frenzied herd of people running racism. >>> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. rick santorum says we need a, quote, jesus candidate. i'm not buying what he's preaching. i'll get to him later. let's begin with the news that president obama's jobs crusade is working. let's take a look at this graph. it shows private sector job growth, these blue lines, represent job growth during president obama's time in office. he took over as the economy was shedding thousands of jobs. now, look, for 22 straight months, we've seen positive predict sector job growth. despite this, speaker boehner has the nerve to say -- both parties, this from a gop that refuses to even accept the word compromise? your idol, as i've read, was ronald reagan, and he compromised. >> he never compromised his principles. >> so did you comp

willard, you are not being serious. not serious about debating jobs plans, not serious about your tax returns. >> it's not for us to call on someone to release his tax records but it is an established tradition. i think it was a tradition initiated by then-presidential candidate george romney back in 1968. >> yeah, mitt, it's a family tradition. maybe the reason you haven't released those returns is they'd show the outrageously low taxes you paying. >> what's the effective rate i have been paying? it is probably closer to the 15% rate than anything because my last ten years, i've -- my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past rather than ordinary income or rather the earned annual income. >> 15% tax rate? that's much lower than the 35% rate applied to wages for those in the highest tax bracket. somehow, i don't think we will be hearing things like this any time soon. >> we are asking people like me to pay our fair share and i believe that most americans are willing to do their part. >> as i said, we

there's willard waving at a us. >> and tom brokaw in the foreground. >> we want to begin with the news. we have the winter storm making its way from the the midwest to the northeast. now we'll go to al upstairs with details on the story. hey, al. >> thank you very much, ann. we are talking about a big winter storm that's dumped anywhere from six to 12 inches of snow through the midwest. this is wisconsin where they are digging out. they have the snow shovels going. we have more to talk about.

we're not envious or jealous of your lifestyle and your success, willard. we're talking about fairness. that's why we're saying that even chris christie is right. let us know the rate you are paying. let us know the offshore stuff you are doing. let us know the bases in your life that you make these economic policy position decisions. i think the american people need to know the numbers are not as important as what you believe and what you do shows us what you believe. jerod bernstein and karnacki, thank you. >>> president obama delivers a big and surprising win to the progressive community. we'll have the story. >>> plus -- newt gingrich racially charged campaign. it's not what he was saying a few years ago. >>> and wisconsin governor scott walker, a media blitz to save his job. will it work? you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. are you crazy? i would never go out without my covergirl. i want to look natural, not naked! but look! with covergirl, all you need is 3 little things to make beauty powerful for you. lashblast for voluptuous volume, outlast

when willard mitt romney's father ran, he released 12 years. so is mitt romney saying, by that clip, that he's only talking about possibly when he becomes the nominee releasing one year? which he hasn't even filed yet which would explain why he wants to do it in april because he can file this april, pay a higher tax rate or do something to clean up what he's been doing for years, release one year and we never really get an answer as to how he was doing business as a candidate that we should be able to look at what he was doing. >> i think there 24 things. there are two potential loopholes here he's looking at. one is the timing issue. he was asked point blank in a debate, will you release your tax returns. he had rick perry saying to him, we need to know now and not after you are the nominee what's in there. he said, no, i'm going to wait until april and claimed there was some tradition of doing it around tax day. he wants the nomination sewn up before he does this. and then the issue in the clip with the one year thing. part of that may be the

it was scary pause it's 4:00 in the morning and there's willard's hair. "the help." >> oh, wow! >> oh, boy. >> i have had other jobs. there is no better show to work on than a morning show. you leave everyone. you have an education. i think it is the best job on television. >> and you have a lot of creative license. imagine me asking to get a colonoscopy on "today." i had a mammogram, too, but i draw the line at a pap smear. >> and you missed the time cue which is normal. we have to take a break. more of our walk down memory lane in a moment. first, this is "today" on nbc. >>> welcome back to "today" at 60, our celebration. our group has grown because we are now joined by some of our former news anchors, john palmer, faith daniels and margaret larson. >> and we have, by the way, some of the first women of today are here as well. the today girls, florence henderson, lee meriweather and estelle parsons. it's great to have you all here. >> great to be here. >> this is an historic group. wonderful to have you all in one place. we love to do toasts and eat on

that's pretty cool. [ applause ] and sat on willard scott's lap and gave him the check.'m telling you, every time i see him, he asks me to do it again. i do. i rub his head. the man loves it. it doesn't hurt anybody. come on. >> so here's the deal. we're early morning people at this show but a lot of people call in late. they decided to do this thing about careerbuilder.com. 20% of people arrive at least once a week late. >> that's a lot. >> a third of employers have fired people over -- >> chronic lateness. yeah. >> people sometimes blame things like the traffic, the weather. >> my dog ate my homework. >> here are some of the outrageous reasons. one woman thought she won the lottery so she was late. >> turned out she didn't. one guy had a philosophical problem. he thought his day should start at 9:00 even though his job started at 8:00. >> the guy, the commute, the workday started as soon as he left his house. >> the drive. >> one reason was he was watching the "today" show. we agree with that one. that one should be fine. >> another woman said she was talking to the go

. >>> i just want to say i would not be here doing this show if it was not for this man, willard scott. i love you. >> that's because i drove you here in my cadillac. you are wonderful. what a great trip on a great show. god bless all of us. >> thank you. >> good health and happiness. >> all right. thank you. we'll take a stroll down memory lane what it was like at different news desks. margaret, when you were here i understand it was not as comfortable for you at one point you were 7 months pregnant or so. >> no. i was on my last day before maternity leave having braxton-hicks contractions. >> i was here. >> i was subbing for katie on the show. bryant got ill that morning shortly before the show and i had to do the show. there i am. i look terrified because my blood pressure had gone through the roof. i had not prepared for his segments. i was by myself, just about to have a baby and i swear al roker never left my side. >> he was going to deliver the baby for you. >> lots of people have been pregnant on "today" but we thought i was going to be the one to deliver on the show. >> you ca

it was scary pause it's 4:00 in the morning and there's willard's hair.? >> i don't know. >> she was in "the help." >> oh, wow! >> oh, boy. >> i have had other jobs. there is no better show to work on than a morning show. you leave everyone. you have an education. i think it is the best job on television. >> and you have a lot of creative license. imagine me asking to get a colonoscopy on "today." i had a mammogram, too, but i draw the line at a pap smear. >> and you missed the time cue which is normal. we have to take a break. more of our walk down memory lane in a moment. first, this is "today" on nbc. whatcha lookin' for hon? ah, these new jeans i want. i've been looking everywhere. new blue jeans? oh, don't be crazy, i've got tons of blue jeans. frank! frank! get my jean bin, susie wants my jeans. no she doesn't. here we go. nice and loose. ohhh. those are loose, but i actually just ordered three pairs of this kind. ooooohhhh. oh. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay. hi. looking good! you've lost some weight. thanks! you noticed! you know these cloth

and willard is surging. the only problem, he's got a newtiny on his hands. poll after poll shows romney leading newt by double digits. he leads newt by 14 points in one. he's up by 15 in yet another. and a third one released just this afternoon shows him in a commanding 20-point lead over gingrich. and on the trail, hundreds of people are actually turning out for romney events. this looks like smooth sailing. this looks like he's got florida locked up. too bad newton leroy gingrich hasn't gotten the message. or should i say is ignoring the message. >> we will go all the way to the convention. i believe the republican party will not nominate a pro abortion, pro gun control, pro tax increase moderate from massachusetts. this is going to be a straight out contest for the next four or five months. >> four or five more months? wow! well, get ready, folks. looks like we're going to be seeing a lot more of this. >> i know the speaker is not real happy. speaker gingrich. he's not feeling very excited these days. i know. it's sad. >> he has a basic policy of carpet b

so now, you know, they are realizing they are not looking for a john willard or harvey lemire. they're looking for one guy and his name is james earl ray. boumediene v.so they found lotsf his criminal past. they learned a little bit about his biography and then they passed for a moment because they see this number 416 and suddenly realize that the number on the radio makes sense. this wasn't a radio he had purchased in person the day before he escaped from a maximum-security prison in missouri. as was required by prison walls come the edge of stamped in an indelible stamp on the house in the sugar prison i.d. number. the dataset the four-run the 416 was about. at this point, davis gone. he was in canada, let them in this house in toronto and getting a new alias for himself. people said well, he must've been really sophisticated, part of some shadowy international can pursue to get these ideas. but in canada come expressionless welcome to canada, we trust you. i you have to do with what we did here. he went to back issues of the newspaper, from birth notices that people born in

. >> willard mitt romney born in detroit in 1947.hild of an auto executive owho became the state's governor. >> only through political acts can [inaudible] desstruckive trends in america be reversed. >> shepard: his own live reaccept neld. is he named after his father's friend willard marriott the founder of the hotel chain. romney stopped using first name in kindergarten. his childhood friend ann would grow up to become his wife. they started dating in prep school. >> she a date with someone else. i said to that guy that brought her to the party i live closer to ann than do you. could i give her a ride home for you? he said sure. she have been going steady ever since. ♪ happy day ♪ >> shepard: mitt romney spent two years as a mormon missionary in france. while there, he was in a car crash so serious the first officer on the scene reported him dead. but romney recovered and returned to the states to earn undergrad degree from bringingham young followed by mba and law degree from harvard. as his family expanded, romney began his caree

actually it is willard mitt romney so his middle name is short for mitten. he beat rick santorum by over seven votes. and for the rest of the results, consult the cable news and/or internet for the past 24 hours. what does it mean? well, bachmann like secrist, out. ron paul is strong and yet disappointing third. santorum, left for surging. gingrich -- i mean, willard. >> we want to con fwrat late romney, the winner there. i am wondering why. >> i know you would be mad. >> i know that's a rhetorical question. >> meanwhile, with so much going on in iowa, thank god for the weevils to make sense of it all. >> look at this. >> check out these little guys. imagine they are iowa republicans who are showing up for caucuses. take a look at this. it is a representative of mitt romney who is going to the front of the room to promote his candidate. >> warning, don't ever expose a hollow graphic weebil. let's go to our senior correspondent in manchester. >> we need to get new political correspondent. bernard, welcome to the show. >> thank you, andy levy. >> what do you t