exactly right. i think at the end of the day, if we get our act together, we could prosper over the next decade. >> we have a busy night tonight. we'll be honoring football coaches and jack immelt along with t. boone pickens. >> what time is it? >> it's the end of "morning joe," right now it's time for "chuck todd". new nbc news marist polls shows newt gingrich showing no signs of slowing down and new leads in two. pivotal states, leading in double digits in florida. we'll go inside the numbers later this hour. and despite an onslaught from fellow republicans, newt gingrich kept his cool, avoids missteps at this weekend's iowa debate and that's the $10,000 question. did mitt romney hurt himself with an unusual, unforced error.

>> with so much dissatisfaction on both sides, what are the odds of a third party run? ron paul still won't rule it out. this morning we'll hear from one democrat who is saying yes. it's monday, december 12, 2011. let's get to my first read of the morning. from conservatives and tea party supporters, newt gingrich has opened up double digit leads over mitt romney in both south carolina and florida according to new nbc news/marist polls, to romney's 23%. a 35-point jump since april, ron paul in third with 9%. winner of the primary has gone on to win the nomination since 1980 and as our pollster says, newt is ahead any way you slice it. in a field reduced to three candidates, gingrich would get the support of 48%. romney, 30, paul, 12, in a two

way, gingrich jumps to 57. romney is at 33%. paul holds down newt more so than romney from a three way to a two way. gingrich leads romney, 44 to 29. these look very similar and that's a 38-point increase for newt from october and the three-way race, it's gingrich, 51, romney, 31 and paul 10. in a simple head to head, gingrich beat romney and not an impact here and it is a very similar, republican electorate. so if you want to understand, romney's problems with republican primary voters. take a look at this number on political ideology. 70% of likely primary voters in south carolina and florida call themselves conservative. only a quarter of voters apply conservative as an ideological description to mitt romney. yesterday on the trail in new hampshire, romney responded to those new nbc polls.

>> various once of us have led in the polls at one time or another. i think people are taking a very careful look because we are very, very committed as a conservative group of voters that we want someone we can nominate who will both beat barack obama and fix the country. six candidates faced off in des moines saturday in one of the two iowa debates that will be later this week. if you want to understand why gingrich has dominated in the polls, i think the most instructive moment at the debate was the exchange with romney in israel. earlier gingrich had called the palestinians a, quote, inventive people. saturday night he doubled down on that and listen to the response. >> someone ought to have the courage to tell the truth. these people are terrorists. they teach terrorism in their schools. >> i will exercise sobriety, care, stability. i'm not a bomb thrower, rhetorically or literally. >> it's important to have the

president of the united states with the courage to tell the truth, just like ronald reagan went around his apparatus to call it a soviet empire. >> i will tell the truth even at the risk of causing some confusion sometimes with the timid. >> sobriety versus newt gingrich saying i'm going to say things that may confuse the timid, almost calling romney timid for not saying the guts to say the things that gingrich says he will say. the republican electorate today in december 2011 and for the first part of 2012 is looking for somebody who will speak his mind more, who will not emphasize sobriety and that's what we're seeing in the polls and that's what we've seen over the last seven months. it's yet perceived, more confrontational candidate has done better than romney. that, to me, was the most clarifying moment of the debate on saturday night. meanwhile, romney, think, had this misstep and make an

unfortunate wager when he was challenged for a health care mandate of what he wrote in his book. here it is. upon. >> i'm just saying, you refer individual mandates, my friend. >> you've raised that before, rick, and you're still wrong. >> it was true then. it is true now. >> rick, i'll tell you what. $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> oh, okay. >> well, on sunday, democrats and some republicans including rick perry pounced. perry's campaign released this web video calling romney out of touch, a line perry repeated at every opportunity. >> driving out to the station i'm pretty sure i didn't drive by a house that anyone in iowa would even think about that a $10,000 bet was possible. holy mackerel, that's just a lot of money for most people, and i guess not for mitt. >> in new hampshire, romney

tried to save himself with a little bit of a joke. >> after the debate was over, ann came up and gave me a kiss and said i was great and she said a lot of things you do well. betting isn't one of them. >> was that the largest bet you've ever made? >> that's all i've got. >> in the rule of political gaffes, remember, a gaffe only ends up impacting you if it reinforces a narrative and that's happened to rick perry over and over again. why do his gaffes, for instance, get covered more than a mistake than another candidate might make. in this case, when romney is trying to seem in touch, it's a gaffe, that of course, democrats reenforces another narrative and even rick perry. >> ron paul spent much of the night going after gingrich's lapses and conservatism. why is he holding his fire on romn romney? >> the answer on "meet the press" was interesting. listen. >> think romney comes back a little more diplomatic. i think he handles himself a

little differently than newt and newt, you know, newt's living up to this. as a matter of fact, he's addressed the subject that he is a very determined person and it can rub people the wrong way. >> all indicating where he seems to be going after newt. the president laid out his case for a second term. he said voters will judge him, not against the almighty, but against the alternative in a "60 minutes" interview. >> it doesn't really matter who the nominee is going to be. the core philosophy that they're expressing is the same, and the contrast and visions between where i want to take the country and where they say they want to take the country is going to be stark. >> he defended his record saying he did not over promise. a new government would be tough. >> i always believed that this

was a long-term project, that reversion a culture here in washington dominated by special interests. it will take more than a year. it will take more than two years and it will take more than one term, it probably takes more than one president. i'm a persistent son of a gun. i just stay at it. >> back to the nbc news/marist poll, he's director of marist colleges institute for public opinion. so, lee, we've seen the top lines here, but this really is -- you use the phrase any way you slice it. so just, to me, i was stunned by how large the lead is for newt among the very conservative republican primary voters. in fact, one in five republican voters identify themselves as very conservative and he's leading by some, i believe, look at that, almost 50 points in florida. when you talk about

conservatives, 70% of electorate in both of these states pretty much, 50% saying they're tea party supporters, so that's where the energy is and that's where the votes are and that's where gingrich's support is, so romney's problem is seen as a moderate and seen as being out of step with where the electorate is going. so there is a feeling. that's why in these earlier polls he was never really breaking into the 20s nationally. now what we're seeing in all of these states and the four that we've done in nbc and marist, we see not only a surge for gingrich, but a decline for romney and that's really the problem, and i might make one other point on this. it's not just the gap. it's the intensity of support. gingrich's following is far more intensely committed to him than romney supporters are to romney. so there's a double problem going for romney right now. >> there was a similar one that we emphasized in our conversation last week, but i want to emphasize it earlier in

this poll and that is half of gingrich's supporters say their second choice is mitt romney. upon that's a big change from the other not mitt romney republicans that had surged previously. >> that's right. we've seen this accept ability factor and in essence, romney is the second choice of the gingrich people. if gingrich were to fade, don't expect it from someone else. it's not going to be going to a perry or bachmann or santorum or paul. if gingrich fades, romney's likely to be the beneficiary unless they keep slugging it out in these debates between the two of them and then there may be a ruffling of the feathers between them and greater animosity among the supporters. romney is the second pick among the gingrich people and you don't want to finish second where he'll come up down the road. >> it is helpful if he does have success at knocking gingrich

down a peg or two. his job rating is surprisingly strong in these two states and this is not what the conventional wisdom would have said. >> 44% in a very -- a supposedly red state in south carolina. the president leading both gingrich and romney, both in florida and both in south carolina. i assume you were as surprised by some of these numbers as i was. >> he's getting pretty much what he was getting nationally and that's surprising in terms of the president's support, but when you match him up against the likely rivals, either romney or gingrich, what obama is getting in these two things is he's getting what he got four years ago. he narrowly carried florida. he's ahead in florida, but his numbers is pretty much what he got. he's still in the mid-40s and that's where he ended up last time in south carolina. you have a tough republican

primary contest and as a result of that, you have a lack of republican unity right now. if that comes together don't expect president obama to carry south carolina this time when november rolls around. >> i remember right before november of 2008 there would be polls that show the president performing well in south carolina and then a team like all of the undecided vote went republican. >> yeah. that's the table for that occurring right now as well. >> look, the nomination for the republicans goes through south carolina and florida, the ticket for obama's re-election may go to florida. >> well, a couple of weeks off and then we'll start polling again right after the holidays. we'll talk to you soon. >> yeah. well, what's old is newt again, right? back in 1994 newt gingrich was the hero of the republican

party. why are aren't more members of the republican revolution, why aren't they backing their former leader? up next, we're hosting a class reunion of sorts, what gingrich's former allies are saying about him now, but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. busy day here, iraqi prime minister malaki visiting. he'll be in a press conference, lots of meetings and a wreath ceremony at arlington. ♪ ♪ when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief? try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back.

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newt gingrich made plenty of enemies as house speaker in the

mid-'90s and lindsay graham who led a coup in '98 admits he might be a kinder, gentler newt this time around. >> he's been out of government for a long time. he's matured as a person. he's reattached himself to his faith. we had a good conversation about energy policy, talked about the past. the coup started in my office so obviously the guy doesn't hold grudges, so i think he's leveled out as a person and all of us, even his worst critics would say that newt is a guy that can really hold the room, a very smart fellow. >> there it is. and congressman graham was part of the famous 1994 republican revolution. also coming into office that year, former virginia congressman tom davis acres familiar face in the show and former maryland congressman and later governor, bob ehrlich. thank you, all three. another class reunion. >> although scarborough would

say he had the best band. >> he had the only band to compete. let's get something out of the way. you're neutral. you're for governor romney? why did you pick governor romney over newt gingrich? >> i think we would all agree on that. i think as a manager, one, and that's a substantive issue. politically, as well, i think when it comes to the general election against president obama he will have the advantage of vis-a-vis newt with regard to moderates and independents. >> it's interesting, congressman tate, hearing mitt romney yesterday talk about, hey, i'm not the only one saying critical things about newt gingrich. look at the people who haven't endorsed me and here's exactly what he said. >> the most harsh criticisms of the speaker came not from people who have necessarily endorsed me, but from people who haven't endorsed me like congressman peter king, like senator tomko burn.

they have been very outspoken describing their own experiences. >> congressman tate, this does seem to be a theme what a whisper campaign, still in washington. >> we hear a few people speaking out, but it does seem like a whisper campaign. nobody seems to have liked speaker gingrich's management style. >> when we took over in 1994, you know, it had been 40 years. in my entire lifetime, i was 28 when i was elected so there was no playbook. there were speed bumps along the way and there were times when we felt the leadership side was more like the college lecture hall than the halls of congress. he was giving us books he would recommend, but at the end of the day there were big successes. budget was balanced for the first time in multiple years, maybe 60, 70 years, you had welfare reform. >> i think you have to put in condition text. a lot of accomplished.

>> is this a good strategy by romney at this point to point this out, because every time you point this out, then, like you just heard from randy here, he'll point out, hey, was there a balanced budget and there was welfare reform, and oh, by the way, he was the guy that was there that brought the republicans back for the first time. it emphasized a bunch of new positives. >> he brought them back and got the house reelected twice for the first time since the 1920s and it lasted only one term at that point. i don't think it's good because, look, the problem right now is what i call the anti-establishment base of the party and the establishment base. more of the establishment base criticizes him, it boils newt up to the alternative and that's what the race is about at this point. >> we all have great regard for newt's reelect. we saw the debates play out. and nobody's saying that he's a bad guy or he's not confident. nobody will say -- the issue is, though, this is the presidential election and it's who best to

beat president barack obama. a lot of us believe when you weigh the merits, it's romney. >> you were more in touch with some of the conservative base and the christian base. right now he's doing very well with evangelicals in iowa. here was his answer of infidelity in a weird way and we're all watching. everybody answers get and it culminates with speaker gingrich and here's what he said. >> i think that's a very, very important issue, and i think people have to render judgment. in my case, i said up front openly, i've made mistakes at times and i've had to go to god for forgiveness. i've had to seek reconciliation, and i'm also a 68-year-old grandfather and people have to measure who i am now and whether i'm a person they can trust. upon. >> like i said, i know you spent some time with the clinton coalition at the time, how would

evangelicals think of an answer like that? >> it's about repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation, and i think he talked about all three of those in that answer. several years ago he went on james dobson's radio show and talked about how he struggled with this and how he prayed. i think the american people are forgiving people. i think they'll look at his record and they'll judge that. from my perspective, both candidates, mr. romney and newt gingrich are great candidates and i would be proud to support either on the ballot. he's been straightforward on this issue. >> other thing he emphasized is his age. there is a huge age gap, senior republicans much more likely to be gingrich folks than younger republicans in these early states. >> not surprising, ron paul is doing surprisingly well. >> with the younger voters and it's sort of what i would call the baby boomer generation. >> exactly.

newt's old style in that way, as you said, but he's trying to say i'm the product of my experiences. he converted to catholicism after these issues and trying to put them behind him. i think there's a lot of forgiveness. look at bill clinton's, people are willing to forgive oversight. >> a lot that don't even remember newt -- >> this race may well be about visions of the country, which direction do we go and there's not a more articulate spokesman than gingrich. >> i want you to get a book plug in, governor. >> and it's funny. here's the -- >> i want to bring up -- the amazon description is funny here, and i want to read it because our nation has become one full of apologies and politically correct statement. it's time for the true map, and all right. >> i'm reading this, and i'm thinking well, then you should be a mitt guy and not eye romney guy. what i believe is the most

important moment of the debate, when he says i'm not going to be a bomb thrower and speaker gingrich says sometimes you'll tell the truth even if it makes people, confuses the timid. you're digging the gingrich line here. >> it's a common sense libertarian line and going back to the appeal with young people, by the way. that doesn't surprise me. i see this strong libertarian bent with young people. they'll come to the polls, by the way, and it will be an interesting question. >> there are only two on the ballot. >> bob was out of that tradition where romney will be a stronger candidate. >> yes. i have to leave it there. class of '94. very nice. you guys will become hot commodities. >> bob ehrlich, thank you all. >> pleasure. are you fed up with the ways of washington? there is a former big city mayor who is forming his own political party and one of the perks when

you form your own party, you get to be the presidential nominee. he's here to explain. which two former supreme court justices admitted publicly, at least, that they used to date each other. tweet me @chucktodd at the daily rundown. pre-1 pre-1981. i'd race down that hill without a helmet.

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we're seconds away from the opening bell and cnbc's becky quick is here. what is today going to be like? what is today? it's green monday. >> have you heard of this? this is made up. i used to cover "the wall street journal." suppose lead this is something ebay made up. it's supposed to be a busy

online shopping day. this is one of those made-up days all over the place, but i will tell you, chuck, that it will be an incredibly busy shipping day. fedex says today is the busiest shipping day of the year. they're expecting 17 million packages to move today. guess what? it's only 12 days to christmas and if that's not enough of a wake-up call for you, i don't know what is. i've got to get busy today, too. fedex does say this is the busiest shipping day if you want it to arrive on time. it doesn't have anything to do with shipping, shopping or green monday or anything. it's all about europe. on friday things looked pretty good. everyone said the eu summit sounded great. today they're second guessing themselves once again. it looks like the dow will open down 100 points when the bell rings in 30 seconds and that's because moody's and s&p says wait, this is noter inially enough. we'll have to revisit this and another day, it's all about europe.

>> these europeans love their meetings and summits, i have to say. >> don't they? >> becky quick. they're something else. thank you, becky. >> all right. ron paul won't rule out a third-party run for the white house, but by the way, a former democrat known for bucking convention is ready to jump in right now and he's creating his own party to do it. up next, rocky's road to the white house. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. i love the holidays.

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listen to congressman paul's exchange with david gregory yesterday on "meet the press." are you ruling out a third-party run at any point? >> i have no plans to do that. >> are you ruling it out? >> i -- i'm not going rule anything out or anything in. i don't talk in absolutes. i am not even thinking about it. >> but you won't rule it out completely. >> i have enough on my plate right now. >> dodged it every which way you can dodge it. rocky is the -- he's announcing the the creation of a new political party, the justice party and he plans to make a bid for the president himself under that panel. mr. mayor, thanks for joining me here this morning. this party, you're a former democratic mayor of salt lake city. you're someone who at one time endorsed mitt romney in massachusetts. >> you worked together --

>> but tell me, ideologically where you're running from, this justice party if it's planning to be the left of the democratic party where the party is today. >> we have great cross pf partisan support for the justice party because people fundamentally know that the system is broken, and i'm talking about both the electoral system and the system of governance. zee this dysfunctional impasse here in washington, d.c., and it's all hurting the american people, and then in our electoral system, we know the corrupting influence that money has on our system that's got to come to an end and if it means the constitutional amendment, so be it. we're talking about revolutionary changes in terms of the way we elect our people in this country. >> are you only running on campaign finances? >> i hear you and it's a huge,

sort of emphasized story and the public doesn't ever seem to be as engaged in it. >> i think only because it's presented to them in the abstract with this campaign finance, but when you think about the financial fraud that led to the economic upheaval from which we're still suffering, people all over the world are suffering, why is it that not one person responsible for that financial fraud has served a day in prison yet. president obama received more from wall street in his last election than any presidential candidate. they bought and paid for both congress and the white house, why is it that we don't see international leadership on climate change and a good energy policy? it's because of the money from the fossil fuel industry. it has infected our government at every level. why is it that we are the only industrialized nation without decent, essential health care for all of our people? >> it's because of the corrupting influence of money.

we know that if it was the public interest rather than these narrowed special interests that were being served here in washington, things would be very different and we'd have the government that serves the people and wouldn't be investing in the future of the country with the infrastructure and education rather than spending these massive amounts on antiquated weapons systems, for instance and both the republicans and democrats are in collusion when it comes to that kind of wasteful spending. >> who are you supporting? >> i wouldn't endorse president obama. i basically predicted. i told people, i don't think we can trust him, but i voted for him. >> when you say you could aren't trust him on what? >> first of all, i on eye think he had a very undistinguished record in the illinois legislature and then right -- pretty undistinguished record in

the united states senate. voted consistently for full funding for occupation in iraq. when he later ran as being an anti-iraq war candidate. he promised before he received the democratic nomination that he would join the filibuster, immunity from the telecom companies under the bush administration. as soon as he received the nomination, he not only didn't join the filibuster, he voted for that immunity. who else in the country gets congress to grant them retroactive immunity for felonious contract opinion that's the kind of being, the basis of it is the corrupting influence of money. >> you told me before the break you were limiting your contributions to $100. that's right. their 100 per person to our

campaign. political party, there is a new rule, that the fcc allows new, limited funds and the americans elect this other group that will have another line on the ballot. >> $22 million. >> not released everyone who has made doning as to them, i don't think. or at least specific amounts of money. are you going to take unlimited amounts of money, at least this party to get on the ballot if that's what's necessary? >> the party will disclose contributors and it's a $5 million donation? >> it's not me. it's the party, the justice party and by the way, we'll be announcing it at 2:00 at the daughters of the american revolution. that party is dedicated to getting on the ballot and being -- this isn't just about this election. this is about a long-term movement that we're building up and representing the public interest and making it clear that there is a very different way in this country and we can do it without the corrupting

influence of money. >> rocky anderson, former mayor of salt lake city. >> thank you for your venture. >> the state makes it very difficult. >> there is a perfect storm brewing and we can do it. >> we'll be watching. the political panel joins me next. >> they're always concerned about this next issue. the soup of the day, monday, really cold outside. new england clam chowder. that's a good soup for a cold day. we had to mind our soup sources. they tried to pretend it was tomato and we weren't taking it. you're watching msnbc. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers?

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break into the top, tier candidates not named mitt romney and newt gingrich, it's hard to tell the two apart. >> if you look at newt-romney, they were for cap and trade. if you look at newt-romney, they were for the illegal immigration problem. >> if the two folks are leading the polls right now really couldn't find much difference between them. they're consistently inconsistent. >> they're not consistent. they've more or less admitted that they've changed their positions. it's not that they're in denial.

>> dan is the washington journal chief correspondent and michael steele is a former chairman of the republican party. michael steele, let me start with you, i think the biggest favorite myk a factor in iowa in about two weeks. romney, i thought, didn't really help himself at the end of the day. i mean, the $10,000 bet, the twitter feeds were just blowing

up with that, and i think he really has to do a little bit more to distinguish himself. newt had what he had to hold, and i think he's in a strong position going into iowa. >> it's interesting, another big debate moment was some of the gingrich retorts. we knew this was going to be about him. basically, the moderators invited romney to throw out their criticism and one of the ones he went early with is career politicians spending your life in washington, and of course, newt shot back. >> well, we have a little bit of a tape issue, but dan said let's be candid. the only reason you didn't become a career politician is because you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. he immediately wanted to respond to that. what's the response? >> he wanted to work his way around it as best he could.

>> the nfl line wasn't bad, but it is a reality. he's -- he tried to get into politics in 1994, and i think that, you know, as people talked about. that moment is going to come back to people. this question of where were you in '94. >> thank you. it's the where were you in '94. where was newt gingrich in october of 1994. what was mitt romney saying about his republican credentials? >> i think what's going to happen is this is the reason newt gingrich is rising and it's because people look at him and he is a conservative worrier is baked into who he is, right? >> back in '94, what was romney doing? he was trying to run a more moderate campaign in massachusetts, and so i think that there is -- there's an issue that people are calling newt gingrich a candidate again and every four years someone supposedly gets the candidate, but newt gingrich in '94 is what

the republican party remembers. they don't remember the extraneous stuff that are liabilities for him. >> it it appears to be to emphasize the chaotic nature of his four years of leadership? >> michael steele, but again, you heard randy tate up here say don't forget, we also did x, y and z. you hit him for the four years, but there are accomplishments that happened that conservatives will be happy with. it's not a full, clean negative. >> it's not a full, clean negative and that's what the advantage newt has. a lot in this town are scratching their heads and hesitant to get out in front of attacking him because there is a good narrative there, as you said. a lot of conservatives have baked it into the overall story. they like the fact that he was on the front line, righting the democrats in congress and pushing the agenda, that goldwater agenda where they

pushed back over 40 years who will have his argument on his side and that's his strength right now. >> dan, the other thing that's fascinating about this race is nobody is doing a grassroots campaign in iowa outside of ron paul. >> correct. nobody. >> if david broeder were here, he would tell us ron paul will win iowa. >> i don't think david broeder would predict that ron paul would win -- >> there you go. i think he would be saying -- he was always an emphasizer of what do you see and what you see is different from what it looks like. >> right, but if everybody is in that same boat, no one has an advantage. ron paul clearly has an organization that will allow him perhaps to outperform some of the poll numbers and ron paul has a clear ceiling there and other places. >> we will talk more about paul and this race right after the race. tribute time. we can which former supreme court justices used to date each

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let's bring back the panel. let's talk about ron paul here a little bit and the factor he's playing in our polling at least in south carolina. he does hurt newt more than romney in a two-way versus a three-way. there's this fear of a third party. you heard lindsey graham say pleeps don't it. concerned enough about keeping this libertarian wing of the party in the fold rather than out. where is ron paul's head? >> it's hard to tell because he's an he can seven trick candidate. his motivation is to try to convince republicans that he really is part of the party and that they ought to make him part of the party. the party has moved in his

direction on some of these issues. >> he talked about it at the debate. >> the federal reserve and he has everybody brought in on that. i think he wants the recognition that he's been able to do that. i also think that he wants to have enough delegates that he can play at the convention and have some influence on the flat form so those issues he talks about become more embedded in the party platform. ij he's thinking about the future of his son, the senator. >> and probably a future presidential candidate himself. >> probably so. to go third party could cause a real problem. >> could hurt rand paul. what's interesting also, liz, was to see ron paul basically say -- ask why it's aamamazing me he's attacked everybody but mitt romney. >> what he and his romney people in internal poll is ron paul and

newt gingrich share some of the same supporters. i've wondered is this a stocking horse kind of thing for mitt romney. does ron paul go as far as he can go and drop out of? >> he lowers the winning number in some of the states. >> it's going for plurality in a lot of places. i was surprised by the fablgt that he they say there's overlap between newt supporters and ron paul supporters. i wouldn't have guessed that. >> it's the tea party. sort of the ron paul supporter, michael steele, is the most outraged by the system. >> they're driving this entire process up to now and latched on to newt. their second choice is, guess who? mitt romney. that's an interesting dynamic, and the romney people are aware of that, and they know that the link here that can kind of pull that number is -- >> first negative ad against newt in iowa didn't come from a super pac. it came from ron paul. >> i got a piece on my website

about "occupy wall street" and the tea party and how they're twin sisters. >> candidate week at "the washington post." bill profiles every day about the republican candidates. >> rick perry today. tomorrow? >> michele bachmann. >> i'm going to give a shout out to my friend been capper the commending officer and his crew. >> i'm hearing the whistles from here. that's it for this edition of" daily rundown." see you back here tomorrow. at 1:00 don't miss "andrea mitchell reports." bye-bye. [ coughing continues ] [ female announcer ] more pollution from power plants means more childhood asthma attacks. [ labored breathing ] there's technology that makes the air cleaner, but too many plants don't use it. we can't wait.

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good monday morning. making his case for another four years, a defiant president obama says he's ready for any candidate the republicans can throw at him. >> it doesn't really matter who the nominee