away. mitt romney is racking up new votes while newt gingrich is still pushing. we'll have a chance to speak to jessica lynch about the pullouts of troops from iraq and whether she thinks it was all worth it. hi, everybody. hope you had a great weekend. welcome to msnbc. i'm thomas roberts, and we start with the global stage and how this man was considered an unpredictab unpredictable, global tyrant. we're talking about kim jong il and he is being treated by the country and the media as a moment of great sadness. take a look. so before this tearful announcement, north korea reportedly fired short-range missiles that fell into the north korean sea. that and concerns over the country's nuclear program has

the international community on high alert this morning. we're going to start with team coverage with nbc's adrian long. let's start with the facts we're hearing about kim jong il's suck so he is -- successor and what the response has been in morning. >> within hours of kim jong il's death, the korean government also released a statement saying that his son, kim jong un, had been designated the great successor. this is also confirmed just this evening here in beijing when the chinese government, while expressing its condolences to the people, also made a statement pretty much with a vote of confidence in kim jong un, saying he hoped he would be able to steer the country forward and continue to strengthen it. as you alluded torques there is

-- to, there is anxiety about who this young fellow is. he's 26, 27 or 28. it's not clear how much of a grip he has on power. the succession transition has actually been under way for almost two years. his father had started moving the pieces on the chess board, as it were. they held elections, they basically tried to eliminate any opponents to keeping the family as head of state, and he was given the rank of general, four-star general. he's also been designated the head of the funeral committee, which will be overseeing all the arrangements for his father's funeral and burial next wednesday. back to you. >> adrian, you say that he is the third youngest son, somewhere in his mid to late 20s. what do we know about the older children and why they were overlooked? >> well, we don't know much about the middle child, the middle son, but the eldest son who would been examined to take over, it turned out he was not the right character.

he spent most of his time spending lots of money, enjoying himself in places like makau gambling, to is looks like it will be the middle son. >> adrian long this morning. we went to what the presidential candidates say about kim jong il's death. mitt romney saying it's an opportunity to turn the country from the treacherous course it's on, and gingrich saying they must pay attention to their nuclear bombs and their wmd program. mitt romney just released this statement saying, the death does not automatically end the reign of human tyranny he and his father constructed. i want to go live to kristin walker. kristin, explain to all of us how is the obama administration reacting to the death, something north korea basically held as a state secret for roughly two days, and now we have this word about their test missile firing into the north korean sea.

>> that's right. hi there, thomas. first to that missile you talked about. the white house is not officially responding to that, but i can tell you officials with knowledge of the matter believe it may be a pre-planned test or possibly a show of force in the wake of kim jong il's death. either way, the bottom line and the takeaway point here is that those officials do not believe this was a provocative action. so that's really the key here. white house officials are monitoring the situation quite closely, and they came out right after they learned about the death of kim jong il with a statement, and we want to read that for you. the statement says, quote, the president has been notified, and we are in close touch with our allies in south korea and japan. we remain committed to stability on the korean peninsula and to the freedom and security of our allies. now, thomas, taking a look back a few weeks ago, you remember president obama was at the apex summit and talked about the fact that the united states would be increasing its engagement in the region, in the asia pacific

region, so this is certainly a region that the united states feels as though it has a great stake in and they will be watching the developments there quite closely in the coming days and weeks. thomas? >> nbc's kristin walker at the white house. thank you, kristin, we appreciate it. with less than a week to go on christmas, there is a showdown on capitol hill on a vote to extend the payroll tax holiday. speaking just a short time ago, speaker john boehner said he expects the house to vote it down and vote to formally go to conference. he called the senate's two-month extension a short-term gimmick. >> all of this needs to be done in the right way. you know, i've been around here for a while. i've seen conference kick the can down the road, kick the can down the road. it's time pho stop tto stop the. >> let's join luke grussert. let's take a look at the senate bill itself. it extends the payment tax

holiday by two months, extends the doc pifix, and the presiden must decide on the keystone pipeline within 60 days, and it's paid for by higher transaction fees for fannie mae and freddie mac. is there anything else on this? >> the house bill went to unemployment benefits. it went from 99 weeks eventually down to 50 weeks. that's why you saw it taken out of the final senate bill. also, you see a real want of the keystone pipeline. that survives both in the house and the senate, but really the issue you mentioned was the timing. republicans are very reluctant to do a two-month extension in the house, because they feel it's against the president. they could run against it and essentially proclaim victory

once there would be a year-long passage that would go forward in february. but this action by the house, thomas, also took a lot of people by surprise. remember, the senate two-month bill was passed by 90% of the united states senate, including the entire gop leadership. let's listen to what chuck schumer said about the gop. >> trying to negotiate with speaker boehner is like trying to nail jello to the wall. we negotiated and negotiated and negotiated, and every time you negotiate, speaker boehner gets his caucus on the phone and says, never mind. >> thomas, there you hear from senator schumer the difficulty in these negotiations because the house gop conference is ndit like the payroll tax cuts from the beginning, saying there should be more tax reform than just a temporary fix. they see this two-month deal as a temporary fix, they want the whole year. what's going to happen tonight, will the senate vote down that

bill, and then nobody knows what the next step will be. they said the senate will not come back into session, they've done their work, the house gop wants to go to conference as a procedural tactic where conferees from the senate and the house get together and try to hammer out some of the differences. it happens a lot, but with this congress, it's amazing and kind of surprised a lot of people that right before christmas, a payroll tax cut for 160 working americans is right now up in the air. >> they love the drama. luke russert for us on capitol hill. mitt romney is hoping to use big money and a big endorsement from the des moines register, and ron paul expected to finish big in the state. they have put the gingrich camp on the defensive. jennifer, the des moines

register has not always picked the winner in iowa, but it's been a good recent indicator who the republican nominee will be. so do you think the romney cash infusion is going to give him the boost that he need. >> there is definitely a lot of insiders that say it going to make our most conservative linemen, so you determined the political rate. i want to highlight your last point, which is lack of organization for gingrich. how does this work in two weeks? >> you have to have the right message, but if you don't have the names and phone numbers of those people on caucus night and call those people and say, we're counting on you to be there, you're going to disappoint us if you're not there, it's really hard to win the caucuses.

and it's not all that clear to us how good gingrich's ground game is, but we know he only has about 20 of those precinct captains, and those are really critical to reaching out to people on the ground. >> let's get really quickly about the mood of the people. your thoughts? >> some say a ron paul win could ruin the caucuses. there was talk about that last time, though, when it didn't go anywhere. and john mccain went on to win the candidacy. if ron paul doesn't win, it's an indication of the voters. we want to get more on our candidates from the panel that's been associated.

susan del pursio. here's look at this all-out media twends for romney? here he is attacking newt gingrich. take a look. >> republicans came together to propose a program to make sure medicare was extinguishable. the world watched, saying, how are we going to have progress? he cut the legs out from underneath a very important message. >> so strong argument there, but is that enough to cut the newt momentum? >> it's been showing that it is because it's not just his message, it's also the message of the super packs that are killing him out there. what people wanted to see from romney is could he throw a punch? he clearly has, and it's clearly landed on newt because he's sinking in the polls already. i think the voters there as well

as nationwide is seeing that romney can throw a punch, which is important. >> he's been a little different, maybe a little maverick about this, launching into discussions about brain science now attacking the courts yesterday. take a look at this. >> one of the things you say is if you don't like what a court has done that congress should subpoena the judge and bring him before congress and hold a congressional hearing. how would enforce that? would you send the capitol police down to arrest him? >> if you had to. or you instruct the justice department to send the u.s. marsh marshal. are judges part of the institution or one of the three branches? >> it has to be the type of talk they love to hear coming from newt gingrich. >> this is classic newt gingrich. he loves to say these explosive things. here's a guy that instead of campaigning two weeks before the

iowa caucuses is spending his weekend in washington, d.c. which has no relevance to what's happening in the caucuses. he has no organization there. he just opened up an office a few weeks ago. the guy is not serious about running for president. a lot of people suggest this is a boom campaign or book signing tour. i think it probably is. i don't think he seriously thinks he's going to be the nominee. >> real quickly, who do you think, iowa? >> mitt romney. >> keith? >> i would say romney or ron paul. >> i want to thank both of you. the last american troops left iraq, but that is not the end of the u.s. presence there will. former hero jessica lynch. she joins us to talk about her harrowing rescue. what could have led this man to allegedly set a woman on fire in an elevator? we asked him to be part of an experiment to prove that febreze air effects

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america's presence in iraq may technically be over, but some do remain. they went out just before dawn on sunday morning. nbc's richard engle was with them. >> until lights appeared, the kuwaiti border and the crossing began. >> it is the last of sunrise in kuwait as the last of american troops leave iraq. some are waiting, others taking pictures of this moment, the moment the iraq war ended. >> moments later, the gates to iraq were shut. one vehicle got special attention, the last of the last to exit iraq. >> the nearly nine-year-long

conflict claimed the lives of nearly 4500 soldiers. among them david hickman when a roadside bomb destroyed his truck. hickman is believed to be the last u.s. soldier killed in the war. my next guest knows a thing or two surviving that very war. first class jessica lynch was captured. they safely got her out in a harrowing rescue that we all witnessed. private jessica lynch joins me now on the telephone. jessica, it's nice to speak to you today. >> hi. thanks so much for having me on. >> now that the war is officially over and your fellow servicemen and women are coming home, what are your thoughts, especially from the standpoint that you survived this war? >> i am just so thankful these troops are getting to come home, especially around the holidays. it's such a joyous time to have your family home and to be with their loved ones. >> jessica, at the time the

story broke, the story of your rescue, that is, was used to bolster public support for a war that was unpopular. you were hailed as a hero. looking back on this, what do you make of that sentiment now? >> you know, honestly, i don't have any heartfelt feelings or anything. i just kind of let it be in the past. i've set the record straight so many times, and i stood in front of congress, and i've let the world know that i'm not a hero. i was just a 19-year-old soldier over there trying to do my job just like the 100 other thousand. so i don't feel like i did anything heroic. >> certainly in the eyes of this country, we respect the work and the time you served in our u.s. military. there are exactly 4,474 of our american service members that have been killed during this conflict, official combat deaths. i was reading somewhere that you do have some flashback issues when you think about your time

served. also, do you carry with you any survivors' guilt when we talk about and reflect over this conflict? >> i do, honestly. i still have, like, flashbacks and nightmares and everything that goes with, you know, such a traumatic injury. i still have all of those. it's still an everyday occurrence. as far as the survivors' guilt, i do, i really do have that, because, you know, my best friend was riding in a vehicle with me, and i survived and she didn't, and it's just one of those, you know -- you don't ever see any of your comrades go, but especially your best friend and, you know, not being able to bring her home with me was one of the worst possible scenarios that i had to deal with. >> jessica, i want to talk, though, about how life has changed for you over the last

ten years. you're now a mom. you recently graduated from college, the whole reason you got into the service to begin with, to get scholarship money so you could graduate. explain to all of us, what do you want to do next with your life? >> i actually want to continue on with schooling and go ahead and get my master's. i think education is so important, especially in today's economy. so i figure, you know, i'm going to go ahead and, you know, because being a schoolteacher, which is what i graduated with, my bachelor's, i want to continue on with my education and since schooling doesn't open up until august again, i have quite a few months to kind of just travel and prepare what my next steps are and keep on dreaming and creating goals for myself. >> well, we're seeing the fantastic pictures of you in your cap and gown, so congratulations. i know you're a reluctant hero with what you experienced with your capture, but you are a hero

as a service member, no doubt, to this country. so jessica lynch, thank you for your time this morning. i appreciate it. >> thank you, i appreciate t. >> best of luck in your future for you. the leak to wikileaks is preparing a defense. they said don't ask, don't tell made him mentally unstable. bucks county governor deciding to let the school president keep his job for now. we'll talk to an alum of florida university, saying rick scott out of line. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one.

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but defense lawyers say he was under distress as a gay soldier under don't ask, don't tell. mick, why does manning's defense team, or why are they admitting there isn't any guilt here? what's behind this strategy? >> well, the defense, not surprisingly, is trying to turn it around and put it all on the army. they're arguing that this material, hundreds of thousands of documents, were leaked primarily because of the army's lax security over those intelligence matters. and they also point out that the army knew that bradley manning was suffering from what's called gender identity disorder, that he sometimes dressed as a woman and had a facebook under the name of brianna. they knew all that before they ever sent him to iraq. now, some would argue that that probably should have disqualified him at that time because of that kind of emotional stress from undertaking that sensitive intelligence job. so, again, they are trying to

turn it all back on the army. but the fact is, according to prosecutors, they have hard evidence on hard drives, thumb drivers, computer disks and the like that allegedly bradley manning downloaded hundreds of thousands of cables classified, which eventually ended up on wikileaks and that's what he's charged for. >> and mick, within pentagon circles, is this a believable or a substantial type of defense to level here? >> well, whether it holds any weight in the long run probably not. but any good defense lawyer is going to try to chip away at the prosecution's case and also gain some kind of sympathy for his client. but i can tell you, in dealing with the military and this massive loss of classified material, we're not detecting much sympathy for bradley manning at this point in these proceedings. >> nbc news chief correspondent

mick. thank you. on the move from north korea. we'll have more on the fallout of kim jong il's passing and what comes next. plus, is iowa headed for a six-way tie? in just two weeks when iowa holds its caucuses, analyst mark mckinnon pulls out his crystal ball to help us with this one. that's next. discover neosporin® lip health™. shown to restore visibly healthier lips in just 3 days. neosporin® lip health™. rethink your lip care. helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health.

reaction is pouring in from all over the globe to the death of kim jong il with world leaders calling him everything from a tyrant to a comrade. what are the reaction of kim jong il's passing? director of the washington institute and former senior director at the national security council. michael, good to see you this morning. what are the immediate concerns for the south korean government and our role as their key ally now? >> well, certainly no one, thomas, is going to be mourning the passing of kim jong il, but

his death in such a sudden way does bring on significant dangers. his son, kim jong un, who is his sort of chosen successor, has had very little time to prepare for taking over power, especially compared with his father, and he's not reputed to be very bright or very much, really, in control, so there's questions as to does he have the support of the military? does he have support of even his own family? does he, you know, have support of the north korean people who we can't leave out of this, and i think the answer to the last is no. so you're looking at different scenarios. i think that will be the folks inside government between our governments in south korea and japan will be doing. the first scenario you have to be worried about is first does kim jong un, the successor, take some bold, progressive step to try to prove himself, as it were. second, there is a power struggle that goes on, say, between kim jong un, the son, and the generals who were in charge of his father. and the third is estate

collapse. does this thing fall apart without kim jong il to hold it together? >> what are the chances that kim jong il had something in place, kind of a mission of going forward, for his son kim jong n un to take over. he's a 20-something we don't know much about. what are the chances there is a mandate that's been laid in place for him? >> it looks like that's what his father was trying to do. that's what kim jong il was trying to engineer when he designated him 15 months ago publicly as his successor, and there was this sort of formal show of loyalty by the generals. but the reality, thomas, is that very little time has passed. again, when kim jong il took over from his father in 1974, he had had years of being by his father's side, running battles and so forth, and doing the types of things that will gain you the loyalty of the military. kim jong il was also sort of a

self-confident and reputedly an intelligent person despite his depradations. we have none of that in place with kim jong un, so i think whatever he tries to do, there are questions of whether it will actually hold together. >> michael great to see you. thank you. >> thanks a lot, thomas. here's a look at other stories topping the news for you. egyptian soldiers opened fire on protesters in tahrir square, killing at least three people and bringing the death toll since friday to 14. violence has been raging in cairo when military forces began cracking down on a three-week old sydet. a woman was dragged by egyptian soldiers. her friend says she wants to remain unanimous. she was treated for leg and head wounds. a man who allegedly killed a woman after setting her on fire in a new york city elevator said he did it because she owed him

$2,000. jerome isaac was arrested yesterday on murder and arson charges. surveillance video shows the suspect inside the elevator with a canister sprayer, white gloves and a dust mask just moments before he allegedly attacked delores gillespie. there is going to be snow in colorado, new mexico and kansas. 16 inches of snow could fall in some areas, with wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour. the storm will move to detroit areas roughly by tomorrow. 15 days before the iowa caucuses, and mitt romney is waging an all-out media blitz, putting the pressure on speaker newt gingrich. >> he has been unreliable in those settings, and zainny. i wouldn't think you would call it a particularly good idea. >> he's going to be on the late

show with david letterman tonight, and you can see more of him as he makes his final call to conservative voters. when will he be on our show, tomorrow? "morning joe" tomorrow. at least you know where he's going to be in the next couple of days, so that means you get to be in-house briefly. explain what this means for his push in iowa, because a lot of people said he's bakesically be absent there, but some strategists say that's been our plan all along. >> second place in iowa, i think they still see that as a victory. that's not a state they felt they had to win this go-around. none of these guys who are with him in 2008 have forgotten how they sort of got caught off guard by mike huckabee. they didn't see that surge coming and by the time they responded to him, it was too late. in terms of pushing back against newt gingrich, they're going to do that fairly aggressively.

no one will say they got caught off guard by it. >> when they say the fact he was caught making all the rounds, hitting key spots. >> it was sort of planned in the sense of this is the closing arguments. there was a time when, in august and september, they didn't want to have him out there altogether time. they didn't want to win the election at that time but they certainly didn't want to lose it. now they're showing different sides of him. they don't want this to be all business with mitt romney. that's not what you'll get on the late show, i wouldn't imagine. >> great to see you. thank you. newt gingrich is back in iowa today to meet face to face with voters and he's picking up another key endorsement. that and former oklahoma congressman j.c. watts who served with gingrich in 1994. meanwhile, gingrich is brushing off one of the big endorsements, the des moines register, an

influential newspaper. >> a conservative newspaper endorsed me. the des moines register, which is a liberal newspaper, did not endorse me. i think that indicates who the conservative in this race is. >> alex mo is following the gingrich campaign for us. the former speaker spoke with thousands of supporters in iowa via conference call this weekend. is that a sign that his support is slipping there, that he's trying to make these all-out efforts while he's not there, but make these all-out efforts to make the connection? >> well, the former speaker is getting hammered every day here in iowa by negative ads, so he felt he needed to do that conference call to ask any questions that iowans have. with just 15 days before the caucus, he's seeing a little bit of slipping in some recent iowa polls, but he hopes with these endorsements like with former watts he got today and some other endorsements this week

that he can pick back up and still win the iowa caucuses. he's also going to be doing a bus tour after the holidays here, so he's hoping that even though he's seeing some slipping now that he'll be able to reaffirm to iowans that he can win here. >> six different candidates are taking six different approaches to connecting with voters in iowa. this might be one of the closest contests we've seen. the vice president of hill and notion strategists and contributor to "the daily beast." for weeks this story is should mitt romney jump into iowa. we go to today and we see pack ads, romney visiting as early as friday. in this jum beble of candidates that's out there, do they have a general expectation of the candidates out there. >> i think they have an expectation that doing a little

bit, they can not raise expectations too high but still come in second and third. for them that wouldn't be bad. they've tried to tread a very thin line between raising expectations too high and not playing at all. but it's increasingly looking like this could be literally a five or six-way sort of train wreck coming out of iowa where nothing is really decided. i think it's quite possible ron paul will win iowa with something in the low 20s or 25% of the vote. but you can see how someone would get over 25 and no one will get under 10. there is a possibility that michele bachman is gaining. there is a case here where you could see them coming. >> you're piecing the daily beast with george mcconnell

takes with talks could win in iowa because of the organization there. does a ron paul win in iowa leave the door open to win the color and help dampen my spirits. >> on the other hand, if romney could win iowa, which they had. ron paul winning iowa leaves om the possibility that -- other things could happen. he could take her campaign to central iowa. that creates an opening for john huntsman. he's all by himself when everyone is focused? iowa, and your message has a very attractive message both to them and what he would call

consistent american voters in new hampshire. we're looking at a draw of entertainment and a draw of experiment for you giz. i think we played newt gingrich showing the dressing of. did newt gingrich do this or is this just about a book tour? >> i always thought newt gingrich was keeping newt, inc engaged and keeping the speaking up. i suspect this has caught him a little by surprise and a little flat-footed as we're seeing in his organization efforts. i think i always said he should be president, would also be president, but i do think that his attack on the judges and the judicial system right now is a

very strategic. and it could get him far in iowa. >> thank you, mark mckinnon. why so many war vets may have a hard time finding work than their non-military friends, and what's being done to help them. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ le announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult.

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as american forces return from iraq, legions of veterans will be looking for work, but the hard reality between military and citizen life is that jobs are hard to find. employment for veterans aged 20 to 24 hit 30% this year. that's up 9% since july of 2010. how can we prepare for the vets that will hit the work force? director of votevets.org visits

us now. it's not only an asset but a prerequisite if you want to get advanced. what's changed in a short period of time? >> it's essentially the war. the job they used to employ veterans was essentially iraq and the conflict. what happened after vietnam, we decided we weren't going to draft people anymore, so unlike in the prior wars where we drafted people, in this war we used the national guard and the reserves. right now we're on a cycle with our national guard and reservists where they go to war once in every five years. for small businesses it's essentially catastrophic. yes, those jobs are protected by federal law, but i had a soldier that came home and he wasn't even sure if his job would be there. if you're coming from the military, it's very difficult. our fire departments, policemen, someone who has greater

protection in the labor force. >> why is this private sector job and people with military experience, especially when it comes to hiring? >> right now no one is serving. the best thing america has done is the new gi bill which essentially gives everyone the right to go to college. as the economy changes and bends and moves, you're giving people skills, but a lot of the people coming back, yes, jp morgan chase is doing something to hire veterans, but we're talking about certain labor jobs. when you have those hard hats that lose their ear from congress that give the department of defense the ability when they leave how to become a carpenter and get a job in that work force, but you don't have federal funding for it, hey, that's a problem. there are lots of little niches out there for people who aren't going to go to college or they don't have a job when they go home because the economy overall

is poor. >> john, great to see you this morning. thanks for your time. >> thanks a lot. former a&m university president gets to keep his job despite the hazing death of a band member. is that the right decision? we'll discuss that more after this. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ yes. but lately we've been using k-y® intense™. it stimulates arousal so the big moment is...

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florida a&m university will keep his job, at least for now. this morning, school trustees jekted calls from florida's governor to suspend him as authorities investigate the apparent hazing death of a marching band member. the school's president has been criticized for not doing enough to stop the hazing. joining us today is florida congresswoman, careen brown. she is an alum nis of famu.

nice to have you. >> thank you very much. >> i want to start with your personal connections so everybody understands. as i understand it, you earned your bachelor's degree from famu. this is one of the most famous black universities in the u.s. how is this student's death and allegations of hazing impacted the institution itself and its reputation? >> first of all, let me just say that the entire florida a&m family, hearts go out to robert champion and his family. this is a sad situation and legal action is being taken place. but to single out florida a&m and historical black colleges, this is a problem that exists not just in historical black institutions and throughout florida and the country. i pulled a record is between schools with this problem and we need to address it.

a unique problem at florida a&m yufrts and let me also say that when you look at solutions, we need to look at, we don't just throw out, i've heard people say let's do away with the band. with sororities and fraternities. if you have a problem with a police officer, you don't do away with the entire police force. you correct it. that's what we need to do here. >> i think at many universities and colleges, hazing situations that go unnoticed, you're quoted as saying florida governor rick scott overstepped his bounds by calling for amonos to be suspended. why do you feel he overreached, if you look at the records, there are these incidents of hazing within the band itself. >> let's be clear.

florida has a board of trustees, a board of region, a board that regulates the institutions. and clearly for the government to step in like he did, jeopardizes accreditation status of florida a&m and that would be true of any school in florida. we have a trustee board that regulates the schools. we have a board, educational board that also educates the -- that regulates the higher ed institutions in florida. >> and you're saying that this really needs to be looked upon as how the culture of the institution, the marching band itself has been allowed to perpetuate. doesn't need to be disbanded, but needs to be investigated. >> and corrected. that's what we do. if you have a judge and that it's a problem with the judge, you don't dismantle the entire criminal justice system. >> as you make a great point, the hearts go out to the family.

>> and it's no winners with this. heart goes out to the entire institution. >> we understand your feelings on this, thanks for your time. i appreciate it. that's going to do it for me today. i'll see you back here tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. you can put a force field on him and be invisible! [ child 2 ] i call first player. no. i already called it. [ dad ] nobody's playing anything until after we get our homework done. thank you.

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speaker boehner called an audible on senate republicans this weekend and the payroll tax cut is in jeopardy. their explanation, it's not brink man ship. it's legislating. it's monday december 19th and this is now. joining me today from the nation and an msnbc contributor, ari melbourne. jackie kucinich covers politics for "usa today," msnbc contributor, meghan mccain is here and let's welcome karen bacon jr. his first appearance since