to go back to the damn table. it is our interest. it's not a favor to the palestinians nor to the arab world and not even to any president of the united states. so we need to do it, anyway. because the only way to preserve the values of the state of israel as a jewish democratic state, having these values living in harmony and not in contradictions is to end the conflict with the palestinians in accordance with two states with two peoples. and this is the only way to do it. the sooner the better. so i believe that this doesn't serve the interests of israel nor of the united states. >> what do you say to the republican candidates who are now accusing president obama in a critical point in this campaign going into this election year, they are saying that he is aban done israel by making these very points. >> you know, i'm not going to interfere or intervene in the elections in the united states. but i would say to them as i said to every israeli, to any israeli and to every american, it is our interests. i believe that any american president saying that two states for two peoples is an american interest as well as an israeli one is not an anti-israeli or pro palestinian. it's not a zero sum game anymore. pushing or supporting the idea of two states for two peoples doesn't mean that you're pro palestinian. it means then in an understanding of the situation in the region this serves the interest of both people of the jewish people here in israel and the palestinians as well. >> what about iran, the existential threat that many israelis, you included, feel that iran is becoming? does israel have the option of military action? israel's public is according to a survey that we're going to be talking about that you're familiar with, israel is divided almost right down the middle. 43 to 41 about whether to take military action against iran. >> basically i believe that this is not something for pause. i believe that this is a decision that needs to be made by the cabinet, the israeli cabinet. but basically i think that the right message now to iran is that all the options are on the table. and they need -- i believe that they need to hear it from israel and from the entire world. because iran is a problem not only to israel but to the entire world. the world cannot afford iran with nuclear weapon. and this is the message that they need to know why putting more effective sanctions today they need to know that all the options are on the table. >> you've been frustrated with the united states has not taken the next step, that british took, to sanction the central bank. >> yes. i believe that in order to be effective, talking about stages, sometimes it's not effective enough. and unfortunately, the iranians can understand or misunderstand any hesitation as weakness. and this is something that we cannot afford. and while we are talking here about iran, they continue in their attempt to achieve a nuclear weapon. so they're not stopping while we are talking about this. so time is of the essence. >> one of the points that defense secretary panetta made as well over the last couple of days is that it could backfire. that it's not in israel's interest right now to take military action because it would hurt the world economically in terms of the energy supplies, hurt the united states, but also it would backfire on israel that rest of the arab world and iran in particular would retaliate against u.s. forces, and that you could engage the world in a wider war. >> it is clear that to every decision that we make, especially the dramatic ones, there are up sides and down sides. and while thinking about what is the next best set, we need to calculate all the up side and down side. but now i believe that when it is clear that this is the interest of the world to stop iran, the world be united in order to stop it. and this is the point in which israel and the united states, britain, france, germany, europe, need to work together and to show to iran that we are united on this. and sanctions more effective now. >> thank you so much, tzi tzipi livni, opposition party, former foreign minister in israel. former spy chief in head of intelligence, retired general is in washington and has a very different view than many in israel about what to do next about iran. mr. halavi joins us now from washington where he's been attending that saban forum. tell us first of all why you would be so hesitant to take military action now against iran which so many people in the government right now in israel say is an existential threat and is approaching a red line to be a real nuclear threat against israel. >> well, first of all i'd like to say i'm very happy to be on this show. i'm very happy that this is the day in which you inaugurated your dissemination of this program of yours inside israel. i think it's very important. secondly, one last comment, i'm not a general. i'm a civilian. i'm a mr. i'm very proud of being a mister, actually. now for your question. >> apologize to you. >> no problem. that's quite all right. i don't need promotion any longer. i'm very happy as it is. i don't say that i'm hesitant on whether israel should attack iran. if the time comes and this is the only thing left to do, then i think that israel has to weigh this option very, very carefully, very seriously. there is no such thing as contingency decisions. there are contingency plannings, not contingency decisions. and as long as the moment has not arrived, the right moment has not arrived, much can change. and i think that on the one hand the iranians need to feel the heat. and i think they're feeling the heat. i think the last few weeks many things have happened inside iran which have caused them to pause a little and to think what are the consequences of what they're doing? too many explosions in key places, too many events which seem to have spun out of cont l control. rising inflation over 20%. rising dissatisfaction. and an atmosphere of fear in the streets of tehran that something might go wrong very soon. and i think this is the time to impress upon the iranians that indeed this is a very risky game they are playing. because if they want to preserve their regime, and that is their number one interest and all other interests have to be subordinate to that, then they are placing their regime in jeopardy by continuing the way they're going. >> mr. halevy, at this point, though, do you think that israel could actually take out the nuclear facilities with a military strike? is there a real military option? >> there are always options which are real. there are always options which are serious. there are always options which can be very, very painful to either side. and by the way, i'd like to say yes, israel is also under threat from iran. but i object to the use of the words "existential threat". i don't think that the existence of israel is in danger, is in jeopardy. i think israel is indestructible. i think iran can cause very grievous damage to israel. very painful damage. but it cannot destroy israel. and if it thinks of attacking israel it must take into account the consequences, because israel is not going to disappear because of an attack of iran. on the contrary if iran attacks israel they have to take into account what could happen after that to them. >> mr. halevy, thank you very much for joining us from washington. joining us right now by phone is mark rega from jerusalem, the spokesman for the prime minister. mark we've known each other a long time. i know this is a very sensitive issue in israel. but it's becoming an issue in the united states as well in the political campaign. we're having a forum tomorrow in washington with the republican candidates who are going to continue criticizing this white house for not being supportive enough to israel and not being aggressive enough to iran. what should the president right now be doing? >> i think the whole international community has to united and send a very clear, crystal clear message to the leadership in tehran to the ayatollahs that international community simply will not tolerate the continuation of their nuclear program, which as the recent iaea report said clearly is a program to achieve atomic bombs. and i think if that message is sent clearly and with teeth, that message can be received and hopefully will affect their decision making. >> mark, does the government of israel believe that u.s. has not been strong enough in taking the next step on sanctions and sanctioning the central bank? >> no. we've supported the steps taken in the united states, the steps taken in canada, in europe. it's very important to beef up the pressure on iran. ultimately if you want diplomacy to be successful, diplomacy has to have a bite. diplomacy has to be vigorous. and we continue to call for racheting up the international pressure on iran. that's the only way we can hope to have them abandon their nuclear program through diplomatic means. >> the other larger question, of course, is the relationship between barack obama and benjamin netanyahu. there have been high points and low points. and there's a lot of discussion, i am told, at very high levels in the white house of having the president come here. he has not been here since elected president. many now acknowledge within his own administration it was a mistake not to come here after he visited cairo in the first year of his presidency. do you think that a visit now, even though in an election year, is warranted, and would he -- what would be the value of his visiting israel even at this late stage in his first term? >> you know, if the u.s. president -- if president barack obama wants to visit israel he'll be a very welcome guest. we had him here, i remember when he came as senator obama. we'd be very happy for him to come again. israel and the united states share a unique partnership, a unique relationship, one that's based on both shared values and shared interests. and any time the u.s. president wants to visit my country, i can tell you, he'll be a welcome guest. >> how concerned is israel about developments in egypt and about the possibility as these elections proceed that there will be increasing radicalization and that perhaps the military will not maintain control and even the successor will abocate the peace proprocess in israel. >> we've been following the arab spring for months now. it's clear the arab people, the shaking off regimes that were authoritarian. the question is what are they going to be replaced with? we want to see and i think the united states and the world wants to see greater democracy, greater accountability, greater transparency. greater freedom. good for the arab people and good for israel, too. with that you have to have peace. the problem has been that we've seen islamists come to the fore. we've seen islamists who are not necessarily committed to democracy, and who are very hostile to peace and reconciliation with israel. and you could have a scenario where you have one man, one vote. that's one time. and that's obviously not good for the arab people, it's not good for anyone who believes in peace. we hope that with egypt, that joint interests, the very strong interests that both sides have for peace, for security, for stability, for cooperation, will ultimately be paramount and overcome any difficulties. we both remember the terrible wars between egypt and israel. i mean, we fought a war in 1948. we fought a war again in '56, in 1967 and in 1973. frankly, andrea, thousands of people on both sides were killed in those wars. does anyone really want to go back to that? i hope not. >> and finally, mark, do you resent the kind of pressure from cabinet secretaries like defense secretary panetta saying just this past weekend that israel needs to "get back to the damn table with the palestinians". do you feel that administration has been too tough on israel? >> we're just as frustrated. we're waiting at the table. we're waiting for the palestinians to come. my prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has over the last 2 1/2 years repeatedly called for the palestinians to return to negotiations, to return to direct peace talks with israel. we're ready for the immediate e resuming of talks without any preconditions at all. settlements, security, legitimacy, refugeeses, everything can be on the table. the trouble is up until now the palestinians have taken a decision not to negotiate, not to talk, not to come to the table. so we want to see the negotiations start. we want to see them start now. the trouble has been the palestinian side has a different position. they seem to be stuck in some sort of rejectionist mode which says no to negotiations. we hope they change their mind. >> well of course there's a lot of dispute over who has been delaying the negotiations. i know both sides feel very agreefd. to be continued. mark regev, thanks for joining us today in israel. coming up next, our daily fix on presidential politics with chuck todd. stay with us. "andrea mitchell reports" comes back live from tel aviv. great prices. i just wish you could guarantee me they won't be beat. oh, actually... then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! oh, load up the sleigh; this is going to be a great christmas. [ male announcer ] more christmas for your money, guaranteed. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups. . president obama is in kansas today. he's going to be speaking in less than an hour there trying to sell the extension of his payroll tax. well, chuck todd, nbc news chief white house correspondent, political director and host of "the daily rundown" joins me now for our daily fix. hey, chuck, i think supposedly he's going to be channelling teddy roosevelt in kansas. but i think to sell the payroll tax through congress he's going to need more than just a big stick. >> well, he is. and i love the teddy -- the t.r. analogies and metaphors are going to be coming fast and furious. but this speech is designed to be bigger than that when you talk to white house aides. this is the beginning of the president's re-election framing of the message. you heard jay carney on air force one, he used a couple of phrases that we're going to hear a lot from the president. "fair deal, fair shot" obviously a play off of square deal, the teddy roosevelt part of the speech. this is bigger than the payroll tax holiday discussion they will argue is part of the bigger fundamental argument that two parties are having. which is this, how much should the wealthy get regulated or not, what is the role of government in that regulation? where does this go? and that's what the president is trying to set up. now, he's using teddy roosevelt because he wants to use -- he wants to use a republican also to try to make the case that hey, this republican party isn't like republicans of the past. >> speaking of the republicans, they have really been beating the president up on his relationship with israel. and i'm told that the white house is at least considering an election year trip early in the election year in 2012 to israel, having not been to israel since becoming president. they know they should have gone after the cairo speech in the first year of his presidency. but there's a lot of risk, partly because they don't know what to expect if they were to get here, what to expect from a prime minister whom they don't really have a great relationship with. and joe biden had not a very pleasant experience there in 2010. >> there's a disagreement, andrea, you know this well between the political folks and the policy folks on this about doing this trip. the political folks want to do it. to be crass about it it would help with fundraising. it would help politically if the president was able to get over there. there had been some chatter about this. but i'll be honest, at this point it's my understanding you're not going to see him there. i think they wanted to see if we're going to put together a summer trip. but if you recall the debt ceiling debacle and he got dragged down. there was some talk he was going to do an africa trip from there go to israel, try to do it then to sort of take away the politics aspect of it. >> chuck todd on all things political. thank you very much, chuck. >> you got it, andrea. >> appreciate you joining us today on our broadcast from tel aviv. for something completely different at the white house than chuck covers, lady gaga has come to the white house. the president is not there. he's in kansas getting ready to speak. we'll have that for you live. but lady gaga has gone to the white house today. her subject, bullying. we assume that she wasn't wearing any of her fabulous costumes. and we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. four weeks ago to iowa and newt gingrich is surging in the polls. but does he have the money and organization to keep up and keep that momentum going? alex byrnes joins us for our political briefing today. alex, what about the latest poll from south carolina? the winthrop poll shows newt surging to 38, mitt romney dropping far behind at 22, rick perry at 9. that's not good news for mitt romney. but can newt make a long distance run out of this? >> i think for the first time we're seeing polling numbers that really do suggest that gingrich has a pathway to the nomination. if he were to win iowa convincingly, make it close to new hampshire and really capitalize on the early strength in south carolina you can imagine him building up the kind of momentum that romney, even with all his organization that romney would be hard-pressed to sto stop. >> alex burns, thanks so much. and coming up next we'll talk about iran and some suspicious activity including explosions at missile sites. who's responsible? that next right here on "andrea mitchell reports" live from tel aviv. portable navigation. a bluetooth connection. a stolen vehicle locator. roadside assistance. and something that could help save your life - automatic help in a crash. it's the technology of five devices in one hard-working mirror. because life happens while you drive. this holiday, give someone you love an onstar fmv mirror for only 199. visit onstar.com for retailers. i'd like a decaf 360 calories please. i'll have a triple iced 410 calories please. you know what... i'll have this instead. [ female announcer ] swap one thing a day for a yoplait light at around 100 calories. it will add up to amazing. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups. topping the headlines right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the worst sectarian violence a decade has now shaken afghanistan. at least 59 people are dead in a string of suicide attacks on shi'ite muslims who are marking the festival of ashuar. in moscow today reports of fire bombs being thrown against police in protests against alleged corruption in sunday as election. it signals a dramatic shift in public opinion towards prime minister putin whose party is accused of rigging the vote. treasury secretary tim geithner is in germany urging eurozone nation toss take decisive action to end their debt crisis. he is set to meet with top officials in france, germany, spain and italy ahead of a critical summit on friday. six nations with aaa ratings are now among 15 facing a downgrade from the s & p if the european nations don't cut a deal. the agency said today that european bailout funds aaa rating is also now at risk. the white house now says -- from now on a country's treatment of gays and lesbians will factor into decisions about foreign aid. it is the first u.s. government strategy to deal with international human rights abuses against homosexuals. here in israel there is increasing concern about what is happening in iran. and of course the growing threats perceived here and described by the u.n.'s international a tomorrowic energy agency about iran's suspected nuclear programs. joining me now in israel, ronan berg mann who has been studying all this, respected journalist and author on iran and the issue and joining us from washington, from the brookings institution who has been studying israeli public opinion about what to do about iran. first to you, ronan, there have been some suspicious to say the least explosions in iran, the assassination, of a prominent iranian nuclear scientist, the most recent missile explosion. suspicions that this is covert activity similar to the computer virus, that slowed down the iranian nuclear program at least for a couple of years. what is your reporting telling you? >> according to the latest finding of the iranian investigation into, this because they are very keen to understand what happened and who was able to penetrate, they're in a circle and higher echelon of intelligence and nuclear manufacture. they believe that israeli massad has recruited the position group that penetrated into these installations, killed scientists, killed a general, exploded the site. i would say that the mommer the former massad chief has put towards the fighting of iran, the -- and others. he believes and his predecessor as well believe that by using covert means, covert operations, they are able to hold, delight iranian nuclear project. >> and do you believe from your reporting that this is israeli and possibly american and other foreign perhaps british covert activity to slow down iran's nuclear program? >> i'm sure that there are two, three countries in the world that are able to -- capable in launching such a covert strike. and the countries that you mention are probably behind it. i would say that as successful as these strikes are, as these covert operations, it delays the timing for an israel overt aerial strike on iran. israel sees this as a last chance, the covert actions, whoever is behind it, as a last chance that someone would need to take an overt, more aggressive, militant aerial strike on iran. >> now, at the same time, shivly, there is a very fierce political debate going on within israel and certainly between israel and the united states as to what to do next. leon panetta, the defense secretary, warning israeli officials visiting washington this week. i think you were at the conference. that this would backfire, military action, and that in fact it would only slow iran down for a year or two. your polling shows that israel is so divided, 43% in favor, 41% against. where do you see israeli public opinion in the polling that you've been doing for brookings? >> well, it's interesting. the university of maryland poll i presented at brookings indicates that when you ask the israelis do you support military action against iran or not, you've got about 43% say they support military action, 41% oppose but what's interesting is that when you ask them do you believe that iran is going to have nuclear weapons, 90% say yes, eventually. when you ask them would you rather have both iran and israel have nuclear weapons or neither, overwhelmingly they say they prefer neither having nuclear weapons. and for that reason, two-thirds of them support the idea of turning the middle east into a nuclear weapons-free zone. and that actually sets up a very interesting debate about why is that not in a way part of the options. but i want to go back to something that you actually asked about, which is the debate within israel and also with the u.s. about the israel's risks. much of that debate is focused on iran's retaliatory capacity and how much damage it can cause both to israel and the u.s. and maybe to oil. that's very important obviously. but there's something really bigger for the israelis. because the choice is really between a situation where israel is not at war with iran ands with prospect of iran developing nuclear weapons versus israel is at war with iran for the first time in its history with bilateral division between the two over some important issues, and iran in the end still having nuclear weapons. that's really the choice. and that's why i'm surprised that it doesn't come out that way because people are more focused on the retaliation capacity in the short term of iran. >> thank you so much, shivly tahami and renon bergman. and now our veteran correspondent who has been in new york but here on a new location right now. martin, you've seen so many changes, dramatic changes over the decades. at the same time we see stalemate on almost every front. and as you know better than anyone, so many revolutionary changes among the neighbors. egypt and syria and beyond that, what's happening in tunisia and yemen and elsewhere in the region. how does israel address the changing arab world? >> well you're right, andrea. stalemate at home in such contrast with what's happening to the rest of the middle east. look, israel needs now to first of all simply just come to terms with what's happening in the region around it. muslim fundamentalists have won the elections in all of the elections that have been held so far. and of course, in egypt we're still adding up the votes. but it's pretty clear that muslim fundamentalists going on will have a leading role in egypt. of course the egyptian army will have a lot to say about that. but israel now need to assess what's happening around it and then to assess to what extent that has any direct impact on its relations with the palestinians. and especially from the point of view of the urgency of israel reaching some deal with the palestinians. because every change that's happened in the middle east over the last decades has always pushed israel one step further away from the possibility of reaching an agreement with the palestinians. they've always said if we don't make peace with arafat you'll get hamas. now if you don't make peace with hamas you'll get al qaeda which is going strongly in the egyptian peninsula of sinai and even within hamas. i don't want to be too alarmist about that. but that question of how will israel deal with these changes around it is the key focus of israeli politics today. and the answer at the moment, it seems to be, they just don't know. they're looking and learning the same as the rest of the world. >> it is such a dilemma for israel and for the rest of the world. joining us now, martin, john ray our nbc news correspondent here if tel aviv. john, you uniquely were in syria, one of the few if any western reporter whose got into syria just today. the administration decided to send our ambassador, robert ford, back to damascus to meet with opposition leaders. he left on october 22nd during the escalation of violence there. and he himself was being targeted. so despite criticism from republicans that the administration should not send an envoy to damascus, the view is within the administration that this is one way to support the opposition. >> indeed. well, the state department is saying tonight, incidentally, the ambassador flies out this evening from washington, what the state department is saying is this is is the best way to send a clear message that the united states stands with the syrian people. that being the case, it is unlikely to say the least, you can't imagine president assad is going to be sending any kind of welcome party to damascus airport to greet the returning ambassador. why? because he went out of his way. he crossed the street, he went down the road to hamah, one of the seats of the uprising early on this year and stood shoulder to shoulder with the people who were protesting then peacefully against what has been taking place in that country. he was pulled out because the state department said they could no longer guarantee his safety. there were ugly scenes when he met an opposition leader in damascus. he's going back six weeks later, as you say. but the situation has deteriorated if anything since then. we have two very big fears, i think, stalking the syrian situation. one is that this descends into some kind of armed civil war, armed rebel groups taking on government forces. secondly perhaps even more scary is a prospect of this descending into sectarian strife. the sunni majority taking on the alowite sect of islam which is what president assad and his regime top brass are all drawn from. so a very, very dangerous situation. worth mentioning probably that hillary clinton has been meeting opposition leaders today. >> at a conference on afghanistan and the future of afghanistan. martin, turkey is now becoming the game changer. turkey going and joining the pressure against president assad. i was talking to other experts here today who say that it's going to be at least 18 months before we see real change, but that assad is eventually going to be forced out. >> well, it's clear that assad is struggling now, and the elements, the key question today is to what extent will elements of the syrian army defect. some have already begun defecting. will elements of the secret services in syria defect and that's also begun. so it's clearly a process of deterioration in syria for assad. for me i think the key point was about 10 days ago i believe it was when the jordanian king. the monarchy has been very astute in this region. when the jordanian king said in an interview with the bbc that it is time for president awe staud to step down that was a key moment. for the king so vulnerable on his border traditionally to come out and say openly assad's days are numbered. if he believes it it's probably going to happen just a matter of time. >> martin fletcher, the veteran nbc correspondent in the middle east. john rowe, nbc correspondent in tel aviv. thank you very much both for your expertise. coming up next, how will mitt romney handle newt gingrich? is he about to change the game plan? and president obama live in kansas trying to sell the payroll tax. that's all next on "andrea mitchell reports" live from tel aviv. 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[ female announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. hi, everyone. tamron hall coming up on news nation, channelling teddy roosevelt. in just a few minutes president obama will deliver a major speech on economy. he's speaking from the same small town in kansas in which theodore roosevelt delivered his famous new nationalism speech more than 100 years ago. the white house said it's remarkable how the conditions then parallel what we are seeing today as middle class americans are being squeezed and they say shut out by wealthy corporations. our news nation political panel including michael smirkanish of the "washington post" and coryn booth will join me. >> with newt gingrich now rising in the polls, some establishment republicans are wondering whether mitt romney has misplayed his hand. joining me now from washington, ben weber a form member of congress and special adviser to the romney campaign. hey, ben, thanks so much for joining us. >> congratulations on the new initiative in israel. >> well, thank you very much. exciting to be here. but back home, newt gingrich is now ahead in both iowa and south carolina. there's a new abc news "washington post" poll which has newt surging up quite a bit in south carolina. we see also in iowa in the "washington post" poll on qualities to be president, caucuses goers say that newt gingrich has 33% say that he has the best experience to be president to 16 for romney. reflects core values, 25% to 12%. will stand up for your beliefs, 24% to 10. most electable, 29 to 24. that's the only one that is really a close call. do you think that mitt romney has been too risk averse and has been sort of playing a bit of rope a dope not doing interviews, not doing interview with joe kline in time magazine for the cover story or with robert draper for the "new york times" magazine and that he is now letting newt gingrich take the stage? >> well, the romney campaign has been building an organization and a campaign aimed at defeating president obama next year. and i don't think they're going to get dissuaded from that task because we have yet another candidate that's risen in the polls against him. i'm not taking anything away from newt gingrich's rise in the polls. it appears to be very real. but it's preceded by a prize by michele bachmann last july and august, by rick perry in september and by herman cain in october and november. and i would assume that this is necessarily different than that. although you obviously have to pay attention to it. but the main objective has to be who's building an organization and a structure that can contest president obama effectively a year from now. and romney is not going to get dissuaded from that task. >> does gingrich's new strength in south carolina, though, give you some caution that he even without a strong organization going into the iowa caucuses that he can sort of ride this wave, that the timing is perfect for him to be the frontrunner in iowa, and that he now might be able to got the distance and actually given the new party rules where you've got proportional voting and it's not winner take all, could he ride the wave and actually make this a long distance run for the nomination? >> well, i think that's possible. in order to do a long distance run, though, as you point out you have to build an organization, you have to have a fundraising base, you have to have a policy infrastructure to deal with all the different issues that come at you left and right as a presidential candidate. the romney campaign is prepared to go through all 50 states in the nominating process if that's what it takes and to contest president obama and defeat him in the fall of next year. we'll see if newt can put together an organization capable of going the distance as you talk about it. because nobody knows how this is going to work out as you point out. republicans rules have changed. it makes it more likely there could be a long fight. but not necessarily. we're not too far away from iowa. we'll see what happens there. i don't know who's going to win in iowa. governor romney is still in a very strong position in new hampshire. if newt gingrich doesn't win one of those two early primaries i'd argue that he can't go on. >> does mitt romney now have to change strategy and go on the attack against gingrich? >> well, only to the extent that they're going to be debating. there's going to be a debate this joint forum this weekend and they're certainly going to contest each other a little bit. but i don't think that he fundamentally changes his strategy and the direction of an attack on newt. he's building a campaign capable of beating president obama. >> and at the same time, were you a little surprised -- a lot of people watching mitt romney with all of his experience were a little surprised at how testy he got in the fox interview with bret baier. fairly predictable challenging questions. doesn't he have to be able to take a punch berl than that? >> if you watch the whole interview it was really quite a solid, sub sta solid, substantive ad nauseam a where he was ruffled by it. we don't attribute anything special to that. the interview was a very strong and substantive interview. >> at the same time i know the general reaction to the interview. people were focusing on whatever few minutes it was. >> overall the romney performance campaign has been going on for a couple of years ago. it was a few seconds. a strong interview. we got a lot of attention, but it's going to pass. >> coming up next, what will make news in the next 24-hours and the top political story and president obama in kansas coming up live. you will see had here on msnbc. stay with us. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours. john harwood joins us now. you have the republican candidates except ron paul going to a republican jewish coalition in washington. that will make news. they excluded ron paul because they don't like his position on israel. also controversial. >> exactly. ron paul supporters are not happy about that. it will be interesting to see the reception rick perry gets advocated zero foreign aid every year and evaluating him on the merits each year. this is an opportunity for the republicans to tee off on president obama for how he has prosecuted the attempt to deter iran from having a nuclear weapon and the idea that he is being too hard on israel. they have fresh ammunition in the remarks of the ambassador to belgium that they sharply criticized as downplaying anti-semitism. it will be a target-rich environment and driving a wedge in the coalition. the voters represented in terms of votes and florida across the country. >> john har wood, that does it for us from our live telecast from tel aviv. tomorrow we will be back in washington. follow the show online and on twitter. tamron hall is in new york with "news nation." >> hi, andrea. great show. next we are waiting. the president will be delivering a major speech as you know by now on the economy. said to channel teddy roosevelt speaking for the same small town in kansas where roosevelt delivered the new nationalism speech 100 years ago. he is pushing for the working middle class to get its fair share in this country. the political panel with michael smerconish will join me live and we will bring the president's remarks to you as soon as it starts. ♪ i'm making my money do more. i'm consolidating my assets. i'm not paying hidden fees or high commissions. i'm making the most of my money. and seven-dollar trades are just the start. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. i'm with scottrade. and i'm loving every minute of it. 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"news nation" is following big developing news. live pictures from kansas where president obama is due to speak at any moment in what he is calling a "make or break moment for the nation's middle class." the location of the speech is key. it's about an hour south of kansas city and exactly where more than a century ago republican president teddy roosevelt delivered his famous new national itch speech focused on giving all americans a fair shot.