in a cnn op-ed, he advices the president to fire a lot of people. >> it would prove to people he's a strong leader, and bringing back the economy. >> let's bring in our guests, bill press, host of the bill press show and ron crist, a special assistant to george w. bush. gentleman, good afternoon. is carville right, time to panic and time to hand out pink slip snz. >> i don't know if it's time to panic but it's certainly a time for concern in the obama white house. the only way the president will be re-elected, it is about addition rather than subtraction, the president is losing numbers and luosing popularity. he has got to shore up his democratic base, those numbers in the house and senate that will push through some of the obama economic plans. so not time for panic, but time for serious concern. >> bill, let's talk about the idea of firing people because some presidents in the past have done this and achieved some success. is that a suggestion at this point to the obama administration? >> first of all, i've got to point out the election is 14 months away. i don't think it's time for anybody to panic. i laughed out loud when i heard james carville say fire people. what he's really saying, fire people and hire me. like he was applying for a job. any incumbent today from or ren hatch to barack obama has got to be concerned because the american electorate is frustrated. the president has got to work his butt off and build a strong campaign and raise the money he can. that's what he's doing. i think if anybody ought to panic right now and some of them are, it's republicans who feel that they may end up with ludser rick perry as their nominee. that's the panic, ron, admit it. >> i wouldn't admit that, bill. republicans are in great shape right now. it's not true. i would take a perry or mitt romney or any of the republican contenders vying for the president up against this president and his record and his approval numbers. >> let's talk about the jobs bill quickly because the president is parentally running into trouble from democrats. here's what a few told the "new york times" today. joe manchin, quote, i have questions about the level of spending that president obama has proposed, pennsylvania senator bob casey, i think the american people are very skeptical of big pieces of legislation. bill, with friends like these, where does the president go from here? >> well, democrats it's like hurting cats, right? different members of congress can go different ways. the president is fighting for jobs. i think win or lose in the congress, he'll be able to go to the american people and say i fought for jobs and they turned me down. that's a win for him in november 2012. >> ron, i want to talk specifically about two groups the president appears to be having trouble with, two very important constituencies. union voters and jewish voters. jewish voters specifically. there was a poll that came out earlier this week, 22% of jewish voters approved of his handling of israel. ed koch, the former mayor of new york endorsing the republican in that race. how worried does the president need to be about jewish voters, not just in new york but in other states like pennsylvania and florida where you have large swaths of jewish voters? >> well, pennsylvania and florida in particular, craig, i'd be very concerned if i were president obama. look ed koch, the former mayor came out and endorsed the republican candidate new york 9. remember back to 1976 and 1980 re-election for president carter, what you had there was a situation where you had ed koch going down to florida and going across the country and saying jimmy carter is not the president that needs to be re-elected. if i were president obama i would be concerned of ed koch and other prominent jewish officials and pro-israel backers come out and say this is not the president who is israel's friend. we need somebody else and a change. that's what the white house needs to do over the next 14 months to shore up the jewish support and that is not an assurance if i were sitting at 1600 pennsylvania avenue that i'd say i have in the bank. >> craig, quickly. the jewish vote is a very important vote, very important constituency, you bet and democrats and republicans have to take care but number two, ed koch is an old grouch. i can't remember the last time he endorsed a democrat. i don't think anybody pays any attention to him. president obama next week when the palestinians go before the u.n. to get the pass to the security council, the united states said it's going to veto it. those are actions that support exactly what israel wants. that's what people want to see. >> bill in four minutes you have dismissed james carville and ed koch. >> but i still love ron christie. >> take care, guys. a short time ago the labor department announced the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose by 11,000 last week. john boehner will offer his response to a jobs plan in a speech that his office has dubbed liberating america's economy. luke russert is little on capitol hill. what can we expect to hear from the speaker? can we expect to hear anything new from the speaker? >> reporter: the most new thing you'll here within the speech is an instruction to the joint super committee here on capitol hill to try to deal with the issue of tax reform in their negotiations leading up into november and christmas where they are supposed to come up with ideas to save the nation $1.5 trillion and john boehner would like to see more of that. what you'll see in the crux of the speech, liberation from policies that boehner and republicans believe or not pro-he's going to want the government to have less restrictions. in terms of what the president said last week with his jobs bill, boehner will say, we can find common ground or a few ideas, specifically free trade agreements an extension of payroll tax holiday, things of that sort. but the president's bill is a collective hole faces a very difficult future here on capitol hill with a lot of gop aides telling me it's dead on arrival. >> paul ryan spoke on "morning joe." he talked about the one area of bipartisan support the plan may have. >> we've got to stop picking winners and losers in the tax code and give businesses certainty and make us more competitive internationally so we can compete. >> free trade and tax code overhaul, is that going to be the gop push right now? >> reporter: essentially that's where they feel they can work with the president. on the issue of tax reform, this is something that came up a lot during the debt limit negotiations, this idea that maybe you could perhaps close loopholes. republicans will not stand for any raise in taxes but boehner has been opening to closing loopholes in the past which could help raise up the word revenue. it's not a tax hike but revenue enhanceme enhancement. tax codes are complex and take a long time to tweak and this expectation that all of this will come in the next few months is sort of far fetched. it will take a long time to do comprehensive tax reform. it sounds good now but will take a long time. >> luke russert from the hill. thank you. >> always a pleasure with you craig, take care. last this morning the postal service came out with a plan to save the mail. it could mean fewer jobs and could mean closing facilities and it could mean slower mail as well. nbc's tom costello is live with details on this. >> this is a list of 252 maim processing facilities that the post office is going to start looking at to determine whether they should be either consolidated or closed. and the reason is they have a very serious budget short fall. we've been talking about this for months now, looking at $10 billion in financial losses by the end of the month. that's the post master general there this morning talking about the plan here to do a couple of things. first of all, they are going to look at closing or consolidating 252 processing centers nationwide. that could mean 35,000 fewer jobs. the ultimate goal here is to save $3 billion. to do that they are also planning to change how they actually deliver the mail. we're talking about first class mail. right now there's a requirement that first class mail be delivered the next day. they want to change that or propose changing it to delivery in two to three days. we're not talking about priority mail. we're talking about first class mail. again the topic here is to change how quickly that could be delayed. the folks at the post office say facts are facts and the facts are very few people are using the post office anymore to deliver or pay their bills. the vast majority of americans have switched or are switching quickly to online payment and all they really have at this point to beef up or to keep people moving mail through the system is commercial businesses. >> tom, quick question, has there been a great deal of discussion regarding the retirement benefits and health care plans that postal workers enjoy? >> that goes to the crux of the issue here and for them to try to get any change in that, they need congressional approval. they are asking for congressional approval and also asking to cut back to a five-day delivery plan instead of six-day delivery plan but that would require congressional approval. >> tom costello. if tv killed the radio, the internet is killing the post office. there were reportedly technical glitches delaying the release of two americans from a iranian jail. a deal is on the table but iran's foreign minister says there are difficulties that both sides are looking to resolve. the two men spent last two years hi behind bars in iran. they have sent a private plan to tehran and they say a delegation of lawmakers in the iranian capital right now. the first western leaders to visit the libyan capital since the overthrow of moammar gadhafi. fighting is still going on in parts of the country and prime minister cameron has a message for the deposed libyan leader and his followers. >> the message to gadhafi and all of those holding arms on his behalf is it is over. give up. the mercenaries should go home. those who think gadhafi has any part in any part of government of any part of this country should forget it. nbc's mike taibe, i imagine they are being careful not to hold up the mission accomplished banner. >> reporter: they are calling it the declaration of liberation and that won't be announced until all of libya is liberated. there are three major cities to the south and southeast of tripoli which are still being held by gadhafi loyalist. s there's been fierce fighting. until and unless those three areas of fully liberated, this isn't over yet. by one estimation by a libyan here, only about 60% of the land mass of libya is now fully liberated. here in tripoli, it's very peaceful. >> mike i'll ask the question that's been asked 10,000 times over the past few weeks on our air alone. at this point any idea where moammar gadhafi might be? >> reporter: well, that is the question on the minds of all libyans, we spent a little bit of time with the guy tasked to finding gadhafi. he said we think we have him under surveillance with cell phone try angulation, down south about 800 miles from here but by having him under surveillance he means in an area of 150 square miles. they smted that he is moving in a group between 300 and 500 people in his contingent. that i have seen groups in tents, disappearing the next day. they think that's where gadhafi is but do not know from certain. they haven't got him yet. >> britain's daily telegraph saying gadhafi's youngest son is living a luxurious life. what's going to happen to him and what might happen to the rest of gadhafi's family and supporters? >> reporter: there are idea all over the place because it's a somewhat complicated questions with treaty arrangements. it is expected there will be lots of pressure for the government to keep gafdhafi undr surveillance in that posh guest villa but to eventually return them to libya for trial. that's the expectation, not certain by a long shot. >> mike, thanks. leaders in a key swing state are considering major changes to how it awards electoral votes. we're going to talk about that plus -- that's willow, what appears to be a stray cat found in new york. however, she is anything but -- wait until you hear her tale. first though, quick look at what's happening on wall street. the dow has been up for three straight days. look at this point it could be four. we'll be right back. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day 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." 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[ kristy ] she's definitely not like other moms. yeah, my mom is pretty weird. ♪ yeah, my mom is pretty weird. fresher less processed foods introducing freshpet recipes so fresh the only preservative we use is the fridge freshpet fresh food for fido ryan o neil and fafarrah fa fau set's son is in trouble again. he pled no contest to a felony charge for heroin possession. >> willow the cat, disappeared five years ago from a home near the rocky mountains and now she has turned up on the streets of new york city. the cat was reunited with her original owners thanks to a microchip implanted when she was a kitten. two of the families three children now 10 and 17 remember her very well at this point though no word on how willow made that 1600 mile journey. remember the 2000 election when al gore won the popular vote but lost the white house. we all remember that? a similar scenario could play out in 2012 in pennsylvania if republicans gets their way. legislators in pa want to change the way the state awards electoral votes to a system with the most votes would only get as few as three electoral votes. joined by joe sestak of pennsylvania, he also ran for statewide office as a senate candidate in 2010, joe, first of all, what's the motivation here? >> well, i think it's pretty obvious, this is a group of legislators who now are of one party, as well as the governor. they want to lock in up to two-thirds of the electoral vote for one party. what a fundamental shift from one man, one vote. when you realize what this also does to pennsylvania, where it was a battle ground state where john mccain and soon to be president obama, no more because we'll only have instead of 20 electoral votes, maybe two or three, we'll be equivalent to maine. when the voters begin to recognize this, they are going to be outraged. it's not a story that has broken big time yet but this is an offense to democracy. >> is it even constitutional? has there been talk where it passes constitutional mus muster? >> dominic paw leg gi was one of the group of administrators eight years ago in the middle of the night passed a pay raise for themselves for their self-interest. when it was found out a few days later by pennsylvania voters, they threw most of them out. i think when they recognize that no longer will the key stone state be a key to the future in helping to elect a president of the united states, you're going to see a similar outrage come because it's the only legal way you can turn this about if these legislators with tom corbett, decide to do this. it's also been done in nebraska and considered by a handful of other states. would it really be the end of democracy as we know it in the keystone state or not that bad? >> it would be the end of one man, one vote. because those other states that have it and there's only two as you know, they are such small populations. it has no impact. but here in pennsylvania, a large populist state, no longer will it have any influence when you lock in the system and decide your vote won't matter. there's another message here, craig. i think democrats should take this on board especially. so should u.s. citizens. if you don't come out to vote like many didn't the last elections, someone else is going to be in that election booth pulling a lever for you. that's the offense. we were founded on a principle, one man, one vote. >> joe sestak. >> and quietly in the night again they are trying to change it. >> joe, you sound like you might be running for something again, you've got that candidate sound to you. do you care to make an announcement? >> you know it's interesting, my father came over from check slovakia and grew up in pennsylvania and to watch a power of this one power when they were in the minority, they actually had enough votes to be irresponsible to say no to anything that the governor was trying to do. now that they are in the majority to actually say we don't care with the populist vote, i'm outraged. 31 years in the u.s. military and defending the right to vote and now taking it away. >> joe, pe appreciate your time. >> thanks for having me. discovery during the search for missing utah mother susan powell, straight ahead. mickael salahi not missing. apparently she wanted to go her separate way. details on the latest salahi stuff straight ahead. 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[ male announcer ] humana. new developments in the almost two year old search for susan powell. suspicion almost immediately fell on her husband. now police say their latest search turned up human remains in the desert. george lewis has the latest from the west valley city, utah. >> reporter: the remains were found 50 miles south from here, not far from a south whepot whe susan's husband took the little boys camping the day she disappeared. the latest chaptered turned out in a area favored by rock and gem collectors, including powell's husband. they were use cadaver dogs. then wednesday afternoon, the dogs found something. >> i was just informed a few moments ago we have found human remains out here in this area. >> reporter: the big question, could they be the remains of susan powell? >> right, at this point we toent want to jump to conclusions and say we've made a positive identification because we have not. >> reporter: in washington, susan's father, chuck cox said he was told by police that the remains were found in a shallow grave. >> it raises our hopes that we'll have some sort of closure of what happened to her. so but on the other hand it also -- it takes away the hope that she's alive. >> reporter: but he says this is not the first time human remains have turned up in the search for susan. previous discoveries were the bones of other people. police have named susan's husband, josh, as a person of interest while he denies having anything to do with her disappearance. police say he has stopped cooperating with them. wednesday he had no comment about these latest developments. relations between his family and susan's families have deteriorated. >> if he knows something, he should talk to police. >> reporter: forensic teams will assemble in the desert to recover the remains and get them to a laboratory for testing. >> we will get ourselves a medical examiner to come out and look us and help identify the bones and all sorts of different things that we as law enforcement don't have knowledge of. >> the medical examiner now on the scene will first try to determine the gender and race of the remains, full identification could take some time. craig? >> george lewis there from utah, appreciate that. the president will honor a hero this afternoon. he had a beer with the guy last night. he is the first ever living marine ever awarded the medal of honor. we'll tell you about that. plus hollywood hacked. first private pictures of scarlett johanss jo hansoen lea. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas. kant cantaloupe is being blamed for an outbreak of listeria. some stores are pulling it off the shelves voluntary. in norway, half of the ships had to be evacuated and four are still missing. a rogue trader arrested in london after ubs says it lost $2 billion in unauthorized trades. a happy 27th birthday to prince harry on this thursday, prince harry is spending the day wrapping up his apache helicopter pilot training. in a couple of hours president obama will bestow the highest honor on a military marine. dakota meyer and the president had a heart to heart over a cold beer. two years ago when he was 21 years old he charged through fierce enemy fire to save the lives of 13 fellow marines and 23 afghan soldiers as well. he is the first living marine to receive the medal of honor and he was quite humble. >> i didn't think he was going to die. i knew i was. i don't like that word, hero. hero, that's -- i'm the further thing from a hero. i'll accept it on behalf of the marine corps and guys that died. >> kristen welker is live at the white house. >> reporter: he's remarkable because of all of reasons you mentioned and he's the third living recipient. he has served tours in iraq and afghanistan and it was in 2009 that he entered that six-hour fire fight that you talked about saving 13 fellow marines. four fellow comrades were killed on that day and meyer says it didn't have to happen. he says army commanders failed to send in reinforcements and two army commanders were actually reprimanded for being inadequate in their actions during that day. but he is just a remarkable young man. he still wears the names of the fallen comrades on a bracelet every day. he is currently in the reserves and works in in the construction business in kentucky. one thing that stood out in my mind, he currently works to raise money for wounded marines and children to get a better education. >> thank you so much from the white house. we're going to carry that certificaemony live at 2:45 dur news nation. thanks again. the fbi is getting involved in some high profile celebrity hacking cases now, scarlet joe hansen has talked to the feds and they are investigating how nude pictures of her ended up online. jacob bernstein of the daily beast and senior correspondent for "news week." what do we know at this point? >> we don't know a lot. it's awfully bizarre. people take naked photographs of themselves on their cell phones you think, they got out because they took naked pictures but this seems to be real, which is the most bizarre part of it. so it isn't simply they want into the same hotel room and saw good lighting and couldn't resist taking photographs. the fbi you know, the fbi spokesperson was on the line yesterday saying that this is real and in fact there appear to be text messages between justin timberlake and mila kunis. the leak has to be somebody hacking into their phone. >> you have to wonder and it may be -- >> they should stop? >> probably stop taking nude pictures on your cell phone but you have to wonder if maybe this is a joke and one of their friends are involved? >> yes, you look back at anthony weiner and he he had he was hacked. then the story changed over the next couple of days. looking at the justin timberlake thing, how did they get both parties text messages? it doesn't quite make sense. so you know -- last year we had the celebrity burglar ring. there is a group of people who are just totally obsessed with these people. and whether it is 20 years ago, tried to climb your wall, they were stalkers and now they go online and they do this stuff through computers. it's sort of -- it takes a certain kind of obsessive personality. >> another victim, sienna miller, she spoke this morning on the "today" show and talked about being caught up in the newscorp phone hacking scandal. >> it had a huge impact on friendships and relationships and career. on a personal level, just that feeling of violation, it was bad for me but now what's come to light is that victims of crime were being hacked and that's atrocious, that's on another level. >> sienna miller talking about the phone hacking scandal. pictures of black swan actress mila kunis with justin tim bur lake also surfaced. at what point do these guys stop doing this? >> i don't know they do. part of being young and good looking is wanting to show it off. i can't answer that for you. i'm not a celebrity. i can't go into their minds but certainly you know, one can't take this too seriously. you look at most of the people this is happening with and somebody like sienna miller is -- i don't want to minimize what the news of the world did because what they did was clearly horrible to celebrities and noncelebrities but sienna miller is sienna miller, she's inches from paris hilton on the sort of bad behavior scale. there is some element of personal responsibility in this but at least they look good. >> jacob bernstein, next time bring the bad behavior scale as well. we can do four or five minutes on that. appreciate you. the michaele salahi mystery solved? the female half of the white house party crashers disappeared this week. her husband tareq, thought she abducted after she called him from an unfamiliar number in tears. tareq salahi described how worried he was about his wife and begged for her return. it turns out she wasn't missing at all. tmz reporting that she ran into the open arms of journey guitarist. she reportedly was with the band last night at the concert in memphis, fans had a field day using -- they've had a field day using journey lyrics to describe the situation. >> don't stop believing whatever is going on. >> faithfully, that's what i'm saying, faithfully. >> lights go out in the city and she's missing. >> tmz says adjoujourney's rep confirm they are together. republicans are still months away from the presidential candidate but there is talk about who could be the number two. 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[ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the most headroom per dollar of any car in america. the all-new nissan versa sedan from $10,990. innovation upsized. innovation for all. i'm chuck todd, speaker john boehner is expected to speak at the top of the hour about his plans for job creation and his party's hopes for the debt problem with the super committee. we'll bring you live coverage. plus, times rick stengel joins us with the interview with the 2012 front-runner this month, rick perry. and calendar chaos, a bunch of states are jockeying for early positions, why florida may be the biggest winner of them all and why mitt romney cares about it so much. we'll see you in 15 minutes. >> chuck todd gave a great segue, the 2012 race now, florida, florida in the spotlight as the gop candidates head back to the sunshine state for a full month of crucial events. first it was of course monday's tea party debate in tampa. rick perry got a grilling from fellow candidates thanks to the front-runner status. the group will be back at it in orlando on september 22nd. the next day, they are off to a big conservative political action conference in orlando. the day after that, florida's republican party will hold its presidential straw poll. sally bradshaw is a republican strategist who was chief of staff for former governor jeb bush. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> florida's impact near term, two debates, tampa on the 12th, second debate on the 22nd. could all of these help make or break a rick perry candidacy? >> i think they very important to all of the candidates, florida is front and center this year for the republican nominee, not the least of which matters because we have a very divided primary electorate. you can foresee a situation where a different candidate could win the iowa caucus and new hampshire primary and third could win south carolina. if that happens, that makes florida important. next week you'll begin to see florida grass roots activists and fundraisers focus on the primary and that will help at the presidency three straw ball lot. >> the date of florida's primary, florida republicans want jump to the head of the line, they don't seem to be backing down. how do you think this plays out down there? >> i don't think they should back down. i don't think they will. the speaker of the hour indicated that our primary will be no later than february 21st. that will mean possible sanctions from the republican national committee but you have to understand, craig, florida is the biggest of the early primary states. we have over 4 million registered republicans in florida. so we're with all respect to our friends in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina, we're a bigger universe of republicans to message to. >> bigger and more important you think? >> that's an argument a lot of folks have made. >> more important because we're more diverse, we're more representative of the republican electorate at large. 10% of the primary voters will be hispanic. almost half of our voters are over the age of 55. either nearing retirement or in retirement. we have a significant number of military retirees and active duty military voters as well. and we're a very diverse state. the panhandle of the gulf coast is very different from south florida. jacksonville is very different from the west coast. we do matter and i think it's the first real test of the candidate and how they would perform nationally. >> it's a heck with tradition when it comes to republican primaries. >> we're important here. >> before i let you go, we've been talking about jewish voters in new york, there appears to be some slipping in terms of that group's support of the president. a large jewish population in florida. any idea at this point how that could impact the race down there? >> well, it's a good question, there are a lot of jewish voters in south florida, particularly in the palm beach county and broward county, ft. lauderdale area and large number of jewish republicans. when we talk about florida being diverse, issues matter here. jobs is the overriding issue but certainly they would be concerned about the stance the president has taken with the state of israel. it matters to them. >> sally, thanks so much for your time. >> thank you. >> political side bar now today wu who? the pair had dinner last night where dinner averages more than 100 bucks a head. they've been chatting on the phones for weeks now. last night perry said he was looking for some advice. >> we're going to be talking about how to create jobs in america, donald trump is pretty good about creating jobs and i've got to think -- dinner at john george is a far cry from the times square pizza joint where trump had dinner with sarah palin when she visited new york. if you're reading something into it don't, trump likes perry but he's a really big fan of sarah palin and for now the donald is holding off an endorsement until he finds out if she's getting the in the race. bachmann and arpaio met this week. the endorsements has been a hot commodity for candidates in part of for his reputation on being tough on illegal immigration. there's also fallout from the comments when she suggested that the hpv vaccine caused a young girl's retardation. here's ed rollins. >> you don't make a broad statement like that when obviously science argues the opposite. we'll be right back. tinuous. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. for the efficient absorption my body needs. 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[ birds chirping ] a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible. there may not be a nominee but there's plenty of speculation about 2012 running mates. speaking to a crowd of 800 voters in arizona, mitt romney was asked who he would choose? >> i was watching c-span and saw vice president dick cheney and he was being asked questions about a whole host of issues following 9/11, the affairs in various countries in the world. i listened him to speak, whether you agree or disagree, this is a man of wisdom and judgment and could have been president of the united states. that's the kind of person i'd like to have, a person of wisdom and judgment. >> mark murray is nbc's deputy political director. 14 months away, still a long way out but there are apparently some lists that are developing. who's on everyone's short list at this point? >> the obvious short list starts with florida senator marco rubio, he said he doesn't want to be vp but never count that out. another person on the list, bob mcdonnell, another crucial battle ground state, his approval rating is sky high there. also on the list, new jersey governor chris christie needs no introduction to those who cover american politics at all. another name on that list, nevada governor brian sandoval just endorsed rick perry earlier this week. >> three of the hour offer obvious geographical advantages but with christie, what's the appeal there. >> almost to have someone who channels the tea party. it's not fair to say he equals tea party but you want more juice from the base. christie takes care of that for you. it's there to actually grab a rising star, someone who builds himself as a truth teller. >> whatever the politics, chris chri christie is fun to listen to and read as well. is there a chance at all we might see a romney/pawlenty ticket? >> craig, there's always a chance, but remember that tim pawlenty was actually the bridesmaid to john mccain and mccain went for sarah palin. he probably won get picked in 2012 but he'll be on anyone's list. >> how about rick perry, any idea who he might be looking for, whether it's geographical advantage or idealogical advantage? >> that's a great question. you know, there are two different routes, one you double down on the strength. you saw that with bill clinton and al gore in 1992. it depends whether rick perry goes tea party or someone from the north to help him give geographical and idealogical balance? >> mark murray, we don't want to cut into chuck todd's time. i appreciate you. >> i'm craig melvin. cha chuck todd is in for andrea. >> you could have cut into my time. up next we have john boehner set to call on the super committee to reconsider broad tax reform. we'll bring his speech live at the top of the hour, plus, does president obama have a case of blue state blues. and why are some calling florida the big ka hoona when it comes to the 2012 calendar? andrea mitchell reports starts right now. >> here's a look at your business travel forecast for today. i'm bill karins and fall is arriving in a big way in many locations. a very strong cold front is sliding through the east with showers and thunderstorms. airport delays are possible as the front blows through. temperatures already dropped in chicago and detroit. in dallas, highs in the 80s. enjoy. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion. 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." 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