republican idea? >> you're a funny man, lawrence. you really are. >> okay. and here we go. welcome to "morning joe" everyone. we're still in washington. and with us in washington -- >> come on! we know crazy larry put on a great performance last night. >> it was great. it was fabulous. >> actually michael looked a little crazy last night, the laughing gas. >> just last night? >> stop that. >> it was interesting. >> he was crazy larry. he has a future in this medium. >> "the last word" is off to a great start. >> i think wonderful larry might be a way to put it. >> he's the uncle that helps you gets through thanksgiving dinner. you're bored and like, i can't believe i'm going to have to sit through this. there's one uncle that's a little off, a little crazy, and he's going to keep you laughing through the whole dinner. ain't that right, mr. buchanan. >> and then you're glad to get him out of the house. >> pat buchanan, chief washington correspondent norah o'donnell back with us. and managing editor of "fortune" magazine. >> mika had a great panel yesterday. i was blown away by the power in that room. we've got the women up there that help run the economy and mika. >> exactly. >> we were in the guy ghetto. >> a few of us, and i got called out. there are three men. >> sheila bair, fdic, fcc chair, attorney general's office, and elizabeth warren near the white house. as they introduced, they said they hear me with my knucklehead sidekick. and then joe stood up and said "i'm here." >> a barnicle moment. >> christine barney assured me she could arrest him. >> the only one on the panel with arresting powers. she immediately called joe out and said, i'm coming after you. >> when andy ser remember puts on an event -- the president of the united states there. barack obama making a speech and the seal falls down. >> way to go. >> that was his carpenter. that was not a time warner carpenter. >> buchanan, did that ever happen in the nixon or reagan white house where the seal falls off while the president is talking? >> no. they've had other incidents. >> oh, that's right. there were other incidents, very good. >> there's the president. it was a great event. >> i'm glad he had a good time. >> we'll find the piece of tape. >> the seal just collapsed. >> that wasn't symbolic, was it, andy? >> you've got to ask the president. >> we have great guests today at the washington bureau. >> is he going to be wearing the coat he bought, brzezinski. >> le came back from the far east wearing a strange jacket. >> it's awful. >> how did he get it through customs. >> you looked at that jacket and you know some horse at pimlico is freezing to death. >> that is the best line of all time. >> we're hoping he's going to wear a dark jacket today. >> the sad thing is he loves it and very proud of it. it's a complete disconnect. i don't care where he got it. it's ugly. i wouldn't step on it in a puddle. >> willie geist is in new york. we'll say hi to him. >> hello, joe. your dad is high fashion. if you hold on to something long enough. in this case he's holding on from 1972. >> there's that. it hasn't come back yet. sheila bair is going to be on the news. this morning's "washington post" is reporting the taliban and karzai's afghan government have begun secret high level talks to negotiate an end to the war. this is the first time the two groups have talked since discussions in saudi arabia broke down more than a year ago. this marks the first time that taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak for the afghan taliban organization based in pakistan. the meetings involve possible agreements that would put taliban figures in the afghan government and the withdrawal of u.s. and nato troops on an agreed-upon deadline. interesting. we can talk to some of our guests about that. a leaked e-mail conversation between sarah palin's husband todd and alaskan republican nominee joe miller revealing that both sides are clashing. miller pulled out a surprising victory over murkowski in august after receiving the high-profile endorsement of sarah palin. in an interview last month, miller declined to give an endorsement to palin when asked if she was qualified to be president. oh, dear. an alaskan political blog reports that todd palin sent an e-mail following that television appearance. it said hold off on any letter for joe. sarah put her, expletive, on the line for joe and yet he can't answer a simple question. is sarah palin qualified to be president? i don't know if she is. joe, please explain how this endorsement stuff works. is it to be completely one-sided. sarah spent all morning working on a facebook post for joe. she won't use it, not now. put yourself in her shoes, joe, for one day. miller then reportedly forwarded that e-mail to people in his campaign. >> i'm sorry. who spends an entire morning working on a facebook post. >> is it kindergarten? >> that's a really good point actually. >> she spent all morning working on a -- it's 140 characters. >> it was a lot of work. >> just found this in my inbox. this is a response. note the date and complete miss construction of what i said. holy cow. how long did that take to write? >> norah o'donnell, big fight in alaska. >> look, todd palin, one of the most underreported story, is the enforcer in many ways. he is -- whether it is myself or other organizations. he's the one who calls to complain when he feels his wife has been mistreated. >> i didn't know that. >> yes. in this particular instance, you really see they're angry that joe miller didn't offer this full-throated, yes, sarah palin is quoted to be president after they believe they stuck out their -- spent all this time working on a facebook. >> working all morning on a facebook post. that's time you never get back. it's a zero sum game. pat buchanan, please, weigh in. >> suggests sensitivity on the part of todd and sarah palin about this. but clearly, this fellow joe was asked a question and people made mistakes. all he should have said is she's qualified for any post that she wants or something like that. it does suggest real sensitivity on the part of the former governor of alaska. >> it also suggests that maybe they are focused on running for president. >> this is more the husband of -- here is a guy we did everything for. he cuts us. so he's ticked off. he's a tough guy. so i think that's a natural reaction of the husband, but it does suggest sensitivity. >> does it suggest she's thinking about running. >> i've always thought she's considering running. this is all part of who sarah palin is. >> do you know how many people every day are telling her to? do you know how much kool-aid that is to drink every day? >> sarah, inc., she's making a fortune. >> the question is would she give that up to run for office? she's turned herself into a brand, making good money. her exposure is big. >> i don't think she has to give it up. she can run for president and make money at the same time. >> and the brand explodes for president. newt gingrich was telling mitch daniels six months ago, run, it helps book sales. >> you don't have to win, right? i'm curious about the mutual endorsement game? when someone endorses you, you have to endorse them? >> you don't endorse them and say, gee, would you think sarah is qualified to be president? gee, i don't know about that. >> i can't quite spit that out. >> you would throw something out like, sure, she's as qualified as anyone around. >> even that's a qualified endorse. pat. >> it's not a big news story. >> i do think it is fair to say that sarah palin did make joe miller. nobody knew who joe miller was until sarah palin endorsed him. >> it's all about eve. he turns on her once he becomes big time. >> so let's ask, pat -- >> let me say this about miller. this sounds like an amateur making a statement out there. this wasn't considered. if he could have changed that, he would have. he made a bit of a gaff. >> doesn't that help him get the murkowski votes though? >> no. if you deliberately cut sarah to get the murkowski votes? no, i don't think so at all. >> we shall see. gay and women's rights groups are demanding an apology from a republican south carolina governor jim demint after he referenced commence he made six years ago that homosexuals and some unmarried single marries should not be teaching in the state's public schools. according to the spartanburg herald journal, he talked about the backlash to those 2004 comments saying, quote, no one came to my defense, but everyone would come to me and whisper that i shouldn't back down. as to whether he stands by the comments, a spokesman for the senator says he believes hiring decisions at local schools are a local school board issue, not a federal issue. not backing down, right? >> i thought he -- >> my reading was that's him backing off. >> i think it's just watering -- backing it off would be i didn't mean what i said, i'm absolutely wrong, what i said was wrong. >> he's backing off saying i'm not going to offer any advice on this. >> saying people are whispering me not to back down, but no one will public by be with me. >> he said it's up to the local school boards. i don't have a say in this. >> standing at the local school board. >> leaving it to a local school board on deciding whether to hire unmarried women. >> i'm saying he made a general statement -- i don't want to be misconstrued here. i'm not defending his statement. i don't get his statement to be really honest with you. what i am saying, because i've seen a lot of people on the blogs going crazy over this. if you want to be angry at jim demint, be angry at jim demint for the right reasons, what he said six months ago. if you're not an ideological freak on the right or the left, any basic reading of this suggests he's saying, i said that six years ago, but my position now is it's none of my business. it's not a federal issue, up to local school boards. >> in explaining what he did in 2004 i answered as a dad with my heart and not as a senate candidate. i apologize for making the remark because it distract friday the debate. he says i apologize. >> that would be completely disavowing. >> he said he answered as a dad and with his heart. >> that would be having it both ways. >> exactly. >> that's just not backing down. that's not taking the remark back and saying i was wrong. >> i'm sorry you want to kick jim demint in the face. >> i'm not kicking him. >> you're not listening. >> i'm listening. >> yesterday we mad a discussion about justice ben nan, justice brennan the man was offended by women in the workplace. justice brennan the judge was the biggest champion of women in the workplace. justice brennan the man despised abortion. justice brennan the justice was a champion in roe v. wade. if we can have a reasoned discussion about how somebody on the left can decide that, let's not kick a conservative for doing the same damn thing. >> i'm not kicking him. i'm saying he didn't say his statement was wrong. >> let's judge justice bran nan by the same standards. >> i am. >> justice brennan is a horrible human being. >> i didn't say that. >> they don't like the nazis marching, but they allow it to happen. i guess you're right, you cannot approve of something but understand legally it's the same. >> the same rules apply to bran nan as demint. >> my only point is let's get it ride. if we're going to talk about it, let's get it ride and hold people on the right to the same standards we hold people on the left to. >> that's true. >> that's all i'm saying, norah. >> i'm with you. >> that's all you're saying. >> i'm not going to say anything else today. i promise. >> that's going to bum us out. you've got to say more stuff than that. >> look at him. >> that's it. >> you can't have a tv show. >> i think we were saying the same thing, but you're saying, i'm right. >> no, no. you know what? she goes to a women's thing for one day and comes back with all this empowerment. >> it's all right. you're brilliant. it's true what you just said. i'm taking sheila bair's advice. up next, an exclusive first look at the politico playbook. also will the obama 2012 ticket include joe biden? there's new speculation this morning. charlie crist coming under fire for an attack ad unleashed before today's big debate. it's a story making front page news this morning. first here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. national hurricane center classified this little area of low pressure north of puerto rico as subtropical depression 17. it's kind of close to the bahamas. it's going to be moving away from land. no threat whatsoever. if it does get a name, it will be our o storm, becoming otto in the days ahead. no threat to any land areas whatsoever. let's talk about what is going to happen in boston, providence, cape cod, a lot of rain today. maybe as much as an inch of rain. a very gloomy wednesday for new england today. not going to be so bad further to the south. that's where we'll watch clearing going on from the d.c. area up to philly. can't rule out a chance of the shower for the phillies game late this afternoon, should be no problem whatsoever. the forecast for the rest of the country, all the great weather continues in the midwest to the southeast where the yankees will be taking on the twins, nice in minnesota later tonight. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ the new cadillac srx. the cadillac of crossovers. cadillac. the new standard of the world. let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. joe." looking over this ap article, demint said this in '04. he apologized later in '04, said i was saying it as a father, not as a legislator. he said this again on friday, then stepped back and talked about how it's a state issue, a local issue, not a federal issue. and his staff members are running away from it saying that he's not going to do anything in congress and sort of slipping back to that position that he's just saying this is a personal opinion. but he stirred the stew back up this friday after saying it in '04 and then apologizing. >> and it came up just the other day? >> he brought it up. he brought it up again on friday. so he's stirred it up again. and now they're backing off again. i would suggest that he -- just take a position and stick with it. >> it would be good. >> it's confusing. does anybody at this table -- i'm not going to ask you buchanan. i will tell you this as a father with two young kids, i want the best teach ner the classroom. it want my kids to learn. i don't want purity tests for baseball players or teachers. if they go in, they do their job, they teach my kids, they play by the rules, that's what matters. i'm not even looking at buchanan. go ahead. in college, one or two of my teachers were -- i was told to shut up. >> oh, my god, chris, don't say that. "san francisco chronicle" analysts say it's time for meg whitman to gone the offensive. a new poll shows the gubernatorial candidate down by seven points to jerry brown with four weeks to go. "new york times," new poll finds that even though latinos strongly back democrats in the congressional elections, only 51% of latinos registered said they would go to the polls in november compared to 70% of all registered voters. "usa today," is this the beginning of the end for yankee icon derek jeter? the 36-year-old shortstop is having the worst season of his career, raising questions about his future in new york. when his contract expires at the ends of the year. >> let's see what happens in the play-offs. "the miami herald," flare-up on the eve of a key debate. charlie crist unleashed a new attack ad suggesting rubio would hurt seniors who receive social security. former governor jeb bush called the ad shameful. let's play the ad real quick. >> good lord. i want to see the ad. >> you got the ad, chris? charlie crist put this out. >> marco rubio retirement plan, he wants to raise the social security retirement age. that means you'll work harder and longer for your money. rubio wants to cut benefits, it's already tough enough to make ends meet. that's washington for you, balance the budget on the backs of seniors. charlie crist is against raising the retirement age, he'll protect social security because our seniors are earned it. i'm charlie crist and i approve this message. >> pat, i remember watching that fox debate, and i was surprised when marco rubio said he supported raising the retirement age. i said, wow, in florida that's pretty courageous, something that i would support. but i said that's pretty courageous. >> it is. >> but it's also political dynamite. >> and crist put the ad out the day of the debate. it comes out the day of the debate. it will be clooerly the focus of the debate. just like yesterday we had linda mcmahon's ad on blumenthal, the vietnam thing, brought that back and put that right into the debate. i agree with you that marco rubio showed a lot of guts saying we've got to be open to some of these changes in social security. is it political dynamite? you bet it is in florida. >> he said he thought we needed to raise the retirement age. i don't think there's any choice. that being said, in florida, that's a politically dangerous statement to make. >> in florida, that would be the hardest thing. >> but rage ous. >> absolutely. let's go to willie geist for the politico playbook. >> john harris is here with a look at the playbook. hey, john. >> good morning, willie. >> midterm election, keeping some democratic top dogs on their toes. which house chairman are you looking at that might be in trouble. >> rich cohen on our capitol hill staff has a good story this morning. some of the old bulls at risk of being newtered. this happened in 1994 where long-time chairman that were safe got washed out. there's a good chance it will happen again this year. we've got at least a half dozen chairmen who have seen their raises narrow to single digits. some of them new it, john sprat down in south carolina, he knew he was in trouble. recently people who are not accustomed to this, jim oberstar chairs the transportation committee from a northern minnesota district. the duluth paper said he's in a three-point race up there and was not accustomed to this. >> john, how much trouble -- we had the picture up there. barney frank, how much trouble is he in? i know he called in bill clinton to campaign for him. i think some people will be surprised to see his name on the list. >> it is surprising. it's an indication that as we've known and talked about, this is not a normal year. it would be a huge shock if barney frank doesn't survive this scare. if this really ask not a wave, but a tsunami, you'll see people like barney frank get washed out. i think he's up in his race and expected to win. he's woken up and said, wait a minute, this could be a real race. >> still the favorite, but will have to fight for it. we'll check back with you later in the show. >> see you soon. new rumors surrounding president obama's 2012 ticket. will it include joe biden and who might replace him? our first look at lebron james and the newly despised miami heat. how did they look in their first game? john is a ford and lincoln mercury service technician. very smart. we were just discussing the circumstances by which a person