jonathan? >> you took my things. there are no limits to fashion faux pas. watch us at 4:00. i'm filling in for dylan. >> fantastic. look. that looks good. >> oh! >> it's way too early. what time is it? >> time for "morning joe." happy holidays. >> holiday season. >> time for the daily run down with savannah guthrie, chuck? no, just savannah and "the daily rundown" right now. the president arrives in hawaii. congress gives him a big melikalikimaka. out west the rainy weather lets up but now it's mud slides causing the worries. plus, see rahm run. the election board weighs in on whether the wannabe mayor of chicago is a residence department of chicago. good morning. it's thursday, december 23. i'm savannah guthrie. chuck todd is off. let's get to the rundown beginning in washington where the 111th congress ended with a bang and the president was anxious to show off his accomplishments at a news conference before getting on a plane for hawaii he said this week proves bipartisanship is not dead. >> if there is any lesson to draw from these past few weeks it's that we are not doomed to endless gridlock. we have shown in the wake of the november elections that we have the capacity to make progress and to make progress together. >> mark murray is nbc news deputy political director. we noticed the same thing yesterday. the president enough used the words "bipartisan, common ground, holding hands" over and over again. they are trying to send a message, no? >> exactly. while yesterday's news conference amounted to a victory lap to celebrate legislative wins over the last few days it really was clear that the president was trying to hug that middle using the words bipartisanship, common ground, common purpose several times. of course it could end up being a preview of what to expect from the white house over the next two years in 2011 and 2012 as we head into the re-election. however, achieving bipartisan accomplishments in the next congress will be easier said than done. one thing that was striking in the news conference the president admitted one of his biggest disappointments during the lame duck. that was getting the senate to pass the dream act. that would be legislation to allow illegal immigrants serving in the military or attending college a pathway to citizenship. listen to what the president said. >> maybe my biggest disappointment was this dream act vote. it is heart-breaking. that can't be who we are. to have kids -- our kids, you know, classmates of our children who are suddenly under this shadow of fear through no fault of their own. they didn't break a law. they're kids. >> as you heard, not only was the president trying to hug that middle, but he was also trying to send a message to liberals, some of whom may be disappointed by some of the activities over the past two years that he'll continue to fight for liberal priorities such as comprehensive immigration reform. back to you. >> our nbc news deputy political director. mark, thank you. we have breaking news out of rome this hour. mail bombs have exploded at two different embassies overseas. the first report came from the swiss embassy where police say a package detonated when opened. the person who opened it apparently suffered significant injuries. a short time later, another package reportedly exploded at the chilean embassy. one person is believed to have been hurt in that blast as well. we'll keep an eye on the situation, bring you the latest information as we get it into the newsroom. moving on here it is of course the season for traveling. more than 92 million people will be heading out to a holiday destination over the next week or so. tom costello covers transportation for nbc news. he's in bethesda, maryland, with more. tom, good morning. >> good morning. the 92 million americans who are traveling over this holiday break, 85 million, the vast majority are going by car. nationwide gas is averaging about $3 a gallon, 40 cents more than a year ago and the most expensive gas in the country will be on the coast aside from hawaii and k alaska. california averaging $3.25 a gallon. new york now averaging $3.26 a gallon. if you're down south, texas is going for $2.83. meanwhile the cheapest gas in the country is colorado at $2.74. if you're flying, about 2.7 million people are, they will pay on average $400 for a round trip ticket. we're just hoping that the weather cooperates both on the air ond up in the sky. savannah, back to you. >> tom costello in maryland this morning. wall street will be closed for christmas eve. today is the last trading day of the week. for a preview of where the market stands i'm joined by nicole lapin. >> futures are flat. we did drift higher on wednesday. the s&p 500 hitting prelevels despite the report. but the bulls are still running the the market. the market continues to rise and now we have concrete evidence that that's actually true. a widely watched gauge of sentiment on wall street show that is the bulls jumped to 60% of market analysts. that's the highest level since october of 2007. so can ton trathe contrarians se the bears left to convert and how much higher can we go? something we'll watch today but it is a short day of work for bond traders and energy traders today. the nimex closes at 1:30. the cme at 2:00 p.m. a lot of data out. at 8:30 in the morning we had jobless claims dropping slightly. then durable goods, fell slightly. personal income and spending rose slightly. at 10:00 a.m. we have a final read on consumer sentiment and new home sales are out, forecast to jump about 6%. that was a lot. it's our favorite word. >> econorama. some up, some down. we'll check in later. thank you. all right. out west they are finally getting a break in the weather but the damage has been done. relentless thunderstorms dropped half a year's rainfall on southern california in just six days triggering widespread flooding and mud slides. miguel almaguer is on duty for us in california. i know there are heart-breaking stories of families who lost everything there. >> reporter: yes, savannah. so many families in the neighborhood were getting ready for christmas. the trees were up, the lights strung and all of the sudden the storm brought mounds of mud. there was a dirt debris that was up this hill. there is a construction site not far from here and yesterday morning at around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. the rain started to hammer this area and specifically this community. a cell ran right through the neighborhood. the mud took only minutes to start working its way down the hill. it slammed right through the backyard of the home. there is a backyard some 12 feet high and the mud went right over that, through the home and actually came down the hill. the woman who lived here said she was downstairs when it first happened and suddenly heard the house shaking and roaring. she ran upstairs, used this aluminum ladder just to get out of her home. that's how much mud is inside. it's difficult to see, but inside the home the mud is actually chest deep. it ran all the way through the neighborhood. it goes into these garages here, even the cars were ruined here. this was a mud slide triggered not just in this area but all across southern california. in laguna beach there was four feet of mud downtown. they were cleaning up yesterday. so much of the neighborhoods are just now beginning to dig out. it will be a very unfortunate christmas for so many families that live in this neighborhood. >> indeed. miguel, on duty for us in highland, california. thank you. well, coming up, end zone celebration washington-style. when presidents can't spike the ball or do a happy dance what do they do? hold a press conference. we'll have a look at the white house's victory lap up next. plus, maybe the most famous fake crock dill purse in history. you won't believe what happened to the handbag used to whack the gunman in florida. first a look ahead at the president's schedule today. he's in hawaii until january 2, 2011. watch out for white house correspondents in hawaiian shirts. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. 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>> there is still work to be done here. >> in that vein let's talk about the work congress got done. a lot of people are talking about what a productive lame duck session it was. my question to you is notwithstanding the white house being thrilled with the accomplishments, how much of the credit really belongs to the president on which issues and how much were really a product of circumstance or lobbying by democrats and republicans on the hill? how much of this really belongs to president obama, in your view? >> i think the thing that probably first and foremost belongs to president obama is the nuclear s.t.a.r.t. treaty. he pushed it. that was his top priority and he got a lot of other things along the way. don't ask, don't tell will be remembered as the biggest political achievement for his base but a lot of credit goes to members of congress on the hill. i think the biggest explanation for what happened here is democrats on the hill finally realized that time is running out. the expiration date for the majority was really almost reaching its peak here. they knew now was the time to get things done if things were going to get done. >> ann, you cover the white house as does jeff and i do. we are hearing the same thing from white house aids. they are pleased with themselves today and feel good about what they were able to accomplish coming out of massive defeats in november. what are you hearing? >>le absolutely. i sent a note to a senior administration official saying you must feel good. he wrote back, no, i feel great. that's not somethinghey could have said six months ago, certainly not a year ago when the president's trip to hawaii was delayed because of the delays on health care. this is really the first time in quite some time that they have felt this good. it's remarkable coming after the midterms. that said, i agree with jeff. i do think when republicans on the hill complain that obama is getting too much credit there is a small point there which is that a lot of the members worked hard to especially get don't ask, don't tell passed. s.t.a.r.t., obama did a lot of lobbying but there are reasons to believe many republicans who voted for it might have anyway. and on the taxes he compromised. it was partly the president, partly the democrats realizing time is running out and republicans realizing they wanted to do something. >> we can put up a list of lame duck accomplishments, new s.t.a.r.t., don't ask, don't tell, tax cut extension, the 9/11 health bill. i would circle new start and the tax cut extensions as the item it is president really personally got involved in. we now know what it looks like when the president is personally invested versus just vaguely supportive. so on the 9/11 first responders, i don't know if we ever heard the president talk about it in any setting. certainly there were statements of administrative position that they supported it. it's not something he lobbied for. >> you're right. it's not. that was perhaps one of the most striking differences in the final hours of the congressional session. there were some 168 house members who were not even on the floor to vote for this bill. 9/11 is less than a decade behind us. every bill for the last several years having to do with anything on 9/11 was not controversial and virtually everyone supported it. the president certainly would have been in the forefront. so in some respects it showed how things have moved on. you're right. when the president focuses on something, when he hones in on something there are achievements. he has a lot of things on his plate, but he did prioritize things and the 9/11 bill and other things, the credit goes to a few members of congress, not the people in this building. >> picking up on what we were talking about in terms of the attitude of the white house and where they are, let me read something from dana millbank in the post today. he said, what got obama in trouble in the first place were the high expectations that the nation had for his administration and that obama's campaign had encouraged. the frantic worries of recent weeks of a failed one-term presidency were overstated. but now obama's returns to messianic status risks unlearning the valuable lesson in humility. i don't think there is a question that some of the attitudes have changed within the white house. this was a humbling experience. do you think they risk getting over confident again? >> no matter how great they feel and maybe messianic is the right term around the holidays. come january 3 when the new republican congress takes over and everyone is back they will be right back to reality. i don't think there will be illusions when the white house send as budget to congress around the time of the state of the union when they next figure out how to fund the government which is one of several, we should point out, failures that the white house had during the lame duck session. for all of the successes they had, president obama talked about things he didn't get done. the dream act, the immigration bill and the big spending bill. so i think all of that's going to come back. this might be a reprieve. i think they are entitled to feel good about themselves but i don't think they are under illusions that it will last. >> all right, anne and jeff, great to have you both. have a great holiday. >> you, too. >> thanks, savannah. coming up next, dreaming the impossible dream. a group of people devoting their lives to eradicating poverty and hunger. and a ruling for rahm. will the former white house chief of staff's washington ways keep him from running for mayor of chicago? we'll find out. first our washington-speak for the day. >> we consider to be laid on the table, the motion to be laid on the table. be considered laid upon the table. >> laid on the table. harry reid was in the laying on the table mood yesterday. wanted to get the senate's business done for the holidays. if a simple majority doesn't like an amendment or motion they can lay it on the table which is a nice way of saying kill it without having to vote on the amendment or motion. if you have washington-speak you would like us to clarify send an e-mail to the dailyrundown@msnbc.com. seven years ago, i had this idea. to make baby food the way moms would. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips using membership rewards points to meet with the farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. we've gone from being in 5 stores to 7,500. booming is using points to make connections that grow your business. you need to do the preventative things that you need to do for your heart health. for me, it means an aspirin regimen. before you begin an aspirin regimen. speak to your doctor. that saves you hundreds of dollars a year. it's called the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. ♪ it's a breakthrough in medicare prescription drug plans... hey buddy! hey grandpa! ...with monthly plan premiums less than $15 and copays as low as $2. but for savings this big, visit walmart.com or call 1-800-808-4003. introducing the new humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. a medicare prescription drug plan that's a step forward in health care... and a step forward in affording the things that really matter. but don't forget, you can only save if you enroll by december 31st. ♪ call humana to take advantage of the medicare prescription drug plan with the lowest national premium in the country. go to walmart.com for more details. ♪ rheumatoid arthritis going? 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[ woman ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi®. just one dose, once a month. well, during the holiday season many shift their focus to helping those in need. for bill shore fighting poverty and disease is a year-round disease. the executive director of share our strength, a leading anti-huck hunger, anti-poverty movement. his book is called "imaginations of unreasonable men: inadministration, vision and purpose in the quest to end malaria." thanks for being with us. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about hunger. give us a state of the union. where are we and where is the real need now in terms of hunger? >> there is tremendous need in this country. we have 44 million americans who live below the poverty line. 42 million on the snap food stamp program and half of those are kids t. most important thing to remember about hunger in the united states is kids are not hungry because we lack food as a society. we have it in abundance. they are not even hungry because we lack food and nutrition programs. we have school breakfast, summer feeding. they are hungry because they lack access to the programs. that's what the no kid hungry program has tried to resolve. we have added tens of thousands of kids to the programs. it's a year round, not a seasonal problem. >> i love your title. it evokes a notion that the problems seem insurmountable, but one person, a group of people can really make a difference. what can people do if they want to get involved? >> what it takes is a real commitment to speaking out and representing those who are voiceless. to me the connection between our work with hunger and the issue of malaria is these issues affect people so voiceless and vulnerable there is no market for solving them. nonprofit organizations, organizations like share our strength and others fill the gap. if it's hunger, there are many ways to get involved through the no kid hungry campaign f. you care about global issues like malaria there are amazing campaigns like the methodist church is conducting. there is a way for everybody to get involved. you have to make the commitment that you're going to be willing to solve problems that affect people that may not be in your field of vision but the need is so great. >> i know you got involved in this malaria issue in the '80s when you were working on the famine in ethiopia. tell us about it. >> for me it was a heart-break of my career. share our strength was involved with a school at project mercy and we were also helping to fund the construction of a hospital. i met this terrific young girl named elima. she was 13 years old. she was lovely. we had a long conversation, exchanged letters and she sent me pictures of her middle school graduation. about a year later, a colleague had gone over to look for her to give her a letter that i had written and finally wrote me to say that he hated to tell me but she died from malaria. for me, it brought to mind what martin luther king used to say in this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. if we don't want to be too late for kids around the world and country we have to get more people involved in the efforts. >> it's wonderful work you are doing. a reminder to everybody. your book is "the imaginations of unreasonable men." a great read. it's good to have you here. have a wonderful holiday. >> thank you very much. you, too. >> still to come, while the president's away, what kind of soup is the white house mess serving? do they even bother? we'll tell you. plus -- >> this is the day we have all been working towards and waiting for. our christmas miracle has arrived. >> live in the studio, one of the first responders responsible for making the 9/11 health bill a reality. but first, today's trivia question from the alma nick of american politics. which current senator once did a united nations internship in austria? the answer coming up. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t and blackberry have teamed up to keep your business moving. blackberry torch now just $99.99. only from at&t. rethink possible. blackberry torch now just $99.99. ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage. its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. [ malhis day starts thwith his arthritis pain.. that's breakfast with two pills. the morning is over, it's time for two more pills. the day marches on, back to more pills. and when he's finally home... but hang on; just two aleve can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is steven, who chose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. breaking news right now. police are responding to reports of a suspicious package at the ukrainian embassy in rome. this is the third incident in rome this morning. italian news agencies say one person was injured when a package exploded at the chilean embassy. that followed a blast at the swiss embassy which also injured one person. the italian police say they are now conducting checks in all embassies and consulates in rome. we'll have more details as they come in this morning. other stories driving the day on a thursday, president obama has joined his family in hawaii after delaying his trip to help get a string of legislation through the lame duck congress. before leaving washington the president told reporters this proved washington is not doomed to endless gridlock. speaking of gridlock, the holiday travel season is upon us. more than 92 million people are expected to travel over the holidays and the vast majority of them will be hitting the roads. that's a 3% increase, by the way, over last year. the opening bell is ringing on wall street where a new survey of traders shows six in ten are optimistic about where the economy is headed. that's the highest level in more than three years. other headlines this morning. the alaska supreme court delivered another set-back to republican joe miller, refusing to overturn election results that favored lisa murkowski. the court ruled that voters do not have to spell a write-in candidate's name perfectly if officials can determine the voter's intend. the white house says huh jintao will visit washington on january 19th. his visit will include a state dinner hosted by president obama and the first lady. the president visited china in november of 2009. the purse that panama city school board member ginger littleton used to whack a gunman sold on ebay for just over $13,000. the money will go to a charity run by hero security guard mike jones that donates to needy children. the handbag maker doubled the amount contributed. crunch time for rahm emanuel. a decision on whether he can run for mayor of chicago is due today. an election hearing officer is recommending he be allowed on the ballot though he lived in washington until a few months ago. john yang is in chicago. okay, john. we have heard from a hearing officer. now what? >> that's right. so now in about half an hour the three board of election commissioners, three commissioners with two democrats, one republican, will sit down and begin the meeting. they will take a vote on whether to accept the hearing officer's recommendations. this is the recommendation. 69 pages worth released about 2:00 this morning. he says that rahm emanuel should be on the ballot. he said he never intended to abandon his residency in chicago to be chief of staff in washington. he said his driver's license has always shown chicago as his address. he always had an illinois driver's license. never applied for a d.c. driver's license. he's always voted in chicago at that address. his car is registered in chicago. the house, even though they rented it, still contains their bed, piano, two television sets, other personal belongings and their bank account list it is chicago address. in addition the hearing officer said illinois state law protects the voting residency of people who leave the state on what the law says the nation's government's business. the nation's business. so he says for all those reasons, rahm should be on the ballot. now, this hearing today is not going to be the last word. whatever the board of election commissioners decides almost certainly will be appealed to the courts and so the ultimate decision will probably be made by the illinois court system. now, today's session could be lengthy. there are about -- more than two dozen, nearly 30 objectors and everyone gets to make a final argument to the board of commissioners before they vote. we could be at it for a while. >> you know how everyone has to have their say, too. nbc's john yang covering the story in chicago. thank you. they are calling it a christmas miracle, the 11th hour deal to provide more than $4 billion for 9/11 first responders was passed through the house and senate yesterday. dozens of ground zero workers are being credited with helping to get the bill passed after they traveled to washington to personally lobby republican opponents. among the group, john field, a demolition supervisor who lost a foot and suffered lung damage from working at ground zero. he founded the feel good foundation to help others who fell ill after the attacks and he joins me now. great to have you here. >> thanks for having me. >> what's your reaction? how do you feel about the experience you had in washington -- going there, lobbying. for a moment it seemed the bill was not going to happen and ultimately you prevailed. >> yesterday was historic, but it was bittersweet for many of us. we have been doing it for six years and we lost a lot of battles in this war. but we came home last night on the bus knowing we won the war. the 9/11 community will finally get help. >> i read that you said you would give the bill a 7 out of 10. what do you mean? >> i would give it a 7 because a couple years ago it was worth $10.5 billion, then $7.4 billion, then $6.2. we left at $4.3. but it still saves lives. if we came home with nothing we're not saving anybody. >> what is planned for the money? how will it help? >> well, half of it is health care. the other is compensation. the centers of excellence that treated the brave souls will stay open for five years without a yearly budget. they will be able to treat, monitor, collect data, use preventative medicine and do scientific research for all the illnesses coming out now. then the compensation part, these men and women will be compensated because of their financial burden and not being able to work the last nine years. >> talk about what you and your colleagues have gone through. what are some of the health problems you have experienced? >> well, cancers, blood cancers, over 990 people have died since 9/11. respiratory, lung issues, pu pulmonary fibrosis. it's unacceptable. on september 16 we were lied to when they said the air was safe to breathe and that's not the case. >> were you surprised at that time amount of resistance the bill ran into? >> yes. i started six years ago with a chip on my shoulder the size of a battery. it's now the size of mt. rushmore. it took nine years to get the bill passed. it was never a democratic or republican issue. it was an american issue. >> do you accept the argument of those who say it's not that we don't want to help 9/11 workers. we want to make sure this is a program that's run right, we have to be mindful of taxpayer dollars. do you buy those items? do you think they are genuine? >> no. the bill doesn't add to the deficit, doesn't add to taxpayers? in fact it decreases the deficit by $57 million. >> it's wonderful to have you here. i know you worked hard on this. i hope you have a peaceful holiday knowing your work paid off. >> thank you. happy holidays. we want to get back to breaking news. the italian police are conducting checks in embassies in rome after three incidents so far today. two bombers and a suspicious package. evan cole man is a terrorism analyst for msnbc news. i take it you are familiar with the facts as we know them now. a series of bombs found in embassies in rome. what's your reaction? >> reporter: it seems similar to something we saw last month. 14 different parcel bombs or mail bombs were sent to various embassies from greece. those embassies, it should be noted, included the swiss and chilean embassies in athens which are the latest two targets in rome. you know, switzerland land and chile are not generally considered to be major targets. if they are being targeted here in the same manner as the attack last month there is reason to believe they will be connected. as far as the greek police know the attacks last month were carried out by a group calling itself the conspiracy of the cells of fire which is a left wing or anarchist group. switzerland and chile aren't usually terrorist targets. if somebody goes after them twice it's pretty sure they are connected somehow smm your immediate suspicion is not that it's the terrorism we have seen, islamic fundamentalism, al qaeda, anything like that. >> no. there is one issue that the swiss carried out a referendum on the banning of building new minoretts in switzerland land. it hasn't gotten the attention in the extremist community as, say, the cartoon controversy in denmark and sweden. so i really don't think al qaeda is looking to target switzerland and beyond that, the attack itself, the bomb was not very powerful. it doesn't look like it was designed for a mass casualty attack. it does not look like the work of al qaeda and yemen which was responsible for the cargo bomb plot a few weeks ago. so i think, yeah, the obvious suspect here is going to be the conspiracy to cells of fires and the mail bombing campaign last month. there are a lot of parallels here. it seems difficult to imagine that they are not connected. >> evan, always great to get your perspective as the news breaks this morning. a reminder, police in rome are checking the report of a suspicious package at the ukrainian embassy following the discovery of a pair of package bombs at the swiss embassy and the chilean embassy. we'll stay on top of the story. one other note, our justice producer reports that homeland security says it is keeping a close eye on the developments. speaking to its counterparts overseas, but there is nothing additional to report at this time. we'll keep an eye on it. let's do trivia. which current senator once did united nations internship in vienna, austria. the answer is kirsten gillibrand who pushed for the repeal of don't ask, don't tell and the 9/11 workers bill. coming up, a christmas eve fire kills three young girls. their father convicted and put to death for the crime. was he innocent? coming up, founder and director of the innocence project will join us live. plus, in this down economy, why is one sector of commercial construction booming when everything else is struggling? you may want to call this a christmas miracle. but first the white house soup of the day and there is one on this christmas eve eve. it's chili con carne, even though the president is in hawaii. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. nobody in my family ever had a heart attack. if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart. my doctor put me on an aspirin regimen to help protect my life. 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(announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you up to thousands of dollars. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, i can keep my own doctor and choose my own hospital. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. as with all medicare supplement plans, and help pay for what medicare doesn't. call this toll-free number now... well, everyone knows about the tough economic times plaguing this country. it turns out new and unexpected opportunities are emerging and one of them may be the construction of churches. cnbc's jane wells is in porter ranch, california, this morning. jane, good morning. >> good morning, savannah. we have brand new construction behind us. this is shepherd of the hills in california. they need a new sanctuary. they have grown from 6,000 to 10,000 members in just the last year. and they are not alone. it's something of a christmas miracle. while the national council of church business administration says it can't find a national trend in a building boom it is exploding in certain regions like new jersey. >> cars will pull in here -- >> reporter: this vacant land in new jersey symbolizes the beginning of something big. >> we are building a new church from the ground up. >> reporter: the pastor lead it is 10-year-old church which has grown so much they have raised $4 million to build the first part of a 60,000 square foot facility. >> phase one allows us to build a 500 seat auditorium. phase two adds more clooassroom and a larger sanctuary with a 1500 seat auditorium. >> looking into 2011, we are forecasting to have our best year yet. >> reporter: ryan regina is with big sky enterprises. five of the six projects this year are churches including the expansion of the baptist church. in the recession, as commercial construction has withered, big sky made churches its niche. >> what we are seeing in various builders magazines, there seems to be a steady increase in church construction. i think a lot of it has to contribute to the economy. >> supposedly we have multiple banks saying, we want to do your project and we are getting good interest rates. that's because we have someone bigger than the world that's on our side. god has been really faithful to us. >> reporter: another blessing in disguise, because of the recession, labor costs are down for churches and the permitting process is faster because there aren't many projects. back to you. >> jane wells in porter ranch, california, this morning. thank you. well, new numbers show a decline in the number of executions in the u.s. according to the death penalty information center there were 46 executions in 2010 which is down 12% from 2009. only half as many death sentences were handed out this year as ten years ago. still, the fight over capital punishment is going strong. last week a county judge in texas heard arguments on whether the death penalty is unconstitutional as practiced in that state. others are trying to clear the names of those who may have been wrongly executed. the innocence project is petitioning to have a texas man, cameron todd willingham cleared of the murders of his three children. he was convicted and put to death. but since then multiple expert reviews found fault with the investigation into the crime and question whether he was innocent. the cofounder of the innocence project joins me now. barry, great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> we'll talk about the case in a moment. as the fascinating one and has certainly drawn attention to the issue. we started with the numbers and a lot of people may be surprised about that. do you think the death penalty is falling out of favor in this country? are people's views about the death penalty changing? >> completely. there is no question about it. it is no longer the third rail of american politics. andrew cuomo was elected as an opponent of the death penalty. dan malloy was elected in connecticut, opponent of the death penalty. o'malley in maryland put in a bill to abolish the death penalty in the maryland legislature and pat quinn from connecticut has continued to hold on executions in that state. there may be a movement in the legislature to repeal it there. >> what do you attribute to this change in views? obviously the innocence project has done so much work using dean to clear people who are -- dna to clear people who are wrongly held. do you think it's the familiarity with science that people are concerned about cases -- people being convicted wrongly and facing the ultimate punishment? >> i think there is no question that the risk of executing an innocent has been demonstrated and is clear in the public mind. also, when you look at the public opinion polling the alternative to the death penalty -- mandatory life without parole with restitution to the family, in many jurisdictions, this points to the death penalty as sanction and it's bad public policy. when you look at california, you know, they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on capital punishment. yet it takes 24 years for somebody who gets a death sentence to be executed. they haven't had an execution in five executed and they haven't had a death sentence there in all this time. why have economic distress. it hurts public safety, too. because you can't put criminal justice dollars into all the things we know, protect the innocent and catch criminals and improve public safety. so, that's coming together. >> let's talk about one prominent case that is the one that we mentioned cameron todd willingham. a man convicted and sent to death for the killing of his family from an arson fire and subsequent investigation, i believe multiple investigations determined it may not have been arson at all and yet here is the case that i think so many certainly in your line of work worry about where somebody was not actually put to death row but put to death perhaps wrongly. >> there's not a question any more that the arson evidence that was used against him was completely discredited. i mean, we know it was just junk science and there was no reliab reliable evidence that this was a rescindiary evidence. the only thing left in the case was a jailhouse snitch. "trial by fire" that so many people read but in the new sets of hearings in texas we discovered this jailhouse snitch johnny webb testified that trial that nobody made any promises to him and now it turns out that just afterwards he was arrested and he made a motion for specific performance of the promises made to him in the cameron todd welling hm case. >> let me ask you the larger question. do you think the experience the willingham case will have a ripple effect? >> i think it is. i think it's clear in the publux consciousness that this happened and don't forget claude jones especially for the political junkies that watch this show. george bush is waiting for the florida supreme court to tell him whether there is going to be a continued recount in florida. he gets a memo from his people saying execute this guy claude jones and now we demonstrated with the dna tests last month that no one told him we were asking, his lawyer was asking for a dna test on a hair that was the key evidence that convicted him and he wound up executing him when i know president bush would not have gunned that execution, he would have allowed the dna test and it doesn't prove him innocent but doesn't prove evidence to convict him. >> i know your life's work and your passion and in addition to that, you have some acting shots. here's barry scheck on an episode of "good wife." >> carrie, this is barry scheck. >> not bad. you got a speaking part, too. >> yeah. >> thank you so much. good to see you. >> to see you. we'll be right back. an be ur in-store or online. and with walmart's great prices, every dollar on that card goes farther. for a gift they can make the most of, give a gift card from walmart. 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