chris christie did. if you were caught speeding in an unregistered car, would you get away without points? chris christie did. in both cases christie threw his weight around as u.s. attorney and got off easy. if you didn't pay your taxes, ignored ethics law, would you get away with it? chris christie. one set of rules for himself. another for everyone else. >> as we know, that ad didn't play very well in new jersey, but what about this issue? it's one thing for a campaign to bring it up as corzine did which was kind of ham handed, but you can't stop the columnists from bringing it up. >> as a fat man, myself, who ought to lose 30 or 40 pounds and just having gone through a campaign, it's a very tedious, were tiring process and my concern for the governor, and i don't know whether he's going to get in or not get in, is he needs to get in some kind of shape. my last advice to my friend, mike huckabee, whose campaign i chaired four years ago who lost 100 pounds before he started running, is he needs to get

news about chris christie, his 1:00 p.m. announcement. apple's first launch since its ceo/corporate rock star, steve jobs, stepped down. all eyes on its new leader, tim cooke and of course what's new in apple's crown jewel, the iphone. >>> good morning, everybody. following breaking news here on msnbc, reporting governor chris christie will not run for president in 2012. that announcement is expected at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. a staff writer for "the star ledger" joining us via skype from new jersey's capitol in trenton. this is big news, sources telling nbc he was seriously thinking about this over the last few days. in your estimation from covering him as a governor, why do you think he decided not to throw his hat into the ring? >> well, it was a tough decis n decision. there's a lot of down side to start a presidential race this late in the game. it's hard to put together an organization so quickly. there were doubts among some conservatives that he was too liberal to compete in the presidential primary. and, also, there are other t

chris: what does christie got? >> he has charisma, conviction, has this quality that is so authentic and people are criticizing him. he is elect tabble and great back grouped. conservatives feel like this is their moment and they don't want to settle and they want something special. >> i want to ask this, why christie? >> as he said, he is the anti- obama, he embodies everything that obama isn't. he is a big guy, jersey guy. hangs out at the pizza shop. he embodies -- chris: north italians versus south italians? [laughter] >> one of the problems with romney that he doesn't have an interesting bio. and there is no way into this -- chris: seems morrow boatic. no one would accuse christie of being a robot. >> you couldn't make one like that [laughter] >> i watched chris christie this summer ignite a crowd. one of the most remarkable performances i have seen. trying to put together the bipartisan deal on the new jersey budget, which is as messed up as the federal budget. and people walked out of that session. he was fu

are democrats worried about chris christie and should they be worried about chris christie attracting, as joe said, the very independents that barack obama used to be very attractive to. >> this is very simple for any republican watching. stop wasting your time for somebody who is not in the race. the problem with this conversation from day one it has been -- first it was will newt run. he gets in. then it said, will pawlenty run. he gets in. will palin run? will trump run in will christie run? i swear, literally, if they could somehow go into a shop and create a ronald reagan, they would try to create a ronald reagan robot. it's a riddiiculous conversatio. you don't have a discussion until somebody is in the race. perry on paper looked great, wonderful. when you go into a debate it's a whole different deal. i remind people also, you can be all concerned right now. the reality is this, at this juncture in 2007, obama was down 31 points to hillary clinton. things change over a period of years. bill clinton in iowa, he was dead on arrival in new hampshire. what happened? he rebounds. re

first of all, governor chris christie would be a great candidate. he would be the best speaker in the race and he has a great record as a decisive leader. that said, a national campaign is an immense challenge. you have to assemble the infrastructure of a campaign, the national staff. the lawyers and accountants and i.t. you have to have an organization on the ground and early primary states. i have told prospective candidates to plan three months to get your infrastructure up and running. people will be voting in three months. i will be surprised if he does it. he does have smart people advising him who have run campaigns. >> when you look at it, unlike previous candidates who have gotten talked into late races, the people that he's turning to for political advice are ones that have not the greatest experience. >> i disagree on that. the people you're talking about also worked in the successful bush campaigns. they also assisted john mccain in unsuccessful campaigns. they have broad experience. i think some of the wealthy people in new york and som

are democrats worried about chris christie and should they be worried about chris christie attracting, as joe said, the very independents that barack obama used to be very attractive to? >> this is very simple for any republican watching. stop wasting your time with somebody who is not in the race. the problem with this conversation from day one it has been -- first it was will newt run. he gets in. then it said, will pawlenty run. he gets in. will palin run? will trump run? will christie run? i swear, literally, if they could somehow go into a shop and create a ronald reagan, they would try to create a ronald reagan robot. it's a ridiculous conversation. you don't have a discussion until somebody is in the race. here is the deal. perry on paper looked great, wonderful. when you go into a debate, it's a whole different deal. i remind people also, you can be all concerned right now. the reality is this, at this juncture in 2007, obama was down 31 points to senator hillary clinton. 31 points to hillary clinton. things change over a period of years. bill clinton in iowa, he was dead on a

chris christie, good-bye. chris christie, don't cry. i watched some of the speech today of the new jersey governor kiss good-bye to the presidential race. kind of a letdown overall. he said he couldn't come up with a reason not to complete his term as governor which made, i figure, a couple of not so great points. one, he's no sarah palin heading off from a job he had been duly elected to, a job in his words, asked to have. two, he's not rick perry who's quite willing to spend a year running for president while still keeping the governor's job down in texas. three, he's no mitt romney because he's not clearly intent on, unlike romney, running for and winning a second term as governor of jersey. christie's decision not to run for president leaves a dreary field back there, a field so dreary, so needy that it sat there in the political time-out corner while he made up his mind. so left behind it's only now in the wake of christie's departure we all see rick perry is now tied with herman cain in the national polls of whom republicans say t

this is a tough question for chris christie obviously. the emotional pleas that came to him he reagan library gave him reason to pause and consider this. all indications are that governor christie is going to say an hour from now that he is not running for president. we're standing inside the statehouse in a long line of reporters trying to get into this conference room where the governor will be making the statement in about an hour from now. you can certainly say that chris christie circus has arrived in trenton. you say perhaps it will end the speculation. i'm not so sure it will end all of the speculation. keep in mind, you have months and months, almost a year now before the republican national convention in florida. if the republican party is not happy with folks like mitt romney and rick perry, you'll see perhaps republicans going back to chris christie and asking him to reconsider. i don't think that's out of the question. i think it's safe to say we'll hear another round of marko rubio speculation after this announcement today. i

he described chris christie as an american hero and chris christie said that he believes he is the man to lead the country forward. i am joined by chuck todd again and msnbc david corn. let me start with you. what is your immediate take away from that. in describing chris christie as a hero, he wasn't aware of the fact that unemployment in new jersey is 9.4%. >> i was just checking that on my smart phone. three points above the national average. chris christie's own numbers have not been very popular with the public sector. he has been a controversial and conflict-causing governor. because he goes after the unions, he has a big fan base amongst republican funders and the brothers and others. that will be good in terms of mitt romney gathering up more books. what i'm thinking is that rick perry is looking at this going oy. this debate tonight was going to be his chance to try to get back in the ring and back on top of the horse that he jumped off of in the previous debates. now there is an aura of inevitability, the campaign strategy that got tougher with chris christie's endorsement pr

jersey governor chris christie will hold a news conference on a possible run for the white house in two thousand and twelve for me the answer was never anything but no. so once again chris christie held the news cycle hostage this time to announce that nothing had changed oksana said he sees c.n.n. they all took the news or live they stayed with it we counted for forty minutes he said he wasn't running in the first three minutes but if you were going to use the media forced everybody to watch the political circus perp already breaking minutes you know with all the issues facing this country and less wars shadow wars record unemployment a possible trade war with china by wall street the media would rather focus on a made up d.c. beltway story literally made up so that's why we're getting fox news c.n.n. and that's n.b.c. and i was told so i work for wasting our time with this trivial crap and chris christie next time just say no and be done with it holding a press conference or forty minutes to say one word is a little bit overdramatic. i decipher happy hour and join me this evening

what about chris christie? should chris christie run? 42% saying yes and 34% saying no and about one in four unsure. but the poll also asks the same question about sarah palin. a resounding no. two out of three republicans asked whether pashin should run said the former alaska governor should not run for the gop nomination. >> what hank williams jr. said about the president. tell us this story. >> well, if you noticed last night on monday night football for the first time in a long time you did not hear his song, "are you ready for some football." ha williams jr. was on fox news channel yesterday and he was talking about that golf summit. if you remember that earlier this summer between president, vice president biden and house speaker boehner and williams said he thought it was a big mistake to do this. to have this summit. take a listen to what else he said. >> come on, come on. that would be like hitler playing golf with netanyahu. okay. >> well, there you go. little fighting words there and very controversial words from hank williams

chris christie, good-bye. chris christie, don't cry. i watched some of the speech today of the new jersey governor kiss good-bye to the presidential race. kind of a letdown overall. he said he couldn't come up with a reason not to complete his term as governor which made, i figure, a couple of not so great points. one, he's no sarah palin heading off from a job he had been duly elected to, a job in his words, asked to have. two, he's not rick perry who's quite willing to spend a year running for president while still keep iing the governor's b down in texas. three, he's no mitt romney because he's not clearly intent on, unlike romney, running for and winning a second term as governor of jersey. christie's decision not to run for president leaves a dreary field back there, a field so dreary, so needy that it sat there in the political time-out corner while he made up his mind. so left behind it's only now in the wake of christie's departure we all see rick perry is now tied with herman cain in the national polls of whom republicans say t

are democrats worried about chris christie and should they be worried about chris christie attracting, as joe said, the very independents that barack obama used to be very attractive to? >> this is very simple for any republican watching. stop wasting your time with somebody w is hot in the race. the problem withhis t nverrom say one it has been -- first it was will newt run. he gets in. then it said, will pawlenty run. he gets in. will palin run? will trump run? will christie run? i swear, literally, if they could somehow go into a shop and create a ronald reagan, they would try to create a ronald reagan robot. it's a ridiculous conversation. you don't have a discussion until somebody is in the race. here is the deal. perry on paper looked great, wonderful. when you go into a debate, it's a whole different deal. i remind people also, you can be all concerned right now. the reality is this, at this juncture in 2007, obama was down 31 points to senator hillary clinton. 31 points to hillary clinton. things change over a period of years. bill clinton in iowa, he was dead on arrival in ne

why do republicans love the new jersey governor chris christie and the only thing we know for sure is many republicans want him to run desperately a big event for new jersey governor chris christie last night what he said to any passion supporter he said on several occasions that his heart simply isn't in it i thank you for what you're saying and i take it in and i'm listening to every word of it and feeling it. now chris christie joked of a california event about a clip of videos that politico put together showing him saying no repeatedly the clip is almost two minutes long but here's just a tiny little sample of the nose. the way going around you know not going to happen here still saying categorically not running well i'm not running amok hundred percent certain a marker well i don't want to run i don't feel like i'm ready to run first in your heart you've got to want more anything else or anything else i want that that will you have to believe in your heart and in your soul and in your mind that you are ready and i don't believe that about myself right now you have to believe as a

>> chris christie -- i don't think chris christie needs to do transactions, and i do believe that chris christie supported mitt romney because he looked at the rest of the field and said, listen, we've got to get somebody that can win this race. i actually saw ann coulter on the "wall street journal" website. and she said you know these northeast governors. rick perry said that's just two northeasterners supporting each other. ann coulter said if you are a republican of the northeast, you unlike rick perry or michele bauchmann, you have had to appeal, chuck todd, to independents and democrats. so, yes, ann coulter saying it's a good thing as a conservative's conservative, it's a good thing these people actually know how to win in swing districts. >> i'll be curious to see what happens over the next six weeks. i do think you're seeing. you talk to elected republicans in this town, even elected republicans outside of washington. and all of them are trying to find their way to romney in some form of another. i wouldn't be surprised if you see this sort of coalescing of the establishment th

what about chris christie? should chris christie run? 42% saying yes and 34% saying no and about one in four unsure. but the poll also asks the same question about sarah palin. a resounding no. two out of three republicans asked whether pashin should run said the former alaska governor should not run for the gop nomination. >> what hank williams jr. said about the president. tell us this story. >> well, if you noticed last night on monday night football for the first time in a long time you did not hear his song, "are you ready for some football." hank williams jr. was on fox news channel yesterday and he was talking about that golf summit. if you remember that earlier this summer between president, vice president biden and house speaker boehner and williams said he thought it was a big mistake to do this. to have this summit. take a listen to what else he said. >> come on, come on. that would be like hitler playing golf with netanyahu. okay. >> well, there you go. little fighting words there and very controversial words from hank willia

chris christie set to make a big announcement. brand new information what he might say, next. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. set out to create a different kind of cold remedy using powerful medicine and natural ingredients from around the world. he called it vicks vaporub. today, the vicks journey continues. introducing new vicks nature fusion cold & flu syrup. powerful multi-symptom medicine flavored with natural honey instead of artificial flavors and dyes. so you can feel good about what you take to feel better. jon: fox news alert. and we don't want to kill the suspense but multiple sources are now saying chris christie has not changed his mind about not running. there have been reports saying he was reconsidering all that, especially after that reagan library speech in california. but in a news conference today, about an hour and 15 minutes fr

chris christie is ending a guessing game about a potential white house run. the republican governor is set to address the media moments from now in trenton. nbc's ron allen is live at the statehouse in trenton, new jersey. ron, set the scene for us. >> reporter: well, it's been a long time since trenton, new jersey, has gotten this much attention. there are literally dozens and dozens of reporters lined up waiting to get in to hear what chris christie has to

attorney and got off easy if you didn't pay your taxes christie there always wait around ok so chris christie is back i mean it just is he's a big guy but apparently this is like the top of the tel and i think there have been three big job ads written by henry blodgett eugene robinson michael kinsley just in the past like day or two everyone is discussing whether or not chris christie could really be president because he's fat issue or nonissue what he did say i don't understand how people get so indignant over this where you could sure we live in a country where the highest paid baseball pitcher we're talking your professional athlete here is. what i think is three hundred pounds so the idea that you can't be president while you're overweight i mean it's just absurd actually as you say you know you feel you think that if you could be president is that what you just said i'm saying if you could be a professional athlete you unclear here you. know i mean i agree with you actually i think it's crazy if we have a country full of fat people who can relate to fat people better than a fat

chris christie will announce at 1:00 p.m. eastern time today whether he's going to make a run for president. but, believe it or not, not a majority of americans, even know who he is. and we're tracking amanda knox on her flight back to the u.s. she is now a free woman after her murder conviction is overturned in italy. is her legal nightmare over? and on a different note, apple ready to reveal the iphone 5. breaking down all the latest upgrades and how you can get your hands on the hot new gadget. that and more coming up in the next half hour. >>> there are apparently money troubles for presidential candidate michele bachmann who is losing a couple of top campaign aides and some others are being re-assigned back to her congressional staff. now officially we'll get a picture of everyone's campaign cash with new numbers for the third quarter which are due out by the 15th. one big advantage for the republicans, though, tea party money. msnbc's richard lui joins us. it is time to break out the campaign cash wall, mr. lui. >> that

as we await a major announcement from new jersey governor chris christie republicans unhappy with the current lineup of candidates had urged christie to jump in the speculation is swirling after christie scheduled a surprise news conference i've been told that the new jersey governor did seriously reconsider getting in over the last two weeks the guessing game has gone on for months will he or won't he he's been dodging questions for days on whether he'll launch a run for the white house we're awaiting a news conference the statement from the new jersey governor chris christie face christie is ending the guessing game about a potential white house run in just moments new jersey governor chris christie will hold a news conference on a possible run for the white house in two thousand and twelve for me the answer was never anything but no. so once again chris christie held the news cycle hostage this time to announce that nothing of change fox m s n b c c.n.n. they all took the news or live they stayed with it we counted for forty minutes he said he wasn't running in the first three minu

for chris christie. because he would be -- he would be exciting because of his unpredictability -- >> are you saying this is entertainment? >> oh, sure. that's the way many elements of the media view presidential contests, primaries, as entertainment. the rick perry thing is part of the entertainment spectrum. although he will be home in texas with a lot of times on his hands by christmas, i think. >> yeah, i think so. joe, what do you think? >> he can see mexico, by the way from his house. >> he never said that -- >> are you saying he's the sarah palin. >> no, sarah palin's much smarter than rick perry. what were you asking about chris christie? >> i think all campaigns are about contrast. and the fact is, chris christie, if you just want to look at the politics of it matches up wonderfully against every republican because he's articulate, he's a fighter, he can tell people exactly what he believes. he can explain his philosophy. there aren't a lot of republicans that could do that. unlike mitt romney,

in hour, chris christie will make a big announcement. he is endorsing mitt romney ahead of the republican debate and we are following breaking news in the search for that missing baby, baby lisa. new details. a new search site at this point and we have the information for you. "news nation" is minutes away. t wrinkle revolution... relaxes the look of wrinkles instantly, and the look of deep wrinkles in 14 days. ready, set, smooth... regenerist. from olay. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee. it's the starbucks via® taste promise. look for it at starbucks stores and where you buy groceries. ♪ it's the starbucks via® taste promise. like so many great pioneers before me, guided only by a dream. i'm embarking on a journey of epic pro

governor chris christie. >> he's a nice man in a clean suit that wants to be president. >> chris christie endorses mitt romney because he's a career politician. >> planned for a good long period of time about what he would do if he was given the honor of being president of the united states. >> spent our life entirely in politics. >> his experience as an elected official, experience as governor of massachusetts. he's used executive power. >> he's a real hero in republican circles. >> you're not chris christie, you never will be. >> it's not like chris christie had better options. >> classic case of lesser of two evils. >> nomination process. >> you have to start showing governor romney some respect. >> poll shows romney lea >> he's not just going to be the guy that they love. >> how do you think he feels watching you like everybody more than him? >> they're looking for the anti-romney. >> romney is so boring. >> what do you thing this does to rick perry? >> i think rick perry is dead wrong. >> the governor has 6%. >> he can talk about shooting coyotes in the face. >> rick perry an accompl

no chris christie has given you his answer. stop grinding up against him and asking if you can just put the tip in. [cheering and applause] son of a bitch. at least not all pundits were blinded by their desire to see what they want to see. >> i think that we can take governor christie at his word. i think he kind of put the nail in the coffin of speculation that he would run by the announcement that he made today. >> and if i were the media i would by gosh go back the lavishing unwarranted attention on other possible non-candidates who have sent maybe more mixed messages. [laughter] that's sarah palin wearing what appeared to be a vest made from the pelt of a cookie monster she shot from a helicopter. [laughter] could be... could be found on fox literally less than a minute after chris christie had spoken. like an alarm went off that they were talking about somebody else. to reassure the nation that not every possible republican candidate had made a clear decision. >> okay. for logistical reasons, though, certainly decisions ha

. >> does chris christie's enforcement matter? >> i think it hurt chris christie more than it helped romney. he has such a great feeling among republicans. other republicans are not feeling this. they don't like romney. they don't like christie endorsing romney. >> if you look at the polls and the leading states, you look at iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, florida, romney is either first or he's within two or three points -- >> but he's not winning in a way that's exciting. >> chris christie is only going to shore that up. >> he hasn't won over conservatives. >> he hasn't and that's the core of the election. he has to win those to win -- >> how can we say if he hasn't won over conservatives if he's leading. >> it's like 23%. >> now it's gone up to four or five. it's still early. there's been no votes. no primaries, no caucuses. >> people are still waiting for somebody else. they wish somebody else would get in. >> they see somebody else in these debates? >> not yesterday. >> it's mitt romney and republicans are not waiting. t

and republicans continue to urge chris christie to run for the white house. tonight, what hear why marylandl >> herman kane continues to gain momentum in the 2012 run for the white house. the gop hopeful one this weekend's straw poll at the national women's convention. rick perry finished a distant second. the onetime family hunting camp for a name containing the "n" word. there is a long road ahead to next year's election. >> 90% of what matters for winning the nomination is still in front of us. >> meanwhile, supporters of new jersey governor chris christie are urging him into the race. there are reports that he will announce soon whether he will answer that call. maryland governor martin o'malley says that chris christie will add an entertainment component to the 2012 race if he does decide to run. >> at the end of the day, what this race will come down to its effectiveness. and i think that whenever entertainment value that governor chris christie would bring to their race, and there would be entertainment value, especially if you like don rickles, but wh

governor chris christie. >> he's a nice man in a clean suit that wants to be president. >> chris christie endorses mitt romney because he's a career politician. >> planned for a good long period of time about what he would do if he was given the honor of being president of the united states. >> spent our life entirely in politics. >> his experience as an elected official, experience as governor of massachusetts. he's used executive power. >> he's a real hero in republican circles. >> you're not chris christie, you never will be. >> it's not like chris christie had better options. >> classic case of lesser of two evils. >> nomination process. >> you have to start showing governor romney some respect. >> poll shows romney leading. >> he's not just going to be the guy that they love. >> how do you think he feels watching you like everybody more than him? >> they're looking for the anti-romney. >> romney is so boring. >> what do you thing this does to rick perry? >> i think rick perry is dead wrong. >> the governor has 6%. >> he can talk about shooting coyotes in the face. >> rick perry an ac

attorney and got off easy if you didn't pay your taxes christie the earlies wait around ok so chris christie is back i mean if he just is he's a big guy but apparently this is like the talk of the tell and i think there have been three big bads written by henry blodgett eugene robinson michael kinsley just in the past like day or two everyone is discussing whether or not chris christie could really be president because he's found issue or nonissue when he said don't understand how people get so indignant over this where you could sure we live in a country where the highest paid baseball pitcher we're talking a professional athlete here is c.c. sebastien who i think is three hundred pounds so the idea that you can't be president while you're overweight i mean is just absurd let me ask you think only if you think that if you could be president is that what you just said i'm saying if you could be a professional athlete you learn to play every game. but no i mean i agree with you actually i think it's crazy that we have a country full of fat people who can relate that people better than a fat p

chris christie good-bye, chris christie don't cry. i watched some of the speech today of the new jersey governor eats kiss good-bye to the presidential race. kind of a letdown overall. he said he couldn't come up with a reason not to complete his term as governor which made, i figure, a couple of not so great points. one, he's no sarah palin heading off from a job he had been duly elected to, a job which he, in his words, asked to have. two, he's no rick perry who is willing to spend a year running for president while still keeping the governor's job down in texas. three, he's no mitt romney because he's not clearly intent on, unlike romney, running for and winning a second term as governor of jersey. christie's decision not to run for president leaves a dreary field, a field see dreary and needy that it sat there in the political time-out corner while he made up his mind, so left behind that it's now only in the wake of christie's departure that rick perry is tied with herman cain in the national polls of whom republicans want to hav

chris christie says he'll sit this race out. jim acosta is joining us from trenton, new jersey, with more. was it dramatic announcement around 1:00 today, jim. >> that's right, wolf. after months of denials that he was running, chris christie acknowledged at a press conference that he was reconsidering this decision and then last night, he says he made the decision not to run for president and then this morning, started calling donors and key supporters to make his decision clear and he had a press conference and really needed to only take a few minutes to say he wasn't running for president, but governor christie, who is never at a loss for words, held court for an hour talking about the white house to the current gop field to running for vice president in 2012. you name it. i asked him how is he certain that we won't all be here three months from now. six months from now, the eve of the republican national convention asking these questions again and here's what he had to say. >> i had spoken to a lot of people this morning and

chris christie. he has not said if he is in or out but we want to hear from all of you this morning. we also have a fourth line for new jersey residents -- let me begin with the "the new york times" story -- urgency for christie. that puts chris christie's decision at an even more urgent pace. we want to hear from all of you. should he get in, should he get out, and why? troy, independent from new york. go ahead, troy. caller: good morning. my comment is i really just think the media is what has driven this to the point it is out. i would use an example from a past election. not really an election -- but right here in new york, when the position was open for the senate seat and kristin gillibrand ended up getting picked by the government and the media kept typing up kennedy. i am a little groggy this morning so i am trying to remember the names. i want to say caroline kennedy. host: right, yes. what do you think? what does it mean as to whether or not chris christie should run? caller: i just think i

is chris christie going to run and do you think he ought to? >> i don't know what he's going to do, bob. if he runs, he'll have a big following. he'll be a very strong candidate out of the chute. i don't think it is too late for a candidate with his stature to decide to run. but i don't know what he's going to do. that's going to be up to him and his family. >> schieffer: you know, he's getting this... all this encouragement from a lot of people in the establishment, a lot of pundits are talking about it. but there are a couple of things about him that may not sit well with some people to the right of your party. i mean, he opposed the ban on assault weapons. he's fairly liberal on gun control like a lot of people north eastern mayors and governors might be. he says that climate change is connected in some way to what humans are doing here on earth. how is that going to play with some of your tea party friends? >> well, barack obama is the greatest uniter of republicans and conservatives in increasingly large numbers of independents that they w

he can't capture the chris christie crowd because he doesn't have the chris christie energy. he hasn't had it, he will not have it and this is wide open. i'm looking for sarah palin to get in. >> rick perry raised $17.1 million in the third quarter. 4 to 6 million ahead of romney. does money talk? >> money is important, but right now romney is the one that has the republican crowd comfortable. and comfort is very important. >> comfort? >> complacent. >> no, no, comfort with your candidate is very important. >> if they were comfortable with him, they would not have been crying for chris christie. >> thank you, chris. >> let's say who the "they" are. the "they" are people supporting perry and now losing confidence in perry. kr christie is good. >> if you're a betting person, bet on black. i watched herman cain, i've been reading his book. he's resonating with american people on the right the way romney never would or never could. >> i'm watching chris christie yesterday and i'm thinking again here's a guy who seems not to be on talking points. here's a guy who seems to be answe

let's begin with chris christie. he's not going to do t the governor of new jersey shutting down the speculators today, those who were wondering whether or not he would be joining the race for the republican presidential nomination. governor christie made the announcement less than two hours ago and we're going to drill down on this in just a second with the best local team on television. moving on for now, though, we're watching for amanda knox to arrive home in seattle in mere hours from now. knox, her family, flew out of rome less than 24 hours after an italian court threw out her conviction. they are planning a huge welcome home for knox but let's not forget the victim here. meredith kercher was raped, stabbed, and slashed to death at the age of 21. her family not happy at all with the court's decision to free amanda knox and her ex-boyfriend, raffaele sollecito. >> this is such obvious worldwide media attention and makes it incredibly difficult. >> we will have more of the kercher until a couple of minutes. >>>

>> chris christie is a great theoretical candidate. he gets into the race and republicans realize he has made that comment that you played about sharia law. i think that his position right now is, he is not inclined to run. he's being polite, listening to all of the donors and republican establishment figures who want an alternative to romney. he'll make a decision this week. >> it's a very heady thing to be called by rich and famous powerful people, you have to sit in lincoln's chair. on august 19th, i published a column, i had lunch with him in trenton. christie will not run and here's why. i sent it to him and get back on accuracy. he said there's no problem with that. the last -- towards the last paragraph -- it's one thing that i don't want to run because i don't want to run. you can't say two weeks from now, on the other hand, i'm ready. >> let's go to matt katz who is joining us from philadelphia. he writes a blog for "the philadelphia inquirer." what is the word on the street in new jersey, do you think he's going to do it or n

chris christie is someone they can get excited about and chris christie and mitt romney, maybe that's something they can get excited about. >> well, he is a popular figure when it comes to republican politics. does he really give the shot in the arm, i guess the personality shot that the romney team needs, and if he is the vice president or at least on the short list, could he then overshadow the front-runner of mitt romney? >> i think what you heard from chris christie yesterday which was particularly interesting was he forcefully defended mitt romney on the issue of health care and the issue of his mormon faith and those are who places that romney can sound a little bit uncomfortable, can sound a little defensive. christie didn't sound like either of those things. he's a big conservative validater for mitt romney. >> do you think though that the interviews of chris christie's past will come back to haunt him, especially about the vice president role, especially because he said i don't want to be anybody's vice president. is that the type of, i guess -- is that the telltale signs we

certainly chris christie. he had dinner at ailes' home in new jersey. romney, per have met privately with ailes. here's some of the things he told me. for example, rick perry hasn't given any tv interviews except for one. "the press," says ailes, "will set a trap and ask who is the president of uzbekistan and run with that for a week." and another, "the way they're playing it in the mainstream is that he was a jesus freak." and another, "the mainstream press will give all republicans as always as a precursor to cutting them off. saddens me. america used to be able to get straight journalism." >> he defines straight journalism by the fact that saying, and i think you pointed this out, that journalist is liberal and to the -- journalism is liberal and to the left. his idea is balancing the liberal. >> he says, "we are the balance." if you see every outlet is leaning left, you feel like you are helping to balance that by putting on more right-leaning voices. >> right. quickly. i mean, this point matters enormously. the whole core idea was that it took cons