dependable and there if they don't fall in love. that's what his strategy has been. steady as she go and be there while everybody else rises and falls. >> let's bring the numbers back and talk a little bit about mitt romney here. the numbers from august versus the numbers now. herman cain, 27% now, 5% then. rick perry, 38% now, 16% then. romney, 23% then, 23% now. despite these solid debate performances, he's slow and steady. do we think that that's -- i mean, can we say he's slow and steady or can we say he's flat lined snd. >> you could say both things but the reality is mitt romney has been through the process before and leading big time in new hampshire. doing pretty well in a poll we had earlier this week in iowa as well. he's raised more money than anyone else. he has shown himself to be the class of the field in the debate so far. so all of those things, even while other candidates are guy rating in the polls and it is stunning the way rick perry has fallen over the last two months. rick perry -- mitt romney has got to feel pretty good about where he is and i think the smart money within the republican party is that he's doing just fine right now. >> let's talk about the president's numbers here. his approval ratings still not great, of course. nonetheless, despite that, president obama still beats herman cain and rick perry and head to head, still beats mitt romney, edges him out by 2 percentage points as well. what does that say about the president's electability? >> it is always tough to knock out an incumbent president, and it will be tough to beat out this one even though unemployment is at 9%. 70% of the american people have said in the earlier polls that -- being a good family man is something that's a big asset in a campaign. people generally thiñk he's straightforward. all of those things p)e positive for him. the other positive in this poll is that when we ask people about the elements of the obama jobs plan and lay those out, 2 to 1 people say they like the ideas and 2 to 1 like the idea of taxing the wealthy and corporations to finance the government and deal with our deficit. all of those things suggest that there are tools in public opinion that the president can stri to mobilize and he's trying hard to do that. he has since the summer. >> john harwood, thanks so much for your time, sir. >> our next guest has a message for congress about jobs and he's taking that message to their doorstep this weekend. reverend al sharpton, host of msnbc's politics nation, he and the network will be on the jobs for justice. he's out in vegas, more on that in a moment. reverend al, thanks for joining me sir. >> good morning, good afternoon. >> folks who come out for the march this weekend, what will they say? what will they hear on the national mall? >> we are calling for a jobs bill, we are saying that with all of the maneuvering in terms of the political la'dscape and the republican primaries and debates, with all of the politics and congress÷ there is no relief for the unemployed. as we dedicate martin luther king's memorial the president will do that sunday, saturday at 10:00, major labor unions and civil rights unions will join national action network on the mall to say that we need immediate relief for the unemployed. i u$ese plans is a plan for the unemployed. the president made that plan proposal in his jobs bill which was defeated. now what? i think it is the height of hypocrisy for us to dedicate a memorial and not deal with the d a unemployed that dr. king died fighting for. we also in the justice part are dealing with the fact we have serious threats to the voting rights act. when we look at the voter express techniques, there has been no outcry about protecting our right to vote. so from jobs to justice, we need to deal with this. >> why do you think that is? because we just heard from john harwood, this poll that just came out, it shows that an overwhelming number of people in this country when asked support additional taxes on the wealthy. and overwhelming number of people in this country when asked support the president's jobs bill. why do you think there is such a disconnect between people hen asked and legislators in washington? >> because i think we've not brought the fight to the legislators in washington. that's why people are coming by the thousands saturday to join this march because the legislators need to nderstand they need to top talking in a echo chamber to each other positioning politically and deal with the needs of the people. even, craig, as you talk about the republican debates, they are talking about long-term plans, which we need, but not talking about immediate relief. the congress today is debating what, abortion, not jobs. it's almost like they are ignoring the fact that people all over this country can't feed their families. >> i think that time will tell. i don't know yf he's a flavor of the month or not. what i do want to know is what's in the flavor? we're going to talk about that tonight on "politics nation", when you look at his plan, let's get away from the caricatures, it talks about grants in terms of social security. are we talking about he's really ending social security? most americans would be opposed to that. let's go past demand to the plan and find out whether we really really want to go in terms of states and block grants on social security and whether we want to have a flat tax and consumer spending more money than the wealthy. >> reverend al sharpton. what are you doing by the way in vegas? are you at the tables? >> no, i don't gamble. speaking at a lawyer's convention, i'll be in "morning joe" in the morning and back in washington. i won't see the tables, i'm on a whirlwind because i know craig is watching me. >> reverend al sharpton, always appreciate your time. as he mentioned, "politics nation", week nights 6:00 eastern here on msnbc. as the reverend alluded to in the house of representatives members have started debating )jz bill. it would deny money to health care plans that provide abortion under the president's health care reform plan. joining me is john stanton of role call. good afternoon. the bill doesn't cut the deficit, even if the president had not threatened to veto, which he has, there's some that question whether it would cut down on number of o abortions in the country. my first question, why? >> well, i think there was sort of two thoughts going on. one is they had to do the vote õand republican leadership included it in their pledge to america last year. >> that's true too, it's remarkable you're seeing michele bachmann and others, this has been an issue throughout the careers, not raise the or not come up at all during the debates or anything else. other than the on lig tri, i'm a pro-life candidate and that kind of thing. >> john stanton, thanks. >> starts firing, killing at least eight people. >> also, what dr. conrad murray's defense team is now saying about michael jackson's death. first though, quick look at what's happening on wall street right now. the dow is down nearly 97. s&p, and nasdaq also down slightly. but i am a voter. so washington... before you even think about cutting my medicare and social security benefits... here's a number you should remember. 50 million. we are 50 million seniors who earned our benefits... and you will be hearing from us... today and on election day. ♪ to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details. but they also go beyond banking. we installed a ge fleet monitoring system. it tracks every vehicle in their fleet. it cuts fuel use. koch: it enhances customer service. it's pretty amazing when people who loan you money also show you how to save it. not just money, knowledge. it's so much information, it's like i'm right there in every van in the entire fleet. good day overall. yeah, i'm good. come on in. let's go. wow, this is fantastic. ge capital. they're not just bankers. we're builders. they helped build our business. a new development in the search for a missing maryland boy, an amber alert remains in place. police say that they think the boy was kidnapped. the mother's car, so far no signs of the little boy. california police have a recent picture of a man accused of killing eight people at the hair salon and leaving another critically injured there. scott dekraai was arrested and so far not a whole lot about a motive but the suspect's neighbors say he had been in a divorce and custody battle with his ex-wife. the ex-wife worked at the salon. in the trial of dr. conrad murray resumes today after a surprising switch in defense strategy yesterday. on the stand right now is dr. kminger who also specializes in sleep medication as well. wednesday defense attorneys told the judge that they are no longer claiming that jackson swallowed a fatal dose of propofol but they are still arguing that he injected the anesthetic himself and swallowed other sedatives while dr. murray was not looking. a renoned cardiologist testified that murray was grossly negligent. >> giving propofol in ab unmonitored setting without appropriating monitoring and equipment, not being prepared, not doing appropriately reacting to the arrest, not calling 911 on a timely fashion. if these deviations would not have happened, mr. jackson would have been alive. >> john burris, a criminal defense attorney giving a point by point list there john, of what dr. murray did wrong. how far does that go in convincing 12 lay people that murray is guilty? >> a long ways, this was a pretty profound description of what should have been done. some of those are common sense and what the doctor says, any reasonably good qualified doctor would have taken these steps and failure to do so contributed to the cause of death of michael jackson. if he had done any of these steps, he would have been saved. pretty devastating. >> what do you think of the defense shifting strategies, that the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam did jackson in. is this enough to create reasonable doubt? >> it could, what the jury will hear is what the defense is trying to say the cause of death may have come not only from propofol but other drugs. if the jury thinks that was ingested by michael jackson voluntarily they could say the cause of death wasn't necessarily caused by the doctor. whether that will happen or not is another matter. i know what they are trying to suggest, if you got to look at the cause of death, don't look just at the doctor's misconduct, but look at some of the other factors. if you do that, you may have a reasonable doubt as to whether his conduct was a cause of death. >> the prosecution is laid out with what most regard as a pretty strong case. they've done that so far. the defense expected to start early next week. what is the defense going to have to do to try and counter this thing at this point? >> the defense i don't think go to the treatment of the doctor because i think that's pretty established. the issue for them is going to be did his conduct cause the death. did the drug he was given, was that the sole cause of death? and try to create an issue an causation, therefore stay away from the doctor's misconductor the doctor's conduct and go to the fact there were other factors that could have caused his death and michael jackson himself contributed to that. from their point of view, stay away from the doctor's conduct but go to michael jackson himself. along with there are other medications he could have received. >> in effect, acknowledging perhaps that the doctor was somewhat negligent but not negligent enough to kill michael jackson? >> absolutely and would have to caused by other medications. >> john burris, thanks. folks right now we're looking at live pictures from the east room of the white house right now president obama expected to hold a joint news conference with his south korean counterpart, president of south korea, president lee myung bak. president obama welcomed president lee a couple of hours ago. tonight there is a state dinner that will be held in his honor. we're going to take you back to the white house after a quick break. having the right real estate agent on your side is more important than ever. at remax.com, you can find the experts you need, whether you're trying to sell of hoping to buy. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. i go to e-trade and tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. 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ruins of war were able to build an economic miracle and become one of our largest trading partners, creating jobs and opportunity for both our peoples. because we stood together, south koreans were able to build a strong and thriving democracy and become a steady partner in preserving security and freedom not only on the korean peninsula but beyond. as i said this morning, this visit also recognizes south korea's emergence as one of our key global part in other words. south koreans have served bravely with us in afghanistan and iraq. south korean forces have partnered with us to prevent piracy off the shores of africa and stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction. once a recipient and aid, they have become a donor nation, supporting development from asia to africa. under president's personal leadership, seoul served as host to the g-20 summit last year and will host the next nuclear summit next year. south korea's success is a tribute to the sacrifices and ten asti of the korean people and also a tribute to the vision and commitment of president lee. mr. president, you have shown how the international community should work in the 21st century. more nations bearing the responsibility of meeting global challenges. in the face of unprovoked attacks on your citizens, you and the south korean people have shown extraordinary f!ñ restraint and resolve. i'd add that in all of our dealings, president lee has shared my focus on what matters most. the security and prosperity of our citizens and that again has been our focus today. we agreed to move ahead quickly and with the landmark trade agreement that congress passed last night and which i'll sign in the coming days. it's a win for both of our countries, for our farmers and ranchers here in the united states and will increase xporlts of agricultural products. it will increase american manufacturing exports, including those produced by our small businesses. it will open korea's lucrative services market and i'm pleased it will help level the playing field for american automakers. as a former executive, president lee will understand when i say that just as americans buy hyundais and kias i hope south koreans will buy more ford and chrysler and chevies. tomorrow we'll visit with auto workers in michigan, some of the many americans who will benefit from this agreement. in short, this agreement will boost american exports by up to $11 billion and support some 70,000 american jobs. it has ground breaking protections for labor rights, the environment, and intellectual property. so the trade is free and fair. it will promote green jobs and clean energy, another area where we're deepening our cooperation. and it keeps us on track to achieve my goals doubling american exports. president lee, i thank you for your partnership in getting this deal done, a deal that will also be good for korean businesses and korean jobs. i look forward to working with you to bring it into force as quickly as possible. as we expand our economic cooperation we're also deepening our security cooperation. regarded by joint provision for the alliance, we agree to strengthen our capabilities to deter any threat. i can never say it enough, the commitment of the united states to the defense and security of the republic of korea will never waiver. and as we have for decades, the united states will maintain our strong presence in the asia pacific, which is a foundation for security and prosperity in asia in the 21st century. in this regard we discussed north korea, which continues to pose a direct threat to the security of both of our nations. on this president lee and i are entirely united. showing its provocations will be met not with rewards but with even stronger sanctions and isolation. so the choice is clear for north korea, if they continue to ignore the international obligation, it will invite more pressure and isolation. if the north abandons its quest for nuclear weapons and moves towards denuclearization, it will enjoy greater security for its people. that's the choice north korea faces. given the global nature of alliances, president lee and i discussed the full range of challenges to our security and prosperity. i thank the president for south korea's continued support in afghanistan and updated him on the transition that is underway towards full afghan responsibility for security. we agreed to continue our support for democratic transitions in the middle east and north africa, including libya. we agreed to coordinate more closely on the development that can lift people and nations out of poverty. i appreciated hearing the president's plan for next year's nuclear summit which i look forward to attending. as we approach the g-20 next month, we agreed on the need for coordinated global action that focuses on growth and creates jobs for our workers. finally, we're stren thning the ties between our people, south korea is one of the top sources of international students stud