tinchts tonight on "rock center" the romneys of mexico. the incredible story of their roots there, the members of the romney family that are mexican citizens and how they're watching his presidential run with a mixture of pride and trepidation. >> who do you see yourselves as? mexican? american? >> a combination. i can sing both national anthems and tear up. >> we reunite with a remarkable american family. their fight to help haiti recover from a devastating earthquake draws strength from two extraordinary little girls. >> no, no.

>> oh, my gosh. he's the mythic hero who rivals harry potter in the minds of millions of young readers. the percy jackson creator, to help his own son. george clooney proving why it's good to be george clooney these days coming off two films this year and heading into awards season. >> my job is to try to make films that last longer than an opening week general. >> that and more as "rock center" gets under way. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. the voting in new hampshire begins in a matter of hours. the front-runner is mitt romney, considered the favorite. owns a house in the state and he was governor of neighboring massachusetts. the people of new hampshire decide if they're giant killers

or help propel the next nominee of the gop. romney is taking fire from fellow candidates today talking about health care insurance providers. he said he likes firing people, and then his people spent the rest of the day explaining what he meant. whatever the primary outcome, romney is cemented now as the national figure, and we're going to learn something else about him here tonight. it's about the romneys of mexico. his family members who are mexican citizens and how fascinating this story of how this family came to be as mike taibbi tells us tonight it's all part of romney's roots. >> this is romney country, horse and cattle land, rich valleys checkered with cotton fields and rolling peach and apple orchards, small towns with john deere, coca-cola and chevy. they value the traits many attached to the candidate they see as the inevitable republican nominee. a candidate even the high school

kids are excited about. who would vote for mitt romney for president? >> me, me. >> this slice of romney country is in another country, mexico. the voices cheering the loudest for mitt romney are mormons like mitt, and they're mormons named romney. it's a little known fact there's a whole branch of mitt's family in mexico including his second cousin, layton romney. >> i think he has a good chance of getting the nomination. >> layton is only one of 40 romney relatives here descended from religious pioneers that arrived in 1885. mitt has said and written almost nothing about them over the years. one of his rare quotes, that they left the u.s. to escape persecution for her religious beliefs. in fact, mitt's great-grandfather led that first expedition to escape not persecution but prosecution for

polygamy, what mormons called plural marriage. his fifth wife later followed in her own harrowing covered wagon journey. it was the union of miles and han than that planted the romney family tree in mexico. down one branch mitt's grandfather and his mexican born father george, later a two-term michigan governor that ran for president in 1968 and asserted because both his parents were american born, his birthplace didn't matter. >> there's no question of me being a natural-born citizen. >> as the revolution broke out when he was 5 years old, his parents moved back to the states to avoid the violence and mitt was eventually born in michigan. the other branch of the family leading down to mitt's cousins, layton, mike and meredith stayed behind, their numbers growing. but they don't know mitt, and mitt and the media army now shadowing his every move don't know them, not yet. >> i don't think it will bother us too much down here. we're isolated from the rest of the world.

>> for now the romneys of mexico enjoy pleasant and productive lives in two remaining settlements just 175 miles south of the border. most of the romneys, dual citizens, and proud of it. who do you say yourselves as? mexican? american? combination of both or what? >> i guess it would have to be a combination. i can sing both national anthems and tear up at both of them. >> they form a sleepy oasis of homes and green lawn, the thriving century-old school and a gleeming mormon temple overlooking it all in the shadow of the mountains. the romneys over the generations didn't just establish good lives for themselves and their families here. they pursued lives of good in their mexican settlements. good jobs, most of them at layton's fruit and produce operation called pacame. the company is one of the two biggest employers with pickers

and sorters working at several different facilities, more than 6,000 people, locals employed. good old american capitalism at work in mexico. the valley the romneys call home has not escaped the plague of violence that has scarred so much of the country. during our visit through drug gang-related murders made the local front pages, nothing extraordinary in northern mexico. the romneys know the dangers all too well. two years ago layton's brother meredith meredith, a cowboy and cattleman here was kidnapped at gunpoint and held hostage in a cave for three days until a ransom was paid. >> men came out with guns in their hands. i told my wife, be careful. something's going down. >> it didn't make big headlines then, but if it happened with mitt as the nominee or president, it would be a huge story. down here it's a story that remains a part of the romney lore. carlos is a family friend and

fellow mormon. he says he admires the romneys he knows. >> they're honest, hard-working. there's nothing they won't do for you. >> a terrific family nielsen told us with an inspiring history in mexico, the romney he doesn't know has publicly ignored. >> has he forgotten where his roots are at? he needs to look back and be reminded where his roots are at. >> it's the romney family's roots and the mormon religion that remain controversial in mexico as in the u.s. local catholic pastor garcia says there's mutual respect between the religions but -- do you consider mon mormons christians christians? no, we don't. they don't follow the fundamentals of the christian fate. north of the border a baptist preacher went further. >> mormonism is not christianity. it's always been considered a cult.

>> the cult statement and reaction to it led the news cycle for days. >> an explicit attack on mitt romney. >> his religion is drawing attention. >> those strong and persist ant anti-mormon sentiments led to the faith in america message four years ago. >> i do not define my candidacy by my religious. i will serve no one religion, group, one cause, no one interest. >> occasionally mitt's tried humor to soften that distrust. here a 2006 radio show quip referencing polygamy. >> a relationship between a man and woman and a woman and a woman and a woman. i'm just kidding of course. >> for the most part he hasn't discussed his religion in detail. should he have a right of privacy. >> everybody has a right to hold things they deem sacred and not talk about them. >> layton's brother meredith knows if mitt wins the

nomination the mormon faith is a headline issue again. >> it shouldn't be but will be. >> meredith says a close look at mormonism tell mess tells a good story. >> we believe in god and jesus christ as our god and savior. >> cousin mike, a church school administrator here, says mitt should just tell the whole story, even about the family's polygamist past that died with the great-grandfather. >> it's written in his great-grandfather's diaries and out there for anyone to see. it's an open issue. there's no reason to hide it or cover it up. there's no reason to dodge it. >> until and unless mitt romney connects with his mexican roots this place will remain as its been, a thoroughly pleasant place on one level where friendly high school kids from cattle country are happy to show a rare visiting reporter how to use a lasso, even on his producer, who probably didn't enjoy it as much as everyone

else. but if cousin mitt gets to the white house or becomes the nominee, there's likely to be a media invasion a cowboy would find intolerable. then what? >> leave me on the ranch and leave me alone. >> i don't think that will happen if he gets the nomination. >> it may not, but then they're going to have to be pretty fast to catch me. >> the final days of a presidential campaign especially in the new media environment, the 24/7 press attention that no one can evade for long. what if that avalanche rumbles layton's way? >> if that's the case, we have to switch our vote. >> you may be the last american welcome down there. mike, a fascinating story. aside from the political science angle, george romney's citizenship status and whether that would have sur sooifvived a challenge, the issue is immigration.

>> obviously, they have a different point of view than does candidate mitt right now. he's in opposition to the dream act and supports a border fence and his cousins say that doesn't make sense at all. there has to be a way because it's important to people find a way to work, and they don't think their cousin has the right point of view. that's a big issue. >> couldn't you make the case the family tree is an aspect of the dream act? >> absolutely. his father could be the poster boy for the dream act. >> mike, thank you. later in the broadcast, by the way, the film footage he we saw today for the first time since 1967 from the nbc news archives of romney's father, george, and the resemblance to his son in more than just looks. still to come here tonight, a story that started just as we arrived in haiti to cover the earthquake. walt wait until you see where it took us.

we visit a remarkable american family and the two little girls they rescued.

welcome back. with the new hampshire vote 3 f1 tomorrow and with this primary season now under way, we thought we would take a moment to see

where we are at an electorate invited a very wise man to help us with that. peter hart measures such things for a living, and along with his republican counterpart, he conducts polling for us here at nbc news. thank you for making the trepip up from washington. >> delighted. >> where are we and who are we in terms of the electorate into the election? >> we're a very unhappy electorate. it's an electorate where people are saying things aren't working. they're not working in the congress. they're not working in the economy. they're not working in general. both parties have the worst ratings ever. very negative in terms of where we are in the congress. very unhappy as a country. it's a very combustible atmosphere out there. >> what would normally be bad news for the incumbent president, we have seen an up uptick in some of the economy numbers. do you feel better about the president's chances?

>> i think better against the republican, but if look at these numbers where you get 1 in 5 saying the country is headed in the right direction, if it's up or down on the president, you say he's the underdog at this stage of the game. >> do you view mitt romney as to use the coin of the rome phrase a block for the gop nomination? >> too early. it certainly is a natural to say that. you wouldn't want to bet against him, but at this stage of the game long way to go. the one thing we know is in every field whoever is first, biggest, best and most has ended up in terrible shape. it doesn't make any difference if it's gingrich, if it's cain, if it's perry, all of them have turned upside-down. this thing has a long way to run. we look at tomorrow, and we'll feel differently by tomorrow night. >> you have a great vantage point looking out over the country, and the last time we spoke you believed we were headed right for a third party, and you believe that candidate might very well be the only physician in the race, ron paul.

do you still believe those two things? >> i definitely think we're headed towards a third party, and i definitely believe that ron paul is the natural choice. i would tell you he's probably a little bit different than our last third party major candidate, which was ross perot. ross perot was ehe can seven trick and was endearing in his own way. i don't think that. i think ron paul is a little more irritating and exas operating and a little more erratic. >> with your prediction we're in for a surprise tomorrow night, that's where i'm headed tomorrow morning. i'm going to ask you to come back and keep us honest on this election season. goes without saying we'll have it all covered tomorrow from new hampshire beginning at "today" in the morning and then "nbc nightly news" in the evening and right on through primetime and, of course, wall-to-wall political coverage tomorrow on msnbc. up next for us here tonight, do you know percy jackson? chances are your kids do.

he's the fictional hero that has captivated young readers to the tunes of tens of millions of books and counting.

welcome back. if you have young kids then you may know very well the percy jackson books have caught fire with young readers.

the books are a kind of narrative mash-up of classical mythology with current life today. they're popularity is at near harry potter levels in some quarters with reluctant readers as a category. as kate snow reports, percy's creator is also a father and the books are the gift he has given to his own son. >> for readers of certain age, rick is a rock star. >> how are you doing today, democrat? he invented percy jackson, the hero of the lightning thief his first kis novel made into a movie. he's a modern day kid that fights ancient battles. the percy jackson novels are the reason kids like these know so much about mythology. who are your favorite greek gods?

>> aphrodite. >> the goddess of agriculture. >> with the lightning thief, he launched an empire, nine books so far, a series about percy, another that brought in roman mythology and the latest on ancient egypt, the cain chronicles. you've sold 30 million books, rick. 30 million books. >> i don't know what that means. it's so unreal to me. >> unreal because it all came about by accident. ten years ago he was a teacher at a san antonio middle school. his son haley was 7 and miserable. he was struggling to read and hated school. haley was diagnosed with adhd, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia. >> he was in a precarious place when he was that age, and as a parent you do whatever you can, of course. >> he found a way to connect with his little boy at bed time. he told haley every greek myth he could think of until he ran

out of stories and started making one up. one that turned adhd and dyslexia into superhuman powers. >> i said, you know, haley, in percy jackson's world if you have those conditions, that means you're probably a demigod. you're the son of a god. and he had no trouble believing that. he'd say, yeah. yeah! >> he introduced it like another story. >> like any other story that dad would read their kids. >> instead of like thomas the tank engine, he was telling me >> did you make him stay up late? did you say more dad? >> yes. he would say my voice is tired. let me go to sleep. i'm going to sleep. >> percy's dyslexia means he can read ancient greek. and his scattered thoughts give him quick reflexes in battle. what did you like about the story? >> he really incorporated a

whole lot of my life into that story. it's like handcrafted for he me. he knew what i liked, so he put that in the story. >> were you thinking all along as you tell the stories i would make these into a book? >> i was not thinking it would be a book at first, not at all. >> when he decided to turn the bed time story into a novel, haley wasn't happy to hear it. >> my first response was no. that's a bad idea. >> why? >> because it was my story. i didn't want it being shared with anyone else. it was my personal thing. >> eventually haley came around, persuaded by percy's power to get kids like him to keep reading. you have adhd, right? >> yeah. >> we asked a bunch of fans to meet us as book people in austin that helped launch ryerton. >> percy jackson's series makes me feel if you're not one of those kids, you can do anything you want. >> like you're supposed to have it because it's what's going to

keep you alive and make you who you are. >> his biggest impact has been on his very first audience. now 17 haley doesn't just read without a struggle, he's blossomed into a writer, too. he's working on a novel. getting editing suggestions from his dad, and haley has a short story coming out in a companion book to the percy jackson series. you're proud of if? >> i'm really proceeded of it. >> i'm picturing 10, 20 years from now when our shelf next to each other on the bookshelf. >> that would be interesting. the fun thing i watched percy jackson and haley grow up in tandem, and he they sort of take the heroic quest together. they're both about the same age and haley has become an amazing kid in his own right. >> he's really changed me. i used to hate writing. i used to hate reading.

i couldn't do any of that. he helped me. so he's been a wonderful parent to me. i mean, i can't thank him enough. >> and neither can his readers. hard core fans have invented summer camps based on the fictional camp half blood, but despite the fans and the best seller list, he tries to stick to his pre-percy lifestyle keeping his old routine amid a multi-million dollar enterprise. he writes two books a year now, the next one is out in may, and we got a first look at it. >> the title is the serpent's shadow and wrap up the cain trilogy. >> while his publisher has to wait a bit, the fan mail is forwarded in bulk, most letters of tranks from readers far and near. >> the percy jackson series has changed the way i look at the world and everything about me. i think differently and speak differently now.

>> i used to hate books, and it was hard for me because i have dyslexia and adhd. >> i still don't like to read when it comes to your books -- >> all of that changed. you inspired my whole family to read your books. >> that's great. those are the kinds of responses that mean the most to me. that why i do what i do. >> kate, i'm generally of a mind that if a kid is reading a seat back safety card on an airplane it's a net gain, because they're reading. these are so good. that these are so all-consuming, such good stories, no wonder. >> he was a middle schoolteacher, so he said to me, you know, this was my audience and these kids i know. i know how to reach them. i know p if you put in humor and drama, basically being a demigod is being in middle school, caught between adulthood and a child. >> that honest moment where his son considered it this is our thing.

it's a violation of privacy. >> i want to keep this for myself. i don't want to give this to the world. now he's enormously proud of his dad. >> a global debut of new cover tonight. >> the next series, norse myth mythology mythology. >> kate, thank you, for your reporting. when we come back some things you may have miss this had year including an ad for children's clothing featuring a very adult mistake. later or conversation tonight with george clooney heading into the final stretch before the oscar nominations, hedging his bets all the way and insisting his life isn't that glamorous.

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tonight a popular feature is3 f1 back again if only popular with our staff. our occasional look at the news that went by too fast or got by us all entirely. tonight we begin with a genuine hero. put it this way. there are americans who are home safely from overseas tonight and able to watch this on television thanks in part to the hero at the center of our first story. we begin with a memorial service for lucky, a war dog, a working dog for the department of defense and as much a combat veteran, as much a warrior as the men and women who served alongside him. lucky survived five tours overseas and while he beat cancer twice, it finally took his life. at his memorial service a few days back, lucky's squadron

commander said he saved a lot lives sniffing out explosives and providing security. he survived an ied explosion in iraq. his long-time girlfriend dakota was at the service. lucky's staff sergeant said he's in doggy heaven. lucky was 10 years old. that was the work of robert dickey, i'm your puppet was a simple song, piano, organize, xylophone and brass about a guy totally devoted to his girl. it was called james and bobby purify. it took robert and his cousin 23 hours to record the vocal. it was intended as a b side, but it became a big hit instead. dickey later became a city maintenance supervisor in tallahassee and sang at his church on sundays. robert dickey was 72. the girl scouts cheered us up this week as part of their 100-year anniversary unveiling a

new cookie called savannah smiles named after savannah guthrie. that's the story we're going with anyway. officially they say it's named after the home of their founder not known for her smile. look what we found in the film library. if you're been listening to mitt romney on the campaign trail, listen to his dad george romney in 1967. he was a millionaire auto executive who was a governor and presidential candidate, and he got into a heated exchange on a sidewalk in chicago. >> look, i've been poor. i've been poor. i've worked from the time i was 12. my parents were driven out of old mexico when i was only 5. my people were revolutionary refugees. they had to be fed by the united states government and housed by the united states government. i know what poverty is. i've been up through it. >> the resemblance in looks and talking points from 45 years ago is striking. it's hard to know how this got

through an ad agency, a french clothing retailer, a big mail order outfit in that country put this cute picture of cute french kids on its clothing website except there's a naked french guy in the background. in the way they became themes on the webb, the photo shoppers are hard at work. we see the california pepper spray up cop again. if you have an architecture major in the family, fair warning. they have the highest unemployment after college of any other major. mostly because housing and construction took a hit, and those models architects make are never big enough to live in. architecture majors face a 14% unemployment rate, with fine arts right behind them at 12.5%. compare that to nursing majors, only 4% unemployment, elementary education majors behind them, and then math majors. and before we go, a couple of math whizes at johns hopkins

advocate a new calendar, but not that kind. these two academics are pushing a calendar overhaul that would mean every date falls on the same day of the week forever. so christmas and new year's would always be on a sunday for starters. your birthday would always be the same day of the week. if we take this to its logical conclusion, we would all slowly become bill murray in groundhog day. ♪ i got you babe ♪ still ahead tonight, our conversation with george clooney, actor, director, producer, writer, and the little known title of part-time satellite operator. next up, the american family. who dropped everything to rescue two little girls from an orphan naj in haiti in the chaos after the quake. two years later they're taking them back, and their story stands as an inspiration to so many people.

welcome back. it was two years ago this week an enormous earthquake struck haiti, and despite so many donations, so in good intentions, the people there are still suffering. these images are not from two years ago. they're from the last few days. more than half a million people still live in premnin primitive kind of tent cities, and aid was promises, but rebuilding has been painfully slow. amid the mess, stories of big hearts and huge kindnesses also abound and endure. just after we arrived originally to cover the quake, a man chased me down to tell me about the children in an orphanage, nbc's ron allen pursued the story and

met an american man frantically serving for two little girls he was in the process of adopting when the earthquaked. tonight ron revisits the story and the continuing miracle. >> here in the suburbs of nashville, tennessee, there are two little sisters in a brand-new family. >> thanks, mom. >> with their adoptive parents mike and missy wilson and three new brothers, eli, dylan and lane. >> go ahead. >> they're jausingadjusting to a completely new life. >> i love you. >> i love you. bye, mom. >> i'm tia and you're naika. >> actually we really know them very well. we first met tia, now 6, and naika now 8, during the scary aftermath of haiti's massive earthquake. missy will never forget the moment she heard there was a disaster.

it's 5:00 in the evening sore so in nashville, and you hear there's an earthquake happening in haiti. what's going through your mind. >> this is a little tough for me to talk about. the epicenter was exactly where the girls were. i just remember feeling like i couldn't even breathe. >> she was so upset because she was thinking about tia and naika. she and her husband was in the process of adopting them. the girls were living in this orphanage in haiti, and the wilsons didn't know if they survived the earthquake. >> i remember that helpless feeling of we're never going to see them again. >> mike gets on a plane immediately? >> right. within 36 hours. >> all right, baby. let's go get this done. >> mike found them safe right away. they were evacuated to a makeshift shelter, and naets where we melt him amid the chaos and confusion desperately trying to get his girls out. >> i got a lot of hope, man. that's all i got. i found them alive.

i'm going to get them out of here. >> finally a week after the quake -- >> we're going home. >> the u.s. gave permission to american families already in the process of adopting children to bring them home. >> you ready? >> for the wilsons that meant tia could leave, but naika had to stay in haiti because her case was further down the list. >> that compartmentalized the moment and said i know i'm coming back for her. i play that through my mind on a daily basis. >> it took several weeks to finally get naika home. but it took months before she believed she was really a member of the family. >> i made it my mission at that time, i'm going to get this little girl to trust us and to understand that she is a part of our family from now until forever. >> and now she does. >> she is a mama's girl. she is a mama's girl, which is fine. all the rest of them are daddy's.

i get one of them at least. >> two years later the wilsons still have quiet talks about haiti. what do you remember? >> the shaking of the ground. >> and we get outside. >> you got out really fast? every now and then out of the blue they'll say something about the day the earth shook. we want them to remember those things and how they felt, but i don't want them to dwell on it either. >> mike and missy first met the girls in haiti in 2009 while the couple was working for a christian nonprofit group. the wilsons have returned to haiti at least a dozen times since the quake. the first stop is the daughters' old orphan naj now located in a much safer place where some of they are friends still live. >> this is janika. she's my buddy. >> it is severely overcrowded with twice the number of

children there as before the earthquake. the director, jacob bernard, says after the quake parents were literally pushing their children over the walls of his orphanage begging him to take them in, and he still has to turn countless families away. >> some of them come from families. sgoo >> families bring children to your doorstep, they're that desperate? >> they're that desperate, because they love them too much to raise them in deep poverty without hope. >> both of your girls came from places like this, very similar. >> dirt floors and mud huts. >> to help explain why he's so drawn to haiti, mike took us to a remote ville raj where they bring food, water and medicine.

>> niaka's father raised her because her mother died after she was born. >> it reminds him what's possible for so many children like them. when you come here, obviously you see your girls in all this. >> every single face. every single one. >> let's go in here. he led us into a titly that muched hut where so many powerful emotions come together for him. there we met a little girl like mike's daughters with severe disabilities like one of his sons. >> she's 5 years old. >> she's 5 years old. but she's tiny. that's incredible. what's the prognosis for her now now? >> it's not good, obviously. >> she lives on a dirt floor. she's going to get sick and infections, and so she'll die a horrible, painful death. i hate that. this is the motivation for everything that we do. >> the wilsons have been so moved by their experiences in

haiti they've recruited armies of volunteers. >> pass the bucket down and make a line. >> they built dozens of new homes. this is a house for somebody that lost their home in the earthquake? >> correct. it will be a two-room house. we're going to move some of these blocks right here. >> they established a feeding center for hungry children. how often do these people have food, have meals? >> some of them get their three meals they get at the feeding and that's it. >> three meals a week? >> yeah. >> now they're making a bigger commitment here. they've started turning this church into an orphanage. how many children do you see in here? >> we'll start out with 45. >> that's a lot of kids. >> that's actually turning people away. >> a lot of people ask why not do this in america? why not do this in nashville or some other urban place where there's obviously lots of kids, special needs, lots of people with lots of needs? >> i don't know that there's lots of people that ask that question, and my answer it to all of them is because this is

my life. this is what we've been called to do. we know this is who we are. we know this is our family. we know this is where we're supposed to be. >> and that's why their journey is still not complete. during the coming years, the plan is to eventually move the entire family, including tia and niaka to haiti. >> i thought when we adopted the girls, my thought was that will kind of help that urge and feeling of me wanting to be in haiti so much. >> knowing where this is going, i can't help but laugh. >> it did the total opposite. that is home for us. >> ron, if you've ever been to haiti, you care about haiti for the rest of your life. thank you on behalf of all of us for going back to the place where we witnessed such horror. it's an emotional topic, and for the good-hearted people that watch tonight and say i want to adopt children, we should warn everybody it's a tough business. >> it's a complicated thing to do, and i know first hand.

i'm an adoptive parent. i have a beautiful 3 1/2-year-old girl born in ethiopia. it is complicated and it's not the solution. only a few thousand kids are adopted into the u.s. every year. the solution is to help families where they are. these kids come to the united states, and they have issues in some cases, but often it's a beautiful thing. in this story, remember it was a very rare humanitarian gesture by the united states' nation's government that made it fobl for these almost adopted kids to come to the u.s. a very unusual set of circumstances that seems like the natural thing to do. it really, really made all the difference for this family and to many others. >> nice to profile good-hearted people for a change, ron. thank you very much. in ron's story you heard an orphanage director talk about the desperately poor parents giving up their children for adoption believing it's the only road for a better life. ron profiled a couple making

that heart-breaking decision. that report is on our website. we're back with a special conversation this evening right after this.

welcome back. even though it's been warm in some places that should be cold it is january after all. if it's january that means the oscars can't be that far away now. in fact, we learn the nominees later this month. this year looks particularly promising for the very active george clooney. he's being mentioned at least as a nominee in several categories among them a possible shot at best actor. >> that's not like her at all. she's usually very sweet.

>> in the descendants set in hawaii, clooney portrayed a bewildered father trying to communicate with his family after his wife had a tragic accident. >> could you cool it around me and stop touching each other. >> also in 2011 in the film the ides of march clooney plays a presidential candidate who has to decide what lines he will and won't cross to win the election. >> i don't believe in extortion or tieing myself to you for the next eight years. >> four years. let's not getd aahead of ourselves. >> he co-produced and co-wrote the films, and he we sat down this morning in the confines of the sony screaming room in new york. talk about the great discovery that viewers of "the descendants" and she's 19? >> 19 years old. i don't like her. >> i'm sorry we weren't good enough for you, especially dad.

>> she's quite a talent. as time goes on, she will be hiring me later in life. >> where did she come from? >> i don't know, and i don't care. it makes me angry. i was 19 once, and i didn't have that talent. >> mostly what you did this year is highlight the difficulty in running while wearing flip flops. >> i did do that. alexander payne, the director, said you'll run downhill in flip flops. i kind of know what you want, even though he didn't say it out loud. i started to run like a goose, and then he laughed. the minute he laughed behind the cam remarks i knew i would have to do it 40 more times and it would get more and more humiliating. >> you were in nice looking clothing throughout the film. >> whenever you get the khakis up high and tuck the hawaiian shirt in, that's a good look. >> your political thriller this year was an important project to you. i saw it in this theater.

>> i was very interested in politics. my father ran for congress and i spent about four months working on a show called k street in d.c. and shareded an office with james carville and mary matalin and some fun, nutty people. i thought it would be interesting how you elect people. >> is there an office you go to? >> yes, i have an office. >> you have mundane get me coffee office hours. >> i get my own coffee. not all of us are brian williams. look, i grew up doing some really crappy jobs over the years. i sold ladies shoes. that's a tough job. i know it doesn't sound tough, but women are crazy with their feet. i sold insurance door to door. >> it's a whole different interview right there. you have a strong internal gyro. you know where you did good work or bad work. how much validation do you receive from awards, because you're likely to have a robust

award season. >> who knows. what you do know is here's the thing. it isn't what i do for a living. i don't try to collect awards for a living. >> i heard you do. >> i collect other things for a living, and we'll talk about that later. i don't necessarily remember who's won what award when. i do remember films, you know. i remember 1976, which is a perfect year to talk about films, because it was ""taxi drive" all the president's men, network bound for glory and rocky. i am a fan of movies, so my job is to try to make films that last longer than an opening weekend. if someone is nice to you at the end of the year and been nice and mean, my job is to make films that i think are entertaining. >> along with everything else, he has a satellite at his disposal. in his other life of charitial

efforts overseas like darfur, a while back clooney and others came up with an idea to use a satellite to monitor atroscities in southern sudan. he spends one to two hours on his work in that part of his life with time off to make movies and go to award he shows. that's our broadcast for foent. thanks for being here with us. we'll see you from new hampshire tomorrow night for "nbc nightly news" and next week on "rock center," ted koppel reports on what may be the biggest simple development in year. super pacs funding the air war of negative ads. join us for na next monday night. for now, from all of us, good