[Baldwin:] Welcome back. Four terms in the U.S. Senate do the math that is 24 years in total, and Connecticut's Joe Lieberman says, that will be enough. Here he is today.
[Lieberman:] I have decided that it's time to turn the page to a new chapter, and so I will not be a candidate for reelection to a fifth term in the United States Senate in 2012.
[Baldwin:] So, here is a guy, you remember, he was Al Gore's running mate, the Democrats' nominee for vice president. And, today, there are Democrats out there who are popping champagne corks to see that Joe Lieberman is moving on. Jessica Yellin, our national political correspondent, how did that happen?
[Jessica Yellin, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] Oh.
[Yellin:] Well, Brooke you know, one year, he was at the Democratic Convention, as you point out out, as the Democrats' vice presidential nominee. Then, eight years later, he's on stage at the Republican Convention endorsing the Republican nominee. So, at that point, the question becomes, you know, who are his natural voters, Democrats, Republicans, independents? Who's with him in this environment? I will tell you that Democrats, as you point out, do feel that they have a solid chance of picking up they feel it's all you can never be certain, but they're going to pick up that seat in 2012 because he's retiring.
[Baldwin:] OK. So, Lieberman today, we were talking Kent Conrad just yesterday, both declining to run in 2010. We have a Republican- led House now. And now the Democrats' chances of holding on to the Senate just got a little smaller. I mean, big picture, balance of power here, what are we looking at?
[Yellin:] Well, in the Senate right now, the Democrats control 51 seats. With the two independents, that's a total of 53 votes going with the Democrats usually. In 2012, Democrats have to defend a lot more seats than Republicans 23 Democrats up for reelection, only 10 Republicans up for reelection. So odds don't look great for Dems based on that right now, but keep in mind, Brooke, that right around this time last cycle, a whole bunch of Republican senators announced their retirements, Kit Bond, George Voinovich, others. Pundits were predicting there would be big Democratic pickups this time, but political tides changed. So, in politics, it's a long time between now and November 2012.
[Baldwin:] Well, let me rattle off a couple of other names, because when we talk about endangered Democrats, we're talking about folks like Nebraska's Ben Nelson, Montana's Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and the always quotable Claire McCaskill, Missouri.
[Sen. Claire Mccaskill , Missouri:] They don't get it. We have had a lot of Chicken Little around this building over the last few months. These people are idiots. Beg your pardon?
[Crowd:  Mccaskill:] You don't trust me?
[Crowd:] No!
[Mccaskill:] We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer.
[Baldwin:] OK, OK, so we couldn't resist a little Claire McCaskill and Chicken Little there, but
[I -- Yellin:] Part of why
[Baldwin:] digress.
[Yellin:] we have always liked her, yes.
[Baldwin:] Moving on, Jess, can we assume that these endangered Senate Democrats will see their fortunes improve should we see the economy improve?
[Yellin:] Yes, but. So, yes, it's still the economy, stupid, right, that old saying. But they're all running in red or true swing states, these guys, so where it's always a fight for Democrats. So, even with an improved economy, it will be tough. This time around, you will have President Obama on the ticket. And, in some ways, that's a huge help for Democrats because he's a gifted campaigner. He will spend a lot of money organizing. That also makes it trickier for some red state Democrats to distance themselves from the president if they need it. But, again, as I say, it's a long time between now and then, and it really does depend most, first and foremost, on the economy.
[Baldwin:] Jessica Yellin, we will all be watching the economy together, hoping it will
[Yellin:] Yes.
[Baldwin:] improve, for all of our sakes. Jess, thank you.
[Yellin:] Sure.
[Baldwin:] And coming up next, this
[Fareed Zakaria, Cnn World Affairs Analyst:] This has now become a cliche, but China is the most important country in the world, other than the United States.
[Baldwin:] You know that man. We normally see him Sundays, right? But Fareed Zakaria going to be joining me live in this show in moments to tell me exactly why China is so important and how unusual it was to see President Hu there he is going out, shaking some hands at the White House this morning. Plus, check this out: icy roads. Look at this SUV icy roads in Pittsburgh. More pictures coming up. Yikes.