>> i am santa claus. >> and, i'm the elf. "with all due respect" to the president in honolulu, we don't get time off for the holidays. >> ho, ho, ho. ♪ >> bill de blasio is in a corner, chris christie is a performer and kim jong-un is on hold at time warner. first, barack obama's economy is getting warmer. here are the headlines out this morning. the economy grew in the last quarter at its fastest pace in more than a decade. that led to the dow closing at a new high of over 18,000 today. even matt drudge tipped his hat to the president on his website. a bonus gift for the white house

-- 64 million people have signed up for obamacare. joining me now is al hunt. are these economic numbers finally so good that the president will start to get credit? >> to some extent, it depends on him. this economy has been good for a while but he seems conflicted. it is doing well but people have been left behind. he needs to take a leap from harry truman. he wanted a one-armed economist. he was sick of on one hand, on the other hand. this president has to get that message. just imagine if it were bill clinton. we'd be hearing we are back. we are number one. obama needs to capture some of that. >> even bill clinton was frustrated that by the end of his administration, he didn't feel like he got enough credit. you have gotten worse since then. if he does get credit, does he get it first with? business leaders, the public republicans members of congress?

where's the low-hanging fruit him more credit? >> it is not republican members of congress, we know that. >> that was a gimme. [laughter] >> i think he'll get more from the business community. it has to come from the public those independent-minded voters that on november 4 did not give him credit in part because he lost the debate because he didn't participate. >> business activity is up -- consumer confidence, housing everything seems to be moving. probably the fact the world economy is not doing that well is the biggest drag right now. >> we are the envy of the world. we are so much better than everybody else. everybody went through a tough time six years ago and we have done better than western europe and other places. >> i said 64 million people signed up for obamacare. it is actually 6.4 million. >> you only missed it by 57. >> chris christie is not exactly getting into the christmas spirit.

in an interview last night, the candidate to be did not always seem fully ready for prime time. often, governor christie just did what governor christie does best -- attack his questioner. >> are you ready for one question? i see you are. >> i don't answer questions just because you ask them. if i don't have an answer, i am not giving you one. i don't talk about issues that i don't have information about. i am not going to sit here and negotiate on live television. negotiating with you does nothing for the people of new jersey. the way they spend your money is much more important than you spend. >> they meaning? >> the democrats in the legislature, just so we're really clear. >> last big tv interview jeb bush did, he was a lot smoother than that. my question is how much does

chris christie need to up his game to be considered a top-tier prospect for 2016? >> this would not have gotten out of newhaven. he is a smart guy. he will figure out the foreign policy stuff. i don't think there is any question. i think the larger dilemma for him is will jersey travel? this in-your-face, confrontational style does not have a lot of successful models in politics. the last person to try it was rudy giuliani and it was a complete disaster. if bridgegate ends up ok, i think christie is in. >> he is so confident in his own personality. he says all the time christie has to be christie. what you see is what you get. but, i do agree, i think the jersey thing is a bit -- i think he could travel well. i think people in iowa and new hampshire will like him. the reflex to be contentious speaks toa personality trait

that i think will not play well and will trip him up in some high-profile way. >> i agree with you on that. it is not that -- people love the sense that somebody is real. he goes out of his way. if there is a fight, he says he wants to get in. i think that is the problem because it has to be modulated sometimes confrontational, sometimes more inspirational. i am not sure he has that mix right yet. >> we will talk more about christie and jeb bush later on that we are moving on. jesus was reborn and it turns out so now will be seth rogen and james franco. sony will release the interview on christmas day. it'll play in some indie theaters around the country. seth rogen tweeted "that freedom has spoken. sony did not give up." we don't know if north korea knows about any of this because their internet has been on the blink for a couple of days.

all the attention is on north korea and potential u.s. responses. with fewer angelina jolie gossip, is the pressure now off of sony? >> not really. those hacked embarrassing e-mails are still out there. moreover, people who have seen this film say it is a dud. sony may have the new "lone ranger" on its hands and that is not going to help the bottom line. >> i think people have not -- since they announced they will air this -- i think people have forgotten that the people who hacked in are still sitting on more stuff. it is totally possible that they will retaliate on or by christmas that will bring up all the problems that sony was worried about in the first place. i think they will be applauded in some circles, but maybe have more problems. >> they should have done it. they should not have equivocated earlier. this is the right decision, but

it remains to be seen. >> what about your chances of seeing this in olney or gaithersburg? >> i haven't been to gaithersburg in 20 years. i'm not going to change this christmas. >> before this week, bill de blasio might've thought his biggest crisis would be fumbling a groundhog. he has his work cut out for him. one third of new york state residents give the mayor bill de blasio a favorable rating. in the city, a little more than half of new yorkers are supportive of him. that continues the trend of bill de blasio being on a downward slide in his approval rating since he took office. the question we've been talking about -- is bill de blasio up for the task of leading new york city through this crisis? >> it is certainly challenging. much of the minority community is focused on the eric garner death while much of the police

community and its supporters are focusing on the murder of those police officers last weekend. de blasio is in the middle. he has one chip and that is bill bratton. i am sure he will be joined at the hip with commissioner bratton every day. there is also pressure on the police. the parallel is not exact, but i am sure there are a lot of marines that don't like barack obama. but can you imagine marines turning their back on the commander-in-chief? i think he is under a lot of pressure, but so are the police. >> the white house announced that joe biden will leave his holiday from delaware and come to new york city for the funeral over the weekend of one of the two slain officers. there is some reporting that there are protests going on in new york city at this hour and this evening that runs counter to the mayor's request of suspending any protests. i think the mayor is in a tough position.

it does not play to his strengths. if you have somebody like the last two mayors, who at times of crisis were decisive, that plays well with the media and public. this mayor is a lot like the current president -- more nuanced, more gray than black and white. at a time of crisis, people want to see that decisiveness. >> two of the high notes were the reactions of officer ramos' son and eric garner's daughter. they have urged peaceful reconciliation. may be some others can take a clue from them. >> what is your gut feeling? does this continue, the pressure cooker, over the holidays or does it go with the funerals and then christmas and to a bit of a lull? >> some of it depends on if there are demonstrations and what is their tone and nature.

my guess we will get through the holiday period. i think it is uncertain right now. >> when we come back, we go back to chris christie versus jeb bush. is that matchup inevitable or not? we will speculate with one of the best in politics after the break. ♪

>> our guest tonight is the washington post chief correspondent, dan balz. thank you for spending part of your holiday week with us. >> i am happy to be here. >> the question that al and i were talking about which is does chris christie have to up his game to keep up with jeb bush that since he started this period of heading towards being in, he has performed at a pretty high level. >> yes, i think governor christie will have to step up

his game. i think he spent much of this year probably hoping against hope that jeb bush would not become a candidate. every indication now is that jeb bush is in. it does put a lot of pressure on him. it puts pressure on him to figure out how to raise the money to run the kind of campaign he wants. it puts pressure on him on the question of how he presents himself to other people. >> let me pose or play devil's advocate. other than the money and a couple of interviews, what is it to think that jeb bush is the formidable front runner? >> i don't think he will clear the field, but i think chris christie is in one of the tougher positions of the whole field because they are essentially fishing out of the same pool in terms of money and in terms of the support they will likely go after. other people may be less affected by jeb bush and we don't know what kind of candidate he will be.

you have seen enough people come and go over the years that until they are actually presidential candidates and are tested, we don't know whether they will live up to the expectations. >> what is your sense of how aggressive that jeb's people are going to be with butler's like new york and florida to say we want you to start lining up for jeb even though we don't have a formal committee. do something that his brother's campaign did -- by the way, if you want to be with us, do not start giving to anybody else. >> i don't know if the jeb bush is the same as his brother in those terms that i think by doing what he did last week, it is showing he will be very aggressive. that was a move that was designed to send signals not to the world at large is so much but to the smaller class of people who were instrumental an important and influential at this very early stage in the process. >> one of the things that i hear a lot about chinks in jeb's armor. i think he is stronger than some

people realize in some areas. young republican activists i talked to are not enthusiastic about him. i spoke to one that is very interested in president of politics who said no thank you. he doesn't want his party to be represented by another bush. is that a problem for him? when you think about rand paul and marco rubio. >> he has some strengths but he has problems with some issues -- common core and immigration. he is rusty. he has not been on the ballot for many years. both chris christie and jeb bush have a very important decision in iowa. do they go all out in iowa or not? the iowa caucuses are not made for either one of them. >> i agree with that. i think the question of iowa is important. both of them will probably want to do what mitt romney did which

was the keep the option open of going full bore but not look like you are doing that from the very beginning. that is a tough question. the other thing we know is that new hampshire was not particular friendly to his brother in 2000. george w. bush got beaten badly in new hampshire. we don't know if jeb bush has gotten any better opportunity in new hampshire that his brother had. >> the father ran twice. >> he will be his father's son rather than his brother's brother. >> maybe there is some scenario for mitt romney but he certainly sticks out for a while if jeb bush goes forward. what about the other establishment candidates? mike pence, john kasich. is there anybody else that looks of this and says they are ready to take jeb bush on and if so, where is he vulnerable of attack?

>> i think he is portable to attack on the establishment side against himself. i think he has to perform and away the establishment people who think he is a strong candidate can say yes, i was right about that. the others you mentioned -- i am dubious of governor snyder. he did not sound like a person who wanted to get ready to run a presidential campaign. i think the same about governor kasich. i think it is more possible that he might become a candidate, but the things he is doing right now are not designed to be a candidate. they are more designed to attract attention to the things he cares about. >> you are right about romney. the two most probable challengers to jeb bush on the establishment side would be christie and perhaps scott walker of wisconsin. >> let me ask you guys your fingertip feel hunch on when do people get in?

when do we see regular chips from anybody like somebody like rick santorum? when do you think that activity starts? >> we have seen that on the part of a lot of people for quite some time now. the trips are easy. they are testing trips, not the kind of thing you have to do to put a campaign together. i think it would be a little earlier than we might have thought two weeks ago because i think jeb bush in the same way barack obama accelerated hillary clinton eight years ago, jeb bush puts pressure on everybody to show when little activity earlier than they might have been willing to. if they are going to raise the money, they have to do it -- they have to get at it pretty quickly. >> happy holidays. thank you both. in a minute, one of the rock stars from "downton abbey" after this. ♪

>> in one of the bedrooms? >> that's right, ladies. i brought you the finest in silk undergarments. >> he is one of the richest men in england. >> is he? perhaps he should meet edith? >> aw, heck. >> that was a "downton abbey" holiday charity video with jeremy piven and george clooney. teasing the upcoming christmas episode that will air across the pond for series five. that's what they call it over there. over here in the colonies, the new season starts in january. we could not wait for a proper fix so we used our power to book the real lady edith, laura carmichael, for a chat. >> joining is now was a really talented actress from one of our favorite tv shows "downton abbey." it reminds us a lot of our own lives. laura carmichael, thank you for

being here. >> thank you for having me. >> the show is extraordinarily popular everywhere. we are huge fans and we watch the show. we know a lot of americans who watch the show. talk about the difference between how people in britain see the show versus how americans see the show. >> it is crazier here. i get recognized more here than at home. people say people are watching it and it is only when you come when you experience the fact people are crazy about it. >> people are obsessed. i have seen the entire upcoming season, but you have sex with a ghost in the upcoming season. what was that like? >> it was great. it is terrible.

i felt so bad because you can never really give away the storyline. >> people are not that really interested in the storyline. >> really? >> we are journalists. you play a columnist. you are supposed to do detailed period research. did you do any research on how to be a columnist? >> i winged it. we have a historical person who is on hand to give us tips and advice on how to approach things whether it is the etiquette or a history lesson. >> were there women columnists at that time? >> there were. it attracted the attention of the paper. it caught michael's eye. it is a privilege.

it wasn't every woman. there were women that did this. >> have you ever stayed at the carlyle hotel? >> i have not. i've been there. >> have you ever been to a nets game? >> i have. >> has lebron james ever put his arms around you and caused a national outrage? >> no. >> do you have a favorite american television show? >> i have so many. >> just name one. >> "nurse jackie" is one of my favorite. she came up to me and said, i love your show. no, i love your show. that was quite a moment. i love her. >> "nurse jackie" just went crazy on twitter. the water bottle -- do you know who did it or not? >> i don't know.

i think it is hugh. completely by accident. >> did you dust the thing for prints? >> sometimes we write our names on them so we should zoom in. we don't know. i am blaming hugh. >> you can understand why we think that. the show is not all that good but the publicity is fantastic. >> it is really confusing the whole water thing. we have a watergate here in america. we always get really confused. which watergate are we talking about? downton abbey begins on pbs on saturday, january 4. thank you for coming. >> thank you. >> next, the end of the advent calendar. ♪

>> christmas time is here. everybody wants a white christmas. forecasters say that one lucky state is almost certain to get

it. it is behind door number 24. it is go blue, michigan. we will not be on the air tomorrow night. we will bust open the grand finale behind number 25. the christmas choir, take it away. >> ♪ i don't want a lot for christmas there is just one thing i need i don't care about the presents underneath the christmas tree i just want you for my own more than you could ever know make my wish come true baby, all i want for christmas is you ♪ >> thanks to the christmas choir. thank you to santa claus. "taking stock" is next. merry christmas, happy hanukkah and, of course, sayonara.

>> ♪ i don't need to hang my stockings there upon the fireplace santa claus will make me happy with a toy on christmas day ♪

>> hello, i am pimm fox and this is what i am "taking stock" of on this tuesday, december 23 2014. welcome, dow 18,000. the index rose above that mark for the first time. it gained 65 points after a report showed u.s. gdp grew 5% in the fourth quarter. professor jeremy siegel says stocks have even more room to run. >> given the interest rates that i believe will prevail over the next year, i still think the fair market value of u.s. stock market is about 10% higher than what we have today. >> the movie "the interview" is not dead yet. sony picture