>> "with all due respect" to michael grimm, we do not just threaten to throw people off balconies around here. >> happy new years, sports fans. biggest winners of 2014 and the biggest losers. scalise is a number three in the republican leadership.

he is making more calls than an npr telethon to set the record straight. john boehner and kevin mccarthy are standing by their whip. is a steve scalise out of the woods? >> he better hope that no tape or video emerges of the speech he gave. >> there is blood in the water right now. everyone is chasing the story. the left is after him and the far right wants them out as well. you have people like sean hannity who do not like this leadership state. they are using this as an excuse. they are seizing on this and trying to use it as an excuse to get rid of the whole house leadership. >> it is going to be -- this could be very difficult for steve scalise. this is our last show of the year and what a year it has been. we want to unveil our list of the winningest winners.

and of the sorriest losers. i will give three in the winning category. my first win is mitch mcconnell. 30 years ago, his senate career began. even more impressive, this is a race he could have easily lost. his approval ratings were in the tank. he was facing a lot of democratic money into the race. instead he ran a flawless campaign. he sits atop the u.s. senate. >> he did not want to be president, he wanted to be senate majority leader. now he is. my first winner the pope. he brokered the u.s.-cuba deal. he declared the internet is a gift from god. the first pope to appear on the

cover of "rolling stone" magazine. >> another good year for the pope, no doubt about that. number two for me, jack ma. i met this guy 10 years ago in china and i thought he seemed goofy and delusional. alibaba, $4 billion a year in profit, used by a third of the chinese people. in september, he had the biggest ipo in the history of stock markets anywhere in the world, a $25 billion ipo. that qualifies them as a winner. >> will he trade bank accounts with me? elizabeth warren is my next winner.

she emerged this year as the one democrat with the power to set her party's agenda. she has made the issue of fealty to wall street something that no democrat can afford to ignore. smart enough to flirt with running for president and send the press hopping around like howling monkeys. >> i do not like the idea of you calling me a howling monkey. my third winner, there she is, taylor swift. declaring that taylor swift is the music industry. her new album, she did her first real pop record. it was the number one album. she had five songs in the top 100. the biggest first week sales in a very long time. she cut her hair and got an

apartment in new york. she is fantastic. >> for me, the imperial president obama. key -- he stiff armed congress, got the cuba deal done, legalized 5 million undocumented immigrants. he is no longer underwater for the first time in more than a year. every hero needs a villain. we move to the dumpster category. i am starting with jonathan gruber. he is a world's most infamous m.i.t. burress or -- professor. he got into massive trouble when a video surfaced of him talking about the stupidity of the american voter.

he has moved from obscurity to universal derision. even his friends on the left denounce him. >> i am going to go with kim jong-un who began the year by assassinating his uncle. finished off the year by having the u.s. shut down the internet, humiliate him. when james franco and seth rogen can get the best of you, you know you've had a bad year. >> sony is the second biggest loser. they mishandled the movie from start to finish. bad cyber security that allowed the hack. a lot of liberal executives were sending borderline racist

e-mails. they finally did the right thing and made up a little bit of ground. $18 million over the weekend for the online distribution of that movie. >> their stock price is way up. my next loser is ted cruz. he began the year in the doghouse. he ended the year back in the doghouse for grandstanding during the spending bill. if politicians think you talk too much, you probably talk too much. >> my third one is going to be bill cosby. i do not think you need to say anything about this. once beloved, now reviled. a bad year to go from cliff huxtable to an alleged serial sex predator.

>> my last one is roger goodell. when you get run but it -- when you get red-blooded americans wondering if they want to watch football, that is bad. he screwed up with the ray rice scandal. >> coming up, if you plan on drinking heavily on new year's eve, and i know you do, you may need something restorative to eat the next day. super chef mario batali is here to help us all. we will be right back. ♪

>> still time for new year's resolutions. for me, it is to spend time with my pal mario batali. we will talk about the year that is about to be in the rearview mirror and the grub that can come in handy two days from now. we visited him in the kitchen and one of his new york

restaurants. take a look. ♪ we have new year's eve coming up tomorrow night. many people go out and get hammered. the next morning, you wake up, and you have to put yourself back together. you want to put your best foot forward into the new year. >> whether it is because it is served in hell or served to people who feel like hell. you start with onions. i also use a large handful of jalapenos. >> this is hell. >> the heat comes from two levels. i take basic tomatoes.

it is any strained tomato like so. you want to go like that. are you ready to crack the eggs? let's do it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. lower, lower. right on the egg yolk. >> oh, baby. >> you go from hell to heaven in two bites. >> here is this food in its final prepared form. eat that stuff. the ultimate hangover cure. so good. say it again in italian for us. >> the jalapenos are barely cooked through so they still

have a little bit of crunch. people get up and that will put them right back on the field. >> this is good whether or not you get totally hammered on new year's eve. would you agree? >> i agree. >> this is a political show. a story out in "politico" talking about how republicans will come to congress in the early part of the year and try to dismantle obama's signature food achievement. talk about food, school lunches, school nutrition. what needs to happen? >> the idea that food policy is perceived as a charity as opposed to an investment is a stupid way to look at stuff.

hungry children will never achieve their potential. free breakfast and lunch at school will get all of the kids to go. it should be free and it should be nutritious. >> do you think michelle obama -- this has been her signature thing, trying to deal with obesity. how she made a dent in the problem? >> absolutely. we are aware that we are not a healthy nation even though we are the wealthiest nation of all time. we have unhealthy people on a regular basis. our problem with hunger is that we do not have any economic mechanism to get the food to the right place. >> a hot job in washington, the white house chef is leaving. is that a job you want to have? does it launch you to celebrity?

>> the personal chef to the president and his family. the white house chef is a different women. those are both great jobs. the beauty would've been access to real policymaking and perhaps being able to help michelle obama and barack obama figure out what they want to talk about. >> he is moving to new york city. will he be a hot chef on the market? is that qualification not mean much? >> it is a cool thing and i imagine he will try to join something that does not have him working behind the line. maybe working in a grocery store or produce world where he else -- helps people get the right food in their bodies. >> it has to be a plus when you get michelle obama to show about your opening. that is always good. of the first ladies, she is the most glowing of the ones i have met. >> you have written a lot of books. this one, "farm to table," this

has been a trend. what made you decide to write a book called "america farm to table"? >> food has been farm to table since farming started. this is not by any means any sort of a pioneering situation. how do i make the most delicious food? it is very possible if you buy the right things. if you buy the things from the same farmers markets where i buy, you stand a chance. we identified the product and i made a bunch of recipes. the fundamental issue is going and buying stuff from a farmer itself, you can cut out the middleman. you can eat fresher food in season. that is what it is all about.

>> the thing i like best is that chicken in your hand. this is a year in review show. i will ask you about 2014. talk about two or three trends in the food world. >> one of the biggest issues in the restaurant business is the concept of buying a reservation at a restaurant and perceiving it to be a ticket at a theater. that is a very hot button for a lot of consumers. i do not know if i would feel comfortable selling something if they did not get, i could charge them for it. it is supply and demand. we cannot figure it out yet. >> on not sure i like that.

-- i'm not sure if i like that. >> the jury is still out. we need to make people accountable. >> the emotional price would be so great. we have 30 seconds. favorite movie of the year? >> "the interview." >> really? favorite record album of the year. >> i am blocked on that one. >> do you have a tv show you're watching all the time? >> i would rather read a book than watch tv. best book, the "sisters brothers." >> mario batali, you are flicks of the year. the best political flicks of the year. for some reason, "interstellar" is not on the list.

♪

>> we were going to do a segment on the best music of 2014, but taylor swift would not let me sample any of her tracks. we will do five of the best political flicks. your number five movie is the unknown nona. -- known. >> it would be easier if you could treat people the same. then you would not have to interrogate anybody. you could house them someplace. would that have been a responsible thing for the president to do? no. >> it is a documentary.

he did the movie the "fog of war." he gives donald rumsfeld no concessions at all. you forget his turning questions around. it is a different kind of experience. you do not get that cathartic confession. it is almost a better movie because of it. it raises the ire. >> i saw that movie and i missed that catharsis, i missed the moment. you feel like you are wrestling with a slippery snake. >> it is almost more satisfying cinematically. >> number four on your list, "selma."

a movie i have not seen, but it has generated controversy. talk about why you liked it and we will talk about the controversy surrounding it. >> it is unacceptable to keep us voiceless. >> this is strongest when it looks like these political maneuverings. it is really less about the big speeches and the big moments. it is more about the kind of machinations to make it happen. why they chose their targets why that was the place that made the stand initially. how they put pressure on johnson. the best parts -- the movie is not perfect, but that was very good.

>> a lot of lbj allies have pushed back on the movie and said that lbj has been portrayed in a negative light. what is your view? >> i think he is portrayed fairly. the movie gets across very well how he resisted what king wanted him to do. eventually, king checkmated him. johnson got that in his legacy. after years of white filmmakers venerating johnson, the idea that johnson does not come across as a total hero seems like small beans. >> we have two minutes for the last three movies. >> "american sniper," talk about that.

>> this is clint eastwood's red meat for red states. it is less about the war itself and more about the warrior mentality of the military. military members and their families will connect with it. >> your number two movie is the "most wanted man." >> i've broken every rule in the book. i've trampled on the essence of the constitution. >> philip seymour hoffman's last movie. >> he plays a german secret agent leader trying to figure out the terror plot in the months after 9/11. it is about how even when you have a guy and make the connection, some many different countries and cooks in the kitchen, it speaks to the

bureaucracy and difficulty -- why some of the mistakes were made after 9/11. a wonderful performance by hoffman. >> i saw that movie just the other night on tv. i urge everyone to see it. your number one, i love desperately. "boyhood." >> i love this movie desperately, too. for many reasons, the movie is great. it allows you to get a sense of the time and place without hitting you over the head with it. an incredible chronicle of the last 12 years happening in the background. a very funny scene where we see people putting up an obama sign in 2007 and she is so over the moon about obama.

you realize that was filmed in 2007. >> our dad is a big supporter. i just love him so much. i had these dreams where i was kissing him. he is so cute, isn't he? >> the time capsule document of what the last 12 or 13 years were like in real time. >> the great richard linklater. we will be back with an update on the 41st president of the united states. ♪

>> we hope everyone begins 2015 on a pleasant note. that goes for george herbert walker bush, who was released from the hospital today.

up next, "taking stock." for the last time this year,

>> michael dell may have taken his company private, but he still has plenty of insights to share with the public. you'll want to hear what he says about the intense competition in cloud computing and the future of the pc in my exclusive interview. we've got it for you coming up on "encore." >> we've been able to accelerate our growth. we're seeing real growth and quite an enormous amount of opportunity. >> hello. i'm erik schatzker. welcome to "encore." what's it like to be michael dell? in 2013, the billionaire ceo took his company private. life is better now that he does