found this ticket which worth more than half a million dollars. here's what he's going to do with it. >> i'm going to buy me a house, help churches and help my family. >> now he had to wait a year because the ticket wasn't his. >> right. "sta "state of the union with koundy crowe candy crowley starts right now." >> the top political moments of this year and what they tell us about the next one. >> today, ladies rule. a special edition of "state of the union." donna brazile, anna navaro and others with their take on 2013 including politicians behaving badly. >> these were anonymous people on the internet. >> historic year for same-sex couples. >> i now declare you spouses for life. >> and -- >> there was a time when i was young and invincible.

after five years in this office, people don't call me that a anymore. this is "state of the union." >> good morning from washington. it's a dreary day in the nation's capital. dreary and devoid of politicians. the president son his annual christmas vacation in hawaii. and after a noisy year on capitol hill, leaders of both parties have gone silent over the holidays, some of them haven't tweeted in more than a week. that some serious quiet. it gave us time to think about the year that was. as inaugural years often do, 2013 started with a newly re-elected president buied by strong approval ratings pushing a bold agenda. >> our journey is not complete until our wives, mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. our adjourn ji not complete until we find a better way to

welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see america as a land of opportunity. my fellow americans, we are made for this moment. and we will seize it so long as we seize it together. >> joining me now to sort out the 2013 moments that may have some shelf life in 2014, a collection of gal pals. he issy cup, she is a crossfire host. mira tandem and anna navaro and donna brazile. welcome all. one of my favorite ways to end the year is with you guys. i want to start out with something that i thought was pretty amazing. we called it the shrinking presidency. president started out with a 55% approval rating. and by the end of the year he was at 41%. this caught my attention. he was talking about health care. this happened in december. i thought i actually framed the

year nicely. here's what he said. >> there was a time when i was young and invincible. after five years in this office, people don't call me that anymore. >> he is no longer young and invincible. it happens to presidents after four years. what happens to him next year? >> four out of the last five two term presidents have experienced some setback in their fifth year. so president obama's like the other presidents. he gets that fifth year itch and clearly he's resilient. i think he has an agenda going forward, immigration, making sure the implementation of health care, the improving economy, making sure that all americans can feel the rebound in the economy. i wouldn't call him out. it was a rocky year. the remember site glitches. but this president will come back. >> there were other things as well. >> it was not a great yaer if you compare the year and what actually got done to this

sweeping agenda he laid out in his inaugural address, it's really hard not to notice how little happened. now we could argue about who is responsible for all of that. but, you know, if you look back at other presidents in their fifth year or first year of their first term, george bush, for example, had terrible approval numbers and didn't bounce back. there really is a historical president dent for a president with these numbers bouncing back and recovering. he's going to need something pretty significant to get there. we have a house republican caucus that is saying no to a lot of the immigration issues. people are taking that out on everybody. they're taking it out on the president and taking it out much worse on congressional republicans. i do think as we go into next year, things like health care will be behind him.

i think his numbers can improve from there. >> look, what's going to happen in 2014 was your question? he can either go down or up. frankly, if obama care -- >> like gravity. >> those are the two options on the table. if obamacare continues to be a problem, the corporate mandate goes into effect and it is as much a catalyst for anger amongst people as the individual mandate has been, it's going to be a continued problem for him. the big problem is that he came in as hope and change as a uniter. we haven't seen that. but the biggest problem the president had this year is those trustworthiness numbers that we saw that have dropped tremendously. and i'm telling you, all of us have been in relations. we know what we're talking about. it takes a lot harder to regain trust than to establish it in the first place. >> candy, he still is a decider. he can still shape the agenda and he can also leave -- >> he hasn't fired anybody.

>> he can decide on a number of fronts including the executive actions he can take. he can also continue to make sure that we make tremendous progress at home especially on the economy. >> he is going to bring in your former ceo. >> i mean there is a lot of fresh blood coming in. it's not like there hasn't been any changes. >> new blood. i found fascinating when i asked you all for, you know, a couple of your top moments that essie and nira are on different ends of the -- >> what? >> you're on different ends. both pick the pope a couple moments with the pope. >> yeah. it was a big year for the pope. he was "time's" person of the year. i think there were iconic moments. the pope selfie was an iconic moment. the pope taking pictures with disfigured parishioners really spoke to the casm that the pope

is trying to close. i know liberals are real excited about what they perceive as a progressive message coming from this pope. but his goal with the church in limiting his authority is actually considerably conservative. he wants to make a smaller church, a church with a small sea. a church that sf the people. it's a really interesting year for the vatican and interesting to see how what he does shapes catholicism for americans and south americans and catholics around the world. >> it's interesting to me how the pope quickly became a sort of a political figure in the u.s. and one of the things that you mentioned was that popes debunking of capitalism and the free market as some way of trickle down economics. that that would help the poor. part of what he said was this opinion, meaning trickle down economics, which has never been confirmed by the facts,

expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacreligious prevailing economic system. the excluded are still waiting. >> i think the pope has made a series of really strong statements. that is one of them. talking about this issue of increasing inequality. at the same time, he's made really powerful statements about how the catholic church should be open to people of different views and some of the touch stone issues. obviously, not changing the church's position on abortion or same-sex marriage, but he definitely signaled an openness to really include people of different views in the discussion. i think it's this mixture of really focusing on economic inequality, focusing really debufrpging basis of conservative economic policy as a strategy going forward that makes a lot of people around the world, not just in the u.s., open to him. >> look, the pope is not republican. the pope is not democrat.

i wish people in this country would stop trying to get on the band wagon of being against somebody or with somebody. that is high profile. what the pope has done, i remember donna i was in your class teaching the class the day he was selected, he has changed the tide on the catholic church in the nine months that he's been in office. he has led by example. he has led with humility. he has put the focus back on the people. but more than anything, he is an inclusive pope who has shown that the church is not about being judgmental. it's about love and inclusion. i wish he were running for president. >> but you don't want it to be political. >> you don't want it to be political. >> i didn't say what party. >> and if he decides to run for pope, i would back him. >> we have our vote. >> he has our vote. let me say this, it has been a tremendous year for the catholic church. he's refreshing.

to see someone who not just talk about what jesus said but actually go out there and try to live as an example of what jesus would do. washing the feet of prisoners, being with prostitutes, can i say that? yeah, prostitutes. he reminds us as scripture say that we're all sinners but there is a road to salvation. and this pope is opening up the church for those who want to seek that salvation. >> switching now on what we call a hard turn here, men behaving badly. there are so many moments to pick from. >> it's important bhau just said. men behaving badly. >> we can behave pretty badly, too. it wasn't our year. maybe 2014. >> when you look at anthony weiner. you had the san diego mayor that had to quit. you had the toronto mayor which, holy cow. and then florida republican f. m

it seems to me when i look at this, i thought it's funny how quickly we move past these things. >> thank god. >> the truth is in new york, elliott spitzer didn't win. the stories pop-up and pop down. >> we saw the fall of weiner, unintended. >> oh, boy. >> it's sunday morning. >> i think, you know, as fun as it was for new york post headline writers to get anthony weiner back this year, i think he actually really did impact politics in new york. you can argue that we have bill deblasio as mayor because of weiner. and bill along with elizabeth

warn rer the progressive rock stars bringing the party leftward. i think what anthony weiner did in that mayoral race was actually a fairly significant. and we'll see that next year. >> buts is not clear to me why i took votes from christine quinn. >> he took momentum. he took momentum from everybody. i don't think he had a political effect. i think he just took a huge amount of attention. and it moved away. i think bill deblass yoe won. >> i still believe that the public service is a noble calling. these politicians behave badly. and clearly in the case of bob filmer -- >> mayor of san diego. >> 18 women? at one point i'm like, dude, move on. move away. we don't want to pay for your therapy. but they get a sense of entitlement, arrogance of power.

i think it affects male politicians more than female politicians. >> is there rehab for sexual harassment? does that work? >> apparently not. 2014, i think there are a lot of women candidates running who can take advantage of the interest in having kind of a clean sweep and a new voice. there's great candidates in georgia, michelle nun, allison grimes in kentucky who really are embracing a time to have a new voice in washington. >> closing out this one. are there -- i remember when anthony weiner and elliott spitzer decided to run. we said it's new york. they don't care about all these things. it turns out they do. >> think about that? probably looked at mark sanford in south carolina and said maybe we can go on the appalachian trail and come back from whatever. >> but they couldn't. >> i couldn't believe mark

sanford got re-elected. theres with a difference in his case and running against a terrible democratic candidate. >> we have a real leader who will tackle unemployment in new york and the growing economy. >> i hope so. >> i don't think anyone wants to see anthony weiner mount a comeback. i think we're all happy to have him part of history. >> even uma? >> even uma. >> the record, candy, we just talked about the pope. i believe in sec chances. >> there you go. >> good place for us to take a break. >> for weiner, it would be a third. >> okay. we're saying good-bye to 2013. but there were a lot of moments in 2013 that made us think of 2016 and some possible presidential picks. and anna is going to reveal one of her top picks next. [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh! i have a cold with this annoying runny nose.

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and gave america back a profit. we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays.

. we're taking a look at the political moments, the top ones in 2013. next up, the 2014 republican breakout. how far is this going to go? it was interesting to me at the end of the year john boehner, the republican speaker of the house, did what his moderates have been begging him to do all year which is slam the conservatives. >> they put us into this fight to debunk obama care. the day before the government reopened, one of the people -- one of these groups stood up and said we never really thought it would work. are you kidding me? >> i got to love that. so the republicans here, republican leading people

offended by that? >> no. it seems like john boehner was waiting a very long time to do that. and he could do that with very minimal blowback. he didn't need tows people to get that budget deal passed. so it was sort of a win-win for him. i think the other interesting republican breakup this year though, looking ahead was ran paul and chris christie. chris christie gave a speech saying we're not a debating society the we have to win elections. i think that crystallizes the gop fight of the year. do we win elections or stand on principles? >> i think this is a big question going into 2014. it's not like john boehner was listening to conservatives because he wanted to. house republicans and senate republicans have been really worried about primary fights. look at mitch mcconnell dancing this whole year around energizing con seventives, opposing conservatives. the big question going in unanswered is are republicans, are the conservative tea party

activists going to have the power to knock out more and more moderates? and as, you know, democrats might enjoy that, right? they'll help with the 2014 elections. but it will move the republican party farther to the right. >> that's a question that's going to get answered through the primaries starting in march. and going into the summer. i think one of the things that's going to come out of this election in 2014 is we're going to see the traditional, more mainstream republicans, people like mcconnell, john cornin, can you imagine, i'm calling him traditional. >> i think you're going to see them win their primaries. they have taken it seriously. they're campaigning hard. they're raising money and doing what they have to doment they're not about to get richard lubert. >> they see it coming now.

>> i get e-mails from tea party. maybe donna brazile is a republican in some other lifetime. but i -- you know, i read e-mails out of respect to their point of view. and they're angry with manufacture the so-called rinos. republicans in name only. >> republicans who are inclusive, not obstructionists. >> they're angry. i'm speaking as the tea party. >> what is your favorite flavor of tea? >> black, of course. >> because when i add cream, it comes out brown just like me. but there is no -- >> where are we? >> but there is no question the tea party is angry with the republican establishment. they're much more energized. and if they're able to raise the money, the last e-mail i

received, they want to raise money to take on the so-called mainstream establishment republicans. we have'hea not heard the end oe tea party. >> business has now gotten involved. business interests. and they're going to put some money into some of the moderate republicans candidates. >> moving -- they do have more money. but moving along to our next one. and that is what does 2013 have to do with 2016? lolg lots of moment that's showed us candidacies on the rise. we had, you know, one democrat. and a number of republicans that we've seen.

>> i will speak until i can no longer speak. >> i like green eggs and ham. >> if we can do this in trenton, new jersey, maybe people in washington, d.c., should tune into their tvs right now. >> it is because of a protestor because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they would go kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? >> so, you know, lots of topics. >> rubio was picked. marco rubio was picked to the president's state of the union and sipping the water periodically got attention. >> what can i tell you? i think the man learned to get hydrated after a while. it was a water shed moment. >> a water shed moment. you turned water in a money. raised a couple hundred thousand dollars.

>> a lot of republicans just like in the primary, the republicans kind of rose and fell. rose and then fell. i think that the big issue going 2014 and i'm a personal believer and had this conversation in 2015 and 2016 is who's going to speak for the republican party? he's right. there is a big fight between the kind of libertarian wing and the more mainstream wing between chris christie and the ran pauls. i think that is -- who is going to own. >> we want to have somebody that owns the voice of the republican party until we have a nominee. so we're going to have to -- >> we'll have more moments next year to talk about. >> let me ask you something. i want to talk about hillary

clinton and ask you -- let me start. at that moment, what difference does it make? what is the chances she runs we're going to see that in commercial from republicans? >> look, republicans are going to go back and get the best of hillary tapes. and that will be one of them. but here's what people should know about her. she's a history maker. she's going to come up from a book next year. we're talking about her history. the things she's been able to accomplish and, you know, the policy that -- the policies she hopes to enact when she's presidentst united states. so we'll be looking at that video and a lot of other videos. i tell you that, is not the defining moment. >> i thought it was a really interesting year for hillary. we saw two hill riz. that makes her such a canny political operative. you saw her really respond to the elizabeth warren push left. she talked about progressive politics. on the other, we saw the hillary of the 9 o's. i'm not going to bash this year.

>> look, i work for hillary. but, you know, hillary has been a person who is talked about economic inequality, rising middle class, fair shot for middle class. she did that in 2008 and she's done that her entire career. this is not a new conversation for her. and she'll be one of the strongest people talking about it. as donna said, she has a long history on these issues. >> she told us we're getting a decision out of her this year. zbh we'll see. we'll talk about that moment next here. as we count down the best political moments on 2013. when we return. the supreme court makes some bold decisions and the senate makes a controversial one. you make a great team. it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet

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i now declare you spouses for life. >> same-sex wedding ceremony in california. moving on now to the supreme court. gay rights. i mean just fundamental shift in this the subject that seems to me not just as at the supreme

court but elsewhere. >> so fundamental that you saw a number of republicans come in and out favor of gay marriage. it's revolving on that issue. it really has been a water shed year for that issue. i think it's interesting that in 2016 you'll have democrats who for the first time have to run as being in favor of gay marriage. that wasn't true in the last election. it's interesting. >> i think what's amazing will be exactly as you say, this will be a wedge issue on the republican side. ten years ago we had republicans pushing a federal marriage amendment in the senate to ban gay marriage. now it's become an issue. 40% of the country is going to be in states that are tolerant of gay marriage. and that number is only going to grow. i think it's absolutely okay. every democrat, i believe, will be for same-sex marriage. the question will be the libertarian brand of the republican party support this former equality really which will be a question i think in the republican party.

>> it is rapidly changing social issue of certainly our lifetime. >> and so i think god knows where it's going to be by 2016. by the end of this year already there are 18 states plus the district of columbia including states like utah that are -- that now have legal gay marriage. it may be much less of an issue than it is today in another 12 months, frankly. the courts continue acting. >> i think this was a big move for equal justice under the law. the supreme court once again reaffirmed there no such thing as second class citizenship in the united states. it was a major victory. candy, speaking of the supreme court, they got it right on this issue. they got it wrong on the voting rights act. the provision that sets the formula for preclearance to ensure that we never go back to the days when, you know, we had hurdles for people, ordinary citizens who want to register and participate in a political process. they removed that form l.a. i

don't know if congress will be able to reinstate it. but for right now, a key provision on the voting rights act was gutted by the supreme court decision this year. and shelby versus holler. i hope we can get that right. >> and the change as cross the state, they're limiting voting rights. i think it just really proves how wrong the supreme court was. >> what i thought is the opposite. i saw the backlash since that happened in my state of florida in 2008 because of what happened there with the voting. the long lines and the limitations. and so the legislature has acting to restore some of the hours to restore some of the more permissive voting conditions. >> let me move you on to the next -- >> did you mention florida and utah in the same sentence? >> kuwait a change. >> you would have nothing to talk about. >> next.

i'll let hair ri reid the head of the senate introduce this next one. >> okay. >> is senate working now? can anyone say the senate is working now? i don't think so. today democrats and independents are saying enough is enough. >> i call this the most boring big moment that happened this year because they changed the filibuster rules. democrats said no longer any filibusters on presidential nominees except for the supreme court. the supreme court you still need 60 votes to get to the vote. that fundamentally changes the way that the senate works. >> it does. but look, any time a party changes rules that benefit that party, they later come to regret it. when the next party is in power. and i have to say, this moment i can -- it is sort of illustrative of why folks are so

uninspired by congress. politics is uninspiring in stuff. is the senate working? >> no. >> but it's not working because it's ground to a halt from filibusters. >> we have crazy use of filibusters. >> all the president wanted and what harry reid and the democrats agreed to do is get his appointees through the process. >> up or down vote. >> but to just hold on and say not now. you have so many vacancies on the district court level. so many cabinet, subcabinet positions that went vacant. come on.

>> whether it's republicans in the senate or democrats in the senate. and i agree with essie, i'm a traditionalist. i think comes back to haunt democrats. i think it's not a good thing for the senate. >> and also i must say, it has imbittered republicans to the point that they -- they're still holding up stuff. we shouldn't be saying, you know, great job. >> we're going to continue with our list of top political moments. the president's agenda, what happened to it on capitol hill. the issues that never made it to 2013. the unmoments, one of donna's choices.

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welcome back. we're counting down the big political moments of 2013. as we watch 2013 fade away with our girl power panel. next, congressional gridlock. these were the unmoments, donna. >> yeah. well, this was a moment because of political posturing, partisan differences, the bicammeral differences. >> one run by the republicans and the other by the democrats. >> divided government. the republicans control one half of one branch of government. for all these reasons, i mean,

we couldn't get a farm bill out. although it has a provision that would in many ways reduce the deficit. it would help farmers right away. help the agriculture. help people on food stamps. we didn't get the farm bill. we deposit get anything done on energy this year. we were set to pass immigration reform. that didn't happen. so we have plenty of reasons to blame the process. but you know in the end, it's leadership much it's what john boehner said, you know, in his last press conference. essentially we can get things done. people need to move out of the way. >> i'll tell you something, before we get people pressed toward 2014, at the end of the year we saw a glimmer of hope when it comes to bipartisanship and getting stuff done. we saw it from paul rye yn and patty murray. the way they did it is without the posturing. they negotiated quietly. and they did what has become an anomaly in this town which is you give a little, you take a little.

you sit around the table. you negotiate. you compromise. you realize you're not going to get everything you want and you realize you're not going to give everything they want. kudos to them. >> it was so minimalist. it was -- i mean -- it is like a glass half full half empty thing. they didn't pass a budget in a long time. it was important to come together. i don't think we actually need a grand bargain in the deficit. it is falling. it's important for us to get something. i think the big question will be the test of whether this is, you know, a trend is will the house take up immigration reform next year? and i think the conversation we had about primaries is the big conversation. if the leadership decides they aren't going to be worried about a primary going forward, then they will pass immigration reform bill. it will be good for them politically in the long run. >> i think the president came into 2012 with a lot of momentum. he saw 201 as a mandate for a progressive agenda.

he laid out that agenda. and because his new term started so soon after newtown, he went right for gun control. he burned a lot of capital right there. i think the immigration would have had a much better chance had that not been a hiccup right after he was re-elected. >> the senate passed immigration reform. >> what was interesting, both about immigration reform and the budget process is that it didn't involve the president. it didn't involve minimal engagement from president obama. it was congress actually taking legislation into their own hands as we well should. i hope they continue to do that in 2014. i am optimistic. i think we're going to see the house move something on immigration reform. we haven't seen it by early summer, i will then be pessimistic and drinking heavily. but until then, we may -- >> look, 23 initials on guns. the president has tried to lead on that issue. the fact that congress won't move unless the nra says move,

that's congress and the leadership. but look this president led on immigration. he's leading on the minimum wage. it may not happen on capitol hill, but all throughout this country, states are taking the initiative and taking on some of the issues. >> minimum wage, i think democrats are going to campaign on minimum wage this year. it will be a deciding issue. there is a bill in the senate. i think this issue will pass. >> will it pass congress? >> it the pag twill pass the se then be an important issue in the elections. >> that is the description of election years. put it on the floor, visit defeated, you use it as a talking point. i'm not going to ask you to raise your hands, you can nod or shake your heads. grand barring on next year? >> no. >> immigration going to happen next year? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> wloo. any major form of gun control? absolutely not.

>> absolutely not. >> she's going foernl lto perso stop it and i'll have to personally leave her home. >> any big changes in energy policy? >> we need to have some initiative. i don't see it happening. you know what? max baucus is moving on to become the next ambassador to china. and senator merry landrieyrr ma is giving us an opportunity to go forward. >> there is a slolot of executi action. >> we talked about jobs in the final press conference of the year. the president said we're going to continue to focus on the economy. big major economic bill? more jobs? stimulus? >> there is demand. you know, this is an issue. 75% of republicans are at minimum wage. >> i think you'll see less stimulus, not more.

>> the american economy and the american people are so exceptional that despite washington, the economy is slightly improving. >> okay. we're getting on to my top moments because as anchor i get to pick the last two. our top picks of the political moments of 2013 are next. not surprisingly they'll probably end up as campaign issues next year. ♪

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>> three, two, one. >> welcome back. as we countdown the political moments of 2013, my last two both happened in october. i thought they could both be number one. we'll do this chronologically. the next one. shutdown. the government was shutdown. the american public took a look at it. all of the closed signs from washington monument, et cetera, and blamed republicans. it immediately was grabbed onto by democrats as the talking point. these people will obstruct

anything. in the same month came obamacare. it seems to me in these final two, they teed up the 2014 elections which will be a shutdown versus a meltdown. >> this will be the story next year. which is worst for which party? was obamacare rollout and it's continuing to be more harmful for democrats than shutdown was for republicans. if we try to shutdown the government again, i mean, you know, you can see that replay. i think 2014 november really hinges on how those two stories evolve over the year. >> i think what's important is the health care rollout story has already shifted. there was huge problems. everyone was angry about them. we have new numbers. we have 1 million people from the aca getting coverage. >> 9 million in the next three months. >> neither one of these are true. we have a 7 million target. if it goes on the same trajectory as massachusetts,

we'll hit those numbers. most importantly is who are signing up and california is 20% young people. that's a good sign. >> political advertisement for barack obama. we have not seen obamacare shift yet because i think we need to see how the corporate mandate -- assuming they don't put another and another and another extension because i've lost track of how many extensions and delays the white house has given on obamacare. i don't think republicans should focus on repeal it because this white house will repeal it itself. it's important to see how implementation rolls out and how it affects people and how it plays out politically. we don't know the answer yet. >> we don't. every month that goes by a little something else happens. it depends on what is the dominant theme. is it that, oh my gosh, another problem for obamacare or look.

this entire family got something they couldn't get before. >> we have focused so much time and energy on the process of how to sign up. for millions of americans who were without health insurance, they are finding for the first time that they can truly have affordable health care. it's stabilized premiums. it's given a lifeline to millions. i won't do politics as much as i want to believe that it's helping millions of americans. now, the government shutdown, that was a wake-up call for the republicans. you see i want to shift real quick. that was a huge wake-up call. republicans figured out they could not run in 2014 with politics of the tea party. the tea party tput in a majorit in the house, they can't run with that type of politics. republicans are going to continue to pivot away from tea party republicans and democrats are going to continue to make sure that we implement this in the correct way.

hopefully we get the states to continue to implement and expand medicaid. this is a positive issue a year from now. >> i think the shutdown was a wake-up moment for republicans. i hope that it taught some lessons to my party. i hope it will affect how we -- what we do in 2014 and how we campaign in 2014. >> there are a lot of republicans talking about threatening a default on the debt ceiling. and i think that's going to be a very big question whether boehner and leadership can push against this. when you have paul ryan saying vote for this budget because we'll threaten a whole host of activity around a debt limit default, that raises questions about who speaks for the party going forward. >> here's the problem. you did have paul ryan say, okay, we have the debt ceiling. we can make progress there. president saying i'm not negotiating over the debt ceiling. isn't that another recipe for -- >> potentially. >> potentially. here's the problem.

this worked out well for paul ryan. his numbers are up. people are crediting him with moving this ball forward. if you're ted cruz looking back at 2012, you think i got elected and mitt romney didn't so my politics must be doing something right. you're going to have this division, these two sides of the party having the same fight for the next three years. they get validation everywhere they go. and it will really come down to which direction they want to move in. >> the question is do you think -- i cannot imagine the republicans thinking not raising the debt ceiling will be a great idea. >> they're thinking about it. the other day at a press conference -- >> they're threatening about it. >> when you say what do you want in exchange for paying bills you already accrued? they don't know. they're threatening it. it will hurt them. >> the president says i will not negotiate, that doesn't poll

well either. >> both things are true. i don't think it's the right thing to do. if i were advising obama and i don't and he won't listen to me, i would say, you know what? call their bluff. sit with them. let's negotiate. he's saying i'm ready to talk to them and see what they want afterwards. what's the difference between afterwards? there's nothing wrong with negotiation. >> there is something wrong. you know what creates uncertainty? uncertainty in the markets forever. you know what creates uncertainty? the idea we're going to spend a lot of time negotiating over the debt limits. if you care about economic growth, let's stop having these games around it and just pass the bill. >> i got a minute. i want to ask you a end of year question, which you have to tell the truth. is it peace and harmony next year or is it open warfare? >> it would be in the middle. >> no. of course you can. >> it will be a divisive year.

>> if i had to choose, i would think it wouldn't be as divis e divisive. we'll see if republicans and democrats can make progress on little issues. >> they'll spoke pot in colorado, maybe it will be peace and harmony there. in washington, i'm not sure. >> they will be chilled out. 1.3 million americans who are going to lose their unemployment insurance, let's hope that we have a congress that's fair and will tackle these big issues including extending unemployment benefits. >> happy new year. thank you. thank you for coming to do this. thank you all. thank you for watching "state of the union." i'm candy crowley in washington. head to cnn.com/sotu for analysis and extras. if you missed any part of today's show, find us on itunes. just search "state of the union" and from all of us here at "state of the union," a very

happy new year to you and yours. "fareed zakaria gps" is next for our viewers here in the united states. ♪ >> welcome to this "gps" special report. i'm fareed zakaria. 2014 will be a year of surprises, events that no one can predict. there will be one great expe spectacle in the spring. one that never fails to move me deeply. india will hold its national elections. the largest democratic process in human history. more than 700 million people at 800,000 voting booths using 1.3 million machines will cast their ballots. aside from the extraordina