yemen, of course, somalia. all of these places that are not the 9/11 pakistan core al qaeda that attacked the united states. these are the new affiliates. they are very strong, they're growing in strength and there's a good deal of concern that they do pose a threat to the united states and to europe. and one of the biggest concerns is in syria right now. al qaeda affiliates on the rise. a number of foreign fighters going to syria and clapper said today one of the big es concerns is that those foreign fighters will return to europe or possibly to the u.s. >> a potentially a huge, huge threat. thanks very much, barbara starr at the pentagon. remember, you can always follow what's going on here "the situation room" on twitter. "crossfire" starts right now.

tonight on "crossfire" -- selling the president's state of the union agenda. >> we got to give every woman the opportunity she deserves. because when women succeed, america succeeds. >> are the voters or members of congress paying attention? >> tell congress to make this happen. give america a raise. >> on the left, stephanie cutter. on the right, s.e. cupp. in the "crossfire" -- mo elleithee who helped shape the message for the democratic party and sean spicer, the message chief for the republicans. opportunity agenda or a road block for job creators? tonight on "crossfire." welcome to "crossfire." i'm s.e. cupp on the right. >> and i'm stephanie cutter on the left. in the "crossfire" tonight, both political parties top message men. one of president obama's biggest

applause line last night, remipding america that women still earned 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. it seems nonpartisan to to say it is time to close the pay gap. watch this video closely. not everyone was very excited about it. keep your eyes on house speaker john boehner. >> women deserve equal pay for equal work. >> you might have noticed it took speaker boehner some time to figure out if you're having a woman giving your state of the union response you better stand up to support the very policies to say she works just as hard as a man. republicans have a real policy problem here. one example the paycheck fairness act. republicans refused to let it pass. s.e., it's great that republicans picked a woman last night. she did a great job giving the

state of the union response, but i guarantee you that women across the country would rather have equal pay than a woman giving state of the union response. >> i appreciate your kudos to cathy mcmorris rodger, i think she did a great job, too. but women make 80% of what their male counterparts do, feel like lip service. >> i know that personally. for equal work, women and men make the same amount. and for the one person who is out there calling for paycheck fairness is the president. hard to criticize him there. >> okay. in the "crossfire" tonight, the communication directors for both parties national committees, mo elleithee for the democrats and sean spicer for the republicans. mo, start with you. i heard some democrats today saying they liked everything the president said last night, of course, no surprise, but they didn't give them a pass forward. he gave a long laundry list of the things that he wanted and basically said make it so. you know, we all know what he

wants. we're all clear with that. the same things he wanted last year. but without saying what he's willing to give up, are democrat s rune to compromise on some things? what got us closer to accomplishing the things he wants? >> i don't that the president uses his speech to negotiate with republicans. state of the union speeches are typically an opportunity to lay out the agenda. >> but he could have. >> well, i don't know -- considering that the republicans -- every time the republicans, he tries to sit down with the republicans to negotiate, they actually walk out of the room. >> -- says he will not negotiate more often than not. >> on shutting down the government. >> -- credit rating. >> with him on that point, but what he did last night was the exact opposite. he laid out a path forward on actually how to get a lot of this stuff done. >> tell me. >> working with congress when congress would be willing to work with him. but there are a lot of times when he can work with the

private sector when he can work with governor, when he can work with state legislatures to get this done, we're all kind of in this together, i know that's a bit cliche at times but at the end of the day we are and not all things have to be done with congress because congress won't do it. >> what we actually saw last night was the white house recycling program. >> yeah. >> speech after speech, state of the union after state of the union, it's literally cut and paste the same actionite emts year after year, sounding better, sounding proposal after proposal, what you can literally go back to 2009, 2011 and he literally said the exact same thing and nothing has happened. >> change it up. >> you're making the point. >> republicans have actually said no and stood in the way. >> on many of these programs are republican programs. why are republicans against job training to ensure that people are -- >> stop. >> or better education because they're graduating. >> there are 150 bills sitting on harry reid's desk right now that create jobs or ease

regulatory burdens on people trying to hire people, yet not one was referenced as a way to move forward. the president wants to act. pick one. as an alive branch i'll tell harry reid to act on one thing. let's do something that democrats and unions and everyone else agrees, pass the keystone pipeline, put tens of thousands of people back to work with benefits, then everybody can win. we get people back to work, the democrats get something, the unions get something, why is that controversial? >> i don't even know where the begin with all that, sean. >> just say yeah. >> time and time again the republican party has stood against every single one of the proposals he talked about last night. you have proposals out there that you call job creating, not one is proven to create a single job. >> keystone -- >> we see the republican record on job creation compared to democratic record on job creation, i certainly don't want to take a lesson from you guys.

>> right now we're at the. >> you created more jobs under this president than we did as opposed to losing jobs under the republican president. >> right now we're at a 36-year low in terms of labor participation, meaning less people are actually trying to find a job endering the labor force. >> fine. >> 347,000 people last month alone gave up looking for work. >> you're kind of making our point. >> yeah -- >> that the proposals -- let's talk about the -- you seem to think that we live in a monarchy of some sort. but i want to talk about something that your boss said last night. the president made it clear that he wants to work with congress. if congress would work with him. on many of these proposals republicans put out, but as soon as the president gets involved, they turn their back. but if congress is not going to work with the president, the president's not going to wait. he's going to move forward using his executive authority. presidents have used their executive authority in the past, look at the numbers up on the screen. bill clinton 238, george bush 197. barack obama at this point in

his presidency, 167. yet your boss reince preibus said it was childlike. who are you calling a child, president bush, president clinton or president obama? >> for the first two years this president did have a democratic congress, the senate and the house to get everything he wanted. >> and we got a lot done. >> when you're going out and chastising congress after not wanting to reach across the aisle and work with them -- >> you know that's not true. that's not true. that's not true. >> obama was the classic example of -- >> and those were republican ideas. >> and try to fix it. >> those were republicans ideas and they walked away. >> that's just not true. >> based on massachusetts plan which was mitt romney, newt gingrich our co-host. >> nobody who was involved in the massachusetts plan says it's part of the massachusetts plan. no one involved in congress says it was -- >> there's plenty of outreach. >> i just like to point out that in the past two months we've got a deal on the farm bill, we've

got movement on immigration reform and we had a budget deal all without the president, so maybe it's time the president stays home and lets congress get to work. but mo, republicans are not the only folks going after the president. this is from a letter sent to harry reid this week from two labor unions representing a million workers combined expressing serious concerns about dropped coverage under obama care. they write, it would be a sad irony indeed if the signature legislative accomplishment of an administration committed to reducing income inequality cut living standards for middle increase and low wage workers. when you start bleeding from your base on your signature piece of legislation, what's your plan b? >> that's an absolutely false premise, i would challenge you to find one single democrat, one single progressive that says let's repeal the affordable care act. >> that's not what i asked. >> well, you're talking about bleeding from the base. our base is -- >> these unions complained with

submitting requests to fix these problems. for three years they were ignored and denied. >> what has the president said? he's said time and time again that as this law gets implemented we'll work with everyone to -- >> they don't feel like that's true. >> that's voted over 40 times to di kill it. if you want to talk about bleeding from the base, four different republicans -- >> you're not going to answer my question. >> i have answered your question. >> you haven't answered my question. this isn't a political problem for you that a million labor workers have decided that they haven't been heard on fixing obama care? >> what you've got are folks that want to work with this white house to continually strengthen -- >> that's not the tone i'm setting. >> i've read the letter, s.e., and time and time again we've seen that the base is appreciative of the fact that we now have more people who have affordable health care than we did before the bill. and they sure as heck don't want to see us repeal it. >> we've got to take a break. democrats are spinning the president's speech as a rousing

success, but next i'm going to ask mo why some of the most vulnerable democrats are running away from obama as fast as they can. we got adt because i walked in on a burglary once.

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[ male announcer ] call now and get adt installed for just $49. you could save a lot more than money. hurry, and take advantage of these savings. adt. always there. welcome back in the "crossfire" tonight mo elleithee and sean spicer. president obama spent today in maryland and pennsylvania reciting the greatest hits from his state of the union speech. he's going to wisconsin and tennessee tomorrow, but some democratic candidates don't seem interested in being seen with him. mary burke who is running for wisconsin governor and who would get a huge boost in name recognition by appearing with the president of the united states is too busy to greet obama tomorrow. this is part of a growing

pattern. senator kay hagan of north carolina was also too busy to attend an obama event in her state this month. even more embarrassing was democratic senator mark udall's uncomfortable nonanswer last night when cnn's dana bash asked him if he'd campaign with the president in colorado. >> that was not a yes or no. >> we'll see what the president's schedule is, we'll see what my schedule is. but coloradans will re-elect me on my record, not the president's record. >> one more chance, you won't see yes or no, will you? >> we'll see what the schedule allows. >> mo, these democrats are basically giving obama the political equivalent of, i might have to wash my hair that day. isn't this embarrassing and worrisome for you guys going into 2014? >> no. >> tell me why not. >> well, it's january. now, if you want to see an example of a candidate who is fleeing from party leaders look at governor rick scott down in florida who just last weekend had the chair of his party's

committee, chris christie, the next great big hope of the republican party, and they were sneaking in and out of back doors. >> you were turning this around on republicans and not answering my question but you just prove midmy point. if it's a problem for christie why is that not a problem for democrats. >> i think you're going to see the president, the vice president, the first lady, dr. biden out there campaigning for democrats proudly across the country in a whole host of different ways. i suspect you're going to see a lot more of them than you will see john boehner out there considering that -- health me be clear about this. >> remember that when it died to have the speaker come into their district. >> that can be said about democrats hoping that john boehner -- >> the republicans that don't want him to show up in their state. isn't that delusional. >> democrats. >> let me be very clear. >> something. >> 36% of republicans, of republicans. >> right. >> approve of the job

republicans in congress are doing. when two-thirds of your own party's base says they don't like the job you're doing, that's the real base problem. >> and i do want to talk about republicans here a little bit. i know that's a shocker to you. >> i love to. >> 80% of americans don't trust republicans in congress to make good decisions for the country. democrats in congress polls better, the president polls better. even the affordable care act polls better. >> even the affordable care act. >> great, we can admit -- real popular. >> want to kick out incumbents. you guys are in charge of the house. you're the incumbents. that means you. what mir can ale are you expecting for this to be a good election for you? what's the bar of success for you? >> there's a couple things. one, the bar of success should be when you look at congress, you've got to remember your party controls the other chamber of congress, the senate. we're on the verge of taking that over. >> oh, really? with those numbers? you thinks that's going to

happen. >> the numbers matter at the end. i think you're going to see us grow our numbers in the house and take back the senate. so if there's any problem, i would say if you're a democrat, how bad are your policies and how bad is the white house that you can't, if that's your -- if you look at the situation and say republicans have these problems and you're going to lose seats and probably lose the senate, you have really -- >> you're going to get that 80% number down the 80% of americans that -- >> like any any poll, when you look at any individual number, people look at washington and say i want to get things done, but when they look at the individual policies that republican members are passing, they're very proud. >> come on. >> when you look at republican numbers around the state, every single republican governor in this country, the unemployment rate went down last month. >> and the president of the united states saw the unemployment rate go down. let me point this out about your republican governors. three states that lost the most number of jobs last month were all run by republican governor,

new jersey, pennsylvania and maine. >> i want to get you both of the record. are you predicting that democrats take the house? >> i think the democrats have a shot at taking the house. >> we're in a holding pattern. >> absolutely. >> in november. >> not one piece of evidence that republicans will do well next november, not one piece. >> american people disapprove of the republican party by a significant amount and they approve the democratic party by a 2-1 margin in some polls. >> even our base. all right. >> well, there isn't a pollster or a pundit in town that thinks that you guys have a shot of picking up the house. i have a better chance -- >> just like -- >> winning the powerball tonight. >> the biggest challenge we've got is because of how you guys read through the lines. >> state wide, my friends. >> all right. >> i actually have a. >> the money on that today. >> i have a question for sean.

i watched the -- >> i get to ask you a question. >> no, no. get a show. then you can. no, i watched the republican responses to this state of the union last night. >> which one? >> i was struck by mike lee's response and in particular something he said that was music to my ears. here's what he had to say about inequality. take a listen. >> it's denying citizens their right to define marriage in their state as traditionally or as broadly as their diverse values dictate. >> mike lee just opened the door, gave permission to republicans to accept gay marriage if they want to. is the rnc with him or against him on that? >> at the rnc we follow a platform that our delegates pass every four years. we're a party of traditional marriage, we're a pro life party and we're going to continue to be one until our delegates change that. it's something our base feels very strongly about.

>> did mike lee take you off message there? >> there's a difference. our policies and our platform are very surround and that's what the majority of the party believes. can we be welcoming to those who differ, absolutely. we'll grow our party by additions and multiplications. we don't agree on every issue but we'll stand firm on those policies is. >> if you just said that's what you're base wants, isn't mike lee -- i'm not an expert on this, but isn't mike lee the head of the tea party. >> he's a tea party member, the pea party is an important part of our party. party. anyone who believes this is a republican thing is sadly mistaken as we saw in 2010. there's a lot of independents and a good number of democrat that is make that up. it's a -- i would welcome more tea party, more independents and a lot of democrats that want to grow republican ranks are always welcome. >> but shon dra says the republican party's current, i

understand your delegates can change, but they have not shown interest in doing it any time soon. the republican party's current position is anti-marriage equality. the republican party's current position is anti-employment nondiscrimination in moving that legislation forward on issue after issue of equality. the republican party has been on the wrong side. we are moving in a direction as a nation. we are moving, history is moving us in a direction, and every time you are on the side throughout our nation's history, on the side of expand rights and giving rights to more people, you are on the winning side. when you are on the side of restricting rights for more people, you are on the losing side. >> so you congratulate my plea then. >> i think if more and more republicans are out there saying, let's have a conversation about marriage equality? i think we want to have that conversation. >> i certainly am. >> super. >> okay. stay here. that was a great segment. i wish we had more time. next, the final question for both of our guests. we also want you at home to weigh in on our fireback

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we are back. now it's time for the final question. shawn, for you, on immigration reform, there are signs of progress. i will grant you that, but i

remember a time when republicans wouldn't even consider reform for more undocumented immigrants across the country until a 10-foot wall was built. but now they are actually talking about legal las vegas for undocumented immigrants. how far exactly are you willing to go on that? >> well, i think border security is always going to come first. rule of law is going to come first. we cannot create a situation where we pass a law -- >> 11 million undocumented. >> but you can't document them or put a system in place and then say, oh, we didn't close the door to the border and then have another 11 come in the next 30 years. >> we understand that. what about the 11 million undocumented? >> that is a conversation that is starting, as you put, our conference is meeting over the weekend. starting to go down a path to talk about how we can create a system that ensures that we secure the border and don't create a second problem and recognize the issue there are 12 million-plus people in this country illegally that have to

be accounted for. >> so you're not going to answer it? >> no, i'm saying this is a problem that is serious. >> where you always get hung up is citizen ship to the 11 manager undocumented immigrants living in this country. that's where it always gets hung up, so i'm asking you right now if you're willing to negotiate on that. >> our side is taking this very seriously and working on an answer, but doing so in a way that doesn't say let's bring these people in to recognize them without closing the border off so we don't end up with the same problem in 30 years. >> okay. my final question for mo, on the other side, democrats have always made citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants a must, for any immigration bill, are democrats ready or willing to accept anything less than citizenship for those undocumented immigrants? >> well, i think it's pretty clear that we support the path to citizenship and feel it is an important piece. now, i'm happy, i guess, to hear

that republicans are beginning to think about talking about this issue a little bit. in your summer meeting i think it was, not the most vent meeting, but last year's summer meeting the rnc met and talked about immigration reform and didn't talk about this -- >> are you going to answer the question or talk about republicans some more? >> i'm going to talk about -- where are democrats willing to move on that pathway of exsici n citizenship. >> we will talk about it in a piecemeal approach but we want to see a pathway to citizenship. >> in control of the congress you didn't do anything. >> thank you. go to facebook or twitter to fireback on our question, do you think 2014 will be a year of action as president obama says? right now 45% of you say yes, 55% say no. the debate continues online at cnn.com/crossfire. as well as on facebook and twitter.

>> join us tomorrow for another edition of "crossfire." erin burnett is back from maternity leave. i hope she has some tips for me. >> i can tell you it will be wonderful. >> erin, are you there? >> i'm here. do you guys have me? oh. well, anyway, obviously that didn't work out perfectly, but it's great to be back. and stephanie's turn is coming soon. we begin out front with breaking news, the fed sending stocks falling. stocks in america are down 800 points for the year and a special guest, jim cramer, will be out front tonight. plus, children stuck sleeping in schools, cars abandoned in dozens on highways, and this in the united states of america. how is one of the biggest cities in the nation blindsided by winter weather? and more breaking news, a new legal crisis for justin bieber. you're looking at a live picture of the police station in toronto where the pop star is expected to turn himself in on it seems maybe new assault