it's also spoofing and part of the political world as well. >> i wonder how much he's going to bring to the show on cbs, we'll have to see. >> he's a fun guy. >> he is. >> thanks for starting your morning with us. >> all right. president obama heads to hawaii for christmas. one last take on 2014. >> i am energized, i'm excited about the prospects for the next couple of years. and i'm certainly not going to be stopping for a minute in the effort to make life better for ordinary americans. >> stunning decision to normalize relations with cuba as most republicans furious. >> this president is the single worst negotiator we have had in the white house in my lifetime. >> plus 2016 via flashback to 1992. >> we can stand up together and say, yes, black lives matter.

>> new steps by a clinton, and by a bush. >> you don't have to follow the pattern. you can do what you want to do. don't be afraid to shake things up. >> inside politics, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters now. ♪ welcome to inside politics, i'm john king, thanks for sharing your sunday morning. with us to share the reporting and insights, molly ball of the atlantic, jonathan martin of the new york times, robert costa from the washington post. the president you might remember suffered a shellacking in the midterm election just last month, and yet, it is the republicans who are arguing and complaining as the year draws to a close. the president, well, he seems down right chill. >> my president's entering the fourth quarter, interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter. and i'm looking forward to it. >> looking forward to it he says. that was from his year end press

conference on friday. sitting down with candy crowley as the president dismissing those who says he's weakening america by normalizing relations with cuba. >> this was said about mr. putin, for example, three or four months ago, there was a spade of stories about how he was the chess master and outmaneuvering the west and outmaneuvering mr. obama and this and that and the other, and right now, he's presiding over the collapse of his currency, a major financial crisis, and a huge economic contraction. that doesn't sound like somebody who has rolled me or the united states of america. there is this knee jerk sense, i think on the part of some in the foreign policy establishment that shooting first and thinking about it second projects strength. i disagree with that. >> more of that interview just ahead on state of the union with

candy crowley. how can you get your butt kicked, and president obama did get his butt kicked, they expanded the house majority, took control of the senate with 54 seats, how do you lose so bad, and yet in the final weeks of the year, whether it's executive action on immigration, now the normalization with cuba, climate change steps, he does seem liberated, i don't know if that's the right word, but liberated. >> i think some is the just the timing of these sort of long-term initiatives that have just begun to bear fruit. whether it's couth baa opening, that's really just a coincidence that now is the time that everything came together on that. executive action obviously was pushed off for political reasons. they intentionally did that after the election. and stuff like what's happening in russia that as the president said is making some of his decisions look a little better in hindsight, that's not really in his control either. and then you know, the dynamics of lame duck that in 2010 it was the same story, there was a tremendously productive lame duck session right after shellacking volume one. so, you know, i think the

president is still going to struggle to be relevant when the republican congress is seated, but he does have tricks up his sleeve. >> shellacking volume one, margaret, you covered the white house every day, molly knows, there's luck there in the timing of when things came together, gas prices dropping hurts putin, but do they see in 2015 a flurry of executive actions to keep him in the news and to keep republicans on their heels, or was that how to close out this year and next year, deal making? >> i think it is a little bit of both. i mean, but he has signalled on a couple of fronts where he tends to push. where he intends to push on guantanamo, we'll see more movement even is demagoguing on keystone, flat veto threat, you do get the sense this they are going to be pushing to try to set the agenda on his terms as much as they possibly can. i can't help but think back to the nelson mandela funeral about the handshake with raul castro

and president obama tried to down play it, obviously they were deep in the works with this. >> already at that time. and let's stick with cuba for a minute. the president did this, robert maine 911 dez, he's now ranking, he didn't like it, most democrats said this is great, we've essentially had the same policy since the eisenhower presidency, let's try something new. that's what new democrats said. republicans said the opposite. let's look at the potential among the potential republican candidates who say the president is wrong, jeb bush, former governor of florida, a marco rubio, senator walker, you haven't heard from chris christie yet, but most republicans say this is wrong. the one who says, maybe it's right, robert, is rand paul. listen to rand paul here. >> if we set a precedent in which a dictator in another country can disrupt through cyber --

>> we'll get back to that sound in a minute. that's the president talking about something else. rand paul says it's not such a bad idea. we've been doing this for some time. the policy was regime change, why not try something new? why is he being different? >> the current cuban debate really i think captures the ongoing talks within the republican party about where they want to go in foreign policy ahead of the 2016 election. senator paul, he represents that libertarian streak in the gop, he says maybe the people who have cuban roots, they're okay with this transition to a normalizing of relations, and senator rubio and others, they represent more of the hawkish impulse in the republican party. i think you're going to see this continue ahead of 2016. and when you talk to peel like bill crist and others, rand paul makes it seem like it's an open one. >> it's not a voting issue. okay. if he thought it was a voting issue, he would not take the opposite side of the republican gut. the challenge for senator paul on this is that it's not the

details of the policy. it's the fact that the response when he states his view is that rubio and everybody else says you're siding with obama. and that's the challenge here. the republican base may not be that passionate about cuba policy, but they sure are passionate about president obama, and that's why the comeback is so easy, and it does present a challenge for senator paul. >> age also has a lot to do with it. this is an issue where older cuban-americans and older republicans have a really marketedly different view which is why both obama and paul i think, you know, are sort of safer being there. >> it's not a voting issue anymore. >> that's right. >> it's a generation issue. >> financially though, helps -- >> donors, republicans who are for the embargo -- >> hard line. >> yeah. >> there was another one of those generational issues as you mention, the president seems to be going with newer, younger voters, and rand paul is trying to stay over there. >> that's his brand as well, younger voters. >> that was the president talking with candy crowley about

north korea, remember, sony canceled the film, the big film after this big hacking. the president says that was a bad idea. listen. >> if we set a precedent in which a dictator in another country can disrupt through cyber, you know, a company's distribution chain or its products and as a consequence, we start censors ourselves, that's a problem. >> do you think this was an act of war by north korea? >> no, i don't think it was an act of war. i think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. we take it very seriously. we will respond proportionately. >> very interesting answer from the president on this point. very clear saying he thinks sony made a mistake. they should have knead movie available. let americas, made the boston marathon, we agreed this act of terrorism, we had a marathon, why should the movie theater shut down and not show this.

he also said it's an act of cyber vandalism -- >> that's the headline. >> trying to low dee a little bit. those have a response. he's asking china for help, but he's trying to dial back the rhetoric of confrontation. >> he doesn't want to throw out to military threat when he has to worry about south korea right there on the other side of the line. and sort of all of that call cue louse, but you know, when you compare this to ferguson over the summer, the idea that the president would say, somebody made a mistake or i wish somebody would have come and talked to me first. can you imagine if people called him up and said hey, i'm thinking about making this business decision, would you please return my call. part of is that, it's a different calculation when you're talking about foreign policy and you have to say north korea is sort of safe enough contained enough country in terms of taking a very strong stance like this. >> republicans are interested to watch in how they respond to this episode. chairman revis sent out a tweet, urged republicans who have a historically traditionally testing relationship with hollywood to go see the movie. i think republicans, they agree

with the president, but it's a question of tone, question of approach, and i think they're going to really use this issue as one to say, we should be more aggressive in going after north korea and combatting these kinds of threats. >> i'm willing to risk north korea taking my phone, i wanted to see the movie, it's all yours, you can have it, everybody. >> no vandalism. >> no vandalism. >> no cyber vandalism on my phone please. up next, jeb bush starts the clock for the contenders. why are so many conservatives complaining? bus first though, apologies to macklemore, michelle bachman is the winner of politicians say the darnedest things. >> come on down now. let's hear it. >> i look incredible. i wear your grand dad's clothes. i got $20 in my pocket, and i'm going to the theft shop down the road. ♪

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welcome back. bit of a pop quiz this morning, what makes 2012 unique among presidential elections in the last 35 years? 35 years. need a hint? well if you listen to barbara bush over the last year or so, she knows the answer. the only election 2012 without a bush or a clinton in the running. 1980, george h.w. bush was the vice presidential candidate. 1984, of course they ran for re-election, you see the two candidates there, and in 1988, you see spring this one up, a bush family photo here. george w. bush on hand as george h.w. bush was the republican nominee and ran in his own right and became president. 1992, you have the double. bill clinton and george h.w. bush, he was the incumbent, bill clinton the democratic

challenger, ross paro involved in that race. hillary clinton here as her husband ran for re-election, move the time line along. unique moment in 2000, slide it over so you can see it, there you go, bill clinton handing the keys over to george w. bush in 2000. 2004, brother jeb was the surrogate as the brother ran for re-election. 2008, the age of the iphone, hillary clinton was the democratic nominee, but of course she ran in the democratic primaries, clinton in the running there. 2012, no clinton. no bush in the running for president. and now looking forward to 2016, and the big question mark, hillary clinton likely to run on the democratic side, jeb bush is considering running on the republican side. we'll reset that and walk over, robert costa, why hillary clinton formidable can wait, we'll hear from her in the spring, but jeb bush decided he's actively exploring and to be out there to publicly? >> governor bush has not been on

a ballot since 2002. if you've seen him give a speech, he's a little rusty. i think he needs to get back in the game. one, he's reminding donors that he's out here, being serious. two, he needs to sharpen his stump speech. needs to connect with the republican base today and changed a lot in the past decade. >> changed a lot including on immigration. jeb bush speaks spanish, lives in a state that has a huge latino pop lair, diverse from all over the world. he disagrees with his base on the issue of whether it's a path to legal status or citizenship, now to be fair to the governor, he thinks president obama was wrong to use executive action to grant status to people, but listen to him here saying i'm willing to run against my party in some ways on this issue. >> you have to protect the borders, enforce the law, be respectful of the rule of law, and at the same time be able to encourage young aspirational people to come to our country. it's a win-win. i have no problems advancing

your idea. >> and the base disagrees. >> we'll see, if i run, we'll see. >> we will, won't we? >> it's a personal issue for governor bush. his formidable experience was going to mexico as a young man, he met his wife there. worked in the early part of his business career in latin america, fluent in spanish. it's a matter of not just the head, but the heart for him. it presents a really serious challenge. he's going to have to navigate with extreme caution. on this, also on the common core education issue for governor bush. it is not so much the policy, although the policy matters, it's the tone. can't be seen as looking down upon his condescending republican-base as sort of patting them on the head and say this is what's good for you to win a general election. he has to do it in a much more deft way, and yes, bob mentioned, he has not been on the ballot for a while. that's going to be a challenge to watch. as for his going early. i thought it was a pretty clean

preemptive strike, he sees mitt romney talking to donors stirring around out there, governor christie talking about a lot of donors himself, and not that governor bush wanted it known, yes, in fact, it is serious. >> and he took up the establishment space on the donor side when you say that. immigration is one issue, governor bush is a supporter of the common core education standards, national education standards. listen here molly and jump in as rand paul, we talked about him supporting the president, supports him on cuba, jeb bush running for president, not so much. >> for jeb bush to run in the primary will be very, very difficult because if you're going to be for a national curriculum and for common core and for no child left behind, this accumulation of power in washington, that's not very popular. >> well, jeb's calculation on both issues, they are toxic with a certain segment of the republican base. the calculation is those weren't his votes anyway. that the share of the republican base he's going for is, you know, the country club

republicans, the main line republicans who are looking for and who have gotten their way -- >> who want to win too. >> they want to win a general election. we don't know for sure if these issues are a killer in a republican primary. you know, it was not good for rick perry, but a lot of things weren't good for rick perry. and newt gingrich embrace ad lib ral immigration stance, and that didn't till him, we saw him get away with that. and he was very deft about it. >> and his own brother, george w. bush ran as a compassionate jeft this 2000, ran against the house gop majority when he ran, and obviously a different time, different field certainly, weaker field, but it worked fine for him. is this going to be more like 2000 or more like '12 where the front uner has to try to appease the right? >> after '12, that's right, there's going to be a different calculation among republican primary voters because they've been burned so many times. so things may look different for them. >> i think jeb is looking to certainly the experiences of

both john mccain and mitt romney and saying you have to be who you are -- >> have to win. >> changing the genuine qualities who have you are and who people perceive you to be has not been a winning strategy. >> ted cruz says going the mccain-romney approach, stay home. what's the challenge, we mentioned on the other establishment candidates. they need to keep them all from going to the bush camp to convince them. i'm better than him or give me time. what's the challenge from ted cruz as a tea party guy, and marco rubio, people say he would still run, same state at jeb bush, i see it as unlikely, but i'm told that cruz and mitch mcconnell, a frosty relationship had a conversation this past tuesday that was civil. leader mcconnell saying give me a head's up when you're doing these things. guess what, in the new senate you won't have to use tactics, i'll give you votes on your amendments, it'll be okay. >> i think there is a strategic question if you're trying to be a conservative insurgent in the

republican primary. do you go all in in iowa and risk having your campaign implode if you don't win, place, or show in iowa. governor bush or christie starts to build a national apparatus, how can you compete with the financially and organizationally? you have to survive past iowa, what to do in new hampshire and florida and elsewhere. >> they have to survive past iowa, footnote to governor christie and governor bush, watch the giuliani experience, you have to compete everywhere. thanks for coming in. have a great christmas. tomorrow's news today is next. get you big the political news just around the corner, including yes, the advance of girl power at the white house. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara®. it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ... stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections.

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let's head around the inside politics table. share something from the notebook. >> governor bobby jindal of louisiana, he may be from a southern state, but he spent a lot of time this week making connections with iowa evangelicals. he spent over three hours making a speech about his conversion and roots and immigration story.

jindal as you see him up close, he's making a lot of connections in iowa. he's a long shot contender web he's working it early. >> maybe bobby jind this will time, thank you, moargaret. >> all the way through into the new year. you saw a little bit of it with president obama and his year end news conference where he called on all women and some may have been goodwill to appease michelle and the girls before he embarks on several rounds of golf in hawaii, but there are a couple other things that played too. some is brandishing his own legacy. you've seen him move, tap a woman to be the next attorney general, tap another to be the number two national security advisor under his female national security advisor. but also, some ongoing criticism because he's probably not going to have a female chief of staff, probably not a female press secretary. so some of this is about his own legacy, but a lot is about gearing up for 2016, the woman's vote is going to be essential

for hillary clinton. republicans are trying to, you know, work on that as well. and you're seeing him set up that site going into the new year. >> first time we've had girl power mentioned at the table, that's good. >> after i story -- i have a story in the paper about senator warren and what she's up to, obviously a lot on the left were hoping that she runs for president. this is not going to happen, but what is striking is how she is using her leverage in the senate to sort of keep the party on more of a progressive path. i talked to a long time friend of hers who said the clinton's don't understand this. they think this is all kind of a set up for her to run for president that this is part of some strategy, this friend of warren said this is who she is. she believes in this stuff. and she gets the fact that she has this moment, and she's taking advantage of that, but this is the clintons are going crazy. they think she's starting to run her president, but she's not.cc that, it's about policy and

about advocacy, but warren is savvy enough to know that she has an opportunity now to sort of push hillary clinton, not in the race, but from the senate. >> push, push, push, thank you, molly. >> all eyes on the house. you know, come january, there's going to be a lot of talk about the new republican republican senate majority. that obviously is what we didn't have before, and there's a lot of speculation about how they're going to behave, but it's really, i've been talking to sort of insiders on the hill this week, and there's a lot more of uncertainty about what's going to happen with the house. john boehner's going to have a bigger house majority to work with. a lot of new senators will be votes for leadership. but it's a real wild card in the house whether boehner will be empowered by the larger majority or whether they're going to be a bigger thorn in his side the way we've seen in the past. so as we look to whether the sort of, the relative harmony and lack of drama of this lame duck session can continue in the new congress, i think that's going to be a major factor.

>> i'll close, more on that. january likely the relatively peaceful month here in washington. new congress will be organizing and the president will deliver his state of the union address. but february will stir some major republican flash points. congress first and foremost needs to revisit the immigration debate because to fund the department of homeland security. and it is in february when the new minority leader mitch mcconnell will repeal. he doesn't have the votes or to force any new sweeping policy. what he's hoping for some votes on the ready. things will at least modest, democratic support and he believes the vast majority of his republican members are ready now ignore the tea party complaints of surrender. 2014 proved the tea party is loud, but not able to deliver on threats to republican incumbents. february will test whether other republicans buy that. that's it for inside politics, thanks for sharing your sunday

morning. happy hanukkah and mercury christmas. final state of the union with candy crowley, we will miss her here, starts right now. lame duck? go tell that to president obama who's sounding and acting like a man on a mission. today, our exclusive with the president of the united states on cuba, race, guantanamo bay prison, and north korea's hack attack on sony pictures. >> you know, i don't think it was an act of war, i think it was an act of cyber vandalism. >> then a response from the incoming chairman of the senate armed services committee, senator john mccain. >> it's more than vandalism, it's a new form of warfare. >> plus brazil, geng rich, the company i like to keep on jeb bush's debut week on the president for campaign trail. this is a special