when president obama releases his budget next week, he may be catching heat from both democrats and republicans. the president's full budget won't be released until next wednesday, but white house officials gave an outline to reporters this morning. by the looks of it, the president is insistent upon being seen as reasonable and ready for compromise. according to the "washington post," the president's budget proposal will resemble the deal president obama offered speaker john boehner in january. it will include $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction and significant cuts to medicare and social security. but it will also call for fewer tax increases than in the past. this may represent a significant shift in the president's fiscal strategy, but it may also signal a larger pivot. call it obama 3.0, "washington post" writes this budget request reflegts obama's stark shift in strategy. he's begun a charm offensive in hopes they, the republicans will take seriously his offer to

overhaul entitlement programs in exchange for increasing tax revenue. obama's aides have not been optimistic about the prospects for a deal but they argue that his strategy of outreach coupled with public events offers the best path forward for progress. the white house may see the con sill terry approach as the best path forward, but what is the end game when the goal posts are set in the middle of the field. ezra klein writes notice "washington post," the upside of the strategy is clear -- obama gets caught trying on a budget compromise. by starting in the middle, liberals worry that obama risks pushing a final compromise to the right. if the left is unhappy, what of the right this morning, house speaker john boehner issued a statement suggesting president obama isn't making a serious offer at compromise. if the president believes these modest entitlement savings are needed to help shore up the programs, there's to reason they should be held hostage for more tax hikes, there's no way it

lead and move the country forward. if you can't score on the left, and you can't score on the right -- does it mean that in the end you are just playing against yourself? joining me today, new york city deputy mayor, howard wolfson, national political reporter at the "washington post" mia malika henderson. political editor and white house correspondent at the the "huffington post," msnbc contributor, sam stein, and the editor in chief of buzz feed, ben smith. gentlemen and lady thank you for joining me here today. >> thanks for having us. >> great to have you here, sam, let's start with you on this. there was a lot of talk, i mean there is always a lot of talk about president obama's strategy. some people say look he has always been a centrist. this has always been who the guy is there's also a part of strategy here. what kind of tactician is he? at this moment in sort of going out with a budget that is much further right than i think a lot of progressives and democrats would like to see. >> well let's separate the substance from the strategy. the substantively i don't think

there's much in here that he hasn't offered before. everything has been on the table at one point or the other with respect to negotiations with john boehner. i'm not terribly surprised he went with chain cpi or health care savings or any of the other measures he put in there. tactically, i'm not sure, there's ways to get, to applaud it and to second-guess it. clearly, he wanted to start off by seeming reasonable and in the center and he has the fortune for having the senate budget out there. but if the goal was to come off as reasonable and centrist and if you understood that whatever you propose, people are going to oppose it anyway among republicans, why not come copy and paste the simpson-bowles budget and that would have been seemed like almost like a similar thing to what he's doing now, basically. >> howard, master strategist that you are, do you think this

is the right play here's chain cpi and so forth and then you have the statement from speaker boehner, the house of boehner, effectively saying this is no leadership, this isn't compromise, we reject it? before it's even actually been released. >> well i work for a centrist whose basic attitude is if you're being attacked on the left and on the right, you're probably in the right place. i suspect it's probably what they think in the white house. if the liberals are nervous he's too far in the center and john boehner is attacking it from the right, that's probably where the american people want the president to be. the american people want the president to be pursuing policies that are centrist, reasonable, that seem like they could in an ideal support get some bipartisan support. if the folks on the far left and far right are going after it. that's probably not unanticipated on the white house's part and that's probably exactly where they want the president to be. >> is that where they want the president to be?

polls show that people generally favor increasing tax rates on the wealthy. they don't like the idea of cutting social security benefits. he's taking on unpopular policy. >> when you get into the specifics, you're right. but when you ask people whether or not you want folks in washington to compromise and work together, those are overwhelmingly popular positions. >> reducing the deficit is also popular, but nobody is in favor of very many of the measures involved. >> the end game is to get -- this is no longer, i don't think this is just about sort of i'm going to position myself as the reasonable guy and it doesn't actually matter if compromise happens. i think there's some sense that he legitimately wants toe strike a deal. otherwise, what's the point. >> i think the chances of the republicans and the house agreeing to a tax increase are close to zero. >> but you see the shape of a deal that may not be this congress emerge. there was a failed proposal in 2005-2006, which is haas going to pass. the outlines of a bipartisan dproe mice that may not be this congress, they may not be this presidency, are getting shaped

now. >> wait, wait, what's the benefit if it's not this presidency? >> if it's hillary clinton or chris christie implementing this plan. exactly. exactly. you know, this is you look at what the president did on gun control, right. he went big on gun control and it looks like maybe nothing will pass. or at least maybe it will be some watered-down version of what he wanted. you mention maybe that's what he should have done here. gone bigger, in terms of what progressives wanted to sea and whittled it back. it seems like here you have a president who offers this very centrist proposal and he's slapped down immediately. >> i want to ask you a question, sam. because this, there is you know we're talking about the strategy of maybe he should have set the goal posts further to the left there is an you cover the white house. i think that this administration is loathe to be seen as sort of in ka hoots with the progressive

ring of the democrats.cahoots w ring of the democrats. >> it's not like there's necessarily a path from here to there. >> there's no path. this is debating a document that's largely symbolic to begin with and also visions of the country that we've litigated every year of the obama presidency and we've had an election basically based on that and nothing is seemingly moving the conversation. i don't see how this will move it anywhere else. >> that's entirely the point. because it's not likely that we'll end up with a final product, the president wanted to be position himself, he wanted to put this out as a statement of his principles and values. and if you are, if you have critics on the left and critics on the right and he's in the center. that's where he wanted to be. >> the only down side is now you have john boehner saying hey, we both agree to chain cpi and cutting medicare, let's do that first. >> sha that's what happened on the deficit conversation. >> wait a second. i want to go against sort of the

conventional wisdom here about whether this is going to happen. because greg sergeant brings in an interesting viewpoint, it's looking more like the only hope is that sequestration will make republicans feel they've proven their ability to stand up to obama after the fiscal cliff debacle. that part of their intransigence was we can't be seen as kowtowing to this guy. they've kwoequote-unquote won oe sequestration. >> what obama doesn't need is the republicans feeling like they have a stronger hand. >> the republicans need to feel like they took -- >> like if he's going to win because they're weak. i don't really understand this idea of the republicans feel like they're on roll and that's what's going to make them cave. >> that they'll come to the bargaining table. >> they see it as caving. >> the notion that the

republicans are going to agree in the house to raise taxes is a fantasy. there is no chance that that is going to happen. >> correct. >> there are not enough marginal districts, not enough districts in which republicans can get beaten by a democrat. they are so much more concerned about losing in a primary than they are about losing to a democrat. there's no way that republicans are going to agree. >> why would any house republican at this point after what happened at the end of december, early january, sign off on a tax increase. it's not in their self-interest at all. they'll a get primaried. >> do they need every single republican? no. >> john boehner -- >> they've had you know, votes where. >> out of necessity. >> they've broken the hastert rule. the president needs 5, 6, maybe 10 republicans to get something done. maybe i'm an internal optimist. but maybe -- >> here's a dirty little secret. a lot of house democrats don't

want to vote for tax increases. >> and entitlement programs. >> you know how the democrats in the house who have literally carried legislation over the finish line because john boehner has no control of the frogs that he's trying to put in his wheelbarrow. now they have a poison pill in this package. which is to say chain cpi and entitlement reform. i don't want to be a pessimist mist, i think he should have started with the house progressive budget and done it yosemite sam style and say meet me in the middle. break break, while tens of millions of americans live below the poverty line. thousands who live well above the wealthy line are hiding vast sources of money offshore. we talk about it, next. welcome to the new new york state, where cutting taxes for families and businesses is our business. we've reduced taxes and lowered costs to save

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despite the news today that unemployment numbers are inching down, the u.s. economy is growing at an anemic rate. not nearly fast enough to keep up with the nation's continued unemployment problem. 12.5 million americans are still unemployed, 4.8 million of whom have been unemployed for six months or longer. and this bleak picture is before sequestration takes its full toll. when all is said and done, the sequester will kill an estimated 700,000 jobs. 48.5 million americans live in poverty, but even for those who have jobs, the reality isn't pretty. half of the jobs in the u.s. now pay less than $33,000 a year and a quarter of jobs pay less than the poverty line of $22,000 for a family of four. yesterday, here in new york city, hundreds of fast food

workers earning the minimum wage protested to demand higher pay, the average worker in the food and beverage industry earns about $18,000 a year or $8.72 an hour. but for the millions in this country for whom work and an honest day's wage remains elusive at best, there are ha handful of americans who are doing just fine. they are doing incredibly better than anyone could possibly imagine. with income disparity at historic highs, what is unfolding in real-time is a story of two americans. in one america, folks are struggling to get by, bills ma thor and so do taxes. in the other america, things look considerably different. the dow is soaring and corporate profits are experiencing a golden age. in fact the other america isn't really even in america, it's in the cayman islands, where the weather is warm and the tax burden happens to be extremely low. this week 2.5 million documents were leaked, exposing the

widespread use of offshore finance by corporations and the world's wealthy. reporters are still uncovering all details, but so far the files include the names of 4,000 americans who are keeping their wealth offshore. how much wealth? the tax justice network estimates that $21 trillion are being held in offshore tax havens, for the millions of landlocked, law-abiding americans burdened with the mundane reality of having to pay into the system. the offshore system is a striking image of the imbalance. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. from wetbacks and bestality to gun-grabbing and bible-thumping. following a thumping at the polls, has the republican party become unhinged? eugene robinson writes in the

"washington post." republicans must be staging some kind of fiendishly clever plot to lure democrats into a false sense of security. that's the only possible explanation for some of the weirdness we're seeing and hearing from the gop. the issue of same-sex marriage employed for years by the right as a cudgel to hammer democrats, now has top conservatives feuding. >> when you say you can't cite the bible, i think that's disrespectful -- >> in their private life they can. we're talking a policy deal here? don't you understand the difference between private beliefs and public policy. >> i guess i'm not very well educated -- >> yikes. on guns the party seems unable to get its head around the fact that there's universal support for background checks and that president obama is not sending s.w.a.t. teams in to seize everybody's guns. additionally, when trying to prove your eminent reasonableness, don't bring up

the nazis. >> when you bring that up, you have people that get crazy on us and they'll start saying there you go, comparing to the nazis -- i understand the reaction, but it's the truth in every society and culture where dictators take over. one of the things they have to do is get control of the military and the police. and ultimately all the citizens and make sure the citizens are disarmed and can't fight in the streets. gosh, i hope it doesn't come to that. >> if the gop's right flank is acting out, at least republicans in congress are showing themselves to be more sensible and not at all subject to wild, and unfounded conspiracy theories. two house republicans, jeff duncan and mike mccall, asked for an inquiry into the government's stockpiling of ammunition. afraid that the government is trying to seek war on its citizens and just not, you know, trying to save money by buying in bulk. elsewhere in the land beyond

reason. senator ted cruz is opposing ratification of the u.s. arms treaty. arguing it's a back-door employ to restrict americans' second-amendment rights. treaty exists to curb international arms trafficking and has nothing to do with the second amendment. it's supported by every country in the united nations except iran, syria and north korea and senator ted cruz of texas. and after saying that the party must make inroads with women, rnc chair raince priebus is back at it attacking planned parenthood and saying that democrats support infancide. what is the cause of all this wackiness? might the gop theory stem from the facts that the tactics they so often use to divide the country are now dividing them? the national journal's ron brownstein writes while wedge issues are mostly a republican weapon's it's now most orrin democrats who are charging the gates. how about that, mia? >> i think we've seen over the

last 20 or 30 years you had republicans lining up furiously against bill clinton trying to say that he was an illegitimate president, impeaching him. >> now we have a real reversal and demographics are on the democrats' side. i do think we're going to have this you know sort of there will be blood scenario. among republicans for a while. until there is an election in 2016, in some leader emerges, whether it's chris christie, marco rubio, but in the meantime, we have all of these different factions. it appears now that o'reilly is on a different faction than hannity, than limbaugh, so -- >> seismic shift, howard. even on guns, right? you talk about this all the time. 90% of the country supports universal background checks. and then you have mike huckabee

comparing the federal government to the nazis. in what corner of the universe is this not totally crazy? >> well you have redistricting in this country that's created a situation in the house of representatives where republicans as i said before basically don't have to compete in general elections against democrats. that they are all so terrified of having a republican run against them in the primary because essentially that's where the election is decided. they're decided in primaries. and that you can see how that plays out. that's obviously a process argument. but you see how that plays out within the house of representatives, they're much more afraid of somebody coming from their right than they are of anyone coming at them from the center. >> where does that leave the national party, ben? when you are now sort of concerned that you're filing an inquiry with the gao because you think the federal government is stockpiling ammunition to wage war on the american citizenry. that smacks of tinfoil hat conspiracy theories. >> one of the things going on is

kind of the way it did for the democrats in the '90s, the ground has shifted under the feet of a lot of these people. there's been a huge generational shift in leadership. obama is of a new generation, as well as in the country. so particularly around gay rights, there's a whole wing of the party getting left behind politically. i think you saw it in the '90s with democrats around issues of criminal justice and race and welfare. where clinton just like sluffed off a whole chunk of the democratic party and they were livid. and i think mia says that's something that happens in the 2016 primary. >> the supreme court sort of, it depends on the supreme court, right? but gay rights isn't a big legislative issue, you're going to see the divide happening in congress when they have to vote on immigration reform and to some degree on gun safety reform, don't you think, sam? >> yes and it will be interesting to see how they thread this needle and what marco rubio does, because he has those 2016 concerns, obviously. there's two constituencies, one that howard illuminated when he talked about the districtses

that are so conservative-leaning and one is the national constituency. a lot harder for republicans to figure out with respect to presidential elections. if they're going to be, if they're going to be too conservative on immigration reform, they're going to suffer again at the ballot box and people like marco rubio, even rand paul, considering the run. realize they have to start talking about this in a different way. >> and no man is an island unto himself. you can be concerned about your primary challenge from the right. but there's a national party that will have to bear the brunt of that. >> and ben had the history right so bill clinton comes along in 1992, he has the benefit of the democratic leadership conference that's staked out some more moderate positions on welfare and crime and pushes off on the democratic wing, in the house. i mean the democrats that controlled the house at that point for 40 years, he says we've got to try something different. i've got to be a new kind of democrat. and then george bush comes along in 2000, and pushes off on the republican wing in the house. criticizes tom delay by name for cutting programs too deeply. says he's going to be a

compassionate conservative. which was a code word to centrists around the country that he wasn't going to be a newt gingrich tom delay clone. and the question is whether or not the republicans can produce their version of a bill clinton in '92, 0or a george bush in 2000, a governor perhaps, maybe a senator, maybe somebody outside of politic who is is willing to take those centrist positions. >> rubio is certainly not trying to tamp down on the far right. you know if you look at his votes so far, he voted against the violence against women act. he very much i think is seen as this conservative, or this establishment envoy to conservatives. and is not -- >> let me say one thing. there's a difference -- there's a difference between what happened in the democrats in the '90s and what's going on with the republican party now. and that is everyone wanted to circle the wagons in the '90s, democrats agreed we have to rethink where we are. settle there was a lot of rear-guard fighting. >> at the end of the day, bill clinton did what he did.

there's a huge question about whether republicans will rally around a leader, whoever that is, i don't know. could it be chris christie? could it be marco rubio? you still have these incredibly warring factions. >> could you extend it to 2006 where rahm came in, dccc chair, was advising candidates to be much more conservative on guns and not talk about gay rights and be much more centrist with the fiscal policy and that's how they're going to win back the house and they did whereas now when you see the republican prescriptions to get back to national relevancy, it's focused on how to be much more pure conservative and not lean towards the middle. >> it's no not a surprise that bill clinton was a governor. george bush was a governor. they were outside of washington. >> romney was positioned to do it and he didn't do it. it takes a certain kind of character. it takes a certain kind of leadership. >> it takes character, period. >> it's not automatic and i'm not saying it's automatically going to happen for republicans. my prediction is unless they find a version of george bush in

2000 or bill clinton in '92 they're not going to be well positioned. >> they probably need to find a governor whose conservative credentials cannot be questioned. and then can do that kind of pivot. >> conservatives view chris christie, with a real large amount of suspicion. >> there's no formula. >> i think that's right. >> the memorable things clinton did, are crazy little symbolic things. >> i think we do try to you know, think politics is like build-a-bear and can you add the latinos over here and sprinkle the blacks on and you get a candidate. but it doesn't really work like that, it's much more organic. >> i think the part of the problem, both the horizon for the republicans i mean the good, the good part of the states are the governor who is are kind of purple state governors or moderates and offer future for the republican party. but at the same time, there are plenty of republican governors who are passing crazy stuff at

the state level. you look at what's going on with abortion in north dakota, alabama, arkansas, state religion, north carolina wants to have its own state religion. these then create problems for the national party. >> you know what, sam, something tells me it's not. but -- then i change my opinion of north carolina. >> this is what happens, you know it filters up, whether it'sed to aken or -- todd aken or -- the states are not just havens of reasonableness, they're also sanctuaries of crazy. on that very eloquent note i'm going to go to break. coming up, it is far from conventional wisdom that detroit is a force to be reckoned with or that washington is expected to be a model of efficiency and success or even that new york is in decline. but things can seem a little upside-down when you're talking about -- the 2013 baseball season. we'll discuss one of america's true common denominators, just

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but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. the late great comedian george carlin used to say that baseball is a 19th century posteral game while football is a 20th century technological struggle. in the 21st century both are still relevant and wildly popular. but let's be honest, there's something about baseball. we'll discuss america's fast past-time he chris, mad dog russo, joins the panel, next. at tyco integrated security, we consider ourselves business optimizers.

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you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. snow is still on the ground in parts of the country, but this week, the promise of warm spring and summer days arrived. baseball is back and with it,

the great american tradition of a hot dog and a bag of peanuts on a lazy day at the ballpark, a timeless game where no one keeps time. >> so many good experiences every year and i've been fortunate enough to be able to go to all of them. >> 84-year-old justin vetrano will be at camden yards to watch the baltimore orioles home opener. he's been at every opening day since the orioles came to baltimore in 1954. an impressive feat that is not altogether unsurprising. it's not surprising. as vitrano says, like you go to church on sunday, going to opening day. fans flock south to watch spring training, take off from work and school to attend opening day and study the schedule, what will be one of the few constants over the next five months. 30 ball clubs drew more than 74.8 million fans at games during the regular season. of the four major sports, only

football averages more fans per game. largely due to the fact that a season has just 16 games, unlike football, many of the 162 games in a baseball season take place during the week. serious xm radio host, chris, mad dog russo. >> i have an esteemed panel in front of me. >> i will say i'm the most hard-core fan of them all. >> i can tell nobody believes me. let's get romantic about baseball for a moment. >> why not. >> what does opening day mean to you. >> it means springtime that means nice warm weather for those of us in washington, boston, philadelphia, new york, it's been cold, so you have the springtime aspect. that's number one. hope springs eternal, it's 162 games, if you lose the opener, it's not the end of the world, you have a lot of games to get hot and turn it around and obviously in baseball sometimes what you do in august and september, more morn than what

you do in baseball and may. you cannot win a championship in april, you can lose a championship in april. you don't dig yourself too big a hole. but baseball is such a fun game, the only game without a clock. every other game, nfl, 60 minutes. baseball, you have to get 27 outs to win a game. look at the third game the other day in arizona, cardinals and diamondbacks, five hours and 48 minutes. i mean, and that game was over at 10 after 3:00 in the morning. to complete a game and then if you lose it or win it, you still got 159 more of them to play. it's a continuous. >> howard, we were talking during the break about why baseball is like an american -- it's a family game in some ways because it's slower. i think it also, i mean i think one of the reasons it's sort of a romantic game is about both the team and the individual and an opportunity to personal glory but at the same time, it's shared with a team and in that way, it's a feel-good game. >> and also the data and the

statistics are so interesting to so many people. i've been in a fantasy baseball league for 29 years. the same group -- >> they had fantasy baseball -- >> the second year after it was supposedly invented. that was called rotisserie. same group of guys from high school. we meet every year, we either go down to somebody's house in florida or come up to new york. this year it's in new york, we're doing it this weekend. a way for people to stay in touch and be together. a time for kids and families and also friends. can you go and sit at a baseball game and talk to your friend. can you look at him, he can look at you, may not necessarily miss something at that moment. it's just a fan way to spend time. >> i want to stress the generational aspect of baseball. it's something that's passed down from father to son and to his son. >> and from mother and daughter. >> i apologize. my dan is is a a red sox fan, you're a yankees fan. >> there's some caps on the desk. >> i remember this vividly, in 2004 after all the years of

suffering after they had won the alcs, not the world series, the first person i called was my father. i said we finally did it and it was just instinctive that i would call my dad first off to say you know, let's share in this moment. even though we weren't in the same city together. i think baseball binds you that way more than other sports. >> i'll say i'm new to baseball and my cap actually looks really new. >> your cap reflects that. >> i grew up in the south, we played baseball in the back yard but i was more of college basketball fan and college football fan. and i will say this -- one of the things i find very daunting about the becoming a true baseball fan is the statistics. i mean all of this about the rbi and i mean it just seems -- it seems very confusing, i was never very good in math. >> nia, come on. rbis aren't that hard. but you segue to an important topic of discussion, and that's the nationals, chris. >> gosh -- >> that's my team. >> that's my team. >> where were you in the ninth inning last year against st.

louis. >> let's not talk about that. i was literally in front of my tv, screaming. >> a rough loss. >> let's talk about who you like right now and who's up there in your favorites. >> i went to spring training in both states, i was in arizona and i was in florida and i saw the nationals. they're going to be very good. a young team, an older manager who has won a championship and plenty of world series. nationals going to be a very, very good team. >> they've got jason werth. >> and they've got harper and strasburg, there's a lot going on with the nationals, they're the trendy pick in the national league. in the american league, they've got the old guard is in a little trouble. the yankees and the red sox don't feel like they're going to be that great in 2013. the angels don't have a great pitching staff. everybody likes detroit. but the nationals are a trendy pick. i'll say one thing about the romance of baseball, the radio has a lot to do with it. baseball is the one sport where you can drink a glass of lemonade on the porch in july,

list ton the game on radio and follow along. the other sports you think you got to watch. >> can i ask a question of you. have you ever seen, when is the last time you saw a yankees team with this many question marks or potentially this bad? >> well i was in six in 1965, that's the last time the yankees were morific, that was the great team that was so good from 25 to 64 and then 65, they marist got old and the yankees are a terrible teex. i'm a yankee hater. >> howard how does that make you feel? >> we've had 20 years of really outstanding successes. i really can't complain. i grew up in the city as a yankees fan. i grew up becoming a fan when they were bad. i got to see them when they were good in the late '70s when we consistently beat the red sox. >> like 70 years running when they beat the red sox. >> and in the last joe torre area, and derek jeter, we've had a great run. this year may not be a good year. you're not going to win every

year. the red sox -- i will be happy that the red sox aren't going to win, either. >> as long as the red sox -- >> fair enough. >> in terms of the game of baseball i was watching the movie, "money ball" for the tenth time, a great movie. >> he does a great job. >> in terms of that being the ethos around building a team, it's no longer about the big sort of franchise players, it's about guys that have specific skills, can get on base and win games, how prevalent is that? i know that became sort of trendy for a while? is that still the school of thought 123. >> i think that baseball is about pitching. it's 90% of the game. you need good pitchers. the one thing i didn't like about "money ball" in the movie and book. they forgot about mulder, zito and tim hudson who were so good on a year in year out basis, they spent more time on scott hattieberg and michael lewis and brad pitt forgot they had three great pitchers on the team. but if you have pitching and that's what the nationals have. the nationals have good pitching. >> strasburg.

>> if you have good pitching it goes a long way in baseball it keeps you in the games, a clutch hit here and there and all of a sudden you can have a great year. >> do you think that barry bonds will make it into the hall of fame? >> a-rod? >> i don't think he'll make it. >> what about pettis, a guy who admits to very minimum steroid use, is well regard and a sterling reputation, he could be a hall of famer. is it a strong line, if you have a taint of steroids. >> i don't know if he's hall of famer anyway. >> he's borderline. i think if you have steroids connected to your name, you won't make the hall of fame. i think a lot of people were surprised that both clements and bonds got very low votes. >> clements got 37.6 and bonds, 36.6. >> how about that for numbers? >> good stuff. >> so lauf is still a pure scenario. and i was, i did a panel on mlb network, i thought nobody should have made the hall of fame this year. as it turns out there will be a couple down the road, but nobody did make it this year.

i want ruth, garrick, dimaggio. >> and remember that howard -- and the inductees are -- >> and i think that's part of the reason why baseball is still a family sport. you know, there's a sense of -- standards. there's a sense of classix. a sense that you play by the rules when you play baseball. >> i group up in new york in the '70s, we now here in 2013, we talk about the ways the city has changed, mostly for the better. one of the things that used to get you hit on the head very quickly in new york if you were walking around with a red sox cap, anywhere. that was an invitation to a brawl immediately. immediately. and i don't know, i don't know if it's a -- >> i think howard is going to punch somebody. >> i will tell you one of the things that i have noticed as the city has gotten safer -- is that there are more red sox caps that you see people wear. it is now safer to wear a red sox cap in new york than it ever has been. >> it's the broken red sox cap theory. >> not only that, there are red sox bars in the city. i know because i had to cover it

for the new york daily newspaper. >> not possible 20 years ago. it would have been an invitation to a fight. >> look how far we've come. >> and i think the little kid thing is important. i went to game seven of the red sox/yankee series and ed coleman, ed's father went to the red sox 1918 when they returned back to boston, when they won the world series. ed in that game wore his father's sweater, that he wore when he met the red sox at the train in 1918. that was the last time they won a championship. that's where the generation comes in. >> chris, mad dog russo, definitely the most fun and animated -- >> here you go. >> thank you for joining us. >> great to be here. >> go giants! >> go nats! here we go. after the break, president obama may have inadvertently launched a debate over who is america's best looking attorney general. controversy, double standard or slow news day? we'll discuss that, next.

chalk it up as a presidential misfire. president obama is taking heat for a joke he made yesterday at a california fundraiser. introducing the state attorney general, kamala harris, saying she's brilliant, dedicated and tough and she's exactly what you'd want in anybody who is administratoring the law and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake, she also happens to be by far 9 best-looking attorney general in the country. kamala harris is here. it's true, come on. this has rankled some. we did a little internet surfing to see if in fact the president has ever complimented men and he has. he said of shaun donovan, the good-looking guy in the front.

our interior secretary, ken salazar, he's a good-looking guy. september 10th, 2009, world champion pittsburgh penguins, all of you look pretty good without their playoff beards. they're pretty good-looking guys. how bad is this remark? >> this is the president's attempt in complimenting men. and he actually complimented biden for looking good in swim trunks, it's his attempt at faux folksiness. but i do think you know it gets into this larger, question about women being objectified by men. and for me, whether it's even polite to talk about someone's appearance in that way, for kamala harris, i will say she's attractive, bo biden is attractive. >> buzz feed. >> we did a list, i think maryland attorney general, doug gantsleer, and attorney generals

are kind of younger, still hungry. they make it to the senate. you start to let things go. >> they're working out more. >> kamala harris, she endorsed him way early. show was the only -- they have a relationship this was some kind of joke between them. >> is this a big deal or not a big deal? i mean given the fact that he is sort of gender neutral and his compliments, does he still have to, is there some sort of spin he needs to do? >> this is a one-day story. >> i think at the end of the day. kamala harris is a superstar. she's going to run for something more in the future. whether it's senate or governor or something. and she, if she wins, it will not be because of how she looks, it will be because of how smart she is, the job that she's done and i think that's probably what

we want to focus on. >> i think looks do matter in politics, right? >> i think the standard for women and how they look is way higher than it is for men in politics and in many other things. but and i, nia love exchanging politics. >> you are beautiful, let's be honest, it's true. >> sam you've been quiet. >> i'm going to be quiet. >> you think no issue and -- >> you think the maryland attorney general is the hottest of them all? >> it's a small issue. obviously i'm sure he regrets it. because sort of a silly thing to say and i'm not going to get two exercised about it. >> i do think objectifying joe biden in swim trunks is is a good thing for the national dialogue and i'm going to leave it there. thank you to howard, nia, sam and ben, i'll see you back on monday at noon when i'm joined by the executive editor and

co-founder of global post, charlie senate. in the meantime, you can find a link to buzz feed's hottest attorneys general. and "andrea mitchell reports" is next, peter alexander is in for andrea. . at a hertz expressrent kiosk, you can rent a car without a reservation... and without a line. now that's a fast car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. [ sneezes ] you're probably muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec® love the air.

all your important legal matters in just minutes. protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," escalating threats -- new warning today from north korea as the regime there claims another mid-range missile has been moved to a launch pad. pyongyang telling foreign embassies it cannot guarantee their safety after next week, we take you live to seoul for the latest on that. and ambassador christopher hill, the former lead nuclear negotiator with north korea with join us. and the white house confirming that president obama will propose cuts to social security, a major concession to house republicans. democrats are already sounding off. gene spurling, head of the national economic council is with us live from thehi