>> yes? >> there are times when your father. >> yes? >> will work with me. >> he tries. >> specifically when we have the prime minister there and i whisper to him, work with me. >> he's on twitter. >> he was a diplomat. >> he was a diplomat. no, actually, he wasn't. he had his own special style. happy birthday. >> thank you so much. >> 50 years. >> i appreciate it. if it's way too early -- >> years. >> what, 50? >> only spiritually. >> 50 years my parents thought about -- i don't know. >> no, 50 years ago. your mom went, not again. yeah. >> oh, dear. >> you were an accident. >> my mother told me she cried for nine months. >> i'm sorry. we're over. all right. >> i'm sorry, chuck. >> that's a lot of information.

>> give him a birthday hug. >> all right, my friend. happy birthday. >> now it's time for chuck. >> now we have it. >> bye. >> all right. bringing in the cavalry. president obama comes back from connecticut with family members of newtown victims to lobby congress for gun laws. the move comes as the senate's top republican says he's joining the filibuster against the democratic senate's gun bill. plus, coming and going as marco rubio tries to lead republicans in a march toward immigration reform. he's also turning up the heat on jay-z and beyonce's trip to cuba. and colbert coaxes clinton into a sweet first tweet. find out what the former president had to say in 140 characters or less. hello there. i am ole johnson from st. thomas, north dakota.

today is tuesday, april 9th, 2013. this here is the daily rundown with chuck todd. this show has everything from soup to nuts. now shout. don't just stand there. get right to your daily reads. >> wow. we let a viewer call me a nut. all right, folks. when we say get creative that's the kind of thing we're talking about. that comes to us from mike in st. thomas, north dakota. let's get to my first reads. as the senate prepares to take up gun legislation lawmakers who oppose new restrictions on guns will have to say no to the victims' families in person this week. all week the newtown families will be lobbying senator by senator hoping the overwhelming public support for increased background checks will convince congress to buck the nra. they traveled on airforce one back to washington last night with the president. vicky soto was among the six teachers and administrators killed. her sister jillian gave the

president a bag with t-shirts reading, team vicky soto. she spoke with rachel maddow last night. >> my sister died and i am coming to washington to fight for change in her name and the other 25 victims of sandy hook. a lot of people have forgotten all the things that we are going through, and, yes, it's been almost four months but it is still very new to us. it's still something we live with every day. and it's a pain that will never go away from us and it's nice to have people rally with us but there are so many people that are still against us that we need to reach out to. >> you see what the goal is here. it's to rekindle the emotional spark that connected newtown with, frankly, all of america in december. the president renewed his plea for gun control at the university of hartford yesterday. >> newtown, we want you to know that we're here with you. we will not walk away from the promises we've made. we are as determined as ever. this is not about politics. this is about doing the right thing for all the families who

are here that have been torn apart by gun violence. >> the president picked the easiest opponent. the 14 senate republicans who are now threatening to filibuster any gun legislation. >> some folks back in washington are already floating the idea that they may use political stunts to prevent votes on any of these reforms. they're saying, your opinion doesn't matter. and that's not right. that is not right. >> we want a vote! >> we need a vote. [ chanting ] >> we want a vote! we want a vote! >> we need a vote. >> the audience started that chant on their own. it wasn't provoked by the president or any white house staff. republican leader mitch mcconnell announced monday he plans to join the 13 other republicans who have promised to block consideration of gun legislation. his office said in a statement, quote, while nobody knows yet what senator reid's plan is for

the gun bill if he chooses to file cloture on the motion to proceed to the reid bill senator mcconnell will oppose cloture on proceeding to that bill. cloture of course the fancy name here and that filibuster is being used. mcconnell is trying to avoid a primary in 2014, clearly playing the role not of mitch mcconnell senate republican leader but mitch mcconnell republican candidate for re-election in 2014. by the way, we just found out, heritage action america, not technically jim demint's group, he runs the other half of heritage but they're spiritually the cousin organization if you will or sister organizations but heritage action claims to score the procedural vote. it's unlikely many republicans will feel comfortable doing this if they want to have that show up on their score card so we'll see how many republicans do follow through on this filibuster besides the 14 that have been public. potentially this could be a big strategic mistake. the gun issue is a difficult

challenge for the president politically but by threatening filibuster which democrats can overcome republicans are giving the president potentially an easy victory. remember how positive senator rand paul's filibuster on drones was for the party. republicans do manage to take over the floor, this could be equally as negative as the paul filibuster was positive for them. gop is playing potentially with a tinder box. senate republicans who oppose gun legislation have an automatic way to stop the bill. it's called the republican controlled house of representatives. so to use this political capital here seems a bit like a head scratcher. already monday democrats are trying to take advantage of the filibuster threat. here's harry reid. >> every one of these measures deserves a vote, a yes or a no. no hiding. no running. the least republicans owe the parents of these 20 little babies who are murdered at sandy hook is a thoughtful debate of whether stronger laws could have saved their little girls and boys. >> even conservatives call the

filibuster a bad idea. i think it's also a tactical mistake. i think mccain is right. allow a vote. the most that will happen will be a really unimportant change in one of the laws on background checks and if you want to be seen as standing in the way of that i think it's a mistake. you won the debate. so now pocket it but allow the vote. >> it will be hard to paint the gop filibuster as anything but obstructionist especially with newtown families on the hill lobbying for a vote. again, while we understand the base politics on this issue this seems to be yet another way the gop brand is getting tarnished with swing voters. even with voters who may be sympathetic with the pro gun argument but are turned off by the idea of how politics is practiced in washington right now. by the way, this afternoon vice president biden will do yet another event on guns. this one with attorney general eric holder and law enforcement officials at the white house. most folks in washington who would like to see new gun control passed think there is no more flawed ally than new york

city mayor michael bloomberg. late monday bloomberg's gun safety group released a new ad pressuring pennsylvania's republican senator pat toomey. potentially a key player in these negotiations, to support background checks. now the u.s. senate can pass comprehensive background check legislation that will stop criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from kwlusing loopholes to get guns. senator toomey understands how important that change is. >> i'm in favor of making changes to a background system. >> in pennsylvania almost 90% of us support comprehensive background checks. call senator toomey. tell him it's time to take pennsylvania's solutions to washington. >> as we reported, democrats have been trying to get toomey onboard for a deal. a hill source with knowledge of the negotiations says the compromise would require background checks for purchases at gun shows and the internet but not person-to-person sales. it is not clear if the compromise is going forward. schumer's language in the original democratic bill includes record keeping on all gun sales including those between private individuals. bloomberg's group, mayors

against illegal guns, is also out with an ad this morning featuring neil haslin whose son jessie was killed at newtown. >> i got a 911 call there was a shooting at sandy hook elementary school. his mother and i proceeded to go to the school. and it was downhill from there. that was the last i heard or saw jesse. >> "the washington post" reports this morning that mayors against illegal guns will unveil a scoring system today to award lawmakers grades of a through f just like the national rifle association does. look, anybody involved in the gun debate trying to get legislation passed appreciates bloomberg's passion. they certainly don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. but they still don't know if he is a net positive or a net negative. then again, it's not like swing voters may like the koch brothers or karl rove but their

ads are effective anyway. one place bloomberg has been a very effective messenger is in chicago where voters head to the polls today in the special general election to fill the congressional seat vacated by former congressman jesse jackson. democratic nominee cook county chief administrator officer kelly benefited from bloomberg's money in the primary and is expected to easily win today. speaking of ads, organizing for action, the president's policy political arm unveils online ads on facebook and search engines asking americans to urge senators to support the universal background check bill. interesting that that is the one part of guns that they focused on. the day of action reducing gun violence will be on april 13th. finally since it's tuesday, quick 2014 senate round up. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is not taking any chances. he raised $1.8 million during the first quarter and has nearly $9 million in cash on hand for his re-election. mcconnell is not the only republican senator watching his back. south carolina senator lindsay graham doesn't have just one

serious potential republican rival but two to worry about. over the weekend, state senator lee bright hasn't announced he is running but has thrown out plenty of signs including touring the state this winter holding public hearings for a bill which would eliminate the need for a permit to carry a gun in public and waxing on about a possible run during an appearance on glenn beck's radio show. >> are you thinking about running against him? >> i'm seriously considering it. we've got a choice. we're either going to have a nation or we're not. and if we don't get behind rand paul and what he's trying to do and the ted cruz's of the world i don't think we can survive. >> graham also has to worry about the first woman graduate of the senate nancy mace who said i am flattered by the chatter. it's not something you just dive into. it is the u.s. senate. folks, the point of this update for you? lindsay graham is going to face it appears a serious primary challenge. while some of these other

republican senators appear to escape he may not in 2014. moving on, could republicans in washington dodge steve king? apparently he may be getting cold feet about running for the u.s. senate in iowa. in a quote that was clearly no accident republican fundraiser doug gross told the associated press yesterday, the republican party in iowa is in turmoil with no clear leader for the future and no consistent governing philosophy. king then told the paper, quote, there could be no scores to settle. of all the opinions out there, i want to make sure there is empirical data. folks, king is very rational about this. if he doesn't think he can win, he's not going to kbgive up a house seat he had to fight and spend millions of dollars to keep in 2012. governor terry and iowa republicans are trying to find a successful candidate while king is trying to figure out while he is viable. they are looking at lieutenant kim reynolds. democrats already have their consensus candidate in bruce brailey. south dakota tim johnson the latest to come out in favor of same sex marriage saying monday

after lengthy consideration my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation. this position doesn't require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets. it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom. tim johnson is not seeking re-election but could democrats face a contested primary? the democratic party is apparently split in south dakota between those who want u.s. attorney brendan johnson the son of tim johnson to run for his dad's seat or former congresswoman stephanie herseth. they've prided themselves that unlike republicans they have avoided a lot of primaries in the last few cycles. they had one in colorado in 2010 they survived but can't afford one in a place like south dakota if they have any chance of holding the seats in the general. meanwhile just three senate democrats have not backed gay marriage. louisiana's mary landrieu, arkansas's mark pryor and west virginia's joe manchin. landrieu's statement says this. her office released the statement thursday. quote according to the u.s.

constitution marriage and family law are reserved for the states. the people of louisiana have made clear that marriage in our state is restricted to one man and one woman. while my personal views have evolved i will support the outcome of louisiana's recent vote. an interesting attempt to sort of split the baby there. is that something folks in louisiana can handle, a senator basically saying i have a different view, but i'm not going to share it with you or support it. we'll see. up next as the president pushes his plea for gun control we've got two top white house veterans here for strategy session on how this is working in washington. plus the big back track in the bayou state. amid plummeting poll numbers louisiana governor bobby jindal changes his tune on taxes. first a look ahead at today's politics planner. it's a busy one today. lots of focus on guns on capitol hill. and, of course, we have the illinois special. the women's championship game is tonight. louisville. will they win both men and

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though sometimes the waves of sadness are so great they threaten to drown me, i stand before you now and ask you to stand with me. with all the families. help this be the moment when real change begins. help this be the beginning of turning tragedy into transformation for us all. >> that was nicole hockley yesterday whose 6-year-old son dylan was killed just 4 months ago in the sandy hook shooting. she introduced president obama monday pushing congress to act on gun control. that was a crowd of college students and they all got silent

when she started speaking. i'll bring in robert gibbs, former press secretary and senior for president obama and welcome to both of you. i want to start with you. let's look at the politics. i'm scratching my head. i don't understand the political strategy here of some senate republicans trying to prevent the vote. this seems to be if you want to look at raw politics lowering the victory bar for the president. simply getting a vote now will have overcome -- >> yeah. >> why do this when you have a pocket veto on this bill frankly called the republican house of representatives? >> well, i find it a curious strategy as well. i think they should have a vote. i think we should get all of those democrats running in 2014 on the record on these issues. the democrats don't want this vote to come up. that's why i think republicans should encourage a discussion dean bait on this issue. this issue is bad for democrats.

>> robert, i know that any sitting president likes to run against an obstruction of congress. wants to claim congress is standing in the way. >> it helps when congress is obstructing. >> and they're being helped when they're basically saying yes this is what we're going to do. >> i think it is indefensible. i mean, a hundred people get sworn into the united states senate to have debates and vote. you know, you can disagree with the individual aspects of each of these pieces of legislation. but you ought to be on record. that's what we're paying you to do. >> and going to sara's point this is not going to be politically easy for democrats in red states. >> they don't want it. >> what some of them want, there are some democrats that would want the opportunity. i've talked to some who, look. i'm not for the assault weapons ban but i'll be able to support a background check. some want to sort of vote yes on one and no on the other. >> sure. it is the height of dysfunction in washington when something like background checks at 90% can't even get a vote. >> is this all primary politics. >> i think there is a lot of posturing going on.

we're also not talking about a filibuster on just the background check but a filibuster on the broader proposals. so there are productive discussions taking place on background check legislation and i would be really surprised at the end of the day if something on background checks didn't get to -- >> in an odd way, if you're pat toomey or tom coburn and thinking about -- do you think, oh, wait a minute. i don't know. doesn't that end up making the deal more likely to happen? >> well, i think it makes a, potentially a deal on background checks likely to happen but i don't think certainly there is a broader deal beyond that. >> it doesn't seem as if the obama administration when you look at the ads being put out there, only on the background checks. i mean that seems to be -- >> that's the debate. >> i think also, too, if you could get a good, strong background checks bill you would take care of a lot of what we've had discussions about over the last many months coming out of newtown. look, obviously what would be

left unfinished are, you know, high magazine, high ammunition clips, and something like the assault weapons ban. i really say, the notion that we wouldn't at least have a vote, i think, is a stunning political development for republicans because there are people that are trying to do this but that will be swamped by the rand pauls and ted cruzs of the world. if you want to know what mitch mcconnell is going to do watch whatever rand paul does because mitch will do it next. >> it did seem like he was making a decision as a candidate. >> i think there is some of that but at the end of the day having senator toomey now leading this discussion for republicans i think probably makes it much more likely that a vote occurs. but look. the devil is going to be in the details. >> right. >> the question is, how do you make sure that two brothers who want to swap hunting rifles don't have to go down a courthouse and do some onerous background check? if they can work out the details

i think you'll see something get voted on. >> let's talk about the role of michael bloomberg. i've heard from republicans who say they love his money and passion but they don't want him to be the face of gun control. they think the mayor of new york city is never going to be able to sell gun control to the middle of the road voter in the state of iowa. >> or in a lot of the south. >> yeah. >> i think this is where, you know, you have to make a choice between the message and the personalities behind the message. the message is at 90/10 on background checks. the personality muddies and complicates this. go with the message. you can't message out at 90/10. >> mayor bloomberg is to the left of the democrats. >> but the democratic party tried to run against karl rove and the koch brothers. did they succeed or did their money, did the groups -- can the groups overcome the, maybe the flawed politics of the messenge messengers? >> i don't think the groups at the end of the day are the reason candidates win or lose elections. that's going to be the case with

mayor bloomberg as well. he will further the debate and spend a lot of money and cause people to write stories and people to talk about the issue but at the end of the day he is probably not going to be determining it unless he goes over the line and democratic races where you have conservative democrats running in very red states. >> that seems to be a concern of some democrats. the camp is not happy mayor bloomberg is running -- >> i can't imagine. i think at the same time sara is right. this is something that i just don't see that the personality of bloomberg filters so far down. as you said, there will be stories written about it. this isn't what people want. >> that's what i wonder. is it a washington obsession or does it trickle into -- >> it's a washington obsession. >> thank you both. >> thank you. >> fascinating week. we'll be watching. up next the controversy in cuba. senator marco rubio joins the chorus in congress questioning weatherbe yons and jay-z broke the law. plus remembering margaret

thatcher who details on how great britain plans to honor the iron lady. during the 11 years margaret thatcher served as prime minister how many women served in the u.s. senate? first person to tweet the correct answer will get an on air shout out, sara. the answer and more is coming up. my mother made the best toffee in the world. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. and make your business dream a reality. cheryl burke is cha-cha-ing in depend silhouette briefs for charity, to prove that with soft fabric and waistband,

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uhh, it's my geico insurance id card, sir. it's digital, uh, pretty cool right? maybe. you know why i pulled you over today? because i'm a pig driving a convertible? tail light's out.. fix it. digital insurance id cards. just a click away with the geico mobile app. on the radar this morning in london funeral arrangements are set for former prime minister margaret thatcher. downing street announced the funeral will be next wednesday april 17th at st. paul's cathedral in london. the queen and duke offed inboro will be in attendance. ernest thatcher will not have a state funeral but a ceremonial funer erl with full military honors. now to the middle east where secretary of state john kerry is working to bring israeli and

palestinian leaders into a new peace process. over the last two days kerry has met with president perez, benjamin netanyahu and palestinian officials in an attempt to restart peace talks and focus on a modified version of the 2002 arab peace initiative. he said earlier today that the talks had been, quote, very constructive but also added both sides have their own homework to do. back at home, louisiana governor bobby jindal said he is scrapping his controversial plan to eliminate the state's income tax, saying he hears the criticism he received and is now acting accordingly. jindal wanted to eliminate income tax but increase state sales tax to make up for the lost revenue. the plan was slammed by state lawmakers and business executives who argued it would hurt their companies. the governor said he'll propose other ways to get rid of the income tax. remember we shared with you last week about some poll number plummeting that was going on there for jindal himself. and that may be part of the reason. finally, florida senator marco rubio is the latest lawmaker to voice concern about beyonce and jay-z's trip to

cuba. after hearing the trip was fully licensed by the treasury department, rubio said, quote, the obama administration should explain exactly how trips like these comply with u.s. law and regulations governing travel to cuba and it should disclose how many more of these trips they have licensed. according to reuters the stars were cleared for the trip by the u.s. government under cultural, a cultural license. up next, mastering means. we're taking a deep dive into the republican party's latest effort to embrace the internet age and try to catch up to the democrats when it comes to their digital dominance. and why it's all the buzz. first while the louisville cardinals are celebrating their first ncaa championship since the '80s in a phenomenal game, it was great to see denny krum in the audience, might add another one tonight with the women's championship game. we've got a winner that is two centuries in the making. we started our own senate madness tournament with 65 of history's most consequential senators. there is one that has been left standing. it is henry clay who was a number one seed in our mixed

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republicans may disagree on whether the party needs to change its message or simply the way it's delivered. but they have to start somewhere. today a deep dive into one of the party's initial efforts to change the way they reach voters and chip away at what is a democratic party dominance when it comes to cyber space. keep in mind, the president's 2012 campaign attracted 45 million people to its facebook page. picked up a half a billion in online donations.

rnc chairman reince priebus outlined what the gop has to do to catch up. >> go beyond traditional news media in promoting our message including pop culture news outlets. we have to stop divorcing ourselves from the american culture. >> the national republican congressional committee is heeding that call. over the weekend they made the move to redesign their website and it's raising some eyebrows. in case you missed it here's the old site as of last week. it wasn't drawing people in. so the party wanted to try something new at least new for them. enter buzz feed. an all encompassing site that mixes politics, pop culture, and weird news from all over the world. it's interactive, customizable, and addicting. everything the web masters over at the gop would like their website to be. nrcc spokesman garret lansing told the national journal, quote, buzz feed is eating everyone's lunch. they're maybing people want to read and be cognizant of politics in a different way. in a recent article buzz feed

encourages the gop to be more positive, embrace young people, and lighten up. they took the advice to heart and decided to do away with the typical features of a political website. this is the new site. it is their attempt to take everything buzz feed said and feed it through the prism. headlines about the most insane wedding dresses of all times are replaced by this one. 13 animals really bummed on obama's third birthday. this is a way to do it. is this a step in the right direction for the gop? brian is the technology writer at the technology journal and joins me now. he did the initial reporting on this. on one hand i'm intrigued by watching the success on the internet is about throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks. this strikes me as one of those moments where nrcc which has a younger staff than the rnc or nrc is thinking about this in a new way. are they onto something? i think they are. the way that the nrcc approached this project was really very

smart. they sort of threw out the old playbook and suggested that, you know, maybe we need to try something completely different, be totally unlike any other political website that's sort of grace the webs before and really compete for web users' attention in a way that, you know, answers other websites as well such as buzz feed or other media websites. >> you know, it's interesting. i had a conversation at the end of the year sort of looking back to the 2012 campaign and one of the architects of the obama digital effort said, this is what he said he found when it comes to targeting people using technology. >> our campaign was communicating with our supporters and anybody who wanted to pull the lever for barack obama and saying, well, voting is the bare minimum here but the civic act of organizing in your community, of reaching out to your friends and having that be a social act, chipping in, making phone calls, knocking

on doors is really the expectation and should be the standard for people's participation in the process. >> so that's what i'm missing here with what the nrcc is doing. i see the attempt to get traffic and maybe that is sort of step one. can they get a following? and then once they get one, figure it out. is that their plan? how do they plan on taking their increased amount of traffic, and it should just to, you know, using social media hoping the sort of quirky headlines do that, how do they plan to actually use the new people that show up and engage them? >> i think you've touched on a very interesting problem for the nrcc, chuck. that's that in addition to sort of mimicking the style of buzz feed, the nrcc has to also match the pace and the velocity of other media websites if they want to compete in a new media environment. >> how big is their staff? buzz feed keeps hiring people left and right. how big -- i know i used to work -- we never had enough people working the website. we don't have enough people and we're getting over a hundred on msnbc.com and we want more

people. does the nrcc have the resources to invest in keeping something buzz feedy like? >> that's really interesting. they only have about 20 hired staffers right now. and one of the things that, you know, if you look at the nrcc's new website, they've got right now one post announcing the new website and then another post from yesterday talking about margaret thatcher. when you compare that to buzz feed, in the last day alone buzz feed on the politics channel had over a dozen posts. >> right. >> so, you know, you'll have to -- the nrcc will have to step up its velocity as well as its style. >> and i was just -- you know, one way to solve this would be if they somehow create engagement and get volunteers to create their posts. is that what they're hoping? >> that hasn't been what i've been told. i think at this point, you know, they're very -- in their very early stages still in trying to shape and plan what the site will look like. but, you know, at some point

down the future it's possible for sure. >> well, it's an interesting experiment to follow and you had the scoop on it. brian fung with the national journal, thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> all right. up next shall the gop filibuster bluster. we warned you the clinton clamor continues. first, the white house soup of the day. because our einstein cartoon friend really likes it. loaded potato. we'll be right back. yowza. ana, you look terrific! ever heard of a lil' something called weight watchers online? ♪ i was adding on pounds eating my feelings ♪

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that's for another debate and a longer show. republicans vowing to fight gun control legislation have to explain their position to the parents of newtown victims who have come to washington to help try and get the bill over the finish line but republicans, even senate republican leader mitch mcconnell are digging in and promising to filibuster. democrats say that's a mistake. >> they don't even want to let us vote on this. there is simply no reason for this blatant obstruction except for the fear of considering antiviolence proposals in full view. >> joining me now is our gaggle msnbc political analyst and former rnc chairman michael steele. luke russert and former democratic senator from arkansas blanche lincoln. luke, this is your territory. >> yes. you cover it. >> last i checked the senate republicans have a pocket veto on any legislation that they don't like. it's called the republican controlled house of representatives. >> correct. >> which makes this stand seem politically odd to me to say the least. >> i think that is the most important point a lot of us are missing here. everyone is sort of jumping on the fact that mitch mcconnell is

trying to protect his flank on the right, trying to join this filibuster. ted cruz, rand paul leading the charge here. from folks i've talked to on the hill especially on the house gop side it is a very long reach for them to accept any type of gun control. boehner can kill it very easily by just putting it to the side. democrats will be upset. they'll be yelling for it for a few weeks and can count on sort of running out the clock. then if immigration comes to the forefront we won't even remember gun control in the house gop. >> no. and john boehner is going to, if he is going to buck the hasert rule -- basically republicans are handing the president an easy political victory. he doesn't have to get anything passed and he wins. >> i don't get it. even with the idea immigration is going to somehow eclipse the gun debate is just a boneheaded position to take. i don't understand the idea of positioning the party, positioning the leadership against an issue that is a 90%

issue with voters out there. at least pretend that you're interested in it. at least pretend that you give a damn about what happened and that you're willing to make a step forward to resolve the concern that people have in the country about guns. regardless of where you are on the nra and all of that, that's not the point. this is some of the craziest posturing i've ever seen. when the country is hemorrhaging their concern on this issue for the party to sit back and basically say we're not even listening to what you have to say. it's crazy. >> democrats at this point, you know, now even the ones that are uncomfortable with some of the gun bills, they don't want to vote on some of them, they're thinking, well, now i'm on the president's side by just voting. i can make everybody happy. they've actually done senate democrats a favor here. haven't they? >> well, and having the conversation. >> like mark pryor. i'm thinking just mark pryor. let me just pick a random senator out of the hat. oh, from arkansas. but yeah. making his life a little easier because of what republicans are

doing. >> well, a little bit i suppose. i think there are really people out there that know and understand that we've got to do something. i mean, these incidents are way too frequent. they're way too violent. there's an opportunity here to do something. and you're right. i mean, it does give those in the red states a little bit of a bye i suppose in some -- >> that's what sara was on here saying. it's politically boneheaded on so many levels. >> one interesting thing on the issue of trafficking, you could probably see some movement if we wanted to. >> i guess they're worried -- but both background checks and -- >> if you want to take away trafficking, if they wanted to get something i suspect you could take that and divulge that. >> if you're a reasonable gun owner you insure your guns. if you insure your guns they're registered. >> right. >> i mean, i don't understand. >> i don't get the fear of registration.

>> i don't get the fear of registration. i don't get the concern about trafficking. are we saying we want criminals to be able to make, you know, back alley sales out of the trunks of their cars? >> we're protecting -- >> it's like you're protecting the rights of the paranoid about government. >> exactly right. >> it was fascinating yesterday president obama sounded like senator obama in 2008. why are we letting them win? let's join together here. i talked to a few democrats and they're going to move these points. we register your car. now we go to the grocery store. what happens? we have the rewards cards because we want $2 off. safeway knows everything i bought in the last five years. >> it's true. >> and they'll make that point. why are you so worried? everyone knows what you're buying anyway. >> it's spooky. >> how about if you go on the internet and find out, hey. you could buy this in arlington. ho do you know i'm logging in from arlington? >> yes. we're going to sneak in a quick break. you know, it's not just because

blanche is here but i have another former arkansas politician to ask her about. during the 11 years margaret thatcher served as prime minister how many women served in the united states senate? the answer -- did you know the answer? three. nancy kassebaum was already serving. paula hawkins was elected in 1980. barbara mikulski was elected in 1986 i believe. margaret thatcher was in office. congratulations to today's winner john jimenez. got a political trivia question for us, write us. we'll be right back. i don't like to golf. i love to golf. ♪ [ grunts ] yowza! that's why i eat belvita at breakfast. it's made with delicious ingredients and carefully baked to release steady energy that lasts... we are golfing now, buddy! [ grunts ]

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i listen to a lot of right wing radio and i know there's nothing that you or mrs. clinton do that has not got some angle. you're both always hungry for power. so what is the grift here in

helping people? >> i do it because i'm good at it and i'm not good enough to play golf on the senior tour, and i don't play my saxophone as much as i used to so i don't like to do it in public, and it makes me happy. >> that was part of president clinton's conversation with stephen colbert at the clinton global initiative's annual meeting. everything the clintons do is seen through a political prism, particularly as we wait for hillary clinton's next move. let's bring back michael steele, luke russert and blanche lincoln. i want to get into the twitter thing but that takes awhile with bill clinton and twitter. it was prezbillyjeff. 50,000 followers if they already don't have it. blanche lincoln, watching this, it was interesting to hear bill clinton, you know, he's not shy about promoting the idea of hillary clinton running again. he's almost less shy about it than hillary clinton is. >> well, he's got confidence in her. i think a lot of us do. she's brilliant, she's done a great job as secretary of state.

she came into the senate when most people's expectations of her were that she was going to be very demanding and arrogant and she was the complete opposite. she worked hard as a senator. you know, so you know, she's -- i think she's got a great opportunity and i think he believes in her and knows she can do a good job. >> i'm told that there are a little over 40,000 followers. we'll see there. that's pretty good. luke, one thing i feel like we learned last week with hillary clinton's big speeches and even a little bit with bill clinton is that there is, you know, you can call it the 800 pound gorilla but it's not big enough, i mean, the clintons, it is such -- there is such a clamor, you see people just want to gravitate to the issue. >> they're the best in the business. i've always said and i will say publicly now that i think she's definitely running for two reasons. number one, the field can be completely cleared. that's the point -- >> disagree on that. >> well, i believe it can be fully cleared.

also, i do think there's a lot of folks who gravitated towards obama, some of those suburban moms who like them both back in 2008 and now are ready to go for her. and i don't see how you stop her. so if she wants it, she has it. the pressure that's going to be put on her is going to be immense because the top folks in the party will go up and say if you don't do this, we lose to marco rubio. >> what's interesting, a conversation i've had with plenty of democratic strategists, they actually want to talk 2016 sooner rather than later. they sit there and say after hillary, then you go down, after biden, then suddenly there's a big falloff. >> gets real thin. >> it does. there is nobody, and in fact, it really has some democratic strategists nervous. they feel they need to improve their bench. the president took a lot of those good bench guys and gals and put them in the cabinet, but they're not seeming to be -- >> they're just not there at this point. you've got o'malley and a few others, couple governors, cuomo, et cetera. again, the bench is thin. i think a lot of the dems would

look at hillary as a place holder, look at '16, then rebuild the bench. >> shameless plug. >> just check out some of the stuff we're doing at purple nation solutions.com. >> i'm giving a shout-out to whoever won my nbc sports march madness. i don't know the name specifically but i have to send you the ryan fitzpatrick jersey. congratulations to whoever you are. >> blanche? >> i'm giving a plug to max baucus and orin hatch who are using the regular order to try to bring about tax reform so we can have certainty. >> we'll see. they want to do it. the question is, does harry reid and speaker boehner want to do it? that's it for this edition. tomorrow on the show, with north korea expected to launch a missile any day now, we're taking a deep dive into the region with a man who knows more about this than any other american diplomat, ambassador chris hill. next, chris jansing. bye-bye. e to the new new york state, where cutting taxes for families and businesses

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