ago? >> the american people believe congress is broken. the american people believe the senate is broken. i believe the american people are right. during this congress, the 113th congress, the united states wasted an unprecedented amount of time on procedural hurdles and partisan obstruction. time to change the senate before this institution becomes obsolete. >> in a receipt or cal twist worthy of cirque du soleil he managed to link to failures of obama care saying washington is broken and democrats are trying to distract from obama kamplt the showdown come as senate republicans mostly flbd three of president obama's nominees. not because of their views or qualifications but in an attempt to permanently keep democratic judges off the bench. what qualifies as nuclear in the 2013 senate means using a simple 51 vote majority to change the

senate's rules. these days when virtually everything ever required a filibuster proof 60 votes, it's so extreme, so severely serious it is deemed nuclear. the proposed democratic measure would adjust senate procedure to eliminate the 60 vote threshold for all executive appointments aside from supreme court justices. while there's certain to be partisan haggling over that carveout, the larger issue and end of the senate filibuster has implications so far reaching that our tiny little human brains have only begun to consider them. one thing at least is for sure. the power hoarding that has come to characterize modern day msht has reached a new place. the friend in american government is that power does not get shared and instead flows to whichever party has the will to seize it. senate republicans have seized new powers by imposing a judicial blockade on the d.c. circuit. and the only available democratic response appears to be seizing back more power still.

joining me today washington bureau chief for buzz feed john stanton, host of msnbc's "disrupt" karen finney. political editor and white house correspondent sam stein and "new york times" senior editor sam sifton, authorize heat advisory "thanksgiving, how to cook it well." joining us from capitol hill nbc news kasie hunt. kasie we saw them on the floor, how likely wets a filibuster today. >> highly likely, near certain at least for these nominations we went through. harry reid is expected to have more than enough votes, more than the 51 votes he'll need to make this rules change. there are a couple of final holdouts in the democratic caucus. senator carl levin, who has been around a long time doesn't think this is a good idea and maybe senator mark pryor. this is actually a switch from the last time we did this in july. they considered changing the

rules then. at that point it would not have included judges. part of the reason was that reid didn't have the support in his caucus to make the change. it's actually been a switch. you saw in particular senator dianne feinstein from california and senator patrick leahy, chairman of the judiciary committee. both of them decided they were on board with changing the rules for judges. part of the reason at least in feinstein's case there was a case regarding the contraceptive mandate inside the health care law that requires companies to provide coverage for contraception and a d.c. circuit court judge basically held off on some of that, let this company not pay to provide that for its employees. that judge was forced through the senate in 2005, the first time the nuclear option was threatened. that was when republicans controlled the chamber. that decision and the connection to what happened before is part of what set feinstein off and led us to this moment. >> to our folks, sam stein, this

is the version saying we're mad as hell and not taking it nim. in terms of the filibuster, we have some handy charts here. republicans have used -- there has been one filibuster a day for the past three years since the senate was in session. republicans have driven the filibuster arms race, number of motions filed, republican party, level off when it is democratic. just for history buffs out there. lyndon johnson faced one filibuster when he was majority leader. harry reid has faced more than 400. something has got to give, right in what is your thought? >> my thought is the font on your graphic was too small. i couldn't figure it out. >> that's because you're get old. it's for a young invincible audience, people who love the affordable care act.

>> see how it goes up? that's what you're paying attention to. >> two things to note. we should dispense with both side argue the opposite side, wasn't so long they did. the other thing we should note is the use of the filibuster is growing, unprecedented under this president. i think the most important thing, at least for me, it's underdiscussed element, there is a judicial vacancy crisis, so many open seats on the judiciary actually slowing down process of implementing laws, making sure regulations are proper, constitutional, et cetera. right now there are 93 vacancies in the u.s. districts and court of appeals, 51 pending nominees. if you want to be president and want to get something done, you have to have that third branch of government filled. i think at this point in time, kasie is right. the only way they get through from the democratic perspective is break through this rules impasse. >> you know, sam, the thing --

the sort of underlying message here, the reason there's such a fight over this, the only thing that gets done is under legislation, major regulations take effect through the d.c. circuit court. this the most active part of our government, which speaks to an imbalance of power. for anything to get done, you have to have your people on the bench. >> that's true. you also see it's -- rhetorical issue. in the overall scheme of things, a relatively tiny number of judges. we have this argument about whether the d.c. court of appeals is underworked or overworked, too many, not enough cases. if you look at the federal judiciary as a whole, it is some desperate for more judges. that's got to be a key point here that we not get bound up in simply the d.c. court of

appeals. >> also the supreme court piece is a big deal, john. the fact they are trying to carve out the supreme court appointments. that seems to be like a democratic insurance plan. we know that one day if the republicans actually get their act together they may take the white house and a republican president may be able to fill vacancies in the supreme court. the thought of having a court stacked with more thomases and scalias is terrifying to democrats. >> any democrat that thinks republicans aren't going to use that procedure to force this onto supreme court nominees is kidding themselves. >> you think that's going to be taken away. >> i think as soon as republicans come into power if there's liberal justice retires off the court, absolutely they will do that. there's no reason for them at that point not to. they have done this -- look at the filibusters. democrats really sort of pioneered this modern use of procedural filibusters against judicial nominees and republicans have taken it to its next logical step.

the idea they are not going to do that with changing the rules is short sighted. >> can we take a step back. think about the lower court the amount of work that's not getting done is astounding. they have had to basically put all the criminal cases ahead of civil cases. have you people waiting years and years and years for justice, which happens to very nicely fit into their frame of government is dysfunctional. the court is the only place where things are getting done. at the same time -- >> exactly. >> the other thing we're seeing, though, given the amount of destructive legislation or destructive things happening at the state level and in the courts across the country, the idea some of these vacancies, supreme court is where we always go, we need to think about what it means -- exactly, down at the state level having some of those vacancies filled could mean some of those cases don't get to the supreme court. we don't think about it that way. >> on the clarence thomas and scalia thing, chuck grassley saying, you know, you better be

careful what you wish to, more clarence thomases and scalias. they made it through confirmation. they are not like fabrication of chuck grassley's mind. >> although they seem to be at some point fabrications of conservative means. >> kasie, i wonder what the dynamic on the hill is. part of the functionality were gentlemen's agreements everybody would color inside the line. this is called a nuclear option because it's seen as a drastic measure. i wonder if it erodes any goodwill or bipartisanship that may be any shreds of that that still linger in the halls of capitol hill. >> this move by senate majority leader harry reid is not going to do anything to bring the temperature down here. this is just sort of turning it up and cranking a little further. the reality is that the number of senators who remember being on the other side of the coin either remember what it's like to be in the minority or remember what it's like to be in

the majority and need to get your judges nominations through is dwindling. there are 55 senators here who have never known anything but the side they are on. for the minority that means they are digging in and view their role as simply being the opposition. they have never had a position where they had someone back home they wanted to put on the federal bench and needed help from other guys toting them there. the majority, especially new senators, don't know what it's like to have an opposing party whose nominating judges, especially judges, with the lifetime appointments that that entails that they opposed extremely for ideological reasons. they just simply don't know what it's like. that partisanship and calcification has started to define how things work up here. the body is stalled. defense appropriations, excuse me, authorization bill that sailed through congress every year for decades. so that's the kind of rancor we're dealing with. >> sam stein, i asked the metta

question here, started off the segment is, this is a race to the bottom in some ways. the fact is i understand absolutely why senate democrats feel like they need to do this. i think the filibuster has been abused in a way that is shameless and shameful. at the same time when you have two parties that are just grabbing as much power as they possibly can, what are the implications for democracy? >> that's where i think people who are true to rules of form are more inspired by the other suggestion such as the one jeff merkley had, you need 40 people to sustain a filibuster. that encourages interaction in chamber, makes people stand by principles for obstruction. this is not really the resolution that would produce. this resolution will produce more acrimony than that would. >> maybe filibuster reform. you can filibuster this if you have dinner. >> pick up the bill.

>> pay for their stake, you can filibuster their legislation. >> when you filibuster. >> bring back the filibuster. >> stand by and stand by that and defend that like crazy ted cruz, you know what, you shouldn't just threaten you're going to filibuster. >> you mentioned lyndon johnson. he was the master of the senate. harry reid is the master of politics. he's not going to foster that kind of bipartisanship. lyndon johnson was able to bring everybody together. >> harry reid is a prizefighter, his punches go one way. >> we have to leave it there. nbc's kasie hunt, thank you. stay strong today, my friend. >> gridlock isn't front and center in congress but on the minds and lips of gop's biggest stars. we'll discuss christie, walker, jindal and the rest of the sweet 16s just ahead. huh...fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. mmmhmmm...everybody knows that.

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if you think the civil war between the tea party and republican establishment is played out -- i kind of do -- no, i don't -- you'll love this new schism. the fight between governors and members of congress. we'll play the feud next on "now." ♪ ♪

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[ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. what? [ male announcer ] it fills you up right. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. what? but i didn't want her towait see my psoriasis. no matter how many ways i try to cover up, my psoriasis keeps showing up. all her focus is on me. but with these dry, cracked, red, flaky patches, i'm not sure if i want it to be. this is more than uncomfortable, it's unacceptable. visit psoriasis.com where you can get refusing to hide, a free guide filled with simple strategies for living well with psoriasis. learn more at psoriasis.com and talk to your dermatologist. their party may be facing heavy scrutiny, shrinking electorate and all-time low approval ratings, for the next few days all the nation's republican governors are coming together to convince the nation otherwise, the annual meeting of

the republican governors association in scottsdale, arizona. from texas governor rick perry and his new glasses, louisiana governor bobby jindal, new jersey governor chris christie, this year's rga conference reads like a who's who of 2016 presidential candidate but the focus seems to be overwhelmingly on one man. today governor christie will take the rga chairmanship, a position that will give him a bigger national platform if such a thing is possible, expanded rolodex for 2016. moments ago at an rga press conference he emphasized the work of republican governors around the country. >> everybody up here has strongly helped beliefs and convictions that are important and we also know we have a job to do. what we're hired to do is run our states and do the job. >> throughout conference republican governors outlined a strategy for getting their party out of the pits pointing to job

creation, immigration reform and alternatives to obama care. the most common refrain has been disdain for washington. >> one of the thing, alex, i want to really get us to focus on is to talk about how we transition the conversation away from washington as the place where all the decisions are going to be made and solutions -- they are not going to be found in washington, d.c. >> there's a principled conservative alternative to the failed disfuysfunction in washington, d.c. >> i don't know what happened from the time i was there when we could actually get things done but it's pretty bad. >> instead of looking at washington where you hear about blame, you hear about fighting, when you look at the states and republican governors, it's about getting it right and get it done. >> american people are concerned, partisan gridlock that we see going on in washington, d.c. >> could it be -- could it be

that washington republicans might just listen to their com patriots in state houses come up with ideas and pass actual legislation? no. today they released house "playboy," partisan obstruction and gridlock. why do anything when you can spend all day every day piling on the nation's health care law. john stanton, i know we'll get to republican civil war. first, rick perry turned into a beatnik. >> i was ready for him to start snapping. >> it's amazing. rhetoric, using words like cavalier, which i did not think was in rick perry's vocabulary. there's a clear decision made not just on perry's part to separate themselves sar tore

cally. how much are they at odds with people making policy. >> interesting, you find republican governors stuck in the middle between congress on the one side and horrible dysfunction and zero credibility with the public at this point and their own legislatures moving forward radical agenda items. you have governors trying to play this middle ground. it's getting increasingly difficult. if he dress like this crazy, cool guy all he wants. >> tattoos are next. >> nose ring maybe. >> there is a vote happening right now, karen. this is a vote, i think one of the two votes that will happen to change the filibuster rules, simple majority to pass through executive nominations, and it is a stark backdrop. here you have that in washington and republican governors in scottsdale preaching this kind of message of kumbaya and

bipartisanship. >> there's an important message you hit on, okay, what are they doing in the states, voter id, all kinds of other schemes, taking away women's rights, policies for working people. it's lovely sort of rhetoric on the surface of how like we're getting things done and we're not washington. >> we're wearing new glasses. i can't stop talking about it. >> we're very cool. lets look at what you've been doing all the time. are your people healthier? do you have more jobs is it no. are women's job endangered? p yes? >> accepted money poor people in your state, life and death. >> during the 2012 campaign or after it, many autopsies that followed the republican defeat, there was this great line that we don't need to change the pizza, we just need to change the box that the pizza is in, as if it's all about a delivery mechanism. in reality, as nancy pelosi pointed out, as republicans

piling on about aca, they haven't passed discrimination reform, stood stood in the way, nothing on climate change or minimum wage. you just don't think you can fool the american people that long with a p pizza box. >> two things, first, i always get the food metaphors. >> former restaurant critic. >> i hadn't realized the governor of texas. >> jonathan francis. aptly enough corrections is probably something he wishes he could write. >> what's happening in arizona right now. these guys aren't preaching kumbaya, they are running for president. chris christie is the ceo of a huge bank of money. because of citizens united there's almost unlimited funds flowing into the rga that

christie now has the desire to hand out like party favors. that's going to help him, naturally a great deal. it could be a problem in jersey, where is he at. on the road it helps him get away of his sort of eastern "i'm a jersey guy" sort of thing and into a more presidential standing. you can do down the line of all the governors and think are they trying to do the same thing? >> the rga chairmanship as he points out held by rick perry, bach mcdonnell whose aspirations may not be as glowing as they once were. mitt romney, ronald reagan, a rite of passage for major contenders. >> i want to pick up on what sam -- the other sam said. the better sam. i'm curious if any of these guys pressed on policy specifics would back away from the traditional republican agenda. he took medicaid expansion money but critical of health care reform and a number of policies. scott walker asked about immigration reform.

scott walker after the 2012 election had expressed openness to a pathway to citizenship. he was very vague but left it open he would support a pathway to citizenship. i asked him if he continued to support that and he backed away from it. i'm wondering as you get closer to the election, they look at presidential ambitions, whether this is a policy divide or receipt or cal divide. >> i think also the affordable care act is going to be uncomfortable for republican governors who have either expanded medicaid or taken the funds and done good by the people of their state, karen. for the ideological period it is a big problem. that's all the republicans have, opposition to obama care. >> if they can play it where they say this is my thing, i'm doing this in my state, this is not obama care. >> like romney. >> this's is the game. they are trying to play the game

in reverse. they are saying, well, we're expanding medicare and medicaid in the state we're doing great things but obama care sucks, horrible, we need to get rid of it. >> made an impassioned sort of argument for why he should take the medicaid money, the poor people in the state. some of these guys will be able to make a argument when push came to shove, can you hate obama but i was trying to help the poor people. there's a way to split hairs and that's what you'll see. >> all of them should get pairs of glasses. no, that was the guy with glasses that expanded. >> the poet. >> jonathan franzen. after the break, as lawmakers consider billions in cuts for food stamps, a new report finds the number receiving assistance is declining. that does not mean we are actually any closer to solving the problem of hunger in america. we will discuss food insecurity next on "now." ♪

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. as many of us prepare to enjoy the thanksgiving holiday next week, 49 million americans, including 15.9 million children, will spend the holidays unsure whether there will be enough food on the table and how it might get there. that number is likely to rise if republicans have their way. on that front "politico" reports talks on the five-year farm bill are intensifying. principle negotiators had a 90 minute meeting hailing progress. chairman stabenow she had working on it. lukas responded, everybody needs nutrition. yes, everybody needs nutrition but many republicans aren't

eagle tore make sure all americans get it. on top of $5 billion cut in s.n.a.p. program november 1st, republicans add votinged cutting $39 billion over 10 years by adding work requirements and drug testing. this lack of basic empathy has thus far been guised under fiscal discipline and foster dependency. >> food stamps continue to play an important role taking care of our most needy americans. but the program exists to help left those up who hit bottom not keep them there. >> why does the safety net need refer? people are getting tangled up and stuck in it. house addresses this giving to people who don't qualify them. >> anti-hunger advocates include

this chef, who said, all republicans who voted for $40 million cut to s.n.a.p. are pro hunger. given the numbers, it's hard not to agree. under the republican proposal, 3.8 million needy americans will be eliminated in 2014 and another 3 million kicked off after that in the coming decade. joining us chef and owner of kraft restaurants tom colicchio. editor of bon appetit magazine. thanks for joining us. i could talk about cuts to food stamps for hours on end. i think it is shameful the republicans have done whatner doing. i think the democrats haven't paid the most attention to it. in the progress the goalpost shifted pretty far right. you've taken a distinctly short of strong position. how effective do you think that messaging is? >> obviously what's going on right now in the reform bill

hasn't been nearly as effective as we need to be. i think the change that needs to take place is we need to create food and food and security and sort of other issues around hunger as a voting sort of issue. and once the first person loses an election because of the way they vote around s.n.a.p. and around other food and security issues, nutrition issues, then we have something. i think we're far away from that. if you look at even the senate bill controlled by the democrats you have $4.5 million in cuts. we're starting at that point. >> that's on top of cuts from expired stimulus. we're talking about $9 billion as a starting point. >> that five is about 11 because of the way it's calculated. it's $11 billion in cut. >> talking about litmus tests and voting, we have to take a quick cut over to the senate because we have just finished a final vote on majority leader harry reid's rule change which would prevent republicans from blocking president obama's

judicial and executive branch nominees. joining us capitol hill correspondent luke russert. luke, tell us what this means. are we seeing an end to the filibuster? >> well, you're not going to see an end to the filibuster in everything, alex, but what you see specifically here now harry reid p, a word used too much by the media, went nuclear. what passed on the senate floor is the ability for the president's judicial nominations to have an up or down vote on the floor all those with the exception of supreme court nominees. basically what harry reid is trying to do is allow judges who republicans blocked to the d.c. circuit court to move forward. some democrats did vote against this. carl levin of michigan, an outspoken opponent of the nuclear option as well as joe manchin and pryor, two red state democrats. harry reid was able to get the

majority. tending to distract from the presidented health care law, this is unprecedented. mitch mcconnell earlier saying they will be sorry they did this. hint hint, someday when we get power again. moving forward, alex, new rule of the united states senate in terms of how the president can move his judicial nominees forward. >> luke russert, thank you as always for the updates, my friend. >> sam, the idea that hint hint republicans may get power again. i think we can fold these two conversations together. we're talking about poverty and hunger. lately in the past week paul ryan emerged as the good shepherd that's going to lead the republican party out of this mrore morass. is what paul ryan proposing substantive. a blog, page and page of paul ryan's plan trying to figure out whatted dude -- dude -- is

saying he would do to lower poverty, here is what you're left with, vouchers, tax credits, volunteerism. it's true, what we're talking about before. going around having one-on-one meeting. what he's proposing is more trickle down economics. >> that's true. you say all sizzle, no steak. there are some steaks. he's saying give your name a cut of the venison you shot. that's going to alleviate hunger in the communities. it's not going to. although you should do that, it's not going to do it. >> adam, when we talk about food and eating and nutrition and the host of issues around it, i wonder, and i'd love to get both your thoughts on this, i feel like the debate in and around hunger and actually the provision of food, it's very much underscored by the disparities in race, economics and class. i also think because poverty and food and abscess to food has become something liberals care

about, eating well and nutrition and food culture gets put in this classist bucket. we sort of see like the two americas in and around food. as someone that runs a magazine that is -- it's a big magazine. you're talking to a lot of people out there. i feel like the ways in which we talk about food have become increasingly divided on class lines. i wonder how you deal with that? >> eating well can cost a lot of money. >> yes. >> if you're buying kale, in season vegetables at the market you're walking out with -- better to eat badly than well. >> calories are expensive. we support agriculture $20 million, majority to commodity crops, 1% to food and vegetables, specialty krons. if we start supporting -- level

the playground and getting rid of the subsidies. most going to crop insurance, another handout. >> another form of subsidies. karen, when we talk about who is to fight the war, i think it's great you have people on the outside that either step in and give their neighbors a cut of their venison or activists on the sidelines saying it's unconscionable. i do feel like the democrats in the way they could own this issue and really use it as a cudgel against republicans because poverty and hunger used to be bipartisan issues. >> it's also when we talk about hunger, we're not just talking about i'm hungry today. food insecurity. the percentage of kids in this country that spend x numbers of days not sure where their next meal is going to come from or what they are going to eat. don't forget we talk a lot about nutrition and nutrients. that is a very political calculation to talk about food. what you eat is also important. having access to go to a

farmer's market is very important. you're right. it all comes together. the thing about paul ryan so infuriating, he has no idea what it is to be poor in this country, to have to live on a fixed income in this country. most of these guys literally don't. i do think the democrats do a good job when they are able to articulate what that experience is like. >> they don't know but they probably don't care either. >> you won't vote for them. >> would you play the kid card? is that the key to get america to care. they are going to school without breakfast, these kids -- and they are seven years old. >> this matters because of health, right? there is a third poll in this discussion. we have hunger. we have health and we have poverty. if you are poor, you're going to eat this food that is going to make you sick. it's all wrapped up in one. it's not about high fat, low nutrition, processed food that leads to higher rates of

obesity, higher rates of diabetes and less life. >> the more you are sort of dependent on bad food, the worse your prospects are in life, the less successful you're going to be and in the end more health problems you're going to have and more dependent you're going to be on government programs. >> not opinion. >> exactly right. even in early childhood development, brain development in the first three years is so important yet kids aren't getting nutrition they need. actually going back to sequester is different. wyc got cup. food program didn't, s.n.a.p., but wyc did. education, health outcomes. another way to appeal to this. a whole business side to look at this to appeal to the right. also national security. only 25% of the troops showing up to enlist in the service are fit to fight. we have a national security around this as well.

look at paul ryan, talk about charity. don't go the charity model which they actually think will work. aggregate of charity was $5 billion that went to food banks. s.n.a.p. program is $80 billion. if you cut $40 billion, no charity in the world -- i did a lot of charitable events, no way to make up for that. absolutely no way. >> how do you effect change on capitol hill to get stuff done. what's the strategy. >> i think shaming is part of it. feel like your constituents care, indignant, behavior and legislation on the floor now is not sufficient to meet america's needs. >> the nine poorest states voted for romney last year. i think once they understand they have to vote for their own economic issues and their own health and welfare around some issues we may start changing people over and they will vote differently. >> in the context of moral values. it's a moral value -- those red state voters vote for their values ahead of what's my

economic interest. people like romney make the argument to them in such a way they think those crazy liberals, they don't share my values. it's an american value people should go hungry. >> good christian value too for evangelical crowd. the senate voted to change the filibuster rules. what is called nuclear option, executive nominees can't be flbd by republicans or opposing party on a 48-52 vote democrats voted to change the rules. a no vote was, in fact, a vote to change the rule. very narrow paneling, 52 votes. we will talk to tom, adam and sam about the meaning of thanksgiving and probably the meaning of hanukkah because it's happening at the same time. i don't even know what the script is. but first he has a successful resume in the nba and fiscal to prove it -- not adam rapoport. what he's doing at a local food bank behind the scenes that

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his day of coaching begins with knee pain, when... [ man ] hey, brad, want to trade the all-day relief of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. [ male announcer ] campbell's homestyle soup with farm grown veggies. just like yours. huh.

[ male announcer ] and roasted white meat chicken. just like yours. [ male announcer ] you'll think it's homemade. i love this show. [ male announcer ] try campbell's homestyle soup. stone food bank for the work he's done in a decade raising millions of dollars for texans. coach pop doesn't want to take attention away from the bigger issue of hunger. while we talk about texas a lot these days, home to the greatest number of uninsured americans in the country and its war on reproductive pre-dorms is t--

freedoms is fierce, texans are hungry, one in five is food insecure, third highest in the nation. san diego feeds 58,000 each week, more than one-third. feeding the hungry in texas is only getting harder. the food bank already feeling the impact of the $5 billion cut in federal funding for s.n.a.p. that went into effect last month. cooper told us on the 16th and 17th of this month food stamp recipients started running out of mope for food. they get their benefits at the first of the month and it's gone. they are trying to make it to the end of the month and coming to us to get there. san antonio food bank would have to double to fill the gap. how to make what they have further, their staff has been offering career advice, including how to talk to your boss about a raise. even as federal funding for hunger programs is put on the

chopping blocks cooper is optimistic and hopeful folks on the outside will step up to do the right thing. men and women like coach pop. after the recession, a $15 million fundraising initiative to renovate and expand the food bank, to meet the surge of hungry texans who didn't have enough to eat. these guys on the front lines of hunger often with no recognition. this season of celebration and bounty, doing the hard work on behalf of those that have so little, they are our champs.

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next week americans across the country will celebrate thanksgiving and hopefully take a minute to reflect and give thanks. for also a time of stress, long travel, forced socializing with creepy uncle don, to say nothing of preparing the meal itself. it's the biggest and in some cases the only dinner party they

will throw all year. for advice to do it right, what to cook and what to reflect on while gorging we're joined by our panel. >> adam, thanksgiving is maybe the best holiday in my mind we have because it's about coming together and thus far has not been overly commercialized. why do you like thanksgiving and tell me your thanksgiving. >> lets get rid of the maybe. it is the best holiday, period. what i like about thanksgiving other than you drink during the day, encouraged to drink during the day. you gather people around the table that's not immediate family, that diffuses crazy family tension. in d.c. this year, seeing friends who i grew up next door to and their kids and their

kids' kids. for a week we're e-mailing who is going to cook what you reconnect with people. >> and connect in a way which you don't anymore, sam sifton. in the day and age everything updated on facebook. >> this is irl holiday, in real life, texting away. >> checking his e-mail about four seconds ago. >> no, adam was talking. new york city i'm kidding. we used to have this tradition in america where we would gather on sundays for a sunday dinner. we don't do that anymore. we gather once a year and love it or hate it because of creepy uncle don. i think we can deal with creepy uncle don and we should be doing this much more often. great thing about thanksgiving it offers us the promise we could do this quite often and have a good time doing it. >> why don't we have multiple thanksgiving. quarterly. >> you could do that. >> they are called dinner parties.

>> i've got to ask you, tom, the president tweeted yesterday, when your loved ones gather together this holiday season, remember to talk about health insurance. that's the one thing -- all respect to the president, talking about aca and politics in general may not be the wisest tack to take. >> i think the response to that is, is there a ball game on. that's from the table. that's not going to fly. >> you know, there are many ways you can aid and assist yourself in the holiday season. one is the app you're showing videos of, adam. tell us. >> 101 recipes, tips, techniques. we have a video with sam sifton. last year you deep fried a turkey for us. >> and no one got hurt. >> we have to unfortunately wrap it here. i direct everybody to this book, thanksgiving and how to cook it, which is a great primer, great

read by sam sifton about thanksgiving. >> follow me on twitter-of- recipe featured bon appetit five years ago and still a fail-safe. >> bring it back, we'll post it on our website. thank you to my fabulous friends here at the table. "andrea mitchell reports" is coming up next. (announcer) at scottrade, our clients trade and invest exactly how they want. with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts

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