attack. let play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in new york. let me start with the daring attack. the democratic breakout that could change the course of this political war. nothing is more daring or more effective than the attack from a defensive position. it's how henry v beat the -- that's true of military strategy. also true of political strategy. go on the attack. the democratic leadership struck with pent up fury.

it strangled every effort to move the country forward and tried to kill every nomination, every policy initiative for rebuilding the country's economy, fixing the immigration system, bringing a quality of opportunity to the workplace. the same forces tried choking the president's health care law in its crib. as what a difference a day makes. due to the action of the senate democrats today, there's no more 60-day votes to get things confirmed. there will be action. steve kornacki is here and a political analyst. the president's enemies made his in ferocity and frequency to run a functioning government. in february, they challenged his right to defend the country by blocking chuck hagel to head the pentagon. it was the first ever filibuster of a pentagon chief.

they held up his nominee to head the consumer financial protection bureau. that was confirmed in july. they blocking the nomination of the head of the federal housing and finance agency. the first sitting member of congress to be denied an office since the civil war. they challenged the president's right to appoint any judges between october 31st and november 18th. well, the president along with democrats on the attack as of today. as i mentioned today, they invoke what's known as the nuclear option. it kills the republican threat of a filibuster on most presidential appointments. but the bigger message behind the move is clear. democrats and this president have gone to war with their enemies finally. let's listen to the president. >> today's pattern of obstruction isn't normal. it's not what our founders

envisioned. a deliberate and determined effort to obstruct everything, no matter what the merits. just to refight the results of an election is not normal. it isn't obstruction on qualifications, it's to gum up the works. >> steve, run through the implications of this. harry reid was talking about t they talked tobacco a while ago, cut deals. mccain did work there. they kept coming at obama, saying you don't count as president, you can't pick your cabinet. we're going to question the patriotism of your cabinet, we'll vote against everything. leading the charge has been ted cruz, the worst of the bunch who votes against everything. i've said that. if caroline kennedy's nomination comes to the floor, i would guess he would vote against that for ambassador to japan.

total negativity. >> that's the interesting thing about this. when we first started hearing rumblings of the nuclear option the last few weeks and looking at these nominees to the circuit court being denied the up or down votes to the democrats, this is a scene in a play that we've seen before and about to see again where harry reid will make the threats, it comes down to the wire and then a deal struck, a gang of six, 18, whatever it is to preserve this tradition in the senate. the amazing thing is republicans put president obama, put harry reid and the democratic party in a position if they did anything other than what they did today, they would have looked weak. democrats had to make the move. republicans are saying we're not going to honor the power of the president to put his appointees through in the wake of an election. the amazing thoing me, you did not hear in the last few days, you did not hear what you've heard every time this happened in the past, that's the mccains and the grahams maybe the

corkers, whoever, stepping forward and saying let's find a way out. i think the republican senators, not the base, senators are relieved this happened today. >> that's what i'm hearing. let's get a broader political front. i've been arguing for i don't know how many years, the president needs a fay links ready to take on the enemy in charge. harry reid has guts because he's basically saying it's better to get something done than to pretend to be senate majority leader. he's not interested in the form of it. he wants to be the leader. >> they voted today -- >> unlike boehner. >> they voted to let barack obama be president finally five years after he was elected. we've elected him twice. he's been treated like no other president hamstrung like no other president. i've given harry reid a hard time over the years. but he's not necessarily securely had the votes until

now. you've had democrats like dianne feinstein or max baucus or barbara boxer say they were worried about this step, they wanted to protect the rules and the way things worked. even they have been driven over the edge by that litany of obstruction that you opened this segment with. really, when you -- you know, chuck grassley and mitch mcconnell they went too far by saying that simply appointing judges to the d.c. circuit was court packing, they forced the hands of the democrats. they cannot be reasoned with or compromised with. this is obstruction and democrats went along with harry reid and said we'll do it. >> as i said, dinah washington, what a difference a day makes. this is going to be remembered. for the president's enemies, attacking the president's agenda, his character and legitima legitimacy, they do all the

time. this is the senate's top roochlt here's mitch mcconnell speaking in the senate earlier today. >> here's the problem with this latest distraction. it doesn't distract people from obama care. it reminds them of obama care. it reminds them of all the broken promises. it reminds them of the power grab. it reminds them of the way democrats set up one set of rules for themselves and another for everybody else. >> you know what, steve, i think he's making a heroic effort to try to change the subject. it reminds me of the filibuster itself. they're breaking through the filibuster. people are thinking of all the things, the games played, there's ted cruz, you know why we had a government shutdown, it was so easy because cruz wouldn't let the budget committees meet. all the games played on the hill to stop the president from being

president to claim he never really was president. look, he wasn't able to do this or that. i hope reid sticks to it. >> this is why a lot of republicans don't admit it. i think they're secretly relieved by this. the more and more absurd this got, when it got to the point the argument from mcconnell and grassley and all the republicans wasn't that the individual nominees were unqualified. there's a specific problem with this specific nominee. the argument was, the court itself is too big and therefore, we're not going to confirm anybody. when it got to that point, republicans found themselves trapped. republican senators between the war that their base wants, the war that their base wants against any and every nominee who obama sends up and the fact that they have senators who represent full states, not the republican friendly districts in a lot of cases but states where they got to answer a more difficult electorate, having to defend these filibusters or risk the primary challenge that would

come for breaking with the filibuster and allowing any of the nominees to come through. this rule change today takes them off the hook for that and it's going to let them spend the next year playing victim. >> i know. thank you steve kornacki and joan walsh. coming up, the smoking gun. because of the reporting by "the new york times", there's a document how to kill affordable care. it's to collect information -- make it seem like it's happening to everyone when it's happening to six-tenths of one percent. if you're willing to give $10 million or $20 million to fund voter suppression efforts, they're more than happy to keep your name secret. isn't this wild. you don't have to have a name even to give billions of dollars but try to vote somewhere, like in texas. case closed.

attorney vincent bugly osi makes the case that lee harvey oswald killed president kennedy alone. ron burgundy had fun on late night at rob ford's expense. >> my dear, dear, dear friend mayor rob ford of toronto is running for election. i hold him in the highest regard. he is the best. >> okay. >> i watched that last night. it was so good on conan. this is "hardball." place for politics. [ female announcer ] we give you relief from your cold symptoms. you give them the giggles. tylenol cold® helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol cold®.

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welcome back to "hardball." the republican party's now engaging in an organized relentless attack to destroy the affordable care act. we know that. but now the "new york times" has obtained this smoke gun to the attack. a republican memo that maps it out.

it highlights things the republicans will try to use to disperse into the public discourse. it urges republicans to collect stories, quote, about the impact of insurance cancellations to citizens. it's hurting countless americans. politico reports today that house republicans will also make sure congress focuses on pretty much nothing but health care. at least eight different house committees are launching investigations. they will subpoena administration officials. congressman darrell issa plans on holding hearings all around the country in the weeks ahead. nice way to celebrate christmas. anyway, the republican memo also lays out talking points to use like premiums are increasing, millions of americans will lose the plan they have, and obama care is hurting job creation. how's that been going? let's watch. >> every day we hear heart wrenching stories from americans who are getting letters about their health care plans being canceled. or the cost of their new plan has skyrocketed. or they can't keep their doctor. >> they're writing me about cancellation notices of plans

they wanted to keep. rising premiums so their deductibles, some of them are doubling. they're paying much more for health care. >> moms and dads are worried that they're going to lose their health care plan. >> the final wave of the principle of failure is going to be cost. the idea this was going to lower cost, it's going to raise the cost. >> young adults are now witnessing the increase in health care costs and are wondering whether they're going to be able to afford a basic policy. >> millions of americans have lost their health insurance because of obama care. and others are paying more for the insurance they have. people are going to be losing their doctors. prices are going to skyrocket. >> anyway, first of all, wrong again reince priebus. new report shows that, quote, health care spending has grown by 1.3% since 2010 the year the health care law passed. that's the lowest rate on record for any three-year period in health cost spending.

david axelrod is a political analyst and jonathan capehart is an opinion writer for the "washington post" and msnbc contributor. david how important is it to get ahold of the war plan? i keep thinking of a bridge too far when the germans got the plans. there you have it's all laid out. there's no spontaneity to this. they're going to ignore the fact the people have been dismayed and angry about the fact they didn't get to keep the health care they wanted. a good complaint, i must say. is six tenths of 1%. while the republicans are out there deny as they've done for the last century, health care to 40 million people surviving in emergency rooms. that never gets mentioned in the mainstream press. the real fight is over the 40 million, not this six tenths of 1%. where there's been a terrible kerr fufl. >> not just the 40 million, chris. since the law was signed, you've got 3.1 million young people under 26 who have gotten insurance. 17 million kids with pre-existing conditions that can't be barred from their

family's policies anymore. just this year 8.5 million americans who got rebate checks from their insurance companies because the insurance companies over-spent on administrative costs and executive salaries instead of health care. and everybody who has health care, 105 million americans now cannot -- don't face lifetime caps. if you get seriously ill, your insurance company can't throw you off of insurance. so i want to see the republican party write letters to all those people and tell them they're taking that away from them. that they think it's a bad deal for them. >> congratulations to you, sir, in the role you played for getting health care passed. >> thank you. you played an important role. >> if you listen to the unrelenting message, you would think americans are going to lose health insurance. that's not the case. a new study from families usa a group supportive of affordable care, looked at all those at risk. their conclusion found only .6% of americans under age 65 will be at risk of losing their current individual market plan and will not be income eligible

for financial assistance. that will make their insurance plan more affordable. that's the point here. there is going to be friction here. it's real. i've never denied it. but the thing is you're trying something new here. you're pushing in something that will have a grand historic impact positively on people's lives. it wouldn't have been accomplished if the president hasn't gotten his votes in the senate. >> right. and it wouldn't have been accomplished if the president hadn't tried it. when scott brown won his election the story was and the president gave an interview saying maybe we should think about going incrementally. but they changed their mind and pushed to get it done. you know, chris, this plan which i have here in my hand, it's a pr document. it has nothing in there -- it was david that talked about all the things that affordable care act is. a lot of people think it's just healthcare.gov. and it's not the case. what republicans refuse to talk

about and is not in here at all is what happens if they do succeed in getting rid of the affordable care act or defunding it? what do they do about all those kids on their parents' health insurance? what do they do about, you know, no lifetime caps? what do they do about the millions of americans who would suddenly find themselves without health insurance? yes, the 0.6% of the american people who find themselves getting cancellation notices and in a fearful position, it's heart wrenching, it's unfortunate. but we're talking as you said about a greater good here. change is hard. and people get hurt. i don't mean to sound callus, but there is a greater good here. >> let me ask david about the politics of this. >> what do you think about their game here? i know american politics is often negative. i'm not naive to think you win by voting --

i voted against the iraq war in my thinking. but how do you put a -- party together and basically -- mcconnell's no fool. the minute this came up, the nuclear option thing, they were going to put up with no more filibusters, he immediately said they're trying to distract from health care. everything is back to health care. unless you're lindsey graham, then everything goes back to benghazi. a totally negative approach. what do you make of that? >> i think it was the admission on the part of the republicans that they weren't going to advocate any new policies. they were just going to engage in oversight. that amounts to a search and destroy mission to try to scuttle health reform. this is one of the reasons why their numbers are historically low. congress' number and the republican party's number. people recognize they're against everything and stand for nothing. they have no health care plan. challenge them and ask them how they're going to deal we the problems we've been talking about. and they have no answer. and i think ultimately they're going to pay a price for that.

david axelrod, thank you for coming on and thank you jonathan capehart. up next, ron burgundy and toronto mayor rob ford. this is "hardball," the place for politics. of his insurance agent. maxwell is not. he's on geico.com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. ted is now on hold with his insurance company. maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5:30 time for tuesday. ted, is still waiting. yes! maxwell is out and about... with ted's now ex-girlfriend. wheeeee! whoo! later ted! online claims appointments. just a click away on geico.com.

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a $29 value free. ♪ ♪ sad drug related news this week. like most sad news, it comes from washington. jim? >> republican trey radel of florida today pleaded guilty to drug possession. >> represents florida's 19th district. >> yes, this rising teen party star was caught in a coke bust. apparently he forgot the party of the tea party story where you dump the product in the harbor before the cops show up. folks, personally i hate to lose a congressman so fiscally conservative that i'm sure he snorted his blow through a $1 bill. >> time now for the sideshow.

that was stephen colbert on trey radel. the first member of congress ever to plead geelt cocaine possession while in office. i guess there's a first for everything. but as it turns out radel's also the first congressman to be known as a hip pop conservative. a title he bestowed upon himself back in july. he credits it for his more rebellious side and look at politics. look at this interview that he gave last spring. >> is there a lyric or a song that explains how you feel about the situation in washington? >> you know, the first one that i would have to refer to would be fight the power by public enemy. this is a song that came out, really, if you really get down to it, in many ways reflects the conservative message. i think at the end of the day and this is where i take my love of hip hop music, of where you can see where there have been issues and problems with heavy

handed either law enforcement like the department of justice like we've seen right now or heavy handed government in and of itself. >> earlier today radel checked into rehab. anyway, speaking of drug use, mayor rob ford got an unlikely tribute last night from ron burgundy of "anchorman" fame. will ferrell remained in character on conan for the whole interview. here's what happened. >> my dear, dear, dear friend mayor rob ford of toronto is running for re-election. and i hold him in the highest regard. he is the best. >> okay. so you've chosen to sing the campaign song for mayor rob ford. >> of course. who wouldn't? ♪ everybody's working for the weekend ♪ that's right, rob. ♪ everybody wants a new romance ♪ ♪ everybody's going off the deep end ♪ don't do anything stupid, rob.

♪ everybody needs a second chance ♪ >> will ferrell will have himself on the show next month december 18th. mark your calendars. that's "hardball" for now. up next, your business with jj ramberg. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula. to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®.

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actress turned entrepreneur karen allen turns her passion for knitting into a business. how her store is helping main street in great barrington, massachusetts. a community that's finding unique ways to get customers to shop local on small business saturday. that and more coming up next on "your business." ♪ ♪ >> announcer: small businesses are revitalizing the economy and american express open is here to help. that's w