fix it. we urge our republican colleagues to join us in fixing it. >> what i would say is we need to change health care, but what they have done, you can't fix this mess. >> one red state democrat even went so far over the weekend as to say this. >> if it's so much more expensive than what we anticipated and that the coverage is not as good as what we've had, you've got a complete meltdown at that time. >> mark murray is the senior political editor for nbc news. good to see you as always, sir. since the aca became law, americans of course have heard a lot of conflicting information, a lot of important dates have been thrown around. how important is today's deadline and for whom is it most critical? >> craig, it's not all that important, but it is important if you need that coverage to kick in starting january 1st, january 2nd, if you feel like you're going to get sick on those days. so today's deadline, december

23rd, is all about being sure that you have health insurance that would take effect starting january 1st. you actually don't need to get your payment to the insurer until january 10th, so you have time to be able to put that check into the mail. but the bigger deadline is march 31st and that's the date in which you need to have health insurance under the law to be insured for the rest of the year. and that is the end of that enrollment, six-month enrollment period in which the obama administration is hoping it has millions of millions of people who signed up for health exchanges. >> support for the new health care law has dropped to a new low. 62% now say they oppose the law. how do polls like this one, and we've seen other polls, our own polls as well, how do these kinds of polls impact the white house, impact the administration? >> it makes the law seem to be negative, that it's not very

popular. so if you are someone who might be on the fence saying do i purchase my health insurance or basically pay the fine, maybe that unpopularity decides for you that, look, i'm just going to pay that fine. but a couple of things worth noting on the polls, the overall law has been seen as unpopular, but the individual parts, that you can't deny people who have pre-existing conditions, that you can insure your children up to age 26, those test so much better than the actual law itself. one other thing about that poll that cnn just put out, 15% said that they oppose the law because it wasn't liberal enough. so you're getting a sizeable number of democrats and liberals who say this thing i don't like it and this is coming from the left. >> folks still clamoring for a single payer system. mark murray, merry christmas. >> you too, craig. new jersey democratic congressman frank palone is a member of the health subcommittee. the enrollment deadline for january 1st coverage just hours

away. senator joe manchin warning that continued problems could cause obamacare to, his words, melt down. your own state's governor, chris christie, has called it a train wreck. how worried are you about any of these dire prophecies coming true? >> i'm not worried at all, because it's clear that people wanting to sign up. more and more people are signing up every day. keep in mind, we want people to sign up by today. but if they don't and they wait another day or week or month, they can still sign up. i mean their enrollment may be delayed a few weeks or even a month until february 1st, but for people who are uninsured or can't get an affordable policy or policy with good benefits, the best thing for them to do is to sign up for obama care because they'll get a good benefit package at an affordable price. i want to encourage people to continue to sign up tonight and beyond. even though we have january 1st if you sign up today, if you

sign up tomorrow or the next day, you'll probably be enrolled within a few weeks or so. so i don't want people to get too caught up with this deadline. >> the administration has gone into overdrive promoting obamacare from celebrity endorsements to promotions in gay bars, a push that is now starting to split the lgbt community over party lines. over this video in particular, take a look. h ♪ hope you're stuffed from your thanksgiving, now it is a season of giving ♪ ♪ but for the doctor brings a lump of coal, get enrolled, get enrolled, get enrolled ♪ >> log cabin republicans and at voe casey group that represents gay conservatives and allies, they're blasting this ad for exploiting stereotypes saying that president obama should distance himself from that ad. what do you make of that, congressman?

>> whatever it takes to get people enrolled. >> whatever it takes? >> i mean i'm concerned about the fact, you mentioned governor christie. we have $7.5 million allocated to new jersey that he's not using now that could be out there doing more outreach, encouraging people to enroll. at this point, whether it's an ad, whether it's, you know, tv ads or newspaper ads or people going door to door, i just want people to sign up, because the more people that sign up, the larger the insurance pool and the more likely it is that the insurance becomes affordable. so i'm not going to prejudge what types of ads are being promoted. the main thing is to get people to sign up. >> you mentioned folks signing up. we obviously have not been able to take a look at the demographics of the folks signing up using the federal system but we've been able to look at some of the numbers coming out of california, for instance, and the demographics of some of the folks who are signing up for some of these exchanges not exactly what the white house had in mind. the idea all along was that you

would have young, healthy people signing up en masse and that would, of course, offset the cost of older, sicker people joining these exchanges. based on some of the numbers that we've seen or starting to see, congressman, that's not happening. how concerned are you about that? >> well, again, i think that younger people and healthier people, if they realize that they can get a good benefit package for an affordable price will sign up. there hasn't been enough outreach. there needs to be more. whether it's ads or whatever it happens to be. as time goes on you're just going to see more and more people sign up. there's been a surge in the last few weeks of people signing up. it may be harder to reach those younger people or healthier people because they figure they don't need insurance. i think once they understand, they go on the website or contact the health exchange and realize that they can get this insurance at an affordable price, they will want to sign up. so the main thing is people need to be informed. that's why i appreciate what you're doing because you're informing people just by having us on and talking about it.

>> new jersey congressman frank palone, congressman, thank you, happy holidays. >> you too. two members of a russian punk band convicted after a profanity-laced protest against vladimir putin in 2012 were released from separate prisons today. one of them defiantly shouted russia without putin and said she's not afraid of anything anymore. jim maceda interviewed one of those band members and joins us live now from sigh beer yachlt t -- siberia. jim, is this a move largely designed to quiet some of the criticism of russia's human rights record ahead of the winter olympics? >> reporter: hi, craig. well, that's what many pundits are certainly saying. but if vladimir putin is really thinking that, then he may need to rethink. if today's two band members are any example, he's in trouble still. they came out of prison today

swinging, craig. maria, the one released first from a prison much closer to moscow said putin's amnesty was a hoax, she called it a pr stunt. even though human rights activists are targets here in russia, she said she plans to become one and help political prisoners get the word out. she lost no time doing that. she went directly from prison to a local human rights committee meeting that specializes in torture inside russian prisons. meanwhile back here, or i should say way over here in siberia, nadia walked through the prison gates defiant. she was flashing victory signs, yelling out russia without putin, which is a chant we got used to during those anti-putin protests a couple of years ago. now in my exclusive sbrintervie with her in this hotel she said the rumors that she had tb weren't true but she did suffer the effects of a nine-day hunger

strike to protest conditions in her prison. when i asked her -- nadia said she's not just an artist now but a politician and she plans to work with maria, the other band member, with issues like prisoners' human rights, to help those still in prison. so again, if they're any example or indication, it's going to take a lot more than letting out a few political prisoners with only weeks or months to go in their term to change anything or to try to sweep it under the carpet here in russia. back to you. >> nbc's jim maceda for us in siberia on this monday morning. jim, thank you. and talk about a lousy christmas present. coming up, that wild weather that's threatening holiday travel for a huge chunk of this country. first, though, more "duck dynasty" drama. why one chain is putting the show's products back on store shelves.

that's also the topic of today's big question. do you agree with the way that a & e has handled the controversy? you can weigh in on twitter or facebook. [ cheeping ] [ male announcer ] you hear that?

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we are following two developing stories right now. this one in california. at least 13 people have been hurt in a bus crash in california. this is baldwin park, about 20 minutes outside los angeles. the bus that you see there was carrying 40 people to a casino in palm springs when it went off

an exit, down a small embankment, then hit a pole. from california to michigan where a plane slid off the taxiway this morning at detroit metro airport. the delta flight was headed for atlanta when it happened. you can see that plane right there on the runway, that delta plane. fortunately no one was hurt. the passengers were put on another jet headed to georgia. "duck dynasty" fans are rallying around the show's controversial patriarch this week like a mama duck protecting her flock. the restaurant chain cracker barrel, which initially pulled sales of duck family's products after phil robertson openly bashed gays is now putting those items back on the shelves. it seems many of cracker barrel's loyal customers are even more loyal "duck dynasty" fans. in a statement the restaurant chain admitted you flat out told us we were wrong. we listened, and we apologize for offending you. meanwhile robertson remains on a forced break from the show but

he's getting an olive branch now from an unlikely source. the nation's largest republican lgbt group, the log cabin republicans. joining me now in the studio, that group's executive director, gregory angelo. let's talk about this, this olive branch, so to speak. your group, you want to sit down for what you're dubbing a moonshine summit to talk it out with phil robertson, saying that, hey, in the spirit of the season, let's have a drink, let's have a glass, and realize that we are more alike than we are different. is that a pair characterization of what you guys want to do? >> yeah, exactly. in fact i think there's no one better to make this case than log cabin republicans. rather than a bunch of liberals coming in from los angeles to wag their fingers and admonish the robertson family, i think the best way to make the case for gay equality is to take gay conservatives from the other l.a., louisiana, to show that we are christians too. we are god-fearing people as

well. we're also strong conservatives and we have more in common than we do that separates us from one another. >> but is this a conservative/liberal conversation? i mean if you read what he said, and we've spent a fair amount of time talking about what he said about homosexuality, but if you read the article and read some of the other things that he said about black people during the civil rights movement, i mean it would seem as if your organization in addition to wanting to sit down with him would also say, you know what, buddy, you're wrong. >> well, you know, it's important to have that conversation to begin with. i mean the interesting thing is that the groups on the left, the knee jerk reaction was so quick to just completely obliterate, blast and admonish phil robertson. the fact is that if you are going to get movement in those communities, in the christian evangelical communities and southern communities, you have to start from a place of conversation. that's all we're saying. we're not coming from a place of condemnation, we're coming from a place of conversation. >> do you want to embrace him? >> the first step toward that embrace is being able to sit

down and talk about what you have in common. log cabin republicans, there are things that separate us from other members of the republican party but there's also a great deal that we have in common so we're used to having these conversations and that's where we need to begin. >> what do you have in common with phil robertson? >> the fact that we are conservative. the fact that many members are supporters of second amendment protection. the fact that many of our members are christians. i consider myself a conservative and i'm also a christian. so i consider myself a christian conservative. i think it's important to make that case from that position. >> the daily mail followed robertson to church yesterday where he reportedly led a prayer and said in part i will not give or back off from my path. it sounds like a man who's not willing to change. isn't your group just offering him a perfect out? he can sit down with you, he can have a glass of moonshine, a pure willing to listen, but walk away with his reputation restored, with his reputation intact? >> you know, what this whole "duck dynasty" controversy showed me personally is that you

need to engage the evangelical community on these issues. where there are individuals and organizations on the left that will completely write off phil robertson and the entire evangelical left, what they're not taking into account is if you want equal rights for gays and lesbians to be a reality in the united states, you need to engage with those individuals. so whether or not we're going to completely change one person's mind, the fact is we have to move the needle in the right direction and i can think of no better family to engage with than the robertson family. >> is that how you move the needle? is this the guy you want to help move the needle? >> this is certainly someone very important to engage with. the fact that "duck dynasty" is the most popular show. and in the course of the last couple of days and log cabin republicans doesn't usually engage in hollywood matters and reality tv, but we had such an outcry from our membership saying you guys have got to chime in on this. the fact is there have been more christian evangelicals that have reached out to us and to me personally saying we support you

guys. we're encouraged by your statement. this would not have happened if we had not made these statements about the robertson family. >> you mentioned the christian evangelical community. i want to play a sound bite from mike huckabee yesterday, potential 2016 presidential candidate. this is what he said. take a listen. >> there is a new level of bullying on the part of these militant activist groups who, if anyone says something that holds to the same position that barack obama held in 2008 when he at the saddleback church with john mccain made it very clear that he opposed same-sex marriage and he said he did so because he was a christian and because of his biblical views. well, if that position was okay in 2008, how come it isn't okay in 2013? or 2014? >> is that what this argument is about, though? >> well, i think what mr. huckabee was pointing out was the fact that this country at least on the left has moved very

quickly in terms of support for equal rights. >> not just on the left, but in the middle as well. >> certainly in the middle as well. but he was pointing out that just a couple -- about a year ago, barack obama was not yet a supporter of marriage equality. just a couple of months ago hillary clinton announced her support of marriage equality. so on the one hand to have democrats celebrate someone as late as hillary clinton but to admonish smun like phil robertson who's not there yet shows there's a double standard at play and that's all we're pointing out. >> when this moonshine summit happens, let us know. >> i hope it does. the invitation is there. we have a message out to a & e's executive vice president of communications, so we'll see what happens. >> keep us posted. executive director of the log cabin republicans, thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. the year congress stole. the agenda panel will take a look back at the year that coulda, woulda, shoulda been. also lawsuits and investigations after that credit

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arapahoe high school shooting victim claire davis died saturday. she was shot point blank in the head last week when a gunman stormed through her colorado school in a shooting rampage before taking his own life. meanwhile a group of sheriffs in the state of colorado are refusing to enforce that state's new strict gun laws. i want to bring in mark glaze, executive director of mayors against illegal guns. mark, this group of sheriffs, they filed a lawsuit against the state of colorado for its newest law which requires among other things background checks on all gun purchases and also limiting most ammunition magazines to 15

rounds. a federal judge dismissed part of that lawsuit and now the sheriffs are refusing to enforce the law. what's the practical effect of that in colorado and nationwide as well? >> well, i think probably not much. i think we've seen a little of this across the country. governors usually get into action and say, look, it's not your option not to enforce state or federal law and these guys will generally fall in line and i think that will probably start to happen after this lawsuit is finally settled and they will lose the lawsuit. it's also important to remember that these laws are working in colorado and we already know that. in the few months since the background check law has been in place, at least 70 prohibited purchasers have been stopped at the point of purchase. that means felons, domestic violence offenders, the seriously mentally ill who would have gotten guns before this law was passed had been stopped. as people in colorado learn again and again, it only takes one. >> senator joe manchin talked about how difficult it would be to get gun control passed in

2014 on cnn yesterday. take a listen. >> do you think that anything will get passed next year? >> i'm hopeful. we have 55 democrats and i think all 55 would consider that. i know we had a few that did not, but hopefully they'd maybe reconsider. i don't know their position. i'm not going to force anybody and make anybody uncomfortable. they all have to live willith themselves and have to go back and explain it. it's going to be difficult to get the votes that we need, i'll be honest with you. >> how optimistic are you? >> quite optimistic. what's happening in colorado is what will ultimately make the difference. people are continuing to buy guns at the same clip they always have in colorado, but people who are ticking time bombs and would have slipped through the system are being stopped by the background check law. people are going to wake up in the future in other states and realize, wow, these laws work, they save lives and don't get in the way of the second amendment. that's when you'll have different votes. >> here's the thing, mark, and

you and i both know this to be true. the only thing that seems to galvanize many politicians in washington when it comes to gun control is a mass shooting. i mean is that what it's going to take? in 2014 if there's another mass school shooting or mass mall shooting, is that going to be the event that acts as a catalyst? >> it might well be. we know that there will be more mass shootings. we know that there have been 28 school shootings since the newtown mass shooting. and the country knows that every day in this country 33 more americans are murdered and many of them didn't have to die. those things that are not mass shootings are finally starting to capture the attention of representatives in whose districts these things are happening. i think also the senators who voted no on this bill have taken a real hit. their approval ratings have plummeted. if they think that we are going to go away, if they think that moms demand action, which has folks active in all 50 states are going to go away and the other organizations in this

business, some of whom are also going to show up around election time are going to go away, they simply need to recalibrate the formula that they use t make these decisions because this isn't going to get off the front burner any time soon. >> mark glaze, executive director of mayors against illegal guns. thank you so much. up next, our agenda panel on the year that congress stole. [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh!

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oh, what a relief it is! bigger, tougher messes was better leverage, he created a magic eraser with an attachable handy grip. it gives you the leverage you need to tackle tough kitchen messes and big bathroom grime, too. mr. clean's new magic eraser handy grip. >> as last-minute holiday shoppers rush to stores, major retailer, target, facing fallout from that data breach that compromised almost 40 million customers' debit and credit card information. >> i noticed that there was two charges on there that didn't make sense, and i'm like, uh-oh, we've got a problem. >> there are about five fraudulent charges over $60, $80, $90 each. >> i don't understand why a retailer with somebody watching it, how it happens. >> it is the second largest credit card security breach in u.s. history. and in its wake, target is reportedly seeing a 3% to 4%

drop in transactions. kerry sanders is outside target in ft. lauderdale, florida, with the very latest on this. hey, kerry. >> reporter: hey, craig. the attempt by target to say they're sorry to their customers really started this weekend when they started offering any customer a 10% discount. that's evaporated. that's not in place today. of course "the wall street journal" is reporting that their sources say that sales were down at the same-store sales within the target locations over the weekend. in this store where we've been in, the manager tells me it's as busy as it's been since black friday. still, customers are wary. a lot of people using cash right now rather than credit cards. but of course that's somewhat difficult. this is really a case where the horse is already out of the barn. if you were already victimized, it's happened. one of the things that some of the banks are doing, for instance, chase, if you have a chase credit card or a debit card, they have put in sort of restrictions on the use of your card. if you have one of these cards and you rely on it, you can only

get $100 cash and only $300 on credit. if you have a larger purchase, i may want to have a backup system or visit your chase bank and determine if they have a new solution for you or get some money out of the bank at the teller. but for a lot of shoppers, it's creating a little bit of a headache for these few final days heading into christmas because many people have long lists and they're running around and finding out their cards don't work when they're trying to buy something that costs a few more dollars than the credit card limit has put into place. >> kerry sanders for us in ft. lauderdale. kerry, thank you. the year that congress stole. how 2013 became all about thefts of opportunity. also, this still unfolding "duck dynasty" drama. those are today's topics for our agenda panel. dafna linzer, managing editor msnbc.com, corey dade, contributing editor at the root and lee fang, contributing editor for "the nation."

there's an article that just posted a short time ago on msnbc.com, our favorite website here, of course, and it looks at how president obama's top legislative goals were stymied by republicans in congress. is there any reason to believe that 2014 is going to be any different than 2013 was in that regard? >> there's a couple of little signs that could be hopeful and that is at the very end, basically sort of a year from now, if a lame duck congress after the midterm elections can tackle something like immigration reform or gun control, but it's not just a year that congress stole from the president, it's really a year that congress stole from everybody. you know, from unemployment benefits to food stamps, to health care. >> immigration reform. >> to immigration reform. there was just nothing that this congress did that was helpful to the american people from the shutdown to the budget. >> and not even nothing accomplished, but very little substantive discussion. >> that's right.

and i think that's really what's missing. that's what people wanted to see. that's what the president had put forward in the state of the union and after he was re-elected. this should have been a year for congress to do great, great, great things. i know the president said he hopes that 2014 will be a break-through year. i think if the democrats can hold on to the senate that may be possible, but i think there's a lot at stake. >> it's an election year. nothing ever gets done in election years. one of the other things that didn't get done and we just mentioned it here, extending jobless benefits three days after christmas. those benefits will end for roughly 1.3 million long-term unemployed americans. what's expected to happen and what does it say about the consequences of inaction? >> well, politically the consequences -- you know, it's unfortunate because you actually have a majority of americans who prefer or who support an extension of these benefits, but even if congress comes back in january, as they're expected to, and extends these benefits, of course the white house has come out and said -- voiced support

for a three-month extension of the benefit. even if that happens, if congress doesn't do that fast enough in january, you have another three million people who actually could be pushed off the benefit rolls there too. and that is for many of those people the sole source of income. that actually continues to hurt the economy. you have about four million people who have been out of work for 37 months or more so this isn't a question of people being lazy or not being in the job market, they just can't find the jobs. >> we should also note here that we're not talking about a huge sum of money either. i think there is a common misconception that a lot of folks are out there cashing $3,000 and $4,000 checks every month and that's just not the reality of it. lee, on the nation website you write about texas republican senator ted cruz telling a houston radio host that blocking immigration reform, that blocking reform could he help republicans win control of the senate next year. what's that about?

>> for almost the entire year, ted cruz has railed against immigration reform. he's said that democrats, that president obama, they're only playing politics with the issue but then ted cruz last week on the radio turned around and said that the reason that he's blocking the bill, that he's pressuring house republicans not to bring the bill up for consideration, is because he doesn't want -- he doesn't want the bill to be considered because he thinks it will hurt his party's chances to retake the senate in 2014, so he's making an explicitly partisan argument that we shouldn't take up this bill, even consider it in the house and so he's really playing politics with the lives of 11 million people living in this country right now. >> let's pivot here and talk about the other thing that everyone seems to be talking about right now. "duck dynasty," i know you all are big "duck dynasty" viewers. we heard just a few moments ago actually from the lgbt community. we also heard at the top of the hour -- well, no, just from the lgbt community. he defended those comments again

yesterday, phil robertson, those inflammatory comments about gays, about blacks. he defended them again yesterday. you contend that there's a bigger point to be made here about his anti-gay remarks. tell us about that, dafna. >> i think it's interesting what he's said and done and also the reaction i think is very, very telling on what's happened sort of from the remarks that he's made. you know, a & e's response to it, the network that's hosting the show, and also the sponsors and institutions like cracker barrel that withdrew merchandise and then brought it back because of the backlash from the fans. i think that we've got two very strong sides in this conversation and neither are backing down. >> corey, what's the larger pointing here? >> i think the larger point is that anti-gay rhetoric in mainstream media and sort of broader pop culture is now taboo. it has replaced, either replaced

or equalled the backlash to racial slurs. you have a whole line, alec baldwin got fired from this network after he made some homophobic remarks. roy hibbert, got fined $75,000 last year for making a homophobic remark during a press conference. so what we're seeing is this sort of rising up of an increasing culture that is intolerant to anti-gay remarks, much the way they are to race, but you have this conservative side that has the same sort of bully pulpit through media that is supporting him and kind of makes the argument for a & e to keep him and so he's still on the air. >> monday morning agenda panel. msnbc's dafna linzer, the root's corey dade, the nation's lee fang. a big thanks to all of you. you can always find more from our panel at thomasroberts.msnbc.com. and we asked, you answered. today's question was on the

"duck dynasty" drama. do you agree with the way that a & e has handled the situation? curtis weighing in on facebook saying freedom of speech does not mean you can say anything you want. learn what it means, people. lauren tweeting this. i do agree with a & e and phil should have been suspended for his words against gay and black people. not okay. from charla on facebook. i honestly do not understand what the big deal is. they were open about their faith from the beginning. keep those comments coming on twitter and on the facebook as well. here's a quick look at some of the other top stories making news right now. as a week of travel begins, 35 states are getting hit with a huge winter storm. half a million people are without power after freezing rain and ice moved across the country over the weekend. in the upper midwest another 1 to 3 inches of snow is on its way. and lines forming early in utah this morning where lgbt couples are racing to tie the knot. right now the federal judge who

struck down utah's ban on same-sex marriage on friday is being asked to reconsider his decision in court today. couples, meanwhile, have been saying "i do" all weekend long there. an al qaeda group is actually apologizing for an act of terror. the head of the al qaeda in the arabian peninsula said that an attack that killed dozens at a hospital in yemen this month was a mistake and offered condolences to the families. he said that the attacker was told not to strike the hospital. an hour from now, a rally is expected to get under way outside a california hospital where 13-year-old jahi mcmath remains on life support. the hospital wants to cut off support, saying that the teenager is brain dead after complications from surgery to remove her tonsils, but a judge now says that her parents have the right to seek a second opinion. and when bullets came spraying into a seattle home this weekend in a drive-by shooting, a 16-year-old says her glasses, her glasses saved her

life. one bullet headed straight between her eyes. that bullet was deflected by her thick-rimmed frames. aside from a few stitches, no other injuries. and yes -- >> hi, beautiful. >> yes, that is beyonce behind the cart stopping by a massachusetts walmart friday, surprising 750 shoppers there. toddlers included. queen b has been promoting her new self-titled album, which she pointed out, of course. walmart does stock, unlike amazon and target, which are refusing to stock her cd in protest to the fact that she released it first on itunes. beyonce gave 750 walmart shoppers a $50 gift card, a giveaway worth about $37,000. merry christmas. neutralize them and freshen. with glad odorshield with febreze.

i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh what a relief it is. as we gear up for the 2014 midterm elections, we've been taking a look at some key senate races. today we go to new hampshire

where democratic senator jeanne shaheen will be seeking a fourth term but is considered vulnerable. enter former massachusetts republican senator scott brown. brown just sold his house in massachusetts and moved to new hampshire. he is widely expected to challenge senator shaheen, who's already been the target of ads by a conservative super pac. >> on health care, jeanne shaheen didn't tell the truth. >> you can keep your insurance if you like it. it will increase choices for families. it will promote competition. >> the facts. more than 20,000 new hampshire patients have had their coverage cancelled. so next november, if you like your senator, you can keep her. if you don't, you know what to do. >> long-time political reporter and columnist for the national telegraph, kevin landrigan, joins me now. kevin, first of all, how would scott brown not be seen as a carpet bagger in new hampshire? >> well, i think the republican party in new hampshire really is

desperate. i was at the fund-raiser, sold-out fund-raiser the republican party had with scott brown last thursday night. the chairman of the party looked like someone who was looking at the prospect of rather than having charlie brown at quarterback, having tom brady under center because scott brown is a rock star. and the republicans are desperate. why is this important? because it's midterm elections coming up. ask george w. bush what midterms can do in new hampshire. republicans are still recovering in some ways from 2006 when for the first time since reconstruction, democrats took every level of power, the governor's office, the legislature, the executive council. that's an opportunity lost if republicans can't find a marquee candidate for u.s. senate and for governor, and they think they might have one in scott brown. >> in the granite state, who is there besides scott brown. who could wrestle this nomination away from him? >> certainly former senator bob smith, who's been living in florida for about 12 years, says

he's coming back to the state. he's going to redeclare full-time residency and run here as well. i'm not sure if bob smith could beat jeanne shaheen but he represents real problems for scott brown in a primary and here's why. it's appropriate -- i was watching when my wife, the wizard of oz over the weekend, because i think scott brown will have that judy garland moment where he thinks i'm not in massachusetts anymore. the massachusetts republican of henry cabot lodge and ed brook aren't the new hampshire republicans that vote in a n nonpresidential race where turnout will be low. it's fiscally conservative and socially conservative. scott brown will have to explain his votes and his positions on abortion, on gun control, on same-sex marriage to those conservative republicans. and bob smith is going to remind them of scott brown's voting record in that race. >> kevin landrigan who in two and a half minutes worked in a

wizard of oz reference and a tom brady reference. thank you, sir. do appreciate you. from football to march madness. college hoops is getting presidential attention in december. time now for the poli side bar. the first family took time out of their hawaiian vacation sunday to attend the diamondhead classic college basketball tournament. matchup pitted oregon state coached by first lady michelle obama's brother. they were playing akron. oregon lost 71-83, breaking its 4-0 good luck streak with the president in the stands. meanwhile, former pro baller dennis rodman back in beijing after his most recent trip to north korea during which he said he did not meet with pyongyang's leader. rodman was there to train local players for an exhibition game next month to mark kim jong-un's birthday january 8th. it took him 12 years but outgoing new york mayor michael bloomberg finally making his

"saturday night live" debut this weekend proving as the butt of his own joke that he can hold his own. >> and what's next for you, mayor bloomberg? >> i'll be fulfilling a lifelong dream be fulfilling a lifelong drink of having a small soda on a nonsmoking beach. >> do you have another job lined up, mr. mayor. >> i applied to teach spanish at a few universities but i'm told that my accent isn't quite bueno. >> meanwhile former snl star and currently minnesota senator al franken appears to be running low on funds and funny lines. he e-mailed out this poem to raise some cash for his re-election bid. the week before christmas and all through the state, attention was focused on one single date. our fundraising goal that we've set with such case by 1231 all

the cash needs to be there. senator franken, he was funny once. ♪ [ male announcer ] you can't let a cold keep you up tonight. vicks nyquil -- powerful nighttime 6-symptom cold & flu relief. ♪

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so one man that does not get a break for christmas is the man that makes it happen, santa claus, st. nick, scrambling his team at the north pole to get ready for the holiday. we should note for our viewers we did request a black santa, a happy black santa, instead we got a sad racially ambiguous santa. our apologies. nbc's bob reddel is at the north pole. he's there for a special look at santa's massive operation. bob, you've been doing this thing for about a decade now. any changes this year? is the big guy sticking to tradition. >> he's sticking to tradition. merry christmas to you. he's locked up inside with the elves. i've been trying to get there to get an update. i do have a source. hold on. this is my source. yeah. hold on just a second.

we've got what? we've got a direct link to north pole air traffic control. craig, we've got a direct link to air traffic control. looks like tracking rudolph at the last minute. rudolph and reindeer christmas eve 617 calvary out of fort wainwright. believe it or not they have got brand-new, you're looking at it, snow launchers. the army reported pilots who use those launchers to cover. >> all clear. in progress. >> santa and reindeer christmas eve in case they come across an unexpected grinch . those fireballs had to be traveling 10 miles an hour. >> bob reddel, good to see you. just real quick, what are you hearing naughty or nice for most kids. >> mostly nice? naughty. santa said, look, if you can be

nice in the next 24 hours you can get on the nice list. i've got too much naughty. doesn't matter what i do the next 24 hours. >> me and you both. bob reddel at the north pole. thank you, sir, for enduring it. that's it. that's all for me. "now" with alex wagner up next. joy reid, our perpetual member of the nice list on the other side of this break. [ male announcer ] playing in the nfl is tough.

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that's why new york has a new plan -- dozens of tax free zones all across the state. move here, expand here, or start a new business here and pay no taxes for ten years... we're new york. if there's something that creates more jobs, and grows more businesses... we're open to it. start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. president obama puts 2013 in the rearview mirror while republicans continue to rubber neck on heck. it's monday december 23rd and this is "now." i'm joy reid in for alex wagner. with a final frustrated flourish president obama gave good

riddance to 2014, universally agreed on as the year the white house would like to forget. he sought to turn the page and lay out hopes for a new can do spirit in 2014. >> a lot of our legislative initiatives in congress have not moved forward as rapidly as i've liked. i completely understand that, which means i'm going to keep at it. i firmly believe that 2014 can be a breakthrough year for america. >> democrats will start the new year with a renewed focus on addressing rising inequality, specifically an effort to extend expiring long-term unemployment benefits and raise the minimum wage. they will be joined in that effort by democratic groups who plan to launch a major message and push into america's living rooms with tv ads over the christmas break. >> you know who had a merry christmas? the richest 1%. that's who. republicans in congress made sure of that protecting billions in taxpayers giveaways. for those facing tough times republicst