♪ most of america's energy comes from right here at home. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. ♪ good morning. welcome to a special holiday edition of "morning joe." how are you all doing today? feeling good? happy holidays. it's so fantastic. >> the whole specter of the christmas album. it's unbelievable. in fact we got it playing at home right now. it's not a merry christmas for phil. >> no. >> but man, have you heard phil specter's christmas album >> mike barnacle, brian

shactman, john heileman. and in washington, sam stein is here with us. hi, sam. >> hello. >> all right. >> hello. how is your holiday season going, sam? >> going pretty well, i guess. how about for you? >> man, it's unbelievable. it really is. it's the best holiday season i've had. it's because you're here, sam. let's talk about this next year. >> let's look ahead. >> let's look ahead. >> let's be forward thinking. let's lean forward. okay. >> this year's session of congress will -- >> i'm sorry, go ahead. >> this year's session of congress will go down as one of the least liked, least effective in history sending the government into shut down and getting practically nothing done. >> it was fun. two good things. one it was fun. and two, they got 14% approval rating.

>> it was not fun. >> here's the question, guys. will 2014 be any better? this morning we'll look at what's possible in the next year. >> john, let's start with you. if we go back over the last year we see a lot of promises at the inauguration that the president was not able to fulfill. we saw a real push after newtown for background checks and a couple of other things. immigration reform. a lot of things just didn't get done this year. why would things change any in 2014? >> i think things will change in 2014. as we all know, congressional mid-term elections come up and we'll be dominated by politics than policy. it's unclear to me how the incentives for either side will push people towards getting more things done in a more political context than they were immediately coming out of the election after 2012. >> you have the minority leader of the senate running ads still

talking about repealing obamacare. >> when i hear what john boehner said late in the year, i can't help think maybe there's a little resurgence of a moderate republican voice in this country. there will be a backlash. more backlash. maybe tea party stays relevant for the primary season. but as you say all the time they want to win something. the only way to do that is come back towards the center. i think you might disagree. more productivity because they want something to show for it come november. >> if you were a republican that might be true. >> and all the people said amen. now, i understand what you're saying. >> all they want to talk about is repealing the obamacare. they are putting their chips on that bet. that's how they will retake the senate and expand their majority in the house. that's all they are talking about as we head into the new year. i don't see how that will change. >> look what happened to john boehner. >> sam stein, you're on a nice

break from school over the holidays. the republican party, the internal conflicts within the republican party that brian alluded to sort of bulb told the surface with john boehner's slap at the face of the tea party sort of a few days ago and now looking forward, the eyes on the big prize, the oval office, the presidency for the republican party but it's got to be twinned does it not with some sort of participation in immigration reform? >> yes. i think so. now mika's question is will it get any better than 2014. i say yes because it can't get worse for several reasons. one, this backlash among the republican moderates if you want to call it that is legitimate. i think there are people that are upset with how the shutdown went. we don't want to relive that over again. secondarily with immigration we get hints once they are through the primary process for mid-term

elections there's a small window where they may be able to move something through the house. i wouldn't hold my breath. are iran will come up. sanctions. we have a six month time limit. there will be action on that. my sleeper issue for 2014 is tax reform. the reason i say that is because max baucus is retiring. this is his swan song. he wants to go out with something and quietly pushing behind-the-scenes a reform policy with dave camp. there will be some discussions around it and some small pieces of legislation built off of it. there's a possibility for some things. call me an optimist. >> let's talk about the democratic side. we're starting to hear rumblings from the left that democrats will be moving left, the president is going to get more progressive. certainly hilary is -- there's a

push from the left to try to pull hilary a little bit that way. do you think democrats are going to be moving left this year? >> i think there's two different conversations. there's a conversation about what the democratic fight looks like and then the mid-term elections. for me the biggest story in terms of the mid-terms given where republicans are and given what's happened in the white house, obamacare is central. for a lot of democrats they will be forced to defend the law and so all eyes will be on the white house. >> we're learning from it. mary landrieu. >> some will run from it. some will say it needs to be fixed. none will be for a repeal. all eyes will be on the white house and the administration -- do they over the next six months actually start to turn the corner on obamacare.

huge open question. if they can make progress in the first six months, congressional action will look different than if the whole thing collapses over the next six months. that's the big central question it seems to me for this coming year politically. >> totally agree with you. i think if they can turn it around, i think they will, the conversation will be very different and be more like covering car accidents as opposed to the argument that the republicans and anyone who is against the law had a very strong one during the botched roll out. and the misrepresentation by the president if you like your plan you can keep it. >> which, by the way, mike, that's got be the phrase that's going to stay with us the most in 2014. whether it ends up having any resonance a year from now in september, october, november of 2014 or not, if you like your health care you can keep it. >> true. but if the health care plan

works and we'll find out whether it's working in the first four or five months of the new year, it's relatively moot as an issue. but for democrats there's another issue out there that is not moot and is not going to be moot for the foreseeable future and that's the growing unrest in this country about income in equality. because, you know, there's very little institutional memory in politics today given twitter and everything that we move so quickly. but around-the-house ho the hou america there's a realization, a fear, children will not do as well in this country as they've done, as parents have done. everyone remembers, you know, what it was like to get a pay raise and have a pension. those things are rapidly disappearing. the gap between truly wealthy and the middle class no matter how you define the middle class is huge. >> sam stein, the question also

is in 2014 does the president own the economy yet? >> oh, yeah. >> always ask, sam, of, you know, is this bush's fault or is it obama's fault? it's fallen on the bush side of the ledger for the past four years. >> sure. >> the struggling economy. i'm not so sure six years in the democrats and barack obama can run from their economy. maybe they don't feel a need to do that but as mike barnacle was saying if trend continues and unrest continues that's a challenge for democrats. >> absolutely. keep in mind these are historical trends towards inequality that precede bush and obama. but for six years into your presidency you get ownership of it. there's a growing unrest, growing unease among democrats over the state of the economy and state of this presidency.

by and large it rests on the economy. there's a perception that lumberjacks a little bit of nuance but it's there which is that the president led off the banks too easy and got to deficit reduction too quickly. in the wake of that you have an economy that doesn't work for the bottom running. i would be curious to see if the president or other democrats including elizabeth warren wing of the party take that unrest and try to do something with it. whether it's push for a minimum wage hike or focus some policies on the growing income gap in this country. so that's a big thing in 2014. keep in mind unemployment insurance is going to expire and people are going to be in need of a check. there's huge issues confronting not just democrats but the country at large. i think all this stuff is wrapped together. >> a couple of things. right now you can't live on the minimum wage. that would be a great issue to be addressed. also in terms of the inequality,

brian shactman you talk about the fear, mike barnacle that your kids -- it's a reality. the job numbers don't reflect the reality. >> the bigger fear is there's nothing in 2014 that will change it. it's a structural problem. and it's something that's been going on for a long time and there's no single policy that will change the income in equality. it's just a pattern of years and years of middle class jobs make less, these room for mobility and it's a structural unemployment problem. i've said this many times in the show and we're lucky to all have good jobs and good living but the bottom line there could be a generation of people that lost their jobs in '08 and '09 that won't come close to their lifestyle. >> i see elizabeth warren emerging on the democratic side as a real player. >> i do too. >> voice of the people. >> i do too. i see that because i think as we

careen towards 2016 and there will be more talk about 2016 in 2014, you're going to see emerge on the republican/democratic side the names clinton and bush and there's going to be a backlash. everybody thinks that hilary is a lock. i'm not so sure. >> joe, at a time when the country is hungry for fundamental change, nothing says more than change than clinton-bush. >> we'll talk about it. still ahead who is up and who is down as we get ready to change the calendar for the new year. we'll break down the winners and losers of 2013 next. you're watching "morning joe."

"stubborn love" by the lumineers did you get my email? i did. so what did you think of the house? did you see the school ratings? oh, you're right. hey babe, i got to go.

bye daddy! have a good day at school, ok? ...but what about when my parents visit? ok. i just love this one... and it's next to a park. i love it. i love it too. here's our new house... daddy! you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen.

♪ welcome back to "morning

joe." this morning our roundtable evaluates whose stock rose and whose tumbled in 2013. who helped their case and who couldn't get out of their own way. >> mike barnacle, who is the winner of the year, politically? >> i think it's ted cruz for a variety of different reasons. the loser is republican party because it's ted cruz. >> that's your winner, ted cruz. why? >> because he became literally a household name within political circles, nearly overnight, a freshman senator. he's too far out on his own fringe to ever go beyond that right now, not to say he's not going to be president in 2016, but the nature of his rhetoric and his positions i think have caused some damage to the republican party. >> so, i'll follow up with that and say my winner of the year politically is, surprise, surprise, ted cruz who i have

been very critical of this year as we've gone step after step after step. the thing about ted cruz, though, unlike the other pretenders that i blasted that hurt the republican party's brand over the past three or four years, ted cruz is from all accounts a very bright guy. >> yes. >> very intelligent guy which tells me after he sees all of this blowing up in his face politically and it did, even though he's stronger in texas than he's been, he's upside down in the national polls. i got a feeling he doesn't todot a senator for the rest of his life. we've seen an attack towards the center. so if he is at least temperamentally going to attack more towards the center, i think the fact that he ends this year as being one of the three or four most recognized people in american politics, is actually a big win for a freshman senator from texas.

>> from being an absolute nobody in national politics to being better known than probably all but ten u.s. senators over the course of the year, just in terms of name recognition there's no doubt that's true and he's made a real mark with a certain part of the political base. politically he's a winner, on net. he's also done himself some damage. he did a lot of things to put himself in a position where he can now make some moves. the question is what he now next does. >> i've been critical of him. those of us that have been in washington for more than three days it was doomed to be fail. the fact is, again, this is -- politically inside the party he's doing very well. outside of the party he's got sarah palin type numbers. he's favorable to unfavorable is

1-2. so people with those numbers just usually and we've all been around long enough to do this, they usually don't get a second chance. this has been a great year for him but the question is whether he's going to be able to in the general sense pull himself out of the deep political hole that he's put himself in. i suspect over time he might be able to do that. >> so, i was actually going to counter what you were saying by saying what's the difference between him and sarah palin. like as a negative. >> i think there's a big difference. >> iq. >> but sarah palin -- >> hold on. >> -- represents -- >> let's tread lightly here. let me just say ted cruz is a very bright mind. politically he made a lot of mistakes. i won't walk through this mine field any more. there's big differences between ted cruz and sarah palin as far

as skill sets go. >> okay. but you could literally replace each other's names with in terms of sort of damage done either to a party or a country. >> but, if you are sam stein, why don't you jump in here because i just don't want to get in trouble. i'll ask you the question, would you bet that ted cruz is going to be able to recover from his first year in the united states senate in a way better than sarah palin was able to recover from her vice presidential run? >> yeah. because he is going to stick around and he won't leave his office. now, i actually have a different take on who won in this past year and it's, i think, it's rand paul. he won for the reasons that you are talking about ted cruz, he made a bigger name for himself but he also had different issue sets. he represented this sort of

libertarian concern. he wasn't out there like ted cruz launching these shut down bids over obamacare. he picked his battles more smartly than ted cruz did. >> you know what's fascinating we've had this conversation, we've not mentioned chris christie, paul ryan, marco rubio. so this primary will be fantastic theater. number one. number two, paul ryan might have between biggest loser of 2012 and two-thirds of 2013, but the budget deal, again, i'm following through on a bit of a theme here, everyone says they will vote for a governor in the next presidential election. if somebody proves in congress they can lead and compromise maybe there's credibility and more of a chance there. so i think he made a lot of points at the end of 2013. >> can i get you to change your

pick. >> it was bad for paul. >> make it scott walker. >> i love scott walker. >> i love scott walker. i hope scott runs for president in 2016. i'm a huge fan of him. i think ted cruz -- for ted cruz to come from where ted cruz came from and come to washington, d.c. -- again, the guy it was as a republican who was concerned about the republican party's brand being shattered and a republican who is obsessed with winning, and is sick and tired of losing, you know how much ted cruz bothered me this year -- listen i don't think it was a mistake that ted cruz went to mandela's funeral. i don't think it was a mistake ted cruz is keeping his head down. he's attacking temperamentally more towards the middle of american politics and we'll see if he continues to do that. >> can i do a winner? >> yeah. >> i perpetually have been skeptical about this program.

>> mika is very upset about this. >> he is not. ted cruz didn't evolve. he gnawed away at obamacare. >> this whole evolving thing, liberals love to say -- >> if you want to win -- >> growing. the more moderate somebody comes, the more they quote grow. i'm sorry. >> i perpetually have been critical of this show turning into "good morning trenton." it's hard not to say chris christie was the big winner. he wins the election in a blue state. carries chunks of a lot of groups that republicans have a problem with. hispanic voters, women voters, big chunk of minority voters in the state. he's beloved of the republican donor class. people want him to run for president. he's set himself up and become a national figure in a way he

wasn't before. has not gone from 0 to 60 quite the way cruz has but has elevated himself and is in as good a position as any republican to both get the republican nomination and actually win the white house, which is not the case for ted cruz or rand paul. >> with all the people we've been mentioning not one of them could win a swing state let alone -- >> and become president. >> we're talking primaries right now. chris christie, actually did something really significant. >> much more important. i'll say on the democratic side big winner is john kerry. huge year for john kerry. really stepped into that job as secretary of state and did better than anybody expected to do. people had reasonable expectations. designee might run for president. >> he's been on fire. >> if this continues talk about kerry running for president in '16 -- >> the big loser, marco rubio.

horrible year for marco rubio who looked like he was the big chain for immigration reform. but now is a much weaker figure and much less promising figure at the end of 2013. >> sam stein who was the political loser of 2013? >> i had about five sentences perfectly laid out for marco rubio but heileman stole that one. >> why a bad year for marco? >> i would like to hear your thoughts. he started the year with such promise. he's on the cover of "time" magazine. the republican savior. >> you might as well put somebody on the front of "mad." >> it's a curse almost. he goes in on the immigration reform. they get this bill done through the senate and then poof everything stops for him. and now it seems and i don't know him well or his staff that well, but it seems like he's over calculating every move he

makes. coming out against the budget bill before it was even analyzed. >> i do know marco, i liked marco, i was excited about marco being elected. thank god i don't know anybody who works for him. i don't. he needs help. >> up next it was another year of superheroes smashing the box office but does big money equal big success in the eyes of a film critic? we'll talk to tony scott from the "new york times" who breaks down his favorite films of 2013 and what to watch for next year. avo: the volkswagen "sign then drive sales event is back. which means it's never been easier to get a new passat, awarded j.d. power's most appealing midsize car, two years in a row. and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on any new 2014 volkswagen.

hurry, this offer ends january 2nd. for details, visit vwdealer.com today

>> i will not fall into despair. i'll offer up my talents. i'll keep myself hearty. >> oh, no. ♪ please mr. kennedy i don't want to go ♪ >> what my whole life will be like. we should develop hobbies. >> i weave. >> like baskets? >> yeah. >> really? >> no. >> i'm sorry, mr. butler, i didn't mean to make fun of your

hero. >> everything you are and everything you have is because of that butler. that was a look at five of "new york times" film critic tony scott's best movies of the year and tony joins us now. i can't wait to hear about this. okay. best one. >> best one for me was "inside louie davis" the cohen brothers film about struggling folk singer in 1961 in new york like two days before bob dillon shows up and changes everything. the music is fantastic. the performance by oscar isaac who did all of his own singing and playing is phenomenal. it just kind of won my heart. very sort of, you know, melancholy film. >> justin timberlake is in it.

>> john goodman. and usual sort of cohen brothers tricks. so the story you think is going one place or no place in particular it ends up coming around to something else. >> this is a reality check. how far are you in the take for the cohen brothers always >> not always. i loved "a serious man." i would be interested in all of their films. i liked most of them. lot of their movies have struck me too clever, too much about their own smartness not enough heart. this one partly because of the music has real emotion to it. it leaves you with something more than being impressed what great film makers these guys are. they have more technique than anyone. >> i have not seen that. i've seen "all is lost." >> that's the most radical movie in terms of it's form of

technique. not a single word of dialogue in the whole movie. there's one person on screen for the whole time. and it's robert redford which helps because he has this kind of -- he's a real movie star. the definition of which i think is he's a guy you always want to be looking at whatever he's doing on screen. what he's doing is try to rig the jib on his sail boat. it's such a careful and intense thriller, really. i mean it's like reading a hemingway short story or jack london short story. it's about one thing, and that's the thing you care about when you're watching the movie. >> one of the interesting aspects of that movie is in this era of basically cartoonish big box office movies how did they get it instead >> i think getting robert redford on board helped. the director, this is his second film. his first film was called "margin call."

very good movie also. and i think he's a really good story teller. i think that they did this -- i don't think it cost lots and lots of money to make. it's not a super low budget, super cheap movie. but i think there are also enough producers still around who are willing to take a chance on movies like this. i think the movies that are on my list, what a lot of them have in common is that they are sort of the idea that a director had a story that he or she wanted to tell. they are not compromised by a lot of -- >> we'll have to pick this up. i'll tell you why. because i want to go over some good movies. we need quick word associations. i also want to go over the bad movies because that's always more fun. but i would be absolutely crushed if we didn't look forward to 2014 and "grand hotel budapest." any good movies on this list you

want tony to talk about? >> talk about "12 years of slave" which people called transformative. how close was that your number two movie? >> that's a strong movie. in a way it's possible to sort of burden it with too much significance. it's just a really good movie. it's a really strong, powerful drama. beautifully acted. >> worst movies of 2013. you pick one big budget movie got over 500 million worldwide, i saw it with my daughter, she liked it. "oz." >> they should have left it alone. >> what did you hate about it? >> i owe you dollars later. >> i won't sit here and say it made a lot of money. just a great icon of all our childhood "the wizard of oz" made into this busy, messy, unconvincing overdone special effects. >> james franco was over matched by the role. >> i think so.

i like james franco, i liked him in "spring breakers" and "this is the end." but he was too distanced from it. he couldn't carry it. >> "sallinger". >> "sallinger" if there's one i could take back the two hours and just never have seen it. >> oh, my gosh. >> it's a fascinating topic. it's a fascinating life. it's a writer who all of us who mean something to all of us," catcher in the rye" and sensationalistic autism -- >> it's just crap. >> coming up next, it was a big year in sports. i've seen that probably more. >> coming up, it was a big year in sports if you're joe scarborough from the crimson tide to the boston red sox. we'll discuss the big stories of 2013 with sports writer dave

ziron. don't go away we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪

[ male announcer ] own your obsession with the exceptional values during the season of audi. visit audioffers.com today. ♪

♪ don't worry about a thing 2013 was an incredible year in sports. it really was. >> shame. grand slam, baby. >> from boston strong to an nfl bullying scandal there was plenty to talk about. list bring in dave zirin the nation's sports correspondent and host of "edge of sports radio." >> what's the best sports story of 2013? >> best sports story of 2013 is the city of boston. i'm not talking about the boston red sox winning their third title in ten years, winning a title in boston for the first time since they had a pitcher

named babe ruth and the russian revolution was in full swing. i'm talking about the way the city of boston rallied around the first responders after the bombing of the boston marathon and the way that the scar that will now always be on the boston marathon i would argue has been minimized or in some ways in some respects sanctified by the people there. 500,000 people watched 20,000 runners from 96 countries, and could it have been destroyed this year. that has to be the biggest story of the year the fact that it wasn't destroyed and to me the boston red sox world series championship is just a part of that mosaic. >> the boston marathon is like a neighborhood block party. it's not the new york marathon. it's not l.a. it has such a uniquely neighborhood feel to it. everyone knows someone who is running the marathon. >> you sit on the curb and you

watch. >> worst of 2013. what would you say? >> i think it could all be under the big rubric of the national football league. this is our most popular sport. the bullying was only one of many bumper cars in the nfl. this is a sport that careened from one crisis to the next in a way that has not been able to be contained by the sports page. these are front page stories whether you're talking about the concussion settlement, whether you're talking about more of the suicides that have taken place of former players, whether you're talking about the bullying scandal that you just mentioned, whether you're talking about the fact the question of the washington football team was a question on "meet the press," the dallas cowboys/redskins game. the nfl has been defined in 2013 by unflattering stories that have taken place off the field not on the field. >> let's go to sam stein. sam? >> i agree entirely with that.

as biassed as i am as a red sox fan i thought this year was a fairly depressing year in sports not just because of the concussions in nfl but because of questions about how the ncaa treat student athletes and whether they should pay them, about the bullying. there's a whole host of things. steroids, massive steroid suspensions. lance armstrong. there's a lot of controversy. just controversy of cross the board. >> you put a-rod, and lance together and people trust sports less. >> so much less. >> they look at you and they lie to you for so long. >> let me ask you a question, dave, and i don't mean to pick on the nfl but let's pick on nfl. because from my view sitting, reading the sports pages religiously every day for years the national football league has been treated by too many sports writers in my view as if they were a nuclear power.

i mean treated with such reverence. if you look at the nfl fine we have the concussions, we have the aaron hernandez stuff. we have the concussion settlement which was outrageous that they agreed to settle for that. but you also have the most popular game in united states of america with a tissue thin drug policy unlike baseball. >> that's absolutely correct. it's a sport where i think the fans themselves have really come to peace with the fact that they don't care how the sausages are made as long as the game is out on time on sunday. >> all right, dave zirin, thank you. still ahead from the memorial to forgettable willie brings us his year earned review. that's next when "morning joe" comes right back.

♪ from ted cruz reading dr. seuss to anthony weiner it was a big year of big personalities. the end of the day it was a canadian that stole the show in 2013. >> my fellow americans we were made for this moment and we will seize it so long as we seize it together. >> president obama began 2013

energized. but it didn't take long for the second term curse to kick in. >> the united states of america not paying its bills is irresponsible. >> the feds have tracked more than 20 phone lines used by the associated press. >> it's inexcusable and americans are right to be angry about it. >> was it because of a protest or because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they would kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? >> chemical weapons in syria nearly pulled the u.s. into another war in the middle east. >> whether or not this red line was crossed. >> the president decided not to cross that line. >> first of all, i didn't set a red line. the world set a red line. >> gun control took center stage. >> president obama is out with his plan on gun control. >> but teen massacre at sandy hook couldn't change hearts and minds in congress. >> what's appalled me about this debate how little it has to do with making people safe and how much it has to do with this

decade agenda to attack the second amendment. >> up know it's a rough year when a 30-year-old hacker can bring down your national spy program but can't find enough hackers to fix your own website. >> let me give you that number. >> and boy those "star trek" and gill began isla gilligan island video from the irs didn't help. the minority party took center stage in 2013 and though they stumbled out of the gate, some republicans accomplished exactly what they wanted to, which was absolutely nothing. >> let's repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children. >> some tried filibustering their way to more gridlock. >> do i not like them sam i am, do i not like green eggs and ham. >> others tried to place blame on the president. >> why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell they asked.

really? [ laughter ] why don't you get a drink with mitch mcconnell. >> but not all republicans were down with the shutdown. >> some people in my party took the stupid pill, they came up with a horrible strategy, they are going to cave in. and they are going to look horrible. >> the world lost some larger-than-life figures in 2013 from a man who freed a nation to a mobster who captured our imagination. >> if you're lucky, you'll remember the little moments like this. >> america saw more than its share of tragedies in 2013. >> i saw that image and the sound. >> never a thought in your mind you could just, out of left field get blown up. >> we're covering a historic tornado in oklahoma tonight. >> what you're seeing a neighborhood. >> this house, house, house. >> three women each missing for

a decade found alive in a cleveland home. >> i'm calling 911 for amanda berry i thought this girl was dead. >> tragedy in arizona, 19 members of an elite firefighting crew killed in the line of duty. >> for some the new year brought the promise of new goings. and the possibility of change at the vatican with the arrival of pope francis. the kids think he's all the rage. speaking of children one lucky baby hit the genetic lottery in the united kingdom. >> welcome. >> in sports somebody forgot to pay the electric bill in new orleans and the lights went out at super bowl xlvii. the heat stayed hot. the cup came to the windy city. the university of alabama saw its ups and its downs. the red sox pulled off an improbable win for a city in need of a lift. >> this is for you, boston.

>> we were introduced to one football star's imaginary friend. >> she would say to you i can see you -- >> yeah. >> i don't know why you can't see me. >> correct. >> didn't you think that was a little weird? >> a few of sports biggest cheaters came clean. >> i didn't invent the culture but i didn't try to stop the culture. that's my mistake. >> now if only the yankees could clear that $114 million off their books. >> this guy should come to our city, i know he doesn't like new york, i love this city. >> shocking allegations of murder here and abroad. a coach who took practice way too seriously. one noted south paw struggled this year with the jumper. ♪ 2013 had its share of bizarre

headlines. a cruise ship turned into a floating toilet. >> it was the cruise from hell. >> dennis rodman found a kindred spirit in north korea. >> he was a great guy. >> celebrity chef paula deen found herself out of a job. >> i is what i is and i'm not changing. >> miley cyrus brought twerking from the strip clubs to the american mainstream and we put her on morning tv. >> was wrong with you t.j.? >> good morning, everyone. >> got kids watching the show. they are getting ready for school. >> the big gulp came close to extinction. >> it's just pop with low cal ice cubes in it. >> we learned the ugly truth about the delicious mcrib. >> you know all those meat balls you've been buying at ikea. they might have been horse meat.

at least we can claim victory with the hands free whopper. as attention turned to 2016, governor chris christie of new jersey burst on to the political scene. >> i didn't know this would be this long. >> not all republicans were happy about his arrival. >> this is the king of bacon talking about bacon. >> anthony weiner turned the mayor's race into a bad reality show. >> you are disgusting. disgusting. >> one person yelling is not going to stop me. >> you're a real scumbag. >> there's a charming guy right there. >> which culminated in an odd appearance with our own lawrence o'donnell. >> than, i think there's something wrong with you. >> you just said that. repeating it won't make it any more interesting. do you want to ask me a

question. >> but this year's most interesting character comes from our neighbor to the north. where the ghost of chris farley is haunting the toronto mayor's office. >> yes, i've smoked crack cocaine. hats off to you canada. we've had our shares of crack smoking mayors here in the u.s. but rob ford takes the cake. a fitting end to a wild year. what a year. still ahead on "morning joe" from washington to hollywood we'll show you some of our biggest interviews of 2013. don't go away. we'll be right back on "morning joe." (vo) you are a business pro. seeker of the sublime. you can separate runway ridiculousness...

from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. tylenol® provides strong pain relief

while being gentle on your stomach. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. because you can't beat zero heartburn. woo hoo! [ male announcer ] prilosec otc is the number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. it's not the "juggle a bunch of rotating categories" card. it's not the "sign up for rewards each quarter" card.

it's the no-games, no-messing-'round, no-earning-limit-having, do-i-look-like-i'm-joking, turbo-boosting, heavyweight-champion- of-the-world cash back card. this is the quicksilver cash back card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere, every single day. now tell me, what's in your wallet? afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

welcome back to "morning joe" this marshall islands. we once again look back at our biggest guests and best interviews of 2013. >> what a year. this has been an exciting year. >> in politics it wasn't the best year for republicans in congress. most will remember 2013 for being one of the least productive congresses in history. but while d.c. was mired ingrid lochte state level gop governors were getting it done. this year we interviewed governors chris christie, scott walker and bobby jindal who offered fresh new ideas for the