>> this isn't some damn game. the american people don't want their government shut down and neither do i. >> the public needs to decide whether programs or policies are right or lung. >> a good pair of lungs, that's for sure. >> right now, a special year end edition of "andrea mitchell reports," from boston strong to government shutdowns, rocky rollouts, leaks, and new heir to the throne. we take a look at headlines, scandals that captivated us all in 2013. good day.

i'm andrea mitchell in washington. recapping a year in politics that began with plenty of promise but ended with a nation pessimistic that congress and commander in chief can even solve any of the big problems facing our country. so what went wrong and can the white house turn it around in the new year. joining me now chuck todd nbc news white house correspondent and political director and host of the "the daily rundown." and "usa today's" washington bureau chief susan page. welcome both. chuck, first to you, as our chief white house correspondent, you've seen the highs and the lows. right now with only minimal support now people thinking that congress and this president can't turn it around. how did the white house fix it? number one, they have to make health care work. they are past the danger zone. we said in the modern era second

terms you have a year, 18 months to legislate. we're a year in. now what 2014 is about, how long can white house prolong lame duck status when it comes to at least running washington. that, i think, it's all in the hands of health care. what do things look like on april 1. what does the enrollment look like. how is the interaction? doctors? we don't know this part of the story with health care, how do the doctors interact with the new health insurance patients they have that they didn't have before. >> the insurance companies, they are a big piece of it and the doctors. more doctors opting out of so many programs, some retiring early because of just the beaurocracy they are feeling in their work. >> some of these developments are not related to affordable care act. >> exactly. >> it is clearly being used by

health care industry to hide unpopular -- >> white house blamed for everything already a problem the white house was trying to fix. >> that being said. that's the reality. president obama is the health care president. he own the health care system. if it works, turns around, he's going to get the credit for a historic achievement. if it's another troubled year, it's impossible for him to come back from the -- >> brings us, both covered the white house, this white house, other white houses, can john podesta coming in, other fixes, are those cosmetic, band-aids or is there an underlying problem with the way the president manages that needs a bigger fix, that can't be fixed. >> some of these things, the president is who he is. he's not a phone caller. >> not a schmoozer. >> some part of that is never going to happen as far as relations with congress in this town of that's always going to be an issue.

i think the bringing in of john podesta signals the reality of what they know they are facing, they aren't going to get much done through congress. john podesta spent the latter part of his career in public service, outside think tank world trying to figure out how to use executive branch more and more to enact policy if you can't get things done through congress. that's his role, what he's supposed to do. they are redoing the congressional affairs office one more time. >> a major problem. >> under the radar but interesting choice, she has more of a possibility of fixing personal relationships. >> she came from schumer camp. >> some people come from schumer world and hard chargers, that's not her. she was the legislative director over there. it's a different atmosphere. not part of the war room, bomb throwers. if anybody could create personal

relationships on the hill missing from this white house, it's her. >> i think that doesn't matter anymore. >> i agree. >> you know what does matter, the affordable care act. does the economy come back in a bigger way. if that happens, you could see what happened for president clinton in his second term. >> and president reagan. >> and president reagan. improving economy, the president gets credit when his role, certainly not player in that world either. i think we're passed the point where giving a great speech, repairing a problem is going to make very much -- >> that said congress with 51% of "wall street journal" poll thinking it's one of the worst congresses ever, arguably doing very little, barely getting by with short-term budget deal. what happens with john boehner, that house caucus going forward. >> what happens with the war, civil war in the republican party, certainly one of the big stories to look at next year.

does the effort by john boehner and establishment push back on tea party forces, does that continue to work or do you have a battle of two visions of what the republican party ought to look at. >> one of the things going forward also is confirmations. you've got nuclear opposing having been used, and now he's getting the judges -- the president is getting the judges he wants. he's got chairman of the fed. so some of the big appointments are going through. how does that poison the water going forward with the senate? >> i think the senate is a mess. we're seeing how it ended its year personal and nasty and harry reid had a hard time shutting the senate down for the year. i think that tells you it's a little bit, there's republicans upset how this whole thing went down. what is interesting here is how the president has basically got a six to nine-month runway here to get a whole bunch of judges through. i think they know reality is they could lose the senate, lose control of the senate. good luck getting many confirmations through.

i do think this means if he's going to do a change at hhs, which i think is more likely than not, you do it in the spring. the question -- one thing we're not talking about, does ruth bader ginsburg look at this scenario and say this is the time to go. this is the time where it's a democratic senate still. now, she apparently doesn't think that way. you know what, she's not letting politics decide this. when she leaves, she's going to leave because her good friend sandra day o'connor regrets leaving. >> reading between the lines, i do not think she's going to leave at any time unless she felt she could not do the job. she's as strong as ever. >> i think another decade. everybody assumed she was a short timer. >> she loves this job. >> she loves the job and her friendship -- sandra day o'connor i hear continues to regret. >> don't forget a couple years ago she lost her wonderful husband and party marty ginsburg, this is her life. she sees exactly with sandra day o'connor. you began to talk a bit about

2014 and the senate. we've been talking about 2014 and 2016 way too early but now looking forward, here it is with the new year. we are now in an election cycle. midterm election cycle which is setting the stage. also setting the stage for when hillary clinton, the presumptive front-runner on the democratic side has to make decisions and be less coy about it. >> i think we see already moving in that direction. i assume she's going to be out there doing some campaigning in 2014 and she understands better than maybe anybody the dynamics here that she needs to let it be known that she plans to run, which i assume she plans to do to just set the landscape for everybody else, joe biden and for other democrats who definitely would like to be considered presidential material. >> she has to figure out how to navigate separating herself from the obama white house but not offending the base and strong

support in the democratic party for president obama. >> it's a tricky path but it's a clarifying year for her. we'll see her as a campaigner. we haven't seen her do that for a long time. not since '08 has she been on the campaign trail. she's going to do that, has to do that. what will be interesting, i think she'll be very popular -- in '06 more democrats wanted obama than clinton. i think one of the interesting ways, and this could be just enough, all she needs, is the subtle story line to be more democrats are asking for hillary to campaign than for him. that in itself may be enough for her to look like she's distinguishing herself without having to actually go out there and break with him on a major piece of policy. >> susan? >> we had such an historic election in 2008 with the election of the first african-american president. lets not underestimate that enthusiasm, that excitement if and when she decides to run around her gender. >> among women. >> we have to wrap it up here.

it's such a great year, looking forward to another great year. susan page my wonderful friend and colleague and friend and chuck todd, thank you for making it special. coming up next, look who's talking, how the world changed. stay with us. >> we cannot close the door on diplomacy. we cannot rule out peaceful solutions to the world's problems. we cannot commit ourselves to an endless cycle of conflict. tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to do politically but it's not the right thing for our security. ♪ don't disguise bad odors in your trash. neutralize them and freshen. with glad odorshield with febreze.

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i don't think mr. snowden was a patriot. i called for a thorough review of our surveillance operations before mr. snowden made these leaks. the fact is that mr. snowden has

been charged with three felonies. if, in fact, he believes what he did was right, then like every american citizen, he can come here, appear before the court with his lawyer and make his case. >> welcome back. the world of foreign policy rocked in 2013 by edward snowden, by a preliminary nuclear deal with iran and civil war in syria that is now tipped in favor of the region one side and al qaeda-influenced rebel groups on the other. i have two distinguished guests to discuss all of this, both from the clinton administration, former secretary of defense bill cohn, secretary of state madeleine albright. what a privilege to have you both here. >> thank you. >> first of all, iran. lets talk about united states and allies as a result of partly secret negotiations, bill, is in the middle of working out a

preliminary deal. there's bumps along the road. is this a good thing or bad thing? >> we don't know at this particular point. i think what happened in the middle east with iran, we have lost support with our key allies who no longer trust us, frankly. the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, others in the region in the way in which this was handled and the fact it's ambiguous in terms of iran having an enrichment capability. u.n. security council precluded enrichment. it appears we're going to allow them to enrich at a level below 20%, around 5%. but under any circumstances allowing them to enrich does pose a problem in the future. we'll have to wait and see. i think we've lost a lot of support in the region. number one, because of the agreement itself which the iranians say is simply a process not an agreement, the beginning of a process.

on the other side we'll have to wait and see where it turns out. i'm quite skeptical this is going to be beneficial ultimately. picking up on that theme, secretary albright, part of this, secretary of state regarding syria came out with a war speech basically on labor day weekend and then the president, without consulting the secretary of state in the near term made a different decision to go and consult congress, which was a delay and ultimately a decision on chemical weapons not to take military action. whether that was the right policy or wrong policy, it was read by the saudis and emirates as weakness on the part of the white house, ambiguity, confusing process. that has affected the way they are viewing iran negotiations. >> i think there's no question there's changes in the middle east, a transitional area.

a lot of americans haven't known a difference between sunni and shia, now we've got that fighting going on. or the endless historical aspects of the persians, iranians versus arabs. united states and policy is within that transitional aspect. i happen to disagree with my good friend secretary on iran. we don't know what the final one would look like. the secretary has been fairly clear saying they are not sure, got a 50/50 chance. i think it's worth trying. the diplomacy involved in it is worth it. i think there are a number of reasons there is a scepticism in the middle east but a lot of it doesn't have to do with us. i think change is going on in the country. saudis are going through a major transition in their own kingdom

trying to figure it out. i think that the president is really moving as best he can through a very transitional period in the middle east. >> part of the problem, as they say, was the way we handled syria, before that the way we handled egypt. in particular syria, now you've had as a result of all the other tumultuous things in the region, you've god assad looking stronger than ever. the rebel groups we were cultivating and trying to train and trying to arm with what some said was a belated decision, the rebel group now dominated by islami islamists. we're afraid to withdraw support because of blowback down the road. >> you mentioned policies pursued by the administration. we've done from assad must go, which was our policy two years ago to looks like assad must stay on the part of the administration. so we've gone a complete reversal on that. i think it came about because united states took no action

after declaring that assad had to go, we sat on the sidelines and watched this revolution, as such, unfold without any effort on our part to really achieve that goal of making assad go. so now we're in a situation where al qaeda and other elements, extreme elements, seem to be the dominant force in the region. we've allowed president putin to ride in on a white horse and say he's a peacemaker. i can't say it's been a triumph of diplomacy. despite a sun su expression, i think our policy, we should be prudent, not hesitant. i think what we've done is very hesitant policy both in dealing with syrians and also how we've dealt with our allies in the region. >> secretary albright, the one good thing getting putin's in this we got rid of nuclear weapons in terms of a threat. >> i wish we had done something

earlier, helping syrian opposition a long time ago. i'm just stunned by humanitarian horrors going on. >> 11,000 -- >> unbelievable. i this summer have been in jordan and went to the refugee camp. jordan has refugees not only from syria but palestine and iraq. this country, it's as if united states had 40 million refugees. refugees in turkey and some of the other things going on. i would wish the international community would now realize that this is a huge humanitarian issue that has to be dealt with and is really displacing people and creating problems in europe and a number of different aspects. i, again, hate to disagree, but the president has said still that saddam -- assad has to go. i think that's an important part. i think there's a step forward on chemical weapons.

we can't, in fact, have changed the whole thing from a humanitarian problem to an arms control problem. we need to deal with the humanitarian issue. it is like an ink blot into middle east. i think it's very dangerous. >> i want to ask both of you as policymakers who used intelligence so importantly when you were secretaries, what about edward snowden this year, the leaks? many people are outraged by the privacy invasion. at year's end we see some reforms are likely. a task force made recommendations. the president is not doing to go as far in the new year but the make some changes. what about the fact so much has been disclosed and our allies now know exactly how intrusive our surveillance of their private phone calls. >> i think it's been a disaster for the united states. i think the implications for all of our allies in terms of their attitude toward us, the

cooperation and level that we've had, cooperative effort i think is going to be significantly diminished. we have to remind ourselves, we're living in an information age. everything that is out there in the digital world affects our lives. we want our government to protect us. at the same time we don't want our government to cross over a boundary and deny us a right of privacy. but we have to be aware of this. there's very little left of our right of privacy. that applies to private world as well as the government. i can't make a purchase on my credit card without the credit card knowing exactly where it is and what it is. i can't buy a book on amazon without amazon telling me, by the way, you should buy the following books. i can go to onstar. now google glass, peeping toms or tonyas going around recording everything.

there's very little privacy left. it's important congress look at this in the totality. we have to entrust power to someone, but no one can be trusted with power. that's the paradox we live in. i think it's good it's out there. we have to now examine the role of technology in our lives and how much we're going to give up in the way of privacy. >> i think he did incredible damage. i think he's a traitor and he has damaged us internationally. i am very glad, however, that there is a discussion going on, because i think there's a lot of paradoxical aspects to it. i coined a new term, cyber exhibitionism. people put an incredible amount of information themselves out into the system and they think that's kind of neat and fun. at the same time they criticizes the police and fbi in boston for not having found the marathon killer ahead of time. we don't know what we want. we do believe privacy is essential to us. at the same time we are concerned about terrorists. so i think there's a big

discussion to be had. snowden had the possible of going to the intelligence committees. he is not what one would call a whistleblower. there's a system for doing that. he's a narcissistic exhibitionist who has hurt the united states in a very bad way. >> we're going to have to leave tlit. wishing you both a really happy and healthy, wonderful holiday. >> you got agreement from the two of us. >> great. >> thank you. >> bill cohen, madeleine albright. scandal, made for tv dramas all too real in 2013. olympia pope eat your heart out. we'll be right back. you make a great team. it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph

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cycling performance? >> yes. >> i am not interested in what people have to say. i'm focused like a laser beam on their interests. >> the city should not have been put through this. my own personal failures are responsible and i apologize. >> do you smoke crack cocaine? >> exactly. yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. do i? am i an addict? have i tried it? probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago. >> from politicians to professional athletes, 2013 was a year full of scandals we think deserve another moment to reflect on. joining me now msnbc contributor and opinion writer jonathan capehart and chris cillizza msnbc contributor and host of msnbc tv's "in play." thinking about the worst scandal of the year, i don't know how you can pick and choose from all of them, jonathan, but how about

anthony weiner? >> that's a pretty big scandal. here is a guy who had to resign because of texting issues, texting parts of his body to women who were not his wife and who were rather young. and then decides to run for mayor of new york city. there might be more photos out there, to get people prepared. then more photos come out. suddenly the guy climbing in the polls for democratic nomination suddenly falls completely flat. >> we go from anthony weiner in new york, chris cillizza, to other politicians. lets talk about the mayor of toronto. >> if you thought anthony weiner was the epic, scandal to end all scandals, which to be frank i thought it was. foolishly. i like to remind people ron ford

is still mayor of toronto. he's been stripped of his powers but still mayor of toronto after admitting he had alcoholism problems, drug problems. he keeps appearing in public. there's been videos of him dancing to bob marley's "one love." i don't want to make this too, too serious. there's been a fusion and it has happened in america, celebrity and politician. it's not clear where the line is drawn, of poll culture or political culture. i think ford passed over into pop culture. >> someone passed into the criminal justice system is the san diego mayor. what about bob filner? >> bob filner is, for lack of a better description old school. here is a guy, remember the

image of the boss chasing the secretary around the sofa, that was bob filner. a guy who took liberties with any and every woman, it seemed, who came into contact with him. people got fed up with it and he was forced to resign and rightly so. >> then we have athletes. lance armstrong the best known and biggest disappointment. liar, liar, liar. >> there's a documentary out about his lies and detail his lies i think folks should see. the thing that was hard about it, he was so insistent. he did so much good and the good remains. the foundation huge amounts of money for cancer research. in a way i want to separate that out. i continue to -- i guess i shouldn't be because i spent all my life covering politicians. i'm continually amazed these

public figures completely compartmentalize, running for vice president, president, he's carrying on an affair and has a child with someone who isn't his wife. lance armstrong insisting nothing is wrong when all these people are coming out saying, look, i have no bone to pick here. he's eventually forced to come out. i don't understand how those two things co-exist and you think you can get away with it. >> all these scandals in real life, following you on twitter i'm shocked about your passion for "scandal," the tv series. so is it becoming more difficult for them to craft scenarios this season for olivia pope that can match what anthony weiner or rob ford did. >> art imitates life. just when you think "scandal" couldn't get any more ridiculous in a good way, life intrudes.

yeah, if you can imagine it happening in real life, it could happen. i take "scandal" with a grain of salt. there are plenty of things in the show that really would never happen in real life. it's so delicious, an hour escape from sort of the drudgery that chris and i and you have to deal with every day and watch somebody do fun things like have the president of the united states send marine one to come pick you up and whisk you off to a romantic getaway and then send it back to take you back. who thinks of this stuff? >> guilty pleasures. i wish you both a 2014 filled with not the real scandals but with the guilty pleasures and a lot of fun on television. thank you very much, jonathan capehart. >> thanks, andrea. >> and chris cillizza. coming up next, big decision inside the historic year at the supreme court.

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same-sex marriage, affirmative action, voting rights made their way to the supreme court. only one of four major judgments fell on ideological lines. each decision will have ripple effects across our country for years, decades to come. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins me now. pete, first of all, what a year this has been on your beat in so many ways. lets talk first about the supreme court, the most important decision of the year, i think, affecting so many people we know, gay marriage. >> absolutely. first, i want to say i've been watching on tv and it's great the way you match the plants. >> i always match the plants. >> it was a very big decision. what the supreme court said the federal government cannot say it's not going to recognize valid same-sex marriage in the states that permit them. what that has done, first of all, the federal government recognizes those marriages including the military, national guard in every state. it's had an immediate effect in that sense. the force of the opinion is leading many states to say,

okay, we're going to recognize same-sex marriage to, additional momentum, up to 14 states plus the district of columbia. whether that's low hanging cases there to be gained and tougher going from now, we'll see, but it did have an immediate effect. the other decision which allowed same-sex marriage to resume in california. >> it's had an effect as well, societal norms, public opinion. they are generational changes. also many older people in conservative parts of the country who are following the example of other prominent officials and senators who have acknowledged situations in their own family, brought them to a different place. >> yes. although the public remains somewhat divided on the issue, there is a majority that believes the state should allow same-sex marriage. it tends to divide along generational lines. it may be years before every state, in fact, follows along. that's where the legal struggle

is now. >> and perhaps nothing is more important than our right to vote, our right to affirm our citizenship and voting rights came to the court. >> landmark decision, a very big deal. remember what a moment in history it was when lyndon johnson signed voting rights act. the supreme court said, times have changed. the old south is gone. these days of systematic exclusion of blacks are over. the supreme court struck down the coverage map. the states that have to get permission from the federal government before they make any changes at all in how they run their elections. in fact some states starting to make changes. the justice department is trying to figure a way if it can use existing parts of the law to still require states to get clearance in advance. that's the court battle we're going to see coming up in 2014. they have already got into a battle with texas over redistricting, north carolina over changes in voting, early voting, same day registration. there's still calls in congress to try to get the voting rights

act back. there's republican support for it like sensenbrenner in the house. whether you can count to 535 or a majority does seem like a very tall order. >> on affirmative action, which is an issue that has roiled the court, this is a court that doesn't have sandra day o'connor on michigan case so the texas case was decided differently. >> it was. it was a disappointment to the conservatives who were hoping the time had come for them to get the supreme court to say you can't have affirmative action in school admissions. the supreme court didn't have that. it said you can still do it but it raised the bar universities have to clear in order to justify affirmative action. it certainly didn't stop affirmative action. there's now a pending question about whether a state can block affirmative action by constitutional amendment. the court will decide that this term. >> coming up next in the coming year, what are the big cases aside from affirmative action that are going to reach the court or reach decision stage.

>> i think the most interesting one is the challenge to the part of obama care that requires employers of 50 people to provide contraceptive coverage. there were dozens and dozens of lawsuits against this around the country filed by businesses who say it violates their religious freedom in order to provide this coverage. now, first of all, there's an interesting question here. does a business have a religious belief, does it have religious freedom. some courts said, no. that's an individual view. crazy to say a business has religious freedom or religion. but other groups, in fact, some courts are saying, no, you shouldn't have to stop your religious beliefs when you enter into business. you should be able to carry those with you. when you have, as the supreme court cases are going to have, people -- small family, for example, that owns this massive hobby lobby, a chain of christian bookstores or mennonite group that owns a woodworking company, their whole -- every decision they

make in business is informed by religious views, shouldn't they be able to continue that in decisions about insurance. it's a very interesting question and also has to do with the future of obama care so that's interesting, too. >> even though the year before, year of pete at nbc and msnbc the way when the obama care decision came down, the way you handled that. certainly 2013 was the year of pete williams for your coverage of the boston bombing. >> thank you. >> and the care and precision for which you do all of your reporting, whether it's breaking news or supreme court decisions, we thank you. >> i thank you. i just ask myself, what would andrea do? >> that's hardly the question because she would say, pete, tell us what happened. thanks, pete, as always. >> you bet. >> as always, a look back at big stories in 2013. the stories that unfolded right on air. the best of "andrea mitchell reports" coming up next. >> the fact that members of the

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take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ from breaking news to history making moments. in 2013 we had it covered. here is our look back on how it all unfolded right here on "andrea mitchell reports." >> proving once again that everybody will talk to andrea mitchell we have put her there because there's no interview she cannot get. andrea, over to you. >> thanks so much, rachel, i am here with john legend, who is a legend. >> we are at the center of the political universe at a critical time in our country. right now lawmakers have a legislative plan to raise the debt ceiling and fund our government and end a national nightmare. >> i think republicans even forgot what they were shutting

down government for. >> the fact members of the military and families aren't protected by this nation for their ultimate sacrifice has really outraged the country. >> it is ourns. >> they have gone to this extraordinary step of, in essence locking down boston. >> we're confronting yet another mass shooting. today it happened on a military installation in our nation's capital. >> i do believe that moment fulfilled the dreams over two search rice of expectation. >> here comes two cops with oswald taking him from one office to the other and i said, did you kill the president? he said, i didn't kill anybody. >> a giant among men, an activist, a prisoner, a leader, a president, a founding father, madiba. >> hopefully we'll see in the future that even though he is gone, his spirit is not gone. what he left us will be there to

inspire future generations. >> cleanse the country in an incredible way. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell in doha. maiden voyage as secretary of state. >> don't want this. if president assad could quickly decide to come to the table and negotiate. >> but he has not, sir, with all due respect. there's no sign he's going to. russia and iran, as you pointed out, continue to arm assad. so is the stalemate going to continue? it's already been two years? >> obviously, andrea, we hope not. the president is the person who initiated this meeting. >> good day i'm andrea mitchell in geneva today where john kerry is about to open those talks with his russian counterpart. joining me by skype syrian rebel commander. >> we hope our friends in the united states and in the western

country help the syrian people. >> i do think we need to be, as diplomats, mindful of the medium as well as very much committed to getting out the appropriate message. >> ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf's clothing and he's a wolf in sheep's clothing. >> -- eventually for years and years? >> let me put it very clearly. >> please. >> we are not talking about years and years. that is not what is contemplated. >> certainly what the afghans say and it was confirmed in a letter to the president. >> it's not being contemplated years and years. >> what can you say to the north koreans about the americans -- >> well, north korea really needs to recognize the dangerous steps it has been taking on many

fronts. >> she and ronnie were as close as they were. >> in your recovery, gabby, is this a process of trying to reclaim the old gabby giffords or a new gabby giffords? >> the new one. better, stronger, tougher. >> gabby is tough. >> no one doubts your toughness. >> just watching gabby work so hard. ♪ the hills are alive with the sound of music ♪ >> every single thing that i have done has been either a learning experience or the most fun or the most wonderful director or a great guy to work with. >> if you read and you understand, i'm not really that

much different. we might see an end to racism and the other indyosis that plague us. >> we are on royal baby watch. >> he's a big boy, quite heavy. but we're still working on a name. >> i can tell you that popcorn who is the national thanksgiving turkey, his favorite song is "halo" by beyonce. >> jeffrey goldberg, one could ask why. >> we could ask why about a lot of things. >> to the delight of everyone here at "andrea mitchell reports," the national zoo's panda cam is back up and running. things change, but do you feel that joe biden as the vice president has the right of first refusal as it were within the party? or is it an open competition if

you decide to run? >> well, american politics is always an open competition. for the foreseeable future i don't think i'll be at all political because there's so much else i need to do. >> it's not as big a story as a story i like to call andrea mitchell's 35th anniversary at nbc. >> hey hey hey hey. >> i think there's someone if i'm right on the line who wants to get in on that conversation. >> andrea mitchell joins nbc news and no one in public life is ever safe again. >> and what a year it was. we'll be right back. we all have our little tricks.

mom swaps one of my snacks for a yoplait. i don't mind, i mean it's orange crème. and when mom said bobby was too edgy... 'sup girl. i just swapped him out for tyler. 'sup girl. mom never questioned bobby again. two can play at this game. [ female announcer ] swap one snack a week for a yoplait. and everybody wins. yoplait. it is so good. 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.

thank you all for joining us for our look back at 2013. on behalf of everyone here at "andrea mitchell reports" we want to wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy new year. 2 ] to carry on traditions. [ woman 3 ] to come together even when we're apart. [ male announcer ] in stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more, swanson makes holiday dishes delicious.

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[ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat all that. it doesn't? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting antihistamine. oh, what a relief it is! good afternoon, i'm craig melvin. right now at 2:00 on the east coast, new reaction from the video of the american contractor kidnapped by al qaeda pleading for president obama's help. >> my name is ryan weinstein. >> and that video obtained by "the washington post" weinstein asks president obama to negotiate his release saying he feels, quote, totally abandoned and forgotten. the state department said we're working hard to authenticate the latest report, but we reiterate our call that weinstein be released and returned to his family. oral