welcome back to "morning joe." two politicians who had a lot of problems before sought political redemption. anthony weiner's bid for new york city mayor imploded, but elliott spitzer had a different campaign for comptroller. we sat down for a revealing conversation. mika, at the end of that conversation, especially, you and elliott had a really, i thought, touching moment. >> here's a look at that interview. >> first of all, why did you decide to get back into politics given everything? >> it's tough. >> have you seen the front pages of the papers this morning? >> sure. i'm mystified by the focus and

attention to that. but put that aside because i want to answer your important question, which is why i want to get back and what i want to do with the office, which is why i'm back in. i believe in service. i believe in what i did as a prosecutor, as an ada. i believe in what i did as attorney general, as governor. the reforms we put in place, a lot of people didn't like it, but i think the record historically will show we were right, whether it was capital markets, the environment, low-wage labor. even driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants. now the law of the land. things we did and proposed that are were not perhaps timely but were correct. i believe in those things. i am ready to take the incoming missil missiles. they're coming at me. some of them are hitting. i understand that. i have spent five years reflecting, thinking, apologizing. i'm ready to ask for forgiveness. it's not easy. i'm ready to ask. >> so i think the focus on this, whether it's unfair on some of the newspapers that are prevalent here in new york city, which can be cruel, but the

focus is out there because while in office, while in power, you lied, you broke the law on a number of levels when it was revealed there were different things that were happening in your life that you weren't telling people about. what i want to know is what drove that poor judgment, and why should we feel that wouldn't happen again? >> fair question. i'm not going to agree with every piece of your characterization, but it's fair. >> well, correct me then. >> i'm going to answer your question, which is the important one. i failed. i had flaws, made horrific judgments, was unfaithful to my family, to the electorate. that's why i resigned. i stood up and said, i'm holding myself accountable. it's the only right thing to do. i stood up, looked into the camera, and said i'm resigning. very, very difficult to do, but i did it. five years have gone by. in those five years, i've reflected, i've thought, i've taught, i've written, i've done a multitude of things, run our family business.

i now think after five years, a lengthy period of time, i can go to the public and say, look at the totality of who i am. >> so elliott, let me interject here. you've said twice you've reflected. what have been the results of your reflection? you obviously have looked inward and looked at yourself. what were the flaws that led you to break the law and break the public trust? >> i will put it this way. hubris is terminal. it is, you know, a phrase that was uttered to me and given to me by somebody in a different context and i realized after time it was applicable not only to everybody but to me in particular. what i did was not only wrong but was a consequence of hubris and failure of judgment and self-indulgence, which is

absolutely inexplicable and unjustifiable, improper. i would agree with most of mika's characterizations about it. >> so the arrogance, do you think if -- well, when you're on the campaign trail, forget about after you're elected. if you're elected, are people going see a new elliott spitzer, one who is less arrogant, one who is a bit more reflective? >> hopefully i'll be me reflective. i'm not here to quibble about the characterizations of me. >> that was your characterization. hubris is arrogance. >> but it depends on the context. i'm talking about an emotional arrogance. i think on the substantive issues where when i go back to what we did and with you're really one of very few people -- i don't want to say we were the only voice, certainly. but when you're one of few people standing up in 2001 saying there are deep flaws here in the capital markets and the totality -- everybody at the

establishment comes down and says, no, you're completely wrong. or the environment. issue after issue. it's at that point necessary to have the fortitude to stick to your principles. that's the only differentiation i'm making. i'm trying to separate the personal from the substantive, which i think is an important distinction to make. i'm running for an office which has substantive jurisdiction. i want to answer your question about what i want to do with it, which is important to the city. it requires my understanding of the capital markets, knows how to use them, knows how to participate in them. even though there are folks on wall street who don't look forward to dealing with me, look, i've been in that marketplace. i've run a family business that is of some magnitude. we're quite successful. and i think i understand the capital markets and as a consequence how to participate on behalf of the city. >> so can i cut through this for a second? >> sure. >> as you know, i've actually said this position seems perfect for you and people shouldn't judge you by your past failures. i've got to say, though, you're telling us things we already know about you. you're talking about your

accomplishments. i don't know that's what we want to hear right now. we don't want you to throw yourself on your sword. it's not for us. i'm not your judge. the voters of new york city are your judge. i just want to break this down. so you're saying there was a personal hubris that led to your fall. is that correct? >> absolutely. >> and so if i'm a voter in new york city, and i'm not, but i have said you would be perfect for this position regardless of your past, what do you say to that voter to tell them that personal hubris that maybe destroyed everything i built up my entire life, how do you assure them the second time around you've got that in check and you're not going to make the same mistakes in other areas? >> it's not only a fair question, it's an important question. i think the only answer is i'm here, i'm acknowledging it. i'm sitting here with mika. there's no question -- >> that's tough. >> it's not that tough.

it's tougher in other contexts. >> oh, it's tough. >> it's tougher to look your family in the eye. >> of course. >> how do i say this? the making of a successful politician often involves arrogance, involves a sense of confidence, involves an ego, involves an ability to withstand unbelievable scrutiny and beatings from all sorts of media. how do you keep your arrogance in check if you actually fulfill this? >> how about this, i'll come on the show once a month. i have a sense that would be a pretty good way to wither one's sense of both self-importance and keep hubris in check. we laugh a little bit when i say that, but that's part of it. you put yourself out like this, it does a lot to keep things in check, as it should. that's part of what the media does. >> if you win this position, will you ever lie to the public

once elected? >> no. >> never? >> no. >> so mika asked you in the beginning how people can be confident there won't be a repeat of the behavior before. you said you reflected. speak a little more about that. what does that mean? what has what you done in the last five years convince people it won't happen again? >> i've tried to do things that matter in a small and quiet way. that doesn't persuade people about recurrence, but i've also thought deeply and recognized that i would need to answer these questions. i've said, look at the pain i've caused. >> but if you win, you will not really have paid -- you've paid some price, obviously, but you'll not have had your public career ended. so wouldn't that to some extent re-enforce the notion that you could do what you wanted to do? >> i'm not quite sure. i think that there has been a substantial price to be paid. i'll let others determine big, small, adequate or inadequate. resigning the governorship and then dealing with the aftermath

of that and dealing with everything that has flown from it. that was a pretty significant price. >> are there any things people in elected office, high office, that involve law breaking and lying to the public that you would consider disqualifying? or nothing's disqualifying if a person comes back and says, look at my great ideas. >> sure. >> what would be disqualifying? >> i think there's a difference between private and public lives. i'm not the one to begin to articulate this distinction at this point. i'm in a uniquely bad position to try to articulate it. but i think there is a divide there that is something we do want to think about at a certain point in time. >> but lying as the governor of new york is not disqualifying. >> depends about what. we all know politicians dissemble all the time about substantive issues and personal issues as well. it is a question of where, when, how, and on what issue. i think there's slightly greater subtlety to this in terms of the art of governance and how you

determine what people have done. >> one more. >> sure. >> an elected official, governor of new york, comptroller of new york, lying about his or her personal life when asked about it in a public capacity, that's fine? >> i didn't say it's fine. you asked if it was disqualifying. we're going down a path where it requires more time to parse out what that boundary is between the private and the public. i'll give you something that's disqualifying. if people lie about their taxes, not having paid their taxes and all the rest, that's disqualifying. >> but you lied about illegal activity. >> i lied about personal sexual activity, yes. i'm not trying to diminish it. >> you weren't lying about an affair. you were lying about illegal activity. >> okay. that's correct. >> but you're saying lying about illegal activity to you is not disqualifying. >> i will let the public make that determination. >> so when the public makes this determination, tell me why you chose this job to run for and what you would want to do with it. >> because i think the skills

that i have demonstrated in terms of capital markets, in terms of understanding finance, in terms of understanding budgets, understanding city government are applicable to this position. and i think that what i want to do with it is use the jurisdiction that is there, which relates to capital markets, pensions, ensuring they're safe, invested well, we get the returns we need. how ma are the policies working? we spend upwards of $60 billion a year. what are we getting back? in other words, are we asking the right questions? we spend year after year down certain paths and policies. are they working? that analytical question needs to be asked. so these are areas that can be very important and can contribute to the public debate. >> elliott, when you were attorney general, you obviously changed that position not just for new york state but nationwide. a lot of people, a lot of

lawyers decided they wanted to be ags even before they thought about running for governor. can we expect the same in this role, in this capacity? also, will you be echoing on the campaign trail what mark hal prin said earlier this morning which is this is a very weak field -- actually, maybe sam stein. this is a very weak field of candidates for mayor when you compare them to the last two people that have been in the office. you need all hands on deck moving forward to make sure this transition moves smoothly. >> well, look, let me say this. remember when bill clinton early on in new hampshire was one of the seven dwarves? people do emerge and fill roles in a way -- >> boy, we got that one right, didn't we? >> that's what i'm saying. it could be one of these candidates who are now more diminishing or the media are diminishing. i certainly hope that's the case for the sake of this city. i think it's a little premature to judge in this context.

i don't want to say i'm going to try to make the office an outsized position. i'm going to do what is right and necessary and important for that job, which is to be the fiscal watchdog, to guard the pension funds, to invest wisely, participate in corporate governanc governances, and to use a position that can be very important. >> so as personally as you can answer this question, don't give me a pet answer, one that you prepare in your mind, how are you different than you were five, six years ago? what has changed personally? >> a lot of pain. a lot of pain. >> that's it? >> yeah. you go through that pain, you change. >> still ahead, we're going to be talking to former president bill clinton, mayor rahm emanuel. what's going on in chicago with all the gun deaths? straight ahead, rock legend john mellencamp is going to join us

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behind these doors, america's future is being shaped. inside you'll find some of the world's most important teachers. these aren't ivy league universities. they're homes, and new research shows that what happens here during the first five years of your child's life will make a difference for the rest of his or her life. every parent has looked into their newborn baby's eyes and seen unlimited potential. and now we know how to help them achieve that. too small to fail is all about giving parents, families, businesses, and communities the tools we need to help all our children succeed. >> we've all heard of too big to fail, but this summer hillary clinton kicked off a new youth

education initiative, too small to fail. >> we smoke with former president bill clinton and also former white house chief of staff and current democratic mayor of chicago rahm emanuel. we asked them about a lot of different things, including this initiative. >> mr. president, let's start with you. we've read about too small to fail. looks like a very exciting concept and certainly is in line with what your wife has been talking about for years and what scientists have started to understand. we used to say, if you don't get to a child by the time they're 12, we lose them. then it was by the time they're 5 we lose them. more and more we're learning if we don't get to them by the time they're 2 or 3, we lose so much. >> well, we do know that an enormous part of the brain's internal architecture is formed in the first two or three years. we know there are some things that can be done by people if they work together in tight-knit communities without regard to the income of the families. but you've got to have the

involvement of parents and the community. i think that hillary believes a really big difference can be made just by organizing people to do very specific, practical things. based on the experience we've had and the fight against childhood obesity, i'd say she was right. she's excited about it. we're going to do what we can to support her. >> it's very exciting. rahm emanuel, this is, of course, a six-month anniversary of a very tragic date. six months ago in newtown, of course, 20 young children were killed in newtown, connecticut, while they were in first grade. you have been suffering through this sort of violence in chicago for some time. but good news on that front. over the past six months. tell us about it. >> well, first of all, it's a comprehensive strategy not different from what we took a page out of 1994 crime bill, whi which is about putting more

police on the streets and getting kids, guns and drugs off the street. we've had a saturation strategy with police. we've put 18,000 kids into after-school programs and summer jobs, activities and what we call windy city hoops. we've -- >> by the way, mr. mayor, we're showing a full screen right now that shows chicago homicides down 34% over the past year. go ahead, i'm sorry. >> actually, as of this morning, they're down 80 fewer homicides. the most important thing is what i call the four ps that associate with what the president just talked about. one is policing. two is parenting. that is parents have to teach your kids right from wrong. they have to have them indoors following the curfew laws we have here. third is prevention. after-school programs, investments in our children. a lot of kids want to do the right things. given the opportunity to do that, they'll choose the right thing. and stiffer penalties. when you commit a gun crime, you serve your time.

all of that just copied what the president initiated with the '94 crime bill that makes sure our police are on the street, both kids, guns and drugs are off the street, and if you do that, you'll start to see both the reduction in homicides that we're seeing in chicago, the reduction in shooting we're seeing, and overall crime is down to a record low we haven't seen since the '60s here in the city of chicago. the most important thing is involving parents in their children's lives. i've always said you give me 50,000 active fathers in their son's lives and you won't have to worry about how many prevention or police officers you have. that's what's missing and is an important ingredient. when you don't have it, you've got to support it with the right type of mentoring and prevention programs to keep our kids in safe places, mentored, and doing good activities. >> i want to ask both of you about the task force you're working on. first, mr. president, you've had some pretty forceful, tough words for our current president for not being more aggressive, if i can say, if i can

characterize that correctly, on syria. given the news of the past 24 hours, what do you think our options should be, and what would you like to see our strategy be? >> well, first of all, i thi think -- i've been a little amazed by the coverage of this. i just did a question and answer session for senator mccain's institute. the next or next to last question was something about syria. i said i didn't think we should give up on them. now that the iranians were in there clearly, overtly, with hezbollah coming out of lebanon, it's an external as well as internal fight. i think that we should support the rebel groups more vigorously. the white house announced that they intend to do that. i think that they also have now made a finding that sarin gas was used on several occasions. it looks to me like, first of

all, the president was entitled to finish his summit with the chinese president, get this finding, be briefed. they are now exploring their options. there's some logistical complications, as you might imagine, in getting more support into them. and he wants to talk to our allies and see whether they can help on that at this upcoming g-8 meeting. looks to me like this thing is trending in the right direction now. >> let's talk about infrastructure. obviously the united states, you fly in from overseas to the united states and sometimes you think you're going -- you're coming into a third-world country with some of our airport, our roads, our bridges. it's deplorable. >> well, here's the thing. you know, we met last year here in chicago. the president convened a group of mayors to discuss different ways to finance infrastructure, whether it's airports, mass transit system, parks, schools, roads, water systems. there's a dire need in america.

every city has it. it unlocks huge amounts of economic growth and job creation. every mayor has not only more needs than they have resources, but they have to look at creative ways to finance it. the president brought us together. we now have a working group of about 12 mayors under president clinton's jurisdiction and direction and are coming up with innovative ways to meet our needs because there's not the resources coming out of washington and our state capitals to meet all the obligations. the cities in these respective states are the ones driving the overwhelming economic energy and economic activity. we just made an announcement at our airport for the city of chicago. huge potential -- it's 3,000 jobs. when we keep o'hare in the forefront of economic modernization, it allows the rest of the economy, the city of chicago, to grow exponentially. the president's been very helpful for all of us, thinking through different ways of making these type of investments that have a multiplier effect on job

creation. we're doing it on our mass transit. when we're done in five years, every child is going to be within a seven-minute walk of a new park. that has huge potential for neighborhood development as well. >> i like it. >> let me just say one other thing about this. the one area where america, which generally is more of a free enterprise, let the private sector do it country than a lot of our european counterpart, even asian counterparts. the one area where we have lagged behind is in attracting private capital to public infrastructure. everything from water and sanitation systems to parks to modern airports and other transit. rahm has really pioneered this in chicago. when the infrastructure banquets used to have a great deal of bipartisan support seemed to be going nowhere in washington, which would use a little bit of public money to seed a lot of private money and guarantee a good rate of return. then he established, in effect, the country's first urban

infrastructure bank in chicago. he's got a lot of people across party lines and all sectors of the economy involved in it. so what we're trying to do is to get other cities to do the same thing. i think and hope if the congress takes up this tax reform issue, particularly on corporate tax reform, that they will look again at the infrastructure bank. it's a way to get a lot of private investment into doing public infrastructure. the investors will make money, and america's economy will grow and a whole lot of good jobs will be created. >> coming up, what it'll take to get congress to work together in 2014. >> a miracle. >> the co-chair of the bill and melinda gates foundation, bill gates, joins us when we return. >> later, we have a conversation with emmy award winning actor jeff daniels. always a lot of fun. this time you interviewed him and not in his motor home. >> i was not. easier to get a new 2014 jetta.

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the endless cycle of partisan bickering has approval rating for congress at all-time lows. we spoke to microsoft co-founder bill gates about how to get washington back on track. >> i can recall years ago being in cambodia where nutrition is always a degree of difficulty beyond our imaginations. getting nutrition advice to people on the ground in places like africa, getting vaccines to people on the ground in places

like africa. what is the degree of difficulty in that, given the fact that we are technologically amazing, but they are in the dark ages? >> well, technology can make these things simpler. for example, if we have to keep vaccines cold, you come up with a magic thermos to keep them cold. >> what's a magic thermos? >> you don't want to have to require electricity. we take for granted that transport is reliable, communication is reliable and you have electricity. in these clinics, you're going to have electricity a very small part of the time. so we have to have tools that work even in that environment. >> and so tell us a little bit more then in terms of back to polio, which fun fact, whose birthday is it today? >> franklin roosevelt's birthday today. >> i know you wanted to interject that. >> thank you. i've waited two hours.

>> it's unbelievable. but there are obstacles as well. >> saving the country is not enough to get your birthday mentioned? defeating hitler is not enough? >> well, and fdr was key on polio. the whole march of dimes was started by fdr. he got hollywood involved. that raises the money to get the original vaccine. that's why we can say we're close to finishing the job. >> he got it mid-life. are there any differences in terms of ages where it strikes around the world? >> yeah, if you get it when you're older, the chance of being paralyzed is much higher. of course, if you're crippled in a poor country, the effect on your life is really quite horrific. i met one of the last to get polio in india. she was 3 and didn't understand what it was going to mean for

her in the years ahead. >> the foundation has these enormous resources that, you know, nick has written about and you travel the world helping millions of people. what happened internally with you, with regard to the foundation, the decision to do all this? did you just wake up one morning and say, i'm tired of microsoft, i'm going to spend all this money on this? what happened? >> i've always been an optimist and believed in innovation. my time at microsoft, you know, i got to back great science and see the impact. the only change here was to say, how can that innovation help those most in need? so instead of a computer, now it's a vaccine. it's a new seed that's more productive. so in terms of scientists talking about what do we do, backing them, looking at mistakes and fixing those, my job is almost the same now. it's just that the goals are measured more in reducing childhood deaths than having the best piece of software for office workers.

>> we're going to talk about that in a second. go ahead. >> one of the interesting thi is that's happened in the last 20 years, and i think bill and maielinda gates are a huge part about it, is this rise in ngo-driven foreign policy. can you talk about the connection between what the american private sector is doing for our public image and public policy abroad? >> well, i think that the direction everybody's going into is much more public-private partnerships because that is where you get more bang for the buck. if you look at polio eradication, for example, then in contrast to smallpox eradication, this is really happening, in a great deal in partnership with governments but also groups like the bill and melinda gates foundation. one of the things that really concerns me is that foreign aid is going to be dropping now. humanitarian aid is going to be dropping. but to some extent, these groups are going to be able to pick up the pieces. i've got to tell you, in his obituary, the pc is going to be

the latter part of that. the work he's done on malaria, on a.i.d.s. -- >> does it feel comfortable he's written your obituary? >> it's a graft. >> good morning, bill. >> i hope there's a lot more to be put in there. the part about government generosity is important to highlight. even as philanthropy comes in, government aid is key. u.s. aid, even though it's way below what it should be, is ten times what my foundation spends internationally. as we're looking at budget trade-offs, the question of do vaccines for poor children, which are part of that aid budget, do a.i.d.s. drug keep people alive? do they remain a priority? that's really up for grabs. >> may i ask what you all have learned that's been most striking to you about american education as you've done this work. >> well, what's fascinating is that teachers get no feedback.

that is, they may be really good at one part of their job and not another part of their job, but we haven't created a system where observers come in and watch what they do, where we ask the students about their perceptions. so we have a sense we're taking the very best teachers and spreading those best practices. the difference between the best and the average is very drama c dramatic. if we could move people up to be the top quartile, we'd be by far the best in the world. our teachers get the least feedback of any, and we've got to change that. we've got to help them learn from each other. >> you were, i guess, at a politico interview and you suggested that on some days, even though our system works better than great britain's system, you say on some days you almost wish the president had a little bit more power in the system because that way people could vote up or down parties. do you think one of the problems

we've had over the past decade is just how divided our government is and how divided our country is? >> absolutely. you know, it's a concern. our system has worked so fantastically over hundreds of years. worked better than anyone else's system, including the u.k. so, you know, i hope that the self-correction where we'll elect people more in the middle or who are more focused on getting things done, that it emerges. right now it does feel dysfunctional. not only is that a concern for the u.s., the whole world looks to us as the leader. they want us to do things well, to set an example, to be able to keep being generous and have a model of excellence. even in things like health care where we've had such challenges. so, you know, it's definitely got to be concerning, and do you

see signs that people are moving back towards a pragmatic look at solving budget issues. >> coming up, we have john mellencamp and stephen king. they team up for an unlikely music adventure. we'll get the story mind that collaboration coming up next. a subaru... ...are the hands that do good things for the whole community: the environment, seniors, kids, and animals.

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♪ >> that was hall of fame singer, song writer john mellencamp performing a track. >> it's a project he worked on with stephen king and t-bone

burnett. we spoke with all three men earlier this year. >> let's be clear, it's a southern, supernatural gospel musical. it's set in mississippi. talk about it. >> joe, what happened is i owned a cabin. after i bought the cabin, this is a real story -- after i bought the cabin -- >> by the way, you don't have to say that. we make the politicians say that. >> what's that? >> this is a true story. we make them clarify. you're a musician, an artist. >> i lie all the time. >> so this is a true story. >> i buy this cabin. after the buy the cabin, the people i bought it from say, by the way, the place is haunted. i went, yeah, sure. so we fix it up. i have two little boys. i think, you know, we'll just go there. it's like 45 minutes from my house. it's on a lake. so we go there. it was weird. i mean, i didn't like staying there. so it was -- i didn't believe in that stuff. they give me these -- remember they used to have those private

detective magazines back in the '30s and '40s. you find all the awful stuff that's happened in the country. anyway, so they give me these magazines of this building that these two boys were in there. they were drunk, they were fighting over a girl. one hit one over the head with a poker, killed his brother. the boy and the girl get in a car to drive away. they're driving real fast on a gravel road in the '40s, lose control, they die in a lake. that's the story i told steve. >> did this happen in your cabin that you bought? >> yeah, yeah. >> t-bone, tell us about the musical side of this story. >> it's swampy and dark. had to be atmospheric and foggy. smokey. so, you know, you get to play with a lot of tone. >> we didn't want to get a big "phantom of the opera" feel. we wanted an american music thing. a smaller acoustic kind of deal.

>> rosanne cash, sheryl crow, elvis costello. great range of musicians on here. >> that was basically t-bone's -- was able to pull all these people together. what steve and i had been mucking around with this thing for 10, 12, 13 years. we needed somebody to come in and say, this is working, this is not working. so henry was able to kind of come in and help, you know, with -- and direct the music and was able to stop back and go, this part of the story is not working. so he really kind of came in and was able to help steve and help me. he's been a tremendous amount of success. >> t-bone, how many people do you let call you henry? does jan get a pass? >> my friends call me henry. >> okay. that might be why he's got the

black eye. >> this is from a small town. not much to do in the evenings. >> you got to stay busy, man. you got to stay busy. can't just sit at home on the couch watching "wheel of fortune." . >> apparently the guy that gave me this was busier than me. >> i guess so. we also see here kris kristofferson. that's a great one. to get kris back out there. >> kris is one of our very greatest song writers, isn't he? since hanks williams, there hasn't been a greater song writer. certainly meryl haggard and kris kristofferson. it's an honor to john that kris would come sing his song and elvis. niko is one of our best record makers. she makes the most extraordinarily beautiful, deep-sounding records. she's a deep soul too.

>> to get all these people to do it. >> i think he had ten years to write them. it's like a greatest hits record in a way. a lot of albums -- you know, albums were historically a short period of time or gathered over a short period of time. now we've got a century of recorded music in all different ways. this is a big, long time to put together a group of tunes. >> steve said it best, you know. most creative people dig a trench and decorate it and stay in it for the rest of their lives. this was an opportunity for the three of us to get out of our trenches, do something different. for me, "ghost brothers" is already a success. over the last 15 years, steve king has become like my brother. >> there you go. >> i don't play well with the other kids, as you can tell. >> i can tell.

>> oh, definitely, i can tell. look at you. >> but steve and i, have we even had -- maybe one argument. >> you know what? i mean, john doesn't have much patience with people who can't pull a plow. we pulled the plow together. t-bone got in there and pulled the plow. the three of us worked together pretty well. >> still ahead, hbo's "the news room" tries to capture what it feels like to work in the world of cable news. we'll see how it compares to the real thing when the star of the series jeff daniels joins us onset. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> if your congressman or senator or chairman of the house financial services wanted to hear demands, who would they meet with? >> we are not looking for a meeting. >> i'm trying to find the virtue of a legalist movement where everyone's voice is heard. >> that isn't the point. we want them to look at occupy wall street and ask the question, why is this happening? >> what happens after people ask themselves? are. >> change, we hope. >> how? >> the same way change always happened. >> what is the best case scenario? >> that it doesn't end?

>> even if you put them in jail and overturn a court decision and give everybody money. you will be sleeping in the park? >> i don't think you are taking this seriously. >> any chance because you are not? >> from the newsroom. to discuss the state of cable news. >> i'm not telling tales out of school. just say i gave you the tools. >> it did and it has a mirror. >> you drive it yourself. they have a private jet? >> you drive around michigan. >> i load the dogs and my wife kathleen -- >> that's not the first time either. whenever you have a project. >> is this a john madden thing

that you don't like flying or you can take a part of your home with you wherever you go. >> a little bit of that. i can't stand one more time of going through tsa at the airport where they pat me down and look up every crevice and say god, i love your movies. >> nicole is now watching the summer reruns after watching it already. she has seen every episode 12 or 13 times. what is it about the newsroom that connections with people? what do they want when they turn on the and from an anchor like you? >> from the show, what aaron sorkin does so well and with the pace and the dialogue, it's like a verbal car chase. whether you know it or not, he is grabbing and pulling you in.

really dragging you through and you are trying to keep up with us. >> what have you learned about what it takes to do what we do. >> you guys really -- i admire all of you and all the networks when break news happens and you have to go on and you have no notes and you have to talk for ten minutes on a breaking story. you are flying by the seat of your pants. that's where the professionalism that got you guys here. >> i have none of that, but everyone else. >> i'm speaking specifically. >> can we have a one-shot here? >> i agree. >> the journalistic moments laid on my bed.

there is a mirror. i said i need to leave the room. >> i have news chops. by the way, you and i covering breaking news is better than just me. >> nobody is going to believe it. i will hopefully be the dumb and dumber sequel. but mika is. dumb and dumber. the sequel? >> imagine the whiplash mentally. >> mary dun. >> you have to pay for gas. >> exactly. >> i tell you what. you know what dumb and dumber is. it's a cartoon. life is hard and full of tragedy and unfair and at the end you sit down and -- it looks like

fun. i went to walter reed a couple of times and you go room to room with the soldiers. the guys with no legs and arm and you go to them and they all wanted to talk about dumb and dumber. not because they are stupid, but they wanted to make me laugh. jim agrees there is a great value in something that does that. i'm glad you are doing that. >> we are so blessed. >> thank you for your patience. >> every single -- >> it's unbelievable. >> a special edition. it's nice to be here. we will see you again tomorrow. stay tuned for your live breaking news here on msnbc. honestly, as much as i love this job, i plan to do a lot more. i needed a new laptop for my pre-med classes, something that runs office and has a keyboard. but i wanted a tablet for me, for stuff like twitter and xbox,

so my downtime can be more like uptime. that's why i got a windows 2 in 1 which does both -- works as a laptop and a tablet. so i can manage my crazy life, and also have a life. [ beep ] gotta go. ♪

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>> happy new year, everybody. how did you ring in 2014? 10:00 is the new midnight for me. as the world marked january 1st, revellers in times square, they saw sonia sotomayor drop the famed crystal ball. hours earlier she ruled against an obamacare requirement. we will talk about that and have the latest on barbara bush's condition after being admitted to a texas hospital. it's a live human being. let's look at the celebrations across the world. we will bring it to you