make it yourself aloha. ♪ all right. thanks for starting your pre holiday weekend with us. president obama, 16-day christmas vacation, officially

begins this morning. he's on vacation right now. he arrived just a few hours ago in his birth state of hawaii, where he and the rest of the first family will get r&r until next year, until 2015. before skipping town obama had one piece of business at the white house. his final news conference of 25 f 2014. obama took questions for an hour. on the sony sieger attack, and blamed the company for the release of "the interview." we'll have more on that. the president defended his decision to restore diplomatic relationship with cuba. >> what i know, deep in my bones, is if you've done the same thing for 50 year, and nothing has changed, you should try something different if you want a different outcome. >> and on his prospects of getting anything accomplished with republicans now in charge of both houses of congress, he said this. >> i'm being absolutely sincere saying i want to work with this

new congress to get things done, to make those investments to make sure the government is working better and smarter. >> and the president's doan r tone and body language were a bit of surprise. he was relaxed and jokey at times, forceful in others and surprisingly confident throughout all especially when you consider the drubbing his party took at the polls last month. joining me now is our panel for today. we have rb strategist, mercedes, and let's start with the biggest news about sony and north korea. we have a little bit of news this morning. let's start by playing a little bit of the president talking about sony and his few making a mistake in the decision it made. >> i'm sympathetic. sony is a corporation. it -- suffered significant damage. they their were threats against some employees. i am sympathetic to the concerns

that they faced. having said all of that, yes, i think they made a mistake. >> the president also said that he wished sony had spoken to him first but now, sony's ceo michael linton is speaking out in an interview with cnn that he just gave. he responded to what the president had to say yesterday. >> in this instance, the president, the press, and the public, are mistaken as to what actually happened. we do not own movie theaters. we cannot determine whether or not a movie will be played in movie theaters. >> linton also saying people in sony had been in contact with a senior white house adviser, not the president himself but there had been contact between the white house and sony before the decision. a little more complexity. we start to get the sony side of this story. obviously still playing out. in terms of the president yesterday, and how he addressed

this issue, what did you make of it evan? >> i think there are other ways to put movies out besides putting them in the movie theaters. the white house had been pretty adamant throughout. they had been talking about this. i think one of the interesting things we're into is this world of this kind of cyberwar. we don't really have any kind of ways to have really satisfying ways to sort of fight back or punch back. so the idea of saying, you should show this james franco movie. that sort of the way we can say, this is how we stand up to the north koreans in this case. there's not a lot of other things the president can say. we can't attack north korea. we can't do much to them digitally. there's not a lot of stuff going on over there. so this is his sort of moment to say, this is how we're going to respond to this. >> except he didn't call it the james franco movie. he called it the james flacco. >> he seemed to be confusing

james franco with joe flacco to tweet this. this is joe flacco saying, welcome to the family, brother. i don't know if james franco responded. for the president to be there. the consensus seems to be, sony screwed up. sony caved. the president channeling that. isn't it surprising for the president to second guess a corporation like that? >> i don't know that it is. i can recall obama second-guessing major corporate decisions before. i think it's perfectly within the place of the president. what do you think this major american corporation, this major american subsidiary of the corporation, what did they do? what do you think about it? >> i think they made a mistake. especially since being in the public conversation. it is something, everyone is sort of commenting on. so, you know, even if there's no particular policy thing that comes from it.

it's within his place. it would be kind of weird if he was asked that. he is saying, i am the president and i can't talk about that. >> if i were the president, i would say, go strong against north korea. saying we're not going to be taken hostage, not bullied in the u.s. by you bringing hackers here and threatening one of our major corporations. sure, sony didn't handle the crisis communications the best way. they are managing the fallout of the release of the social security numbers of their employees, they were dealing with a major crisis. they made it very clear they called the white house. who was that white house official that forgot, oops, to tell president obama that they had spoken with sony. the government does have a responsibility and to that point, senator diane feinstein came out saying, this is why for six year' we've been trying to push a cybersecurity legislation through the senate. harry reid did not take it up and there's an urgent issue to

tackle this issue now. >> both sides using this to talk about what they want to see happen. the work they want to see done. obama spending on infrastruct e infrastructure, and both sides sort of jockeyed this inge this. >> i think the question, mercedes gets this. it's interesting, the response towards north korea, we're getting signs from the president and white house, that there will be some kind of proportionate in their view, response. north korea did this. what does that mean? >> right. disrupt the north korean film industry? >> right. >> who is the james frac coof north korea. >> that's right. the flacco of north korea. >> i made a lot of calls. it's hard with a country as isolated as north korea that doesn't have the connections, you can't cut them off. people with the leadership. they like american movies but that seems to be this is

difficult to figure out and also there's a world in which the proportion al response will be a cyberor digital response. you go to a country where we've all seen pictures of the night time. south korea versus north korea. this is not a place you did do damage with a hack attack. it's interesting dynamic what to do. you see the president go hard against sony. that's where the president can say, i'm the president, we need to push back. you should have shown the movie. that's what you should have done. >> i mean, we can laugh at it. it's what can you do to north korea in terms of the film industry, but at the same time, there is -- it's a serious breach of security what has happened here and there's this sort of incentive that's been given to north korea or anybody else that, hey, you can get results from this. >> i think part of this -- i'm kind of unsure what the government can do to preempt these things. i think what this is a lesson,

people should be more secure. i mean, with the details of the sony hack. sony apparently had a -- something on its server called passwords. this is obviously a company not thinking very much. >> and it brings up the issue of the corporations being vulnerable to today's attacks. quite frankly our comfort is going to make sure the hackers don't attack the government but corporations are on their own. this is an opportunity for private sector and government to come together, figure out the best way. this is a national threat. not only could it impact corporations, it could impact every day americans. i think it really brings up a larger picture how we are going to tackle this problem through legislation, figuring out how we can stop this national security threat coming into our nation. >> after ceos having their e-mails leaked.

i guarantee you it's a good time to be an expert effort in hollywood right now. >> we'll have more on this in the show. i want to get more to what he said at the press conference. one thing that came up. the president asked about the relationship with the republicans, a working relationship now that they are taking over congress p. republicans, he put pressure on them to compromise with him. we will play a clip from that yesterday. i think we can play a clip -- never mind. we're not going to play a clip from yesterday. so, i think i need people here to compromise with me. so, the president was asked in light of the immigration action, we have all of these threats from republicans, if you do this relationship between us, is basically dead. he said look we can go forward. there's room to compromise here. in terms of -- we said the conference at the press conference yesterday, the conference that he slowed in

making the deal, it's very striking after the very kind of mid-term defeat that he had. he emerged from this almost emboldened. >> part of me thinks he might be glad. take the immigration act. it's perfectly example. prior to the mid-terms, he had to worry about democrats in louisiana. democrats running for office in georgia. democrats in north carolina. you have this regionally broad coalition you have to worry about. actions like that could harm it, fray it. they lost. >> well, you know, whatever. the idea of this decision -- every decision has to be weighed against -- i have incumbents in every state where's they don't like me, they don't like your party. >> now we have a much cheap smaller party in congress, mostly liberal house members. you sort of have the political room to go forward. because, you know, president

obama said he wants to work with a republican, i think he knows that the odds of anything productive happening in the next two years, anything big. tax reform, immigration, are very, very low. so, this is the perfect time. this is really the perfect time to sort of move forward with these actions that can be done without any congressional -- >> how do republicans deal with this? >> first of all, i think with the president taking such unilateral action on immigration. moving forward on cuba without congress. not consulting any cuban american members that he will take this action. republicans feel insulted. they feel they should be part of these conversations and compromises. with that being said, i'm hoping the republicans don't get stuck. there's a lost work to be done in congress. there's room for compromise. when you look at tax reform, the criminal justice reform. there's certain things you can look at and say where is our meeting ground.

where can we move forward on the very important issues. i think speaker boehner and mitch mcconnell will be very focused on the economy and continuing to boost the economy with legislation and they're going to be forceful in pushing for legislation to the president and seeing if he's going to veto. we see it with the keystone pipeline which is one of the things senator mitch mcconnell said they will bring out. >> we talked about sony. the other big story internationally an the united states, cuba. we're going to get to that as soon as we come back. [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans.

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we are hearing more reaction this morning from cubans about president obama's announcement that the u.s. will normalize relations with cuba. we're live in havana you tell us what the latest is down there in

terms of how the locals are reacting. jacob. >> they don't want to talk about politics. the political consequences of a cuba-us relation. they're concerned how does this affect my life on a day-to-day basis. some people talk about baseball and ballet. many cubans are got goode at that. but to do that in the u.s. they have to defect. now that might change. for the most part. will this change the phone that i carry, the food that i eat or the car that i buy. they are concerned about how the economy will change and for most people, most of whom have only known life under the castros, they believe this is a step in the right direction. they seem genuinely excited. again, they don't want to talk about politics. some fear retaliation, if there's any tension. it's apprehension whether it changes, will actually come to

pass. reaction from the government is very interesting, state tv, the head line is, cuban free. by the way, we'll work on cuba-u.s. relations. from castro, that's what we're getting. he's calling this a victory. this is a victory lap for him and with a nod with fidel. they are looked at as heroes here but on the streets again, it is how will this improve my life day-to-day. will we get more tourists. will i get more client for my taxi, will i get a better phone, better food, will i get better clothes, a better car? that's what people are talking about here. >> havana, a city a lot of americans might become familiar with soon. the cuba situation has created a stir in domestic politics and not necessarily along the partisan lines. rand paul took to twitter and set his sights on marco rube bow

a fellow republican and one of fiercest critics of the cuba policy. hey, marco rubio if the embargo doesn't hurt it, why do you want to keep it? he's acting like a isolationist. i reject this isolationist. rand paul calling someone else an isolationist for once. i mean, it really is -- rand paul sensed a -- i mean, obviously he has a policy disagreement but he sensed a political opportunity in the republican party saying the republican party, hard-lined anticommunist. anticastro republican party is open to a different message on cuba. >> i'm spoked, quite frankly. look at jeb bush who spoke about the embargo and understands about the struggles of the cuban people as well as senator marco

rube bow. for rand paul to go after him. i can relate to this. my father was a prisoner for six years in cuba. they tortured him in the jails in cuba. for someone on the outside to come in and point fingers at senator marco rubio, i believe he gave an incredible explanation why only benefits quote, unquote normalizing relations for cuba are the two castro brothers who tortured people. i can't believe like the senate democrats have not stood up to be like oh, my god there's torture, these cuban people are living day-to-day trying to figure out how to survive because guess who is rationing the food? the cuban government. i think rand paul needs to step back. i think it will hurt him -- >> that message, you know, he --

in the republican party, can rand paul, with that message. some people say ice lacism. i want to trade with countries. i want business relation with them. that's what will be thrown against him. can he win the argument in the republican party? he's a cool guy. i was watching a clip where ron paul was talking about cuba. all of the other republicans in 2012 are all talking about how good the embargo -- how good the policy is. a firm anti-cuba policy. and rand ball is saying, i'm a tra traitor. it's interesting. >> one of the things we watched

is how rand paul would have a bit more credibility. get a nomination, as opposed to rand paul -- >> he's a savvy politician. >> on the cuba issue he's where his dad was. watch tweets versus this debate clip back-to-back. it's very, very similar position. it's interesting to see how that might play out. >> we'll talk about this later, too. the polling on this. look how this is polled. we'll see how the actual announcement goes in the days ahead. you look at the idea of opening up the relationship with cuba. it polls very well. especially when you get outside the core republicanen base. rand paul is talking in waste of some issues, very different from what we expect from other republicans. he stands out in a way that makes people stand out outside of the republican base and notice, this is interesting. >> hand paul is consciously speaking to younger voters. if you were born after 1975,

you, at the oldest, you have a faint memory of this. but when i was in elementary school the soviet union is dead. people look at the cuba policy and say why are we doing this. rand paul is speak and saying, yeah. this is not a good idea. this is dumb. you should get rid of it. i also say, the republican party, this could hurt him. because i think republicans as a whole are supercommited to the scuba policy, because he's so outside of the other foreign policy issues. if rand paul were a neoconservative. he could do this and it would be fine. but he's so -- he runs against so much of the other republican foreign policy position, that this is just another reminder of that. >> this is the ninth thing, he can say he's outside on this.

>> it's called obama's cuban paul. have it's fascinating his heating marco rubio. why are you going after your senate colleague. >> because rubio criticized him. he was watching it and got very upset by it. >> hey, marco rubio -- >> honestly. >> it really was. >> he passes by, hey, marco rubio. >> it's just a new way of campaigning for office now. >> it's huge, right? boom, there it is. >> maybe it's his future. we'll talk to all three of you again next hour. up next, a cobert nation says good-bye to their fearless leader. stay with us. ...the getaway vehicle!

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♪ happy to know i will sing this song ♪ ho, ho, ho! >> first of all, that song has been in my head since thursday night. that was just great. anyway, besides riding off into the sunset to take over for david letterman. the case to be made for the real finale came before the thursday night sendoff on the show's second to the last episode. >> so you can be more truthful by making things up? >> yes. >> this from a man who began the show nine years ago by introd e introducing the word truthiness. it made it into the dictionary and was word of the year. he created his own superpac at one point calling americans for a better tomorrow tomorrow. actually making campaign finance reform entertaining.

he gave that famous speech at the white house correspondence dinner in 2006. he teamed up for the massive rally to restore sanity and/or fear and the surprising celebrity sing-along to "we'll meet again." with a seemingly endless line, tom brokaw, big bird. at least 50 more. that really stole the show and now colbert face a new challenge. he retired the colbert character but now going to host late night every night. we'll meet the real steven cobert. we're joined by norm orsteen who you may have seen in the choir. if you look closely, there he is. he was among the special celebrity choir. norm, let me start with you. i think everybody out there is a little curious how this all came ba. about. can you take us behind the scene

s? what did they tell you? take us their. >> i'll do olympics of name-dropping. >> i have been in contact with emily, who was the booker for the show for all nine years and is quite remarkable herself. what i was told was steven wants some of his favorite guests to be on and you'll be singing this song. i have no idea who else would be there or how many would be there. this was probably a month ago. >> they said, don't talk about this. we want to keep what we are going to be doing a surprise, so i didn't. i was basically just told to show up at 5:00 on the day, and i got there, and walked in, and checked in with sam waterston. went to a green room where i chatted with tom friedman and terry gross and lesley stahl,

then i go out to a rehearsal and sit next to brian cranston and have a chat and yo-yo ma coming up saying, i don't really sing very well. i said that's okay, i don't play the cello. and it went on from there. the most remarkable away of people since steve kornaki dined alone. >> i'm going back and i watched the video so many times, nancy, i said oh, there's de blasio, the mayor you don't even see. i want to talk about colbert's future. i want to stay on the finale. i watched that. it's perfect. i wish i had been at that party. don't you wish? the check of people he had reflects how broad his interesting are and how smart he is. and how goofy to have big bird next to doris concekearns.

to be part of that group and be joyous, it could be a good segue into what is happening next. he's going to bring a lot of intellect and brightness. that wasn't to say letterman was in a class by himself but to a new job. >> what are you expecting. because he -- we only know him as this caricature of bill o'reilly. now he's got an hour every night. what is he? >> the first thing i heard when they hired him at cbs which i worked for and happy he'll be there. the first thing i heard, he's not going to do the character anymore. i was depressed because some small thing that's really, really funny goes big, and we love you for that but we can't do that anymore. i was a little confused. i don't know how that will be. i think he's an interesting guy. i think he has broad interests. he's really smart but i loved

that character, i thought through that character, he could go so many different places. i don't know he'll be able to go as himself. >> i mean, we can't -- he's so incredibly creative. just the way that finale went. it was simultaneously goofy and zany but so touching in the song. it's perfect. we chose the old bob hope thing. i'm curious, you've been on the show. you're a fan of this. what do you expect stephen colbert to be like on cbs? >> i think he'll do just fine. one reason is, he's just a really good person. a nice guy, with a great family. not everybody who goes into comedy is a functional personality. but, you know, he and john stuart, my body, al franken, are all stable family people and good people. stephen is so creative. so warm and nice, so smart and funny. i think all of those things will

translate into a different kind of show than he's been doing, but i just think people are going to bond with him and my guess, he'll find different ways, different layers of creativity to bring to this that will make it a bit of a twist on these late night show, too. so, i'm very confit dents that he's going to be a big success. >> final question, norm. how was the after party? >> you know, the only problem with the after party was so many of these after party, dim lights, pulsating live music. you have trouble with conversations. segueing in conversation from, you know, i just walk over and get into a chat with jimmy wales, the man who funded w wikipedia. >> willie nelson was there. >> it goes on and on. it was surreal to be with people from so many different areas who

excel at things. you pinch yourself to be a part of this. >> nancy and i are living vicariously. >> we got to watch it. i want to thank you both for being part of the show this morning. it will be interesting to see if one tradition will carry over when stephen colbert replaces david letterman. this one -- ♪ please come home ♪ christmas ♪ the church bells ring >> that's the great darlene love. she's sung "please come home for christmas" for the last 28 years back when the show was called late night. she performed on the late show with david letterman last night for the last time. coming up we return to the world of politics with the most surprising dallas cowboys cheerleader you've ever seen. it involves politics. we'll tell you who it is, next.

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. mass protest in arrests in milwaukee overnight to tell you about. police arresting 74 protesters after they blocked freeway traffic for more than an hour during evening rush hour last night. protests calling for chargers to be brought against a police officerer who fatally shot african-american 14 times in milwaukee park in april. he was sleeping in the park last twinge when police were called to the scene and deadly confrontation ensued. the mayor condemned the tactics saying tonight's demonstration crossed the line of lawful protest and put the lives of demonstrators and general public in harm's way. earlier this week the governor said he's ready to bring in the national guard to after prosecutors announced their decisionment we'll bring you more here on msnbc as it continues to develop. stay with us.

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hosted the dallas cowboys last sunday night. it was a surprise visitor in the luxury box of jerry jones and chris christie a life-long cowboys fan. christie is a governor of new jersey where most of the southern half of the state cheers hard for the eagles and giants fans in the north despised cowboys. reacting to christi's decision, dick vermeil said, quote, how dumb can a governor be. you have to realize this community, new jersey community there are a ton of fans. philadelphia city councilman criticized christie's weight and called him a creep. saying he was being honest in showing his true colors. >> i call it as i see it. i'm not going to be one of these politics who changes their sports team loyalties just to score political points. >> and then christie went a step further and announced he will be flying to dallas this weekend to

cheer on the cowboys in person when they play host to the colts sunday afternoon. so as christie rubbing it in the faces of dallas-hating new jersey constituents or being refreshingly honest here in a way most politicians are afraid to be. joining me we have former pennsylvania governor msnbc contributor and die-hard philadelphia eagles fan, ed rendell. so die-hard heath he's hosting the postgame show for years now. that's the kind of die-hard fan we're talking about. i know you like the eagles. you probably didn't see the like see the governor in the cowboys box. i look at this and say it's refreshing. i don't like politics who pretend they like the local team to impress voters. i like a politician who says i know you are fans of this team, but this is where my heart is. anything wrong with that? >> first of all there's something wrong with a kid who

grows up in new jersey becoming a cowboys fan. it shows a personality disorder. when i was growing up the yankees won every time. they won more than the rest of the franchises put together. i hated when you would go to other cities and people in philadelphia were yankee fans. what's wrong with you? the thing about being a sports fan, you suffer with your team and suffering makes victory even sweeter. when the phillies blew a six and a half game lead. philadelphia went into a decades-long funk which didn't end until we won the world series in 1980. it was like liberation. it was like we were freed. you have to suffer. cowboys fans, and chris christie became a cowboys fan. they were a team that always won. you pick a winner. what's wrong -- you are getting into something there. you go back to the '70s. it's america's team. >> and they won awful the time.

>> sure. i wouldn't have picked them as a team. there's probably a lot of kids in new jersey who picked the cowboys as their team. >> yes, but they were wusss. governor christie say wuss. let's say it's okay to be a cowboys fan but shows to me a deep personality disorder. secondly you don't rub if into the face of your constituents. root for the cowboys but don't sit next to jerry jones and don't high five jerry jones when the cowboys score. i write a sports column for the daily news here. the most popular, i boroughed from david letterman. top ten reasons why we hate the cowboys. you know what number one was? >> what was it? >> jerry jones. we hate jerry jones. he was sitting there sucking up to jerry jones and the cowboys went to the eagles and they scored. he's high fiving he jerry jones.

if south jersey nights could have gotten to him they would have torn him lim from lim. >> this is a sports radio show. >> i wish we had christie here. you could give it back and forth pretty good. let me ask you this. this is interesting, you're a die-hard philadelphia fan. you are a governor of a state that has two nfl teams. you have steelers in the west and philadelphia in the east. there's a lot of politicians who come from state like that. there's multiple teams and rooting interests. they are terrified. a new york city politician is terrified, saying i love the giants and jets. you have the bills in western new york. how did you balance being a die-hard philadelphia fan with having the steelers in the west? >> there are two super bowls, '05 and '08 where it looked like there's a chance the eagles play the steelers because they were both in the nfc championship games and it never came to pass. i made it abundantly clear in pittsburgh. look, i root for the steelers in

the afc. i root for the steelers all of the time until they play the eagles. i've been a season ticket holder for the eagles for 30 year. what kind of bum would i be if i said steelers/eagles, i'm going to be neutral. by the way. most fans accept that. you're rooting for your home town team. what we couldn't understand, is why a jersey guy who grew up as a tough, ruff and tumble jersey kid, root for the quiche eating, win-sipping dallas fans, he's a beer and hoagie guy, he's a jersey guy. i went to one cowboys game, i sat in ross perot's box and they served brie, brie? >> there's no quiche and win? philly? >> no quiche and wine served in the stadium. absolutely not. we are cheese steak beer soft

pretzel guy. >> didn't they do arraignments -- >> when i was mayor, we had a court in the stadium to deal with drunks and intoxicated -- >> what's great about being a fan, is you live and die with your team. you don't pick your team because they always win. you pick your team because, on the front of their jersey it says your home town and in south jersey, did you see "silver linings playbook"? >> sure. >> south jersey -- eagles belong to south jersey like they belong to philadelphia, delaware county. those fans bleed for the birds. to sit next to jerry jones. good lord. >> i loved ""silver linings playbook"." the one thing they got wrong. the bookie is not going to make money because everybody is betting on the eagles. >> former pennsylvania governor

ed rendell. i appreciate it. would love to see you and chris christie on your postgame show someday. >> we would love to have him on. >> i'll be right back to go over to the big board after this. ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste.

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the steps that we took early on to rescue our economy and rebuild it helped make 2014 the strongest year for job growth sin the 1990s. >> that's president obama closing out his career with a press conference yesterday. we figured we could would close out the political year of our own with the big board today. take a look at where american politics stands as 2014 closes and american politics starts to get ready for 2016. that's already begun. as you know. let's start with the president himself. he held his year-ending press conference, ends the year with his approval rating. 45% disapproval rating, 50%. we've seen numbers like this for the president for a long time.

let's look forward a little bit. we asked the question. this is from this week's msnbc news. we got buried in the news and show you numbers. the question was asked, okay, the next president the one we elect in 2016, do you want that president to be similar to president obama or different? see what the result came back as. you can see 23%. saying they want the next president to be similar. 71% saying a different approach. how does that compare historically? how much of an appetite for a different approach is there out there? when bill clinton was out there. near the end of the second term around the same time. basically the same question was asked if the same poll, there you see it was even. country was basically divided whether they wanted someone similar to clinton. this was after the whole monica lewinsky impeachment. more as we see now, more of an appetite for change than there was heading into 2000.

let's look at some names out there. obviously a field for 2016. the question was asked. in "the wall street journal" poll, could you see yourself supporting the following people for president? this is now how the horse race is. it's about, is it possible to support them? there's a big gap. this is why we're seeing hillary clinton so far ahead in the democratic side. sort of polarizing. half the country said no, they couldn't support it. there are 50% who said yes. look at other democrats, big names at least. joe biden is 35 points under water. elizabeth warren, not as well known but starts out a little bit. hillary clinton obviously the best position there. you would also look at that and say that is by no means any kind of lock for the general election when half the country is basically saying no, we can't see ourselves supporting her right now. let's take a look at republicans. same question about the republican field. look at the results there.

look at this. mitt romney clocking 60% saying no, we couldn't support him. here's the most interesting. jeb bush making news this week. taking steps towards running for president, forming the exploratory committee. sending clear signals he's interested in running. the whole pitch for bush, we have an opportunity to win in 2016. 71%, we showed you earlier. 71% want a different approach than president obama. jeb bush can put the money together. that's the guy who is electable. 57% of the country saying in this poll, no. we couldn't see ourselves supporting jeb bush. only 31% saying yes. if you look at four big name republican survey here the the best number, this is a rel river term, the best number you're seeing is rand paul. he's the only one where less than 50%. less than half of saying they wouldn't see supporting him in 2016. that's not a great number. he's not as well known.

but we talked how rand paul is making certain moves or interesting to voters not necessarily hard core republicans. that's being reflected a little bit. again, as we start to look at 2016, we call hillary clinton the clear front-runner on the democratic side. very true. if she were the democratic nominee, she would be very vulnerable. but the republicans right now are carrying a lost baggage of their own into 2016 and the individual baggage of the biggest name republican candidates right now is bigger than the individual baggage that hillary clinton has. again, this is december 2014. it's early, it's just starting out. we thought we'd show you the lay of the land as 2014 cops to an end. that's where we stand right now. stay right there. because our original reporting on reaction within the cuban american community to the president's decision, including right here in new york city. where some call -- right next to new york city, what some call cuba's northern most province, an original report. that's straight ahead.

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54 years and 90 miles. all right. thanks for staying with us this morning. we hope your weekend is off to a good start. your mood matches that of president obama at yesterday's news conference. the president cracking jokes yesterday. we'll have more on what he said and what it means later in this hour, including how he plans to respond to north korea. following sony's decision to scrap the release of the movie "the interview." >> his decision to restore diplomatic relation in cuba. we're live from havana. we're seeing part of this deal involves making it easy perhaps for relatives and cuban-americans to travel back

to cuba fewer hoops to jump through. are we expecting an inflexion of cuban americans to visit the island? a they are, it's very exciting for them. many have relatives in the united states. there's some 2 million cuban americans there and some they haven't seen for a decade or longer. now, those cuban americans are making plans to come, because they believe it will now be easier. the reaction from cuban americans is interesting. before we came here, we were in little havana in miami. and we saw some anger from some of the older generation who could remember the darker days of cuba. they saw the changes as sort of giving the castros what they wanted and what they did not deserve. but that was a minority. the younger generation, most cuban americans don't remember those days. they've only been alive in the united states, and haven't ever been to cuba.

they thought it was a good chance for the cuban people. here in cuba and havana, as we talked about. there was no controversy. they don't want to talk about politics. we think the changes are only good for the economy an it's about time to see change in that arena. >> jacob, live for us in havana, really appreciate the report. it's not every day, not every half century that the president of the united states gets on a phone way castro who is a cuban leader. president obama spoke with raul castro this week. in fact it marked the first direct contact between leaders from the two countries since 1959. . at the end of my remarks i apologized for take such a long time but i wanted to make sure before we engage in the conversation, that we he was very clear about where i stood. he said, don't worry about it, mr. president. you're still a young man and you still have the chance to break fidel's record.

he once spoke seven hours straight. >> white house press secretary said earlier this week that he would not rule out a presidential visit to cuba but obama said the trip is not on the horizon. the president's move has divided americans, none more so than cuban americans. there are two huge population centers in the united states for cuban american exiles. one is in miami and south florida. >> you hear about that a lot but the other is four miles west of here in new york city, in northern new jersey. it is the second largest cuban community in the united states. so, we decided to take a field trip to union city new jersey, also known as little havana on the hudson to hear how the locals there are reacting to this sudden change in america's relationship with cuba. >> i haven't seen my family. you know, i haven't seen my family in all of these years,

and i think by obama doing this. i get to see my family again. >> a bunch of my friends don't agree exactly with obama. they think obama betrayed us and in a way it's true. >> as an american cuban, first generation born here. i was really excited. it brought a lot of tenderness to my heart. >> i think the new generation is hopeful. the older generation feels it's just a slap in their face. >> i don't believe obama and i don't believe castro. >> remove the castros and make we talk. >> i think it's working mr. obama talking, talking to the cuban people. >> i think it will bring a lot of air into that country. >> i will be able to see my country again. and this is an opportunity in 50 years. >> i don't come back to cuba until the time cuba coming freedom. when it respect the human rights and respect everybody. >> i never go to cuba.

now everything okay? i go free to cuba. and probably buy something for my family over there. >> no matter how much you bring, it's not going to solve the problems. unless we have democracy there, we have nothing. >> and, joining me now to share their perspectives on the changing u.s. policy, we have massachusetts congressman, jim mcgovern. republican strategies mercedes schlapp. we talked about this last month. you have a very personal family experience. how that informs your view overall. you just address the question and tell your personal story. the policy change this week, for or against it, and personal story. >> against it, especially the way president obama is going to say he's going to call recall castro and have this 15-minute conversation, that he refuses to reach out to the cuban american

leaders. to reach out to the ladies in white. who have been beaten and put into jail many times. also part of the movement of the dissidents in cuba. there were no conversation with these dissidents. the mere fact the president decided once again to move forward unilaterally without any consultation other than any consultation other than one call with raul castro is disturbing. >> my father was put in jail in 1963. was a counter revolutionary. spoke against the castro regime. took 13 of his colleagues. executed several people in his group. he served jail for six years. he was tortured in the cuban jails, put into a dark room, where it was freezing cold, stripped naked with a bag over his head. you want to talk about torture that's what my father went through. they took his companies, took his house. the police would show up and go through the line of the houses

and be like, hand over your keys. so there was no freedom of speech. the fact you were utterly in control, the government was in control of your life and it still is in many cases. state government is running the communist regime is running cuba and really, quite frankly, until there's change from the top, until the castro brothers really decide to make fundamental economic and democratic changes, i think what the president has moved forward is not going to work. >> congressman, i want to get your take on this, too. i think the reason they had mercedes go first. it illustrates from a human level, the reaction that exists among many manies of the cuban american community of the united states. many are exiles who felt they were forced to flee their country for the reasons she just described. how do you balance those experiences, outrageous things that happened under the regime. people whose lives have been

lost to the regime. with the presidents in power. how do you balance those things? >> i understand the strong emotion many cuban americans feel. many have stories to the one mercedes articulated in your show. the question is, what is the best interest of the cuban people. we had a policy towards cuba for 50-plus years that by all accounts has been a miserable failure. it's not hurt the cuban government it hurt the average cuban and made their life more difficult. i've been to cuba many times. i talked to dissidents. many i talked to urged for many years for us to open things up. they believe the more americans that can be there, the more attention drawn to cuba. the more interact, the less likely the government will be oppressive. more difficult because there's too many people watching. our policy is a relic from the cold war. things changing in cuba. even before this. slowly, to be sure but they are changing.

when the soviet union collapsed and they left. the europeans, canadian, everybody else invested and interacted more directly. and there's more political space today in cuba than there the 1970s and 1960s. that's not to say that the regime deserves any high marks. it's simply to say that we can move things forward. we can help the cuban people through more engagement rather than isolation. >> that's the question, mercedes, everybody asks about this. you don't want to reward the castros but it's 54 years. >> it is. >> is there any reason you're thinking, 55, 56, what didn't work in the first 56 -- >> what is not working is the castro government. until that changes, there won't be fundamental change in cuba. the cuban people are trying to figure out a way to survive. they don't go to a grocery store. they have rations. you're a family of five, you get one chicken a month. this is what cuban people are dealing with. that's not because of the

economic embargo, it's because the government is controlling how much food the people get. what clothes they also are rationed. you know, they control the universities. i mean, this is when we're dealing with a communist government. until we see significant reform. it's interesting that raul decided they will release 50 political prisoners. i assure you in six months those 50 political prisoners will be back in jail. this is how the way -- their old form of thinking and it is, until we see fundamental change in the government we should not reward them. we should have this debate. that, i believe. >> congressman, what do you say to ha? . i don't think this is about rewarding the castro government. there's some in the cuban government that don't want this. i would argue our policy of isolation of this economic embargo has been used as an excuse by the hotliners in the cuban government to track down on human rights and justify the failures of the economic system. let's remove the excuse.

and, again, i don't know why people are afraid of direct engagement with the cuban government. we have direct engagement with the government of china, of russia, of vietnam. i think that more engagement, more visits by u.s. individuals, more family reunification, all of that is good. look, we need to move forward. and things changing. and we need to encourage that change. i think the best way to do that is by what the president outlined. it was a bold, gutsy, historic move and i hope that congress won't try to frustrate those efforts. because, i think it's very, very important, especially for the cuban people that, what the president announced actually goes forward. >> all right. thanks to congressman jim mcgovern from massachusetts and mercedes you'll be back later this hour. thank you to both of you. still ahead we took cuba off the black list while north korea

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we will respond. we will respond proportionally. and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. >> as president obama yesterday afternoon vowing some kind of action from the united states for north korea's cyberterror attack on sony pick purees, the fbi definitively linking north korea to the attack yesterday. the president said the movie studio, quote, made a mistake by canceling the release of the interview. a satire about the assassination attempt of north korean leader kim jong-un. allowing the cyberterrorists to allow the cancellation of the

major hollywood picture sets a bad precedent. >> we cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the united states. because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satire cal movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don't like. or news reports that they don't like. >> the ceo of sony pictures responding that his studio did not have a choice, and it still hopes to release the host in some form. in a new message, the hacking group mean while responsible for carrying out the attack, the group calling itself guardians of peace are threatening to strike again unless all movies are destroyed. and the president and others are saying about sony -- >> in this case, president obama

is simply wrong. the dialogue that sony pulled it, is also simply incorrect. if there's no exhibiter that wants to release the movie, did sony really pull it? and i would probably say no. >> george clooney, meanwhile, lashed out on thursday saying that not a single person in hollywood would sign a petition he tried to circulate, backing sony in the midst of the attack, that they were more concerned about not appearing to validate the statements in some e-mails that were released and standing up against censorship and blackmail. the the associated press reporting that 2012's mass shooting in colorado weighed heavily on theater owners and mall own hers. join me right now, we have the reporter for "the new york times" and david singer national security correspondent for "the new york times" right here. let me start with you, dave on

this -- on the question of sony, because you have the ceo speaking out now, basically saying, hey, look, we have a movie. we don't have theaters. they are independent movie theaters across the country. they saul said they're not going to show this. we'll still put this out in some way or another. they're basically being scapegoated. all of hollywood should be saying that. >> that's the problem. they're in an unprecedented situation. the start of the week they were saying, we give the theater owners the choice whether or not they want to show the movie. what else are they going do but say we don't want to show it. that's giving sony political coverage to say, okay, we'll not release this after all. and tuesday the implication is, it is not going to come out in any format. it wasn't until president obama said sony made a mistake that their tenor changed.

>> do you think they've been surprised by the reaction to this? >> certainly, when the president is speaking about a very broad, goofy, james franco-seth rogen comedy, you know you're in unchartered territory. i don't think they would expect the president of the united states weighing in on their decision. that puts them in an awkward situation. they have to at least dangle the possibility that this movie will be shown in some capacity. had you asked them two, three days ago. they are not suggesting could occur. >> the other angle, the president saying there's going be some kind of response. they are going to decide -- the united states will decide their own time table. it raises the question, what is a proportionate response here? >> the first and interesting question i think that comes out of it is why would the united states respond at all, since there have been many

cyberattacks opt united states this year. home depot, target. state department. unclassified computer systems. jpmorgan chase, why this one? the answer is, this one was different in two forms that really have nothing to do with how whacky or crude the movie was or those e-mails or anything else. what people missed in this, is this was the first large destructive attack in the united states, which is to say, that after the e-mails were stolen, the salary information, the hard drives on the sony computers were wiped clean. they were destroyed. the computers were not made usable. there were only three major destructive attacks that we know of in the world in the past few years. the most famous of all was one the united states did with israel called olympic games. that was the attack on iran that i wrote about two years ago.

there was the one that was iran acting against the biggest saudi oil company and there was an attack we believe the north koreans did on south korea that bears a lost technical resemblance that the fbi pointed out. that is why the president felt he had to respond. >> coming up with a proportionate response is not easy. >> you do do a return cyberattack on the north koreans. we are the most wired vulnerable society on earth. everything is connected from our tv networks to our financial networks and our power grid whereas in north korea, almost nothing is connected. we are a target rich environment and they are a target poor environment. you have to come up with something else, whether financial sanctions or whether some kind of other demonstration

effect. >> quickly, in the seconds we have left, do you think we'll ever see this movie? >> i've already seen it. whatever they decide to do is okay with me? >> was it a good movie? >> it's like a bob hope, bing crosby movie, i enjoyed it. >> anyway, my thanks to david sanger and david scott for joining me. still ahead. this is the first time this has ever happened at a presidential news conference. that's next. the schelp, then the spill. now the scrub and the second guess. finally, the rewash.

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definitely a man that looks and sounds like he is about to go on vacation, and he is on vacation. we're not sure, baugh president obama took questions only from female reporters during the almost hour-long q&a session. eight for eight. all female reporters. that's the first time it has ever happened. maybe a composition of how the press corps evolved. maybe it's something else. we have mercedes schlapp and evan santoro. it's one of those things, people start to notice this halfway through. there's a moment where he sort of ignored a question from a male reporter. >> it was a dumb question. >> first time that's ever been asked. >> all right. let me interrupt here. so, really? i mean, do we have to notice there's all women reporters? the guys must have felt left out throughout this whole process. >> the white house -- josh

earnest told politico they did do this on purpose to pick all women. but you wouldn't have to do it on purpose. the women that were selected were from major outlets. you mentioned on the way in. >> what was the reason for -- >> because they wanted to highlight all of the women reporters that were doing such a great job. sort of pointing out a list of questioners. this is where we are now to the point where you break down, like the president has a press conference and awful the questioners chosen in advance. the questions aren't. the questions aren't. they know who they are going to talk to. >> he knows what is going on. >> with that list. at the end. april ryan, a great white house reporter was on the show. she shot a question out and got hers in. hers was a better question than what is your new year's resolution. but could this be the change of the press corps or, trying to make a point? i think it's a changing of the press corps. you wouldn't need to do this on

purpose to make this happen. these are some of the best reporters in washington. and they happen to be women. >> the other thing some are talking about. a lot is speculation, too. the president gave primetime address to outline immigration action and networks by and large didn't take this. the network, you see them line up in the front of the room. they are men. none of them were called on yesterday and maybe there's a little frustration in the white house about that. >> maybe. i don't know. i think it might just be like evan said, trying to highlight the women reporters and press corps. you know, i think it's interesting that people have been sort of like, oh, man, they only chose women. i mean, i think -- i would like to think you have that reaction if they were only choosing men. isn't it weird we're only choosing men? it's sort of like -- i don't think it shouldn't be remarkable to people that the presence -- that they were called on women.

it should be the case women of kaurld on rue tunely. >> i think it's great to -- i think it's symbolic in the sense, great, let's highlight our women. obviously the press corps is changing. we're seeing more women. i remember at the white house, helen thomas was one of those iconic women who would stand up and filibuster the press room for a long time. i think it's symbolic. you know, again, he seemed very comfortable. he wanted to bring this up. is it really a news story? >> again, the white house did say -- >> the white house said it did it on purpose. i agree with you. if they had said nothing? >> maybe they should have -- >> just to kind of like -- i don't know what i said earlier, hopefully this makes news organizations more conscious about sort of the gender diversity. maybe make them -- maybe we

should -- maybe they should try to look for women for their next correspondence, if there's anything to take from that, it's definitely, for a long time there was very little gender diversity in the white house reporting corps and highlighting this, doing this is going to highlight this, and to the extent that more would be nice. >> the other question we saw in the clip we played. he's giving politico a hard time about the new belgium pure row, why was he in such a good mood yesterday? end of the year? >> it feels like a million years ago now. you look at the press conference. he's confident. has a clear message what he's trying to do and doing this stuff on his own. it was three months agatha this was a white house that had no strong messaging. they were flailing all over the electoral map and all over the campaign trail. they couldn't talk about the economy, they couldn't talk about anything.

it's just like, what a difference 60 days makes. it's such a different perspective and press corps's question, everything is sort of going along well for you. how do you feel -- i could not believe how far from the depths of the campaign, when democrats led by the president, they wouldn't let out to campaign for anybody. to where we are now and what that press conference feels like today. i think the president feels empowered. going out with a strong punch, he's been shocking the political types like ourselves, taking action on cuba. he's had an aggressive general da. i have two years left to ram what i want to ram through and build his legacy. that's what presidents do in the last few years. he had good numbers on the economy. he tried to say he was doing a good job on the foreign policy side. once he stepped into sony, i think that that changed the

mood, the direction of the press conference. >> he wasn't telling any jokes. the confidence he communicates, i think it's one of those thing, headlines coming out of the election. presidency is over. party is out of power. you're communicating to anybody watching that yesterday. you're not getting the message, this is a guy in a defensive crouch or anything like that. it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where you can project that. >> the economy has been on a steady uptick for the last quarter. you know, his approval ratings have been going up. the immigration action with latino voters. i think he really genuinely is in a politically stronger position he was at the enof the year and this reflects that. >> we have a couple weeks to go. huge fight with nancy pelosi

over the spending year. the next two years won't be smooth sailing for obama at all. >> we end with an obligatory negative note. we thank you all for joining us this morning. we'll see you again in a few minutes. still ahead, what not to eat this holiday season. that's next. all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models. goodnight. goodnight. for those kept awake by pain... the night is anything but good. introducing new aleve pm. the first to combine a safe sleep aid. plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. for pain relief that can last until the am. now you can have a good night

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live from studio 3 a in rockefeller center, usa, it's time for up against the clock. >> he says, he struggled as a magic student, but we're waiting to see if he has any tricks up his sleeve today. say hello to craig melvin! >> she juggles five daughters and two dog, so we're confident she can handle quiz master steve kornaki's questions. please welcome mercedes schlapp. win or lose, we insist he come back to make us his world renowned homemade ice cream. it's jamelle bowie. and now your splendiferous host,

steve kornaki. >> thank you for tuning in for another exciting edition. welcome, three new contestants today. very excited to have you here, playing for all sorts of glory and prizes. this is a fast-based political news event. we're going to play three rounds. questions worth 100 points in the first, contestants you can ring in at any time. be reminded you will be penalized for any wrong answer. we have several bonus questions scattered throughout as craig does his warm-up exercises, stretching over there. contestants will be playing not just for victory, but also, potentially for a chance to play in our tournament of champions. contestants, if you want to qualify for that. you first have to win today and as always, i will implore our live studio audience.

please, no out bursts, contestants demand, absolute concentration. and i will ask you, are you ready to play? >> no. >> doesn't matter. we'll put the clock on the board anyway. 100 seconds. i'll get the 100-point questions here. hands on buzzer, please. we begin the 100-point round with this. if rand paul tries to run simultaneously for president, re-election in 2016, she will stop him. the kentucky second of state said this week -- >> jamelle. >> jamelle takes the lead. i've spoken on a lot of college campuses and high schools. i have seven kids. obviously sex isn't a real problem for me. this former pennsylvania senator said this week? >> senator rick santorum. >> it was rick santorum. house speaker john boehner this week released a holiday parody video replacing the words to

this classic poem in which "not a creature is stirring" htwas the night before christmas. >> 100-point toss-up question. josh earnest said president obama has not ruled out becoming the first president since calvin coolidge to visit which country? >> cuba. >> stop the clock. exciting news for you, mercedes, not only do you get 100 points for correctly answering that question. you triggered our video bonus question. >> here's how it works. this say risk-free proposition, we have a celebrity going to read a famous quote. if you idea who gave that quote originally we'll give you 100 points. turn your attention to the video monitor and mr. norman lehr. >> i'm norman lehr with this week's up against the clock quote of note. which 1970s presidential nominee once said, quote, the highest

patriotism is not blind acceptance of official policy but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher standard. good luck with that. >> all right. mercedes, can you answer that? no risk here? >> no, i don't know. >> correct answer, george mcgovern. >> no penalty. that's all a bonus. put the clock back in motion and 100-point tossen h up question. eric snyderman, asked major retailers to stop selling toy verges of what? >> guns. >> guns is correct. 100-point tossup. on wednesday, 20 people convicted if nonviolent drug offenses were granted what by president obama? >> jamelle? >> pardons or clemency. we'll accept that. >> thanks to last-minute activity this week the current congress barely escaped becoming the least productive coming in history edging out 112th

congress which featured whom as speaker? >> jamelle? >> nancy pelosi -- no -- >> you have to go with the first answer, steve. >> newt gingrich? >> incorrect. >> take it to the second round. we'll end the first round. the correct answer was john boehner. a bit of a trick question. craig with 200 in the lead. >> mercedes and jamelle right behind. >> as soon as i said that -- >> those are the trick weise put in there. don't worry, the questions get more valuable. this is the 200-point round. twice as hard. twice as valuable. you can leap frog and take 100 seconds on the clock. we begin the round with this. this prestigious maryland university this week send welcome messages -- >> john hopkins accidently told 300 feel they were in. >> in the wake of the sony hack, a new committee will be aed to

the senate armed according to this republican -- >> senator john mccain. >> craig is putting distance in this. alain na kagan went duck hunting this week with this person, the court's most senior justice? >> who is the most senior justice? >> time. it was antonin scalia. >> thursday, president obama made a surprise call to a massachusetts radio show to salute this man? >> deval patrick. >> not only do you get this, you have triggered our use it or lose it bonus question. i have in my hands a question somehow related to the one you just answered. for an additional 200 point us risk the points you just won or pass on this all together. i have the use it or lose it bonus question here. what do you want to do?

>> geez. what should i do, paul? use it? let's do it. >> all right. here it is. he's taking a chance. >> 200 points on the line here, craig. your related question is this. deval patrick will be succeeded next month by massachusetts fifth republican governor in the last 24 years. name him. >> i can't remember. what is the new governor of massachusetts. i don't remember. >> we're going to call time. it's charlie baker. >> that costs you. you are still in the lead, though. we get the clock back in motion. 200-point tossup is in this week governor scott walker shipmented his stance on education backing off the call for the wisconsin legislature to fully appeal the standards as -- >> common core. >> on wednesday, alan dirschwitz likened the attack to --

>> pearl harbor. >> arguing retail store employees no longer instructed to say happy holidays the so-called war on christmas was declared over this week by whom? >> o'reilly? >> bill o'reilly said that. it is fitting the first night of hanukkah falls on the anniversary of the boston tea party said this texas republican and potential -- >> ted cruz. >> incorrect. >> you want to guess? texas republican and 2016 candidate said this? >> governor rick perry. >> ends the round. mercedes and jamelle very much in this game. each with 300 points because this is where things get wild and crazy. he's our 300-point question. we will dim the lights for dramatic effect. >> really? >> i think we're going to. >> a lot at stake here. this is where empires won and lost. 300-point questions.

100 seconds on the clock. let's settle this game with this? after a six-week recount arizona democratic congressman ron barber lost his bid for re-election giving the republicans the seat300-point t. on wednesday elizabeth warren was urged to run for presidency which grew out of this -- greg? time. me mercedes? >> incorrect. >>ic thatting pictures on the senate floor is officially against senate rules, but in his farewell address, this alaska senator admitted to violating that. >> mark begich. the first major court challenge was filed by attorneys from nebraska and this, the sooner state. >> oklahoma. >> correct. >> a tea party group is encouraging a challenge to house speaker john boehner's leadership by this south

carolina republican who is currently investigating the 2012 benghazi attack. >> trey gowdy. got that right. 400-point toss-up. the next surgeon general was confirmed by the senate on monday by receiving the t support of one republican. the first-term senator from illinois. mark kirk is correct. retiring republican senator told 60 minutes he is proud the country elected barack obama. >> retired? >> coburn. >> coburn said that. wow. tied for last going in and wins the game with 2100 points. you can do anything in the 300-point round. craig, you were leading. but as the winner, we have a prize package for you. bill wolf is about to tell you all about it. >> as champion, your name will be engraved using the finest

sharpie ink. you'll receive a dvd copy of the classic 1988 film "cocoon 2: the return." and you'll get to play in the jack pot round for today's grand prize. a get certificate to quick meal food cart in downtown manhattan. operated by a former chef of the russian tearoom. i had it for lunch today. delicious. enjoy the meal and congratulations. back to you, steve. zblf congratulations. eam and now we're getting serious. jeb bush made his first official move for running for president, 20 years after his career got off to a start with his defeat in the gubernatorial election to this democrat. >> can anyone jump in? >> you can for posterity after this. but do you have a guess?

>> i don't know. >> you still win the game. you may be back for our tournament of champions. craig and mercedes, you both leave with the the home edition. you get so angry! when i crave a smoke that's all i crave. that's where this comes in. only nicorette gum has patented dual-coated technology for great taste. plus nicorette gum gives you intense craving relief.

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we're almost out of time. everybody back at the the table here. craig melvin, our celebrity contestant today. what are you feeling now? >> never in the history of television game shows have i seen a comeback so incredible. let me tell you something, that guy, you know, we are wasting his talents. this should be your thing. i am happy and angry at the same time. >> we got to get him to sign the cup. we're running out of space. we'll see the tournament of champions will be starting next month. as the winner of the game.

you are eligible. >> the committee has to put you in. >> that's what craig says. there's a lot of controversy over here. just like the basketball tournament. we appreciate you coming in today. thank you for joining us today on "up." tomorrow we'll have bob graham. coming up next is melissa harris-perry. see you tomorrow morning at 8:00. you could drive home for the holidays in a new volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the precisely engineered passat tdi. ah, the gift of clean diesel. for the new volkswagen on your list this year, just about all you need, is a pen. festive, isn't it? get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models.

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looking for one of these? yoplait. smooth, creamy, and craved by the whole family. this morning my question, just how big was the sony hack? plus, police unions speak out in defense of their own. and the mother of lennon lacey joins me live. but first, president obama looks 90 miles offshore and says, hello neighbor. good morning. i'm dorian in for melissa harris-perry. on tuesday president obama made a phone call