arrest on des 7th. you can see him through the doorway. cheers outside. he is facing sex crime charges in sweden. he is fighting extradition from at country. >> it is great to smell the fresh air of london again. first, some thank yous to all the people around the world who have had faith in me, who have supported my team while i have been away to my lawyers who have put up a brave and ultimately successful fight. people who provided money in the face of great difficulty and aversion. and to members of the press who were not all taken in and considered to look deeper in their work.

and i guess finally to the british justice system itself. where if justice is not always an outcome, it is not dead yet. during my time in solitary confinement in the bottom of a victorian prison, i had time to reflect on the conditions of those people around the world also in solitary confinement, also in conditions that are more difficult than those faced by me. those people also need your attention and support. with that, i hope to continue my

work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations. thank you. >> julian assange as you heard just coming out saying he enjoys the fre air, breathing the free air of london. he is now expected to go to a friend's estate having posted bond, $317,000, more than 200,000 pounds. tax cuts for all. liberals will vent but after a latch ditch effort to change the estate tax passage is likely. cautious optimism. the white house's long awaited

review of the war in afghanistan, time-outs some successes but major challenges remain. >> i want to be clear, this continues to be a very difficult endeavor, but i can report that thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals. afghanistan, tax cuts, the lame duck congress and the nbc wall street poll and my exclusive interview with vice president joe biden plus rachel maddow is here to talk about the president's uneasy relationship with uneasy liberals. you know who is slow jamming the news. >> shut your mouth. >> i can dig it. >> getting the shaft. >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in the aftermath of the election the vt is assuming a bigger role

playing point man for president obama, negotiating deals with congress on domestic and foreign policies. after months of hearings, the senate began debating the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. the vice president delivered a heated message to republicans still trying to delay a vote until next year. >> i say let's do the nation's business. 67 senators voted to move forward on this, including john mccain and lindsay graham and the leading voices in the republican party. >> they say they haven't had enough time too study it. >> they haven't said that. >> senator kyl said that. >> senator kyl is opposed to the treaty. so is senator demint. do not stand in the way of the nation's best interest. let the senate vote. overwhelmingly the american people support the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, the united states senate

supports the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. it is clearly in our best interest. george schultz to colin powell thinks it is essential to pass this treaty. get out of the way. there is too much at stake for america's national security. and don't tell me about christmas. i understand christmas. i have been a senator for a long time. i have been there many years where we go right up to christmas. there are ten days between now and christmas. i hope i don't get in the way of your christmas shopping, but this is the nation's business. this is a national security at stake. act. act. >> did that go for the tax cut as well? >> we just acted on. >> you had a rough session with house democrats. >> sure i did. >> they say you sold them out, you went in the back room and cut a deal with republicans. >> i was in an interview with another network, i will not

mention, not long ago. they said the senate said you sold them out. i said more than 80 will vote for it. 80 senators voted for that deal i allegedly sold them out on. >> 81. >> 81. the house will as well. the people feel very strongly and i don't blame them but we cannot afford to go into next year with everyone's taxes going up, the economy going into a double dip, not growing the economy. i had two dictates from the president, joe, make sure whatever you negotiate grows the economy. the deal i was asked to negotiate will increase the growth of the economy from 2.3 to 2.5 to 3.7 to 4. that means millions of additional jobs. secondly, he said to me, joe, make sure our folks aren't hurt, meaning middle class and working

class people. guess what? every one of the tax breaks they had from college tuition to child care tax credit which republicans oppose is part of that deal. every single tax break for middle class americans was preserved. thirdly, it is for two years. we have a payroll tax where every person next year will get 2% less taken out of their payroll. that is real money. that means well over $1,000 for the average person out there, additional. >> the house democrats, the liberals, they are the people that brought you into power. >> sure they are. >> what are you saying to them? >> i spoke to them for 2 1/2 hours. i'm a creature of the congress. when i walked in i got a standing ovation, when i walked out i got an ovation. all the talk of overwhelming contention. not a single one did not thank me. not a single one said to me they

thought i sold anyone out. not a single one said we were going to decouple the tax. their argument was you should have taken more time, joe. the minority who spoke said that. there were a number of people who stood up and said this is important. thank you for the deal you negotiated, including progressives and moderates. >> if you were still in the senate, what about the appropriations bill? all the earmarks on the floor. were you all asleep? didn't you get the message of the election. people don't want all this pork. >> look, we are in a position that we don't get to negotiate this. we set out two parameters. we said we wanted to freeze discretionary spending. it is frozen in this omnibus bill. we need additional funding for national security. additional funding for follow on in iraq so to make sure the

civilian side gets ramped up and for dealing with international terrorist organizations. we got both of those things. do we like some of these "earmarks" in there? no, we don't like them. the question is are we going to throw out the baby with the bath water here? if, in fact, this omnibus bill negotiated by republicans and democrats, not by us, republicans and democrats passes the president will support it. >> you are the point man on all of this. you are here at the united nations, negotiating with mitch mcconnell. you are everywhere. are you the defacto chief of staff? >> well, look, when the president asked me to join him, he asked what portfolio i wanted. i said i want to be in the room whenever decision is being made. you are president but i want to have an input. the president used me where i have a skill set. i still consider myself a senate man. i love the senate. i love the congress. i keep in touch with them.

i have great relationships with republicans as well as democrats. there is real trust. it is logical at me for me to be a point man dealing with the house and the senate at this time. i have a significant background, doesn't mean good or bad, but i have a significant background in foreign policy and national security issues so it is logical i come up here. the president asked me as yo know because you are one of the first people to interview me when he turned to me and said, joe, you do iraq. the secretary of defense, the secretary of state cooperated with me. just logical things i happen to have some experience in, in some cases significant experience. they happen to be in the two areas that are being negotiated right now. >> i think he is being modest. he has been the point man on just about everybody. we have more in our exclusive interview with joe biden and the impact wikileaks on foreign policy. julian ajaung just got out of

jail today as you just saw. turning now to our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, president obama sits at 45% approval rate. an overwhelming number of americans find him likable even if they don't approve of his policies. he is continuing to have very strong support from minorities. you and peter hart do this poll together and jointly reach these conclusions. the job approval rating. he is hovering about where he was a year ago. that is better than one might expect. >> well, yeah. bill clinton at the same time in '94 after his got walloped in the midterm was much lower. he was hovering around 40%. president obama joins core support with african-americans, latinos and democrats. that support is really, really high.

as a consequence it puts his base support in the mid 40s. which is why it has been so stable for the last year. >> 58% polled are positive toward him. they like him. they see his values. he is a family man. they don't like him professionally. only 36% are positive about him professionally. you look beneath the numbers, 41% say he is a good commander in chief, 33% say he is achieving his goals, 30% uniting the country, only 24% believe he is changing the way business is done in washington. >> that is why you lose 63 house seats and senate seats. they wanted him to deal with the economy and change the way washington worked. we had a midterm report and they weren't satisfied. we ask the question, is this a successful presidency, failed presidency or too early too

tell. most people said it is too early to tell. they want this president to succeed. thing are too tough in this country. they are pulling for him, not against him. what about the liberals. he has been going up against his base on the tax cut. does this fall apart for him if they get so angry and he cuts too many deals with republicans? >> he did drop with liberals. that is a warning sign. frankly, looking ahead, the trouble is afghanistan. we did a question about continuing to have troops in 2014, liberal democrats, core democrats, his core constituency, a majority of people would oppose that. longer term more than today's economic wrangling, afghanistan could pose a real problem to his presidency if he can't meet the

needs of his core democrat base. >> when we look at right track, wrong track. that was a very negative number. 63% of the country believe the country is on the wrong track. this is what joe biden has to say. >> i predict that is going to change. i'll tell you why. you are sitting there at christmastime. how many people are going to bed staring at the ceiling wondering if nay are going to wake up in the same house next month. this tax arrangement we provided for and will pass that, in fact, they are better off. >> that is going to change the perception? >> i think it will begin to change the perception. >> is that realistic? >> that is political optimism. >> okay. >> when wrong track goes over 60% it is a huge number. our poll, abc, multiple polls are showing the same thing, high wrong track of the obama

presidency. two things could change it, a significant change in the economy or a 9/11 event. it will take a much healthier economy and a lot more people in place. it is not going to happen next month. >> so great to have you. thank you very much. a wonderful holiday season to you as well. >> thank you. coming up, is it a trial or a separation or divorce? msnbc's rachel maddow on how liberals fell out of love with barack obama. is there a light at the end of the tunnel? 2014 is the new 2011. joe biden's holiday message to a country at war. nobody in my family ever had a heart attack. if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart. all of a sudden,

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right now on the house floor we are seeing very little action. indications there may be a problem on the rule for the tax cut vote to come. we'll have to see if they proceed to clear the tax cut vote today. meanwhile rachel maddow is the host of "the rachel maddow show." we have been seeing objections of liberals. rachel joins me live from new york. it is great to see you. let's talk about the fallout from the tax cut compromise and this created tensions between democratic liberals and the president. you have been voicing and channeling them and raising your own concerns. >> i think the importance of this deal, the reason it hit liberals and the president's strongest supporters so hard is not that much about the specifics of the policy. it is more of an emotional impact.

the difference of seeing this president come to washington essentially by telling the country to drop the cynicism, yes, we can, change is possible, things can get better, the distance between that and seeing the president step before the microphones saying, i tried, in this case change wasn't possible. i wasn't able to get what i wanted. sorry, i couldn't do it. the emotional distance between those two things i think is why liberals in particular, the president's strongest supporters have been so affected by this. that is separate from the details of the policy. there are strong liberal objections to the policy. the white house as you heard in your interview with joe biden, they have a story to tell and a case to be made there is good stuff in this legislation, too, and will move the needle in the economy. >> they are pointing out they needed the unemployment compensation, the unemployment insurance was such a big deal, the payroll tax holiday, some of

the other tax breaks are more stimlative than they could have ever gotten if they had gone for a straight stimulus bill and compromise is popular even with democrats. when we ask democrats in our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll, 63% wanted compromise, 29% wanted him to stick to his positions. is he reading the polls and saying, i'm just going to go up against the base. i need to recapture the independent center? is that what is going on. >> if the president was saying i think the estate tax should go and tax cuts are the best way to stimulate the economy and rich people are the jobs makers, if we saw the president adopting the republican rhetoric and positions and saying i have changed my mind. now i believe what the republicans believe and forget it if you thought i was a liberal. that would be a sista soulja

moment. he is just saying i can't get what i want. i can't achieve my desired policy aim. that is the thing that is tough. liberals looking ahead at the rest of this presidency, if he can't get what he wants when he has nancy pelosi as speaker of the house and 58 democratic senators what is going to happen when he has john boehner as speaker of the house? things are going to get more difficult. can this president win? can he get what he wants. the real vulnerability for the president with the base is the war, is afghanistan, this new longer timeline they have laid out with 2014. we saw it in lisbon. it is not a huge surprise. but the fact is if he is going to be challenged from the left in 2012 it is going to be an anti-war change? >> it may be. this is a very important issue

for the president and his base. the president needs two things to happen to assure his re-election, the unemployment number needs to go down and he needs to have supporters, a base. the war issue is important not just to liberals but liberals and centrists and basically everybody who voted for him. i don't believe 2014 is the new 2011. he wanted to start a drawdown in 2011. they are sticking by that. it is not just the policy, it is whether or not the president seems to be winning, whether or not the president seems to be getting his way, standing up in many cases to the pentagon, the people he will be standing up against to the foreign policy consensus that say endless escalating wars is the way to go. whether the president is standing by his principles and getting his way will have an impact on whether or not the base stands by him. >> do you think he has had enough on don't ask, don't tell to try to push it on the senate?

scott brown came along today. they don't have the votes yet, but if there is time on the floor after s.t.a.r.t., what do you want to see happen? >> this is one of those things after an election if you won it turns out that your campaign manager was a genius and if you lost your campaign manager was a jerk you found on the street you should have never hired. if don't ask, don't tell gets repealed president obama will get the credit. if it doesn't, he will get all the blame. i imagine that drives the white house nuts. they can lean on people but they cannot set the senate calendar or make the votes happen. >> you can watch the rachel maddow show every weeknight at 9:00 on msnbc. monday she will be hosting a

special event entitled leadership in america. we're really excited about that, rachel. we are looking forward to the 92nd street "y." an iconic place and you a new icon for us. >> i'll see if mark penn with join us. >> not so much. >> thanks, rachel. house democrats throwing spitballs ahead of today's big vote. first the fight over tax cuts, slow jam style. >> in his latest effort to win support from his own party obama enlisted the services of former president clinton. >> oh, yeah. with obama swinging this way and that only makes sense to call in the biggest swinger, the smoothest of them all, the barry white of democratic politics, the slick willie, bill clinton is a bad -- >> shut your mouth.

>> i'm only talking about bill clinton. >> the republicans have been taking that walk of shame to the capitol after wondering if they gave it up too fast. when it comes to getting the shaft, this recession did freaky things to the middle class my mama won't let me tell you about. that is how we slow jam the news. >> oh, yeah. [ male announcer ] in the past, landing an airplane

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jeanne, your reporting on this? >> reporter: yes, we've heard the same thing. it is a bump in the road. but basically what happened was the original rule that would allow debate to begin in the house, the republicans, even though the vote for the final product are not going to make this easy for democrats so they weren't going to vote for the rule to let the debate begin. the democratic leadership had to pass that rule with only their own caucus which gave leverage to the liberals who want to amendment it. they have to change the rule a bit to make sure the liberals are willing to vote for the rule and allow the debate to continue. >> that would mean when it does get through it will go to the senate, it will be altered, go back to the senate and not have an approval of final tax cuts until next week. >> reporter: that is not necessarily a guarantee. starting the debate, the process by which the lineup for when the

amendments can be offered is likely to change. whether those amendments will pass or not, that may not change at all and those amendments don't like they are likely to pass. so it is still possible the house will not be able to ultimately amend the underlying document, the senate bill. >> the house was constructing a rule, every bill that comes up has to have a rule with how many hours of debate. the majority votes for the rule, the minority votes against it. that is a matter of their politics. this is a case where the tax cut is more popular with many republicans than democrats and the house liberals wanted more than just that one amendment, that one opportunity to vent about the estate tax. they wanted a longer time period before final passage. they say it is a bump in the road. we'll wait to see. as far as the lame duck session itself, they've gotten a bit

more than they expected so far. >> reporter: absolutely. i think the white house hoped once they cut this deal with the republicans the republicans would cooperate more on time and allow for s.t.a.r.t., the treaty to be debated and possibly voted on. they may get a bonus with don't ask, don't tell's repeal. today we saw two very important republicans indicate support for a free standing bill. so the human rights and the gay communities are very on pins and needles because they think all of a sudden the skies are brighten for them. we'll see if it comes to that. >> jeanne cummings, from politico, thank you. more on joe biden. what does he think about wikileaks. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.

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wikileaks founder julian assange has just been released on bond from a british prison. he is continuing his fight on his extradition to sweden where he faces sex crimes allegations. >> with that i hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from this allegations. >> vice president joe biden said the leaked cables created no substantive damage just embarrassment. even the cables that said the u.s. spied on diplomats. i spoke to the vice president with that. >> it wasn't just shaking hands. i know these guys. i know these women. they still trust the united states.

there's all kinds of things -- >> so there is no damage? >> i don't think there is any substantive damage. no. some of the cables coming out here and around the world are embarrassing. to say i don't like biden's tie. he is a homely guy. >> i never said that. >> no, i know you didn't. i know you didn't. a lot of things like that. but nothing that i'm aware of that goes to the essence of the relationship that would allow another nation to say they lied to me. we don't trust them. they really are not dealing fairly with us. >> iraq, we have 48,000 troops. your own son was there. now another christmas is coming and they have a government. but there is so much that has not been accomplished. >> think of today, you know this place better than most.

today the international community said iraq you are back in the family of nations. we think you have a government. we think you are moving in the right direction. we think you are protecting human rights and we think you are stable. we passed three resolutions in the security council i had the privilege of presiding over which wiped out the restrictions and claims against iraq that were imposed after saddam hussein went into kuwait. that is a reaffirmation that iraq is back. the international community knows there is work to be done. they think they have turned the corner, have a democracy and moving forward. >> finally, a terrible, terrible loss for all of us, for the country. >> richard holbrooke. >> your thoughts of having this afghanistan view without him. >> i was a 29-year-old senator. he was a young, 31-year-old

foreign service officer in vietnam. i ran opposed to the war in vietnam. we became friends and acquaintances. he was one of the few figures in american foreign policy that was literally larger than life. i wish he could have heard almost every single member spoke of him before they made their statements about iraq. a number of them spoke from personal terms, from their hearts. no one, as my grandfather would say, the good thing about american democracy everyone is expendable in terms of the functioning of this great country. i'll tell you what, it will be a long, long time before anyone is big enough to fill richard's shoes.

he contributed more to the peace and security of this country or as much as anyone in the last 30 years. >> there were moments with him, he could be difficult. >> sure. as a matter of fact, i was with katia at the hospital the day before he died because i went through a similar kind of event with the aneurysms im had. it was more serious with him. she was asking me what was it like? will he remember this? we started joking. i said he can be a royal pain in the you know what. she laughed like hell. i was kidding her. thank god you were there for the last 17 years to moderate him. he would say the same of me, but we were friends. he was a prodigious intellect. he had a kissinger-ian mind.

he saw things strategically like few other men and women i have dealt with. he can be tough but he is my friend. >> do you have a christmas message? >> yes. as my grandpop would say, keep the faith. this country is so strong, so big, so resilient, nothing, nothing at all can damage its ability to move forward. a lot of people are hurting. i remember the year, a christmastime when my dad lost his job and he told us we had to move. it is horrible. you know what? you know what? we'll come back. and in the meantime, keep in your prayers all those people going through really difficult times. >> our men and women in uniform. >> look, jill was -- to be honest with you, i tried to -- i hoped to spend christmas in iraq. it is inappropriate to go while

the government is still being formed. our thoughts and prayers are with them. for thanksgiving we had young men and women who are amputees for the holidays. we will spend christmas at walter reed. these are incredible kids. all you moms and dads and sons and daughters who have someone in harm's way now, keep them in your prayers. they'll be home next year. >> thank you so very much. >> thank you. >> they will be home next year. president obama says the military's exhaustive review of the afghan war strategy proves progress is being made. the u.s. forces have four more years of fighting ahead. savannah guthrie is nbc news correspondent. you have had a lot of briefings, what is the prognosis for afghanistan? >> look, i think this review was

portrayed as something exhaustive looking how this counterinsurgency strategy is working and executed ed id in t possible way. it is whether the strategy we have is working. the ultimate conclusion from the administration is progress is being made. they identify areas they need to improve, getting insurgents out of the tribal areas. there was a lot of emphasis on how far pakistan has come and how much it has done. the administration is highlighting the way the al qaeda senior leadership in pakistan has been degraded by some of the counterterrorism measures the administration has undertaken. the real bottom line issue for so many people is when can the troops begin to come home. they are talking about the july 2011 date as the beginning of the draw down as the surged

troops, the extra 30,000 troops the president has sent. it has been clear for a matter of weeks since the summit of nato in lisbon we are talking about 2014 being the real timeline. we didn't get a clear answer today or any day about the pace of that withdrawal that starts next summer. only to hear they do intend to start withdrawaling some troops next summer. >> it will be conditions based. savannah guthrie, we will look forward to your reporting on "nbc nightly news." join savannah and chuck todd for "the daily rundown" on nbc. when is a lame duck not so lame? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. everyone has someone to go heart healthy for.

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the senate is debating the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. don't ask, don't tell might get to the floor. maybe the lame duck session isn't quacking. ron fornier is editor in chief for the national journal. what are the prospects now? i know there are hangups on the house side for tax cuts but we are told it is a bump in the road. >> i love that pun. the tax bill will eventually pass but there is political posturing. the democrats want to make sure they make their pitch to the left. i agree with you. president obama has a very good chance to get the tax bill through, don't ask, don't tell, amend the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. these are all issues where he is ticking off somebody. a man who wants to run for re-election runs in the middle. if you are upsetting democrats on the left or republicans on

the right that is good politics. that is where he is, right in the middle. >> right in the middle means if he can turn this around, i mean, the big problem is, of course, jobs. there is no movement at all on the jobs front. >> right. >> despite what the vice president told me how things would improve after the tax vote. that is not likely to happen until we see an improvement in the economy. >> you know as well as i do on the economy, let's say in the next couple of years we pick up 2 million jobs, that hardly puts a dent in the unemployment rate. if the unemployment rate doesn't show a trend downward it will be hard for him to get re-elected. there is no mistake in the last couple of weeks he seems to have found his footing, we can see the course he wants to chart. looking for victories that show the public he is willing to compromise when it is right, he

wants to get things done and willing to alienate the far left and the far right. >> 70% support for the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. that is a huge boost for them. 59% support the tax cuts. we thought 63% of democrats wanted to see compromise, not him sticking to his policies. >> exactly. a week or so ago washington was saying this is going to be a disaster for him. he's going to get a challenge from the left. well, it turns out that a majority of the public and certainly a big majority of the people in the middle who will determine the presidential election actually endorse that policy. >> ron, you must have had a good time watching bill clinton and barack obama on friday. when i first met you, you were little ron, it was like going home week, wasn't snit. >> i was looking for you. >> well, we were all watching. it was great theater.

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so which political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours. msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com, chris cillizza joining us now. well, now what do we do? the rules have been pulled -- we've been talking about the house tax cut. >> sure. and now it's not the next 24. maybe it's the next 48 or seven days. >> i feel like -- exactly. like the next 96 every time i come on. at 1:50 every day you and i talk about tax cuts. this is a little bit of house arcana. it's something that will delay but not derail the bill. liberals in the house want more

say. they want more amendments. it has to go back to the senate for approval. if the senate approves it. it's still going to take more time. we're waiting on start. we're waiting on don't ask, don't tell. as the snow outside in washington signals, it's very close to christmas. it's very close to the time in which congress is going to have to end this lame duck session. so any delay is not helpful. particularly for a president who wants to score this victory, a victory that the american people polling suggests want, large majorities want. he wants to score the victory, go on vacation, come back renewed for the 112th congress. >> the president will not be saying aloha any time soon. >> no, he will not. zl we'll be in for a while, but not until tomorrow. thank you very much. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow on the show kathleen

sebelius joins us as the health care bill is being challenged in the courts. richard lui has a look at what's next on "news nation." hi, richard. >> in our next hour, drama on capitol hill. there's been a setback on the house floor for president obama's tax cut compromise. and then free on bail. julian assange says it's great to feel the fresh air of london after spending a week behind bars. we'll tell you where he's going next. a live report from london. and plus, reviewing the war. president obama says the u.s. is on track to start withdrawing troops from afghanistan next summer. but he warns of one area where progress has not come along fast enough. the "news nation" is moments away. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear

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right now on "news nation," breaking news. julian assange free on bail. he hopes to continue his work as well as to protest his innocence. a live report from outside the