weeks. back in 2011. "morning joe" will be here next week, the week after. truth told i'm taking my annual guys only week to dollywood. >> dolly wood sounds fun. >> i tuned in to see if willie made it back from the vatican.

i saw he was performing with the pope a few days ago, with a few of his buddies. >> i know where we're going with this. unsheathed. there it is. on behalf of all of us at chippendale's, merry christmas, everybody. "morning joe" starts right now. >> the constitution we have doesn't have a lot of information in it but what's in it is what runs this country. i'm convinced i do not want to give up more power to the white house whether it's george bush or barack obama. and i'm going to fight as hard as i can against president obama on these earmarks and my republican colleagues who hate to vote for them but love to get them. >> i've got to reread that. welcome to "morning joe." good morning. guess what, it's friday.

friday december 17th. with us on set msnbc contributor mike barnicle and president on foreign relations richard haass with us as well. >> we've got quite a show. >> yes, we do. we've got a lot to talk about between afghanistan and the house deal that got through the house. >> lawrence o'donnell is going to be here. that's always interesting. exchequer going to be here, talk about great britain is doing regarding austerity that we're not. >> we could learn a thing or two or troubleshoot a thing or two. >> i wonder, it's interesting great britain is doing what they are doing. we're talking to george osborne, last night we passed a tax deal that blows another trillion dollar hole in the deficit. >> good stuff. good time.

>> mike barnicle, it's a shocker, people like the bill. >> they do. who doesn't like a bill with a tax cut. >> here is the candy cane. by the way, 100% depreciation on clowns at kids' parties. write it all off. >> you can write it all off. also, willie, i know this is important to you. those meat sinks you want in your double-wide, you can do it. the government writing the hole thing out. >> what is a mink sink. >> a sink lined in mink. the giveaways are outrageous. >> that's why i laughed when it's approved. 60% of americans -- >> they are giving them money. it's like wilford brimly inco

cocoon, daffodils, you smile all day and live forever. who is not for tax cuts. who is not for benefits you give away for free. >> so interesting the difference between what britain is doing and we're doing. they are essentially doing let's fix the budget deficit first. that will get us to grow. we're saying let's do stimulus and maybe we'll get around to the budget deficit. >> all of europe is sick except germany. they are the most viable right now. they underwent an austerity program. they lectured barack obama and said, you're spending way too much money. the way to growth is being fiscally responsible and they have proven it. >> they have the ability to export to all those countries around them. but you're right. basically you're right. >> that's richard's way of saying i'm not going to embarrass you this early in the

morning. >> the average person didn't understand inside the fortune cookie. >> are you an average person. >> i thought you called yourself average joe. >> i'm regular joe. >> we'll talk about this later, but richard haass, i don't know if it's the official argument but has an argued about lee being a communist. pay attention. >> i will pay close attention. let's start with the trillion dollar -- >> let's do that. let's just lather in many, shall we, all of us. >> with chinese currency raining from the sky. >> exactly. >> and then afghanistan, of course, we'll talk about afghanistan. >> we'll fill up a bathtub with money. the bill passed by a vote of 277 to 148 after progressive democrats failed in their attempt to strip the legislation of an estate tax that they considered too generous to the wealthy. >> it wasn't even close, was it? >> a lot of protests for

nothing. >> not close at all. >> the white house and gop hailed the deal as a rare bipartisan achievement. are you kidding me? i can't even say that with a straight face. in the end 139 democrats supported the measure and just 36 republicans opposed it. the $858 billion plan will be financed entirely by adding to the national debt. >> let's stop right there. for two years, richard, we have heard the republicans bash barack obama's stimulus bill for adding $800 million to the national debt. this adds $850 million to the national debt. while there are tea party types like rand paul, jim demint opposing the bill, most of the republican establishment is just being nakedly hypocritical. >> this the second stimulus

bill. >> it is. >> what's so sad is it wasn't linked in any way to deficit reduction. essentially you're doing this, getting it out of the way and maybe one day we'll get around to the other. it's sad it wasn't packaged -- what the administration was saying they wouldn't mind packaging it. they didn't have a chance. they had to get it through now. their argument is we're going to start growing 3% or more and that will increase revenues and ease the budget. >> that's their argument. >> the president is going to pass it quickly. it's the first stimulus package with a steaming pile of garbage. how would you characterize this bill. >> idea logically i'm a conservative, free market guy. i believe if people keep more of their money, i believe that's better than taking more people's money, sending it to washington,

d.c. and asking washington, d.c. to disperse it. the stimulus bill, we've had these tax cuts in place for seven years. >> not new. >> unfortunately we're in a terrible position where only bad things can happen by raising taxes, i believe. the thing to have done would be to extend the tax cuts but to pay for them. to extend unemployment benefits but to pay for them. but we're not paying for anything. with all due respect to mark halperin, i don't know where he is, i hope you're listening, mark, he keeps saying just wait until next year. just wait until next year. just wait until december. that's what the obama administration has been saying for two years. just wait, the president really cares about deficit reduction. they could have cut spending in this bill. they could have said we're going to pay for this over the next two years but the cuts will come over -- even if they said the cuts will come over the next

decade, cut over 10 years to pay for a two-year bill. >> things we can talk about throughout the morning, or throughout the hour is what exactly is stimulative about this if these cuts have been in place for so long. >> two call it a stimulus bill is a misnomer. we're still flying into airports, roads, bridges that are crumbling. there's no infrastructure improvement going on. >> nothing new. >> there aren't. that's what we need to do. but if you were interested in the words of jeffrey saxon, recreating the bubble, getting people back to malls, what you have is payroll tax cuts that i think will create new jobs. you also have unemployment benefits that there's a moral component to it. but the bush administration commissioned a labor department study that shows for every

dollar in unemployment benefits it stimulate $2 in the economy. that will have a stimulative affect, too. some invest at goldman sachs in a long-term bond. >> the tre money in the tax cut -- >> by the way, that went viral. you and john went viral. >> you're onto something here about cutting the deficit. the problem is the american mind-set, too much of it. all you have to do is be around this city to understand it. we're not going to be able to shop our way out of this situation. >> that's all it does. >> that's exactly all it does. >> puts people in the malls instead of workers in new jobs. >> that's one of the real failures of the deficit commission. it i never made the case for why the deficit matters. out of a 50, 60-page report, it was on that. americans don't understand what

we're putting into place and why it's going to come back and bite them. that's been the real failure of the public debate. >> before we get to the other headline of afghanistan, a little more spending for you. a trillion dollar spending bill, one loaded with earmarks is dead in the senate after harry reid abandoned the measure. he said he did not have enough votes after several republicans pulled their support for the plan. it came several hours after reed launched into a forceful defense of earmarks branding republicans as hypocrites. >> you can't have it both ways. you can all look it up in the dictionary yourself. if you went to h in the dictionary and found hypocrite, under that would be people who ask for earmarks but vote against them. >> let's move onto afghanistan. >> okay. >> the president is saying we're making progress. >> well, he said yesterday in a news conference that we're

making, quote, significant progress, the goal of defeating al qaeda in afghanistan. that azment follows the release of a long awaited review of the war. in other news conference the president stressed security gains are also fragile and reversible. >> i want to be clear, this continues to be a very difficult endeavor. but i can report that than to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on the ground, we are on track to achieve our goals. from the start i've been very clear about our core goal. it's not to defeat every last threat to the security of afghanistan, because ultimately it is afghans who must secure their cover. it's not nation building because it's afghans that must build their nation. rather we're focused on disrupting, difficulties mant ling and defeating al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan and preventing its capacity to threaten america and our allies in the future. >> all right. that view was reiterated by

secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary robert gates. >> we will not, in fact we dare not defeat history. we will support people of afghanistan and pakistan as they work to build our future, one that is secure, prosperous and free and does not pose a threat to the people of the united states. >> the sense of progress among those closest to the fight is palpable. the bottom line is the military progress made in just the past three to four months, since the last of the additional 40,000 troops arrived has exceeded my expectations. >> however, the international committee at the red cross is painting a much bleaker picture saying humanitarian conditions in afghanistan are the worst it has seen in three decades. in a rare news conference wednesday the head of the committee said we are entering a new, rather murky phase, in the conflict in which the proliferation of armed groups

threatens the ability of humanitarian organizations to reach people who need help. the conflict is now in its tenth year. it is spreading. there is no end in sight. there was more bluntness from a a committee member as well on this. >> our assessment is that we're worried. we're worried about more displacement. we're worried about more civilian casualties. we're worried about people accessing health care and we're worried about more armed groups being around. if you say that we're expecting more of the same for 2011, that would be putting it mildly. >> the worst situation there in three decades going back to the soviet invasion. "the new york times" editorial afghan review writes, it's harder to judge the administration's claims about disrupting and dismantling al qaeda. these things may be difficult to measure but there is no excuse for the review's failure to explain how the administration plans to deal with two of its

biggest problems, pakistan's continued refusal to go after the taliban and al qaeda sanctuaries and corruption and incompetence of the afghan government. they boiled it down. the report doesn't go to the crux of the problem, a corrupt government americans are propping up and dying for and american taxpayers are paying $2 million a week for. the pakistan allies refuses to jump in and join the battle. >> that's why there's a reason to be skeptical. you adopt have a partner in kabul. you don't have a partner in islamabad. it's hard to imagine how this will work. there's a bigger issue herish the administration never really made the case again yesterday, is this worth it. let's argue it might work. is afghanistan a sufficient part of the world terrorist threat to

invest 500 american lives lost a year. is it the key to what happens in pakistan? no, what happens in pakistan is the key to what happens in pakistan. i don't think the government should be investing, given what we talked about economy, given north korea, why is this the centerpiece of america's national security at this point in history? is this really on this piece of terrain called afghanistan where history is written? >> absolutely not. >> it continues to be a major strategic distraction for the united states, even if things do go better. i don't think quite honestly there's reason to be optimistic. >> it's absolutely stunning. mike, i think the media is asleep at the switch. i don't think they are asking enough tough questions. for two years here let's be blunt. we said this president wasn't getting it on jobs.

we kept asking reporters why they weren't writing that story. now we have to ask the question, why aren't they writing the story about afghanistan where none of this makes sense. it is nonsensical for these administration officials to be trotted out and defend a losing war. our troops are doing an extraordinary job, but we can't turn the corner there. we won't turn the corner there. everybody that got up and spoke in front of those micro phones at the white house yesterday know it. >> i think it's been misreported or underreported because it's been lumped in with pakistan. we're talking about it in terms of afpac. the military is on the ground in afghanistan when there is no connection between villages in helmand prof answer and the capital. there's no connection. that's what we're fighting and dying for. something that's going to be unresolved 15 years from now, 20

years from now. that's the issue. >> you hit the nail on the head. nobody has come on the show, no foreign policy expert explained how things will be changed in 2010, if we leave in 2020 versus 2010. we are fighting a losing battle. we are pushing the rock up the hill and it's coming back down. >> the argument, richard, we keep hearing is, if we leave now, it will be back to pre2001, 9/11 levels an we're at risk again, safe harbor for terrorist. is that true? >> no. it's not clear the taliban will necessarily bring back the al qaeda. if they were to do something like that you attack, like yemen and somalia. we don't have 100,000 americans in yemen and somalia, why afghanistan. a big show, ray kelly, reverend sharpton and lawrence o'donnell will be here. a power move by a republican fresh man. we'll talk to "politico" about who is calling out eric cantor.

don't miss willie's week in review. we say good-bye to larry king live and relive one of the most awkward performances innovate can history. first bill karins with a check of the forecast. >> good morning, everyone. everyone has busy plans, last holiday prep weekend. the big storm buzzing looks like more of a hit than miss. temperatures very cold like the last couple of mornings. highs 30, 35. at least it will be sunny after an inch or two of snow, d.c. today, partly cloudy skies. as far as the rest of the country goes this weekend, watch new england sunday chance of snow on the west coast, a mess, huge rain and snow event. even new england is only going to get a little bit of snow. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

we put together a larry king fairwell montage. >> somebody killed her. >> you really want to go there? >> who do you think? >> what do you think? >> how do i know? >> how do i know? [ speaking foreign language ] >> the whole world knows larry king had sex with an elephant. >> that's just what dancers do. let me tell you something. >> you had sex with an elephant. >> wow, the end of an era. okay. >> they don't make it like that anymore. >> time to take a look at the morning papers, "new york times." fda taking steps to revoke the world's best selling cancer drug saying it would no longer be used to treat breast cancer. the decision comes after new

studies confirmed it didn't help patients. other treatments like lung and kidney and brain cancers will not be affected. >> "wall street journal" on this week of insider trading, federal prosecutors charged four tech executives of leaking secrets to hedge funds in exchange for cash. that's illegal now? some tips included insider information about apple sales forecast and future products. let me just say if you had to pay money to figure out apple stock is going up, you're too stupid to invest money anyway. >> "los angeles times," the director behind the movie classics "breast at tiffany" and "pink panther" series has died. this shows him with his wife in julie andrews. >> that's sad. >> yeah. now, i believe, patrick gavin -- willie, what happened? bring him here. >> seriously, what are you doing

here? we can't make fun of you here. >> now i feel kind of bag. >> it's scary in the "politico" newsroom. he and john can run a tight ship. this is a little more relaxed. >> good to have you in new york. >> yeah. >> let's talk about freshman, eric cantor called out over the 2000 work schedule to cantor incoming freshman west writes this. congress needs to work to create jobs, strengthen economy, reduce government, contend with a plethora of national security issues. how can we do that when we start off being in session only 10 days the month of january. they ought to work more. >> gutsy move by a freshman. >> eric cantor released the new schedule for 2011. it is slightly different. about 11% more time at home than in washington than you would see in previous years.

what's interesting about this letter, not only is it gutsy for a freshman to do it but west is a big tea party guy. they are judged by very different standard. most people come in and do what eric cantor would want. their point is they are rebellious. a lot of tea party folks do this. cantor said the reason we're changing, the more time you spend in washington, the more things happen. they don't want big government. cantor and tea party candidates. >> do you know alan west? here is a guy, he's african-american, got kicked out of the army, he was doing an interrogation in iraq with a police officer and thought the guy had information and actually fired the gun to scare the guy. so of course, he gave him bad

information. >> we are invading kansas city tomorrow. so he put the gun away and they got upset with him. this guy, keep your eyes on this guy. >> he's unconventional. >> he will make several week in reviews. >> does anybody know exactly how many times eric cantor had his lunch stollen from him in grade school? >> what does that mean. >> he's a young gun. >> do you think harry reid was the varsity captain. >> a boxer. >> very cleanshaven. >> clean. >> gillette. >> i found they are clean and articulate othey are very articulate whitemen. >> we're not sure why you're here. >> i'm sorry. >> are you going to be around?

come back later in the show? >> i don't know. i got such a warm reception. >> this is the holiday reception. >> happy holidays, guys. great to see you. >> come back in a couple of hours. >> coming up, a preview of "meet the press" with david gregory. nobody brings out the spirit quid like white sox manager ozzie. outtakes of the christmas commercial gone horribly wrong. [ female announcer ] imagine the possibilities with stelara®.

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all right. 32 past the hour. welcome to "morning joe." check of the news. wikileaks founder julian assange is now under house arrest after being granted bail in a london court yesterday. it comes after prosecutors lost an appeal to keep him in prison -- >> can we talk about this a second, mika? this is one of the stories i have a hard time putting me

articles around. people running around saying treason, terrorist, i'm sorry, we're the idiots giving access to a million people. if he gets that information, i don't think he's a terrorist. i don't think it's treasonous. >> it can't be treason if he's not a citizen of the united states. what are we doing when a 22-year-old private first class has access to all this classified material and can walk out with cds of donna summers. >> we turned julian assange into this bad guy when we should be looking at the 22-year-old kid that nobody is writing about who broke an oath, who did commit treason most likely, and our government -- >> and the chain of command. >> in this country it's the people that sign the oath, not

julian assange, "new york times" and others. they didn't sign the oath. you hope they act with some degree of what matters most but at the end of the day -- >> willie, this has to be a generational thing. i'm not as young as you. i'm 47 years old. even i'm saying at 47 years old, it's the world we live in. if somebody gets information from the government, they are going to put it on a website. let's stop treating him as satan. >> there's a whole generation of kids who know how to do this sort of thing, who have worked their whole life on computers. if you don't have fire walls, safeguards, there will be much more of that. >> if there are trials, the trials have to be -- at least the hearings on capitol hill have to be, mike, the people that set up this system that allowed a million people to have access of the most private cables of our diplomats. >> we live in an age where whatever you put on e-mail, just

put it on there with the knowledge it might be on the front page of the paper. bradley manning, private first class, you're right. there will be hearings. hopefully there will be a brigade commander, company commander, right up the chain of command, how was this kid allowed to do this. >> the white two-piece suit john lennon wore on the cover of the beatles abbey road item will be up for sell. the auction house's owner says he does not know how much it will fetch. the blazer sold for $500,000, he wore in the imagine music video and the 1972 chrysler station wagon that once belonged to lennon and yoko ono. i don't get buying those things. i don't. people love it. >> why do you hate john lennon. >> i don't. i love john lennon. i just don't understand artifacts owned by people like

socks. >> i got it for you for christmas. >> i'm sorry. >> willie. >> thursday night nfl last night. you may not have seen it. chargers smashing up, beating up the lowly 49ers from up north. philip rivers having another monster season puts it up for grabs. jackson, 58-yard touchdown. he'd be out 10 games due to a contract dispute. comes back in a big way. three touchdowns last night. rivers goes over 1,000 yards. there was talk he would catch dan moreno's record. that's not going to happen. >> new york giants quarterback or -- >> i'm sticking with ely. >> single terry. >> dicey. >> he gone? >> he's gone. >> chargers win 34-7, 8 and 6, half game behind kansas city. shovel out tcf bank stadium,

university of minnesota for vikings bears monday night game. >> let's go. >> the game was moved because of sunday's roof collapse at the metrodome. it's going to be a rough game for the vikings fans. tibet holders seated on first come, first serve basis because there's a small capacity at the college stadium. also, ncaa, university of minnesota policy, that no alcohol can be served and no outside food or beverages allowed on the monday night game. one more thing, it's going to be 4 degrees. >> count me in. >> road trip, guys. >> let's make some reservations. >> white sox manager ozzie guillen, known to be outspoken, maybe use language we wouldn't want our kids to hear. what do you do when you get him all lined up to sell tickets to fans in an online holiday message. here is outtakes. >> this holiday you want me to be under your tree. pick it up.

[ bleep ]. >> i don't want to read that. read that one. ozzie being ozzie. >> you can get me for christmas. you can have me complete me. me, 13, baby, the ozzie plan. >> those are the outtakes. don't worry. that wasn't on the air. i don't know if that will bring people to the ballpark. >> what is that? >> still ahead. >> you know bill clinton was on larry king's final show. >> yeah. part of a club. >> live from little rock, part of a zipper club. >> stop. >> just innuendo. >> what do you mean? >> we'll have clarification on what the zipper club means. next on "morning joe." [ wind howling ]

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is that presidential you and kate gosselin in the forest. look, it doesn't elevate the former governor of alaska, and you would say -- >> i'm sorry i'm not so haughty taughty and i don't do this before i make a statement or endorse a person or portray reality. >> did you make fun of her? >> no. but that episode reflect add life lesson i'm a believer in. that is life is 10% circumstances, 90% how you react to circumstances. i think that was illustrated.

>> you would appoint her to a cabinet position if you were in washington. >> what do you think? >> i'm just giving you a jazz, governor. you know how i am. >> okay. here is a picture from the top of the rock. you can read that, though. let's move onto news. richard, for years we have had journalists swinging their ha s hands, editorialists lashing out at the profession for not asking tough questions leading up to iraq. ten years from now, won't we be saying the same thing about afghanistan? a compliant press that allows westmoreland like white washes of the horrific situation in afghanistan. >> alas, i fear you're right. i think history will be brutal on the questions that haven't

been asked. yes, we can make things better in afghanistan on the ground when you have a lot of american forces acting. does anyone really think a day or week or month or year after they leave the gains will still be there? why isn't the press looking at that question? why aren't they accepting this at face value, connecting afghanistan to the economy? why aren't they looking at afghanistan given the global terrorism threat and saying, why are we putting so much in there? why aren't they tougher on the pakistani sanctuary which isn't going away. the administration cannot -- it punted on the immediate question, u.s. force levels. >> the editorial package called out obama on many stages. most people are quietly and meekly going along with this failed strategy because it goes again a decade long narrative that george bush chose the wrong

war, afghanistan is the right war. if he only put more troops in, everything would be taken care of. afghanistan was always a near impossible task. after we get past the phase of driving him out of there. >> yesterday he was blaming the bush administration for what he inherited in afghanistan. this administration has tripled our force levels, changed the mission, expanded the mission. i'm still surprised at the lack of scrutiny its getting. why aren't people asking tougher questions about whether this is worth it for american national security. >> this is their war now. they have taken a war that began, as jon meacham pointed out months ago as an antiterrorism campaign and turned it into an anti-insurgency campaign and trying to rebuild the country. it is their war and the press remained silent ept. >> "washington post," progress

in afghanistan with caveats. president obama says the measure of succession in afghanistan is that he can stick to his schedule and begin with drawing u.s. troops and transferring responsibility to the afghans next july. that part still sounds like wishful thinking given the mixed picture. there's progress. but as the president rightly said, it is still very frail. eugene robinson also has a good piece as well. >> do you call sis fuss pushing a rock up the hill progress? in 2004, told of a friend over there doing military intel, 2004-2005, go to a village, get information, troops would come in, stabilize it and three months later he'd be called back because the troops would leave. the whole process would start over. >> we'll be making a massive investment. the numbers are staggering, $2

million a week, 500 lives lost a year, more than 10 times that many casualties. you've got to ask yourself five years after we stop doing it, will this investment show any returns? will afghanistan be that much better? will it make that much difference in the war on terrorism? i think this is seriously misguided, distorting what we're doing in the world, making our economic problems much worse. that's the debate that's not happening. i am really surprised by the lack of debate about something so big. i don't understand -- >> unbelievable, barack obama tripled the number of troops in afghanistan. i would guess 95% of americans don't know that. >> nobody voted this past november on the basis of afghanistan. this has now become the centerpiece, single biggest investment of the nation's foreign and defense policy. i would suggest it's seriously flawed. i'm taken aback by no one discussing it. >> how can he end it without looking politically weak? we talked about it around the

table he's sticking it out, he doesn't want to be the guy who cut and run in afghanistan. >> i don't want to end it. i would bring it back to where he inherited it. basically the counter-terrorism effort there, akin to places like yemen and somalia, free up money, focus on places like north korea or iran. i'm not saying to walk away from it. we have interests there. we just don't have interest anywhere near to scale to what we're doing. at the end of the day strategy has to match the scale of interest. right now there's a tremendous disconnect, a mismatch between the scale of interest. we've got to close that gap. >> you brought it up earlier, this country is so disconnected. you have tribes scattered around. we heard the same argument about iraq. we found out later in the conflict by '07, '08, there it

was, you took polls and saw iraquis actually saw themselves as a nation. forget about how the lines were drawn a century ago. you even visit happening now. shia and sunnis getting together and hammering out compromises because they want that country to survive. >> two things quickly. two, one, afghanistan, there's no connection between the populace and the corrupt government. this country, no connection between a volunteer military and vast majority of people in the country who suffer nothing as a result of the casualties. >> talk about corrupt government, as "times" said in their he had torld, united states hurting themselves by being associated with a corrupt government. >> willie's week in review next. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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i'm really glad to see you here and still up and going. >> we're both in the zipper club. by the way, you looked very good in the briefing room at the white house. >> by the way, the suits wanted me to remind you what the zipper club is, if you had open-heart surgery, they zipper it up. >> bill and i looked confused. >> ryan, do you have any questions for the president. >> i'm glad you clarified that. >> i see what you mean. oh. >> oh, my gosh. it's time but i'm not sure --

>> zipper club for the open-heart surgery. >> it's not like the brett favre -- >> willie, i heard this was one of the most awkward hours in tv history. >> it was a nice tribute, a lot of moving parts and satellite delays. >> willie, i've got great respect for larry king. i heard this was one of the most awkward hours in television. >> i enjoyed it. >> come on, willie. >> it was a tough ride. president clinton's delay was like four seconds. >> oh, my god. >> definitely the week in review, larry king. >> welcome to the last larry king live. it's hard to say that. >> at number three, good-bye to larry the cable guy. >> keep this in meend, i'll be back. >> i definitely will. >> after 25 years as a tv talk show icon, larry king hung up the suspenders this week.

>> can the suspender industry survive the end of larry king live. >> i will not stop wearing them. >> despite the jokes of late nice wise acres that the game may have passed larry by. >> they are replacing veteran broadcaster larry king. when i say veteran, i refer to his service in the world war. >> no arguing his greatness. >> was there a holocaust. >> you want to impose your view on me. >> you're being inappropriate. >> inappropriate king live continues. >> oh, my god. >> he's going to be friendly now. >> it ends just below the knee. >> feels like a leg. >> are you gay? how are you? >> i'm okay. thank you, larry. how are you? >> i'm okay. >> they didn't cancel, you

canceled them. >> i was the number one show in television, larry. do you know who i am. >> i'm still on the brake. why are we moving. >> make him an offer i couldn't refuse. >> good-bye. >> as the sun set on larry king's television run, america cried itself to sleep. >> a shot at the american dream like i did. >> i would ask that your -- >> instead of good-bye, how about so long. >> tissue, please. now i need tissue. >> at number two, shotgun. just when we thought we'd reached the mountain top of animals traveling in cars with creepy back seat horse. >> the horse in the car. >> along comes bailey the bison. the 1600 pound beast that cruises around the greater edmonton alberta area in the owner's tricked out drop top.

bailey and his human pal jim go barhopping in the spacious old pontiac whose seats and windshields have been moved in audacious violation of canadian seat belt laws. and the number one story of the week. no shoes, no shirts, no problem. a troop of shirtless acrobats came to the vatican this week bearing tight christmas packages for the pope. pope benedict sat trans fixed while the giddy nuns made up for all those missed bachelorette parties by cheering wildly for the men as they performed to '80s porn music. the acrobat/chippendale dancers were booked by the same vatican official who once brought in

break-dancers to do head spins for pope john paul. >> the pope staring at shirtless young men as they stack themselves into live body man towers, a photo-op made in heaven. >> this week you have reached a new -- >> the man pyramid we learned today? >> let's do it. >> do me a favor, don't. richard haass, that you so much. >> it's been real. >> it's fun to be at cfr this week. >> ray kelly and al sharpton straight ahead. we'll be right back.

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welcome back to "morning joe." >> snowy washington, d.c. the white house looking beautiful this morning. top of the hour, mike barnicle still with us. joining the table, the united kingdom's canceller of the exchequer. >> this is big. chancellor, you found out after you got this tile there was another title out there i thought is even more fetching. master of the royal mouth. >> that's right. >> what does that mean? >> i have to write a letter to the queen and say do you like

the coin design we have for you. >> this position has been in place for how long? >> about 1,200 years. >> what would you like to be called. >> it's all right. i'm only six months in the job. >> exactly. he says he wants to be called george. i like master or chancellor better. also richard haass with us this morning. so why don't we just get right into it, mika. >> all right. >> very quickly let's talk about what happened in congress and how that contrasts with what's happening in britain. >> starting out in washington the house approved the tax cut deal hammered out by the white house and republican. 277-148 passed after progressives failed to strip the legislation of an estate tax they considered too generous to the wealthy. in the end 139 democrats supported the measure, just 36 republicans opposed it. the $858 billion plan -- >> hold on.

$858 billion. how are we going to pay for that? i'll start with tax revenue. how are we going to pay for it? >> a couple of ideas to mull about, debate. but what we're going to do here is find out that it's going to be financed entirely by adding to the national debt. >> oh, really? >> yeah. don't worry about it. just put it off. seriously, don't even worry about it. >> almost a trillion dollars more on the national debt. >> exactly. >> the legislation extends the bush era tax breaks -- >> we've done this before. can you believe this in they just added another trillion dollars to the national debt. >> yes, i can believe it. we've been saying all week and much longer, these are not serious people. >> we have a serious person here, which is a good segue. george, i bet you knew how easy it was. you're there with austerity,

cut, raise revenues. just add to your debt. that's what we do. >> what happened. >> we don't have some of your advantages. we don't have a reserve currency which people have to use. in europe people are stalking governments that aren't getting their act together. we have the biggest budget deficit of all, even bigger than the u.s. as a proportion of our economy. we were a new government. we cain and said we're going to get our in house in order. we've set out a plan and get that deficit down and it's starting to take affect. >> it seems surreal because we've always looked down our noses at europe regarding their fiscal discipline but it seems roles reserved, germany, even french are making fun of us for our spending ways. what's happening here? why did you voters rise up and say it's time to start being

responsible? >> i think the british public reached a point where they realized they couldn't go on. the more you borrowed, the more that was tax deferred. we were placing burdens on our children and grandchildren, which was unfair. interestingly the issues were aired in a democratic election in may. we went into that election saying, look, we're going to have to do something if you vote us in. >> you still won. >> since then actually public approval for dealing with the deficit and cutting spending has grown. so the british public is with us. that makes it much easier for me to do my job because i'm doing what the public knows needs to be done. >> wow, how do we get there. >> what percentage is britain's debt. >> the entire national debt is just over 16%. not too dissimilar. but our deficit, again, is quite similar to the united states. look, there are some very

specific differences between the countries. you have this challenge with the bush tax cuts coming to an end. we've will been trying to ease the burden on payroll tax burdens. we've got long-term benefits anyway. they are in place. it's not quite as black and white as it looks. >> please, let's try to make this as simple as possible. >> we have many members of congress in the united states senate to watch this particular program. as a primer for them, how did you make the cuts? was it across the board? a percentage? how did you do it? >> 80% of the cuts are spending cuts and 20% are tax rises, a sales tax rise. we have a national sales tax, so we could put that up. that's going up the beginning of january. 80% spending cuts, which actually i think is very similar to the proportion that your fiscal commission recommended earlier this month. we put up the retirement age. that's starting to go up from 65 to 66.

>> when depend take affect? >> that will take affect later this decade. >> later this decade where we're raising social security for my two years old. they have to wait six months. >> the big deciding was have a go at our welfare bill which was out of control. so there are substantial news on welfare. that's helping a lot. >> was there a tipping point for the public? one of the arguments we make here is nobody really understands the implications of carrying deficits and debt. what made the public -- when did the light go on? >> i think if you're a country in europe, you can see other european countries like greece and ireland having problems. that's covered on our news. so people can follow what's going on. look, we've still got to keep the people with us. through next year that's going to be, of course, where a lot of our energy is focused of it's very well to set out a plan in theory. i get it through the parliament. but now we've got to deliver it

on the ground. >> richard haass standing by in the stranton bureau. let's go to him now. richard, do you have a question? >> i'm curious, how did the chancellor answer the charge focusing so much on cutting spending now it will slow growth and delay the moment when britain gets itself out of the slow, sluggish growth that has characterized it for years. >> what i say to you, richard, it gives people confidence. it gives the public confidence, the business confidence the government is getting its act together. that encourages people to invest and spend knowing that actually they can see what future holds rather than just some undefined -- ill defined tax rises. we found public confidence was undermined by the big deficit. at the same time we're cutting business taxes to try to attract investment into britain. one of the reasons i'm in new york is to encourage some of the big u.s. businesses to build up

their uk operations. they seem to like what we're doing. >> keynesian economics in britain? >> when the downturn comes you're able to increase unemployment, that's keynesian, built into the british system. in the end, i think keynes would acknowledge we have to deal with debt. we have to deal with this problem otherwise it will come back and bite us. >> you said the public was somewhat with the decisions made. do we have that here? are we there yet? we have a savings rate going up. we have people klug in to some of the problems in washington, polls showing people are worried about the deficit. could they handle actually -- >> of course they can. it is a lack of faith among our public leaders in washington. people get it. they understand this is not about being keynesian or supply

si si sideer it's about math. aging rapidly. the numbers, breakdown that worked for 50 years after the war aren't working now. >> people are living longer. that's a good thing, by the way. it's a problem for politicians. >> good for you. >> the country addressing things like the age at which people retire, some of the benefits they receive. these aren't easy decisions. but actually i think you earn more confidence and trust from the public by confronting them and taking people through the argument and people aren't stupid. they know about it. i think one of the most powerful arguments is don't leave your children and grandchildren to do the things that you didn't have the courage and leadership to do yourself. >> mike, i always when i campaigned a decade ago and was talking about grandchildren, children, now it's us. look what's happening in greece,

ireland, california, new york state. the great irony is jerry brown got elected to in the end to what chris christie is doing in new jersey. >> governor christie of new jersey has imposed severe budget cuts on his state operation. in this country 50 states politicians running for congress or state legislatures they never mention the need to increase taxing to pay for programs going forward. increase some taxes, maintain them. what taxes did you increase, what was the reaction among the population. >> the main tax increase and increase in dat, we have a national sales -- >> that's going to 17.5 to 20%. we're also at the same time cutting people's personal income tax and we're also cutting business taxes. now, the overall affect is a tax rise but we're trying to shift tax a bit from the income people earn and businesses earn onto

the things people consume. i think that's going to have a beneficial economic affect. >> i'm sorry, go ahead. >> what's the view from the street, if you can give it to us in great britain of the united states. we're going through financial struggles of our own. how does britain look at the u.s.? >> don't laugh. >> britain has a great affection for the united states. they admire the leadership of president obama. certainly i admire the leadership of tim geithner, someone i come across a lot. we look to the united states to be part of a western world that is asserting its confidence in prosperity, free markets, countries that have got their act together and not afraid of the rise of the east, which is what we talk about in europe just as you talk about here but actually see that as an opportunity to sell american and european goods to these new asian markets. >> not a fading power as someone suggests in europe.

>> every time i come to new york, it fizzes with energy. i know new york is not the whole united states. >> pretty amazing. by the way, i do think our economy is going to grow over the next two years. you look at this bill last night. we were joking before, the deficits worry usa lot. there are provisions, one of them allows 100% depreciation for certain business investments. that is the sort of thing that will get this economy going. it was 50%, 60%, obama administration pushed up to 100%. that will create new jobs. by the way, let's go to schenectady girl right now. we've got richard haass, president of the cfr there. richard, do you have a question for the master of the royal mint. >> i assume he wakes up every morning and one of the things he feels good about is that britain is not part of the eurozone. my question is, when he looks at his neighbors, what is his sense

of whether they can work themselves out of the mess they got into. >> like us. >> first i'm grateful we've got the pound sterling, i'm master of the mint, where we make the pound coins. look, that gives you much greater freedom staying out of europe. the problem with the euro, they have a single currency. they can't transfer money through that currency. >> it's a two-tiered currency. you've basically got germany and everybody else. >> it's a bit like united states's dollar but no single government and no transfer across the union. that's the problem, got it sort out. also got to put their own houses in order, countries with poor productive economies like portugal, countries with real banking countries like ireland need to sort that out. i think our destiny is in our hands. our country proved you can move

it out of that zone. >> at what point does germany say to the rest of europe, you guys clean up your act or else we're walking? it doesn't make sense germany stay connected. >> the rest of the country will pull germany's bluff on that. in the end will germany strapped behind the other countries. >> george, thank you very much. >> say hi to you wife. congratulate her because the vaulter is going to be a major motion picture. >> she loves coming on your show. >> we can never get her to talk about politics. she's far too disciplined. >> i'm glad to hear it. this morning, new york city police commissioner ray kelly, reverend al sharpton, lawrence o'donnell will join us. up next a preview of "meet the press" with david gregory. first bill karins with a check

of the forecast. >> let's break down the weekend forecast, we do have some concerns. first off, starting this morning, a chilly morning, decent day, snow showers in pittsburgh. big story, a huge rain event for california, cold blast in the northern plains and potential for light snow in new england. right now it does not look like it's going to be a blockbuster storm, a glancing blow for most areas. friday, not many problems except the west coast. by the time saturday, more heavy rain in california. not until sunday we have a chance for snow up in new england. i'd say overall most people should get holiday errands run without weather being a big concern. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

first cannon does me. do me. >> where's shawn? get in the car. i'm too old for this. i've done this for 50 years. >> that kid is good. >> cutie. >> 10-year-old. >> chance. >> cannon. very funny. >> 21 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." did you watch last night, david? >> i actually didn't. but i can just imagine the kid imitating his father saying, next week terry garr for the full -- >> remember when terry garr was on. >> tomorrow night, terry garr. >> that is good. maybe we should do this whole segment with you doing the larry king voice.

i dare you, the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. from the white house we have nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director and co-host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. chuck, good to see you. >> good to see you guys. >> raquel welch was my favorite. if it wasn't terry garr it was raquel welch. >> interesting. >> last night the tax bill passes. harry reid had to pull a 1.1 trillion spending bill. what's going on? >> i thought it was interesting. i thought drama might build more. the president came out after the election and said he regretted passing omnibus spending bills that had all the earmarks, banning earmarks was one of the hot things to come out of the election of the president wanted to co-op the issue, said, sure, i'm for the ban as well. let's keep the pressure on the

republicans. let's have them live up to their fiscal responsibility. this put him in an awkward position. you know what the questions were, wait a minute. i thought you regretted that. you're going to pass the bill? when does the new obama show up. if there's a course correction we've seen it. now, is there a tax bill? this spending bill got curbed. look at all the outreach the president has done, particularly the business community. this week meeting with bill clinton, gates, buffet. some things to demonstrate. >> the meeting with jamie diamond, an important sign for wall street. diamond was with him. >> very much against it. >> chuck todd, i think something more tell here is how the president has taken control of washington, d.c. in a way he didn't for two years. in a way we criticized on this show for two years. i remember going on "meet the press" in october 2009.

i remember that -- my memory is not that good. i remember the night before i went on harry reid had gone to the white house. the president said we've got a deal. we've got the 60th vote for health care. we just have to do a trigger. harry reid said, i can get it, mr. president, rolled his eyes and let him go. of course that blew up. in this case you've got the president telling democrats we're going to pass the tax cut. you get the feeling he told harry reid last night to back off the $1.1 trillion bill. it seems like this white house is firmly taking control of the reins in washington. finally. >> it's a two-way street. congressional democrats are going ahead and almost ceding the turf. you're right about the bill. they didn't want to sign it. yesterday it was interesting theater, secretary gates and clinton up there doing a briefing on the afghanistan rerue. there was a question about the spending bill, the so-called

omnibus, apology for the washington speak there. robert gibbs said let me let secretary gates take this question. gates makes this passionate plea for them to pass this bill saying it's going to hurt the defense department. a continuing resolution is not good, will cost them money in the long run, does all of this. but you're right, behind the scenes the white house was hoping that thing didn't go through. they didn't want to sign an earmark-filled spending bill. they knew it looked bad. it was breaking a pledge. but you had gates out there making the case for it. you had a lot of actually government agencies going, you know, yes, there's some earmarks in there but actually doesn't affect the cost of the spending bill, just on where some of the money goes. >> mika, i'm stunned, again, how focused. david is right. they turned on a dime. of course we criticize them

because of the deficit addition. but for instance, 100% deduction or depreciation on business equipment. that's extraordinary. that is a white house saying we're going to do whatever it takes to create jobs. >> we've been asking the question this morning about what exactly in the bill is stimulative and what is a carry over from something we've had, which are the tax cuts at this point stopping the dike. david, i wonder because we heard a voice of reason this week in the battle in terms of what it takes to get things done in washington. that voice has been joe biden, who you're going to have on the show on sunday. is he going to emerge playing a stronger role in negotiation? >> one of the things the vice president says relationships on the hill are the key to how the senate works. i think that's something the president has lacked. i still don't quite know who his real friends are among republicans, with whom he can do business, against whom he can use ultimate leverage, but biden

in that way can be more of a power player. it does matter on these things. joe, you're right. when you talk about who controls washington, who controls congress, we had a much different dynamic when we talked about how stimulus was arrived at, health care arrived at. a fool's errand to think you're going to get republicans on the finance committee to do business with you. here he's got some leverage but also some cards to play. business, the depreciation issue, i think there is a singular focus. we can close guantanamo bay if we don't have jobs. everything is about jobs and about getting caught trying to create jobs. i mean, you know, you're out there meeting with people. you're out there talking up the game. you've got the business community talking about you in a different way. it matters. the left is going to be a problem of the left is likely to be a bigger problem on afghanistan as we move forward. the president has made a

determination that if he doesn't do something about the middle, something about jobs, it doesn't matter. >> how interesting, mike, when barack obama took control of the reins aggressively we got a bipartisan bill passed last night. >> more than interesting. don't look now, but, chuck, am i not correct in thinking, they passed the bill yesterday, they get s.t.a.r.t. treat y, don't ask, don't tell, that's a pretty big year. >> it's not a bad way to end the year. i think s.t.a.r.t. is still a coin flip to be honest. jon kyl, the number two republican leader in the senate has his heels pretty dug in on this. that's going to be a close vote. don't ask, don't tell. you know, a lot of the criticism on the left is very upset at a lot of things. but if don't ask, don't tell gets repealed that will help a little bit. you will see quite the victory lap made by this white house if

they get two of those three items and in particular if they get all three. >> i think, mika, it's so funny, the issue for the left is like they are fighting to have gay people go fight in wars for us and to get married, like the most conservative institutions now. conservatives have won these battles, because that will be their big victory that gay men and women can go fight in afghanistan. >> david, i saw your interview with jon kyl about s.t.a.r.t. i still didn't hear, i don't understand what the holdup is. what is the holdup? why will they not address this? >> i think most is political gainsmanship, control it, have the kind of debate they want. i was listening to kyl's substantive concerns, russia,

verification, what might be missing from this. >> don't we actually make the relationship with russia more precarious if we don't deal with it? >> he thinks you should never sign any treaty with the hope somehow a relationship gets stronger, it should simply be about the merits of the case. i don't think it's a big issue, om a timing issue. ultimately republicans don't want to give democrats everywhere, give them the bare minimum and control the agenda. >> i think republicans got a lot. >> when did jon kyl become the voice of dissent. he's really become the voice of republican opposition. >> i would say the voice of the movement conservator. yerks you have jim demint but the leader that conservatives trust inside that senate more than any of them in the leadership is kyl. for mitch mcconnell, kyl is very important to him. kyl is the guy that helps keep the conservative wing of the party in line and helps out

mitch mcconnell. that's why mcconnell is let this go a little bit. even though he might cut the deal, kyl is like, i've got to have this so he backs off. >> we've got "morning joe" on the "roundtable" sunday. huge. >> andrea mitchell, it's going to be great. >> terry garr? >> terry garr. >> and joe biden. >> can you say don rickels for the hour? >> an old friend, don rick les. >> i want more. do more. >> we're going to see you and savannah on "the daily rundown" after "morning joe." coming up, host of the last word, lawrence o'donnell. sign up for "morning joe" minutes newsletter go to joe.msnbc.com. what's around the corner is one of life's great questions.

and while it can never be fully answered, it helps to have a financial partner like northern trust. by gaining a keen understanding of your financial needs, we're able to tailor a plan using a full suite... of sophisticated investment strategies and solutions. so whatever's around the corner can be faced with confidence. ♪ northern trust. look ahead with us at northerntrust.com. everyone's eating tacos outside bill's office. [ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps. [ phone buzzes ] oh. [ chuckles ] yeah. hey.

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tree. welcome back to "morning joe." quick look at the news. the fda has taken the highly unusual step to revoke the world's best selling cancer drug avastin saying it should no longer be used to treat breast cancer. the decision comes after new studies did not confirm that the medicine was helping patients. other approved uses include lung, kidney, brain cancers will not be affected. in what has become an annual event vladimir putin spent four hours fielding prescreened questions in a nationally televised question-and-answer session. during the show putin gave a forceful defense of his leadership saying a recent outburst of nationalist violence in moscow proves russia can't allow its law enforcement bodies to leave him. putin delta blow to jailed tycoon's chances of leaving

prison comparing him to ponzi schemer bernie madoff. classic comedies as the pink panther and breakfast at tiffany's, also "10." he died yesterday from pneumonia with wife julie andrews and children at his bedside. he wrote, proud nearly 50 films. blake edwards was 88 years old. coming up police commissioner ray kelly and reverend al sharpton join us on the set. keep it right here on "morning joe." ♪

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some people hate this holiday like senate majority leader harry reid, a.k.a. the albino scrooge who stole christmas. >> without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for christians. >> yes, it is so easy to forget that the week after christmas is one of the two holiest of holidays. the other, of course, being shark week. >> 41 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." a live look at times square on this cold winter morning. joining us now, new york city police commissioner ray kelly and the president of the actual action network reverend al sharpton. the two of teaming up for an anti-violence summit and a cash for guns drive this saturday in harlem. gentlemen, thanks very much for joining us. >> good morning. >> ray, let's talk about this

cash for guns drive. you've done this before in different platforms and you've gotten a lot of guns. >> we've gotten over 6,000 from church buyback programs. we have an ongoing buyback program every day on police stations, people understandably are reticent. >> people can turn them in. >> they can turn them in. we've done this nine times previously, going to churches with guns, obviously the clergy are there as well, and it's produced over 6,000 guns. >> let me show you some of the different types of guns you've gotten so far of the 6,000, 1700 revolvers, 1200 semiautomotives, 112 sawed-off shotguns, 95 assault weapons, 1200 rifles and others. where are these guns coming from? can you track them? what do you find? >> they are coming from out of state.

90% of the guns we confiscate here are coming fromtates other than new york. people go down to -- >> gun shows. >> gun shows. virginia, pennsylvania, these are states that contribute to our gun problem here. >> so let me ask you, commissioner, about the mechanics of the program and i want to ask you, reverend about the zip code of guns and zip code of casualties of guns. i have a handgun. i want to return it under this program because i want the $200 bucks. i have a warrant out. i'm reluctant to come in. >> you may be reluctant but there's no questions asked. come in in a paper bag, plastic bag, bring it in your car, keep it in the trunk of the car. you come in, we give you a debit card for $200, no questions asked. that's one of the reasons we do it in churches because people are reticent to walk into police

stations. >> the zip code of casualties. >> it was stunning when i looked at the fact that most of -- in new york city and in other cities because i hope other cities will do this with our national action network chapters, it's overwhelmingly black communities. many of us are not as vocal about it. we had a bad shooting in the middle of a barbecue over the summer right around the corner from national action network. our local chapter said we have to do something. wean though we have had issues and will continue to have issues with police department and policing, commissioner kelly and i have debated, discussed, agreed, disagreed. you and i have talked about stop and frisk, all of that. there must be somewhere where the community and police come together to stop this problem. our communities are under siege and people need to get the guns out of our community. one of the things also, mike,

when you talk about people with a record coming in, i had a lady went to one of the church buy back programs the commissioner did in new york a grandmother told me, i knew my grandson had a gun. i took it while he was asleep and turned it in. this gives people an opportunity to do it. the summit we're having in the morning, a culture of those activists and those questioning other policies to say we want to stop the violence. we're not anti-police just anti- some of the issues we raise. >> big issue with commissioner kelly you talk about the places you can turn in the guns, do cash for guns program this saturday? >> tomorrow. >> you mentioned no questions asked, just turn it in and it's great. isn't the bigger picture problem is people can leave the state and buy a gun, no questions asked. it's unbelievable. >> absolutely it's a problem. it's a national problem, as the reverend said. it's not just new york.

certainly major cities throughout america. the violence falls disproportionately on minority communities. in this city, 98% of shooting victims are people of color, black and hispanic. so we certainly applaud the reverend for taking this issue -- >> i think it would be to me the height of hypocrisy given that data, 98%. we're nowhere near that in the population. yes, we've got to deal with the big issues of gun manufacturers and gun laws. for people living, grandmother's, kids, we've had parents come to us whose kids have been killed in the cross fire of guns. they need some immediate response and a change in the tolerant culture and that's what we're attempting to do. >> you can have a big day on saturday with guns returned but what can be done? it's been years, decades it's been going on. i can go to north carolina or virginia and buy a couple of assault rifles. >> fill the trunk of your car. >> come back to new york city and sell them what do we do

about stuff like that? >> we've got to have stronger, tougher laws, deal with manufacturers. a lot of that we'll deal with in the summer. but for the person worried about doing christmas shopping and getting held up, a person that had a kid a victim of gun violence, they want to see the community come together and say we understand the differences, how do we stop this. a 90-year-old man was mugged this week. he's at my rallies every saturday. this is real and we have to deal with these issues. >> the front page of the "new york times," just to divert a little bit wildly on the obama administration's receipt sense to sort of fully discuss and maybe lay out a plan for a nuclear attack because it will make people completely paranoid yet there are interesting guidelines "the new york times" was able to uncover. any thoughts on that? >> yeah, i think that's

something we have to talk about. that's the world we live in. the possibility of a dirt dwrrks bomb certainly is a real one. >> how do we do that? if you were to put out a major directive, you know what the reaction would be. oh, my gosh, something is about to happen. do you have to work on that to get some sort of plan in place. >> we have to accept the world the way it is. we know there are people out there that want to hurt us. we know al qaeda has been looking at the nuclear possibility for quite a while. that is something governments, certainly federal governments but local governments have to come to grips with. we have office of emergency management here that talks about this, has a website, puts out the information. i think it's time for us to realize that it's a dangerous world. >> ray kelly, reverend al sharpton, thank you so much. >> thank you.

have a good holiday. >> all your efforts to curb this program, guns coming in as well as going out of the city. coming up later, "washington post" eugene robinson. up next regis tries to drag larry into an opera duet. oh, good. a recap of larry king's final show. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work.

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♪ all right. time to pay a little tribute to larry king. >> yes. >> 45 years on the air. the legendary larry king had his last show. >> how good was it? >> good. let's watch him sign off first at the end and then get to some of the fun. >> i -- i am -- i don't know what to say, except to you, my audience. thank you. and instead of goodbye, how about so long? >> that's a good moment right there. that was the very end of the show, fading out, except for the one spotlight on his legendary microphone. so in the hour leading up to that, it was a galaxy of stars. president obama -- >> lauren, sit down. you need to see this. >> larry king. >> the reason i need to see it -- rachel maddow.

>> oh. >> there's some -- >> what? >> because i was watching rachel. >> there's something to watch. >> the president made a cameo appearance and he and larry talked about the zipper club. >> i'm really glad to see you here and still up and going. >> we're both in the zipper club. by the way, you look very good last week in the briefing room at the white house. by the way, the suits want me to remind what the zipper club is, if you have had open heart surgery, they have to zipper it up. i thought everyone knew that. >> we were wondering -- >> i'm sure you did. ryan, do you have any questions? >> i'm glad you clarified that. >> i see what you mean. oh! oh. >> wanted to clarify what the zipper club is. an important distinction. >> whew. bill clinton is the one who draws the attention to the double entondra?

i would have let that slide. i was watching rachel maddow. >> i understand. >> because you're not really a company guy. >> i didn't know larry was still on. i thought it was like six months ago. isn't that pierce guy? -- >> you're almost as -- >> old friend, regis philbin showed up. >> o regis, love that. >> this is great, because they wanted to get together on an old song. everybody knows the lyrics. let's have some fun. >> i've got one for you tonight larry, okay? totally unrehearsed. >> all right. ♪ so long for a while that's all the king for a while ♪ >> yours. larry, don't let me down now. >> i don't know how to sing. >> no, the song. >> yeah, frank sinatra sang it. >> yeah. ♪ you're the hit parade >> larry doesn't remember it. we're dying! we're dying here. >> larry king didn't know the

song. >> it wasn't on the teleprompter. what do you want? come on. >> are you attacking larry king? >> are you kidding me? do you think i can say anything that isn't on my teleprompter at 10:00 at night? when lawrence o'donnell comes on -- srchlts that still on? >> a lot of nights of the week. a majority of the nights of the week. >> seven. >> yeah. >> some of our favorite recent moments of larry king. >> this may be silly, but i guess we have to ask. are you gay? >> well, here's that answer. i'm not going to answer that. >> how are you? >> i'm okay. thank you, larry. how are you? >> i'm okay. >> larry, it's completely confidential, and you're being inappropriate. >> okay. >> okay? >> inappropriate king live continues. >> yes. >> i'm a gay man, and i love pageants. i'm sure that you've got great gay friends that would help you

possibly win. >> low to the floor, too. >> whoa. >> see? i told you, it's low to the floor. >> low to the floor. whoa. ♪ bye! ♪ and my money >> can't reach the gas. >> i miss those moments. larry has more time now to be with his friends. >> is he going to do another radio show? >> no, he does all kinds of stuff. >> i was on his show for two hours, many decades -- he helped sell books for me, the one time -- >> so it comes back to you. >> in my youth, when i had the energy to write a book, he was fantastic. >> what's coming up? >> you're a dark and evil man. >> i love larry king. let me get that on the record here. i love larry king. i watch rachel maddow. i love larry king. >> and more of this man. >> when we come back. >> oh, dear. boss: and now i'll turn it over to the gecko.

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>> the little constitution that we have doesn't have a lot of information in it, but what is in it is what runs this country. and i am convinced that i do not want to give up more power to the white house, whether it's george bush or barack obama. and i'm going to fight as hard as i can against president obama on these earmarks, and my republican colleagues who hate to vote for them but love to get them. >> um, i've got to re-read that. welcome to "morning joe."

good morning. guess what? it's friday. friday, december 17th. with us onset, msnbc contributor mike barnacle, and the president of the council on foreign relations, richard hoss is with us, as well. >> got quite a show. >> yes, we do. oh, yes. a lot to talk about between afghanistan and the tax deal with -- in the house. >> yeah, lawrence o'donnell is going to be here. that's always interesting. >> oh, good. >> george osbourne going to be talking about what great britain is doing regarding austerity that we're not. >> we could learn a thing or to or maybe troubleshoot a thing or to? >> i wonder. it's pretty interesting that great britain is doing what they're doing, and we're talking to george osbourne this morning, and last night, the tax bill blows another trillion-dollar hole in the deficit. >> good. that's good stuff.

good times. good times for our country. >> and guess what? mike barnacle, it's a shocker, people like the bill. >> this they do. who doesn't like a good old tax cut? >> here's a candy cane. >> money. >> by the whiay, 100% depreciatn on clowns on kids' parties. write it all off. you can write it all off. and also, willie, i know, this is important to you. those mink sinks that you've wanted for years, in your double wide? >> that will be good in your apartment. >> do you think it. the government writing the whole thing off. >> a mink sink. >> a sink lined with mink. and i mean, the government -- >> it's like a doctor seuss story. >> they're giving him money. >> it's like willford brimsly in

cocoon, a place with daffodils, you smile all day, and you live forever. who is not for living forever? who is not for tax cuts? >> that's what it's all about. >> who is not for benefits that you give away for free? >> but it's so interesting, the difference between what britain is doing and what we're doing. it's rare in life you have such a black and white approach. they are essentially doing, let's fix the budget deficit first, that will get us to grow. we're saying, let's do stimulus, and then maybe one day we'll get around to the budget deficit. and . >> and by the way, europe is sick but germany. germany is the most viable economically right now and they underwent an austerity program. remember, they lectured barack obama a year-and-a-half ago, saying you're spending too much money. the way to growth is by being physici fiscally responsible and they have proven it. >> they have also have the ability to export to countries around them. but you're right. basic point is right. >> all right. let's -- >> i'm not going to embarrass you this early in the morning. >> no. >> one of the biggest problems --

>> we autos put it off. >> the average person does not understand that inside the fortune cookie is an iou now. >> are you talking about me as an average person now? >> no. >> i thought you called yourself average joe. >> i am regular joe. >> okay. >> mink sinks. >> we're going to talk about this later, but richard haass, and i don't know if it's the official argument, an argument about cliff lee being a communist. >> really? >> yeah, which is going to be very interesting to hear. >> okay. >> i will pay close attention. all right. so let's start with the trillion-dollar -- >> let's do that. let's just lather in money, shall we? all of us. >> with chinese currency raining from the sky. >> exactly. >> and then afghanistan, of course. >> okay. we'll fill up a bathtub with money. the bill passed by a vote of 277 to 148 after progressive democrats failed in their attempt to strip the legislation of an estate tax that they considered too generous to the wealthy. >> that wasn't even close, was

it? >> nope. not close. >> a lot of protests for nothing. >> not close at all. both the white house and the gop hailed the deal as a rare bipartisan achievement. are you kidding me? i can't even say that with a straight face. >> that is funny. >> in the end, 139 democrats supported the measure, and just 36 republicans opposed it. the $858 billion plan will be financed entirely by adding to the national debt. >> okay. let's stop right there. >> you know, let me just take that in. >> for two years, richard, we have heard the republicans bash barack obama's stimulus bill for adding $800 billion. >> right, oh -- terrible. >> this adds $858 billion to the national debt, and while there are tea party types, like rand paul, jim demint, who are opposing this bill, most of the republican establishment's just being -- just nakedly hypocrite

t california. >> it's just a second stimulus bill. and it wasn't linked in any way to deficit reduction. so essentially, you're doing this, you get it out of the way, and then maybe again one day we'll get around to it. but it's really sad it wasn't packaged. what the administration is saying, they wouldn't mind packaging it, they had a chance, had to get this through now, and their argument is, just to put it on the table, we're going to start growing at 3% or more. that will increase the revenues, and that will ease the budget deficit challenge. that is their argument. >> so the president is going to sign this today, and really quickly, joe, if the first stimulus package was a steaming pile of garbage, how would you characterize this bill? this bill? >> well, i mean, it's -- obviously, ideallogically i'm a conservative, free market guy, so i believe if you keep free money, i believe that's better than taking more people's money, sending it to washington, d.c.,

and asking washington, d.c. to disperse it. the biggest problem with this is the stimulus bill is what you say all of the time. we've had these tax cuts in place for seven years now. and we are where we are. >> not new. this isn't something new. >> unfortunately, we're in a terrible position, where only bad things can happen by raising taxes, i believe. the thing to have done would be to extend the tax cuts, but to pay for them. to extend unemployment benefits, but to pay for them. but we're not paying for anything. and with all due respect to mark halerprin -- i don't know where mark is this morning, but i hope you're listening, mark. mark keeps saying, just wait until next year. just wait until december. because that's what the obama administration has been telling me for two years. just wait. the president really cares about deficit reduction. well, they could have cut spending in this bill. >> right. >> they could have said, okay, listen, we're going to pay for this over the next two years.

but the cuts will come over, even if they said the cuts will come over the next decade, cut over ten years to pay for a two-year bill. >> and things we can talk about throughout the morning or throughout the hour is what exactly is stimulative about this, if these cuts have been in place for so long. >> that's the question. >> and there are some. >> to call it a stimulus bill, i think is a misnomer. because we're still flying into airports that were built in 1930, over bridges that are crumbling. i mean, there is no infrastructure improvement going on. there is nothing new here. >> there aren't. and that's what we need to do. but if you are interested in the words of jeffrey sacks on, recreating the bubble, getting people back to malls, what you have here are actually payroll tax cuts that i think will create new jobs. and you also have unemployment benefits that -- >> obvious. >> that there's a moral component to it. but the bush administration commissioned the labor department study that shows for

every dollar you give somebody in unemployment benefits -- >> right. >> it stimulates $2 in the economy. so that will have a stimulative effect, too. of course, some, mike, of course, invest their money at goldman sachs in long-term bonds. >> they're going to use the -- you know, the extra money they get in the tax cut to buy apple -- >> by the way, that went virtual. and you john's battle went virtual. >> all right. >> you know, you're on to something here, you know, about cutting the deficit. the problem is, the american mind-set, too much of it, and all you have to do is be around the city to understand it. we're not going to be able to shop our way out of the situation. >> of course not. >> but that's what this does. >> that's exactly all it does. >> this puts people back in the malls. >> same old thinking. and no sacrifice. >> the real failures of the deficit commission. >> right. >> it never made the case for why the deficit matters. out of a 56-page report, a page and a half was on just that.

americans don't understand exactly what we're putting into place. of and why it's going to come back and bite them. and that's been the real failure of this public debate. >> all right. before we get to the other head line of afghanistan, a little more spending for you. more than $1 trillion spending bill. $1 trillion, loaded with thousands of earmarks is dead in the senate after harry reid abandoned the measure. reid said he did not have enough votes to pass the legislation after several republicans pulled their support for the plan. the decision kaem only a few hours after reid launched into a forceful defense of earmarks, branding republicans as hypocrites. >> you can't have it both ways. you can all look it up in the dictionary yourself. but i bet if you went to h. in the dictionary and found hypocrite. under that would be people who ask for earmarks but vote against them. >> all right. let's move on to afghanistan. >> shall we do that? front page of all the papers. >> the president is saying we're making progress.

>> well, he said yesterday in a news conference that we're making, quote, significant progress. in its goal in defeating al qaeda in afghanistan. that assessment follows a long awaited review of the war. and the president stressed that security gains are also fragile and reversible. >> 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. from the start, i've been very clear about our core goal. it's not to defeat every last threat to the security of afghanistan, because ultimately, it is afghans who must secure their country. and it's not nation-building. because it is afghans who must build their nation. rather, we are focused on disrupting, dismantling and defeating al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan. and preventing its capacity to

threaten america and our allies in the future. >> all right. that view was reiterated by secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary robert gates. >> we will not, in fact, we dare not repeat history. we will continue to support the people of afghanistan and pack stage, as they work to build their future, one that is secure, prosperous and free, and does not pose a threat to the people of the united states. >> a sense of progress among those closest to the fight is palpable. the bottom line is that the military progress made in just the past three to four months, since the last of the additional 30,000 u.s. troops arrived, has exceeded my expectations. >> however, the international mmittee of the red cross is painting a much bleaker picture, saying humanitarian conditions in afghanistan are the worst it has seen in three decades. in a rare news conference on wednesday, the head of the committee said, quote, we are entering a new rather murky phase in the conflict in which

the proliferation of armed groups threatens the ability of humanitarian organizations to reach the people who need their help. the conflict is now in its tenth year. it is spreading. there is no end in sight. and there was more bluntness from a committee member, as well, on this. >> our assessment is that we're worried. we're worried about more displacement, we're worried about more civilian casualties, we're worried about more difficulties for people to access health care, and we're worried about more armed groups being around. if you say that we're expecting more of the same for 2011, that would be putting it mildly. >> the worst situation there in three decades, going wha back t the soviet invasion. the "new york times" editorial writes, it's even harder to judge the administration's claims about disrupting and dismantling al qaeda. these things may be difficult to measure, but there is no excuse for the review's failure to

explain how the administration plans to deal with two of its biggest problems, pakistan's continued refusal to go after the taliban and al qaeda sanction areas. this report didn't go to the crux of the problem. a corrupt government that we're propping up that americans are dying for that american taxpayers are paying $2 billion a week for. and the pakistani ally, in quotes, that timberwolvcontinuee to step in and join this battle. >> that's why we're skeptical about whether this is quote, unquote, working or succeeding. you don't have a partner in kabul. you don't have a partner in islamabad. it's hard to imagine how this could work. there's a bigger issue here. the administration never made the case yesterday, is this worth it. let's argue it might work. is afghanistan a sufficient part of the world terrorist threat to

justify the kind of investment of 500 american lost lives a year, $100 billion a year? i would say no. is afghanistan the key to what will happen in pakistan? no. what happens in pakistan is the key to what happens in pakistan. i think the administration has made the case that we should be inventing, given everything we just talked about about the economy, given the fact we have to worry about north korea, iran and other issues, why is this the centerpiece of america's national security at this moment in history? is this really on this piece of terrain called afghanistan, where history is going to be written? i would suggest absolutely not. this is -- >> absolutely not. >> the phrase i would use, this continues to be a major strategic distraction for the united states, even if things do go better. and i don't think, quite honestly, there's reach to be optimistic. >> it is absolutely stunning. and mike, i think the media is asleep at the switch. i don't think they're asking enough tough questions. you know, for two years here, let's be blunt. we said, this president wasn't

getting it on jobs. we kept asking reporters why they weren't writing that story. now we've got to ask the question, why aren't they writing the story about afghanistan where none of this makes sense? is it is nonsensical for these administration officials to be trotted out and to defend a losing war. our troops are doing an extraordinary job. but we can't turn the corner there. we won't turn the corner there, and everybody that got up and spoke in front of those microphones at the white house yesterday know it. >> i think it's been misreported or underreported, because it's been lumped in with pakistan. and we're talking about it in terms of af-pac, afghanistan and pakistan. and at the root of the issue is on the ground in afghanistan, when there is no connection between villages in the province and the capital. no connection between the people and the government. that's what we are fighting and dying for, something that is

going to be unresolved ten years from now, 15 years from now, 20 years from now. that's the issue. >> and you hit the nail on the head. nobody has come on this show. no foreign policy expert has explained how things will be changed in 2010. or 2020. if we leave in 2020 versus 2010. we are fighting a losing battle. we are pushing the rock up the hill and it's coming back down. >> the argument, richard, we keep hearing is, if we leave now, it will be back to pre2001, pre9/11 levels, and we're at risk again. safe harbor for terrorists. is that true? >> no, it's not clear that the taliban will necessarily bring back al qaeda. if they do something like that, you do what we are doing in yemen and somalia. we don't have 100 million americans in somalia. also, an exclusive look in the top stories in the politico playbo playbook, and willie's week in review. but first, a check on the

weekend forecast with bill ka arins. >> a close call for d.c., and new york. let me break it down and show you what's going to happen. the windchill still very cold. if you're heading out the door in new england or the mid atlantic, bundle up. we're going to see sunshine, maybe some snow showers in pittsburgh. also, big weather story this week is the west coast. heavy rain over the next four or five days in l.a. that doesn't happen that often, even san francisco is going to see that heavy rain. so the weekend weather pattern, a coastal storm is a close call for new england, especially for the boston providence area up through new hampshire and maine. i think you're going to get at least some snow. still a question mark if new york city or hartford is going to get hardly any snow at all. so check for updates on the forecast here on msnbc. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

be sure to remember that this is not the beginning of the end. rather, it is merely the end of the beginning. we hear credible reports today "the guardian" newspaper confirming what we heard yesterday, there is espionage statements made against me in the united states. something is wrong in the united states that such an investigation against me and in effect my organization and, indeed now, we see serious calls against "the new york times" as

well, all that is to be conducted in secret. >> with us now from msnbc's the last word, lawrence o'donnell. and also politico's patrick gaffe en. help me out. i'm sure you've looked into this. we try to stay as general as possible. help me out here. could they get him on espionage if they found that he somehow encouraged and aided and abetted this 22-year-old kid? is that what they're trying to figure out? >> i am not a lawyer, but i play one on tv. >> oh, good. >> i think -- you can -- you don't have to be an american citi to be charged with an american crime. i mean, you know, we charge mexican drug lords in abstenia. >> i'm conflicted, actually. >> how do you feel? >> i'm for the free flow of information. we have oversecretized the government, and you pay an enormous price in government, because of secrecy.

imagine if the development of the internet and the development of software and the -- and all of the use of our electronics was done in secret. we would have like we used to have in this country, one form of telephone, which is wired to your wall. >> oh, yeah, i miss those days. >> the free flow of information creates better information. >> right. >> it creates more intelligence. you know, our cia, our intelligence system, was designed to monitor the soviet union. we didn't have an intelligence system before there was a soviet union, really. and it was all about tell us what they're doing. and tell us what's going on there. and they were telling us all this stuff, except that the soviet union was going to collapse. >> would collapse. >> except that. that's the thing they missed. except the berlin wall is going to come down. wouldn't it have been nice to have an intelligence agency that could tell you, hey, the berlin wall is coming down next week. you know who could tell you? any taxi driver in east berlin. that's what the free flow of

information is about. so i'm very much in favor of this. >> you're not -- >> not in the at least. >> i'm not sho shocked. we're not talking about telephones. don't you think some things should remain top secret? >> private mail. cables. >> there are some security questions, perhaps that shouldn't be made public. >> i suppose in time of war, it's a good idea for the germans not to know exactly what beach we're coming up on. but it's very temporary. it's very temporary. and when you -- other than actual war planning secrets, when you look at the stuff we have discovered over time, what about it? >> i was going to ask this question. and i give this to the entire table. name the single-most shocking thing this latest batch of wikileaks, which has -- what is the one thing you heard that you said oh, my god? >> right. >> i think what's interesting -- >> does anybody -- can you think of one? >> no. >> oh, wait, the moderate arab states wanted to bomb iran. what a shock. >> very little people in the diplomatic community say we

didn't know already, slightly embarrassing. and i know it doesn't matter in the court of law, but i think in the court of public opinion, what is clear, this guy has not come out looking good. i think every description of him, like what he did or not, describes him in the same breath as a creep. >> i for one don't care about that. i don't care if daniel else berg was a creep. >> he would get more sympathy -- >> but it's very helpful to have it out publicly. what you just said about these middle eastern governments that want to pretend one thing publicly, but privately think this, i think it's helpful to them, in fact, that this information gets out there. information that they could never release themselves. >> right. >> so, you know, i'm -- >> really, can you think of one shocking fact that came out from this? >> no. and in fact, most of what made headlines was sort of catty little things about, you know, talking about sarkozy being short. making fun of cad gadhafi's

girlfriends. is he in my ear? something is in my ear. >> shut off the mic. >> did you just confuse mike barnicle for gadhafi? >> all right. >> let's talk playbook, patrick. and you're looking at 2012 race. >> uh-huh. >> republicans, a little jockeying back and forth. what's going on? >> last week, i think there were already three if not four gop presidential debates named and zero candidates in the ring. so i think the process has gotten ahead of the candidates. but looking at how this is going to play out, we sort of -- how these candidates or potential candidates committed, after the new year, people you might see first, mike pence, rick san tore yum, would decide after new year's and after that, get into the more serious candidates, newt gingrich, tim paw lawty said in march. and mitch daniels. people are going to hold out the

longest, according to what they said. mike huckabee, sarah palin, who i think both have said they're going to sort to wait and see how the field plays out. that's interesting, because i think both their bases are very similar. so the fact they're going to be the last will be interesting. >> sarah palin will be waiting to see how the field plays out for the rest of her life. >> yes. >> she absolutely will not run. she is running for billionaire. it's about the money. >> she is. >> and the second she says i'm not running, her value drops dramatically, so she is going to hold that to the last minute. >> and then say maybe next time. the kids are still too young. so let me ask -- >> she'll take it up to, maybe i'll enter at the convention. she'll try to keep it alive every day. >> that's what newt gingrich says. >> makes a lot of money. >> so if you're in the white house, who is the republican candidate you're most afraid of? >> sarah palin -- most afraid. i thought you were going to say which do i want. i want palin. i'm not afraid of any of them. i had a republican on the other side going through every one of them, saying what's wrong with

every one of them. disaster. >> what's wrong with haley barbo barbour? >> what do have to run against on obama, obama care. >> what's wrong with haley barbour? >> start with the charisma and where he's from, and no base. i think pawlenty is actually their best possible. >> do you really? >> yes. he's got no strikes against him. he has the right -- he's the right age, he has the right dynamic, he's from a good part of the world for republicans. >> what about billy geisst? he's from the upper west side. could he run? >> willie geisst, is worth considering, yes. >> get in late, too. >> vice presidential -- youth and vigor. vice presidential candidate, yes. >> and by the way, the heroin conviction, toronto 71 -- >> conviction -- charge. >> i am so sorry. i always make that mistake. same thing with miami. you and morrison. >> the exposure? >> yeah. but it was -- that's what you did. >> it was the '70s. >> or the late -- >> i feel like you and miley cyrus together as a ticket.

>> oh, come on. >> youthful indiscretion, 2012. >> let's turn serious for a second. ronwiden. >> ron widen, the senator, of course, democrat of oregon, with some cancer. >> yeah, so he is scheduled surgery for the 20th, assuming -- a long time ago, assume congress would be out of session. will be there saturday on procedural votes on don't ask, don't tell on the dream act. but the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, if harry reid does make this lake duck session go deep, the need to get 60 votes is key. >> what kind of cancer is it? >> prostate cancer. >> oh, gosh. >> but seems to be under control. >> oh, good. >> his prospects are very good. >> very treatable. >> there is a question about whether -- i thought there was a question about whether he could vote tomorrow. >> i think the last we know is he is planning on doing saturday -- the surgery is on monday. so -- and i think especially, the amount of pressure on don't ask, don't tell. he'll find a way to be there. >> we all really like ron.

our thoughts and prayers are with him. >> on don't ask, don't tell, they are within one vote. if he's not there -- >> scott brown came out. >> three republicans yesterday. >> if he's not there, it could be -- >> it's going to be close. do you know willie, what his wife owns? what book store his wife owns? strands. can you believe that? i had no idea. >> who would have thunk. >> people outside of new york, it's just an extraordinary book store. >> most important book store in new york. >> it is. it's unbelievable. >> patrick, thanks so much. >> patrick, thank you. >> thank you, patrick. >> see you in d.c. >> next week. >> coming up, eugene robinson. he says the afghan war strategy is on track to nowhere. but first, business for the bell with -- i love him. that man. mark haines. >> wow. >> next. ring ring. progresso. oh yes hi. can you please put my grandma on the phone please? thanks. excuse me a sec. another person calling for her grandmother.

she thinks it's her soup huh? i'm told she's in the garden picking herbs. she is so cute. okay i'll hold. she's holding. wha? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

♪ instead of wil and johnnie. >> it is 36 past the hour. and mike barnicle has a nice voice. all right. -- >> you know where they got this idea, right? you know where they got this

idea? >> no. >> actually, mark haines and joe kernin did this. he doesn't remember. >> let's get a check on business before the bell. cnbc's mark haines live at the new york stock exchange. mark. >> yeah, most of that is a blank. >> i have one of those, too. >> we're still reeling from yesterday. >> what's with this weird -- i'll take joe to block -- oh, now we're out of the hollywood squares. >> he doesn't like that. the big news -- there we go again. >> is there a problem with maybe like some sort of bad fumes coming out of the new york stock exchange? and maybe making you all act a little quirky? >> all right. let me get to what i've got to get to here. >> good.

>> as you well know, congress has passed a new deal that will add $850 billion to our deficit. some people think that's good news. the european situation is not going well. moody's has slashed ireland's bond rating five notches. the european leaders yesterday came up with a new permanent bailout plan to help out euro nations. but the reaction is almost universally negative. no one believes it will work. there's trouble in mortgage land. yields on treasurietreasuries. there has been a big down move in bond markets around the world, which means interest rates rise, and that's hurting mortgage rates right now. mortgage rates are rising. so i wish i had more good news just before christmas, but i don't. >> well, when does moody's decide to cut our rating? we keep adding $1 trillion every year or two to our national debt.

when does our bond rating get cut? >> well, if they want to continue doing business in this country, i don't think they'll ever do that. but you're absolutely right on the principle, you know, in your query. the debt situation is nothing sort of ridiculous. and we don't seem to be able to bite the bullet here. >> no, we don't. it's ridiculous. all right, mark haines, thank you so much for being with us. thanks for being on the hollywood squares. >> i'm off next week, so i will wish you a merry christmas right now. >> have a merry christmas. and i will go paul lynn for the gang. coming up next, u joan robinson. [ manager ] you know...

i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? alright, fine. no, you don't have to do it. ok? [ male announcer ] notre dame knows it's better for xerox to control its printing costs. so they can focus on winning on and off the field. [ manager ] are you sure i can't talk -- ok, no, i get it. [ male announcer ] with xerox, you're ready for real business. ♪ my country ♪ 'tis of thee ♪ sweet land ♪ of liberty ♪ of thee i sing [ laughs ] ♪ oh, land ♪ where my fathers died ♪ land of the pilgrims' pride ♪ from every mountainside

♪ let freedom ring ♪

♪ welcome back to "morning joe." >> 42 past the hour.

>> pulitzer-prize winning columnist for "the washington post" eugene robinson. >> a great piece today on afghanistan. >> a great piece, gene. and i guess the question is, why does this administration, and why do republicans and democrats in congress keep pushing forward on a war that's not going to succeed? >> yeah, i have no idea, joe. it really is going nowhere. for all the reasons that you guys have enumerated in that block with richard haass. why is this the focal point of our foreign policy or foreign involvement right now? why are we in a war in which our allies are hindering as much as their helping. >> most important, allies, karzai and pakistan -- it's hard to imagine a worst group of

friends in battle. >> with friends like these, you don't need -- no. but the pakistanis are not going to get rid of the safe havens, in part because there are elements of the pakistani government that -- especially in the military, that, you know, support the taliban. they created the taliban, after all. and don't want to give it up. the karzai government, you think that's going to reform and -- and become some sort of reasonable, honest democracy? i kind of doubt it. >> absolutely not. >> and so in the meantime, we keep pouring not just money, but the lives of extremely brave and dedicated young men and women into this -- into this pit. >> unbelievable. >> so lawrence o'donnell. i've heard you say several times in this show, "i have no idea." what to do in afghanistan. >> overwhelmed by humility when

it comes to war strategyizing. but there was the theory that george bush had made a mistake by taking his eye off afghanistan, pouring all the resources into iraq, and if they had kept all the resources in afghanistan or maybe pumped them up, we would have had more success in the place we needed to have success. and so this is in a way the campaign delivery on that theory. and so far, the experiment doesn't seem to be giving the turns that the campaign thought it would. >> gene, the theory, it looks deeply flawed, doesn't it? >> it kind of does. you have to take into account what the situation is now, as opposed to what the situation was three or four years ago. and maybe you could have made that argument a few years ago, and maybe it was kind of a -- you could follow it logically. but now, you know, where is the threat from al qaeda? where is it based? well, you know, frankly, it's in

yemen and it's in somalia. those are the branches or franchising of al qaeda that are trying as hard as they can to attack the united states. it's not what's happening in that cave or wherever in pakistan. you know, those guys are -- they are pinned down, and so what are we doing? why don't we look at the world as it is right now? and it seems to me this is not necessarily where we want to focus all our attention. >> hey, lawrence, i'm watching your show last night. >> yeah. >> you did something pretty remarkable. you made an announcement that you teamed up with unicef to raise money, bringing in, like, what, $46,000 or something forrel school desks in classrooms in malawi. >> well, we actually need an unlimited amount of school money. african kids mostly are sitting on the floor. there are no desks in most of

these classrooms. i was over there this summer. and i was able just on my own to outfit one classroom with the desk you're radioing looking at right now. designed to seat two students burks in the school i was in, it was so overcrowded, three malawi children easily squeeze on to that desk. >> wow. >> and unicef has teamed up with msnbc in this unique partnership. you can go to our website to donate $48 buys one of those desks. $48. and you can change a student's life. and by the way, for the person who has everything. like mr. joe scarborough. you can go to the website, you can buy the desk and that's the present you're giving to joe. and joe will get an e-mail from unicef, saying this is the present you got this year. >> i guess, willie, we can both this year just defer for another year our mink-lined sinks. >> you could. >> call 1-800-4-kids. >> trying to get 46,000 desks.

>> as a start. but there is really an unlimited problem there. and, you know, what we don't know is -- i mean, i was a public school teacher for a while. and you're counting on everything in the room working for you, not against you. >> yeah. >> and in most classrooms, everything is working against you. and the place to begin is to just get these kids off the floor. >> and you've already had a remarkable outpouring. >> incredible. at 10:00 last night, the website was briefly overwhelmed. and it's just been fantastic. and -- but it's -- there's nothing better you can do with $48. you send $24, you get one kid off the floor. >> i love it. >> address is on the screen right there. lastworddesks.msnbc.com. if you want the to help out with lawrence's cause. good work, lawrence. >> hey, gene, thank you so much for being with us. and thank you for your op-ed. it's important. people should go to washingtonpost.com and read it. >> thanks, joe. and mika, i'm getting you a desk for christmas. >> okay! thank you very much. i love that.

>> thank you. >> it's a great thing, lawrence. congratulations. >> coming up next, willie's week in review. [ male announcer ] at&t introduces a new windows phone with an irresistible full key... oh, too much? now get an lg quantum™ for $199.99, and get one free. only from at&t. rethink possible. [ ted ] for years, i was just a brewer. until one of the guys brought in some fresh bread that he'd made from our pale ale. and from that first bite, i knew my business would never be the same. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity to grow, the hartford is there. protecting their property and helping them plan their employees' retirement.

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>> get in the car! i'm too old for this! >> after 25 years as a tv talk show icon, larry king hung up the suspenders this week. >> can the us is penders industry survive? >> i will not stop wearing them. >> they're replacing veteran broadcaster larry king. when i say veteran, i refer to his service during the civil war. >> there can be no arguing, larry legends peculiar greatness. >> you're being inappropriate. >> okay. >> okay? >> all right. inappropriate king live continues. >> he's going to be friendly to you now. >> do we -- >> yah! >> it ends just below the knee. >> it feels like a leg. >> yeah. >> i guess we have to ask. are you gay? how are you? >> i'm okay. thank you, larry. how are you? >> i'm okay. >> so they didn't cancel you.

you cancelled them. >> it was the number one show in television, larry. do you know who i am? >> this is the magic. i'm sti. >> i'm still on the brake. why are we moving ♪ going to make an offer we can't refuse ♪ goodbye. >> as he sat on the last run, america cried itself to sleep. >> a shot at the american dream. of and i would ask that your precious -- >> and instead of goodbye, how about so long? >> tissue, please. i now need tissue. >> at number two. shotgun. just when we thought we had reached the mountain top of animals traveling in cars with the creepy back seat horse -- >> a horse in the car! >> along comes bailey the bison, the 1,600 pound beast that cruises around the greater edmonton, alberta area in his

owner's tricked out pop top. he and his owner go barhopping in the spacious old pontiac whose seats and windshields have been removed in autodation violation of the seatbelt laws. and the number one story of the week. no shoes, no shirts, no problem. ♪ >> a troop of shirtless acrobats came to the vatican this week, bearing tight christmas packages for the pope. ♪ >> pope benedict sat transfixed while the giddy nuns made up for the missed bachelorette parties cheered wildly for the men as they performed to '80s porn music. the acrobats slash chippendale dancers apparently were booked by the same vatican official who

once brought in break dancers to do head spins for pope john paul. the pope, staring at shirtless young men, as they stacked themselves into live-bodied man towers. a photo op made in heaven. ♪ merry christmas from all of us at chippendales. up next, what we learned today.

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