. >> joining me, chuck todd, howard fineman, director of the huffing post, and political analyst, and chuck todd, as the speech, as the, the hour for the speech approached today, there was a sense here in this town, washington, there were rewrites going on fast and furiously. what can you tell us about the process in the white house leading up to 9:00 p.m.? >> as i had been told before this. i didn't fully believe them. it was pretty clear to me after listening to the speech that 2/3 of the speech was written a couple days ago. if you listen to the speech, sounded like it. the first 2/3 of the speech was in the can. it is the same speech he was planning on giving two days ago. as he gave today. and the part that was being rewritten and worked on over the last few hours today -- was that last third of the speech. and frankly that's where you could tell, that it felt like -- two speeches put together. one i thought was the clearest and most concise explanation for his policy on syria, white is america's duty to tact. what it would be, wouldn't be. as clear as he has been during any poin

joining me, chuck todd, howard fineman, director of the huffing post, and political analyst, and chuck todd, as the speech, as the, the hour for the speech approached today, there was a sense here in this town, washington, there were rewrites going on fast and furiously. what can you tell us about the process in the white house leading up to 9:00 p.m.? >> as i had been told before this. i didn't fully believe them. it was pretty clear to me after listening to the speech that 2/3 of the speech was writ inten a couple days ago. if you listen to the speech, sounded like it. the first 2/3 of the speech was in the can. it is the same speech he was planning on giving two days ago. as he gave today. and the part that was being rewritten and worked on over the last few hours today -- was that last third of the speech. and frankly that's where you could tell, that it felt like -- two speeches put together. one i thought was the clearest and most concise explanation for his policy on syria, white is america's duty to tact. what it would be, wouldn't be. as clear as he has been during any point d

and howard fineman of "the huffington post." howard recently interviewed secretary of state john kerry. let me go through this. are you surprised at this number came out overnight coming out of the congress which is based upon apparently individual polling and public statements has more than a majority against this proposition of bombing iran -- bombing syria? >> well, first of all, i think we should note, and you did i think 100 or so say they're leaning that way, which means they haven't made a final decision. but look, chris, this is a tough, tough issue. this is a country that is weary of war. i helped barack obama in 2008 become president. and one of the reasons he was elected was because he had the foresight in 2002 to object to the war in iraq. and his observations were prescient about that war. and now we're living with the aftermath of that. so i'm not surprised. and obviously there is work to be done to make the case. but this isn't iraq. it is a very different kind of situation, and the cost of not acting now is just s

msnbc political analyst howard fineman is the editorial director for "the huffington post" media groupnd d.d. meyers worked under president clinton. this is our meat and potatoes here. i think this is worthy of discussion. first of all, it's new york and new york has a special feel for hillary clinton. it's home cooking up there. they love her and want her to run. the new york media is her home, base media, and she has fed them. what does it teal you she's fed them a real interview in which she talks about the elements, the factors she's considering on the way to making a decision. which in effect is saying i'm making a decision about whether to run for president and i'm looking for ways to get past these obstacles? >> it's probably more important that she gave the interview than it is anything that she said, per se, in the interview. to me it was all pretty unexceptional, and she's looking at it. she's thinking about the factors. i mean, i happen to think based on people i talk to that she's running. i don't think there's any doubt that she's running. but the fact that she's beginning

i want to start with howard fineman with my big question here. why should the united states in its individual votes come up with 60 senators and 218 house members, why would there be enough votes to do either in either body, supporting a war that nobody in this country seems overwhelm leg enthusiastic about? >> well, i'm not sure i have a good answer for that, chris. i spoke yesterday to senator -- to a couple senators who were on their way back from recess, democrats. and i said what do you think? and they said, well, we're really not excited about this. we want to know more details. i was impressed by how reluctant they were as the default mechanism. number one, i would say also that the hearings today, the first day of hearings, the open hearings in the senate foreign relation committee were confusing and did not really help make the case because what the president is trying to do i think in the face of obvious public opposition is to so taylor this request for congressional support as to make it narrow enough to gain majority support. but if

howard fineman is an msnbc political analyst.y analysis is they've been getting lots of mail two weeks thanks to ted cruz and mike lee and the rest saying fight the president. at some point the letters from the other side which is enough already will begin and my hunch is by the time they go through the letters, we'll have negotiations going on. >> i think that's what's happening right now. the republicans got a big fat letter from the chamber of commerce today which is equivalent in some ways to a lot of little letters from people around the country. the chamber leaning very hard on the republicans not to shut the government down talking about the economic consequences. and don't forget the chamber of commerce has become much more active and conservative in recent years. they've opposed obama care, fought the president tooth and nail on budget policy. here they're saying, look, we can fight about obama care some other time. don't shut the government down. there's word late tonight as the speaker tries to bring forth yet another

. >> we bring in our howard fineman, of the huffington post media group.seems like the president can't get anything right. you can't help notice the people around him, he's lost the key members of his original band as some people talk about it. david alexrod and david plouffe, is it safe to say he needs to get the band back together? >> i think this is a 50-year problem. as i think jill lawrence of the national journal wrote. this is the first year of the second term. there are a lot of people who have gone and more than the people, the narrative is lost if you will, the original narrative, original purpose, original crusade. the unity of the person and the message and the platform and the proposals. that's kind of gone now and in these last couple months also, the president, who knows that he's facing this big confrontation over the budget and over the debt ceiling and we're headed for yet another big confrontation, has had trouble getting traction. he wants to get that message out. the reason they went ahead with this thing yesterday, he really is focuse

and david fineman of "the huffington post." howard recently interviewed secretary of state john kerry. let me go through this. are you surprised at this number came out overnight coming out of the congress which is based upon apparently individual polling and public statements has more than a majority against this proposition of bombing iran -- bombing syria? >> well, first of all, i think we should note, and you did i think 100 or so say they're leaning that way, which means they haven't made a final decision. but look, chris, this is a tough, tough issue. this is a country that is weary of war. i helped barack obama in 2008 become president. and one of the reasons he was elected was because he had the foresight in 2002 to object to the war in iraq. and his observations were prescient about that war. and now we're living with the aftermath of that. so i'm not surprised. and obviously there is work to be done to make the case. but this isn't iraq. it is a very different kind of situation, and the cost of not acting now is just so high

joining me right now howard fineman and jonathan capehart. robably write editorials. howard, how does he give two speeches at the same time? welcoming the russians into a diplomatic route with no gun fire. statement saying we need our guns loaded and got to get approval to do that. how do you do both? >> i think it's very difficult. and i think the speech writers are working up to the last minute. we've covered these types of things. i've never seen a situation like this where they're scribbling on the back of the envelope before he walks speech. he said in the interview with scott pelley, what this is not. what this is not. not this. not that. not that. not that. he has got to say tonight what it is. and as you say, it is very much in conflict. >> he has been zig-zagging -- >> he has got to do all the zigs, zags. >> that created a blur. how does he get rid of the blur? >> he has got to show he is in charge. he looked like a cork bobbing on diplomatic seas, number one. number two, yes, chemical weapons are serious. we are prepared, still prepa

i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern when i'm joined by ben wallace wells, howard fineman,s. "andrea mitchell reports" is coming up next. [ male announcer ] what's important to you? at humana, our medicare agents sit down with you and ask. being active. and being with this guy. [ male announcer ] getting to know you is how we help you choose the humana medicare plan that works best for you. mi familia. ♪ [ male announcer ] we want to help you achieve your best health, so you can keep doing the things that are important to you. taking care of our customers. taking care of her. and the next thing on our list is bungee jumping. [ male announcer ] helping you -- now that's what's important to us. [ male announcer ] helping you -- from the classic lines to the elegant trim in each and every piece, ♪ kohler will make your reality a dream. ♪ unh ♪ [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. ♪ or you can choose to blend out. the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move. but you had to leave rightce to now, would you go? world, man: 'oh i can't go tonight' woman: 'i can't.' hero : t

the only person we can ask this question to is, of course, howard fineman. started, i want to take a quick look at the whip count that "the washington post" has been drumming up. right now they're saying that 20 senators are against, 62 senators are undecided, and 18 are for action. sol there's a lot of room to go there. in the house, 138 lean no or are saying they're completely against, 99 are undecided, only 17 are for. first of my questions to you would be, do you think this will get through congress? the second question, a lot of people are remembering that hillary clinton's yes vote on iraq was a big reason why she didn't get through the 2008 democratic primary. obviously, people on the republican side thinking about a 2016 primary, thinking about this vote could come back to harm them. so how is that going to change some of the calculus on their side. i want to know both marco rubio and rand paul voted no. >> first, as to whether this thing is going to pass, the narrowed down version the senate foreign relations committee just passed, is probably the b

david corn and howard fineman. first david, do you agree with me? let's start with the bottom 2/3. they hate siding with the yahoos that hate the president. they don't want to be with them. they don't want to be with the hawks. they're not happy. >> a lot of those people with people who want to support the president, they don't want to seem diminished at home and abroad by losing a vote, and yet they look at folks back home, they check their own gut and they don't want to do this again. the president has this really complicated job here. he says this is an important thing we must do immediately. but it has to be limited and narrow and tailored. there's a big reason to do it as john kerry said, it's a small action. >> he says it's about the holocaust. then shoot my pop gun. it doesn't seem -- >> it's nuanced -- >> by the way, if you had a vote, how would you vote? yea or nay? >> i wouldn't vote until i saw the intelligence they know what they're doing. how many -- >> so you're like everybody else. i agree with you. >> i want more information before i vote yes. >> okay. howard, i got