i want to play some, also very strong sound last night from steve hayes on this. play that and get your reaction, ambassador. >> what is more recent about this development in the broader context of obama foreign policy, we're watching in real time, the decline of american power and the person who is most afraid of american power these days is barack obama. martha: wow. do you believe that? >> well, i think it is worse than he is afraid of it. i think he believes affirmatively that american strength in the world is not conducive to international peace and stability. i think he thinks, he said in his state of the union message that this past month that american troop deployments were a cause of international terrorism. this is, this is his deepest ideology in my view. so, i think vladmir putin, fully understands that barack obama's rhetoric will continue, but there will be no substantive u.s. actions that have any effect what is going on in ukraine. sad to say the european union will be even worse. martha: all of this goes back to, he mentioned the word, stepping ov

columnist george will, juan williams, and steve hayes. e have obviously heard about al qaeda and plans and concerns from intelligence officials, among them, the director of national intelligence at a recent hearing to launch attacks in the u.s. and europe, but this seems interesting that it's specifically about shoes and it reminds us of richard reid, obviously, from 2009. >> it sounds like we've got enough information that they were comfortable going public with this, which is unlike the other reports where we had bits and pieces and they decided not to go public about the threat. i think the first thing to say about this is it's obviously a serious potential threat. they have obviously got real intelligence or they wouldn't have gone public with it. the second thing is it's a difficult political challenge for the administration because they have been making the argument and pushing back against people like james clapper, the administration still contending that al qaeda is on the run, that it's on the path to defeat, and this obviously f

and state senator steve pierce told chris hayes last night, it was some sort of crazy mixup. >> i believe it was going to be slowed down, wasn't going to come to the floor as soon as it did. i can tell you there's a number of us that we were texting each other madly, do we go with it, do we not? so we made a mistake. that's about all i can tell you is we went the wrong way. >> yes. they went the wrong way. and it's too late to reverse that because arizona's most powerful republicans want brewer to fix what the legislature mixed up. senators john mccain and jeff flake are, you can see it right here, now calling for a veto. the party's most recent national standard bearer mitt romney as well. that's because mitt romney and john mccain, i think they now understand what the equality movement has been arguing for decades. discrimination against any of us is discrimination against all of us, and politicians who invoke religious freedom for discrimination make for very bad allies.

. >> and steve hayes, tackling another issue that comes up when discussing these power grabs. the issue of how the media is covering them. and while we've seen issues from some republicans and some legal scholars, some have even defended the president's use of the power. the washington's editorial page, obama's justifiable "power grab." and the rational response to an increasingly grid locked congress. and why obama's use of executive power is justified. howard kurtz with me now, and i'm sure that "the huffington post" would have defended george bush equally. >> had this happened when george bush was in office, they would have gone wild. now with a few exceptions on had you noti-- they're not even hav the debate. >> why? >> well, i think part of the reason has to do with not because the media are in love with barack obama, for example, there has been critical treatment, i think of the botched rollout on obamacare, and the broken promises on you can keep your plan, you can keep your doctor. but i think generally journalists are more sympathetic to the goals of the administratio

steve hayes, kirsten powers, and charles krauthammer. t of people might say, really, age of austerity? >> yeah, this is one of the funny things about reading mainstream newspapers and watching mainstream media report on this president. they somehow are operating under the illusion we're living in this age of austerity. yes, there have been some discretionary spending cuts. >> really not cuts. >> reductions in the rate of growth, right. but for the washington post and apparently others, this counts as austerity. what is so interesting, though, is in washington today, there was a sense of surprise. president obama surprised that he's doing this. declaring an end to the era of austerity. if you go back to the "new york times" the day after president obama's 2013 state of the union speech, a front page anallicize by dick stevenson, he wrote president obama's state of the union declared an end to the era of austerity. the reality is there has never been an era of austerity under president obama. he's never been serious about entitlement reform

steve hayes, ab stoddard, and charles krauthammer.well, it usually will come out in the middle of the month except when the secretary steps all over herself and makes bad news. so you want to trump it with a nice number, a round number, which comes out in the middle of a week. it isn't even the end of the month. it tells you how cynically the administration is manipulatinums it doesn't have, but when it needs it, it produces the numbers so it can cover another story. look, what we saw when she said where did you get the 7 million, of course, she was the one who said it among others. you know, it's an old rule. say the truth. it's easier to memorize. they keep changing stories on this, and they can't even remember what their last story was. the administration is way behind. everybody understands that, except when they release real numbers. it's not even a real number because this is not a person who is enrolled. they're not counting the enrolled. it's the people who put the plan in the shopping cart. amazon doesn't count as a sale stuf

let's bring in steve hayes, a.b. stoddard, and charles krauthammer.ell, look, the president pretends that this is all settled, settled science. i mean, newton's laws were considered settled for 200 years. until a patent clerk in switzerland turned them over with a single paper in 1903, and that was pretty settled science. the idea this is all settled is absurd. however, even if you accept it, you look ought what he did last week. he wants to pretend that these individual weather events are the cause of global warming, which is supposedly the saettle science. as you showed earlier the "new york times" says there is no definitive evidence it's causing the drought in the west coast. in fact, i'm quoting here, the most recent computer projections suggest as the world warms, it should be getting wetter, not drier out there in the winter. if you accept the settled science of climate change, you would have the exact opposite effect of what we saw last week in california. so the arrogance of this is rather appalling. but worse is the application of it to our

steve hayes, senior writer for the weekly standard. and charles krauthammer. thanks, gentleman. steve, let's start with you. the president making this proposal in california for a creation of a climate resilience fund to help the communities prepare for the effects of climate change. using this for his own agenda to advance the climate change agenda? >> no question, but he'll have to grapple with the central fact, which i think mark laid out. there hasn't been an appreciable change, increase in global climate temperatures in 17 years. the smart climate change proponents or activists will acknowledge that and say this presents a problem for the argument that we've been making over several years, and it's something we've got to explain and grapple with. but there aren't that many, i think, truly honest climate activists, most are not, choosing to ignore that and shrug it off. that's the fact, if you're seeing increased concentrations of carbon dioxide, carbon related pollutants and not seeing another increase at the same level of global t

let's bring in steve hayes, kirsten powers, usa today columnist and syndicating columnist charles krauthammer, author of the best selling book "things that matter." back with the panel. steve, thoughts on this, what the president said. >> the reality is that it's not the numbers of people affected. it's the fact that this is the 27th delay, and the president would sort of with a shrug of his shoulders pretends that this is just an administrative tweaking of the law when it's in fact a changing of the law by presidential fiat, something that many people, myself included, don't believe he's entitled to do. when you have small businesses planning for the implementation of the law in one way, have been making many different kinds of arrangements to prepare for the law, and the president as he has done so many times in the past, decides with a wave of his hand that he's now going to change the law and it's going to be entirely different than what was passed by congress. this is a problem. it's a problem not only for the health and the strength of obamacare if you're the president, but it's a probl

steve hayes, julie pace, and tucker carlson, host of fox and friends weekend. among other things. ten different jobs. thank you for making time for us. >> i want to start with you, julie, because you were in this briefing today. and we saw the cbo numbers earlier today. essentially, they say 2 million plus fewer people will be working as full-time employees. now, the white house says that is because of choices, because they have options to work fewer hours and have subsidized health care through obamacare. jason furman, people don't see a lot, but an economist from the white house, was on the front lines there. you were in the briefing. explain. >> so, there was an interesting hour or so at the white house today after the cbo report came out, where you had a statement from the white house, a background call with senior officials, and then jason furman, the president's top economist come to the briefing. basically what you have are two different ways of characterizing the report. if you talk to republicans, they say there will be 2.5 million jobs lost over a decade because of the a

our fitness expert steve hayes is here to help us stay motivated and on track to keep healthy duringexercise does make a big difference in health, doesn't it? >> yes, it does, barbara. let me introduce you to christy. >> hi, nice to have you with us. and you have something interesting you'll show us. it's tabatta? >> yeah, named after this doctor in japan, so he developed these exercises, so called tabata exercise. >> it doesn't take a whole lot of time, does? >> no, absolutely not. it's very effective. we've been indoors, it's cold outside, and coming inside and getting the incredible aerobic workout. >> all right. let's see a few. >> first, going from the pushup to the plane. we push up to the -- >> we are. it's a fun exercise, only 20 seconds interval. >> and that is something you have to use for tabata -- >> no, you don't. if you're at home, you don't have to use it at home, or just grab dish towels or something. ok make sure the exercise has t start down on the ground, just do a pushup, pull our knees in, push up, pull the knees in. the key to tabata, working big, fast, explosiv

. >> and steve hayes, tackling another issue that comes up when discussing these power grabs.overing them. and while we've seen issues from some republicans and some legal scholars, some have even defended the president's use of the power. the washington's editorial page, obama's justifiable "power grab." and the rational response to an increasingly grid locked congress. and why obama's use of executive power is justified. howard kurtz with me now, and i'm sure that "the huffington post" would have defended george bush equally. >> had this happened when george bush was in office, they would have gone wild. now with a few exceptions on had you noti-- they're not even hav the debate. >> why? >> well, i think part of the reason has to do with not because the media are in love with barack obama, for example, there has been critical treatment, i think of the botched rollout on obamacare, and the broken promises on you can keep your plan, you can keep your doctor. but i think generally journalists are more sympathetic to the goals of the administration, when on the issue of the aenl

let's bring in our panel, steve hayes, elise veback, and jason riley. think in. >> first of all, i think this is by design. obama purposely picked a republican defense secretary to give him political cover when he went about reducing the size of the military. chuck hagel was willing to play the role of the useful idiot, and this is what we're seeing. this is by design. the real question substantively is does anyone think the world is a safer place today than when obama took office? things are going backwards in russia, syria, iraq, iran, venezuela, and this is the time we choose to shrink our military? in an environment the defense secretary himself says is challenging, unprecedented in the world. it doesn't make a lot of sense. >> it's sure to trigger battles on capitol hill, but as you say, it's very unlikely to shrink the military would last long. we would end up expanding it once again, shortly. the interesting part to me was the way the proposal chose to cut certain benefits for military families and retirees. i think both parties on capitol hill a

steve hayes, senior writer for the weekly standard. a.d.and syndicating columnist and best selling author charles krauthammer, author of the best selling "things that matter." good to see you all. we get new numbers today. there was a call to explain them. 3.3 million have signed up for the private insurance. we're not factoring in medicaid. there's questions on who has paid, who will ultimately paid. is that 3.3 million the final number and will they get to their ultimate goal by march? >> probably not is the answer to the last question, and i think the fact we haven't had this breakdown of the 3.3 million paid versus unpaid is a really big deal. we'll hear this repeated. the administration put it out and put it out on purpose and they can argue that at least the trajectory is better. they're signing up more people faster, at least they did in january. that's sort of one highlight from this for the administration. the problem is, by not breaking down the paid and unpaid, we really have no idea what the 3.3 million person universe looks lik

this was an attack from the very beginning and now, katherine is reporting and the reporting of steve hayes of the weekly standard about the deputy director of the c.i.a. and his role in creating the talking points. i know there were a lot of questions that susan rice was not asked about that raw intelligence and maybe she'll offer herself or avail herself for another interview to see the answers to those. jon: and worth remembering her comments were made as a president was running for re-election claiming that al qaeda was on the run and osama bin laden was dead. >> exactly. where it falls into that where we've talked about many times before but i think there are a number of questions that lawmakers are still looking for and you saw senators and others. there's an effort to call mike back up to capitol hill to ask him about his previous testimony. jon: interesting. all right. bret baier joining us from washington. see you tonight on "special report." jenna: elsewhere in the world, deadly clashes on the streets in venezuela. the latest on the violent protests against the government in a liv

steve. chris hayes is up next. more than 6,500 flights were canceled today. and as of this afternoon, nearly 500,000 households were without power across eight states. >>> dragnet. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews down in washington. let me start tonight with this. up in new jersey tonight, the dragnet is closing. the iron grip of subpoenas now ensnaring chris christie's political army, from trenton to the hudson river. the people who stopped traffic across the country's busiest bridge are now among those caught in a web of investigations that threaten trouble to them and the governor for whom they serve. two nets now extend across the garden state. the first grabbing into its midst all those mentioned in the closing of the george washington bridge last september. the second net, the group of those engaged in what appears to be the cover-up, the alibi about the whole matter being caused by a traffic study. what is now clear there was no such thing, only the urgent need to find cover by those forced to now testify. and probes in new

steve. chris hayes is up next. more than 6,500 flights were canceled today.n, nearly 500,000 households were without power across eight states. >>> dragnet. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews down in washington. let me start tonight with this. up in new jersey tonight, the dragnet is closing. the iron grip of subpoenas now ensnaring chris christie's political army, from trenton to the hudson river. the people who stopped traffic across the country's busiest bridge are now among those caught in a web of investigations that threaten trouble to them and the governor for whom they serve. two nets now extend across the garden state. the first grabbing into its midst all those mentioned in the closing of the george washington bridge last september.

they're intellige intelligent, there's rigorous analysis and debate, they're why folks like chris hayes and stevere knack ki and ezra klein have found a home at that network because the audience expects smart debate and what that tweet, i think, did is undermine the intelligence of the typical msnbc viewer and look, i got to know the msnbc viewer very well, for the year that i was there. they're a vocal group. i heard from them a lot. despite the fact that they're very liberal, they're also -- they're intelligent and i think that a tweet that cheap really just -- the viewer and i think a lot of the comments in the past that have gotten folks at msnbc in trouble, you know, melissa harris perry giggling about a biracial mitt romney family, undermines the intelligence of the typical msnbc viewer. that's a problem for msnbc. if they're purporting to be intelligent and intelligent network with folks like rachel maddow on and i think folks like rachel maddow and chris hayes and steve are smart, they are -- they are presenting rigorous debate, then everything on that network really has to live up to tha

steve hayes is here on that. a harrowing hostage situation and the reporter who stepped in.e top of the hour rrow. tomorrow we go live... it's a day full of promise. and often, that day arrives by train. big day today? even bigger one tomorrow. csx. how tomorrow moves. too small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ] [ male announcer ] introducing progresso's new creamy alfredo soup. inspired by perfection. >>> they're back by popular demand. yesterday foreigner, styx, and don felder of the eagles stopped by to announce they're forming a new huge summer tour. they even taught brian how to play the guitar at one point. >> that's right. and later they teamed up for a performance in our after the show show. >> and i missed it! >> i know, you were working on your guitar 'cause you had a good lesson. in case you missed it, here is "i want to know what love is". ♪ got to take a little time ♪ ♪ a little time to think things over ♪ ♪ better read between the line lines ♪ ♪ case i need it when i'm older older ♪ ♪ oh ♪ this mountain i must climb ♪ feels like a world upon my shoulders ♪ ♪

one of them, steve pierce, appeared on chris hayes's show a couple hours ago on this network. at steve pierce said about this. >> when i voted on it, i did not look towards any kind of discrimination at all. i didn't see that in there. as the days went on after we voted, it was from constituents in the public and the outcry from it. and you know, i've been listening to things all day about the discrimination. there is none in my view, and i don't -- if there is, i'm totally against it. we made a mistake. and that's about all i can tell you, is we went the wrong way. >> so chad campbell, you were there. did you leave some things unsaid in your opposition to this bill that could have convinced steve pierce, things that he's heard from george takei and others since? >> no. i think anybody that knows me knows that i don't leave anything unsaid when i'm debating any bill on the house floor. and i was very clear about the discriminatory practices involved in this bill. there's no doubt about this bill. it's an effort to be offering, or legalizing i should say, state-sanctioned discri

hayes" starts right now. >>> good evening from new york. i'm steve kornacki in tonight for chris hayes. we have breaking news from washington, d.c. where the republican-controlled house of representatives has voted on a bill that would suspend the nation's debt limit until march 15th of 2015. this is a so-called clean debt limit increase. there are no strings attached to it. the bill passed tonight by a vote of 221-201. all but two democrats voting yes along with 28 republicans who crossed over to vote with them. and quite possibly it's created a new norm that's much like the old norm in congress in which the debt ceiling hikes passed again and again with little fanfare garnering only symbolic no votes from the opposition party as well as obviously enough ayes for passage. it was no less iconic leader than president ronald reagan, himself, who wrote this in his diary entry in november 1983. "day began with gop congressional leadership. a full cabinet room. last night the republican senate very irresponsibly refused to pass an increase in the debt ceiling which is necessary if we're to k

hayes" starts right now. >>> good evening from new york. i'm steve kornacki in tonight for chris hayes.shington, d.c. where the republican-controlled house of representatives has voted on a bill that would suspend the nation's debt limit until march 15th of 2015. this is a so-called clean debt limit increase. there are no strings attached to it. the bill passed tonight by a vote of 221-201. all but two democrats voting yes along with 28 republicans who crossed over to vote with them. and quite possibly it's created a new norm that's much like the

i'm steve kornacki in tonight for chris hayes. we have breaking news from washington, d.c.e republican-controlled

up next, steve kornacki is in tonight for chris hayes. >>> christie claim

up next, steve kornacki is in tonight for chris hayes. >>> christie claims executive privilege. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let's start tonight with this report out of new jersey that says the christie administration will keep the governor's staff from testifying before legislative committees. does this mean governor christie is claiming some sort of executive privilege, that he is asserting the right to have his staff refuse to testify before committees, even those digging into the scandal involving the deliberate jamming up of traffic on the george washington bridge? while a spokesman for christie denies this is his claim, would this be christie's ultimate move to protect himself, by claiming his right to keep his top staff people, especially his chief of staff and counsel from answering questions from the democrats investigating him in trenton, to resort to richard nixon's defense that even in a case involving possible criminal charges that the papers and communications of top government officials are beyond the reach of the law.

. >> steve mcqueen, tonight's >>> good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes.hing me right now, then congratulations. you must be hunkered down somewhere warm, presumably with electricity. because it is rough out there. as a major winter storm bears down on the south and northeast, "ap" reports at least 20 deaths are blamed on the storm. mostly from traffic accidents. more than 6,500 flights were canceled today. as of this afternoon, nearly half a million households were without power across eight states. just a couple of weeks after we saw atlanta paralyzed by a few inches of snowfall,

. >> steve mcqueen, tonight's >>> good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. and if you are watching me right now, then congratulations. you must be hunkered down somewhere warm, presumably with electricity. because it is rough out there. as a major winter storm bears down on the south and northeast, "ap" reports at least 20 deaths are blamed on the storm. mostly from traffic accidents. more than 6,500 flights were canceled today. as of this afternoon, nearly half a million households were without power across eight states. just a couple of weeks after we saw atlanta paralyzed by a few inches of snowfall, we are seeing scenes like this unfold in north carolina with drivers abandoning their cars on gridlocked roadways. the governor warning residents to respect mother nature and stay off the roads unless there's an emergency. this winter so far has been brutal and extreme and here's one thing we know about brutal, extreme weather like this. whether or not any one given episode of extreme weather is caused by climate change, we know that climate change makes extr

steve, thank you. jon: in another trial very much in the news, amanda hayes mak ms a dramatic appeal to jurors tellingm she is not guilty in the murder trial. coming up, some of her final remarks and if the jury will buy the claim she acted out of fear per husband would harm her or their child. >> she would cry and he would pull me aside and look like he would throw her out the side of the car. jenna: an american ship arriving in spain ahead of an unprecedented mission to collect and destroy syria's chemical weapons. pulling into the dock before going to italy. the did with two machines to neutralize hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals. those chemicals of course supposed to be removed from serious permanent special effort to destroy them by the end of the year. they need serious help in this. sprinted to be the mediterranean sea by march 31. jon: i a woman accused of murdering her husband's ex-girlfriend testifies in her own defense. amanda hayes faces life in prison if she is convicted of murdering her husband's former girlfriend after a long custody dispute. in her final remarks in the court yesterd

steve harrigan is live with more on this. what's the latest on this protest leaders? >> since leopoldo lopez turned him in voluntarily he hayesn held in almost exclusion at a military base but has managed to get a note to his wife to encourage his supporters to keep on protesting. don't stop. he said. i will keep going as well. he is planning to encourage major march on saturday. this march known straightors hope will be peaceful. we have seen flairs of violence from both sides, molotov cocktails and tear gas. as many as eight people killed. they began as student protests early in the month bus as the government has cracked down they've gotten larger and larger. >> talk about what the government is doing in terms of cracking down on these people? >> one of the newer ways the government has cracked down is apparents live by cutting off internet access, especially in areas where the demonstrations have been intense, like some college towns. keep in mind the venezuelan government controls all of the television stations and the news so internet and cell phones has been the only way for protesters to organize and now that is lost