>> bill burton brings up texas. but there's a big difference between texas and a continent,

here now is former obama deputy white house press secretary bill burton. he's now vice president and managing director of global strategy group. and we welcome ace political reporter and cnbc contributor robert costa of the "national review queechlt bill burton, are we being unfair here during the sequester period for a $100 million vacation? >> good evening, larry. first of all, i don't think this is a $100 million vacation. i think those numbers are probably pretty inflated. but second, it's interesting that rick perry was the person you had on before this segment because when rick perry came into your studio i assume that he was surrounded by texas state troopers. he came on a texas plane. this is a trip that's funded by the texas state government. and that's fine because what he's doing is trying to go and get jobs for his state. but what the president is doing is a couple things. one, he's trying to make our case in emerging democracies that american investment is the right way to go. and two, he's showing our american leadership in the world. it's so

bill burton, i appreciate it. robert cost o., i appreciate it.next on "kudlow," the brilliant niall ferguson is about to join us to discuss why he thinks the u.s. is headed down the failed road of too much regulation and too much government dependence. have we already turned into europe? is there hope to avoid that fate? next up. [ male announcer ] citi is over 200 years old. in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our history matter to you? because for more than two centuries, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. ♪ and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ and the next great idea could be yours. i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh...no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a l

bill burton, i want to ask you this question.susan rice, you felt she's got a bad rep. she's had a good day. >> huge appointment for the president. >> and i don't want you to interrupt me the way the heckler interrupted michelle obama. >> imagine what she would have done to you in the briefing room. >> i can't imagine. i don't want to. stick around, "the lead" continues. the verizon share everything plan for small business lets you connect up to 25 devices on one easy to manage plan. that means your smartphone, her blackberry, his laptop, mark's smartphone but i'm still on vacation. still on the plan. nice! so is his tablet, that guy's hotspot, the intern's tablet-- the intern gets a tablet? everyone's devices. his, hers-- oh, sorry. all easier to manage

bill burton you've got courage coming on to defend the situation. obviously those poll numbers are not something that's got to make a guy like you happy. but blogs, websites on the left and the right are full of anger, they're doing that face morph of president bush and president obama. i actually kind of love looking at it, because it's amazing how well it works. i mean -- >> you need new hobbies. >> it's one of the best morphs i've ever seen. how do you explain these new poll numbers? because the public at least the polls i've seen seem to support the nsa monitoring and yet all of a sudden the president's numbers have plunged on this and on trust worthiness. how does that add up? >> if you look at the poll numbers overall there's not a person in washington that the american people are satisfied with. and if you consider that the president has had a series of public relations challenges, that have been built on by republicans who have done very well at making issues seem much bigger and more conspiratorial than they are then you've got a situation

jeff goldberg, bill burton, danny, appreciate it. >> bill burton will be back here again some time soonn a while. hash tag, you're it. we asked you earlier to send us your best private e-mails for obama officials. in honor of jakeblueoooo that's making fun of his signature, and can'tfindreceip can'tfindreceipts@irs.cov. follow me at@jake tapper, and at at the lead. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i turn you over to the table and willing hands of one mr. wolf blitzer. mr. blitzer, over to you. >> jake, thanks very much. happening now, a deadly building collapse in one of downtown philadelphia's busiest areas. the mayor says an active search and rescue is still under way right now. we're going there for the latest. stand by. >>> plus, president obama's controversial pick to be the next national security adviser at the white house. is he igniting a new battle with republicans by naming ambassador susan rice to the post? >>> plus, the first lady, michelle obama's rare run in with a heckler, and it's all caught on tape. you're going to see the exclusive video right here. i'm wolf

jeff goldberg, bill burton, danny, appreciate it. >> bill burton will be back here again some time soonn a while. hash tag, you're it. we asked you earlier to send us your best private e-mails for obama officials. in honor of jakeblueoooo that's making fun of his signature, and can'tfindreceip can'tfec

joining us now is bill burton, former deputy press secretary for the obama administration. 's now senior adviser to the league of conservation voters which, itself, seems like an important part of the political news here. bill, thank you so much for being here. >> hi. thanks for having me, rachel, and, but, i don't thank you for having me follow john lewis and wendy davis. >> yeah, i know, it's kind of a big night. can i ask you a petty question, first, as a guy who was on the inside of obama communications? >> you can, because i think it's going to give me the opportunity to defend some of my friends. please go ahead. >> nobody knew about the whole flight path thing? it seemed like he was dodging crop dusters the entire speech. it was absolutely completely distracting. i'm not easily distracted from a policy speeches. that was crazy. >> i was there at the speech. the thing that was most distracting was the fact it was so hot. it was 110 degrees in there. >> put him inside. >> he was outside in a big city. there's airplanes. the folks on the presidential advance staff are ha

but to say karl rove's groups or bill burton's group on the left, it's absurd.se that's what they're doing. but what is going to happen, i don't think you're going to see the irs go after the karl rove group or bill burton's or any others. they're handcuffing the irs. congress has cut the training of irs workers 83%. how are you supposed to administer the law. we're killing what was the best tax system in the world. when i was covering taxes for the new york sometimes the brits and the french would say your system is such a marvel. it's such an efficient and effective system now we're becoming more like greece because of this antipathy to government. we need to be focusing on--the republicans are not interested in and graves didn't say well how do we get the irs to run better? how do we have a tax system that is efficient, effective and costs the least amount of money to do what we need to do? it was "who has been held accountable." >> and ted cruz talking about how we ought to abolish the irs. because they get funded by the guys who are cheating on their taxes,

. >> joining me now is executive vice president of global strategy group, bill burton and joining merlin is nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent and chief of the "daily rundown" chuck todd who is traveling with the president. chuck. >> reporter: joy. >> how you doing? so president obama, he was received with great accolades, 250,000 people estimated at the brandenberg gate. how is the reception this time around? >> reporter: you know, it's funny. there's sort of a split reception if you look at it. if you just read the media in germany, if you talked to basically the german elite, political elite, they would talk about disappointment, that he hasn't fulfilled certain promises. he invoked the nobel peace prize and pivoting to the lack of shutting down get mitmo and dro. he's popular here. joy, this was a political decision by miracle. he's seen as a world leader standing next to president obama who is very personally popular so when you ask about the reception, that's when you have to look at it from both angles. on the cross side and watching the president

and bill burton, former deputy white house press secretary who's now the executive vice president of global strategy group, a public affairs firm in washington, d.c. and bill, i want to start with you and get your reaction to what julian bond had to say. i think i have been involved in heating intrafamily disputes about the revelations we've gotten from snowden over the last few days and published in "the guardian" about the nature of the government's operations to look at information of its citizens. there's a real kind of contested argument being had. i'm curious, as someone who worked in government and is now outside of it what your feeling is about it. >> well, let me say three quick things, chris. >> yes. >> number one, i took the same oath that snowden took when he took that job when he had access to classified information, and it's an oath that he broke and he broke a law by giving that information out and making it public. and he did actually make our country less safe by revealing sources and methods by which we try to go and get bad guys who wish us harm. >> let me stop you

let's bring in ari fleischer, molly ball and bill burton. bbed this bush's fourth term because of the surveillance going on. and he means it as a compliment. does president obama's stance really vary that much from the programs he criticized? >> yes, a lot. and number one there are safeguards over ever level of this program. you've got courts and judges involved, and any information that's collected. you've got obviously throughout the administration folks involved in making sure that privacy is protected while protecting the security of americans, and of course congress is involved, they reauthorized the program, members of the intelligence committee are briefed regularly. so yes, much different from warrantless wiretapping. >> mr. fleischer? >> yeah, you know president bush has been great so president obama action he ought to act the same way. the fact of the matter is president obama is keeping us safe and doing it the right way. the house he inherited, the foundation upon which our homeland security is built action with the changes of a c

for example, on the pipeline there are four officials -- bill burton, jim pap and paul tewes and stephanieconsultants working for companies that oppose the pipeline. they will use their influence on the pipeline debate and they're making money out of it. >>steve: who's going to win? >> who's going to win? they're going to stay down as long as they possibly can. >>brian: at a thousand bucks an hour. same thing andrew would he mow is doing here. >> the bottom line is that we have not gotten rid of influence peddling in washington, d.c. if you look at the i.r.s. scandal it's gone further because you now have the machinery of government intimidating the president's opponents. >>brian: varney and company coming up at 9:20. you're going to be on. >> looking exactly like that. ten years ago. >>alisyn: looking for your hotel breakfast? go get it yourself. hotels saying farewell to room service. >>steve: and he's hiring but says recent graduates need not apply. our next guest claims why most of today's degrees are useless. you're going to want to hear this. we'll be right back. ♪ (alarm clock buzze

burton, represented that which we all now richly enjoy. george went on to become a state senator. and in that capacity, scott, it was george moscone who shepherded the bill that removed criminal penalties between consenting adults in this state that cost people their positions as teachers, as doctors, as nurses, as lawyers in those days. it was a bill that we orchestrated together. and george did what has never been done since, and that is cause the senate to hookup in a 20 to 20 tie in the late dimely was flown in from colorado to break the tie to give us that bill. that set the stage, scott, for all the things that have occurred in this state, and ultimately in this nation on the issue. i must tell you that george moscone was extraordinary. (applause) >> and then george decided he wanted to be the mayor of his city. and believe me, it was a ball having george as mayor of this city. mr. mayor, i never had so much fun. [laughter] >> as i did with george, enjoying every aspect, having been a son of the city, having been raised by a single mother here in this city, and having an extended relationship with the italian community and that heritage, having an

. >> bill: i was -- last night had a chance to interview justice sonia sotomayor. burtonrds for legal achievement here at the library of congress. but current issues in front of the supreme court were sort of off -- >> can't talk about those now. >> bill: let's start with the supreme court on a 5-4 decision yesterday. i find it a little troubling decision about when police can get dna samples right? >> it is troubling because the decision now says that a police officer can swab someone's cheek and get their dna sample before that suspect was convicted of anything. so you're arrested and the police can acquire your sample, put it in their database and use it for whatever. and since a lot of people aren't convicted, you're going to have a lot of innocent people with their dna samples in the system and the irony is there was an earlier case where a person was convicted of a crime was trying to access his own dna samples to run tests to prove his innocence and the supreme court said no. he can't do that. because that would make a mockery out of the justice system. the justice

bill clinger. he was a guy who just did the facts. he was very calm, didn't say anything silly. the guy after him, dan burton, was a little crazy that would say things -- >> he was out shooting cantaloupes. >> then you had tom davis, and now you have darrell issa. issa has driven a lot of stories effectively. when he says jay carney is a liar, he makes the story about him. he has to keep on the straight and narrow, keep it straight to the facts and not make this about him. >> especially when you call somebody a liar which i'm very careful about. when you call somebody a liar, you're saying i know for a fact this person lied. i know he knew or she knew the truth and told me something else when even in these tricky cases, certainly about the benghazi thing, we don't know what information was given to susan rice. we don't know what she asked for, what she ended up with or thinking at the time. people start using words like perjury and things like that, they have to be real careful. your thoughts, steve? >> john summarized it perfectly correctly. he's more like burton than the responsible subcommittee chairman j