former congressman joe sestak and bob livingston, thanks so much for your time today. update on the president's event with the middle class -- middle class americans, that is. it's now being moved to 1:00 p.m. eastern time. he'll be putting pressure on the house to pass the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. we'll have it for you live at 1:00 p.m. eastern time during "andrea mitchell reports." the president's comments, right here on msnbc. lip balm over... [ record scratches ] ...and over [ record scratches ] probably isn't giving results you want. discover neosporin® lip health™. shown to restore visibly healthier lips in just 3 days. neosporin® lip health™. rethink your lip care. have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may i

his house seat went on to david vitter, the hooker guy, got bob livingston's seat after his sex scandalho got newt gingrich's speakership after his scandal. hooker scandal guy is a senator and the other sex scandal guy is raising money for the ethics scandal guy who is running for president. who says you can't survive scandal in this town? and do rather well with it. joining us now is "washington post" columnist e.j. dionne, also a senior fellow at the brookings institution and msnbc contributor. e.j., good to see you. thank you for being here. >> good to see you. i'm still drawing the lines among all the people. >> livingston, like gingrich goes. livingston steps in. livingston has to step down. livingston's seat goes to david vitter. look at where all the guys are now. i think, why do i bother talking about scandals? this stuff rolls off these guys. they just get reincarnated. >> it's true. there's a lot of forgiveness here. there are a lot of people with personal relations. i know livingston's friendly with people i like. so, therefore, you get to know him in another context and say,

of his own partyç i think there's a lot there to be concerned about from a presidential -- >> bob livingstonthere for five minutes. >> duly corrected. that's right. >> just to follow up on that, there was -- haley barbour trying to put a good face on this on with chuck todd saying that the republican -- the mainstream establishment republican party could easily get behind newt gingrich. do you sense that? what are you hearing? >> i think just look at the numbers. okay maybe we can have an argument over mainstream, there's not a lot of former members or current members who have signed on to his campaign. there is a concern from those of us who worked with him who will admit he is very smart, that he skates a little close to the edge sometimes. i think it's not only concerning in a presidential candidate but very concerning in a president. >> the obama force is sitting back and watching all of this with some delight but the president has his own problems, the changing demographic. there had been studies now of what has happened with minority voters and what has happened with married women. wha

hey, could he end up as the shortest serving republican speaker since bob livingston's pick a dillosreleased. i don't know how she did it, but j.k. rolliwling inspired my 7-year-old son to read thousands of pages and watch every one of these movies. no wonder j.k. rowling is a billionaire. personally, i would have liked to see an inside the beltway harry potter version, maybe eric cantor as the evil lord voldmort. and as we, the american people, somehow cast as the prepubescent

in terms of gingrich's baker in the 1990s, in terms of bob livingston's baker in the 1990s, there's no have to struggle with this. you know we are -- for giving newt gingrich if he asked us to forgive him is a no-brainer. we are supposed to be good at forgiving people but trust is with the presidency a long way behind forgiveness and i think that is the issue. the issue is whether or not you want to trust someone that has that past with the presidency. and i think that in a neutral observer would say that one reason newt gingrich has not done any better than he has done in the polls is because of the training of moral baggage that he carries behind him. >> host: let's take a broader look and put it into the context of the chamber behind it, the house and the senate. this is a research form on religion in public life in looking at the break down of house and senate members first of all in the u.s. house of representatives. they are 10 members of the mormon faith, 248 members who are produce income 132 members who are catholic, to muslims, three buddhist and 27 members of the jewish fait

in fact, long ago when newt gingrich took over as house speaker, bob livingston was the second or third in charge of the republicans, and he briefly considered doing away with the paid chaplaincy. mr. gingrich said that time said that would make us look nonreligious, and of course quashed the deal even though it would have saved some money. host: "what does mr. lynn think about islam?" guest: i think it is a major faith, a faith practiced in peace by most muslims certainly in the united states and indeed around the world. unfortunately, the few radicals who are engaged in activity, criminal activity, terrorist activity, seem to paint this entire religion, and that is a most unfortunate thing and leads to these silly arguments like sharia law is about to take over america. host: our next call is sally from pittsburgh, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i had the pleasure of attending ynn sevenwith mr. whel years ago. about veryo ask complex problems regarding jewish people. when mr. land talked about a jewish representatives in congress, he said -- he referred to them

in fact, long ago when newt gingrich took over as house speaker, bob livingston was the second or third in charge of the republicans, and he briefly considered doing away with the paid chaplaincy. mr. gingrich said that time said that would make us look nonreligious, and of course quashed the deal even though it would have saved some money. host: "what does mr. lynn think about islam?" guest: i think it is a major faith, a faith practiced in peace by most muslims certainly in the united states and indeed around the world. unfortunately, the few radicals who are engaged in activity, criminal activity, terrorist activity, seem to paint this entire religion, and that is a most unfortunate thing and leads to these silly arguments like sharia law is about to take over america. host: our next call is sally from pittsburgh, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i had the pleasure of attending ynn sevenwith mr. whel years ago. about veryo ask complex problems regarding jewish people. when mr. land talked about a jewish representatives in congress, he said -- he referred to them

as a guard veteran and proud dad of three guard members under the command of bob livingston, i'm grateful for the recognition of guard capabilities. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? mr. courtney: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, our third american president, john adams, once said facts are stubborn things and whatever may be our wishes or dictates of our passions they cannot alter the states of facts. mr. speaker, the facts are that the health care reform law is working for millions of young adults all across this country. yesterday the department of health and human services released figures that showed that 2.5 million young americans up to age 26 are now covered because of the affordable care act's provision that allows age 26 coverage fo