joining us now, james carville. >> hi, james. >> how are you doing?to see you all. >> always great to have you here. i want to get this straight. today the bill sichk this ugly behemoth they call a tax compromise and i call a capitulation, nancy pelosi and harry reid refused to sign up. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader shows up. big buddy now of the president. i don't get it. what's going on. is the president now working closer with the republicans? is he completely ignoring the democratic party and our priorities? >> look, he has reality to deal with, and i don't know very many democrats that were very enthusiastic about this. people continually point out all the things that are going to help the economy are going to expire a year from now. democrats feel like they'll be going into an election year and the republicans, you know, intentionally, things like the estate tax go on for two years, which has absolutely nothing to do with jobs. and things that do have to do with stimulating the economy. so there's not a great deal of democratic enthusia

james carville, eric erickson and john avalon.h me here in washington gloria borger and correspondent jessica young. before we debate, let's get a quick update on the senate re read-a-thon. >> reporter: it is about about to kick off. take a look at what we're talking about. this is the spending bill that the senate clerk is going to be reading. it is almost 2,000 pages and according to dick did yourbin, number two democrat in the senate, it's going to take between 30 and 60 hours to read. that puts us maybe well into saturday going around the clock here before it's read. and right now this is because republican senator jim demint is trying to run out the clock while senate democrats are struggling to get as much done as they can and then you have senate majority leader harry reid now calling republicans hypocrites because of what you talked about, john, those republican earmarks in this spending bill that republicans are now saying some of them are saying they don't want to vote on because of the earmarks in it. and then moving ov

james carville, take a listen. >> we're doubling down on the fail strategy. these tax cuts didn't work. what is -- why are we so enamored with failure. >> an innocent man may be on death row. >> if anybody thinks this man is guilty, put him away, throw away the key, don't kill him. >> nba hall-of-famer, walt fraser breaks down the president's mission. >> he is a cool guy. he still has to overcome so you also need luck. >> all of that coming newspaper a packed hour. julian assange could walk out of jail on $315,000 bail. assange has been in a london prison awaiting extra dixon alleged sex offenses in sweden. when assange heard the ruling, he gave a thumbs up. assange will remain in jail for the next 48 hours as swedish prosecutors appeal his release. his lawyer fired off an angry response. >> they clearly will not spare any expense but to keep mr. assange in jail. this is really turning into a show trial. >> a high profile cast of characters is also jumping to assange's defense. bianca jagger was at his defense. >> joining us in the arena for more on the rulin

i'm writing a book on carville. that is ucsf. adolph sutro donated the land. >> he had a lot of land. >> did. he bought a rancho in '82, and it was a huge chunk of land in a little peninsula. it took decades for it to fill in with housing. >> when he died, he leapt 1,100 acres to widows and orphans, and his children that truck. they comprise the woods, sherwood forest, forestville. it was a contentious thing. it took about 13, 15 years in public. >> this is actually in golden gate park, the casino. it was a controversy at the time to have a place that serve liquor and had card games in golden gate park. eventually, it moved to 24th ave. >> we still have the newly recently refurbished stop along the great highway. the beach shall i -- chalet. i always find it ironic that these federal highway funds were used to refurbish this place for drivers to get a drink. terrific. [laughter] >> there were farms, and there were dairies, as these houses are starting to be built, and they are more conventional residents is, and they are still a

you know what i think but we'll talk about the top strategist, james carville, always an exciting conversation. >> plus, kiss, rocker gene simmons joins us. his desire to replace simon cowell and, get this, he's a fan of george bush. >> hats off to speaker pelosi. they may call it a lame-duck congress but it quacks and it did something important today. they passed the tax cut for the middle class, only for the middle class, those who are $250,000 below, it's good economics and good policy and get this, 60 plus percent of the public believes it as well. i say congratulations, it's the right thing to do. who is out there dumping all over this? let's listen to what john boehner, the incoming speaker of the house had to say. >> i'm trying to catch my breath so i don't refer to this maneuver going on today as chicken scrap but this is nonsense. we're 23 months from the next election and the political games have already started, trying to set up -- >> let me tell you what is nonsense. his language is an outrage. people should be furious. just yesterday he's at the white house saying, bipartisan, bip

cornell belcher, james carville, erick erickson.rd erick and james going at it over the tax deal. the bush and clinton record on economy. job growth, economic growth and the stock market. we wanted to check as many statements as we could. we try to check the factual accuracy bearing in minds external factors like the 9/11 attacks made a difference and timing swlt regarding job growth and according to the nonpartisan website poltifacts. erick was focusing on unemployment numbers -- percentage. growth rate according to the world bank 3.34% for '92. 3.62 in 2000 and dipping below in the bush years. peaked in 2005 at 3.65, then down to the low point in 2008 obviously with the economy shrinking half percent. stock market dow rose about 7,000 points during the clinton presidency, dropped 2,000 during the course of the bush years though again timing and 9/11 attacks also played a part. >>> still ahead another tragedy related to bernie madoff. his son who turned in his father two years ago hanged himself in new york two years to the day his

. >> joining us today, democratic strategist and cnn political contributor james carville and politicalumnist, john, a political independent and republican stat gist and publ h publisher. what do you make of this debate over christmas? does it sound ridiculous? >> it's utterly silly. plus, senator demint, i don't know what religion he is but if he thinks christmas is the most sacred holiday, he's wrong. it's easter. and most are right, most people have to work on christmas eve. a lot of people have to work the day after christmas. not everybody in the country takes a three-week christmas break. i mean, gee whiz. would it be asking too much to have health insurance and everything else and salary and staff to work a little bit. i don't know? >> what is interesting, a group of religious leaders, they were liberal groups. but nevertheless, they thought that republicans were not playing this well and that they didn't have a case. what do you make of this being used as a tragedy, a tactic until the new congress comes? >> i think it's a necessary tactic. the major arms control treaty deserves

skill and apathy were roast from 1980 to listen to the faye people here is what they say, james carville, the political consultant campaign strategists to set i have never seen this human being perform like he did that week in new hampshire. it was standing were like an athlete than a political candidates. e event after event, every interview or town hall meeting. even today there seems to be a little bit of magic and pledge clinton has his back against the wall and we know that is probably not true but in many cases he can do it. in new hampshire the end of the primary is a home for the elderly talking about the price of pharmaceuticals where they did not have some money and drugs were not covered and but then he walks up to one woman and hugs her and the press secretary of the clinton white house, there is a certain shameless as the comes from thinking you should be the most powerful person in the world. he won by connecting with people on a personal and in% level and people will leave to that when push came to shove there was gennifer flowers prepare his approval rating was over 60 pe

. >>> for more on this, we're joined live, now, by democratic strategist, james carville, and dana loesch. james, i want to begin with you. i want to get to the tax cut and health care debates. first, richard holbrooke. as robin said, i knew him will, worked with him closely, as you did, as well. he devoted every part of his being to diplomacy, to making peace. his brain. his bulk. and i think he showed over the course of his lifetime that in these central questions, one person really can make a difference. >> yeah. i think the thing i would like to say about richard, he was a real patriot. in afghanistan, i said, richard. and overqualified underfunded candidate. and i say, he doesn't have money or anything. and he says, you are a member of the kennedy generation. you have to go. okay. i never got anything. the idea that the united states needed something, and it was something in a you could do for your country and that you didn't do it was just foreign to him. he didn't understand that. and here he was, the culmination of a career that was where he was secretary of state. and he took pro

to talk about that and much, much more, cnn political contributors, democratic strategist james carvillecan strategist ed rollins. thanks for joining us this afternoon. first and foremost, want to talk about michael moore, this offer of $20,000 or so to help julian assange with his bail. here is how he explains it on his website. he says we were take tone war in iraq on a lie. hundreds of thousands are now dead. just imagine if men who planned this war crime had had a wikileaks to deal with. they might not have been able to pull it off. the only reason they thought they could get away with it is because they had a guaranteed cloak of secrecy. james, do you think it's right for moore to support wikileaks? >> from what i understand, the release of this has caused people's lives to be in jeopardy. i think we have to wait and let this thing flush itself out. if anything could have prevented the iraq war, i think it would have been a good idea. it turned out to be one of the most horrendous things we ever did. the problem here also is you're going to see people are going to start doing this,

james carville, the political consultant who was the campaign strategist. i have never seen a human being perform like he performed that week in new hampshire. it was stunning. it was more like an athlete than a political candidate. event after event, every interview, every town hall meeting. even today it seems a little bit of magic. one reason was there is no harder work that you will find than bill clinton, particularly when his back is against the wall. he believes it can work his way through any problem. you and i know that is probably not true, but in many cases he has been able to do it. in new hampshire he is at a home for the elderly and they're talking about the price of pharmaceuticals. people are talking about how they did not have enough money. drugs are not covered by medicare at that point. the woman in the front of starts crying. he walks up and kneels down in front of the woman and texture. here is what be meyers says, the campaign press secretary and first party secretary in that one white house. a certain shamelessness that comes from thi

my friend, james carville, as well.ouble them? >> unexplained underachievement. you know you could be doing better. and you're trying really hard. like driving on square wheels. why is it difficult to deliver what i have in me. and it's not lack of effort. it's that you can't focus. and the intermittent focus, leads to underachievement, procrastination, trouble getting your act together. people say you lack discipline. it's not a matter of discipline. it's the neurological function of mental focus. >> if you're starting to have the feelings, how do you get diagnosed? >> go to someone who understands adult a.d.d. most doctors don't. so, go find a specialist that understands adult attention deficit disorder. it can change your life dramatically. take you from being a loser to a winner. turn your life around. >> we mentioned that women are underdiagnosed. and that's a lot because symptoms are different in women and often manifest differently. >> absolutely. women tend to be daydreamy. they're not disruptive. the ditsy blon

remember carville did a push poll to see who the most unpopular republican was and they found it was rush limbaugh before obama went in there. and they trashed limbaugh. then they trashed jim kramer. then they trashed glenn beck. then they trashed fox news. this was a strategy i guess to keep the base agenda, but that isn't what got him elected in iowa. it was rising above that. i think it's good. it looks like that's what they're doing. they're going to need to keep their lead heads with this hea care. >> i think it was less to get their base up than it was to destroy the republican party. >> maybe so. >> the health care law that the president passed suffered its first major legal setback after a federal judge in virginia called part of it unconstitutional. u.s. district judge henry hudson, a george w. bush appointye, ruled that congress overstepped its authority by requiring americans to buy health insurance. >> i'm curious, and it was our staff that did it. i am curious whether there is a controversial issue -- memorial meacham, you know this is true -- they will always say a geor

but i also agree with the colorful comment by james carville, former advisor to president clinton, who has a way with words and said that the american people don't give a pig's patooty about the president's start treaty. obviously we do. at this moment the most important thing on the minds of the american people is how we're going to fund government without wasting billions of dollars of their money. that's what we ought to be focusing on in the last few hours we have. let me address a little bit about what we have found so far is in this bill and why so many of us are so concerned about it. the first point that i'd make is i don't think ever in the history of the modern congress that congress has failed, or the senate has failed, i should say, to pass a single appropriations bill. the american people should understand that ordinarily congress passes a budget, and we each, both bodies pass about 12, sometimes 13 bills to fund the different agencies and departments and functions of the united states government. we didn't do that this year. we didn't pass a single one, and we didn't pass

treaty, but also forr agree with the colorful, and to buy james carville, for art adviser to presidentclinton who has a way with words and said the american people don't get a pig's put to the about thert s.t.a.r.t. treaty. well obviously those in thevioue senate to do. we understand its importance.imt but at this moment the most american people is how we are going to fund the federallarsf government without continuing to waste billions of dollars of f their money and that is what wes ought to be focusing on the lasd few hours that we have. so but me address a little about what we have found so far is in this bill and why so many of us are so concerned about it. the first point i would make is, i don't think ever in the s, history of the modern congresse the congress has failed or thett senate has failed to should say to p aass a single appropriatios bill. ch, the american people should understand that p ordinarily congress passes a budget and wes each, both bodies pass about 12s sometimes 13 bills to fund the e departments and functions of th. united states government. we didn't do th