. >> charles krauthammer not all that angry about a washington pastor injecting race into the easter services attended by president obama. we'll talk to charles about that. >> bill: caution. you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. ♪ >> bill: hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. the left-wing media, rush lame because, and me. that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. the two people, the liberal media fear most are radio guy rush limbaugh and me, your humble correspondent. that's because we both have powerful daily forums where we can explain what we believe is harmful to the country. recently on the net a number of left-wing media folks have tried to drum up a phony feud, citing divisions within the so-called conservative community. like they point to me and limbaugh as the primary example. the reportage is simply dishonest. the loons are taking my commentary out of context as they always do. i mean both mr. limbaugh and i literally say millions of words on the year each year. it's simple to distort them. especially for r

charles krauthammer. i see this triewtion as a growing problem. it's getting worse. do you agree? >> i'm not sure i think. so and i do go back to the 1960's. when instead of a fringe protest here and there these radicals took over the universities, they occupy them. they dictated policy. the administrations caved. in the police stayed out. and then they did even something more effective. they realized well, you know, coming in from the outside is really not going to do much. you get a little attention, publicity. but but the left decided late in the 1960s, early in the 18970s was what let in another marxist prescribed which called the march through the institutions. they got inside. they did it legally. they did it the right way. they got their ph.d.es. they got appointments. they got tenure. they kept out conservatives. that's why you have a lot of conservative think tanks. the think tank is essentially a university without students and it's one that is not run by liberals because a lot of conservatives are denied tenure and appointments. they basically control overwhelmingly, th

were two good columns on "washington post", one by the former writer and even more powerful by charles krauthammerhis central point, whatever else you wanted to say president bush he kept the country safe. there was not another domestic terrorist attack under his watch and that counts for a lot. >> why the focus on failures in the media coverage? katrina and the poor intelligence on the gulf war? >> possibly bush bashing nostalgia because it's clearly something bashing a president haven't been doing lately for the past five years or so. also, i think there was a steady drum beat on the part of the left. there was in that same rush column that you referred to, ellen, she also called him the worst president in history. she suggested the reason he was getting the republicans were climbing on board and being nice to him they are cleaning up the mess for jeb bush. [ laughter ] >> for example on the night that diane sawyer had a exclusive interview with the former president on nbc news which didn't get the interview, david gregory savaged him for three minutes. first image was president bush on the abra

charles krauthammer? >> a lot of people will listen. look, i wrote a column in 2006, long before it became an election issue, that the waye can solve this, get a huge consensus of the american people is enforcement at the border and amnesty. this have thisense that $11 billion is the last coverts of illegals we will legalize, they will say it in overwhelming numbers yes. what's rubio has been trying to do is put that in to practice. in the has been seen gang of eight, he is saying everybody who is here can stay, which is a big session -- a concession. only when you have the borders osedo u. of theoad to the green card. that is the question, will be president agree to that? " what do you think of the chances that marker rubio is taking, going all in on this? >> i would say medium. he is putting measures in this bill that makes the bar extremely high to a path to citizenship. he has also insisted on levels of job expertise is to get a green card. >> what do you think? >> i do not think he will be terribly hurt by it, but there will be pus

press briefing as well with that we'll bring in steve hayes and juan williams and charles krauthammerokay, charles, as we did. news breaking right before the panel, two men, persons of interested in the case and they do have photos and they don't have them in custody. >> well, what rick said is a big event. if they actually have the pictures of two people who are apparently carrying what looks like explosives, those are your terrorist. i mean, it is hard to imagine any other scenario unless they were handed the bags by somebody and carrying it unknowingly which is a remote event. what we are hearing, they really have a point, i suspect if passing around the photos is not enough, they will likely put it on the air so that people, millions of people who might know who this is will be exposed to it . that would lead them two actually locate the suspects. i think what is remarkable here is that they have so much video. this is probably the most filmed terror site and most filmed crime possibly in history, but i was interested in the fact that they asked people to give authorities the vide

charles lane writer for the washington post and charles krauthammer. arles, the video and imannuals and your thoughts? >> they will have to weigh the fact they will not get a huge amount of information a lot disruptive and extraninous. i believe they released it for two reasons. the raduous of escape is large. three days and like you drop a stone in the pond and ripple affects and i am sure they have looked at video from the airports if you live in new england as i did once, the drive to the canadian border is not long and in canada it might be easy tore escape. they wanted make sure the escape raduous stase where it is and america in america can look at this . second is the problem of trying to differenteate this from other images. what they also want to do is have everybody on the scene look immediately at the brack - background which they might have dismissed to see if these two guys appears and they could get important information within hours. >> >> bret: the f.b.i. said he sat down the backpack at the site forum restaurant and asking anyone near t

stoddard associate editor of the hill and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. les, obviously things happen by the minute here first of all, let's talk about ricin, if this turns out to be ricin, you know, tests positive in lab tests. we can't be 100% sure but that's what we're being told. tell us, you know, about ricin and what we know about it. >> well, it's a very deadly -- substance. i believe it was used in the japanese subway attacks. and it killed about seven people on contact. it's really bad stuff. once you start getting things in the mail we are getting to a second level of complexity. assuming it's connected and it could be. then it's less likely to be a lone wolf. it could be if it's related something much larger. the other part about the mail attacks is they are really hard to decipher, remember, the unabomber was on the loose for years extremely hard to trace it back. the anthrax attacks that we had in 2001 shortly after 9/11 we were never able to really understand who was behind it, where it was made. there were accusations but it remains really un

were two good columns on "washington post", one by the former writer and even more powerful by charles krauthammer central point, whatever else you wanted to say president bush he kept the country safe. there was not another domestic terrorist attack under his watch and that counts for a lot. >> why the focus on failures in the media coverage? katrina and the poor intelligence on the gulf war? >> possibly bush bashing nostalgia because it's clearly something bashing a president haven't been doing lately for the past five years or so. also, i think there was a steady drum beat on the part of the left. there was in that same rush column that you referred to, ellen, she also called him the worst president in history. she suggested the reason he was getting the republicans were climbing on board and being nice to him they are cleaning up the mess for jeb bush. [ laughter ] >> for example on the night that diane sawyer had a exclusive interview with the former president on nbc news which didn't get the interview, david gregory savaged him for three minutes. first image was president bush on the abraham

the weekly standard," kirsten powers columnist for the daily beast and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer >> syria first. >> chain of custody? what is this csi damascus? in the middle of a war you expect a chain of custody and decide if a weapon was used? look, this is a president who sees himself as a liberal reformer. he remembers what happened to lgj. he knows what happened to george bush. you get involved in a foreign war, your presidency is ruined. and i think he has been determined from the first instant with syria that he would not allow himself to be dragged. in i think the reason he put out this supposed red line about chemical weapons is that he imagined, a, it wouldn't be used or that it was a way to actually postpone a decision until the future. and now that he has this kind of, you know, he doesn't have an overwhelming instance as we had in the saddam days where he -- saddam attacked the village from the air and killed thousands of people in one day, in the absence of that, i don't think he will allow any evidence to compel him to engage in military activity. i think that's w

let's bring in our panel, steve hayes, juan williams, and charles krauthammer. let's start with what the president said and frankly, what he didn't say. >> in the clip you showed earlier, he was with king abdullah, he used the word, systematic, use of chemical weapons. so all of a sudden he's adding these adjectives which would make it a higher standard. it is clear from what you just showed that he has no desire to discover that these weapons were used 'cause he knows that in a way he's committed himself to do something. so i think they'll drag it out and when you say we're going to work with the international community, that means you're going to work with a very weak institution. that means you're not really going to do it yourself. it means you're fobbing it off to others and generally speaking it means you won't do anything. if by some miracle it's discovered and they announce yes, it was used, i think there is a way out for him. he clearly does not want to get involved. that's fine, i understand that. that is his policy he thinks it will be a disaster. but

now to the top story, let's bring in charles krauthammer that joins us from washington. i want to ask you a number of random questions about this situation. we're not going to speculate here. first of all, last night in my analysis, i had no beef with president obama not mentioning the word of terrorism. i said, no, he has to wait until he sees the evidence before he defines it in any way. we know it is terrorism now and president said it's terrorism. i also said he used the word tragedy in a wrong way because it's much more than a tragedy. do you agree with that? >> i agree entirely. obama is not the first to use tragedy in describing events like this. a bus accident is a tragedy and attack is an act of war. when fdr addressed the congress after pearl harbor, he didn't say december 7th, a day that will live in tragedy, it is a day that will live in infamy. it has to do with agency and cause. an accident is a tragedy and it has a cause and has to do with fate, accident, luck. when the agency is human evil that is beyond a tragedy. it's a crime. that is what we're dealing

charles krauthammer. >> and so the president is out in denver and pushing this and the votes here on capitol hill don't seem to be lining up. >> not surprisingly. there are no evidence or serious person think it will do anything about gun violence. the colorado lawmaker congresswoman who is a lead sponsor to curtail high capacity magazine didn't know they could be reload thought it was the same as a bullet and there is growing opposition not only on the right but the left. an aclu outlined the problems with a background and private sales and records of the sales would be kept indefinitely. it is a huge problem . what does it mean for a transfer a weapon. it would be a felony to hold someone's gun. your roommate holds a gun and there is no background check you could be charged with a felony. this is hasty legislation that is not distinned to go anywhere because it is adult. >> you have them saying no at all possibility. >> what is silly sort of hypotheticals like they conjured about the terrible thing that is go wrong with serious background checks and you do something serious about m

stoddard associate editor of the hill and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. sly things happen by the minute here first of all, let's talk about ricin, if this turns out to be ricin, you know, tests positive in lab tests. we can't be 100% sure but that's what we're being told. tell us, you know, about ricin and what we know about it. >> well, it's a very deadly -- substance. i believe it was used in the japanese subway attacks. and it killed about seven people on contact. it's really bad stuff. once you start getting things in the mail we are getting to a second level of complexity. assuming it's connected and it could be. then it's less likely to be a lone wolf. it could be if it's related something much larger. the other part about the mail attacks is they are really hard to decipher, remember, the unabomber was on the loose for years extremely hard to trace it back. the anthrax attacks that we had in 2001 shortly after 9/11 we were never able to really understand who was behind it, where it was made. there were accusations but it remains really unsolved. so

. >> charles krauthammer is talking about that issue saying he doesn't believe this is a reflection on president obama. >> it was -- it appeared to have no connection intrinsic with him. i don't think he owes him any allegiance. i think what jay carney said is he has every right to stay away from this. i don't think it implicates him at all. what i found incredibly offensive is the language used is the language that echoed, that ted kennedy used when the nomination of robert bork was announced where he went on this libel against bork where he said he's a racist, sexist, et cetera, et cetera. there was an echo of that. it was a gratuitous statement and complete disgrace. i put it all on the reverend and not the president. >> the minister has spoken at the inauguration of president bush in 2005 and president obama in january. >> there is a small town in north georgia, the latest to require that the head of every household own a gun. but the ordinance in nelson exempts those who don't believe in owning firearms, convicted felons and those with physical and mental disabilities. city offici

we havor writer for the standard and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. >> what is at stake isot the syrian war. there is something else at stake here and that is america's world. i think obama will try to minimize this and caare veat himself out of it. if he does act, it will not approximate -- will not syria. it is whether or not he said it is believable. you say red line and you make it way out there and not the slaughter of 80,000 of the people . it is use of chemical weapon and you get definitive evidence that it is used and your word means nothing. america has had for the last 60 years, the power and the belief in the world that when it said x, it will do x. i think that is really the problem here. i am wondering whether the administration understands how much of its word is at stake. >> mara. >> i thinkment white house is hoping with this announcement it can ratchet up pressure on assad but china and russia to stop blocking the diplomatic in the un. i don't think it will succeed. but this is a box of their own making. ment president created a red line and said there woul

retired general jack keane and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. charles, you have been watching all of this. thoughts on the day and what you've heard? >> well, i think all of us don't want to pre-judge but i think the real question is the motive. and right now the evidence very strongly points so self-radicalized young men acting in the name of jihad. two kind of chechen terrorism. there is nationalist and religious. nationalists ones who are in chechnya fighting against the russians in a long, drawn out war twice suppressioned by russia and in response to the brutality of the russians have launched some of the most grizzly terrorist attacks of our time the one on the theater in moscow and the one on the school. there is also a second kind of chechen. not nationalists, but the one you find in afghanistan and iraq and some are reported in syriaened at bawl balkans. if you are a nationalist, there is no reason you would be killing americans. if you are a jihadist then americans are the enemy. >> bret: leon that jihadist tie goes back a number of ye

kisten powers and charles krauthammer.t may be the law, it may be that thires is operating within the frame work. but i tell you what, it doesn't seem like it falls within the fourth amendment. it doesn't seem like a lot of people know about it. >> no. if that is what the law says then the law is an ass. it is certains like me like to beat up on the aclu. but this time they are clarifying something that needs to be fexed. the follow in a modern age. fourth amendment doesn't protect the privacy of our hard drive and equivalent of private papers is lude chris. congress could fix this soon before the conspiracy people go crazy. they have a reason to gocracy. >> i am just curious of the legal thinking of behind the magic number of 180 days and it suddenly is something they can touch. why is it any less private after that time period. it doesn't make sense. if they are able to do this, they should be able to go in your apartment and through your doors. we take more security with our e-mails and have pass word and two-step verif

joining us from reaction, fox news analyst charles krauthammer. and you say?> i say i don't know what he is thinking. but i sure know what he is saying and doing. the lengths to which he will go to avoid telling us the truth about the enemy is becoming chick comical. certainly embarrassing. forget about use the word jihadist. he will never use that but he reeves to use -- refuses to use the word islamist which is used throughout the muslim world. authors, parliament, in egypt. it's used in lebanon. it's used everywhere by muslims. yet, obama won't touch it because he refuses to use any words that might imply a connection between radical islam and terrorism which as anybody who is over the age of 9 knows is the single greatest cause of terror in the world today. i will give you one example which is completely overlooked by everyone. it was a rather trivial one. when he was in israel, he gave a speech in jerusalem. and in the middle of the speech he talked about the rise of the islamist parties. in egypt and elsewhere. the brotherhood. in egypt and -- whats watt

. >> i didn't mean and charles krauthammer; we'll hear from the overview. >> it is more of the same.ax and spend and i think they are able to get the press to believe that there was a huge concession with the change and calculation of inflation that creates a minis cule shift in the curve on social security. it is a quarter of a penny on the dollar. it is a very small change and it is a technical one. the president's own budget states that the change in the cpi is a correction and simply a way of achieving accuracy and why it is a conconcession, it is in the natural interest. that is way over emphasized and the fact that mcconnell is right. it is reduction of debt is minis cule and all in taxes and the kind of deductions that you get is in the future after obama office. this congress doesn't have the power to democratic the congresses in the end of the decade in all of the supposed cuts. obama cancelled the real cuts and the sequester cuts of a trillion in return for imaginary or projected ones that happen in the future which will not happen in the future it is a huge disappointment.

let's bring in the panel, steve hayes, juan williams and charles krauthammer.ve, where are we today? what about secretary kerr have i is saying and doing over there, is anything happening? >> it's hard to know exactly what he is doing behind the scenes but public rhetoric sounds like the rhetoric have used about north korea diplomats going back almost two decades now. it's the same thing from the bush administration, particularly in the second term and it's consistent with what we've heard from the obama administration. this blustering rhetoric is unacceptable if north korea continues or launch a missile, they conduct another nuke test it will mean they are further isolated. if you are in north korea do you believe this. we haven't seen further isolation. we haven't seen any actions by the u.n. by the united states or by china. we haven't seen anything meaningful. i don't think the north koreans will be swayed much by what john kerry is saying in seoul. >> bret: scrambling going on around intelligence. it came after a colorado congressman read a question citing

for the record, charles krauthammer and i did not say that president obama is not, quote, tough enough on muslims. we specifically will not use the words muslim jihad in dislibbing the mode of the terror attack. then there is the university system in america. which is now so radicalized it's absurd. listen to georgetown professor charles king. >> at the end of the day if we are looking for motivation for this particular act, i think it's going to lied in the way radicalized in the united states. keep in mind, on the elder brother, tamerlan's youtube channel, there are an equal number of rap videos. >> bill: so what? what does that mean? at the end of the day, professor? your analysis flat out foolish. the overwhelming evidence is that these two brothers killed four americans and hurt more than 200 others in the name of allah. period. i know many people who lost because of the wars after 9/11 jihad overseas. they are furious when they hear garbage spouted from the people we just featured. it's insulting to them. and to the memories of the good people they had to bury. so talking points

o'reilly, charles krauthammer made a rational case against gay marriage but your tone was used as a sluredia in the country that defends judeo- christian more than i do. if you areks offended, i am confused.er tuscaloosa, alabama, rude with laura. you shouted her down. not true. laura had two uninterrupted minutes to make her point which she did. i stopped her initially because she misrepresented what i said about bible thumping and i had to clarify. i wasn't rude in any way. direct. connie, hawaii. bill, laura was right. bible thumpers is an insulting term. for the record i did not call anyone a bible thumper. i said bible thumping, i-n-g, not going to win any debate in this country. that is what i said and that is the truth. those who distort what i said should be ashamed. lake, george, michigan, laura needs to get over the bible thumping expression. god bless american freedom. the factor tip of the day. fox news is packed by people all the time on a daily basis. most of those folks never watch fnc. theych are ideological llons. for those who do watch you might want to check out a, rog

certainly we think of charles krauthammer, we think of lingzi lu, we think of little martin richard. their lives re -- reflected the beauty of our country and they were sharing a great american experience together. flinle, let me say that even as so much attention that is been focused on the tragic events in boston, understandably. we've also seen a tight knit community in texas devastated by an explosion. they are not forgotten. our thoughts and prayers are with the people of west, texas where so many people lost their lives, some lost their homes, many are injured, many are still miss pfing i talked to perry and i pledged that the people of west will have the resources they need to rebuild. i want the people of texas to know we will follow through with this commitment. all in all, it has been a tough week. but we've seen the character of our country once more. as president, i'm confident that we have the courage and the resilience and the spirit to overcuck these challenges and to go -- overcome these challenges and to go forward under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for

and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer and marah liasson. president is pushing this weekend dan pfeiffer says what he wants to sign is a strong bipartisan bill with enforceable background checks. he just went through a litany of things that he has talked about on the stump here tonight in connecticut. what he wants now is the background checks. >> enforceable. he didn't say universal. there is universal background checks which is where the president started and now there is something, i guess you could call it, more robust or improved background checks which i think is all he has the chance of getting if anything the question is will he get anything at all. number two will the strong enough that he can say honestly and credibly it's a victory? >> steve. the president in his speech just now, he listed all of these other things. the only thing he spent time on was the background check. he had this long list and he went back and developed, dilated a bit on the background check. that's clear that's where they are putting all their arguments righ

kirsten powers columnist for the daily beast and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer.ve, so i guess the real question is is obama care crumbling? is it in trouble this early? >> i think that's exactly what we are seeing. and what you alluded to in your setup there is the problem. this is going to be the first of any of a number of delays. i mean, we have already seen chunks of obama care taken out. you have seen the class act repealed. you have seen problems with -- you have seen challenges in the courts, some which weren't successful. you have other challenges potentially coming one from oklahoma, you have the hobby lobby question. you have difficulties in the implementation of any of a number of these things. you have had governors resisting medicaid expansion. have you had governors opting not to join, not so set up state exchanges. you have got at all points in the implementation of obama care there are challenges and obstacles to say nothing of the fact that the rule writing, the regulation that took place once the bill was originally passed, has been delayed, has

steve hayes, senior writer, juan williams, and charles krauthammer. your thoughts, charles?what strikes me is part of the reason for the psychological shock is that if you think about it, bret, this is the first successful bombing, terror explosion since 9-11. we've had some that were attempted, like the one in times square that never succeeded. we've had by my count, about ten terrorist attacks in the u.s. since 9-11, all of them have been shootings with one exception, which is a man who drove a car to a crowded university of north carolina. but this is the first explosion. i think that's what gives this the sort of psychological resonance. people running in the street of a big city, the smoke. of course, it's nowhere near the scale of 9-11. but it's the first time. and i think that is sort of a historical echo that we're feeling and it reminds us had 50 plots that can be called terror plots since 9/11. and you think back here, the key issue is is a domestic plot or foreign plot. here in d.c. we have had some plots that were done by foreign nationals or at least people who

stoddard associate editor of the hill and charles krauthammer. >> i thought it was odd easter messagelso seem to be given with all deliberation because you have a rare visit to saint john's, you have the white house press corps there because they have the pool report. so, to me it was a calculated decision and i wonder who the real pastor is is he the one that we heard at the benediction and on chris wallace's show or the one we heard on sunday. it's confusing me to me on the gay marriage piece you can maybe kind of understand where he is coming from on that. i don't agree with it but kind of understand. but on racial equality and women, in particular, when it comes to conservatives, living proof of it that i think that we have made a lot of progress there on both fronts. to me, i think people want their spirituality and the religious services separate from politics, but he made a calculated decision to put this message out there. i think it is a lot more divisive than what i agree what he said earlier there is a lot more we agree on. if people are starting to agree why not on. >> bre

. >> charles krauthammer was on fox last night, and he said that bill o'reilly was perfectly correct ect to gay marriage because of their biblical beliefs bible thumpers. so if dr. krauthammer says, he said o'reilly said the right thing, so bible thumpers is now the stamp of approval, it is the way to characterize those people who are opposing gay marriage or any social issue because of their religious beliefs. >> bible thumpers. listen to what o'reilly said as his argument with laura ingraham continued. >> i am not mad at you, i am frustrated. you of all, don't listen, laura. >> all right, stop it here. this is cool. let me explain something to you. when he turns and says i'm going to say don't listen, don't listen, he's saying that to his producers, to his handlers who have told him not to go there, not to go where he is about to go, okay? now listen to where he goes. >> i'm frustrated because you of all of the radio, and i'm going to say this to laura, don't listen, don't listen, of all of the conservative radio talk show hosts, you have the most common sense of all of them. >> now

. >> o'reilly charles krauthammer made a rational case, but your tone thumping the bible. one defends the judeo-christian tradition than i do. so if you were offended by my accurate remarks, i'm confused. context is everything. and tus loocaloostuscaloosa, yo of line and you shouted her down. certainly not true. laura had two uninterrupted minutes to make her point which she did. i stopped her because she misrepresented what i said about bible thumping and i had to clarify. i wasn't rude in any way, i was direct. i'm always direct. connie of-- ooh, hawaii. bill, laura was right. bible thumping is insulting just like tea bagger and bitter, and didn't say thumber, i said thumping i-n-g. that's the truth. those who dispute what i said should be ashamed. >> lake george, michigan, laura needs to get over the bible thumping, and she live her life and god bless american freedom. the factor tip of the day. fox news is attacked by many people on a daily basis, most don't watch fnc, but they're ideological loons. for those of you who do watch, check out a book, roger ailes off camer

news and world report" and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. well, the numbers were certainly disappointing. only 88,000 jobs created. the expectations have been somewhere like 9 -- 190,000 jobs. unemployment though did drop from 7.7 to 7.6%. but a lot of people say that was because fewer people are looking for jobs. steve, how bad are the numbers and how come? >> the numbers are bad. and i think the most alarming aspect of this jobs report was the drop in the labor force participation rate which does explain the job in the unemployment rate. the problem the administration faces on this politically is you have a good month or better than expected month and then you have a rotten month. we have not been seeing this for a couple months but for several years. every time the economy looks like it's picking up some momentum you have a month or report like this in which it looks like it's taking a step back and combined with other things you can't say this is a solid recovery. if you look at the recovery so far this year, job growth has been slower i

. >> you were quoting charles craught -- krauthammer.hey want us dead and we have to realize a lot of people wantulse dead. >> it is a shame we need things to remind us of that. that has been true for 35 years. >> and you never let go of your resolve. mayor an honor. >> and another femo who warned about this. commander lipo, the r remember the uss cole predating 9/11. that was the terrorist real salvo to 9/11. he's next, after this. [ male announcer] surprise -- you're having triplets. [ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise -- your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises? now you can get all the online trading tools you need without any surprise fees. ♪ it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. it's just common sense. at od, whatever business you're in, that's the business we're in with premium service like one of the best on-time delivery records and a low claims ratio, we do whatever it takes to make your b

marah liasson from "national public radio," and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer.wendell goler reported earlier in the program, republicans are happily pointing out how much government money the president is spending on this fundraising trip at a time when we have got sequesters and furloughs and the president is pledging to do his part by giving back 5% of his salary. jonah, fair game or cheap shot? >> i think it's totally fair game. the president also announced today, i think it was today that he now wants flexibility and how the sequester is used whereas before he threatened to veto it. i think the political landscape is is changing under his feet. and i think the take away from his trip, particularly to california, the fundraising is that gun -- newtown changed nothing on the gun control. is he now using gun control the way democrats always used social issues. which is to raise lots of money. it's become a campaign issue to raise money for the 2014 congress, less about actually trying to get congress to do anything. because i think that's not quite dead on arri

blame fox news, but when you have something we just played, msnbc's alex wagner saying that charles krauthammer and bill o'reilly are on the verge of calling president obama a muslim because of the criticism of the president's remarks. neither one of those guys have gone anywhere near that. >> well, i mean, it's a funny way of balancing things out, howard. i mean, on one side you have a guy who keeps saying muslim terrorist, trying to equate the two. on the one side, you have somebody saying, hey, maybe that's not wise. so i don't equate those two as equ equal. you know since 1995, 56% of the terrorist acts in the united states have been right wing terrorists? >> let me jump in. i wanted to bring michael medvec into the conversation. is the media tone on this in some quarters too vitriolic? >> when you're talking about an event like boston which is so horrifying, there are 30 people still in the hospital there are people permanently crippled, when you say too vitriolic, the person people are upset. it's the most serious successful terrorist attack on the homeland itself since 9/11. first of all