become charlie cook? >> i started getting interested in politics in high school. i got kind of bit by the bug. i worked my first campaign in 1972. that's when i first started getting bit from the bug i didn't come from a terribly political family or anything like that. >> do you know who captain shreeve was? >> he was a river boat captain, and he broke a logjam on the red river. that's my high school. >> in louisiana? >> in shreveport, louisiana. >> the captain shreve gators. >> is it louisiana or louisiana? >> it depends on what part of the state, kind of like missouri or "missoura." i say louisiana. everybody thinks their state is a little different from the others, but louisiana really is different. and politics is part of the culture. less so now, but we've just always had such colorful characters, that it was, you know, there was college football, high school football, and louisiana politics. so it is easy to get bit by that bug in louisiana, or probably easier than in a lot of other states. >> who i

washington has charlie cook." please tell us how many seats we will pick up? when did you become known that, well, if charlie says it, it is ok. >> i started my newsletter in 1984. i had a half dozen jobs out of college. i had no idea where i was going with it. but when i looked back, every single job was good preparation for, you know, doing what i'm doing now, as editor of the newsletter. it is almost as if it were very carefully planned. >> tell us what those jobs were. >> well, while i was in college, the first paid job i ever had in politics was as an elevator operator in the u.s. senate, the second semester of my freshman year in college, which is basically giving tourists, you know, where they are asking for directions and stuff. then two years as an intern in senator johnson's office, and then i interned for a year at democratic senatorial campaign committee. then when i got out of college, i went to work there for a couple years. then it was sort of a presidential campaign, a house race, a polling firm. i worked for business political action committee

charlie cook, "cook political reports." >> thank you. >> thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captions performed by national captioning institute] >> on the next washington journal, jeremy mayer will iscuss the war powers act. after that at 8:30, mark mix discussing union organization. and then at 9:515 earthquake, mary kay henry talks about labor unions. we will also take your phone calls and share the day's latest news and headlines on "washington journal" live every ay starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> if they went by the data, parents would say they wavent to give get things -- if you take the data and just act on the data you are going to be in big trouble. because people lie, a, and as steve jobs said, people don't know what they want until they see it. you can ask threm a million questions and then you can give them an ipad. he didn't take any -- there were no focus groups and data in the building of that ipad. it was all in here. >> what will the future bring. this discuss on the digital revolution is

become charlie wook cook? >> i

cook become charlie cook. started getting interested in politics in junior high and high school. i got bit by the bug and worked my first campaign in 1972, second semester of my senior year in high school. i was working on capitol hill while i was in college. i think that was when i started getting bit by the bug. i didn't come from an intensely political family. do you know who captain shreve was? >> he was a riverboat captain and he broke a logjam on the red near my highs school in shreveport louisiana. >> what impacted -- what impacted louisiana have on you. >> it depends on which part of the state. i say louisiana. everybody thinks that their state is unique, is different from all the others. maybe a little bit, but louisiana really is different. politics is part of the culture. but we haveo now, always had such colorful , thereers that it was >> who was the first politician you ever met? >> i think i actually shook hands with spiro agnew in high school once. but the first politician i knew was bennett joh

become charlie cook? >> i started getting interested in politics in high school. i got kind of bit by the bug. i worked my first campaign in 1972.

. >> charlie cook has something is that the 2014 mid terms look better for rirns than they did in 2010ng republicans by 18 points this is coming out the same week this is going on with health care. you're a democrat what. do you make of that? >> well, i love how you say a few follow pols mpl very polls four. the american people though not in favor of obama care said they're not in favor of holding it up in as a threat to defund the government. the american people did not send democrats or republicans to washington to do this and to go back to undo legislation. the american people, i think tomorrow might vote ted cruz to be the most unpopular person opposed to hairy read. >> now, i'm probably polarizing. >> yes.. >> i have polls, too. it shows that the unpopularity of obama care has never dropped below 51%, it's still considered to be at an all-time high. the only time it's dropped low was when it was out of the spotlight. but no, it's always been unpopular crammed down everyone's throat. i understand why harry reid is unpopular, he's a negative guy. he's a negative nansy. look you're i

charlie cook, i said, charlie cook, i understand historically you might think it's difficult for the democrats to take bass the house. if mr. lugar is renominated by the party, joe donnelly -- i urged joe not to run. i said you can't beat richard lugar. i think i was right. the good news from joe's standpoint, he didn't have to. claire mccaskill was most threatened democratic senator in the last cycle. todd akin. and in nevada, sharon engel, the tea party put sharon engel the candidate against senator reid and i think was helpful for senator reid. what you're seeing in the republican party was, as i mentioned, the hard line -- i would call it the radical right is not allowing the appropriation process to go forward and threatening members if you cooperate in any way, mike simpson, who i think is one of the most solid, reasonable, commonsense, conservative member of the house of representatives. chair of a subcommittee in the appropriation committee, former speaker of the idaho house is being contested by a tea party person because he's not conservative enough. why? because he believe

right now according to charlie cook republicans have an 18-point advantage amongst independents. >> yep unless it was to rally the base and allow red state democrats to have to re vote for obamacare again. >> what's the point? >> unless it comes out with a victory -- >> maybe this is what i got from ted cruz. i will let others speak. i thought it was refreshing to see somebody that wasn't making political calculations but was standing on principle. by the way, every republican ran on a platform to get rid of obamacare and re place it. re peel and re place. >> it took reagan 16 years to win the 164 election. goldwater won in 1980. we don't know what will happen in two, three, four years. this patriot stood and fought. he may lose, but long term he'll win it. the republicans weren't hurt despite what doug says in 1995, # 6. who controlled the house? who won the presidency twice? >> barack obama was as happy, sean, as you are. >> of course, but the country was better off. >> they have one strategy. let the republicans overplay their hand. let people like bill go out of control and the demo

charlie cook has something that ought to concern democrats, is that the 2013 mid-terms look better forn 2010, as republicans are tilting democrats by 18 points. now this is all going on the same week as obama care. now, you're a democrat, how do you feel about that? >> well, i love how you cite the polls, but i won't go through them list by list, the american people although they say they're not in favor of obama care, they're not in favor of holding it up. the american people did not send democrats or republicans to washington to do this and to go back to undue legislation. tomorrow, the american people may vote ted cruz to be one of the most unpopular. >> i don't think so, he may be one of the most popular. >> i have polls on my phone, to, i have the real politicings of i don't know how many polls we could list. it shows that the unpopularity of obama care is considered to be at an all-time high. the only time it dropped low was when it was out of the spotlight. it has always been unpopular, crammed down everybody's throat. i see why harry reid is unpopular, he is a negative guy. lie

. >> with more than 30 years as a political analyst, charlie cook has uncovered the trends while tracking every congressional race since 1984. see the rest of this "q & a" interview tonight at 8:00 on c-span. >> coming up next live on "washington journal," your reaction to president obama's remarks on syria, plus the day's latest news and headlines. then nick gillespie, editor and chief of reason.com talks about the libertarian viewpoint on a variety of issues, including possible u.s. intervention in syria and the n.s.a. data collection programs. after that, we'll hear from gordon adams, a foreign policy expert at american university school of specific services, about the latest events in syria. >> but, having made my decision as commander in chief based on what i am convinced is our national security interests, i'm also mindful that i'm the president of the world's oldest constitutional democracy. i've long believed that our power is rooted not just in our military might but in our example as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. and that's why i've made a second

charlie cook is right. you'll see an older white male electorate.roblem with obama care unless it's an immediate overnight success story and we see high popularity for it next summer, it has not adversely effected consumer demand or the greater economy at large, then we're going to see the six-year pattern which is that republicans are going to hold their gerrymander seat quite easily. they've nearly shut down the government before, nearly defaulted before, partially shut down the faa. none of that bothered anybody. i see this as a problem for them building a coalition for the white house in 2016. that's what the party is worried about. >> do you think the president should offer to debate ted cruz on national television, joy? >> no. i think the president needs to elevate ted cruz. ted cruz ease constituency are the people listening to talk radio and they believe their strange ideology this is what it means to fight. you have this sense among the republican base, believe it or not, that their party doesn't fight. that they let obama win. and they wan

charlie cook, i said, charlie cook, i understand historically you might think it's difficult for theocrats to take bass the house. what is easy in my view is for the republicans to lose the house. let me go back to delaware. these are senators. go back to delaware. mike castle wins that primary. i think mr. coons has trouble winning that election. if mr. lugar is renominated by the party, joe donnelly -- i urged joe not to run. i said you can't beat richard lugar. i think i was right. the good news from joe's standpoint, he didn't have to. claire mccaskill was most threatened democratic senator in the last cycle. todd akin. and in nevada, sharon engel, the tea party put sharon engel the candidate against senator reid and i think was helpful for senator reid. what you're seeing in the republican party was, as i mentioned, the hard line -- i would call it the radical right -- is not allowing the appropriation process to go forward and threatening members if you cooperate in any way, mike simpson, who i think is one of the most solid, reasonable, commonsense, conservative house of repre

. >> with more than 30 years as a political analyst, charlie cook has uncovered the trends while trackingvery congressional race since 1984. see the rest of this "q & a" interview tonight at 8:00 on c-span. >> it's how these people endure and prevail in the very rough world of politics. >> historians richard norton smith and edith mayo preview c-span's season two of "first ladies: influence." looks at their private lives and roles. monday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span radio and cspan.org. host: nick gillespie is the editor and chief of reason.com and reason tv. good morning. thanks very much for being with us. guest: thanks for having me. host: this is one photograph from "the washington post" outside the white house, as the president was making his decision to call on congress for any authorization of force in syria. you can see the animated debate back and forth. "no war in syria." supporters of the war in syria. give us a sense from your perspective what's happening in this country, what's the debate all about? guest: you know, i think there are at least two d debates and the

. >> with more than said -- more than 30 years as a political analyst, charlie cook has uncovered the trend. tonight at 8:00 on c-span. >> heritage action for america held a town hall meeting in loa. it is the last of the series of events to defund the health care law. for senator jim demint and ref file cruise, father of senator ted cruz of texas. >> hello, delaware valley. it is great to be with you all this evening. my name is andrew, i am part of the team in heritage action. the opportunity to be here in the first state is very exciting for all of us. thank you for the warm welcome. as many of you know, this is a nine city tour that heritage action has been going on, talking about the funding obamacare across the nation. [applause]we decided that delaware and the surrounding area is a pretty important area to come to when talking about obamacare because, this may come , we surprise to some of you agree with vice president biden that this bill is a big deal. it must be defunded. last night we were in pittsburgh and we were talking to them. after the program was over they talked abo

. >> with more than 30 years as a political analyst, charlie cook has been tracking the trends of everyongressional race since 1984. see the rest of this interview tonight at 8:00 on c-span. >> i just gave a talk in san francisco to a bunch of people creating products for parents and kids. mostly stuff for young kids. and i showed them that if they went by the data, parents say they want products that will keep their kids smart and educated. kids don't play with stuff that involves learning. no parent has ever used the safety features on the programs that they buy for their kids. so if you take the data and you just act on the data, you're going to be in big trouble. because people lie, a, said, pet know what they want until they see it. you can ask them a million questions and then you can give them an ipad. and he didn't take any, there were no focus groups and data in the building of that ipad, it was all in here. >> what will the future bring? this discussion on the digital revolution is one of our featured programs labor day on c-span, just before 12:30 eastern, mike mccurry discus

or do you agree with charlie cook in his latest column in the "national journal" said in fact what itp both sides are going to end up looking that? >> i think everybody looks bad when you have a government shutdown. i do think that for people who are really focused on the facts year, it's pretty clear -- the facts here, this whole episode is being driven by the hard right extreme tea party elements of the republican party. and we are seeing that play out in the house, where you know, senator cruz is essentially running the show in the house of representatives. and if the speaker boehner doesn't want to assert leadership, then he should go ahead and turn the gavel over the speaker cruz, because that is what we are seeing in the house of representatives today. and it goes to the point i made, david, the outset, which is if we had a vote in the house of representatives today on the clean continuing resolution that's coming out of the senate to keep the government open, it would pass. it would pass. and so the only thing standing in the way of keeping the government open would be the refu

. >> charlie, we have a minute left, i'm going to invite you to dinner at my house some time. >> that would be great. >> and i'm going to be so nervous about cooking for you. what's the one thing you shouldn't do in front of a chef, oh, geez, not that again. >> overthink what you're doing. just cook what you love and it will come naturally to you. don't try to do something you normally don't do. >> and you'll bring the pudding. >> i'll bring the pudding. >> charlie ayers, and i apologize for messing up the name in the tease there earlier, i practiced it and everything. charlie, thank you, and again, the restaurant is fantastic and we really enjoy it. thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >>> coming up, taking on the trolls, rather, the patent fight finally turns around when "press:here" continues. >>> welcome back to "press:here." nonpracticing entities or shell companies, which buy up often unwanted or obscure patents then use those patents to demand successful companies pay them a fee or end up in court. it is bullying. if there's one thing we know about bullies, they get their power from the very fact no one is willing to stand u

cook for an even bigger buyback. david: that could be fly in that room twitter could make the ipo plans public as soon as this week. fox business's charlie gasparino, reporting the filing has to come this week if the offering is to be priced this year. liz: google had a u.k. tax bill of just, $55 million last year but on sales of 5.5 billion to british customers. the tech giant channeled nearly all the overseas profits to a subsidiary in bermuda today. >> investors watching royal dutch/shell after the energy giant said it plans to sell in its stake in the eagleford shale in southern texas. they say it doesn't meet its global targets. liz: here is the news of the american airlines is hiring more pilots. the carrier will recruit 1500 new pilots and recall all of the remaining furloughed crews. david: jury selection has begun in the much-anticipated civil trial of mark cuban. he of course the billionaire owner of the dallas mavericks nba team and a case brought by the sec. he is accused of insider trading in an internet search company nearly ten years ago. a very busy day as all eyes are focused both on washington and on wall street. "after