and with us today, next us a chuck todd. "the washington post's" kathleen parker. nbc's kelly o'donnell and the "national journal," chris frates. first up, hillary clinton gave as good as she got when peppered by challenging questions on benghazi this week. the reviews were she showed the graph tass and confidence, confidence a potential presidential candidate could. not hard to see the outlines. democrats outdid each other in ladding secretary clinton's remarkable four years but republicans seemed eager to rough up the woman some clearly want to keep out of the white house. and this was the exchange. that drew the most attention. between senator clinton, secretary clinton now and senator ron johnson of wisconsin. >> we were misled that there was supposedly protests and something sprang out of that and assaults sprang out of that. >> we had four dead americans because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they would kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? chris: remarkably calm and i would say charming

it's where we begin our reporting tonight with our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this was no ordinary policy rollout. we have seen the president do this on a number of issues. this one was filled with an emotional plea, if you will. in fact, the president spent more time trying to drum up support for a campaign using emotion than he did talking about his actual plans themselves. an emotional president obama unveiled his plan in front of an audience that included parents of newtown victims. >> she dreamed of becoming a painter. chris, her father, gave me one of her paintings. and i hung it in my private study. and every time i look at that painting, i think about how when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now. for grace. >> the president outlined four major points. each one evoked memories of past mass shootings. >> we will make sure mental health professionals know their options for reporting threats of violence. >> reporter: this action makes it easier to share mental health reco

chuck todd. >> here's how it works. he only -- only if he gets a third term.ou have to break -- to transform, to move a country from senator right -- from center right to center left. a more conservative democratic party. that's when you know success -- chris: he's got to get one of these two people elected. >> that's right. >> i don't think that the republicans have the power to make him anything but transformational. he is transformational by virtue of the fact that he is in the white house for a second term as the first african-american. that's transformational and he has an opportunity to replace one. conservative justices on the court, social issues, liberal social issues are entrenched for as far as we can see. chris: would hillary take the court issue if it were appointed to it? >> i should imagine so. that's interesting. i think that's great analysis. and i think it depends on the lenz you look at. for the person who doesn't live and breathe politics he already is transformational and will be. and for people who are assessing the impact of policy, we h

let's go to nbc's chuck todd. nsidering that the house left for the night, what was the senate's incentive for staying and hammering out this deal? >> well, they want a deal. and mitch mcconnell is the one who really wanted a deal because mitch mcconnell made the political calculation that the best leverage that the democrats and the white house had over them in this ongoing budget battle -- and let's remember, that's what we are in the middle of. and we haven't gotten rid of that. this ongoing battle of shaping the federal budget, who pays for deficit reduction, that the tax issue wasn't solved, that that would be a bigger sledgehammer against the republicans. so mcconnell was incentivized to do a deal, and so were all the senate republicans. that's why you saw such an effort in the last two day, particularly on mitch mcconnell to try and hammer out some sort of deal. the president wants a deal. he doesn't want to go over the cliff. now there are a bunch of other democrats that do. but the president didn't want to

tonight our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd also on hand tonight. he joins me now. chuck, there are a lot of people, i'm sure, out there rolling their eyes, wondering how did we get to this point on new year's eve? how did they let it go this far? >> reporter: well, the biggest problem is our political system does not reward compromise. the way these deals have happened in the past, with previous presidents and previous speakers and previous leaders is a compromise is rewarded by the public. and right now, whether it's president obama, whether it was speaker boehner, the two of them couldn't find a way to get to a deal because they didn't want to look like they were ever caving. and when you get to a point where it looks like you're caving on something, then there is negative political effects. now, that's why they've brought in vice president biden, mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader, to try to close this thing. and they may close a deal, but there's no guarantee that even any deal they come to an agreement with tonight will actually make

our political director and chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, is with us.derator of "meet the press" and might add former chief white house correspondent. david, we'll start with you. this speech was not short on specifics. in fact, it was unusual for the number of specifics, and a speech of its kind. what stuck out at you? >> a shorter speech, but a lot of substance there. here you have a president talking about the need for economic restoration, but he's got a theory of the case. he's talking about lifting up the middle class. a robust defense of a progressive vision of what government ought to do, defending medicare and social security. he'll make modifications, but in this era of budget cutting, he doesn't want to go too far, that's the case he made. and i wrote it down. he wants to tackle gun violence, advance gay rights, marriage equality, tackle climate change and immigration. and this was just the inaugural address. we understand there's more to come, of course, in the state of the union. all of this against a difficult backdrop where there is going

let's bring in our political director, chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. and chuck, some people look at the presidency as a checkbook, and certainly this will amount to one of the first checks the president writes, drawing down that political balance. >> reporter: well, that's right. and tomorrow he's going to nevada to create public pressure, the white house says. it was supposed to be the place where he was going to launch this push for immigration, but the white house is very supportive of what this bipartisan group of senators are not ready to fully endorse the deal, but they endorse it in principle. and that's exactly right. and it goes to what kelly said at the beginning, brian. both parties -- big deals happen in washington when the political self interests align. and john mccain has been very straightforward about the self interests of the republican party. they have got to fix their problems with hispanics, and that's why they're at the table. >> all right, chuck todd, at the white house tonight. chuck, thanks. >>> it has been exactly three months

we'll be talking to chuck todd.'re watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. 7 how-to knowledge to give us an edge, and more savings down every aisle. it only takes a few twists and turns for those bright ideas to make the new year even brighter. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. start fresh and save with hdx 20 gallon totes, a special buy at just $5.88 a piece. i hate getting up in the morning. i love bread. i love cheese. did i say i love chocolate? i'm human! and the new weight watchers 360 program lets me be. the reason i'm still in this body feelin' so good isn't because i never go out and enjoy the extra large, extra cheese world we live in. it's because i do. and you can too. because when a weight loss program is built for human nature you can expect amazing. introducing the new weight watchers 360 program. join for free and expect amazing. because it works. . >>> doctors say secretary of state hillary clinton is making excellent congress as she recovers from a blood clot found i

first we want to begin tonight with our chief white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. refusing to shy away from what potentially could be a new washington fight, the president tapped two very close allies who have a history of ruffling political feathers into two key national security posts. president obama emphasized the two men's personal connections to the organizations he has tapped them to run. chuck hagel would be the first vietnam veteran to head the pentagon. >> to this day, chuck bears the scars and shrapnel in the battles he fought in our name. >> reporter: and john brennan, who spent 25 years at the cia, would now run the agency. >> john has lost colleagues and friends. >> reporter: as demonstrators protested brennen's connection to controversial interrogation techniques like waterboarding that date back to the bush years -- the president moved to head off that criticism. >> he understands, we are a nation of laws. he insists on high and rigorous standards. >> reporter: but it's hagel's nomination that's

let's go to nbc political director, chief white house correspondent, host of the daily rundown, chuck todd. chuck, great to see you. is this it? >> i think this is it. never underestimate this congress in particular. this has been one of the most contentious two years of a relationship between the white house and this congress, particularly this house that we've seen. so don't underestimate their ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, if you will. but it's very likely this is going to get through. it's a numbers game now. it's probably going to be more democrats than republicans that support it at the end of the day. is it going to be 80 republicans and the rest with democrats? it is going to be 60 republicans? and so at this point, that's what is going on on the floor right now. each side is trying to see if they have enough votes and trying to put together the math. but what we don't know for sure is are they fully working together? are the leaderships on the house democrats and the house republicans working together to figure out their numbers? they haven't gotten to that le

our chief white house correspondent chuck todd is there this evening. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. well, as you know, a lot of these things, as the white house prepares to roll out these recommendations formally tomorrow at 12:00 noon, they are having a big event here. the president's even going to be surrounded by school children. here's what we understand are going to be among his biggest proposals, universal background checks. he's going to call for new legislation to do that. a ban on gun magazines that carry ammunition of more than ten rounds of ammunition. he's going to call for a renewal of the assault weapons ban. and then he's going to ask for more aggressive prosecution of existing laws. let me separate this out a little bit. the first three items are things he's going to ask congress to do. there are actually already bills that have been introduced in the united states senate that deal with those three items. the fourth item has to do with people who essentially lie on background checks, they fail background checks. t

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chuck todd in our d.c. newsroom tonight. thanks for all of it. >>> weather is making news tonight. a very large winter storm system has left quite a bit of snow on the ground from the deep south, and we're talking about mississippi, alabama, rare snow on the ground there, to the mid atlantic tonight. systems moving fast, but the snowfall where it's falling is heavy and intense. there is one storm-related death to report. thousands are without power. you're looking at a live picture of the scene outside richmond right now. they could get up to 6 inches there tonight with a rain/snow mix, hazardous travel expected tonight, right up through the carolinas. it will all move out to sea by tomorrow. it will knick the jersey shore and at least long island on its way out. >>> still ahead as our broadcast continues, the mystery coming ashore. the tsunami trash that floated halfway around the world. tonight, what strange life forms came along for the ride to the u.s. >>> and later, remembering the woman behind dear abby and all that good advice over the years. >>> we are faking you to the was

our chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, was part of the questioning. he joins us from there tonight. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. as you mentioned, vice president biden formally gave the president the gun violence task force recommendation that he was charged with getting. and while the president said he's formally going to unveil what his proposals are going to be, he did say today that if congress doesn't act at this news conference, he's willing to do it himself. during the hour-long press conference, president obama said he wants stronger background checks and limits on assault weapons and ammunition. but acknowledged the difficult politics. >> those are things i continue to believe make sense. will all of them get through this congress? i don't know. >> reporter: and he said administrative action, such as backtracking guns used by criminals are things he may be able to do right away. >> i'm confident that there are some steps we can take that don't require legislation. >> reporter: but gun control was not the president's m

our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd joins us now. chuck, there are some voices out there saying, good for the house republicans, they're standing on their principles. but a lot of voices are also saying, how much longer is this going to take? >> reporter: it may be a new year but old habits are dying hard with this congress. we're in the last throes of the typical theatrics that have been the norm in washington over the last couple of years. there's going to be a few more shenanigans before the night is over. but they're probably going to end up voting on this bill. if they don't approve it, do realize, if they don't approve it, the senate is not going to take up any bill. and that means this entire fiscal cliff miss will not be solved at all. they'll have to start all over with the new congress which gets sworn in in two days. and it could take weeks and everybody's taxes go up. it doesn't -- not just $250,000. everybody's taxes go up. so it could be a real mess. but i think we're in the last throes of sort of the washington shenanig

nbc's chuck todd, our chief white house correspondent and political director. d to model himself after five years ago is when he said he was hoping to model himself more after a reagan than a clinton. and at the time he was still running against another clinton. and the point he was making was this. he thought reagan made conservative mainstream. this was an attempt to make progressive liberalism and move it into the plain stream. you can have this argument at the country's center right, center-center left clearly the president wants to help shift american political opinion and move it a little bit, move that pendulum. and i thought that was the most striking thing long-term that he howard about. it was this robust defense that i've heard a number of others say that it was a robust defense of government, liberal amp, however you want to call it. we know liberals want to use the word progressive all the time. and then a point that i thought needed to be echoed, this is the first ever inaugural address to mention gay rights and historically when we look back on th

. >>> coming up, "the washington post's" david ignatius, nbc news political director, chuck todd. >> you know who else does that, too. >> yeah. >> it's interesting to me that colin powell, right -- >> yeah. >> -- who actually served in vietnam and saw a lot of his friends' faces blown off and chuck hagel who saw a lot of his friends die. fortunately, thank god, he saved mitch mcconnell's brother. that's great. but he saw a lot of buddies die. isn't it amazing that chuck hagel and colin powell who actually have been to war and seen the horrors of war firsthand in vietnam are a bit more reluctant to use force. and he's being criticized as being outside the mainstream. maybe he is outside the mainstream of republican political thought for the past ten years. >> we're all so glad we're still in afghanistan. >> maybe perhaps we should go back to being the party that we once were. before iraq. >> right. >> the party of george h.w. bush, bent scowcroft, colin powell, condoleezza rice. would not be a bad idea. >> editor in chief of buzzfeed, ben smith, will join us. headlines with dr. emily s

first, chuck todd at the white house. the president is going to las vegas tomorrow and is making a speech and jay carney has just said that his policy prescription, they don't have specific legislation yet conforms with what the senate negotiating committee. this is an important development. >> that's the news right out of this briefing. >> would the president offer his own plan, a detailed bill he would want to move separately? as late as last week there was some speculation about that, congressional hispanic caucus met here with the president at the white house. they said let this gang work, and that's the message from jay carney. under a number of questions talking about, well, there's a difference here between what the president wants and what this group of eight wants, and jay carney said let me show you all the areas they agree, and the president will talk about -- talks tomorrow, andrea, in saying continue a conversation with the american people about immigration. >> let's talk chris and jose about the elements of

i tell you, but i like it, you know, when chuck todd and david gregory cry.y're both with us right now, crying because they have to be with us. nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd and moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. gentlemen, i'm going to ask each of you the same question to be answered, please, and it is this. the huge budget arguments about to take place, the huge deficit spending stuff, the huge we're going to face it again, you know, debt ceiling stuff, what is the republican strategy in dealing with the democrats? david. >> you know, mike, i was on capitol hill this week talking to top republicans, and i'm getting a sense and you're seeing it written about as well, that they would maybe like to step away from the brink about the debt ceiling. they do want to force the issue about how can they get this president to agree to additional spending cuts? the debt ceiling is a dangerous game. i think they recognize that politically. they'll push -- the question is how -- how

i'm chuck todd. pac show for you, i promise. my first reads of the morning, nearly two years ago, president obama gave a speech in el paso calling for immigration reform, stronger board security and a path to citizenship. >> el paso, the question is whether those in congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work that we've started. >> well, now that a bipartisan group of senators have come back to the table, the president today will praise the principles this group of eight laid out calling for the country to get behind in senate plan. as white house senior advisor dan pfeiffer just tweeted, today, potus will applaud the bipartisan senate agreement consistent with his long-held view and lay out his vision for immigration reform. "the washington post" is the reporting the white house has develop the its own immigration reform plan more liberal than the senate outline. yes, there is a plan that the white house has. but for now, they're not unveiling it. ha

plus, chuck todd. all coming up after this short break. >>> "meet the press" is brought to you by the boeing company. aig? we said we were going to turn it around, and we did. woman: we're helping joplin, missouri, come back from a devastating tornado. man: and now we're helping the east coast recover from hurricane sandy. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people. thank you, america. helping people recover and rebuild -- that's what we do. now let's bring on tomorrow. >>> for two-term presidents, their second inaugural is often an attempt to emphasize the successes of their first term with an eye towards shaping their place in history. only 16 presidents have delivered two inaugural addresses. we put the speeches of the last three two-term presidents through a word cloud to see what themes they chose to emphasize. by looking at the words they used the most

chief white house correspondent is chuck todd, at the white house. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. savannah was pointing out the president was officially sworn in yesterday. he does a ceremonial swearing in. fourth time matching fdr as president who will have taken the oath four times. here is the reason why there's two swearing ins. the constitution says january 20g9. any time it's fallen on a sunday there's been a decision to hold the public ceremony the next day. it was a precedent started by james monroe. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> that i will execute. >> that i will execute the office of the president of the united states. >> the office of the president of the united states. >> led my chief justice john roberts. >> i did it. >> sasha's comment, a reminder of chief justice roberts' flub four years ago. >> and i will execute the office of the president of the united states faithfully. >> and i will execute -- >> this time around, roberts stuck to the script. vice president biden was also officially swor

plus, chuck todd. all coming up after this short break. >>> "meet the press" is brought to you by the boeing company. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime. take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine at bedtime or in the middle of the night or drank alcohol that day. do not drive or operate machinery until at least 4 hours after taking intermezzo and yo

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coming up right now we have chuck todd and "the daily rundown." we'll see you tomorrow. >>> capital offense. president obama puts congress on notice with his push for expanding gun regulation. can his supporters cobble together enough votes on california total hicapitol hillo get what he wants. we'll talk to stanley mcchrystal. find out what the man who led the u.s. mission in afghanistan has to say about his ouster. president obama's pentagon pick and a lot more. >>> and 2013 kicks off with another sports scandal. suddenly, a tear-jerking tragedy for one of college football's brightest stars turns into a twisted tale of lies. >>> good morning from washington, it's thursday, january 17th, 2013, this is "the daily rundown," i'm chuck todd. we couldn't ignore te'o. the first read of the morning. the president didn't just roll out a new set of gun proposals. he launched an emotional campaign to try to get congress to act, devoting more time lying out the need for new action on guns than the plans themselves. using every tool at his disposal to tap in

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i'm chuck todd. let's get to my first read of the morning. this afternoon president obama will formally name his chief of staff, jack lew, to replace treasury secretary tim geithner. a sign the white house expects a big fight over the federal budget lew is the safe pick. he has been confirmed twice by the senate before. just in this administration. if confirmed in time, he can face his first test next month over the debt ceiling. lew is a walk among walks. described in one profile by the huffington post. quote, as harry potter grew up and replaced his magic wand with excel spread sheets. if confirmed lew will be the highest ranking orthodox you don't in government. he grew up in queens. brings his own lunch to work. chose sandwich and an apple which he eats at his desk and still commutes back and forth to new york. catching a train home every friday to spend weekends with his wife. he is well liked in the white house. the p came to depend to the act not many people in washington know the budgeting process. >> jack's economic advice has been i

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chuck todd, did you see what -- >> epic.his year's alabama/lsu showdown, i talked to madeline peters, big lsu fan, and i said can you thank les for us? because he botched that, too. some of the worst coaching at the end of the game, les miles. this game against clemson was unbelievable. >> it sort of finally caught up with him. he plays these games all the time. clemson never had to use a time-out. it was unbelievable. they ended up with the ball with 1:30 left with three time-outs. but you know, to go to tom's point right before the break about just watching the southern teams versus the northern teams, it's kind of a joke. what was amazing about the lsu/clemson game is it was played -- they both were so fast, right? so it was just played on another level. what was entertaining about it, the first decent game we've had. we haven't really had a good bowl game yet. >> horrible. >> that one was good simply because you thought, wow. there's actual nfl talent on both sides of the ball, not what we've been watching where you're j