. >> connie mack and his wife mary bono mack joined me back in august to talk about washington gridlock. the two will depart washington in february, but not before weighing in on the fiscal cliff. welcome back. >> thank you. >> congressman, let me start just a question to both of you. would you describe yourself as disappointed, bitter, upset? how would you describe your post-election feelings? >> i don't know if i'm angry, disappointed. any of those things. new chapter in life. i wish i would have won, but that didn't happen. the voters made a different decision. i'm still very passionate about the things that brought me to the congress in the first place and i hope to continue to stay in that fight. so, i don't have any of those emotions of feeling like a negative feeling at all. >> are you in the same place? you were in a very close race. >> i guess a little bit different. the number one take away is the absolute privilege of being able to serve the 14 years that i served you can't help but look back and be really appreciatative that i had the opportunity to be here and make my mark.

also talking to florida republican congressman connie mack. mary bono mack will join us as well. also, carlos gutierrez. former giants runningback tiki barber is with us in the studio. it's monday, december 3rd, and "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. our team joining us around the table. barbara starr, cnn's pentagon correspondent. we were talking this morning, it has been literally four years since we've seen each other in person. >> last time i saw you was inauguration day. >> we talk all the time. in person, four years. kamau bell is a median. new york congresswoman nan hayworth. alina cho sticking around to help us, too. starting point is the search for answers in the suicide of kansas city chiefs linebacker jovan belcher who also killed his girlfriend over the weekend. the team took to the field a day after that tragedy. it was a somber victory. they beat the carolina panthers 27-21 winning just their second game of the season. saturday morning, belcher shot his 22-year-old girlfriend kasandra perkins. then he turned th

congress people connie mack and mary mack, politics to the macks, get it? and adam lambert.ght now. you can come in, john. you just have to dance in. we've got the music going. our panelists this morning, congressman joseph crowley is with us. he's a democrat from the great state of new york. margaret hoover is with us, cnn political contributor. ron brownstein is the editorial director of "the national journal." john berman has made his way to his seat. >> no music. >> that's your music. i heard you singing it earlier. you don't like adam lambert, his new theme song? i kind of like that. >>> our starting point is the president and the house speaker finally getting face to face to discuss the fiscal cliff. until yesterday's unscheduled meeting at the white house, john boehner and president obama had gone 23 days without sitting down to discuss the fiscal cliff. it's a significant development because in 22 days we go off over the cliff although some people have described it as a gentle slide down a little slippy mountain. but that would be a time when we face severe tax hikes

we'll talk to mary bono mack and connie mack. we'll talk about mental health. sidential campaign 18 months long, and gun control hardly came up at all. >> almost never. >> now that issue very much back on the table. today, first day that kids return to school across the country since the connecticut massacre. schools are expected to review security plans to satisfy anxious students, parents and teachers. i was receiving updates from my kids' school all week. departments are expected to increase school patrols, and many districts offering additional counseling services to students today. >> you know they need it in the wake of this. "saturday night live," normally known to take kind of a funny and satiric look in the news, a much more subdued approach in the wake of this. the new york city children's chorus opened the show singing "silent night." it was beautiful. ♪ silent night holy night all is calm all is bright round yon virgin ♪ . >> bravo, "saturday night live. a beautiful, moving tribute. a question a lot of people have been asking, i've been asking. how t

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. >> on the negative front, connie mack ad when nelson thought he could lose. >> they buried him.t in a bar fight with ron gant. former atlanta brave. >> he was 22. you know? you're an idiot college kid. you're an idiot college kid. >> i say it's funny. we focus on the presidential but you can really only hate those that you know really well. like the pta board race. it can only really dislike the people -- so the lower down you get and know more of the people, the presidential race is like barack obama and mitt romney -- >> that's right. in yonkers, new york, the worst. >> hardest this year and you were talking about it is breaking through and your ad that broke through virally -- >> yes. >> big bird. >> without any money behind it. >> you never spent -- never aired on actual television. >> it did. it was part of our rotation. just out of there in earned media, 5 million people went to look at it. >> here's the most viral ad of 2012. >> together, we can do this. we can take this country back. ♪ i am america ♪ one voice united we stand ♪ i am america >> there it is! does it get an

. >> let's remember on the negative front, the connie mack ad, at the time bill nelson thought he couldn't they buried him. he got into a bar fight with ron gant, the former brave. >> you're an idiot college kid. >> i always say in campaigns we focus so much on the presidential, but you can only hate those who you know extremely well. it's like the pta board race. the lower down you get, where you know more of the people, the presidential race, it's like barack obama and mitt romney know each other in the vaguest sense. >> i started out in city council races, and city council races in yonkers are ten times worse. >> the hardest thing this year is breaking through. your ad that broke through virally was big bird. >> yes, without any money on it. >> big bird did not actually air on television? >> it did it was part of our rotation, but 5 million people went to our website to look at it. >> no offense to big bird, here is the most viral ad of 2012. >> together we can do this. we can take this country back. ♪ i am america ♪ one voice united we stand ♪ i am america >> there it is. does it get a

to write and promote the contract with america the mid 90s republican manifesto if you will, or connie mackflorida or some conservative figure who has had time in the government does have those connections. but also has another foot in the conservative movement, and has those conservative bona fides which dick army did which made him so appealing as head of that organization. >> jennifer: so many fascinateing developments on the far right. it's a good day to be a democrat. that's andy kroll. thank you so much for coming on "the war room." if alan west ever left the house of representatives some sort of of--how shall i say--some incident would be involved. then patrick murphy came and sent him alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the a

. >> the let's remember the connie mack time. >> this is a guy who got in a bar fight with ron gant.college kid, you're an idiot college kid. >> in campaigns, we focus so much on the presidential, but you can only really hate those who you know extremely well. it's like the pta board race is always really -- you can only dislike the people -- so the lower down you get where you know more of the race, the presidential race, they know each other in the vaguest sense. >> i started out in city politics, i have seen races that are ten times worse. >> it's the hardest thing this year, and i think you were talking about it, breaking through. you were talking about your ad that broke through virally was big bird. >> yes, actually, without any money behind it. 5 million people. >> big bird never aired on actual television. >> it did, it was part of what we call our rotation, but just putting it out in the media, 5 million people went to the website to see it. >> here is the most viral ad of 2012. >> together, we can do this. we can take this country back. ♪ i am america ♪ one voice united we

i wrote the statement for senator connie mack when he went to the floor to defend the transfers, and he was a conservative republican in the leadership coming and we know perfectly well we were not going to have any problem with the democrats on this and the point of the were going to the floor and doing this was, as he said you mean they want me to ban the technique? i can't than the technique. and so, the whole question of emphasis on what happened like to allow more of a lines and that, there is a political reality to this game, and we were doing it to get a bunch of republicans cover to vote with us because we knew that they would follow. akaka on a number of things you slant things that i don't think our fairfax. they had a drug of real and something happens the fda is terrible they say that it's too slow. this goes on repeatedly on their bills if your conclusion is i'm showing that barack obama is back on science and not as good as george bush because i don't think that you can draw from what you actually done. what question would you like to ask? >> i am more by is on that tha

we'll talk to cory booker, judy you which, connie mack and mary bono mack. we take a look at racial identity in this country. and then this young lady wowed the world with her near flawless performance at the olympics, ga gabby douglas almost quit. thinking about going to work at chick-fil-a. no joke. she has a new book out. a terrific book and we'll talk about that, straight ahead. >> correspond ooh book y bookera big decision to make. >> stay as mayor? >> senator, i think. that's just me chiming in. >> 39 minutes after the hour. in minnesota, waking up with work to do. as much as 17 inches of snow waiting to be shovelled outside. it looks nice from here. alexandra steele is in for rob marciano. >> they like it there. the banner in "the star tribune" says welcome back, winter. the biggest snow there in two years. last season, 22 inches the entire season. this is a lot of their economy too, of course. all of the snow in the winter and now finally we've seen it. maplewood, 14 inches. north of the metro area, picked up between 14 and 17 inches of snow and in m

we talk to newark mayor, cory booker on that food stamp challenge, connie mack and mary bono mack will be with us as well. gabby douglas has a new book out and adam lambert as well. cnn "newsroom" with don lemon starts now. >> you can tell it's friday because you guys are out of control. have a great one, soledad. i'll be watching. >> thank you. >> "who's black in america" as well. november numbers. new jobs report now out. and it's surprise. what role could it play in the fiscal cliff negotiations? >>> major earthquake rattles nerves and shakes buildings in japan in the same area as nearly two years ago. >>> fiscal cliff for air travelers, ground your trip or compromise air safety. >>> be careful what you write on review websites. one woman is being sued for almost $1 million for posting a nasty review online. find out which side the judge is taking. taking. "newsroom" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm don lemon in for carol costello this morning. the labor department this morning says 146,000 jobs were added in novemb

connie mack in florida, he's a career politician. he lost.lame all the losses on the tea party. the republican party has a branding problem. the republican party is horrible on messaging. absolutely horrible on messaging and what ends up happening is that they're on defense all the time. they never go on offense. that is the biggest problem. they need to figure that out. we're here to hold everybody accountable. it's not -- we're not here to cozy up to the republican party. we want wug to live within their means. >> wi tall about vision and accountability and how the tea party derives its power after this. irping ]hon [ buzzing ] bye dad. drive safe. k. love you. [ chirping, buzzing continues ] [ horn honks ] [ buzzing continues ] [ male announcer ] the sprint drive first app. blocks and replies to texts while you drive. we can live without the &. visit sprint.com/drive. >>> we're waiting to see whether today will bring news of a deal on the fiscal curb by leader in the senate and whether the house would then take it up and whether it would p

also florida congressman connie mack. neighbors outside a california home today.ternity center for mothers from china who want to give birth to american citizens. they're going to talk to rosanna mitchell, a person for those who are protesting called not in chino hills plus we'll have a cnn exclusive with john mcafee. he's been on the run, of course, since his neighbor was mysteriously murdered in belize. we'll tell you why martin savidge got this interview, and did this interview, getting this interview was almost as strange as the tape itself. all that and much more ahead this morning on "starting point." >> so curious about that. >> it's weird, right? >> all right, soledad we'll be watching. thousands of people in northern california are without power this morning. the third pacific storm in five days soaking the already saturated san francisco bay area this weekend. trees are down. hundreds of homes have been damaged by falling limbs and floodwaters. rob marciano joins us from the weather center. what's the latest? >> the latest is that the rain has stopped fo