what precisely, dana milbank can president obama to when he talks about executive action. what can he do with those tools? >> first of all, craig, it is important that they have four responses, the republicans, because one of them is likely to go through without needing a water break and they should go with that one the next morning. >> you clearly have been working on that one all morning. >> ever since i heard rob's response. but the president basically all he can do is use his pen. it's not clear what he can use his phone to do. but he is facing a congress that is not going to do anything with a possible exception of immigration. and all of the talk is of this president -- the major legislation happening during this president's term is already over. now, that's an extraordinarily premature obituary. what the president needs to do is say, look, he's going to take actions on his own but i think he's got to go beyond that and really exort this congress and say let's not give up. let's actually push for big things, not just bite sized things. >> while you were talking we sh

drew courtney, dana milbank, thanks to both of you for your time. nadian army by talking to mayor rob ford in toronto. >> i'll get on it. >>> still ahead, ever wonder what president obama watches on tv? we know what he's on. that's next. over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room over the pizza place at 315 chestnut street. the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the dusty basement at 1406 35th street. it is the story of the old dining room table at 25th and hoffman avenue. the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ...and the second floor above the strip mall at roble and el camino. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. ♪ so different and so new where those with endless vision and an equal amount of audaciousness believed they had the power to do more.

joining me now dana milbank and joel madison. night. >> thank you, reverend. >> hi, reverend. >> dana, let me start with you. why hasn't the republican playbook changed in 15 years? >> you know, it has changed in a sense that they're using the impeachment even more liberally, if you will. there have been maybe three dozen members of this congress, republican members of congress by my count who have suggested impeachment for the president, for the attorney general, or for others in this administration. what seems to have changed now is they'll use it for just about any ordinary policy disagreement. so people have suggested impeaching this president over benghazi, over syria, over gun control, over gay marriage, over the debt. you know, i mean probably right now somebody is cook up articles of impeachment related to jay carney's beard and the first lady's birthday party. >> yeah, you know, joe, you know, over the last couple of months we've heard the right wing make only one argument about why they can't impeach the president listen

joining me now are dana milbank and karen finney.hank you both for being here tonight. >> hey, rev. >> karen, isn't all this gop talk about dictators and kings another way for them to try to delegitimize this president? >> sure they are. let's not forget if you look at the approval rating of congress right now, it is so low. why? because people feel like things aren't getting done. so if the worst things republicans can say about president obama that oh, my gosh, he is going to work hard to get things done for the american people, i mean, that's what they're afraid of. they're afraid of being shamed into actually having to take some action rather than obstructing this president time and again. >> now, you know, dana, the right wing talkers are stoking the hysteria on the president's promise to take action. watch this. >> tonight the state of the coup. and you'll see how things don't change. and you know what the theme of the state of the coup is, inequality. >> this is the mind-set and the language that dictators have. you are witnes

. >> dana milbank, any time you have to say i am not a bully is not a great day for a politician but at the same time christie had been blaming the press for what he thought was a nothing story. turns out the press was right. >> the press was right and even in his disgrace and humiliation he still managed to make a good case for himself, those 19,000 words i counted 680 of them were the word "i" and many others were me and myself. >> is that a scientific analysis? >> we used word documents and did a search. >> it was too self-absorbed? >> that's what i think even defn absorption. two months ago we talked about the media swooning over chris christie and that's what i think was happening is we were building him up and now it's like okay, now is the chance to take the guy down. >> you have so expertly set me up for my next question which is christie was the press's favorite republican. lot of journalists on the east coast liked his pragmatic republican approach to conservative politics, personality, great copy and all of that. now that seems to be changing. everybody is savaging the guy

virginia state senator donald mceachin and dana milbank, thank you both for your time. >> thanks, reverendou, reverend. >>> still ahead, right wingers trot out one of their favorite attacks on president obama, that he is playing the race card. i'll trump their arguments tonight. >>> and the gop's new push to take down progressive hero wendy davis. they won't get away with it. and it's tonight's got you. emily's just starting out... and on a budget. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. see how much you could save with allstate. are you in good hands? over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ did you run into traffic? no, ju

joining me now is dana milbank, and environmental energy editor indicate shepherd. ks to you both for joining me. >> hey, karen. >> thanks. >> dana, i want to start with you. you wrote about this week. what is most interesting is what the data suggests about what is happening to the base of the republican party. talk a little bit about that. >> well, look, it's one poll. so you never know exactly what is going on. but it's consistent with other things that suggest that the party is getting -- was already pretty much all white, 86% white, getting older, and having an increasing amount of religious devotion. it's not just the evolution. it's more people are going to church weekly who identify as republicans. and i think the point here is not that suddenly there is a large segment of the american public that said you know, i think i've changed my mind on this whole darwin thing. it's saying people who identify with the republican party are changing. they are different. >> right. >> even than they were four years ago. and overall, they're a more conservative group. and i

joining me now are dana milbank and goldie taylor. both for being here tonight. >> hi, reverend. >> hello, reverend. >> dana, a lot of republicans responded to chris christie's problems, but waving the benghazi and irs flags, but now those have just fallen apart. your reaction. >> yeah, i mean, benghazi, the irs, and even fast and furious, we're going way back now. is it time to start bringing the blue dress back and maybe get ken starr back into the committee room. darrell issa's had a rather difficult time of it during his time as chairman. what he has done in each case, and wearing this play yet over again and again with benghazi, he comes out with some outlandish accusation, releases some selective bit of information. and then we get all the information. and that contradicts what he said in the first place. and that's of course what happened with irs when we found out, well, they were targeting groups of all ideological persuasions and the selective release of information in the benghazi case has now been demonstrated it wasn't all

, we have fox news contributor and author of 207 twitter column on the fox site, and columnist dana milbank. along with brit hume. >> we could not stand the 108 108-minute press conference. >> what he did right, he slapped reporters an empty. >> not like he usually does. >> no, they like when he was firm with them. he was almost contrite. there is nothing more the media loves than to bring a politician way down. >> he said he was sad. >> but to bury him and say this guy is done. he's toast. then building him back up. >> bright, -- we did not see the full chris christie on displace. >> when you are announcing you are humiliated it is hard to go from there to the bully boy, but it depends if the outcome, and the extent of the coverage, the length: did he tell the truth about what he knew? he said he did not know. if anything surfaces to contradict that, that will further the story and if it turns out to be a fact that he did know his national political career is over. >> i would say, dana, when you have to say "i am not a bully," it is not a great day but christie was blaming the press for a

routine in our culture, and there were 365 a mass shootings last year according to reddit, but as dana milbankfound out the maryland tragedy nouz does not even fall into the mass shooting category. he is getting a lot of reaction from his piece on gun violence in america. and so is this creating a numbness to the mass shootings? >> well, it seems that way. we had the shooting out saturday in columbia and the cable news ran with it for a few hours and then soon, it was back to normal, and people say, well, it was not a terrorist attack, and only two dead other than the shooter, and wen you think about it, it is awful, but it is something that is occurring all of the time, and we no longer even sort of rouse ourselves to say, well, should something be done about it and we sort of move on? >> what first brought this to your attention and why should stricter gun control laws are so tough to pass? >> well, gun control is only one piece of it. as we saw it last year after the newtown tragedy, even something as horrific as that failed to move really anything of substance through the congress, there i

. >> before we let you go, dana milbank has a story in the "washington post" or maybe it was yesterday, and he asks where is the left's outrage? this is a huge issue for 1.3 million americans and goes back to the broader argument about the social safety net and yet you have not -- harry reid has been in front of this. there has not been the cry that one should expect from the progressive left or left in general over republican resistance and the fact the bill remains very much in jeopardy. >> i think there is a case to be made that democrats didn't do a very good job shepherding the unemployment insurance bill through congress. it was only brought up a couple of weeks before the deadline neared. part of that was because obama care was suffocating everything else. but truth be told, they could have done a better job framing it in the leadup to the debate. we're now here and the benefits have expired and the question is, what do you do to make sure that the people, 1.3 million americans are going to get some sort of insurance. i think now is when people are starting to see a really good

our panel, dana milbank, political columnist for "the washington post" and in pennsylvania msnbc contributor professor james peterson. welcome to you both. professor peterson, briefly your thoughts on the economic piece of this agenda there. >> i think i agree with the guest that the promise zone initiative represents an important and powerful opportunity for new partnerships between local government, particularly municipalities, and the federal government in areas of housing where it's deeply needed in terms of development as well as fighting crime. can you imagine some of these local law enforcement initiatives having the justice department behind them both to help keep them honest but also make them nor effective in policing communities that need it host most? i like what's happening here. be interesting to see how the educational piece rolls out as well. it's important, the president seems committed to it as an act of principle, and my hope is philadelphia in particular will take full advantage of it. >> i hear you on that. the president at times emotional about this. it's emotional for

power panel with us now, keeren finney and robert tranum and "washington post" political columnist dana milbanktalking tonight to a nation in a distinctly bad mood if you want to believe the poll numbers after five years in office, how does mr. obama reset? how does he hit refresh and get that hope and optimism going again? >> well, i think that's part of why you have in the runup to the state of the union, you've heard the administration officials talking about the president is going to be optimistic and positive and i think part of this idea of the phone and the pen is to denote

dana milbank, political columnist for "the washington post." dave weigel, msnbc contributor. here. you wrote that he turned this nationally televised news conference into a forum on the virtues of his favorite subject, which is himself. >> yeah. i don't suspect that his standing in his own eyes has been diminished at all by this thing. in fact, we did a little tally using the transcript, i think it was 680-something times he used the word "i" and several hundred other references to the first person. he'd rather not be getting all this national attention for this particular reason. but i suspect he's got enough time to recover, this is not the last we've heard of chris christie. >> amy, question to you, we have a new e-mail here. the chair of the new jersey legislative panel investigating this bridge closure said, if it is proven that governor christie was involved in this, that it is an impeachable offense. >> that may be. i don't know the new jersey legislature's rules on that case. but it would also mean that he would be finished nationally as a presidential contender in 201

. >> according to the "washington post," dana milbank, christie's nearly two-hour news conference becameorum on the virtues of his favorite subject, himself. using the "i" word 692 times, "i'm" 119 times, "i've," 67. "me," 83, and my/myself, 134. and he could be taking responsibility for the circumstances, but even as we go back and look at christie most hurricanes-sandy, now that we're in the middle of bridgegate, suddenly you start wondering, did this guy have as much empathy, and i wonder how damaging this may end up being as his perception of being a guy about the people. >> i think people on the right and left really felt like he did what needed to be done after sandy. his state was in crisis. he came and he said, you know, to hell with politics. he hasn't done the same when it comes to a lot of other things that affect his residence. one thing i like to point to is he blocked a minimum wage raise, and the lawmakers brought it to the people and it passed with more voters saying yes than who said yes to christie. the people in his state wanted to raise the wage and people across the

dana milbank in "the washington post." he says in his piece, almost five years later, the auto , andtry is healthy again large swaths of the midwest have been spared economic devastation, also relatively -- offer a relatively modest sum. the total cost to save gm and chrysler came to about $12 billion. it would seem the argument against the bailout has been subtle, yet opponents continued to argue their case if anybody will listen." milbank talking about the subject. susan is up next from cigna harbor, washington, on our line for independents. > caller: having been a driving in shafter, i cannot get over the having been a driving instructor, i cannot get over the fact that the cars are so plastic. to me it was not worth it was if last fellow implied that i don't have the money, i don't go to the government and say pay my mortgage. to me, it is no different, the strategy they use to get the funds. it is like the taking of the market on the homes, it is like -- as long as we are not saying it is the great greatest depression