let me bring in joe madison and dana millbank.s. >> hi, reverend. >> i want to hear from both of you on this. is christie too big to be president? is it valid? >> well, let me go with somebody, myself, who, at one point, al, i weighed almost 300 pounds. a doctor has the ability to look at you, as my doctor did in his waiting room and said you're not leaving this office until we examine you. here's what's going to happen, joe. one day you're going to be speaking somewhere and you're going to fall down dead. you're going to die. and let me tell you, that was enough incentive for me to go in there and get examined and to lose weight. you remember our beloved friend, maynard jackson? >> yeah, former mayor of atlanta. >> thank you. and suffered from morbidity. christie may be a young man, but as he grows older, these morb morbidities are going to catch up with him. here's the point i have want to make. stress and overweight do not go together. and there is no one who understands the presidency of the yielts that can say you're not goin

joining me now is michael steele and dana millbank. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> good to see you, rev. >> michael, karl rove to save the party from the tea party, do you buy it? >> no, i don't. and i don't think many of the not just tea parties, but grass roots conservatives will. instead of taking those dollars out of the states and hunkering them down here in a newly created super pac in washington, how about investing in the state party organizations around the country to help them build the farm team that is going to be required to win in the future. this is not an overnight success deal, reverend. you cannot come from the s shellacking of '06 and '12 and throw dollars at it. until they realize that, this is a waste of time and a waste of cash. focus on state party ground game organization. focus on building good candidates from the bottom up. running for local offices so the voters get to know who they are, the party gets to vet them in the process. you don't do this one-off craziness where you can just create

dana millbank, columnist for "washington post," how are you, sir? >> good. you couldn't find a voice of reason so you had to come with me. >> he'll be here all week. so its president is talking about eight years to citizens p citizenship. this seems to be a fairly punitive measure, beaten ruin joe oto the punch. take eight years. is this part of why rubio is so upset, he can't be anymore punitive than the president has proposed? >> i don't think that's what's going on in rubio's mind. he's going to use this as an excuse, perhaps, to walk away from the plan that he's already beginning to put on the table there with chuck schumer and dick durbin and the others. i think this is a big mistake by the white house, if they it leak it. whoever leaked it should consider self deportation. because this is going to get them further away from the goal here. i think what rubio and the others are objecting to is in their provision, they have certain checks and balances, so that if border security is not in place, then the other thing doesn't go ahead. it doesn't appear tha

. >> joe madison and dana millbank. thanks, guys. before i start, i'm looking at his background. a little sick and hoarse on friday night. >> you're talking to me? i can't stop laughing, man. they aulgt to disbar him for even taking this case. can you imagine having your lawyer do this? i mean, the lawyer is the one who should have said get out of my face. here's the other thing. donald trump, they actually sent a copy of trump's birth ser tiff cat. >> donald trump should have learned his lesson at the white house correspondence dinner a couple of years ago when president obama jammed him up -- and i mean embarrassed him and with parody, also. it was worse than ridiculous. and can you imagine now the course that you've got to spend money filing these papers. and that's what they augt to do. how much is it costing taxpayers to go through with this ridiculous nousz. one thing that finally donald trump should learn is something that newspaper people have learned years ago, you not argue with millions of people in their audience. and you have only an audience of one. and that's the p

joining me now is angela wry and dana millbank. dana, a big time excuse from rush.y about the state of the gop? >> well, i don't know. i think that perhaps rush limbaugh and rand paul and others should be studying gold fish to learn how to keep their mouths shut. because they seem to dig themselves in deeper and deeper here. there's been a lot of blaming that's going on every now and then. you think they sort of come to grips with the election defeat. and, no, they're going to go on saying well, it's about the technology. well, it's because the voters were ignore aant. well, it's because the democrats tricked them. well, there is something about the way we reached out to them, the way the message was. they're just not grasping that. the electorate is fundamentally changed to an electorate that is supporting gay marriage, to an electorate that is increasingly latino, that an electorate that is significantly compromised of women. so it's a matter of not understanding where the electorate has gone and pointing fingers at everything else. >> angela, i always say a fish

joining me now to discuss our scientific findings are dana millbank and me rearia theresa cubar. >>> t me show you what karl rove said on sunday about tea party republicans. >> the more people who participate, the better off we are. the more we examine these candidates from top to bottom, the more we're like more rand paul. >> karl rove wants more rand paul. i'm stumped. what is rove thinking? he wants more people. more candidates who think universal health care is slavery. that seat belt laws are nanny state paternalism who would repeal the americans with disabilities act. who says they want to disarm the food and drug administration and abolish the department of education and the federal reserve. more people like him would help the gop? >> do you have a problem with that, reverend? well, first of all, i want to congratulate you on the successful mapping there. i think, however, the compromise gland is vestigule organ, much like the appendix. here's the situation with karl rove. he has gotten himself crossways with the conservatives in the party saying he wants to protect the mainstr

joining me now is melissa harris perry and dana millbank. republicans say this consumer bureau could hurt wall street. but, today, the dow closed over 14,000 for the first time in six years. so what's this really all about? >> well, look, this is the mind trick. this is the game of redirection that the republicans have been playing really for the first four years of president obama's first term and they're continuing to play it. and it is this. the thing that caused the economic crash in 2008, the home values, the evaporation of wealth, the loss of jobs were the decisions made by those one percenters on wall street. and what happened is they redirected, they changed the conversation so that suddenly we'd be worried about the deficit instead of worried about wall street. this consumer financial bureau, the protection bureau, set up under elizabeth warpen, this focus on regulating banks the reality that we had been raided by wall street, that all of that got turned around so that instead, it somehow became a govpt deficit problem when it was n

joining me now are angela rye and dana millbank. is this really the master plan to save the party?u know, it's just so hard to keep abreast of all of ted cruz's out rages. he's been on the job for six weeks and he's already sort of rivaling joe mccarthy. you know, in fairness to karl rove, he is telling the republicans what they need to hear. and i suspect republican leaders would like to do it. the problem is you can see like a guy from ted cruz, there's no way to control him. he has this swollen sense of his own importance. and he's made -- look, obviously, he's infur rating the democrats. but even members of his own party are starting to get sore about this. they realize there's nothing they can do to control him. and they are becoming the face of the party. >> but angela, some members of his own party may begin to know it, but marco rubio is praising him as a superstar. look at ted cruz's resume. he believes sharia law is replacing american law. he believes medicaid is unconstitutional. he proposed state nullification of the affordable care act. he even thinks there's a united

dana millbank writes in recent weeks, republican leaders have resembled nothing so much as laundry detergent salesman figuring if they can rebrand their product, high efficiency stain lifter clean breeze concentrated 23re ed fresh, ame will buy what they're selling. if the gop is sending mixed messages on imbrace, another schism is brewing on fiscal policy. while republican leadership is taking a hard line threatening to let the sequesters take effect, florida republican tom rooney said i think any alternative is better than allowing the sequester to take effect. i don't know what's happened with some people in our conference recently. if you could say would you recall holler at the pentagon or increase taxes, i would assume the latter to make sure that we didn't lose our capability to maintain our super power status. as conservatives celebrate what would have been ronald reagan's 102nd birthday, a reminder that even the beginner raised taxes 11 times during his presidency in compromise with democrats. given that, finding common ground both inside and outside the party might not be such a ba

joining me on the show women's self-advocate sandra fluke and dana millbank.h alex wagner comes your way next. barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. but, dad, you've got... [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands? >> wane la pierre of 1999, may we introduce you to the wane law pierre of 2013? it's monday, february 4th, and this is "now."

i happen to agree with columnists like dana millbank that the president should have a cabinet that reflectsis world views. i agree with that. so if like chuck hagel you believe at that ayatollah and ahmadinejad were credibly elected and you missed the 2009 election riots, well, then hagel's your guy. if you believe there's an international jewish lobby that is intimidating congressmen and is controlling the u.s. state department, hagel's your guy. and interestingly, everybody thinks he's going to get confirmed which would just prove that his last conspiracy is false. he was wrong once again. i think these are perfectly legitimate questions to be raising about the next secretary of defense. >> and they're questions that were asked and answered. and they're a little ridiculous to keep harping on those. >> i think that hagel would agree. we're switching gears, turning to the campaign. president obama faced this criticism over plans to help more people go to college. now the president is focused on preschool, and thursday unveiled his new early education plan. amy, i'll talk to but this first.

joining me on the show women's self-advocate sandra fluke and dana millbank.h alex wagner comes your way next. barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

. >> i want to bring in chicago sun times washington bureau chief and dana millbank. i'll start with you, lynn. the new line from republicans, as we just heard, this is the president's sequester. and as they try to move that message forward, are they setting this up? giving him the blame when these cuts go through? >> i think real people, real people will just think congress takes ownership of the mess and won't care about blame. this is a self-inflicted wound, doesn't have to happen. the answer may be, by the way, as a practical matter just taking this budget issue and cuts just down the road more, which is what congress does best. >> all right. this is what the president said yesterday. let's take a listen. >> we've got to stop with some of the politics that we see in washington sometimes that's focused on who's up, who's down. let's focus on the same kind of common sense and cooperation that we're seeing at this plant and we see all across the country. >> all right. so there he is in north carolina, talking about common sense. that sounds pretty simple to most. but

. >> dana millbank and anna palmer are joining me now. >> thanks for having us. >> dana, your latestout jim inhofe called chuck hagel a friend. with friends like these, voting against his confirmation as secretary of defense, before listening to his testimony, talk about the calculation here? >> yes, he was one of only three in the senate to vote against his good friend john kerry as well. >> right. >> i think what you have here is an attempt to overturn the results of the election through the confirmation process. basically, he's the top republican on armed services, which is taking up the hague l nomination. he's saying i disagree with all of hagel's views. they are in line with president obama's but i disagree and i'm voting against him. the way it worked before, the president gets to pick his nominees and it's not an acceptable reason to vote against him because he agrees with the guy who nominated him. >> how much of the hearing was politics? how much policy? how much personal? break it down. >> it's a side show. this is senate. it's the opposite party. when they are nominating,

the "washington post" dana millbank wrote "republicans didn't pry because they favor the targeted killings objections because brennan is the nominee of a democratic president." so morris, can you understand why people might say democrats would be a lot tougher if the president were a republican and if so isn't that a problem? >> of course it's a problem. this is pure politics. you protect your own. but you know, it's one of those things, alex, that when you run for president there's one thing. when you run as a candidate. but when you become president you're governed you govern in the way that's the best for america. and that's frankly what's going on here. whether you're a republican or democrat you may have a position. but when you become president of the united states you have to do what's the right thing for america. and this is the right thing for america here. >> okay. so susan, does the president's stance on drones, does that leave republicans with no choice but to applaud given their support on drones? >> well, the republicans all along have supported this. so it's not surprising

you may not have read dana millbanks column in the post but he also mentions you and the fact that apparentlya former congressman was leaving the courtroom, he spied you and had a message that he wanted you to deliver. >> yes. that's the kicker of my column in the "chicago sun-times." he came to me. it was rather dramatic moment, bill. he came up to me. he took my hand. he held it. and he said and you have the quote in front of you. so tell me the quote exactly o o -- >> bill: tell my friends in chicago i'm sorry i let them down. >> tell everybody back home sorry i let them down. okay. i looked at him. i didn't say anything back. because i was surprised. i had not talked to him since before june when he disappeared. so it was a dramatic moment. and it is sad. >> bill: it is sad. >> but the enormity of this scheme he carried out was something breathtaking. >> bill: did his father make any comment? >> no. he pressed the mute button yesterday. very disciplined. very sad for him. >> bill: lynn sweet, thank you so much for joining us this morning. you can always follow lynn on twitter and you shou