as david axelrod knows, gene sperling is one of the most decent hardworking people i dealt with the obama white house and axelrod a lot. it's unusual to say when there is not -- this was not a factual disagreement. this was a disagreement about i was challenging them on something and gene said we are not going to see eye to eye and you are going to regret staking out this claim. axelrod and i disagreed many times and he never said you would regret reaching a conclusion he didn't like. >> he said that to me all the time. >> he called me up. >> i'm waiting for you to regret something. >> bob, let me ask you this. given all the reaction this has gotten and given the nature of the e-mails as you read through them, do you think because you are not a young reporter they might be intimidated? you might have overstepped the way you described the scenario. >> no. the e-mails speak for themselves. people characterized them. the issue here is that this is where we get tangled up in ourselves. the automatic spending cuts andy is quester and how we got there and what it's going to mean to people. the

david axelrod thinks the president was ill served. it was part of a glitch, an error he didn't realize the grandfather clause could realize these millions of people would git letters saying they were no longer insured. do you agree? >> look, i was wrong. it was a terrible mess-up by every democrat, including myself, that didn't see this caused by raising the standards and requirements that members of congress almost like a wish list put on top of insurance companies requiring the standards to be raised leaving people out, causing them to lose their plans or pay more for new plans. i didn't see it coming. i accept president obama that he made a mistake. i don't think it is a lie when he said he was terribly wrong. >> the scenario you described is the basis of the entire system. it's that you will expand coverage for everybody and it will be cheaperment to say you could keep your health care system if you liked it is completely disingenuous. not just a slip of the tongue. when you look at the plan it's clear that there was no way that c

again, anything that makes david axelrod smile makes me crime. you so negative about this deal. >> you are smiling, david. >> i am smiling because i'm happy a guy tom coburn's age and my age can still have groupies. >> i'm both your groupie. >> let me make one point as everybody is always itself worried about the politics. that's exactly what's wrong with washington. everyone says, how does this affect the next election? i don't care. what i care is quit rationalizeing, what will do it when we finally get in charge? it never happens. we can rationalize it. we won't have a government shutdown. i don't care, the fact is the country is going down the tubes and all this does is add to it. >> can i just add a note of agreement with senator coburn on a point here, which is i do think the 47 job training programs is a great example. there is no reason for 47 job training programs. we ought to look for better ways to get the job done. we ought to agree there are jobs to be done. job training is important. there are other programs that are important. if t

i talked to david axelrod about this, and he said they learned their the guest lesson at the first debate in denver. >> talk about that. let's separate that out, because i am -- this was not well-known. you can see it, but, boy, follow the twitter feed, this was a disaster. >> yes. it was game over. >> and you talk about this moment from ben smith. >> yes, we are in the press file for the first debate, and traditionally at a presidential debate or any debate, the consensus of what happened is sort of rendered, in the spin room afterwards, reporters talk, and this is what happened, and you trust your judgment. if you were watching twitter during the first debate, everyone, and it was not just , it was that romney looks good, presidential, and ben smith, the editor of buzz feed, a smart political god, he said why do we have to wait to say that romney won the debate? we already know. look at twitter. hadybody says mitt romney one -- had won. you were there. the romney campaign charged in, and i believe there was stephanie and david from the obama campaign, and they could not get out of there

david axelrod said this about brian schweitzer today on "morning joe." >> he's anti-gun control very on the nra side of that issue. he has strong detractors because of the nature of his support for drilling and other aspects of the oil industry which is part of the economy in that part of the country. he does not have the perfect record to run an insurgent campaign from the left. >> joining me now, adam green, co-founder of the progressive change committee and karen finney. karen, how much room is on hillary clinton's left for a democratic run? >> i think there is a fair amount but i think this idea that she's going to go hard right is a little ridiculous. i don't think anybody would see hillary as a hard right. she might be a center-left person but a hard right i think is unfair. >> adam green, you know, if she runs unopposed, i imagine you would expect certainly a drift to what we might call the center. >> it's possible. >> unopposed in the democratic primaries. >> i think brian schweitzer was saying she will have to pick a side. the corporate wing, including people like bill clint

we'll talk to david axelrod and later the uk's chancellor of the ex-checker, george osborne will be heretop stories in the political playbook but first -- bill karins. bill? >> thank you for that last ten minutes. that was very entertaining. yeah. leave the soap on the rope alone. as far as the forecast, we talked about the snow coming in this morning. we're getting reports some of the roads west of new york city are starting to get slick and snow covered. we're watching as much as a quarter of an inch and the christmas tree from "30 rock," snow is coming down in downtown new york. not a big blockbuster event just a little bit with this first batch coming through. as far as the later afternoon period goes that's when we'll watch some snow totals increasing from new england noon to 5:00 p.m. the worst will be up here from hartford, the mass pike, i-95 to providence up to downtown boston. then we may end up with three to five north and west of boston out in the loop on i-95 and that's about it. new york city we're only talking maybe one to two inches. philadelphia maybe up to an inch at mo

. >> and senator mike lee is on my nice list fo pointing that out and david axelrod agreed with him thisr. so he is on the nice side of this s well. along with rand ul, because he demanded that the president come clean about drone stikes. >> i cannot sit at my desk quietly and let the president say that he will kill americans on american soil, those who are not actively attacking a country. john: the shock that a senator has to say something so obvious. john mccain, because aftethe filibuster that e called libertarians a wacko birds, and chris christie, because he said this. >> this strain of libertarianism that is going through both parties right now ad makingbig headlines. i think it ia very dangerous thought. >> wll, it's big government is dangerous. and a lump of coal to governor ris christie but nice gifts for docratic senators tom harkin and jay rockefeller. surprise to find them here o the nice side of this ledger. an oh, they retire this year. that is good for all of us. and this town's billionaire mayor, michael bloomberg will retire as well. and that is good because he somehow

you'll remember david axelrod, he was a seen jor anior advisor. this exhaustive piece is another fompler add min strasive official. that's some of the kinds of reactions we've seen from the support of the president. a lot of people are saying, look, this report is showing that there is not enough security, there was lax security. that is something that the white house has acknowledged. they say clearly that this attack was carried out with these four american sides show that there was not adequate security. so for the critics of the administration and their handling of the benghazi attack. >> and what about the winter olympic games. is the white house commenting on that in any way? >> they condemned the attack, strongly condemned the attack and say that their hearts go out to the officials. the administration is playing attention and they strongly condemned that attack. fredericka? >> thanks so much in honolulu. >>> now, to that alleged cop killer and bank robber who the f.b.i. believes was killed by phoenix police during a shoot out saturday. our

david axelrod tweeting, for anyone interested in the truth and not the politics about benghazi this piecet read. and tommy voter who was the president's national security spokes man tweeted if republican's spent 1/50th of the time on this -- he is referring to the hearings that the republicans held trying to get the administration to admit some of the mistakes that they have admitted. >> thank you so much. appreciate that. >> so al qaeda may not have been involved in libya according to that article but the situation described is frightening and underscores the vulnerability overseas. brian williams aa contributor to the huffington post. good to see you. what is your initial reaction to that article removing responsibility to al qaeda? >> it sort of proof proofs that has happened before. over and over again this word has been over used and we see this "new york times" piece seem to indicate that it was a local libyan jihadi who had nothing to do with al qaeda. >> instead the article took advantage that the american preacher did insult islam and that perhaps this was the result of that vide

. >> and senator mike lee is on my nice list for pointing that out and david axelrod agreed with himas well. along with rand paul, because he demanded that the president come clean about drone strikes. >> i cannot sit at my desk quietly and let the president say that he will kill americans on american soil, those who are not actively attacking a country. jo: the shok that a senator has to say something so obvious. john mccainbecause after the filibuster thathe called libertarians a wacko birds, and chris christie, because he said this. >> this strainf libertarianism that is going through both parties right ow and making big headlines. i think it is a very dangeus thought. >> well, it's big government is dangerous. and a lump of coal to governor chris christie. but nicegifts r democratic senators tom harkin and jay rockefeller. surprise to find them here on the nice side of this ledger. and oh, they retire this year. that isgood for all of us. and ths town's billionaire mayor, michael bloomberg will retire as well. and that is good becse he somehow doesn't understand that government b

david axelrod said hillary clinton in '07 terrible candidate, in '08 coming from behind turned out toeat campaigner. which campaigner in 2014? >> i think we see the '08 2.0, she'll be much better at it, surround herself and this is always the criticism, the people around her sort of take away, detract from her ability to be that candidate so if she stockpiles the smart and the best and goes out there and bees, is herself, i think she'll formidable. the backdrop if she decides not to get in this falls to joe biden. >> who is going to invite hillary clinton to campaign for them in 014 everyone wanted barack obama in 2006. >> you don't think someone will do it? >> is kate hagan going to? >> don't underestimate the states. >> there are a lot of particularly republican women who like hillary clinton. >> i was just going to say i think hillary clinton is pour popular in '14 an thisthan in '. they wanted obama, not clinton. >> her biggest problem is a guy named john kerry, with secretary of state. somehow if hillary and biden didn't run, you know, everything that's old is new again. this is

. >> we could have played a sound bite but we don't have time from david axelrod, the president's formeror and consultant. he said president barack obama has been honest about obama care, he just should not have spoken in absolutes. can you have it both ways? >> bob often has it both ways. obama care has done what the hindenburg has done for blimps. they've already got a platform. it should be let's start over and pretend this never happened. america would be happy to say, can we pretend this is bobby ewing in "dallas." all of a sudden america wakes up and bobby is in the shower going did that really happen in obama care? it didn't really happen. or it's like a giant etch etch-a-sketch. just shake it and start over. that should be the republican platform. >> can i shoot you is this. >> what he said earlier about you that you asked was a shot, i thought it was a compliment. >> i did, too. >> i don't even remember. >> we'll move on, because i'm going to bring it back up. >>> special programming photo, set your dvr for next wednesday. december 18th. charles krauthammer will join us live on

i talked to david axelrod about this, and he said they learned their biggest lesson about twitter at the first debate in denver. >> talk about that. let's separate that out, because i am -- this was not well-known. -- this was not going well, but boy, follow the twitter feed, this was a disaster. >> yes. it was game over. >> and you talk about this moment from ben smith. >> yes, we are in the press file for the first debate, and traditionally at a presidential debate or any debate, the consensus of what happened is sort of rendered, in the spin room afterwards, reporters talk, and this is what happened, and you trust your judgment. if you were watching twitter during the first debate, everyone, and it was not just the political class, it was that romney looks good, presidential, and ben smith, the editor of buzz feed, a smart political decided why do we have to wait to say that romney won the debate? we already know. look at twitter. everybody says mitt romney had one -- had won. you were there. the romney campaign charged in, and i believe there was stephanie and david from the obam

david axelrod said something, i think, very smart, hillary clinton '07 terrible candidate.on '08, about to be lost coming from behind, turned out to be a great campaigner. which do we see? >> i think the '08 2.0, i think she's going to be much bet, surround herself -- and this is the criticism -- people around her take away, detract from her ability to be that candidate. so if she stockpile the smart and the best, and she goes out there and is herself, i think she's going to be formidable. the backdrop, if she decides not to get in, this falls to joe biden. >> right. >> here's a question, who's going to invite hillary clinton to campaign for them in 2014? >> you think some won't want to do it? i don't know. that's what i think now. >> very popular. >> is kay hagan? >> potentially. >> she's popular in red states. >> don't underestimate the secretary of state. >> there are a lot of, particularly, republican women who like hillary clinton. >> i was going to to say, i think hillary clinton is more popular in '014 than '06. >> secretary of state -- being secretary of state chang

the characterization that david axelrod played out. >> we have been questioning the e-mails and whether

gentlemen, i want to start with david axelrod who's been there and has maintained ties, i believe, atith some of the people over there. the president, it seems to be one of the rules of politics which you know very well, it's the topic of what people are talking about that drives the numbers. is there any way in the short run, that due to the incremental improvement in the health care -- >> i think that's already happened, one thing about this poll is 58% of the people asked, were asked what's framing their opinion, it was about health care. if that subsides and other things take precedence, then i think that will help improve the situation. the good news about this poll from the white house perspective is that so much of this is tied to health care. if they can get past this juncture and improve on the performance of this website, get past these stories and refocus on the economy, i think there's a good chance that a year from now we'll be having a different conversation. >> yeah, chuck, you and i know that the news is driven by things that go wrong. you don't cover a non-traffic acc

joining me now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent luke russert, and david axelrod, former adviser to president obama and msnbc political analyst. david, what have we witnessed? have we witnessed the emergence of a swamp dwelling amphibian on terra firma as a reptile. new john boehner? >> fool me once shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me. they had a catastrophic experience, near death experience in the fall when they were led over the cliff by ted cruz and the tea party. and shut the government down. and they made a calculation. this was enough. paul ryan taking the point on it was helpful to him. but this is, comes in a week when you see this trench warfare between all the challengers to incumbent senators. you know, there seems to be -- a -- a showdown coming in 2014 between the different wings of the party. how that comes out will be with how congress operates and how the presidential race goes. >> pundits and house gop watchers have been predicting this kind of. won't call it a breakdown. this catharsis for some time. and what shocked me is that line that boehner spoke earlier

i mean it is probably david axelrod. lori: it is all totally interview. thank you.t about half an hour away from the closing bell. it is this season to be married, but what if that comes with a better cost in the form of an fda over. cashing in. fixing -- no comment all that ails you. speaking of drinking, james bond likes his martinis shaken but not stirred. did he overdo it? at what cost to his country? ♪ every day we're working to be an even better company - and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america. bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invesd over $55 billion here in the last five years - mang bp america's largest energy investor. our commitment has never been stronger. see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make b

white house is being brought in to fill the leadership vacuum brought on by the departure of two davids, axelrod and plouffe. podesta turned down president obama's overtures twice. but the deal sealer for podesta was obama's assurance he would be given broad oversight of the administration's climate change agenda. the hiring of podesta who managed president obama's transition team signals jump-starting the second term with executive actions. it's the president's best shot of governing, making an impact, given the increasingly dim chance of a congress in the coming years. i will say full disclosure, i've known john podesta for a very long time. he's a family friend of ours us. fascinating mover and shaker, powerful in washington but remains behind the scenes in terms of exerting his power in the way many other things in washington are more extroverted. analyzing what podesta's role will be, wants him to maximize use of executive authority to respond to the scale of the climate change challenge. whether podesta can get president obama to do this is a separate question but the fact podesta sees tha

david axelrod tweeted, for anyone interested in the truth and not politics about benghazi, this existed peace is a must-read. and national security spokesperson for the president said republicans inflated the role of al qaeda in benghazi to attack obama's counterterrorism record. they were wrong and handed our enemy a propaganda win. we know the republicans have held numerous hearings on capitol hill digging into this issue. we also heard from republicans in washington saying look, this report may not say that al qaeda was behind this directly, but clearly al qaeda had indicated an interest in attacking westerners and these groups affiliated and maybe loosely or directly did play a role in this attack. there are still questions raised about this new report. rosa. >> athena jones, thank you for this. >> buying marijuana may soon be as simple as purchasing milk or bread for some folks in colorado. recreational pot sales start in just a few days. up next, you will hear from entrepreneurs ready to make a big buck off of colorado's new growth industry. [ male announcer ] this is george. the

it seems like we're in the middle of what our good friend david axelrod likes to call kabuki theater,back and forth between president obama and members of his own congress like bob menendez pushing this renewed sanctions deal. >> i do think you've got the potential collision of a lot of different time lines. the president, i think, is realistic to say there's a possibility of a deal but the deal can long move forward long-term if iranians are willing to do things. if he understands that from colliding time lines politically you've got congressional members from both parties pursuing sanctions. you've got israelis against this deal. i think the one important thing the president has in his pocket, so to speak, the american people are supportive of a deal because they are so incredibly war weary. they understand if -- i think everyone understands if we can't figure out a diplomatic solution to the iran problem, that puts much more front and center having the use of force become a much more realistic problem. i have to tell you watching the polls in syria around that debate, there's going

david axelrod afreed with him this year so he's on the nice side of my ledger, too.because he demanded that the president come clean about drone strikes. >> i cannot sit at my desk quietly and let the president say that he will kill americans on american soil who are not actively attacking a country. >> a shock that a senator has to say something so obvious. two other republicans go on my naughty list. john mccain because after the filibuster he called libertarians whacko birds and chris christie because he said this. >> this strain of libertarianism that's going through both parties right now and making big headlines, i think is a very dangerous thought. >> no. it's big government that's dangerous. a lump of coal to governor christie. but nice gifts for democratic senators tom harken and jay rockefeller. surprised to find them here on the nice side of the ledger. oh, they retired this year. that's good for all of us. and this town's billionaire mayor michael bloomberg will retire, too, and that's good because he somehow doesn't understand that government is for us.

what do you say to david axelrod and others who worked in the white house and administration and says that have been averted? >> thank you for having me, andrea. i think one answer is to be found from people who have actually looked at classified information and those include three senators, senators widen, udall and heinrich who are on the intelligence committee and filed a friend of the court brief in the challenge to massive phone records surveillance recently and they said they have got no evidence this program is necessary let alone that it has been effective in thwarting a single plot. that was one of the issues in the case that judge leon decided yesterday finding that the program of dragnet surveillance is unconstitutional. he said that the government simply hadn't been able to make its case, hasn't provided evidence that the dragnet surveillance of all americans has been effective incur tailing any imminent attack or time sensitive goal the government says it might have. >> what would you suggest -- how would you reconfigure the current situation? would you have the phone co

david axelrod told me when i was talking to him after the campaign they go fishing where the iffish are can put their paid controlled messages on "duck "dynasty"" "the big bang theory "inside video games. 22 million people watch the evening news every night. >> no one begrudges the white house using the avenues of communication. the fact is that they are banning, they are banning the free press from their events and what about the press publishing the propaganda photos? >> i'm not defending the white house. i get where they're coming from a little bit. >> the bureau chief from "time" magazine knows better. >> yes. i'm agreeing with you, though, that a lot of this seems just self-inflicted. >> self-inflicted, what do you mean by that? >> why not let a photographer into an event where like you said the president is doing the people's business for 30 seconds to get a pool spray. we're talking about this on national television right now and the white house always derides process journalism you guys are focusing on process. er this stepping in it. let us in there, talk a few pictures. >> thi

so this is something in this notion as david axelrod puts it where in washington every day is election, it's really kind of false. because there's this sense that somehow this is all going to go away if it's done wrong. it's going to go south on the president. it's a done deal, michael. the republicans do not have the votes to repeal this or even cripple it. he has the veto pen. so these are all various bumps in the road of one size or another. >> jonathan allen, do you buy into that? and what are the optics of yet another delay? >> i think in terms of comparing it to an election, i think this is something the white house has been saying today the real comparison here is by doing this delay, it's like people being in line to vote, if they get in line in time they'll get put through the system. i think the white house sees there's been high traffic. they want to make sure they're not cutting people off who might be signing up. but if they learned they didn't make this deadline suddenly wouldn't. as far as the importance of it, the problem is that there have been so many delays, so many

. >>> president obama says the deal is a good sign, something his former adviser, david axelrod, echoed as well. >> just the act of coming together and agreeing on something is progress, given what we saw in the fall. >> also developing right now, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius is testifying in front of a house committee over the failures during the obama care rollout. before the hearing began sebelius said he's asking the inspector general to investigate what happened along with creating a new chief risk officer at cms. >> i will instruct this officer to look at i.t. and contracting management practices starting with healthcare.gov and the risk factors that impeded a successful launch. >> all right, all of this is going on while a new number reveals a new low for president obama. the new nbc/wall street journal poll shows 54% disapprove of the job that the president is currently doing. nbc's casey hunt is on capitol hill to break down all of this for us. let's start with the devil being in the details on this negotiated deal. we already see conservative groups ba

. >> he told david axelrod that it was the worst day of his presidency.s. but it's really right. look, when you look at the whole history as i've had a chance to do over the last few months in preparing this book, when you look at the whole history, throughout america's life story, we have had plenty of guns. and gun control. >> yeah. and that is -- that is something we can coexist on. pia garcon and michael, i want to thank you both. we will be right back as the senate does its budget duty or at least tries to. stay with us. ♪ by the end of december, we'll be delivering ♪ ♪ through 12 blizzards blowing ♪ 6 snowballs flying ♪ 5 packages addressed by toddlers ♪ ♪ that's a q ♪ 4 lightning bolts ♪ 3 creepy gnomes ♪ 2 angry geese ♪ and a giant blow-up snowman ♪ that kind of freaks me out [ beep ] [ female announcer ] no one delivers the holidays like the u.s. postal service. priority mail flat rate is more reliable than ever. and with improved tracking up to 11 scans, you can even watch us get it there. and look for our limited edition holiday stamps. you can

i think david axelrod said it as you saw someone up close.you are saying. then when she felt the heat in 2008, she became a great candidate and you like to think if you are a supporter of hillary clinton you would not take anything for granted. >> stood for something from a long period of time. she is not new. we are coming off a period of universally -- this has been the most ineffective government. even if it's not the right change want change. want new and different. to your point, the brand we see of christie, the skin of christie is exciting. it feels different and looks and smells different. it is different. the test of time is when we start to peel back the skin, what's underneath. what it stands for feels fresh, is fresh, i'm going going. no matter what hillary does, she has been in our consciousness since 1988. this moment in time is where we want that right or left turn politically. i don't know how hillary overcomes the country's need to make a move. >> let's move on to this. the senate ended the debate setting up a final vote on t

but the intention was being looked at by david axelrod. >> the intention? >> yeah.onest about it and he has been honest about it. part of it is getting it fixed as best that you can. there is no doubt that that is at the core of the problem when you come to this measure and i think he was ill-served because -- i'm sure when he said what he said, he believed it. >> going back to my barbara bush analogy, i can't believe that -- >> do you want to go back to that again? >> i can't believe that he believed it because the believing it is such a stretch. it's not like it's a close call. it was as we were discussing, delaying the implementation of the mandate. >> it was not only the lie of the year. then the past four years continuing. >> we'll stick to the parameters of the question you asked, what's the lie of the year. >> yes, your honor. >> luckily we have two attorneys here. >> don't you get a headache? >> we got you both on retainer here. talk about this affluenza defense. >> this teen-ager that was charged with manslaughter in the death of four people now he's just g

reelection campaign in two thousand and four they were seen as incredibly good in these guys david plouffe and axelrod and company they appropriated a lot of those techniques a lot of the and improved on and design new ways i mean there's almost nothing that's unknowable now in politics and they really perfected that are is it hard for a lame duck to really be good well what it is i mean president bush used to say i covered him there's a certain amount of political capital you have and you use it and then once it's dried up then you're done and the problem is that. a lot of political capital got soaked up by this president in the early part of his presidency he got health care and he got it on a party line vote and that has real repercussions because that didn't set in motion the tea party but it accelerated it and then you get to a place where you're in your second term and you want to do the next big thing and you don't have that reservoir of support to do it you know the budget wars to have really dealt a blow and we've been through this debt ceiling fight in a way that's also really we continue so