we're talking about it right now to break it down a historian at princeton and david gergen who joins us from atlanta, he is a cnn senior political analyst and a former white house adviser to four presidents. gentlemen, thank you for being here. david, let's start with you. you know what it's like to work at a white house and deal with media questions especially on sensitive issues, how, however, does a white house put out false information like it did on the president's relationship to an uncle? >> well, let me say for beginners, i don't think this is a big deal. i think it's a modest deal. i think it reflerkts a sloppiness within the white house operation. but we've had other presidents who have had relatives who have rather inconvenient histories, let us say, and there's always been a fairly strong effort by the white house staff to distance the president from that inconvenient relative if possible. that seems to what has gone on here. what is odd is that the president must have known his team was putting out the word that he didn't know this fellow. and never met him. and it's odd

that's a real struggle for them. >> david gergen's with us as well. a with president obama, then senator i think obama in washington, d.c. david, do you think the legacy of nelson mandela and his ability to steer south africans to democracy should be used as a template for other places where the few oppress the many? >> oh, yes, absolutely. and it's more than that, anderson. first of all, i don't think nelson mandela should be held accountable for what happens after he dies. other great leaders have been founders of a country. our own george washington, we had a lot of problems in this country after he died. and yet we look upon him as this heroic figure who helped to found the country and set the example. i think in nelson mandela's case he's a more transcendent figure. he transcends south africa and he belongs to the world. because there's something about his story. joseph campbell some years ago wrote this book called" the hero's journey." it was about the notion that in cultures all over the world all three the centuries there has been a central st

. >> joining me now, david gergen, and andrew sullivan, political commentators, charles blow, charles columnist at "the new york times." what do you think stands out? >> one, i think republicans really did go to the edge of the abyss and looked down it. and maybe decided maybe not jumping into the ted cruz vortex is the right thing. and i think maybe we see a recalibration of the republican party, and more reinstructed government. on the other side, the president starts -- ends the year nearly ten points down from where he started. and the health care rollout was i think, an absolutely terrible display of what can go wrong with liberal government. but i would say this. at the end of the year it is still true that 2013 will be the first year that americans and the united states had universal health insurance, or close to it. that is, in terms of the historical timeline, that is a big deal. >> well, for me, it was the october surprise, october was a surprise from start to finish, beginning with two very bad weeks for republicans, and ending with two very bad weeks for the white house an

david gergen, thank you so much. appreciate your perspective.ichael, it's interesting you and i asked christiane amanpour whether or not there would be any lesson that all those world leaders coming together would go have based on mandela. we saw that happened shake today between the president and the cuban president. >> something happened. >> from cuba to the u.s. and also china, had royalty, rock stars. the breadth of those, you had people there who all came together for nelson mandela which was fascinating >> a wonderful moment. here's more of what we're working on "around the world." ice, wind, sleet snow hitting the east coast for another day. even federal offices in washington, d.c. are closed. we're tracking the flights and the roads up ahead. no matter how busy your morning you can always do something better for yourself. and better is so easy with benefiber. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber. i get times are ti

back here in new york thursday night at the influential 92nd street along with david gergen who workedr side in those o'neal reagan days. i go through the snow and get some copies of tip and the gipper. to remind those of us my age and to teach the younger people out there that political grown ups can get things done, they can fix social security, create fair taxes and even end the cold war, even if they come at these challenges from different directions. i want you all to benefit to the growing up. it's on amazon right now waiting for you to get it, read it and share it. that's "hardball" for right now. a all in with kris hayes starts right now. >>> good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes, we begin with breaking news, the unveiling tonight of a two-year by partisan budget deal to avert another disaster rouse government shutdown. >> a plan i would have written on my own, i'm pretty sure that chairman ryan wouldn't have written it on his own. i know many republicans had hoped this would be an opportunity to make some of the kinds of changes to medicare and social security they have

david gergen said once for the president, the presidency is a marathon, for the staff it's a relay raceing to that. you need to constantly refresh your team. john brings such experience to the table as chief of staff and his other rolls. he's very much sim patpatico wi the president. they are familiar with each other. he'll bring real energy and experience at a time when i think it's very, very important for him to have it. >> what will be the interactions within the white house. dennis mcdonough, chief of staff, stormer chief of staff is brought in. is it sort of -- i know this is at the behest to beef things up and get their arms around the problem with the rollout and other problems plus relationship with capitol hill where podesta can be singularly helpful. there's no argument less than highly staffed on the professional liaison front in this white house. >> i think john will be helpful there, there also with the addition of phil who is the legislative director in the first two years who had two decades of experience on the hill before he came to the white house. that will be helpfu

anna hunt, political analyst david gergen. anna, you are from florida. you are no fan i know of the castro regime. but what do you make of senator mccain's comments comparing this to a hitler moment and also of congresswoman ros-lehtinen? >> don't think john mccain was comparing it to a hitler moment. his question was what is the point? you can shake hands with dictators, you can shake hands with tyrants, but that doesn't mean they're going to change their ways. people need to understand for this, john, for this community this cuts very very deep. there were a number of political prisoners, cuban political prisoners who served even longer than mandela. 30 years, 29 years, 28 years. today is international human rights day. and as ileana ros-lehtinen said, there are dissidents being jailed, getting attacked in cuba today. so people need to understand, this is something that the cuban community feels deeply. this is a community that has felt this pain now for 55 years. this duo of brothers are going to have had an iron grip tyranny on cuba for 55 years come

raw politics of this, senior political analyst david gergen, democratic obama campaign pollster -- >>s start with the christie-hillary numbers there. who do you think reads that poll and laughs harder longer? >> that's a good question. but i'll tell you something. they're not laughing in the clinton camp. because they know while these polls have no predictive value at this time, they do give you a snapshot of what's going on and what this poll reflects is that the obama care troubles that the president has had are now lapping up on hillary clinton as well. she's had a lead over all republicans up until now. the fact that she's in a tie with chris christie in three different polls, especially this one, i think just underscore there's been a lot of damage. and it's not a walk away. remember this. hillary can separate out from most issues regarding president obama. but on health care, she's more tied to him than probably she'd like to be at this point. >> interesting. kevin, let's talk about christie. if you dig into these, he's doing really well in suburban voters, leads with older vote

. >> they brought in david gergen who had advised republican presidents and then at some point, leone the chief of staff. they moved what they called some of the kids out and got adult supervision in there. that was the line at the time. it this a sort of a point right now where there's a vote of no confidence in the current team at the white house, why they're bringing in podesta? >> obviously, i think there is some evidence of discontent here. i think the president has always recognized that given where the republicans are from in the house that he has very little leverage over them, he carried only 17 districts represented b use repuicans. in his second term, he was going to have to get more done through executive action than legislative break through. the break down on obama care is more remarkable. they understood their best chance was through the levers of the executive branch. i think podesta in part is there to help them tighten up on that front because the environment, other areas it's through their own actions they're more likely to make a mark. >> let me skitch gears, john

anna hunt, political analyst david gergen are here. anna, you are from florida.o fan i know of the castro regime. but what do you make of senator mccain's comments comparing this to a hitler moment and also of congresswoman ros leytenen. >> don't think john mccain was comparing it to a hitler moment. his question was what is the point? you can shake hands with dictators and tyrants but that doesn't mean they're going to change their ways. people need to understand for this, john, for this community this cuts very very deep. there were a number of political prisoners, cuban political prisoners who served even longer than mandela. 30 years, 29 years, 28 years. today is international human rights day. and as congresswoman luytenen said, there are dissidents being jailed and attacked in cuba today. so people need 20 understand, this is something that the cuban community feels deeply. this is a community that has felt this pain now for 55 years. this duo of brothers are going to have had an iron grip tyranny on cuba for 55 years come january 1st. do i think a handshak

. >> is this, david gergen, a vote of no confidence in the current staff by the president? he doesn't like to fire people but is it sort of an indirect statement, i need help and the guys who are there now and the gals, for that matter, not necessarily doing the perfect job i need? >> well, it's certainly an admission he needs help. i don't think it's a lack of trust in the people around him. he's not firing anybody. i think it's an addition to the white house which is what i all along, it's been apparent he needs to do. but again, john podesta, it's going to be an interesting challenge for him. he will not be the chief of staff. dennis mcdonough is still the chief of staff. so he can't decide we're going to do this or that. that's going to be between dennis and the president. but what he can be there for in tough situations to provide, he can provide a lot of political savvy. he is much more politically experienced than dennis mcdonough, the current chief of staff, is. he's much more politically experienced than most people. to gloria's point, he also does bring a set of i

david gergen, thanks for joining us. rick stangel fascinating as well, christiane amanpour no doubt we'll be talking a lot in the days ahead. thanks for watching cnn's special coverage of the death of nelson mandela. it continues next with wolf blitzer. >>> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world as we remember nelson mandela. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we're learning new details about tribut tributes south africa's first black president and president obama intention to attend a memorial service for one of his personal heroes, who transformed his country and inspired people all over the world. >> we've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> you're look at a live picture from south africa where it's 6:00 a.m. right now. many people waking up to the news of nelson mandela's death. no single person has changed that country more than the former prisoner who became pr