debby halverson expected to win but lost by 25% of the vote to former state of the robin kelly.by mayor bloomberg's super pac focused on the halverson rating received from nra. now for much more on in, i'm joined by john rosenthal and paul blumenthal. thank you for joining us. between the emotional hearings in d.c. the money behind the gun control cause and new poll numbers showing despite what congress might end up doing the support for gun control has been growing. is this the most hopeful you've been. >> john: if the public and media make gun violence prevention an ongoing issue of importance and ultimately a voting issue during the elections coming up, i think we may make progress but remember we've got a long way to go. there is no background check requirement on gun sales. to listen to a dad of a seven-year-old killed at newtown, one of 86 americans who had bury their kids today and every day. meanwhile congress says fiscal cliff and debt cerealing are more important than taking a vote on gun violence prevention. the hast time i checked neither of those economic issues res

debby halverson will make it worse. she opposes a ban on deadly assault weapons. received an a-plus rating by the nra. >> cenk: they ran this against her and she lost. >> they were involved in the race early in the year. it was not just debby halverson a former congresswoman but two front runners in a case of 16 candidates, two people who were the credible candidates both have a-ratings. thanks to our help and help at credo and other progressive organizations she was able to win convincingly and win on this issue. it's showing that democratic voters and organizations and donors and grassroots activists are active aggravated activated on this issue and people were engaged like you would never believe. it hit home. it's visceral. if we can get people riled up on this issue in february of 2013 i'm looking forward to what we can do in 2014 not just with aggressive twists, but with groups like bloomberg's super pac. >> cenk: we have a progressive candidate who wound up winning that's fantastic. among priorities american people say gun control should be number two on the

if you look at the special election in illinois that's going on right now, debbie halverson, huge nra supporter and got huge support from the nra in the past, she's now running and explicitly saying i am not seeking the support of the nra. that's kind of a watershed moment. that somebody who is running for office is running away from the mra to try to get elected. that hasn't happened in a moderate district in decades. >> yeah. >> i think if we discount how important the backgrounds checks really are versus the assault weapons ban, if you look at who is killed in terms of the type of gun used, it's only 5% for rifles and assault weapons. 95% for handguns. i think we sometimes frame a background check as sort of, you know, only getting half -- >> closing loopholes. >> that in some ways would be more effective in preventing some of the gun violence. >> gun violence that's not just sort of massacres like newtown, but gun violence like we're talking about in chicago. >> yeah. >> exactly. >> you know, the disappointing piece of this, the kind of cavat, is that -- >> please. focus on the se

debbie halverson also posted this open letter about her position on guns after mike bloomberg began saturatingwith ads against her. but lest there be any doubt about the contrast now in this primary, this is the campaign for the candidate the bloomberg superpac endorsed last week. this is who the pac week. this is who the pac endorsed against the two candidates who had the ratings. look at her website, robin kelly's campaign is centrally, almost totally now about her commitment to leading on gun safety. gun policy is the central point of this race at this point, which is, after all, our first federal race since the shootings since sandy hook. there has not been much polling, but based on what we see so far, the contest looks like robin kelly running on gun reform, almost single-minded focus on gun reform. against the number one rating, who says she wants to talk about gun control. one week from today we'll keep the election music close at hand. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alk

debbie aal halverson is a weak candidate.al he's in and going to keep spending. >> for people advocating for broader gun safety, pouring $2 million into an election -- >> not enough. >> it makes people queasy on the level of campaign finance. >> it has to happen soon. we are running out of time. the farther you get away from newtown, the harder it is to get done. >> he's in trouble of finding places. >> it will be an interesting next several weeks, months. thank you all for being here. that's all for now. i'll see you here tomorrow at noon when i'm joined by e.j., richard wolffe and josh greene. you can find us at facebook.com. "andrea mitchell reports" is next. >>> here is your business travel forecast. i'm meteorologist bill karins. heavy wet snow and leftover snow from the blizzard in chicago along the lakeshore in michigan. the rest of the country is doing okay travel wise. the southeast is much better. the west coast is dry. enjoy your day. [ male announcer ] how do you make america's favorite recipes? just begin with am

the two leading ones, debbie halverson was expected to win hands down.as a former member of congress. she was 100% nra. blomberg gets involved, supports somebody nobody ever heard of, robin kelly who is willing to take on the nra who is pro-gun safety and robin kelly wins and robin kelly is the new member of congress from chicago. it wouldn't have happened without michael bloomberg. i want to say today, you know, hey, mike, great job! we need more people like you who will stand up and fight for the things you believe in and put your own money on the line. what do you say? michael bloomberg. ready to give him some props here? 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv. the bar harbor bake is really worth trying. [ male announcer ] get more during red lobster's lobsterfest. with the year's largest selection for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real,