and do democrats have a tea party? you can find it all week long at pbs.org/washingtonweek, where you'll also find links to the rest of the stories our panelists are reporting. keep up with developments -- now seven days a week -- on the "pbs newshour," and we'll see you here next week on "washington week." happy valentine's day and good night. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- corporate funding for "washington week" is provided -- >> we went out and asked people a simple question. how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of them have known someone who has lived well into their 90's and that's a great thing. but one thing that hasn't changed, the official retirement age. the question is, how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years? >> additional corporate funding is provided by boeing. by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to pbs stations

it's a more democratic party although that democratic majority has had a hard time getting through i mean we have a republican governor republican house republican senate republican congressional delegation republican cabinet but things are changing in florida and they're changing rapidly we continue to have a huge influx of people larry we're the third almost the third largest state in the country have been the fourth for a while about to surpass new york to be the third largest state in the country with california first then texas soon to be florida and a lot of our new immigrants and our new residents are democrats and that continues to grow. you on the gay marriage situation in florida you supported overturning the gay marriage ban and a million initially support where do you stand on gay marriage i support it and i like the president i've supported civil unions for a long time larry and i saw the president do his interview with robin roberts a couple of springs ago and he said you know that he had been giving this issue a lot of thought a lot of consideration and that he had com

look at this same poll among democrats. 73% of democrats, women.ne point above women in supporting hillary. so what i'm trying to do here is not argue with you, joan. but to make a case which is that hillary clinton has the unique ability in this history right now, i'm going to let matt do this, to unite the moderates and the liberals of the democratic party. >> i don't know if it's unique. >> i don't know who else can do it. >> there may be somebody else. you never know. we didn't know that barack obama would emerge in that cycle either. there may well be some lead they're steps forward if she doesn't run or she stumbles. i think you're exactly right. if she does run, she can unite all the wings of the party. the great things about democrats is we argue, we don't go to war like republicans have. but let me go back to the point you were making. i do not think people -- i don't think that message plays nationally. >> what is that? what message? >> the populist message. >> define it? is it screw the rich or we're concerned about income inequality? ho

guest: there are a lot of democrats who would like to see that happen. a lot of leading democrats. senator schumer is a member of the democratic leadership in the senate. they run the chamber. the situation is this. the sides are negotiating, iran and the united states. if sanctions are approved, it would hinder iran's ability to complete these negotiations for the larger, the nuclear arms situation in iran. the president is behind the steel. he doesn't want iran sanctions to move through congress. he thinks it would cause the deal to implode. because of that, the democratic majority leader in the senate, harry reid, he is trying to keep a lid on that. he has a lot of his members who would like to move on those sanctions. the house has taken them up and passed them. you are likely to see an alliance in the senate. i do not think we will see sanctions move at this time. i think they will wait until the end of the negotiating period. then make a decision. that is not what a lot of democrats want. they would like to but something in place now that would warn the iranians, if they don'

more than 51 democrats. the democrats could have done it alone. all the republicans could have voted no on it which of course would help them immensely with republican primary base voters back at home. they could keep their hands clean while the debt ceiling got raised. but tea party senator ted cruz decided that he was lonely maybe? just not getting enough attention? too well liked this week? ted cruz decided to filibuster the bill which meant that it couldn't pass with just democratic votes. some republicans were going to have to cross the aisle to vote for it, or there would be international economic armageddon. but they were so embarrassed about doing it, they so did not want to be seen casting those votes that the republicans did something that has maybe never happened before in congress, at least as far as we can tell. you can tell from this tape, this is the way it usually goes when the senate is voting on something. you're watching on c-span or lucky enough to be there at the senate watching in the gallery. this is how it usually goes. wat

the democratic majority? of course, there are all those open seats. first up, democrats hope it will be a game-changer in montana. this eck would, montana's former democratic lieutenant governor john walsh will be sworn in to replace senator max baucus, confirmed last week to be the next u.s. ambassador to china. walsh will have now the advantages incumbency. >> you know, i'll leave it to the voters to decide what happens in november. i chose the person that i believed would be most effective. >> it's an enormous responsibility, and i accept that responsibility knowing full well that there's a tremendous amount of work to be done in washington. >> walsh, who will run in a state which the president lost by 14 points, is already distancing himself from national democrats saying, i'm not going to get sucked into washington, d.c. and national democrats are returning the favor. senator michael bennett, responsible for holding on the democratic majority, says john is the kind of guy who may not agree with the party

republicans have democrats right where they want them. and here's why. speaker boehner is taking a page right out of the very successful tea party playbook. he wants to win 2014 by running on obama care just like the tea party did in 2010. we all remember how that worked out. democrats are falling into a gop trap, not the other way around. >> uh, you know, that sounds like a nice story, if only it were true. let's not forget, congressional republicans have the lowest approval rating in history and they can't shake this reputation, well earned of being the party of no. >> you just have to agree with it. and the american public does. >> you can't win elections if you don't actually do something. in the "crossfire" tonight, communications director for the democratic national committee and communications director for the republican national committee. >> that was a mouthful. >> i know, i got it out, though. >> congrats. >> so sean, every republican pretty much acknowledged they needed to raise the debt ceiling. otherwise it was going to be catastrophic to ou

but my democrat he opponent.mocrat inel couple bent did nothing but get along and go along with whatever president obama wanted. >> let me ask you about the tea party impact in the u.s. senate. even this tuesday is the senate primary in the state of texas. senator cornyn suspect for re-election. senator cruz is not going to endorse him fellow texan. what's the tea party impact and what's the big picture to senator ted cruz won't endorse his colleague? >> well, it's not just senator cornyn. he has said he won't take a roll -- role in any senate primary this year. not just colleague every race around the country. did he raise money earlier for the senate conservative fund. raising money now for the madison project, both of which are involved in primaries. but he told his colleagues that he would not neither endorse nor oppose any of them i think senator cornyn going to have a victory. very popular senator. he was voted -- ranked the second most conservative member of the senate last year by the national journal. th

democrats would have to hold all of them and hold the democratic districts romney won in order to win back the majority. democrats would need a very substantial lead in the preolympics generic ballot surveys, something in the vicinity of 12 to 14 points. at this point that appears highly unlikely. democrats have not had a double-digit lead in any respectable poll in the last year. in our last nbc/wall street journal poll we had democrats ahead on the generic ballot by just 2 points. so the big question for democrats, what do they run on in order to somehow get a double-digit lead in the national ballot there that would actually give them this chance. democrats hope that if they can't win the house, maybe republicans can lose it. at this week's retreat they are plotting how to successfully capitalize on what they say is the gop's troubled brand and to find a contrast with house republicans. >> rising wages, pay equity for women, a fair tax code, immigration reform. these are not just topics, these are the fundamental differences in the united states congress right now between democrats

but there are growing concerns tonight inside the democratic party that democrats weakened by obamacare focused heavily on a possible hillary clinton candidacy in 2016 could lose control over the senate this year. chief white house correspondent ed henry on what some democrats are trying to do. >> as president obama hit the road again today to push his policies, while office positionin midterm elections -- >> i said this would be a year of action, and i meant it. >> an increasing number of his allies expressed fear. democrats are not acting aggressively enough to stop republicans from taking the senate. amid concerns party activists are too focused on 2016, and electing former secretary of state hillary clinton. >> there's excitement for her out there, and let's face it, presidential elections are sexier than midterm elections. people are a little bit excited to look forward to it, but we can't be missing that there still is an agenda to get forward, and we have to hold the senate to do it. >> buzz keeps building among some on the left for a race where even if she runs, it could end in

democrats accepted it. will democrats now say thank you? will any tea party voter in america believe the government is actually going to make a profit on this? >> you can put all the facts and figures and reports but your average american hears "bailout" and all they think is the government putting out money. they never think about the money coming back in. i think that's a really hard case to make even if facts are on your side. >> what's it mean for them? the tea party was more than just bailouts. it was you bail people out, they're supposedly sush lly suc. it hasn't translated down to me. i still don't have a job. >> the great philosopher barney frank had a quote in 2010. he said he wanted a bumper sticker that would have read -- 2010, things that would have sucked worse without me. that's one heck of a bumper sticker. >> it's baked in. no matter what the data shows, people think it was a mistake. >> it's part of the whole litany with the auto bailout and with the stimulus package. all three of those you could say worked better than peop

go back to democrat.is something that we have to do. host: ok. russell berman, we talked about whether or not they would extend these. if they do not do it before they leave, does it come back to the floor? guest: it is hard to see how it does because it has been almost one month and a half that they have lapsed. they are on recess for two weeks. it will be two months. they want to move onto other issues. the senate wants to hold votes on raising the minimum wage. the democrats want to keep focusing on this. they want to see if there is a way to extend long-term unemployment insurance benefits, and they also want to make it a political issue. he raises an interesting point because this has become another partisan divide between democrats i want to extend this and republicans that do not, but there are unemployed republicans and unemployed democrats, so this issue on the level of affecting everyday people cuts across both parties. times"the washington other issues before congress, as this article. personal

at its core the democratic party the democratic party has always been the party of santa claus it's always been the party that gives you stuff like santa clause that's right namely medicare medicaid social security forty hour work week the right deionized free public schools and start going stamp school watches the list goes on acting like santa clause is actually the right thing for a general for the for the for the general welfare of we the people and fulfilling the general welfare is a requirement of government at least according to the constitution but acting like santa claus isn't just the right thing to do it's also how politics are supposed to work in a democratic republic give people giving people what they want and what they need made the democratic party successful instruction after election the twentieth century it won franklin roosevelt for terms in office one lyndon johnson is massive victory in the sixty four presidential race and it kept republicans out of power in the house of representatives one hundred fifty five until nine hundred ninety five as long as the democratic pa

instead of the senate democrats.y're really scared right now, aren't they? >> i think his comment highlight what a lot of democrats have been saying and republicans, too. this is a tough year for democrats to hold on to the senate. as you mentioned earlier in the show, republicans need six seats to gain the majority. and there way to do that is through state the president lost by wide margin in 2012 and the previous election year, too. so axle rod, i think and other democrats who have expressed similar sentiment are worried looking at the president has left to do. they know, of course, that the republican-lead senate would be a major devastation to the president's second term agenda. lou: his agenda, for the second term, i think, keilin -- doug, you tell me. i think it's pretty well done anyway. i think he's a lame duck. >> i don't see what is left of the agenda. i'm not going get immigration reform. i don't see any bold program to promote economic growth. bottom line, lou, as i sit and look, i sort of say there's no

and that's democrats. >> democrats a sounding a lot like republicans. >> let me go back to the c.b.o. report. i think we all got that it's not jobs that are being lost. it's people deciding to leave the labor force and some democrats are trying to spin that as a wonderful new freedom. you can retire early, take care of your kids but there was something in there about disincentives for low income people that might cause some people to not want to work so they could qualify for medicaid or not even look for a better job. is there a problem there in terms of where the incentives are? >> i don't think the c.b.o. report got into motivation but did point out that -- obamacare provides subsidies for lower income people and if you're about to make enough income that you no longer qualify for the subts dis, you might want to dial back your hours and income to qualify and that's kind of true with all needs-based federal programs. i do think that the broader picture -- it's kind of a wonky but interesting report. the health care law changed a huge segment of our economy and this is the first rea

the democratic wing of the democratic party it's hard for me as a democrat to find too much comfort anymore within the purview of the democratic party you know i'm open i hope that this election you know one of the reasons i hope i win app is because i think it would really perhaps inspire a movement by which the democrats get their soul back not the people but the party sure i heard some people say that if nixon were running today you'd be the most liberal democrat i hope there it's pretty shocking how far right everything is kind of shifted let's talk about your fund raising efforts according to open secrets you've already raised over three hundred thousand dollars far surpassing your other opponents how we've been able to do this. it's grass where. you know part of the way americans are locked out today and that's why i'm running this campaign the average american is locked out of what should be considered the minimum in terms of access to political influence educational opportunity and economic opportunity and the way that works of course with this legalized system of bribery and corrup

democrats are competing for themselves and there is a split in the democratic party between the long-nd the progressive wing. republicans are being more structural about it and growing consistently and they department get themselves in debt last year. democrats have to get a 10 million bail out from duke energy. it shoes they have not raise the the money and the donors are on the sidelines and we have to follow the money in may and june and see where it shoes up. >> let's talk about the over all agenda and reminding of the 19norelection. president clinton lost the house and the senate, do you see the parallels there? >> ladies first. >> presidents typically don't do had in the second midterm election. and that is baked in the cake. i don't know if it is if obama overreached it is the implementation of obama care went better we might have a different conversation. a lot of the criticism that he is getting and people are unhappy with him, the implementation was so flawed and so many promises that were not kept and it affected what people think of the president. he has a low approval rat

do democrats have any chance to take back the house? >>> meanwhile, hillary clinton's got some advice. she told students to grow a thick skin, and she's the one who will know. she'll need it if she does run to president again. and we're talking to authors of a new book about her inner circle. >>> and a big victory for same-sex. >>> meanwhile, ted cruz and mike lee are pushing for a bill that would roll back gains for marriage equality. good morning to you, i'm ari melber in for chris jansing. we're beginning today with the snowstorm, impacts being felt far and wide. in philadelphia, for example, a huge pileup involving up to 100 cars you can see in, snarling traffic and that's on an icy philadelphia turnpike. two people were already sent to the hospital. the storm dumped as much as 28 inches of snow in some areas and there are now 21 deaths reported in connection with with this storm sweeping the country and over 400,000 people right now are still without power in about 15 states. more than 1,500 domestic flights have been cancelled thi

in a democratic country i understand what you have to say you live in a democratic country just soviet soviet general source what to say that and we knew is not true that we know it's not true no but what will go regarding regarding the united states in the demonstrations in ukraine tauriel nuland showed up and handed out some cookies she was expressing support for the free right to demonstrate that's it but she is an official and her appearing on that square is is taken as a as an american position on that issue it's not about that she was expressing support for peaceful protest now contrast the american as. with the russian action a very important official in russia mr gloves you have cold for the use of force to clear the square mr gotobed used force mr glows it was encouraging was the only coach to murder is own well i'm basso there are her i heard you make that point before but mr glass if. every we well let's say in significant figure in the russian politics he doesn't hold the public office he's not even a member of parliament he's a former political with very little weight in r

our democrat line, john. the democrats do not know how to publicize themselves.ting money into campaign funds, democrats and it was a republican supreme court. republican members made the law. then democrats said they have no charge. they had to start raising money to keep up with it. it is a conservative court. i do not like to think of it as democrat and republican. but i like to believe they leave their partisanship a little more behind than we do in the house of representatives. the ruling, whatever you think and whoever ruled on it, some of the issues are tough, that was a ruling i think started to erode the foundation of our democracy in the country. i could not agree with you more. i did not mention this when we were talking about it before. another alternative is for the supreme court to reverse itself and say, we ought to get one man and one woman back to the vote, as opposed to writing checks. not something we can wave a magic wand on or pass legislation on. this health care thing, when they said you could keep your doctor, the doctor not the one who wa

. >> giving democrats a pep talk. >> part of what makes us democrats is we're here to help a bunch of folks out there who are struggling. >> what do they run on? >> equal pay for equal work. >> early childhood education. >> federal minimum wage. smart immigration policies. >> major developments in the battle for marriage equality. >> our family will be recognized just as real as every other family in virginia. >> make every single effort to aggressively push our gender. >> a big push on federal minimum wage. >> the democrats will try to force a house vote on raising the minimum wage. >> if you can apply the pressure in a way where there feels like there is no way out, then they'll move. >> they're counting on us. >>> a few hours ago, house democrats heard from president obama and vice president biden at their annual retreat in cambridge, maryland. two weeks earlier, house republicans huddled at the same venue. the difference, one party was at a retreat. the other party was in retreat. >> the american people are already where we want them to be. already with us. on every major issue, t

recently in san diego, the democrat lost to the republican even in a heavily democratic area because they made it an issue that he was getting all his money from the unions that wanted pension control and contracts. >> republicans need money. >> don't we all. >> we have a lot coming up in the next half hour. also a bizarre story. newlyweds arrested for luring and killing a man they met through craigslist. the other heinous crime the wife is admitting to. ,,,,,, [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits. delicious, but say i press a few out flat, add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom! delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night. pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop. so i should probably get the last roll... yeah but i practiced my bassoon. [ mom ] and i listened. [ brother ] i can do this. [ imitates robot ] everyone deserves ooey, gooey, pillsbury cinnamon rolls. make the weekend pop. see what's new at projectluna.com morning. the time is _ _ _. good morning, i'm phil mati. i'm anne makovec. a lot to k about in the next half-hour. (chat a

is it democrats enjoying it? why do they leap to support someone who is clearly got a taint, if not a real problem on his hands? >> well, at this point, chris, i think republicans are very good at lambasting scrutiny as sort of media bias. i think as nick discussed -- >> but all these people pointing the finger at the governor are all republican appointees. wildstein is his guy, you know. bridget kelly is the one who pushed the button. they're all his people. okay, nick, your reporting. >> i was going to say, look, a tried and true way to get the base on your side is to attack "the new york times" and say that your coverage is biased, that the media is against you, and the democrats hate you. he has done all of those things. his team is doing all of those things. it works for a while. it certainly helps shore up the base, and especially among people who have their doubts about christie, who thought he was too close to president obama, who resent his embrace with him after sandy. but personally i think it kind of

guest: a lot of democrats would like to see that happen. a lot of leading democrats. senator schumer is a member of the democratic leadership in the senate. the situation is this. ansides are negotiating, ir and the united states. if sanctions are approved, it ability tor iran's complete these negotiations for larger, the nuclear arms situation in iran. the president is behind the steel. he doesn't want iran sanctions to move through congress. he thinks it would cause a deal to implode. the democratic majority leader in the senate, harry reid, he is trying to keep a lid on that. he has a lot of members who would like to move on those sanctions. the house has taken them up and pass them. you are likely to see an alliance in the senate. i do not think we will see sanctions move at this time. i think they will wait until the period.he negotiating that is not what a lot of democrats want. they would like to but something in place now that would warn the irradiance, sanctions against them. i do not think that is going to happen. host: seana on our line for independents. fo

especially democrats in tight red state races while many democrats from conservative states are trying to distance themselves from obamacare others are hoping the g.o.p. opposition the medicaid expansion one of the health care laws most popular components will help them keep control of the senate that's why democratic activists and lawmakers in louisiana in montana are trying to put medicaid expansion on their state's election ballots they believe the by putting expansion front and center voters order volte against republican sabotage and swing to the left come november joining me for now and now for more on this is neil's roca progressive strategist and communications director for democracy for america neil welcome back great to be here great to have you with us you know there's a there's a whole bunch of moving pieces to this in terms of of strategy yeah on the one hand you know the old saying you can't social security is the third rail you can't take it away from people once they have it but if they don't have it they don't know what it's like they don't know it exists and they do k

what is the priority for democrats in 2014? caller: democrats, i have been democrats.hey are doing the things they are doing. if i can explain that i have cancer and my wife was laid off place, becaused she is worried about playing -- he's worried about paying insurance for her and other workers in there, so he is just laying them off for part-time. just, it does not seem right. somebody that works there for 17 years. all of a sudden she gets laid off for no reason. and then she has unemployment. done, and weeks is she has no extensions are nothing. host: ok. in wisconsin, democrats only this morning. your priorities for 2014. what do you want the president to push, what would you like congress to push for? "get better numbers on the popularity of the affordable care act. the only thing that can save them from disaster in 2014 election results!" more on the potential merger between comcast and time w arner. this is an associated press story. we told you at the top that comcast has agreed to buy time warner cable for $45 billion or $158 per share. the deal will combine

thank you, doug. >>> he is hurting the democrat brand. the obama care and all of this stuff is hurting and his approval rating is declining and his credibility problem drag the democrat brand down. the midterm election popularity of the president has more to do with who is up and down. >> that is joe tripp talking with megyn last night and signs of growing number of democrats feeling the same way. >> they are planning to skip the party's annual retreat and putting out pricey ads to distance themselves from the president. here is one sponsored by a nancy pelosi super pa c. >> joe garcia is working to fix obama care and voted to help keep your health care plan. joe garcia fought to hold insurance companies accountable and so they can't deny coverage from preexisting conditions and drop the coverage when you get sid. brad is a former deputy to period. and combaem, thank you for coming in on the snowy day. and great to see you. brad let me start with the joe trippi thing. he is not the first democrat talking head saying they can no longer def

new jersey democrats have questioned why mr. baroni needed so much preparation before his committee testimony. well, in addition to kwon, investigators are demanding documents from lower level staffers, including governors office and the office itself and the port authority. in essence, the committee is pluming the depths of this cover-up. let me go right now to melissa hayes of "the bergen record." it seems to me if you just look at what the prosecutors are looking for, the legislative committee, that they have extended this net, this dragnet out to include anyone involved in what looked to be the coaching of mr. baroni, the preparation of him to say oh, this wasn't what it looked like, this wasn't political payback or revenge. this was about a traffic study. >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, we had lawmakers that told us yesterday that they have seen there were different drafts of what he had prepared to say to the legislative committee. so they're trying to get to the bottom of who was involved in helping him craft this story that

>> this is not a great year to be a democrat. usually not great year to be party in the white house in the second term, mid term. but when you look at the playing field, seats that democrats have to defend in the senate are very tough. they are very, very deep rut states. the economy is doing better than it was four years ago but not great. the president's numbers are much lower than they were even going in to the 2012 election. it's setting up not particularly well for democrats. but -- >> schieffer: you haven't mentioned the health care. >> you're right. haven't even mentioned the issue environment. this is why you're seeing to jonathan's point about changing the subject, democrats talking incessantly about things like minimum wage. want to make this debate about economic inequality, they want it to look a lot like 2012 where it was. democrats were the people looking out for you, we're on your side, republicans are the ones on the side of big business and big insurance. if they can make that debate -- >> the other issues. >> sc

you know, a democratic president will kill them. what to expect to do when you are in the majority of one branch of government? >> i expect us to stand up up, they proposed a full audit of the federation at least have taken that opportunity. lou: what you want to know? again, i repeat, you are not in control of the federal government. >> nobodyets to spend a a dime unless the house agrees to it. that is leverage jim cover we can use it to save the country but it takes courage lou: what happened to your courage last fall when to shut down the government? >> we did not shut it down. harry reid shut it down. lou: you will no not agree, i respect you mightily but would you not agree there can be no hint to the same maneuver other than what your experience at the hands of the democratic leadership of the republican minority leadership in the senate? >> obamacare as you pointed out, 35 tim he has continued to change a lot. it is time to postpone for rank-and-file americans not just businesses that were willing to live -- liketo stand for

here's a state that's got a democratic governor, in yourself. democratic statehouse.lican state senate. >> right. >> normally, in a circumstance like that, you would say, oh, this must be a state that has its own health care exchange and expanded medicaid. you've done neither. why? >> well, for the last two years before the 2012 elections, the tea party had two-thirds control of both of our chambers. they passed a law banning us from accepting federal money or setting up our own exchange, so we've been playing catch-up since. but since the 2012 elections, we've been working with people in both parties to figure out how to expand health care in our state. the democratic house wanted to expand medicaid, as did i. the republican senate, at first, didn't want to, and we've been working together for a compromise. and that compromise just passed out of the senate -- >> what's more likely, you will expand medicaid, but starting up your own exchange, that will ab while. >> i don't know whether we will. we have a partnership exchange now, and one of the things that our biparti

democrats have figured this out. lisa in missouri and new where you have three republicans running man. one would have probably be in the democratic incumbent more easily. one properly would have beaten her, but then there was one that was exotica him. and so democrats went to an end ran tv ads during the republican primary accusing -- todd a. kendis too conservative for misery. and our republican primary thermae into the briar patch. you know, and they were able to basically steer the republican nomination to the one guy that was capable of seizing the fee from the jaws of victory and successfully did so. and so you're going to be seeing so that going on this time as well. and then mitch mcconnell and be, if you did a poll today it would be 45-45, 45-46. is that an extremely close race? is not. the district may gama -- john mccain was really hurting. that affected the performance of republican candidates, but not so much in kentucky that obama was not, you know -- kentucky was not an obama state. let's just say