e.j. dionne: it is a religious audience -- they believe in miracles. they were persuaded that it is time we do something about the poor. tell us a few things that will pass. when you think about -- we can talk abstractly about the family on this side and what government can do, what do you think would make a difference? that is one question i intended to ask and maybe you could put that in the context of bob's mention of the gilded age. i was taken by that. help me. president obama: a couple of years ago. e.j. dionne: it did put this conversation in context where we seem to be having the problems we had back then. what would you tell congress, please help me on this -- and how do we move out of this gilded age feeling? president obama: let me tease out a couple things what bob and arthur said and challenge them. they may want to respond. let me talk about big picture and then we can talk about specifics. first of all, i think we can stipulate that the best anti-poverty program is a job, which bri

e.j. dionne: it is a religious audience -- they believe in miracles. they were persuaded that it is time we do something about the poor. tell us a few things that will pass. when you think about -- we can talk abstractly about the family on this side and what government can do, what do you think would make a difference? that is one question i intended to ask and maybe you could put that in the context of bob's mention of the gilded age. i was taken by that. help me. president obama: a couple of years ago. e.j. dionne: it did put this conversation in context where we seem to be having the problems we had back then. what would you tell congress, please help me on this -- and how do we move out of this gilded age feeling? president obama: let me tease out a couple things what bob and arthur said and challenge them. they may want to respond. let me talk about big picture and then we can talk about specifics. first of all, i think we can stipulate that the best anti-poverty program is a job, which bri

e.j. dionne: mr. president, i want you to reflect on this religious question. one of your forced salaries paid for by a group of catholic churches. not a lot of catholic bishops noticed that. you were organizing or a group of southside churches. you know what faith-based groups can do. talk about three things at the same time -- the religious community in calling attention to this problem. the issue as to how government can cooperate with these groups. and the prophetic role of these ideas for you where your own reflections on your own faith have led you. president obama: first of all, it is true, my first job was funded through the campaign for human development, the social justice -- [applause] and i think that faith-based groups across the country and around the world understand the centrality and importance of this issue. in a intimate way. in part because these faith-based organizations are interactive with folks struggling and no how good these people are and are aware of their stories. it is not just theological, it is concrete, they are embedded in comm

for more, let me bring in e.j. dionne, susan del percio, republican strategist and john nichols, washington correspondent for the nation magazine. john, start with you, you are in madison, wisconsin, a state you know well, scott walker well, having followed his last three races in the last four years, is it money, too high of a burn rate? >> yes, too high of a burn rate. i was told by a very high ranking republican over the weekend that there was -- this campaign was going through tens of thousands of dollars a day on staff, on offices on just basic travel, beyond your tv advertising or anything like that. i have heard different figuring floating around but no question they needed a massive inflow of money on a steady basis to just keep this campaign on the road. so money is a huge factor. >> why was the burn rate so. >> >> there's been a lot of criticism of the walker campaign, that the people that took charge of it, instead of running it as an outsider campaign, a renegade campaign trying to get, you know, built up to a

joining us now is "washington post" columnist e.j. dionne.e covered the vatican for years for a number of times. it's great to see you. thanks for being here. >> i love your celebration of this visit. >> it is a big deal. i mean, i feel like it's important to note that you know, popes have been here before and presidents and popes have had interesting political alliances. it's not that the only thing that's unprecedented here is the address to congress. but is there a reason that a million people will turn out in philadelphia, that there is this address to congress, that there are some so many meetings that are so high profile and that so many people will get so many opportunities to see him? is that the way papal visits go? >> yeah, i mean i think all papal visits have a couple things in common. one is lots of catholics get excited, turn out in large numbers. as you pointed out in the intro, they cheer like they're at a football game. so -- but the other common thread especially in recent years is that lots of people look at well, what impac

. >> joining us e.j. dionneopinion writer for the "washington post" f distinguished professor of history at american university and jonathon alter, columnist for "the daily beast." i'd like you to put this in historical context for us on the assumption that the deal works. let's all agree if the deal doesn't work and if iran is cheating within a year and the whole thing falls apart this was not a big historic day. now let's entertain the possibility that what iran has agreed to in this deal, it actually does do, and this deal ends up working and removing iran from the possible nuclear powers in the world. >> this deal is a great historical importance. by the way, it's going to work for the same reason the soviets back in the cold war days a much more formidable foe aadhered to treaties because it is greatly in iran's interest to adhere to this treaty. you don't build a nuclear weapon in a truck under a tamplt it will be detektd thaep sajss will snap in and they will be a pariah state. why is this important? numb

e.j. dionne. chester ellis of georgetown.been our great friend in understanding the papacy. and a wonderful priest, kevin o'brien. that does it for me this evening and our live coverage of pope francis celebrating mass in madison square garden in new york city. it's been an honor to work with brian and the others. by the way, here comes the pope. i'm going to hold off my pope. here we watch the motorcycle escort coming up madison avenue, i believe, on the east side of new york. it's a great place to walk late at night, by the way. and the pope comes to new york, a cultural phenomenon in itself exemplified by the over-the-top, wonderful performance by the cardinal. we don't see the fiat yet. but you'll notice it when it does come by because it's not like these black mariahs that everybody else is driving. there it is. there we got it. here we got it. and he usually waves. you can see him in the car. tles. the pope waving out the window, out the window. so he's saying good night to us as we go off our broadcast. join me tomorro

. >> e.j. dionne, he has said he will not touch any deductions involved charitable giving and he will not touch anything about the mortgage interest deduction, which is one of the single biggest expenditures in the tax code. and so he has no answer, absolutely no answer to what would he actually change. he's talked about these deductions being unfair and obsolete. he doesn't seem to know what they are. >> well, i think after that tough questioning from bill o'reilly, he's going to announce another ten-minute boycott of fox news. he asked him the mosts byic question. and here's, i think, the problem trump is running into. he was running as the anti-politician. and now he is behaving exactly like the politicians whom people say they dislike. the politicians who don't give straight answers. his tax plan is amazing. because he's been out there saying over and over again, i'm going to raise taxes on the rich. and every analysis so far, especially if he doesn't even get rid of those deductions, which aren't

i want to bring in e.j. dionne, a good friend of ours from "the washington post." what are you seeing here, benefits to the other candidates as now they are less by one? >> well, i don't think rick perry was occupying very much space so i'm not sure what they have to pick up. one thing that chuck said, the bible verse went through my head from ecclesiastes, a time to every purpose under heaven. the secular translation -- timing is everything. chuck is absolutely right, his time, rick perry's time was 2012. and while chuck is absolutely right that he was really taking a hit for his relatively liberal position on immigration, he was pretty well set up to be the conservative alternative to mitt romn romney. he took a hit on immigration and then the oops moment that took him out, he lost his chance. the other candidate in the same position is chris christie, although he's still in the race. the last time around was his time, too, and he may have a case of bad timing. but in terms of the other candidates, i just don't think there's enough space there. maybe a little hel

also with us again, e.j. dionne.olls have a mixed message, hillary clinton a very solid lead in national polls. we have other polls in new hampshire showing bernie sanders in a very big lead over the matchups there. but it's in one-on-one matchups that joe biden will probably be pointing to to make his case when he's convincing people to back his campaign if he gets in. >> yeah. i think the argument is joe biden matches up better against the democrats than republicans. we've seen this over and over again the last month or so. whether it's against bush or trump. he polls three or four points better than clinton does or sanders does. if he gets in the race, it will be one of his better arguments. >> e.j., let's look -- in these one-on-one matchups, ben carson is the now the strongest republican matched one-on-one against any democrat. how did that happen? >> i will bet you a stack of thomas merton books that won't be true a month from now. i just don't think it's going to happen. but i was astounded by that. but it see

e.j. dionne from msnbc and the washington post. thank you for your time. >>> bernie sanders will be rachel's guest here on thursday night. that's a conversation you don't want to miss between the two of them. >>> lots more ahead including the exclusive interview with a woman who helped two murders escape from pris on. >>> the craziest of the day which i promise has nothing to do with donald trump. so please stay with us. ooñóokñ.??????ó >>> what could actually stop donald trump? how do you stop the seemingly unstoppable republican frontrunner? that's the question his rivals are facing in a debate this week. we'll take a close look at some real answers just ahead. . >>> i'm watching television, and they said trump is surging with women. i said, that's incredible. i make statements -- carly has given me a little bit of a hard time, even though her poll numbers are horrible. look, i like carly, and i like ben, and i like many of the people that i'm running against. i mean many of these people are terrific people. but nobody is going t

joining me now are e.j. dionne and shira center. thank you both for being here. >> good to be here, reverend. >> e.j., what do you make of trump seemingly toning down on jeb bush and hinting at future attacks on ben carson? >> i've got certain things to say, reverend, but i don't think i'm going to say them. that's just a remarkable thing he said. i think that he is really like one of those television series where they're trying to keep you off balance. he's trying to keep people off balance and tuning in for the next show. but i do think when you look at the numbers particularly in iowa, ben carson is actually, at least at this moment, a threat to donald trump. because he is as much of an outsider as trump is. he has a much quieter demeanor. he has -- appears to have a much greater appeal to evangelical voters who matter a lot out in iowa, so i suppose at some point trump is going to have to take ben carson on. but as those numbers showed, his favorability is so high, ben carson's is, that trump might pay a higher price going after

e.j. dionne from msnbc and the washington post. thank you for your time. >>> bernie sanders will be rachel's guest here on thursday night. that's a conversation you don't want to miss between the two of them. >>> lots more ahead including the exclusive interview with a woman who helped two murders escape from pris on. >>> the craziest of the day which i promise has nothing to do with donald trump. so please stay with us. the drought is affecting all of us. at pg&e we've definitely put a focus on helping our agricultural customers through the drought. when they do an energy efficiency project and save that money they feel it right in their pocket book. it's exciting to help a customer with an energy efficiency project because not only are they saving energy but they are saving water. we have a lot of projects at pg&e that can help them with that and that's extremely important while we're in a drought. it's a win for the customer and it's a win for california. together, we're building a better california. >>> what could actually stop

. >> joining us now is e.j. dionne, columnist for the "washington post" and msnbc contributor. geek to you. what effect are we seeing here in the trump and bernie surges on the rest of the field, particularly hillary? >> good to be with you, ari. tonight you saw a really interesting contrast. there are a lot of people who say trump and bernie are both kind of the same, both outsider protest candidates. here are you donald trump who spent the first half hour of his speech talking about himself, talking about his contract and arnold schwarzenegger taking his old job and all that stuff. then you had bernie sanders go to liberty university, he quotes the prophet amos, he quotes the gospel of matthew talking about wanting to to treat others the way they treat you. it was a totally different thing. they may both be drawing angry people, people mad about the status quo, but they're very different candidates. i know what he bernie did today was a great thing. i think the proposition he laid out there that people should talk to those they disagree with was very good and good for those l

e.j. dionne, thank you.will meet with the bishops, but it's the image so far this day, the lasting image of these children one by one being plucked from the crowds who gathered there, as pointed out, some making great sacrifice to be there to have the opportunity to see this humble holy man of great grace. so we will continue to follow the pope's journey, as mentioned, this prayer service at st. matthew will be followed by the canonization mass of junipero serra. and then on to catholic charyties with the pope will meet with some 200 homeless individuals. then on thursday, addressing the most powerful men and women in this country on capitol hill. we'll have much more for you with coverage continuing throughout the day. i'm tamron hall. up next, my colleague, andrea mitchell. ♪ queso dip ♪ ♪ haven't been this lost in years ♪ (gps) ♪ recalculating shortest route ♪ ♪ do i really look like this? ♪ ♪ never seen this one before ♪ chicken parm you taste so good ♪ i like it. ♪ mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmmm as we age

. >> i want to thank e.j. dionneashington post." >> good to be with you. >>> is there a possible lesson from the animal kingdom? a female snake in missouri did something quite unusual on her own. we have details ahead. >>> next, why a big moment at wednesday's republican debate may be a turning point in the movement to legalize marriage marria marijuana. you're watching "up with steve kornacki" stay with us. hey babe, last one home cooks? ♪ ♪ ♪ another tie. order in? next time i drive. the right-sized nissan rogue. ♪ if you have moderate to severe ...isn't it time to let the... ...real you shine... ...through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase... ...the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you

e.j." joseph dionne jr.: it's a real honor to be here today with my two presidents -- president obama and president degioia. and my friend, david brooks, hurled the most vicious insult at me ever once when he said that i was the only person he ever met whose eyes lit up at the words, "panel discussion." and i have to confess my eyes did light up when i was asked to do this particular panel discussion -- and not just for the obvious reason, to my left -- and, again, it's a real honor to be with you, mr. president -- or arthur or bob. isolate the extraordinary -- i salute the externally people gathered here for the poverty summit of all religious traditions all over the country. our friend jim wallace once said, if you cut everything jesus said about the poor out of the gospel you have a book full of holes. and these are evangelicals, catholics and others who understand what the scripture said. points, theanizing first is when it's time to go, please keep your seat so the president can be escorted out. the other is that bob and arthur and i all agreed that we should direct somewhat more attention to

e.j. dio e dionne, emily mcintosh, thank you all again for joining us. o play what rand paul had to say about donald trump's policy positions. take a listen to this. >> he's been for obamacare. he's also been for the government stimulus package that president obama put forward that he was for the government bailing out the banks. these are all the things really that got me motivated to run for office because i was opposed to every one of them. and donald trump's been on the other side of every one of those. >> he also called him a, quote, fake conservative. do you think this is going to be the theme tonight, that candidates are going after trump on issues and that he is a fake conservative, as they said? >> i think that a lot of candidates are going to do that, but i don't think telling donald trump's base that he's not a real conservative is going to be persuasive to them. first of all, trump has been pretty open that he has changed his mind on some things. that he used to be a democrat. and i think they just view these attacks on him as unfair. they jus