specter of ron paul potentially winning iowa and becoming the republic no, ma'am he knee. >> eric: tammy, john makes a good point. >> yeah. >> eric: difference between establishment republicans and conservative republicans. some would call them tea party republicans or farther right republicans. >> romney 25 could be considered establishment. 75 may not be romney. could be all congregating behind one candidate. who is that one. >> cope in mind iowa in 2008, huckabee won and then you had romney and then you had fred thompson and mccain came in fourth. you are logs at a have a rite of different factors. how these men and win respond where they actually do have to go around. romney just got the george h.w.en doors. the same with the dan yil endorsement. for the first time the american people are really having a say and we are saying enough of business as usual. we want answers. we are going to ask hard questions and we want the people to perform. >> eric: are we saying that? there are knows on the right who would say that the established republic is business as usual. >> of course. clearly. this

. >> eric johns' original charge was for sexual battery. prison, he was released on probation. but when a urine test proved positive for marijuana, he was back in the miami-dade county jail. >> i am a three-time loser. this makes my third time. once you are in the system, you will be back. >> eric johns was definitely a loner in the jail system, but he developed his own method of survival. he told us how during his first stay in jail he sent a message to ward off any predatory inmates. >> the first time i came in, the first thing i did was i looked for the biggest guy in the unit and decked him. that's how i lost my front teeth. i got my teeth knocked out. but, they said at that point, either that guy is crazy or he's bad, but we're going to leave him alone. he just ain't worth it. it worked. i am a caucasian male, i speak english. i'm educated. i'm the oddball and i realize that. actually, this looks like one of the better meals. you should be here on pigeon night. i think they call it chicken night everywhere else. there is nothing in her

john, we heard eric cantor at the top of the show essentially saying everything is fine. ow the ball's in the court of the senate. john boehner and i agree on everything. but we're seeing fissures. >> i'm having a little trouble with audio. let's see if we can get that fixed in just a moment. >> john, the question i was asking is, do we know, is there, the reporting by politico, is there any evidence that we do see a split, whether it's between john boehner and eric cantor or whether it's between john boehner and eric cantor and the rest of the republican conference? sure looks like that from the outside? >> chris, your audio is just coming back to me, i have the gist although i did not hear every word. as john allen and kim wrote this morning, john boehner has had a very, very difficult time under the best of circumstances. his job is hurting. there's clearly disarray among republicans over how to handle the confrontation with president obama over the payroll tax and that disarray difference between republicans in the senate or republicans in the house and clearly differe

was there a misunderstanding between mitch mcconnell and john boehner and eric cantor? >> i can't speak to that but i do know that the house republican conference and the speaker has been resolute about saying, and the president has been resolute about saying that this needs to be at least a year. the president as recently as last week said we're going to stay in town until we get this solved for a year. that's what the house did. we passed the bill that covers it for a year for payroll tax holiday and the unemployment benefits and two years for medicare payments for seniors. and the solution is there, the question is, isn't whether or not we're going to extend these things, the question is how long it's going to be and that's why you have a conference committee. >> i want to play you something that john mccain, you mentioned the senate versus the house, i want to play you something that john mccain, the arizona senator, had to say about house republicans voting down the deal. >> it seems to me that republican leaders and harry reid and the speaker and congresswoman pel

. >> eric johns was originally conwitted of sexual assault.e's back in jail for violating his parole. >> there's nothing in here that fascinates me or that makes me happy. this is as close to a living hell as i think i ever want to come. >> the hardest thing, from my point of view, is just the consistent isolation. >> 39-year-old darrell robinson was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl and is currently appealing his case. >> my family hired a private attorney. he strongly suggested that i take a plea. telling me that if that little girl cries on the stand, you know, it could be over for you and you could go away for the rest of your life. and that was life in prison without any parole. and i was ignorant to the system. never even had a parking ticket. so i took a plea and that began the worstest nightmare of my life. i just lay in my bunk and i just read. that's all. i read and i look out. and i think about one day not being in here. i think about one day this will all be over with. ♪ america america ♪ ♪ god shed his gray on thee ♪ ♪

eric john williams. george williams. stephanie williams. miriam levee wolf. chelsea marie woods. edra woods. joe nathan would. joe nathan woods jr.. mark james zenberg. we remember. [silence] [silence] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [silence] >> we are going to go a little bit out of order. we are going to have bob mueller but we're moving up the attorney general. probably because he has to leave and can't stay. he will stay as long as he can. the attorney general, if there is a job in government that gets more criticism than transportation security administration is it is the attorney general. i just want them both to know that that is not true here. you are both among friends here. we are very grateful for what both of you have done to keep this country safe. the attorney-general, a number of people called and said how did you get the attorney general to come speak. we didn't invite him. we didn't invite bob mueller. they wanted to come and talk to us. the attorney general and bob mueller worked on this case 20 years ago when they were in the u.s. attorney's office. no one knows this

we are firm eric holder and john brennan at the ceremony held at arlington national cemetery. this is just over an hour. >> we remember them. john, michael, churned ahearn, sir margaret aker. john david akers stram. ronald eli alexander. thomas joseph ammerman. martin lewis applebaum. rachel marie as. william derrick tan hack incentives for. jerry don averitt. clare louise takeo e. harry michael bainbridge. stuart murray parkway. she very. julianne maclean canelo. lawrence and it. >> philip byrne and work strong. alastair david or clay. michael stewart ornstein. stephen russell burrell. no well teddy bear tea. diane boatman fuller. stephen john boland. clan john. paula marie. the call elyse baran shape. francis boyer. nicholas wright. daniel solomon browner. colleen renÉe renner. tennessee tried byrne and. >> volant mass boosts. william martin cavin. scott marsh kerry. laurie kennedy. thackeray to pose. timothy and michael corral. richard anthony tony. eric michael coker. jason michael coker. bridget kim conan. sean concannon. >> tracy jane corner. willis larry coursey. patric

boehner because eric cap thor is busy driving the knife into john boehner's back. ic captor has sort of taken himself to be the representative of the rowdy tea party caucus and the thorn in bainers a side every time he has a grand bar gape. your point about gingrich v romney, we talked about this on the show, this is part of the larger cleave in the republican party, a group of very archconservative, deficit above all else, incredibly right-wing republicans against the establishment and that's exactly what you see in the capped dash so i was newt gingrich and mitt romney and the split in their supporters. now, richard, if we were to ask boehner and someone did whether or not he caved, here's what he said. >> sometimes it's politically difficult do the right thing. may not have about politically the smartest thing in the world but i'm going to tell you what, i think our members waged through a good fight, we were able to come to an agreement, able to fix what -- what came out of the senate. >> am i -- am i crazy or is this position i tried do the best i could but thi

. >> i watched the news conference the other day with eric cantor and john boehner. they appeared to be ready to deal. >> they are ready to deal about the payroll tax cut because they are getting hit with that. i think it is really the payroll tax. people who are favoring the rich and not the middle and lower classis. they do not want to be seen in that light. if you are saying we want to extend the bush tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year, but we do not want to extend a payroll tax cut for people making considerably less, it puts you in a political unpleasant situation, let's say that way. >> the -- everything the administration has done, the legislation introduced, had been making in narrative of class war. republicans are the protectors of the rich. obama cannot run on ideology. obamacare, stimulus. he can run on stewardship. -- he can not run on stewardship. the country is in bad shape. he will run on class warfare. there is nobody that things a one-year or two-year holiday will have any effect on employment. >> excuse me. >> purely a political p

they were-- >> eric can tore and john boehner are not the tea party. >> they were held hostage by the tea party. >> they were not held hostage boehner was ready to do a deal. >> the parameters at the last minute-- >> nobody is asking the question do we need this this economy a payroll tax cut extension? is anybody really having that serious issue thinking about it, because the economy is improving, right. >> and i do find it interesting when push comes to shove even on the part of this administration, the best way to do for the economy is apparently, to cut a tax and this payroll tax, and the wisdom of that, but it does seem interesting that those who are the biggest proponents of spending realize that when you're up against the wall, you just cut taxes. >> well, but the more interesting part that the republicans who have been arguing against it the past several weeks and what do they think about that one? >> isn't it be absurd you want to cut the tax by raising taxes. >> neil: raising the taxes on-- >> think about how absurd the obama presidency has been? >> that's not very fair and

. >> i watched a news conference with john boehner and eric cantor, and they seemed ready to deal. >> they were ready to deal with the payroll tax cut because -- >> there is other legislation, too. >> they do not want to be associated with people who favor the rich. people making $75,000 or less. if you want to extend the bush tax cuts for people who are making more than $250,000 a year, but we do not want to extend the payroll tax cut for people who make considerably less, it puts you in a political unpleasant situation. >> it is all about politics. everything the administration has done, all the legislation it has introduced, was aimed at making a narrative for the election year of class war. republicans are the protectors of the rich. obama cannot run on ideology, obamacare, stimulus. something he is touting. he cannot run on stewardship, the country is in bad shape. he will run on class warfare. the payroll tax, there is no way that things a one-year holiday is going to have any affect on employment. it is purely a political ploy. that will be used for the campaign. all i'm saying

it is hard to negotiate with a negotiating committee that consists of john boehner, eric cantor the madd the white rabbit. >> i can negotiate thwith that. >> dues see up by one. one to go. sports illustrated swimsuit edition came out this week. some of the models turned up on letterman. >> the good things about appearing in the sports illustrated swimsuit edition. >> it helps the mobile prize in modeling. >> under the tax form i can write hot. >> that's what i do. >> best selling swimsuit issue of all time was in 1989. which featured whom on the cover kathy ireland, ella mcpherson, kournikova? rachel hunter. >> the answer is kathy ireland. makes furniture or something. >> got that right. it is a tie. >> the great american news quiz. how much do you know, it's a very interesting question for you. the quiz is next. >> the great american quiz. after a team of navy seals carried out the bin laden mission i asked a former seal about his training. >> the cold and the water are the equalizers. not being able to breathe is not being able to breathe. doesn't matter how tough you are. that's goin

eric: oh. >> kimberly: compare like pope john paul ii with -- i'm going on.i jumped the fence. >> kimberly: that is why -- >> bob: i thought we were on women. >> kimberly: this is a free for all. andrea, go with it. >> andrea: margaret thatcher should be number one. >> kimberly: i said guys and you said margaret thatcher. >> andrea: sorry. abilit.billy graham. bill clinton. there is margaret thatcher. we are all over the place. >> kimberly: okay. we're going over the men. what do we got -- a full screen for the guys? president barack obama is on top. then president george w. bush coming in second. third, president clinton followed by as andrea referenced reverend billy graham and the warren buffett in that order. i can't believe buffett is that high. >> greg: no carrot top. >> kimberly: who cares about that? >> bob: eric said while you talk about that, this is what we're doing. when the men are up, we do men. when the women are up, we do -- >> eric: i'm confused. >> bob: you are on top of this game. >> eric: there are some women that may be -- i don't want to

i think eventually they will get there, but john boehner and eric cantor are saying we have a processere and our members need to be heard. and one practical point, the two-month extension actually doesn't work. you need a full year extension for the guys who actually do all the payroll stuff to make it work effectively. so it screws up things not to get extended for a full year. the big problem is how do you pay for it and that's where the big fight it and that's what eric is talking about and that is where the big fight is. >> now, i want to talk numbers. nbc/wall street journal. this is before this whole big fight. approve of democrats in congress, 31% approve. approve of republicans in congress, 26% approve. we know we've got record low numbers. this does not help, correct? >> yeah, you're right. we're down to 11% approval for congress overall. if you test, though, democrats versus republicaninsrepublicans seeing democrats soar. >> which is remarkable given the historical advantage republicans have had. >> obama has a double-digit advantage on being for the middle class. keep this

that poking me in the back and turned around and it was eric cantor with the shift you know well you know look i mean i've long said you know john boehner has become kind of like the speaker in name only eric cantor really runs the house of representatives on these any real question about that we this is the first time that bayer has been has been pulled back on his leash you know by by mr cantor and we know from what senator schumer said on saturday that they did have a deal that better you know came to the table the mcconnell had requested kind of a pre-built conference with the house and senate republican leadership they had an agreement so the house because it really yes he's either he's lying and anybody doesn't realize he's line assumes he's incompetent we know exactly that and look at the big fear in the house as i understand it is you look at that you look at those numbers in the senate bill eighty nine. it's ten i can't remember a vote that was eighty nine to ten such a bipartisan success story in this congress that's like you know he is apple pie and mother a good thing you know yeah and i think they're real fear in th

john boehner who is up on the screen now and eric cantor are not running the show.is. and while they want to reduce spending and cut size and scope of government, they don't want inflexibility or intransigence. that is what they are getting. >> rick: do you want to respond to that? that john boehner and eric cantor, republican leaders in house are not running the show? >> i think they are running the show. but to dug's point, if the republicans want to hold the house and win the senate, they have to do two things. first, refine their message on entitlement reform, regulatory reform and tax reform. they have to show it promotes job growth. when it comes to certain fiscal legislation in congress, they have to work with the democrats to push wide fiscal legislation. if they can do that, they will hold the house and win the senate. >> rick: you know, doug, if i had a dollar for every time i had too say the word "getting close to a government shutdown" over the last 12 months, i wouldn't have to be sitting here as much as i'm enjoying talking to you both. but i think tha

is away from the tea party tax increase speaker of the house in name only john boehner still terrified by eric cantor the tea party and is still blocking a vote on the senate's two month payroll tax cut extension which by the way was agreed upon last weekend by ninety percent of the senate democrats and republicans president obama has called john boehner this morning on the phone urging him to pass the senate's compromise bill being a once again refused and now prominent republicans are conceding that this fight is lost and that the republicans have been outplayed and that their and that their knowledge is doing damage to their own party. it is harming the republican party it is harming the view if it's possible anymore of the american people about congress and we've got to get this thing resolved and with the realization that the payroll tax cut must remain in effect you have the country who may or may not be paying attention to every dodge of this this fight thinking that house republicans are blocking the president who wants to pass a tax cut the republicans are a bit internally played obam

republicans hold their secret messianic rituals in honor of their overlord grover norquist or be john boehner and eric cantor brawl about to see who gets to be speaker boehner has won every time so far but the fights are getting closer and closer or see they play their favorite game pin the tail on the donkey except it's an actual donkey and it hurts but if it or some other option well tom i think it was colonel mustard with the candle stick in the drawing room that was. every time i turn on c.-span louie gohmert is talking so i don't know when the camera's not on he's also you know. i don't know i heard the gavel bang down and then that's it it's over because because hoyer wants to stay in an empty room and talk to nobody i guess that's his prerogative disappears yeah it is you're ok my theory is that the tea party congressmen take off their human suits and frolic as lizard people. it's new to me ok you deal say i'm chris thank you all a merry christmas to marry because of you two years showing. coming up coming up in today's daily take a lesson the wall street used to work for. what drives the world

it's hard to negotiate with a negotiating committee that consists of john boehner, eric cantor, the madter or the white rabbit. >> bill: what's the problem? i can negotiate with them. it's easier than negotiating with you, barn. all right. doocy up by one. one to go. "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition came out this week. some of the models turned up on letterman. >> the category, good things about appearing in the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition. >> it helps my chances for the swimsuit prize on modeling. on the tax form under occupation i can write hot. >> that's what i would do. best selling swimsuit issue of all time was in 1989 si. which featured whom on the cover? >> bill: cards up, please. the answer is cathy ireland our pal who makes furniture now or something. you got that right so it's a tie. >> sweet. >> so it is. >> bill: jesse watters visits adults in costumes. it wasn't even halloween. >> watters' world, we are trying to get a handle on exactly how many americans know exactly what's going on in this country. we do know that never before have there been so many diver

dysfunctional dysfunction alt, the person ingendering dysfunction alt is eric cantorment without eric cantor, i think john could have moved the caucus forward and not dealing with the mess that we are now dealing with which we'll talk about later in the show. >> i think when people that i is congress is dysfunctional, both sides are at fault. the republicans turned into a purely obstructionist force. they don't want anything to pass that could be a credit to the president. and they're unwilling to produce what they say they want, ie, balanced budget. they won't cut spending. they think the tax cuts, they want more of are somehow compatible with the fiscal argument they make. and it's not. it's incoherent and dishonest and prevented anything from happening. >> i would say, i mean it's not necessarily 100% fair to call them totally dysfunctional. they are functioning at the last minute. we're going to get this bill passed. we're going to get them out of town this weekend with 7% approval rating. they're not going to wreck the economy by allowing taxes to go back up on the middle class. >> we have our finger

here's house majority leader eric cantor and senator john mccain earlier today saying just that. >> ihat the president should play much more of a lead role rather than go shopping for his dog. maybe call these people over to the white house, as the previous four presidents that i've served under, would have done. >> i saw the president out yesterday doing his christmas shopping, saw he brought his dog with him. you know, we're here. he could bring his dog up here. we are pet friendly. >> that's pretty geeky stuff, if you think about these two guys, giving him trouble for going christmas shopping for an hour or two. let's see, the republicans went after franklin roosevelt for his dog in '44, and nixon played a big defender of his dog back in 1950, checkers, of course. now president obama's getting attacked by republicans for his dog. human tricks, they never change. >>> up next, let's go to the videotape, the top political videos of 2011 on youtube. you're watching "hardball." by the way, stick around for kathleen, the queen, she's coming on later on "hardball" tonight. only on msnbc.

john boehner and eric canter are holding a press conference. we're certainly watching that podium. they will be talking about this payroll tax cut stalemate again. this is an ongoing stalemate going on in washington. president obama delayed a trip to hawaii. so he can try to get something going there. we expect them to come to the podium soon. we'll try to listen to them when they do. >>> late this morning, president obama is going to talk about the impasse. we'll hear more about that coming up at 7:15, during a live report from our washington, d.c. bureau. >>> right now, oakland police officers are starting to spread some christmas spirit. ktvu's kraig debro has the details on what some lucky families and children are getting. good morning, kraig. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, dave. this is the oakland police officers association. this is the union's christmas basket. what they do is collect toys, put them in the back of patrol cars and give them to needy kids. there is kind of a santa -- he's out of uniform there. how many years have you been doing this? >> we've been doing th