with me now, jim messina, the man responsible for re-electing the president and heading this new non-profitugural parade. this is a busy time for you jim, huh? >> hi, craig, how are you? it's busy, but a lot of fun. >> let's start with this new group here. it's set up like a 501 -- it's set up as a 501c4 group which is different from a super pac. it's able to legally coordinate with the white house. how do you think that's going to help the mission? >> look. we went out and surveyed our members across the country and two things became very apparent. one, they wanted to stay together. they had built something very special through two very tough presidential campaigns and two, they wanted to continue to work on the issues that motivated them to get involved with barack obama in the first place. you talked about them, the economy. immigration reform, climate change. all things that we care very deeply about and so as we looked at how to do that, the structure made the most sense. it allows us to coordinate with the white house and continues to run a grassroots operation that takes the fight ou

the chairman of the new group will be a man named jim messina. jim messina in charge of this thing means this is not a place where emeritus your friends to keep them on the payroll. this is something that is going to be an active operation with some of the biggest guns in politics at the helm of it. democrats are turning their brightest lights from the two successful campaigns of this president into a political operation that will operate throughout president obama's second term. nobody has any idea what that is going to be like or how that is going to work, because nobody has ever done this before in american politics. joining us now to talk about the inauguration and this development in our politics is dan rather, the anchor and managing editor of dan rather reports on axs tv. happy inauguration day. thank you for joining us. >> happy inauguration day to you, and what a job you have done, rachel, and what a day for the country. one can be blase about a lot. but we can't be blase about a day like this where a reelected person of color becomes pr

. >> the nonprofit that was launched today, organizing for action, i spoke with jim messina, a few minutes ago about it. it plans to bring the president's second term agenda forward. what can you tell me about the president's plan to take his goods agenda on the road campaign style? >> reporter: well, i can tell you, craig that, according to senior administration officials the president and vice president will be hitting the road in the days and weeks after the inauguration to sell their proposal for stiffer gun laws and gun safety package. it's a strategy they feel has been successful in the past. they used it during the fiscal cliff fight, the student loan debate and they feel it's a way to rally the american public on their side and to pressure congress to act. it has been successful in the past, will it be in this instance? of course, that is a big question mark. this is a very controversial issue. but the polls show that the president has the majority of america on his side. the wall street journal poll shows that americans favor stiffer gun laws so that is his plan moving forward. >>

obama 2012 campaign manager, jim messina will head that group. be separate from the democratic national committee. >>> hillary clinton will step down as secretary of state with the vast majority of the country approving of the job she's done. an nbc news poll finds that 69% of americans approve of the job she's done while only 25% disapprove. secretary clinton widely seen as the early favorite to get the democratic nod for president in 2016, although she has not said whether she's interested in running. >>> it is now 4:49. feel free to tweet and text away during monday's inauguration. the biggest cell phone carriers are making sure you don't lose service during the inauguration. this is a much bigger issue than it was for the first inauguration four years ago. more than 130 million americans now you have smartphones according to the wireless association. just 41 million had smartphones in 2009. cell phone carriers are encouraging you to send text messages instead of making calls. phone calls use more of the network. >>> metro is offering an inaug

one at a ball where a lot of military veterans were, and then two other events and jim messina was gettingy: dude you are milking it. >> i know. a lot of energy and a lot of happy people. >> joy: when you are performing do you turn around and look at the audience like the president just did. >> i think we should all savor moments in our lives. but was like almost an avita moment. [ laughter ] >> and it was a lot of progressive tones -- >> jennifer: you liked it? >> i did like it. i love cenk but -- >> jennifer: i like cenk too. the president placed his hand on two bibles, and you didn't like that. >> it's all symbolism. i think they should put their hand on the u.s. constitution or u.s. book of laws and john quincy adams was the only president to do that. i'm somewhat religious, my position is not anti-bible or anti-god. this is the basis of our government and our genesis. and there is nothing more powerful than the president putting his hand on the u.s. constitution. it's our supreme law of the land. >> jennifer: but he is taking an oath to uphold the constitution. >> sure, we all know it

jim messina will be leading the staff.ign was the most sophisticated of modern times in its use of micro targeting data to identify and mobilize voters but messina told "politico"'s michael len at a breakfast shortly after the campaign his own i.t. guru acknowledged the extraordinary machine the obama campaign built couldn't be put to the service of any other candidate. >> in the end all these people in his room and in every door were doing it because of barack obama. we got people to take massive pay cuts and give away golden parachutes because they wanted to work for barack obama. >> the new obama group will be separate from the pro-obama superpac and separate from the democratic national committee, a sign, according to "politico," of the white house's disaffection with d.n.c. chair debby wasserman schultz, described as never enjoying a close relationship with the president. you're all going to be coming to washington for the inaugural, we trust? >>steve: we're not. we're going to start coverage sunday morning with the s

jim messina and other familiar faces. stephanie cutter, robert gibbs and david axelrod. has now won two big races. although the republicans note campaign style pressure on the moderate democrats like saturday joe manchin over gun control may not play well in red states like west virginia. >> they found this for example in the battle over healthcare where they took the people they had in 2008 and found it difficult to motivate them on behalf of the healthcare initiative. >> the president begins his second term with 47% of the country approving of his job performance in a new fox poll. 18 points lower than four years ago. the public appears frustrated about the fiscal cliff deal. when asked whether their paycheck is smaller this year because more taxes are being taken out, 60% said yes. only 25% no. >> shovel ready was nots shovel ready as we expected. >> now comes word the president's job council, business and labor leaders tasked with helping the deal with stubbornly high unemployment has not had an official meeting in the full year. white house officials note the presid

obama 2012 campaign manager, jim messina will head the committee and it will be separate from the democratic national committee. >>> hillary clinton will step down as secretary of state with a 69% approval rating according to a wall street journal nbc news poll. 25% of those surveyed disapprove of her performance as america's top diplomat. secretary clinton is widely seen as the early favorite to get the democratic mod ford president in 2016. president obama tapped senator john kerry as the next secretary of state. >>> happening today, maryland's governor slated to propose measures to make it easier to cast a vote in maryland. according to the washington post, governor martin o'malley will push for a bill to expand early voting and also to allow maryland residents to register to vote and cast ballots on the same day. the bill faces opposition for republicans in the general assembly. the gop has long fought similar measures. they say it opens the door to voter fraud. >>> 6:46 now. today, leaders in prince george's county will help unveil a new gun safety proposal. maryland governor martin o'm

political presidential campaign into an organizing outfit now called organizing for action, that jim messinarge of. so i think he is aiming for those far away fences for things you would like to see him do, chris, but it's going to happen. not just if he wants to do it, but if he can mobilize enough political support to try to get over some of that republican obstructionism. >> joan, the same question. did you see the beef today? terms of substantive accomplishments worthy of a second term? >> i did, chris. it was a soaring speech. it was an inspiring speech. but it was also as david said practical nuts and bolts, talking about the highway system, talking about we don't want people standing in line for hours to vote. talking about we're not going to make a false choice between investing in our children and investing in our seniors. i know they're talking. i'm very excited that they're talk about how to expand prekindergarten programs to more kids. in our country, we have this horrible situation where the rich get richer in every way. so affluent kids, upper middle class kids absolutely go to

we have emails from jim messina in our inboxes. the campaign part of this piece is not going anywhere. i will also say i do not know what will happen with an assault weapons ban. nancy lanza purchased the bushmaster rifle in 2010. that would be some evidence that perhaps maybe we should get bushmasters off. >> connecticut has its own -- >> nancy lanza purchased her -- if you go state by state, you're always going to be porous. if you had a national ban on the bushmaster rifle, she would not have had one in her house. we'll continue the conversation after the break. empassioned defenses or idealogical trolls? >> trolling is a key part of the conservative entertainment/media business model. these guys say stuff all the time that they do not intend to be persuasive. they're not trying to explain something or to bring people along to their way of thinking. they're just doing something to attract attention, and hopefully condemnation and outrage from the mainstream and particularly from liberals. they want to offend you. they seek to of

we see jim messina. without him, this may not have taken place.n manager for the obama re-election campaign. his role as significant as anybody, perhaps, in helping to make this day a reality for those who supported the president over the course of the last year. messina will now be running that vast array of names, list of names and supporters that the president has been able to take advantage of as they try to use that lift to help pursue some of his initiatives including an effort to pursue gun control in the weeks and months ahead. matt? >> as we take a look here, we now know that this inauguration day is under way in earnest. vehicles departing from the white house where they'll have a quick coffee with the bipartisan leadership as well as the lead organizers on this day with senator schumer. as you said, no question this job changes a person. having been president now for four years. >> they talk about the change that some close advisers and friends have seen of president obama, in the article it talks about the man who wanted to change the

. >> organizing for action which is now headed by jim messina has only been doing what broadly listedthat may reflect to some degree a timing question at this point. but i want to get you on one other issue while we have you here for a little bit of time. that's on immigration. the president giving two interviews today. he's got a big speech coming up. of course, he had one on tuesday. where does the white house go from here? the notion they're making progress earlier in the show, we were talking about that. people like rush limbaugh has been widely reported softening the rhetoric. what's your sense of people close to the white house on what they need to do now as the right sort of still marinates in this decision? >> well, i think that the tactic is slight different when it comes to immigration. yesterday you heard president obama really embrace that bipartisan plan that came out of the senate. but at the same time saying if there isn't action quickly that he's going to put forward his own plan. identify been speaking to officials here who say right now it is important for the presid

obama 2012 campaign manager jim messina will head the committee. it will be separate from the democratic national committee. >>> hillary clinton will step down as america's top diplomat with a 69% approval rating. that's according to a wall street journal nbc poll. only 25% surveyed say they disapprove of her performance as secretary of state. secretary clinton is widely seen as the early favorite to get the democratic nod for president in 2016. president obama has tapped senator john kerry as the next secretary of state. >>> lawmakers in maryland have come up with a compromise in legislation over who is responsible for injuries from dangerous dogs. it would impress the impact of last year's court ruling that pit bulls are inherently dangerous. that decision made pet owners and landlords liable for dog attacks. new law clarifies responsibility and would apply to all breed, not just pit bulls and landlords would only be liable if they know or should have known that a dangerous dog was being housed on their property. >>> the original author of the de

jim messina is apparently going to head it. tell us why and what the purpose is, because arguably what the president really needs especially with congress is some organization that would have some impact on republican members. not on trying to organize democrats behind it. >> you know, if they're coming out of the election, there was an enormous amount of energy coming out of the election. tens of thousands of people volunteered their own time to re-elect this president, and as i said before, not just to re-elect this president, but to move an agenda forward. tens of thousands of people organized all over the country, wanting to continue working for change across the country. of the -- everybody that is on the obama e-mail list, we did -- we asked some questions after the election. what do you want to do? how do you want to affect change? we're not done yet. they're not done yet. organizing for action will be a very effective tool. to organize people all over the country. for the president's agenda, to move us forward, whether

supporters, i think obama's answer is, guess what, i have a lot more supporters, and the fact that jim messinand others are taking the obama campaign and translating this for an obama for america campaign that can begin to translate the enormous capacity out there, grassroots, social media, otherwise, tend of the day what i think we're going to have to see is very much what happened with mothers against drunk driving in the 1980s when mothers of victims of drunk driving deaths bound together in this country and created pressure in local communities to pressure president reagan to sign something and they changed the politics. that is clearly out there. it's just a question of tapping it at this point. >> we have that public support and that's part of why the nra has been so virulent in their response trying to shut down the voices of real people, of children, of victims, of mothers because they know that is -- they are the most potent messenge messengers. >> that's right. i think what you may be referring to are the initiatives in the states that some states are passing that says if you enforce

it's just, citizens united is a disaster, and we -- i talked to jim messina who, you know, who's so instrumental say this, but he feels that we need a constitutional amendment to protect voters' rights and to, and to also protect our elections from this, the pollution of this amazing amount of money. i agree with bonnie. i don't know if it's an auction, but it certainly is, the money is a distraction. it doesn't give us good information about who these people are. you know, noam chomsky who with i, forgive me, i love him -- [laughter] noam chomsky says that the size of a piece of information is to make it as short as it is today is an effective way of censoring. because it, basically, gives us the opportunity just to say something that people already know, you know? but the amount of time that it takes to contradict a sort of known, perceived consensus reality and receive wisdom to sort of disassemble that and to build in someone's mind and with a discussion and an argument another, an alternative way of seeing things, it just takes much too long for the way we communicate today. i don't know wh

>> one thing jim messina talked about is they threw out the '08 model and rebuilt this campaign. this is an important, intelligent, ideological discussion as well of not just building on what you have but think about how the future is going to be different and retool. i think the other thing, when you think what are the weaknesses of the party, we don't hold congress in the state legislatures, how do we rebuild at that level? there's an ideological sorting out we need to have. in the late '80s and early '90s, the moderates turned on the left of our party. what does the dlc democrats, the blue dogs and moderates look like. we want to take back legislatures, elect governors, not that we compromise principles, but talking the big ten, we want to be diverse. there's a diversity that we are less diverse than three or four years ago. >> mayor, this is the question of the democratic party in the south, right? when we look at the democratic party in the south, basically, it looks like you. it looks like mayors, it looks like folks in local and state legislatures. when we look at the gube

the organization led by familiar faces including robert gibbs, campaign manager jim messina, david axlerod and stephanie cutter and hear that drumming up support for gun control will be the team's first project. and welcome to the program, this is what team obama does very well, campaigning, and that now the approach to governing is going to be an extension of the campaign. in what way? >> well, no what you said is exactly right. when you think about it essentially ten years ago when the president started running for the senate seat that he first held, he's been in campaigning mode for about eight of those years. the only break he took was essentially the first twoors when he focused on the senate and moved into the 2008 campaign and essentially been preparing for the 2012 campaign. so as you said, this is what they do best. they've had problems dealing with congress in terms of just the regular sort of straight, you know, negotiations in getting things there, but he's very good at campaigning and his team is very good at campaigning and figure they'll go, essentially, around congress and

when you put together jim messina and david axelrod and stephanie cutter, the people who helped get barackce and say now we want this passed which is what's happening, anything can happen. is that a good thing? or not? we're going to have a fair and balanced debate on this legislation and what it would do if passed coming up in just a bit right here. >> an economic recovery has begun. america's possibilities are limitless for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands. diversity and openness, endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. >> megyn: the president on monday tried it to sound an optimistic tone when it comes to our economy, but after crunching the numbers some economists say we are now in the worst recovery in american history. meantime, the new survey finds that 72% of those polled believe that reducing the budget deficit should be a top priority in this country, and that's a jump of nearly 20 percentage points from just four years ago. and melissa francis is the anchor of "money with melissa francis" on fox business network. she's with me

bill: but the intent here, and familiar players, jim messina, david axelrod, stephanie cutter. robert gibbs, those are all people that have been with him for the past five plus years. but the idea is to push what the president believes are the right ideas and policies for the country regardless as to whether or not the democratic party is pushing for the same thing. >> there will be a tension. look, increasingly democrats my name is on the ballot in 14 or 16. u.s. is not, mr. president. what the heck are you doing putting me in a difficult place? let's not pass over the ethics issue. on the inaugural committee, we know the inaugural committee is collecting information everybody attending the inaugural and will give it over to outside groups. is one of those groups obama for america? do we really want the inaugural committee information given to the president's political arm to be used on behalf of his advocacy causes? there might be ethics questions about things like that that pop up. bill: is this something republicans need to counter with? is there something republicans have

that a lot of democrats a decision a lot of people don't like there's now a 501 c 4 headed up by jim messinae struck sure as karl rove's group. the question is, has the president acclimated himself to essentially playing by those rules. >> i love that you're trying to make bill the spokesperson for big money and special interest. >> i didn't do the super pac. he did it. don't look at me. >> you know what it's a big problem. there's too much money in politics and super pacs shouldn't exist and the way 5 0 1 cs allowed to be run is the fact that they can spend $100 million trying to influence the presidential election -- and regular voex that are supposed to have the right to impact the political system, don't. what you see from the president is say realization that to paraphrase donald rumsfeld you're dealing with the rules that you have, not the rules you wish you had. so in this environment where republicans are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to defeat health care reform, you have to ask the question -- well, what are democrats going to do? who are progressives going to do

the president's campaign is going to relaunch as a non-profit and former campaign manager jim messinaa 501 c4 they are allowed to accept donations and does not have to disclose where the sources are coming from but it will it says. vice president biden and his wife are going to be traveling to europe early next month. the vice president will meet with the german chancer will and british prime minister so discuss a full range of issues. a new gallup poll show that three-quarters of americans support term limits. jim demint who just retired after 13 years, proposed a constitutional amendment that would have limited senate service to 12 years. but it didn't get the support to move forward in both chambers. we're back after the break. stay with us. ♪ honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out fo

. >> turning it into under jim messina? right?ull-time kind of citizens pressure group. >> they tried to do this last time after the '08 election. of course, it was a different thing because then it was what do you do to sort of put something in that you will use for your own reelection. this is different if it takes hold and what's interesting going back to charlotte and the republicans is the republicans are now saying the democrats have sort of a permanent campaign operation. we need to do the same thing. this whole phrase, permanent campaign is joyous to any of us who cover politics and horrifying to anybody else. republicans opened four permanent campaign offices in wisconsin. basically like permanent field offices. >> in wisconsin. >> in wisconsin yeah. there is a little bit of an arms race going on. both sides are trying to, you know, have their own kind of grassroots way of pushing their causes. >> bill: david, give us your take on the new chief of staff announced on friday. >> obama himself said it was the least surprisin

for example, jim messina, in charge of the obama re-election campaign puts out a letter, among other things, saying take a look at the president's plan to reduce gun violence and stand with him in support. wayne lapierre, executive vice president of the nra issues a fundraising letter saying this. i warned you this day was coming and now it's here. it's not about protecting your children. it's not about stopping crime. it's about banning your guns, period. so what are we seeing here? a real political campaign. >> on the one side you have the grassroots organization that the obama for america team use. now, they can't coordinate with the white house, wolf, on this, but they are using all of their apparatus to get out their grass root supporters because what they are trying to do is mobilize voters in much the same way that the nra has done over the years, which w want something done. on the other side is the nra, which has a huge grassroots organization. they are trying to mobilize their own voters. you saw that e-mail. we spoke yesterday about this provocative ad talking about the pr

>> i bumped into jim messina, the president's campaign manager.diocese. he was walking in. so it's sort of interfaith as well, even though is episcopalian. you're going to see spiritual leaders of all faiths coming together for this prayer service. i mentioned as well family members, in addition to the president, first lady's daughters, mrs. robinson. i also saw craig robinson, who is the basketball coach at oregon state, the first lady's brother. he came in a short time ago. rather tall guy, waving to some of their supporters as they headed in. then i saw senator dick durbin from the president's home state of illinois. you'll probably see some congressional leaders as well. again, a chance to pause, a chance to reflect as they got ready for the start of this second term. we had been given guidance that the vice president was going to arrive first. that's why when i saw the limo, now vice president biden is coming. the president got here a little early. you can see the limos, i'm going to step out so you can see vice president biden will be gettin

among the people who are tapping into the mayor's network is jim messina who was the obama campaign managerhead of the new not-profit organization organizing for action. he was up at city hall the other day. so there's real pressure on mayor bloomberg now to pull all these pieces together and become effectively the counterweight to the nra. something they've never really exactly had. >> well, that's an important point because he's not just using his money and his influence on issues that are important to new york city where he remains the mayor, but he's looking nationally on most of these issues, isn't he? >> no, that's right. and he makes the point that as basically an independent, somebody who is, as he said, roughly nonpartisan, he's able to tap into both sides, has credibility with both sides. and people don't realize that between his philanthropies, his personal enterprises, he's able to reach into a lot of different pockets. we also know that when he's finished when his third term, he's looking for a project. that's why people talk about, is he going to buy "the financial times"? "th

that's one of the reasons this organizing for action, jim messina's full-time job is trying to get the it's going to be hard. it's hard on the democratic side. we're not even talking about the difficulty on the republican side getting it through the house. this is a senate democratic problem. >> so the republicans in the house, in effect, could stare at harry reid's senate and say okay, immigration reform, that's great. you guys pass it. >> say bring it. >> yeah, bring it. gun control, great. you guys pass it, we'll look at it. gay marriage, if you want to nationalize it, go ahead. you guys pass it. we'll look -- i mean, they could do this on every one of the president's top priorities. and chances are good the president's top priorities, as stated today, wouldn't pass the democratic senate. >> i think a lot of them would not. >> that's fascinating. jeff, thank you for being here. and know this. this time next year, the university of alabama will have passed your cornhuskers and actually won 4 out of 5 national championships. >> i think you're right. >> i was actually grabbed by a corn

for america-- or rather, organizing for action, ofa again, and campaign advisor robert gribbs, jim messinag. >> steve: has a presidential campaign team ever organized as a political action group. >> this is unprecedented to do this as a tax exempt group. they can take unlimited d donations and corporate donations and don't have to disclose. the campaign came forth and said we'll disclose, but they're not obligated to do so. i think it's a pr marketing machine the president can sell his ideas and public opinion behind him and mobilize everybody who had gone out for him in '08 and 2012, push the messages on gun control, immigration and key issues. >> steve: of course for the last five years ago ofa, obama for america, has been sending things out and now, magically, ofa is now organizing for action and is he ththe gigantic mailing list. >> the g.o.p. isn't countering with anything, they don't have a pr or marketing team to counter this. >> steve: nobody does. >> no one does, but thises what he does best. a great campaigner and understands the idea you need to sell your ideas to the people. on

people in charge of that independent expenditure effort and he told me he's going to be talking with jim messinain other words, using the power that they built up in the campaign not only to push in general for their legislation and you outlined the priorities, but to take on in a really in the trenches kind of way individual republicans that they regard as obstructing the president's jaebd. you heard the president almost by name calling out the republicans using that phrase, you are, we are not takers. it is not taking to pursue the agenda we're pursuing. it's something that helps everybody. that was a shot across the bow of paul ryan and the other people that the president is going to take on by name through this outside organization. >> do you mean they're running sort of home state, home district campaign-style ads against individual republicans on matters of policy? >> i don't know that it's that far along in their thinking yet. i don't know that they have a game plan out to that extent but frank's point was to me, why not? he said, this is the way to go. this is the way to use the clout we