. >> i want to bring in john avlon. want to emphasize you know, to our viewers, this did start in the blogosphere and i think a lot of people were unsure whether there was a story. now, all of a sudden, fbi gets involved and people are covering it. is that why it hasn't received much attention until today? you've talked a lot about it. >> absolutely. explosive allegations, they've been simmering for a long time. not just this, but a separate one involving an intern in his office. when the daily caller first put forward these allegations, it was days before the election, in the wake of hurricane sandy and there needed to be corroborating evidence. now, e-mails to fbi agents have been released in this investigation that would appear to corroborate those claims. they are serious allegations for someone who is the incoming chair. >> there are a number of politicians who have been caught hiring prostitutes and then things that start in the blogosphere, anthony weiner, that end up being true. is it more prevalent that the hea

let's go back to our contributor, john avlon. question is, is that sentiment you just heard from tim murphy of pennsylvania going to prevail tonight, the idea that this debate over spending and entitlements is definitely not over, there are specific instances in which it's not going to be over. one is the debt ceiling. two is the sequester that's been pushed off for two more months. three is a budget. no one's -- this is not the last chance anyone's got to discuss spending cuts. we are a little disappointed in the fact that they didn't get this deal. they had 517 days to come to a deal on this. >> that's right. we knew a grand bargain was dead last week and so should any member of congress who is paying half attention. what congressman murphy laid out is actually heartening because he said look, there's going to be an amendment to the bill put forward first to address some of these spending concerns but he himself said it's probably not going to have all the votes to pass. then separate from that, delinked is the senate version. t

"outfront" tonight, erick erickson and john avlon. so, the president in his inauguration speech took on those who don't believe in climate change. he made that choice to focus on it. >> some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, crippling drought and more powerful storms. >> it sort of surprised me to look at the polls and see that fewer and fewer people seem to believe this is a problem or a manmade problem. maybe it was the al gore effect. seemed like people would get warmed up. >> you know, it seems to me that the biggest problem that global warming aggregates have is every time the conversation comes up is there's a snowstorm and instead of the winter, more people would buy into it. the biggest problem, what does it matter? say the president does do something with global warming? china and india aren't going to. we could shut down production of everything tomorrow that causes greenhouse gases and china and india aren't and even if everyone did, the effects w

john avlon is looking into the majority leader's ties with the nra. the man the president would be relying upon to get something significant in terms of gun laws. he does pretty well with the nra. >> here is the deal about harry reid and guns. he opposed the assault weapons ban not once but twice in 1994 and 2004. he has a "b" rating from the nra. that's higher than ten other democrats. he has received money from the nra than any other senate member. >> a little love affair. he even appeared with wayne la pierre in 2010. but, he is a guy who says, you know, i'm gonna go with my party and go with the democratic party line. will he really oppose the president on gun issues? >> he is not going to oppose the president. he is going to try to quarterback ter what he can. he is going to do what he can to move the ball forward. everything is on the table. here is the real deal. part of the pragmatism is a look at the election. arkansas, louisiana, month tan na, north carolina, south dakota. it will be interesting to see whether the tide has turned. some polls

john avlon, there's disagreement in the nra.w if you view it as a smackdown, it appeared to be to me. what do you make of this public divide within the nra? >> it's very, very interesting. of course, the nra has been thrust into the news because of the tragedy at newtown. they have a chance to actually grow their brand or hurt their brand and i think it remains to be seen exactly what the long-term effects of this are. but i saw that ad using the president's children. i think the spirit and the intent, the message behind the ad, look, his children are protected by people with heavy artillery and guns, wouldn't you want your kids to be protected the same way? that makes sense. the problem is, personally, my opinion is, i don't like using children in political ads of any kind. i think consistently speaking, i also don't like the president when he uses children to sign a bill, obama care uses children as props, he used them when he did the executive orders about gun control. so those types of things on both sides to me i just have

. >> we are here with john avlon for music and "the daily beast." they written the second volume of the book, "deadline artists: scandals, tragedies and triumphs," this one on scandals, tragedies and triads. >> and we didn't even know about the petraeus scandal, but we can say, the latest is the best that here because we didn't write it. >> we actually went up collected dozens and dozens, richer hundreds to put together for people who like newspaper columns. you can't buy them all in one place, so we did the picking for you. it's a great american art form. ernie pyle, murray cantin. this is literature, an american art form and its history written the present tense and gives you did on our own scandals, tragedies and triads. >> you can read it a try what about earthquakes or floods or political scandal or you can read the way people were talking about it. writing about it at the time. >> we think of contemporary terms that no precedent. close in on scandals like the 30s, 40s or 50s that would make something that came. >> one of the things if they giv

i want to bring john avlon into the conversation. i have spoken to grover norquist and wolf has spoken to grover norquist more than we have spoken to our families in the last few days. he's making an interesting philosophical point. if we let these guys go ahead with some kind of tax increase on people above $450,000, we can then move the discussion to spending. so far, the spending is a much more complicated part of the deal. it's a much harder deal to make than to arrive at what percentage to charge and at what threshold. the republicans are hoping that this debate that goes on for two months and longer is now going to go to spending. is that a good bet? >> mark that on your fiscal calendar. when jessica said to us the deal with the sequester, which has been the big open question. remember house republicans' questioning of this. when that gets moved to february, we're doing this all over again. maybe there's a chance to get our deficit and debt in line. the downside, we're going to be playing with fire again walking right up by the

margaret hoover and john avlon are just ahead with the winners and losers. stay with us.ou're watching "starting point." i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. meet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. >>> as we reported earlier a papparazzo was killed friday night, he believed justin bieber was sitting inside a parked sports car. >> that photographer was killed trying to race back across the freeway to get back in his own car. justin bieber said or actually i should say

dewine, this is john avlon. i'm interested in your take on the activist group anonymous.ider them activist, possibly furthering justice or as more of an online cyber vigilante group that may be trying the case in public and inappropriate ways? >> well, people have a first amendment right, but my focus is on prosecuting the case. we have two experienced prosecutors who are handling the case. i think we need to confine this case to the courtroom. the evidence will come out. the defense is well represented, as you saw today, they will have the opportunity to present their evidence, and a judge will decide, and i think that's the way it should work. as far as any outside help, we've asked people, we've told the community, if you have any additional information about what happened that night, that morning, please come forward, give it to us at bci, which is our investigation unit of the ohio attorney general's office, so we are very open for more information and actually the investigation does continue on. >> along those lines, sir, in that photo which we can't video there is

i want to bring in now cnn political contributors margaret hoover and john avlon. every couple of weeks there is a high ranking republican who comes out to call out the republican party. it is chris christie one time and then bobby jindal and then colin powell and now it is bobby jindal again. there is so much talk. what is the party willing to do, specifically to attract more voters to the republican side? >> well, victor, it is a great question. there is a difference in what the party needs to do and what the party is willing to do. as you said, the talk is cheap. the problem with the party of stupid speech that bobby jindal got isn't that he's not calling out for what it is, it is that it is not enough. the problem with republican party right now in terms of reaching out and reviving itself isn't just perception. it is policy. the republican party has to move on policies to really reach out, to voters beyond its older white conservative populist base. until they're ready to confront the problem and start changing their policies, especially on social issues, they

it's the triumphs that are redemptive at the end of the day and it's important after to read >> john avlon, errol louis author of a deadline artists scandals, tragedies and triumphs. thank you very much. >> i can't count the times that americans say that we are the best country in the world. with a marvelously stupid thing to say. of all the countries in the wo

so joining me now john avlon, he's senior political columnist at "newsweek" and the daily beast and hisuch, much, much, much, much, much, much better half, cnn political contributor, margaret hoover, who is my secret girlfriend. >> i thought cyndi lauper was your secret girlfriend. >> you are my secret girlfriend since i hosted "in the arena" one night, we fell in love. >> a beautiful thing. i'm not going to touch it. >> you're comfortable. >> don't tell anybody. john, you wrote an article titled "can barack obama break the second inaugural curse" wlachl do you mean by that? >> it is funny. inauguration speeches are a great american moment, a time of renewal and inflection. think about the lines, ask not what you can do for your country, nothing to fear but fear itself, government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem, all from first inaugural addresses. >> right. >> second inaugurals get kind of overlooked in the sweep of history, all well written but tend not to be as definitive. there is a hurdle, a second term curse, if you will, that president obama's going

and margaret hoover and john avlon, thank you. neither of you a wing nut. right back after this. >>> so yesterday the market simply surged. here the bad news, according to the 309 investment strategists cnn surveyed -- don't expect it to last. that rally is supposed to be short-lived. always the bad news with the good. christine romans is here to talk more about it. what's the biggest headwind? >> washington itself is the biggest headwind quite frankly. we have more mini cliffs ahead, and some of them are not so small. i want to tell you what one of these money managers said. he said democrats and republicans did the least they could possibly do to avoid the fiscal cliff. the question is will they do the least amount again when it comes to raising the debt ceiling, and how will the rating agencies view that. moody's did the warn it could lower the rating unless washington reduces the deficit. we have these how old deadlines. listen to bill gross, bond guru bill gross quoting homer simp n simpson, i'm not kidding. >> they have three data points in the two mo

"outfront" tonight, riah, roland ma martin and john avlon. we've heard those kinds of promises before from the president. he gets angry about certain things and says he's just not going to do it. here he is on the bush tax cuts that he said $250,000, that's the limit. here he is. >> i'm not going to ask ask stus and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes. i'm not going to do that. congress can pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. everybody. >> sorrow la, roland you heard . he's doing it at 450. you can't say you won't negotiate on something you're going to have to negotiate on, right? >> actually you can. it's called negotiating position. we see it all the time. how many times have you had people when it comes to negotiating a contract i won't take less than this and then they do. that's what negotiation is all about. the whole point in having a hard stance is to for the opposition to co

now, john avlon, cofounder of "no labels," a bipartisan group dedicated to breaking the gridlock in washingtonld not be no surprised you go by no label, but where do we know from here? >> this is what is so stunning. as you heard david say, this chest pounding is really right now, the fever has got to break or we're going to go over the cliff. congress is the biggest impediment to the economic recovery. erin, i spoke to jon huntsman and joe manchin, and asked them what they think about how we got here and how we go forward. >> we have forgotten how to do the art of the deal. it's been so long since this government has put together any kind of deal between parties. heaven forbid the next generation come up thinking this is the normal way forward. this is not the normal way forward. this represents a broken system. >> if we quit thinking about the next election and start thinking about the next generation, we're going to make it through our lives just fine. it's what we're living behind. and they're going to have to come together sooner or later. >> there you heard it. it's the short term thinki

. >> john avlon, even if you agree the only thing to me that then seems problematic about that ad with look, the president's children do have protection. they're the children of the president of the united states. and i think it is fair to assume that in many ways those children are at higher risk than other children in this country. they are targets of kidnapping and other things. there's a reason they have that security. >> absolutely. i mean, that's why the ad doesn't pass the common sense test, there's a fundamental difference that everyone understands. if a democratic activist group had mentioned president bush's daughters in that context and questioned their getting security contributors thought of been outraged rightly. >> you talked about if the tables were turned. let me turn them. it's not children in this ad. hogan, i don't know if you've seen it. we played it last night. >> i have. >> it's a shocking ad. this is a liberal pro-obama coalition to stop gun violence, it's an ad they ran against a democratic congressman who supports guns. john barrow. he's from georgia. here's t

christine romans is the host of "your bottom," john avlon, contributor, and margaret hooven is a cnnor and consultant. congressional approval ratings were the lowest in history in 2012, they stand at 14% right now according to the most recent numbers from gallup. did anything you heard from eric cantor make you feel that 2013 is going to be a more productive legislative year, a more productive year in congress? >> well, let's be fair, ali. they've just stopped using the debt ceiling as a bargaining tool and decided to put it off for three months and try to negotiate. we can all admit that is a proactive, constructive, positive step in the right direction. you would agree with that. secondly, he did promise to say we will work towards health care entitlement reform in a bipartisan way. you heard it. i heard it. let's see if they can move on it. some folks are shaking their heads, don't believe it, but he said it to you. let's hold him to it. >> we'll see. i asked him why rep rans and democrats didn't go with something like simpson/bowles and it looked like a plan that had ideas from b

john avlon is here with me and i want to ask you this question. pork disgusts me and every american. someone's pork is someone else's, i don't know, best part of the animal. but the point is, why is it always in there? why can't these guys just realize americans want a clean, transparent bill, cut out the crap for lack of a better word. >> that should not be too much to ask but the problem is someone's pork is someone else's lifeline and this is disaster relief. we're 11 weeks after sandy. what has folks really furious is the hypocrisy. a lot of lawmakers from the gulf coast who begged for assistance and got it quickly after disasters devastated their region. all of a sudden they're being callous rather than doing the right thing. >> but hold on. why not then give the amtrak money that you need? why is two-thirds of it going to non-sandy related things? give them what they need. >> part of this is about narrative. remember the first sandy bill that just passed a week or so ago. 67 republicans voted against it. it was one page. there was no pork. b

michael waldman, former speech writer for president clinton and john avlon.t me start with you. obviously that was a reference, a rather oblique one, to the gun control debate, but a reference it appeared to be. the fourth school shooting, though, in more than a month. nearly half the american people disapprove of what the president is doing on gun control. is it time now for less talk and more action from the president on gun control? >> well, you're right, that in that powerful speech yesterday, he used the words and the sentiments of the founders to argue for his agenda and one of the elements obliquely, though not explicitly, was gun control. now, he took the first step with those 19 executive actions, but the next step of course is in the hands of congress, where the nra has been one of the most powerful forces for years and years and years. the really interesting question is this. this horrible shooting today following on those other horrible shootings, of course we've had these before, but since newtown, perhaps things have tipped. now the media is pay

there's a column written someplace, cnn.com, i'm not sure, by my friend john avlon.moderate to sort of slightly left of center guy. but he says this. he says the gop at the state level has really more diversification than the democrats do. and he cites, for example, hispanic governors, brian sandoval in nevada, suzanne martinez of new mexico. indian american governor bobby jindal, who may run for president. okay? he also talks about in the senate a new star, ted cruz, hispanic from texas. and of course marco rubio, hispanic from florida. we have african-american senator tim scott, just appointed. 24s pretty good stuff. >> it is. >> the question is if you did so well on the diversity issues at the state level for these gubernatorial and senate races why can't you get it done at the presidential level? >> well, the presidential level is a little different thing that i'm in charge of at the house level, but we had 21 women candidates and incumbents, all of whom the democrats targeted and replaced with men. you know, we have done a pretty good job, but not as good as we

"outfront" tonight, peter brooks, former assistant secretary of defense and john avlon. me start with you, peter. obviously the iranian government loves to get involved in these things at times and stir the pot. they seem to love to do that. but how much does this seeming endorsement affect this potential nomination? >> well, i guess you have to ask the senate. i doubt very much that they'll take the ayatollah's advice -- take it under advisement, i suppose. i don't think it will have much at all. senator hagel had some views about iran in the next couple weeks, i suppose we're going to have another airing of those views and i'm sure it's a very important question that senators are lining up to ask him. >> so john, let me ask you. chuck hagel has a long record of talking about this and he said that in 2005 and 2006, but here's what he said just last year in an op-ed about iran written with four other political leaders in the "washington post." our position is fully consistent with the policy of presidents for more than a decade of keeping all options on the table, includ

john avlon and david gergen are also here. that's an interesting set of numbers.proval, things like that, six, eight months ago as a big improvement. >> it is. and his personal likability is still over 61%. but what i'm looking at is the country's expectations. when president obama was first inaugurated, he became -- and a lot of his staffers will tell you this -- sort of a victim of the high expectations that the public had for him. now the expectations are kind of lower, so the folks in the administration are saying, well, if the expectations are lower, maybe we can overperform a little instead of underperforming like people thought we did last time around. so they're kind of looking for the glass half full part of this. equation. >> one of the things going on beneath numbers indicates a sort of tsunami of hyperpartisanship that this administration has tried to operate in. it's a stark partisan divide. 76% of democrats thinks things are going well in the country. only 28% of republicans feel that way. so that is really a reminder of the divides at work. >> i thi