it's john mccain.g the campaign she criticized his irresponsible statements about iran, the singing about bomb bomb iran. she characterized him a reckless individual who shouldn't be president. that was during the campaign. and a lot of the anger i would guess of john mccain towards susan rice has to do not so much with her being a woman, but with her being not deferential to john mccain. >> now, we've had a statement from senator lindsey graham. i'll read you it. i respect ambassador rice's decision. president obama has many talented people to choose from to serve as our next secretary of state. when it comes to benghazi, i'm determined to find out what happened before, during, and after the attack. unfortunately the white house and other agencies are stonewalling when it comes to providing the relevant information. i find this unacceptable. so originally the complaint was against her, now it's the white house. >> and they have been trying to turn benghazi in a scandal from the beginning. they're stil

coming out of senator john mccain's office and lindsey graham. is that what's happening there? >> reporter: there's some belief already that you see that there's a scalp that was thrown their way. >> no, you surprise me. they're not celebrating a scalp are they? >> if the question is will they satisfy the opponents of susan rice whether they be john mccain or lindsey graham or other senators who have spoken out against her, i doubt it. we live in a age when if there's a fight to be had, a fight will be had. there is always political advantage being sought here, and i don't think this is going to mean anything in terms of a softening of the president's -- or opposition to the president's agenda or other appointments that might come down the line. speaking of which, one of the odder by-products of this entire episodes as it has dragged on is the republican endorsement of john kerry for that job. we've heard an endless stream of republicans come forth and endorse john kerry. as a matter of fact, i just saw john kerry coming out of a briefing on, guess what? a closed briefing from

ought not to do business the way that we are doing here in the the united states senate. >> senator john mccain was blaming rand paul of kentucky for holding up amendments on the defense authorization bill. in the process, mccain gave credence to filibuster reform. his comments step all over mitch mcconnell's claim. it's not an effort to marginalize the minority party. with 386 filibusters from republicans, these rule changes are simply a way to make the senate work again. that's what you pay them for. let's turn now to senator debbie stabenow of michigan. there's been a lot of conversation in the liberal community in this country about this. and democrats seem to be chomping at the bit. is this going to happen? are we going to see change? >> yes, i believe that we are going to see change. we have the support to make the changes and i think it's clear the public wants us to get something done. of course, we're going to work across the aisle, but one person shouldn't be able to hold up the department of defense bill or in the case of my bringing jobs home act, which is so important for shipping

decorated veterans john mccain and john kerry, who have been rivals in the senate on everything short of which way is up and which way is down, these men have been bipartisan leaders together on this treaty. the u.n. convention on the rights of persons with disabilities has united the seemingly un-unitable. the vote was scheduled today. ratifying a treaty requires 66 yea votes. former senator bob dole was there at the senate for the occasion. in his wheelchair. the decorated wounded combat veteran, the former republican presidential nominee on the floor of the senate. he was there with his wife. so senators had to walk past him in his wheelchair on the way in to vote. and the republicans in the senate voted no. the treaty got 61 votes, but you need a super majority to ratify a treaty and only eight republicans voted for the treaty. it requires nothing of us. 38 republicans voted no. so it failed. forget republican president, john mccain, war hero, bob dole in his wheelchair in the senate, forget our wounded veterans in their wheelchairs, forget them all. republicans are going with ric

] [cheers and applause] in fact, mccain and i are already engaging in some friendly joshing. >> john mccain, was asked what he would teach colbert if he landed the job. mccain jokingly answered quote, "how to shut up." [ laughter ] >> stephen: it's a joke, because he clearly can't make anyone shut up! [ laughter ] now mccain's wrong on one point. i don't know everything about the senate. so here now to educate me is my future former collegue, the distinguished gentleman from new mexico, senator jeff bingaman. senator, thank you for joining us. >> [cheers and applause] >> thank you. >> stephen: thank you so much for getting me ready for this job in january which is imnent. >> terrific. we're looking forward to having you here. i'll be gone but we're going forward to having you here anyway? >> are you leaving because i'm coming? >> no, i was planning to leave before you announced your plans to come. >> stephen: what a shame. i'll miss you in the steam room? >> a degree. >> stephen: is there a steam room? >> there is a steam room. >> stephen: okay. [ laughter ] what do i need to know about the

john mccain led the charge on benghazi. and they have a sense -- there's nothing you can do to a senator to keep them out of the loop. and there is a sense there that not only were they not told the truth, but the american people were not told the truth and they decided -- i mean the white house calls it an obsession. jay carney has called it an obsession. but i do believe that there are lots of republicans who don't want her to be the secretary of state. and whoever thought there would be a republican caucus to get john kerry -- gwen: well, if you're a member of the senate you're part of the club and that's probably what's going on. but i'm curious about the folks at the white house, mike, it seems to me the people at the white house are trying to decide if it's worth it. >> i don't often say this, because every time i think it i end up being wrong. but i think there's a visceral aspect of this. i think the president, when this came up in his first post-election press conference was genuinely upset. come after me, come aft

when i came to the senate, i admired john mccain from afar. once i got to know him, i admired him less, but that's -- no obviously, we've become very close. and i have the greatest admiration for him. but i remember going to see him and saying i'd like to work together with you -- i hope we can work together on something. and it turned out that the first thing we really worked together on was the war in the balkans because we were increasingly agitated by what turned out to be genocide really and worked with bob dole and joe biden to push the clinton administration to finally get into it. but there began a working relationship of friendship and really based on i think values that we all shared. this youngster came along in 2002, the kid, and basically we believe that america has a responsibility to be involved in the world in protection of our values and our strategic interests, all of which helps us be safer and freer here at home and it's just grown. >> senator graham, what is the secret to proper bipartisanship, do you think? >> well, in fa

>>guest: senator john mccain and i are in the same position, outside of the loop. we are not involved in the negotiations. we had some good news just a few minutes ago that we probably are close to resolution, a temporary resolution of the problem. this is not the time for us to be complaining about problems that are going to be down the road. but a temporary resolution is like the banned phrase. we can we just put the period on this and move on? we need a grand bargain. >>guest: we all want a grand bargain but the people at the stock market are looking forward to this, we are not falling off cliff. we should not be proud of the fact that leaders that have been elected are talking with each other. for cryin' out loud, don't knock that. that is all we have. we have to take that and see if we can improve upon it before but we have anything that has been publicly anoned, i don't think we should be complaining that it is not as grand add we wish. a we should do now is learn a lesson and promise the american people this will never happen again. >> i am come laning becau

did john mccain know about this before it was announced publicly? did white house call him and say okay john, you win this one but we want something back. we're going to give this to you. be gracious but here's what we expect in terms of a, b or c? what do you think? >> i have no idea but i doubt it. i think there was a lot of anger and frustration. i happened to be with senator mccain and john udall and barbara mikulski and john barrasso after they did their mugging of susan rice. john was -- knew he had hit at least a double if not a triple in going after her and basically put the white house back on its heels in the way the president responded to their comments. and i think that this -- you know, episode has given john mccain a win and i don't think the white house is going to say okay, we're going to give you what you want, now you have to play with us on other things. i don't think that's the way this game was played. this was a vicious game and i think there are resentments that will continue for some time. >> that's exactly right. although the

with jim demint resigning, there's an opening on the committee and john mccain wants it. ranking membership on the commerce committee, so what's john mccain, the elder statesman supposed to do, be the most junior freshman of the foreign relations committee that he's going to try to stop any nomination brought to the hill for secretary of state. it's a very interesting move on his part. >> meanwhile, there's been grand speculation of whether or not this nomination will rise up and go forward. republicans have certainly been forcefully trying to stomp that down and even promote john kerry to that role, but does the president get backed into the corner by the fact republicans have been so opposed by this, does he need to nominate rice to make a statement? >> he needs to have his moment and needs to say like he did in his first presser after the election, i'm the president of the united states, and this is my nomination. the senate, of course, is an equal body and have the right to say yes or no, but bottom line, the president can put up whoever he wants. he is kind of in a b

>> i admire john mccain and admire especially early john mccain and was a fan for years and i think hend himself in a very tough pickle in the beginning of this story. obama was surging in the polls. it was all kind of going to a very tough place when he had to make the decision. i felt i want the audience to be in his shoes and look at the dilemma he faced. especially when people say you can take this risky choice or you can lose. i want people to relate with them at that moment. casting ed harris is part of it. i think he's a dynamic and thoughtful person. you can see his soul at stake. that's what great actors can do is let you feel it's not just a choice. it's everything. >> the close upshot of ed harris at the end of the movie. that was ed harris. that's john mccain. >> i think his trance formation of putting on weight and did physical things, but the way he committed to understanding what that guy faced and he's an american hero. it's a very chaotic and polarized place that was up and down through the primaries. i wanted to ask the audience, go past what you expect and look at wh

we're just having fun. >> now john mccain wants to join the senate foreign relations committee, which kerry chairs, and which may have to confirm a would-be secretary of state john kerry. we will look at the fine line between funny and totally awkward next in what now. [ male announcer ] playing in the nfl is tough. ♪ doing it with a cold, just not going to happen. vicks dayquil -- powerful non-drowsy 6-symptom cold & flu relief. ♪ no matter what city you're playing tomorrow. [ coughs ] [ male announcer ] you can't let a cold keep you up tonight. ♪ vicks nyquil -- powerful nighttime 6-symptom cold & flu relief. ♪ >>> welcome back. time for "what now." never one to sit out a political fight senator john mccain is seeking a seat on the committee of the foreign relations committee, and it will run the confirmation hearings for the new secretary of state. with u.n. ambassador susan rice still considered president obama's first choice, mccain's new assignment could result in an intense showdown. that is an understatement. >> his new favorite role is taking on susan rice, and i think -- >>

(laughter) so why is john mccain doing this? (cheers and applause) well, the congressional black caucus representative marcia fudge-- that's right, you heard me-- (laughter) marcia. (laughter) actually, congresswoman fudge is one of our nation's most hardworking and i can only assume delicious congress people. (laughter) she had a theory about ambassador rice. >> any time something goes wrong they pick on women and minorities. >> come on now! >> i have a real issue with that. susan rice's comments didn't send us to iraq and afghanistan. >> uh-huh! >> well -- >> somebody else's did. i'm probably not the most educated person in this house. >> you're an attorney. >> but i'm close. just go on and hate on. but look in the mirror and hate yourself, not the people who do this work. thank you. uh-huh! >> jon:oooh! (cheers and applause) first of all, why isn't every press conference like that? (laughter) a press conference infused with life and emotion. she just turned the house of representatives into tyler perry's "house of representat

it was john mccain, kelly ayotte, lindsey graham, the three of those senators who were mounting this. others who were concerned about the fact that susan rice got certain information about what happened in benghazi, came on "meet the press," described it in the way that was consistent with the information that she was given despite the fact that there were differences within the government about whether this was an attack or a spontaneous event. and the reality is i think that that was a smaller issue than the larger issue of debate, which is what does america do in terms of its footprint in countries like libya where we have fewer forces and we don't really want to reconstitute the entire country. that's what i think the debate was all about. but, again, it comes back to the political reality that the president had a personal fight on his hands. this is a friend of his. this is somebody who has served as national security team in a very close way going back to his campaign. was u.n. ambassador. somebody he thinks a great deal of who got in the line of fire over benghazi and in the i

couple of things are happening here, first of all, the campaign of sort of race baiting against john mccain led by richard wolf and tour, don't forget the accent mark. and the meeting with rice went badly and susan collins prides herself as a moderate thinks worse of you, you've done a bad job on the your presentation. and adam credo, the new website called the washington free beacon has millions of dollars in investments of companies linked to iran and rattled off the list and how she got confirmed as a u.n. ambassadorship and the romney campaign never noticing this as the issues of iran and weapons heating up and coming up in independent voices like the beacon, that maybe it will get-- it will derail her. >> jon: the media seem to be circling the wagons around here, judy. >> oh, yes, john mccain's racist theme has been picked up steam and regurgitated not just by people on nbc, "the washington post" editorial pointed out something astonishing to me, of the 90 people who signed the letter objecting to susan rice's nomination or potential nomination as secretary of state, 80 of them were ma

for instance, if you're john mccain and you're hawkish about interventi intervention, you might not like the idea of a john kerry. on the other hand, they're friends. i'm not saying anything is smooth sailing but john kerry is certainly the front-runner. there aren't any other strong candidates. >> you'd be surprised if it wasn't him. >> i'd be astonished. >> we'll hold you to that. >> thank you. >> we'll need you to weigh in on another story. >>> today on this show, let's call it the budgetary boondoggle. both sides met last night in what they'd call a frank conversation. boehner earlier in the today accused obama of dragging this out. >> i've been pushing all year for us to address this problem. here we are at the 11th hour and the president still isn't serious about dealing with this issue right here. it's this issue. spending. >> if we go over the cliff will you permit a vote to decouple that and fight again on the -- >> ifs and ands and buts are like candy and nuts. if that were the case every day would be christmas. my goal is to get to -- i know, it's going to be here real soon! m

and the way john mccain, that is the problem. y hagel and mccain. the idea that mccain is happy that they will be there means it is a republican victory. >> cenk: john kerry. >> cenk: of course it is. i'll tell you the real problem. we're out of time, but the real problem in summary is they don't have the let's put it this way guts, i could have gone with a different body part for a fight. whenever there's a fight, run for the hills. oh my god, they said something bad about susan rice, oh, pie god, let's run let's run let's run. the minute they said something bad, i would have thrown it down and said let's go, let's go. i just won the election. >> how do you know john kerry wasn't also a top choice here. >> cenk: whatever. come on, you know it was susan rice. >> i don't know it. i know there were political ram if i cases to naming kerry. >> cenk: republicans got exactly what they wanted. >> they did. >> cenk: which is usually what happens under the obama administration. when we come back, a woman who gets fired for a poll light re

lindsey graham or john mccain? really?ed for this man. >> bill: don't be sorry you voted for him. i think this is a fight he could have won. i think it's a wishfight he should have fought >> caller: he is weak and it's like the first time when he caved on the single pair. >> bill: we have seen him cave before. i love him. but i am not going to hesitate to say when he is wrong. i think he is wrong. i saw him. i was at that news conference right after the election when somebody asked him about susan rice and he was on fire. he came out and he said, don't mess with her. if you have a problem, mess with me. i think they thought it would cost too much political capitol. a lot of people said look, president obama should not waste too much political capitol on susan rice. i kept saying no no, no. he's got to fight this fight. he decided not to. i think it's a big mistake. veronica in onianta, new york. >> hi, bill how is it going? okay. number one, first of all, the republicans don't believe in the american people because they do

john mccain.lee and pat toomey who are against this. >> i think opponents of the treaty that gives the u.n. no authority over the united states or our citizens. it requires no new legislation. it requires no change in existing legislation. it doesn't require a single cent in appropriations to support its enactment. a leadership role worldwide in this important human rights area. to our own citizenry who support and are engaged in enacting the guarantees of americans in disabilities act. they have already ratified including countries like china that are not really known for their human rights being in the vanguard of human rights including many of our staunchest allies around the world. chuck, this treaty has been endorsed by 21 of the leading veterans groups. they understand that this is good for american business. we've made tremendous investments in our country to enhance opportunities for people with disabilities. we're asking the rest to come up to this standard. this is in the perfect view of

. >> senator john mccain and susan ayotte feel they have a case again her in relates to benghazi beforelection because susan rice after the incident happened, that the murder of ambassador stevens went on the sunday morning talk shows and said that the demonstrations were related to the islamic video that some kid in california made. and what they want to know is why susan rice, u.n. ambassador, was sent out there and why she was sticking with the story that was crumbling almost as she was saying it. >> paul: the intelligence talking points and not trying to be dishonest. >> two points, they want to know whether the administration was politicizing or trying to protect the president from an ugly event in libya just before the election, and second, the more serious policy issue is what exactly was the administration, the white house and the state department, doing during that period when this big fire fight was taking place in benghazi? and i think the white house has been trying to sweep this issue away in the wake of the election and i think these senators are entitled to keep pressing

so really i mean john mccain's not the only one talking about compromise and quite a few. people on the hill here quite a few lawmakers talking about not really being happy with what's going on and i think it's important to point out no matter what is decided on there still will be an impact people's taxes will be raised because after that the payroll taxes this is the great sleight of hand going on right now on capitol hill as everybody is saying their biggest perk is not to raise taxes on the middle class while nobody nobody wants to extend the payroll tax cut which has been in place i think two or three four years which is immediately going to be a two percent tax increase on all working americans that's going to go from i think is four point two back to six point two percent numbers to protect a percentage and that's going to be immediately impact middle class people working people all across the country and that already is you have got a table no it wasn't nobody wanted to fight for it you know you you you would expect progressives in this debate to act like progressi

this entire puppet show that john mccain and lindsay graham have done right now john mccain is waiving straight homophobes get so upset. >> stephanie: he said -- in my state we're not going to change the traditional definition of marriage -- he is a confirmed bachelor, isn't he? i support the traditional definition of marriage not out of hate but i think it's gist best for society. >> it's for society, not for him. >> he never settled down. he is a bachelor. lindsay has a friend -- he lives with a friend. >> my manner is -- man servant. >> stephanie: he said here is a country that stands on the grounds of freedom democracy and equality. are you telling me that's fine as long as you live in the same state. john mccain, lindsay's lover -- [ buzzer ] >> stop it. >> stephanie: the constitution of the united states have all rights re -- morgan said would you allow slavery in some states but not others? >> very good point. >> stephanie: yes. >> coming from a guy from the uk. >> stephanie: and then graham says slavery was outlawed by a constitutional amendment. the question is who should deci

when john mccain lost or john kerry lost they had day jobs to go back to on the hill so thermometer automatically and instantly involved in the debate pep isn't but not showing any inclinton acceleration to be even though we're in a crisis at this moment, particularly the republican party is crying out for some sort of leadership to have somebody to move people along to a compromise. he conceivably could be that man but he seems to be very much looking intern fiscally. >> it's a small sliver of people alive that can understand exactly what the governor is going through now. but certainly not within the heightened style of election process that we go through now. one romney adviser compared romney with al gore's weight gain and beard after the election saying that most likely will not be happening in terms of letting his discipline go about his lifestyle. however, is it more a choice of romney not be involved with the republican party sore at any time fact that the roeb party has pretty much given him the heisman and pushed him away because of the comments he made since the election, doubling down

it's a question senator john mccain has been asking. we talked to him repeatedly since the killings there began. i spoke to him earlier today. senator mccain, do you know why the administration has chosen this chemical weapons as its red line and not, say, assad's use of the air force against its own people more than as you know 40,000 syrians have died so far in this conflict. why is this the red line? >> i don't know why, anderson, but i think it's important to note that bashir al assad may interpret that as a green light for everything else. in other words, do everything up to but not including the use of chemical weapons. but at the same time, i do understand the concern about the use of nerve gas which is in their inventory, which depending on how heavily populated the area that they use it on, could result in unbelievable deaths that, you know, possibly in tens of thousands if they use the right kind of chemical weapon. so i can understand the administration's concern but maybe they don't realize that they are also sending a green

and i didn't hear john mccain or lindsey graham or anybody saying anything then. so to be talking about this when susan rice had absolutely nothing to do with the decisions in regard to what the security should have been or shouldn't have been in benghazi, to try to put the blame on her now, it seems incredible that they continue with this line of criticism. >> here is the latest possible wrinkle for the ambassador. some environmental groups now are being critical of ambassador rice over some holdings that she has in canadian oil companies. she could stand to profit if the keystone pipeline is built, apparently. this is according to open secrets.org. she owns between 300,000 and $600,000 in transcanada stock. should she -- should she divest herself of those holdings at this point? >> look, that's a nonissue. nobody talked about the fact that dick cheney had so much in halliburton when he was vice president of the united states or when he was running. so now to come up with this with reference to condoleezza rice is almost a joke to me. plenty of things she could d

. >> i'm just surprised that john mccain and lindsey graham can be so out raged about the l the person president obama has made a counter offer to speaker john boehner. details next. stay with us. >>> and 06 of course, we love hearing from our vi in the af jo taking away all guns. but that's not what i'm saying. i would just think that the founding fathers could have foreseen automatic weapons se second amendm >>> and we are back. president obama has made a counter offer to house speaker john boehner to fiscal negotiations. $400,000 as the new dividing line on taxes, meaning tax rates would return to clinton-era rates for those making $400,000 >> well, the thing is, there has to be a message to rural folks and gun owners across the country. look, we understand that you may be a hunter, a gun collector, you may have just grown up in a family where guns are are always a part of your life. you can continue to do that, the second amendment will protect you on that but you need to separate yourself from these maniacs who are running around with automatic weapons and walking into theaters an

just before that little appearance in the announcement by the president, both lindsay graham and john mccaind favorable things about john kerry's presence in the senate. john mccain indicated that he would not face roadblocks to confirmation. and so i think, you know, there are multiple elements in play. the senator's stature, the fact that, one, he comes out of senate. there is traditionally deference shown to former members. we will see if chuck hagel is dominated as secretary of defense, and we don't know if he gets that same deference. but at least in this case, with stepping aside of susan rice, it is pretty clear now that john kerry will be confirmed by senate and the question will be, what happens to that senate seat in massachusetts, which democrats dearly want to hold on to. they were burned in that state in 2010, as you know, michelle. >> oh, my gosh, another massachusetts congressional election. holy smokes. all right. thank you, john. john harwood in washington. what a busy day. don't move. we will talk more about the market reaction. nobody rising above this far in washington, r

representative don manzullo and leader mcconnell, senator feinstein, john mccain. our thanks and appreciation to mrs. bush and madame secretary for taking time to be here today and the contributions to this effort and your commitment to advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in burma. i would be remiss if i did not mention someone who's not with us today, congressman tom lantos. tom, and his wife and staff, worked so hard on behalf of burma for so many years. i wish he were here to share this moment in history with us because i think today is an amazing day. today is an incredible. who would have thought that when this bill was introduced in the house in 2008 when aung san suu kyi was under house arrest that in a few short years she would be standing or sitting with us on u.s. soil receiving this honor as a member of the burmese parliament. back then we thought about granting the metal and extension which may have been the first time a person would have received in the history of the metal the congressional gold medal while in detention. who would have imagin

. >> i'm just surprised that john mccain and lindsey graham can be so out rage the person who no palin, and she's the one tha cliff neg president obama has made a counter offer to speaker john boehner. details next. stay with us. >>> and 0 in the a taking away all guns. but that's not what i'm saying. i would just think that the >> well, the thing is, there has to be a message to rural folks and gun owners across the country. look, we understand that you may be a hunter, a gun collector, you may have just grown up in a family where guns are are always a part of your life. you can continue to do that, the second amendment will protect you on that but you need to separate yourself from these maniacs who are running around with automatic weapons and walking into theaters and into schools. you need to have a certain self-respect and say, look, my gun rights, my gun engagement, if you will, is completely different from these maniacs. and as a result, we need to say to these folks, you can be on the side of sensible gun control and still not only protect your guns but also protect the cultur

john mccain wants socialism. richard thornburgh wants socialism. >> i'm sure you have more than once criticized president bush for not having the capacity to understand all the issues. >> actually, i haven't. >> i don't think he understood this particular issue. >> you also claimed this will ban spanking in america, it will determine how many parking spaces a church has set aside for disabled people. again, there is not anything in this treaty that changes u.s. law. in fact, a lot of this is based on the americans with disabilities act which is the gold standard which i think you even support. and it doesn't alter u.s. law. >> anderson, you're just wrong about that. i have an ll and public international law from the university of london. >> i'm sure you're much smarter than i. >> maybe on this particular -- i have studied this subject. if you wrote that statement, if john kerry wrote that statement on an international law exam where i teach that subject, i would flunk you. >> but you're alleging somehow some u.n.