john mcconnell worked with george bush on his inaugural address.ry edmonds spent eight years working with bill clinton. we talked about the reference to dr. king. your former boss making reference to abraham lincoln in his second inaugural address. >> we will get that ready in just a moment. let's go to the phones. curtis from akron, ohio. >> thank you for taking my call. it is a pleasure to be on the air. i had the privilege, when i was 20 years old, i was on the executive board of kent state democrats. me and some of the members of the executive board, as well that members of ksu did attend the inauguration of president clinton back in 1997. >> what do you remember from that moment? >> i remember the crowds. i had never seen a crowd like that in washington, d.c. it was the first time i had been to the inauguration of a president. we were all young in college at the time. bill clinton seemed like he was speaking to us, the young kids at the time. i remember, too, he wanted to have all of our bases covered as far as tickets. we got them from then-

. >> terry edmonds, a former speechwriter for bill clinton, john mcconnell, a former speechwriter for president bush. we will continue for a few minutes. we have a live view of the north portico entrance of the white house. we are told in a few minutes we will have a scene inside the blue room where the president will be taking the oath of office. by the way, were marking the third time he had to -- marked the third time he has added to the oath of office because of the two over the first time. what do you think is going on there today as they prepare for this tomorrow? >> they are probably trying to wrest up. i bet there will be two run throughs of the address, very few changes, at this point. >> was a necessary for him to come back to the white house and do over the oath of office? >> it was semantics to say that he was the newly inaugurated. >> press secretary robert gibbs said in the abundance of caution, no question that he had taken the oath, as constituted by the concept -- constitution. >> as piquancy, what happened during the presidency, everything from his birth, whether or

they've created a frankenstein monster. >> and they wouldn't have the crazies, the mcconnells, and sharon engels. >> johnell could stand up against the tea party. yes, i did help out the fiscal cliff and i saved the economy. and it would win moderates but he's not going to do it. >> but isn't there a lot of money to pull the right further to the right, but there is not a lot of money to pull the left further to the left. there is no one there are no ads calling him to the left, but there is money on the right. >> john: that is a very good example. we're talking about purity test. if you're not pro-choice you can't get that far in the democratic party with a few notable exceptions. but the republicans still have this automatic purity test that kicks in. is there any way to break free of it. >> if they want to win an election ever again which i hope they don't they shut should go down the path. when they said, the fiscal tragedy should not come out of a physical tragedy. they stand on principle, the tea party, you know what the principle is? meanness. that's what we have call them on. it's just mean. >> jo

i mean, you talk to john boehner and you talk to mitch mcconnell for six, seven weeks the president would simply not budge one inch on cutting spending and had no interest in doing that. the republicans believed and i think they're probably right if they'd gone into 2013 without the tax issue resolved they'd be pummelled day after

. >> we want to welcome john mcconnell. thanks for being with us. from the washington examiner, the obama highlights the challenges. this is from the "chicago tribune" no time to waste in a second term and more aggressive obama may seek quick wins on the big issues. those issues will be framed tomorrow. what will we hear? guest: i'm excited to hear it as i know you are. that headline "no time to waste" makes me think of president clinton's inaugural address. saying it would be wrong to waste the gift of time. the second inaugural is about continuity. the president has been in office, his time is half finished and he is more conscious than ever before of the passing of time. therefore, is going to be infatic about his great ambitions and goals for the country. but by the same token, i don't think it will be policy specific speech only because inaugural addresses can't cover that kind of ground. people don't expect it to. it is at a higher level, an aspirational level, a bit of description as what we've gone through as a country in the last four years

you were talking about the relationship in this deal with between john boehner and mitch mcconnell. as been said about -- john boehner between a rock and a hard place in all of this. >> a very tough spot. >> could you expand on that a little bit? >> sure. it was very clear after the election -- remember, the day after the election, john boehner appeared in the capitol and said i'm willing to deal with the president, i want to compromise. we will agree to raise revenues. but he didn't agree to raise tax rates, that is a nonstarter among republicans in the house of representatives. he was fryitrying to get out ah of this political tsunami coming his way. he knew because the president was talking about it during the entire campaign season that the president was going to stick to his commitment to raise rates on those making more than $250,000. the president, much to the dismay of many on the left, has given considerably on that point the numbers 450,000 in annual income respectively. but still that is not something house republicans will vote for, no matter what the income level is. and

the white house events, declined by john boehner and mitch mcconnell. john boehner declined the invitations to six state dinners that people in washington are dying to go to one state dinner. really, senior house and senate members have never been to a state dinner, and the list goes on and on. >> i think if we could stipulate a number of things, one is this entire debate is basically based in lunacy. >> yeah, we can stipulate. >> start with that, and second it also represents a dangerous and dramatic change of the behavioral norms, the use of the dynamics -- >> remember, no one knew what it was? >> the good old days. >> that used to get raised routinely, and it tended to be a partisan vote, meaning the party that was not in power would vote against it. >> you made a point -- now they threaten default. and of course, the -- while we're having all of this, unemployment is still -- still an intractable problem that is not being addressed. so if you can stipulate all of that, i see for all of this lunacy, there is slight progress, you saw it in -- >> wait,

unfortunately john boehner and mitch mcconnell aren't up to the challenge.'t worry, republicans, we have just the thing you need. welcome to the "politicsnation" guide to lineup. yes, speaker boehner, this one's for you. our comprehensive guide will guide you all the tools you need to deal with your mean right wing. lesson one. don't be afraid to stand up to bullies. after all, he's working for the president. >> i will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already racked up through the laws that they passed. let me repeat. we can't not pay bills that we've already incurred. >> lesson two. some things are bigger than politics. it's not always about keeping score. >> we as a state have waited 72 days, seven times longer than the victims of hurricane katrina waited. and one thing i hope everyone in america now clearly understands, new jersey both republicans and democrats will never stand silent when our citizens are being shortchanged. >> and if the right wingers still don't get it, force them t

john mccain. mitch mcconnell who says there will be tough questions for hagel. >>> is john mccain just a bitter man because president obama beat him and he's just bitter and keeps attacking whatever the president does and mitch mcconnell is still trying to live up to his saying that will make him a one-term president and in the second term, he's still trying to ruin the obama presidency? >> i think this is all a question of sour grapes. you said it first. leaving aside chuck hagel's qualifications, and he's as fine a man that ever served in the senate, number one. number two, not all of the good thing that is you dlelineated ad the president delineated, but he's probably done the most in the history of the senate. he's been e norronormously effe. i think guys like me who entered the army as privates, that warms our heart all over. he's a great pick. what you said correctly, reverend sharpton, wlen you said the president has the right to pick his own team. it's always been the tradition in america. unless there's something grievously wrong with an individual, or unless that individual is clearly unq

because it seemed like it would be think only option but once mitch mcconnell got republican senator to agree to raise taxes, and johnllowed a vote in the house, when those things happen, this republican no, no no posture, resolved. at least an opportunity appeared. and once mitch mcconnell and john boehner stuck out their necks, of course president obama had to make a deal. he need to have a congress that he can work with. when one party steps out and asks you to the dance, you don't walk away unless you never ever want to dance with them again. that's what democracy is all about, compromise. even messy compromise. so we progressives we need to get real. anyone who demands purity is just never going to get a deal. if you really want a perfect deal, then get more house progressives elected and make nancy pelosi speaker again in 2014. until then this is a step in the right direction. joining me now is michael tomski nice to have you back notice "the war room." >> nice to be here. happy new year. >> jennifer: happy new year to you. do you think progressives should be upset with this deal? >> no i'm with you the whole w

did mitch mcconnell jam john boehner and force boehner's hand? >> he didn't force boehner's hand, but he did step up in a way that boehner didn't. people will tell you on capitol hill boehner's nerve never looked weaker, here's why. for most of the day yesterday we were not sure there would be a vote, and if there was a vote it could include new spending measures. this bill is all tax increases and very little spending cuts. when the republicans got together yesterday afternoon, there was a rebellion among house republicans. they all wanted spending cuts, both boehner and his number two, eric cantor put out a statement saying there was near unanimous concern about spending. the debate for much of the day is what do we tack on to this turkey the senate sent us? do cuts that we know kill it as the poison pill or there was some conversation about attaching cuts that democrats might find acceptable that the president has been for in the past. in the end, mark, republicans decided they couldn't be stuck with the idea of a middle class tax cut that the

had mitch mcconnell, john boehner, lamar alexander attended, they were all invited, they would have joined not only nancy pelosi, harry reid but steven spielberg, tommy lee jones. as tip o'neill famously said about his political foe, ronald reagan, love the sinner. hate the sin. when president reagan would invite the speaker, tip o'neill over to the white house for drinks and raise a glass to one another. there's no shortage of parties planned around inauguration 2013. here is hoping it spills over to the next four years and both sides of the aisle make a move to be more social and more civil. and, hence, more productive. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz, starts right now. >>> good evening, americans. welcome "the ed show" from new york. republicans are raising the white flag. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the american economy. >> the republican game of chicken is over. eric cantore proposes a three-month deal on the debt ceiling. some democrats are calling it a trap

john boehner. >> partly, mitch mcconnell force ed john boehner's hand. >> we expect senators to do that. that's what republican -- republican senators have always spent us deeper into debt. that's what they do. that's their hobby. >> look, in this round, the president got a ton. and liberals who are complaining are most worried not about the terms of this deal but about whether the president's got a weak hand going into the next round. the president, as you pointed out, has said as recently as sunday with david gregory, we need to do medicare reform. we need to do entitlement reform. when we deal with the sequester cuts in two months, when we deal with raising the debt ceiling, even though the president wants to keep that out of the debate, republicans are going to have another chance with leaders like john boehner and paul ryan making the argument. and i think the president once again is going to have that k n confrontation. >> how many trillions do you think they'll add to the debt, mika? paul ryan -- i had the tenth amendment on a little plaque outside of my door, you know, give to th

we looked at harry reid, mitch mcconnell, john boehner, et al, and roll call now freeline. >> on mondaysm going to start writing a column, moving away from my editing duties and putting on my writing hat again. >> there's a great piece in "national journal," why rubio voted for this deal. >> the most important divide until we create a new one. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." tomorrow on the show, it's jobs day. we'll have the breaking news on the december unemployment report. coming up next, chris jansing. bye-bye. self. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still going to give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

called for violence specifically against mitch mcconnell and john boehner, suggested tying them to theback of a vehicle and dragging them through the streets. >> i don't condone violence any way, shape or form, regardless who is doing the calling for that violence and it is unnecessary i would not call the nra a terrorist organization. i would call them a greedy organization. they promote policies that sell more guns and that's the business they're in. they want to sell more guns. they want to make more money. and they are frankly, you know, don't seem to care about the policies that lead to more deaths in this country. those states with better gun laws have fewer deaths and those states with the weakest gun laws have the most gun deaths. there is responsible gun ownership and there is a way to do responsible gun laws like new york has done with licensing and registration and i would like to call for more background checks. we want a background checks on gun sales. three out of four nra members want that. 82% of the gun owners want that. they know themselves. thank you very much. heath

had mitch mcconnell, john boehner, lamar alexander attended, they were all invited, they would have joinedt only nancy pelosi, harry reid but steven spielberg, tommy lee jones. as tip o'neill famously said about his political foe, ronald reagan, love the sinner. hate the sin. when president reagan would invite the speaker, tip o'neill over to the white house for drinks and raise a glass to one another. there's no shortage of parties planned around inauguration

how speaker john boehner and mitch mcconnell, for their part, conspicuously avoiding news cameras and silent at the administration's assault on the second amendment as it escalates. a backlash appears to be building in certain parts of the country. one republican congress gentleman requesting act unilaterally. and the state of texas introducing a measure that would make federal officials subject to prosecution. tonight we have the "a-team" to discuss the issue. in the sandy hook elementary school massacre rolling rock school safety and the idea of armed guards in schools across the country. one school district is not waiting for the president to act. karl cameron has the report. reporter: reporter: this steel town now has armed troopers guarding their public-school. >> the first reaction is to keep the kids at school say. >> whether we are right or wrong, we will do whatever it takes to protect the children. >> there is concern that any weapon in schools can create new risks. in july the more evidence that we have, the better. for 99% of public schools require visitors to sign it. 92%

there are enough votes in the house to pass this, and leadership, republican leadership, mitch mcconnell, even john boehner even though he is not a part of this deal are playing with fire. has there been any official word from anybody other than nancy pelosi? >> we got no official word on this. a number of house republicans who are upset with the way things have been going so we are not quite sure who's a republican member was who said that, but you have got to kind of look at leadership here or there. they will not bring a bill to the floor if they do no did not believe they have the votes to do this thing. adam: just for brevity, we want to show you the shot from times square. square. million people celebrating the new year. everyone of these people can expect a tax increase because without both chambers passing any kind of legislation, you make $50,000 per year as of 12:01 january 1 you will pay $1200 more in taxes. $150,000 income will pay 5600 in taxes. if you're married to, say numbers, 50,000 income, you'll pay $2000 more in income taxes. you're going to pay $6600 in taxes. rich, do people o

john boehner. [cheers and applause] [fanfare sounds] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, the honorable george washington bush, -- george w. bush, senator mitch mcconnellnd secretary for the minorities. >> i saw you up there. ♪ [lighting "presidential march"] ial marchng "president "] ♪ >> and ladies and gentlemen, the company the vice president elect, jennifer griffith, deputy sergeant of arms and you will rew willison, representative steny hoyer. [fanfare sounds] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the vice president elect, joseph r. biden jr. [cheers and applause] [crowd chanting "obama"] >> ladies and gentlemen, accompanying the president elect, the senate sergeant in arms, the house of sergeant in arms, and senator dianne feinstein, the speaker of house representatives nancy pelosi, steny hoyer, representative john boehner. [cheers and applause] >> i decided to come back. [fanfare sounds] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president elect of the united states, barack h. obama. [cheers and applause] ♪ [cheers and applause] "]rowd shouting "obama >> ladies and gentlemen, lease take your seats. -- please take your seats. ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the

. >> you know, i mean, what he did for mitch mcconnell's entire - extended family, according to john emann. >> poor heilmann. >> i've got to ask, what was mitch mcconnell's grandma doing in saigon at the time during the tete offense? >> she went to see her son. >> and then he saved them all, according to john heilemann. >> in one fell swoop. >> exactly. >> i'd love to talk to one of these republicans one day who is against hagel, a guy who fought a war, a guy who's got shrapnel in his chest, who understands. >> those are the same guys i was talking about at the top of the hour. >> i know chuck and i like him very much. chuck's got really short elbows. you know, it's not -- and i've had some republican senators tell me, it's not the way he voted or how he -- you know, he seemed to enjoy giving us an elbow in the back just a little too much. chuck, again, i'm pulling for chuck. i have from day one. he doesn't have clean hands in this. you know, he was for iraq. and then when he was against iraq, oh, boy, he was really against iraq. he became a moral rue sacrusade against iraq and left a

i helped john boehner and mitch mcconnell work hard to prevent him -- i hope john boehner and mitch mcconnell work hard to prevent him from doing whatever he wants. he cannot do what ever he wants. i think they should work together. it was a sad thing what happened on the east coast. that does not go to the root of the problem. people should not have guns, let's focus on them, not eliminating certain types of guns or clips. host: is there anything that the president said that you agree with? caller: he cannot use funding to study this because it is part of the constitution. i think that they should have some kind of universal system to monitor people that are near -- they are not right mentally or should not have guns. they should have a database. how much information they should capture -- these are all problems he should not do in two weeks for one week. he should talk with other people. congress should help as well. host: you mentioned you are an instructor. what is it that you teach? caller: economics and accounting. host: what kind of guns to you on? caller: i have a clock. host: why do

poor john boehner meet poor mitch mcconnell, the club for republican leaders in need of a hug appearsember. we'll be right back. jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms. make your voice heard. before the sneeze, help protect with a spray. before the tissue, help defend with a wipe. before the cold & flu season help prevent with lysol. because when you have 10 times more protection with each hand wash... and kill 99.9% of germs around the house with each spray... those healthy habits start to add up. this season, a good offense is the best defense and lysol has your family covered because that's our mission for health. ♪ >> jennifer: you're back inside "the war room." i'm jennifer granholm. i know i'm not going out on a limb by saying that senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is a very conservative republican. let's take a look at his voting record. he has repeatedly voted against a women's right to choose. he thinks there should be a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. he wants to overturn obamacare. he voted for banning affirmative action hiring and he has received an a

are are right to note what his spokesperson said earlier tonight that basically john boehner had not spoken to mitch mcconnellemely rare. why would they be saying that? perhapses from a strategic standpoint they realize it will help john boehner to say i didn't have anything to do with this, this was mitch mcconnell and joe biden. whether or not conservative members buy that is another question but it sounds like john boehner is saying i didn't have anything to do with this, guys. >> right. when we put up on the screen fiscal deal reached between white house and senate. >> exactly. >> it is in essence the white house saying they reached a deal and senate republicans saying they reached the deal but vice president biden trying to sell that deal and still a vote has is to happen. i should point out i mentioned that don stewart, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell's spokesperson was talking to reporter there we saw a moment ago in the gaggle of reporters, he said we're waiting to see if the vice president can sell this to his party. stewart says biden and mcconnell will meet while they are up on capitol hill

. >> i think that john boehner and mitch mcconnell would sit down with the president and negotiate a deal to save medicare, to save social security, to make some real cuts and even talk about -- >> on their terms. >> no! they are willing -- read the books, chris, it's out there. >> if you think they are willing to put revenues on the table you have not been watching the debate. >> -- it's it's called a growing economy. >> eric: they have each others' phone numbers, so you know, pick up and dial. >> they know where they live. >> eric: americans need t. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> jamie: eric said earlier, boy, it is cold out there. much of our country is bracing for another round of extreme winter weather, even place like north carolina are feeling theesques of last week's arctic blast. icy roads making travel there treacherous. and a similar scenario today, as another storm is bearing down on the plains states before spreading fast. our chief meteorologist has been so busy. >> it's better than it was, jamie. >> jamie: really. >> it's 10 degrees warmer in the northern tier and it

it's unlikely that house speaker john boehner or the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell will lose their positions, although they have been criticized for the deal. several says they're frustrated by the outcome of washington's budget battle while they're relieved lawmakers did manage to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts. the honey well ceo david coda told "wall street journal" we shouldn't be sitting here slapping ourselves on the back for a great job. at the same time, moody's rating has warned the congress's budget deal may not go far enough to prepare a credit downgrade this year. the country's debt burden remains high and may not support a aaa rating without further deficit reduction. joining us for more, steven englanders. you're up bright and early. happy new year to you. good to see you. >> happy new year. >> quite a day for investors around the globe yesterday. where does that leave us this morning? >> well, you know, text markets can't go up every day. we had a pretty good rally coming in towards tend of the year and asset markets hit recent highs. you know, the fiscal is

mitch mcconnell has got to get on the same page as john boehner on the house 06 representatives. mcconnell is not going to walk the political bank. so a lot of variables here. the plan, all along, was for the senate to pass this thing and therefore, sort of box in the house. john boehner could present it to his gop conference, his conservatives and say, look, this is the only deal we can get. however, as you report it, it's quite clear now that technically, at least, we're going to be going over that cliff. the house, while they say they could call themselves back into session at any moment for all intense and purposes, they're gone until noon tomorrow. house leaders, their aides say tomorrow is a holiday and no one is going to feel an impact of this until later on in the week. but this is a dangerous game not only they're playing with the american economy and taxpayers, but a dangerous political game, as well. what do you know about the possibility that we could see the vice president on the hill tonight? >> if senate democrats would like the vice president to go over to the hill

not speaker john boehner, not mitch mcconnell, not everyone mitt romney who was the party for the presidency, jonathan, when you look at this, the birther movement hasn't gone anywhere. they're still going strong. there's been 100 court cases filed to prevent the inauguration ceremony monday siting obama's over-seas birth. and i wonder where that gop base got the idea from that the president wasn't born here. it certainly wasn't just don trump. look at this. >> no one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. they know that this is the place that we were born and raised. >> all i can tell you is ha the general consensus is that he has produced a birth certificate. the question is is it legitimate? >> this is the easiest problem to solve. all the president has to do is show it. >> so why is this important? because if you dehumanize the president, if you made him un-american, you've made him other, then you don't deal with him because he's not american, he's not really le jit. if you're constituents with that, you can't make a deal going forward. how do you make progress when you're trying to

then, mitch mcconnell and john boehner came and said stop.hink people just thought that will happen because we elected him. we learned that. the president learned it. i think msnbc learned it and congress and the public most importantly learned it. that this just doesn't happen because of an election. it happens because of an election and then it means going online, it means doing rallies, it means educating your neighbors at church and the workplace and in school. >> now, you're using the word takers in this speech, i mean going right after the right and a reminder of people what the election was about. i looked right across at paul ryan when he said it. i mean, given the republicans parties and their positions right now, can he get this agenda done? >> i think republicans sometimes look to the next election, too. and when they think about how the demographics are changing, how the philosophy of young people is changing, i the they understand that when you're talking about this 47%, the takers, it's veterans and people who paid the medicare

can john boehner and mitch mcconnell handle the split within their party?> they're going to have to, reverend. there's tho doubt about that. it's a serious split and a deech split and it goes to whether or not, you know, we're going to draw a bright line in the sand and say enough is enough. i get the president's point about not paying the bill, but you don't go out to dinner when you don't have any money left to spend on that credit card in the first place. >> but they've already went to dinner. >> no, it's not just about they've already gone to dinner as over the last four years, we've seen 6 trillion dlarsz added to our nation's det. so the question is the spending hasn't stopped. and at what point do we stop the spending? that's a legitimate question with the rank of the republican party, in the congress in particular, they're now assessing how do we make the argument, make the case to the president and the country that enough is enough. >> but governor rendell, we knew the debt when we went out to dinner and we ordered and we ate anyway. so it looks to

. >> if john boehner and mitch mcconnell think they can come up with a plan that somehow meets their criteria they set, they are free on go ahead and try. >> republicans still believe the president will blink and they will be able to meg officiate on the debt ceiling. you about want to find a way out of getting boxed in on the debt ceiling themselves, believing a fight over funding the government is a much better political fight for their party. here's congresswoman marsha blackburn yesterday. >> i think there is a way to avoid default. if it requires shutting down certain portions of the government, let's look at that. >> yesterday the president sounded almost resign to the idea a government shutdown is probably coming up. >> if the republicans in congress made a decision they want to shouldn't down the government in order to get their way, then they have the -- votes at least in the house of representatives probably to do that. i think that would be a mistake. and it would be profoundly damaging to our economy. >> once again, what the white house was trying to signal on debt limit

mcconnell senator john cornyn writes "it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well being of our country rather than mrod along in the path of greece, italy, and spain." while the gop occupies itself by holding the country's credit rating hostage, it faces a dangerously off kilter regional tilt. as the l.a. times reports, in the 112th congress outside the south the gop held two more house seats than democrats, but in the new 113th outside of the south democrats now hold a 24 seat advantage. this bias was evident in the fiscal cliff deal which 90% of southern republicans opposed and a majority of non-southern republicans supported. the divide between mott moderates and insurgents was most visibly on display during the plan b revolt and subsequent movement to hash tag fire boehner, but yesterday michael savage, the conservative radio host who reaches ten million americans every day, took it one step further. >> there is no republican party. it's an appendage of the democrat machine, as we've all just seen. it's two-card monty as we a

it's john boehner and mitch mcconnell -- >> and priebus. >> and reince priebus, and if those people aren'tealizing the demographic realities, aren't realizing that the party has to be a big tent party if it's ever going to win national elections again, then where goeth the gop? >> let me tell you -- you're laughing -- the weird thing is you're turning off black votes if people vote, but you're also turning out the electorate, alex. the giddy part of this is, as you once said a long time ago, frank rizzo in philly who wasn't too popular hmong african-americans what's the greatest voter register in my city's history. they were not going to be talked into not voting. they showed up. here is general powell say it caused people to turn out and stand in line because these republicans were trying to keep us from voting. it had an adverse attempt on their attempt to shut down the vote. alex. >> i'm sorry. i thought you were going to play the clip. it's not just bad for republicans, it's great for democrats, but at the end of the day, chris, i mean, maybe i'm too romantic about this, but i really d

now, if -- and they want to keep this responsibility, if john boehner and mitch mcconnell think that they can come up with a plan that somehow meets their criteria that they've set for why they will -- when they will raise the debt ceiling, they're free to go ahead and try. but, the proposals that they've put forward in order to accomplish that, only by cutting spending, means cuts to things like medicare and education that the american people profoundly reject. now if they think that they can get that through congress, then they're free to try. but i think that a better way of doing this is to go ahead and say we're going to pay our bills, the question now is, how do we actually get our deficit in a manageable sustainable way? and that's a conversation i'm happy to have. all right. max. >> thank you, sir. you've spoken extensively about the debt ceiling debate but some republicans have further said that they're willing to allow a government shutdown to take place rather than put off deep spending cuts. are you prepared to allow the government to griebd to a halt if you disagree with

mcconnell? pat buchanan? >> the republicans voted against it, john, because they made a commitment not to vote for higher taxes and taxes went up as a result of this bill. mitch mcconnell, however, he was the one instigator who called biden because he said, look, far better that we cut a deal which raises taxes on folks making more than $400,000 than have a tax bill that eliminates bush's tax cuts, taxes go up on 80% of the entire country and then obama comes in on january 1 and says i propose a tax cut for everybody that is making less than $250,000. so they took what they feel was a bad deal to prevent a totally ruin ous one politically and economically and i don't fault boehner or mcconnell for doing it. and they may not have negotiated well getting to the edge of the cliff, but when they got there, i think they made the right call for the party and for the country and the 300-point rise in the dow jones the next day suggests they did the right thing. >> in preventing the greater damage that would occur had they done the opposite? >> damage to the country torque the economy, and to the party. >> eleanor? >>

john boehner mitch mcconnell and -- >> no. albert pujols, josh hamilton and -- no.aid come with me. he chose to return to congress instead. you make your own joke there. >> bill: whoa. he was given the option. heaven or hell. >> there you go! >> bill: he chose hell. >> he chose hell. >> we all make our choices. >> bill: what about this new congress? elizabeth warren. >> yeah. elizabeth warren will already be the senior senator from massachusetts. >> bill: oh, that's right. john kerry is till there. he's not out yet. but she will soon. tammy baldwin from wisconsin. patrick murphy. i will be at his reception later today. new congressman from florida replacing allen west. there will be an election for speaker of the house. >> there will be. >> bill: that happens in the entire house. not just in the republican caucus right? >> it does, right. >> bill: nancy pelosi will be the democratic candidate. >> correct. >> bill: john boehner will be the republican candidate. will there be another republican candidate? >> there won't be another republican candidate per se. >> bill:

and as well as harry reed, speaker john boehner, nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell. everybody worked very hard on this and i appreciate it. under this law, more than 90 percent of americans and the small businesses will not see their income tax co op. millions of families will receive tax breaks to help raise children and go to college. they will continue to college will continue to receive tax credits and clean energy. 2 million americans that are out of work and out there looking will continue to receive unemployment benefits as long as they're actively looking for a job. but i think that we all recognize that this was just one step in the broader effort to strengthen our economy. and the fact is that the deficit is still too high. we are still investing too little in the things we need for the economy to grow as fast as it should. that is why john boehner and i try to negotiate a larger our agreement to put this country on a path to pay its debt. and also to put people back to work with building roads, bridges. but unfortunately, there was just not enough support

foreign policy, you know, it's going to be a hard guy for mitch mcconnell to vote against. >> as john points out, mcconnell gushed over chuck hagel when he left the senate. on the floor of the senate, he gave a speech that went on and on about chuck hagel. let's be clear, a lot of this is about israel. you heard lindsey graham say it. john mccain has said it as well. they think chuck hagel will be too soft on iran. he suggested maybe that there should be negotiations with hamas, something that people like lindsey graham reject out of hand. that's a big piece of all this. >> if they stop him, it will be on israel and iran. that's, i think, the only issue that potentially stops him. >> remember, he's the secretary of defense. the president's policies are what he has put in place to enact. so his positions matter a lot less than barack obama's positions. >> so on iran, we have a war hero who would think twice about war. we wouldn't want that. >>> coming up, "the washington post's" david ignatius, nbc news political director, chuck todd. >> you know who else does that, too. >> yeah. >> it

with senator mitch mcconnell, house republican leader representative john boehner, and secretary for chapa. ♪ >> has deputy sergeant at arms, senator harry reid, house majority leader. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the president elect of the united states, joseph r aydin junior -- r. biden junior. [crowd chanting "obama!"] >> ladies and gentlemen, accompanying the president- elect, the committee for inaugural ceremonies, the senate sergeant at arms, gainer, wilson living good, chairman of the joint congressional committee on inaugural sermon -- the ramones, diane feinstein. house majority leader, house republican leader, john boehner. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president-elect of the united states, barack h. obama. [applause] [cheers and applause] ♪ [cheers and applause] [chanting "obama!"] >> ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies, the honorable diane feinstein. [cheers and applause] >> mr. president and vice president, mr. president elect and vice president elect, ladies and g

he says i would tie mitch mcconnell and john boehner to the back of a chevy pickup truck and drag them around. great. >> not helpful. of course people feel passionately about this, what happened in newtown. i hope people don't lose the passion for solving this problem. i hope that everybody still feels as strongly as they did the day after. but you need a little bit of a cooler -- >>steve: i love what they did in your state of new jersey. in marlboro township they said for the next three months i'm going to have an armed guard in these schools, the eight elementary schools. i think if you dress them like teachers and don't scare the kids -- >>brian: i think that's a great idea. a bad idea was out in suburban new york the journal newspapers, editors, there they are, what they did -- this is brilliant. they published maps with the -- that showed where all the gun owners, all the registered gun owners in two different counties live. there is a third county they wanted the records for but put new hampshire county new york -- putnan county new york wouldn't give them. the bad guys know wher

if he had even perhaps mentioned john boehner's name or mitch mcconnell's name the way president george h.w. bush did with speaker jim wright back in 1989. it's just an honoring day, unifying day. you can make the case but do it in a magnanimous way. >> i was going to say, congressman, sometimes i wonder if words matter at all at this point given the climate in washington, d.c. i only say this because i'm trying to at the same time look at the criticism of the exact same speech, the conservative group americans for prosperity called this a harshly ideological aggressively partisan speech more appropriate for the campaign trail. his address reads like a liberal laundry list while at the same time scott peaters, a democrat, said this is a call to action and we have the ability to work together. bernie sanders saying it's inspiring in its basic theme that we work together. i don't get it. you people who all do the same job, i understand partisanship, i just don't understand hyper partisanship. >> yeah, there's no place for hyperpartisanship. there are honest positions. the country is divid