john nichols is washington correspondent for the nation magazine and a pioneering political blogger. the late gore vidal said, "of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great american desert, john nichols' sword is the sharpest." robert mcchesney is one of our leading scholars of communications and society, a professor at the university of illinois, the author or editor of 23 books, and according to utne reader, one of the "50 visionaries who are changing your world." welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> great to be here. >> "dollarocracy." what does that mean?" >> well, democracy means rule of the people, one person, one vote. those are the powers, the demos. "dollarocracy" means the rule of the dollars. one dollar, one vote. those with lots of dollars have lots of power. those with no dollars have no power. so, elections are the one time people have an opportunity to come in and select who's going to control the government, really weigh in on what the policies will actually be. it's the one moment of real leverage citizens have. and we think what's happened in the last generation

to talk more about the results we are joined by john nichols, political writer for "the nation. his latest article is about gop extremism. and how the money and media election complex is destroying america. let's go through the big races. new york, new jersey, virginia. >> if you watch the national media on the top line it is all about chris christie, but the reality is that he was the outlier yesterday. usually in the second term of president, the other party does very, very well as a way for people to let out steam. instead the fact of the matter is that democrats look like they may have one minute -- every major office in virginia. they definitely one governor and lieutenant governor. in last time that happened the second term over the democratic president, the president was roosevelt. for theber the race senate, cory booker, he made it two weeks before and in new jersey it cost 25 million dollars, chris christie made it not on his day. booker's namecory would have been first and more democrats would have come out. it was never a question of whether chris christie would win,

. >> joining me now, john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation" magazine. hn, profoundly, a lot of polling out there, i can't find one conservative issue that seems to be outdoing progressives' issues. this is a very progressive number, when you've got 76% of the american people think that those who are on the lower income scale should be making more, raise the minimum wage. what do we take from this? >> well, i think we take that this has really moved a lot. in fact, this is based off a new gallup poll, that 76% number, and that moved from 71% earlier this year. what's really significant in this, 76% of americans want to go to a $9 minimum wage. and 69% want to tether or connect that minimum wage increase to inflation, so that future increases will come automatically. so we've really moved on this issue. >> what does this tell the democrats, liberals in 2014 run on economic issues, stand with workers? i mean, when you look at the largest voting block, which is that of independents, how in the world can you get a 76% of the american people want the minimum w

joining me now, steve carnaky, and john nichols. and karen finney and former communications director for the dnc. that part of the christie speech embodied the whole speech, which is it true you're all looking at me? am i right, all of america? i can feel your eyes on me and if you think it's true, it is true. i am all that and more. that was basically the chris christie speech. >> except i think you're being a little modest. this is chris christie. it's who he is. he didn't change his style. i think the interesting thing is, he gave one of the longer victory speeches i've ever heard. and the problem with it is, while it's an okay introduction, i still don't see how that plays in iowa. i don't see the -- coming from the midwest, rather self-deprecating part of the country, don't overly blow your horn. here is this guy saying i'm it, i'm the only thing that ever happened. >> i think the case christie is trying to make here, this is a speech 13 months in the making. this was a speech, as soon as sandy was over, it was clear there wasn

john nicholls my colleague at the nation, co-author. and alice wagner is back with us.ll begin with you and your reaction to governor crist ie's victory in new jersey. >> people are desperate for leaders who don't have any -- that the public sees and supports. and chris, you may argue with his style from time to time, but it's very jersey and it goes over well in our state. >> contingent on the fact that there is no mitch mcconnell in the democratic party. he's been able to work new jersey democrats, because new jersey democrats were fractured and they were looking for someone they could deal with. and there was no election night gathering when christie was elected the first time around, the state said down the line, anything he brings up we will throw back at him. it can be an effective strategy fi for essentially creating a lot of political -- >> it can. but he's been smart enough to be able to pick them off one by one and find the things they're interested, and to work that kind of magic. i worked very closely with democrats even though both houses were republican. b

john nichols covers the story for the progressive magazine, "the nation." >> it's no secret that in northern industrial states, labor unions, particularly public sector unions are the backbone of the democratic party. walker went right at that base. >> by monday, february 14th, graduate students at the university of wisconsin madison who belong to a union of teaching assistants organize a march to the nearby state capitol to protest the bill. >> these graduate students mostly started going into the capitol. it was very kind of gentle protests in many senses. and tv cameras were there, and i think it had a very powerful impact. >> tuesday brings more protests. >> by the next day, there were many, many people who said, well, you know, i think i'm going to go get in on that. >> images of outraged citizens at the capitol spread quickly via television, youtube and facebook. >> this affects the lives, affects the economy, jobs, everything. >> on wednesday, a crowd of more than 30,000 people shows up including teachers from all over the state and thousands of students from the university. >> some o

. >> former dnc chairman howard dean and john nichols. thank you both. >>> coming up -- >> i get a bill from my insurance company telling me that the ambulance ride was not going to be paid for because it wasn't preapproved. i don't know exactly when i was supposed to preapprove it, you know? like after i gained consciousness in the car, before i got in the ambulance, or i should have grabbed my cell phone off the street? and called while i was in the ambulance. i mean, it's just crazy. >> what millions of americans already known about insurance companies the obama administration is now finding out. i'll explain ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] more room in economy plus. more comfort, more of what you need. ♪ that's... built around you friendly. ♪ that's... built around you friendly. isn't good enough for you?rware have -- have you seen it? yes, i have seen it, and it looks -- you gotta look better. ladies, breathe. cascade kitchen counselor here. it's not your silverware. it's likely your detergent. see, over time, cascade platinum's triple c

nichols." uninhibit. hall of famer johneveals peyton manning's quirky side and the upside of being a boss. >> there is anything about your job now that you like better than when you were playing? >> the fact they don't get hit. >> unafraid. >> there was a bone sticking out of your leg. >> near months after that gut-wrenching broken leg. guard kevin ware of louisville is back. unguarded. kevin ware's coach, rick pitino, shows a side you've never seen. >> he said i learned humility too late in life.

nichols." uninhibit. hall of famer john elway reveals peyton manning's quirky side and the upside of being a boss. >> there is anything about your job now that you like better than when you were playing? >> the fact they don't get hit. >> unafraid. >> there was a bone sticking out of your leg. >> near months after that gut-wrenching broken leg. guard kevin ware of louisville is back. unguarded. kevin ware's coach, rick pitino, shows a side you've never seen. >> he said i learned humility too late in life. i wish i had that at a youpger age. >> i was just in my own world between the lines, and nothing else mattered or existed. and that's a very unhumble way to act. >> welcome to "unguarded" what's the most gruesome thing you've ever seen? for many the answer came during march madness last spring when louisville's kevin ware injured his leg so badly the bone popped through his skin. yet as shocking as that moment was, it was ware's recovery that's been just as remarkable. inspiring his team to win the ncaa championship along

john zarrella. >>> ahead, i will ask rachel nichols about alleged bullying in the nfl, and new details from jonathan some of hers rare interview with tiger woods. she asked him not only about his golf game, but his girlfriend. >> i get to ask you about your girlfriend lindsey vonn. when somebody asked to described you, she said he's funny and a little bit dorky. is that fair? (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? ♪ [ male announcer ] united is rolling out global, satellite-fed wi-fi to connect you even 35,000 feet over the ocean. ♪ that's...wifi friendly. ♪ that's...wifi friendly. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yep, everybody knows that. well, did you know the ancient pyramids were actually a mistake? u

nichole are no kills himself. having found islam on the internet in two thousand and nine in this video he's urging muslims to join the fight in syria is younger brother john daniel was persuaded to join up too but he was later killed in aleppo. converted to islam it will save your soul from hell fire. and this is just one of many such videos online of young europeans calling their peers to arms french and western intelligence services have intensified their warnings and europeans heading to syria to fight nowadays they've noticed not all the extra rise in the number of individuals heading over there but also in the kind of people who are joining the fight they say that more and more they are more committed to the struggle and upon their return to europe there's still no clear cut way to deal radicalize these individuals for the french the memory of the terror attack by frenchman mom a member of the killed seven people is still fresh heightening fears of a repeat one radicalized young men returned to france most of those people native french people traveled to afghanistan and pakistan and poverty to their. places of warfare judie welfare and he was not goa

nichols. that's tonight, 10:30 eastern time on cnn. >>> that's your bleacher report update. back to you. >> joe carter, thank you so much. >> all right, it's the top of the hour. i'm johnwe're live in new york. right now, president obama is meeting with the heads of insurance companies. this confab follows the president's mea culpa over his botched promise that if you like your insurance, you koo keep it, during which he proposed insurance companies reup policies set to be canceled at the end of the year. and there's also a republican vote allowing people to keep their existing coverage. dana bash is on capitol hill. dana, the president is facing a pretty big sales job with these health insurance big-wigs this afternoon. >> that is an understatement. i cannot even imagine how angry they are. i mean, we have heard what they have said in public to the media. i can imagine what they're going to say in private to the president. and that is because they feel undermined. they feel that they did everything they were supposed to do to comply with the obama health care law, and now they're told with 30 days they have to call everybody they gave kabsilation notices to saying nev