msnbc political analyst former dnc xhuns cases director karen finney. presidential historian and author doris kearns goodwin. that's why i had all that fdr stuff in there. republican congressman todd cole of oklahoma and jonathan martin, senior political reporter for politico and co-author of "the end of the line." a huge historical buff, maybe after me here. first, lye to the white house, my colleague, partner in crime, kristen welker. kristen, is it a festive occasion right now there? we see a lot of hustle and bustle. what's been going on there this morning? >> a lot of hustle and bustle. it is definitely festive. there's not going to be a whole lot of pomp and circumstance today, though, chuck, in that actual ceremony. but this is going to be a ceremony steeped in symbolism to some extent. we understand president obama will be sworn in using the bible of his wife's family. this is first lady michelle obama's grandmother's bible, and we understand it was a present from her father to her mother back in 1958 on mother's day. a little bit of symbolism t

karen finney and eugene robinson will join me. stay with us. we're right back. >>> welcome back to "the ed >>> welcome back to "the ed show." today is january 25th. it's been three weeks since the congress and the president raised taxes to prevent the fiscal cliff. before the election they called it taxmageddon. many said all they needed was mitt romney to save them. even mitt romney was in awe of mitt romney's awesomeness. >> they'll probably be looking at what the polls are saying, but it looks like i'll be winning the markets and the markets will be happy. it looks if the president were to win the markets would not be so happy. my own view is if we win on november 6th, there will be a great deal of optimism about the future of this country. we'll see capital come back, and we'll see -- without actually doing anything, we'll actually get a boost in the economy. >> i mean, there would be no way the economy could sustain a kenyan muslim socialist assault on all that is good and right and american. but our markets for another few days, much less

karen finney and eugene robinson will join me. stay with us.e announcer ] wow. a brave choice. okay, think courage. think shaun white. think how perfect they'll be for everyday stuff. yeah. scan me. stride on, pale-legged, short-shorts guy. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. robitussin®. don't suffer the coughequences™. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." today is january 25th. it's been three weeks since the congress and the president raised taxes to prevent the fiscal cliff. you know what some conservatives were saying before the election? they called it taxmageddon. many said all they needed was mitt romney to save them. even mitt romney was in awe of mitt romney's awesomeness. >> they'll probably be looking at what the polls are saying, but it looks like i'll be winning the markets and the markets will be happy. it depends which markets you're talking approximate. but my own view is, if we win on november 6th, there will be a

i'll talk to karen finney about the gop's troubling views. and later, new information about the death of legendary football player junior seau draws now questions about the safety of athletes. what can the nfl do to protect its players? you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio monday through friday noon to 3:00 p.m. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using the hash tag edshow. we're coming right back. >>> thanks for staying with us tonight. if we want sensible gun legislation in this country and we need to understand what we're really up against, what is the mentality out there? that means talking about people like james yaeger. he is a gun enthusiast. and former military contractor in iraq. he threatened to, quote, start killing people if the president issued an executive order on gun control. we asked him to come on our program tonight. and first he agreed, but then he said his lawyer was against it. tonight, "talking points memo" reports that the tennessee -- the state of tennessee suspended yaeger's carry per

. >> karen finney on the gop's newest charge on women. >>> howard dean gives us the outlook on filibuster reform. >>> and the trillion dollar coin. >> you guys have a position on this trillion dollar coin business? >> it's just crazy enough to work. chris nowinski of the sports legacy institute lays out the next steps in taking on brain injuries in the nfl. good to have you with us, folks. thanks for watching. president obama says the country needs the take immediate action on gun violence. it looks like he'll get a comprehensive plan on his table next week. vice president joe biden held another round of meetings today on gun reform. today the meetings were with representatives of the video game industry. biden says the conversation was part of the administration's far-reaching approach. he says the country is looking for help from everyone. >> we know this is a complex problem. we know there is no single answer. and quite frankly, we don't even know whether some of the things people think impact on this actually impact on it or not. and so i want you to know you have not been, quote, sin

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we have a constitution for a reason. >> karen finney.lso did say that separate legislation would be required. >> sure. >> and i agree with guy. look, i would like to see some changes made. okay. i'm willing to see restrictions made. but i want to get your take on this. because we had a bill from 1994 to 2004 that had a lot of restrictions. including the semiautomatic guns. that bill was never extended, never, not under george w. bush, not under barack obama. essentially, karen, is not that bill going to have to be extended? that's going to be at the heart of this process. you can't make executive decisions alone. >> well, i think what the vice president was saying, there's going to be a number of different ideas put on the table and some, you know, some folks will agree with and some others won't agree with. and we know back in 2011 not that long after congresswoman gaby giffords had been shot in that horrible incident, the justice department again convened some meetings and did the same thing sort of looking at what options could be don

for more let's turn to karen finney, former communications director for the dnc. you with us tonight. i find it interesting that republicans are just absolutely outraged over chuck hagel. >> right. >> questioning his qualifications and positions, but they have no problem with michele bachmann on the intel committee after the stunt she pulled. make any sense of it? >> it wasn't just a stunt. remember what she did with huma at this time actually endanger herd safety to the point that huma had to have police protection. and remember at that time she had a new bobby. michele bachmann has already shown a willingness to abuse information in a very reckless way and endanger the life of an american citizen and her child. i think we should be very clear about what this woman is all about. now with regard to boehner, i think what it shows is how weak he really is after that vote last week, because he clearly is feeling that he's got to do these kinds of things to apiece those right wing crazies in his caucus. there is no other reason for someone like this to be returned to t

karen finney, michael steele, great to have you with us tonight. you. >>> republicans hit back at speaker boehner today after he stops a vote on billions of dollars of disaster relief. we've got the details next. >>> and then we'll talk to congressman jerrold nadler about what putting off disaster relief means for house republicans. stay tuned. we're right back. [ male announcer ] coughequence™ #8. waking the baby. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. robitussin®. don't suffer the coughequences™. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. >>> and we are back. last night in the house, the fiscal cliff fight just ended. the show was far from over. the next order of business a vote $60 billion in federal relief for victims of hurricane san

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i'll talk to karen finney about the gop's troubling views.nd later, new information about the death of legendary football player junior seau draws now questions about the safety of athletes. what can the nfl do to protect its players? you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio monday through friday noon to 3:00 p.m. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using the hash tag ed show. we're coming right back. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. ♪ make it worth watching. ♪ the new 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? >>> thanks for staying with us ton

. >> joining me now, msnbc's karen finney who served as deputy press secretary to clinton, and presstary, co-authoring a book about the 2016 prospects. karen finney, what do you know to be the truth here about hillary clinton's feelings about president obama? and explain to us how people can get over the first clip, in what we showed about them running against each other. >> people don't realize it, but the club of people who have been either president or first lady is very, very small. so in many ways, hillary clinton is one of the few people, her husband being another one close to this parent who really understands in a very visceral personality level what it is to be president. what it is to try to raise children in the white house. what it is to try to make decisions on a daily basis. so i believe that their friendship is very sincere, because it is part of the reason that you see presidents, former presidents become friends after they have left the white house. because again, there are only a few people who really understand what that is really like. and what the challenges are

. >> karen finney joining us from washington. is this provision, which you can't have a magazine that holds more than seven bullets. and so that need to reload after seven bullets, if jared loughner had to do that in tucson, arizona, fewer people would have been shot and killed there. >> right, and i think there is a provision if there is somebody in your home who has mental illness, you would have to have the gun locked up. look, there are a number of provisions that governor cuomo and the legislature put in place, that is a model. the nra wouldn't like that, they have a different motto, the stand your ground laws. i think there are a lot of things -- i want to say two things, on this fake argument over the assault weapons ban, what is an assault weapon? i mean, i talked to somebody who is a special forces officer who is deploying to afghanistan. this is a guy in iraq, afghanistan, like knows a thing or two about this. and he said no, that is the kind of gun, a civilian version of the kind of gun we carry in war. you had general

karen finney, what was the biggest surprise of 2012?that we were able to call the election right around 11:00. >> you know, i wasn't surprised by that. >> you weren't spice surprised? >> that's what i thought would happen. >> i thought it would be a much longer night and i really thought it was going to be a much bigger mess and i did not think the president was going to be able to win without us having some debacle in florida. thankfully we didn't. >> the biggest surprise was mitt romney actually chose paul ryaned a his running mate. you have to say i said on a very last word on this very show in the after show to this show and i think i was with ari, you know, who should romney pick? pick paul ryon. ideological he's the right guy but as a democrat i was secretly like please pick ryan. >> thereto were so many reasons not to pick him. >>s a democrat it was the perfect thing because it crystallized all the things that democrats didn't like about mitt romney and the case they wanted to make about him, this sort of distaste for the ordinar

i'll break down the rabid reaction to the president with eugene robinson and karen finney. >> too many in this country have been silent too long. those 20 beautiful children who lost their lives in newtown are no longer able to speak for themselves. >> plus, the vice president kicks off the gun safety campaign. but will the senate democrats have the guts to take the votes? tonight, i'll remind congress what courage looks like. >>> and there is either a major hoax, major lies, or both going on at notre dame. >> i cry. i yell. i never felt that way before. last thing she said to me was "i love you." >> tonight, the latest on the manti te'o story with the people who broke the story at deadspin. and howard fineman on how the rest of the sports world blew the story. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. we knew it was coming. the conservative reaction to president obama's common sense gun measures was far too predictable. >> today marked one of the most brazen attempts ever by an american president to unilaterally implement new laws without the consent of the leg

michael steele and karen finney will join me for that discussion. stay with us. >>> house members from both sides of the aisle are outraged after speaker john boehner holds up hurricane sandy relief. and new jersey governor chris christie has some h for house republicans. we'll have all th >>> house members from both sides of the aisle are outraged after speaker john boehner holds up hurricane sandy relief. and new jersey governor chris christie has some harsh words for house republicans. we'll have all the reaction coming up. >>> and as students in newtown prepare to return to class, president obama keeps the focus on gun legislation. sam stein of "the huffington post" will join me for the latest on that. >>> and you can listen to my radio show on sirius xf radio monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. share your thoughts on facebook and twitter using the #edshow. good to be back with you. we're coming right back. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. we now know the house republican caucus can be divided against itself a

. >> tonight karen finney and e.j. dionne on the president's historic proposal and the republican pushback. >> just remind everybody, obama is not going to be president forever. >>> hillary clinton takes a powerful curtain call at foggy bottom. >> it's really important that women are out there competing at the highest levels of government and business. >> i'll tell you if she dropped any hints about 2016. >>> plus, the sandy bill passes in the senate. but not before 36 republicans totally disgrace themselves. i'll introduce you tonight to the sandy 36. >>> and it's a modern-day civil rights struggle between workers and management in the state of mississippi. i'll tell you why these nissan employees say they're being denied a voice in the workplace. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching there is more hope tonight for 11 million people who are currently living in fear. >> i'm here today because the time has come for common sense, comprehensive immigration reform. the time has come. now is the time.

karen finney, what was the biggest surprise of 2012?e to call the election right around 11:00. >> you know, i wasn't surprised by that. >> wow weren't surprised? >> i actually thought that's what was going to happen. >> i literally had thought that it was going to be a much longer night. >> most people did. >> i thought it was going to be a much bigger mess. i did not think the president was going to win without us having some debacle in florida. thankfully we did. >> joy reid, the biggest surprise. >> the biggest surprise is that mitt romney actually chose paul ryan as his running mate. i have to say i said on the very last word, the after show to this show and i think i was with ari, you know, who should romney pick, pick paul ryan. ideologically he's the right guy. but is the democrat secretly? i was like, oh, please, pick paul ryan. i didn't think he would do it. >> there were so many reasons not to pick him. >> so many reasons not to pick him. as a democrat it was the perfect thing because it crystalized all the things that democra

. >> karen finney, i can absolutely imagine both of them running.nk there will be a cooperative conversation. >> oh. >> i mean, joe biden, joe biden, look, each one of them watched the other lose a presidential primary. okay? they -- i don't know why either one of them would stand down in the face of -- hillary clinton obviously wouldn't. >> you have to ask yourself, running for president is like being hung by your fingernails. i mean it is really, really, a miserable task. >> which both of them have freely chosen in the past. >> they have, so the question is do you want to subject yourself to that again? i would make the prediction that whatever we predict won't happen. >> hillary clinton, that was her problem going into the last campaign. she had a negative rating higher than her approval rating. she has helped that thanks to being president obama's secretary of state. >> right, and we know that first lady and secretary of state are typically two that have the highest ratings, in administrations of both parties. you're seeing today, the wrong day

joining me now is karen finney, msnbc political analyst, karen, you worked for hillary clinton. not sure if you were monitoring, but i'm just been told that fox news reported that hillary clinton has been released from the hospital without any discussion about whether she was faking it tonight. >> how shocking. i'm surprised they actually -- lawrence they didn't find a doctor who could you know speak to the idea that it is possible to fake something like that, right? i mean, it is disgusting. it is really disappointing that we have come back to the conservatives. i mean, this is the one name they always come back to, and that is bashing hillary clinton. and i sort of thought because of the fact she has done such an incredible job in her term, 42 countries alone, that maybe just maybe, beating up on hillary clinton has gone out of style for the republicans. but clearly not. anybody who knows her, lawrence, knows that she would not, not show up for a hearing, simply because of a stomach flu unless somebody told her you really can't go. she would say i can go do that, and come righ

joining me now political analyst and former communication director karen finney, and columnist for "the as well, and analyst and former rnc chairman might beal steele. good morning. >> good morning. >>> when things broke down with harry reid, the white house stepped in with the vice president to broker a deal. what's going on here, karen? is the president playing a game of chicken? will the white house change its mind? or is this truly a line in the sand? >> i think it's a real line in the sand. the president has been very consistent and serious from the beginning on this. i think there's a couple of goals. congress can't have it both ways. you have to act responsibly and pay your bills. that's part of why i think the president said if you want me to be in charge, fine, i'll take care of it, but that's not how our government is set up. so i think clearly the president is not going to back back down. the last time we had a shutdown, there's not shut down a piece over here or there. when you shut it down, there are very serious consequences for the american people very immediately when yo

msnbc political analyst karen finney while slouching but now isn't, and msnbc contributor goldie tayloroins us. karen, what's your view to the apparent lack of diversity in the president's cabinet as he moves forward? >> on the one hand i was disappointed in the picture, but i do feel like we need to wait and see what the full complement looks like and as others have pointed out, there are women in the cabinet, he has put two women in the supreme court. overall in the first term he's had a stellar record. at the same time though, martin, my bigger point here is i think we need to take the bigger picture. this is not just about who president obama appoints to his cabinet. we know this country has changed demographically and a broad coalition of voters elected this president, but i think we should hold everybody accountable for making sure there's diversity. while i was disappointed to see thus far we haven't seen the kind of diversity i hope we will see when we see the full picture, i think there's a much bigger question and a much bigger issue here to which this president has been, you

karen finney. i'm sure we'll talk again.hank you so much. >>> also making news this morning, flu cases are surging across the country with health officials saying it's spreading much faster than usual. nbc's kevin tibbles is joining me from where emergency rooms are taking patients. 41 states have the serious problem. what are you hearing there? >> well, what we're hearing here at the st. francis hospital is that they are very busy and i can attest to that because i'm in the emergency room at the hospital right now. and as you've just said, chris, some 2200 people, more than 2200 people have actually been hospitalized with the flu. so far this year. and the season's just getting under way. and i'm, this morning, going to attempt to not become one of those statistics because -- >> oh, no, you're going to do this -- >> oh, no. i didn't know this. >> lauren is going to be doing to me what most of you should be having done to yourselves, so to speak, with regards to the flu season. lauren is going to be giving me a jab. >> a jab

with us from washington msnbc political analyst karen finney, and democratic strategist julian epsteinren, if i might begin with you, the president of the nra, david keene, says an assault weapons ban would never make it through congress and that any limits on high capacity ammunition clips would also fail and larry pratt h executive director of the gun owners of america, says background checks are a complete waste of time. so why don't we all now go home and look forward to the next mass shooting. >> yeah. we might as well. you know what? and while we're at it let's give up on the debt ceiling, give up on health care implementation. you know, why bother? we're not going to solve any problems because it's going to be too hard to ask our members of congress to do their job? here is the thing though, you know, look at how intensified and ugly the rhetoric got last week, talks of insurrection and 1776 and stalin and hitler and then over the weekend these pronouncements that it's not going to happen, no way. what that tells you they're becoming increasingly desperate because there's also a

karen finney, what was the biggest surprise of 2012?ble to call the election right around 11:00. >> you know, i wasn't surprised by that. >> wow weren't surprised? >> i actually thought that's what was going to happen. >> i literally had thought that it was going to be a much longer night. >> most people did. >> i thought it was going to be a much bigger mess. i did not think the president was going to win without us having some debacle in florida. thankfully we did. >> joy reid, the biggest surprise. >> the biggest surprise is that mitt romney actually chose paul ryan as his running mate. i have to say i said on the very last word, the after show to this show and i think i was with ari, you know, who should romney pick, pick paul ryan. ideologically he's the right guy. but is the democrat secretly? i was like, oh, please, pick paul ryan. i didn't think he would do it. >> there were so many reasons not to pick him. >> so many reasons not to pick him. as a democrat it was the perfect thing because it crystalized all the things that democ

with us from washington is msnbc political analyst karen finney and michael o'hanlon of the brookings institution. good afternoon to both of you. karen, senator kerry put great emphasis today on fiscal matters as relates to u.s. foreign policy. he said, and i'm quoting him, more than ever foreign policy is economic policy. is that an answer to republicans who criticize security lapses while simultaneously slashing the state department's budget? people like rand paul who would have slashed the state department by 71%? >> right. well, let's remember rand paul also wouldn't have voted for the 1964 voting rights act before we give anything he'd say any credence. absolutely. the other point john kerry was trying to make is when we talk about spending cuts, there are implications to those cuts, real consequences. but also we can't just retreat inside our own borders because -- particularly think about the conversation we've been having about the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling. the american economy somebody very important to the global economy. we cannot have the kind of nonsense we've ha

great to have both of you with us tonight, karen finney and e.j. dionne. thank you to both of you. remember, answer the question at the bottom of the screen and on twitter and facebook. we always want to know what you think. president obama kicks it into high gear. but john boehner says the president needs to what? get to work? bob shrum joins me next. he silvr of philadelphia cream cheese. it always begins with fresh, local milk, blended with real wholesome cream. going fresh from the farm, to our fridge, in just six days. because we believe in fresh taste. that's the way we set the standard for intensely rich, luscious flavor. so our story of fresh taste always ends... deliciously. when it comes to taste, philadelphia sets the standard. i have obligations. cute tobligations, but obligations.g. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospec