. >> john: karl rove is at war with the tea party and as soon as karl heard about it, out of sheer force of habit,'s plied for deference. drones can be use in the case of imminent danger but imminence no longer means imminence. meaning klingons can be called imminent. >> watching john brennan dodge that question about waterboarding today was nothing short of torture. today is the birthday of the late charles dickens, laura ingalls wilder and chris rock and on this date 48 years ago the beatles arrived in america ushering an era of rock n' roll gratins that lasted until 1990 when rock n' roll died when rolling stone called new kids on the block the new fab five. never forget this is "viewpoint." >> john: geek, i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." the g.o.p. strategist and commentator once known as bush's brain, they're giving karl rove an aneurysm. oh and dick clark -- dick cavett is here tonight. dick clark was not available. we'll be joined by dick in the second half of the show. first, the man president obama nominated to run the c.i.a., counter-terrorism adviser john brennan spent

look at the rap sheet on this guy, karl rove. let's go down memory lane and remind ourselves at least, if the right wing doesn't, of some of karl rove's greatest hits. as a top adviser to george w. bush, he sold the war in iraq to everybody it seems. he got off scot-free even though he was at the center of the cia leak scandal. walked from that one. the architect couldn't help a republican majority in the 2006 midterms bring the democrats back to power in both the house and senate for the first time. he blew it all on the table. and in 2012 the sunlight foundation reported that crossroads had a 1%, $1 in $100, return on its election investment. so karl rove failed putting together a republican realignment, failed in holding the house and the white house and the senate, lost all that. got involved in the cia leak case, somehow got through that where scooter did get caught and the president -- actually the vice president should have been caught. that's not a good investment, joy, and yet there he is out there telling the republican

guys by suggesting they might have had an iq. >> yes. >> what joy said though, she talked about karl rove in a cynical way, and i agree with that, but at the same time, there is a divide and always been, in the republican party, between the establishment crowd and the populace -- >> what size rove -- >> right now he's more establishment. when a party is out of power -- >> that's what a party establishment looks like. >> exactly. when a party is out of power, that's when these tensions come up and start eating their own. they can't go after barack obama now but to maintain their own power and have a debate they need to have -- they have to have this fight. >> back to the stuff. rush limbaugh, big surprise here, sided with the tea party this week saying rove's plan will back fire on conservative. let's watch. >> the establishment republicans, the inside the beltway establishment types, remember, these are the people they supported charlie crist over marco rubio, these are the brains, these are the guys who are going to protect the republican party from you, be they also opposed rand paul. r

karl rove is out there fighting it. vandehei wrote in politico, it's not just karl rove wanting to get rid of the crazies. the party as a whole does. one high profile republican strategist who obviously refused to have his name in order to avoid inflaming -- >> it is feehery. >> it wasn't me. >> said there is a deliberate effort by party leaders to marginalize the cranks, haters, and bigots. there's a lot of underbrush that needs to be cleaned out. republican after republican told us the party dodged a bullet with mitt romney's loss. if he had squeaked in, this vital reboot would have been delayed. >> wasn't that mike murphy? >> it was feehery. >> let's speak for your party, john. so many people in your party think you have to do a better job of proctoring who gets the nominations and don't just leave it to the grassroots. your view? >> well, this is obviously a pretty divisive issue -- >> where are you? >> i don't like cranks and crazy people. i want winners. i want people who can win. now, that being said, you got to

karl rove attacks ashley judd again. and bieber mania is alive and well here at 30 rock in new york city. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the northeastern portion of the united states is still recovering from the devastation of sandy, and tonight the region is being hit by another powerful storm. the massive nor'easter could be one of the worst in history. well, you've got governors declaring states of emergency in new york, connecticut, and massachusetts, along with rhode island and maine. in boston, the city is the epicenter of two storms which could break boston's all-time snowstorm record of 27.6 inches. up and down the northeastern coast, between 1 and 3 feet of snow is expected to fall. forecasters warned of blizzard conditions including wind gusts of up to 75 miles per hour. this could cause widespread power outages this evening. the national guard was activated in states of connecticut, massachusetts, new york, of course to help with emergenc

(vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. >> jennifer: karl rove likeselections, so to do so, he needs two things money and candidates that actually appeal to voters. we know rove can raise the money according to the center for responsible politics his super pac and the nonprofit one, they spent $175 million during the 2012 election cycle. but sometimes karl rove ends up with candidates like this. >> life is a gift from god, and i think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something that god intended to happen. >> jennifer: you remember poor richard mourdock the tea party-backed republican indiana senate candidate. well, he lost, and now according to the "new york times" american cross roads is spinning off an operation called conservative victory project to help get electable republican candidates past the tea party candidates. and not all republicans are happy. matt hoskins released a statement saying . . . meaning the tea party. ouch. sounds like the tea party is ready to restock its supply of tar and feathers. joining m

i don't remember karl rove. >> karl rove is a wheeler dealer.e's playing right into the hands of the democrat party. >> bottom line is that they zront a better record at picking winners than the quote, unquote amateur tea party types do. and when they pick winners, what do we end up winning? we get squishy republican moderates. >> bill: joining us now is karl rove. i don't know why they're upset. you just want republicans to win, right? >> yes. yes. right. >> well, look. i was the director of the texas campaign for ronald reagan, fall of 1980 appointed by president reagan to sit on white house fellows selection panel. i didn't meet him but he wanted to know where the heck i was then, well that, is where i was. let's be clear about what this is about. conservative victory project is an outgrowth of desire donors of american cross roads to get involved in primaries. rush said we zront a better roord than the tea party. i've been involved and gave money to marco rubio early in his campaign. i gave money early to pat toomey. went and gave a speech t

that's kind of how i view karl rove. i don't think he is done. connections. >> i'll concede. ed, i will concede when i wrote the kicker to that piece and made that statement, you know, if you take that in isolation, it sounds pretty conclusive and final. i know karl viewed it that way. but i take your point. >> quickly, howard, how unpopular is mitch mcconnell in kentucky? could he be in trouble? >> well, put it this way -- first all, the republican base doesn't really like him. partly because he is from louisville. partly because he is an insider in washington. he has never been wildly popular

as the party recedes, that's the problem that karl rove has. a generation ago what joy talked about, when he put the george bush machinery together in texas, karl was able to crush them in texas. it's a generation later now, these people have access to the internet and other avenues to get their voices out that they didn't have before, which is why i wrote in "the huffington post" that he's done. not that karl isn't going to keep raising money. but he can't be the architect when there's no building right now. >> joy, these dynamics have existed in both parties but in the republican party it's can completely out of control. the democratic party has a left wing that is dissatisfied with many of the things that are acceptable in the side of center and main territory of the democratic party but the democratic party seems to hold itself together under these kinds of tensions, much better than the republicans do. >> yeah, they do. and i think part of the reason is that the democratic left, you know, they sort of cut their tape on anti-war activism. on

they're actually under karl rove organizing against one another. and so it's a good message.pecially good if he focused on that issue of austerity, saying the democratic party should be the party of growth, not the party of cuts. >> goldie, if the democrats can't get immigration reform done before the midterms, how big of a loss will that be? >> i think it's a real problem. and it will be a crisis in leadership. not in modern times have we had a former president be in this kind of position to be able to counsel his party in the way that bill clinton has. i think it is the right message. i think it is dead-on. and you're absolutely right. we need comprehensive immigration reform before the mid terms. if not, republicans are going to have a leg up going in. >> mike, you know, looking at the way it's unfolding here early in the second term we hear a lot about guns. we hear a lot about immigration reform. what about the middle class? what is going to be on the table for the middle class? what do the democrats have to do? >> well, i think the whole message goes to what the whole m

karl rove and his army have launch aid crusade against me." on the right sent rove skamperring back for a tea party apology tour. >> what crossroads has been doing is spending a lot of money on behalf of tea party candidates. we've spent over $30 million on behalf of tea party senate candidates and over $25 million for tea party house candidates. >> but the intra-party purge seems far from over. one high profile republican strategist, who refused to be named in order to avoid inflaming the party he wants so silence, says there is a deliberate effort by party leaders to lib marginalize the cranks, haters, and bigots. there has to be a lot of cleaning out. >> can we ask you who that republican strategist was. it is notable he wants to remain anonymous. not just because he wants to be effective in the clearing of the underbrush, but also because look what happens when you suggest there are some crazies in the republican party. >> it's going to be hard for what rove is doing, and i think rush limbaugh has a point in terms of what the affect of thi

and karl rove can't organize it. neither can any of the other people who played with that power but who now can't control it. >> so those who rode the tiger are now inside the tiger. >> exactly. >> don't forget, the chamber of commerce, at very times, made common cause with the antigovernment, anti-tax, anti-everything. they were willing to get in bed with him at certain points. and now they're paying for it. and karl is trying to unwind what he's wound. >> he's like a track tout. i used to go and after the races were over, they would show you who they'd recommend you'd bet on. it was always the winners that pass out the free picks. i would have bet on this guy. that's rove out there saying i would have had all of these winners picked, we would have won all of these general elections and now everybody realizes we're going to go over it in a minute. but your thoughts? >> now, i totally agree with howard. your analogy there. the problem for karl is we have all the betting slips. his two organizations, american cross ro

anyway newt gingrich slammed karl rove so he could make winnable elections. re he is in an op-ed piece in "the human events." gingrich is reduced to writing there. he was simply wrong last year. he's talking about rove. he was wrong about the presidential race. watch a video of his blowup on fox election night about fox news calling ohio for president obama. he was also wrong about senate races. republicans lost winnable senate races in montana, north dakota, ohio, wisconsin, pennsylvania, virginia, and florida. so what's this, karl rove getting attacked by all sides, the establishment, people like -- i don't know if they have an establishment but getting hit by everybody now. >> he's getting blamed for everything, and it's not his fault. he had a lot of money, and there was a lot of things he could have done better. the big problem for the republicans is they spent so much money on campaign ads and not enough money about organization. the one thing about barack obama that republicans attacked is the fact he was a community organizer. we could use a community

. >>> plus, karl rove launches an assault on ashley judd to protect his pal mitch mcconnell. >> her own grandmother says she is a hollywood liberal. >> we'll tell you why old turd blossom is so desperate. fox news will always have a steve doocy. >> face-lift perhaps? >> good to have you with us, folks. thanks for watching. this opening story tonight, i'm telling you, i'm going to try to maintain my poise here. this should be a day of celebration for conservatives as they continue to chip away at the backbone of america. >> we're announcing that we are moving forward with a change to our national delivery schedule. the postal service delivery schedule will consist of six days of package delivery and five days of mail delivery. >> this story is everything i don't like about republicans. the slow death of the united states post office. folks, its under way. and americans just seem to sit back and well, let's accept it. that's the way it is. this once proud american institution will no longer deliver first class mail on saturday starting this summer. aren't we proud? moving forward now. and

. >>> plus, the political right all at once, all in unison gets very vocally angry with karl rove. poor karl. frank rich from "new york" magazine is here on the show tonight. we've also got the latest conspiracy theory about the terrifying photo shopped secrets of president barack hussein obama. did you know his emotional name is hussein? the conspiracies about the president get even more conspiratorial than they have in years past. >>> we're beginning with a big deal, a story you will not see anywhere else, because it is an nbc news exclusive. nbc's national investigative correspondent michael isikoff has uncovered something that is not classified, but treated as one of the biggest secrets of this administration. it's something the administration has been fighting over with newspapers and with congress and with all different sorts of groups suing them who have been trying to contain what mike isikoff has gotten closer than anybody else to naming. and it is happening right in the midst of really big changes happening right now in national security in washington. today in washington,

i would -- as did karl rove. >> exactly. >> wouldn't you love to be in the meetings with donors when tell us what you've been up to recently, karl? what races have you won? that's going ton an interesting meeting. more importantly, one of the things i find so interesting, there's an element of chickens coming home to roost because when you don't stand up against birtherism and some of the other conspiracy theories and you let these things fester within the base of your party and then candidates run on some of those sort of wacky ideas, yeah, you know what? they're probably going to lose. and so now they're having to sort of internally deal with a problem that to some degree they created by not standing up against some of it when they should have. >> indeed. i must get to jonathan quickly because it sounded as if his phone was ringing and his meal was about to arrive. john, will the republican party be duped again by george bush's brain? >> you know what? maybe. i think the fundamental fight here is between the traditional -- sort of the traditional base of the republican party and th

has karl rove declared war on the tea party? if he has, it's a real bad idea. >>> also tonight, the stock market takes its biggest correction of the year across the board. some are blaming spain. nonsense. i say buy the correction back. profits are the mother's milk of stocks and theorizing. >>> you saw it last night. get this. beyonce met solyndra in new orleans. the greenest super bowl in history delivered a 35-minute power outage. who will take the rap? "the kudlow report" begins right now. >>> first up tonight republicans lost big last november. now they're trying to come up with a new unified branding message. here's karl rove declaring war against the tea party. heck, why not a firing squad? it might be easier. it might be cheaper. i don't get this at all. here now with the story, cnbc contributor robert costa from the national review. robert, what is this? what's going on here? >> it's a big story, larry. karl rove one of the top republican strategists in the country is upset with republican primary voters. he looks at 20

here's the situation with karl rove.gotten himself crossways with the conservatives in the party saying he wants to protect the mainstream candidates. he needs to throw them a bone right now. he's trying to say, it's okay, i like guys like ranld paul. i just don't like that woman who was a witch in delaware. the problem here, of course, is this, by saying rand paul is the guy we liked, yes, all of those things you're talking about, rand paul gave a speech stating that there wasn't a single action in the last 40 years that he would have approved of. so is that the republican party that karl rove is looking for? i doubt it. >> now, maria theresa, newt gingrich yesterday declared the gop has a technology problem. listen to this. >> they are a super bowl team that we ought to respect deeply. and we are a mid-level college team. you can't just go out and buy this. this is a fundamental rethinking of how you relate to the american people. >> now, let me get this right. i'm trying to understand the republican brain, maria. >> o

senate, not even karl rove and his hefty war chest. joy reid, these guys are making it fun. >> i know. >> they are just make making it fun. >> it's brilliant. there are always more sane people in the we call them the no nothings. they are encapsulated in the tea party and the only reason that karl rove was considered a genius, he managed to convince the crazy people in the conservative party that a methodist named george w. bush -- now, i grew up methodist. they are the most mild mannered christian. they just nod affirmatively, that he was an evangelical right wing thrower like they are. he put one over on them and now they've figured it out. they've had a taste of power and