. >>> no grapevine to bring you republican senator kelly ayotte in our center seat.act life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 70% of our mutuafunds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. the energy in one gallon of gas is also enough to keep your smartphone running for how long? 30 days? 300 days? 3,000 days? the answer is... 3,000 days. because of gasoline's high energy density, your car doesn't have to carry as much fuel compared to other energy sources. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important

today the other senators co-sponsoring a republican amendment to restore the pension cuts, kelly ayotte, lindsey graham, and roger wicker, will bring military families to the senate to protest the cut. tennessee's lamar alexander told "business week" he is reviewing the bill. hasn't made a decision yet. when the senate closes the books on the budge net the next 36 hours it still has a raft of confirmation votes before christmas including the vote on janet yellin to be the next head of the federal reserve. last night the senate confirmed jeh johnson, the former general counsel for the pentagon. he's now going to be the next secretary of homeland security. overwhelming support, by the way. 78-16. but the senate is leaving a long to-do list for 2014. jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, not part of this budget bill. he wants to do that in january. democrats are expected to advance legislation to raise the minimum wage, $10.10, in coordination with a white house push that the president will kick off in his state of the union. house and senate negotiators have still not worked out

senator kelly ayotte, thank you so much. keep up the fight. we appreciate it. >>> coming up on "the lead," if approval ratings were like limbbo bars, the president's back would be hurting from trying to wiggle under this. how low can he go? >>> do you take vitamins every day? discover card. hey! so i'm looking at my bill, and my fico® credit score's on here. yeah, you've got our discover it card, so you get your fico® score on your monthly statements now, for free! that's nice of you! it's a great way to stay on top of your credit, and make sure things look the way they should. awesomesauce! huh! my twin sister always says that. wait...lisa? julie?! you sound really different on the phone. do i sound pleasant? for once in your life you sound very pleasant. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. free fico® credit score. get the it card at discover.com. so when my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis them. was also on display, i'd had it. i finally had a serious talk with my dermatologist. this time, he prescribed humira-adalimum

it was half republicans, including kelly ayotte and lisa myself and senator high camp. we worked together and it made a very big difference. the trust that we have is genuine. we get together for dinner every other month. we had a minnesota public debt or. -- potluck dinner. that was senator mikulski and her husband actually fixed the salmon and froze it and sent it to her. we allow the meant to be hunter gatherers. [laughter] >> great. i would like to ask all three congresswoman -- have you seen this spirit that the senator is talking about? we haven't heard about it has leading to the house as much here and has there been an effort to translate it to the other chamber and what kind of partnerships have informed? -- have been formed? >> recently have in the freshman class. we just had a great dinner this week with the freshman members from the democrat side of the aisle and the republicans. i won't tell you how many bottles of wine we went through. [laughter] and what we talked about was coming together and getting things done. women are born networkers. they are born

kelly ayotte is a winning republican candidate. and she's an even better senator. she is thoughtful, she is courageous, she has brains, she has heart, she has guts. she worries about priorities in new hampshire, not republican primaries in new hampshire. and as ted cruz and the senate conservatives found out recently, do not tread on kelly ayotte. she bites back. if you ask me today what the biggest problem the party faces, i would say there are many issues. but the most harmful is the perception that we are intolerant to those who think differently, often times within our own party. we have to reflect diversity of thought. it's okay for the republicans to disagree on issues, to disagree on tactics as long as we agree on values. be you may not know it from watching cable tv or listening to talk radio, but not all republicans oppose gay marriage. not all republicans oppose immigration reform. and i want to talk in a little more detail about immigration reform. we must pass it because the system is broke withen. and not -- broken. and not doing anything is endorsing

ideologically i thought it was very -- we saw kelly ayotte in new hampshire being one of the few people that stood up during the government shutdown saying enough is enough. you people are killing me up here. i was glad to see pat toomey take a couple of courageous stance as well on a lot of different issues. i think it's really good news the republican party has come out of my region and is now starting to influence elections in the northeast, the midwest and who knows maybe in the far west and here's the thing. if we want to be a national party again, we are going to have to do that. in 2008, 2009, 2010 there wasn't a single republican representing anybody in new england. hopefully we are turning that around it is we have to be a national party again. that's not only good f

i thought it was interesting you solve kelly ayotte in new hampshire being one of the few people that stood up during the government shut down saying enough is enough. you people are killing me up here. i was glad to see pat toomey take a couple of courageous stance as well on a couple of different issues. i think it's really good news the republican party has broken out of my reach and and is starting to influence elections in the northeast, the midwest and who knows maybe in the far west. here's the thing. if we want to be a national party again we are going to have to do that. in 2008, 2009, 2010 there wasn't a single republican representing anybody in new england. hopefully we are turning that around because we have to be a national party game. that's only good for republicans but good for the two-party system in the country. thank you so much. i appreciate it. thank you, guys. [applause] >> we will do a book signing and if you can do it as orderly as possible. a. >> they arrived in coeur d' alene and eagle city in 1884 and he came over from thompson falls montana. he heard about

. >> reporter: and fellow republican kelly ayotte is opposed because it would hurt retired military and some after being severely wounded. >> it is $6 billion over ten years within this budget agreement, i certainly appreciate the hard work that went into this agreement, but it is absolutely wrong to take from our military retirees, those who have sacrificed the most, to take it from their backs to pay for this budget agreement. >> reporter: democrat armed service chairman said he plans to look into why those retirees were signaled out. and republicans are signaling for a fight early on. >> every time the president asked us to raise the debt ceiling is a good time to achieve something important for the country and as you all know, many significant pieces of legislation have been attached to debt ceilings over the years. >> reporter: the budget agreement is expected to pass with only a simple majority needed tomorrow. then soon republicans plan to take on democrats on an issue they believe is a winner with the public. trying to get a handle on the nation's debt. bret. >> mike emanuel liv

republican senators kelly ayotte and roger wicker have been fighting cuts for those under age 62.6 billion cut after cost of living increases and the senators want it fixed. jean shaheen suggested a bill that would close corporate tax loopholes instead of going after military benefits. it's one of the ideas being floated and john cornyn says the issue should be addressed now. >> i don't have any doubt whatsoever if we were able to come up with an appropriate paid for and of substitute for this cut in military pensions, that it would pass like a hot knife through butter in the house of representatives when they reconvene. >> reporter: senator patty murray says including disabled retiree benefits in the cut was a mistake and she says it will get addressed after the bill is passed. >> mike emanuel, thank you. >>> breaks right now. the harvard university sophomore accused of making bomb threats to get out of taking his final exam is at this moment appearing in court. the feds say he faces up to five years in prison for this. investigators say he almost got away with it and would have

but there are top players like senator kelly ayotte and senator lindsey graham who opposed it because of the reduction in military benefits. at this point it's unclear how much that might add up overall opposition to the measure but as we know the senate is expected to take up the bill this week and bottom line most lawmakers agree that neither side got exactly what they wanted, but here's a good way to put it, martin. a former director of the congressional budget office said this go-around it could be more about symbolism and certainty for the next couple of years rather than any sort of policy at this point. >> very true. all right tory dunnan, obviously going to be an interesting week with tuesday perhaps the critical day. >>> meanwhile, 19 firefighters that died in -- you'll remember this, the yarnell hill fire in arizona, in a minute we'll hear stunning and new audio that reveals details of the final moments. [ male announcer ] this store knows how to handle a saturday crowd. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on th

and from new hampshire senator kelly ayotte, obama care is still a mess. it's not a mess to people who can finally afford insurance, who are getting free preventive care, who aren't being discriminated against because of pre-existing conditions. but they don't think about that. they focus on attacking the president. >> i don't know how you fix the many fundamental problems of this program. >> this thing is going to be an unmitigated political disaster for the president. >> this really feeds into the president's competence. that's really the question now that people have. is the president competent to do his job? >> here's the question. here's the question people really have. just how desperate is the right. they didn't want this law to work, didn't want it to help people, but it is. so how much longer can they keep up these attacks? it's working. and they're the ones losing. joining me now are congress woman jan schakowsky, democrat of illinois, and salon.com's joan walsh. thank you both for being here. >> thank you, reverend al. >> congresswoman, your rep

senator kelly ayotte i out -- ayotte was the emcee during the game. it was a way to build camaraderie and establish friendships. >> i know all of their rbi's. seriously, more republicans have had issues in terms of some kind of number in congress. you have spent time trying to change that. can you talk about that? to talk aboutd it. there are 19 republican women in congress. he have a conference of 232. it is a failure. absolutely must be addressed. i look out and i see susan molinari and barbara comstock and others i have worked with years.over the we are doing this now. i am heavily involved in a project that the nrcc is involved in. it is a messaging project talking to that 37-year-old single mother of 2. team isuitment fantastic. of the 40-50 key competitive races we are looking at at the committee right now, over half of them are fielding a woman candidate. we are working with them and doing real recruitment, not just mentoring women who were going to enter the race. going out and finding that teacher, that military vet, that small business owner

as ted cruz and the senate conservatives found out, do not tread on kelly ayotte, she bites back. if you asked what the biggest problems the party faces, there are many issues. the most harmful one is the perception that we are intolerant to those who think differently. often in our own party. we have to reflect the diversity of thought. it is ok for republicans to disagree on issues. to disagree on tactics. as long as we agree on values. you may not know it from watching cable tv or listening to talk radio, but not all republicans oppose gay marriage. not all republicans oppose immigration reform. i want to talk more detail about immigration reform. we must pass it. because the system is broken. not doing anything is endorsing the status quo. we must pass it because it makes economic sense. it makes national security sense. and yes, it makes political sense. of hispanics will tell you the same thing. immigration is not a priority issue for hispanic voters. sometimes it is not even in the top five. what it is an emotional issue. it is a gateway issue. too often the immigration deb

and that at the end of the day may win out but you know, remember, kelly ayotte barely got through ahen she first ran. >> and developing news, congressman frank wolf plans to retire, republican, a moderate here. and that you and your team there point out this could be an opening for democrats. >> no question. this is a 50/50 district. this is swing district. romney won it in 2012 by very narrow margin. president obama won it in 2008, also a narrow margin. that will open up a seat potentially for democrats to target, but also just in, congressman jim mathison from utah, who eked out a win in 2012, he's also redecided to retire. you might remember mia love, he beat her by 2800 votes. the state republicans spend $5 million against him. after all of that, he's decided to call it quits as well, probably evens itself out. even if democrats do pick up the 10th congressional seat. >> well, in a move that could have major implications throughout the medical industry, drug maker glax o smith klein will stop paying doctors to promote its drugs. the announcement by the largest drug maker means d

and we know that when we go into 2014, people like kelly ayotte of new hampshire, you know, her ratingsn the home state after she voted against manchin/toomey went known. so when we tie this to people in the record, we'll see electoral effects and it's going to be very important we keep the pressure up and not go away. and that's what mayors is kmeted to do and the brady campaign. we're not going away, because the nra is not going away either. >> daniel hernandez and professor james peterson, thank you both. daniel, thank you for the work you're doing. >>> coming up, same-sex marriage comes to utah. how this red state may redefine this civil rights fight for the better or for the worse. stay with us. ♪ you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >>> it's amazing. we've been together almost 18 years. and my whole family is here. it's just amazin

already we know there's a note from bob corker and kelly ayotte and cornyn and a list of undecided republicansfunctions of the senate, you don't have to really commit until you have to commit, meaning the time for the vote. part of what may happen is that senators are really engaged in what's been going on separate from the budget deal. a lot of energy has been spent in the fight over nominations and rules change. so i think we will see spr talking to a number of senators ted, they are taking time to review it and think about it and go home for the weekend and back on sunday. they'll work very long days next week when they will have to finally commit to this. what we may see is a split where some republican senators will vote to allow the budget deal to move forward, one of the key procedural steps then vote against it later. so in talking with senators here, there's an expectation the budget deal will pass. one of the challenges is which republicans will be on record supporting it at a time when unlike in the house where paul ryan was the leader of this in the senate, it patty murray, the dem

senator kelly ayotte joins us from new hampshire. good evening, senator. >> good evening, greta. good to be with you. >> nice to have you. what do you make of the secretary's advice as to how to make the website work? you're supposed to go in off peak hours. although i'm not sure i know what the off peak hours are. steams like they're all off peak. >> i'm not sure what it is. because, you know, what i've heard from my constituents is they're trying -- they've tried at all hours of the day. and so why shouldn't people, though, be able to go on when they can go on? i think this is -- obviously shows that there's still serious problems with the website. and this back end issue is a serious issue, greta. because if the insurers aren't getting accurate information, they don't know who is enrolled and they can't verify that someone's enrolled, then that's going to be a real problem for people trying to get coverage. but we also know that the problems are much deeper than the website. those are higher premiums. i spent all day in new hampshire today talking to businesspeople and also go

happen to have a good amendment, with senator claire mccaskill, democrat from missouri, and senator kelly ayotte, a republican from new hampshire, that we believe makes the provisions in our committee bill dealing with sexual assault even better, even stronger, that will protect victims. and we are not allowed to have that amendment. again, that's just -- that's just a foreign concept to me. as a senator, not being allowed to have an amendment on a bill that should have been brought up on the floor months ago, months ago. so we could have had a debate on this truly number-one priority of our country, and instead we have crisis management. now, i don't know about you, senator johanns, but i don't respond well to crisis management. i like to have time to make wise decisions, to make measured decisions, to gather information, to represent our constituents, to represent the american people. the american people demand more. they demand us to be better. i can't even imagine what folks think when they know we're here speaking to an empty chamber. when we should be talking about the big issues of the da

here's kelly ayotte. >> think about it.eone has been injured in afghanistan, one of our men and women in uniform. we've all been to walter reed. they received a disability retirement, and what happens? here's our thanks to you. we're going to cut your cost of living increase. i know that within the trillions we're going to spend over the next decade that we can find $6 billion rather than taking it out the backs of our men and women in uniform. >> joining us to weigh in on this is navy veteran and 2012 military spouse of the year jeremy hilton. what's your reaction to this pension cut? it's over a long term but it's going to add up. we also looked at this, the cost in military pay for a 20-year veteran who is disabled, $124,000. how significant is this? >> brian, thanks for having me on. military families and the men and women that serve in our military consider this a massive breach of faith with the service that we've rendered to america. that $124,000, that's because of the compounding interest that's relateed to that sm

what do you say to kelly ayotte and to veterans. >> what i say to everyone is we had to look at how wes i like. there are things in this i don't like. at the end of the day if we couldn't find a compromise how we move forward then we would be facing a $20 billion hit to our defense industry, meaning layoffs, and uncertainty, and a lot of furloughs harming a lot of families across the country. so choices went in there that i didn't agree with. if somebody's got a better way and has an opportunity to do that, this, military action doesn't take effect for two years so we welcome anybody coming with a better way to do it that want to offer it and get it through a divided congress. i'm happy to look at that and support it if it's something i can agree with -- >> and unfortunately it looks like we have lost the feed from capitol hill. we'll try to get the senator back up so we can finish this interview. thank you very much for the time this morning. chris? >>> coming up on "new day," a texas d.a. hopes persistence pays off, he's trying a different strategy to get that teen who only received

was adjusting the cost of living allowance for military retirees which new hampshire republican kelly ayotteis absolutely wrong. >> it's $6 billion over ten years within this budget agreement. i certainly appreciate the hard work that went into this agreement, but it is absolutely wrong to take from our military retirees, those who have sacrificed the most, to take it from their backs to pay for this budget be agreement. >> reporter: now, that won't get changed in this bill. this is on the glide path to passage to become law, but senator carl levin, the chair of the senate armed services committee, says he's going to look into this impact on military retirees and passing this critical procedural vote, now we expect that this bill will be passed into law with a simple majority. jon? jon: mike emanuel on capitol hill, mike, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jenna: well, a wildfire raging out of control destroying more than a dozen homes including the fire chief's house, all this amid new effort toss tame the fast-moving flames. we'll tell you where it is. >>> also, a deadly explosion rocked a

it was half republicans, including kelly ayotte and lisa mikulski and myself and senator high camp. we worked together and it made a very big difference. the trust that we have is genuine. we get together for dinner every other month. at my house, we had a minnesota potluck dinner. before that was senator mikulski and her husband actually fixed the salmon and froze it and sent it to her. we allow the meant to be hunter gatherers. [laughter] >> great. i would like to ask all three congresswoman -- have you seen this spirit that the senator is talking about? we haven't heard about it has leading to the house as much here and has there been an effort to translate it to the other chamber and what kind of partnerships have been formed? >> recently have in the freshman class. we just had a great dinner this week with the freshman members from the democrat side of the aisle and the republicans. i won't tell you how many bottles of wine we went through. [laughter] and what we talked about was coming together and getting things done. women are born networkers. they are born communicators. we

potentially looking at a presidential run in the case of ted cruz, marco rubio, kelly ayotte, rand paull you that senator minority leader mish mcconnell is also expected to vote against this piece of legislation. he is facing a tough re-election battle from the right from a tea party republican. so that is how it is shaping up. having said that, alex, there's going to be a fair amount of pressure for the republican party to get the votes, to pass this procedural hurdle because of the government shutdown. the republicans still deeply wounded after the government shutdown and they, of course, bore a lot of blame for that. so it's expected this will pass, but there's certainly going to be back room discussions going on throughout the weekend leading up to the vote on tuesday. >> you are right about that, kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> if you're hoping to give your budget a real boost by winning that huge megawilmillions jackpot, you better try again. nobody won the big prize last night. it sends tuesday's jackpot to a whopping $550 million. why is a reporter telling the

as a potential vice president nominee, i don't think she's run for president, but the same with kelly ayottely implied there. so there's something about those four state also that you talked about, and actually, i think you see in all 50 states, is going to terrace point. men have been doing this a lot longer. there is that high aerarchy, th is that waiting your turn. so what happens, ironically, in the republican party, because they're so apt to get republican, show women, you know, we like women. they'll let women leapfrog a little bit more than the democrats will. >> well, yeah. >> women and also candidates of color. there is a strategic value to choosing the republican party for a certain demographic groups, in part because the line is shorter, right? which is a whole another segment and one that would be fun to have. ari melber, who has the win today for the longest running metaphor on this show. >> why am i being held out of the hip pop? >> i know. you are, but if you want to arm wrestle gene grade, i welcome that. >> yet again i feel marginalized. >> yet, indeed. nerdland, where white

know, there's a debate inside the republican party now and some important republican senators, kelly ayot ayotteexample, ron johnson-s and others, they've already proposed -- lindsey graham. they've already proposed to fix obamacare rather than to scrap it and repeal it. which do you think they should do? >> this year, this coming year, nothing. that's up to the republican nominee for president. and that nominee is going to have to come up with an alternative that keeps the parts that are popular from obamacare and moves on from those unpopular pieces into a republican plan. that's a presidential year issue. >> all right. i get you. larry sabato, university of virginia. again, happy new year. thanks for helping out. we appreciate it. >> happy newer, larry. >> now, obamacare isn't functioning properly but that's not stopping the government from collecting an entire raft of new obamacare taxes. you might not even know about them. but grover norquist does. he's about to join us next with all the ugly details. please stay with "the kudlow report." ♪ i wanna spread a little love this year ♪ [ male an

but at the same time, we got to worry also about the kelly ayotts in new hampshire and pat too ma toomey'sy, what's coming up next? i understand we have a great primary down in the great state the great repub leg of texas. and that free spending liberal john cornyn currently ranking second most conservative member ranked above jim dement when he was there is being attack as being too liberal. we will have a primary to fight that one out, right in. >> right. the chamber of commerce weighing in on corn then's side. up next, we will have msnbc's chuck todd. we will look at the poll numbers him maybe he can explain who makes up the 1% of americans who say this is the best congress ever. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. [ music playing ] . >> welcome back to "morning joe." look at the white house. it's great to have you, chuck. >> where else are you going to be? mid-town in december? because all of humanity is here. >> you can't turn left anywhere. >> anywhere. >> you can't turn right or left in manhattan. >> mid-town in december is like d.c. in about april or may. right. yo

times" reports that kelly ayotte and lindsey graham -- all republicans will bring families to the militaryenate on tuesday -- can you give us information on that t e -- on that? got and graham have been supporting this deal. -- i got [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ayotte and graham have been supporting this deal. these numbers are known as the most defense hardened members on the republican side. the way the deal replaces the sequester cut, there is a $6 billion cut to retirement benefits. this is influencing where the cost of living adjustments will --pen so younger retirees budget experts say this is an overly generous retirement package. the current foot cutter -- the current cut federal worker benefits -- on last-minute negotiations it was change from a $6 billion cut to future federal civilian workers and $600 million cut to retirees. if it passes today, then what he echo -- then what? caller: the way both parties have been battling on the fl oor since harry reid exercised the nuclear option to end the filibuster, it is likely 30 hours will have been taken up

it prompted some senators, like senator kelly ayotte to argue against it.eanwhile, john mccain, one of the few senators who served in the military, dismissed the outcry. he noted that high-ranking pentagon officials have acknowledged the need to rein in the cost of military benefits. what do you think? i just think that 20 years does not seem long to the average civilian. it 20 years in the navy -- lost two marriages, four children. you do suffer a little more in the civilian world. that is why they agree to give us such a generous retirement and to take -- it is unfair. host: scott, texas, republican caller. who represents you in washington? does he reflect your views? caller: absolutely. he is doing an excellent job. thes going to be in primaries against corn and -- cornyn, i will be supporting him. the most hated man there is our other senator. i absolutely support him. host: are you referring to ted cruz? caller: yes. host: what do you think of senator john cornyn. caller: stockman is going to get my vote, cornyn has too much going on. host: why? on thi

people like florida senator marco rubio, kelly ayotte from new hampshire and senator ted cruz from texas it. as of last night, the folks trying to wrangle up support for this bill are trying to lock in had the five republican votes necessary to push it through. so there's still drama to be had here. it's not over until it's over. chris? >> be very interesting to hear why people vote against the bill. interesting to measure for us and people at home. >> it's happened again. another stupid, dangerous act. someone shining a laser at a passenger jet. this time a jetblue pilot says his vision was badly damaged when he landed in florida monday. this is not the first time. three incidents reported in west palm beach just last week, attacks on the rise nationwide. cnn's rene marsh has more from us in washington. >> these layser atacks are serious problems. we're talking about laser lights blasting pilots in cockpits midflight with passengers on board. it's a dangerous distraction. so who's behind it? in every case, it's exactly what investigators want to know. in the latest incident, the pilot o

ideologically i thought it was very -- we saw kelly ayotte in new hampshire being one of the few people that stood up during the government shutdown saying enough is enough. you people are killing me up here. i was glad to see pat toomey take a couple of courageous stance as well on a lot of different issues. i think it's really good news the republican party has come out of my region and is now starting to influence elections in the northeast, the midwest and who knows maybe in the far west and here's the thing. if we want to be a national party again, we are going to have to do that. in 2008, 2009, 2010 there wasn't a single republican representing anybody in new england. hopefully we are turning that around it is we have to be a national party again. that's not only good for republicans but it's good for the two-party system and good for the country trade thank you so much. i appreciate it. thank you, guys. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> it's a rare constant in american political life if you look at say congress in 1901, less than 2% of members came from working-class backgr

i thought it was interesting you solve kelly ayotte in new hampshire being one of the few people that stood up during the government shut down saying enough is enough. you people are killing me up here. i was glad to see pat toomey take a couple of courageous stance as well on a couple of different issues. i think it's really good news the republican party has broken out of my reach and and is starting to influence elections in the northeast, the midwest and who knows maybe in the far west. here's the thing. if we want to be a national party again we are going to have to do that. in 2008, 2009, 2010 there wasn't a single republican representing anybody in new england. hopefully we are turning that around because we have to be a national party game. that's only good for republicans but good for the two-party system in the country. thank you so much. i appreciate it. thank you, guys. [applause] >> we will do a book signing and if you can do it as orderly as possible. [inaudible conversations] now, this is official. good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my name is president obama. i'm the