does jack kennedy have stuff to teach barack obama? the brothers and sisters, kennedy had the irish mafia. obama has tried to do it alone. has he have time to build a team. political confederates who can fight for him. can he pull a solo act and start to lead? finally, bad news bears. where do they find this crew? perry is falling, bachmann is falling. something is raising cain but nobody knows what. with time flying, the vast american middle is fleeing. with their chances good, why are the republicans so bad? hi, i'm chris matthews. welcome to the show. with us today. the "washington post" bob woodward, nbc's andrea mitchell, the bbc's katty kay and the "new york magazine's" john heilemann. first up, since the 1957 shock of sputnik, there have been few times as unsettling as today. can we shake off this sense of decline in the country? where is the leadership that will say yes, america is still the hope of the world? comparisons are made to the early 1960's now, the time 50 years ago when jack kennedy connected with the country's year

john kennedy. was even more dominant on the prayer life, and kept after them for all of the reasons that good mothers do. i mean, to make responsible children, and -- but they kept very, very close track of what each was doing, and so i would not disagree that anybody who thinks that they were enormously up -- influential. the only thing i'm conscious of, however, is ambassador kennedy could not influence certain people in the democratic party. i mean, people that we were supporting. he frequently did not, so that -- >> who are you thinking of? [laughter] >> oh, well, i'm just really thinking about one fight that we had, and he just was not responsive. i mean, well, barbie was the responsible one, and what happened was that bobby had indicted the brother of a congressman from new york, and congressman who had been very, very responsive to us and wanted desperately for the indictment to be withdrawn, bobby refused; then there was a talk to the ambassador who said, no, he will do what he's going to d

jack kennedy had something called the kennedy party. >> let's talk about that. i mean, you know, that element that howard threw on the table and you just knocked out of the park. it is the element of, he ought to have these guys down the white house, he ought to play cards with them, have a drink with them. >> if you don't like them, they're not going to like you. >> well, that's the question. is he as -- is barack obama as good at politics at we initially thought? because he certainly, after this point in time, is certainly not john f. kennedy, who schmoozed these guys. these guys, in your book, they liked jack kennedy. you get the sense that a lot of democratic reps and senators, they admire the president, as we all admire the president, as we all ought to, but they don't really like him. >> you know what happened to jack kennedy, he got beaten for the vice presidential nomination in '56 and talked to the people and said, now i'm going to be a total politician. not just some popular guy. i'm going to be a guy that makes other politicians do what i want them to

kennedy and rose kennedy. you must have known those two individuals. her impressions match with your memories of them and her interaction with them in public? >> yes. [laughter] >> you have a very long career in political life, huh? and distinguished. [laughter] >> well, no, mr. kennedy was very much a dominant figure in almost everything that went on in the political life. his mother was even more dominant family life and kept after them for all the reasons that good mothers do. i mean, to make responsible children. and -- but they kept very, very close track of what each was doing. and so i would not disagree that anybody who thinks that they were enormously influential. the only thing i am conscious of, however, is that ambassador kennedy could not influence certain people in the democratic party. i mean, people that we were supporting, he frequently did not. >> who are you thinking of? >> well, i'm just really thinking about one fight that we had. and he just was not responsive. i mean, well, bobby was the responsible one. and what happened was tha

eunice kennedy shriver and shriver. >>> and a special honor at the kennedy center for actor will .errell >> and traffic >>> monday morning, adam caskey in the belfort furniture weather forecast.h your let's look dubbed the temperatures. the most the 40's for part. 46 in gaithersburg. 43 in manassas. t bad,gan national, non- 51. 69 today for the high temperature with limited sunshine. belated sprinkle cannot ruled out. turning mostly cloudy. mostly sunny tomorrow, mid 60's's on tuesday. >>> traffic is in our favor. limited constructed overnight, no problems as far as removing that right now. traffic moving on interstate. the beltway travel quiet as well. volume just starting to grow, problems on 270 out of frederick. across the potomac river and incostia the district. will keep an eye on things. news.o >>> 4:53. some dulles airport airplane hangars damaged during the 2010 snowstorm car back in business. there's a report two of the four hangers have reopen. construction on the other two is expected to be finished next month. the airplanes inside were storms, butng the no one was hurt. >>>

and we called them the kennedy tax cuts. now, kennedy was at a time where the keynesians now -- studied a different form of economics. ironically, his economics professor at harvard was a fellow named nixon. figure that one out. oh, professor nixon. and there was a split in the keynesian view. what do you do to get the economy moving again? we had a small recession, nothing like now. and the question was, do you put it in public investments, john kenneth galbraith, or, you know, the affluent society was the argument that public squallor, private glory and all this. or do you cut marginal tax rates temporarily, endorse your deficit and grow? he took the latter path. but it was a keynesian path, it wasn't supply-side economics. and this was, again, what fed the aeronautics industry, the computer industry, defense and many, many things that gave us, again, the roar of the '60s. now, the '60s were very -- we baby boomers grow up in very prosperous times. we all had our own room, we all wanted our own car, we went to college, we

justice kennedy: no, no, no. what she is saying is that you basically gave me summary judgment; you didn't allow me to go to the agency to have a proper test applied. the summary judgment was just an analogy. forget that. [laughter.] mr. laycock: i'm not entirely sure i understand the question. we agree she couldn't go to civil court if she's a minister. she could have gone to the synod. she wasn't cut off from that. she decided not to. justice kennedy: but i'm saying if there are some substantial issues the church has that can be litigated in eeoc hearing. she was fired simply for asking for a hearing. mr. laycock: i understand that. but once you start to litigate these cases -- justice scalia: i think your point is that it's -- it's none of the business of the government to decide what the substantial interest of the church is. mr. laycock: that's one of my points, maybe the most important of my points. these -- these decisions are committed to the churches by separation of church and state, but -- but beyond t

kennedy and cohn hated each other. they came to--they came--they came--almost came to blows, in fact, later on, and kennedy resigned--reluctantly resigned from the committee because he realized that there wasn't room for both of them on the--on--on mccarthy's staff. c-span: and a young man named david schine who was 25. >> guest: that's right. c-span: and i want you to tell us who he was--but why is there no picture of him in here that i could find? >> guest: there's only so many pictures you can get in. that's one reason why. c-span: but is there a picture of david schine around? >> guest: oh, yeah. he's--you can--you can find him in--in--in a number of books, roy cohn's book, for example, but he was a kind of--he was engagingly handsome, not very bright, came from a millionaire family from florida, and roy cohn seems to have been quite enthralled by him. roy cohn was, as we now know, a homosexual, and although there is nothing that suggests that there was any kind of physical relationship between cohn and schine, the

>> senator, i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no crack kennedy. >>> a live picture at 5:46 in the morning of the united states capitol. let's get a check of your weather from bill karins. >> have you ever been in a dust storm? >> i can't say as i have, no. >> my dad lives out in phoenix and they're interesting. and when they look like this, this is a little more than interesting. this is dangerous. this is i-10 yesterday in arizona. these thunderstorms blew through and they didn't have a lot of rain, but they did have gusty winds. visibility goes down to almost nothing as you can see and that's the chaos that ensues. they've cleared it up now, but it's been pretty nasty out there. and all the bad weather is out west now through arizona, new mexico dealing with showers and thunderstorms this morning, but everyone in the east, will is your reward for all the misery we went through there in september with irene and all the wet weather and it was muggy and the mosquitos were as big and as many as they've ever been. no

. >> anthony kennedy. >> stephen: o so again it comes down to kennedy. >> usually. >> stephen: so are they going to craft the argument its straight at kennedy or are they going to try to dig down looking for something that might appeal to him. >> absolutely. that's how they write these. they cite cases that he's written in the past. they very much focus their arguments on him. >> stephen: are you looking particularly handsome today, justice kennedy. >> that may happen. >> stephen: is there any chance that the justices will have to all recuse themselves since they have government health care. >> i doubt that. i doubt that. >> stephen: well, is anybody going to have to recuse themselves? (applause) >> you know, justice thomas's wife has been very outspoken, against the healthcare law. she's a political activist and some people say he should recuse himself you. >> stephen: and kagan works for the obama administration. >> correct. some say she should recuse herself. >> stephen: she has o billion-- obama on her. you can't wash that off as far as conservatives are concerned. >> that's true.

it's now my pleasure to introduce my collaborator and friend, senator edward kennedy. >> yeah, ted kennedyor. this ted kennedy. >> the whole issue of health insurance and universe coverage. it has been the passion of my life. it has been the passion of my life. and it has been the passion of my life since the earliest days of my life. >> this comes just days after nbc's michael isikoff found a smoking gun linking romney's plan to president obama's. three architects of romney-care met a dozen times with senior obama officials in 2009, including president obama, helping to shape the new law step by step. have fun explaining this one to the tea party. with me now, one of those romney care architects jonathan gruber, now a professor of economics at m.i.t., and michael isikoff, nbc news national investigative correspondent. the man who broke the story about romney-care at the white house. michael, let me start with you. the romney camp has always tried to act like there was no kind of interaction at all, no intersection at all with what he did in massachusetts and what the president proposed to

kennedy. birmingham became johannesburg . nonviolent action was called a baptismal service. >> the racist element in the police department would create a crisis or confrontation, and so we knew that we wouldn't be in birmingham long before that would happen. >> dr. king was arrested for marching without a permit. and for his defiance, solitary confinement. a diary he kept while in jail in georgia a year earlier reveals how his thoughts would turn to his family. >> god blessed me with a great and wonderful life. i have never adjusted to bringing my children up under these inexplicable conditions. >> by 1963, dr. king had been arrested several times. >> nobody with any sense likes to go to jail. but if he puts you in jail, you go in that jail and transform it from a dungeon of shame to a haven of freedom and unity. >> despite his own words, the same diary shows king found incarceration draining. >> jail is almost like being dead while one still lives. it is bare existence, cold, cruel, degenerat

jack kennedy was a friend of mine, and your note back -- jack kennedy.e dispute about whether that was a prepared line. what is yours? >> well, it's out of the way to me. unfortunately i was not able to talk to lloyd bentsen. by the time i got around to it. in public statements that he made to reporters after the debate when he was asked whether or not that was a boy purblind he said, no, no, no. it just came to me. however, some of the folks around bentsen letter said, well, we have heard him say this before. in other words, we have heard quayle say something about john f. kennedy before. about the experience. that was a point that quayle had more experience in congress and then government and john f. kennedy did when he was elected president. so they were ready for this. i think we just have to leave it to hear again to different use of what happened. >> talk a little bit about the negotiations that go into -- and i no you're not a part of them, but you clearly know about them. the candid it's just don't show up at the podium and get ready to debate. i

>> we go back to nixon and kennedy and they don't want to use the makeup and it is this what and kennedy was cool as a cucumber. >> if he was one of the reasons and right now, since kennedy, nixon, all of the stages wherever they have a presidential debate light meat lockers, they are ice cold because nobody wants to sweat. because of what happened to nixon. the sit down and negotiate, can it be colder here, in my podium then it is in the other guy's podium? weird stuff. because everything counts. not just about how you feel about lockboxes on social security, it is the way you say it. and there's many examples of this. >> and also the way you look. look at the women, we saw hillary clinton last round, serotonin, now we see michele bachmann, now a little jacket, it is not the -- a tight bun maybe, very tailored, businesslike. >> the key to it, we have a role in the news hour that i invented a years ago, it is called the -- shirt role. if i am seeing there, i am jim lehrer, i am in the news and i am sitting there with my skivvies sure, why is that full sitting on there with his skivvies s

this is not a kennedy-style royal birth. it's not a kennedy-style birth either. so the attention given to this, it's pretty low key. i mean, i'm going to show you the newspaper. they don't particularly like sarkozy, but there's not one mention of the birth. the more right wing paper, it's not on the front page, it's on the back page. this is not a country where they make a point of marking these events with great fanfare. if anything, there's a tendency , both by tradition and by law to sort of separate themselves from the public. so yes, there's interest, and yes, of course it's been on the radio, but it's not this mega event that's sort of driving, bringing the country to a standstill. >> well, i'm getting excited about this, but they'll still be wanting the opinion polls, won't they? he sort of needs all the help he can get at the moment. >> yes, but again, this is sort of subtle, becausey got to play this carefully. if there's any sense that he's trying to milk this for his electoral advantage, then of course he'll rebound to his disadvantage. he's got so muc

but not tonight at the kennedy center. this evening hollywood stars and fellow comedians honored will farrell. he is this year's recipient of mark twain prize for american humor. big molly shannon says that, despite his wacky persona on camera off-camera he is pretty shy. we caught up with them before tonight's event. >> i do not know if i am shy. but i am definitely not -- [unintelligible] i have never felt any pressure to be on. >> malia shannon and conan o'brien or some of the comedians who honored him tonight. this is the 14th year that the mark twain prize has been awarded >>> it has been a beautiful and mylonite today. we could have even warmer temperatures more geared for a preview, let's check in with steve. >> the clouds are beginning to roll in from the west and we will look for them to continue to increase for the overnight hours and early morning. 54 degrees at reagan national airport is the bit cooler at dulles -- 54 degrees at reagan national airport. it is a bit cooler at the dallulles. take a look at arling

garre: i don't know that, justice kennedy. i think the alabama system here created a system in which it would allow for appeals, not only in direct appeals, but post-conviction proceedings. there are several extraordinary features of the alabama system and we think that ultimately they helped to facilitate the extraordinary and shocking events in this case. chief justice john g. roberts: what if -- the new york lawyers did not abandon mr. maples prior to the time that they left their law firm in new york, right? mr. garre: that's right. chief justice john g. roberts: so their conduct prior to that time would be attributed to him, right? mr. garre: i think that's right. chief justice john g. roberts: right. part of their conduct was setting up their arrangement with mr. butler where he would show up as counsel of record but not really do anything. so why aren't the consequences of that arrangement attributed to maples as well? mr. garre: i don't think they would be attributed. i think what you are looking for is whether the def

note kennedy didn't defend catholicism, he defended the right to be catholic and run for president. that's what he did. at the end of his speech, he said i believe in jesus christ, but i give others the right to believe differently than i do about him. giving christians permission to say this is now how we understand christianity. >> the profound question, is there any reason he could not be the president of the united states, why he should not be supported by people of all faith to be president of the united states? is there any way that the mormon church would interfere in his ability to follow the constitution and be an independent -- >> i don't think so. he said in his speech basically the same thing that kennedy did, which was that his mormon faith, the authority in his mormon faith extended over his personal religious belief, and his family, and would have nothing to do with his performance of his office. >> and what would you say to evangelicals that are suspicious or concerned about this? >> i would say to them that look, we voted for an evangelical, just because he was an e

that was actually one of kennedy's key arguments. he did a great joke, and as you just mentioned, covert action in places like guatemala, low-cost way to contain communism. that is obviously the controversy. the idea that eisenhower was as kennedy suggested to sitting on his hands is far from the truth underrated. the caretaker. i actually think he was very impressive, intelligent. he was kind of a mainstream conservative internationalists. at think he did his best under the circumstances. a very difficult time for u.s. foreign policy because public and congress was completely fed up with the memory of vietnam and the possibility of anything that might resemble vietnam, 74, 75, 76. the soviet union and its allies, cuba, for example, were quite assertive in promoting socialist revolutions in parts of africa, other parts of the world. if you read kissinger's memoirs, it was a very difficult time to preside over foreign policy. actually, he was attacked from left and right, the left supposedly cropping up inhumane dictatorships. attack

chris: the danger as it was with kennedy, the silent bigots, they don't say anything but they go in the voting booth. when we return, scoops and chris: welcome back, mike, tell me something i don't know. >> president obama's relations with democratic senators are near the breaking point. they have been for months keeping their unhappiness with him to themselves. they feel unheard, ignored and now they're beginning to talk about it more and more, still privately, but not happy. it's not going to cost him the election itself. it's another -- chris: why are they mad at him? >> he never consults them and doesn't listen to them. classic and getting worse. >> watch for the administration and congressional democrats to make a push on immigration again, either in december or early in the new year so they can set up a contrast issue with republicans for the hispanic voters. maybe they'll resurrect the dream act or parts of the immigration bill. >> picking up on michael's, i've been asking senate democrats, do you get a phone call from the president, one told me not since election night. another

and kennedy said, no, he didn't need any, and nixon heard kennedy say it, and so he said, "i don't want any makeup, either." and he needed it. >> people who listened on radio thought that nixon performed better or as well as kennedy, but those who watched it on television thought john kennedy had won by a landslide. it was that first moment in our history when we saw that television can transform a political candidate from a candidate into a celebrity, and it changed the whole contours of our politics. >> television, depending on your point of view, either gave voters a powerful new way to evaluate their candidates or ushered in an era that overemphasized the visual. perhaps the lesson is no matter what new technology comes along, its true influence takes some time to be seen. we will end where we began, but this time, with a one-word answer. is our political journalism better and getting better or worse? jim? >> it's better and getting better. that's not one word. >> it's different, and it has the ability to get better. >> we end on an optimistic note, then. thank you, jim vandenhei of

the kennedy center, we started this 14 years ago.t is really important, i think to stop once a year and to recognize the people who make us laugh and not only at ourselves but also make us laugh. and will ferrell certainly deserves that in so many ways. it is going to be televised next monday. halloween night on pbs, 9:00 eastern. but please tune in and check your local listings. it is a very funny show and all -- there's some -- lot of surprises and i'm not going to give it away. in the paper, i guess it is already given away. will gets the prize, the bust, and accidentally drops it which is made of ceramic and shatters on the kennedy center age that was not a joke. >> it was a joke. >> it was a joke? okay. the real prize, bronze, the president came running out of the oval office. that was the real thing. david rubenstein presented that to will last night. >> you said -- once a year we come to stop and celebrate humor and what it means. why is it so important to recognize the people who make us laugh? especially in that's tough time

a 2-1 shot off ian kennedy. milwaukee takes game one, 4-1 is the final. >>> virginia tech in action. we'll have highlights at 11:00. >>> thank you. >>> that is the news for now. nightly news is up next.

chris: the danger as it was with kennedy, the silent bigots, they don't say anything but they go in theoting booth. when we return, scoops and when you believe in the future, you're always looking ahead... to what's next, to what's possible. confident that taking action now, is the way to create a better tomorrow. that's why we're announcing, that with the planned merger with t-mobile, at&t will begin bringing five thousand jobs to america from overseas. we will invest eight billion dollars more... and deploy the next generation of wireless broadband to nearly everyone in america. this investment will create as many as ninety-six thousand american jobs. here at at&t, we believe in the future. we're not hesitating. we're investing in america now. why? well, we know it's good business. because america has always been... and always will be a smart investment. at&t. chris: welcome back, mike, tell me something i don't know. >> president obama's relations with democratic senators are near the breaking point. they have been for months keeping their unhappiness with him to themselves. they fee

he said, i brought jack kennedy back alive. i wanted to do, what i'm asking you to do, help me do it. you can order a copy of "jack kennedy, elusive hero."

stars hit the red carpet at the kennedy center to honor a very funnel man. chuck bell, what you got? >> we have clouds rolling our way, aaron, maybe a chance for a few showers on our back-to-work when you believe in the future, you're always looking ahead... to what's next, to what's possible. confident that taking action now, is the way to create a better tomorrow. that's why we're announcing, that with the planned merger with t-mobile, at&t will begin bringing five thousand jobs to america from overseas. we will invest eight billion dollars more... and deploy the next generation of wireless broadband to nearly everyone in america. this investment will create as many as ninety-six thousand american jobs. here at at&t, we believe in the fute. we're not hesitating. we're investing in america now. why? well, we know it's good business. because america has always been... and always will be a smart investment. at&t. >>> not something you see every day in rome. a man climbed out on to a ledge to burn a bible. was take any way by security all while the pope condak

showed pictures of kennedy.here was never a kennedy in the seat. alex, your thoughts about this. you come from a long pedigree of political people. >> no one is taking their clothes off to get through college. >> let's go back to the sheer politi politics. we do that better than naked pictures. >> it's arguable. >> is scott brown in trouble? >> absolutely, chris. his favoribility rating was sky high months ago. combine what's happening on wall street, the fear of anger and the middle class is unduly born with the fighting that elizabeth warren has done and her record fighting the banks and the government, she is the candidate for now. >> she is gutsy, joan of arc taking on the big guy. >> she is the perfect, perfect democrat. she has background rooted in her own experience. itis not an academic experience. she understands big finance. she knows -- >> an elite thing will kill you, though. >> 13% said they were less favorably disposed to her because of a harvard background. >> my fellow irish woman here, how do yo

his religion during his first presidential run in 2008, responded to it by pulling a page from the kennedy catholic book. he mentioned the word mormon just once. >> if i'm fortunate to become your president, i will serve no one religion. >> reporter: but in 2012, even evangelical leaders say most christian conservatives won't fixate on romney's faith but not

and it is bobby kennedy. he says, what is wrong little man? "i cannot find my mommy." so he took me off the elevator at the next floor and helped me look for my mom. then we got the capitol police. and he waited there with me and spoke to me. and it was very comforting. with something, i'm sure he was very busy that we, because that week my mother and my sisters and i got to sit in the house and senate galleries. in one house, they were debating the voting rights act of 1965. and in the other house, they were debating this crazy idea of providing free health insurance for old people. it was called medicare and for poor people -- medicaid. so i was watching those debates. and kennedy was in the middle of both of those. he was taking the time to help this lost child. so it had quite an impact on me as i was growing up occurr. tavis: with the gang of kids he had, he knew something about young girls and boys. the vote shed some light on your childhood, but it also comes into adulthood and the chapter that i was anxious to get to was the part about what actually happened af

in concord, massachusetts, douglas kennedy, fox news. >>> let's talk about our weather here.wful day! cold, rainy, just made you want to curl into bed and not get out. >> i know. some like this weather, because it's the introduction to fall. >> it is, but i could do without the rain. that's the part that makes you say enough already. >> couldn't offer much sunshine today. take a look outside. the sun is trying to make a little peek through the clouds there, but some of you have seen a fair amount of rain today. some of you haven't seen anything. and some of you have just seen a few scattered showers or so. you can see the gray clouds out there and the skies, not much happening in terms of sunshine. the showers are going to continue, j so just be prepared for that. much cooler as well. our temperatures are really going to take a bit of a dip. we do have a warmup on the way. that's at least good news for you. we're keeping a close eye on what's happening in the tropics, because they are still very much on the active side. so here's a look right now of what, where we stand in te

suzanne kennedy is live at freedom plaza with more. >> i am that what you might consider home base for these demonstrators. here the next four days. they are on the stage. they will be here several days, protesting today. in the last two hours, they took streets,ls to the make their voice heard. concerns over the war in afghanistan and the economy today in downtown washington. we are too big to fail ♪ >> people from all walks of life on freedom plaza, many signs about corporate and under-taxation of corporate businesses. paintermployed house has been looking for work for years. frustration fueled her trip from frederick to d.c. >> they are making way more money. we bailed them out and they're making millions. them this college senior has $20,000 of school loans. afraid that if the continues to falter, she be up to pay them off. >> i am terrified. know so many people have already, master's degrees, and i cannot the jobs. terrified about what will happen. this retired federal worker up with corporate fees.and bank fears the financial future. his family is facing. >> i have grandkids. i w

book, it brought jack kennedy back to life.ove it. you could order the book on amazon.com right now. >>> we're back. there is no doubt the occupy wall street protests have ignited support around the country. it turns out a majority of americans agree with their belief. what is it about the movement that's drawing growing numbers of americans and what exactly are the protesters looking for? well, matt cooper is managing editor of "national journal daily" and michelle goldberg reports for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." michelle and matt, look at these numbers. i saw them in "the new york times" yesterday. they blew me away. charles blow ran through some of the numbers and it's just amazing. look at this number here. 86% of the american people say the wall street people and lobbyists have too much influence in america's national capital in washington. 86% say they have too much clout. those wall street guys. 79% say the income gap in this country is just too big between the wealthy and the other americans. 71% think bank ceos s