and up in new york, mark halperin and mike barnicle. hat i was talking about, right? >> blame it on the rain. >> that's pretty good. halperin, come on, this is huge! i mean, beyonce -- you're fine with it? it's okay -- >> it's performance, it's just performance. >> she's still singing. >> also, you know what? she looked great, she had a lot of electricity. >> what does that have to do with anything? sing the song! >> here's my question. the marine band said they did not have time to rehearse. and i worked the weekend i was on the hill, kelly clarkson rehearsed, other people rehearsed. i'm a huge beyonce fan, if you're going to sing at the inauguration, how do you not have time to rehearse. >> it's the biggest stage in the world. you've got to put it out there live. it's not a big deal, but i think a lot of people were disappointed that she, in the moment, it wasn't her voice. >> you know, obama was lip syncing too during -- >> well, the last four years. >> mike barnicle's laughing about this. "star-spangled scam." all right, mike barnicl

and mark halperin, this is what's so stunning to me. is you look at the things we have to take care of over the next 20 years. and we have to take care of it now, or else seniors suffer really disproportionately over the next decade. social security. medicare, medicaid, entitlements. nothing touched there. no, it was going to be touched. the president even said, he told david gregory, yeah, i'll do a deal to adjust social security payments in the future, which would save a lot of money in the first decade, but the next decade, wow! that would have made a huge difference for us fiscally. republicans somehow mismanage it and blow that. they don't get that. the military industrial complex, growing at such an alarming rate. we don't cut a dime on that. in fact, we have the sequestration cuts that are supposed to go into effect, which would push off! we always push off spending cuts. we always figure out a way to add more money to the national debt. we did it again last night. >> the president pocketed a lot. and part of why he had so much l

joining me on set is willie geist and mark halperin and national affairs editor for "new york" magazine and msnbc political analyst, i have decided you are "morning joe"'s new men. new men, like sign felt. >> the star of "elf." >> i decided that on twitter with a twitter viewer who seems to feel the same way. >> jon, how do you feel about that? >> heilemann, see -- >> he just folded up his ipad and he's leaving. >> no. >> you two need to go to wendy's wo and work this out. >> and visiting professor at nyu and former democratic congressman, howard ford junior is with us. good morning. very elgadget. how are you? >> i'm good. >> let's get to the news. happy new year. did you have a good one? >> i did. >> we were talking about the hagel nomination that went down and president obama's nomination team taking shape. former senator chuck hagel has been tapped to take over the lead at the pentagon from leon pennetta, who offered some parting thoughts during the announcement. take a listen. >> the time has come for me to return to my wife, sylvia, our three sons, their families, our six grandchi

mark halperin and john heilemann are still with us.ning the table, managing editor of "fortune" magazine, andy serwer. the new issue is the future issue. we're going to get to that in just a bit. good to have you all at the table. chris christie making it very clear how he felt about what happened. what was wrong with the bill? maybe there was something wrong with it. the new congress that swears in today will have a pressing issue to deal with in the coming days. hurricane sandy relief. house speaker john boehner now says he will put $60 billion worth of disaster relief bills up for a vote starting on friday. it comes after he put off tuesday night's expected vote triggering widespread outrage from many politicians including fellow republicans who represent some of the hardest-hit states. >> we cannot believe that this cruel knife in the back was delivered to our region. >> i think it's inexcusable that we did not have this vote. >> the federal government doesn't have a role in this? absurd! absolutely absurd! we demand nothing less t

here in new york, mark halperin of "time" magazine. al, let me start with you. before we talk about the speech, just talk about the ambience of this inauguration. >> these are wonderful weekends. this is a long weekend. whether it's republican or democrat people who come are in a great mood of celebration, they're walking the streets. i love inaugural weekends. i think they're fabulous. not as big as it was last time but i think it was -- in many ways i thought there would be a little of a down tick but just walking around the streets a bit today that didn't appear to be the case. of course all the fancy parties but there are a lot of just real people who don't go to fancy parties so i love this weekend. >> rose: john dickerson you were there for cbs with a front-row seat. what did it seem like for you? >> bright and early people were out there. long before the sun was up the president was walking down the parade t ute ey were 15 people deep. it was a nice antidote to what the rest of us were essentially saying which was talking about the fact that washington is

and msnbc and "time" magazine senior analyst mark halperin. and in washington, chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. >> look at the scarf. >> i am wearing my colors. >> mika, would you like to talk about the game? >> you know, i was so engrossed in it. i don't want to intimidate you all. >> you have no idea who won, do you? >> looks like the redskins. my dad was watching. he loves football. >> willie, here's the deal. you have dr. james andrews from my hometown. >> yep. >> and he's on the sidelines. and you've got the franchise player. and he's -- and shanahan did this earlier in the year. the guy gets hurt. shanahan shoves him back onto the field. you've got a rookie quarterback who, of course, is going to want to go in and play. that was just reckless, reckless negligence, not with a guy in his final year, but a guy in his first year who's your franchise player. i'm telling you, man. shanahan is taking too many chances with this great player. i mean, i think that's almost a fireable offen

the show, i can spend that time with mark halperin. >> half an hour of real estate. >> and you are, as you say to me, i'm just trying to be the best mark halperin i can be. >> no one can forget willy -- >> what's his name? >> that guy never gets mentioned on "jeopardy!". >> aren't forgotten by the american people. what did you learn? >> you ask people, how was your holiday, and they're like, oh, it was great. i asked our 24-year-old production coordinate how her holiday was, and -- >> holly, come here. >> she got married? >> you ask everybody, how was your holiday? >> oh, it was good. >> went down to myrtle beach. got a sweater. and you come out, and say, oh, i got married. >> yes. >> so give us the details? >> i just married my love from italy, stefano, and we got married at city hall. >> and does he look like the guy on the harlequin romance -- >> you're thinking fabio. >> he has short hair. >> well, congratulations! i'm so excited for you! >> congratulations. >> wrap it up now. >> of course, he comes to an america who has higher taxes and higher debt. that's another story. now, i ne

or tweet me at mark halperin. >>> still ahead here on "way too early" robert griffin iii limps his way through the loss. we'll show you the highlights and get redskins coach mike shanahan take next in sports. >>> plus, your country may be in a bad place when your selects start to defect to russia. gerard depardieu takes his hatred of the french tax code to russia. and a check of your weather when "way too early" comes back. >>> today in the oval office the big five, all of this nation's living president future current and past, the first and last time so many presidents gathered in the white house at once was back in 1981. [ male announcer ] staples is the number-one office superstore ink retailer in america. now get $6 back in staples rewards for every ink cartridge you recycle when you spend $50 on hp ink. staples. that was easy. in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sl

we'll talk about both of them with david sanger of the "new york times" and mark halperin of "time" magazine. >> both mr. brennan and chuck hagel are coming in at exactly the moment when the light footprint strategy has begun to hit some real resistance. the u.s. has not figured out how to intervene in syria in an effective way. it's obviously run into some difficulties in the end of its cyber campaign for now in iran or at least we think it has. so the question is whether or not these two men working together can sort of forge some very new and different ways. >> one of the reasons people have liked chuck hagel over the years, a lot of reasons reporters like him, a lot of reasons his supporters like him is he's a free-speaking guy. he's iconoclastic. he's willing to say things and think about things in a way that's outside not just party orthodoxy but out of the mainstream foreign policy establishment. >> rose: we conclude with a conversation about politics and economics and debt ceilings and fiscal cliffs and sequestration with david leonhardt of the "new york times" and austan goolsbee, f

good morning, i'm mark halperin, this is "way too early," imagining all the people living in peace. thanks for being up with us this wednesday, january 23rd. there's a new debt ceiling plan from speaker john boehner and the house republicans that could force senate democrats to finally show their hand and pass a budget. plus it's only day four of president obama's second term, but joe biden is already commenting on possibly running for the top job himself in 2016. we'll show you what he said in a minute. first the new developments in the debate over guns in america. the national rifle association last night delivered a sharp response to president obama's inaugural address. speaking in reno, nevada, way waywayn wayne lapierre lashed out at one word from president obama. >> we cannot mistake absolutism, or treat name calling as reasoned debate. >> obama wants to turn the idea of absolutism into a dirty word, just another word for extremism. he wants you, all of you, and americans throughout all of this country, to accept the idea of principles as he sees fit. it's a way of redefining

here in new york, mark halperin of "time" magazine. al, let me start with you.'s republican or democrat people who come are in a great mood of celebration, they're walking the streets. i love inaugural weekends. i think they're fabulous. not as big as it was last time but i think it was -- in many ways i thought there would be a little of a down tick but just walking around the streets a bit today that didn't appear to be the case. of course all the fancy parties but there are a lot of just real people who don't go to fancy parties so i love this weekend. >> rose: john dickerson you were there for cbs with a front-row seat. what did it seem like for you? >> bright and early people were out there. long before the sun was up the president was walking down the parade the route they were 15 people deep. it was a nice antidote to what the rest of us were essentially saying which was talking about the fact that washington is stuck, that the drama and glory of his first inauguration is gone, that it's been -- you know it's a tough sledding period here in washington. th

mark halperin of time magazine as mainstream a journalist as you can get, he is the one who first madet observation. look, this story was portrayed as the president looking out for 98% of the american people. he wins the pr battle when that's the occasion and even though polls show that most americans think we're spending too much. and polls do show that on a regular basis. i don't think the american people really understand how bad things are going to get. there needs to be not just an occasional story here or there but there needs to be stories about what happens when interest rates go up from near zero percent to a more typical 5%, 6%, 7%. we are getting away with traying the $16 trillion near zero rate. we can't pay it at 7% rate. we will go broke when that happens. there won't be any money for anything other than the debt and entitlements. >> bill: they don't believe it's going to happen. they are never going to cop to it now, essentially you have a story that's boring. all right. the fiscal story is doll. if you have the chance to watch watch entertainment tonight and they are do

. >> i want you to respond to a lot of letters to the editor, if you will, myself and mark halperin getsr. a very proliffic liberal democrat that e-mails. simply there have been four of the last four defense secretaries nominated by democratic presidents and three have been republicans. >> well, it's interesting to see what happened in foreign policy in the course of the last four years. with president obama, democrats have taken away the mantle of strength in foreign policy. so, i think the fact that the president is willing to nominate chuck hagel, someone who says lindsey graham says is an in your face nomination to republicans shows that the president has confidence in the strength -- >> what about sending this message. i heard this grumbling about the hagual nomination from some democrats who say, he's fine. i'll end up voting for him. what is it? democrats can manage the defense department too. >> the president made this a lot less about party and more about who chuck hagel is as a person. this is a guy who's a decorated veteran. and when you've got a period of time when you have t

president's announcement, a look at his evolving foreign policy and national security policy, mark halperin of "time" magazine and washington david sanger of the "new york times." david, let me begin with you and talk about what does this -- these choices say about the president and how he sees the challenge of national security over the next four years? >> well, charlie, i think that in the selection of john brennan, who, as you said, has been his counterterrorism chief and many people believe has essentially run the entire intelligence community, you have seen the president choose somebody who is central to the president's light footprint strategy. that is the strategy of not getting involved in the world through these big attritional wars in which we send 100,000, 200,000 troops into iraq and afghanistan but instead the man who helped shape president obama's concept that with a combination of drones, cyber warfare, special forces you can actually go out and defend america's interest without staying inside countries, without trying to rewire them. but i think that you'll find that both th

mark halperin, john heilemann, s.e. cupp and gillian tett are still with us.iate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst and all-around good guy, eugene robinson. how are you? >> i'm fine. how are you, mike? >> i'm at the top of my game and i'm not on anything. how about that? >> i saw you slipping that epo during the commercial, and i wasn't going to say anything, but since you're telling a different story now, mike. >> gene, here's a question for you. given your knowledge of the newspaper business and our knowledge of the journalism business, how long do you think it is before some news outlet is going to start sniffing around the books of the -- you know, livestrong foundation to find out what has happened over the years with all of the money? i mean, they've done some great things. they've given a lot of people hope. i don't want to negate that about lance armstrong. how long is it going to be before you think that happens? >> a couple of nanoseconds. i would be shocked and stunned if it weren't already happening. and that's kind of --

. >>> mark halperin, a senior political analyst for msnbc and "time" magazine. >> good morning. >> we don't want this to be another health care. it took a lot of political capitol. some say it took its eye off the economy ball at the time. with the gun debate, risk of expending too much political capital at the expense of immigration or other big-ticket things? >> there is that risk. but we saw at the president's inaugural address, the president wants to get big things done. some like immigration, like deficit reduction, immigration, are things that he talked about all along. this is a new issue, gun control. we are about to see the biggest effort ever by a president and vice president to try and change america's gun control laws, it will take some time. the president will stick through this year. >> is that because it works? he'll take it on the road. >> he has this big new organization that kristen mentioned that will try to take tactics that worked in the campaign, reaching people directly. neighbor-to-neighbor contact, to get public opinion really changed. it can backfire. you can

mark halperin called me up and said i've never seen anything like it. the election was over. it was already over because obama's people targeted their voters, they found them online, they dragged them out, they had people calling three times in one day on cell phones. they kept at it. that's how we win. you know what? the leader matters. the message matters, but make no mistake of it, the obama people marketed their guy like he was a bag of potato chips. >> well, but -- >> and i'm not being cynical here, that's how we're going to win four years there now. now, if you have a great leader, if you have a reagan, if you have an obama in 2008, if you have a clinton in 1992, then, yes. that wave will crash over the micro targeting. but in a close race, this is the future, and we got whipped. >> okay. we only have two minutes left, so i'm going to -- one question, and're all going to -- we're all going to give really quick replies. >> great. gentlemen, don't we have to talk about this in smaller terms? this is the land of liberty, but our own government is stifling it in every walk