when mary landrieu starts seeing bloomberg money against her, then i think she might change her mind. >> let's talk about bloomberg money. as if he's got bloomberg money. "the new york times" quotes thomas mann from brookings, said the $12 million in advertising was unlikely to influence the outcome of the legislation, unless lawmakers were convinced that mr. bloomberg would open his wallet again after the vote, both to reward those who supported the bill and to punish those who did not. that's absolutely key, said mann. what do you make of that? >> i think that makes sense. in the immediate environment we're in today, one of these media campaigns can be a flash in the pan. but i think this is a long game and think it's a long game for good reason. i actually disagree with the governor that these politicians are necessarily being stupid. by going against the public on the issue. because this is one of those asymmetrical issues. most people are in favor of universal background checks, but the people who care about it are going to vote on the issue, are disproportion eige porgportiona o

we know that about half a million dollars to mary landrieu herself since 2007.tting this lobbying money, so it really is a question of whether or not you have the political capacity to say no to that money and to start talking about the regulation. >> we ought to eliminate lobbyist contributions. we ought to have tax reform, not talking about raising the rates but doing away with all these loopholes. if you were to do away with these corporate loopholes, could you lower the marginal rate for every american, including the rich people, and they couldn't make a contribution to get a little loophole in the law. you know when the fiscal cliff thing that we did in december, obama and the congress finally did, big disaster. do you know buried in that bill, buried in that bill were hundreds of millions of dollars of additional loopholes for special corporations. it's not right, melissa. it's called corruption. >> buddy roam emer, you always e it place. >> thank you. >> when we come up, the cost to human life. more on that when we come back. [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit

>> michael: yeah, he went over to mary landrieu's desk here 4:00 am -- after he tied china and the unbortion together and reprimanded him, and then she walked away and supposedly he was just sort of chuckling as she walked away. >> the senate for better or worse, i guess we still have to call at it gentle person's club if you will. unlike the house they really treat themselves with respect and that counts for a lot. that's why cruz's attitude flagrantly just violating all of the rules of decor um and respect for other members has turned people off on both sides of the aisle -- the worst of the tea party. the worst of the tea party. >> michael: it's incredible and maybe the state he comes from as he turns people off will turn blue. bill i want to ask you "politico" ran a story of paul ryan's latest move since being on the losingen of the romney ticket. he seems to be enjoying working behind the scenes. how do republicans see ryan's role right now? >> i think it's wrong to say that paul ryan is below the radar. inside of washington he is very, very much on the scene. it's the ryan budge

mayor bloomberg on a tlot of issues but five red state democrats, kay hagan of north carolina, mary landrieu and senator pryor of arkansas and donnelly and heitkamp. >> mayor bloomberg, what he understands is that he is targeting the democrats that are also on the fence and by going directly to their districts, it's teaching the american people about the nuts and bolts. it's not enough to go to the polls. you have to pick up the phone and make sure that congress knows that you are paying attention and your vote for them next time is going to reside on whether they are with you or not with you for gun legislation. again, bloomberg is doing exactly what the president is doing. he's taking it ut out of washington. again, the american people believe that we need gun legislation and our members of congress and senators are not aligned and they should be. because like representative was saying, it's going to hurt not just ourselves but our loved ones and generations to come. >> congressman, i was on "morning joe" today on this station with dan senor who is a romney campaign adviser and we were tal

here we have mark pryor of arkansas, begih of alaska, mary landrieu and a lot of these people who are passionate on gun rights will remember every election from now on and vote accordingly against these people. >> well, chris, it's true that i would suggest to senators that there's some things worse than not being re-elected. but i also think they give the gun lobby way too much credit. let's take harry reid, who has coward before the gun lobby if harry reid thinks it's gun lobbyists who got him back in the election, he's nuts. he lost the male vote. it was the obama coalition of union voters, young voters who put harry reid back in office. people like harry reid give the gun lobby far too much credit. >> sam, what's your reaction to that? >> they say the same thing, that the nra has trumped that. and the only thing i would add to that is this. we've seen a lot of recent pollings, specifically background checks, and it's universally popular. i don't see any other issue polling at 90% popularity. if you read specific issues it might dip. this is a noncontroversial bill. it would be sur

. >> were system matterly letting, you have a mary landrieu problem, it isn't clear that conservativestep on you. >> the control doesn't break down neathly. that's what we're seeing with the lost philosophy. there are plenty of senate democrats who have not been good. >> let's do a consensus of the table. do we get gun control legislation of any kind in this mess, where you don't have a strong democratic voice and where republicans are willing to filibuster? >> i don't think you do. >> you don't think you get anything? i want i think we'll get something so pathetic it will be meaningless i want i say 40% of a half measure. >> this is depressing. >> very watered down. >> and we haven't talked about the house. >> the house is crazy town. we can't talk about it without me feeling extremely sad, so we're not going to talk about it. >> what are the hopes of the house? >> i think we'll get lactaid gun control. >>> after the break, when we come back, we'll have much more of the stuff we're talking about on "now." ♪ looking for a litter with natural ingredients that helps neutralize odors. di

other senators like kay hagan of north carolina, mary landrieu of louisiana and mark pryor of arkansasing mid-term election. >> i think that the democrats who are elected officials in more conservative states. they're worried they may be getting too far ahead of the constituencies. a lot of people have, continue to have religious based questions and issues related to their faith. >> language is crucial in the culture wars as those who are pro-life or for marriage equality will attest. politicians switching sides on the issue. preferred option is not to say one is reversing himself or doing a complete 180, but rather speak on evolution. >> john: there is a theory of evolution to believe in this case. >> capitol hill. >> john: james rosen, thank you so much. >>> on monday -- we told you about some of the bizarre things the federal government spends your hard-earned tax dollars on. part two of the week-long series "what to cut," correspondent doug mckelway finds billions in federal real estate, much of which is just sitting there. >> reporter: until the sale this month to private develope

. >> but mayor bloomberg is going to run ads against mary landrieu saying her support of gun rights isood thing. what's your message to mayor bloomberg in sort of liberal democrats who are trying to influence against some of those democrat gun-loving folks? >> first of all, look, in terms of framing it in what they want, expanded background checks, that's 85%, 90%. people from louisiana, people from massachusetts or anywhere else. the problem is it never gets framed like that. you saw carl rove on sunday morning tv saying, oh, no, you're not going to be able to give a gun to your grandchild, et cetera. et cetera. you see the nra saying the same thing. you have to frame the issue properly. the nra is going to send a letter out, they're not going to say she voted for expanded background checks so felons and people with mental illness can't get a gun. they're going to say she's trying to take everyone's gun away. they never framed the issue properly, but this is probably going to go the way gay marriage does as people get to look at it and think about it more and more. i think the thing i

there's a little bit more room in the statement from senator mary landrieu where our friend james carville is. "senator landrieu has a great deal of respect for mayor bloomberg on a great deal issues, but the senator will be listening closely to her constituents on this issue." you hear that and then you look at the poll, it is overwhelmingly supported by 91% of this country. some form of universal background check. why then is it so hard for our political class to catch up with that, governor? >> this is about guns and power -- excuse me, this is about money and power. this is not about guns. what the nra is doing is you played the clip. look, i ran for office eight times, statewide in vermont. i got an "a" from the nra every single time. why? because nra members are not lunatics up here, they're hunters. what you see in washington is basically this organization, which is very different than the ordinary nra member in the states is, just as james said, fearmongering and they're raising a hell of a lot of money. that's what this is about. this is not about sensible laws. there are very few

mary landrieu, expect to be a potential no on gun control, she's in louisiana, 85% of people in her state support background checks. max baucus of montana, 79%. kay hagen, north carolina. is the divide 90/10? or urban/rural? >> i think a lot of it is urban/rural. but we should be talking about policy terms. the reason we're at a debate that 90% of americans can agree on is more of the ambitious policy proposals that 30% of americans had agreed on or 60%, are off the table. we're no longer talking about something like the assault weapons back from '94. we're no longer talking about real restrictions on magazines. what we're talking about democrats and liberals were saying a few years ago, is closing the gun show loophole. that's not to say there's not a real public health impact. by making sure that more people with criminal backgrounds and people with records of mental illness don't have access to guns, you can. but where the president is right now is a much more modest place. a much less ambitious place than the ground that gun control advocates were staking out right after newtown. >> h

pryor in arrange saw, in arc, mary landrieu, kay hagen, there's a lot of senators who have to run in conservative states, mitt romney states. how do they deal with this issue this. >> you know the left, the progressive community hasn't made that much of a stink about the assault weapons ban. that might be because they recognize the political difficulties, but my sense is they recognize the assault weapon is using a very small actual number of violent crimes, violent gun crimes. they think there's studies that suggest it's down to about 2%. they recognize the bill would have a much bigger impact on reducing gun violence. so when i talk to progressives, they don't get caught up over it. the high-capacity magazine issue is a whole other thing. i haven't heard a constructive argument in defense of -- >> i'll give you one. how would you like to be a police officer up against a semiautomatic. >> i wouldn't. i don't know why you're asking me that question. i wouldn't want to be that person at all. they're not going to waste their political capital on the assault weapons ban. and keep in min

democratic senators all of whom face midterm kay hagan of north carolina, mark pryor of arkansas and mary landrieuicent on the issue all hail from red states. in some cases i think democrats, as well as republicans, find that they have issues of faith that may come into clash with this eamericaing movement for marriage equality. but, i think what we need to point out to everybody is that gay rights advocates, myself included, only want to be married civilly. >> also, many members of two core elements of the democratic party's constituency remains skeptical about gay marriage. these include african-americans who tend to be more culturally conservative and devoutly catholic that lateen knows, shep. >> shepard: james rosen in washington. the high court did rule on one issue today. the drug sniffing dogs. cops do need a warrant to have those dogs sniff around the outside of somebody's home. even if they suspect there are drugs inside the place. the decision upholds a 2011 florida supreme court ruling which expresses evidence that frankie the chocolate lab had helped uncover. in a different florida cas

what senators like alaskan senator mark begich and arkansas senator pryor and louisiana senator mary landrieuwards the gun control side, then the republicans certainly won't. >> and jason, talk about that, because for harry reid, does it cause problem for him being in the committee and he being a gun owner and he being the senator from nevada, will that cause difficulty for him? >> i live in texas, and even here, a huge majority of people are here for closing the gun show loophole and bringing it into the fold here and half of the voters here in texas support banning the assault weapons. voters are speaking out in increasing numbers about doing something about this, taand the new york times is right that the republicans and the senate are bringing up any reason possible to stop it while they are saying that they are for it. it is not public policy, but dystopian fan fiction and to do something about this, the senator should not need a permission slip from wayne lapierre. >> this is a debate that yesterday it hit the rough and you have seen the tape here when a freshman republican senator ted

just republicans, many democrats, people like max baucus of montana, kay hagen in north carolina, mary landrieuk pryor in arkansas, all of these people are, mark begich in alaska, all of these people are up for re-election in 2014. >> have you talked to any or all of those folks about why their vote is needed? to be frank, you will need a pretty close to unanimous group of democrats voting for these measures, correct? >> i've talked to a lot of them and they're going to be listening to their constituents, they're listening to their colleagues like myself who favor these common sense, common-ground measures. but they're going to be listening to their constituents and my hope is that that silent majority of people who have felt for some time, and now the feeling is crystallized and galvanized by newtown that we need common sense measures, including background checks, illegal trafficking bans, and others that will help stop newtown's, which was a call to action. >> senator, let me ask you, if you get broadened background checks, straw purchases, those kinds of things, but not the assault weapons b

we will see an announcemannouncem ent by mary landrieu in the next year or so? would not expect it. one of the challenges for southern democrats is that the electorate in a midterm here is more conservative and more republican than we see in a presidential election so we are in a presidential election and you see higher turnouts of college students and minorities that may be more supportive of overturning fees gary mc -- gay marriage bans. so it's unlikely if we are not seeing democratic senators involved in the next few weeks i doubt you will see any in 2014. >> host: josh kraushaar identifies himself as a liberal socialist on his twitter page. we'll evangelical voices heard republicrepublic an election chances that if they don't reverse their social positions? >> guest: if it's a real challenge for the republican party and we are hearing two issues that are in the national debate. immigration and gay marriage that have dominated republican journalism. immigration is a lot easier for republicans to move to the middle to have some kind of compromise because it's

people like mark prior of arkansas and others, mary landrieu in louisiana.r position. and i still think the republican party is going to remain a pro-family, pro-marriage, pro-life party. i don't think that will change. and if it does, by the way, i think the big tent will become a pup tent. if you look at the data, 44% of all the votes mitt romney got last november were from self-identified evangelicals. >> romney's data analyst suggests that republicans and independents who voted for the president who, by the way won, actually overwhelmingly support marriage equality and so this is a growing issue for republicans and independents. you know, again, i think the point david boies made is so fundamental which is the constitution either protects all americans and all families or it doesn't and politicians have never had the spine on personal issues. that's what the courts are for, protect the spine of america. >> let me talk about the spine on the gun issue, e.j. dionne. this is coming to a head. reaction to -- well, you heard from mayor bloomberg and from wayn

not even you, mary landrieu. also, on the pro gay rights side, along with almost the entire democratic party, is a chunk of the republican party. the republican official's brief for the supreme court ended up with 131 names on it. everybody from paul wolfowitz, my buddy, to jon huntsman, to clint eastwood, to the romney for president campaign manager, to the secretary of the new hampshire young republicans. more than 130 republican officials and former officials. but even with that brief, and even if you go beyond just that brief to consider pro gay rights republicans who didn't sign on to that, but we still know their position, even with all of that, it is still a stretch to even say that there is a split in the republican party on this issue. i mean, of the 232 republicans in the house, precisely two are on record as pro equal rights for gay people. two out of 232. that is less than 1% of elected republicans in the house. in the senate, there are 45 republicans, precisely one of them is on record as pro equal r

we had mark pryor, we're not going it to let somebody from new york city -- mary landrieu, heidi heitkampdon't seem to like the role. >> i think he's a good foil for them to certify their authenticity. >> their independence. >> in states like new jersey, pennsylvania, california, new york, there are members for whom i think this could be an issue especially if bloomberg turns up the heat in the upcoming campaign. >> you used to do his ysuburban district. that's the one you represented. there is a different type of voter there than in the majority. >> there aren't many districts like that that are still republican. there are some. they'll have a vulnerability and these republicans that are most likely to cross on background checks and i think the mayor and others add pressure on these members to vote that way. >> peggy, what did you hear on immigration between the two? chuck schumer, the deal is at hand. we're close. jeff flake, whoa, whoa, whoa. hold on a minute. what did you hear? >> i heard a lot of interest in marco rubio. look, i think there's a broad sense that we've been talking abo

look at louisiana, mark pryer in arkansas and louisiana, mary landrieu.umber of these bills, gun control. watch for i mmigration reform. they are under a lot of pressure to buck their own party in pursuit of keeping the democratic senate majority. i think senator reid is not only looking out for his own relationship with the nra and gun rights community in nevada but what he needs to do to protect these candidates, these senators up for re-election so he can preserve the senate majority. it's not just his own personal political situation he is protecting but also making the case, i suspect, to his friends and allies, if we want to keep the senate majority we cannot put a lot of pressure on our n own, particularly the senators up for re-election in red states. >> how much concern among gun control advocates that this new to town moment. some people thought in the wake of this incident this is the one that will change everything. it appears now unless something changes on the assault weapons ban that even newtown won't be able to get america to a weapons ba

because there is some democrats from red states, also from oil and gas states, mary landrieu who is up for re-election in 2014. mark begich from alaska will be outspoken on this. and there will be effort on any climate change regulations that republicans and democrats will team up and try to overturn these regulations. now, it could pass the house, probably not the senate. and obama would veto it, that will put pressure on the white house especially when the economy is so fragile. i think the obama administration is going to approve the keystone project. so they will have to throw something to the environmentalists and this could be it. bill: you think keystone is eventually approved? >> yes. bill: this is a bit of a tit-for-tat? >> yes. environmentalists will not like that. the white house has not signaled exactly where they will go. they're hinting they're going that that direction, saying it wouldn't hurt climate change but on other issues they will have to appease the left and this is, just one of many regulations. bill: i understand the point you're making there. give a little on

. >> you don't see, say, when mary landrieu supports oil drilling or joe manchin shoots a hole in obama'ser the manchin act. but i also want to talk about, there's a wave of constituency act, right? there's the voter. and then there's the big which is power and wealth which i want to get to right after this. for the things you can't wash, freshen them with febreze. febreze eliminates odors and leaves a light, fresh scent. febreze, breathe happy. hi victor! mom? i know you got to go in a minute but this is a real quick meal, that's perfect for two! campbell's chunky beef with country vegetables, poured over rice! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. ah. 4g, huh? verizon 4g lte. 700 megahertz spectrum, end-to-end, pure lte build. the most consistent speeds indoors or out. and, obviously, astonishing throughput. obviously... you know how fast our home wifi is? yeah. this is basically just as fast. oh. and verizon's got more fast lte coverage than all other networks combined. so it's better. yes. oh, why didn't you just say that? huh-- what is he doing? it's delic

mary landrieu in louisiana, mark pryor in arkansas. probably see advantage. a report in "the post" republicans are worried about specifically avoiding todd akin-style candidates who make dumb comments about rape or abortion in which they lose races republicans could win. they're talking about message. specifically getting candidates to talk about abortion, gay marriage, sensitive issues in very intelligent ways and not stupid ways. remember bobby jindal, we can't be the stupid party anymore. that's what they're talking about. >> dan, perry alluded to something that caught my attention from the nrsc report. the idea the nrsc will remain neutral unless an unelectable fringe candidate emerges. what might that mean for republican primaries in 2013 and 2014? >> a change in the policy ar 2010. the reason rnc were on the sidelines, a negative reaction from the republican base to those criticizing rand paul and taking out candidates with a better chance. i think they still prefer outside groups to do most of this. go back to the rnc reform report peter was talking ab

going out and saying to mark pryor from arkansas, mary la landrieu, i need to have you here on this,s is a vote i need you on. he's probably going to have to say that. if they do have a grand bargain entitlement reform, he's going to have to say that anyway to a lot of these people. the question is what does he pick to ask them for. i can't imagine he picks on the assault weapons ban. because i think their own internal state politics are such that even if the president said i need you, i'm not sure some of the people i just named would say yes. >> aimy, we're going to be talking about cpac in a few minutes. notably, the donald has an audience, sarah palin has an audience there. chris christie does not. governor mcdonald, bob mcdonald, hardly a raging liberal from virginia is not invited. how do they make these decisions? >> well -- >> why are they so relevant? >> and this is the question, which is what cpac was and what it is. now certainly it's a place where they get a lot of attention. certainly from the press. so it's a good place to try out your stump speech if you're an aspiring

what mayor bloomberg wants to do is influence a few democrats, mark prior of arkansas, mary landri landrieu, they might support background checks. these ads may make a difference in one of those states. >> let me play one of the ads so people know what we are talking about. >> for me, guns are for hunting and protecting my family. i believe in the second amendment and i'll fight to protect it. but with rights come responsibilities. that's why i support comprehensive background checks so criminals and dangerously mentally ill can't buy guns. that protects my rights and my family. >> so these ads run in 13 states, largely vulnerable democrats, and senators in swing states. how do they turn this around? it seemed to me that after newtown, the nra sort of lost its footing, but it clearly has come back. can bloomberg's money bring the other side back? >> i think that what we're going to see, what will be very interesting is this money is coming from mike bloomberg, you know, this casts the argument where the nra wants it in terms of elite, wealthy, from a big city mayor, trying to tell you in yo

tom carper, mary landrieu, heidi heitkamp. >> bill: come on, heidi. >> joe manchin. casey from pennsylvania. they also had kay hagan on the list. since they wrote it, she's come out in support of gay american. >> bill: what's wrong with the other senators? come on, get on board. even republican senators ought to get on board here if for no other reason, they ought to leave it up to states. but the real reason they ought to get on board is because the 14th amendment of the constitution says you can't deny any american equal protection under the laws and that includes the right to get married. i don't get it. where are -- we need to found the nine democrats and then start working on the republicans. your take on the big day yesterday in the supreme court. 1-866-55-press. marriage equality. defense of marriage act. california's proposition 8. and those lame senators who won't get on board. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest.

the senators running in 2014, mary landrieu, mark begich of alaska, they might get a pass from harry reid. >> that is right. they control a couple of things, but we know that republicans are struggling with the same issue. the president is trying to give someone public and senators to work in a bipartisan way. but there's a lot of consternation in the house about house republicans. going after conservatives who look at tax increases as part of a deal. there is pressure from the left and right not to accept the deal. >> there was an editorial cartoon about someone reading the romney and ryan budget blueprint. and if it was the 2013 ryan budget. but essentially not a big difference between last year and this year. >> the biggest isn't spending. the romney and ryan ticket win after increased defense spending from we are now. it is about $100 billion more than what paul ryan proposed a few days ago. so that is a big difference. it made it easier for him to balance the budget by having lower levels of defense spending. would've been almost impossible to balance the budget over 10 years. >

they say they would not -- mary landrieu, either would not state their position on marriage or declinesign. exactly. >> stephanie: ron in connecticut, you're on "the stephanie miller show." >> caller: hi, welcome back. >> stephanie: thank you. >> caller: well, i wanted to add my voice to the discussion about same-sex marriage and i introduced my husband to you at the sexy liberal. it was such a thrill. we've been married now for coming on nine years. we got married in massachusetts in 2004. and that became marriage in connecticut. marriage really stabilized my life. it is one thing in my life that's transformed it. in an amazing way. >> stephanie: aww. you can confirm now that you've been married it is always the same sex in marriage. over and over. >> wow really. >> stephanie: you do this, i touch that. >> caller: i'm a bi guy married to a guy. >> stephanie: listen, i not only had a conversation, i almost -- >> she almost had a demonstration on southwest airlines. >> stephanie: i almost had a demonstration on southwest airlines. i flew horny straight woman airlines home from tucson. >

there are democrats like mary that arery landrieu going to want to position themselves to the middle or the center right. virginia.ota and west regin these are states viewed as prime pick up opportunity. retiring.eller is a skilled campaigner and fund raiser. democrats are trying to land a recruit. south dakota, we saw tim johnson retired this week. democrats have some candidates winning in the wings. you have to johnson's son. 2010 midtermin the elections. there is a former governor that is very well liked. it will be competitive. they areot a seat throwing away. look at the deep south states and alaska with mark begich. democrats cannot lose six seats when you look at the big picture. .hey think it is doable host: what about the house? guest: the house is safer for republicans. the redistricting process entailed a loss of gerrymandering. there are about a dozen seats that democrats hold where mitt romney won the popular vote. republicanst -- need to hold onto their 70-seat .- 17-seat majority host: we have been talking with josh kraushaar of "national journal." thank you for being