. >> reporter: republican leaders say -- louisiana democrat senator mary landrieu was trying to save her job last month with the very same bill. >> mike emanuel live on capitol hill tonight. let's get more now on the president's approach to the new republican controlled congress. here's chief white house correspondent ed henry. >> reporter: president obama chose an in your face path taking this day of new begins and meeting with a bipartisan group of governors, rather than congressional republicans who will come to the white house next week. >> my main message to these governors is going to be let's figure out how to work together. and that's the same message that i'm going to have for congress. >> yet the president may have sent the opposite message of going around congress. plus, use a pending court case in nebraska to veto construction of the keystone xl pipeline. >> stay one, this bill. doesn't that send an odd message of cooperation. >> that spirit of good kneelfeels goes both ways. >> reporter: gop leaders charge the president is not listening to the american people when he tee

you're dealing with the chairman, lisa on the senate energy committee next year as opposed to mary landrieu? >> first of all, when it comes to the climate action plan which is our main guide for what we're doing in the energy space, supplemented by energy security concerns and obviously driving the economy through new manufacturing programs, et cetera, we are exercising all of those programs through existing executive authority. we will continue to do that. >> so you don't want to deal with senator merkowski? >> we have a very good relationship with her, with landrieu. i think it's well-known that we have worked very well across the aisle and across both chambers. that will continue and we will continue as well to aggressively pursue our programs with our executive authorities. >> thank you very much, mr. secretary. pleasure speaking with you. [applause] >> next up, we have thomas fanning, the chairman, president and c.e.o. of southern company. next spring, a new coal-fired power plant is being erected in the pine woods of rural mississippi. tom fanning, the chairman and c.e.o. of southern,

chairman lisa murkowski on the senate energy committee next year as opposed to the chairwoman mary landrieu? >> when it comes to the climate action plan it is the main guide , to what we are doing in the energy space supplemented by energy security concerns and obviously driving the economy through the manufacturing programs, etc. we are exercising all of those programs through existing executive authority. we will continue to do that. >> so you don't want to deal with the senator? >> we have a good relationship with the senator. i think it is very well known that we have worked very well across the aisle and across both chambers. that will continue and we have continued as as world to aggressively pursue our programs with our executive authorities. >> it's a pleasure speaking with you. [applause] >> next we have the chairman president and ceo of southern company. next spring a new coal-fired power plant is being erected in the pine woods of oral mississippi. tom fanning has called the money $5.5 billion counting a bitter pill to swallow. but with these high costs come higher returns. most

is politics involved because last november when democrats were trying pass the pipeline to help mary landrieu in louisiana, the white house was quiet about the veto threat. now that republicans are in control they're question -- very quick to say they're going block it. the first bite of the apple on what will be a very well exercised veto plan. >> they wanted to hold up the plan with homeland security. has the thing with paris changed that calculation? >> it has entered into the debate. next week they're going to start moving forward on the homeland security bill and republicans are going to try to put some constraints on some pourings of it. they're probably not going to be successful. and do republicans really want to be engaged in a fight over homeland security spending at a time when we have revived the issues of global threats and the rise of al qaeda? they would do it under c.r. keeping it running if they can't change the policy. that's in the weeds and remember -- regular people would look at it and say they're holding up homeland security funding. >> we've talked a lot about the veto

. >> yes it is a top agenda item because it's the first on the list largely to keep mary landrieu in the senate, it didn't pass, now they have the votes to pass it, but they don't according to schumer and in his last press conference of the year president obama for the very first time showed his cards a little bit on keystone. it looks like he's not in favor of the keystone xl pipeline and he would veto it. but in point of fact as it stands right now it's probably unlikely that we're going to be able to get an override of that veto. >> i want to get your thoughts here before we go, the superstar espn sports anchor stuart scott passed away, man he will be missed. the president issued a statement on this, i will miss stuart scott, 20 years ago stuart ushered in another way to talk about the teams. wherever i went coy flip on the tv and stuz and his colleagues on sports center were there. over the years he entertained us and inspired us with courage and love. michelle and i offer our condolences to his family. pretty unusual isn't it? >> pretty unusual for a president to issue a stateme

to veto it or not, he said that he will if it is the same bill that passed in december to help mary landrieuisiana. >> what happened? is the issue then dead? does it become campaign ads for people in the 2016 election? >> basically, that's what it is. what held us back in the senate a month ago was the lack of 60 votes and they probably have 60 votes now, there are democrats that favor it. >> that changed? he had hedged for a long time. and it certainly looked like he was heading toward not wanting this, and he was playing to his base and led leading up to the midterm elections but what after that made the president's mind up that this is not going through? >> we can read through this machiavellian aspect of this the political mischief, but it's the same bill that he threated to veto in december and why wouldn't he veto it now? and i want to bring up one more thing, ali that you and your audience might be interested in. harkening back to voodoo economics, and yes, they passed a bill today, a measure today, a rule in the house instructing the ceo of the budget office on use dynamic scoring wh

>> i would say mary landrieu. he touched on a couple of points earlier. the money before the runoff even really began. then this pathetic gambit with the keystone pass. it was very sad. >> i thought the biggest loser was eric kantor. in terms of a future i think the biggest loser was chris christie. i think he lost his political future this year. he lost in it bridgegate and not having good answers. talking about delegating to his staff. then he kind of lost it out there behaviorally on the street. >> all you've been doing is flapping your mouth and not doing anything. so listen you want to have the conversation later. i'm happy to have it. until that time sit down and shut up! so he's going to have to resist that sit down and shut up impulse in iowa and other places. >> and he'll have a hard time. new jersey is a different cultural place. than south carolina. >> they're very polite in new jersey, we're not so polite. i don't think you can be bully and be president. >> joy reid the biggest loser of 2014? >> continuing along my theme, i have to go with gov

he didn't say that back when mary landrieu was fighting for office and then you got in and he made verygoing to veto that. >> that's a good point. we had this debate back in december, the president didn't utter a word about vetoing it. your point is well made. and now that the very same bill is being called up by a republican majority leader he threatens to veto it. look, i think we get the message. he is controlled by the far left environmental extremists in this country. >> you've said today that you believe the president needs to help make divided government work. but what do you need to do as the new leader of the senate, now controlled by the gop, to make divided government work? >> well, megyn we're starting off with bills that enjoy substantial democratic support. >> in terms of sort of the process, do you need to golf with the president more? do you need to go have drinks at the white house? >> no. >> what will forge a different 2015 versus what we've seen in the past few years? >> the issue is not like smoozing. the issue is the president is very left wing. he does not want to

and a loflt democrats in the senate who were the natural constituents for keystone mary landrieu no longerhere, a liberal in the caucus. one of the sources of complaint from conservative members in the house against john boehner were that as you said, he wasn't moving through a agenda, he wasn't moving it through the house in a manner in which they preferred. for john boehner now, in order to retain this leadership knowing he still has this unhappy caucus that he hasn't really had a good track record of corralling do you think there will be pressure on him to try to send through some of these really strictly partisan measures if only just to mollify that ruckus caucus. >> reporter: not all of them in that most extreme -- >> i'm sorry. one moment. i think we have nancy pelosi starting her introduction of john boehner. i'm going to ask you to hold on for one second so we can listen in. >> to our newest members, it is a special pleasure to give you an exceptional welcome and congratulations. welcome to our newest members. as was indicated by the vote many of our colleagues from the state of n

there are democrats, of course we saw mary landrieu -- >> went down in flames. >> they sort of changed rules so she could vote in favor of it. there will be other democrats voting in favor. enough to have a veto proof majority? >> we'll see. i don't want to make a prediction. david: why not? that's what we're here for! make a prediction. do you think it is veto-proof bill on the president's desk? >> veto-proof? cheryl: what would veto-proof be though, what would that mean? david: 60 votes, 60 votes in the senate. that is veto-proof majority. cheryl: keystone? david: whether you have a veto-proof bill sent to the president on keystone. i would think that is possible. how about obamacare? >> so medical device repeal, that is a big thing. maybe some tax issues. the big thing here is the legal challenges. that i think is the bigger question mark. and that is something the courts will be handling separate from congress. so we'll see. david: okay. >> i don't know. it will be interesting to see what they come up with. >> immigration is another big issue. there was such an over reach by the pr

. >> we just had the former senator who just lost her seat, mary landrieu get in a lot of trouble forimply saying there were racial issues at play in louisiana. do you think maybe those issues might need to be resurfaced and discussed or is this just the past -- >> to the extent people try to suggest that racial disparities in health care education, and nicks do not exist in louisiana, they are looking the truth in the face and they don't see it. i mean mary spoke truthfully. the idea that some people would be offended by that certainly, i don't understand i don't get. it's important. louisiana is a great state. it's a home state. it's got great assets. we just had a great sugar bowl last night in new orleans. but it's also a state that when it comes to education and health care and a whole lot of issues rates at the bottom of the pack. so the idea is not to pretend it doesn't exist, but to deal with it, to work on it and not see a discussion of it is somehow being a negative thing. >> discussion and addressing sort -- you could say that about the whole country. thank you for being he

the fact that mary landrieu is fighting hard.i don't know what the results of the vote was for the keystone xl pipeline vote in the senate and they are saying we are going to veto any how. and so here is an opportunity for the united states of america to produce can you ask for, to undermine someone like vladimir putin in venezuela and its other opec countries, but yet you have a bunch of radical environmentalists have refused to see the objective truth. and it is creating jobs. look at cushing oklahoma. what is the unemployment rate in north dakota? zero. the unemployment rate in north dakota is zero because of the oil fields. how come you can't take that truth to people and they say you know what you are right. so that is the problem. with an incredible incredible ideological separation in the united states of america. are we going to continue to be a constitutional republic or are we going to become a welfare manage state? that is the separation we are on right now. if we end up having her people as the tocqueville wrote, demo

the fact that mary landrieu is fighting hard -- i don't know the result of the vote -- with the keystone xl pipeline vote in the senate and they're already saying we're go veto it anyhow and so here's an opportunity for the united states of america to produce, consume, and export energy resources, to undermine someone like a vladimir putin and venezuela and other opec countries. yet you have a bunch of radical environmentalists that refuse to see the objective truth. and it is creating jobs. look at curbing, oklahoma. it is creating jobs creating way. what's the unemployment rate in north dakota? zero. the unemployment raid in north dakota is zero because of the oil fields. how come you can't take that truth to people and they say you know what you're right. and so that's the problem. we have an incredible ideological separation in the united states of america. are we going to continue to be a constitutional republic or a welfare nanny state? that's the separation nat we're on right now. and if we end up having more people on the side of the welfare nanny state, as the detocqueville wrot

mary landrieu. >> trying to get it on their own, didn't happen. a dozen democrats vote for the 40-hour workweek last week. the president said i will veto both of these things. what can you believe in? >> can i ask you about immigration reform. in the official gop response it wasn't mentioned. what a cynic might read into that a bit. i'm not a cynic. can you explain what happened? >> i did an actuality yesterday, too. so we send it out to all te afilliates. i think in today's political world, you are going to have i think if you look on the democrat's side you will see almost every senator and congressman send out a press release with their response. i don't think it's that strange to have multiple people giving multiple response. >> why not immigration response in english. >> i think the president screwed things up in regard to immigration reform by overreaching taking his executive action. i think by his own off again. >> the response -- >> i think we have been talking about this executive am necessity the president has taken illegally for a long

it was done in behalf of mary landrieu. it failed to advance. least 63 votes in support which gets it beyond and allows it to be debated. what we expect to happen is there will be several days of debate. this is a truncated week because republicans go up to pennsylvania for their policy retreat. tonight, you will see debate beginning on various amendments. it will continue next week while the president comes to the state of the union. in the house, they are dealing with funding for the department of homeland security. house republicans are expected to bring a bill to the floor that would fund the department but it would have amendments that would put restrictions on various parts they can do regarding the executive orders. it will head to the senate. we have until february 27 to see if they can create a plan. republicans will get concessions and make it harder for the department to implement what the president would like to do. >> are the republicans on board? guest: we will have to see. there is a sense to do something and respond to what the p

that came out in november-december right after the mary landrieu failed bid in the senate. is this a smart point for the president to fight on or is it better at some point to hand out a few bones to the republican congress and let things go through that clearly the american people are for rather than being on the wrong side of the american people? >> as the president just said, it's the things he believed in. it's been framed as a jobs issue. but heather's point is saying the president gets the republicans' priorities. the republicans' priorities are a political side show rather than the real problems americans are facing, education, all the things the american people care about. keystone is a side show. it's not up to the congress or the president to approve. it's up to a nebraska supreme court to approve the keystone pipeline and nebraska has blocked in the courts because the farmers don't want it. it's up to the state department and not up to the president. leland: i want to let mary katharine get in here. this goes through multiple states. 42,000 jobs could be created

. >> we all remember what happened with mary landrieu when she was trying to hold her spot.hrough but it was want to be. how quickly do you think that's going to happen? what's the time line to have that on the president's desk? >> i expect it to come out of the energy committee tomorrow and get it to the president's desk within a week or so. but the president hopefully will be reaching out. he's invited the leadership of congress to the white house next tuesday so we'll have an opportunity, i'll be in that meeting to specifically make the case for the keystone x.l. pipeline the american jobs getting our economy moving people back to work. people know what they want. they want a healthy economy republicans have campaigned to change the direction that barack obama has taken the country. you know, this last election it was a rejection election. the president's policies were on the ballot and they have lost. >> what do you make of -- you know obviously it's on the other side of the building there but this debate over john boehner as leader and those who say that they don't beli

with what they call the young pri -- jungle primary which is very different from louisiana where mary landrieulity in the primary and by most state law that would have been enough for her to win re-election. but in louisiana she has to have a runoff in order to get 50%. and that's different than b the party primary in michigan. so one of the challenges we have is repairing the omission of writers of the constitution and ask ourselves do we want a federal system controlling the nomination process for president and dicting to the states the nomination process whereby parties get their nominees to the final ballot. i happen to think that would be a good idea. it would mean amending the constitution which i don't like. i voted against constitutional amendments just on general principles because i think the constitution is pretty much fine the way it is. but on this one i would support some kind of careful analysis of how we recognize in a modern and national state a political process that makes sense. because we don't have one now. >> i would just make two additional points. number one, i think th

that is very different from louisiana he -- louisiana where mary landrieu won the plurality, and i most states it would be enough for reelection, but in louisiana she had to go into a runoff to get 50%, which is different than the pot -- than the party primary in michigan. so, one of the challenges that we have is repairing the omission of the writers of the constitution. ask ourselves -- do we want a federal system trolling the nomination process for president? and dictating to the states the nomination process whereby parties get their nominees to the final ballot? i happen to think that that would be a good idea. it would mean amending the constitution, which i don't like. i voted against constitutional amendments on but -- based on general principles, i think is fine the way it is. but on this one? i would support some kind of careful analysis of how we recognize, in a modern, national state a political process that makes sense. because we do not have one now. >> i would make two additional points. you were one, the average voter turnout in the primary is less than 20%. between 15%

it was done in behalf of mary landrieu. it failed to advance. they have at least 63 votes in support which gets it beyond and allows it to be debated. what we expect to happen is there will be several days of debate. this is a truncated week because republicans go up to pennsylvania for their policy retreat. tonight, you will see debate beginning on various amendments. it will continue next week while the president comes to the state of the union. in the house, they are dealing with funding for the department of homeland security. house republicans are expected to bring a bill to the floor that would fund the department but it would have amendments that would put restrictions on various parts they can do regarding the executive orders. it will head to the senate. we have until february 27 to see if they can create a plan. republicans will get concessions and make it harder for the department to implement what the president would like to do. >> are the republicans on board? guest: we will have to see. there is a sense to do something and respond

and robert edition perpetrators are young, black men are it i partnered with new orleans mayor mary landrieu to form cities united that seeks to address this disparity and improve opportunities for young men of color similar to president obama's my brother's keeper initiative which i'm proud to us of port. we have already hosted a workshop in philadelphia. we have formed a youth violence prevention collaborative assisted by a grant with united states department of justice which partners with the lees, courts social service agencies to review the entire youth justice system in philadelphia and institute changes to keep youth from ali into the devastating and hard to escape criminal justice cycle. president johnson has established my brother's keeper task force in which i'm a proud cochair with mayor bell in birmingham, alabama. what if what i've learned is that nothing can be a cop was without mutual respect and a shared sense of destiny. the idea that we are all in this together, i believe this is how we will move forward as a nation into the world of 21st century policing under the leadersh

my lead co-sponsor on the democrat side was mary landrieu. up before the end of the year. it got 59 votes. now joe manchin is the lead democrat sponsor. so all along we anticipated bringing it up after the first of the year but senator landrieu wanted to give it a cry last year so we did. >> yesterday you said you're not sure you could override a veto. what are the options you're weighing? >> that's why we're having this open process or what's called regular order on the floor where we'll go through the committee, let republicans and democrats alike offer their amendments. if they can get 60 votes, those amendments pass and they're part of the bill. again, we hope to build more support for the bill by having that regular order open amendment process. >> senator hoeven always a pleasure to see you. >>> coming up more on the terror attacks on paris as freedom of speech and radical islam collide. (woman) the constipation and belly pain feel like a knot. how can i ease this pain? (man) when i can't go, it's like bricks piling up. i wish i could f

which is very different from louisiana, where mary landrieu won the plurality in the primary and by moste law that would have been enough for her to win re-election, but in louisiana, she has to have a runoff in order to get 50%. and that's different than the party primary in michigan. so one of the challenges we this is reparg the omissionwe omission of the writers of the constitution and ask ourselves do we want a federal system controlling the nomination process for president, and dictating to the states the nomination process whereby parties get their nominees to the final bow. i think that would be a good idea. it would mean amending the constitution, which i don't like, i voted against constitutional amendments just on general principles because i think the constitution is pretty much fine the way it is. but on this one, i would support some kind of careful analysis of how we recognize in a modern and national state a political process that makes sense. because we don't have one now. >> i would make two additional points. number one i think the average voter turnout in primaries is

replaced it with what they call the jungle primary, which is very different from louisiana where mary landrieu won the plurality in the primary and by most state law that would have been enough for her to win reelection. but in louisiana she had to have a runoff in order to get 50%. and that's different than the party primary in michigan. so one of the challenges we have is repairing the omission of the writers of the constitution and ask ourselves do we want a federal system controlling the nomination process for president and dictating to the states the nomination process, whereby parties get i happen to think that would be a good idea. it would mean amending the constitution, which i don't like. i vote against constitutional amendments on general principle because i think it is pretty much fine the way it is. on this one? i would support some kind of careful analysis of how we recognize in a modern and national state a political process that makes sense. we don't have one now. >> i would make two additional points. i think the average voter turnout and primaries is less than 20%. imagine 15

remember when democrats offered up this bill to save mary landrieu's senate seat? remember this? it didn't seem as though the white house had a problem with that and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, he noted the hypocrisy. listen. >> he says it's interesting to note that the president declined to issue a veto threat last month when a democrat senator was trying to save her job over the exact thing, keystone bill. once again the president is standing in the way of a shovel-ready jobs project that would help thousands of americans. >> you sound just like him. >> steve, it's very true, you do a great mitch mcconnell. >> thank you. >> this is a expoard bill by a -- cosponsored bill. you have 54 republicans going to vote for it 6 democrats. the question is do you get 67 votes to override the president's veto which technically could be a bad move. what does he specifically cite for the reasons to veto the pipeline? they are still studying and there is a court case on how it would or would not go through the state. easy to overcome. round one to you steve because yesterday i chos

caller: i did not vote for mary landrieu. host: did you vote for her in the past? caller: i have.ut i began to see her -- she is a corporate hack. she needed to go. even though she is a democratic, and i basically believe in democrat principles, she needed to go. she was not serving the democrat party agenda. host: thank you for calling in. theron -- caller: i was raised in a democrat household. my first vote was republican -- i voted for reagan in the 1980's. i voted for the caucus in 1988. but i evolved into a libertarian. i am really more of a libertarian than everything, but you guys call me an independent so i figured i would let you know that there are a lot of people who are affiliated with libertarian or socialists or green party. and we all considered libertarian by c-span -- i see what you do that. but the republican and democratic parties are two sides of the same coin. if americans really evaluate their values, a lot of them with you there more libertarian, small l if not large l. host: thank you. this treat says independence do not choose to be. they are indie by defa

potentially see democrats who lost in this last round of senate elections, allison grimes and mary landrieurnorship in louisiana most probably with u.s. senator david vitter, who seems determined to run for governor, and in kentucky the republicans have a good shot to take control of that governorship after eight years of democratic control. so those are the only two governor's races. there are some state legislative races but we all know it's about the presidential contest. every year is explicitly political, tucker. >> that's for sure. a year from now you and i tapd rest of us will be in iowa likely because the primaries will have begun. so the democratic side hasn't gotten a lot of attention. obviously hillary clinton is the front-runner at this point. she hasn't officially entered but she is leading the polls for sure. but there are other potential kand talts. one is a sitting vice president of the united states joe biden. do you expect him to run? >> if you made me guess today tucker, i'm just guessing, i would say no. he's lost two presidential races prior. he doesn't seem to have the

shelby, senator dan coats the subcommittee on homeland security, senator dan coats and senator mary landrieu we came up with a fiscal framework. so did the house. they came up with it. so the very money that we've put in the c.r. and the clean bill that senator shaheen now the chair -- now the ranking member and i have, had a has the funding for homeland security that homeland security says it needs, and we've arrived at on a bipartisan basis. if, in fact, we are allowed to bring up a clean bill, we've agreed on the money. there is no dispute over the money. we have looked very carefully at it we've worked on a bipartisan basis we've worked on a bicameral basis we're ready to go. what will slow us down is if we get into an intense debate on immigration and riders to try to stop the activities of president obama. i would strongly recommend to my colleagues, do not play politics with the security of the united states of america. we were all horror stricken at what happened in paris. we're just repulsed what is going on with isil. we're very concerned about lone wolf attacks. we worry about --

it was done in behalf of mary landrieu. it failed to advance.have at least 63 votes in support which gets it beyond and allows it to be debated. what we expect to happen is there will be several days of debate. this is a truncated week because republicans go up to pennsylvania for their policy retreat. tonight, you will see debate beginning on various amendments. it will continue next week while the president comes to the state of the union. in the house, they are dealing with funding for the department of homeland security. house republicans are expected to bring a bill to the floor that would fund the department but it would have amendments that would put restrictions on various parts they can do regarding the executive orders. it will head to the senate. we have until february 27 to see if they can create a plan. republicans will get concessions and make it harder for the department to implement what the president would like to do. >> are the republicans on board? guest: we will have to see. there is a sense to do something and respond to wha