mccain would do it. i kept doing it. finally mccain says, you think there not hearing me? and he, you know, he got a little annoyed with mind doing it. so i backed off. the point had been made. here again, you don't have to use me as a source your, but aims johnson and a book, they believed with that had tremendous influence on the outcome of the election because when that first debate began there were neck-and-neck, little bit of the advantage. obama took the lead in the polls after that. one of the reasons, people said, well, he came over as angry and fidgety and rigid. he never ever recover from that. >> you also write about the threshold that a presidential candidate needs to cross, like he's ready or she's ready. and for barack obama that may, in fact, have been a threshold. a candid, people looking my time in the tow the steps. >> that is the key to the whole thing. in obama's case the issue out there spoken and unspoken was, is this guy really ready to be president? is he cool enough? is he going to be cool enough under pressure? and until that point, up until their

mccain: mr. president, very briefly i'd like to congratulate both senators for their leadership on this issue. there is a threat to the security of the world posed by the islamic nation of iran. this is much-needed legislation. i think it's important to note as they did that there is a national security waiver given to the president of the united states and also we cannot expect a lot of help, considering the membership of the united nations security council and russia and china's unwillingness to work on behalf of reining in this inexorable path that iran is on to the acquisition and the possibility or the capability of the use of nuclear weapons. i congratulate both the sponsors of the amendment and hope we can get a recorded vote. i'm sure that's what they want, others possible. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i know a vote is imminent. i wanted to rise at this time in support of the feinstein amendment, 1125 which would modify the requirement th

putin about senator mccain. i don't think we'll have that opportunity, but maybe his own people will do that in a free election someday. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: pomp i don't quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator north carolina. a senator: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: and, mr. president, i also ask consent that all time in a quorum call be divided equally. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. levin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, i would now ask unanimous consent that the following senators be recognized for up to

john, i want you to respond to senator mccain's point, quoting general cain. we won the war and now we risk losing the peace. >> that's offensive. i mean, general keen, the architect of the surge. the surge was a huge failure. probably the greatest failure of the entire war. two of the biggest reasons we have less violence in iraq. we still have a sustainable amount of violence. when i was waiting for my helicopter in baghdad, they blew up a truck bomb and killed 20 soldiers. we had a political adwroement in the sunni awakening. the second reason we had better security was in 2008, a battle not fought by american troops. it was iraqi against al sadr, a radical shia. he came into the iraqi government and basically is maliki's partner, the prime minister of iraq. so, when john mccain and general keen talk about this type of rhetoric, i would just ask them, why was i just in iraq? what did we fight for? what did all these americans die for? why do we have 30,000 wounded americans and 4500 dead troops? i thought it was to build iraqi democracy. they are guaranteei

but if senator john mccain wants to mock parts of america, stick to arizona.uess, you know who senator mccain really needs to apologize to? the great ambassador of long island, that gentleman right there, mr. joey buttuofuoco. >>> you're lit up for the holidays. tweets, texts and emails are next. whoa. whoa. how do you top great vacations? whoa. getting twice the points on great vacations. whoa! use chase sapphire preferred and now get two times the points on travel, and two times the points on dining and no foreign transaction fees. whoa! chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. apply now at chasesapphire.com/preferred sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley. >>> number one story on msnbc.com this morning on the this 23rd annual world aids day. one in four americans living with hiv have their infection under control. and increases the risk that they will spread the disease to others. an estimated 1.2 million ameri

mccain is known to have fought in vietnam.enough blood of innocent civilians on his hands and he probably can no longer live without these horrible, disgusting scenes when television screens show how gadhafi is killed, all covered in blood. is that democracy? >> but as it turns out, his twitter posts were links to news stories that suggests russia might be facing it's only arab spring. and just tonight, mccain told john king he thinks putin is reacting to the demonstrations there where tens of thousands turned out to protest election results that returned putin's party to power. mccain said, it will be interesting to see what develops during the next demonstration, which is set for later this month. >>> new information about that drone as we continue to cover the story. really amazing turn today. an iranian engineer talks and says they knew about a weakness in the g.p.s. of the drone, which allowed them to land it. a lot of people said iran wasn't capable of this, but on this show you heard they were. and we have an exclusive

senator mccain things so. get this, dear vlad, the arab spring is coming to the neighborhood near you. putin addressed the moscow protests in his year-end question and answer session. he took issue with senator mccain and other critics of russia's parliamentary elections. >> translator: mr. mccain is known to have fought in vietnam. i think he has enough blood of innocent civilians on his hands and probably can no longer live without these horrible, disgusting scenes when television screens across the world show how gadhafi is being killed, all covers with blood. is that democracy? >> senator mccain was quick to respond, again, using a tweet. dear vlad, is it something i said? senator mccain joins us from capitol hill. what's the point of this exercise? are you having a little mono a mono with putin or do you think, a, you want him to change something and, b, the united states in terms of our policy to do something? >> well, john, first of all, later on, after that you didn't include, he said that i was, quote

mccain is known to have fought in vietnam. i think he has enough blood of innocent vichbl civilians on his hand, and he can probably no longer live without these horrible, disgusting scenes, where televisions are showing gadhafi being killed, covered in blood. is that democracy? >> but as it turns out, the senator's twitter posts were links to news stories suggesting that russia might be facing its own "arab spring," because some leaders who lost power in the arab spring ended up in saudi arabia. gadhafi's execution-style death was unique for now. and tonight, mccain told our john king that he thinks putin is reacting to the demonstrations in russia, where tens of thousands protested results. putin has ruled russia for all intents and purposes for more than a decade. mccain said it will be interesting to see the next demonstrations set for later on this month. we'll see what will happen in this war of words. >>> still out front, new information about the u.s. drone in iran. an iran yan engineer today says iran supposedly took

mccain grumpily blasted president obama arguing that he thinks the troop withdrawal is unnecessary. we risk losing everything that we gain i think it's a great risk and i think it was unnecessary we always envisioned some residual force and this administration they were never really serious at all let me ask you could i say yes you're seeing seeing iraq break up into three countries which is what the vice president and the remember that the president and the vice president all opposed the surge said we couldn't win and they wanted to withdraw and they have succeeded so john mccain one of the most vocal advocates of this illegal war in the first place a war that has cost nearly four thousand five hundred troops there a lot and killed or displaced millions of iraqis now want to give advice on how we should leave iraq. after nine years of illegal war john mccain has lost the right to be taken seriously when it comes to war voters it's very ugly. coming up in size daily take a christmas a villain has found a kindred spirit among the republicans primary candidates. but drives the world t

mccain is known to have fought in vietnam.enough blood of innocent vichcivilians on his h and he can probably no longer live without these horrible, disgusting scenes, where televisions are showing gadhafi being killed, covered in blood. is that democracy? >> but as it turns out, the senator's twitter posts were links to news stories suggesting that russia might be facing its own "arab spring," because some leaders who lost power in the arab spring ended up in saudi arabia. gadhafi's execution-style death was unique for now. and tonight, mccain told our john king that he thinks putin is reacting to the demonstrations in russia, where tens of thousands protested results. putin has ruled russia for all intents and purposes for more than a decade. mccain said it will be interesting to see the next demonstrations set for later on this month. we'll see what will happen in this war of words. >>> still out front, new information about the u.s. drone in iran. an iran yan engineer today says iran supposedly took control of the drone. e

so john mccain jokes and he is a stooge.t not fit to share mccain's vietcong prison cell and he is a saint. republican jokes and it's flat. democrat jokes they call it a slip. is that fair, is that balanced? whether you are a democrat or republican is that right? i'm not saying one side is the saint around the other is a sinner. but is the media acting like a saint? picking and choosing who is right for rebuke and who gets a pass. it doesn't mean not holding anyone's feet to the fire. how about everyone's feet to the fire. on this show i tried to make this much clear. i am not red. i am not blue. i'm green. your green, your money. it's why i hold republicans account to believe budget-cutting promises from which many try to wiggle out but i don't let them. just like i did with president bush in 2008 on the financial rescues. i said then i do now, they would never work out. that president's people didn't like it then and this president's people don't like it now. i don't care. people hear what they want to hear. this is what i

and he spoke about the economy being a huge burden for john mccain.his ad points out, guess what, it's now your turn, lines used now used on you. >> what do you think of the utilization of the language in the first ad and the second ad, by romney? >> i think it's reprehensible to use the quote out of context, but probably work for romney in the primaries because he's going after voters who hate obama. and they're going to be a lot less offended than the swing voters. >> this is not a misusage. this is a deliberate falsification. >> you got it. >> deliberate is the keyword, john. they did this exactly to elicit the effect that clarence alludes to, which is if the obama campaign and the media say you're so terrible, mean so the president, they think the republican voters will like to hear this. but this is classic too clever by half kind of tactic. >> true clever or gets into a new area which is falsification? >> there's nothing new about -- [everyone talking at once] >> then the mccain bite is put in the mouth of obama as obama originating it! >> every

we're going to talk about that and a whole lot more with senator john mccain. he's blaming president obama. plus, the impasse over extending the payroll tax cut becomes a full fledged congressional showdown with a tax hike for millions of americans hanging in the balance. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> this just coming in. our brand new poll numbers hitting pitting president obama against the republican candidate. the survey puts each toe to toe the president and even though the election is still almost 11 months away, the results still troubling for the gop. let's go inside the numbers with ron brownstein of the national journal. thanks very much for coming in. these numbers, hot, they're fresh right now. hypothetical match-ups between the president and the republican challengers out there. look at this. in a hypothetical match-up between president obama and mitt romney. right now, president obama would win 52 to 45%. margin of error, 3%, but he would still win national. >> those are some of the best numbers we have seen for president ob

bush and john mccain. he's released a new reform plan for congress today.at in a little while. thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> glad to be here, reverend. >> bob, there's some good news for president obama in these polls in head-to-head races. he's beating both newt gingrich and mitt romney. >> bob? >> yes. >> your reaction. >> look, i don't think you can take a head-to-head number for the president right now and when he's two points ahead and assume that says that he's in great shape. i think he's in better shape because his approval numbers in these polls have gotten better. he's getter stronger. i think he's found a voice and a message, but this could very well be the kind of close, tough tight election we had in 2000 and 2004, and one thing you can count on from obama and the chicago campaign, they are not going to rest. getting ready for romney and going after him and they will get ready forever gingrich, and it's going to be a very tough fight you. >> took my second point because if you look at the president's approval numbers in this

john mccain is following me.60 days while we negotiate a long-term approach. it was a responsible, bipartisan overwhelming vote. 89-10. for those who were taking 2% out of the payroll tax it would extend it to the end of february. but what john boehner suggested is stop at this point, nine days away from this deadline. >> what is the next thing here? the other option is a conference committee maybe. that won't happen overnight that could be an option here. i'll get your thoughts on that in a second. speaker boehner had a photo op yesterday. there are republicans, appointed negotiators to a conference committee, a conference committee that deoesn't exist yet. and that empty side of the table is presumably where democrats would sit. can you envision any scenario where democrats show up at that table there? >> what he does not understand or does not admit, in the senate, unfortunately, it takes days for us to set up a conference committee and meet. we can't do this before january 1st. even if it was our intention to

mike huckaby beat john mccain in iowa in 2008. >> mccain didn't play. >> he didn't play. what cow mean. >> he stayed in the -- [everyone talking at once] >> beat romney in -- >> iowa high risk and higher for romney because first the nomination could be over in a couple weeks. but if he finishes fourth or fifth, he'll have a significant downdraft in new hampshire, just the way he did in l.a. and that's a doomsday for him. >> what kind of bellwether is iowa? is it reliable or unreliable as far as the nomination is concerned? the answer is deeply unreliable. >> that's correct. but -- [everyone talking at once] >> very same question. enormously important. >> take huckaby beating romney. huckaby goes on to win south carolina. if romney and won iowa, i think romney would have been the nominee in 2008, john. he just didn't beat him. and then he didn't win new hampshire. and he didn't win south carolina. >> what do you make of -- boosting the importance of the gals in the place what do you think of that? >> i think she's got a point. [everyone talking at once] >> straw poll but i

we have to keep telling senator mccain, we don't own these countries, they tell us when to leave.b herbert, sir, have a nice vacation. i'm sorry, a nice christmas period coming up. and kimberly, thank you for your service to journalism all these years. and when we return, let me finish with why the republican wise men want to stop newt with everything they've got. and wise women, i should say. some of the best columnists on the right now are women. center right, that is. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. lashes want volume or length? how about both? with covergirl lashblast fusion. our biggest brush meets our fiberstretch formula for a blast of volume and length. lashblast fusion. from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to

senator john mccain goes on the reco next.will want to show all your friends a talking trash cans plays a role in an unusual marriage proposal. you have to see it to believe it. g fishcakes from the back of his truck, and in 1942, of course, they were sent away. after the war, as a japanese coming back from camp, he started a little store on main street in seattle. of course they needed some money, and bank of america was the only bank who would talk to my father. and we've stayed with bank of america. we have four stores now, three in the pacific northwest and one in oregon. my parents would not believe how popular it is now. it's a melt in your mouth kind of experience. [ john ] the wood fires up the grill a little bit hotter so you really get a good sear and it locks in the juices. surf & turf -- you n't go wrong [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's surf & turf event. choose from three grilled combinations all under $20. like our maine lobster with peppercorn sirloin or our new bacon-wrapped shrimp with blue cheese s

>> you heard john mccain yesterday. >> yeah. senator john mccain. >> this will continue and it'll be a question that will confront the presidential candidates. let's get to the latest in politics there because there's some interesting twists and turns there to report on. the latest polling out of new hampshire shows mitt romney still leading the republican field with 38% support, 18 points ahead of newt gingrich, the former house speaker has moved up to second place, and jon huntsman jumps to third place. >> looks like i'm going to win a steak. >> 13% support. >> you remember -- >> who was that? with haleprin? >> dan senor. >> that's right. >> it was a car. >> it was a car, it was actually a private jet. let's look at this poll for a second. >> that number, by the way, is thanks in large part to independent voters with less than a month to go, 11% of new hampshire voters say they are still undecided. and over 50% say they're either very likely or somewhat likely to change their minds before the january primary. >> jon meacham, w

john mccain's view? quite different as he explained during his 2008 run for president. >> i looked into mr. putin's eyes and i saw a k, a g and a b. >> reporter: he accuses putin of corruption during his 12-year rule and believes he will have to reform or get out of the way. >> this is in some ways amusing but i i think also an indication he is deeply concerned about these demonstrations. >> reporter: we did reach out to the russian embassy for further comment and told the prime minister spoke on tv and they will be saying nothing more. in march, putin will, once again, run for president. back to you. >> it is fascinating stuff. whit johnson on capitol hill this morning, thanks. >>> still ahead this morning, the anniversary of the arab spring. the first protest a year ago igniting a democratic revolution that not many predicted. >>> plus the so-called barefoot bandit set for a guilty plea that could leave him locked up for a number of years. just how long? we will tell you that and also people in colton

. >> i think that john mccain was essentially, you know, detested by wall street. >> and people forget >> 41 million dollars raised-- >> and point out obama's wall street support is interesting. not the banks that equal fat cats kind of public figures. >> jamie dimon and it's the hedge funds, the guys behind the scenes that work quietly and those guys are giving a lot of money to obama and they've been lining his pockets for years. >> i think that charlie just made-- i think that charlie just made an astute observation. >> and goldman is going for romney, that's very good news for obama, given goldman's esteem right now in the country. >> all right, my thanks, very much to charlie and dagen, have a great weekend, guys. >> okay. >> meanwhile, who needs a fundraiser he when you can improve your funds with these stocks. our gang with the names that no one should protest-- . ywhere. real, objective investing help? that's a little harder to find. but here's what i know -- td ameritrade doesn't manage mutual funds... or underwrite stocks and bonds. or even publish their own research. so, gui

>> look dead john mccain winning new hampshire -- in there -- look at john mccain sitting there when the new hampshire and just sitting there answering questions. the candidates seem better honed in with their skills. come the fall, will have prepared whoever our nominee is to be that much more formidable to president obama. >> a telephone town hall meeting. it had the advantage of letting people stay at their homes. is there a downside to that where you are not actually having the kind of face to face contact these candidates would usually have schlepping through the snow and making small groups of people and coming face to face with how people are struggling right now? have we lost something if we go to teleconferencing instead of face to face? >> face to face is good. that is why i go to wyoming to go to where the people are. as football game, go there early. go to tilt its parties and visit with people. just my wife and i. no staffers, to be able to hear what people have to say. for people unable to get out, the telephone town house in yoming -- a large state -- they cannot all c

this is what happened to john mccain. i thought john mccain was out of it. in one debate i said if i weren't running i would be supporting john mccain. i probably said that in part out of conviction. i admire john mccain immensely, he's always been a hero of mine. i probably said that because i thought that john was out of it and i was complimenting hoping to get his support. then john rose from the ashes, took the nomination from huckabee, from me, romney. and did it in a four-week period. and i mean, we kind of have a tendency to do this as republicans. so what newt has to do now, he's got to build an organization for himself so that he can take this popular enthusiasm he has and then he can convert it into wins when you get even past florida. >> let's take a look at what president obama said about newt gingrich. >> what do you make of this surge by former speaker gingrich? >> he's somebody who has been around a long time and is good on tv, is good in debates and, you know, but mitt romney has shown himself to be somebody who is good at politics as well. h

>> the real question is -- i asked senator mccain this -- could a u.s. citizen be accused of a crime in the united states and be taken and put into gaughan tan know bay indefinitely and the answer was yes. >> it looks like they carved out an exemption for american citizen and says combatants must be detained by the military under the law does not extend to citizens of the united states so that the provision of the commander-in-chief may do it but he is not required to do it. >> that's in section 10.32. there are two different sections. one has to do with military custody, and there also may be some problems. there's an act called the posse comotatos which says u.s. troops shouldn't be used on the mainland and against the stewart if there's a state crime, the state police take care of it. you're not supposed to have military troops coming in, and we're afraid section 10.32 me a violate this act. >> senator, is there something in here you find too broad? when i was reading it, seems like the authors were specific about identifying those who might fall unde

back on twitter, mccain played it coy. dear vlad, is it something i said? >> i just think it's a little strange that, obviously, the leader and one of the world's largest and most powerful countries who would worry about what john mccain says, i have a pretty high opinion of myself, but not quite to that level. >> reporter: both the obama and bush administrations have had policies to reset ties between the u.s. and russia. president bush famously said that he found putin to be trustworthy when he looked the man in the eye and got a sense of his soul. mccain's view, quite different as he explained during his 2008 run for president. >> i looked into mr. putin's eyes and i saw three letters. a k, a g and a b. >> reporter: he believes he'll ultimately have to reform or get out of the way. >> this is, in some ways, amusing, but also i think it's an indication that he's deeply concerned about these demonstrations. >> reporter: now, we did reach out to the russian embassy for further comment. we were told the prime minister spoke on tv and they will be saying noth

we have to keep telling senator mccain, we don't own these countries, they tell us when to leave.t, sir, have a nice vacation. i'm sorry, a nice christmas period coming up. and kimberly, thank you for your service to journalism all these years. and when we return, let me finish with why the republican wisemen want to stop newt with everything they've got. and wise women, i should say. some of the best columnists on the right now are women. center right, that is. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. so i'm glad it's with fidelity. they offer me one-on-one guidance to help me choose my investments. not just with my savings plan here at work. they help me with all of my financial goals. looking good, irene. thanks to fidelity, i can stay on top of my financial future, huh? good one. why, thank you. whether it's saving for retirement, college, or anything else, contact a fidelity investment professional today. top v neck 3 piece suit dance wear bolo snakeskin boots sequin costume under things stiletto heels skinny jeans houndstooth snuggie pork pie hat oshkosh socks 5% cash back

he tweeted to john mccain, all of america saw how heroic long islanders were on 9/11.ccain apologized this way. >> i'm sorry there's at least one of my colleagues that can't take a joke and so i apologize if i offended him and hope that some day he will have a sense of humor. i yield. >> schumer is still not laughing and tweeted again, new yorkers can take a joke but if john mccain wants to mock parts of america, stick to arizona. ron paul, republican presidential candidate and author of the schoolbook, you can make raspberry scones. >>> the huntsman girls are back, the tune is from justin timberlake. ♪ we're bringing huntsman back the rest of them is one big circus act ♪ >> not sure if this song will help the campaign but they certainly know how to get themselves attention for their dad. that will do it for me. see you back here tomorrow 11:00 a.m. eastern time. stay with you are with alex wagner comes your way next. omor♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ s