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mcconnell is the rick santorum of 2014. the republican democrats most want to knock out of there. >>> let me finish with a chance to take on mitch mcconnell. it looks like it's happening. this is "hardball." the place for politics. ♪ ♪ if loving you is wrong ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it. bee happy. bee healthy. with clusters of flakes and o's. oh, ho ho... it's the honey sweetness. i...i mean, you...love. busy in here. yeah. progressive mobile is... [ "everybody have fun tonight" plays ] really catching on! people can do it all! get a quote, buy and manage your policy! -[ music stops ] -it's great! well, what's with the... -[ music resumes ] -music? ♪ have fun tonight dude. getting a car insurance quote. i'll let it go to voicemail. [ clears throat ] ♪ everybody wang chung tonight ♪ putting it on vibrate. [ cell phone vibrates ] -[ loud vibrating

plus, rest easy, mitch mcconnell. actress ashley judd has decided not to challenge the minority leader for his senate seat. the kentucky tea leaves or the bluegrass just ahead. >>> if you love one, you can love two. what if all three people love each other and they want the benefits and all that. who among us should deny those three people their love? where does this freedom to do what you want stuff stop? you can have, you have one woman and two guys in a marriage and the woman could be impregnated by the two, and voila, you've got a family. >> what to do when you know you're wrong but terrified of being right. republicans can't quite figure out how to change with the country. reince priebus deduced that something is afoot. >> if you're basically losing for 24 years, something has to happen in our party. >> could that something be an embrace of marriage equality? >> my position is that marriage is between a man and a woman, but my other position is that you also treat people with dignity and respect and love and grac

mitch mcconnell is from louisville. mitch mcconnell has never been well liked out in the state.ell you having spent five years in kentucky that ashley judd, for all of her hollywood ties, could out-country and out-kentucky mitch mcconnell in that state. at least that's what she could try to do. >> this is a little bit psychobabble but this is what we like to. alex wagner, imagine you're mitch mcconnell. he is a pro. he's very smart politically, very cagy, if you will. he's thinking right now, would he rather run against a no face boring guy from the locality, worked his way up as a local lawyer, whatever the typical candidate, or this wildcard? >> i think he'd rather run against the no face boring guy as you say, chris. if only because, as you pointed out, she's going to inject a ton of excitement. she has the eyeballs. there's going to be enthusiasm. she's going to have access to the ground game if the obama campaign infrastructure works with her on this. there are going to be high dollar donors who come into the race. it will be a high-profile race. mitch mcconnell would proba

mcconnell is the rick santorum of 2014. the republican democrats most want to knock out of there. >>> let me finish with a chance to take on mitch mcconnell. it looks like it's happening. this is "hardball." the place for politics. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don't seem so...far away. ♪ but we can still help you see your big picture. with the fidelity guided portfolio summary, you choose which accounts to track and use fidelity's analytics to spot trends, gain insights, and figure out what you want to do next. all in one place. i'm meredith stoddard and i helped create the fidelity guided portfolio summary. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. >>> i just mentioned now is the time to call that capi

plus, rest easy, mitch mcconnell.ress ashley judd has decided not to challenge the minority leader for his senate seat. the kentucky tea leaves or the bluegrass just ahead. looking for a litter with natural ingredients that helps neutralize odors. discover tidy cats pure nature. uniquely formulated with cedar, pine, and corn. so will bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller powerful sheet. look! one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with bounty select-a-size. love two. what if all three people love each other and they want the benefits and all that. who among us should deny those three people their love? where does this freedom to do what you want stuff stop? you can have, you have one woman and two guys in a marriage and the woman could be impregnated by the two, and voila, you've got a family. >> what to do when you know you're wrong but terrified of being right. republicans can't quite figure out how to change with the country. reince p

so if there's ever going to be a favorable mcconnell poll it will come from here, mcconnell 49, ashleyd 40, which is still incredibly positive for ashley judd. that is the way elizabeth warren was polling against scott brown in massachusetts when things started up up there. >> that's right. but i do think elizabeth warren was more of a match for massachusetts than ashley judd is for kentucky. sure, she went to university of kentucky, she's at the basketball games all the time. but in terms of her prior statements, she at some point referred to removal of mountain stop coal, removal of mountain tops for coal production and compared it to rape. there are some statements, you have to imagine that they've got tons of research on ashley judd and that she might not wear well over time for folks in kentucky. it is a very conservative state. i think the question for democrats in general is would she hurt the entire ticket. if you're, for instance, kay hague enin north carolina, do you want to answer questions about ashley judd. does she allow republicans to really attack the entire class of 20

plus, rest easy, mitch mcconnell. actress ashley judd has decided not to challenge the minority leader for his senate seat. the kentucky tea leaves or the bluegrass just ahead. morning, brian! love your passat! um. listen, gary. i bought the last one. nice try. says right here you can get one for $199 a month. you can't believe the lame-stream media, gary. they're all gone. maybe i'll get one. [ male announcer ] now everyone's going to want one. you can't have the same car as me, gary! i'm gettin' one. nope! [ male announcer ] volkswagen springtoberfest is here and there's no better time to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease one of four volkswagen models for under $200 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. okay why? more is better than less because if stuff is not le-- if there is more less stuff then you might want to have some more and your parents just don't let you because there's only a little bit. right. we want more, we want more. like you really like it, you want more. right. i

mitch mcconnell, are you ready for some drama? here comes ashley judd. movie star who's been on the big screen over two decades. she starred on tv and on broadway and now she's ready for a new role. "the huffington post" reports that ashley judd is ready to run for senate. mitch mcconnell, get ready for some fun. more on the kentucky derby ahead. all right that's a fifth-floor problem... ok. not in my house! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! no no no! not today! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? happier than dikembe mutumbo blocking a shot. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! but lately she's been coming in with less gray than usual. what's she up to? the new root touch-up by nice'n easy has the most shade choices, designed to match even salon color in just 10 minutes. with the new root touch-up, all th

mcconnell even though the poll numbers-- >> they can relate to michigan mcconnell who is 145 years oldo, he's not. >> well, 132, but anyway. >> sean: that's not funny. >> the point is that. >> sean: you're not being funny, not close to being funny. >> i'm not trying to be funny. he's old, he's out of touch. quit trying to accuse me of trying to be funny. >> he's out of touch? >> the voters in kentucky. >> let me finish, i let you finish. >> is he out of touch on the coal mining issue. >> absolutely he is. >> sean: in kentucky? >> yes, because coal mining employment-- >> have you been back in colorado? what are you smoking? >> do you want to talk about that. >> sean: not really. >> because it's legal in colorado and i came from there. >> boy. but the point is that the republican party is out of touch and ashley judd, she's been to rehab and going through a divorce, she's done things that-- >> and rehab, that's a great resume' builder. >> what's wrong with somebody who understands the plight of addiction and certain problems. >> sean: stop for a second. we've got to stop. the comment abo

i think the mcconnell team and mitch mcconnell himself said if anybody's going to run against him, it'soing to be a career ender. he's a well-known factor, lots of money, he's got the infrastructure. he's doing what he should be doing, organizing, doing everything you can so he doesn't have an opponent next november. that's what his real game is. the hard work now will pay off next year. >> let's talk about same-sex marriages. ruth bader ginsburg said doma waters down traditional marriage but used a very different phrase. take a listen. >> and it affects every area of life. and so you are really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying, state, there are two kinds of marriage, the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> chip, i'm sure you read the transcripts, i'm sure you heard the oral arguments. it looks and sounds like the high court is going to strike done doma. no? >> it certainly is a real possibility, something nobody would have even thought possible two years ago may be possible. what ends up happening is this may end up going to the stat

they expect mcconnell to normally be re-elected.hether she has reverse coattails and she's going to hurt these down-ballot dems. it's one of these places where people want to find a conventional wisdom. we don't know the answer. and i have to agree with robert that the attacks against mcconnell's wife are a double foul. obviously, the race is out of bounds, and on top of that, this whole idea that, you know, where she's from, the origins, and then going after family generally. even if it was a legitimate with her policy stances, elaine cho is her own person and they should leave it to the side. >> and we should note, there have been a plethora of apologies. ashley judd apologized, the group apologized, but you're right, typically, families should definitely be off-limits. perry bacon, what part of kentucky are you from, just out of curiosity. >> i'm from louisville. >> that's not kentucky. i've been to kentucky. that's not kentucky. >> we're the ncaa champions! >> up next, who gets crowned the biggest brain, find out, only here on m

this is not the kind of person to take out mcconnell.specially someone like mcconnell. >> this is what usually happens when you can't find somebody so you go celebrity. i've seen republicans do this numerous times. >> name i.d. will not help at all. >> that's what's so odd is that there are -- the democratic bench in kentucky is about as healthy as it is in any state. >> right. >> they have got a democratic governor, a democratic secretary of state who is open to running for this seat, i've been told by people very familiar with the thinking. so there's chandler, who's now an ex-member of congress who's run statewide before himself, held lower statewide office. there are plenty of candidates on the bench, so it's not like they absolutely are desperate for a candidate. >> i think you just heard what's going on with kentucky democratic party and the dsc. we have all these other people. we can't get this woman. it's going to be interesting to see because the nrsc has dealt with this several cycles. with candidates like please don't run. >>

she seems kind of tailor made for mitch mcconnell's campaign style, which is sort of slash and burn.ut the opponent and make it extremely negative. there's a lot of turf there. there's a lot of fodder and some in kentucky privately expressed a view that maybe they would be better off, some democrats, with a more unknown candidate who is more of a blank slate and where the republicans and mcconnell's allies have to work a little bit harder to make the race all about the democrat. that said, she would also be able to raise a ton of money which could be used both by her campaign and by a super pac supporting her campaign to turn that around and try to make it all about mitch mcconnell and as you put it and as they would probably put it, his record of obstruction. >> angela, the conservative website the daily caller appears somewhat interested in ashley judd. here is a small sampling of the steady stream of headlines about everything from her once dating michael bolton, the singer, to the fact she's appeared nude in the movies to cherry picking comments she's made over the course, as i s

it is absolutely mitch mcconnell.ch mek connell is running for election. and he's afraid of a tea bagger running against him . >> i mean, you had the new york times, for example. reporting that there are republicans happy with the sequester. congressman scalise called it, quote, a big victory. an congressman mulvaney said sequester was a welcomed development. who is this a big victory for, exactly? >> it's a big victory for mitch mcconnell. those new freshmen over in the house don't understand what's going to happen. when you start laying off air traffic controllers and there's a 90 minute delay on every flight going to chicago and you have the whole airline system slowed down in the entire country, then america is going to see what's happened. oh, when they come and there's nobody to open up the national space museum in washington, d.c. for tourists to come in, there's going to be a hundred thousand effects that will happen because of all of this that will happen little by little by little. the tea bag party, basical

for knocking out mitch mcconnell. >> guess who catered chelsea's wedding?degran, alison's father. >> i love this because it's all the connections that make so much sense and nobody ever hears about them. thank you. excellent name on st. patrick's week. >>> get your pencils ready. when we return, i'm going to tell you what you can do for victims of gun violence in this country, especially those kids up in newtown, connecticut. you can do something. it's not hard. it's doable. you do it tonight. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ bop ] [ bop ] you can do that all you want, i don't like v8 juice. [ male announcer ] how about v8 v-fusion. a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit. but what you taste is the fruit. so even you... could've had a v8. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something

mitch mcconnell, speaker boehner, they seem to have figured it out. i see them standig up and talking about regular orders. that is a command us moment. >> it is very important. however we got into this mess, weust find a way to solve it. the best way is to follow regular order. which means letting the american people know what we are voting on and unlike when the democrats were in charge. >> how about a budget? >> the law says the president was supposed to submit his budget are very poor. it is now almost march 4 and we have never seen it yet. the house has each year passed a budget. we just had paul ryan they are and the budget he will submit this time will balance in 10 years. we are going to get this right. we are going to offer the american people a plan to get the federal government in order by making smart choices and changers that will grow the economy and get on a better path. lou: does this complement the other leaders on capitol hill? what took so long? >> is a tough and challenging place. we made mistakes along the way. the important thing

mitch mcconnell has been a survivor.ey judd throwing her hat into the ring, you know, potentially, do you think that she would just be labeled as this hollywood liberal that's coming in to try to just make a ruckus for him, but he could overall win? >> the people of kentucky first and foremost, want to vote for somebody that they're comfortable with. they aren't comfortable with mitch mcconnell. they never have been. he's been a begrudging victor in most of his races. they like ashley judd. she's a university of kentucky graduate. she goes to many of the home basketball games. she leads cheers there. so again, she is a very widely popular figure in kentucky. and i think these labels of hollywood liberal just aren't going to stick. >> and real quickly, before i let you go, i want to get your take on what happened earlier today in the senate. this feisty exchange between senators ted cruz and dianne feinstein. just before the senate judiciary committee passed feinstein's assault weapons ban. take a listen. >> it seems to m

she's going big foot everybody else, but mitch mcconnell -- she will be a national target. he will, you know, run against hollywood, she's going to be a carpetbagger, he's going to find a lot of her environmental feelings extremist and job killing. as she pointed outer ler, she's going to talk about kentucky values and whether or not she shares them. mitch mccobble has a tough battle ahead. is he in? is he out? is he an obstructist or a bipartisan dealmaker? that's a fine straddle for him to be making, even though he's so important here in leadership, his numbers at home are not that great, so it's going to be a high-profile national race, but i think it's going to be difficult for both of them, and at this point i'm not willing to pick a winner. >> manu, what do we think about mitch mcconnell's vulnerability right now in kentucky? >> he first is worried about a primary challenge. no opponent has yet emerged to take him on, but they're certainly away of that. against judd they had an internal poll at the end of last year that had him ahead at the start of the race, but only

. >> well, it is -- i guess the reason i'm asking it is so many people pointed to when mitch mcconnell said his number one goal was to see that the president was a one-term president. the president has committed to you and others that he wants to do what he can to help turn the house democratic. isn't that kind of the same thing? >> no, it isn't at all. >> that you shouldn't look at the prism of the next election. >> no, it's completely different, but thank you for the question. it's completely different. because when mitch mcconnell said that, he was talking about stopping, obstructing initiatives to create jobs, stopping initiatives that would show bipartisanship on the part of the president. they want to show that he couldn't make -- come to agreement with the republicans simply -- didn't matter what the subject was. they were not going to support it. the role of the leader of the party and the country is the president of the united states. >> you don't see this right away turning into a legislative breakthroughs on big deals about the budget or any of that stuff? >> i certainly hop

let me get your opinion on senator mcconnell's story. as a tax bill obama care defeat would require 51 votes not 60 no filibuster. >> look it's an interesting theory and it's no secret that republicans oppose obama care and have laid out alternatives particularly house republicans in the past. look, obama care is losing the expectation battle. the society of actuaries said by 2017 claims will jump 37%, in my home state 50%. this is going from bad to worse particularly if you look at the expectations the president created when it passed. >> so many higher costs developed here, so many higher taxes. i just read today they won't have the tax credit for low-income people who are supposed to go on these new insurance plans and so forth. could this thing collapse of its own weight? >> i think it could. there's a growing consensus on the senate side against the medical device tax. they are recognizing the capital. and the notion that somehow this is going to have an adverse impact not just on innovation but on job growth in the united states an

talk about mitch mcconnell's role in all of this. the president obviously had dinner with 12 republican senators last week. the bottom line is there will have to be some deal with leadership, meanwhile, mitch mcconnell is up for re-election. he is facing pressure from the left and the right. he is concerned about shoring up his right flank. does that make things more complicated in terms of striking a deal? >> i think that you've seen mitch mcconnell take an increasingly tough line against taxes. he was the architect of the fiscal cliff deal with vice president joe biden and that included tax increases for upper income taxpayers as well as ending the social security pay roll tax cut. since then, he said no new taxes. of course as you mentioned, that he is worried about a possible primary challenge ahead of 2014. his tough line is going to be something that will be difficult to navigate around from the white house's perspective. i talked to a bunch of the republican senators last week who met with the president. they said we'll talk w

mcconnell defended his wife and said his re-election campaign has already begun, saying, "elaine chowany of the rest of them." in fact, she had to go through a lot more to become an american, it went on to say. >> the race will take care of itself in 2014 i must stay has started early, a left wing group down here in kentucky already issued racial slurs against my wife and already questioned my own patriotism, so the left is fully engaged down here in kentucky. they would love to take out the republican leader of the senate. >> mcconnell says it's not the first time this type of thing has happened. >>> you on your way home? >> yes, ma'am. >> so, you're not gonna be here in town when these cuts kick it? >> they call me back, i'll be back. >> but what do you think about the idea of congress, you-all won't be here when the congress kicks in? >> we got to go to the airport. >> you got to go to the airport? okay. >> congressman caught on the run as not too keen to explain why they were leaving washington without resolving those forced spending cuts. so with us now are two house members, bot

how speaker john boehner and mitch mcconnell seem to have finally figured out things. the republican leaders unveiled a new perspective on how to deal with a divided capital and are now insisting that those emergency negotiations with the president on crucial issues and public policy choices we longer be negotiated in private meetings between the president and the republican leaders. instead, they are restoring regular order in the house and senate. senator mitch mcconnell releasing the following statement ter this mornings fruitless meeting with the president at the white house. he said we will have opportunity to ensure that funding is at the level that we promised while working on solutions for making spending reductions more intelligent than the across-the-board cuts of the president. but i want to make clear that any solutions will be done through the regular ord with input from both sides of the aisle in public debate. how speaker john boehner's office confirms that the house will only look to resolve the sequester issue through regular order as well. speaker joh

why is it that joe biden has to come in and talk to mitch mcconnell?wo people that come from different worlds but they have a relationship and trust each other and can get a deal. it does matter on the margins and to mike's point, it is tough. republicans don't like him and they say nasty things about him. >> speaking of mitch mcconnell. ashley judd is not going to run against him. >> so sad. it would have been great. >> it would have been great. who runs against him? >> allison grimes, the secretary of state. right now he is doing everything he cannot to have a challenge from the right and so far there isn't one on the horizon. if he does his work right, he won't get one. >> miss grimes is much tougher opponent. she is young and just in office and doesn't have a record. >> encouraged by bill clinton. >> right. >> who is apparently said that both he and secretary clinton will support her. her father former party chairman wired through the state and can put together a campaign quickly. you will not have the circus you would have ashley judd. you'll have

with this, mitch mcconnell, you have officially killed "the harlem shake."like, this is really delayed. this is really delayed. >> it's killed so bad it's coming back. >> i thought that it was a decent video. >>> ever wondered what a famous person would sound like, conan o'brien has. >> we melded hillary clinton and steven tyler. >> i just want to tell you, i'm going to tell you to keep it together. because the whole world is watching you. >> taylor swift and harry styles. >> i don't really talk about my love life. i kind of sing about it a lot. music is a way of understanding what i'm feeling. >> finally, you asked for it. president obama and nicki minaj. >> i would like to everyone to know how singing, lo and behold there are tons of girls and tons of boys that appreciate all of that craziness. >> is that legal? >> you can't go wrong. y >> how about you and i morphed together. >> go ahead and read the tease. >> i have an e-mail from your girlfriend. >> sorry, i can't do lunch today. >> thanks, bill. still ahead on "way too early" -- why are you awake? your

because when mitch mcconnell said that, he was talking about stopping, obstructing initiatives to create jobs, stopping initiatives that would show bipartisanship on the part of the president. they want to show that he couldn't make -- come to agreement with the republicans

would be against mitch mcconnell, especially with the record of public statements she has.t will be hard to overcome. >> she will be able to raise a ton of money. incredible name recognition. if she gets into the race, it will be epic. mitch mcconnell is a very powerful man. >> she'll be able to handle the mud-slinging, doing her own stunts. >> she's tough. >>> a lot of other news overnight. once again, ron claiborne. >>> in the new, the taliban is claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing in afghanistan this morning that killed naive civilians. the group says the attack was message to chuck hagel, there on his first official visit. >>> at the vatican, a chimney has been installed on the sis teen cham. the conclave begins on tuesday. >>> and los angeles is hoping to become the second city, after london, to host three olympic games. the major of los angeles has sent a letter to the u.s. olympic committee putting his city in the running for the 2024 games. >>> police escorts are not just for people like justin bieber. they're for beavers in oregon. this one got help going

mitch mcconnell will join me in a moment. first we want to take you to just outside tampa, florida where demolition is under way to the home where the sinkhole formed killing the owner of the house, jeff bush. authorities made the decision to stop searching for bush who was swallowed up by the 600 foot sinkhole thursday night. we will keep following you this story and bring you updates throughout the hour. >>> back to the top story, more than a year to work things out, hours before mandatory budget cuts were triggered, the president called democrats and republicans to the white house, his first bipartisan leadership meeting since december. the meeting led up to expectation but nothing happened. no ongoing negotiations. if you have visions of somebody somewhere pulling an all-nighter or two to get this fixed, doesn't seem in the works. >> i am not a dictator. i'm the president. so ultimately if mitch mcconnell or john boehner say we need to go catch a plane, i can't have secret service block the doorway. >> joining me from his

how relieved is mitch mcconnell, chris cillizza? i'm going to ask you about that. >> sure. >> you broke that story. >> i beat her to the tweet by two minutes, so i'm taking credit for it. in the twitter verse, that's a big beat. >> i actually think, andrea, there's an argument to be made and a lot of smart folks advising ashley judd on a potential candidacy. her personal charisma, her star power, her ability to draw money and attention to the race. would make it difficult for mitch mcconnell. i would put myself on the other side. mitch mcconnell has been elected and re-elected, ever since 1974 by making the race about his democratic opponent. ashley judd she has lived her life in the sort of entertainment world, not the political world. many of the statements she made are perfectly fine in the entertainment world. but they would not have played as well in the political world. i think it would have given mitch mcconnell lots and lots of fodder to paint her as an out of touch, liberal hollywood elitist who didn't know kentuckyians. de

but democrats insist mcconnell is vulnerable to any challenger including judd.on, national democrats won't even admit to strategizing with her just yet and in kentucky, democrat being officials are openly wondering whether or not she'll bring down the whole ticket. >> of course the video we're seeing is when she was at the democratic national convention in north carolina. that's when people started talking seriously about will she, won't she seek public office. thanks so much. >>> ashley judd will be talking about women's health issues and reproductive rights at an event held at george washington university at 3:00. and you can watch part of it right here. >>> michelle obama rallying to get school kids more physically active. her let's move message next. >> just because it's hard doesn't mean we shouldn't stop trying. [ laughing ] [ barking ] ♪ come on, boy! [ barks ] ♪ oh, heavenly day here we go. ♪ cha-cha-cha ♪ don't you know that i love ya ♪ ♪ cha-cha-cha-cha-cha ♪ always thinking of ya ♪ all around the world ♪ everybody singin' along ♪ singin' along ♪ fly m

he's saying, we're the young party, mitch mcconnell. we're the young party. take on these golden agers here. let's listen to him. >> don't tell me democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a rerun of the "golden girls." we have rand paul, we've got marco rubio, paul ryan and a slew of smart, young, and energetic governors ready to take america into the future. and the other guys, they got hillary and joe biden. >> okay. let me get to the politics of this. you're good at this, gene. you've been an editor. he's thinking about tomorrow morning. he knew he just stepped on it. he made what could be a sexist, and certainly was an ageist comment. you're referring to hillary. who's younger than him, by the way, by five years. >> absolutely. >> being one of the "golden girls" which is a popular show. his shot was negative. he covered his butt by throwing biden under the bus. >> what else could he do at that point? >> he heard those footsteps coming his direction. >> he realized he had said something he sho

but now they're going to have a real, more conventional race, which makes it tougher for mcconnell. > sound smart today, remember, there are seven democrats in states that are running for re-election 2014 in states that mitt romney won, and many of them he won decisively. that's why democrats are nerv s nervous. >> you're fast. >> we're quick. that's what we do for a living. >> we're fast. >> i appreciate it. >> this is kind of like a hint, like the oscar music. >> it's nice. >> go oh, get out of here! >> hey, we didn't play the music, at least, right? we want to thank maggie, mike, jim, politico's finest joining us here on "way eartoo early." why are you awake? your morning e-mails, tweets and texts are next. ♪ some people will do anything to help eliminate litter box odor. ♪ discover tidy cats pure nature. clumping litter with natural cedar, pine, and corn. many cereals say they're good for your heart, but did you know there's a cereal that's recommended by doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. post shredd

mitch mcconnell wasn't on that list. tell us what your read on the invites is. >> well, this was a list put together by lindsey graham, and it really reflects his view of the senate. you've got the mccain-graham-ayotte kind of -- we now call them the new three amigos where you can talking about defense interests. you have people like saxby chambliss that sht going to seek re-election. they've always been considered sort of cooler heads. then you've got two tea party senators, pat thoomey of pennsylvania and ron johnson of wisconsin who do not have a relationship with the president like the others because they weren't in the senate when he was here. it was an interesting mix of bringing people together who represent different parts of the republican party of the moment. it's important for them to go without the leadership. i've heard many times from republicans that this applies to democrats as well. when are you in the leadership, you have almost no running room. everything you say is, in effect, then policy for your par

mitch mcconnell would lose a primary. any compromise that includes any new tax on this will do that. >> so that's -- i mean, that's a huge piece of the puzzle. john cornyn is going to get primaried from the right, as will mitch mcconnell. speaker boehner's speakership is constantly up for debate. i mean, what's the likelihood that any kind of deal making happens before the 2014 midterms? >> it's slim. chuck's point is exactly right, and it's hard to argue. joy's point is also right. there are going to be people who disop organization atley feel this, and so in those districts, especially, in plays where there is either a republican governor and/or you have republican house districts, there is going to be a lot of complaining at the local level. >> would you be willing to lose your job in no, most people are not willing to lose their jobs. >> he took heat over the fiscal cliff deal, and this is where he is drawing a bit of a line. >> john boehner then said multiple times, this has become the sort of phrase of john boehner,

in case there was any confusion about what not to expect, top republican senator mitch mcconnell said today, quote, there would be no last minute back room deal and absolutely no agreement to increase taxes. the president will formally notify government agencies that sequestration is in effect, triggering $85 billion in budget cuts this fiscal year. today's low expectations meeting caps a week where pretty much no one has tried to get anything actually done. >> we should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets -- >> i think he should understand who is sitting on their posterior. >> i hope they're not expecting a round of applause. >> there are republicans dancing in the streets. >> we're going to go through a charade here. >> rise up, oh god, and save us from ourselves. >> could anybody say it any bert? even prayers couldn't save the senate. two show votes were all but designed to fail, and boy, fail they did. in fact the republican bill to keep the cuts in place, but give the president the authority to allocate them failed miserably, picking up just 38 votes, 9 republica

the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says they do.ng on in our strategy session. joining us the democratic strategist donna brazill. the republican strategist anna navarro both cnn political contributors. here is the republican leader in the senate mitch mcconnell. here is the sound bite. don't tell me democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a re-run of "the golden girls." you know, we got rand paul, marco rubio, paul ryan, and a slew of smart, young, and energetic governors ready to take america into the future. and the other guys got hillary and joe biden. >> he's laughing but does he have a point? >> absolutely not. first of all the theme of that wonderful sitcom was thank you for being a friend. mitch mcconnell will take miami because as you well know that is where the tv series was based. we'll take the senior vote, women's vote. but you know what? mitch mcconnell is running scared so trying to make it up as he goes along. >> he may have his own problems getting re-

how about the mcconnell camp? how are they reacting? >> mcconnell camp pretty confident so far.run. they think they can link judd to president obama. president obama lost in kentucky by 23 points and ashley judd has been a pretty big obama advocate. they think they can run ads that say judd equals obama and win that state. mcconnell people are worried particularly if grimes runs. his approval rating is only about 37% which means there's a lot of room, 60% of voters or so are open to someone different running there. so if grimes or judd ran a really good campaign, they could beat mcconnell. one thing to note is the week after the presidential election, mcconnell was holding fund-raisers already. he's been very wary of a challenger. he's trying to make sure to court the tea party part of the republican party. he's giving speeches at cpac, he's been very active. he's raised something like $7 million. >> perry, susan, great to see you both. thank you. >>> a big change for one of america's favorite soft drinks. >>> and should we believe the news on housing this week? ♪ [ slap! ] [ sl

mitch mcconnell was worried about a primary.s will be united behind him if he faces ashley judd. >> is that reince priebus behind you speaking? >> it is. he's just taken the stage. we get the straw poll results in the next hour or so. >> that straw poll that they do every year, how significant is that? i mean, is that really -- does it tell us anything at this point? >> absolutely. it tells us who has momentum. it's not a determinant of who will be the presidential nominee. rand paul expected to win. kind of a reflection of where he stands with the movement right now. but it really is a good barometer of what the activists think about key 2016 contenders. >> lynn, i want to get back to this kentucky race for a second. john yarmuth, a supporter of ashley judd. he said senator mcconnell is in hot water with women, and he railed against the golden girls at c-pac, as well. how can his wife, secretary chow, how can she help him win? >> getting out early, telling the story of mitch mcconnell. she's a warm, engaging personality, lots o

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