mike mcconnell said that snowden targeted the company knowing it would give him access to high-level. he claims that snowden broke into the computer system and stole the answers to the agency's employment exam. he calls snowden the worst spy in american history. >>> overcease marketing, let's say they're taking a breather that far sharp selling in the east. markets in asia and europe right now mixed. here in the usa u.s., watch for futures breaking, four hours away to opening bell. welcome relief after monday's 362-point selloff. we're going to get a peek at the job market, we're going to look at the data from the payrolle company adp. it's got a monthly report on hiring. and friday's jobs report, disappointing, quite frankly, i'm going to be looking to see if the brutal cold and snow that's blanketed much of the country is going to sort of play havoc in these numbers and whether it took a toll on construction and retail. we could see that effect in jobs report. >> we complain about the snow, real a huge impact. >> there are overtime for some people and other people who couldn't go t

senator ted cruz was less than enthusiastic about minority leader mitch mcconnell when politico's mikellen asked him to play a game of word association. >> this will be good. >> last one. mitch mcconnell. >> leader. >> that's a statement of fact. >> that is what is stencilled on his door. >> that's all you have to say? should mitch mcconnell be the senate republican leader. >> look. that is a decision for the conference to make. >> no. but what is your personal opinion about that sf is he a leader or a sell-out? >> i strongly disagree with the decisions -- some of the decisions republican leadership has made this past year. there is a real divide over how you win elections. there are a number of folks in washington who think the way you win elections is you put your head down, you don't rock the boat, you don't take any risks. >> and that describes the current senate republican leadership? >> sadly. >> all right. so starting with rand paul, i guess i just wonder what you think about how -- what he just said conflates with some of the comments he has made recently about hillary clinton

and essentially what senator mcconnell is trying to do is to make it a proxy war for people like the senate conservative fund and the other tea party groups that have backed mikecruz in the past. what senator mcconnell want ss a donnybrook and a big battle fought right here in kentucky between him and the groups. he does not want to just beat matt devin, but the tea party, t too. >> and what about alison grimes sending out a mock birthday card to mitch mcconnell, and she wants to point out the age that it is 72, and that is getting negative headlines. >> right. well, what you are seeing right now from the grimes' campaign is that they are figuring out how to get the footing. so far this year, it is a campaign made up of gimmicks. right now, she needs to start thinking about how does she want to introduce herself to the kentucky voters. if she doesn't, mitch mcconnell will and it is going to be less flattering. what we have learned in the polling is that mitch mcconnell is not liked, and alison grimes is not well known, and that is a danger zone for the candidate, because whoever defines her first with the undecided voters will likely win the race. >> well sh,

. >> with us now is mike allen who is here with the morning playbook from politico. senator mitch mcconnelltching this with kind of -- been very skeptical about this guy. mitch mcconnell has been under fire from the republican base and they say conservative grassroots organizations are supporting his challenges. yesterday, mcconnell's colleague from kentucky rand paul was asked why he endorsed the minority leader. >> the hardest question that i have for you, and it is -- it is this. why are you endorsing mitch mcconnell? >> i'm here in texas today to endorse don huff. we got our signals crossed here. the senator of kentucky asked me. he asked me when nobody else was in the race and i said yes. >> al gore has asked me to change my opinion on global warming and i don't do that. >> so there is a little levity there. we could talk about that. but i want to actually talk about the back story, if you want to. but i think more interestingly, the story that came out yesterday that is going to shake up this race is a story that matt bevin, who has been running around with self-righteousness indignat

mcconnell listens or the white house listens or either. >> another hearing on capitol hill on the irs targeting controversy. they are facing congress for the first time. mike emmanuel joins us live from the capitol with more. >> reporter: heather, after the hearing, the new irs commissioner apologized to tea party groups for the treatment they received from the tax collection agency. during the hearing, the new irs commissioner expressed this concern. >> the management problems associated with 501 c4 application have shaken the public's trust in the irs. >> he was not at the irs when they targeted conservative groups seeking tax exempt status. there are currently six investigations going on to what went on to the applications of the conservative groups. there was some discussion for him bringing bonus back to the irs. 62.5 in performance awards. there were fireworks when chairman dave kemp suggesting that irs regulations were drafted privately as a way to attack the conservative groups. >> i am sure that means hidden from the publicment would you agree if the treasury and irs fabricated the ratione for the rule change it would raise questions about the int

mcconnell was extraordinary. >> i remember. when the president was trying to do a bipartisan health care bill. >> yeah. >> and they were struggling to keep mikenzi on the team and orrin hatch and baucus was doing his best, trying to make this bipartisan. one by one they jumped because they were afraid what was going to happen to them what happened to bob bennett throughout. they were afraid the right wing would knock them off if they did anything with the president. >> and the economic -- they lined up and said it was blind opposition before they could even -- >> everything bipartisan, everything they tried to do has failed. it's what got us the sequester. remember the grand bargain? simpson/bowles. >> who made the decision the day the president was inaugurated that they would do no business with him and their number ambition would be to destroy his presidency. who was that guy? was that mitch mcconnell? wasn't that the same guy? >> i think it was rush limbaugh also. >> the very same guy who said if he had only cooperated with us. >> absolutely. >> part of the problem is the president is not hitting them with the sort of things you're talking

mike. >> i think she hit it right about rand paul. he has been appropriately supportive of mitch mcconnell but the back channel noise certainly a lot ofrters is kind of tepid and that is going to be interesting to see how it plays out in the primary. i think this primary is going to be a lot tougher for mcconnell once it really gets going. and kicks in full steam. and i think what you're seeing is just a warm-up for what will be fireworks later on. i think going into a general, if he survives the primary he is going to be a little bit beat up and mcconnell is going to have a real challenge for her because i think grimes is going to bring a game he hasn't seen in a while in a state like kentucky. >> she pointed out too that she has a profile that mcconnell has never faced before. she is 35 years old and she is young and fresh face and woman. many republicans have sort of stumbled over this, the national spokesman called her an empty dress. i think they are going to run into some potentially rocky ground as they try to run against her. >> as mark just pointed out, 27% favorable rating for mitch mcconnell in the blue grass state. >> that

>> reporter: mcconnell and other top congressional republicans have sent a letter to irs commissioner calling on him to stand in and take a stand against this proposed rule. chris? >> mike emanuel reporting from capitol hill, mike, thanks for that. >>> president obama may not be finished making unilateral changes to his namesake health care reform law. chief white house correspondent ed henry tells us tonight about the latest effort under consideration to soften the blow for millions of americans. >> reporter: president obama is mulling yet another major change to his controversial health care law that would affect millions who had policies cancelled last year. officials inside both the administration and the insurance industry confirmed to fox one of several tweets under consideration would let individual policy holders keep existing plans for an extra three years, pushing the cancellation issue beyond not just the 2014 mid-terms but also the president's time in office so his aides continue to insist other aspects are working just fine. >> health care costs have been growing at the slowest pace in 50 years, since the affordable care act was passed into law. >> reporter

the clip of mcconnell citing my good friend rand paul over and over again and clearly the energy in the party in certain ways is with the previous tea party ways. figures like cruz, paul, mike lee, who has emerged as kind of policy guy for sort of potential republican reformers and to a certain extent, marco rubio. now in terms of the primaries, we're sort of into steve stockman. >> i want to say that overall the republicans feel good about the odds of taking the senate back. >> sure. i think they phonfound a way to co-op. the reason the republicans are being looking strong, certainly in the house and even likely in the senate now is because they are a bit more unified. but more than that because of the democrats' weakness. >> mcconnell's weak polling against bevi in is an outlier. the under lying factor is as long as the president's approval rating is in the low 40s, republicans should be able to win the senate. historically, out party senate votes track very well with presidential approval ratings. that may change but right now that's the more important factor. >> republicans also feel good because over the weekend a very conservative candidate opted not to run making tha

on "morning joe," there's plenty of attention on mitch mcconnell's primary challenge in kentucky, but politico says the race is way overrated. mikete's top republican may be in better shape than a lot of people realize. more "morning joe" when we come back. [ julie ] the wrinkle cream graveyard. if it doesn't work fast... you're on to the next thing. clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. one week? this one's a keeper. rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots rapid tone repair. from neutrogena®. eight million new jobs. new businesses. new factories. anncr: you're working hard. all day. every day. and it shows... new hope. still, it's harder than it should be to raise a family... save for retirement. so president obama is urging congress to give america... a raise. his plan raises the minimum wage to ten ten an hour. and requires equal pay for women to boost family incomes. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we

mcconnell if they were leader. so he would be against, you know, all but i don't know, michael e. if leader. >> there's no one -- the tea party caucus in the senate is ted cruz, mikeand paul. that's it. that's why they have to go to tortilla coast, the restaurant off the hill. that's true, by the way, folk, and have meetings with the house republicans. the guacamole there, i've got no problem with it. but they have these little meetings because that's their leverage. as you pointed out in the now infamous question, lawrence, what pudding, sir? what pudding, what pudding has obama care been repealed. they have those meeting. they apply that strategy. and there's two pieces to this. one, as you said, the politics didn't work. they did not repeat the a.c.a. they hurt themselves in the shutdown and the larger military piece is they got some automatic budget cuts through the 2011 deficit-driven tea party threat to default on the debt. and now chuck hagel is carrying those out and folks like senator rubio and other colleagues are saying we don't like the thing we made you do under the threat of default. >> there is no democrat that causes them more trouble than what 2ed

. >> i think mitch mcconnell did what the majority of people in the senate wanted him to do on the republican side. obviously, you know, people like ted cruz and mikeee and even mike self was disappointed the way this was set up. i thought it was horrific strategy. once again, republicans setting themselves in a position they have two choices and both of them end in failure. but, mark halpern, i don't think anything happened to mitch mcconnell yesterday inside the senate that will do anything but strengthen mcconnell's hand in his own caucus in the senate, with obviously some conservative concerns. i still think, though, the fallout from this vote politically is going to happen on the house side, where you actually have john boehner who maybe is tipping his hand on the fact he may not run for speaker again next year. i think the significant story here. a lot of pundits in washington and new york aplued him for what he did but i'm not so sure that this isn't a move that is going to signal that he may have a real problem staying in control next time. >> you know, i think he is actually playing this pretty smart, because boehner and mcconnell have one