what should president obama do? charles krauthammer will tell us. >> you'll actually see, like, sounds potentially, like -- >> you can see sounds? >> yeah, sometimes. >> can you hear smells? >> and what is world dominating in 2013? >> bah, bah, bah, bah! >> we'll show you the best of what happened last year. >> the helmet you're wearing, is that sexy? >> sure, why not? >> caution, you are about to enter the no-spin zone. "the factor" begins right now. >>> hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. is america going to pot? that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. as you know, i agree the increasing acceptance of marijuana among young people is a bad thing for the country, and now even some liberal media people are agreeing with me. tina brown tweeted, "legal weed contributes to us being a fatter, dumber, sleepier nation even less able to compete with the chinese." that's true, the stats back it up. let's take it step by step. if you use any intoxicating agent, your goal is to leave reali

i did not see president obama do that. >> and president obama had a chance to respond to some of the comments in the book. >> secretary gates did an outstanding job for me as secretary of defense. as he notes, he and i and the rest of my national security team came up with a strategy for afghanistan that was the right strategy, and we are continuing to execute it. and i think that what's important is that we got the policy right. whenever you've got men and women that you're sending into harm's way, after having already made enormous investments of blood and treasure in another country, then part of your job as commander in chief is to sweat the details on it. war is never easy. and i think that all of us who have been involved in that process understand that. >>> okay, he had a lot more to say and a lot more coming out about the book. we got a first glimpse last week. now the book will be on sale tomorrow, and both gates and president obama have been able to comment. amongst many other people. one of the things i wanted to ask is that robert gates for a long time has always been pra

how is president obama doing?m appreciative of the fact that he has tried to reengage the regulatory mechanism. >> wow. the regulatory -- >> regulatory mechanism. >> that's way over my head. you're 6'5". >> yes, like i was throwing -- >> moments away. 6 >>> one of our favorite guests has been our uber liberal pal, jon stewart. he's good for a verbal outjoust. we decided to put together some of our most entertaining stewart clips. hide the children. >> when i do your program, the audience, they love president obama. your audience. the guys in the bleachers. then it's like going to the awards -- awards show. >> many have been healed. no question. >> like obama and it's -- it's perceived that you are a big fan of the president. >> all right. >> how's president obama doing so far? >> you know, i'm torn. there -- for me, i feel like i can't tell if he's a jedi master playing chess on a three-level board, way ahead of us, or if this is kicking his ass. >> you really don't know? >> for one thing, those types of broad ana

here's an important quote -- >> didn't obama do that? >> did obama do that?ame into office. >> did he come into office yesterday? >> this is what he's done ever since he came in. >> i'm the president of all america. when all he's done is class warfare and divide. he needs to remember one mlk quote. the means you use must be as pure as the ends you see. his end game is to unite this cun. playing the race card every time he has a chance doesn't do it. >> that doesn't even make sense. >> the president has tried to work with republicans. they have said that their number one thing is not to work with him, not for him too get re-elected. the president didn't come into office talking about race. people were talking about race, he's having to respond do it about. >> the reason we have log jam here in washington, d.c., is because he's not a consensus builder. he hasn't united both sides of the aisle. >> what does that have to do with race, though? >> the answer to your question is nothing. she just said, he wages a class divide. he's playing the race card, he's been b

that i've made my own when i was here to zoom current guys to remember the what do you make of obama's doing readings what do i make of that for the long trajectory of the perspective of a nation which is not about so much the war room day to day but about trying to think through the big ideas of our time and infuse contemporary politics a little history larry i think you know these presidents go up and down and obama's ratings not in great form of course but i think some of the punditry is a little overwrought a little hysterical about how he's thinking stephen though there is a second term curse there's a new stephen. you've got to understand what we have this rule at home that i'm not allowed to say a word about american politics true or fear of violating the wifely laws but you know it's interesting about president obama i grew up in the segregated south. and when i voted for obama the first time to me it felt like such an act of historical justice. but i have to go on to say that as a professor of politics and history i see president obama as one of the great presidential candidates but

>> so i, you know, i don't want to say that obama didn't do good things. obama did make a number of reforms that i think are particularly powerful i think that he did do a number of significant things. but there was so much more left on the table that he didn't have an opportunity to do or that he had an opportunity and he didn't take. i think he fell short. i think it's up to congress now to pick up the reins and go from there? >> it sounds like you were waiting to hear some things you just didn't. like what? >> he mentioned one in particular. we have one thought for national security letters to connell only through judicial authority so a judge signs off on them rather than fbi agents. i think that would have been a very common sense, simple fix that he could have done. we were also concerned about mass sur recallance probably a little more than what he was able to address. i know obama is trying to take the telephone meta data program and say that isn't something that the united states government is going to hang on to anymore. somebody else might hang o

i did not see president obama do that. and i said, as i write in the book, it was this absence of passion. this absence of a conviction of the importance of success that disturbed me. >> one democratic senator points out, despite any disputes, the president did send a surge of troop as gates wanted. >> very interesting in his book, he gives high praise to president obama making decisive decisions. and just about every decision he made, secretary gates agreed with. so the bottom line was that there was more harmony than you would think the headlines on the critique of his book. >> gates also asserts that former secretary of state hillary clinton said she voted against president bush's surge of troops into iraq for political reasons. here's what one gop senator said about that. >> i think that for her to say that she, of course, she may deny it. i haven't heard any response from her. the fact that i hnl heard anything from her leads me to believe she probably won't. but to be politically motivated to make those very signific

it was all downhill bob where do you stand on this because i agree with what doug had to say but i think the american people have gotten used to the fact that barack obama is an african-american and he's there to rule he was voted twice to rule the country to be the chief executive and the public is saying right now he's not doing a very good job i think that we're all historians here and there's no doubt that historians like to take the long view so it's true that in the broad picture it's too soon to say i think we can all agree on that however it seems to me that some of the basic sort of frames for analysis are typically the economy war and justice when presidents are evaluated and so by that standard considering the economic wreckage that barack obama inherited and the fact that the stock market is up and people are going back to work there's a lot of potentially positive historical let's say material that people will will will will will analyze there's also the question of the two wars one of which has been concluded the other one of which appears to be on the way to being concluded and finally on the issue of justice i think there you may find a

national tv who you voted for if you vote and told our producers and i know you voted for president obama. do you feel like you graduated into a economy and worked hard and did internships and worked at the school paper and haven't been able to find any job, do you think he bears any blame for that is? >> in my thought process i haven't attributed my lack of a job towards, you know, president obama but i do know that the economy isn't that great for, to get a job right out of college and that is unfortunate, but i mean, i'm going to keep working hard at it. starbucks is what i have to do. so i will do it to pay off my loans. just keep applying until i get that job. melissa: do you have any plans to watch the state of the union tonight? and if so, what would you be listening for? >> i definitely do have plans once, after this, i will be headed home to watch it. i'll be listening for, you know, something related to minimum wages and seeing if i can, if the economy is going to get better with, in hopes of me getting a job. melissa: yeah, absolutely. one of the things that we understand he is goi

but most americans are sick of it all. >> cornel west was once upon a time a support of barack obama. how do things change. he spoke with david shuster. >> can't you judge president prt obama's presidency as a success? he kept down health care reform, repealed the iraq war? >> not really, when you look at bottoms up, the increase in the new jim crow, 2.5 million prisers, significant numbers there because of the 100 to one percentage, ratio as it were for crack cocaine as owned to regular cocaine, you see the levels of corruption still at work on wall street, but not one wall street trader going to jail. the massive unemployment still at work. >> isn't it a reality as a lot of your fellow political scientists have suggested, if the economy was worse, the fact he has saved the economy, we've had 50 straight months of economic growth, that may be unequal but at least it has lifted some people up. >> saved the economy. most of the jobs we are talking about are low-wage jobs. large numbers of fellow citizens and others if we stuck with the entrenched governments, even though they were oppressive

so is president obama does do that. i keep coming up with president obama because he's president now of course tgs terrific pollsters. if anything, he probably should listen to them more. i gather they saw some of this with the health care love it president obama's other advisers were not telling him about. so you talk about the bubble. i think they gave him a disservice in an effort to protect her and a sense of hubris. it didn't work out that way. >> one of the contacts that a president inevitably has outside of his elbow as leaders of other foreign countries. she went to korea said it could check and balance? >> it's a very good question. presidents tend as everybody does to have more of a relationship for some people than others. sometimes it can be surprising with the president's bond with. if you look at president reagan and president bush the father in president clinton, somehow it was one world leader they would all call during the crisis and just because this person may didn't feel good that things would work ou

those are the headlines this hour. >>> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear -- >> congratulations a day of pomp and circumstance for the president, it was the new first lady who stole the show. ♪ stunning the world in her inaugural ball gown. >> how good looking is my wife? >> i thought it was beautiful. >> kate betts is the fashion editor for "time" magazine. >> it had so much symbolism. freshness, new beginnings, innocence, it had so much promise. >> the statement she made that night in that gown was, i'm not like every other first lady. >> the first lady whose fashion would be a constant topic of conversation. starting with those green leather gloves and the girl's jay crew coats. >> the jay crew makes them look very down-to-earth. so i think that made a huge connection to people. not only is it more affordable than designer clothing, but it's also something very recognizable and you can relate to it. >> relatable, practical, down to earth. the first lady's style would help define her. >> i think many first ladies, when you look over the course of history, dressed to fit into k

i did not see president obama do that. and i said as i write in the book it was this absence of passion. this absence of a conviction of the importance of success that disturbed me. >> some people criticizing gates for releasing the book while there is still u.s. troops in afghanistan and while president obama is still in office. >>> time is 4:53. a couple in indiana that -- a bill in indiana that would allow voters to -- more than 100 people showed up at an interfaith church to pray state lawmakers will see things their way. some members in the group say they are in a fierce battle for their civil rights and no one should be allowed to vote on their families. >> we have the same needs, wants, desires as everyone else. and for someone to be allowed to come in and vote on that is wrong. >> the indiana family institute however disagrees. in a statement it released yesterday, the group said the future of marriage in indiana should be up to the voters. the states legislative committee is scheduled to vote on the issue today. >

i did not see president obama do that. >> now, the obama administration mostly on the defensive after allegations emerged of the administrative spokesman said they didn't find it unusual about the debates on the policy in afghanistan. >> and he is extreme ly conscios of the responsibility that that authority bestows upon him and holds in his office and therefore he would not make decisions about surging u.s. troops without a thorough debate. >> that being said, gates says his perspective, working for presidents and being president for 4 1/2 years that he wrote the novel in a fair and comprehensive way. he also says he has no regrets. jamie, eric, back to you. >> elizabeth prann in washington. back to you. >> what insight can we glean into the way the white house, congress, and the pentagon really work from gates' stunning revelations and how power is actually used at the highest levels of our government. someone who's been there, contributor and former u.s. ambassador for the united nations. the ambassador is in taiwan this morning. ambassador, it's pretty astonishing. gates writes, q

now obama-- (laughter) i think obama must do this. ladies and gentlemen, it is important obama has to do this because once you've been at war in a place, you are always responsible for anything that ever happened there. that is why-- and i've said this before, that is why you must never end wars. think about this. if you think about it, they're never, ever would have been a world war ii if we hadn't stopped fighting world war i. that's just math. or are you a a fan of hitler, president wilson. or take that, or take that pussy napoleon, he retreats from moscow, pretty soon rasputin, the commies move in, crush chef bangs his shoes, the next thing you know putin is topless and johnny weir can't go to the olympics. and soon what's happening-- i ware this is going to happen what is happening in iraq will happen in afghanistan. and there's only one person to blame for that, alexander the great. in 323 he cuts and runs and a thousand years later islam is founded boom, muslim extremists. i am going to say t i'm going to say it, macedonia's bes

. >> i, barack obama, do solemnly swear -- >> that started on inauguration day. >> so help me god. >>h beyonce singing the national anthem. ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ through the perilous fight >> it was a moving moment. ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched >> every time i look at her, singing for the president and performing worldwide, and then i think, that was my baby. >> darla johnson was beyonce's childhood dance teacher. >> i know that she's beyonce. i know that she's worldwide and everybody know her and everybody scream, et cetera, but even when i see her, she's still my beyonce. ♪ brave, the brave >> a proud moment that didn't last long. >> did beyonce fake it at the inauguration? >> this was a question on a lot of lips in washington today. >> beyonce and her lipsync stunner. >> did she or didn't she? >> did she? didn't she? and does it even matter? this was beyonce's response. posted to instagram. online and on air. >> i'm saying leave beyonce alone. >> was it live or on tape? >> she became a hot topic of conversation. >> i'm not surprised that she did lipsync. >> i

think president obama is doing as a world leader? there was great hope in the world. we hoped obama would reclaim moral leadership for america, but that failed. america does not lead the world in the area of morality, in terms of military, yes, no question about it. economically it is getting weaker. in terms of politics and morality, america no longer leads the world. >> what has president obama not done that he should have done in terms of leadership? >>translator: we have to do everything we can to recreate, to reclaim america's role. it seems obama would manage that, but he didn't accomplish that. america did not regain its leadership status. we're just lucky there are no bigger conflicts in the world, because if it had bigger conflic conflicts, then the world would be helpless. in the long run, it is a dangerous situation. so we are awaiting a president who will understand that. >> he is a religious man, calling for a secular ten commandments for the new world, including focus on solidarity with those whose human rights are bein

can't find much of a difference whether it's bush giving h cronies a special treat order presidt obama doinght we heard about some of the superpowers are the politicians and bureaucrats have. >> i think that captain korn is especially good at this. we all have his product in our gas tanks. we would notif it weren't for the 4's. and i think that we have a lot -- we have a lot more big bang and a lot fewer bigger banks and that is thanks to the power o this in part. john: boondoggle? >> the president mentioned the striker. making his investments in the kind of weaponry that can fight aliens because there is no military on earth that can even appach 20-year-old american technologs. steal unless you think that silliness is just telling us. >> that happen to be under mary landrieu, whis up for reelection this year. john: one other example is the oversight and government reform is a former assistant to the president who has a financial stake who has $169 million from the energy department. from the disclosure forms he said that she'd invested her interest. and it turned out to have been transferre

what do you think about this admission that president obama is telling the public everything is going great, we're doing a good job, getting results, and behind closed doors, he has this apprehension. he doesn't want to be there. i can see why he wouldn't want to slam the mission with men and women in harm's way. if he was so against it, why didn't he pull them out? >> i'm not sure. he added 30,000 more troops. bob gates says he wasn't sure of the mission and he didn't trust the leaders. president obama wasn't sure that the leaders were carrying out the mission properly. he was completely insecure in some of the things that -- the shots he was calling. you're going to tell me at the if you're on the front line right now, forget then, right now. you're wondering if this commander in chief is convinced he's doing the right thing. whether these people on the front line are, in fact, representing the united states of america. if i'm a parent of a kid over there right now, i'm going, wow, define this mission, get in get out and before you do fig else, you better be sure about the next move

doing the right thing? >> they absolutely have to tread on this turf. yeah, they want to talk about obamacare and they will talk about obamacare, but president obama is forcing this debate. he wants this year to be about his inequality agenda. we know what happens when republicans do not have an answer for that. look at mitt romney in 2012. so it is good news that you have a newer and younger generation of republicans coming out. and i disagree, i think these arin know vative ideas. what you're seeing is republicans saying, yes, we need a safety net for some of these programs. but some of the ideas are great. returning to the state's control over how you administer a lot of these programs allowing for a lot more innovation, getting rid of some terrible things in the pass code like the earned income tax credit. these are not tweaks. these are important changes. and they're overdue coming from the republican party. >> when, and i would say economic -- excuse me, education reform as a tool of economic upward mobility is crucial. so take on kim's argument. >> sure. i'm all for that. and i'm all for republicans and conservatives discussing that. the problem with

country, places like iowa, that will compare how did he do there with this crisis, how did president obama do with the irs scandal and how did hillary clinton do with the benghazi scandal. >> donna richardson -- >> i love republican voters are not going to be making that -- >> chris krity had no knowledge of this. and people in politics don't understand how that's possible. although president obama has said on multiple occasions he didn't know what was going on at the nsa or with the obama care website or the irs. you were governor, is that plausible that he really didn't know what was going on underneath him? >> new jersey's a lot bigger than new mexico size wise. i had a very good staff, but z also be honest, i didn't know what all of my staff was doing. maybe i have a little sympathy for what the governor is saying, but at the same time it is your administration. here i disagree a little bit with john. ultimately the buck stops with you. and if he has people that are reacting that way, important people like head of the port authority or deputy chief of staff, that the guy won with 65%. i d

i mean, that's just not what president obama ran to do. think we saw that reflected in this new yorker article that juan talked about. >> and his excuse is, as juan says, the obstructionist republicans. if obama wanted to do something large, the largest piece of legislation regan had passed, he did with tip o'neal, tax reform that gave us a quarter century of economic expansion, increased our economy, and was extremely fair, increased fairness, appeals to the left and right. obama could stand up there tonight and say this is the year of tax reform. we're going to cut out all of the corporate loopholes, lower rates. it would be a triumph and help america. you won't hear a word about that. >> if he had tip o'neal to work with. >> next, republicans are pushing very hard for tax reform, and obama has never responded. >> let's see it happen. >> next up, direction of the country. more on the state of the union. we have three panel segments. stick around. we asked people a question, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we

i did not see president obama do that. where i had a particular problem with the vice president was in his encouragement of suspicion of the military and the senior military with the president. >> gates says the book is an honest account and he wanted to be blunt and candid, as he says he tried to be while he was in office. >>> new developments this morning for the iranian nuclear program. the white house says the country will begin eliminating some of its nuclear stockpile, specifically enriched uranium, next week as part of an international deal. in exchange, iran will soon be given access to some of its money frozen overseas for years, but the agreement is for only six months. the hope is this is a first step toward a longer-term deal. >>> an important meeting today in paris ahead of a key conference aiming to bring peace to syria. secretary of state john kerry and officials from ten other countries will discuss talks in geneva and how they can encourage syrian opposition to attend the talks. right now the syrian coalit

find much of a difference whether it's bush giving his cronies a special treat order president obama doinght we heard about some of the superpowers are the politicians and bureaucrats have. >> i think that captain korn is especially good at this. we all have his product in our gas tanks. we would not if it weren't for the g4's. and i think that we have a lot -- we have a lot more big bang and a lot fewer bigger banks and that is thanks to the power of this in part. john: boondoggle? >> the president mentioned the striker. making his investments in the kind of weaponry that can fight aliens because there is no military on earth that can even approach 20-year-old american technologies. steal unless you think that silliness is just telling us. >> that happen to be under mary landrieu, who is up for reelection this year. john: one other example is the oversight and government reform is a former assistant to the president who has a financial stake who has $169 million from the energy department. from the disclosure forms he said that she'd invested her interest. and it turned out to have been t

obama. >> there's few people who are willing to take the risk to do obama because they are afraid of being ridiculed. >> a lot of people did george bush. >> because they're not afraid of being ridiculed because he knew how to laugh at himself. >> remember when he got on stage and did -- who was that? will ferrell and the president, they did the dual thing. remember that? >> i think they like him so much, they don't think he does anything worth criticizing or making fun of. >> the point of every imporous nashz of him was insulting. there's no mocking of his beliefs, his ideology. it's his mannerism. whether it was regan or bush, they attacked his person, who he was. >> because they thought he was stup stupid. then you can make fun of somebody. if you want to say they're not as smart as the left would like him to be, that's where the ridicule comes in. >> think obama has had a tough time on the late night shows. >> no. >> come on. >> yes. >> that's standard. >> the obamacare thing has been brutal. how do you -- >> as it should be. >> how about this one? finally, moth

i did not see president obama do that. >> the deal to freeze most of iran's nuclear program has been finalized after six months of negotiations. in return, western sanctions against tehran will be lifted through june. this agreement is set to begin next monday. secretary of state, john kerry, was quick to acknowledge there is still more work to be done. >> as this agreement takes effect, we will be extraordinarily vigilant in our verification and monitoring of iran's actions. there is a lot of very difficult work ahead. there is no question about that. but on each of these critical issues, i can tell you unequivocally, the president and i are absolutely determined to lead and to succeed. >> the white house promised to block any legislation passed by congress that would impose new action against iran. >>> weeks before the winter olympics in sochi, russian officials have foiled another possible terrorist attack. five members of a band international militant group were arrested over the weekend. ammunition, grenades and a homemade device were found at the site of the arrest. last month,

that's just what we saw president obama do today in north carolina. >> where i can act on my own without congress, i'm going to do so. today i'm here to act, to help make raleigh/durham and america a magnet for the good high-tech manufacturing jobs that a growing middle class requires where it's going to continue to keep this country on the cutting edge. >> of course, we can do more when congress does act, and the president has bipartisan legislative proposal to create 45 of those high-tech hubs the president was talking about all over the country, but getting republicans in congress to move on it is like getting teenagers to listen to their parents. the president made clear he's going to do it with congress or without them. >> hey, i welcome the president to the income and equality discussion republicans have been talking about it for a long time. as far back as nixon, then, of course, bush and all the way through. welcome to the party, mr. president. in the "crossfire" former minnesota governor tim pawlenty and labor commission secretary robert reich with a new movie out "inequality fo

i did not see president obama do that. >> in his book gates said says the obama administration voiced skepticism about working with karzai and tried to oust him four years ago. as i sat there i thought the president doesn't trust his commander, can't trust karzai and doesn't believe in his own strategy, and the war is not for him. it is all about quitting. this is exactly what the afghan president often cited himself. >> it was an accusation dismissed as paranoia. during his reelection campaign karzai accused the u.s. of trying to get rid of him. >> there were a lot of stories in the media about the plans in washington and in london to bring a change into the structure of governance in afghanistan, to weaken the central government of afghanistan and to go to the strong men that they like in afghanistan and to put resources to afghanistan. now ex stretch then u.s. defense secretary robert gates new book says that was true. he writes angrily about president obama's envoy, richard holbrooke. he says they extended support to many of karzia's challengers. the presidenttial palace spokesper

problem solvers. >> i cannot find much of a difference whether bush gives his cody is or president obama doing same. john: tonight we hear about the super powers has the mandate. >> captive and corn is especially good his product is a number gas tank but we would not if not for the g force mandates. john: inflation at? >> we have of this has said we have more but all lot if you were bigger banks thanks to the power of inflate. john: teeeight three. >> manchin day the aerial striker in those that could fight aliens because no military could even approach 20 year-old american technology. john: if you think this is silly as we are exaggerating the wall street journal say the epa issued a new avenue mandate that is one lucky refinery in the we see an act under the patronage of democratic senator who was up for reelection. the committee on oversight of reform says a former assistant to the president had a financial stake in grand reliable back all of $169 billion from the energy department's broad disclosure forms she said she divested interest but it was transferred to her 10 year-old son. >> we t

i did not see president obama do that. in in his book gates says the obama administration expressed skepticism about working with hamid karzai and did try to oust him four years ago. gates writes. as i sat there i thought the president doesn't trust his commander, canned stand karzai, doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his for him it is all about getting out. as al jazeera's jane ferguson reports this confirms exactly what the afghan president often said himself. >> it was an accusation often dismissed as paranoia. during his reelection campaign in 2009, afghan president karzai accused the u.s. of trying to get rid of him. >> there were a lot of stories in the british and american media about the plans in washington and in london to bring a change into the structure of governance in afghanistan, to weak 10 central government of afghanistan and go in afghanistan and put resources through them to afghanistan. >> now exceptor from then u.n. defense secretary robert gates new book says that

bush with the iraq situation had gone bad already, afghanistan, katrina, still doing better than president obama. that's pretty striking. >> so kirsten, will what the president says tonight with regard to immigration reform, income inequality, minimum wage, do you think any of that will have an impact on his approval rating and raise it? >> state of the union definitely is not going to radically alter the trajectory approval rating even if he was to get a slight bump or drop in it after his speech. this is a much bigger problem they are talking about in the polls, see what they are considering about, complaining about the economy, they are not doing as well as they were. there's a pew poll that says a third of people in 2008 because themselves middle class. they are calling themselves lower class. this is a pretty amazing thing. until those issue issues are addressed, i don't think you'll see his approval rating turning around. >> wonder if it has to do with obama care. will the president talk about the problems with obama care, the most significant domestic achievement. last week we told you ab