rick ungar alexis mcgill johnson and ron christie. was this a lovefest or what, ron? >> a big-time lovefest. i'm feel the love tonight john. >> john: alexis and rick will be joining us later in the show. coming up shortly we'll meet a methodist minister who may be defrocked for performing his own son's same-sex wedding. that's coming up. ç] who in mentioned the burden to owners that these expanded background checks would cause. i'm wondering why the burden of my mother being gunned down in the hall of her elementary school isn't as important as that. and senator ayotte's answer was something along the lines of humina humina, humina, humina but the quest for common sense soon ended when a question came from ayotte's honored guest a local state legislator. arkham asylum is not located in gotham city but the new hampshire capital. edward gionet rose to ask if aat-shared his concern that america was headed to a revolution and they might have a need to overoverthrow the government. senator ayotte blinded from the glare on gionet's head dove through a plate glass window and

ron christie, let me start with you.st your reaction from what we just heard from jennifer palmieri. >> i think the white house is trying to project they're doing business as usual. the problem you have with the situation that i learned in my four years in the white house when you have the media buzzing around you looking for anang or a particular take, it's really difficult to get things accomplished. >> brown: i said your name wrong, perriello. >> i've heard worse. >> bwn: what's your response to what you heard? >> after a really rough start of the week i think you've seen an impressive couple of days trying to show the president is still continuing to focus on very important issues, including heads of states that are visiting. you want to not err in either direction-- one, become so obsessed with the scandals that you stop doing other things, or, two, act like all the other things are so important you seem to not be taking the scandal seriously. i think what you've seen here. he's come out. he's been in front of the c

. >> i'm delighted to say republican strategist ron christie just managed to get to our studio. thank you so much, ron. i know you've been rushing. we're glad that you're here. while the tea party, as you know, is hoping to wrap all these scandals into a giant wrecking ball aimed at the irs, and of course the rest of washington, the president just named a new acting commissioner. so let's hear a bit more of his response today, first. >> we're also going to make sure that we gather up the facts and hold accountable and responsible anybody who was involved in this. we're going to make sure that we identify any structural or management issues to prevent something like this from happening again. >> okay, ron. so heads have rolled. an investigation is ongoing. the president has expressed his outrage and vowed to prevent anything like this happening again. is is that enough? is that satisfactory? >> no, it's not the. i think, martin, this is one of the most chilling cases involved with the coercive powers of government. this isn't about president obama. this is about a culture within t

here in new york, republican strategist, ron christie.f i might begin with you, professor, it would appear that republicans are more than happy to see this president comforting th the bareved, comforting those who lost their homes, but never governing. never doing any governing. is that right? >> absolutely right. the therapist in chief, comforter in chief, is a role in which every president worth his or her salt is called upon to do. think about ronald reagan consoling us, when he talked about after the disaster in the sky. now obama on the ground speaking about the hurricanes, the tornadoes, the consequences of the natural forces of the universe to which we are subject. and, yes, people applaud him there, but in terms of actually on the ground governing, getting resources to vulnerable populations in a time of crisis, which is what a politician at his best or her best is supposed to do, then there are all kinds of obstructions. as you said, we have oklahoma senators who were supporting -- who were against sandy, but who are now for aid

ron allen in cleveland. thanks very much. up next, the deep dive is is back into our brand new exclusive nbc news marist polls, races of 2013, plus chris christie opens up about his weight loss surgery. [ female announcer ] love. it's the most powerful thing on the planet. love holds us in the beginning. comforts us as we grow old. love is the reason you care. for all the things in your life... that make life worth living. ♪ ♪ sweet love of mine plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. missing workouts because of sports injuries. runner's knee... ...it's right there. shin splints... ...it hurt right on this side. injuries like these can come from the pounding your feet take. but i found something that helps. dr. scholl's active series insoles with triple zone protection to help reduce pain from three sports injuries: runner's knee, shin splints, plantar fasciitis. i can feel the difference. i'm a believer. i'm back working out. i'm a believer. try dr. scholl's active series. i'm a believer.

. >> ron fournier sounds like chris christie is channeling chris matthews. >> yeah. >> a lot of democratsith this administration and we will just use the phrase domestically leading from behind on the health care. i remember the health care debate time and time again asking different congressmen and congresswoman. they say when youing if out the president's health care plan is, will you tell it to me? because they won't even tell us. chris matthews is exactly right. this seems to be their mode of operation. this president's mode of operation domestically and overseas leading from behind where he is blissfully unaware of all of this turbulence that is going on around him. >> look. in fairness, there are times when it's smart to lead from behind and in fairness some issues the president should not know about but chris is absolutely right. when the you know what hits the fan, the president is responsible. i was very surprised at the news conference when the president was saying the irs is an independent agency and time and time again, jay carney saying the irs is an independent agency. guess

. >> you know, ron, i also think as we sort of extrapolate the meaning of fema and the overall and disaster response. we'll talk about christie and obama and the optics there for christie. but you know, this president has been maligned as many things. but i do, i think most of us have the sense that if there were willing republicans, that would work on, work on legislation with him, if there was a chris christie in congress, we would be in a much better place. because the president does actually want to reach across the aisle and when he is ever given the opportunity, you see progress being made. i mean you see him work with republican governors in a fairly substantive fashion on issues like this. >> i don't know about in politics if you're given opportunities, you have to seize those opportunities. you have to make those opportunities. and the president certainly has around these kind of disasters. he's taken advantage of the fact that this kind of disaster gives us a chance as a leader, as a president to really give a tangible. very public display of your leadership abilities. and your ability to be able to connect with peo

ron paul and they are saying, he is mixed on libertarian issues. he is not with us on everything although i like him on some things. chris christiecknowledged that obama is a decent guy. jeb bush, you know one of the bushes, too moderate. marco rubio is disappointing us on am nestnesty and immigration. that leaves the potential of someone who is true blue and let me tell you who has been totally consistent on the far right agenda and that could be ted cruz. >> bill: so but he could -- you know, for republicans, karl rove, whom you know very well? you write a book about him. he is he going to look at a ted cruz and say this is a guy we could win with? >> no. >> bill: that could be a problem. >> it is. it's hard to imagine that someone like cruz, although he could win the tea party primary in some of these other states it's hard to imagine someone like ted cruz with sort of extremest views that he has would emerge fundamentally as ultimately the nominee of the party because of that and certainly, like us not as the -- as the winner in a presidential race. but, bill, he is pushing but tongs. not just in texas. he is going to be in s