in fact, susan collins sat next to susan rice at her nomination hearing two years ago or three yearsshe was nominated for u.s. ambassador. so this is really critical, this meeting that they're having, and she has a lot of questions and as i'm talking to you i'm getting a thumbs up she might -- she, susan collins, might be coming out momentarily. we'll be watching for that. what she says is going to be really, really critical to determine if in fact it makes sense for the white house to put her nomination in on susan rice if the president decides to do that as secretary of state. >> senator collins as you mentioned is a moderate. she certainly hasn't been as critical certainly as three other senators yesterday. senator ayotte and sflor mccain and senator graham have been about ambassador rice. she hasn't been that critical up until now. but those meetings are not over. when she emerges, when ambassador rice emerges from this meeting -- >> reporter: ashleigh i'm going to interrupt you because senator collins is here right now. >> terrific. if you could grab her for us that would be ter

we want to go now to susan collins from maine, senator susan collins, speaking after her meeting withassador rice. >> -- with ambassador rice. i still have many questions that remain unanswered. i continue to be troubled by the fact that the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was eventually a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign by agreeing to go on the sunday shows to present the administration's position. in addition, it is interesting to me that ambassador rice emphasized in her presentation not that this was a terrorist attack by al queda affiliates but rather that it had begun with a protest that we now know was nonexistent and that it was linked to a video which we also know is not accurate. at the time that ambassador rice made these assertions, there was conflicting evidence that it's true. bewe had the president of libya saying that 50 people had been arrested, that people -- terrorists from other countries had come to libya, and that the attack was premeditated and planned. i asked ambassador rice why she did not qualify her commen

were you surprised susan collins went into a new line of attacks specifically indicting susan rice in kenyan embassy attacks in the late '90 snz. >> yes. it was surprising. from folks i spoke to on capitol hill involved in national security issues did not see susan collins going into that direction. susan collins is a moderate republican, not one to be known to be an obstructionist in any capacity. she was one of the primary sponsors of don't ask, don't tell repeal when that went through last year. so it's interesting to see susan colin goss on this line of attack saying she doesn't want to see the u.n. ambassador be a political spokesperson like susan rice was on the sunday shows. also opening up the new line of attacks when susan rice was in charge during the attacks in africa. that is something to a chill observer seems like okay, susan collins has done her research, that would be brought up in a confirmation hearing specifically saying why did you fail the country supposedly back in the '90s. the most interesting thing here, though, alex, was susan collins basically endorsing john

but susan collins -- senator collins is also the top republican in the homeland security. the details of what happened at benghazi because they are doing an investigation of that committee. she had a lot of questions and didn't get the answers that she was looking for. as you just heard, she is troubled. then it comes to the next question, which is, if susan collins will actually say that she would support susan rice if she were nominated. >> i need to have additional information before i could support her nomination. she's not been posted yet out of homeland security committee investigation is ongoing. there are many different players in this and there's much yet to be learned. so i think it would be premature for me to reach that judgment now. >> reporter: now, suzanne, you talked about this in the last hour with peter bergen. senator collins did introduce a new wrinkle in the criticism of susan rice and that is that she was assistant secretary of state for african affairs back in 1998 when the bombings of the five embassies in africa happened. so senator collins is ques

republican senator john ver ras so of wyoming and susan collins of maine in terms of the republican attackhe ones that have been the most vocal and out front in recent days against susan rice have been susan collins, good old john mccain and kelly ayotte of new hampshire. they have suggested that they would put an individual hold on a potential susan rice nomination. susan collins is saying that john kerry would be much better for that job. i think it is worth noting now that we are already hip deep in this conspiracy theory of mine that this trio of republican senators have been united behind another cause in the really recent past. when scott brown was running for re-election against elizabeth warren this past fall, he did pretty much everything in his power to convince the citizens that he wasn't really a republican, that that little "r" next to his name just stood for really nice guy. it doesn't stand for republican. it stands for reformer or bipartisan. >> listen, i'm the second bipartisan in the united states senate. i was recently named as the least partisan senator. we need to sit

this time from two moderate republican senators, susan collins and bob corker. both considered integral to rice's chances of becoming secretary of state if, in fact, she is nominated by the president. senator collins was the more critical of the two. she took the ambassador to task for using intelligence talking points in the aftermath of the attack in benghazi. >> i still have many questions that remain unanswered. i continue to be troubled by the fact that the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign by agreeing to go on the sunday shows to present the administration's position. >> senator corker declined to give deep details of the meeting but instead delivered a hit directed at the whole of washington. >> the whole issue of benghazi has been to me a tawdry affair. everything about it. i have found no heroes here in washington. >> and for the second day in a row press secretary carny defended the president's ambassador to the u.n. >> my view on this is the same as it

because susan collins, what you don't hear susan collins saying if nominated i will vote against her. you've heard few say that. what is this? is it real opposition there with susan rice, or is it kind of talking a warning sign to maybe get more on benghazi if nominated? >> reporter: i do think the leverage to get more on benghazi is a real thing here. i find from senators, they take so seriously the role of advise and consent for nominees that they try to be very careful about not throwing around the i won't vote for until there are hearings, until there's a nomination. they believe in the process. you pointed out susan collins is important to watch because she is a moderate republican. because she has standing and she is someone who usually doesn't throw firebombs. she is normally very measured. chris? >> kristen, one last thing. we're talking about all of this in hypothetical. susan rice has not been nominated. do we expect movement on that? we know hillary clinton has bun unequivocal she is leaving and there will be an opening. will this move between now and the end of the year wh

now, it is susan collins and bob corker corker. they are in on the frey to smear susan rice. >> i want to take one step back on this 1998 business susan collins was talking about. if we really truly want to go there, let's remember that those attacks in 1997 were when osama bin laden came to the floor and we had a clear sense of what he was about and attempting to do. if we are going to go there, let's talk about the massive intelligence failure on 9/11. knowing you had that happening in '98, how could you miss what happened on 9/11 which resulted in the deaths of 3,000 people. what does this signal about the republicans that they will go to seemingly endless lengths to discredit susan rice. why are they doing this? >> some people think it has to do with the senate race. think how appalling that is that they are willing to trash a person's reputation, a person of susan rice's. she has served this country honorably for a very long time. i think it makes the republicans look small and petty. this is part of the demise of john mccain.

is it me or is susan collins starting to sound like katherine hepburn. make this thing disappear. kelly. >> caller: i'm calling from the only county in virginia that is not totally red. we're a lovely lavender. i was listening to you in the first hour, and you were talking about rick warren, and his speel speel.about having natural feelings and you shouldn't act on them. that made me see the light. i have a natural feeling to feed the hungry. >> that makes me want to put arsenic in my hand and punk you punch you in the nose. >> caller: i have a big poofster who lives on the top of the mountain in west virginia who throws out my judgment on everybody, and they're finally starting to tolerate me. >> stephanie: he's funny. [applause] thatcould the bionic woman could she hear when esmerelda did magic. >> wow 60s and 70s tv show. >> people on current. >> stephanie: they know i set this up. >> do you want this first. >> stephanie: i wrote out bionic and twinkle. if the bionic woman could hear when esmerelda created magic. which is first the ear or the nose. >>

susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job that she's done at the u.n. >> all right, tim, when you hear senator collins, she is influential, she is moderate, come out and say look, i'm not satisfied, sort of turning her back on susan rice, she had the moment in front of the microphone to endorse, she did not. should the administration cut its losses and say this might not be the right nominee. >> not at all. i think the president won the election. respect to suzanne collins' comments, she's obviously very influential and her support is important. but one thing she did say is that she wouldn't necessarily supporters blocking susan rice. we do have to give administration officials the space to do their jobs and in this case, ambassador rice was doing her job in talking about the i tacks. >> let me ask you ryan about something that senator collins said, that she did not come out and actually say, i'm going to block susan rice's nomination. she did say that john kerry would be an excellent appointment and would be easily confirmed. tell us why that might not quite be what republicans think it is. >> one is

i have talked to barbara mikulski and susan collins and olympia snowe and others. they have not been able to change the prevailing mood of the senate. i am hoping that the addition of several more women but more importantly, the rejection of republican extremism and obstruction and people's genuine anger about the paralysis of the senate -- those things together coupled with the urgency facing us of the fiscal challenges, i think will hopefully change the senate. host: longview, texas, on airline for democrats -- caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i would like to talk about the congressional budget and empowerment act of 1974. guest: the congressional budget act which was passed in 1974 was intended to give congress some power back from presidents who had taken a great deal of it but also it reflected the fact congress was just passing separate appropriations bills and did not really have an overall sense of the budget. the budget act was passed. it has proved to be challenging to administer and, in general, what we need in the senate and in the

susan collins said he would be easily confirmed. senator baroso backed him. even john mccain, leading the charge against rice had high praise for john kerry on fox news yesterday. >> john kerry came within a whisker of being president of the united states. i think that works in his favor but i'd love to hear him make his case, but i don't have anything in his background like this tragedy in again gassy that would make me really want to carefully examine the whole situation. >> of course it doesn't hurt that if kerry took the job it would open up a senate seat that could go to republican scott brown who just lost his seat to elizabeth warren. joining me now to talk about the wrangling in washington and on the ground in massachusetts is he is square magazine political reporter charlie pierce. welcome back inside the war room. >> good evening governor, just what we here in massachusetts need another reason to think we're the center of the universe. >> well you are the center of your own universe. what does is pour tend that these moderate republicans are not onb

when you lose susan collins -- >> you've got a problem.at john mccain lindsey graham and kelly ayotte would come out strong against susan rice and say essentially that they would try to block her confirmation if her nomination happens. it is much more of a surprise to hear susan collins referred to on capitol hill as one of the moderate republicans who is gettable on big votes like this. instead, what we heard is susan collins saying no, i'm not won over yet. you need to explain more about what happened both in benghazi and what happened in the aftermath of benghazi and that is a real problem. yesterday, we were talking about this earlier but yesterday was the first time that i heard democrats on the hill and we can ask senator about this but the first time we heard them say whoa, we don't think we have the votes to confirm sunnies a rice if we -- susan rice if we lose susan collins and other republicans like her. >> bill: susan collins, in her part of her statement yesterday she said that one of the things she had against susan rice was t

susan collins was the only other senator on the list to face voters while president obama was on the ballot. she won her third it term in 2008. the other seven were all elected or re-elected in the big republican wave of 2010. could republicans take back some of that territory in 2014 is this joining me now political analyst and editor and publisher of the cook political report, charlie cook. charlie, we have a senate announcement today. this is happenstance. we planned this last week and we can talk about 2014 and jay rockefeller. >> at least shelly capito had the decency to wait until after thanksgiving. >> mike brown announced two weeks ago he was running in 2014. >> see, i wasn't paying attention then. >> fair enough. is this all chalked up to bad recruiting by the republicans, the success rate? >> i think what we've seen is two cycles in a row of very disappointing senate elections for republicans, that the time before 2010 they needed ten seats. they picked up six. which was a lot but not comparable to the 63 seats they picked up in the house. the thing is, i think the crew tha

susan collins said we hadn't learned the lessons and she had troubling questions about that. she asked susan rice about it and susan rice said she would have to refresh her memory. >> i think the benghazi controversy opened the door to other senators, other critics of susan rice, to raise questions, including about her tenure when she was assistant secretary of state for african affairs and there is -- there has been criticism of her role there. i mean in some ways i think susan collins' criticism has more potential, is more worrisome for advocates for susan rice and even the criticism we heard from senators mccain and graham yesterday because she is a moderate, because she is a woman senator, because she's not the first one you think would be a critic of the president's pick of susan rice to be secretary of state and because she offered this great rose petal in the path of john kerry to be the secretary of state. >> the fiscal cliff negotiations the president trying to rally the middle class in favor of the tax increases on the rich, what is the next step in terms of the real

her meetings with gop senators only raising more questions, especially the meeting with senator susan collinssenator collins pressing ambassador rice about her state department work back in 1998. rice was working at the time when terrorists attacked two u.s. embassy with truck bombs. the attacks in kenya and tan zaneia killing over 200. 12 were americans. here's senator collins. you spoke yesterday with ambassador rice, is that right? >> i did. we met privately to about 75 minutes. so it was a long meeting. >> greta: did you get the sense she answered every question fully that you asked of her? >> no, she did not. i asked her a wide range of questions ranging from why she agreed as u.n. ambassador to go on the shows in the first place since that position, like secretary of state, is not detailed campaigning, to more detailed questions on why she blamed the attacks on the video, why she said there was a protest when there wasn't. it was really a wide-ranging discussion. >> greta: was her inability to answer some of the questions, did you get the sense -- i realize it's sort of a sense -- she d

senator susan collins of maine stepping to the podium minutes ago following her meeting on capitol hillambassador susan rice. a top republican on the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee. let's take a listen. >> i still have many questions that remain unanswered. i continue to be troubled by the fact that the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of a contentious presidential election campaign by ahe grewing to go on the sunday shows to present the administration's position. jenna: senator collins is less outspoken than others is echoing the other republican senators who said they have concerns about the possible nomination of ambassador rice for secretary of state in the wake of some of her comments about what exactly prompted the terror attack on our consulate in the benghazi that led to the murders of four americans on 9/11. collins says she needs more information as you just heard before she will decide whether to support any nomination. of course as a hypothetical nomination. we don't even know if it is coming or

but susan collins is not convinced. >> i continue to be troubled by the fact that the u.n. was essentially a political role at the height of a contentious presidential election. >> rice is considered a leading candidate to replace hillary clinton as secretary of state. senator collins says she'll need additional information before she can support the rice nomination. >> two ticket holders beat the astronomical odds. they will split the massive record breaking $588 million dollar jackpot. is it you? one was sold in arizona and the other in missouri. if you have not checked the winning numbers are 5, 16, 22, 23, 29 and a powerball of 6. victor blockwell is in mapleton, georgia, just outside of atlanta. didn't i say missouri and arizona? what are you doing there? >> well, i didn't win apparently. i put a few into the pool and we didn't even get $4 for hitting one number. i shouldn't be surprised. the odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 175 million. you have a better chance of walking up to a random woman in america and guessing her name correctly. as someone who's walked town

let's begin with senator susan collins, republican of maine. i guess it's the toughest question in the world, senator, and that is, do you believe that susan rice, the u.n. ambassador, knowingly covered up a breach of national security? >> well, let me say this, chris, our purpose is to understand the security failure in benghazi. what the administration told the american public about it. and how we can learn lessons to keep our personnel safer in the future. so that's my interest and goal in this situation. i think indeed ambassador rice herself has admitted that the information she gave out on those sunday shows was not accurate in several crucial aspects. she says she relied on information that was given to her but it's obvious that she chose to emphasize some aspects and downplay others. and frankly, i think the u.n. ambassador a long with the secretary of state, should be above politics and that she should have just said, no i'm not going to go on those shows. it's the wrong issue and the wrong time of year. i've got to maintain my credibil

first up susan collins of maine. during the president's first term, she broke with her party more than any other republican. she's up for re-election in a largely blue state. in 2014, she's got an incentive to work across the aisle. next lisa murkowski of alaska. she broke with her republicans on several big votes like the dream act don't ask don't tell the ryan budget. she's also spoken about the party's need to stop alienating female voters. nice work. and then we have dean heller of nevada. new. he voted against the ryan budget. he's of course, from the same state as harry reid. so you can count on the majority leader to keep the pressure on him. and then mark kirk of illinois who took the president's old senate seat. he's a moderate who voted to repeal don't ask don't tell but on the other hand he also voted for the ryan budget. finally, lindsey graham, collaborated with democrats on issues like immigration and climate change but is up for re-election in the very red state of south carolina in 2014. he will proba

republican senator susan collins has now decided that that administration official, u.n. ambassador susan rice, is someone she could not support for secretary of state if president obama nominates her for that job because susan rice chose to appear on those sunday shows at all, regardless of what she said there. >> i continue to be troubled by the fact that the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of a contentious presidential election campaign by agreeing to go on the sunday shows to present the administration's position. >> seriously. they're no longer even complaining about what she said. they're complaining that she went on a sunday show. so, therefore, she can't be secretary of state. for senator susan collins, appearing on a sunday show is something a politician would do. she doesn't want somebody for secretary of state who would do something like that. be totally inappropriate for somebody behaving like a politician by going on a sunday show to get the secretary of state job. she says she would much prefer senator john

otherwise she would have spent an hour and a half with me yesterday and an hour and 15 minutes with susan collinsnd others. you're right, she's not nominated, but it does appear something is happening to just sort of gauge support. >> let me show you a piece of what the ambassador of the u.n., susan rice, said on "meet the press" on september 16th, five days after the attack on our facility in benghazi. i think it's the heart of the critique. >> pointing to the best information we have available to us today, our current assessment is that what happened in benghazi was, in fact, initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in cairo which were prompted, of course, by the video. what we think then transpired in benghazi is that opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding. >> so there you have it. what do you think about that, and what role does that statement by her make in the concern about her qualifications? >> yeah. you know, chris, one of the things that's amplifie

maine senator, susan collins, can't thank you enough. have a very happy thanksgiving. >> thank you, larry. >> all right. stock markets of course are still obsessed with the fiscal cliff. market did go up today by 48 points on the dow. you know, it is as though nothing else exists. so we're about to talk to a market pro who's going to help you with therapy on this market obsession. speaking of therapy, don't forget, folks, free market capitalism is the best bet to prosperity. this whole fiscal cliff issue is tied up with economic freedom and prosperity. i'm larry kudlow, we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ a i'm with sco

. >> just connections susan collins was making. and just talk about the president. we haven't seen president obama say, obviously, outright, she is my top pick. but we saw her really sort of -- saw him vehemently defending her recently. let me replay that. president obama. >> for them to go after the u.n. ambassador, who had nothing to do with benghazi, and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence she had received, and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous. >> tell me about their background. they go back to his 2008 election? >> they go back even further. she was an adviser to him when he was a senator from illinois. and it goes back, tony lake was his -- the former national security adviser, democrat, in the clinton administration, and he sort of introduced those two. so she has been probably along with tom donilon, the people really worked with first when he took an interest in these issues. >> she has some sharp elbows. you write about this in your piece, just this month, which apparently one of her favorite wor

yesterday i spoke with senator susan collins who also had concerns about ambassador rice. >> it's obvioushe chose to emphasize some aspects and downplay others, and, frankly, i think the u.n. ambassador along with the secretary of state should be above politics and that she should have just said, no, i'm not going to go on those shows. it's the wrong issue and the wrong time of year. i've got to maintain my credibility. >> okay. joining us right now is kent conrad, senator from north dakota. i guess you heard those views. what are your views on the issues raised on the an tagistic side? >> first of all, i have high regard for senator corker and senator collins but there are others who have been strident voices against the ambassador that have been terribly unfair to her. what she said on those sunday talk shows was precisely what the intelligence community agreed to unanimously would be the unclassified version of events. it is entirely appropriate for the ambassador to rely on the intelligence community for what she says in public. what was said in a classified report would have been tot

questions about susan rice and criticism leveled at her from lindsey gram, senator john mccain and susan collins. >> i can tell you i know this bhous is us from tralted with john mccain and lindsey graham on the benghazi issue for quite sometime and you can see the president was almost looking forward to that question, if you will. i know there's personal irritation if you will in the west wing over susan rice being used as a scapegoat, a lot of loyalty to susan rice around here, particularly the campaign 2008 veteran. she was a big part of the president's 2008 campaign and i think where the personal defense of street comes in with the president and susan rice. add in this just let's not pretend a great relationship. the president john mccain. john mccain has been not always come across as the most magnanimous with the president and i think now there's more becoming a two-way issue with the president and john mccain. maybe not surprising considering they were former rivals for the presidency but you can tell this has got a personal -- there's a personal nature to this back and forth, tamron. the

one was republican senator susan collins of maine. >> i am puzzled by much of what has occurred in the f.b.i. investigation and also the latest information that perhaps general petraeus' friends had access to some classified information. we don't know whether that is true or not. >> brown: others including house minority leader nancy pelosi focused on why the f.b.i. did not officially inform congress about the petraeus matter much earlier. >> i think there's some answers that we have toave about notification to congress. i don't have any reason to think that there are any national security issues at stake in what has transpired. i think some dishonorable things were done, and the honorable thing has to be resign and not to go forward. >> brown: in the meantime democratic senator dianne feinstein, chair of the intelligence committee, said she now expects petraeus will testify about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, even though he's no longer head of the c.i.a. in a final strange twist, there was also news today about the f.b.i. agent who was first contacted by jill ke

if you don't have susan collins, who are you going to get? >> hopefully we would have susan colin ifs the president nominates the ambassador. senator collins has not said she would oppose the nomination. she said she want wants more information. i agree with the white house. there isn't likely to be a change in the fact here. the talking points were produce bid the bell jens community, amended by the intelligence community. they were flawed. they were relied upon by the ambassador. that's basically it. i have to think this is unfortunately a continuation of the presidential campaign by other means. but the election has taken place. we should let that be. many of the same senators who spoke loudly of president bush's right to appoint the cabinet of his choice to hepburn those positions and not apply a different standard to a democratic president. >> congressman adam schiff from california. thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> ahead on "starting point" g.q.'s list of the least influential people of the year is out. tops on the li

. >>> last night on "hard ball," susan collins talked about her meeting with ambassador rice. she says why she is troubled about rice's comments on the attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi, libya. >> she says that she relied on information that was given to her but it's obvious that she chose to emphasize some aspects and down play others. and, frankly, i think the u.n. ambassador along with the secretary of state should be above politics and that she should have just said, no, i'm not going to go on those shows. it's the wrong issue and the wrong time of year. i've got to maintain my credibility. >> you can catch "hardball" at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern. >>> later today time mag zinl release a provocative exclusive. they call mohammed morsy the most important man in the middle east. president morsy says he is promising elections in two months. he faces strikes about it courts as well as massive protested after he granted himself absolute power while he prepares for a nationwide address stressing unity. >>> back here at home, new yorkers celebrated the lighting of the world's mos

right now she's in with susan collins of maine. later she'll meet with bob corker. yesterday, too, she was on the hill defending herself over her comments following the benghazi attack, but the gop leaders only seemed more entrenched in their opposition. in addition, anytime now house democrats and house republicans will hold separate news conferences to talk about their closed-door meet ings on the fiscal cliff. at 11:30, president obama will make remarks at the white house surrounded by middle class americans who he says would see their taxes go up if congress can't make a deal. later he's hosting big business leaders to talk about ways to cut the deficit. joining me to talk about this, "washington post" political columnist day ma milbank and terence page. >> good morning. >> clarence, big development with tom cole breaking from his party and saying they should support an immediate extension of bush-era tax cuts for households earning less than $250,000. and then deal with the higher income tax breaks later. this is the key argument the president has been making.

. >> later this week rice will meet with acting cia director mike morrell as well as senator susan collins of maine the top republican on the homeland security committee. >>> more republicans say the looming "fiscal cliff" is forcing them to reconsider their no tax pledges. some are now open to changes. dick durbin plans to lay out a proposal for a bipartisan group deemed the gang of 8. they have been working on a plan to reduce debt. if the lawmakers don't pass a plan by the end of the december tax hikes and budget cuts kick in. >>> a cyber monday tradition for federal officials took dozens of websites offline. it was the third annual crackdown on websites selling counterfeit merchandise. the sites were shut done after copyright holders that sports, dvds and other goods investigators bought on the websites were fake. the sites now display a banner that explains what happened. >>> robbers in san francisco are stealing iphones at an alarming rate. now, some people are trying to do something about it. at this beauty shop in the russian hill area, workers are warning customers that people are