you get a whole of the white house. t this time the white house came to you. >> it really was extraordinary and it was a wonderful opportunity for our community here, hispanics in san jose and the greater bay area, to host the white house. the white house uniquely came out to us. they invited educators to the white house last fall, and they announced that they had this initiative that they were actually going to engage nationwide. and san jose was honored to be selected as one of the host cities. it was phenomenal because we were able to invite 500 leaders in our community to participate. and what was very unique is the fact that it was an open space format. so there was no preset agenda. it was an invitation sent out to all the bay leaders inviting them to come out and talk about all the issues near and dear to their heart. >> we were watching some similar event that happened late last year in other parts of the count country. but i hear -- and unfortunately i was not there. but i hear that the white house staffers and

research and raised the money so it wasn't done by the government, and you did a wonderful job. >> the white house historical association, who are one of the sponsors today of this conference, also are the private philanthropic arm that raised money to purchase things for the white house. >> was there a moment when it dawned on you, really for the first time dramatically, just how much impact you could have, an action of yours or words of yours in the lives of other people? >> i remember when i was the wife of the vice president i could say anything, nobody gave a darn, and i think george had just become president-elect when i made some, i thought, normal statement, and i read it in every single paper, and it wasn't something i really wanted to be quoted on. [ laughter ] but you learn not to speak quite as frankly, sort of. then you forget it when you get older. >> exactly. [ laughter ] >> well, i knew lady bird johnson, who also is somebody that i liked a lot, another texas first lady, and, of course, i knew her because she was still alive in austin when george was governor and we lived there. in

it belongs to the white house. i'm the one who covered it in the tiger velvet, which my mother-in-law said, i can't believe you're doing that. but i love the way it looks. >> why -- you were so emphatic about, i'm the one who covered it! >> because she didn't want me to, i could tell. >> when you look back at this experience after eight years, what do you want to be remembered for what you did in the white house? >> i hope the lincoln bedroom, because it's so beautifully refurbished, and then the green room downstairs, and then the acquisition of paintings like the jacob lawrence we just acquired for the green room. and i think the white house is historical, we want old things in it. we love the very major collection of american furniture that the white house owns. furniture both that either belonged to other presidents or it represents the very best of american furniture makers. the seymores, duncan fife, bellter, all of those names, early furniture makers. but, of course, the white house goes on. and history conti

members of the white house weighed in on this, but jay carney taking questions at the top of the white house briefing. >> on the issue of contraceptives, speaker boehner is wanting to deny it through the rule, and i'm kind of curious about your reaction to that, and if it were to happen, is that the kind of omeasure that the president would veto, or does he feel that strongly? >> well, that is a lot of speculation embedded in that question. i won't go there. on this issue from the very beginning we have concerns as we work to implement the law, and as i said yesterday on january 20th when this decision was announced secretary sebelius said quote we will continue to work closely with religious groups in this transitional periods to discuss their concern s. i would note that 28 states have similar contraception coverage requirements and eight of the states as i have mentioned before do not even the exemption that this provision requires for churches and house of worship. we want to work with all of the organizations to implement the policy that is as sensitive to their concerns as possib

how precedent setting was this esflent usually if you get to the white house you have to -- the whiteouse came to you. >> it was extraordinary. it was a wonderful opportunity for our community here hispanics in san jose and the greater area to host the white house. the white house invited educateeeducato educators last fall and announced an initiative and san jose was honored to be one of the cities. it was phenomenal because we were able to invite 500 leaders in the community. there was no preset agenda. it was an invitation sent out to leaders inviting them to talk about issues. >> and we were watching some similar event that happened late last year in the other parts of the country. but i hear and i was not there but i hear that the white house staffers and those who represent the white house got an earful from the local crowd. we didn't come here to say yes or yes, ma'am. they heard from us. >> they did and they were at every table. we had breakout sessions. they made sure to assign one representative at least from the white house at each break out session so they could hear what

every bite a guest eats in the white house or at camp david, the president pays for, maybe his wife does, but anyway, it's not something you just go and the white house feeds you, you will get a bill saying joe blow was staying, one egg, 18 cents. i mean, everything is itemized. and so, it's much cheaper than you all pay or we pay now, but it's everything is paid for, so, all the guests that they had and we had, we were delighted to pa child, she had two first cousins that i know of and nothing else. >> that is true. >> we have 850,000 relatives all on george's side and she fed them all, she had all of us, we are now 22 or 23, we were not quite that many then, but almost and they fed us every christmas, wonderful. >> but we did love going to camp david and it was a great relaxation i think for the president, andy and kathy card went with us a lot because you may not know this but somebody from the chief of staff or somebody from the chief of staff's office travels with the president everywhere. so on the weekends when we would go to camp because their kids were grown, they would come to

house by edith wilson and worked at the white house. and then here to s street and stayed with edith wilson until she bought them a home in the 1950s. so actually stayed here on s street. here in the kitchen in the house, again, state-of-the-art for 1920. in the pantry you can still see some of the early packaging. campbell's soups and kellogg's products. bottle of tobasco and heinz catchup and maxwell house coffee on the range there. this was, again, a modern house when it was built in 1915. again, always electrified. always had a modern heating system. oh, an old steam coal fired steam boiler system, and we still use these old radiator, today. part of our modernization that we are envisioning for the centennial is to do a new geothermal state-of-the-art system that will be certainly more energy efficient. perhaps offset with solar panels up on the roof on the top of the house. that would not be visible from the street. all right. well, beyond the beautiful brick facade of the house on s street in north west washington, d.c., is the dra

john's across the street from the white house. that was the church we walked to or drove to when we were in town in washington. and that minister, louis leon, is a cuban immigrant, he was part of pedro pawn. his parents put him on a plane by himself, he never saw his dad again, his mother didn't get out for five years, and his dad died before he got out of cuba. i remember on the second anniversary of september 11th, we went to a prayer service at st. john that morning and louis leon said mr. president, you didn't ask me, but i think they did it because we're a country where an immigrant can preach to a president. >> sweet. you know, we went to camp david the last weekend we were in town, and they had us going away ceremony, and we -- it was so emotional, i mean, it was -- i'd been very brave, darrelle left town, marvin left town, they just couldn't stand being there, but for the inauguration of our successor, we were very good sports about it, but that was the most emotional, all those soldiers and military people in such a tribut

and everybody at the white house rushed up and they fixed it up. now, that person was never seen again. the table was gone for like four months, but it was just one of those -- it was an extraordinary day really. and it was so right to have the people who fought for them. that was amazing. >> i have to ask you, in your memoir -- >> are you looking at her? >> i'm asking you. you told a story about as the wife of the vice president, you were in tokyo, and you were at a banquet with the emperor and making uphill conversation. >> terrible, answer everything, yes, no, i went to your child's school, yes. did your grandchildren go there? no. and he's a very sweet little man, so finally, i said, sir, when we drove in, we saw the old palace, and i guess it was so old that it just fell down, and he said, i hate to tell you, you bombed it. [ laughter ] >> that is kind of a conversation killer, isn't it? >> i move to the man on the other side. >> did you ever have -- can you think of anything like that? >> not exactly like that. >> anything? >> speak up. >> try

>> he said, you just can't touch the white house. he said, it's so strange. eryone in america feels so strangely about it. that's the truman balcony, and if you try to make any changes, it will be just like that. and i said, it won't be like the truman balcony and i told him about harry dupont and all the people we hoped to get. so then we talked about how you tried setting this up and he said it was good setting up the guidebook. so once he saw it was going along with good counsel, he was so excited about it. >> was there ever criticism of the things you did in the white house? >> no, the most incredible interest. and then the tours would start going. and every night i would come home saying, we had more people today. this would be after you found the monroe tour or something. the guidebook was selling out the door, and i would be teasing mcnally about it. he was just so proud. i was happy that i could do something that made him proud of me. because i tell you one wonderful thing about him. i was really -- i was never any different once i was in the white hou

and he said you just can't touch the white house. he said it's so strange everyone, america feels so strangely about it and look at the truman balcony, it will just be like that. and i said it won't be like that. so as it went along bit by bit and how you set up the committee and certain legal things and clark was good good setting up the guide book. once jack saw it going along with good council, he was so excited about it. >> was there criticism of the things that punish did in the white house? >> never, no, the most pin credible interest. and then the tours would start going. and every night he would come home saying we had more people today, this would be after you had found the monroe table or something. then the eisenhowers had in their first two years, the guide book was selling, and we were teasing mcnally about it, he was so proud. i was so happy that i could do something that would make him proud of me. because i'll tell you one wonderful thing about him. i was really, i was never any different in the white house than i was

there's a heated conversation where there was a prediction the white house will backtrack. this was a mistake. perhaps the administration stepping into quick sand. will there be a change regarding this issue from the white house? >> i can't speak to what people are predicting about the white house. i can speak to what the policy is and what the effects are. what i'd really like to speak to is there is so many people on the right being hypocrite cal about this. he was governor of massachusetts for four years. this policy was in effect in massachusetts ma. there was a mandate. he did nothing to chapg it and as far as i know, he never said anything about it and for him to discover this is a problem really does speak to what his entire candidacy is about which is the political opportunism i can attack the president regarding what my policies have been. >> thank you. >> thank you. joining me more to talk about it is michael smerconish. i know you were just listening in. what's your take here? will the white house be forced to back away when you have dolan and other high ranking o

çç >>> it may be halftime in america, but did the white house fumble on birth control? s is now. joining me the today, joy ann reid and luke ru schtrussert an white. under pressure from both the left and the right, the white house is about to announce that it is changing its position on birth control coverage, president obama is due to speak in a few minutes, he is expected to announce that the administration will not require religious employers to cover contraception costs for their employees. joining me is glenn thrush from politico, glen, welcome to the program. no lid tonight? no hat? >> i left it in the car. >> you have a great piece out explaining the behind the scenes

she doesn't have the white house do food for large events. she has the cheech ushief usher care of household arrangements. she concentrates on putting the white house back at the center of washington social life. over the last few presidencies it had moved away from the white house. mrs. roroosevelt, with two hand moved it back to the white house and had meetings with cabinet wives to discuss social schedules to make sure nothing is impeding the white house's or conflicting with the white house's particular social agenda. >> was that the impact of all that? >> mrs. roosevelt had a control over washington that i think some of the more recent prior first ladies had not. she formalized things. she had a definite code of behavior and if you did not follow her code of behavior you didn't really exist in her washington. and she did bring a power and a gr entertaining the visible side of the white house that bolsters theodore roosevelt's forays into political power to the presidency. >> lady bird johnson? >> lady bird johnson is -- i have to say, i a

johnson around the white house. she was able to come one time. she was in a wheelchair then and had lost her speech by that point, because of the stroke she had, but lynda robb, her daughter, brought her, and ladybird, even though she couldn't speak anymore, she was still so expressive in that very attra attractive way she had. she had see a painting she saw and liked and she would clap her hands together to let me know that she remembered that and liked it. when she met, one of the elevator men, who had been maÎtre d' when she was there, she hugged him immediately, and that was great to be able to have that one chance to show her around. >> first lady laura bush, thank you very much. >>> all day today, american history tv is featuring american's first ladies. who do you think was our most influential first lady? vote and join the conversation with us on facebook, at facebook.com/c-span. >>> you're watching american history tv on c-span3, and we're observing this presidents' day weekend, taking a look at our nation's first ladies. up next is carol

west, the white house chief usher, mr. est, the president tells me that jack mcnally, who was against selling guidebooks in the beginning, now says lots more could be sold on the way out. but he says this is your providence and doesn't want to mention it, which is rather sweet of him. i agree we can use the money. every penny is needed. not long after, her commitment to history led her to support my father to save temples. she wrote a long memo to jfk, which you can see downstairs, laying out the importance of the temples and suggested that this would be a nice gesture to nassar, as he promised not to interfere with them in yemen and south arabia. she demonstrates an understanding of diplomacy writing. the russians are building the dam as strictly an economic enterprise. by saving the temple, the u.s. could show that they care about the spiritual side and realize the importance of saving the cultural patrimony of egypt. ming fath i think my father rolled over on this one, too. the temple was a gift to the people of the unit

she created the position of white house curator. at preserved every piece of furniture and art in a permanent white house collection. >> isn't that the famous gilbert stewart portrait of george washington? >> that's right. that's the oldest thing in the white house. >> reporter: and this of course is the gilbert stewart. >> this is the icon in the white house collection. >> reporter: in fact, in just about every room, you can see still find jackie's touches. >> oh, this is the most brilliant of the rooms that we've seen. i can see why they call it the red room. >> reporter: why of course is the red room. >> pretty red. >> reporter: black and white tv did not do this justice. colored television isn't the only thing that passing years have brought. >> she was so iconic with what she did for the white house, but she's the first one to admit in what she said in the tour was that every first lady is going to leave their mark on the house. things are going to change and the house will continue to be this living museum. >> so important, the

>> well, she redid the entire white house. the white house that we know first came into being. edith roosevelt and theodore roosevelt wanted it to evoke its sort of colonial roots. so it's a very federal, formal white house. the beautiful pillars. the great entryway, the new grand staircase that she put in. it helps to bolster, the roosevelt brought in the regal, formal worldwide presidency. this is when america moves into the greater world as a power. this was to command respect for that and to show the power of the presidency. and mrs. roosevelt was in charge of the decoration of that white house. >> she added a first lady's portrait gallery? >> she did. she consolidated the portraits of first ladies. commissioned hers to be added to it and added a first lady's portrait gallery. >> politically, policy wise, what is known for? >> she steps away from policy. certainly is someone that can restrain her husband and i'm sure had words to say to her husband. she had young, large family. she was concentrating on that family. she wanted time for her family and for her husband. and so s

call with a the white house is doing right now a fumble? >> oh, yeah. this is very much the half pregnant approach. not -- >> a loaded term, my friend. a loaded term. >> sorry. but from the beginning, this cropped up on the radar in late august of 2011 and there was a lot of dissension in the white house on how to handle this situation. it's hard to tell whether or not the momentum for the policy came from kathleen sebelius or from the folks inside the white house, but we [n tough battle, a bit of a battle of the sexes pitting the female advisers against people like joe biden and bill daley, you were have much against this. >> one of the interesting scenes from the story was when dolen came to the white house with the bishops and this vision of him in the black robe sitting with obama, and obama feeling awkward in the meeting. i want to open it up to the panel a bit. it seem like the white house under estimated the response that this decision would get from the religious, and catholic community and from the right. >> maybe glenn can speak to this, how co

the heart of the house, really at home. each of the rooms in the family quarters of the white house has a special personality. a distinctive mood. here the treaty room has a dark green velvety look. its ornate decor reflects the opulence of the victorian period. this became the cabinet room for president andrew johnson, but it was president grant who introduced this table with so many succeeding presidents used to conduct the nation's business until 1902. that was when the country outgrew the second floor. president theodore roosevelt who had six children and was not tradition-bound built the west wing presidential offices. separating once and for all the family quarters, from the day to day work of the chief executive. many objects bring to mind earlier presidents. the torches of andrew jackson, this lamp presented to mrs. grover cleveland, and this wastebasket. the chandelier has an interesting story behind it. it was designed for the east room in president grant's time. but it soon a passed from room to room until it finally wound up gracing president roosevelt's new office. every time the door opened it ti

one thing about the white house is about how tiny things can be magnified. the question of whether they would announce a new florist that had come to the white house? could michelle and obama take a hair and makeup artist on trips. this these are matter of quiet contrast. >> how do the management styles of the obamas differ. the let's move initiative, the campaign that could have some policy implications? >> well, the thing is we have to stipulate the comparison is a little unfair, right, because the problems the president has to deal with are so much more complex than the ones the first lady does. but the funny thing is the first lady had arguably more management experience coming in to the white house. her east wing has and is this hyper organized stra teej eck place. one her criticisms of the west wing it wasn't strategic enough. they weren't looking far ahead and sending a clear enough message to the american people. >> you have gotten push back as a result of this book, and the familiarity with which it probes the obama marriage. some from the first lad

every side, every angle as i possibly can on twitter and i am glued to it in my little corner of the white house much of the day. >> one other point and i'll get to your follow-up. peter maer, you were at the white house in 1996 when bill clinton was challenged by bob dole. he, of course, won reelection, but that was an important year because it was the first year, only 16 years ago, in which both campaigns had their own web site. and they did something remarkable at the time, they posted speeches on their web sites, no video, but speeches and texts and other information. of course, as steve klein pointed out in 2000 and 2004, campaigns started using them as a marketing tool and a fundraising tool. that was only 16 years ago. >> it's astounding what has evolved. i would say that for anyone who really wants to see how far it has come, take a look at the white house web site and the way they live streamed the president's state of the union message. it's still there and i assume will be for some time with very impressive graphic, all visually spinning the points that the president was making in rea

the whole issue of freedom of religion was less important to the white house than pla kating their basethis issue. the second issue, the economic. for the president to stand at the podium in the white house and essentially announce free birth control for all, somehow, no one is going to have to pay for this. insurance companies are going to pay for this. does he think that the companies that produce the pill or somehow going to donate their services now? this is a problem that gets to the heart of obama care. >> there still doesn't seem to be ans on that. the insurance companies came out -- they're wondering if they're going to -- >> a net cost reducer over time. it's less costly to insurance companies and to society than all of the services associated with pregnancy. i was struck looking at this, yes, the white house probably made a mistake in the initial policy. but the ability to do a do-over quickly, to make a mistake, but your tone deaf, you don't listen to criticism and make changes, but they did make changes and now this is a policy that you can defend. we understand the objectio

. >> in the house itself it's unbelievable to life in, with the beautiful hard and flowers, the white house owns seven cessans and since they determined at one point to have all the paintings to state floo all up stairs, those are the ones you live with. including the monets that were given. you are living with museum quality art and furniture. >> you have scleen sheets every night. >> yeah. >> change the sheets every day. that is really a luxury. >> i once said to the head usher, you know you can change ours every other night, and he said please don't break the tradition, that would be terrible and i said well okay. >> you see, i promise, in is the last. tell me about that permanent family, they make the white house function. >> a lot of them have been there for a long time. they never say a word about your successor. or predecessor. and i think that is extraordinary, so it makes you very comfortable. >> they are very, very disconcrete. >> if i throw a shoe at george, nobody is going to know it. i mean, they are nice and we loved them. we stay in touch with many of them. and they cer

an internship in the white house press office. just finished your freshman year at wheaton college and you're going to be an intern at the white house. tell me who that 19-year-old girl was. >> she was serious, but she was also very enthusiastic and she was sheltered a little bit. i had been in a boarding school but i was excited about this job. it seemed like a miracle. and i was a little bit wide-eyed, i think. >> reporter: in the press secretary's office, "meet the press minute," a former depp tant who hailed from a socially prominent new jersey family, was assigned to answer phones, rip news wires and file press photos. parts of her story are impossible to confirm because the people involve reasonable doubt no longer alive. but mimi says it all began on her fourth day on the job when she got a call from dave powers an aide so close to the president, he was known as the first friend. >> he said a group of us are going to have a swim at lunchtime. would you like to join us? and i thought, well sort of a little bit odd to be swimm

how often did they connect with the white house and how are they the white house and how are they stillax weight loss programs can be expensive. so to save some money, i just got the popular girls from the local middle school to follow me around. ew. seriously? so gross. ew. seriously? that is so gross. ew. seriously? dude that is so totally gross. so gross...i know. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. for febreze fabric refresher. they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] what do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay. take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] and now new and improved febreze fabric refresher with up to two times the odor elimination so you can breathe happy, guaranteed. >> sean: finally tonight media matters has been exposed by the daily caller and it's none other than the fox news channel. one memo in 2009 reads simply put the progressive mo

and i'm glad you started where you did in the sense you and i go to the white house just about every y, right? i love seeing the protesters in front of the white house every day. it sort of reminds me of who we are as americans. criticism of any president is valid and important. i believe in our democracy. but when it gets to be personal, ugly, you know, just vicious personal attacks, that's what i think is wrong. and that's what we've seen against president obama. again, no president since in our lifetime and certainly no president since abraham lincoln has been the subject of such personal attacks. >> you go on to point out speaker boehner has had zero interest in bipartisanship, which after all if it is going to work must be a two-way street. you also add that not content with upsetting the apple cart from the beginning, it was largely personal, political and mean-spirited. >> sure. in fact, i'm critical of president obama, and i have been. and as a democrat and as a liberal, because i think he spent too much time trying to make deals with mitch mcconnell and john boehner when from

c-span: you said 'east side of the white house.' you meant east side of the capitol. >> guest: i--i'm sorry--of the capitol--i'm sorry. yes. c-span: how did--how did the mood change when watergate started--hearings started? >> guest: i think the--the white house became more under siege all the time, and--and every day something was revealed that--that was unknown as the witnesses came one by one, and i think this was the most important show in--in america, if not in the world, at the time. c-span: on the screen on the far right is james hamilton, who was a counsel then to the democrats, but then in--popped up during the whitewater hearings as a counsel, i believe, to the clinton side; sam dash, there--who worked for sam ervin--who also worked for ken starr. and then sam ervin, the senator from north carolina--look at the hands. >> guest: they we--they were gnarled and arthritic, and it's just a beautiful--you know, expression of age in that hand, but i--you--he must have suffered greatly from it, because it's not the kind of hand tha

and in freedom he would author, as decreed by the white house historical association, the first white house memoir, and its full text is included as an appendix in "a slave this the white house." it was my familiarity with this memoir that first drew me to jennings' story. it is titled "a colored man's reminiscences of james madison," and as that title implies, it is more about the so-called great man than it is about the author himself. but my interest was in jennings. so i set out to discover elements of his biography, uncover the circumstances behind the publication of the memoir in 1865 and track down and interview living, direct descendants. paul was only 10 when he came to washington in 1809, the first year of the madison administration. he was chosen from among 100 month peelier slaveses -- montpelier slaves as just, oh, two or three to be part of the white house domestic staff. and he found washington to be dreary as, indeed, it wasment -- was. not only because he was likely home sick, but because this was a clanked city and at that time existed very much more on paper than it

one thing about the white house is how tiny things become magnified. en the question of whether they would announce a new florist that had come to the whouchl white house. could michelle obama take a makeup and hair artist on trips? these were matters of quiet contention between the east and west wing? >> how effective is michelle obama's, let's move initiative which the campaign that could have some really commercial policy implications. >> absolutely. well, we have to stipulate the comparison is unfair, right? the problems that the president has to deal with are so much more complex than the ones the first lady does, but the first lady had arguably more management experience than the president coming into the white house. her east wing is and always has been a hyper organized strategic place. one of her criticisms of the west wing was that it wasn't strategic enough. they weren't looking far ahead. they weren't sending a clear enough message to the american people. >> oh you have gotten some push-back as a result of of the book and the familiarity wit

after that, more road to the white house coverage. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> this week, president of the center for american progress. >> neera tanden, how much do you remember about growing up with your mother on food stamps? >> i remember a lot about it. my most vivid memory is going to school and i had free and reduced lunch at school. and i went to suburban schools. it was a pretty middle-class suburb of boston. i remember being the only student there who had a 10 cents voucher for school lunches. i knew that was different from everybody else. but i was very fortunate because i was able to stay, going to very good schools in bedford when my parents got divorced. they were divorced when i was 5. my father left for a few years. my mother had never worked a day in her life. because of a variety of government programs, she was forced out of -- she was able to -- she was forced out of her house, but she was able to find housing in bedford itself, a

have left the white house. d, by the president of netanyahu after repeated tensions between the two men. is this the fault of president obama or is this the fault of netanyahu who was not differential enough to not just the american president but the united states of america? >> i think this president has trouble with israel -- any one of our allies. he keeps on blaming the united states and our allies for every ill in the world we live in today. benjamin netanyahu, prime minister of israel every day has to worry about rockets being thrown into his country killing israelis and killing children. the only friend they can depend on is the united states of america. that has been there since 1948 we have been there. you have a president here that didn't even say to benjamin netanyahu, reaffirm the security that we are going to be part of with israel until march of 2011 after he had been president of the united states for two years? after that he walked out on him. the things he said with sarkozy. it is a cold relatio

the white house will address the controversial contraception rule today. nbc's kristen welker is at the white house and joins us now with some of the breaking news. give me an update. when did the white house make this decision and what does this decision look like? where is the reversal? >> reporter: it looks like this was something decided sometime last night. senior administration officials have confirmed that there will be an announcement today coming out of the white house on this contraception rule. what will it look like? that's the big question. but sources who have been briefed on this both inside and outside of the white house say the key here is that it will attempt to allay the concerns of folks within the catholic community but at the same time it will preserve that core principle that all women will have access to contraception. now i've spoken to some advocates of the contraception rule and they say this is a win. they've been briefed on this. they believe this will preserve the mandate of providing a contraception coverage to all women. they

test easy. >> jon: president obama taking a shot inside the white house on saturday firing the extremeshmallow cannon in the state dining room. joey beat the device that was a science affairer at the white house. he did ask members of the press to get out of line of fire before he pulled the trigger. surprising? then mrs. obama took on jimmy fallon on tug of war and other activities. no members of the media during that program. [ laughter ] >> i'm sure the president would have liked to have the press line of up

did the white house pick this fight? risky business. the wildest play in political history, picking sarah palin. why did grim john mccain make such a wild pass? was he rejection of mitt as running made a sign of mitt's problems today? i am chris matthews. with us, "new york magazine's" john heileman, gloria borger, kathleen parker and clarence page. first up, two huge political explosions this week. mitt romney's enormous losses to rick santorum in three significant states, and that revolt by many catholics over the white house decision on birth control. first, romney's troubles. conservatives can't stanton barack obama, but when will they learn to stand romney prom? even after the white house handed them that huge contraceptives issue, republican voters stayed home in the three primary states this week. turn out was way down from 2008. but conservatives are the big prize. there are many more than before. they have gone from 29% of total voters in 2000 to 34% in 2004 and 2008. look at this. they now represent 39% of the people in the pol

well, the butler had no idea about 90-year-old brandy in the white house, he didn't even know if white house was 90 years old. but he said, yes, and brandy of some sort was brought to churchill for breakfast the next morning. churchill drank husband way through the white house. he was a -- his way through the white house. he was a very popular guest though. he was there with advisers to try to guide the american military or and industrial forces into war. we weren't nearly prepared. we didn't have enough planes, we didn't have enough tanks, we didn't have enough of anything. and we weren't even prepared to gear up our industry for more. churchill brought with him lord beaverbrook, a former canadian who was a feisty guy who was good on talking straight to the americans and told them do you know that the russians lost 3,000 tanks in one battle against the germans and the germans lost nearly as many? how long will it take you to build 3,000 tanks? well, this boggle led the minds of the americans, but they stopped production of cars, they stopped production of any kind of leisure equipment

the secretary said there's no plan and really no likelihood in this election year that the white house and republicans will come to an agreement on this. what does that tell you about the state of washington? >> that's exactly right. the treasury secretary says the white house plans to produce a broad framework for recommending changes to the corporate tax code that basically said don't expect anything major in terms of reforms of the individual tax code. when asked why the white house isn't pushing hard for tax reform this year, he cited the summer talks that the president had with house speaker john boehner to strike a big, comprehensive deal. ultimately it went nowhere, and geithner said we didn't get anywhere in the summer talks, so we don't have a real reason to expect trying to do it again right now in a campaign year is more froouitful. >> give our audience a sense of what's in the budget. we heard from senator sessions whogsd this is increased spendinging and taxing wealthier americans but no glide path towards it. >> it comes in at $3.8 trillion. the areas that you're going to

jessica, you're there covering the white house. d been like? do you know, did they feel it at the white house, ugh, this wasn't handled so well? >> they know they botched this one, don. what they didn't do, and i know it's not only from inside the white house, but from talking to religious leaders on the outside, they didn't do the normal outreach that is supposed to come along with this sort of announcement. they knew this was going to be controversial. and they sort of assumed it would be baked in. so they'll sort of take their lumps. and what they needed to do is exactly what wolf said, outreach, build support, figure it out in advance. and they just didn't do it. and the white house, you know, now you'll hear the president come out and essentially say this -- >> jessica, i have to cut you off. here comes the president of the united states. >> hello, everybody. i was actually going to say good morning. but i guess it's afternoon by now. as part of the health care reform law that i signed last year, all insurance plans are require