as republicans start to get very, very desperate to find someone to run for his now open u.s. senate seat. also today, the president gives a barn burner in minnesota. he says on the political issue where we are supposedly so politically divided that we can never make progress of any kind, he says on that issue specifically, actually, right now we have a national consensus that we can move on. that's all ahead. >>> plus, the political right all at once, all in unison gets very vocally angry with karl rove. poor karl. frank rich from "new york" magazine is here on the show tonight. we've also got the latest conspiracy theory about the terrifying photo shopped secrets of president barack hussein obama. did you know his emotional name is hussein? the conspiracies about the president get even more conspiratorial than they have in years past. >>> we're beginning with a big deal, a story you will not see anywhere else, because it is an nbc news exclusive. nbc's national investigative correspondent michael isikoff has uncovered something that is

with all respect to the austere tradition of the u.s. senate, u.s. tors do not usually act this way at all. senators do not usually demand that nominees for the president's cabinet, even the nominee for defense secretary like chuck hagel is now, they do not usually demand that those nominees reveal private details about the companies they work for or the speeches that they give, let alone withhold support from the nominee until they get that information. this is not the way the senate has treated nominees before. the outgoing defense secretary leon panetta, the last guy confirmed for the job, he had also made goodles of money giving speeches and serving on corporate boards. he was actually confirmed for two different jobs, for cia director in 2009. the committee then forwarded his nomination with zero objections. he was confirmed by the full senate on a voice vote. he was nominated again, this time for defense secretary in 2011. the vote on that one was 100-1. it was unanimous. the nominee for secretary of defense before him, robert gates in 2006, bob

nobody can bully me out of running for the u.s. senate, not even karl rove and his hefty war chest. joy reid, these guys are making it fun. >> i know. >> they are just make making it fun. >> it's brilliant. there are always more sane people in the we call them the no nothings. they are encapsulated in the tea party and the only reason that karl rove was considered a genius, he managed to convince the crazy people in the conservative party that a methodist named george w. bush -- now, i grew up methodist. they are the most mild mannered christian. they just nod affirmatively, that he was an evangelical right wing thrower like they are. he put one over on them and now they've figured it out. they've had a taste of power and

u.s. senators who are clients. o you think any of your clients got cold feet watching chuck hagel yesterday? >> i think a lot of the democrats are going to want to support the president. even senator blunt. >> i thought the filibuster comment was pretty important. and that's sort of where this is -- why hagel's going to get confirmed. >> that is right. >> and that's where this is headed, isn't it? >> it is. >> he won't get filibustered and he'll get maybe two republican votes. >> even if he didn't do as well as you would have pex expected to do, given his experience sitting on the panels, i didn't see it live, but when i read the clips from right conservative organizations, i expected that it was awful. when i went back and looked at it, it wasn't that bad. >> his performance stunk. >> his performance was a disaster, but he didn't lose democrats you can tell from the questioning. >> did you really think it was that bad? >> it was awful. >> defending health care -- >> the problem is republicans are going to want -- r

he was a final vote in the u.s. senate overcoming blocking tactics by republicans. reports from washington. >> the nomination is confirmed. chuck hagel chuck had to wait seven weeks to be confirmed as u.s. defense secretary. now he might be wishing the delay had lasted longer. >> that is a direct question. >> republican senators held up this nomination saying he was too soft on iran, to willing to get rid of the u.s. nuclear weapons arsenal, and too tough on israel. >> he is obviously not qualified for the job. he holds dangerously misguided views. >> chuck hagel? the president's strategy for ending the war in afghanistan by the end of 2014. a bigger war over money is waiting for him when he starts work. tens of billions of dollars in mandatory budget cuts are set to go into effect on friday if congress does not stop them. >> for the sake of national security -- in three days, across-the-board cuts are scheduled to take effect. pentagon needs a seasoned leader to implement the cuts. >> $46 billion in cuts to military spending over the next seven months. hundreds of t

this is a three-election cycle pattern now for the u.s. senate. but karl rove superpac, the same folks who are starting this new conservative victory project, those guys got a whopping 1.92% return on their investment in the last campaign. they spent over $100 million, and almost all of it went to races that they lost. so it's not like they're the geniuses here. remember, they're the geniuses who supported mitt romney and thought he would win, and were shocked that he didn't, to the point of making that nice lady from fox news go down to the decision desk and fight with those statisticians. it was so embarrassing. the question is not only which side is going to win this big intraparty fight, but also what will that mean for the future of the party. which side really has the potential to fix what is right? the great frank rich joins us next. stay with us. >>> why should you vote for me? because i do not wear high heels. >> i'm not a witch. >> seamed remedies. why won't you answer second amendment remedies. >> if it's a legitimate rain, the female b

by his fellow republican senators u.s. defense secretary nominee chuck hagel will be given another try but only after a week long test to be anti hawkish views our top stories this hour. from the new center here in moscow this is r.t. with the on line on screen twenty four hours a day people in russia's urals are recovering from the shock of the me that crashed to earth in the area on friday the space rock exploded in the sky creating a powerful shockwave and damaging hundreds of buildings including schools. twelve hundred people have been injured as a result of the devastating explosion many of them children what do you got of this kind of reports now from effected region. thankfully the night passed quietly and without any incidents in chile i've insistence there were fears that more meteors were going to hit the area nothing of the kind happened but the consequences of friday's meteor are still quite a handful it's not only about shattered glass lots of old buildings were damaged as well like this factory there behind m

u.s. senator standing on the floor of the u.s. senate talking about taming the beast. and it's like, are you a u.s. senator this is not the beast. this is the federal government of the united states of america. it's a pauling for a u.s. senator to describe the government as a beast. and i think that obama has made a very determined and conscious effort to keep saying over an over again, government is not the enemy. government is an expression of, you know, the better angels of our nature. government is our way as a society of expressing ourselves in history and historical time in action. and that's-- immensely important. >> the definition of the role of government is an ongoing theme of american politics. >> yeah, so you have people like these tea party people protesting government and then asked if they really want to give up their social security payments and they don't seem to know that that is actually part of what government is. there's a rejection of the sort of basic idea of human community behind the reagan, behind reagan era ideology that is really frightening

by his fellow republican senators u.s. defense secretary nominee chuck hagel will be given another try but only after a week test to be anti hawkish views our top stories this hour. from the new center here in moscow this is r.t. with the online on screen twenty four hours a day. people in russia's urals are recovering from the shock of the meteor that crashed to earth in the area on friday the space rock exploded in the sky creating a powerful shockwave and damaging hundreds of buildings including schools. not. twelve hundred people have been injured as a result of the devastating explosion many of them children but as you got to reports now from the effected region. thankfully the night passed quietly and without any incidents in chile i've insistence there were fears that more meteors were going to hit the area nothing of the kind happened but the consequences of friday's meteor are still quite a handful it's not only about shattered glass lots of old buildings were damaged as well like this factory there behind me wher

u.s. senator from the great state of georgia. paul broun's wife is already reported to have started telling people that back in georgia. paul broun himself is reported to be telling donors already. and at a press conference tomorrow afternoon in georgia paul broun is expected to officially get into the u.s. senate race. unless of course all this reporting is lies straight from the pit of hell. >> all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. >> if it's not lies straight from the pit of hell, then paul broun is in the running to be the republican party's standard bearer when they try to hold on to georgia's soon to be open senate seat once saxby chambliss retires. what could possibly go wrong with paul broun as their candidate? >>> and further news how paul broun is adjusting to a second term of barack obama, senators decided in virginia that voting should be made much harder in that state. in the state of arkansas, republicans voted their state should ban abortion at 20 weeks. this comes just days after republicans in the senat

chuck hagel narrowly wins u.s. senate approval to become the new defense secretary but his policies draw fire from capitol hill especially among his own sello republicans. italy upsets the austerity apple cart out voters say no to more cuts but leave parliament in turmoil raising fears that the country's political crisis will negatively impact the eurozone. and how's this for a minor traffic offense the shocking video posted by a russian couple of their eight year old daughter driving and dangerous beats. live from our studios in moscow you're watching r t with me and use the now way it's good to have you with us our top story this hour chuck hagel has been narrowly approved by the u.s. senate as the new defense secretary but he came under fire from fellow republicans for his past criticism of the iraq war and the israeli lobby with some believing he could also be too soft on iran nature can now on the clash on capitol hill. chuck hagel was confirmed by the senate fifty eight votes for forty one vote against a narrow vote

u.s. senator hitting us with this. >> everyone says we have a spending problem. when they talk about that, it's like there's an assumption we as a nation are broke. >> neil: we are broke! but do you see a pattern here? not the meteor and asteroid thing, the spending isn't an issue thing. tom harkin, nancy pelosi, barack obama, i'm seriously gingrich to think they are crazy. they're all card carrying members of the you the new spending planet earth society. no problems, no worries. good god. to former ohio democratic congressman dennis kucinich. congressman, a trillion dollar more going out than coming in. this would be a spending problem, would it not? >> government's wasting money. it should spend less on war and give less to the pharmaceuticals. i understand what senator harken's saying. >> i don't understand it at all. when you say we don't have a spending problem, you are saying that a trillion more going out than coming in -- >> i didn't say that. >> you know what i mean. the 60 trillion-dollar in debt. we've known each other many years. in your worst days,

republicans in the u.s. senate blocked the confirmation of president obama's nominee as secretary of defense chuck hagel claiming they need another week to fully assess the future pentagon chief. and broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is our t.v. certainly glad to have you with us. people in russia's urals are recovering after the shock of the meteor strike that hit the area on friday the space rock exploded in the sky creating a powerful blast that damaged hundreds of buildings including some schools. was. nasa claims the media's explosion generated power of five hundred kilo tons which is around thirty times the size of hiroshima was nuclear bomb twelve hundred people were injured many of them children after the shockwave had buildings and shandor the windows as you could piece can off reports now from the affected region. thankfully the night passed quietly and without any incidents in chile i've insistence there were fears that more meteors were going to hit the area nothing of the kind happened

recently voted along with my colleagues in the house to present the democratic majority in the u.s. senate with a simple but powerful challenge -- pass a budget or you do not get paid. by forcing senate democrats to live up to one of the asic responsibilities of government, passing a budget, -- one of the basic responsibilities of government, passing budget, we can confront our spending problem. we are holding president obama for the sequester spending cuts he first proposed in 2011. republicans want to replace the president's sequester, which is a series of harmful cuts, with a better commonsense cuts and reform. all of this will be choir -- require everyone to get serious about the spending problem. each of the lasted two years, the republican-led house has passed every possible -- a report -- a responsible budget. unfortunately, it has been nearly four years since of the senate democrats have passed a budget. in that time, i have seen one child in high school get into college while another graduate from college and enter the professional workforce. like most parents, i'm worried that ou

on the floor of the u.s. senateotesters delay the confirmation hearing for america's next spy chief. teargas and riot police on the streets of tunis as the country's fledgling democracy struggles to survive a crisis we know it is not good for us but it is not fun, but why are so many people doing it? fledglingntry's democracy struggles to survive. we know that it is not good for us, but wire so many people doing it? welcome to our viewers on public television in america. america's drone program came -- undere nomination fire at the nomination hearing for john brennan. the man that president obama has tapped to be his next spy chief says that the white house goes through agony to make sure that there are no collateral deaths in these attacks. >>

republicans in the u.s. senate blocked the confirmation of president obama's nominee as secretary of defense chuck hagel claiming they need another week to fully assess the future pentagon chief. top news and commentary direct from our studios in moscow this is our team on thomas top stories. people in russia's urals are recovering after the shock of the meteor strike that hit the area on friday the space rock exploded in the sky creating a powerful blast that damaged hundreds of buildings including some schools. nasa claims the media is explosion generated a power of five hundred tons which is around twenty times the size of the hiroshima nuclear bomb twelve hundred people were injured many of them children after the shock wave hit buildings and shattered windows are going off reports now from the affected region. the consequences of friday's meteor are still quite a handful it's not only about shattered glass a lots of old buildings were damaged as well like this factory there behind me where parts of the wall an

u.s. senate hearings are underway for president obama's controversial pick to be the new chief of the cia already been interrupted due to protests by activists angry behind . america's infamous drone program it could be head of the agency. political chaos in tunisia anti-government protests turn into violent clashes with police the ruling bloc the prime minister's plan to form a coalition government. and the countdown to the next winter olympics begins its exactly one year until russia first ever winter games that promise to become the most unique and the most expensive in history. but not everyone is in the mood russia's president lashes out over spending a key figure behind the two thousand and fourteen games. in broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is r.t. certainly glad to have you with us. now from drone strikes to torture techniques barack obama's nominee for head of the cia is facing tough questions in the senate confirmation hearing the session is underway again after

republicans in the u.s. senate blocked the confirmation of president obama's nominee as secretary of defense chuck hagel they need another week to fully assess the future pentagon chief. live from our studios in moscow this is r t i'm john thomas let's get right to our top stories people in russia are recovering after the shock of the meteor strike that hit the area on friday the space rock exploded in the sky creating a powerful blast the damage hundreds of buildings including some schools. so. how did. was. not. some images of obvious panic vary and you can see why as nasa claims the meteors explosion generated a power of five hundred killed tons which is around twenty times the size of the hiroshima nuclear bomb twelve hundred people were injured many of them children after the shock wave hit buildings and shattered windows r.t. as you get a piece can offer ports now from the affected region the consequences of friday's meteor are still quite a handful it's not only about shattered glass a lot of old buildings w

it's the good old boys club in the u.s. senate. he's going to get confirmed, right? >> yeah. i think that that hearing will go down as one of the worst in television history. i mean, he was unprepared. he didn't know what he was talking about. he state wrong policy at times and then when he did assert things he asitterred things that were pretty scary such as talking about how legitimate iran's government is. as you point out, it is a club and chuck hagel was once a member of the club, and as much as -- >> gregg: he wasn't a beloved member. i will say that much. a lot of people didn't like chuck hagel and he reminds a lot of folks of pig pen you know, in the peanuts cartoon, you know with the swirling cloud behind him of dirt and so on and so forth. here is a sound bite. let me play this. >> my policy has always been the same as the president's, one of prevention not of containment. by the way i've just been handed a note that i misspoke and said i supported the president's position on containment. if i said that it meant to say that obviously his position on containment, we

they will replace the u.s. senate. facing budget uncertainty including increasing resolution and a looming potential for across-the-board sequestration cuts u.s. navy made this request to the secretary and he approved the navy to reverse the deployment orders of the uss truman at the last moment. lou: what does this mean for the families on the truman? >> it wreaks havoc on their lives. some have left their least dropped. supposed to leave this friday, so this is a last-minute reversal by the pentagon. they say it could be in the gulf in two weeks time if there were an emergency that would take that long to go from northern virginia. they're going nuts trying to plan for sequestration, something they were told not to plan for and not even talk about until two and a half weeks ago. lou: we have known about sequestration is the best we can do is hope that all the discomfort and disorder created for the families and those serving on the truman isn't because of some sort of political ploy being brought up by this white hous

scott brown declared tonight that he is not running for the u.s. senate for massachusetts.e will run for governor. i think it's a smart move for him. being a legislator is not for everyone. to do it right, you have to have the patience and the personal instinct about other legislators to move a bill forward, getting

u.s. senator centered on the senate floor and calm would fox out for saying we make it up. >> government has never been able to control itself. there is no profit motive with the government and no incentive for efficienciy. since the end much world war ii presidents and congresses have had federal spending 18 and 21 percent of gdp. under president obama and harry reid and nancy pelosi that exploded. it is 25 percent of the gdp. discretionary and entitlement spending, we have record-breaking deficits. no one is stopping it. nwe have a spending problem. we don't have a revenue problem. johnathon first. >> yeah, we don't, eric we tax enough and so much of what our tax dollars go to are not specified in the constitution. to the congressman's point. it is specified in the consitution. food stamps and fema and epa and healthcare and all of the other money is found no where in the constitution . it is it basically taxing people's lives . until congress gets that out of their head when they tax and borrow, they are hurting individual americans . it is getting out of the control. >> congressman can w

scott brown declared tonight that he is not running for the u.s. senate for massachusetts.ll run for governor. i think it's a smart move for him. being a legislator is not for everyone. to do it right, you have to have the patience and the personal instinct about other legislators to move a bill forward, getting your views written into national policy and law. again, it's not for everyone. perhaps not for scott brown. he might be smart to wait his chance and run for an executive job, one that he can grab, hold on to and really do something with. we'll see. as for the senate seat in massachusetts, i have a firm grip on who i would like to see take it. u.s. congressman edward markey is the most principled person i know in american politics. he's what spent his career standing up to the special interests, the polluters, the people who take advantage, the greedy. he has sat on legislative committees and seen the power of the special interests. and he, again and again as taken them on. markey is a committed believer in avoiding the dangers even of nuclear war, a believer of a sa

u.s. senators stall the confirmation process of the secretary of defense thanks for watching here with r.t. . to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous bad luck i got so. i mean the town i believe that i'm sitting seems really really messed up. in the old story so personally i believe it's. the worst for delivering the white house or for the. radio guy and for minestrone probably want to watch what we're about to give you never seen anything like that i'm told. politico i'm abby martin so today palestinians clashed with israeli soldiers and several demonstrations held in support of some aerosol political prisoner who's been detained by israeli forces he was initially arrested by the israeli army in two thousand and two and sends to thirty years in jail for protesting under a deal brokered with egypt he was released in two thousand and eleven along with four hundred seventy six other prisoners tragically samar was once again detained last year for the crime of entering jerusalem in the last two hundred six days he's been on a hu

let me play rachel from last night. >> with respect to the tradition of the u.s. senate, u.s. tors do not usually act this way at all. senators do not usually demand that nominees for the president's cabinet, even defense secretary like chuck hagel now, they do not usually demand that the nominees reveal private details about the companies they work for or the speeches they give and let alone withhold the support until they get it. it's not the way they've treated nominees before. >> if that's accurate, i have no reason not to believe so, why is chuck hagel held up regarding the finances and speeches and this kind of information some senators want? >> the republican opposition to senator hagel is pretty strong. and they have made demands for additional financial information. interestingly enough, just a few hours ago, senator levin the chairman of the committee sent a letter to the republicans saying what they're asking for is beyond the scope and he's indicated that he's going to press ahead with a vote next week. i understand it will probably come perhaps as early as tuesday.