we just had valerie jarrett on. we asked her about his case. she said his time was up. >> well, valerie jarrett is not speaking the truth with regard to that. i think she's speaking

valerie jarrett is the principal adviser and is not a politician does, not understand. it's a very insensitive word. using parade. it is fun and cheerful. this was not cheerful. a serious demonstration. lou: obviously trying to trivialize it. >> the president made a mistake and didn't go there. he should have been front and center and made the admission that they did not send the proper people and that eric holder was doing other stuff and what have you. someone of that statute, the president or the vice president should have been at the front of that line. lou: ed rollins, always good to see you. >> thank you, sir. >> on wall street, too much for the market to overcome a day of heavy trading the dow down 106 points the s&p down 19. the nasdaq fell 68. volume on the big board more than 4 billion shares, 4.2 billion. crude oil settling above $46 a barrel 40 cents above recent lose. the yield on the 10-year note falling, that's the lowest yield since may of 2013. >>> switzerland cutting interest rates and scrapping a cap policy that limited how much the euro could fall ag

the president's closest adviser valerie jarrett joins us in a moment. a new threat for isis another video demanding ransom. is the u.s. doing enough to take on islamic state? >>> the new chairman of the senate arms services committee, john mccain joins us next. will cuba be -- we'll ask pat leahy just back from cuba when he joins us live. >>> democratic leader nancy pelosi on how democrats will deal with the republican congress. >>> good day, everyone i'm andrea mitchell coming to you live from capitol hill. tonight president obama will deliver his sixth state of the union address but will this be the first time he's doing so in front of a republican-led house and senate? for more on the president's message, i'm joined by valerie jarrett, senior adviser to president obama joining us from the white house. valerie, thank you very much for being with us. >> my pleasure andrea. >> good to see you. this is a very big day. the president said he wanted to work with republicans in 2015 at the end of the year but his tax reproposals that have been released in th

fiorina confronted obama senior adviser valerie jarrett charging that the president is "not paying women equally, by his own measures in his own white house." jarrett refuted the charge saying white house women staffers are paid equally. they're both sort of right. according to white house salary data released last july, the average male staffer earns just more than $88,000 per year while the average woman staffer earns just more than $78,000 per year. the reason, as fiorina referenced, is that men are likely to be in more senior positions: reaction to his comments during state of the union, will it ignite a new debate over pay equity? >> bonnie, i think, bring it on. as long as my republican colleagues refuse to pass the very modest update of equal pay act that is 50 years old we need that. >> i think this debate about how women are paid in the white house is sort of useless. we have more constructive way of dealing with the issue. >> i think the debate is going to continue and up to women to make sure that it continues. >> i think if fiorina runs for president this will be front and ce

we just had valerie jarrett on. we asked her about his case.e jarrett is not speaking the truth with regard to that. i think she's speaking inaccurately. his time was not up. he had a couple years left on his sentence and he's got an insidious history as an al-qaeda sleeper. sent here on september 11 -- actually september 10, 2001, one day before the attacks to get ready to prepare attacks in the united states, from 1998 to 2001 he trained in al-qaeda camps and had contact with ksm. he investigated the use of cyanide poison and took photos of u.s. transportation. then on september 10, 2001, he came to the u.s., the day before 9-11 arrested while attending grad school in illinois and held without a charge for nearly six years in the u.s. navy brig in south carolina. in 2003, president bush declared him an enemy combatant and then in 2009, he pled guilty to providing aid to a foreign terrorist organization al-qaeda, got an eight-year sentence, went to super max in colorado, and now on january 17 arrived in qatar released by the president of the u

joining me is valerie jarrett, a senior adviser to president obama, also overseeing the offices of publicfairs. mrs. jarrett, this is your first appearance on "the lead." we had the president before we had you. you're tougher to book. thank you so much for joining us. >> good evening. pleasure to you with you. >> let's start with the terrorist threat facing our country. isis has been directly linked to a plot in belgium targeting police officers. there's a new video of threatening to kill two japanese hostages if they don't get $200 million ransom. even with the air strikes being carried out by the u.s. coalition, this group doesn't seem to be destroyed or degraded at all. is it possibly time for a shift in strategy? >> well jake first of all i want to say there's nothing more important to the president than the safety and security of the american people. and he will implement whatever strategy he thinks best will affect that. we are constantly in touch with our colleagues around the world, specifically in yemen, obviously the state department is in close touch with the folks at the embas

valerie jarrett is not representing the united states as our ambassador. lou: she isn't? she wasn't involved in any way with iran. get a grip, judy. judy, if you would like to participate tonight you'd better take your time away from judy. she's going on an offensable flight. >> i think israel's survival depends on -- (?) lou: would you have netanyahu resign? let's be a little sober in this. the reality is, this is a president who is puffersing what is effectively an alliance with iran. responsible for a third of our casualties with the war in the iraq. they are the largest state sponsored terrorism. we have no window into these negotiations. only the assurance of a president who seems to have never met a dictator building in whom he doesn't have absolute servile faith. this is perfect preposterous. >> i am not not defending what the president may sign with iran. at a moment like that, you'll need the most support you can get. lou: i'm sure that will be a news blast for them. >> i don't thinki don't think it's a good idea to expose the risk. it's good when you have your p

. >> the book also takes aim at senior advisor valerie jarrett's role in crafting the law and making sure others did not have as much power. let looney other cabinet member would ever be senior to jarrett when it comes to having the president's ear or -- >> the president did not duck that question in a one-on-one interview and said the author submitted dozens of written questions, the white house chose not to answer the one about valerie jarrett. josh ernest told me she's very important around here, but the characterization of the book is overblown. >> we begin this first full week of 2015 by tracking the movements of some of the people who may very likely run for president in 2016. chief political correspondent carl cameron has the latest developments. >> with the new year comes the new campaign for 2016 presidential campaign cash and grass roots organization. form --- >> if i were willing to absolutely rule that out. i could keep doing this show but i can't make such a declaration, the honorable thing to do at this point is to end my tenure here at fox. >> huckabee won the iowa cau

i think that's a very dangerous policy. >> now, valerie jarrett pushed back on the general idea that the president is turning away from the terror threat saying it's his most important responsibility. but there's an obvious reason why the president didn't want to talk about al qaeda, the situation in yemen, any of that in any great detail last night. yes, ma'am season in flames right now. just four months, the president suggested it was a success story in terms of his counterterror policies and let's not remember what he's said for a couple of years about al qaeda being on the run. now, not so much. >> ed, thank you so much. not a pete about islamic extremists in the president's speech last night. to democratic congresswoman who says the president's refusal to identify the enemy is part of the problem. congresswoman, very good to have you. you've stressed this is not about politicals with you. you support the president on most issues. this particularly worries you because it should be a bipartisan concern. what do you mean by that? >> i think this is a bipartisan concern. it's a bipa

let's start with valerie jarrett. >> let's look right here at home, whether it's a seik temple or the holocaust museum right here in washington, d.c. those were terrorists, those were extremists but they weren't of particular faith. before we start turning around labels. let's look broadly at it, not limit it. let's attack it together. >> monica crawley, a fox news contributor, i have a problem with valerie jarrett saying let's attack all forms of extremism. let's call it what it is in each independent case. >> that's xa makes her case ridiculous. it's in perfectly keeping with the approach they have had in the beginning drawing an individual crazy acting out of madness or some other reason versus a global jihadi movement that we know is organized. we know it's supported by certain regimes like iran and in other cases saudi arabia. we are talking apples and oranges, to draw that diminishes the true threat. they are doing it for a reason. because if they told the truth about the true nature of the threat, then they have to go and do something about it. the administration can't call it

lou: president obama's chief adviser valerie jarrett tried to do considerable damage control on the issue and messed it up a bit calling the demonstrations against radical islamist terrorism a parade. she did it not once, but twice. the white house apparently thought they should try and try again. >>> new york mayor bill de blasio who's come under fire for treatment of police his refusal to apologize for what many consider his assault on law enforcement had no hesitation in jetting to paris to show support for the french. de blasio spending 24 hours, there meeting with political leaders and members of the jewish community. we're coming right back with much more. >>> this is number six for president obama. lofty goals, soaring rhetoric and plain old class warfare. congressman randy forbes on the lame duck agenda and what we can expect, next. you just got a big bump in miles. so this is a great opportunity for an upgrade. sound good? great. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... w

but, again, mcdid you knowna, susan rice, you know, valerie jarrett. ben rhodes. we have seen this cast of characters make all kinds of mistakes for a long period of time. and they are all ultimately responsibility of the president of the united states for lack of vision lack of understanding, wrong headed philosophy and very bad decisions on the international scene. >> well, but, you know, i don't know if i -- you accuse the president of creating that environment. i mean, if a president hires some aides and said you make decisions when the really important ones come along you wring them to me. you can't sit and police them day in and day out. he makes the expectation that they will exercise good judgment. how you can say he created the environment? >> god back and read two books by secretary of defense. leon panetta before him his predecessor appointed by president bush. both of them had -- were very emphatic the white house staff is basically a bunch of sick fits. people who do not challenge the president. do not bring him bad news. the president is a bad decisi

. >> reporter: at 4:35 on the north lawn of the white house, abc's john karl spoke to valerie jarrett he does have a bounce in his step. it is reflected in the fact that the economy is strong, the state of our union is good. >> reporter: that bounce in his step likely the result of recent abc news poll numbers showing the president's approval rating has jumped nine points since november when his party got clobbered in the midterm elections and the republicans took control of both the house and, for the first time in years, the senate. at 7:50, the white house tweeted a picture of obama's suit for the big speech, with the #yeswetan. at 8:00, the white house said that representative foxx was chosen as the designated survivor. the cabinet secretary who will spend the evening at an undisclosed location ready to take control in case anything dire should have happen during the speech. back in 2006 jim nicholson who was the secretary of veterans affairs was the designated survivor. >> the white house mess fixed me a fabulous meal that i told my wife it was the best meal i had outside of our

joining us is senior adviser to president obama, valerie jarrett. ms. the union address in a moment. we wanted to hear the white house's thoughts on yemen. is the white house evacuating the u.s. embassy in yemen. >> first of all, there is nothing more important to the president than the safety of u.s. people. the president is receiving regularly -- regular updates from his national security team here at the white house so no decision has been made to announce yet. >> we just had senator angus king on our air on "new day." he said that the time is now to evacuate because he's worried that there could be a hostage crisis. how concerned is the white house and why not just do it right now? >> well the president is very concerned, but that's his decision to make and he'll make it in consultation with both folks on the ground and his national security team. >> what's the reason not to evacuate? >> well having a presence there is very important. that's a very important region and the work that they're doing, that is key to our agenda and so it's -- many of the

but there is morning, valerie jarrett was asked what's the deal with that, it's so unpopular. she said we want to strengthen the middle class how do you pay for that? martha: those are some of the good highlights we saw from last night. bill: chris stirewalt, "digital politics" editor. many would argue this was a speech by barack obama for barack obama. >> i like to eat bacon a lot. whatever meal it is, i would probably recommend we have bacon with it. the president has painted rationales for why his policies are good. he said the policies he wanted to enact were necessary to get out of a recession and he says the same policies are good to oppose because we are out of the recession. it doesn't really matter because that's what he wants to do. bill: in summary when you take the totality of his speech last night and hear joni ernst saying we are calling on to you cooperate what does it suggest about the next two years. >> mitch mcconnell would like to do something anything, whatever to demonstrate to the american electorate it was a good idea to put the prup cans in charge of th

to frankly trivialize what has occurred in europe with his tone, that of his senior adviser, valerie jarrettain she's talked about we wish we could have marched in the parade. i mean how is this being received in europe? >> well they think we've lost our direction. you know, we got our tragic wake-up call on 9/11. the president has spent six years trying to put us back to sleep. in europe, as you rightly say after these attacks, watching what the belgian police did, i think they are awake. what makes this even worse that the president won't say rad call extremist islamist the muslims themselves know this is a problem. and i think the very courageous reports by president al-sisi of egypt where he called for a revolution in islam shows that muslims know they've got a problem with the terrorists even if our president does not. lou: you know we should actually do much more with what general al-sisi said, what he wrote. it is a call within islam for a profound change in both perspective and acceptance of responsibility here, and we will do so, and i would like to you participate in that discussio

this season's "the good wife" has higher obama administration representation with a cameo from valerie jarrett than this very important rally perhaps the most important rally in europe in a generation. >> joining us how toen a liz the coverage of these issues surrounding terrorism and "charlie hebdo," nina easton fortune magazine amy holmes oig, the hot list, and charles lane, "washington post" editorial writer. nina, when all these world leaders show up in paris including at the timebenjamin netanyahu, mahmoud abbas, is big story small story? >> it's a massive story and it feeds into the narrative that there is this president who seems kind of bothered that the war on terror is something that he has to tip dealcontinue dealing with. in terms of the coverage, i think jake tapper of cnn actually almost gave the press particularly cable stations permission early on in the week by saying i'm ashamed. he's at this march. he's there seeing these 44 world leaders as you know, the prime minister of israel, president of the palestinian authority, putting hairput their differences aside and locking arm

where top adviser valerie jarrett tweeted a photo of the president posing with the state's former congresswoman gabby giffords on the anniversary of the shooting that changed her own life. the president joking how gifford's brother-in-law, an astronaut is leaving on a long mission. >> i know folks in washington wish i was going to be in space for a year. [ laughter ] >> but i'm still around. [ cheers ] >> i got work to do. >> reporter: a reference to the economic agenda he'll be touting at upcoming state of the union address. the republicans charged the president needs to get to work on making the american homeland safer in the wake of the paris attack. senator lindsey graham declaring jihadists are trying to bring terrorist-style attacks to america. >> when he left iraq, he did so based on a campaign promise. he's trying to close gitmo based on a campaign promise. campaign promises are getting people killed. >> reporter: noting aboard air force one on the way home, the president convened a call with top officials to review america's security posture on top of what he said in the oval office sh

where top adviser valerie jarrett tweeted a photo of the president posing with the state's former the source of contr and death. >> i haven't seen the president's full schedule yet but i don't believe that's something he's planning to do. >> reporter: republican speaker john boehner says the commander in chief should have stopped in because the system is still broken. >> called on the president to offer long-term vision for reforming the systemic problems at the va. we've yet to city. >> reporter: on the terror front, the president is sending attorney general eric holder to meet with european counterparts and get a handle on the latest threats. after returning from phoenix, the president took his motorcade over to the french embassy in washington for an unscheduled stop so he could pay his respects. lou? lou: thank you ed henry. both chamber of commerce ignoring the president's threats for vetoes. the senate energy committee approved the construction of the keystone pipeline. a 13-9 vote. the full senate takes it up as early as next week. >>> the house approved a bill to define a work

>> valerie jarrett, thank you so much.s well. >>> coming up senators john thune, bernie sanders and congressman joakim castro and mares across the country have descended on d.c. for the mayor's summer meeting. next baltimore mayor, we'll be right back. youmayor's summer meeting. . >> america for all we have endured, we're on the zbrip and hard work require the comeback for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this that the shadow of crisis has passed and the state of the union is strong. [ applause ] >> here with us now, we have the democratic mayor of battle more and vice president of the u.s. conference of mayors which meets today, mayor steffi rollings-blake. the u.s. conference of mayors is kicking off its winter meeting today in washington. mayor rawlings-blake given the grade he gave the country. the state of the union is strong,let talk about our cities the city of baltimore, certainly has its struggles. what would you say the biggest problem that you face or challenge you face now that perhaps you are fought getting

mention it as he tried to stay on message about the housing rebound in arizona where top visor valerie jarrett tweeted a photo of the president posing with the state's former congresswoman gabby giffordsed on the anniversary of the shooting that changed her own life. he joked how his brother -- >> i'm still around. i've got work to do. >> reporter: a reference to his economic work that he's going to be doing. the republicans today charged the president also needs to get to work on making american homeland safer in the wake of the paris attack. senator lindsey gra hasn't said they're trying to bring paris-style attacks to america and policies of releasing terrorists from guantanamo gets them closer to their plan. >> his campaign promises are getting a lot of people killed. >> reporter: white house aides were eager to counter that by noting the president going aboard. he called to review mesh's security posture on top of what he said in the oval office shortly after what he said in the oval office. >> to hunt down and bring the perpetrators of this specific act to justice. >> reporter: they also

i don't know charles maybe it rhymes with valerie jarrett? [laughter] it's just a guess.ut i heard a couple different excuses now so i'm a bit skeptical. first we heard that he was watching football, and they didn't know how big it was going to be and then it was a security issue, and now he wasn't invited? >> listen, this doesn't define the administration. i think it exemplifies the administration because we're talking about a president who's been aloof and indifferent for so long that i'm not surprised. it's crazy, it's nuts, but by the same token, it's not surprising. and, of course, president obama ultimately makes the decision. is that what the white house is? even within the white house the buck doesn't stop at his desk. i mean i could see, you know, there were other presidents who said if something happens in butte, montana, i'll take responsibility. he's saying even within the white house there's a lot of barriers between my desk and the ultimate responsibility. it always lands on his desk and it's his fault. >> they say they didn't ask him. is he the gimp? do the

the president's closest adviser valerie jarrett joins us in a moment.her video demanding ransom. is the u.s. doing enough to take on islamic state? >>> the new chairman of the senate arms services committee, john mccain joins us next. will cuba be -- we'll ask pat leahy just back from cuba when he joins us live. >>> democratic

point when there's nothing wrong that the good wife had higher representation with a cameo from valerie jarrett than this very important rally perhaps the most important rally in europe in a generation. >> this tweeted, not an excuse in universe can explain why u.s. failed to send to paris a more visible representative than attorney general eric holder note k mias including the president and mrs. obama, vice president joe biden, none of these people were available for this? by this afternoon he writes even the white house itself will acknowledge the mistake. >> some have asked whether or not the united states should have sent someone with a higher profile than the ambassador to france. and i think it's fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there. >> our chief white house correspondent ed henry reports tonight. ed, good evening. >> good to see you martha. what's particularly clear is the case of attorney general eric holder, as you noted he was in paris but decided to skip the rally. his aides say that's because he wanted to get back to washington by sunday afternoo

valerie jarrett. the white house, the doj. still haven't called me back. i called them today they said they are not at their desk. they are not available. >> with all these questions. and then they don't get back to me. >> it's wednesday. we still don't know why he had to come back. now, this is what tees me off. we pay these people's salaries. that's about as simple as it gets. why did he have to come back? now they are dodging and won't say. i have to conclude that there is something untoward going on here. all right? >>> he has a public appearance tomorrow in philadelphia. maybe the reporter can ask. >> i hope so. all right, now, keystone pipeline, new fox news poll says about more than 60% of americans want the president to approve the keystone pipeline which takes oil from canada and brings it down through the united states to be refined in louisiana. but then we don't know where it goes. and that's president obama's beef. go. >> understand what this project is. it is providing the ability of canada to pump their oil, sen

in an interview with cnn, president obama senior adviser valerie jarrett talked about a potential showdownanticipate any pushback from congress on the president signing the presidential memorandum on this initiative? >> i think clearly it's well within his authority to sign the presidential memorandum. i think what we would really call on them is to recognize the fact that with these changing demographics in the workplace, if our u.s. employers want to be globally competitive they're going to have to offer the kind of benefits that will allow them to compete for, to attract and retain the best talent. >> so let's talk about this idea. cnn political commentator and republican strategist tara set meyer is with me and cnn political commentator and democratic strategist donna brazile is here as well. welcome to both of you. >> happy new year. >> tara is paid sick leave a right or a privilege? >> this is not a right. it's a privilege. when we start calling everything a right, it diminishes what are god given rights like right to religion and things like that. this is another political ploy. who

valerie jarrett tweeted this photo of giffords and her husband, mark kelly, during the president's stop in phoenix today. one year ago, giffords marked this day with a skydive. four years ago, in tucson gunman jerry lee loughner shot her in the head and sprayed a crowd with bullets, killing six people. he's now serving a life sentence. >>> we're hearing about another round of phone scams. this one could target you if you live in loudoun county. residents there received phone calls from a person claiming to be from the irs, threatening legal action. the con artist sometimes give bogus badge numbers and may alter the caller i.d. to make it look like the irs is calling you. know that the irs will never call to demand payment, or require a specific payment method for your taxes, like a prepaid credit card. >>> well it's happened again. the new concerns this afternoon over a form of transportation that's supposed to help not hurt commuters. it's not even open yet. >> i'm dianna russini at the live desk. the decision is in when it comes to what the nfl knew when video surfaced of ray rice pun

these are all important benefits to have a productive work force. >> valerie jarrett, senior advisorew day." >> you're welcome. thank you, have a great day. >> let's get over to michaela. >>> headlines, washington post journalist retained will stand trial. it's unclear what jason ressin has been charged with. >>> the pope speaking out today about those terror attacks in france telling journalists aboard a flight to manila there are limitations to free speech. he said people should not provoke nor insult other people's faith. the pontiff is on a five day tour of the philippines. quite a changing of the guard. they're being reassigned that follows a series of embarrassment and security lapses. they say change is necessary. a report by a special investigative panel described the secret service as quote, starved for leadership. >>> you know that game hungry hungry hippo? >> sure. >> have you heard of the hungry angry hippo? >> yup. >> a tour guide in zambia sped up his boat just in time because this unbelievably fast hippo charged towards it. incredibly it surfaced near feet from the boa

. >> immediately after the midterm there was a hit piece on valerie jarrett, right whether or not it was accurate i can't say. what i can say is it was pretty intense. and almost seemed to blame jarrett. not only if the outcome of the midterms but the general staffing problem. it's really relevant to talk about the staff piece. i also wonder if because staffers are representatives of their elective officials, whether or not those relationships could build if not happen at top. >> i love the president's optimism to think what you're talking about, the police and african-american communities and other communities or color or whether talking about this this administration and the new congress. i love his optimism. i think barack obama's life story is a story of compromise and coming together. even internally as an african-american and a white man himself. this is his story. he believes in the struggling. i don't think talk matters and interests to not align. i think it's interests that matter. and i think this president spent the first two years of his administration, you look at the he

[applause] the next morning, the very next morning, valerie jarrett was on tv talking about equal pay work. i was on the same program, and i asked her why there was a wage gap between men and women in president obama's white house as measured by the very numbers that he has used to politicize the issue. and i asked her further why, if she was so concerned about equal pay for equal work -- why the white house was not tackling the seniority system which is in place in every federal government bureaucracy and every union shop. the seniority system which does not reward performance, merit, or hard work, but rewards instead time in grade. the seniority system, which is manages women. it is this hypocrisy, the hypocrisy of liberals, that enrages me most. [applause] while president obama urges us in his state of the union to invest in infrastructure, he is unwilling still to support the keystone xl pipeline. [applause] and while the administration cheers when 7 million people sign up for obamacare they ignore completely that more than that have lost their coverage or no longer have as good c

jill bid biden, they're sitting with valerie jarrett. and now sergeant at arms, announcing the president of the united states. a little premature. he is there. we are waiting on paul irvin. these are lawmakers we see every year, stake out these positions. they now have a name. they are called aisle hogs by lawmakers there in the house. representative el yoliott engel from new york is one of them. a lot of them have been sitting there for hours. because there was a rule by the new house majority leader, kevin mccarthy today, that you couldn't place placards or your purse or wallet or something, i guess you wouldn't put all that there by yourself, but they said you couldn't reserve it. so they've actually been posting up for quite some time. as we wait on the president. they said they were going to speed this up tonight. we don't know if the speech, steve, will be sped up. we're told the president is moving, as we are looking into the chamber. >> yeah, there was a lot of talk in the leadup to the speech that this was going to be a shorter

the next morning the very next morning valerie jarrett was on tv and talking about it will pay for equal work. i was on the same program, and i asked mr. it why there was a which camp -- wage gap in president obama's white house and measured by the very numbers he used to politicize the issue and asked her further why she was so concerned about you will pay for it will work why the white house was not tackling this in your nieces, which is in place in every federal government euros to receive and every union job. the seÑora deese system does not reward performance or merit or hard work but rewards instead time in grade, the seniority in which disadvantages women. it is this typography, the hypotheses of liberals that enrages me most. -- it is this hypocrisy, the hypocrisy of liberals, that enrages me most. while president obama urges us in his state of the union to invest in infrastructure, he is unwilling still to support the keystone xl pipeline. and while the administration cheers when 7 million people sign up for obamacare, they ignore completely that more than that have lost their c

called for the entire firing of the entire executive branch of government, unheard of, including valerie jarrett because he left one person out. the one man who really determines the policy. now, we have a new congress. they were elected to stop the transformation of america, not to see how they could work with the president. this is pure nonsense. you know, we have been saying people describe the threat -- the threat is islam. let's make no mistake. there is no such thing as radical islam because -- i like somebody to give me a definition of moderate islam. there ain't any. i think it was -- who said it best islam is islam. there are no modifier ss. we have looked for a leader to come stand up and try to modify islam. and previously mentioned here, on new year's day, president al sissy standing before all the leading sunni clerics called for a refirmation of islam. monumental. he then went to celebrate christmas mass at a coptic church and pledged to rebuild all the churches. clearly, he better bring his insurance policies up to date. but this is momentum. and the administration didn't even giv

called for the entire firing of the entire executive branch of government, unheard of, including valerie jarrett determines the policy. now, we have a new congress. they were elected to stop the transformation of america, not to see how they could work with the president. this is pure nonsense.

. >> speaking of confidence, karen, valerie jarrett, senior adviser to president obama told our johnonfidence? >> numbers are looking good right now for president obama, reena. 50% of americans right now approve of his job. that's the most it's been in a couple of months. another key number, 41%. that's the number of americans who say the economy is in excellent or good shape. that was just 27% three months ago. what's giving americans all the confidence in the economy? well, gas prices are plunging, the unemployment rate keeps dropping, and last year 2.95 million jobs were created. that's the most in 15 years. so no surprise president obama was very excited to tout all of that last night. >> yeah, he had quite a bit of swagger there. karen travers live on capitol hill this morning. thank you. >>> stay with abc news as we get more reaction to the state of the union address. we'll take you to cuba where u.s. diplomates are set to meet in our next half hour. >>> the state department warning americans not to travel to libya given the worsening security situation there. the u.s. embassy

does anyone know we keep kicking the can down the road toward iran and does anyone know that valerie jarrett has family in iran and i had one other question. is it legal or illegal to take your oath of office on the koran and the liberal media things seem to keep saying that for some reason this within religion that we continue to hold up on high seems to be the one religion that we continue to hold up on high? host: kelly lays some points out there. is there anything you want to respond to? guest: i'm not sure how to respond. host: let's go on to mary in elizabethtown, pennsylvania on t the democratic line. hi mary. caller: gardening.ood morning. host: go ahead with your questions or comment. caller: we eisenhower became president warned the public that we should be leery of becoming a military state and having our economy run on military budgets. i think that is where we are headed. i think we have roads and bridges and schools and a lot of things that need to be done here in this country including we need desperately to form a policy on how we are going to handle jobs being turned to elec