i remember one of the first stories -- she was in the white house and she said people looking to the windows. she said let them look, it is their house. else had a fabulous political partnership? >> i would say lady bird johnson had a great political partnership with her husband and i think ellen wilson did as well. she incurred her husband to invite legislators to the white house for private dinners. and lead to some successes deal for a president wilson. polk is a big one. great deal of influence in his success. >> dolley madison. somebody who was the first to bring together the role as social partner with the role of political partner. person.s a very shy dolly was very outgoing. she was his pr person. she was quite skilled at it. very politically savvy woman. she would use, under the guise of entertaining, she would use that to lobby people for what his policies were and very successfully. >> alaska to think about this and we will take a few calls. among the first ladies and their spouses, which had the greatest love story? let's listen to marry in philadelphia at what you think a

the lincoln bedroom when he lived at the white house was actually his office. until teddy roosevelt built the west wing which he just did to get out of the house because yet had the wild kids upstairs, the president's office on the second floor at the far end of the hallway from the president's bedroom. when the lincoln lived there, the room was his office. the room he signed the emancipation proclamation in and after truman restored, he moved all of the furniture associated with lincoln, the big bed. and the other pieces of furniture that mary todd lincoln had ordered. he moved them to that space which been lincoln's bedroom. we redid it. we had a little square about this big of wallpaper that have been in the room when it was his office. we reproduced it. we knew we had the bill of sale of the carpet that had been bought at the time that lincoln lived there. we went to the same place in england which had done in the carpet for him and we do not know for sure which of the patterns they had sold. we do not really have a picture of it. but we knew on the bill of

he white house social office and secretary as well and the white house florist and the white house cheferyone involved in trying to plan a dinner that would be the most american but respect the culture of the world leader who you are entertaining. it was really fun to work on those and make all of those plans. he always did a tasting of the food that the chef had proposed. we would ask members of congress to come to the tasting and tell them they were guinea pigs for the state dinner they were hosting. of course, they would be very forthright and say, i do not think you should do this. this is not that tasty. they would be more forthcoming than our friends would be, who would just say, that is great, whatever you've got. that was fun, really. we would spread it out over a number of nights to do tastings and talk about what we would have. of course, we would try to get entertainment that represented the united states in a wonderful way, like the new orleans jazz

i have a very personal feeling about the white house. c-span: you went to the white house that night with your three kids, your new kids. they went upstairs to the solarium and had pizza. you were downstairs with 60 people having what? >> guest: a wonderful dinner. c-span: who are some of the people you were there with? when was this? >> guest: i think that the only republican there was alan simpson, and he was very humorous about it, pointed it out constantly. i sat at the table with president clinton, and he had helen thomas on his right, a table that was a mix of legislators -- well, congressmen, a number of black congressmen. he had people from arkansas, and i loved it when the strolling strings came in and played "the arkansas traveler." i thought to show that the white house is full of people from all parts of the country and not just one coast or the other was a great tribute. it was very convivial. we were dining in the blue room, and i think the piercing eyes of john tyler were on us, who incidentally -- you know, i collect hist

the lincoln bedroom when he lived at the white house was actually his office. until teddy roosevelt built the west wing which he just a dead to get out of the house -- which he just did to get out of the house because yet the wild kids upstairs, the president's office on the second floor at the far end of the hallway from the president's bedroom. when the lincoln a lifted their, the room -- lived there, the room was his office. the room he signed the emancipation proclamation and after truman restored, he moved all of the furniture associated with lincoln, the big bed. and the other pieces of furniture that mary todd lincoln had ordered. he moved them to that space which been lincoln's bedroom. we redid it. we had a little square about this big of wallpaper that have been in the room when it was his office. we reproduce it. we knew we had the bill of sale of the carpet that had been bought at the time that lincoln lived there. we went to the same place in england which done in the carpet for him and we do not know for sure which of the patterns they had sold. we

she loved the white house. on the other hand, it's interesting, she thought of it also as, and this recurring tension, it's a family home. at the same time it is a public office building. it is a museum. it is a campaign headquarters. it is a war room. it is a museum. it is a theater. it is all of these things, you know, rolled into one. her solution was, she was sick of having the people of washington in her backyard. because in those days the white house gates were wide open. and it was treated as a public park. and she wanted room for her children to play. people forget, u.s. grant was only 46 years old when he became president. and he had young children. as young as say the roosevelt family. and they had no place to play. so she ordered the gates locked, which probably didn't make her popular locally. on the other hand, it's interesting, she also gave orders that any african-american who wanted to come to one of her receptions was to be admitted. ry striking, seemingly small but defining gesture. and grant,

the white house social office the white house social office and secretary as well and the white houselorist and the white house chef, everyone involved in trying to plan a dinner that would be the most american but also respect the culture of the world leader who you are entertaining. it was really fun to work on those and make all of those plans. we always did a tasting of the food that the chef had proposed. many times, we would ask members of congress to come to the tasting and tell them they were guinea pigs for the state dinner they were hosting. of course, they would be very forthright and say, i do not think you should do this. i don't know if this is that tasty. they would be more forthcoming than our friends would be, who would just say, that is great, whatever you've got. that was fun, really. we would spread it out over a number of nights to do tastings and talk about what we would have. of course, we would try to get entertainment that represented the united states in a wonderful way, like the new orleans jazz band that we invited to one of them. that was to show the heads

here is more from the south lawn this morning at the white house.ground sounds] ♪ ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [background sounds] [background sounds] [background sounds] >> ladies and gentlemen. [inaudible] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] [background sounds] [background sounds] [background sounds] >> mr. president the honor guard is prepared for inspection. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [background sounds] [background sounds] [background sounds] >> thank you. [background sounds] [background sounds] >> good morning everybody. that's the extent of my french. [laughter] few places in the world warmed the heart like paris in the spring. this morning we are going to do our best with washington in the winter. [speaking french] >> france is america's oldest ally and in recent years we have deepened our alliance. today on behalf of the american people and michelle and myself it is a great honor to welcome my friend president holla

>> well, it is principally a white house thing but it goes beyond the white house. for instance, in the executive agencies, the environmental protection agency, is implementing regulations that any new coal-fired plant has to have a scrubber. that even the one plant that has it, even the one person running the plant says it is economically unfeasible. >> so it hobbles then. >> instead of putting in place an epa regulation, it can't be complied with. >> it is not just the president but the executive agencies that are part of the presidency. how has the media been covering these presidential power grabs? media critic howard kurtz takes a look. >>> plus, the mid-term elections are just around the corner. will the . >>> where is the mainstream media on this? where is the establishment on this? can you imagine? we say this all the time, you sometimes get tired of making the point. can you imagine if this were george w. bush? we would be talking about a presidential crisis, front page, splashed across the front. george bush, dictator president. it is a big deal when you c

a first lady is expected to accurate white house. she is a white house manager.this is the people's house. it is a spectacular museum. rests with the first lady to make sure it stays that way. i do not think the first man would be responsible for that. the first lady is expected to greet heads of state and help the president with that custom. i do think the first gentleman would be expected to do that. we could see him doing that. i do not see bill clinton are doing -- or any first husband serving scones. think because of sexual norms that we would expect him to do that. we have even seen an ivy league educated lawyer, like hillary clinton, or an ivy league educated lawyer like michelle obama serving cookies. first man to a participate in social projects. he would play a role in the easter egg roll. he would probably help welcome guests to the white house. the other thing we can be sure of, if you look around the world, women have served as head of government. we have had governors in this country. the husband has not had to do a lot. we have also allowed the hus

has done i would save very well in helping people feel the white house is the people's house andhis is a family that could be the family next door that you could relate to. >> it is really the first fully social media white house. they have advantages on social media that path president did not so we have seen a lot of them in lots of different forms. john is in houston. >> this show is great and i called during the helen taft show. after they killed osama bin laden, when they saw the pictures, what was his reaction and her reaction and will they ever release them? >> thank you. either of you know whether or not she had a reaction about osama? >> if i remembering correctly, that night -- she went out to dinner with his sister, maybe. we don't know anything about their private reactions to those photos. we do know they were not in the white house. >> keith in illinois. hi. >> thank you for taking my call. it is obvious that michelle and barack obama are really good parents. i was appalled with that ad campaign that came out this last election that was talking about that their kids

bush to the white house. laura bush helped comfort the nation pursuing interests including education, literacy and women's health. good evening and welcome to c-span series first ladies, influence and image. tonight we'll tell you the story -- the wife of our 43rd president. laura welsh bush and here to do that are two people who know her well through their work. ann gearhart at the "washington post" is a laura bush biographer and her 2004 book the perfect wife tells the story of laura bush and covered the former first lady since 2001. welcome to the program. >> thank you. mark updegrove is a presidential his torn and author of several books about the presidency and currently is working on one on the relationship between presidents bush 41 and 43. nice to see you this evening. in your biography, you refer to the role or the job of first lady as this is a quote the most bizarre volunteer job in the world. and we heard laura bush talk about having her mother-in-law as a role model, whatever thoughts she had abo

>> it's physically a white house thing but it goes beyond the white house in the sense that in the executiveironmental protection administration is implementing regulations that a -- that any new coal fired plant has to have a scrubber. each the one plant that's got it, the person who runs that one plant says it's economically unfeasible, it can't be installed. it hobbles them. it essentially rules out any new coal fired plants without legislation from congress. but instead putting into place an epa regulation that can't be complied with. >>> how has the media been covering this? howard kurtz takes a look at how some are ignoring them and some are outright blessing them. >>> plus, the 2014 midterm elections. will the president's actions play a part in those races? we'll have a fair and balanced debate coming up. it was a blistery rash. they would break open, they would ooze. i couldn't lay down i couldn't sit up becausit burned so much. as first lady of our churc we have meetings. we do things. we have activities. and i couldn't do any of that. as a member of the choir we wore robes. even a

the white house in full throated denial today. the congressional budget office director testifying in front of congress, the head of the cbo confirmed that obamacare will lead to a reduction in more than 2 million full-time american jobs. higher deficits and slower growth and the white house responds by denying the findings of the cbo, blasting the news organizations that reported those findings and then, for good measure, denying that the cbo concluded that obamacare was disincentivizing wo for millions. new details revealed in the investigation into operation fast and furious. the justice department and atf led gun running organization that led to the murtd of brian terry, a widening rupture in the republican party and now the establishment gop and the conservatives are naming names as they call names, all over the future of immigration reform. we'll have that for you and much more here tonight. turning to our top story, the white house scrambling still to spin the congressional budget office's negative findings on obamacare. to

and check this out, the white house has fumbled big time. the president said this. >> it is time to do away with workplace politics. but how does president score with the gender gaps? senator rand paul revealing a little wte house hypocrisy. "cashin' in" starts right now. >> hi, everyone. welcome to "cashin' in." i'm eric bolling. senator rand paul is going to join us in a moment but, first, it's the big buzz before the game tomorrow. the president ging mixed messages in his state of the union address. he said ths. >> the smarter tax picy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don't need it so we can invest more in the fuels of the future that do. >> michelle, why would the president go after the industry that employs millions of americans and is creating jobs? >> it doesn't make sense. he says he's in favor of trying to combat income inequality. well, how about working to facilitate energy production in this country rather than, i don't know, trying to kill it? because that's what he is trying to do. a lot of thi

clarence lusane on the black history of the white house. and former fcc commissioner michael copps on the proposed time warner comcast merger. >> many times over the past year, they approve that. then the competitor comes in and says we have to get bigger. it is day after day while consolidation continues and diversity and competition suffers. up.ll that and more coming welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. jury has convicted michael dunn of three counts of attempted murder for opening fire on a car of unarmed black teenagers over an argument over loud music at a gas station in jacksonville but the jury deadlocked on the count of first-degree murder for the death of jordan davis, calling for the judge to declare a mistrial. mcbathher of davis, lucy , reacted to the verdict. that he will. dunn live the rest of his life with that sense of torment. and i will pray for him and i have asked my family to pray for grateful forre so the charges that have been brought against him. we are so grateful

did the white house know it was coming? >> reporter: folks in both parties get a head part that the cbo is coming out with reports about the budget situation and the health care law is an important part of that. they sprung in action and conference calls before the white house briefing and jason furman is a top economic adviser. while it is taken out of context they think. they know it is a problem for them. >> we'll so how jay carney explains it, ed. great to see you, heather? >> damaging testimony for the white house. nina easton senior edouter and columnist and a fox news contributor, what is your take on this? you listen to the white house, less jobs is a good thing and it is a choice, republicans say that is what they warned about all along. 2.3 million less full- time jobs in the work force in the next ten years. >> yes, this two and half million jobs they are portraying as voluntary reductions. they haven't studied that the companies will higher fewer workers in order not to insure them in the system. that was not ad

may i ask each of you to comment about her stewardship of the white house and how they used the white house politically to advance their goals? would you talk about her interest in the history of the white house and how she approached it? >> she started america's treasures preservation and did a lot of research and found a lot of things and put them on display. she did restoration of the treaty room, several of the rooms in the white house. she was not as active as jacqueline kennedy was, but she was still pretty active. i don't know much about their social entertaining. they had some big white house lawn parties, but they didn't use the white house nearly as much as the kennedys who made it a cultural center. she was very busy doing other policy things. >> we know about the lincoln bedroom. they brought in a lot of musicians. bill clinton loved music, much like president obama and michelle bringing in various musicians, the clintons did as well. they also turned it into something of a sleepover place. a lot of friends stayed there often. no one actually lived there like under rooseve

what is the warning from the white house? >> they want you to know when you file your tax return next year they will look back at this year starting in january and wanting to make sure that everyone has had insurance every month and if not, you are going to face a penalty when you file your tax return. and you think you are safe, there is a lot of confusion and didn't have insurance, they want you to know that you will face a penalty for the january month that went by? >> what is the penalty. one percent of the house hold or 95 per dult plus 47.50 up to $285. which ever is higher that is going to pay. over time it is going up to 2.5 percent of the adjusted gross income or 2085 which is higher? >> and some people call it a tax. no, no. it is not a nice word. you don't like tax. it is shared responsibility payment. it is your responsibility and mine and theires is going to help you share your dollars with the rest of the country. so now the irs is helping you a long. >> srp. shared responsibility payment. that is what it is. >>

. >> stephen: i was at the white house state dinner! (cheers and applause) folks, i've got to tell you, it was a magical evening, okay? here's -- i'll prove it to you. here's the card that tells you what table you're at. there's the white house seal right there. stay on this. and then table 19, okay, which was a good one, all right? (laughter) here's the little menu right there. (cheers and applause) and then see that? see that? that's a solid gold tassel. (laughter) you can melt down that down, okay? and also, if you don't believe it, i also stole the gravy boat. (cheers and applause) folks, this was the state dinner to be invited to because it was in honor of french president and thoughtful croissant francois hollande. when last we dished on francois' private life la la merde was hitting le fan because he had been caught stepping out on france's first lady, valerie trierweiler who he's not married to who's a second later actress julie gayet. so there was one big question hanging over this dinner. >> who is going to be bring along as f

and mike has more from the white house. >> reporter: there's no question, ali, that the white house went into their version of defcon 5 when it came out. the chairman of the economic advisers, his basic argument is this. he disagrees with the methodology of the ceo, saying that the 2.4 million jobs lost because of obamacare, that's the equivalent of 2.5 million jobs, and they pointed that out. but the basic point is that people leaving the workforce as a result of the affordable care act are doing so because of their choice. it's all about the freedom, says the white house, and they draw the analogy between social security p if there were no social security, for example, there would be more 90-year-olds in the work force, and there would be higher participation. it's not something that everybody necessarily wants. >> to the degree that the reduction in labor supply is volunteer and reflects the choice that's people are making, you're going to think about that very differently than if it was cutting back on jobs. >> reporter: so the argument from the white house, it's all about the freedo

i think that gave him great come through with their war in the white house. both of the bushes talk about the story of bringing a friend's president bush having this house. the oval office. one of his friends looks in and says, gosh, can you believe it? and in the oval office. and then look to george. and you're in the oval office. the bill very self-deprecating. having that circle of friends around cabo quite comfort during the stresses of the white house. >> more wells and george bush were both young. did they ever be is children? >> they did not actually. they attended the same schools, but she says that she does not recall him. they didn't -- i think she knew who he was after time. he was a roustabout. from a big family and a well-known family certainly. and at one point they lived in the same building five in houston, but i think she thought he was abyss' rascally. he had of the pursuits. and her friends for midland fix them up, and they were both -- she was 30. he was about the same age. he was ready to settle them. they got engaged in very very quickly.

>> well, it is principally a white house thing but it beyond the white house.e, in the executive agencies, the environmental protection agency, is implementing regulations that any new coal-fired plant has to have a scrubber. that even the one plant that has it, even the one person running the plant says it is economically unfeasible. >> so it hobbles then. >> instead of putting in place an epa regulation, it can't be complied with. >> it is not just the president but the executive agencies that are part of the presidency. how has the media been covering these presidential power grabs? media critic howard kurtz takes a look. >>> plus, the mid-term elections are just around the corner. will the president's actions affect the debates in those elections? coming up. then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagin how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 3years or mor so maybe we nee

>> well, it is principally a white house thing but it goes beyond the white house.the executive agencies, the environmental protection agency, is implementing regulations that any new coal-fired plant has to have a scrubber. that even the one plant that has it, even the one person running the plant says it is economically unfeasible. >> so it hobbles then. >> instead of putting in place an epa regulation, it can't be complied with. >> it is not just the president but the executive agencies that are part of the presidency. how has the media been covering these presidential power grabs? media critic howard kurtz takes a look. >>> plus, the mid-term elections are just around the corner. will the if you've got copd like me... ...hey breathing's hard. know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden sym

has there been any immediate reaction from the white house yet to this announcement from the house speaker, john boehner? >> reporter: no. we are actually awaiting that. and from president obama. i expect he would be asked about that. this is something that the white house has been endeavoring for some time, wolf. president obama, as these debt ceiling increases have come before congress, he has attempted to break the fever, it's been said. and try to take a position where he only wants to negotiate on a clean increase in the debt ceiling. now at times we have seen certain things attached to that debt ceiling increase. but really, it's been done in a way where the white house can claim a victory, increasingly over time, and especially with this. so i think this is something that the white house very much welcomes, and i think now the question is, is this going to be the new normal when it comes to the debt ceiling increase, which the president really views as just a perfunctory thing that congress should jut just do and not attach anything to. or is this at some point going to reverse to w

this white house has talked about it in past cases. i have said from the beginning what they needed to do to earn back the public's trust, when this scandal broke last year. is to have independent investigation, whether it's a special blue ribbon investigation, or special prosecutor. independent investigation that digs in deep, digs in hard, does a real thorough report. surface up the blame for what happened. let's see what they did with the folks on the right and folks on the left. roll the heads that need to be rolled and move on. instead, they have been dragging their feet. as soon as they were able to say this is not a scandal anymore, they have been calling it a phony scandal now for months, what that does is sow doubt in the public's mind. hurts his credibility and probably what hurt his members. if he is wrong about what he said the other day it this could be more than a smidgen of problem. >> that's why presidents don't comment on investigations. >> except when they do. >> except when they do. it's dangerous. they don't know wh

the white house and its supporters have been poo-pooing.argument that they want to turn to the white house and say you're making that here but you're not making it here. which is it in. >> we know november is a long way off. it's forever in politics, but there continue to be negative reports regarding the health care law, the implementation, how many people are covered, as jim ingle talks about, millions more may lose and get the cancellation notices than already have. there are so many parts of the law to kick in. does the positive ever overcome the negative? democrats say they're going to run on obamacare, and republicans will be running from it by november. >> they largely looked at this as i voted for this, i don't really have a choice. if you talked to them a week ago, they said the website is getting better and the enrollment numbers are getting better. maybe it won't be so terrible for me. what this report does to that argument, i think, it may change it a little bit. you may not see people actively saying obamacare, it's a good thin

fast forward to june of 2010, which the white house trumpeted as the summer of recovery.ets every day. administration officials traveling here and there making the case that everything was going to to be so much better because now the money was really starting it flow. took a while because things were starting to flow exponentially more projects and more money. this would lead to immediate rove. we recovery. we saw unemployment was -- they continued to says it was going to jump start the economy. but the most important number i think is to look at what the -- what the unemployment rate would be today if the labor force participation rate were the same today that it was then. and the unemployment rate today would be 10.8%. that is not a success no matter how the white house tries to spin it. >> dan pfeiffer today, senior advisor tweeting out g.o.p. attacks on the recovery act are a perfect example of the delusional messaging that makes them appear out of touch to so many americans, charles. >> well, i think a tweet like that would appear out of touch, given that the overwh

the white house said on tuesday. according to a source familiar with this event, the president will appear alongside workers who are paid at or just above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. the white house said earlier in a statement, quote, that the president is using his executive authority to lead by example and will continue to work with congress to raise the minimum wage for all americans by passing the harkin-miller bill. the bill would raise the federal minimum wage for working americans in stages to $10.10 and index it to inflation thereafter. also raising the minimum wage for tipped workers for the first time in 20 years. this is one of the executive orders, one of the pieces of the president's state of the union from last month. so the president out shortly and expected to be, again, accompanied by a number of workers who will be affected by this executive order. meanwhile, news from new orleans just now from the associated press, and they say that a federal jury in new orleans has convicted former

. >> president obama set to host the nation's governors today at the white house, this morning state leaders from both parties will meet with he and the vice president, the president expected to address bipartisan issues from guns to marijuana to the affordable care act. mic vicmike viqueira is at the e house. >> there is a lot going on here, a lot of sub plots, undercurrents, both policy and political wise. the national governors association, this is an annual thing, they come to washington for weekend meetings culminating in this morning meeting at the white house in the state dining room. there's plenty to talk about in terms of policy. minimum wage, the president wants to push the federal minimum wage to $10.10 from the $7.25 now. a lot of states have beaten him to the punch, but the president wants to raise it. the republican governors are resisting that initial active from the white house from washington, as well, and it's unlikely to go anywhere in congress for the foreseeable future. republican governors feel they have a story to tell. ohio and other states say deregulation,

that is why they brought him in to the white house.e had this opposing view to the idea of massive retaliation. they appreciated that. over time, i think the fact that he was reflecting -- he was in a difficult position. was he going to come to the white house and say, the gene think -- joint chiefs, i -- not that he reflected what they were saying. >> another man like a lot of attention is robert mcnamara. this was recorded in 1996 on both notes. i know he went on to serve lyndon johnson. let's listen to this and put him in perspective. , i said it would be a long war. what should i say to the enemy, we are losing? by the way, my report to the said in the i summer of 65 to him, there is only a one in three chance that we can win. that was my report. should i have said that publicly? what do you think? what does your audience think? this is a terrible dilemma. so -- i want to tell you that i was in a very -- i felt like saying i was right. we were winning then and as i suggested, some people think we were winning. that was baloney. >>

the white house has been concentrating on the help of the country as a whole. but the health of this one community that has been solidly for the president since the beginning, a lot of people think that has been lacking. what we see from the white house now is that they are now turning toward these communities, and saying we know you supported us, what can we do for you? >> we talked about the economy and minimum-wage jobs. health care. one issue is voting rights, is that a big one for the african-american community and what are the chances that after the supreme court makes their decision, congress does something on this? >> what i see here, they are laying a groundwork for a push in the next elections. all of the people that they are signing up for these health-care exchanges, they are setting up the voters as well. they are laying the ground right for future voting rights pushes, not only around the midterm elections, but also for the next presidential election as well. >> clearly the naacp supports democrats. when we brought up rand paul, and other republic

from me. >> i wouldn't be sitting here if i wanted a shoulder to cry on. >> joining me now is the white house chief of staff on netflix "house of cards." >> i'm so happy to be here. >> i love how guests chime in. it's true. you are more than welcome to sit onset at all times. i'm happy to have you. i love the show. i'm an addict. i have to ask you given the number of real life situations or things that have gone down in washington that have become plot lines on the show, how closely do you guys follow what is happening in the capitol? >> i think most of us are interested in it anyway, but i think that -- i feel like our show is sometimes a step ahead of what happens -- we'll read a script and the next day it is happening in washington. >> right. >> we obviously have education reform, entitlement, all that stuff happens, but we've had the script beforehand. i think actually the show, you know, obviously it's topical stuff that we pick up on. but it's really about washington and washington is about politics. it's about relationships and power and the search for both of those. there's some hideo

and thinks it cute and kitschy and talking about waffle voters and from the waffle house to the white housewalmart voters we heard about. >> all kitchens will start to cook stories about my time at the waffle house. ed: get to the substance how do republicans get beyond being categorized as just getting to narrow block of voters? how do you broaden the party? >> what they need to do is reach higher than small ball issues and talk about confidence and credibility. so they're really is a credibility issue with this white house and i think with the democratic party proven by obamacare. if republicans want to win they need to prove that they can get things done and they mean what they say and they're going to do it. you know, i quote chris christie's exit polls which i found fascinating from his run in new jersey. the attribute about people love most about christie, even though he said he couldn't do something, he just made it happen, and they believed what he said. i think republicans have the opportunity to prove they can do it. ed: is there issue beyond obamacare and health care law though?

the top story the white house scrambling to spin the cbo negative findings on obamacare. today's deal bobby administration went up with straight up denial here is the president's spokesman and jay carney. >> what about the component there may be the disincentive for work? >> i want to commend the many news organizations that issued corrections to the initial headlines that misrepresented on a factual basis. they continue to be touted by republicans and now works as fact it is false then you saw the testimony today that is now with the report said. lou: as our colleagues have fox make clear we report you decide here is the testimony that party refers to delivered by the author of the report this cbo director speaking in direct contradiction to what carney had just tried to spend as false reporting. please. >> the suggested is the equivalent of two and 2.5 million reduction of full-time equivalent employment by providing heavily subsidize health insurance to those with low income then to withdraw those subsidies it will act to create the disincentive for people to work rela

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