Transcripts For MSNBC Up W Chris Hayes 20130120

Right now im joined by msnbc contributor jerry bernstein. Former chief economist and policy adviser for Vice President biden. And new york tannen. Former domestic policy direct or four the obama biden campaign. And jen saki and former Obama White House Deputy Communications director now seep your Vice President and manager director at global strategy group, i Public Affairs and Research Firm and back at the table, democratic governor mallory of connecticut. Good to have you back, governor. Good to be back. Were going live to the Vice President s residence of the naval observatory in washington by his swearing in of Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayer and the vice presidency is a job biden said he didnt want. In 2007, he told a reporter in iowa and this is an amazing quote which somehow doesnt get played enough i absolutely can say with certainty i would not be anybodys Vice President , period, end of story, guaranteed, will not do it. In the spring of 2008, according to the atlantic magazine, consultant Mike Mcdonald said, you mean to tell me if an africanamerican tells you he needs you on the ticket in order to win youll say no . Biden did not and has since proven to be a kwooe force in the Obama Administration. Last month the Vice President used his extensive experience of dealing with republicans in congress to secure a innovative deal and help to close the 2011 deal lifted the debt ceiling. And most recently the Vice President has been leading the way in the president s push for workable gun safety policies. On thursday, biden spoke for almost an hour at the meeting of the u. S. Conference of marz and acknowledged that the white house is likely okay come under criticism for many of its gun proposals. Well take this fight to the hauls of congress and take it beyond that. Were going to take it to the American People. Were going to go around the country and make our case and were going to let their voices, the voice of the American People be heard and well be criticized because people say if we spend that much energy were not spending enough energy on umm grags. Were not spending enough 234r7b8g on the miss energy on the miss kwal problem on the fiscal problem. President s dont get to choose what they do. They deal with what is before them and what theyd like to long term. Governor, im curious to get your thoughts on the package of reforms. It was interesting that the Vice President was tasked with this and they put out this package and i just also wanted to say that i thought you handled the horror in newtown with tremendous grace. Thank you. I appreciate that. And you know, when youre in connecticut, painfully aware of how traumatic thats been for every resident of connecticut, particularly the families and residents of the families of deceased and the residents of newtown. Being down here for a few days its remarkable on how it has affected everyone. And its a different perspective. We get in the fox hole a little bit and in connecticut over this. I spent about 1 20 with the Vice President on friday at his office. Lequacious as he is, we both tend to go on a little bit but hes done a great job in putting the package together. He talked to everybody. I mean, for instance, he talked to every family that lost someone in newtown in the process of doing this. And he and i had talked about that before and i urged him to do it and he followed up and did it. But hes talked to everybody. And theyve put forward these kind of common sense things that the American People actually get. Not the advocacy organizations that are paid by an industry to sell weapons. But everybody else does. I mean, i cant talk about this package without pointing out and everyone automatically shakes their head. If i have to have a background check to get an airplane and every person does and by the way, we dont have a smallairport exception. Everybody does. You know, then it makes sense that somebody wants to buy a weaponing that end someones life should do it. And the other point, you know, we have spent so much time, stigmatizing violence. If we had spent a fraction of the time and a fraction of the money Destigmatizing Health understanding when team get treatment they get better we would be so much further along but we glorify violence and we have games that disturbed people can play for six or seven hours a day. On the day that newtown happened he had access to a game where he could go into a school and shoot people in a video gail. It doesnt make sense. One of the things thats interesting of the role the Vice President has played in the administration and the campaign and is very much true in respect to guns, is, as a kind of validator, if youre engineering the campaign for a man named barack obama to be the president of the United States, you have this obvious issue which is most guys dont know somebody named barack obama. He doesnt look like a lot of voters. Joe biden is kind of quintessentially like next door neighbor material. I thought this clip was interesting in 2008, heres joe biden being that kind of validator for voters on specifically, this issue of gups. Take a look. I guarantee you, barack obama aint taking my shotguns. So dont buy that malarkey. Dont buy it. Theyre going to start pedalling that to you. I got two. If he tries to fool with my barretta, he has a problem. I like that little over and under. Im not bad with it. So, give me a break i think thats joe biden threatened to shoot his running mate. Is that the subtext of that quote . That to me was quintessentially the role hes played from a kind of commit cal in terms of the image crafting the immamg of barack obama and selling him to voters. One im thrilled that malarkey has been around that long. Its an important word in our history now. But i think what people dont realize about the Vice President , they focus so much on how hes this folksy guy and he speaks their language and thats absolutely true and he has a personal touch open a case like gups thats so sensitive in a state like connecticut but across the country people feel like he gets it. Beyond that, hes persistent. Hes going to fight like heck for this and he has kind of a combination of those two things. And thats why hes so effective. I think people shouldnt forget beyond guns hes taken on some really, not just challenging but really, not that glamorous task in this administration. Whether it was the stimulus or the you know, the debt limit and hes taken them and run with them and hes been a real team player and, you know, somebody i think people thought really understood. One of the these tasks which i think is kind of buried in the resume after we announced we werent doing Missile Defense in Eastern Europe he was sent to even europe to talk to the Eastern European leaders. Jared, im curious, you worked with the Vice President in his office. Its been strapg to me, joe biden has had such a long career in politics. He started at 30 years old. 35 years in the senate before he became Vice President. And hes gone through different iterations in his public appearance and one then thats interesting is theres this kind of cartoonish version of joe biden that the right has pushed. In fact, we have heres an example of this is funny, the onion has this whole image they crafted. This is joe bidens official twitter account referring to the onions, joe biden, the onions joe biden has written an autobiography. This is the actual joe biden teasing them about the transam that the onion says he likes. But i do wonder, how much distance do you think . What are the things we get wrong about the Vice President from the perspective of hthis caricature . I think we get a lot wrong. Theres an inside and outside. Fraeg, i was his chief economists. Me insisted on knowing as much as anybody in the room for any meeting. We would have briefings where he would go so far down into the weeds i would be running for help eventually from research assistants. Every time we went to a state which you do a lot with the state, he wanted to know about the economy in great detail. He does massive preparation and i think when he sits down at a table to say, do a fiscal deal one of the reasons hes able to close that deal is because, a, he has decades of experience in compromise which some of these kids today up there dont really know much about. And he understands the granularity of these issues and we saw this and its helpful. Vice President Joe Biden is going to take the oath of office for a second tomorrow right after we return from the break. Pop goes the world pop in a whole new kind of clean with tide pods. A powerful 3in1 detergent that cleans, brightens and fights stains. Pop in. Stand out. But im still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesnt unstuff your nose. What . [ male announcer ] alkaseltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. Thanks. Thats the cold truth wears off. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. Eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. The end of trial and error has arrived. Try a free sample at eucerinus. Com. Welcome back. Were awaiting the official ceremony in which Vice President joe biden will be sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayer at the Vice President s residence in the naval observestory. Were talking about the role joe biden has played and will continue to play in the Obama Administration. In some ways its an odd pairing. The Vice President was running against barack obama. What do you think were going to see in this next term . I dont want to get into gaming out of 2016. Were thank you. We can take it a deep breath but i think theres its been notable to me from a political permanent that the first two big initiatives of this year of 2013, the president has had Vice President joe biden help. It was the president presumably who directed joe biden to open up a line of negotiations with Mitch Mcconnell and that was widely reported. When the deal was struck, they was to the benefit in terms of representational capital oand with the Gun Task Force as well. What does that indicate to you . It indicates what weve been talking about. The Vice President has 30 years of experience and he has a wide variety of experiences. Both in Foreign Policy and on the crime bill, the 94 crime bill is something he shepherded and his extraordinary ability to deal with Senate Republicans in a way a lot of people cant. Senator reed and Mitch Mcconnell dont get along that well so i dont read nieg into it other than the president has an eset in the Vice President and hes using that asset and hes deploying him well. The thing we should be mindful of is that theres over the next four years theres going to be a lot of tea leaf reading but at the end of the day, you know, the president is using the personing that get a job done and hes done an extraordinary job so far. Let me say, passing this legislation will be tough. Its important to put your best feet on the ground there because its really not its going to be tough to get these bills passed. And its not just ability. The Vice President and again i worked closely with him for a few years he really likes this kind of political dealmaking in a way i dont think the president likes that much. If hes pushed to it he can do it. But the Vice President looks at politics like a chess game and hes always figuring out how to get from here to there. Some of the best political analysis i ever heard was sitting in his office saying what do you think politicians x are in the next election and you hear this spontaneous analysis that was always very deep and comprehensive so he has a kind of feel for what its going to take to close the deal. I think one of the things thats been tough for him is that as he likes to say, this isnt your grandfathers congress so hes getting used to the tea party. But hes good at it. Hes got this joe, everybody per so that. People like him. A lot of politicians the public meets. Theyre in awe and they honor the person. Like the governor of connecticut into thats not the case. But. People come away and genuinely like him and thats a skillset and cal he want and a Communications Ability and thats very important to this administration and i by the way, theres this other thing about him. You cant keep him down. You really cant put him in a room and not hear him. So hes a force and why not use him . I also think that, you know, i no ewere not bog to get into the tea leaves about 2016 but the Vice President is not someone that shies away from the fight. I agree with what you said about gun control and how challenging thats going to be in their variety of reasons why but hes okay to teak on a challenge he may lose or win or you may win some pieces and i dont think thats going to change over the next four years. And i think, again, i dont want to but it matters in this respect. You conduct yourself differently as a politician if youre preparing a run for national office. For president than you do if this is the last job youre going to hold in public life. So thats why, okay, this is a good and brave thing hes doing. This will be a difficult issue and its important. Politics of taking on preventing gun crimes is not an easy issue. Its not clear to me that so thats going to be an issue which is polarizing down the road and hes taking it on and thats good for him. Thats showing leadership and we should applaud it. I was all under the impression he wouldnt run for offers afterwards. I was about Hillary Redding so jeremy . Theyre administering the prayer and well bring you this live in a second into thank you for saving me from that. This is his nbc news reported this quote, this is biden telling a republican voter to vote for him in 2016. He says, im not trying to talk you into voting for me i just want to say hi and after its all over, your insurance rate will go down and youll vote for me in 2016 so ill talk to you later. Are you going to announce . No. Hes going to be successful. Were going to make changes to gun laws. I think well do some on a National Basis and were clearly already starting it on a state by state basis. So im there is going to be a level of success. Its locked in and i think you have to put that into i know its hard for what people in washington to think that something might actually be gotten done but its going do happen. This newtown changed discussion and whatever is not gotten in the first round, eventually will be gotten because theres going to be more newtowns. Were so far extended on access to weapons of mass destruction that there are going to be other incidention. We were looking in the wrong place, right . Right. Who would youre right. They are here. You know . And when a disturbed individual can take two magazines, 30round magazines, tape them together so he literally all he had to do was turn it around and get another 30 shots off and have multiples of those as you walk into a school, thats who we are right now and americas growing sick of it. And if we start to forget what happened in newtown, theres going to be a another during the time that the Vice President was working on this, three more shootings in schools. And a thousand a thousand gun deaths. Right. I think thats what i really important. Weve changed the framework so we hear more about the five accidents yesterday at gun shows and you hear about the crimes committed with guns every day. The media is covering it. Reporters are dealing with it but its put a new framework an the whole discussion and thats why this is different than the past. The loophole will go away. I think well close it. I think were about to hear from the Supreme Court justice son se sonya sotomayer. The reason theyre swearing in today, in case you didnt know, this is the 20th, its constitutionally mandated that the president and Vice President are sworn in on january 20th. The traditions that been going back all the way, back to the 19th century and certainly since eisenhower, when the 20th falls on a sunday, the president and Vice President teak their official oath of office in a private ceremony. This is that ceremony right now. Pleasing with place your hand on bible and raise your right land and repeat after me. I, Joseph R Biden do solemnly swear, that i will support and defend the constitution of the United States. That i will support and defend the constitution of the United States. Against all enemies foreign and domestic. Against all enemies foreign and domestic. That i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That i will bear true faith add allegiance to the same. That i take this obligation freely. That i tick this obligation freely. Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. And that i will well and faithfully discharge. And that i will well and faithfully discharge. The duties of the office on which i am about to enter. The duties of the office on which im about to enter. So help me god. So help me god. Congratulations. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you. Madam justice, these are some of my friends and my family. And i want to explain to you what a wonderful and honor it was and how much out of her way that the justice had to go. Shes due in new york and she has to leave right now so i apologize. Were going to walk out to. Her car is waiting. She can catch a train i hope i havent caused her to miss and im leaving and going to meet the president to do the traditional laying of the wreath at the tomb over in arlington and were having breakfast. Ill be back, they tell me, in 40 meant. I hope some of you will still be here but i thank you very, very much for sharing this morning with jill and me and madam justice, its been an honor, a great honor. Thank you. Enjoy breakfast. Be back in a few minutes. Vice President Joe Biden, officially now Vice President , again, for his second term, having taken the oath of office administered by Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayer. Theres a little joke there about Justice Sonya Sotomayer is on a book tour so theyed that how change the schedules around to make a book appearance. I want to get back to you, the issue of guns here. Because the president with the Vice President , obviously, was spearheaded the 1994 crime bill. It was the 1994 crime bill that included the assault weapon ban and theres a lot of looking back now at that legislation about what it did and didnt do and governor, im curious what your sense of what that bill did. This is the problem. You can buy a weapon that shoots a single bullet when you buy it. And you can take it home and you can put a magazine on it and suddenly, its it can do the things weve now seen happen place after place after place. At the very least, under the 94 law, those larger magazines were not legal. And in large part, didnt exist. It doesnt mean that, you know, some of them didnt somehow get somewhere but they didnt exist by and large. And just as in the 30s, machine guns wam about and criminals got machine guns and we decided people shouldnt have machine gups. Guess what . We dont see that type of weapon. People shouldnt have grenades. We decide that was illegal and we dont see a lot of crimes committed that way and thats what the 94 bill did. Now, it was too broad with respect to the definition of an assault weapon and that was a weakness but other than that, it did some really good things. But the devil is in the details here. I want to play the Vice President talking about the specific issue of magazines and their capacity. And then, talk about the ways in which the definition of what assault weapons are and were actually mattered in the details. We cant say assault weapon ban in the abstract because when the legislation gets written it will make a difference. Take a look at the Vice President. Some of you are deer hunters, bear hunters, big game hunters. Im not being facetious, im being literal. Most of the weapons used, rifling used in that endeavor can take clips that can accommodate 30, 40, 50, you dont but they can accommodate it. Highcapacity magazines dont have a practical sporting purpose or hunting purpose as one hunter told me. If you have 12 rounds, you got 12 rounds it means youve already missed the deer 11 times. You should pack the sucker in at that point. You dont deserve to have a gun period if youre that bad [ laughter ] the Vice President talking about that. His highcapacity magazine. But in 1994, there was a question about what got written into legislation and how you define assault weapon. And i think in retrospect, theres a lot about that that was quite porous, right . Theres better ways to define it. If it has a handle its an assault weapon. If you can change it relatively easily into somethinging that do that sort of thing its an assault weapon. But you know, lets you know it when you see it. Thats what it is. You know it when you see it but people, interests, have worked on a definition thats wide enough to drive a truck through and so, you know, it has to look like this and it has to have one or two or three or four similarities with a military instrument. Its really what most states have gone to that have even tried to do it on their own. And its just too wide or broad. Essentially what it was is a menu of features. If you had a certain amount of those individual features, you were over the line of assault weapon and if you didnt, you could keep underneath the ban. So the definition was lobbied do death. And in fact, the weapon what was used in newtown, versions of that did exist on the assault weapon ban. It was modified to fit. Even in our state, that definition didnt work. Your state has it. So, were pretty controlled and even there, it didnt work. Yeah, i think the issue here is, we recognize that that didnt work in the past but that doesnt mean it wont work in the future and one of the big chamgs you have the nra talking about how the salt weapons ban and highcapacity clips didnt work and weve had studies that show when we have this assault weapons ban the number of guns that were covered from criminals that have assault weapon features were declining. It took a little while because they grandfathered a lot of munitions in. But it actually was effective. So i think the challenge here as theres a lot of misinformation in this debate and thats why this is a strong lobby but it wont be effective in the future and as the president says, we can save one child from something happening here we should take it. I had im sorry, let me share this. I spoke to the u. S. Conference of mayors about this yez. An older mayor in ticks came up to me and said, our family had a browning. And that browning could hold five shots. And under the texas law that existed when i was growing up, two of those had to be sealed. So it could only carry three. Thats how far weve come. From that how far weve come. To magazines with 150. But one of the problems here is that we cant do pliltally or legislatively what weve done before. You visit it 94 and then in 20. Theres going to be loopholes. Theyll creep in somehow. Are we saying we cant come back to this for ten years . No. The nra will try to block the Technology Every step of the way and frankly, a smart, humane politics is not going to let that happen. Thats where we need to be. Thats why i remeend folks well see more of this and this will go on for a period of time. The cats out of the bag until we put the cat back in the bag and thats going to take some time, some effort and some serious discussion and i think states will lead the way. New york is obviously acted very quickly. But other states will act. Were certainly going to change things significantly. Martin will do maryland. So this is going to play itself out. On the other hand, on the national level, lets get what we can get. Lets get as much of this and its great to see how resentful they are that the president is taking executive action as if no republican president has ever taken an executive or made any as if young one really important port for people who are advocates for this or kinds of new advocates of it which is a really important population, is, one of the nra and one of the rightwing talking points is its too hard to define an assault weapon. We shouldnt do it. They have the same approach on video games. Theres no research or study. We dont know that Mental Health is actually so, you know, this is a its too challenging. Its too hard. Lets just not do it which sounds ridiculous but its something that people fall prey to and people out there that want this to happen, need to wap out for that. Yeah. I want to talk about what this means for the second term. Both in the political calculation and what the politics are. The role of the president Vice President joe biden who is now officially resworn in for his second term and what it means for prioritizing the agenda in the second term. I thought what joe biden said in that clip we played at the top, which is president ses dont get to choose. They deal with whats in front of them, theres a lot of weight this that. I want to talk about that after this break. Se prego. Prego . but ive bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices ive made . I choose date number 2 whooo [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. Choose prego. [ sigh of relief ] officemax can help you drive suand down. S down. Use your maxperks card and get a 10ream case of officemax multiuse paper for just 4. 99 after maxperks rewards. Find thousands of big deals now. At officemax. I dont have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps. 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How do you think this changings the political calculation of how much space there is on other things. Are other priorities getting pushed down the queue because of this . So, i think, you know, i think in the first two years when we had very strong democratic majorities, there was this theory of the case which is, we have to Pass Health Care refo reform. Nothing else can pass. We have to focus on that because theres a real issue rahm emanuel will call you up and yell and curse at you and say back the eff up. I know this from reporting. I know it from phone calls. Dont talk to that congressman or senator about that issue because we have to keep pristine, everything on. We have no idea what youre taubing about. Youre all looking at me like so maybe that happened. And but i think that, you know, it was hard to Pass Health Care reform and it was like every vote counted in the end. Now i think the president recognizes that live this republican majority and a minority in the senate. Theres a different strategy. You need to organize public will. Theres a quart of flood the zone strategy which is you can disrupt the opposition because they cant really gain speed on any particular issue. The opposition really games speed on health care. If youre pushing all these issues its not like the congress does too much. On a regular basis. So you can actually take on these issues and make the forceful case. The question is, will the president be making the argument . Theres a limit on the president s time so can he make the arguments fiscal cliff, immigration, Immigration Reform is a huge, important task that needs to get done and its on important task for him to get done for the Democratic Coalition to hold together in the future so, you know, it shouldnt come at the expense of things but he has to Pay Attention to all these issues. This is a moment in time, on gun control and you couldnt have predicted that six months ago and even with aurora, as terrible as that strategy does, this as weve seen in polling, kind of created more of an openness to it in this country than existed before. Something, obviously, the president has supported it, whether its possible. And on, you know, i think there are many things he wanted to get dope, right, to your larger question. Immigration, obviously they layed out a little bit of what they want to do. They know they need to do the fiscal cliff and deal with the fiscal cliff issues. All the fiscal issues are not the definition of what he wants in the second term. Theyre what he needs to get through in a survivable way. We wants to get immigration and energy and wants to do everything he can on gun control. And. We know that the republicans will do nothing for two years and so were also testing whether theyre willing to do nothing for four years wtd belief thats not the case and that you can not be a National Party on on the basis of youre doing nothing for a fouryear period of time. So lets flood. Lets pour it on. Lets people understand who and what we are. Ill add that there are a lot of republicans that are interested in Immigration Reform. They have to be. I think the point is really a central one about this change in the theory of the case from the single priority that that must be preserved and put forward and the cost of that is, everyone can target their fire, right . Everyone was against the Affordable Care act to the idea of throw a lot of things out there and kind of confuse the opposition because they have too many things to handle and im to talk about that later gep. And we and we have the former chief economist to Vice President biden and democratic governor dan mallory of connecticut, thanks for joining us. Thank you. One of the most consequential decisions of president obamas second term may happen this week. Thats next. Na, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the Aerospace Industry in the u. S. . At t. Rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, Global Economy. Its just one reason over 75 of our mutual funds beat their 10year lipper average. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. But with advair, im breathing better. So now i can be in the scene. Advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. 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Its our most innovative sentra ever. Nissan. Innovation that excites. Now get a 169 per month lease on a new nissan sentra, plus 500 Holiday Bonus cash. In his inauguration speech tomorrow, president obama will lay out his agenda fire second term. We already know some of the major components. Sweeping reforming to gun laws, a massive overhaul of the immigration system and a renewed effort of some kind to stimulate the economy. All those measures are broad by popular. One major obstacle. The filibuster. The senate has turned the filibuster into an unprecedented impediment to legislation. Stopping the body from debating let alone voting on bills by the president. The senate has passed the 2. 8 of the bills and the lowest since 1947. So it is no wonder that before the Election Senate majority leader Harry Harry Reid said one of his biggest regrets is not reforming the filibuster. The president announced he was considering major changes to the rulings. Reed wanted to change the rules by requiring filibuster senators to occupy the floor and speak if he want to delay legislation. Now, however, as we approach the deadline for making the decision, it seems like senator reed maybe backing away. The senate is currently in recess until tuesday and when they return theyll have to make a decision, whether to make good on genuine reform of the filibuster. A watereddown compromise that many say doesnt go far enough. This is one of those reformers. Senator john udall. And the executive director of the Democratic National committee. Thank you both for being here. Thank you, great to be here with you, chris. You started covering this very early. Senator, you just sat down and i said this morning before this interview i looked at the notes that i transcribed from the interview i did in your office on 2011 on precisely this issue which was the last time it was with you and senator merkley proposing changes to the filibuster and you got a little bit of attention. And it ultimately, nothing happened. Two years later, youre in a much better position so i guess my first question is, where are we on the right now . Its been very difficult as a reporter to kind of gain where this is. This is very inside baseball. Where are things from your standpoint . Well, the first thing thats tremendously important is we need to change the way we do business in the senate. Everybody knows that the senate is broken. That its not operating the way it should and you just laid out all of the figures and statistics. This is has been this has been the 112th congress we just came out of has been the least productive in the history of the country. So were going to change that. And heres what we need to do. We need to take the filibuster and make sure that if youre going to perform a filibuster you do it out in the open and you do it transpainttransparentu do it in a way so the public knows whats going on. I dont have a problem coming to the floor. Whoever it is, they want to read a phonebook or talk or whatever they want to do, but its out in the public so whatever bill were pursuing, we want to make sure that the public knows whats going on. Right now, we have secret stealth silent filibusters and they are very, very damaging to the senate and the final point here is what people need to realize, this is about doing what the American People sent us here to do. Okay. So lets get into the weeds a little bit. The reform youre proposing and that you and senator merkley have been working in tandem on this for years, now, is to reinstate what you call the talking filibuster. If you want to delay you have to talk, right . Right now thats not the case. But theres a lot of other aspects to the way the filibuster has developed and it sounds to me from what ive heard from senator harry reid, that hes looking at not fully rei stating the talking filibuster but a package of reforms that would get rid of some of the worst abuses. In is sort of tea leaf reading off an interview from a local nevada media outlet, the pbs station in las vegas. Lets take a listen. We need to do is change the filibuster. We have things that are so stupid. If i want to get on a bill, i have to file Lyndon Johnson filed it once in his six years. I filed it 390 some odd times. So weve got to change that. If you invoke that on a piece of legislation, people get 30 hours to sit around and do nothing. I want to get rid of that. I think we should not have the 30hours post. And i think that we have to make sure that on a regular piece of legislation, if somebody wants to continue objecting to it after its been invoked they should have to stand and talk. There should be a talking filibuster. Okay. So theres can you explain this 30hour thing . I think that in the grand scheme of things is the most egregious which is, you know, filibustering the motion to proceed and then, theres this weird kind of period after you filibuster with motion to proceed where its mandated no one can do anything . Well, there are two familiar low periods. First is when eye file the 16 senators file a motion that moves towards kloture and thats two full working days and then you have the vote and if you achieve, youre cutting off debate, then theres a 30hour period that follows after that. And that 30hour period is supposed to be used to dispose of amendments and debate. But frequently what happens is we just burn the we burn the time. And so that 30 hours runs, it delays what were doing. And no business, no other business can happen on the floor in that 30 hours . Thats correct. And what should be happening is there should be debate. We should be disposing of amendments. Both sides should be participating. And we want the minority to be a part of this. One of the big accusations out here is that somehow were were take i can away minority rights. No, we want to craft this in a way where the minority can participate and amend and debate. They can be a part of the process. The word ripen which is the natural process you cant control. But this is some rule we can change, right . Ripening is not its not granted by biology or god that you have to wait 30 hours. You can just get rid of it. Theres knotting in the senate thats natural. Nothing. Its an the senate is ripening to the point of compost. Its rotting, right. A fine line between the two. I want to talk about where the white house is on this and why the white house has not made this more of a priority. I think the president s reputation has been damaged by this and whether senator reid is going wobbly on you after we take this break. And lowlights. For color thats true to you. I dont know how she does it. With nicen easy, all they see is you. Thor gets great rewards for his Small Business your boa [ garth ] thors Small Business earns double miles on every purchase, every day ahh, the new fabrics. Put it on my spark card. Ow. [ garth ] why settle for less . The spiked heels are working. Wait [ garth ] great businesses deserve great rewards. [ male announcer ] the spark Business Card from capital one. Choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2 cash back on every purchase, every day whats in your wallet . [ cheers and applause ] whats in your wallet . Are you flo . Yes. Is this the thing you gave my husband . Well, yeah, yes. The name your price tool. You tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. Careful, though that kind of power can go to your head. That explains a lot. Yo, buddy i got this. Gimme one, gimme one, gimme one the power of the name your price tool. Only from progressive. Overmany discounts to thine customers [old english accent] safe driver, multicar, paid in full a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. Thou cometh and we thy saveth what are you doing . We doth offer so many discounts, we have some to spare. Oh, you have any of those homeowners discounts . Here we go. Thank you. He took my shield, my lady. These are troubling times in the kingdom. More discounts than we knoweth what to do with. Now thats progressive. Thats a new afd from the workers. An, sfrakt issue. Just to set the table empiricily on what the trends have been. This is a line graph that shows bills passed as opposed to closure invoked. How many bills the Senate Passing and how often is cloture being passed. And obviously, those two things have a lot to do with each other. Given the fact that the president has had such an ambitious legislative agenda, why hadnt the white house been more outspoken . Why hadnt there been more pressure from the oval office to fix this . It seems like its the president s agenda and in some ways his Political Capital thats been the most urt hurt by this institution . Chris, im assuming youre making reference to, perhaps if first two years the president was in washington and in the white house where the filibuster conversation was not central to his agenda and to the debate. I point you toward the statements that have been made in the last few weeks and months by white house spokes people by the president himself, about how the American People rendered a verdict on this kind of inaction back on november 6th. Its pretty clear we need action and movement in the United States senate on the dream act, on jobs, on all of the important reforms. Nominations. Nominations, right now, there are 19 judicial nominations that are sitting in front of the senate, many with bipartisan support that just arent moving because of this kind of paralysis and the white house is firmly behind the actions of senator reed and the leadership of senator udall. And have you talked to the white house . Yes. Every time the president has come before us in terms of a retreat or anything else hes been very strong about weve got to have filibuster reform. Weve got to change the way we do business and weve got to move in such a way so that we can deal with the agenda hes laying out and which we may modify some but its important that we get to that agenda. Not sit around in a bunch of filibust filibusters. I think what the senator said is important. Its also about reading between the lines of what he says. Is he out giving a speech on filibuster reform every day . No. I dont have any data but i dont think think 99 of the people in this country know what filibuster or any of this is. The question is, if this keeps moving and hopefully it does, can the president get out and talk about what this means for immigration in what it means for guns . Translate to people understand . Thats the reason that commercial was very effective and that should be the message around this. From where i sit and im sort of the minority on the. Im of the belief 50 years from now people will look back and the thing will care is whether we stopped the planet from melting or not. I agree. I hear you. And. Consistent on that. And theres no way of conceiving of a 60 senate votes in any iteration or configuration of american politics or interest, 60 of votes that prices carbon. I can imagine a universe of the United States politics that gets 51 votes but i dont ever see 60 and that seems like theres no way of getting over that. Chris, it was the filibuster on the Health Care Bill that ran out the clock that made it so we were unable to deal with the Climate Change legislation. To come over from the house. So its clear to me at every step if you look, its. This silent secret stealth filibuster thats slowed down progress on the things the American People really want to see. And i do think theres been a lot of movement. A lot of people were opposed to any reforms two years ago because of leadership and merkleys leadership. Theres been a lot of activity on the. I think its good that this program is working and were talking about it now but its also important to get a lot of it in the next 24 hours. I want to talk about where the resistance lies. Theres institutional prerogatives. Let talk about that after the bike. You cant let a cold keep you up tonight. 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And these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. Delicious and wholesome. Some combinations were just meant to be. Tomato soup from campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. Arlg National Cemetery in washington where president obama and Vice President wyden are expected momentarily to participate in i wreathlaying ceremony in the tomb of the unknowns. [ taps ] as president obama and Vice President joe biden laying a wreath at the tomb of the unmoans in arlington National Cemetery, a so legal ceremony in between the two other events of the day this morning. Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in for his second term as Vice President and a relatively small ceremony in his residence, the favor value observatory. Later in the white house, president obama will be sworn in as well. Well carry that live here on msnbc. All of that is mandated by the constitution to happen on this day, january 20th, but tradition has it if it falls on a sunday the public ceremonies are the following day so well, of course, be bringing all of that to you live tomorrow. Hello from washington im chris hayes and im here with senator tom udall and the center for american progress, jen saki former obama traveling secretary. Pepper talking about filibuster reform and senator udall has been one of the most outspoken voices about that and theres agreement that the conversation has moved. Theres an awareness of just how dedysfunctional things have grown but theres still resistance. I want you to talk about where that resistance comes from both from republicans and democrats and from people in washington more broadly. Sure. You ask about the issue in terms of senator reid and where hes at. One of the things we need to remember is five months ago he came to the floor and he said, the reformers, tom udall and jeff merkley and others, were right. I was wrong. We should have changed the rules. And so theres nobody more determined, i think, than harry reid to do this. And the thing that is important to me is that hes chosen the constitutional option to do it. At the beginning of a congress in the first legislative day, you can take 51 votes, cut off debate and adopt the rules. And so really what were talking about here is 51 votes. Wed love to have republicans but we have 55 now. And if we pull together, we can do it. Do you have to were determined to do that. I believe we havent gotten to the point and this is the crucial thing, chris. What is the plan going to be . When harry finally is able to pull it all together, i think on that day and he walks into the caucus and says this is the plan. This is what were going to do. Theres going to be 51 votes for it. You think there will be 51 votes for it . Yes. Do you think, john cornyn who was one of the most outspoken proponents of changing the filibuster back when the republicans had the majority and the hi bob si goes in both directions. There were tons of liberals saying, oh, my god, the filibuster, its tyranny. They were wrong. They never said it rooirnenned. They were wrong so the hypocrisy goes both ways. Senator cornyn said something that was interesting which accounts for some of the tea leaf reading weve been doing in the press of what its at. The history is the people get to the edge of the abyss, look that and pull back because the majorities realize that they are transient and todays minority can become the majority and what they do is what they have to live with in the future and that usually prompts some sort of negotiation and agreed outcome idea being, sure, take the 51vote majority to change the rules at the beginning of the session but do you really want to do that because youre settling some dangerous precedent. Do you think it sets a daeng rouse precedent . I dont think it does. I think it brings acountiability to the process. If the senate at the beginning of the congress knowing theres been abuse of the rules and the place is dysfunctional and its not working if you step forward and say as a majority, these are the rules were going to function under, this is how its going to operate and were going to get things done and were going to exercise our majority power, i think thats a good thing. But you know, lets remind people. You say jewels of the democracy the two i know tongueincheek. The two big accomplishments of the filibuster, they it prevented for 25 years, civil rights legislation. Antilynching legislation. So if you talk about what the filibuster has been about, its been about preventing progress. Thats why we need to reform that. As people who are going to be working in politics for a while, do you worry about were retired. Do you worry about i mean, is this precedentsetting thing something to be concerned about . Im not concerned about because basically i believe in democracy so thats like so anyone on the other side is a totalitarian, is that right . No. We believe in transparency and the great conversation. Tomorrow when the president is being sworn in all of america is being invited to the great debate about where we are and where were headed and that should open up and liberalize the conversation and should not be stymies by the rulings. Were talking about the ripening of cloture. People want to know what the senate is doing on jobs and reform and on all the things we need to do to continue to make ourselves competitive and, yet, here we are talking about thats precisely the problem. It attenuates the bonds of democratic accountability, precisely because you even see that sometimes activists will say, so and so is supports the bill. But then is using procedural mechanisms that no one contracts, to kill it. So you dont know who is actually on your side if youre trying to advocate for something. I think the big challenge with whats happened in the last couple of years is a product of a process thats going on far a while was really that the process is so difficult to discern that it makes it it makes people much more cynical about whats happening in their government which actually, in the end, feeds conservatives views that government cant do anything and anything else. So thats why i think its critical to take steps. The truth is, things are so bad at this point, this congress the senate is so unproductive if you just had people enforce the rules as they were meant to be, which is meaning people be there on the floor, that would be a huge difference. So, i think theres some question about what steps they have what rules theyll really have to adopt to make the changes because the truth is, its become so perverted it l. A. X. Transparency and people have no idea whats going on. You have to become totally expert in Senate Procedure to each understand whats going to happen. Which also feeds armies of lobbyists as well. Neera, thats why if you have senators go to the floor and lodge that filibuster. Absolutely. And be there talking, all of you on the outside, the media, the public, they say whats going on in the senate today . Well, senator so and so is trying to block this thing with a filibuster and then you can have the interaction which is what democracy is all about. And quickly, senator, were talking patrick made this point which is true. It all seems an strakt and theres a small percentage of americans that are tuned into filibuster reform and a significant majority that watch this program but that said, you have to get elected in the state of new mexico . You have to talk to voters do you talk to voters about this . If so, what are those conversations like . The amazing thing, starting this a little over three years ago, is that in town Hall Meetings and discussions and in a variety of settings, this is a big issue and more than anything i think they understand the talking filibuster. The idea that mr. Smith goes to washington. And people remember that principled mr. Smith going to the senate floor and trying to fight off the action that was going on. They think, why isnt that going on now . What the senate is broken. Weve got to restore that and bring that back to the senate floor. Senator tom udall of new mexico and neera, thank you all for joining us. That was great. Thanks, chris. The lessons from four years in the white house. Thats next. L in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, theyll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. Theyll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isnt rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. Its just common sense. Ive always had to keep my eye on her. But, i didnt always watch out for myself. With so much noise about health care. I tuned it all out. With unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. [ tylenol bottle ] me too and nasal congestion. [ tissue box ] he said nasal congestion. Yeah. I heard him. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multisymptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. Nyquil® cold and flu doesnt. Plus the perfecting color of a bb cream equal . Introducing the newest beauty trend. Total effects cc cream c for color. C for correction. [ female announcer ] fight 7 signs of aging flawlessly. Cc whats possible. Flawlessly. Is bigger than we think. Sometimelike the flu. Fer from with aches, fever and chills the flus a really big deal. So why treat it like its a little cold . Theres something that works differently than overthecounter remedies. Prescription tamiflu attacks the flu virus at its source. So dont wait. Call your doctor right away. Tamiflu is prescription medicine for treating the flu in adults and children one year and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. Before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if youre pregnant, nursing. Have Serious Health conditions, or take other medicines. If you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. Children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. The most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. The flu comes on fast, so ask your doctor about tamiflu. Prescription for flu. Four years ago president obama said on this day we gather because weve chosen hope over fear. Unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On the day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises the recriminations and wornout dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. And any notion that an Obama Administration would bring about an end to dogma or discord quickly evaporated during the first of the presidency and seemed positively quaint after republicans resumed control of the house. The Lessons Learned by the administration in the first four years have made the president a very different leader. Far less conciliatory in to be and arguably in substance. In the central message of 2008 to change the way the ligs does. He characterized the messy political process as something not to overcome, but rather to embrace. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeplyheld beliefs. And when weo through tough times, when we make Big Decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions. Stirs up controversy. That wont change after toenlt and it shouldnt. Joining us now are bill burton, executive Vice President and cofounder of priorities usa and former depth they press secretary at Obama White House and democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california and patrick is still here. Wonderful to have you here. Pleasure. Our second producer, allison coke chose those two sound bytes. And you dont want to make too much out of it but theres Something Interesting about the difference between the vision in that first bite and the vision in the second. The vision in the first bite is that discord conflict are kind of problems about politics. Theyre symptoms of something dysfunctional and in the second speech, after four years that he gave on that Election Night is, conflict is just endemic. Its what politics is about and theres no getting around conflict. And i think do you think thats one of the main lessons that the president and the people around the president have taken away or you in congress have taken away . I dont think that anybody could have guessed just how intransgent the republicans would be. They were all against things they supported themselves. Just a slight correction. No, no, but even the nominees that they support and they would block welcome on and on and on and the fact that the president has to fight on things like the debt ceiling that no president has had to fight like hes had to fight on, i think, sets the tone for what is going to be you know, a very, very tough second term. Was the level of republican that bill talked about, aas a colleague of same republicans, was it surprising to you . Was it as surprising to you as it appeared to be surprisetion to the white house . No. It wasnt. Because that night they were planning their agenda and remember, senator Mitch Mcconnell told us very early that their goal and the First Priority was to make sure that president obama was going to be a oneterm president. Follow that we saw the Obstructionist Tea Party congress willing to throw the economy and the country under the bus. So we knew this from day one and we just saw how they said, no, no, no, even to the president s jobs anticipation agenda. If you knew it from day one, do you think that the white house approached it wisely, foolishly or somewhere in between in terms of the way that they dealt with this kind of opposition . Of course, the president wanted bipartisan cooperation. Hes an optimist. He knows the country still wants to come together to do the job for the American People and thats to create jobs and turn the economy around and so, i have to give the president a lot of credit because hes started from day one and when i listen now to the republicans, you would think that the president never, ever tried. Here im there saying, oh, my god, hes going too far. Hes doing this and that and from day one we wanted too much. So but he was willing to try and i give him a lot of credit. Have you seen, senator, an arc in the and youre someone relatively new. You came in 2006, right . I was in the house. Right, right. But you have been in the senate for decades, right . And youve seen this latest crop of republican kind of procedural obstruction and so forth. Do you think the white house has evolved. The president has evolved in the way he approach this is . Barbaras comment about Mitch Mcconnell saying his numberone goal was to defeat president obama in so many words, almost precisely, that i think that really showed how far they had come. A leader of a party would not have said that a decade go of either party, like bill 15id they wouldnt have fought on raising the debt ceiling so i think the president wanted, like barbara said, he wanted to cooperate and see bipartisanship and wanted to see some way of moving Forward Together and pullinging people together in this country be i think hes realized there are hundreds of examples now, in half a dozen really prominent examples where they simply wont Work Together and wont compromise and i think the president who 2r50ied so hard and through his whole life was a good convener and good consensusbuilder in his previous jobs leading up to this rooelszs this is a Different League and a whole different crowd of people hes dealing with. So i want to talk about that if thats the dauntding realization thats more broadly shared. I think it took a while where people, particularly in the center left among the democrats and activists and the people on capitol hill, this is the way this is going to be. What that means. Using robotics and mobile technology, verizon innovators have made it possible for teachers to teach, and for a kid. Nathan. Tadpole. To feel like a kid again. Because the worlds Biggest Challenges deserve even bigger solutions. Powerful answers. Verizon. I just served my motherinlaw your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much. I told her it was homemade. Everyone tells a little white lie now and then. But now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] shes right behind me isnt she . [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. With multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. Surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. So, if the duck isnt able to work, how will he pay for his Living Expenses . Aflac. Like his rent and car payments . Aflac. What about gas and groceries . Aflac. Cell phone . Aflac, but i doubt hell be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a getwell card at getwellduck. Com. Quick realtime correction. I said the two republicans that voted for the recovery act. Senator brown pointed out it was three. One was Arlen Specter who subsequently changed parties. So theres only one left. We had a switching party. That story has not been finished yet. I want to play two other bi bitetio bitetion. From the president and he talks about the impending debt ceiling where hes urging a compromise talking about a grand bargain and the second is him talking more recently in which he says, im not going to compromise. Take a look. Im asking you all, to make your voice heard. If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message. America, after all, has always been a grand experiment in compromise. One thing i will not compromise over is whether or not congress should pay the tab for a bill they already racked up. If congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire Global Economy could be catastrophic. The last time they threatened this course of action our entire economy suffered for it. All right. The trajectory of the perspective of compromise. Thats entertaining but i think a i have a little bit of minority opinion. Some of it is a bit overstated. In youre preamble setting this up. To assume that when the president was delivering that speech in 2009, that he did not understand just how difficult the road ahead would be and just how much recess substance he would get from the other party. I think, understates the sophistication that this man has about politics and he knew what the moment was in 2009. I think that right now what youre seeing from this president is a clarity in his sense of what the opportunity is of the moment. He understands what weve come to and lets be clear. When he was talking about, the end to that kind of resistance, he meant paralyzing resistance. We got health care done and we d the economy forward and we enhanced important civil rights reform so the president is saying were not going to be paralyzed by this but well move forward as a people and make meaningful change. I think these clips show a more muscular president coming off of what happened in connecticut recently, i think the president is very clear about what needs to be done to make sure we protect all of america and continue to move forward on important things. But the president s posture is unquestionably been more aggressive and forwardleaning toward republican obstruction, it just didnt last several months. I think the deal that was struck on the 31st in the beginning of the year, in some ways, was an affirmation that trickledown economics dont work. Trickle down from the rich doesnt work. You build tfl middle class and you build the economy from the middle class out and i think the president , i think that agreement spoke to that and i think the president has always unz stood that and is going to govern with that in mind much more in the years ahead. You say that but one of the things thats interesting is in the history of the post 2010 election where hes had this, all the reporting behind the sundays about the many different interactions and negotiate usas theyve had have been about working toward, quote, entitlement reform, my least favorite phrase. Gutting this and betraying promises they made to people. And that the republicans have been their worst enemy in that the president has been willing to make a deal and the republicans have squoched the deal again and again and the question is, given that, are you confident the white house wont offer some kind of deem like raising the eligibility age or cuts to Social Security benefits in this next iteration of negotiations . Im very confident of that. We have an election. And elections have consequences and the American People said very clearly, no cuts to Social Security. No cuts to medicare. And no cuts to medicaid. Now, of course, there are ways to address efficiencies. We could allow for the bulk purchase of prescription drugs. You know, there are ways you can save money. But i think the public is very clear and, you know, im confident that the president is not going to go there. But congresswoman, i remember a week or two where raising the raising the eligibility amg on medicare, a terrible policy idea. But again, members of congress, progressive caucus, the black caucus, black, Asian Pacific caucus, all of us said, no way that could happen because we know what tim pacts of this could be. It was terrible. I building on what she said i think that thats where the public weighs in and thats why people that care about theyre protecting the pell grants and preserving Social Security and medicare and not playing games with the cost of living adjustment and not raising the retirement age on medicare, the kinds of things that matter to peoples lives that people have to weigh in and its great that members of congress have spoken up and barb has been a leader in that and so has tom udall but we need the public engaged to make sure the president , the 08d fdr story, he met with a group of progressives. He said, i agree with you now make me do it. President obama is strong and focused but the public needs to keep him on the course and make sure the compromises dont break these promises. I think thats right. The issue is that if you look at washington and how broken it is, i think theres a crisis in governance thats weve gotten to because of the crisis in politics. The American People themselves are divided. Theres been no price the republicans have been for this in washington so the Republican House was reelected. If you look at even the president s. With a million less votes than the democratic members of congress received. But still reelectnonetheles theres isability the same kind of political pressure on the republicans to work with the president and get the kind of deals that would be good for the American People that you would hope for. And you made the opponent about how washington works. I want to talk about that was one of the theemt of the 08 election was not just substantive legislative accomplishment and substantive agenda including things around climate and the economy and health care it was also structural changes to how washington works. I want to talk if thats been abandoned or made good on. Hi dad. Many years from now, when the subaru is theirs. Hey. You missed a spot. Ill look back on this day and laugh. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Just begin with americas favorite soups. Bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. Or bestever meatloaf. Go to campbellskitchen. Com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. Campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. Inwash scent boosters, here with my favorite new intern, jimmy. Mmm fresh and its been in the closet for 12 weeks unbelievable unstopables follow jimmy on youtube. Im up next, but now im singing the heartburn blues. Hold on, prilosec isnt for fast relief. Cue up alkaseltzer. It stops heartburn fast. Oh what a relief it is in 2008, this was was one of the rallying cries of the obama campaign. Not just delivering substantive policy, but also changing the way washington works. Right . That was a part of the 2008 theme. Here he is in april of 2008 making the case. Weve got to change how business is done in washington. The problem, weve got in washington has to be fixed. The problem of lobbyists and special interests and big money, dominating the agenda and the American People not being heard. And then, this is the president four years later in september of 2012 in an interview basically saying i learned you cant really change washington from the inside. Take a look. One of the things i learned after four years is remained me that the change doesnt come from the inside. You got to change washington from the outside. You change it with the help of ordinary americans who are willing to have their voices heard. Bill, i want to talk to you about this because that big money special interest quote in the beginning, right, the idea that big money and special interest dominate, the white house explicitly, we know they negotiated with phrma and they negotiated with a lot of interests with regard to getting the Affordable Care act passed and you headed that up, a product of the Citizens United decision that the president condemned in the state of the union, that a lot of democrats a decision a lot of people dont like theres now a 501 c 4 headed up by jim messina and it will use the same struck sure as karl roves group. The question is, has the president acclimated himself to essentially playing by those rules. I love that youre trying to make bill the spokesperson for big money and special interest. I didnt do the super pac. He did it. Dont look at me. You know what its a big problem. Theres too much money in politics and super pacs shouldnt exist and the way 5 0 1 cs allowed to be run is the fact that they can spend 100 million trying to influence the president ial election and regular voex that are supposed to have the right to impact the political system, dont. What you see from the president is say realization that to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld youre dealing with the rules that you have, not the rules you wish you had. So in this environment where republicans are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to defeat health care reform, you have to ask the question well, what are democrats going to do . Who are progressives going to do to make sure our voices and values arent droubed out because of the system were in right now . You know what . We have to overturn Citizens United. We need a constitutional amendment to do that and we need Public Financing of campaigns but i agree with bill. Until we get there and the public has to push to get us there, we have to defeat some of the very this agenda that is really destroying the country and also, our democracy. Its making the voices of ordinary people, what is happening now, this undisclosed corporate money in politics is shrinking the democratic process and allowing corporations to dominate the political agenda and the voices of the American People are being diminished. So what are we going to do bt it . Youve been very outspoken open this. You saw a ton of outside money too come into your race. I feel like what ends up happening is issues we talk about it and we move on. I understand why we do it but we talk about it and move on to fighting over guns and imgreat lakes and these structural and procedural questions get sidelines. Theres a couple of things we should do. The nra, we know, spent at least 700,000 on outside money. Thats some of the only money that we can identify where it came from. They spend 40 million total. We, in part, made it, issue that its the Oil Companies that are coming in and wall street coming in against me. And thats not necessarily heard by the voters that want to reach, the lowinformation voters are likely not going to vote on that issue but thats tactally what you do in a campaign but when a number of democrats say we beat the big much this year its not that big a deal. Thank god. And thank god for bill burton but thank god, too, we had better candidate the around the country, look at north dakota and montana and missouri and indiana, we had better candidates. Thats one of the reasons we wop. We had a better president ial candidate to be sure. Thats one of the reasons we one and it was sort of the tiles. We had the auto rescue in the industrial midwest and what we had done withlily ledbetter, all of those issues. So i think you think theres a little come pl complacency about it . How we get an amendment is arduous, to put it mildly. We need to pursue a constitutional amendment and this is always a major issue and we have to continue to organize around this and using this in talking about this, because our democracy cant sustain this kind of money. And were continuing to organize, senator. I think one of the most important developments for progressives and all americans the fact that the president and his team have decide that theyre going to go to obama 3. 0, theyre launching organizing for action to make it clear that 20 million americans that gave some measure of tlems themselves during if campaign will come to have their voices heard and their as separations expressed. In your clips, the real contrast is when barack obama walked into the white house in january of 2009, he was looking inward and thinking of how he was going to do this and now he appreciates that those 20 million americans and all americans have to walk through that door with him and have to come toage date and agitate and agitate. I think barack obama as president for the United States, for a lot of reasons and one of which is he got up at a small rally in semitic when he was a state senator and said, this war in iraq is unwise. I think the president s arc in terms of National Security policy and Civil Liberties very interesting over the first term. Well talk with the only member of congress to vote against the authorization for the use of military fours a few weeks after september 11th, barbara lee, well talk about that after this break. With a will or living tr. And youd like the help of an attorney. At legalzoom a legal plan attorney is available in most states with every personalized document to answer questions. Get started at legalzoom. Com today. And now youre protected. [ coughs ] [ male announcer ] you cant let a cold keep you up tonight. Vicks nyquil powerful nighttime 6symptom cold flu relief. 6symptom cold flu relief. Living with moderate to semeans living with pain. 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Why take exercise so seriously,when it can be fun . Pushups or sprints . Whats wrong with fetch . Or chase . Lets do this larry ooh, i got it, i got it narrator the caloriesmart nutrition in beneful healthy weight. Includes grains and real chicken, because a healthy dog is a playful dog. Beneful healthy weight. Find us on facebook to help put more play in your day. As i said before if break, barbara lee, you voted against the authorization of the use of military force as a resolution voted on by both houses of congress in the wake of 9 11. And tlone number to do so and youve been very outspoken and called for the war in afghanistan to be drawn down and im curious, when you think about the president s trajectory on National Security issues, what your sense is of where he is, taking the oath of office as he will be in just a little bit, now, as opposed to four years ago. Certainly, the president has changed direction from the previous Bush Administration as it relates to global peace and security and, yes, i had the vote against that resolution which was the authorization to use force. It was a blank check. It just said, the president , any president , is authorized to use force, any time, any place, against any nation, any individual, any organization he or she deems connected to 9 11. That was a blank check. And so we have to repeal that. I want to repeal it and im working toward that. I think this president ended the war in reerk. He made that commitment with regard to afghanistan hes drawn down and theres some of us in a bipartisan way. Hundreds of members of congress wrote to the president and said you need to expedite this. Theres no military solution. We need to bring our young men and women home right away in a safe and orderly fashion. Dont wait until 2014. Lets begin this now and the billions and trillions of dollars that are being invested. I think the American Public more and more would emphasize what barbara said about investing in this country. We now how willfully inadd kwaet our infrastructure is as a nation. Water, sewer, highways, broaden band, community colleges, all the things we need to do better. I give the president credit. I wanted him to wind down faster in iraq and afghanistan than he did but he did it responsibly and he did it generally the right way. I think another point of what the president s done is he really took Foreign Policy off the table politically in this country for democrats, which no democratic candidate or incumbent has done. Off the table because of the broad popularity . In terms of that he had enough consensus in his policy the democrats couldnt be attacked as being weak on defense which has been a problem for more than a generation. That allowed all of us to focus more on domestic issues and thats a good thing. Some of the ways he did it so sometimes i dont always agree with but i think the success measured that way is pretty significant. Well, i mean, ive been someone on that program, quite critical of the National Security policy of this administration. I should note sometimes it guessed glossed over. Iraq was the defining political battle of the formative years of a lot of people in this country. And the president did end the war in iraq, a promise he made he got done. Once the war in iraq was finished it was looking like a fait accompli but it wubts necessarily obvious in 2008 that the war would end and if john mccain has been elected we might be somewhere else. A big twiens between 2008 and 2012 is that in 08 we had a big debate about iraq. And thats why hes president now in large part but in 2012, because mitt romney seated Foreign Policy to barack obama and the republicans have come off if not weak, at least, with the president on a lot of the things hes for, the American People i think, lost out on whats usually a very important part of a president ial election which is air debate about some of the big things that america is doing on their behalf. Whether it the Drone Program or afghanistan or whatever it is, we didnt really talk about it that much because there was mostly agreement. Republicans reduced the Foreign Policy conversation to whether or not the president was on an apology tour. And mitt romney and i said this sitting at the anchor test on the night of the third debate where mitt romney basically agreed more than hi disagreed and said, yeah, wreshd debate these things. Disagreement is important. Can i just say, we need to in this context, look at the pentagons budget now and really understand that we can save quite a bit of money. The cost savings to the pentagon are enormous and when we talk about sequester and when we talk about investment in jobs, we need to go to the pentagon. We can keep a strong National Security without we can have these savings and maintain a Strong National and the president made the case during the campaign and the final point i would make here and to return what youre saying, we have seen something, i think, similar to what happened when truman gave way to eisenhower which was the passing of the time of the cold war from one party to the next and the National Security act passed under truman that created this architecture thats persist since and we still have if National Security council weve seen a war on terror, even though it not called that, passed from a republican president to a democratic president and i think repealing the authorization to use military force is a key step for congress to assert its prerogative and to declare that that era is over even if al qaeda is not totally vanquished were moving to an important place and i think thats important for viewers to keep their eyes on to follow. What area should know coming up next. Personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. Five days later, i had a massive heart attack. Bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. Now, im on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. Challenge that with olay facial hair removal duos for fine or coarse hair. First a pretreatment balm then the effective cream. For gentle hair removal at far less than salon prices. Theres no place like home. Wears off. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. Eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. The end of trial and error has arrived. Try a free sample at eucerinus. Com. Did you know that as we age our need for protein increases, yet many of us dont meet our daily protein needs . Thats why theres boost® high protein nutritional drink. Each delicious serving provides fifteen grams of protein to help maintain muscle and help meet expert recommended daily protein needs. Plus it provides twentysix essential vitamins and minerals and is glutenfree. Help get the nutrition you need with a complete and balanced nutritional drink. Try boost® high protein. Also available in powder. This has been medifacts for boost®. In just a moment, what we should know for the news week ahead. First, a personal update. I will moderate a panel from the Obama Administration at New York University this wednesday, january 23rd. It starts at 4 30 p. M. For more information go to facebook. Com upwi facebook. Com upwithchris. Like us. Its weird to say that, but thats how it goes. What you should know for the week coming up. If you want a response for the white house from the we the people website, you have to get more signatures. When we the people was launched in 2011, they were required to get 5,000 signatures before they got a white house response. It grew in popularity then it was pushed up to 25,000. With continued viral growth, the white house will, from this point forward require 100,000 signatures before requiring a response. It wont be for those already posted to the site. Including the one to remove District Attorney carmen ortiz. This tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of the roe v. Wade decision for women to have a constitutional right to terminate their own pregnancies. 63 of americans are opposed to overturning row v. Wade with 29 favoring scrapping the decision. Its similar to that from 20 years ago. Somewhat remarkably, 48 of republicans 48 of republicans dont want roe overturned more than the 46 who do. In march, 2006 only a third of poll respondents said abortion was not that important. This last poll, a slim majority said that. Those aged 18 to 29 didnt know or could not identify the roe v. Wade decision. Finally, you should know the president will be sworn into office because the constitution requires it to happen on january 20th. At least as far back as president eisenhower, when it falls on a sunday, the president is sworn in on a quiet ceremony with the big one held the next day. We will have live Coverage Later this morning on the mhp program. We will cover the big ceremony, the inauguration parade and more here on msnbc tomorrow beginning at 10 00 a. M. Eastern time and continuing with special coverage throughout the day. Magically, i am now back in my seat. I want to find out what my guests think we should know for the week coming up. Patrick . Richard blanco is the poet. The search for unified national identity. Its interesting a young, cuban american is going to say who we are and where we are going. In the words of his poem, let nut thag happened here be forgotten by us. Richard also an engineer. Yep. You should know more about the 8 billion bank settlement. I did a series of round tables in ohio this week, talked to a lot of people who wrongfully have been foreclosed on. Theres thought the 8 billion fees the banks are paying could be deductible against their federal taxes as were the dollars bp paid for the clean up. Its Something Congress needs to stop if it comes to that. At the same time, the largest six banks and the power they have, we need to break up the banks. I agree. Congresswoman . You should know in 2005, i pulled together several members in congress to form a caucus. We realize the economic policies and foreign policies of the Bush Administration would lead to a spike in poverty. Unfortunately, now 50 Million People are living in poverty. 16 million are children. We passed a bipartisan resolution to cut it in half now we need a National Strike that di and plan to end poverty. Its a shame and disgrace 50 people in america are living in poverty. Real fast, when the roe v. Wade decision came down, the lead sentence of the story was finally settling a long contentious policy debate in america. Not so much. Nut sg settled in politics. I want to thank my guests today. Bill burton, sherrod brown. Thank you all. Our thanks to everyone here at the Washington Bureau for amazing hospitality during our visit this weekend. Thank you at home for joining us. Well be back in new york next weekend. Next is the one and only melissa harrisperry. Join us for msnbcs Inauguration Day coverage tomorrow. See you next week here on up. Pop goes the world pop in a wholnew kind of clean with tide pods. Just one pac has the stain removal power of six caps of the bargain brand. Pop in. Stand out. Nothing. Are you stealing our Daughters School supplies and taking them to work . No, i was just looking for my stapler and my. This thing. I save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. Thats a great idea. Im going to go. We got clients in today. 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