Transcripts For MSNBCW The Cycle 20141219

American consumer cares about by having this pipeline come through. Like the rest of america, black america in the aggregate is better than when i came in office. And we have more work to do on that front. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is at the white house. Its great to see you. The president definitely feels like he has one foot out the door today. Interestingly, only called on female reporters here. Reporter that was notable. The trend was quickly evident. He carried it through to the end, even taking one more question from april ryan, who persisted at the end. Thats interesting for those of us who like the art and the science of a president ial press conference. But this was a an hour long exchange filled with really important headlines, from the sony case where the president said he acknowledged the difficult position a publiclyheld corporation was in with all of the damage thats been done there. But believing they acted in error. They made a mistake. At the same time the president didnt take up the opportunity to say, he would screen the film that has been at the source of all of this International Intrigue here at the white house. So, he was critical of sony. Acknowledged seas acknowledged sony difficult position but trying to lay a marker on what private corporations and other institutions will need to do when it comes to the threat, the very real threat of cyber terrorism. The president was dripping with derision about north korea, being so upset about a movie that is a comedy. He also then moved on to the topic of cuba, where he was questioned about that. Notable that he said, he expects to visit cuba in his lifetime but has no plans to go there at this time. As president and no plans imminent to have raul castro visit the United States or the white house. Thats interesting because, obviously, the cuba change will play out big in 2015 with the Republican Congress needing to weigh in on things like lifting the embargo, which is in law, and funding some of the operations in cuba, like a new embassy or other ways to try to open those gates. So, this was a substantive News Conference. It had some humor. It had some funny lines and some unexpected moments. It all the allfemale questioners but there was real substance here, too. Its the kind of thing that even in a yearend News Conference, we didnt hear anything about isis or the ongoing concerns about will there need to be a different complement of u. S. Troops on the ground in iraq to fight the that particular terror threat. So, still so many other topics to get to, but the ones most recent, most on the news were certainly part of this back and forth today. The president was newsy. He had some humor. And clearly is ready to go on vacation. Krystal . Absolutely. Kelly odonnell at the white house, thank you so much. Lets bring in dana milbank, Political Columnist at the Washington Post. Thanks for being with us. Hi, krystal. We should have gotten a women for this segment. Youll have to do. Sorry. You got somebody with a womans name. How about that . I guess that will work. Im not in a position to make fun of names. As kelly was pointing out, what the president said about sony hack. Saying they made a mistake and even contrasting them with boston. What did you make of the president s comments there . I was glad de it. He was forceful on that. Certainly what i had been wondering about, having made plans to see this film as a matter of protest against north korea. And thats how a lot of americans will be. This seemed to be a revived president knocked doi down by the Midterm Elections. He had the ease of a man headed to hawaii but he also seemed to be enjoying himself in i a way i havent seen. Looks like eyes ice spoiling for a fight with republicans next year, relishing and looking forward to it. He seemed to be not giving in at all on things like keystone, which, you know, after the cuba announcement, it seems like maybe theres going to be some strong president ial leadership here. Dana, i think thats totally right. The moment that jumped out at me from the early part of the presser is when the president said, interesting stuff happens in the Fourth Quarter, which of course in sports analogy is perfect for where he is but suggests as opposed to lame duck, when its just like the end of your presidency fizzle out. No, in the quouFourth Quarter, is winning time. In terms of executive actions around immigration, cuba and climate, hes taking this Fourth Quarter as a chance to really impact the game. Right. Hes going to throw some long passes and see what he connects. Thats exactly what he should be doing now. And i think the line was spot on, as if he hadnt been issuing executive orders, john boehner and Mitch Mcconnell will be completely compliance in addressing everything on the president ials agenda. Thats nonsense. The well had been poisoned long before immigration executive orders came along. So, it is i mean, he has no choice but to get his back up and put up a real fight. Thats how youll get to compromise with these guys. Its certainly not go to be achieved by backing down. He seemed punchy. Dont know what they put in his milk in the white house. If you look back to 2007, 2008 when barack obama got on the scene for president. That he was a blank slate. You had centrist and mod riss, republicans said he might reach across the aisle. He was unknown. Six years into his presidency, how would you assess him on that scale . How would you characterize him ideological and governmentally . Well, hes been all over the lot. And i think he disappointed a lot of the progressive base who saw him as an empty vessel and filled him with those ideas. Now youre seeing a little Elizabeth Warren effect here. I think youre seeing a guy like you heard him on keystone and you heard him taking it to the Republican Leadership in congress. I think part of the lesson here is where the energy is in his party. He doesnt have to worry about the moderates in the the moderate democrats in the senate now. Theyre all but gone. You definitely see at least in the Fourth Quarter hes going to run to the left. You know, as Kelly Odonnell was saying, it was a newsy press conference but very relaxed. He was laughing. He was making jokes. Very much one foot out the door, ready to go on vacation. A different tone than weve seen in a number of these other press conferences. Also, dana, in the past few weeks you see a change in how hes handle the situations. It was written in the New York Times yesterday and described well. Gone are the cautious political calculations. Mr. Obama is pushing forward aggressively on his promised agenda and ignoring his most ar dent critics. If i were imagining a cartoon being drawn up on this, i would see president obama basically giving the middle finger to republicans. Oh. What do you think the turning point was for him . I dont think we could show that cartoon on the air. Its probably some rude gesture, abby. Yeah, i think thats the tone hes taken. Freedoms just never word for nothing left to lose. Hes lost the senate. He lost the house. Now he can be himself and put up a fight here. So, i think you saw that feistiness in his language. And you certainly saw it in the cuba announcement. And i think hes going to hes saying to the Republican Congress, bring it on, hes ready for this fight. And if he takes that fight to them, hes going to have a unified Progressive Democratic party behind him. The always feisty dana milbank, thanks. But not a woman. Sorry. And straight ahead, another cycle regular, brian boyler, also not a woman but here to talk about the president s advice for republicans in the new year. So,as my personal financial psychic, im sure you know what this meeting is about. Yes, a raise. Im letting you go. I knew that. You see, this is my amerivest managed. Balances. No. Portfolio. And if doesnt perform well for two consecutive gold. Quarters. Quarters. Yup. Then amerivest gives me back their advisory. Stocks. Fees. Fees. Fees for those quarters. Yeah. So, im confident im in good hands. For all the confidence you need. Td ameritrade. You got this. Youre down with crestor. Yes when diet and exercise arent enough, adding crestor lowers bad cholesterol up to 55 . Crestor is not for people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor all medicines you take. Call your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine, or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of serious side effects. Im down with crestor make your move. Ask your doctor about crestor. You pay your Auto Insurance premium every month on the dot. Youre like the poster child for paying on time. And then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. No big deal. Until your Insurance Company jacks up your rates. You freak out. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . Hey insurance companies, news flash. Nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. Im absolutely sincere when i say i want to work with this new congress, to get things done, to make those investments. To make sure the government is working better and smarter. Were going to disagree on some things, but there are going to be areas of agreement. And weve got to be able to make that happen. And thats going to involve compromise every once in a while. We saw during in lame duck period, perhaps that spirit of compromise may be coming to the fore. The first family heads to hawaii for the holiday. When he gets back, president obama will be greeted by a completely republicancontrolled congress. That is not exactly paradise. For that, lets bring in Senior Editor at the new republic. Great to have on you the show, especially on a friday. Thanks for having me on. The president s recently made some pretty big moves. In order to keep those moves alive, hes got to get republicans on his side. Weve already gotten a taste of their response recently. Marco rubio called him the worst negotiator since jimmy carter. How is this going to go when he gets back from his trip. A lot of the stuff he does on his own, he doesnt have to do much to defend. If republicans use their control of congress to try to pass spending bills or other must pass bills that chip away at those things, he can credibly threat ton veto those. We know the republicans are ahead of 2016. They to want avoid initiating crisis like they did for the first two years of their house majority. So, i think the thins hes done, cuba, immigration, climate change, those are basically secure and will be secure unless a republican wins the white house in 2016. The question is whether republicans are going to be willing or able or want to put those disagreements aside and, you know, put, you know, small points on the board. Make some small ball deals with obama in the way he suggested during the press conference, that he didnt buy just because hes done all those things that republicans cant work with him to do other things that he wants to do. Right. You mentioned republican obstruction, lets say, to president obama. That brings to mind obama care. Very interesting. This this press conference i think we heard president mention obamacare once. No questions on the topic. It used to be if the president sneezed you would have 15 questions about obamacare. There was nothing. Does that mean this is settled . Youre an expert on this. What does this mean for obamacare moving into 2015 . Theres a wild card here. So, if there were no wild card, i would say the obamacare question would kind of go silent for the next two years. Republicans would still politic on it, obviously, but the idea they would pick a big fight or a spending bill or debt limit bill to chip away or roll back obamacare, i think those days are behind us. Theres a Supreme Court case that will be heard and decided in the coming year, which if the courts conservatives rule together with the challengers, it will basically wipe out obamacare subsidies and mostly the individual mandate in about three dozen states. The Supreme Court would be foising the kind of crisis republicans and democrats want to avoid on congress in saying, heres the mess we made and its on you to clean it up. The states might do some stuff to clean it up. But i think that if that happens there will be real resistance by republicans to fix the decision the Supreme Court made and republicans will be working democrats will be trying to prevent republicans from reopening the books and destroying the law and pushing hard to get republicans to say, were not going to let the Supreme Court take Health Care Away from 6 million people. Youll see interest things happen from there. A lot of the people who lose their insurance will be from states like ohio and pennsylvania, where republican senators are going to face tough reelection prospects. That would be the wild card. That would really scramble things. Other than that, i think obamacare is on a glide path right now. Thats good to hear. Another obvious point of contention between the president and republicans is on the Keystone Pipeline. He made interesting comments here, especially to the last question. Would keystone came up. The president has previously said, we should let the process play out. Here he was fairly critical of the Keystone Pipeline being bad for the environment and not really doing much in terms of jobs. I expect that will be a continued point of debate coming up in this upcoming congress. Its probably going to be among the first votes the senate takes when Mitch Mcconnell becomes majority leader. Mitch mcconnell is facing all kinds of competing tensions because hes got his vulnerable members, his conservatives, some of whom want to be president and this narrow window at the beginning because he might only be a twoyear majority leader where he wants to put some points on the board for himself so he can secure a legacy. And keystone is one of these issues where theres a chance that he can sort of outmuscle obama. If he can wrangle up extra democratic votes and get a vetoproof majority for keystone, he can force obamas hand on this one. I think thats what hes hoping to do. If not, at least to use it as a political wedge because its the kind of issue thats really easy to focus group and it polls well. But obama seems geared up to go toe to toe with mcconnell on this. If he thinks he can sustain that veto, hell do it. And so well get to watch that fight play out in the next, you know, three weeks or so i think. Thats absolutely right. And i think that he did have a pugilistic tone at moments, but at other times he seemed to respect this idea that that isnt always going to get things done in the legislative process. One of the lines that jumped out at me is when he was talking about working with the next congress, and he talked about working with the previous congress, attempting to on the immigration bill, but he gave them the space to act. And a lot of people say that this president is not forceful enough in pushing his ideas, but he understands that whichever party the president comes from, the more the president pushes what he wants and attaches himself to a given piece of legislation, an idea, the more the other party will push against that idea. And he understands that he cant just sort of ram things down peoples throats and then get that. The more hands off he is, the more of a chance he might have to actually have that get through. I think he has come to learn that the president , particularly his own presidency, is a polarizing institution, right . And so his the idea that he had earlier in his administration, that just by winning, you create momentum for further victories. Doesnt really resemble how politics actually operate in the United States. But with respect to the issues that hes already acted on and tried to get congress to go along with him and has failed to, immigration, climate, now maybe cuba, i think the next few years is going to be just about sort of holding those executive actions in place and not letting republicans force his hand to roll them back. And then letting the 2016 election kind of determine the ultimate fate of those things. If a democrat wins, they can that democrat can credibly go to congress and say, here are some deeply rooted things. I will keep doing them if you work with me on a bill to codify them. If you want to put it on our immigration policy or energy pole policy, maybe get some conservative goodies thrown in by making these things permanent, then ill work with you. If not, were just going to keep pushing our executive authority in these areas. In a way, hes sort of teeing up an agenda for Hillary Clinton and one shes suggested shes going to run on. So, if she were to win, thats when the issue of all these issues would be thrown sort of back into the legislative arena. You mentioned Hillary Clinton and the future, which begs the question around the direction that this country is going. Nbc wall street journal did a poll. The results came out yesterday. There was a number that stuck out to me. It was 71 . 71 to the next president should take a different approach than president obama. Obviously, he seems like hes in a great mood. He was optimistic today. How do you govern for the next two years when its clear that americans want to go in a completely different direction . Well, i think mainly what you do is you just hope that the recent Economic News continues over the next two years because those numbers will change if the kinds of, you know, jobs numbers, Growth Numbers weve been seeing over the last four, five, six months continue for the next year or two. I think beyond that, his sort of the lack of constraints he faces now make him a more likeable political figure. So, that could help him on the margin, too, to change those numbers. And then for his successor or for his potential successor, theres going to be no running away from things like obamacare, his immigration action, his action on carbon pollution. But what Hillary Clinton or whoever it is can do is sort of say,ly have a different approach to these issues that will make them more palatable to republicans, that will end the ranker. So, the difference between the eventual democratic nominee and obama will be on these sort of superficial approaches to politics and not on the actual substance. I think thats absolutely right. If we dont see you, happy holidays. Thank you. You too. Right after the break, republicans arent the only ones president obama had a message for this afternoon. We will talk about what he said to sony right after this. The Holiday Season is here, which means its time for the volkswagen signthendrive event. For practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a germanengineered volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta. And the 2015 motor trend car of the year allnew golf. If youre wishing for a new volkswagen this season. Just about all you need is a finely tuned. Pen. Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on select new volkswagen models. 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Take the comcast business speed test. Get faster speeds or more savings, or well give you 150. Comcast business. Built for business. We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censureship here in the United States. Or news reports they dont like. And that was president obama this afternoon with some strong comments about sonys decision to cancel the release of the interview. Thats a satirical seth rogen film about assassinating the leader of north korea. Its grabbed a lot of headlines and was the first topic the president was asked about today. The News Conference came hours after the fbi officially declared north korea was behind those hacked emails. Thats where we start as we look at the global issues covered today. The editor of foreign affairs, also has a new ebook called the best of 2014. You should download it. Gideon, thanks for being here. The big issue today, north korea and sony. Were seeing another country, north korea, using cyber and the internet as a geopolitical weapon now. How does that change our approach to Foreign Policy now and national security. Well, it does and it doesnt. The fact that its being cyber, that its cyber terrorism, is a new thing and in some ways a precursor of what we can expect down the road. The general pattern of how you should respond is not new. The whole point of terrorism is to terrorize. Its not just to do damage but to get you to do things in response to that that you wouldnt otherwise do. So, you know, the great philosopher on this is taylor swift because i was not expecting you to go there. The basic response of society should be to shake it off, right . Haters are going to hate. And the challenge is the challenge is how the government can do what it can to protect us and respond and how corporations can take proper security on their cyber front. But the idea youre going to basically let north korean actions and threats dictate what is shown in american theaters is silly. I completely agree with that. There was one thing that struck me. The president obviously very forceful saying, sony made a mistake. Really calling them out. Saying they wish he wished that sony had called him before they made this decision. If he felt so strongly about it, couldnt he have reached out to them and had some impact on this decisionmaking sflosz. Its always difficult. Have you to feel a little bit for sony. They made a bunch of choices along the way. Theyre not feeling regretful about a lot of those. If they could go back, they probably wouldnt have green lighted the movie in the first place. And private companies have a whole lot of obligations. Theyre making profits. They have obligations to their stakeholders. So, i dont fault sony for not talking to the president , but they slv behaved in kind of a cowardly way. Shouldnt he have reached out to them . We dont want the president getting too involved with private companies. I think chastising is a good idea but consultation, not so much. Criticizing them, fine. Consulting with them in advance, over the line. Got it. But i think there is a misunderstanding of the full dynamics here that when we say sony made a mistake, we are misunderstanding that it was a group called nato, the National American theater owners who said, were not showing this picture. They made the decision for sony, right . So, sony suddenly has no sdri t distributor. When they say, were going to pull, it its already been pulled for them. Perhaps nato made a mistake. What you said about sony, if they made a mistake, it was earlier in green lighting this picture. When we talk about First Amendment the First Amendment of this country, that doesnt mean anybody can say anything any time. You cannot yell fire in a crowded theater. There are limits to that. Do you think theres a similar sort of principle invoked, the fire in a crowded theater principle, when we make a film, where we send americans to a foreign country to kill with the intention, the stated intention, of killing that countrys leader and then that actually happens in that film. Seths movies can be an incitement, but not the kind that theyre an incitement of violence against seth i mean, come on, when the south park guys made kim jongun look like an idiot. But when he died were learn being this kind of thing. Look, its its a very tough issue. Its hard to almost every single media outlet is very scared and refuses to post pictures of mohamed for exactly the same reason sony pulled the picture. There is a lot of selfcensureship that goes on. This is easy because its a new thing and everyone believes north korea is a figure of fun. A the question of what you as a media outlet want to do you wont illustrate this with clips from the movie for good reasons, and even if they were available, your corporate sponsors may not be interested in doing that. Its a dicey issue. Its an american policy issue not just a sony issue. This is an act of terrorism in a cyber way, threats of terrorism against an American Corporation. Is this an American Corporation . Should that make the difference . Yeah, we have to protect our people. This is not an American Corporation. Its a japanese corporation, based in america. The u. S. Has to respond in some way. Clearly, they do. As youre saying, this is very much unchartered territory. Here as in ukraine, nato should be more aggressive. What are the options . Because the president says they are planning a proportional response which could be code for we have no idea. The problem is north korea is so backward and so poor and so weak that they dont really have any great things to bomb or could we slap sanctions i was thinking about it. Slap sanctions on cyberspace, we could put north korea back on the state sponsor terror list, maybe freeze north korea business accounts. Are any of these options . They are already pretty isolated. They dont let their own people watch the internet in the first place because they they are afraid of letting information in. What we really could do best is actually what we did with cuba, embrace north korea, flood it with information and let their people actually see what theyre missing. Thats interesting. In the long run, that would be the best way to transform the regime. Thank you very much for your taylor swift rendition. Just shake it off. Were going to shake off this segment right now. Really like the imitation. Well download that ebook. Coming up next, the president talks about the castro brothers. 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Where do i wear aveeno® . Everywhere. Aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion. And try the body wash too. Aveeno®. Naturally beautiful results™. This is still a regime that oppresses its people. And as i said when i made the announcement, i dont anticipate overnight changes. But what i know deep in my bones is that if you had done the same thing for 50 years and nothings changed, you should try Something Different if you want a different outcome. And this gives us an opportunity for a different outcome. This afternoon president obama answered critics of his decision to reengage with cuba, a change unlike any of us have witnessed in our lifetime. As we have seen in the past couple of days, its not sitting well with all cuban americans, mainly those whose families have been directly affected by human rights abuses carried out by the castro brothers. Lets bring in manuel franzia from the Washington Post and msnbcs own alex sites. If cuba is more open, that will bring more freedom and greater selfdetermination to the people of cuba. He didnt say this but i kind of heard him sort of almost wanting to say, perhaps will bring apart a revolution. Hes not actively wishing for that but thats what we to want have in cuba. Do you think openness will ultimately lead to overturning communism in cuba . Look, i think when the president says to not expect overnight changes, its got to be the understatement of the year. He has to understand and im sure that he does, that this is a regime that has total control in their country and that anybody whos very excited about the news that came out yesterday, which was truly historic, should temper that excitement with the knowledge that things move slowly in cuba and this is an entrenched government. We saw you in the briefing room. You look sharp, as always. To that point of things moving slowly in cuba, was this a mistake to announce everything at once . Why not a step by step process . Start with one thing and they be reward cuba for Good Behavior and go from there. Why not go about it that way . I think only time will tell whether that was a diplomatic mistake, but i think politically its shaping up to be a smart move. Clearly thats what theyre going for here. They want to make a big splash about it. They want to package it as another of these major executive actions the president is taking a long with immigration, his recent deal with china on climate change. And he wants to look like hes doing stuff. Hes active despite the setback in the 2014 election and despite being in the final two years of his presidency. You know, picking up on that, manuel, alex raises a good point, there has been a market shift in the way in which the president has governed in the last month alone. He used to be a cautious guy, looking for a grand bargain, trying to work with the other side. In the last month weve seen this cuba deal, immigration executive order, a fleury of activity. What has changed . Is there something that has made it more possible for this cuba deal and others like it to be successful . Look, the Midterm Elections are over now. An argument could be made prior to the Midterm Election is that the president s actions would have somehow affected the fate of democrats who he was hoping would get elected to various offices. Thats over now. It was a disaster for democrats. Now he has freedom in the last part of his presidency to take some big steps. And were seeing him doing that. And i think it probably undercuts some of the narrative that hes cautious a cautious president unwilling to take big, big steps. Alex, blake mentioned the immigration executive action. Interestingly, correct me if im wrong here, i dont think a single question on immigration. Very little mention of immigration at all here, which to me was sort of surprising considering the backlash weve seen from republicans and what a large move that was. Fairly recently. What do you make of that . Yeah, thats right. There was no direct question on it. It did come up. He mentioned it. He basically told the new Republican Congress to bring it on. He said, im not going to stop doing what i think will help the american people. Im going to keep doing whatever i can do in my power. And he said he was confident that he had enough votes to prevent a veto override in congress. But i think the fact that it wasnt a big issue speaks to the fact that republicans dont have a great way to address it. They dont have a great way to roll it back. Theyre sort of stuck with it now. Weve moved on to this next big executive action. Who knows where well be. Republicans say they fight this cuba move tooth and nail. He keeps piling these on. Republicans dont have a great answer. Alex, if the president s presidency was a novel, you would see the seeds for this moment with cuba planted way back early during the campaign, during the 08 campaign, when he said, yes, he would speak to the leaders of rogue nations. He understands and hes always understood that sort of normalizing relations with these sort of countries that are enemies gives you a greater chance to influence them rather than not talking to them at all. Yeah, thats exactly right. This fits with his larger Foreign Policy view. He took a lot of criticism for that on syria, on north korea, on russia, you know, famously Hillary Clinton hit the reset button and has come under huge amount of criticism for that. But this is coming full circle on that. Now that he domestically he cant get huge things through congress. Eats looking at his Foreign Policy agrenada and get back to those priorities he set some time ago. Lets not forget that cuba is still on a spate sponsor for terror. Theyre still on the list, which obviously goes against our policy of never to negotiate with terrorists. Whats going to happen with that . Is that going to go off the list at some point . He asked secretary kerry to review that. That in washington speak sort of sounds like i asked secretary kerry to take them off of that list. It remains to be seen whether that actually will happen, but i thought it was fascinating to hear a United States president say that he had had a long phone conversation or a long conversation with the president of cuba and then make a joke about how it runs in the family that he talks a long time. You couldnt have made that joke 15 years ago. Yeah, thats such a great point. That was a fascinating moment in the press conference. Looking larger picture, how does this opening of our relationship with cuba impact our relationships throughout latin america . Well, look, the u. S. Policy as it reelgts to cuba was unpopular in latin america. And were going to see how the latin american leaders react when they all get together in panama and i think that what youll find is that theyre pleased that the United States is taking some steps to normalize relations with that country. Its interesting you say that its unpopular in south america and central america, but in south florida, the Cuban American Community is largely split 50 50 on these issues. Of course, Older Americans down there, who tend to vote in larger numbers, theyre about 60 in favor of the embargo. So, the americans who are most passionate about this issue and most likely to go to the ballot box, they are largely against lifting the embargo. Well, look, florida is an evolving place. And i think the reaction that we saw in miami this week after this big announcement should tell you a lot. Nobody burned down any buildings. There was some discontentment being expressed, but there werent huge demonstrations. I tell you, if this had happened 15 years ago, there would have been huge demonstrations. That should be an indication to you that an evolution in the way that south florida looks at the relationship with cuba. Some of the more hard line folks are getting older and less active. Younger cuban americans and also other Latin Americans who live in florida are much less inclined to want to fight this fight with castro and maintain a hard line with cuba. Interesting stuff. Thank you very much. Still ahead, the president writes another chapter in his legacy. President ial historian alan lickman is next. We cannot unilaterally bring down the embargo. Thats codified in libretide act. What i do think is going to happen is theres going to be a progress where congress digests it. There are bipartisan supporters of our new approach. Bipartisan detractors of this new approach. People will see how the actions we take unfold. And i think theres going to be a healthy debate inside of congress. 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If they try to water down Consumer Protections that we put in place in the aftermath of the financial crisis, i will say no. And im confident that ill be ape able to uphold vetoes of those types of provisions. This afternoon marked president obamas 57th official News Conference. Lucky number 57. Also today, House Speaker john boehner sent an official invitation to the white house for the president to deliver his state of the union address. That will be on january 20th. Each new opportunity, as the president tries to shape his legacy through a number of actions but dont, involve congress. To help put all of this in perspective, lets talk to president ial historian, alan lickman, professor at american university. Thanks so much for being with us. Sure. I wanted to start with a little, i guess what ill call, the optics or symbolism, the fact that the president chose to call on only female journalists, eight different women selected to ask questions at this press conference. I thought it was an interesting moment of symbolism from a president who doesnt always really get into moments of symbolism. Is there a precedent for this sort of thing . Hey, he has symbolism left because hes not going to get anything through the congress. And i think i think this is a p who realizes the optics are critically important and what is the core base of his Democratic Party . It is women voters. Just as, of course, the johnson administration, when it passed the Voting Rights act, acknowledged africanamericans all over the country and their contributions to the american legacy. The last question was from april ryan about the state of black america. And the president does what he usually does when he talks about race. He was able to frame it in larger than racial concerns, talking about economic things that are not racially intended by help black and brown people. He talked about in the a Historical Context in terms of these are part of our legsy of slavery and jim crow and he ends on a hopeful note. America knows how to solve these sort of problems. Lets listen to the president. I think its been a healthy conversation that weve had. These are not new phenomenon, the fact that they are now surfacing, in part because people are able to film what had just been in the past, stories passed on around a kitchen table, allows people to make their own assessments and evaluations. And youre not going to solve the problem if its not being talked about. No president can speak to the racial issues the way he has been able to. Has that made a difference . Well see if it makes a difference. This but in the long term it will absolutely make a difference in terms of both opening up this conversation and in terms of practical measures including the move to put body cameras on police officers. It wont solve all the problems but it will make things better but its what we are seeing here is president obama treading a fine line. When John F Kennedy came in he had to prove he was the president of all people, not just catholics, president obama has been very careful to prove he is the president of all americans not just africanamericans, thereby laying a foundation for other minority president s whether it be more africanamericans, hispanics, although women are not a numerical minority we have not had a woman president. The tone seemed relaxed. The first thing he said all i want for christmas is to answer all your questions. He seemed like he was in a good mood ready to go on vacation. On the surface it seemed like happy and light hearted president but under beneath it was a newsy press conference. What do we remember most . Is it the tone or the substance . In this case, theres no great headline except maybe for the fact that he thinks that sony was wrong in pulling the movie. But i think the tone was very important. I think this was a relaxed and confident president. Doesnt have to face another election and he has done something brilliant with his executive orders, not only has he burnished his legacy but he put the republicans who just won a huge victory in a very difficult political box. They have a choice to make. They can spend all their time proving their are the party of no and trying to fight all of these initiatives, or they can spend their time on doing positive things. This is a really tough dilemma that the republicans are in. They always wanted to pace defeats on the face of this president. But now its tougher. Its funny that you raised that but the president took a more aggressive tact at this press conference and it seems like the left is having a moment. I want to get your historical expertise here. Elizabeth warren, maybe running for president. You have the president in the last month had a flurry of activity that progressives would like. You is the disappearance of the mod rall blue dog democrats in the congress. Am i right or given your expertise is this just something that happens in waves or is this Something Real happening here . I think there is something very real happening here. Historically you cannot win by alienating your base. Look, in 1964, Lyndon Johnson won the vote but he was driven out of office and the republicans came back in 1968 to win the presidency. Youve got to have your base on board. Weve seen here the morphing of president obama from a jimmy carter to a franklin roosevelt, from a hesitating president to a bold and active president. And lets not forget who is the champion in issuing executive orders, fdr with over 3,000. Obama only has 300. It is going to be very interesting to see how this new tact plays politically. Thank you very much as always. Stick with us. Were going to have a final word right after this. Its the sbreentrepreneur oe week. This new oxford Pennsylvania Store is closed only four days a year. Why . He says its because of customer demand. For more watch your business at 7 30 on msnbc. If i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make Smart Business decisions. If you mess up, fess up. Be your partners best partner. We built it for our members, but its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. The steps that we took early on to rescue our economy and rebuild it on a new foundation helped make 2014 the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s. A nice positive note to end this special edition of the cycle as we look at a new year and a new congress. And for now we look forward to now with alex wagner. Two castros, a kim and james flacco. What could more could america want from a yearend News Conference . Its friday, december 19th and this is now. The president ial press conference comes amid historic moves on cue baa and a computer hack. The fbi concluded that north korea is responsible for the Sony Pictures hack that pulled the plug on the movie the interview. The fbi statement said the sony hack reaffirms that cyberattacks pose one of the greatest threats to the United States. The president said that he understands the concerns be you says that sony was wrong to shelf the film. Yes, i think they made a mistake. We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can impose censorship in the United States. Sony pictures ceo michael linten responded by saying that