and for a good night s rest, try aleve pm for a better am. president obama sat down today with hardball s chris matthews and they got right to the politics of a controversial trade deal that s supported by the president but opposed by some democrats. mr. president, obviously the hot question u.s. senator elizabeth warren is out there saying things like this about the trade agreement we re going to talk about today. it s going to help the rich get
time now for conversation nation. joining me tonight political strategist angela rye, political science professor jason johnson and mike.com s liz plank. thank you all for being here. thanks reverend. pleasure to be here. we start with president obama and his highest approval rating in two years, 48% of americans approve, and the numbers are rising as americans are more optimistic on the economy. 52% say the economy is either very good or somewhat good. from the start president obama has pushed the middle class. he talked about it with hardball s chris matthews. chris, think about it. i ve spent the last six and a half years yanking this economy
here s hardball s year in review. joining me is ann hornday the great movie critic for the washington post. let s start with american hustle which was awarded best film of the year. it s about the abscam where one united states senator and six members of congress were convicted of bribery and conspiracy back in 1981. in the movie a very idealistic new jersey mayor who cares deeply about the people of his city is seduced by the promises of the good he can do when a federal agent posing as a middle eastern sheikh suggests money can close the deal. let s watch. you re going to do this because you ve got to choice. you work for me. you keep changing the rules. you re getting a little power drunk, richard. you want to wake him up?
let s next time do steak, eggs, bacon smoothy. with a squeeze of lemon. coming up on morning joe, hardball s chris matthews will welcome back us. msnbc s andrea mitchell. david grower and cardinal donald wuerl will join us. next the top stories in the politico playbook. bill karins has a check on the forecast. weekend warm and toasty in d.c. 70 by sunday. yesterday was 60 in d.c. people thought that was warm. wait until sunday opinion let s talk about this crazy december weather we re going on. this is a roller coaster ride. temperatures are going up and crash right down before christmas. as far as the warm air goes this morning it s 46 in d.c. at 67 to start your morning in texas. what s going on, summer like
but at the same time it should not be shot down. fair enough. good way to put it. senator lugar, the first time we ve had you on the show since you got your medal of freedom. congratulations. some footage of that. what a tremendous event. for our whole family. all right. anyways, good to see you, sir. coming up, my tuesday take-away. republicans in a bit of a fix now or not? now that the health care website seems to be up and running, a reminder to mark your calendars. speaking of calendars, a reminder that at 7:00 p.m. on thursday, an msnbc exclusive, hardball s chris mathews will be interviewing the president on a college tour at american university. before we go to break, white house soup of the day. turkey lentil. if you re seeing spots before your eyes. it s time. for aveeno® positively radiant face moisturizer. [ female announcer ] only aveeno® has an active naturals total soy formula that instantly brightens skin.