With us on set, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle. I thought you were going to try and get out early. I was. Yeah . I was. But here i am. The good news never ends. Im not sure how that happened. Usually you just leave. Msnbc political an vis and Vice President and executive editor of msnbc. Com, Richard Wolffe is with us. Hello, richard. Good morning. How are you . And we have the chairman of deutsche incorporated. Now you perked up. Now it just happened. Are you serious . Really . Did you just say that . There was a whole body language thing that happened. Or it was just some bad tacos from last night. Right. It was definitely not body language for you, donny. Oh, my god wow wow great stuff. Have you seen just 1dt whats the latest on his knee . Well, it was a major operation. It was a reconstruction of his knee, but dr. Andrews indicated that he was hopeful that he would be able to participate in the 2013 season. Well see. I dont know. If youre not hopeful as a surgeon, why are you a surgeon . Thats true. Thats true. Youre probably an undertaker. Andrea . We are hoping, they say best case, six to eight months. I think thats a Little Optimist optimistic, but this is a very tough guy. One can just hope. Obviously, this was not what anyone would have wanted. And some bad choices were made. Andrea, are they calling for shanahans head in washington . Can this guy even show his face anywhere . Its been pretty rough, and i think its beginning to quiet down just a little bit. I think its still very, very tough on the coach. And a lot of people are quest n questioning why rg3 put himself in that position. He kept him in, but obviously the coach is in charge and should have figured it out. Lets get to the news now because i think that was sports news, which well save for later. The White House Task force thats examining ways to reduce gun violence is set to deliver a list of proposals to the president by tuesday. Vice President Joe Biden who has been meeting this week with groups from different sides of the guncontrol debate offered a glimpse of what might be in store. There is a surprising so far a surprising recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks. Not just close the gun show loophole but total universal background checks including private sales. Theres also a good deal of talk about gun safety and what responsibility goes along with gun ownership. Ive never quite heard as much talk about the need to do something about highcapacity magazines. As ive heard spontaneously from every group that weve met with so far. There is nothing that has pricked the consciousness of the American People. There is nothing that has gone to the heart of the matter more than the visual image people have of little 6yearold kids riddled not shot with a stray bullet riddled, riddled with bullet holes in their classroom. And i think we can do a great deal without in any way imposing on or impinging on the rights of the Second Amendment. Seems to make sense. Biden met yesterday with representatives of the National Rifle association which has added 100,000 new members since the shooting in newtown, connecticut. From the gun lobbys perspective, the meeting did little to bridge differences on the issue. It wasnt so much an openended, it was a polite but not a real conversation. It was two sides stating their positions. And then leaving. So the administration was able to check the box and say they had talked to the representatives of firearms owners and the groups that support the Second Amendment, and now they were going to try to proceed with what they wanted to do. Okay. M Mark Mckinnon says the gun issue is damaging the Republican Party, and he writes, in part, this. As a republican, i think its yet another instance where the party, by refusing to recognize reality, is going to end up looking like the stupid party that fails to adapt and evolve to changing circumstances in our society. On issues where the physics are moving irrevocably forward like immigration, gay rights, and guns, the Republican Party continues to look backward, and backyard is a sure path toward irrelevance. Ive heard you use the word the stupid party before. I know Mark Mckinnon with no labels is trying to forge a new path from both sides of the aisle. Having said that, isnt that your concern about the party as well . I think its fascinating what he said there. What do you think, donny, about the partys brand . Pretty clear. Pretty clear. Theyve just got to figure out that the definition first of a brand is a values system, is what you stand for. They can stay true to their values, your value, of being conservative. The classic definition of conservative without looking like idiots, without looking like theyre still living in another century. So is the key to have, like, a core mission my brand is this. I do this as whether i sell coke or whether i sell, you know, running shoes, its kind of like if nike decided that they were going to get into high fashion. Thats outside their brand. So do you have a core mission and then the brand . Yes. So for republicans, it would be like small government. Rugged individualism. Rugged individualism. Less taxes. Less government, power to the individual. That does not mean that the brand attributes of that are gun magazines with 30 clips in them. Extremist, irrelevant views that do not sink in with an evolving demographic. They are an outdated brand. The Washington PostEditorial Board writes that biden Gun Task Force must not overreach, warning, in part, the white house can show leadership on the related issues of Mental Health and of violence in entertainment and video games, but the urgency of action and the deep polarization of our politics means the administration should choose its legislative priorities carefully, aiming for those with broad public support and a reasonable chance of approval. As mr. Biden vowed the other day, we are not going to get caught up in the notion that unless we can do everything, were going to do nothing, its critically important that we act. And Andrea Mitchell, im just wondering, is there a worry . Because everybody talk to chris christie, ive heard from both sides of the aisle, from those who do believe there needs to be legislation out of what happened in newtown, that it needs to be threefold, basically. And we know what the three issues are, not just guns, but is there a concern that it will be weighted down in three issues that people will then lock heads over and nothing will get done, or is this different . I think the concern is real, and it should be a deep concern because what joe biden telegraphed yesterday and what the white house is signaling is that they dont think they can do the assault weapon ban, and theyre not going to try. Theyre going to deal with the magazines. Theyre going to talk about background checks, but theyre going to try for something that they think is possible and reach as broad a possible coalition. And that means that the assault weapon isolation that Dianne Feinstein has been pushing and you have similar legislation in the house, the white house does not think that it can achieve that. What do you think, joe . Its all about counting votes at the end of the day. Richard wolffe, do they have the votes . It depends for what, theyri . The politics is just too difficult for everyone in congress. Democrats have to do something meaningful. Republicans have to move off of what has been basically a no position on any type of gun measures. You know, youve got such an emotional weight. I know everyone says, well, its all fading. I dont believe that for a minute. These families are organized. Youve got mayor bloombergs Organization Behind as well. Very powerful tigsi inadvertisi. This is going to be front and center as it happens right now. I think saying no or not doing enough, whatever the enough is defined as, is not acceptable. So theyve got to find the votes for something, something beyond just beating up the media, right . Thats the easy thing, to blame it on movies and oh, its all, you know, music we dont particularly listen to. And so yeah, i think there has to be some measures about these highcapacity ammunition and firearms. But beyond that, the background check thing, i think, is really interesting. If you look at what Public Perceptions are of gun laws, they do not match up to the reality. People think there are far more background checks going on than actually take place. And when you have that mismatch, thats where you can actually do stuff in terms of politics. So what do you think, mika . Do you think what happened in december, on december 14th, has staying ability to break through to even the hardest hearts in washington . I feel like were going to see, between now and the next four years from now, the Republican Party struggle for a new voice and new leaders and new faces. And either some of them have got to get out of the way, because they dont make sense anymore and theyre not in the mainstream and theyre not connected with reality, or theyre not going to win again. To that point, joe, i want to ask you a question. Maybe im missing something, if i was running some guys campaign, if i was running, save half a dozen states, some crazy pure red states, if im running some guys campaign, i say to a republican today, guess what . Heres the ticket to winning. Move over. Chris christie, look at him. Bobby jindal, look at him. Thats the new republican path to winning. So i dont get the formula that oh, if you start to loosen on guns, if you start to loosen on immigration, that all of a sudden youre going to lose elections. I see that as the ticket to winning elections today. Mike, the followed the power of the gun lobby for a long time. Can somebody do that . Can a republican do that . I think a republican can do almost anything on universal background checks. Universal background checks is the key. Thats the first step. Get that in there. Almost youd almost want to say, the Vice President s task force would almost want to say, okay, next thursday in the house, were going to have a vote on universal background checks. Thats the steppingstone to get us to some sensible position. How can anyone, with any common sense, no matter where you are in the ideological spectrum, be against universal background checks . And by the way, ive seen some polls, like 85 of americans want universal background checks. Yeah. By a republican pollster. 85 want universal background checks which would go a long way in getting rid of some of the insanity that we see at gun shows and online where there are no background checks. I thought it was interesting that david keene goes to see the Vice President and represents the nra rather than Wayne Lapierre who i think cost the nra a huge, huge percentage of people who support the nra, obviously. But universal background checks gets the door open, and maybe then you can get highcapacity magazines. 75 want that also. So i keep missing the political minefield of why a republican cant move on guns. Im not seeing it. I look at the numbers. Look at the 100,000 new members of the nra, literally, now, of all times . Its a pretty deep division, Andrea Mitchell. And i have seen no sign, even though they very smartly did keep Wayne Lapierre out of the white house meeting, i dont see any sign that the nra is ready to give on the background checks, even, which they ought to. But they have not conceded anything. They feel really empowered, as mika just pointed out, the rise in members, they say rise in money, but it isnt their grassroots membership that really matters, its the clout they have in washington. They feel really empowered by this, and guns are leaping off the shelves even as the Vice President was sitting down with a series of people yesterday. Remember what happened at Taft High School near bakersfield, california, where it was a student apparently with a shotgun he had gotten from his brother, illegal gun, and injured another student, one student critically. The armed guard at that high school was not on duty because, by all reports, he was stuck in snow and couldnt get in. And there wasnt a replacement. The question to ask perfect storm. Its just a terrible tragedy that happened out there as well, but heres a good time to ask the question, what if that shooter had a bushmaster exactly. Instead of a shotgun . I thought that, yeah. How many people would be killed. How many people would be dead today, would be talking about another newtown. Thats the issue. And thats the america that some of these members of Congress Want where they are bound by special interest groups, extremists and survivalists. If they really believe they need the survivalist vote, they really need to the only way they can win and get reelected is by having the vote in support of people who believe the federal government is coming to kill them and seize their property in 2013, then that is a party thats headed towards extinction. It just is. And Mark Mckinnon was absolutely right. Peggy noonan wrote did it this morning in her wall street journal column. This party is going to have to start choosing its fights more wisely, richard. If we decide that were going to fight universal background checks so gang members can go to gun shows and get assault weapons. Right. If were going to fight all these basic, commonsense gun Safety Measures that most of americans support, then we are a Republican Party thats headed towards extinction. And all the screamers and all the squawkers on talk radio who are going to scream and squawk because they want fire them up. They want to fire up. A very small base. They need a very, very small group of people to be successful and drive ad sales for gold bullion compared to a republican president ial candidate that has to get 270 electoral votes. Or even a statewide candidate. You know, there is a framework for this. You know, the Republican Party has traditionally prided itself in being the party of personal responsibility. There is a personal responsibility frame for these kind of measures. Thats turning the brand, staying true to their brand value, but turning it. Exactly. Which is to say responsible gun ownership means its okay to say yeah, im qualified to have a gun because im sane. You know, undergoing background checks, these arent greater regulations, in fact, theyre lesser regulations than you need to own a car. By the way, can we just break through the b. S. Here . This is not for the nra about Second Amendment rights. Justice scalia clearly laid out in heller what Second Amendment rights were and what they were not. The most conservative justice on the supreme court, an tone scalia, made it very clear, assault weapons were not protected by the Second Amendment. This is not about protecting the Second Amendment. This is about gun manufacturers making millions and millions and millions of dollars. This is about retailers making millions and millions and millions of dollars. Do you know how much money these people have made over the slaughter of 20 innocents in newtown . Do you know how much richer these rich gun manufacturers have gotten over the past month and how the nra uses that tragedy to gin up fears and websites use that tragedy to gin up fears that theyre coming to take your guns away . Hey, got a message for you. They cant take your guns away. Weve got something called the Second Amendment to the constitution of the United States. Anthony scalia in 2009 said they cant come and take your guns away. You can have a handgun to protect your family. But outside of that, they can regulate guns. And if youre a survivalist and you really believe the federal government is coming to kill you and your children, if thats your view in 2013, your paranoid, sick, twisted view, good luck getting the republicans to jump in your pickup truck and drive off the cliff towards political oblivion. Thats whats going to happen. Wake up. That group of people. Then theres the towns and cities that are the home base to gun manufacturers. If you look at colt firearms outside hartford, connecticut, the state voted against or actually put off a vote on a certain inscription on the gun so they can track them better because colt threatened to leave. Money. To that point and to joes point, gun profits are largely what this is about more than regulation. Its money. Sure. Its gun profits. The nra is about money. But a derivative of it in terms of a strategy to develop, to get the vote for, you know, universal background checks, i would suggest that the phrase gun control be dropped and gun sense be used in Going Forward with a strategy. Gun sense. Guess what . This isnt gun control. No. The word regulate is in the Second Amendment. The big lie that the nra is pushing on gun owners to try to whip stupid people into a frenzy is theyre coming to take your guns away. I say stupid people because you have to be stupid in 2013 to believe that the federal government can come and take your handguns or shotguns. You have to be stupid. The law of the land is they cannot there is a constitutional right that the Second Amendment says what i always believed the Second Amendment said, and Richard Wolffe, in 2009, scalia said it. You have got a right to keep and bear arms. Not a musket, a handgun. Right. Or a shotgun in your house to protect y