Teethchattering, facenumbing bonechilling cold. Its no joke. Its winter and its supposed to be cold and snow is not uncommon in the northeast this time of year. But this . This relentless stretch of Winter Weather is something else. The air mass responsible for much of it arrived from siberia. Were talking really cold. We can try to embrace it like these red pandas at the zoo, but lets face it were not equipped like they are. The bushy tails are used as wrap around blankets. These are natives of the himalayas. We humans are left to deal with the brutal cold in other ways like in kentucky where the Harland City Police Department tried to arrest elsa from frozen. And this character from freezing cold misery. Both cases were attempts to make the situation a little more bearable. Its our human nature. Were trying to find the Silver Lining because the reality is this series of winter storms has been merciless. Meteorologists say this week ranks among the most intense Arctic Arctic outbreaks for the eastern u. S. At least 25 people have died in this latest cold snap. 18 of them in tennessee. At least 500 daily record lows have been broken over the last few days and more record lows are expected today. Below average temperatures will continue in much of the midwest and northeast and the Weather Channel forecast shows more than a dozen locations in the northeast and midatlantic that could shatter record lows this morning. Well have more on this dangerously cold Winter Weather later in the show so stay inside, turn on the tv. We have a lot to get to this morning. This week it was hard to distinguish the real headlines from the onions. When Vice President joe biden made news for his behavior of the swearing in of the new defense secretary ash carter. He wasnt diamond joe, the inappropriate uncle alter ego who makes frequent appearances, but he was exhibiting major boundary issues with the secretarys rife resting his hands on her shoulders and leaning in close, really close to whisper something in her ear. It was his daily collar headline. Cant even defend his wife from joe biden. It may be a joke but this notion that by leaving his wife exposed the secretary has failed in one of his most basic duties of his position. It gives it the heart of american expectations for those we hold responsible for safeguarding national security. Americans have long equated a National Defense with a paternal great protector standing between us and whoever or whatever might cause our nation harm. We have historically imagined the vulnerability of that threat as distinctly feminine. That narrative that was used during both world wars and u. S. Military propaganda that sold recruits on the idea that their Service Abroad was needed to protect women and children back home. In American Leadership it was embodied by president roosevelt who projected his believes about masculinity on to the National Identity and Foreign Policy under his ideology of speak softly and carry a big stick. In fact some of his favorite manly man pursuits hunting and horse back riding and war making give him a lot in common with a devoted following from fans of American Government who believe our current Foreign Policy approach really needs a shot of testosterone. Vladimir putins own fondness for slaying wild beasts and invading other nations made him an attractive alternative last year for critics of president obamas approach to Foreign Policy. The same president obama who in matters of domestic policy has been accused by opponents of an aggressive overreach, but in all matters foreign is cast as a weak leader who emboldens our enemies with his inability to man up. A columnist distilled that critique down to a single question last april on meet the press. Lets face it. Obama does have a manhood problem in the middle east. Is he tough enough to stand up to assad or putin . With the improving economy leaving few easy domestic targets for republican president ial contenders, Foreign Policy is to be an ensuing performance of masculinity we can expect candidates competing to answer that question. Is he tough enough . What does that mean in an election where one of those hes is likely to be a she. Hillary clinton may be entering the race bringing along all her secretary of state credentials. Its 3 00 a. M. And your children are safe asleep. Who do you want answering the phone . Im Hillary Clinton and i approve this message. To make things even more interesting, she might be facing a republican opponent who is carrying his own baggage. A president ial legacy that includes a spectacular failure, a swaggering approach to Foreign Policy. In association with the former Florida Governor jeb bush is clearly aware of as this week he tried to carve out a masculine identity distinct from his u brothers while also painting the Current Administration as weak kneed and incapable. I have doubts whether this administration believes American Power is such a force. Under this administration we are inconsistent and indecisive. We have lost the trust and confidence of our friends. We definitely no longer inspire fear in our enemies. Joining me now is heather herlburg director of policy change at the new america foundation. Jim arcadia, president of 4 4dpack. Com. And christina, editor in chief of roll call. Im going to start with christina. Is this election going to be a tough enough Foreign Policy election in part . Yeah, in some ways. I think it was in 2008 as well. Think about the very first distinction between Hillary Clinton and barack obama when they got on the stage in South Carolina in 2007. Who would set down and directly have conversations with our biggest enemies. Barack obama says yes, i would. That became the biggest flash point in that campaign and it was Hillary Clinton who was saying barack obama wasnt tough enough. And then fast forward, she becomes his actual global ambassador to carry out his Foreign Policy. The conversation here is just so bizarre because its not as if the leader of the United States youre going to have hand to hand combat with somebody. Are you ever going to physically instill fear in someone . This actually came up. In this discourse aboutist skpis whether or not our president was as powerful and manly as the king of jordan, who was like hey, im going to get in a fighter jet. There was a way where initially that idea of being a veteran was a standard for running for the u. S. Presidency in a post vietnam world that basically after clinton it hasnt been true. Im wondering if were going to return to a moment where we see Foreign Policy as a kind of masculine swagger as opposed to an obama philosophy. Its about the mix between masculine and feminine. There are times we have to be tough and there are times we have to talk and use the soft power elements. This is everything from economic aid to ensuring that Democratic Institutions are built abroad. These are the elements of our National Power that get short in our national debate. We have to understand as a country that we have to have an institutional fortitude in building these capacities over the longterm and as americans we dont have that patience all the time. But its one thing to talk about what the actual policy is and talk about the strategy in the context of a campaign is. Part of what im constantly surprised by is this sense that Americans Still think republicans are better at Foreign Policy. They are stronger and tougher. You started to get to it a second ago chrks is hangover of the post vietnam era. This is an era for the baby boomers. Bill clinton was attacked for going to russia. He was a russian covert spy that was sleeper agent. I was in his room the morning he found out about it. And i worked for john kerry. This is particularly go after democrats on. Im not sure has the same resonance in generations after them. But Rudy Giuliani speaks for a different generation of the older, white, middle class guys who are used to seeing a president kind of swing the flag around and show how big it is. Swing that flag and how big is your flag pin . Its interesting because jeb bush is in a different category. I want to listen for a moment. Hes heres jeb bush, who is going to have to because his last name is bush account for the fact that his brother was president during a bad foreign poll policy time. Lets listen for a moment. There were mistakes made in iraq, for sure. Using the intelligence capability that everybody embraced about weapons of mass destruction was not accurate. My brothers administration through the surge, which was one of the most heroic act ofgs courage that any president has done because there was no support for this and it was hugely successful. So the language here mistakes were made intelligence capabilities and everybody embraced at the time. Part of what im wondering when we think about the actual work of Foreign Policy and we think about the pollitics of it, how we can smush away some of the politics so we are making decisions in our elections based on what is reasonable Foreign Policy. The reason these politics have been so hard to smush away is they are really coming from our sort of rat brains. It turns out frustratingly its even bigger than post vietnam that we do at some primal level you still have 40 of americans and 32 of democrats saying men are better leaders on national security. We are primed in some way about the daddy party and the mommy party. And the way we can deal with that is for women candidates to be very aware that thats an issue and find their own way of saying, hey, im the pioneer woman with the gun at the door. When hillary did that when she became the annie oakly, it didnt work for her. Heres the thing about Hillary Clinton which is different. Hold it. Were going to talk about more. News overnight with the brand new secretary of defense. Thats when we come back. At kraft we start with eggs oil, and our own crafted vinegar. All expertly blended to make our mayo. So you can take whatever youre making from good to amazing. 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Ring ring progresso i cant believe im eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sisters wedding well its only 100 calories, so youll be ready for that dress uhhuh. You dont love the dress . I love my sister. 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. My name is tony sartorio. Im a lineman for pg e out of the Concord Service center. I have lived here pretty much my whole life. I have been married for twelve years. I have 3 kids. I love living here and i love working in my hometown. At pg e we are always working to upgrade reliability to meet the demands of the customers. Im there to do the safest job possible not only for them, but everybody, myself included that lives in the community. Im very proud to do the work that i do and say that i am a lineman for pg e because its my hometown. Its a rewarding feeling. Just days into his very first week in office new secretary of Defense Ash Carter traveled overnight to afghanistan where hes meeting with u. S. Troops and talking with afghan leaders about how to ensure lasting stability as those troops withdraw from the country. In a joint press conference, secretary carter said one possibility is to extend the troop presence in afghanistan. Our priority now is to make sure this progress sticks. That is why president obama is considering a number of options to reenforce our support for the president s security strategy, including possible changes to the time line for our draw down of u. S. Troops. That could mean taking another look at timing and sequencing of base closures to ensure we have the right array of capabilities to support our afghan partners. So theres the secretary of defense, were reminded that the Obama Administration is going on, but were already gearing up for 2016. Talk to me about the Hillary Clinton of it all here. I have a bit of a different take on Hillary Clinton. She had a different problem in 2008 than other people. Her campaign was particularly worried about running her so she looked strong. Shes going to be the Margaret Thatcher in this race. Americans already knew Hillary Clinton was tough. What they didnt knew what was what passions she had. It wasnt until the moment in New Hampshire where she started to tear up that everybody said, theres a person inside of there we might connect with. That changed the trajectory of her campaign. Nobody is tougher than Hillary Clinton and nobody is going to be. The question is what does she want to do for the country . I keep suggesting that i think theres going to be a woman on the republican ticket. And im wondering are there models. If the Republican Party is the daddy party, is there a model of women running in the Republican Party who do this defense thing differently . The first person i would point to is joni ernst, who struggled at the beginning of her campaign to attract women. By the end, pulled 50 of the female vote. Talks about her military service. Looks tough, but also very feminine. The clinton folks have been worried that somehow looking tough makes you not look feminine. Ernst is a big one. Kelly ayotte who is a military wife. I dont love her positions on issues, but she sits on armed services. She does a great job. Shes from a swing state. Even if its a smaller swing state. Martha mcsally. She won a contested house race and used her experience to really make it a local race about the air force jet. And this is exactly what she put down and the Republican Leaders point to her. This can be the future. Its a generational change more than it is a shift in who the types of people are. I want to pop back on this idea of how we use the military. A key insight that our Foreign Policy has been militarized. Ebola outbreaks, second the military. Tsunami, send the military. Im wondering if im sitting here trying to have a more complicated way of thinking about our Foreign Policy is but now the military is the one thing that can globe trot for the u. S. . Think about how we got here. The cold war ended and it was all military all the time. The Clinton Administration came in and there was a peace dividend. They had the opportunity to draw down the budgets. Then the military gets a blank check to do whatever we want. Any time theres a crisis around the world, military or otherwise, just as you said, its the globe trotting expertise. Its like its the ups of United StatesForeign Policy where you have a problem. The military has somehow, somewhere, everything you need to try to solve that problem. Its easy to call on. This is right. As a politician what you want to go after is somebody with credibility. So in all the other pieces of government, the American Public feels like they cant do anything. The military advertises. They spend millions of dollars advertising every day. I have to say i have all the feelings about the american sniper movie, but i keep wondering if the film and sort of what its doing right now is in part contributing to where were going to in 2016 around this idea of the sole man who will protect us all. More to come on this topic and also about the most monumental thing that happened all week. Welcome to the most social car weve ever designed. The allnew nissan murano. Nissan. Innovation that excites. Turn around every now and then i get a little bit hungry and theres nothing good around turn around, barry i finally found the right snack [ female announcer ] fiber one. Ive had it with my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. The frustration. Covering up. So i talked with my doctor. He prescribed enbrel. Enbrel is clinically proven to provide clearer skin. Many people saw 75 clearance in 3 months. And enbrel helped keep skin clearer at 6 months. 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