Morning joe. Ive got to go. Mika thank you so much for being with us today. We greatly appreciate it. Coming up right now we have chuck todd and the daily rundown. Well see you tomorrow. Capital offense. President obama puts congress on notice with his push for expanding gun regulation. Can his supporters cobble together enough votes on california total hicapitol hillo get what he wants. Well talk to Stanley Mcchrystal. Find out what the man who led the u. S. Mission in afghanistan has to say about his ouster. President obamas pentagon pick and a lot more. And 2013 kicks off with another sports scandal. Suddenly, a tearjerking tragedy for one of College Footballs brightest stars turns into a twisted tale of lies. Good morning from washington, its thursday, january 17th, 2013, this is the daily rundown, im chuck todd. We couldnt ignore teo. The first read of the morning. The president didnt just roll out a new set of gun proposals. He launched an Emotional Campaign to try to get congress to act, devoting more time lying out the need for new action on guns than the plans themselves. Using every tool at his disposal to tap into public anger and grief about gun violence. In front of an audience that included parents of newtown victims, and making an emotional reference to one of the children who died. 7yearold grace mcdonnell. Im told she loved pink. She loved the beach. She dreamed of becoming a painter. Chris, her father, gave me one of her paintings. And i hung it in my private study, just off the oval office. And every time i look at that painting, i think about grace. When it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now. For grace. President outlined four major points, what he called concrete steps, to keep kids safe. Each one evoking memories of past mass shootings. First, Mental Health and informationsharing. The executive action will make it easier to share Mental Health records with authorities. A move maybe that could have identified seunghei cho as a threat before the massacre. There was the ban that expired in 2004 and the type of gun used in newtown, connecticut is the kind that would be banned under a new law. A limit on the size of magazine clips. The president wants legislation to limit clips to ten bullets. Something that would have reduced, perhaps, the number killed in the aurora, colorado Movie Theater massacre. And then there is the president s most important push. And thats for universal background checks. This is probably the thing that has the best chance of getting through congress. Has the support of some gun rights advocates. And might, just might, get bipartisan support. Universal background checks could have prevented the Columbine High School gunman from buying an assault weapon from a private seller who had bought it at a gun show. The president also proposed clearing the way for schools who want armed guards to get them. But he made just a passing reference to violent video games calling for research on their effects. And there was not a single mention of hollywood, violence, television or movies. President obama knows the only way anything meaningful will get done, though, on guns is if gun control advocates are able to tap into public emotion. Frustration and anger. Yesterday he pleaded with americans to confront congress directly. Ask them whats more important. Doing whatever it takes to get a a grade from the gun lobby that funds their campaigns or giving parents some peace of mind when they drop their child off for first grade. And he showcased the children that have written him since newtown. On the letter that julia wrote me, she said, i know that laws have to be passed by congress. But i beg you to try very hard. Julia, i will try very hard. Today, the white house outreach on guns kicks into high gear. The president has an oped in the connecticut post saying, quote, the truth there is only one voice powerful enough to make this happen. Yours. The white house sent a campaignstyle email signed by have happened biden, saying now is the time to come together to protect our kids. And then they launched a website and social Media Campaign called now is the time. This afternoon. , biden will speak to the u. S. Conference of mayors in washington. A big part of his speech will be on guns. Now, the political fight moves to congress. The first Senate Hearing on issues related to gun violence will be held in two weeks on january 30th, in the judiciary committee. Next thursday, california senator, dianne feinstein, will reintroduce the assault weapons ban on the floor of the senate. But so far, reaction has been fairly predictable with both house and Senate Leaders sounding as if a stalemate already exists. Majority leader harry reid and Speaker John Boehner appear to be in a game of legislative chicken. Boehners spokesman released a statement after the president s speech saying, simply, house committees of jurisdiction will review these recommendations and if the Senate Passes a bill, we will also take a look at that. Reid, of course, who has already said the senate will only consider legislation that can pass the house said in a very vague, carefullyworded statement yesterday, quote, i am committed to ensuring that the senate will consider can legislation that addresses gun violence and other aspects of violence in our Society Early this year. Reid, of course, has home state politics to worry about, as well as keeping a number of red state democrats in line. Many of them are up for reelection in 2014. Potentially vulnerable. Montana senator max baucus responded to the senate in a statement, quote, before passing new laws, we need a debate that respects responsible, lawabiding gun owners in montana instead of a onesizefitsall directives from washington. Joe manchin said, quote, im disappointed the president did not recommend the creation of a National Commission on Mass Violence that i have proposed. A National Commission can build the consensus we need for real action, backed not only by gun control advocates, Mental Health experts and Entertainment Industry executives but also by lawabiding gun owners. The white house is worried that if this fight becomes too much about the assault weapons ban, and not enough about measures, which are more politically possible, theyll have a problem. They want to keep people focused on fights they can win. Background checks, things like that. Republicans have unsurprisingly responded negatively, including florida senator marco rubio. By the own admission of the white house, what they have proposed to do would do nothing to have prevented what happened in connecticut or colorado before that or any of these other places where this has occurred. I actually think the president and doesnt have the guts to admit it, is not a believer in the Second Amendment. The white house is also up against the nra, which is raising money. Emailing support, to upgrade their membership to prepare for, quote, the fight of the century. Barack obama, joe biden and their gun ban allies in it congress only want to blame you, vilify you, bully you and strip you of your Second Amendment freedoms. Nra president david keen made these slippery slope argument that has become all too familiar from them. This morning on the today show. You get into the sort of bidding match. They say we shouldnt have a 30round magazine or 20round. The president says lets have a ten. The governor of new york says well, i can top that, well have a sevenround magazine. But did the nra go too far by invoking president obamas daughters, even before he spoke in a video attack . Keene defended the decision this morning with savannah. It wasnt about the president s daughters. What it is about is the fact that the ad does mention the president s daughters. Its how to keep children safe. Finally, as we gear up for the president s second inaugustration, are we better off than we were four years ago . The answer depends on the statistics you pick. There are plenty of numbers suggesting that the country is on more solid footing than it was when the president started in 2009. The dow is up 5,550 points since then, just shy of the 14,000 mark. The economy is growing. Instead of contracting. In the First Quarter of 2009, the gdp contracted 5. 3 . It grew 3. 1 when the last time it was officially measured. Though remains below where it was before the Great Recession, Consumer Confidence has nearly doubled. And a larger percentage of americans, 41 , according to our last poll, believe the country is headed in the right direction, up from 26 in january, 2009. On the other hand, there is plenty of data to support the idea that the drink country is not better off than it was four years ago. And that the struggling economy continues to take a toll on families. Median Household Income is lower than it was in 2009. And 46 million americans live below the poverty line. Several million more than four years ago. The federal public debt has increased from 10. 6 trillion in january 2009 to 16. 4 trillion now. Then theres the big number thats exactly the same as it was four years ago. The Unemployment Rate. 7. 8 . Though its down from, of course, a high of 10 in october of 2009. Few other figures to look at over the last four years. The number of u. S. Troops in iraq has dropped from nearly 140,000 to just 200. As the president fulfilled his promise to end the war in iraq. While the u. S. President is in afghanistan, those numbers have increased. 34,000 when he took office. Its 66,000 troops there now. And one more thing. There are now fewer democrats serving in the u. S. House. Then it was 257. Now, 201 are serving in the u. S. Senate. The caucus, which includes independents, is down from 58 to 55 members. Didnt get to 60 members until the closer to the spring. And in the state houses in the country around 2009, there were 28 democratic governors. Now there are 19. Senior political editor, mark murray, crunched all these numbers for firstread this morning. I want the to just jump at the two big ones to me. Its sort of the state of america. Median income in the poverty line. Those are not good numbers. They arent really good numbers, chuck. And you mentioned at the outset, you can see the economy is on better solid footing than it was on january 2009. But those two statistics, median Household Income, the poverty level. But it does show the toll the Great Recession has taken. And in some respects, his exercise might be more fulfilling when we do it come 2016 instead of 2012 right now. You can see better trajectory on certain things. Maybe the full picture wont be known until eight years from now. Boy, when you look at wall streets recovery and main streets lack of a recovery. I mean, you can just no wonder there is this sort of anger and antipathy between a little bit between the way people feel about wall street. Chuck, you remember the campaign, the Obama Campaign was very hesitant to make the argument, are you better off than you were four years ago. They finally embraced it, and the ads down the stretch. But there was always this hesitancy, because just as these statistics bear out, there is some good information, some good news. But there is also some bad news too. And, look, the Unemployment Rate is one of the good news stories. The economy is growing. Not the way it needs to. But both of those in better shape. But the most the striking stat stick there, the number of troops in iraq. That was the issue that launched Barack Obamas candidacy, allowed him to beat Hillary Clinton in 2008, allowed him to beat john mccain in that general election. And you see those numbers, what they were in january, 2009. I forget how much people didnt like that war. And still dont like that war to this day. And that brings us to our nbc wall street journal poll we will have tonight and tomorrow morning. 6 30 tonight with the first numbers. Get over to first read and see all of marks breakdowns. Thanks, chuck. Now to breaking news out of the african nation of algeria, conflicting reports about that hostage situation at a gas plant in the sahara desert. Al qaedalinked militants and local residents claim algerian military helicopters attacked the site this morning. Killing at least 15 kidnappers and 35 hostages. A group believed to include foreign civilians. However, an algerian Security Source tells reuters that dozens of those hostages actually escaped. And yet another report says some hostages are still being held. According to the militants, the kidnapping is present to protest French Military strikes against the islamist rebels in mali. Well keep an eye on that situation and bring you the latest throughout the hour. Coming up next, the florida democrat to took on the tea party and won. Freshman congressman patrick must have berphy on unseating a the youngest guy in congress. And his plan to help victims of Natural Disasters like sandy. Plus, story everyone is talking about this morning. One of the Top College Football players in the country, a helpless victim of a sick joke . Or was he part of this elaborate hoax . First, a look ahead at the president s schedule. Kind of quiet now. Getting set for the big inaugural festivities that begin this weekend. No word yet on whether he is going to formally get that chief of staff designation. That may not happen until after the oath. Youre watching the daily rundown only on msnbc. But i wont back down [ female announcer ] are you really getting salon quality. Or settling for wannabes . Stop compromising new Vidal Sassoon pro series. Care and styling from the original salon genius, created to let you have it all at an affordable price. New Vidal Sassoon lets you say no to compromise and yes to very shiny. Very silky. Very sexy. Very you. Its salon genius in a bottle now in your store. New Vidal Sassoon pro series. Salon genius. Brilliantly priced. Is efficiently absorbed in small continuous amounts. Citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. Citracal slow release. In our meet the member series, today we meet a new member of the 113th congress, also happens to be the youngest member in the new congress. Floridas democratic congressman, Patrick Murphy, just 29 years old, fresh off a razorthin victory for tea party incumbent allen west before arriving on capitol hill, murphy worked as a cpa and started his own business down in florida. Committed to environmental cleanup following the bp oil spill. The freshman democrat said that accounting and business experience will help him on capitol hill. Theres only eight cpas right now in congress. And when you look at whats happening with our fiscal house, its a mess. In my opinion, we need to put partisanship aside and look at the math. Look at the arithmetic. And we need some people to understand the basics of accounting and finance and get our country back in order. Murphy was a republican until 2011 when he says his disgust with the Tea Party Led him to switch parties. He challenged congressman west in the newly drawn 18th district despite a clear financial advantage, running as a moderate alternative to the incumbent and boosted by some highprofile democrats, murphy eeked out a win by less than 2,000 votes. Florida congressman Patrick Murphy joins me now. Welcome to congress. Good morning, chuck. Good morning. Let me start with this issue of a cpa in congress saying that we dont have enough of them. So if you looked at the federal budget, the way you would through your green eye shades, if you will, as a cpa, what do you see has to be done and how quickly does it have to be done . Well, are the way i look at it, we really have an opportunity right now to get our country back on the right track. If you look at whats happening across the world, you know, asia has slowed down, europe is still in a recession. South america is struggling right now. We have an opportunity to get our financial house in line. And theres three things we have to do. It starts with reducing our spending. Increasing refuse lieu. And get our economy back on track. Getting employment back going. And were seeing pockets of growth throughout the country, and im optimistic about that. But if our government could create some stability and provide Business Owners and entrepreneurs with some predictability on whats to come, i think we would see investments just unleash and a lot of employment come back in our country. What do you think is the biggest spending problem in congress . Well, if you look at what the president has done over the last two years, he has actually cut 2. 4 trillion over the next decade. So hes taken an attempt to reduce spending. There is more that can be done. We really have to address some of the other programs we have down the road. Things like Social Security, medicare. These are programs in the future that need to be addressed. Now, they are some of the most successful programs in our countrys history. So we need to make sure we protect them. But we need to look at their longterm sustainability. The business round table is out with a recommendation this morning. They think the retirement age should be boosted all the way to 70. Would you support Something Like that, or some increase in the retirement age when it comes to Social Security and medicare . Well, th