The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell

MSNBC

Aired on Thursday, Jan 20, 2011 (1/20/2011) at 06:00 PM

Video and Thumbnails

Transcript

00:00:01Asked, do you realize the responsibility I carry?
00:00:03I'm the only person standing between richard nixon and the white house.
00:00:09As president barack obama enters re-election mode, he will have to juggle dual roles of candidate and president and could -- I'm just saying could, not will -- he could in 2012 be the only person standing between the white house and michele bachmann.
00:00:30>> A lot of great news for the president.
00:00:33>> What do you say from the president, that the president is officially running for re-election?
00:00:37>> I think it's likely that that's going to happen.
00:00:40>> President obama's lake duck boost has the white house feeling optimistic.
00:00:43>> He's being rewarded for that lame-duck period.
00:00:46>> For the first time, it's almost like he got rid of the health care weight.
00:00:53>> He certainly ignored jobs for a long time, but did some things right in the beginning.
00:00:59>> But voters sent him to dismantle the obama agenda.
00:01:02>> Republicans say they're moving full steam ahead with their plan to take down president obama's health care law.
00:01:07>> They make themselves look ridiculous.
00:01:08That ship has sailed.
00:01:09>> New warning signs for republicans.
00:01:11Just 25% of people say republicans in congress will bring the right kind of change.
00:01:17>> Are republicans focusing too much on health care and not enough on jobs?
00:01:20I thought that was a democrat's problem?
00:01:22>> But not all republicans are focused just on stopping the obama agenda.
00:01:28>> Repeal this bill.
00:01:30Repeal the current senate.
00:01:31>> Reporter: Some of them have presidential agendas of their own.
00:01:35>> Which member of congress met her husband while working on jimmy carter's 1976 presidential campaign?
00:01:41>> I want people in minnesota armed and dangerous.
00:01:45>> Longtime democrat?
00:01:47No, republican congresswoman from minnesota, michele bachmann.
00:01:53>> Repeal a president, we are here to stay.
00:01:55>> We're not arguing health care here.
00:01:57We're talking about eliminating a presidency, getting rid of this guy.
00:01:59>> But after the first two years, what will the president have to change to counter the republican uprising?
00:02:04>> I don't think he spends a lot of time thinking about political prognostications.
00:02:10>> There's some pressure ratcheting up on the president -- >> to speak out on gun issues during the state of the union.
00:02:20>> This administration won't even answer what their view is.
00:02:23>> I don't have the answer to that.
00:02:25>> If dick cheney open the door to tighter gun restrictions, can barack obama avoid it?
00:02:31>> Today, the republicanly controlled house easily passed its second bill in wiping the current health care law off books.
00:02:43Now to work on the replacement part.
00:02:46The white house and senate majority leader harry reid remained confident none of this will ever be brought up in the senate, but the senate's top REPUBLICAN, mitch McConnell, posted this warning on youtube.
00:02:57>> Republicans have been listening and now they're acting.
00:03:00The democratic leadership in the senate doesn't want to vote on this bill.
00:03:03But I assure you, we will.
00:03:07We should repeal this law and focus on common sense steps that actually lower costs and encourage private sector job creation.
00:03:16That's what americans want.
00:03:17It's the right thing to do.
00:03:20>> The house democratic legislative agenda is still a work in progress.
00:03:26Democratic representative carolyn McCarthy has introduced her bill to bring back the ban on high-capacity ammunition clips, like the one that nearly killed her colleague, gabrielle giffords, who will be flown to a rehabilitation facility in houston tomorrow.
00:03:40And now attention is turning to the white house to see just what president obama will say about weapon and ammunition control, with the state of the union just five days away.
00:03:53Joining me now, iowa republican congressman, steve king.
00:03:57Congressman king, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
00:04:00>> Thanks for having me on.
00:04:02I appreciate it.
00:04:02>> Congressman, you guys in the house have some very interesting views of the senate.
00:04:06You have boldly claimed that the senate can pass the repeal of health care.
00:04:11You said the votes are there in the senate.
00:04:13That would mean that democrats would have to change their votes.
00:04:16What -- who -- which democrats in the house are on your list of possible switchers who would vote to then repeal the law they voted for?
00:04:24>> Well, I don't want to really put words in the mouth of or assign a position to the senators.
00:04:29I'm looking at it on balance, and on tuesday morning when i woke up, there were 23 democrats, and I counted joe lieberman as one, because he functions as one, that were up for re-election in 2012 in the senate.
00:04:40By the time I woke up yesterday morning, there were only 21.
00:04:43We're watching the shift over there right now.
00:04:45And I think there are six or seven or eight democrats that are in a position where they might well vote to repeal obamacare.
00:04:52And so I predicted about 2 1/2 weeks ago that if we can get an up or down vote, but I don't think we can break the filibuster at this point at this point, but an up or down vote, i think their votes will be there to repeal obamacare.
00:05:03And now when I hear mitch McCONNELL SAY, I ASSURE YOU There will be a vote, I'm feeling pretty confident, if he's right, I think I'm right.
00:05:11I think we'll see a vote to repeal obamacare on the floor of the senate.
00:05:14>> Well, what I think is clear, after what we heard from senator McCONNELL, AND BY THE WAY, WHAT We heard from chris dodd on this program last night, when I asked him, is it possible in those loose rules of the senate for this thing to somehow get to the senate floor, as an amendment to something else, or, you know, in one of those other moving vehicles.
00:05:33Senator dodd said that is possible.
00:05:34I THINK senator McConnell will do everything he can to find a way to get it to the floor, which will mean, at least, congressman king, that senators will be put on record as being willing to vote to allow it to go forward or not.
00:05:48It will have to get past a 60-vote threshold at least to move forward on the floor.
00:05:53So you will have some sort of at least indirect vote on repeal, i think, on the senate floor, at some point.
00:06:00I think McConnell can make good on that.
00:06:02Is that your view of how it will go?
00:06:04>> You know, I wouldn't concede that it has to be a 60-vote break the filibuster cloture vote.
00:06:13They sent some of obamacare to us on a reconciliation package, which was a simple majority.
00:06:18So I'm hopeful there'll be people over there that will find the way for a simple majority vote in the senate.
00:06:23I'm not necessarily predicting that happens, but if it does, i think the votes will be there to repeal.
00:06:27And I'm looking forward to watching this unfold.
00:06:29We sent a very hot potato over to harry reid yesterday, and now it sits in his lap and he's going to have to figure out what to do with it, because the american people are going to turn their focus on the senate and say, give us a vote.
00:06:40We want to know where all the senators stand on a full 100% repeal of obamacare.
00:06:44>> Well, the minority in the senate has absolutely no power to use the reconciliation, so that one's out.
00:06:50But we will watch as this develops.
00:06:52Your friend and colleague, michele bachmann, will be coming to your state, iowa, tomorrow.
00:06:57You're in washington now.
00:06:58Are you going to fly off to iowa tomorrow to be on the ground to greet her when she gets there?
00:07:03>> You know, I was just asked that question a little bit ago, and we're still working on the logistics.
00:07:08So I don't know that yet.
00:07:09In fact, as I was sitting here, I was trying to work it through.
00:07:12We'll see how that works tomorrow.
00:07:14I'm trying to find a way.
00:07:15She's a very close friend.
00:07:16>> Are you hoping she's going to iowa to explore running for president, in that she will run for president.
00:07:21And does she, among the possible candidates, represent your views more accurately than any of the others?
00:07:26>> Well, she represents -- i agree with the views that michele bachmann represents.
00:07:30And as I say, she's a very close friend.
00:07:33She's very smart, she's a very quick study, she's a wonderful messenger.
00:07:37Her instincts are good and I'm looking forward to the debate and the presidential race, and it's too early for me at this point to make a decision, but i am encouraging the candidates to come to hey, engage in the debate, and I want to be helpful in helping to provide access to the activists in the state so we can have a very intense caucus in iowa as we build up to the new hampshire, south carolina, and nevada primaries.
00:08:01>> Congressman king, anything, anything you can do to get her to run will be welcomed by us in the media.
00:08:06We would love to have her as a presidential campaign -- candidate to cover.
00:08:09I mentioned congresswoman McCARTHY'S BILL TO RESTORE THE Ban that used to exist on these high-capacity ammo clips, the kind that was used in tucson.
00:08:18I want to show you what dick cheney had to say about that.
00:08:22>> Whether or not there's some measure there, determining the size of the magazine that you can buy to go with semiautomatic weapon, we've had that in place before.
00:08:35You know, maybe it's appropriate to reestablish that kind of thing.
00:08:37>> Do you agree with dick -- do you agree with dick cheney that maybe it's appropriate to reestablish that ban?
00:08:43>> You know, I'm reluctant to move down that path that would put more limitations on the second amendment.
00:08:51If we pass a ban on a clip, they will solder two together and have it anyway.
00:08:57I think the second amendment's a very important principle and i will stand and defend that.
00:09:00But I regret the tragedy in tucson, it cast a pall over the entire congress.
00:09:06You could feel it yesterday on the floor.
00:09:07But I'm not willing to go down the path to making an adjustment to a second amendment right.
00:09:13We've been through that fight before.
00:09:14>> We had it and it worked.
00:09:16It didn't do any damage to people who wanted to buy weapons in this country.
00:09:19What would be wrong with going back to the way we did it for ten years?
00:09:22>> Well, the assault weapons ban, if that's the reference, there's never been a way to define what an assault weapon is.
00:09:30It always defines what it looks like.
00:09:33But for example, I look around my neighborhood and the most popular coyote hunting rifle would be defined as an assault rifle -- >> we're not talking about assault rifles.
00:09:44We're talking about these particular clips, these clips that allow you -- you'd only be allowed to shoot ten bullets instead of the 31 bullets that were fired at congresswoman giffords.
00:09:55>> I'm not willing to go down that path.
00:09:56If we reduce it to ten, then there's an argument for 9 or 11.
00:10:01It's the person that carries the gun that commits the crime.
00:10:07They should be punished to the maximum extent of the law.
00:10:09And I'll be aggressive on that.
00:10:11I think there are many that will be hard on law enforcement.
00:10:16If we focus on that, there will be a deterrent effect.
00:10:20And I know it's not an defect for a crazy person, but they'll find another way.
00:10:27There's always way they'll find ways to cause this destruction.
00:10:34>> In 2007, you were very impatient with the republican strategy to win back the house.
00:10:37You thought they should be more aggressive in winning backseats from testimonies.
00:10:41And you said, quote, there's got to be blood on the floor, end quote.
00:10:46Now that there is gabby giffords' blood on the floor, do you regret using that kind of language?
00:10:51>> There's really no connection or relevance there.
00:10:54That's an expression that's commonly used, and we needed to be more impressive.
00:11:00And I've been more aggressive.
00:11:01I followed through on the things that I promised that I would do.
00:11:04And that aggressiveness has been helpful in winning back the majority.
00:11:07But I think you can see, there is a tone in the dialogue that takes place.
00:11:11Republicans have had a toned down dialogue in our debate.
00:11:15But I think if you listen to the other side, they have invoked the tragedy in tucson and used it to try to revoke the obamacare.
00:11:23So I think you can see where this is going with the intensity.
00:11:27And I'd say another thing.
00:11:28This is just being straight up with this.
00:11:30There's a characteristic that takes place.
00:11:32When you don't have the votes, you've got to turn up the pressure.
00:11:36And when you do have the votes, you can turn down the pressure.
00:11:39That's going to be the difference.
00:11:40The majority can have a lower tone, the minority will turn the tone up, and we've seen that in this debate for repeal of obamacare, lawrence.
00:11:48>> So congressman, now that you're in the majority, you won't be saying, "there's got to be blood on the floor"?
00:11:56>> I am a kinder and gentler person.
00:12:01I've actually gone over to the other side, and said, I've served in the majority and minority and now back in the majority, and having experienced that on both sides, I'll be a gentler person to the people in the minority.
00:12:12And I will tell you that the people that were run under the guidance of nancy pelosi, the process was shut down.
00:12:19And it was run out of the speaker's office and the rules committee.
00:12:22We're going to open this up.
00:12:23There's going to be open rules.
00:12:25There's going to be real detective.
00:12:27You've seen that.
00:12:27Seven hours of debate on the repeal of obamacare.
00:12:32There'll be open rules on appropriations bills, other open rules on bills coming to the floor.
00:12:35More debate.
00:12:35It's about winning the debate with the american people and that's what we need to do.
00:12:39Once that's won, you can have a vote like we had yesterday and today.
00:12:42That debate's been won, that's why those votes were up on the board.
00:12:4687 New freshman republicans in the house of representatives.
00:12:50Fresh-faced and ready to claim our country back and go back to constitutional principles and fiscal responsibility.
00:12:57>> The kind her, gentleer congressman steve king.
00:13:03I hope you can come back to we can discuss immigration which is something very important to you and me, and on something which we could not differ more sharply.
00:13:11>> I look forward to that.
00:13:13>> Thank you, congressman.
00:13:14>>> Coming up, more independents are apparently seeing president obama as a moderate and not the left-wing socialist that republicans want you to believe he is.
00:13:21Has he changed or has perception of his policies changed?
00:13:26That's next.
00:13:28>>> And the congresswoman who wanted the media to investigate congress for being un-american is going to iowa.
00:13:35That's right.
00:13:35Now she's talking about running for president.
00:13:38" >> ( speaking Chinese ) >> ( speaking Chinese ) >> ( laughing ) >>Introducing cisco umi.
00:13:59Be together in high def on your tv.
00:14:01Exclusively at best buy's magnolia stores.
00:14:05Cisco.
00:14:07♪♪
00:14:07♪♪
00:14:08♪♪ spread a little somethingto remember ♪♪
00:14:13♪♪ ♪♪
00:14:13♪♪ spread a little joy and see ♪♪
00:14:16♪♪ need a little happinessto be ♪♪
00:14:18♪♪ living the life with me ♪♪
00:14:22♪♪ dee dee dee ♪♪
00:14:23♪♪ spread a little joy and see ♪♪
00:14:26♪♪ need a little happinessto be ♪♪
00:14:28♪♪ living the life with me ♪♪
00:14:31[ Female Announcer ] NOW YOU CAN TAKE Your philly even further with new philadelphiacooking creme.
00:15:44>>> Ahead on "the last word," progressives worry the president will not move their agenda forward.
00:15:49What do they think he can do now with rising poll numbers and a republican house?
00:15:55That's next.
00:15:56>>> And later, is nothing out of bounds for political pundits?
00:15:59Apparently not even the first lady's dress.
00:17:31>>> As the days count down to president obama's state of the union address next tuesday, the president's liberal base is worried that his post-midterm election compromising approach toll republicans could threaten their core issues.
00:17:43org sent an e-mail to members warning that the white house may be trying to cut a deal with republicans by offering cuts to social security.
00:17:54Social security cuts to reduce the deficit are opposed by 82% of all americans in a new lake research poll, including 83% of democrats, 78% of independents, and 82% of republicans.
00:18:13And 74% of anti-government spending tea party supporters.
00:18:18Democratic pollsters linda lake calls the idea, quote, a great way to really solidify our losses.
00:18:25The rumors of entitlement cuts follow president obama's recent op-ed in "the wall street journal" calling for an end to regulations that place unreasonable burdens on business.
00:18:36Which followed the appointments of bill daley and bruce reid to chief of staff for obama and vice president biden, respectively.
00:18:45Daley and reid are perceived by liberals as business-friendly veterans of the clinton administration, who have been skeptical of president obama's progressive achievements.
00:18:55So what options do progressives have for moving their agenda forward over the next two years?
00:19:02Joining me now are jane hampshire, founder and editor of com, and adam green, cofounder of the progressive change campaign committee.
00:19:12Jane, there is a new nbc/"wall street journal" poll that says more people now see barack obama as a political moderate.
00:19:2240%, Which is a ten-point jump since the last time that question was ask in january 2010.
00:19:31Is this good news for president obama?
00:19:33The white house seems to think it is.
00:19:34>> Well, I'm not sure whether it really matters how people view him.
00:19:38It's a matter of whether they think he's making a difference in their life and whether the policies he's pursuing is bringing about a change in their lives.
00:19:45He's viewed as a person who wants to do the right thing for the country.
00:19:49People trust him.
00:19:50And his numbers have been on the rise all around, largely because of the speech he gave after the gabby giffords shooting.
00:19:56He really knows how to bring the country together and say what needs to be said during a crisis.
00:20:01But 70% of the country also think that he hasn't brought about the change that they voted for in 2008.
00:20:07And so I think that the challenge before him is going to be, is he going to repeat the mistakes of the clinton administration and pursue nafta free trade the same way that clinton pursued nafta, that offshored so many jobs, or is he going to forge a manufacturing and jobs policy that will bring the country, you know, to where it wants to be in terms of unemployment.
00:20:30And I think that's the question.
00:20:30It's not a partisan question, it's a jobs question.
00:20:33>> Adam green, polling was indicating that he was moving up in the approval numbers before the tucson incident, and so that polling was crediting the compromising he did with republicans on the top tax bracket in the lame-duck session.
00:20:47There is now this study going on, intense study of the nbc/"wall street journal" poll to try to figure out how much of this bump, if it is a real bump, how much of it is based on his performance in the aftermath of the shootings in tucson, how much of it is based on his performance in the legislative compromising arena during december.
00:21:10How do you read this poll?
00:21:12>> I think part of the real beauty of shows like this, lawrence, is it's on tv, adding fresh voices, and we can debunk bad readings of polls and put out correct readings of polls.
00:21:26Let's be very clear.
00:21:27Any bump that president obama was seeing before the arizona tragedy was not because people were happy that he increased tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.
00:21:33Nobody was focusing on that and saying, that's great, let's have more of that kind of compromise.
00:21:37As jane very eloquently pointed out a couple weeks after that happened, a lot of the things that were passed at the end of the last session were actually very aggressive priorities.
00:21:49Don't ask, don't tell, that's one of them.
00:21:51As republicans consistently push treaty, which would reduce nuclear weapons, is another progressive priority.
00:21:57And on the tax cut debate, the portion of the bill that people actually liked was ending, you know, was ending tax cuts for millionaires, solidifying tax cuts for just the middle class, and of course, the unemployment benefits.
00:22:11So let's not misread the poll and pretend that people really want him to compromise on the wrong issues.
00:22:15That's not what people want.
00:22:16>> Jane, there's also this theory about presidents that the public just likes watching them win.
00:22:22That if they get these wins legislatively or what are reported as wins legislative in december, it doesn't matter that much, according to this school of thought, what that win is about.
00:22:31The president just starts to look like a winner and people start to report a higher satisfaction level in those job approval polls.
00:22:38Do you think any of that is at work here?
00:22:41>> Entirely possible.
00:22:43But his -- barack obama's chances for getting re-elected are excellent, and comments usually win.
00:22:50They almost always win if the economy's doing well, if people are employed.
00:22:53So fortunately in this particular situation, what's good for the country is good for barack obama's re-election chances and the best chance we have, sorry to disappoint you, not to see president michele bachmann.
00:23:06So I really hope going forward, my concern is that he's brought daley in order to pass korea free trade, new nafta, it's something the chamber of commerce wants a lot.
00:23:20But we lost billions of jobs after bill clinton passed nafta, 24,000 industrial manufacturing factories after that.
00:23:28And the last thing we need right now is to be offshoring more jobs, yet that is the policy they're going to pursue.
00:23:34So I hope he's going to choose american jobs and not choose the chamber of commerce going forward, because I think that's good for him and good for the country.
00:23:41>> Adam, the clinton presidency had a net increase of jobs that was, I think, higher than any we'd seen in any recent eight-year period.
00:23:51Is that what barack obama's looking at when he looks at the policies of the clinton era, whether it be in the area of trade and others, and is there something in that clinton experience that will guide the democrats, who, by the way, in the house so far, seem to be silent on what their agenda might be.
00:24:10Guide the democrats on how to go forward in the next two years.
00:24:15>> Well, of course, the number one priority of democrats and president obama has to be and will be jobs going forward.
00:24:22So one big question is, especially given the amazing persuasive ability that barack obama reasserted when he gave his arizona speech, and now he has a chance to give a state of the union where he outlines a bold, progressive jobs agenda.
00:24:37You know, we had the tech boom IN THE '90s.
00:24:40Well, why not spend government resources to wire rural america with cutting edge internet service, create jobs in the short-term, and create economic opportunity in the long-term.
00:24:50One proposal that's actually out there is temporarily lowering the retirement age for social security.
00:24:55So that older workers who want to leave the workforce, many of whom have jobs that take a toll on their body, let them leave and let younger people get jobs.
00:25:05These would be progressive job proposals, and he has a chance to outline that tomorrow.
00:25:09But one thing that would be very tragic, given the poll numbers that you just read, would be if for some reason in the name of weird compromise, he actually took one of the chiming democratic party achievements ever, which was social security, and undermined it.
00:25:24We really hope he does not do that.
00:25:26What we really needs to do is lay out a line in the sand.
00:25:29Say I will not cut any bill that cuts social security or raises the retirement age.
00:25:38Instead, I'll side with middle class families over corporations.
00:25:41That would be a really necessary thing for the country.
00:25:44>> Jane, quickly, before we go, has the left given up on gun and ammunition control?
00:25:49There's a deafening silence out there, especially all over the publicists and activists firing off about social security and don't touch the retirement age, I don't monitor all the traffic out there on the internet, but is there anybody talking about this is a life or death issue, this is worth taking a stand on?
00:26:06Those ammunition clips, what congresswoman McCarthy is trying to do is something we should be fighting for with every bit of the energy we brought to the public option or the top tax bracket or some of these other issues that the left has been so agitated about in the last two years?
00:26:22>> I sure hope so.
00:26:23If you've even got dick cheney out there saying this would be a good thing, that guy fired off 31 shots in 15 seconds and hit 20 people.
00:26:31And the only reason he stopped was because he had to reload.
00:26:34It just makes sense.
00:26:35And I hope that people get behind this.
00:26:37I think that there's a sense of frustration, though, because unless there's real leadership coming on part of the democratic party, it's just not going -- people think it's not going to happen, >> well, jane, you and adam didn't wait for leadership on the health care bill.
00:26:50You pushed them along and pushed them to lengths I think they weren't going to go to if you weren't pushing them.
00:26:57Thank you both for joining me tonight.
00:26:59>> Yep.
00:27:00>>> Still ahead, michele bachmann has a special meaning for repeal and replace.
00:27:06She wants to repeal the president and may want to replace him.
00:27:09" up, I'm going to own my own restaurant.
00:27:16I want to be a volunteer firefighter.
00:27:18When I grow up, I want to write a novel.
00:27:22I want to go on a road trip.
00:27:25When I grow up, I'm going to go there.
00:27:28I'm going to work with kids.
00:27:30I want to fix up old houses.
00:27:32[ Female Announcer ] AT AARP We believe you're never done growing.
00:27:35I want to fall in love again.
00:27:38[ Female Announcer ]TOGETHER WE CAN DISCOVER The best of what's nextat aarp.org.
00:27:44♪♪
00:27:44♪♪
00:27:48[ Male Announcer ] FROM JET ENGINES That have fewer emissions, to new ways to charge electric cars, to renewable sources of clean energy, ecomagination from ge is advanced technology that's good for both the economy and the environment.
00:28:03♪♪ ♪♪
00:28:04it's technology that makes the world work.
00:28:08[ squawking ] ♪♪ ♪♪
00:28:44looking for a simple way to help lower your cholesterol?
00:28:47Try benecol spread - a heart healthy alternative to butter.
00:28:50Benecol contains an ingredient that helps block cholesterol absorption and has a delicious, buttery taste.
00:28:55Make benecol part of your healthy lifestyle.
00:28:593Q ?
00:28:59feet me.
00:29:00You should get some Custom Fit Orthotics.
00:29:02Dr. Scholl's Custom Fit Orthotic Center.
00:29:03It recommends the Custom Fit Orthotic that's best for your feet.
00:29:06And footcare scientists are behind it.
00:29:08You'll get immediate comfort...
00:29:09... and, you could save a couple hundred bucks.
00:29:11For locations see DrScholls.com >>> Nancy reagan was known for her interest in fashion and frequently favored the color red.
00:30:52She even called it, quote, a picker upper.
00:30:55There is even an exhibit of red dresses at the reagan library.
00:30:58And according to slate online, nancy reagan wore the color so often, usually in a shade of fire engine red, that it came to be called reagan red.
00:31:09So what do you call it when michelle obama wears red to a state dinner?
00:31:14If you're a right-wing pundit, you call it china red or connie red.
00:31:18That gets tonight's rewrite.
00:31:20 obama is that no matter what people say about her choices in fashion, it will probably never be as embarrassing as listening to former president johnson order a pair of pants.
00:31:33This is part of a telephone conversation recorded in the WHITE HOUSE ON AUGUST 9th, 1964 , of the president ordering pants from the hager company.
00:31:46>> Now, another thing, the crotch, down where your nuts hang, is always a little too tight.
00:31:52So when you make them uh, give me an inch that I can let out there, because they cut me.
00:31:58It's just like riding a wire fence.
00:32:04>> Haggar, fine.
00:32:06>> But when I gain a little weight, they cut me under there.
00:32:08So leave me -- you never do have much margin there.
00:32:12But see if you can't leave me abouten inch from where the zipper -- [ belches ] -- ends around under my -- back to my bunghole.
00:35:27>>> Who will be the 2012 republican nominee for president?
00:35:30The gop has to figure who's running first.
00:35:33The latest abc/"washington post" poll shows a virtual tie at the top of the crowded field.
00:35:3921% Of republicans that were polled said they'd vote for mike huckabee.
00:35:4419% Would vote for sarah palin.
00:35:4617% Would give mitt romney their vote.
00:35:495% margin of error.
00:35:52In all, 14 names were floated.
00:35:56Not one of them was congresswoman miche bachmann, but don't count her out.
00:36:03>> Are you thinking about running for president?
00:36:05>> I am going to iowa.
00:36:06There's your answer.
00:36:07I'm going to iowa.
00:36:09The reason why I'm going to iowa, I think -- what I've been seeing is that the focus has been on the personality.
00:36:15Who will be the nominee for 2012?
00:36:18Frankly, I think that will be boring quickly to spend two years looking at the identity.
00:36:21I think we're for a better off if over the next year, we can make the case why obama should not have a second term and why we need a courageous constitutional conservative as our nominee and what their agenda will be moving forward.
00:36:35That's what I want to talk about in iowa.
00:36:37>> Joining me now, a man who has a meeting with congresswoman bachmann tomorrow, ryan roads, founder of the iowa tea party, and richard wolffe, author of " ryan roads, what are you going to tell congresswoman bachmann tomorrow?
00:36:58And I hope you're going to tell her to run.
00:37:00>> I think she's certainly one of the people that have generated a lot of interest, and initially have a lot of trust directly with the tea party.
00:37:07It's not like one of those people who are going to have to explain why they made some of the compromises that they did.
00:37:15But instead, she along with a few others, like mike pence, actually stood up against bad bush policies, that we were upset about, as well as the obama policies that we were not a fan of and don't believe in going forward.
00:37:30>> Richard wolffe, is there anything democrats are trying to do to encourage michele bachmann to run?
00:37:36>> I don't think they need to do anything to encourage her.
00:37:39She has more than enough of her own world view that she likes to immerse herself in.
00:37:45And look, she's got some tough competition.
00:37:48Because mike huckabee's way out there as the distant front-runner with all of the five or seven points lead there, for what that's worth right now.
00:37:57But there are no shortage of people in that ultraconservative, social conservative tea party space there.
00:38:02Whether it's huckabee or you've got sarah palin up there or pence or gingrich or anyone else.
00:38:06Iowa's going to be very busy for these people.
00:38:09>> Ryan rhodes, would you tea party members rather lose a presidential election with a nominee who you believe in or win one with a nominee who didn't want to abolish the department of education, somebody like mike huckabee or tim pawlenty, would that be a disappointment for you to send a republican to washington who was going to leave the government in place as is?
00:38:35>> I think the times we have going in it's going to take someone who really is willing to make a tough decision.
00:38:42And when you call the tea party ultraright wing, there's a poll in our own state had just as many independents and 22% of democrats on our side.
00:38:51So if the tea party finds a candidate, I think the democrats will be more in trouble.
00:38:57And it's not a matter of whether or not they're going to win.
00:38:59It's a matter of law they're going to govern after that.
00:39:03>> Ryan, I want to get a quick answer from you on something in our nbc poll.
00:39:08As a tea party member, are you in favor of cutting social security, one of the biggest spending categories in the government?
00:39:15>> I think there's twofold things that can be done.
00:39:17It's obvious that the system is broken.
00:39:21We can't just eliminate it wholesale and have people who have put in and we have people over 65 who are relying on it, but it is going to take some tough decisions on both sides to actually work together and put up something -- >> so, ryan, are you surprised that something like 78% of tea party members don't want any cuts whatsoever to the government spending program called social security?
00:39:51>> I'm not entirely surprised, but it's going to have to be reformed, period.
00:39:56Because it's just not feasible.
00:39:58>> Richard, is there a disconnect?
00:40:01I think the nbc poll shows, obviously, there's some kind of disconnect between the rhetoric of the tea party and the personal beliefs of tea party members, when you see close to 80% of them don't want you to touch a single bit of spending in social security.
00:40:14>> Right.
00:40:15There is a disconnect there.
00:40:16There's a disconnect of those people who said they were radicalized by their opposition to health care, but didn't want barack obama to touch their medicare.
00:40:25By the way, there's a disconnect with the sort of broad-based support he thinks the tea party has, which none of us actually saw where those tea party-backed candidates for senate in delaware or nevada or anywhere else.
00:40:39So statewide, and let alone, nationwide, these folks have struggled to build any kind of coalition, even though they have won in these gerrymandered districts that are so much part of the house now.
00:40:51>> Richard wolffe, you get "the last word" on this one, only because we just lost the skype connection to ryan rhodes.
00:40:56That's going to have to be it for this segment.
00:41:03Thank you both, ryan rhodes and richard wolffe for joining us tonight.
00:41:07>>> Up next, the best color in the world is the one that looks good on you.
00:41:11But it's this dazzling red that has michelle obama in the middle of tonight' rewrite.
00:41:16And it's a sign of the times at the box office if.
00:41:20The director of the new film "company men" gets tonight's last word.
00:41:23Just shake it.
00:41:25[ rattling ] [ Male Announcer ] NEED INK?
00:41:29This week at staples,spend $40 on ink and get a $10 visa prepaid cardvia easy rebate.
00:41:34That was easy.
00:42:21lelelelele Announcer ] understand their occasional digestive upsets.
00:42:25Gastroenterologists do.
00:42:27They've made align the #1 recommended probiotic.
00:42:31♪♪ ♪♪
00:42:32align is the product ..
00:42:35And it has something you can't get anywhere else, a patented good bacteria called bifantis.
00:42:41And when it's added to occasionally unbalanced ..
00:42:45They can become balanced again.
00:42:47 great digestion through science.
00:43:30>>> The right wing fashion police are going after michelle obama for the red dress she wore to last night's state dinner for chinese president hu.
00:43:36They say the dress was commie red.
00:43:39We'll take a look at some other american commies and their commie red wardrobe choices, ahead in the rewrite.
00:43:46♪♪ Spread a little joy and see ♪♪
00:43:49♪♪ need a little happiness to be ♪♪
00:43:52♪♪ living the life with me ♪♪
00:43:55>> Man:DIVING TO 4,000 METERS.
00:43:57>> Boy: Go down, down, down.
00:43:59Down. straight. go straight.
00:44:01No, to the right.
00:44:03To theright.
00:44:04>> Go to the right, go to the right.
00:44:06>> Whoa!
00:44:06>> Whoa!
00:44:07>> What is that?
00:44:08>> Man:WELL, THAT'S A, UH...
00:44:10I don't know.
00:44:13>> Whoa.
00:44:16>> Can we call him blinky?
00:44:18>> Woman:EXPERT TEACHING.
00:44:20Deeper learning.
00:44:21Together, we are the human network.
00:44:24Cisco.
00:44:40]Oh, Clean power.
00:44:43[ Bottle Two ]BRO, WILL YOU RELAX?
00:44:44I'm pretty sure there's notmuch we can do about it.
00:44:47Ugh.he's not even trying.
00:44:49He isactualmagic.
00:44:51Not impressed.
00:44:52[ gasps ] NO!
00:44:53I didn't even know that could get dirty!
00:44:55Can we even clean a leather shoe?
00:44:57What do you mean? what is a shooee?
00:44:58He's cleaning things that we don't even know what they are.
00:45:01Gloves? brush?chime in any time here.
00:45:03[ Male Announcer ] EFFORTLESSLYREMOVES MORE Grime per swipe.
00:45:05Clean all around the house with the mr. clean magic eraserextra power.
00:45:25♪♪ Lady in red ♪♪
00:45:27>>> time for tonight's rewrite.
00:45:29The cut throat nature of the political world is only topped by the cutthroat nature of the fashion world.
00:45:34And when the two meet, look out.
00:45:37That's exactly what's happened over the past 24 hours in the conservative blogasphere over this.
00:45:41First lady michelle obama's dress from last night's state dinner for chinese president hu.
00:45:48A red petal print silk organza gown with an asymmetrical neckline designed by the successor to the late alexander McQUEEN, A DRESS THAT HAS BEEN Called stunning, red hot, elegant, and fearless with robin gavon of the daily beast commending the farris lady by saying, she was kbasing a brand known for its willingness to push boundaries, to agitate, and even to offend.
00:46:18But the dress also caused an online backlash from the right wing.
00:46:24This picture was posted on the drudge report with the caption " on the website of conservative michelle malgin, one contributor took a dig at the first lady's dress, while adding that an all-star cast of broadway stars performed a rousing rendition of " other conservative blogs made plenty of references to michelle obama's commie red china dress.
00:46:54Here are some other american commies who send their sympathetic signals to the chinese whenever possible.
00:47:03I, for one, would be lost without the guidance of matt drudge and michelle malkin, because when I see these pictures, I just see red.
00:47:14I'm actually naive enough to see american red, as in, one of the three colors in the american flag.
00:47:23And in december, when a president wears a red tie, i just think I'm seeing christmas red.
00:47:30But I know I'm wrong.
00:47:32I know that in fashion, there's no such thing as just red or just blue or just anything.
00:47:39Meryl streep taught me that.
00:47:42Yeah, you guessed it.
00:47:43This is all just my long-winded excuse for running this brilliantly written and flawlessly acted scene.
00:47:53>> You know, it's just that both those belts look exactly the same to me.
00:47:57You know, I'm still learning about this stuff and -- >> this stuff?
00:48:05Oh, okay, I see, you think this has nothing to do with you.
00:48:11You go to your closet and you select, I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back, but what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually vul yan, and you're blithely unaware of the fact that there was a cerulean military jackets, and cerulean quickly showed up in the collection of eight different designers and filtered down through the department stores and trickled on down into some tragic corner where you no doubt fished it out of some clearance bin.
00:49:03But that blue represents millions of dollars in countless jobs and it's sort of comical that thinks you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room, from a pile of stuff.
00:49:19Every patient's past.
00:49:20And because the whole hospital's working together, there's a family who can breathe easy, right now.
00:49:27Somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest healthcare questions.
00:49:33And the over 60,000 people of siemens are ready to do it again.
00:49:38Siemens. answers.
00:49:42up, I want to fix up old houses.
00:49:45♪♪ ♪♪
00:49:46[ Woman ] WHEN I GROW UP, I want to take him on his first flight.
00:49:50I want to run a marathon.
00:49:52I'm going to work with kids.
00:49:54I'm going to own my own restaurant.
00:49:57When I grow up, I'm going to start a band.
00:50:00[ Female Announcer ] AT AARP We believe you're never done growing.
00:50:03Thanks, mom. I just want to get my car back.
00:50:06[ Female Announcer ]TOGETHER WE CAN DISCOVER The best of what's nextat aarp.org.
00:51:43Pants, pants, pants.
00:51:45I am folding the pants.
00:51:49The pants are lonnnnng.
00:51:52[Laughing] do they go on my head?
00:51:57Do they?
00:51:58Do the pants go on my head?
00:52:01[Baby squeals] no, they go on my legs!
00:52:03Narrator: Everyday moments can become teaching moments because learning starts long before school does.
00:52:07Give your child the startthey need at bornlearning.org.
00:52:22>>> As the obama administration enters its third year in the white house and approaches its third year with unemployment over 9%, the president must be concerned that no incumbent since the great depression has been re-elected with unemployment higher than 7.2%.
00:52:39According to a rutgers study, 72% of americans have either lost their job or watched a family member or close friend lose their.
00:52:50And hollywood has taken noyes notice.
00:52:51>> $65 An hour for oil workers in the north atlantic.
00:52:53Another $1,000 a week if you've got your commercial deep sea certification.
00:52:57>>> Doesn't everybody?
00:52:59>> I got mine last year at the " >> sally wilcox, please.
00:53:05>> Thank god I got my doctorate, huh?
00:53:08>> Hey, it's bob walker calling.
00:53:10>> He's calling her again.
00:53:11Fl hi, sa bob walker.
00:53:15Thanks for not returning any of my calls.
00:53:18I would love to know why you fired me without any notice you [ bleep ] cowardly [ bleep ].
00:53:27>> I wonder why she never called you back.
00:53:29>> Feels good.
00:53:30>> That's a scene from "the company men," written and directed by emmy award winning producer of "er" and "the west wing" who had the honor of writing the final episode of " >> it's going to be cold on that dias today.
00:53:58Who in his right mind decided that january would be the best time of year to hold an outdoor ceremony north of the equator?
00:54:05>> Jefferson.
00:54:07Adams, franklin.
00:54:08>> They should have lined him up and shot him.
00:54:11>> That's what king george had in mind.
00:54:13>> JANUARY 20th?
00:54:14>> He got a few things right.
00:54:21>> Habeas corpus, sure, freedom of speech, but separation of powers, what a crock.
00:54:28You did a lot of good, jed.
00:54:37A lot of good.
00:54:47>> Joining me now, the author of that scene, john wells.
00:54:53John, by the way, the best boss you could have ever in show business, I can testify to that.
00:54:58JANUARY 20th, THAT SCENE TOOK Place on in our fictional world, it is january 20th today.
00:55:03It is 50 years to the day from jfk standing inauguration saying "ask not what you can do for your country, ask what you " kind of soaring rhetoric that aaron sorkin started off with in "the west wing" when he created the show and you continued in the last three years of the show when you were running it.
00:55:26This, it seems to me, I keep getting from people, a craving for that kind of television.
00:55:29And I'm going to ask you what i always get from everyone to asks me about "the west wing," can it come back?
00:55:36Can that thing come back on television?
00:55:37>> I think so.
00:55:38I think it's a timing thing and people are really hungry for it again and I'm hoping the networks will do it.
00:55:43There's certainly a lot of great stuff on cable that's trying.
00:55:46>> On cable, you point to me.
00:55:50"The company men" is a great movie, it oppose tomorrow, I've seen it.
00:55:54You got me a dvd, and I love it.
00:55:56There's so many wonderful details, especially in the opening of it, the way these people are suffering the shock and the surprise of unemployment and the way it hits them.
00:56:03And tell me why you got -- how did you find that idea.
00:56:08Was it that you were staring at these unemployment numbers in "the wall street journal" and said, ah, there's an idea.
00:56:15>> No, it happened to a member of my family.
00:56:17>> So you're in that statistic that we just talked about, this shockingly high statistic, family members and friends.
00:56:23>> And when we tested the film, we went into theater after theater and would have 200, 300 people and I would ask them, anyone who had gone through this at the end, had a family member or close friend, raise your hands, and everybody would raise their hands.
00:56:39We're talking about tens of millions of families being affected by this.
00:56:44And those numbers don't include the underemployed, people who have found another job at 60% or less than what they were making before.
00:56:51>> And that's what that scene was about.
00:56:53That the only thing those people could get is something that would be real underemployment for them.
00:57:00And I think people realizes how close everybody in showbiz lives to unemployment.
00:57:07When a show like "the west wing" closes down, a bunch of people -- 150 people are suddenly looking for jobs.
00:57:13>> And most of us are looking for jobs all the time in some fashion.
00:57:18We're freelancers and go through that experience often.
00:57:21But in this economy now, every family, I think, is having to address it, or at least fears of it possibly having.
00:57:27>> You've got an amazing cast here, you've got tommy lee jones, you have ben affleck, you have kevin costner that comes into the movie in a way that will surprise everyone.
00:57:36You don't expect this is where he's going to be.
00:57:39How did you get these people to come together?
00:57:43>> The great chris cooper and rosemary DeWitt.
00:57:45You know, I sent them the script.
00:57:47I don't think it will ever happen to me again.
00:57:48I approach ben first and he said yes and then asked tommy and chris.
00:57:53And kevin really came to me.
00:57:54He had read the script and said he wanted to play the part, very pivotal part, but a smaller part.
00:58:00And I had written it for him and assumed he would never actually do it, so it's an experience i don't think that will happen to me again.
00:58:07>> Now, this is -- this is -- you're known mostly for television, now you step out into the feature world, write and direct a movie.
00:58:16What is the big difference between grinding out those 22 episodes a year and sitting down with one piece that you're concentrating on and doing on location in boston, right?
00:58:25>> Yeah, I think the biggs surprise just technically was i had less time on the film than a lot of the television that we did together.
00:58:31Because we were moving from set to set all day long, so we were oftentimes in many different plays.
00:58:37The great thing about it, you get to spend time with the actors plotting out a very significant character and you know how it's going on.
00:58:45Whereas on television, all the work we do in the past, it's unfolding and you don't know what's going to happen next for the character.
00:58:52>> People, and these movies come out -- people are always wondering, so this is what hollywood has to say about unemployment.
00:58:59The issue of the day.
00:59:00What's your reply to that?
00:59:02>> Well, this is actually, it came about from a lot of research.
00:59:05I spoke to a couple hundred people.
00:59:07Did a couple thousand, actually, interviews online with people who were going through it, the anecdotes of what was happening to them and I tried to put together some of the experience.
00:59:15One of the things that I was really taken with is how many people after the initial shock of it discovered all these other things that could be wonderful about their lives.
00:59:23>> You know what, they're telling me we have seconds left in the show, we normally go out in this formal good night thing.
00:59:30Everybody knows that "countdown" is up next after this.
00:59:32"The company men" is in theaters tomorrow.
00:59:35And my best friends in showbiz is sitting right here and we're just going to keep talking.
00:59:39So you open tomorrow and you opening wide or -- >> about 100 theater, 15 markets.
00:59:45So it will be fun.

Tag cloud of show

Livedash is ad supported

mReplay Livedash is a registered trademark of mReplay Corporation. The information provided with mReplay Livedash is for informational purposes only. For more information, please see our terms of use. The network logos used on mReplay Livedash are registered trademarks of those respective companies, including Fox, NBC, CBS, PBS, ABC, FX, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, USA, MTV, VH1, Spike, A&E, Bravo, AMC, TLC, Animal Planet, ABC Family, Cartoon Network, Disney, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, Comedy Central, Entertainment, TV Land and Oxygen. These networks, Fox, NBC, CBS, PBS, ABC, FX, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, USA, MTV, VH1, Spike, A&E, Bravo, AMC, TLC, Animal Planet, ABC Family, Cartoon Network, Disney, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC, Comedy Central, Entertainment, TV Land and Oxygen, are not affiliated with mReplay Livedash, or mReplay Corporation.