chuck hagel is qualified to be secretary of defense. you want to have these other things available as well. he wants someone to not be controversial. if they are controversial, they will be distracted from what they ordinarily should be doing. you want to have a non- controversial nominee. >> i wanted to press you a little bit on this. your colleague shelley berkley has said that chuck hagel is unacceptable for secretary of defense. do you support or oppose that potential nomination? >> i have trouble with it. i think there are warning bells and red signals. i would hope that the president would look at -- >> he is not an unknown quantity. >> i do not do the appointing. the president does. i would not appoint chuck hagel. i think the president knows what to do. i did not necessarily want to tell him what he should do. i think he knows and others know that the hagel nomination potentially is a problem. >> one alternative that has been suggested for chuck hagel if he was not to be nominated is michÈle flournoy. it is been suggested that

. >> kelly, chuck hagel. we see for a second time a trial balloon, chuck hagel, floated for the pentagon. all of this and commercial being bought and aired, admittedly only in the d.c. area and on cable, but they're spending real money, and are you seeing the conservative line-up against chuck hagel even before he has been nominated for the pentagon. you covered him on the hill. let's talk about why some of his fellow republicans are going after him so hard. >> that's the important point. he is a republican, and that would give the president an opportunity to look more bipartisan in his cabinet, so that's an important reason why his name is being floated. there's been a lot of concern among republicans that he was not as loyal to his party as they would have liked to have seen. some comments with respect to iran that they disagreed with. some of the challenges during chuck hagel's time here, there are long memories here, and when you talk about the delay of making any announcements about cabinet positions, it

you have known chuck schumer, that can't be a good sign. >> it wasn't for chuck hegel. no one has been officially nominated to defend secretary for president obama's second term. they insist there really isn't a front-runner. all the speculation has been on chuck hegel. the former senator from nebraska. two problems for him right now. the one as you displayed in the series of clips, he is a man without a party. he's a republican that backed president obama in his presidential reelection bid and republicans are necessary low not pro chuck hegel. democrats know that he is say former republican. chuck hegel is a man without a party and doesn't have a big alliance or democrats or republicans and the other problem for chuck hegel, his nomination or presumed nomination is twisting in the wind because there is no structure to defend him at all. >> here's the other thing about this. first with susan rice and now with chuck hegel. the white house continues to float the names for possible cabinet positions to have them shot down by folks on both sides of the aisle. how concerned

senator chuck hagel in nebraska for secretary of defense. he's a republly can and a combat veteran of vietnam. the neocons are out to stop him for what he is and what they aren't. he served in war right up front. he opposed unness wars like the ones we've been fighting. fighting and getting ourselves into all of these years. in other words, they opposed the secretary of defense who thinks the man is the commander in chief. there's not an obama vote among them, by the way. u.s. congressman and democrat from virginia. gentlemen, let's talk about the first of these fights. mr. moran, thank you for joining us. tonight, the republicans are engaging in i don't know whether it's a wild goose chase, some sign of something, some test of what? a weakness? why are they voting on something that won't even get to the senate, will never get near the president's desk and if it ever did, he'd love vetoing it. this idea of cutting the tax cuts or protecting the tax cuts of people, all the way up to a million a year. >> they're planning some kind of weird, po

chuck lives in new york. i understand how he was brought up. maybe he tries to understand how i was brought up. but people where i live out christmas shopping all weekend have come up to me please don't let the government take my guns away and i'm going to stand against another assault ban because it didn't work before and it won't work in the future. >> i know we could talk about this indefinitely. but i want to move on and get to another seemingly intractable debate and that's the fiscal cliff. congress has left town and there's no deal here. senator schumer, the president is now proposing a smaller deal. are we going to avoid the fiscal cliff by the first of the year or not? >> i hope so. if you look at the final positions last monday of both the president and speaker boehner, they were this close, they were this close to a solution. the president was about $200 billion higher on revenues, speaker boehner $200 billion higher on spending cuts. out of a $4 trillion budget, that doesn't seem insurmountable. so i hope they would keep talking. my

chuck hegel was a colleague of yours. are you surprised about the criticism he received from the left and the right being the possible nominee for president obama in the obama administration in the second term? >> hegel used on foreign policy, but he hasn't received a lot of criticism. how much of that is justified? i can't tell you. >> senator from vermont, we thank you for joining us the day after christmas. >> joining us to talk big picture and the president's second term cabinet, nbc editor mark murray was the december employee of the month. congratulations. >> excuse me. you heard from senator sanders saying the lack of urgency hasn't been a problem, but if you look at it for all intents and purposes, boehner removed himself from these discussions. harry reid, president obama, and a little bit of mitch mcconnell. what is possible of making a deal? >> the ball seems to be in mitch mcconnell's court. does he filibuster anything that harry reid ends up making with president obama? we have a paired down legislation exten

obviously chuck hegel has been at the center for many years and has good attributes. there's a lot of controversy not only with that remark, but with some of his votes. it is troublesome. i've been hearing a lot for my constituents, mainly in opposition to his nomination. >> there are two sets of things i have come up, one of them defected he declined to sign some letters in the senate that were related to issues relating to the middle east. he voted against sanctions on iran and libya. he has expressed the view that press containment might be an option. that does not seem to be in line with the president's policy or recent votes in the senate. what is your view on that? >> those things are all true. it seems there is some kind of an endemic hostility towards israel. he served in the senate for a number of years and has done many good things. those are warning bells. it is potentially troublesome. >> i was going to ask a question about washington. in the case of susan rice and seems like, it we're going through exercise of pre betting. -- pre-betting. is this a new an

chuck will have a chance to defend himself. >> will you support him? >> i'm going to wait and see what happens in the hearings. i've got questions with chuck and iran, hamas and hezbollah, his position toward israel, just afghanistan. i want to hear what he has to say. but very troubling comments by a future secretary of defense. >> senator schumer, should the president make that nomination? >> well, that's his choice. i think once he makes it his record will be studied carefully, but until that point i think we're not going to know what's going to happen. >> can you support him? >> i'd have to study his record. i'm not going to comment until the president makes a nomination. >> we're going to leave it there. gentlemen, happy holidays to you both. thank you both very much for your time. i appreciate it. the fiscal cliff talks, cabinet changes, what will define president obama's agenda at the first of the year? and my round table will join me, representative jason chaffetz, harold ford, jr., andrea mitchell and chuck todd. back in a moment. joi why do t

let's look at chuck hagel's credentials. a vietnam war veteran, two purple hearts, a former member of the senate foreign relations committee. that's more military experience than most secretaries of defense. hagel himself has argued that that position should be filled with someone who's been a grunt, on the ground, and knows those concerns. how can you argue that he's not qualified for the job? >> there are a lot of folks who are saying that he doesn't have the military experience. if you look at ashton carter, they have been in the defense department, they're solid, reliable democrats, they know it in and out, and might be better choices for the government. but there are a lot of conservatives who are attacking hagel on policy grounds, and one argument we haven't heard a lot of, when you look at zoe baird, tom daschle, a lot of other nominees in the past who have been attacked, they've been attacked for personal reasons, who they've hired to be their babysitter, and here we're having an open argument about chuck hagel's of

chuck is prepared to set all of these questions. they're all questions that could and should be asked. again, as dana said, this is someone who has a very sound, realistic view of foreign policy, of military policy, based upon his one experience as a soldier himself, two, his experience in the senate dealing with these issues. by the way, the foreign policy of the united states is not set by the secretary of defense. he will be carrying out the foreign policy of the president of the united states. and he'll be giving them the military options. but he'll be giving them those options with i think the hardest and closest scrutiny because he understands ultimately young americans have to carry the battle. not a lot of people that are commenting on today. >> here's the question about this. what i was so stirred by when i read his comment, when he was being medivaced, reremembers i've got to do everything i can when i get back to the united states to make sure that war is a last resort. you have been in the military. does that sound like

chuck is right. they should go -- the white house should get over its upset with boehner and help bail him out. one question to john baron and the rest of them, request leaders can't count, what else can they do? how they went ahead with plan "b" knowing they didn't have the votes. that is sort of one-on-one in politics. >> make them reject one more time. >> there's no real partner here. there's no partner. >> that's what they say. >> here's the broader question, it includes the gun debate, okay? what are the president's priorities going to be after the first of the year? congressman, you heard wayne lapierre. does he reflect your views about how to approach any kind of remedy after a massacre like newtown which is we should talk about everything but guns? >> look, my wife and i, we have three kids, and i -- if there's something that we can do again, of course i'll support it, but i also -- >> come on, there's no standard likes that. that's why you try things. that's what public policy is about. >> i

let's look at chuck hagel's credentials. a vietnam war veteran, two purple hearts, a former member of the senate foreign relations committee. that's more military experience than most secretaries of defense. hagel himself has argued that that position should be filled with someone who's been a grunt, on the ground, and knows those concerns. how can you argue that he's not qualified for the job? >> there are a lot of folks who are saying that he doesn't have the military experience. if you look at ashton carter, they have been in the defense department, they're solid, reliable democrats, they know it in and out, and might be better choices for the government. but there are a lot of conservatives who are attacking hagel on policy grounds, and one argument we haven't heard a lot of, when you look at zoe baird, tom daschle, a lot of other nominees in the past who have been attacked, they've been attacked for personal reasons, who they've hired to be their babysitter, and here we're having an open argument about chuck hagel's ide

thank you, chuck todd. chuck, you're staying with us on this political thing we're doing next. >>> coming up, the results of our new poll are in, and one thing is clear. the republican party has a sorry reputation right now. do you believe that? big time. the most frequent words people use to describe the party are bad, weak, and negative. for all the millions the party spent to sell its candidates, the american public really doesn't like what it sees when it hears the word republican. >>> plus, a preview of coming attractions. hillary clinton and chris christie coming soon to a presidential primary near you. we're talking 2016. could clinton versus christie be the dream match-up for every political junkie this side of heaven. >>> and president obama and john boehner talking again. can boehner deliver enough votes in his caucus. >>> let me finish with that old question, why not the best? this is "hardball," the place for politics. when you give a, it has to work. ♪ make just one someone happy and when it'

chuck will have a chance to defend himself. >> will you support him? >> i'm going to wait and see what happens in the hearings. i've got questions with chuck and iran, hamas and hezbollah, his position toward israel, just afghanistan. i want to hear what he has to say. but very troubling comments by a future secretary of defense. >> senator schumer, should the president make that nomination? >> well, that's his choice. i think once he makes it his record will be studied carefully, but until that point i think we're not going to know what's going to happen. >> can you support him? >> i'd have to study his record. i'm not going to comment until the president makes a nomination. >> we're going to leave it there. gentlemen, happy holidays to you both. thank you both very much for your time. i appreciate it. the fiscal cliff talks, cabinet changes, what will define president obama's agenda at the first of the year? to the best vacation spot on earth. (all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit. mississippi, alabama, louisiana or

chuck hagel said that in 1998. today he took it back, releasing a statement to the "washington post" calling his own words back then insensitive, saying they did not reflect the totality of his views or public record. he apologized to mr. hormel and apologized for saying it. he then says he supports, quote, open service, which means i think he is not going to be a creep about "don't ask, don't tell" if he gets put in charge of the pentagon who has just gone through hell and high water to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," thank you very much. we don't know if chuck hagel was sorry about his attack on hormel before that might stop him from getting the top job. we don't know if huck hagel is the president's top choice to get nominated for that job. it seems like we only got the first nominee for president obama's new cabinet today because of a meltdown in congress last night. let's hope that we don't have to wait for something quite that dramatic before we get the rest of his nominees too. >>> hey, one more thing about

chuck will have a chance to defend himself. >> will you support him? >> i'm going to wait and see what happens in the hearings. i've got questions with chuck and iran, hamas and hezbollah, his position toward israel, just afghanistan. i want to hear what he has to say. but very troubling comments by a future secretary of defense. >> senator schumer, should the president make that nomination? >> well, that's his choice. i think once he makes it his record will be studied carefully, but until that point i think we're not going to know what's going to happen. >> can you support him? >> i'd have to study his record. i'm not going to comment until the president makes a nomination. >> we're going to leave it there. gentlemen, happy holidays to you both. thank you both very much for your time. i appreciate it. the fiscal cliff talks, cabinet changes, what will define president obama's agenda at the first of the year? president obama's agenda at the fcan pluggable febreze make even this old container smell fresh? describe the room. a big, open space. smells re

i'm chris cillizza in for chuck todd. with sweeping tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect at midnight, even lawmakers are now publicly pessimistic about the ability of congress to, well, get anything done. at best, democrats and republicans will patch together a limited, short-term deal to avoid the most immediate economic impacts of the fiscal cliff. with 15 hours to go and counting, members of congress are disgusted and embarrassed. >> when the future of the country, you know, rests in the hands of 70 and 80-year-olds who have jet lag, it's probably not the best thing. >> something has done terribly wrong when the biggest threat to our american economy is our american congress. >> the senate will reconvene at 11:00 this morning, but after a day of public gamesmanship and little obvious progress behind the scenes on sunday. >> there's still significant distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue. >> i want everyone to know i'm willing to get this done, but i need a dance partne

brzezinski, let's talk about chuck hagel. would he be an effective secretary of defense, first of all, and secondly, what is your take on this campaign, a very concerted campaign against his nomination? >> you know, unlike some of his critics and some of them were described yesterday on the op-ed page of "the washington post," he has fought for this country. he has been wounded for this country. he is a man who knows what war is like. he is a man who also knows that war should be the last resort, which is not the view of his critics. they would like to plunge the united states into some new wars promptly, and not necessarily for u.s. national interests. so i don't have much sympathy for the critics. but i have a strong feeling that he and kerry would infuse into our foreign policy what is very much needed, and that is a sense of strategic significance, that is to say preoccupation with the problems that we're slowly, collectively sliding into. what do i have in mind? basically this. if you look at the world from north korea a

thank you, chuck todd. thank you, chris cillizza. >>> coming up, president obama promised action, but what can washington do to tackle the unholy trinity of guns, mental illness, and the culture of violence. >>> we will get to the latest on the investigation in connecticut and what may have driven this gunman to such violent and deadly action. if there's a motive that makes any sense. >>> and president obama and house speaker john boehner met again, and there's renewed optimism on the fiscal cliff negotiations. do you believe it? optimism? we can use that for christmas. >>> let me finish with why i'm hopeful, really am, about the fiscal cliff. >>>, this, of course, is "hardball," the place for politics. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. >>> you're looking at pictures from fairfield, connecticut, of course, where mourners have ga

chuck mentioned 2010. brand and haven't for a while. >> the importance, chuck, and you're the expert as well as you're the expert as well as chris, the importance of hispanic voters, the importance of younger voters is they don't all vote in midterm elections, but in a general election for president, you have all of a sudden all the negatives in the republican party blossoming into the most important things in the party. so it's the position against legalization of people that have been here a while, its the position on abortion rights, all the issues that affect young people, all the issues that are salient with minorities and young people they're wrong on. >> chris, here is the thing. if they just sit here and say, i have heard this from some republicans, you know what? we'll be fine in 2014, you know, because turnout won't be the same, it will be a better electorate, but you know what? over time that electorate is going to change, too. it takes a little bit longer, but we saw evidence of that. harry rei

and the other thing that's weird here is i'm fine with chuck hagel. i'm not a huge fan of his, but because i feel he's the president' top choice, that makes me feel defensive about him. whereas if you were just giving me the two names michelle and chuck, i would be inclined to want to see the great accomplishment who has been there for democrats through thick and thin. and i also have to say i'm not crazy about this trend of democrats consistently nominating republican secretaries of defense as if we have no one on our own side who can handle the job. but the politics get muddled when the name gets floated. you feel like you want to defend them even though maybe they're not the top choice. >> at a time when democrats are leading on defense why we feel like we have to go republican, curious to me. because i'm a conspiracy theorist. so let's play out your conspiracy theory. what i find interesting and ryan i want to get you in on this. what she is saying is chuck hagel is now the decoy. you see some people being behind michelle. and one of those luminar

and we are talking about chuck hagel and the attacks against chuck hagel. there are two things here interesting. one is the new norm established, which is going after a nominee before they are a nominee, right? so the name gets floated in the case of susan rice. then you go after and they are in this weird position where they cannot defend themselves because they have not been nominated yet, but the other is ways in which the specific set of interests around the relationship to israel will try to push foreign policy in a certain way. and i think it is interesting they are going after hagel partly because of this moment on the floor in july of 2006. this was during israel and lebanon's war and this is chuck hagel pushing the u.s. to urge a cease-fire. take a look. >> how do we realistically believe that a continuation of this system attic destruction of an american friend, the country and the people of lebanon is going to enhance america's image and give us the trust and sustainability to maintain a peace effort in the middle east? the sickening slaughter on

chuck will have a chance to defend himself. >> will you support him? >> i'm going to wait and see what happens in the hearings. i've got questions with chuck and iran, hamas and hezbollah, his position toward israel, just afghanistan. i want to hear what he has to say. but very troubling comments by a future secretary of defense. >> senator schumer, should the president make that nomination? >> well, that's his choice. i think once he makes it his record will be studied carefully, but until that point i think we're not going to know what's going to happen. >> can you support him? >> i'd have to study his record. i'm not going to comment until the president makes a nomination. >> we're going to leave it there. gentlemen, happy holidays to you both. thank you both very much for your time. i appreciate it. the fiscal cliff talks, cabinet changes, what will define president obama's agenda at the first of the year? president obama's agenda at the first of the year? and my round tablehey sis, it's so great to see you. you, too! oh, cloudy glasses. you didn't

thank you, chuck todd. chuck, you're staying with us on this political thing we're doing next. >>> coming up, the results of our new poll are in and one thing is clear. the republican party has a sorry reputation right now. do you believe that? big time. the most frequent words people use to describe the party are bad, weak, and negative. for all the millions the party spent to sell its candidates, the american public really doesn't like what it sees when it hears the word republican. >>> plus, a preview of coming attractions. hillary clinton and chris christie coming soon to a presidential primary near you. we're talking 2016. could clinton versus christie be the dream match-up for every political junkie this side of heaven. >>> and president obama and john boehner talking again. can boehner deliver enough votes in his caucus. >>> let me finish with that old question, why not the best? this is "hardball," the place for politics. your former self? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't ha

storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with us. we're hoping it turns into a nice weekend, chuck. >> i think it's going to be all right as weekends go. most important thing is it will be two weeks long, and you need the days off to get your christmas shopping and other holiday shopping done. >>> it's not a bad way to get friday morning started, but it is cloudy. temperatures in the mid and upper 30s. what's most important is we're above the freezing mark. hagerstown down 91 through front royal and winchester. not a lot of heavy rain. couple of hundredths inches of rain at most. keeping a close eye up here in the shenandoah valley up into southern pennsylvania, there's a slight little chance of a little freezing rain or sleet mixing in. road services all above freezing. not looking for a big problem. sprinkles around this morning with a mostly cloudy friday. not such a bad day to be outside. hometown forecast in waldorf, temperatures climbing up into the upper 40s to low 50s with plenty of spotty showers around. on the whole, genera

chuck hagel has had some very outlying votes on that. he's been -- >> he wants to establish communication. >> he's been consistently -- i think in that sense anybody who tries to communicate with iran has run into a brick wall, and chuck hagel has consistently been against economic sanctions to try to change the behavior of the islamic regime, the radical regime in tehran, which is the only way to do it short of war. so, in fact, as i look at chuck hagel's positions on iran, they seem to me to be quite different than president obama. now, president obama obviously has earned the right to naum night whoever he wants. i think this is a very tough confirmation process. i don't know how it would end, but there are reasonable questions to ask and that chuck hagel has to answer. >> finally in our last minute i need you to solve the fiscal cliff problem. specifically we all know that the speaker left. he couldn't get his caucus to join him on his backup plan, and he said hey, mr. president and senator reid the majority leader in the senate, it'

chuck hagel has had some very outlying votes on that. he's been -- >> he's wanted to establish communication with iran. # >> he's been consistently -- i think in that sense anybody who tries to communicate with iran has run into a brick wall, and chuck hagel has consistently been against economic sanctions to try to change the behavior of the islamic regime, the radical regime in tehran, which is the only way to do it short of war. so, in fact, as i look at chuck hagel's positions on iran, they seem to me to be quite different than president obama. now, president obama obviously has earned the right to nominate whoever he wants. i think this will be a very tough confirmation process. i don't know how it would end, but there are reasonable questions to ask and that chuck hagel will have to ask. >> finally in our last minute i need you to solve the fiscal cliff problem. specifically we all know that the speaker left. he couldn't get his caucus to join him on his backup plan, and he said hey, mr. president and senator reid, the majority lea

here is meteorologist chuck bell. hi, chuck. >> good evening to you and a good evening, everybody, after a dismally gray and damp sunday afternoon. there are more rain drops inbound for the late night hours tonight. plenty of rain up here well to the west of i-81 for now, but it won't take long, it will be raining again in winchester and martinsburg and eventually the rain drops will find that i y back into the capital beltway. reduced visibilities has air travel slowed down. you may want to call ahead. your sunday evening planner, chilly, wet, rain coming back by 9:00, 10:00, we'll talk about monday and back to work forecast in a few. >> see you in a bit, chuck. ♪ >>> weather didn't damp enspirits this evening as the national menorah was lit to celebrate hanukkah. the u.s. navy band was among the features performances. this is the world's largest menorah. it caps the first full day of the jewish holiday that celebrates the victory of the mack beeian army and the triumph of light over darkness. >>> in fiscal cliff n

will it be chuck hagel at the pentagon? which opens up all kinds of possibilities politically echo minister of massachusetts. i want to talk about chuck hagel. this is a man that came back from the number two purple hearts. talk about him going to the pentagon but there are some republicans who are not happy with his former republican senator from nebraska. why? >> chuck hagel was not to go to vietnam. he had orders to go to germany. he was at fort dix, new jersey and said i wanted to go to vietnam. in may and talk to the chaplain and psychologist and after two weeks, went to vietnam. he has fought for his country, unlike his critics. he has but pours countries, unlike his critics. he understands war, unlike his critics. he does not have other priorities, as richard cheney did at the same time in vietnam. he never said it was going to be a cakewalk. he is prepared, ready, and bill, and put it best. he has fought for his country and but for his country. he knows the subject matter. ask jim jones and other national security a

we'll have reaction of chuck pagano's first game after battling cancer. >>> and a baby determined to come out breech, we'll hear from one mom and dad about their little girl's special delivery. >>> it's pretty chilly across much of maryland and into baltimore. take a look. clouds to the south and east of us. a bigger storm over texas, could that be a problem for new year's eve, we'll answer that on abc2 news at 11. >>> the cliff hanger continues in washington tonight. democrats and republicans are wrangling over last minute legislation to avert the so called fiscal cliff, you know, the one two punch of tax increases and budget cults that will go into effect january 1. there's no sign of a deal so far. here's pridy arla. >> reporter: the clock is ticking, negotiations are ongoing, but at this point, democrats and republicans remain at odds. >> regardless of partisan differences, our top priority has to be to make sure that taxes on middle class families do not go up that would hurt our economy badly. we can get that done. >> reporter: president obama called for immediate action, but t

we're going to hear from colts' coach chuck pagano, about his fight with cancer. stay with us. >>> welcome back. you could call it the dairy cliff. there could be some serious sticker shock starting new year's day. you heard wendy mention this moments ago. here's more information. the price of milk could double, hitting as much as $8 a gallon, if congress does not take action on the new farm bill. without the bill, the 1949 law would kick in. and that would force the government to pay dairy farmers much higher prices for their milk, pushes costs up all across the board. >>> another day, another upbeat report on the housing market. sales of new homes jumped 4.4% between october and november. the fastest pace in 2 1/2 years. overall, home sales are up 15% over the past year. >>> and still, with the economy, a sign of the rebounding u.s. auto industry. ford will spend more than $750,000 to expand a half-dozen manufacturing plants in michigan. that will create more than 2,300 jobs and save 3,000 others. it's part of the company's commitment to invest $6.2 billion in i

> > hey chuck. you are certainly seeing some strength there, some concerns as we roll toward the end of the year with no deal out of washington. you are seeing some vol buyers enter the market on a daily basis now. even though we have seen the market down the last five days after reaching a peak in the s&p of 1447. it is not down significantly, yet we are still seeing pretty active vol buyers, and you are seeing the vix up around that 19.5 level - it has not been there since july of this year. > we also had a quadruple witching day which has now passed. i expect that probably factored in a little bit. but do you expect less volatility now? > > actually it is hard to say. i think there are still going to be concerns as we roll in toward the beginning of the year. if there is no deal, i think you are going to continue to see vol buyers into january, because the expectations are the s&p could slip significantly if nothing gets done. we are trending right now back down toward that 50-day moving average,

. >>> plus the chuck hagel for secretary of defense bubble has been popped. by floating other names. did obama's miss like bork even getting nominated? i don't like this process. >>> and new reports the tea party process was imploding, imploding well before election day. including an attempt with dick armey getting aimed. >>> plus we'll have the top viral videos of 2012 including this one. >> we're all on our own if romney has his way. and he's against safety nets. if you fall, tough luck. so i strongly suggest that you wake the [ bleep ] up. >> actually, that's samuel l. jackson, he's a nice fella personally. this is "hardball," the place for politics. he really is a nice guy. >>> former president george h.w. bush took a turn for the over and he's against safety nets. if you fall, tough luck. so i strongly suggest that you wake the [ bleep ] up. >> actually, that's samuel l. jackson, he's a nice fella personally. this is "hardball," the place for politics. he really is a nice guy. >>> former president george h.w. bush took a turn for the worse over christmas

officials concerned. >> reporter: that's right, chuck. all the latest intelligence indicates that the u.s., nato, and particularly the syrian people are really staring the worst case scenario directly in the face. just about the time rebel forces started to make significant advances in the capital da m damascus, u.s. officials tell nbc news that the assad regime informed its chemical weapons corps to get prepared. and just about that time, u.s. intelligence noticed a flurry of activity around several of the chemical weapons sites, an indication, perhaps, that the chemical corps is moving two precan cursor chemicals to the same locations to weaponize artillery shells and once you combine those precursor chemicals it creates that deadly nerve gas. now the question is, as president obama threatened, there will be consequences if assad regime does use chemical weapons against its own people. what are those consequences? well, the u.s. military does have several contingency plans in place. right now it appears that the use of ground forces is

he apparently wants chuck hagel in this job very much. it would look very weak to be put it bluntly -- it would look weak to bail on this because of some coalessing opposition. >> and one thing has been cleaned up in the last few minutes, in fact. there was also opposition developing from the lgbt community because susan, of what chuck hagel had said 14 years ago in opposition to the nomination of james hormel, openly gay, as an ambassador to luxembourg. it would have been the first openly gay ambassador. he eventually was named by a recess appointment because the senate came out against him. chick hagel calm out against him in offensive terms. he has apologiesed for that today putting out a statement saying that that was 14 years ago. he has completely supportive of the lgbt community and chad griffin's group has said that that is a lesson as to how far people have come and is basically blessing this as well. >> there are a lot of people in politics and in american life who have changed their views on gay rights and the appropriate roles

thank you, chuck todd. thank you, chris cillizza. >>> coming up, president obama promised action, but what can washington do to tackle the unholy trinity of guns, mental illness, and the culture of violence. >>> we will get to the latest on the investigation in connecticut and what may have driven this gunman to such violent and deadly action. if there's a motive that makes any sense. >>> and president obama and house speaker john boehner met again, and there's renewed optimism on the fiscal cliff negotiations. do you believe it? optimism? we can use that for christmas. >>> let me finish with why i'm hopeful, really am, about the fiscal cliff. >>>, this, of course, is "hardball," the place for politics. [ loud party sounds ] hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup

it looks like chuck hagel now suddenly -- i mean, when chuck schumer -- how many times did david gregory ask him if he could support chuck hagel's nomination? and schumer was not -- schumer knew exactly what he was doing. let's not pretend, you know, that was a misstatement or anything like that. he was sending a signal to the white house. hey, buddy, pull this thing. don't make us fight for hagel. we're not going to do it. there probably actually was more support to fight for susan rice than i'm detecting when it comes to chuck hagel. but the way i think the fiscal stuff has impacted it, it's taken the white house eye off the ball. they've not managed that situation very well. and i think it's because they're all just so consumed with fiscal cliff. >> hey, chuck, do you have -- can we get the camera to pull back? do you have shorts on or sweatpants? >> i can see his breath. it looks cold. >> reporter: peter was giving the weather report in washington. first of all, you can see my breath. >> yeah. >> reporter: if you want to look at that, number one. it's mid-30s. >> i think he's just sm

thank you, chuck todd. thank you, chris sill lis cilli. coming up, president obama promised action but what can washington do to tackle the unholy trinity of guns, mental illness, and the culture of violence. >>> we will get to the latest on the investigation in connecticut and what may have driven this gunman to such violent and deadly action. if there's a motive that makes any sense. >>> and president obama and house speaker john boehner met again and there's renewed optimism on the fiscal cliff negotiations. do you believe it? optimism? we can use that for christmas. >>> let me finish with why i'm hopeful, really am, about the fiscal cliff. >>>, this, of course, is "hardball," the place for politics. it's swanson flavor boost. concentrated broth to add delicious flavor to your skillet dish in just one stir. mmm! [ female announcer ] cook, meet compliments. get recipes at flavorboost.com. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stre

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i served with chuck hagel. i know him. he is a patriot. he has done extraordinary work both in the united states senate. somebody who served this country with valor in vietnam. and is somebody who is currently serving on my intelligence advisory board and doing an outstanding job. so i haven't made a decision on this. with respect to the particular comment that you quoted, he apologized for it. and i think it's a testimony to what has been a positive change over the last decade in terms of people's attitudes about gays and lesbians serving our country. and that's something that i'm very proud to have led, and i think that anybody who serves in my administration understands my attitude and position on those issues. >> mr. president, as you look forward to a second term, you think about your legacy. you think about your goals. how frustrated are you at how hard it appears to be to get some of these things done? very difficult relationship with congress. people come up to me all the time and say, don't they realize, all of them, the president