he was on the campaign trail insisting that after obama became president obama had closed a plant, a g.m. plant. and people said, was actually closed in december. george bush was president. he kept saying it. now, that really takes something. >> i'm going to go with an italian but not that italian. silvio berlusconi. convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison decides this is the perfect platform to run for prime minister again. chris: that's how he got there in the first place prorblee. that's chutzpah. next category, the hard to -- hardest to figure out, nominees for 2012 mysteries. what president obama was thinking in that first debate and a muge mystery predicting -- and a huge mystery predicting the plot and david petraeus, his mystery and the email she fired off to the woman in florida who is a big friend of all the generals. or is the biggest mystery of the year what made romney think he had it? katty. >> i'm going to go with the first debate. we still don't really know what happened. and nor the people advising him were furious the day after about it. where w

>> obama. >> obama. definitely not obama. >> go ahead with it. >> but that -- i don't think romney did this with anticipation that it might suddenly come out. but when it came out, it was the worst political moment of his career. >> you think so. >> you can tell this is not rehearsed because i picked the 47% moment, too. it said so much about where the debate has gone. i think it's a turning point now. >> i will give you the true turning point. take this down. clarence, use it in your column. the most defining moment mitt romney's no show after the shore after it was hit hard by hurricane sandy. romney left the headlines to obama, who looked great, by the way. and chris christie creating romney's momentum which he never recovered from. that ec he's something that occurred previously here but i think it's been stated. okay. >> stated at greater length. chief justice john roberts. great can conservative goes south on obamacare breaking the hearts of conservatives all over america. >> what did he do. >> ? h

gravesite of obama his great-grandfather, the person for whom the obama name derived. just kind of amazing stuff all day. >> host: you spend a lot of time in interviews talking about the tribal situation in kenya. >> guest: it explains a lot about barack obama senior. this book is more than just a biography of barack obama who became president of the united states. it's about the places they created him come the people that created and starred in two generations back and moving through to obama himself. and his father in some ways represented the promise and the frustrations of africa and of kenya and on a more personal level of the sudden brilliance in flawless. and some of that have to do with tribalism. the luo are the second largest tribe in kenya in the colonial period when the british dominated kenya really created the sort of tribalism putting all the different tribes into the reserves in different parts of the country. and so when they got independence in god power, there was this unfortunate sort of conflict for power in the luo were basically, ever since 1963

obama won on a policy term, not true. obama wants to cut $500 billion out of medicare. not true. a lot of his key arguments, and, of course, the jeep ad at the end. >> the one that offends me the most is the apology tour. it's foundational. he's putting that down in the ground. and i want to get joan in here. he puts that down and says sort of his takeoff platform. he's apologizing but i'll be a robust patriot. i'll defend america against anything foe or friend because i'm a real american. and this guy because he recognizes we live in a world of other countries that are decent countries. they're not all the enemy out there. this right wing attitude it's just us or just us and israel against all these evil third world people and they're just crazy about that. it's so dangerous. >> to finish this point for one second. the thing is -- and this is what ornstein was saying too. that his campaign was based on a lot of major big sweeping lies. now, you can look at obama and point out that he made a mistake, misrepresented obama's policy in this way and that way. but that the overall cas

he called up and asked obama what he come? obama said i am too busy. i am getting phone calls from warren buffett and steve jobs and bill gates and all these important people and rogers said you promised and obama told him you are not supposed to believe promises made by politicians, are you? rogers got very a angry, and demanded that he show up and eventually he did show up. the point of the story is so many african-american leaders, businessmen and political people i have spoken to for this book told me similar stories in which they were there for him, for obama on day one. they were when they called day one people supporting him, organizing, contributing and once he was elected to the senate and eventually the presidency they never heard from him again. it wasn't only african-americans but jewish-american donors who gave him back some of the money and never got their phone calls returned. it was oprah winfrey who worked hard for him and then frozen out of the white house and caroline kennedy and on and on and on. the portrait that i derive from this

obama, we didn't know what obama '08 had meant because the economy had tanked and the war. now with this election in 2012, it looks look barack obama, we're living now in the age of obama, which is a

it's clear obama wants to go in that direction. he's talking about this big -- doing a fiscal solution whether now or later some time this year. he's talking about immigration reform. has another set of agenda items. let's think about this for the state of the union. you can hear in his voice some different things already. he's drawing firmer red lines. in public, even tonight when he talked, there's a little more steel, a little more firmness than what he said. zpwoin that because he has this mandate he talks about. he said his mandate wasn't his mandate. it was the american people. he also said in the last few days that he didn't want to surrender to the status quo. does he have the ump to follow that? >> you can see he has more leverage. where it starts and stops, i don't think they know yet. he's reading about other presidents an then overread their mandate. he didn't want to make that mistake either because that can happen. because even if obama has changed as a result of this, it's not clear that a lot else has changed or tha

in reality obama beat romney by about 6 points. in colorado romney's team thought they were up by 2.5. they actually wound up losing by 5.5. in new hampshire, romney's polls had him up by 3. the new repep luck showed his numbers were off in wisconsin, pennsylvania, and minnesota. a closer look shows more clearly why their confidence peaked right before the vote. over the last weekend there, the romney numbers showed romney gaining strong momentum in these key states. in wisconsin, obama lost 4 points in the polling just as romney gained 4 tying up the race. in new hampshire, obama lost 4 while romney gained 3. giving him a decisive lead. the magazine quotes a romney aide on election night talking to romney's son tagg as the results were coming in. he looked like he was in a complete state of shock, as if these numbers cannot be real. to make matters worse, their polling told them florida and virginia, two states that romney lost, were in the bag. the republican party is left asking itself what went wrong and how they fix it. john b

president obama, act like a dictator. joining meor now with reaction, the co host of the five, kill berkimberly guilfoyle. he said that about nelson mandela. he said we salute you and want to see you y and your fellow political prisoners freed. reaction? >> well, i think that harry belafonte was just saying what he said in jest. you knowfo he was joking. >> sean: in jest? >> he was joking around. he didn't mean it. >> sean: there's a whole list of things he said in jest. >> do you have the list of him criticizing president obama which he did and the right wing loved that. >> sean: he compared theea rosenberg's to political prisoners and compared the bush administration and the dhs so the gestapo. >> and he criticized obama, too. and jay-z and beyonce. >> sean: he supports a cop killer. i mean, how more extreme can you get? >> well, i think he -- > >> sean: you don't seem fazed at all. >> he was saying it in jest. he did not really mean that. >> sean: every dumb thing he says now is in jest? i say dumb things, people start

also obama care taxes. there's at least a 0.9% payroll tax and maybe the 3.8% investment tax applies to capital gains and sales of these franchises. that's what you're focusing on. it has not been a winning case, russ reynolds. >> yeah, and i think the reality is -- i think most small business people are aware that we're in a tough situation in america. and i think unfortunately, for small business people who create about 65% of the jobs that get created on an annual basis in this country, including the department of labor, i think what's unfortunate is the delivery has been effectively sort of an insult, which is the guy that gets up every morning and bakes bread because he owns four or five subways or the guy playing his fair share. i think recognizing that most small business people -- most franchisees in our system certainly are local -- they're good citizens in their local community, they're involved in their local community. there are quite a few of them that may stay at a hampton inn, they don't stay

in reality obama beat romney by about 6 points. in colorado romney's team thought they were up by 2.5. they actually wound up losing by 5.5. excuse me, i'm burping here. in new hampshire they had him ahead by 3.5. the reality, obama won by 5.5. these are like 9-point differences. his internal numbers were off in wisconsin, pennsylvania, and minnesota. a closer look shows more clearly why their confidence peaked right before the vote. over the last weekend there, the romney numbers showed romney gaining strong momentum in these key states. in wisconsin, obama lost 4 points in the polling just as romney gained 4 tying up the race. in new hampshire obama lost 4 while romney gained 3. the magazine quotes a romney aide on election night talking to romney's son tagg as the results were coming in. he looked like he was in a complete state of shock, as if these numbers cannot be real. to make matters worse, their polling told them florida and virginia, two states that romney lost, were in the bag. the republican party is left asking itself

it may be obama's arrogance. watch this. >> when you talk about the feeling at the white house, there's a palpable difference now compared to 2011, the summer of 2011. they are so much cockier at the white house a year and a half ago. you know, you come to us, we're not going to negotiate. we're not going to keep putting out more proposals. >> sean: my next guest argues that it's time for republicans to stop trying to cut through the president's arrogance, walk away from the negotiating table. i've been saying that on this program. in fact, congressman allen west recently told the great one, mark levin, that it's silly to work with someone that's a marksist socialist ideolog. colonel, i don't remember that you said marksist socialist before. >> when you sit down and look at the policies that have emanated from president obama, his administration, this entire class warfare rhetoric that we continue to hear is definitely a marxist theory, the nationalizing the healthcare industry, the dodd-frank with the financial

and her role in the obama white house. i met rachel at an event this year where i bought a book, the book she wrote, "american tapestry: the story of the black, white, and multiracial ancestors of michelle obama". after hearing her talk, i'd bought six more copies. i bought them for all my family members and to give out as christmas gifts. now after having read her book i can tell you it was a good investment. it helps me better understand my own family and many mysteries surrounding my own family. rachel l. swams's book is a compelling story that stirs deep emotions. it is also a story that would break them here and with that, let's welcome rachel l. swams. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. >> thank you for coming. in the years leading up to the presidential election, the focus seems to be on barack obama's roots and his family and the fact that he wrote his own biography. now in your book "american tapestry," you put the focus on michele obama. tell us about how you got started doing that and what inspired you. >> i wa

the obama middle east policy coming undone. the a-team reacts. >>> obama what? another state tells the federal government it'ssnot interested in that obamacare exchange, and some democrats appear to be rethinking obamacare altogether. we'll tell you all about it. >>> and america's superpower status, a shocking new report by our intelligence community warning that our power may be in decline. we'll be talking about our future as a superpower with the former director of national intelligence, john negroponte, next. ♪ [ male announcer ] how uld switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production n south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global onomy. it'just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds at their 10-year lipperaverage. t. rowe price invest th confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. lou: didn't states may lose the status of the superpower by

obama won in a landslide. but everywhere in the world, there is some controversy about any politician. so there are some questions about it. but not everyone understands. >> what was his lifelike in jakarta? >> guest: he is perfectly immersed. imagine a six-year-old child being immersed in the culture. sort of a lower middle class action. the exotic smells of jakarta. his father riding a motorbike to his job. his mother was there as well. that was his wife, life, he adapted. he had to adapt. but he did the best he could. >> host: why did he leave jakarta in 1971? >> guest: his mother couldn't afford to send them there. those 3.5 years, he is in indonesia, immersed in the language. the mother is waking up at 4:00 a.m. to teach him with english schoolbooks to supplement his learning. it is very difficult. and the whole process was something that she realized that she loved indonesia, she was still married, she wanted to stay. but it was coming to a point where she had to make a key decision. it turned out that h

what thewas e ke to the obama victory? >> the obama campaign was a brilliant, disciplined campaign. it had a very narrow route to victory, and it proceeded to follow it with incredible discipline and a sense of direction, and they raced to a different level the organizational imperative in politics. but remember this -- five of the last six elections, the republicans have failed to win the popular vote. mittomneis i a succession. he is not an anomaly. >> the main reason for mitt romney's defeat, given the problems the president had. >> if you ask people at the end of 2011, middle of 2011, to look like a slam dunk for republicans. one of the reasons we are at the fiscal cliff is the republican resolution was under the tacit assumption that they would control the white house, so who cared about everything stacked against them. the main proble w obama ran an absolutely brilliant campaign. republicans had a very weak field, and romney was the best of a very weak field. he himself was a very odd candidate. after the financial crisis, a man essentially of wall street, and a man whose esse

>> now the big media went into the tank for barack obama. >> eleanor? >> when you have hundred year storms every couple of years. you've got a problem. the most seriously underreported story is the threat of climate change. >> oh dear. susan? >> federal government rate of the gibson guitar factory. they confiscated the merchandise because a small business took some wood -- that was the incorrect level of thickness. >> interesting. what a loss. >> the worst political theater? how the right turned benghazi tragedy into theater of the absurd. >> are you reading that now? >> i wanted to get it right and concise. >> listen to me now and watch this. understood reported story of 2012 the bright side of mexico. the bright side of mexico. but particularly its economy. you call mexico went down to a failed state on the program. now in the midst of a manufacturing rebound be exports up to 14%. up from 11%. creating jobs, boosting gdp and drawing mexican immigrants from the united states back home. okay. the most overreported story of 2012. pat? >> the election of

obama care will. >> first and last wor from john standep. imagine sitting down in pernn wi ho after hero. men who risked everything for a chance to discover their own. and put america ahead . n who never fail to inspire. ahead of the 40th anniversary of the last moonwalk neal got that challenge . it is tomorrow on fox news channel. never before seen fooge from space. you don't want to miss >> coming up. saving taxpayer cash by bumping up the hours for government workerin. we'll explain. >> the elephant in the room that needs to be spoken about is impact of climate change. we need to rebuild and rethink our infrastcture. >> hurricane sandy victims are still in the cold. are lawmakers using the super storm to push the green agenda and push you to pay more. >> climate change is a city wide challenge and not just a coastal challenge. we have to reexamine all of our major infrastructure in leist sandy and how to modernize it in order to protect it >> new york city mike bloomburg not mincing words linking sandep to global warming. rich, you are co

he made a better case for barack obama and joe biden and barack obama and joe biden had ever made. the other thing about bill clinton's speech is he had the ultimate line in it -- "this economy was so bad even i could not have fixed it." >> you pointed out in the opening of the show what was the worst political moment, which was the clint eastwood wasting 12 minutes of prime time when just before, you have had these truly heart rending stories -- heartwarming stories about the humanity of the republican challenger, and also a bio which was not shown. that was terrible. >> the reason why clinton's speech worked was because people know it was bill clinton giving that speech. so many speeches are written by someone else, and they read that way, and the public is sick of it. >> finally, predictions for the year ahead in the supreme court. >> the supreme court -- it will be a gonzo year involving the supreme court possibly striking down the voting rights act, the obstruction of gay marriage, and even weather you can patent -- whether you can patent a genie. >> happy new year to you. she

and one of the things that i found out is the obama team, probably with the exception of obama himself were really ticked off at team romney for taking 70, 80 minutes to wait. valerie jarrett was angry. axlerod was angry. and jim messina had to call matt rhodes, mitt romney's campaign messenger and had to send a text before romney called. >> i think he conceded in fine time. we did it while we were all there awake. john, quickly. >> two fast things. that is on election night, the romney campaign drafted remarks and considered having paul ryan go down to the podium to send everybody home until the next morning. that was a possibility considered until it became obvious that romney was going to lose. the second thing. in '08, there was a mormon documentarian. he cut a documentary made in 2010. the romney advisers spiked it. it's never seen the light of day because the romney high command thought it showed romney talking about his faith in a way that may be politically damaging for them. >> "called the end of the line" written by two great writers, jonathan martin and glenn thrush. we'll b

president obama faces the prospect of assembling a whole new national security team. a closer look who could fill the top post and a preview of the controversies to come next. and we can save you 10% on ground shipping over the ups store. look this isn't my first christmas. these deals all seem great at the time... but later, not so much. this isn't that kind of deal. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. . . >> jamie: susan rice has done a great job as our be ambassador to the united nations. and of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president. >> paul: and the secretary of state hillary clinton reacting to talk to president obama may nominate u.n. ambassador susan rice to replace her. rice made the rounds on capitol hill on tuesday in a

that obama wasn't holding all the cards. i think he has the advantage obviously because republicans in all the policy are the ones who will take the blame. but nonetheless, the larger issue, if you are obama, is not who is popular and who is not, he's won his last election. that doesn't matter anymore. what obama does care about and should care about is his legacy. if you go over the cliff he may get a bump temporarily and the republicans will take a hit but his legacy will be his second term. and if he wrecks the economy, as he would, by not being able to remedy the consequences of going over the cliff, then he's going to have a failed second term and a failed history -- history will remember him as a failed president. now, what he probably thinks, if he can go over the cliff, the republicans will take a hit, he will have public opinion behind him and then he can undo the damage one issue at a time by getting a reduction by a return of the majority of the bush tax rates, standing unemployment, whatever else he wants to do h

he made a better case for barack obama and joe biden and barack obama and joe biden had ever made. the other thing about bill clinton's speech is he had the ultimate line in it -- "this economy was so bad even i could not have fixed it." >> i think you pointed out in the opening of the show what was the worst political moment, which was the clink east would wasting 12 minutes of prime time when just before, you have had these truly heart rending stories -- heartwarming stories about the humanity of the republican challenger, and also a bio which was not shown. that was a terrible tactical error. >> the reason why clinton's speech worked was because clinton is a force larger the nature and people knew it was bill clinton giving that speech. so many political speeches are written by someone else, and they read that way. "inside washington finally -- >> finally, predictions for the year ahead in the supreme court. it will be a gun so year involving the supreme court possibly striking down the voting rights act, the subject of gay marriage, and even weather you can patent a gene. anywa

. >> obama appeases, not true. obama won on a policy term, not true. obama wants to cut $500 billion out of medicare. not true. a lot of his key arguments, and, of course, the jeep ad at the end. >> the one that offends me the most is the apology tour. it's foundational. he's putting that down in the ground. and i want to get joan in here. he puts that down and says sort of his takeoff platform. he's apologizing but i'll be a robust patriot. i'll defend america against anything foe or friend because i'm a real american. and this guy because he recognizes we live in a world of other countries that are decent countries. they're not all the enemy out there. this right wing attitude it's just us or just us and israel against all these evil third world people and they're just crazy about that. it's so dangerous. >> to finish this point for one second. the thing is -- and this is what ornstein was saying too. that his campaign was based on a lot of major big sweeping lies. now, you can look at obama and point out that he made a mistake, misrepresented obama'

obama says no. i will give you another one. number five, obama wants new stimulus money, the g.o.p. says no. >> okay, which one, what do you want me to address? >> i want to know whether those are all resolvable before the new year? >> yes, this re resolvable. on the debt limit, it was a republican idea when president bush was in the power to raise the debt limit, which is to pay bills that have already been accrued, and that the congress could override it. the congress could object. and mitch mcconnell put that bill forward on the floor this week, thinking he was going to embarrass democratic leader reed, and reed said let's go ahead and vote. it and so then mcconnell filibustered his own bill because he got afraid the democrats had the votes for it. so that's the kind of maneuvering that is going on. childish. >> yes, childish. very childish. former republican majority leader trent lott told cnn's anderson cooper how he had a working relationship with his democratic counterpart tom daschle. the two did something called compromise. a concept that facilitates law foreign in today's

obama care. >> if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. it will break him and we will show that we can, along with the american people, begin to push those freedom solutions that work in every area of our society. >> and demint is an outspoken opponent of labor unions and workers rights. >> i don't believe collective bargaining has any place in government. >> including at a federal level? >> including at the federal level. that's what elections are. collective bargaining. >> house democratic leader nancy pelosi pointed out jim demint was one of the ringleaders in voting down the u.n. treaty for people with disabilities this week. >> that was one of the saddest days, so anyone who was a party to that, well, i wish them well wherever they are going and hope that we can have more of our values represented there. >> it was demint and his tea party allies who pushed the country to the brink of default back in 2011. this is what demint told abc news about republicans who tried to s

president obama ran uno'posed. but sluggish economy and high unemployment and no plan for recovery made him vulnerable. >> president's policies have not been success to feel reignite the economy, putting people back to work. >> earning his party's nomination was not as easy for the former massachusetts governor mitt romney. even though romney went on to win decisive victories and becoming the republican nominee he emerged from the primary battle bruised. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> romney's campaign saw several ups and downs but appearing confident and in command in the first debate, romney threw president obama off the game with the president delivering a shaky performance. >> the first debate sets the tone and can have the most impact but yeah, look, this is a series. >> mr. obama regained the footing by the third and final debate and ultimately won re-election. >> the best is yet to come. >> long serving texas congressman ron paul decided not to seek re-electio

we'll take a look back over the past four years and draw some interesting comparisons between president obama and predecessor. one journalist pick up their press badges they accept the risks that come with the job but one journalist in california is suing the l a u for the abuse he suffered while covering the occupy wall street protests his story ahead. in the construction of the keystone x.l. pipeline is experiencing get another road block this time coming from a texas judge we'll tell you the latest in this saga and show you who's stands to gain the most from it. it's wednesday december twelfth eight pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wahl and you're watching r.t. we begin with the international uproar after north korea test launched a long range rocket and the greater foreign policy implications north korea says it's an experiment to put a satellite into space but the u.s. japan and south korea are among the nations of fear that this is a step toward the secretive country launching a long range nuclear weapon north korea of course is part of what's been infamously dubbed the axis of evil i

obama wants to play hardball. but i think they'll have a different argument later in the year. >> i guess both believe it's better to go over the falls than cut a deal that's going to hurt them at home. tea party people don't respond to boehner or to cantor or mccarthy or any of them. somebody in the next tea party is going to be yelling from the back, you sold us out. i think that's why the tea party is never going to be functional. they don't really respond to getting things done. they respond to anger back home. >> i think 2014 democrats are also aware of these tax increases. they don't want to run in a state like pennsylvania with state like pennsylvania with these tax increases. these tax increases. that's why they want to run -- >> republicans. >> no democrats. that's why they want to run -- >> republicans. >> no democrats. if you're running 2014, you if you're running 2014, you don't want all these hikes on your shoulders. >> with the farmers and ranchers there paying more when it's a million dollars -- >>

they blame obama. if you brought up a number should rich people get tax increases overwhelmingly they yes. >> eric: let's talk about what is going on. president obama came out and said i want 1.6 trillion in new revenues. john boehner says we will give you $800 example in new revenue. obama came down to $1.4 trillion. boehner hasn't come back yet. if boehner offers $1 trillion new revenues can it pass the house? >> andrea: great question. we are sitting around the table sitting about deal that boehner brokers. he has to go back to the members to get the deal through the house. i'm not so sure about it. i know what he won't get through the house, raising taxes. he is not going to get some tax raising compromise together. there is no house member when they know they have to run for re-election every two years, that is going to vote for a tax increase. how would they get through a primary? >> bob: they will vote on cutting taxes on everybody but the 2%. that is politically sellable. >> dana: no. extending

obama is wearing. she could be dressed up but she'll never cover up -- >> taxpayers didn't buy the dress! oh my god! >> wow! >> what a bunch of morons. >> stephanie: jim, don't go in the yahoo comments! all right. generally writes d.c. sexy liberal show -- this is more like a love letter. steph, i live in sacramento. my parents live in d.c. i've been out of work for awhile. my parents bought me tickets to visit for the obama inauguration and they bought tickets to to the sexy liberal show. they bought two for themselves in the nosebleeds and one v.i.p. for me. wow, fun! wow. they're so such awesome parents. i've listened to your show for years. my parents know how much i love your show. jenny and her awesomely cool parents. [ applause ] >> stephanie: no more sad panda. happy pandas, all of them. hurry. they're going fast. v.i.p. meet and grope will be sold out today for the january 19th inauguration weekend show in d.c. very exciting. hal sparks, john fuglesang aisha tyler and i. huge surprise celebrit

obama appeases, not true. obama went on an apology tour, not true. obama went to cut $5 billion off medicare. not true. a lot of his key arguments and of course the jeep ad at the end which has been declared the number one lie of the year. >> the one that offends me the most is the apology tour. it's foundational. he's putting that down in the ground. and i want to get joan in here. he puts that down and says sort of his takeoff platform. he's apologizing but i'll be a robust patriot. i'll defend america against anything foe or friend because i'm a real american. and this guy because he recognizes we live in a world of other countries that are decent countries. they're not all the enemy out there. this right wing attitude it's just us or just us and israel against all these evil third world people and they're just crazy about that. it's so dangerous. >> to finish this point for one second. the thing is -- and this is what ornstein was saying too. that his campaign was based on a lot of major big sweeping lies. now, you can look at obama and point out

he and president obama are battling the air war right now. this is all about rejoiner to what i call the president's tour of 2012. the president making an announcement at business round table, meeting with ceos who voted for romney, showing he's bipartisan. john boehner now making the fairness argument? it's a shocking turn of events but a testament to the fact that the republicans know optics are not in their favor. >> here's where it looks like it's heading. republicans float i think a face-saver in the new york times. quote, if no deal can be struck to avert the bush era tax cuts and onset of deep across the board spending cuts gop leadership could foresee taking up and passing legislation this month to extend the tax cuts for the middle class and then resume the bitter fight over spending and taxes as the nation approaches the next hard deadline and statutory barring. that's the debt ceiling coming up later this year, early part of next year. here's the question right now, governor. it seems that's a face saver because they say taxes defe

this is why president obama is playing to his strengths. the president has never had a problem rallying the american people to his side. >> understand this was a central question in the election. maybe thee central question in the election. we talked about this a lot. >> republicans are furious because they can't control this conversation. americans know where they stand on tax fairness and republicans are on the losing end. it's been a rough week. get your cell phones out. tonight's question, who has the upper hand in the fiscal cliff negotiations at this point? text a for president obama and b for the republicans to 622639. you can go to our blog and leave a comment. we encourage you to do that. i'm joined tonight by sam stein, political reporter for "the huffington post." don't you dare give me a hard time about the packers. who is winning the conversation with the american people? what kind of week was it on the hill? >> you can say the president is winning this conversation at this junction. these things change. a lot of this is postur

and one of the things that i found out is the obama team, probably with the exception of obama himself were really ticked off at team romney for taking 70, 80 minutes to wait. valerie jarrett was angry. axlerod was angry. and jim messina had to call matt rhodes, mitt romney's campaign messenger and had to send a text before romney called. >> i think he conceded in fine time. we did it while we were all there awake. john, quickly. >> two fast things. that is on election night, the romney campaign drafted remarks and considered having paul ryan go down to the podium to send everybody home until the next morning. that was a possibility considered until it became obvious that romney was going to lose. the second thing. in '08, there was a mormon documentarian. he cut a documentary made in 2010. the romney advisers spiked it. it's never seen the light of day because the romney high command thought it showed romney talking about his faith in a way that may be politically damaging for them. >> "called the end of the line" written by jonathan martin and glenn thrush. we'll be right back. we un

president barack obama has become time magazine's person of the year for a second time. being the symbol and the architect of a new america publications enthusiasm for the president is not shared by all many remain unconvinced by his actions on such topics as gun control. they're choosing president obama as the person of the year second time the first time they gave him the title right after the two thousand and eight election as to someone who had the most influence on global affairs although at that time he hadn't had the time to exercise all that influence but then president obama also received the nobel peace prize in two thousand and nine shortly after his election although i guess at that point he hadn't made much peace in the world the award was seen as much more of an advance credit then and knowledge meant of actual achievements on the peace funds later president obama went on to spend that credit sending more troops to afghanistan and carrying out regime change in libya under the arguable banner war for the sake of peace as far as his person of the year titled

arab spring rages on europe is dealing with painful austerity extreme weather headed self-help and obama reelected and there was no shortage of conflicts tragedies and misery around the world. to cross talk two thousand and twelve as it was i'm joined by john glaser in washington he's an assistant editor and blogger for antiwar dot com in san francisco we have will durst he is a political comic and syndicated columnist and in paris we cross the analysts a bit more he's a journalist and political commentator on cross talk rules in effect if you want to do this for this episode here. analysts say if i go to you first in paris if there is a hierarchy of events or ideas of the year that's about to end what would they be for you. well it's got to be the presidential election for us because that was really sort of the great thing marking the. political year and the fact that nicolas sarkozy was sent home by the voters so i would say that's the biggest thing this year john how about you but it's because i was going to say to you do you think two thousand and twelve droned along. did go along fo

time magazine chooses us president barack obama is trying to twelve person of the year meeting is a gyptian counterpart on apple's c.e.o. . and lawmakers in moscow give preliminary approval to banning americans from adopting russian children it's in response to washington so-called mixed sanctioning russian officials. alone a very good evening for me kevin owen here at the new center tonight israel says it will continue with plans to develop six thousand more satellite homes in the west bank and east jerusalem despite international condemnation the settlement expansion seen as illegal under international law follows the palestinians upgrade of the un is artie's policy from tel aviv. israeli officials say that they're pressing on with plans to build six thousand new settler homes this defies criticism from western power was the fear that the move will hunton waiting and hope for a peace deal between israelis and palestinians here remember that it was just last month off to be produced separate recognition of palestinian for earnestly at the united nations that israel made with your announcem

for the obama award, runners up, pierce morgan, andrew sullivan important asking why are obama's critics so dumb. diane sawyer for her report on barack obama's love letters. the winner of the obamagasm award. >> he has raised his family right. in a blind test, becomes head. top editor. he has not broken a law, perfect father, perfect american and all they do is trash the guy. >> jon: next the you a das it for the analysis of the year. runners up, "new york times," andrew liptak for his piece on constitution. shapiro for refusing to stand and say the pledge allegiance at a romney political rally and "washington pos

with a caption that reads the lesser of two evils i mean i hear people all the time tell me obama's going to do more or now they has a second term he doesn't need to worry about re-election or people thinking that he's going to do less because he doesn't care about re-election so what do you think what do you what do you see him specifically doing now that he's doesn't really have to worry about getting those votes you know he's doing more of the same you know i've been at this a lot a lot of years and i have to tell you i've never witnessed an election like this before there's been no post-election bounds. the blood fell off the rose immediately after election day you saw the equity markets around the world and there's been nothing really since that has happened to have generated any hope or change we can believe in and i want to make this really clear for those of you don't know i'm a political atheist i don't believe in political religions i don't believe in their political god so when i look at events in issues it's so what they are and not the way i want them to big so what i'm

in the end, obama beat romney by ten points. on the economic values question that was this, which candidate is more in touch with people like you? 53% said romney's policies would favor the rich. 10% said that the about the president's policies and romney, first republican nominee in the history of our nbc sls "wall street journal" poll and ended with a painful number, 47% of the voters viewing him positively. the obama campaign was also able to get more bang for the buck because they bought ads early and they were very careful about where to buy the ads. in the last week of the election, the obama campaign paid $550 for a single ad in raleigh, north carolina. the romney campaign had to sell out $2,665. the obama campaign bought it way ahead of time. lesson two, the republican brand needs a hard look. the gop favorable rating underwater for two years. it's been nearly five years and the final poll, full poll before the election, just 36% of registered voters said they had a positive view of the republican party. 43% held a negat

meanwhile, the obama administration is pressuring states to expand medicaid coverage as outlined by obama care. the health care law calls for medicaid to be expanded to anyone who earns up to 133% of the poverty line. under the law, the federal government would cost -- would cover the cost of new enrollment until 2016. then their share would be dropped to 90% by the year 2022. nine states have said no to expansion, despite the huge federal funding. and some states want partial expansion. but today, the administration said no way. states must expand medicaid all the way if they want to receive full obama care funding. let's turn to the former director of the office of consumer information and insurance oversight, with the health and human services department. and also msnbc contributor e.j. dion, "washington post" columnist and author of "our divided political heart." thanks for joining us tonight. jay, these health insurance ex-change, where have they important and what does it mean if states say they're not going to go down this road? >> they're important, because they enable individuals

president obama is a man of the people. most of his money came from small people expect for the except for the fact that they did not. 68% also came from large donors. the last time president obama did an inauguration, he said i'm not going to take corporate cash. this is going to be of the people, for the people, but this time around--ehh, not so much. in defense of that tony pedista said quote i think there has been a new day of engagement since the election between the corporate community and the white house. oh, you don't say yeah welcome and this is a civic event not a political event so it's okay for corporations to support it. fascinating how after he gets this gigantic amount of money and most of his money from large donors like corporations right after the election president obama has a new stance on corporations. interesting. let's take a look at google. now this is fascinating tax avoidance. you can name so many companies that do this. bloomberg wrote this story about google as an example of how they do this. goo

obama is expanding government. i saw a stanford economist who just written a book who talked about the times that you really have retardation of economic growth is when government spending, the rate of government spending exceeds the rate of private spending and we saw that, we're seeing that right now and obama is proposing that we double down on that. you expand the government spending, you crowd out the private sector -- >> david, that's not right. >> reduce growth. >> what you're talk being is sending us over the fiscal cliff and at the same time, steering off -- no! >> by telling them that the government is cutting back on every kind of spending and contractor in the nation! you're asking for catastrophe. >> you want to tax 70% of the businesses that provide 70% of the jobs, juan. >> we're trying to -- democrats are trying to protect 98% from tax hikes increases and you want to tax everybody. >> we got to take a break. we'll come back more with juan and david. they'll stay with us and it is supposed to be a re

i mean, obama has been -- i'm always shocked when people call obama a socialist, because he's -- in fact, i think you might be doing a disservice to eisenhower. >> and -- >> if i can choose to be grateful for my life, love the life i have in the midst of all this, then i can be grateful for other things. >> funding is provided by: carnegie corporation of new york, celebrating 100 years of philanthropy, and committed to doing real and permanent good in the world. the kohlberg foundation. independent production fund, with support from the partridge foundation, a john and polly guth charitable fund. the clements foundation. park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. the herb alpert foundation, supporting organizations whose mission is to promote compassion and creativity in our society. the bernard and audre rapoport foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. anne gumowitz. the betsy and jesse fink foundation. the hkh foundation. barbara g

president obama continues his secret drone wars. we spend the hour looking back at the moment and movements that shaped 2012. >> democratic congresswoman gabrielle giffords has announced she will step down this week. she was shot in the head last year in a shooting spree that left six people dead in tucson. >> thank you for your prayers and for giving me the time to recover. i have more work to do on my recovery, so i will do what is best for arizona. i will step down this week. >> iraqis are voicing outrage over the sentencing of the last marines charged in the 2005 massacre of 25 civilians. on tuesday, frank woodrich received no jail time. >> i was expecting the american courts would sentence the person to life in prison. he should appear and confessed to the world that he committed these crimes so that america could show itself as democratic and fair. >> in a dramatic scene yesterday on capitol hill, several democrats walked out of congressional hearings on the contraception rule. carol maloney of new york criticized the panel at

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obama had the home court advantage. david had it in that more aggressive interview and now, l i'll say this quickly. way back in the day when obama united states senator and there was a press conference and i asked a question and he was giving it a very long answer, in my view, and i cut him off and, boy, did i get thumped from him for cutting him off. i don't know -- >> he complained to you later? >> he took me to the wood shed for cutting him off and his view was i was trying to dictate the answer. i was just trying to have him address it. now -- would i absolutely have that same way of asking him if i were sitting with the question. >> i'm cutting you off right now. bob, this whole, it's been like watching paint dry and tremendously important story, which the country is facing enormous economic consequences, but how do you cover a process where it's mostly private meetings and nothing seems to be happening? >> it's very difficult because you have both sides coming out of meetings and sometimes saying different things