journey. michelle obama turns 50. >> please welcome the first lady of the united states, michelle obama. >> december 16, 2013. michelle obama shares the stage with santa claus at a washington, d.c. children's hospital. one 13-year-old patient has a very important question. >> i know your birthday is coming up, and i just wanted to know what you're going to be doing. >> you know, i'm going to be 50. [ applause ] 50 and fabulous. january 17, and i'm not exactly sure yet what i'm going to do, but it might involve some dancing. >> it's all about dancing. the guests have been told to wear comfortable shoes. >> "people" magazine reporter scored an exclusive interview with the first lady about her milestone birthday. >> she had a girl's week with her frifds from chicago, oprah winfrey, gayle king, they spent a week in hawaii. now she's coming back to a dance party. michelle had thrown him an epic 50th birthday. and they are so competitive that he really wants to one up her. >> mrs. obama was candid about ageing and fitness. >> she was open to talking about her body, how she's changed her

obama will fulfill one of his obligations as outlined in article two comments section three. the president gives to congress the state of the union. the white house has been working on and has gone through a number of drafts, including last-minute edits. there told his remarks before the joint session of congress will last about an hour. the theme is "opportunities for all." he will travel a short 16 blocks to capitol hill. , wescene inside the capital will set the stage as members of congress, the president's cabinet, and justices gather. of course, we want to hear from you as part of our state of the unit coverage with your calls, comments, and tweets. >what issues do want the president and congress to address this year? we have john lovett. he was a former speech writer for president barack obama. thank you for being with us. >> good to be here good as you put together -- good to be here. t> as you put together -- put i in the president's voice. when ie was a meeting was there with the chief staff writer and communications advisers. it is a pretty big and open meeting. it is t

u.s. president barack obama's of public opinion ratings are in the doldrums steam a finishes days in office is one of the country's worst in least effective presidents how do historians and the public to determine the success or failure of an american president and why are some presidents rehabilitated years or even decades after they leave office. we welcome aaron eight and abby martin two of the two or three coasts on the our team network. it's going to give you a different perspective give me one stock never i'll give you the information you make the decision don't worry about how breaking this works it's a revolution of the mind it's revolution ideas and consciousness. with the sense that the extreme right public use would be described as angry i think in a strong. under single. got a quote for you. it's pretty tough. stay where it's not story. let's get this guy like you would smear that guy stead of working for the people most issues the mainstream media for each other bribe runs does you know. they did rather well. you know he. is a. cohen welcome to cross talk we're all th

republicans need to get back on message. president obama's pollster joel benenson along with republican pollster kellyanne conway. the president's approval numbers are, in a word, bad, in two words, not good. here's where he rates against other presidents at this time during their presidencies. he's got bush level numbers, and we all know bush did not come back. you're the pollster, tell me what's not working with obama's messaging? >> well, first of all, i think putting it in perspective, i've heard and experienced a lot of public poll numbers that were at variance with where the president's standing was with the american people. i went through a whole election in 2011 and '12 as a pollster where people said his numbers are terrible, he can't come back -- >> so you're saying don't believe the polls? >> i've often said don't believe the polls. i've spent a lot of time talking about the poll numbers out there. when you look at the president's numbers and democratic numbers and who people think care about them and you're talking about the economy where we're still fighting back and still

considered i'm peter lavelle us president barack obama's public opinion ratings are in the doldrums now called a lame duck by many he may finish his days in office as one of the country's worst in least effective presidents how do historians and the public determine the success or failure of an american president and why are some presidents rehabilitated years or even decades after they leave office. to cross-talk the worst american presidents i'm joined by my guest samuel put the leakey zero in moscow he is the president of the preparing global leaders foundation and a visiting professor at georgetown university in washington we have doug he is a presidential historian and a former white house advisor to two american presidents and in boston. we cross to robert near he is a core lecturer in history at columbia university all right gentlemen welcome to the program crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i'd like to go to doug first in washington you know lot of people when you look at presidents the history of the presidency it's either thumbs up or thu

secretary robert gates about his time in the obama administration. in his new book, duty, gates raises serious concerns about president obama's war leadership while defending his memoir as a, quote, honest account. molly has more. >> reporter: secretary gates explains more today on his insights into the behind the scenes infighting in the obama administration about the surge of troops into afghanistan. and president obama's commitment to success in afghanistan. secretary gates doesn't think the president did enough to convince the u.s. servicemen and women that he believed in their mission. that their sacrifice was worth it. >> president obama did that with the troops when i was secretary. i did not see president obama do that. and i said, as i write in the book, it was this absence of passion. this absence of a conviction of the importance of success that disturbed me. >> one democratic senator points out, despite any disputes, the president did send a surge of troop as gates wanted. >> very interesting in his book, he gives high praise to president obama making decisive decisions. an

years in the presidency, bush, reagan, or obama? you might be surprised. >>> america's most talented kitty back. keyboard cat making a special appearance this weekend. where can you catch this cat's performance? stick around. hi, everyone. i'm gretchen carlson, welcome to "the real story." president obama putting finish touches on his state of the union. can he like presidents before him. listen to this? >> as we gather here tonight, the state of our union is strong. >> the state of the union is strong. our economy is the healthiest it's been in three decades. >> tonight the state of our union is strong and together we will make it stronger. >> together we have cleared away the rubble of crisis. we can say with renewed confidence the state of our union is stronger. >> host of barney & company. stew, is the state of our union strong and will president obama start off the speech tonight? >> in my view, the economy, financial position of america is not strong. it is a position of weakness. number one, we've not recovered all of the jobs we lost in the great recession. we're behind where

. >>> now, speechwriters getting ready for state of the union, political seesaw during president obama's sixth year in office. at one time stock market an all-time high. his approval rating an all-time low. despite the the surge in the market a new gallup poll finds this. 60% of americans a they are very or somewhat dissatisfied with the way wealth and income distribution is working. what is the president going to say? stewart, if you're writing the speech, what can he say? >> distract attention from the state of the economy and chaos of obama care, i'm going to attempt to unite around income inequality. it's not fair, the president will say. he'll propose policies like tax the rich. that's fair. raise the minimum wage. that's fair. open up opportunity by keep on investing in education. that's very fair. he will play that card. income inequality is bad. i will set the record state, turn things around. i'm the fair president. that's what he'll say. >> you and i have known each other quite sometime. we've heard from state of the union from the president. is he doing it again in it worked g

secretary robert gates that's putting the obama administration on defense. >> i can just tell what you the facts are. you can decide for yourself what you want to believe. >> our sunday panel tackles all that plus their thoughts on the legacy of former israeli prime minister aerial sharon. we'll have a live report from jerusalem. then 50 years after president lyndon johnson declared a war on poverty, both parties are revoke using sights on inequality. >> we have to make sure this recovery which is real leaves nobody behind. >> the current government programs that are designed to address poverty, they do not help people emerge from it. they do not help people rise above it. >> we'll examine competing visions with republican congressman steve serious bodily injurier land of florida and chris van hol hand of maryland. and resurgence in the middle east is leaving question of president obama's handling of the war in iraq. we'll discuss the strategies all right now on "fox news sunday." >> and hello again from fox news in washington. it has been a wild week in politics. lawmakers back on capitol

forgotten, and questions on whether they endorsed barack obama, or had represented them on a political post or written for a recommendation to an elite school. each democratic member of congress was assigned a grade from one to seven with the most helpful earning a one, the most treacherous drawing sevens, now, the set of sevens includes jay rockefeller, patrick leahy, and we want to know what you think about this. share your thoughts on facebook, use the hash tag hannity, my address if you want to join us. first, radio talk show host, wpht, 12:10, how are you, dick? >> well, if it is one to seven, i'm very proud to be a ten. >> i think you're closer to a thousand, you have a whole category unto yourself. this describes the clinton issues that you have talked about, wrote about, the secret police, right? >> we've said there is a trend to hillary clinton. a nixonian keeping score, being on top of an enemy's list. two incidents come to mind. one is that she set up this bimbo list on the campaign, betsy wright, to develop blackmail material so they could be cowed into silence. and the oth

the dirty little secret controversial filmmaker michael moore saying obama care is awful and insisting america needs a single payer system instead. was this the democrats' plan all along? ringing in 2014 with 40,000 new laws? here's one. americans getting flicked off in one state it's a felony to flick your cigarette butt but flick off big government it doesn't end there. we'll all be paying the price. and then back to what jonathan -- break out the popcorn we put together some great clips. we take a look back and relive the funniest moments of the past year and oh, boy, you're going to enjoy this. "cashin' in," kicking off the new year starts right now. snoets sfloets. >> hi, everyone, i'm eric bolling. our crew wayne, jonathan, and welcome everybody. liberal like michael moore admitting the truth that obama care is awful and can't be fixed. that's not us saying it. it's him. moore saying the president knew in his heart that a single payer system was the true way to go. and now it's up to liberals to maket happen. michele, you know in your heart universal care is the way to go? >> it'

state of texas, that's a loser for her. she supports obama care, i'm against obama care. i'm for energy production, she's for embracing the obama style epa practices in texas. so she's a dead loser on the issues that matter most to texans and so her only hope is to get caught up in all these kind of ridiculous a arguments that are taking place right now. >> it is disheartening when a race gets to that point, but anyway, attorney general nice to see you, sir. >> you too, greta, thanks. >>> joining us a panel jason riley from "the wall street journal," a. bmt stoddard. am i being too sensitive of this use of standing in so much literature or is this sort of a covert way to mock greg abbott because he's in a wheelchair? >> i wouldn't put it past some of these activists to go there. but i think it's the davis campaign that's desperate. it's interesting that they're calling abbott desperate. but if you look at the polling, in november, there was a poll that showed abbott 15 points ahead. davis got caught in a lie and it's brought her this national attention, and a lot of americans think that

president obama didn't believe in his own afghanistan policy. >> there was an absence of passion, this absence of a conviction of the importance of success that disturbed me. >> thousands of israelis pay their last respects for former prime minister ariel sharon. we'll have a live report from jerusalem. is president obama overstepping the limits of presidential power. this week the supreme court will tackles issue. today i get senator ted cruz' thoughts. santa finally makes its way to the space station. live from the nation's capital starts right now. >>> former defense secretary robert gates seasonal pulling any punches in miss new memoir, criticizing congress, the president and military brass. . today he defended his timing and hits words. molly has the details. >> hi, shannon, and defended the criticisms of vice president biden. gates says biden has been, quote, wrong on issues for four decades. today he was more specific about his run-ins with the vp. >> where i have particular problem with the vice president was in his encouragement of suspicion of the military. and the seni

workings of the white house. here's a sample. quote. i never confronted obama directly over what i, as well as secretary of state, hillary clinton, and then cia director, leon panetta and others saw as his determination that the white house tightly control every aspect of national security policy and even operations. his white house was by far the most centralized and controlling in national security of any i had seen since richard nixon and henry kissenger ruled the roost. the white house controlled who gets the credit. quote, the controlling nature of the obama white house and its determination to take credit for every good thing that happened while giving none to the career folks in the trenches who had done the work offended secretary clinton as much as it did me, unquote. on president obama's commitment to the war in afghanistan, mr. gates writes, quote, president obama simply wanted to end the quote, unquote, bad war in iraq. and limit the u.s. role in the quote, unquote, good war in afghanistan. president obama doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be hi

made my own and i was getting some big current guys to remain one of the what do you make of obama's sinking ratings what do i make of that for the long trajectory of the perspective of a nation which is not about so much the war room day to day but about trying to think through the big ideas of our time and infuse contemporary politics a little history larry i think you know these presidents go up and down and obama's ratings not in great form of course but i think some of the punditry is a little overwrought a little hysterical about how he's thinking stephen though there is a second term curse there's a new stephen. you've got to understand what we have this rule at home that i'm not allowed to say a word about american politics for fear of violating the wifely law and but you know it's interesting about president obama i grew up in the segregated south. and when i voted for obama the first time to me it felt like such an act of historical justice. but i have to go on to say that as a professor of politics and history i see president obama as one of the great presidential candidat

barack obama has entered his lame duck phase already. the media is bored with him for good reasons and for bad. and they are much more interested. when was the last time anyone listened to barack obama give a speech the way they do the chris christie? people are interested in chris christie. people are interested in hillary. and they're not interested in what's going on in the actual white house any more. >> friday's speech on nsa surveillance and reform got a fair amount of media attention. but jonah goldberg says basically people are tuning out the last two years of the obama administration. >> if you talk to the obama people, they would love for the media to stop talking about obamacare's failures and start talking about its successes. but benghazi, benghazi, benghazi. news flash, of the of the country doesn't find it to be a story. that's why you're not seeing the coverage there. i think on hillary, yeah, we all agree it's sexist and it's clee share the way they're treated. an interesting story, they called her like a legal late trick about this woman who has risen to an amazing he

is what i'm going to do. thes in his fifth state of union, president obama vows to use his authority to act without u.s. congressional approval including raising the minimum wage for federal contractors. he also repeated his plan to pull troops out of afghanistan this year, but admitted some u.s. forces would stay behind to carry out counterterrorism attacks. we will get reaction from jeremy scahill whose film "dirty wars" was just nominated for an academy award. also bob herbert and lorella praeli. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president obama deliver the fifth state of the union of his time in office with a vow to take action on his own should congress stonewall progress on key issues. obama pledged to reform nsa surveillance programs and veto new sanctions on iran while there are germ nuclear deal is in effect. he also renewed his call for the closure of guantÁnamo bay prison. >> with the afghan war ending, this needs to be the year congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfer

america, president obama's speech is just three hours away. he has promised to take executive action to raise federal workers' pay. americans made their concerns known. polls show that people want to know more about jobs and improving the economy. >>> record snow blanketing the deep south. in just a few hours president obama will deliver his fifth state of the union dress to the stationthenation. libby casey has more. libby, over to you. >> reporter: expect the president to talk about income inequality, immigration reform and afghanistan. we have heard the president say he plans to use executive forward, some other refrains we'll hear tonight we heard before especially when it comes to the economy. the president spoke about the economy in last year's state of the union. >> create good middle class jobs. that must be the north star that guides our efforts. >> reporter: the middle class once again on his mind, tony, and the economy is doing better now. the best it's ever done during the obama presidency. the question is will americans attribute that to his leadership? do they give the pre

shocked about some of the things he witnessed during his time in the obama administrati administration. >> damage control from the white house. >> the white house on the defensive after excerpts were released, a devastating critique about president obama. >> there's a lot in the book that could be damaging. >> did you confront the president about his lack of passionate that time? >> i talked to the president about the need to speak out about the importance of the war and why it was important for the troops to be there. >> never really had a passion pursuing the war in afghanistan. and that kind of bothered you. >> it's one thing to tell the troops you support them. it's another to work at making them believe that you believe as president that their sacrifice is worth it. >> president bush did that i did not see president obama do that. it was this absence of passion. absence of conviction of success, that disturbed me. where i have particular problem with the vice president is his encouragement of suspicion of the military. >> i think it's fair to say the book is a lot more critical ab

conservative groups of course, obama promised to investigate the scandal eight mooths ago this comes one day after after their release and the justice department investigation the is $6,000 to the obama campaign and democratic party. we're alerting details of the retribution scandal of the 2016andidate chris christie. investigating them massive traffic jam today releasing more than 1,000 pages of documents linked to the shutdown. of on the relation is one of his appointees was directly told of the first-aid the backups were causing problems for police and paramedics but it continued for days. they also realized early on there would be political fallout. when transportation official left the job last month. fording mails to his personal e-mail. one day after chris christ apologize for the traffic jam organized by his aide and fired two of his closest advisers. the justice department say they will look to see if they violated federal law a and legislators said they will continue to issue subpoenas on the matter. much more ahead. the market seems to shrug off that jobs report with a fla

we'll see you back here tomorr tomorrow. lou: president obama plays solitaire with the race card. president obama blamed his sagging approval numbers on racial tensions not his scandal-marred administration or the failure of his signature healthcare law. the first black president of the united states, chose to make his remarks on martin luther king day. i am lou dobbs. >> good evening president obama's approval rating is at 40% today, just 2 points above his all-time low in gallup daily tracking poll according to a wide ranges interview with new yorker magazine, president obama believes that racism is partly to blame for his low job approval numbers and his high disapproval numbers, not benghazi, or the irs targeting of conservatives, operation "fast and furious," department of justice surveillance of reporters or the jobless economic recovery. when asked about his decline in the polls, president said quote, there is no doubt that some folks who just really dislike me because they don't like the idea of a black president. there is a historic connection between some of the argumen

the obama administration. he claims they slammed former president george wish and disrespected military leaders. elizabeth prann has more. >> good morning. he painted president obama as insecure and dubious of top leaders of armed forces. gates also acknowledged his conflicts with vice president joe biden. he writes in his book, quote, he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades. looking back he also acknowledged the time he felt concerned when secretary of state hillary clinton made a troop surge decision. gates compared the two presidents he worked for, president george bush and president obama. he said it was president obama who was missing conviction during the war in afghanistan. >> it's one thing to tell the troops that you support them. it's another to work at making them believe that you believe as president that their sacrifice is worth it, that the cause is just, that what they are doing is important for the country, and that they must succeed. president bush did that with the troops when i was secretar

. (laughter) in the last week the obama has been rocked by defense secretary robert gates's explosive new memoir available where of course they are free. now the book, the book takes dead aim, the book takes dead aim at the president's handling of the afghan war. according to his own defense secretary, quote, president obama was skeptical, if not outright convinced at his own strategy in afghanistan would fail. >> folksing i got to say it's shocking to hear that obama has a strategy in afghanistan. sure seems like he's free balling it. but folks, i'm going to make some headlines right now. i want to defend the president's policy in afghanistan by saying it's not nearly as bad as his policy in iraq because while obama twid els his thumb iraq is fall approximating into a state of crippling violence that can only be described as a rock, jim. >> al qaeda extremists making serious gains in iraq's anbar province where hundreds of american troops were killed or wounded fighting jihadies in the last decade. two cities in particular, fallujah and ramadi now seeing some of the worst fighting since

joining us. see you then. esidt oba >>> president obama getting ready to bulldoze washington. his master plan now exposed in an e-mail blast to supporters white house senior advisor promises the president won't be waiting for congress to act, and will use every, yes every executive tool available to get what he wants. apparently the years of action will be all about executive action. >> if congress continues to stand only for dysfunction and delay, then i'm going to move ahead without them. i'm going to do everything that i can do without congress. >> whatever congress refuses to act, joe and i are going to act. >> with or without congress. >> i am going to act on my own. >> i have a pen. i have a phone. i can use that pen to sign executive orders. >> did president obama miss the class about the three equal branches of government and separation of powers? rush limbaugh is not holding back. >> he can do executive orders to make things there. he can do executive orders and executive actions to get rid of the unfairness. he will make this lousy country finally fair. you have these re

dana perino. it's 5:00 in new york city and this is "the five." >> for some reason, president obama just can't get us off his mind. it's almost like we live rent free in his head. >> i've got one television station entirely devoted to attacking my administration. >> just in case some of your friends or neighbors or, you know, uncle jim who is a little stubborn and been watching fox news -- >> if you talk to somebody who said, well, i don't know. i was watching fox news and they said this is horrible -- >> talking about fox. >> that's a pretty big megaphone. >> big is right. today, the new yorker released more of their extensive interview with the president. he said, they said, quote, the issue has been the inability of my message to penetrate the republican pabase so they feel persuaded i'm not the caricature that you see on fox news or on rush limbaugh. why can this man not get us out of his mind? >> because every day, he's getting bludgeoned. and we also have a very aggressive and good white house correspondent who i would say is fairly aggressive when it comes to questioning the

state of our union is strong. >>> it is almost that time on capitol hill. president obama will take center stage surrounded by his strongest allies and toughest critics. i'm anderson cooper in washington. we are now about an hour away from the president's big entrance for his state-of-the-union address. he'll leave the white house very soon, head to the capitol where many of the nation's most powerful people are arriving right now. it is a rare moment when washington comes together. the president may invite a bit of confrontation with republicans tonight just months before the critical mid-term election. let's bring in wolf blitzer with more. >> we're told the president will threaten to use his executive powers more often when he feels blocked by republicans in congress. he'll also make a new push to close the income gap of the country. look for the republican response by congresswoman kathy mcmorris rogers to be heavy on criticism of obama care. that's the main talking point that the gop has in terms of their battle for congress. we'll also get reaction from two outspoken republica

. no new funding for obama care. it doesn't boost money for medicare agency handling implementation, cuts irs budget and bans targeting of americans based on free speech and provides $1.5 billion in aid to egypt. some house democrats want more including amendment to extend unemployment benefits. >> no one should be deceived into believing this is something we enjoy doing. if we can't see our republican caucus, give americans a chance to have unemployment insurance extended on an emergency basis, that may be a tough vote for a number of us. >> reporter: it seems rather unlikely unemployment would be added to the budget package. negotiations in the senate under way on a separate unemployment extension. we'll see if they get there, gretchen. >> a lot of people at home are asking what's different today than when we shut down the government a few months ago. we were talking about these same issues, were we not? >> absolutely correct. some had to do with the fact the jobs report last friday was weak. big breakthrough came when budget chairs, paul ryan and patty murray reached a breakthrou

headlines at ten pm from moscow president obama introduces curbs on the n.s.a.'s bulk phone data collection program but there's concern that surveillance isn't being scaled back enough to comment on that coming up this hour also ahead lining syria's says it's ready to unite with moderate rebel groups in the fight against hardline radicals now according to the country's foreign minister who is here in moscow head of the peace talks. and scotland says police scotland please stay rather britain's foreign secretary and charm offensive to convince undecided scots not to quit the u.k. as the months take down that decisive referendum live coming on that coming up as well. it's exactly ten zero one here in moscow my name's kevin oh and thanks for being with us this hour it's appreciated our top story that president obama has outlined a few changes to how america conducts its controversial surveillance tactics which had ensnared millions of people's phone calls texts and e-mails around the globe but there was still praise on the less for the n.s.a. its importance to security even though i

loved them. and the people loved him. >> president obama said in a statement today on behalf of the american people. michelle and i send condolences to the family to former prime freedom sharon. president george bush who was in office the same time sharon said today. i was honored to know the man of courage and he was a warrior for the ages and a partner in seeking security for the holy land and a better peaceful middle east. conner powell is live in jersz lem. how is ariel sharon remembered tonight? >> reporter: harris ariel sharon has a complicated history. he was loved and hated by many. he was a war hero and others viewed him as a war criminal. no doubt his importance in israel. he was considered one of the last israel leaders and somebody willing to make tough decisions when tough decisions are required. but his actions helped to spark the second infatadda and he push pass security and entered the mosque. and he later as prime minister did an about-face and left and moderate right here and total disengagement from gaza. sharon concluded that israel needed to make its own choice

executive office buildings over there of as the white house president obama and his family say they have the two weeks prior to his first inauguration the president is approaching the end of his fifth year in office community says when obama at five well george will the columnist said obama's head the worst first year of the second term since nixon i think that it's. overstatement but obama's having trouble now and certainly with obamacare it's not just that the technical website issue it's is it going to work what does it mean to people and whenever there's a change like this a change i think is wise i think people should have health insurance and whether they're going to make it function for millions of people like they promised we were going to see any second terms when he said in terms get off well. and good question i mean the generally is a bump in the road. but if you look at the world right now i think the world is such a dangerous place all of the if you go from north korea down to libya in egypt and ask questions about china and russia one of the cia people came over recen

failed obama care roll out and a congress that seemed unwilling to do anything. "consider this" after a year that was filled with political disasters, will 2014 be the year the american public holds its elected officials accountable? plus the stock market as reached all-time levels and the s & p500 rose to 25% in 2013, will 2014 be as prosperous in the financial world? marvel looks to continue its box office domination while other studios look to churn out more sesequels. we'll tell you what movie to his get excited about this year. from the olympics in sochi, the world cup in brazil. 2014 is shaping up to be a big year no sports. welcome to "consider this," predicting what 2014 may have in store for us. we begin with politics. 2013 was a rocky year for our elected officials. president obama fresh off a second term win unleashed an a guess i have agenda that went nowhere. things got especially bad in the summer with a scandal at the nsa. confusion over foreign policy and action to take in syria and a government shutdown in the fall. then the dismal roll out of obama care. yale universit

, hiring eric holder. silence. the only thing president obama apologized for is people were dumb enough to believe him for obamacare. and what about disasters like obamacare, benghazi, and doj and irs could save an election. the white house is better at covering up things than mabe lean. coddled more than the royal baby, obama never has to face his mistakes, which is why he makes so many. it's no surprise the media now pivots to christie to prevent itself from becoming a lame duck dynasty. do you want sorry? the cereiest people ever are those who voted for him, twice. >> how could you have come up with a bigger opening than that? >> i took a christie scandal and i turned it into an obama -- >> why didn't you put reverend wright on there? >> i didn't have time. >> by the way, i could have had bill ayers. >> you could have. >> so much to choose from. >> hawaii, the $2 million. >> the cocaine. >> how about that plane that they sent over new york? remember that? >> by the way, what did he close. obama closed the d.c. monument, the national park. he didn't just close the freeway. >> the republi

make of michele obama coming in right now? what you make of mitt romney's suggestion that republicans are always on the defense and he didn't get a figure and then be done with it. what do you make of that? >> i agree with what he is saying. he is completely right that they are trying to separate it. the democrats are for one thing the democrats for something else. they should put them together and work together and it never happens. >> that is what i hope the president will say. and they say it is a good purpose in a poor sucker and we do have a huge problem in this country in terms of employment. according to the bureau of labor statistics there are 27.5 billion people that are working part-time. and they have given up looking for work. 40 million people are basically coming in right now and all of the energy secretaries. sec john kerry intervened. are they not up to delivering the good? >> i think that they were badly focused. we have very little to show for the huge deficit that we have incurred. and unemployment, frankly if you measured in real terms, the people that are part-tim

president obama. the politics lead, i'll show you democratic candidates and they invite them on the trail anyway. >>> and the pop culture lead. there's a time to be born and a time to die. remembering the man who wrote "turn, turn, turn" and so many other legendary folk songs. the obama rock and roll hall of fam famer convicted of contempt of congress, pete seeger. good afternoon, everyone. welcome to "the lead," i'm jake tapper. we're coming to you live from the capitol building in washington, d.c., where in just about five hours barack obama will speak to the joint session of congress for his fifth state of the union address. the tone will be less. al green, let's stay together, as we've heard the president sing to the, more of a gloria gaynor "i will survive." the president will say he's strong and ready to go through it alone. raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. to that idea, house speaker john boehner said today, big deal, mr. president. >> this affects not one current contract. it only affects future contracts with the federal government. and so i

president obama showing leadership, or is he picking another fight? here's what the president said this weekend in about -- weekend about extending unemployment benefits. >> congress went home at the holidays and let the lifeline expire. for many constituents who were unemployed through no fault of their own, that decision will leave them with no income at all. >> former senior adviser to president reagan pat buchanan joins us. wasn't just capitol hill had a little holiday. >> not at all. listen, if you're going to attack the republicans for not being in washington and working on unemployment benefit, you should probably pick a different venue than waikiki beach, hawaii, where he spent 17 days. look, here's an individual, the president, who came to town to overcome partisanship in washington. and beginning in the new year, he's right back to the same partisanship that made his last year, even his friends say circumstance the worst year of his presidency. >> what i don't understand, one of the criticisms he when he was first elected in his first term is at least it was reported he said s

in america under obama's america there's a deflation. happy monday everyone i'm abby martin and this is breaking the sat so ever since bill maher became part of the obama million or donor club i haven't really been able to take him seriously sherm ours whole areas at times and has a good guest panels but ultimately falls short in his continuing apologise for the democratic party and that what's so dangerous about maher has made no bones in the past about expressing his inherent trust in obama on the massive spying grid as administrations overseen which brings me to mars most recent show journalist glenn greenwald who graced the real time screens to discuss edward snowden and the n.s.a. and in a stunning display of arrogance mark claim to know more about the n.s.a. than someone who worked at the n.s.a. you claim that every time edward snowden opens his mouth he says something completely nuts and how does he back up that claim that stone is a lunatic or because he dared to say that the surveillance programs were quote never about terrorism or rather pro-social control and diplomat

top message men. one of president obama's biggest applause line last night, remipding america that women still earned 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. it seems nonpartisan to to say it is time to close the pay gap. watch this video closely. not everyone was very excited about it. keep your eyes on house speaker john boehner. >> women deserve equal pay for equal work. >> you might have noticed it took speaker boehner some time to figure out if you're having a woman giving your state of the union response you better stand up to support the very policies to say she works just as hard as a man. republicans have a real policy problem here. one example the paycheck fairness act. republicans refused to let it pass. s.e., it's great that republicans picked a woman last night. she did a great job giving the state of the union response, but i guarantee you that women across the country would rather have equal pay than a woman giving state of the union response. >> i appreciate your kudos to cathy mcmorris rodger, i think she did a great job, too. but women make 80% of what their male

, i'll see you tomorrow! >> president obama takes his economic message on the road to north carolina where he touted rising unemployment benefits, but republican governor pat mccreery has cut jobless benefits and unemployment has nose dived. governor mccrory is about to join us live to give us the real story. >>> also guess what? the markets seem to finally be getting it. good news is good news, damn it. yesterday's retail sales, today's bank of america and apple stories, plus a positive fed. as i said, good news is good news. we are joined by chris lawford and patrick kennedy who have written a new book on what it takes to solve addiction. the lives of at least 23 million americans are at stake. all those stories and much more are coming up on the kudlow report right now. >> good evening, i'm larry kudlow. this is the kudlow report. we've live today. president obama reiterated his call for congress to renew long term unemployment benefits. the president said he's going to move on without legislators wherever possible. >> more than ever now president obama needs to change the subject

whatever actions appropriate based on the evidence they uncover. earlier today, president obama signing an emergency declaration for the aid and ea rl tomlindeclared a state of the emergency. there was a loc in the freedom plant. the leak was contained at 8:40 p.m. last night and not before estimated 5,000 gallons of the chemical is released. they still don't have all of the answers they need and working to get a handle on just how bad it is. >> do not use this water and the only appropriatous is toilet flushing. flushing your commode is appropriate. don't make baby formula with it or brush your teeth or wash or shower with it or drink it. you can't just boil it. it is not a boil water advisory, it is a do not use advisery. people are scrambling for drinking water and grocery stores are wiped out of drinkable liquid. they sent 75 tanker trucks to charleston and the state will be in charge of distribution. one hotel in a near by city not affected by the spill is offering free showers who wants to come over and bring their own towels. >> developments when you get them. >> congress

his book secretary gates said, quote, obama was much criticized by conservatives and hawkish commentators for announcing the troop surge in afghanistan would be drawn down in july 2011 and that all u.s. combat troops would be withdrawn and all responsibility for security transferred to the afghans by the end of 2014. inside the military there was much grumbling about numerical limits he placed on troops. i believe obama was right in each of these decisions. that's from the book. secretary gates published opinion on these matters. were these substantial, rich discussions? absolutely because the policy was so important. it was much reported at the time that there were differing views about how we should move forward when our policy toward afghanistan and pakistan. some of those disagreements are differing views, reporting not what we've seen in the past. >> these are explosive statements he made about the president. this is not some outside critic. this was one of his most important, if not most important national security adviser, the guy who chose to keep on to the pentagon,

. >>> day one of president obama's solo act without congress and the party of no can't understand why he won't just work with them. it's wednesday, january 29th, and this is "now." >> the speech. >> you give the state of the union and then you take it on the road. >> tell congress to act. >> five years ago, i signed my first bill into law. i didn't have any gray hair. >> there was no standing up on the right side of the house. >> the president continues to divide the country. >> he wants to find places to divide us. >> the president wants to keep doing the same ole thing without as much input. >> a handful of republicans are holding the entire republican caucus hostage. >> the threat made to a reporter on camera. >> i lost my cool. it shouldn't have happened. >> this tough guy schtick does not work. >> what century are you living in? >>> president obama won't stand still, but republicans can't seem to stand together. that seems to be the takeaway from last night's state of the union. today he began a four-city tour to highlight his own efforts to revive the american economy. despite the

, january 28, president obama will deliver his fifth state of the union address. in it, he will lay out, to both houses of congress and the public, his plan of action for the coming year. the speech comes as mr. obama weathers storms over his presidency. including the glitch ridden rollout of the signature affordable care act. and the revelations of widespread surveillance of the american public. by the national security agency. the nsa. both the show our president with high disapproval marks. 54% disapprove of the way he is handling his job. 40% approved. the president nevertheless seems unbothered as he addresses his years in office. quote, president obama. the conventional wisdom is that a president second term as a matter of minimizing the damage. and playing defense rather than playing offense. but, as i reminded my team the day after i was inaugurated for a second term, we are in charge of the largest organizations on earth. and our capacity to do good, both domestically and around the world, is unsurpassed. even if nobody is paying attention. unquote. >> if you are advising the p

for it. but afterwards, regan came back and talks about it. president obama right after this said good night, god bless america, and that was it. he almost used that really heartfelt, patriotic moment to say good-bye. >> it was ronald regan who started this with a man who jumped into the river after air florida and saved the stewardess. >> it wasn't all this way, if you look add the '70s with the vietnam war, veterans weren't always treated the way they are now. it was a highlight, for me, anyway, watching this hero stand up and getting the applause. i think we're in a different era, even with republicans and democrats when it comes to veterans and supporting them. >> and a tenth deployment, to be deployed ten times makes you wonder from a policy standpoint, is there something that could or should be done in regard to the number of deployments and how often these young people are asked to go, not just young people, but anybody in the military or in the sicivilian world are asked to go overseas to do something for us. i also wonder if the president might not have been able to use t

about what the obama administration knew and when about the benghazi terror attack that left four americans dead back in september of 2012. the key finding, this tragic event was indeed preventible. and in just a few moments, senator marco rubio, a member of that committee will be here to weigh in on this revelation. but first, that is just part of what you can expect on tonight's jam-packed edition of "hannity". >> that is outrageous. it is contrary to our traditions. people have to be held accountable. >> the president vows to get to the bottom of the irs targeting scandal. >> i have no paitience with it. i won't tolerate it. >> but 247 days later, the justice department claims there is no evidence to warrant criminal charges. >> it only leads us to guess about their motives, why are they protecting the irs? why won't they get to the bottom of it? >> could this be another obama administration cover-up in the making. >>> plus, the panel tackles today's most outrageous videos. and jimmy kimmel tees off on obamacare in an epic rant that you don't want to miss. >> you know, if you w