for example, rachel maddow herself recently showed the staff of the rachel maddow show that she has a talent that has no discernable value in the marketplace. >> what was your other trick that you do? >> this one? >> can do you armpit farts? this one. >> that one upsets me. >> it's just the sound of one hand. >> it doesn't matter. >> i have always -- i have always been impressed by rachel maddow when i watched the show. and now having tried to host the show myself, i'm beyond impressed by what she does here every night. it's more like awe. now that i know of her ability to make the sound of one hand clapping, i am bowled over. best new thing in the world today. rachel maddow will be back for a special new year's eve edition of the show. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> welcome to "the last word" holiday party where we will choose our person of the year and a whole lot more. >> he's the worst republican in the country. >> i think it's about class warfare. >> you chose to start the debate with it. >> i'm the tortoise. i just take one step at a time. >> romne

. >>> last night on the rachel maddow show, debbie stab nau talked about the looming fiscal cliff. >> i'm not sure what's next. i can tell you, the senate's here, we're in session, we had votes tonight. the president is here. i'm the eternal optimist. we can pass the farm bill that we passed last june. by cutting subsidies for wealthy farmers. so, there's a lot of things that we can do but it's going to take the speaker deciding that he wants to work across the aisle to get it done. >> you can catch the rachel maddow show right here on msbnc on 9:00. >>> retired four-star general norman schwarzkopf died thursday at his home in tampa, florida. he was 78. the hard-charging general, was most famous for leading coalition forces to victory during the first persian gulf war in 1991. under his command it took troops just six weeks to drive saddam hussein's army out of kuwait. gener schwarzkopf is survived by his wife brenda and their three children. >>> former president george h.w. bush are main street in intensive care this morning. while mr. bush's condition is serious, in an e-mail, a spo

. >>> well, last night on "the rachel maddow show," guest host ezra klein asked former clinton budget director alice rivlin on where we could see the fallout from the fiscal cliff. >> the real uncertainty i think is what the markets will look isn't in control of its own destiny because we're acting that way right now. now, if you're an investor, whether you're in some part of the united states or you're in some other part of the world, do you really want to buy american securities? do you want to invest in a country whose government isn't functioning? i don't think so. so, we could get a big market reaction, a drop in the stock market, and that might scare people. >> "the rachel maddow show" week nights at 9:00 eastern right here on msnbc, the place for politics. >>> home prices on the rise, syria's head of preventing defections decides to defect. your headlines are straight ahead. plus, connecting the dots on sonia sotomayor, health care and a fine. you're watching "first look." >>> some stories making news this morning. toyota says it's reached a more than $1 billion settlement in a

rachel maddow will be back for a special edition of new year's eve. "weekends with alex witt" is next. >>> new year's resolution? will a last-minute fiscal cliff deal get done? and if it does what will it look like. >>> we have a deal. we may still get hit with an automatic tax hike. how much will that cost you? in time for the new year, a new snowstorm headed to the northeast. we'll let you know how bad this will get. and the yore in review, up with of the most unique and appalling takes on the year in review. good morning to you all. welcome to weekends with alex witt. no alex today. taking a much deserved weekend off. i'm t.j. holmes, good to be with you. new this morning, president obama outlining his course of action if we all go off the cliff. >> if an agreement isn't reached on time, then i'll urge the senate to hold an up-or-down vote on a basic package that protects the middle class from an income tax hike, extends vital unemployment insurance for americans looking for a job and lays the ground work for more economic growth and deficit reduct

"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. ezra cline filling in for "the rachel maddow show" tonight. >> good evening. a dreary december day turned out to be full of news today including big news out of the supreme court. and one of the coolest pictures ever having a big revooufl. but we begin with important news out of washington. for all the squabbling politicians and the whining pundits, we can announce to you tonight, right here, right now, there's a budget deal that's becoming clear. our long national nightmare might almost, and i repeat, it's washington, almost be over. this is kind of like one of those kids games where you have to look at a picture that looks like nonsense until your eyes filter out the garbage and you can finally see the sailboat. that's what's going on in washington. you have to filter out the garbage. take yesterday for example. i don't tune into c-span 2 for comedy, just because it's good television. but the senate was being hilarious about the debt ceiling, which is hard to be hilarious about. her

for example, rachel maddow showed that she has a unique ability that has no discernible value in the marketplace. >> what was your other trick that you do? >> this one? >> can you do the arm pit farts? >> this one upsets me. >> it just looks like it hurts. >> i have always -- i have always been impressed by rachel maddow when i watch the show. and now, having tried to host the show myself, i am beyond impressed with what she can do. more like awe, now that i know what she can do, i am bowled over. it is the best new thing for today. that does it for us tonight, the special new year's eve edition with the show. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm richard wolffe in for chris matthews. at the 11th hour, just when people were starting to lose hope on the edge of the fiscal cliff the president met with leaders and said he was modestly optimistic about a deal on taxes. meeting this the red room, president obama held firm for tax cuts for families making up to $250,000 per year, and joining me on the north lawn of the white house is kristen welker. kristen, let's listen to what the

for example, rachel maddow herself recently showed the staff of the "rachel maddow show" that she has a unique ability that has no evident discernible value in the marketplace. >> what was your other trick that you do? >> this one. >> can you do armpit farts? >> all i can see. >> it is snapping. >> doesn't matter. >> i have always, i have always been impressed by rachel maddow when i watch the show and having tried to host the show myself i'm beyond impressed what she does here night. it >> welcome to "the last word," our holiday party where we'll choose our person of the year, and a whole lot more. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, let's step back for a little bit. >> can we drop a little bit of the pios baloney. >> i think it is about envy. >> he is the worst republican in the country. >> i think it is about class war fare. >> you chose to start the debate with it, don't blame somebody else. >> i'm the turtle. >> well, if you don't run chris christie, romney will be the nominee. >> if men are from mars and women are from venus? is mitt romney from jupiter? >> planned parenthood, going to get rid

the "rachel maddow show" starts right now. ezra klein filling in for rachel tonight. >>> good evening, i'm ezra klein. rachel maddow has the night off. well deserved. we appreciate you sticking around for the next hour on a very, very big night in the news. there is an enormous story about the rights of workers tonight in the state of michigan. it's seriously astonishing stuff. we'll get very deep into it. but there is another equally if not more seismic political story tonight out of washington. and that is where we begin. today will be seen, remembered, as a huge day in the republican party's continuance of war. something really big happened. south carolina senator jim demint announced today he'll be leaving the senate. he'll not be there anymore. he's leaving to head a think tank called the heritage foundation where he stands to make something like ten times his current salary. yay for jim demint, good money. kind of. it's good for him, but it's really good for his colleague, republican senate leader mitch mcconnell. you se

"the rachel maddow show starts now. ezra klein is filling in for rachel tonight. >> thank you, michael. thank you to you at home for sticking around for the next hour. rachel has the night off but we have big news out of washington, where nothing is happening. the house is not in session, and as of this moment has no plans to be in session for the end of the year. nothing is stirring, not even harry reid. yes, i'm still in the christmas spirit. the president meanwhile is in hawaii and won't be returning until tomorrow. now, normally nothing happening would not be big news in washington. nothing happening is kind of the status quo in washington. getting nothing done is to our political system as saying great is to tony the tiger. it's just kind of what we do now. right now, this week, nothing happening is huge news. the reason is that usually when washington doesn't do anything nothing happens. you do nothing, nothing happens. that's how it goes. in fact that's why people call it doing nothing. after you do it, nothing o

rachel maddow has the night off. >>> good evening. i'm ezra klein. >>> good evening. i'm ezra klein. >>> good evening. i'm ezra klein. rachel maddow has the night off. we begin tonight with an update on the breaking news in the if these republicans had run on it, they would have never been elected in the first place. billionaires like the koch brothers are doing political payback. they're putting pressure on lawmakers behind closed doors. we need to shed more light on this, just like voter suppression efforts across the country that backfired. one of their objectives is to completely dismantle the infrastructure on the progressive side. the progressives need to be aware of this. of course, that's the unions. it's their infrastructure. they are right wing groups who are just out there to fight right-to-work and get it passed. one of them is called the west michigan policy forum. and it's funded by some of michigan's biggest republican donors. its chairman is the president of amway. the west michigan policy forum was k

for example, rachel maddow showed that she has a unique ability that has no discernible value in the marketplace. >> what was your other trick that you do? >> this one? >> can you do the arm pit farts? >> this one upsets me. >> it just looks like it hurts. >> i have always -- i have always been impressed by rachel maddow when i watch the show. and now, having tried to host the show myself, i am beyond impressed with what she can do. more like awe, now that i know what she can do, i am bowled over. it is the best new thing for today. that does it for us tonight, the special new year's eve edition with the show. now it is time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> welcome to "the last word," our holiday party where we'll choose our person of the year, and a whole lot more. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, let's step back for a little bit. >> can we drop a little bit of the pios baloney. >> i think it is about envy. >> he is the worst republican in the country. >> i think it is about class war fare. >> you chose to start the debate with it, don't blame somebody else. >> i'm the turtle. >>

rachel maddow approvingly quotes bill kristol, without snarky comments. "read about some conservative organizations and campaigns these days, one is reminded of eric hoffer's remark, every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business and eventually degenerates into a racket. it may be that major parts of american conservativism have become such a racket that a kind of refounding of the movement as a cause is necessary." joining us tonight for the interview is frank rich. he is "new york" magazine writer at large. mr. rich, it's great to have you here. >> great to be here as always. >> in part, i enjoy these stories because it is fun to figure out ways that people have managed to do politics in a way that works out to be a great business for themselves. >> free market principles. the market all goes, accrues to them. >> i sort of wonder about that. should it be okay at freedomworks that you scam people out of their money, thinking it's for the campaign and it really just gets spent on something that you're going to profit from? should that be okay?

"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. ezra klein is filling in for rachel tonight. not django. good evening, ezra. >> good evening, michael. thank you very much. and thank you to you at home for sticking around for the next hour. rachel has a well-deserved night off. but today on the senate there was a rare sighting on the senate floor. especially around this time of year. right now the senate is usually a bit of a desolate place, but today at exactly 2:34 p.m. eastern standard time there was something big afoot. at 2:34 this afternoon in from the wings of the chamber walked the president of the senate, vice president joe biden. joe biden does not often serve in his capacity as president of the senate. but today was ditch. today joe biden had an incredibly important job to fulfill. >> do you solemnly swear to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well a

"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. >>> it was july 23rd, 2007. it was one of the debates where the moderator does not ask the questions. instead they have the questions submitted by different people all around the country via youtube. at that debate in july 2007, there was the greatest surprise visual review from any questioner in any debate thus far, or since. >> good evening, america. my name is jered townsend from michigan. to all the candidates, tell me your position on gun control as myself and other americans really want to know if our babies are safe. this is my baby, purchased under the 1994 gun ban. please tell me your views. thank you. >> senator biden, are you going to be able to keep his baby safe? >> i tell you what, if that's his baby, he needs help. [ applause ] i think he just made an admission against self-interest. i don't know that he is mentally qualified to own that gun. i'm being serious. look, this idea, we go around talking about people who own -- i'm the guy that originally wrote the assault weapons ban. look, we should b

for more let's go to "the rachel maddow show" starting right now. >> when it rains it pours. do you believe the amount of stuff that happened tonight? >> it's so much rain it's almost mud wrestling at this point. >> seriously. with better outfits. thanks, man. i appreciate it. an incredible night of news. thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour. do you want to know what just happened tonight in washington? do you want to know what just happened, with congress just unexpectedly imploding and the republicans in congress dissolving into a huge internal fight, including screaming matches within their own caucus and all of a sudden they're just turning off the light and abandoning what they were doing and nobody really knows why and nobody knows what happens next? do you want to know how we got here and why this just happened and why it's really important? let us start here. okay? this is jim demint. jim demint was re-elected senator for south carolina not this past election, 2012, but in 2010. you might remember he was the guy who had the good fortune in 2010

rachel maddow has the night off. we begin tonight with an update on the breaking news in the pacific northwest, the terrifying scene that unfolded earlier tonight at a shopping mall in portland, oregon. a gunman with what witnesses describe as a rifle opening fire on holiday shoppers. two people were killed. the shooter also killed, and one person has been seriously injured according to the sheriff's department. an eyewitness who had been browsing the watch counter inside macy's described the scene to our portland, oregon affiliate kgw tv. >> constant boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom. it wasn't just a couple of shots. whatever the shooter was shooting at, they continued to shoot. an employee of the store actually saw a masked gunman come in. and as fast as she got the call to security, the gunshots started. so i and others just hit -- you know, got behind the counter. and a couple of people stood there and i got them to duck down too. kind of wait until the coast is clear enough. and then i got down and

try to control yourself, rachel maddow's audience. despite the fact it's unpopular, republicans really want to make cuts in medicare and specifically they want to raise the eligibility age by two years, from 65 to 67. that's also super unpopular. but the white house is open to it. they are open to it in 2011 in the boehner/obama talks. they are open to it now. what's weird about this policy is it's always presented as the height of fiscal responsibility, even though it's kind of fiscally irresponsible, which brings us to the challenge. why raising the age does not save you very much money and is probably a bad policy idea in under two minutes. do we have the clock? let's do it. the argument for cutting 65 and 67 years old out of medicare in a deficit talk is simple. it saves money. the keizer family foundation estimates that when it's all said and done, the government could save $5.7 billion in the first year of that plan. but those 65 and 66-year-olds they don't disappear. they are still going to be here and they are even going to ge

if a speaker were to go off and cut a deal, if rachel maddow did not like it, member's phones light up like a christmas tree. it makes it difficult for members. there is one other fact that is not talked about as much but it's equally important. that is the fact that campaign financing has changed. we have passed landmark campaign finance reform. i did not vote for it, i am happy to say. the difficulty with that is its tries to take money out of politics. it limited money to parties who limited how they could make money. that money did not disappear from the political process. it moved and now it is out in super pacs. you have more money now coming from third-party groups then you do from political parties and candidates combined. what does that mean in the mind of a policy maker sitting down and looking at a deal? member after member look at me and say, i am scared to death of one of the super pacs. leaders lose their leverage in terms of how they can help members. these others on the outside in the right and the left are in power. these are factors that did not exist that makes the s

"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, ed. have a great weekend, my friend. >> i will. you too. thank you. do you remember the color-coded alert system we used to have? remember that? tom ridge announced the exist tense of our national color-coded be afraid alert chart about a decade ago. we could tell at a glance how alert we were supposed to feel. and if you didn't feel like glancing at the be alert chart, at least a at the airport they would read periodic recorded statements over the intercom telling you out loud that today's threat level was orange. the threat level was always orange at the airport no matter what else was going on in the country. we don't do that anymore. we don't do that. we got rid of the chart thing last year and nobody complained. we also no longer have this. this is the google street view of one of the secret prisons we used to have in romania. the associated press did an overhead satellite view so you could see how snubbed up it was against the railway lines in a densely populated area. that was ours

"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. chris hayes filling in for rachel tonight. >> thank you, ed. thanks for joining us this hour. rachel has the night off, but happy wednesday, everyone, tgiw, am i right? you know how it is, things start to wind down on wednesday afternoon. you send off your last e-mail, maybe pop a beer from the office fridge and head on home for the weekend. all right, you, watching this right now, probably don't do that. but that's how your friendly neighborhood lame duck congress rolls. the house was supposed to be in session tomorrow, was the republican leadership went ahead and canceled that thursday session, so it's wednesday and the weekend has arrived, if your job title is united states representative. amid the crush of members heading out of the capital building today, you could even spot republican congressman mo brooks of alabama biking into his five-day weekend. the house won't be back in session until tuesday of next week. but it's not like they don't do work over the weekend. super long o

"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. good evening, rachel. >> good evening, ed. thank you. and thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. after a day that will be remembered in this country forever. for awful reasons. to the people of weeks and months ahead." that was the word today from ron barber, who was shot and wounded in the mass shooting in tucson last year that killed six people and wounded 13, including the grievous wounding of congresswoman gabby giffords. ron barber, who took gabby giffords' seat in congress after she stepped down to deal with her injuries. he said today, "as those of us in tucson know, senseless acts such as these tear at the very fabric of a community." mark kelly, gabby giffords' husband said today, "i just spoke with gabby, and she sends her prayers from tucson." in oak creek, wisconsin, where four months ago there was another mass shooting at a sikh temple, another six people gunned down at that temple. a school superintendent there today told the local press that she cried when she heard the news out of newtown, connecticut. she said "

they have anchors an pundit, a visit from the primetime line-up, including rachel maddow, ed shorts and adrianna huffington. they talk about the importance of preserving the middle class tax cut. >> bret: not every democrat on board with president obama proposal. emanuel has that story. >> democrats won't agree to it. obama wouldn't sign a bill. >> they blast the house republican plan it's not likely that president obama will get to sign his own fiscal cliff plan since the republicans and democrats don't like it. the measure was defeated 99-nothing. west virginia senator says that both sides aren't going far enough when it comes to cuts. >> they are lower than what everyone says we need. all economists say we need minimum of $4 trillion or greater swing. >> i don't know how we got off-track of what we need to fix this. >> it will be tough for the 20 senate democrats facing re-election. such as begoch and maryland land and mark pryor from conservative states. the top republicans say the president's span not serious. >> comes out with a proposal to raise taxes by $1.6 trillion. has unlimi

rachel maddow went into this president obama. carl rove lost his mind. this was a smnapshot. i think he lost his mind. this is a snapshot. this is what jeff will preserve. >> america cares. people care. they care ware their country is going and the friends and neighbors and kids around them. there's lots to do here. >> the consensus is that cnn need a voice and zucker will help provide it. when we come back, the susan rice side. are the u.n. ambassador and her critics getting fair coverage? . you know how to dance... with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, andtill pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro. thor's couture gets the most rewards of any small business credit card. your boa! [ garth ] thor's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics, put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? the spiked heels are working. wait! [

my colleague and friend, rachel maddow was nominated for her book "drift." incredible. but i'm disappointed. there's some serious snubs this year. i mean, how did this fellow performer not make the list. ♪ >> that deserved something. and mitt romney's tough year just got tougher. look at this snub. ♪ o beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain ♪ ♪ for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain ♪ >> and perhaps the biggest snub of all, not justin bieber. i'm talking about this one. ♪ i am so in love with you >> and he's at it again tonight. after lighting the national christmas tree, he had some

rachel maddow had on their whole prime time lineup with a couple of people including arianna huffington. that i went to a private meeting with president obama at the white house. lots of people supported them, over for chats, coffee, doughnut ts burke this looks like the msnbc commentary, people who host those commentary shows that they're on the team? >> well, thank is the impression. i just don't see what use it is to go when you can't get anything out of the president. in other words, you're basically -- the problem with this is it seems to be an act of capitulation. please spin me -- >> lots of proponents have gone to off the record briefings. >> no. >> they've been described as influential. >> influential progressives. >> did they talk with you? >> what bothers me is they go about it in lockstep silence and they won't talk what they asked the president because they're not bound to off the record. they can me what they said, how they viewed this thing. but i called almost every one of these people, oh, i'm sorry, i can't say a word. this is like tor grets or something. >> at least y

anchor rachel maddow, nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel draws on a decade of reporting from the front lines of reporting from the war on terror. together, they examine what america has done for national security since 9/11, to itself and the world. >> the u.s. military's largest building project since the pentagon in fairfax county, virginia, the national geospatial intelligence agency, taxpayer-owned. our department of homeland security headquarters, a $3.4 billion refit of a former washington, d.c., mental hospital. also, our national counterterrorism center, our joint use intelligence analysis facility, our national reconnaissance office. "the washington post" this year calculated that since 9/11, we have built enough new american national security office space to fill 22 u.s. capitals. and that's just what is set aside for top secret is set aside for top secret is set aside for top secret intelligence work. there's also the military bases: closing them in saudi arabia, opening them in afghanistan and iraq, expanding them all over

"the rachel maddow show" starts right now. >> good evening, ed. thank you. thanks to you at home for staying with us. if you get a tweet from president obama, you will know it by his signature. the president has an official twitter account from which all sorts of on message things get tweeted. but the white house says you know when a tweet has been written by the president himself because in that case the tweet gets a little initial signature. a "bo" in lower case. barack obama, as in i the president wrote this tweet. if it was a dog, it would be the paw print. the president was writing his own tweet this is afternoon. the string of twitter messages about the budget negotiations in washington. the white house announcing in advance today that the president himself would be answering people's questions about the negotiations in washington. he would be answering them directly on twitter starting at 2:00 p.m. eastern. it is kind of awesome that regular people can ask direct questions from the leader of the free world. it's like a town hall but you don't have to

he appeared with rachel maddow last night. >> criminals should not be able to buy guns. and even at higher levels when you think about the reality if you're a suspected terrorist in america, you can go to the secondary gun market and buy a weapon and conduct the kind of terrorism we saw in mumbai which was done with automatic and semiautomatic weapons. >> the fabric of gun culture is woven into american's lives. how do we put a genie back in a bottle when it comes to modern-day wednesday that our forefathers could never have imagined? >> we cannot put the genie back in the bottle. we can tamper with rules. nobody in washington, not president obama, not senator feinstein is going to confiscate the guns throughout. anyone who is implying otherwise is kidding themselves. >> americans love to drive, they wouldn't have anything else but huge cars. didn't matter about safety, they said. you're not going to change the cigarette culture. it's not one piece of legislation. but the fact there are multiple fronts that people have opened up now. the fact that there is this sense of