>> why should you be senator and not frank lautenberg? >> i'm going to ask him that question coming up. and you guys do a show called "the cycle." and people should watch it. a whole gang of you do that show. okay, so that is a thank you to krystal ball and steve kornacki, and coming up. if house republicans really do something crazy with the debt ceiling, will they do that? ezra klein answers that question next. >>> and on the one-month anniversary of the sandy hook elementary school shootings, the nra has released a video. the same group that blamed the violent video games for the massacre in newtown. >>> and scott brown's political future, more observers saying he won't run for senate. and as i said, corey booker, who has announced his intention to run for senator in new jersey. the problem is he may have to run against fellow democrat and current senator franken lautenberg, as far as we can tell, they agree on just about everything. corey booker will answer steve kornacki's questions and will get tonight's last word. ♪ ♪ ♪ hi da

he has expressed interest in the senator seat which prompted lautenberg to say quote . . . well, first of all lautenberg might have been old enough to given cory booker's parents a spanking, but you can see why the elder stateman might feel threatened, because booker has a 51-30 lead over lautenberg. it looks like the senator might actually be the one in line for the spanking. and finally, our last story, current tv's bill press tried to bring some closure to

the 88-year-old frank lautenberg is now serving his fifth term in the senate. still ahead chris christie has been in the news a lot lately. and our own brett erlich is alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. fruit just got cooler. fruit on one side, cool on the other. ice breakers duo. a fruity, cool way to break the ice. [ ryon ] eating shrimp at red lobster is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp and it tastes really good! [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's 30 shrimp for just $11.99! choose any two of five savory shrimp selections like

the 88-year-old frank lautenberg is now serving his fifth term in the senate. still ahead, chris christie has been in the news a lot lately. and our own brett erlich is next. put on your seat belts. that's next in "the war room." young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. from silver screens... to flat screens... twizzlerize your entertainment everyday with twizzlers the twist you can't resist. cook what you love and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last,

you can't really begrudge senator lautenberg thinking you will have your time. i am doing what the people in the state want. but i think what he is doing is getting his foot in so that if senator lautenberg decides he has had it and made money in a past life and has a beautiful younger wife and can enjoy himself now he may decide who needs the aggravation in the senate and cory booker would be presumably next in line. >> i don't think -- in the final analysis i think what cory is doing is pretty smart. he is placing a bet that frank is not going to run again and he is trying to position himself at the head of the line for anybody else who might aspire to replace frank. and so this is not a game for wall flowers or folks who are -- at the end of the day it is a pretty darwinian game. >> listen to this. this is what booker said in that wnbc interview. >> as frustrated as i was with him for taking time to evolve, as he said, it was a glorious thing to see the first president of the united states stand up and affirm equality. >> talking about same sex marriage and m

lautenberg has not said whether he'll run for re-election next year. and booker is, quote, still exploring the idea of a senatorial bid. >>> all right. up next, a republican rift. we're taking a deep dive into the power struggle going on right now within the gop. it has to do with what's going on down in charlotte and the rnc. you're watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. bster is hitting the streets to tell real people about our new 15 under $15 menu! oh my goodness... oh my gosh, this looks amazing... [ male announcer ] 15 entrees under $15! it's our new maine stays! seafood, chicken, and more! ooh! the tilapia with roasted vegetables. i'm actually looking at the wood grilled chicken with portobello wine sauce. that pork chop was great. no more fast food friday's. we're going to go to red lobster... [ male announcer ] come try our new menu and sea food differently. and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99! salad, sandwiches and more. let's say you pay your guy around 2% to manage your money. that's not much you think. except it's 2% every

your thoughts on term limits and thoughts on frank lautenberg running at 89? >> i think both, i think they clearly, the senator running for reelection in 89 is indicative of the challenge that the country faces to be innovative and have new ideas. the fact that senators held that seat for so long. the challenge in congress, especially, and i give republicans actually credit for changing this, the challenge in the house of representatives, for example, is it is all seniority based. on the democratic side, you spend 20 years there before you have influence. in gingrich did the contract with america, he changed it. you have someone like paul ryan sharing a committee at a young age coming up with innovations and new ideas. i think, one, that they should -- the democrats should get rid of that seniority system and have the best qualified. you get someone who understands financing, well, they should serve on the budget committee, but, yeah, definitely, have term limits on the united states senate and house of representatives like the president so that we can keep co

you filed your papers to run for the senate in new jersey to take on a senator lautenberg. is that what you intend to do? will you run? >> again, you have to file the papers even to do research on the issue, even to travel on the issue. so, we are complying with the law before we do any exploration of the senate run. we have got to file an account. that is my intention. it is over a year away. a lot is going to change between now and then. >> senator lautenberg called you self-absorbed and disrespectful. one of his spokespersons did. excuse me. the idea you have not worked out with senator lautenberg what his plans r any missteps in terms of that? >> no again this is really early. we have reached out to him. even had a trip down here to speak with him but he wasn't able to speak. right now the senator, who i support, needs to focus on the debt controlling are, needs to focus on funding for sandy. i have two very good senators in the senate, we are going to support that. this campaign is over a year away. you know new jersey has to focus on a governor's race and legislative

the idea you have not worked out with senator lautenberg what his plans are. any missteps in terms of that? >> no again this is really early. we have reached out to him. even had a trip down here to speak with him but he wasn't able to speak. right now the senator, who i support, needs to focus on the debt ceiling, focus on funding for sandy. i have two very good senators in the senate, we are going to support that. this campaign is over a year away. you know new jersey has to focus on a governor's race and legislative race. for know do it good exploration, due diligence for running i have to file. >> not ruling out challenging? >> not ruling out anything but premature to be speculative. >> i don't want us to leave without taking on a topic that has been big this week, if you saw the new york times with the hall of fame voting reflecting the steroids era, there it was. the inductees, a blank page, the likes of barry bonds, sosa and others were not inducted. now you have got haley barbour, lance armstrong, preparing to do an interview, famously win over the tou

booker could be challenging the 89-year-old lautenberg in a democratic primary if the senator decides to run again. aides have complained booker has been disrespectful in being so open about his intentions. telling the philadelphia enquirer, i have four children. i love each one of them. i can't tell you that one of them wasn't occasionally disrespectful so i gave them a spanking and everything was okay. >>> meanwhile, clinton eastwood's infamous chair has a new home. the chair used in eastwood's bizarre national republican convention speech now sits in the office of recently re-elected reince priebus. and the twitter feed, here it is, the view that he turned around and soaked in after delivering that second and final inaugural on monday. coming up, some of the gop want to change the rules of the game and if their plan his been in place in november, this man would be president right now. more on that straight ahead and some amazing, rare footage of melting glaciers and a reality check of where we're headed unless president obama follows through on his promise to tackle climate change.

if he does it, let's say lautenberg retires or decides to stay in, a contest between lautenberg and cory booker, he's getting close to 90 years old but he's very smart, very popular. so is cory booker. >> geraldo has name recognition. >> i would say he has name recognition. >> and maybe deep pockets. >>> we're getting information about u.s. companies targeted by chinese hackers. we have details on two big ones. that's coming up. >>> also, a lot of focus on changes at cnn. that's right. at cnn recently. now dave letterman adds his own suggestions. you're going to want to see the top ten. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7

frank lautenberg is getting on in most. what probably doesn't look very politic from booker's point of view he seems to sort of be pushing lautenberg toward the door before he's ready to anounce not to run again. >> joy and david, thank you. >>> well house republicans try again to repeal the health care law. when do they give up and move on? gop deja vu and strategy talk coming your way at the bottom of the hour. >>> a new report from the cdc is calling the flu outbreak an epidemic. just moments ago new york governor andrew cuomo declared a public health emergency in this stays. the move allows pharmacists to vaccinate certain patients. nearly every state is reporting widespread outbreak. but there could be some hope that the flu season is peaking. nbc's gabe guttierez is live for us inside an emergency room in brooklyn, new york. we spoke with you earlier today, gabe. how's it been looking today? >> reporter: it's been very busy here this morning and over the past few days. as you mentioned, governor cuomo just declared th

>> you know, that's a question for senator lautenberg and mayor booker. >> because you're clearly not going to answer it. thank you very much for joining us, senator menendez. >>> up next, our powerhouse roundtable with instant analysis of senators mccain and menendez plus, will we get a democratic super bowl matchup in 2016? hillary clinton versus joe biden? >>> and the senate investigates "zero dark thirty." the film's screenwriter is here to respond. we'll be right back. we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ ♪ >>> some of our peers on the other side expressed their ambitions for your future. >> i salute you and look ahead to 2016 wishing you much success and extending to you my highe

he's still -- he doesn't know if frank lautenberg plans to run for re-election. here's some republican logic you may not have heard of before we need restrictive election laws to protect people's right not to vote. here is how same-day registration will infringe on individual liberties. >> i think we do have to have common sense protections to make sure that our roles are secure to stop potential voter fraud. this whole issue i think we're dealing with the federal government and universal registration and same-day registration and all these different buzz words really gets down to the individual freedoms of people in our state and americans in general. and their ability to decide for themselves, yes, i want to register to vote and participate in the process or no, that i don't. >> here's a buzz word for you, sir. democracy. when did universal and same-day registration become ways of forcing people to vote. that's "hardball." coming up next, "your business" with j.j. ramberg. a try fixodent. it helps create a food seal defense for a clean mouth

. >>> and new jersey's 89-year-old frank lautenberg doesn't seem happy with suggestions he might not run for reelection in 2014. new york mayor cory booker said he will run for the senate. >>> last night on the daily show, jon stewart looked back at the inauguration. >> yesterday's events had everything, large crowds, the swearing ins, the walking, the waving, a fairy tale style ball and the grandest of american traditions, the peaceful transfer of spouses. it's what separates us from the animals. >> and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> companies mining for metal, water and more on asteroids. >>> and what is the real deal behind drinking alcohol and how well you'll sleep? >>> the latest details from a texas school shooting coming up on "first look." [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ club scene music ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a sec

have you had a conversation with lautenberg? >> i want to give him the space to make his own decision. i announced my intention to run. the reality is, we have a good senator, been loyal, been there a long time. he has a decision to make. focusing on my job for now. we've reached out a number of times. i had a plane trip going to meet with him. and with a lot of challenges in washington, he to cancel the meeting. >> would you primary him? run against him in a primary? >> it's too early to talk about those kinds of hypothetical. he has not made his decision yet. >> let's dive into the hypothetical. i love hypotheticals. it's my middle name. if he decides to run, would you go against lautenberg? >> we have a full year until the hypothetical becomes real one way or another. we need a senator in d.c. and we should be fighting lautenberg in tough fights ahead and we need a mayor in newark that gets the job done. >> you are trying to unseat him. >> this is not an election year for the senate this is an election year for governor. >> p

so senators lautenberg, menendez, gillibrand and i are making a plea to our colleagues. please, we've waited 91 long days. we can't wait any longer. simply put, we must pass this bill today. 91 days ago sandy struck a body blow against new york. today finally we can strike back and give our people the help they need to get back on their feet and rebuild our communities. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. a senator: thank you, mr. president. mr. toomey: i rise to continue this discussion about sandy. there isn't any doubt about the severity of this tragedy, about the human suffering. it is absolutely the case that the needed emergency money should have been there already. there's a real genuine need, and that need needs to be met. that's part of the reason i voted in favor of spending $24 billion which could legitimately described as the kind of emergency funding that suffering people needed. what i'm concerned about, mr. president, is i guess two things. one, the fact that some people have used the occasion of the mise

i'm truly contemplating running for senate against frank laute lautenberg or cory booker. >> jennifer: as a republican, of course. we went on to say that he would make nationalizing stop and frisk like they're doing in new york, as part of his platform. i wonder what other interesting ideas he has? past prologue? well here are some moments from his past that might shed light on his positions in the future. >> we don't know. this is an adventure that you and i are going to be taking together. [ explosion ] >> when all was said and done all i found was an old begin bottle. [ yelling ] >> jennifer: flying chairs broken noses empty vaults. there has not been a new jersey republican senator since the 1970s. i'm just guessing if geraldo is the nominee that trend is going to continue. believe it or not a lot of people dream of working with the government, and it's a good thing. and for all those people out there have i got a job for you. the ideal candidate would have five years of regulatory experience, a law degree, and extensive knowledge of--marijuana. what is this cush job you might be

will introduce legislation to reinstate a federal ban against assault weapons, yesterday senator frank lautenberg of new jersey introduced a bill to ban high capacity magazine holding more than 10 rounds, senator chuck schumer of new york said he will reintroduce legislation over background checks in the number of weeks. in the house, congressman rosa and raul of arizona put forward a bill that would give gun owners a $1,000 a year tax credit for each of two years for turning in assault rifles to state police, none of these are expected to pass of republican controlled house. president obama's address triggered a scathing response from the national rifle association, the leader, rain lapierre, said that president made a mockery of our constitutional rights. >> they are god-given freedoms they belong to us, in the united states of america as our birth right, no government gave them to us, no government can ever take them away. lou: lapierre argued only reason that federal government would want to create a list of gun owners is to quote, tax them or takes them. our next guest is a texas gun shol ow

lautenberg said there's a lot of work to do in newark that should have been done that hasn't been done. >> he was talking about spanking. we'll get cory back here to talk about the rescuing of small animals and talk about the senate race that could be a little bit of a tough race if the senator decides he's not having it. john, thank you. >>> it is time to rebrand the gop, that is the message from republicans, right now the republican national committee is holding its winter meeting, taking place in charlotte, north carolina and today the chairman, reince priebus, will lay out his vision for party and also going to ask members to elect him for another two-year term despite what was a poor showing on election night for the gop. bobby jindal, the louisiana governor, laid out a number of areas where things have to change. it was blunt, listen. >> we have to stop looking backwards. we must reject identity politics. we have to stop insulting the intelligence of voters. >> senator mel martinez, former senator from florida, also a former rnc chairman, nice to have you senator, thank you for b

frank lautenberg's aide sort of zinged you. are you waiting for the senator to make up on his mind on whether he runs or will you make the decision independently of his plans? >> as you know, i made a decision not to run for governor, to focus on the end of my term. that's really what my focus is. this is going to be my most productive year as mayor. we've got about $1 billion of new investment coming into newark. we'll have a city balanced budgeted for the first time in a decade or two. we're going to also be hiring for police officers. that's my focus. i have to file that account, as you probably know, because i can't even do research on a federal office without having a federal account. >> right. >> for the rest of it, i think a lot's going to happen during this state election year. i'll let that happen. but my intention is to run for senate, but i'm going to let -- it's still in the preliminary stages and i'll let things happen that should happen. the focus frankly for all of new jersey should be our two senators, supportin

angela mcglowan, analyst, and julie, a former political advisor to senator lautenberg of new jersey join me now. >> great to see you. >> jamie: julie, i want to ask you, the president has been pretty upfront, and you're a democrat, talking about gun control and immigration, and the debt ceiling, which he may and is getting support from other democrats to act on unilaterally. but not a lot of mention in these couple of weeks we've just been through about jobs and folks are, i'm sure you would agree, worried about their futures. what is his jobs plan specifically? >> well, absolutely. look, there's a couple of issues here, number one, he did have a very aggressive jobs plan that the republican senate and house actually killed last year, they wouldn't take it up, wouldn't, filibustered it. and so you can only do something with a partner with which to do it. and the larger problem, a partisan issue, the problem of moving crisis to crisis. first the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling, the sequester coming up and no long-term planning on issues that really affect the american public. >> jamie: jul

he brought up ben carden, we know that there's some question frank lautenberg, chuck schumer, democrats like that. but there's also been what he said about james hormelback in 1998. i know you have done am some extensive conversations with chuck hagel about anti-gay thing. barney frank was very offended by this. just this week said i cannot think of any other minority group in the u.s. today where such a negative statement would not be an obstacle to a major presidential. >> he has apologized for the statement and hormel in a very large statement, a gracious statement accepted it and said, this is really important learning moment. and i stand by that. i think people in the human rights campaign, the victory fund, other significant gay right organizations have actually said they look forward to having -- i went to a victory fund gala the other night and hagel told me, next year, i'll be there. he doesn't have these issues, but he'll explain these in the committee. to dan's bigger point and, dan, i want to make sure, i didn't mean by know sense any offense on these issues and i think isra

month he announced he's exploring a run for senate in 2014, though we still don't know whether frank lautenberg, who is 89 years old, plans to run for re-election. >>> here is some republican logic you may not have heard before. we need restrictive election laws to protect people's right not to vote. here is georgia secretary of state brian kemp explaining how something like same-day registration infringes on liberties. >> i think we have to have common sense protections to make sure our roles are secure to stop potential voter fraud. this whole issue i think with dealing with the federal government and universal registration and same-day registration and all these different buzz words really gets down to the individual freedoms of people in our state and americans in general and their ability to decide for themselves, yes, i want to register to vote and participate in the process or, no, that i don't. >> well, here is a buzz word for you, sir. democracy. when did universal and same-day registration become ways of forcing people to vote? >>> "new york magazine" got a kick out of all the times c

they seem to be prepared for the frank lautenberg one in new jersey. a little they're more concerned, but they're expecting potentially one in south dakota with tim johnson and they know if he doesn't run, in what would already have been a tough race will be even a larger uphill climb. up next, changing the way the game is played. will other states follow virginia's lead and shut down this effort to up end the electoral colleging? bob mcdonald is coming in to talk about, plus guns, immigration, future of his party and new evidence today that the united states is devoting money and manpower to the newest front in this war with al qaeda. it's in north africa. first, a look at the president's schedule, as you know, all about vegas, baby. we're watching the dal ily rundn only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like

. >> but there are a bunch of democratic pro-israel leaders like chuck schumer, bob casey, frank lautenberg, carl levin who have yet to weigh in and might have some concerns and bob menendez, the proor the anti-iran hawk. talk about their concerns right now. >> i have looked hard at the statements on the internet and the blogs and what he's said. chuck hagel said my first obligation is to the united states. i took an oath of office to defend the united states constitution. that doesn't mean he's anti-israeli. i have israeli friends, i support the israeli nation and defending themselves. however, break dot-dot, you know, you have to look at what's best for this nation first and how that's anti-semitic i don't know and that's the issue as far as i can tell regarding the rhetoric of hagel. >> john, another issue of particular of those like me on the left is hagel's comments that he made back in 1998 opposing president clinton's ambassador or nominee to be ambassador calling him openly aggressively gay and recently apologized for the comments and you were really instrumental in getting don't as

has already been introduced in the senate by the following folks, chuck schumer, kristen jill brant, lautenberg, and dianne feinstein. those policies and especially the ban will spark a fight in washington. the nra is out with a web video this morning going after the president and his daughter, of sorts, on a proposal that the president will not be endorsing today, the idea of armed security at every school in america. >> are the president's kids more important than yours? then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school? >> now, the president is going to call for more funding for security at schools, but specifically ruling out the idea of arming that security at schools. the white house is signaling it's ready for this big fight. it's ramping up pressure with an elaborate rollout today. it includes an audience of children from around the country who wrote the president letters about gun violence after newtown. the white house has released some of those letters late tuesday. 8-year-old grant wrote to the president,

a magazine limit from senator frank lautenberg. and an anti-trafficking bill from senator kirsten gillibrand out of new york. here's vice president joe biden today reminding the conference of mayors what this legislation is really about. >> that tragedy in all my years of public life i think has affected the public psyche in a way that i've never seen before. parents in the streets, panicking. trying to find out if the child they put on the bus in the morning had any prospect of getting back on the bus and going home that afternoon. >> is that worth a vote? i'm joined tonight by former congresswoman marjorie margolis mizvinski, now an adjunct faculty member at the university of pennsylvania. she was a one-term congresswoman who -- i wish that wasn't the case, but that's what happened. and you can't -- >> i did a drive-by. >> you cast the deciding vote for clinton's tax increase for two decades, which took this country to surpluses. and you were targeted because you voted for a tax increase. but at the time you said, "there are time

just as i did when i co-authored the 9/11 gi bell with webb, lautenberg and john warner. this includes focusing on the mental health of our fighting force because no one who volunteers to fight and die for this country should ever feel like they have nowhere to turn. that's unacceptable for this country. in my 12 years in the senate, my one guiding principle on every security decision i made and every vote i cast was always this. simply this. is our policy worthy of our troops and their families and the sacrifices that we ask them to make? that same question will guide me if i am confirmed as secretary of defense. our men and women in uniform and their families must never doubt their leader's first priority is them. i believe my record on veterans issues over the years going back to my service in the veterans administration under president reagan demonstrates my rock solid commitment to our veterans and their families. we must always take care of our people. that's why i will work to ensure everyone who volunteers to fight for this country has the same rights and same opp