Transcripts For MSNBC Morning Joe 20101111

from within if we don't fix it. that's a nice way to wake up. welcome to "morning joe." what did i just hear? >> well, i was moving my purse -- and all of a sudden you act as if this is some sort of female active -- >> you're like elvis like shooting tv set. she has her purse up here and, boom, she starts throwing mirrors and -- >> i went like this. all right. the show is about to start. you know what happened here? we looked at subsection four. >> yeah, check that out. >> parra graph 12. >> it's a doozy. >> people that work at msnbc are not allowed to take it right in the eye. she did it and she starts throwing stuff. >> he is starting rumors. >> can you give that guy a contact. you know -- >> a little tired today. >> speaking of petulant. >> it was not a petulant moment. >> you saw her. okay. so why is she talking about the little people? >> yeah. why is she talking about the little people if she is not being petulant? i guess i have to do work for the little people. >> what are you talking about? did you wake up -- we're tired. we were up late. >> cue the tape, british students. >> isn't this great? here's the deal. >> finally. when we in the united states, when students in the united states are faced with rising tuition costs, you know what we do? we say bummer, dude. i guess i'm not going to be able to -- >> you say, whoa, i'm in debt. this is what they do in spain. explain. >> they started by kicking the window in. you don't expect the government to do things for you. we think the state should give us an education. so we raise the prices. >> i just said oh, the socialists, america is going to be a socialist nation. i think you and i were the only ones that kept our heads. those losing theirs. >> i said, first of all, relax, if they go too far left, the center in america always rises up. and you said he won't be a socialist. >> because it's never going to happen here. >> americans would be terrible socialists. >> the whole thing that drove you away to this country was the entrepreneurial spirit. that means you're never going to rely on government to do for you. why do we have tens of thousands of people on the streets in london? you won't see it here. people here don't expect the state to provide things for them. it's a fundamentally different approach to government. >> let me say for everybody onset here, if our parents, republicans and democrats alike -- we've got democrats here and republican -- >> sort of, for now. >> same as it ever was. if my parents caught me kicking in a window at university of alabama because they raised my tuition, they'd kick our ass. >> my brother came home impersonating a police officer and my dad sent them right to jail. >> what happened? >> they went and sent away for a badge and a light and everything. they were in high school. they put the red light on top of the car and sort of busting their friends at parties, up against the wall and frisinging them and stuff. and they got arrested. >> the cops bring them to the front door and they were being polite because he's dr. brzezinski. they opened the door and said this is what they did. he goes, take them to jail, closes the door. i love that guy. >> i don't know how we got there. mommy has no filter this morning. >> we had a late night. we were at the 92nd street y with tina brown. it was fun. not a lot of sleep. we have jeff goldblum on the show today as well as david ignatius. >> didn't they co-author some book? >> no. our show is like a salad, just toss together stuff. >> we have news, dexter fill kins have questions i want answered. >> maybe we should -- this first news story that you're about to give people, maybe we should show the tape of what's happening in england as you read this first news story. >> oh, that would be -- >> or not. go ahead. >> that would be -- as you just heard the leaders of a bipartisan panel set up by president obama are laying out a sweeping plan to slash the nation's deficit. erskine bowels and alan simpson says they could reduce the deficit by $4 billion by 2020. the package includes cutting all discretionary spending including defense, raising the social security retirement age to 68 by the end of 2050 and 69 by 2075 and rewriting the tax code while eliminating all tax deductions. in addition, the proposal would impose a three-year pay freeze for most federal employees, cut 10% of the federal workforce, eliminate all earmarks and increase the gas tax by 15 cents a gallon. i like it. on capitol hill, the reaction to those unpopular proposals was mixed. nancy pelosi said, quote, this proposal is unacceptable. any final proposal must do what is right for our seniors who are counting on the bedrock promises of social security and medicare. >> i'm sorry. >> afl-cio president said the chairman of the deficit commission told working americans to drop dead. >> i eel go to a steelers game with him. but give me a break. >> i think they're extending life in a way. >> who is extending life? >> the presumption that we are living longer and acting on it as a society i think pushes us forward. i think telling people to drop dead, it's just bogus. it's complete crap. >> it is. paul krugman added you're going to tell janitors to work until they're 70 because lawyers are living longer than ever. there's an issue there. we talked about that. however, republican members of the president's fiscal commission said, quote, this is a provocative proposal. while we have concerns with some of the specifics, we commend the co-chairs for advancing the debate. >> here is the deal. nancy pelosi is talking seniors can -- nancy always does this. i like her. i saw her do it in '95. republicans are going to throw old people out in the street. trumka, drop dead. guess what? jack is two years old. my son jack will still get social security before he's 69 under this proposal. no -- >> 2075. >> guess what? we need to move it up to 70 in the next 20 years. >> i agree. >> by 2075 people are going to be living to, like, 432. it's ridiculous. >> people are healthier and happier if they don't stop working at 60. >> let me tell you, my parents worked till they were 70. when they stopped working, they've had health problems ever since. of course, it's different than -- talking about people going down in the mines. the bottom line is this, when social security was created, retirement age was 65, life expectancy was 62. that's a good deal for the government. give us money, you get nothing. fdr knew how to do it. now you can get it at 62. life expectancy is 79. the numbers are going to go up exponentially. they are. for nancy pelosi and other people to come out and say that this is harsh on senior citizens, senior citizens won't be touched. people in their 50s will hardly be touched. we need to tell people, if you are 49 or younger you're going to get social security at 70. there may be a blue collar exemption. but if you're 49 or younger, you get it at 70. and start that right away. >> a lot of what was proposed, a lot of what was discussed by bowles and simpson yesterday was over my head. i don't get it. what i do get is there's something drastically wrong with our political system when this proposal is put on the table and at least no one who has publicly been quoted as responding to it says, let's think about this. there's stuff in here we should think about because we have to do something. it's all -- you're telling us to drop dead. this is an outrage upon seniors. 2075. 2075! >> the republicans seem to be more open minded to obama's proposals than the democrats. >> they do. to mike's point, this is why people are frustrated with washington. without reading into it or hearing it. this isn't even the report. these are the cliffs notes. everyone has to serve a constituency and have to stick up for them. if they're not even willing to look at it, or work with the framework, how is anything going to get done? if you're not willing to even look at this entitlement ts, how are you going to do anything about it. >> katty in february 2009, the president had this physical responsibility summit. he wanted to bring up social security and medicare. nancy pelosi said no, you can't do it. >> when you say everybody is up in arnlsd nobo -- >> actually barnicle said that. i'll throw that one on barnicle. i do not associate myself with his remarks or his fashion. but go ahead. >> the fashion fabulous. i like the purple. >> is that passing for fashion. >> this is why nothing gets done, this debate. the question is what should the president do? right now he's saying hold your fire, we have to make choices. what should he do to get decisiveness on this. >> i think he's doing it. >> this is the problem with the system you have. you look at what david cameron did, where you come into a parliamentary system and you've got four or five years of defacto dictatorship, you can't come in and make 20% cuts and you get the pictures we have on the front page of the paper. >> we're doing fine. >> he's so limited by what he can do here. when you're trying to tackle -- then you look at the political system as it is where we've already started the race for the next two years, any big long-term, complicated legislation is shafted and pushed down the road at a time you can't push it down the road anymore. >> that's why i love divided government. you have republicans and democrats with guns to each other's heads. everybody knows, me -- you say should he do? show the math. this is about math. >> everyone sees the math. everyone accepting the math. but when it comes to their own program, they don't want to cut it. that's why everyone is up in arm about this report saying we can't possibly hurt our voting -- >> we have a much better chance getting something done with a divided government than with one party in complete control. once a party is in complete control on these issues, they run for cover. >> people like dif voided government. >> i love it. give me more. >> if you're nancy pelosi and not willing to do anything about social security and medicare, it means you're not serious about the conversation. >> you know what she's doing, though? she is protecting jack and george w. >> w. we call it. >> just call him w. >> how old is he? >> 16 months. >> let me do the calculation. actually, he will get social security at 69. so nancy pelosi is fighting for him to get it at 69 instead of 65. >> meanwhile we have people talking about let's get rid of earmarks. some people come out and say, do you know what we need to do is get rid of the signs that herald the stimulus package. that's 40 granted right there. >> at least in my mind, the reaction was so over the top immediately yesterday to what bowls and simpson proposed, it's one of the reasons we have a tax code in this system, a tax system, where it's entirely possible for exxon mobil to pay less percentage in taxes than a plumber from sandusky, ohio, pays. >> warren buffett, 14%. >> it's crazy. >> it's very interesting. we got a quote from nancy pelosi -- she's a minority now. you throw bombs at the minority. i don't think we heard one from harry reid. john boehner also kind of quiet. the people that are actually running things now, i think before they say anything, i think they're going to actually think. coming up, a political earthquake in the democratic party. why nancy pelosi may be looting her footing among supporters. that story is next in the politico playbook. new brutally graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. will the photographs make smokers think twice? they should. >> seriously. >> yeah, seriously. first here is bill karins with a check of the -- >> big mac in my left hand, silg rhett in my right. >> we're supposed to worry about joe getting to 69, right? we'll talk about joe's health issues. now we'll talk about the weather. good morning everyone on this vit rans day, continuing with cloudy skies in cape cod. the rest of us, sunny skies and gorgeous weather today. a little cool this morning. talking probably the winter coat through much of the ohio valley, great lakes and new england. fall like weather through much of the area this afternoon. sunshine, temperatures in the 50s. a nice veterans' day. as we quont to look at veterans' day in the southeast and tomorrow, nice on the eastern seaboard for the next two days if you're lucky enough to have one of them off, congratulations. middle of the country, that's where the stormy weather will be for the next two afternoons. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. - i volunteered. - i was drafted. - i enlisted. - i was nervous. - and there i was in asia. - europe. - the gulf. - and i saw things. - incredible things. - and people you never forget. - i did my job. - for my country. - my buddies. - for total strangers. - and i was proud. - so grateful. - for my family. - my freedom. for all who served and all who serve, we can never thank them enough. [ male announcer ] it's luxury with fire in its veins. bold. daring. capable of moving your soul. ♪ and that's even before you drop your foot on the pedal. ♪ the new 2011 cts coupe from cadillac. the new standard of the world. they know things are terrible right now. they're planning to make some bold changes. >> republicans are united to stand for keeping the tax cuts in place. this is how we create jobs. >> i think extending all of the current tax rates and making them permanent will be the most important thing we can do to help create jobs in the country. >> we've got a chance to do some things early on to create jobs by extending the tax cuts. >> yes, extending the existing tax cuts will create jobs. the only way out of this mess is to keep things exactly as they are. >> an auto biography by theo-dur roosevelt. >> high honor is due those serene and lofty souls who have bring nearer the day when strife shall end. >> crusade in yoourp by eisenhower. >> the forces that stood for human good for this time confronted by an evil conspiracy where no compromise could be. >> a lot of people didn't think i read, much less write. >> this has been great moments in presidential memoirs. >> it's not fair. there should be a ban on that because it's too easy. it's terrible. >> what was yesterday's moment? >> i was drunk. 20 past the hour. the morning papers, starting with the cincinnati inquirer, representative john boehner does into intend to take advantage of every perk that comes with house speaker. listen to what he told reporters yesterday. >> i talked to our security folks about the security that's involved in my new role. but over the last 20 years, i have flown back and forth to my district on commercial aircraft and i'm going to continue to do that. >> that's actually good. in the midst of the fiscal crisis, nancy pelosi was flying on private jets back and forth from washington to san francisco. not needed. speaker of the house. who is going the try to kill speaker of the house? >> no one. >> other than maybe a guy from virginia. >> joe biden one time was looking around at the secret service. he's like why are they here? who kills the vice president? come on, guys. good old joe. he's like back off. house speakers have used military jets to fly between washington and their home districts since 9/11. can we go to the next paper? >> "san francisco chronicle," nonpartisan group says that california's budget deficit can top $25 billion, nearly double of what leading lawmakers predicted just a week ago. welcome to office governor brown. >> good morning. seattle times, after a year and a half -- >> barnicle, does he smoke pot? >> jerry? oh, yeah. >> he's going to need a lot of it for the next four years. >> up there in sacramento, stoned. >> you know what, you're going to get in and the deficit is doubled. sorry. actually i'm withdrawing. meg, over to you. >> the seattle times, after a year and a half of stablt, analysts say food prices could go up an average of 4% in 2011. >> arizona companies launched concerted efforts to hire disabled veterans while government employees actively recruit veterans as well. all part of a bid to help recently discharged vets who despite employer incentives and special josh placement assistance face a very difficult job market. willie, to you. >> joining us for the politico playbook, the editor in chief of politico, mr. john harris. you say pelosi is getting pushback in her bid to become minority leader. who is standing up to her. >> she thought she could get the job because she has the solid support of liberals in her caucus. there's a lot of people saying irrespective of whether they're liberal or conservative, blue dogs saying wait a minute. is this really the best thing for the party? you talk to people privately in the democratic caucus, the answer is overwhelmingly no. not many people want to say it publicly directly to the speaker. some 15 house members including liberals sent a letter saying let's at least push these leadership elections off till december, till next month. the meaning of that is unmistakable. let's give some time to see if there's an alternative to nancy pelosi and maybe to see if she wants to rethink her own plans immediately after the election. she came out and said she's willing -- they want her to think is that the best thing for the party. >> john, they won't say publicly. have they gone to her privately and said, hey, nancy, this isn't going to work? talking powerful, liberal leaders. >> there's no question that people are saying that to her at least in used mystic terms, like we need to talk about what's best for the party. her feeling is, look, i didn't lose these elections. decisions made in the white house were more important than anything she did. she doesn't want to take the fall for this. >> what's the cost of these guys saying it out loud? why would don't they have the guts to say it in public? >> there's one problem to people who say nancy pelosi shouldn't be minority leader. at the moment there's nobody running against her. that gives her a certain advantage i would say. yet, there's no question that a lot of people would like her to independently come to the decision that maybe this isn't the best thing for the party that just got, as president obama said, shellacked last tuesday. >> one of her principle lieutenants in the house, mike kaplan know, congressman from massachusetts has said publicly he does not think she should be minority leader and indicated as john said she's running unopposed. >> this may be one of those times where somebody -- a backbencher rises up and takes a chance. >> that can only happen if there's time. in the current schedule they're supposed to make this choice next week, november 17. that is not time for an alternative to coalesce. let's talk about the tea party. rick santorum saying there isn't anybody running that could be a tea party candidate. is he looking the fill the void? >> his suggestion is he clearly has interest in running for 2012. wonders if he has a window. i thought there was a name missing from that. sarah palin i think would have a better claim on tea party support than rick santorum would. his basic point was one i understand, which is the tea party has not shown it can real think grasp the levers of power. they've got strong outside public support. but in terms of the inside game, they're not playing it very well. look at michele bachmann just last night dropped out of the leadership race because she was going to lose. >> politico's john harris. thank you so much. >> see you soon. coming up in sports, a story that's -- what do you think? jose canseco. good news or bad news for jose? >> i called him four times. >> now soliciting phone calls to his personal number for a fee of course. don't forget to sign up for the morning minutes newsletter including a daily recap of the show including guest interviews and the big stories of the day. sign up by going to joe.msnbc.com. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply, unlock the doors, and turn on the hazards. or get a car that does it for you. ♪ [ man ] or get a car ♪ trouble does it for you. ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin's natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics recommended most by dermatologists. welcome back to "morning joe." the sun is just coming up. a beautiful morning thanks to chopper 4. it is 31 past the hour. let's get a quick look at the news. a new associated press poll finds that sarah palin is the most polarizing of the potential 2012 presidential candidates. now, is that news? >> i'm shocked. >> i don't consider that to be news. in the wake of her high-profile role in endorsing candidates all over the country, 49% of americans view her unfavorably. 31% have the same view of former massachusetts governor mit romney who ran in 2008. 27% have an unfavorable opinion of mike huckabee who won the iowa caucus back in 2008. the poll also shows other possible contenders are largely unknown including tim pawlenty, heyly barber and mitch daniels. the election, of course, is far away. polls this early largely reflect name recognition and a snapshot of current popularity. smokers reaching for a pack of cigarettes may soon be greet washington, d.c. the most graphic warning images -- >> come on. >> the proposed labels and one in which a man exhales through -- this is gross to even say, but it's true. they show people who suffer from. >> come on. this is witchcraft. what else do we have? >> you and your phony stats. >> yesterday federal regulators introduced 36 new labels which they home will help with the anti smoking effort. >> am i going to be on the unpopular side of this? seriously, you disagree with this? idiots. >> this time we're with you. >> i see someone smoking these days and i'm thinking seriously? now? today? you're really doing that. >> what about outside the office buildings where they walk around like p.o.w.s smoking at lunchtime. >> at the airport where you get the zoo enclosure, all in the glass thing there. >> it just doesn't make any sense. >> it is unbelievable that people used to be able to smoke wherever they want. >> at "60 minutes" they still smoke in their offices. they're sitting there, waffs of smoke. >> a pack of luckys, a typewriter. >> winston churchill until he was -- he lied at like 90. >> all the hundreds of thousands of people who died of lung cancer because of smoking, the fact that winston churchill and mike wallace didn't means what? >> i don't know if mike wallace smokes. i understand winston churchill was drunk his entire adult life. what does that tell you? that tells you alcohol and cigarettes together is like the combination that keeps you alive. >> that's interesting. never thought of that. >> there are some people saying there was never a time that winston churchill did not have alcohol from his body from the time he was about 30 on. >> joe is writing about this in the new england journal of medicine. >> all the research. >> that's like the french who live less long but say, yeah, we live better. with that argument i can sympathize with. the denying of the science i have problems with. >> mika, come on, stop that. let's do some sports. quick update on joe's favery story. the cam newton saga. >> this makes me sad. >> yesterday we told you about the espn report in which two mississippi state reporters allege that cam newton, the auburn quarterback and father cecil solicited mississippi state in a pay-to-play scheme. newton and his father deny the claims. now it's been confirmed by a mich state official that it had contacted the southeastern conference in january about a, quote, recruiting issue regarding newton. however, the statement does not specify what the actual recruiting issue was. this is the first time mississippi state has acknowledged even being involved in the situation. the s.e.c. has declined to comment. >> makes me sad. >> i'm sure it does. this is a good one. sunday the jets facing off against the cleveland browns, a match-up that pits twin brother against twin brother. rex ryan, his twin brother rob is the defensive coordinator for the browns. yesterday in a press conference, the jets head coach, rex, had a little fun, put on a wig and cleveland browns gear and pretended to be his twin brother during the press conference. >> rob, what do you think of your brother rex? >> i think he's a great coach, a great person. no question about that. and very hansom. >> rob, what happened to your gray hair? >> i'm trying to get a head coaching job. so i'm dyeing it a little bit. >> got to love rex. >> that is so refreshing given the fact that most nfl coaches react as if they're carrying the nuclear codes. that is refreshing. >> he's got a little perspective. >> and poking at his brother for not having a head coaching job. a little hockey, in the off season, the devils signed him to a contract. last night he god a clans to prove his value to the sabres. overtime shootout, the game stays alive. >> $100 million. >> here it is. >> his turn to tie it up. he lost the puck. koble chuck lost the puck. >> no! >> i could have made that. >> i played hockey as a kid. >> that's how the game ended. >> come on! >> he lost the puck. >> that is the most satisfying ending. >> $102 million. >> and then he messes up like that. >> the good news is hockey contracts are so screwed up, he signed like a 50-year contract, so he'll never see the money. >> he'll never see it? >> no. it's very complicated. let's talk about jose canseco. he's run into a little financial trouble. he's done reality shows. rented himself out for the day at one point, even boxed danny bonaduce for cash. yesterday on his twitter page, canseco posted his personal phone number, urging people to call him to chat for money. one post he says, i'm ready for you, call me now, let's talk. you will be charged a small fee. half of lit go to a charity. he later wrote, if you don't believe me, i will get on skype with you. jose canseco giving out his personal life to chat for money. how does that transaction even work? you give your credit card number to jose canseco? that's a terrible idea. >> you're not doing that. can you imagine? up next, mika's must-read opinion pages. don't forget to tune in later today. you're watching "the view" anyway. but watch closer because joe has a sit-down with the ladies. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. 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[ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. the republicans are back in power. they are totally focused on unemployment. just listen to senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> see. they'll just get obama unemployed, then maybe they'll focus on getting you a job. >> yeah, that was a pretty easy one. welcome back to "morning joe." 42 past the hour. time now for the must-read opinion pages. i have two here that represent different views of the state of washington as george will and e.j. dee own see it. george will first. as he promised it would be, barack obama's presidency has been transformative, it has resuscitated the right making 2010 conservatism its best year in 30 years since thethe' elect of ronald reagan. last summer the economists noted that the idea of a cap on american's carbon emissions died in the senate with barely the bath those of a women per. as icing on the conservatism's 2010 cake, there was npr's self immolation. e.j.deon says republicans don't chase to the center, they try to move it. dem class are play a looser's game of aa center being pushed ever so rightward or stand they ground and slow how far their opponents are from problem solving governance. why should democrats take republican advice that republicans themselves would never be foolish enough to follow. caty, you've been telling them to go left for two years. >> they can, but they'll end up in ever smaller groups. the country is moving -- actually, i don't know if the country moving radically to the right t. country is basically a center right country. you hang to the left and hope you will persuade some of those independents that you're offering the right prescriptions. frankly, the left's reaction makes me think there's no hope. this is not moderate sensible proposals that they're offering. >> it's obvious that this is a center right country. are you surprised that there are still people like e.j.dionne, our friend katrina vanned hoo d hooufl who say the dem krants didn't go left enough. 27% of the country are liberal. >> if you believe in that liberal position, of course, you have perfect right and responsibility to try and carry on putting those ideas forward. all you have to accept is that politically you're not going to pull people over. paul krugman, i'm not an economist, mike has a fabulous grasp of numbers as he told us early. i think there is on the question of whether you carry on stimulating while you near the slump now for longer or whether you go for deficit reduction earlier, i think there's an argument there. i think that's a different position from saying actually we are going to implement propositions and plans that the rest of the country doesn't agree with. and if we just keep telling them, they will end up agreeing with us. >> mike, republicans played in the democrat's hands so much in the bush era, i'm stunned that after two years of going left of center -- don't listen to me. listen to independent voters. 36% swing of independents from 2006 to 2010. how could e.j.dionne or anybody believe democrats need to stay hard left? >> i don't know. because when you look at it in terms of what happens during the course of an everyday life, the everyday person, the democrats unfortunately for them came across for 18 months during the health care debate as living in an unreal world. most people were concerned with their daily economic existence, surrounded by rising unemployment. it's now up to 9.5%. i think that's why they get voted out because this is just unrealistic. my health care plan, fine, let's deal with that later. i lost my job. i'm losing my house. deal with that, please. what is going on in washington? >> mike, isn't it also that i think part of this is prompted by the rise in temperature of the rhetoric on the right? >> both the left and right. >> but i think this is -- what e.j. is talking about comes from a frustration that what you're hearing is sarah palin talking about death panels on health care which is clearly nonsense. it's never going to happen, about the socialization of america. we've talked about this. it's never going to happen. so you feel like you're standing up for a -- i think what we're hearing is just extremes on both ends. >> americans are never going to elect sarah palin either. they just aren't. america is not ideological. the great center of america is not ideological. mika, we've seen this time and time again. we've been talking about it for a year and a half. it always really ticks off extremes on the left and the right. we say the same thing in maine that we say in south florida that we say in alabama, at the 92nd street y, at pat robertson's university. americans think we've got to get debt under control, we have to get out of afghanistan and iraq and start rebuilding our own country. they're tired of the screaming and the yelling and the rhetoric. americans are not ideological. the fact is conservatives have a built-in advantage. you have a built-in advantage because you've got 40% of america with you. and you just have to pull over 11%, 12% of the moderates and you have a majority. >> but what's the opportunity -- >> liberals have to get 31%, 32%. >> what's the opportunity here for the republicans, and are they taking it? if you look at the headlines that we've heard just in the past week, they want to beat obama in 2012. they want to kill health care and they want to extend the bush tax cuts. while that might save jobs and keep businesses where they're going -- growing, it's the same thing that you would argue that this president and this white house did, saved a lot of jobs. where is creation? where is innovation? where are idea that is would propel this country forward and do the republicans have it? >> it's going to be just like free agency in baseball now, mika. the american people gave the republicans a two-year contract in november. so they've got two years to get something done. that's all the american people wanted barack obama to do with the democratic majorities in congress. that's all they want the republicans to do. it's something they're asked to do every single day of their working lives, get something done. do it. >> this happens all the time, willie, it's speeding up. i always talk about clinton wins in '92, goes too far left and elect us. too far right, they reelect clinton. younger voters, people under 40, don't care about parties. >> john halperin calls these independents free radicals. react every two years. there's no party line. 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"the washington post's" david ignatius joins us next. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply, unlock the doors, and turn on the hazards. or get a car that does it for you. ♪ chopper shots this morning. welcome back to "morning joe." there is central park. the sun is coming up. mike barnicle is still with us. >> notre dame-army, first football game. >> do you have a chopper shot of a trench collapse you can consult to? >> stop. we want to see this. notre dame, willy, just horrible. >> tulsa, that's no good. katty kay is still with us this morning. joins us from washington from "the washington post" david ignatius joins the conversation with morning. good morning, david. >> good morning. >> a lot to get to. we'll talk about the debt commission. first, mike barnicle, today is veterans' day. >> david ignatius is with us. he has a piece in the op ed page of "the washington post." i would urge everyone to go online and read this piece on broken spirit on the front page of "the washington post" about a young marine corporal todd nicely. read this story today and get a sense of the sacrifice so many make on behalf of so many of the rest of us who have no frame of reference for the fact that we're fighting two wars. >> no understanding. mika, of course, one of those wars which we have warned about on this show for the past year or so since they've been debating afghanistan, one of those wars drags on. it's an endless war, there's still no end game in sight. the president says we're going to get out, start getting out significantly next summer. they've backed off of that timeline. now they say maybe it's by the end of 2014. when this debate started, we were saying it's been a decade-long war, the generals wanted to go another decade and there aren't politicians in washington, d.c. that will stand up to them and say no. we understand your job is to win wars, but this war is unwinnable. victory cannot be defined. it's time to bring our troops home. unfortunately we now grind on. according to gates, clinton, obama, everybody, another four years. the republicans -- some republicans are pushing us to invade iran. so if you look at the world map -- >> that's constructive. >> we would have iraq, iran, afghanistan. again, this is a country. >> and our own crumbling infrastructure. >> because the deficit is not high enough, so let's rack up the defense spending a little more. >> let me read this and then we'll get to david with this. this morning's "new york times" reporting the obama administration is backing away from original plans to draw down troops from afghanistan, now emphasizing the idea that the u.s. will have forces there until at least the end of 2014. that move away from the president's deadline of july 2011, which you predicted, is reportedly aimed at persuading the afghans and the taliban that there will be no significant american troop withdrawals next summer. this week, robert gates, secretary of state hillary clinton and admiral mike mullen cited 2014 as the key date for handing over afghanistan's defense to the afghan people. >> david, this wasn't hard to predict. the president had a group of generals that said we need another decade there. republicans were pushing them hard. unfortunately the president didn't stand up to the generals. we're in afghanistan for a very long time now. >> i wrote about this several weeks ago, the 2014 time time was an attempt to mesh the nato troop commitment to president karzai's timetable for taking control and getting forces out of afghanistan. that's an attempt to take the same model as in iraq where you had a jointly negotiated timeline forgetting u.s. troops out and we've been able to follow that and at the end of this year we'll be down to zero. i still think the july 2011 deadline to start with is real and important and the number of troops that will come out in that first group is something that will be battled over between the white house and general petraeus a lot. i do think the idea of shifting everybody's focus. i was in kabul in september, in islamabad in october. people in that part of the world were in a panic about what they saw as an imminent american departure. well, it's not going to be imminent. lit begin in july of next year but won't be completed. i think it's an attempt to compromise -- >> david, we've been there a decade. by next summer we will be close to being there for a decade and they're panicking we're going to be leaving after a decade, that americans have been fighting and dieing in afghanistan. >> joe, it does really make a difference how you leave some place. i like to say there's a difference between a totally disastrous pelmel departure and a just sort of bad departure. if we stick it out a little while longer, we have a chance of getting sort of a bad departure like in iraq. if we left iraq in 2006 there's no question it would have been catastrophic. the country was in a civil war. it's not now. i think there's a hope that with a little more time on the clock -- again, i think the troops are going to start coming home in july of next year no matter what. but with a little more time on the clock, you'll get a more stable outcome. that's in everybody's interest. >> david, what's our end game? >> the end game is exactly the same as it was before. we're stuck with a very, very unpopular, ineffective president karzai. no way getting around that. but they had elections and he ended up, in quotation marks, the winner. i think they're trying to make the best of a bad situation. the only thing i'd say is as we look at that part of the world, we know that very hasty american moves create vacuums that lead to potentially disastrous problems. i'd cite afghanistan. we bailed out of afghanistan after the russians were defeated. who came into the vacuum? it was the taliban and al qaeda and we paid a big price. people have that in their minds as they should. i'm not sure this is as different from what we knew a week ago as you're saying. i think it's pretty much the same in terms of the numbers of troops that will be involved. >> david, it's katty here. one of petraeus's arguments is americans are on the verge of doing something that hasn't been done before in afghanistan which is effectively success, that they are changing the game. they are winning over the taliban into negotiations and if they could stay a little bit longer, then actually they could achieve something there. centuries show that hasn't been very possible before. do you think that's true? is that a realistic assessment? >> it's impossible form me to say, katty, without having been there. i'll be there again next month. general petraeus's en thus hasn't seemed to be clearly anchored in real reports from the battlefield. the last that we knew, the white house assessing progress in afghanistan, it was pretty pessimistic that it wasn't happening. petraeus is an optimist. that's part of what a commander does. i think a lot of this is intended psychologically for the parties in the region, the afghan factions, the pakistanis so that they won't assume that they have to prepare for this imminent american departure. >> david, i know you've spoken with brent scowcroft and my father on these issues. i'm wondering, of all the people you've talked to about this, is there anyone who believes with deep firm conviction that we need to stay there and draw this out and escalate the way this president is, that is just completely on board? >> i think that your dad certainly is a skeptic about it. i think brett scowcroft on this question is on the departure from iraq would say be careful how you get out. i think the basic point is right, that this war hasn't been going well. we have a client who really isn't popular and undercuts our effort. so there's tremendous frustration with the war. i think we're going to have some interesting debates in december as the white house takes this on, looks at it carefully. they're not going to change the initial timetable, but i think it may be that they'll look at this and say, you know, some things are working and some things really aren't. let's do a little tinkering. >> david, i think we're going to -- we have a shot, a live shot of arlington national cemetery. there we are. it's on the screen now. we've lost hundreds of young americans in afghanistan. if the date of departure is extended to 2014 for combat operations, we'll no doubt lose hundreds more. based upon your knowledge of afghanistan society and politics, what does that country look like five or ten years from now given our role there now and our departure? say it's 2014. what does it look like. is it any different five or ten years from now? >> joe, that's a wonderful question, a hard one to answer. my answer would be that like all the countries in that part of the world, it is gradually becoming modern. modern communications, modern transportation, opening up this mountainous impassable country to more travel and interaction, it's changing the place. i think frankly a lot of how afghanistan looks in five years and ten years depends on the way in which the united states hands off this period in which we've been militarily involved. don't get me wrong. we've got to get out of there. i share that view with you and everybody else. we need to be on the exit ramp. the question is a safe exit ramp. how long is it? how long does it take? how do you phase out troops and hand off responsibility? over the rest of my lifetime, is the way i put it, i think you'll see a more modern afghanistan. you'll begin to see development of the mineral and other resources the country has. you'll see better, closer ties, i think, with pakistan which would be really important. also if things go right with india. so afghan friends like to say that we've been a barrier north-south. we even hope to shift from that barrier status to being a transit route, north, south, east, west. that would be a much better way to describe afghanistan. >> so maybe if we're successful, we can get them up into the 12th or 13th sendry. >> a good use of our money. >> when they're on their cell phones, they're on the 21st. >> dave, it's willie. a lot of people watching this say we've been there ten years. what's to say in 2014 it won't become 2017 and then 2020 after that? at what point does the law of diminishing returns kick in? >> i'm reading this a little differently than you folks are. i think we'll still begin to get out in 2011. the 2014 timetable is for hopefully the completion of our role there, that we'll get entirely out by 2014. we'll start getting out by 2011. >> david, joe scarborough here. this is what "the new york times" says, the obama administration sin crease singly emphasizing the idea that the u.s. will leave forces in afghanistan until at least the end of 2014. a change aimed at persuading afghan and taliban leaders that there will be no significant american troop withdrawals next summer. that is actually a change. if "the new york times" has it right, that is a change from what we've been hearing since the president announced that he was tripling the number of troops here. >> july 2011 is the start date for withdrawal of afghan troops, not the end date. we were never going to get everybody out by then. there's been a livly debate for the last year about how many would come out. they may be tilting toward fewer coming out now than they once thought. although i'm still not convinced of that. i don't think there's a difference in terms of the idea that troops would remain and that they would remain until 2014. i don't think that's as much of a change as you're implying and i have to read the story carefully, i think they were being more cautious on that. >> it was the start date for the beginning of withdrawal for the surge troops, not for the whole lot. the white house left themselves a lot of wiggle room about the numbers that would start coming out next year. >> sure they did. we remember when hillary clinton and robert gates went on the sunday shows that weekend and said ignore the timeline. the president said 2011, for political reasons, we're going to be getting those troops out. he didn't say we'd draw all the troops out. there is no doubt the president went to india and did make news a couple days ago when he basically said don't worry about it, we're going to be there. then the news comes out the next day, t"the times" reporting, that's a different impression than the president of the united states wanted the american people to have. >> in 2011, the first marine division, we'll probably withdraw some marines from the countryside. david, let me ask you about a wildcard in all this, 2011, 2014. let's say 2014. is karzai still president? >> well, i think these policies are written on the assumption that he is. another thing we should talk about is that in this process we can expect a political process that will lead to some kind of coalition. i don't know anybody who doesn't think that at the end of this 2014 time frame you'll have a government that is more representative and includes the people we've been fighting. that's what happened. petraeus says one model for things, it's iraq. today is veterans' day, you wonder what are young men and women are fighting for. i do go back to 9/11, a war that began and will never quite finish adequately. the idea of getting it done, gradually drawing down the troops that we can get out of there and not leave a complete mess that will require us to come back, that seems like something that people fighting over there says says yeah, that's what we're fighting for. >> david ignatius, thanks so much. 2014, if the squlegenerals their way will bleed into 2017, 20206789 our end game is karzai, a guy that woodward says is off his meds, a guy that says he wants to be in the taliban some days when he's getting worried, a guy that i suggest may end up like jim. listen, this is ugly business, america -- could you imagine if your 20-year-old son died for hamid karzai? >> no, no. >> that is what it comes down to before. >> we've seen this movie before, joe. >> we have seen it before. young americans are dieing and americans are spending $2 billion a week to prop up karzai. with all due respect to david ignatius, they are changing the rules just like we said they were going to change the rules. with all due respect to david, this war started as an anti terror campaign. it's now an anti insurgency campaign. we are trying to rebuild a country that dexter fill kins who is going to be on in a little bit, is in the second century. it was never built in the first place. i think the best thing we can do on veterans' day is call out ideologues that have these theories about what the united states should do while they sit in their think tanks in washington, d.c. and new york, and young american kids are getting their heads blown off by snipers, all to prop up karzai, and the american taxpayer is spending $2 billion a week, all to prop up karzai. we have been there for a decade. neither republican president nor a democratic president still have an exit strategy. and yes, go to "the washington post" and read "unbroken spirit." that young man and many others are giving their all for karzai? it is sick. all right. coming up, it's topping the "huffinigton post" this morning. is the white house giving up on bush era tax cuts? we'll check in with savannah guthrie on that. later, an exclusive first look at the cover of ti"time" magazi magazine. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. to do that♪ ♪ where'd you learn to do that so well. ♪ the new cadillac srx. the cadillac of crossovers. cadillac. the new standard of the world. very quickly, you know really quickly, mika, looking at pictures of the white house. one of the reasons politically the white house didn't move more aggressively out of afghanistan is the republicans have been acting shameful on this issue, absolutely shameful. just like kennedy in vietnam, it is, mike. no democrat wants to be called weak on foreign policy. and so we've got republicans acting shamefully on afghanistan. and we've got a scared president. >> the republicans very effectively know how to play the patriotism card. >> this is what you were saying earlier, on this and many other issues, they seem to have a monopoly. >> i have great hope actually for a lot of the young republicans coming in the house. the tea party type candidates, ron paul, rand paul type candidates, they are anti neo con. they are not reflexively war. let's hope they put some pressure on the republican establishment to start giving the president some cover to get us out of afghanistan. we need to get to savannah guthrie joining us from seoul, south korea. >> there's a 27-second delay. actually savannah is not even awake yet. >> i will set her up and toss cleanly. >> she just got the joke. she'll get this joke next week. hold on, hold on. there we go. she just got it. >> co-host of "the daily rundown" savannah guthrie. i'm sorry for joe. "huffinigton post" has a big piece today that may show that david axelrod, even named in this, the administration softening its position on the bush tax cuts. what do you know about that and take it away? >> 14, 15, 16, 17 -- >> i think so, mika and joe. i think david axelrod is saying what a lot of advisors -- i'm like who is counting in my ear. joe, of course, it was you. he's hinted at what robert gibbs also said, there has to be compromise. they know this is where it's going. it may be action 'em rod went a little further, maybe they'll be extended for a couple years. there's no question there's going to be compromise and the president himself has said so. i think it's pretty clear where we're headed with this. it's just that there are various ways you can compromise. when the tax cuts kick in, whether it's a millionaire's tax or $500,000, i think that's what it is. you've thrown me off completely by counting in my ear. mission accomplished. >> let's talk about israel a second and i've anticipated the delay. anyway, let's talk about israel. were you surprised that the president went there in indonesia and criticized israel in a muslim country? he had to know that would cause a backlash. >> reporter: it was very interesting because we have been used to this administration use pretty measured words whenever it comes to middle east peace, wherever those stapts are made. so it was surprising because it really was kind of diplo speak for we're not happy with israel right now when the president said i'm concerned about it. when we're measuring words as we do, whenever it comes to middle east peace, it's pretty clear they're trying to send a signal to israel this settlement construction is not constructive, not conducive to peace talks and we're very concerned about it. >> savannah, katty here. a quick tip, you won't have any time. but the shopping in seoul is really, really good, in case you have a break. >> i didn't know that. >> has this worked from the white house's point of view, this trip to the far east as a business proposition for americans? do they feel that they've managed to justify the president leaving the country for so long after the crushing midterms and show this as an economic benefit for americans businesses? >> reporter: you know, i think they are pleased with the trip, first of all, because it allows them to turn the page on the midterm elections which everybody was talking about. secondly, substantially this trip has gotten coverage on the economic issues. you can imagine a scenario where everybody is talking about the midterms and not talking about what the president is doing. that hasn't happened. there's been a lot of coverage. also, they worked about $10 billion worth of deals. an announcement when the president went to india, it will add about 53,000 jobs to the american economy. there was news that isn't good. they were hoping to walk away where a framework for the deal on the trade agreement. those talks broke down. they will continue and the president says lit be weeks, not months, before a deal is reached. they weren't able to come together at this news conference today, president lee and president obama and say we've done it, we finally cracked the riddle. we have the framework of a free trade agreement that we can take to our various lawmakers. i think, like everything with this administration, there's the ups and the downs. >> savannah guthrie, thank you so much. by the time you are hearing this, the sun will come up. "the daily rundown" starts at 9:00. this time when you're thinking it starts at 9:00 and 14 seconds we will have actually gotten out on time. that's chuck todd in the picture leaning a bit too much forward. thank you for being with us, savannah. good luck shopping. i didn't know there was great shopping in seoul. >> lots of antiques, but also lots of knock-offs, but really good ones. >> katty is so worldly. >> clearly my priorities are exactly right. >> you're darn right they are. coming up, a tip for all the tv producers out there. if you want to hit ratings goals, try to attract republican viewers. we'll explain that next. don't forget to tune in later today, i'm going to be on "the view." >> oh, my goodness. that's going to be exciting. you better be careful. >> i'm going to be throwing chairs. >> do they have a ten-second delay for all your f bombs? >> i think i can get three of them off. ♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. thank you, ma'am. you're welcome. gate 40, ma'am ? straight over that way. thank you. you're welcome. would you like the window ? no, i'm fine. thank you, sir. there you go, sir. thank you, sir. have a great trip home. oh, thank you very much, ma'am. would you like some help ? yes. let me get that. have a nice night. thank you, ma'am. thank you, sir. no, thank you. my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world. i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae are amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels that we use in our vehicles, and to do this at a large enough scale to someday help meet the world's energy demands. the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply, unlock the doors, and turn on the hazards. or get a car that does it for you. ♪ 32 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." a live look at the sun coming up over the capitol. beautiful. quick look at the news for you. british prime minister david cameron is condemning students who stormed his party's london headquarters in protest of his government's plans to triple tuition fees, triple them. cameron said today those involved were, quote, bent on violence and destruction and should face prosecution. 14 people including seven police officers were treated for minor injuries and there were more than 50 arrests. a new study in the phd reporter suggests if a television show attracts republicans, it's probably ratings gold. according to months of data from a media research company, nine of the top ten broadcast shows on tv were ranked most favorably by viewers who identify themselves as republican. on the other hand, shows that have struggled to get a broad audience like amc's "mad men" and show time's "dexter" soared through the roof with democrats. >> republicans like "dance being the stars," and democrats like to think about what they're watching. >> what do you think? we're moving swiftly along. >> yeah, swiftly. let me think about that for a second. delicious. >> "mad men," "dexter." you know, come on? easy to figure out. >> say no more. america's last surviving veteran of world war i is calling on congress to pass legislation to create a memorial in the nation's capital honoring veterans of that conflict. speaking on the eve of veterans' day the 109-year-old frank buckles said such a memorial is long overdue adding it doesn't have to be elaborate, but it should be created. >> that is very sweet. >> amen. >> the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. >> you know what they're wearing in britain? poppies? we always wear poppies in remembrance of the veterans and all the people who died in the poppy fields in france. >> 21 million people killed in world war i. >> there's no memorial. he's quite right. fred buckles, you're right. up next, an exclusive first look at the cover of "time" magazine with managing editor rick stengel. as we go to break, we look at the tomb of the unknown soldier. in times like these, you need an experienced partner to look out for you. heads up! and after 300 years we have gotten pretty good at that. to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin's natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics recommended most by dermatologists. i worry about my son playing football. which is why i'm really excited. because toyota developed this software that can simulate head injuries and helps make people safer. then they shared this technology with researchers at wake forest to help reduce head injuries on the football field. so, you know, i can feel a bit better about my son playing football. [ male announcer ] how would you use toyota technology to make a better world? learn how to share your ideas at toyota.com/ideasforgood. it looks like it could be a launch from a submarine. >> a missile from a navy ship. >> could it be a secret test? >> a russian sub. >> a commercial launch of a satellite. >> optical illusion. >> meteorite. >> show of an american show of force. >> maybe a u.s. intercontinental ballistic missile. >> some kind of black opinions, or secret undercover operation. >> what else could do that? >> a giant sky [ bleep ]. welcome back to "morning joe," 38 past the hour. got mike barnicle still with us, katty kay still with us, looking so pretty this morning. joining us now "time" magazine managing editor rick stengel here to release the cover. before we do that, joe is going to direct -- chris, let him have the controls. it's okay. let him feel powerful. you put the head phones on, joe. right. now you can talk. direct the show. >> chris cut his mic. that works, too. we can't hear you. >> what a shame. >> i know. it's kind of -- >> we would have done what he said. >> kind of weirdly peaceful, soothing almost. he was going to scream in my ear, but he can't. rick, take it away. new cover of "time" magazine. i love it. >> thank you. the united states of amarijuana. most americans think that a couple of states, california and three others voted down legalization of marijuana. in fact, mayor often ma is more and more pervasive in united states and legalization has moved in through the back door of medical marijuana. you can't see the fact that i did, quote, air marks around medical marijuana. more than 20 states in america it's either decriminalized or legalized. there are hundreds of thousands of americans who are legally smoking or medicating, as they call it. it's an issue that needs to be discussed and examined. it's sneaking in the back door without people really realizing it. >> okay. before you start cracking jokes barnicle and the control room starts -- you know, smoking weed themselves, the medicinal value of marijuana is -- i did a couple of stories on this when i was at cbs, people really get positive effects from it that keep them from incredible pain. >> yes. in fact, we have a box about the scientific value of marijuana. it has an analgesic quality, it helps people who are getting chemotherapy. and those are indeed good things. but in these states where medical marijuana is allowed, all it says is you need to have a prescription for it based on pain you're having. people say they have a backache, they have chronic headaches and they get a prescription for marijuana. >> the financial and security implications of a country like mexico where hundreds of people are being killed every week because marijuana is still illegal effectively in the states, that's clear. but what's the downside of legalizing marijuana? >> i would argue, in fact, from a libertarian point of view that either you decide to just legalize it and then regulate it or you keep it illegal and actually police it. marijuana is one of the biggest cash crops in california. it needs to be taxed if it's legal, that would be a benefit to all of us. this is a discussion that needs to happen. actually the story is done by andrew ferguson who is a writer for "the weekly standard" and takes a kind of string into view for what's going on. >> i'm looking at that time 50 best inventions of the year in this week's "time" magazine. number two, the almost waterless washing machine which is incredible. and number eight, mika and katty, you should be checking this out, the plastic fur coat, the plastic fur coat. >> mike, i'm going to get one for you. >> the problem is you get -- it comes off when you're wearing it. i didn't try it on by the way. >> is this your way of say that the cover story is so boring, that you've lr moved on? >> no, no, no. >> we were having a good conversation about whether to legalize marijuana. >> i'm all for legalizing marijuana. also you have joe klein's take on w.'s book. what is it? >> it's interesting. joe has been very outspoken about george bush. i think the title of the piece is a careless presidency. and what he contrasts is the opening of the book where george bush talks about how he really studied the stem cell issue which was the first issue that confronted him as a president before 9/11 and how careful he was about that. and then how not careful he was about the most consequential decisions he made in terms of going into iraq, in terms of wars in afghanistan and iraq. he says it's quite a revealing book that way. but unintentionally revealing book. >> i think joe is right. it's also quite revealing about the end of the bush presidency when he completely goes against his ideology and endorses and promotes and pushes and approves of the t.a.r.p. program. paulson and bernanke came up with the bank bailout and he goes along with it. >> right. joe writes in the book it's not even examined or considered, neither the consequences of it nor the rationale for it. i guess it's probably this give and take we have between presidents who make decisions from the gut versus presidents who do it through analysis. there's been obviously a debate about president obama that he actually is too cerebral and intellectual and doesn't make enough decisions from the gut. there are lots of negative consequences for making decisions from the gut. we see that in the bush book. >> can i ask one more question, not that i have any personal interest in this of course? do you think anyone will bring this up as a policy discussion? is this pie in the sky, the idea we should have a serious discussion and leaders will come out and say, these are the arguments for it. >> ultimately the verdict that andrew comes down is basically pot will be legal by hook or by crook basically throughout the united states eventually. it's either decriminalized or medical pot is legalized in which case almost anybody can get it for any reason. >> what are you rolling? >> "time" magazine. >> with e thought about making a little outline around here. also on this veterans' day, a nice day about animals and the healing process. this is incredible. >> a fantastic story. >> of bringing dogs to heal and how animals and a connection with a dog, man's best friend, can help ease the anxiety that often soldiers bring home with them. >> a lovely story for veterans' day. >> for veterans' day. i love it. rick stengel, thank you so much. the new cover is "the united states of amarijuana." you're watching "morning joe" bro brewed by starbucks. 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[ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. it's me. i'm just leaving the office right now. girl's weekend. hey, thanks so much for swapping cars with me by the way. no problem. is there gas in it? yeah, um, you got plenty. and the oil? oil is good to go. tires? all four tires. full of air. now only if i could get the keys... i could start it for you too. ok, now your just showing off. the onstar mylink app. safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible. live on. why are there live chickens in the kitchen. >> fresh meat. much tasteier than that frozen stuff. >> we can't have them in the kitchen. they'll shut ut down. >> there are feathers everywhere. >> we have to do something. i just fired that meat guy. >> you did what? what did you do? >> i chased him out of here with a shank. he's a bloody crook that fellow. >> that is a clip from "today's special," a new film starring aasif mandvi. you mayausit from the "daily show" with jon stewart. >> thank you. thanks for having me o. start with the lenner. it's early but you're still rockin' it. >> the leather from last night. i never went to sleep. >> never went to sleep? >> i was out all night partying riding my motor bike. >> you roll hard. you roll hard. let's talk about the movie. "today's special." >> yes. >> how did it come up? a lot of people just know from you "the daily show" but you have a dramatic past? >> before "the daily show" i had an illustrious career, on jobway. people who know me from the show think of me as a comedian and this movie saddle bit of both. it's comedy. it's drama. it's romance. it's all of this. all the aspects of me. >> wow. >> yes. >> that was a good sell. >> and it's got a leather jacket in it. >> it does. there is leather. had you a hand in writing it, putting it together? >> yeah. i co-wrote it with a guy names john bonz, a former show writer. yeah. he and i put the sketch comedy together. john happens to be a huge foodie. so we came together and this movie, some of the comedy, if you love indian food and you love, you know, just food in general, you're going to love this movie. >> how do you go about -- the two of you write the movie. >> yeah. >> give me the pitch you made to people looking for money to have the movie made and distributed. give me your pitch? >> oh, my god. the pitch changed over the years. it started as a family comedy. finally, there's going to be a truck exploding, and there's going to be a shark attacking a beet. we tried to get money however we could. no. most of the money came together on this film because my producer was going to these -- we got it through just individuals who finally got sick of us talking about this movie we wanted to make. all sitting around had cocktails one night and a bunch of guys said you know what? we don't want to hear you talk about that movie you want to make anymore. we're just going to give you the money. go, please, make your movie and go away. that was it. just so -- i mean, we tried -- eight years to get this movie funds. >> how excited were you on the first day of filming? >> that was the greatest day. you suddenly have had this baby you're finally ging birth to after all this time and it was a very special day. that first day on set. we in these kitchens, you know? because the movie all takes place in restaurants, and we have these flames and it's hot and we're sweaty, and i lost like ten pounds the first week, but it was great. a great experience. >> and you worked with live poultry? >> we did work with -- actually, what's funny is, we have this scene in the movie where these chickens run around, and whoever was in charge of getting the chickens went to a butcher shop and got these chickens that have never, ever run around, because they sit -- chickens in a cage, they don't know -- you cannot free range. so these chickens just sat there. and we're trying to get them to run. like, go, chicken, run! chickens are the dumbest animals in the world. >> oh, i love -- >> especially in new york. >> one of our dreams leer to work with live poultry. >> we've often talked about it. we couldn't get the permit. so this movie's going to be a big hit. you've got the one-man show that this was sort of based on. >> inspired by a one-man show i did about ten years ago off broadway where i play like six different characters. thematically it's about an indian family, with a restaurant, the movie is about. takes that from -- the movie's much more romantic and fun and about food and family, and it's a feel-good, heartwarming movie for the holidays. >> there it is. the tag line. >> there you go. >> another role you have is that of the, i guess, the representative or spokesperson for team mohammed on "the daily show." we'll play a little clip here. >> we're not rational. >> be irrational. you earned it. you have two centuries of subjugation by undermining the west and the constitution with your sharia law, i wouldn't respect you if you didn't. i mean, wwjd. jesus didn't always turn the other cheek. >> yeah, well, but look at my, what would mohammed do bracelet. right? w -- wmd is right there in it. we are dangerous. i could not wage you a bit, if you waged a full-scale nuclear war against us. >> you play the cartoon character, obviously, of the caricature of a muslim. you have muslim roots. how was that playing that role? >> it's great. i feel honored to be able to sort of represent in a way, and get to, like, speak to -- in a comic way, you know, through satire, address the stuff going on in the country. a lot of this islam phobia out there, just present the face of a muslim that you can hug. you know? >> ever get blowback on it from people? >> no. in fact, people are very, very excited -- when we did the rally to restore sanity, there were many, many muslims that e-mailed me and facebooked me and stuff on twitter saying they wanted to wear the team mohammed shirts and come down and represent. you know? so i was like, that's great. make your own shirts, and they. there were actually many picture, online about, you know, groups of muslims who came out wearing the team mohammed shirts. it's become sort of a symbol, in some -- in a small way, of people sort of saying, we're muslim, we're american, we're proud. like that. >> you're kind of educating people through laughter. >> i lope so. i hope so. if we can do one thing that would be -- >> laughter and leather. >> laughter and leather. very good. >> congratulations on the movie. >> thank you. >> can't wait to see it called "today's special" in theaters on november 19th. great to see you. >> thank you very much. coming up, the "new york times'" dexter with the firsthand account of the war in afghanistan, when we come back. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart are teaming up to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan called the humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. it's a new plan that covers both brand and generic prescriptions and has the lowest-priced national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as low as $2. when you could save over $450 a year, you can focus on the things that really matter. ♪ go to walmart.com for details. the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply, unlock the doors, and turn on the hazards. or get a car that does it for you. ♪ memory of washington either active or whatever this situation is now that it's all there. we have harpooned every whale in the ocean and some of the mammals and no one has ever done that before. no one in this body or any body or any committee has ever laid it all out. >> that was alan simpson, leader of the bipartisan panel. they're laying out sweeping plans to slash america's debt over the next 20 years or so. >> yeah. >> you know -- >> welcome, everybody. >> we're going to talk about afghanistan, also, with dexter fillkins. dexter came out, ran on to the set. you ghee? you know what? you know what? that hair doesn't style itself, dexter. the hair doesn't style itself, baby. >> yeah. >> you're one to talk. >> yeah, yeah. >> no. >> a brillo pad. it's good to see you again. >> isn't it nice to be a man on television? >> starting yesterday. >> and you're alive. that's good, too. >> it's good. >> we're going to -- >> literally that's -- >> we're going to talk about afghanistan and much more, but first, let's go to the news. >> all right. well, we'll start with the debt commission. simpson and erskine boles say their ideas would reduce the deficit nearly $4 trillion by the year 2020. the package includes this -- cutting up a discretionary spending including defense. raising the social security retirement age to 68 by the year 2050. and 6 by the year 2075. >> by the way, a lot of expected -- life expectancy by 2075 will be like 247. got to get moving. >> way to go. >> also, rewriting the tax code, and eliminating many tax exemptions and the alternative tax. >> good for the middle class. >> yes. >> and cut 10% of the federal work force, eliminate august earmarks and increase the gas tax by 15 cents a gallon. >> how did they respond to this? >> the reaction was mixed, joe. nancy pelosi said this, and i quote. this proposal is simply unacceptable. any final proposal must do what is right to our seniors who are counting on the bedrock promises of social security and medicare. >> so -- help me out here. >> yeah. >> by senior citizens, does nancy pelosi mean my 2-year-old jack? because joe scarborough, i don't think it will kick in. little w. george w. geist will get this social security when he's like 69. this kicks in by the time -- >> w supports the plan. >> he's unselfish. >> she does. it's about the country, not him. >> just keep the crap off my diapers and i'm fine. i'll support your plan. >> we want to discuss this issue and we don't want to get shrill about it. we want to actually talk about it. >> nancy pelosi talking about throwing seniors in the street. >> yeah. we have to consider it. there's response, for example, afl-cio president, here wrap he says. put it up. he says the chairman of deficit commission just told working americans to "drop dead." >> what? i don't get it. let's go to a voice of reason. i'm sure paul takes it more down the middle. >> exactly. >> civil about it. he's won a nobel prize. >> elegant. >> he will tell you that. >> that's right. you should remember it every time you say his name. >> yes. >> so you're going to tell janitors to work until they're 70, because lawyers are living longer than ever. >> actually, we're not telling anybody to work until 70. even 2-year-old jack only has to work until he's like 67 or 68. seriously, these people are -- they are clowns. >> you know what this calls for? >> this is not even a ply for, like, 800 years, and drop dead? >> what it calls for. >> what's that? >> come on, man. >> come on, man. come on. >> oh, my god. >> come on, man. anyway, republican was actually a little more rational about the president's commission. >> members of the fiscal commission said this, this is a provocative proposal, and while we have concerns with some of their specifics, we commend the co-chairs for advancing the debate. president obama, meanwhile is urging leaders of this party to hold their fire over the recommendation saying "tough choices are going to be necessary." it's true. they are. >> good for him. of course, he said that in south korea. >> well -- >> a little tough to say it in washington, but, no. let's commend the president. >> absolutely. >> commend the president here. those are unbelievably unpopular decisions, choices. >> what are the other choices? are there better ones? >> no. there's democragoguing what som are doing right now. >> the "new york times" reports the obama administration is backing away from original plans to draw down troops from afghanistan. now emphasizing the idea that the united states will have forces in there at least until the end ever 2014. that move away from the president's deadline of july 2011 is aimed at persuading afghans and taliban there will be no significant troop withdrawals next summer. this week defense secretary robert gates, secretary of state clinton and admiral mike mullen cited 2014 as the key date for handing over afghanistans's defense. >> been there since 2001. now we hear, going to push this out to the end of 2014. is there any evidence that we're making progress on the ground right now? >> yeah. i think there is, actually. i mean, just how far that goes and how significant it is, remains to be seen, but i think what's been happening in the past few months is as the americans have all the 30,000 troops on the ground, they're really trying to apply those, apply as much force as possible against the taliban in, to be as lethal, frankly, as they can be, to try to force a deal. pretty clearly, that's what they're doing. they're moving as fast as they can and they're killing and captures a lot of people. i mean, bether that's going to work, we'll see. >> didn't we read reports a couple weeks ago that the offensive didn't work as planned. that the offensive was not succeeding? >> they're killing and captures a lot of taliban. more than they ever have before, and you've seen that in the past couple of months there's been overtures from the taliban leadership and discussions, extremely preliminary. that's the idea. that if they do this very hard for a number of months, the taliban basically will kind of limp to the table and say, okay. you know. let's do a deal. >> it's veterans day today, obviously. talk about what young men and women are going through in afghanistan, and what you've seen them going through in iraq as well over the past five, six, seven years? >> well, in afghanistan now, as i just mentioned it is really as intense as it's ever been there, and it is terrifying on the ground. i don't know how else to describe it. the number of ieds buried on the ground there. one of my colleagues was just severely wounded there. they have more american troops being killed in afghanistan than at any point since 2001. it is really intense right now, as they go into areas and fight they're way into areas where frankly they haven't been for years. it's really hard right now. as hard as it's ever been. >> are you saying progress is being made, that we are capturing and killing the taliban in greater numbers than ever before. so i assume that progress is being made because you get the 1st marine division. what happens when the 1st marine division leaves there? >> that's the achilles heel. it really is. at some point you've got to hand this thing off to the afghans, and that, since 2001, but it hasn't changed much, whenever you try to do that it doesn't work. and so here we are in 2010, the americans and the british, nato, doing all the fighting. you know? they do most of the governing. virtually everything. when it comes to handing it off to the afghans it doesn't work. >> so government in a box, it's still in the box? >> still in the box, and it's a tiny box, and you know, there ain't much in t. yeah. so karzai is a ying yang. is that why -- soldiers and marines are fighting and dying on this veterans day? >> a little depressing. yeah. i mean, but if you go -- you know, the government -- if you're an afghan villager you've got to choose between the taliban and your own government. that's the problem. they're stuck in the middle. mostly afghans don't like the taliban but don't like the government either because it's basically predatory. a bunch of gangsters. so that's the paradox. so the americans and nato have been trying to form that government and build that government, and to kind of make it something -- to make it something that works for the afghan people. >> if you go out in the countryside and ask people in villages -- not the cities -- ask people in villages what does the government represent to you? what do you get for an answer? >> you get a lot of depressing answers. i mean, again, we're talking about the afghan government here. people will say, i've had these conversation. they'll say, i bought a parcel of land from the government and i paid $5,000 f25,000. built a shop. six weeks later a bulldozer tore it down because the guy i paid the money to didn't turn the money in. i lost my land, lost my money. that's the kind of things you hear. the government is basically a rocket. the challenge is not so much the americans on the ground fighting. you know, they know what they're doing. you know? the challenge is, like, making an afghan government that people will support. >> one of the big rationales for continued presence has been and continues to be we want to make sure it's not a haven for people to strike us again. no matter how long we're there, is that a realistic goal? i mean when we leave, won't there still be elements who want to reconstitute a platform? >> yeah. i mean that is the ultimate rationale for the war. keep al qaeda out. >> right. >> i think most of al qaeda is now in pakistan and most in the tribal area, and american troops aren't allowed to go in there. so that's yet another paradox. you know? so hence we have the predator program and these indirect ways of going after these guys. yeah, they're across the border now. >> how does staying until 2014 change anything or 2020? how does staying until 2040 change anything? >> well, we'll see. >> yeah. and i -- willie, we asked question all the time. i have never had, for foreign policy experts that come on here, supporting this war. nobody's ever explained how staying until 2014 or 2020 changes the reality on the ground. we're there. al qaeda's in pakistan. we leave, al qaeda comes over. doesn't matter how long we're there. >> well i think the idea is, as it was in iraq, is to train the security forces there so they can take over and we can leave. so that if we leave it doesn't all collapse like a house of cards. >> you they can happen in three years? >> not in three years, no. >> maybe ten? >> maybe ten. yeah. >> and, see, that's the thing. we have -- >> crystal said it's going to take another decade there, and he was speaking for all the generals. he's the only one dumb enough to say it out loud, but that's what they all think. right? >> i think the idea is to try to transition slowly. and, again, remember in iraq, i mean, it's a kind of -- it's very different countries but an instructive example. when they tried to train the army there, it didn't work, it didn't work it didn't work, and then it started to work. so they kind of kept at it for a long time, cost a lot of money. you know, and all that. >> but you yourself told us a year or two ago that afghanistan ain't iraq. you can threaten to bomb iraq back to the 15th century, but if you say you're going to bomb afghanistan to the 15th century you're taking them up 13 centuries. the two don't -- they don't compare. do they? >> i never thought i'd be nostalgic for iraq, but -- >> oh, my god. >> but i -- iraq has oil. it has universities. it has infrastructure, a middle class, a bureaucracy. for the most part, afghanistan has none of those things. >> can you believe you were nostalgic for iraq? >> yeah. geez. that was a country you could kind of rebuild and put back together, which was done. >> right. >> afghanistan, you're kind of starting from scratch. >> it's just dust. >> about a month ago i had dinner with a guy and his son, a young captain in the marine corps just back from afghanistan, and we were talking about his, you know, job in afghanistan. he was there for seven months, and he said at dinner something that struck me. he said, he was in hellman province, if we withdrew today having disarmed every member of the taliban that we could find in hellman province, they'd end up throwing rocks at us. >> right. >> no weapons. they'd take any weapon. just throw rocks at us. >> i mean, hellman province is the -- that's the epicenter, where it's going to be, you know, won or lost, right there. that's a tough place. >> let's talk about happy things on this veterans day. i'm dead serious. you go back to february of 2006, and the bombing of the mosque, the golden mosque in sue mamarrd the hell that reigned, the sectarian violence. talk about on veterans day our our troops kept their head down when it was hell in the streets there, when there was political chaos back home and talk about what they have done in the past four years under horrific circumstances. >> i mean, when you look back to 2006 in iraq it was basically the end of the world. you know? it was a society that had completely come apart. you know? >> yeah. >> they did, they put the genie back in the bottle. that -- >> can you believe that still? >> no. actually. when you look at how bad the violence was and how quickly it flipped. you know, how quickly the violence dropped, it's extraordinary. i mean, it's still fragile there it can come apart. the politics are very difficult, but you know, they looked into the abyss and stepped back. >> wow. >> remarkable. >> we've heard some people, president bush out promoting his new book, asked about the surge. he says it worked. critics saying completely false. nothing to do with what he did. you have been there, watch what happened. did the surge work? >> yeah. i think it was the surge which was 30,000 additional american troops, with this kind of other amazing phenomenon known as the sunni awakening, where the insurgency basically, 90% of the insurgency turned off in the course of 2007. i mean, without it i think without the surge, god know what's would have happened. there's no reason to think it would have stopped. >> dexter, great to see you. >> remains the greatest book. "the forever war." >> these are the two books, really good. and by the way, we're glad as always that you're well, and we're glad to know that your hair-style came back. >> coming up -- >> oh, man. >> coming up, is the white house ready to concede -- >> that's for next time. look at the tie, man. >> he said that good, cute i'm still going to look like a shlub look, but it works for you dexter. okay. here we are. are we ready to concede defeat on extending the bush tax cut? are republicans? that's next in the political playbook, later the secret service agents at the side of jfk the day of his assassination. they finally break their silence. first a quick check on the forecast. good morning, everyone on this veterans day. across the country we're in a blocking weather pattern. all that means, whatever weather you're going to experience today there's a good chance you'll see it tomorrow and right into the weekend. so if you're in the east coast, where we have sunny skies and new york, philly, washington, d.c., atlanta, the next three, four days exactly that. no airport delays. windchill a little cool up in new england, albany and boston, bundle up. this afternoon, not bad. 40s and 50s just about everywhere even 60s from philly to baltimore to d.c. veterans day across the middle of the country seeing a little snow in denver. not a big deal. really cold. the middle of the nation the stormy spot over the next couple of days. a lot of heavy rain expected in kansas city northwards to minneapolis. you're watching "morning joe" on veterans day brewed by starbucks. 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[ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. an autobiography by theodor roosevelt. >> high honor is due those serene and lofty souls who have striven the day when arm's strife shall end. >> by dwight d. eisenhower. >> the forces that stood for human good were this time confronted by an evil conspir y conspiracy. >> decision points by george w. bush. >> ate of people didn't think i could read much less write. >> great moments in president's memories. >> that was a great moment. joining us now for the politico playbook, mr. john harris. >> willie, how are you? >> doing great. talk about the bush tax cuts. a lot of people talking about them this week. where's the white house at this moment on the bush tax cuts? are they ready to concede at least in part this fight? >> the white house is trying to wreck in with the reality it's going to be really hard to not just accept the fact that these tax cuts have to be extended. having sort of embraced that reality, they're trying to coax democrats along by saying, hey, let's look at facts. david axelrod gave an interstlu just got posted overnight to "the huffington post" saying we've got to deal with the hand we're played and if we want to save tax cuts for the middle class we're going to have to accept things we don't like as far as continuing tax cuts for the rich. >> so, john, just a temporary extension is the idea as far as they're concerned, right? a year or two? >> yes. that's right. clearly, the country's going to deal with long-term deficits, as obama says, we must, a lot of these things, on the table unpalatable. another example in the left did not like this at all either, this deficit commission, the chairman of that alan simpson, republican, erskine boles, democrat, came out saying we have to probably raise social security age. nancy pelosi immediately shot it down. both taxes and deficit questions are highlighted how unpleasant and unpalatable the choice, if you want to be serious about the fiscal problems of the country. >> john, going back to the tax cuts i'm sure you remember this, during the campaign the president was even asked, will you allow the tax cuts to expire if the economy keeps worsening? and the president actually said, well, you never want to raise taxes when things are getting worse. maybe we'll just -- maybe we'll just extend the tax cuts for a couple of years. so this isn't like the president's breaking a promise from the campaign. he actually talked about maybe doing this, and who knows. maybe there's a trigger. unemployment gets down to 7%. taxes go up. >> i think obama genuinely doesn't want to raise taxes on most people. i think he genuinely does and a lot of people in the democratic party, particularly the liberal base would love to see them raised on people that make over $250,000, but that's just not happening in this climate, in this congress. so he's having to retreat on that, and there's definitely liberals that aren't happy about it thinking he ought to fight rather than concede to the political realities and economic realities. >> and demint joined by about 2,000 republicans last march to support an across-the-board ban on earmarks. so many months later, republicans are going to stand by that. >> well, not as enthusiastic about it now. staring them in the face as they were when it was laid out as a campaign plan. it's an illustration it's not just obama and democrats who find it hard to live up to their own actual words on these spending fiscal issues. republican dos also. clearly, a lot of republicans in the caucus and, the senate caucus, mitch mcconnell expressed sympathy who don't think it's a good idea to just eliminate earmarks altogether. they don't think it's a good idea to do so as a kind of unilateral disarmament. republicans say obama voluntarily gives up ear 3 marks whereas democrats would be able to continue them. an unpopular proposal, one of the early illustrations of this divide we're going to see again and again between demint and mcconnell in the u.s. senate. >> and, of course, makes up a minute fraction of our deficit. john harris, thanks so much. >> see you, willie. a big fan of this show, apparently, is coming up. really? >> you know what i do? if i'm in the right place, in the right mood, i watch "morning joe." >> all right. jeff goldblum won't just be watching "morning joe." >> great american actor. do you know he shadows phil griffin for this role. >> and lived to tell about it. >> talking about his new movie "morning glory," about a morning tv show. that's next. 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[ indistinct shouting ] ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ daylight comes [ dogs barking ] ♪ i'm on my way ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ working my whole life away ♪ another day ♪ another dollar welcome back to "morning joe." beautiful shot of the white house in washington, d.c. it's 30 past the hour. >> interesting, do you believe that? >> i think it's beautiful. i do. especially on this veterans day. a shot of washington and the american flag behind the white house. sun shining. it's beautiful. >> yeah. i agree. >> thank you. >> beautiful, beautiful. the government has long been on a campaign to get americans to stop smoking, mostly through warning labels but it's been 25 years since those warnings and now they're changing a tad bit. they're changing. >> they're ugly. >> they are graphic. nbc's tom costello reports on the use of graphic new labels to try and get people to stop. >> the issue here isn't why should people smoke -- >> reporter: it's a big reason "mad men" has an authentic touch. all of that cigarette smoke. for a long time smoking was associated with cool. even healthy. >> what cigarette do you smoke, doctor? the brand named most was camals. >> reporter: by 1965, 42% of americans smoked. today, despite warning labels on the side of cigarette packs, 21% of americans still smoke. 19% of high schoolers. now the fda is rolling out the most graphic warnings yet covering half the cigarette pack. cancer closeups. lungs, mouths, cancer-stricken patients, even tombstones, dead bodies, and children surrounded by smoke. the fda's goal to cut in half the smoking rate with ten years. >> with this new graphic warning label approach, 50% of the cigarette pack is going to be a warning label with a message and a graphic picture. >> reporter: smoking remains the leading cause of preventible deaths with 443,000 americans dying from smoking-related illness every year and costing $100 billion. the fda is using the warnings to target smokers who want to quit and teen whose are tempted to start, but will they work? >> it's frightening stuff. >> reporter: this man spent 35 years in advertising. he's skeptical. >> i don't think it's going to work. i don't think it's going to work, because they make one mistake, they don't realize they're dealing with addicts. >> reporter: and 1,000 teens get hooked every day. many feel they're invincible. we shows this 19-year-old the warning. he started smoking at 156r7b8g9s it could lap to me but it may or may not. that's the thing. so -- once i actually start coughing and spitting blood out or something, then i will definitely stop. >> considering smoking, i wouldn't do it anymore, but if i already were smoking i don't think i would stop. >> been smoking like eight years now. hasn't hurt me yet. so -- >> yeah. >> smoking eight years. >> good on ya, america. >> exactly. >> you see that hat? what? >> when you pick up your cigarettes make sure you get your gallon slurpy and drink it down every day. that was nbc's tom costello reporting. >> by the way, smoking's clearly bad. obviously no question. i just want to say, my great-grandfather in the hockey hall of fame, nhl a spokesperson for camels. >> really? >> he would smoke on the ice. >> really? >> got him in the hall of fame. >> how old was he? >> an old man when he died. 31. >> 31. >> yeah. >> i never smoked. >> all jokes aside. >> i can't -- >> smoked a lot less in the states than they do in other countries. when i come back here from being in europe, i'm struck how much they smoke there compared to here. >> i agree. >> i mean, you've -- up next, new details on the assassination of jfk, from men who were by his side the moment it happened. bankers are known to be a little bit in love with themselves. are we going up? we can get the next one. i'd like to get your advice on hedging - risk... exposure. what makes us different? for 300 years we've chosen to focus on our clients. what a novel idea. to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. [ engine revving ] the cts-v, from cadillac. the new standard of the world. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. at legalzoom we'll help you incorporate your business, file a patent, make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes. then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. at 1:25 the motorcade moves into the downtown area. death is six minutes away. in a warehouse a sniper with a riseral poised waits. the cheers of the crowd almost muffle the shots. the assassination is deadly. the area swarms with secret service men. a few blocks away a man is captured after reported to have killed a policeman. that man is a 24-year-old pro-castro texan who once sought soviet citizenship. he is charged with murder. meanwhile, the president is rushed to a hospital where a waiting world prayed. a half hour later, he was dead. >> on november 22, 1963, president kennedy was assassinated, 34 secret service agents were on the president's detail. two of them are here to set the record straight on what really happened that day. joining us now, jerry blaine, author of "the kennedy detail." jfk's secret service agents break their silence, and clint hill who wrote the book's forward. gentlemen, thank you very much for being with us this morning. >> my pleasure. >> i'd like to start with you, clint. there's no one alive who doesn't remember where they were, if they were alive, on november 22, 1963. reading the book yesterday brought so much back and there's so much new in the book. does it ever go away for you? >> no. it never goes away. i still have problems thinking about it, and remembering the things that i saw and what happened that day. >> hmm. >> we live in the moment. >> so talk about why you thought it was important to write this book. >> well, jerry wrote the book, and simp lay malter of trying to get the record straight. there's so much information out there that's false. all the agents that are still living thought it would be important to contribute to the book and have jerry put it together. >> right. so jerry, what has the media gotten wrong? what have the historians gotten wrong through the years about the assassination? >> that's what we felt, we wanted to get the record straight, because it -- there's a conspiracy theory community that has made so many errors, and when they started making errors of accusing agents who were on our detail of being part of a conspiracy, that got to all of us. so we decided to set the record out for it. >> so you set the record out. what will americans learn about november 22nd? >> hopefully, they will learn that protection and incidents like this occur. there's no 100% guarantee. we felt we were 100%. we had no time for any therapy or trauma counseling. we had to go ahead and protect a new president, and so we -- we never talked with each other about the assassination. >> looking back, do you -- how many times have you looked back through the years and said, well, maybe if we had done this, or maybe if we had done that. just to come back to the same conclusion that there's very little you could have done. >> very little we could have done. we had no information on lee harvey oswald, but we're all convinced of, though, that it was lee harvey oswald and we want to put a balance up for history to judge in the long run. otherwise, history has no value whatsoever. >> we always hear about the magic bullet and the grassy knoll and all of these other things. do you talk about, for instance, the grassy knoll? >> grassy knoll? i asked the curator at the dallas museum. i said, where was the person on the grassy knoll standing? he said, which one? he said over the past 40 years we've had 70 of them. he said they might have had an assassins convention in dallas that day, so -- >> mike, you've been there, right? >> yeah. >> everybody that goes there is struck by two things. one, how small and compressed it is and, two, how a president would ever be allowed to drive in that situation in a convertible, but it was a different time. >> and the third thing, joe, the shot was so easy. and the trajectory, the range, the closeness. >> it's never likely that documentaries, oh, then we would have to reload, do three somersaults? an easy shot. >> joe, could you go out on a rifle range today, the same rifle oswald used and you could yank off those three shots in seven seconds. >> really? >> way bolt action rifle, yes, could you do it. the thing that struck me about the book, jerry, you're spelling out in detail the chaos of that day after the president is shot at the hospital if you could just talk about that a bit. because i don't think a lot of people know. it was such a chaotic scene in the hospital. >> clint was there. i think clint could probably spell that out better than i can. >> it was chaotic, the time we got to the hospital until we left. we got the president in the trauma room in the emergency room. there were all kinds of doctors running in and out. i think 12 worked on him, and then doctors working across the hall on governor connolly at the same time. when they determined that he was officially, announced he was dead, then the problem became, we wanted to take the president back to washington. the authorities in texas said, no, you can't do that until we do an autopsy, because it's state law. so we tried to reason with them. they wouldn't agree with us, called a judge to come in and talk to us and finally we determined we going to leave and they finally said you can leave if you put a medical professional with the body all the time, through the autopsy. >> there's many poignant moments in the book but one particularly poignant moment involving you. you're with mrs. kennedy. you're with mrs. kennedy from the moment you jumped off the running board of the backup car racing to get to the presidential limousine. you make that barely. you get to the hospital. the president declared dead. mrs. kennedy turns to you and what does she say to you. >> she says, what's going to happen to you, mr. hill? and i said, i'll be okay, mrs. kennedy. >> she was more concerned about me at that time. it was very unusual. >> if i could read from page 125 on that same note, when mrs. kennedy found out she was expecting again in early of 1963, clint hill, one of the first people she told. she was so excited, there was nothing that gave mrs. kennedy more joy than her children. explain, if you could, the relationship between the security detail and the family that they are protecting, because it is quite intimate. is it not? >> especially in those days, because with mrs. kennedy, there were only two of us. one other agent and myself. so we were with her all the time. and we knew everything that was happening, and she knew our families and one time she asked me to bing my two boys over to play with her children which i had to convince her was a bad idea, but we very close. we were very professional. she always referred to me as mr. hill and i always referred to her as mrs. kennedy. >> but there's a bond there that, i mean, the family you're with all the time and protecting. the ultimate. >> in her case i was with her when john was born. when her son patrick was born and then died, and when president kennedy was killed. so i was with her through all of those events. >> all right, gentlemen. we thank you so much for being with us, and -- >> jerry blaine and clint hill. >> you read this yesterday? >> yes. brings that dreadful moment back with some clarity and detail. it's well worth reading. >> the book again is called "the kennedy detail." >> the most important thing, too, is conspiracy theorists have made fortunes on spreading lies over the past 50 years. thank you so much for getting it down. getting the real history, the real record down. and thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> up next on "morning joe," after jeff goldblum joins us. stay right there. in 1968, as whaling continued worldwide, the first recordings of humpback songs were released. public reaction led to international bans, and whale populations began to recover. at pacific life, the whale symbolizes what is possible when people stop and think about the future. help protect your future, with pacific life. the power to help you succeed. [in hindi] and it's like, girlfriend... if you're gonna go with sanjay, what's the problem? i'm okay with it. [in hindi] [crowd cheering] if you're really serious about entertainment... conan, you're on. [whispering] conan. every detail counts. [crowd cheering] when you're responsible for this much of the team, you need a car you can count on. you're a fan of our morning program? >> yeah, yeah. we know it's terrible. professionally in fourth place, behind the "today" show, "good morning america" and the thing on cbs, whatever it's called. a source of constant -- last year the softball team, the team wore hats, at least we're not hat breakers. difficult and semitalent. >> i think a pro. a fine reporter. one of the most legendary news divisions in the entire history of television. "daybreak" needs someone who believes in it and a national platform needs no story too low or high to reach for. >> what, are you going to sing? >> so -- >> he did hang out with phil griffin. >> maybe they. hey, buddy. a "morning joe" fan. >> what's up, baby? >> oscar nominated actor, tv network executive in the new film opening this weekend called "morning glory." >> olivia was british. >> american. >> very good. my favorite thing. what she just did, rolling her eyes. what you guys are doing. she wants to get on to the point. this is my favorite show in the whole world, as you know. should i take this out now? because i hear you now. >> you don't need that. >> and -- >> you're a network exec. you don't wear those. >> so great you're here. >> so great to be here. i can't believe i'm here. i'm drinking in every little thing that you -- >> you watch closely? >> i do watch every day. in california where i live mostly, comes on from 3:00 to 6:00. if i wake up in the middle the night, if i don't have to film, up in the middle of that night getting that clear hour or two i get sometimes i'll put you guys on. >> that's great i. love you guys. every single bit of you. >> so tell us about "morning glory." >> that's a movie, in a clip, the great rachel, center of this movie. she's moved, always charming and wildly talented. more beautiful and lovely and spectacular and winning than ever. she's a producer we get. i'm her boss for this fictional bad morning show, which, you know, low rated and the people are doing silly things on it, and that's the show. you know? and diane keaton is in it harrison ford is in it and it's a light, fluffy show. i talked to phil griffin. very -- where was he? in his office somewhere. i saw the -- >> down the hall. >> down the hall. he showed me the set and was great. spent a few hours with me. >> good lord. >> very generous. >> what was your takeaway with your meeting with phil griffin? >> i have even more respect for him and the whole process. >> come on now. >> no. it's true. >> of course, talking about all of the -- relevant to the movie, all of the competition that goes on between morning shows, between the morning shows. >> yeah. >> you know. but here it's a different story. have producers ever asked you to do things you were uncomfortable with? >> well, off camera, yeah. i mean, yeah. take off my clothes, but we never do that, but, chris, he's got issues. >> we're very lucky here, because we do exactly what we want to do, and we give credits to phil for that. he sort of tried to tinker around for a week or two and said you know what? do wa what you want to do. >> is that why it's good? you seem free and it's improvisational. >> phil has given us complete freedom. >> spectacular. the whole issue of news versus entertainment comes up here, i suppose, and you have to put on something that's people will work. >> we're transparent about it. no. putting crap on tv, we'll say, this is crap. completely not news. >> it's just like -- >> we won't tap something -- >> we talk about afghanistan. afghanistan doesn't always rate but overall our numbers have exploded. i'm not going to name other networks, but we're number two in total audience and that's never happened. it's because we talk hard news tore three hours. >> and people can be smart. you talk about it in an engaging way. >> even if i'm stupid, yeah we talk about it. >> you're not -- it's very smart. >> we're not the brightest bulbs. >> it's illusion. you've studied morning television. did it depress you in any way as you really dug in and learn what really happens to make these shows come alive? because it can be ugly. >> no, no. >> you're so nice. >> no. you know, it's funny. it's a challenging thing to put on, you know, hours and all that material, but this is -- i mean, just what you just said about how, what you do here. i mean, that's sort of eye opening, and although not surprising, but it's different. this is probably different than other shows. they give you a chance to talk, and you don't -- you couldn't go in more deeply. do you think you're making people as smart as they need to be and have their perspective as deepened as possible and their sense of priorities of what's important in the world dealt with as much as you possibly can. right? >> well, we're not making people smarter. there are very smart people throughout that find the shows that don't talk down to them. we don't do a lot of segments that other people do, and -- you know, we thought about what's on the front of the papers, but let's talk about the movie. >> if you take a shot of camera 3, if you could, there is no prompter. that's just it. it's blanked. >> and, you know, with the exception of a lot of tv shows that absolutely kill people. we're not killing anybody. with the exception of willie who we all hate, we all really get along. >> sucks. >> i fell in love deeper more with this family. the movie is a little bit about the tv movie family, but i fell in love even more with this family because i've been watching it, but, you know, i have to bring up something -- tim russert. i know you were all pals with him. when he unexpectedly died, i was, i guess, like a lot of people, and i'd never met him. i was weeping for like a couple of days straight. i was very, very touched, very moved, and more than i realized was connected to him, and then this whole family, you know. the way he made issues, you know -- intelligently presented things intelligently and with his own personal obvious passion about them and kind of non-bias, you know, inconspicuous bias, delightful. and to see luke, you know, now. it's very sweet to me. i feel sort of connected to it. very sweet. >> and tim, obviously had a big influence on all of us and also phil griffin early on said we have an audience of one. >> "morning glory" now playing in theaters. jeff goldblum, thank you for coming in. 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