Transcripts For MSNBC Morning Joe 20101207

44 points. >> there's not one person in america that tops this guy. >> good morning. it is tuesday, december 7th. welcome to "morning joe"! we have to talk about that. >> we will talk about this a lot. the patriots and new york jets were supposed to partake in the greatest nfl game regular season game in several seasons. the patriots squashed them like a little bug. the score was 45-3. willie geist, what's your take away in this stunning, 42 point victory? >> i went to bed at 17-3. looked like the jets might hang around. >> tom brady said it was a tight game and not only will i beat you, i will embarrass you. >> and i will do it with golden locks, barbie would lsu after. >> we have andy serwer. i think it was yesterday and the day before, i was reading william rhoden's column, fascinating, great columns for the "new york times" and he predicts the denies for the new england pate tri otsz. the headline was the day the patriots empire -- i look at that headline the "new york times," december 6th. i re-tweeted it and"s%°ñ dude, don't do that. instant karma will get you. put that headline back up again. the reason i want to show this is the "new york times" did something i have never seen a news organization do. maybe they do it all the time. help me out here. >> if they do, i cannot do it. >> you cannot find this headline on the internet today. they have completely scrubbed the internet clean of rhoden's entire article where rhoden says this day -- he talked about spy gate, this was the day the patriot's empire begins to crumble and no doubt about it, the jets are on the ascend dependen dependen ency -- i don't know where we have seen this before. >> in china. >> do they do this in news columns as well, if somebody is so horrifically off base, they do the old trick of airbrushing -- >> subtle correction. >> i have the leaks. >> you can't get rid of it. you can hide it but it has to show up in search. >> it does not. >> i know what you're saying. that could be permissible, bury it but you still can find interest. >> i came in this morning, i read the rhoden column, let's full screen it. they had a big laugh, giggles. they couldn't find it. the only way you get the headline was reader comments on other blogs. the "new york times" has wiped that clear. i think that's fascinating. >> the squets are ascending but the patriots -- >> i have seen a lot of other teams get absolutely hammered in regular season with the super bowl. let's not overplay this, wallow in a second. >> you guys wallow. we do have a lot to talk about this morning. mark halperin, don't egg him on. actor comedianç denis lear will be on the show today and something to get to in washington. what do you think? >> i don't get it. >> i don't get it either. >> you know what i don't get why the president didn't take the high ground and say, i tell you what, we will give you cuts up to a million dollar but we will not give millionaires tax cuts the same week the deficit commission came out and said, we're going bankrupt? >> i agree completely and i think we need to hold the republicans accountable for being complete hip critz. >> do i have an r here? >> steaming pile of garbage, we have another one. >> funny you say that, i talked about the steaming pile of garbage the stimulus was, andy, you know what this is? barack obama couldn't get a second stimulus package, he's got it now with tax cuts that aren't going to be paid for and unemployment benefits that won't be paid for. a bush commission study came out this week from the labor department. for every dollar you pay in unemployed benefits, two get generated in this economy. these will have a stimulative impact, we'll just go deeper in debt. >> we're putting off today what we won't have tomorrow. it's a bastard child, forever you don't mind my saying that so early in the morning. >> we will completely erase this. >> i don't think the liberals will be able to stop this because it puts the democrats in the doctor no position, meaning we're against tax cuts. that is a very difficult place to be in politics, even if you have to explain it and have a good reason. >> e-mail from the white house, then you go to halpern. this was their choice, they say, let taxes go up for everyone or try and find a deal. option one would have been very bad for the fragile recovery. >> that's a false choice. i keep hearing poor libera liberals -- most of them are disgusted by what the white house has done, the few remaining hold-outs,ç iwo jima 10 years after the war ended, they're saying he tried this and we failed. like my son coming to me, i can't do this equation, i quit math. no! you keep after it. >> let me speak in defense of this deal for a moment leaving aside the complaints of the liberals. number one in the short term, we don't need deficit reduction, we need the economy to grow. there's no way to reduce it without a third to one-half coming from growth and this does it in a way with bipartisan support. >> can i stop you at number one and go to number two. i have been saying for a year, do not raise taxes on small businesses or people making $250,000 above. that does throw a wet blanket on recovery. i agree with that completely. that being said, giving tax cuts to people making over a million dollars is not the most stimulative use of your money. our guy has been attacking the stimulus package because it wasn't focused. maybe you give tax cuts up to a million dollar, for that $300 billion you give to the millionaire, put into payroll tax cuts. >> barack obama and i assume next year in a few months, there will be a serious effort at deficit reduction to take these issues on. >> and then we will -- >> we can put a surtax on billionaires. >> all the stimulus policies obama put in place is too much spending. they are complete hip critz. >> they will have to confront it next year when they have to write a budget in the house they control. >> how many republicans have we had on over the past two weeks that will say they won't extend unemployment benefits because they aren't paid for and in the next breath say they are not going to take care of the revenue the cbo says will be lost by tax cuts? again -- >> all of them. >> tax cuts for millionaires. quickly -- >> then i have toç lay out. >> i will speak quickly, i don't want to confuse anybody. i have a "politico" column, a humdinger. >> more of a do not adjuozy. >> ideologically, i always voted for tax cuts. i believe every dollar you can keep away from the federal government is a victory for individuals and individual freedom. i do. but when we are this deep in debt and have this many people unemployed and need to get working class people back to work, i can't imagine a more inefficient way to spark a recovery than giving tax cuts to people like myself who will put it in the bank and feel better about myself because i'm saving money. >> those people aren't creating jobs? >> they create jobs but these tax cuts will not create jobs. >> after 250, there is some job creation, it's after a certain threshold, there's a declining benefit from that. >> exactly. if you're a dentist in pensacola, florida, you have four chairs and two years ago, you had six chairs and you had to cut back because the economy went down, you want to add another chair, i raise your tax, guess what, you will send your skids to school instead of hiring another person. if you're a millionaire, you will go, ah -- >> let melee out t-- melee out broad details of the deal. >> extension of the top millionairs for two years and 78 tax at 35% for assets over $5 million. >> a lot of people were thinking about dying this year, seriously. because the estate tax -- >> five billionairs passed away, worked out pretty well for their families. jackson brown saying, hold on, hold out. >> gets a 13 month extension of jobless benefits for unemployed. 2% reduction in social security payroll taxes, both that they wanted, we don't no how they will pay for it. $900ç billion over the next tw years. >> that's how much then stimulus cost us! >> i'm sure republicans care about this deeply and really worried about it, scurrying around looking for ways to pay for it. the president said this about the proposal, take a listen. >> i have no doubt everyone will find things in this compromise they don't like. there are things i don't like. as for now, i believe this bipartisan thing is the right thing to do, the right thing to do for jobs, any right thing to do for the middle class, the right thing to do for business and the right thing to do for our economy. >> what did you just say? >> i cannot believe he gave up before the opening bell. i would love my opponent -- i would love my political opponent to take the position, we're going to extend tax cuts for millionaires even if the cbo says is not going to create new jobs, yet they're going to cut off unemployment benefits for families at christmastime, please, please, that seriously, that's like muhammad ali in 1971, fighting against prince n princeton's boxing champ, alan meriweather. it's an easy battle. >> there isn't a single republican who isn't afraid of that fight. >> we were afraid of bill clinton in january of '95, february, march, made fun of him in may, june, august, september, november, and by december, when finally after a year, people started calling us, saying we're going to -- you just start started -- this bubba has beaten us, this president hasn't even tried! >> he has tried. >> no, he has not. >> he can't drive the message the way bill clinton does and you all made mistakes. so far republicans have not made a mistake on this message. >> they haven't been -- this is like him running the new england patriots, going to the coin clip and say, i read rhoden's article yesterday, guys, let's go to the locker room, we got it. >> he tried all çyear. >> you keep saying this and you're wrong. you need to go back and see what john boehner said to bob sheiffer on "face the nation" and dave camp, running the ways and means committee said, two or-thro three months ago, if they extend tax cuts for a certain group of people, we'll have to support it. they conceded several months ago they were willing to cave into barack obama. >> then they won the election. >> right? >> and what little weakness they were showing then is gone. >> the president wins because he's weak or can count votes. >> he's not a weak guy, a tough guy, rational about what he can -- >> i don't think this president's ever been backed against the wall. i think he's backed against the wall politically and he doesn't know how to fight out of the corner. you keep acting -- seriously, i am stunned. you keep acting like -- that december 7th -- happy pearl harbor day -- that december 7th is -- >> i think democrats should have won this but they lost this. this is not a bad thing for the economy and a great thing that they realize if anything gets solved in the next two years they get in a corner and negotiate. >> they didn't negotiate, the president caved in. >> they didn't. the payroll -- >> the numbers are up -- >> the payroll tax cuts are a big deal. >> a big deal. in the long run, the economy cannot help but be helped by another $9 billion given to us by china. >> that's not the argument. >> this money, is this going to be passed to the economy and the chinese -- >> in four month, they will cut the deficit. >> this is another trillion we just strapped on not to our kids but to ourself and the chinese are financing these tax cuts and benefits, no doubt about it. >> wait fourç months. >> the republicans aren't interested in cutting the deficit. >> they better be in four months. >> barack obama isn't interested in cutting the deficit. >> yes, he is. >> that's a joke. i said that two years ago. >> wrap it up. >> and continuing to nosedive after leaving office. and the founder of wikileaks, jill jan assange, under arrest. just ahead. >> bill needs to be arrested. >> good morning. we are watching temps as cold today as yesterday if not worse, windchill now 5 in pittsburgh and other areas aren't much better, we're in the teens in albany, buffalo, d.c. and philly. this arctic blast goes all the way down. orlando, 28. not many areas east of the rockies that have been spared from this blast of winter. we're still launching heavy snow off the great lakes, especially cleveland, eerie, and syracuse, should pick up another possible 6-10 inches of snow. temperatures very cold. the rest of the country should be sunny and okay as we do a big slow warmup in the southeast. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee. - sure, cake or pie? 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[ rattling ] [ male announcer ] need ink? staples has a low price guarantee on all the ink you need. find a lower price at another store, and we'll match it. that was easy. december 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy. the united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air force of the empire of japan. welcome back to "morning joe." it is pearl harbor day, december 7th. andy serwer, you were actually mouthing the words. you learned that in school? >> i wasn't there then. i remember hearing that in school and i remember my parents playing that for me, that peach, them telling me how incredibly traumatic that was and a turning point it was. everyone knew the war was on that day. >> my grandfather was on the maryland, an 18, 19-year-old kid, and woke up with the "uss maryland" sinking, got off and flew to the war. >> that's where we start with the morning papers. the mississippi "sun herald," flags at half-staff, as we remember the attacks against pearl harbor, 69 years ago. and a story the "new york times" has not yet scrubbed their story, google opens the door to e-bookstore. teen drivers are being credited for saving lives in connecticut. young drivers face and 11:00 curfew. very good. will receive more training and must attend a driving seminar with their parents before getting a license. i love it. it should be 18. and congress calling tsaç d whether x-ray scanners are meeting low radiation requirements. let's go to nicole. a flat day in the markets yesterday. nicole, will we see any reactions due to the tax cuts today? >> you better believe it. last night, you guys were talking about it all morning, 6 threats in the evening new york time, president obama definitely gave markets an early christmas present. i hope traders are writing him a thank you note. at least that's how it is an interpreted. markets ending mixed, pretty flat yesterday but futures significantly higher this morning so looks like we will get a bounce at the open. the political ramification, market conventional wisdom is markets will rally and this idea of the extension of bush era tax cuts has widely been expected and already prized in so anything less would pretty much be a disappointment. >> i guess deficits don't drag. >> tomorrow's problem. >> even wall street is thinking we won't worry about 9$900 billion more. >> they like the tax cuts and the other is getting rid of the uncenter, people wondering if this will drag out, if nothing will happen, they like that. >> nicole, thank you. ? thank you so much, nicole. we will talk about the bond market tomorrow with nicole. inflation, at some point, bad things happen when you borrow trillions of dollars from the chinese. i'm serious about this, times scrubbing the rhoden piece is he was so wrong and it was so inflammatory, he depicted the e demise of the insurgent patriots before the biggest game of the year. did he not think they would look for that column? >> he ought to write another one saying, i was so wrong. >> those waking up, this was william rhoden's column ofç december 6th. the day the patriots empire began to crumble, they yanked it from the website. >> i didn't read the column, interested what the reasoning was, team that's 9-2. >> spy gate. that was his reason. >> even though they're 14-2. >> when i read it, i said, dude, they're 9-2, they have brady, playing new england. sports next block, time next for "politico," willie. >> the executive order of "politico." >> i'm trying to help ow o-- yo out. >> a look at the playbook. >> joe has a new column in "politico" about the president's willingness to cut a deal with republicans on taxes. and now we have obama who spent two years ignoring republicans now deciding to throw in the to well on tax cuts before the opening bell rings. if the president of the united states really believes he is in such a weak position he cannot stand up to a party that wants to give tax cuts to millionaires while cutting unemployed families at christmas time, i fear not only for the democratic party but also for america. someone close to the president needs to give him a dose of washington reality. >> what is that washington reality? >> what joe says the president needs more nerve and better perspective on this debate. that's what a lot of democrats are saying publicly and more sharply in private. they are livid and feel they caved long before the fight began. we have several senators saying, what are you doing punting on thirds down? why would you give up before the fight begins? that's joe's point and the feeling of a lot of people in washington. i thought the debate in the last segment was a fascinating one and one dominating conversation this month in this town because a lot of people feel like why have you campaigned on an issue so long and surrendered so quickly. >> this is fascinating like the old winston churchill debates with mark halperin beingç chamberlain. >> i think the president is serious about deficit reduction and in just a few months. >> he added another $900 billion. >> he had to. >> the president and republicans are not serious, nobody is serious. we had this debate, andy, help me. we had this deficit commission, washington is so serious, we have to balance the budget. they added a trillion since the deficit commission. with this bill. >> that punting on third down thing, i guess when it's third and 25, a pooch punt. po what . >> what is the crisis? the economy is about to collapse? i heard this before, so glad we did it. >> the economy is not about to collapse. >> i'm joking. my point is the same logic is being used and the same republicans that used that logic and criticized it have gotten exactly what they want. the president caved, you can criticize him. you should criticize every republican who does not want to talk about how to pay for this even though that has been their mandate and message. >> you said you. 20 minutes ago, i said, i don't have an r here. >> you were a member of congress longer than me, you say that? >> no, because you're not saying it through a beaver puppet. >> for those that didn't watch your show yesterday, it's -- >> why did they scrub that from the "new york times"? >> my gosh. >> news straight ahead. ♪ i hate suburbia and the bourgeoi-sie ♪ ♪ but i really love my bank ♪ i hate-- didn't quite catch that last bit. i said i really love my bank. right... is there a problem ? it's not really raging, man. uh, we were hoping for more raging ? 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[ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. live shot of capitol hill in washington d.c. 32 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." a lot to get to this hour. breaking news, wikileaks founder, julian assange will appear in court after surrendering. stemming from allegations by two women in sweden who accuse him of rape and sexual molestation. if he challenges is extradition to sweden today, he will likely be remanded to custody or be released on bail until another judge rules whether to extradite him. a spokesman said the arrest will not prevent the organization from spilling more secrets on the web. the supreme court will decide whether the largest employment discrimination case in the nation's history can continue against wal-mart. more than 1 million current and former female employees are seeking billion s of dollars in damages through a class action lawsuit because they say they were paid less than men and givenç fewer promotions. >> what organization can you not say that about? >> right. >> as women, that's -- >> exactly. that's all you should say. >> i wasn't laughing because of that. i was saying, this is news women are passed over? >> it is now. perhaps it will be a turning point and we need more of them. >> she's written a great book about this. >> don't start me. i might be angry this morning. >> you are a little upset. she gotten an e-mail that upset her. we can work through it. >> i'm mad at the republicans and think we haven't been fair with your criticism. there is criticism to go around. >> for the third time in 33 minutes i ain't wearing an r on the front of my sweater. very critical of republicans. >> not always. >> i will let you work through your anger. a lot of times you get this stuff and have to let it go. >> i'm sorry, i'm switching roles. >> she gotten an e-mail from the white house and is really angry now. >> i do understand halpern's point they were negotiating in the corner but at the same time could have maximized it, i think, anyhow. >> i'm amazed they got as good a deal as they did. >> come on! that's ridiculous. >> that is outrageous! >> remind me to never have you negotiate my contracts in the future. let's have an update before we go to willie. alex, anything from the "new york times" to explain where they scrubbed -- >> you need to let that go. i don't think people are as interested as you are if cht. >> mark halperin, seriously, who does this? i'm dead serious, who does this? you can't even get bloggers to change. who does this? >> if they come back and say there's a technical problem, i want to see him repost it. >> is that the only spin they have? >> what are they saying. >> our spokesman says, i'll check and let you know. >> they're trying to find and id guyç with enough chitos dust or him. >> let's go to sports. mika pay attention because mr. tumble is at the top. the most anticipated game of the season. watch the shot of the booth. the gentleman on the far end with the wind blowing his hair just so. there he is. >> he's going to be president. >> hanging out with bob kraft, owner of of the patriots. they got a 25 yard touchdown. deion branch runs it in. patriots up 17-0. jets were utterly hopeless on offense. looks like they might get it here but no, throws right into their hands, one of two interceptions during the game. patriots just rolling. hits his favorite target. wes welker. no interceptions, jets are blown out on monday night football. final 45-3, new england, after the game, rex ryan, mark sanchez weighing in on the debacle. >> got outcoached, got outplayed, got our butts kicked. i don't know what else you can say about it. >> we got our butts whipped tonight. flat out the way you have to say it. outcoached, outplayed. >> it was a good night for us. we'll take it. jets are a good football team. i'm sure we haven't heard the last from them. tonight was our night. >> you can't lose to the same thing twice. i don't think it's happened very often since i got here in 2000. >> oh, my god. >> that's a man, male model. come on. >> put that up again. >> i never got it. the same with -- >> not your type? >> brad pitt. >> after seeing that, you still don't get it?tr(t&háhp &hc% >> someone who works that hard, it's either there -- >> ah naturale. >> he spends more time than me and that's saying a lot. >> look, he has the john travolta look. hair straight down the middle. it's welcom back cotter '75, man. >> he's married to a supermodel. he has some help. >> he needs to dress like brett farve. that's ridiculous. >> open fly? >> it's one game. seriously, the jets could win the super bowl, i wouldn't be surprised. >> jets will probably get the wild card. jets should be there. that was pretty definitive last night as to who the best team in the league is. if you watched monday night football in the 1970s, you remember this. ♪ tonight the party's over they say that all good things must end ♪ ♪ that's don meredith the former monday night football announcer and dallas cowboys quarterback. he died on sunday, a three time pro bowler and player of the year, retired from the sport suddenly at the age of 31, later moving on to broadcasting where he sat next to howard cosell and frank gifford for nearly a decade on monday night football. he was 72 years old. >> let me ask the two guys that remember, willie, i think you're too young. howard cosell, dandy don and frank gifford, like secretariat, going down the final stretch of the belmont, there's not a close second. >> young people don't understand a world whereauuozzvçzók)ó we charges and this monday night football was a weekly event. >> the world stopped for monday night football. dandy don, amazing and frank gifford. >> they were different personalities, cosell the guy you loved to hate, so smart, throw out the 35 cent words and the others pretend they didn't know what they meant. great showman. >> great friction between dandy don and howard cosell sometimes. >> up next -- >> i was too young. >> willie, what he's next. >> sports history, you know don meredith, a big los. >> it was. up next, former u.s. presidents currently ranking, they have new job approval rankings for the presidents. this is what happens when you put things in the teleprompter. should just eliminate that. >> i know him. >> executive director of the task force on iran, mark brzezinski, mika's brother joins us. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. big story today, iran began holding high level talks about its nuclear program with six major world powers. that's right. that's rheist, russia, china, britain, france and oprah was in there. she has nukes now and she gave them to her audience. yeah! >> 44 past the hour, live shot from the top of the rock. welcome back to "morning joe." a new gallup poll shows former president george bush's approval rating is higher than president obama's, in the survey, 47% approve of him, more than when he left office. i'm not sure why this matters. >> look at ronald reagan. we left reagan out. reagan was right behind clinton. we predicted this a couple weeks ago, george bush has a bush coming out. >> kennedy is the highest rated so far. clinton, i got to say -- >> he's rising, has staying power. >> that guy has -- >> thank you, alex for putting this in. jimmy carter's rating has significantly dropped from four years ago to 52%. okay. >> these things don't matter a lot. what's fascinating, bill clinton is even a guy, when you talk to conservative groups now, say, kind of miss him. you go back to when jerry falwell was calling him a murderer, amazing, the "clinton chronicles," amazing he has gotten stronger. >> revisionism. the fact "w" is higher than obama, would you guess that, maybe only because of revisionism. i don't know what the phenomena is, we tend to look at that. >> reagan, 74%. >> clinton look business at the 69% and say, what is wrong with the other 31%? i need them back. >> in my first re-election in '96, i got 73% of the vote. my dad and i were driving around town, listening to wcoa. you know what's coming because you know my parents, they're kind of type a. we're driving çaround, i hear luke mccoy, joe scarborough gets 73% of the vote. my dad did say on cue, what the hell were the other 27% thinking! it wasn't easy growing up in my home sometimes. they're type a. joining us, former national security advisor for the clintons. >> this guy didn't have to wear a -- >> that was a nervous laugh. >> it's my older brother. he used to beat the crap out of me. >> i heard. >> geez. >> mark, we're not going to make this personal. i will move it quickly away from you and mika's childhood. >> thank you. >> iran, i personally think the most fascinating thing about wikileaks has been the fact moderate arab states have been exposed for being more fearful of iran than any country on earth. >> they've been talking out of both sides of their mouth. on one hand on private, if you believe the news reports on wikileaks cables, they've been urging americans to attack iran. on the other hand, they've been criticizing american actions in the middle east. the wikileaks also show the chinese have resisted our push to get them to stop doing business with iranians. the wikileaks releases have complicated our situation with iran. >> one follow-up on iranian situation. some states opposed to the iranians in those cables were sunnis, and iran shia. part of that whole conflict yet again, right? >> exactly, sunni versus shiite and also pre-ponderance in the region. one of the things that has really affected our role and our position in the middle east is what happened to us and with us in iraq and where we are in afghanistan. so the situation with iran is very fluid. it will be shaped byç developments in the middle east peace process, in afghanistan, that's why these talks going on in geneva between americans and our allies are so important. i was struck by your previous segment. i was thinking the iranian challenge has plagued six presidents since 1979. we tried sanction, we tried isolation. today and yesterday, we're trying engagement to see if that takes us to a better place, vis-a-vis with the iran griaran. . >> update us, how is their economy doing and when are they most likely to have elections and what has happened to the revolutionary movement to de stabilize or overthrow the government? >> first on the economy, the sanctions are having an effect. at the same time, while the u.s. enforces sanctions on american businesses that could do business with iran, other countries are talking the talk and not walking the walk. for example, you hear chancellor america ameri america -- chancellor merkle talk about crippling sanctions but they increased .4%. >> wait a second. >> solid front. >> you say germans are actually upping their investment in iran right now? >> in the first quarter of 2010, german investment in iran increased 15%. >> did chirac slip over the border? is he running germany now? >> this is the dissidence between what we're hearing from the leaders of foreign countries and what is actually happening in practice. >> isn't that stunning? >> it is an important to remember, while the administration tries to engage the iranian, the u.s. congress is continuing to pursue a hard line on iranians. a bill dropped last week by senator scott brown and bob casey would bar from visits to the u.s. international business executives who do business with iran. it's an important carrot and stick process i think could have -- could make progress. >> mark, thank you so much for being with us, mark brzezinski, greatly appreciate it. is that not stunning, andy? >> no. >> that's not stunning. >> our european allies slipping and dodging and looking for middle east oil. >> they did it with saddam hussein and now they're doing it -- >> i'm not surprised. >> "news you can't use" with willie geist next on "morning joe." ge traded funds. ge traded funds. some firms offer them "commission free." problem is they limit the choice of etfs to what makes financial sense to them. td ameritrade doesn't limit you to one brand of etfs... they offer more than 100... each selected by investment experts at morningstar associates. only at the etf market center at td ameritrade. before investing, carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing this and other information. read it carefully before investing. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. >> man: diving to 4,000 meters. >> boy: go down, down, down. down. straight. go straight. no, to the right. to the right. >> go to the right, go to the right. >> whoa! >> whoa! >> what is that? 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i need to know it's time. is it time? >> stopç it. enough. >> archive columns is not there. >> you've been to william rhoden and archived columns are not there? >> everything except for yesterday. >> "news you can't use." >> have we gotten a response yet? >> still waiting. >> come on, "times," come on. >> we love you. >> they're looking. >> we were confused yesterday and many americans were confused. >> which one are you talking about? >> the norweigan tv show thing where they have all these celebrities. >> look at this. >> lou forigno. >> is that "the hulk"? i love "the hulk." >> people can go back and meet their idols from the '80s, '70s and '90s. there's robert engel who played freddie krueger. this is so good. ♪ let it be let it be speaking words of wisdom let it be let it be ♪ ♪ let it be let it be >> she knows all these people. >> i do. i recognize the guy from "fresh prince." >> david faustino, he's come out now because he's been all over the internet. he said he was duped into being in this. he was told, "we're putting this videoiççzi[mç3n[7çóo;j toget charity. would you mind singing "let it be" it's for a norwegian television show. >> so wylie. there you have it. there's the faustino take on norwegian tv. >> it doesn't make sense. >> we have faustino-gate and rhoden-gate. >> lisa meyer will get to the bottom of this. >> who did we assign to the n]% york times," isakoff or lisa myers? i think isakoff because of the norwegian thing. >> you haven't nailed the story. >> former drug czar and education secretary, william bennett. 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( announcer ) turning complex data into easy tools. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. i know there's some people in my own party and in the other party who would rather prolong this battle, even if we can't reach a compromise. i'm not willing to let working families across this country become collateral damage for political warfare in washington. >> i will do whatever i can to see that 60 votes are not acquired to pass this piece of legislation. >> it is an absolute disaster and insult to the vast majority of the american people to be talking about giving huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country -- >> top of the hour, welcome back to "morning joe." look at that shot of the city. mark halperin still with us. joining us now, former2%uuz czar to former george w. bush and secretary of education to president reagan and author of american patriots almanac, william bennett, we have to educate you a little bit today. i don't mean to be -- >> what? >> he walked on the set and said -- what did you say? >> i said, you've gotten so liberal. no, not to me. we have to explain this. >> then he said he was joking -- >> yes, but it's a good point to be made. >> the point is, as you know, after he said he was joking -- >> right, because 90% of all joking is true, you know. >> okay. whatever, mom. so ideologically, you and i both agree every dollar kept out of washington d.c. is a victory for freedom, but politically, now, we've gone from saying what we believe, now, let's be john madden and analyze this, as far as analyzing the situation, are you not stunned barack obama has caved in and given people like us everything we wanted? >> yeah,he did cave. and he gave us more, act lip. actually. thereby doing conceded the principle that when you're in bad times, give tax cuts. >> it's funny you say that. they're talking about republicans want and democrats want, they put the payroll tax cut on what democrats want. if the position of barack obama and democratic party now is that tax cuts stimulate the economy, we've won. >> yes! >> let's just call it a day. >> the estate tax was a bonus thrown in here. >> my god. you guys know congress better than i do. is it possible a reason for doing this, is he wants to get it done, get it over with and there's a chance he can get other business done, "don't ask, don't tell," dream act. if you play this out a long time, there's no time. >> the thing is he has shown his weakness legislatively now. he has shown that they're scared of the republican majority so he gets none of that down the road. you saw how clinton used us in '95, drug us out, battered us, we wereç overconfident and we knew at that point we got to deal with this guy because he may inflict some pain. that is not there now with barack obama. >> i think that's right, plus the new team is coming in. this is a very different team. by the way, as a reagan guy, somebody who served in his cabinet, i revere him, love him, this is the best team we've put on the field. >> you're talking about republicans taking control? >> yes. >> it's interesting, john boehner, small government conservative, he's never excited me before but boehner may be the right guy for this time, not repeating the mistakes that somebody more ideological like newt or the fresh march, what we did in '95. bill, i don't think they will repeat those mistakes? >> it's not just primarily boehner, i'm thinking ryan. >> paul ryan, amazing. >> the guy to empower america. the new guys. i had all thesis new guys on my radio show. this is a heck of a team. they're not all rookies either. >> paul ryan, yes, he -- >> let me ask a question about this team. maybe you can answer for me. let's lay out what this deal includes. you named some things. basically tax cut extensions for all americans, including the nation's top wage earners for the next two years, in addition the estate tax will be set at 35% for assets over $5 million, in exchange the president gets republican backing for 13 month renewal of jobless benefits and 2% reduction in social security payroll taxes. >> that's a republican win right there. >> that is. my question is because this team has been so vocal about paying for things and making sure we manage our fiscal health, what are the ideas in terms how to pay for this or is it okay to put it off, $900 billion, put it off? i take it you would think it's extremely important to pay for measures like this. how do we pay for it? what are good ideas? >> you can put it off a little bit, you can't put it off very long. the benefit to watching this show all the way through, i tell your viewers, if you watch it starting at 6:00 or 5:30, you get a lot of the answers. i agree with mark, three month, four month, you will see it. the idea, we said the guy's name. paul ryan the chairman of the an raised to power. i can't take credit as jack kemp can. you've seen this road map. whatever you may think of paul ryan's road map, it is no a timid document. >> paul is a true believer. >> serious about cutting. he lays it out. >> how is it not hypocritical to put this off? >> well, you don't have the congress yet. you don't have that team yein place. once they're in place, they can get this done. now that the president has indicated his interest in, i think, moving to the middle and ultimately, i think trying to attack the deficit problem, otherwise, it either his second term, we may have more meetings of the minds. >> republicans aren't in charge yet. we have a million things to talk about. we will do headlines now, headlines with bill and then we will do the book. the book is the most important thing. >> history. >> quickly, the patriots. did you see what the "new york times" did? >> i did. scrubbed their story. >> you think it's the pats and falcons in the super bowl? pats are surprisingly strong but pats are back despite the "new york times." >> you were talking about former secretary of education, this is a stunner of a story. china is rising. >> 20 points higher than singapore. in the business of doing math now, i work with education textbook companies, singapore math is this model. we want all our schools to have singapore math. they get it right. the shanghai kids scored 20 points higher than singapore. we're talking 600 and our numbers are 497. this begins to make a different after a while over time. >> what have you made of the whole debate, the last month or 2, we had waiting for superman movie and so much focus on education and we try not to let that moment pass here. what do you see on the heat adviso advisory -- horizon that gives you hope for american education. >> arne duncan, i think he's the best, maybe not the best one ever -- >> other than you! >> arnie is great. >> he's very serious about accountability. they took on the teacher's union. took the side of the school district inç rhode island and barack obama backed it. they're talking about accountability. i think teachers unions really are on the defensive. i notice michelle wrie, head of the d.c. schools established a new school foundation, new c4 to represent the interest of students. mike mill nick likes to talk about the next sputnik, maybe with this agreement in the conversation, i went to that movie in washington, like a hollywood premier. huge! plus this front page story, we're now 103 points behind. think of sat. >> unbelievable. >> 103 points behind as a country, serious, a problem. maybe that stirs us to do what we should do. let me say, one thing you can do, research at stanford pretty clear, if you replace the bottom 5% of our teachers, bottom 5%, move from 30th in the world to fifth in the world. >> a stanford study showed this? >> yes. the harm that poor teachers do is the same that the greatness the good great teachers do. >> we're not talking 50% of teachers, we're talking a small percentage dragging us down. >> yeah. it tends to be in the places kids need the most help, that's where those teachers are. >> let's talk about american patriots almanac. >> right. >> mika is a leftist. is this a book even a marxist -- >> you'd love it. >> joking. >> she's not a marxist more european socialist. >> the book of american history, a day for each day of american history, today, pearl harbor, rosa parks, two days ago. other things, like the 50 greatest american movie, we get into a good argument about that. >> what did you put as number 1? >> i did a poll at dinner last night, they decided it was "to kill a mockingbird." that was a southern group. >> a good alabama group. it may be. i would put that and "it's a wonderful life." >> i'm a little hokier, i actually putç "independence da" i love that movie. i went to see that movie with bob dole. bob dole walked out, what should i say? say it's great. about americans coming together, a black guy, jewish guy. dole comes out, what about the movie? >> black guy, jewish guy, america, great. no connectives but the got the heart of it. >> let's talk about the disconnect and why books like this are so important not only for our kids but for adults. i am discouraged when i will go have dinner with very educated people who don't have the most basic reference points for america's history. forget about talking about like taft or millard philmore, you can bring up john kennedy and there's a blank stare. >> it's funny, americans buy history books, you have jon meacham here. people buy his books and buy david mccullough's books all the time. best sellers, jefferson, hamilton. >> they sell well. >> it's our kids. and partly because of the textbooks so boring, dull, tandentious but mostly dull. car-pools are doing this, we try to make it spligtly. the american story is a great story. >> it would seem to me something like this, great for my kids, i can shoot to my 22-year-old and something i can shoot to my 19-year-old everyday, do you have an ipad component to this or -- i'm sure you do audio books? it seems to me if you could have people getting one of these things a day, she can send tooher daughters who text or i can send to my sons who text. >> we certainly have the electronic e books. i hadn't thought of that. >> that's the problem, our kids are thinking in 13 second spurts before being interrupted with an incoming text. >> i think the first thing is make the story you tell as interesting as the story thatç actually occurred. pearl harbor, we all know that story, a story exciting in itself. stories behind it, we need to tell, too. the japanese admiral says on that day, i fear we've awakened a sleeping giant and filled them with a terrible resolve. that's a great sentence and well said. >> and great ending to torah torah torah. >> another one. let me do a survey here. i would guess when you go to dinner with your friends, your contemporaries, most peoplie hae these historical reference points because history used to matter. i'm 47 and at sort of a breaking point. willie, i would guess, you're in your 30s, i'm not knocking people in their 30s, i think the world has changed dramatically. i think the younger you get the more disconnected your generation gets from history. >> i guess that's true. i have a lot of smart friends that dig into jon meacham's books, but buy them i don't know if they read them. >> put them on the coffee table. >> a broad range of historical references, first season of "seinfeld," second season of "seinfeld," the full gamit. >> and ""american freak show"." >> the younger the country gets, the less far back it goes. >> it's a little more complicated, do the survey, interesting, take the obama and mccain campaign. barack obama talked about rosa marks, everybody knew who he was talking about. 90% can identify with, that's fine. when john mccain talked about omar bradley or jimmy do 7o?k?, nobody knew what he was talking about except the older generation. selective history, teach rosa parks but it is taught everywhere in every grade like the rainforest is taught every year in every grade but you don't have that breadth. >> like arne duncan you praised, what metrics are you using to say he is such aç success or h attitude. >> unfortunately the department of education can't direct. i found this out. conservatives didn't want me to and i didn't want to as a conservative, you can't set the curriculum and results. the most important thing, he's talking about right things and with that discretionary money he has race to the top. if you want the money, you have to play. play means you have to have accountability programs for your teachers. the key point he has made is to links spendsing to results. and we have up to this point pretty much spent money without linking it to results. that's not what china does, not what singapore does, we have to do that. the nice part of replacing the poor teachers is rewarding the good teachers, this is clearly what you want to do, to attract people into the field and stay in the field. >> i have to say something about your selective history. some people say, why is william bennett saying history is taught, that there's like a political edge to it, a rashal edge to it. it just reminded me, andrew came home from school in first grade, i said, what are you learning? he said what he's learning some time ago, i asked him basic questions. one was who is the father of our country. he said martin luther king. i said, close, close. let's open the history books. >> good to know about martin luther king. >> absolutely critical. >> it's the thing, now, we need to compensate for not having done this for a long time. fine, how about the whole story? the whole true story. >> martin luther king, i think, fulfilled the promise of our founding fathers because we were living a lie in this country for a long time, but let's find out -- let's teach about washington and let's teach about hamilton and jefferson. i bet you 95% of americans don't know about hamilton. don't know what hamilton did, his perhaps. >> andrew jackson. your guy, meachem filled that, a very important figure, that democrat. >> he did. he's doing one on georgeç h. w. bush, a great man. >> a very great man. >> before we go to break, 2012, the republican party, people keep wondering who will step forward and challenge this president. do you see somebody out there who is a strong figure? >> there's a list out now, you know the three or four people, palin and gingrich and romney. i was in a panel with the governors, i'll tell you, there was a lineup from my left, bobby jindal, haley barbour, tim pawlenty, chris christie, mitch daniels, bob mcdonnell. that's talent, real political tale talent, and some new guys, too. >> that new class of 2002, bob mcdonnell and chris christie. >> i will go for ryan. this guy -- >> ryan? >> paul. he's young. >> you will push paul for president? >> yeah. >> you and i may start the paul ryan for president task force. >> i was the first person out with the road map. i think the budget issues will be so important. let's see how he handles himself in the budget committee. >> you think paul might run? >> that's a personal question and this guy has little ambition. i have to push that into him. isn't that a terrible thing? >> a terrible thing to waste. >> he is real talenteded. >> he is. he's great. >> an important brook. >> "the american patriot's almanac". >> go east! >> and american academic sports. >> yes. >> nothing wrong with that. we went there and we found some republicans. >> but i went to texas. i just needed a balance. >> you needed diversity. >> we spoke to the group on election night, for all my republican friends, pause, everybody laughed. there were none out there. >> some people raised their hands. >> 2 out of hundreds of thousands. >> class speaker at my 25th r reunion, they asked for a copy of my remarks ahead of time. >> really? did they redact any of them? >> comingç up -- a person we always have to get her remarks before she speaks. >> that's true. i will check them over right now. we'll be right back. wall street is getting back on its feet. but the financial landscape is still full of uncertainty. 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. in congress last week, 20 term harlem congressman, charles rangel, seen here recovering from surgery to have this is groin replaced with his ass finally had to face the music when he was officially sense sured, next to expulsion, the harshest measure they can hand out to members. it arrest. i can't watch! >> will the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, kindly appear in the well. >> oh, my god, it's worse than i thought, they will put him in the well. >> representative charles b. rangel be publicly censured with this resolution by the speaker. [ laughter ] [ speaking foreign language ] he just gets up and she goes, yeah, you're censurd' you don't even have to stay late? >> that was funny. >> all right. 23 past the hour. joining us now from the white house, nbc news -- >> go ahead, i'm sorry. >> in the well! >> stop. >> was that not brutal? >> savannah, you will help us rise above this. white house correspondent and cohost of "the daily rundown," savannah guthrie. >> tell us about the halpern strategy? the white house embraced it. why did they embrace the halpern strategy giving up before the opening kickoff? >> reporter: it's a new one for me. >> it's give up and give the republicans whatever they want. >> reporter: i don't think the white house agrees with that analysis. that won't shock you. they think, how will you get a better deal by waiting until january and letting tax cuts expire for everybody potentially imperilling the economic recovery and you have republicans in control of the house, they think they have a better deal today than in a month, even if you take that gamble somehow you extract more concessions out of republicans once they have control, they don't want to play games with people's lives. that's basically what it came down to. they weren't willing to go to the mat gambling they will get a better deal somehow in january. they think the concessions they got are significant, unemployment insurance for 13 months. you do have to look back over the last year, getting those extensions has not been easy. as you know, we've all covered it, taken a little bit just to get these three months extensions something of a fight so they think the 13 month unemployment extension is significant and the payroll tax, too. >> how are they coping with their base? how do they plan to cope with the fact that politically, they have managed to go from being to the left of where independents and swing voters are on taxes, to now being to the right of where independents and swingç voters are on taxes? >> reporter: they have a significant problem. this isn't a side issue. this is central to the president's campaign in 2008. this was the core of what he argued to the american people. this is a very tough pill for the white house to swallow and a tough pill for some of his most fervent supporters to swallow, seeing that. >> this wasn't just the center of the -- i'm speaking like john madden, political analyst, this wasn't just the center of the president's campaign, this has been the center of the democratic platform since fdr, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, we have to help out poor and working class americans. this is an abandonment of basic democratic values. >> reporter: the office re-cues this whole argument, if you loved it in 2010, you will love it in 2012 in the context of a presidential election. democrats have to find a way to sell this better in 2012. frankly, it will be a rehash of what we just saw. some white house aides say, look, what are the democrats on the house grousing about? the white house says we pushed them to hold this vote before the mid-term elections, the house didn't want to go before the senate. in the senate concern among democrats republicans would offer an amendment that would extend all the tax cuts and didn't think they would get a better deal then. the white house today feels pretty positive about the deal they got, think it's the best they can do, know it's a hard sell in the house more than the senate right now because frankly, there are some senate democrats who will be supportive of what the white house agreed to on the estate tax but that's got some liberals and progressives on the house side furious. you think the income tax to the wealthiest is a problem, the estate tax is another one of those items on the progressive side of the ledger really gals them the notion it's going to not be what it would have been if the tax cuts had expired, it would have been something like ç 55% on estates of a million dollar, the white house cut a deal and now it will be 35% of estates over $5 million so significantly lower, on the other hand, it's zero right now. >> mika, these are things that we conservatives have been fighting for for years. bill clinton never ga gave -- people say bill clinton was a conservative democrat, bill clinton never came close to giving us this. it's stunning, a guy to the left of where america is has now darted to the right of where america is on this issue. >> you asked halpern a question, you bring up -- they held on to health care to the point where it became -- that was a campaign promise and that was ultimately, this is our campaign promise, we're holding on to this and will make it happen and they did. they let this go, not even publicly trying to hang on to this campaign promise. >> it is so over -- >> let's talk about the halpern doctrine. >> three objections progressives and liberals have about this. i can't take seriously their objection it increases the deficit. >> they don't care. >> they don't like the president gave in, they're tough and think it's bad he had to give in. he had no choice, middle class tax cuts about to expire. progress sift, this enshrines in the deal an inequality and gives wealthy people a much bigger tax break. that's a problem but the president can readdress it next year. the president cares about deficit reduction. >> you keep saying that. give me evidence of that. >> he built a health care plan he thinks will control costs and next year will put his credibility on the line and fight for deficit reduction. >> he's a trillion deeper in debt cause because of the decision he made over this weekend. >> because he had no choice but to make it. he has not endorsed the provisions in this agreement. quite clearly, he said, he doesn't agree. >> right. he said that. >> he doesn't agree with keeping the rates low on richest americans but he had to do it to get a deal, to keep there from being a tax increase on middle class americans he think is important for families and the % economy. the economy is in bad shape, needs short term stimulus. this package has short term stimulus. it may not be efficient in your view in terms of the richest americans but that's the best he can do under the circumstances. he can revisit it all next year. >> can you imagine taking halpern in to negotiate wit phil griffin our next contract. >> forget it. >> phil's going, i tell you what i will do. i will give you $12 and three proof of purchase seals from crisp. we'll take its. that's the best we can do. he had us in a corner. >> mark halperin says the president has no choice. if you're president obama, what would you have said? >> very simple. listen, here's the deal. economists will tell you you don't raise taxes during time of recession. they will also tell you there's a law of diminishing returns, once you get to a million dollar and above, it doesn't stimulate the economy. so we will give tax cuts up to a million dollar and if the republicans want to stop giving unemployment benefits to families during christmastime because they want to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires, we'll have that debate. he would have won that. >> he would have lost it on saturday. it would have passed? >> you let them expire. if they're not bush tax cuts, forever you let them expire december 31st, whatever passes is barack obama tax cuts, which you can then campaign on in 2012. i fought for middle class tax cuts. my republican opponent, he wanted taxes9wv[]ói cuts for millionaires and billionaires. >> savannah, thank you. we'll see you on "the daily rundown" at 9:00. coming up -- >> the best he can do. >> an update on the worsening condition of elizabeth edwards and her latest message to family and friends. we'll be right back. with the capital one venture card we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned a holiday trip to the big apple twice as fast! dinner! 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[ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. ♪ >> they're still drilling holes in the mines but the air is too toxic and dangerous there and a setback for the rescue effort. while nothing will save the 25 confirmed dead, there is a lot of attention being paid tonight to the safety of this mining company. >> welcome back. in april, a massive explosion ripped through a coal mine in west virginia, claiming the lives of 29 workers, a tragedy that exposed rampant safety violations by owners of the mine. now, a new piece by "rolling stone" magazine takes a look at the man called the dark lord of coal country. jeff, good to have you back on the show. >> thanks. >> right after this article came out, he stepped down as ceo. >> he did. >> will you take credit for that? >> i don't know. i like to think it helped nudge him out the door0aç little bit. >> this was a hugely powerful guy in the state of west virginia, to introduce him to the ad yercudience what happene? >> he's the owner and ceo and president and chairman of massey energy, the biggest coal company in central apalacha for three decades he's been the coal boss of that region, involved in lots of political campaigns, really throws his weight around a lot. kind of destroys mountains in apalacha. flashlight environmental points. >> is this a case you go to west virginia and talk to people, say, yeah, guys in new york city call him "the dark lord," we call him the guy that keeps us employed. >> you will hear that from some of the people who work for him because they are grateful for the jobs massey has provided. but there's also a huge amount of people in west virginia who have stronger opinions of him than i do or people in new york city do because they live with destruction of mountains and communities and miners working in unsafe mines. >> do you guys, believe at "rolling stone," not talking about you specifically, that like mcchrystal, this article may have driven him from his job? >> i don't know. that's between him and the board. we don't know what happened yet. i do like to think there was a little nudging out the door. >> what's the most damning revelation in this piece, other than the title? >> i think going into details about what was going on in that mine where the 29 men died in april, the number of safety violations, also polluting of the water supply in that region he had been involved with several decades, and the fact he pumped clean water to his own house in this region and let everybody else drink this polluted water. >> how could there be so many mining violations? does the state not have a good regulatory overview what goes on in these çmines? >> i think they have a lot of violations because they do have a good -- they are finding them and citing them but the problem they don't have much enforcement. the big problem is why wasn't that mine shut down given the violations. >> joe manchin wildly popular governor during that disaster, now will be a senator. what's his relationship with this blankenship? >> complicated. planning kenship is somebody nobody like manchin wants to tangle with, outspoken, a conservative in a basically democratic state, notorious for going after anybody who crosses him. manchin keeps his distance. >> did he contribute to manchin in the senate campaign. >> not that i know of. manchin did fly back on massey's jet to get back when the 29 were killed, he did fly back in the jet. >> what about jay rockefeller? does he get money from -- >> no, not that i'm aware of. he's not a big donor to political campaigns in the conventional sense. he spends his money on advertising in the state to promote coal and state races more than national front. >> would rockefeller consider himself an ally with massey? >> i don't think he would, no. >> how central is this business to the state's economy compared to 5, 10 years ago? >> very central. the problem is it will be less central as time goes on. the coal industry is in serious decline in west virginia, they've been mining coal for 200 years, all the cheap easy to get coal is gone. it's in decline. everyone knows it. even senator byrd talked about that before he died, west virginia needs to change, can't continue on in the 21st century like the 19th century. in a sense, blankenship is the last of the 19th century coal barroea barons and the future is they're not clear where. >> is he going toç try to diversify? >> no. they will try to sell coal to china and india, export more and more coal. not at all doing anydy versefication. >> wow. >> thank you. the dark lord of coal country in "rolling stone." thanks very much. >> how old is he, by the way? >> 60. >> just quit. may have been your article. >> right. >> still ahead, the "washington post," eugene robinson. he won't bite on that. and weighing in on last night's boston massacre. we're watching "morning joe." >> have we gotten an answer from rhoden yet? >> still waiting. >> the "new york times" times takes something off their site. we have to call them up. >> that's the headline that was removed and wiped from the face of the internet earth, joe is obsessed. we'll be right back. [ s. greenlee ] i would love to have been a musician but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music. the creativity, the innovation, there's definitely a tie there. one thing our scientists are working on is carbon capture and storage, which could prevent co2 from entering the atmosphere. we've just built a new plant to demonstrate how we can safely freeze out the co2 from natural gas. it looks like snow. it's one way that we're helping provide energy with fewer emissions. bankers are known to be a little bit in love with themselves.. trust me. 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. you know what julian assange reminds me of? the bad guy from "diehard." need to get bruce willis finish him off with a chain. a service revolver. >> "diehard villains. >> hans was the villain. wasn't that a great movie? >> that was bruce willis? >> my gosh. >> that's where it was set, at nakatomi plaza. >> one of the best bad guys. >> hans. >> who played him again? that guy. >> a great actor. >> great actor. >> i can't believe it. >> yes. >> a great, great actor, alan rigman. a phenomenal actor. known to a generation as hans, right, mika? >> i will be watching this action 14 times and weeping. >> please don't tell on that anymore. just stop. >> andrew will tell you he's a harry potter fan. but alan, grat a great a-- a gr. >> and supposed to be a big game, wasn't. rex ryan, coach of the new york jets, bill belichick, patriots and donald j. trump. hair blowing in the wind with patriots owner, robert kraft. first quarter, patriots jump out to an early lead. picks apart the jets, breaks a couple lame tackles. patriots up 17-0, end of the first quarter, brady fired çup jets we are hopeless. mark sanchez will have better days, this was not one of them. jets were going in to score, on the other side of the ball, patriots continued to roll. brady finds his favorite man, wes, on the outside. >> they were great, weren't they? >> they always are. 21 of 29 for brady. four touchdown, patriots humiliate the jets on monday night football. 45-3 this is final. 45-3. after the game, rex ryan, mark sanchez, talking about the debacle. >> got outcoached, outplayed, got our butts kicked. you know, i don't know what else you can say about it. >> we got our butts whipped tonight. flat out, that's the way you got to say it. outcoached and outplayed. the way the coach said it. >> jets are a good football team. i'm sure we haven't heard the last from them. tonight was our night. >> you can't lose to the same team twice. i don't think it's happened here very often since i got here in 2000. >> what is he doing? >> he's expanding the brand, not just a football player, and action player. who would argue with that? >> i would. look at that picture. >> thinking about life after football. >> look at that! no! >> i like the coat. >> and why -- >> someone spent some time at the mirror adjusting the collar and hair. >> my gosh, that is awful! >> is that wrong? >> he's beloved. >> i have a great idea. >> and not being forth right with this column -- >> my gosh -- >> this was written on december 6th by william rhoden, the day the patriots empire began to crumble. the day before the jets had their sr the patriots were in decline. they yanked the article off of the internet. >> you discovered that just because you were looking for it. >> we were going to put it up and say, okay. who is in declkn now? we'll have a little contest. they will not respond to our question, our repeated inquiry. >> maybe they haven't come in yet. it is only 7:55 in the morning. >> if the times isn't going to do it we'll have a contest. if you can find the william roden article where he predicts the decline of the new england patriots and rise of the jets that the "new york times" had on their website we'd like it because we'll full screen it and put it on the air. also, tony watches this show. >> every night. >> we need to send it to them. >> we'll get it over to those guys. the quote is the jets are in ascend ensy while new england is in retro grade. that's from the roden piece. >> i know. >> a link to some other jets website that had the text only. >> bootleg copy. >> can i show you one real quick? humans dressed up like pandas. >> i love these. >> why? >> it's a panda sanctuary where they're saving baby pandas and if they're going to release them into the wild they need to hwan it's like to be with the mama and human handling -- >> what just happened? >> those are people dressed as pandas. i don't mean to get all -- >> i've seen websites about people like that. >> it's awesome. >> eugene is back. >> you need the guy taking off the mask. 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to fight this thing to the end? it may be liberalism's last gasp for the foreseeable future in the house. >> i mean, whatç would be a la gasp about cutting a little bit more of a deal here than just giving in completely? >> i'm saying she kills it. does she have the votes to kill it in the house? >> unless there is an erosion on the republican side probably not. there are enough democrats to go with the republicans. it would be interesting to see. this vote could go a lot of different ways including barely passed. >> democrats still have a 70 plus vote and there are a lot of people who lost who have nothing to lose. why would they just roll over and pass this bill? >> i think a lot of them will look and see there is stuff in there good for the economy and they'll face the same pressure the president did which is if this goes down taxes for middle class americans will go up. >> let's go to gene robinson in washington. you write a column this morning about ben bernanke. one thing he pointed out that you were impressed with is the fact that the income divide between the rich and the poor continues to diverge, to increase in part because of inefficiencies in our tax code. what do you think mr. bernanke would think of this deal? >> you know, it was interesting that the chairman of the fed would come out and essentially say this society is becoming too unequal. this is a problem for us. short term and long term. i'm not sure if he would be wild about this. i'm also not sure he would be wild about what it does to the bottom line in terms of the long-term debt of this country. >> $900 billion, gene. is it not surreal that in the same week we're talking both sides are wringing their hands about deficit reduction and the debt commission they have added a trillion dollars to our national debt. i can make arguments for extending unemployment benefits, economic reasons and moral reasons. i can make arguments for extending tax cuts. i cannot justify another trillion dollars in debt for this country. >> it's hard@a= justify on policy grounds that is this a great idea. you can make a good argument as bernanke basically did that the economy needs more stimulus and so you could say, well, it's a trillion dollars but it's stimulating the economy. but most economists would say that tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 is a really inefficient way to stimulate the economy. so even on that policy ground, you know, i think this is not great policy. but of course the interesting question we're all going to be looking at is the political question and what does the democratic leadership do in the house? you know, i think halpern may be right but i'm leaning toward barely pass because i think there are a lot of people in the house who just hate this deal. and who are going to vote no. >> for people who get easily confused, i am a conservative, a small government conservative. i like tax cuts. i said a long time ago the president could not shut down gitmo. i disagreed with most of his economic policies. i'm looking at this as a political analyst. and i do not see how this does not devastate the democratic party's spirit. behind a man who campaigned on hope and change just two years ago. >> yeah. >> he has tripled, let's go through the quick checklist. only need three. all right? let's start with afghanistan. he's tripled the number of troops in afghanistan. next, gitmo. he promised it would be closed in a year. it is still open. let's finish with the extension of the bush tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires get it. that would be enormously dispirting to the democratic base which was already kind of depressed about that, you know, the series of compromises and what a lot of people saw on the part of the president. this was a signal issue. bush tax cuts equal evil. and so if you go along with evil that's not going to, you know, doesn't inspire your base. >> evil in the eyes of the base, for bloggers who get easily confused. he wasn't calling it evil. >> you named three things where he caved. where it looks like he didn't live up to his mandate but you can also name stimulus and health care or things where he stuck to exactly his promises. there is the argument in response to that. the question is, how do you -- shouldn't the republicans be called that on their hypocrisy here when all the dust settles? is that what we'll see? >> i'm all for political analysis. the president cares about getting things done. he doesn't care about making the base happy or getting re-elected. he wants to get this done. >> how can you say that with such certainty? have you ever said that about another politician? >> i have but he cares less about it than almost anyone i've ever covered. he wants to do the right thing. part of why i think this is good for him and the country is republicans now have a stake in governing they didn't have before this deal. they now own a piece of this economy the way they didn't before and that is good politically for the president in a way but it's good for the country because we have to have solutions that involve both parties. >> i wrote that in my political column this morning. this is what i don't understand, gene. the president, "the washington post" says he wants to be seen as the most reasonable guy in town. i have been criticizing him and conservatives for two years have been criticizing him for being left of center where independents and swing voters are economically. he has darted now to the far right economically if you look at poll numbers. a new cbs poll shows over 65% of americans oppose extending bush tax cuts for people making over $250,000. imagine if you put that number up to a million dollars. it would be 80%. cnbc/ap poll has the same number. this is not the president going to the middle economically on tax cuts. it's the president going to the right. >> well, it is to the right of public opinion. i mean, you know, i think as a practical matter people don't like the bush tax cuts but they really don't like the irs either. and so i don't think he does, certainly among independents and others, i don't think he does himself damage by going to the right like this because after all, you know, nobody likes the irs. my thought is i think the president does care about being re-elected. i think people around him certainly care about his being re-elected. and my question is this. where is the economy going to be in a couple years? i think that is the fundamental question that's going to weigh more heavily on whether he gets re-elected than anything else. and in the final analysis, yes the republicans have a stake in what just happened but it's the president who is going to get judged by whether or not an actual recovery really starts to happen and people start to feel a recovery and feel better about where the country is. i'm not sure that what just happened is, you know, advances that particularly far and so he is going to suffer with his base. i'm not sure he's going to get the credit in the final analysis from the larger voting public. >> you said a mint ago that the president got more than you actually thought he could get in a deal lick this. play devil's advocate for a moment. what would you have liked as a progressive to have seen even more than he got? don't ask don't tell as part of this? >> i don't think you could bring other nontax things in here. i think the provisions on the estate tax are particularly bothersome to progressives and i could see why they are upset about that. i assume the president only allowed that in because he needed it to get the overall package. he does care about being re-elected. in the short term that is not his focus or the basis on which he is making these decisions. he cares about his base too but he doesn't care about pleasing them as much as he cares about trying to fix the economy. >> that was the criticism. that he was giving too much power to nancy pelosi and everyone else to make all the decisions for him on health care, financial reform, stimulus. and now the same criticism is completely on the other side. >> mika, is there no such thing as moderation? do you go from being too progressive economically to being too conservative economically? do you go from yielding too much power to nancy pelosi to not listening to your base at all? >> he just has to accept it as part of the deal. >> come on. it is stunning to me, mark, that, i mean, i want to follow up with willy's question about progressives. it is stunning to me that this president has extended bush tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. this progressive president has tripled the number of troops in afghanistan. this progressive president that you say worries about deficit reduction just like republicans say they worry about deficit reduction, on the week the debt commission gets skewered for finding $4 trillion to cut over a generation barack obama and the republicans added a trillion more dollars to that debt in one weekend. >> in the short term we need stimulus and this has a lot of stimulus in it. next year, again, if five months from now he hasn't tried to address the deficit in a serious way i will have been completely wrong but that is what i think he is going to do. he had to get tax cuts extended. look, everyone agrees the republicans and the president agree in the short term we need stimulus. what do progressives care most about i hope? job creation. and keeping middle class people from taking a hit. what is this deal from the president's point of view? it has the potential to create and save jobs and keeps middle class people from taking a hit and therein lies a story, is the story, that we haven't discussed today. haven't really discussed over the past couple days since we've been dissecting this. the bottom line is, and what i've learned through this, through discussions, around washington and with the white house and others, is that the white house actually believes what i believed all along. which is the bush tax cuts actually stimulated the economy. so i guess the next question is, because they do. they believe that. they believe these tax cuts are good for the economy so i guess the question is what have they been talking about for the past decade if they've always believed what they are saying now off the record, where have they been the past decade? was it just a political tactic to win votes from progressives? >> i think some democrats say they haven't been that great for the economy. take a look at it. >> i'm not talking about some democrats. i'm talking about barack obama's team. they actually believe that these tax cuts stimulate economic growth. >> or -- >> no, they believe that. they will tell you they believe that. we have to extend the tax cuts because we have to get out of the recession. they will tell you that. >> okay. >> the most under reported story in the country right now is what the fed says about the economy over the next two years. it is going to be weak under a best case scenario and i think the white house is afraid for the reasons you say. they have to turn the economy around they're scared. they don't want -- this deal shares the responsibility in a way that is politically beneficial and i think good for the country. >> you want to hear from some progressives? >> i want to hear from gene. >> you know, i would say that at the very least, confronted with the situation he had, the one good thing i will say is that the president seems ready to own this decision and to the extent that he comes up. now he's made the decision, made the deal. i think he should come out and vigorously defend it and say this is good for the country not just that, oh, i was dragged reluctantly to this. if he really thinks the tax cuts are stimulative he should say, you know, i changed my mind. i decided. this is a new situation or whatever. but i think as a political matter at the very least he ought to be seen as out front as opposed to, you kind of being dragged kicking and screaming into doing something he doesn't want to do. >> real quickly do you agree with that? >> absolutely. i disagree with this deal for the president for political reasons but since he's done it i could not agree with gene more. he has to get out in front of it and you know what? he can start talking like a -- it certainly will take care of his problems with independents. listen, after this you cannot say he's a socialist. that's what the right has been calling him a socialist forever. this is income redistribution but it's taking it back to the rich. >> exactly. >> millionaires are getting tax cuts. billionaires are getting tax cuts. the estate tax is lowered. they're giving payroll tax breaks for the next couple years. my god, i would be afraid to campaign on this. as a conservative with a 95% lifetime rating. actually i did campaign on stuff like this. >> you did. >> oh, my god. >> gene, it is stunning. but you're right. he's got to embrace this now. he has become a jack kemp democrat. he needs to embrace it. >> mm-hmm. happy days are here again. >> eugene, thank you very much. >> arthur now. >> i would just love to be in nancy pelosi and harry reid's office today. you've got the statements from john boehner and mitch mcconnell throwing their arms around president obama saying this is our guy. >> this story may not be over. >> i agree. >> no. i know what you're going to say. >> i think nancy pelosi is the last line of defense for american liberalism. if i'm a progressive i'm looking at nancy holding on to her position saying thank god. we got one in washington fighting for us. nancy pelosi. maybe she writes a final chapter of this story and forces republicans and the president back to the negotiating table. >> steny hoyer votes for it though. >> does he? whew. >> i'm beginning to see your point of view on this. yeah. i think the story isn't written yet. >> it's the halpern doctrine. yeah. still ahead. >> i think a couple people agreed with him. >> yes. >> denis leary will be here and the political playbook straight ahead. >> good morning everyone. the arctic air is a big story with the snow in the great lakes this morning as you head outside wind chill is just biting once again from philadelphia all the way back to pittsburgh. we have the tree lighting ceremony tonight in d.c. and it will be cold. look at the wind chill in atlanta, 14 down through the carolinas and georgia. that's when you know it's cold. even orlando has a wind chill of 26 this morning. as i mentioned more lake effect snows for cleveland, buffalo, and syracuse. careful driving up there on new york state thruway or along the lakes on interstate 90. big picture we are going to watch quiet weather in the southeast and the middle of the country, quiet for now and a little buzz starting that we'll have a winter storm moving across the country. a significant snowstorm starting friday, saturday into sunday. we'll have details as we go throughout the end of the week. you're watching morning joe brewed by starbucks. when it comes to investing, no one person has all the answers. so td ameritrade doesn't give me just one person. questions about retirement? 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[ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. what happened was i said that i was, i tried to introduce myself to the people there and i said, i am what cbs can afford after they paid you $15 million a year. and then if i recall what happened afterwards that you came over to me after the speech and said you should get yourself a better agent. >> i didn't say that. >> i just -- >> i might have said that but not with the f part. >> that was garnished. do you ever read the news, like guess what happened today? >> 23 past the hour. welcome back to morning joe. let's take a look at the morning papers. we'll start with the "new york times." google opens the door to e books. after years of planning the search giant is now a major player in the digital book market offering a library that includes more than 3 million titles. >> and the hartford current a story i love. tough new restrictions for teen drivers. they're credited for saving lives across connecticut. they have an 11:00 curfew, have to receive more training, van to attend a seminar with their parent before getting a license. >> one of three men over the age of 75 are still sexually -- >> tim, what are you doing? tim. why are you doing this? get that down. what are you doing? you know, there are other studies too. we don't want to see that. let's go to politico. >> you know what they say on the numbers? a lot of these senior homes are basically like freshman college dorms. >> i don't want to know. >> serious. sneak out in the night. >> so glad insurance covers that but not other things. >> what is that random -- >> i think it's a good thing. >> i was adding my own dimension. >> with us now the executive editor for politico here with the morning playbook. >> boy, i love your segues. >> was there one? >> i didn't notice a segue. >> what's brewing in washington? >> let's start on something else really sexy. the u.s. chamber of commerce. >> oh, yes. yes, sir. comi coming under some fire from its local chambers. >> as you recall they spent $75 million largely helping almost all of it helping republican candidates get into quite a feud with this white house. it turns out there is a back lash at the local and state level for the chamber. as many as 40 different local chamber of commerces have either raised huge concerns with it, some of them are threatening to pull out of the broader u.s. chamber network because they're so frustrated about the back lash they're getting in their local community because they thought the chamber was too tough and too pro republican in that campaign and a lot of local businessmen and women were frustrated. >> you say a lot even in iowa and new hampshire. two big states. want nothing to do with the chamber of commerce now, right? >> true. a lot were in new hampshire. a lot in iowa. two important states. but also we see the chamber of commerce in the greater philadelphia area, greater seattle area, all raising serious concerns and some of them threatening to pull out. and my guess is the chamber probably doesn't care that much because they were able to raise so much money from the big corporations and play such an out sized role in this last campaign. the truth is like obama had to respond to that, there's been talk he is going to speak before the chamber of commerce to do something to ease the tension between obama and corporate america. >> i think he just did. >> exactly. >> he's a packer fan. and he runs a website. a news agency. what did you ask him? >> looking good. did you watch the game at all last night? >> i did not watch the game. i read about it. i like to see the jets get pounded but we have the patriots in new england in two weeks and we need that victory because we're looking at a showdown and in the season against the chicago bears, boot stomp them. we're in the playoffs. looks good. that's how it works. >> exciting. i am wondering if you read an article like william redman with the "new york times" did and it was completely wrong would you yank it down off the website and your news search engine just because it ended the jets aren't on the descendency? a big no on that one. i've written so many things that have ticked people off i'm kind of used to people yelling and arguing and screaming. you just stand by it. i think mika had the idea earlier come back with another column saying how i got it so wrong. >> interesting. >> he's a great writer. i'm just wondering why the editors would take that off the site and not put it back up. >> vexing. >> all right. enough. >> this does happen. >> yeah, it does happen all the time. in china. your timing is great. i'm so glad you went to youtube for comedic tips. >> thanks so much. >> take care. we'll talk to you tomorrow. still ahead denis leary standing by in the green room. he'll be out here to talk about his new book in a few minutes. he is tweeting about the world. amazing. up next, erin burnett. we fill them with extraordinary craftsmanship. we fill them with amazing technology. and we fill them with inspired design. and now your chevy dealer wants to fill them with as much good will as we can. come see how chevy is giving more. right now, get no monthly payments till spring plus 0% apr financing and fifteen hundred dollars holiday allowance on most chevy models. see how your dealer is giving at facebook.com/chevrolet. welcome back to "morning joe." time now for check on business before the bell with cnbc's erin burnett live at the new york stock exchange, and we continue your look at iran, erin, specifically companies doing business there. >> that's right. i know we have a lot to talk about taxes here as well. today we're going to tackle iran. i'm holding here the latest on iranian sanctions from the u.s. 56 pages. it comes out every two weeks. pretty darn complicated. i would think that sort of binary. they do business in iran or not. it's not that simple, and some companies are still choosing to be there. quick look. i know we showed you video of the iranian gap and samsung. a little bit of a ruckus going on here. we saw coca-cola. we saw -- we were in camry. we saw challengers for rent. ford and gm say those are not authorized. stuff gets through there, and china is still doing a whole lot of business with iran, which kind of puts the whole issue of sanctions in question to begin with. counter terror tsar at the -- he is the man in charge of who from america does business in iran and why. he is going to be our guest exclusively. we're looking forward to that, and one final thing to show you guys that i thought you would like because you talk about the mriblgt side here with the nuclear program. the most common bill in iran is like a $5 note. $50,000. take a look at what's -- it's sort of in the background of the note, but if you take a look, we have a picture to show you. you guys see that in the middle? >> in the background? okay. yeah. what are we diagnose. >> that would be a nuclear symbol. >> that's nice. isn't that sweet? >> right in the middle of the most common note is this giant nuclear symbol. we talked that to a whole lot of people there, and i know there's a shift in the country. some say less pro-nuclear, but all in, it's a nationalistic thing. they're sort of, like, yeah, of course, we want that. >> wow. >> it was pretty interesting. they would say that in the same sentence as they said we like americans. we don't like russians or brits. we love america. so it was a really interesting thing, and i thought that money kind of -- a picture said 1,000 words. >> kind of symbolic. must have been a fascinating trip. look forward to your special at 2:00. just quickly before we go, though, how are the market futures reacting to the tax compromise? >> big jump, and we're going to have highest open so far this year. you've got oil guys betting on and commodities in general that this may help the economy, but these are pretty painful numbers. oil at a more than two-year high. $90 a barrel. copper at an all-time high. lots of things are going to get more expensive, but we're going to have a big rally at least off the back because the market had thought we would get this compromise, but they didn't expect it for another month or so. >> erin burnett, thanks very much. have a good one. >> you too. >> up next, dennis leary right here on the set of "morning joe." we'll be right back. trust me. trust me. ya i like that. trust me. bankers are known to be a little bit in love with themselves. are we going up? 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"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. ♪ >> suck on this year. >> these are the wheats of -- tweets of leary. >> look. >> a great coincidence here. >> he said he wanted to be a reporter. >> look at you. >> give me a shot. >> exactly. the confidence, twinkle in the eye, good hair. >> the latest headline, there is a brand new book the greatest book ever written, the best book for christmas "suck on this year" written by the fabulous denis leary. >> i have never had a guest do his own -- >> this is a stunner. >> we saw the best-selling presidential biography of all time. mark halprin and john. >> game change. >> the working title for a year and a half "suck on this year." >> was it really? >> it was taken. >> what are the odds? what are the odds? >> that's where i picked it up. well, if he is not going to use it. >> so here we go. >> let's dive into this great tweet. experts, best time for sex is 7:00 a.m. unless she wakes up. denis leary, take your hit. >> wow. >> tough stuff. >> that's a lot of context. >> my wife was twittering. i had no interest in it. then like the idiot that i am, conan o'brien, who is like my fifth or fourth or sixth cousin -- i'm such a moron. >> you're all related in boston. >> john stewart wroed wroet a book, and he is a friend of mine, and competitively, i said i got to write a book. conan starts twittering, and i'm, like, i got to twitter. he has, like, nine million followers, and i have four. i'm a comedian at heart, so i have a wise ass remark to say over breakfast. so i just thought, well, nobody wants to think -- i'm not kanye west. nobody wants to know what i have for lunch or how many diamonds i have in my lower bicuspids. i thought i'll start doing this. i started to notice that theme thought they were funny, and i thought now i can find a way to make money for charity off of this because my portion of the proceeds goes to my foundation, the leary firefighters foundation. >> oh, really? >> it's not even like i wrote this book. i already wrote this stuff. i just got the big pictures and, you know, and printed them. >> by the way, it takes less than 12 minutes to read this book. >> i know. >> i love it. >> every other page is a picture, a funny picture, and every other page is giant print with a laugh in it. if you go to the bathroom christmas morning -- >> great book. >> i just read it. >> you did. >> yep. >> well, there's no scratch and sniff. i tried. >> last time you were here your book was "why we suck." it's kind of a playoff suck. >> don't read it. don't read it. >> no, no. >> that's yours. >> i'm not -- it's the next page. >> we're going to find it. >> so talk really quickly -- here we go. study. this is -- obese people have a decreased mental acute but incredible focus on pie. >> it's one laugh a page. i hope. you know? you know, christmas when you get those big books, you get the coffee table book, maybe you get the -- you know, the jonathan franzen new book, and they're, like, 700 pages, and they're intimidating. what do you want? you want a book like that that you can laugh at, you know, and take to the bathroom with you. >> read this. she likes this one. >> i'm going to get in trouble. >> report, amish population seems to be increasing. so much for the effectiveness of wood condoms. >> i'm laughing at that one myself. >> not just ineffective but uncomfortable. zoom he is at his own kitchen table. >> mike barnacle has a message to you, and we'll give it to you he at the end of this segment. >> can't say that on the air. >> tell us about the foundation that help firefighters. >> the money goes to the leary firefighters foundation. basically, you know, we're set up any money that we get we immediately get rid of. we're not a holding foundation. we buy and build training facilities and equipment for firefighters. we built the first high-rise simulator. this is hard to believe. in the history of the fdny over at the rock we opened about three years ago, and it's from the moment we cut the ribbon they started use this facility, which simulates any skyscraper in manhattan, whether it's a terrorist attack or an office fire, whatever it might be. we want to continue reoutfitting that building as time goes on and make it even -- have more modern, more modern, modern. i look at the money and look at what the firefighters want and we give it to them to build and buy what they need. >> it's so deep you have an entire show about it. >> my cousin, jerry lucy, of as great firefighter in worcester, massachusetts. he died in the worcester warehouse fire which was 11 years ago this friday. >> gosh. >> along with a kid name tommy spencer, who was a lieutenant, who grew up on my block, and he was a classmate of mine. six brave, brave guys. that's what started the foundation to help those families out, and then strangely, you know, two years ago from the fdny some were in worcester to help recover those bodies, and they were, you know, part of that attack on 9/11, and patty brown, who was a highly decorated. >> and take them to foundation and put the position to help new york city firefighters. i got to tell you, not only have these guys -- they just -- we can't pay these guys enough. i just have so much honor and so much admiration for those guys what they do, how they do it. you know, man, when you talk about bravery and courage, there's really only two grupsz of people that i can really point a finger at as true, true brave men, and that's the military and firefighters. when you look at the fdny and you see kids that are fighting fires here in the city and a lot of these kids serve in iraq and they serve in afghanistan and they come back to the firehouse. these are different guys. man, these are people that are way beyond the rest of us, you know? like i said, i just try to help them out as much as i can. >> we did see that on 9/11. a lot of people who really didn't focus on the fire, the warehouse in a town or somewhere else, everybody was focused on these guys that were running into buildings that were on fire knowing they may not come out again. >> when you think about it, they don't think of themselves as heroes. the thing i love about these guys is like on "rescue league" we might start work at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. these guys that the real firefighters would come from work, so we had a job last night, and they start talking about it like it's a game, but it's a xwam that they play. they went in and grabbed this kid, they brought the kid out and the thing bushed in three hours and they put it out, and what's for breakfast? you're sitting there like this wide-eyed going -- unless it was your own child, you can't imagine responding the way these -- these guys can't wait for the opportunity. >> if it goes wrong, they die. >> yeah. it's life and death. that's the most amazing thing. >> you are doing something cool with your show. the last nine episodes, next season, and you're going to wrap up on 9/11. >> it's going to work out the show finishes its run, i think, about two weeks before 9/11, so it's kind of come full circle because we started a couple years after 9/11, and we just felt like it was the right time to go out because the guy -- the characters on the show are dealing with the same anniversary that we're dealing with next summer. it was kind of strange with the real firefighters around. the fdny members to be sort of getting ready for that anniversary because it's right are not the corner, and i think a lot of people in this country don't remember it as much as people live in new york do especially if you are dealing with sfifrts. you're very aware of it. >> how do you feel about your taxes not going up? >> my taxes not going up? i guess i should be happy, right? >> that doesn't suck. >> it does suck. >> if barn agole would here he would ask you about the sox and how you feel about the sox this year. >> i think we were just discussing this before the cameras rolled. i have -- it's one of the few bright spots in my life, my children, my wife, my mom who is very healthy and the red sox. on one level i don't care because in 2004 it was great for me. 2006 -- that was the yankees. we beat the yairnkees four games in a row. it will always be sweet. 2007 was literally icing on the cake. >> gravy. >> i'm so happy i can do g to my grave. i have one. never expected to get two. really underneath it all, i don't really care. whenever one of my yankee friends says does something, was it four in a row? it's -- >> one year sometimes is enough. >> one year can be enough. >> what you say is red sox have lost their edge. >> no, i think -- i'm complacent, but i think my brother and my cousins, they're still, like -- it's like life and death with them. i can't believe that, you know, gonzalez might not make -- >> i'm, like, guys, we got two championships. we never thought we were going to get one. come on. >> are you a patriots fan? i'm a patriots fan and a green bay packers fan as well. i have a soft spot for the jets because of joe namath, and i got a lot of jets friends. last night was kind of sweet. >> before he goes, maybe one more. >> i'll tell you why we're going to do this one. because the indonesian smoking baby has been a huge scar on this show. we update it every time. he quit recently. here's what it denis writes. indonesia's smoking toddler finally kicks the habit. good news. it got easier, says denis once he quit drinking, which it does make it easier. when you start -- >> how about the picture of the baby? how about the picture of the baby? you can't read that one. >> that one i can read. >> it's -- >> let's change the word. 2-year-old indonesian boy has two pack a day smoking habit. pansy. >> that's a good way to put it. >> that's sort of not what it says. >> that's okay. it's more incentive to buy the book. >> it's funny. >> read it on christmas day. >> do you feel more relax odd a television show -- morning television show? you lean back. you have your arms -- you don't even wear a sport coat anymore. >> i have a good time. >> i know. >> seriously, i like it. >> you're evolving. next time are you going to be in your underwear. >> he did that once. we protested. >> come back in a year, and i eat too here. i'm going to be in sandles and pajamas with feet. >> dude. a new year resolution. >> denis leary, thank you. >> thanks, guys. >> i get paid for doing this, that's the kicker. isn't it ridiculous? >> i wrn. >> "suck on this year" the name of the book. >> let's now go to our news publishing desk with denis leary. >> best present for your day christmas morning "suck on this year" and you can take it to the bathroom. de ni s leary, msnbc wrshs it was so complicated. there was a lot of information out there. but it was frustrating trying to get the answers i needed. then my company partnered with unitedhealthcare. they provided onsite screenings, healthy cooking tips. that's a recipe i'm keeping. 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[ rattling ] [ male announcer ] need ink? staples has a low price guarantee on all the ink you need. find a lower price at another store, and we'll match it. that was easy. >> i'm going to do the reporter thing now. tomorrow mad money's jim cramer will be here. you know, just another day. >> it will be like a binge crosby-david bowie thing. what have we learned today? including a special morning joe announcement. when it comes to investing, no one person has all the answers. so td ameritrade doesn't give me just one person. questions about retirement? i talk to their retirement account specialists. bonds? grab the phone. fixed-income specialist. td ameritrade knows investors sometimes need real, live help. not just one broker... a whole team there to help... to help me decide what's right for me. people with answers at td ameritrade. get up to $500 when you open an account. if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. welcome back to "morning joe." >> some days we make up things we learn. we actually have news right now. you might have noticed our executive producer not been in the control room. here's why. 7:59 a.m. today ryan christopher licht. >> beautiful. >> second boy born about one hour ago lenox hill hospital here in new york city. doctors say ryan is in the high seven pounds. not willing to give out his weight. >> denis was so upset about bithat that he covered his face. or so moved by it. you couldn't see his tears of joy. >> this book is way cheaper than john stewart's new book. john stewart's book "earth" is, like, 7,000 pages, and it cost $157. >> that's outrageous. >> this is, like, $15. hey, come on. there's a recession on. you can't afford john stewart's book. buy this one.

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