0 >> come on. whatever. >> john heilemann was there. he was at the game. >> tweeting -- >> there's some of that, i'm sure. >> do they have v.i.p. coke rooms? >> there are darkrooms and do what you will. >> okay. very well. i think i'm going to be going to see some nba games. >> with heilemann. >> boy, the game goes so fast when you're with heilemann. it's first quarter, it's fourth quarter. >> you're sweating in the first quarter. it's amazing. >> hmm, interesting top story. >> scratching your teeth at halftime. let's go into the news. >> really? are you sure? >> i'm not really sure why people's teeth itch, but heilemann's teeth itch an awful lot. >> what is that about? >> we'll talk about it at break. >> is that a sign of something? >> good news, though -- >> what's that? >> heilemann is joining us tomorrow night in boston. >> good, he's bringing lots of money, i hope. >> of course. and other stuff. heilemann always -- >> by the way -- >> this is the big event that we are planning -- >> huge. >> you have to wear a mustache and perform. and if we raise $1 million for cure, which is for epilepsy research, david axelrod will shave his mustache off live on the show and we are almost there, like within about $100,000, apparently. >> usef contributed $50,000 and donald trump has contributed $100,000. >> have we got trump's cash yet? is it in? >> he's good for it. >> he's good for it. david knows trump. >> but we're literally about 100,000 away. >> what do you call rattner? >> he's calling friends too. >> i bet -- >> from his bath of money. >> i bet rattner could put us over the top. >> he could. >> put scotch tape on his fingers, go into the bathtub, and we're over the top. yeah, is rattner on today? buffe buffett's own, he'll give us -- he's got a couple billion to give away. >> that is mustache is gone. >> we're to our top story which has taken me six minutes to get to. three weeks -- >> it's worth it. >> it is worth it. three weeks after his reelection, majority of americans approve of the job president obama's doing in office. at 52%, it's the highest approval marks the president has received from the cnn/orc survey since may. a majority of people say his experience over the first four years will make him a better president in the second term. there is measured optimism, however, about the future. 56% believe the country will be better off four years from now, compare that to four years ago when 76% felt that way. moving on now, governor chris christie is getting ready for a second term. the republican governor has filed paperwork to run for reelection. christie currently enjoys a record high approval rating from -- following his hands on response to hurricane sandy. before the storm, 56% of registered voters in the garden state approved of the job he was doing after sandy, they were surveyed again giving the governor -- >> look at these numbers. >> 77%. >> willie, you're a new jersey guy. new jersey native. i'm sure you can't remember a governor having a 77% approval rating, a republican governor in a blue state having a 77%. 67% of democrats in new jersey give chris christie a positive rating. i just -- he's defying gravity politically. it's remarkable. >> by historical new jersey standards in these polls, that 56% number was outrageous to begin with. a republican governor in the state of new jersey gets 52%. yes, it's the storm, but it's also what we saw on the show, i think it was two weeks ago, him and randy weingarten sitting down. there are people who don't like his style, don't like the way he does things, but they recognize he's working with the other side, a thing we don't see much in washington to get things done for the people. yes, it's the storm, but also the body of what he's done -- >> mike, it's so unusual in a state like new jersey where scandal seems to chase one major politician after another from toricelli to menendez. and who would've believed this big guy that came out of nowhere would rise above them all? it is stunning stuff. >> well, big guy and big lesson to be learned by others in that business. that you can speak your mind as chris christie does every day all day, you can speak your mind and get away with it, that's not the wrong phrase, actually. >> be rewarded for it. >> by behaving the way chris christie did. by appearing with the president of the united states, by acknowledging the fact that the president came, and thank you very much for all your help in new jersey and appear to be and indeed be bipartisan. look at the rewards. people recognize it. >> i just wonder if during hurricane sandy if mitt romney had said i really, really, appreciate what the president is doing at this time of crisis for our country. we support what he's doing, we support the people in new jersey and new york and new york city and also during foreign policy crises where there might have been some alignment if mitt romney had just said the president is doing the right thing or stayed out of the way might it have made a difference. because there are times that happens, they could actually agree. >> and mitt romney polled well when he talked about his ability to work across the aisle when he was governor of massachusetts. and i think that's message for what's going on in washington right now. people are tired of gridlock, tired of the endless ideological warfare, and hopefully that and another bush when there was actually, you know -- well, wait, bush, clinton, bush, obama, bush. >> that's probably due for another obama. i think bush like christie is a republican who has crossover appeal. he has tremendous support among hispanics because of his position on immigration reform. tonight i'm going to be with governor bush. we are doing an event in washington talking about the need for educational reform as a big national security challenge unless we get k-12 education right, we're now not going to get this country right. and the fact that someone like jeb bush has become one of the principal champions of education reform has shown me how republicans can have appeal if they go beyond the narrow agenda. >> what do you think? >> i think he has enormous appeal. he's a very attractive candidate. and as richard pointed out, he is not the republican candidate we've seen in the past couple of elections. i mean, he has enormous appeal has softened his criticism as rice insists that she was relying on talking points from the intelligence community. last night, senator graham rejecting her defense but says he's open to today's meeting. >> she asked to meet with us and now we'll listen to what she has to say about her role in benghazi. the more i know about benghazi, the more upset i am that the consulate was even open on september 11th. when you look at the history and the reporting coming out of libya about the dangers, it should never have been open or heavily reinforced. after the attack, i think the story we were told about a spontaneous event caused by video where a mob turned into a riot is less credible than ever. >> she reportedly called the meeting. seems like a smart move. what do you think? >> well, i think it's a smart move for john mccain to take the meeting. they're boxed in. this is not a fight they want right now. it was a stupid fight to pick. they put themselves into a >> she was a spokesperson for the administration. she is up to be potentially secretary of state. she's not up to be mayor in bengha benghazi. they should have her up there, but ultimately they should ask her about trade policy and china policy and what she would do about other issues in the middle east like the iranian nuclear program. you've got the president-elect of mexico and washington this week, what would she do about u.s./mexican relations. there's an entire agenda out there. she's been ambassador to the u.n. what about what's going on in the u.n. this week? with the palestinians looking to have their status -- there's an entire agenda. the idea that we're focusing on one set of talking points is ridiculous. >> i know you to be a pretty nonpartisan guy, do you smell anything fishy with this benghazi investigation or the way it was handled? do you sense any incompetence? because if you talk to john mccain or lindsey graham, you ask the question, are we talking about a cover-up or general inconfidence? >> the idea was, why did they turn down the all the added security? why did the ambassador go without adequate security? that's a real issue. why were these decisions made? the question, then, of the talking points, what did the cia provide, why was the intelligence community late in apparently getting the points right? it's not the first time we've seen things like that. it's worth looking at. but the idea that a month later, we're still focusing on this rather than basic questions of foreign policy on how to deal with terrorism in these areas. seems to me we are missing the main event. we're looking for scandal. when it simply may have been confidence or bureaucratic, the normal stuff. >> well, this might get to the incompetence aspect of it. but how is it you figure it happened that susan rice gives the initial statement, which is understandable. she's using administration talking points, but continues with those similar talking points for a period of eight, nine, or ten days when a huge number of people in the intelligence community know that there was a lot more to it than that. why didn't anyone reach out to her and say you've got to adjust what you're saying? >> well, i don't know that no one did, and clearly there were people in the administration that want to present the image that the terrorism threat wasn't great. wasn't as great as some would suggest. i'm not going to sit here and say politics weren't involved. of course they were. and whenever you're giving talking points, do you stretch them in one direction, do you run with them farther in some ways than your counter -- but again, it was the middle of a campaign. i think the focus really ought to be on the full foreign policy of the administration on her potential qualifications to be secretary of state. that's a legitimate area. i think the idea of politicizing or just going narrow to keep drilling down on benghazi, what the senators are doing, i don't think they're ever going to get satisfaction. >> and by the way, again, just talk the politics of it. it doesn't make sense to keep obsessing on benghazi and why susan rice said what susan rice said one morning, one sunday morning months ago on talk shows. they all know. susan rice said what the intel community cleared. if susan rice had not said what the intel community cleared. she would then say she was unfit for office for ignoring what the intel community told her what she could and could not say. so move beyond it. it's just -- and if they want to have an investigation, figure out why four people died. and how we can avoid it. how we can avoid having u.s. ambassadors killed in the future. that's it. >> okay. coming up, warren buffett will be here onset. also senate majority whip dick durban. jake tapper and celebrity chef tom colicchio. >> those are all great. but now, unfortunately, we've got to wait for our good guests to come on. >> we're going to lose everyone. >> up next, jim vandehei joins us here onset. >> the clicking of channel changers across america. jim, we love you! come over here! >> bill karins -- oh, no, speaking of -- >> what? >> we call him c.g. for -- >> no, we don't. >> c.g., what do we got? >> now i've got to think of something creative for what c.g. stands for. snow is falling in a few areas this morning, we're looking at new jersey, looks like the suburbs outside philadelphia and new york could see snow. getting ready to treat a lot of those roads. a lot of that eco friendly rock salt. let's show you what's happening on the radar, the pink is where it's a little bit of a mix and the green is the rain. we've set up the boundary line somewhere north of philadelphia and just north of new york city. below that, it's kind of a mix or rainy around philadelphia. little later today, once the colder air moves in, we will see philadelphia changing over to snow. it's not a huge storm, this isn't a big ocean storm, not a nor'easter, a quick event during the daylight hours today. and the temperatures are pretty warm right now. new york city still above 40 degrees, philadelphia near 40, big cities and the airports shouldn't have much of an impact whatsoever today. just minor delays for visibility. again, the one to two, possibly three inches of snow to tburbs. cape cod, rhode island, or southern connecticut. temperatures will fall during the day. other interesting notes if you're in the southeast, bring the umbrella, heavy rain moving through, and it's very cold in the northern plains just like yesterday, bundle yourself and the kids up. if you're on the west coast, your nasty weather starts tomorrow. you're watching "morning joe." we're brewed by starbucks.