0 helmet and buckle my chin strap. >> get in there, kid. >> joe, you get ready, we have a big day. we're going to washington tonight t. white house. we're going to deutsche town university. >> plays hard. >> charlie dee con. >> it's funny. he plays 170 minutes. >> that's good. >> we have a lot to do. pace yourself. don't get too overheated. don't get into any scrum with anybody, because we have a big day ahead of us. a lot to do. a lot of traveling. a lot of meeting, a lot of parties. >> parties? >> we're going to the cocktail party tonight and george town university and my parents. >> what party? >> never mind. we are not going to a party. >> oh the white house christmas. >> yeah. >> i'm more excited about george town. >> how was it? >> it was interpretty good. it was small. they had it outside the gates to the white house. >> on the sidewalk. >> a guy came up in a food truck and had hot chocolate. it was kind of strange. >> we were wrestled to the ground. >> that was a fun game. >> pretty exclusive. >> let's get to politics. the question has long been, are you already? >> ready, water that? >> hi. are you ready, donny? >> i'm ready. the question has long been is there a republican who can challenge hillary clinton for president. a quinnipiac, new jersey poll shows new jersey governor chris christie with a 5-point lead over hillary clinton in iowa. interesting. >> interesting. >> yeah, everyone is saying how can he do in iowa? he'd lead hillary clinton by 9 points among independents. when asked if christy would make a good president, 40% of iowans said yes, 42% said they didn't know. in other matchup, clinton holds a narrow lead over the presumed runners jeb bush and ted cruz. now, the one thing that's interesting is chris christie is getting a taste of the national stage with all this bridge gate controversy and the questions of whether or not he closed a lane of the george washington bridge out of political retribution. they are looking into it and some people have resigned. but i don't know yesterday what the there there is. does anybody have anything more? because they are definitely after him. >> one thing i understand is he's going to be doing, this is what, if he runs for president, this is what he will be doing the next three years. they will scrutinize everything. >> i think the real question we hear over and over again is whether he's got thick enough skin to handle it. >> if he's going to be able to handle all the insit-coming and not take it person alally. >> he worked in law. those skills seemed the work for you. everyone asks the question, how will he play here when we travel and ask audiences around the country, a book tour, whatever, about him, the audience kind of goes crazy. >> they're very positive. >> they know who he is. >> it is an federal government dotal. mike barnacle, four years prior, we were asking people about mitt romney, to be excited for four years. i said, how many of you would like mitt romney to be president and quiet? >> this is like, de ac 'and i give talks. we never get any excitement or reaction to mitt rom fi. i will tell you, out there, it's chris christie, there is something people like about the guy. >> these governors are surprisingly. i think it has to do with problems the presidents are having. >> absolutely. there is no doubt about that. also the chris christie candidacy thus for undeclared has clearly peaked people's interest because of what they think they know about him and have seen on youtube and places like that and he is on the news, it comes down to whether it will be real or not if he runs for president, his decisiveness. he gives very short, crisp answers, yes, no, are you a fool, get out of my way. whatever you want to think, he is very decisive and sort of a change from public people you see coming out of washington. >> you see hillary clinton, people go crazy when they hear her name. one thing will be interesting is to see how she sort of emerges past everything she's done as being sort of contrived and planned and safe. even the job that secretary of state and then getting out and getting away at the right time. >> or because -- >> is why people. >> that's all you hear from people. i don't think they know what hillary really stands for. >> the message. >> she was in this position in 2007 as well. she was the presumed nominee she was presumed by some people to become the president of the united states. david axelrod who said someone working up close on the obama campaign, frankly, shelves not a good candidate in because she thought she was going to when. when she felt the heat in 2008, she bill a great candidate. you'd like to think if you are a supporter of hillary clinton, she will come up with a clear message, as you zbled she stood for nothing for a long period of time. >> the problem hillary's got is she's not new. we are coming off a period of universally you step back and go this has been the most ineffective government we've had in our lifetime. even if it's not the right change people want change, want nurse, want different. mike, to your point the brand we see of christie the skin of christie is exciting. it looks discs it smells different. >> it is different. >> we thought to peel back that skin, what is under feat there. what it stand for on the outside feels fresh, is fresh, i'm going. whereas hillary, no matter what hillary does at this point, hillary has been in our consciousness since 1988 and there becomes moments in time where we want that right turn or a left turn. i don't mean politically. >> right. >> i don't know how hillary overcomes the country's ned to make a move. >> there is such contempt for washington. there is such contempt for the establishment. i even think it's going to be a problem for these three senators, republican senators running as fire brands. we were talking about rand palm, ted cruz or marco rubbio, they are a part of the walk problem. washington, you know, the congress has anywhere between a 9 and 14% approval rating. i think that can be problematic. >> while we are there, why don't we move on to this. the senate is setting up a final vote on the bill later today. 12 republicans voted to advance the bill along with every democrat and independent in the state. minority leader mitch mcconnell and senators marco rubio and ted cruz and rand paul all voted against the measure. a number of republicans were against a portion of the bill that would cut $6 billion in retirement veterans for en veterans, harry reid blocked an amendment that would block those cuts. >> so harry reid actually not to keep the cuts in for military retirees? did the republicans come up with another alternative? that's what we need to check and find out. >> i will say, you know what, we got what, a $4 trillion budget every year? >> yeah. >> and the only place these people can find to cut spending comes from military retirees, the same people? >> everyone knows that's not true. >> what do you mean everybody knows that's not true? >> you can cut other ways. >> you are agreeing with me. it is such an insul to the. >> thank you. >> men and women, we have been supporting. >> we're on the same page. >> as they go off to war and everybody lines up, they all salute, good, we love them, god bless the usa. i think i'm going to cry. where do we find such men and women? and they're the only people. >> in the food stamp line, that's where you find them. >> translator the only people whose benefits we can cut? i'm sorry. you know what, that's just obscene. >> that is sick. it's obscene. you look at what these people have done for us over the past 12 years. look what they've done for us over the past 50 years. 100 years. we're cutting tear military benefits? that's the only place we can find in this budget to cut? >> yesterday, six americans were killed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan. >> that brings the killed in action total up to over 2,600 for just the war in afghanistan. the idea that anyone in the united states senate or the united states house of representatives can't find another place to cut subsidy, appropriation, whatever, and they have to cut veteran's benefits? retirement benefits? whatever. it's obscene. they should defend that. >> if you were asked, the question we were asked around the table, what would be in these guy's response? >> you know, i got to tell you what shocks me is there is this attitude that somehow they're getting a free ride and democrats are actually saying. we heard it from chuck scheduler. i'm sure you will hear it from harry reed, federal ploy yes, sir are having their colas trimmed. so we knead to do the same thing for military retirees who go off and fight at war. i think that's absolutely obscene. i think that's an obscene argument. just like i think it's an obscene argument that congress won't cut tear pay. if they will cut the benefits, why doesn't congress cut the retirement benefits of themselves? >> hey. they had the government shutdown. >> you could cut one weapon's program in the pentagon. just one weapons program. one plane that's on the firing board. >> they don't do that? >> they don't do that because the military defense contractors give money out to all the members of congress and they've chopped it up and they've spread the money out so much that you never know, you know, it's so funny, within i was on the judiciary committee. you go in, boom, it was republican versus democrats. you know, right verse left. >> i was on the military services committee. i'd go in, they'd talk about a helicopter. they'd go up sideways and spit candy out to kids. whatever, some by czar thing we don't need. you couldn't tell. it took me a while, why are the democrats for this? are the republicans for this? i don't understand. it ends up, it's the checks, their defense contractors are paying out to these congressmen and senators. unfortunately, military retirees don't have enough money or lobbyists to pay them off. >> tom colburn came up with agregious budget items, one a blimp they sold back to the contractor for $300,000. >> i actually dot that here this year's list by colburn accounts for $30 billion in wasteful spending. $125. that's small potatoes. for nasa to make a pizza $1.5 million for the fbi to make sure they are being portrayed accurately in hollywood films. the state department sends $330,000 buying facebook likes. >> wow. >> why? i want to buy some likes. what? >> you know what, that's ridiculous. it's not like they were buying a megablimp or something. >> oh, wait, the u.s. military bought a peg ga blimp. >> they bought a megablimp? >> why are you buying $300 million. it made a fly over new jersey before being scrapped. i don't get the likes. >> someone is spending the megamillions ticket. >> that's a difference. >> wow. >> you know what, though, all these guys who we're a flag bin i pin. they do a photo op. the troops and all that. show it. prove it. it's hard enough for these guys within they come back, they don't get enough money as hard as the va tries, they don't get enough care. they're not taking care of them the way we promise. we sent them in with planes in buildings. don't do. this take care of these guys. >> i saw this first hand. we had more in my district than any other district in the united states. when they rolled up. tricare in 1995. they broke every promise we make. we had to raise hell for a very long time. we got some of it fixed up. you will still hear people inside the pentagon complaining about health care and complaining about benefits. you know what, a promise was made to these men and women. mike, they get a kid to come in when they're 18. hey, let's join army, navy, air force. all over the coastguard and what do we get? you get this, this, hey. and you get free health care for life. >> that's the promise they made and they break that, congress breaks that promise every year and they go, oh, it's just too expensive well if it's too expensive, stop sending kids off to war for multiple tours of war. >> for multiple tours. it's obscene. >> as the website goes under new management. did you hear about this? >> no. >> former microsoft executive will take over the management of the website. dell benefitay retired recently. the white house will also look to increase awareness of the affordable care act to women and minorities. president obama and the first lady will meet with a group of moms and michelle obama will conduct a series of radio interview, including one with msnbc's al sharpton, yesterday, the president hosted a group of tech following executives for what the white house officials build as a discussion of the health care website. however the executives had a different issue in mind. >> that fls the nsa story as well which they were talking about. be you the group of moms today at the white house will be covering that. we'll have more on that tomorrow. >> so it's good. they're brigg somebody in from microsoft to run this thing. >> we work with the office division i division. he's a super guy. >> really? >> the reality is it works. our friend steve ratner when they reached out to the private sector to save the car industry. these are the smartest mind. i think it's a step in the right direction. also new poll numbers, i think there is a 70% increase or decrease as far as people's negative views of obama care in the last month. you know, there is a process to slowly, slowly rebrand this thing. it's not going to happen overnight. and the numbers over the next six to nine months really have to swing definitively in the president's favor. there is a bottoming out at this point as far as a negative brand of obama care from what they do from here. >> it's going to be hard to completely turn that aroundr around. i think if we turn it around, it will be person by person, family by family. >> that will take a really long time to do and they could do it. but just for political reasons. they're on a very, very short time frame because of the election that's in what 11 months. >> we'll see. i have a prediction. coming up on "morning joe," -- no, we have to go to break. for tim kaine joins us. >> it will work. >> yes, exactly. >> robert gibbs, we'll talk to bill kristol and later star of hit net flicks series "lillehammer." steven van zandt. first. bill kierans with a check on the forecast. >> good morning to you, mika. yesterday in the middle of the snowstorm, our government announced that november across the entire globe was the warmest november ever recorded going back to 1880. pretty significant. the reason was because of this. we had an extremely warm november all across russia. even tow we were a little cooler than normal. because they were so much warmer across russia, that really skewed how november went. that was even during an n el ninio type year. warm-up is under way for the seaboard. this weekend, we will pay the price for thunderstorms in the deep south and wet weather through the ohio valley. so today it's still chilly in new england. look at the warm weather from dallas to kansas city and denver. enjoy your mid-winter break. some of that warm air will head to d.c. this weekend. we could be 70 in d.c. on sunday. 70. you won't even need a long sleeve shirt. you are watching "morning joe." [ music playing ] . did you get chips for the party? nope. [ ding ] cheese plate? cheese plate. no, i made something better. you used the oven? boom. [ male announcer ] pillsbury crescents. make the holidays pop. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] own your obsession with the exceptional values during the season of audi. visit audioffers.com today. ♪ you give them the giggles. tylenol cold® helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol cold®.