0 we had that very long, hard, primary campaign. i worked very hard, but i lost and president obama asked me to be secretary of state, and i said yes, and why did he ask me and why did i say yes? because we both love our country. >> congressman paul ryan today is spelling out what he learned from the election, he speak out as the vice presidential nominee saying moving forward the gop needs to lay out its vision with even more specifics and with a broader appeal. meanwhile, the nation's capital today there was a powerful unprecedented show of public sentiment in gun control. the million mom march brought together thousands from all over the country including 100 people from newtown, connecticut. parents, pastors and gun violence survivors calling for action in the wake of the murders at sandy hook element y elementary. services, reinstating the assault weapons ban and limiting high-capacity magazines as well as enacting universal background checks. common knowledge around here, craig, is that a lot of those have a good chance of actually getting passed through congress with the exception of that reinstatement of the assault weapons ban. senator dianne feinstein introduced a tough bill to ban assault weapons this week and even she said it will be a tough uphill battle and there is still fierce opposition in such a ban in congress and throughout the country, the nra has talked about that, as well. on friday, vice president biden kicked off the public campaign to rally public support for the stever gun me stiffer gun measures and senator tim cain. here's what the vice president had to say on friday. take a listen. >> it's a consequence of what happen happened. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: the group called organizing for action, craig, which is essentially the relaunched branch of the obama campaign is also helping out in this effort. they are sending out emails and trying to rally support at the grassroots level for stiffer gun legislation and this continues to be an incredibly divisive issue and new legislation will be tough to get through both chambers of congress. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you so much. we'll check back with you later in the show. joining me now, christina ballantoni and the congressional reporter from "politico." bank to both of you. >> christine, along with big shows of support like today's march and the obama administration taking this push for gun control right to the american people, as well. is the white house -- are they even going to bother trying to work with congress on this or is their plan to purely galvanize public opinion? >> it's both. they'll be working with congress on the things that there is support for. a lot of support for mental health funding and taking a look at that. the high-capacity magazines is an issue that both congress and the white house keep talking about and expect to see some agreement on that, but it is a matter of taking it to the people and what vice president biden did on thursday -- and that was a big deal. he actually took questions from real people and opened himself up for half an hour to questions that doesn't really happen and they're not doing this on accident. they're not going to virginia, for example, on accident either. they're trying to galvanize the virginia tech community that was struck by tragedy several years ago to make sure they get action on their own behalf. >> there's been some talk of violent video games and the president did call for funding to study the impact of those games on young minds, but why has there not been more talk about violence and movies and white house and television from the white house or vice president biden, for that matter? >> the entertainment industry is very powerful in washington and it's got a key ally in the white house. folks in hollywood have spent an enormous amount of time raising money for this president, helping him get elected and in a lot of ways that influence is seen. the motion picture association of america is a very powerful group. chris dodd, the former senator is ahead of that group. that had something to do with it. instead, as we've seen, a big push on the gun control issue and less so on the entertainment side, but i think what you'll see is initially them trying to double down to the universal background check piece of this because that's the area where they see some consensus particularly on the democratic side. >> that's also one of the areas where john six pack sitting at home saying i have to show my driver's license to buy sudafed. it kind of makes sense to be subjected to a background check to buy a gun, as well. do you think, christina, that the video game industry and the entertainment industry, are they going to get a pass at the end of this process? >> i mean, that's a tough question what you define as a pass, but what you are looking at is people preparing to sort of take the heat, particularly in president obama's state of the union and he's not afraid to mention video games sxhooez not afraid to say this is an effort and the nra has said that, as well. so it's definitely going to get a look, but this is not a new issue and what manu says is exactly right. you are going to expect a political fight on both sides on this. >> gabe rielle giffords will spend more money in 2013, and this will will be a battle. >> she mentioned the google fireside chat. i want to play a snippet of what vice president biden said and talk about it on the other side. take a listen. >> i'm much less concerned, quite frankly, about what you call an assault weapons and i'm about magazines and the number of rounds that can be held in the magazine, but the point is that the fact that violent crime is down and there's been a proliferation of assault weapons, quote, unquote, as was defined up until now on the street does not suggest that taking the assault weapons off the street does not, in fact, make it safer particularly for the folks that are mostly outgunned cops. >> is the vice president, is he already walking back the assault weapons ban? >> i think it's a little bit of political reality. getting an assault weapons ban is virtually impossible given that the republicans control the house and there are moderate democrats who are very opposed to much stricter gun legislation and especially ones who are up for reelection that say in states like alaska and louisiana and they're not exactly very popular. they're trying to be -- both politically realistic and sort of setting the stage and what they can actually get through, but they also don't want to back down in what they believe in which is to actually, reinstate the assault weapons ban and reduce the amount of high-capacity magazines. so you'll see the rhetoric will still be focused on the assault weapons ban and the reality, the white house knows what's politically feasible here. >> we will be coming back to you in just a few minutes. we appreciate it. >> coming up, a health alert. the flu has left millions of us miserable. there are folks that weren't at work as a result of this thing. now there's another microscopic troublemaker on the loose. also the chair that just won't quit. if you think it's gone to the scrap heap, you're just plain wrong, punk. first up, women on the front lines. we'll talk to a woman who served in iraq that will talk about what the change will mean for the u.s. military and what it will not mean, as well. you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. 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