fences with big business. >> this is clearly the bill daley white house strategy. >> i just want to encourage you to get in the game. >> first, a new business minded white house chief of staff, then cozying up to the chamber. >> i think it's a really bad idea. >> where does that leave progressives? howard dean will explain. >> liberal democrats like myself thinking with the president and the chamber of commerce about how we create jobs in this country. >> you have the u.s. chamber of commerce putting millions of dollars to run against democrats, to run against the healthcare legislation. >> applause from the chamber the day after the president suffers nonstop bill o'reilly interruptions. >> you see how often i had to interrupt him. >> normally i ask a question. do you think you changed as a person. >> preoccupied. >> bill didn't want to let that happen. >> the president knows my style. >> saw the president's eyes go. >> howard fineman on o'reilly versus obama. >> best question in the interview. >> does it bother you that people hate you. >> did o'reilly ask obama that? >> said it at the same time, then o'reilly shouted out jinx. >> how did it get here? how did the moon get here? how did the sun get there? >> and sarah palin has even dumber questions than o'reilly. >> we need to find out who is behind all of the turmoil. we want to help them. i have a journalism degree. >> joan rivers thinks sarah palin needs help, and joan will get the last word on this. >> is it hot in here? or is it just me? good evening from new york, i'm lawrence o'donnell. i don't blame bill o'reilly for stupidly predicting his live interview with president obama before the super bowl would be, quote, the most watched interview of all time. when you run a three-ring circus like he does, you will say anything to get people into the tent. and you never care about being proven wrong after the fact. o'reilly's interview never had a chance to come close to the record set by barbara walters when she interviewed monica lewinsky while 74 million of us were hanging on monica's every word. but o'reilly did have a chance to tell us something we didn't know, to get the president of the united states to say something new, something news worthy. and on that score, o'reilly failed more miserably than anyone that has ever gone before him. he definitely set the record for the most empty presidential interview of all time. how did o'reilly do such a terrible job? well, interrupting sure helped. o'reilly's relentless barrage of interruptions eliminated any possibility that the president might wander down a verbal path that actually led to something interesting. watching the live interview, it was impossible to keep track of how many times o'reilly interrupted. turns out it was more than i thought. a lot more. >> mubarak, is he going to leave soon? >> you get all the groups together in egypt. >> what happens -- >> you know, what we can do, bill, we can say that the time is now for you to start making a change in that country. >> he's already done that. mubarak does a lot of things to the united states. i'm sure you're aware of that. is the muslim brotherhood of great concern to other people, a threat to the usa? >> they are well organized. it is important for us not to say -- what i want is a representative government in egypt, and i have confidence that if egypt moves in an orderly transition process, that we'll have a government in egypt that we can work with as a partner. >> judge in florida says new healthcare law is unconstitutional. supreme court may follow. it is very close. are you prepared for that law to go down? >> we've had 12 judges that just threw this case out, the notion -- i don't want to spend the next two years fighting the battles of the last two years. >> but you have to. >> i don't think -- >> if you have ideas that i can embrace on things like -- >> they are not going to. they are going to wait until it goes to court, wait until it gets thrown out, 5-4. my question, are you prepared if it's thrown out, what are you going to do? >> i am not prepared to go back to a day when the american people, if you have a preexisting condition. >> all right. >> you can't get healthcare. >> the "the wall street journal" thought you were a left wing guy. >> that's like quoting the new york times. >> do you deny their assessment? do you deny you're a man that wants to redistribute wealth? >> absolutely. >> majority of people in a poll do not support obama care. >> i think it is evenly. >> it is close. it is evenly divided, bill. how we build a competitive society at a time when we're losing jobs. >> some see that. others say it is a huge government intrusion, you guys just want to take over basically decision making for america. >> if you've got healthcare you like, you keep it. >> i know. mr. president. i listened to it every day. >> and i listen to you. we are each of us going to be responsible for our own healthcare. that's something that the majority of americans want. >> you understand that a lot of americans feel you're a big government liberal that wants to intrude on their personal freedoms. is it true you're moving to the center? because you were set up over there and you moved to the center. >> the refocus is not on fighting the battles of the last two years. i didn't move to -- >> you haven't moved anywhere. you're the same guy. >> i'm the same guy. how do we also make sure ordinary americans can live out the american dream. >> what's the worst part of being president of the united states? >> worst part of the job is first of all i have a jacket on on super bowl sunday. if i wasn't president, that would not be happening. you know, you can't go to the corner. >> everybody watching every move you make. >> every move you make. >> what is it about the job that surprised you the most that you weren't prepared for coming in here? >> easy stuff gets solved somewhere by somebody else. by the time it gets to me, you don't have easy answers. you don't have the best -- >> so it is wave after wave of complicated problems? >> yeah, well, and you have to make your best judgment. >> do you think you have changed as a person since you have become president? >> i think if you ask michelle who knows me best, i think, or my closest friends, i think they'd say i'm basically the same guy as i came in. >> can i tell you what they say? >> yes. >> you're much more guarded. >> when you're in this job, everything you say can affect markets. >> even on a personal level, people that know you say he doesn't have the -- he's not as light as he used to be, not as spontaneous. >> i would say that's probably true. for all the arguing we get into and all the debates between democrats and republicans. >> does it deter you that so many hate you? >> people that dislike you don't know you. even the folks that hate you, they don't know you. what they hate is whatever fun house mirror image of you that's out there, and they don't know you, and so you don't take it personally. >> you don't? >> no. because you know if you just -- >> doesn't it annoy you sometimes? >> look, i think that by the time you get here, you have to have had pretty thick skin. >> who's going to win the game? come on! >> bill, here's the thing. once my bears lost, i don't pick sides. >> so you don't care? >> i do care. i want a great game. >> i have to say i enjoy talking with you. i disagree with you sometimes. i hope you think i'm fair to you. i try to be. i wish you well in the next two years. >> always a pleasure. >> joining me now, howard fineman of the huffington post and msnbc analyst. always a pleasure, the president said, after 42 interruptions, 43 interruptions. not a single completed answer. i listened very carefully. i didn't learn a thing. did i miss anything in this interview? >> you didn't miss anything. i thought the president there was going to answer when asked what is the worst part of this job, that the president was going to say i'm in the middle of it now. that's of course what bill o'reilly would have wanted. i think he was trying to get some kind of minute out of it, and i think the president handled it well. i talked to white house people, tried to draw them out on this topic before i came on the air. they were very cool about it. they were saying we knew what to expect. we knew the president had been interviewed by him before. david axle rod has done his show. they knew what they were getting into and the president was determined to smile no matter how many times he was interrupted. >> was that the best way for the president to handle it, smile at the rude guy in your house and hang in there? >> yes, i think so. i talked to some pollsters, fair minded independents that are out there, it is a polarized country out there, probably didn't like the president of the united states being treated that way, but this wasn't about the president, this was an interview about bill o'reilly. and his modus operandi was to get the president to put up with it because he has to speak with all the people. it wasn't a record setting audience, but still a big audience. >> why hasn't bill o'reilly asked sarah palin what it feels like to be hated? >> gosh, listen, this was a piece of political theater. this wasn't journalism as we understand it. this was political theater. this was an obligation to the president, become almost like a state of the union that every president is interviewed before the is super bowl by whatever network hat show. the president had to do it. they grit their teeth and did it, every built as much as the president may grit his teeth going to the chamber of commerce. this is part of the american landscape. you do it, you try to smile. the only news that was made perhaps was that the president said he listens to bill o'reilly. >> by the way, best answer ever to what does it feel like to be hated. given by cyrano de bergerac. he was asked that, he said i love hatred. imagine how it feels to face the valley of a thousand angryyes. obama should have gone to that. >> i think he did fine. when the president smiles that smile, you know, that covers a lot of situations, and i think he did it very well. i think -- by the way, i think the president gave as good as he got there. that's the best he can do in that kind of situation. and i think he acquitted himself. >> your part of the biggest news of the day, sale of the huffington post to aol. how does this advance and is it the final step in the advance of arianna huffington's plan to take over the world? >> i think arianna has more continents to conquer. we are going to double and triple the audience, have more resources for news gathering and be able to extend the conversation. the key to the huffington post is not just the news gathering but conversation about the news. now we go back to one of the originators of two way communication on the internet, aol and try to bring it in. >> howard fineman of the huffington post and msnbc hated by no one. thanks, howard. today, president obama addressed the united states chamber of commerce, yes, that chamber. the one that spent millions trying to defeat democrats in the last election. former governor howard dean joins me. and later, the road to ruin. sarah palin says that's where president obama has the country headed. she says this while trying to invoke the memory of ronald reagan. she doesn't quite have the reagan optimism thing down yet. r is sweet... and more. if you replace 3 tablespoons of sugar a day with splenda® you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. that's how splenda® is sweet...and more. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. diabetes testing? it's all the same. as the country waits for the economy to rebound, we keep focused on things like unemployment numbers, retail sales and gdp. in a sign the economy is on the rebound, american society of plastic surgeons says there were 13.1 million plastic surgery procedures last year. that's a 5% increase from the year before. in another stroke of bad luck for the white house, this good economic news came out after president obama gave a speech to the chamber of commerce today. we'll talk with governor howard dean about that speech, and later, speaking of plastic surgery, joan rivers tells us the story behind the story of her big super bowl ad. to be here today at the chamber of commerce. i'm here in the interest of being more neighborly. i strolled over from across the street. and look, maybe if we had brought over a fruitcake when i first moved in, we would have gotten off to a better start. but i'm going to make up for it. >> today, president obama met with an organization representing and paid for by the nation's largest corporations. during the 2010 mid term election, the chamber of commerce expressed its displeasure with the president's agenda by pouring tens of millions of dollars into republican campaigns. with an eye on 2012, the white house is now seeking to build a bridge to the chamber. the outreach comes at a time when the ceos in the president's audience today are riding a wave of income equality the likes of which we've never seen. back when business friendly republican richard nixon was in the white house, ceos were really rich. they were making 27 times more than the average worker. now they are obscenely rich, paying themselves 262 times more than the average worker, and they don't work any harder than they did in the 1970s. president obama took the opportunity to gently suggest ceos might consider reinvesting in america for a change. >> today, american companies have nearly $2 trillion sitting on their balance sheets. so i just want to encourage you to get in the game. >> many progressive groups are not pleased by the latest display of, quote, sucking up to wall street. the agenda project released this ad today. >> you deserve to know when you're elected officials are meeting with lobbyists. you deserve to know when your elected officials are meeting with lobbyists. >> you deserve to know when your elected officials are meeting with lobbyists. >> joining me now, former governor howard dean. thanks for joining me tonight. >> thanks for having me on, lawrence. n they should be worried? >> i don't think so. the chamber, this is a really interesting meeting. first of all, he gave a business oriented speech, but he's done that before, and that's appropriate at a time where jobs are in trouble. he did talk to them about investing, which they haven't done as much as they should. this is also not wall street. these are the guys that actually do create jobs, which wall street mostly pushes around paper. these guys had mostly nothing to do with getting us into this recession, which wall street of course is probably the largest factor in. so it's not the same as wall street. the other point i make, it is kind of an interesting political deal. the president gets to look like he's in favor of jobs and move to the middle. the chamber changed in the last election cycle and became part of the right wing. the kind of ads they ran were embarrassing. a lot of local chambers stopped paying dues to the national chamber. corporations, large corporations didn't want to be associated with it. so the chamber got rehabilitated itself. they got a way to go. they were the most partisan organization in the last election. so this is a very interesting thing. if i were the president, i'm not sure i would have been interviewed by bill o'reilly, but i'd go to see the chamber. but the chamber gets to be rehabilitated a bit as well. >> governor, i thought there was a huge omission in the speech. really infuriating omission which i will get to. the president talked about the things he was trying to do to make america a more business friendly place for these guys to do business. and then he said this. >> now, to make room for these investments, in education, in innovation, in infrastructure, government also has a responsibility to cut spending that we just can't afford. that's why i promised to veto any bill that loaded up with earmarks. that's why i proposed that we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. >> governor, to pay for the investments, all he talked about was spending cuts. he did not say one word about the top income tax bracket that we just had that big fight over in december. the president said at the time he still wants to increase it, they only extended for two years. he's got to convince the country that we need to increase it those four percentage points, and the people that need to pay that income tax rate were sitting right in front of him. wasn't this the place to make that case to them? that they will be investing in a better country by paying their fairer share of taxes? >> i think that was a mistake on the president's part. the president got a lot of cudos for mentioning he wasn't going to extend the bush tax cuts again, he did not do that here. this was a little of tell them what they want to hear and leave the other stuff out. that i think was a mistake. look, the business community has in the past been socially much more responsible than they are now. i totally agree with this inequality stuff. and it is not a left, right issue. the fact of the matter is when social inequality and wage inequality gets too large, you have social instability. we are in a position now where we are in trouble in this country. i wouldn't say we could be egypt next week, but people really are disillusioned by the government and corporations. they don't trust any institution very much, and that's why. i think the president missed a chance to say that in front of the chamber. he would have gotten i think a lot of credit from the american people if he had. >> and governor, he gave the brilliant description of regulation and how regulation can be beneficial to business and beneficial to the consumer, and i've never heard a president describe that so smartly, and i think the same kind of intelligence could have brought to the top tax bracket. you mention the o'reilly interview. let's listen to a piece of the o'reilly interview about income redistribution. >> do you deny that you're a man that wants to redistribute wealth? >> absolutely. >> you deny that? >> absolutely. bill, i didn't raise taxes once, i lowered taxes in the last two years. >> governor, this is one of those things, you can see he's afraid of discussing what an increase in top tax rate actually does. this for me is i feel is why democrats so frequently lose the tax debate. you can see that they're afraid of the tax debate. >> that was an unusual thing. the president doesn't often get mouse trapped, especially by the likes of bill o'reilly, but he did get mouse trapped that time. he laid out a proposition that is we shouldn't have redistribution. that's what governments do is redistribute. the argument is not whether they should redistribute or not, the question is how much we should redistribute. if you had no redistribution, we would have back before the mag i can't cart a with a king. so the purpose of government is to make sure that capitalism works for everyone, not just the people that can run rough shot as they often do as the chamber has by throwing money around. so he missed that one because o'reilly laid out framed to proposition, the president didn't see the frame, and answered the question straight up. no, it is government's job to redistribute. the question is how much are we going to distribute. otherwise, we wouldn't have social security, medicare, and we wouldn't build roads. >> there would be no poor neighborhood in america that had a paved road. thank you for joining me. >> thanks very much, lawrence. while most elected republican leaders provided a united front with president obama on the world stage about egypt, sarah palin once again goes her own way. she insists that the president s