i said barack hussein obama, president of the united states. that doesn't seem like it's going to sell in peoria. but he changed all the rules. >> his first line in the speech is "the plains of peoria." >> he said only in this country is my story possible. only now is my story possible he should have said. >> well, to me -- joy, how do you -- chris's point about this popularity, i think in some ways that's part of the thing that's so hard to get your head around. here's someone who had been a controversial president. he's overseen one of the most polarized eras since the civil war and yet is going out with -- as one of the more popular politicians of the country, one of the more popular exiting politicians in recent memory yet is going to turn this office over to a man who is a repudiation, rejection of him. >> it's incredible. i can recall interviewing people during the campaign who really liked barack obama, who voted for him twice, he wears very well as a president. you have to live with a president over time, he wears well, he's a congenial

do you think democrats will do the same with barack obama? >> the reagan cult is creepy and dangerous and you had years and years and years in which republicans said what would reagan do? let's find some minor writing that reagan might have said. >> right. >> what was right in 1980 is right forever. that's bad. >> right. >> but they should value obama's presidency. they should see it as a model to emulate and defend. >> jonathan chait, the book is called "audacity," fascinating and provocative. thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you, chris. >>> that's "all in" this evening. a reminder, at 11:00 p.m., "the obama years with brian williams." "the rachel maddow show" starts right now. >> thank you, my friend. we know that it didn't end well. what we forget sometimes is that it did not start well. richard nixon was elected in 1968, re-elected in 1972. that meant that his inauguration day for a second term was in january 1973. it was his inauguration date, january 20th, '73. almost spooky to look back at that day now because of the way we know

it's a catch phrase but they never had a risk of having to do it because they always had barack obama to save them from themselves. >> right. >> now that they have to do it, do you think they will go forward? >> i don't. i think republicans really like to govern by catch phrase because they don't like the govern. the reason why the president spent so much political capital putting the affordable care act in place and remember how long and awful it was to be a democrat working on the hill at that moment, that was really intense. he did that, we all did that, because it mattered so much. because we cared so much about making sure that millions of americans got insurance who didn't have it before. we cared about fixing that problem because democrats believe that government can fix certain problems that need to be fixed. republicans don't share that belief -- at least republicans today don't. they don't believe government is a solution to the problems that america is facing. so they obstruct. they use catch phrase obstructionism and that's how they brand their party. their party is very l

can you imagine barack obama to violate that and be an outspoken critic? >> i don't think barack obama will be out there every day criticizing donald trump and he said this, too, if really serious norms and principles and values are violated, he'll be a citizen and probably will say something. so i don't think he'll be out there every day on cable shows hitting donald trump but i think if things -- you know, if -- i think he'll speak out if something serious happens. >> we've got him pencilled in as the a-block guest all week. he'll be on crooked media. jon, thank you for being here. >> thanks, chris. >>> that is "all in." we have a special edition of the show tomorrow night leading up to that aforementioned president obama's farewell address, msnbc will carry that speech live. stay tuned for that and for special coverage on "the rachel maddow show" and speaking of the very same rachel maddow, that show starts right now. >> missed you terribly while you were away last week. >> thank you. that is very kind. i did miss you. >> oh, don't be weird. >> i missed

michelle obama's legacy, if i have to say her biggest legacy is she and barack obama have shown us that there were not only founding fathers, there were founding mothers. >> yes indeed. they have made huge strides to bring culture into that white house. we are all going to miss them so much. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> you can catch my shows saturdays and sundays. a special edition of the rachel maddo show is next.

. >>> if we learned anything from mitch mcconnell during the eight years of barack obama's presidency it's that obstruction works. total opposition under our current polarized electorate makes good politics. the shoe is now on the other foot, democrat stopping short of that rigid strategy. the senate has confirmed four of donald trump's nominee, mike pompeo won support from 15 democrats, almost a third of the caucus, including my next guest. i'm joined by senator brian schatz, democrat from hawaii. senator, there's a lot of consternation about pompeo because they felt he left the door open to reinstating torture during the cia. why did you vote for him? >> i find his views objectionable but my criteria specifically for the national security team is different than for any of these other cabinet positions because of the unique position we are in in terms of having such an inexperienced commander in chief my goal is to get as many scene, rational, lawful people in the room surrounding him as possible. that's why i voted for mattis and kelly and pompeo, even though especially with pompeo

as you made the point earlier, barack obama's cabinet was by and large senators, known quantities, eric holder had just been confirmed for a job two years before so he'd been vetted already. there are a lot of people with years and years of vetting. these people are brand new to the jobs they're going to do and a lot of them want to dismantle the agencies they're supposed to lead and protect so there are a lot of questions, there's a lot that remains unknown nobody to my knowledge has completed their senate disclosers so you're supposed to have time to look at it, have your staff look at it, talk it over, think about what you're going to ask. they'll get this stuff the night before so democrats are scrambling. they're angry but they're hanging tough. i'm impressed? >> jason? >> joy, how many times can you apply for a job of importance without filling out the application? half of these people haven't filled out the application so the democrats have to play whack a mole with all these people going through. one example, the education pick. this is someone -- there are so many different iss

even if you give him the benefit of the doubt, 38%, 39%, 37%, barack obama was at 65%. then people said it didn't matter, the guy got elected, gravity doesn't matter how much does public opinion matter do you think? >> you know, certainly he has rough numbers going into inauguration day. i think it's really clear from those that he has got to do a lot to earn the trust of the american people and it is going to matter, you know, i harper from people as i travel the state of wisconsin who voted for hillary, voted for trump, voted for gary johnson. i think he has a short time period to make it clear whether he's going to follow through on the promises he made to working people who in the end gave him the edge in my state. i think it's a very short time period. >> to deliver for those voters. >> absolutely. to -- and the early indicators with his nominees for cabinet posts, he said he was going to drain the swamp. excuse me, these are the powerful the, the billionaires, the bankers, et cetera, he's populating his cabinet with. i think people are troubled already. >> he's ma

bush, rescinded by barack obama, reinstated by donald trump. this is part of what comes with having a republican president. >> i think there's two things different though. one, of course, it happened first day in office after, as you say, the largest women's martha happened in our history. the second is this gag rule and actually what was signed by president trump today is so much more expansive than anything we have ever seen, because this actually impacts hiv/aids programs, maternal health programs. it litally will mean shutting down programs all around the world that provide far more than family planning, and it is the results will be devastating. >> this actually goes out past what was operational during the bush administration? >> absolutely. >> how so? >> it expands beyond family planning services. >> any organization, not just ones doing family planning? >> it includes programs doing now hiv/aids programs, programs that are doing zika programs, maternal health programs. and this is so disturbing, of course, because we have made so much p

to say that no person can make a difference, i give you the fine case of that fine man, barack obama. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris says starts right now. >>> tonight on "all in." >> i would imagine that there's probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies. >> these are the people who will run your government. >> why is the climate changing? i'm asking your personal opinion. >> my personal opinion is immaterial. >> really? >> tonight, democrats grill trump's nominees. what we're learning and why it really matters. plus, the man donald trump tapped to dismantle obamacare goes on the hot seat. >> i'm offended by the insinuation senator. >> you may be offended, but here's what you did. >> what we're learning about his possible stock scandal. >>> and as president obama says farewell -- >> at my core i think we're going to be okay. >> -- the latest on an fbi into donald trump and the russians. and new questions about whether or not he can shut it down. >> i'm saying there is no tape. there is know vent. i was never even in that

so when barack obama came in you may remember that he promised he was going to close guantanamo bay and signed orders along those lines in his first week. and you saw president bush when he came in sign some executive orders to undo steps that had been taken by bill clinton. so that's not unusual. the only thing here that would have justified moving quickly is if there was an imminent threat from these seven nations. and since we know that there has been little to no terrorism we've had in the united states from immigrants to these nations and sean spicer said himself at the press briefing today that there had been no immediate actionable threat they were acting on, i think that would have been the only thing that would have justified taking an immediate step. so here i think they just rushed. and you know, like most things in life, if you rush it, you are going to make mistakes. particularly if you have never served in government, never gone through these procedures, and suddenly discovered that it's a little more complicated than it looks like when you are on the campaign trail. >> da

now, i went back and i looked at barack obama's twine inauguration. what's interesting about that as a document is all the hope and change rhetoric, that was a very kind of clear-eyed speech that was very much like it's going to be really hard and we face a lot of challenges. it was an attempt to ratchet down almost explicitly expectations. today donald trump promised the world. >> no, he sure did and, look, he's going to be held to measure on that. you know, three times in the last 100 years the president's party has won seats, gained seats in the first midterm election. structurally the system is set up, usually that -- that incumbent party loses seats. we will not be too far from now talking about the midterm elections and all of this is down for the record now. i think one of the things is we functionally have three parties in washington. we have a trump party which is nationalist and populist, we have a republican party that's a conservative party and we have a democratic party and so the issues in the coalitions that we form around issues like i

tom daschle was an example of that for barack obama, though mostly smooth sailing. it occurs that in some ways that's perception and shame. a scandal is only big enough to blow up a nominee if that's how it's perceived to be but if you can lock down the votes you can basically confirm anyone. >> well, and the rules are just sort of different now, you know? it used to be when you had some scandals that the incumbent -- the president-elect and his team would hint that this is maybe time to step aside. trump doesn't really cow that easily. trump is standing by people that he has put into these poogss. some of these so-called scandals, are they scandals? tom price's stock trade netted him i think $300. is that something the american people will be so outraged over as some of these senators are? i don't know that the person public looks at the epa as the golden goose that many of the liberals on capitol hill view it as. what a lot of these democrats really object to is that these are republicans that actually are supporting republican ideals that are being nominated and

he created the fake news of the -- >> barack obama is not a citizen. >> and he said that there was intelligence. >> that's right. he was called by a reputable source that there was intelligence. he himself was going to -- he was hiring investigators to support his fake news. he is the godfather of this deck -- decade's fake news. for him to say fake news -- >> well, this is a great point. as a person who launched his political career off of unverifiable and ultimately incorrect conspiatorial and frankly racist theories about the president's crypto kenyan birth and forged documents and all this stuff. >> and the fact that -- the way he deals with the sex thing is his defense is i'm a germaphobe. he just admits it publicly on tv "i'm a germaphobe." like to him that takes care of any sex -- like sex is all dirty and germy. whatever. >> well -- >> that's what he used. >> this could have never happened. >> i won't get into the weeds. >> this couldn't have happened because i'm a germaphobe and i know where they put the cameras in the hotel rooms, i have hotels. >> that was also fascinating. but the t

this was in 2008 when barack obama won the presidential election that year by a mile. but the map's really red, right? obama won by a lot, he's in blue, but the map still looks very red. that's even more true when you make the map county by county instead of state by state. this is an election that the democrats won. this kind of things drives

referring to a since-deleted retweet comparing the crowd size at barack obama's inauguration to trump's. haberman wrote "trump's worst impulse control is when he's tired or overstretched or in uncertain situations. all three took place saturday. trump is unable to let go of grievance or perceived slight and he is genuinely transfixed by people thinking his election isn't legit." that fixation explains why trump continues to blame non-existent voter fraud for his three million vote loss in the popular vote, reportedly spending the first 10 minutes of his very first meets with congressional leaders repeating that false claim. as the "washington post's" robert costa tweeted. "in spite of winning the electoral college, trump sees the popular vote as a rating that wasn't fairly won by hillary rodham clinton and he won't let that view go." after tweeting he'll launch an investigation into supposed voter fraud threatening to "strengthen up voting procedures" president trump explained his thinking in an interview today with abc news. >> you have people that are registered who are dead, who are

former president barack obama who hadn't spoke out since leaving office supported the protesters saying that he was heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. joining me now is a associate professor of law. professor, can you tell us what your own refugee experience was? >> hi, thank you so much for having me on the show. yes, i was one of these people who from a country that's a terrorist country, from iran and i had the hijab and shouted death to america when i was a kid because i was forced to. that's what the regime made people in elementary school do. my family was able to get out. there was war. we slept in our basements and there was bombs at night and we were able to get out and we got a visa and we came here as refugees and i've been able to live as a refugee. it's been a dream. this country has welcomed us with open arms but, you know, a lot of iranians are stuck between these two regimes where one says that america is evil and the other tells you that iran is evil. neither is the case. these people, iranians are stuck at the border. t