Meet The Press – December 29, 2013

Guests:

David Kirkpatrick (NYT)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX)

Ben Wizner

Harry Smith

Franklin Graham

Eugene Robinson

Robin Wright

Dr. Peter Stearns

Andrea Mitchell

Elliott Abrams

Gregory: OMG a NYT report says al-qaeda 

was not involved in Benghazi and it was 

in response to a video like the administration said!

Audience: oooh

Gregory: how does this make Obama 

look bad – we'll take a look

Gregory: you investigated and concluded

no evidence of Al Qaeda involvement

and fueled by anger over a video – 

how do you know for sure?

Kirkpatrick: everyone knows this – 

it was all local people

Gregory: hmmm

Kirkpatrick: there's no chance it was al qeada

Gregory: but Republicans say it was

Kirkpatrick: if you call people who hate

democracy al qeada maybe but the

GOP hates democracy too

Gregory: Susan Rice said it was

spontaneous and in response to a video

Kirkpatrick: it was not exactly a copycat –

it was armed men but not al qaeda

Mitchell: was it pure uncut terrorism

or impure terrorism?

Gregory: good question

Mitchell: everyone covered up the

fact that this was a CIA outpost

Gregory: who cares – people died

and Obama basically killed them

Kirkpatrick:  missions in places 

like Libya are usually so safe

[ break ]

Issa: the American people were lied to!!

It was never about a video!

Gregory: were you wrong about that?

Issa: it must have been terrorism 

because Benghazi is a small town

with no access to videos

Gregory: interesting point

Issa: anyway it doesn't matter if it was al qeada

Gregory: you said it was the whole

reason for Obama's alleged cover up

Issa: I never said that I only blamed 

Obama for Americans being killed

Gregory: I see

Issa: Obama didn't launch F-16s 

because he doesn't care

Gregory: I see

Issa: also maybe Obama covered

up terrorism or maybe not

Gregory: okay

Issa: also no Americans can live in

Benghazi now which is Obama's fault

Mitchell: you claimed it was 

al qaeda which was wrong

Issa: not true – anyway it doesn't

matter because Obama killed people

by not doing anything for 8 hours

Gregory: do you stand by your

statement that the administration

lied about Benghazi?

Issa: they said things that were inaccurate

Gregory: isn't that the fog of war?

Issa: they were under attack and

people said under oath about what the

Ambassador might have done hypothetically

Gregory: initial reports are often wrong

Issa: but the initial reports did not

name a video as a prime cause and

which is clearly nefarious

Gregory: anything else?

Issa: Clapper said he lied to Congress

Mitchell: how do you answer

the charge that Obama totally failed?

Issa: I must reluctantly agree

Andrea but I also admit Obama

should be impeached

Gregory: right

Issa: also Obama let people die

because he's evil

Gregory: let's switch gears and

turn to bashing Obama over Obamacare

Issa: okay

Gregory: will Obamacare survive?

Issa: Obamacare will start killing

people on January first

Gregory: I see

Issa: I fear people will get subsidies

for health care and milk like people

do in the third world and start to

look at health care as if it's

something they should have

Gregory: got it

Issa: we must drive down

health care costs

Gregory: I'd love to ask you how

to do that but we're out of time

[ break ]

Gregory: Benghazi!

Castro: Issa has tried to exploit a

tragedy for a year and it turns

out it was all a fairy tale

Gregory: over one million Americans

have signed up for Obamacare which

is a failure because you need seven

million people signed up by March

Castro: there are also the lifetime

caps and pre-existing conditions

which people like

Gregory: why not keep the good

things and get rid of the unpopular

things like the mandate?

Castro: can't do it Fluffy

Gregory: what about extending

unemployment benefits?

Castro: it's only $300 a month but

people really need that

Gregory: happy new year Juan

Castro: you too Dick

[ break ]

Gregory: a federal judge upheld

bulk collection of metadata so your

client Ed Snowden is not a whistleblower!!

Wizner: we always knew there

would be legal disputes about

his whistleblowerness

Gregory: what evidence do you

have that this program has been abused?

Wizner: metadata collection is

a general warrant like

King George the Third did

Gregory: but people have no legal

expectation of privacy in their phone records

Wizner: that's true for one person

but not for many people

Gregory: I see

Wizner: Ed says he won

by creating the conversation

Gregory: if this is civil disobedience

why not come back to America

and face the musak?

Wizner: because he's being charged

under a law passed during

World War One so it doesn't count

Gregory: got it

Wizner: also in a democracy it's important

to disclose national secrets sometimes

Gregory: in violation of

his oath not to do that

Wizner: no he only took an oath

to follow the Constitution

Gregory: oh okay

Wizner: we just don't feel it's

fair for him to do a lot of time in prison

Gregory: would he ever come back to America?

Wizner: sure if we got a deal

Gregory: amnesty?

Wizner: amnesty isn't always a bad thing –

lots of people got amnesty including

for torturing people

Gregory: he's in Russia which has

no free speech or human rights

Wizner: he's only in Russia because

America revoked his passport when

he was passing through to take

in the lovely Russia spring weather

Gregory: I see

Wizner: it's in no one's interest

for him to stay in Russia

Gregory: is that threat?

Wizner: it could be

Gregory: what can we expect

from Snowden in 2014?

Wizner: he's not a narcissist!

Gregory: well then he doesn't

belong in Washington

Wizner: but you may see more

of him in the coming year

[ break ]

Gregory: what will be the big the story of 2014?

Robinson: should government be big or small

Gregory: that's a good one

Robinson: also racial eruptions like

Zimmerman will crop up again –

especially as we debate the controversy

over whether we should have ended slavery

Gregory: are we still a world leader?

Stearns: yes because the U.S.

economy is growing

Gregory: that can't be right because

it makes Obama look good

Wright: that's right David – India and

Brazil and China are pushing America aside

Gregory: excellent

Wright: also Obama has lost Saudi Arabia

Abrams: everyone in the middle east

thinks Obama is receding

Gregory: let me read a long passage

from The Economist calling Obama

weak and defensive

Stearns: Obama needs to wind down

these disastrous wars

Gregory: dammit Elliott please

bash Obama for me

Abrams: the whole middle east is mad

that Obama didn't invade Syria

Robinson: hey stupid – invading

Iraq was a really fucking bad  idea

Wright: Obama is using diplomacy

to succeed where people like

Elliott Abrams failed

Mitchell: but Obama hesitated on Syria

and now we can't control that

middle east nation and that's sad

Gregory: true

Mitchell: but

Gregory: Obama is retrenching and

we still face terror threats!

Abrams: it's terrible

Gregory: I feel like I am Winston Churchill

after World War One warning about

Adolf Hitler and no is listening to me

– am I right Elliott?!?

Abrams: exactly – Obama has

appeased al-qaeda and Obama

not invading Syria is just like Munich

Stearns: with all due respect to

you Fluffy – you're a moron

Gregory: how does a deal with

Iran impact the middle east?

Wright: even Iran wants to see

the war in Syria ended

Gregory: interesting

Wright: everything in Iran –

women's rights and democracy

depends on a nuclear deal

Smith: Billy Graham is 95 years old

Franklin Graham: people are praying for him

Smith: he was the President's pastor

Graham: yes he was

Smith: you were a prodigal son

Graham: but I came back

Smith: you questioned Obama's Christianity

Graham: I am not politically correct

Smith: Pope Francis said 

'who am I to judge gay people'

Graham: God will punish gay people

someday and I just want to warn the

gays about how vindictive god can be

Smith: how nice of you

[ break ]

Gregory: what about Pope Francis?

Mitchell: Pope Francis is the

biggest thing to happen in world this year

– I was moved by his message about

caring for the poor – it's novel for a

religious figure to talk about that

Wright: it's quite amazing

Steans: I'm not naive but maybe

we can have peace

Robinson: we've seen advances

in gay marriage – will the culture wars

be over or will the fight go on

Audience: go on

Gregory: and that's another

episode of Meet The Press