Morning Joe Recap for Tuesday!

Good morning everyone! Happy Tuesday to you!
Joining us today, we have: Mike Barnicle, David Wood, Tom Sanderson, Eugene Robinson, Sen. Tom Carper, Kelly O’Donnell, Jim Miklaszewski, Sen. Ron Johnson, Mike Allen, Jamie Weinstein, Joe Conason, Ann Curry, Andrea Mitchell, Retta, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Brian Sullivan, Bianna Golodryga, Chris Jansing, Maggie Murphy, Jacque Reid, Jason Tanz and more



VA Secretary Robert McDonald admits lying about Special Forces service. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald has admitted that he lied about serving in the special operations forces in a conversation with a homeless veteran that was caught on camera earlier this year. McDonald made the claim in January while he was in Los Angeles as part of the VA's effort to locate and house homeless veterans. During the tour, a homeless man told McDonald that he had served in the special operations forces. “Special forces? What years?" McDonald responded. "I was in special forces." The exchange was broadcast on "The CBS Evening News" Jan. 30. McDonald's misstatement was first reported by The Huffington Post. McDonald graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1975 and completed Army Ranger training before being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until his retirement in 1980. According to the Huffington Post, while McDonald was formally recognized as a graduate of Ranger School, he never actually served in a Ranger battalion or other special operations unit. "I have no excuse," the website quoted McDonald as saying in its report. "I was not in special forces." In a statement released Monday by the VA, McDonald said: "While I was in Los Angeles, engaging a homeless individual to determine his veteran status, I asked the man where he had served in the military. He responded that he had served in special forces. I incorrectly stated that I had been in special forces. That was inaccurate and I apologize to anyone that was offended by my misstatement." McDonald told the Huffington Post that he had "reacted spontaneously and ... wrongly" in response to the homeless man's claim. "As I thought about it later, I knew that this was wrong," McDonald said of his false statement. The White House released a statement Monday evening saying that it had accepted McDonald's explanation. "Secretary McDonald has apologized for the misstatement and noted that he never intended to misrepresent his military service," the statement said. "We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he’s doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans." After leaving the Army, McDonald went on to a successful corporate career, eventually becoming Chairman, President, and CEO of Proctor & Gamble. He became VA secretary this past July, as the agency was dealing with the fallout from the scandal of long patient wait times at VA hospitals. Click for more from The Huffington Post.

On the Nettenyahu front, What I said to do about him a few weeks ago is starting to come full circle which is to have closed doors meetings with him rather than allowing him to speak. The democrats are evidently going to be punished politically if they do not show up for that speech. Diane Feinstein and one other politician called for that closed door meeting which I think is fine. This entire issue is way out of control. Plus, the U.S. and Iran reported progress Monday on a deal that would clamp down on Tehran's nuclear activities for at least 10 years but then slowly ease restrictions on programs that could be used to make atomic arms. Officials said there were still obstacles to overcome before a March 31 deadline, and any deal will face harsh opposition in both countries. It also would be sure to further strain already-tense U.S. relations with Israel, whose leaders oppose any agreement that doesn't end Iran's nuclear ambitions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to strongly criticize the deal in an address before Congress next week. Still, a comprehensive pact could ease 35 years of U.S-Iranian enmity — and seems within reach for the first time in more than a decade of negotiations.
 
"We made progress," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said as he bade farewell to members of the American delegation at the table with Iran. More discussions between Iran and the six nations engaging it were set for next Monday, a senior U.S. official said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the sides found "a better understanding" at the negotiating table. Western officials familiar with the talks cited movement but also described the discussions as a moving target, meaning changes in any one area would have repercussions for other parts of the negotiation. The core idea would be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement, gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment and slowly easing economic sanctions. Iran says it does not want nuclear arms and needs enrichment only for energy, medical and scientific purposes, but the U.S. fears Tehran could re-engineer the program to produce the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.
 
The U.S. initially sought restrictions lasting up to 20 years; Iran has pushed for less than a decade. The prospective deal appears to be somewhere in the middle. One variation being discussed would place at least a 10-year regime of strict controls on Iran's uranium enrichment. If Iran complied, the restrictions would be gradually lifted over the final five years. One issue critics are certain to focus on: Once the deal expired, Iran could theoretically ramp up enrichment to whatever level it wanted. Experts say Iran already could produce the equivalent of one weapon's worth of enriched uranium with its present operating 10,000 centrifuges. Several officials spoke of 6,500 centrifuges as a potential point of compromise, with the U.S. trying to restrict them to Iran's mainstay IR-1 model instead of more advanced machines. However, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last year that his country needed to increase its output equivalent to at least 190,000 of its present-day centrifuges. Under a possible agreement, Iran also would be forced to ship out most of the enriched uranium it produced or change it to a form that would be difficult to convert for weapons use. It takes about one ton of low-enriched uranium to process into a nuclear weapon, and officials said that Tehran could be restricted to an enriched stockpile of no more than about 700 pounds. The officials represent different countries among the six world powers negotiating with Iran — the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the negotiations.
 
Formal relations between the U.S. and Iran, severed during the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis in 1979, have progressively improved since moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013. Further reconciliation would help the West in a region where Iran holds considerable sway and the U.S. is increasingly involved in the struggle against Islamic extremists. But even if the two sides agree to a preliminary deal in March and a follow-up pact in June, such a two-phase arrangement will face fierce criticism from Congress and Israel, both of which will argue it fails to significantly curb Tehran's nuclear weapons potential. Israel was already weighing in. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned that such a deal would represent "a great danger" to the Western world and said it "will allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold state." In Washington, President Barack Obama has been trying to keep Congress from passing new sanctions against Iran that he says could scuttle further diplomacy and rekindle the threat of a new Mideast war. Iranian hardliners fearing a sellout of their country's nuclear program may also pressure Rouhani, although he appears secure as long as a deal is supported by Khamenei.
 
The U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency would have responsibility for monitoring, and any deal would depend on technical safeguards rather than Iranian guarantees. The IAEA already is monitoring Iranian compliance with an interim agreement that came into force a year ago and has given Tehran good marks. Separately, it also oversees Tehran's nuclear programs to ensure they remain peaceful. Its attempts to follow up on suspicions that Iran once worked on nuclear arms are deadlocked however, with Iran saying such allegations are based on phony evidence from the U.S. and Israel. That stalled probe and other issues that the U.S. says must be part of any final deal could remain unresolved by June, opening any agreement to further criticism. For the United States, the goal is to extend to at least a year the period that Iran would need to surreptitiously "break out" toward nuclear weapons development. Daryl Kimball of the Washington-based Arms Control Association said that with the IAEA's additional monitoring, the deal taking shape leaves "more than enough time to detect and disrupt any effort to pursue nuclear weapons in the future." In exchange, Iran wants relief from sanctions crippling its economy and the U.S. is talking about phasing in such measures.
 
Remember when Nettenyahu had that graphic of the bomb that reminded us of that cartoon that Wiley Coyote would use? That was when he did that speech about not allowing Iran to be a week away from having that bomb. Rgeradless, the Iranians are not as close as he (Nettenyahu) said they were during that last speech to the U.N. (United Nations).
 
Weather is a big issue today. It is cold here and it is cold everywhere. There is snow being forecast down south and its negative 9 degrees in Western PA.
 
Eugene (Robinson) writes an article entitled A deranged GOP. he is on now to discuss what went down last week with Scott Walker after Rudy Guiliani’s comments in that speech and then you have his (Rudy Guliani) apologies too which made things progressively worse.
 
The Hill reports that McConnell moves to prevent DHS shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took steps Monday to prevent a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security by splitting off legislation attacking President Obama’s immigration actions from the funding fight. The Kentucky Republican is seeking to fast-track legislation to eliminate two new immigration programs launched by Obama late last year, while allowing a 2012 initiative targeting younger immigrants to continue as designed. McConnell’s move sets the stage for separate votes on a measure to fund the Homeland Security Department (DHS) past Friday and to dismantle Obama’s unilateral efforts to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
A House-passed proposal combining those two efforts had hit a wall in the Senate, where Democrats on Monday united for a fourth time this month to block the measure over their opposition to the provisions undoing Obama’s executive actions. The DHS will suffer a partial shutdown if Congress doesn’t act before Saturday. McConnell said he wanted to take away Democrats’ excuse for not voting against Obama’s 2014 actions, which several centrist Democrats had previously criticized. “Some Democrats give the impression they want Congress to address the overreach. But when they vote, they always seem to have an excuse for supporting actions they once criticized,” he said on the floor. “So I’m going to begin proceedings on targeted legislation that would only address the most recent overreach from November. “It isn’t tied to DHS funding. It removes their excuse,” he added.
 
McConnell’s decision could mark a step forward from the stalemate over the funding debate, which had left GOP leaders of both chambers struggling for a way to prevent an agency shutdown while appeasing conservatives insisting the immigration riders be a part of the package. It remains unclear how the strategy will be received by House conservatives, but the office of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was quick to indicate its support. “This vote will highlight the irresponsible hypocrisy of any Senate Democrat who claims to oppose President Obama’s executive overreach on immigration, but refuses to vote to stop it,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement. “If we are going to work together on the American peoples priorities, Washington Democrats must be honest with the people they represent.” Democrats quickly criticized McConnell's decision, saying it won't help prevent a shutdown of DHS. “It’s becoming clear Senator McConnell realizes he must separate himself from the far right, but the bottom line is this proposal doesn’t bring us any closer to actually funding DHS, and Republicans still have no real plan to achieve that goal," Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
 
He added that any immigration debate should happen after lawmakers pass a bill to fund Homeland Security. McConnell’s move sets up what is sure to be an animated meeting of House Republicans on Wednesday morning, where Boehner and other GOP leaders are certain to get an earful from conservatives insisting the immigration provisions remain attached to the Homeland Security bill and centrists leaning toward a cleaner bill for the sake of keeping the agency up and running. Boehner had been adamant that the ball remain in the Senate’s court after the House last month passed a $40 billion funding proposal that included several amendments undoing Obama’s unilateral efforts to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. McConnell, meanwhile, had said he was “stuck” in the face of Democrats insisting on a clean bill absent the immigration amendments. Monday’s 47-46 vote was designed to drive home that point.
 
The debate has put GOP leaders in a bind, caught between a desire to undo Obama’s executive actions and a fear that their party will suffer the public blame if the DHS is shuttered during a period of heightened terrorist threats, including one over the weekend on Minnesota’s sprawling Mall of America. A number of Democrats pounced on that episode just ahead of Monday’s vote, accusing Republicans of playing Russian roulette, in the words of Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), with the nation’s security. “Rather than acting to protect my state from the threat, there are people who are actively contemplating a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security,” said Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D). A wild card in the debate has been last week’s ruling by a Texas-based federal judge against Obama’s deportation relief programs. That decision has caused some Republicans to double down on their argument that the programs are illegal and Congress should terminate them as part of the DHS package. Others, however, contend the ruling is indication that the courts will handle Obama’s executive actions and Congress should focus on keeping the Homeland Security agency running.
 
Fueling the conservatives’ argument, the Justice Department on Monday requested an emergency court order allowing the administration to launch the programs despite the Texas ruling. If the stay is granted, thousands of illegal immigrants could begin submitting their applications. Obama on Wednesday is scheduled to hold an immigration town hall in Miami, an event that seems designed to raise the pressure further on GOP leaders.
 
Honestly, I cannot even believe we are less than a few days a way from that happening to us here. That is incredible to me. Joe is saying that Democrats have filabustered the bill times but then Sen. Tom Carper is saying that certain parts and certain languages are not good and he called it foolish but honestly, he seems like he is a bit lost for words trying to answer it. He says that we should fund Homeland security and we should deal with Immigration reform but Joe is saying to deal and then debate it on the floor rather than getting something done. That was hard to get through because it’s another case where one side blames the GOP and one side blames the Dems which is why we are going back and forth running round in circles in a typical what came first the chicken or the egg situation.
 
Also, Chris Christy had some pension claim overturned by the Judges in new Jersey. Politico reports that a A New Jersey judge ordered Gov. Chris Christie to reverse a $1.57 billion cut he made to New Jersey’s public pension system, sending the presidential contender scrambling to find new sources of revenue. The Monday afternoon ruling from Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson comes one day before Christie is set to unveil the state’s 2016 budget. It’s a stunning rebuke to the governor’s fiscal agenda, which for years has relied primarily on spending cuts rather than tax increases to shore up the state’s bleak finances. It’s also a victory for the labor unions who sued the administration to halt the cuts.
“The court cannot allow the state to simply turn its back on its obligations to New Jersey’s public employees,” Jacobson’s opinion said, “especially in light of the fact that the state’s failure to make its full payment constitutes a substantial blow to the solvency of the pension funds in violation of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.” Christie approved the pension cuts last year to compensate for unexpectedly low tax revenues. A group of state and national unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Communications Workers of America, promptly sued, saying Christie was in violation of a 2011 law that funded New Jersey’s pensions fully as part of a bipartisan overhaul of the state pension system. Read the full story here (http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/judge-overturns-nj-gov-christie-pension-cut-115435.html#ixzz3SfFCxVFa).
 
BTW, there has been lots of bickering between Mika and Joe this week and at times last week. They are now going at each other about whether they want to do a trip with Mike Huckabee. Joe almost said ass when he referred to himself not talking out of a few sides of his mouth. That’s funny. But they are now bickering about the Nettenyahu speech and how that manifested with (John) Boehner, Israel and neither of them alerting the POTUS’ admin.
 
But about the DHS funding issue. I feel we should fund Homeland Security issue and then they should do a bill about the Immigration deal. They should be separate issues even though they play into each other. Even (Mitch) McConnell seems to be leading towards splitting them up. It makes no sense to me. It makes no sense to the panel and then Sen. Ron Johnson is playing games saying that the POTUS starting this fight. What are we in 4th  grade? This divide is because Obama did something about immigration? Come on now. Its such a lame way to point fingers at anyone else but themselves. This way they get to say that it’s the fault of the POTUS and they (GOP) can also blame the Dem’s for blocking the bill. When they put a clean bill on the floor, talk to me but even again, he just blamed the liberal media now that is against the GOP. Its unbelievable hearing these people in that GOP. The reason they blame them is because everyone can see through it. This games are done. Just get it done because (Mike) Barnicle is correct in that the immigration is going to take months to deal with whereas we have the DHS losing funding on Friday. Its ridiculous and like Joe says, they all know that so whatever.
 
Sen. Liz (Elizabeth) Warren is on today.
 
You know something else? When that election starts up next year and in ‘16, this type of round about what came first the chicken or the egg and the blame game is going to be that game plan. :Last election was bout Nothing and then next one will be about blame. This conversation with that Ron Johnson guy is going to be the way we debate or watch the debate during that general election. Its going to be very annoying quite frankly. That guy left the panel baffled basically with Barnicles mouth hanging while everyone yelled to just get it done and what does one thing have to do with another? (Mike) Barnicle used the analogy that it would be like us checking out at the market and the cash register person asking for money for the energy bill. I think the GOP’s playback is still dated and antiquated. They use the same deceptive tactics used back in the 80s. And, they are just blaming everyone from the media to the Dem’s to the POTUS with hope it will stick. And, it does not because people today are way more engaged and its because of the lack of trust. No one trusts these people to do the right thing for us. They can’t even answer basic questions like we have seen with Scott Walker and Chris Christy in the last month. When whomever is NOT real, it shows and people hate it. I know that I hate it. Its very annoying to listen to every day. This not funding of the DHS leading up to this 11th hour so to speak is keeping us (us meaning them) from doing real work.
 
Anyway, Mike Allen is now talking about the wooing of Liz Warren by the POTUS. we know about that meeting with her (Liz Warren) and Hilary and now we find out the POTUS and that admin is calling on here for things. She got a great reception at the AARP yesterday. Jamie Weinstein and Joe Conason are now on talking about Liz (Warren). Or, maybe they are talking about Hilary now. The point they make is how Hilary has not had such a great track record. I say she is most known for the Benghazi issue but they make a point how she talked about the Libya incident which has since opened up that area to be able to house terrorists safely. The counter point is now being discussed and I agree that once challenged next year, will really tell the story. She had an awful summer last year with that tester (aka that book tour) and low and behold, Willie is bringing that up now. I think the Dem’s want a female POTUS which is what drives her popularity now. Oh and also, she ran a bad race vs. Obama but she did also have a tough race in NY. Which I forget or take for granted but the Fox news people were against her. The NY Post writers lashed out at her daily. That was not such an easy race. She was not from NY which did not help. Regardless, the book tour showed her flaws. I am not sure what is so hard for this guy to articulate but yeah, you have that GOP and its 20 million candidates and then it seems like we have one on the Dem side. That’s how I see it at least. And, good point about it / her being a concept which feeds into my point about her being a female and that’s the most excitement about her candidacy. Plus, it also seems like we do like the idea of her running but once she does run, we do not like her then.
 
Ann Curry and Andrea Mitchell are talking about the Iran talks and those breakthroughs we have had lately. But a ten year Nuclear freeze is a lot even though we (USA) wanted a 20 year freeze.
 
On a pop culture note. It is the end of an era. P&R (Parks and Recreation) is coming to end with the last episode being aired tonight I guess. Great show and Retta is on the show today. They are all great sports n that show and they should all get a ton of work now because of it. Nick Offerman is taking off which is cool. Everyone is doing well because of that show and its writing, acting and production. Again, that’s one of my favorite shows on TV. It is certainly my favorite sitcom. But nothing on TV quite compares to Vanderpump Rules. Now, that is some amazing TV. Beautiful people just acting nutty over each other which again, makes it the best show on TV. That season ends next week.
 
And, so I handed it to Liz (Warren). An exclusive interview with the Senator today. Elijah Cummings is on too. They are introducing some bill related to the bail out in 2008. It is called the Middle Class Prosperity Project. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) are launching a series of events focusing on Democratic solutions to the woes of the middle class. The "Middle Class Prosperity Project" starts Tuesday with a forum featuring prominent economists. On Monday, Warren and Cummings co-authored a USAToday op-ed describing a decline in middle-class prosperity since 1980. "Beginning in the late 1970s, corporate executives and stockholders began taking greater shares of the gains. Productivity kept going up, but workers were left behind as wages stagnated," Warren and Cummings write. "Families might have survived as their incomes flattened, except for one hard fact: the costs of basic needs like housing, education and child care exploded," the op-ed continues. "Millions took on mountains of debt and young people began struggling to cling to the same economic rung as their parents." The Middle Class Prosperity Project, billed as an opportunity "to give a voice in Washington to those who need it most," will first hear from a panel of economists including Jared Bernstein, Beth Ann Bovino, Joseph Stiglitz and Gerald Jaynes. The event is not a formal hearing of a congressional committee. President Barack Obama, for his part, has been pushing a middle-class-themed agenda that includes higher taxes for the wealthy, a higher minimum wage and free community college. On Monday, the White House announced it would push a new rule to require investment brokers to act in the best interests of their clients. The main issues is the student loan crises while the Government profits off those loans. They discuss Child Care and how most households today are based on two incomes. Liz basically says that the main push by that GOP is for the Keystone Pipeline and for the big oil lobby / companies. Its true. That’s all they did the first week back at work this January.
 
I will tell you though. She would make a sick candidate. She speaks so well. Great tone. Great level. Slow but not ridiculously slow and she spells things out so perfectly for us simple minds and dumb asses. And, she does it without boring the hell out of us. She is very real too which is why she resonates so well and so naturally. Even her answer about why she is not going to run for POTUS is so amazing. And, she comes off like she not BS’ing any of us.
 
Great interview. And, wow. She (Liz Warren) will be the keynote speaker at Mika’s Know Your Value event in Philadelphia this April.
 
Chris Jansing is on live soon to discuss the games being played over the DHS funding.

I will tell you that it is going to be a long day today. Maryland plays the Number One team in the nation tonight. I have boring meetings set up for the entire day. I wish I could be able to do my real meat and potatoes work.