Colin Powell weighed in this morning on what he called a "dark vein of intolerance" in some parts of the Republican Party that "still sort of look down on minorities."

Powell, a Republican, said the party has to "take a look at itself" and "think first about what's the party actually going to represent?"

The former Secretary of State also endorsed President Obama's nominee to fill another cabinet position: Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary. Powell applauded Hagel's "very distinguished public service record," and argued that many of the criticisms opponents have levied against Hagel were fair. Although, he said, "when they go over the edge and say because Chuck said 'Jewish lobby' he's anti-Semitic, that's disgraceful."

Ultimately, Powell thinks Hagel will be confirmed by the Senate.

(Watch the full interview with Colin Powell here)

Also don't miss our roundtable discussion that broke down the the coming battles over the presidents cabinet, the gun-control proposals that Vice President Biden will present, and whether Newark Mayor Cory Booker will be New Jersey's next Senator.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

Executive Vice President and CEO of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre fiercely defended his organization's response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school and indicated that they would not support new federal gun regulations. 

LaPierre was panned by critics this weekend following a press conference in which the NRA called for armed security officers  in every U.S. school. He responded to critics this morning, "If it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our school to protect our children, then call me crazy." He added that the American people "think it's crazy not to do it."

The NRA chief also dismissed a bill in the works by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would renew the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. "I think that is a phony piece of legislation and I do not think it will pass."

(Watch the wide-ranging, exclusive full interview with Wayne LaPierre here)

There was also news from Capitol Hill this morning as both Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were unwilling to show any support for former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a name floated as a possible choice to succeed outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at the Pentagon. Senator Graham said he would wait until the confirmation hearings to decide and Senator Schumer declined to comment until an official announcement was made. 

As Andrea Mitchell pointed out on our roundtable: "If a Democratic Senator is not going to come to Chuck Hagel's defense, then I think there is serious problems there."

You can watch the entire program on our website.

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

As the nation mourns the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the issue of guns and violence in America took center stage on Meet the Press. New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg discussed what he believes to be a life and death issue and said that he ultimately holds the president responsible to do something about it. 

Bloomberg called on President Obama to make gun regulation his "number one agenda."

"If he does nothing during his second term, something like 48,000 Americans will be killed with illegal guns." Bloomberg added that it was "roughly the number of Americans killed in the whole Vietnam War."

Gun control advocate Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) also made news this morning when she announced on the program that she will re-introduce a federal bill to ban assault weapons, reportedly like the one used in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school. 

"As a first day bill I'm going to introduce in the Senate and the same bill will be introduced in the House.  A bill to ban assault weapons," Feinstein said. "It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession.  Not retroactively but prospectively.  And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets."

Feinstein was the sponsor of the original assault weapons ban in place from 1994 until Congress allowed it to expire in 2004. 

It's also important to note that Meet the Press reached out to all 31 pro-gun rights Senators in the new Congress to invite them to share their views on this subject this morning, but no one took us up on the offer. 

You can watch the entire program on our website including our conversation with Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy with the latest on the investigation and how the community is coping in the wake of the tragedy.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

The deadline to reach a deal averting the Fiscal Cliff is just over a month away and there were signs that Washington is willing to compromise on this morning's Meet the Press.

Taxes have long been the sticking point between the two sides and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) agreed saying the debate over more revenues is "key" to the negotiations. 

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) seemed to feel the same way, showing interest in making a deal with the other side. 

King said he is opposed to tax increases but "everything should be on the table," and cautioned colleagues that they "should not be taking ironclad positions" before any agreement is made between the White House and Congressional leaders. 

He also argued that a deal can be a good thing to help Washington's image. "We have to show the world we're adults. The election's over."

You can watch the entire program on our website including our roundtable that looked at President Obama's second term and what we can expect from the next four years as well as the still developing conflict in the Middle East involving Egyptian President Morsi and the Israel/Gaza cease fire.  

Plus be sure to check out our PRESS Pass conversation with author and historian Jon Meacham whose new book Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power chronicles the life of our nation's third president. 

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.

The big news out of Meet the Press this morning was the debut of the final NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that shows President Obama ahead of challenger Mitt Romney by a one percentage point margin.

Even with the tight national polling, both sides exuded confidence this morning. President Obama's Senior Adviser and campaign architect David Plouffe asserted, "I'm very confident, David, two days out from election, that the president's going to be re-elected on Tuesday night."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) had similar confidence about Mitt Romney's chances in Cantor's home state. "We're going to win this state and i think we're going to win it a lot bigger than most people are predicting," Cantor said. 

You can watch the entire interviews with David Plouffe and Leader Cantor on our website as well as our roundtable discussion with full analysis on Tuesday's election and how some of the larger moments in the campaign may or may not affect the outcome of the race. 

Also, with the country still reeling from Hurricane Sandy that left 2 million people still without power across the East Coast, Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker joined the roundtable to discuss the progress being made just under a week after the storm's passing. 

Booker gave the response effort from all levels of the government "high marks," but cautioned it is going to be "a very difficult road to get out of a state of emergency," in the Garden State. 

We'll be back next week and be sure to catch David this Tuesday night as part of NBC’s primetime network coverage of the 2012 Presidential Election.

If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

News this morning on the polling front as Chuck Todd debuted fresh numbers from our NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll showing a dead heat between Mitt Romney and President Obama. They are currently tied at 47%, a number Chuck said should worry team Obama as election day gets closer. 

Two top Romney campaign supporters this morning were also happy about those numbers. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) told David, "The trend is in our direction... The enthusiasm and energy are on our side." Similarly, Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) said, he likes the way his home state is shifting towards Romney and added "I think [the polls are] only going to get better for the Republican side, both in Florida and nationally, as we move forward."

David Axelrod, chief re-election strategist to the president, responded to the latest poll numbers: "We feel good about where we are." He cited both strong numbers in specific battleground state polls as well as early voting numbers that he argued "have been very favorable" to the Obama campaign. 

Also, just 36 hours before the third and final presidential debate, we had a robust conversation on foreign policy with the roundtable. David was joined by Democratic Strategist and Former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers; Republican strategist Mike Murphy; NY Times Columnist Tom Friedman; and NY Times White House Correspondent Helene Cooper, who along with colleague Mark Landler, broke a story in today's NY Times saying that Iran and the U.S. government have agreed in principle to one-on-one talks over Tehran's nuclear enrichment program.

You can watch the entire program on our website including our full conversations with Senators Rubio and Portman, as well as David Axelrod.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

This week is poised to be a critical one in the presidential race as President Obama hopes to rebound from a debate performance that many dubbed as sub-par during his first meeting with Mitt Romney. 

Governor Romney's performance at the first debate was dismissed by President Obama this week as "salesmanship," and on Meet the Press this morning, Atlanta's Democratic Mayor Kasim Reed struck a similar tone in giving advice to the president for Tuesday's debate.

"The President of the United States has got to stand up and every time sharply address [Mitt Romney] and not let him get away with it. He's a great salesman. I would buy a car from him."

Foreign policy has also taken center stage this week as conflicting reports from the administration about the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya have spilled over in to the campaign. Governor Bob McDonnell, R-Va., said the attacks should not be politicized and argued that they raised a broader point about where or not "this administration's foreign policy in the Mideast helped somehow to contribute to an appearance of weakness of the United States."

As David mentions in the video above, these issues all serve as a backdrop for Tuesday's debate, a night both campaigns are focusing on heavily and hope to come away with a win.

We also had an exclusive conversation with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, both in and out of character. You can watch the interview here. Colbert provides an interesting and unique look at how he thinks his character can shine a light on some of the absurdity in politics. 

We'll back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

This morning's Meet the Press featured a lively debate on our roundtable about where the presidential race stands and what role the first debate and new unemployment numbers have played in changing its makeup.

Last week's first debate was widely viewed as a win for Mitt Romney due to a lackluster performance from the president. Obama campaign re-election strategist Robert Gibbs admitted this morning that the president was unhappy with his performance. "It's not rocket science to believe that the president was disappointed in the expectations he set for himself."

Gibbs said part of the reason for this was that "we met a new Mitt Romney" that backed away from his past positions.

He also gave backhanded praise to what he referred to as "Mitt's masterful theatrical performance."

"He did a superb acting job," Gibbs said, adding "He did everything but learn tap dance."

Republican strategist Mike Murphy had a different take. "He lost the debate because he had nothing to say. ... [The Obama Campaign] has the thinnest reelection brochure ever."

Looking forward, Vice President Joe Biden will square off against his challenger Paul Ryan this Thursday in the first and only debate between the two men. 

Robert Gibbs said the Vice President is "anxious and ready to do this." Former GOP Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich thinks Paul Ryan will be "respectful" adding that he will "not give an inch."

You can watch the entire program on our website, including a one-on-one interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger on his new book Total Recall. The former California governor weighs in on the current state of our politics and talks frankly about his marriage-ending affair; something he calls a "major screw-up."

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

Just three days before the all-important first presidential debate and the Romney campaign seemed to raise expectations this morning on Meet the Press - a different tone they've taken previously about the meeting. 

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a key Romney supporter, put added significance on Wednesday night's match-up by says "come Thursday morning, the entire narrative of this race is going to change."

The president's senior adviser took that opening and ran with it saying, "If it's going to fundamentally change, that means in seven or ten days from now, you'll see states like Ohio tied, states like Iowa tied, because that's what really matters here." He also added that Romney has "prepared more than any candidate in history."

Plouffe also defended the administration's position about the events that took place in Benghazi, Libya, ultimately leading to the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Plouffe called the notion that the White House withheld information for political purposes, "preposterous and really offensive."  But he also denied that there was an “intelligence failure”.

You can watch the entire broadcast on our website including a lively discussion on our roundtable about the debate, and which question our guests would ask if they were moderating.

Also, don't forget tomorrow to watch the Massachusetts Senate debate David is moderating between incumbent Republican Senator Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

Comments by Mitt Romney  that 47% of Americans who support President Obama view themselves as "victims," released this week have caused a firestorm for the GOP nominee.

A top campaign supporter of Romney's, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) said this morning on Meet the Press that those comments would not be how Mitt Romney would lead as president.

"That certainly was a political analysis at a fundraiser, but it's not a governing philosophy."

Our roundtable had a broader debate about the current state of Mitt Romney's campaign after a couple of rough weeks including polls showing the president ahead in important battleground states and the release of the fundraiser video. The question was: does the Romney campaign need a re-boot?

New York Times columnist David Brooks said he thinks Romney is "faking it."

"Mitt Romney does not have the passion for the stuff he's talking about," Brooks said. "I think he's a non-ideological person running in an extremely ideological age and he's faking it."

He suggests that Romney become "the PowerPoint guy," and try to sell the American people on the details how he can get them back to work. 

Romney adviser Bay Buchanan said that the campaign is "bringing out those details as we speak," and had a more optimistic view of how the race stands today. 

"We are in a dead heat nationally.  We have two polls showing it a dead heat, a tie.  And the momentum is ours.  You see that the president's numbers have come down.  Mitt Romney's numbers are coming up."

You can watch the entire program on our website to head more from our roundtable including why Joe Scarborough thinks the president is starting to act like "Elvis in '76."

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin called for the United States to draw a "red line" against Iran to prevent the country from getting a nuclear weapon; an "existential" issue for him.

"Once the Iranians understand that there's a line that they can't cross, they're not likely to cross it," he told David Gregory on Meet the Press.

Iran, Netanyahu argued, is guided by "unbelievable fanaticism," likening the Tehran government to the protesters who stormed U.S. embassies across the Middle East this week.

"It's the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?"

In addition to the rising tension between Israel and Iran, the turmoil across the Middle East continues to dominate the administration’s focus. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said this morning that they "can't predict with any certainty" when the protests across the Middle East would end because it is "a spontaneous reaction to a video."

As for questions to whether there was a breakdown or failure of U.S. intelligence gathering that could have prevented or given fair warning to the raids, Rice said that there was “no actionable intelligence to suggest that any attack on our facility in Benghazi was imminent.”

“We did have indications that there was the risk that the video might spark some protests” in Cairo, she said.

Rice also responded to criticism from the GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney for the administration’s response to the turmoil. He has said that the U.S. should not “apologize” for American values.  Rice called that criticism “vacuous.”

“I think the American people, and certainly our diplomats and development experts who are putting their lives on the line around the world every day, expect from our leadership unity in times of challenge,” Rice said. 

Make sure to watch the entire program on our website, to hear more from our guests including a special roundtable the dealt with the question of American leadership in the world and whether or not it's declining.

Also make sure to watch our PRESS Pass interview with Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the presidents fiscal commission and thought leaders on how to handle the country's economic future. 

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel argued this morning that the reason people are still talking about Clint Eastwood's remarks Thursday night is because Romney's speech was, "devoid and vacuous of any ideas."

"There was nothing there," Emanuel said, "so the space post the convention is being about Clint Eastwood."

He continued to lay out the case for why President Obama deserved re-election saying, "If people want to know about the first term, very simple. General Motors is alive and well, and Osama bin Laden is not. And that's what got done."

On the roundtable, the gender gap was front and center. President Obama has a lead in our latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll among women by ten points. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina lamented what she believes is the treatment of women as a "special interest group," by the political parties - particularly the Democrats.

"Women are over half the populations. They are not single issue voters. ... The Democratic party continues to milk this issue and manipulate women as single issue voters."

(Watch Chuck Todd's breakdown of the numbers on the gender gap here from today's program.)

You can watch the entire program on our website to hear more from our roundtable on the gender gap, and what we can expect from the Democratic National Convention which kicks off this week in Charlotte, NC.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.