Bloomberg: The NRA was notoriously unsuccessful in last election

>>> was that mika day being announced? no. " morning joe " name. don't roll your eyes. do we have one?

>> there's only 365 days in a year and we have about 7,000 days.

>> i think there's better use, trust me. the mayor of new york city michael bloomberg to announce the new financial and power initiative. also with us best selling author and award winning journalist, carl bernstein and co-host of cnbc street signs , brian sullivan joining the table with dan seymour and me this morning. you talked about in the "new york times" about your potential successor. does that mean there's no fourth term?

>> there's no fourth term. the article was so erroneous and goes after one of the people who made a difference in this city, chris quinn . o without her it would have been a lot tougher, let me tell you.

>> this is what's next for you. and joe has a great idea.

>> it was brilliant.

>> yes. it could be a good use of your money. everyone likes to talk about what to do with your money but ultimately, it's your decision.

>> yes.

>> there's big problems in this country, one of which there is an awful lot of people that have no knowledge of finance and accounting and savings, they don't have bank accounts . if you don't have those kinds of -- that kind of knowledge and those things, you can't get a job and can't really participate. in "new york times" we tried financial empower mement centers and worked with people who didn't have the financial advantages you and i have and how to enhance the yield. it worked well in this city. 19,000 reduced their debts dramatically. so my foundation is giving a grant to five other cities to do the same thing because it's working here and think it will work elsewhere. if it works elsewheres in five other cities, maybe cities after that will follow. nashville, tennessee, lansing, michigan, denver, colorado, philadelphia and san antonio , texas. they've gotten between 1 1/2 and $3 million over three years to hire some people, to put together an organization and go out and raise some private money to match this money. together, they're going to teach people how to save, how to get a bank account , how to be responsible for their own finances. it's part of our initiative to try to make government at the local level and mayor's level do things for people. we've given half a dozen grants to coordinate volunteers in the city. given grants to half a dozen cities to innovate new things. we have this mayor's challenge where cities are competing to come up with ideas other cities can use and four cities win a million bucks and one city win 5 million bucks.

>> to help people help themselves.

>> give them a fishing rod , good for life and a fish, one good male.

>> -- good meal.

>> the other thing is a new ad out today about guns.

>> 20 heartbroken families in the sandy hook shootings. i know how bad it hurts. my 9-year-old daughter was murdered in the sandy hook shooting. i have one question to the political leaders . when will you find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby ? whose child has to die next? we cannot wait. we have to have a plan. go to demand a plan.org. add your name.

>> there's reporting you have been in contact with the vice president tasked do something. the president has vowed to try and get legislation through as soon as possible. there are realities to this.

>> there are realities. the reality is most americans think it's crazy to have assault weapons and high capacity magazines. the vast majority of the people think they should be reasonable. the majority of the supreme court justices as well think there should be reasonable controls so you shouldn't have guns in the hands of minors or criminals or people with psychiatric problems or substance abuse problems. there are some legislators who think differently or think that their careers would be limited if they go against the nra . i don't happen to think that's true. the nra was notoriously unsuccessful in this last election term. they set one major priority, to defeat barack obama . in a couple weeks you will see an inauguration. barack obama is get egg ing inaugurated again. shows you the power of the nra . in our case, we went against three members and in our cases the opponents won. ow can beat the nra . all you have to do is accept reasonable restrictions. nobody is trying to take away your gun or right to go hunting or target shooting or protection in your home. certainly have reasonable things so people aren't killed. you saw this woman talking about her 9-year-old daughter. every parent sits there and thinks, if it was my kid. gabby giffords in the office in the office two years later still struggling in rehab.

>> to hear from joe scarborough , the host of the show, change his view live on the air about this. you see joe mention coming out. you just saw a general talking about the fact that there is no place in our society here in america for these guns that blow up inside a human being 's body. i think we're getting somewhere but i think it will be, dan senor , a long haul when you get to the sausage making in washington .

>> this should be going on, a number of issues going on, gun control , the debt ceiling debate, immigration reform , another issue. you've been very outspoken on it. it will come up in the next few months hopefully. the way you talk about immigration, mr. mayor, the whole debate about immigration reform is on the scales of what kind of burden does immigration pose to the country, how do we manage the burden. you said, it's not a burden. a jolt to our economy.

>> most knowledgeable people would agree immigrants create jobs here. immigrants are a thousand times more likely to have a business, don't take away jobs, create jobs. seasonal workers take jobs from nobody and do things americans won't do and create jobs down the road. the economic benefits of having immigrants around the world, the countries starting to eat our lunch doing it because they want immigrants and we are trying to keep them out. the issue where it gets controversial, family reunification , you're here an want to bring your family over. the family reunification people are trying to hold the economic immigration changes hostage until they get some of that. that's the fundamental battle in congress. nobody is really opposed to the economics in the south and the north and east and west and agricultural and every industry, everybody realizes they need them and they will create the jobs for americans tomorrow. like everything else in washington , nothing stands on its own.

>> carl.

>> it's an interesting discussion because all the issues we're talking about are poisoned by ideologically purity versus common sense . all of us know the three issues we just mentioned, there are easy solutions that meet common sense tests that are based on fact. every mayor in america knows about guns and the effects of these. all the mayors practically are on the same side of this issue. all the police chiefs in this country are on the same side of this issue. it's when we get to congress.

>> the question, why do congress vote against sensible gun laws killing our cops and vote for fiscal policy this is a know will bankrupt us and why do they vote f vote -- don't vote for better schools. irrational people don't do this. you locked up irrational people.

>> and it is voting.

>> and gerrymandering.

>> because they have a job and want to feed their family like you want to feed your family and want to keep their job like you want to keep your job put the decision making does not sloinvolve those issues. that's what you talk about on this tv show , nothing to talk about when they decide.

>> there was a time in this country when our political system , this is not just nostalgia, particularly in washington , when there was real concern about the natural interests versus parochial interests. we now have a politics based on parochial and ideologically interests and getting reelected at any cost versus national interest .

>> i suspect there was a time in this country politics wasn't a full time job, you became like the mayor, successful businessman, went into you did your bid and then went home. 100 plus years of legislative experience. joe biden became a senator when i was 1. these are lifetime politicians now.

>> that's been going on for a long time.

>> how do you have a sense of what people want when you've been away from people for so long sph.

>> you mentioned joe biden and i will tell you, joe biden speaks his mind. you might not always agree with him. i endorsed his boss, although he's not going to deliver. he picked joe biden to focus the administration on guns. biden was the one that brought in the assault, chaired the committee.

>> not picking on biden .

>> i understand that. there are some, i think biden is a good example. he is one who speaks his mind and he says what he believes. everybody else is so afraid to do that. carl and i was talking backstage. the next day you're in the paper and what you said taken out of context. if you want to know why people don't want to go into business because from everything -- how unfair i always thought, whether you like romney or not, policies buying companies that have nothing to do with it. we go after the wrong thing.

>> we need context.

>> we have cities and towns in the papers we were reading earlier in the show. voting to arm teachers and voting to arm principals. not like the people in washington are completely out of staff.

>> i agree.

>> so, i have a question for you, mr. mayor, on how to lead on this. when you leave office, if you really care about guns, put all your money where your mouth is.

>> i have 356 days left to this job.

>> well, i've said it is all going to be given away.

>> you know it makes a difference in politics, money.

>> whatever i say about this mayor, he's pretty good.

>> still have a year left. $350 million, what are you going to do?

>> not giving his money away, i wouldn't go after him on that one.

>> he makes a point, that you can make a difference because you have the money.

>> i think a lot of people can. stanley mcchrystal is a guy who has more credible than i ever will have in terms of guns and the damage that guns can do and you get hit, but with a modern weapon and they'll take your arm off.

>> we don't need to we told that.

>> people like mcchrystal, i think, also, he doesn't have a lot of money to go away. devoted his life to public service . but stanley mcchrystal can be as good a spokesman as much as the five of us. i never thought that something wrong with the david cook on the right and giving away their money to try to influence the dialogue to what they believe. why shouldn't they do it? you do it by being on television and people respect what you say and nothing wrong with that.

>> could you regulate ammunition?

>> hold on --

>> first thing you should regulate is piercing bullets. when was the last time you saw a deer wearing a vest? it's the only group i know of that wears a bullet resistant vest. why else would you buy a bullet unless you want to kill a cop?

>> it's ridiculous that we're having this conversation. just a quick, random question. what do you think of chris christie as a politician? new approval rating coming out today at 73%.

>> he's an in your face kind of guy. he's done well in new jersey. his style and my style are very different, but i think he's done a good job so far. he's got great challenges in new jersey and, you know, he's out there pounding the table. i sort of work differently. but you need all different kinds and i think, so far, chris christie has done a good job.

>> mayor bloomberg , thank you very much. let me know if you need any more advice on how to spend your money.

>> thank you.

>> really appreciate it.

>> my people will call your people.

>> we'll be following your financial empowerment initiative. it sound wonderful, thank you very much for that.

>>> coming up, former national security adviser under president carter. he's late, again. just got in