The Gaggle: Congress won't back down on gun control

>>> the white house effort to develop a gun control policy begins in ernest today. let's bring in the gaggle. bloomberg review and national review , former democratic senator blanche lincoln of arkansas. and my colleague, mike viqueira. i want to start with you, senator lincoln. you're in congress during the 1994 debate. bill clinton to this day, your fellow arkansan, believes more so than any of the other issues that he had to deal with in '94, the '94 midterms the assault weapon ban is what hurt democrats the most. what can the white house do -- your advice to joe biden , do you go small, incremental and get something passed? or do you try to go big, change the conversation, but ultimately fail?

>> i think you have to stay steady on the conversation. that's critical. i took that vote in '94. i had to go home and run for re-election.

>> and you won.

>> i did. but i went to those nra meetings. and i talked to those people who i knew very well. i went goose hunting saturday morning over on the eastern shore . you know, there are reasonable people out there who understand that the incidences that we saw in connecticut are too frequent. they're -- they're outrageous. and we've got to do something about that.

>> you think you can have the conversation. you felt like you had the conversation with gun owners ?

>> i do. i think there's a lot of people out there that know that, row kn you know, the circumstances are if you need 47 rounds to get a deer you need to go to target practice.

>> you're not a fwood shot. mike, you know these guys in the house. it passed by two votes in that democratic house. two votes. democratic house.

>> yeah.

>> this is a republican house. is there a -- is there a compromise? is it mental health and magazines?

>> think the danger here for gun control advocates the more time goes by, senator lincoln says they've tried to keep it on the front burner but we revert to the status quo anti-in terms of gun control . that's the obvious default position. i think the white house recognizes that. like a lot of other issues we'll see in the second term they're going to go full bore. pardon the pun. go all the way maximum in terms of what they're going to propose. no sense of the incremental.

>> the incremental is going to lose probably. might as well go big or go home. what do you say? the republicans, is there any -- are there just -- are there any in the house where they could find political benefit doing this?

>> you know, i don't think the politics of guns really has changed all that much. i think it remains the case that people who vote on this issue tend to be people who are enthusiastic about gun ownership . and suspicious of gun regulation . and i think the other problem --

>> remember, this is probably more rural america than urban america . america , than urban america , it's less a democratic have been republican divide and more an a rural/suburban divide.

>> the other thing is, i think there's a certain amount of skepticism that would, "a," do anything about the overall crime great and, "b," do anything about newtown. that's a problem that advocates have to overcome.

>> that's why it has to be a comprehensive discussion. it has to be a comprehensive discussion about video content. mental health . ohm sorry things that have to be at that table.

>> we'll stop here a minute. take a break. sneak in a break. a little more time to hear you guys. how many members of congress were on the house judicial commit that voted to impeach president nixon ? the answer, did you know this --

>> connors. and charlie rangel . both are still serving. we'll be