Smear campaign continues

>>> susan rice has done a great job as our ambassador to the united nations . this decision about my successor is up to the president but i'm very happy he has the opportunity with a second term to make a decision.

>> secretary of state, hillary clinton , coming to the defense of his possible successor, u.n. ambassador susan rice . yet, the smear campaign against susan rice continues as more republicans pile on. rice had another tough day on capitol hill today. now, senate republicans are blaming rice for yet another security failure. the u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania 14 years ago.

>> it troubles me so much is the benghazi attack in many ways echos the attacks of those embassies in 1998 when susan rice was head of the african region for our state department .

>> senator bob corker in tennessee had a warning for the president.

>> i would just ask the president to step back for a moment and realize that all of us here hold the secretary of state to a very different standard than most cabinet members .

>> while republicans say they are concerned about susan rice advancing bad intel, they didn't think twice about confirming condoleezza rice as secretary of state. susan collins , lindsey graham and john mccain all voted to confirm condoleezza rice . who would support as the next secretary of state?

>> i think john kerry would be a great appointment.

>> if he is nominated and confirmed, it would wave the pay for a special election . democrats aren't worried. the president is not backing down from his support for the ambassador.

>> thank you so much, guys. susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job she has done. [ applause ]

>> let's bring in karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former communications director for the dnc. is this a communications problem with the american people . now, it is susan collins and bob cork corker. they are in on the frey to smear susan rice .

>> i want to take one step back on this 1998 business susan collins was talking about. if we really truly want to go there, let's remember that those attacks in 1997 were when osama bin laden came to the floor and we had a clear sense of what he was about and attempting to do. if we are going to go there, let's talk about the massive intelligence failure on 9/11. knowing you had that happening in '98, how could you miss what happened on 9/11 which resulted in the deaths of 3,000 people. what does this signal about the republicans that they will go to seemingly endless lengths to discredit susan rice . why are they doing this?

>> some people think it has to do with the senate race. think how appalling that is that they are willing to trash a person's reputation, a person of susanshe has served this country honorably for a very long time. i think it makes the republicans look small and petty. this is part of the demise of john mccain . then, you have lindsey graham using this in his upcoming race for re-election. it is pretty disgusting stuff.

>> it is the politics of personal destruction , no question about it. it is also distortion politics. not a whole lot of positive things for the republicans. they are really on the defensive. they are looking for something negative to put on the president. the president has twice supported susan rice . secretary clinton did that today. you can't get any more aggressive than that.

>> some recent polling shows that where as americans don't like the way benghazi was handled, they don't think they were intentionally trying to mislead the people. they are trying to say the president did want us to know how bad the threat from al qaeda was. the decision was made to modify those talking points because we didn't want the enemy to know what was going on, not because there was an attempt to mislead the american people .

>> there is a report out that ambassador susan rice has a major financial stake in the pipeline. if she is nominated, i would assume this would be a problem in her confirmation hearings. let's say she is secretary of state. wouldn't this be a conflict of interest?

>> it could be. that would be a valid question in the course of if she were put forward for nomination. let's take a step back. she has complied with, it is my understanding, all of the rules and regulations to her current position. if she were to be nominated for any additional position, obviously, there again, she would follow all of the rules and regulations , not just with regard to disclosure but dealing with this as a conflict of interest if that's what they thought it was.

>> nbc news reporting that chuck hagel is being vetted for a possible post. great to have you with us. thank you. lots more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." let's stay with us.

>>> all of the sudden, we are the bell of the ball. we're here to i sa, it is time to start the dance.

>> latino voters helped put president obama over the top . now, the hispanic caucus says, they want action.

>>> congressman luis gutierrez joins me next. a night at the movies for the gop with the screening of "lincoln." can a look at the greatest republican of all time help them learn a lesson?

>>> tomorrow, mr. 47% is taking a free lunch from the president. here is a tip. don't insult the president.