Obama: 'Rice is extraordinary'

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>>> susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job she's done.

>> that was president obama today at his first cabinet meeting since winning re-election. today, she received this praise from secretary of state hillary clinton .

>> susan rice has done a great job as our ambassador to the united nations . and of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president.

>> today, republican senators continued to try to open up the massachusetts senate seat that scott brown could run for.

>> i think john kerry would be an excellent appointment and would be easily confirmed by his colleagues.

>> if the president wants an easy confirmation hearing and process, nominate john kerry , who is imminently qualified to be secretary of state and i believe he would sail through in the nominating process.

>> joining me now, ari mel ber. ari, you're coming to us tonight from kerry country, boston and i've got to think this is a horrible moment for senator kerry. you don't want to be the guy who gets praise from the mindless attackers of susan rice .

>> yeah, i don't think he wants any part of this very weird boom boomerang play the republicans are trying to practice. he knows her well because as chairman of foreign relations committee , he oversees the state department , looking at the diplomacy and ambassadors and working with secretary clinton and ambassador rice.

>> well, today, ambassador rice met with susan collins and bob corker and here are the lies those senators told after the meeting.

>> i continue to be troubled by the fact that the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign.

>> 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 . we want someone of independence.

>> okay, ari, that's bob corker lying about these mythical standards of secretary of state. said she campaigned for george w. bush . this is crazy stuff they're talking and.

>> condoleezza rice after stanford was a political adviser to w. bush an it's not a problem as long as you take the role seriously. the expectation about what you do once in office. i think it's sad, also, a misunderstanding of the senate's role what some of these republican senators are saying. they have a role to -- they don't have a role to block and filibuster endlessly. when they have tried to block nominee, it has boom ranged on them. that's why -- now in the senate because they played so many games thwarting the nomination. she knocked one of their colleagues out. i don't think that is the same situation here. but again, you showed the clip just earlier of the president praising susan rice . she was in the cabinet meeting in that footage because democratic administrations typically make the u.n. ambassador. republican administration typically do not and it goes back to the historical debuts, but there's no doubt that the president knows susan rice has had confidence in her and if he chooses to go with her, it will be continuity in his foreign policy .

>> ari, what's the talk in massachusetts about a possible senate race of john kerry because there's still speculation he might go to defense if he didn't go to state.

>> the folks i know who work for john kerry are much more focused on the fit for the state department because that is of course what he oversees on his committee. they're not as focused on that. the problem in massachusetts is that scott brown did just spend