>> this is al jazeera america. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. the first majority leader to lose his seat. erieric cantor defeated in primary. a second city falls in iraq as an al-qaeda splinter group steps up attacks to increase its power. and secretary of defense chuck hagel oh questione questioned

about the prisoner trade of bowe bergdahl. house majority leader erik can'ter is stepping down right now. house republicans try to figure out who will be their new leader. cantor's stunning defeat. a professor from central virginia mike viqueira joins us from capitol hill. mike, this is an unprecedented loss. everyone is telling me, including david shuster to my left what it means going forward for the republican party. >> reporter: this was truly a bolt from the blue in an age where there are so few genuine surprises. no one saw it coming. what it means with this riff between te tea party establishment. not so. the first time in the history of this republican the majority leader has been unseated in a

primary by a member of his own party. what is even more shocking is that erik don'ter was in line to become the next speaker of the house, the conventional wisdom some insiders will tell you close to john boehner that this was going to be his last hoorah, and eric cantor could have been speaker as early as next year. well all that came to an end. this upset at the hands of a tea party conservative bringing down the majority leader. >> reporter: vindication from the tea party. >> this team road a tea party wave to office, and last year a growing concern that we haven't followed through on that. >> reporter: after suffering losses, the tea party claimed it's biggest yet. unknown college. professoprefers taking down

eric cantor. by early afternoon the fall was complete. cantor told colleagues in the capital h capitol he would step down. that set off frantic maneuvering to replace him. having spent $5 million in his campaign how could he lose to brat who spent $122,000. many point to a poorly run campaign and while he was on the tria trail for republicans nationwide, many say he lost those in his district. he supported a path for legal constitutes for children brought total united states illegally. a small break to conservative orthodoxy, but enough to anger conservative voters in his district who rose up to defeat him despite cantor's lead in pre-primary polls. >> i think what we have someone

who reflects the interest of the american people. if there is anything that came out of yesterday is this. we were elected by american citizens we better represent the interests of citizens and they must come first and foremost from illegal alien who is take our jobs and suppress our wages. >> reporter: they huddle behind closed doors in a meeting room where eric cantor is breaking the news. he is said to appear before the press at the bottom of the hour. >> wouldn't you love to be a fly on that wall. >> reporter: absolutely. >> i mike viqueira, thank you. just who is dave brat, one of the men who knocked off one of the most powerful people. brat, who could be the next congressman from virginia's seventh congressional district. >> he is 49 years old, catholic, and originally from michigan. today dave brat in political circles was given the nickname giant killer.

in this race against cantor, brat was outspent 50-1, but he made up for it by tapping into the conservative establishment. >> dollars do not vote. >> brat's relentless interest in budget and theft as he called it may have carried weight as an economist. he spent the last 18 years working at randolph macon college as an economic professor. he served as the advisory board and brat earned his bachelor's degree from hope college in

michigan. he got a masters in divinity from the theological seminary and doctorate from economics. through the years he made frequent appearances in local television and radio stations so in the district he was not exactly an unknown. brat will take on jack trammel in a race already dubbed as the faculty lounge. he also from the macon university and teach sociological issues. reviews for both professor are strong. if you disagree with their views, they both have a hell of a classroom. >> it's amazing that this result comes down the pike, and no one sensed that this was possible. by, what an earthquake, tsunami, something. it was big. >> reporter: and tony, it gets

to the power of conservative radio, they took up brat's campaign and his cause, and between them and some of the other conservative publishers he was on the radar. >> i see, and the money was on cantor's side. that disparity and what was spent in his campaign, that's ridiculous. david, see you later. >> reporter: yes. >> eric cantor will hold a news conference in which he's expected to formerly announce he'll step down as house majority leader. we'll bring you his remarks. to other news now. iraq's government appears to be on its heels trying to repeal attacks from the islamic states of iraq. 23 people have been killed in a string of bombings in baghdad. the army is battling to keep control of kirkuk. isil fighters took mosul. half a million people were forced to flee.

it has taken anbar province which it has held for six months now. >> reporter: one of the iraq's biggest oil refineries burn. they mounted the attack early morning quickly overrunning security force there is. but the takeover did not last long. iraq's fourth armor division took back control a few hours later. the fighters are from the islamic state of iraq or isil: mosul remains under isil control for a second day. >> this is just the latest round of fighting from isil and it won't be the last. we'll continue to fight against them with the help of the people of mosul. they don't have the power to control the city.

they don't have the power to confront the iraqi forces. >> people on the outskirts of mosul continue to flee. they have waded through the tigress river. some will stay in hotels. some have family and friends. most will suffer. the region already has 250,000 syrian refugees and more struggle to build camps for more. along side the humanitarian crisis there is the failure of the army in mosul. some are calling it a dereliction of duty that they abandoned their posts. many officials here are very angry over what the army did. this shows the moment that iraq's army fled. the governor said steps are now under way to get it back using tribal militias.

we've introduced practice tall steps by mobilizing people and try to wind back mosul. our aim is to get rid of isil and the terrorist groups. we know that our enemy is terrorism. >> the prime minister will ask for a state of emergency to be declared. already politicians have criticized this move saying the prime minister already has enough powers. but whether the state of emergency is declared or not, iraq is in a state of crisis. al jazeera, baghdad. >> and then there is this, n.a.t.o. ambassador held a meeting to discussion the situation in iraq. their focus was on the capture of 80 turkish diplomats in mosul. isil fighters took it's citizens has sting. they have been making huge advances in a relatively short

period of time. we'll take a look at how they and other al-qaeda splinter groups have been so successful in iraq and syria. secretary of defense chuck hagel has been answers questions about the prisoner swap of bowe bergdahl. lisa stark is there for us. what came out of this hearing? >> reporter: this is the first of what will be no doubt many hearings about the bergdahl deal, and secretary of defense chuck hagel they did not know the exact location of the bergdahl release until one hour beforehand. defense secretary chuck hagel walked into a packed hearing room and did no minutes words. he strongly defended the administration's deal to hand over five taliban prisoners for

exchange of bowe bergdahl. >> i would not agree to any decision that i did not feel was in the best interest of this country. nor would the president of the united states. >> reporter: hagel said the administration had to move fast to free bergdahl who was believed to be in poor mental and physical health. the katari government warned that the risk to bergdahl's safety were growing. >> for all these reasons and more the exchange needed to take place quickly, efficiently, and quietly. we believe this exchange was our last best opportunity to free him. >> but committee members particularly republicans blasted the deal. >> this transfer sets a dangerous precedent in negotiating with terrorists. reverses longstanding u.s. policy and could incentivize other terrorist organizations including al-qaeda to increase their use of kidnappings of u.s.

personnel is. >> reporter: both republicans and democrats are angry that the five taliban were released from guantanamo without congress getting 30 days knows as required by law. >> if the president can violate the law and say no in this case we're not going to give you the information, it undermines the oversight process that we have with the intelligence community. >> reporter: hagel reminded the committee america leaves no soldiers behind. but this soldier has been accused of being a deserter. hagel said there will be an investigation whether bergdahl left his post in afghanistan, but he and some committee members denounce the character assassination. >> i really fear for his return to this country. with the kind of rhetoric that is being spewed in this very room. >> reporter: there is no word on when bergdahl, who is still in a military hospital in germany,

will be back to the u.s. which prompted a heated exchange. >> are you tell meg he's being held in germany because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. >> ask the question. >> i will get to the answer, and i don't like the implications. he's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he's ready until they believe he is ready. >> reporter: and when that happens said hagel bergdahl should be judged by the facts, not hearsay or innuendo. >> reporter: and there were a lot of questions at the hearing about those five taliban who were released. whether they could pose a threat to the u.s. in the future. secretary hagel said the best intelligence assessment is if think do rejoin fights it would not threaten americans but members of the committee, many of them, were skeptical and worried about that. >> lisa stark for us in

washington. lisa, good to see you. brazil and croatia kick off the 2014 world cup in sao paulo, but subway workers are threatening to walk off the job tomorrow. the issue complicates things for fifa that is already fending off attacks of mismanagement and corruption. we're at the start, i guess arguebly, the largest sporting event in the world. what is at the scene for us? well, we're 23 hours away from the start of the world cup, but who is keeping track of time. this world cup is going to kick off in just under 24 hours, and it's been a long time coming. seven years ago that brazil was granted the cup here in south

america, and it's picking up in excite, no doubt. they're going to be meeting in sao paulo whether they'll renew their strike or not. if they do, it will cause complications here because of the vast majority of the 61,000 fans who will be come together stadium tomorrow for the opening match are expected to arrive via metro. the vehicle could cause all sorts of problems. however, the government said they will have contingency plans in place. they'll have last minute preparations, and we're seeing fans from all over the world especially from south america start to pour in to sao paulo. >> there are a lot of issues that are pretty contentious right now in brazil. i'm wondering are protests planned for tomorrow's start of play?

>> there are. there are talks of protests. they're talking about using several thousand protesters. and. i can tell you that the security zone around this stadium is more than a kilometer around the stadium, and the police say they will not allow any sort of protests to interrupt. >> gotcha. good to see you. coming up on al jazeera america we'll look into a surge of migrant miners. we'll hear from them next. plus, you may soon be able to find your next plumber or

babysitter on amazon. and stuck in the airport, a man makes very good use of his time.

>> a senate panel will give the obama administration will give an increase for children housed in warehouses. we're in nogales, jennifer, where are most of these children coming from, which countries? >> reporter: the children are illegally crossing in mexico but they're coming from guatemala, honduras and el salvador, and the number of minors crossing into the u.s. has increased. >> reporter: when you see children wearing camouflage back bac backpacks, it usually means

one thing, they're getting ready to cross the u.s. with only the clothes on their backs and the possessions in their bags. over the past few months al jazeera has witnessed dozens of these children and teenagers most under the age of 17 make the desperate crossing. they're fleeing gang violence and crushing poverty in central america. countries like el salvador, honduras and guatemala. the numbers peaked this season overwhelming border patrol, churning enforcement into a humanitarian crisis. diplomats from the three countries are angry. >> you have these children in one place rejected. it's not a place for a child. >> reporter: on tuesday he spent the better part of seven hours

meeting with the 368 honduras children being held inside. >> you have children all over the place just sleeping on the floor. the thin mattresses that they told me they were going to order 2,000 mattresses. we're still waiting for it. we don't have clothing for the children to wear, they haven't been able to use the showers. there are very few who have been able to take a shower. >> reporter: the consul general for el salvador also visited the center on tuesday. >> these are not appropriate conditions for minors. they're not finding good conditions for a good night sleep. they claim they have gone up to six days without bathing. >> reporter: the question of why the large numbers of

unaccompanied minors are coming to the u.s. now? >> i don't have a good answer. i know honduras pretty well, and like many of our neighbors, they're facing charges over the last few years. the numbers are there. they don't lie, but the reason why they're coming now, i don't know. >> reporter: for now the children are caught between two countries. the one they so desperately wanted to leave, and the united states, which is struggle to go care for them and ultimately deny them a place here. >> when i spoke to the consul general from honduras last night i was struck by the compassion he was showing not just the children from honduras but all 1100 children detained in this facility. he said his main role, his main job when he speaks with these children is to try to give them hope. >> well jennifer, we just received word of a new complaint filed by an immigration activist against border patrol agents. what can you tell bus that?

>> reporter: alert, they claim while these undocumented minors have been under the protection of border protection there is systemic abuse of 100 children. the report, the complaint alleges abuse ranging from sexual violations, from not receiving medical care to the beatings of these children. the complaints says that these alleged offenses occurred at detention centers in texas and here in arizona. a spokesperson for customs and border protection said their agency does not tolerate any abuse or mistreatment of children. >> thank you. wall street stocks back up after the world bank scaled back its global growth forecast for the year. thamazon is getting into the game of providing services. it plans to launch a local marketplaces such as plumbers,

gardeners, and bean baby-sitters. let's go to the columnist with yahoo, this is likely to start later this year. how will it work? is it like craig's list or angie's list. >> reporter: it will be something like that. it give you access to local service providers, trades people, as you said, baby-sitters, dog walkers. not so much craig's list where people directly puts an ad up for their services, but a hub where presumably amazon will be give you access to providers of a wide provider. more like a yelp. >> a service component to the goods they sell, you buy a television set and you can get it installed, too, is that what is being discussed. >> reporter: that's an intuitive

explanation. this is supposedly going to start later this year in san francisco and seattle. they often do this, see how it works, work out the kinks and move it out nationwide. it seems to me that it all fits in amazon's general ambition to give customers more and more especially if you pay for that annual amazon prime fee. >> we know amazon has been hurting retail stores. people can buy goods online and not go to those box stores. is this new service venture, let me not ask that question because i think we're going to go to the house majority leader in just a moment here. reappreciate your time. thank you. and let's take you to washington, d.c. we understand that the house majority leader eric cantor, who lost in a real shocker in his primary. he was primaried last night in virginia in his district. we understand he's coming to the

microphone soon to make a statement. i think we're going to wait for it. so as you know this was a huge political shock around the nation. he lost to a tea party candidate, an university professor. a man who was outspend by the cantor team by a large margin. and yet mr. brat won that election last night. and again any moment now as david shuster comes on, we'll talk about this for a little bit. there are a couple of questions we can talk about here. how surprised were you by this result? >> i think i was surprised like everybody else. you just had a race with lindsey graham to whoa handil who

handily on. there was an event last eke are laura ingram campaigned dependence eric cantor and for dave brat, and there were literally a thousand people there excited to see laura ingraham. she said there is something going on here. conservative anger dependence the washington establishment. excitement that there could be competition. and you have that and supporters in the general election, the piss community, member they all come out to support the primary. >> had a as his position. his position on immigration that may have cost him. >> he suggested some willingness to possibly support-- >> the marco rube crow plan.

>> the marco rube crow plan that an allow immigrants or children of illegal immigrants to have some sort of eventually path to citizenship. if you ask the house or democrats nancy pelosi said eric cantor as not helpful to get the vote in immigration. >> credit, ho is this guy you're talking about. ho needs him. >> credit, he was standing in the way. but there as this drum beat that even suggesting that there should an vote, some steps of immigration reform some how should be defeated. that was relentless in conservative talk radio. i think a lot of republicans in the district didn't quite realize just how hot the anger was and cantor, for all the money he raised. he also got hurt that he spent more money on stak steakhouses than dave brat spent. he had allowed the washington

establishment infect his campaign. he became part of the washington establishment. he enjoyed traveling the country raising money for the republicans. mike viqueira talk to us about the perception of virginia, in that media market, and how pricing is this result to you given his power in washington, . hington, d.c. >> yeah, i would like to say that i saw this coming all along. the chaos really, the intrigue that is unphotod now in the wake of these developments in less than 24 hours, it's amazing the jockeying behind the position, behind the scenes to assume the next majority leader.

in any event. no one saw this coming. the internal polls, the external polls such as they were, they all had cantor comfortably ahead. they didn't see it coming. there's a real lesson here. it's a off-side statistic of the steakhouses versus how much dave brat actually spent. there is nothing that feeds the motives of a grassroots voter, regardless whether you think the tea party is good or bad for america, the up shot of all of this, the establishment, you saw mitch mcconnell beat back from the right. others have done so this primary season. they're back to square one and the divisions that plagued them. >> a final word on this from you, we'll breakaway and then come back. >> when this happens a couple of things to watch for, and mike has been following this all day long. who will eric cantor support in

terms of being the new majority leader. will he go with somebody like kevin mccarthy who are seen as the three young guns, inter changeable because of their policy position, or is it possible that he will not endorse or embrace and maybe there is room for the conservative caucus someone like jed hence from texas. >> david and mike stand by, and someone gives me heads up if we see eric cantor moving to the microphone. we'll breakaway to other news here. there is no end to the stand off between ukraine and russia. this comes as ukraine struggles to deal with tens of thousands

of people displaced by fighting in the east. al jazeera with more. >> reporter: when they fled slovyansk he, they left with only the clothes on their backs. but when their house was shelled they knew it was time to leave. now they live in old soviet camp. >> we had to go away to this place, to this hostile to live. we left everything, the home we had built up all of our lives. who do we do all of this? where do we have to go? >> we left without a house, without a job, without money. >> reporter: the city all here agree it lies in ruins. usually it's a holiday destination with a population around 5,000. now 25,000 people are calling this place home. among them at least a thousand

children who have been separated from their parents for a chance to escape the violence. an eight-year-old told me that his mother dropped him off and went back to slovyansk. he doesn't know when he'll see her again. many 16-year-old's find it difficult to forget the escape. >> it was unreal. i was scared. there are bombings, you're walking along thinking how to stay alive. here you can live peacefully. i don't have to worry about a bomb falling on me. >> reporter: her mother fled. she's barely been able to speak to her with phone lines almost down. her story is repeated over and over as all these children wait for news from home. homes that they know will be different if they ever return.

>> rival leaders in south sudan have agreed to form a transiti transitional government you the conflict has led to ethnic violence. thousands have been killed and many forced from their homes. a woman was sexually assaulted by a mob during inauguration celebrations. president al sisi is bringing flowers to her in the hospital. he promised to take action to combat egypt's serious sexual harassment problem. the police have seven suspects in custody. police stormed a compound looking for the owner of the

south korean sunken ferry. >> reporter: they went in first on may 21st. at that time only 70 police officers went in there and were guided around by members of the church. this time a much, much bigger operation. 6,000 police officers gathering at dawn being allowed in around 8:00 a.m. local time, and they're really combing the entire facility. if they don't find the real owner of the company who operated and owned the ferry that sank, they hope to find those who will lead them to him. his ability to evade capture has been because of his network of religious supporters.

south korean president asking for police to really reexamine the arrest methods. one other note the joint chief of staff of the military say they have heightened vigilance around the coast line in case he tries to evade capture by stowing away on a boat and leaving south korea all together. >> new details on a teenager who open fired at an oregon high school, maria ines ferre with news on that. >> reporter: the shooter obtained the guns from his home. the 15-year-old had an assault rival handgun with several magazines of ammunition. a freshman student was shot dead. the assailant was found shot dead inside a bathroom. the husband and wife shot two police officers and a

bystander. the police are investigating the motive. a massacre in iraq, accused of killing 14 iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others. the first trial was dismissed, many said that was a mistake. blackwater is one of the companies contracted by the u.s. government to manage its conflicts in iraq and afghanistan. afghanistan. berkeley, california, is considering an extra tax on soda to combat obesity. they're considering whether to include the measure on a citywide ballot in the fall. a similar legislation is considered in san francisco. what do you do when you're stuck in an airport. a music video, of course.

[♪ singing ] so richard dunne turned a-- >> you got to love this job. >> reporter: he turned the boring night at an airport lip-syncing to celine dion. >> he was lip-syncing? >> you thought that was his real voice? >> reporter: tony, so gullible. >> thank you. exiting the military can be tedious for many americans service men and women. filled with lots of paperwork, but a new app may make things more efficient. >> reporter: specialist genelli lopez and erik gowans study to transition from military life to civilian life. something they both admit is

intimidating. >> i'm scared. i'm so used to this way of life and already knowing everything that is expected of me. knowing what i'm supposed to do. >> i'm a father of two. i have two kids, so it's not just me. >> reporter: getting out of the military is not as simple as saying i quit. the pentagon now requires service members to start planning a year ahead. it's essential so they can get veteran's benefits, and it's often a we which would dering process that requires tedious paperwork and a week of classes. >> each of these classrooms have 50 people in them with computers and wireless internet in them. >> reporter: a new approach to a changing military mission. required classes financial planning, veteran's benefits, education options, job hunting and more. this base will sent more than 8,000 into the civilian world

this year. before soldiers here get out they have to go through a 256-step process. >> turning in your equipment. you're trying to get housing to sign off on things. you're trying to get your unit to sign off on paperwork saying you turned things in. >> maybe this can help to help navigate the complicated exit process and put resources at service people's finger tips. >> first of all-- >> this is house majority leader eric cantor. >> what happened last night, and then going forward, you know, growing up in the jewish faith. i grew up, read a lot in the old testament, you learn a lot about

individual setbacks, but you also red and learned that each setback is an opportunity, and there is always optimism for the future. while i may have had suffered a personal setback last night i couldn't be more optimistic about the future of this country. i couldn't, you know, i'm oned that i had the privilege to serve and represent the people of virginia's seventh district. you know, people often lament what is wrong with this town, but i want to remind you what is right. i had the honor to serve with so many distinguished colleagues. these are the people who fly across the country every single week trying to do what they can to help their constituents live a better life. these are members on both sides of the aisle. i can tell tha tell you that i've been more than honored to serve as their majority leader for the last several years. my colleagues and i are also

admirebly served by a tremendous group of staff who put in tireless hours with the same noble intentions of trying to help the constituents of ours live a better life. these staffers are the backbone of this institution. i've been able to get to know them and call them part of my family. i have been able t to come to know personally unheralded services that really are second to none. and it's been an honor to be in their company. it's been a privilege to get to know so many thousands, tens of thousands of constituents, the neighbors who make up the community of the greater richmond area. you know, richmond, virginia, is a special place that i've called home my entire life. i know that some of you, my

friends in the press corp have joined me there recently. i encourage everyone to make a visit soon. we house republicans have made tremendous strides over the past few years. we fought to allow every child regardless of their zip code the ability to go to the school of their choice and to receive a quality education. we have led the way in an unprecedented era of technology and it's break through. we forced the reduction of spending in washington. >> some people think washington gets nothing done. well, there is a stack of bills

sitting in the senate that shows house republicans do get things done. we get a lot done. our priority is building an america that works for the middle class families who are struggling in this country. but there is more work to do. conservatives have solutions that can help alleviate the middle class squeeze and provide opportunity to all regardless of their circumstance in life. i will continue to fight for each and every american who is looking to better themselves and help their families by pursuing the american dream. while i won't be on the ballot in november i will companion conservatives across the nation who are dedicated to preserving liberty and providing opportunity. truly what divides republicans pales in comparison to what divides us as conservatives from the left and their democratic

party. i hope all republicans will put their deference differences aside and elect an republican to allow our nation more mature, prosperous and freer. i'm confident at a our nation will overcome every struggle, exceed every challenge, and share the message of freedom, prosperity and happiness to all lebano liberty-seeking people all around the nation. while i intend to serve out my term as a member of congress in the seventh district of virginia effective july 31st, i will step down as majority leader. i'm delighted to take some questions.

>> why did you lose last night, and what can the party learn from your loss last night? >> i'm going to leave the political analysis to y'all. i know that my team worked incredibly hard. they did a tremendous amount of work. i'm proud of their work. i'm grateful for what they did, and in the end th they chose a different candidate. >> do you think that maybe you spent too much time here with your job as leader tending to your rank and file and not tending enough to your constituents back home? >> i was in my district every week, so you know, there is a balance between holding a leadership position and serving constituents at home. but never was there a day that i did not put the constituents of the seventh district of virginia first, and i will continue to do so. >> mr. leader, what message do you believe this sends about the future of immigration reform?

should it be stopped at this point? or do you think it should go forward, and what would you like talk to speaker boehner about? >> first of all what i would say on the political piece of that i will let do the analysis, but my position on immigration has not changed. it didn't change from before the election, during the election or the way it is today. i have always said that the system is broken. it needs reforms. it is much more desirable and doable if we did it one step at a time, working towards where we have common ground and believe things in common. i do not believe the my way or highway approach that the president has laid out. there is common ground. i would like to see the issue addressed by those who didn't break any laws and who came here

unbeknownst for them. i would like us to work together. >> who do you want to succeed you, and how decisive will the election be within your congress. >> i don't know who it is who will be running. i can tell if you my dear friend kevin mccarthy decides to run, i will back him with my full support. >> i'm curious, a lot of focus has been on the policy side, and on the policy side people wonder what this means for things like the expert-import. you cu touched on immigration and other things going on. is this the end of the legislating of this congress or can this congress get things done? >> we've got this month and next. we're very full on the floor with appropriations measures that my team and the committees are working on. we've got cftc authorization.

we've got energy bills that would speak to bringing down costs for americans who are facing the summer driving season. we've got a full set of bills. another group of human trafficking bills to be done. chairman of the house financial services committee. we'll look to do that this summer. there is a lot of things in motion. yes, we will continue to work and hopefully the senate will reciprocate so we can get the work of the american people done. >> would you talk a minute for politics is local. you lost your race. people will read broader things in this. why shouldn't some republicans be scared where they move into their primaries where you say you spent time every week in your district where they feel like they've shored up your base and then receive a challenge. why shouldn't they be scared by an unprecedented loss.

>> as you rightly suggest all politics are local. there was obviously a lot of attention that was cast on our race. again, i think that our millions are in good position in their districts, and i'll leave the political analysis to y'all. >> democratics say you're too extreme. conservatives said you were too compromising. >> maybe we had it right somewhere in the middle. again, i think this town should be about trying to strike common ground. it's better if we can agree to disagree but find areas in which we can produce results. i've said this before. i've talked about my wife and i now almost married 25 years, and believe me, we don't agree on everything, and we managed to raise our family, have a wonderful marriage. she has stood by me throughout all this public office stuff,

she's been a strong advocate for me, and not always believing in what i believe in, but we managed to raise our family and do well. i don't think that's too unlike life, i don't think that it's too unlike the political arena. >> what does the law say about your party direction in 2016. some say that it emboldens the tea party to elect a more conservative uncompromising candidate. >> i'm going to leave the political analysis to y'all. i will say about the tea party. remember what the acronym means. taxed enough already. when the tea party first came about in 2009 i believe it was largely in reaction to the tremendous overreach on the part of the obama administration with the stimulus, obamacare, go dodd frank, and the country rose

up an said enough is enough. i do believe what we have in common as republicans is a tremendous amount of commitment to a better and smaller government, and greater opportunity and growth for everybody, and the differences that we may have are slight and pale in comparison with those we have in the left, and those with liberalism and expansive government. >> can you--you had the elections on june 19th, and you're stepping down july 21st. can you have a leadership in waiting that long, or will that create more friction? >> again, you have to speak to the speaker about the timing of the leadership elections. and i will say that we've got a very busy floor period. i've announced since the beginning of the year we've got a lot on the floor. my team has been heavily involved with the committees,

drafting legislation, and making sure that we can run the floor. we look forward to very productive june and july. >> you don't want to do a political analysis. what about personal analysis. could you look in the mirror before you went to sleep and say, how did i let this happen? >> no, because i really do believe we did everything we could. i'm very proud of my team on the ground in richmond for all they did. there was a tremendous outpouring of support on all sides, and again, i just came up short, and the voters elected another candidate. >> what's next for you? what's your next move, what do you think you'll be doing after you leave congress? >> again, that is probably between my wife and me, and i will be looking at to see how i can best serve, how i can best be a part of what we really have been about here with the agenda called on america that works. remember what it's premised

upon. the notion that conservative solutions, personal responsibility limited government, more liberty, can produce the results and solve so many of the problems that the american people have been facing in an obama economy under the obama administration. so thank you all very much. >> there you have it. representative eric cantor, the majority leader in the house in the news conference. where he answered a number of questions. i'm going to get to david shuster in a moment. david, you were listening to the news conference as i was, and part of this is putting the best face on a bad personal situation, a bad professional situation, a shocking loss. an unprecedented loss. >> he said repeatedly i'm going to leave the political analysis. i think he'll regret having not spent more time in his

election. did he a better job of articulating the conservative republican view and what he stood for than a lot of people said his campaign did in recent weeks. it's a challenge of you overlooked your local race and then it's only after the fact when you say things perhaps you should have said several weeks ago. >> the tone that you heard from eric cantor you would think that the two sides of the aisle were able to work together, but we know that on a number of issues, immigration to the debt deal to the president affordable care act. these two sides were at loggerhead under speaker boehner and eric cantor. >> reporter: yes, let's step back. what did it matter to me? why do i care? because you are seeing a continued struggle. they thought they put it to

rest, a struggle between tea party conservatism and the establishment. what does that mean to the rest of us? it means immigration reform, big ticket items like budget compromise, are they going to go forward whether you're against them or for them, that's what is at stake. it's still a very deep schism between the two parties. eric cantor is going out with his head held high. he wanted to go out on a grace note. did he not back down on his immigration stance. there is no point doing that now. he wants a step by step approach to find common ground on the border, the dream act. if he had gone to his district, it still gets to the heart of the problem and conservative radio host referenced earlier laura ingram and the rest would have been all over him for that one simple reason. what you see is a man who has got to be bitterly disappointed as early as next year. and it's become even more of an open secret today.

he would have been the speaker of the house. even john boehner's staffers now talking about the possibility of boehner stepping down at the end of this year. at the end of this congress, now having second thoughts. cantor went out with his head held high. he went out on a grace note. highways got to be disappointed with everything at stake and everything the future held for him. >> i want you to talk to us about the election for the new house speaker and how contentious is that going to be. >> reporter: i envy mike viqueira. can you imagine covering a house floor where you've got the majority leader who controls legislation until july 31st. having an opinion on an election that's going to happen june 19th. if you're a member of congress, and you want your bill, your legigislation to come up, i mean-- >> get work done. >> reporter: on the republican side it becomes even more complex civil war between tea

party conservatives who have another candidate who they might support, and eric cantor, who's preferred candidate. >> kevin mccarthy. >> reporter: it's a fascinating time. even more fascinating at a time when the big ticket stuff simply cannot get done. >> there is a lot of work that needs to be done now. do you see this as being a frack shoes fight for leadership moving forward over the next month or so, the leadership election is scheduled for june 19th. >> i hate to say this, it's hard to see a scenario where it doesn't jesus. regardless of who becomes the next majority leader, whether it's kevin mccarthy from bakersfield, california, or the three candidates who will be to the right of kevin mccarthy you're going to see a battle between the republican party that will translate into more

gridlock here over the course of the coming year, and perhaps even into the next congress and at the end of president obama's term. >> mike viqueira and david shuster, i'm tony harris in new york. "inside story" is next. . >> mick up the paper, watch the news, there is probably another shocking story demonstrating that the lives of women are cheap. when will they change that picture? that's the inside story.