>> michael: coming up, the public weighs in on the trio of quote unquote, scandals envelop enveloping washington, and by weighs in, i means shugs their shoulders and sighs. i'm michael shure. you are in "the war room." [♪ theme music ♪] >> folks as we begin tonight's broadcast broadcast, we should tell you that a massive tornado has hit right outside of oklahoma city. there are two schools that are

underneath a tremendous amount of rubble. 15 to 75 children trapped in those schools. they went there to seek shelter, we'll monitor those stories tonight. this week the white house itself is trying to get out of a little bit of trouble from last week's scandals. it looks like the president might come out unscathed. knew polls show the scandals have not changed the way america views president obama. dan pfeiffer appears on all five sunday talk shows. that's pretty rare. exchange that got the most attention was when he addressed the irs scandal. >> does the president believe that would be illegal? >> i can't speak to the law here. the law is irrelevant.

the activetive was inexcusable. >> you don't really mean the law is irrelevant, do you? >> whether it is legal or ill slel -- the department of justice has said they are look going the legality of this. the president is not going to wait for that. >> michael: fox news had a field day with that. peter johnson, jr. said not only was the administration engaged in a cover up, and it was elitist. >> is he kidding me? >> no! >> is he kidding america? relevancy means a direct bearing on the controversy at hand. if you figure you have been reelected, and it doesn't matter, it is not relevant. if you think you are a washington elite, then it's not

relevant. they are trying to sell the same nonsense that susan rice sold eight months ago with regard to benghazi. >> michael: fox news is pushed the idea that the president is trying to assume complete control of everything that everyone holds dear. >> this is what you get when you have an adeology of control operating. and when you look at fascist societies, you get the same thing. the lies think hypocrisy, the surveillance, all of these things. >> michael: and you get the love i will monica crowley. and according to bill oh o'reilly, it is because of this.

>> it is all about control. and i think that's a hallmark of barack obama's personality. i don't want to be a psychiatrist here, but when you are a kid raised in a real turbulent situation with no guiding authority in the house, no father, all of that when you get to be an adult the chances are you are going to want to control your environment, and that's the hallmark of his administration. it might be a little thing to another president, like ronald reagan, for example, but it's a big thing for obama. >> michael: what an ass. that's the first rule of republican fight club, also finish attacking obama with a reagan reference. but this fantasy horror story isn't taking hold out of the fox universe. let's take a look at benghazi.

ed a among moderates, and republicans, three-quarters of republicans think the president engaged in coverup. then there's the irs scandal. jay carney said the president knew nothing about it until it appeared in news reports. >> no one in this building intervened in an ongoing independent investigation, or could anything be seen as intervening in that investigation. >> michael: and it looks like the american people for the most part believe him. 25% of moderates think he lies while a nice fat 68% of republicans do. and now the associated press, this one has gotten less attention from conservatives but

seems to have the most legs. the ap says the just disdepartment was monitoring 28 phone lines. yesterday's though news agencies ceo called that unconstitutional. >> i really don't know what their motive is. i know what the message being sent is, if you talk to the press, we're going to go after you. we're going to go after these laeshgs. i don't know what their motive is, but i can tell you their actions are underconstitutional. >> michael: he is angry and he should be. there is another journalist under surveillance the chief correspondent for "washington post." the justice department got a search warren for his personal emails, tracked his movements and traced the timing of his

calls with a security advisor suspected of sharing info. >> we had to confront this question during the bush administration. there were leaks of classified information, and the focus was on the potential leak not the reporter who received it. >> michael: karl rove on security leaks. joining me now, democratic strategist peter fenn comes to us from washington, d.c. welcome back as always into "the war room," peter. >> thanks, mike it's great to be here. i guess. >> michael: it's great to have your here. the ap stuff isn't so silly, and the perceptions of america isn't so silly. could this issue now gain traction?

>> everything is gaining traction on fox, right? just the fact that you put up the headline scandals. i think a lot of this is much to do about nothing to be honest. but if there is one area that i think we have a problem with it is this whole area of looking in the press and personal privacy. one of the first jobs i had here was in the intelligence committee, and i'm a big civil libertarian. i don't like people getting their phones traps, i don't like looking at people's emergency room and their computers. the bush administration lead the charge on this. they went after the so-called leakers as you point out, valerie plain got hammers and i think if you have a problem you try to go to the source talk to the responsible press if

people's lives are put at steak, but at this point , this is acceptable behavior here in washington, and i don't think it is acceptable. >> michael: there are other ways to do this as you point out. they can go to the people. if they know enough about who to wiretap, they know enough about who to talk to. the other thing is the shield law. people say what difference would the shield law have made here. with the shield law they would have had to go to the court and get a warrant for this. >> yes, and one of the things i did when i was in the senate is help with the federal surveillance act. and back then we were worried about pay phones. protecting people's privacy

meant that you went to the court. the bush administration, surcouple represented that court. that court gives a very very wide latitude to prosecutors, people looking at information, they have approved over 90% of the request. if you want to tap somebody's phone go to a court and get a warrant to do it. >> michael: right. as you said over 90% of the wiretap warrants are granted. the obama administration, peter, has prosecuted more government officials for leaking than all other previous administrations combined. >> that is true. but a lot of those prosecutions were in the pipeline but it still seems to me that we have to err on the side of civil

liberties, press freedom, going to the court to get a warrant. and if something is so egregious, put in the 48-hour exception and then go to the court. but very rarely do we need to do the kinds of things that a lot of folks in this town think you have to do. >> michael: and a lot of those were in the pipeline. but it's not that obama did anything to stop them though. and this administration did not continue to -- did not stop -- >> and part of this michael, is that people think that when you put national security around something that then what happens is anything goes. you know? and i know we're in a tough situation, fighting terrorists all the time but there is a way to do this legally, and correctly, and to make it work. >> michael: yeah.

let's move now from the ap to the irs. jay carney says the president didn't know anything about it, until he saw news reports. is that explanation believable? >> i think it is. look, this is much adieu about something. over two dozen liberal groups were selected according to the "new york times." the irs could be empowered to look at political groups that are spending money on elections. they are using 501 c4 status to get around having to file as a political action committee. they are supposed to be social welfare organizations. they are not, and that should be the issue here is to stop this kind of activity that in the last election spent $250 million, most of which came from your friend there, or your

buddy -- not your buddy -- i'm being sarcastic. >> michael: oh, my buddy, peter. yes, karl. karl. when you look at cross roads and you think that they are a social welfare group, it is just absolutely absolutely laughable. and we have citizens united to blame for that. these groups would not be before the cincinnati office were it not for the ridiculous ruling on citizens united. >> i started my day with bill press and i'm ending it with you -- >> michael: i like that. >> this morning own bill's show there was an irs agent from cincinnati. and he said, look, we do anything that's political, we get fired. how stupid do you think we are. we're not political people.

we're not going after folks because of their politics. if we do we're out of a job. >> michael: that's a great point to have made. peter what is behind the president's approval rating here? >> i think they are sorting through a little bit. his personal popularity is obviously very high but though white house has to fight back harder. dan pfeiffer is a great guy. i wrote a column today, "the republican's obsession." all through the clinton administration, white water, for eight years they went after bill clinton, and they are doing the

same thing. and it's personal and nasty. this stuff has no legs. benghazi is not a conspiracy and a cover up. the irs is not somebody from the white house basement controlling this nonsense. >> michael: yeah. >> they are making much adieu about nothing just for political purposes. >> michael: and do you think they should fight back harder or do they need new faces at the white house? >> i think they ought to fight back harder. i think the american people are fighting for them. when have we heard lately these guys talking about jobs and the economy, and the stock markets rise? why? because we're doing well now. so they go to their so-called

scandals. >> michael: yeah, even the deaf sit is down. peter fenn always love having you on the show. get to bed, you have been on current too much today. and now to our supreme court which is dealing with thornny issues. two non-christian residents of greece new york said they felt marginalized when the town board repeatedly used christian collegery to hold prays at the beginning of all meetings. and the justice stepped into a dispute between delty air lines and a rabbi. my experience with delta is that the first complaint is free but there's no charge for carrying on a personal fetch. yeah, i said that, coming up right here students in the red.

representative karen bass joining us to talk about the student loan crisis. and nones on the bus. this time immigration is on the horizon. and then republican on a bender not sure else how to explain this man's comments, and we'll follow oklahoma and the horrible tornado. democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

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>> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. >> obama: some of you are graduating summa cum laude. [ cheers and applause ] >> obama: some of you are graduating magna cum laude. [ cheers ] >> obama: i know some of you are

graduating thank you lordy. [ laughter ] >> michael: that was president obama delivering the commencement address yesterday at morehouse college. but after the caps drop these students will be faced with repaying student loan. student loan debt has now exceed exceeded $1 trillion. according to a recent report student loan debt has grown nearly 300% in the last eight years, with the interest rate set to double to 6.8% on some loans, and members of congress are scrambling to help hold them down. kristin gillibrand joins dick durbin and elizabeth warren so

find a solution. we ian joined now by congress women thanks for joining us here in "the war room." >> thank you for having me on. >> michael: what would the student loan fairness act do? what changes does it make? >> i think one of the most important things it does is cap the interest rate to 3.4%. student loan debt is more than a trillion dollars now. and we talked about the fact that the federal government is make billions of dollars from that debt, and it's time that we allow students some relief. not only is a student burdened by the time they graduate with this debt, but how are they ever

going to be free to buy a home, a car, and the other things that their education should have rewarded them to do. and after ten years a certain amount of your debt will be forgiven if you are consistent. >> michael: what is being done to set a single bill that familiar list and students can mobilize around? >> unfortunately in my house the republican-controlled house is proposing a bill that would allow the loan rates to fluctuate just like a variable loan that you might have on your house. and i think that's pretty bad. in terms of the democratic proposals there are a number of different proposals there, but they have a number of things that are consistent especially capping the interest rate.

>> michael: a new study found that 30 year olds are more likely to have student loan debts. >> right. and that hurts our economy terribly. you hear a lot of rhetoric about how we should pass our debt on to the next generation. and that's what we are doing. the other thing too is it's the way they collect the debt. students are harassed constantly with telephone calls five minutes after their graduate, they are being harassed to pay back their loans. it's an incredible disservice that we're doing to the younger generation. >> michael: one thing that comes to my mind is the politics of

it. if you are with students -- when you are with america's youngest voters, and you are on their side, doesn't it set the table well for these people to grow up remembering that's the party that made sure that student loan was both relieved lowered; that they took the burden away from them, isn't there something to that as well? >> i definitely think there is. i'm always interested in making sure the younger generation gets politically active and i believe that we're well over 100,000. when this legislation was introduced last year there were over a million signatures on the internet in support of this proposal. so i think we need to do everything we can to generate

their interest and activity. >> michael: let's listen to this. >> obama: michelle and i graduated from college and law school, we had a mountain of debt. when we got married we got poorer together. [ laughter ] >> obama: and we are lucky to land good jobs with a steady income, but we only finished paying off our student loans about eight years ago. think about that. i'm president of the united states, and it was only about eight years ago that we finished paying off our student loan. >> michael: when happened to the students that were backing the president on this fight? >> i think it was one of the first reforms that the president instituted as soon as he got in which was to take the interest back into government hands, and i think that that was very important.

i tell the president's story all the time. the other thing he says often is the only reason he was able to pay back the loans was because of his book deals. he literally was a u.s. senator before he was able to pay off his loans. that's incredible. and i really think our country needs to take a step back and engage in a higher education in how we can afford education. >> michael: and you talk about how banks get bailed out but students don't. >> right. i think that them coming together as a whole -- i think there should be thousands of students here on capitol hill meeting with their representatives, and meeting with their representatives back at home. and just as you mentioned -- i mean if we look out there your history, whenever there have

been big social movements young people should always be at the forefront of it, so i think they have an awful lot of power to exercise. >> michael: all right. congress woman bass is my congress woman in congress. >> yeah! >> michael: which is great. thank you so much for being on the show. up next right here nuns on the bus, the immigration tour. we'll catch up with sister simone campbell right after the break. current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

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