>> michael: coming up a monday mess, a mess on student loans. a mess on texas abortion, and a mess on egypt. let the cleanup begin. i'm michael shure. you are in "the war room." [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> michael: the texas state legislature returned to work today, and if that's what you want to call it, a huge crowd was there to greet them. 5,000 people turned out to protest a republican bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks.

we should note that this kind of abortion is extremely rare. it's often used when families discover the fetus has serious health issues and might not survive outside the room. so criminalizing this type of abortion would force women to give birth to fetuses with no bain function or other fatal birth defects. the bill was thwarted by the senator wendy davis in an 11th hour filibuster, but governor perry immediately called back an emergency session starting today. davis got huge applause from the crowd when they accused governor perry of ignoring texas values. they as journaled and now the process starts all over again. while the fate of texas hangs in the balance, 12 other states have the same ban in police.

republicans at the federal lovely perhaps inspired what was going on in the state actually passed a bill that would make the texas ban national. the level of republican stupidity in our country is hangs very high. congress has not lower the student loans. students are already struggling with historically high financial burdens, student loan debt has tripled in the last ten years. i said that right it has tripled in the last ten years because in part because of the cost of college which has continued to soar. right now student loan debt tops 1 trillion-dollar. that's larger than credit card debt and auto loan debt but it's

not large enough to be congress to notice. joining me now representative karen bass and my representative in the united states congress, she has done a lot of work on this issue and sponsored the student loan fairness act. she comes to us from los angeles. welcome inside "the war room"," senator bass. >> thank you, thank you for having me on. >> michael: thank you for all the work you're doing on this issue. it's an issue under the radar because of so much that is going on in the country because of immigration edward snowden egypt, everything, i want to thank you for sponsoring the bill for student loans. tell us how it would help. >> sure. first of all it would freeze the interest rates at what it is now, and it would allow students if it they pay their loans back for ten years then their loan would be forgiven up to $45,000. so it also says that a student would only have to spend 10% of

their discretionary income because you know, some students now are paying more than 50% of what they earn for their student loans which is why one reason a number of students can't move out on their own. this does not impact just individuals or families, it's going to have long-term impact on our economy. >> yes, when you hear those numbers, it's like you can never get out from underneath. when you're spending 50% just to serve the loans that you've taken out. that's no way to start a life, a career or anything. it might dissuade people from going to college in the first place. >> absolutely. >> michael: how can republican claim to care about children and families and then block these bills that would help students? >> well, let me just add to that, how can they also claim that they don't want to pass debt on to the next generation. >> michael: that's a great point point. >> they are passing it on to this generation right now. one thing that most people don't

realize the federal government actually earns money from student debt. so you're talking to that the government will earn $34 billion off student loan debt. this is a shame. when i say it impacts the economy long term, students not only can they not forward to move out from their parents' home they also can't forward to buy cars, homes so we really have to look at the long-term impact that so much debt on such a young population is going to have. >> michael: and the hypocrisy that you pointed out at the beginning of that answer is so important to underscore. when you hear what they say well, i'm not going to pass this debt on to my grandchildren then it makes you think that they're also trying to get rid of the estate tax. they want to help their families but not everybody else. there is further hypocrisy the further you dig the deeper you dig. >> this amounts to we do not

want to have college be for people who are wealthy. if you're a millionaire your kids aren't dealing in student debt because you can afford to pay for college. but with $25,000 to thousand to $40,000 a year for tuition most families cannot afford to write a check for $40,000 a year. >> michael: that's absurd. is there a way to better control the cost of college? >> i think that is absolutely an issue that needs to be raised. for private colleges to cost as much as i described and public colleges to cost $20,000 to $25,000 a year, that is an astronomical amount of money. if i take my state, for example n california, because we're just coming out of recession one of the reason why public college is so expensive are state and universities are so expensive is because state government has cut back what we are providing our

colleges. so we need to look at higher education, period. we need to have a much more strategic plan. this is really about the united states being competitive in the global market, and we're going to fall further and further behind. >> it sounds that way. also like immigration it seems like on the republicans part this is electoral naivete. you have young americans going into the voter booth and you have them getting more and more conservative. i hope they keep doing it and they'll end unlosing and losing. isand if you look at how they're voting on reproduction.

>> if you look at how they alienate young votes and now they're alienating women. to sit in hearing after hearing and listen to men passionately talk about women ace health, after a while it becomes surreal. you never find that passion anywhere else. and i just think that at some point they have to recognize they're just scaring all the voters way. but like you said, oh, well. >> michael: yes, exactly. hopefully they're not watching and listening. they don't appear to listen very often. listen congresswoman bass, you serve in a leadership position in the california state legislature, what would you tell the u.s. house majority leaders about working with the minority, about working with the other side. what did you learn that actually worked for new that position. >> i learned simply just put your votes together. boehner has chosen to tie his hands, to handcuff his hands by

this rule that says he's not going to put a piece of legislation forward unless the majority of his caucus will vote for it. i don't see how we can possibly have immigration reform in that manner. he needs to get his caucus to understand that it is really important to governor when you're in the majority. if you want to governor, then you need to put the votes together. i guarantee you we could pass a budget immigration reform and a number of things if equipes together republican votes and democratic votes. tell members of his caucus to vote against him if need be, but bring votes together so we can governor this country. >> michael: it would be nice to see a little bit of governance coming from that body of leadership that would be terrific. congresswoman bass i would ask you to stick around. >> sure. >> michael: you have to say yes i voted for you. i'm your constituent. what if you said no.

but i want to bring you to news of the days. the top choice to challenge is allison lundgren grimes who threw her hat in the ring. listen. >> kentucky is tired of a senior senator that has lost touch with kentucky issues, voters, and their values. i'm here to tell that you i have met with my supporters. we have had a great conversation conversation, and determined and decided we can next make the best move, the best difference in the commonwealth of kentucky by running for the u.s. senate. [ cheers and applause ] >> michael: and grimes actually has a real shot of winning even in this deeply conservative state. she and mcconnell are neck and neck polling 45%. she has won statewide, but

mcconnell has the slight edge, maybe on this one they'll finally be wrong. coming up, these are the scenes coming out of egypt. to call the situation tense is an understatement, we want to get congresswoman bass' thoughts about that. and last week's voting right decision by the supreme court we will talk about that. plus the author of "rendezvous with destiny" will come to "the young turks" to talk about fdr and how they changed the war.

if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think there is any chance we'll ever hear the president even say the word "carbon tax"? >> with an opened mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned great leadership so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter) >> cutting throught the clutter of today's top stories. >> this is the savior of the republican party? i mean really? >> ... with a unique perspective.

>> teddy rosevelt was a weak asmatic kid who never played sports until he was a grown up. >> (laughter) >> ... and lots of fancy buzz words. >> family values, speding, liberty, economic freedom, hard-working moms, crushing debt, cute little puppies. if wayne lapierre can make while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things happen. >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> michael: this weekend, one year and the inauguration of egyptian president morsi someest

estimate 14 million of people are flooding the streets. just after mubarak left office, then they got morsi who they hated more because of his affiliation with the muslim brotherhood. they have ransacked the headquarters of the muslim brotherhood. they released the latest statement:to many this is a vague call for an army supported takeover of the government, the egypt independent, a local news source sweeted this may be the first time in history that an army has told it's people that it plans to launch a could you day today.

coup de tat. the united states has pulled all americans out of the area and warned against traveling to the area. we have congress womb karen bass on foreign affairs. you're the ranking member on a foreign policy committee. what happens if there is a coup in the next few days. i want to know what goes on behind the scenes. will congress be able to react? >> let me tell you that it is very frightening to see what's going on. the thing that is the scariest to me are those numbers. can you even imagine a protest with 14 million people? that's more than many states combined. so i think it's very troubling. the military could never take control of that. in a situation like this, the chair of the foreign affairs committee edwin royce is from

southern california. there could be a conference call that is called, but what i imagine would happen as soon as we get back next week there could be an emergency meeting of the foreign affairs committee. those are some things that could happen. typically when a crisis happens we get reports from the state department. we'll get reports with up-to-date information. sometimes it will be in the form of a public hearing. sometimes in the form of classified briefing, but that's typically how we respond to these situations. >> michael: will the president or the white house contact you or the committee chairman in this case royce, would they contact you directly or is that something that comes from the state department generally. >> it could be both ways, and it would be through the chairman and the ranking member eliot engle. any of those members would be cop tacted. it might be directly from the white house or the state department, but i'm sure they will get in touch with us again because it is very troubling. the other part of it as you know

is that we do feel confident that our embassy is protected. there are a lot of forces that are on alert nearby, and so--and then also having americans evacuated as soon as possible or not go to the area. >> michael: exactly. president obama, before we let you go, congresswoman bass, he declined to call for the resignation of morsi. is this the right move on the president's part? >> well, i do think it is the right move. if the president had called for his resignation when you have a situation that is chaotic right in the moment with 14 million people on the street the last thing you want to do is to contribute to what could turn into a very violent situation. >> michael: thank you for your input. it's a cool job that i can interview my own congresswoman. >> i'm proud to be your representative. >> michael: we're proud to have you. thank you so much. if you want to join dive into this suspect a little bit more we

have joe williams who covered the arab spring extensively. welcome to the war room as always. is what we're seeing in egypt what we could call the new arab spring? >> it's very difficult to quantify what we're seeing in egypt because mainly it's a replay of 2011. it's exactly the same only completely different. the similarities you have are people looking for a change in the government. the vast dinnerses are that the government they want to change was elected by them not a month--not a year and a half ago. and that's part of the problems for the white house. you got a democratic democratically collected government being demonstrated against by the people and the president is very reluctant to get in the middle of that entanglement. not only for what congresswoman bass said, you don't would be to be part of the powder keg but

it's so complex in this region that it's difficult to know where to start. >> michael: that makes sense. i want to tell you what morsi said. he used the following logic to say that he won't step down, and this speaks to what you just said. if we change someone in office who was elected to institutional legitimacy, well there would be people opposing the new president, too, and in a week or two later they would be asking him to step down. is this going to be a revolving door of leadership? will this be a powder keg that you just spoke? >> a definitive answer on that question is premature. you take into mind what president obama said, it's not our decision to decide who runs egypt. that said it's u.s. interest to influence that person. and in those influences aren't strung enough, i.e. when obama said to look after the will of the people,, and try to put them on democratic ground that is not

only in strong direction, but represents the will of the people. morsi has been a little slow to do that. we exert influence all over the place in iraq, in other areas in the middle east. we haven't really talked to morsi since his election about respecting the rule of law, and respecting the opposition. that's one area where a lot of people say that the white house has failed on this particular front. >> michael: yes, it's interesting. they were very involved leading up to it during, and then after they haven't really been as intimately involved. you know you covered this story pretty closely joe. what kind of leadership in yourestyourestimation does egypt need now? >> egypt is a jumble, it's a pattern that has been replicated across the middle east. you have strong central government that met the needs of

its people but repressed any opposition and was able to keep down any change that they might have had to make due to the will of the people. what you have now is the remnants of that, i.e. bureau contractsbureaucrats who were corrupt under the dictatorial leadership they're corrupt now and they're standing in the way of morsi and his decision to govern. egypt has a long history of a secular state despite being in the heart of the arab world. the third thing you have here is a people and an opposition that basically disorganized. we don't really know what kind of government they want to install, who their leadership is. the very reason why morsi is in power in the first place because the islamic brotherhood were the only political organization that had the strength to turn out the vote to put their person in the

head of office. revolving government at this stage is probably what we would be likely to see should morsi would step down or if he was replaced by a coup that would make people not only in egypt but in the west quite nervous of that situation. >> michael: in that sense morsi is right. they can kick me out then the same thing is going to happen a month later, a whole other group of significant number will be upset, and they'll put somebody else in. i want to move, though, from north africa to europe/asia, asia minor. thousands of people filled the streets of istanbul chanting government resign. which is a terrible thing to champion sounds awful. did the arab spring in 2011 inspire a new breed of revolutionaries across the middle east, joe? >> i think it did. in turkey you have an unique situation in which that has been a long secular state with a lot of history, a lot of tradition of democratic government, but

the currently installed government that is there now has been doing a lot of things that would sound familiar to the ear of anybody who lives in north carolina, texas or these other states in the united states who are looking to oppose religious-based doctrine on the people. they want to muslimize certain areas, people weren't having it. but at the same time, the economy was stalled and stagnant so people had no real reason to respect the government on this one. so that's part of what's going on here, that the arab spring has pressed a new sort of revolutionary. they're looking to protest and getting their names out. the question is how successful they will be against a strong central government like turkey and like other arab states. >> michael: democratically elected and also affects the way turkey always trying to get into the european union. i think this has far-ranging effects, more than what is happening in istanbul.

1.7 million people have fled syria because of the conflict there. now neighboring countries iraq, jordan turkey, have shut down their borders, rejecting refugees. are we going to see more fatalities as we go forward. >> there is no question that the blood shed is going to continue. it remains to be seen if it will happen in turkey. it seems like a very remote area of the world and something that we can afford to not really care about, but the one thing you got to keep in mind failed states breed anarchy. you look no further than iraq and afghanistan the reason why they became such failed states and basis for terror because there was violence that was lawless. you need to take care of why this is happening and pressure government to get involved and take a more active role. >> michael: where does the president fit in there? he put up the red line.

what does he need to do now? it's as important as you say it is and it can breed that contagion of unrest. >> he needs to sign on a course of action which is easier said than done for a guy sitting at a desk, but to decide on what type of government he would like to see, what favorable outcomes would happen in egypt, syriac and in other places. the big problem is that it's a total minefield. there are no good outcomes. you almost have to decide on the least bad outcome go forward and decide on a direction there. it has to be in or out. >> michael: you talked about how if does seem like a remote part of the world the president traveling in africa announced he plans to spend $3 billion to bring electricity to sub-sahara africa, even more remote to us sitting in washington and san francisco. can we afford it? >> sure, we have to do it.

investment bus not equal the same thing of spending. china, brazil other countries are already investing in africa. we're playing catch-up at this point. if we don't get on board and if we don't establish a relationship to help africa to develop, we'll be left behind and we'll lose partners to china and other places we're competing against. >> michael: spending does not equal investment. i always learn more after joe has been on the joe. up next my biggest fear was the voting rights decided by the supreme court would be eclipsed by what is going on in the mainstream media. for once i am wrong. we'll have that and much more right after the break. inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege.

>> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> did anyone tell the pilgrims they should self-deport? >> no, they said "make us a turkey and make it fast". >> (laughter). >> she gets the comedians laughing. >> that's the best! >> that's hilarious. >> ... and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> ya, i consider you jew-talian. >> okay, whatever you want. >> who plays kafka? >> who saw kafka? >> who ever saw kafka? >> (laughter). >> asking the tough questions. >> chris brown, i mean you wouldn't let one of your daughters go out with him. >> absolutely not. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me? >> absolutely! >> (singing) >> i take lipitor, thats it. >> are you improving your lips? >> (laughter). >> when she's talking, you never

know where the conversation is going to go. >> it looks like anthony wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. >> his what in the ring? >> his hat. >> always outspoken, joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. >> michael: welcome back inside the car room. i'm--in "the war room." i'm michael shure. the congress getting anything done? instead these kids went on summer recess after getting a terrible report card. in this congress' first six months only 15 items have become law. the previous congress managed to pass 23 laws by this time, and that congress was the least productive one on record.

this gridlock comes when we need our lawmakers more than we ever needed them before. the gang of eight immigration reform is on the way to the house and its reported to die. is there any hope the legislators will take off their d unce caps and get to work? we have senator steve cohen. he does not have a dunce cap. thankthank you for being here. >> you're welcome, daddy just one of your children here. >> michael: where is my father's day gift, congressman. >> notice the mail. >> michael: i'm waiting. the house is on its way to its worst report card ever. tell us why.

>> well, it's amazing. the republicans are in charge, and rather than trying to get some things done, they would rather just message. they tried 37 times to repeal the affordable care act. they tried so many times to appeal to their base on issues concerning regulation. it was funny the other day i watched some tv show about ronald reagan and his speech--you could have heard his speech yesterday in the house. it was about small business, regulations and government spending. and it's the same problem but the fact is that ronald reagan was in the house he would be considered a liberal because ronald reagan did under some things about government to make it work. these people in charge--the tea party is in control. they don't want to get anything done. they don't want to move american forward. they are so stuck on cutting spending and allegedly being concerned about this debt.

other ways that we talked about two or three years ago about the roles, i don't wanting to through again but i was right. they had the same agenda as these no-nothing folks did and you they took charge of the party. >> michael: that is a backwards party. we should be gleeful about it because there is nothing that bodes well for them in the future. but at the same time they're in charge of the house of representatives, and nothing is getting done. let's go to last week when they threw out section four of the voting rights act, which is a prelude to section five saying congress could rewrite us. conventional wisdom says that is too much to ask of this congress but back in 2006 congress pass theyrenewed voting rights acts. will congress take up the voting rights act? >> there are people with

optimism, i guess you always got to be hopeful and a republican from wisconsin has agreed to work with john conyers on trying to do something and eric cantor said he was affected by his visit to alabama and wanted to do something. i don't see it happening though. there is one thing voting against the voting rights act which is lie apple pie and motherhood and it is another thing to come up with section four with what areas of the country need pre-clearance. they're not going to go through all parts the country then everything would have legislature they're upset about in local government. i'm afraid they'll say couldn't come up with an answer, they're going to study it and put it off. the fact is republicans don't want african-americans and those

in poverty to vote. all the things they did were ways that they admitted was to affect the vote. they wanted to make it difficult for people to vote. they can't win if there is a large turnout. they don't want large turnouts. they don't want election day registration. in the states that were under pre-clearclearance, those were the states with the exception of vow because of washington still over in alexandria and arlington and all, they're all red states. even though they might have gone with obama well, obama didn't elected in mississippi, georgia, texas, louisiana so there was no basis to the supreme court decision. it was embarrassing for justice roberts and the four who were with him really an activist

decision where they claim not to be an activist court they struck down a law. but to answer your question, i don't think they'll pass section four because there is one thing to be against voting rights and there is another to advance them. they can always say that voting rights exist because there are certain prohibitions in the justice department to bring actions. the biggest difference is the burden of proof and pre-clearance and determining which jurisdictions are the most necessary to get pre-clearance is going to be difficult. even if we could do it i think the republicans will vote not to do it. much of the republican caucuses are from those states where there is pre-clearance. they knocked out the blue dogs. it was all part of redistricting. they knocked them out. >> michael: it seems that way, you know, i find is so amazing.

we were talking to your colleague, congresswoman karen bass, earlier in the show. she's my representative, so i'm partial here but we were talking about the idea that these republicans the one thing you speak to in the hallways i'm sure you have a nice cordial relationship with a handful of them, don't they understand that they're losing minority voters and minority voters, that's the biggest population growing block in the country. they're losing students, the newest when they go ahead with the foolishness of the student loans. what do they say to you without being specific about how their party is going. >> first of all, i think it's a misconception that people have. i have a lot of good friends on the republican side, most everybody gets along. i took the trip to russia with steve king and michele bachmann.

it was not necessarily kumbaya but we had a good time and we talked to each other. michelle and i always have. i don't ask them what their inner thoughts are. i think most people are concerned with their own congressional districts. most of them are from districts where they are safe. they're republican districts they're worried about the primaries and the primary voters are not concerned with hispanic. the concern about hispanic is keeping them away from voting and keeping them away from citizenship. so i think it will be tough to get the majority of the majority of the republican caucus to agree to an immigration reform policy. speaker boehner i think would probably have to give up his speakership if he went with democrats and a small number of republicans to pass those things. the republican party nationally will suffer, but the constituent elements in the house aren't worried about weighing the national election. they might think time is on

their side. rand paul is running for president. if he thinks he can run for president what does he think about all these issues? they have been out of touch and if the middle class in america and the white middle class which is the heart of the republican party understood the economic issues. >> michael: we simply lost congressman cohen. some interesting stuff about the way congress workers works we'll be back to discuss so much more about our country and fdr even.

[ explosion ] >> michael: the japanese attack on pearl harbor is largely seen as the event that pushed the u.s. into world war ii. but a new book describes the behind-the-scenes effort of fdr

and five of his special envoys laying the groundwork for u.s. intervention. when hitler invaded poland, fdr sent diplomats to explore american involvement in the war. over the next five years diplomats, operatives and rivals met with win stan churchill and stalin discussing the bridge to those at home. with me the a sure of michael fullilove, "rendezvous with destiny." we've been talking about u.s. intervention when, how the ramifications complications with syria and not in a general

way with egypt. the subject matter in your book is applicable to today as well. >> it is, and it's hard to remember this now because america is end of this period of intense activity in the middle east, but in the period i write about, isolationism was the dominant thing in american policy. when you mention that hitler invaded poland only one in four americans believed in a declaration against hitler even though he was a madman. >> michael: and there were rivals wental nendell li l willkie were one of those.

>> wendell willkie was part of the isolationists and the president saw this so he sent him to to blend. england. in the middle of it, is fdr the greatest statesman of the 20th century. the man who led allies to victory over the dictators and did it with a broken body. he moves these five men around the world with enormous skill. >> michael: it's incredible too, willkie ran against him but you talk about hariman, willkie. how did these diplomats work to bridge the divide in america at

the time? >> well, roosevelt had to navigate america on this very difficult transition from a nervous isolationist power into the global leader. he faced public anxiety and congressional opposition. rose vet's congress was trying to fence roosevelt off the rest of the world. he used these guys to wedge the right wing of the republican party to drama dramatize what was happening for americans in europe and why it mattered to them. he took these republicans with himmish, so by the time there was peter harbor, they were ready for the fight and marginalism was part of the force. >> michael: we had heard of isolationism and even recently there was talk about isolationism in washington, d.c.

was this diplomat diplomatic the this avenue he took. >> he said my state department is neutral in this war and i hope it remains that way. he didn't trust them. he arresthe regarded them as isolationists. he extended this approach to the international front. >> michael: i want to go into the sub title of your book. i think it's really compelling. the book is called "into the world." how five extraordinary men took america into the world. >> this is a startling part of history. america changes it emerges from the second world war as the global leader. by defeating the foreign

isolationists and the domestic isolationists and foreign enemies he transforms america as this outward facing global leader. >> michael: listening to you you are australian. >> i am. >> michael: what is it that would propel an author of australian to be--seriously you talk about how he's a global leader. he transcends the border of american history. what is it that brought you to the project initially. >> i was always fascinated by roosevelt. as his character who overcame all these obstacles in his life, to transform america and to transform the world. i was also interested in his point in which the world changed. i was really looking for an angle in which i could tell the story and tell a piece of history that i like to read, which is history about big individuals, big persons strengths, weaknesses frailties. the kind of characters who are too colorful to survive in

washington politics these days. >> michael: is there a subject matter as well. >> there is. everyone loves a big yarn about big characters. churchill stalin, kennedy they walk out of the pages and it's fun. >> michael: president obama is now in africa. edward snowden is in russia. you have wikileaks rolling thousands of private embassy transmissions, how is diplomacy changed now? >> it's less fun. back in those days it was more personal. chen churchill came to washington he stayed with roosevelt in washington. franklin roosevelt walked in on churchill in the bathroom churchill stood up and said,

come on in, england has nothing to hide from the united states. >> michael: the book is called "rendezvous with destiny: how five men took the united states into the world." when we come back, the state of the states, a look at the political moves boast good and ridiculously bad in your neck of the woods. stay with us.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> michael: with the announcement today by allison lunder green grimes would run for the seat held by mcconnell, the most recent loss by a member of the leadership was tom daschle who lost in 2004 by a mere 1% of the

south dakota vote. prior to that it had been 52 years since majority leader inest mcfarland lost to scott lucas. and the first majority leader to lose was indiana republican senator james watson, watson lost in 1932. he was very effective in getting the rank and file of his party in the senate to, quote tow the party line. add fetish for loyalty to the republican party. does that sound familiar to anyone? should mcconnell lose his re-election bid next year he will he a be just the second republican senator leader to lose ever. let's hope you make it in the record books senator. i want most people to know, most people celebrate the new year on january 1st. but for political junkies and other nerds like me, the party really starts today. i want you to know that.

here is a round up of some of today's significant laws and political events happening in the regulatory year. first up. eric garcity starts in his job as the 42nd mayor of los angeles. he opens with voters viewing him favorably. may the blank state ever be in his favor. riding the pride way from san francisco to the east coast gay couples in delinquent delinquent can--delawarecan be married today. and on the gun front a gun manufacturer in colorado gave a

gun celebration. and if you live in hawai'ier in west virginia or south dakota you can no longer talk on the phone while driving and unfortunately, for nosy potato farmers, they are unable to use a drone to spy on a neighbor starts right now. on more serious news it was a terrifying weekend in arizona. 19 firefighters lost their lives fighting blazes yesterday. 18 of them were part of a highly trained team. they were the deadliest day for u.s. firefighters since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. people we take for granted too often. the fire was started by a lightening strike in a town

yarnel. that area has not had a firefighter for 40 years. the incident commander said this. >> the fuels were very dry the relative humidity was low winds coming out of the south turned around on us because of monsoon actions, that's what caused the deaths, the changing the erratic behavior of the burning fuels. they were just caught up in a very bad situation. >> michael: up until sunday arizona had suffered a total of 21 firefighter fatalities and wildfires since 1955. that number was nearly matched on sunday alone. arizona's governor january brewer said yesterday quote: >> michael: we can all agree to that. our heart goes out to the families of the fallen. if you see a firefighter, just

thank him or her. thank you for joining us in the war room. "the young turks" are next. they'll be talking about the wedding of shana naomi krochmal. have a great night. coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

you. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> welcome to the "the young turks." we're back. boy are we back. we have a lot of people today. we'll introduce everybody in a second. man, the world is on fire in so many different ways. certainly in egypt we've had millions of protesters. that's an amazing story we'll tell but later. and of course we have the wildfire in arizona and this is actually caused the biggest number of deaths for firefighters fighting a fire since 1933. we'll learn all about