party candidate, dave brat. this is an omg day in the news. amazing turn of event. we don't have many days like this in american politics, a shocker around every corner to. night is a real one. thank you for joining us. i'm ari melber in for lawrence o'donnell. covering breaking news tonight that sent shock waves through the political world, eric cantor, number two republican in the house, member of gop leadership most associated with tea party strategy on the economy and 14-year incumbent, congressman cantor lost his primary to night. the big winner not only dave brat, little known professor who beat cantor, the tea party, anti-immigration activist who powered brat's underfunded campaign. now here are the latest numbers. report brat won by ten points. 56% to about 44%. 10, 12 points there. cantor, the first sitting majority leader in american history to lose his party primary.

also one of the more conservative incumbents to lose a tea party challenge, within 96% lifetime rating for the american conservative union. what makes the upset consequential for the obama agenda, is cantor's record. he positioned himself to the right of speaker john boehner. that didn't help him win tonight. >> obviously we came up short. serving as the seventh district congressman, and then having the privilege to be majority leader, has been one of the highest honors of my life. and, you know, when i set out to do, what the agenda that i have always said we are about its -- we want to create a virginia, an america that works for everybody. and, we need to focus our efforts as conservatives, as republicans, on putting forth

our conservative solutions so that they can help solve the problems for so many working middle-class families. that, that may not have the opportunity that we have. i know there is a lot of long faces here tonight. and it is disappointing. sure. >> cantor's loss shows limits of big money and incumbency, as well look over the race, we can see he outspent his opponent not by double, quadruple, but by 25 times. eric cantor spent $5.4 million in the race to just about $200,000 according to the finance group, open secrets. victorious opponent, dave brat won with a grassroots campaign that targeted cantor or immigration and incumbency. brat struck a thankful tone in his speech tonight. >> i want to give thanks endlessly tonight. this is the happiest moment, obviously of my life.

and i owe it to all of you in the room, number one. so give yourself a hand. i do want to give special thanks -- because, in, in the bad times i know where i went when things got bad. i went to god, i want to my family. and this little note was hanging on my door every day. and i read this every day. luke 18:27, jesus replied what is impossible with man is possible with god. [ cheers and applause ] >> what is impossible with man is possible with god. strong word that are resonating across politics tonight. brat is certainly right about one thing. leaders of both parties and most professional political class thought his victory to night was indeed impossible. there wasn't enough money, enough ad, or enough space to cantor's right. he had believers, angry at president obama and also incensed.

here is, laura ingram, with brat, last week. i kind of wish thinking about this that president obama would have thought this through a little bit more. and maybe, for getting sergeant bergdahl out, instead of sending five taliban, he could have traded one eric cantor. i have a crazy idea, coming to our country, respecting our laws, our sovereignty, our way of life, and our constitution, is a conditioned precedent to your becoming an american citizen. >> now, crazy or not, brat's idea seem headed to washington tonight and upset, up-ended washington republicans. some right now as we are reporting are jockeying for cantor's leadership post. others looking at tonight's results and wondering if they need to be more scared of the tea party.

we'll be joined by former republican congressman, steve latourette, for our breaking coverage in a moment. first we'll go to nbc political director, chuck todd, and msnbc's, crystal ball. both join me on a big news night. chuck, this is why people follow politics and why politics is hard to follow. very few people expected this. what can you tell us about the big upset results tonight? >> well, look, i think one thing you have to know about the races. i do feel it was a perfect storm of events that took place and all came together tonight for dave brat. number one, virginia, notoriously, a low turnout primary state in general. no statewide primary campaigns on the ballot. most, primary campaigns are fairly new to virginia. traditionally, picked many of their nominees at state conventions. the second thing is this immigration issue. in many ways you are going to

hear the word. everybody is going to try to make tea party, put everything together. tea party groups weren't spending money. they weren't targeting eric cantor, a good relationship with professional tea party crowd. there is a difference. immigration, much more animated, actual grassroots issue. let's look at the specific thing that dave brat was hitting eric cantor on to prove that cantor was for amnesty. cantor wanting to do the dream act. has to do with giving legalization, status, possibly, pathway to citizenship, for any children of undocumented workers here in the country. what's been the big news of 72 crisis on the border unaccompanied minors flooding the border, being sent back to central american countries. right now an issue. this has been lighting up talk radio. it gave urgency to dave brat's message at the perfect time that the campaign was coming to its crescendo.

you put all that together. a perfect storm. there were other things. eric cantor didn't mind local politics over the couple years. some things like that. power of the immigration issue coupled with what was in the news in last 72 hours can't be underestimated. >> i they're that. the power of the issue. as well as juxtaposition in politics. here is a guy who was in charge in some ways of, of the national economy. but wasn't in charge of a couple local decisions being made on the ground. had trouble with the grassroots uprising. crystal, let's look at the mailer for a moment. that is also what chuck is referring to. eric cantor had back aid type of immigration reform in theory was putting out mailers at the end saying "i'm against the obama read amnesty bill." sending that out. getting that out in people's mailbox he's thought was going to vote. you know, virginia well, this was a cross cutting issue right? and one that, that, as chuck's reporting he got on the wrong side of? >> that's right.

back when i was campaigning in 2010, when we polled on immigration, it wasn't the issue that people were most focused on, it was not, a huge conversation in the new. we didn't have a lot of illegal immigrants, undocumented immigrants in my district. yet when you ask people how strongly they felt about the issue, the passion was through the roof. and so i think as chuck's pointing out when you have a situation where the is a primary, where turnout is relatively low. although interestingly in this race, 65,000 ballots cast, compared to 38,000 ballots cast in a competitive democratic primary up north to replace jim moran. relatively high turnout for this year for a primary. immigration is a very, very red hot energizing issue as the right, on the right, i think chuck is right to point out also the timing of the news and how that all came together. the other issue that i'm interested in here too, is eric cantor, you are pointing out, ari, outspent dave brat by a massive amount.

spending close to $5 million on the air. dave brat was not of course on the air at all. i wonder if that was a mistake. raising the profile of the race in a way that if he had just ignored brat, he may have actually had a better chance here. >> right. and turning up the volume, chuck, as crystal is pointing out. at a time when people are so unhappy with washington. i just want to play, a little sound from, one of brat's ad that talked incumbency in the 5,000-plus days that eric cantor, had been in office. take a listen to that. >> 5,110 days. that's how long eric cantor has been representing us in washington, d.c. 14 years. and in that time, he has given us obamacare, tarp, 10 debt ceiling increases, $13 trillion new debt and working behind the scenes to push through amnesty. a power hungry washington insider. 14 years in washington ties

many. on june 10, go to your regular voting location and support dave brat for congress. >> chuck, i wonder if that, concisely gets both issues. incumbency and immigration. >> except we are assuming the ad had air play. don't forget he didn't spend that much money. >> chuck, you are right to point out. those didn't reach a lot of people. because he didn't have the money. that was the message that was getting out, some how. talk radio, some how. >> there is no doubt. talk radio this gets the other, like how did this gain true grassroots attention. i think talk radio helped a lot. laura ingram in particular took dave brat, took the race under her wing and created a bunch of talk radio folks got behind it. but this issue, should cantor have ignored or not ignored? you should not ignore the primaries. that was the wrong lesson. he was a bit -- ham handed. wait a minute.

i am not against immigration. he sort of almost fed into what brat was trying to say, hey, this guy will just say anything to get re-elected. just say anything to appease you. i think, sort of the ham-handed nature of, of some of the attacks that came, that had the whiff of desperation to it. in the cantor world. so i think it was sort of how he engaged. i would never take away the lesson of, he shouldn't have engaged this opponent. when you go, you go for the kill. big night. i will bring in the former strategist and adviser to hillary clinton. welcome. former congressman, steven latourette. and aligned with what some call the governing wing of the gop. congressman, let me start here with you. your reaction to this loss? your thoughts on eric cantor, a fellow colleague of yours. >> it is stunning. you have to grasp store straws to find the parallel in primary politics.

but it does repeat a pattern that has been consistent with -- with some of the tea party activities. that is going to midterm, low turnout elections that's when you can surprise somebody. i don't know that leader cantor was surprised because of the money he spent and everything else. i do think rather than being some national victory for -- for the tea party, this, this to me, at least, really shows how white hot the immigration issue is, at least with republican primary voters and certain parts of the country. >> kiki, your thoughts, we are report hearing tonight. the massive upset of majority leader, eric kantor, the republican leader in the house. >> you said it best at the beginning of the show. this is what politic thousands is about. the moments of surprise. it is confusing sometimes. won't be until the debt levels that we understand awful it. there are a couple take aways. one is while chuck points out. organized professional tea party teams may not have been in the district spending a lot of money. make no doubt about it.

this is a case where a candidate in the form of cantor couldn't quite make up his mind. was he there or not? he didn't play a moderate republican. so you see where the republican party has gone. the republican party that is going to be active is who chose their nominee today. that means this halfway on each side isn't going to get a candidate where they need to be in their primary or in the general. halfway in. halfway out. it is a demonstration. by not really asserting leadership. you are going to find you will lose to the extreme of your party. if you don't exert your leadership and pick a path and go forward. >> chuck, i want to touch on the issue, he did not use the language of suspending, ending his campaign. from what we know about virginia law, it is technically possible, unlikely you can launch a write-in campaign. your thoughts on that and whether there is any other way for him to stay alive?

>> i would be surprised. first, there is a democrat on the ballot, if he does do that. it would probably elect the democrat to congress. if he tried to wage. there is a sore loser law in the state. don't think he can file independent and put his name on the ballot. it is, i, i think, eric cantor's political career for now in the 7th district of virginia is over. >> you heard it here. chuck todd putting a proverbial nail in the coffin based on the facts as we have them. the difficulty of the only remaining avenue he would have. long shot write-in candidacy. we will stay on the story. thank you, chuck for being here. as well as kiki and steve latourette, and crystal ball sticking around. thank you on a big night for politics being here. coming up the tea party scored a major win. what does eric cantor's loss mean for the republican party what kind of congress will we have if the tea party takes over the leadership. do they have purchase on this vacating spot? more breaking news straight ahead. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn.

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he won 50% of vote and avoided a run-off. so much for the establishment retaking the republican party. more breaking news on house majority leader, eric cantor's loss. crystal ball stays with me. steve latourette is here. stay with us.

we are back with breaking news tonight. house majority leader, eric cantor, lost his seat in virginia's primary. establishment republicans are wondering if it was cantor's

stance on immigration that did him in or broader resurgence of the tea party that cantor tried to be facilitating or in charge of wrangling with boehner on many deals, or broadly as we unpack the night that cantor wasn't a good canned day. if they're looking for signs of what happened look to a key vote last month. talked about this with chuck todd. candidates hand pick a candidate for an obscure state party seat lost to an insurgent backed by david brat who won. and it showed some rumblings against cantor. >> you know when i sit here and i listen to mr. brat speak i hear the inaccuracies, my family is here, listen, we are about a country of free speech. decency is also part of this. >> tonight they're not only are questions about what happened but also leaving this big

vacancy, there is if cantor does not run, a vacancy and who will succeed him. we will bring back kiki, crystal ball, jonathan allen, washington bureau chief of bloomberg news. congressman, walk us through. you have been in the meetings where you have the secret votes. walk us through what happens if eric cantor doesn't launch a write in candidacy, difficult, if he did lose and end his congressional campaign tonight, when does jockeying start, who may replace him as the number two house republican. >> one of the cruelest things in washington is people, begin jockeying for position before the body is cold. i wouldn't be surprised if there are tweets, e-mails, faxes, secret meetings going on all over the capitol as we are speaking tonight for people to fill the void. the natural answer is kevin mccarthy is the whip.

as days pass, you elevate into the leadership. eric cantor thought he would be speaker when boehner is finished. when newt gingrich had problems they threw out john boehner, j.c. watts, made a run at dick armey, i'm not sure there isn't going to be an attitude that will throw out the entire bunch and see an insurgent, jim jordan, of ohio, mulvaney, sort of bubble up from this faction within the house conference and say we need a true conservative now. which sort of makes me smile. eric cantor is a very conservative gift. i didn't think there was any room to his right. they apparently found some. >> you know him. served with him. don't think there is room to his right. 96% lifetime rating from the conservative union, pretty solid. jonathan, a night of politics.

and fundamental change for the republican party. is it good, in your view for the electoral prospects of this party going into the mid terms to have this big fight now, nationally? i don't think it makes that much difference. this one particular district i do think the ongoing fight, tea party and establishment wings of the republican party is something that is difficult. makes it hard for them, for the republican party to have a clear agenda, offering the american public, particularly in presidential elections and statewide elections for the senate and other races. you know, one name that congressman, latourette did not mention that is a big winner tonight. the congressman from texas. financial services committee chairman who had been setting himself up as a rival to eric cantor. not surprised at all to see him make a run for leadership, possibly, majority leader in the congress. >> kiki, what do you think if there is an open fight here, for more than one leadership post? >> i think there are a probably a couple leaders in the republican party, wondering who wants that job now.

these are signs, with these -- with primaries and, and, the, this particular next congress could be even more obstructionist than the one we have today. and that's a real challenge. i think there are probably some people who, in days past would have been anxious for the job. now look up and say, no way, i don't want to be in charge of this herd of cats. >> kiki, mourning the days of the reasonableness of eric cantor. i think that is what we are staring down the situation where, people, realize even if they're in leadership, they can't get on with the business of governing without having a giant target on their back in primaries. i mean that's what is really. that's what is really unfortunate here. we have talked a lot about cantor's stance on immigration reform. another issue that i don't think played as large in the primary. a huge loss is he has been someone who has been open to fixing the voting rights act and taking action on that in congress. it is unfortunate that -- that we likely went have him to, to

help us out as democrats on that issue. >> yeah. congressman, latourette, what do you think of crystal's points there and where he was positioned? >> well i think that is the difficulty that led directly to tonight's result. eric cantor, a very conservative guy. saw what happened after the 2010 election, a smart, reasonable guy who wanted to move toward moving some big issue. when you do that you become a little bit pregnant. when you are a little bit pregnant. you are not pleasing either side. >> i have got to till you. i am confused about this. he was on both side. but 96% conservative. here at the state republican convention, saying he really know house to stand up to the president. >> it's easy. it's easy to stay, say that you are going to stand up to obama and the left wing attack machine. but it is an entirely different thing to actually do it.

to actually -- to actually -- >> that's the man who lost tonight. congressman, when was he halfway, about standing up to the president? >> well, what i am saying is he very clearly was standing up to the president again, again and again. on the immigration issue. endorsing the dream act. you can't be reasonable with some of these folks. the minute you say anything, i would look to work with the president or look to work with democrats to try to figure this way it lead the crowd to say, buzzword for, secret washington code for amnesty. we well come get you. >> kiki, go ahead. >> interesting, chuck raises an interesting point. the perfect storm at the end. perfect storms matter if you are close enough to be within reach. brat didn't make up 20 points. or 15 points. cantor was clearly in some

danger senate put it all within reach because of perfect storm. the issue about making a decision about where you stand on an issue. you are far better off to take a position, even if it is unpopular, lock in, and defend. and go build the votes around that that you need. then to get wish washy at the end about where you are going to be. appeal to nobody. that's a politically tactical air railroad he made. but it is also an error that demonstrates where the republican party is going because they don't really have control, or a vision of where they are going. and that some of their members are, floundering out there. >> i think that is well put. again when we go back to all the fiscal crises that we have, that eric cantor led and pushed boehner into. they did exercise policy concessions. they did have victories to the extent their base cares about that. man they don't care policy victories alone. maybe they're angry. they want a lot of the guys out. thank you for joining us in our

coverage tonight. crystal stays with us. the big blow to immigration reform. what is the new congress going to look like. a question on everybody's mind. who is potential new member, dave brat, the republican line, replacing eric cantor, more about the tea party challenger who beat the number two man in washington tonight.

this is an earthquake. that is what one former republican congressman has said of eric cantor's lost. sec on most powerful man in the

house, thought to be the next speaker room rumored to have the votes. if eric cantor the right-wing thorn in speaker boehner's side, if eric cantor wasn't conservative enough for virginia republican voters what does this mean for the republican party right now? what does a cantor-less congress look like. and i am joined by my guests. crystal, let me start with former speaker pelosi's reaction to this, she says eric cantor has been the face of house republicans, debilitating dysfunction and tonight a major victory for the tea party as they pull the republican party further to the radical right. pelosi says as far as midterm elections are concerned it is a whole new ball game. >> i don't know that i would go that far, a whole new ball game. one thing i would say, i think this is definitely another

wake-up call to republicans, a wake-up call where they real i the purity test is very real. any thought they had of trying to govern, is certainly going to be gone at this point. in terms of the broader midterm dynamics i don't know if it changes the calculus unless this guy, we don't know that much about dave brat, we haven't heard that much. extreme rhetoric on immigration, but not a lot else. if he turns out to be a todd aiken, richard murdock, christine o'donnell, if he says really inflammatory things that capture the attention of the national public, well that begins to shift the ground. but as of now, i wouldn't say that this one election result is really a ground shifter for 2014. >> right. i think part of what some democrats are hoping for is the names you mentioned, the extreme people they may take cantor's place in leadership, separate from house races. david, walk us through.

and walk us through how tonight's results compare to the political support that eric cantor previously had in the district? >> look, eric cantor previously won without much competition against token candidates. tonight what i think we saw was a complete paradigm shift. took place outside of the sphere, media pay attention to the most primary voters in the district were tuned into brat on a grassroots. word of mouth basis. whether they were going to conservative media outlets. getting e-mails from friend in the last week of the campaign. it is clear the race closed rapidly in the final week. a telling sign, a week ago, laura ingram, came done to day 500-person rally with dave brat, she pro posed, tongue in cheek, that eric cantor be swapped for bergdahl.

that resonates with the conservative base for virginia 7. eric cantor, stylistically, button down, suave, polished. he is not the perfect fit for a gun-owning, fairly rural conservative district outside of richmond. >> speaking the culture. we played some of the sound earlier in the broadcast. whether a joke or not. certainly, crystal in poor taste. given sensitivities around the issue. it spoke to the idea that we heard from president obama. if you disagree with me on immigration or tee party priorities you are a traitor or un-american. >> that's right. here the issue of immigration became that rallying cry. it was something tangible. people could hang on to, as i said earlier, a red hot issue that, that really emotion runs deep with the base. but we have also talked about the fact that a lot of this, tea party versus establishment question, isn't so much about

ideology, as it is about tone. as the it is about the sort of rhetoric and the sort of heat that is used. so i think you are right to point out that cantor's demeanor, style, is maybe not the same as the sort of red hot, angry, red meat, wanting tea party folks. grassroots folks who ultimate threw him out. >> speak to crystal's point. when you talk to folks on the hill, there are certain members that are just more popular than others. when you think of john boehner. republicans talk about him a sort of friendly uncle figure, merlot, a nice tan, whatever. you don't hear that kind of personal or social appreciation for, for eric cantor from people who know him. can you speak to that? >> yeah, who would have thought john boehner would win his primary with 69%. and eric cantor would go down in defeat by 12 points. speaks to the notion even if boehner was perceived to be more of the mod to cantor's conservative figure in the house

for a number of years. boehner could still go back home to ohio's 8th district and shake hand in bars and the outside of coffee shops. >> wine bars even. >> cigar bars. and had, maybe, less of an easy time, connecting, cantor did in rural parts of virginia 7. ironically, redistricting, made virginia 7, more rural after the last round of redistricting. >> the idea of being rural and conservative, something many republicans say synonymous with a safe seat. not safe if conservatives don't care as much about your party label as what we talked about, issues, tone, style. a big sea change here in the republican party we are reporting on. dave wasserman. crystal stays. coming up. who is the guy who beat eric cantor you are going to need to know about him. that's next. i think the biggest value of truecar...

was that it gave me... confidence to buy my very first car... and to walk out of that dealership... and know that i got a good deal. save time, save money, and never overpay. visit truecar.com eric cantor became the first person to lose his primary holding the position. david brat beat cantor, and this is as we have been reporting sending a shock wave through republican national leadership. cantor had positioned himself to

the right of speaker boehner. that apparently was not enough for primary voters in virginia tonight. here is cantor speaking about his unexpected loss tonight. serving as the 7th district congressman then having the privilege to be majority leader has been one of the highest honors of my life. and, you know when i set out to do, what, what the agenda that i have always said we are about, we want to create a virginia and america that works for everybody. and we need to focus our efforts as conservatives and republicans, putting forth our conservative solutions so they can help solve the problems for so many working middle-class families that -- that may not have the opportunity that we have. i know there is a lot of long faces here tonight. and it's disappointing.

sure -- but, i believe in this country. i believe there is opportunity around the next corner for all of us. so, i look forward to continuing to -- fight with all of you for the things that we believe in. for the conservative cause. because -- those solutions of ours are the answer to the problems that so many people are facing to day. >> and up next -- the man who beat eric cantor.

we are back with a big breaking news night in politics. going to look at the man whose name you have been googling since the announcement, david brat, economics professor has beaten eric cantor. last check, end of march. brad had $40,000 in the bank for his race. cantor had $2 million.

if you had trouble finding information you had trouble finding anything about the new democratic opponent. yesterday the district's democrat committee nominated jack trammel, a professor at randolph macon college. joining me my guests. welcome to you all. karen what do you think of the new people who know and expected, to be big players in the district. >> i think it is going to make for quite a fun race. particularly at the campus where you have student taking up on both sides. i am also i have to tell you, googling honestly to find out if the democrats had put anybody up. i found a story, yeah, let's nominate somebody in case, eric cantor doesn't win. i'm glad the democrats have somebody in the race. >> yeah, crystal, you having been a candidate. you were talking to people on

the ground about that pick. >> he, jack trammel decided a week ago that he felt the urge. he wanted to give it a go. of what the heck. throw my name is the ring. they nominated him over a conference call. on sunday night. i'm told. really just got in there. now suddenly name is all over national headlines. "the washington post" is reporting that on rate my professor, which is a website where student can go and rate their college professors, apparently jack trammel gets better ratings than david brat. so you know take that for what it is worth. early indication. >> it is relevant. professor trammel may hope his students will be his part of his base. >> entire base. >> we are talking professors who have not had a life in politics or life seeking lucrative opportunities, neither who are expected to raise a lot of money

speaks to grassroots nature. eric cantor, spending $5 million, brat's $200,000. now printed name on the ballot. cantor can't have his name printed under the sore loser law. two folks, professors, what you might call regular folks. >> this is true. surprise, surprise. there is something about this that says you can't actually purchase an election. if you look at it. cantor spent $200 per vote in this election. and still didn't win it. part of that its because, the turnout was so low. look, always low in primaries. but 65,000 people voted compared to general election, in the same district. 380,000. this is the size of a school board election. when you have turnout, that is low, extraordinary things can happen. you have two guys who got in the

case, lightning struck. in fact. lightning struck. you have the gu guys. one of them is going to have to be the next congressman from the 7th district. >> unless something crazier happens. >> karen. money matters a great deal. incumbency matters. incumbency its held against you. money can't buy you love. eric cantor had money, attention, name i.d. didn't have the love of the base. >> he didn't have the love of the base. i think one of the things we should take away from this is, this is why redistricting mattered. this is why gerrymandering matters. this is why brat was able to run a campaign, that did damage to eric cantor in the last few weeks. i say that to say when people think these primaries, and you know congressional races don't matter, remember this race. this is why it does matter the i

would imagine that, the phones are probably burning up to both campaigns from, from democratic and republican operatives from both trying to, sign, sign up their candidates. because the i do think that now this race becomes one. that we will be talking a lot more about. we will be watching more closely. though i do think this is likely the republican seat. >> yeah, a tough seat. for context. president obama got about 42% there. tim kane got 45%. definitely a republican district. tim kane did well in the state overall. mark warner, an amazing candidate in virginia. did win the district. a tough, uphill sled for democrats. both candidates as you are pointing out. very unknown. who knows how they will be. if one will say something that will alien all it voters in the district. a lot of volatility, start there, know how it will play out.

>> since both are professors i would imagine both campaign will be looking at their writings. a lot of times you get yourself in trouble. >> yeah. yeah. a fair point. we will have more on the breaking news and how it could be affecting other races. our guest stays with us. as we look forward to 2014. stay with us.

looking at another important primary tonight. senator tim scott on the primary in south carolina. 48-year-old freshman won 90% of the vote. senator scott was appointed by governor nicky haley after jim demint resigned from the senate to take a spot at the heritage foundation. the first statewide election for scott, one of two african-american senators and only black republican senator. now stay with us for more on eric cantor's unexpected loss straight ahead. you can hide uneven skin tone from here. and here. but what about here? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® visibly even daily moisturizer

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>> you are looking there at brand new footage of pro immigration reform activists that were chanting tonight at eric cantor's headquarters. quite a scene. back with me to discuss my guests.

welcome to all of you. crystal, that scene there a little unexpected. we don't know exactly when those protesters decided to step up. but eric cantor, losing arguably in part because at one time he had been perceived as too aligned with dream act reform. >> right. i don't know if they realized in advance, probably they thought eric cantor was going to win. planned to be there to confront him over that. if we look at immigration. any near term action is dead. if it wasn't already. and for future presidential contenders, i think we are getting a preview of what the presidential primary will look like in 2016. for any body who supported anything that can be labeled, >> you see that.

signals going out clear and wide here to the house. any one who've wants any leadership. talk radio community. strengthened tonight. everything you heard about tea party politic thousands is on the wane. going to go out the window. not saying that is correct. because of complexities here. that narrative will shift. gives people whiplash. what should people make of this? what will republicans make of it? >> don't think it is correct. they will overreact to that. it is history for immigration reform and anything else. what this also does is compounds the longer term problem for the republican party. they have lost the only jewish republican, nonchristian republican in the entire congress. on the issue of immigration which is already causing a real demographic, catastrophe for the party in the long run. you see them becoming more white, christian, conservative, male. and that's, just may not be a

2014 issue. this is just heading in absolutely the wrong direction for the party. >> karen, what do you think of the notion and also who does it hurt. it would seem this entire mood would fairly or not hurt jeb bush's candidacy? >> well, that's absolutely right. i think look the challenge cantor exemplifies the republican party will have in 2016. right. he was frying to have one message at home in his district. fliers you were talking about earlier, anti-amnesty message. he was trying to have a different one in washington which was a broader republican party message. but just for 2014. i would say i do think the tea party folks will overreact. ill we be interesting to see after the election, what kind of infighting we see in terms of the republican caucus on the house side in terms of leadership positions, sort of the fight for power within the caucus. >> some goes to what we mean when we say tea party, do we

mean, the party, organized folks or the people who -- mean the party organized folks or the people who have an r by your name. >> i think what we see is the energy is with the far right. and whatever you want to call that. and those folks want an ideological bent, a certain energy. what we have seen here, republicans for the longest time when they were opposing republican reform, they labeled any efforts in that direction amnesty. and now eric cantor is paying the price for that. they tried to redefine amnesty, tried to say if we didn't give them total citizenship, that wouldn't be amnesty. obviously the base is not big it. >> karen, that tracks perfectly with what we were talking about earlier, and the long ago history of the minority of tea party republican should be able to practice an economic suicide, that was a big debate where they won things and then said it wasn't good enough and then had to move the goal post, but

ultimately they did move the goal post on themselves and republican leaders. >> and again, to crystal's point and your point, that is their message coming home to roost. they went out too hard on immigration messaging, not maybe looking at a little something i like to call the census to see the way the country was changing and similarly had to do that in a number of negotiations you point out, ari, with the tea partiers to say "we didn't mean this, here's what we meant." to get them back on board. at a minimum they need to rethink their messaging strategy. they painted themselves into the corner. >> that is well put. as we look over the incredible night in american politics such a reminder, people say "elections matter" which is true. activism matters, volunteering matters, turnout matters. this race, shifted by a few thousand voters, passionate voters, voters have strong feelings, wherever they come down, right, wrong, an incredible night in american politics.

my guests thank you for joining our special coverage tonight. >> thanks, ari. good wednesday morning, everybody. right now on "first look," tea party stunner, eric cantor crushed in the virginia primary. >> a lot of people will say, well, there's a mental health problem, it's not a gun problem. the united states does not have a monopoly on crazy people. >> that's what president obama said when asked about the latest school shooting, adding we should feel ashamed for not enacting even the mildest gun restrictions. stunning speed. the house unanimously passes legislation to help our veterans at a rapid pace. next it goes to the senate. plus, check out the $3,000 watermelon. also, a mayor caught on tape slinging dog poop? and the most