tv The Reid Report MSNBC June 11, 2014 11:00am-12:01pm PDT
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>> the miracle that just happened, this is a miracle from god. >> eric cantor's defeat here is going to scare more and more republicans. >> it's disappointing, sure. >> that's too bad for him. but the people have spoken. >> what does the house majority leader's historic loss mean for the future of the republican party? and who is david brat? then, defense secretary chuck hagel heads to capitol hill to explain the administration's decision to release five senior taliban detainees in exchange for p.o.w. army sergeant bowe bergdahl. and we're monitoring live pictures from oregon where officials will provide a live update on tuesday's deadly shooting at reynolds high school near portland. but we start with what is arguably the biggest election story of the year so far. the defeat of soon-to-be ex-majority leader eric cantor. cantor is expected to announce later today he is stepping down from that position perhaps a t the end of july. needless to say, it has been a stunning 24 hours for mr. cantor, who 24 hours ago was a
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man near the top of the political food chain. the second most powerful man in the house of representatives who could tap limitless amounts of wall street cash for his campaigns. and who just a few years ago actually made his district even safer and more republican through redistricting. well, that guy, that guy lost his re-election primary on tuesday. and by lost, i mean he lost big. by the kinds of double digit margins that put an asterisk on a politician's reputation and their legacy. more shockingly for the political world, including the political media, because let's face it, none of us anticipated it, cantor lost to a political newcomer. a guy no one gave a prayer of winning. a virginia economics professor named david brat who had some tea party support, but not the kind of big money professional tea party support or big name backing that you'd expect to see for a guy poised to take down a target this big. so now the theories about what happened officially begin. was it professor plum in the
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library with the immigration reform? or perhaps mrs. peacock in the kitchen with the bad ground game? or how about this? maybe people in virginia's 7th district just didn't like eric cantor. as jeff zangerly and the new republic writes, cantor reinvented himself so many times i ultimately lost count. somewhere around counter 6.0 the serial reinvention -- i read that totally wrong. you get the picture. one of the most fascinating aspects o f this race isn't just who fell or how historic his fall is. by the way, in the history of majority leaders dating all the way back to the 19th century when the position was created, this is the first time one couldn't win his primary. no, it's actually because there isn't one silver bullet theory that totally explains how one of the most powerful men in politics today lost to a guy who's obviously got real things going for him. but who doesn't exactly have a clear answer to some of the big political questions of the day. here's msnbc's chuck todd this
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morning, ask mr. brat his opinion on whether the minimum wage should exist. >> should there be a minimum wage, in your opinion? >> um, i -- i -- i don't have a well crafted response on that one. all i know is if you take the long run graph over 200 years of the wage rate, it cannot differ from your nation's productivity. >> msnbc's crystal ball is co-host of the cycle. she also, by the way, ran for congress in virginia in 2010. jason johnson is politics editor at source magazine. i'm going to start with you, crystal. give me your expertise on the state of virginia. let's start with the fact that eric cantor -- >> that's a big question. >> it's a big question. because it's fascinating. this is a really interesting state. we were talking about that a little bit before the break, before we got started. because it is so purple. it is so strange.
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this was a district that was super duper republican. but eric cantor having won his primary re-elect in 2012, he got 37,369 votes when he beat a complete no name whose last name is bayne. two years later he gets 28,000 votes to the 36,000 by mr. brat. meaning had he just gotten what he got in 2012 in the primary he would have been okay. that's not a lot of votes to become or not become the majority leader in the united states house. >> overall turnout in primary is very low and low in virginia, but it was a high turnout primary for virginia. so there was clearly a lot of energy there. i wouldn't be surprised if eric cantor hit close to what he was hoping to get in this race. yet obviously wasn't enough. there's obviously been a lot of focus on the immigration reform issue which was a touchstone and ignited a lot of passion. i also look to all that wall street cash that eric cantor was pulling in. that may have actually been his
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undoing in a lot of ways. because david brat used the immigration issue as a way to point to eric cantor's close ties to wall street. and to argue that he was doing the bidding of the corporate elite. i think that populist message really connected in this district. frankly, i think that populist fury is something democrats should take note of as well. >> you make an interesting point. first, let's start on the money, jason. eric cantor did raise a ton of money, $5.4 million. he spent almost all of it. $5 million. mr. brat raised $206,000. he didn't spend it all. he spent 122 charge to win this seat. i'm going to quote someone i rarely quote. eric ericsson of red state wrote the following. cantor didn't really lose because of immigration alone. cantor lost his race because he was running for speaker of the house of representatives while his constituents wanted a
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congressman. the tea party and conservatives capitalized on that built up distrust over cantor's other promises and made a convincing case that cantor could not be trusted with immigration either. i think both of those two things kind of make krystal's point. this was a guy whose big money kind of hurt him imagewise. immigration was layered on top of it. do you agree with that analysis? >> yeah. think he really angered a lot of local party. this guy was running around like he was frank underwood. i'm going to be the speaker of the house. you need to listen to what i tell you to do. he wasn't connecting to the local party. >> he didn't have frank underwood's charm, though. >> not at all. he was attempting to manipulate who the party leaders were going to be, who the party chairman was going to be. this is a guy who spent more fundraising on -- i think there were several factors who come into play. everyone here can claim a victory. everyone here can also talk to why he ended up losing. >> it's interesting with krystal. this is a guy, i got to say, mitch mcconnell has done this a little bit, too. trying to make the argument you want to preserve me in power
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because look how high i've climbed. i'm here for virginia. does that work if you're not often in virginia? >> yeah. no. not so much. >> it doesn't. >> people do not like koconde c condesencion. they don't like arrogance. the fact of the matter is, even yesterday, on the day of the election, eric cantor was in d.c. for most of the day meeting with republican leadership. i think that tells you everything you need to know about the way he viewed this race and his entitlement to the seventh district of virginia. >> at the same time, too, jason, i think the other kind of interesting thing that's playing out here is this notion that eric cantor was somehow in the reasonable wing of the party and they got beaten by the tea party. i mean, this was a guy who was part of that initial total obstruction strategy against president obama that started right on inauguration night.
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he himself was blocking immigration reform from coming to the floor. this notion that some tea party that was apart from him on policy beat him, does that make sense in this particular race given who cantor was as a guy who was governing? >> no. this is ridiculous. this whole comparison between the republican party and the tea party is like comparing hot sauce to extra hot sauce. the guy is a conservative. he's always been a conservative. this is about local politics. all politics is local. brat, the guy who beat him, he brushed off a meeting with grover norquist. tea party people are running down to introduce themselves to brat now because they weren't even strongly behind him. again, i think this has to do with local issues. the tea party is going to claim a victory. they didn't know this guy's name until probably 24 hours ago like everybody else. >> i think the other thing here is really eric cantor and the gop leaders sowed the seeds of their own destruction here. eric cantor was the primary enabler of the tea party that
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has now destroyed him. even on the immigration issue. how long did republicans use amnesty as a way to demagogue against any sort of action on immigration reform? they thought they could then adjust and change what their definition of amnesty was and the base said, no, we don't buy it. we heard you all those other years and we bought into that program. >> right. >> who undermined john boehner more than eric cantor? it is really amazing that they're representing them as sort of two opposite sides, as sort of the same coin taken down by the tea party. i'm going to give you the last word on this, jason. it does seem like there's a peculiarity about virginia that's at play here. is this a peculiarity about virginia politics that he really lost touch and you needed to do the local, the door to door, the glad handing? or is there a bigger message? >> there is a bigger message here about paying attention to your district. you know, it's one thing to joke that republicans don't believe in science. but they need to believe in math. if your own pollster is telling you that you're up by 24 points and you end up losing by 11, you
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haven't only lost touch with your district. you need to have better staff with you. i think eric cantor just completely lost touch with everything that it takes to actually be a congressman. because he was too busy measuring the curtains inside john boehner's office. that's what cost him his job. >> i said last word. but krystal, do you think pollsters are shaking in their boots. >> they were trying to make up a lot of excuses this morning. >> the words internal poll kind of look like gallup in 2012. thank you so much, jason johnson and krystal ball. be sure to watch krystal on "the cycle" after this very program. 3:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. i'm going to say that again at the end of the show. coming up, the grand ole party scrambles to get its leadership in order now that house speaker eric cantor has gotten the old heave ho. >> republicans better start acting like republicans. and delivering for the base. or they're going to -- they're going to make us pay for it.
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oh, and what we will discuss. we will discuss the stunning laws and what it could mean for the party both this year and 2016. plus, defense secretary chuck hagel in the hot seat as congress are grills him on the bowe bergdahl prisoner exchange. im talk to film maker and journalist sebastian younger who spent time imbedded with u.s. troops in afghanistan. are we still on for tomorrow? tomorrow. tomorrow is full of promise. we can come back tomorrrow. and we promise to keep it that way. csx. how tomorrow moves. what a day. can't wait til tomorrow.
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you are looking at live pictures of capitol hill, where in less than two hours, the house gop leadership will meet in the wake -- well, really the rubble of eric cantor's stunning loss on tuesday night. among the topics they certainly will have to discuss at some point is the future of immigration reform. not to mention their own jobs.
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now that mr. cantor has decided to step down from his own leadership post just before the august recess. perry bacon is senior political reporter with nbc news. mark murray is nbc senior political editor. perry, actually, i'm going to go first to you on this. question one, of course, is who will replace eric cantor? congressman tim hugh's campus told roll cowell his ouster bodes well for an entire new leadership team. who might be on that leadership team in your reportreporting, p? >> three names to think about. if it's a larger rebuke of the republican leadership it could be a big chapg. pete sessions from texas or jeff hensarling. more conservative wing of the party. this is more just eric cantor in a bad campaign, the number three currently kevin mccarthy of california is moving up to number two. it will depend on how the republicans view this defeat by cantor. is this a broader message about the party?
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or did cantor just run a poor campaign? >> mark, answer that question a little bit. from what you're hearing on the hill among republicans, i'm sure this is a shock wave, but is the message that of them are taking away from cantor's loss bad campaign? or is the message big picture problem, structural problem within the party? >> it has to do all the with the campaign. also with the fact eric cantor just wasn't a well liked person in his own district. there's been a lot of back fighting and back stabbing at the end of all of this, joy. but you talk to republicans, and they point to the fact that the pollster got it wrong for eric cantor. they point to the fact that he wasn't doing the handshaking. all the things that one needs to do to be able to win a contest. now, obviously, it is worth noting that there are a lot of current members on capitol hill who don't usually have competitive primaries, don't have competitive elections, and often just really check it in. what ended up happening to eric cantor was a perfect storm of not doing the campaign work he needed to do, the problems that he encountered on immigration, the problems that krystal
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mentioned earlier when it comes to wall street. you take all those things together and that's what ultimately ended up dooming eric cantor. you just can't really pinpoint to one specific story or example. >> see, that's interesting, mark, you're saying that. i'm actually glad you're bringing that up. what you heard in the initial sort of rush of shock over eric cantor losinging, i'll go to your first, perry, this is immigration. this was about immigration. even though, let me play you what nancy pelosi had to say about her colleague on immigration and then we'll talk on the other side. >> i've never known mr. cantor to be an advocate for immigration reform. so i think this whole thing about it being dead is exaggerated. so i'm always optimistic that it can happen. should have happened in my view by now. i've never seen him be an advocate for immigration reform. >> and, perry, this is where i quote matt iglesias quoting from my favorite show "game of
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throwns." everything you need to know is summed up by the quote in game of thrones. what is dead may never die. perry, is it wrong for people to conclude eric cantor losing means suddenly immigration reform isn't happening? because was it happening? >> i hear you, joy. there was a very small window to pass immigration reform this year. almost a nonexistent one, i would argue. nonexistent completely now. it was already pretty narrow. i was in south carolina last night for the primary. i picked the wrong one, clearly. that said, important note, lindsey graham i talked to afterward. he said it's hard for me to conclude immigration reform killed eric cantor since i'm a big immigration reform advocate and graham won overwhelmingly last night. he made the point if you want to look at what happened in this small district in virginia, it's hard to make two broad -- about immigration reform dying and any republican being for it can't win because lindsey graham won overwhelmingly last night. >> absolutely. mark, even back to you, this is even the victor last night, mr. brat.
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this is him describing how immigration reform played into the campaign. watch the pivot that he makes. then we'll talk about it. >> amnesty at the end with a clear differentiator between myself and eric cantor. but it fits into the whole narrative. and it also fits into the narrative that eric just has not been present in the district. and he was out of touch in supporting the chamber agenda on that one instead of -- i was door knocking. i know what's on the mind of the folks. >> so, mark, not present in the district. chamber agenda. door knocking. isn't that sort of the operative set of phrases rather than immigration reform? >> it is, joy. but one thing worth noting is just how the word "amnesty" and "immigration" has become such a lightning rod in republican primaries. it just wasn't, you know, this example of brat using immigration to hit eric cantor and eric cantor trying to cover by the fact, saying he stood up to president obama on amnesty. but also just look back to the 2008 presidential contest. john mccain barely survived that
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primary because his opponents hit him on immigration. you ended up seeing rick perry taken down on immigration in 2012. comparatively, mitt romney using immigration as the issue to brandish his -- it's worth noting in these republican contests, there's maybe not a more lethal charge that one can end up having on someone else saying that, well, you support amnesty. you're a comprehensive immigration reform supporter. i know lindsey graham survived last night in south carolina. but it still remains a very deadly weapon for republicans to wield in these contests. >> absolutely. i reiterate, what is dead cannot die. "game of thrones" applicable to everything. especially politics. now breaking details out of oregon. police have just identified the shooter in tuesday's deadly shooting at reynolds high school just outside portland. >> the oregon state medical examiner's office completed the autopsy this morning.
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on the shooter. and has positively identified him as 15-year-old jared michael padgett. he was a freshman at reynolds high school. he arrived at the school yesterday morning on a school bus carrying a guitar case and a duffel bag. he entered the boys locker room in the building that housed the gymnasium. he spent a period of time in the locker room, and during that time, he murdered a fellow student. we have not established any link between the shooter and the victim. teacher todd rispler encountered the shooter in the locker room. he was fleeing. mr. rispler was shot once, suffering a grazing wound to his hip.
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estrogen should not be used to prevent heart disease, heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream. and go to premarinvaginalcream.com this is worth talking about. it's time for we the tweepl,e. dave chappelle shocked fans in 2006 when he walked away from his popular show. the comic discussed this with david letterman last night. you can't stop talking about his appearance. take a look. >> listen, here it is. technically, i never quit. i am seven years late for work. >> you're still rolling in the virtual aisles on twitter over dave's jokes and his first letterman appearance in ten
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years. you're sending tweets to dave like this one. quote, tv has sorely missed you. if dave chappelle is a comic genius, you found someone who kp excels at trolling. one twitter user is taking trolling to a new level, poking fun at a handful of gun owners who tweeted in the aftermath of mass shootings that they would never let anyone take their guns. you will not take my guns because of what someone else does with theirs ever, tweeted one of them. here's what genius troller rob wisman stepped in and said. i am literally on my way to take your guns, he told the guy in response. to another he said, i took your guns while you were at work today. you're down to zero guns. uh-oh. to get another, he said, i'm going to dangle your gun over your head just out of your reach. rob has turned twitter trolling into the art of political jujitsu. to waffle house and the quest of one waitress for her
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gargantuan tip. shay na brown, 26, was left $1,000 by a generous diner on mother's day. the single mom of three wasn't allowed to keep it. it's the policy of waffle house to return use tips that are left by credit card as brown's was. this unleashed a social media firestorm with even childlike comic peewee herman dialing in. she finally received her tip by check this week. waffle house had this to say from a longer statement posted to facebook. quote, our intentions were for the associate to get her tip all along. we're sorry our associate and the customer are having to go through this. mm-hmm. it is great to see justice served social media style. you can join in the conversation with fellow reader on twitter, facebook, instagram and msnbc.com and keep telling us what's important to you. this news. sunni militants have seized control of the northern iraqi city of tikrit.
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the same group that took over another city. here's more on the unfolding crisis. the clean air act stops polluters from... poisoning his air with arsenic, lead and mercury. now the loop hole that lets them pump unlimited carbon... pollution into his air is closing too. if polluters and their friends in washington don't interfere.
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both made it clear in their opening remarks that that's not what today's hearing was about. but committee members still pressed the defense secretary about why bergdahl isn't already being questioned. >> you're trying to tell me that he's being held in germany because of his medical condition? >> congressman, i hope you're not implying anything other than that. >> i'm asking the question, mr. secretary. >> i'm going to give you an answer, too. >> answer it. >> i don't like the implication of the question. >> answer it. answer it. >> he's being held there because our medical professionals don't believe he's ready. this isn't just about can he get on his feet, walk and get to a plane. >> what members of congress did want to discuss today was why they weren't informed about the prisoner swap before it happened. asked directly whether congress was notified within the 30-day required timetable for releasing guantanamo detainees, hagel answered directly, no. even before he was asked, secretary hagel defended what he called a tough decision made
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under what he repeatedly called exceptional and imperfect circumstances. a wartime decision hagel said he and the commander in chief are prepared to stand behind. >> a fleeting opportunity to protect the life of an american service member held captive and in danger for almost five years. the national security team and the president of the united states agreed that we needed to act swiftly. as secretary of defense, i have the authority and the responsibility, as has been noted here, to determine whether detainees, any detainees, but these specific detainees at guantanamo bay, can be transferred to the custody of another country. i take that responsibility, mr. chairman, members o f this committee, damn seriously. damn seriously. >> nbc's kristen welker has been following today's hearing from the white house. kristen, very contentious. contentious even on the question of whether and how sergeant bergdahl is being handled by american authorities. that seems extraordinary to me,
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given this is an american p.o.w. is this extraordinary to you, i guess i should ask? >> reporter: it certainly was the exchange that stood out for me, joy. i think that's why you saw secretary hagel pushing back on that. his broader message today was, let's withhold our judgment on bowe bergdahl until he comes home. and until there is an investigation into exactly why he walkeded off his base and into exactly what happened. you heard him push back against that notion that he is somehow being held there in germany for any other reason besides getting better. obviously, we've had reporters on the ground there in germany tracking his convalescence there. they have been in contact with doctors, medics who say this is going to be a slow process emotionally for him to come back. the other point i would make, joy, is that the white house obviously has been trying to put a lid on the controversy surrounding the release of bowe bergdahl. they felt as though secretary hagel delivered a strong
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performance at today's hearings and was consistent with the positions that they have been discussing. you'll recall that when secretary hagel had his confirmation hearing, it was a little bit rocky. today, much different. he was steady in terms of his answers. and he reiterated a lot of what we've heard from this administration. namely that this is an extraordinary circumstance. that is why they couldn't alert congress prior to those 30 days. but he also emphasized the fact that the administration won't release prisoners from guantanamo without alerting congress moving forward. i think that was a key question that a lot of those lawmakers wanted answered. i think questions surrounding guantanamo are going to continue to dominate the discussion surrounding bergdahl moving forward. joy? >> thank you so much, nbc's kristen welker. joining me now is author, film maker and "vanity fair" contributing editor sebastian younger. his new film, this is what war feels like. the emotional toll of war. i found it really extraordinary,
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a hearing that was about dock's anger that they didn't get a heads up about releasing five members of the taliban so quickly turned into anger over the person of bowe bergdahl. he's become really this sort of lightning rod for people's anger. it's very much about him. talk to us a little bit about -- i mean, you were out there. you've been out there serving with these guys. obviously there's a lot of psychological and emotional trauma that happens. but have you been surprised a t the anger, not members of his unit, but outside of that group that's been directed toward bowe bergdahl. >> first of all, i completely understand the emotions surrounding what seems to be, again, we don't know and i don't know. what seems to be bergdahl's betrayal of his responsibility to his platoon mates. it's a very serious matter. not because he violated an order or a rule, but because there's such an important trust between men in combat. and he seems to have violated it. that's a different issue from the sort of political outrage back here in the u.s. i think that actually that level of outrage, perhaps, reflects --
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says something more about the politics in this country right now than it does about bergdahl himself. >> yeah. i think one of the things that seems surprising is people focused a lot, i agree with you, i think his platoon mates have every reason to be really, really angry with him about the leaving. what's been interesting is also the anger around his anxieties and doubts about the war. is that something that is uncommon, for these guys who have been out there on multiple tours of duty, who see the war firsthand, to express doubt or express even anger about the war? >> i don't know if he was a multiple tours. i'm not sure. the guys that i was with, i was at a remote outpost off and on for a year with a platoon in a lot of combat. and i, you know, i got to say i never once heard them talk about the rationale for the war or how it was going. they were very focused on how it was going for them at that outpost and what their chances were of getting out of there alive. the larger picture, they really didn't talk about it much. frankly, i think that's probably pretty typical of soldiers in
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combat. >> the bond between them obviously really key. >> absolutely. >> i want to play a little bit of your film. i think it's great you get to hear the first person accounts of people who were actually doing this job. let's take a little listen. >> that's the terrible thing of war. you know, you do terrible things. then you have to live with them afterwards. but you'd do them the same way if you had to go back. everyone tells you, you did an honorable thing. you did all right. you're all right. you did -- you did what you had to do. i just hate that comment. did what you had to do. because i didn't have to do any of it. >> it's striking how hard it seems for a lot of guys when they come back to start processing the things that they went through when they're in -- when they're in the moment, how do these young men who are in many cases very young men get through this on a day-to-day basis? >> well, they're -- most of them are very clear about the rules of engagement and how to act
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properly in combat. that young man, brendan, is a good friend of mine. he was troubled by the moral implications of killing in a sort of general sense. but he was also incredibly proud of his service. who loved being a soldier. confessed just recently to me that he missed all of it. and part of him wishes he could go back. that's the conundrom of combat. that's not different people having different reactions. all those reactions sometimes happen in the same person. that's complicated. >> part of, you know, is part of the, you know, the real visceral anger, putting aside the politics, i mean, the guys in bergdahl's unit, is it the breaking of that bond, that fellowship, bond that you think is so searing for people? or is it the potential alleged abandonment of the mission? >> well, i think -- i can't speak for those guys. but my guess is that if i try to picture someone doing that out of second platoon, the platoon i was with, that they would
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feel -- really they would feel betrayal of the bond. and the mission. but primarily the bond. i mean with b if you fall asleep on guard duty, it's an enormous betrayal. you're just falling asleep. that's a normal human reaction to exhaustion. even that's a betrayal. to plan and execute a -- you know, an escape from your outpost is -- you know, it's pretty stunning decision on the part of a soldier. >> right. at the same time, i mean, the commitment to still go and find and get and bring back our guys, isn't that ingrained as well? >> absolutely. at the time they didn't know what his motivations were for leaving. frankly, i think for a lot of soldiers it doesn't really matter what his motivations -- here's a soldier who's in the hands of the taliban. we got to get him back. that kind of decision has been made in war after war with p.o.w.s. i mean, there are a lot of prisoner exchanges in all wars. we were fortunate in this war, there was only one american p.o.w. over there. you know, vietnam, korea, world war ii, of course, there were
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thousands. >> sebastian junger. wish you'd come back. the film is "korengal." we don't have that shared experience of war in this country anymore. i think that is not a good thing. coming up next, fifa under fire. why some believe soccer's international governing body isn't equipped to deal with allegations of corruption and discrimination and that it should be permanently sidelined. keeping a billion customers a year flying, means keeping seven billion transactions flowing. and when weather hits, it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solutions are always calm during a storm. so if your business deals with the unexpected, hp big data and cloud solutions make sure you always know what's coming - and are ready for it. make it matter.
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the world cup kicks off tomorrow. but the scandals and controversies have been kick around for months. massive protests have been erupting in host country brazil over the cost of the tournament which is the biggest and most popular sporting event on earth. as nbc news points out, about $3.6 billion in taxpayer money have gone into the stadium. but people are angry at the appalling public services that most brazilians still endure
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like poor hospitals, poor schools and public transport. even with all that money spent the country is scrambling to finish 5 of the 12 stadiums that will be used. three workers have died during stadium construction and another worker died monday working on a monorail project in sao paulo. all that's happening while fifa, the governing organization that oversees soccer is embroiled in another scandal. "the new york times" did an exhaustive investigation into match fixing allegations at the last tournament. it at the time says it got its hands on an internal fifa document that, quote, found the match rigging syndicate and its referees infiltrated the upper reaches of global soccer in order to fix exhibition matches and exploit them for betting purposes. as my next guest wrote in a "time" op-ed, it's past time to abolish fifa. it's like a gangrenous limb.
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before the beautiful limb becomes decayed beyond all possible recognition. joining me now is author of the scathing article. dave, you could not have been clearer about your thoughts on fifa. i'll read more more piece from your op-ed. the situation is even worse in qatar, site of the 2022 world cup. hundreds of migrant workers have already died in the oil kingdom's efforts to build a new fifa quality stadium. this is not a brazil story. in your mind it's a fifa problem. >> absolutely. it's really a one-two punch fifa is dealing with right now. because we have the protests in brazil coinciding with the scandal of the world cup being staged to be in qatar in 2022. the fact that already hundreds of migrant workers have died building the stadiums in qatar. it's these things together which it's like a lot of different puncture wounds fifa is trying to handle smimultaneously. it has to be said the only reason we're even having this discussion about fifa is because of bravery of the workers, the students and the peasants of
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brazil who have made fifa, in the words of my friend down there, about as popular in name as fema in new orleans after hurricane katrina. >> i should say we did reach out to fifa for comment. we didn't hear back. this is happening at a time, dave, i think it's fascinating, one of the reasons i wanted to talk to you about this, is that you've got this organization, fifa, that's got this beautiful game, soccer, that has its issues including with race. they go down to brazil, a country that's got its own complicated issues with race. is fifa equipped to handle that aspect of the problematic aspects of the game? >> no. i mean, fifa is not really equipped to do anything except take bribes and give the most beautiful game on earth and the most profitable tournament on earth to dictatorships and autocracies. i think to me the most quintessential fifa phrase in this entire period in brazil is when it's secretary general jerome valke said it would be so much easier in brazil if it was still under a state of dictatorship.
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then they'd be able to push through what they need in such easier fashion. of course, the next two world cups, where are they going to be? they're going to be in russia and they're going to be in qatar. this exposes so much about what is anti-democratic about fifa. they're not an organization that's equipped to handle things like match fixing and bribes and corruption. because that is their sustenance. without that fifa would cease to exist. which is why it needs more than reform. we need new governing bodies for the purposes of saving soccer from fifa. >> you do have this international game. it's the most popular game in the world. americans may not realize it, but this is all over the world. what kind of governing body could actually get its arms around such a big, massive organization? who could handle that scale? >> i mean, the thing that i keep coming back to is that you need different organizations for different purposes. it's not dissimilar from discussions we've had, joy, about the ncaa. it's like how can you have an organization that's both in charge of marketing a sport, profiting from a sport and having total control of a sport while at the same time of monitoring corruption in the
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sport? these are two very divergent goals that are often at cross purposes with one another. you see that in fifa as well. you would need an organization that's actually responsible for theish sh-- issues of corruptio match fixing. all the issues that could hurt the future of soccer on an international level. and you need an organization that's in charge of actually marketing and spreading the joy of what is soccer. >> yeah. indeed. dave zirin, my favorite sports come um nis and author of the new book "brazil's dance with the devil." developing news out of capitol hill. we've just learned that eric cantor will hold a media availability today at 4:30 p.m. eastern. stay with msnbc for live coverage. we'll be back.
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child will, in fact, be there and okay, consider yourself lucky. if your kids or your friends or you aren't a little bit afraid to sit near the entrance of a movie theater like my kids are because they're worried someone could come into the movie and shoot them, thank you. if it wouldn't scare you to see one or more men bound into the restaurant where you're eating with guns strapp eped on their backs, you might be the luckiest person alive. we as a developed country have given up and decided we're just going to live this way. with mass deaths. weekly shootings. new products that help our kids hide from the gunmen in our schools. just hours after the latest shooting spree, president obama was asked by an acquaintance of one of the uc santa barbara student victims, whether
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anything was ever going to be done about it. here's part of what he said. >> our levels of gun violence are off the charts. there's no advanced developed country on earth that would put up with this. i've been in washington for a while now. and most things don't surprise me. the fact that -- that 20 6-year-olds were gunned down in the most violent fashion possible, and this town couldn't do anything about it? was stunning to me. the country has to do some soul searching about this. this is becoming the norm. and we take it for granted. in ways that as a parent are terrifying to me. and i am prepared to work with anybody, including responsible spor sportsmen and gun owners to craft some solutions.
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but right now, it's not even possible to get even the mildest restrictions through congress. and that's -- we should be ashamed of that. >> as you just heard, the president ended that answer by saying, we should be ashamed of the fact that we can't pass a single national level mild gun control restriction. and we should, indeed, be ashamed. that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you back tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern. be sure to visit us online at "thereidreport.msnbc.com. now for my friends from the cycle including my recent guest krystle ball, thank you for being here. >> joy reid, thank you so much. we have a packed show. obviously going to talk about eric cantor and the bombshell that happened last night. going to talk a little bit about chuck hagel testifying before congress. immigration reform. a little social media run-in there. i'm also doing the rant today. that's appointment tv about 3:52
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p.m., everybody. >> luke russert everybody. >> luke lets loose. >> got to watch that. "the cycle" comes up next. [ brian ] in a race, it's about getting to the finish line. in life, it's how you get there that matters most. it's important to know the difference. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger problem. and that i had to take action. so he talked to me about xarelto®. [ male announcer ] xarelto® is the first oral prescription blood thinner proven to treat and help prevent dvt and pe that doesn't require regular blood monitoring or changes to your diet. [ brian ] for a prior dvt i took warfarin, which required routine blood testing and dietary restrictions. not this time.
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it's the music. i'm luke russert in for ari this afternoon. you don't have to tell me twice. every super tuesday, every election matters. but perhaps none like this time around. that's because this time it's leading to the resignation of the house majority leader. republican eric cantor of virginia was ousted by an obscure tea party opponent, econ professor david brat, last night. cantor is done. next hour in a closed door meeting with gop colleagues he'll announce his plans to step down from the leadership post by the end of july. he'll come out to face the cameras after that meeting.
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he's the first sitting house majority leader to ever lose a primary. the odds are so rare, it's more likely a majority leader will die in office. if that doesn't drive home the impact of this vote for you, try this. some pundits are calling this the biggest upset to the gop establishment since the emergence of the tea party. even cantor's opponents seem caught off guard. here he is with the daily rundown this morning. >> should there be a minimum wage in your opinion? >> um -- i -- i don't have a well crafted response on that one. >> let me ask you about something, a foreign policy question. arming the syrian rebels. would you be in favor of that? with the u.s. military helping to arm the moderate syrian rebels? >> chuck, i thought we were just going to chat today about the celebratory aspect. i'd love to go through all this but my mind is just -- >> i understand that. >> if you want policy questions, i'mpy
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