economics proffers with $200,000 and no political experience can take out the main one. it still comes down to whether the constituents think you're there for them. virginia 7, the public says eric cantor was not. that will do it from washington. alex wagner starts right now. who's having a worse day, eric cantor or john boehner? it's wednesday, june 11s, and this is "now." >> the republican party is the tea party. >> a seismic shift is being felt on capitol hill this morning. the battle for power within the republican ranks republican house majority leader cantor is out. >> it's the biggest shock i have ever seen in electoral politics. >> there's nothing you can do. the people have spoken. >> everyone was on their phones

googling david brat. who is he? >> amnesty was a clear differential between brat and eric cantor. >> this is about immigration. >> any time that you dismiss our base, i think you're going have problems being re-elected. >> the republican party is the tea party. >> you dance with the ones that brung you. >> the chickens have come home to roost. >> cantor was the primary enabe bler of the tea party. >> jack kennedy once said those who ride the tiger ends up in its mouth. they thought they could ride that tiger. well the tiger last night ate one of them. >> stunning does not even begin to describe it. eric cantor is out of nowhere. what are you talking about? no, really for real defeat last night, the first ever of its kind has already thrown the house republican caucus into complete disarray not even 24 hours later. this afternoon nbc confirmed

that eric cantor will step down from his house majority leader position. at this very moment the house is scheduled for a hastily closed door meeting where eric cantor will formally announce his resignation. that has set loose resignation, jockeying and power grabbing with others to take his post. republican's steady committee chair steve ka lease. kathy mcmorris rogers, the only woman in republican leadership took her name out because perhaps heavy is the head that wears the crown or in this craze deputy crown. managing the great wheel barrow of frogs, it is a difficult task indeed, potentially an impossible one. for cantor the very brand of con

conservative tichl that he helped create is what ultimately ended him. the great irony of this year's primary season and indeed of conservative politics going back for years now is that the two republican leaders most responsible for the party's insurgent position, cantor and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell are the bases most revealed. so what does the republican conference do now in this uneasy season of party cannibalism? speaker john boehner is expected to, quote, take the reins and, quote, calm the conference. right. haven't we heard that before? >> remain calm. all is well. all is well. remain -- ♪ >> all is well.

joining me now from washington is nbc news capitol hill correspondent luke russert. luke, is john boehner like kevin bacon from animal house that we just played? how much has he been completely blind-sided by this? >> oh, not just john boehner. i think everyone has been completely blind si-sided by th. boehner says he will not endorse so it's going to go. what i'm interested in is a long-term effect of this. there are a lot of house gop leaders upset with john boehner himself. i think they've been emboldened by this. and personally no matter what boehner does now and between christmas let's say they go to 2015 when they have a revote and who they want for speaker, remember, he became dangerously close. so you have the camps, the steve

kings, the conservative members who are going to look at this and say, oh, my goodness maybe we should move on boehner in january if he doesn't step down and retire or whatnot. all indications are he's going to stay on. we'll see. you'll see a conservative member definitely getting a leadership. steve calise running for that whip position. he's well liked and tolerated by the establishment that has conservative credentials that everyone adheres to as being good. >> luke, you do get the sense that ryan and boehner and to some degree mccarthy are circling the wagons and saying, okay, we've got to get this done our way? >> they are trying. what they can do is have someone that perhaps they can work with and that is a scalise. that in some cases would be a pete sessions or hencherlings. they're in a unique position

now. nobody, negotiatobody, nobody, s coming. it's a huge, huge shock. >> it is, isn't it? >> really. so what do they do? can they try and move the party to the middle so that -- or get the immigration issue figured out so this doesn't happen again? that would be some folks would say the wise thing to do but i think this plays into the catharsis that this party's going to have which will play out in 2016. >> catharsis or mutiny? luke russert, my friend, thank you. i want to go over to javier becerra and michael steele. congressman becerra, is there anybody on this short list that we're looking at now, pete sessions, jeb hensarlings, steve

ka lease, is there anyone they can work with? >> they can work with either one of them. it's just a right that the republican party will take an even further tilt to the far right. this is what happens when you light the fire for the tea party and in the case of eric cantor gets burned by it. we'll see what happens with the new leadership and the republican house. >> michael steele, there's so much that has ridden around. he's ridden the tiger and got eaten by it. as congressman said, he lit the fire and got burned. how much do you think he's regretting setting the table for the tea party in 2010? >> i don't think that's part of his mindset right now. i think eric cantor is probably sitting there asking himself, why the hell didn't i see this coming? why didn't i pay more attention to what was going on at home because, in fact, there were recent examples of what happens when you don't pay attention to home and that was elizabeth

dole's race and her re-election to the north carolina senate seat and, of course, in 2010 bob bennett got sideswiped by a tea party guy who looked at his inattention to home. so i think that's the starting point to a lot of what cantor -- he's going to drill down on any recriminations, it will be that. but i think there's a broader issue that the party as a whole has to deal with. luke touched on it and i think the congressman intimated it. that is, what is conservative tichl in this modern era? what does it mean? everyone has a different idea what that means. if that is what we are, we need to get behind that. if not, the battle is really going to be drawn out well into 2016. >> yeah. congressman, i think a lot of us want to believe there's this pocket of moderate republicans who look at these proceedings and are skeptical and think, oh, this is not good. and i wonder as a democrat on

the hill, have you heard from anybody in the quote/unquote establishment gop who said this isn't good and we have some serious soul searching to do? >> think the establishment republican base or party has been saying this for quite some time candidly. they're very concerned that this turn to the far right will be very difficult to recover from into the future. so i think there are a number of folks in the republican party who would like to see the party be able to just get thinks done instead of always work on the social end of it so far to the right. but we will see. what we're seeing now, we saw yesterday, the bursting of a bubble that's created by all the churning, this internal civil war going on within the republican ranks. >> you know, michael steele, you touched on the effects this may have in 2016. we know mitt romney won 27% of the hispanic vote. this is a major gop expanding

the tentnd eight feels like at this particular moment that the tent flaps are closing, the rhetoric is getting more can extensive and this quashes jeb bush who may be saying, there's no way we're going to get this immigration act done. do you think that's pessimistic? >> i think it's pessimistic. to strike out and set a new course and a new tone. if you want to be president, ultimately it begins in your own backyard. how you bring those disparate ends within your party and core ideas and policies that you think are going to be important for the policy. yeah, we can argue about the my kn minutia of it but it's like something we've seen with rand paul, you can begin to fashion that argument. thank's where the battle of 2016

begins. you're going to have to ultimately take that, alex, to them as a whole. as you intimated it's the hispanic americans and a whole swath of people who are interested in understanding what you're willing to fight for. >> congressman, this has thrown the republican party into disarray. i mean it's probably the tip of the iceberg. is eric cantor's defeat definitively bad? is it actually good for democrats in terms of showing the difference between the two partieses? >> alex, thinkt's just a side note on what happens to immigration reform. i agree what michael said. americans are going to want to be told up front and then get it done. just do it. too much the american people don't trust that anyone runs for office mean as what ths what th.

they were looking for someone they felt they could trust, i suspect. but that to me means nothing in terms of where we stand with immigration. i still believe we're going to get it done for the reasons michael said. someone's going to stand up. maybe john boehner stands up and says, this is something that has to get done. two-thirds of the republicans around the country say we fierng get it done. it's just a matter can the republicans escape being driven so far into the tea party corner they can actually get something done? >> you know, michael, what has been sort of a footnote to all of this is as much as eric cantor was the face of gop and number two in leadership, now that he's a dead man walking, you're finding out how many people just didn't like him. there has been -- nobody's made a secret of the fact that this

guy had a duplicitous character or didn't sort of sell himself in an honest way to his constituents. >> that's washington for you. as harry truman said, if you want a friend, get a dog. there's no real basis for friendship here. it's all about political opportuni opportunism. i look at this as sort of boehner's revenge. there's no doubt that it was part of the plan to deseat him. >> the last man gets the last laugh. thank you. after the brake eric cantor's epic data fail. josh and patricia will discuss the gross mismanagement on the campaign coming up next on "now." show 'em the curve.

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immigration, steak dinners or just eric cantor. he was victim of the massive data fail at the very moment his constituents were kicking him out of the office. in fact, cantor had felt so confident a victory he spent the morning at a starbucks on capitol hill holding a fund-raising meeting with lobbyists. >> i know there's a lot of long faces here tonight, and it's disappointing, sure. >> yes. for eric cantor it sure was

disappointing and it was completely shocking too. two weeks ago cantor's internal polling had him leading dave brat by 34 points. 34 points. cantor ended up losing by ten. that would be a 44-point error. who, who could be that far off base? 538 notes that eric cantor's pollsters say they've gotten many races wrong. note to campaign operatives everywhere, maybe don't trust the guys who predicted a romney win in 2012. that said, cantor's seismic data fail was worse than that of team romney. it basically turned into an island of poll truthsters. in a post election autopsy that to keep pace with democrats the gop needs better data, better

access to data and better tools to make the most of the data. over a year later, that data is still really pretty bad. the republican party has a serious data problem. something is deeply wrong with the gop's campaign structure if the party's presidential nominee and the house majority leader cannot rely on their pollsters. joining me now from atlanta is founder of citizen politics patricia murphy and correspondent for the uptimes, josh barrel. >> the problem is that data doesn't vote. people vote. and when you have a pollster getting in there polling likely republican voter, the problem is you're not sweeping in unlikely republican voters in the way that dave brought. one was getting people dwhoenlt vote and just 9,000 of them, by the way. it didn't take a lot to get to

the polls. for eric cantor, any politician at all, your interner pollster should supplement your strategy. it cannot become your strattry. for this exact reason, if he had gone home on the weekends, gone to any county republican meetings or any press reports he would have known he was in trouble and he would not have been at starbucks yesterday morning. >> instead of ordering a grande soy vanilla latte, he would have been on the campaign trail. we're going win by a much strong irmargin, our internal pollster shows that. it's not that it could have saved his candidacy but it could have mitigated the humiliation that is as much the story today as his loss. >> machbl but i know he was at one of those meetings last

month, one where he was booed and his republican chair was defeated in favor of a tate party candidate he oppose. so the cantor people, it's not just that they should have had better polling. there are other signs he missed. it's clear he was asleep at the wheel over the fact he was falling out of district. i agree he could have gotten a poll in april or mail that would have told him more accurately he was in a difficult race. two months of advance notice would not have been enough time. >> certainly -- yes, it's hard to save a campaign in two months parks trisha, but part of the problem, is and it's playing out right now. pete sessions says he will run for majority leader. the house leadership has no plan. i mean it is basically open season here and maybe if they had a sense that cantor was going to lose his seat, they could have come up with some kind of strategy. or you do think -- is that possible in today's house

republican caucus? >> i think the house republican caucus, you can have a strategy in the house republican caucus. the chance of that has seen the light of day as a successful executed plan are very, very small and i think another problem with eric cantor for his constituents and really his own members, it's so hard to know where he stood on these issues. he was so about inside baseball and process. as a reporter covering him, you almost never knew exactly where he was on this and why and he always seemed to be more interested in being house speaker than really almost anything else. it was so hard to know where he stood. i don't blame the house leadership for not expecting this. nobody expected this. but they should -- all of them should be thinking a few steps down the line about what happens with their own jobs given the nature o this house republican caucus right now. if you go to sleep at night, you're probably not paying attention. >> but, josh, you know, a lot of this is going to be postgame analysis, right?

and looking at the map of who turned out for brat and who turned out for cantor, i think, that information will be parsed and pored over by the gop. i want to bring up the map of virginia's 7th district where the votes for cantor are in yellow and the red is brat. how did you read that map, josh? >> so the areas where cantor did worse are supposed to be his base. there are these suburban areas around richmond so the district did get a little more republican and they added this new district that's just on the edge of the suburbs of washington where cantor did well. thing if cantor were running in a suburban washington, d.c., district he would have held on. but that's because the priorities of primary voters probably aligned pretty well with the republican establishment in washington. i don't think cantor can blame

this on the fact that the district was too conservative for him. these are people that have been representing for a long time and he should have been a good fit for the district. >> it is a very conservative district. patricia murphy, this is a story of many things. a story of the grassroots movement and the conservative echo chamber, the fact that laura irn gram and mark levin effectively ousted the number two republicans in the country is a testament to the power of that corner of the world and i think it has deep implications in terms of 2016 and endorsements and how republicans spread their message. >> it has a lot to do with how they spread their message. it also has to do with how they spread their money. this guy had almost no money compared to eric cantor. eric cantor out raised him 20-1 and it didn't make a dime's worth of difference. part of it is because i think he beat up so hard on this guy that you wouldn't have have paid much

attention to him without the kinds of ads that eric cantor ran against him. and listen. these radio hosts have gone up against other numbers before but cantor was asleep at the switch aunt didn't do enough to head it off snopa trisha murphy and josh barro, thank you so much for your time and thoughts. coming up, rafael ted cruz claimed he would never surrender except when it comes to his citizen. >> shep:. we'll explain coming up next. [ female announcer ] there's a gap out there. that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve. at humana, we believe if healthcare changes, if it becomes simpler... if frustration and paperwork decrease... if grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home... the gap begins to close. so let's simplify things.

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breaking news on capitol hill. eric cantor will be speaking.

it's confirmed he'll step down july 31st. back with mu is michael steeler and daily beast contributor patricia murphy. is there anyone you ads the former rnc chair would like to see, a healer if you will, that will take cantor's base without riling up the base too much? >> actually i would have liked to have seen cathy mcmorris rogers give a shot at it. i think it would have been healthy for her to compete, win or lose. the party at some point has to broaden its leadership style and leadership approach and think someone like her would have been very, very interesting to have in that mix. so it's disappointing that she's taken her name out of it. pete sessions who i worked with when i was national chairman, i think, is an incredibly capable guy. he is someone who actually has a

great reputation on both sides of the street, if you will. and i think he will be have interesting to see how this plays out. i think the news is just starting to break that they're holding this electionaround june 19th. so that creates a very narrow window for someone like pete sessions to gear up a campaign apparatus to get things done as will others. so we'll see how the back channel really work over the next ten days. >> patricia, we're hearing a lot or a little bit about about fringe talking about tom price of georgia who is a harvard educated tea partier. he has been sort of drifting around the margins. what do you think the likelihood is that he ascends to a more powerful rank in the public caucus? >> i think there is some possibility he'll do it. he has declined to say he won't do it which in tv means, yes, he

will do it and he declined to take a shot a the georgia senate seat and three got in. if tom price had gotten in, the thinking is he really could have won and because he didn't get in, people would say what is he up to? what's the game plan and the assumption is he would be interested in the long run of eventually becoming a leader and a speaker. he is quite conservative and sober and demeanor. depending on where people's loyalties lie, he could have a good chance. i wouldn't count him out right now. >> the sort of wild-card in this is john boehner. one presumes the speaker will have some say in this and the majority leader will be someone who works very closely. eric cantor was the guy who figured out what the caucus is going to do and report back. how confident are you in your ability to manage this process? >> i think that boehner is going to be much more of an influence here than i think a lot of the

conventional wisdom wants to think or give him credit for. i was just about to jump on that point before you raised it. i think he is the big elephant in the room here in terms of what this -- what this process looks like and who ultimately it sends. keep in mind as we talked about before, cantor and mccarthy and others were part of this ka ball against him in many respects. even though he's saying publicly i'll have no dog in the fight, i'll have my hands off the process, his lieutenants and those who support him will know how important it is to, one, get boehner to re-up for 2015-2017, and, two, what's going to be important for a republican presidential nominee to use the house as a base to launch from a policy standpoint a broad discussion with the country on policy going into 2016. >> patricia, how legitimate do

you think the rumors were of boehner thinking about retiring next year? >> i think they were legitimate enough obviously to give it legs. when you buy a golf condo and you're as tan as he is, i think you know his real love probably lies south of the georgia/florida border and i think this complicates that a lot. i think republicans are going to need to know they have a city hand and committed hand in john boehner and i really do agree with michael steele that this is probably going to help boehner. he will play a strong role in this, but there were many, many days when people were wondering what is john boehner up to when it comes to cantor. boehner's people did not trust cantor's people impolice itly. he was not a lieutenant he could rely on. this is a chance for boehner if he gets who he wants, he needs going to play a public role but i think we no who the boehner people are and aren't and he'll play a role and this could

strengthen his hand a bit. >> he really wants that vacation home in florida. you almost feel sorry for the dude that this happened yesterday. we'll be back with more on secretary hagel going to the hill right after the break. touch down... every morning... ten times! not just... now and then. once more on the rise... nuts to the flabby guys! go, you chicken fat, go away! go, you chicken fat, go! run, two, run (running) (like a tortoise) okay! (too far, and too slow.) now double up, ready! run two three four... (running) run two three four... (like a hare) run two three four... (now you are) run two three four... (getting there) run two three four... (go you) run two three four... (chicken fat,) everybody sing! (go away!) go, you chicken fat, go!

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ted cruz can no longer run for parliament. he's formally renounced his canadian citizenship as of may 14th because in dan they do things in french. a certificate was provided to the dallas morning news. the paper said they got news of his brand-new all-american status by mail at his home in houston yesterday but as he prepares to head off it does not anily settle questions around his citizen. >> shep: and a potential bid for the white house. the u.s. constitution only allows a natural born u.s.

citizen to run for president. most legal experts say that includes someone like cruz born to an american mother born abroad and then there are those like donald trump. asked to weigh in on the cruz conundrum, this is what he said. >> ted cruz, if he was born in canada? >> if he was born in canada -- >> no, he was definitely born in canada. >> no word yet on whether donald trump will send a team to alberta to authenticate the role of ted cruz. specifically defending the administration's swap of private sergeant bowe bergdahl and why it is exactly that nobody has heard from him. loretta sanchez was at that hearing and she joins me coming up next. tap it here, digital insurance id card.

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breaking news house majority leader eric cantor addressing

reporters. let's take a listen. >> we learn that each setback is an opportunity and there's always optimism for the future, and while i may have suffered a personal setback last night, i couldn't be more optimistic about the future of this country. i couldn't -- you know, i'm honored that i've had the privilege to serve and represent the people of virginia's 7th district. you know, people often lament what is wrong with this town, but i want to remind you of what's right. you know, i've had the honor to serve with so many very distinguished colleagues. you know, these are the people who fly across the country every single week trying to do what they can to help their constituents live a better life, and these are members on both sides of the aisle. i can tell you i have been more than honored to serve as a part of the republican conference and serve as their majority leader for the last several years. my colleagues and i are also admirably served by a tremendous

group of staff who put in tireless hours with the same noble intentions of trying to help the con state weren'ts of ours live a better life. they're the backbone of our institution and i'm proud to have gotten to know them and their families and am proud to call them my family. i'd also like to recognize the sergeant of arms, capitol police and dignitaries that i've got on the know personally and i i've gotten to no their often unheralded services that are second to none and it's been an honor to be in their company. it's especially been a privilege to get to know so many thousands, tens of thousands of constituents, of neighbors who make up the community of the great greater richmond area. richmond, virginia, is a place i've called home my entire life

and i no some of you in the press corps have joined me there but i encourage everyone to visit there soon. you know, we house republicans have made some tremendous strides over the past few years which fought to allow every child, regardless of their zip code, the ability to go to the school of their choice and to receive a quality education. we prioritized medical research and innovation and have led the way into an unprecedented era of technology and its breakthrough. we forced the reduction of spending in washington in consecutive years for the first time since the korean war. and we fought to protect people from losing their insurance or facing higher health care costs due to obama care. we pass bill after bill that would increase take home pay and reduce costs for working middle-class american families. now, some people think washington gets nothing done. well, there's a stack of bills

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

put minor differences aside and help elect a republican house and senate so that we may all benefit from a proper check and balance that leaves our nation more secure, more prosperous, and freer. the united states of america is the greatest gift to mankind, and i'm confident that our nation will overcome every struggle, exceed every challenge, and share the message of freedom, prosperity, and happiness to all liberty-seeking people around the world for decades to come. now, while i intend to serve out my term as a member of congress in the seventh district of virginia, effective july 31st, i will be stepping down as majority leader. it is with great humility that i do so knowing the tremendous honor it has been to hold this position. and with that i'm delighted to take some questions. >> mr. cantor, why did you lose

last night and what can the party learn from your loss last night? >> you know, i'm going to leave the political analysis to you all. i know that my team worked incredibly, incredibly hard. they did a tremendous amount of work. i'm proud of their work. i'm grateful for what they did, and in the end the voters chose a different candidate. >> mr. cantor, you're going to leave the political analysis to others but you personally have done some reflecting in the past 24 hours. do you think that maybe you spent too much time here with your job as leader tending to your rank and file and not attending enough to your constituents back home? >> you know, i was in my district every week. so there's balance between holding a leadership position and serving constituents at home. but never was there a day i did not put the constituents of the 7th district first and never i

will do so. >> do you think it should stop at this point or go forward and what did you talk to speaker babiy boehner about? >> first of all i would say on the political piece of that i'll let you do to analysis. butly say my position on immigration has not changed. it didn't change from before the election, during the election, or the way it is today. you know, i have always said the schl is broken, it needs reforms. i think its much more desirable and doable if we did it one step at a tierjs working toward where we have common ground and believe things in common. i don't believe in this my way or the highway approach that the president has laid out and i continue to take that position. i've said that there's common ground at the border, there's common ground. i would like to see the issue of the kids addressed by those who didn't break any laws and come here unbeknownst to them. so, again, i've always said there should be and is common

ground if we would just allow ourselves to work together. paul? >> who would you want to succeed you and how devicive will the election be within your conference? well, i don't know who it is that will actually be running. i can tell you that if my dear friend and colleague kevin mccarthy does decide to run, i think he would make an outstanding majority leader and i will be backing him with my full support. >> i'm curious. a lot of focus has been on the -- politics has been on the policy side. people are wondering what it means for the export/import reauthorization. is this sort of the end of the legislating of this congress door you think this congress can still get those big things done? >> we've got it on the floor with the appropriations measure that my team and committees are working on. we have got cftc

reauthorization, we've got some energy bills that will speak to bringing down cause for americans who are facing the summer driving season. we have human trafficking bills. the chairman of the house financial services committee i believe has announced a markup on the tree ya bill. hopefully the senate will reciprocate so that we can get the work of the american people done. >> you said local po ticks are involved but why would people be involved in politics where they feel they sh vored up their base and then they get a challenge, why should someone be running scared at this point after an unprecedented loss by a majority leader? >> again, thing as you rightly

suggest, all politics are local and there was obviously a lot of attention that was cast on our race. but, again, thing that our members are in good position in their districts and i'll leave the political analysis to you all. >> democrats said you were too extreme. conservatives said you were too compromising. what advice do you have for your successor. >> maybe we had it right somewhere in the middle. but, again, you know, i think that this town should be about trying to strike common ground. i always said it's better if we can agree to disagree, but find in areas which we can produce results. and i said this before. i've talked about my wife and i now almost mair 25d years and believe me we don't agree on everything and we have managed to raise our family, have a wonderful marriage and she's stood by me throughout this

politics stuff and not always believing in everything i believe in and we managed to raise our family and do it well. i don't think it's unlike life. i think more of that could be helpful. >> mr. cantor, what do you think the law says about your party's direction for 2016? some say it only emboldens the tea party to elect a more conservative uncompromising republican candidate. >> first of all, diedre, i'm going to leave the political analysis to you all. i would say about the tea party, remember what the akron nichl means. all of us conservatives and republicans believe in that and when the tea parliament first came about in 2009 i believe it was largely in reaction to the tremendous overreach of the obama administration with the stimulus, obama care, dodd/frank, the attempt at cap and trade in the house, and the country rose up and said enough is enough.

so i do believe that what we have in common as republicans is a tremendous amount of commitment to a better and smaller government and greater opportunity and growth for everybody, and the differences that we may have are slight and pale in comparison to the differences that we have with the left, and those expressing support for liberalism and more expansive government. >> if you have the ee lerlectio june 19th and you're stepping down july 31st, can you actually have a leadership in waiting that long or will that only create more friction? >> again, i think you'll have to speak to the speaker about the timing of the leadership elections, and i will say that we've got a very busy floor period. i've announced ever since the beginning of the year, we've got a lot on the floor. my team has been heavily involved with the committees in drafting legislation and making sure that we can run the floor

and be expeditious in the legislative process and so we look forward to a very productive june and july. >> just one follow-up. you don't want to do political analyst. what about personal analyst. did you look in the moor before you went to sleep last night and say how could i let this happen? >> no, because i do believe we did everything we could. e i'm very proud of my team on the ground in richmond for all they did. there was a tremendous outpouring of support on all sides. again, i just came up short and the voters elected another candidate. >> what's your next move, sir? what do you think you'll be doing after you leave congress. >> again, that is probably between my wife and me, and i will be looking to see how i can best serve, how i can best be a part of what we have been called an american that works. remember what it's premised possible, the notion that

conservative solutions, personal responsibility, limited government, more liberty can produce the results and solve so many of the problems that the american people have been facing in an obama economy under the obama administration. so thank you all very much. >>. >> that was house majority leader eric contact tore putting on the brave face after a humiliating defeat last night in the virginia 7th district primaries. still with many are former rnc chairman michael steele and daily politics daily beast contributor patricia murphy. i feel that we're seeing a republican spin, that the party is as strong as they have been and things are going to be just fine. did you buy it? >> no. and it's called closing ranks. what i took particular note of was cantor saying that, you know, should kevin mccarthy decide to run for majority leader, he will have my full support, which is d.c. speak for

where the establishment are closing ranks around someone that they want to move this agenda forward, they're setting their sights on him. i don't know if that's going to set very well with the tea party caucus and those like hensarling who want to have an open and honest attempt at this leadership post. there's more drama to come here. i do not see this going as a nice clean vote on the 19th of june. there's going to be a lot of wrangling. you've already seen pete sessions announcing earlier, i'm in. so this door is open, baby, and now it's time to grab the popcorn and watch it's like volcan mind games. when they say, this is my guy. i mean shouldn't he know better than to say i want kevin mccarthy to fill my spot in that's going to make the base

and contingent party not to have mccarthy in there. >> one thing about kevin mccarthy that's interesting to note, he played a really big part with the new members. a lot of the tea partiers were supported by mccarthy, were given pep talks by mccarthy. he went to their districts sometimes when they were running in tough races when they thought they wrntd going to win. so mccarthy has been able to engrash yat himself over the longish term. he doesn't line up with them i'd lodge lick because he's from california and he can't so it will be really interesting to see how this shakes out, where loyalties lie and politics lie. it's like open heart surgery right now for the republican house caucus and everybody's going to watch it from the viewing area up top. it's going to be so soul

bantering, summer soul-searching. >> i think they call it the box. but, michael steele, to the point of open heart surgery and the catharsis here, jake sherman from politico tweeting from inside the gop meeting, cantor was quoting a holocoust survivor. suffer i suffering is a part of life. misery is a choice. boehner is crying and thanking cantor. >> it's like when the pope dies, there's oop nine days of mourning and everybody is running around trying to talk about who the next pope is while they bury the one who just died. i think you saw that process and heard tales from what was going on in that room to that effect. i think, though, you know, going back to patricia's earlier point about the house members and the selection, yeah, i mean

mccarthy's got -- he did a lot of stuff for folks, but these guys that are elected -- and i had a hand in getting a lot of those folks there. they're not going to go ahead and get along washington type. they're not going to cut a deal just because you helple me in an election. if it fundamentally goes against prynne pls that they firmly believe in. so mccarthy is going to be tested on this front to see how authentic he is in the eyes of a lot of tea party members. >> patricia, real quick, one of the things eric cantor said on his way out i'd like to see the kids address. the kids being the dreamers. is there any hope that anyone in the house gop caucus is going to take up the issue of the kids? >> no. >> in a word, no. >> she's right. >> i hate to say it. there's just no chance. once you see something happen that you never saw coming you

ask yourself, what else don't e see cantor. you sit there and say there but for the grace of god go i. >> indeed. >> that would be a big sfliesk michael steele and patricia murphy, thank you for your time and patience. i'll see you tomorrow. ed schultz up nep. >> good evening, everyone. live from new york i'm michael dyson in for ed schultz. let's get to work. >> obviously we came up short. >> this came out of nowhere. >> this is a miracle. >> are you taking a bow this morning? >> pow ticks is awesome. >> the good news came in. >> it's disappointing for sure. >> the deaf of the tea party has been greatly exaggerated. >> myself, marc levine,