year 2000. also marking the strawberry moon, the name of the june full moon to celebrate friday 13th will not happen again until august 13th, 2049. yeah. that's going to do it for this edition of "way too early." happy friday, everybody. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ remember that country we invaded awhile back. no, that was too far back. no, no. that was -- no, that was a shadow coup. that was a police action. that was a giant step for all man kind. i'm talking about iraq. iraq. that's the rock! thank you. >> good morning, everybody. it is friday, june 13th. yep, it's friday the 13th.

welcome to "morning joe." with us on set we have "morning joe" contributor john heilemann. it is ominous, actually, with the news we're leading with this morning. and then former chairman of the republican national committee, michael steele. in washington, associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson. and white house correspondent for "the huffington post," sam stein. good friday to you all. are we ready for a big news day here? really? you want to do that right now? why not? take a look at this. >> what is it? >> dive right in. what you got? >> oh, i hadn't seen that. >> you know what? i got to tell you -- that's chris christie on jimmy fallon last night. it's called good dad dances.

doing dad dances. that's a dad dance. willie, do you do that? >> i'd like to think i'm better than that. maybe i'm not though. >> chris christie looks actually fantastic. he's lost a lot of weight. happy for him. eugene, you do that. >> i will never be able to unsee that. thank you so much. >> i will never be able to unsee that. you know what? i'm thinking i'm with you. but i'm also actually noticing a real change in his appearance. >> jimmy fallon looks great. >> looks great. really well. >> about two months ago when i saw chris he said he had lost about 63 pounds. it looks like he's gone even further. it's a slow, long process. and he's jumping back in. you hear him lately talking about, you know, being able to take on the presidential election. >> he's showing off some moves. >> now let's get into it.

let's get to the big news of the day. in many ways there are no longer separate conflicts in iraq and syria but rather one sweeping insurgency that is breaching through. the group at the center of the fighting is taking in baghdad and the weak centralized government there struggling to keep the country together. thousands of shiite civilians are pledging to fight back against sunni militants setting the stage for a civil war split along religious lines. those shiite volunteers would build a vacuum where they dropped their weapons and scattered. in fact, several soldiers in the capital are now wearing street clothes under their uniforms to make for a quick escape. $25 billion arming and training those troops. and in the cities already overrun, the militants have banned cigarettes and alcohol. they've ordered women to stay indoors. they're threatening to kill

anyone who doesn't accept the government. iran is sending in reenforcements to help battle the islamic extremists. it is a serious situation for the obama administration which "the new york times" says is groping for a response. president obama is considering air strikes which would essentially re-engage america in a war he declared over back in 2011. the main group leading the insurgency known as i.s.i.s. aims to establish strict sharia law. let's bring in nbc news analyst and former director of the national counterterrorism center michael leiter. we're already seeing in what i just reported the regional implications. if baghdad were to fall to the

i.s.i.s., what are we talking about here? >> well, mika, i think your opening captured it perfectly. we no longer have stability in iraq. we have a true regional conflict. and i think iraq is well down the path to being splintered now between three different elements. the kurds in the north, the sunnis across the central region. i don't think baghdad's going to fall, but i also don't see any likelihood of an end to the violence or i see a much greater likelihood of conflict in iraq over the next coming days. >> the president said yesterday -- i'm going to read a quote to you. it's fair to say there will be short-term immediate things that need to be done militarily. the way you look at it, what kind of obligation, if any, does the united states have to step in here? >> willie, i think some of that obligation disappeared when the iraqis resisted our continued

presence in 2011 although frankly i think we could have done more to force a presence and that would have helped. but we still have an obligation to our own continued security. and that obligation requires us in this case to push back against i.s.i.s. and do more in syria. if we think about this as securing iraq, i think we're missing the picture. this is really still about securing the united states, securing our allies in jordan and israel. it's now spread to two countries. this really can be broader before it narrows if we don't get involved. >> what does that look like in your eyes? when you say push back, what does that mean exactly? >> the first thing we have to do is absolutely demand that prime minister maliki makes it a more inclusive government. we can't do anything from the air that can support them. we need the iraqi military to

reconstitute in the areas it is and then i think military strikes from the air to support that force on the ground are probably what we're moving towards. that's really unattractive. there's nothing good about that. i was a former naval aviator, air strikes don't solve problems instantly. but we have to bolster what's left before the country falls apart completely. >> this is michael steele. going on that vain, where's the energy for that? you have an administration that has largely said we're done, we pulled out. hands off. the maliki government is largely insufficient, i think, to this task. so you said baghdad won't fall. i mean, i don't see the evidence that supports that notion long-term. do you? >> michael, i'm trying to find something optimistic on friday the 13th here. i don't entirely disagree. listen. this country was badly broken

after the invasion. the p it's not a strategic surprise. that those of us who watch this as you guys know, this is what we've been saying could happen. so we shouldn't be terribly surprised by this. and it's -- we're in the middle of a very bad situation and our choices have only gotten worse over the past two years. >> i'm going to get to a sound bite from mitt romney that spoke out. but john heilemann, does this raise questions about how we withdrew, when we withdrew, if we should have withdrawn? there is a big controversy, obviously, about why we went in. >> yes. >> could you also raise the question we should have never gone in? >> certainly the long-term historical question many people

and even democrats now are looking back saying all of this goes back to the original going back in. once we we want in, there was a time we had to come out. whether we came out a year ago, 18 months earlier, or now, this seems it was predicted and predictable and now it's happening. i'm not sure the exact precise timing would have mattered very much. how we dealt with the maliki government might have changed. >> how we're tiptoeing around syria, how we're trying to get out of afghanistan, how we're now being pulled back into iraq, it does raise the question you can engage in these countries and expect it to end at some point. yes, who's talking to me? >> mika, this is gene. if i might just slip in two little questions for michael leiter. one, as big a problem as this is for us, isn't this a bigger problem for iran? >> right. >> which kind of had what it must have thought was a fairly

compliant client state next door. maliki was very friendly with them. then all of a sudden they've got this sunni insurgency that they've got. and second, is this, in fact, part of a larger sunni/shiite conflict that could spread? >> you're right. this is not good for iran except it does give iran an opportunity to show how important it is in the region. i think it's very hard to know exactly what they're doing now. but they've had a significant presence in iraq. my expectation is if the intelligence forces are reinforcing that. so that goes to your second point which is other countries in the region in particular saudi arabia are terrified of the iranians playing such a role. so this is just another example of how that sectarian divide

that we saw in iraq, that we see in syria, that we have the rivalry between saudis and iran, this is heated up to probably its worst point in 50 years. >> a lot of people jumping in in this conversation. many mitt romney spoke out about the situation in iraq. here's what he had to say. >> all these decisions made in the past puts us at a very difficult position now frankly with poor options. this is the consequence of a president that did not take the right actions at the time opportunity presented itself. his foreign policy is what has led to these crises all over the world and try to recapture the lead and keeping these kinds of things from happening is going to be a real challenge. and gosh, i hope the president's able to do that in his last two years. i don't know how we can go on with a country not having the kind of leadership it needs. >> sam stein, let's be clear. all these problems mitt romney talked about. go back to george w. bush,

inherited by president obama. at this point you're sitting there covering the white house. what is the white house thinking? what are their options right now? >> they are exploring their options. i talked to a few people in the administration. obviously anything but boots on the ground is being contemplated. one told me they're looking at kinetic options. all of them is a bad option if i could go through a few. air strikes, for instance, are very difficult to execute at this juncture because we do not have bases in iraq to launch them. drones, same problem. armed shipments to the iraqi government and military would seem logical except for the fact the the iraqi military is folding like a cheap suit when confronted. you have cia operations that are probably contemplating right now. it's complicated as well. and then the guy that runs the armed services committee who made the point that anything we do militarily in the short-term

doesn't solve the long-term. you need to have more stronger military obviously. so if you do push back i.s.i.s. in the short-term, it doesn't solve anything. you have to couple that with long-term forms. and it's to be seen whether you can get that. >> spell out more how this impacts us in the long run and the men and women we are sending to these places. john heilemann, if some critics of the administration who will be on the show today had their way, we'd be in libya, syria, iraq, and butting heads in iran. do we want that? the choices were not good and the choices were made for this administration. >> yes, well, and the truth is anybody who wishes from that ugly chinese menu to engage in more military intervention in those places has to -- >> i don't think i want to hear from you. >> it has to contend the

american public has no appetite for anything on that chinese menu. so i want to ask you a question about this. we just heard mitt romney from the cheap seats although the seats in parts of utah are that cheap but from the cheap seats making his critique of president obama. but he's out there with a bunch of republicans talking about the future of the republican party. this debate about foreign policy is now going to become a central debate. going forward as it chooses its nominee. outline what that debate looks like. what are the factions within the party? who has the upper hand? neocons, isolationists? >> i think the neocons have the upper hand on the rhetoric, for sure. they have the whole, you know, bellwether of support around them from "the wall street journal" and others that will further the argument that we left too soon. we should reengage.

now, they're going to be very careful to tiptoe around the idea of boots on the ground. but they have that upper hand. the liptarian wing which is actually not as isolationist as a lot of people like to paint it would engage more systemic i will. looking at the chinese menu and say what is our core strategic interest. that battle is going to play itself broadly. the problem is at the end of the day neither the bush administration nor this administration answered one fundamental question which is what does it look like when we leave. this is what it looks like. when you don't answer on the front end, this is what it looks like on the back end. >> we're going to come back to this a lot throughout the show. also in politics we're going to be playing, coming up, a testy exchange between hillary clinton and a radio host. did you hear that? it was very awkward. we'll have that coming up. michael leiter, thank you very much.

couple more stories to get to before break. army sergeant bowe bergdahl is back on american soil this morning. he landed safely in san antonio this morning. the taliban freed bergdahl after nearly five years in captivity. in a controversial prisoner swap. something that has been criticized by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. he will stay at brook army medical center and is not expected to make any public appearances during this reintegration process. he had been recovered at a military hospital in germany. he has not yet chose ton speak to his family. some of the former soldiers have labeled him as a deserter who walked off base before he was captured. those details will be investigated. and the cards appear to be falling into place for republican congressman kevin mccarthy to replace eric cantor as majority leader. he's a nice guy, kevin. you know him? the california lawmaker is considered the clear front

runner now since the two potential challengers have dropped out of the race. pete sessions of texas is ending his bid citing the need for party unity. and j the whip has served less than eight years in the house. first getting elected in 2006. the race to replace mccarthy as whip is a different story. scalise is in the lead now with about a hundred republicans supporting him. fun to watch all this. it was quick. holy moly. >> but it won't be painless. >> if it goes this way, the position will still be held by one of the young guns. >> thank god. a cover boy.

>> i will say when you see the two other candidates dropping out and kevin mccarthy getting this -- >> what happened? >> i feel like it's the job of being -- if you're given the job of waking joe scarborough in the morning. a thankless task. >> fire hose. hot stick. >> being the majority leader in this house republican congress, yes. >> he has stair stepped his way into this position. that's why he's the youngest, the fastest rising. but there is still an undercurrent here that has not been dealt with. the guys rushed this thing through. the base is not happy about it. they wanted to see conservative, you know, pry someone out of the tea party contest. they clamped it down early. they're not given a chance to ramp it up. that's going to come back to bite. this is not going to be an easy transition. everybody's doing the party

unity thing. but this is not how it's going to play out. there are a lot of conservatives around the country not happy we the process. >> it's been an interesting process, gene robinson. >> yeah, it has been. very slick. i think this is what eric cantor would have wanted. but, you know, my question about kevin mccarthy, i don't know all that well but obviously i know him a bit. he's a very nice guy. and my question is, is this a job for a nice guy? does he have the sort of edge and toughness that one would need to try to herd the house republicans into doing anything? michael steele, do you have any insight on that? >> he is a nice guy. you know, he's one of these guys you like, who you don't like. i think a lot of folks in the caucus are going to be behind him as leader. that's going to be the real test. i look at some of the whip counts and some of those votes

came up short. i don't know how that whole operation really played out. well, i think, you know, keep in mind mccarthy and cantor, they were part of that within the house structure that were nipping at boehner's heels. so turnaround is going to be a little bit of a you know what. >> the ultimate question, how does this strengthen or weaken boehner's hand in the long run? how do they work together? >> well, that's going to be the real test. i don't see it being an easy combination, quite honestly. i think the pressure from the tea party caucus is only getting stronger. both of them will be in the vice grip. >> can we just enjoy the irony that cantor is being replaced by someone who is more in favor of reform than he is. much more -- i'm enjoying it. almost as much as i'm enjoying the bad chinese menu you were talking about.

>> on that note, we'll take it to the break. thank you, sam. still ahead on "morning joe," the collapse of security forces in iraq has many lawmakers rethinking our path in the middle east. senator john mccain joins us in our 7:00 hour on why he blames president obama. also teachers unions used to be one of the most powerful unions in america but they took a key hit this week. and there could be more bad news on the horizon for them nap story's ahead. plus a high-speed car crash causes this fire at a new york gas station. we'll explain what happened there in morning papers. but first bill kairns will check on the forecast. it's just bad. my god. look at the maps. >> we've had three or four days in a row of heavy rain, mika. yesterday the rain was a little too much. too much in too late time in western maryland. that's where we saw some significant flooding. it did avoid the washington, d.c. area, but that's where we saw some of the worst conditions.

that water just did cause some damage. it did go into some homes there. again, this is more in the rural sections of western portions of maryland. let's take you into the maps this morning. the biggest issue is going to be at the airports and driving. quarter mile visibility at jfk. that's going to lead to significant airport delays along with a low ceiling, along with the light rain. it's going to be a difficult travel day in new england. then we clear out the middle of the day. then we'll get thunderstorms later today from d.c. northwards. in other words, we get two. we get the fog early today. that will stack up the airport. so anyone trying to do any travel heading for father's day plans, it could be difficult. especially new york, philly, washington, atlanta. the rest of the country looking at typical storms in the southeast. middle of the country, a beautiful day. enjoy your gorgeous friday. it's going to be pretty hot in the middle of the country especially the deep south. then by father's day, mostly watching showers and storms down

there in the southeast. and a few storms in the midwest. we'll see a beautiful father's day. top of the rock. this is new york city. that visibility's not great. it's raining and the airport delays will build up throughout the morning. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis

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♪ all right. time now to take a look at the morning papers. from our parade of papers, "the washington post". a video obtained by the paper shows the horrifying conditions at the border patrol station in texas. crowds of women and children from central america are sprawled over the floor in 90-degree heat. the migrants can wait for days without showers and little food. these conditions prompted president obama to say the nation faces a, quote, humanitarian crisis.

and it does. is this us? the number of migrants has swelled in the last three months. i think this is going to boil over, michael steele. with video like this coming in and the stories of children coming in, doesn't the debate change? doesn't the dynamic change? doesn't the whole concept of what some people might consider an immigrant to be change? i hope. they're human beings. >> it won't. >> it won't? >> no. there is no political energy in the nation's capitol to do anything about that situation. >> children loaded up and put in shelters and kept there forever? >> you're going to hear the platitudes. you're going to hear the wailing from official washington about we must do something. that's the month of july. you'll hear more of it in august. then oops we've got elections. it's just not the appetite. it's not there. and the conversation needs to -- this could be the jumpoff point for a broader conversation about

immigration policy and certainly the right and the left conservatives and liberals could come around some common sense steps to alleviate this, but it's not going to happen. >> can i just say, let's be clear though. there's plenty of appetite for immigration reform in the nation's capitol. there's just not appetite in the republican party for immigration reform. the democrats as a party are pretty unified on immigration reform. there's no appetite -- i don't mean to blame you , but in your party. >> i agree with that. but that's it. >> the former executive editor of "the new york times" scheduled to teach a narrative nonfiction course. "the times" first female executive editor graduated from harvard in 1976. the paper said she was let go because of her management style. some says she complained her male predecessor was paid more. >> all right.

"the new york times," she was a star on the screen and stage and a powerhouse for civil rights. actress ruby dee has died. her career spanned nearly seven decades from iconic roles. she and her husband were political activists and worked together for racial equality with luminaries like malcolm x and dr. martin luther king jr. ruby dee was 91. >> the new york daily news. a video shows the moment a car barrels into a gas station. undercover cop is at the other pump. it explodes. this is in westchester, new york. >> he got away quick. >> watch what he does though. let's see the video. he goes back in. >> i know exactly where that is. >> there he is. and he's getting that guy from the fire and pulls him out of

the car. six people were hurt in the accident. all injuries considered non-life threatening. he ran into a fire to save him. >> look what happens. >> then he comes back in. incredible. >> oh, wow. okay. so the guy who pulled the guy out of the car is -- >> kind of a hero. >> kind of a hero. >> god bless him. >> okay. the houston chronicle. president george h.w. bush has finally raised the bar for a 90th birthday celebration. look at this. >> love that guy. >> yesterday he jumped out of a helicopter after a rough but successful landing at the family compound at kennebunktport. the retired naval aviator talked about the jump with his granddaughter. >> how'd it look coming down? >> it looked amazing. was it fun? was it great? the landing came in a little hot. did it hurt? >> i'll be okay.

>> we love you. >> that's great. >> my gosh, i want to cry. his son bush 43 was also on hand to watch. got to love him. >> what a man. this weekend's parade magazine, nfl great, tv host michael strahan talks about being a dad, his relationship with his father, and the current state of the nfl. >> oh, my gosh. and in this issue, "good talk, dad." it's in that "parade." you can get it at barnes & noble.com. >> incredible by two incredible men. >> that's a great issue. and michael's a nice guy. >> yeah. he's a really good guy. >> as are both the geists. >> thank you, sir. with us now from new york city, chief correspondent from politico mike allen. first of all, what are you doing in salt lake? >> what are you doing out there, mike? >> good morning and and first happy friday. >> very nice.

>> it's barely friday here in the rockies. we're up here for a mitt romney summit. 300 mitt romney donors who just don't want it to end. he's gotten together people who could be big backers of 2016 candidates. and they're here to audition. you're going to have chris christie, rand paul, mike huckabee, paul ryan all here talking over the next couple days. and for the -- they call it the e-2 summit for experts and enthusiasts. you can shotgun shoot with paul ryan, golf with rand paul. >> wow. so what's the idea here? what's the goal? we want these big donors to take a look at different candidates for 2016? and if so, who are they most excited about? >> they would be most excited about jeb bush and chris christie, period. that's what this crowd is about. and the idea is to try to keep them together. mitt romney wants to keep them

as a powerful political force. he's going to speak today and keep his name in it. but hearing what heilemann called the non-cheap seats of park city. they're pining for mitt. they want mitt to run again. that's not in the cards, so they're looking for someone else. so if you're rand paul, if you're mike huckabee, chris christie planning to run, an incredibly valuable audience. >> is it clear ann romney has changed her mind a bit and says she would like to see her husband take another run at this? >> you know, it's so tempting to all the people around mitt romney. someone very close to them said to me what would change next time? you're just going up against another very strong candidate. but mitt romney has to be having the same thought that jeb bush is having. i don't think that jeb bush was headed toward iran, but all of them have to be looking in the

mirror saying it's got to be someone. >> so this is a leadership conference. i want to make sure i have my options down. mountain biking with -- what was the list again? >> don't forget shotgun shooting with paul ryan. golfing with rand paul. >> who? huh? >> mountain biking with senator rob portman. or you can go hiking and you can do your hike with governor romney and hank pallson. or wait until tomorrow and you can hike with mitt and tag, his oldest son. >> there you go. >> okay. that sounds like fun actually. actually, those weekends it actually does get a lot of people with changing ideas and talking. sounds like a great time. >> politico's mike allen, have fun on the mountain bikes. we'll see you. coming up, the world cup officially underway, but the scene outside the stadium was nothing to celebrate. the latest from brazil next on "morning joe." ♪ she keeps you on your toes.

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♪ well, the world cup is underway amid local protests and some global celebration as brazil's national team attempts to win its sixth world cup at home this time.

the nation continues to suffer through its largest social protest in history. riots and labor strikes have been going on for months over the cost for hosting the tournament. $11.5 billion worth of taxpayer money has been pumped into the world cup. money the protesters believe could have been used for infrastructure, education, and medical services. yesterday hundreds of people took to the streets in at least four cities in brazil including sao pauiouao paulo. the crowd was broken up using tear gas and smoke bombs. inside the stadium, a significantly different tone including performances by j. lo and pitbull. america represent. singing the anthem of the world cup. moments later it was brazil's chance to take the field to get the tournament starts. just 11 minutes in brazil scores on own goal. an own goal that put croatia up

1-0. but brazil would eventually tie things up by international superstar neymar. the player simply known as fred goes down in the box with minimal contact because this is soccer. the ref awards a penalty kick and neymar converts to put brazil ahead 2-1. they win the game 3-1. other matches to keep your eye on, today spain kicks off its title defense against the netherlands. then tomorrow england and italy face off. nba finals. spurs and heat in game four. wow. another whooping. miami hopes to even things up but san antonio is hot. kauai leonard. this kid is a star leading the spurs. 15 rebounds on the big follow right there. this game was never close. >> how do you like me now?

>> in miami, this game was never close. a 107-86 victory. felt like they were up by 20 for the entire game. san antonio now up three games to one in that series. and they still got a couple games back in san antonio. the spurs will look to raise the trophy after game five at home on sunday. >> feeling good about america's team? >> which one's america's team? >> the one that's not miami. >> oh, that's america's team. they should be feeling good. we don't cover a lot of high school chase here on "morning joe," but this one is truly remarkable. it happened in upstate new york. the runner in black with a big lead. keep your eye on the runner in yellow kicking into extra gear. a lot of ground to cover. you're never going to believe how this one ends. >> here comes john mccarthy of corning. he's going to fly by him. look at the speed. this started at 450 meters. and it's john mccarthy from

corning as he takes a bad spill and tyler ranky passes by him at the line for the win. >> you hate to see that. comes all the way back and then that happens. >> i want to cry. >> and the guy in black that was jogging giving up so far ahead -- >> seeing these chases -- my gosh. i've been going to so many track meets and i watch these races. they're painful. they're so hard. >> afterward the kid who fell said i ran a good 2,990 meters. the last 10 were pretty tough. >> attaboy. goodness. all right. well, thank you. by the way, you're on your way in nashville. if you're in nashville today, don't miss willie and his dad at parnassus books at 6:30 this evening. that'll be a great event. i'm hearing such wonderful stories out of these. people love you. >> thanks, mika. >> if you see them live together

as i did, it is a delightful evening. >> what a great way to start father's day weekend. still ahead, hillary clinton pressed on her decision to now support same-sex marriage. why some are saying her answer wasn't 2016 ready. we'll have that awkward interview straight ahead on "morning joe." ♪ are the largest targets in the world, for every hacker, crook and nuisance in the world. but systems policed by hp's cyber security team

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look at that gorgeous shot of the white house on this friday morning. so we're going to go to the wall street journal that writes in part this. the title is the iraq debacle. mr. obama now faces the choice of intervening anew with u.s. military force or doing nothing. the second option means risking the fall of baghdad or a full scale iranian intervention to save mr. maliki's government. either of which would be terrible strategic defeats. the alternative is to stage an intervention similar to what the french did in early 2013 using a combination of air power and paratroops. that would be an admission that mr. obama's policy in iraq has failed. is it his policy? he would support such efforts if we felt this administration would do the heavy military lifting in order to succeed. after more than five years we know to expect no such leadership or strategic ambition from this president. i -- wow. i'm going to give it to willie.

>> sam stein, let's talk overarching here. in part it was the president and this administration's passivity that allowed this i.s.i.s. group to explode. do you make of not what just is happening in iraq, but what has led us to this point? >> well, i mean, i would agree with the syria component of this. i think people even democrat who is are aligned with this administration would agree. we have a -- iraq has a chaotic border on its west that is bleeding into its middle region. that's what's fueling a lot of this. at the same time you cannot excuse the maliki government for incompetence and for futility, frankly. and they have not brokered a political resolution. they have not incorporated sunni into the government. for people like "the wall street journal" editorial board and senator john mccain when he gets

on here, the question needs to be asked, do we have an indefinite military presence in iraq? is that the solution? if that is it, they need to be up front about it. and if so, would a few thousand troops, would that have deterred this? because i'm not sure that having 4,000 troops in iraq at this moment would have done anything other than put american troops in harm's way. i might be wrong. i'm just curious. >> michael steele. >> gene, at the end of the day you still have to look at the leadership in iraq. maliki is the central player here. what are his options at this point? where do you see maliki kind of helping to ease some of the pressure that sam just referenced with respect to the western border. how do you see that playing out for maliki? is there anything he can do? are we stuck with him as much as he's stuck with the situation on the ground? >> well, we are stuck with him. iraq has stuck with him.

and there's always been something maliki could do. he could govern in an inexclusive way. more than that. he could govern in a way that the sunni minorities in iraq didn't see as threatening to their lives and livelihood. i mean, he has been a sectarian leader in iraq on the shiite side and sunni iraqis have been more than dissatisfied. they've been at times frightened of what was happening in baghdad. and willing some of them to cast their lot with this crazy i.s.i.s. group. i don't think maliki is going to take the options. i think he's going to reach out to the iranians. and i think we will see iran essentially playing a much larger role. this is a double edged sword for iran. why would they want to be bogged down in a military conflict in

iraq? that's a problem for them. but on the other hand, it does widen their influence. >> what does that mean if that's the case what does that mean for the united states? if iran takes a broader role in this crisis? >> you know, on the one hand, it means a huge distraction and sort of a vacuum. it sucks in resources and attention and money and everything from iran that might otherwise go into other mischief. you know, i suppose you could almost count that as a positive. but it does sort of, you know, raise iran's status as a regional power and it consolidates a sort of sunni/shiite larger conflict that i think we should all be worried about. >> and should we have been in there in the first place i think is the question we want to ask ourselves along the way. i've been critical of president obama's support staff in

handling his message over the past few years. but john heilemann, there are so many people right now criticizing the president withdrawing too soon, this is on president obama. is this on president obama? or -- >> it is ultimately, i believe, the original sin goes back to the bush administration. >> yes, it does. >> but i have to say, you read david ignatius' column in the post, he says restitching the fabric of iraq and syria may be mission impossible. >> it is. >> and i will say that is a very sobering thought. it could mean many, many years of really dangerous instability throughout the region. >> that's what we're talking about. we're not talking about now we'd be finished. no. we would never be finished. and trying to draw down endless wars is not a bad goal for a president of the united states of america. it may not work, because we were brought in there. coming up, we'll show you

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♪ i know it's politics, but you have a family. >> sure. they're here tonight. believe me. that wasn't nearly as bad as them watching me dance out there with you. i guarantee you that. they are so much more humiliated by that because i actually did that. >> yeah. >> by the way, i saw chris rock on before. his house is foreclosed on. >> good for you. that's fantastic. >> he's done. >> very powerful man. >> stuff being moved out as we speak. coming up at the top of the hour, sweeping insurgency is taking over a large portion of iraq. marching on baghdad with its sights set on oil domination. while the u.s. sits on the sidelines, is iran the answer?

plus an intense exchange suggests hillary clinton's book tour may not be going as well as planned. and angelina jolie speaks out about sexual violence. we'll be right back with more much "morning joe." ♪ humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into . namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? avo: withbook any flightways get the lowest price or hotel

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i thought it was a regional problem. i could not have predicted, however, the extent to which i.s.i.s. could be effective in seizing cities in iraq and trying to erase boundaries to create an islamic state. that's why it's a wicked problem. and it's a dreadful deteriorating situation. >> all right. welcome back to "morning joe." john heilemann, eugene robinson, sam stein still with us. joining us the president of the council on foreign relations richard haass who you saw interviewing hillary clinton there. and moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. thank you both for joining us this hour. i'm going to give a big recap of the big story. >> might be fitting. >> what i'm thinking. exactly. it is awful. in many ways, there are no longer separate conflicts in iraq and syria. you heard hillary clinton

talking about this. rather one sweeping insurgency ripping through the region. the group at the center of the fighting is taking aim at baghdad. and this week, the weak centralized government there is struggling to keep it together. the thousands of shiites are vowing to fight back setting the stage for a civil war split along religious lines. shiite volunteers would fill the vacuum left by the iraqi armed forces. many of whom dropped their weapons and scattered. several soldiers in the capital are now wearing street clothes under their uniforms to make for a quick escape. the u.s. spent at least $25 billion arming and training those troops. the cities already overrunned, cigarettes and alcohol have been banned and they ordered women to stay indoors. they threaten to kill anyone who doesn't renounce the government. iran which is aligned with iraq's government is sending in

reenforcements to help. which is groping for a response. president obama is considering air strikes. that would basically re-engage us in a war he declared over back in 2011. here's the bottom line question. is this reversible without our involvement? >> i don't think it's reversible with our involvement. so this is essentially the emergence of a new middle east. the middle east that emerged a century ago after world war i with the borders drawn by europeans and by a british and french foreign minister, that middle east is unraveling before our eyes. what we have to do is decide what we can accommodate, where we want to resist. but the old middle east is essentially gone. >> so it's not reversible either way. whether we go there or not. >> no. the idea -- people are talking

about all this u.s. military involvement here. let me see if you've got this right. you've got a narrow, corrupt, sectarian government that is ruling in iraq that doesn't have the support of its own army. it's not really a national institution and people are saying we ought to go in and do combined military operations with it? think about the military challenges and political channechanne challenges. it would have us fighting over a non-existent border in syria. i just don't quite understand the political and military context. >> before we get to our next guest david gregory, a lot of criticism just pouring out now for president obama for withdrawing too soon. for not staying. we're going to have john mccain on in the next 15 minutes. and i venture to say he will be extremely critical of how the administration has handled iraq. >> i think what he'll say is not leaving any structure behind

allowed two things behind. one, that institution that was fledgling as richard talks about, to not get its legs underneath it. and two, for maliki as a more sectarian leader, as a shiite leader who has not shown good inclusiveness which we had a huge structure in iraq has only shown truer colors not being a very inclusive leader after that. so there wasn't the proper pressure being applied to him. that said, i think others would argue the idea of a residual force was not going to get rid of those problems. there's two realities, two questions. which is do you need a strong man to hold together a country like iraq which in its natural state will fall apart because it's an unnatural state to begin with as richard was just talking about going back to the aftermath of world war i. and two, do you need the united states not just to be there present to participate in

military maneuvers, but to own it. i remember thomas friedman writing the only way you hold sectarian at bay is when the united states jumped on the grenade and invaded iraq and occupied iraq and held all corners of it to hold the fragile alliance together. without that we're seeing the results. >> let's bring in peter monsseur, he served as executive officer to general petraeus during the surge. thank you for being with us this morning. >> good morning. >> i wonder first of all as someone who fought so hard in iraq and who witnessed the loss of some 4500 lives and many more injuries that we're dealing with back at home, what have you felt over the last couple of days as you've watched it all come undone? >> it's been deeply disappointing. highly frustrating to see the work that we put in and the sacrifices that we made all come to not.

it's not necessarily surprising. but for anyone who spent a significant amount of time, blood, sweat, and tears in iraq, this is not good news. >> colonel, you say it's not surprising. so what could we have done better as united states government for a better outcome here? would it have meant being there indefinitely? was some side forced there? what would you like to have seen as a colonel, someone who served there to make this be rt? >> i think we can point to two decisions. the decision to go in in the first place which was a strategic disaster. but then i think it was a mistake not to try hard tore keep troops there. some troops would have done a lot of good. they were the glue that was holding the iraqi army together. they were leverage that we could use to force maliki not to appoint political commanders which he's done. and he has got the kind of armed force that he's created. one that's very politically loyal to him and can't fight.

>> i'm going to read from joe's piece in politico. then john heilemann, you can take it to richard here. the title is "iraqing is on fire." it questions how we pulled out. the new yorker's dexter wilkins blames most of the meltdown on maliki's rigid ruling style and his refusal to give shiites a reason to believe. to include more sunnis in the central government. but once the u.s. left, there was no one to check the shiites' worst instincts. though he does not mention paul bremer by name, the bush administration official's decision to purge all sunnis who had held positions in iraq prior to the american invasion destroyed the iraqi state, he writes. they spent the next nine years to rebuild a state to replace the one they crushed. by 2011 the americans had made a

lot of headway but were not finished with the job. before that job could be finished, the president removed all troops from the country. john, we can obviously as part of this argument relitigate why we got in. we can. but we can also look at how we left. >> we could, and we are. richard, i'm going to ask you about something colonel monsoor wrote about decisions made in 2003. the disbanding of the iraqi army, a highly sectarian government, decisions made back then to led to the creation of this insurgency. those were beyond the question of first going in, those were another series of questions that created this insurgency, right? >> this is one of those situations you can look at everything the united states did and didn't do in iraq and syria along the way and say that was a turning point. going in in 2003, how we mishandled the aftermath. we can look at more recent stuff not pushing harder to keep a

residual force there. not doing more to help the relatively moderate group in syria so groups like i.s.i.s. could gain a foothold here. there is plenty enough blame to go around. what's interesting, it's things we've done and haven't done. we had an administration that did too much followed by an administration that did too little. >> you said the old middle east is in the process of disintegration. david ignatius said stitching it back together is impossible. what does the future look like and what does it mean for us? >> it's going to be a long, painful transition. think of the religious wars that lasted decades in the 17th century. that sounds like an exaggeration, i fear it's not. you can clearly see this splitting into the southern part, a sunni thing in the middle not sure how radical it

is. a kurdish nation in the north. syria is not a functioning country. lebanon is not a real country. what i think we're seeing is there's increasingly no relationship between borders and peoples. governments. the problems in some cases it's not strong governments in the middle east. now it's weak governments. and it could be decades before you have a new political order that's either seen as legitimate or simply exists? >> decades with or without is what we have to ask. but let me first get mitt romney in here. because he weighed in on what's happening. he's out in utah for his annual summit, it's a leadership summit, a bipartisan leadership conference bringing together a lot of republican leaders. also the men rumored to challenge. joe's out there as well. he was asked to give the opening remarks at the conference. here's mitt romney speaking out about president obama's foreign policy. >> all these decisions made in the past puts us in a difficult

position now frankly with very poor options. this is the consequence of a president that did not take the right actions at the time opportunity presented itself. his foreign policy is what has led to these crises all over the world. and trying to recapture the lead in keeping these things from happening is going to be a real challenge. gosh, i hope the president's able to do that in his last two years. i don't know how we could go on without the kind of leadership it needs. >> okay. i guess you could argue if it's consequence of a president who brought us in there in the first place. we could have that argument, but to joe's point in terms of how we left, did paul bremer somehow botch the withdrawal? i mean, that's one thing. >> david, you were here covering the white house from the beginning at the time of the iraq war. you saw all this all the way through. obviously this is not a story about one president. it's a story of two administrations and the iraq war. but let's focus on the president

we have now and what can be done about it. what fault do you think president obama should take in the way this has played out in the last couple years? >> i think what richard says is what's the proper context here. which is we're trying to kind of push iraq back uphill, no pun intended, excuse me. but push this massive boulder back up hill when this has been unleashed over a period of years here that goes back hundreds of thousands of years, we should point out. that's reality one. i do think the argument does stand out that there was not a long enough transition to try to give enough pressure on that government to try to hold the country together. my question for colonel monsoor is if you look at one part of the obama doctrine, if you will, anywhere that gives rise or a platform for terrorists to strike the united states.

so how do you deal with that imperative while not trying to get in the middle of a civil war which seems very difficult to engineer or to affect the shape of from the outside at the moment? >> well, this is the ultimate no-win scenario. you don't want a terrorist state in the heart of mesopotamia. one that can be disabling to the region. on the other hand i don't think we can support the government of nuri al maliki. he is the cause of the breakup of iraq right now. and until we can get a unity government that all iraqis can support, i think we should just stay out. >> all right. let's bring in nbc news chief correspondent richard engel who is live in erbil, iraq. richard, bring us the latest. >> reporter: we are right now about 30 miles from the city of mosul, a city that is still

controlled by militants from i.s.i.s., that hard-core sunni group. the mayor of mosul just told us moments ago those from i.s.i.s. have begun to impose sharia law. that women should wear the hijab. that is happening in mosul which is the second largest city in this entire country. the militants are clearly advancing now towards baghdad. they say baghdad is their goal. and they are getting quite close to baghdad. now, just about 40 miles from the outskirts of the city, it's unclear if they had to go into baghdad now or if they want to wait, mass, and gather some of the weapons they've been collecting. and they've been gathering a lot of weapons, also money over the last several days. officials in mosul also say that they stole from the central bank

this i.s.i.s. stole over $400 million in cash from the central bank. which would make them the richest terrorist group in the world. when you have money and dedication and weapons, that means a lot of power. so the people in baghdad are very concerned. the shiite government is very concerned. it is calling up recruits trying to get people to protect the streets. some impromptu checkpoints are going up in baghdad. and the shiite mosques are putting out calls on the mosque loud speakers for fellow shiite faithful to come collect their weapons. >> you're up there in the north. is it your sense that the kurds are going to use this as their moment that they've been waiting for that this is the chance essentially to break away and build a foundation of an independent kurdistan? >> reporter: yes. i think that is absolutely happening.

as you were saying you have to understand iraq and really all of the middle east in its pre-world war i formation, when this was lots of different regions, kurdistan was one of those regions. the kurdish people have been longing for a state for a century. and now is an opportunity for them to take it. so as i.s.i.s., this sunni group advances towards baghdad and the iraqi troops retreat either from i.s.i.s. or to fight, they are expanding their footprint. taking over the position where is the iraqi troops have abandoned. critically they've taken over the city of kirkuk switch one of the biggest oil fields in the world. it's something the kurds believe they need to have to have a self-sustaining state. >> looking into why this happened, richard, why we're here today. i was trying to hint at that before. but the decision to take out of leadership power, does that then

add up to what we're seeing now? >> mika, you can choose your narrative where you want. whether it was going in to destroy the old authority, the aftermath where we basically made this a state where sunnis didn't feel a state. run a narrow sectarian, corrupt, shiite dominated state. so the sunnis stripped off the uniforms. that was their way of saying we're not going to die for this state. iraqis do not see themselves as iraqis. the national identity is melting. they see themselves as kurds, shia, sunnis. so the old iraq wip was stitched together, there's only two ways it could work. saddam hussein's way where you were forced to be part of it, or the democratic iraq. the latter never happened. people never forged an identity. we're seeing the results. >> we have the decision to go in. we have decisions like this. i think it was paul bremer who -- it's 2003 who said get

all of the sunnis out of leadership positions. now we're talking about president obama's withdrawal. you can't just criticize one event here. >> there's enough blame to go around. historians are going to have a field day. but in the meantime, we're going to have to deal with the consequences. >> or are we? we'll have to debate that as well. what does it cost us? >> the consequences will find us. trust me the middle east is going to find a way to engage us. >> richard engel, thank you very much. richard haass, thank you very much. peter monsoor, thank you. david gregory, what do you have coming up on "meet the press" this weekend? >> we'll talk about how the u.s. starts to look at its options and what moves the president might make. we'll drive this conversation forward. we'll speak to mitt romney exclusively as he's issuing a call to other republicans. it raises the level of criticism against president obama and his policy on iraq. >> thank you so much. still ahead, how to find

success in your personal and professional life. it's a question of who, not how. and up next, how should the u.s. respond to the crisis in iraq? senator john mccain joins us next. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ [ girl ] my dad, he makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ he can print amazing things, right from his computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] he makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] my dad works at ge. ♪

how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪

♪ 24 past the hour. joining us now, republican senator of arizona john mccain. senator mccain, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. >> thank you. >> all right. little bit of a delay. i guess my first question as i look at history unfolding before our eyes in iraq in a very bad way, what would you have us doing now? >> i think there are no good options right now. and could i say i was listening to your conversation that you

just held with -- before i came on, and there is one important point that has been left out of that conversation. because the fact is we had the conflict won. the surge had succeeded. and by the way, when we were failing in iraq, i called for the firing of donald rumsfeld because the lack of leadership and the failure in iraq. we had it won. thanks to the surge and thanks to general david petraeus, we had it won. and then the decision was made by the obama administration to not have a residual force in iraq. lindsey graham, joe lieberman, and i were in iraq and negotiated and the kurds and maliki wouldn't do it. those are just facts. we had it won. and i predicted in 2011 when we

left that there would be failure -- a colossal failure. so all of those fears we had have come true. and it didn't have to happen. because we had the conflict won. >> willie geist. >> senator mccain, it's willie geist. good to see you this morning. i think only to come up this week and flair up in an incredible way. can you articulate for people at home what you think is at stake here? what are we watching unfold here? >> i would say that the over 4,000 mothers and fathers and husbands and wooif who is lost their loved ones in that conflict, they haven't put it completely in the rearview mirror. >> i agree. i was talking about the american public at large. >> yeah. well, the fact is that the president is now deciding saying

that there's no option. i'm sure you saw the reports where two iranian force their elite battalions have moved into iraq. this has turned into one of the most security threats to american security in recent history. there is now the syria/iraq area of radical islamist extremism. our failure to help the resistance in iraq. our failure to give these people the help they needed when we could have gotten rid of bashir assad. those chickens are coming home to roost as well. so what does it mean to the american people? it means that we are now facing an exteistential threat. >> i see you being very critical of the president's latest moves. and we can argue that and perhaps there are some arguments

to be made there. but what about going in in the first place? and what about churning the hate? what about taking the sunnis out of leadership positions in 2003? what about the fact that there might have been some parts of this that are on the previous administration that could be relitigated as well? >> what about the fact that we had it won? what about the fact that people like me said we've got to fire rumsfeld, we've got to get the surge going. >> did we? >> yes, we did. finally. what about the fact that general petraeus had the conflict won and if we left those behind that we could have we would not face this today. those are fundamental facts. now, i expected you and others to blame it on all these different events. the fact is we had the conflict won. and we had a stable government. and a residual force such as we have left behind, we even have forces in bosnia, korea,

germany, japan where we could have. but the president wanted out. and now we are paying a very heavy price and i predicted it in 2011. you can go back and look at the quotes. >> sam stein, jump in. >> yeah. i just want to nail down what it means to have it won, i guess. because when we were discussing the war, debating the war, i thought the idea was that we would put up an iraqi government that would be self-sufficient and an iraqi military that could protect. we spent $25 billion. and it folds. so i'm curious what is the definition of victory? what is the definition of winning? does it mean having a residual force basically without end date? i'm a little bit confused. i want to know what victory is to you, senator mccain. >> i think you are confused because you didn't know what happened with the surge where we basically had the country pacified. we had a stable government in

baghdad. and we had the conflict basically for all intents and purposes won. we still got troops in bosnia. a residual force would have stabilized the country. most military experts will tell you that. so i'm sorry about your confusion, but the facts on the ground were that al qaeda had been defeated almost completely and with the residual american force and at that time, a strong iraq. now, maliki is very weak. maliki got worse after we left. and again, i knew this was going to happen. because we didn't leave that force behind. and so i'm sorry about your confusion, but anybody who was there will tell you we had the conflict won. >> i guess i shouldn't myself confused. because it would be used against me. again, though, what is the end date for our forces in iraq? is it open ended? if that's the case, because we need to have a residual force there to prop up the iraq

government indefinitely. is that how you see it? >> you know, i see that about japan after world war ii. i see that about germany. i see that about the 38,000 troops we have in korea. i say that about the troops we left behind in bosnia. none of them are in danger. these people would not have been in danger either. because we would have had a stable situation. so you ignore history of what we've done after conflicts which is to leave a stabilizing force behind. which is what we could have done in iraq and avoided this debacle that we are in today. and again -- go ahead. >> big picture, senator. let me check off some boxes here and you correct me if i'm wrong. you would have us in iraq with a stabilizing force that could somehow prevent what's happening there switch a complete meltdown. afghanistan. >> yes. which -- >> and syria as well right now. correct? >> oh, afghanistan? you're going to see the same

thing happen in afghanistan if we don't leave a residual force there. >> so we're going to be in iraq and afghanistan and then we're also going into syria in your estimate? i mean, i'm just wondering how long can we do this? how long can we do this? how long can you ask this of american troops and think it's okay? i just want to know. and i know with all due respect, sir, you served and you paid a price. but how long can we do this? >> with all due respect, do you think we ought to pull our troops out of korea? with all due respect, do you think we ought to pull our troops out of bosnia? we made great sacrifice in order to stabilize the situation. and now by pulling out we are leaving a vacuum. and all of those sacrifices will have been made in vain. and so i'm not saying that american troops would be in danger. they would not in a stable situation which was with the case in iraq after the surge succeeded. and could be the case in afghanistan as well.

we're not talking about combat. we're talking about residual forces to keep a nation stable. and the american people would support such a thing if it were explained to them. i can tell you the consequences of a complete pull out of afghanistan. they will be the same consequences that happened in iraq. i guarantee it. just as i guaranteed what would happen in iraq. >> senator mccain, john heilemann here. i ask you to pivot towards the present. we are where we are. we can debate all this stuff, but are you in favor of air strikes now? what are the options we should be pursuing going forward? how important is it to keep i.s.i.s. out of baghdad. talk about what has to happen in the next days ahead. >> there are no good options right now. i'm sorry to say. and just to say air strikes, obviously, is not the answer either. because it's very difficult in a very fluid situation as we're in today. you need to call in general david petraeus and jack keane and the folks at the institute

for the study of war that predicted this and ambassador crocker and others. these are the guys that won the war. and get them to devise a strategy and then implement it with tactics. i don't know exactly if the air strikes right now are exactly the answer. i'm not sure, because i don't claim to be that smart. but i know there are people like jack keane and general petraeus and others who are that smart. and i know this team that he's got around him now ought to be fired. >> you named some very important -- >> just one second. >> -- to be fired. >> who are you calling on to be fired, senator mccain? >> everybody in the national security. they've been a total failure. just like i called for the firing of donald rumsfeld back under the bush administration when we were failing in iraq, yes. >> okay. but we have a lot of people who

have come on as well. richard haass, colonel earlier who say nothing we can do at this point will reverse what's happening. which is also a frightening concept as well before we make a decision to go back in. we appreciate your point of view and we thank you for coming on the show this morning, senator john mccain. >> thank you. coming up, angelina jolie lending her voice to a story with big implications. next on "morning joe." ♪ (mother vo) when i was pregnant

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♪ welcome back to "morning joe." angelina jolie is in england this morning trying to create a change in why nations across the globe treat sexual assaults and rape and how they do. ronan farrow joins us. you just interviewed her. >> i did. this is the first summit of its kind. 123 countries coming together at this excel center here in london to discuss how to end international use of sexual violence in some of our greatest conflicts. it's hosted by both william hague the british foreign secretary and angelina jolie who

of course is an actress but a u.n. envoy on refugee issues. i asked her about some of the greatest conflicts today and how sexual violence is playing a role in them. one of the settings where people are trying to put a stop to it but there doesn't seem to be any headway is of course syria where the u.n. addressed 38,000 cases of gender-based violence just last year. and of course those are the reported cases. that's the tip of the iceberg. president obama, of course, promised consequences when the red line of chemical weapons was crossed. and since then we've seen so little action. do you think he failed to keep his promise and do you think he's leeing behind the people of syria? >> i think we need to get back to the table on peace talks. i think we have to focus, of course, i work with u.n. chr and my focus has been for life saving aid we must be able to get it to the people immediately. i think there has never been enough political will to assist the people in syria.

i think it says so much about where we're at today as an international community. so many crises in the world where we'd say over and over, never again, never again. well, if we knew, we would have intervened. >> we know. >> we know. we know. and we have all reasons to allow ourselves to get involved, but i think it is a very complicated situation. and i'm not a politician. i wouldn't know exactly what the best move to make. i think the best move to make probably would have happened at the start of the war and how it was handled then. at this time i'm not sure what can be done. what is exactly the right thing to do. because it is not just syria. the entire region is so unstable. >> and mika, we had a pretty far ranging conversation. we'll have more of that on the show today later at 1:00 p.m. but the important takeaway here from this summit and the thing she's most passionate about is there is a hope a protocol will be adopted here by as many

countries as possible to strengthen the charges against these crimes. >> all right. thank you so much. you can see ronan's complete interview with angelina jolie at 1:00 eastern time right here on msnbc. thanks again, ronan. coming up, several politicians have evolved when it comes on the issue of gay marriage rights. but you may be surprised on how defensive hillary clinton got when asked about that subject on her book tour. we're back in just a moment with much more "morning joe." ♪ [ brian ] in a race,

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or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is proven to reduce the risk of dvt and pe. with xarelto® there is no regular blood monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. treatment with xarelto® was the right move for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about xarelto® today. for more information including savings options, download the xarelto® patient center app, call 1-888-xarelto, or visit teamxarelto.com. ♪ 45 past the hour. terry gross of npr went toe to toe with hillary clinton over her evolution on gay marriage. clinton was defending her belief in the state's right to choose. and that in 1993 the federal

defense of marriage act signed by her husband bill clinton at least opened the door for states to act. but hillary says she has since evolved like many americans. >> so you're saying your opinion on gay marriage changed. >> you know, somebody is always first, terry. somebody is always out front and thank goodness they are. but that doesn't mean that those who join later in being publicly supportive or even privately accepting that there needs to be change are aniless committed. you could not be having the sweep of marriage equality across the country if nobody changed their mind. and thank goodness so many of us have. >> so that's one for you changed your mind. >> you know, i really -- i have to say, i think you are being very persistent, but you are playing with my words and playing with what is such an important issue. >> i'm just trying to clarify so i can understand. >> no, i don't think you are trying to clarify. i think you're trying to say

that i used to be opposed and now i'm in favor and i did it for political reasons. and that's just flat wrong. let me just state what i feel like you are implying and repudiate it. i have a strong record. i have a great commitment to this issue. and i am proud of what i've done and the progress we're making. >> that interview got testy. you tweeted a longer version -- >> the full length. it's an eight-minute conversation between them. it goes on. >> what'd you think? >> i thought it was interesting. i think terry gross was trying to be fun, a little bit fun and light hearted in the questioning, but trying to pin down hillary clinton on where she was politically minded on the issue. i think hillary clinton pushed back pretty hard and made her case. >> and with a kind of -- a little bit of a chippiness of tone. that's interesting. i went to richard haass' council yesterday. and her ease and command on the foreign policy issues and how

well she handled all that was -- she was stellar. when she's weighted into these domestic issues, she's been a little bit rustier and not on firmer ground. >> it's been a long week for hillary. >> i think a lot of this is again sort of overplaying the hillary clinton presidential thing in the context of, you know, every time she sits down, people say this is a presidential moment. let me make the most of it. i think hillary's thing is i want to go out and lay some markers. and let me lay my markers. then we'll do this dance a bit later. >> yes. i'm just selling a book. >> i'm just selling a book. >> but if hillary clinton feels this is a state's issue and that's what we got out of that interview, i think that's going to be a big mistake for her going forward. because you don't put minority rights up to a majority vote like we've seen gone on in so many different states. we've seen how the federal government and the supreme court has pushed back on that.

if she wants to be out front on this issue, that's not the phrases she wants to be using. up next, this friday before father's day, the issue every man needs to know about. and john mccain says the war in iraq was won. and that everybody in the white house on national security issues should be fired? more from my interview with the senator in just a bit. keep it right here on "morning joe." ♪ okay, movie night.everyone wins.

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all right, so hold on. we're going to continue this conversation on the air now. joining us now, prostate cancer survivor, ed randall. and research dr. h. ballentine carter. "the whole life prostate book" author. ed, good to you have back on. >> it's good to be here. >> there's so much confusion

when to get the test. even the government chimes in. when should men start worrying about this? >> our organization advocates men over the age of 40 should check with their doctor. i was 47 when i was shockingly diagnosed with prostate cancer. we recommend them getting a psa test and a digital exam. >> doctor, does that agree with you as well? >> yes. in the u.s. we adopted psa screening with little evidence of benefit and didn't talk about the harms. in europe they did a much better job. the target group, 55-69 are the most likely to benefit.

outside that age range, if a person is at average risk, they're less likely to benefit. >> talk about the symptoms, frequent need to urinate, trouble urinating, unexplained weight loss, swelling in the lower extremities. bone pain. loss of appetite, fatigue. >> those are guys that should be in a doctor's office. >> ed, fans for the cure. tell bus it. >> and to your point just now, we know that in the early stages there are no symptoms for prostate cancer and that's why i founded this charity. on the day in which i was diagnosed, meekia i felt like i

feel talking to you right now. i was fine. fine. that's why we founded the charity with the realization there could be tens, thousands, millions of american men who are walking around out there and feel fine but could be time bombs. >> there's something interesting going on in dr. carter's office. you had a logbook of hundreds of patients, firemen, wall streeters, bankers, doctors, dentists, men who had prostate cancer. and you've put together kind of a social network. can you explain? because it was extremely helpful. >> yes. in 1993 i met someone who needed an operation and he was devastated and i was afraid he wasn't going to make it to the operating room so i asked him to speak to another patient who had the operation and that really helped him get through. so in 1993 i started putting

together a group of individuals who said they were willing to speak to other people and it's a long, long list of people who can share their experience but not just good experiences because some people have bad experience. everyone i'm going to operate on, i want them to hear the good and the bad before they go into the operating room. >> you gentlemen are amazing. thank for being on the show. >> thanks to dr. carter, my husband does not have prostate cancer -- anymore. an important issue for everybody, wives and husbands. coming up at the top of the hour, iraq falls into chaos with extreme militants marching on the capital. how should the world respond? and we'll play what senator

mccain just told us about the firing of the president's national security team. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." we asked people a question, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement.

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to get the job done. remember that country we invaded a little while back that was -- no, no, that was too far back. no, no, that was a shadow coup, that wasn't an invasion. that was a police action. that was a giant step for all mankind. i'm talking about iraq.

that's "the rock." >> thank you. >> it's the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." john heilemann and michael steele are still with us. we're going to rerack the tape from john mccain because he says we won in iraq. i would like to understand what he meant by that. we're going to play it again and think about it. the sunni insurgent group is taking aim at baghdad. thousands of shiite civilians are pledging to fight back against sunni militants, setting the stage for a civil war split along religious lines. we are talking about iraq and talking about today.

those shiite volunteers would fill the vacuum among armed forces, many of whom dropped their weapons and scattered. several fighters are wearing street clothes under their uniforms to make for a quick escape. in the cities already overrun, the militants have banned cigarettes and alcohol and ordering women to stay indoors. they are threatening to kill anyone who doesn't renounce the government. iran, aligned with iraq's leadership, is sending in reinforcements to help battle the militants. president obama is considering air strikes, which would essentially reengage america in a war he declared over back in 2011. we're getting tons of tweets, people asking questions about our last hour and our guest, senator john mccain, who joined the discussion. the arizona republican defended

his push for military involvement overseas and called for president obama to fire his entire national security team. take a listen. >> i see you being very critical of the president's latest moves and we can argue that and perhaps there are some arguments to be made there. what about going in in the first place, what about taking the sunnis out of leadership positions in 2003? what about the fact there might have been parts of this that could be on the previous administration that could be relr relitigated as well. >> what about the fact that we've got it won. what about people like me said we've got to -- >> did we? >> yes. and general petraeus had it won.

those are if at any tifundament. i expected you and others to blame it all on different events. the fact is we had the conflict won and had a stable gun. and a residual force that we've left behind, we have forces in bosnia, korea, japan. but the president wanted out and i predicted it in 2011, can you go back and look at the quotes. >> big picture, senator. you would have us in iraq with a stabilizing force that could somehow prevent what's happening there, which is a complete meltdown, afghanistan, and we would be well into syria now as well, correct? >> oh, afghanistan? you're going to see the same thing happen in afghanistan if we don't leave a residual force behind there. >> and then iraq and then we're also going into syria in your estimate? i'm just wondering how long can

we do this? how long can you ask this of american troops and think it's okay? i just want to know. and i know with all due respect, sir, you served and you paid a price but how long do we do this? >> with all due respect, do you think we ought to pull our troops out of korea? do you think we ought to pull our troops out of bosnia? we've made great sacrifice in order to stabilize the situation. and now by pulling out we are leaving a vacuum and all of those sacrifices will have been made in vain. and so i'm not saying that american troops would be in danger. they would not in a stable situation, which was the case in iraq after the surge succeeded. and could be the case in afghanistan as well. we're not talking about combat. we're talking about residual forces to keep a nation stable. and the american people would support such a thing if it were explained to them, but i can

tell you the consequences of a complete pullout of afghanistan. they would be the same consequences that happen in iraq, just as i guarantee what will happen in iraq. >> senator, pivot toward the present. we are where we are. are you in favor of air strikes now? what are the options we should be pursuing going forward? how important is it to keep isi sy out of baghdad. talk about what needs to happen in the next days ahead. >> there are no good options right now i'm sorry to say. just to say air strikes obviously is not the answer either because it's very difficult in a very fluid situation as we're in today. you need to call in general david petraeus and jack keene and folks at the institute at the study of war that predicted this and ambassador ryan crocker and others. these are the guys that won the war and get them to devise a

strategy and then implement it with tactics. i don't know if the air strikes right now are exactly the answer, i'm not sure. i don't claim to be that smart. i know there are people like jack keene and general petraeus and others are that smart and this team he's got around him now ought to be fired. >> you named -- >> one second. who are you calling on to be fired, senator mccain? >> everyone on the national security team. they have been a total failure. just like i called for the firing of donald rumsfeld back under the bush administration when we were failing in iraq, yes. >> joining us, the former national security adviser for president carter, dr. brzezinski. dad, senator mccain said the

fundamental facts are we had it won. is he reframing the facts? >> we had it won militarily but we didn't have it won politically. we are now reaping the results of creating, in effect, a vacuum, which is being filled by religious fanaticism. i think at this stage, however, we should stop arguing about the past and accusing the administration, we ought to pull together. i think there should be an effort to forge a policy that can be sustained on a bipartisan basis. people like john mccain, who is a patriot and whom i like actually, have very strong views but if they would come and sit down in a setting in which we address the crisis and try to deal with it effectively instead of trading accusations, we might decide on a policy that might

help. i would just outline a few factors. first of all, we have to deal with the turks who are a secular state, who don't want to be swept up by religious fanaticism. i think we ought to work closely with them. if the iranians are willing to help the government in iraq because of their shiite connection, we should not object to that at this stage. we shouldn't wage a permanent war against iran for other reasons. and we should in any case forge a policy based on bipartisan because we are facing a serious crisis in which the region is being swept up by religious fanaticism that will not suppress just by bombing or sending a few troops. maybe we shouldn't have pulled them all out but they would not have prevented this, there are not enough of them. but let's not debate the past.

let's see if we can forge a posture of national unity in response to a challenge that is genuinely serious. >> let me bring in the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. david, take it to my dad. >> one question, do you reach out to iran, a natural stake holder here that doesn't want to see the fanaticism sweep iraq as we don't want to see it? who has the interest in shoring up an iraqi state and an iraqi military to try and keep the country whole? >> i think you put your finger on it. i just said something to that effect is that the iranians want to help the iraqi government because of their religious affiliation. i think we would be unwise to block it. but beyond that, we may have to help them, but if we are going to help them, i mean iraqi government, we ought to make sure the turks are with us

because they also want a secular government of sorts and they don't want religion fanaticism, sectarianism to dominate the scene. if we're not careful, the malaise to spread to turkey so it's better to enlist it when it's a secular posture. >> today how do they define saying we are opposed to a countries as opposed to a terrorist state anywhere, that goes back to a post- 9/11 view, but at the same time we are going to be determined to stay on the sidelines unless we feel we can make a real difference, engineer a real difference in the internal workings of some of these countries, which we spent the last decade doing with very mixed results. >> well, some of the islamic states are avoiding extremism. look at egypt.

i'm not enamored of the military dictatorship but i certainly prefer it to the alternative. i think there are possibilities in these states to avoid fanatical sectarian domination, but to do that we have to work with those who are willing to be working with us. and, for example, in the case of iraq, both iran and turkey have a lot to say and i think we ought to take stock of what they recommend, what they are prepared to do. maybe some of our union allies, the british were with news iraq up to their ears and they even supported bush very strongly. we could rely on them perhaps to perform in some of the collective response.

we have to create national unity. a consultation that's bipartisan in the spirit of we are reacting together to a challenge. let's forget about quarrels of who did what when. if we get involved in another fight and the country splits here all the way down, we're going to be destroying ourselves from within and not winning outside. >> dr. brzezinski, senator mccain drew an analogy between the kind of residual force he'd like to see in iraq with existing residual forces that the united states maintains in japan, korea, do you think that has any -- >> i think there is very litt

little -- we are furthering the anti-western reactions of theirs against ourselves. so i would certainly try to avoid going in by myself, by ourselves, whether it's with general petraeus, they're all good military people but do they have the wider vision to take into account the upheaval taking place in the middle east. we have few allies left. let's not exclude those. we may not agree with them on everything like the iranians but critical are the turks. >> there is a call from calmer voices -- >> excuse me, i have to sign off. >> that's okay, dad. thank you. go ahead. >> as we look back at where we've come from, we didn't have an effective strategy going into

iraq on how to withdraw from iraq. mccain lost in '08 because of his war platform to president obama. what is the -- how much are we supposed to take john mccain for rattling the cages, getting rid of the national security team, r pointing fingers. >> that's what the situation calls for and it doesn't help in the narrative with the u.s. people who are largely against any posturing to reengage in iraq. they have bought into the idea for a lot of reasons, particularly given the 4,000 dead who have come home that we are done here and that there is no more to do here because our leaders have told us that. when you even have john mccain saying the war was won at some point and the american people hear that and that further s

cements why are we going back? this becomes a real problem, particularly for the neocons to make the argument for reengagement. this is a hotbed. you have syria to the west, a whole lot of this evenings beginning to boil over into turkey. there are a lot of aspects that people want to know how far are we willing to go? does it really mean we're going back in when you told us for the last four, five years we were done? >> when it comes to american interest, what is it about nation building we need to get out of iraq? president bush said we shouldn't be in the business of nation building and we got into the business of nation building. we can't do it. >> a lot of people don't buy this we can export our american democracy around the world and people will go thank you flp is no real stomach for this kind of reengagement with iraq.

i think this is a foreign policy problem for the president to fix but i don't think necessarily the people are going to buy going back. >> i've never seen my twitter feed explode so much. it is he's right. i will say if we sit here and relitigate and argue the past, we're not going to go forward. >> you can't do that at this stage. >> david gregory, thank you so much for coming back to the set. switching gears here now, is it good-bye to the bake sale? >> that's a rather radical switch. >> the reason why the time honored school tradition may be a thing of the past. >> and lee gallagher breaks out her crystal ball to tell us about the new american cities. but first bill karins with the forecast. >> mika, it's hard to believe with how ugly it is right now that you're going to have a beautiful weekend but that is the case.

a lot of travel delays, advice incumbent is extremely poor. these will probably get worse over the next couple of hours. there's top of the rock in new york city. visibility down to practically nothing. that building you can see in the back is on the other side of the street. at the ground level not bad. probably about a half mile from that vantage point. the rain is moving through. j.f.k. is at 0.13. the delays are building. the airports will get better, the roads will get better but then thunderstorms will come through later this afternoon. keep that in mind. that's why we could see delay, even significant delays later today around washington d.c.also a flash flood watch for d.c. later today. here's the forecast. middle of the country is absolutely gorgeous today from

kansas city to st. louis to chicago. then as we head through your saturday, we're going to be looking pretty nice in many areas of the mid-atlantic, the great lakes and also looking pretty good throughout much of the west. for father's day, we are going to be tracking severe thunderstorms late saturday night into sunday, if you're in kansas city, des moines or minneapolis we'll need to watch that forecast. but for the the most part much of the country should have a nice father's day weekend. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ i'm your second hand news, yeah ♪ (mother vo) when i was pregnant...

i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. luckily, unitedhealthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get the right care and guidance-before and after the baby is born. simple is good right now. (anncr vo) innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. can you start tomorrow? yes sir. alright. let's share the news tomorrow. today we failrly busy. tomorrow we're booked solid. we close on the house tomorrow. i want one of these opened up. because tomorow we go live... it's a day full of promise.

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♪ so maybe that's why we should kill the bake sale. joining us now on set, lee gallagher and jean chatzky. >> bye-bye bake sale? >> really? why? >> there are new guidelines coming down for healthier food in schools. essentially they've said there are no exemptions. >> it's the gluten people, isn't it? >> maybe the gluten people.

i was telling my son about this. he's 19 years old. our school in breyer cliff, they have bake sales just about every day. my perspective is this is a financial issue. kids are not learning financial literacy in school. they do business this way. they figure out how to make a profit. i don't like to bake at 9:00 at night when my kids forgot to do it. i don't think taking them away is the option. >> would i love to not have the guilt of having not made something for the bake sale that i -- a lot of guilt. but the environment that our kids are growing up in, it's always like, okay, eat well, eat well, we're going to give you a good school lunch, give you a good breakfast and then you having is like a bake sale which just surrounds them with all the wrong things and all those wrong

things are addictive, aren't they? >> but it's also white bread -- >> i'm creating a perfect world in which we haven't solved the school -- but we're trying to. you'll never solve the problem if these things are pouring in from another direction. soda pop, same thing, i personally think there's no place for it. >> but if that points to financial literacy. >> can we teach our kids about moderation and -- >> well, they can have snacks. >> they are? these were always meals to me. >> there are trade-offs and there are other important lessons besides eating in moderation to learn and how to manage money is one of them. >> speaking of money, "fortune"

magazine, i want to know about the lady on the cover. who is this person? >> this is an incredible story. this is a 30-year-old woman, her name is elizabeth holmes. she founded a blood diagnostics companies. at stanford she was a chemical engineer. but what's most interesting about this company is how stealthfully it's become really very big. she's raised about $400 million, has a valuation of $9 billion. she's in the bay area. we hear about this for uber, snapchat, airbnb. this is a spectacular board she's got, henry kissinger, george schultz, sam nunn, bill frist. >> what? >> a marine corps johnsgeneral. >> how did she get these people?

>> everyone says she has this incredible will, aura and an almost monk-like dedication. they'll take blood in clinics they design and build and they're going to take it mainstream. you're going to hear more about it. >> and also, thomas, you might not have to go to driving school with carly. thomas and my daughter carly were going to go to driving school together. >> i have my permit but i just can't drive after sundown. >> this is another issue. >> we have a story about the end of driving as we know it. this is a phenomenal trend that's really happening on a pretty major level but i think you might see bits and pieces of it every day but when you put it all together, young people are

getting their drivers licenses in far fewer numbers the average number of vehicle travel has been declining not just since the recession but since 2005. there's driverless cars, ride sharing, the car makers are setting up divisions in silicon valley. everybody knows this is happening. combined with moves to cities i wrote about in my book about the end suburbs. it's all coalescing. >> how much does this have to do with the fact that we told teens texting and driving is a bad thing? i say research that said we convinced them too well and they can't put down their phones, they can't get rid of the snapchat and instagram even momentarily so their choice is not to drive? >> i think that's a huge part of it. i think the way they're obsessed about their devices -- the '57

chevy was the symbol of freedom and coming age. today it's this, it's apple, it's your cell phone. they can't put it down. >> if they don't have to be together because they can be in communication all the time, maybe they don't have to actually get together. >> we've totally lost them, haven't we? >> all right. we'll be checking out the latest issue of "fortune." lee gallagher and jean chatzky, thank you. >> and coming up, an important moral decision. plus we have a special father's day message. "morning joe" will be right back. ♪ ♪ spokesperson: the volkswagen passat is heads above the competition,

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he talked with his granddaughter, jenna bush-hager. >> how did i look coming down? >> it looked amazing. was it fun? was it great? the landing came in a little hot. did it hurt? >> i'll be okay. >> we love you, gampi. >> his son, bush 43, was also on hand to watch. amazing. i'm going to take some inspiration in setting up this next piece from how joe described president h.w. bush yesterday. joe, our joe, has been a lawyer, an author, a tv host but no position has been more important to him than that of dad and his son joey put this together, a tribute to joe scarborough for

father's day. >> he's done a really good job keeping us sane and grounded. i mean, i don't know how we could have more perspective given the whirlwind that the last two decades have been. there's only one reason that that's the case and it's because he's been a great dad throughout. he's been a great mentor. he's been tough, he's been a great friend when we all needed it. he's a busy dude but he finds time. i mean, he's never, ever said i'm a very busy man, man, like give me a second. nobody questions his priorities, if you know him. that's all you can want in a dad. my dad had to decide whether to stay in congress, which was has been a dream, had been his dream his entire life or come home to pensacola. he wouldn't say it was a

difficult decision. he came home for me. he came home for andrew. i'm grateful every day that he did. eye thinks they a tessame s ths how much he loved and cared for us and i'm grateful that will he did. >> he ended his set to "abbey road ". that took me back to, god, i was 5 years old and he was listening to that record with me in the garage and it the last loine of the song "in the end the love you make is the love you take." that's always what stuck with me and to see how happy he was. he was always a great, great to hang around. he was a good dad. >> thahappy father's day, joe.

he's out in utah. nice job, joey. >> coming up, big issues in the country today. "faith on fridays" is ahead on "morning joe." ♪ open the door, it's all i'm living for ♪ so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are no branches? 24/7 i'm sorry- i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? you feel that in your muscles?

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(whispering) yeah really good. (whispering) and for a family of four, it's $160 a month (impressed, breaks whisper mode) what! get outta here! (whispering) i'm sorry are we still doing the whisper thing? or? (whispering) o! sorry! yes yes! we'll take it. at&t introduces our best-ever family pricing. for instance, a family of four gets 10 gigs of data, with unlimited talk & text, for $160 dollars a month. life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie for one-to-one support and education. we've always been] at the forefrontumman, of advanced electronics. providing technology to get more detail... ♪

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in chief of "sojourner's magazine" and the group's president and ceo, reverend jim wallace. he's also the author of "uncommon good," how the gospel brings hope to a world divided. good to have you back on the show. a lot going on that i think involves moral decisions. we could start in iraq but we can move to immigration and go to the borders were children are there. >> that's what we need to do. we don't look at the faces. a mom in washington state told me a 9-year-old girl went to the day every day at 5:00 to welcome

their dad home. their dad got deported. she went to the door every day hoping her dad would come home. when i met her, my son was 9. we put a new movie out called "the stranger." it's just about stories. and stories change our hearts and minds. michael knows politics are ahead of people. we've lost this ancient idea called the common good, looking out for each other and not just ourselves. it's become terribly uncommon. politics is about winning and not governing are blaming and not solving. economics about short term versus stewardship. how do you get back to this ancient idea of the common good.

>> some of the approaches to reform can you tell us -- >> this is such a common good issue. i think the grags reform -- immn is the moral test. how do you stop breaking families and how do you make the economy strong? most people, most republicans are for it, most democrats, most independents, but politics, it's stuck in the house. so including speaker boehner, it's a test of his leadership, the legacy and the congress. the country would love to see i think do something positive, together, bipartisan. >> the country would like to see that -- michael steele, how possible is that in this washington, d.c.? >> i don't think it's possible in this washington, d.c., in a

large measure of what happened with eric cantor this week. his loss was not hinged on his position on immigration. krch kevin mccarthy, the expected majority leader has the same if not larger view with respect to amnesty legislation. why is it our politics seem to be afraid of the people? in other words, we do not want to see those face because it then distorts our politics in a positive or good way or makes us react in a way we don't want to because we've bought into this us versus them mantra. >> michael's right about the political judgment of their dysfunction because they are really. what i'm saying in the book is common good comes last to washington and wall street so it's got to be movement, social movement and there's an immigration reform movement that the southern baptists and sojourners are part of, chamber of commerce and all of us. so we're together saying let's

move the inside with an outside movement. that's the only way it's going to happen. criminal justice reform, mass incarceration. conservatives and liberals think that could change. isaiah says "come with us, reason together." i love that text. we don't do that. we blame, we attack, we shout, we scream, we want to win this election, putting people ahead of politics. that's what the faith community ought to do. we're not endorsing candidates or business. we're saying how do you solve this, fix this for the same of the families and the people who should shape politics? >> it's so great when you talk about making this about people, that's what it's all about, collectively helping us push each other along for better lives. when we see those images overseas, we draw distinctions with our policy and how we're failing or the president is deemed a socialist for trying to provide affordable health care for american citizens. for immigration reform, the term

amnesty is thrown around when it's really earned citizenship. but it's being deemed as amnesty. is that what it boils down torque trying to redefine political terms and painting people in these stigmatized ways, whether it's through being a socialist or amnesty talk. >> when i work out in the morning, i watch your show and all the things you talk about the are the right things but it's amazing how issues, undocumented children, it's politicized. everything is politicized. in syria the issue is the syrian refugees. millions of them. we talk about winning and losing and we don't talk about the people. the fate man has to raise the people up. our pastors are with the families now aday. they're suffering people. we had a fast outside the capital. a congresswoman came and saturday next to me.

the other side was an undocumented mother. she shared how she'd been separated from her 10-year-old daughter. the congresswoman had a 10-year-old daughter. and they got up and embraced and wept at mothers. i said congresswoman, this is what changes things. how do we get these stories inside that place? she said there's so many layers between this tent and inside that place. how do we fix things? the pope says you -- i'm asking for two things the pope says, human dignity and the common good. and at davos, he spoke to us at first night in a letter he said business people, he said humanity should be served by wealth, not ruled by it. the pope is helping us understand that power is service and sacrifice, not winning and losing. >> all right. the book is "the uncommon good," how the gospel brings hope to a

world divided. come back soon, i hope. >> it's a blessing to be here. >> up next, the week in review. plus impressive dance moves. we'll be right back. okay, movie night.everyone wins.

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what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... oh yeah, and frosted! what's your most favorite of all? hmm...the kind i have with you. me too.

♪ ♪ ♪

okay. you know, i can't get over how great he looks. he's funny. he's funny. >> getting down, making the turn. yeah, he's got it. go ahead. work that body, work that body. >> oh, come on, michael steele. come on, michael steele. come on now. all right. on that note let's take a look at the "morning joe" week in review. >> here's some inspirations for some american fans. this is from jurgen klinsmann, the american head coach. i think for us now, winning the world cup is not realistic. >> i'm going to frame that and put it over the door of my room.

>> a texas senator ceased to be a canadian citizen. if i got dual citizenship, i'm keeping it. i'm going to the montreal jazz festival. >> you get a discount. >> standing as part of my every day life is not that hard a thing to do. >> you're an inspiration. look at our control room right now. you're standing up. >> this changes everything. willie and have i been handing out some very bad medical advice to pregnant women. >> have the trout. >> to quote jack nicholson, i want me on that screen! you need me on that screen! that was awkward. >> i was looking at that thinking i might get another decade out of that thing. >> sometimes you have to make

tough choices. >> we have with us mrs mrs. westchester usa. >> i say i don't like pageants. >> it's a scholarship pageant. even if they're in the bikini and you ask them what they want the most what will they say? world peace. >> it's now in my bathroom. it's a robe. i discovered it's a robe. >> it's a robe. [ mom ] hi, we're the pearsons, and we love chex cereal. so we made our own commercial to tell you why. chex makes seven gluten free flavors. like cinnamon, honey nut, and chocolate. when you find something this good, you want to spread the word. [ all ] we love chex! you want to spread the word. i make a lot of purchases foand i get ass. lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points

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means keeping seven billion ctransactions flowing.g, 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.

but we're not in the business of spokespenaming names.kswagen passat is heads above the competition, the fact is, it comes standard with an engine that's been called the benchmark of its class. really, guys, i thought... it also has more rear legroom than other midsize sedans. and the volkswagen passat has a lower starting price than... much better.

vo: hurry in and get 0% apr for 60 months on 2014 passat gasoline models plus a $1000 contract bonus. ♪ >> i love that. that's sam stein wearing the crown, not me. >> it's good. you made him do it. >> time now to talk about what we learned today. michael steele? >> war no more. i think the american people are going to say that over the next few weeks as this iraq war heats up. >> what i learned is that we had won it. i learned that today. we'll talk about that. >> having been excluded from 50 straight faith on fridays, i realized some in the control room believes i am --

>> it's great you figured that out. you're a little slow. >> bake sales. who knew they were a problem for our kid and their schools. i did not think about it. >> it's a problem for working mothers. >> once we get to pot brownies at the bake sales, everything will be back. >> if it's way too early, it's "morning joe" of course. now it's time for "the daily rundown" with the great chuck todd. baghdad bracing for war. al qaeda-inspired militants are closing in on iraq's capital city. as president obama weighs military options and lawmakers begin to point fingers. ahead i'm talk to iraq's ambassador to the united states and an iraq combat veteran who serves in congress. plus syria's civil war is now impossible to untangle from the escalating war in iraq. hillary clinton tells cynthia mcfadden why a