what exactly is on the table for u.s. military intervention in iraq? more than a decade after u.s. forces invaded iraq this week will be remembered as the week when the fragile peace we left behind there almost three years ago completely and rapidly collapsed. iraq is once again at war. it's at civil war. country ripped apart by sectarian violence. in response president obama while not ruling out military action is making it clear that the u.s. will not intervene unless or until the administration supported shiite government there starts working

with iraq's sunni population. earlier this week sunni insurgent groups led by an al qaeda splinter group calling itself the islamic state of iraq in syria started advancing their way from syria across the border into iraq and on tuesday they claimed mossle, that is the second largest city in iraq. and on wednesday they captured saddam hussein's hometown of tikrit and then yesterday they seized kirkuk. this morning they're advancing in a province near the iranian border and they have their designs on baghdad which is only 100 miles away. the iraqi army which is estimated to be 90% shiite has basically collapsed and all the u.s. military equipment at their disposal is now in the hands of al qaeda all of which leaves iraq in basically three parts sunnis and the al qaeda affiliates have gained control in the west more of it with each passing hour. in the souths she quite government led by nuri al maliki

is trying to hold on and in the north the kurds. the crisis of course has created ripple effects here at home including those questions of whether the obama administration will intervene with military action. president obama met with his national security advisers on friday. and the man who campaigned on the promise of ending the war in iraq and bringing u.s. troops home said the u.s. response would not include boots on the ground. >> we're not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while we're there we're keeping a lid on things and after enormous sacrifices by us as soon as we're not there suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the country. >> now, for the very latest on the situation on the ground we want to go to nbc's richard engel who is one of the only western journalists to cover the entire war in iraq. he's in northern iraq for us this morning.

richard? >> reporter: we are now in the city of kirkuk. this is the oil-rich capital of the north home to about 15% of all of iraq's known oil reserves all of the different factions in this country have long wanted to control kirkuk. until a few days ago there were iraqi troops here but now this city and the oil fields are being controlled by kurdish militias by the kurdish fighters. the dynamics in this country are shifting and changing as isis militants continue to march on baghdad. iraq's second biggest city mosul is now under islamic sharia law. militants from the al qaeda offshoot isis decreed all women must veil. it outlawed freedom of religion and banned other armed groups from entering the city. mosul was one of the first cities occupied by u.s. troops a decade ago. american officials said democracy would then spread from here. not this. and the men the united states trained to fight the isis

assault they're still surrendering. with no army protection, hundreds of thousands of civilians are leaving mosul. this family all 12 of them walked 20 miles to escape mosul. now this tent is their home. omar blames the u.s.-backed shiite prime minister saying he alienated all sunnis in the country, made them feel second class. volunteers and aid workers are building tents as fast as they can. there's been a massive wave of people fleeing their homes. the fear here this is just the beginning. kathy robinson from unhcr said the displaced hundreds of thousands need food and shelter. >> it's dusty. it's hot. there's nowhere to stay. there's nowhere to go. >> reporter: but this conflict may have changed. the shiite majority awoke. in the holy city of karbala where shia islam was forged in battle 13 centuries ago

volunteers signed up for a new war. shiite clerics called the faithful to arms. and promised those who died fighting isis a place in paradise. there is concern all over the world about what is happening here in iraq. so much so that today iran's president said his country would consider working with the united states to fight terrorism in iraq. richard engel nbc news, kirkuk, northern iraq. >> all right, thank you to nbc chief correspondent richard eng engel. so, with president obama now contemplating military intervention of some sort in iraq, some of hit critics led by the man who ran against him in 2008 said the u.s. never should have left iraq or at least we shouldn't have left so early if you can call eight years of conflict early. >> 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. you're going to see the same thing happen in afghanistan if we don't leave a residual -- >> so we're going to fee in iraq and afghanistan and then we're also going into syria in your esmeat? 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, how long can we do this? >> with all due respect do you think we should pull our troops out of korea? with all due respect do you think we should pull 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 are -- will be have been made in vain. >> giving advice to president bush before the invasion secretary of state colin powell famously cited the pottery barn

rule if you break it, you own it. which was probably said more as a warning than a prediction. the u.s. would be responsible for any lasting damages incurred but that dynamic is now overshadowing the political fallout in the u.s. what obligation, what appetite does the obama administration have to interveenle? are air strikes a possibility? what about congress? president obama goes on capitol and asks for authorization to use military force in iraq will the members vote yes to get into this. i want to bring in joan walsh who is also an editor at large at "salon." and michael steele the former chairman of rnc and an msnbc political analyst. let's bring up congress here. watching the exchange between mika and john mccain i think mika was channeling what a lot of people feel. >> absolutely. >> this fatigue, the war fatigue. it's been more than a decade it was fall of 2002, early 2003 when the whole iraq authorization went through in the first place. my sense is if the administration has to take this to congress if they say, hey, we want to do air strikes here, if

they take it to congress what happens to syria last year, it doesn't happen. >> i gragree. the president did want to leave a residual force in the country. we were not allowed to do it. >> maliki government. >> he wanted us out and iran wanted us out. i cannot believe he continues to go on tv and acted as if the president fecklessly pulled every last soldier out of there. that is not what happened, this government which the bush administration created, propped up. to see those soldiers surrender knowing the billions of dollars in training, they're very well trained -- they're actually well traneld. they're very well equipped. they're throwing off their uniforms and surrendering really raises the question, how can we intervene there in an effective way? >> so, michael, what do you think? when you listen to somebody like john mccain, there are certainly people who are saying, well, it was a mistake to get out in 2011. we need to do something now. and there's even indications the

administration may be thinking seriously, there are indications the administration is thinking seriously in terms of air strikes but politically speaking where does the will come from? >> i don't think there's a will certainly not emanating from the american people. i think mika did reflect in a lot of ways the frustrations that will be translated in congress. i think this is going to be a very hard sell in congress right now. you know, this idea that, you know, you've got this rush by republicans in the house to do this, there is no rush by republicans in the house or the senate to go down this road. yes, you have john mccain and lindsay graham as a voice out there in some respects. but it is i think more broadly speaking not a reflection of where republicans think we need to go. do we have concerns about the nature of the president's foreign policy? yes, we do. but that is something that you have to handle real time in the context of this reality that you're not going to be sending troops in. the american people do not want to re-engage. but i think for me, steve, it goes to a broader question about

how our government now addresses the issues on foreign policy particularly military engagement. we never asked the question in the beginning how does this end. what does this look like when we're done. in the propping up governments, putting someone like maliki in place as basically a puppet that is does not have the full force to do the job or doesn't have the will himself to do the job, just creates further tumbling down this road. >> look at the situation we're in right now and try to think back to 2001, 2002, and 2003 and what the situation in iraq was. look, saddam hussein, horrible human bean being. did atrocious things leading iraq, no question. but you're looking right now at sort of the situation that we were fearing back in 2001, 2002, 2003 we were fearing islamic militants taking power and getting control of the levers of control in iraq. whatever terrible thing he did,

he kept the militants in check over there and now you are seeing -- it almost seems like the u.s. doing something in terms of air strikes is stronger now than 12 years ago but the will -- >> the will has been spent because we've seen what happened. what you've got there -- what you have -- what broke out after saddam was this incredible sectarian conflict. and the maliki government did nothing to integrate the country, did nothing to bring in the sunni. and now you've got militias i think you're going to see a return to militias. the other really sad thing that john mccain said to i think it was andrea mitchell yesterday on msnbc was, you know, if maliki won't change, then he's got to be changed. we're going to change another -- we're going to take out another iraq leader and put in who? i mean -- >> the key thing to keep in mind to your point is that maliki really is the father of a lot of the sectarian conflict there because he exacerbated the situation. he did not integrate his

government the way -- >> exactly. >> -- initial discussions were set out. he did not play the part that the u.s. needed him to play. once the military action was done we're bringing in the reinforcements with, you know, advisers and some, you know, some troops to help support him, but he then just went behind all of that and just totally disrupted the process. >> it's true. although these leaders act -- they tend to act even when they're doing terrible things, there is a rational calculus, right? when i look at what maliki's done to the u.s. sort of in the surge, sort of the sunni awakening we called it about four, five, five, sick years ago whenever it was, and the united states did a lot to bring a politi:reconciliation between the shiite and the sunnis and without the u.s. there, could this ever have worked? could in ever work in the future? because you go back to how iraq was created and how it was carved after world war i in the first place and you have these groups, what does the concept of

iraq even meanwhile to the different groups? the concept of sunni and shia and kurd means something? >> you are talking millennial -- just millenniums of generations here. this is not something, you know, the hatfields and the mccoys which is a 50-year battle, we're talking 1,000-plus years of sectarian tension between the various religious groups, the various, you know, families, interests. i mean, this thing is much deeper than we kind of go and everybody is the same. >> right. >> we say in the name of iraq we should all come together. >> there's no iraq. this is not a country that is in their psyches, their bones, their culture. >> you have the kurds who say we want to carpve ourselves away from this crazy. >> bottom line politically for the united states do you think the obama administration is going to go to congress? >> i hope they do. i would really like to see that debate and see the warmongers who were wrong in 2002 and 2003

some of the same people saying the same things i'd like to see them challenged and i'd like to see them challenged in their own party frankly. i'd like to see rand paul stand up and challenge john mccain i'd like to see the future of the republican party that we keep hearing about where there will be common accepts pushback on -- >> rational foreign policy. >> i'd love to see that. >> it's a debate we'd all love to see and i would love to see him go to congress but i do wonder if they really think they need to do this identify don't think they want to go to congress right now. that's the story to watch in the coming week. i want to thank joan walsh and michael steele. we'll see you later in the hour. for five months now chris christie has been the butt of late night jokes, but will he have the last laugh?

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new jersey governor chris christie is on what some are calling his comeback tour this weekend with stops in california

and utah under the banner of the republican governors association. it's a group he's leading this year. he even did an hourlong facebook town hall last night and on thursday christie made his return to late night television. a stop by "the tonight show" right here in this building where he and jimmy fallon demonstrated dad dancing for father's day. by poking fun of himself christy is trying to put the bridge-gate scandal behind him. the only problem is the scandal doesn't seem to be going anywhere at least not yet because pretty much as he was taping that appearance on "the tonight show" the port authority of new york and new jersey acknowledged for the first time that it is under investigation by the securities and exchange commission.

the "bergen record" reported thursday night the s.e.c. is looking closely at decisions that diverted $1.8 billion in port authority funds to pay for new jersey road projects projects usually paid for by the state and projects that were initiated at the urging of the christie administration. the question is when the christie administration pressured port authority officials to find ways around state laws that require the agency to spend money only on its own facilities unless it gets approval from lawmakers in new jersey and new york. if so, it could mean the port authority misled investors. the s.e.c. is not the only investigative body looking in to the use of port authority funds for new jersey road projects. the u.s. attorney's office in new jersey and the manhattan district attorney's office also have their own probes. these are probes the port authority also acknowledged on thursday. in april christie said he relied on the advice of attorneys. he's confident the s.e.c. will agree. how big of a liability are these open investigations for governor christie as he tries to launch a national political campaign?

and where are all these investigations headed? well, here to talk about all of this we have new jersey reporter for wnbc brian thompson, thanks for joining us this morning. start by maybe explaining to people if you could the political incentive for the administration. because we hear about port authority funds and new jersey road projects now and investigations into this. politically what was going on here? what would the incentive have been for the administration to taking port authority by new york and new jersey state money and to use it for new jersey bridge projects? >> it boils down to a five letter word, steve, taxes, if you are a governor of a state with political ambitions you don't want to be known as the guy who raised the taxes. to make these critical investments in infrastructure, for example, the pulaski skyway, 3 1/2 miles long, 1930s construction, spanning two rivers, archaic looking and industrial era looking and

falling down almost. so, it had to be renovated. but because it doesn't tie in directly to either one of the tunnels into new york, you would think it would have to be done with state taxpayer money. gas tax. governor doesn't want to raise the gas tax, so he has to find the money somewhere else. >> there's this big pool of money sitting right there, you get your hands on the money, you don't raise taxes and you can be the conservative governor and take care of the infrastructure. >> it's basically free money. and people pay tolls and people don't connect toll hikes with tax hikes. >> but it apparently comes with an investigation from the s.e.c. we played the clip. here he is. he's in building a couple floors above us right now with jimmy fallon and there's the reference in the dance to the bridge. >> the bridge. >> the bridge is closing. i mean, you've watched -- you've watched him sort of on the rise. you've watched him sort of weather this scandal. what do you think of this strategy of trying to make light of it? >> i don't know what to make of it to tell you the truth. if you go back to his news

conference last december when he first denied that there was any problem at the bridge whatsoever, he'd check with his staff, anybody who did anything wrong, please step forward and nobody stepped forward. and so he mocked the whole thing by saying, yeah, i put the cones out there. that was me who was, you know, being david wildstein which we didn't know that name as well as we do now. and it even goes back i think of the images of president george w. bush back during the presidency and the whole issue of no weapons of mass destruction, and remember he did that slide show at the radio television correspondents dinner, had him looking under the table, looking under the -- >> no wmds here. >> and everybody laughed at it. and it's a self-deprecating kind of humor but i'm not sure where it really gets you in the big picture. i've been thinking about it all the way in this morning. i said, what does this say? and i don't have a really good analysis of what this will mean for his presidential ambitions.

other than to say that this is chris christie. whether you like it or not, this is what you're getting. >> so, what -- you're around these guys, people around him, the governor himself, what is your sense of how they see the 2016 landscape right now? because we always talked about, well, is he too moderate, is he not conservative enough in the republican party but now we're just dealing with is there too much baggage, is there too much of an overhang here with all the investigations. what is your sense of how they look at 2016? do they think, no, we've got this covered, we'll be fine? do they think, no, we'll -- what is your sense? >> can i quote chris christie here and use the word hypothetically? because that's what he did on jimmy fallon. well, what if hillary runs, you mean hypothetically, what if you run, hypothetically. could you beat her. hypothetically, yes. hypothetically, he does believe that he still has a chance. there is -- if you look at the chaos that the tea party has caused -- and you were just

talking about it a few minutes ago with michael steele and joan walsh, the chaos the tea party has caused within the republican party, there is a road to the nomination. and i think that they definitely believe that this is a road that they can drive down and the lanes will be open. >> as long as david wildstein doesn't shut it down for you. >> i beat you to it. >> it's interesting, too, because that's the one thing i'm watching kind of go through all the rituals of the comeback attempt here and i'm saying to himself in the back of his mind does he say, yeah, it would be fun for a year, i can't go through with it, or does he actually think he can go through with it? wnbc's brian thompson, thank you for getting up this morning. the tea party celebrated the defeat of eric cantor, does that help their cause to really change capitol hill? iness. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 50,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account.

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full day of a campaign that will end next thursday. that's the race to replace eric cantor as the house majority leader the number two position in the house. cantor, of course, suffered a defeat for the ages in the republican primary in his virginia district on tuesday. announced the next day that he'll be stepping down from his leadership post at the end of july. in what looks like an effort to keep that jobs in the hands of an establishment republican house gop leaders immediately scheduled the election to replace cantor for this coming thursday. that gives a big leg up to cantor's close friend california's kevin mccarthy. mccarthy's already in the gop leadership, he's the majority whip had is the number three position and cantor was quick to endorse him this week. >> i can tell you that if my dear friend and colleague kevin mccarthy does decide to run, i think he would make an outstanding majority leader. and i will be backing him with my full support. >> now, it seems like mccarthy has the votes to win this race. the republican who was seen as the biggest threat to him jeb

hensarling of texas decided not to challenge and another texan pete sessions entered the race only to quickly back out in the face of mccarthy's strength. yesterday afternoon a tea party friendly conservative who was first elected in the gop wave of 2010 jumped in the race. the question is whether labrador actually has a chance to twin. he entered the race late, but there are conservatives who are now trying to stoke grassroots opposition to mccarthy to the idea of handing off cantor's slot to another establishment figure. conservative writer phillip klein of the "washington examiner" wrote that, quote, if republicans respond to the shocking primary defeat of majority leader representative eric cantor by elevating his handpicked successor representative kevin mccarthy it would be beyond tone deaf, it would be pure absurdity. red state's erick erickson wrote a post simply titled "not mccarthy." are the skids greased for mccarthy or is there another conservative backlash that

nobody see sees cocoming? and here is our panel to discuss. you're covering this and you're in the capitol but i want to start by reading something new from your colleague at "the washington post" robert costa and this is his take on the labrador campaign here. the precious first few hours of celebration in northern virginia on fox news and across capitol hill would come to haunt conservatives over the next two days when their political machinery proved woefully unable to match their excitement. the only conservative that has jumped into the race for majority leader is representative raul labrador, who waited until friday afternoon to announce a bid. does that sound right? was there an opening for the tea party to beat out mccarthy and get into the house leadership that they missed or were the skids greased for mccarthy? >> it was always an uphill battle. but robert costa writes about the house gop, i take it as

gospel. tuesday night as we're still trying to digest what happened to eric cantor i rushed back to the capitol building, a lot of us had left. no one expected h ed to be a ra. we're getting ready to leave around midnight and we see in kevin mccarthy's office all of the lights are on and a dozen aides are in and out and rushing back and forth, they were there well past midnight from 1:00 to 2:00 a.m. and the first day kevin mccarthy said i'm not going to comment or get into it out of respect for eric cantor and i'm not going to decide if i'm getting into this race yet but it was very clear from the beginning that he was laying the groundwork for this run to become the majority leader and he was doing the work he needed up front. conservatives, the tea party candidates who were playing games whether or not they would get in, hensarling, sessions, we'll see, can we unite the whole texas delegation to get us all together. they were spending much more time seemingly talking to the media about whether or not they were going to run for majority leader while kevin mccarthy was spending the time figuring out if he had the votes and by the

time the conservatives figured it out the votes were already taken up. >> one thing we're always hearing about is the anatomy of the house republican conference there are two groups. you say they are all basically conservatives, but there's a split between sort of the tea party true believers and then the conservatives who have more pragmatic instincts but are scared of the tea party. i've always thought on a leadership vote where it's a secret ballot, their constituents aren't going to know how they answer, i voted for the tea party guy, do you think that secretly if it was between a tea partier and somebody like mccarthy from the establishment are the majority of the republicans in the house on the establishment side secretly or are on the tea party secretly? gli think are on the majority side secretly. the majority want to get some things done and i think while many of them are a little further to the right than maybe john boehner or eric cantor or kevin mccarthy, a lot of them see it's easier to be tea party

and stand on principles when you don't have to run the caucus. and i think that a lot of these people especially given the fact that it's a secret ballot, yell, publicly they very much want a tea party conservative running for the race, but those that want the caucus to be governed by a tea party conservative they also realize one of the better chances is trying to unseat john boehner later this year and not in this race right now. there's a real -- >> we have elections, the general elections in november and leadership election x after that. michael, you made nups yesterday saying you think the establishment might be overreaching scheduling the quick election and grassroots backlash and watching things play out later do you think it's a possibility or do uf think kevin mccarthy has it? >> i think kevin mccarthy has the upper hand. but i think you're right it works to see how it plays out among conservatives. there's a lot -- erick erickson and others are just the tip of that iceberg of pissed-off conservatives. they've watched the boehner,

mccarthy, cantor team in their view capitulate more than they would like on a host of issues. and so they're saying now at least can we have a slot in this leadership trifecta between the majority leader and the speaker and so forth. so, that's going to be their push. now, you know, the whip position is going to be in play. with scalise and others who are strong. >> louisiana. >> from louisiana very strong conservatives there. but this leadership post i think is going to be a very important fight. it's symbolic in a lot of respects, but i really think right now conservatives are trying to send the message that we're now going to vie for real leadership of the party. identi i think you're rite it may play out in the speaker's race next year. it's a very good point. they waited and hesitated and lost the mode that was there off of that election and now they are playing a little catchup. >> in the intro there i called it on tuesday night a shock for the ages, but the eric cantor

defeat it was the biggest upset i've ever seen in politics and i stand by it a few days later but everybody has an opinion why cantor lost that race this week. but there's one question that no one seems to have an anxious for. replace your laptop?

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primary and asked people who voted for david brat the guy who beat cantor asked them what their main reason for doing so was. only 22% of them said immigration. it's only about one in five voters who voted against cantor saying that immigration was what motivated them. the rest, the other four out of five anti-cantor voters pointed to other reasons like cantor was, quote, too focused on national politics instead of local needs and that he'd, quote, lost touch with voters. and on the day -- on the same day of that election in a poll conducted by pp a clear majority of voters in cantor's district said they not only supported immigration reform but also it's an important priority to be addressed this year. and also this at the same exact moment that cantor was going down on tuesday night one of the most vocal and visible republican supporters of a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented was winning a republican primary in the very conservative, very southern state of south carolina. so, what really happened in virginia?

what is the real lesson when eric cantor spends $5 million and loses to a check professor even as lindsey graham coasts in south carolina? let's run that by the panel here. joan, i mean, it's -- i always say there's sort of how the political world understands something and i think that's baked into the cake now. the political world decided it's immigration and there's real serious consequences in terms of what congress can do now and we'll talk about it later. but it seems to me if you want to talk practically about future elections and future politicians and eric cantor running for re-election this is not just about immigration. there's something really complicated here. >> dave brat made eric cantor he completely misrepresented cantor's record and his views on immigration. it was really kind of ugly. it is played a role. but it probably wasn't the dominant role. i think everybody can agree that the dominant thing was that eric cantor was spending more money on steakhouses than brat spent on the whole election. that he really wasn't -- that

his district might be open to believing that he was pro-amnesty because they didn't even know him because he was so much not a presence. and he was counting his votes for speaker down the road as opposed to counting votes in his district so i think that there's a real, you know, real dissatisfaction and anti-washington message there. another thing is that, you know, liberals kind of like about brat he's a free market person for sure, but he really -- he railed against cantor as a friend of crony capitalism, as a friend of wall street as somebody who has helped rig the game for big banks and while i don't believe that dave brat is going to be part of a solution to that problem at least he's naming that problem. >> yeah, there's some elizabeth warren rhetoric. >> it's not matched to elizabeth warren solutions about the you we'll see. >> what is the formula here? i think we've been trying to crack this code for four or five years now, when sharon engle wins a primary in nevada, you know, what is the formula, lugar

losing to murdoch? do we know now what is the format? what kind of republican is safe and who is at risk? >> the republican who is attentive to their district is safe, one of the main lessons to take away. when i look at the cantor race, some of the reporting i've done on the mitch mcconnell race, as establishment as establishment gets the same waif that eric cantor or john boehner is, but when you talk to republicans in mitch mcconnell's state where his unfavorables through are the roof, he's he has done an effective job when he had atary party challenging and attempting to argue in the general election, hey, kentucky stands to gain if you have the senate majority leader. you may hate me, but if you kick me out and have a junior senator or have someone new come in we lose clout as a state. that's the argument that eric cantor did not make in virginia. he was the majority leader. virginia has huge standing way more -- bigger standing, disproportionate standing that they will now having a new member of congress.

>> a fresh member. >> that's the argument that was not made. and meanwhile you had this other miscalculation where someone like eric cantor seemingly gets scared and decides to go up with big spending where he keeps repeating the name of his challenger and you don't ever do that. mitch mcconnell's ad, i don't think he had a single ad that said matt beven. there's a reasonable for that. >> the video that made the counts of the county convention about a month ago where eric cantor goes back and he starts attacking brat as a liberal college professor and the tea party audience rallying to the college professor. >> it just did not -- it strategically did not work. but, again, you have to be attentive to your district. you have to be smart about how you handle this and i think that he made a series of mistakes here. i don't know that we can extrapolate them and apply them more broadly but it's a district-by-district race. >> if the district had more morton steakhouses. >> maybe. >> michael steele, i got to ask you, because you know in republican world.

tuesday night 7:45 p.m., the whole world suddenly looks at twitter and looks on tv and says, oh, my god, eric cantor -- >> what the heck. >> what kind of phone calls were you getting? what kind of conversations were you having? what were they saying at that moment? >> what the heck is going on. did you see this coming. what is going on. i think a lot of people were very surprised that the this race turned out the way that it did largely because, you know, the title, the position, the prestige carries these individuals in these types of races, you know, that's why they're so aloof, that's why they often look their nose down on their constituency, yes, i'll go to your fish fry maybe, you know, that type of thing. and what they're realizing now is that people do bite back. and they -- and they are saying you need to pay attention. i don't care if you are the majority leader, you're my congressman, all right? you're the local guy. and i think to your point that this is really the fight that you're going to see played out in these upcoming elections the

remainder of this primary and i'll have to say even in the general election. look for some upsets this fall. i think the american people are really sort of liking the idea of throwing the bums out. and how those members perform between now and election day is going to get a lot more notice. >> let's hit the over/under, percent of congress re-elected. 97%. i'll take the over, you take the under. >> i'm saying it's going to be 95%. >> oh, 95. that's an anti-incumbent wave. we've got one more thing to talk about with eric cantor. there's an implication for 2016 as well. subaru has developed our most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble... ...and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight.

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he's also one of the most vocal republican champions of the common core education standards which the conservative base is now rebelling against. in many ways bush represents s establishment the same way that cantor does, are voters sending a message to jeb bush about what he might face if he runs in 2016. in the late '90s there was this mood it seemed in the republican party in the late '90s of, you know, bill clinton has sort of outcompassioned us, we need to move to the middle and co-op and working for clinton. >> we'll have compassionate conservatives. there was an appetite in the party for what he represented at that time. i'm not seeing that right now when i look at jeb bush and where the republican party is. >> i'm seeing it in the establishment. i'm seeing an appetite not necessarily for compassion but some kind of centrism and moderation and willingness to do something on the immigration issue that jeb bush represents. even if we diminish the role

that immigration played in the cantor loss, we can't dismiss it entirely. it was what people were screaming about in those last two weeks. so i think a guy who calls -- crossing the border for your family or with your family an act of love he's going to have a hard time. a guy who went to work for lehman brotherbrothers, he migha hard time and the common core stuff has become a culture war issues but there are people on the left who are not fond of common core either. but he really does represent that entire array of interests that cantor did, too, and so i did think that night that it was -- >> i look at jeb bush and i can't see what is the issue where the base of the party -- and there's the question of the issues and also just the question of the style that he represents. where's the connection with where the base of the party is right now? >> of course, it will be hard and i think it's hard to quantify the base of the party. we do have to remember the voters who show up in 2014 for the midterms are very different from the voters that show up in 2016. it's a pocket of people who are much further to the right who

are mobilized because it's the second year of an obama presidency and very much the tea party sentiment. 2016 it moderates itself in a little bit. >> you think the primaries get much more moderate than this base? >> maybe. not necessarily much more moderate. >> a little. >> it starts to moderate. because people like john mccain and mitt romney are able to survive. >> there's the romney path. >> let's break this down because a lot of people making the comparison on election night what happened to, you know, senator graham in south carolina, how did he win given his position on immigration and cantor ostensibly this was an issue. there's an issue between running statewide and running in a congressional district, so when you're looking at the voter makeup, the primary makeup in a statewide republican primary versus a congressional republican primary, the dynamics are very, very different. you do have more moderating voices that come out in the statewide primaries because it's from parts of the state that may be a little bit more moderate in their make-up in, you know, that

area versus a specific congressional district which was designed and crafted to be very red. so, that's number one in terms of how the numbers kind of play themselves out. i think more broadly on what jeb bush needs to do and i really -- of all the people at the table, participating at the table for president, i think he has the gravitas to do it and that is to have that sister moment with the republican party and say, look, this is about how we lead and how we govern and we can no longer afford to isolate ourselves from the american people and the way this country is growing and progressing. so, yes, let's bring our conservative principles fully into these arguments, into these discussions, as we talk about how families struggle coming across the border, once they get here. i think we as republicans have lost the fact that we were always the party that talked about assimilation. we were always the party that gravitated towards that argument.

and i think he has the space to do it. to joan's point, whether or not he does it, we'll see. >> let's see. we got to squeeze a break in here but you were telling us, i want to make a little bit of news, you were telling us something very interesting in the break. we were talking about eric cantor. what is he doing next? he's leaving as majority leader and leaving the house this year involuntarily and you are hearing interesting chatter. >> the what's next is always the big play in washington what do you do next and with the upcoming presidential election there's a lot of interest in eric cantor serving as national chairman of the rnc. >> republican national committee. >> that will be interesting to see how that plays out, you know, that cycle is going to be so important across the board and cantor's network and his ability to lead. in fact, i think he'd be interesting because he started dialogues on poverty and some other issues that were sort of outside of what republicans traditionally have talked about. so, he could bring a very interesting voice into that space. we'll see. >> all right. we'll see if david brat wants to

run against him. anyway still ahead, the crisis on the u.s. border. a huge and sudden children of children making their way into the u.s. illegally and all alone. what is the obama administration doing for them and will the president act unilaterally to bring about immigration reform? there's a lot going on at the border this morning. side. and a razor that understands my sensitive skin. new venus embrace sensitive. more than a strip. an entire ribbon of gliding gels surround 5 comfort-coated blades for less irritation. venus embrace sensitive. a perfect match for sensitive skin. venus embrace sensitive. (coffee be♪ng poured into a cup.) save your coffee from the artificial stuff. switch to truvia. great tasting, zero-calorie sweetness from the stevia leaf. predibut, manufacturings a prettin the united states do. means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job.

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a vote sometime this summer on comprehensive immigration reform is now a nonexistent chance. the fallout from eric cantor's defeat is huge, it means it's just not happening. but that doesn't mean that nothing will happen on immigration this year because even if congress sits on its hands president obama has the power to act by himself, but will he? the non-cantor headlines in the news right now lend real urgency to the issue of unauthorized immigration. nowhere are the challenges more prominent than in the rio grande valley in southeastern texas. the last eight months 47,000 uncompanied minors, children, 47,000 children, that's more than double the number of the entire previous year, some estimates suggest the number may actually grow to 90,000 by the years end. a wave of immigrants overwhelming u.s. border officials. on there's "the washington post" obtained undercover cell phone video taken at the border patrol station looking at it now. it shows the conditions in those children and other central

american women who were crossing the border illegally are being held as they wait to be processed by border protection. sleeping on concrete floors, they are cordoned off by police tape. the capacity is less than 500 and it's received as many as 1,300 migrants per day in recent weeks. the department of health and human services released their own images showing much better conditions at the shelters where uncompanied minors are temporarily housed after being processed at the border. last week president obama called the surge of uncompanied minors a humanitarian crisis. and he appointed the federal emergency management agency to lead the government's response. and on thursday homeland security secretary jay johnson underscored the executive order that allows his department to delay prosecuting undocumented minors does not apply to these new arrivals. >> those apprehended at our border are priorities for removal. they are priorities for enforcement of our immigration laws regardless of age.

if you cross the border illegally today, you are not eligible for doca treatment northern are you eligible for the earned path to citizenship that is being contemplated by the legislation now before congress. >> secretary johnson also kripeted the current humanitarian crisis as a reason for immigration reform. >> i think the thing that this brings home is the need for comprehensive immigration reform which includes added resources for border security as well as -- as well as stability in the law right now. if congress acts i believe we know our immigration law landscape for years, if not, decades. >> but as we've talked about politics on capitol hill looks like they are heading in the opposite direction. california's kevin mccarthy the

front-runner to take over from eric cantor as house majority leader was asked by nbc news after cantor's loss if he thinks immigration reform can happen this year. >> i think it's very difficult based upon what the president has done. the thing that has to happen is our borders need to be secured. see what's going forward now that should be the top priority. >> so, we seemed to have reached a moment the white house has been hinting at for a while now, the moment when the last realistic prospect of congress acting on immigration seems to be flickering out when all eyes shift to the white house where president obama can act unilaterally with executive orders. it seems like this will be the biggest political story of the summer. the white house continues to say its strategy is not changed and the impetus for action remains on the house. night after the election this week white house chief of staff denis mcdonough met with top democrats in the capitol but the prospect of them finding willing

partners in republicans seems like a pipe dream. what should obama do and what will he do and what will happen to the thousands of children being held indefinitely by u.s. officials along the border? joining me from the border is mark potter, he's live in mission, texas. mark, so if you could tell us, first, about who these children are and where they come from because it seems this is -- an awful lot of them are from central america, from honduras, from el salvador, in many cases you can make an argument they are refugees more than they are people trying to get into the country for other reasons. >> reporter: you could argue that and you could also point out they are being aided by smugglers. there's a business involved in bringing them up and they claim that they're leaving the vie ledges of honduras, el salvador to complete your list, guatemala, those three countries are the prime ones bringing people in. they all say the ones we're talking to that they're either fleeing vie lens or if they're young people they are here to join their parents who are already here who have paid

smugglers to bring them in. there's a big flow across the river we wjs itnessed it this morning. before sunup we saw a group of 17 salvadorans, they'd slept in this city park -- county park, they slept in here overnight after crossing the rio grande in rafts. they are from el salvador, small villages, they said they took nine days to come through mexico and they were walking down this road. they didn't know they were in the united states until they approached our team that was setting up for this broadcast and they asked where they were and they told them that indeed they're in the united states. they came over to this area here and they sat down. it was women and children, two young men, they were thirsty and very tired. and they just sat there and waited for the authorities to arrive. the border patrol came in and took them out. that is a story that happens here all the time. it's a 24/7 event now here on the border.

every day, every hour. people are pouring across this border. we have seen several of them. we got here the other night when a group came across. this is a low-water dam that also serves as a road and we saw a group coming up here, again, before the authorities arrived and they're just pouring into this area. all that debate you were talking about occurs, this is the real story here on the border. and despite all this talk about why it's happening the bottom line is these are people and they're hurting and, you know, you can argue about why they're here but it's a tough thing. >> so, mark, so, then, what happens? because they're sort of being held indefinitely right now. that's not, you know, a lifetime solution. what is going to happen to people who are -- children who are being held right now, to others who are coming in? a lot of the reporting i've seen says a lot of them are turning themselves in and they're saying that their understanding was women and children are being allowed into the country. what is going to happen to them? do we have a sense of that at all? >> reporter: yeah. i think we do.

and, ye yes, that's right, there rumors in central america this is the time to come. come here fowl, if you come here, you'll be allowed to stay. so many people are disappointed to hear maybe that's not the case. but that's what they're being told. it's said on television down there and smugglers are telling them that and they are charging a lot of money to come up here. what will happen to them they'll be picked up by the border patrol and processed and the border patrol has 72 hours to process them and they'll turn them over to health and human services and they are opening military bases and trying to find space to the people. the one with families will be taken to their families and the ultimate goal is to get them into immigration hearings, removal hearings they're called, to see what happens. for many of them the chances are not good of being able to stay. and that's the part that they weren't told when they came up here. some might be able to stay if they have family, if they have asylum claims that they can make effectively about the violence they're facing in their countries, but it's not a slam

dunk that they'll stay here. but it will take a while. so in the interim they will either be in shelters or they will be with their families and they might be able to stay but the chances are that so many of them will be sent back and that is not the message that they're hearing in central america either in their own countries or watching activities in this country. it's very clear they're drawn to this country now like moths and that's why we have this big uptick. those conditions in central america have lasted a long time. they've been there for years. they're getting worse but essentially it's been a big problem down there. but there's a surge now. so, there's another element involved here that we're hearing from people and that is they're being told go now, go now while you can and they are. they're pouring through here every day. these people slept in this park last night. this is a park where people are going to be gathering for father's day and the authorities are here because they know a lot of immigrants will be coming in across the river to join the people who are here to celebrate. >> nbc's mark potter in mission, texas, thanks for that. a vivid report. we appreciate that.

and joining me to discuss this is obama's former press secretary and michael steele who is back with us. gabriela, i wonder, the president has talked about having sort of a more humane deportation policy. i know, you know, jeh johnson the homeland security secretary has been looking in to that and there's this talk, okay, the house, congress isn't going to act, there are executive actions the president can take. when you look at the situation that mark was just describing, what do you think realistically the administration can and should be doing about this? >> with this situation in particular what they're doing calling it two weeks ago humanitarian crisis, making fema coordinate all the agencies and making sure that we realize like your reporter said that these are children, right? most of the kids that are coming are now under the age of 13 and girls. and they're coming, like, your reporter said from honduras, guatemala and el salvador. honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, right?

this isn't some random there's word on the street is that america's going to let you in, jeh johnson and have been has made very, very clear they're not eligible for the senate immigration bill but for right now when you have 60,000 kids, what you need to do is figure out how to treat them humanely because it's a humanitarian crisis and that's exactly what they're doing. >> what do you think longer term? >> this is presilesly why we need immigration reform, steve, right? we need a system that can work with the ebbs and flows of migration patterns. there's also humanitarian crisises whether it's haiti or cuba and always examples of people that need help and we're one of the biggest and welcoming countries in the world. but if republicans or conservatives want to use this as an example why we need border security first which we have more than ever, it's ridiculous. >> what would the -- one thing i want to figure out, first of all, from an executive action

sta standpoint, that's where the ball game is, anything happening at the federal level is going to be an executive action, you know, this summer early this fall. when you look at this specific situation, though, what do you look for the administration to this be doing on this right now? >> okay. but i need to counter your premise that it's not going to happen. right? let's talk about mccarthy and labrador. mccarthy is from bakersfield, it's not only in his interest in his district because of the growers and because of his population to do something, but obviously hispanics are going to blame 100% republicans and lablg bra dor is an immigration attorney. he knows full well the problem and he's a hispanic. i'm not completely sold on this. >> you think this summer the republicans in the u.s. house could put this on the floor? >> i don't understand how wise republicans aren't telling their party to do so! >> tell me party -- >> michael steele, the prospects of the house actually voting on it? >> zero. there's no -- there is no political upside. there's no political interest.

and there's no -- there's no desire to move on this because the elements of what republicans want on the table, first and foremost in this situation that we're seeing now, as reported just a moment ago, folks coming across the border, securing the borders is -- unless that is dealt with in a comprehensive way and the president's got to be honest about that. yes, it's a humanitarian crisis, but when people see this -- this influx coming across the border, it reemerges the conversation, with gee, why isn't that border secure. all i'm saying is there's a disconnect between the humanitarian piece that you're talking about and the fact that we will always have this humanitarian problem if we don't close that border now. >> we can agree to disagree. >> i'm saying that's the elements there. >> in terms of the prospects of it passing the house this summer, we can agree to disagree. if you are optimistic about

kevin mccarthy, you are, in the reality with the base behaving the way the base is behaving, they're not going to do it. that's why i ask. the prospect, it doesn't mean nothing happens. it means the onus goes to the president to act with his executive power and i'm just wondering from your standpoint as a strong advocate for immigration reform what are you looking for the president to do if it doesn't happen in the house this summer? >> i think he's in a really tough position, right? think he's agreed the 11 million folks that the senate bill would address are people that should be given a right to pay their taxes and get in the back of the line and now he's going to have to sit there and choose which ones of these to prioritize, right? so there's talk about maybe the dreamers parents being extended -- administrative relief but regardless of what he does, it's never going to be enough. there's always going to be whether they're farmworkers, whether they are day laborers, there are always groups of folks left out which is why we have to fix the problem. >> when do the political

calculations all the roadblocks in the republican universe right now to signing up to something like comprehensive immigration reform, when does it change? >> i think the dynamic starts to change next year. i think it starts to change probably first, second quarter next year. >> they don't have to lose another election to change on this? >> right, right, right -- well, what will happen is the candidates running for the nomination will begin to define that landscape a lot more than a kevin mccarthy or, you know, a boehner, speaker boehner will. there becomes a point where as a nominee begins to emerge, they begin to put into place in the context of party action and policy what they want to have done and how we talk about these things. i think you'll begin to see that dynamic unfold early next year as candidates begin to emerge and this debate becomes much more of a focal point because then, you're right, now we're talking about the presidential race. and the ramifications there are huge. >> see, i see a game here where

politically speaking the congress doesn't act this summer, the president takes executive action this fall and then that becomes the big rallying cry on the right, oh, that's a terrible overreach by the president. and i wonder if the republican party has to lose another national election before the republican party changes. >> or loses all of them. >> quickly. >> the first thing that ros-lehtinen said as soon as cantor lost, people that are saying that immigration reform is dead are dead wrong, there are leaders in congress who pointed to cantor as the big problem to reform. >> i don't see how eric cantor is the maybe reason. it seems like it's the psychology of the right and the psychology of the base and the price that too many republicans are paying. >> the psychology of the base is for it. 65% of brat voters want comprehensive immigration reform. 75% of cantor primary voters wanted it. >> when he ran for president it was for self-deportation. if they're so strongly for it i don't think they'll make mitt

romney do it. we'll have both you back later in the show for, of course, "up against the clock." don't go too far. do you live in a place where people largely share your political views? it turns out most americans now do. we'll talk about that and the rest of the political headlines brewing this morning and weekend. [ 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. first the cookie at check-in. then a little family fun. with breakfast for 4 and wifi. join us for the family fun package. doubletree by hilton. where the little things mean everything.

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mitt romney insists he won't run for president again but the former massachusetts governor sure sounded like he was considering a third run in a speech he gave yesterday to supporters and donors in utah. he said, quote, it's the failing of the white house leadership that concerns me and that's got to change. i lost the election, we lost an election, but i and we will continue to fight. despite what that sounded like his former advisers say romney is more interested in helping the republican party than pursuing office himself. so far this year he's endorsed 29 candidates running for

statewide office or congress but with no clear front runner for 2016 romney kind of maybe have his eyes on the white house yet again. here now to discuss that and some of the other stories we're reading in the papers this morning we have msnbc political analyst joan wall rsh and in hi "up" debut "late show" with david letter bill scheff. and let's start on this question of what mitt romney's up to because i obviously like everybody else, that's the end of mitt romney's political career and i started thinking about it in the context of past presidential candidates. you realize it used to almost be a tradition in this country that a candidate could get nominated, you know, adlai stevenson ran twice and richard nixon came back and hubert humphrey ran many times and george mcgovern ran later and didn't win and it's only in more recent times that the tradition has kind of stopped and i look at where the republican party is right now,

we talk there's no clear obvious leader or front-runner for 2016, and chris christie's in trouble and maybe jeb bush is in trouble. i'm not saying that mitt romney is going to run but i think he might be flirting with it a little bit here. anybody see it? >> he did run twice. it's not like he lost and could come back a second time. it would be a third time and i think that would be very hard for his ego, you know, i see him now playing a role. he is a leader of the party. i just don't -- >> does his ego say third time's the charm? >> yeah, i don't know. i think it would just be so crushing to lose a third time and i think he would lose a third time. >> i feel about mitt romney presidential bids the same way i feel about "godfather" films, they should have stopped at two. >> no more -- no takers on the romney. >> sorry, no. >> i think it's too hard especially if we think hillary clinton is a candidate on the left. i think if mitt romney thought i've got a clear pathway, i can definitely do this, but you have to remember historically running for president wasn't quite like

running for president now, with 24-hour media and the scrutiny and digging up every family member and finding them and asking them questions, it's very different than it was 50 years ago, 60 years ago and even 25 years ago and the idea of subjecting yourself to a national campaign that many times, i think to the scene in "mitt" the documentary where he says we eat our loser president presidentcial candidates alive. >> i wouldn't put money on him running or anything, but i wonder if part of him looks at it and says, hey, my right fll pri and it got denied. >> i look at what he's saying now and what john mccain said in the early days of the obama administration where all of a sudden he continued to be a main critic and to this day continues. >> that hasn't stopped. >> and now mitt romney kind of took his vacation. you know, he took his lum ps an lott and he's emerged as an elder statesman of the republican party and that's a national progression. >> there was one democrat who actually spoke at this romney

gathering, brian schweitzer the former governor of montana, frequent guest on this show and may be interested in running in 2016. he said romney would be, quote, a giant in a field of midgets. brian schweitzer saying that. >> a big endorsement. >> but, you know, i feel that mitt romney is still relevant as a presidential candidate in the same way that i feel that ohio is still too close to call. i mean, i just don't think it makes it -- this is what i respect about the democrats. you know, especially recently, you know, you lose and you go away. i mean, you know, how mike dukakis answers the phone fopho, hello, olive garden. >> secretary of state, i just want to make that point, john kerry. >> there is life after losing a presidential -- >> as a presidential candidate they go away. >> there's a museum in kansas of presidential losers and it's

devoted to -- >> only you would know that. >> i will make a special vacation to see this place. i forgot the name of the town but i'll look it up. hillary clinton is taking some heat for her recent comments about same-sex marriage it wasn't so much what he said, it was how she said it. >> i think you're trying to say i used to be opposed and now i'm in favor and i did it for political reasons and that's just flat wrong, so let me just state what i feel like you are implying and repudiate it. >> that was hillary clinton talking to terry gross and npr's fresh air on thursday, the first time clinton has been questioned about her support for same-sex marriage, she didn't support it when she ran for president in 2008, no one did. as you can hear from the interview on thursday clinton seemed defensive when questioned about the timeline of her support. i'm still struggling to figure out how to think about it exactly, because what she's saying is absolutely true. this is an issue where everybody

has changed their mind in the last 10, 20 years. hillary clinton is hardly alone in that. if there's a political calculation in there she would hardly be alone in that. >> i listened to it several times and read the transcript and it feels like two women who i admire were talking past each other. hillary felt like she was being accused of something and terry gross was describing something that she thinks is not a big deal. i mean, barack obama, other people, have actually privately supported it, made calculations it wasn't the time and suddenly it was the time. hillary clinton actually answered her question and said, no, that's not what happened, i really did change my mind in a couple of different places. but she got so -- it got so confrontational that i think terry gross couldn't hear the answer through the i'm still being defiant here. and it just took on a tone that was really unfortunate. >> well, two things. as somebody who was also trying to promote a book, you know, you should play nice with terry

gross. that's thing one. and point number two, i -- the thing that i resent is the description of her as testy because once again, you know, if a man is confrontational, you know, he's being passionate. >> right. >> and when a woman is, she's testy. i, you know, i don't like the language on that. >> also it sounded like in a way and maybe almost unwittingly terry gross was trying to pay her a compliment, hey, you saw this ten years ago like we all did -- >> she was trying to talk her to a different talking point and reword it in a different way. in this interview and the diane sawyer interview and some of the more recent hillary clinton appearances we've seen her knock the cobwebs off. compared to other people who will be presidential candidates hillary clinton has been much more messaged controlled for the last eight years than most of the other ones. she's not showing up like rand paul is, i ran in to him in the hallway, he's giving sound bites

and hillary clinton has been messaged controlled for a while. she was speaking at george washington university last night -- >> that's a whole different place. >> completely different college. she's being interviewed by a former speechwriter of hers, and we'll see more exchanges as she continues to get back into the media circuit and talking to people who aren't necessarily going to say, two plus two is five, you're right, hillhillary think you'll see more exchanges like that. >> i think that's a small taste of what will come in the next couple of years if she runs for president, we have to add that. ♪ music stops ♪music resumes music stops ♪music resumes [announcer] purina pro plan's bioavailable formulas deliver optimal nutrient absorption.

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people live, too. the poll found that 50% of conservatives and 35% of liberals say it's important to live in a place where most people share their political views and the survey also found that 36% of republicans view democrats as a threat to the nation's well-being and 27% of democrats feel the same way about republicans. so, let's talk about this. this survey got a lot of attention this week and to me it's sort of in a way it's symptomatic of i think it's a real problem for this country and it's the increasingly it seems like things aren't happening at a national level. they're not happening in washington. they're not happening at a federal level, they're not happening to all of us. there are things that are happening in one state, in blue states blue things are happening, in red states red things are happening and there's a growing an tag gonism and on all the issues there's no consensus and the red states do one thing and the blue the other and the country seems like it's splitting farther and farther apart. >> well, two things, you know,

in some ways it goes back to rick pearlstein's great book "nixon land" that he describes as nixon land as a state of mind where the two sides of the country decided not mere-that the other was wrong but that the other were bad people and they couldn't co-exist in the same country. that overstates it to some extent but it certainly was true at the margins. we're seeing this again at the margins and i tweeted to you when this came out the other day that one of my problems with this study, the data are the data. but the republican, quote, intolerance wanting to live some place with other republicans that was 15 points higher than the liberals. the issue of thinking that liberals or democrats are bad people, again, ten points higher among republicans on every one of those scores where, you know, allen murray at "the wall street journal" and others are trying to equate liberals and conservatives. the conservatives are, you know, "x" points more intolerant. >> you tweeted? i didn't see this. i got to check this. i'm not good with the -- i know

to tweet things out. i'm still -- i'm not good. working on that. >> you didn't answer. i was crushed. >> i'll offer an on-air apology if i missed a tweet at me. >> services in the building for you. >> this is how we respond to the tweets we call them out on air. >> you don't tweet at me, you come on the show-and-te scand ae that you tweeted at me. i want to thank joan walsh and wesley lowery with the "washington post" for joining us this morning. up next the latest from iraq and still ahead all of this week's news packed into an exciting 300-second game show.

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including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. live from studio 3a in rockefeller center, usa, it's time for "up against the clock." ! today's contestants, he coined the phrase drill baby drill. this morning his mantra, win, baby, win. say hello to michael steele! did you know that she was once a beloved arts and craft camp counselor in maine? this is gabby! and he's looking to add "up against the clock" champion to his top ten lists of career achievements, please welcome

bill schect! and now a man who needs no introduction but gets one anyway, the host of "up against the clock" steve kornacki! >> thank you, bill wolf. thank you to everyone out there at home and thank you for tuning in again for another exciting edition of "up against the clock." let me quickly take you through how this works if you need a refresher. it's a fast-paced political news and current events quiz we'll play for three rounds and each round is 100 seconds round. and contestants take notice, you can ring in at any time but you will be penalized for wrong answers. and also there are special bonus questions scattered throughout here. we're going to explain those as they come up. our contestants will be playing today not just for victory but also for a chance to play in our tournament of champions. but to qualify, contestants, you will first have to win today. so, as always, i will implore

our live studio audience, please, no outbursts. contestants, i will ask you, i will say welcome to the show. >> calm down. >> i will ask you to put your hands on your buzzers and ask if you are ready to play. >> yes. >> yes. >> all right. let's put 100 seconds on the clock the 100-point round here and it begins with this on monday the comedy and theater group second city will begin holding auditions for its musical tribute to this canadian mayor. michael? >> mayor ford. >> correct. 100-point question. this once and possibly future republican presidential candidate caused a stir when he compared homehomosexuality to alcoholism. >> rick perry. >> correct. we will no longer educate children, read in unfortunately truncated tweet sent out this week by this south carolina governor. bill?

>> paily. >> incorrect. >> haley. >> haley is correct. 100 points for michael. with an assist there. 100-point toss-up question. the largest supe superpac received a $250,000 infusion from this former new york city mayor? michael? >> mayor bloomberg. >> correct. stop the clock! michael steele has some exciting news because you answered that question correctly it means you are eligible for our video bonus. our celebrity quote of note. that was the trigger question and you will now have a chance to add an extra 100 points to your score. it's very simple. we have asked a celebrity to read a famous political quote. all you have to do is correctly identify who said it and you will receive an extra 100 points. there's no penalty for guessing on this one, so if you'll direct your attention to the video monitor, here is ali krieger from the u.s. women's national soccer team with a special

question. >> and in honor of the world cup i bring you this week's "up against the clock" quote of note. from the u.s. women's soccer legend who was the face of two world cup winning teams in 1991 and in 1999. who said -- the person that said winning isn't everything never won anything. good luck. >> all right. you heard the quote, michael. tell me what women's soccer player said that. >> woman's soccer player? >> we'll need an answer. >> crickets. blanking. >> crickets and blanking. incorrect. correct answer mia hamm who said that. no penalty for that. put the clock back on the board and we come back to the 100 point toss-ups with this. president george h.w. bush celebrated his birthday this week by jumping out of -- >> skydiving. >> incorrect. i'll complete the question. michael? >> helicopter? >> incorrect. i'll complete the question, bill, by becoming the fifth u.s. president to reach the age of

90 -- >> 90. >> the question was to name one of the other four presidents who lived to 90. 100-point toss-up question. texas senator ted cruz followed through on a promise to renounce -- >> canadian citizenship. >> correct. 100 point question according to politico nearly half of this top political leader's 43 million twitter followers are actually fake. >> president? >> president obama is correct. 100 points for gabby. michael in the lead at 200 and gabby creeping up at 100 and bill negative 100 but things can change in a hurry because this 200-point round. the questions are worth twice as much. let's put 100 seconds on the clock and begin with this. the library of congress announced this week that pulitzer prize winning author charles wright will hold what ceremonial position? we call time. that's the poet laureate. your new poet laureate. 200-point question after prvl e

previously being an outspoken opponent scott walker on thursday said it doesn't matter what i think now about this issue. bill? >> gay marriage. >> gay marriage is correct. 200 points for bill. positive in territory there, 200-point question the senate on wednesday declined to approve a bill to allow students to refinance loans to cheaper debt that was first proposed by whom? michael? >> senator elizabeth warren. >> correct. stop the clock! michael again! >> so lucky. >> that's the use it or lose it bonus question. and i have exciting news for you, michael, you have a chance to add an extra 200 points to your score. basically it works like this. you have to risk it. you have a follow-up question to the question i just asked you. it is related in some way. you have to choose if you want the question or not. if you get the question correct, 200 extra points. if not, we'll take away the 200 points that you just won or you can pass altogether. it's a follow-up question. do you want to use it or lose

it? >> i'm going to lose it. i'm going to keep what i got. >> that's too bad. less exciting but you're welcome to do that. and we'll move right back on with the game. it was an easy one, too and put the clock back up on the screen and we'll pick up the round with this. 20 years ago this week the murders of nicole brown-simpson and ron goldman took place creating an unlikely celebrity out of o.j. -- bill? >> o.j. simpson. >> creating an unlikely sleckty out of kato kaelin whose real first name is this? >> wow. >> hard. 200 points. we'll call time. michael doesn't want to guess. it's brian. 200-point question new abortion restrictions were signed into law this week by this louisiana governor? michael? >> bobby jindal. >> correct. two 200 points for michael. at a london conference on rape and sexual violence john kerry was joined by this a-list

actress and humanitarian activist? >> jolie? >> jolie. we'll accept that. 200 points for michael. angelina jolie. at the wire. 200 more points. michael opening a demacommandin lead, and just think how much higher, michael, if you'd taken the bonus, but we'll dim the lights and go to the ph.d. level these are 300-point questions in this round and we'll crown a champion here. the gap can be made up awfully fast, here we go. 100 seconds on the clock and let's decide the game with this. this week the supreme court decided with pom wonderful in its false advertising fight against what soda giant? gabby? >> coca-cola is correct! sometimes the guesses work. 300-point question. on friday president obama made his first official visit to indian country when he spoke to the standing rock sioux tribal nation that is located in what u.s. state? gabby? >> new mexico? >> incorrect.

time. it's north dakota. 300-point question. in her new mem miroir" hillary clinton makes a case >> 300 points. >> a los angeles judge on tuesday sided with plaintiffs who sought to overturn california's teacher tenure system in a lawsuit that named as a defendant this governor? time! it -- >> bill? >> arnold schwarzenegger. >> incorrect. any guesses? time! it was jerry brown! you got to ring in. 300-point question. this republican who resently lost a high profile race in virginia was named the president of the senate conservatives fund. bill? >> eric cantor.

>> incorrect. going to call time. ken cuccinelli. 300-point question. the last time the united states failed to advance past the opening round in the world cup was in 2006 when who was speaker of the house? bill? >> nancy pelosi. >> it was jay dennis hastert. that's the horn and the end of the game. michael steele, you are today's champion with 800 points. a very impressive showing and as the champion you get a great prize package and bill wolf will tell you about it. >> all right. >> as our choonampion your name will be engavraved on the gold p and you'll receive a dvd copy of the film "cocoon ii the return." and you'll get to play in the jackpot round for the grand prize a $50 to quick meal food cart midtown manhattan the only street meat vender in the greater 45th street era.

i had it for lunch today. delicious! enjoy the meal and congratulations. back to you, steve. stawt >> congratulations, michael steele, but to sweeten the pot i have your jackpot bonus question here and it's this. >> okay. >> before eric cantor's shocking loss this week the biggest upset in congressional primary history arguably took place in 1972. when the dean of the house and the chairman of the judiciary committee emanuel cellar was beaten in his primary by this up-and-coming democrat who would go on to narrowly lose a senate race to al d'amato? >> oh, geez. oh. >> i need an answer. no penalty for guessing. >> al d'amato. oh. i have blanked. >> it was elizabeth holdsmith. the $50 gift certificate is safe for another week. congratulations on the win, and thank you, contestants for

playing. you'll get the home edition. we'll be back right after this. . .

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time to find out what our guests know now they didn't know when the week began. gabby, start with you. >> i will say that i'm not watching this for the right reasons, but the world cup is on, as you know. did you know that it is more popular in america than nascar? >> i didn't know that but i'm glad to know that because i like the world cup better than nascar. >> again, it's all things political. i think what we're going to be watching is the intersection of the effects of the cantor race rand the saga that is now drawing out with iraq and how that shapes the conversation. i think that's something that's going to be very interesting going forward. >> congratulations on your win. >> thank you. >> bill. >> the taliban prisoner exchange, president obama got the idea of the five for one deal from a sport coat sale at joseph a. bank. >> i also didn't know that one, but i do want to thank gabriella, michael steele, the reigning up against the clock

champion, bill sheff. thank you for joining us today. tomorrow the very latest on the unfolding situation in iraq. my guest will be u.s. army general wesley clark, former nato commander, former presidential contender. up next, melissa harris-perry just minutes away. ♪ come on, yeah ♪ i say yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ 'cause you make me feel ♪ like a pony ♪ so good ♪ like a pony ♪ so good ♪ like a pony [ male announcer ] the sentra with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. spread your joy. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ mony mony 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

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