next on "meet the press," iraq on the brink of collapse. will baghdad fall? and how will the u.s. prevent a terror state from emerging? with the politics of iraq raging again, we'll hear exclusively from 2012 presidential nominee mitt romney and other key voices from the house and senate. plus, political earthquake. romney will also weigh in on the biggest political upset of the year which saw the tea party claim its biggest prize yet -- house leader eric cantor. and a special moment this father's day. luke russert is here to remember his father on the tenth anniversary of tim's book "big russ and me." why this holiday was tim russert's favorite.

from nbc news in washington, "meet the press" with david gregory. and good sunday morning. we're going to start with the breaking news. the deteriorating situation in iraq. this morning there are reports of a suicide attack in baghdad and islamist terrorists are threatening the iraqi capital though their advance has slowed. right now the u.s. aircraft carrier "george h.w. bush" is in the persian gulf. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has covered the region for almost two decades. he is in erbil in northern iraq. the slowing of the advance has lessened some of the tension there. correct? >> reporter: it certainly has. just yesterday there were fears across this country that baghdad could fall. that sunni extremists could enter the city and perhaps even take it, collapse the government. now we're seeing the iraqi army

starting to mobilize. also critically, we're starting to see the shiite militias take to the streets just as isis, the militant group initially surprised the government with its rapid advance, i think now the militants are equally surprised at the government, that they have found their footing. it doesn't seem baghdad is going to fall imminently. it looks we're heading into a long sectarian fight. >> reporter: the advance of sunni fanatics from isis has stalled outside of baghdad. as shiite militias are preparing to confront them. called to arms by their clerics. and iraqi troops are beginning a counter offensive with air strikes. the u.s. sacrificed so much for this not to happen.

4,477 american troops laid down their lives. $1.7 trillion was spent. around $25 billion of it on the roughly 900,000 iraqi soldiers, police, and guards supposedly ready to take over when u.s. forces left. they weren't ready, and neither was the political system. prime minister nouri al maliki, a shia, neglected the sunni minority. now the radical islamists have become the vanguard of sunni revenge. they've been joined by remnants of saddam hussein's baath party and his army. they're sunnis, too, and want to use the extremists to get back into power. and while sunnis and shiites settle old scores, iraq's third community, the kurds, is taking more ground. >> this is the city. >> reporter: nudge kareem is the governor of kirkuk which kurdish forces took over last week when iraqi troops ran away before the

extremists even arrived. do you think if there had been a residual american force her, iraq wouldn't be where it is today? >> i think it would be different. >> reporter: it would be better? >> yes. >> reporter: but for the kurds, the crisis is also an opportunity. they have dreamt of controlling kirkuk for generations. now they do. these oil fields are why kirkuk is so strategically important. it's home to about 15% of iraq's known oil reserves. it's so rich you can smell the gas in the air. and now that the fields are controlled by the kurdish people, they are one step closer to financial and maybe even full independence. the best laid plans of u.s. military commanders in ruins. sunni radicals are carving out their own state across syria and iraq. kurds are taking their piece, and shiites are hunkering down in the south, a new map is being drawn. but it's a lot like the one from 100 years ago.

>> richard is back with us live. richard, i talked about your own experience covering the iraq war and the withdrawal of u.s. troops. it was back in 2011, three years ago, that president obama said this about the state of iraq. >> we're leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant iraq. >> stable and self-reliant, richard. i think a lot of people who are paying attention to iraq again are saying, what happened since then that has caused this march toward complete chaos? >> well, i think if you listen to those statements with -- in light of what has happened here, they were clearly wrong. but you have to remember, it was the iraqi government, it was maliki that didn't want u.s. troops to stay. maliki said that the iraqi forces will take it from here, and for a couple years it seemed that iraq was more or less stable. then the arab spring happened. then critically syria happened and the borders across this region started to melt away. the syrian militants don't see

themselves as just fighting in syria. they see themselves as fighting in iraq. they injected once again chaos into the system and all of the old problems, all of those sectarian tensions rose to the surface, and it clearly this country wasn't as stable as the president was just saying he thought it was. >> richard engel, our chief foreign correspondent in northern iraq for us this morning. richard, thank you very much. i'm joined now from park city, utah, by mitt romney, 2012 republican presidential nominee, of course, former governor of massachusetts. he's just hosted a high profile summit attended by many of the key gop presidential hopefuls for 2016. governor romney, welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks, david, and happy father's day to you. >> and to you as well. thank you so much. i want to get to the stunning defeat of eric cantor and the politics within the republican party in just a moment, but i want to start with this crisis in iraq. you've been critical of president obama and his administration. i'll ask you directly now, i think a lot of americans are asking this question, what is worth fighting for in iraq

today? >> well, what we're fighting for and what we have fought for is to preserve freedom in the region and to preserve the region from becoming a hot bed from which there can be attacks launched against us and against western interests. but what has happened in iraq and what we're seeing with isis is a good deal predictable by the president's failure to act appropriately and at the extraordinary time that was presented a couple years ago in syria and also his failure to achieve a status of forces agreement so we could have an ongoing presence in iraq. bad things happen as a result of inaction. consequences have obviously been very severe. >> what would you do specifically? this would be your challenge had you been elected in 2012. if the acid test is that iraq cannot become a terrorist state from which america could be attacked, what would you do to prevent that from happening? >> well, first of all, i'm just going to repeat what i said

before, which is that there's a time for action. there's a time to do things to present bad things from happening to be able to shape events and that time in syria was when assad was on his heels and when there was a moderate coalition that was coming together. we should have supported them with arms and the time was also signing a status of forces agreement and having forces in iraq. now today we have to have the input of our intelligence services and the options provided by the military to know what action we could take to stop this isis movement from creating a terror state, but to tell you precisely what's going to happen right now and what things we ought to do militarily would require me to get the kind of intelligence briefings i no longer get. >> the question about a status of forces agreement, in other words should a certain number of u.s. troops have stayed behind in iraq. you just heard richard engel, the maliki government wanted u.s. forces to leave. iran was pushing the maliki government not to allow u.s. soldiers to have immunity in the

country which is a basis for any kind of agreement. it's also striking your own views back in 2007 when this was a big issue. this is something you said back then. republican presidential hopeful mitt romney on thursday rejected the bush administration's vision of a decades' long u.s. troop presence in iraq akin to south korea and suggested a need for public benchmarks to gauge progress. quoting you, i think we would hope to turn iraq security over to their own military, to their own security forces, and if presence in the region is important for us, then we have other options that are nearby, romney said. back then you said it was up to the iraqis to take care of this. now you're saying it's president obama's fall for not committing u.s. forces. >> david, i actually ran for president in 2012 and made it very, very clear that i thought we should have signed a status of forces agreement consistent with what president bush said a long time ago, that we should have an ongoing presence.

not a massive military presence, but 10,000 or 20,000 troops to provide the training and the intelligence resources that iraq would need to keep things like this from happening. there's no question but that's what's essential. that should have been done. i was very critical of the president for not using american strength and the fact that we have lost almost 4,500 lives there and 1.5 or $1.7 trillion. we have the commitment, we have the strength to be able to get maliki to sign a status of forces agreement. the president said he wanted to get that done, and he didn't. and his failure to achieve that is one of the things that has led to the kind of crisis we're seeing today. >> isn't the factor though going back if you look at administrations from the bush administration setting maliki up to lead the country, that we would train, that we would put political pressure on the government to have an inclusive, multiethnic government, and to have democracy in iraq, that we had forces there to create that reality. we would stand them up so that america could stand down. isn't it ultimately up to the iraqis politically to take care

of themselves and not as you're doing, just sort of lay blame at the current administration? >> oh, of course the iraqis have to take primary responsibility for the failures of the maliki government, for instance, to involve the sunnis more extensively in their administration. of course, much of the blame, the great majority of the blame has to be laid at the feet of the iraqi leadership. but at the same time the united states of america has long had the capacity to shape events and to influence events, but what you've seen from this administration, whether from hillary clinton with the reset button to russia which should have been called the repeat button, this administration from secretary clinton to president obama has repeatedly underestimated the threats that are faced by america, has repeatedly underestimated our adversaries. it's not taken the action necessary to prevent bad things from happening.

have not used our influence to do what's necessary to protect our interests. >> let me talk a couple minutes about politics and the big story this week about eric cantor losing majority leader of the house in his primary fight in virginia. what does that tell you about what is convulsing within the republican party right now? how do you explain it? >> well, there are different voices and different candidates and different effectiveness of different campaigns that affect the outcome of various races. i know it's our inclination to look at races and suggest that somehow a national movement is causing what occurs, but, you know, if that were the case, you'd have to look at lindsey graham's race. lindsey graham beat, what, i think five or six tea party candidates. he got more votes than all of them combined. he won by 100,000 votes. in virginia eric cantor lost by, what, 5,000, 10,000 votes. i look at this and say this has a lot to do with the effectiveness of relative

campaigns, but also major issues. people are upset about what's happening with the failure of the president to carry out our immigration laws. they're seeing what's happening at the border and i think that probably -- >> but this is within the party. is the tea party populism driving the republican party, what it believes, what it stands for, and will that continue through 2016? >> well, it certainly didn't drive what happened in south carolina where in a very conservative state lindsey graham won in a landslide. so you're seeing different voices and different parts of the country. i actually think it's healthy for us to have a debate on important issues. you're seeing that right now. i think our party is becoming stronger. we got a lot of great candidates running for senate. my own view is we're going to pick back the senate in the fall of this year. >> about hillary clinton, whom you have mentioned twice in the context of our belief that she's part of a failed foreign policy of this administration, her rollout this week with a new book, some comments that have generated controversy. if you were running for president again and if she were

the democratic nominee, what's the playbook to beat her? >> well, the playbook, i believe, is to look at her record. i think you have to consider what's happened around the world during the years that she was secretary of state, and you have to say it's been a monumental bust. and then her most recent comments as she was rolling out the book, she was asked whether the bergdahl trade was one that presented a threat to the united states, and she came back with a clueless answer. she was clueless. she said, look, bergdahl -- excuse me, these commandos don't respect a threat to the united states. well, of course they do. and then she went on to say they only represent a threat to afghanistan and pakistan. are you kidding? i mean, we're in afghanistan, and we're in afghanistan in part to protect america's security. i think her clueless comments about the bergdahl exchange as well as her record as the secretary of state are really going to be the foundation of how a republican candidate is able to take back the white house.

>> will you be a candidate in 2016 if you were drafted, if the conditions were right, would you consider another run? >> david, i'm not running for president. i said that so many times. as you know, we just had this conference here in park city, utah. i brought a number of the 2016 contenders here to meet with my fund-raisers. had i been running, i wouldn't be doing that. look, i want to find the best candidate for us to take our message to the american people that we can bring better jobs, higher incomes, and more security globally. we can do that, and i'm convinced that the field of republican candidates that i'm seeing is a lot better positioned to do that than i am, so i'm not running. >> 100%, mitt romney, even if drafted will not be a candidate in 2016? >> i'm not running, and talk of a draft is kind of silly. >> all right, governor romney, thank you as always for your time. i appreciate it. >> thanks, david. let me turn to democrat senator joe manchin from west virginia. and senator manchin, on the topic of iraq which is most pressing this morning, you have

heard the president say there are huge interests that the united states has now with isis threatening iraq, the potential rise of a terror state. what are you calling on the president to do to defeat that threat in iraq? >> first of all, david, i think our intelligence has failed us miserably or not being aware of the threat that we faced and how this could unfold as quickly as it has. this has been planned for quite some time. my first thing to recommend to the president is get your intelligence group back on track making sure that we have the intel that we need for our -- whatever options we have that are going to be accurate. there's no caveat for us whatsoever, and there's no will from the senate that i detect from democrats or republicans to put boots on the ground. the president has confirmed that. i appreciate that. >> well, what would you support then? >> -- using our technical support. >> what specifically --

>> i'm open to the air strikes and technical support. yeah, the ire strikes, technical support, drones, whatever it takes, but i want to make sure our intel is accurate before we start doing this, and i'm hopeful they're getting accurate intel on this. if not, it's all for naught. you know, for us to be in this situation to where now the maliki administration is looking to iran more than they might be looking to the united states? and the horrific price we paid there in human suffering and lives that we've sacrificed and the amount of resources we've put in there to let this thing become completely unstable and falling apart, and then they're the ones in 2011 that didn't sign -- that wouldn't sign and now they're asking for our help again. you know, until they have the will to enter this fight, david, until they have the will to fight and die for their country, we're not going to be able to give them the backbone.

they're going to have to stiffen up themselves. we've got to make sure we have the proper intel and the support. >> when it comes to the threat of terrorism in your mind, what is worth fighting for for the united states at this point in iraq? >> i think that basically we have to send a very clear signal, you intend to do america or any americans harm, we will bring a ring of fire that you have never, ever could have imagined upon you. but for us to go in and try to occupy and change the culture of these countries, we have not done a good job. we are not good at that. if it was military might or money that would change that part of the world, we'd have done it by now, david, and that's not going to happen. but make no mistake, you intend to do harm to america or americans, we're going to come after you. we're going to bring a ring of fire on you you hope that never happened. >> senator joe manchin of west virginia, thanks so much for your time this morning. i appreciate it. this crisis in iraq leaves an obvious question, which is how did we possibly get here after the incredible sacrifice of our forces and commitment by this country in iraq. i'm joined for perspective by david ignatius of "the washington post" who has covered

iraq extensively throughout his career, dexter filkins of the new yorker, author of "the forever war" about his experiences covering the wars in iraq and afghanistan, paul wolfowitz, and from new york republican congressman peter king of new york, former chair of the house homeland security committee. welcome to all of you. david ignatius, i think, again, americans are looking at this change, a decade of conflict in iraq. how has it come to this point where any gains won seem to be evaporating and the threat of a terror state actually arising in iraq seems all too real? >> well, as we sensed in your interview with governor romney, there's more than enough blame to go around, and this is a crisis that's so severe that the blame game in our domestic politics i think is unfortunate. i'm always reminded of something that prince turkey, who is the head of saudi intelligence, said to me about five years ago. he said, i hope you americans

will be as careful in how you get out of iraq as you were uncareful in how you got in, and, unfortunately, as i look at this, we were wrong on both ends. we came in and knocked the pegs out from under the way that society had been governed and we left before new stability mechanisms were in place, and we're seeing the consequences of that today. the iraqi government basically is collapsing. >> paul, as part of the bush administration, were you and others culpable of underestimating the level of sectarian violence, warfare in the country that creates the potential for this kind of terror state to develop today? >> look, you use the word sectarian, so did richard engel. this is more than just an obscure, shia, sunni conflict. this is al qaeda. al qaeda is not on the road to defeat. al qaeda is on the march, not just in iraq, in syria and libya. we have real enemies of the united states and what we should be looking for i think when we stick with our friends and those

friends are not always perfect, believe me, but we stuck with the kurds through 20 years. northern iraq kurdistan is a success story. stuck with south korea for 60 years. south korea is a miracle story. if we walked away from south korea in 1953 -- >> but dexter filkins, nouri al maliki is more than just not our friend at this point. he's not fulfilling our fundamental promise of our intervention in iraq which is to forge a democratic multiethnic country that he would preside over. >> look, i mean, the dynamics in iraq, the dynamics that are driving this threat are basically, at the front of that is nouri al maliki. since the day we left there in december 2011, he has done virtually everything he could to alienate the other people in iraqi society, the sunnis and the kurds, and so what we're

seeing essentially is a consequence of his extremely sectarian policies. >> peter king, as you look at this from the vantage point of a terrorist threat to the united states, let's look at the map. first, the map of what we're talking about, iraq and syria, and then you look at the section in red which is the approximate area of control of isis that extends beyond iraq into syria. this is a breeding ground for terrorists, al qaeda and an offshoot of al qaeda arguably more extreme, if that's possible, than al qaeda with the kind of fighters, 10,000 foreign fighters with designs on attacking the united states. how do you view it then in terms of what we ought to do? >> that is a very real concern. no doubt that isis looks upon itself as an iraq/syria power, and it definitely has targeted the united states going back to 2011 when it was just al qaeda in iraq before the syrian component had even kicked in. we captured a number of their operatives in the united states attempting to carry out an attack at ft. knox.

clearly if they can get this sanctuary in northeastern syria, in iraq, this makes it a sanctuary to attack the united states apart from the destabilization they can do to countries in the middle east like jordan and israel and it increases the power of iran as far as being an influence. >> obvious question is if this is a huge threat, david, how do we deal with it? intervention seems unlikely, but what responsibility does the president face and feel to prevent extremists from taking root in an area that is even worse perhaps than afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks. >> in the short run, it's crucial to stop isis before it takes baghdad or any more territory in iraq. that seems to be happening, although it's not happening thanks to the government of

maliki, thanks to shiite militias, intervention from iranian forces and the call from the ayatollah for a religious fight. we need to move soon to having platforms in iraq to go after the worst of the worst. these isis terrorists who will begin to move to external operations. one of the things that u.s. counterterrorism officials are worried most about is that as al qaeda morphs and creates these offshoots like isis, these groups will begin to compete for street cred, if you will, to show who is toughest. and the way you will show you're the toughest on the block is by hitting america and we have to be worried about and be prepared for that. >> paul, what do you do then as a policy matter to stop this? >> it's a complicated situation. you don't just come up with we're going to bomb this or do that. i think a fundamental point which was brought home to us in 1990 when the saudis agreed to everyone's surprise to allow american troops into saudi arabia after iraq innovated kuwait, they said to us, if this

were the united states of jimmy carter or ronald reagan that walked away after a few american casualties, we would not have said yes. we believe president bush is serious. we have to convince people in that region, kurds, iraqis -- maliki is a big part of the problem and he's not all of iraq. we need to find people there and most importantly i would say in syria where u.s. policy in absence over the last three years has sent a signal of lack of seriousness throughout the region, i would do something in syria. it's a bad situation. it's now dominated by assad and by isis. we should be finding people -- >> we keep coming back to the idea that somehow military intervention, dexter, is going to make the situation better. we have a lot of experience of u.s. forces in iraq failing to produce the kind of outcome that we thought was going to materialize. >> right. well, there's plenty of options short of military intervention. i don't think you're going to see boots on the ground in syria or iraq, but there's a lot that the white house is considering right now. in iraq it's probably something

like air strikes against isis, and in syria it's probably trying very late in the game to arm the more moderate elements of the syrian opposition who can basically take on not only assad but also the extremist groups like isis. >> i'm going to leave it there. thank you all very much for your time this morning. we talk about the war in iraq and the cost, of course, thousands of american servicemen lost their lives. no american base suffered more losses than ft. hood in texas. our kevin tibbles visited the town of killeen next to ft. hood and today's "meeting america" he found mixed opinions about further u.s. involvement in iraq. >> reporter: killeen, texas, paid an awful price on the far off battlefields of iraq. for killeen is home to ft. hood, and more than 500 soldiers posted here made the ultimate sacrifice. more combat deaths than any other base in the nation. >> i love them. i didn't die so i love them all.

my heart goes out to every last one of them families. >> reporter: it is to blaze where those still serving and those who served come for a trim and camaraderie. >> make it nice and crisp. >> reporter: like every barber, tyrone murphy cuts and listens. >> as barbers, they tell us their problems and we kind of soothe them as we cut their hair. there are a lot of broken people coming home. >> reporter: before cutting hair, dewayne spent a year fighting in iraq. he still has trouble talking about it. >> i was just a soldier actually. just a number, a pawn, disposable. luckily i wasn't disposed. >> reporter: and as iraqi cities fall and armed militants gain momentum, he's dead set against any further u.s. involvement. >> i don't think we should go back. we found out we were over there for nothing the first time.

so what's the reason now? >> are we not their chance to still achieve that? >> a better life. >> a better life with prosperity. >> reporter: a 20-year veteran, mike austin now runs a local florist and wine shop with his wife. he is the son, grandson, and great grandson of soldiers. he, too, went to iraq. >> i feel as an american and as i have been raised that once you start a project, you finish the job. learning our lesson from vietnam, what have we gotten out of it? really a bad reputation because we didn't finish the job. >> reporter: here in the brown, texas, flat country, crystal's florists is alive with color. flowers for everything from dates to marriages to funerals. while in iraq, dewayne's humvee was hit by rocket fire. >> when i was there, i kind of knew that a civil war was inevitable.

we shouldn't force democracy on people that do not want it. >> reporter: as a budget analyst in the army, he says the price killeen and america paid was far too high. >> billions of dollars were wasted on projects and infrastructures, water plants, electrical plants. to me it was a waste. it was ten years of time, ten years of money, thousands and thousands of soldiers that lost their lives, and it was for what? for them to be on the cusp of a civil war. >> reporter: but for others the sense of duty remains. >> i don't want any more lives lost, especially now that my son is in the military as an enlisted soldier, but, yes, i do believe if we need to go back, then let's go back.

>> reporter: for "meet the press," kevin tibbles. >> kevin, thanks. coming up next, a dramatic election upset. the fallout from the defeat of house majority leader eric cantor. our political round table is here and discusses the impact on the gop as well as our chuck todd who will lay out the lessons to be learned for both parties coming up. >> "meet the press" is brought to you by -- 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. ♪ if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are24/7branches?

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we are back to politics now. our round table will be with us in a couple minutes. first, away from the turmoil in iraq, it has been a remarkable week of politics here at home. washington still reeling after a crushing defeat for house majority leader eric cantor that reflects the convulsions within the republican party. our political director chuck todd is here with his take on the lessons for both political

parties from this loss. chuck? >> david, 35,000 people out of a country of 330 million didn't just shake up the republican party, didn't just shake up washington, may have shaken up 2016 politics for all of us. >> reporter: it was a stunning fall from power. house majority leader eric cantor losing his primary to dave brat, a conservative college professor with no political experience. >> power belongs to the people. >> reporter: so what can we learn from cantor's defeat? first, immigration reform is probably dead. not just this year, but perhaps for the rest of the obama presidency. >> illegal immigrants are pouring across the border on the promise of eric cantor's amnesty. >> reporter: brat used the "a" bomb, amnesty, against cantor effectively but it put national republicans in a box. without reform their chances of winning latino voters is difficult. even rand paul said this week too many republicans have perverted the definition of amnesty. quote, amnesty is a word that's kind of trapped us. a second lesson, the public is fed up with congress.

congress' job approval rating is at a historic low, 13%. eric cantor is one of the highest profile faces of congress and that may have contributed to his defeat. >> 5,110 days. that's how long eric cantor has been representing us. >> reporter: his loss should be a warning to all national politicians. a populist revolution may be brewing. >> the american people feel their leaders aren't leading, reason getting stuff dopp. >> reporter: and that leads to lesson three. don't lose touch with voters. there's anger in both parties their leaders don't care about them and don't understand the everyday problems people face. on election day eric cantor was in washington, d.c., not in his district 90 miles away where people were voting. it's a mistake democrats can make, too. as hillary clinton did this week trying to defend the millions that the clintons have made in

recent years. >> we came out of the white house not only dead broke but in debt. >> reporter: when politicians look and sound out of touch, it only fuels the public's upset. everybody is trying to figure out is this going to be a wave election for the republicans, is it 1994, is it 2010 again? we ought to be thinking this might be like 1992, 1978. there were anti-incumbent elections where people from both parties went down in surprising fashion. >> chuck, thanks so much. to the round table now, ruth marcus is here, a columnist for the "washington post." ken cuccinelli, former virginia attorney general, just named president of the senate conservatives fund, a group who are going to get tea party candidates elected to the senate. steve schmidt, adviser to mccain's presidential campaign. and harold ford, jr. happy father's day to you, my friend. particularly special. i want to talk about eric cantor and this populist political revolution that is brewing.

talk about it in terms of what's happening in the gop. >> one of the most interesting aspects of this race is the degree to which the chamber of commerce became a epithet in the race. the cantor campaign was defined as much by the attacks on wall street, the big banks. republicans have gone after big government, big media, big labor, but you saw the additional element coming in to play over the course of that campaign. i think that opens a lane for somebody in 2016. i think it's worth mentioning that this is a global phenomenon. we're seeing this happen in all of the western democracies. the national front from france, netherlands, sweden, australia. this is a global phenomenon where people are so dissatisfied with what they sees as an elite and out of touch -- >> you asked this week in a column how does hillary clinton navigate the populist streak on

the left as well. mike needham a tea party activist writing in the weekly standard along with jim demint, elizabeth warren on the left and tea party activists share their disdain for the establishment. >> there is a certain similarity to that which is why, and we'll get to that in a second, but chuck is right, why hillary clinton's comments about being dead broke as she has $5 million in speaking fees and $200,000 a pop did not sit well and she cleaned it up right away. >> we heard from mitt romney who had a ton of issues with that. >> don't talk about houses in the plural. bad idea. >> how do you see it, harold ford? what's your view on what's happening in the party? >> i think both parties -- i tend to agree with both ruth and steve. there's no doubt there's an out of touchness that regular folks feel. i think politicians have to get back to talking to things about people care about. they care about their security at home, financial security, economic security. we have had years -- i can hear hillary clinton next month fashioning a message around health care has passed but we have to fix it. we have job growth but not income growth.

how do we begin to do that more and more. she's perfectly positioned to do that. if she gets trapped responding to mitt romney, gets trapped in responding to a tea party, even to an elizabeth warren, she will find herself in a bigger mess. mainstream republicans who care about immigration, care about budget reform, have to be able to talk about things in ways, no disrespect to the things ken may be doing, have to talk about it in a way that's bigger than the moment. eric cantor lost touch with his district. >> ken cuccinelli, tea party activist, which is a broad way of saying against a lot of things that go on in the capital of washington, d.c., and some of the choices the republican party makes. i'm looking at the "washington post" this morning, political terrain shifting for the gop. what is the unifying idea you think for the party this year -- >> certainly there's some common themes here. one is not merely out of touch. that doesn't explain it enough.

it is a near violent reaction to the ignoring of people of principle in large numbers who care about the direction of this country, and i'm talking about conservatives. eric cantor was not merely not listening to them -- >> is it just about immigration? >> no, immigration was a crystallizing issue and there's been a lot of talk about it because it was used very effectively by the brat folks, but the reason immigration was so powerful is because, and i latch onto harold's talking about. no, no, no, and he didn't mean it this way, but talking isn't enough. eric cantor talked plenty. people didn't believe what he was saying -- >> i want to talk about immigration because -- >> -- abandoned principle. >> mitt romney said lindsey graham won. he is among those saying, steve schmidt, that the republican party is in a death spiral over its issue to appeal to minority voters specifically on the issue of immigration. if ken is right and talking about amnesty if we have a

pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants here, how do you keep riding this to become a national party? >> look, we have a fundamentally broken immigration system in the country. the republican party nationally has a choice to make. do we want to go down the road that the california republican party went down which is a road to annihilation? ronald reagan's home state is now a state where the republicans are about to be the third party behind declined estate. it is impossible for us to put together a coalition to win the presidency with less than about 40% of the hispanic vote. mitt romney is at 27%. the electorate is going to be 2% less white. we don't have an opportunity to make our case, deliver our message, make the case that our policies are good for 100% of the people until we can effectively deal with this issue. >> you know, there's a road ahead. there's an easy road ahead for the republican party.

pew had a fascinating poll out this week about polarization. embedded in that poll were some numbers astonishing about how since 1994 both republicans and democrats have become more liberal on immigration by an astonishing amount, two-thirds in '94 of both parties said they thought of immigrants as a burden. now that number is half for republicans, about a quarter for democrats. the problem is not necessarily the national party, it's specific to house races and internal races. mitt romney is right, all politics is local. that's how eric cantor having run a bad campaign, sort of absentee campaign lost, and lindsey graham who was attentive won. >> hillary clinton, a week of rollout on her book, the dead broke comments. is she in a better position or worse position now that she's -- >> they have to go back and regroup. she has to have some tighter, easier to connect and understandable answers around her wealth, which i don't think is really an issue. most people running for office who have been out have found ways to make a living. i don't think voters punish.

they won't vote for someone they have issues with but they won't vote for someone who they don't believe likes them and doesn't respect them. she fought her whole life for those things. she had a tough week. they have the figure out how to get back at answering questions. her husband was the best at stepping back, looking at the moment, understanding that people want answers to their own problems in their homes and communities, how you create jobs. how you increase wages and how you make the country safer. if there was ever a time when the country was confronted with the questions your first seven which i thought was accident with the round table talking about iraq, we're looking for candidates for public office, particularly at the federal level, who can answer those questions. if she does that well, she will find herself back where she wants to be. >> juggernauts are only juggernauts as long as they stay looking at juggernauts. she doesn't look like a juggernaut. she has things to deal wand there are common things here. eric cantor looked like a juggernaut. frankly, thad cochrane looked like a juggernaut.

now we're talking about how the entire 2016 campaign is going to change because of the conservative -- >> but, ken, who can bring national -- the demographics nationally for republicans are clear. you have to figure out ways to grow the tent. so the message that some of what you're talking about and some of what dave brat is talking about, how does that grow the tent to help the republicans -- >> part of how dave won i think is that he connected when he talked about issues. he's an economics professor and he talked -- >> they're great at connecting. >> that -- yeah, he's conservative professor. so he's covered by the endangered species act. look, he connected with how these policies affect people in their real lives. you know, i hear your characterization of employment, growing employment but not growing wages. there isn't growing employment. there are less people in the employment market than there were six years ago. >> we have grown employment but wages have not grown. >> quick comment ruth and then a

break. >> the middle class is scared to death. they see opportunity in shrinking government. >> to get back to hillary, harold is right, she didn't have a great week. i think it's a little premature to declare the juggernaut over. but in a sense eric cantor did her a favor in two ways, not just by changing the 2016 landscape but he changed the conversation. >> we will come back with our round table in a few moments and touch on the iraq crisis as well. coming up here, a father's day special, a special guest. luke russert, tim's son, on this father's day and the tenth anniversary of his dad's book, "big russ and me." we'll talk about it. "meet the press," brought to you by -- sto stop. oh my god! look. you need to see this. show 'em the curve. ♪ do you know what this means? the greater the curvature, the bigger the difference. [sci-fi tractor beam sound] ...sucked me right in... it's beautiful. gotta admit one thing...

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when you can look forward?

[ roars ] thanks for making this day possible. i'll call you in a little bit, and, luke, thanks for the great father's day tie. full of books. i hope you always love books and i hope you always know how much i love you, buddy. happy father's day, everybody. >> welcome back. that, of course, our friend tim russert on the day he called his favorite holiday. that was back in 1995. this father's day i'm so pleased to be joined by luke russert, tim's son. his dad hosted "meet the press" for nearly 17 years until his untimely death in 2008. luke, of course, now an nbc news correspondent covering congress and he's written a new preface to his father's book "big russ and me" to coincide with the tenth anniversary of its publication. great to have you here. >> i appreciate it. >> your dad's favorite holiday

and yet for you it's got to be a tough one. >> it's not easy. it's not easy when you see so many folks out there just hugging their fathers and i miss him, but on the other hand, it makes me happy that people still have that close relationship with their fathers which is something that was so important to my dad. for me on father's day i do a lot of self-reflection, i remember a lot of good times. interestingly enough because it comes so close to the day he actually passed it's sort of a double whammy for me, but i find comfort in things like a baseball game, comfort in things like grilling out and having some burgers and a few beers. and also i just find comfort in playing a little bit of bruce springsteen and remembering those great times and a lot of folks who have lost their fathers who don't have fathers in their lives, they tell me they share similar experiences where they wake up in the middle of the day and they don't necessarily like it but towards the end they remember good times and it turns out okay. >> there was something from the preface you wrote that really resonated with me because i'm able and i try to spend so much

time with my -- >> you're a great dad. >> thank you so much. and you write this about your dad, it's true the greatest gift my father ever gave me was his time. here was a man who worked seven days a week, rarely slept more than six hours a night, and i can never remember a time when he wasn't there for me or didn't make a herculean effort to be present. i understand that not all fathers can afford to do that. jobs, commitments, et cetera, don't always lend themselves to kids being number one all the time. however, i do know if a father makes an effort to be there, a kid will always notice and always appreciate it. got to be the biggest lesson you think about. >> absolutely. and you think about our society these days where everyone is always connected on smartphones and it's so, so hard to get away. my father no matter what the burden of his job was always made sure that his time for me was there, at least part of his day, and it wasn't fake. it wasn't just sort of in his google calendar or pop up i should call luke now. he wanted to. and i felt that as a young kid and it made me such a better

person because it allowed me to have this relationship with my father where i spoke to him. he knew what i was thinking. he knew what was happening at school, and he became a better father because of it. so not everybody can have that type of relationship with their child. however, if you just try, i sincerely believe kids know that, they feel that. and every day i can do that no matter what their status is. you don't have to be rich to try. you don't have to be rich to care. and that's something that my father really truly believed in. >> the thing i remember most before you were here as a correspondent and i had my first son, i remember, tim would stop -- your dad would stop whatever he was doing to talk about kids. >> true. he loved it. >> he'd say you've not got to be the real deal. >> happy father's day, i got you a lift. >> thank you so much. i'll add it to the one already on my shelf. we'll take a break and when we come back, the latest on iraq and the takeaway from today's program. the big question that you'll be

able to weigh in all this coming week. just after the break. >> "meet the press" is brought to you by --

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back with our round table and the big question of the week here as we've been talking about, does the u.s. have an interest worth fighting for in iraq? ken cuccinelli, that's going to be the debate as we move forward. >> only inside the beltway the answer is no. the big debate outside the beltway is the continuing growth of the grassroots movement and the next place is mississippi. >> the bloodletting in iraq is just beginning. the country is partitioning the way joe biden suggested earlier in the decade and american forces should not be on the ground. there's nothing we can do to

stop it now. >> yes, it does have an interest because, unfortunately, what happens in iraq and syria isn't going to stay in iraq and syria. there's scores of foreign fighters, and we don't have great options for dealing with it right now with maliki in power and unwilling to share power. but we do have an interest and that's the hard question. >> it's so hard. how does the president go to the american people and say, look, i don't want this war, you don't want this war, but we have an ongoing interest here. the president did say he would prevent a terror state from ever developing after 9/11. >> $2 trillion investment, 5,000 casualties. there's an interest here. the question is can the president marshall resources, a special envoy to sit with maliki and create what he should have created before which is bringing sunnis and bringing the kurds to the table. joe biden was right. he was just a little ahead of his time, he was pressing it about the kind of federalism that needs to exist there. hopefully we can implement a

plan long term there. >> we're going to leave it there. thank you all very much. happy father's day. >> thank you, to you as well and to my father, don, happy father's day to you. to my children, max, ava, and jed, i love you so much. you can also respond to the big question on our facebook page. and as i wish everybody a happy father's day on this sunday. that will do it for us. we're back next week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." iraq in turmoil. reports of a string of deadly explosions rocking the caple tall city this hour. and a suicide bombing in baghdad leaving ten dead and more wounded. meanwhile inside the iraqi capital, fears baghdad will fall to the hands of militants searching through the war with weary country. can moves by the iraqi government slow insurgents down? uber take over. one of the new ways to hail a cab from your phone. critics say the drivers are breaking the law. some want uber drivers locked up

while city leaders bring them into the fold. and new meaning to dumpster diving. how about living in one? a college professor who is living in a dumpster now. it's today's big idea. >> i'm givante carter p from afghanistan. i'd like to wish my father in akron, ohio, a happy father's day. >> my name is akeelah dell. i'd like to wish my father james a happy father's day. love you, daddy. >> this is major andre brown, expeditionary from kabul, afghanistan. pops, i want to say happy father's day. i love you. >> today we are honoring dear old dad. i will talk to trey cheney from "the wire." he has a special message for dads out there. i'm richard lui in for craig melvin. we have new developments in iraq. moments ago we learned of a string of explosions in baghdad.

at least 15 people are dead and dozens more hurt . at least ten people were killed and many injured when a bomb went off in central baghdad after isis launched attacks on an iraqi military recruitment center. as we start in iraq, ayman mohyeldin is there for us in erbil in northern iraq. there is a slight satellite delay. how far have militants advanced today from what you are hearing? >> reporter: well, we have been able to get a sense that they haven't advanced onto baghdad in the large number -- an attempt by the iraqi government to try to repel or reclaim some of the outer lying territory in between baghdad and cities and towns like tikrit which are 60 to 80 miles from

the capital. in terms of the advance to baghdad or trying to enter baghdad we haven't seen any indication or offensive by the militants that any such operation is under way despite the fact that they were calling for it last week. there are logistics to consider and the concern of baghdad falling into the hands of militants. the city is tense. you mentioned suicide bombings and explosions adding to the anxiety and challenging the government's ability to maintain law and order and preserve security for the millions of people in the capital. >> talk about the tension, millions of people, the iraqis there. what do they want? do they want a u.s. intervention? >> well, right now the country is extremely fragmented and divided. it is happening more so across the sectarian lines. the central government in baghdad dominated by the prime

minister and his supporters who want to see more international are involvement in the war on terrorism. they want to see the united states perhaps carry out air strikes. certainly they want the support of the iranian government which deployed security resources on the ground in the capital of baghdad to shore up support. for ordinary people it's more complex than wanting air strikes or not. the a rab sunni population in the northwest has legitimate grievances. they say the prime minister and his government failed to meet grievances over the past several months which is leading to the ground swell of support for isis and militant groups joining their ranks. some call it a popular revolution. some within their community call it a popular revolution. in the kurdish part of the country, the government is preserving its territory. it's advanced to kirkuk. you can see everybody is divided with a lot of different interpretations of what's happening on the ground.

>> nbc's ayman mohyeldin in iraq with the latest for us live as we are looking at 10:00 p.m. local time there. thank you. president obama spoke with susan rice yesterday and has been in contact with his national security team as he muscles what steps to take in iraq. the president ruled out putting u.s. troops on the ground and remains in california for father's day after yesterday's commencement speech. today several republican lawmakers criticized the administration for p a lack of leadership on iraq. house intelligence committee chairman reich rogers says isis could threaten the homeland. >> even isis was saying we want to do external operations. by the way, we know we have westerners who have come to jihadist disneyland in eastern syria that we can radicalize, train, send back to europe and the united states. >> letd's go to kristen welker

traveling with the president in palm springs this afternoon. do we know details around the president's discussions that i was alluding to earlier with the national security adviser? >> well, the white house hasn't read out the details of the discussion except to say that susan rice updated president obama on the intelligence as he continues to stay in close contact with his entire national security team about what the united states's next steps will be in iraq. we should say president obama spoke with susan rice on friday and then again on saturday from palm springs. as to the republican criticism that president obama isn't acting quickly enough, the white house pushes back and says part of what they are trying the to do is get accurate intelligence once the administration official says they can't rely on the intelligence of the iraqi governments or the united states trying to gather intelligence so they can come to a conclusion thats has the impact that they desire to have. one of the things they are

considering -- air strikes. another, targeted drone strikes. it seems at this point the targeted drone strikes might be the more likely option. that's, in part, because the risk of having collateral damage with air strikes is much greater. that's where the administration stands now. also sending a tough message to iraq, president obama friday saying it's up to nori al malaki to get the situation under control and have a more inclusive government. that's what secretary of state john kerry reiterated yesterday when he reached out to iraqi foreign ministers. the conversations, discussions about how to proceed continue. we anticipate when president obama does finally make an announcement it will likely have two components, short term steps but also long term steps the united states plans to take. >> with the president in california, kristen welker. thank you for the update.

joining us now is jane jeffrey. ambassador, thank you for being with us this afternoon. first of all, i want to start with this. this is what president obama said in 2011, right before the last u.s. troops left iraq. take a listen. >> we're leaving behind a sovereign, stable iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people. we are building a new partnership between our nations and tending a war with a final march toward home. >> ambassador, when we look at this situation of what the president has said, we are leaving a stable and self-reliant iraq. that was the words he used. you were ambassador at that time. how much of that do you agree with here? >> i agree that it was a correct assessment in 2011, richard.

to the extent that you can judge such social phenomena from a distance as a foreigner. the country was relatively calm. there was no significant terrorist or insurgent threat other than remnants of al qaeda which now there is a large movement we see with isis. what's changed is the iraqi government became more awe authoritarian and less inclusive in the two years since the american troops departed. more importantly, syria has become a destabilizing factor across the middle east. the effect of that have been seen in the last few weeks in iraq. >> the developments ayman mohyeldin described to us out of iraq, does it surprise you based on what you know of iraq, given the time you spent there? >> it doesn't surprise me, richard. on the ground, the situation militarily can change dramatically in either direction. right now as the president said

on friday, the isis people have momentum and the iraqi people are crumbling and retreating. we saw it in kuwait. i saw it in the iraqi army when i was there in 2004-2005. i have seen the other side crumble and retreat as well. we have to see in the days ahead what the situation will be and president obama are will have a series of decisions to make. >> what is it about iraqi troops when you bring up the string of crumbling, as you were saying? >> first of all, it's bad training. they didn't do much training after we left. that was a reason we wanted to keep troops. secondly, very poor leadership. prime minister malaki and his croneys make the decisions. the generals are chosen for loyalty, not combat experience. that kind of rot goes quickly through any military

establishment. military establishment exists to ask young soldiers to fight and die for a principle, a country, a leader. >> because of the crumble, ambassador, iran as you know has 500 troops helping the iraqi government now. republican senator lindsey graham said something interesting. a member of the armed services committee. listen to what he said this morning. >> we have to have some dialogue with the iranians to coordinate our efforts but put a red line to the iranians. don't use this crisis to take territory from the iraqi people. put them on notice that we will not accept their intervening into iraq for the purpose of creating a satellite state for iran. >> dialogue with iran. i was talking to colonel jack jacobs yesterday and he said you couldn't write a screen play with more strange turns to this. is that a real possibility that the united states works with iran given the israeli, iran

tensions which exist in the area? >> of course. we have worked with iran before on iraq. my colleague ryan crocker had conversations with the iranians. and let me say there were various quiet contacts over the the years. here's the problem. right now isis, as you are reporting is moving on baghdad. they can't take the city. they cut off from supplies which will have a destabilizing effect. iran would intervene. that's a short term military decision the president will have to make. if they don't it's the problem of a permanent problem of eye sis, a chunk of iraq and syria. that's a longer term problem. >> let me is ask you this. something you have probably heard from joe biden. should iraq be divided up?

>> iraq is on the way to dividing itself up by the actions of the kurds, sunnis and sh shia unless leadership in baghdad can be developed to bring the country back together and have an answer to isis. that's where we can play a role. that would require some kind of coordination with the iranians to make them realize it's in their interest. they understand that iraq needs to remain a unified state. >> great conversation. james jeffrey, thanks for stopping by today. i appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> coming up, popularity contest. why bill clinton is making headlines today. and taxi service or rogue drivers? uber is just one of the new ways to hail a cab with your phone. not everyone is happy about the idea. i will talk to the mayor of miami-dade county where they want the app drivers p put in jail. i spent my entire childhood seeing the world in reverse,

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it's a car service worth almost $17 billion, more than whole foods and campbell's soup. that's just uber. there is also lyft. they let users book a ride with a smart phone or computer. uber is in 38 countries. the competition isn't happy about it. in europe, drivers of traditional regulated taxis are mad that the tech giants aren't being forced to play by the same rules. miami is one of uber's new cities, one of 60 plus in the united states. south florida lawmakers got an earful from drivers saying their law breaking counterparts should be in jail. cars of the new services have been impounded and drivers fined. joining me is the mayor of

miami-dade county, carl jiminez. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> no doubt something that was talked about in restaurants and water coolers around the city and are country. when you look at these types services, why is your county holding them back from operating. >> there's been a longstanding strangle hold by the taxicab industry in miami-dade county for a long time. we have very old codes that regulate the industry. kind of regulate it to the point that it really stymies competition. that's what the reality is here. >> what do you want to happen in the end? >> i am sitting down with these companies. we are going to be proposing new regulations that open up miami-dade county to the 21st century. the codes today are 20th century codes. the people of miami-dade county

want different options. i'm on board with the with customer, not so much the industry. look, i think this technology is here to stay. these choices are inevitable and good because they give our customers, residents, visitors different choices, different mobility choices. i think it is good for us. i think it's the way to go. >> mayor, what do you tell the cab drivers out there that are saying, hey, the competition don't have to operate under the same conditions that we do. you can't let these services in because we now have to adhere to a certain system. >> i think we have to change the system. you know, the problem we have is because of a lack of comp the technician, we have an antiquated taxicab service, substandard service. most of the cabs don't accept credit cards. they're old. the service is substandard, to

be frank. we are a tourist town with a lot of tourists. >> great town. >> that's one of the main complaints we have is that our cabs -- you know are, when you get out of the airport you see our taxicab industry. it's not complementary. >> yeah. >> we need the comp technician. i need to level the playing field. >> right. >> they have -- >> how do you do that? how do you level the playing field for cab drivers around the country? i see what you're saying. all over different cities in this great country. how do you get cabs to have the same level of service? >> number one, the cabs themselves can join and have applications for themselves. >> right. >> maybe if you have a medallion and you have paid money for it, you are able to do certain things that uber or lyft may not be able to do. maybe you can sit at the airport parking lot waiting for a ride. go to a hotel. be hailed on the street without the application.

maybe those are things we can do here. level the playing field. at the end of the day it's up to the customer to decide what level of service they want. how much they want to pay. if they are willing to pay more then fine. they should have the choice. here they don't have the choice. as the mayor, i have to uphold the law. that's the law we have now. it ee's kuwaited and we need to make changes. >> mayor carlos giminez, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> coming up, a micro home experience. really micro. talk to the professor living in a dumpster. that one. yes, a dumpster for one year. it's part of the plan to create the most high tech sustainable micro living space in the world. it's today's big idea. i'm l-i-s-a and i have copd,

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leader eric cantor making a prediction in light of his own shocking defeat this week. >> i think the perspective of time will actually indicate something that may have seemed bad at the time can turn out to be really good. >> does the rest are of the party agree? coming up, the brain trust looks at what's next for republicans. and hillary clinton has been on a book tour all week pushing her memoir "hard choices." the former secretary of state telling a crowd there may be world leaders not happy when they read her book. what did mrs. clinton write about our foreign friends and foes? our partners at now this news look at examples. you use tide pods? yeah!

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welcome back. at least 15 people have been killed today in iraq as a wave of explosionses rocked the capital city of baghdad. militants there with isis have not yet reached the capital city. today an offensive to try to reclaim some of the outer lying territory between baghdad and other towns like tikrit. president obama remains in touch with the national security. other news, casey kasem has died. he became a household name after founding the american top 40 countdown in 1970. you remember that. he did the voices of shaggy on scooby-doo and robin on super friends. he had been suffering from

dementia before he passed away this morning in a california hospital. he was 82ment. a two-star general will lead a pentagon investigation into sergeant bo bergdahl's unexplained disappearance from his army base in afghanistan in 2009. sergeant bergdahl was with released from the taliban in exchange for five taliban commanders at guantanamo bay. philadelphia commuters can breathe easier today. mass transit service was restored after president obama intervened in a workers' strike and called for a swift and smooth resolution there. negotiations broke down between the workers and the transportation authority or septa as it's known in philadelphia on friday. the race to take the nation's number two spot for the republican party picks up steam on monday. the fly in the on it meant here, idaho congressman raul labrador and senator rand paul now sports him, too. eric cantor will vacate the

house majority leadership july 31 after his shocking primary loss. perhaps freer to comment on difficulty he had in his role, the congressman offered candor this morning on abc's "this week". >> there is a divide within our party. again, i hope that it is the way toward bridging the divide is through solutions. we have to demonstrate conservative ideas through limited government, creating space in the private sector is the answer to many working people's problems now. >> the washington post writes as republicans struggle to understand the electoral earthquake that cost con tor his seat tuesday the party confronts a paradox. it is dominated by conservatives more than any time in memory, rifen with divisions including over issues that barely

registered even two years ago. joining us, professor at the lbj school of public affairs at texas. david drucker and senior editor for reason magazine, peter sutterman. david, is this division growing, shrinking, dissolving? >> good question. i think the division isn't as big as people make it out to be when you consider that conservatives are trying to decide how conservative they should be. not moderate versus conservative. it's been leaderless for a long time. it's been a long time since reagan. george bush doesn't identify that the republicans don't identify with him. you have a party tying to recreate and figure out what it wants to be going forward. they are shedding some of the reaganite positions they have had on national defense and fiscal policy and keeping some.

>> it could be at least two years. >> i think it will be. >> we were mentioning labrador. what might he bring to the discussion? >> i think it ises showing that the tea party is alive and well. sure i was surprised cantor lost. it didn't come out of the blue. here on the ground, i see how powerful the tea party voice still is. we'll see the struggle. the interesting part is he's not for citizenship or finding a solution to immigration reform. his background is in immigration law. it's kind of a long shot. perhaps we'd see a discussion

about immigration. at least back on the table. >> a long bunch of days in front of us. who knows what could happen with lab are are a dor or anybody else. how could they seize leverage from cantor's loss? a tea party resurgence. >> democrats will seize this by not doing anything. they will let it play out and hope it causes a bunch of problems for republicans. republicans know that's what's happening. they will seek to make this as small a civil war as they can manage. and try to avoid the war part of it. as much as they can. that will be the tack democrats will take. not to exploit this by doing something but exploit it by letting it play out and seeing where it goes. >> what could they do though if they were to do? >> democrats can't do a lot other than point out how much it shows republicans, there is

nobody in control of the republican party so what democrats will say is it shows the party is not ready to govern or lead. republicans will say, look, we are in a transition stage. people aren't happy with obama,en aren't happy with democrats in many ways either we'll see how it plays out. >> the discussion we are having now, we are aiming for 400. mitt romney hosting a summit in utah, for instance. how to beat hillary clinton. here he is on "meet the press" this morning. i think her clueless comments about the bergdahl exchange as well as her record as the secretary of state are really going to be the foundation of how a republican candidate is able to take back the white house. >> david, in an election, if we haven't already moved on this, is it a meaty argument that

could be made against hillary clinton? >> there are a number of arguments they can make. the key for republicans is to nominate somebody that people like that speaks to the concern that is voters are have. that's been part of the problem republicans have are had. it was a problem in 2012. if they can nominate a fresh voice who has political talent that knows how to appeal to people and knows why he's running and can communicate that , they will be in good shape. >> it's not going to be the negative argument on the opponent which we often will see as we get closer. >> negative campaigning works. if you don't overshadow it with a positive message it doesn't do its job. >> eric cantor's primary opponent attacked cantor's position on immigration. here's cantor. take a listen. >> i have always said i'm not for the amnesty bill. i said i was for the kids who, due to no fault of their own, find themselves here and know no

other place as home. that can make people mad on both sides. i think it is the only plausible way forward in terms of immigration reform. >> victoria, do you see the hope of immigration reformer president, the discussion the of it happening during. >> i'm puzzled. i follow immigration closely. i teach immigration here at the lbj school. when you say immigration to me, eric cantor isn't the name that comes to mind. >> now it does, right? >> absolutely. i think this is a bit of a misnomer of attaching the fall of eric cantor to immigration. i saw the polling after the fact. so we are seeing this. immigration is coming back. you can't have 13 million people in a country living in the shadows and keep ignoring the

fact. >> whether or not you are associating juan tor with immigration, you have to look at 2016. right? >> the democrats are already on board. the republican party cuts to the heart of the division. >> peter, quick closing word? >>this is a fight for the soul of the republican party in a lot of ways. that's what you are seeing playing out. it will continue to play out through november and through 2016. the republican party has to decide who they want to be and what they want to stand for. >> wish we had more time. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> a new poll just out showing bill clinton topping the list of the most admired president in a generation.

the nbc wall street journal public policy center poll shows 42% of people surveyed picked clinton as the president they admire most. president obama follows with 18%. george w. bush got 17 and george h.w. bush got 16%. in the united states means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done.

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. ♪ if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. 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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we all know the austin real estate market is tough to afford these days. i paid cash for my home. i'll be living here for about the next 12 months. no property taxes. >> that was professor dumpster, as he's called. he wants to be the 1%. that means living on just 1% of water and energy average americans use, generating 1% of waste the average american does. he's testing his strategy.

it also serves as a classroom where wilson's students will spend a year making it livable and environmentally sound. joining us now, professor dumpst dumpster, jeff wilson, away from home. let's talk about it. you're living in a four by eight foot footprint. how? >> well, we took a standard dumpster, chose a dumpster for the obvious symbol of it representing waste and sort of the magical boxes where everything disappearses. yeah. it's a little bit of a lesson in the pythagorean theorum. i can't lie down along one edge of the 6 by 6 structure. >> that's what it is? >> it is. we did a major home expansion. it started at 33 square feet. we added a false floor for a 10%

expansion out to 36 square feet. >> because of the height you could put in a living space above with a little shelf or something. >> maybe a nice loft at some point, yeah. >> we have to get together to come up with ideas there. what percentage of energy and waste have you been able to live on? are you at the 1%? >> right now, we are. we're in the camping phase. this goes through three phases. we are not hooked into the power or water grid now. we are about to start the average american home dumpster. we'll use normal appliances at that point and probably get up to somewhere about half of what the normal average american would use. in the final phase, the uber dumpster in the fall is when we hope to get to 1%, the new 1% of water and energy. >> of the three phases what do you think will be the most difficult? >> definitely camping. this transition where we are now, i checked in the dumpster in the middle of the day. we are measuring temperature and

humidity. it was 116 inside, a little bit balmy at 70% humidity. we are looking forward to getting air conditioning in there. >> no doubt, my friend. austin summers are great for a couple of reasons, but not cool weather. what kind of students are you attracting to the project? what are they telling you? >> p we have a student group called green is the new black on our campus. from a broad variety of disciplines. the first time you hear about your professor wanting to live in an oversized trash can on campus, you will think that's a little bit crazy. >> nah ! >> once they find out about the project and some of the students stay in the dumpster on the one night a week i take off. then write and video blog about their experience. >> have you ever had the problem of almost getting picked up by the garbage truck? >>that is a fear. we have made the dumpster safe

so they can't pick it up. my neighbors get picked up at 4:00 in the morning twice a week. you don't sleep through it. >> you are on a college campus. be careful. one day you could find yourself in a garbage truck. >> we need to watch for that. >> thank you, professor dumpster. great talking with you. >> thanks, richard. i'm at your disposal. >> you have been working on that all day. >> see you. >> do you have a big idea that's making a difference? use the hashtag # whatsthebigidea. it was 22 years ago vice president dan quayle learned to spell "potato." he was visiting a new jersey elementary school and leading a spelling bee. he asked a young william fig du -- figueroa but he made the boy add an e which was wrong.

check out how almost we counted the experience a few days later? >> what was your are impression of the guy? what did you think of the man? >> i know he's not an idiot, but he needs to study more. >> he needs to study some more? >> yeah. >> do you think he knows how to spell the word "re-elected"? >> the vice president for his part claimed he was reading from an inaccurate flash card. coming up, you may know him as putkar from the wire. now he's playing the role of dad. he'll tell us why dads need to step up on this father's day and every day. ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ don't stop now, come on mony ♪ 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

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because everyone deserves a great night's sleep. know better sleep with sleep number. when noah asked me one day, what was it like when i was born, i could have answered, well, steven strausberg hung me a breaking ball and i slammed it to right corner.

but i think it is going to go so much farther that i'm the one that cut his imbiumbilical cord long after i'm a baseball. >> daniel murphy right there, the second baseman. new dad, he cause some flack earlier this year as you might remember when he went on maternity league and missed his team's season opener. in the weeks since he's helped lauj a larger conversation on role of fathers in american life. murphy spoke at the white house this week where other fathers participated in the first-ever presidential summit on working dads. the men spoke of a lingering stigma that dads who want to be involved in child bearing are often seen as the exception to the rule. joining me right now, craig cheney. if you're a fan of "the wire," you've seen him more. now he's promoting the real life drama of responsible fatherhood. father's day, to all the fathers out there of course, happy father's day. >> most dentally.

>> that's to you, my friend. you started this dedicated father campaign to encourage dads to just be present. what inspired you and what does that mean. >> what i did with the campaign was i created it in hip-hop music. it is a video that just basically encourages fathers to just engage more in their children's lives, as well as their family's. because our kids in today's world we live in, they're at risk. there's a lot things that they could get involved in on the negative side. but dedicated father is the continuation of a video called "fatherhood" that i put out in 2012 that actually caught national attention on b.e.t.'s "106 and park." i wanted to feature four generations, my grandfather, my dad, my son, along with myself. we shout it out at the legendary martin luther king statue. i also kind of point out in the lyrics when i met my wife 12 years ago, we're going on ten years of marriage. >> congratulations.

>> thank you, man. but when i met her she had an 8-year-old daughter. once it came time for us to get married now only was i making a v vow to my daughter saying i'm going to step up and i'm going to be there for you. i'm gay. just o to see my daughter now at the age of 21, she has her own place, has a job and she's doing great now. >> sounds like you've done a great job, my friend. i want to play a bit of "dedicated father" for our audience. >> thank you. ♪ the point i'm trying to make with the story let's go make a difference. dedicate. celebrate. fatherhood celebrate. ♪ each and every day you are there for your family at the drop of a dime ♪ ♪ we can make it through a storm no matter the weather." >> good looking family, man, by the way. when you were growing up and think of your dad as a constant presence, was he?

and did you realize that you were in the minority? >> i was fortunate to grow up with my father. along with, i can say, his dad which is my grandfather. what i seen growing up was just a hard working man. i was joking with someone the other day because when my mother decided she wanted to work, my dad was a little mad. it was always me, my mom, my dad and my little sister and he was used to taking care of us. just some hours i wouldn't even see him he was working so hard just to provide and just to set that example as a man for the family. now even with me having my own family, my wife and my two kids, it definitely helped me out a lot. it was the whole example of just standing up. >> trey, when did you realize you got that gift? >> you know what? when my son -- actually, when i met my wife, when i started sort of like engaging in being there for my daughter, and that's when

i realized i had to get. but my son, june 1st, 2006, when he was born, that's what hit me. and that's another reason why with this dedicated father movement and hip-hop music, i say i have to do something to put out that's going to be historical and is really going to stand out. it's been getting a lot of great, positive feedback. today, 5:00 p.m., it is airing on mtv jams. revolt tv is airing it at 10:00 p.m. it is on itunes, people are going crazy on twitter. the world is just really embracing it. i just want to tell the people, for me to be an unsigned, independent artist, like we can definitely change the world with a record like this. the record is on itunes for 99 cent. i just feel like with a song being out in the world and encouraging fathers to continue to there be for their children and their families, it is just a great thing. >> talk about this.

an issue that came up from the white house summit we brought up a second ago is that some fathers feel like they're too involved, they feel like it isn't their place to take time off work to be fully engaged. they feel stigmatized for that. how do you encourage them? >> well, my encouragement to them is, it is never too much when it comes to dealing with your children and your families. for instance, like i have a schedule where i'm a full-time artist, you know, but i do have the schedule set where i can take my son to school. >> you're saying make it scheduled and stick to it. >> you have to make the schedule and stick to it just because, like i said, there are so many other negative things that our kids can be involved in. but just being there for your kids, it's so important. >> great way to end this segment. actor trey chaney, also encouraging, a great father as well. thank you, my friend. that's our show. thank you for watching this

sunday afternoon. i'm in today for craig melvin. he's back next saturday at 2:00 p.m. eastern. before we go, we'd like to leave you with some special images from the first family. they're going some throwback photos to celebrate the day that they posted on twit dear. have a great father's day to all you fathers out there. better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

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