>> a powder keg for the region. >> you can't send them a pea shooter. >> we need to create a no-fly zone. >> i say until we have someone who knows what they're doing, let allah sort it out. >> the great news about getting into another war in the middle east, our next one's free. >> we've rushed to war in the region in the past. we're not going to do it here. >> the united states and russia in a showdown. >> as putin rears his head. >> the blood is on the hands of both parties. >> peace is not just about politics. it's about breaking down the divisions that we create for ourselves in our own minds. ♪ >> good afternoon. at this moment, all eyes are on northern ireland where the respective presidents of the united states and russia are holding a joint news conference following a much anticipated one-on-one meeting. while many topics from north korea to the boston bombings were discussed, one stands above

the rest. syria. each nation is now backing opposing sides in the syrian civil war. and it's that two-year conflict that is dominating the g-8 summit which began this morning. the meeting between the presidents of russia and the united states comes at a time when the civil war appears to be going against the rebels with assad's forces in a position too to take back the nation's largest city aleppo just weeks after of securing kussiair. 93,000 syrians have died in the civil war and the white house estimates that 100 to 150 have been killed by chemical weapons. advocates on both sides of the syrian question have found something to claim complain about in the administration's new policy. those arguing against involvement fear a slippery slope that ends in u.s. troops involved in yet another conflict in the middle east but pushing for greater involvement, those

pushing for greater involvement fear the white house is doing too little too late. >> last year, assad was isolated. he had very few friends. he was hanging by a thread. this year, he's entrenched with hezbollah, iran and russia stronger behind him than ever. i think our goal should be in the short term to balance the military power and providing small arms won't do it. >> for the latest on the obama/putin meeting we go to nbc's chuck todd live with us traveling with the president. good afternoon, chuck. >> reporter: good afternoon, martin. >> i've just been watching some of that press conference, and they appeared to have covered an immense amount of territory from north korea to iran, but most importantly on syria. what did you glean from this meeting between these respective presidents on syria? >> first of all, it went two hours.

about 30 minutes more than scheduled. i think the most important thing is what wasn't said. putin today versus yesterday. yesterday with david cameron, he was almost lecturing the west, talking about the west having blood on their hands if they go through with arming and getting involved with the civil war. today, perhaps just as disagreeable on this issue but not using any of that rhetoric publicly, talking about the idea that both sides have the same goals here, would like to see a little solution and that both sides are supposedly going to force everybody to geneva to start negotiations. now, again, it could all be happy talk, it could all be polite conversation as not to be saber rattling. but the fact that the language change simply in the last 24 hours is something you can't help but find as noteworthy. >> indeed, chuck. president putin said all of us have the intention to stop the violence in syria.

do you think he means that? >> he did, and -- well, you know, we can't look into his soul as other have used before. but i can tell you this, martini know what is my understanding what the u.s. was saying in this bilateral to him, what an administration official told us was that the case they were going to make to putin was hey, you're betting on assad. assad's not going to last. maybe he lasts another year but he's not going to be a partner for you for the long-term. if you still want to have influence over syria, if you still want that access to the mediterranean, why don't you bet on a political solution, bet on maybe the assad regime, help that will survive but. push assad out. one of the points that the president obama i was told was going to make to him, they're not saying they want the entire assad regime to be totally shoved out here, that they're

somehow taking sides in a sunni/shia war. instead they're saying assad has got to go, and then there needs to be a political solution because if there is not that, then at some point, the only victor here going to be the extremists on both sides. that's not going to help anybody. >> let's listen for a moment if we can to the president of the united states who is just speaking on this issue. here he is. >> with respect to syria, are we do have differing perspectives on the problem but we share an interest in reducing the violence, securing chemical weapons and inning that they're neither used nor are they subject to proliferation. >> so there you had the president, chuck, saying that we share, we share a resolve to resolve the issue by political means. >> well, that's this whole idea,

this is what john kerry was going to push when he went to moscow and they thought they were close to something getting his counter part in russia, lavrov to agree that they would essentially convene this meeting to force this political solution, start a negotiation between the opposition, the 340d rat opposition and folks representing the assad regime. the precondition here is assad leaving and that still is the -- that still is the most unresolved part of this issue. >> finally if i may, chuck, account president also talked about opening a dialogue with iran following the election, of course, that's just happened. he said he was optimistic about opening that dialogue. do you know how he plans to do that? >> it's my understanding at first, it's still going to be done through something called the p-5 plus one, a group of european countries, russia plus the united states, that have

been sort of a five-way, six-way talks with the iranians. that's always been the precondition to have those negotiations about iran's nuclear program. from what i understand the u.s. position is going to that those conversations need to get going first. united states is not ready to say that somehow iran has earned the right to have one-on-one negotiations, things like that, that the president's going to proceed with caution here, that he sees the vote as a good sign, that the iranian people are speaking out, but he's by no means to sort of empower the new leader with this idea of elevating him to one-on-one status with the united states. >> nbc's chuck todd. chuck, thanks so much indeed. >> you got it, martin. >> now let's bring in democratic congressman peter welsh of vermont who sits on a subcommittee of homeland security and has recently traveled in the region. welcome to you, sir. i want to show you if i may the latest poll numbers from pew research. it shows 70% of people, 70%

oppose sending arms to syria. what's your analysis of arming the rebels? >> i support the president's restraint on military action and i don't think we should be arming them. and i support the aggressive efforts for diplomatic approach. you know, what's very tough here is that the suffering is enormous. i was in the region. i was in a syrian refugee camp and talked to kids who were burned and maimed and every fiber wants to take definitive action. but if we americanize this civil war, it's going to make things worse, not better. we send some arms, they escalate, the russians, hezbollah is already involved. it just increases the cycle of violence. bottom line here, this is a civil war. we have to learn our lesson. we think we can micromanage using military force. it didn't work out in iraq or afghanistan. in fact, the hard laborious work

of diplomacy is essentially what has to continue. and today we had some progress it seems with the direct conversation between mr. putin and mr. obama. >> well, except that the president did say that they have different positions on syria. but they've agreed that the violence has to end. but they do have different positions on syria, nevertheless. >> well, they do. i mean, russia is all in for assad or at least for syria. and the potential outcome here, the positive possibility would be that you know, elections are coming up in syria in 2014. if the syrians are given some opportunity to elect their leader and it's not assad and he's persuaded he doesn't have to run again, that's something that the russians may be able to support. who knows? but it's being explored. you know, the more we get in with american presence with, more and more arms, which then invites a response by iran and also by russia, it turns into two things.

one a proxy war that we've seen in the cold war and number two, it can americanizes that war so in the eyes of the middle east it the really helps the jihadists make the argument that there goes america again. as painful as this is, restraint i think is the right approach. that's largely what the president's been counseling. he's got to take the long view for this country. >> and yet, sir, we had michael o'hanlon from the brookings institution on friday on this broadcast. and he said that to do this right is going to require far more aid than the president has thus far signaled. take a listen to michael oh han lynn. >> put american boots on the ground as part of a multilateral implementation force, not an invasion force, like we had in bosnia, but in this case it would be more dangerous and difficult. i acknowledge that up front. we need to have other countries to be willing to do it. >> isn't that the challenge, sir? it's all very well saying a red line has been crossed.

we're going to send arms to the rebels. but as michael o'hanlon says, this is a much more challenging set of circumstances and will require far more than just weapons in the hands of rebels? >> well, that's exactly right. what mr. o'hanlon was renting was not so much an idea as it was a fantasy. there's no chance that the congress would vote to send american soldiers over there and make that kind of financial commitment so he can have a theoretical situation about what it would, quote, take. remember in iraq, the cabinet testimony was that that would cost -- we'd make money on the war. that was bottom line more or less what we were told in the begin. so americans have heard this song before and know it doesn't work. they know there's a lot of expense, a lot of loss of life and know we can't micromanage these outcomes. this is a civil war. it's tragic for syria. but at the end of the day, there's going to have to be some syrian leadership that will

ultimately takes responsibility for that country. our country and russian with this discussion with putin, let's hope that we can be constructive and help bring people to their senses. but the idea that we can micromanage and turn this into an americanized civil war that we control the outcome i think is a real stress. >> let's hope the meeting today between the respective presidents is a productive first step. democratic congressman peter welch, thank you, sir. >> thank you. new life in the push for more effective gun laws. first governor rick perry of texas shares his considered analysis of the attack on an american embassy in benghazi. or was it beirut? >> i fear that where we've come to in america where our administration won't make one phone call to save our men and women in an embassy in lebanon. >> whoops.

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the city of chicago has given us 41 more reasons doctor why the national conversation on gun safety must continue. between friday and father's day, no less than 41 citizens of the windy city were struck by bullets. an outbreak of violence that left seven dead. and abruptly spoiled headlines about a recent decline in the city's notorious homicide rate. gun violence in chicago like the rest of america remains a clear and present problem. and six months after that horrific shooting at sandy hook elementary school, there is a renewed effort to pressure congress into action. gun control advocates have launched a 100-day 25-state bus

tour to keep the conversation about background checks alive. this as the white house and vice president joe biden will host an event tomorrow in the hope of breathing new life into gun safety legislation. joining us now is democratic congressman joe courtney of connecticut. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon, martin. >> you met with members of the newtown action alliance last week which as you know includes some of the victims' families from newtown. how real is this renewed effort for gun reform after such disappointment following the failure of that background check bill? >> i think it's very real. you know, as part of the gathering that i attended, harry reid was there who obviously is the gatekeeper for when and if this revote takes place. and he showed in my opinion, steely determination that this measure is going to be revisited and that it's not going to be a,

you know, ugly watered down version that in fact, it's going to maintain the principles of the original bill intact. and again, we had an impressive turnout from families from newtown who came to washington, d.c. who fanned out obviously in the members' offices in the senate that are key votes that we need to switch and actually have now begun actually even working on the house side which again is going to be, you know, over the horizon but obviously a necessary part of getting these done. these people when they come are the most powerful advocates you could ever imagine. i mean, these are smart, be reasonable people, victoria soto's sister who is there who could be anyone's daughter who is a sitting member of congress, you know, they have already bent over in terps of compromising what their wish list would be in terms of a gun violence bill and

there talking about trying to have congress do its job which is to legislate and compromise which is really the structure of our system. i think it was a very successful visit. >> is it your view, sir, that the program of disinformation that was run by the nra where they were suggesting that there was going to be a registry for gun owners and oh son, has this campaign been able to push back that kind of disinformation, basically the spreading of falsehood and lies about this legislation? >> well, certainly the polling seems to be steady as she goes in terms of the public's support for what i think most people think is common sense, that we should have comprehensive background checks at time of purchase and application for gun precipitations so that people with criminal histories and mental illness are not allowed access to firearms, something which justice scalia recognized in the second amendment case,

was totally consistent with second amendment rights. so at this point, maybe within the hard-core of their membership who get this unrelenting messaging, it may sort of stick with them. but i think again the broad public still i think aghast that the senate and the house have not moved quicker to deal with something that i think again most people recognize as pure common sense. >> yeah. and most people also recognize that if students loans go up in about two weeks, they'll double from the current i believe 3.4% interest rate to 6.. and are you trying to do something about that, as well. again, it's been difficult to do anything in congress. are you optimistic about preventing student loan rates from doubling in two weeks? >> well, last thursday i filed a discharge petition to get consideration of a bill which will protect that lower rate for two years. within 24 hours we had 186 members of the house sign onto the discharge petition. student groups from around the

country are going to be coming into washington to continue the drum beat. again, this is an issue which again has broad cross section appeal across the country because people understand the crushing costs of stupid loan debt which affects middle class families by the tens of millions. again, woe in my opinion be the leadership of the congress who blocks this in esh and makes up in july with these rates doubling. kid are now making decisions about enrollment for next september. we need to act right now. >> congressman joe courtney, thank you, sir, so much. >> coming up, no surprise that marco rubio is sweating. but what does that mean for the future of immigration reform? >> the only way i know how to fix problems to get involved in trying to fix them. >> but directly to answer that question, are you being played by the democrats? is chuck schumer playing you is

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stay with us. sarah palin is back in today's top lines. >> immigrants are more fertile and they love families and they have more intact families and they bring a younger population. >> i think it's kind of dangerous territory, touchy territory to want to debate this over one race's fertility rate over another and i say this as someone who is kind of fertile herself. 14 clubs.

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who seek a peace of their own. >> the president welcomes a public debate. >> beyond these shores right now in scattered corners of the world. >> a powder keg for the region. >> we have to find the right balance. >> we have to strike the right balance. >> our policy is not working >> we will not keep ourselves on a pert pettule war footing. >> you can't simply send them, you know, a pea shooter against a blunderbuss. >> we will not keep ourselves on a perpetual war footing >> the whole region is about to blow up. >> i'm deeply suspicious, obviously. >> in these radical islam iic countries. >> that's not a place where you want to go. >> both sides are slaughtering each other. i say let allah sort it out. yes, officials lied and government spied. >> this is a righteous program, it's a good program. >> this is a lockbox. >> only phone numbers, no addresses. >> i poirt it. >> our government spied on every single one of your phone calls,

but it couldn't find two pot smoking deadbeat postonians. >> i don't know what that means. >> i think we can relate this back to education. >> really. >> a fifth of americans can't locate the u.s. on a world map. >> and in benghazi, government lied and americans died. >> quite frnk frankly, don't know what that means. >> dinosaur flatulence. >> immigrants are more federal tile and they love families. >> we've had enough bushes. >> it's kind of dangerous territory to want to debate this over one race's fertility over another and i say this as someone kind of fertile herself. >> let's get right to our panel. joining us is angela rye, a principal at impact strategies, professor james peteren zrekter of africaner studies at lehigh university and jonathan capehart of the washington post who just rushed from the set of "the cycle." leave aside miss pail lip's

fertility for a moment, the united states is already providing something like $15 million in humanitarian nonlethal aid to syria. but when you listen to her, is she suggesting there's no reason to get involved in that nation as long as muslims are killing each other? >> i mean, judging from the clip we just saw and from what i've read, that's what it sounds like. when you say let allah sort it out, as we were talking about, that's highly inflammatory for her to say that. and some of the other things that she said during that speech. you know, she -- governor palin when she speaks, she's always snarky. it's as if that's the only rhetorical speed she has. she's never spoken seriously about anything, any of the serious problems facing this country. think of it, she was the 2008 vice presidential nominee for the republican party. she was a leader in that party. >> yes. >> where are her thoughts? where are her ideas? and she's still pretending to be

a leader. at this point, i look at the things that she says, yes, they're inflammatory. at this point to my mind, she's just entertainment. i can't take her seriously at all. >> angela, recent history tells us whether it's burning the koran or mocking the religion, making inflammatory comments about islam is not sensible. what does sarah palin hope to achieve by this, aside, of course, from confirming her position as the dunce of the decade? >> perhaps getting her yet another spot being mocked on "saturday night live," martin, since she wanted to use one of their skits. i think there's a real problem here, and that is the oversimplify indication of our diplomatic efforts, of our national security and making fun of the plight of people who have been harmed, been gassed. that is a prowse issue. and the fact that, again, to jungt's point she continues to make jokes about it, make light about it. she talked about allah agbar in

her comments earlier which means god is great. she was trying to be funny but walked herself right back into that, you have a tremendous issue. the fact that she would make light of something that is a huge decision for our president to make when he's trying to decide whether to arm the rebels is really unfortunate that even here we can't see a bipartisan solution and approach to this. >> professor peterson, jonathan said she's snarky. angela rye says it's unfortunate she makes no sense. isn't it more serious than both of those terms convey? >> well, it is. in some ways because remember, although we don't really take her too seriously, those of us on this panel, she does have a large following. martin, what you're getting at here is that this can be used as a sound bite around the world to represent the ways in which americans think about islam, which is a sad thing. first of all, it obviously it

gets to the point of we have a million or more american muslims. it's disrespecting large groups of people. >> many of whom, by the away, serve in the united states military where they are right now. keep going, professor peterson. >> at the end of the day we have to understand what this does politically. i've got to be honest with you. i am not in favor of any kind of aggressive military intervention in syria. i don't want to see boots on the ground. the humanitarian aid is great, but this kind of language from someone like sarah palin also feeds the aggressive military industrial complex. so those of us a little bit more hawkish in this country will be ginned up by this kind of language around syria and what's going on. that leads us down the road of war. >> jonathan, speaking of what the professor has just referred to, we have to bring in the great dick cheney who reared this his head this weekend. obviously he's amply qualified

to discuss these matters. here he is talking about president. >> in terms of credibility, i don't think he has credibility. i know one of the biggest problems we have is we've got an important point where the president of the united states ought to be able to stand up and say this is a good program, it's saving american lives and i support it. and the problem is, the guy has failed to be forthright and honest. and credible on things like benghazi and the irs. he's got not credit be the. >> john, just so i can get this straight. you heard what he said about honest and forthright. the guy who so would the envision of iraq on the basis of nonexistent weapons of mass destruction is now the world's authority on presidential honesty and probity. >> that clip is the very video definition of rich. the idea that vice president cheney, who has probably the lowest credibility rating an probable rating of anybody in the bush administration lecturing the president of the united states on what it means to be credible about what it

means to be a leader and honesty is just breathtaking. absolutely breath taking >> angela, what's your reaction to the great dick cheney there? >> first i have to say, martin, i laughed and totally agree with john na than. that's ironic here is is this man who shot his friend in the face so the king of friendly fire who has comments about the credibility of our president $800 billion later after the iraq war is talking credibility there. he supports the president but says he's not credible. the only thing i can say to you is that this is what dick cheney should do about credibility. zip it. >> right. professor peterson, speaking of the nsa controversy, jonathan edward -- edward snowden gave an exclusive interview to the guardian" today and asked what he thought of dick cheney calling him a traitor. mr. snowden said that being

called a traitor by dick cheney is the highest honor you can give an american. pro fes or. >> this is the moment in american politics where there are too many.sprang bedfellows to account for mere. someone like dick cheney doesn't have a lot of accountability in calling anyone a traitor. if we look at the kind of things done in the bush administration and the lack of transparency, what snowden should have said what would have happened to someone like him in the bush administration? is that would have given us more insight into what's really going on here. although people will have a heyday with the scandal, the kind of conversation that we are having right now about these leaks and the ongoing sort of investigations, those kinds of things didn't happen in the bush administration. so at the end of the day, cheney was the guy controlling those things. and so i wish snowden would have been more insightful what would have happened to someone like him in the bush/cheney

administration. >> i don't know if i can say this word, but this pissing match between cheney and edward snowden is unbelievable. we've fallen down the rabbit hole. i wish snowden if he is standing by his convictions, why is he having this pissing match with dick cheney in hong kong and not the united states. >> that's a very good question. thank you so much. coming up, immigration reform is most certainlily getting hot in here, isn't it, mr. rubio? what are you doing? oh, hey. using night-vision goggles to keep an eye on my spicy buffalo wheat thins. who's gonna take your wheat thins? i don't know. an intruder, the dog, bigfoot. could you get the light? [ loud crash ] what is going on?! honey, i was close! it's a yeti! [ male announcer ] must! have! wheat thins! honey, i was close! it's a yeti! anbe a name and not a number?tor scottrade. ron: i'm never alone with scottrade. i can always call or stop by my local office.

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luckily an emt gave me a bayer aspirin. i don't ever want to have another heart attack. i'm on a regimen of bayer aspirin. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. be proactive. see your doctor. senator marco rubio has been asked a simple yes or no question about his immigration bill. it's not a complex question. it's one that any politician with his name on the bill should find simple and straightforward. so let's have the question. >> i have a basic question for you, senator. do you support your own bill?

>> well, obviously, i think it's an excellent starting point. i think 95, 96% of the bill is in perfect shape and ready to go. there are elements that need improved. >> joining us now is victoria defrancesco, soto an msnbc contributor and ari melber, my colleague and co-host of the "cycle." was that a yes or a no. >> i couldn't tell. it might have been 95% on its way to a yes which is such political speak. well, if it's 95 or 9.why can't you say yes. >> he wrote the bill. >> a good chunk of it. the way he's been acting has led a lot of people, no the just progressives but just general nonpartisan observers to say it doesn't seem like he knows what he believes or is putting politics above the policy. chuck todd said it's no longer a gang of eight, it's marco and

the gang of seven. that's probably a bad title for a rock band and definitely bad for him to be breaking off like this. >> victoria, let me play you what senator lindsey graham said about this bill and the future of the republican party. take a listen. >>. >> if we don't pass immigration reform and get it off the table in a reasonable -- it doesn't patter who you run in 2016. we're in a demographic death spiral as a party. >> a democratic death spiral. vickie? >> he gets it. lindsey graham gets it. if you notice he said 2016. and the problem is, when we get to the house, members are only looking to 2014. they have a very short sighted is view of politics. and a lot of them are geographically insulated because of redistricting from 2010. even though in the long-term, 2016, it is a death spiral they're looking to what's in front of them. this they canning it survive to 2014, they'll cross 2016 when

they get to it. that he just going to focus on conservative constituencies. >> dana rower backer as you know, a republican congressman from california, says rubio is using, and i'm quoting him, weasel words on immigration. what are the odds that as the knives come out rubio shifts? rubio basically disowns the bill? he's moved from 100% to 95. >> let me propose a different analogy. he may end up being the john roberts of his party. when the chief justice came out and said i'm conservative but there's no way around it, obama care is constitutional, his own people attacked him so much that you know, it seemed to make him pull back and say who am i in bed with. i think there's a real peril here for the hard-core conservative right not credible on this issue to go after someone who yes, by the way, i'm not afraid to say it, is one of the few latino minorities in the party, willing to work with

these guys, willing to do outreach and i give him credit for that in the past and they attack him like this, are even when he's trying to get some of their border security kurt stuff in. i think they risk alienating him not unlike many of the voter who's associate with him because they want to know at the end of the day, put the triggers and the technical words aside, are you going to work in good faith to deal with immigration and in good faith with the latino people in this country who want a path to citizenship or are you going to be as rude to them as you're being to senator rubio who has been trying to work with you. i think this is convoluted and carries peril for them. >> the supreme court struck down an arizona law that requires peopletom submit proof of citizenship when they register to vote. is this a major victory for voting rights in your view? >> it is. what we're seeing we're chipping away at those backdoor polltachs. we saw in the leadup to the 2012 election, there was an onslaught of those rights of voting.

here in texas, we saw ta fight. with arizona, i think it's a very strong precedent going into the 20148 primary season and then in the 2014 general election. so absolutely. i think it's also symbolic that arizona has gotten such a bad rap for being very xenophobic with regards to immigration and the treatment of minorities and the fact that this was repelled in arizona says you know what? if the most conservative of the states can block this we have a good sign in front of us. >> it's very encouraging particularly with sheriff joe also maligned for his attempt to racially profile. victoria and ari, thank you both so much. coming up, the impact of austerity economics on full display at the g-8 for all the world to see.

vo: i've always thought the best part about this country is that we get to create our future. you get to take ownership of the choices you make. the person you become. i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. the ones getting involved and staying engaged. they're not sitting by as their life unfolds.

and they're not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is "how did i end up here?" i started schwab for those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives.

the issue of syria is understandably dominating proceedings at the g-8 summit taking place right now in northern ireland. but let's not forget the g-8 was originally established to focus on economic cooperation and performance. and thanks to the president's leadership, economic performance is much stronger in the united states than it is in many of the world's other leading economies. joining us now is jared bernstein of the center on budget and policy priorities and a former top economist to advice joe biden. is this not a good moment for us to gave thanks that congressman paul ryan has not been in charge of the american economy because if he had been, it would resemble those at the g-8 who have suffered triple dip recessions as a result of applying austerity? >> i think it is a helpful analogy. if you think about the impact of the of kinds of policies, austerity, that paul ryan and many other republicans stand for right now, you can see their economic impact by looking over

at europe. back in 2009, when there was a similar summit, a g-209 summit, the president went over there and explained we're applying fiscal stimulus pretty aggressively in our country and many of you should try to do the same. some of them took it up on it and their economies began to improve. then they pivoted to deficit reduction way too early and by the bit off this austerity idea to the point where you can just watch their unemployment rate reverse course and start to go up. now much of the eurozone is in recession with unemployment rates well in excess of 10%. >> look what they've got in terms of youth unemployment. youth unemployment in spain, 57%. greece 52%. that's a lost generation, isn't it? and isn't that what the president of the united states has actually been working to prevent from happening, losing a generation of young people? >> well, it's true. and in fact, in spain, the

overall unemployment rate is around 25%. youth over 50%. now, back in the u.s. great depression, great depression, we bemoaned an up employment rate that was that high. we're not talking recession anymore. we're talking depression for these countries. and again, if you happen to be so unfortunate as to start your economic life in an economy like that, even if things improve as they will down the road, that negative trajectory stays with you throughout your career. so it is generational in its impact and the most important thing here is that these are not policies that are dictated from any kind of thoughtful economics. these are huge policy mistakes that could be otherwise. >> it's amazing. to make that point, jared, i don't know if you know, but there have been fake shops put up in northern ireland to give the appearance of prosperity. we're showing them to our viewers now. if the government said no to

austerity, maybe there would be real shops instead of this shopping center there in ireland. >> look, martin, the way i see it, once you have to start papering over your closed shops to convince visitors to your country that your economic pos has worked, it's over, you've lost. i guess the question now is kind of, why isn't the dog barking? i think what we really need to see is an upswell of political active whyism from an elook rat that says are you kidding me? you're going to plymouth policies that are losing generational economic opportunity and paper over our shops to make it up? so you know, you kind have to ask yourself, where is thing ander. >> indeed. jared bernstein, thanks so much. >> thank you, martin. >> we'll be right back to clear the air. hoo-hoo.

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congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment.

it's time now to clear the air. and after two years of civil war, there are now some loud voices arguing that now is the time for the united states to take strong military action in syria. >> for us to sit by and watch these people being massacred, raped, tortured in the most terrible fashion, meanwhile the russians are all in, hezbollah is all-in and we're talking about giving them more light weapons? i mean, it's insane. >> it's a powder keg for the region. our policies are not working. ak-47s will not neutralize the advantage an assad has over the rebels. we need to do more. >> both of these senators are deeply patriotic men. they're also extremely critical of the president's lee lucktance to engage in yet another foreign

conflict but also illustrate an interesting manifestation of what patriotism now appears to mean in the minds of many republicans. you see during the last election campaign the president drew attention to the issue of patriotism but not as it relates to foreign policy. instead he wanted a new form of patriotism here at home. >> here in campaign season, you always hear a lot about patriotism. well, you know what? it's time for a new economic patriotism, an economic patriotism rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class. >> few people would dispute the desperate need for investment in this country. unemployment is still too high. the sequester is threatening to make matters much worse without even mentioning the physical environment. the american society of civil engineers in its most recent report card gives the nation's

infrastructure a d plus and the same organization estimates if roads and bridges continue to deteriora deteriorate, it will cost american businesses no less than $1.2 trillion in transportation delays, blackouts and brownouts and water main breaks. and yet, when the president tried to propose the american jobs act, which independent analysts said would create as many as 2 million jobs, boost gdp by 1.3%, would improve the nation's infrastructure and was fully paid for republicans wouldn't give it the time of day. so they would support the president if he ventured into another war, but they won't support him when he tries to do something for the nation at home. that's patriotism. care of the republican party 2013. thanks so much for watching this afternoon. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. before we get into