well, we're going to talk about that with marc lamont hill and ben ferguson. lly do crash sometimes. do you buy the irs commissioner's explanation for these missing e-mails? >> no. because it's not just one computer. they're saying that all of the main people involved in targeting conservative groups all of their e-mails and all of their servers and all of their hard drives they just happened to mess up. i mean, the irs expects you and i to keep seven years of our records in case they want to audit us. they couldn't even keep six months. and then even the backup files they say we're just missing them, and this is the classic washington cover-up. both sides, by the way, should be upset about this. democrats should because the irs should never be used as a political arm to intimidate republicans, democrats, independents or anybody else and that's exactly what some of them are doing and the e-mails must go to somebody that they want to protect and they don't want any of us to know who was involved in this. >> if the irs told you that your computer -- that your com

cnn political commentator and host ben ferguson on the right.alyst maria cardona on the left. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> maria, let me start with you. did we just see the end of the political battle cry we've heard for so many years, we don't negotiate with terrorists? >> no. i don't think so, christie. i think what we're seeing is this is no longer an easily defined black and white world. i think we can all agree that terrorists who are out to do harm to the united states don't really need any additional incentive to do that. they're out planning the do that as we speak. i think what we need to keep an eye on is how do we keep our sa sack row sank commitment behind and make sure our national security are taken care of. i think the administration did a good job here of balancing all those things and making sure that we can bring home our men and women who are left behind on the battlefield and at the same time working with allies like qatar to make sure our national security interests are moving forward. >> ben, did the u.s

joining me is ben ferguson and host of the ben ferguson show.ll berman, congressional reporter for the hill.com. and jeffrey toobin and leslie sanchez. unbelievable. came as a shock to just about everyone. first, ben ferguson. did anyone predict this loss? >> i don't think anyone definitely predicted it, but there were indications this was very possible in the last several weeks. when you saw ralph hall lose in a seat in texas. he was the oldest sitting seat in texas. they didn't they he was leading enough in congress. and he lost to, a lot of people said it was a no-name. and that's when a lot of people were like, holy cow, if that guy can lose after 30-plus years in congress, eric cantor can sure be the possibility of a loss. and i think he took his seat for granted. he did not do what he needed to do in his district. he cared too much about being a gop established republican. >> ann coulter had this to say about how immigration will affect the republicans going forward. take a listen. >> i wish it would have the effect of republicans waking u

. >>> we're talking with ben ferguson and mark lamont hill. a little bit of an advantage there without being able to see your face. let's focus more on president obama and the scandals swirling around his administration, members of corning have to run for re-election this year, the president does not. have these scandals given obama critics a golden opportunity to score some political points back home? >> sure, no doubt about it, you're going to see a midterm about it. there's not a lot of democrats jumping out there and looking to have the president come in and get on stage with him and put their arm around him, they know he's a liability. and so when you do feel -- and people feel the country's not heading in the right direction, they can't trust the administration, theyen cat trust the irs, it's very hard to turn that around after six years when you've been in charge, that's why you see the vulnerability by many democrats right now, they're not out there talking about healthcare.gov. now a lot of democrats are in a tough spot right now. >> m

joining us to talk about this is ben ferguson and mark lamont hill. good to see both of you. >> good to see you. >> good to be here. >> we have been reporting on the surge in immigrant children showing up at the u.s./mexico border. no parents. no adults. 60,000 to 80,000 unaccomanied children are projected this year to cross the u.s. border. jan brewer and others saying it's obama administration fault has caused this crisis by failing to enforce the country's immigration laws. is she right? >> no that is absurd. a piece that have that is true if we had different immigration policy we might have a different result and we need to do something on immigration. preside it's shameful for all presidents across the border and president obama included. this is present situation not happening because of president obama's immigration policy. we have seen a spike in his administration from up to 80,000 children in these facilities. bauls because of central american violence they are fleeing because people are dying there at epic levels and no matter how bad or mi

appreciate it, rosa. >> let's bring our panel back in ben ferguson and mark lamont hill.o know what rosa said there in terms of why these children are coming into this country. but, i mean, what do you do? what is the solution here? this is one case of many. >> yeah. one, this shows total incompetence by the administration. that they don't have a policy and why you're seeing it be such a disaster. i mean, putting people on planes, then putting them on buses, then dropping them off at a bus stop was a plan. i mean, the incompetence of that plan is beyond me. the other issue is you're putting these people's lives at risk when you're keeping them in this way and it also brings up another glaring issue which this white house does not want to deal with. as long as you have an open border and you do not secure it, these people will continue to come across the border which puts their lives at risk, their children's lives at risk, but as long as they think there is a pathway to america, they are going to keep coming like this and we don't have a plan of how to deal with them so i

cnn comment taters ben ferguson and marc lamont hill join me right now.entlemen, let's start with the big one, the so-called hob bill lobby case. justices going to decide if the obamacare law can legally require employers energy this care the hobby lobby, to offer contra acception to their employees. mark, how do you think the court is going to decide on this one? >> this is a tough decision. i would hate to be a supreme court justice on this one because hobby lobby makes a very compelling argument. again this isn't a first amendment question as much as it is a statutory question ultimately, they have to decide whether employers are -- whether corporations are individuals or whether their religious conscious and debeefs can be transferred to employees saying we don't want to cover abortions and cover emergency contraceptions. a dangerous precedent the supreme court would be setting if they ruled in favor of hobby lobby, because all of a sudden, all sorts of religious beliefs of employers could be used to deny statutory access to their employees. that woul

and cnn political commentator ben ferguson joins me, so ben, i see you smiling. >> i'm worrying abouted because we can't take that has a joke, right. i have tips on the new fall fashions, summer fashions and 25 miracle bras. so i mean, you can't joke about that, don, it is very serious. >> well, come on, is it a bit sexist, though, do you think? >> it is called a joke, i mean if anybody should be apologizing it should be the democrats and their picture who implied that real women are the only ones who actually read bills. if we're going to be citizens, if you imply that any woman who reads a fashion magazine is not a real woman, i think sometimes we should look at these things which is what they are, is a joke. which is a joke, it is funny. >> how sexist that two men are sitting here and a woman is sitting here, and we're not letting her speak for herself. so vicky, we spoke to him earlier. do you think there is any humor to this? >> i think you have to look at what the context is of the photo. we are on the house floor in the michigan state capital. and our job is to read legislation

so let's talk about the bergdahl deal with commentators ben ferguson and marc lamont hill. so national security adviser susan rice told our candy crowley today she doesn't consider this deal to be negotiating with terrorists. and the defense secretary agrees. listen. >> first of all, we didn't negotiate with terrorists. as i said and explained before, sergeant bergdahl is a prisoner of war. that's a normal process in getting your prisoners back. >> mark, the white house obviously very sensitive to the idea that the u.s. cut a deal with terrorists. will the president face any long-term repercussions from this, do you think? >> long-term, likely not, the catch phrase and the buzz word for the day to say negotiating with terrorists -- >> all right, we're having some trouble hearing marc. ben, let me ask you. is the president going to face tough repercussions here? >> absolutely. i think first from congress because there are a lot of congressmen who are upset that he didn't come to congress about this, first of all. and the other issue is the fact that people are trying to clai

i want to bring in cnn executive political editor, mark prince and ben ferguson and jess mcintosh joinshe communications director for emily's list. the president of that organization has often been floated as a potential director for a possible clinton presidential campaign in 2016. had to throw that in there get to you in a moment, jess. mark, your impressions of last night's town hall? >> ever any question, any doubt in your mind that hillary clinton was contemplating a run for president, tough go back and wtch that town hall. she staked out positions on guns, immigration, same-sex marriage, strict infivetives positions on iraq, iran and syria, all laying a groundwork that many of to us believe, i think that everybody believes she is going to run for president, but it was this moment last night that occurred right before she took stage, her motorcade was pulling up to the news seem where this event was being held. she got out and she approached a squirrel on the sidewalk. now the squirrel, it was a staffer sent there by the republican national committee and she handed the squirrel the

. >> i want to bring in dana bash, our chief capitol hill correspondent along with commentator ben fergusonnications director for the republican national committee, sean spicer. sean, i want to start with you. you have peter king coming out and saying ted cruz is a fraud. this is what is going on in your party. anger, nasty words. it's not a good conversation for the gop. >> well, i think we are a party that is growing and on the move. and we have room for people like peter king and people like ted cruz. the only way we're going to continue to grow as a party is if we have a lot of voices in the party that continue to reach out to different elements of americans that are frustrated with what is going on in american, that want to grow the economy, that want to reduce the debt. the one thing i would point out to you, erin, and thing is important to sometimes take a step back and say where are we. >> yes. >> and it's this. i think regardless of what happened last night, it's a republican district that will be held by a republican. and we by all estimations right now we sit at 233 seats in the