chuck. welcome to everybody. so, john, the president doesn't see a difference. do you? >> yes, i do. and one of the reasons that the president does not see the difference is that he has never been in private enterprise and none of the advisers around him, and look, comparing the government to what the corporations do, and the corporations have accounting that is transparent and if they will hear from the shareholders and they have to report every single quarter, and government does not. if you steal in the private enterprise, you will be prosecuted. if you do it in government, you label it pork and nobody says anything about it. think about this, how many people including the president of the top leaders in d.c. could run g.e. or amazon? but could jeff emmel or jeff bezos run anything in d.c.? yes, it means that the best in private enterprise is better than the government. >> and so this is a true comparison? >> well, i e appreciate the honesty, because he said, are things being wasted and h

one is while chuck points out. organized professional tea party teams may not have been in the district spending a lot of money. make no doubt about it. this is a case where a candidate in the form of cantor couldn't quite make up his mind. was he there or not? he didn't play a moderate republican. so you see where the republican party has gone. the republican party that is going to be active is who chose their nominee today. that means this halfway on each side isn't going to get a candidate where they need to be in their primary or in the general. halfway in. halfway out. it is a demonstration. by not really asserting leadership. you are going to find you will lose to the extreme of your party. if you don't exert your leadership and pick a path and go forward. >> chuck, i want to touch on the issue, he did not use the language of suspending, ending his campaign. from what we know about virginia law, it is technically possible, unlikely you can launch a write-in campaign. your thoughts on that and whether there is

one is while chuck points out. organized professional tea party teams may not have been in the district spending a lot of money. make no doubt about it. this is a case where a candidate in the form of cantor couldn't quite make up his mind. was he there or not? he didn't play a moderate republican. so you see where the republican party has gone. the republican party that is going to be active is who chose their nominee today. that means this halfway on each side isn't going to get a candidate where they need to be in their primary or in the general. halfway in. halfway out. it is a demonstration. by not really asserting leadership. you are going to find you will lose to the extreme of your party. if you don't exert your leadership and pick a path and go forward. >> chuck, i want to touch on the issue, he did not use the language of suspending, ending his campaign. from what we know about virginia law, it is technically possible, unlikely you can launch a write-in campaign. your thoughts on that and whether there is

. >> chuck, what do you think? often times businesses say when you throw regulations at them you cause uncertainty and make them not want to fire. >> it's going to come out of daddy's pocket, and we have a good case study here. there is nine northeastern states that came together and implemented their own cap and trade program and since 2009 they reduced emissions 27% and saw economic growth, so this can be done and if the renewle jobs are made in america and putting people in work, i can see a success. >> you talk about daddy paying for some of the regulations, but many of the businesses are small businesses and more regulations. with a does it mean to them? >> they have to raise the cost of the goods they are selling and your electricity bill is going up at home and the businesses as well, and they will pass it on. the biggest jobs that are going to be lost are the senate states of kentucky and west virginia and indiana and north dakota, and they had their jobs on the line and they will lose dramatically if somet

>> reporter: very similar thing, chuck. the difference is in this time the government is not allowing the press to go into the areas where these unaccompanied minors are being detained and processed. so we don't have a very good understanding of what exactly is going on in thee detention centers because we're not allowed in. so there are very many similarities. but, chuck, something else is happening here. it's not just that people are fleeing from violence in their countries. el salvador hasn't had all of a sudden an explosion of violence that hasn't been going on in this country for decade, honduras, the same thing, guatemala the same thing. something else is happening. and if you do the math -- i've been speaking to a lot of people who have been crossing over being chuck, i've been talking to a lot of people. here's the issue. if you want to go to let's say el salvador to right here, texas, if you want to go with the v.i.p. people, it's going to cost you about $9,000. if you do it on the cheap, it's going to cost you $2,

while eating chuck. he got dethroned while eating a t-bone. and he went down on the ground round. >> did you work on that? >> did you google meat puns? >> you know, i'm that transparent. >> did you really? >> cantor's polyester is about reliable as a chocolate tea pot. 35 points. this guy probably new coke was going to replace h2o. he's blaming the democrats, right? he's saying the democrats came and voted in this election. >> shocked across the board. how did they miss it so badly? >> this is not unusual. we've had people not take care of their people in their in their home states. he was constantly working on, as you say, becoming speaker or trying to be a national republican figure, and when something like that happens, people tend back home to get resentful about it. what he should have noticed the last time he had a primary, it was relatively close, and if you are a guy like that, you ought to be saying to yourself this might be a closer race than i think, he should have been back campaigning. the g

now it's time for the daily rundown with chuck todd. have a great day. >>> it's incumbent on you to vote. that's what thad cochran is hoping mississippi is thinking. and the same goes for lennox avenue, why charlie rangel is holding out hope. we'll talk to the under dog in oklahoma's senate republican race and dig in to how the governor's gun law flip flop is driving the colorado conversation. >>> plus some common sense advice for all those folks who make it to capitol hill. exclusive first look at the bipartisan battle cry for less fighting. two former senate majority leaders who did their own share of fighting. >>> good morning from washington. it's tuesday, june 24th, 2014. this is the daily rundown, your 2014 campaign election headquarters. first read of the morning, eight states go to the polls for primaries, runoffs and even in the state of florida, a very special congressional election to replace our cocaine friend. >>> later this hour we'll take a deep dive in the governor races in colorado and maryland as well, race in oklahoma

stick around now, because right now -- >> it's time for chuck todd. "the daily rundown" is next. >>> taking the plunge. one foreign policy crisis after another drags down the president's popularity in our new poll. and hillary clinton, she may be the democratic nominee in waiting, but she's far from being considered a shoo-in for the actual presidency. >>> plus, air strikes are off the table in iraq. top members of congress head to the white house today as the president moves closer to a decision on how to handle the current uprising. >>> and we're taking tdr 50 to the nines. missouri senator claire mccaskill will join me on what you probably don't know about title ix. good morning from new york city, wednesday, june 18th, 2014. this is" the daily rundown." we'll also get a rare look inside gitmo, the detention center at guantanamo bay, cuba. a packed hour of programming, but let's get right to my first reads of the morning and it centers on the new nbc/wall street journal poll. these foreign policy krieses of the last four month, from the civil war i

congratulations. >> thank you so much, chuck. appreciate it. >> do you believe your victory is all the immigration issue? do you say -- if people say, well, you won this on immigration, you would say yes or you would say, well, it's more than that? >> no, i think it's more than that. i've been trying to get it through to my local press. i give a stump speech that goes about 20 minutes, and immigration is a part of that aspect but i ran on the fiscal issues and the republican creed, which starts off with the main thing i'm interested in and that's a commitment to free markets. so then i went through them yesterday in the speech in brief, but the six planks in the republican creed are commitment to free markets, equal treatment of. >> -- of everyone under the law, fiscal responsibility, adherence to the constitution, and a strong defense and faith in god and strong moral character. that's what i ran on. amnesty at the end of a clear differentiator between myself and eric cantor. so it fits into the whole narrative and it also fits

i don't think that's what chuck hagel would have done. that's not the kind of man he is. we're seeing the approach he has here today which is different and i would suggest has been very helpful for the administration, the approach he is taking here in these hearings. >> let me go to our white house correspondent. you have been monitoring the hearings. i'm sure officials at the white house are monitoring what the secretary is saying and he does have his legal adviser who is with him as well. are you getting any reaction so far from officials at the white house? >> not yet. but i think it's worth pointing out, when the defense secretary said we could have done a better job of keeping you informed, that was not in the prepared remarks. so it's interesting to contrast that with the defenses that chuck hagel offered later in his testimony saying that the administration did the right thing in these extraordinary circumstances, as he called them, to not inform congress. he talked about bowe bergdahl's declining health. he talked about the potential for the entire mission to retr

. >> thanks, chuck. good morning. >> so what is the -- what do you say, is this just a statement that oklahomans don't like outsiders coming in telling them what to do or in the case of ted cruz they don't want a texan doing it, i half kid on that one. what do you make of the outside stars were trying to jump in with your primary opponent and it went nowhere? >> it's one of those interesting things, you talk about the great oxymoron when you talk about the national tea party. there is no such thing as a national tea party, it is grassroots or nothing. it is functioning within a state with the unique ideals and perspectives and values of that state. that's a basic thing among grassroots folks. they don't like being told who to vote for. they're going to choose who to vote for. so that will work out in the days ahead. as you mention all the time, campaigns do matter, candidates do matter and we get a chance to engage in issues face to face, it does make a difference. >> let me ask you a few things about th

defense secretary chuck hale.roversy over who had the final word on the prisoner swap that set five tastes free. is anybody taking responsibility? back with us again our political panel abc rick clan the national review jim garety and "wall street journal" editorial board mary kissel. to you first, rick, we know that "time" magazine has reported that president obama himself wanted to release five terrorists not once but twice. why is the white house backing off? >> it's going to have it get hard out. i think they are trying to should this in secrecy about the decision making process. thinking about it correctly and have to clarify the decision-making change of events. we know from reporting that there were those in the white house against it. hillary clinton even initially one of those but i think it's going to have to get hard out at some point. say listen we are not going it discuss what was going on privately. >> over the weekend though, jim, didn't the president say last weekend i would do it again and you hea

chuck todd coming up. chuck, take it away, buddy. >>> new conflict, old rivalries. washington travels back in time as politicians play the iraq blame game. >>> and secretary of state john kerry tells nbc that nothing is off the table. what does nothing mean? >>> follow the leader. it's election day on capitol hill. with just a few hours to go before votes are cast, the candidates for leaders shift posts, make their final pitches. >>> plus we're digging deeper into our new poll from immigration to climate change to education. the wide divide between the tea party and, well, everyone else. >>> good morning from washington. it's thursday, june 19th, 2014. this is "the daily rundown." also this hour, meet the man who's about to receive the nation's highest award for brave re, as we say farewell to another american hero. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. we begin in iraq. fierce fighting is ongoing at an oil refine rein the north and there are reports of deadly bombing in baghdad itself. the debate is still raging inside the white house as president obama

we are waiting to from chuck hagel.floor we will have to interrupt but in the meantime we will start the discussion here. immigration reform, amnesty, semantics, is it now taboo language? >> whether the language is taboo or not i am not so sure, but any comprehensive legislation have a stake driven through the heart, it is dead and it is not coming anytime. the message out of this in the virginia seventh district for the d.c. establishment, the only way to be more apocalyptic for them is if it turned to blood and frogs rain from the sky. there is a clear message to the d.c. establishment and republicans that their messaging simply isn't working and there is a grassroots focal point. arthel: i just had images of "vanilla sky" with that description. there is a very serious crisis at hand right now. you know about the flood of undocumented immigrants, mostly children, spilling across the borders. is the president hand forced to make executive authority to act on deportation? >> it may well be. the images we have seen from

>> i don't know chuck.en in law enforcement for 25 years and i've given many speeches to high school students and i don't think our country has ever suffered enough. what i mean by that -- >> i know what you mean and people are going to take that wrong but i know exactly what you mean. we have the collective -- >> i think the one question you said before i think we have to instill in our youth that number one, they must get a good education and, two, intermingle with the younger people of the rest of the world so that we can understand each other more or less. i travel quite a bit and i find that other countries are telling their children more of the history than our children are getting. >> i know what you mean on that. i want to bring in general barry mccaffrey courage jack jacobs. i want to get your reaction. you've been listening to this conversation, firsthand accounts. you've met a lot of world war ii veterans. general mccaffrey your sort of first response here. >> well, those interviews remind me my

defense secretary, chuck hagel.from all of us here at "bbc world news america," think if service -- thank you so much for watching. >> make sense of international bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, kovler foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles. [ female announcer ] fun together is the best fun of all. ♪ chuck e cheese's proudly supports pbs kids. and by contributions to your pbs station from: ♪ every day, when you're walking down the street ♪ ♪ everybody that you meet has an original point of view ♪ (laughing

defense secretary chuck hagel.en reported from nigeria the boko haram militants dressed as soldiers have killed 200 civilians in the northeast of the country. the group wants to establish an islamic state. this happened monday. an unnamed community leader who witnessed the killings said residents had been warned and pleaded for military to send soldiers. he said no help arrived. three communities of the local government district in borno were attacked in this incident also confirmed by security officials in the state capital. >>> the catholic church has told nuns they must cooperate with inquiry into the discovery of remains of 800 children in an unmarked grave. it was discovered 40 years ago, in the grounds of a former home for unmarried mothers. it was thought at the time that the children had died during island's great famine of the 1840s. research now points though to an incident to the 20th century. >> the virgin mary looks down on the spot where the mass grave was found. on the grounds of a former home for un

chuck, dave brat was on with you this morning. let me play a little bit of that with you. >> amnesty at the end with a clear differentiator between myself and eric cantor. it fits into the whole narrative, and it also fits into the narrative that eric just has not been present in the district. and he was out of touch on that one, instead of -- i was door knocking. i know what's on the mind of the folks. >> chuck, i was really struck by what you said last night. i think it was to -- i think it was to rachel maddow. what is the implication for everyone from jeb bush associated with the immigration issue, which he cares deeply, to rick perry, to ted cruz for 2016? >> look, that's the thing is that there's a potential populous wildfire on the right with the immigration issue. that's what david brat was trying to say. listen to the language he used, you have business community, you have major agricultural concerns, you have that wall street, you have the chamber, folks who are putting pressure from the sort of business wing of the part

chuck hagel will be the e ke ke witness and expect fireworks in the opening q and a. i'm chris jansing and we will get to that, but first a seismic shift on capitol hill this morning being felt. in the house of representatives in the republican party and frankly all across the country. americans waking up to the news that republican house majority leader eric cantor is out. that is a headline in his home district's paper in richmond, virginia. they probably thought they'd never print that. this is the first time in h history that a majority leader has been ousted. we are going back to 1889 when the houposition was created. he was not just beaten by david brat, but he was trounced by 11 percentage points. a man with a sweeping interest is going to have an impact. and we will talk about the immigration reform and the minimum wage and chuck pushed him on the other issues as a sort of welcome to the big time. >> i thought that we were going the go through the aspect of celebratory aspect, but my mind is just -- overall policy questions i am happy to do them all, but i wan

let me challenge on something you said to chuck today this morning.hether you believed in a federally mandated minimum wage. you answered by saying that wages can only keep up with productivity gains. you said only increases in productivity could be a marked justification for a higher income. i had someone check the numbers. you having a ph.d in economics will recognize what i'm doing here. you talked about the need for a longtime graph to show the increase in worker productivity, presumably what a worker is worth paying, to the increases in actual wages over time. well, i did just that. and this graph was produced by the economic policy institute. it shows the rising growth in productivity, it's the bold line there, going up almost 250% insistence 1950. and actual wages. that's the lighter line growing just a bit over 100%, over that period since 1950. well, you see the problem, dr. brat. the problem is, you're wrong. the correct answer is that productivity has grown 2 1/2 times as fast as wages, or if you want to put it this way, wages have only gro

let me go back to the time issue because you said that chuck cooper new and many people believed that it was important for the case to go slowly. because that would allow, that did happen, more states to recognize marriage equality. it would allow more prominent people from both sides of the aisle to come around and support marriage the quality. chad griffin and ted olson wanted to get their piece there, fast, and that they were frustrated. at one point you said chad wanted to scream went another, there was another ninth circuit slow down. >> guest: people was a judge reinhardt sa saved the case fore use of they were upset with the delay caused. >> host: and you actually say they wanted to keep the dough may cases to the supreme court. -- doma cases. i wonder why because i don't anyway thought it would be bad for the supreme court to hear and strike down doma at the same time addressing the issue of marriage equality for same-sex couples across the country. so do you think it was more ego? it doesn't sound like rational legal thinking to me. >> guest: yes, and let me kind of layout wh

chuck hagel calls bergdahl release a prisoner exchange, refers to bergdahl as p.o.w.re? >> got to close it to win the argument with would-be terrorists in the future. >> these are enemy combatants. >> we haven't called them that. >> they worry about defeating our civilization and they couldn't care less what we do. >> right, but this conversation continues. >> i agree with jane. i think he's got to close it. i think this whole situation sets an interesting precedent about when you trade prisoners and when you don't. that's got big implications. . >> this debate will continue. thank you. that is all for today. we're not here next week because of nbc's sports coverage because of the french open sports final. we'll be back in two weeks. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." >>> good monday morning. coming up on "early today," government crackdown. power plants and pollution control are in president obama's cross hairs today. >>> prisoner trade. could americans deal with the taliban to get our soldier back lead to broader peace talks. >>> atop christ's redeemer overlooki

chuck, you tweeted this.se a prisoner exchange, refers to bergdahl as p.o.w. the future of gitmo important here? >> got to close it to win the argument with would-be terrorists in the future. >> these are enemy combatants. >> we haven't called them that. >> they worry about defeating our civilization and they couldn't care less what we do. >> right, but this conversation continues. >> i agree with jane. i think he's got to close it. i think this whole situation sets an interesting precedent about when you trade prisoners and when you don't. that's got big implications. . >> this debate will continue. thank you. that is all for today. we're not here next week because of nbc's sports coverage because of the french open sports final. we'll be back in two weeks. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." >>> this week, this net founder on her new project and the world's biggest book seller puts pressure on publishers. we'll take a closer look at the am don fight. mplts our reporters of fortune this week press here. i

>> chuck, i really wanted to spend all my adult life in public service. and i so loved those years as lieutenant governor and the four years as ambassador, but we were frustrated and embarrassed by a dysfunctional congress that couldn't get things done, that was too partisan. so the opportunity, sort of the once in a generation opportunity to go and try to be part of the solution in congress and move things forward, was just too great to resist. >> now, how do you think you can do that -- you know, your primary has been a race to the left in the way that the seventh has been a race to the right. and i'm actually going to do a larger examination of that. do you think you can be somebody who votes in the middle, who somehow votes as a centrist, a compromiser, however you want to describe it, without worrying about your primary back, if you end up winning? >> well, i wouldn't frame it quite that way. i mean, i don't think ours has been a race to the left as much as it's been an effort to be authentic. you know, i've talked about climate change, the american

chuck, you tweeted this.l release a prisoner exchange, refers to bergdahl as p.o.w. the future of gitmo important here? >> got to close it to win the argument with would-be terrorists in the future. >> these are enemy combatants. >> we haven't called them that. >> they worry about defeating our civilization and they couldn't care less what we do. >> right, but this conversation continues. >> i agree with jane. i think he's got to close it. i think this whole situation sets an interesting precedent about when you trade prisoners and when you don't. that's got big implications. . >> this debate will continue. thank you. that is all for today. we're not here next week because because of nbc sports coverage of the french open tennis final. the preemptions of late. back in two weeks. if it's sunday, it's meet the press. >>> good monday morning. right now on "first look." government crack down, power plants and pollution control in the president's cross hairs. and could america's talk with the taliban lead to broad

>> well, first of all, i'd say a couple things about that, chuck. the first is each of those steps that you just named were part of an effort to give more flexibility to state governments, including some state governments that are led by republicans, to business owners, many of whom are -- i assume are republicans. >> but does it follow the law? >> of course it does, chuck. >> can you make the case that it's still following the law itself? >> absolutely it's part of following the law. in fact it is trying to make sure that this law works best. we're convinced that what we need to do is try to maximize the benefits of the affordable care act for state governments across the country but more importantly for businesses large and small and for families out there who are trying to get access and in many cases have access to affordable, quality health care for the first time. the fact of the matter is, chuck, that republicans are concerned about this. not because they're particularly concerned about the law, but because they voted against the legislation.

sergeant bergdahl in >>> enhanelled lawmakers grilling chuck hagel today. secretary hagel feverishly defending the bergdahl prisoner swap. >> this transfer dangerous precedent in negotiating with terrorists. first of all, it is very important, i believe for the white house to engage with congress. the law is the law. >> our operation to save sergeant bergdahl's life was fully consistent with u.s. laws and our national security interest in at least five ways. >> did you or did you not notify congress within the 30 day time frame yes or no? >> no. >> okay. >> no, sir, yes or no. >> we could have done a done a better job of keeping you informed. >> this negotiation has legitimized the taliban. the organization that safeguarded the 9/11 al qaeda per he 'traitors and ruled afghanistan through aatrocities. >> the president's decision to move forward with the transfer of these detainees was a tough call. i supported it. i stand by it as secretary of defense i have the authority and the responsibility as has been noted here. to determine whether detainees, any deta

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chuck, good evening. >> good evening brian. we haven't heard a clear explanation why the white house story changed today, other than chalking it up to media leaks, but the president himself is standing firm behind every part of his decision including keeping congress out of the loop. at the g-7 today the president again stood firmly behind his decision. >> i make absolutely no apologies for making sure that we get back a young man to his parents and that the american people understand that this is somebody's child. >> reporter: and he echoed previous statements that sergeant bergdahl's failing health was the reason for the secrecy and speed of the mission. >> we had a prisoner of war whose health had deteriorated, and we were deeply concerned about, and we saw an opportunity and we seized it. >> reporter: for his part, the president was dismissive of his critics and political fire storm that erupted. >> i'm never surprised by controversies whipped up in washington. it's important for people to understand that this is not some a

there's defense secretary chuck hagel.robably reading over his prepared statement, which he'll make minutes from now. of course he'll make that statement after statements from the chairman and other members on this congressional committee. okay. let's head to richmond right now and check in with joe johns and talk more about eric cantor's stunning defeat. you heard what dana bash said. eric cantor didn't pay enough attention to his constituents and that's why he lost. is that what you're hearing? >> reporter: i think that is very much part of the narrative here right now, carol. look, eric cantor is well liked in washington d.c. certainly well known there, known by colleagues on capitol hill. out here in the district though -- that's not discounting the power and influence of the tea party so many people have said the tea party was having real problems in this midterm election and this infuses new energy. that said, eric cantor clearly did not know what was going on here in his district. as you heard from dana, he was on c

i want to bring in chuck todd, host of the daily rundown on msnbc. know who i want to talk to tonight more than anyone? rick perry. rick perry has been there. he stood up on that stage in the 2012 republican primary, and he had to defend the university of texas giving in-state tuition to, quote, illegals, and lee got creamed. and right now he's watching this news and he's been where eric cantor has been. >> he has and he has seen the entire texas republican party be taken over by folks to the right of rick perry, particularly on the issue of immigration. look, the issue of immigration. we talk about this and i was glad to hear steve do this. we talk about the tea party and we think, oh, it's debt and all this stuff. what truly animates the republican base right now this election year is one issue. it's been immigration. when you need to sort of win in the end, when you see last-minute desperate attacks from somebody behind on republican primaries, it's always been on the issue of immigration. they drop the a-bomb, if you will, amnesty, and everything

and chuck todd, and you know you missed chuck todd.. i guess that chuck and i went after it a little bit and it was sort of separating you shgs, you know. >> can i do some news here. >> it is about the pinto? >> no, it is about the sweater. >> and what about you, easter egg. come on. >> i'm a girl. the culture of gm. >> and i dress like a girl. >> and now, come on, that is subtle. move on now. change on. and here switching the gears here. the culture of gm is under review after millions of -- >> are these bradley cooper shorts. have you seen the picture of bradley in the shorts. >> please, stop. >> we will show that coming up. >> now i am switching gears and you zip it. possibly more fallout as we go the gabe ute yarz live in michigan. gabe? >> good morning, meeika. in a little over an hour, the ceo is go g toing to announce the results of an internal investigation which is expected to detail major problems within gm's corporate culture, but i appears that the senior executive and the chief executive will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

i think that chuck hagel made a very strong performance today. it continues. i think that the house committee, the armed services committee, not surprisingly has taken exactly the wrong tact. most of the time it has been taken up by whether the administration denies the prif perks of congress in making the decision to free sergeant bergdahl. you president isn't that popular at the moment. his approval ratings are in the mid-40s. congress' approval rating is at 11%. i don't think many americans think congress would have done a better job deciding whether to free sergeant bergdahl or not. as luke said, we're talking about a separation of powers question. congress passed a law, the legislative branch passed a law limiting the powers of the executive branch. the commander in chief. when he signed that law, president obama made a signing statement saying, you know, this isn't constitutional. i'm not going to follow it at all times. and it turns out that's exactly what he did in the case of bergdahl. >> and the other point directed at these members of congress from

chuck, first to the putin/obama meeting. facts are scarce. we haven't heard guidance from either and the president has taken off and will be flying home. this was not, we think a substantive meeting. it was a chance to reacquaint and perhaps try to begin setting things right. >> i would argue the more important perhaps run-in today was earlier when putin had his first face to face with poroshenko. president obama had a lot of face time with poroshenko on this trip. and vice president biden -- the air force one and two will almost chris cross because he will be there for the inauguration tomorrow. one assumes or hopes that that was the substance of the conversation between president obama and president putin. we want this crisis to deescalate that everybody seems to want to give him space. so one would assume that this had to be the substance because it was longer than two minutes. it was at least a pull aside of seven or eight or nine minutes. there's a chance there was substance. they've been in their bubble because of the ceremony. >> speak

newsroom, chuck, thanks. >>> overseas tonight, a big story got bigger today. this is happening with unbelievable speed. the government of iraq is in a state of shock because of violent islamic group has launched an invasion, takeover or major cities and territory. they've seized army facilities, including some american-made equipment and armaments. the iraqi military retreated where this group swept across the country. they also control parts of neighboring syria. they have taken some big cities in iraq with them, including mosul, tikrit, ramadi, and fallujah so far. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel who lived in iraq and covered the war for years, has our report. >> reporter: the iraqi government is losing control of large parts of northern and central iraq. some iraqi security forces are fighting, but most appear to be stripping off their uniforms, leaving them in the streets, and abandoning their posts, weapons and vehicles. they are retreating from islamic extremists, who today, consolidated control of iraq's second largest city mosil and advan

the defense secretary chuck hagel admitted that the administration mishandled some parts of the deal,ut defended the overall decision to make the exchange without notifying congress and make clear the decision came from the top down. >> we didn't handle some of this right. we could've done a better job of keeping you informed. >> 's decision to move forward with the transfer of these detainees was a tough call. and i supported it. i stand by it. lou: my next guest, press secretary chuck hagel on whether the military will put american lives at risk in exchanging those five taliban terrorists for sergeant boberg all. >> if they rejoin the fight, they do it at their own peril. >> the question is a pretty simple one. would we put american lives at risk to go after them? >> i understand that. my question is, will we put american lives at risk to go after these individuals if they rejoin the fight? >> well, yes. >> joining us now is randy forbes with the house armed services committee. are you satisfied with what you learn from the secretary today about the exchange? >> yes, we were satisfi

maine has enormous, enormous challenges, chuck.nity. >> what is -- so give me an example of something where you would be able to govern and say this is this republican idea i like and this is this democratic idea i like and this is why i'm going to be able to do something like this, because michaud or lepage can't do that. >> property taxes are going through the roof because governor lepage has basically shed his responsibility to come up with budgets that work. >> that usually happens. i've seen it in every state. gridlock or some decision to cut taxes. >> the responsibility goes to cities, counties. >> yeah, yeah. >> i've said we can have property tax relief 20% to 30% lower property tacks in maine. we can replace that revenue with a modest increase in the state sales tax. we can use that money to fund public education and return more money to towns and cities easing the burden on property tax. that's a combination of some republican ideas, traditionally, tax reform. and democratic ideas, which is investing in public education. >

i wanted to ask you chuck, let start, why do you think this has happened over time?ll, i mean, sort of a code of left leaning editors have taken over the super hero area of mainstream comics. >> and you have been writing comic books for years. do you think that over time, because the printed, comic book version, but now there is the possibility of a hollywood blockbuster, do people get -- maybe the writers got seduced a little bit by hollywood? >> no, i don't think so. because the movies for the most part don't reflect what's going on in the comics. there is no radical term toward any kind of political agenda in the movies. but in the comics there certainly is. >> paul, have you noticed that, too when it comes to reception to your work? >> sure. i have noticed a really big change since the comics of my youth. and there is a much of a conservative voicing mainstream comics. and, in the fill graphic novels it's somewhat same. although there is a couple of exceptions. we just released a graphic novel edition of amity slay's best seller forgotten man graphic edition. a 3

>> so chuck reed has been in office for eight years.y will be trying to get the fiscal house in order of san jose. san jose like many cities in california have been dealing with the aftermath of the great recession. so trying to figure out a way to maintain services but also cut costs and one of the big costs in san jose has been the pensions and so he has gone to try to reduce the pension costs, retirement costs for the city. that's really been the fundamental issue that's been at the center of the campaign. >> how do the candidates split on that? that brings in the question of the unions. >> so four of the candidates who are on the city council who are running for mayor are supporting what reed has done. that is continue to support measure b which right now is tied up in the courts, at least parts of it are. dave cortese, the only member not on the council, he's a supervisor on the board of supervisors, he has run against measure b saying it was misplaced. so he is running a race that really sets him apart from the rest of the candida

>> chuck todd from the white house north lawn tonight to start us off, chuck, thanks. for reaction to all of this in baghdad, which, remember, remains tense with these isis forces now within striking distance, we go to our chief foreign correspondent richard engel who finds himself back in baghdad these days. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. people here in baghdad certainly welcomed this. this city is tense. there's a curfew in place. there are checkpoints across the city. many people are worried that isis could invade or at least send car bombs here. they want the u.s. bombing now, and make no mistake. this is a u.s. military intervention. they are not american boots on the ground, but these advisers are going to be working with the iraqi military, guiding the military, picking targets, helping the military to take back the half dozen or so cities that have been taken by isis. the issue is the u.s. isn't the only country doing this. there are already iranian advisers on the ground doing almost exactly the same thing, working with the iraqi army

chuck hagel is a former sergeant in the military. u.s. doesn't leave people behind. there are branches looking for servicemen from the vietnam, korean war and conflicts before that. this is a very important issue this the american military. of course the exact circumstances of this particular soldier's disappearance, well that is in a sense an important but separate issue. >> okay jonathan. thank you very much. >>> well, chuck hagel also spoke about ukraine on the same day president obama met six fellow heads of state. president putin is the one leader not invited to that summit which was the g 8. the u.s. secretary says it has ignited. >> a senior team in ukraine this week working with administer of defense and his people on how we can help continue to build their capacity, train, cooperate, assist, economic assistance. there are many channels of assistance we'll provide, continue to provide. that's also in coalition with our european partners. >> countries are particularly nervous about the russian threat. can you guarantee to nato members in the east of europe tha