is jack lew trying to be that kind of guy or strike out on his own?definite continuation of u.s. policy. tim geithner got slapped around a little bit for coming over here, urging more growth, less austerity. jack lew is continuing the same thing but there's something that's uniquely different. the data, chuck, has shown that growth is better than austerity in the wake of these financial crisis. number of academic papers on the side of jack lew now. more importantly are the results. europe, their unemployment rate is still rising. economies are still shrinking. in the u.s. we've talked about the data here. it is certainly much better. and what jack lew said he believes there's more receptivity here in the u.s. i don't think he will suffer the consequences that tim geithner suff suffered. >> always traveling with the u.s. treasury secretary. good to have you on. it's been too long. >> thank you, chuck. >>> worry live in cleveland with more on the case against ariel castro. >>> plus, proof that chemical weapons have been used in syria. >>> queen elizabet

someone like jack lew signed it.w that he is treasury secretary and his signature is about to be on the money, he appears to be tidying it up. "the wall street journal noticed it on a government document last week. you can make out a j with an a-y, and maybe a middle initial and last name. political reporter found another version of that signature on an ad in a newspaper today. you might be seeing the b at the end of jacob lew maybe. progress? i like to think somewhere in the fiscal year 2013 budget, deep far from the sequester is one line item for penmanship lessons for secretary of the treasury. hoping they're paying a catholic school nun somewhere to get him into shape. watching a grown man, an accomplished grown man have to learn a skill they teach in third grade, that's the best new thing in the world. >>> good tuesday morning, everyone. right now on "first look," three young women held against their will for ten years, three men in custody and the 911 call. >> help me. i'm amanda berry. >> do you need police, f

as you say within the past couple of minutes, we got a letter jack lew sent.e said the inspector general's report yesterday created an urgent need to respore public trust and confidence into the irs by installing new leadership. while i respect your loyal service at the irs, i find it necessary at this time to accept your resignation. it's a response to this situation of the irs agents in cincinnati and elsewhere looking into right wing groups, scrutinizing them in a way they were not scrutinizing left wing groups. the president had a chance to come out before cameras today. he issued a written statement yesterday. just within the past hour or so we saw him in the east room, a formal setting underscoring the seriousness of this, announcing the resignation of miller, raising the emotional level of all of this for the president take a listen. >> the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. it's inexcusable and americans are right to be angry about i. i am angry about it. i will not tolerate this type of behavior in any agency, especially the irs, given the p

. >> suarez: paul solman talks with the new treasury secretary, jack lew about jobs financial reform and the partisan divide over automatic federal spending cuts. >> the thing that i find truly amazing is that there are members of congress who are calling the sequester a success. a victory. their policy. they can have the policy. nobody at the time thought it should take effect. >> brown: miles o'brien reports from guatemala on the forensic science used to document charges of genocide that wiped out thousands of indigenous mayans in the early eighties. >> this skeleton shows evidence of four close range gunshot wounds to the head. the mans hands were tied behind his back: an execution.

treasury secretary jack lew was cautiously optimistic in his comments earlier today. >> social security and medicare are meeting their commitments today and they will continue to meet their commitments in the years ahead. yet as the trustee's reports have been indicating for a while now, these programs face long-term challenges. >> now, maria, that year of 2033 was actually the same exact year they picked last year, so social security kind of treading water here. and that's kind of lukewarm to good news here in washington. the question is, what's the political impact of that?

i think back home jack lew very much wants to get the u.s.me more regular track. and i think that if he gets done with his tenure without doing that, i think he would think that's a failure. >> yeah. >> i'm so glad we're still talking about his signature before we're seeing them on dollar bills. want to get more on lou and what to expect out of the g-7 this weekend. he joins us this morning. john, good to have you back. >> good to see you, carl. >> you think yourp will be the focus. you don't have kind things to say about europe's future right now. >> i think europe is fundamentally dysfunctional. there's an inherent inconsistency with the long-term plans and short-term reality. skimplly stated, all politics is local. the german politics is not favoring more spending and more generosity. it doesn't want to amass more debt. doesn't want more austerity. wants to ultimately maintain its own sovereignty. so europe is key. so i think as steve said, the most exciting thing going on globally is the experiment in japan and seeing what's going on. >>

jack lew said it's nt part f a biggerprolem.ten t jack lew. >> i would be reluctant to go beyond the facts n front of us now and asume any broader issue. i think that it is a bad enough set of facts that we're looking at, that we need to understand them, take the actions to fix he look in the irs, and make sure that if here are systemic problems, we fix tem. gerri: not a boader problem. all i see comes out of the administtion, all i see coming out of washington, frankly, is a lot of human hubris, we should n that, we know what to do and how to run this thing. hat do you say, jay? >> special counsel isneeded here. you know, jack lew is trying to basically do what acting commissioner miller did oday, trying to play dodge ball here. the problem is it's with te american people. they played dodge ball with groups entitled for tax exemption, denied it,they were not tageted dspite what mr. miller said, the agency said they were targeted. deny it all day and night, doesn't like the characterization, that doesn't change anything. at the

treasury secretary jack lew, who is in london ahead of the g-7 meetings of finance ministers. steve. >> let's begin with the message you have for europeans when it comes to the issue of austerity and when it comes to the issue of stimulus. it sounds to me like the message this time is maybe a bit stronger. are you worried about a backlash? >> steve, i've been engaging with europeans since becoming secretary and this will be a continuation. we feel strongly there needs to be the right balance between austerity and growth. we've seen in the united states that scheduling the deficit reduction to come a little bit later has left us with a stronger economy. we're not arguing over whether or not we all have to get our fiscal house in order. we all need to get our fiscal houses in order. i think the question is when and how. one is having european economies grow means they need to get the right balance between their budget policy right, so that they can get growth moving. the other is they have to fix some credit market issues so they can get capital flowing into small and medium siz

treasurying is jack lew has a new signature. may remember even obama mocked lieuptie pen papship, aa persontally, it's been compared to the hostess cupcake. the treasury's signature is an important win since it's printed on every dollar bill. i don't know if that's actually his signature. >> if it is or it isn't, if you will be on the money, you can have your situation like a hostess cupcake. >> i can't agree with you more. >>> rumors are flying around why governor chris christie 81 went lap ban surgery. >> christie announceing after struggling with obesity for years he revealed he secretly had lap-band stomach surgery. >> some say it is a clear sign he will run for president if 2016. >> of course, some say that. some say that he's running for president. it's a sure sign, because why else would a 50-year-old man with young children an a loving family take steps to address obesity in his life? why else? >> i mean, listen, even it is to run for president. >> it's for his life. >> yeah, it's all good. get off his back. >>> now, if

jack lew running treasury, treasury in charge of the irs, jack lew formally a polital operative.oes this make sense to you? >> that the treasury secretary would be investigating o of his own department's no, this is absurd. i think the national liberal media is facing his first test tonight. this is an administration that declared war on american citizens. it has done so with in so many forms, but in using the irs, talk about how feared the irs is because of its extraordinary power, no american citizen should fear his or her government is respectable of what branch or agency. the fact this presidenchose to put as the fulcrum of obamacare the ternal revenue servic tells you a lot about his thinking, the policies that we can expect and the addition of 16,500 agents. we are supposed to trust this president, this a ministration and this government? e you kidding me? gerri: well put. i want to hear who you have tonight's show. lou: we will bebe joined by dond rumsfeldo give us his pepective on who he believes is ultimaty responsible by the benghazi cover-up, the irs scandal and the ju

as you say within the past couple of minutes, we got a letter jack lew

steve liesman sat down with jack lew and cnbc exclusive.nd urged the u.s. congress not to sit idly. he now has until labor day. >> i've been engaging with the europeans since becoming secretary. we feel strongly there needs to be the right balance between austerity and growth. it has left us with a stronger economy. we're not arguing over whether or not we have to get our fiscal house in order. the question is when and how. one is having the economies grow means they have to get the right balance between the budget policy right so that they can get growth moving. and the other is they have to fix some of their credit market issues so they can get capital flowing into small and medium sized enterprises. that's the part of the message that i bring. >> how receptive do you feel the europeans will be? a year ago there was concern that the u.s. was meddling in their affairs? >> i'm open to the conversation. we don't agree on everything. the fact that the u.s. economy is performing much better is something they have noticed. i think the fact that

treasury secretary jack lew has been in the post since february.economics correspondent paul solman caught up with him on the road yesterday, part of paul's ongoing reporting on "making sense" of financial news. >> reporter: just outside cleveland, ohio, the new factory of one of america's fastest growing manufacturing firms: vitamix, maker of hot products in haute and not-so-haute cuisine-- high-end blenders. we were here to interview secretary lew, who ran the office of management and budget for both presidents clinton and obama, was the current presidents first-term chief of staff, and took over from tim geithner at treasury in february.ç you'll be seeing the new secretary's name on a bill near you soon. though after the president joked about lew's loopy signature, he decided to straighten it out. as treasury secretary, lew is tasked with tackling, among other issues: the sequester; dealing with deficit hawks, mainly in the g.o.p., who think the sequester doesn't cut government enough; the slow pace of financial reform; the euro- slump and, of

jack lew and authorities. mr.irman, what didn't you hear today that you wantto get answers from these guys whle? >> well, where do wetart? you may have heard. she is pleading the fifth we continue thear a different story from some of the administration,. neil: the center is really talking. >> we are exposing the source of all this. wetill don't know who originally issued the order. who approved this activity the american people were outraged on us. this is the most feared agency of government amping upon our most sacred right. it is a matter of time and chairman darrell issa, whh heads up our committ on oversight you know, it appears that there is a culture to keep bad ws from going to the prident. nearly any organization says that that istravels fast. it's a in order insula em, that is unacceptable. i want to ask the sectary, how about going forward will it will be an acceptable activity now that you are taking over th irs. when you're in charge of th white house r a full year, how could you haveot known as? why

he asked jack lew to ask him to resign, but he is still there. that is a good thing, i don't know what haze status. is since he has resigned, is he still acting i don't know. we'll ask him the tough questions, and then we'll go from there. this is the politics of intimidation. if you are a whistle-blower on benghazi, you are intimidated, if you are a taxpayer that said by the way i'm in favor of u.s. construction, a patriot or another key word, all of a sudden, your taxes are audited. american people get this, they get it strong, they fear the irs, now they have real reason to fear it don't mention patriot or constitution or less government on your show, it is going to be hard for you, i'm just warning you. neil: any combination raises eyebrows, thank you, sir. >> you bet. neil: i want you to look at this, in markets worried about a watergate summer bummer, stocks are pretty much on a roll despite today's downdraft. justice department revelations, you wonder why the, so many markets are not more roiled. they are not. marknows is ising there more

one thing on the jack lew things. you and i talked about the dangers of putting a political person in the treasury. that hasn't been the case since the '30s and not like jack lew, former congressional aide but generally somebody from the financial world. one of the reasons is we like treasury to be squeaky cleanup. they got the money. we like all that stuff. putting a political figure, a partisan, a hard line partisan some would say in the treasury was questionable move. now that you see treasury embroiled in the scandal and reversal and all that stuff, you start to see all the president obama's predecessor back to roosevelt had a different idea about treasury. >> megyn: and it is hurting them. look at the polls. latest poll questions whether obama administration were involved in targeting conservative groups, 37% say they knew it. they knew all about it. 29% not only they knew about it but they were behind the operation. if my math, 66% of the american people they believe they knew bit orchestrated it and 24% they we

. >> suarez: paul solman talks with the new treasury secretary, jack lew about jobs financial reform and the partisan divide over automatic federal spending cuts. >> the thing that i find truly amazing is that there are members of congress who are calling the sequester a success.

those contacts have to be done through the treasury secretary jack lew. so it's possible that the white house could have some impact but they'd have to do it through treasury secretary, he would then have to talk to the commissioner. he would then have to talk to his employees. having worked at the i.r.s., i know that would get out to the public very quickly from that kind of activity was occurring. so it seems to me that much of a talk is about political favoritism and yet i see very little evidence that there was an intent to go after the tea party groups and let others have a free pass. >> brown: well, what kind of firewalls exist to prevent politics from entering into these kinds of decisions. >> well, just as i said, the white house is isolated. the i.r.s. is very mch non-partisan. most folks at the i.r.s. are not involved in politics. it's -- from day one you're told not to favor any particular group or individual. if you are a new employee and you did someone would quickly come by and say, you know, we cannot bullpen taking positions. >> brown: but

treasury secretary jack lew gave american tv viewers his take on the japanese policy. he said he accepts what the japanese leaders are doing as long as they're not devaluing the yen deliberately. he said he'll keep an eye on whether the japanese stick to rules agreed by the leaders of the g7 and g20. and the german finance minister sent a similar message. he said the leader of all g20 nations must keep their agreement. >>> japanese government leaders are looking to boost their companies by invisting esting i africa. prime minister abe plans to hold bilateral talks next month on the sidelines of the tokyo international conference on african development. analyst saz js say japanese min will strike their first deal with leaders of mozambique. that will help japanese firm invest in a country rich in natural resources such as coal and gas. >>> japanese government leaders have set out their position on an issue that's put them under fire from neighbors. they say they'll follow the same line as their predecessors on japan's history of wartime aggression. the south korean pres

. >>> secretary jack lew will not be doing the old change, he has changed his loopty loop style. one you can take to the bank. >>> speaking of whacky signatures, we have been joined by bill kierein with the weather. >> could we replicate that? is it the same all the time? >> the new one? >> no, the old one. we have rain, overall, it's a quiet forecast morning. if we have travel delays. the airport could have problems this morning along with the roads and the morning commute. so heavy rain has come off the ocean. we'll try to move up along the jersey shore towards new york city during the peak and light rain around pittsburgh. this is the same storm system that brought rain yesterday to virginia and carolina. showers are still in d.c. as far as the forecast today, a lot more clouds than new england. the humidity is up a bit. we could spark a shower or a thunderstorm. the other concern is in the middle of the country, a chance of severe storms. i will tell you who is most at risk of getting tornadoes and large hail a little later. >>> coming up, surpriseding new statistics on gun-r

the new acting chief or the incoming acting chief was brought into the meeting room with jack lew, the treasury secretary, who districted him to find a way to restore the confidence in the irs, but we'll see a continuing series of hearings going forward next week and hear from the numberotreasu woland and might get more answers at that point. >> eamon, setting aside what happened in this case, is it a legitimate function for the irs to look into whether a group with a political interest qualifies for tax exempt status? >> absolutely it is. but the criticism here against what the irs did, they weren't looking at all political groups in the same way. they were screening for names like tea party, patriot group, 9/12 group, conservative leaning names were given an undue degree of scrutiny that liberal names were not given. that's the crux of the argument and why this was so unfair. the irs has a role to play in figuring out whether these groups are deserving of the nonprofit status or are political groups masquerading as nonprofits. >> you talked about restoring the public trust. a lot of

yesterday the president announced said he would resigned as he was asked to by treasury secretary jack lew at the urging of president obama. we don't know anything more specific about whether a permanent irs commissioner would be named. senior administration officials acknowledge that will be a tough process. they have to find somebody pretty good to fill this role that we'll be able to get through confirmation on the hill. but they recognized the need for that person to be someone who has bipartisan support, a top cop type of individual, perhaps a republican name that people are familiar with, someone who can put an end to this issue. right now, there's the potential they recognize that it can become a completely republican issue attacking the administration. they feel confidently this is a bipartisan issue and they are trying to make it very clear that they are equally angry with all americans on the topic. >> peter complained the top gap measures of just acting heads and a lot of people were scratching their heads when they learned miller was forced to resign, but might be sticking arou

probably under a minute to the president, and likely treasury secretary jack lew. back with the panel, judge napolitano, we welcome a.b. studdard, associate editor of the hill, and charles krauthammer with us through the statement. quickly, a.b., before the president gets here, the siege mentality that may be overtaking, as wendall describes it, at white house. >> yeah. i think even the president's supporters were frustrated and concerned that there was really a lack of a response really materially no response to the collective damage that these three scandals were causing. too much passivity. sort of brushing off the benghazi thing. they were under pressure obviously from last night's release of an email to release the rest of them. and some action has to be taken at the irs. that's what we'll expect. >> bret: and here's president obama by himself in the east room. >> good afternoon, everybody. i just finished speaking with secretary lew and senior officials at the treasury department to discuss the investigation into irs personnel who improperly screened conserva

but jack lew says it is hurting the economy. >> one of the things that has to be understood about it,takes a half or more percent out of our gdp, which translated into 750,000 full-time equivalent jobs. i have to tell you, if there were a policy that could be proposed to affirmatively create a half a percent of gdp growth and create 750,000 jobs, you'd be a hero for coming up with that idea. >> republican congressman mike rogers of michigan is the chairman of the house intelligence committee and he's been outspoken that the sequester is not just an economic issue, but a matter of national security. he joins me right now. congressman, good to have you on the program. >> great to be here. >> i really want to talk about this national security issue, because this is scary. we don't even know, you know, what programs are being impacted. but first, let me put that aside for a moment. because i want to get your reaction to the news, the hot news story of the day. and that is, the irs today is admitting and apologizing for inappropriately targeting conservative groups leading up to election.

. >> reporter: treasury secretary jack lew ordered the i.r.s. to hold staff accountable for any wrongdoing. he also tasked the i.r.s. to review whether this is a system-wide issue. they'll deliver that report to president obama in 30 days. >> axelrod: margaret brennan in washington, thank you. later, our triple crown dreams alive or dashed at the preakness? three years in an eight by 10 shell. one former inmate's case for ending solitary cob finement. one former inmate's case for ending solitary cob finement. and remembering golfing legend ken venturi. but with copd making it hard to breathe, so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your do

he informed secretary jack lew of the review in march. lew said he learned of the findings only last week. brian? >> lisa myers in our washington newsroom tonight. lisa, thanks. >>> also joining us from washington tonight, moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. tough to sort out here. any profiles in courage, and can you separate heat from light? how much real damage and how long does this go on? >> i think it goes on for a while. republicans understand how politically powerful this scandal is. democrats agree as well. but i still think there is a lot more to be learned and lisa's reporting speaks to it. why wasn't there better oversight particularly in the treasury department. people in the white house are concerned even as the president takes heat for this. you had congress misinformed about this when they were asking questions about this last june. why didn't somebody in the administration do more about it in an election year, after all, when only conservatives were targeted? this question will keep on coming up. don't forget th

it was also disturbing that jack lew hadn't jiofd to the american people. couple this from the "new york times." irs focused on conservatives gives g.o.p. an issue to seize on. apparently for the times, it's all about the politics. [ laughter ] >> right. look, this story is moving so quickly, just on friday they were having hearings on this. it's almost impossible to keep up with the number of revelations. it does appear, though, there is a pattern with the white house and jay carney who has a difficult job these days. whatever it is, we only learned about it in the paper that morning. give us time while we come up with answers before we give you one. >> jon: let's go to rick who has been asking questions many times should the press ask for more here? >> yes, absolutely. i have been reporters to group think loving obama to hating obama. where is the investigation? we really need to have a media that can be nuanced that can ask these tough questions and they are not asking these tough questions. president obama has been talking about fair share doctrine for

this suit names attorney general eric holder, treasury secretary jack lew and lois lerner who took the 5th in front of congress last night. >>> now to a surprise announcement from michele bachmann, the one-time presidential contender. a lightning rod of sorts in washington. she says she's leaving congress at the end of her term. she says ethics inquiries stemming from her failed presidential bid have nothing to do with this decision. our report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: on youtube the tea party leader, one of the best known conservative voices in america, announced she's quitting congress next year. >> i have decided next year i will not seek a 5th congressional term. >> reporter: she first attracted attention for attacking barack obama in 2008. >> i'm very concerned that he may have anti-american views. that's what the american people are concerned about. >> reporter: she was a breakout star in the first republican primary debate two years ago. >> i'm a wife of 33 years. i have had five children. we are the proud foster parents of 23 great children. >> reporter:

treasury secretary jack lew on "worldwide exchange" tomorrow at 11:30.ught now with stephen, as well. big question for investors, stephen, is do you just -- whatever the reason for this rally, do you stick with it for now? >> the reasons for this rally are simply what the central banks are doing. and if you believe, as i do, that if anything there's more coming down the line, then i'm afraid you have to stick with this rally. the power of low interest rates, i'll give you one example. bp issued 3 billion worth of bonds this week. the five-year bonds were yielding less than 2%. the ten-year is less than 3%. yet its dividend is yielding around 5%. we used to be you go back even a few years, it's only for decades, texts revealed less than bonds because they had higher prospects for growth. now the dow has been turned on its head. that gap will be closed one way or the other. noe not by lower bond prices, but by higher equity prices. i'm afraid you've got to go with it. >> all right. fair enough. stephen, good to see you today. thanks so much for joining us,

that is followed by treasury secretary jack lew. and an oversight committee hearing on the irs. and jpmorgan ceo jamie dimon. >> on the next "washington journal" the latest in the investigation of the irs targeting conservative groups. our guest is representative mark meadows from north carolina. the keystone pipeline. the house will vote on wednesday on a bill that would approve the project. later spotlight on bloomberg businessweek and the story on jamie dimon. "washington journal" is like every morning at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. former irs commissioner doug shulman expressed regret that there was targeting under his watch. irs from 2008 the 2 2012. -- to 2012. this panel is two hours and 15 minutes. >> come to order. before we begin, i am confident i can speak for every member to send our thoughts and prayers to the people of oklahoma. we'll stand with courageous town of moore and the people of oklahoma as they come together to face this tragedy. we are all together. we all share their grief. stevenson once said, i am quoting now "it depends for its success and liability of

treasury secretary jack lew jack lew's john hancock getting a makeover. melissa: that's right.thanol down your tank. the epa is set to rule on the controversial e 15 gas blend even as carmakers warn of the dangers. lori: this is not that interesting considering we have a nice rally in the stock market people are selling fixed income. you have interest rates rising. 1.78 on the 10-year and even three handle on the 30-year. three handle on the 30-year. we're back after this. we like this idea so much that we've applied for a patent. i'm colin beck of fidelity investments. our integrated technical analysis is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 freerades when you open an account. all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. rify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. we don't let frequent heartburn come betwee

in other words, does john kerry or chuck hagel or jack lew, all white men, do they have diversity, any kind of diversity in their senior team. i would say the agenda is set from the top. it is set in the west wing. it's not a cabinet that sits around and decides we're all going to do immigration together we're all going to do gun control together. >> jamie: i don't know if you can see this. the question is, is the president being held to a higher standard and should the cabinets be both the first term and second term be held to a standard of representing what america looks like right now? >> it's what the last three presidents, clinton famously said 20 years ago, that he wanted a cabinet that looked like america. he set the new standard for this. what i would tell you, the cabinet is the core of the cabinet are the heads of the executive departments, men and women who are in presidential line of succession. essentially the same number of white men in that cabinet ever since bill clinton. it really hasn't changed that much. i would say politically, george w. bush he wanted a cabinet tha

more and more baby boomers retire, jack lew sounded cautious. >> social security and medicare are meeting their commitments today and will continue to meet their commitments in the years ahead. yet as trustee reports have indicated for a while now, these programs face long-term challenges. >> president obama urged congress today to stop federal student loan rates from doubling as of july 1st. interest rates of new subsidized stafford loans, set to go from 3.a4%, to 6.8% in one morning which may put college out of reach for some americans. >> because folks made their voices heard, congress acted to keep interest rates low. they only did it for a year. that year is almost up. so the test is simple. we have to make sure federal student loan rates don't double on july 1st. >> both republican and democrat lawmakers want to avoid the increase, but they can't reach an agreement just yet on how to do it. >>> the organization of petroleum exporting countries or opec as we know, met to decide on what to do on oil prices. they decided not to raise outputooutput over 30 million per day. oil sits righ

it was almost as disturbing, that president obama and treasury secretary jack lew have not personallylogized to the american people and promised a full investigation. compare that with this from the "new york times": irs focus on conservatives gives gop an issue to seize on. apparently to the times, jim, it's all about the politics [ laughter ] right. look, this story is moving so quickly that just on friday they were having hearings on this and so it's almost impossible to keep up with the number of revelations about this. it does appear, though, that there is a pattern here when the white house says and jay carney especially who has got a very difficult job these days, look, whatever it is, we only learned about it in the paper that morning. so give us time while we come up with our answers here before we give you one. >> john: let's go to rick who stood at the state department podium many times and tried to answer reporter's questions or maybe defer answers to reporter's questions. should the press be pushing for more here? >> yeah. absolutely. i've always been against reporter's g