. >> entered john cornyn of texas says it cannot support the nominee for defense secretary, says we need to be tougher on israel and more lenient on iran. is that a care characterization of chuck hagel? >> what is important about the hearing yesterday, the news, is not the content of what he has said. that has already been hashed out. not even his veracity, since he changed his mind on about half a dozen issues overnight. but on his competence. the reason democrats were shocked by his performance was because he displayed amazing closeness on a variety of issues. the clip you should have shown, which would have highlighted, an example of what happened in the hearings, the one where he showed he did not even understand the idea of containment against iran, which is the major issue of our time. i will talk about that afterwards. his problem was, he was stumbling, bumbling, and looked completely out of his death. that is what people have not seen before. >> it was obvious, anybody who spends any time with chuck hagel knows, even his great admirers know that he is not a verbally- nimble perso

i know john cornyn well enough to note that you are quick to stand up and say what is on your mind and what ever you conclude. i am not want to ask you for response to that, but i know will give us your thoughts and opinions about cia's response to it and how we move forward with this. >> i will do that. >> thank you very much. , senator wyden. -- i mean senator rockefeller. and chair.u, i was does make a comment to the chair, mr. brennan, that i have been through a whole lot of confirmation hearings in 28 years here, including quite a few cia directors. i quite honestly do not recall anybody who is more forthright, more direct, more accommodating without violating who you are, more open to the possibility of working with this committee in a way that will do two things -- one, that will give the folks at cia who probably constantly worry about what is the next awful thing that we are on to say about them, but that is not our intention because we are into the business of problem solving, and if we have a 26,000-pasting, it is not fun for us if we are trying to solve a problem. i have a

john cornyn in the senate yesterday said that would be unacceptable to him.is a major sticking point. >> all right, alexander bolton, thank you for your time this morning. we appreciate your perspective. and now here's your "first look" at some of the other news going on. indiana and pennsylvania, snowy conditions proved dangerous for drivers. road closures and multicar pileups plagued communities and low visibility caused a detreat crash. >>> a scary tumble on to tracks was caught on cameras. a man was stumbling before he lost his balance and he fell over the tracks. we go next to virginia. clij students woke up to a nasty surprise. they discovered their cars were flooded. school officials say water from a nearby dam was released after midnight and the university made announcements and even went door to door to warn students. not everyone got the message. when students whose cars were flooded out said they never heard the warnings. >>> and in nebraska, a very special birthday for the zoo's newest editions. five lion cubs are 1 months old. they got little mea

lindsey graham of south carolina, john cornyn in texas. the divide in the republican party is playing out in this debate. >> they have to be tough on hagel so they don't get a primary challenge saying you're not a real republican. >> senator graham is saying he wants more answers on benghazi. that has nothing to do with senator hagel. it seems to me, even some republican party elders, thinks it's not wise politics. bill cohen, former secretary of defense, bob gates, former republican secretary of defense, says it's not good for the party or the country. >> lindsey graham may have a republican primary challenge. in the last analysis, very quickly, do you think hagel becomes the new secretary of defense? >> i think he would probably bet that he will but one thing we know, we've seen it happen time and time again, when you leave something hanging like this, you never know what is going to pop up. >> twisting in the wind. ok. jeff, karen, todd, eamon, the state of our panel is strong. thanks to all of you. that will wrap it up for all of us to

the first to our center john cornyn and representative bill elowen. the senator and i have had some differences. that is ok. that is politics. i respect his commitment to public education. i know he shares my interest in keeping our schools as great as they are. as a newly elected senate democratic leader, i know they have paid attention to education. i invite you to join me in this conversation. i am convinced we can do this policy and improved quality for all our children. i am also convinced that we cannot do that with the some sense to congress and without bipartisan support the consensus from all parts of our state. let us began the conversation. i have found myself reflecting on the last two. i wanted to make changes that move us forward in which people can feel it. we have had some great successes together. we have had some challenges. watching a two-year research efforts fall on the senate on the last hour, learning that criminal hackers targeted our state are watching as both parties and washington are able to find resolution that helps state

current senators roy blunt and john cornyn remind me a lot of gum pee muppets and john mccain, who indicatedagel to the same post if he became president are leading the charge. here's senator blunt. >> you think there could be a delay you didn't this week that means 10 days. you say you think there's enough votes, 40 votes to delay. >> my believe is there are 40 votes, not to set that as the permanent standard, that says it's too quick the end the debate on this nomination. michael: it's unbelievable. the more information these senators claim to want is about hagel's financial history. considering that they're the party that otherwise relishes the anonymity of their super pac donors, they seem too interested in where the former republican senator got his money. >> now we're getting word another nominee will be held up. paul and told u.s.a. today he will consider filibustering the nomination of brennan to head the c.i.a. that's an oddly reasonable request from an otherwise completely unreasonable person. we'll see if the white house gives in. >> next, the bipartisan bump heard round the world

john cornyn of texas. now retired jim demint. the head of the heritage foundation, of course, now. toomey of pennsylvania. ron johnson of wisconsin and rand paul of kentucky round out the list. news busters caught double standard of of keystone pipeline protest we told you about early. news hour found 36 words for the march for life, hyping pipeline protest as the biggest climate rally in u.s. history in the segment nine times as long. while the protests were going on focus of the media gaze on the president's golf trip to florida with tiger woods. a pair of texans who are key, oil, gas and keystone pipeline players. the white house says president obama is committed to the environmental issues and the golf trip had nothing to do with the policy. >>> the u.s. postal service lost more than $40 billion in the last several years, billion with a "b" announced it would stop saturday delivery is getting in the clothing business. they signed a deal with the ohio based clothing company to produce line of apparel dubbed rain, heat and snow. it includes wearable electronics like jackets with

texas senator john cornyn demanding to withdraw hagel's nomination. 15 others signed on that letter but john mccain. it appears that headacheel will have the 60 votes to get past the filibuster and the 50 needed to be confirm: we're going head out to the political front where president obama's stock with the public continues to rise looming sequester cuts notwithstanding. and then a documentary that says, remember us? a hook at whose lives are still upside down because of the economic crisis. and later, 50 years after the birmingham church bombing we'll talk to the prosecutor whose life mission became bringing those responsible to justice. it's "the war room" on thursday night and we'll be right back. is is >> michael: we're back inside the car room. i'm michael shure. democrats and republicans keep checking their score cards. and from my seat it looks like the president and democrats are winning. according to a new bloomberg news poll out today 56% of americans view the president favorably. 47% feel the same about the democratic party. but here's my favorite. only 35% like republicans.

john cornyn is afraid of being out-conservatived by his junior senator in texas. >> let's talk about the state of the union. the president covered a lot of ground from minimum wage to pre-kindergarten. any angle you think he overlooked? >> every state of the union and this one is no exception comes across as a laundry list or a campaign speech. what made this one significant and made it stand out in my mind was i think it was the strongest explanation of why family values -- why the government can help with family values and help rebuild our economy. the president's talk about preschool education, which is only available for only three out of every ten children. that is such a great investment in our future. our nation used to lead the world on secondary education, on college education. but we've fallen behind the world on preschool education. and we've seen in study after study, the rate of return is fantastic in terms of helping young people become more responsible, seek careers and jobs. but what was missing from the speech was the president's failure to challenge his party, my pa

. >> that brings the number of republican nos to 12 including richard burke, dan coates, john cornyn,nhof, kirk, rubio, pat roberts, viter and wicker. he incorrected stated that president obama's policy on the iran nuclear program. >> i just been handed a note that i, i misspoke and said i supported the president's position on containment. if i said that, meant to say that i obviously, his position on containment we don't have a position on containment. >> we do have a position on containment that we do not favor containment. >> hagel appeared unfamiliar with the massive cut on the department of defense part of the august 2011 budget control act. >> you were after the sequestration bill has passed. >> not sequestration. budget control act. they were talking here about what would happen if you took the cuts. that is what i was talking about. >> at the white house for now they are standing by the nominee. >> president believes that senator hagel will make an excellent secretary of defense and he will be confirmed. he looks forward to working with senator hagel in that positions we conti

john cornyn is afraid of being out-conservatived by his junior senator in texas. >> let's talk about state of the union. the president covered a lot of ground from minimum wage to pre-kindergarten. any angle you think he overlooked? >> every state of the union and this one is no exception comes across as a laundry list or a campaign speech. what made this one significant and made it stand out in my mind was i think it was the strongest explanation of why family value values -- why the government can help with family values and help rebuild our economy. the president's talk about preschool education, which is only available for only three out of every ten children. that is such a great investment in our future. our nation used to lead the world on secondary education, on college education. but we've fallen behind the world on preschool education. and we've seen in study after study, the rate of return is fantastic in terms of helping young people become more responsible, seek careers and jobs. but what was missing from the speech was the president's failure to challenge his party, my

>> john cornyn was the head of the senate campaign committee and criticized and he got a lot of criticismparty types for not being conservative enough. so tamron, looking how far to the right the tea party moved, you see one of the most conservative senators under fire. >> so interesting. most liberal senators, blumenthal and udall, franken, murray. again, any big revelation there? >> well, i like al franken number three on the list because he's up for re-election in 2014. remember, that campaign six years ago was one of the most interesting, fascinating political elections of that cycle. and franken doesn't have a republican challenger yet but if he gets a good kand datcandidats a race to watch. >> tied with dick durbin there? >> yeah. franken doesn't do much press or national media attention but he still votes pretty along the liberal line. >> most conservative house members, todd akin, scott, blackburn, jeffrey landry. look at those states. missouri, georgia, tennessee, louisiana. >> very republican states. very conservative districts. >> how's someone from texas not on this list? >> y

this is republican senator john cornyn of texas. >> the majority leader knows full well the reason why the debate -- closing off debate was denied was because a reasonable request been made on the site for additional information. i hope and trust it will be provided here in the next few days. and when we come back from the recess, we will have another vote and another opportunity for senators to express themselves. but this is not any attempt to kill this nomination. this is not a filibuster. >> democrats are vowing to revive hagel's nomination following the recess next week. despite republican denials, senate -- bitter majority leader harry reid said the block or isn't it an historic filibuster. >> not a single nominee for secretary of defense ever in history of the country has been filibustered. >> chuck hagel is a former republican senator who is faced criticism for straying from the party line on iran and iraq war and making comments perceived as critical of israel. president obama touted credentials during online video chat. >> chuck hagel, by the way, was a member of the republic

senator john cornyn of texas wrote a letter to the president demanding his withdrawal. it's -- without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively. but it's significant that cornen only got 14 other senators to signen and that that's where they were going, begging the president to withdraw hagel. then hoke inhofe said, make no mistake, a vote for cloture and a vote to confirm hagel as secretary of state. translation, don't have the votes anymore to stop this vote from going on. the white house was already just one vote away from breaking the filibuster. licensed graham and john mccain have said they will likely vote -- also yesterday, hagel also picked up another republican for confirmation from alabama's richard shelby. here's what shelby told his hometown paper, that though he has concerns about hagel's nomination, he plans to vote for him and expects hagel to win senate confirmation. quote, he's probably as good as we're going to get, he told the paper. it's clear hagel's opponents know their firewall is cracking. the white house i

for president obama's pick to see the next defense secretary and earlier today senator john cornyn, for. senator hagel's confirmation hearing was deeply concerning leading to his basic doubts to meet the substantial demands of the office. and on key national security issues are troubling enough and his statements regarding iran is disconcerting. and joining me is former speaker of the house and presidential candidate newt gingrich. you've been around washington a long time was that the single worst confirmation hearing you've ever witnessed? >> well, i was certainly on the short list and i think that what you're seeing happen is that the longer people look at chuck hagel as an administrator, as an executive and we're not talking now about one out of 100 u.s. senators we're talking about the guy who is going to run the department of defensea very economically and a very difficult period of constant change around the world. and one of the things that's coming clear is that he didn't do his homework, he wasn't prepared to talk about the issues. and you have to wonder how hard he'd work at

quote, in a heated dispute over immigration law overhaul, mccain screamed f you at john cornyn who hadncerns about the legislation. this is chicken -- stuff, mccain snapped at cornyn. are you calling me stupid chuck grassley once inquired over the fate of the vietnam mi as? no, replied senator mccain. i'm calling you an -- jerk. at a gop meeting last fall, mccain erupted out of the blue at the respected budget chairman pete domenici, quote, only an -- would put together a budget like this. he stood up and gave a dignified restrained speech over all his years in the senate through all the heated debates no one had ever called him that. another man might have taken a moment to check his temper, but mccain went on, i wouldn't call you that unless you really were that. >> you can disagree, but if you're disagreeable, then people don't forget that. >> ah, the arbiter of disagreeable. it is rich to hear that as the supposed criticism of chuck hagel coming from john mccain. but honestly, it's not just john mccain's personal hypocrisy here. this is a washington-wide thing. it has never been a

lindsey graham was the senate's 42nd most conservative member, basically one of the most moderate and john cornyn the 14th. gram leapfrogged to 42 and cornyn to 3. flagging the rankings for journalists who have written or continue to write that senator ted cruz is pushing cornyn to the right. not just republicans who are more conservative last year than the year before. north carolina kay hagan, one of the handful of red state democrats who could be in danger in 2014. she jumped from 69th to the 52nd most conservative in 2012. >>> the senate odd couples are breaking up. ron johnson the 5th more conservative. and a breakup of long-time odd couple harkin and grassley innide waw and in south dakota rumors that tim johnconson could head for the exits breaking up that pairing with john thune. if it's tuesday, somebody is voting somewhere. today that is chicago. to fill jesse jackson jr.'s seat. 18 active candidates, 15 democrats on the ballot. whichever democrat wins today is all but certain to win the april 9th special election. comes down to a three-way race debb debbie halvorson, robin kelly and an

that history was never far away at today's hearing, for many republicans, including texas senator john cornyn. senator chuck grassley of iowa is the committee's ranking republican. >> this is like deja vu for a lot of us. but i believe that the reason immigration reform failed in 2007 is because the american people don't actually believe congress intends to follow through on important measures like border security, worksite enforcement, visa overstays, and the like. >> warner: napolitano told cornyn that the obama administration has done much to stem illegal border crossings. and she argued that providing a legal pathway to citizenship and cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers will do more. >> we know the main driver of illegal immigration across the texas border, arizona, california, whatever, is the ability to work, but we don't have the tools to support the border with effective worker requirements and prosecution tools against employers. so when you think about immigration reform, that's why all these things go together. it is a system. >> warner: south carolina republi

what we've seen, we've seen senator john cornyn of texas, he's agreed with the defense secretary panettaangerous to national security, they'd put our national security at risk if severe cuts in the defense department actually go through. now he's changed his tune and said not so much, actually the budget in the pentagon is still going to go up. do republicans risk not being seen as credible? >> i think everybody risks not being seen as credible. this more than many of the crises that we've seen congress and the white house deal with. on that particular issue of republicans in defense, i find it fascinating. i spoke with senator cornyn as some of my colleagues up here about that. and what he was saying is that he was trying to try out his message on us about the fact that republicans should in fact not be saying that the sky's going to fall with regard to defense, it has historically been the most important thing when it comes to budget for the republicans because even if these forced cults go into effect, overall defense spending will go up. there's a split among republicans. if you ask