in nashville, tennessee, john meacham and a lot of big stories to cover this morning. we've got nbc's peter alexander, he's live at the white house. senior investigative correspondent lisa myers at our washington bureau and nbc congressional correspondent luke russert standing by on capitol hill. mika, a lot to talk to. we talk about a white house, though, fighting back. >> absolutely. president obama is facing ongoing questions stemming from the irs's targeting of conservative groups. with the first of several hearings on the issue set to kick off today, a second irs official is stepping down. he follows the agency's acting commissioner who announced his resignation earlier this week. now a white house budget official will take over the irs. we learned the irs staffer who was in charge of the tax exempt organizations at the time the tea party groups that were targeted -- >> got fired, right? >> no. >> suspended? >> is a little different than that. >> i bet they demoted him, put him in a position that's not going to be important. >> maybe put him in a holding room. no.

back with us, mike barnacle, john meacham and willie geist. >> we begin in ohio where we're learningmen who were kidnapped. amanda berry, gina dejesus and michelle knight vanished. they were between 14 and 20 years old. on monday, after years of being locked away from family and friends, berry broke free. she was help ed by a neighbor wo heard her cries and kicked open the front door with her. now, investigators are loo lookinging back to see how they could have been held for that long. >> the three brothers -- it is ariel who neighbors knew best as the schoolbus driver, who also gave kids rides in an all terrain vehicle on the street of his blue collar hispanic neighborhood. the three women who each d disappeared about a year apart were all last seen within a five block radius and held in castro's house about three miles away. the uncle owns a neighborhood corner store. some neighbors thought the house was vacant, the place ariel castro checked on from time to time, but a few now say they were concerned. >> wouldn't open the windows, no doors, only the attic window. >> i've had fami