it was the 1954 army mccarthy hearings and the exchange between joseph welch and joseph mccarthy that changed this city and the world. six decades ago, america's national mood was marked by anxiety over the looming threat of communism. the victory of world war ii had given way to the gripping tension of the cold war. communist power was on the rise in eastern europe and in china. american forces were at war in korea. here in congress, the house committee on un-american activities worked to sniff out communist subversion within our borders, including the infamous hollywood blacklist. one man in the senate sat out to exploit the fears of that time, and he came to symbolize the fearmongering of that fretful era. joseph mccarthy was a relatively unknown junior senator from wisconsin when in february of 1950 he delivered a speech accusing secretary of state dean atchison of harboring 205 known members of the american communist party within the state department. the charge was questionable and ill supported, but the brazen accusation struck a nerve with an anxious american public, and senat

it would place me on the same page of history books as senator joseph mccarthy. >> reporter: the allegationlting from a computer crash has public opinion emboldening the gop. a deeper look at the poll shows the vast majority of both political parties are skeptical of the irs. archivist of the united states further added to the skepticism testifying if lerner's -- irs commissioner koskinen maintains the irs has not committed a crime. >> i don't think an joapology i owed. >> i don't believe you. this is incredible. >> i have a long career. the first time anybody has said you do not believe me. >> i don't believe you. >> that's fine. we can have a disagreement. >> reporter: with the public sentiment against the irs democrats in congress may find it difficult to continue to defend the actions of the irs and not the administration's talking points. >> derrick is with us now. mark halpern, i want to foll follow-up on the conversation. i'm shocked they are democrats are xaecomparing this to mccarthyism? investigations about hob launched and e-mails destroyed and basic tech guys or women could retr

mccarthy meets his match during the anti-communist hysteria in america. the focus is whether communism had infiltrated the u.s. armed forces. army special council josephad countered everyone of mccarthy's charges during weeks of hearings. this confrontation was the beginning of the end of mccarthy's power. listen. >> let us not assassinate this land further. you've done enough. have you know sense of decency, sir? >> have you no sense of decency, sir? famous, famous words. let's get a quick look at the mark markets, the dow up by 12 points, modest little gain. today, most of the attention appears focused on merger activity on wall street. we're watching it. >>> president obama announcing a new initiative on student loans today. in an executive order to lessen the burden on borrowers. let's bring in our chief business correspondent christine romans. how will this impact students now, graduates who are still paying off their student loans? >> so this is for people who took out loans, 2007 to 2011, for example, and it will be another 5 million people, student borrower, who will be able to limit the amount of payments they make every month, something call