senator mccain is the victim of a terrorist photo bombing. we'll be right back. ( cheers and applause ) t@i/peioo ( cheers and applause ) >> jon: welcome back. my guest tonight produced and directed the new hbo documentary film, "pussy riot, a punk prayer." >> jon: i believe that's from taylor swift's new album. ( laughter ) thank you both for being here. explain just very quickly the parameters of what pussy ride is in & how they got if trouble in putin's russia. >> they're feminists, performance artists who take on the guise of a punk rock band and stage gorilla performances in various locations. we saw them in red square and the one that got hem in trouble was the rauch's biggest orthodox cathedral. >> the head of the russian church decided they committed this massive offense against the religion itself and pushed for this case to become a criminal case. it ended up being one of the really major caeses of the decade. and it resulted in prison sentences for three of the women. one of them has subsequently been released on appeal but two of

in syria by providing them with weapons and other assistance senator mccain has long called for direct military assistance to the syrian opposition in fact he spearheaded an effort in the senate foreign relations committee last month to pass legislation to arm the syrian rebels and at the end of may he secretly dropped into syria to meet with top rebel commanders becoming the highest ranking u.s. official to visit that country since the civil war broke out there more than two years ago and so when the white house officially announced on thursday that the president has authorized new military assistance to the syrian opposition senator mccain knew it was a big victory in jenin bold and he took to the floor place purge the white house to do even more to help the rebels including taking direct military action the president i say said better understand that just supplying weapons is not going to change the equation on the ground at the balance of power. these people of the free syrian army need weapons and heavy weapons to counter tanks and aircraft they need a no fly zone and they and bas

so we heard senator mccain clarifying there.ed to be backtracking a little bit on the next step for the u.s. government. we are at this point awaiting information, a conference call that the obama administration will be having in moments. and our white house correspondent, our chief white house correspondent is monitoring that. we'll be getting details to you as soon as possible. in the meantime we have senator saxby chambliss, vice president of the senate intelligence committee, on the phone. senator chambliss, your reaction to the news today? >> i think it's time that the president came out and said that we now know and because we validated it over the last several monies that bashar al assad has in fact used chemical weapons against his own people in syria, as well as against the opposition rebels. when the president said that was a red line, i wish that as soon as that had been validated that he would have stepped up and said the united states is not going to stand by and see more innocent people in syria get slaughtered, bu

john mccain has a record here. he is making a judgment call as people who interpret politics and i don't think it's crazy to make the reasoning off of a track record who is making this argument. >> you should make your reasoning based on what's happening on the ground and what the situation is in the region and based on your understanding of the facts and not what john mccain does or doesn't do. he could be right or wrong, but that should not be the way that you make your decisions or anybody else does. as far as syria is concerned, as we are talking, he is under heavy gunfire and air strikes surrounded by more than 5,000 members of hezbollah. we are talking about a country that is in the middle east where they are working to save their own interests in the region regardless of if they survive or not, where they keep it and able to arm hezbollah and have major implications for the region and us in the future. being able to support a hierarchy where we see people who join the battalions and others, by no means they

you heard john mccain. do you think a no-fly zone is the answer?i think this administration is not prepared-- not even close to being ready to impose a no-fly zone. so the question in a sense is moot. i thought the discussion with mccain and then senator reed really tead up what a nightmarishly difficult problem this is. you couldn't listen to this and not feel this is a horrible humanitarian tragedy. it's a bloody battle every day. and yet, the options the u.s. is presented with are all bad. and i-- i mean, i think what the white house is trying to do-- the president does not feel comfortable going to a no-fly zone, going into anything like u.s. direct military involvement. what they are doing is building up the option, trying to train them-- the opposition, trying to train them, give them better weapons, not to shoot down airplanes. for right now, i think that is what we should be doing. >> schieffer: we don't really know what the impact of that is going to be. i'm not sure we know or have-- i would like to hear somebody say to me, "this is our s

in the middle of the presidential campaign in 2008, mccain versus obama, that summer, the mccain campaignop mccain policy adviser working on the campaign got a call from a senior chinese diplomat in washington. the diplomat was calling to complain about a letter that john mccain had written to the newly elected president of taiwan. taiwan and china are like this. john mccain, presidential candidate, had written a friendly letter to the newly elected president of taiwan. china thought the tone of the letter was way to friendly and called the mccain campaign to complain. here's the problem. the letter hadn't been sent yet! the letter existed only in draft form on one of the mccain campaign's computers. so how did china know what the letter said. nbc news obtained the letter. this is what it looks like, but who cares what's in the letter. the question is, how did the official in the chinese government get any internal, unsent document from the mccain campaign! turns out it wasn't just the mccain campaign, it was obama campaign, too. david plouffe, the campaign manager in 2008, he got a phone

the mccain argument was the worst one. john mccain says this is just the beginning of massive, massive all-in intervention in which we're going to end up god knows doing what. everyone says no troops. if this doesn't work, then something more. if that doesn't work, then something more. there's a quicksand logic here. for john mccain to lead with that argument was the most terrifying, alienating argument for this incremental step that stepped on the white house's very careful, measured rhetoric in their actual conference call. >> right. >> so he set up the worst terms of -- for the white house to make their own message to the own skeptical public about this very intense political decision they're making. and the most amazing polling on this, the "wall street journal," is there are more people who favor boots on the ground, 15%, than favor arming the rebels at 11%. arming the rebels is the least popular option. 11% of americans favor it. and here we have the government announcing today that looks like what they're doing. it'

i think bill clinton generally likes john mccain.e gave him a platform in 2008 at the global initiative when mccain was the republican nominee against barack obama. there is history between of two of them. it was a long event and a -- clinton spoke quite a bit. one ge. context of the decisions bill clinton made about kosovo and bosnia, how does bill clinton see what he views in the world now. mccain said specifically the middle east, how do you view what's going on in various parts of the world in terms of large-scale killings. clinton gave a very long answer. then he brought it back to saying that, if he had -- essentially, if he had governed by polls, if he had governed by telling the american public that congress was just so opposed to it that he would have looked like "a total wuss." and americans expect their presidents and members of congress to lead and that's what they elect them for. he got asked another question about the middle east, not specific about syria but what the u.s. role should there be given this post-arab sprin

john mccain, senator john mccain has called for a no-fly zone.wall street journal" reporting thursday the u.s. officials told the "wall street journal" the u.s. military proposal for arming the rebels calls for a limited no-fly zone inside syria. today ben rhodes, national security spokesperson for the white house downplayed that idea. do you think, are we worried that we're headed toward an inevitable escalation toward a no-fly zone if we take this first incremental step of arming the rebels and it, quote, doesn't work because it doesn't change the balance of power? >> well there's the problem. given the fact we have waited this long, you can't just hand the rebels a bunch of automatic weapons and expect you're going to change the balance. mccain is right that you have to do much more than that. but a no-fly zone in syria is fundamentally different than providing air support in libya. you were talking about sophisticated russian-built air defense systems that are going to take a lot of american firepower to take down in order to allow for our pl

i agree with john mccain. he ought to pay a price here because he goes out of his way to stick his finger in the eye of america. he is not -- he has lots of vulnerabilities. >> john: what senator schumer was referring to john biden to ecuador please do not give asylum in your country. president of ecuador, we're not going to think about that now because he is not in territory and maybe we will and maybe we won't. then on national television he made grievances against the united states. should the vice president have called him? >> i'm not saying he should or shouldn't or vice president should or shouldn't. we have a deal with he is countries in realistic fashion. they are not friends of ours. they will do whatever is necessary to damage america's national interests. by the way, we are hearing now that al-qaeda and other organizations are changing their strategy in means of communications as a result of mr. snowden's revelations. so these things don't happen without some price to be paid. there should be a pric

i agree with john mccain. he ought to pay a price here. he goes out of his way to stick a finger in the eye of america whether it's iran, syria or this. he has lotses of vulnerability. >> to give context what senator schumer referred to is a phone call that vice president joe biden made to ecuador saying please do not give edward snowden asylum in your country. the president of ecuador said we won't think about that now. he's not in our territory. maybe we will, maybe we won't. then he went on television and aired graievances against the u.s. should the vice president have called raphael caraya? >> i'm not saying they should or shouldn't. i'm saying we've got to deal with these countries in a realistic fashion. they are not friends of ours. they are not democratic. they will do what's necessary to damage america's national interest. by the way we are hearing now al qaeda and other organizations are changing their strategy and their means of communication as a result of mr. snowden's revelations. so these things don't happen without some pr

john mccain wants to do something. even former president bill clinton came out last week and said, we've got to do something. the president cannot just hold back. he has to do something in syria. but finally the president bowed in to all of that pressure and bowed into the evidence. i think we would be better off saying we are going to basically wish them well and see what happens. we cannot -- the old phrase. right? can't be the world's policemen. we cannot be everywhere in this world that there is trouble with a military presence and think that is going to solve all problems. haven't we learned that lessong yet? gary is out in spaokane, washington. >> caller: i think your assistant should know how to spell s pocan e seattle. we aren't on the dark side of the moon. that being said, i think we should stay out of it. i feel sorry for the people over there who are killed and maimed and all of that. but it's not our problem. it's like you said about afghanistan. it's not our problem. we shouldn't go in at all period. the

so now, john mccain will love susan rice.y we've always said that we love -- we like -- can we go back and confirm? why can't she be secretary of state? why? after you! no you first. >> after you. >> oh, no, you first. thank you. >> stephanie: have always loved that susan that hawky susan rice. >> stephanie: benjamin, the white house national security director. >> i can't give you a specific timeline or itemized list of what that assistant says and when it will get there. >> that would probably not be wise. here's what we're sending. >> and here's when it will arrive. >> stephanie: and exactly where you might find those. >> here are the coordinates. >> stephanie: benjamin rhodes again. >> we don't think it is in our national interest to introduce u.s. troops. we need to be humble about our ability to solve a problem like syria. certainly on our own. >> how do you solve a problem like syria? >> stephanie: or maria. >> syria is her sister. >> stephanie: right. >> wow. >> stephanie: john mccain. >> for us to sit by and watch tho

because unfortunately, for senator mccain, he has no other choice. joining me now is joan walsh, editor at large for salon and author of the book, "what's the matter with white people, finding our way in the next america." okay. susan rice was so screwed on this whole benghazi thing. just to make as -- i mean, she had nothing to do with it. why was she the target? i still don't get it. why did lindsey graham and john mccain -- what do they have against susan rice? >> i don't get it either. john mccain, calling it passive aggressive, rand paul was aggressive, aggressive, accused her of lying again and said she was responsible for misleading the american people against benghazi. when we got those talking points memos and saw even in the weird abc version and the white house official version, the one thing those versions agreed on was that susan rice had nothing to do with it. her staff either. people said that she deserved an apology and lindsey graham shot back she deserves a subpoena. so they keep it up. i can't help but think it has something to do

>> stephanie: yeah, if you are john mccain, right. if you are president mccain, absolutely.i guess these comments leaked out. bill clinton was speaking with senator mccain at a closed press event. he contrasted obama's actions in syria, to his own actions in kosovo, which included the bombing of the president. a president must look beyond reluctance for the sake of national security and to save lives. i'm not sure that's the best analogy, kosovo. but there were definitely a lot of conflicts in the primary and some things that i know irritated bill clinton. i think bill clinton has been an enormous vocal advocate -- >> all know [ inaudible ] shouldn't have called clinton a jive ass honky. >> stephanie: that was the red line. actually the white line. the honky line. jim kids. clinton said you just think how lame you would be suppose i had let 2 million people be refugees and people say you should have stopped this by dropping a couple of bombs, and i said because the house voted against it. i know when obama said the thing about reagan being transformational in a way that clin

senator mccain showed sensitivity to that today in his q&a session.ority from which assad comes from, of course, is going to be the focus of retaliatory strikes if and when the insurgents get the upper hand. we can't be encouraging a genocide or anything of the type. so we have to have some kind of an integrated strategy. i began with this simple analogy so bosnia where there was the need for international peacekeepers and some autonomous parts of the country to allow for safe areas for major ethnic groups. that's a lot to swallow for americans who are tired of war, having our troops in the middle east. but i do think you're right, you got to think down the road that fa far. you can't just think the next step. >> isn't it also the case, mike, while there are multiple opposition groups who find unity in their current opposition to president assad, it's highly likely that if and when he's gone, that unity will simply erupt. it will fall apart almost immediately, won't it? >> that's a classic reality of civil wars. in fact, a scholar that i just recently

and that's where senator john mccain comes. in he has said that he wants to see the administration deliver lethal assistance to the syrian opposition forces. he has also called on the obama administration to create a no-fly zone. and as you just pointed out, when white house officials were pressed on that point, they would not answer. just saying that they are still considering a number of contingency plans moving forward, essentially trying to ramp up the president on bashar al assad to step down, to ramp up the pressure for a political resolution. to what has claimed more than 90,000 lives now in syria. so that is where the question mark is. but senator john mccain still urging this administration to engage in a more hawkish response tonight as he responds to this. we should also say that house speaker john boehner's office has weighed in. we have a statement from his spokesperson, brendan buck, who says this, chris, and i'll read to it you. he says, quote, it is long past time to bring the assad's blood regime in syria to an

it seemed lieng this w eed likeo be a slam dunk . >> this trip for john mccain comes after mccain wasria. what are we to make of these actions from him? >> he's being a player in a will the of things. he's a big mover and shaker in the immigration debate. it started today but the first vote next week so john mccain has been all over the place in ways that are a little bit different from president obama's first term. he's been more of partner on some issues than he was during that first term. >> do we know or do we believe the motive of this trip is to follow up on the president saying let's try at it again meaning the attempt to close down that detention center, that prison where you have more than a hundred under that hunger strike. what to do with those detainees. >> my understanding of it is this the the fact finding trip to see what is happening there. as you just mentioned the hunger strike at its 18th detainees has been a very big issue. it will be interesting to see if mccain comes back arm in arm with feinstein and they decide to start twisting elbows with democratic colleague

this private letter from mccain to china ease new president drafted on campaign computers. the problem was that letter had not yet been delivered. >> yes, we can. >> reporter: in chicago at obama's campaign headquarters a phony meeting agenda e e-mail was circulating among top staffers with an attachment which contained a hidden computer virus. obama's 2008 campaign manager david plouff got an alarming phone call from president bush's chief of staff. >> he says we have reason to believe that your campaign systems have been penetrated, we think by a foreign entity. >> reporter: the campaign hire add private security firm to stop the sophisticated cyberattack. >> it was really designed to get in and stay in and to get data and keep getting it. >> reporter: chinese officials consistently deny any role in cyberattacks. but u.s. experts say the 2008 attack was a wake-up call to a persistent and growing threat from china that can no longer be ignored. michael isikoff, nbc news, washington. >> and when we come back, switching gears. remembering a hollywood icon like no other. ♪ >>

other side that mccain is happy.do? putin has been decided whether to give his sophisticated military air defenses. what happens if he says okay, buddy, you want to play tough? we're going in too. and then it's going to be like the spanish civil war where the world is involved in the fight. >> u.s.-supplied weapons against russian-supplied weapons. >> and our planes being shot at by their defenses. this is pretty scary, they gets scary. and, again, the question is are they really contemplating an intervention that is pro bust enough to change the balance? and let's talk about that. >> these people that talk about, especially the neo con pencil necks oh, just take them out. and inevitably it escalates. inevitably we have to go to ground troops to protect our air base, to protect this, protect that. if we start facing soviet state-of-the-art -- sam, last thought to you. what happens if this escalates globally? >> you can make the case we have the capacity to do what the neo cons want to do. but let me bring up the othe

my first statement, mccain -- host: mccain needs to what -- caller: mccain needs to go. he's not even a conservative. i wish he would go. can i continue? host: yes, you can. caller: ok. marco rubio, i was for him until this immigration bill. i'd rather win on principles than lose -- i mean -- win -- i have a question for you. do you think principles that don't have value mean anything? thank you. host: you said principles don't have value? caller: if you run on principles, does it have value? if you cave on your principles, does that count anymore? host: sean is a republican in massachusetts. sean, how much of your opinion of folks like mccain and rubio, how much does that influence you when you go to the voting booth, if you decide to make contributions to candidates, get involved generally? caller: well, i did not vote in 2008 just because mccain was running. i didn't have a candidate so i didn't vote. host: ok. let's go to jonathan strong. guest: in terms of the question do principles matter, i think the case can be made in terms of the republican presidential landsca

spent ten years billions of dollars in afghanistan and iraq to dismantle al qaeda and now mccain and the obama administration you know it's getting dragged along so we can give weapons back to al qaeda i mean the new sure front is. in iraq reconstituted they did a little rebranding i don't know al qaeda in syria did it work for them but essentially and that's about ten thousand twelve thousand fighters right there and then the salafia star i mean there's tens and thousands of them. make the muslim brotherhood look tame i mean these are the people that. are also known as to who are poor weapons into syria and not get them in the hands of extremists i don't know how he's going to pull that off that's a good question eric we don't disagree about that at all there's no doubt that we should you know we should also remember that what's happened in syria is part of a larger context in the united states has had these networks in place for quite a long time lest we forget going back to the late one nine hundred seventy s. in the establishment of the mujahedeen going all the way through the ni

>> mccain, the maverick. menendez, the maybe mexican one. graham, the he is duck tres. rubbio, mr.rsty. schumer, big daddy shum. >> blake, the one you just heard of. and the rest. gang of eight. >> now the boys over her here-- think-- that's going to be a series on its nostalgia channel. the boys over here think they can get conservatives like me to swallow their amnesty earning landa by including so-called security measures otherwise known as a border surge. now don't get me wrong, i like the idea of a surge, it worked in iraq. you hardly see any mexican sneaking into baghdad. but it's not nearly enough, folks. this plan would merely double the border patrol with one agent every thousand feet. no sir! we need them every three feet that way they can link arms and call out red rover red rover don't let francis cocome over. no immigrant should get citizenship in this country until we know the border is sealed. and i'm not just talking about the mexican border, folks, i'm talking about any border and that includes somebody coloring outside the lines on a denny's place mat. sorry jose

>> rose: welcome to the program, we begin with john mccain who just returned from syria and talks about the civil war there, and what will the united states, what role the united states could play in the conflict. >> we have to contact a civilian group and have coordination between that and the military and we have to secure the chemical weapon sites and it is going to be a very long, hard, difficult controversy, controversial effort, but compare that with the other option, which is the status quo now of possible ba able to subdue to a very prolonged conflict the population of syria, how many more people have to die, charlie? >> >> rose: we conclude with rahm emanuel the mayor of chicago and why he thinks that it is the greatest job in the world. >> this is the single greatest job i have had in public life, i have had great jobs, i just saw presiden clinton, president obama, i loved working for both of them. >> local government is the closest people to how the people live their lives and if you are interested in education, parks, lie brairdz, universities, this is where it affects their

i'll speak to senator john mccain about that. and one player may be the key in the nba championship tonight. lebron james speaks to cnn. that is coming up. [ female announcer ] doctors trust calcium plus vitamin d to support strong bones. and the brand most recommended by... my doctor. my gynecologist. my pharmacist. citracal. citracal. [ female announcer ] you trust your doctor. doctors trust citracal. ♪ hooking up the country whelping business run ♪. ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪ well, everything but palm trees, sunshine and fruity drinks, that is. >>> a breakthrough deal to double the size of border patrol and double the size of hundreds of miles of security fence. it may be the best way to passin

republican senator john mccain, who has been a vocal critic of mr. obama's syrian policy raced to the senate floor just before the white house made its announcement. >> the president of the united states better understand that just supplying weapons is not going to change the equation on the ground and the balance of power. >> that was nbc's chuck todd reporting. >>> a packed outdoor deck at a miami sports bar partially collapsed last night sending dozens of people into the shallow waters of biscayne bay. officials say bar customers and rescuers pulled people from the water and divers searched the waters underneath the deck overnight to make sure no one was trapped. 24 people were hospitalized, two in serious condition. authorities say about a hundred people were on the deck at the time watching the miami heat playing game four of the nba finals. >>> a significant ruling from the judge in the george zimmerman second-degree murder trial. the jury will be sequestered. we've learned the jury will last between two to four weeks. during the fourth day of