back when it was mr. hagel who had the power to confirm presidential nominees or deny them, back when he was a united states senator, mr. hagel stood in opposition to president clinton's nominee to be the ambassador to luxembourg, a man named james hormel. senator hagel explained at the time that he was oppose odd to the nomination because mr. hormel was guy. he said to his hometown paper that ambassadors, quote are, representing america. they're representing our lifestyle, our values, our standards. and i think it is an inhibiting factor to be guy openly, aggressively guy like mr. hormel to do an effective job. chuck hagel said that in 1998. today he took it back, releasing a statement to the "washington post" calling his own words back then insensitive, saying they did not reflect the totality of his views or public record. he apologized to mr. hormel and apologized for saying it. he then says he supports, quote, open service, which means i think he is not going to be a creep about "don't ask, don't tell" if

mr. hagelman of unshakable character and integrity who has served his country in the most distinguished manner in peace and war." this is reagan's a second. that is a bipartisan group of highly respected people. why shouldn't those voices be as loud as special interests waging a campaign against chuck hagel? >> i don't think gay advocates, i don't think israel advocates are special interest. they are incredibly important base constituencies to the democrat party. they are also very significant in our society. they are people -- and let's also talk about this, with the gay comment he made. first of all, i think it shows a tremendous bias. i don't know what aggressively gay is, i can only describe it as aggressively stupid. i asked every gay friend of mine to be aggressively gay, and have still not been able to get an answer. and the next secretary of defense will have to implement the full integration of gays openly into the military. >> what's your list? not a single one of those folks, they ha

as far as mr. hagel is concerned, i served with him on the senate, but he hasn't been nominated yet and i'll reserve any judgment until after the hearings we have on confirmation if, in fact, he is nominated. >> senator klobuchar, on senator hagel, even the top democrat on the foreign affairs committee eliot engel said he has severe issues with secretary -- the possibility of secretary hagel because of what he called his endemic hostility towards israel. do you share those concerns? >> well, again, i want to see what happens to these hearings. i intersected a brief period of time with senator hagel and have a lot of respect for who the president nominates and i want to say that john kerry was awarded the purple heart in vietnam, led the foreign relations committee and shown the ability to get tough things done like the nuclear arms treaty a few years back really will follow in the footsteps of a superb secretary of state hillary clinton and the president has put together in the past a good national secur

mr. hagel's past hostility towards israel and its interests.er you know ambassador to the united nations and ambassador get to have you here. former mayor of new york ed koch spoke out in particular and talked about chuck hagel's perceived hostility toward israel and saying it would be a terrible appointment and apparently most of the jewish leaders who have expressed themselves. why? >> i think they have looked at a number of votes that senator hagel took during his time in the senate and they're very worried what his position on israel, terrorism in the middle east. dealing with iran would be. let me say, i would sternly don't bear senator hagel any ill will personally. he supported both of my nominations in the bush administration. he gave me a lot of good advice and helped out behind the scenes. so i'm certainly personally grateful to him for all of that and what is interesting this controversy appears to be starting primarily among democrats. jewish democrats, who are worried about this potential nomination. megyn: what specifically has ch

mr. rogin? >> the senate usually does confirm members -- we know there is a huge opposition to the nomination of chuck hagel to secretary of defense. he referred to the pro-israel lobby as the jewish lobby. do you think it is fair to hold chuck hagel accountable for that remark? >> i think that remark is troublesome. it shows at the best lack of sensitivity. at the worst, prejudice. i am concerned about the nomination. obviously chuck hagel has been at the center for many years and has good attributes. there's a lot of controversy not only with that remark, but with some of his votes. it is troublesome. i've been hearing a lot from my constituents, mainly in opposition to his nomination. >> there are two sets of things that have come up, one of them indicated he declined to sign some letters in the senate that were related to issues relating to the middle east. he voted against sanctions on iran and libya. he has expressed the view that press containment might be an option. that does not seem to be in line with the president's policy or recent votes in the senate. what is your view on that? >> those things