joining us with insight, "washington post" reporter sean sullivan.agel could face tough questions on afghanistan, troops, gays in the military and other issues. what should we watch to see if he'll make it past this confirmation? >> he'll certainly face a grilling from republicans on capitol hill today on, you know, the issues you mentioned, israel is another issue. you know, look for the way that he answers questions from democrats. a lot of republicans are going to oppose his nomination. but senators chuck schumer said that he's in favor of hagel. so if that can clear the way for other democrats to get onboard, that might be enough for him to clear the senate. >> another issue that we're watching out of d.c., president obama saying there is "no doubt that immigration reform and gun bills will get passed this year." folks have to say has the political climate changed that much? >> it certainly has, especially on immigration. you know, when the republicans look at the election results of 2012, you know, obama carried over 7-10 hispanic voters. the ti