steve hayes, i guess he's not doing "special report" if he was tossing some back.y problem is, he was encouraging the german coach, people to play hooky and not go to work and watch the world cup. which i think it is disturbing in new york to walk by bars and watching people not working. >> but they're buying stuff. >> it reminds me of europe -- >> they're having a little bit of fun. buzz killer. >> we do this with the super bowl and world series. >> it's great for business. >> yeah, but it's once every four years. a lot of these are poor countries. this is the biggest thing that will happen to them in four years, let them have a party. >> the best thing about the world cup, four years. everything should be four years. the world series, the super bowl. your birthday should be four years. imagine if you were 28 for four years. and then you're 32 for four years. >> actually, i've been 28 for four years. >> exactly. >> that's a very good point. >> everything should be four years. >> in tv, this is called a tease, a really deep tease here. you ready? only 70 days until

syndicated columnist george will, steve hayes of the weekly standard, and fox news political analystuan williams. well, george, this was always going to be tricky. how do you defend making a prisoner swap for a soldier -- deserted. one could argue -- as you look back over this week, how did it become such awe miss for the administration? >> first by doing it in the rose garden, by making it a moment of national celebration when, in fact, it was surrounded with ambiguities that were bound to come out sooner or later. so if this had been announced as part of the tidying up at the end of conflict in afghanistan, that would have been one thing. then they began by saying that the president just said time is of the essence. well, time was of the essence, supposedly, because a video, 5-month-old video showed that his health was in immediate peril. >> which they first saw back in january. >> correct. five months ago they said this. mr. hagel repeated, secretary hagel row peted, that he was in peril. dianne feinstein said there's no evidence, no reason whatever so believe that. it looks as th

let's bring in our panel, steve hayes, mara lie ason, and charles krauthammer. >> well, they got thee it extremely clear he's not going to guantanamo. he's going to be tried in the united states. i think this really exists on a separate track to the controversy over benghazi which continues, you know, new cnn poll out today saying people are dissatisfactoried almost two-to-one about what they have heard, doesn't think that hillary clinton handled it well, and whether the obama administration has been honest about it or not, also about 2 to 1. benghazi is controversial. it's a good thing. it's important to get people bho do harm to the united states. >> i think it's a good day. by all accounts, abu khatallah was involved. he was seen on video directing some of the fighters at the battle at the consulate. there are other people we need to get. i this think we should make it a pliert to get them soon. we should have i think had them before, but among them, mohammed jamal. we shouldn't be in any hurry to get abu khatallah to court. we should take as long as we can and as long as we want

there is also reporting tonight from steve hayes from the weekly standard that those detainees at gitmoat this transfer was going to happen as opposed to to congress which did not. ledge of the transfer tell the weekly standard that prisoners at guantanamo bay understood that the days before the transfer something significant was imminent. they knew who was being transferred. the security profile at guantanamo had been raised these sources say and the daily ruse teens of several prisoners had been broken up. the university of new york who has represented the detainees told the associated press that the coming transfer was hardly a secret among the prison population. in testimony last week, james clap per the director of national intelligence was asked whether bergdahl's failing health meant the exchange had to be expedited. he said the intenl wouldn't support that. >> okay, tucker, i guess the biggest thing you heard this week was about congress and how upset they are about this process. >> not as upset they would be as a co-equal branch of government watching their authority eroded yea

steve hayes, keer sten powers, and charles krauthammer. okay.on, charles. >> i think we are seeing the division of iraq, vice president biden once advocated that we do the dividing. it looks like as the iraqis themselves are dividing it. people are talking about isi going all the way to baghdad xing that's not that easy because a lot of baghdad is shiite. they are still in sunni friendly territory and they talk about a march to the holy cities of shi-ism. i think one the panic stops, the government is likely using militias, volunteers and iranian revolution guards who are undoubtedly in there. everybody is lying and saying it's not happening yet. it will happen. i think they will hold the line and we will get a divided iraq. >> what about the u.s., active in there or will they be? >> well, that's the big question to see whether or not the president is going to decide to get involved. obviously, there aren't going to be any ground troops. there could be air strikes. the issue is it's not going to be easy people to be lodging air strikes against.

steve hayes, kirsten powers and charles krauthammer. steve, what do you make of it?ce again we listened to the white house and its supporters. one the numbers aren't as bad as they are the same and two the numbers are the fault of everything but president obama's fiscal policies. it's no doubt true that weather played a role. played a factor. you talk to economists they will say that can account for some of the 1% which was the second number that we were given before it was revised further down but it doesn't account for 2.9%. i think up with of the thing that people have to start considering is that the affordable care act the obamacare contributed to the shrinking of the overall u.s. economy. there's a new paper out a professor from the university of chicago that basically makes that argument. and argues the affordable care act when you include implicit taxes in obamacare, the third highest tax hike since 1946 and when you talk about that level of taxation including implicit taxes i think it contributes to the effect of shrinking the economy and he argues potential

let's bring in our panel, steve hayes, kirsten powers and charles krauthammer.fer griffin had interesting reporting today, where he came from, what his life was like in identify idaho. we found out that he had attempted to join the french le legion as as mercinery. it doesn't sound like someone who normally joins the military. >> that consensus of the people i've interviewed said when it came to the hearts and minds work, he was enthusiastic, seemed to be energized but when the tough stuff came, he didn't like to do that. in a typical raid you would separate the men on one side of the room and the women and children on the other side of the room. you would have to ask the men difficult questions and ask them if they've been in contact with the taliban, he did not like to ask those questions. he didn't like to be involved in those ad hock interrogations and that was one of the reasons he became so disillusioned and clearly the record shows he walked away from his unit. >> many who served with him are coming out and saying that they at one point were asked to sign

steve hayes, a.b. stoddard, and charles krauthammer.ome early thoughts about the d-day anniversary. charles. >> well, we cannot ever replay enough -- repay enough this generation, but one thing just mentioned in that report was leadership. eisenhower wrote a statement, had the invasion not succeeded, he wrote it in advance. very short statement in which he took full responsibility for the failure, even before knowing how and why it might have happened. that's an example for the current generation of leaders and that's one of the reasons we prevailed in the war. we had leaders like him and churchill and others whose like we don't really see anymore. >> i thought it was beautiful and very poignant. i thought that president obama's remarks were very moving. it's very interesting timing obviously coming at a period where his -- he's really at the nadir, the lowest point in his tenure. even just a week after his graduation speech at west point, where he was trying to articulate a new middle ground for american leadership and foreign policy,

george will, charles lane, and steve hayes.y, george, your thoughts on this. >> i'm startled by mr. cantor saying all politics is local. very little of our politics remains local because we've nationalized all of our elections with great national themes such as immigration, and immigration obviously was part of this, but i think a small part. i think mr. cantor's great advantage was money and i think it hurt him. it hurt him because he spent an awful lot of money advertising mr. brat's name to a lot of people, well, we actually have a choice here. second, he ran some extremely foolish ads saying he's a college professor, therefore he's a liberal. mr. brat is not a liberal. furthermore, mr. cantor is hurt by his prior successes. being a party leader and traveling, and doing all the duties, he necessarily neglected some of the housekeeping duties in his district. >> let's hear from dave brat in a victory speech. >> this is the happiest moment of my life. dollars do not vote. you do. [ applause ] >> this campaign was about just ba

george will, from from national public radio, steve hayes, and lon williams.his was always going to be tricky. how do you defend releasing, making a prisoner swap, for a soldier who walked away from his post at the very least deserted, one could argue the a the most. as you look back, how did it become such a mess for the administration? >> by doing it in the rose garden. making it a moment of national celebration, it was surrounded by ambiguity that was going to come up if this were announced as a tidying up at the end of afghanistan, that would have been one thing. then the president said time was of the essence, supposedly because a five-month-old video was showing his health in peril. >> they saw back in january. >> correct. five months ago. secretary hagel repeated he was in peril. dianne feinstein said there was no evidence to believe that. conflict from the start. there were two other motives for the administration, policy motives. one is if you can get rid of the five worst offenders, it makes it easier to close guantanamo, the rest seems minor and tri

let's bring in our panel, steve hayes, mara lie ason, and charles krauthammer. >> well, they got theuy. i think that's important. the white house made it extremely clear he's not going to guantanamo. he's going to be tried in the united states. i think this really exists on a separate track to the controversy over benghazi which continues, you know, new cnn poll out today saying people are dissatisfactoried almost two-to-one about what they have heard, doesn't think that hillary clinton handled it well, and whether the obama administration has been honest about it or not, also about 2 to 1. benghazi is controversial. it's a good thing. it's important to get people bho do harm to the united states. >> i think it's a good day. by all accounts, abu khatallah was involved. he was seen on video directing some of the fighters at the battle at the consulate. there are other people we need to get. i this think we should make it a pliert to get them soon. we should have i think had them before, but among them, mohammed jamal. we shouldn't be in any hurry to get abu khatallah to court. we shou

george will, mara liasson, steve hayes, and juan williams. this was always going to be tricky. how do you defend releasing, making a prisoner swap for a soldier who walked away from his post at the very least, deserted one could argue at the most. as you look back over the week, how did it become such a mess? >> first by doing it in the rose garden by making it a moment of national celebration when in fact it was surrounded with ambiguities that were bound to come back sooner or later. if this had been announced as part of the tidying up as part of the conflict in afghanistan. then they began by the president said time is of the essence, supposedly because of a video five months old. five months ago they said this. secretary hagel repeated that he was in peril. diane fine stain there's no evidence, no reason whatsoever to believe this. this looks as though there were two other motives for the administration. policy motives, one is if you can get rid of the five worst offenders at guantanamo, it makes it easier to close guantanamo because the rest seems minor and trivial, and th

martha: allen our pro kiers and steve hayes, we had a good time and all of our crew was there, all of our producers and writers, our fox family. bill: next tuesday we are going to do it all off again. belgium tuesday 4 time, go usa! you were suggesting i should boycott french fries and stella? >> for belgium? martha: a shock new report on the state of the u.s. economy. according to researchers at harvard 40 million people can't afford the house they live in because mort gang or rent takes up 40% of their income. >> it's a big number. it's 35 million americans. it's when your rents or mortgage takes up 36% of your mort tang. that doesn't leave a lot of money left off for food or clothing, for savings, or a rainy day. saving for retirement. education if you are spending that much on your rent or mortgage you just don't have anything left. martha: is it that average income is down or is it people are spending too much of their income per house. >> right's a function of income. it's saying rents and mortgages even though many people have had the ability to refinance and that helped this s

bill: i want to bring in steve hayes. you find what, inconsistencies and inaccuracies in what koskinen has testified to so far? >> last night there were so much things that didn't mawch. sometimes with what he said previously and sometimes moments earlier. at one point in the same sentence he declared he hadn't notified anybody about the missing emails because he had been advised that he shouldn't tell anybody about the missing emails. the obvious question is who advised him that and didn't he have to tell people about the missing emails the to receive that advice. john koskinen was full of contradictions. it's why the comments we heard from that republican representative were unhelpful. what matters is what the facts actually tell us. i think the white house and john koskinen have had enough trouble explaining the fact set it's unhelpful and unprofessional for republicans to speculate about what hah happened in their own imaginations. bill: it's highly partisan at this level. you don't see democrats giving much cover to

steve hayes set to analyze in a moment here.t all throughout the rest of the program and all throughout the day. >>> so holy smoke, folks, or is it unholy smoke? what pope francis says about marijuana. he's weighing in on that. bill: also she's good, lucy lee playing like a pro at the u.s. open. she's 11 years old. off the course she's just kind of cool, and she's, like, 11. >> what's your plan the rest of the day? >> eat some more ice cream. [laughter] i spent my entire childhood seeing the world in reverse, and i loved every minute of it. but then you grow up and there's no going back. but it's okay, it's just a new kind of adventure. and really, who wants to look backwards when you can look forward? the summer of this.mmer. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. where memories will be forged into the sand. and then hung on a wall for years to come. get out there, with over 50,000 hotels at $150 dollars or less. expedia. find yours. bill: they promised to this, stephen hayes is watching and listening to this

steve hayes, joins us, senior writer for "weekly standard" and fox news contributor. good morning to you. >> good morning, martha. martha: it is troubling as everybody who witnessed the rose garden ceremony would probably agree there has been no attempt on his part to speak to his parents as of right now. >> it is troubling but somewhat understandable and it is not really out of character who have been subject to this kind of lengthy captivity if you go back look at other cases. the adjustment coming back, not even into american society but just into the landstuhl regional medical center and talking to interrogators is sufficient an abrupt culture change from the experience he had over the past five years, you talk to people who work in this area, they say they are not entirely surprised that he has not chosen to make contact with his folks. martha: a culture shock the likes of which none of us can completely comprehend. >> right. martha: another big issue came up with a reuters reporter over the weekend himself was held six months by the taliban and he was cautious,

hayes is up next. >>> boehner v. obama. let's play hard ball. good evening, i'm steve kornacki in for chris matthews. confrontation. reports hinted that john boehner was considering suing the president of the united states. the charge, that president obama is illegally ignoring congress and abusing his oath of office. and today, boehner made it official. >> are you planning to initiate a lawsuit against the obama administration and president obama over executive actions?

hayes is up next. >>> boehner v. obama. let's play hard ball. good evening, i'm steve kornacki in for chris matthews. leading off a potentially historic legal and political confrontation. reports hinted that john boehner was considering suing the president of the united states. the charge, that president obama is illegally ignoring congress and abusing his oath of office. and today, boehner made it official. >> are you planning to initiate a lawsuit against the obama administration and president obama over executive actions? >> i am. the constitution makes it clear that a president's job is to faithfully execute the laws. in my view, the president has not faithfully executed the laws. >> the white house met the news with shock. >> in this case, it seems that republicans have shifted their opposition into a higher gear. frankly, a gear that i didn't know previously existed. the fact that they are considering a taxpayer funded lawsuit against the president of the united states for doing his job, i think it is kind of step that most americans wouldn't support. >> last fall he reluctantly led the hard ra

bill: stephen hayes, columnist for "the weekly standard." good morning to you, steve. >> good morning, bill. bill: if i administration wanted to wave a flag it seems to have backfired if you listen to the talk on sunday and this morning. what are your main questions on this. >> it certainly has backfired initially. if you look at kind of responses getting from people who served alongside bowe bergdahl and questions they're raising about the circumstances that led to the departure, his departure from his unit. there are questions about qatar as a recipient country for these five taliban, high-ranking taliban commanders. you had a case where senior senate democrats had opposed the transfer of these five specifically, precisely because they were so dangerous. and now the administration has gone ahead without consulting congress, without giving them 30-day notification that was required by the ndaa. there are lots of questions. i suspect we'll learn many more questions coming days. bill: what about the homecoming of the five detainees in qatar? how do you keep them from j