had runor tom harkin for reelection, this would not be a race. it is now a tossup. nominee is ac little bit further along in the race. he has made things more difficult. statements that have come back to haunt him. he stumbled more than we expected a congressman to do in the race. he was is uprising primary victor. it did not have to go to a convention. democrats are going to be forced to define her and bring her image down, try to drive up her negatives. >> let's look at some of the now on the air on the senate race. i am joni. i approve this message. the church i grew up in is the church where we were baptized. artwork, love of country -- hard work, love of country, greatest comes from people, not government. it is a long way from red oak to washington. i am asking for your vote. i will take our values there, instead of the other way around. >> i am bruce, i approve this message. support a minimum wage. >> joni oeste does not think there should be a national minimum wage. what does he think is right for iowa? iowans caneves survive and $15,000 a year. ernst, extre

both hillary clinton and bill clinton will speak at the annual steak fry for retiring senator tom harkin next month fuelling speculation about the presidential ambitions. joining me now nbc political editor mark murray. can't you accept an invitation in iowa and everyone not think you're going to run for president. with that humor aside, it's serious to make the appearance. >> if the book tour didn't convince you she's seriously contemplating a run in 2016, this trip going next month to iowa, i think, certainly does that, tamron. of course, yes, people can go to iowa and new hampshire and eventually not run for the presidency. we're running the stage are hillary clinton is entering the point of no return. the more she deeps her feet in the water freezing the rest of the democrats who might have an inkling to run. she can, you know, it's hard for her to say well, forget about . the more time goes on and she does the things and looks like a presidential candidate, hard to walk away from that. >> all right. thank you very much. mark, greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> a dangerous wild

i think it is tom harkin's last day. my former boss. guess is whoever wins iowa has a 75%, 80% of being the next president. >> as president obama shows. >> i like jim webb. i voted against hyim in 2006 in virginia. he wrote a cover story for "the weekly standard" for 1997. it would be great to have a weekly standard contributor running. he's an impressive guy. to the degree that foreign policy and military policy is front and center, and i think it will be, and to the degree which secretary of state clinton could be hurt by being part of that administration that's gotten us into this mess, i think jim webb could be an interesting candidate. >> i think he would have appeal for the reasons bill mentioned. his experience is very broad, very interesting. has some republicans. some democrat. it's really an interesting thing. he's accomplished. and yet, inarguably clean. that can be powerful. >> your governor, martin o'malley taking a look. does that put you in a difficult spot? >> no. it doesn't put me in a difficult spot at all. let me talk

2016 presidential run, she and her husband bill clinton just announced they will headline senator tom harkin'sin iowa on september 14th. it's the top democratic fundraising in the state. this will be her first return to iowa since she finishing third behind program and john edwards, iowa, of course, will host the first voting in the democratic nomination again in 2016. >>> on the remember side, house budget committee chairman paul ryan who was mitt romney's running made mate in 2012 confirmed that he's now considering a 2016 presidential campaign but does not think mitt romney will try again. >> he keeps saying that he's not going to run, as far as myself and my family, this is a decision we are going to take very serious and weigh in 2015. >>> in other words, early next year. in 2014 midterm election is the latest financial figures indicate that americans for prosperity the fact form by billions airs charles and david koch is on track to spends $290 million this election most is funding attack ads, one the latest television shots targets louisiana democratic senator mary lan drew. >> washingt

tom harkin is retiring this year. so are congressman henry waxman and george miller, both of california. minnesota congressman rick nolan was first elected in '74. he retired in '80 but he returned to the house in 2012. part of our series of exit interviews with retiring senators and key members of congress, i talked to two of these watergate babies. here's an excerpt. >> what does that mean to you to be a watergate baby? >> i think that it really was that we came out of an election where the country was in turmoil over vietnam, over watergate. a change was in the air. >> you guys felt like you had a mission in many ways. >> yeah. we were brassy. >> so looking back, what did you get done that you're like, boy, i'm glad we had that small window of opportunity because if you hadn't done it then, you wouldn't have gotten it done. >> i think clearly ending the war in vietnam. cutting off the funding for the war in vietnam and saying this is now over, you can ramp it down but it's over was really important to us. i think a

senator tom harkin chairs this committee. is an hour and 25 minutes. [inaudible conversations] >> finally the committee on health, education, labor, and pensions will come to order. i think everyone for their patience. we have a lot of votes on the senate floor. reconvene this hearing. of the extraordinary public-health efforts that have driven down tobacco use and the enormous challenges that remain. the nation has made remarkable progress in the 50 years as the first surgeon general's report on smoking and health. that time does not carry has been cut by more than half. we have learned what works from smoke free workplace is to access to free cessation services from meaningful tobacco taxes to robust regulations to media campaigns led a wildly successful tips from a former smoker to common-sense marketing restrictions. we know what works. yes, despite all these efforts and successes tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death and the u.s. let me repeat that. tobacco use remains the number one preventable cause of death in the u.s. righ

if you look at tom harkin, judy aaronson, house candidates, lee zeldin and celfin connie -- you are looking at people in 40's, semi early rack war vets, afghanistan -- some iraq war vets, afghanistan vets. they're an interesting group of an impressived group of candidates. i think the republican party is undergoing, a little belatedly, a real generational shift. >> wolf was not able to defeat roberts. who would you have voted for in that race? i thought wolf was a good challenger. but they put up some pretty flawed candidates. pat roberts has been elected and reelected for decades. he wins by seven points. i think one should not underestimate to be anti-incumbent, anti-washington feeling, including the anti-leadership feeling in washington, including among republican primary voters. it's really pretty striking. i think it would be a big mistake -- and i think roberts outspent wolf by 3-1. it's a big mistake if republicans around the country decide hey, we can just be proud of what we are doing in washington, no change needed. is ay, bush, boehner, that recipe for disaster, i think. . it rea

early 2016 news -- the huffington post writes that hill records and will be headlining senator tom harkin's annual steak fry next month. this will be her first visit to the hawkeye state since losing the 2008 residential caucuses there. stireturn is sure to speculation about her potential 2016 presidential campaign. by the way, we will have coverage of that harkin steak fry on c-span networks. >> here is a look at our primetime lineup this week on c-span networks starting at 8 p.m. eastern. geneticallyebate on modified foods. on tuesday, a spotlight on general motors safety recalls. programming from the new york ideas for him. thursday, we will look at the issue of climate change. friday night, we will visit important sites in the civil rights movement. on c-span two, it is book tv in prime time with a discussion about fracking. -- tuesdayht tom a night, the history of money. on wednesday, the authors of the second machine age talk about how new technology will fundamentally change everyday life. thursday, a discussion of politics with robert ehrlich and a democrat. and friday, in-depth wit

out of an enormous freshman class of 92 new members, which included chris dodd and tom harkin, only 17 of us were republicans, and as chuck grassley and i walked down the aisle of the house, he, with crutches, and i with a neck brace, one democrat muttered, "there's two we almost got." time is not just about all of us. with that retirement and that of henry hyde in the house, chuck grassley next year will become the last remaining member of the republican class of 1974, an iron horse in his own right. the silver lining for me in the electoral losses suffered by the republicans was a chance to land senior positions on the agriculture and education subcommittees that would quickly throw me into the thick of things. throughout my career in the house, i focused on those two issues. in 1988, with the retirement of bob stafford, i ran for and won a seat in the united states senate.ñ senator stafford was a tough act to follow. he had held just about every office in the state of vermont and had an enormous impact on the federal policy and educati education, the environment, and elsewhere. i wa

senator tom harkin chairs this committee. is an hour and 25 minutes. [inaudible conversations]

i got to meet hhs secretary and i got to meet representative barbara lee, fred upton, tom harkin, henryaxman -- i met a senator reed -- riding a tram. and met the house labor appropation committee person and it was a lot of neat -- appropriation -- representation and meeting the people and talking about the needs of people living with aids now and for people to support the act. >> host: what sort of response did you get? >> caller: a lot. i was shocked this time. i think everybody that we met with was definitely aware of the issues surrounding ryan white care act. but like waxman and some of the people leaving and that is the concern now is maybe the new people coming up may not be as informed about ryan white and haven't been through the journey of the aids epidemic like so many of the others have. >> host: you came to washington in 1991 to lobby for this the first time. how has it changed? >> caller: that was really hard. it was just a few weeks after ryan passed away that senator kennedy called and asked to come to washington, d.c. and i said no, i am an emotional wreck and i am afra

hillary clinton and her husband of former president bill clinton will be attending tom harkin's annual steak fry in iowa. the former president and mrs. clinton -- this is on september 14. also front page of the financial times this morning. the caption here of julian assange has confirmed he will soon leave at what was embassy in london what has been holed up for more than two years seeking refuge from prosecution, and admitted his confinement has affected his health. said that a picture in the financial times this morning of him. >> life events coming up today across the c-span network to tell you about. right now on our companion network c-span we are live at the heritage foundation for if you look at the relationship between philanthropy and defense research and programs. that got under way at noon eastern. again that is on c-span. later we'll have more from heritage with a multitude of discussion on the future of northeast asia. the korean ambassador to the united states is among the speakers life at two eastern also on c-span. >> here are some highlights for this weekend. >> find

secretary,et the hhs barbara lee, fred upton, henry waxman, tom harkin -- i met a .enator on the tram house labor appropriations committee chair. it was a lot of neat representation in getting to meet the people and talk about the needs of people living with aids now. host: what sort of response did you get? caller: a lot. i was shocked this time. with was that we met definitely aware of the issue surrounding ryan white care act, like waxman. the new people coming up may not be as informed about ryan white and have not been through the journey of the aids epidemic. host: you came to washington back in 1990 after the passing of your son to lobby for this the first time. how has it changed? caller: that was really, really hard. they had just named it after ryan white before he passed away. it was just a few weeks after ryan passed away that senator andedy had called me up asked me to come to bc and i said no -- come to d.c. and i said no, i'm an emotional wreck. they convinced me to come. felt like ic. and had a story to tell, too. the story of a mom living with seeing her son died of a

so i'm out here looking at the senate race for an open seat, tom harkins retiring.got business wanting to see how this debate is going to come out. we went yesterday to vermeer, which is a company that makes industrial equipment, construction equipment, and talked to their executive about the export/import financing that they have pending right now. it's actually a loan guarantee for a $10 million sale to saudi arabia. i asked darrel buchamp who is the executive who does international deals for vermeer whether he considers himself as the tea party has said a crony capitalist. here is what he said. >> i don't view myself as one and neither to other iowa companies using the resources of the bank. we think that is a misnomer, a myth, and this is crony capitalism. it's non-exclusive. the bank is available for every u.s. exporter regardless of size. >> when you hear the public arguments against xm, do you think that's a bunch of demagoguery? >> i do. i think there's some words and some populist rhetoric that is being flown around that is just not appropriate, that is use

clinton will be a featured guest as retiring iowa senator tom harkins annual steak fry. i don't think you should fry a steak. >>> community health system says it was a victim of a cyber attack from china. the hackers stole social security numbers and other personal data belonging to 4.5 million patients. security experts say the hacking group may have links to the chinese government. our friends. >>> coming up, home depot shares getting a boost this morning. quarterly results beat the streets. same-store sales we're going to talk to an analyst next. as we head to break, here is a look at yesterday's winners & losers. >>> good morning. welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm joe kernen along with andrew ross sorkin. becky is off today. why are you laughing? luckily, i'm able to prevent certain things from happening around here. you know, i've got a new guy in charge who understands some of this stuff. we're up 28 points on the -- a great day yesterday. >> especially if you were playing the nasdaq. 14 years later, march 2000? it's so high now. >> look around. this i

tom harkin announced both hillary and bill clinton will speak at his annual steak fry next month fuelling about her political. >> it's cloptinton's first trip iowa since 2008 when she lost the caucuses to barack obama. a poll showed last month among iowan 70% support hillary clinton and 30% support vice president joe biden and 10% still undecided. guys, what do we make of this, anything or a stop on the long tour? >> stop on the long tour. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. let's go to carol lee. there is a story on the front page of "the new york times" i've been wanting to talk to you since the top of the show. obama seems ton frustrating his own party. you have quotes from claire mccaskill who is on the show in a little bit. a lot of people saying this guy is not engaged. this is not surprising they are saying it because democratic senators have been saying that quietly for years now. it's surprising, though, they are starting to speak out. what is the white house reaction to this? >> more of the same. they feel like they have been hearing this for a really long time. you know,

if you look at tom harkin, judy leenson, house candidates, zeldin and celfin connie -- suffolk county, you're looking at people in their 30's, veterans, somee , and theye physicians are age thing group of candidates and an impressive group of candidates. i think the republican party is going belatedly through a generational shift. not able towolf was roberts.t who would you have voted for? guest: i think wolf is a flawed challenger. we will see what happens in tennessee tomorrow night against lamar alexander. pat roberts, who has been elected and reelected without any problems in decades suddenly wins by seven points. i do not think anyone should underestimate the anti-incumbent, anti-washington feeling, including among republican primary voters. it is really striking. i think it would be a big mistake. it will be a big mistake if republicans around the country decide we can run as establishment republicans, probable we are doing, no change , romney, the dole bush, mcconnell, john boehner party -- that is a recipe for failure. it really has to be that marco rubio, ted cruz, kelly i go