chuck really keeps it together. with carnival and so i just want to say thank you captain, sir, police chief sir for everything you have done for us. thank you. >> hello good evening. my name is robert ortega. i want to say thank you for your presence here tonight. i always wanted to make very clear that i want to point out a few individuals that have made a mark in my life. i have been here 15 years in the county of san francisco and one of the dear people that i have met coming out of mission station has been chuck linberg. he's been a great role model not only for our community but a great impact at the san francisco police department and great confidence as a member, as a person coming to this st e that didn't know much about policing in this community, this city has bridged that gap. i want to say thank you for coming to the mission and i hope you hear my comments. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> phillip -- third generation mission merchants. kind of reluctant to throw accolades to the captain, because wh

chuck? >> all right, ron allen, thank you very much. >>> i want to recap where everything stands now, do a little reset. we know some of you on the west coast are just waking pup. authorities issued a no-fly zone over the greater boston area. a manhunt is under way for this man, the man known to be in the white hat believed to be responsible for the monday bombings at the boston marathon. his name is dzhokhar tsarnaev. he is 19 years old and considered armed and dangerous. police believe they know where this man is and that's the action we've been seeing in watertown. boston police released this picture. this was caught by a 7-eleven security camera last night. >> we believe this to be a terrorist. we believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. we need it get him in custody. >> now, tsarnaev was born in kyrgyzstan and has a massachusetts driver's license and a resident of camridge. his brother tamerlan tsarnaev, 26 years old, now dead. he was born in russia and became a legal,

chuck says he does keep his distance, but not always. >> i've been bit once bad. i lost a finger. >> he lost a finger? >> that's whey says. some people like dogs, some people like horses, chuck loves to look at snakes in the wild. here's a different video of another western diamondback snake that he found. >> it's a monster. >> this one is fat. >> chuck thinks this particular snake is a female and it could be getting ready to lay some eggs this spring. >> they lk like like they're able to defy gravity. >> that's scary and that should be avoided. >> that's the whole point. >> as long as i don't mess with him, he won't mess with me. >> chuck says there would be no reason for the snakes to strike if you keep your distance. >> whoa, whoa. >> it just lunged at him. >> that's a close call. >> that was me getting too close. that's not his fault at all. >> chuck has a great respect for these snakes and he wants all of us to have the same respect. >>> whoa! >>> this is dash cam video from florida police and they're chasing that suv driver up ahead. very quickly you can see

chuck? >> michelle kaczynski reminding folks here in the united states that it is a much more divisive, divisive political figure margaret thatcher was in great britain than perhaps she was here in the united states. michelle, thank you very much. >>> now, to the escalating tensions with north korea and the possibility that we could find out what kim jong-un is really up to in the next week or so. the u.s. is watching two upcoming anniversaries possible dates for some action of some sort. the first is april 15th, that's the birthky birthday of country's founder and april 25th marks the creation of the north korean army. today, the north said it would recall 51,000 workers from the factory zone it shares with south korea. severing their last economic link. south korean officials believe the north may test fire another missile as soon as this week, but they've now backed off warnings that pyongyang was on the verge of a nuclear test. dan pfeiffer said they've seen this before. >> this is absol

that's chuck's saliva. dna confirmed it. and? did you press his face into the pillow, causing him to suffocate? yes and no. alison... you're so sure i'm guilty. i could see it when you walked through the door. you have an explanation? yes... i pressed his face into the pillow. no... i did not suffocate him. he did, however... orgasm. excuse me? my marathon-running boyfriend was a pillow biter. satisfied? he liked to give himself over to me. i, uh, could be more explicit, but... i get it. we role-played around... 2:00 in the morning. then we drank some more wine. we snuggled. you okay? yeah. um... it's just that this job, it's weird uh, sometimes. you know, you learn certain things about people. hey. hey. you're interrogating our witness without me? no, i was just running a few questions by her. you interview her again, i better be there. it's protocol. speedle: you will be there. you got that? ( music playing ) ( music continuing ) woman: lieutenant? yeah? results on those cigarette butts. three separate donors. one matched the s

but the back story on this is chuck grew up in the portola. and next to mclaren park and he spent his whole childhood there. and when he and she married, they wanted the same childhood experiences chuck had had, and even better ones. so, they have spent their time working on the play grounds and all the other aspects of the park. and they worked so well and collaboratively with all the other park groups that represent mclaren park. parks alliance and rec and park department. i know they want me to thank everybody who has been such an integral part of giving them this award and all the work we still have to do on mclaren park. so, thank you for chuck and trilsy. (applause) ♪ >> fantastic. easily one of the best views in san francisco, so, if you've never had the opportunity to visit mclaren park, i highly recommend it. it's like finding a whole new part of san francisco. and now it's time for our last award, which is an award that we felt was an important element of our vision for the neighborhood empower. ment network and that was to takethe

but right now it's time for "the daily rundown" with chuck todd. have a great day. >>> immigration nation in the wake of a giant capitol hill rally. wednesday, it's full day coverage, right here on msnbc, on one of the biggest issues facing washington right now. and we have brand-new poll numbers to show you on the debate that will shape the future for millions of future americans. also this morning, a republican congressman in charge of keeping the house in republican control speaks out loudly to the left of the president on social security. he's sticking to his guns. how many republicans will make him walk it back? and a bipartisan breakthrough on background checks may not be so easy after all. the nra, after hours of letting it hang out there, late last night, let congress know they're still keeping score. >>> it's a very busy thursday, april 11th, 2013. this is "the daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. got the 411 on everything today. had to use it once. let's get right to my first read. this morning at 11:00, the senate is expected to vote on wheth

. >> so you have this great commentary and this grandpa, who is not so great with the nun chucks. >> i whip the fool upside his head. >> this video was posted reverend miller. >> jesus going to rise up, i'm going to whup thedevil right here in the parking lot. sunglasses, ain't no sun. i'm out he with my gloves and my n one man -- one lord, one faith, one baptism, two nun chucks, like mary lou reddon. pow, behind the back. bust your finger, that hurts. shake it off, homey. yeah, buddy. time to call it quits. >> i love this guy. >> this guy is like a broadcaster. >> that was the best color commentary i've heard in a long time. >> what a beautiful marriage of odd things. >> grandpa doing nun chucks in the parking lot is funny enough. without the commentary. >> one man, one lord, one faith, one baptism, two nun chucks. >>> that's it for "rtm," see you tomorrow! >> so pat it and roll it -- good girl!

chuck todd is out on the white house lawn. chuck, i have just been told house speaker boehner is leading a moment of oh silence for the boston victims across town from you on the floor of congress. >> reporter: he is. we now see flags are officially being lowered to half staff. the president himself has been really in information receive mode. he's been getting updates all day when it comes from his homeland security director, fbi director. it's what the president said and what he didn't say that's important to listen to. take a listen to what the president said about who could be behind this and what will happen when they figure it out. >> we still do not know who did this or why. and people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. but make no mistake. we will get to the bottom of this. we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this. any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice. >> reporter: as you heard there he specifically didn't say the word "

because, chuck, the fact she had this two decades ago. that she admitted in her biography, autobiography she had those 40-some days in tleemt. it isn't like the eagleton thing where it's a press disclosure, an expose. she publicly explained that she'd had this illness. all these years later they're bringing it back and pretending it's in the present tense. she is emotionally unbalanced. >> i tell you what mcconnell aides will say. i've asked them questions about this today. folks that were in that room. their defense of this is, we were doing nothing different than any campaign does in preparing against an opponent. you gather all the information you potentially have that potentially might be a negative that you wouldn't -- that it wouldn't be fair to judge them unless they made the strategic decision to then use it publicly. and that their defense on this is, they did not make the decision to go with this line of attack. because i'm with you, chris. i think that this is -- this type of attack is a double-edged sword and would alienate vo

so, thank you for chuck and trilsy. (applause) ♪

chuck? >> the question this is coming during interrogation of him. i think some of this information is coming after he's been read his miranda rights, toor what it's worth. we can set that aside. we know that is the case, these guys keep talking. there's been some confused reporting on this. initially he said oh, they were just headed to new york to party. now he says they were discussing the idea of doing something. >> taking the bombs with them. >> in times square, and remember, they did have all of these bombs with them. they were throwing bombs at the law enforcement during that shoot-out on thursday. >> i think that's the best argument that they were up to more trouble. let me go to jonathan dienst, who broke the story for nbc. how do you know this? >> our best have understanding is that this was only aspirat n aspirational. based on the debriefing that they're doing of the surviving terror suspect, dzhokhar tsarnaev. that he was claim, first he claimed that they wanted to new york to party. but under continuing interrogation, it now appears tha

chuck todd, chuck, i thought it was a very moving, moving speech from the president and very personal. coming at a very particularly difficult time. look at the nation reeling from a tragedy and the uncertainty from what happened in and around bost thn week. >> alex, think about what the president has had to deal with in the last 24 hours, both politically, in his own political fights. we heard yesterday in the range of emotions that the president has been dealing with. where he was obviously upset and angry about the gun vote. on his way to boston to deliver that speech, he's getting bring briefed about what happened in west texas. a reminder that this job isn't made for everyone. but the speech itself when you think about how important it is for the city of boston, his speech -- every speech was more moving than the next. i thought deval patrick was outstanding and the president really gave the type of thing that i think people wanted to hear. feel the healing. for a lot of bostonians, watching tom menino, their mayor for life in many ways, stand up, when he hasn't been able to stan

adrienne mong in dagestan. >>> chuck hagel says that syria has used chemical weapons. will that force the president to take action? senate foreign relations bob corker joins us next. [ male announcer ] this is betsy. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. >>> major news today on the subject of chemical weapons used in syria. responding to letter today, from a bipartisan group of senators requesting answers on this murky question of whether the assad regime has used chemicals, according to the new assessment by the white house, on two incidents they did or someone did. there is a concern about the chain of custody of these weapons, but principally, it was sarin gas, according to the defense secretary, chuck hagel. has the syrian

you heard chuck there bring up a number of questions. first and foremost, the timing of all of this information coming from defense secretary chuck hagel. can you talk to me about the timing before we get to what's next? >> well, look, several of us sent a letter to the president yesterday saying can you answer in a nonclassified way, were chemical weapons used? we had the israelis, the french, the british say that in fact they believe that in fact intelligence pointed in that direction. and i think that the disclosure today is incredibly important. because it changes the dynamics of one of the policy options for the united states and the international community. and the one thing i think the administration is trying to do here. i understand that since we have an experience of going to the united nations and not having all our facts in order and having the consequences of that is, what was the chain of custody, exactly how was it used? if we can nail that down, you can go to the security council and seek the type of international support

chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the white house believes this is their last best chance to do something meaningful to reform america's gun laws. the president used this speech in west hartford to make a powerful plea to washington. on a mission to rekindle the emotional spark that connected newtown with america in december, the president renewed his plea for gun control. >> this is not about politics. this is about doing the right thing for all the families who are here that have been torn apart by gun violence. >> reporter: mr. obama invoked the suffering of the families of the newtown victims. >> and newtown, we want you to know that we are here with you. we will not walk away from the promises we have made. we are as determined as ever to do what must be done. >> reporter: many of the families made their own emotional pleas sunday night on "60 minutes." >> every time, you know, it's somebody else's school, somebody else's town, somebody else's community. until one day -- you wake up and it's not. >> reporter: dav

so listen up to chuck because he's "the daily rundown" guy. today is going to be a great day. >> here's chuck todd. >> wow. to you don and matt and steve for that video. we learned that we will have a 10:15 a.m. press conference from the president this morning. today is actually the first 100 days of the second term. it is fitting. many presidents like to mark those days with a press conference. the president will be covering that live. let's get to the first reads of the morning. if it's tuesday, somebody is voting somewhere. today it's in massachusetts and it's for a senate seat. voters are already heading to the polls to pick the democratic and republican nominees who will compete to fill out john kerry's senate term. massachusetts had more special elections for you than regularly scheduled elections in the last three years. chalk it up to the law of unintended consequences. remember what happened. democrats in the state legislature were worried about john kerry can win the presidency and leave republican mitt romney to appoint his replacem

>> what came first, the drumming skills or none chuck skills? that's a great performance to pull out. whip them around and pull this off, the crowd goes crazy. >> yeah. >> she can be the drummer and security at the same time. >> she can play the drums and whoop your ass if you wanted to. >> yeah. >> nikki calls these the drum chucks. >> i like it. you could market that. >>>

kim and chuck and -- chuck -- kim and chris, we're seeing this shuttle diplomacy. this is a reenergized middle east shuttle, so that is point one, kerry, kim, does seem to want to nail down whatever advantage he can, and is planning a lot of travel. >> he's been wanting to do this. he's been wanting the job for a long time, and wanting to go all in. he doesn't have probably any more political ambitions beyond his job as secretary of state. he wants to leave a mark. hillary clinton perhaps still harbored political ambitions. she did go all in when she was secretary of state. she doesn't want to stake her reputation on the thankless task of middle east peace-making. john kerry definitely wants to give it his all. >> will he be able to give it his all, though, check? secretaries of state, not only the cap net members in general, but in particular, the secretaries of state, having on a very short leash. the without controls all. you know, hillary clinton had so much celebrity, the aura, that it was somewhat obscured that she didn't have a whole lot of running room. >>

chuck, what to do about it now in a nation not looking for yet another foreign conflict? >> reporter: absolutely. look, the first time personally the president acknowledged that, yes, they have -- we have evidence, the united states government -- evidence of chemical weapons being used in syria. but in a meeting and the oval office with the king of jordan he made that acknowledgment with a lot of caveats. take a listen. >> knowing that potentially chemical weapons have been used inside of syria doesn't tell us when they were used, how they were used, obtaining confirmation and strong evidence. all of those things we have to make sure we work on with the international community and we, ourselves, are going to focus on this. >> reporter: here's what sources are making clear to me. their intelligence, they believe, is spot on. they believe they know chemical weapons were used. they don't know who ordered it. did assad himself do it? is it a rogue agent? that's the evidence the president was talking about, the facts they want to gather before they make their case, and before

let's bring back chuck nice and howard kurtz. we're talking about the white house correspondents dinner. the president's ability to deliver at least in the minds of his supporters, i should say, howie, i thought it interesting that he chose to come into the room to a rap song. would he have done that in his first term? >> probably not. and there was some talk he would be more sober in the wake of the boston bombings, but he had the usual mix of pointed and barbed jokes. there has been a lot of criticism about the whole spectacle of celebrities and news organizations invited, and it has grown into something that some of us are not that proud of. having been there, i will say i don't think one night where journalists try to get together with administration officials and whatever hollywood folks they cutract means they're not going to be tough on the administration, but i do think it doesn't present the most illuminating picture of the white house press corps to the public maybe watching at home. >> no, because to outsiders, it look

but chuck, mcconnell has been in office for a long time. i always figure an incumbent ought to be positive. let the other guy take the shots. the other woman take the shots. here he is coming in with 36%. going right on offense. >> well, it is, but if you follow mcconnell's history here, and i tell you, howard knows this really well, he's basking in the glory of the louisville cardinals today. >> i am, indeed. >> he knows his kentucky politics, his kentucky sports very well. the history of mitch mcconnell, this is how he rolls. he's a tough as nails politician. he runs tough campaigns. he's never been enormously popular in the state of kentucky. even in his biggest victories. they've always just come where he slightly underperformed where a generic republican in kentucky should perform. so in many ways i think this is the way they determine what's their best shot at winning. >> yeah, jim bunning was an s.o.b. this guy isn't a very nice fellow here. let's take a look at the top of the audiotape. we're allowed to show it. where senator mitch

stick around for chuck todd. he's got "the daily rundown." >>> a shocking explosion wednesday night in texas. there's a lot to get to on this thursday, april 18th edition of "the daily rundown." we've got the latest on the investigation in boston. the senate gun vote failure. the gang of eight unveiling their immigration bill and mark sanford's comeback complications. we begin with what you just saw there. massive devastation in a tiny city of west, texas, where a fertilizer plant exploded just before 8:00 p.m. last night. it shook the area with the same power as a small earthquake. it sent a mushroom cloud into the sky. the area immediately surrounding the plant was devastated. homes and businesses were flattened for several blocks around the plant. a high school, a nursing home, an apartment complex were all in the blast zone. >> it rattled everything in the house. it took my breath away. >> the school is gone. the apartments are gone. it's horrible. >> massive. just like iraq, just like oklahoma city. >> betwe

a chuck schumer and a chuck grassley going after each other hurts this chuck. anyway, a divide is emerging in the republican party between those making it known they'll get behind the senate bill and those using boston as an excuse to kill or delay it in chicago. maybe the most important to speak out in favor of this deal, paul ryan, made it clear he is on the immigration reform train. >> we have a broken immigration system and if anything what we see in boston is that we have to fix and modernize our immigration system for lots of reasons, national security reasons, economic security reasons. for all those reasons we need to fix our broken immigration system. >> ryan said he's focused on the immigration proposal that's in the house he called what the senate is doing a very good step if the right direction. and the tone of his speech at the city club of chicago was also striking. >> we are a land of immigrants. i grew up just two hours north of i-90 in southern wisconsin where my family taught me about the melting pot, about how this country is made great by th

christiane, you and i know chuck hagel, fareed, you know chuck hagel. he is not a guy who speaks provocatively without specific warning, without specific reason. when i heard what he was saying, i sensed he's pretty concerned. >> he is concerned, but rather than ominous, it sounded kind of reassuring. he basically said we have what it takes to defend our homeland, our allies. and i think that yesterday the admiral in charge of the pacific command, admiral locklear, told congress that of course they would take defensive action if they saw any missile headed in a hostile manner toward allies or u.s. bases in guam. but he would not suggest shooting down any missiles in inhabited areas, in other words, not targeted in anger. >> what happens, fareed, if they do launch not just one or two, but multiple missiles, and they all go into the pacific ocean, they fly over japan, land if the water. then what? >> that's precisely why i think the american plan seems to be at least not precipitously to intercept them and shoot them down. because if these are sort of har

what is your feeling about where chuck hagel will fit into that trajectory? >> there's a joke among defense reporters -- >> my favorite genre of joke. >> naturally. outside of papacy jokes. a joke that in order to be defense secretary, you have to give this speech that hagel gave, that you come in, you're going to make sure acquisitions are going to get cleaned up, personnel policies are going to be aligned with what's actually in the national interest, costs are going to come under control. you also can't get out of the pentagon before you renege on all of that and the building has ground you down into a fine powder. in terms of everything hagel said today, there's a lot for reformers to get excited about. implementation is what this is all about. >> since you tee this up, i want to play this incredible bit of sound that one of our second producers found, which is a speech that has been lost to history, but was given by donald rumsfeld on september 10, 2001, vowing in much sharper terms, vowing to take on the pentagon establishment. take a listen. >> let's m

christiane, you and i know chuck hagel, fareed, you know chuck hagel. he is not a guy who speaks provocatively without specific warning, without specific reason. when i heard what he was saying, i sensed he's pretty concerned. >> he is concerned, but rather than ominous, it sounded kind of reassuring. he basically said we have what it takes to defend our homeland, our allies. and i think that yesterday the admiral in charge of the pacific command, admiral locklear, told congress that of course they would take defensive action if they saw any missile headed in a hostile manner toward allies or u.s. bases in gu all. but he would not suggest shooting down any missiles in inhabited areas, in other words, not targeted in anger. >> what happens, fareed, if they do launch not just one or two, but multiple missiles, and they all go into the pacific ocean, they fly over japan, land if the water. then what? >> that's precisely why i think the american plan seems to be at least not precipitously to intercept them and shoot them down. because if these are sort of h

and chuck, size it up. you're about to -- before we're going to have the president on here as soon as he makes his speech tonight. it could come at the end of the hour or a little bit late. here's the question. what's obama going to say to those people up there that's going to break through the barrier of the right wing and the nra to stop even a vote this week or next? >> reporter: i think the best thing he has going for him is the fact that there's a fight to just simply prevent a vote. and that was, you know, what was the most effective retor rhetor line we've heard the president say in his state of the union? when he went through at the end of the speech and invoked the memories of gabby giffords, evoked the memories of folks in aurora, evoked the memories of the folks in connecticut and said they deserve a vote. i think in many ways his political opponents here have given him an easy opening. he's not asking even to pass something. he just wants a vote on something. that makes it an easier -- if you're

he went overseas as chuck indicated. he was clearly talking about radical ideas. he was visiting radical areas. and the fact that we could not track him has to be fixed. it's people like this that you don't want to let out of your sight and this was a mistake. i don't know if our laws are insufficient or the fbi failed, but we're at war with radical islamists and we need to up our game. >> while i have you here more on the subject of terrorism versus criminals, senator graham, you've been very vocal about wanting the remaining suspect who's still alive to be treated as a terrorist rather than a criminal. i think this argument is lost on most people. >> he's both. >> of course he's both. there's obviously some legal thing going on. could you unlegalize it for me and tell me why it's so important? >> sure. okay. i think most americans want two things to happen here, that he be brought to justice. i hope he's brought to trial in federal court. he will get a fair trial. the public defender who is assigned to him should vigorously defend this young man because he or sh

>> chuck todd with the state of play on syria from the white house. chuck, thanks. >>> and now we turn back to the investigation in boston, and word tonight that the man in charge of all u.s. intelligence agencies has ordered a review of how they handled information related to these suspects in the months before the attacks, trying to determine if the u.s. missed any chance to connect the dots here. our report again tonight from nbc's pete williams. >> reporter: the review has been ordered by james clapper, the director of national intelligence, into how the fbi and other agencies developed and shared information. >> we want to see, is there, in fact, additional protocols and procedures that could be put in place that would further improve and enhance our ability to detect a potential attack? >> reporter: among the questions, could more have been done to look into the background of tamerlan sar zav after the russians told the fbi and cia two years ago that he and his mother were becoming radicalized? could more follow-up have been done after he return

okay, chuck. never know. all five presidents have been together so i don't want to miss that moment when they come out. chuck, what do you think of all of this? >> look, this is a moment, you know, our presidents get together for elaborate dedications and funerals and this is the upside of when these people get together so it's a moment for people that love american history, love american politics on both sides and sort of one of those moments we all pause. and that's why i enjoy just as a junkie watching all this. look, we're all -- we're going to pore through this legacy whether george w. bush likes it or not, because it has had an incredible impact on our american politics, but this is one of those bigger days. >> here we go. the first ladies, of course, starting with the current one, michelle obama. everybody loves michelle. >> mrs. hillary rodham clinton. >> mrs. barbara bush. >> mrs. roslyn carter. >> these an unusual picture in the papers tomorrow. david, what do you think? you know all these people. >

defense secretary chuck hagel said the white house has informed members of congress that intelligence officials believe quote with with some degree of varying confidence unquote that syrian president bashar al assad's government has used chemical weapons against the members of the opposition specifically sarin gas. did not provide any specific facts no specifications of when or where the a legend weapons were used. and it's also not clear what his phrase means the phrasing used is with some degree of varying confidence does that mean that one member of the intelligence communities is confident that this is happening and another member is not confident secretary hagel also said that assad's use of chemical weapons violates every convention of warfare and now the u.s. is reportedly asking the u.n. to investigate these allegations by reportedly testing bodies in syria whether or not they have any chemical or biological weapons in their system now we do know that in the past u.s. president barack obama has said that the use of chemical weapons by the syrian government would be a game chan

joining me now is chuck reed. is that diplomatic speak for please respond to us or else the city is going to consider a lawsuit? >> that's one of the ways you could interpret it. there are hard feelings built up over the years because of inaction by major league baseball. have a face-to-face meeting, talk things out. let him know what our questions are. maybe he has questions. we'll answer them and things could get better. >> reporter: this has been around for roughly four years. you've never spoken to the man. you can't recall whether he has ever signed a letter to you. how frustrating is that for you as mayor of a large city trying to do business? >> as mayor of the tenth largest city in the country i've learned patience and consistency. there are limits and lots of people who are unhappy about having to wait this long and having the giants in the way of the a's moving to san jose. >> reporter: how realistic and how hopeful are you that this letter will prompt some sort of response, change things? >> i'm always

i heard secretary chuck hagel was there and i said i would like to visit with him. this is schedules are all plans. he came the next day and we had a good discussion. i do not know how we change the scheduled to make it work out. he did. we were in total agreement on that. he is going to be with karzai the next day. i think general done for it is that still have that right now. i think they are a good team. all of the chips are in place to make it happen. how are we proceeding on this agreement? the president had talked to karzai the day before and told him we need to get this done now. i am saying get it done this spring. did not wait. i saw what happened and how it fell apart in iraq. the downside, what we would lose, it would be tragic. real positive things. we have made really good gains there. we hear of the tragedies of a suicide bomber. the blue one up as we arrived at headquarters. positives as a agreement. they can provide enough security. the tal bang cannot beat -- taliban cannot be the afghans. they do not have the numbers or ability. we still need to be

chuck hagel says u.s. officials believe the syrian government has used chemicals in the battle to sustain power. he did not say exactly who was targeted but did detail the type of chemical agent, sarin gas, take a listen. >> this morning the white house delivered a letter to several members of congress on the topic of chemical weapons use in syri syria. ed -- the letter will be to you shortly. assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria. specifically the chemical agent sarin. >> we're joined on the phone by senator lindsey graham -- actually by remote. senator graham, first of all your comments on chuck hagel. >> yeah, i was one of the senators on the letter. well, it's a red line that's been crossed. it's clearly an indication and admission by the administration that sarin gas was used by the assad regime and the president said that would be a red line. so the question is what's next? >> what do you think should happen next? >>

now here's "the daily rundown" with chuck todd! boston strong! woo! >> what a great way to begin what hopefully is a better week for everybody thanks to the baby giraffes, an improv group from boston. those good morning videos, you could be tomorrow's winner. let's get to my first reads of the morning. let's run through everything we've learned since friday night's arrest. federal prosecutors may file terrorism charges today against dzhokhar tsarnaev, the 19-year-old man accused of the boston marathon bombings. tsarnaev is under guard in serious but stable condition at a boston hospital with a gunshot wound to the neck. some investigators believe that wound may be the result of a suicide attempt before his arrest. he's now being questioned, but only for brief periods because of his medical condition and is responding mostly in writing because of the injury. investigators have been trying to piece together the events that led to the standoff between tsarnaev and police friday night after he was discovered by a watertown resident in a boat kept in his b

>> let me ask you before chuck leaves, what about the other bombs? perhaps two others, one at a hotel, one somewhere else, we're hearing, that didn't explode, that were set to explode, obviously. it could have been worse. what does that tell you, four different bomb sites? >> i'm go to be the evidence guy on this. we know there were packages or bags that the boston police department treated as potential explosive devices. we don't actually know if they were bombs or not. we know that there were bags that people couldn't identify and treat it as devices. >> did it blow them up? >> they probably disabled them, either with a water cannon and even there the numbers have shifted on these other packages. i don't think we know how many devices there were other than two. >> pete williams is with us with more on the investigation. it's your beat now. the fbi. >> let me pick up on that. we still don't know how many explosive devices there were. we know that two went off. there could have been others because packages found on the street were deemed suspicious.

let's go to chuck todd at the white house, and, chuck, we've been talking to you mostly about the precautions security-wise at the white house. of course, the broader story is the president getting briefed on this. whatever decisions the president chooses to make, we do know he called governor patrick right before that briefing. >> reporter: right. he's now gotten two additional briefings since then, one from the fbi director, robert mueller, and one from the homeland security secretary, janet napolitano. and so, he continues to be in receive mode. i can tell you that the way these situations work, literally you have a group of analysts that are in the situation room -- a lot of the national security aides, particularly the chief terrorism adviser, will be getting a lot of the reports through there, and they use that room for obvious reasons. it's a secure room, and it's where they have all of this intelligence coming in, and to use that as well to brief the president. so right now, he continues to do that. as you reported, he made phone calls. we do know that the joint terrorism task force h

is this political fight, chuck, is it worth it? >> i think it is. he has it so he has to fight it no matter what. has there ever been a politician like jerry brown? just like john said, he is 75 years old. he will say what he thinks. he has this. he thinks this is the right idea. he feels he is getting prisoners out of there. san francisco has openings in the county jail. for once, san francisco has less crowded jail. there is a possibility to make movement on this. it is a good issue. it is an issue he has to confront. >> let's make it clear. let's not have any illusions. california prisons. the court standard or the governor's standard, we are still widely overcrowded. >> one of the most overcrowded prison systems, the second most in the country. >> we will keep an eye on it to see if he takes it to the supreme court. >>> moving on to gun control. congress is advancing bills for federal background checks and stronger laws for gun trafficking. california has some of the strictest in the country. what would new federal laws mean for us? >> not a lot

chuck, thanks. >>> we'll take a break. our coverage will continue right after this. >>> we are back tonight with our continuing coverage of this awful thing that has happened on what is usually a joyous and sparkling day in the city of boston, mass. for more on that, we want to talk with veteran sports columnist for the new york daily news, author and broadcaster mike lupica. mike, you and i spoke earlier right after the news and right after the import of what happened here sunk in. for people not familiar with patriots day in boston, with this race as an event, what should they know about what this day should be like? >> reporter: brian, people talk about it as a state holiday. boston on this day and particularly this area around the finish line, it's like the capital of happy people. the only thing i have been comparing it to -- it's a beautiful day that's like times square on new year's eve in new york city. what's not supposed to happen is you are not supposed to see people running in terror away from the finish line.