the national journal came out with this, you know, the n.r.a. wins this. that's just not true. >> i want to talk about the newtown families and our hearts go out to them and can't imagine what they're going through. it's a week now and they've appeared on cnn and had a big photo spread in people magazine. >> and the president flew to connecticut and he we saw the speech and they lobbied lawmakers on capitol hill. what do you think about the way the newtown family has allowed itself to be put out there and sort of used for political purposes? >> it's the way things work now and it has been extremely effective. mike allen and jim vandheim in politico had a story, the moral authority and it's nice if the media had clearer, diane sawyer saying it's a david and goliath story. and david is the good guy and goliath the bad guy and in this case whether abc would that way. >> aside from lapierre's media appearances panned by everybody on the left and even a couple on the right, are those people upset about more gun legislation and look at it as an infringement on t

joining me now, steven shepherd, an editor for "national journal hotline." good morning. thanks for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> now that the gun control legislation has cleared its first hurdle, what comes next? >> many, many more hurdles. you saw 68 votes in the senate yesterday to start debate on the democratic proposal to strengthen the nation's gun laws. and what we're going to see is the bipartisan background check provision pushed by senators toomey and manchin. that's going to be an amendment at some point to the larger democratic legislation. and all of these are going to require more votes and more votes to finally try to push through a package. of the 68 senators who voted to start debate on this bill, 16 were republicans. so to get to 60 votes again is going to require significant republican support on numerous more votes. that's going to be a tough call. >> if, by chance, this does clear the senate, what chance if any, will it have in the house? >> well, the house, as you know is a republican majority. 232 republicans. speaker john boehner has f

nancy cook covers those issues and more for national journal. joining us in studio this morning, hey, nancy, good to see you again? >> thanks for having me. >> so the president stirred it up when he said in his budget that we have to do something about adjusting the way we calculate social security benefits and adjust the consumer price index of the so-called chained cpi. what difference does it make and why did the put put it -- put put it in the budget? >> it would reduce across a wide swath. not just social security. social security is the big sexy thing people were focused on but it would reduce the amount of money people would get across federal benefits? >> the president's budget put some exemptions in there for low-income people like veterans benefits or veteran's pensions. excuse me. you know some social security survivor benefits and so there are some protection there for low income people but let's say if you are a working poor person or a lower income person who is really rely ant on your social security payment so you are not sort of

host: rebekah kaplan of the national journal. wilmington, north carolina, kathleen is on our democrat line. is roberta our guest aplan.rebecca caller: my biggest fear is that our country is in a state of fear. thing wehe worst could ever have as americans. we have based our country from the beginning of a great work ethic. there are so many things we could do instead of being frightened every time something happens. domestically, foreman, and immigration. we have a statue of liberty that does welcome everybody. i believe that we should give some amnesty, because of amnesty would cut out a lot of the red tape and bureaucracy. hasfear factor is what really got everybody so nervous and concerned. host: thank you. guest: people are understandably concerned about american jobs. that will be a big priority of a lot of lawmakers, to make sure if americans are not adversely affected by the bill. a lot of conservative economists including doug holtz-eakin, grover norquist, argued the long-term economic benefits of immigration are so great

the national journal has a list of senator who is could be joining the small ranks. lisa murkowski and susan collins being the most likely to flip first. joining me now is jimmy williams, an msnbc contributor. it's good to have you here. let's talk more specifically about the national journal making too much of a leap when it comes to these five republican senators changing their stance on marriage equality. rob portman used his own personal family as the reason, the catalyst as to why he wants to be in support of marriage equality. what are the politics behind the likelihood of the senators in the gop considering the change to support marriage equality? >> well, the democrats, the four that you put up, that's a regional each. that's simply they are looking at their states and their re-elections, if you will, and it's a chance to bridge too far for them, per se, and the makeup of their electorate. but for the republicans, i think you have more of a national issue going on here, which is the court is changing and it is changing rapidly. these two democrats that came o

journal,"- "national focusing on the gun debate and gays in this country. gay marriage is getting political traction and the gun debate is not -- "why gay marriage is getting political traction and the gun debate is not." ise diverging trajectory bewildering. there are no bandwagons for gun safety laws, no senators rushing to the cause on a daily basis, only a slog against long odds. support for same-sex marriage, one of the conclusions is that it is a generational thing, with younger generations supporting gay marriage, but there is no support at any age for gun legislation." bill, new hampshire, independent line, good morning. caller: first off, i would like to say that i do not know where they come up with 90% of people on gun-control, that is definitely wrong. believe in background checks but if i wanted rifle for my son a his birthday, i should not have to get a background check on my son, because i know him. what happened in new town is a disaster. but if they look at the facts, the kid's mother, you know, she trained him, ignoring that he had problem

it is "national journal." nationaljournal.com. mike catalini. talk to you again soon, mike. >> thanks, bill. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: clintoniates from "the washington post"

that's the headline of a recent cover story in the national journal. here to discuss his story on how both political parties subdues and sometimes browbeat potential recruits, we are joined by shane goldmacher of the national journal. if you say in your piece that congress can be a tough sell these days. why is congress such a tough sell for a would-be candidate? guest: because we are closed to the capital and you hear a lot about the dissension that going on. there was a poll earlier in january where they discussed what is congress compared to? it traded on the same scale as a colonoscopy. not the most popular of institutions these days. these folks are trying to recruit candidates to run for congress. their job is to convince people this is the place they want to spend their lives and their careers. job is it to recruit potential members of congress? guest: interesting question to the political parties are the leading arms for the recruitment process. the democrats have the senate and house to try to recruit candidates. republicans have the senate an

later we'll be joined by reporters from "national journal" and roll call. a very exciting guest today randy is going to be joining us. if you are into mma, you know him. if you're into wrestling, you know him. and if you're into -- peter that movie i can never remember -- >> the expendables with sylvester stallone. >> bill: actor boxer mma champion randy is ahead too. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday the staff of the "the boston globe" finally got to kick back and relax a bit after last week's long hours of reporting and they came to work to a welcome surprise from their friends at the "chicago tribune." that paper bought lunch for the entire globe staff in boston. it sent pizza with a note reading we can only imagine what an exhausting and heartbreaking week it has been for you and your city but do know your newsroom colleagues here in chicago and across the nation stand in awe of your tenacious coverage. you make us proud to be journalists. we can't buy you lost sleep so at least let

chris freight, national correspondent for the national journal. and jackie kucinich, political editor for "the washington post." i want to star with kristen right now, it seems to me this is going to be dominated by syria. >> i think that's right, chris. i think that the president is going to get a lot of questions about syria. of course, several months ago he declared that it would be a red line if syria used chemical weapons. just last week, the administration said that there is proof, they believe, that syria has used chemical weapons. and at this point, it's not clear how the president, how this administration is going to respond. they say they need more evidence to corroborate the initial intelligence reports. i think you're absolutely right, the p

we're joined now by technology correspondent for the "national journal," ryan fung. thank you for coming on "viewpoint." >> my pleasure. >> john: let's start off with the basics, what is the proposed purpose of cispa? >> cispa is a bill that tries to make it easier for the private sector to share information about cyber threats between it and the public sector, the government. >> john: okay. how would the passage of cispa affect the average internet user? >> well, there are a number of different ways that could happen. the key way that you alluded to is that most privacy advocates say that the bill was -- would let corporations share information that could include personal information such as e-mails or contact information to the government and critics say that the government could then use that information to spy on americans and that corporations could use that information for -- any information that the government gives to them for marketing purposes. >> john: could the corporations share this information with other corporations? >> that it could yes. >> john: the

nrcc spokesman garret lansing told the national journal, quote, buzz feed is eating everyone's lunch. they're maybing people want to read and be cognizant of politics in a different way. in a recent article buzz feed encourages the gop to be more positive, embrace young people, and lighten up. they took the advice to heart and decided to do away with the typical features of a political website. this is the new site. it is their attempt to take everything buzz feed said and feed it through the prism. headlines about the most insane wedding dresses of all times are replaced by this one. 13 animals really bummed on obama's third birthday. this is a way to do it. is this a step in the right direction for the gop? brian is the technology writer at the technology journal and joins me now. he did the initial reporting on this. on one hand i'm intrigued by watching the success on the internet is about throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks. this strikes me as one of those moments where nrcc which has a younger staff than the rnc or nrc is thinking about this in a new way. are they on

. >> hockenberry: coral davenport reports on energy and environmental issues for the national journal. for him to say, "i don't want to talk about this" is that like the chairman of the armed services committee saying, "i don't want to talk about the pentagon?" >> absolutely, yes. but i should say, that does seem to be a change in chairman upton's views before he took on this leadership. fred upton was, you know, has long been a moderate who's worked on this issue, who's reached across the aisle on these issues. before he became chairman of the house energy and commerce committee, on his website, he had the phrase that "climate change is a problem." that was deleted after he became chairman of the house energy committee. so, we're definitely seeing a shift on this. >> hockenberry: chairman upton declined frontline's request for an interview. but the congressman wasn't the only one not talking. in 2011, the national journal tried to poll all gop lawmakers on climate change. >> i came up with the idea to ask every republican member of congress three simple questions about climate change

chris freight, national correspondent for the national journal. and jackie kucinich, political editor for "the washington post." i want to star with kristen right now, it seems to me this is going to be dominated by syria. >> i think that's right, chris. i think that the president is going to get a lot of questions about syria. of course, several months ago he declared that it would be a red line if syria used chemical weapons. just last week, the administration said that there is proof, they believe, that syria has used chemical weapons. and at this point, it's not clear how the president, how this administration is going to respond. they say they need more evidence to corroborate the initial intelligence reports. i think you're absolutely right, the president has to some extent boxed himself in with those comments. we know that he's also reached tout russia. he just made a phone call to vladimir putin yesterday trying to get him on board to convince assad to step down, at the very least, relinquish his campaign against his own people. i think, c

joining me now is josh glass our, executive editor of the national journal hotline. good to have you here. the national journal took a look at the seven senators who haven't come out for marriage equality and broke down why or why not they'll change their position. "the washington post" also ranked the seven senators and they did so in order as who they felt were most likely to change and flip for marriage equality. we'll start with south dakota's tim johnson and just point out that the reason why they think he'll flip, josh, is he's ret e retiring. what's your take? >> tim johnson is one of the likely seven candidates because he's not running for reelection. but there's another political dynamic in a conservative state like south carolina that could allow him to stay opposed to gay marriage, and that's because his son is a very likely candidate for the senate seat that he a's vacating. so he doesn't want to give his son any potential baggage. it's a socially conservative state. so if his son does run for the senate seat it's more likely he'll probably continue to be

joining me for cover, national political reporter for the national journal and alicia. good to have you both. let's not forget dean, comedian standing by. love the bow tie. >> thank you. i put it on for you guys. wanted to dress up, look patriotic and comedic. >> you have accomplished both of those goals. >> thank you very much. >> the president gets an opportunity to take shots at the media but he also gets opportunity to take shots at his political opponents as well. take a listen. >> i tried to be civil, to not take any cheap shots. and that's why i want to especially thank all the members who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight. let's give them a round of applause. >> here is the thing, that joke could be just as applicable tonight, with the defeat of gun control legislation, with immigration stalled, not so much stalled but certainly not at a point a lot of folks thought it would be at this particular point. is congress in for a rough ride tonight from the president? >> most definitely, that's probably the biggest

fawn johnson of "national journal." and amy walter of "the cook political." >> award-winning coverage and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capitol, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here, to chart a greener path in the air nd in our factories. >> to find cleaner more efficient ways to power flight. >> and harness our technology for new energy solutions. >> around the globe, the people of boeing are working together to build a better tomorrow. >> that's why we're here. >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by prudential. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

nancy cook is an economic and fiscal policy correspondent for the national journal and josh marks, the executive director of the aviation institute. nancy, i want to start with you. one month into the forced budget cuts polls show around half of americans still don't know whether the cuts were good or bad for the country. was this week's flying frustration enough to change that? >> well, i think that we're just starting to see the cuts. i certainly think that the polling hasn't necessarily kept pace with the way that we have seen the cuts. i certainly think that tons of passengers and people that were going through airports were really frustrated by the sequester cuts and we're starting to see other things like furloughs of employees at the white house budget office, the irs, and so the more and more consumers see this sequester affect their daily lives the more upset they will be. the question is whether or not the faa cuts and the new flex toiblt deal with it, whether or not that basically lessens the impact of the sequester so people still don't see how it affects them. >> let me br

gwen: covering this remarkable week, martha raddatz of abc news, james kitfield of "national journal." susan davis of "usa today." and dan balz of "the washington post." >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens, live from our nation's capitol, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we went out and asked people a simple question. how old is the oldest person you've known? >> we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a l of us have known someone who lived well into their 90's and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed, the official retirement age. the question is, how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years? >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, modera

gwen: covering this remarkable week, martha raddatz of abc news, james kitfield of "national journal." susan davis of "usa today." and dan balz of "the washington post." >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens, live from our nation's capitol, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we went out and asked people a simple question. how old is the oldest person you've known? >> we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who lived well into their 90's and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed, the official retirement age. the question is, how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years? >> additional corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, mode

., we have national political reporter for the national journal, alicia corals, and dean, political comedian. do you think the president has gotten better over the years or has he always had this type of stage presence? >> yeah, i think he's kind of gotten into the groove a little more, like was mentioned earlier, he doesn't have another term to run on. i think he can settle into his groove, take the shots that maybe he would have been hesitant to take before. yeah. i think his presence changed a bit with these events. >> were you on the red carpet. what was the scene like? >> the scenario was crazy. before i do that, two of you got it, need clarification, i did not mean this is the last time he will attend, last of his term. the term for his four years. >> people on twitter were confused. >> y'all got it. putting it out there, type a. red carpet was different than other years because the secret service was more -- it was more tight, so the dogs came, it was extremely tight on the red carpet, but there's a lot more press. so it was very celebrity oriented, people are excited, energy was high

that's the headline of a recent cover story in the national journal. here to discuss his story on how both political parties subdues and sometimes browbeat potential recruits, we are joined by shane goldmacher of journal.nal if you say in your piece that congress can be a tough sell these days. why is congress such a tough sell for a would-be candidate? guest: because we are closed to the capital and you hear a lot about the dissension that going on. there was a poll earlier in january where they discussed what is congress compared to? it traded on the same scale as a colonoscopy. not the most popular of institutions these days. these folks are trying to recruit candidates to run for congress. their job is to convince people this is the place they want to spend their lives and their careers. host: whose job is it to recruit potential members of congress? guest: interesting question to the political parties are the leading arms for the recruitment process. the democrats have the senate and house to try to recruit candidates. republicans have the senate

host: "national journal" reporting the headline, "pete williams' reporting philosophy d y was g boon sighttory r guest: i would have to say that pete williams is the best i have ever come across, so measured and sofer. is amazing he was able to be showcased the way he was. this was a complicated story. a lot of journalists for getting the facts wrong as it was developing in real time, but pete williams was a constant force who was right 100% of the way. it is a model to all of us, people who were starting to this profession. host: the essence of the story is not jumping ahead of the story. on monday, some news organizations saying that dozens of people were killed. that was not the case, three weled.re kil the on-line sleuths pinpointed the wrong individuals before the fbi released those two photographs. guest: it is always important to realize and people get carried away in the heat of the moment, we have to be incredibly careful what we are saying on tv and in the press, that it really matters. imagine how people were trying to be on line sleuths. that seemed to trigger the fbi and

. >> jill lawrence from national journal. one of the priorities is implementing the national care act. there have been articles about business is having problems -- that are small and would grow and are waiting to see what happens but may not decide to grow because it may be too onerous . do they have legitimate complaints? what does the white house plan for dealing with the glitches that will happen as this is implemented? >> there is a piece of legislation. there will be glitches at the white house and through kathleen sebelius' office. we are working with the business community and trying to figure out if there are consequences, how we can address them. the successful implementation will be challenging. that is why we are spending so much time planning and reaching out. one example -- we had a meeting with folks from the pharmacy industry. are trusted. they will be on the front line. one of our responsibilities will be setting up exchanges around the states and the federal exchanges and getting the enrollment going. a lot

host: rebecca kaplan of the national journal. wilmington, north carolina, kathleen is on our democrat line. thatr: my biggest fear is our country is in a state of fear. fear is the worst thing we could ever have as americans. we have based our country from the beginning of a great work ethic. there are so many things we could do instead of being frightened every time something happens. things happen domestically, foreign. and immigration, we have a statue of liberty that does welcome everybody. i believe that we should give some amnesty, because of amnesty would cut out a lot of the red tape and bureaucracy. the fear factor ist h really got everybody so nervous and concerned. host: thank you. guest: people are understandably concerned about american jobs. that will be a big priority of a lot of lawmakers, to make sure if americans are not adversely affected by the bill. a lot of conservative economists including doug holtz- eakin, grover norquist, argued the long-term economic benefits of immigration are so great that not only wi

some of you know we have a partnership with the national journal. every quarter we do a poll called the heartland monitor which is about giving a voice to middle america on economic issues so we've learned a lot by doing that over the last three or four years so we take that learning and the research capabilities that gave this for square model and we said let's look at where people think about politics and of course the tendency is to segment the market into three segments save conservative, independent or a liberal or republican independent and democrat. most people think it is about one-third you can argue about a percentage point here or there is lots evenly. in 2010 we did a deep segmentation on the market and what we found is that the market is more complex and could be segmented along the two dimensions how can consumers trust whether they believe in the public or private sector solutions here are the results on the screen as you can see there are six segments and it's a lot more complicated than the third in fact the two segments of each ext

journal economic and fiscal policy correspondent -- amanda cook from "the national journal" come of economic and fiscal policy correspondent. what to expect -- that is the headline from your piece. guest: i think a lot of what the president will propose in his budget, which he will officially release at 11:00 this morning, i think we have seen from him before. he will stick with this idea of taxing the wealthy a little bit more, he wants to raise about $500 billion in new revenue. he wants some new stimulus programs, like a new pre- kindergarten program that he wants to pay for through raising tobacco taxes. not a ton of new things. probably the biggest thing is he is formalizing the offer he made to house speaker john boehner during the fiscal cliff deal i'm proposing cuts to social security and government benefits through a mechanism called chained cpi which would change the cost of living calculation for the benefits. that is probably the biggest new thing he has proposed but it has never been in his budget. host: what does it mean for the overall discussion of a grand bargain? h

d later, we will talk to the national journal sara sorcher. a news update from c-span radio. general assembly is inspected tomorrow to approve sweeping legislation to curb gun violence. the proposals include what stay lock makers with that would be the nation's first statewide dangerous weapon of fender onistry as was a band -- ban high-capacity magazines. you will hear two sides of the gun control issue, first live and0 with elijah cummings live at 11 with the nra events. live on c-span radio and television. in new york city, investigators are sifting through uncovered debris from the world trade center. hoping to find the remains of more unidentified victims from the attacks. investigators will be spending 10 weeks trying to read and fight mortal their last effort ended in 2010. finally, homeland security officials expect there will be a rush on applications for him aggression -- immigration visa s. if petitions outpace availability, the government says it will use a lottery system. those are the latest headlines on c-span radio. have to tak

you know, a piece in the national journal, round two for gun control might take a new newtown. it sounds callous and cold but is that the only way that people will pay attention and they'll have a surge in the senate to get this done. >> yes, it does sound a little callous. but congress is a reactionary body, especially this congress and time is the enemy for them. so the longer it goes after newtown, the more easily i think a lot of members forget what happened there and how greatly the public reacted to it. yes, i do think it takes another major public event often for this kind of thing to really have more legs. >> quiet in d.c. but not when it comes to the issue. appreciate it. >>> senior prime minister escaping an attempted assz nation in damascus. he was not hurt but his bodyguard was killed and one of his drivers is in critical condition at the moment. we're going to go live later at the white house in possible u.s. engagement in that conflict. for. [ male announcer ] go pro. for a clean that's up to four times better, try these crest pro-health products together. [ sara

. >> the national journal's headline on this story was, quote, why rand paul was right to reach out to black voters. it's political malpractice for the gop to ignore the constituency that could be critical to its long-term success. and, ben, you know, you pointed this out, barack obama won the black vote in '93 to 6% in the last election, but would democrats, you know, take that for granted at their peril? aren't there republicans, don't you think, who could gain a bigger percentage of that vote and particularly who wouldn't make a 47% comment that, you know, was so harmful to mitt romney? >> i do think so. it's something we should never take for granted, but i don't think the sorts of backward-looking speeches we saw yesterday are going to do that. we didn't hear anything about what senator paul would do to replace the affordable care act if he wants to repeal it. we didn't hear anything about what he'd do as an alternative to providing additional funding for college scholarships or investing in programs that help to strengthen the middle class. they need a policy agenda to reach thes

. >> host: we see in national journal why the culture war favor democrat. the prominence, pleasure a critical political shift in the culture war you have offense and defense have switched sides. what side are you on in the culture war? are you concerned some of of the issue you advocate for are losing in the poll now? >> guest: i don't like to think in term of culture war. i don't we are at war with one another. i think we have deep disagreement on issues that matter. but i think we come to that with civility and in conversation. i do think that evangelical we need recognize we're not speaking as majortarians. we're not standing and saying that everything we're concerned about is by necessity what the country agrees with us about on many issues where we're going have a voice to a culture that largely disagrees with us. and saylet think about what it is you're forgetting and bypasses. that's been the case with even gel call christian and baptists all the way back to the founding of the republican when baptist preachers were the one agitating for a first amen

. >> correspond with national journal. senator manchin intrigued by today announced their expanded background or postal. what should we know about it? >> guest: is certainly created a lot of buzz in the senate, which is interesting to watch. it is different from the proposal drafted by senator schumer from new york because it's not a universal background check. it mandates background checks for gun shows and over the internet, but it is not mandating a background check if i sell a gun to you. >> what motivated senators trent three and toomey to work together on this compromise? >> guest: or something like 91% of the public is the latest member that supports universal background checks on gun purchasers is something that senator toomey said today is the right thing to do. it's been a top part of the gun control movement agenda for years now. it's also consider the want of that could pass the senate. i would order the compromise will pass, but it goes a long way towards republicans had put forth about those neighbor to neigh

i want to bring in "washington post" columnist dana milbank and the "national journal's" editorial director, ron fournier. good morning, gentleman. >> good morning. >> so i guess good news if you're getting on a plane, dana, like many members of congress are. air traffic controllers, i expect, if this goes through the house, will be back on the job by next week. but is this just another short-term washington fix for a much bigger problem? >> well, chris, i have mixed feelings about this, as somebody who's going to fly out of town this weekend. this is very good news. but as somebody who's watching the wayic

marcia coyle of the "national law journal" joins me with more. start by explaining the parameters of this case. we talked about it briefly some time ago. >> this started actualry in 2002, 12 nigerian nationals brought a lawsuit in federal court here in the united states against three oil companies. they claimed that the oil company had enlisted the aid of the nigerian military to suppress opposition to the oil company's drilling in a region in nigeria called the ogoni region. and the military had used torture, executions, and arbitrary detentions to do that. and they brought their lawsuit under a 1789 federal law called the alien tort statute, probably one of the oldest laws on the books in the united states. it was enacted by the first congress of the united states. >> ifill: what was that designed to do? >> well, it's-- there's some debate as to really what its purpose was, but the statute is very simple. it has one sentence that says federal courts have jurisdiction when aliens bring claims for basically injuries caused by violations of intern

george condon is a journalist with the "national journal." we talked to him about the history of the dinner. here is what he had to say. >> how did the white house correspondents dinner evolved? >> the correspondents association started in 1914 because they were terrified that president wilson was going to have press conferences and he would pick who would come there. they wanted to regain control. that crisis passed. 10 years went before they started the dinner in 1924. it evolved from a very small dinner, only a couple hundred people. members could only bring one , and it had to be a person of high official position. it has changed quite a bit since then. >> the first dinner was in 1924? >> yes. presidents always attended the yearly dinners. they were promised, you do not have to give a speech. residents didn't want to give speeches, and they could just enjoy it. it was very much modeled after the gridiron dinner. there were songs between every course, skits. they made a movie that was shown. it went on for hours. when you got into the 30's

the "national journal" and my colleague at the "washington post." chris i want to start with you, marco rubio was asked, isn't this good for him if he can help bring immigration reform to the fore for his first presidential prospects, he said i don't think about that. should we take him at his word? >> the best follow-up question i hear)was candy saying seriously, you don't think about that? clearly he is laying down a marker that says i am a reasonable republican. his tea party furor of just say no, is over and in 2016 it will be the reasonable republican who is want to make policy and can sell big ideas to the electorate that's going to make him a winner and make him stand out what's shaping up to be a crowded field. i think certainly he cannot consider any of the moves he's about to make in these next few weeks on immigration reform, without that calculus in the back of his head. >> there's politics in everything. ruth, you're stunned. >> right. >> i want to play you something that jeff sessions, the senator from alabama had to say about the immi

nancy cook is an economic and fiscal policy correspondent for the national journal and josh marks, the executive director of the aviation institute. nancy, i want to start with you. one month into the forced budget cuts polls show around half of americans still don't know whether the cuts were good or bad for the country. was this wange that? >> well, i think that we're just starting to see the cuts. i certainly think that the polling hasn't necessarily kept pace with the way that we have seen the cuts. i certainly think that tons of passengers and people that were going through airports were really frustrated by the sequester cuts and we're starting to see other things like furloughs of employees at the white house budget office, the irs, and so the more and more consumers see this sequester affect their daily lives the more upset they will be. the question is whether or not the faa cuts and the new flexibility that the atecy has to deal with it basically lessens the impact of the sequester so people still don't see how it affects them. >> let me bring you in. republicans say the obam

let me bring in matthew cooper, national journal's white house managing editor and lois romano from politico. both of them have covered hillary clinton over the years. good to see both of you. good morning. >> thanks for having us. >> good morning. >> last night was the first of several appearances hillary clinton has scheduled. she's giving a keynote at the women's summit friday, her first paid speech in dallas at the end of the month. in it june she's being honored by an economic club in michigan. lois, what happened to six months off, taking it easy? >> i don't think she's capable of that. i mean, this is who she is. she cares -- well, she's a public personality. she dacares deeply about policy. you're looking aat a period in time where her stock is just trading off the charts, and i think she wants to take advantage of that. >> so she's keeping her options open, or should we take this as a clue? >> i think she's keeping her options open. i mean, she knows as well as anyone after 2008 when she was doing very well that anything could happen, that political climates can change. but the clin

a recent article in the national journal got us thinking about it. here to help us break this down is nbc news senior political editor, mark murray. we might all recoil at the notion of nepotism in a if you going democracy, but in reality this happens more often than we think and for less than nefarious reasons. sometime we like voting for the guy we know. >> the reason it happens is name i.d. it is so hard for somebody with a plain name to jump into politics. particularly running for a governor's seat or a statewide u.s. senate seat. if you have a famous last name, particularly if you come from a family that has big ties to that particular state, you have a leg up on all your competition, on fundraising. that's why sometime it does matter. it isn't always consequential. there are instances where the dynastic lost. one who lost to bill nelson last year in the senatorial contest. so it matters but it is not the most consequential thing. sfim come down to a candidate's skill as well as probably the most important thing, the overall political environmen

journal." >> and pete, there's a lot of information that's come out over course of the weekend. we know that the fbi is interrogating dzhokhar tsarnaev. what are they hoping to get from him at this point? >> interrogating may be a bit of a grand word here, because it's certainly not the kind of interrogation they had planned, where they speak to someone. it's being conducted with notes and nods and because he can't speak, he's on a ventilator. so it's a very slow process. but during this period, their government is limited in terms of what they can ask him. because they're doing this public safety exception to the miranda rule. they've not advised him of his rights. so they can only ask about potential threats to public safety. were there other conspirators, other bombs out there, any reason to believe that public safety is in any way jeopardized. >> pete, one of the persons cited in terms of this idea that there may have been more violent plans on order at the hands of the brothers is this person who was hijacked by the brothers on thursday night. and the driver of a mercedes s

i'm now joined by matthew cooper from the national journal. he faced similar pressure to reveal his source during the valerie plame wilson scandal. god, so many years ago. you were working at "time" magazine and you refused to give up your source, karl rove, after he led you to believe he was a covert agent for the cia. you were just doing your job. where is the public outrage about this type of thing? does the public not understand or see us as a check on people in power? >> well, i think, as you know, jake, the media is not always the most popular institution in america, and i think people worry about other things, other than whether reporters are getting along with their work. but the problem is, if people are going to find out stuff, know what their politicians are doing, what other inss constitutions are doing, a lot of that depends on journalists using confidential sources. if they can't protect those sources they can't do their job. >> i understand there's some exceptions, for instance, you wouldn't want a reporter reporting recklessly

the national journal summed up all the redesigned action as just get buzz feed. >> can i pose a question? >> go ahead. >>> how do we say this? >> say what? >> g-i-f. >> we took this to buzz feed today. >> we took it to them and apparently he pronounces it with a hard g but the official pronunciation, gif. >> while we're asking the hard questions here -- >> the hard g questions. >> what is a gif? >> it is like a little animation that moves. >> that's right. in case anyone at home is not a buzz feed fan. let's make sure we design our terms. a little animation. >> we nailed it. we are two for two on the questions. to the politics, this is is a real thing that the congressional committee for the republicans are doing. you can go and look at i. they are spending -- >> you can go and look at it. >> it is on the internet. but they are spending their money and time trying to develop a whole web portal that is more fun, more cool, young republican sticky is what they call this online meaning you see it, you love it so much, you want to share it. you see the charts of the spending rising and you s

i want to bring in the national journal's and roll call. chris comparing background checks to genocide is that an indication how tough could it be? >> they found a dance partner in pat toomey to help get background checks bill that would get bipartisan support through the senate. they opened up debate. we'll have debate next week. lots of patting on the back. there are a number, half-dozen or so vulnerable senate democrats who are unlikely to vote for any final legislation just because they voted to begin debate. doesn't mean they will end it or vote for the final product. then i want still has to go to house. as you point out you have republicans there who are very, very conservative. they are from conservative districts and there's not a lot of reason for them to pass anything on gun laws. it will be a much tougher road for them to hoe on the house side. >> convincing people to get on board this beyond bringing it up for debate. on tuesday we know that gabrielle giffords and mark kelley will be at the capitol and mark kelley has been maki

the "national journal" and my colleague at the "washington post." chris i want to start with you, marco rubio was asked, isn't this good for him if he can help bring immigration reform to the fore for his first presidential prospects, he said i don't think about that. should we take him at his word? >> the best follow-up question i heard was candy saying seriously, you don't think about that? clearly he is laying down a marker that says i am a reasonable republican. his tea party furor of just say no, is over and in 2016 it will be the reasonable republican who is want to make policy and can sell big ideas to the electorate that's going to make him a winner and make him stand out what's shaping up to be a crowded field. i think certainly he cannot consider any of the moves he's about to make in these next few weeks on immigration reform, without that calculus in the back of his head. >> there's politics in everything. ruth, you're stunned. >> right. >> i want to play you something that jeff sessions, the senator from alabama had to say about the imm

the national journal's ron brownstein writes while wedge issues are mostly a republican weapon's it's now most orrin democrats who are charging the gates. how about that, mia? >> i think we've seen over the last 20 or 30 years you had republicans lining up furiously against bill clinton trying to say that he was an illegitimate president, impeaching him. >> now we have a real reversal and demographics are on the democrats' side. i do think we're going to have this you know sort of there will be blood scenario. among republicans for a while. until there is an election in 2016, in some leader emerges, whether it's chris christie, marco rubio, but in the meantime, we have all of these different factions. it appears now that o'reilly is on a different faction than hannity, than limbaugh, so -- >> seismic shift, howard. even on guns, right? you talk about this all the time. 90% of the country supports universal background checks. and then you have mike huckabee comparing the federal government to the nazis. in what corner of the universe is this not totally crazy? >> well you have redistri

marcia coyle of the "national law journal" joins me with more. start by explaining the parameters of this case. we talked about it briefly some time ago. >> this started actualry in 2002, 12 nigerian nationals brought a lawsuit in federal court here in the united states agnst three oil companies. they claimed that the oil company had enlisted the aid of the nigerian military to suppress opposition to the oil company's drilling in a region in nigeria called the ogoni region. and the military had used torture, executions, and arbitrary detentions to do that. and they brought their lawsuit under a 1789 federal law called the alien tort statute, probably one of the oldest laws on the books in the united states. it was enacted by the first congress of the united states. >> ifill: what was that designed to do? >> well, it's-- there's some debate as to really what its purpose was, but the statute is very simple. it has one sentence that says federal courts have jurisdiction when aliens bring claims for basically injuries caused by violations of internat