Terrorists, it does not extend to criminals, and it does not extend to the mentally ill. While Wayne Lapierre struck a posture less combative than Previous Press conferences, his views remain questionable, calling for an immediate blanket of security at schools, lapierre dismissed universal background checks, saying criminals would never submit to them. Chairman leahy pressed lapierre on background checks and whether and how the nra head had changed his mind on closing gun show loopholes. Should we have mandatory background checks at gun shows for sales of weapons . If youre a dealer, thats already a law. Thats not my question, please, mr. Lapierre, im not trying to play games here, but if you could, it would help, just answer my question. Senator, i do not believe the way the law is working now, unfortunately, that it does any good to extend the law to private sales between hobbyists and collectors. So, you do not support mandatory background checks at all in instances at gun shows . We do not, because the fact is, the law right now is a failure the way its working. Howard wilson, 9 in 10 americans support background checks. What planet is Wayne Lapierre on . Well, hes clearly representing the gun lobby and the leadership of the gun lobby, which is many respects out of sync and out of membership of the nra. The polling weve done and the mayor have done shows members of the nra, rank and file members, gun owners, parents, support many of the reasonable checks that people are talking about, the gun show loophole closure, for instance and so many others. Wayne lapierre, hes a washington lobbyist, and he speaks very well on behalf of his colleagues in washington at the nra headquarters, but they do not speak for all of the nra members, and they certainly do not speak for the vast bulk of the american people. The nra is essentially a kind of place where gop operatives, hacks, lobbyists, go to do their doings. You know, as said, Wayne Lapierre is out of step. Republican pollster frank lunds shows a majority, 78 of nra members, want universal background checks. The problem is, they still have they can do fearmongering. They can put fear into these Congress People and senators. Whats interesting to me, you need the peoples mobilization, but youre also seeing on the state level, governors, many of whom are aspiring to run in 2016, almost all the governors, democratic governors, new york, maryland, colorado, are speaking out and acting as Governor Cuomo did effectively last month. Theres also, david, the question im not one that tries to unpack the ideological arguments made by Wayne Lapierre, but effectively, we shouldnt have these background checks because criminals wont subject themselves to them, then why have seat belts, why have speed limits . People are just going to break the law, so why have a law . Its fundamentally flawed, that argument, and i think, to the broader point, is the nra, we talk about the power that they have, but i do think youre seeing something here where there is a change. We are witnessing some kind of cultural change here with regards to guns. We have not had a continued conversation about gun safety laws in decades like we are now. And the question is whether the nra heads are going to be on the right side or the wrong side of history. I think when we have a congresswoman whos also a victim of gun violence speaking in halting tones about the effect of having weapons out there with largecapacity clips that almost anyone can access, were having a new moment. Weve never seen anything like that. I mean, if i was involved in the gun debate, id probably rather have congressman gifford talking for me than Wayne Lapierre. What hes fighting against, and you can understand the impulse, the reflex, which is incrementalism. If we let them have this one bite of the apple, then they are going to want the whole apple. Theres another word for incrementalism, its called compromise. Its politics, right . We did have an assault weapons ban. We dont now. Things have changed. I think, as you point out, and thats what we do in politics. We go back and forth, and it doesnt mean were making a wholesale grab for the second amendment. The discussion is joined in a new way. When you have the parents of a young boy who was killed in newtown coming to testify, and you have parents and brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers around this country looking at that, as david said, there is a cultural cyclical change. I do think the nra is banking on what it has done traditionally, and let us hope our culture has shifted, which is to slow things down. As Lyndon Johnson saw a different time in our history, speed was of the essence. I think that is their, you know, trade tactic, and we have to, i think as citizens, as people, as mothers and parents and people, make sure that they dont do that again. I mean, lets talk about what mayor bloomberg is doing. We cannot sort of short change the importance of his efforts, and thats not just because youre sitting on set with us, howard. But if you look at mayors against illegal guns, bloombergs signature initiative, now youre employing republican lobbyists, which is a brilliant strategy here. There have been 159 new mayors who have signed on since newtown, making it almost 900 mayors part of this effort. Again, there are multiple pieces to this argument, theres a citizens argument, parents argument, theres a government piece. The fact that you have mayors coming out here, legislative officials, people who are in elected office saying, we have got to change, seems to be a really powerful piece of the puzzle. The mayor said the hardest part of his job, literally, thankfully, those few instances, but they do happen, he has to go to a hospital at 3 00 in the morning because a Police Officer has been shot and he has to inform the Police Officers spouse that the Police Officer might not be coming home. And thats what mayors do. The job of mayors is to keep people who live in their city safe. They understand this in a very deep, emotional way. They are responsible for their citizens directly. You mention all of the elements coming into play. The other one, of course, is electoral. The super pac spent 10 million, did quite well. Just today went up with an ad in the special election in illinois to replace jesse jackson, jr. , one of the candidates has received high marks from the nra, does not support the president s assault weapons ban, and the mayors super pac is targeting ads to make sure the voters in that race know whos on their side and who is not. I think the limits of the reach and impact mayors can have, and all due regard to the mayors leadership on this issue, both rhetorical and practical, is sort of manifested in chicago. Youve got pretty much a total ban on private ownership of guns. You have to register, go through all sorts of hoops, but because they are surrounded by a sea of weaponry, it turns out, again and again, this is a national issue, the mayors can have an impact, but again and again, if we want something significant to take place, they are going to have to thread the needle on what is an amazingly partisan issue. I mean, theres nothing that sends people scrambling for the hills. Ill say two things, in terms of the federal background checks, the New York Times writes making background checks universal is no less vital. This is the chief goal of gun control groups. The proliferation of handguns used in most gun violence, particularly in cities. This debate has in large part centered around massacres like aurora and newtown, but gun violence in major cities is a huge problem. That would be one thing that would focus the proliferation of illegal handguns and maybe stricter penalties for having one. And the interstate trafficking. The mayors against illegal guns have put out a program, for many years, since 2009, and one of those is to enforce interstate trafficking laws, which bring handguns into a city like chicago, which has strong city and state laws. The mayors are very well aware that guns travel across municipal lines and state lines, which is why you can take many effective steps in your own city, but you need a National Response in order to dry up the supply of illegal guns coming from places that dont have the kind of strong laws that new york city does and chicago does. To davids point about the sort of partisan divide on this, i thought this was incredible, theres a letter from 28 of the 29 sheriffs in utah. As the dually elected sheriffs of our counties, no federal officials will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the bill of rights, in particular amendment number two, has given them. We, like you, swore an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the united states, and we are prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation. With all due respect, dont lift them up as an example. Seems theyve been astute in the politics of meeting with Law Enforcement chiefs around this country. I think there is a kind of transpartisan coalition you could build at this time. Maybe not around the ban on assault weapons, but around a series of measures that would have real effect. When you have the nra as the adversary of Law Enforcement chiefs, thats a position you want the nra in. The real prize in debates like this often people who use guns for a living. We convey expertise from them. We believe they are willing to step towards someone who has a gun, so while what the sheriffs of utah said is important, i dont think as katrina points out, it is a general consensus in the Law Enforcement community that we need to stand down and do nothing. I think again and again trying to get the people most hopped up about it and think that one step is going to lead to another step is going to lead to rhetoric, like which is not really very temperate. It makes me feel like do you mean we shornt even discuss this, wait until the bodies pile a little bit higher . I dont know at what point. Human beings have been stacked like hardwood, and theaters and schools have been turned into kill zones. We are having a moment nationally, locally, everywhere. If this isnt a good time and a right time to talk about both the value and the limits of the second amendment, i dont know what is. You talked about the terrible tragedies, the mass killings that, obviously, in some respect catalyzed this moment were in politically, but we have one of these a day across the country in terms of the number of people shot. 33 people are shot every day in this country, some of them, obviously, new york and other places, but also in rural places, suburban places. We have one of these tragedies, they just occur everywhere and not in one place. To davids point, if the time is not now, when is the time . After the break, president obama says the time is now for comprehensive Immigration Reform, but for House Republicans, the time may be never. Well talk Lower Chamber citizenship tests with texas congressman Joaquin Castro when he joins us live next on now. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year. In that time thereve been some good days. And some difficult ones. But, through it all, weve persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. So why should our anniversary matter to you . Because for 200 years, weve been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. And the next great idea could be yours. Now, the good news is that for the first time in many years, republicans and democrats seem ready to tackle this problem together. I believe we are finally at a moment where comprehensive Immigration Reform is within our grasp. Bipartisanship and a funct n functioning congress . Not totally. Were not going to get immigration done this year, lets cut the b. S. This is about 2014 and 2016. The day after president obama outlined his proposal for Immigration Reform, senator marco rubio journeyed into the limbaugh lions den to reaffirm the base he and the president arent linking arms just yet. The president has a decision to make. If today becomes the beginning of a bidding war where he tries to be even more liberal than members of his own party and the senate, we know what his intentions are. I dont think thats a good development. The president will take us in a direction i dont think is good for america. Im trying to do what i can with already a tough situation. Afterwards, limbaugh swooned in only the way the rushinator can, folks. Is that guy good or what, folks . Marco rubio. That was impressive. Ill say this, too. Heres a guy who does not fear talk radio. He embraced it. So, had marco rubio won over the right wing flanks commander in chief on the need for comprehensive Immigration Reform . No, not really. Not at all, actually. The bill is amnesty. Theres no Common Ground here to find compromise. Were not talking about compromise. Somebodys going to win and somebodys going to lose this. Its like the israelis and palestinians or anything else, but we dont have anything in common. If rush remains unconverted perhaps the demographic disaster facing the gop will remain cause for action on immigration, or perhaps now. According to the national review, some on the right is questioning whether its worth it. Republicans should take a deep breath before rushing into a grand bargain. Dont walk the plank on immigration because romney only got 29 of the hispanic vote and sell out on deeply held conservative principles to bump that up to 33 . Joining us now from san antonio, texas, congress juman Joaquin Castro. Welcome. Thank you, thank you, alex. Congressman, i have many questions. First is, what do you make of the prospects of comprehensive Immigration Reform, specifically as it relates to the house. Weve seen a linking of arms, lower ch what is your read on their ability to come together with democrats and vote for some kind of reform on immigration . Sure. Im actually hopeful that we can do it, and i think that we can. Theres incredible momentum to get something done. I think the election in november demonstrated that, and i also think that its promising that in the last few major votes where youve had bipartisan coalitions, Speaker Boehner has dropped his use of the informal rule, which has alieued for these bipartisan coalitions to come together, so i would disagree with whoever the gop aid was, and i think we can get this done. Obviously, a huge part of this is animated by the fact the republicans got a drubing, which is a euphemistic term at best, among latin voters. My question to you as a latin elected representative, how much good will can the republicans win if a bill isnt passed . Lets say theres obstruction in the house and nothing goes through. Does that help them build a bigger tent going into 2014, 2016 . Well, i think the biggest the worst mistake that they could make is to start along this path and be insincere about it. I think if the Latino Community and the larger American Community senses that the party, that the Republican Party, is insincere about this attempt and cant get this done, then it could spell even bigger problems for them later. That, and i want to bring in our panel here, david, that will require a certain amount of discipline on the part of some republicans. We talked at length yesterday about a memo that was circulated to House Republicans in terms of suggestions, dont call them illegals, dont mention the term anchor babies, the fact that has to be mentioned at this point in the game is a testament to how far some members of the Republican Party have to go on this. They do get a little bit, as howard was saying during the break, nothing like an election to provide a little bit of a corrective to longheld beliefs. That there was a fundamental insight, which is they are working their way toward being an institutionalized Minority Party over a landscape thats changing beneath their feet. I think the congressman makes a great point in that there has to be a sincerity of effort. One of the things, i think, leadership has to understand right now, were also excited that theres anything bipartisan going on when the president made that speech, when congress made that move. After that election, we all just thought whats going to happen, whats going to happen, and to see the two sides of the aisle actually working together, i just got to tell you as an american, is a very exciting moment. It would be nice to have a government that functions. I will quote politico writing today sort of analyzing the action ahead. They write, top dems tell us if president obama is going to have a big legacy accomplishment this term, it has to be immigration. Theres not going to be a fiscal grand bargain, no signs a comprehensive guncontrol package is feasible. So the president wants immigration to pass. Im not sure i agree with that conclusion that were not going to get some sort of really good, productive, meaningful gun legislation, but no question the president has invested in pursuing Immigration Reform. Hes, obviously, putting a lot of capital on the line in a way he did not before the election, but thats what we have elections for. They are clarifying, and the republicans were not unaware of the election results, they are not unaware of how badly they are doing with the Latino Community. Its not just latinos and immigrants who care about this. Anyone who cares about the future of america, the future of our economy, cares about this. Humane, not living in the dark veil. I think that, you know, you will find many republicans who are not going to come around to this issue, whether because they really believe it, or because they are responding to the politics of the right, but i think there will be enough republicans who come to the conclusion that they may lose their seats if they dont join the president in passing Immigration Reform. May not be a majority, as david said, or as the congressman said. You may not be able to get a majority of republicans in the house caucus to go along, but if the Senate Passes something, youre going to have real pressure on enough House Republicans to do something i think theyll go unlost to boehner and cantor and say, look, were going to lose our seats if you dont allow a vote. I dont care if theyll be with us, i need to cast a vote for this. I think youll see a Republican Party very divided. I agree with david, its an important moment, different moment, because you had an election which mattered, showed the strength and power of the Latino Community and the organizing that helped elect president obama, but you have within the Republican Party people who dont want to bring 11 million or more latinos into the voting block, because the Pew Research Study shows the Latino Community is not a republican community. It supports government, it supports all kinds of things an thetical to the Republican Party. Its going to be a battle, but one thing critical to note, i know we dont want to get too much into the weeds, but this country has spent over 200 billion on Law Enforcement over the last quarter century. President obama and, you know, im critical of this, because i think the real thing is the economy matters, and thats why weve had almost zero immigration in the last few years. The Pew Research Center the deportation policies of the Obama Administration have been very tough. I dont know where they go to get more security, which is the trigger in this bill. Thats a great point. Congressman, i wanted to ask you about this, the big sort of dividing line seems to be this trigger, senator proposal links any kind of path towards citizenship with stronger border security. The president is unwilling to make that concession, decoupled the two. That looks like the line that is going to be fought over. I ask you, as someone from texas who is in texas right now, what is this obsession and this reliance on border security, given the fact that from 1995 to 2010, migration from mexico to the u. S. Was four times that of migration the other way, but from 2005 to 2010, it was effectively even. Weve leveled out here. Well, you know, thats right, and if theres a Commission Set up like that and youve got rick perry and jan brewer and others on there, then they have no political incentive to ever say the border is secure. The fact is, when president bush was reelected in 2004, there were 10,000 Border Patrol agents along the border. Today with president obama, there are 21,000. No president in American History has committed as many resources and as much manpower to securing the border as this president has, so those measurements need to be objective and they cant be left to the subjective whims of folks who dont have a political incentive to say the border is secure. Before we let you go, congressman, we know democrats are mobilizing efforts to turn texas blue. What do you think of those efforts . Are we getting closer to cobalt . I think we are. I think the Republican Party in texas especially, quite frankly, has gone off the rails. You have the hard right that now controls the party in texas as their elected leaders, so there are many of us working very hard who believe that the interests and the values of everyday texans are not served by the people, by the republicans in office right now. Congressman Joaquin Castro for episode one of the castro chronicles. Thank you for joining us, as always. Thank you, alex. Coming up, Baltimore Ravens star ed reed prepares for the biggest game of his life by describing the lingering effects of concussions. We will discuss just ahead. For your first day . Yeah. Dad youll be fine, ok . Girl ok. Dad you look so pretty. Im overprotective. Thats why i got a subaru. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Im up next, but now im singing the heartburn blues. Hold on, prilosec isnt for fast relief. Cue up alkaseltzer. It stops heartburn fast. Oh what a relief it is cue up alkaseltzer. It stops heartburn fast. What do we do when something really wants to be painted . We break out new behr ultra with stainblocker from the home depot. The best selling paint and primer in one that now eliminates stains. So it paints over stained surfaces, scuffed surfaces, just about any surface. 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Things are going to happen, concussions, youre going to have your broken bones, Everything Else. Thats going to happen. But i think for the most part, you know, we as Football Players, we know what we signed up for. That was Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard on super bowl media day yesterday. Pollard set off a media frenzy earlier this week when he said he doesnt think the nfl will exist in 30 years because of the frequency of injuries. The only thing im waiting for, and lord i hope it doesnt happen, is a guy dying on the field. Weve had Everything Else happen there except a death. It came the same day the Players Union announced it would sign up for a Research Project on longterm football health risks. This past weekend president obama weighed in on the issue, quote, im a big football fan, but if i had a son, id have to think long and hard before i let him play football. I think those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact its going to change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence. Harvard researchers say on average the life span of a Football Player is 20 years shorter than that of the average american man. Nfl players and families have 5500 concussionrelated lawsuits pending in the league. One, the family of junior seau. Seau was diagnosed with cte, a degenerative brain disease. Two other football legends committed suicide last year, David Duerson shot himself in the chest, leaving a note requesting his brain be used for research and described his condition saying, his brain was falling off. His wife said he couldnt remember things from five minutes ago. Joining the panel now is democratic congressman Bill Pascrell of new jersey and from boston, codirector of the center for the study of traumatic encephelopathy. Thanks for being here. You funded the task force about 12 years ago. Thats correct. This is one of Americas National pastimes. What do you think can be done legislatively to work on this problem, to move the ball proverbially forward. We had a young man killed in my district, ryan, montclair gh school, got injured in a Football Game in september, concussion, went back into the game in october and got another concussion and died on the field. I went to that funeral, and if i werent convinced before, i was convinced then that i had to work harder. Since 2000 weve been working on this, to get something done in the house. So, we introduced legislation. Its never the end all, never the Silver Bullet that fixes everything up, but it would allow us to set standards across this country as to what we should permit and not permit and give guidance. We were going to bring professionals together, not the congress, and let them decide what are the protocalls for handling what goes on on the field. Were not only talking about football injuries. In fact, there are more young ladies that are injured because the protection around the brain is very different for a young lady than it is for our hard heads. And i know a gal from Marble High School in new jersey, nikki had 11 concussions. She had five in an area of a few months, and she can never play the game again, and shes an excellent student. She was on one of our panels on washington at one time. And this is what i see every day, day in, day out. Get this, we started this commission, this task force, and chris will tell you, hes done a fantastic job, youll talk to him in a moment, we started this task force before iraq and afghanistan, before the signature injuries of those two wars, which are tbi and posttraumatic stress disorder. I keep an eye on many of the soldiers i met during my travels to iraq and afghanistan, see how they are doing from this. Its a long story, but i went beyond your question on politics. Thats the whole point of this show. Let me ask you, in terms of regulating this stuff, theres a narrative about government overstepping its bounds and something that is so precious to america, that is such a cultural touchdown, do you feel there is bipartisan support to regulate safety . Our task force is bipartisan. You can fit us in a phone booth ten years ago, now weve got over 125 people that are on both sides of the aisle. This is critical. Not only sports, any kind of an injury. Theres 1,800,000 people affected by traumatic brain injury every year. I fell off a motorcycle 30 years ago, never got back on one again to drive one, anyway. We learn the hard way sometimes, but we can talk about preventing it, equipping, knowing what youre doing out there on the field, whether its rugby, football, tennis, it does not matter. These things can happen just like that and change your whole life. Chris, lets bring you in as our scientist here, how prevalent is this in the nfl and how debilitating is it, these kinds of injuries . Well, theres two types of injuries. With concussions, what the data says is probably half of the nfl players each season are getting concussions, although very few are actually reporting the injury, and then when you talk about the longterm consequences with chronic encephelopathy, 33 of the first 34 players that weve examined at Boston University school of medicine were positive for the disease, so we have a lot of concerns, this is pretty widespread at the professional level, and weve also found it in athletes as young as 17 playing football. The biggest concern we have is about children. Chris, let me ask why is it happening now . Everybody has a theory, right, the game is being played faster and harder, the guys are bigger. Do you have an analysis, is it the science for detecting this better, why are we focused on this now, why werent we 20 years ago . Weve never looked for it before. Congressman pascrell has been a real leader on this and doing it before it was cool, but only in the last few years have we been able to see this disease in Football Players, because we started looking for it. Now everywhere we look, we find it. The issue is just now we know it exists and is widespread, we have to move forward. Its impossible to ignore, especially when you kind of can see the physical damage in these injuries, see the disease as this dark stain on these brains that you know is really shut them down. David, we were talking during the break about the game and the changing of the game and your days working in the football chronicles, and Roger Goodell said this about cte earlier this month, we need to have a lot more research because theres still, unfortunately, a lot of unknowns. The nfl is in a tricky position on this. On one hand, they want to make sure their players are safe, careers, 5500 lawsuits is not a position any organization wants to be in. On the other hand, theres a question fans want bigger hits, whether theyve gotten used to the game at this speed, with this force. I think they have to walk another plank as they dont want us, as fans, implicated when we watch the game. They dont want us to feel bad when we sit down with the pizza and beer on sunday and watch the super bowl. They dont want us thinking what price, the young man who died was from my hometown, montclair, as people get bigger, so much faster. We have quarterbacks that come in at 270 now, and youre going to need great big guys just as fast. What kind of helmet is going to prevent those two kind of objects coming together and not doing a tremendous amount of damage . What david says something our sports correspondent, david zaran had a story last year, the nfl has really covered up quite a bit. It took this players lawsuit to get the nfl to acknowledge that it hid research that demonstrated a connection between football and head injuries. So, you have a major force in this sport, but to the congressmans credit, he expanded it. Years ago, jack newfield, a great reporter, did a whole series for us on the boxing world. My memory was senator mccain had hearings, and those who say you need to change the culture of america before you change the culture of football, thats a copout, like the gun control discussion. Hearings in washington, and i think he was straight forward. We brought folks in that played in the National Football league, and it was a sad thing to talk to a lot of these guys, because they are off many times in another planet, and i say that not minimizing it. I say that from my heart. Its a tragedy. It is. And goodell, i think, has his finger on this. He got clobbered when he tried to deal with the saints deal, the new orleans saints, and here we are pounding our chest, oh, this guy was suspended for if he did it, he should have been thrown out of the league, period. Now hes going to be coming back into the league. I think goodell has the right slant. I think he wants to be helpful, and i give him a lot of credit. And i usually dont do that with those commissioners. Do katrinas point about the culture, i think something is changing in the culture. I was on a plane this weekend, bought a lot of magazines for the trip, sports illustrated, esquire, gq. Im the demographic the n is appealing to. All of them had articles, each one of the three, super bowl week, super bowl month, all of them had articles about violence in football. Were on this show talking about it. Players committing violence. If the demographic who should be watching football is reading that, seeing that on shows like this, reading that in the magazines they read, the nfl has a tremendous image problem, and it is in our culture now. Something good came out of these wars were coming out of, that is the research and development that happened with our soldiers. You have to go to the hospitals and talk to these guys. Seven, eight years ago, they would have been given up on, mouth service, but now were really involved in trying to help them and their families come back together in society. And if we dont, so many fall through the cracks and wind up like this brave Football Player, unfortunately kills himself. And, you know, a lot of these soldiers, if we dont attend to them, they are going this way, they are going to be alone and by themselves even if the families in the house. Weve got to respond to traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder. Thats what i want to be about and get more and more congressmen involved in this. Its a bipartisan approach and we ought to use this in other problems. Bill pascrell and Chris Nowinski, thank you so much for joining us from boston. Go ravens. Coming up, mo knows. Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick taps john kerrys soon to be Vacant Senate seat, but who replaces mo cowan . We weigh the possibilities just ahead. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop . Campbells has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. From jammin jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. See whats new from campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. Thats a good thing, but it doesnt cover everything. Only about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. So consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. 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Geicos Customer Satisfaction is quite real though. This computeranimated coffee tastes dreadful. Geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. Someone get me a latte will ya, please . What a privilege, seriously, to work with you and now to work with you in a different way. I thank you, very, very much. [ applause ] newly minted secretary of state john kerry opens up a spot in the upper chamber. Well look at massachusetts newest senator and what it means for the states coming special election up next. [ coughs ] [ angry gibberish ] [ justin ] mulligan sir. Mulligan. Take a mulligan. I took something for my sinuses, but i still have this cough. [ male announcer ] truth is, a lot of sinus products dont treat cough. They dont . [ male announcer ] nope, but alka seltzer plus severe sinus does it treats your worst sinus symptoms, plus that annoying cough. [ angry gibberish ] [ fake coughs ] sorry that was my fault sir. [ male announcer ] alka seltzer plus severe sinus. [ breathes deeply ] oh, what a relief it is [ male announcer ] try alka seltzer plus severe sinus day and night for complete relief from your worst sinus symptoms. Stop stop stop come back here humans we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. Thats why Liberty Mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. If your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. Call. And ask one of our Insurance Experts about it today. Hello . we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, and we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. [car alarm blaring] call now and also ask about our 24 7 support and service. Call. And lock in your rate for 12 months today. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Yesterday, john kerry was overwhelmingly confirmed by his Senate Colleagues to become the next secretary of state. This morning, Deval Patrick announced he appointed his former chief of staff, William Mo Cowan to take kerrys senate seat until a special election on june 25th. Ed markey, 19terms, only democrat thus far that wants the seat. Officials close to scott brown said that brown is leaning strongly towards running and will likely enter the race next week. David carr, how about appointing your chief of staff to fill a Vacant Senate seat, is that a good idea . If i were, say, the mayor of new york city, i might turn toward the deputy mayor and say, you know what, im about done, and i know you know where all the buttons are, howard, please, take over and run this. New york city can only hope, howard. Big shoes, big shoes. Dont want to fill those big shoes. Whos your call, brown, ma h markey . I think hell lightly support brown again. Hes been the kind ever, in our opinion, the kind of moderate republican we need more of in the senate. Again, friends of ours in the left will not be happy about that, but if were talking about the value of bipartisanship, having a republican is a good thing. I dont think scott brown is a moderate republican. Weve had this passionate conversation about the lineup, but let me get passionate about something, i dont think any senator, republican or democrat, should serve by appointment. The 17th amendment was designed to end the corrupt appointment process. There was a loophole carved out, so in this case, were seeing it pretty blatantly, more blatantly than other times. Log rolling in our time. Sorry we couldnt Treat America i want to see the list of acceptable republicans to katrina some time, the list david, to be fair, scott brown got more money from the financial industry in the last senate race than any republican running. A fair point. Unfortunately, we have to leave it there. Thank you to howard, katrina, and david. Thats all for now. See you back tomorrow when im joined by richard wolffe, maggie haberman, chris smith, jamie ruben, and author dave berry. Andrea mitchell reports is coming up next. A kite, a breeze, a dunk of grilled cheese. Catches and throws, and spaghettios. A wand, some wings, soup with good things. Sidewalks and doodles and wholesome noodles. Puddles and pails and yes, puppy dog tails. For a lunch like this, theres a hug and a kiss. Because thats what happy kids are made of. Campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. We create easy to use, powerful Trading Tools for all. Look at these streaming charts theyre totally customizable and they let you visualize what might happen next. Thats genius strategies, chains, positions. We put em all on one screen could we make placing a trade any easier . Mmmm. Could we . Open an account today and get a free 13month e ibd™ subscription when you call 18882800157 now. Optionsxpress by charles schwab. Right now on Andrea Mitchell reports, Gabby Giffords returns to deliver a passionate appeal for gun laws. Speaking is difficult, but i need to Say Something important. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. Its will be hard, but the time is now. You must act