this a simple question. if we are hit, and it comes out that the president had the ability and authority to take action that could is prevented the attack, what would the critics justifiably say that then? what would you say if you knew our leaders failed to do something they could have done and didn t? again, nothing is healthier in our country than a real never ending debate on what we believe is necessary to our defense and what is necessary, too, to protecting our liberty. we begin with nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. pete, i think it s a balancing act. tell us what this new program that we re discovering about at the nsa is actually doing. well, the first question i guess is whether it s new, and members of congress say it s not. they say that this is what we ve seen here is a little peep into what s been going on for the past at least seven years, they say. and what it is is a request or a demand to the phone companies that they turn over data to the uni
east, that s where we re concerned for the heaviest rains. another 1 to maybe 4 inches could be falling before the storm is over. we already had a bunch of rain. there s bawnch of rain still to get through bunch of rain still to get through. we ve been watching the action lift from south to north. it started to rain moderately in spots north and west of town though we re not as concerned north and west of town. look at the moderate heavy rain on top of us down to the south, charles county through calvert from easton down to cambridge on the eastern shore. you can imagine the ride going out toward the beaches right now. a slow one down there. south lady smith we got a little bit of a break. there will be some lulls, especially west of us and southwest of us. however, east of richmond, south of richmond, look at the dark red areas, the cells that are really with torrential rain and maybe a little bit of lightning developing with this. this is what we have to watch for this af
his announcement came as lautenberg s body arrived on capitol hill. with us now from washington, chief washington correspondent and host of the lead jake tapper. tapper, i heard you talking earlier and i know you said you were shocked that the news wasn t leaked earlier. i m sure you were trying to get the goods, but let me ask you this. was the pick a surprise? no. i mean, looking in retrospect, it makes perfect sense. here is a career prosecutor who is pretty much stayed out of politics. it s somebody who does not want to run for the seat. it s pretty much in the christie mold. i was surprised, jeff chiesa, the attorney general appointed to that position by governor christie had not appeared on any of the short lists in the new jersey and new york media when people discussed who governor
threat i don t see how you can justify not going through the regular legal process we have here in the united states. neil: all right, mr. gomez, thank you very much. very good to see you again. thank you. neil: to the next special election. new jersey governor chris christie making his pick to fill the late senator frank lautenberg s seat, choosing the attorney general, jeffrey chiesa, who will serve as a placeholer and will not be rung for the seat himself. decision to hold an election so soon. i believe people should have the right to make a choice if that s available. and so that s why i made the
that one vote could make a difference in some of these key issues. for example, comprehensive immigration reform and this new interim senator from new jersey, jeffrey chiesa, did not say where he stands on some of these issues. he says he s going to look and study and he ll make up his mind. it s a slight shift but important. slight shift for a finite period of time, until that special election in october. wolf blitzer, thank you, sir. thank you. coming up next, his show hasn t even premiered yet but george is already making headlines. he s cnn s late night host famous with interviews with key anna reeves and strombo, may i go there? you may. we re going to have a little surprise for you. uh-oh. n