Michael this is the war room. Im michael shure. Coming up tonight congratulations chuck hagel, youre going to be this countrys new secretary of defense. You want to start on syria iran iran, north korea in the sequester tonight or get shut eye and start fresh in the morning . [ theme music ] so lets start off by running down the things weve been watching for tonight. We have one eye on the senate where president obama was able to restock his cap innocent. The Senate Republicans had one final chance to stand in the way of chuck hagel taking over as defense secretary. Are there any senators wishing to vote or change their votes . If not the ayes, 58. Nays 41. The nomination is confirmed. Michael four republicans crossed party lines to join Senate Democrats in confirming hagel. According to the new york times, the 5841 margin is the smallest for a defense secretary since the position was created in 1947. Four days ago hagels nomination seemed indoubt with the filibuster from negative. Harry reid blamed the delay with republicans playing politics with national defense. Its time to set aside this partisanship. The pentagon needs a seasoned leader to implement cuts. U. N. The 12 days since the filibuster not one single thing has changed. Not one. Yet republicans had to have their filibuster for make their pointless partisan point. They are children. The president s pick for treasury secretary will have a hedier time. Approved the nomination of jacob lew. The vote after a threehour confirmation hearing with he was pressed just a little bit about working sat citigroup after the financial collapse. Unlike the manufactured crisis of bengahzi neither republicans nor democrats have made a National Issue about the shaky investments, bailouts that lew has seen. Were more squinting after the smallest sign of progress on the sequester. The the white house and the congress have until wednesday night to avert the cross the board cuts. To highlight those cuts president obama went to Newport News Shipbuilding but its dependent on military spending that is due to be slashed this friday. Obama the reason why were even thinking about the sequester is because people are rightly concerned about the deficit and the debt. There is a sensible way of doing things and a dumb way of doing things. Michael well, that dumb way includes cutting social programs upon which Many Americans rely and cutting military spending which keeps all americans safe. The president said the smart way was to raise revenue by closing special tax loopholes and creating tax breaksor that created tax breaks for the rich. He called on the senate to give him a bill that can be sold to the caucus. They havent spoken since last week and hes getting a little testy. For 16 months the president has been traveling all over the Country Holding rallies instead of sitting down with Senate Leaders in order to try to forge an agreement over there. We should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something. Michael the speaker said ass. Hes only one shade away from turning bright way. The senator said angle less than a massive rewriting of tax code eliminateing loopholes is off the table. Washington is on the clock. And finally as always were keeping another eye on gun safety. Today Vice President joe biden met with retired military leaders at the white house. Hes enlisting them for support in gun safety reform. Part of the that support is mayors against illegal guns. Michael since sandy hook 2286 americans have died in gun violence. Thats 88 newtowns since newtown. Included in that heartbreaking toll are 65 people shot to death in chicago. Chicago is the first test case in post new town politics. Voters in the second Congressional District have less than two hours to get to the polls to make their voices heard in a primary race to pick Jesse Jackson jr. s successor. One of the loud he is has been Michael Bloomberg and his u. S. Pac. He has run 200 hours of tv ad like this attacking debby halvorsong n ng uns voting history. James . Snow is coming down in what is going to be a pretty small turnout will probably be close to minuscule given the conditions. Michael i mean, its an easy political question to ask. Sort of like a reflex to ask it, who does that mint if its benefit . Conventional wisdom is you probably have your most political active and astute and driven voters come out they might be older mostly africanamerican group that comes out. They would probably tend to be left of center, antiguns, and that probably would give robin kelly, a former state senator ironically, a native new yorker who has never met bloomberg would probably give they are the edge since bloombergs ad changed their tack a little bit about ten days ago instead of simply going an halverson the leading candidate who is backed by the nra. You would have to believe that helps her a lot. Michael this has been a National Race because of Jesse Jackson jr. Already p but then Michael Bloomberg stumbled on the race and spends all this money. Who would benefit from all of that spending in this race . Well, its got to be kelly. Just to give folks a bit of context. In the last Financial Disclosures for that bloombergs super pac said he spent 2. 2 million. Somewhere around 2. 5 million. That is far far more than all 15 candidates have raised combined throw in all the money kelly has raised and halverson and the other 13, its probably not even close to 2. 5 million. One interesting question, what impact does this have on the gun issue. This is a pretty democratic district pretty antigun. I think there will be a little bit, michael, because just put the nra on guard and reminds them that there is somebody who is steadfastly countered to their position, who is willing to perhaps spend whatever it takes around the country to support candidates he likes. Michael yes, that to me is really thei think most interesting parts of the race aside from the players in the race is how the nra reacts when somebody else is spending money against them. I think thats compelling. How has halverson responded to the attacks because she doesnt have the money to respond in the way that bloomberg has to spend on her. Well, michael, meekly. This is not necessarily a very well covered race in chicago. None of these candidates have been able to get the money to put up tv ads because the big market, which means youve got to spend significant sums on big Market Television stations. So she really hasnt had much of a mega phone. Shes not historically a very strong campaigner. Shes not a strong fundraiser. All she has been left to do is sort of complain about bloombergs spending and complain that robin kelly upon the seeming frontrunner in the last ten days has is stayed away from any potential confrontations and stayed away from forums and rejected late requests for television debates. Michael right, right, so james warren, veteran of the mclaughlin group. Ill throw this at you. Prediction who wins the race . Oh, no, no, no. I have one bag to borrow that kelly winds by 15 points. I can say that i may have accepted that wager but nothing more than coffee. Probably robin kelly. Michael well hold you to it and bring you back tomorrow to see how you did with the predictions snowstorm permitting permitting. James warren. Coming up well look deeper in the sequester. Plus a republican starting to change their tune on gay marriage . And a brief signed by dozens of gopers would say yes but can they drive along the rest of the rights. Later, some of the most high profile murders bombings and assassinations in the Civil Rights Era went unsolved for year. And if not for the work of investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell, it still would be. Its the war room on a tuesday night and well be right back. Surprise your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises . Now you can get all the online Trading Tools you need without any surprise fees. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. 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 theres wiggle room in the ten commandments, thats what youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Michael chuck hagels confirmation hearing may have started with a bang last week, but just moments ago they ended with more of a republican whimmer. After weeks of bluster innuendo and grandstanding, Senate Republicans finally allowed hagel to become defense secretary. But that was just a warm up. The new position is the biggest fight in washington, the battle over the sequester. If not averted the biggest cuts will go to the defense projects. That will dwarf all the other cuts. Top military leaders from urging congress to act. Here is army chief of staff general ray ogerono. If we do not have the resources to train and equip the force, our soldiers, our young men and women are the ones who will pay the price potentially with their lives. Michael and its not just the troops who will suffer, the rest of the country will feel the economic impacts. The sequester could be 2 million jobs lost. Half of those would be in the defense industry. Over all we could see Unemployment Rate jump a full point and a half. That would put us back to about where we were right after the economic meltdown. Today the president stressed those ramifications in his speech in virginia where more than a hundred Ship Builders could lost their jobs. He asked them to make smart cuts to balance the budget but not on the back of works workers. Obama so here at newport shipbuilding we said in order to maintain the finest navy the world has ever known weve got to make sure that this is an orallyorderly process whereby were upgrading our ships, building new ships, maintaining ships properly. Only congress has the power to pass a law that stops these damaging cuts and replaces them with smart savings and tax reform. Michael joining me now, lee munzil defense reporter from politico, she comes to us from washington, d. C. Lee, i want to welcome you inside the war room. I want to know what would these cuts mean, lee, for people in the defense industry, and for the economy as a whole . Well, we know that sequester cuts are going to effect the pentagon. But its not only the pentagon that will be hit hit. Jobs could be lost even as far down as local businesses surrounding the pentagon. So in the d. C. Maryland, Virginia Area there could be a Significant Impact on the local economy. Michael you know, as i listen to you say these things i think about the fact that chuck hagel fought so hard for this job, and i cant imagine who would want this job. Does this Defense Budget that hes going to walk into need any major overall now that the wars in iraq and afghanistan are winding down and the president has cited cybersecurity as a new priority . Absolutely. Thats chuck hagels first line of business. Thats the first thing hell have to do when he wakes up in the morning deal with sequester. As the troops come back from afghanistan the pentagon budget was going to be decreased already. But sequester cuts are significant on top of that. Michael and do you expect hagel, and we all expect him to pare down the Defense Budget. How do you expect him to do it . Here is a guy with a history of calling for reasonable reforms in actuality which is why a lot of republicans opposed him. That was a major concern. He had inflammatory quotes brought up when they actually asked him questions about what hes going to be like as defense secretary. But his views on the budget, at one time he called bloated really concerned republicans. They were paying closely to what he had said in the past. Chuck hagel is certainly going to have a lot to deal with and a lot on his plate with sequester and budget cuts in general. Whether hell approach them from this perspective that the pentagon budget is bloated or whether hell echo the joint chief of staff. Whether the sequester cuts are devastating we dont know for sure but there are definitely cuts coming it to the pentagon. Michael its interesting because a lot of the problems with the haig. Nomination involved republicans fighting among themselves, the deficit hawks versus the defense hawks in that body. And now can john boehner kiev the defense talks of his party at bay . Will they be tempted to cut a deal with president obama now . Well, the sequester deadline is on friday. So were only a couple of days away and congress a lot of times thats a short time frame for getting something done at this point. Republicans and congress are looking at a plan, and democrats and the stat have also put forward a plan for a temporary fix to sequester. However, its looking less and less likely that thats going to happen. Carl levin one of my colleagues grabbed him and of hagel vote and asked him about the sequester, and he said he has not given fully given up hope for the deadline. But he said it is looking more and more likely that sequester is going to go in affect. Michael so does it look like its going to be tough to reach a deal. That is not to say that sequester will not go in affect and stay in effect. There is going to be wiggle room when the continuing resolution expires at the end of march. They may have time to make a deal but its not looking like its going to happen happen by march first. Michael leighs munzil thank you for joining me here in the war room. Thanks for having me. Michael the debate of stand your ground laws. One year later the tv vans are gone but the questions remain. And its that very phrase that prompted journalist Jerry Mitchell to find answers in some of the high profile cases of the Civil Rights Movement. Join us right here in the war room, and well be right back. With Award Winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. Real, gripping, current. Documentaries. On current tv. The bar harbor bake is really worth trying. 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Before starting enbrel your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether youve been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. You should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Tell your doctor if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores have had hepatitis b have been treated for heart failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever bruising, bleeding or paleness. Since enbrel helped relieve my joint pain, its the Little Things that mean the most. Ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. [ theme music ] michael it has been exactly one year since the unarmed 17yearold Trayvon Martin was gunned down in a quiet part suburb by george zimmerman. It sparked the million hoodie march and kick started a National Conversation on issues like racial profiling and gun violence and stand your ground laws. The attention has trailed off recently, so let me get you, um to speed. Zimmerman claimed martin was leaning over him when he fired his gun and cast doubt on zimmermans timeline of events. They are awaiting trial. Hell appear in court on charges of seconddegree murder. A second part of zimmermans defense is stand your ground law. It says that anyone can use deadly force if he or sheanyone can do it if theyre defending themselves. It is t essentially allows anyone to start shooting whenever they feel threatened. Beside florida 24 other states have this law on the books. Just last friday the task force commissioned by Florida Governor rick scott said they found no reason to change the law. In their eyes it its fine the way it is even though evidence that stand your ground does not decrease crime there will be a hoodie vigil to honor Trayvon Martin and all the victims of senseless gun violence. Joining us from pensacola florida, is mike antonio. He hosts ring of fire with Robert F Kennedy and sam seder and president of the National Trial lawyers association. Welcome back in the war room. How are you. Michael im well. I appreciate you being here to talk about this case. I want to know if this is any palpable feeling in florida. Is that incident still etched in peoples minds or have floridians moved past it and forgotten it. Its a sense of trying trying the case in the media in little segments. The first thing that is