Yes or no. Well, im not going to give you a yes or no. I think its far more complicated than that. Is this finally the year for Immigration Reform . President obama sits down with jose diaz bullart. I dont think that it should take many, many months. I think this is something that we should be able to get done certainly this year, and i would like to see if we can get it done sooner. In newtown parents of the young victims demand stricter gun laws. I remember looking at him in his casket and holing his hands. No parent should hold this memory of their child. The liberty of any person to own a military style assault weapon and a high capacity magazine and keep them in their home is second to the right of my son to his life. Bidding farewell. John kerrys emotional goodbye to the senate. Standing here at this desk that once belonged at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy, i cant help but be reminded that even our nations greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. Plus, my interview with former Vice President al gore. From the real threat about Climate Change to the controversial sale of his fledgling Cable Network to al jazeera. Isnt there something inherently hypocritical about taking money and a lot of money from an oil producer . The point youre making is one that i understand very clearly. I do disagree with it. Good day. Im Andrea Mitchell live in washington. Former senator chuck hagel is taking plenty of heat from his own party at todays confirmation hearing. Especially from former colleague and fellow vietnam veteran john mccain. Joining me now for our daily fix chris cali sfwl za managing editor of post politics. Com, and nbc news chief pentagon krbt jim miklaccewski. Snoo. Youre watching the hearings closely. This thing not going that well for chuck hagel, at least with his critics, john mccain is a very important member of this committee. What is so striking, andrea, is that chuck hagel has had a series of meetings with more than 50 of the members of the senate. All the questions that would be put to him must have come up in those conversations, and yet, before this committee there were times where he looked illprepared for questions that would have been pretty easy to anticipate. At the same time you had democrats trying to in a couple of instances almost rehabilitate his answers to clarify his point. Now, to the good side, he had the opportunity to talk about how his own service in vietnam and that of his brothers has given him perspective that wab valuable if confirmed as the defense secretary, but the back and forth between mccain was striking. It went on and on and it was at a really core issue where mccain argued that the judgment of a secretary of defense on issues like the surge in iraq and later the surge that president obama authorized in afghanistan was a fundamental point of view that senators should evaluate and as you heard in that clip, senator hagel was reluctant to give a yes or no assessment of his own opposition to it, and wanted to give a fuller description of what his views were at the time. He also did say he disagreed with president obama on the increase in troops in afghanistan. Again, key issues that would play out if he gets the job at the pentagon. Chris, weve seen these things before. This one at least is getting off to a very uncertain start. Yes. We know the drama and all of the positions that have been taken pro and con and the lobbies that have been taken against him, and its been pretty fierce, and i know he has been doing murder boards and he has been practicing at the pentagon. Theyve got really good people working with them. You might have expected that he would have, as kelly points out, anticipated this line of questioning from john mccain. Well, and let me just add one other thing. He is a former senator. He is not unaware of how these things go. This is not someone who is sort of a newbie to processes like this. You know, look. I found the mcdanehagel confrontation incredibly compelling for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the these were two men that were the best, lit rate the best of friends. Chuck hagel was the chairman of john mccains 2000 president ial campaign. They had their Senate Offices next to one another so that they could more closely coordinate. The falling out everyone around both of them says theyre no longer close friends. Why is up for debate, but that confrontation between mccain and hagel fascinating. Not only in terms of the clear disagreement about the fundamental direction that is we should take in regards to Foreign Policy in iraq, but also the personal element there. I think people always forget a lot of this stuff is personal, and it seemed in the tone of mccains questions it was personal. It does seem that, and, of course, there was the fact that hagel did not endorse barack obama, but in the middle of that mccainobama campaign he went to the war zones along side barack obama. It was an implicit endorsement. His wife did endorse obama in that campaign. Politics are personal. Jim, theres some concern by some that assuming that chuck hagel gets confirmed he will be a weaker secretary of defense within the cabinet, that policy will be run even more so out of the white house, out of the nsc because he has gone through this process, and doesnt have a Strong Political base himself within the administration. Well, you know, that was the rap against william cohen. If you remember, a republican who served under the president Democratic Administration of president clinton. Now, if people here in the building say, look, you know, chuck hagel would be fine for us, including military Uniformed Service members because they understand, as you just pointed out, that the white house is going to be pulling the strings, turning the screws no matter who is the secretary of defenses. Republican or democrat. I do want to set the record straight a little bit on this debate over the surge. Now, senator hagel in the confirmation hearing said that 1,200 americans were killed during the 18month surge operation. Thats true. 1,200 americans died, but the actual number of combat deaths was 942. Whats important to point out is that the 12 months before the surge began the total number of Service Members killed in iraq was 820. Now, this is the most important figure i think if you are going to argue was the surge a success or not . That is the fact that the 12month period following the surge operation there were 313 american deaths and the next year only 150. So thats why you hear a very strong argument, particularly from uniformed military personnel and leadership that they believe the surge was successful. And kelly, one of the big crisis or conflicts thats going to be facing whoever is the next defense secretary if it is chuck hagel, is going to be the budget and the sequester, and i know that leon panetta is very deeply concerned about this as he exits. What is chuck hagel doing about that sf what is the posture of the administration as youre viewing it from the hill with the dead looirns approach sng. Interestingly, that has not been as much a part of the hearing today. He did get some questions about it. He tried to reassure the committee that he would be forceful in wanting to protect the sort of battle readiness of the military services, but he also did indicate how devastating it could be and that there would probably be civilian furloughs that would happen quickly if this were to go forward. As secretary panetta has said, it could have a hollowing out effect on the military. It appears that hagel is carrying that view, but something that is that farreaching and that impending because it could be in just a matter of weeks before that would kick in. That has thus far not been a central focus of this hearing, which we expect to go at least a couple of more hours, so theres plenty of time pour them to get to that. That would be a major part of what he would have to do. Of course, youve also had a lot of discussion today about the issue of israel and iran and some of his more controversial statements in the past about that. Thats been a definite part of the back and forth weve seen. Briefly, let me ask you on that score because of israels strike into syria. Questions about what the targeting was. Its now been condemned. The secretary general, at least at the United Nations, saying that he has grave concerns. I shouldnt use the word condemned, but grave concerns about that israeli air strikes, the first in five years. At this time the United Nations does not have details, he says, about the reported incident. What are they saying over there at the pentagon . Weve also been briefed today that the Vice President when he goes to the Munich Security Conference this weekend is going to meet with the syrian envoy from the United Nations, brahimi and will meet with the Russian Foreign minister and with the Syrian National council. So far out of this building, while theyre keeping many of the details close to the vest, were not hearing any kind of condemnation, criticism, any negative response. In fact, according to one senior military official who we can only identify that way because theyre not authorized to speak on the record of this subject, all they could say about it was, you know, the israelis, above anyone else, usually gets these things right. No condemnation at all. In fact, from a White House Briefing that we just had, a background in advance of joe biden agency trip, theyre not criticizing it at all there. Theyre very much on board. Thank you, all of you, and joining me now from more on senator hagels confirmation hearings and the military challenges that he faces will face anyone who is the next defense secretary steve. You were at the hearings. Yes. Youve been supportive of chuck hagel. You know him very well. Youve been sort of part of this whole process. Lets talk about how he handled those questions so far today, and its going to be a long day for him in the hot seat. I think he expected a long day, and i think that as we were speaking earlier, i think john mccain came into run point on the surge. I think it matters so much to mccain. He is so personally invested in that, and that was the rip with the party. That was the rip with mccain for senator hagel, and i think thats what they want to exact a pound of flesh for, and i think chuck hagel went in to do what he wanted to do, which was not to give a yesno answer to that. He didnt want to embarrass or offend mccain. I dont think he succeeded in that. He did want to say that 1,200 soldiers died in that surge, and that thousands of people were wounded and that we need to consider things not in an emotional and reckless way, but need to look at the costs and the returns. He said history will judge whether that was a good move by the United States or a poor surge. As he explained that, i thought hagel taught the country about the surgery that it might not have known. Marco rubio has come out with a statement. Before the hearing is over. He said he is going to vote against him. You can see where some of the newer senators its a great tweet by sam stein of Huffington Post that says in 2017 president marco rubio will wonder why the senate isnt letting him have the people he picks for his cabinet. The ironies abound that people are taking sides even before the hearings take place, but there are other people within that hearing i mean, mccain has a particular role as a leader on defense policy, as a leader of this country ke, and as mccain goes, so will go other republicans. He will give political cover to some who may want to go up against president obama. Oh, i think thats right. I think thats one quadrant, but, of course, you had john waern, who is also a republican, former chairman of that committee, who strongly defended hagel and his views, and sam nunn on the democratic side. There are a lot of former chairman around that may have other issues. People arent looking at thad cochran. Thad cochran came out as the first republican to issue p public support for hagel, and he was one vote away from beating trent lott for Senate Majority leader some years ago. You have leaders. This is as john mccain said, this is not a neat difference among friends. There are deep idealogical differences about world view and americas place in the world, and i think that those opposed to hagel are trying to get a bandwagoning effect happening. Ive talked to senator shumer and others who dont see that happening. I have talked privately to a couple of republican senators who are keeping their powder dry right now, but theyre not quite ready to jump in the pro or con camp. My guess is, though, that the white house still thinks theyre on solid ground and getting him confirmed. Let me ask you about this. Is israels strike into syria yesterday, a lot of mystery over what they were after. Its reported that they were after some russian weapons that were advanced weapons that were heading to hezbollah and lebanon. What is your basic information . I think israel has legitimate security concerns that when there is the tumult you see and you already have seen syria could be part of assads strategy to run things over the borders that, when you begin to see materials move, that could move from syria into lebanon and potentially into hezbollahs control, whether theyre chemical or even well targeted rockets, various things, i think israel many consultation with the russians and the americans, had decide thad something was moving. You and i dont know what the content was. I was impressed with israels willingness to consult with russians and the americans in this before they took their strike, so i believe that they have had a sense that something very nasty was being moved. Is this a proxy against iran, and is this any kind of signal also since the weapons were possibly headed to hezbollah at least according to a lot of sources. Is this also letting iran know, you know, that of course. That we are gunned and ready. I dont think it was a reckless move by israel, and there are a lot of people who will disagree with my assessment of that, but i think there are a lot of potential consequences for israel that this was a potentially high risk move i think by what they did. They were demonstrating their resolve to make sure that their security is maintained. I dont think that they want to be in the middle of the syrian conflict, and they have showed real strategic restrapt up until this point. This is not a reckless move. Everything about syria is about iran. And about a kind of larger geostrategic standoff. Syria is hard to even consider as a country right now because have you so many different die mentions in the civil wash, you and you have a geostrategic stand offbetween russia and china that have been voting against the United States, that have military capacity in the region, and iran is the biggest patron of syria. It is hard to talk about syria in a serious way without looking at the broad gee joe strategic players. Should we read anything into this about the reelected Benjamin Netanyahus willingness to take military action against iran . I think netanyahu is showing himself, and he will show himself to be always right there on israel security. I think were going it see him dial down some of the rhetoric and the posturing and the bluster that we are used to from netanyahu, and if you see and act like this without the bluster, i think thats whats interesting. You dont see anybody beating their chest after this strike. Just as if after the strike on syrias Nuclear Facilities that the North Koreans were helping with. Very little comment. He is taking action and letting action speak louder than words, which is not the net new were used to seeing. Thank you very much. Steve clemons. Watching the hearing with you throughout. Up next, senator claire mchaskell just out of todays confirmation hearing. Is she going to support chuck hagel . And al gore speaks about the future, his new book, and the controversy surrounding his multimilliondollar al jazeera deal. My interview with the former Vice President. Ahead on Andrea Mitchell reports. Tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. Where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. And lunesta® eszopiclone can help you get there. Like it has for so many people before. When taking lunesta, dont drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. 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Well, i would defer to the judgment of history to sort that out. I think the committee deserves your judgment as to whether you were right or wrong about the surge . Ill explain why i made those comments, and i want to fn you are right or wrong. Thats a direct question. I expect a direct answer. Chuck hagel in a tough moment with john mccain, defending himself about comments he made about the surge in iraq. Will his answers be enough to overcome his critics. Claire mchaskell is one of those questioning chuck hagel this morning, and she joins me now. Thank you for joining us during a break. Thanks for leaving the hearing room. Senator, how is your what is your perspective as to how it went today . I think hagel is much more comfortable asking questions than answering them. Thats one bad habit i think you get into when you have bee