51vote sequester. The white house has had success so far but the signs are positive that hagel ultimately will be concerned, the question is how long and is there any possibility that hagel in the meechbt decides to step out and take himself out of the consideration, at least thats not what the white house wants. Big picture here, though, john, our First Read Team says this is a reminder for all future legislative fights and nomination battles. Well see over the next four years, lets stop pretending this will change any time soon. Meaning this particular strategy is something we will see perhaps in fights over universals background checks for guns. Even the prek for all children as all legislation as we move forward with this congress and this president as a dynamic could end up like were seeing now. Thats correct, tamron, but first of all we cant forget that democrats did defeat a nominee from for defense secretary before in john tower. But these two parties are in a state of more or less permanent war. The question is how do they get to the truth in this issue. With the wind at his back in terms of public opinion, the issues he struck out on various issues on the state of the union are popular. He just won his second skbraert majority over the earlier vote. Now let me bring in our panel, radio talk show host, mike smerconish, rachel smoken and Political Correspondent dan clagman, dan, you have heard a lot about hagel, you heard john harwood say that we could be in a permanent state of war between the president and the republicans. I think what makes it so acute in this case is that its happening in the context of foreign policy. Here you have a defense secretary whos being filibustered, at the same time that theres a possibility filibuster as the cia director. I do think that ultimately, these political fights dont happen in a vacuum, all of the things that john harwood just said about the wind being at the president s back is going to end up meaning that hes going to get a deferment. And chuck hagel, if hes confirmed will attend a nato conference. And if not, panetta will have to step in there. And thats the pressure thats going to have to come to bear for the republicans, at the end of the day, this has real impact if the president doesnt have a confirmed secretary of defense. Some of the republicans have tried to, i dont know if its splitting hairs or if theyre embarrassed by the use of the word filibuster, but theyre attempting to describe this as something other than that. This is not a filibuster, i keep getting stopped by people out in the hall, oh, were going to filibuster, whos going to filibuster. Its not a filibuster, all they have to do is have a 60vote margin. So rachel, harry reed says it is a filibuster, jim inhoff says it is not. And that reflects the complicated politics going on right here. This is a troubled nomination for the white house, it has been from the start. Theres no natural support out there for chuck hagel, hes a republican, but a lot of republicans feel hes a republican in name only. Theyre pushing back in light of the troubles he had during his confirmation hearing. At the same time theyre vulnerable to a strategy where the white house and democrats really push back and say theyre playing politics with our national security, theyre putting a defense nominee in jeopardy, theyre putting the defense of a nation in jp. The white house pushing back very hard on this strategy and thats a risk for republicans. How much does this have to do with the performance of chuck hagel . Is this just a distrack someone when you have people say, well, you know, he had a horrible hearing and he stumbled through some of these answers. Reporter the hagual nomination shows that hearings do matter. Again, this was a tough nomination from the start, even if he had had a fabulous hearing, there still would have been questions about benghazi, there still would have been questions about his financial disclosures. Let me play what snasht Lindsay Graham has said about chuck hagel and he is willing to fight until the very end. Lets play it please. You know that the debate on chuck hagel is not over, it has not been serious and we do not have the information we need and i am going to fight the idea of jamming somebody through. Im going to hit you and keep hitting you, absolutely. Youre not going to get away with not answering basic questions. That is a man that is not ready to give up, im going to hilt you and keep hitting you, it went from iran to israel, to benghazi, chuck hagel was not a part of the administration during benghazi. We have seen panetta and others testify. Is this a legitimate point that this is pay back for the surge and that Lindsay Graham and senator john mccain have decided somehow in their minds theyre doing this. I dont think its pay back for the surge, i think this is pay back for a republican willing to serve in a democratic administration. No matter what you call this, filibuster or otherwise, i think its at odds with the constitution, i think itsed a odds with the device and consent language of the conversation. The language says that president obama gets to pick his team exempt in extraordinary circumstances. And the extraordinary circumstances are not met here. John mccain said that chuck hagel would be a great member of cabinet. He spoke of chuck hagel as a tremendous secretary of state. Political betrayal is a worse sin than being a member of the opposing party, so you have john mccain in the hearing really going after chuck hagel, especially after iraq and the sunshine. But then you have a Committee Hearing and the new senator from texas, cruz, goes after chuck hagel where then john mccain defends him. Its baffling, its like were in a sort of upside down tonka toy world. We saw with his nomination something truly extraordinary which is the government of iran formally and publicly praising the nomination of a defense secretary. Senator hagel is an honorable man, he has served his country and no one on this committee at any time should impugn his character or his integrity. John mccain or roy blount are critical here if they dont participate in this filibuster, it seems as though he will move ahead. Whats changed from when john mccain thought that chuck hagel was worthy of a nomination until now . A lot of it was iraq. So is it political pay back . It is like a lot of things, its both political and personal. I think john mccain in kind of brushing back ted cruz was trying to sort of sort out the personal and the political. The problem for mccain is, if it looks like this is purely personal and that its an attack, then it kind of diminishes his credibility. Hes trying to keep the argument on substance, but theres no question for john mccain, it is also personal. These two men were friends, they were part of a band of brothers, they split on iraq, they split on the surge. It became very personal and sometimes its very hard to sort out the personal and the political in washington these days. I know youre not a mind reader, but where do you believe john mccain will ultimately fall on this. Especiallily when senator graham is saying im going to keep hitting and hitting and hitting. I think everybody hopes that john mccain will be an institutionalist, that is he is going to respect the prerogatives of the senate but that its going to be consistent with the senates obligation and that he wont vote for the fill buster. Hell certainly vote for hagel. You talk to people as i love to say all day long from around the country. What are folks saying that youve been talking to today . Theyre in danger about getting sucked into some of the sound bites about antisemitism and so forth. The individual to whom chuck hagel used the words jewish lobby and Aaron David Miller who has served as secretary of states rs and ds. Its the old case of get beyond the headline, go deep on the substance, and when you get there, theres no there there. Did he do well in the hearings . No, he didnt. He could have been stellar in those hearings, theyre offended by the fact that hes willing to serve this president. And rachel, to a lot of points made here, this is a vietnam vet, you heard john mccain complement him when taken on by ted cruz here. They believe he will be confirmed and they believe that the republicans somehow will pay for this with public opinion. What do you think there . I think theres a little bit of a question at this point about what the end game is for republicans, what do they hope to achieve at this point . Are they really trying to kill this nomination . Because at this point it does look like were going to move to a volt, theres a question about whether this will happen after this recess or whether it will happen tomorrow, it could happen quite soon, so is the goal to delay or to kill and at crunch time, they have to find out whether theyll diminish or accomplish. Were following developing news, olympic superstar oscar castorias is now officially charged with the murder of his girlfriend. Well get a live report out of africa. And msnbcs mary carillo will join us. And Msnbcs Joe Scarborough, republican and a conservative says is quote laced with racial overtones. Well read some of that oped. And if you see random flash mobs singing a new song, its called break the chain its a global call to action. It was created to move people to end violence against women and girls. [ male announcer ] how do you make americas Favorite Recipes . Just begin with americas favorite soups. Bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. Or bestever meatloaf. Go to campbellskitchen. Com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. Campbells. Its amazing what soup can do. Woman what do you mean, Homeowners Insurance doesnt cover floods . [ heart rate increases ] man a few inches of water caused all this . [ heart rate increases ] woman 2 but i dont even live near the water. What you dont know about Flood Insurance may shock you including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as 129 a year. For an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. 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 developing now, oscar castori is charged with murder. Hes in a South African jail charged with murdering his girlfriend. Castoria slipped down and hit his face a Court Hearing that had been set for this afternoon has now been postponed until tomorrow to give forensics experts more time to investigate. Steinkamps agent said that she was the kindest, sweetest human being on this earth and she will be sorely missed. What are investigators saying happened . Reporter well, theyre not obliged to say anything under South African law, but they gave some detail today. They stopped short of confirms that it was he who was arrested here this morning. But they did almost Everything Else and its been widely reported today that that was the case. He will spend the night in a police cell and then appear in court at 2 00 other than time, thats 2 00 a. M. Where the charge geptsz him will be outlined and we have been told by authorities here that there will be an attempt to resist any application thats been made on his behalf for bail. That is normal for charges that are this serious. He was arrested early this morning at his home were told, just behind the gates of this very secluded and secure neighborhood here on the outskirts. There were reports of a shooting, his model girlfriend was found there dead. She was shot several times, its thought. And then he was arrested shortly afterwards. And then some details have been emerging. Some of these details have stunned South Africans. Hes an incredible hero here in south africa. People will be watching tomorrow mornings Court Appearance with a great deal of interest. What can you tell me about the report that his girlfriend may have come in around 3 00 a. M. In the morning to surprise him, thats one of the reports thats out there, has that been confirmed . Do we know any more about that . Reporter tamron, that hasnt been confirmed, that was initial speculation coming from reporters here at the scene. I spoke to many of them and no one really seems to be clear about where those reports actually came from and the police speaking this afternoon have been keen to say, were not sure where those reports came from either. That may be the case, and theres almost speculation, reports here that he thought that it was an intruder, that wouldnt be surprising in a country that has one of the highest crime rates in the world. But very little extra detail that are coming out of those reports. Thank you very much for your report. Joining me now live with for, mary carillo with nbc sports. Mary, i know you spent a lot of time with oscar, he was one of the most popular people in the world, on social media, people were fascinated, gq man of style, man of the future. His need for speed and featured him now. We dont know all of the details here, but tell us what you learned about this guy when you spent time with him. Tamron, youre right, we were together at the olympic games, he was one of the best stories there, i mean heres a guy who was born without the lower part of his legs, who had been a paraolympian, who fought for the right to compete against ablebodied athletes. Caroni james ended up winning, exchanged with oscar. Its the ultimate show of admiration and respect for swb somebody to change bibs, i got to spend almost a week with oscar and his coaches and his competitors in south africa before the london games, i was at that house where this horrible incident happened. Its a gated community. Its a beautiful home, oscar did keep guns there, and they were in his bedroom. I didnt see the guns, but i know he had them there, and he sleeps without legs, he sleeps without his prosthetics. There is a high crime rate as that last gentleman was talking about. Its a big fear in that country, but tamron, that this guy could be capable of such a thing is un its unbelievable to me because, i mean oscar seemed for a 26yearold to pulled together, so aware of his personal power. So cog ani personal power. So cog anzant that he was representing a whole group of people. The guy that i got to know in south africa, is so different from this god awful tragedy. Its a little bit hard for me still to comprehend it. Absolutely, i feel the same way, i woke up and saw the news and just thinking about london and the Energy Around him, in time magazine, one of the worlds 100 most influential people. And thats not just due to the fact that he was able to overcome the physical difficulties he faced. But it was because of his personality. He has indicated that authorities have charged him, and you have this other side of the story here, this lovely person, someones child, someones sister and friend was shot dead. But to your point about oscars fear of security, there was at least one reporter who said they went up to take a photograph of him and he saw guns that he kept in the bedroom. And in a gatal community, he even had a bat and a cricket stick not very far away, concerned about his personal security here. But this is one of those tragedies that has come up too often, mary, in the sports world. We have seen domestic violence, we have seen allegations of it, we have seen tragedy, that reminds us that someone can be a hero but not know the entire story. To me, tamron, this was a little bit difference than the fall from grace of lance armstrong. N for a long time, people suspected he had been using performanceenhancing drugs, but oscar, he had this celestial kind of glow about him. Just from the time i was able to spend with him, i hugged him after london as well. After the london games, he went on to win two more olympic medals at the paraolympic games. Its a little hard for me to understand. After a while, i did a story for rock center with Brian Williams on oscar, so we were with him for a while and we just started saying about him that and he was beautiful. I mean he was and he always had these beautiful girlfriends and we got to saying that threequarters of him was perfect, and the last quarter was unbelievable. You know that, he had these blades for legs. And he was able to do so much good. He was this is a guy who wanted to, you know, help give prosthetics, make them affordable, get them out to people who were victims of land mines in south africa. It seemed to me that thats he was going along a very, very beautiful path with what he wanted to do with his life. So thats why this is incomprehensib incomprehensible. Well see what the investigators say and meanwhile there, as a young woman who has now lost her life, and we need to know the circumstances that happened there. Thank you very much, mary, i really appreciate it. Its always great to see you and even under these circumstances, we always appreciate your work, thank you, mary. For the first time, the gao says Climate Change poses a major financial risk to the government. This is the first time they have ever made such an announcement. Do you think this report will ignite lawmakers to pass new Climate Change laws . It is our news nation gut check. And plus how actor will ferrell is getting involved in local politics . Im here to talk about the next mayor of los angeles. Youre probably thinking who cares what some strikingly handsome actor thinks . Its hard to describe because you have a numbness but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. It was progressively getting worse, and at that point, i knew i had to do something. When i went back to my health care professional, thats when she suggested the lyrica. Once i started taking the lyrica, the pain started subsiding. 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