after winning the northeast conference's semifinal game and that's because their opponent is new to division 1 hoops. they are actually not eligible to dance quite yet and there's plenty more still to come, and ten teams -- three men's, seven women punching the ticket and a very busy day and march madness is here. >> it is so fun to see that kind of excitement, though. it really is inspiring. super. thanks so much, carolyn manno. good to see you. i'm fredericka whitfield in atlanta. see you back at 2:00 eastern time. "state of the union" with dana bash starts right now. ♪ ♪ game plan, president biden tests out a reelection message. >> let the people know who did it for them. >> but what can his party accomplish without control of

the house? democratic leader hakeem jefferies joins me exclusively next and crime and punishment. concerns about crime contribute to a democratic mayor's loss and now the president sides with republicans on blocking a local d.c. criminal justice laws. are democrats vulnerable on crime in 2024 in i'll speak exclusively to new york city mayor eric adams in moments. plus sidestepping trump as one anti-trump republican bows out other white house hopefuls look for a lane around trump. >> i am your justice, and i am your retribution. >> will it be harder than they think? former republican governor asa hutchinson will join me ahead. ♪ ♪ hello. i'm dana bash in new york this morning where the state of our union is gearing up. this weekend we are beginning to see the 2024 presidential campaign take shape. new this morning, one of donald trump's most vocal critics,

former maryland governor larry hogan says he will not run in 2024 warning that a crowded primary could end up handing the nomination to former president biden. his decision comes as half a dozen other republican hopefuls spoke at dueling political events this weekend looking for a way to bypass trump. we also saw president biden preview his likely campaign message urging democrats at a party conference to focus their successes over the last two years at a time of newly divided government while his party faced new, urgent questions about crime and traditionally democratic big cities as democrats hope to flip the house and regain unified control in 2024. here with me now is house minority leader hakeem jefferies. thank you very much. it's good to see you here. house democrats were in baltimore this week and you were laying out a strategy for the next two years. i want you to listen to what president biden told your retreat this week.

>> if we did nothing, nothing but implement what we've already passed and let the people know who did it for them we win. >> so, mr. leader, he's talking about 2024, but frankly, it also sounds kind of a tacit admission that democrats are not going to be able to get as much done now because you're in the minority in the house. >> it's great to be with you. >> house democrats, and our base is electrified for three reasons. one, we have an incredible track record of support for getting big things done to make life better for everyday americans. we have a vision for the future. we will continue to put people over politics, to fight for lower costs and better paying jobs and safer communities and defend democracy and fight f reproductive freedom as opposed to the top down which is what

republicans have tried to do for decades and we present a clear contrast with the extreme maga republicans who are out of touch and out of control. >> so you talk about unity. i want to ask you about something that happened this past week. it showed some pretty stark divisions in your democratic party because president biden unexpectedly -- unexpectedly, rather, announced that he's going to sign a republican effort to override a new crime reform bill in washington, d.c. 173 house democrats including yourself voted against that gop bill and in large part that was because you believe that the white house signaled that the president would oppose it. did president biden pull the rug out from under you and your fellow house democrats? >> not at all. we have a house. we have a sen, and then we have the white house. in terms of my particular reasons for voting the way that i did, one, i believe that local government should have control over local matters and that's a

principle that i've supported from the moment that i arrived in washington, d.c. that's why i believe in d.c. statehood and in this particular case i voted to affirm local rule. >> right, but the democratic president has signalled that he doesn't agree with that and he's going to sign a republican bill to override what you just described. are you okay with that? >> well, let's take it one step at a time. we have to see what happens in the united states senate next week, depending on what the senate does the president will have to respond one way or the other. i haven't had an opportunity to talk to the white house yet about the president's view so i'm not going to characterize his position one way or the other until we've had a chance to talk about that issue. >> he said it. i mean, he's made it clear it's not -- unless he changes his tu tune again. >> well, there are private conversations and what i do know is delegate eleanor holmes

nordegren looks forward to talking to president biden about his decision and they may agree to disagree and at the end of the day that's fine because on the big picture issues in fighting to build an economy that really does work for everyday americans we will remain unified particularly as compared to the other side of the aisle. >> you're the democratic leader, i'm obviously, not. if i'm hearing from frustrated democrats i can't imagine what you're hear. they feel like the white house again, pulled the rug out from under them. >> that's not been the sense that i've gotten. i think coming out of the issues conference, we are incredibly unified about the way forward. when we talk about putting people over politics that is not just a slogan. it's a way of life for us. it's what we've done. it's the reason why we were able to pass historic legislation to save the economy, to invest in infrastructure, to bring manufacturing jobs back home to the country and something about

the climate and the environment and prescription drug prices. >> on this issue, and then we can move on. would it be a mistake for president biden to sign this bill overriding the decision by a city that is 50% african-american on how to govern itself on the issue of crime? >> well, i don't want to characterize what president biden may or may not do? >> in response to something that the senate has not even done yet. what i can say is that i'll continue to support the principle of local government control over local matters and there are more than 700,000 people in the district of columbia. they elect the city council and they elect the mayor and they'll continue to work out those issues. >> do you think that part of this is the white house and some of those senate democrats who were worried about tough re-election campaigns worried about democrats portrayed as soft on crime? >> no, i think we have a strong

issue, and we passed legislation over the objections of the nra that will save lives. we have to do more. we certainly have a vision for doing more, for banning weapons of war for enacting universal background check on legislation for investing and dealing on mental illness as gun safety legislation will do to the tune of $500 million. we can lean into this issue moving forward based on substance. >> you recently went down to the border and you had ha first-han experience and this is another area where president biden has ruffled some feathered in your party by rolling out measures to crack down on illegal border crossings and restrict migrant's ability to claim asylums. how do you feel about that policy? >> well, i think we've got to continue to do two things. one, make sure that we have a safe and secure border, and take

steps anchored in the principle that america is a nation of laws, while at the same time respecting the fact that we also are a nation of immigrants and that part of the foundation of this country has been built on our tremendous diversity, on people coming from all over the world to work hard and pursue the american dream. >> so yes on the policy or no on the policy? >> well, actually based on my visit to the border what i have seen is that some of the steps that president biden and the administration have taken over the last few months have certainly reduced the flow of illegal border crossings and also those who are seeking asylum now have the ability in a handful of countries, venezuela, nicaragua, cuba and haiti, i believe, to pursue those asylum claims while remaining in place or in a transit country. >> i'll ask you, switching topics for a second about fox host tucker carlson because he

tweeted yesterday that he's going to begin airing some of january 6th footage that he was given exclusive access to by speaker mccarthy. has this, as far as you know, been vetd by the capitol police? >> it is not clear to me yet that any materiel footage or a news personality on another network has been vetted, but absolutely must be vetted before it is released into the public domain. the january 6th insurrection was violent and officers were injured and a handful of officers died as a result of the january 6th violent insurrection and there are serious security concerns and we are releasing footage into the public domain in an era where political violence is on the rise and there are people including the former president who fan the flames of extremism. >> and you have no indication that the police have actually

vetted that footage? >> i have no indication at this moment that the police have vetted that footage. it is my hope and expectation that that will absolutely occur, but dana, here's the more important issue. president biden won the election people on the extreme right know that president biden won the election, but donald trump perpetrated a big lie. that big lie had real consequences. it lead to and incited a violent insurrection and it's that type of political extremism that we need to move beyond in america. >> on that note, you and senator schumer and called to admit on the air that they were wrong to engage in such negligent behavior. do you, as party leader, think that democrats should refrain from going on fox before that happens, that apology happens? >> no. i think what should happen right now is everyone whether it's on

another network or whether it is just in the public domain and certainly in congress should refrain from perpetrating a big lie because the big lie has consequences and democracy is held together by some basic principles such as free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power. those things were undermined and continue to be undermined by individuals, extreme, maga republicans who continue to perpetrate the big lie and it has to stop. >> thank you so much. house democratic leader minority leader hakeem jefferies. appreciate it. nice to be in your city. >> thank you. great to be with you. >> as democrats try to tap their message on crime, a big city leader who has made it his focus new york city mayor eric adams will be here next. last week the rnc chair told me she thinks candidates should pledge to back the eventual gop presidential nominee.

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[ cheers and applause ] welcome back to "state of the union," as big city mayors come under increased pressure to make city safer, new york city mayor eric adam as announced a sweeping new plan to better help mentally ill new yorkers improving their access to housing and treatment options and expanding the use of medical professionals rather than police to respond to mental health-related 911 calls. here with me now is new york city mayor eric adams, thank you so much. i appreciate you being here? this proposal, there's a lot in it, we mentioned some of it. when will new yorkers start to feel the impact of some of this and how much will it cost them? they are now, when you saw the first phase of our safety plan and our initiative to get those with serious mental health issues to the point that they're a danger to themselves and others can take it at basic needs, people pushed back, but i was clear and i was focused.

we saw the movement in the subway system. 4,000 people were brought inside for care. over a thousand remain and some went to stay with families and now we're moving to the next level. young people with mental health issues and substance abuse issues and those with serious mental health issues partnered with the governor and we received 400,000 permanent housing and you are starting to see the results now. >> when will the services like the mobile units start to take effect and how much will it cost? >> $20 million is a new introduction that we put in place with an unprecedented new way of using telemedicine for mental health. this is something brand new and has not been used before. giving out fentanyl strips to those with substance abuse so they can test some of the drugs they're taking. treatment centers and our new infusion of money is $20 million to go with what we had already.

>> you mentioned a previous plan you put in place, a policy allowing first responders to commit people experiencing mental health crises without their consent. you alluded to this. >> yes. >> it is a pretty controversial approach and in your primary you said, quote, it would demonize mentally ill people. is this about doing what's best for people with mental illness or is it more about doing what's best for people who encounter them on the streets of new york city? >> it was so important. the way it was reported really was distorted. we stated that the new methods we were using was clarity. we were going after those with serious mental health illnesses that couldn't take care of their basic needs and were in danger to themselves. that is not the entire population. that's a small, targeted group and it was inhumane to allow them to stay on the streets without proper care. >> can you actually just give a little bit of nuance there?

say the police see someone lying in the street in midtown wearing disheveled clothing and just mumbling to themselves and not necessarily bothering anyone. will that person be taken in for treatment against their will. >> no. it's about having a conversation and would abouting up trust and we see it every day in the subway, and giving them socks, food, clothes, and if that same person has a stick in their hand, a knife in well hand and they're yelling, screaming and their clothing is soiled. you don't wait until that person pushes someone on the subway system and then respond. no, we must be proactive on this issue. >> let's talk about what happened in chicago. lori lightfoot had a pretty big loss in her reelection bid and you worked together on a range of issues particularly on questions of crime. that is an issue that dominated the election in chicago.

what is your takeaway from her loss? >> i think all of our big cities and i like to say we're three parties, democrats, republicans and mayors. the mayors are closest to the problems, and i stated on the campaign trail and in the city. public safety is a prerequisite to prosperity like chicago and new york and many big cities across america, and double digit decrease in shooters and double digit decrease in homicides. both of our number crimes were low for the entire year. we are focused on public safety because people want to be safe. they don't feel safe and they're actually safe then you will lose control of your city. >> is what happened to her a warning sign for you in new york? >> to the contrary. i think it is a warning sign to the country. eric adams has been talking about public safety not only on the campaign trail, but for the next year. i showed up at crime scenes and

i saw what new yorkers were saying and i saw it all over the country. if anything, it is stating that this is what i have been talking about. america, we have to be safe. >> the question is sort of on the flip side of this is some of the data you talked about, and nypd shows that some crimes like assault and car theft rose slightly in february, compared to other crime in the past, overall crime is down here in new york city, but you also have people like former congressman mundair jones who will be on later who says the rhetoric that you talk about along with regard to crime kind of feeds the narrative and helps republicans make the point that there is too much crime and that hurts democrats. your response? >> you know the difference between a comment like that and what i say? i listen to americans and new yorkers. the polls were clear.

new yorkers felt unsafe and the numbers showed that they were unsafe. now, if we want to ignore what the everyday public is stating then that's up to them. i'm on the subways. i walk the streets and speak to everyday working-class people and they were concerned about safety. we zeroed in on that, and unprecedented, historic numbers of felony arrests and removal of guns on our streets and closing homicide cases. we have a recidivism problem in new york, and far too many people, and it's about 2,000 people who are repeatedly catch, release, repeat in crimes and if we don't take them off our streets they will continue to prey on innocent people. >> i wonder what new york city and washington, d. chc., are ve different because you have your own ability to rule in d.c. has a situation where congress can override a bill and it sounds like -- sounds like the president might sign a

republican bill to override a new crime bill that the mayor and others in d.c. put in place. do you think that that is the right way to approach it given what you said about the mayors having a different job than everybody else? >> the mayors have a unique job. people bump into the mayor, particularly a mayor like me on the streets and -- >> should the federal government stay out of the business of the d.c. government when it comes to crime? >> that's the way our country operates. >> okay. >> dealing with that is not up to me. i have to focus on how do i partner with my state lawmakers and my city council here to show them how imperative it is that we are safe. >> i want to ask about some comments that you made at an interfaith breakfast this week. i want our viewers to listen to it. >> don't tell me about no separation of church and state.

state is the body. church is the heart. you take the heart out of the body, the body dies. [ applause ] i can't separate my belief because i'm an elected official. >> you also said you implement policies with a, quote, god-like approach and said, when we took prayers out of schools guns came into schools. you know that those comment alarmed some people and even some religious leaders, rather, who were in the room, a rabbi in the room called it dangerous. >> let's be clear on something. the last verse i said after i was sworn in is so help me god. on our dollar bill, we have in god we trust. every president touched a religious book when they were sworn in except for three. faith is who i am, and anyone who takes those words or stated that i am going to try to compel people to follow my religion.

no. i'm a child of god. i believe that wholly. i am going to follow the law. i am not going to compel people who believe in whatever faith, it could be a synagogue, baptist church, a buddhist temple and all of that and that was in my service. >> just to be clear, do you fundamentally believe in the separation of church and state from a governing standpoint? >> no. what i believe is that you cannot separate your faith. government should not interfere with religion and religion should not interfere with government, but i believe my faith pushes me forward on how i govern and the things that i do. >> understandable, but one of the fundamentals of the constitution is a separation of church and state when it comes to governing. when i just asked that you said no, that's going to alarm some people. >> no. this is what i'm saying and i want to be very clear so it won't be distorted. >> govern am should not interfere with religion.

religion should not interfere with government. that can't happen and should never happen, but it is how i carry out my practices such as help people who are homeless, such as making sure that we show compassion that we'll be doing in the city. government should never be in r religion, and religion should never be in government and i hope i am clear with that. >> you are. thank you, mayor adams. as candidates try to sidestep donald trump, will it work? a possible presidential a possible presidential challenger joins me next. and we'll come to you with a replacement you can trust. >> man: looks great. >> tech: that's service on your time. schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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>> welcome back to "state of the union." breaking news this morning, former maryland republican governor larry hogan will not run for president. he says he wants to avoid a pile-up in the gop race for president that would end up benefiting donald trump.

joining me now is former republican governor asa hutchinson of arkansas. thank you so much for joining me. so let's get straight to the news. your friend and sort of fellow former republican and fellow anti-trump republican larry hogan saying that he's not going to run. what's your response? >> well, larry hogan is a star. he's governed well in maryland and elected in a blue state. i think the fact that he indicates he's going to continue to fight in the republican party for alternatives to donald trump in a new direction is a good sign. he did say he wanted to avoid a multi-car pile-up. i got a kick out of that reference, and i actually think that more voices right now in opposition or providing an alternative to donald trump is the best thing in the right direction. so hats off to larry for what

he's done and what he's contributed. i'm glad he will continue to do so. >> so you think more voices speaking out against donald trump is the way to go. are you going to run? >> march is a message month. i want to continue to talk about having a consistent, conservative message out there. we need to have alternatives, again, to donald trump. weigh don't need to be led by arrogance and revenge in the future. we need to be led by those that are problem solving, that want to stick with the principles of our party and unite us together, and so that's the message in march. april is a decision time so we will stick with that plan. >> i just want to ask, what you said was interesting that you disagree with larry hogan on too that too many people are out there. he had so many people running

against him and he ran away with it. >> that's right, and we get this question a lot from donors and others, how can we avoid that. this is not 2016. donald trump is a known quantity. he makes his message of revenge clear and it's different. for example, the evangelical community. the evangelical community is going to be a key part of the race in 2024, both primary and general election. they were key in '16, but they are convinced that we need to have a different type of leadership in the future. it should not be someone that's going to appeal to the worst instincts of our country, and so in the early stages, multiple candidates that have an alternative vision to what the former president has is good for our party, good for the debate and good for the upcoming debate that will be in august, and so,

sure, that will narrow and it will probably narrow fairly quickly. we need to have a lot of self-evaluation as we go along and more voices now that provide alternative messages and problem solving and ideas is good for our party. >> speaking of alternative messages to donald trump, let's talk about that right now because he did speak at cpac last night. he said he wouldn't even think about dropping out of the race if he was indicted on criminal charges. he also said this. >> in 2016 i declared i am your voice. today i add i am your warrior. i am your justice, and for those who have been wronged and betrayed, i am your retribution. i am your retribution. >> what's your reaction to all of that? >> well, it's troubling. first of all, if you want to heal our land and unite our

country together you don't do it by appealing to the angry mob, and that's true whether you're talking about an angry mob from the left or the right, and so that's problem attic and that's where you come back to the community of faith and what kind of leadership do we want? whateve whenever you're looking at toughness, you want to look at foreign policy and protect the interest of the united states, but whenever you're looking at the leader of the country, you don't want him to be engaged in a personal vendetta and when he's talking about vengeance, he's talking about his personal vendettas and that's not healthy for america and it's certainly not healthy for the party. >> i want to quickly ask about the pledge and the notion of you signing a pledge if you do run for president and the rnc chair told me on the program last week, she's going to require it. will you sign it? >> well, first of all, i think

the goal of what the rnc is trying to do is to avoid a third-party candidate out there, and again, that will be the threat from donald trump. so the motivation is to keep donald trump, if he doesn't win the primary from running as a third-party kncandidate, and if you're going to run a pledge, have it say that that the candidates participating in the debate will not run as a third-party candidate, and that would solve that issue, but beyond that. we've her had party loyalty oaths and we had them in '16 and they weren't effective and enforceable, and they didn't support the nominee of the party. i do anticipate if i am a candidate to participate in the debate, and i think that's very, very important that we talk about problem-solving ideas through that debate and that's a good opportunity for america to meet and introduce themselves to

the candidates on the gop side. >> before i let you go, you talkeded about problem-solving ideas. i have to ask you about the summit that you hosted on the border crisis and the notion of republicans did control the house, the senate and -- and they controlled the white house for a long time, and they didn't pass large border security, plus, immigration reform, do you think that is really possible given the state of washington and it's a lot to ask you in just a few seconds, we've always passed, and how it's been characterized and weigh can't get fishlly, we have to do simply' a forward security bill and they put more resources for

the border patrol immigration processing for the security of our country ask that shab done now and that's where we stop -- that's where we start and that builds faith with the american public that we have more comprehensive reform when we secure border itself. >> asa hutchins on, thank you fr joining me today. >> thank you, dana. >> we'll talk about the democratic primary race. my panel is up next. so u bring ubrelvy. it can quickly stop migraine in its tracks within 2 hours... ...without worrying if it's too late or where you are. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks a protein believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. migraine pain relief starts with u. learn how abbvie could help you save. ask about ubrelvy, the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine.

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i didn't want to have a pile up of a bunch of people fighting. right now you have trump and desantis at the top of the field and it's soaking up all of the oxygen and getting a lot of attention and all the rest of us

in single digits and the more of them you have the less chance you have for somebody rising up. >> welcome back to "state of the union," larry hogan saying he will not run for president. i want to get back to my panel. s.e. cupp, he's your kind of republican. >> he sure is. >> i'm guessing you're not thrilled? >> he's very principled and that perhaps led him to run afoul trump in the past few years and he's my kind of a conservative because he's putting himself next, last, second. he realizes it will be a crowded field. he realizes that that probably advantages trump and he's willing to say it's not my year. i'm going to sit this one out. i don't think you see a lot of that kind of courage and also selflessness in today's republican party. it's a loss. it's our loss, but i understand his calculous. >> scott jennings, what do you

make of what asa hutchinson said -- he very much likes larry hogan he doesn't agree with that notion of a pile up at this stage in this year in this kind of election being a bad thing when it comes to donald trump. he said it's different from 2016. >> you can have a tlot of peopl out there having conversations and where the rubber hits the road is when people start casting ballots and that's what happened in 2016 with the fragmentation of the field. i don't think governor hutchinson has that much of a path to this nomination and most of the people sitting at 0 and 1% and they don't have a trump problem and some of the folks in the low single digits. what i'm wondering is, are they going to be getting behind a desantis if he continues to be the principle alternative to trump and they're going to deem that not good enough. i see some of the never trump people out there in the world saying even desantis is good

enough for them. what you are saying is you want a democrat and you want to re-elect joe biden and that's what i'm waiting to find out. >> before we continue this conversation talk about what has been happening this past weekend in the republican race and the potential republican race, there are dueling events and one is cpac with donald trump and people sort of who are more aligned with him and then you had the club for growth which tends to be more focused on tax issues with a whole lot of potential republican candidates there. back to cpac, i want to play a sense of what happened on that stage. >> if you're tired of losing put your trust in a new generation. >> we can't become the left following leaders with their own brand of identity politics. those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality. >> at the end of the day everyone else will be intimidated, bought off, blackmailed or ripped to shreds.

i alone will never retreat. >> democratic congressman, you're the only one on this stage, i think, who has been on the ballot, not for president yet, but what do you make as you watch all of that? >> i am so excited that democrats are once again going to be given the gift of donald trump being the republican nominee for president of the united states. i know that the white house is elated. this is a dream for any democrat running to flip a house seat or a democrat running to keep a competitive senate seat and i see nothing that suggests that republicans have learned their lesson. i see a bunch of people planning to enter this race and to give the donald trump the minimum 30% to 40% for him to prevail like he did in 2016? i would agree. i mean, watching the cpac conference is like watching the

cantina scene in "star wars." it would be funny if it wasn'ty is terrifying at times. this is running by a man who grabbed another man's penis. >> -- which he denies. >> and you had a speaker saying he had to eradicate transgender, and substitute that, and everyone would be up in arms and calling it -- >> there shouldn't be excitement about this. it's bad for both parties and it should be bad for the country and i don't think anyone with a memory of 2016 should be excited that donald trump is on the ballot because anything can happen and i don't think that joe biden is in an untouchable position here. so i think that we should take what cpac and the trump wing of the party are taking and doing very seriously and consider ways to put up candidates that can

actually combat this, you know, asa hutchinson, no offense to him, he's not one, and we should be sort of lamenting the state of the republican party and not looking at as a political gift to joe biden or anyone. it's not. >> to be sure, nothing is good about the fact that the modern-day republican party has this person as the standard bearer. >> it's weak, right? >> as i believe that whether the nominee is donald trump or ron desantis or nikki haley that this would pose an existential threat to democracy itself which is what we've seen with the voting rights and election denialism then you're happy that donald trump will be the easiest person to defeat on that side. >> you say that now. >> i believe we're hearing what's going to happen. it doesn't matter who the republicans nominate. that person will be called everything that they would call donald trump whether it's desantis or anybody else, democrats always do this.

george w. bush, mitt romney, john mccain, donald trump. >> they were all monsters. >> they were all history's greatest monsters. >> that's right. >> the only good democrat or the only good republican was the dad because that's when the praise starts. if you believe what you say then you would be happy about the rise. >> let's let -- >> -- the results of the 2020 election. >> let's let liz in because she's been in many war rooms. >> i'm sorry. i'm sick and tired hearing about republicans about how we talked about mitt romney in 2012. all we did was expose his record in the private sector and talked about how he was too extreme on issues like marriage equality and abortion. that is not calling him a monster. if he has a problem with that maybe he should have voted. >> let's focus the future -- >> guys, let's -- >> let's talk -- let's not talk about 2012 because we have a lot to look ahead at. very, very briefly.

>> still bitter about it. >> obviously, a lot of people are. >> you heard hakeem jefferies. i asked him about what was going on in washington with this d.c. crime bill which the president says that he will sign. it's a republican bill that will do away with a reform that the d.c. city government put in place. >> yes. i didn't hear much from him there, but -- >> he didn't want to go there. >> this is what i will say, in a perfect way, d.c. would have saved it -- we do not live in a perfect world and that means when a bill like this comes to the president's desk he has to judge it on its merits like the d.c. mayor, and like the d.c. police chief and like the u.s. attorney from d.c., he decided that this was a bad bill because it reduced sentences for violent crimes and gun possession at a time when homicides are on the rise, carjackings are on the rise, and i think it's really, really important for democrats to say we take the issue of crime seriously and we are listening to voters who are screaming from rooftops that

this is a real issue and they don't want to be told it's all in their head. >> 15 seconds, do you agree with that? the democrats are soft on crime. >> i think there are a number of people who have called the democratic party to look soft on crime. this is not one of those situations where the white house did the right thing and the reason is this, you can, as the president has done, uniquely in fact over the past several decades positioned yourself as someone who has taken crime seriously without overriding the popular and duly elected will of the city council, 12-1. >> i'll have to leave it there. i'm sorry. we'll keep talking about it in the commercial break. he'll tweet about it. a controversial new proposal by a republican presidential contender, the first lady is weighing in exclusively. that's next. of delicious subs.enu there's the philly, the monster, the boss. if i hadn't seen it in person, i wouldn't have believed it. eating is believing steph. the subway series. try subway's tastiest menu upgrade yet. i'm feeling better. body pain? headache?

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this is "gps, the global public square." welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world. i'm fareed zakaria. today on the program, an exclusive interview with the chancellor o