Speakers cramming as much as they can for 20 minutes on stage. And it is hosted by advocates united and steven king is making an antiimmigration stance when the gop is trying to win over hispanic voters. King igniters a fierre after there were immigrants sitting with the first lady in her box. And mitt romney nor jeb bush will be in iowa. But it is a pretty good place to hang out. But i digress. They put it this way, they are competing in the establishment bracket and iowa is the background for the conservative area but they are going to palm springs. Just 654 days until the election. So lets get to kerry dan. And all of this tells me one thing, how much influence the far right still has within the gop. I saw it firsthand first goaround but there was a sense it would die down come 2016. The way we put it here at first rate it is a little bit of a march madness set up. Right now there is the establishment bracket which mitt romney and jeb bush duking it out and this conservative bracket that is crowded and it seems like there is this cattle call going on in iowa and there are more republicans that want to run for president than cattle in iowa. There are so many people that are running, a long long list. But iowa has been an influential list where a candidate that wants to be the social conservative can come out of the state and get some traction it. Was Mike Huckabee in 2008. Rick santorum last cycle. So it is always an influential place but this is a tricky issue for republicans. The very first big kicking off the Campaign Event is all about immigration. Which is a topic that a lot of Establishment Republicans dont want to be talking too much about or at least be talking about it in a moderate way. Steve king is not a person known for his moderate stance on this. So everybody will be watching all of the republican candidates and how they react not just to steve kings policy ideas about immigration, but the tone hes taken in talking about immigrants like you mentioned, him calling a guest of the state of the union a deportable. That tone is what makes Establishment Republicans very nervous and the candidates will have to address that. He goes over the top and tends to irritate. And for working families and working women in particular there was a moment during the president s state of the union where he talked about equal pay for the women and something everybody supports and the Republican Caucus john boehner stayed seated by that and there is a new poll by Advocacy Works find that 81 of the people they surveyed supported paid childcare and family leave and sick leave, including 65 of republicans. So these are popular issues that republicans have been on the wrong side of. How do you think these potential president ial contenders are going to position themselves visavis the working family issues . Youve seen this week after the president laid out his ideas in the state of the union, things like paid leave and paid college. Even before the address, mitt romney when he opened with the republican meeting, that they are focusing on antipoverty. That is not something that you would have seen two cycles ago. And you saw jeb bush in his response to the state of the union talk about middle class issues. So they see that income equality has become an issue for the entire electorate. Republicans have over the last two cycles especially when mitt romney ran, being painted as a party that only wants to help the very rich and they know they have a problem and needing support and the republicans will start to address that. And even things that rand paul is saying not necessarily Elizabeth Warren style policies but the rhetoric about addressing the concerns of the middle class, they are really concerned about that and going to try to address it in a conservative way without saying were bowing to the concerns of the left but saying were looking for a way to do this that businesses wont hate. Would like to get your thoughts on this early preprimary stage in iowa because the folks that are testing the waters dont have formal campaigns set up with field staff. As you mentioned, republicans that have done better in that state previously santorum and huckabee and obama. Had excellent field organizations by the time the caucus came around. And it is not a vote. It is not doortodoor. It is everyone getting into a room at one time and making a communal decision which is an interesting way to start our primaries. What we have right now is the field staffs arent set up and instead it is the conservative groups that create the crowd that allow people to come in with one or two people traveling and show solid and not show up in a crowd with no field staff and speak to us about that and how that shapes this. And some of the minorities you remember that antihillary report they are behind this gathering this weekend. I dont think iowa will change. Remember we are a year before the caucus is held in iowa. It is amazing the headline and the reporting about the 2016 candidates and none of the candidates have built the structure you need. Rand paul might be the exception. He is working in the state. What do you think that steve king and the group is the focus for this weekend . Right now the candidates feel like they have to go. An the same thing with the and the same thing with the coke brothers campaign in palm springs. The candidates feel like they need to talk to the donors and activists to make their voice heard but it is so early each candidate trying to stake out their position and even if they dont run, there is only one candidate who has put up in the pain work for a Exploratory Committee and that is what nobody is talking about which is jim webb but right now they need to seem like they are part of the conversation and testing the waters and nobody wants to be the person left out or not invited to the party and getting to see how voters will react to them. I think this event in iowa two really important people to watch are Chris Christie and scott walker. They are not necessarily natural constituents to win an iowa caucus in a conservative state. And some suggest that Chris Christie may not even play there. But they are trying to see how the social n koerveives react to them and they feel the need to do that. And carrie some go for name recognition to be talked about in the news to get headlines, like donald trump and sarah palin spoke on niteline saying of course im interested in running for president. But this has to make the Establishment Party quite nervous. So they have to appeal to the base and that means you throw out the red meat and say things down the road that could get them in trouble. I wouldnt think the establishment is happy about this. And you are noticing that mitt romney and jeb bush are not going to this event sponsored by king. That should not be a surprise especially for jeb bush who has had a fraught relationship with the Republican Party and the conservatives and the issue of immigration. Rick perry is going. He also had an issue with immigration an the Republican Party. Remember back in 2012 it wasnts the wasnt the oops moment it was before that in the orlando debate when people who said they didnt support the texas dream act didnt have a heart and now hes going to see steve king. But another issue, they could go to a event that could show themselves to two candidates that are dipping into the same donor base and well of support. If that vote gets split, that is when Establishment Republicans get very concerned about Something Like a scott walker or Mike Huckabee catching fire in iowa and dragging out this process much longer than they want to go on. And sarah palin is the news of the day. Shes now in the mix. Thank you carrie dann. And a king passed away what is left for the u. S. Now. And the game is still more than a week away. It is still early in the game on the cycle. It is friday, january 23rd. Mayo, corn dogs. You are so out of here ahh. The complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals. 9 grams of protein. With 30 less sugars than before. Ensure, your 1 dr. Recommended brand now introduces ensure active. Muscle health. Clear protein drink and high protein. Targeted nutrition to feed your active life. Ensure. Take life in. With the incredible fuel efficiency of 38 milespergallon highway you can feel like royalty in the nissan altima. Now, get great offers on the 38 mpg highway nissan altima. Nissan innovation that excites. Female announcer its time to make room for the new mattress models but sleep trains huge year end Clearance Sale ends sunday. Get beautyrest, posturepedic even tempurpedic mattress sets at low clearance prices. Save even more on floor samples, demonstrators, and closeout inventory. Plus, free sameday delivery, setup and removal of your old set. Dont wait sleep trains year end Clearance Sale ends sunday. Guaranteed sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep the u. S. Is sending condolences to our key ally in the middle east. King abdullah died on thursday at the age of 90. His half brother ascends to the thrown but it comes at an uncertain time. When the white house seeks for an agreement on iran and oil levels lower and and aqap. And that is what we are talking about right now. And another potential blow to rebels. Houthi have taken over and the white house is trying to determine what happens now and the possibility that iran is backing the rebels. Based on what we foe rightknow right now, it is not known that there is any command or control over the houthi rebels. There are reports of ties between the rebel groups and the iranians and we are concerned about that. To help us explain the impact of these developments gordon lieu bold. And they have just released the state of defense, where the u. S. Military stands. So lets talk about where the u. S. Military stands visavis in yemen, where weve been using drones. And surely this leadership changeover will have a huge impact on were able to do militarily in yemen. It will be an impact but it is unclear what the impact will be. And like they say, it a fluid situation and things are changing. American officials dont know exactly what phone number to use to talk to whoever is in charge in yemen and sanaa right now. When things settle out, there will clearly be an impact. As you know, the u. S. And president obama has held up the yemen example as a great counterterrorism model in somalia. He got a lot of criticism of that at the time. In the last days and months that showed that wasnt a great example. The one thing that i think american officials will be asking themselves or are asking themselves already, is the enemy of my enemy my friend . What is happening is that the houthis that have seized the capital do not like al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and these are the people that the american officials have been fighting for these last years. And that is certainly the headline for americans trying to make sense of. This were looking at increased risk in a failed state that can be a hotbed for terror attacks projected well outside of the region. Talk to us as well about what the New York Times wrote today. Yes, fears of chaos as the government of yemen falls but a quota to a toppling of the government and another toppling and it seems like egypt the ultimate outcome of many of the states moved by the arab spring is not the democratically elected official but go back to business as usual. So president salay who was austed from office a few ousted from that office who is poised to play a large role in yemen now, he was pushed out in part because of the popular uprising, corruption, lack of jobs a very poor country. It is running out of water. There is a lot of problems in yemen, obviously. So some of the factors at play with his oust at the time arent necessarily what is driving this Current Situation from the houthis who have long had issues with the sunni government and so now want to potentially negotiate some kind of settlement so they can run the country amend the constitution and see. So i dont know if it is a full circle but clearly salay, who was ousted at the time may come back in power at some form. And gordon to broaden our lense, we have a lot on the National Defense plate. We are looking at ebola and russian aggression, taliban and isis and whatever is going on in iraq and now in yemen. And meanwhile, defense one is looking at the future you have an incredible chart showing that army troop levels have dropped to quite low levels, at least in terms of the past couple of decades and with sequestration in place set to drop further. Is this a logical realignment given our changing roles in afghanistan or iraq or is that something that will be a problem for the future . It is and it isnt. It is a funny thing. President obama came into office pledging to end both wars in iraq and afghanistan and has largely done that in iraq arguably not really but in 2011 all but a small handful of troops left iraq drawing down in afghanistan. I think most everybody agrees that the age of large ground force wars or large wars requiring large Ground Forces is over. But with the army they would tell you you cant cut too far because you are cutting into bone matter. And the thing that i think a lot of folks at the pentagon and the army in particular, but generally in the military i think they think sometimes of a disconnect between the white house and the Defense Department about how complicated these matters are. It is not as simplistic as the wars are over lets cut down the troops. An example of that is in africa the army is looking at replacing the headquarters unit as part of the fight against ebola. With a guard unit. Or it would replace if the Mission Continues the way it is in april, it would replace it with a guard because it is out of enough troops in those units that perform those functions in its active duty force. So this is a little bit like iraq many years ago where guard units went in to kind of reinforce active duty units. So it is an example they use. And gordon those are the numbers. But speak to the state of these troops. Many of whom have spent years fighting in war over the past few years and having to adjust back home and seeing the mindset here is the opposite of wanting to get back into war. What impact is that having on our troops . Well weve seen kind of the close impact or the immediate impacts of troops coming back and not having not always enough resources at home. Clearly the longterm impacts will last years as soldiers and marines, airmen return from war. I think the common theme is that folks in the military who represent about 1 of the u. S. Feel that they are the only ones fighting these wars and that the rest of the country isnt really paying attention. Gordon loubald, thank you for your time. Up next more on deflate gate. It has been more than 24 hours since tom brady said he didnt alter the balls in any way. Which is absurd, arri. And now in the white house. I think there was no risk that i would take over the job of tom brady at the patriots but clearly it is clear there is no chance of him taking over my job at the white house. Is made with real cheddar aged to perfection for 6 long months. When you start with the best cheddar, you get the best mac and cheese. So, what about jessica . What about her . Stouffers. Made for you to love. Nestle. Good food. Good life. 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We got a leader that we never question. There is never any doubt, no matter what the situation is. Whether it be on the field, off the field, this team has a lot of trust in tom and honestly i dont think anyone in this locker room is worried about it. I think they did a good job of handling it and i think everything that needs to be talked about on that subject has been discussed. And with the big game just a week away fans of the media are more focused on the nfl investigation and air pressure than blitzes and touchdowns. Joining us now is chris pal own outside of the gillette state where the patriots are getting ready to head to arizona on monday. This is all we are talking about here. A lot of us are debating it. What is the chatter where you are . Abby the chatter today has turned to the two people or entities that we havent heard from this week. There has been a lot of chatter from fans a lot of filling in the gaps and critics by former players and analysis but we havent heard anything from the nfl or robert kraft. But the nfl facing criticism on this manner. All its done all week long is confirmed there is an investigation and havent released any information about the investigation. A couple of hours ago they said that indeed the investigation is on going and they have interviewed 40 people in the association and those associated with the championship game. They have obtained a forensic expert firm that will go through communication device that might have any evidentce and a law firmcoleading this investigation also was involved in florida when there was a hazing scandal. And robert kraft sent out his own statement saying that during the three days nfl investigators wer