Armed Services Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham panned President Obama's response to Syria's use of chemical weapons Sunday saying giving arms to the rebels is simply not enough. 

"The whole region's about to blow up," Graham charged, "And our foreign policy to me, I don't understand it. Whatever it is is not working."

He urged for greater involvement from the military including a no-fly zone, but "no boots on the ground."

National security was a consistent theme on this morning's program as questions about civil liberties and the war on terror have arisen after the NSA controversy. 

The leaker, Edward Snowden, has been criticized by some as being a traitor, but both Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Senator Graham stopped short  of that, saying they would leave it up to prosecutors to decide. 

The leaks also have the potential to make us less safe, according to former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden, who was a guest on the roundtable. 

"What I fear Al Qaeda learns about this program is not what we're allowed to do, but they learn what we're not allowed to do," Hayden said.

He continued to caution that achieving the appropriate balance between privacy and security could require America to be slightly less safe. 

"Living in this kind of a democracy, we're going to have to be a little bit less effective in order to be a little bit more transparent to get to do anything to defend the American people."

Happy Father's Day to both yours and all of our Dad's. Read what MTP viewers shared this morning about their fathers.

We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

1.   His great-grandfather and Mitt Romney’s great-grandfather crossed paths once upon a time. From The Denver Post:   

“Senate candidate Mark Udall and presidential contender Mitt Romney’s Mormon great-grandfathers crossed paths in Arizona in the 19th century. It was an era of bitter distrust between Mormons and other white settlers. David K. Udall briefly served time in prison for a perjury conviction in a dubious land-fraud case involving Miles P. Romney, who fled to Mexico to establish a safe haven for other polygamists.”

2.      His father Morris “Mo” Udall played in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets. From the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation:

“After earning a law degree at the University of Arizona, he obtained an airplane pilot license, played professional basketball for the Denver Nuggets and, after scoring highest on the state bar exam, was admitted to the Arizona Bar and began practicing law with his brother Stewart. “

3.      Golf Digest named him the “top-ranked” golfer among elected officials in Washington. From Golf Digest:

“Top-ranked among elected officials--after considering reports from multiple sources and a shortage of posted rounds by him or his closest contenders--is Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), a widely acknowledged 2-handicapper.”

4.       Before coming to Washington he worked as a course director and executive director of the Colorado Outward Bound School. From POLITICO:    

“The five-term congressman and newly minted senator from Colorado is quick to disclaim any special insights about team-building or effective leadership. But Udall’s 20-year-long association with Outward Bound, which offers character-building wilderness adventures for everyone from at-risk youth to top corporate executives, suggests that he’s probably got a few tricks up his parka sleeve.”

5.      His cousin Tom Udall (D-NM) is a U.S. Senator as well. From US News:  

“There have been only 10 known pairs of cousins to serve in the Senate, the last being Delaware's Henry and Thomas du Pont at the start of the last century. The du Ponts, though, like all but two of the pairs, did not serve at the same time, according to the Senate Historical Office.”

6.      He once created a playlist for his colleagues in the Senate to encourage them to have a “little less conversation, and a little more action.” From The Atlantic:  

“But sometimes you need to think creatively to bridge the divide in the Senate - and nothing sends a message better than music. So I've put together a playlist for my colleagues that you can contribute to.  Send your favorite hit about "working" or "getting along," and I'll post the ones that best set the tone (so to speak) while we work as long as it takes to finish the people's business.”

7.      He and Sen. John McCain are close friends. From The New York Times: 

“Given their history in Arizona, the Udalls also have a close relationship with the state’s senior senator, John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Morris mentored Mr. McCain in the House, Mark has a notable friendship with him, and Tom traveled with him to Iraq on a Congressional trip.”

8.His family is no stranger to Meet The Press. Both his father, former Rep. Morris Udall (D-AZ) and uncle, former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall (D-AZ) have appeared on the show.  

1.      He recently hit a hole-in-one while golfing with the President. From The Hill:

“Chambliss’s office said the shot happened on the 11th hole at the Joint Base Andrews course in Maryland. But Chambliss didn’t talk up the achievement in a statement to The Hill. “We had a delightful day of golf with folks who enjoy playing the game," he said. "We talked some business, but it was mainly a day for everyone to get away from the office for a little while.”

2.      He won’t be running for a third term in the Senate and he’s look forward to life after Washington. From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

“I’m going to have a life after this,” Chambliss said. “Sitting on a back porch drinking whisky with some of y’all is exciting to think about.”

3.      In 2005, he played a round of golf with Tiger Woods. From Roll Call  

“Chambliss played a foursome with Woods, Tom Ryan, owner of the CVS pharmacy chain, and Gene Lee, president of RARE Hospitality International Inc., which owns the Longhorn and Capital Grille restaurant chains.”

4.      His last General Election opponent, Jim Martin (D-GA), was also his fraternity brother at the University of Georgia. From The Wall Street Journal    

“Saxby’s circle of friends were a little bit older than mine,” Martin told a political forum last week. “But we were, and still are, friends. I never take politics personally.” Chambliss was two years ahead of Martin, but he said the two attended many of the same social functions. Chambliss’s wife was the “sweetheart” of Martin’s pledge class. “He was not in the group I’d go out and have a beer with, but I’ve always liked Jim,” Chambliss told the paper. “He’s a pretty good guy.”

5.      He and former Vice President Dick Cheney were “hunting buddies” during the Bush administration. From the Washington Post  

"He (Cheney) had to have a way to relieve himself but also to take advantage of some business opportunities," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), another frequent hunting partner.

6.      Saxby is actually the senator’s middle name. Again from the Washington Post:

“His given first name is Clarence. Chambliss’s maternal grandfather was Clarence Saxby Anderson.”  

7.    His freehand drawing of the state of Georgia appeared in a 2009 issue of National Geographic. From National Geographic:

The conservative editor of the National Review, Rich Lowry, wonders whether the country’s national security apparatus has gone too far in the name of protecting the homeland.

“The closer we were to 9/11, the more understanding people would be," Lowry said. "But, when something so massive with so many implications goes on for so long, then you got to wonder: have we gone too far? Does this need to be tightened up? And, certainly, at the very least, we need to have a debate about it.”

Upset about the leak, Lowry thinks the issue does need to be discussed in public. He thinks a better approach would have been for "one of these Senators who knew about it," to have gone on to the Senate floor every day and urged the president to talk about the program with the American people. 

"If someone had done that it would have gotten a lot of attention and I guarantee you the president would have relented and would have talked about it," he said. "This wasn't the right way to go about it but at least now we’re going to have the debate."

Lowry's new book, Lincoln Unbound comes at a time when the Republican Party is attempting to re-brand itself as a national party. They could take a lesson from Lincoln, Lowry argues. It is "absolutely essential to [the GOP's] future that it be a Lincolnian party about opportunity and aspiration."

He argues that the 2012 elections were a "controlled experiment" the showed what happens if the part if "too associated witht he rich and when you look down on the half of the country that isn't doing as well as the other half."

Watch the entire PRESS Pass interview with Rich Lowry above to hear about his new book Lincoln Unbound and the leadership decisions of our sixteenth president. 

Five years ago Thursday longtime Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert died of a heart attack at age 58. His untimely death was a great loss for NBC News. In a special segment of Part 2 of the new Meet the Press eBook, our Senior Executive Producer Betsy Fischer Martin, who worked closely with Tim for 17 years, shares some personal memories and reflections on the man behind the Moderator's chair. You can read a preview of Betsy’s Producer’s Notebook below. And you can find more behind-the-scenes accounts of Meet the Press in the second volume of our eBook, “Meet the Press: 65 Years of History In the Making.” The interactive eBook will look at history through the lens of the world’s longest-running television program, including a video introduction and tour of the studio by Moderator David Gregory – as well as videos and photo slide-shows of newsmaking guests throughout the program’s history. The free eBook will be released later this month (more info here). 

Producer's Notebook:
By Betsy Fischer Martin 

Tim Russert was the longest serving moderator in the 65 year history of “Meet the Press.”  Each Sunday for 17 years he quizzed leading political figures, enlightened audiences and informed the American public.  His fascination with all things political was contagious and his on-the-mark analysis made him one of the most trusted names in television news.  He changed TV news by perfecting a technique to hold politicians accountable by asking them tough questions and making them defend or explain their own past statements and positions.  By simply displaying a quote on the screen, their remarks were sourced and cited for the viewer to see.   Tim used to say, “If you can’t answer tough questions, you can’t make tough decisions.”   And he made a stop at “Meet the Press” a prequisite for anybody aspiring to high office or a position of power.  In 2003, the Associated Press dubbed this ticket-stamping exercise “the Russert Primary,” declaring Meet the Press an “integral part of the political process.” 

On June 13, 2008 America lost a great journalist, NBC’s Washington Bureau lost a leader, Meet the Press lost its beloved longtime moderator--and I lost my mentor and good friend of 17 years.   Much has been said and written about his incredible journalistic talents.   Many pages of this e-book are a tribute to his hard work, preparation and the skilled questioning that catapulted Meet the Press to great heights.  I wanted to share a bit about the man behind the interview desk, off-camera – what he was like to work with and learn from.

I first came to “Meet the Press” in 1991 as a 21-year-old college intern with absolutely no interest in pursuing a journalism career.  All that changed quickly when I was officially bitten by the “journalism bug” thanks in no small part to the new moderator of “Meet the Press.”  Tim’s enthusiasm about politics and campaigns was infectious and his willingness to teach me about the world of journalism gave me a new career path and a front row seat to history every Sunday morning.  This passion for politics drew people to him.  He could make even the most casual observer of politics feel a sense of excitement about a campaign, a new poll or even a newly released campaign fundraising report. 

On election night 2000, that enthusiasm was on vivid display as he used a white dry-erase board from Staples to do the math on the Electoral College “score,” memorably boiling down the nail biter race to “Florida, Florida, Florida.”  He was not a bells and whistles guy.  He detested the busy and complex television graphics that seemed wallpapered over cable TV screens.  Politics to him was not overly complicated.  So learning about it and following it ought to be simple, too.  As a producer, overseeing both the content and the look of the show, I used to hate it when he’d remark casually to someone, “The secret to ‘Meet the Press’ is simple: you get the top guest, ask them tough questions, and then just turn on the lights.”  Of course there was nothing simple about getting a live national broadcast on the air each Sunday, lights and all, but he was often so focused on the interview he didn’t always fully appreciate everything that went in to the overall production.  But what he unquestionably grasped was that communicating the facts and informing the public could be done smartly and without talking over the heads of viewers unfamiliar with Washington’s intricacies and acronyms.  He was a firm believer that Americans were starved for a substantive conversation and his goal each week was to present just that.  Other folks could worry about the “lights.”

After each Sunday’s program, his first phone call was usually to his dad, “Big Russ,” back home in Buffalo. Tim, having just completed a tough interview with a leading public official, would desperately want to know what his dad thought.  Was the politician telling the truth?  Did the guest seem genuine?  Were his questions on the mark?   He dubbed his no-nonsense, working class dad the “cheapest and most reliable focus-group around” for his knack at detecting whenever a politician was trying to dodge a question or pull one over on the viewers.

Tim fought for the underdog and he had no tolerance for entitlement, gamesmanship, elitism or whining.  The large sign in front of his desk read “Thou Shalt Not Whine” and he meant it.  As the Washington Bureau Chief, he expected hard work from those around him because he worked hard as well.  By 9am in the morning, he’d already have read five or six newspapers and made several rounds of phone calls Capitol Hill and the White House.  But he always wanted to know more.  Often times his first words to me each morning were, “What do you know?”   Tim did his homework.  Preparation was key.  He never once showed up for an interview unprepared and he believed that mastering both sides of an argument was the surest way to guarantee impartiality.  He often called it “being an equal opportunity questioner.”

Tim, of course, was a human being with faults like the rest of us.  But he had a strong sense of right and wrong, and what was fair and unfair.  He was deeply loyal to those close to him. Even if I would make a mistake or something would go wrong, we’d talk about it and he’d end the conversation by saying, “onward and upward.”  It was his way of saying, ‘learn from this, don’t dwell on it and know I am on your side.’  He took joy from the success of others and was always quick to help a close friend or colleague during tough times.   During our “Meet the Press” tribute show to his life and legacy, I remarked that one of his favorite sayings was, “the best exercise for the human heart was to bend down and pick someone else up.”   

Tim spent a lot of his life lifting up others in big and small ways.  He was a dedicated volunteer, board member and supporter of the Boys and Girls Club.  In keeping with his philosophy of giving back to others, he never forgot how much the Club did for his dad long ago when “Big Russ” was growing up in Buffalo.   Tim’s work with the Club, so many years later, honored his father and helped other young people along the way.  Many times on the show, he would set up a friendly wager with a guest or panelist about the outcome of an election with the loser on the hook for a donation to The Boys and Girls Club.  I think James Carville was probably credited as a major donor during one election year!

Tim lived life large.  Few things would get him more excited than finding the best local eating establishment in any small town -- and the more it resembled a “hole in the wall,” the better.  When we’d travel to a political event, he was an early one-man incarnation of the today’s YELP app, asking local cab drivers, hotel employees, and random people on the street “where’s the best Italian around here” or “where’s the best Tex-Mex?”    Once culinary perfection was found, chances are he’d remember the precise location and be sure to make a return visit on his next trip.

He also loved political history.  Presidential libraries and historical markers were a magnet even if we just had a few spare hours in a new city.  One of my favorite “field trips” with Tim was a spin around the city of Indianapolis just one month before he died in May of 2008.  We were in town to do an interview with presidential candidate Barack Obama and we took a break from intense show prep to spend a Saturday afternoon visiting the  “Landmark for Peace" memorial at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  Now, Tim was probably the furthest thing from an art aficionado but a chance email from a museum employee grabbed my attention earlier in the week.  She wrote to say that there was a Hyacinthe Rigaud painting on display in the museum of a French nobleman that bore an uncanny resemblance to Tim.  Seeing reports that Meet the Press was coming to Indianapolis, she invited us to come take a look for ourselves.  I thought Tim would get a kick out of the whole thing, so I convinced him to make a quick stop at the museum and sure enough, the painting did not disappoint!

One month later his big, fun-loving and generous heart stopped.  He is missed by so many journalists who had the honor and privilege of working with him, so many young people who learned from him and so many Americans who loved watching him do what he loved most each Sunday. “Meet the Press” lives on and his contributions to its history will never be forgotten.  I know he’d be the first to raise a bottle of his favorite Rolling Rock beer to its 65^th anniversary. 

Jonathan Alter joins David Gregory to discuss his new book, "The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies," on President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, the challenges he faces in his second term, and his legacy.

House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent, chided the Justice Department's probe of journalists saying, "the dragnet that they threw out over those AP reporters was more than an overreach. And it, really, it's not very good investigative worth."

However, Rogers stopped short of some of his Republican colleagues and did not call for Holder's resignation and instead said it was the Attorney General's choice to make as to whether or not he should stay. 

Although, as Tom Brokaw (who has been around to observe these types of investigations before) said of Holder, "it's tough to see how he [holds on to his job] in this case, but it's up to the president."

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) weighed in and cited the president's confidence in Holder. He added that he hasn't seen anything that would prevent the Attorney General from continuing in his current role. 

You can watch the entire interviews with Senator Schumer and Chairman Rogers on our website as well as our roundtable's analysis of the political impact of these investigations and a look at the increasing role of women as breadwinners in our society. 

We're off next week for NBC's coverage of the French Open, we'll return the following Sunday.

If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

1. This Sunday, June 2 he turns the big 5-0. From Roll Call:   

Rogers was born on June 2, 1963 in Livonia, Michigan.

2. He’s part of the Congressional Intelligence “Gang of Eight” From The Detroit News:  

“Taking the reins of the Intelligence Committee has put Rogers in an elite group of lawmakers called the “Gang of eight.” They are the first—and sometimes the only—Capitol Hill legislators to know about the sprawling U.S. intelligence community’s actions.”

3. Before coming to Capitol Hill he worked as a FBI agent. From the National Journal:   

“He graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s academy and focused on public corruption cases in Chicago for six years.”

4. He’s considering running the open Michigan U.S. Senate Seat in 2014. From The Wall Street Journal:

"I've been doing my due diligence. I don't feel like I have to make a decision right now, it's a long time out, so I'm doing everything a candidate should do to consider if that's the right place. "I need to consider my role as chairman of the Intelligence Committee and what impact that allows me to have versus running and being a member of the U.S. Senate. Does that increase my impact?"

5. He’s not the only member of Congress with the name Mike Rogers. 

L: Mike Rogers (R-MI) R: Mike Rogers (R-AL)

6. He’s one of the few people to have seen the post-mortem photos of Osama bin Laden. Again from The Detroit News:

“Rogers is one of only a handful of Congressman to have seen the gruesome photos of bin Laden after he was shot in the head at his compound in Abbottabad by a Navy SEAL.”

7. The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) “urged” President Obama to nominate him as the next FBI Director. From FBIAA:  

“Chairman Rogers exemplifies the principles that should be possessed by the next FBI Director. His unique and diverse experience as a veteran, FBI Agent and member of Congress will allow him to effectively lead the men and women of the bureau as they continue their work to protect our country from criminal and terrorist threats.”

1)  Laws he's been a part of have had big impacts on every day Americans. From The Atlantic:

He carved out a role shaping laws like the federal assault-weapons ban, the Violence Against Women Act, the 1992 Anti-Auto Theft Act, which required manufacturers to put ID numbers on car parts to make them easier to track. But his specialty became the modest, life-enhancing consumer protections whose practical appeal is not always reflected in the number of headlines they garner: limiting ATM and debit-card fees; making cell-phone numbers portable; forcing credit-card companies to disclose more information. The section on your credit-card bill listing the interest rate, annual fee, and finance charges is known as the “Schumer Box,” for a provision he inserted into the 1988 Truth in Lending Act.

2)He's the cupid of the Senate. From the New York Times:

Schumer staff members, put simply, like to marry each other. There have been 10 weddings so far, and two more scheduled this fall — an average of nearly one “Schumer Marriage” (his term) for each year he has spent in the Senate. Cupid’s arrow lands where it will, but many of the couples say that Mr. Schumer, a New York Democrat, has an unusual knack for guiding its journey. He keeps close track of office romances, quotes marriage-friendly Scripture (“God to man: be fruitful and multiply”), and is known to cajole, nag, and outright pester his staff (at least those he perceives as receptive to such pestering) toward connubial bliss.

3) Since he came to Washington, he has lived in a row house on Capitol Hill with three other members of Congress. From a 2002 New York Times piece on "Chuck's Place."

Since 1982, when he was a freshman representative, Mr. Schumer has lived part of the week with a changing cast of three other legislators at the D Street house, going back every weekend to his wife and two daughters in Park Slope, Brooklyn. ... But the two-bedroom row house is also notorious as one of the capital's least appealing crash pads. As part of a generation of legislators who spend the bulk of their time in their districts, Mr. Schumer and his roommates have invested little in their Washington quarters in the last 20 years.

4) He likes being on television. From Vanity Fair:

He’s the world’s biggest publicity hound, famous for chewing through press secretaries. A standing joke in Washington: What’s the most dangerous place on Capitol Hill? Between Chuck Schumer and a television camera. He is an observant Jew but hardly an exponent of that maxim from the Book of Ecclesiastes, the one about “a time to keep silence.” He is serially monomaniacal, waking each day freshly appalled by some new outrage and vowing to do something—anything—about it. “Inaction is perhaps the greatest mistake of all,” he once said, and he meant it.

5) He really likes cereal. From a 2007 New York Times piece:

He is also prone to a blatant disregard for conserving a most precious household resource, cereal. “I love cereal,” Mr. Schumer said, digging into his second bowl of granola, going a long way toward depleting a box that [his roommate] Mr. Miller had just purchased.

6) He was a whiz kid in high school, liked taking tests and went to Harvard. From the Washington Post:

He was valedictorian at Madison High School in Brooklyn, with 1600 SAT scores. His parents and sister recall that he was never nervous about exams at school. In fact, they say he enjoyed tests.

7) His longtime spokesperson, Brian Fallon, is leaving Schumer's office to work for Attorney General Eric Holder. From the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Fallon, 31, isn’t starting right away. He is expected to stay on Capitol Hill until about mid-June, as Senate work continues on legislation overhauling the nation’s immigration laws.