Frank Lautenberg’s legacy; Eric Holder and the leak investigation

Guests: Tom Moran, Daniel Klaidman

New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg died on Monday of complications from viral pneumonia.  He was 89 years old.   At his funeral Wednesday, family, friends and colleagues paid tribute to the man who rose out of poverty to become a wealthy businessman and then, an influential lawmaker.  During his five terms in the U.S. Senate, Lautenberg championed gun control, mass transit, smoking bans on airlines, and laws against drunk driving.  We start this hour looking back at  Senator Lautenberg’s life and career with the Newark Star-Ledger editorial page editor TOM MORAN and examine the battle that’s brewing for his senate seat – yesterday Governor Chris Christie announced the appointment of Attorney General Jeff Chisa as interm Senator until the special election in October.  Then, we turn to the investigation into the Department of Justice’s seizure of journalists’ phone records and emails, the NSA monitoring of Verizon phone calls, and the scrutiny Attorney General Holder is facing.  We’ll also discuss the recent Obama appointments of Susan Rice to National Security Advisor and James Comey as FBI Director. Guest host Tracey Matisak talks with DANIEL KLAIDMAN,  Newsweek correspondent and the author of “Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency.”

Photo: Members of a Army Forces Casket Team carry the casket of the late New Jersey Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg up the Senate steps on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 6, 2013. Lautenberg passed away at the age of 89. He will lie in repose in the Chamber of the United States Senate for the afternoon. (AP Photo/Alex Wong, Pool)