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A bomb exploded near the Defense Ministry in Kabul Saturday morning as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is visiting in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility, calling it a message to the new Pentagon chief.

A two term Republican senator from Nebraska, Hagel will become the first Vietnam veteran to head the U.S. Department of Defense.

Melissa Block speaks with Dan Friedman, who covers Washington for the New York Daily °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ, about how a question he asked of a source on Capitol Hill became the centerpiece for an explosive story spread by conservative media. Friedman says that in asking whether Chuck Hagel, who's been nominated to be secretary of defense, had received speaking fees from controversial groups, he made up the name "Friends of Hamas" as a farcical example. That name later surfaced on Breitbart.com, despite the fact that the group does not exist.

The senators cited Hagel's lackluster confirmation hearing performance and his views on Iran. The White House said it would not back down from the nomination.

Republicans delayed a vote on President Obama's defense nominee, saying they wanted more answers about the attack in Benghazi, Libya, last year. In recent months, Benghazi has become a sort of catchword. To Republicans, it symbolizes everything bad about the Obama administration.

James Fallows of The Atlantic joins Host Jacki Lyden for his regular summary of the week's news. They discuss the State of the Union rhetoric and Congress's stalling on Hagel and the sequester.

The vote makes the former Republican senator the first defense nominee to be filibustered.

The nomination of Sen. Chuck Hagel as defense secretary has been the most contested of President Obama's picks so far.

Melissa Block talks to regular political commentators E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of The New York Times. They discuss new jobs numbers, Chuck Hagel's Senate confirmation hearing, immigration reform and the legacy of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.

"My overall worldview has never changed," said the former senator, who has been nominated to be secretary of defense.