i'm awake with the gamblers in the audience, there's no way i'll have another wins a triple crown. the name isn't cool enough to h another wins the triple crown. it doesn't have a cool enough name like secretariat or man of war. >> how about one more, tower? >> pat, very simply, i'm over at my daughter's house and couldn't work her tv so i'm watching you. >> couldn't find the clicker. couldn't work the tv. we get a lot of that. that's a big demo for us. people stuck on the show with no other choices. "morning joe" starts right now. mitt sent out some emails with a typeo, a misspelling, and it was crazy. so now they are trying to backpedal from all of this crap. this is the announcement from the campaign. you're not going to believe it. >> the campaign to elect mitt romney would like to apologize for any typos that have appeared on our facebook page, twitter feed, and other social media seats.

-- sites. to prevent future typos, the unpaid intern managing these sites has been fired. vote mitt romney for a better amercia. >> a better amercia. >> welcome to "morning joe" on a friday morning. it is friday, june 8. 6:00 here on the east coast. joining us right here on set, political editor and writer for the huffington post, mr. sam stein. combat veteran of the united states army wes moore. senior national correspondent for "bloomberg business week" josh green. and the anchor of bbc world news america, katty kay. and the former chairman of the rnc michael steele. full house today. good to see everybody. joe and mika have the day off. and that means we're starting with lebron, wes. [ laughter ] >> that means we're starting with lebron. say what you want about the guy. he doesn't perform in the clutch. this is one of those games like michael jordan would love. they are on the road.

they're going to lose. he simply took over last night. >> you know, regardless of what you think of lebron james, love him, hate him, you literally just stared at the television in awe of what you're watching. there was nothing that the celtics could do to stop lebron. he was just not going to lose last night. >> are you lebron hater? >> i have an irrational hate of the miami heat. it's inexplicable. >> but it's a post lebron hate. >> no, no, no. it was when they were like, we're not going to win one, but two, but eight championships. when they did that, it was all over for me. but watching last night, you know, that was special. there was nothing he couldn't do on the court. and, you know, you just had to think if he could do this every game, they would never lose. they just couldn't lose last night. >> michael steele, 30 points in the first half for lebron. >> i used to be able to do that. [ laughter ] >> it was just one of those moments where i was just relating. and saying, wow. i remember the day.

>> just taking over. >> i had hair. i had height. it was awesome. >> he had height. [ laughter ] >> one of those things you look at and you just go, this is what makes the sport in moments like this fun. you're down, and potentially out, you know, one and done kind of scenario. and you pull it through. and so, you know, props and congrats. hey, game seven, baby. bring it on. >> there is a game seven. >> at home tomorrow might in miami. we'll see what he does. >> it hurts. i'm a boston guy. celtics fan. halfway through that game, i knew it was over, and everybody looked like old men on my team. >> and the theory was the celtics were going to get out to an early lead and lebron would fold it up like he had in critical games before. but it just didn't happen. >> katty kay, did you catch the game last night? >> i was wondering, willie, when you were going to come to me on this one. >> we like to close with you. >> this is the one with the hoops, right, and the ball? [ laughter ] >> just checking what sport we're talking about. >> it hasn't quite caught on in your homeland, but it will, i

promise. we'll have full highlights of lebron later on in the show. in politics, yesterday, big fundraising numbers came out. mitt romney, republicans declaring a bit of victory this morning at least in fundraising. romney and president obama both coming off huge multimillion dollar campaign swings out west, shaping up as a record shattering year. here are the numbers just from last month. the president and the dnc took in $60 million, surpassing april's totals for them. but romney and the rnc, $76.8 million. the first time the republican nominee's hall has topped president obama's. also nearly the same amount romney raised during the entire primary season. in the words of obama campaign manager jim mussina, quote, we got beat. he wrote that in an email to supporters last night asking for donations to counter what he called romney's special interest advantage. we'll pause there for a minute. katty kay, is this a reason for concern for president obama? >> they knew that the republicans would catch up.

they knew that romney would get the money. i don't think they realized it would happen this fast, and it's a sign of how quickly romney has consolidated the base of the party and how quickly donors are rallying around him. remember all those discussions we had during that long bruising primary season, was he ever going to manage to get the enthusiasm of the party, was he going to manage to unite the party and the party dollars behind him. well, this is an indication to the obama campaign that he's doing just that. and there's a really interesting story in "the new york times" this morning, willie. i'm sure you've all seen it. about just how few people these dollars are targeting. this is going to be a record election in terms of the amount of money targeted at so few people in just nine key swing states so far. i think that's fascinating, about, you know, what it says about the money in politics, what it says -- how expensive it's going to be just to buy just those few votes. and it's not even in the big metropolitan areas in states like nevada. it's small towns in the south of the states. and that's where all of the money will go to. and of course on negative ads.

>> josh, it's been something like five years since barack obama, then senator, now president, has been beaten in any month. i think hillary clinton did to him last. what does this new number tell you? >> it's a jolt of reality. it will tells you that the obama of 2012 isn't the obama of 2008. his competitors were really kind of helpless not to get steamrolled. now it looks like obama if you count the citizens united money, he'll get outraised in this election. it puts him in a much different election. >> and the theory from the beginning is conservatives will win the super pac game, but obama will make it up because he has 13 million email list. veritable atm machine. he can dip do that. and of course he'll outraise mitt romney. that's how they would neutralize it. this just blew the roof off that theory. the numbers are astounding.

$137 million combined in one month. that's good stimulus money right there. that's job making money right there. and there is one caveat. i talked to people about this yesterday. i expected they would be freaking out. this is the one saving grace that obama had. the one caveat is this. mitt romney was coming off a primary. he got to dip though those primary donors to give again in the general election. this is his big month. the second thing, mitt romney set up a victory fund. and that can take in something like $75,000 in donations but it can't spend all that money strictly on the campaign because there is other things tied to the victory fund. but still, this shows that everything we thought about obama's financial advantages is not applicable to this race. and it's crazy for democrats to think about. >> yeah. and i think also in addition to that, there's two important things to remember as well. the first thing is that there are certain advantages of being the incumbent. and i think the president knows as long as you keep the money

game close, that the power of the incumbency will inherently give him things that mitt romney won't have going into this race. the second thing is, as we saw, the email blast saying we got beat, they'll use this as a rallying call to the base, other donors who are basically saying, we need you to step up now because if $60 million is getting beat, i think this is -- you know, they'll use it to try to build up as much cash and capital right now. >> michael steele, as a guy who has run the rnc and has had to beat the bushes for presidential campaigns, how impressed are you by these numbers yesterday? >> well, very impressed. but the reality is, and it's true in every presidential cycle, the rnc always does better in presidential cycles in fundraising. the reality is those major donors come back home. they may not play in the off years but they certainly play in the presidential years. and they showed that. they have contributed across the board. and as was just noted by sam, the reality of the fundraising

is those dollars coming in are not going to go directly back into the campaigns because of how they are going to be allocated among the various groups that participated in this fundraising effort. but it's a very impressive haul. now they have to keep it up. i'm sure they will. but as this thing unfolds over the summer, the pressures will continue to grow to maintain and exceed those numbers because the obama team has already noted 13 million plus individual small donors who can give over and over and over again, who have not written a check for $38,000 yet, can write a check as well. so there's that competition that is going to be healthy. a lot of money is coming into these campaigns and will be put on the ground in a way that's not just air wars but the ground game as well. >> as sam said, the obama campaign is saying, we knew this day would come, pointing out that john kerry outraised george w. bush in 2004 when he was the nominee as well.

romney was campaigning yesterday in st. louis where he framed the president's leadership on jobs in stark terms. >> record numbers of americans are living in poverty. 46 million people in this country living below the poverty line. this is not just a failure of policy. it is a moral failure of tragic proportion. our government has a moral commitment to help every american help himself. him and herself. [ applause ] >> and that commitment has been broken. >> a moral failure of tragic proportions, says mitt romney. president with a new ad admitting economic growth has been slow but blaming congress for not doing more to pass his tax plan. >> we are still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis since the great depression. our businesses have created almost 4.3 million new jobs over the last 27 months, but we are

still not creating them as fast as we want. >> the president's jobs plan would put teacher, firefighters, and police officers back to work right now and it's paid for by asking the wealthiest americans to pay a little more, but congress refuses to act. tell congress we can't wait. >> all right, katty kay. you've seen both sides of that. we have the moral failure, tragic proportion in mitt romney. president obama saying yes, times are slow, but i need a little help from congress. which one punches through better? >> i think saying that this is congress' fault is a tough sell for the president. keep blaming this on the republicans. this is his economy. he has been the president for the last three years. he has to be able to take responsibility for it, rather than saying, i would have done so much more if the republicans had let me. i mean, yeah, he's got a valid argument there. it's just not a very easy bumper sticker message to run on in an election campaign. on the other hand, you know, romney accusing him of moral failure, what more would the

republicans have done in terms of stimulus to get those jobs created over the last three years. those are equally valid questions. you know, this is campaign season. they are going to throw at each other what they can. i just don't see how the white house running on, you know, it's congress' fault is an uplifting enough message to rally his supporters. >> josh, though, true as it may be, does the argument of i inherited this mess, this is a george w. bush problem i'm still working through, does that play four years later with voters? >> i'm not sure that it does. but if you listen to every answer that the president or one of his campaign members gives, it's always prefaced with, this recession that we inherited. you know, this constant mantra or reminder it's not all their fault. and i would add too, if there's anyone on earth who's more or less popular than romney than obama, it's congress. so there is some rationale for believing that blaming congress might resonate with people.

to most people in america, they look down on congress and think they are terrible. >> congress' approval ratings are in the tank. and there's a poll rating that showed that george w. bush was the least former president. so obama is basically running against two incredibly unpopular institutions or people here. i don't think it's a bad idea. i mean, there are worse ideas out there in terms of political campaigns. he has to have someone to point to, and i think it's valid that congress has been a stick in the mud with him. the issue is, he's got to say what is really tough, which is the economy is improving. but i know that you don't feel it enough yet. so we have to do more. and that's a tough argument for any politician to make. and, you know, that is going to define the election popular or less. >> but i think there is also a real problem with mitt romney's argument as well. mitt romney is right. there is a moral obligation to do something about poverty. you know, it is a moral failure to have this many people, over 40 million people in this country living in poverty. the problem is that the policies that he's put forth and the

policies that he's pushing to put in place -- >> it's a little galling. >> does nothing to address that. you are talking about cutting pell grants, as congress has done multiple times. every time you are talking about things like not providing opportunities and talking about, you know, increasing tax cuts to people who will not at all be affected by this and expecting some type of trickle down. there's a problem with the logic in terms of how that's fundamentally going to occur. >> but he is not in the logic game. >> michael steele, we're talking in broad strokes here. i mean, i don't think the voters yet are looking into the details of pell grants, which is everything he just said -- wes just said is true. but i think people are looking at who owns this economy, who has a better way of getting me a job. >> exactly. this is not about logic. [ laughter ] >> and i don't think there's any point in this campaign it will be about logic. >> bumper sticker. there it is. >> you know, the economy is stupid. this is not about logic.

but this is the problem that obama has. that commercial is -- just resonates his problem. when you're getting out there and saying, you know, we've done this, we've done this, but we have more to do, i have work to do, we haven't finished the job. and the voters are like, we know that. can you give us something more than that? and the problem is when you're reminding people that you haven't finished the job, it goes beyond blaming the other guys that you haven't done the job. and i think he's got to get off of that message some kind of way. i know a lot of folks i talk to within the dnc ranks are really frustrated with that mantra or at least the impression that this is -- you know, where the administration is right now apologizing almost and not really talking about those high note successes that they've had. >> hope and change in 2008. it's not about logic in 2012. i guess that's the caveat. >> you know, if you don't have a

job in a swing state in nevada, you don't really care very much whose fault it is that you don't have a job. you want to know that the white house has a plan to get you a job. you want to know that steps are being taken to improve your economic situation. i think -- i mean, to some extent, this seems like more of a base type ad to remind his supporters who might be disaffected with him from the past to, you know, get out there and work for him by saying, you know, the situation is we are in, guys, is not my fault and getting them riled up about congress and about the republicans so they want to work to keep their man in office. >> quickly, he did close with saying this is what i would do to get people back to work. this is my jobs plan. that was why they closed the ad like that. >> katty, i want your take on syria. shelling again picked up this morning. so far, amateur video shows that some of the evidence of the reported massacre this week of 78 people, including women and children. the united nations observers

were unharmed, although they were fired upon while trying to gain access to the site to investigate. this remember is just two weeks after 108, mostly women and children again, were murdered in several villages door-to-door. u.n. envoy kofi annan says his plan for peace is not working and putting the blame on the syrian government. he warned the country is now headed for all out civil war. wes, kofi annan tells the general assembly yesterday we cannot allow mass killing to become part of the everyday reality in syria. the question is, how does the u.n. and the world community stop it? >> i don't think the country is headed to an all-out civil war. i think it's there already. and the problem is a real legitimacy issue within the syrian government. and right now there, is no rationale behind the ration. this is purely about trying to hold onto power. and i think probably one of the biggest challenges of the annan plan actually is not necessarily the syrian government. it's also china. it's russia. it's all of the other

international communities who have said, you know, we are not going to get involved in this type of plan. and for a variety of different reasons. the chinese government yesterday said they are asking for a cease-fire, for both sides to stop the fighting. but there's no policy or basis or backbone to actually enforce that. >> right. >> so the biggest challenge that we have right now is this shows the complexity of the international dynamic. the fact that there is no one country that can step up and say, we are going to figure this out. there is no way as senator mccain has recommended we can just put troops on the ground in syria and that's going to solve it either. this is amazingly complex. but the problem is, while we are waiting for the international community to figure this out, we are losing dozens and dozens of people every single day. >> the question, katty, if russia and china aren't going to step up and they will block everything that comes down the pike for the u.n., as wes said, the chinese foreign ministry yesterday said we condemn it, they ought to stop shooting each other, but no sanctions on syria, where can we go from here? what can be done? >> this is the third massacre of

its type in a week. it's looking increasingly like a bosnia type situation. i've had conversations with members of congress all during the course of this week, and everybody is frustrated about what to do. the question for the united states is what does america do now? there is no political appetite here for getting militarily involved. there are questions about whether the syrian opposition is capable of getting the kind of support it might want from the outside community. are there al qaeda members in there or terrorists in syria? there are questions about having safe havens and u.s. military support of safe havens. several members of congress have come out in support of that. but there is a reluctance to arm the opposition in syria. the only good news i hear at the moment might be that the russians are fed up with the massacres. they don't like the tactics that assad is using against his own people. they don't like the pictures of

women and children being executed at point blank range. and they might start putting pressure on the syrians to do something differently or even possibly on assad to go. but this is a long-term game, and we'll see more of these massacres i fear. >> if they did step up, it will be the first time. let's hope they back up their talk and do it. when we come back, mike allen has a look inside the politico playbook, including exclusive details on when mitt romney might announce his choice for veep. also ahead, political satirist and comedian, the hilarious lizz winstead will join us. also, dave zirin. and from the hit discovery show "flying wild alaska," ariel tweto. but first, bill karins with a look at the weekend forecast. before i get to the hot weekend forecast, i want to show you what happened yesterday in wyoming.

storm chasers very close to a bunch of tornadoes. there were 10 in all in colorado. the southeast corner of wyoming. we did have five homes destroyed by the twisters in platte county, wyoming. now what we'll deal with throughout the day today, we will be watching for the most part still some strong storms. northern plains and also northern new england. vermont, new hampshire, upstate new york, watch out. around burlington. those storms will move towards boston later this evening. if you have evening plans in boston, keep that in mind. it looks like a very warm day today in the middle of the country, and it's going to get hot this upcoming weekend. the worst weather along the gulf coast, including florida with showers and storms as well as seattle. here is your weekend forecast. from saturday to sunday, we will be watching the heat. temperatures in chicago, 92 degrees. even washington, d.c., the mid-atlantic, into the carolinas, really warm up. and down along the gulf coast, we continue that thunderstorm threat. not a good beach weekend from new orleans down to florida.

and then by sunday, we'll be watching the heat around chicago continue. and we're looking nice and dry in many other areas of the country. all right. as far as what we're dealing with out there this morning, d.c., you are nice and toasty. heading up to mid 80s today on a nice clear beautiful morning. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. now you can apply sunblock

to your kids' wet skin. neutrogena® wet skin kids. ordinary sunblock drips and whitens. neutrogena® wet skin cuts through water. forms a broad spectrum barrier for full strength sun protection. wet skin. neutrogena®.

- one serving of cheese is the size of four dice. one serving of cereal, a baseball. and one serving of fruit, a tennis ball. - you know, both parties agree. our kids can be healthier... the more you know. service protection is apparently bothering the people who live near his beach house. romney had a lot of questions about the complaints, such as which beach house? [ laughter ] oh, that one? they're always complaining at that one. welcome back to "morning joe." let's get a look at the morning papers. "financial times." china surprised global markets yesterday by cutting interest rates for the first time since

2008. it signals china's determination to stimulate its economy. the growth slowed in the first quarter and could get worse from here. from our parade of papers, "the los angeles times" expressing both public and private frustration with pakistan. the obama administration has unleashed the cia to escalate an aggressive campaign of drone strikes. according to the article, the u.s. is now green lighting strikes that might have been vetoed in the past for fear of angry islamabad. "houston chronicle texas" is considering whether to increase the speed limit to 85 miles an hour. they are testing a 41-mile stretch of highway to see how it goes. it would be the highest posted speed limit in the country. why not? you've got to love texas. and this sunday, it's "parade's" summer reading guide. with a little help from "castle" star nathan fillian. there you go. >> i got that one. >> what's on the summer reading

list? i don't even know. we'll get to that in a minute with us now, mike allen with a look at the playbook. mike, good morning. >> happy friday morning. >> there it is. the weekend begins only when you say that, mike allen. >> psyched to be here on the "home alone" edition of "morning joe." >> i think you coined that term many months ago, and we'll stick with that. you have exclusive details on mitt romney's vice presidential announcement. what can you tell us? >> chairman steele was talking a few minutes ago about the pressure on the romney campaign to keep up the momentum of their fundraising. one way that they are thinking about doing that is announcing their vice presidential pick earlier than you normally would. normally you would do it right before the convention, at the end of august, as the republicans head to tampa. you do that to get the big pop when the most people are watching after the olympics, when they are back from the beach. but you sacrifice a couple of

months of fundraising and campaigning in swing states by your pick. so the romney campaign is thinking that there may be more pluses than minuses to doing it earlier. the minuses are you lose that sort of excitement factor, and you lose the big push you get coming out of the convention, where you campaign in the vp's home town and you're the challenger and you get a lot of buzz that way. so there are drawbacks. but the biggest one is that you have them throughout the summer to help you raise money. and whatever negative issues there are, you get out of the way. fingerti for instance, if it's rob portman of ohio, all of the bush connections, all that would be vetted in the press and over by the time you get to tampa. >> let's talk short list. is rob portman still the favorite? give us a couple of dark horse choices. >> yeah. when people in romney world talk about the possibilities, they sort of talk about senator portman. and then everyone else.

my caveat, willie, and off camera, i have told you this, don't listen to anybody who tells you they think they know the short list. don't trust them. this is a very personal decision that governor romney and mrs. romney will make on their own. but we talk to people who the governor listens to on everything else, and the consensus view is that as with everything else in this campaign, it's going to be a very safe pick. the way that they put it to us is they're going to go with boring white guy. that sarah palin made the hail mary pick impossible. so you have senator portman first. and then tim pawlenty of minnesota has a great vibe with governor romney. the romney campaign likes him very much. he helps with christians. helps with the working class. two things that are very important to them. senator marco rubio of florida. you have to keep him on the list because of florida, florida, florida. and because of hispanics. and then i think that there's only one more person on the short list.

and i think the short list of four. and the fourth is senator john thune of south dakota. another boring white guy. and someone who helps you in iowa. that's one of the nine states that both campaigns are advertising in. it adjoins south dakota, and even shares a media market with them. >> as a boring white guy myself, i take great offense to your characterization of these gentlemen. >> well, you're always on my short list. >> willie, are you 35? >> yes, i am. i'm ready to serve. michael, say you're running mitt romney's campaign. which of these guys would you pick? or is there somebody else you'd be looking at? >> well, as a boring white guy, i think i'd probably -- you know, on behalf of all boring white guys out there, you know, i like thune. i have always liked thune. certainly, rob portman. i know him very well and have worked with him and i think he's just phenomenal. i think if i'm looking around and i'm looking at the

landscape, i would also look at someone like a governor jindal in louisiana. i know the politics. oh, what does louisiana bring you? but jindal brings you so much more to the table besides the state. his background, congressional background, his experience, his knowledge. so i think that that list that mike just gave you is a good one. i would just only add someone like bobby jindal do it as well. >> a name we haven't mentioned, a guy on the show a couple of days ago, virginia's governor, bob mcdonnell. >> virginia being a very important potential swing state, i'd be surprised if his name isn't being seriously considered and floated as well. >> there's nothing more useless than vp speculation. >> you just undercut the last seven minutes of this show, sam. please. >> irrelevant. >> boring white guys. just saying. what we just did was totally pointless. >> ok. you can leave now. you're out of here. what about mcdonnell? is he not on the list?

>> he suggested that he has not been vetted. and some of the decisions he's made in virginia have helped him. but they'll keep floating names. we'll hear bobby jindal. they have floated governor huk huckabee. he also helps you with christians. they use the campaigning and floating and very interesting auditions of governor romney campaigning with the candidates to keep names in play. and we have talked before about paul ryan of wisconsin. i think because they are going to go safe, they are not going to go with the house budget director. but you can argue that the obama campaign isn't going to talk about the romney -- the romney-ryan budget anyway, so they might as well get the advantage of it. catholic, wisconsin, rust belt. >> one more. scott walker out of the question even though he is now a conservative hero? >> i think he has his hands full. but he is raising a lot of money, and he'll be on a lot of short lists for some time to come. >> mike allen with a look inside

the playbook. we'll talk to you. >> happy weekend. coming up, we talked about it a little bit. with the season on the line, lebron james puts his team on his back in boston. complete highlights next. the medicare debate continues in washington...

...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security

at earnedasay.org. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet.

welcome back to "morning joe." time for some sports. win or go home time for the heat last night in boston. lebron james, the incredible once in a lifetime talent, who has been knocked for going quiet when the games matter most, turned that around last night in game six. first quarter, lebron gets it going with the drive and the dunk, leaving paul pierce in the dust. heat build an early big lead. second quarter, chris bosh misses the hook shot. but lebron from the top of the key to clean it up. james had 30 points and five rebounds in the first half. 30 and 5 in the first half. heat up 13 points at the break. maybe lebron's only mistake of the night, gets a little casual going for the rebound. rondo for the lay-up.

lebron slams the ball down in frustration at himself. t-ed up for that one. but the heat keeping the lead. this puts them up 25 points in the fourth quarter. wade to lebron. the back cut. 98-79 the heat blow out the celtics forcing a game seven in miami on saturday. the headline in "the miami hera herald" says it all, the comeback king. when the horses come out of the gate at this saturday's belmont stakes, i'll have another has a chance to write his name into the record books where he goes for the triple crown. it would be the first one in 34 years. today's "usa today" asks, can he do it? should he win, i'll have another could become just the 12th winner of the triple crown. he'll be starting from the number 11 post. the belmont, only two belmont winners had run from that post since 1905. i'll have another is the odds on favorite at 4-5 according to

yesterday's betting lines. if the finish at the preakness is any indication, it's going to be close. i'll have another edged bodie meister by a neck at the finish line. coverage begins tomorrow at 3:30 eastern time on nbc sports network. and the race is on nbc. a chance to see history. the stanley cup finals, meanwhile, resume tomorrow night. devils and kings back here in jersey for game five. the kings try again to win their first cup in franchise history. that game gets going at 8:00 eastern time on nbc. and that concludes our promotion of the nbc family of networks. coming up next, the must read opinion pages including josh green's latest piece on mitt romney's effort to win colorado and why it involves weed. keep it on "morning joe." ovidert

but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. cuban cajun raw seafood pizza parlor french fondue tex-mex fro-yo tapas puck chinese takeout taco truck free range chicken pancake stack baked alaska 5% cashback. signup for 5% cashback at restaurants through june. it pays to discover. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪

of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

[ speaking in a foreign language ] man, ugly scene yesterday in greece. could a political argument that turned violent with a guy swinging at a woman on national television alter the outcome of next week's elections in greece? the spokesman for greece's far right party attacked a female parliamentary candidate on live tv. prosecutors have issued a warrant for the man's arrest. katty kay, what are we watching here beyond an ugly fight on television? katty? >> you know, the first time i

saw that, i kind of looked at it out of the corner of my eye and i made the mistake of thinking, that's a funny scene in greek television. when you watch more closely, it's just brutal. these guys are thugs. for the first time since 1971, since the greek military dictatorship fell, you have these guys from the far right in parliament. and there's some serious point here, which is that across europe, you've got this trend of the rise of far right and far left populist parties which are a reaction to austerity measures. people are scared. people are feeling the cuts. and they are turning to these kinds of political extremes. and that golden dawn party in greece, they are vehemently anti-immigrant, saying that any immigrant in the country should be thrown out and sent back home again. the kind of behavior we saw there on television towards female member of the left wing party suggests that they are not the nicest guys in the world. and i think it might have an impact, you know, with greek

voters. they certainly have been stunned by this. they look at what's -- and they are thinking, is this the kind of people we really want in power? but the broader point is, when you have the kind of cuts you are having in europe where people's pensions are getting cut, their health care is getting cut, wages are getting cut, they get scared, and as other european leaders have said, we could be heading for a 1930s moment. and we all know what happened in 1930s. you had record high unemployment and then the rise of the far right in germany. i'm not saying it's definitely going to happen. but others are saying it. >> you're not obviously comparing what happened then to now, but your point is taken. and we'll see what happens. these are big elections in greece. that video notwithstanding. you know what these guys could use a little bit of, josh? weed. >> there you go. >> mellow out the nazis. >> mellow them out a little bit. josh writes in "bloomberg business week," will romney's push to win in colorado go up in smoke? he writes, although colorado's

marijuana initiative wasn't created to help obama, a cohort of democratic strategists believe it that it might, although they had a different audience in mind. pot-loving coloradans who aren't all that jazzed about obama might show up to vote for legalization and cast a vote for the president at the same time. in thursday's "new york times," there's a hilarious story about romney scolding some san diego beach goer for smoking pot then narcing on him to the cops. that's why democrats hold out hopes this could help their cause. and because colorado has voted on marijuana issues in 2000 and 2006, the parties have a pretty good idea of who's likely to show up. josh, let's take a step back first. what is the initiative? what are we voting on? >> i don't know if wes can hold it together here. the initiative is colorado has a ballot initiative this fall where they'll vote on legalizing marijuana. if you look at colorado, super important swing state. poll yesterday shows it's dead even at 45-45 between the two candidates. and there is a segment of

democratic consultants who think we have this ballot issue on marijuana that could potentially draw enough voters to the polls who wouldn't ordinarily come and vote to tilt the election to obama. and the thinking here is similar to what karl rove did in 2004 when you had all of these state ballot initiatives on gay marriage. the idea was draw out the evangelicals. and that tilts the election to george bush. sort of that idea in reverse, way reverse. >> is this orchestrated in some way, get this on the ballot and get the weed smokers out? >> no. this will shock you, willie, but pot smokers aren't necessarily the most organized group when it comes to politics. and in fact, motivation can be a problem when it comes to fulfilling their civic duties. but nevertheless, it's on the ballot in november. and, you know, it could affect the election. >> if there's a south park marathon that night, they won't come out to vote. no chance. there's no chance. i mean, is this -- i mean, you make the point about the gay

marriage initiative. that's a serious point it. brings people out. is this actually something that you think could swing the state? >> as funny as it is, it's possible. and there's a couple of reasons to think so. first of all, colorado in 2000 and 2006 had a ballot initiative. so the parties have an idea of who shows up to vote for these people. young people, under 35, and they tend to vote democratic. they are also a hard to reach segment of voters. as i said, potheads not the most civically inclined. so what you're doing is reaching a bunch of intermittent democratic voters, which is actually a group that obama really needs to reach everywhere. >> wouldn't it be incredibly ironic, though? because obama hasn't exactly been the greatest friend of pot smokers while in the white house. >> that's exactly right. pot smokers and the kind of legalization of medical marijuana crap were among his biggest supporters in '08 and the justice department has cracked down. but what's helping is the look at the other guy, and the

specter of mitt romney being friendly to pot. >> i had an interview with a man setting up a super pac for gary johnson. primarily because they both believe in legalization. and he wants to find some billionaires out there who are of a like mind to donate to the the super pac. we look across the street and he says, oh, my god, that is where i set up the committee for the reelection of the president. i said, what did you do? he said i would go into the white house by day and come back with a bag of cash at night. >> roger stone, one of the great characters in american political history. katty kay, i won't ask you about your feeling on the ballot initiative unless you want to give it to us. >> ok. josh's piece is in the new edition of "bloomberg business week." coming up next, "the week in review."

♪ ♪ we all need it. to move. to keep warm. to keep us fed. to make clay piggies. but to keep doing these things in the future... at shell, we believe the world needs a broader

mix of energies. that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. ♪ >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about that 401(k) you picked up back in the '80s. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like a lot of things, the market has changed, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and your plans probably have too. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so those old investments might not sound so hot today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we'll give you personalized recommendations tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 on how to reinvest that old 401(k) tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and help you handle all of the rollover details. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and bring your old 401(k) into the 21st century. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

oh, yes. is it time? >> it is time, prerecorded mika. it's time for "the week in review." at number three, london

balling. >> the events that i have attended to mark my diamond jubilee have been a humbling experience. >> queen elizabeth ii threw herself a week-long bender to celebrate 60 years of living in a giant castle. the queen accepted serenades from the world's biggest stars. she got out to bet the ponies at epsomdowns. and she rowed crew deep down the thames on her tricked out party barge. not to be outdone, the colonys across the pond showed off a little royal pomp and circumstance of their own, parading out wwf great george the animal steel to throw out and eat the first pitch at a minor league baseball game. at number two, the remote controlled dead cat. a dutch artist paid tribute this week to his deceased cat orville

by stuffing him with a motor, putting propellers on his paws, and letting him soar with the angels. >> i really loved this cat. and for me, this is a way to actually make him eternal. >> as the little fella's expression shows, even orville was surprised by his owner's decision to turn the late kitty into a remote controlled helicopter. and the number one story of the week -- >> democracy died tonight. we just -- >> you're emotional? >> i'm very emotional, because we all had a lot invested in this. >> democracy took its last breath this week when wisconsin governor scott walker held onto his seat in a recall election. >> it's done. democracy is dead. if we didn't win tonight, the end of the usa as we know it just happened. >> after a bare knuckle dairiland brawl that lasted a year and a half, walker delivered a big win. or if you like, a spanking. >> it's a spanking. >> democratic challenger tom

barrett didn't just get spanked, he got smacked by one of his own supporters who went up side his head after he conceded. president obama moved past the wisconsin loss this week, with a little help from his friends. sjp and the lady from the devil wars prada. >> women like sarah jessica parker and michelle obama. these two wonderful women and i are hosting a dinner along with the president. >> meanwhile, the president's republican opponent regaled audiences with tales of giant people he's met along the way. >> a handsome, great big guy, seven feet tall. i figured he had to be in sport, but he wasn't in sport. >> a seven foot guy, he has to be in sport. not in sport. coming up, nick confessore and much more. keep it on "morning joe."

an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy?

you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect.

i know i speak for the whole house when i rise today lady fr california, mrs. pelosi, congratulations on 25 years of real service to this institution. thank you. [ applause ]

>> thank you, mr. speaker, if are you your kind words. as you say, we may not always agree on taxes. we did at one time when president bush was president. it was good for the country, and it was a good model for us to go forward. welcome back to "morning joe." it's 7:00 in the morning here on the east coast. back with us, sam stein, wes moore, along with michael steele in washington. and joining us on the set in new york, political reporter for "the new york times" nick confessore. welcome. >> thank you. >> joe and mika have the day off today. we'll get to the fund raising in a minute. i know you have something to say about that. i want to read a little bit of this piece in "the washington post" this morning going back to what happened on tuesday in the recall election. what wisconsin means, talking about what he says is the end of public sector unions. the abject failure of the unions to recall wisconsin governor scott walker, the first such

failure in u.s. history, makes the icarus moment of government-union power. wax wings melted down. they set out to make an example of walker. he succeeded in making an example out of them as a classic case of reactionary liberalism. an institution founded to protect its members grew in size, wealth, and power and arrogance, thanks to the decades of deals. why did they use? because norma ray nostalgia is not enough, and it hardly applied to government workers living better than the average taxpayer who supports them. that this morning from "the new york post." are you convinced by his case? >> some of it. this is a current era where for the public unions they are under the gun. state and fiscal crises all over the country. and governors of both parties are struggling to balance budgets. and some of these states, you have unions that will not budge

on matters that to the average voter and the average private sector worker seem kind of obvious. retire at 61 instead of 60, right? pay a tiny amount of your premiums in your health care plan. all of these governors across the country are asking for those kinds of concessions. in many places, it's impossible to get any concessions out of these unions. in some places, you can get some concessions out of them. what's interesting about wisconsin is that when scott walker was first elected and asked for some budget balancing concessions, he got them from the unions and he still went ahead with busting them on collective bargaining. >> michael steele, is there a chance we make too much, too broad a point about the future of unions based on what happened on tuesday night? john kasich thought he had some wins over unions and was beaten back a little on ballot issues. what does tuesday night tell you? >> i think that's right. the idea that all of a sudden we have seen the death of unions in the country i think is an overreach. the reality of it is they got spanked. and they did step a little bit

further than the people were ready to go. and the point that was just made there, they are looking at these budgets. the governor and people are looking at these budgets and say, look, we get the fact that you're paying a bill that was negotiated five years ago, seven years ago. it's due now. we can't afford it. so let's sit down to the table and renegotiate. i think what the unions will do, if they're smart, and i believe they are, that they are going to now take a look at this. they are going to regroup and come back and going to begin to give to hold positions for the future. the reality is, you take the step back now for a bigger gain down the road. you can't afford this fight at this level particularly given what the republicans showed that they could do and are willing to do in terms of raising money and putting troops on the ground to push back. so i think you're going to see a smarter approach by the unions going forward. >> sam? >> the unions don't lie. the union membership in terms of percentage of the economy, it

was 20% in the '80s. now it's less than 12%. the numbers are going down. the political influence is wanes. but he is wrong. i don't believe him writing this after kasich lost his fight. so they have a role to play. it's just a diminished one. >> and it's important to remember that the big take away from wisconsin wasn't necessarily is this going to be the death of the unions. there were issues with the recall, and i think kind of the justification and the validation behind the recall was also one of the issues. i don't think this was necessarily just about whether or not this is going to be the death of public unions or they could fight off governor scott walker. >> and money, right? >> and money. >> in wisconsin, in a recall effort, there's a window in which you can raise unlimited sums into your campaign account. he was getting quarter million dollar checks from the same extremely wealthy conservative donors who have financed super pacs in the federal elections. he had a lot of ontarartillery. a win is a win is a win.

but it was not exactly a level playing field as the column suggested. >> on nick's point just now, i think that's a very important point to make. remember, this was one state. all concentrated power. and force of money on one state. if you had four, five, six states having ballot initiatives like this or recall efforts like this or something where the unions had a more organized national effort, you would have seen a very different outcome, i think. and so you can't put too much into this. but to sam's point, it is something you need to pay attention to. let's talk about money for a minute. nick, you cover this stuff every day. we have the may numbers that came out yesterday. mitt romney had a huge month, bigger than president obama did when you combine what his campaign did with the rnc. the president and the dnc taking in $68 million. surpassing april, but a little bit less. $76.8 million for romney and for the rnc. nick, what do you take from

those numbers? >> first of all, it's his first full month as the party's nominee. he had a joint fundraising process in place with the rnc, which allows much bigger checks from each donor. and also, all of these donors are coming off the sidelines now. if you look at fundraising for all of the gop candidates during the primary, it was pathetic. it was terrible. there was nobody raising that much money except for romney, who did fairly well. so you had this entire world of maybe, you know, 1,000 of the top funders in the country in that party are now like, let's go, let's do it, let r's raise money for mitt romney. >> sam, does this matter practically? we know both sides are going to raise an absolute ton of money. it could be a $2 billion election. so it's a million here, a million dollar. >> i think there will be such an oversaturation in markets that at some point people will say, i'm not going to watch tv.

i do not care what's on it. i'm going to pay attention to the debates and the convention speeches. but it isn't just about the presidential elections. this is about the senate and congressional elections. and these candidates do have, you know, coat tails. and they are going to bring candidates along with them. one of the things that is a very technical point but it's an important one. candidates are allowed to spend by lowest unit rate the dollars for advertising six days out before an election, whereas super pacs are not. they have to pay what could be 30% more on certain occasions. so democrats were excited about the idea that their candidate would raise a lot of money but their super pacs would raise a lot of money to give them an advantage. this changes that a lot and it complicates things for democrats who were hoping that obama would still outpace romney. >> wes, it's just one week. but when you take the fundraising number, the terrible jobs number of a week ago, kind of a muddled message from bill clinton.

reason for concern for the obama campaign right now? >> i think it will be ebbs and flows all throughout the summer for the campaign. but i think that the thing that the obama campaign is keeping in their back pocket is this. it's still very early. a lot of people still haven't fully checked into this stuff. >> most people, i would argue. >> yes, most people. and i finishithink if we were h the same kind of conversation in september, it's a very different emotion in the white house right now. i think it's still june, and they are thinking we still have a lot to come back with a rebound. there are factors out of their control to see how it plays out over the summer as well. >> bill clinton, there was a bit of a tempest about comments he made on cnbc. should we extend the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest or not. he was on cnn yesterday apologizing for that. >> i support his position, and i think on the merits, upper income people are going to have to contribute to the long-term

debt reduction. i am very sorry about what happened yesterday. i thought something had to be done on the fiscal cliff before the election. apparently, nothing has to be done until the first of the year. >> republicans were quick, you'll remember, this week to tout clinton's original comments. still, david axelrod says bill clinton remains a crucial asset to this campaign. >> i'm not asking for an apology from bill clinton. and i watched this parade of republicans saying we ought to listen to bill clinton. they should listen to bill clinton. bill clinton understands what it takes to grow this economy. he understands that we can't cut our way to prosperity. he understands that we have to bring these deficits down in a responsible way. there is no separation between him and this president. they have the same understanding of how you grow the economy. >> and you want him to go out there and campaign? >> i think he is a tremendous asset to us. i have no compunkz about that. >> michael steele, there's no question that bill clinton can be a huge asset, but you do get the whole package when you get bill clinton.

>> you do. and you've got to love it. >> you've got to love it, yeah. >> always appreciate a brother that speaks his mind, and he does. look, i get the politics of the republicans touting bill clinton and the obama people sort of reeling a little bit. but the reality of it is, clinton, whether he was touted by republicans or rebuked by the democrats, was right. clinton is one of these guys who kind of goes with the gut check. and he understands having had success in -- on a number of fronts economically during his presidency what it will take to get this thing turned around. he doesn't see the obama administration doing that. and they have lagged behind those efforts over the last two years in particular. and so i think there was an honest moment. as they say in washington, when you make a gaff, you are really speaking the truth. and i think that that's what you saw there. now, he cleaned it up, and everybody is kind of kumbaya love you again. but look for more of this to come. because when he gets in those moments and he's going to

respond honestly, i think the obama folks are going to be holding their breath a little more. >> the problem, sam, everything with bill clinton, that became a four-day story. he clarified, and apologized, and it's a week of bill clinton. >> we are always trying to figure out his motives. people are saying, oh, he is doing it because of hillary. one thing i have to say, there was an anonymous quote of, well, he's 61 years old. biden is 69 years old. that is not an excuse. you can't be senile at that point. >> and bill clinton knows what he is saying at all times. >> yes. >> it was interesting to hear talking about the bush tax cuts. ben bernanke was on the hill yesterday talking about the federal reserve and the action it's prepared to take. but as he discussed this fiscal cliff that we're about to head off, he did bring up the bush tax cuts and why they are so important. >> the potential expiration of the so-called bush tax cuts, the 2001, 2003 tax cuts, is the

single biggest item in the fiscal cliff. i'm not necessarily saying that the right thing to do is to extend those cuts. it could be there are other steps you could take that would have a similar impact. but that is the single biggest component of the so-called cliff. >> nick, help us translate there. i'm not saying that's important. what is he saying then? >> i don't speak economist. i'm not totally sure what he was saying. this is going to be a huge issue in the fall. and what's interesting to me is, you know, in general, this issue turf favors the republicans. but whenever you're going to play chicken, it's much easier when you're the president to play chicken than if you're boehner playing chicken. because he's gotten all these members and people he has to organize. he is not as mobile and maneuverable as the president will be. >> except they played chicken already on this, and the president lost. >> but i think there's another issue. if you listen to also bernanke's entire speech, he made this

comment about the bush tax cuts but he also said conducting significant cuts right now could be the most harmful thing to the long-term economy, particularly when you look at europe. so how exactly to parse those two statements together? because the fact is to reduce or to make sure that we don't have significant cuts there's got to be increased revenue coming from somewhere. and i think what he is saying is when you look at international pressures, where are we going to come with that additional revenue? >> the irony is that for all the deficit talks out there, the ideal situation is do nothing. if you do nothing, the bush tax cuts expire, and our deficit and debt crisis is significantly better. but of course that would bring us back into a recession, and we can't have that. bernanke can say amazing things and say nothing at the same time. it's impossible to figure out what he's talking about. >> that's why he asked for a translation. >> kind of like greenspan back in the day. >> exactly. michael, the president has said i'm drawing a line in sand. i'm not going to extend the bush

tax cuts for twealthiest americans. how does he get that deal? >> not this year. i don't know how he gets that deal done. i think the reality of it is the bush tax cuts are $4 trillion you want to put on the table, fine. do you want to look at other ways to sort of get the revenue stream going? you know, the whole idea that between now and next january is that anything is going to get done by this administration is just fantasy. it's just not going to happen. the politics is too poisoned. the ce sentiments are too high. and everyone is jockeying for the best position to leverage against their opponent. so i think harry reid making the comment as he has on a number of occasions that nothing will get done this year is the status quo going into the fall campaign. so you have a lot of lip service, a lot of comments by folks like bernanke that say nothing. and go nowhere. and the reality for the voter is you're going to have to make a

very tough decision come november because if these candidates, particularly romney and obama, do not get out with specifics about how they're going to do this, this is going to get harder for the voters to decide exactly who's going to have the plan to move us forward. >> on that depressing note that absolutely nothing is going to get done this year, we'll leave it right there. >> at least i got coffee. >> nick confessore, thank you. take care. >> thank you. still ahead, is the united nations a failed institution? we'll talk to a director of a new documentary who says that the u.n. may be making the world problems worse. and also coming up, a lawsuit against the nfl. but first, bill karins. lots of smiles today. a lot of sunshine, warm conditions returning.

first things first, let me get you out the door. here's who needs the umbrella. new orleans down through florida, cloudy and rainy. also a bit of wet weather this morning up there in northern portions of minnesota and wisconsin. and very rainy morning, early morning for you in the pacific northwest. the forecast as we go through today, starting to warm up in the middle of the country. notice almost near 90 around minneapolis. even washington, d.c., and the carolinas heating up to the mid 80s. then on saturday, hot temperatures. kansas city, st. louis, chicago, into the low 90s. humidity levels will be going up. and then everyone getting steamy by sunday. 97 in dallas. southeast, that's the only spot i'm worried about as far as the rainout sunday afternoon with showers and thunderstorms. new york city, looking pretty good. belmont is on saturday. slight chance of some thunderstorms. should be a dry, beautiful friday. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

cuban cajun raw seafood pizza parlor french fondue tex-mex fro-yo tapas puck chinese takeout taco truck free range chicken pancake stack baked alaska 5% cashback. signup for 5% cashback at restaurants through june. it pays to discover. [ female announcer ] new aveeno skin strengthening body cream helps transform dry, thinning skin, by strengthening its moisture barrier,

for improved texture and elasticity in 2 weeks. reveal healthy, supple skin. aveeno skin strengthening.

welcome back to "morning joe." beautiful day in washington. and joining us from down there in the nation's capital, sports editor at the nation and founder of the website edge of sports, our buddy dave. >> hey, willie. >> let's talk about this nfl lawsuit. this is a big story. more than 2,000 former nfl players getting together, guys who have been affected by concussions, brain injuries, getting together to sue the nfl. what's the basis of the lawsuit exactly, dave? >> well, the basis of the lawsuit is that the nfl and nfl doctors have had knowledge for decades that repeated concussions and repeated concussive injuries can cause problems like early onset alzheimer's disease, als, lou gehrig's disease, and a host of maladies that a lot of former players are suffering at this

point. and they're saying that if they had known the full effects and the full ramifications of what it means to play in the nfl, they might have made different decisions or seen different doctors. and the nfl is saying that's absolutely ridiculous. we know so much more now than we did even four or five years ago. and i think what keeps roger goodell, the nfl commissioner, up at nights is that you would have like at the big tobacco type situation, where a whistle blower comes forward, like a former doctor for an nfl team, and says, yes, we knew that it was a lot more than just getting your bell rung when you would be hit hard on the field, and we sent players back anyway because we wanted to make money. that's the sort of thing that i think makes roger goodell have night sweats. >> i think these players are going to have to prove that the nfl knew about this and hid that information somehow from players. and let's be honest, it's not just the doctors and the teams forcing these guys back into the games. these are tough guys. they beg to go back into the games, often against doctor's orders. it seems like although this is a

huge important issue, a tough case to prove. >> what's interesting is that the players and lawyers have said they want to put everything you just said on trial. the culture of violence, the culture of masculinity that so plays into being a big time national football league fla national football league player. remember the old logo for monday night football used to be two helmets sla helmets smashing into each other. they don't do that anymore. it's as antiquated as hank williams jr. and this is the kind of thing that the nfl is nervous about the trial. what the nfl has done so successfully, and i'm a big fan, but it has sold highly comodified violence to families. that's how it's been so successful. and the big fear is the specter that it will become like boxing, like boxing used to be the number one sport in the united states. but you've had generations of parents who have kept their kids away from the sport because of the health concerns. the idea that that could happen to the nfl is the only thing

that endangers this particularly golden goose. >> wes, it was interesting a couple of weeks ago to come out and hear tom brady's dad saying knowing what i know now, i would not have let my kid put on a football helmet or a uniform until he was a teenager. that's a big statement from the golden star of the nfl's father. >> these are not small names. these are pretty household names that are now, you know, filing suit against the nfl. and actually, dave, kind of along those lines, i had a question about what do you think -- have we started seeing impacts on the college and high school level in terms of recruitment and retention? >> actually, they just came out with statistics that show 1 million less american children than a year ago are playing youth football. so you're already talking about the beginnings of a cultural shift. and it's really tragic what has brought this shift on because according to the data that we have, it's like junior seau's

suicide, dave dorsen's suicide, it's these very high profile tragedies that have people like kurt warner questioning whether the nfl is in fact just hazardous for our health. and i think what's so important about this you are hearing people like rush limbaugh trying to turn this into a right-left issue. oh, the left wants the nanny state and to ban football. and what happened to personal freedom? a former nfl football player named michael orr said, god help us if we turn this into another excuse the words a political football. we need to know more about the study that shows 7 and 8-year-olds can have the same effects as big time nfl players. parents need to know this so they can make informed choices. it's not about stopping people from playing but about us not living in a fantasiland where the worst thing you can get is a bum knee. >> this lawsuit could turn that debate too.

>> with the lawsuit you could get to the point where you do discovery, and that's when you can actually find out something of significance. the belmont stakes. could have some history tomorrow right here in new york, dave. i'll have another of course running for the triple crown. we sent out our chief triple crown correspondent lewis bergdorf to see where the smart money is. lewis? >> and they're off. that's affirm going out for the lead. >> reporter: the triple crown of horse racing. one of the rarest feats in all of sports. >> affirm has got a nose in front as they come to the wire. >> reporter: last accomplished in 1978 when affirm swept the kentucky derby, preakness, and belmont stakes. called the test of champions, belmont is the final leg of the triple crown and perhaps the most difficult. >> if you make it, it's going to cost you down the line. >> a lot of horses have looked like triple crown winners with an eighth of a mile left. >> you have to be on your best ever to come and win in belmont.

>> reporter: since '78, only 11 horses have had a shot at the title and all have failed. tomorrow, 12th horse enters the race. i'm have another. >> i'll have another. >> i will have another. >> reporter: but does i'll have another have what it takes to conquer the grueling belmont track? >> i think it's his race to lose. i believe my horse is the biggest threat. >> his last race at the preakness was very special. if he can reproduce that effort, he is a definite winner. >> think he's going to do it. >> reporter: if you still don't know who to pick, we leave you with sound advice from belmont's best and brightest. >> i'll have another is going to win this race. it's the theme of our country. whatever you're into, facebook, drinking, i'll have another. this horse represents where we are all at, unsatisfied, i'll have another. and i think this horse will have another. >> there is nothing in the world better than the guys who hang out at belmont on a tuesday afternoon. [ laughter ]

>> i have a new -- willie -- >> yeah. >> i have a new creedo right now. you know what's american? facebook, drinking, and donuts. >> that's great. >> the big three. >> good job there by lewis. let's talk about the race, though. why is it so tough? it hasn't been done since '78. why is it so tough? >> because the length of the track is so tough and the differences between the belmont and the kentucky derby track are also very different. and i think when you talk about the kind of horse that can win the belmont, you need a horse that's diverse. to put it to a different sport, it's like having to use what we just discussed, it's like having a fullback who can also run a 4.3 on the outside. and that's a very difficult -- unless your name is bo jackson, that's a difficult combination to have, and that does not come along very often. it doesn't come along gjennett genetically or in terms of the

jockeys that can handle the horses for the different kinds of races. >> and they bring in fresh horses who haven't run the other two who specialize in this length. >> yeah. >> lebron last night, dave. nobody has taken more shots over the last couple of years than lebron james, but he stepped up last night. >> amazing. i felt like i was watching a perfect storm except george clooney beats the wave. >> wow. >> because the celtics were coming at the heat like a tidal wave. none of the rest of the miami heat showed up. and lebron james by himself facing the tsunami, facing the tidal wave, conquers it. i felt like i was watching "enter the dragon," bruce lee by himself. unbelievable. >> getting a little worked up. >> we still have a game seven, all right? the storm is still there. still have to get over that last wave. >> a game seven, but have you a team in the celtics that i look at the big three, it's like bea arthur, rue mcclanahan, and betty white.

>> rondo is estelle geddie. smart comments on the side. it's just not a team built for seven games. and the miami heat, they'll be very comfortable in miami. because with all the seniors. but it will be hard for them. >> the celtics have gone seven every single series so far. >> that's true. >> they have some warriors on that team. dave, love to have you on. have a great weekend. >> thanks, guys. coming up, from a brand-new recreation center to lessons on how to write a resume, michael isikoff has a surprising report on how american tax dollars are being spent on detainees at guantanamo. you'll want to see this one. keep it on "morning joe."

[ thunk ] sweet! thanks, mister! [ meow ] [ male announcer ] the solid thunk of the door on the jetta. another example of volkswagen quality. that's the power of german engineering. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans...

in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about how some companies like to get between

ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you and your money. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we believe your money should be available ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 to you whenever and wherever you want. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 which is why we rebate every atm fee worldwide. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and why our mobile app lets you transfer funds, ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 execute trades, even deposit checks just by ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 taking a picture, right from your phone. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck and put those barriers behind you. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

welcome back to "morning joe." once targeted for closure by the obama administration, gtmo, the highly controversial detention center in guantanamo bay, cube -- is undergoing an upgrade at the expense of american taxpayers. michael isikoff has the story. >> reporter: gtmo detainees watch cable tv, play soccer in a

new recreation yard, and pray five times a day. america's most expensive prison has a life of its own, despite president obama's vow his first day in office to shut it down. >> guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now. there we go. >> reporter: but the president's promise now seems all but forgotten, blocked by congress and concerns over releasing detainees in light of ongoing national security threats. >> we treat them all as, you know, a threat. only because if you don't, then you're going to get surprised and that's not our business. >> reporter: it may come as a surprise, but as nbc news discovered, military officials are quietly upgrading gtmo, spending millions that could allow it to stay open for years. >> made it safer for the detainees, safer for the guard force. >> reporter: just this week, the official opening of super rec, a controversial new heavily guarded soccer field. price tag, nearly $750,000.

there's also a new headquarters for the guards and plans for a new hospital. also, enriching your life classes, where detainees can learn to paint, write a resume, even handle personal finances. >> personal finance? >> well, that's one class. but it's not a popular class. it's just to keep the guys busy. >> reporter: a lot has changed here. camp x-ray where the first detainees were brought 10 years ago is now an abandoned relic, overgrown with weeds, preserved as evidence under a court order. but many of the detainees who were once locked up in these cages are still being detained at gtmo with no prospect of going home any time soon. today, 169 detainees remain here, and it's costing u.s. taxpayers $140 million this year. some $800,000 per detainee. this is camp six, the most modern facility here at guantanamo. and exclusively communal living compound housing 80% of the detainees, all of whom are

deemed to be compliant with the rules and therefore eligible for more privileges. privileges like 21 cable tv channels, dvd movies, newspapers, and a library. they have got 13,000 books in the library here. all kinds of books. even harry potter in russian and arabic. why is gtmo still here? >> as far as being able to close down the operation, i could do that in a couple of months, the buildings and the people. we have removed these belligerents from the battlefield, and our job is to detain them, and we do that very well. >> reporter: but there's still the problem of what to do with the remaining detainees. many of whom are deemed eligible for release, only there's no country willing or able to take them. so for the foreseeable future, gtmo and its growing costs are here to stay. >> that's michael isikoff reporting for us this morning from guantanamo bay. michael steele, there are a lot of disturbing things about guantanamo, including the fact that many of those people haven't been charged with anything. but you look at it, $750,000 new

soccer field, that's not going to sit well with the american people. >> it's not. $800,000, you know, per detainee is an incredible price tag. and you go back to the obama, you know, campaign pledge. and certainly the early days of the administration talking about closing gtmo. and it speaks to the quandary that we find ourselves in. you capture these individuals. you know, you've got this yin and yang as treating them with american citizens with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto, but also having to realize that you can't just put them back out in the field because they go back into those networks that we're trying to break up. so the administration and the congress have got to come to terms with what they are going to do here. do we make this a full-fledged ongoing operation of the federal government and our war on terror, or do we begin to make those steps serious -- seriously take those steps to shut it down to save those costs?

and it is the guns versus butter argument on steroids. >> sam, we have been hearing about closing guantanamo for almost a decade. what happens to this place? >> it's just intractable at this point. the idea was that you could bring them to a super max facility domestically and they would live like normal domestic prec prisoners, but people freaked out about bringing them here. the resume building class for the terrorists, i wonder what kind of embellishments you can put on your resume. >> good with excel spreadsheets. michael steele, you coined the slogan that will define a generation this morning. quote, this is not about logic. [ laughter ] michael, have a great weekend. we'll see you. >> all right, guys. take care. up next, comedian lizz winstead. she created "the daily show."

she has a new book out and she'll tell us about it when "morning joe" comes back. are s, you'll get lost in an all-beef hot dog world. what was i supposed to wish for? why am i wearing a bow-tie? where did i leave my bicycle? after all, when you're enjoying the beefiest, juciest bite of pure kosher beef, nothing else matters.

goodness gracious, that's kosher. with no fillers, by-products, artificial flavors or colors. hebrew national. the better-than-a-hot dog- hot dog. to your kids' wet skin. neutrogena® wet skin kids.

ordinary sunblock drips and whitens. neutrogena® wet skin cuts through water. forms a broad spectrum barrier for full strength sun protection. wet skin. neutrogena®. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy this year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real things... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪

joining us now, cocreator of "the daily show "lizz winstead the author of a new book "lizz free or die." and you have presents. >> i do. i have tattoos. >> i'd like one. >> guys. >> i'm a tat person. didn't you notice? >> yeah, you're ripped and you're tatted up. >> lizz not as ripped. where should i put my tat? >> i think you should do a tramp stamp. >> really? >> if you would do a tramp stamp for me, and then take a photo.

>> i am going to do that. >> if you don't, all bets are off. >> i never knew what that was. >> a tramp stamp. >> do you know now? >> yeah. lewis taught me. lewis got one. >> willie is a well-known tramp. so that makes sense. >> "lizz free or die." what's the idea here? what are we talking about? >> the idea is -- somebody approached me to write a book about 15 years ago when i first started "the daily show," and i was like, i don't have a book. and every day for 15 years he was like, do you have a book? and i'm like, no, but i'm make you take me to an expensive lunch and make you think i do. when my father died in 2006, life laid out a set of priorities before me that kind of made sense. so from a young girl trying to find my boys to becoming a comedian and how that turned to being an activist and "daily show" creation and "air america," it was like i realized that so many people who go into

show biz have this goal oriented idea. like if i do this, then i've made it. and the whole point of this exercise that we all do is if you can stay on the path you've made it. if you can make a living and stay on the path creatively, then that should be the goal. and anything else is gravy. >> that's not a bad goal. >> yeah. >> so catholic and minnesota. >> yeah. >> those are like big parts of what shaped lizz. >> yes. and if you know anything about being catholic in minnesota -- minnesota is sort of this lutheran martial law that you live in growing up. so being catholic was this weird shaping. but, yeah, so catholic conservative parents. and part of reason that i love your show, and it's so fascinating, is my dad and mom have sort of your relationship. and my dad is very much like joe, where i am diametrically opposed to everything he said. he said, i raised you kids to

have an opinion and i forgot to tell you it was supposed to be mine. >> that's funny. >> so we found humor even in this opposition. so when i watch your show, it's like thanksgiving every morning. and then i see who my mom, ooh -- which relatives my mom has invited and whether or not i like those relatives. oh, i like that uncle. i don't love that aunt so much. i like that aunt. so it's fun. it's like a small family dynamic of my family. so, yeah, the catholic part played a big role. it played a big role in saying no a lot. as a young girl, i wanted to be an altar boy. and when i went to the priest just assuming, no one has thought of this, this is amazing, and he said, well, you can't be an altar boy. and then he stumbled because it's called altar girl. and i was like, really? that's the excuse you're giving me? you can't just call me altar girl and make it all better? no, no, you couldn't. but now there's alttar girls and i'm going to take responsibility because i wrote the archdiocese. >> that's it right there. >> yes. >> is there any risk in a

comedian also being an activist? in other words, do you scare off half the audience? >> you know what, i'm not ashamed at saying why not form a viewpoint that you feel like maybe rallies the troops. when people say, oh, you're preaching to the choir, i'm like, why can't the choir have more songs? you would never go to a butcher shop and say, why don't you sell fish here too? i enjoy playing to people who are my base, being a rallying cry. i think a lot of times people feel a little bit dissen franchised by a number of things. if you can get people to laugh, they still have hope and it keeping them energized. >> well, but also isn't humor sort of an ice breaker between people? you can cut through so much with the right joke. >> that's right. >> the wrong joke obviously has the complete opposite effect. but the right joke can enlighten. >> and if you make -- yes,

that's exactly right. and there's a big difference between trying to do something satirical and trying to do something snarky. if you're doing a joke about what someone looks like, it doesn't further the conversation. but if you can craft a joke in a way where you're asking a question, then the conversation continues. and also if you make somebody laugh, you can't deny there's a connection there. and that's a pretty cool thing. >> right. >> you you ctalked before about staying on the path. >> yeah. >> when you were headed into the business that you headed into, who were the people that charted the path and said, there's someone who a role model, someone who has blazed the trail that i want to follow? >> the interesting thing for me, unlike a lot of comedians that i know who had this burning desire to be a comedian, i was the youngest of five kids, and i just had a burning desire to have somebody let me complete a sentence and finish a thought. and be able to do that. >> yeah. i'm with you. >> right? so i didn't have this necessarily comedy path. it was more about being -- having a voice. so when i was a kid, the two

people who had the biggest voice were rock stars and priests. >> yeah. >> and so i looked at them like, that's amazing. and i was like, well, i have no talent. and eventually i grew into the fact that i wanted to have sex. so i had to find other avenues. and i was watching george carlin one night on television and a girlfriend of mine said, why don't you try that? and i was like, wow, it never occurred to me. and this is where i think somebody you'll really be able to relate to is the reason it didn't occur to me, i think, is because i didn't see other women my age doing it. i would see older women, phyllis diller, and i'd seen guys, but i'd never seen a woman in her 20s talking about her experiences. and it had to be suggested to me. and so that's why it's good to get more women out there, more faces, so you never have to question whether or not you as a woman want to do something. >> whenever you're introduced, lizz, you are called the cocreator of "the daily show," which is quite a legacy.

you were there from the beginning and now it's an incredible cultural force. talk about the birth of that. and i didn't realize you actually wanted jon at the beginning but he wasn't available. jon at the beginning, but he wasn't available. >> i had just come off of working on jon's talk show, he had a syndicated talk show on tv and that show got canceled and mallen and i were working together on that show, and that was my first little introduction to tv production. i wasn't really very good at it, i didn't really know what i was doing, and mallen and i went to comedy central with a different show, this crazy show about the world's worst television network, and they said, that's cute, but we kind of have -- we want to do a show that's not every day. do you guys want to come up with a concept for that? and i had spent six years doing stand-up, watching the media landscape and talking about it. and i could not believe that somebody was saying, do you want to do this show that you've dreamt of doing. and i was like, oh, my god, i

do. and then i was like, oh, my god, i don't know how to do it, but i can't say no, so i leapt into creating this monster with a bunch of other instinctual amazing comedy writers who had never done tv also. stofs so it was a bunch of people learning on the job. but the biggest thing for me, we'd seen laugh-in, we'd seen a lot of shows that did social criticism, but nobody had ever behaved like a newsroom and put on a comedy show. you know, at the beginning, it was -- i would say, in essence, the show's a little bit more like colbert, didn't have the voice of reason. craig was the host and he stayed on point. so we'd send correspondents into the field and got press passes to everything, not introducing who we were, and we were in the pool and in the gaggle, and people were like, who are these

people? what is this show? and so from that moment on, it struck a chord. and we gave the audience permission to decide when they thought it was funny. we didn't try to force anything. and then when i left and jon took over right after i left, he just took it into a strata that is so amazing, i can't even -- i mean -- >> so how close is the show we'll see 11:00 tonight to that first idea you had when he was there? >> you know, structurally, fairly similar. what's different is, we followed the media we were given, and in 1996, as you'll remember, it was like, the news magazine central. it was all of that, your mattress, what you don't know white kill you. talk shows littered galore, cnn was the only network. so it's different because they follow the trajectory of where the media went. and how they did it. and so that's what's sort of cool about it, is that the one thing i can say that i feel

really proud of, is that i created this skeleton with which it could evolve into this amazing thing with jon and his team. and it's really been a cool thing to watch. >> great story. the book is "lizz free or die," lizz winstead, thank you so much. it's so nice to meet you. >> you too. >> thank you so much! come back soon. more "morning joe" in just a moment. our cloud is not soft and fluffy.

our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. don't our dogs deserve to eat fresher less processed foods just like we do introducing freshpet healthy recipes of fresh meat and fresh veggies so fresh the only preservative we use is the fridge

freshpet fresh food for fido [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman.

coming up on monday, we'll talk to senator john barrasso of wyoming, senator sherrod brown of ohio, also, the mayor of london, boris johnson joins the conversation as that city gears up for the olympics. and up next, we'll crunch the latest fund-raising numbers and talk about why the campaign manager says, simply, we got beat. that's next on "morning joe." for three hours a week, i'm a coach.

but when i was diagnosed with prostate cancer... i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options. for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production.

we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy this year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real things... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪ to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. dude you don't understand, this is my dad's car. look at the car!

my dad's gonna kill me dude... [ male announcer ] the security of a 2012 iihs top safety pick. the volkswagen passat. that's the power of german engineering. the volkswagen passat. well hello, welcome to hotels.com. summer road trip, huh? yep uhuh let's find you a room. at hotels.com, you'll always find the perfect hotel. because we only do hotels. wow. i like that. nice! no. laugh...awe hmm nice huh ooh, yeah book it! oh boy call me... this summer, we're finding you the perfect place - plus giving you up to $100 at hotels.com

good morning. it's 8:00 on a friday morning here on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. as you're just waking up out west. a live look at new york city. back with us on set, sam stein of "the huffington post," best-selling author and combat veteran of the u.s. army, wes moore, josh green of "bloomberg businessweek," and katty kay, and our good friend, michael steele. joe and mika have the day off, and that means we're starting with lebron, wes. that means we're starting with lebron. say what you want about the guy, he doesn't perform in the clutch, this is one of those

games like michael jordan would love. he simply took over last night. >> regardless of what you think about lebron james, love him, hate him, you stared at the television in awe of what he was doing. he could not lose last night. >> sam, are you a lebron hater, generally speaking? >> i have an irrational hatred of the miami heat. i catch myself doing things i shouldn't do when watching game like that. >> but it was a post-lebron hate? >> yeah. but watching last night, you know, that was special. there's nothing he couldn't do on the court. and you know, you just had to think, if he could do this every game, maybe they would never lose. they just couldn't lose last night. >> michael steele, 30 points in the first half for lebron. >> hey, man, i used to be able to do that. it was just one of those moments where i was just relating and saying, wow. i remember the day. >> just taking over. >> i had hair, i had height.

it was awesome. it was one of those things you look at and you just go, this is what makes the sport in moments like this fun. you're on the -- you're down and potentially out. you know, one and done kind of scenario, and you pull it through. and so props and congrats and hey, game seven, baby. >> at home tomorrow night. we'll see what he does, josh. >> it hurts. i'm a boston guy, celtics fans. knew halfway through that game it was over, and everybody looked like old men on my team. >> the theory was, the celtics were going to get a lead and lebron was going to fold it up, but it wasn't going to happen. >> katty kay, did you catch the game last night? >> i was wondering when you were going to come to me on this one. >> we like to close with you. >> this is the one with the hoops, right, and the ball? just checking that we know what sport you're talking about. >> it hasn't quite caught on in your homeland yet, but it will,

i promise. we'll get full highlights of lebron a little bit later in the show. let's get to politics. yesterday, big fund-raising numbers came out. mitt romney and republicans declaring a bit of victory this morning, at least in fund-raising. romney and president obama both coming off huge multi-million dollar campaign swings out west, shaping up as a record-shattering years. here are the numbers from last month. the president and dnc took in $60 million bucks, but romney and the rnc, an even better month, $76.8 million. that's the first time the republican nominee's haul has topped president obama. it's also the same amount that romney raised during the entire primary season. in the words of obama campaign manager, jim messina, quote, we got beat. messina wrote that last night in an e-mail to supporters, asking for donations to counter what he calls romney special interests advantage. katty kay, is this a big concern for obama? >> they knew the republicans were going to catch up and romney was going to get the

money. i don't think they realized it was going to happen this fast and it's a sign of how quickly romney's consolidated the base of the party and how quickly donors are rallying around him. remember all those discussions we had during that long, bruising primary season. was he ever going to manage to get the enthusiasm of the party, was he going to manage to unite the party and the party dollars behind him? with well, this is an indication to the obama campaign that he's doing just that. and there's a really interesting story in "the new york times" this morning, willie, i'm sure you've all seen it, about just how few people these dollars are targeting. this is going to be a record election in terms of the amount of money targeted at so few people in just nine key swing states so far. i think that's fascinating, about, you know, what it says about the money in politics, what it says -- how expensive it's going to be, just to buy just those few votes. and it's not even in the big metropolitan areas in states like nevada. it's in small towns in the south of the states. that's where all this money is going to go to, and of course, on negative ads. >> josh, it's been something

like five months since barack obama's been beaten, i think hillary clinton did it to him last. in fund-raising. what's this tell you? >> it's a jolt, it tells you that obama in 2012 is not going to be the obama in 2008 that could raise endless amounts of money, and not buy the election, but put himself at such a great financial advantage that his competitors were kind of helpless not to get steamrolled. now obama looks like a guy who's going to get, if you count the corporate money, the citizens united money, he's going to get out-raised in this election. it puts him in a much different election. >> and the theory in the beginning was conservatives will win the super pac money, but obama will make it up because he's got a veritable atm machine and he can dip into that. but this just blew the roof off that theory. you look at the numbers and it's astounding, $137 million combined in one month? that's crazy. that's good stimulus money right

there. that's job-making money right there. and, you know, there is one cavi caveat. i talked to a bunch of people about this yesterday, and i expected them to be freaking out, this is the one saving grace that obama had. the one caveat is this, mitt romney was coming off a primary, he got to dip to those primary givers, john kerry out-raised bush during may as well. the second thing, mitt romney set up a victory fund. and the victory fund can take in something like $70,000, $75,000 in donations, but can't spend. so some of the money mitt romney raised can't go to his presidential race, but this shows that everything we thought about obama's financial advantages is not applicable to this race and it's crazy for democrats to think about. >> but in addition to that, there's two important things to remember as well. the first thing is that there are certain advantages of being the incumbent. and i think the president knows that as long as you keep the money game -- as long as you keep the money game close, that

the power of the incumbency will inherently give him things that mitt romney won't have going into this campaign race. i think the second thing is, as we saw, there was an e-mail blasted out saying, we got beat. they're going to use this as a rallying call to the base, to other donors, basically saying, we need you to step up now. because if $60 million is getting beat, i think this is -- they're going to use this as much as they can to try to build up as much cash and capital right now. >> and michael steele, as a guy who's run the rnc and had to go out and beat the bushes, how impressed were you by these numbers yesterday? >> very impressed. but the reality is, the rnc always does better in the presidential cycles in fund-raising. the reality of it is, those major donors come back home. and they may not play in the off years, but they certainly play in the presidential years. and they showed that. they rallied around, they contributed across the board and as was just noted by sam, that the reality of the fund-raising is that those dollars coming in

are not going to go directly back into the campaigns, because of how they're going to be allocated among the various group s participated in this fund-raising effort. but it was a very impressive haul. now they've got to keep it up. i'm sure they will. but as this thing unfolds over the summer, the pressures will continue to grow to maintain and exceed those numbers, because the obama team has already noted, 13 million plus individuals, small donors, who can give over and over and over again, who don't have written a check for $38,000 yet, can write a check as well. so there's that competition that's going to be healthy. a lot of money's coming into these campaigns and will be put on the ground in a way that's not just air wars, but on the ground as well. >> and as sam said, the obama campaign saying, we knew this day would come, pointing out that john kerry out-raised george w. bush in 2004 when he kind of became the nominee as well. romney was campaigning yesterday in st. louis, when he framed the

president's leadership on jobs in pretty stark terms. here's what he said. >> record numbers of americans are now living in poverty. 46 million people in this country living below the poverty line. this is not just a failure of policy, it is a moral failure of tragic proportion. our government has a moral commitment to help every american to help himself, him and herself. and that commitment has been broken. >> a moral failure of tragic proportions, says mitt romney. the president, for his part, out with a new ad yesterday, admitting economic growth has been slow, but says congress is to blame for not doing more to pass his tax plan. >> we're still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis since the great depression. our businesses have created almost 4.3 million new jobs over the last 27 months, but we're still not creating them as fast as we want. >> the president's jobs plan

would put teachers, firefighters, police officers, and construction workers back to work right now. and it's paid for by asking the wealthiest americans to pay a little more. but congress refuses to act. tell congress, we can't wait. >> all right. katty kay, you've seen both sides of that. we've got the moral failure, tragic proportion, from mitt romney. president obama saying, yes, times are slow, but i need a little help from congress. which one of those punches through better? >> i think saying that this is congress' fault is a tough sale for the president. keep blaming this on the republicans. this is his economy. he has been the president for the last three years. he has to be able to take responsibility for it, rather than saying, i would have done so much more if the republicans had let me. i mean, yeah, he's got a valid argument there. it's just not a very easy bumper sticker message to run on in an election campaign. on the other hand, you know, romney accusing him of moral failure, what more would the republicans have done in terms of stimulus to get those jobs

created over the last three years. those are equally valid questions p questions. i mean, you know, this is campaign season, they're going to throw at each other what they can. i just don't see how the white house running on, you know, it's congress' fault, is an uplifting enough message to rally his spotter supporters. >> josh, true though it may be, is the argument of, i inherited this mess, this is a george w. bush problem i'm still working through, does that play four years later with voters? >> i'm not sure it does. but if you listen to every answer that the president or one of his campaign members gives, it's always prefaced with, with this recession that we inherited, this constant reminder that it's not all their fault. and i would add too, if there's anyone on earth that's more less popular than romney, than obama, it's congress. so there is some rationale for believing that blaming congress might resonate with people. because most people in america look down on congress and think

they're -- >> i mean, congress' approval ratings are in the tank, and there's a poll out yesterday that shows that george w. bush was the least popular president that cnn had polled. so obama's basically running against two incredibly unpopular constitution institutions or people here. i don't think it's a bad idea. there are worse ideas out there in terms of political campaigns. he has to have someone to point to. and i think it's totally valid that congress had been a stick in the mud with him. the issue is, he's got to say which is really tough. which is, the economy's improving, but i know that you don't feel it enough yet. so we've got to do more. that's a really tough argument for any politician to make, and you know, that's going to define the election, more or less. >> i was going to say, but i think there's also a real problem with mitt romney's argument as well. because mitt romney's absolutely right. i mean, there is a moral obligation to do something about poverty. now, you know, it is a moral failure to have this many people, or 40 million people in this country living in poverty. the problem is that the policies he's put forth and the policies that he's pushing, put in place,

do nothing to address it. every time you talk about things like cutting pell grants, which congress has done multiple times over the past four years, every time you're talking about things like not providing opportunities and talking about increasing tax cuts to people who will not at all be affected by this and expecting some kind of tripledown, there's a problem with the logic. >> but he's not getting into the logic. >> you want people to know the full policy. >> michael steele, we're talking in broad strokes here. i don't think the voters yet are looking into the details of pell grants, which is everything he just said, wes just said, is true, but i think people are looking at who owns this economy, who has a better way of getting me a job. >> this is not about logic. and i don't -- i don't think there's any point saying it's going to be about logic. >> bumper sticker, there it is. >> you know, the economy, stupid, this is not about logic.

but this is the problem that obama has. that commercial just resonates his problem. when you're getting up there saying, you know, we've done this, we've done this, but we have more to do, i have work to do, we haven't finished the job, and the voters are like, we know that. can you give us something more than that? and the problem is, when you're reminding people that you haven't finished the job, it goes beyond blaming the other guys that you haven't done the job. and i think he's got to get off of that message some kind of way. i know a lot of folks i talk to within the dnc ranks are really frustrated with that mantra, or at least the impression that this is, you know, where the administration is right now, apologizing, almost, and not really talking about those high-note successes that they've had. >> hope and change in 2008, it's not about logic in 2012. >> willie, if you don't have a job in swing state in nevada,

you don't really care very much whose fault it is that you don't have a job. you want to know that the white house has a plan to get you a job, right? you want to know that things are going to be done, that steps are being taken, that are actually going to improve your economic situation. i think, to some extent, this seems like more of a base-type ad to remind his supporters who might be disaffected with him from the past to, you know, get out there and work for him by saying, this is -- you know, the situation we are in, guys, is not my fault, and getting them riled up about congress, getting them riled up about the republicans, so they want to work to keep their man in office. >> quickly, he did close by saying, this is what i would do to get people back to work. >> coming up, a new documentary takes a hard look at the integrity of the united nations and what it takes to get things done there. investment banker turned filmmaker amny horowitz joins me next. also, white knuckle flying. the star of the discovery channel's heart show, "flying

wild alaska" stops by the set. we'll watch her hair-raising effort to earn her pilot's license. plus, the week in review. but first, bill karins with a check of the weekend forecast. >> i got to watch that show. as far as the weekend forecast goes, we shouldn't see anything as dramatic as we saw yesterday in wyoming. this is plant colorado, wyoming. a storm chaser caught this tornado. there were ten of them. these storm chasers got really close to the these storms. it's interesting to watch storms that aren't near anything, because they just kind of blow around in the fields. that's the way we like them. let's show you what we're dealing with this morning. thunderstorms near new orleans, florida's going to be stormy on and off tuduring the day. the northwest not nice either. everyone in coastal oregon and washington state dodging the showers and storms. notice what happens over the next three days. we really start to look like summer. today, a lot of areas in the 80s. watch as we go into saturday. 92 in chicago, 91 in minneapolis. and the heat begins to return

and even d.c. sneaks in there. 89 on saturday. sunday for the nation's capital, should be around 91 degrees. i know a lot of people are watching out for the new york city area, the belmont, going to be on nbc 6:30, as we go throughout saturday afternoon, a slight chance of showers and storms for that. as far as the forecast this weekend, starting to look and feel like summer. have a great weekend, everybody. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] this... is the at&t network. a living, breathing intelligence teaching data how to do more for business. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions, to bring all the right results.

[ whirring and beeping ] it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪

you'll inevitably find yourself on a desolate highway in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic. and for the blind spot monitoring that helps remind you that the highway might not be as desolate... ...as you thought. ♪

hello? nobody here. >> the world benefits on the whole by having the u.n. at the same time, it's a funny place. they'll discuss some vital issue, aids or darfur or some crisis and expound about how urgent it is, and then say, it's 1:15, let's go to lunch. and they'll go off and have lunch for two or three hours, and this is what they do. it's an odd place. >> that's a scene from the new film, "u.n. me," a documentary that takes a critical look at the united nations, asking whether the international organization is living up to its ideals. it doesn't really ask so much. with us now, the co-director of the film, ami horowitz. ami, good to have you with us. >> good to see you. where the hell's joe?

i came here just to meet mika. >> that's the case with most guests. you're wearing the disappointment all over your face. >>ly say, upper west side love -- >> there you go, we've got our own -- we're not going to do that. >> and i want to commend you guys for having me the balls to have me on, the cojones, because no other msnbc host, producer would have me on, not that old guy from hardballs -- >> you're not going to -- wait a minute, stop. you're not going to come on the show and take shots at our friends on the air, so let's get to the film. first of all, i'm watching you wander around the general assembly. how'd that happen? >> you know, the u.n. is an interesting bureaucracy. it's funny, because when you get to the u.n., they're very, you know, they really want to make sure you're in, you're out, you're quick, you've got a minder with you the entire time, but, you have the pass. so once they throw you out, you can just walk right back in. so we did that and kind of roamed the halls to see what's going on.

>> well, let's start with the original ideal, the point, what the u.n. was constructed to do, what it says it does now. just, what's the basis of it? what should it be doing? >> well, the charter's actually -- by the way, this movie is a love letter to the u.n., right? the charter or the ideals that are enshrined in the u.n. are wonderful ideals, right? it really is based in freedom and liberty and human rights. the problem is, what the u.n. is now is sort of a perverse example of what it was supposed to be. that's the unfortunate thing. they lost their way very early on. and i'm trying to help them find their way back. >> all right. so what's your chief criticism? what's your big complaint about the u.n.? >> no accountability, right? no transparency and no accountability. and when you have that, that essentially is what creates all the problems. and if they just would have -- if they're just there to place judgment on country, and they're

accountable to the people, to us. we're the people who fund this stuff. in fact, the charter begins with the words, "we the people," me want to reflect the u.s. constitution. but, unfortunately, it's gone awry. >> you've gotten a rise out of the u.n., they've responded to your film saying, it misses the point, it's a one-sided slam on the weu.n., riddled with factua errors. they go on to say, it's -- >> a good deal? everyone can make their own judgment as to whether our $8 billion a year is worthwhile. but there are factual errors? i don't know where they come from. one-sided, depends how you view it, i suppose. but i do appreciate the time they took to respond. >> the film is timely, especially with what we've been talking about just this morning with syria. we have -- it seems like every week, another condemnation from the u.n., we cannot sit by and watch this happens. it's on the front page of "the

times" this morning, kofi annan, in front of the general assembly, we can't stand by. yet, it stands by. could use some help from russian and china, certainly. but what can, what should the u.n. be doing in syria? >> i think one thing it has to do -- first of all, remember, this is not new, what's happening in syria. it's been going on for months and months. and tens of thousands of people have been killed. and the u.n. only recently has decided to really get involved in syria, unfortunately. in fact, syria, right now, as we speak, sits on the u.n. human rights body of unesco. talk about insanity. and what do they do? they want to make sure is their words are, everybody from both sides needs to calm down. no, it's not both sides, it's one side, right? it's the government of syria doing the killing and anybody else trying to kill themselves. and this moral inability to know who's the aggressor and who's the victim is the heart of the problem at the u.n..

>> you took your cameras into the u.n. and got some good footage, right? did you take your cameras with you on peacekeeping missions on africa? >> we did. we shot all over the world. >> what'd you find? >> listen, i'm not saying that most peacekeepers are bad guys, but a significant amount are, because these guys come from -- >> the peacekeepers are bad guys? >> some of them are, certainly. absolutely. not all. but there are a the issue there's a massive amount of rape, of sexual abuse that goes on. again, not a majority, but a significant enough minority to be a concern. and year in and year out, the u.n., despite their talk, has never done anything to stop it. we went there, we saw these guys partying in clubs, kicking it on the beach. >> but there's a big difference between partying in clubs and you're suggesting rape -- >> no, no, in fact, there are rapes that go on, there's sexual abuse, there are thousands of cases -- >> among the people they are

suppose tli kedly keeping the p with. and you have evidence of this in the film? >> sure. the other question i have, the founding of the u.n. was based on the idea that there are incredibly different interests across the globe, but if you can bring people together and talk, at least you're starting a dialogue that will matter eventually. you know, we're not going to agree on the correct path forward in syria, but at least you have them in the same room. your film seems to be inclined that we all can't deal with the conversation, that we have to have certain yeses or nos to these big intractable issues sometimes. is that a fair assessment or a fair judgment on what the u.n. is supposed to do? are they supposed to follow one track at all times, or is it supposed to be an institution that promotes global dialogue? >> not at all times, but sometimes it should. in fact, a lot of times there's right and there's wrong. syria's an example of right and wrong. i'm all for dialogue, i'm all for negotiation, as long as the two parties who are negotiating are negotiating in good faith to get to the same path.

that's the case, i think it's wonderful. but i think the problem is in too many cases with the u.n., what you're seeing is its inability to say, this is wrong, and this is right. and i think that's the problem. >> people can check it out for themselves, "u.n. me" out in select theaters and available on demand and itunes now. ami, thanks for being here. >> it's a pleasure. coming up next, the high-flying star of the discovery channel's "high-flying alaska," ariel tweto stops by the set of "morning joe", we'll be right back. dude you don't understand, this is my dad's car. look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude...

[ male announcer ] the security of a 2012 iihs top safety pick. the volkswagen passat. that's the power of german engineering. to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha!

there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪

kept telling tweto she was fine, she would do okay, but a 15 knot crosswind landing is probably right at the top end of her skill level. >> oh! >> we couldn't do anything. all we did was hold our breath. oh, what is she doing?! you've got your kid's life in her own hands. man, my heart was just in my throat.

>> wow. >> that was a scene -- >> that's a nice face. >> the way we froze it, too. a scene from discovery channel's "flying wild alaska," the hit show, with us now the co-star of that show, ariel tweto, who was just flying solo for the first time in that clip. >> welcome to the show! >> thank you. >> tell us what was happening in that clip. he kind of said, we're going out for a lesson, but this time you're on your own. good luck. >> we were just kind of flying around, and then when you solo flight, your instructor just hops out of the plane and they're like, you're off. so i went up, you have to go three times to take a takeoff and a landing and i greased it my first time, and the second time around, the wind just started blowing and i lost radio

communication, i was like, what did i do? i could have flew around for a while and waited for the wind to die down, but i wasn't thinking that much, and i just landed and my plane was like crooked and i survived, though! >> yes, you did! >> so, willie, it's fascinating. you say that you tv four shows, "mad men," "30 rock", the third one i'm not going to say, and this show. >> "modern family" might be another one. but i stumbled on to discovery. it's been a huge hit for the channel there. and it's about a place a lot of us will never be in alaska, but also, it's a family drama. it's about you and your sister and your mom and dad who run a family airline. >> not really a family drama. we're not always arguing. >> yeah, it's not real housewives stuff. >> a real family. >> we don't like each other, it so works out. so the village i'm from in alaska, the only way in and out

is by airplane. and my dad co-owns a company and we're all pilots. my mom, my dad, my sisters, and we bring in food, we bring in diapers, we bring in dogs, we bring in people. a lot of doritos and pepsi, because we have one store, so everything, by the time it's brought in, it's all rotten if it's fresh. so everything's canned and doritos and pepsi. >> and by comparison, how many people in your town? >> ours is actually -- ours is pretty pig, there's like 600. >> 600, so by comparison, that's a big town. because some of the places you fly and your dad flies, six, seven people, and need supplies. >> most of the villages around us have like 100, 200 people. so we bring in -- >> how did this start? i mean, how did your family find themselves doing this show? >> me and my friend, i went to college in l.a. for a while and i got the bug eyes on wipeout on

abc. i was like, this is actually sort of fun doing -- entertaining people. so me and my friend pitched it to different networks for a while, for like a year. >> that's awesome! >> and discovery one day, they were like, hey, we like your show, so they let us go up to alaska -- >> that is an incredible story. >> you know, just watching that clip that we showed coming in, the degree of difficulty of flying in those conditions, where the wind could change in 30 seconds, where there's all sorts of difficulties presented to you as a pilot, talk about that a bit. >> well, i've had good instructors. like, my dad taught me a lot and our other pilots, and they always teach you you have to be on your toes at all times. and you're in alaska, so you know the weather's going to change. so you're taught how to respond to deferent scenarios. so that's what you're always thinking about. it's crazy, but it could be sunny and in two seconds, it's

windy. and you just learn how to -- >> 12 months a year you fly? >> yeah, 12. not me, because i'm still learning, so i can't fly in wind more than like 50 knots. and that's pretty much like every other day. so but the rest of the pilots fly 12 months a year. but i fly probably like six. >> so what causes all the accidents? all the plane accidents up there? because this is a political show, a lot of the time, is so many alaskan politicians have been killed -- >> ted stevens. >> yeah, in plane crashes. why is it so dangerous up there? this isn't made-up drama. you're doing something very dangerous. >> yeah, we don't make anything up. it's just the weather and a lot is with -- there's pilot errors, but a lot is with the weather and with just the environment there is really dangerous. like all the mountains and then

there's -- there's different rivers and you have mountains and the rivers and the ocean colliding, so you get weather fronts. it's just -- a lot is with weather. >> your dad is a pretty gruff guy. >> my dad's awesome. >> a good character on the show, but i get the sense watching him, you might have had to drag him into doing a reality show? definitely drag him. that was the hardest thing, it was easier pitching it to discovery than my tad. i'm like, but it's going to help where are business, so he bought it. and now he's so supportive and such a good dad, so if it was going to help me with what i want to do, he was all for it. >> what are some of the landing strips like? >> oh, some of them are like the size of this room and all dirt roads. sometimes you have to land on the river, when it's prosen. some of the laces, they only have landing strips in the winter, when it's ice, they land on the runway, or on the ocean, and so, i don't know, it depends.

everywhere is different. >> there's one scene in the show where her father, he's trying to get to a hunter, and he lands on a creek bed. he sees a patch a grass about the size of this desk and says, i'm going to put it down there. >> i want to see this! >> it's great. so season three starts friday, june 8th, "flying wild alaska" on the discovery channel. i can't recommend it enough. ariel, it's great to meet you. thanks for coming in. >> thank you so much! >> and now i understand why they call it "30 rock." that's the address, 30 rock. i was looking at, that's what it is! >> i don't see any rocks! >> are there 30 of them? >> that's what i thought when you said that, i was like, oh! >> there you go! i just made the connection myself, too. ariel, thanks. more "morning joe" in a moment.

let's get our creativity running. then get some blades spinning, paper sanding, and bits turning. let's motor to the only place that carries our favorite tools... for our favorite people... armed with a budget and a mission... and see what happens when we put those tools to work for us. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, get the ryobi four-piece 18-volt super combo kit, just $99 - our lowest price ever. but what about your wrinkles?

neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. [ male announcer ] you plant. you mow. you grow. you dream. meet the new definition of durability: the john deere select series. with endless possibilities, what will you create? ♪ learn more about the new select series x310 with power steering at johndeere.com/x310. do you have any idea where you're going ? wherever the wind takes me. this is so off course.

nature can surprise you sometimes... next time, you drive. next time, signal your turn. ...that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you and your money deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, that means taking a close look at you tdd# 1-800-345-2550 as well as your portfolio. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 we ask the right questions, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 then we actually listen to the answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 before giving you practical ideas you can act on. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck online, on the phone, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 or come in and pull up a chair.

we just got word president obama's going to hold a news conference at 10:15 this morning in the white house briefing room. msnbc will, of course, have live coverage. we don't quite know what it's about yet. any ideas? >> probably a response this guy's film about the u.n.. >> 10:15 eastern time, we'll bring that to you live. first, we want to get a check on business before the bell with cnbc's brian sullivan. what's going on, man? >> i want to leave you guys with some good news, but before i do that, i've got to show your viewers something that's a bit troubling, and it's not just dramatic video, it actually has major implications for greece. you guys have probably seen this, it's been going around, it's kind of gone viral, as they say. basically a talk show in greece, and you had, who is essentially the neo-nazi party, it's called

golden dawn, that's the dirtbag in the black suit who's smacking a woman. i mean -- >> repeatedly. >> i mean, she's a member of the communist party, who cares what party it is, two things here, first of all, two other dudes need to take him out back and teach him you don't hit women. and this is a major political story as well. not because of what happened, it's obviously disturbing, but because greece has some major elections coming up on the 17th. they need to get a coalition government, guys, that will agree to the austerity measures with, and that just shows you, yes, these are a bit of the fringe parties, although they've been growing in popularity, but the greek government does not currently have a coalition. if they don't get a coalition, it is more and more likely that they will not be able to pass through the austerity measures, which would essentially mean they would hard default on their debt and it would be a major, major banking crisis in europe. and while those are members of the french parties, it shows just how divided many of these sides really are as we head towards that june 17th date. it's a major story, guys. i know greek elections not

usually the headlines on msnbc, but you guys should definitely watch it. >> and you spend a lot of time over there in greece, brian. june 17th is coming up quickly. what happens -- you know, this is ten days from now we're talking about. we could be -- have a huge moment in europe. >> you know, i was there for a week in 2009, i was all over europe, sort of reporting on this story. and even then, it was surprising to me how fractured some of these parties were. a lot of blame being pointed at germany. the communist party was on the rise. you've seen this golden dawn party, again, which is essentially a neo-nazi party. i mean, their representative to parliament, one of them, anyway, is the drummer, and basically a death speed heavy metal band and wears makeup on his face. and it's just really disturbing. june 17th, they need to pass the coalition government so they can pass through the austerity measures, even though they're unpopular. but i promised you a little good news. i'm not going to leave you with that disturbing video. the all-america survey, basically done by cnbc exclusively, of 800 or so families around america, shows

that for the first time in years, more than half of the economy, over half said the economy is not getting worse. they're not overly bullish, but over half the respondents said things were not getting worse. 29% said things are going to stay about the same. so it's not a great survey, but it is a little bit of a good news survey or better news survey on a friday -- >> i think you're reaching there. i love it. i love you. >> i'm trying. how can i transition from that video to -- i'm trying to find any scrap of good news that i can. mcdonald's sales, by the way, just came out this morning -- >> so what you're saying is combining getting better and staying the same, we get to 54% and getting worse is only 37%? is that what you're telling me? >> yeah, your condition is not deteriorating, mr. patient. you're holding steady. which if you were deteriorating, is a good thing to hear, right? so yes, maybe i'm stretching a little bit. everybody slams me when i come on your show and say, oh, he's mr. negative, shilling for the

gop, blah, blah, blah. so i thought i would extract a little good news when i could. >> there's an interesting number, whose policy is better for the economy, mitt romney, 39%, president obama, 33%, with a large chunk, i guess, on staining from this poll. >> you know whose policy is better for the american economy? the american people. it's time for americans to move on past d.c., solve their own problems, corporate america, step up, start hiring, put people over profits, forget d.c., move on, create jobs. that's the answer, according to this, you know, less than humble journalist. >> this it is, brian sullivan, a little light in the dark on a friday afternoon. >> have a great weekend. >> up next, the week in review. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

all right. we've arrived at that point in the week. it's time for the week in review. at number three, london balling. >> the events that i have attended to mark my diamond jubilee have been a humbling experience. >> queen elizabeth ii threw herself a week long bender to celebrate 60 years of living in a giant castle. the queen accepted serenades from the world's biggest stars. she got out to bet the ponies at

epsom downs. and she rolled crew deep down the thames on her tricked out party barge. not to be outdone, the colonies back here across the pond showed off a little royal pomp and circumstance of their own, parading out wwf great george the animal steel to throw out and eat the first pitch at a minor league baseball game. at number two, the remote controlled dead cat. a dutch artist paid tribute this week to his deceased cat orville by stuffing him with a motor, putting propellers on his paws, and letting him soar with the angels. >> i really loved this cat, and for me, this is a way to actually make him eternal. >> as the little fella's expression shows, even orville was surprised business hi

owner's decision to turn the late kitty into a remote controlled helicopter. and the number one story of the week -- >> democracy died tonight. >> very emotional? >> i'm very emotional, because we all had a lot invested this. >> democracy took its last breath this week, when wisconsin governor scott walker held on to his seat in a recall election. >> it's done. democracy's dead. if we didn't win tonight, the end of the usa as we know it just happened. >> after a bare-knuckled dairyland brawl that lasted a year and a half, walker delivered a big win, or if you like, a spanking. >> it's a spank. >> democratic challenger tom barrett didn't just get spanked, he got smacked by one of his own supporters who went upside his head after he conceded. president obama moved past the wisconsin loss this week with a little help from his friends, sjp and the woman from "the

devil wears prada." >> these two wonderful and i were hosting a dinner along with the president. >> meanwhile, the president's republican opponent regaled audience with tales of giant people he's met along the way. >> handsome, great big guy, 7 feet tall. i figured he had to be in sport, but he wasn't in sport. >> you figure, handsome son of a gun, he's got to be in sport, he's not in sport. coming up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? the medicare debate continues in washington... ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security

at earnedasay.org. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ dude you don't understand, this is my dad's car. look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude... [ male announcer ] the security of a 2012 iihs top safety pick. the volkswagen passat. that's the power of german engineering.

you'll also care about our new offer. you get access to nurses who can help with your questions. and your loved one can get exelon patch free for 30 days. if the doctor feels it's right for them. it cannot change how the disease progresses. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight. patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers who take certain other medicines should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems such as bleeding may worsen. patients may experience slow heart rate. thirty days of exelon patch free for your loved one. access to trained nurses for you. call 1-855-999-2399 or visit exelonpatchoffer10.com.

mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪

time to tell you what we learned today. we mentioned a few minutes ago that the president just announced a press briefing at 10:15 eastern time this morning. sam stein, new info? >> it's going to be about the economy, he's also going to address europe, and his favorite words, the headwinds that we face. >> so economic briefing at 10:15. wes moore, what'd you learn today? >> a somber but important number, 154. that's the amount of active duty soldiers that have committed suicide in the first 156 days of the year. >> those are active duty. that doesn't even count guys who are -- >> yeah. >> well, i learned, on a much lighter note, that the best way to pay tribute to your deceased cat is to turn it into a remote-controlled helicopter. >> how can you segue from that to -- >> i don't know. it was a disgrace, i apologize to everybody who's