this morning. first, benghazi. then, the irs. and now, a scandal involving phone records and the associated press. how will the president deal with a wave of potential scandals? also, a revelation from one of the biggest stars on the planet. why angelina jolie underwent a double mastectomy. and how she broke the news to the world. and a hockey fight like you've never seen before. where this bench-clearing happened and how long it lasted. it's "way too early" for this tuesday, may 14th. that's unbelievable stuff on that hockey rink and where it happened will surprise you. this is "way too early." we have, honestly, a huge news day, especially the controversy swirling around the obama administration. first off, a quick challenge for you. i always was told this audience was one of the most sophisticated out there, right? this morning, you get a chance to prove it.

we want to see if you're way too witty. that's the hash tag i want you to use. we're looking for captions for this photo. i have my own. we'll show the best ones later in the show. let's get to our top story. the justice department under fire for using a secret subpoena to obtain two months of phone records from the associated press' reporters and editors. more than 20 separate phone lines including home phones and cell phones. and the main number for the a.p. and the house of representatives press gallery. more than 100 journalists were subject to this investigation. a senior official tells nbc news, the subpoena was necessary to avoid a, quote, substantial threat to the integrity of an ongoing investigation. that investigation is linked to the leak of information about a cia operation in yemen that stopped a terrorist attack. as many as six a.p. reporters

who worked on that story were among those targeted by the government. and in a letter to attorney general eric holder, the a.p.'s president writes, in part, there can be no possible justification for such an overboard collection of the telephone communications of the associated press and its reporters. we regard this action by the department of justice as a serious interference with a.p.'s constitutional rights to gather and report the news, end quote. while the white house says it had no knowledge of the seizure, the obama administration has taken significant steps in recent years to investigate the disclosure of classified information. coming up on "morning joe," we'll get more on the a.p.'s response, with executive editor kathleen carole. president obama stayed out of the irs scandal until yesterday. the president addressed the agency's role in targeting organizations with the words tea

party in their name and some others that had conservative ideologies. the president came out saying that behavior is not acceptable in his administration. >> if, in fact, irs personnel engaged in the kind of practices that have been reported on, and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, that's outrageous. and there's no place for it. and they have to be held fully accountable. we'll wait and see what exactly all the details and the facts are. but i've got no patience with it. i will not tolerate it. and we'll make sure that we find out exactly what happened on this. >> now, the agency says the scandal was limited to low-level workers at a cincinnati field office. but now "the washington post" is reporting at least two irs officials based in washington,

d.c. were also involved with the investigations. the house ways and means committee has set hearings for friday. and there will be a senate probe, as well. president obama also took on critics of his administration's handling of the attacks at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. the president dismissed the controversy as a political, quote, side show," saying it only dishonored the lives of four americans killed. when pundits turn the tragedy into a, quote, political circus. >> if this was an effort on our part to downplay what happened or tamp it down, that would be a pretty odd thing that three days later, we end up putting out all of the information that, in fact, has now served as the basis for everybody recognizing this was a terrorist attack. and that it may have included elements that were planned by extremists inside of libya.

who executes some sort of cover-up or effort to tamp things down for three days? the fact that this keeps on getting churned out, frankly, has a lot to do with political motivati motivations. >> president obama also admitted that the embassy was not adequately protected before adding the nation's lawmakers should be focused on protecting our ambassadors abroad. let's bring in politico playbooks executive editor jim here. thanks for joining us. which of the three issues do you think is the biggest problem for the obama administration? >> well, there's no doubt that the irs scandal is an authentic scandal. in all likelihood, people are going to lose their jobs over it. the other two we don't know enough about. we don't know what's going on with the justice department looking at the associated press and in its reporting. on terrorists. and then, we don't know what

else is going to happen with benghazi. it all depends on is there more there? when other whistle blowers come forward. when other information comes forward through the hears. is there more than we know? right now, the talking points seem to be the most damaging part of the benghazi scandal. but we've kind of known the essence of that. there has to be more to be a full-blown scandal. it starts to have an effect on his popularity. to me, the dangers all of this stuff in totality, it starts to have people thinking, what's going on here with government? it seems like government is over here intimidating people through the irs. it's doing things inefficiently through the implementation of the health care program. and if people start to rethink their trust in the federal government, that's the danger. >> it brings up my second question. you know there's a small window to get things done in a second term. do you see this impacting obama's ability to get stuff

done? >> heck, yes. would be the short answer. and the reason is, by our count, one-third of all house committees, one-third of all the congressional committees, are now investigating the president. in some shape or form. whether it's the irs. whether it's going to be the news yesterday about the justice department and associated press. whether it's benghazi. whether or not the implementation of the health care program. now, you have a congress consumed with oversight. consumed with investigation. and this is pretty familiar for a second-term president at this juncture. and it can be problematic. there wasn't a lot happening anyways. so, congress needs something to do. a lot of folks are putting their energy into investigating. when it comes to getting a budget deal. when it comes to working through immigration. this doesn't help. it only makes each side more partisan and more angry. >> we're tight on time. any danger the republicans overplaying this and going at it too hard? >> no doubt. that's the number one fear among republicans privately.

they feel that the evidence out there, the news reports out there, are damaging enough for the president. they worry that their members are going to overplay their hand. they're going to call for impeachment. compare this to watergate, when you don't really know on any of these individual cases how big it's going to be. they want the reporters, the facts to carry it. not rhetoric. >> jim, get a cup of coffee. we'll see you later on "morning joe." some other news to get to. the philadelphia doctor who performed late-term abortions have been convicted of three counts of first-three murder. he visited predominantly by poor and uninsured women. the case included grisly details how he killed children born alive by snipping their spines. i have trouble even reading that. but his lawyer argues the babies had been stillborn. >> as any intelligent human being would be at this point of

time, he's disappointed and upset. we aired out our position over this over a long trial. we had a fair trial. we got to put out our position. and the jury spoke. >> his death penalty hearings begin next week. the case as re-ignited the case over late-term abortions. advocacy groups for abortion rights say his practices did not resemble other clinics. minnesota's on the verge of becoming the 12th state in this country to legalize same-sex marriage. the state senate gave final approval to the bill on monday. and the governor will sign it today. it's a pretty sharp reversal for the state of minnesota. two years ago, the republicans bypassed the governor to make the state's current ban on gay marriage part of the state constitution. that measure failed. and the new law will take effect on august 1st. angelina jolie, of course known for her human rights advocacy. now, she's raising awareness for

a different issue, one that hits close to home for the actress. in an op-ed in "the new york times" this morning, she reveals she took dramatic steps for her own health. jolie underwent a double mastectomy when doctors predicted she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. and a 50% chance of ovarian cancer. jolie's mother died of cancer at the age of 56. and she is a carrier of a so-called faulty gene. jolie writes, i choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. it is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested. and that if they have a high risk, they, too, will know that they have strong options. pretty amazing news. still ahead on "way too early," the first astronaut to become a social media star. and it's absolutely true that chris hatfield's flight back to

earth is under way and he is a media star. we give your chance to show that you're way too witty. use that hash tag and give us your best caption for this photo. i don't know, barnacle. take a sip. you have a caption for that? mine was, the russian snuck the shrooms, i swear. i'll give you two breaks. all right. come back for the bruins came back from a three-goal deficit in the last ten minutes. what happened in overtime? you hurt my feelings, todd.

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sports from my partner in crime, bill karins. kevin durant and the thunder on the road against the grizzlies. memphis up two with ten seconds to play. durant, yes. ties it at 94-94. going to o.t., which is a theme. all griz in o.t. clutch fadeaway jumper from marc gasol. he's unbelievable. memphis wins a big game four. a 3-1 series lead. >> it's supposed to be oklahoma city and miami. doesn't look like it's going to happen. >> speaking of the miami heat, let's head to chicago for this game. that was a free-for-all on the court there. this is lebron with the finish. 27 points, as he nears a franchise record. defensive -- the bulls, they only scored like 66 points in

this game. it was very sad. it was hard to watch. they can wrap up the series going back to south beach. >> just too hurt and banged up. hockey, game seven. bruins/maple leafs. boston down 4-1, to start the third. they rally back. patrice bergeron ties it with less than a minute to go in the game. >> i feel bad for the toronto fans. >> six minutes in. here's the call. >> marchand with it. hands it off. bergeron, a rebound chance. scores. patrice bergeron, who tied the game, has won it in overtime. >> i'd like a ticket to that one. bruins are the first team in nhl history to win a game even after trailing by three goals in the third period. the other game seven in the stanley cup playoffs between the rangers and capitals, different story. this was a rout. all-rangers. >> at home for washington. the rangers hadn't won there in

forever. >> 5-0. just an embarrassment. henrik lundqvist, two shutouts in a row to close out the series. they face the bruins in the semifinals. >> rangers/bruins. that's great. poor toronto fans. they hadn't been to the playoffs in ten years. so close. i watched this a couple minutes ago. i'm still shaking in my head. this is the russian youth hockey league. all right. goalie, that's a two-on-one. the guy in the blue is going to jump in. how about the entire bench jump in? how about the entire rink. watch this kid flip over the top of the other kid and land on his head. >> they're 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds. but only two refs on the ice. i have a 6-year-old. >> the white team had more people on their bench than the blue team. it wasn't a fair fight, either. a lot of two-on-ones going on here. at some point, you think the parents want to join in. >> this is tough. >> you're a hockey guy.

do you teach your kid to protect himself on the ice? >> i didn't see a punch thrown on the ice until junior high. we're a little more classy. let's get baseball. nationals and dodgers. in the fifth inning. a.j. ellis, deep to right field. bryce harper -- >> come on. >> i mean -- >> makes too much money to do that. >> he thought he was 40 feet away from the wall. you don't want to see anybody get hurt. he did get 11 stitches in his chin. and the nationals would win the game, 6-2. probably going to be okay. that is just -- he just went full-speed. >> if you're a fan of bryce harper. >> brutal. we have to do weather. it was freezing yesterday. >> the north, we had a gorgeous sunrise at reagan national. yeah. the windchills out there alone. this is a winter cold morning, in the middle of may. it is 24 windchill in bighamton, new york. i think like ten times now. this is cold.

it is it. we're really going to turn the corner. windchill of 38 in philly. you get sunshine. it's going to be a perfect afternoon. temperatures in the 60s in most cases. even spots down with the frost or freeze this morning. now, the midwest, want to talk about things upside down. it was 93 in fargo yesterday. 93. it was 46 in buffalo. all of the warm air is heading across the country. we're already 20 degrees warmer in kansas city than this time yesterday. chicago's going to be 87. so, we have significant heat in the middle of the country. some of that eventually, is going to come this way by wednesday and thursday. d.c. should be near 80 by thursday. >> good. yesterday was chilly. coming up at the top of the hour, joe and mika bring us up to date on the justice department subpoena of a.p. phone records. what it means for the white house as the controversies begin to pile up. we'll pile up around the

watercooler. jon stewart fed up with the scandals. his take on the politicization -- can't give me that at 5:50 a.m. you may need the ear muffs for the kids. mine was earned in djibouti, africa. 2004. vietnam in 1972. [ all ] fort benning, georgia in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation.

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at the top of the show, we told you about the controversy surrounding the u.s., seizing the phone records of reporters and editors for the associated press. the justice department informing the a.p. they had obtained records about their employees without their knowledge. if you want to sound smart today, tell the a.p. it serves more than 1,700 united states newspapers as well as 243 broadcast bureaus. >> tell me. >> its news content is seen by half of the world's population on any given day. >> wow. >> remember that. let's hit the cooler. >> all right. thanks, brian. we -- there's a lot of talk in the news about the irs and how it was involved in investigating conservative groups. here's how jon stewart is reacting to the headlines. >> facts don't matter to that side. in their paranoid fever dreams, the state department and the cia changing talking points as irrefutable evidence.

despite there being no shred of evidence to validate their full-blown victimization complex. >> the internal revenue service admitted today that some of its employees targeted conservative political groups for extra scrutiny in violation of its own policy and despite earlier denials. >> mother [ bleep ]. son of a [ bleep ]. no. [ bleep ]. what? what did you do? >> i love that. we need that energy at this time of the morning. >> we need a seven-second delay. >> no kidding. a russian spacecraft carrying a crew of spare travelers is back on earth after a five-month mission to the international space station. it ends the station's expedition 35, which was commanded by chris hatfield. hatfield may be the first astronaut to take advantage of social media from space.

♪ this is ground control to major tom ♪ ♪ you've really made the grade ♪ ♪ and the papers want to know ♪ ♪ who's shirts you wear >> his rendition of david bowie's "space odyssey" was seen by millions of people. retweeted by bowie himself. >> why do astronauts have mustaches? >> i don't know. his voice is pretty good. a good rendition. now comes your chance to prove that you're way too witty. looking for the best captions for this photo. we'll show you the best coming up, after the break. >> do you have one? >> i have one. >> you want to share now or no? >> i will. afternoon delight. you know, skyrockets in flight. >> that's where your mind is. mine was on narcotics. and yours on something else. >> you know -- keeping it p.g. here, brian, for the younger audience getting up for school. remember this guy, former

north dakota news anchor a.j. clemente. he was fired after swearing on air last month. he was given advice on "morning joe" set. now, he's found a new job. clemente tells rumorfox.com, he's going to be tending bar in summer. that sounds like a fun gig. the bar is a celebrity bartender. the bar reads, a.j. clemente from letterman. tonight, behind the bar. clemente says the gig is just for the summer. he hopes to apply for new news jobs this fall. i wish him best of luck. >> i feel like a twin bill. him and pauley d. doing something. >> he has to strike when the iron's hot. the beach is hot. shoutout to all my boys. >> you want to do this? or have you had enough? >> you take it. i'll be nice. >> we'll find out who is way too witty. get the pun? your best captions for this

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the first way too witty caption contest. phenomenal response. john tower has our top three. >> we have some great ones. free bird, no. don't know that one. >> good one. >> in and in the winner, ultimate air guitar. >> that's a good one. now, by the way, producer eric schultz who says the only one who thinks he's funny is his wife actually had a good one. another reason astronauts get all the chicks. although, you know, that was good for you i thought. >> for me. >> it's time for "morning joe." ♪ this seems like a genuine scandal. so explanation, please, let's say from the individual who oversees tax exempt organizations for the irs. >> they used names like tea