chilling effect. >> we just think they went about it the wrong way. so sweeping, so secretively. so abusively and harassingly and overbroad. that it constitutes, that it, that it is an unconstitutional act. >> we are almost right under the tornado at this point. we can hear the roar. it's right over us, but we can still see it in contact with the ground farther off toward the northeast. >> nature's fury, two people are dead after devastating tornadoes tear across the midwest. as the same region now braces for more severe weather today. and a big night for big exits on "snl's" season finale as the cast bids farewell to bill hader. riding off into the sunset.

>>. [ cheers and applause ] >> good night! >> and they lived happily ever after. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington, lawmakers in both parties are expressing outrage on the controversies surrounding the irs and the obama administration. but so far the current pressure on the white house hasn't put a dent in the president's national popularity. joining me for our daily fix, chris cillizza, msnbc contributor and managing editor of post headline politics.com and mark handler. chris you've been going through the poll numbers, it was a cnn poll. tell us so far the surprising,

somewhat surprising results. >> well, fascinating, andrea. this is not news to those of us who spend a lot of time looking at polling. but the american public contains two almost contradictory notions in its head. on the one hand, president obama has a 53% approval rating which is quite good. up from 47% a few months ago in the cnn poll. on the other hand, some of these investigations, scandals, call them what you will, 59% of people think house republicans and republicans in general are acting appropriately as it relates to benghazi, 54 % think congressional republicans are reacting and acting appropriately. as it relates to the irs. so on the one hand the president at 53%. he'll take that. after the week he just endured andrea. but on the other hand there does seem to be a public appetite for at least further investigation. i would say there's not a desire among the public to sort of move

on. they think that republicans are not sort of overstepping their bounds. we saw during impeachment polling suggested that the public said forget about this. we don't care about this. republicans are off on their own adventure. that's not the case, at least right now as it relates to the irs and benghazi. >> what are the warning signs, mark for the white house and how is the white house trying to get their arms around it? you wrote a story this weekend that dennis mn docka, the white house chief of staff said we're not going to spend more than 10% of our time dealing with all of this. how can they roll it off to the extent of only being 10% of their time? >> well, andrea, i mean that's part of a strategy to sort of put these scandals into a certain context. and argue that this is far from watergate, it's far from the scandals of the clinton era, something that's manage amt, it's being investigated in the proper channels. the legal channels. i think the challenge for them is there is information coming out day by day, particularly on the irs scandal, which is the one that has the most resonance.

that does raise questions about when the prous knew, who in the white house knew and what did they know. you saw dan fifer over the weekend go out on television and repeat the line that the white house had been informed of the inspector general's report on the irs. but that it would have been improper for the white house to impede or intervene in that investigation anyway in any way. this morning there were reports in the "wall street journal" and our newspaper that in fact the general counsel in the white house, katherine rummeler learned of the i.g. report and learned of the conclusions in the i.g. report. that's a slightly different story than the white house has been putting out. these are the types of questions that come up day by day that could pose more of a distraction than the 10% of the time that you alluded to. that dennis mcdonough would like to limit this too. >> as senator blunt was saying on the daily rundown, chris cillizza, what is common sense? would the white house counsel have learned of this and not told the chief of staff? would the chief of staff know

about it and not tell the president? you have to say what tests you know, cred you'llty here? >> mark is right here if dan fifer appeared on all the shows yesterday and said what he said, you got to know that you've got this thing sort of tied into a package. that there's more than gs to come out if you're going to draw a hard line and say this didn't reach us, this is partisan fishing expeditions and sorts of frame it in a political context, you kind of have to know all the details. there's a difference between knowing that there was a report coming out and knowing at least what the preliminary findings of that report showed. that matters. that is not a nothing. and that's the issue i think for the white house, which mark has hit on. which is unless they know, no other details will come out this is a story they're not going to be able to devote just 10% of

their time to, that's not how washington works. >> let's speak a moment about the a.p. situation. gary pruitt was on "face the nation" yesterday, his first television interview. in listening to hill, he explained how powerfully and invasive this was. let's watch. >> i think it will hurt journalism. in fact we're already seeing some impact already officials that would normally talk to us, and people we talk to in the normal course of news-gathering are already saying to us -- that they're a little reluctant to talk to us. they fear that they will be monitored by the government. >> we know that your colleagues, two of your colleagues, who i know of at least, david sanger have already been investigated, those are cases still pending. and now today we learn that james rosen, our colleague at the state department correspondent from fox news, was investigated years ago on the question of reports he was filing on north korea.

this administration has had a posture of investigating that goes well beyond what the bush administration had done. >> yeah. and the argument that the administration typically makes when you question them on this, is -- these are legal investigations. these are not investigations that are ordered by the president. the president doesn't even know about them. he finds out about them the same time the rest of us do. i think it begs the question, who sets the tone. the aggressive approach toward cutting down, plugging leaks is something that sat at the very top of the administration. so i think it's slightly difficult for the white house to argue that the president is merely a bystander in the process. i things that the james rosen case, in particular, the details which are just coming out this morning is really interesting, because it appears they went after his gmail account and some of the methods that all of us use to try ferret out information are being used against him to suggest that he's guilty of wrongdoing. i think if you're in our

business, the james rosen case will probably strike a chord. >> we'll have more on that coming up in a bit with michael isikoff, thank you very much. >> yesterday on "meet the press," david gregory pressed senate main ort leader, mitch mcconnell to justify his conclusions about how high up decision-making at the irs may have gone. >> there's a culture of intimidation throughout the intimidation. the irs is the most recent example. >> do you have any evidence that the president of the united states directed what you call a culture of intimidation at the irs to target political opponents? i don't think we know what the facts are. >> that hasn't stopped you from accusing. >> we're talking about here an attitude that the government knows best. the nanny state is here, to tell us all what to do. and if we start criticizing, you get targeted. >> there's no question after the week we've had that the partisan divide is sharper than ever in washington. joining me is olympia snowe,

former republican senator from maine who stunned washington and maine last year when she decided not to seek a fourth term. she's a senior fellow at the bipartisan policy center and the author of a new book "fighting for common ground: how we can fix the stalemate in congress." give us the answer, senator. we're desperate for answers. to what we can do to fix the stalemate it seems to have gone even worse since you left. i'm not suggesting a cause and effect. >> i was concerned that the polarization would be diminished. i think it's important for americans, to speak up, to become engaged in this process and demand and value bipartisanship. that's why i'm part of the bipartisan policy center. that's why we've launched a common ground project. so people can weigh in and be a catalyst for bridging the divide, come up with common ground option, and break the stalemate and hold the leadership and members of congress and the president accountable on many of these

issues. we have to be a counterweight to the forces of extremes that obviously want to perpetuate the status quo. >> when something happens like the irs, clearly misbehavior, misconduct, we don't know whether legal or illegal. but the president said, unacceptable, outrageous. so there's an oversight function, an important one, divided governments, the house side is controlled by republicans. the senate side, by democrats. is there a way for congress to conduct its oversight so that it doesn't get out of control and doesn't seem to be a situation where we've had recent hearings where democrats on the house side have not been permitted to see witness lists or ask questions in real-time? >> they should handle this in a very prudent fashion. and that is, doing did on the basis of fact-finding and establish the credibility and the integrity of their purpose of their hearings. and to elicit the truth and

frankly the search for the truth should be a bipartisan pursuit. so it's the manner in which they handle and conduct these hearings that will demonstrate that they're on truth-finding mission. that should i think bring both sides together. because i think they obviously need to know exactly what transpired in each of these events. so that they can address the issues, remedy, take action against those, who perpetrated these acts and also to restore the confidence of the american people in the way in which government is functioning. >> part of your focus in your book and in your work going forward is how to stop the stalemate particularly in congress and in the senate. and you suggest for instance, stopping the filibuster, banning the secret holds, where as one senator can put a hold on a nomination, we have had judicial nominations from both parties held up to the point where people simply withdraw their names. to say nothing of cabinet posts. no budget, no pay, five day work

weeks. >> isn't that amazing. >> astounding, a five-day work week. >> people draw on that and talk about the five-day work week. i know that senators and members of congress go home and work in the districts. but you get to spend time in washington, on the issues during the weekend and have concentrated work weeks to focus on these complex issues. you can't give them nanosecond attention. people understand that and they see that congress you know has let them down in terms of not focusing on issues that matter to them. in their hair daily life like jobs and the economy, they're long overdue, long past due for attention. and frankly the american people deserve better than that, given the fact that they're affected by these issues on a daily basis because of the lack of jobs and the low economic growth that we're experiencing. >> you tell an anecdote in your book, you told what happened

when president obama called upon you for your vote on his health care reform and what happened during that meeting. >> well, i had to tell him, the one in the oval office. >> exactly. >> it was a beautiful snowy day and i had to give him the message that i would not be voting for his health care bill because of the issues that had not been addressed and because it had become so complicated and big and obviously he was disappointed. but it was a beautiful snowy day and his two daughters were out playing in the snow, with the dog and the white house photographer. so it was an iconic scene. >>ing did he say that you could be a modern-day joan of arc? >> yes, he did. he called me up and he said, i could be joan of arc. and i said, but mr. president, she burned at the stake. he said, i'll be there with a hose, and i said, that would be great if i believed twab the right approach. >> how intense does the pressure

become when you know you and your colleague, susan collins, the two moderate republicans, we've seen how endangered a species, northeast moderate republicans are in the party. >> it's interesting, people think they're always compromising and capitulating their principles. it's to the contrary. we have to evaluate the issues and understand on both sides the merits of the propositions in front of us, that's what everybody should be doing. we have diverse constituencies and we look at all of the issues, what works, what doesn't work. what is the strength of legislation, what isn't. we're far from being soft on the questions, we're in fact very tough. we have to know the answers to the questions. our constituencies are republicans, democrats and independents, that's the way it should be. for the country. everybody should be weighing in to figure out the best solution to the problem. not just based on the agenda of the political party. >> could you ever see yourself

going into back into elective politics? >> not at this point. i don't know the future, but i'm certainly not planning on it. i feel it's so important to change the political tenor in washington and encouraging people to get involved. you no he we need a counterweight. because the other side, those forces, the machinery of polarization, are very well organized. they're very well funded, they're tireless in their efforts to divide. and so we've got to reverse this tide of ideological absolutes and do what's right for the country. it's about the country's interests that should be put forward ahead of any agenda of any political party, any group. >> what a novel idea. >> isn't it? >> thank you so much. >> olympia snowe and the book is "fighting for common ground." thank you for this and the bipartisan policy center where you are now perched. and as many as 19 tornadoes touched down across the midwest on sunday. causing devastation across parts of kansas, missouri.

oklahoma and nebraska. our friends at ksnd, nbc's affiliate in wichita, kansas, had to evacuate their news room, but still somehow managed to stay on the air. >> you know, jd in 20 years i've never said this, but i think it's our time to go. >> we're leaving the radar image up. but it appears it is time for all of us to get to shelter. get to shelter right now. ryan. >> ryan newton, now, ryan. >> everybody down below, let's go. big time taste should fit in a little time cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop.

where over seventy-five percent of store management started as now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. i'm the next american success story. working for a company hourly associates. there's opportunity here. i can use walmart's education benefits to get a degree, maybe work in it,

or be an engineer, helping walmart conserve energy. even today, when our store does well, i earn quarterly bonuses. when people look at me, i hope they see someone working their way up. vo: opportunity, that's the real walmart. with centurylink visionary cloud a brinfrastructure, and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable, secure, and agile. for 150 years, california educators have stood up for what happens in the classroom. in 1866, pioneering the first free public schools for all kids. and today still standing strong, with efforts to close achievement gaps... reduce class sizes... and give every student a well-rounded education. even as time and technology change the way we teach, our commitment to children never will. because the california teachers association knows quality public schools make a better california for all of us.

steven miller had been around washington a long time, too. and the other thing that happens in washington is, that what you do when you find out information can get you in a lot more trouble than the information you found out. so hard to believe that after 25

years at the irs, he decided, you know i'm going to keep this to myself. >> there are lots of questions still surrounding the irs targeting of tea party groups. michigan congressman sander levin is the top democrat on the house ways and means committee which has been holding hearings on the controversy and joins me now from capitol hill. congressman, thank you very much. were you satisfied with what you heard from steven miller, the acting commissioner? >> no. i think it's very clear as i said many days ago, he should have been relieved and he was relieved of his duties. terrible mismanagement. the seuss of criteria that never should have been used. signaling out groups like tea party or any other political group and i think the failure to keep us posted, i wasn't satisfied. and i think for all of those reasons, his departure was absolutely necessary. >> is it credible to you that the ig report was communicated

to at certain levels, but was, that somehow the president didn't know about it? that the white house counsel learned of it? perhaps three weeks ago now and learned of the conclusions, not just the fact that there was an investigation going on. but that the white house chief of staff, that the president never learned? how do we know how contained that is? >> we'll have to find out. i think it is credible. the i.g. said there was no political interference, also, there was no outside interference. and three weeks ago, apparently there was information given to the white house, that a report was coming out. what would people want the white house to do? not interfere with the report, not try to influence it. but essentially to respond to it when it was issued. and that's what apparently has happened. i think if that's what happened, it was appropriate. i think we have to be very careful.

i listen to olympia snowe, i think she's be a ut salutely right. i think it's so important that we proceed on a bipartisan basis that we not let this snowball and simply be used for political purposes. i heard senator mcconnell, it was just yesterday. talking about this and the nanny state and also when our chairman opened up the hearing with his opening statement. he and i had agreed to be bipartisan. and talked about a white house culture of cover-up. and when asked, there is no mcconnell was asked, what's the evidence for what you say and he could not come up with any. >> lois learner, the key figure who mentioned this at a conference and apparently there was a set-up question that had been planted in the audience. why is she still on the job? >> i think only because of civil service, i said some days ago she should be relieved from her duties and she should be. what she did, if that's what

happened with aba, totally, totally inappropriate. and she knew what was going on. well before anybody else did in the irs, apparently. i think her actions also very much failed the task. i think this was mismanagement on her part. there were changes in criteria. but the way it was handled, i think was very, very, very inappropriate. and she should be relieved of her functions, i think as soon as possible under the civil service rules, soon. i thought it should have happened already. >> now the, your colleagues in the senate, max baucus and orrin hatch, the chair and ranking republican on the senate finance committee have listed a long list of questions they want answered by the irs going forward. not just on this. they've issued that today. are there a lot of questions now that your committee, that the ways and means needs answered as

well. of other investigations, other groups that may have been targeted? how much farther do you think you need to go to get to the bottom of this? >> we need to get all the facts. chairman camp and i working together on a bipartisan basis did issue a list of questions. all of them have to be answered. each and every one of them. so there are further committee inquiries going on. the attorney general has launched his investigation i think we need to get to the bottom of it. what went wrong in this exempt organization, department? what really went wrong, we need to find that out so we don't make the same terrible mistakes once again. we've got to find out everything. that should be our mission here. i think olympia snowe said the right thing. we've got to change the tone in this town and be able to work on a bipartisan basis and we should be able to do this on the irs investigation and everything

else. it's critical we do it that way. >> congressman, is one of the casualties here going to be tax reform? that is an all-consuming venture which we know would be centered in your committee and senate finance. dos this oversight mean that you're not going to get the time to do that? >> i hope not. the difficulty of turning this too much into a political effort will be it will undermine other efforts like tax reform, like immigration action. like work on gun violence issues. we've got a major task ahead of us, and we need to be sure at every step, we do it the right way. and somehow in this very, very heightened political atmosphere, we need to find a way to handle ourselves, in a bipartisan way. if we don't, in this case, it could affect everything else, and i think olympia snow has

sent a warning, that that's a real danger. she left because we couldn't do anything on a bipartisan basis. we need to have these investigations done on a bipartisan basis. so we can do other things on a bipartisan basis. otherwise i think the public is going to feel even more disenchanted about government. and i think we need to be sure that we don't let that happen. >> sander levin, congressman, thank you very much on the ways and means investigation on the irs. and president obama made it personal this weekend during a commencement address to historically black moorehouse college in atlanta. his speech was peppered with humor and history and a note about responsibility. >> some of you are graduatie ii suma cum laude. some of you are graduating magna cum laude. i know some of you are

graduating thank you, laude. i know sometimes i wrote off my failings as an example of a the world trying to keep a black man down. i had a tendency to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. but one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there's no longer any room for excuses. be the best husband to your wife. or your boyfriend or your partner. be the best father you can be to your children. because nothing's more important. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions

while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. with chantix and with the support system it worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. with chantix and with the support system it worked for me. meet the 5-passenger ford c-mc-max one. c-max two. that's a super fuel- efficient hybrid for me. and a long range plug-in hybrid for you. now, let's review. introducing the ford c-max hybrid and the ford c-max energi plug-in hybrid.

say hi to the c-max hybrids. do you guys ride? well... no. sometimes, yeah. yes. well, if you know anybody else who also rides, send them here -- we got great coverage. it's not like bikers love their bikes more than life itself. i doubt anyone will even notice. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aarrggh! and i've been around the toughest guys in football. and now i'm training guys who leak a little to guard their manhood. with man style protection... whoa... of new depend shields and guards. who are you? this is my house. perfect. come with me. built you a little man space under here. how 'bout that. sweet. see depend shields and guards are made to fit guys.

that's awesome. i trained that guy now it's your turn. go online for my tips to help guard your manhood. with new depend, shields and guards. tornadoes are expected to rip across the midwest again today. at least 50 tornadoes tore through five states over the last five days. we can expect another dozen or more today. the tornado threat begins late this afternoon. so far, oklahoma has seen the worst of it with at least two

people now dead. nearly two dozen injured. 300 homes damaged or destroyed. nbc news correspondent janet shamlian joins me from shawnee, oklahoma where residents are starting to pick up the pieces. what devastation, an extraordinary scene. >> they have had to pick up those pieces quickly. because this is an accelerated clean-up process, because we know we're hours away from potentially more storms this is the reality of the day after a tornado. this is the bricker family, they've lived here 28 years. they've got friends and church members here now making piles of materials they'd like to keep others that they're going do give away. others that are just trash and need to be hauled away from this scene. they do not have a storm shelter, unlike many families here in oklahoma. they did, however, go to their son's storm shelter and they were safe. just hours earlier, they hosted their grandson's third birthday party here. because of these early warnings, they essentially watched this tornado, this funnel cloud form live on television.

and they know exactly when to leave. there were no injuries here. not in this entire neighborhood. as you mentioned, there were two deaths in oklahoma. more than three dozen injuries. and some 300 homes in this state damaged in one way or another. and those damaged homes are now part of the problem. because we're expecting high winds. and there's pieces of plywood and nails all over the place. that's been the reason for the accelerated clean-up. the target zone this afternoon, forecasters think the biggest area of possibility is ranges from dallas here to oklahoma city. but andrea, it goes as far north as minnesota. back to you. >> absolutely heartbreaking, grim, grim pictures there, thank you very much for your reports, stay safe. and mourners planning a vigil in new york's west village to remember mark carson, the latest victim in a spate of anti-gay attacks, he was 32 years old, shot and killed late friday night. only steps away from the iconic stone wall inn, the site of

landmark riots in 1969. 33-year-old elliott morales was arrested later and charged with that attack. police commissioner ray kelly has called this clearly a hate crime. love to golf. ♪ [ grunts ] yowza! that's why i eat belvita at breakfast. it's made with delicious ingredients and carefully baked to release steady energy that lasts... we are golfing now, buddy! [ grunts ] ...all morning long. i got it! for the win! uno mas! getting closer! belvita breakfast biscuits -- steady energy to do what i do all morning long. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. that was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again, and now i gotta take more pills. ♪ yup another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet?

♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] this may, buy aleve and help those in need.

like other precious things that start off white, it yellows over time. when it comes to your smile, if you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest whitestrips whiten as well as $500 professional treatments. guaranteed. crest 3d white whitestrips.

we're learning more about the justice department investigation, the subpoenas of "associated press" phone records and the doj's unreported access to reporters' private and digital communications. nbc news national investigative correspondent, michael isikoff is on the case. michael, what have you learned? >> well, more details about that, the justice department's subpoena for a.p. phone records, we've learned that there were five reporters' cell phones that were subpoenaed, three home phones. five offices, interestingly enough, one of those offices had been vacated for six years. and so, the a.p., the justice department was subpoenaing a dead phone line. and one of the questions the app is raising issed justice

department has said this subpoena was only done, narrowly crafted. limited scope. yet they apparently didn't even know that the phone line wasn't even operating for the past six years. so it doing raise questions about some of what the justice department has done here. gary pruitt said this was unconstitutional. a.p. lawyers tell me they are weighing legal action here to go to court possibly as late they are week to challenge the justice department's subpoena. they're going to have a tough road to hoe there. it's the legal climate is not very favorable for reporters right now. >> to say nothing of the political climate as well. what about digital materials? because there's much less protections just traditionally for digital materials, emails. >> absolutely.

we've been focused on these subpoenas for telephone toll records. we only learned about them because this goes back to regulations written after watergate. that when justice subpoenas phone records, they have to tell the news media. those regulations were written before there was an internet. before there was email. as we've learned from other court cases, involving leak investigations, they are getting, they, justice, prosecutors are getting those emails. they are getting cell phone text messages, all of which they don't have to tell the news organizations about. we have a case involving james rosen, the fox news state department reporter, and court records, we've examined show that not just his cell phone records, but his private email account, gmail account from google was gotten by justice prosecutors. that's content. that's what he was saying in those emails. these telephone logs don't even

have that, they're just the logs. these investigations are much more intrusive than most people realize. >> thank you so much, mike. thanks, michael isikoff. >> this week, irs officials are he heading ing back to capitol for more questions on who made the call to target tea party groups for extra scrutiny. the house oversight committee will hold hearings on wednesday. yesterday's senior white house adviser dan fifer was on all five sunday shows defending the administration. >> what the republicans want to do is try to drag washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions trumped-up hearings and false allegations. what we're not going to participate in partisan fishing expeditions designed to distract from the real issues at hand. >> so often he seems to be a bystander to the problems in his own administration. >> i think that's an absurd proposition. >> there is a culture of intimidation throughout the

administration, the irs is just the most recent example. >> this is arrogance, this is big government cronyism. and this is not what hard-working taxpayers deserve. >> activist government, big government was promised to be able to deal with these issues, to solve our problems. i do think that's also being brought into question. >> joining me now, amy walter, national editor for the cook political report. and the "washington post" ruth marcus. welcome, both. >> this was a fun sunday, if not a full ginsberg, going door to door. it was enough. >> hoping to put this story away, which it's pretty clear, it's not going away any time soon. >> it's only 10% of the white house's attention right now. >> sure, that sounds about right. >> the real question i think is how much more, how much leverage can republicans get on the day-to-day drip drip drip story but can they turn this into an election issue in 2014. the only way they can effectively use this is if they

make it much more about the government incompetence, than they do about process. which a lot of the story is now about process, who knew what when. and to say -- if the government right now can't handle these little issues here, 60,000 applications, how are they going to handle obama care? i'm surprised we haven't heard it yet, people against immigration reform. conservative groups talk about this as well. how possibly can the government handle processing 11 million new people if they can barely handle properly this issue that the irs was talking about. >> and all the talk about the nanny state. this feeds into what we now understand are legitimate tea party concerns about being targeted and about being singled out. >> right, it's the sort of overbearing, but also simultaneously incompetent nanny state. you do have at the same time the ever-present risk that

republicans will overshoot and you hear it in some of the rhetoric which has been less than entirely careful. i thought the notion of this culture of intimidation for example went way too far. some of the talk about impeachment has gone way too far. you see the anxiety among some of the grown-ups in the room, in the republican party, wanting to tamp that down a little bit. it didn't do so well if we all recall impeachment. >> what about the investigations, the leak investigations? we know that national security has broad support and you haven't heard as much criticism of the leak investigations, and the president in fact defended what the justice department had done. >> you made this point earlier. it's not just about the national security, it's about the reputation of reporters, which is not exactly high on the list of occupations that people of -- >> that is reality. and also i think had this been,

if this were 30 years ago, 35 years ago at the height of watergate and the vietnam war, i think it would be a very different conversation than the one we're having now. i think that's part of the reason this hasn't gotten the same sort of traction that it could have. >> but ruth, what should people be concerned about given how pervasive this was, the fact that there was no notification, and that from the face of it it doesn't seem as though they did what they claim they did, which was to follow their guidelines to pursue every possible remedy before doing this? >> i think you put your finger on exactly what people should be concerned about. first of all, the apparent overbreadth as far as i can see of the subpoenas, so many offices, so many reporters. so many different phone lines, so much time and why not give the a.p. the opportunity? these records weren't disappearing. they weren't in the a.p.'s custody. there's no risk in going other than getting turned down.

in going through a process. the a.p. goes to the justice department and says, or the government and says we have this information, we're concerned about publishing it. give us some guidance. in the same way, which is the responsible thing to do. the responsible and more prudent thing for the justice department to do in this case, would have been to work out the subpoena with the a.p. not that they would agree, but at least they would give themselves some cover. >> the fact that the a.p. only went the story because they were told the white house was planning to announce this with great fanfare the next day. it was a successful pursuit of al qaeda in yemen. >> so i think that once again, it's legitimate in some instances for the government to conduct leak investigations. we live by leaks, we love leaks. but there are equities on the other side. they have to be done carefully. however, as a political matter, going nowhere, nobody cares,

nobody's riled up except for those of us who sometimes get leaks. >> and the other thing that gary pruitt said on "face the nation," amy, is that they're already feeling the chilling effect. they're having difficulty with sources. >> understandably. >> right and so that becomes a question, is it going to take something in the magnitude of a watergate, are you going to need the pentagon paper, something like that. to get the political atmosphere to change in order for people to say, actually, you shouldn't, we should be seeing more of this and the public saying we should be seeing more of this rather than it being tamped down. >> what about the other piece of this, the administration, the white house is trying to get some resonance for going out to protect the middle class. he talks about jobs on friday, and everybody is focused on the irs. there's no echo chamber for the -- >> for the message. >> that they're trying to -- >> i think it's, there's two sides to this. it's definitely difficult for the administration to get its

positive message out. it's not that interesting. nobody wants to pay attention to what we've been, we've had three little shiny objects to be distracted by in the press of these three, i'm not going to say scandal episodes. at the same time, it may make some space for behind-the-scenes policy making. even as all of this was happening, john mccain was at the white house talking about immigration reform. so maybe if we're all distracted over here, there are some deals. the deals that can be done in washington these days, maybe it gives them space to be done. that's my hopeful view for the day. >> i'm told the opposition decides its to their advantage going into the mid terms not to make deals. >> right and to say that these administration, think the department of justice is doing this with the a.p., thing what they're going to, do they're supposed to be securing the border. how they able to do that. >> the question is whether the interest of the republican party

as a whole, the majority of it lie with immigration reform or not. >> we have to leave it there, amy walter great to see you and ruth marcus, as always, thanks. an emotional good-bye for david beckham this weekend in paris where he played his final professional soccer match. made honorary captain for the game. beckham could barely hold back his tears before taking the field one last time. >> you started 20 minutes before. you know the emotions started kicking in and it was hard to, it was hard to run and let alone kick the ball. but you know, it was an emotional night to see the reaction of the players. to see the reaction of the fans when i came off. it was special. that i needed to make one of those tech jobs mine. we teach cutting-edge engineering technology, computer information systems, networking and communications management -- the things that our students need to know in the world today. our country needs more college grads to help fill all the open technology jobs.

to help meet that need, here at devry university, we're offering $4 million dollars in tech scholarships for qualified new students. learn more at devry.edu. for qualified new students. you know it even after all these years. but your erectile dysfunction - you know,that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing,

stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. big time taste should fit in a little time cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop.

now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. with centurylink visionary cloud a brinfrastructure, and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable, secure, and agile. and which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? kryslisa is back. the president is holding a meeting right now with the

president of myanmar or burma, that, plus, we will see a rand paul speech in new hampshire. senate finance committee tomorrow is holding hearings with doug schulman, the former head of the irs. what else are you looking at? >> well, andrea, definitely the -- well, rand paul in new hampshire. you know what that means. politician goes to new hampshire and iowa at this time of year and at this time of an election cycle and for one reason and it's because they're running for president. more pertinently to right now, senate finance committee tomorrow, house government and oversight committee on wednesday both with irs-related hearings. this is going to be another tough week for the administration as sort of these details of who knew what, when get litigated out and i have a feeling that's what will be driving the news. i want to ask about virginia because over the weekend we saw the lieutenant governor running against keusch nelly and he's pretty controversial. >> this is an african-american

man named e.w. jackson. what's important to know here is it wasn't a primary. it was a convention so this is a very small group of very conservative party activists who choose the nominee. they chose mr. jackson. already you've seen lots of websites have information and thinks he compared planned parenthood to the ku klux klan. he had african-americans who vote for democrats. we'll hear more about this and there's a danger here for ken keusch knellet and republican nominee for governor has run a good campaign and he does not want to get dragged down and polled as just another conservative and this will make it a little bit harder. >> thank you so much, chris e lisa. we'll be right back. 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. because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. but he with a chuckle replied that maybe it couldn't, but he would be one who wouldn't say so till he tried. ♪ somebody scoffed, "oh, you'll never do that." "at least no one has ever done it." but he took off his coat and he took off his hat, and the first thing we knew he'd begun it. there are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, there are thousands to prophesy failure. there are thousands to point out to you one by one, the dangers that wait to assail you. but just buckle in with a bit of a grin,

just take off your coat and go to it. just start to sing as you tackle the thing that "cannot be done," and you'll do it. [ engine revs ] ♪

>> that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports."

remember, follow the show online and on twitter @mitchellreports. my colleague tamron hall has a look at what's next. >> will jodi arias testify? big breaking news. she is expected to take the stand in a last chance to avoid the death penalty for murdering her ex-boyfriend. will she plead for her life or stand by her own words that she'd rather die than live the rest of her life behind bars. we're also watching major storms expected to hammer parts of the midwest where two people were killed by tornadoes yesterday. we've got a couple of live reports on the threat that is looming right now and we'll show you some incredible video from yesterday. plus, yahoo!'s big deal, the search engine buys tum bler for more than $1 billion. it's a bold move by a high-profile ceo melissa meyer. and we'll talk to star jones about why every move melissa meyer makes is scrutinized. ferip when they need it the most.

operation homefront provides assistance to our servicemen and women when they have unforeseen difficulties. [ mcmahon ] i was first introduced to operation homefront when we found out we were having a baby. even when i'm gone, she has a helping hand. thank you for everything you've done for us. [ male announcer ] walmart has teamed up with kellogg's to make a donation to operation homefront to help support military families. you can help too. find out how at walmart.com/heroes.

see, i knew testosterone could affect sex drive, but not energy or even my mood. that's when i talked with my doctor. he gave me some blood tests... showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% testosterone gel. the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or signs in a woman, which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are or may become pregnant or are breast-feeding, should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep,

and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. nehey!r! [squeals] ♪ [ewh!] [baby crying] the great thing about a subaru is you don't have to put up with that new car smell for long. introducing the versatile, all-new subaru forester. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. the news nation is following breaking news in the jodi arias murder trial. the convicted killer was expected to address the jury today in what would be her last chance to avoid a death penalty, but in a dramatic turn of events just minutes ago the arias defense team filed a motion for a mistrial and said they will not call any witnesses. this is the final phase of a trial that has gone on for six months and now the same jury that found her guilty of brutally murdering her boyfriend or former boyfriend travis alexander will now decide if she should spend the rest of her natural life in jail or die by lethal injection. if jodi arias pleads for her life today it would contradict her words immediately following her conviction when she told a reporter that death would be, quote, the ultimate freedom. last week the jury heard emotional testimony from the victim's family. jodi arias cried in the courtroom as she listened to the staples by alexander's brother