most people go away for vacation and bring back a t-shirt or bot toll of alcohol or whatever. but mr. dan norwick came back with a fiancee. great picture w was enjoying himself. he's an awesome producer and a good man to boot. i better get invited. that's all i have to say because i like champagne and i don't cry, actually. anyway, congratulations, dan. "morning joe" starts right now. . >> just because one small area of their business raised a couple of red flags, now everybody at the irs has to stop their lives and prove their innocence. see that's the problem with auditing, irs, you may have perfectly reasonable explanations for every action that you took. that doesn't mean we don't need you to go back home and dig

through another couple of shoe boxes until we get just that one document. that we really need to see before we can be okay with your reasons. why? [ bleep ] you. that's why. >> good morning. it's tuesday, june 4th. >> welcome to "morning joe." with us onset, we have the former governor of pennsylvania and nbc news political analyst ed rendell. >> morning. >> how are you? >> we have the president of the council on foreign relations and author of foreign policy begins at home. richard haass. and in washington, economic policy reporter for the "new york times" annie lawry is with us, as well. >> willie, you missed a big show. a huge show yesterday. this was a big one. >> caught up on douglas a little bit? >> this was a huge show yesterday. we had michael douglas. >> no. >> talking about health problems. >> no, that's not what we're talking about.

he's doing better now. and then you have brian sullivan who came on at the end of the show doing stuff on youtube. >> yeah. >> drinking his urine or something. he said it was sanitary. but the big news -- the big news is that -- what are you looking at? >> i'm waiting for something horribly awkward to come out of your mouth because this has been a bad start. >> the big news, willie geist is, that you know, who do we talk about is our hero when we go -- the holiday in on 57th, who is the example of foreign policy leadership that we talk -- that's the kind of leader we need today. >> well, i think we usually -- the conversation begins and end with cinncinatus. >> he goes to war, had wins, a saves rome, and goes back to the farm. he's just a toiler for the

state. and we -- we have our own cinncinatus now. >> we do? >> yeah. did you hear the news? willie, we're very excited. sometimes he comes over and smokes with us, heraldo rivera. >> i'm sorry. it's funny. actually. >> you're still thinking about the safe, aren't you? >> i'm going back to michael douglas. >> he could go back, root out where the hidden money is. how would you like that to stay with you for decades? >> he's keeping his own name in the race. >> well, he is. he is. he let chris christie know that if he called, he would be senator. >> that would be nice. >> richard, have you put your name out there yet? >> new york, not new jersey. >> i don't think it matters. ask hillary. >> and the giants. >> that's right. >> oh, hold on a second. willie -- >> we did that yesterday, it was disgusting.

>> there's an update -- what's the update? >> give you an update, andrea piser wants michael douglas to shut his mouth. >> and she just put that -- >> that might have helped. all right. >> what's the story? >> he says -- >> is he walking it back? >> he's walking it back. >> he had to. >> he was merely making a medical point which is that this can be transferred that way. but he doesn't know -- >> didn't this guy smoke his entire life? he smoked his entire life, drank his entire life and trying to blame it on something natural. >> you know, on "the view" had guts to talk about the act. but you all want to jump around it like a bunch of school children. >> that's what she said. all right. let's go to the news. the heraldo story actually starts with sad news. of the 115 world war ii veterans

who served in the senate, he was the last. senator frank lautenberg of new jersey set to retire next year at the end of his fifth term died yesterday of complications from pneumonia. called one of the most productive members of the senate, his colleagues held a moment of silence on the floor where he served more than three decades. his chamber desk was adorned with a vase of flowers. lautenberg helped pass landmark legislation banning smoking on airplanes. he also helps out the national drinking age at 21. and worked to establish the blood alcohol standards for drunk drivers. most recently, he was a staunch advocate for stricter gun control laws coming to the senate floor in a wheelchair to cast his vote. now, governor chris christie is tasked with appointing lautenberg's replacement. yesterday, the republican governor gave an impromptu tribute to the long time democratic senator. >> it's no mystery that senator lautenberg and i didn't always

agree. in fact, it probably is more honest to say we very often didn't agree. and we had some pretty good fights between us over time. battles on philosophy and the role of government. but never was senator lautenberg to be underestimated. as an advocate for the causes he believed and for an adversary in the political world. >> and so now governor christie faces a political tight rope in naming lautenberg's replacement. if he selects a republican, he may gain favor with the national gop ahead of the potential presidential run that everyone's talking about for 2016. but that move could alienate a more moderate set of voters that he needs for this year's reelection bid as governor of new jersey. if he selects a democrat, it would surely outrage many members of his own party. but it could also help him with democratic donors, many of whom have been offering up big

contributions to his campaign. looking ahead to a special election, it is possible the vote could be held in november, the same time christie faces voters himself. that means he would be on the same ballot as mayor cory booker who is eyeing a run for the senate. having booker on the ballot could help christie's democratic opponent. are you all following this? it's complicated. but it's really a quandary. >> it's easy. >> how is it easy? >> he's a moderate republican, he has to pick a republican to stay within the party and not alienate people. >> you're saying if he picks a democrat, his national -- his chances at national -- >> i think it's another hurdle for him on top of the obama reconciliation. >> really? >> it's another hurdle. but it's easy. you find a liberal republican, a moderate republican, appoint him, someone highly regarded who is not going to be a candidate, the perfect appointment for governor. >> would you ever appoint a republican? >> sure, as an interim senator,

absolutely. >> really? >> yeah. >> how much does that hurt him in new jersey? the guy's got like 74%, 75% approval rating. >> i think if he appoints a liberal republican, democratic voters say, well, we understand and he appointed someone in sync with most of the things -- >> what's he going to do? go across state lines and excavate rockefeller? >> well, that would be a perfect appointment. >> former -- >> as an interim, i don't think christie would want to run, but would she serve for 13 months? absolutely. >> crystallizes it as grudge does. just had a big picture of chris christie with president obama and said whose side are you on? conservatives are waiting to see what governor christie does. >> it's also important he appoints someone who is qualified. that's almost as important. >> and willie, i'm glad you bring up drudge, over memorial day weekend, all weekend the

banner headline all weekend was open for business and pictures of the jersey shore and just absolutely wretched shape which wasn't a poke at the jersey shore so much as it was a poke at chris christie. conservatives are waiting to pounce and i think that's why ed rendell's right. let's talk about also democratic donors that are just pouring money into chris christie's. >> yeah, absolutely, in making this decision, he's going to have a national campaign in mind and he's going to be thinking about how this would play out in new jersey, where there's a lot of democrats and where he can raise a lot of money in democrats and also in other states, i don't think it's going too far to say that chris christie is probably thinking about how this is going to play in a state like ohio, as well. he's obviously a guy with national ambitions. and you know, if he ran for national office, he would be doing a lot of fund raising from more moderate folks and would want to be seen as somebody who

could be bipartisan. i think he's going to walk a careful line in selecting somebody who is not going to alienate his own party. but also going to leave these options open to him because they're going to be important in the future. >> i hear the democrats, annie, have been pouring money into his race. and democrats that hardly ever give money. >> that's so -- >> yeah, absolutely. he has a fairly unique ability to raise money across party lines. and he's already proven this. and that's going to be something very important going forward. >> and herein lies one of the great ironies of my party. there are a lot of people in my party that see it as a weakness, that chris christie can get votes from people in the other party and money from people in the other party. silly me, i thought it was the idea. you steal votes from your enemy, you steal money from your enemy. you want all the votes, you want all the money and you want

everybody on your side. ronald reagan was very famous about it. he would accept anybody. and so he's giving them hell for him supporting him. they can support me as long as they adopt my views because i'm not going to adopt theirs. but saying, chris christie being able to get money from across party lines is seen as a negative by some people. it's actually exactly what we need in the presidential candidate. >> i think in the, you know, regular way of thinking everything you think that would be a negative for chris christie has turned out to be a positive. >> yeah. >> i wonder if, you know, he has to stick into the rules here, appoint a member of his own party or not. i think he does whatever he wants and whatever's good for new jersey and it comes out in the wash is good for chris christie. >> i think he does. i think, though, it is a big leap if you pick somebody in the democratic party. and fortunately for chris christie, he's got about 24, 25 points to play with.

so if democrats get angry, he -- so he loses five, ten points. >> chris has an interesting reelection problem because of his national ambition. he has to hit a certain number. you know, for an ordinary politician, reelection '58, '42, landslide. chris christie if he gets reelected 58-42, disappointment. >> can you imagine a republican winning in new jersey? >> republican governors have won in massachusetts fairly regularly. >> yeah. >> duvall patrick's the first democratic governor in 25 years. so it's doable. and chris has got to manage the expectation game too, as well. >> all right. on to other news. a lot to get to this morning. i just can't believe this story gets richer and richer in texture, but the inspector general's report on the irs' travel and conference spending will be released later this

morning and includes new details from the agency's now infamous 2010 anaheim conference. that conference -- >> willie, we were there. the anaheim conference. >> i think you might have been. >> i still have the t-shirt that we did. with zeppelin on the front and gilligan's island on the back. >> hey, let's get hell's angels -- >> this was only a few years ago. >> it was the end of an era. >> i don't really -- okay. the conference featured employees in film parodies of "star trek" and "gilligan's island," which cost up to $50,000. the irs hired 15 outside speakers for a total cost of $135,000 on the tab, $27,000 for an innovation expert. $10,000 for a diversity and

inclusion expert, $11,000 for a so-called happiness expert. >> okay. >> very important. >> we need one of those around here. >> that's a euphemism for something. >> and $17,000 for an artist who created paintings of michael jordan, abraham lincoln, and u2 front man bono. >> they created pictures? >> paintings? >> paintings? >> we need to see those. >> i want those. is it like bono playing poker with dogs or something? >> i don't -- i -- >> boggles the entire mind. it's stunning, stunning. particularly in the time period. >> three years ago. >> when i was governor and the recession hit and i knew i was going to be cutting everything. travel requests from anybody in the government of 78,000 people have to be approved by someone in my office. and we restricted it because,

look, that stuff is abusive even if we're rolling in dough. >> it's a joke. >> when we're cutting programs, it's absolutely -- >> it's insulting. a happiness expert? >> in the midst of the recession. >> i'll give you happiness. >> votes? t.j.? t.j.'s on my side. >> that's just not nice. >> you're not being happy right now. >> meanwhile on capitol hill. >> $11,000, governor? >> yeah. the new acting commissioner of the irs testified before lawmakers yesterday stressing the need to fix the many problems the agency is facing. appropriations committee chair hal rodgers said congress may impose conditions on irs funding. >> the agency, the irs has such power to ruin the lives of every american. we will not tolerate another political enemies list. we've been there before.

having an enemies list harkens back to a dark page in our past. and the arrogance of power that we've seen from those involved in this instant is deeply, deeply disconcerting. >> annie is a reporter covering this. the parallels, you know, some of them are fair given what we're looking at here. >> yeah. absolutely. and it's worse knowing that the i.g. report coming out today. this is very, have vanilla, plain, bad behavior. the same thing we've seen before with other government departments, but it's kind of piling on, right? and i think there's a real sense that congress at this point could do something to irs funding. or, you know, they have enormous latitude and kind of punishing the irs and changing the rules of the road given that there's so much concern over it. and i think it's probably worse pointing out that this would play pretty well with voters. people already don't like the irs.

and there's a real feeling that it's become just this scandal ridden department at this point. i think there's an expectation that congress is going to do something and the question is what. >> all right. well, here's something the irs should be looking into. a new report shows it's not just apple that is stashing big money overseas to avoid paying taxes here at home. according to citizens for tax justice, at least 18 companies are losing loopholes to keep cash in other countries. if the profits were brought back to the u.s., those companies would owe more than $92 billion in tax revenue. that would add up to a lot of happiness experts, just by the way. some of the biggest names on the list include microsoft, pharmaceutical giant ely lilly and oracle. come on, now, this is something we can fix. >> let's drop the nominal tax rate for corporations, provide

incentives, it's a win/win. we've got more money. start investing. >> what's this about? corporate tax rates being too high? >> yes, the nominal rate is 35%. that's a disincentive to bring money back here back home. most corporations are practicing tax avoidance. it's perfectly legal, it's not tax evasion, not tax avoidance. we want to set up a scheme and have a negotiation where we bring the money back here. >> is this money, the part of the money we've been hearing for several years, $1 trillion, $2 trillion, $3 trillion offshore. we need to have incentives. >> there are two questions. one is going forward, we need desperately to make changes going forward. this type of activity should not be allowed. it's allowed now, but it should be illegal. what to do with this money, how to repatriate it. they're willing to bring it back, but not at 35%. they want to bring it back at a much lower level.

what level? and, b, what do we do with it? >> let's see where ed would spend the money? infrastructure. right? >> and in the congress to do that. >> did i guess right? >> absolutely. >> what you want to have is american companies build their capabilities here. >> you can have those companies bring back the money, help us repair the american infrastructure and create the same jobs. >> the good news about infrastructure is most of the resources will come from the private sector. >> this should be a deal cut. >> i'm just sitting here thinking, the other shows are talking about lindsay lohan and jodi arias, and we're talking

about infrastructure. >> i love infrastructure. >> seriously, what are you going to do? we have ed rendell and richard haass. >> there's so much foreign news to talk about. >> it is a sexy show. >> it is a sexy show. >> we don't need a happiness expert. >> we don't. >> in our first opening press conference when we founded america's future, described infrastructure, said his 8-year-old asked him what's infrastructure, daddy? and he said, what daddy blows up in the movies. that's a pretty good definition. >> some of ours needs to be. >> it's not as simple as people claim. just take the money away from these are -- we've got very complex tax laws domestically and internationally. and we also want these companies to be as profitable as possible because that actually means more jobs at home. how is the balance going to be struck on capitol hill moving forward? >> this is a really, really

thorny issue. and that really plays in here. as you pointed out, the tax rate on corporations is very high, but the effective tax rates, the rate they pay actually pay ends up being very low. and this is a really, really big problem. and, yeah, there's a ton of money, hundreds of billions of dollars sitting offshore. and corporations keep it there often in the hopes there'll be some kind of tax holiday, a moment that congress allows them to bring it back at a lower rate. there's a lot of signs that's a bad policy for a lot of reasons. you're changing the rules. and the question is whether congress can start on some sort of bigger tax reform process that will help tackle this issue. i think if you asked me three months ago and there was a fair amount of desire to do that on capitol hill, people have turned to other issues, the deficit is coming down, and tackling really, really tough stuff like tax reform, you hear about it less is the way i would put it.

>> this is one of the stories that sounds unfair or sounds wrong, but tim cook, or whoever it is at nike would be an absolute fool not to take advantage of them as long as they exist. it's incumbent upon congress or whoever you want to handle it to make laws to close the loopholes, but don't blame tim cook for taking advantage of laws and helping shareholders. coming up on "morning joe," we're going to talk to david axelrod. >> can we blame david axelrod? >> sure. >> kirsten gillibrand and frank newport. >> we went after gallup pretty hard. >> and they're coming right back. >> i'm a customer, they're coming back and explaining how they're fixing things. which is great, i want to get back to their tracking polls. >> they're going to punch back. >> i think so. retired major league pitcher dwight gooden is here with his new memoir. up next, the top stories in the "politico" playbook.

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fruit flavored drinks say sorts of things to sound healthy, but they can have more sugar than soda. it can take a toll. obesity and diabetes and serious complications could be in your kids' future. >> i love it. the new york city department of health launches a new ad campaign warning people of the effects of sugary drinks. does that remind you of something? >> yeah, i left mine over at the table and i want it. willie and i were looking at the newspaper and we're not talking about this top story. >> no, we're not because you don't know how to.

>> you don't have the kids. you want to act like a bunch of kids and talk toilet talk around the table. >> she's been so distracted she forgot the real lead story. >> mm-hmm. >> on the "new york post." take us through that. what is this guy dressed up like? >> joe, you're an attorney. >> i am. >> let's say your client was going to a custody hearing. >> i have represented -- >> your client is screwed. >> wanted to see his 2-year-old toddler again, just be a dad. >> i know exactly -- you know what, i even tell them what kind of tie to wear, the presentation is so important. >> so if he rolled up to the hearing in new jersey yesterday, flemington, new jersey, wearing this. >> yeah. >> he would say what to your client? >> what is he wearing? >> he's dressed like hitler. i would say it probably would save him money and time if he just said, your honor, we're not

going to contest custody. >> i don't think that's going to go well. this reprehensible human said what's so horrible about being a nazi? was his quote to the judge. i don't think he's getting that kid. >> probably not getting the kids on alternating weekending. let's look at the morning papers. nadal hasan, the man accused of murdering 13 people during a 2009 shooting rampage at ft. hood was granted permission to represent himself during the trial. if convicted, he faces the death penalty.arrested at a protest in raleigh, north carolina. the crowds have been gathering for weeks at the state house to protest the agenda of republican leaders. the day's event dubbed moral monday marked the largest mass arrest since the demonstrations began. "chicago tribune," the new york hilton is rolling out plans to stop room service.

demand for the service has dropped. >> have you ever had room service there? it's actually good for the health of -- >> it's no longer -- >> -- people of new york. >> it's no longer cost effectivemeeffect i effective. and the "new york times" research shows that using sunscreen on a daily basis helps yield more resilient and smoother skin. in fact, i'm wearing it right now. >> no, you really -- >> the national health and medical research council of australia tested hundreds of people and those who lathered up every day saw 24% of less skin aging. >> a lot of face creams put it in there. >> willie, are you lathered up right now? are you lathered up right now? >> in krcrisco, ironically, unrelated story. >> i wear it every day? >> crisco? >> yes. the journal of the american medical association shows that, joe, vegetarians live longer

than meat eaters. >> i don't believe that. >> more than 73,000 people were tracked over a six-year period and according to the findings, there were 12% fewer deaths among vegetarians. while there was no clear reasons, experts point to high fiber, low saturated fats as a key of preventing heart disease and diabetes. >> 12% less deaths, 100% more misery. i mean, come on. crisco. so, willie, every day, huh? >> seriously. >> that's smooth skin, right? >> yeah. that's -- yes. >> it really is like seventh grade. i mean, seriously. it's seventh grade. >> this is great to know. >> i feel like a seventh grade teacher. >> here's the thing. we can't talk about something and we talk about skin treatments, okay, because we're metrosexuals and he brings out the crisco. >> i threw up in my mouth.

>> do you talk about moisturizing your skin? that stuff is great. what's next, willie? >> it's the skin regime. let's move on to "politico." jim, good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, how are you? >> we're doing all right. let's talk a little massachusetts senate race. john kerry's seat obviously expected -- was expected to stay in democratic hands with a little trouble. but the republican nominee giving a little bit of a fight here. where does this race stand this morning? >> i would keep an eye on this race. governor rendell was talking earlier about how massachusetts despite being such a democratic state does have a history at the gubernatorial level and special election. keep an eye on gabriel gomez who is putting more and more money into this race, the national republican party thinking about doing even more ad buys. a lot of the polling shows that within sort of the five to ten-point range with the democrat ed markey having the

advantage. if republicans continue to dump money into it. this is one very much worth having on your radar screen. >> and i guess the strategy from ed markey's side is to link him to the radical right wing republican agenda. just another effort to obstruct president obama because gomez has tried to distance himself from national republicans. >> yeah, that's going to be the box that gomez finds himself in. because you have an unpopular republican party. and there's a chance to win the seat for republicans. but identified with the broader republican party, the more it hurts republican chances in that seat. but listen, we saw this with scott brown. when there is unpopularity, particularly in that state, there is opportunity to pull off an upset. and this stuff matters. just like new jersey now matters about how they end up filling that seat when you have a senate that's narrowly divided. you have issues like immigration or the epa nomination that went through recently in the senate, a vote here, a vote there,

matters tremendously. so watching these special elections, watching these appointments might seem like inside baseball. it can have profound effects on the reality of governing and policy making. >> it is a little -- interesting there. jim vandehei with a look at the playbook. coming up, it was win or go home for lebron james and the heat or the pacers. last night, pivotal game seven, highlights next in sports. i want to make things more secure. [ whirring ] [ dog barks ] i want to treat more dogs. ♪ our business needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business? i need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, small business solutions from at&t

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all right. time for a little sports. highly anticipated game seven last night heat and pacers back and forth for a couple of weeks between them. david beckham sitting court side. possibly bringing an mls team to that city. oh, no, bieber. >> nice hat. >> come on, the shades, the leather shirt. anyway, look at lebron rising there on the alley-oop, 32 points, and dwyane wade sighting. well, he had 21 and nine

rebounds. they win a tough-fought series against a really good young pacers team that will be back. it'll be the heat's third straight trip to the finals. they'll host the very well rested san antonio spurs beginning on thursday night in miami. to the nhl playoffs, off to a hot start against the penguins. game two in pittsburgh, boston up 1-0. first period, rare mistake, sidney crosby coughs up the puck, an easy break away goal. bruins dominate pittsburgh 6-1, boston now up 2-0 and they haven't played a game in boston yet. and baseball, yankees looking at a rebound after being swept by the mets and losing the weekend series to the red sox. mark teixeira. first home run of the year. grand slam the third inning the yankees beat the indians 7-4. >> this is incredible. >> angels struggling, swept by

the astros. not just the worst team in the american league, one of the worst teams of all time. >> all time. >> 2-1, the angels, somehow 11 games behind the rangers. what's going on? >> i don't know. i don't think they know. josh hamilton's not playing well, not at all practically, terrible, all that money. wow. >> it's a mess. >> how happy are the rangers to shovel josh hamilton? they didn't even have the energy to catch a fly ball to get them into the playoffs last year. >> up 11 games on them. if you want the hottest bat in baseball, the philadelphia phillies. dominic brown on a tare. his ninth home run in his last ten games, dominic brown, remember the names, phillies beat the marlins, 7-2. >> he didn't walk in the month of may. just swings. >> you know what that tells you,

mike watched way too much baseball in the month of may. >> it's true. >> seriously. >> seriously, can we get you out to the central park? >> no, i've got my bob bowman baseball advance media. i watch eight games a night. >> you can sit in the park with sunglasses 2:00 softball? >> here. sign this. >> by the way, went to see the yankees last night with jane. >> you did? >> i did. >> you have spring fever. >> she's great. >> good seats? >> come on. george steinbrenner's best friend. good seats. >> gallup had mitt romney ahead of barack obama, so why did the company get the polling wrong? well, editor in chief frank newport joins us with a first look at gallup's internal

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veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. hey, editor in chief of gallup, frank newport. thank you so much for being with us. i've been a long time consumer of gallup polls and quoted them a good bit. obviously that changed after 2012. you guys have -- you say you've had an extensive look at what went wrong. tell us what went wrong with one of the oldest and established polling organizations in america in 2012. >> yeah, well, thank you, joe, for having me on. indeed, we've assembled a blue ribbon panel, also bringing them

in from outside gallup, the university of michigan, texas, maryland. we've really taken the hood off to look at what we did last fall to try to answer your question. four things, likely voter estimation. we had obama up by three points among registered voters, which is about where he was at the end. won by about 3.85%. moved it down to a one-point romney lead, and that was more than the average for all other models of a similar fashion out there and we think we overcorrected. so the model itself is something that we really think needs reevaluating. this is an historic way we've calculated for decades, but we're going to use new jersey and we're going to use virginia and those races working with the university of michigan to really try to figure out how in today's changing environment you do the best job of estimating. >> so, frank, let me ask you this, what happened, there were times you guys put out a poll and you'd have romney up by 9, 10, or 11. and you talked to the obama people and they would say the

same thing day in and day out. look at these polls. and they go, we're up by three. look at these polls, no matter where you went, look at our -- 3%, 4%, 5%. how did you guys get it so wrong? it wasn't just the likely voter approach. what changed from what you've done through all the years to 2012? >> well, there are other factors. there were times when certainly we did have him up. we think romney may have been up at times, even if the smoothed over polls of the obama administration did not show it. other polls had romney up in october, as well. we clearly were at the outer edge. there are other factors involved. the way we conduct surveys, that were needed to be changed and we're changing them in the process of changing. >> how is that? we hear a lot -- need to have a lot more focus on cell phones. are you guys looking at that, as

well? >> that's an excellent point. but, actually, we had 50% of our interviews were conducted by cell phones last fall. so that per se was not one of the issues. the issues had to do, actually, with the land line component of our sample. half of our interviews, we were using a sampling frame we think was not right. it was an error and we've changed that, in the process of changing that. we think the way that we measured race, that is how you ask people what's the race and ethnicity and how we weighted to it was not right. we've changed that, as well. and we think that was a factor, as well. and also, interviewing. there were times in october as you're discussing. we're now interviewing correct by region was too much in the central time zone as well as the eastern time zone at times and too much in the mountain rather than the pacific out in the west. those are three factors of the way that we conduct surveys which our panel, our internal review, our outside experts may have been responsible for part of that.

and we're in the process and have already changed to. >> how do you get to likely voters? how do you nail down likely voters? was that an issue at all for you last fall? >> we think it was. keep in mind, i think obama won by about four points. the average poll said obama was going to win by one point. the whole industry had some things going on that were not right last fall. and hopefully we're helping to contribute to understand the whole industry. we've used a model for many years. we ask people questions, it's called boot strapping. your interest in the election, do you plan to vote, what's your history of voting. and based on that, we calculate our estimate of who is likely to vote and who isn't. and those are the people we count. it's similar to what other people use. but we overcorrected. that model probably moved us too far towards romney and that's when i mentioned a moment ago. that model probably needs a complete overhaul and we're working with the university of michigan this fall and we're

going to do it. look at it from a to z. and if there aren't just new things going on, new get out the vote efforts that really require to a whole new look at how we estimate likely voters. >> frank newport, thank you so much for coming on the show this morning. we appreciate it. >> and good luck. >> good luck. >> thank you very much. >> what's next, willie? well, they said it couldn't be done. >> what's that? >> you give americans a challenge, they'll come up with it. >> always. put a man on the moon? >> put a man on the moon. >> we liberated france. >> yep. >> and europe. and did a lot of really good things. what have we done now, willie? >> they said you couldn't put a breakfast sandwich inside a glazed donut. >> you can't. >> you can't. it's impossible. usa! usa! >> i don't believe it. a new breakfast sandwich from dunkin donuts. >> why would they do this? >> fried eggs, bacon, all inside a glazed donut.

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time for a little news you can't use in honor of mika's book "obsessed," we're going to focus on food here and now. we told you about the hands free whopper device.

this is only in puerto rico for the time being. you place it around your neck. >> that is -- okay. >> the whopper in the device, you can eat it completely hands free. it's about safety, guys. >> it is about safety. >> for a safer america. >> if you're driving. >> that's so disgusting. >> cup holders and a whopper holder. >> look at this guy. >> that's not the question. the question is not why would anyone eat a whopper. the question is, why does the king care so damn much? >> fitness, karate, you name it. now dunkin donuts is upping the ante. friday is national donut day as many of you know. >> yes. >> so to coincide with that national holiday, dunkin donuts is rolling out this, it's the donut bacon sandwich. fried eggs -- >> that is simply disgusting. >> i have no idea why they would do that. >> cherry wood smoked bacon. eggs, bacon all put inside a split glazed donut. >> heaven.

>> it's evolution. >> it's innovation. >> that's garbage. >> it's going to become part of the permanent menu starting on friday. >> you hurt yourself when you eat that. >> you know what's the good news, 360 calories, they say it's actually fewer calories than the other breakfast sandwiches. that's the healthy option. >> that is saying a lot about having breakfast at dunkin donuts. perhaps one should not. >> no, one should. >> that is so disgusting. >> only one way to improve upon that is put it in a jelly donut. >> i was just thinking that. maybe instead of the butter or cream cheese. >> yeah. >> fast food employee revenge. last summer, a burger king worker in florida is fired for posting this picture of his feet planted in the lettuce. now a taco bell worker is in trouble for a photo of him licking taco shells. the restaurant put out a statement saying we believe it was a prank.

we're conducting a full investigation. swift action, et cetera, et cetera. there you go. do we need that? i don't think we needed that? >> willie -- >> here's an uplifting story. uplifting story. how about a 2-year-old playing the guitar? >> oh, i love that. >> i like that. >> i love 2-year-olds playing guitar. ♪ ♪ nobody lets you down ♪ don't let me down >> i love him. so cute. >> his 2-year-old son diego covering the beatles song "don't

let me down." >> he sang it as well as john lennon, that's pretty awesome. >> he's so cute. >> i love it. >> very good. coming up next, david axelrod joins the conversation. also, the "washington post" eugene robinson. as your life changes, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust along the way, refocus as careers change

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according to the videos those taking part are competing to, quote, become the next great dance sensation. we're told that video took $200,000 to make. >> two things. first, after watching that video, i'm pretty convinced it would be difficult for the irs to coordinate anything. let alone a political plot. and number two, how the [ bleep ] did that cost $1,600? >> yeah. that is a good question. why did it cost that much? that makes no sense. welcome back to "morning joe." mike barnicle and richard haass are back with us and joining us from washington, associate editor of the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. and in chicago, former senior adviser to president obama, director of the university of chicago's institute of politics and msnbc contributor david

axelrod. good to have you all onboard this morning. i want to get right to our top story and we have foreign policy news to get to. >> we do. sure. yes. >> we will not waste our time, richard. we will get there. senator frank lautenberg of new jersey died yesterday after complications with pneumonia. considered one of the most productive members of the senate, lautenberg was a staunch advocate for stricter gun control laws even coming to the senate floor in a wheelchair to cast his vote for expanded background checks. now, governor chris christie is tasked with appointing lautenberg's replacement. and yesterday the republican governor gave an impromptu tribute to the long time democratic senator. >> it's no mystery that senator lautenberg and i didn't always agree. in fact, it probably is more honest to say we very often didn't agree. and we had some pretty good fights between us over time. battles on philosophy and the

role of government. but never was senator lautenberg to be underestimated as an advocate for the causes he believed in and as an adversary in the political world. >> and so now governor christie faces a political tight rope in naming lautenberg's replacement. if he selects a republican, he may gain favor with a national gop ahead of a potential presidential run in 2016. but that move could alienate the more moderate voters he needs for this year's reelection bid for governor. if he selects a democrat, it would surely outrage members of his own party, but it could also help him with democratic donors, many of whom have been offering up big contributions to his campaign. looking ahead to a special election, it's possible the vote could be held in november, the same time christie faces voters. that means he would be on the same ballot as mayor cory booker

clearly eyeing a run for the senate. it could help christie's democratic opponent. >> it is mike barnicle, he's got a choice to make. ed rendell says he needs to pick a republican. what do you think? >> he has to pick a republican. if he has any aspirations on the national ticket, he's got to pick a republican. i don't know why anyone would be concerned just a glimmer of a knowledge of new jersey. if he puts cory booker -- no matter who he puts in -- >> right. >> cory booker running for the senate at the top of the ballot, that's not going to affect his reelection campaign in new jersey. he's immensely popular. >> it doesn't matter. you also talked about tom kings. >> a distinguished republican centrist, he's got a lot of choices. >> i think it's the conventional thinking that we just spelled out there. but since when has that ever worked for chris christie? it's almost -- it appears he

almost becomes more popular when he goes against conventional thinking. >> gene robinson, chris christie is getting democratic votes, getting money from democrats, getting money, actually, from members, i guess, of george sorros' hedge fund. he's breaking down barriers to say the least. of course, all of this makes him less popular with the national republican party who would prefer to lose every four years and expand their base and expand, actually, their support. >> look, let's not forget, chris christie is a republican and so, of course he's going to name a republican in my view. and i think, you know, the conventional wisdom is right that he could name a moderate republican and not overly tick off the democrats. but the second option, the sort of second most likely thing would be that he could nominate a conservative republican. and i'd say way, way down the list is that he would nominate a

democrat for that seat. i don't see that ideologically or practically for him in terms of his political future. >> david axelrod tweeted and -- >> he's a tweeter from way back. >> he's very much in with the kids. >> very hip. >> fascinating dilemma for christie. does he name interim who reflects the more moderate state or feed tea party for '16? are you fascinated? really? >> i think he's causing trouble. >> i'm fascinating. but i'm tweeting a lot now because the carpal tunnel's going to catch up with me soon. got to get it in right away. the whole christie phenomenon is interesting to me because he's got to state that barack obama won overwhelmingly. and he is touted as a national candidate in the republican party. he's -- he may be their most popular candidate to win a national election, but as joe said, he is at the bottom among rank and file republicans. these core republicans. goes to this whole issue of the

republican party. you've got a civil war between the ego and the id and the id is winning. and the ego suggests a candidate like christie could win nationally but the id is possessed by hatred for the president and everything is in opposition. it's a very reactionry core group. how christie navigates his reelection, the state, and the national republican base will be an interesting story. >> if we dug into your tweets over the past three or four years, would we find you at irs conventions? have you now or ever been at an irs convention? >> not only have i not been in an irs convention, never been in a line dance. >> have you ever, ever, ever sought counsel from a happiness expert? >> no. i don't even know where you find happiness experts, but i doubt it would be around the irs. >> could i ask you one other question, and we're not

harassing you here, but did the president ever have you and his closest advisers dress up in outfits from "gilligan's island" to help promote education in the west wing. >> and who was ginger? >> i have a skipper's costume in my closet. one thing to say about the irs scandal and that is, look, there are clearly serious things that ought to be looked at. and the congress has a right to look at them. and the question is just will they overplay their hand? if darrel issa has torqued this thing up so high he threatens to take the party over the cliff. and if i were republicans, i would say to issa, please step away from that car. i think there's real danger here for them. >> gene, would you agree? >> i would definitely agree. that's a good line. i think -- look, there is terrible here. let's face it.

i mean, those conferences are -- they're hysterical on one level and really appalling, $50 million is a lot of money to spend on conferences in a couple of years. so there's definitely stuff to investigate. but darrel issa threatens to go way, way over the top. and maybe he'll be rained in and we'll actually get better government out of that. that would be a good thing if the oversight committee actually provided oversight and made things better. >> david, it's willie. what do you think the white house's response is? even if these irs scandals and controversies don't lead back to the white house talking about targeting conservative groups out of the cincinnati office and now perhaps out of some others. even if the president is not directly linked to this, what is his role as the chief executive of the united states of america? what should he be doing here? >> i think he's doing what he should be doing here. appointed a new director.

from every indication i saw had a very productive hearing on the hill yesterday and seems to be moving very quickly to deal with a lot of these questions. look, you cannot guarantee at any given time. you can almost assume at any given time given an organization this large, there's going to be a problem somewhere. the question is how you deal with it when you find out about it. and what you do, you put in someone to clean the situation up. and it seems to me that's what he's doing. >> all right. we're going to move on to other news now. i've been trying to get to this story out of turkey where the prime minister says protesters who have been rioting for the last five days are arm in arm with terrorism. people are demonstrating against what they see as prime minister's policies. two protesters have been killed and hundreds of others have been hurt in clashes with police. secretary of state john kerry says the u.s. is concerned about the reports of excessive force. meanwhile, syria's travel secretary says the protests have

made turkey unsafe for syrians to visit. so explain to us -- i can't believe this video. explain to us, first of all, how this all began. and the significance of it and the global perspective. >> on the narrow sense, it's about a square in istanbul and turning it into a kind of mall. but it's not about that any more than the arab spring was about food vendors. the prime minister essentially running turkey for ten years has taken the country, the consolidation of power, the growing role of islam and turkish society. thoughts or moves to strengthen the role of the president which he wants to then become to redo the constitution. essentially what you have are large groups of people in turkey who are particularly the secularists, the young people who are uncomfortable with the

concentration of authority and power -- >> so there's -- for people that don't know turkey's history, obviously secularize the country a century ago. they have been -- there has been a balance for a century that's worked well for turkey. they've grown and become one of the most successful countries in that region. a bridge between europe and the middle east in the past decade. we have seen a move, slow move toward an islamist government. but still a balance. but it appears after a decade that this man was the most arrogant leader he's ever met. and he fears he's taking turkey over the edge. >> legitimate questions. he's been elected each time with a large majority. i think you mentioned out of turk. i think he sees himself as the heir -- >> the islamist? >> exactly. he's the second great modernizer in turkish history.

but in his case, rather than relegating islam to the side, he wants to put it in the center of turkish society. he's weakened the checks and balances in turkish society. and what people are worried about is he basically is fashioning what you might call a majortarian kind of rool where those who disagree with him -- people are worried about what his real agenda is for turkey. >> he was just here ten days ago. turkey is a pivot point for us with regard to syria, with regard to israel, with regard to the whole middle east. how does this affect immediately united states diplomatic policy? >> complicates things. not only for the reasons you mentioned, but turkey's a model or example. you can be democratic, market oriented, but -- and have a limited role for islam. and what people are worried now is that the balance is wrong. and that turkey is going to potentially become yet another example where this part of the world can't get it right.

this is a nato ally, 80 million people, 17th largest economy in the world and right up there against syria. it's right in the middle of what's already the most turbulent, unsuccessful part of the world. the president's put a lot of investment. he has hoped that it was basically going to be his person to navigate this part of the world and the administration is extraordinarily worried that the massive investment they made may now not be coming to fruition. >> not going the way the united states wants it or needs it to go. dr. brzezinski has talked repeatedly about turkey being one of the two or three most important countries on the planet for us. >> yeah. well, my question for richard is, there's a pattern that's repeating itself throughout the region, which is young, secularists hungering for more robust democracy, taking to the streets and then their

activities lead to a reaction among the islamists and kind of retrenchment. how do you see this thing playing out? >> it's a good point, david. not going to happen here. as you saw in egypt, seeing here. the secularists strong enough to come into the streets and disrupt things, they're unorganized, not able to pose a political alternative. and he would be in the position to consolidate and take turkey more in the direction that the people out there don't want to see. the stakes are big because turkey's so important, but again, the momentum it would mean for this entire part of the world. >> okay. david axelrod, go ahead. >> no, no, go ahead. >> david axelrod, thanks very much. eugene robinson, thanks, as well. up next, while congress battles over tax policy, many companies are stashing their money offshore.

digging into a new report showing how some big names in business are keeping their cash out of the government's pocket. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. good morning to you, mika. good news to report on the environmental weather front. the firefighters in california have done a great job. and now the power house fire is now 60% contained and about 2,800 people have been allowed to return to their homes. this fire grew immensely over the weekend and then on monday. and now they have really gotten the upper hand on it with cooler temperatures last night. that did burn about 12 structures there in los angeles county, california. dry season and fire season is well underway now in the west. well, oklahoma city got hit again last night, not by tornadoes, but by strong thunderstorms, you're under flash flood warnings this morning, we had thousands of lightning strikes in the area. a lot of you didn't get a good night's sleep because of that. and now the storms headed to the southern portions of the state. later this afternoon, we do it all over again. more strong thunderstorms,

kansas city, tulsa, wichita, oklahoma city and just to the north there of amarillo. i do not expect a lot of tornadoes today. and finally, anyone going to florida over the next couple of days, we could see a tropical system trying to develop. and our computers are estimating a rainy forecast as much as 4 to 6 inches over the next 3 to 4 days. a lot of that moisture is going to go up the east coast as we head towards the weekend. in other words, if you're on the eastern sea board and you look like this with beautiful sunshine and low humidity, enjoy it while it lasts. a gorgeous day for the east coast. you're watching "morning joe" brewed bestarbucks. walmart has all the latest phones look the samsung galaxy s4. it's like what i've got. look how big the screen is! that is big. and, walmart will give you a $50 gift card when you get the phone. sold! get the latest smart phones on t-mobile's nationwide 4g network, and get a $50 gift card. walmart. how can i help you? oh, you're real?

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♪ okay. joining us now "fortune" magazine's editor leigh gallagher, and brian shactman. nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd.

chuck, let's dive into politics first and then we'll get into business. chris christie's decision, is it that complicated? >> yeah, the complicated part is trying to figure out when, if he has to hold a call for a special election and if so when. it's my understand askind the reporting i've done. and he's going to -- may even set that timetable as early as today. there's some sort of legal confusion in new jersey. two different institutes in the law indicate that it would be -- that you could call for a special election this year. the question is -- is it in october or november? obviously it's a lot cheaper for the state to put the election at the same time as the governor's race. but politically a little more uncomfortable for governor christie. or he could try to say, no, the next general election for the u.s. senate is not until 2014

and try to delay that. that, though they think wouldn't hold up in the courts and that he would be forced to hold it this year. national democrats, harry reid obviously wants the special election this year because they think that they'll win and they don't want to have a republican senate seat in republican hands for any longer than is necessary as far as they're concerned. the first thing christie's got to figure out is when is he going to hold it? my understanding he's going to call for the election to be held this year and try to hold it for october. the question is whether that's going to hold up. >> and how it impacts his own reelection bid. >> there's an election one month later. >> right. >> and holding a special a month earlier costs several millions of dollars -- >> 24 million. >> right. >> but the problem is, the strictest reading of -- if you're reading the statute, the strictest reading of it, you cannot hold it in november

without the legislature, without some sort of legislative fix, if you will. right now, as the law reads, if you read it according to the governor's office, then they have no choice but to call for it in october and then obviously hope the legislature changes the law temporarily. >> well, i think the legislature would do that. and, you know, joe said cory booker on the ballot wouldn't hurt chris christie. it does to an extent. >> why? >> because cory booker brings out additional african-american voters. and although chris christie will get a higher share than most republicans, he'll still lose 6 1/2 out of 10 or 7 out of 10 of those voters. so it does cut into his margin a little bit. it's not going to be what makes him lose. >> they still call him governor the day after the election. >> right. he's running not just to win the governorship. if he gets under 60%, i think it's -- even in a democratic state, the expectation level is so high, it was so high after sandy.

if he wins 57-43 landslide in a normal election, sort of looks a little disappointing. >> i want to bring brian and lee into the conversation and we'll go with this now. this new report that shows it's not just apple that is stashing big money overseas to avoid paying taxes here at home. perfectly legal, by the way. according to citizens for tax justice, at least 18 companies are using loopholes to keep cash in other countries. if the profits were brought back to the u.s., those companies would owe more than $92 billion in tax revenue. microsoft, ely lilly and oracle. and obviously, we've talked about this a lot, why is it so hard to figure out a deal to repatriate the money back here in the united states and fix this problem? is there agreement this is a problem? >> well, the companies would not say it's a problem. the companies would say, first of all, this new report came out that 18 companies are likely

using tax havens. it's the citizens for tax justice, it's a reputable group. this is an admirable study. this is like saying companies use power point. it's a problem, governments around the world are starting to crack down on. it is, as you said, mika, perfectly legal. >> there was some sort of repatriation tax holiday. remember that. how did that go? >> it did not go particularly well for the intentions. so in 2004, they did it, billions were repatriated. and they tried and tried to make sure it didn't go towards dividends and stock buybacks ended up doing exactly that. and the other response to your question, which is the right question is in 2004 they said it was a one off, was not setting a precedent, right. if they do it again, then it is a precedent. and you know what companies are going to do moving forward? they're going to keep more money overseas until they get another holiday. it's not going to spur some sort

of consistent use -- >> there's an answer to that. the answer to that is you do a and b. you repatriate the money at a lower tax rate, b, you end this practice. >> that's right. >> it's not so easy. and one solution is lower the corporate tax rate in the u.s. they tried that in 1986 in the tax reform act. >> your own magazine said the corporate tax rate for the top 2,000 companies in america isn't -- >> no, it's not. >> they pay 17%. it's fairly moderate. >> whatever the cap is, you know, they'll just work on lowering it 10 points lower than that. >> i have a stupid question as usual. unrepatriated income, apple, $82 million, microsoft $60 million, per capita given the size of these companies, that's not a lot of money. >> oh. >> that's -- well, yes and no. apple has 2/3 of the profits in ireland, which is what the subject of the congressional hearing was last year, last week.

but i think the bigger issue is that they -- and this is what critics of this policy will say is that whatever the number of the profits, if you look at the percentage of employees and foreign investment, you know, it might be 40% of their profits where it's 4% or 3% of the actual employees. so one of the reasons these overseas companies like these companies coming like ireland and bermuda, even though 5% jobs, they kind of want them. they want, you know, they want the money invested over there. >> if it's a money grab, you can go get the money. the problem is, they tried to sell it in '04 as some sort of effort to jump start the economy. there was no investment. there was a precedent with companies like hewlett-packard. they laid off workers after -- around 5.2%. the bottom line, they need real change in the tax law. we now know the economy's improving. tax reform feels like it's off the table. >> it does feel like it's off the table because they don't want to do it and they have a lot of power and these are companies, a lot of them, making record profits, cutting

salaries, but they don't want to play by the same rules as the rest of us. which seems to me to be really messed up, but yet, chuck todd, we are looking at line dancing and star trek videos and wondering what the heck the irs is doing. will anything get done? or are we going to be worried about whether or not the happiness level in the irs has been fixed by the happiness expert they hired in 2010? >> i'm so glad -- we need a happiness expert here at 30 rock. if we could do that here in the d.c. bureau, that would be nice. some form. we do get ice cream once a week during the summer at the d.c. bureau. >> that's true. >> it doesn't cost us $50 million for what it's worth. no, you know, with the frustrating thing about watching this. remember during the oil spill, we thought, oh, well the oil spill, that's going to make everybody in congress and in washington finally focus on having, you know, got to have an

energy policy. we're having all this focus on how we drill for oil and all this, we need a comprehensive energy policy. washington responded with nothing. so you would think this irs scandal is a perfect time for everybody to come together claiming they want to have some sort of tax reform, you know. do you split corporate tax reform from personal tax reform, try to do it together? i think the argument of doing it together makes more sense politically harder, but you kind of have to do the two things together if you're going to have one to the other. there seems to be no appetite to do it because democrats, president obama wants to make sure there is some sort of revenue increase, some tax increase or even if rates get lowered, something that's thrown in there. and republicans don't want to do tax reform, anything other than quote unquote revenue neutral. and nobody wants to talk about the deduction issues and all that. but i have to say, watching all this back and forth about corporate taxes and what gets

done overseas, i'm reminded of what happens with campaign finance reform. any time the laws change, you find people figure out a way to get around it. corporate america will figure out a way no matter how the tax law is written, they'll figure out a way to avoid paying taxes as best they can because, guess what, that's what accountants get paid for. >> there is a bill in the congress that will take care of this problem. and i think a congressman by the name of delaney has put a bill in that says this money, a good hunk of it goes into the infrastructure bank which would create jobs. >> let's not forget also the senate passed the bill about sales tax for companies like amazon, which is the cover of our -- i don't want to plug this, but amazon fought tooth and nail -- this goes against the very essence of amazon's being. they're now going to pay. >> that one, yes, a little bit complicated. but -- >> same issue. >> chuck, thank you very much, we'll see you coming up on the "daily rundown." still ahead in two hours, the

nation's top military leaders will testify to congress about the shocking rate of sexual assaults in the armed forces. we'll bring in senator kirsten gillibrand about push for accountability in that. and nbc's chief correspondent joins us here on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] citi is over 200 years old.

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get some headlines in here at 34 past the hour. the supreme court upheld the maryland law allowing police to take dna samples without a warrant from suspects that have been arrested. in a 5-4 decision, the majority argued that collecting the dna of people booked for syria's crime helps to establish their identity and is not an unlawful search. justice kennedy wrote for the majority. quote, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee's dna is like photographing. it's a procedure reasonable under the fourth amendment. just scalia wrote, quote, make no mistake about it, as an entirely predictable consequence of today's decision, your dna can be taken and entered into a national data base if you are

arrested rightly or wrongly and for whatever reason. law enforcement officials say collecting dna is an important tool in solving cold cases. the federal government and 28 states allow the practice. the trial of the soldier responsible for the biggest leak of classified information in american history is now underway. during opening statements, each side painted drastic pictures of private first class bradley manning. the defense says manning released information he believed the public should see but could not be used against the u.s. the prosecution says manning craved notoriety and fellow soldiers at risk when he passed the classified information on to wikileaks. he's already pleaded guilty to 10 charges that carry up to 20 years in prison, but prosecutors are pushing ahead with more serious counts that could land manning in prison for life. and boston's fire chief is stepping down after less than two years on the job because of

a power struggle inside his department. in his letter of resignation, he wrote, quote, i never had the support of a number of members of the department who preferred that the chief be selected from within the ranks of the department itself. 11 days after the boston -- well, where is he from? >> dallas, texas. >> 11 days after the boston bombing marathon, the city's 13 deputy fire chiefs wrote a letter to mayor thomas menino saying they had no confidence in abrera. the first fire chief hired from outside the city of boston. up next, she predicted the mortgage crisis a year before the housing market imploded. what does financial analyst meredith whitney see in her crystal ball today? when it comes to the american economy, we're going to ask her that question next on "morning joe." with angie's list, i save time, money, and i avoid frustration.

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so they can look half their size. pores...shrink 'em down to size! [ female announcer ] pore refining cleanser. neutrogena.® meredith whitney starts saying things in late 2007 is when i first started paying attention. she was saying they basically didn't know, understand the risks they were taking. they didn't understand their own balance sheets. that they were going to -- she predicts citigroup is going to have to cut or eliminate the dividend a week before they actually do. she seems to know more about what's going on inside the places and the people who run them. >> and now i know why. we went to the same girl school. that was best-selling author michael lewis with his thoughts

on meredith whitney who became famous for making the early call in 2007 about the looming mortgage meltdown. she was featured in lewis' book "the big short," and now meredith with a book of her own. "the fate of the states," the new geography of american prosperity. going to get to that in a moment. but we sat down, realized we went to the same school and keyed in on the same mean girl. >> that's right. >> within two seconds. >> i'm still traumatized. >> i am too. i have to say, i have nightmares about her. that's all i'm going to say. we will not name her on the air. but there was a senior clubhouse and she smoked in it and wouldn't let people she didn't like in it. you say there's a sea change occurring in this country. with kind of like an economic power shift within the states, can you explain that? >> sure. so on wall street when i first got to wall street, people always -- and they still do -- talk about this smart money movement. hedge funds, fund managers,

getting information early and acting on it. and then it implies that the rest of the world is dumb money. and that always drove me crazy because am i dumb money? am i smart money? what you're seeing clearly now are businesses making radical decisions to uplift from their current environments and move to more sustainable states. and that sustainable states with cheaper energy, with better infrastructure, more pro business friendly environments. and that's the beginning of it. that would be be what's called smart money. what follows it are job seekers and families looking for a better way of life. so it's not a coincidence that in certain parts of the country which i outline in the book, you have half the unemployment rates that you do on the coast. so the structural unemployment rates that are going on on the coast are very difficult to break because they're linked to housing. and the housing bust really put great scars on so many states that economies just, you know, grew around. so i think that the country is

in a process of a 60-year demographic shift that actually happens every, you know, every 60 years. so you think about the industrial revolution, you think about the manufacturing revolution. the latest economic shift was the housing shift, which moved everyone to the sand states, the sun belt revolution. this is going to be internal. >> they're moving in, name some of the key states and why, what's the draw on a number of levels to build their power? >> okay. >> economic power. >> no pun intended. power's a big force, right? >> yeah. >> so cheap energy is rally changing the face of manufacturing in the united states. and this is a really positive story because you have a great onshore movement that fortune's written about. companies actually reinvesting in the united states, building factories, of course, that is the benefit of increased infrastructure spend. you have european countries that say it's 20% of the cost for

feed stocks in their chemical companies. so they're moving new production into the u.s. and that creates greater job opportunities, that creates a demographic shift, higher household formation. >> you also have -- one of the things interesting, we excerpted in our current issue. we love meredith. i thought was interesting is the way these governors are kind of competing to bring companies and that's a big part of the story now, more so than ever before. you mentioned how mitch daniels tha th has done a lot. they like corporate ceos trying to get business. recruit people from connecticut to florida. how much is that shift driving? >> that's exactly right. yes, there's the energy thing that has to be acknowledged. the tax policy that has to be acknowledged and the issue of state arbitrage where governors are aggressively going after their competitors, other state governors, corporations. and you see that clearly in florida. and i think as unpopular as governor scott has been, he's

done really great things for that state. just taken political risk and had political courage that have not benefitted him from a popularity contest. but mitch daniels has done incredible things. every governor is out to recruit rick perry in texas just came back from california trying to recruit businesses. >> even rick perry. >> even rick perry. >> the new geography, is it going to be two different types of prosperity? is it going to be the coastal enclaves, the silicon valley, cambridge, massachusetts, new york, austin, texas, with start-up mentalities as opposed to manufacturing mentalities in the inner states? >> it could very well be. you know, talent and high-tech talent is still located in the city. so the corporate, you know, these businesses are still having their city hubs. but what they're doing is -- any number of the silicon valley companies are building new facilities in texas. that's not because of energy. the energy is drawing chemicals

and manufacturing companies. but the data companies, google's data center in texas. so ebay -- you know, go -- they're choosing their operations, maybe not their high-tech talent, but the operations in the more pro-business areas. that has the great benefit of benefitting everybody. benefitting manufacturing jobs, benefitting construction jobs. you know, it's going to be imbalanced. it's very expensive to live in california right now, particularly after the retroactive tax increase and also cost of living. >> soaring. >> more expensive. >> real quickly, you were made famous initially in '07 with the credit crisis, but from my time at cnbc, you made the municipal bond call in 2010 and you clarify in your book because it made a lot of news and some of the way you were interpreted did not come to fruition. give us the clarity on that call in the municipal market. >> sure. my interest in all of this has

always been where is -- how is the u.s. going to recover? and it's so great it's so resilient. get deeper and deeper into these state issues and realize there are a lot of different factors going on. municipal bonds being one, pensions being another. so many issues. so my focus was never really -- has never been on municipal bonds, all of this plays into it, and very much, i'm still committed on all this. and it's playing out. >> she called it. >> she also called housing in 2005. >> and for that reason, i'm going to let my daughter wear blue nail polish because meredith whitney does. and i googled our mean girl, can't find her. just saying, except there is this arrest record thing. the new geography of american prosperity, meredith whitney, thank you very much. come back soon. it was great to have you on. on tomorrow's show, tennis champion monica sellus will be among our guests.

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♪ girls ♪ they want to have fun ♪ oh girls just wanna have

♪ that's all they really want ♪ just fun ♪ what in the world can they have done ♪ ♪ oh girls they wanna have fun mika, what is that all about? >> this is a video we made, because jordan roth called. when jordan roth calls, we all answer, for the show "kinky boots" which is cyndi lauper is one of the producers, and some of those girls aren't girls, i don't know if you can tell. the show is amazing. you have to go to "kinky boots." we did that. it works. the cast was great. and close your mouth. :53 past the hour. like so many other places across the northeast, liberty state

part was damaged in the wake of hurricane sandy. the public space is being rebuilt thanks in part to the star-studded -- it kicked off in the shadow of one of the nation's -- and this i did not get right. i sent louis out there. take a look. ♪ >> i'm so excited to actually watch it today. i took my claritin, so i'm ready to go. >> i can look good getting on the horse, but once you put the stick in my hand, i don't know what to do. >> i'm at beautiful liberty state park, for the sixth annual classic. let's play some polo and sip

some champagne ♪ >> the first cause we're supporting is obviously helping liberty state park to rebuild. following the hurricane, the park was badly damaged. we came out and surveyed and were really devastated. >> it sold out, so that tells you something. >> we're supporting just keep livin', which is dedicated to empowering young adults. >> nutrition on a budget we're teaching, and also teaching gratitude, life choices. 92% of the grades have improved, and 89% of the behavior has improved within the school they've been in since in our curriculum. what's your favorite thing about champagne. >> it goes with everything. >> it's a pretty easy thing to order. let me get some champagne.

>> makes everything feel like 11:00 a.m. on a saturday morning even if it's tuesday. >> bubbly, flirty. i remember it being marilyn monroe's favorite drink. >> very refreshing. >> the bubbles obviously. >> i've never been happier, warm, summer, new york, hey, i'm into polo. ♪ try to do mist indicate you ♪ but you're an animal ♪ it's in your nature ♪ just let me liberate you ♪ you don't need no favor yeah, question for the panel. was that about shame pain, raising money or louis? >> louis and matthew are like do thatle gangers. >> my god, he's painful. >> different sun glasses. i saw two did i times. >> three. >> he switches them out for different people to interview, to be cooler? >> seriously, he's a disaster.

up next, how governor christie as choice for new jersey's next senator could impact everything. we'll break down the scenarios next on "morning joe." [ ice freezing ] [ wind howling ] [ engine revving ] ♪ [ electricity crackling ] [ engine revving ] [ electricity crackling ] ♪

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good morning.

it's 8:00 a.m. on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. on the west coast, as you take a live look at new york city. >> it's time to wake up. >> willie, what should our friends on the west coast do? >> same as always. pull the covers over your head, don't go to work. >> no, you want to wake up. it's going to be a beautiful day. we have ed rendell, richard haus. in washington "new york times" adrian -- can we get to the news? the geraldo story, of the 115 world war ii veteran who served in the senate, he was the last. senator frank lautenberg of new jersey, set to retire next year, died yesterday of complication from pneumonia. call the one of the most prod t productive members of the senate, he colleague had a moment of silence. he shame better desk was adorned with a vase of flowers. he helped to pass landmark

legislation. he helped upped the national drinking age to 21, and worked to establish the blood alcohol standards for drunk drivers. most recently he was a staunch advocate for stricter gun control laws. coming to the senate floor in a wheelchair to cast his vote. now governor chris christie is tasked with replacing lautenberg's replacement. yesterday he gave an impromptu tribute to the longtime senator. >> it's no mystery we didn't always agree. in fact it's probably more honest to agree we very often didn't agree. we had some pretty good fights between us over time. battles on philosophy and the role of government. but never was senator lautenberg to be underestimated. as an advocate for the causes he believed in, and as an adversary in the political world.

so now governor christie faces a political tightrope in names lautenberg's replacement. if he selects a republican, he may gain favor of the national gop ahead of the presidentiale run that everyone is talking about, but that move could alienate a more moderate set of voters he needs. if he selects a democrat, it would surely outrage many members of his own party, but it could also help him with democratic donors, many of whom have already been offering up big contributions. looking ahead to a special election, it is possible the vote could be held in november at the same time christie has voters himself. that means he would be on the same ballot as, say, mayor cory booker who's clearly vie -- it could help the democratic opponent barbara wonoun. it's complicated. timplgts it's really easy.

pick a moderate republican. he has to pick a republican to stay within the party and not aliensate people. >> you're saying if he picks a democrat, his national -- his chances of national office -- >> i think it's another hurdle for him on top of the reconciliation. but you find a moderate republican to appoint, someone who is highly regarded, who will not be a candidate. that's the perfect appointment. >> would you, as a democrat, would you ever appoint a republican? >> sure, as interim senator, absolutely. >> really? >> yeah. another if -- >> how much does that hurt him. the guy's got like 74.75% approval raiding. >> the voter say we understand, and -- >> what's he going to do? go across state lines and excavate rockefeller? whos that?

>> former governor -- >> as an interim, i don't think she would want to run, but serve her 18 months? absolutely. >> is it crystallizes it, a big picture of chris christie with president obama, and said "whose side are you on? "? >> it's also important he appoint someone who is qualified. >> and willie, i'm glad you bring up drudge. all weekend, the banner headline was "open for business." and pictures of the jersey shore, and just absolutely wretched space, which wasn't a poke at the jersey shore, as much as a poke as chris chris e christie, conservatives are waiting to pounce. annie, donors are pouring money

into chris christie's coffers? that's also helping. >> i think in making this decision he's going to have a national campaign in mind and i think he'll be thinking about how this would play out in new jersey where he can raise a lot of money from democrats, and also ear states. i don't think it's going too far to say he's probably thinking about how it will play in a state like ohio. you know, if he ran for national office, he would be doing a lot of fund-raising from more moderate folks and would want to be seen as a guy who can be bipartisan. i think he's going to walk a fine line. but a lot of these options will be open to him. >> i mean, i hear the democrats, sandy have just been pouring money into his race, and democrats that hartley ever give money to republicans. >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, he has a fairly unique

ability to raise party lines. he's already proven this. that will be something very important going forward. >> herein lies one of the great ironies of my party. there are a lot of people in my party that see it as a weakness that chris christie can get votes and money from people in the other party. silly me, i thought that was the idea. you steal votes from your enemy, you steal money from your enemy, you want all the votes, superintendent all the money and you want everything on your side. ronald reagan was famous for it. he would say, they can support me if they want to, as long as they adopt my views, because i'm not going to adopt theirs. chris christie able to get money from across party lines is seen by some as a negative.

that's exactly what we need. >> i think in the regular way of thinking, everything you think would be a negative for chris christie has turned out to be a positive. i wonder if he has to stick into the rules here, you know, appoint a member of his own party or not. i think he does whatever he wants and whatever is good for new jersey. ultimately it comes out in the wash as good for chris christie. i think he does. i think it is a big leap if you pick somebody in the democratic party. unfortunately he's got about 24, 25 points to play with. so if democrats get angry, so he loses some points. >> he has an interesting problem. he has to hit a certain number, you know. for an ordinary politician, reelection, 58, 42, landslide. chris christie if he gets reelected 58-42, it's a disappointment. >> can you imagine a republican

winning like that? we can't even win in virginia anymore or florida. >> deval patrick, the first in, what, 25 years. it's doable. chris has to manage the expectation game as well, too. a lot to get to this morning. i just can't believe this story gets richer and richer in texture, but the inspector general's report on the irs' travel and conversation spending will be released later this morning, including some new details from the agency's infamous 2010 anaheim conference. >> willie, we were there. >> i still have the t-shirt that we did with zeppelin on the front, gilligan's island on the back. >> what the heck? >> it was like alta month. >> what is -- >> this was only a few years

ago. >> that was a bad call, but it was the end of an era. >> i don't really -- okay. the conference featured employees in film parodies that cost up to $50,000 each. >> i hope they didn't deduct it as a business expense. >> overall, the irs hired 15 outside speakers for a total cost of $135,000. on the tab, $27,000 for an innovation expert, $10,000 for a diversity and inclusion expert. $11,000 for a so-called happiness expert. >> okay -- >> very important. >> we just said we need one of those around thereisms that's a euphemism for something. >> and an artist who created paintings of michael jordan, abraham lincoln and u2 front man bono. >> what was that? they created pictures?

>> paintings? >> we need to see those. >> i want those. >> but, i mean, i don't -- has -- >> it boggles the entire mind. it's stunning. it's stunning, particularly in the time period -- >> it's three years ago. >> when i was governor and the recession hit and i knew i would be cutting anything, i stopped all travel requests from anybody in the government of 78,000 people had to be approved by someone in my office. we restricted it, because, look, that stuff is abusive even if we're rolling in dough, and when we're cutting programs, it's -- >> it's insulting. a happiness expert? >> in the midst of the recession. >> i'll give you a happiness expert. >> you could be the expert, my dear. votes, t.j.? yeah, t.j. is on my side. >> that's just not nice. >> see, look, you're not being happy right now. meanwhile, on capitol hill,

the new acting director testified, stressing the need to fix the many problems the agency is facing. appropriations committee chair hal rogers said congress may impose conditions on irs funding. >> the agency, the irs, has such power to ruin the lives of telephone american. we will not tolerate another political enemies list. we've got there before. having an enemies list harkins back to a dark page in our past, and the arrogance of power that we've seen from those involved in this instant is deeply, deeply disconcerting. and annie is a report covering this, the parallels, you know, some of them are fair, given what we are looking at here. >> yeah, absolutely.

it's worth knowing that the ig report that's going to come out today, this is very, very vanilla, plain bad behavior, sort of the thing we've seen before with other government departments, but it's piling on, right? it's a real sense that congress at this point could do something to irs funding, or they have enormous latitude in punishing the irs and changing the rules of the r50d, given there's so much concern over it. i think it's probably worth pointing out this would play pretty well with voters. people all right don't like the irs and there's a real feeling it's become a scandal-ridden party, so i think there's an expectation the congress will do something and the question is, what? >> here's something the irs should be looking into. a new report is not just apple is stashing money overseas to avoid paying taxes. according to citizens for tax justice, at least 18 companies are using loopholes to keep cash

in other countries. if the profits were brought back to the u.s., the companies would owe more than $92 billion in revenue. that would add up to a lot of happiness experts, just by the way. some of the biggest names on the list including microsoft, pharmaceutical giant eli lilly, and oracle. i find this to be just completely insulting -- >> but not surprising. >> not surprising. it can be done, but come on, now, this is something we can fix. >> let's drop the nominal tax rate and provide incentives. it's a win-win. >> what is this about, corporate tax rates being too high? >> the nominal rate is 35%, the highest in the world, obviously a disincentive to bring money back home. it's perfectly legal, but we want to set up a scheme and basically have a negotiation where we bring the money back here. >> so is this part of the money

we've been hearing for several years there's a trillion, 2 trillion, 3 trillion parked offshore? >> get them to repatriate. >> there's two questions, one is going forward, and this type of activity though shot by 'lowed. it's allowed now, but it should be illegal. but secondly how to repatriate it. they're willing to bring it back, but not at 35%. the question here is, a, what level, and b, what do we do with it? coming up, baseball's brightest star, but his achievements led to some major struggles off the field. dwight gooden is here with his revealing new memoir "doc." and how the pentagon plans to crack down on sexual assault in the armed forces. senator kirsten jillen brand joins us along with bill

miklaszewski. as much as i would like to ignore the start of hurricane season unfortunately mother nature is not allowing me to do that. a possible storm in the gulf is not what we want to here, but this time of year they're usually very weak. the storm will try to form and head up towards florida. if it did get a name, the first named storm is andrea, and if it did become andrea, it would be weak. so a lot of rain over florida, and maybe up the east coast, so enjoy the beautiful weather. the humidity is low and it's a gorgeous day. by the end of the week, the humidity and rain chances increase. poor oklahoma city, another huge complex of thunderstorms rolled through. that is now heading into the southern portion of oklahoma, about to cross the red river into northern portions of texas, but dying out thankfully. later today more storms for wichita, kansas city, oklahoma city, if we get isolated

tornadoes it would be to the west of oklahoma city, not near the city limits. other big story is the fire in california. firefighters got ahold of it last night, evacuation orders have been lifted. as far as the west goes, no rain in sight. i think it will be quite a fire season. the temperature today, 105 in phoenix. we leave you with a shot of st. lou is. i forgot to mention the levee breach north of st. louis, so don't want to forget or friends in the midwest, still dealing with flooding on the mississippi river. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. i'm the next american success story. working for a company

where over seventy-five percent of store management started as 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.

if the man in charge for the air force in preventing sexual assault is being alleged to have committed a sexual assault this weekend, obviously there's a failing in training and understanding of what sexual assault is and how corrosive and damaging is to good order and discipline, and how it is undermining the credibility of the greatest military force in the world. >> that was senator kirsten gillibrand in a heated confrontation with officials last month. first joining us from the pentagon, chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. today the military is expected to address the increase of sexual assaults. you have just one example of how

bad this situation is. >> reporter: that's right, mika, all the military top brass, including the general chief are marching up to capitol hill where they're expected to get a tough grilling from lawmakers on the rising number of sexual assault cases in the military and what needs to be done about it. this on top of the latest reported sex scandal out of the elite naval academy, which involved a highly volatile combination of sex, alcohol, and football. maybe football is the crown jewel of the naval academy sports program, but defense officials confirm three navy football players are under investigation for allegedly assaulting an unconscious female midshipman last year. the attorney claims when her client reported the incident she was disciplined for drinking, but the two football players

went unpunished and allowed to play out the season. >> the message is she was getting in trouble for coming forward, yet nothing was happening to the men involved in the wrongdoing. >> reporter: the alleged incident occurred as sexual assault rose to record highs. the pentagon estimates that sexual assaults skyrocketed last year, from 19 to 26,000. that includes two recent incidents involving military members entrusted with protecting victims against sexual abuse. one has been charged with sexual battery. pressure is now growing in congress to change the military culture that often protects the accused by changing the way the military justice system pursuing and prosecutes sexual assault cases. >> they have to be treated lie the climbs they are, crimes of violence, aggression and dominance. >> at this year's commencement, president obama told these graduates sexual assault poses a serious threat to the entire military. >> that's why we have to be determined to stop these crimes,

because they've got no place in the greatest military on earth. >> reporter: one senior was migging, not allowed to graduate pending an investigation. >> so let's bring in democratic senator from new york and chair of the subcommittee on personnel, senator kirsten gillibrand. they're talking about this being a primary mission. what kind of follow-through would you like to see from the chiefs today? >> well, we would like a system that has more transparency, more accountability, and basic objectivity. what we have today is not that. that is what victims have told us. they said they're afraid to report, because they're concerned they'll be retaliated against or marginalized or actually blimd. they don't feel like there's a system where they can receive justice, because they feel the system is biased. we want them to report and have

the decisionmaking be outside the chain of command. we want trained military prosecutors to make the judgment about whether or not to take a case to trial, not the victim's commander. >> so that seems like the only way to begin to solve this problem. do you think you'll get that? >> we're working very hard to get that. we have a bipartisan bill, nearly 20 senators already co-sponsoring it. the hearing today is important, the first hearing of the full committee in ten years to talk about this issue. what we expect from the military is they don't want to change anything. they want the status quo. in fact they have said they will not support taking this decisionmaking out of the chain of command. i think that is wrong. i think anything less will not result in a more transparent, fair system where victims feel comfortable. our biggest challenge is reporting. we have 26,000 arguable sexual attempts, sexual assaults and rapes a year, but we only have 33 reporting. you have that a tenth go to

trial. you have that we have a handful of convictions, about 1 in 100. >> i don't disagree with your proposed solution. i'm not sure how they can do it within the chain of command. jim, you have a question? >> reporter: oh, you know, i think the senator is exactly right, that there is pushback from the military leadership, and even defense secretary leon panetta, he supported trying to find a way to support the victims of sexual assault in the military, but he too was not eager to change that chain of command influence inside the u.s. military. i can tell you that the chain of command to many in the military is sacrosanct, because you never want to have to order a soldier into battle and have him question the leadership. but we're talking about something entirely different here. many in the military understand there's going to have to be change, but they don't think it's going to happen quickly. >> kirsten?

>> look, what we have seen from our commander, secretary panetta actually allowed women in combat and made that fundamental change. he has made statements along with his general counsel, saying there needs to be structural reform. i don't know that he wouldn't support this. i know that secretary hagel has already recommended changing the ucmj, the uniform code of military justice, by saying one of the responsibilities needs to be taken away from the chain of command, and that's the ability to overturn a verdict. commanders know this is a probable. general amos has said the reason why victims don't come forward is they don't trust us, they don't trust the chain of command to handle these cases proper l. wife also heard from general dempsey who says they think they've been too soft on the perpetrator perpetrators, that if someone is a decorated soldier, who has earned various awards and purple hearts, they may go soft on him, not prosecute the cases.

what are the victims to think when even the commanders know they don't trust them. they don't trust them to have accountability and justice. so we care about military readiness, if we care about making sure we have good order and discipline, then we have to deal with these problems and we have to make sure these perpetrators, these predators are taking out so we can honor of service of the men and women who are part of the -- >> lee gallagher. >> senator, i applaud your efforts. one of the issues that's come up is screening. reporters are saying that many of these people that are charged have prior history, so is that in your discussion at all? and would more screening do anything to help this problem? >> i think it would. i think there's a number of reforms that would make a difference. i think looking at the academies. this camp in the naval academy shows there's no accountability. so until you begin to punish

criminals for crimes, rape, sexual assault, these are crimes of violence, and often these predators are resid viss. show there's accountable, though justice can be done. when more victims come forward, you'll have more trials, more convictions, and when people see results, you will begin to transform the culture of not only the academies, but the military itself. we expect military readiness and we expect to have our force be ready for anything. we cannot have men and women being attacked by their colleagues and commander. >> mike? >> as you know, each branch has separate divisions. airborne, infantry, ordnance, things like that. the police departments in this country are virtually military-style organizations.

almost every major police department i know has a sexual crimes unit, run by detectives who investigate sexual crimes. does any branch of the military have such a separate section and specialization? >> reporter: i think they're just getting -- >> go ahead, mick. >> okay. they're just getting geared up to focus on sexual assaults, but i can tell you i've talked to many victims who say once they report, they have no problem with the way military investigators handle their case, that they were very aggressive. in some cases they put wires on the victims who then go in and gather more evidence against their attacker, but what happens is when it gets up to the command, that's when it all seems to fall apart, because in that command structure -- and i've seen it myself. i'm sat in on sexual assault trials against military superiors accused of assaulting their subordinates, and in one

case, the judge looked at the jury, military male judge looked at an all-military jury, and his instructions before they went in to consider any type of verdict were this. because of the this individual's rank, his years of service and his stellar record, the jury was instructed to give more credence to his testimony than the victims. if you're a victim, you've got to be sitting there and going, i wasted my time here. in that case, the accused was exonerated. >> unplefbl. >> there's also a reason why the commanders, when they overturn a jury verdict or a commander decides they're not going to permit a case to go forward to trial, it undermines anyone's confidence that there's a fob outcome for justice. that is really the challenge, that if the commander at the end of the day can unwind what an investigation has put forward or

unwind what a jury has actually found, victims do not believe they can have accountability or justice in the current system. that's why the two decision points -- whether to go to trial or whether to overturn a jury verdict -- should be taken outside the chain of command. you need an objective legal system. that's what you're legal system is based on. just to complete this argument, many other of our allies have already done this. israel and the uk have done it, and what the israeli j.a.g. corps told us is when they started having high-level prosecutions, they're reporting over the last five years, went up by 80%. we want that get that 26,000 incidents, more reported at not just have 3,300. >> senator kirsten gillibrand, thank you. jim miklaszewski thank you as well. up next dwight gooden stops

by the set with his new memoir, the struggle that comes along with the stardom. "morning joe" will be right back. [ male announcer ] i've seen incredible things.

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former mlb pitcher, who became the youngest starting

pitcher in mlb history at 19, dwight gooden, is now with a book, "doc, a memoir." great to have you with us this morning. it's not all that easy when you get out in the limelight and become a superstar. is that fair enough to say? >> that's fair. things happen pretty fast. basically on your own. obviously you meet people that don't have your best interests. >> is that the biggest challenge, the people you might have, who mant did i have your -- >> i think myself making bad choices, and not being honest with myself. >> 19, from a small town if florida. it's 1986.

you have an incredible year. people are throwing things at you for free. here you go, doc. take this, take that. was there a point in 1986, where you knee, woe, this could be difficult. i don't know whether i can handle this? >> you have a very good point, i got to doing drugs. until i started getting in trouble action and i wanted to stop, but couldn't. the plan was to do it two, three hours, and then all of a sudden you're up two, three days. i knew the problem, but was in denial. >> did the club assign someone, because you were so young, to help walk you through this stuff. >> i think in 1987, after my first stint in rehab, they brought dr. alan lance, who was

very helpful, but in the beginning, you're on your own. i think now what major league baseball is doing is getting each team a position to help young guys out. >> this stuff came to the front so early. do you think, though, now looking at your whole life that something like this, an addictive personality might have got badly, did you have it in you, orset the precedent for a lot of spirals to the down side later on? >> i think those things are going to happen. i think at 19 or 23, based on a lot of stuff going on inside, i would medicate myself with drugs and alcohol. unfortunately at a young age, a lot of expectations from others, as well as myself, it happened pretty fast and very rapidly. >> tell us what that addition is like action for those who don'ti opened it to any page.

you say within a couple weeks, i was a seasoned user. i didn't start using every minute or every day. cocaine didn't fill my days like a job or hobby would have, but cocaine was never out of my mind. it got me through the second week of february, and it goes on. it became a fundamental part of use you are life? >> you know, you start off with the first year more like recreational. when it became a problem, i was addicted to it, it became my first priority. i always tack about in the booic where basically i divorced my first family for cocaine, and cocaine is always on the back of your mind or -- you know, i've got too rehab, i know the effects, but in my mind i was still in denial. >> wow. >> let's talk about baseball. baseball seems to be something that passes down father to son, so i want to end on a positive note here. tell us a story about the last

game your dad saul and what that meant to you. >> that was very important to me, you know, the day i was pitching, my dad had kidney problems for a long, long time. the doctor said if he didn't have surgery, he wouldn't make it. so i had permission to fly home, but the morning i got up, i thought -- i could just reflect on the days that we spend at the park, so i call joe torre, told him i was coming in to pitch, he said no, take as many time as you need, and then i called my mom the same thing. the first three innings of the game, i wondered if i made the right decision, so probably, i really got into the game and knew i had a no-hitter going. when the last out was making, when the teammates, i was

thinking about my father, and the next day i flew home, gave my dad the ball at the hospital, and, you know, at that time he was on life support, but the doctors said he did watch the games, you know, he didn't make it home from the hospital, but the last game he saul me pitch was the no-hitter. the book is "doc, a memoir." dwight gooden, thank you so much. thank you for writing it. up next today's business headlines. keep it right here. [ female announcer ] now you can apply sunblock

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:45 past the hour. business before the bell with cnbc's brian sullivan. take it away. >> thank you very much. i know you're a big gambler, you know in blackjack the best hand is 21. we'll see if that's the case for the stock market today. here's a worthless, but pretty incredible stat. if we are higher today, it will be the 21st straight tuesday that the market has increased, one of the longest such stretches in the history of the u.s. stock market. 20 straight tuesdays coming into today. some of your symptom business stories out there. auto sales coming in all day yesterday, and they were very strong. in fact big mostly double-digit jumps from the monday of last year. porsche up 37%, leading the way, if you bought a 2014, ford is recalling 465,000 of its 2013

models, because about 600 people have complained of a fuel leak. if you have questions, go to cnbc.com or "mime herald." and zynga yesterday saying it will lay off 18% of the staff. there's your business before the bell. entirely prance-free, just for you, mika. >> thank you for that. a cheesy intro, but you end well. >> poor brian. you crushed him, no, i didn't. i'm honest and help him along. people like honesty. they like to note. this note on thursday, ariana huffington and i will be hosting a special women's conference. convening leaders from the business world and beyond. for the first-ever women's conference where we will find a new way for women to measure success. beonthe standard metrics of wealth and power.

join the conversation on twitter with hash tack thirdmetric. willie's news you can't use is next, and here's some prancing for you. we'll be right back. few industries are changing more rapidly than healthcare. by earning your degree from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to advance your career while making a difference in the lives of patients.

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time for the news you can't

use in honor of mika's book "obsessed" we're going to focus on food. yesterday we told you about the hands-free whopper device. you can eat it -- hands free. >> it's about safety, guys. >> it is about safety. for a safer america. >> that's so disgusting. why would anyone eat a whopper? >> that's not the question. the question is not why would anyone -- the question is why does the king care so much? >> ballroom dancing is a possibility. fitness, karate, you name it. >> now dunkin' donuts is upping the ante. friday is national doughnut day. to coincide with that national holiday dunkin' donuts is rolling out this. it's the doughnut bacon sandwich. >> that is simply disgusting.

i have no idea why think would do that. >> cherry wood smoked bacon, eggs, all put inside a split glazed doughnut. ♪ heaven ♪ i'm in heaven >> eighths innovation, part of what makes our country great. >> you hurt yourself when you eat that. why would you buy it? >> 360 calories, they say it's fewer calories than the other breakfast -- >> that is saying a lot about having breakfast at dunkin' donuts. perhaps one should not. >> no action one should. >> that's so disgusting. >> only one way to improve that is to put it in a jelly doughnut. >>. fast food employee revenge last summer an employees was fired to posting this picture. now a taco bell worker is in

trouble. >> c'mon, man, that's un-american. >> the restaurant put out a statement saying we believe it's a prank, the food was not served to customers. we're conducting a full investigation, et cetera, et cetera. did we need that? that didn't help anybody. >> here's another random story, uplifting story. how about a 2-year-old playing the guitar. >> i like that. >> i love 2-year-olds playing a guitar. ♪ ♪ don't let me down ♪ don't let me down ♪ nobody ever -- like she does ♪ she does ♪ don't let me down

i'm meteorologist bill karins with your business travel forecast, a beautiful gorgeous day today. enjoy it with the humidity finally gone. in the middle of the country, thunderstorms return, some of those near oklahoma city, but it doesn't appear to be tornadic. enjoy your day. alec, for this mn i upgraded your smart phone. ♪ right. but the most important feature of all is... the capital one purchase eraser. i can redeem the double miles i earned with my venture card to erase recent travel purchases. and with a few clicks, this mission never happened. uh, what's this button do? [ electricity zaps ] ♪ you requested backup? yes. yes i did. what's in your wallet?

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>> that is the way to do it. >> that kid's awesome. i like that a lot. all right. time for what we learned today. brian? >> have you ever live tweeted an event, mika? >> i don't -- maybe? >> barnicle is so hip. i was riveted. >> ed? >> i learned that great story about doc gooden pitch, one of my great regrets is my dad who loved politics died when i was 14. >> kirs i gillibrand action that any branch of the service

doesn't have a unit that these crimes can be reported to is obscene. and thank you for the ladies of "the view" for having me on yesterday. a frank conversation with barbara and elizabeth. i really, really appreciate it. that does it for us today. mike, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> time for "morning joe." time for our pal chuck todd. chuck, take it away. thank you, big mike. bench press. . . kicks off a new fight today with a very public push for judicial nominees to a crucial court here in washington, essentially daring republicans to block his picks. as tributes continue for, the focus is already shifting to chris christie's power, to make an appointment. we'll have a deep dive into the politics and legal questio