all right. so earlier in the show we asked if you had $200,000 sitting around and wanted to spend that on a speech who would you like to see? eric? >> we got a bunch of good responses. one of the best is ed who says he would like to see dennis rodman rapping with kim jong-un. natalie writes a shirtless

vladimir putin. >> oh, yeah. >> he would do that for $200,000. >> you have to pay putin in singles for the shirtless. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ >> claudia, move. ♪ >> dennis! >> okay. i don't know what that was, but good morning, everybody. welcome to "morning joe." it is friday, july 12th. with us on set we have the

chairman of deutsch incorporated donny deutsch. hello. >> that was "sharknado". >> i know it was. i can't believe we opened with it. >> sometimes art flows over you. >> something like that. msnbc's thomas roberts. >> it was shark-ariffic. >> from govevermont, be howard . willie and joe. i know joe didn't watch that. he has better things to do. i'm sure you didn't. willie did. >> of course i did. >> no, you didn't. >> i dvr'ed it and watching it in a loop right now. >> is it a joke? i don't understand. >> is it a joke? >> yeah. >> is mozart a joke? >> thank you. >> is beethoven a joke? >> artist subjective. i get home from dinner late last night, get on the twitter, when i tell you every tweet in my feed, every -- from the smartest people in politics, was about

sharknado i said what is this? i got on the menu on the tv and scrolled, find "sharknado." magnificent. ian ziering from "90210" the main actor, tara reid from "american pie" staging her comeback. >> just a bunch of washed up people who have nothing -- >> that hurt. >> joe, you're not here in the studio, i'm going to jump in, things you would say, you mention mozart, i would put in picasso. sometimes progressive art is not for everybody, but then for people like us waiting for it, we soak it in. >> there it is. >> we take it. i'm just thankful today, that's all i can say. >> honestly -- >> if you build it, if you build it, they will come. >> oh, god. >> some people, joe, just aren't ready for tornadoes full of sharks that kill people on land. and that's their problem. >> but if you have a chainsaw you can take them out. >> some people weren't ready for shakespeare. >> some people weren't ready for

shakespeare. >> i would love to have been in the picture meeting. here you go. i got it. ready? we got this tornado, right, but the tornado takes the sharks out of the ocean, spin them around and everybody is like jumping. yes, yes, yes. >> there is a real story about social media, the buildup to this. it's kind of intentionally terrible and the buildup on social media was huge and last night it was a top trending thing in the united states all night. caught fire worldwide. >> if any of you are wondering -- >> ian ziering. >> letting this go four minutes in, joe, it's because what i have to show you that came out of washington yesterday. >> worse. >> isn't much better. it might even be worse. >> willie and i, as we always say about sporting events, you know, this is a divided country, democratic against republican. liberal against conservative. willie, last night. >> for two short hours, joe. >> america got a break.

>> across the aisle. >> stupid. >> we came together. >> we came together. it was the promise of george w. bush of being a uniter and not a divider and last night that promise was realized. >> it's four minutes into the show. >> how does it end? >> what's going on, mika? >> guess what we're doing today? >> what's that. >> we have elizabeth warren coming on the show. i'm so excited. she's working on a bipartisan bill that is really quite frankly exactly what she went to washington to do and intended to prevent the next financial crisis, she's going to be talking about that. don't we look forward to that, joe? >> what? she went to washington to draft a bill that nobody is going to pass, is that really why she went to washington? >> you stop. okay. you know what, i have a feeling you might want to sit this one out if that's your attitude. >> no. i'm just saying, nothing is passing washington right now. >> that's true. >> i mean it's the most miserable existence being a congressman or senator unless you intentionally want to block

action from happening. and it's just a terrible, terrible time up there right now. >> i haven't given up hope in elizabeth warren, though. >> okay. >> so we will be talking to her a little later. first we'll get to our top story of the morning, later today, 24 days after the murder trial of george zimmerman began, the defense will deliver its closing argument as nbc's ron mott reports, yesterday's final presentation by prosecutors capped weeks of dramatic testimony. >> a teenager is dead. he is dead through no fault of his own. he is dead because another man made assumptions. >> reporter: the state started its closing in the less explosive fashion than it opened. >> [ bleep ] punks. these [ bleep ] punks they always get away. >> reporter: but made the same argument about trayvon martin's killing to the all-women jury. >> the man that is guilty of

second-degree murder. >> reporter: that george zimmerman should go to prison for profiling, following, confronting and shooting the unarmed teenager last year. >> why does this defendant get out of the car and he thinks that trayvon martin is a threat to him? why? why? because he's got a gun. he's got the equalizer. >> reporter: with zimmerman's and martin's parents all in court for the first time since day one. >> [ bleep ] they always get away. >> reporter: the prosecutor said zimmerman sized up martin as a criminal during a call to police. >> i would submit to you he uttered it under his breath and that itself indicates ill will and hatred. >> for a second straight day. >> he's saying that armpits -- how does he get the gone out? >> reporter: the state's life-sized foam dummy was thrown into the mix. >> [ inaudible ]. >> do you see where he's pointing to, where he's grabbing, where he has his firearm? >> reporter: with the prosecutor questioning zimmerman's account. >> this was never an easy second-degree murder case for the prosecution. it seemed to get more difficult

every day of trial. while the closing argument seemed effective it may not be enough for the crime of murder. >> reporter: earlier sparks flew as both sides sparred over adding lesser charges of manslaughter and third-degree felony murder. >> doesn't the court realize this was a trick by the state -- >> just when i thought this case couldn't get any more bizarre the state is seeking third degree murder based on child abuse? >> reporter: martin was 17 when he was killed. the judge denied the third-degree murder charge, but ruled the jury may consider manslaughter in lieu of second-degree murder. zimmerman's attorney objected to any lesser charge. >> you are in agreement with that? >> yes, your honor. >> reporter: zimmerman pleaded not guilty saying he shot martin in self-defense after being attacked. >> the state has charged him with second-degree murder. they should be required to prove it if they can. they can't prove it, then that is the failing of the prosecution. >> now it's a matter of time. that was ron mott reporting. thomas, you've been following this case. what do you make of both sides?

>> it's been a wild one to watch, especially now as we enter the final chapter. the defense i think court observers would say have provided enough holes in the prosecution's theory which really hasn't come together all that much until the end where the prosecution wants that manny can was introduced almost conceded to the fact that trayvon martin was on top during this altercation that went down. so we're going to watch what the, you know, what we see from the defense today and then the prosecution is going to have the last word. they're going to take the final hour to be able to come back and leave in the minds of the jury where they want to go. it was interesting in that report that we saw there, the attempt by the state to bring in the lesser charge of felony murder in the third degree based on child abuse, now obviously in the state of florida trayvon martin is considered to be a child because he was only 17 years old. the judge had issue with intent on this because they were trying to describe the intent of being george zimmerman carrying this

gun, obviously he had intent to use it on trayvon martin, did he have an intent to take his life or just wound him in that altercation? the judge was fishy on that. that will to the be included. she didn't feel that was a proper way to go. >> it's a matter of time now. we'll be watching your coverage throughout the day on msnbc. meanwhile i touched on this earlier, up on capitol hill, if you were watching what was happening in washington, you would see this. >> majority leader wants written on his tom stone he presided over the end of the senate. well, if this majority leader caves to the fringes, and lets this happen, i'm afraid that's exactly what they'll write. these are dark days in the history of the senate. i hate that we have come to this point. we've witnessed the majority leader break his word to the united states senate. >> no matter how often my friend

rudely talks about me not breaking my word i'm not going to respond talking about how many times he's broken his word. >> it makes me sad. all my members are angry. i'm more sad about it. >> i guess he follows the theory, i hope not, the more you say something even if it's false people start believing it. >> this is a sad, sad day for the united states senate and if we don't pull back from the brink here, be my friend the majority leader is going to be remembered as the worst leader of the senate ever. >> senators harry reid and mitch mcconnell tangled over reid's plan to go nuclear and blow up traditional senate rules. it all stems from continued efforts of republicans to block president obama's appointments. this has been going on for years now literally. reid wants to alter the dynamic requiring a simple majority to change senate rules as opposed to the 67 currently needed so that actually something could happen. and to filibuster on an

executive branch nominee could be broken with 51 votes instead of the current 60 vote threshold so maybe hopefully joe something could happen, but instead, what we watch is these two guys droning on about how much they don't like each other. >> yeah. you know, harry reid may, in fact, be remembered as a subparma jorty leader presiding over some of the worst days in the history of the senate in modern history. he has been a shadow of what george mitchell was, what bob dole was, what tom daschle was. people even in our time have been. but, if, in fact, howard dean, he is remembered as a less than effective majority leader, it sure as hell won't be because he changed filibuster rules that actually helped things get done

in the united states senate. >> it is a very interesting debate because it shows the depths to which the senate has already sunk long before either of these two folks were in their present positions. what you've got is a group of people who have basically put their party in front of their country and getting rid of the filibuster is a serious step because the constitution protects the rights of the minority. it's one of the things that makes this political situation in this country a great country. unlike egypt where morsi got into trouble because he didn't care about the rights of the minority, of any minority. and to see this happen is a huge step, but i think it probably has to happen. i don't see how a small group of people can tie up the entire country which is what has been going on for four years under mcconnell. i don't see what choice reid has and i hope the democrats will stick with him. >> all right. i don't disagree at all with that and it's sort of pathetic that we're at this stage right

now. >> it is. that's what i think so too. i agree. this is pathetic. it's outrageous. it's why politics is essentially becoming irrelevant. >> almost. >> you know, the thing is, mika, democrats just have to realize that as i always try to explain to my republican friends when we were in the majority, we won't be in the majority for ever and what we do now, is going to be used by democrats to justify what they do when we're in the minority. democrats need to understand, i'm perfectly fine with this, in fact i would like to see things start moving in the senate. democrats need to understand that when you have 51 republicans in charge, that a bill by ted cruz, for instance, is not going to be able to be held up by a filibuster. >> that's actually not what they're proposing. what they're proposing is milder than that. they're proposing simply that the majority be respected on the

matter of the president's appointments. i think they ought to go a little further and allow the president's judicial appointments to also be considered without a filibuster. but i wouldn't go as far and the president -- excuse me, and reid hasn't gone as far as suggesting bills be exempt from the filibuster. i think that's right. >> let me put it this way, when ted cruz is nominated to the united states supreme court, democrats aren't going to be able to stop it. does that make you feel better? >> yes. that makes me feel better. >> but that is what democrats need to understand, what they're setting up. >> i agree with that. this is serious. >> republicans are going to have a judicial nominee that democrats will find offensive and they won't be able to stop it with a filibuster and that's perfectly fine with me. >> okay. can i move on to some other news, please, because i don't think that bickering on capitol hill deserves any more attention seriously. when they want to do something, give us a call. maybe elizabeth warren can help us out. >> what i find interesting

before we get off those two guys viscerally, those are the two faces of the two parties and that's not where the country is. it's interesting how you look at them and i don't think either party would say that's our guyp. >> no. >> they are speaking for us. >> no. >> and there will be changes coming. >> all right. so i've got two other news items to get to and we will talk to i think a future leader, one who already is but i think she will break out as someone you can finally break whatever it is that we just saw happening there. eliot spitzer was on the show earlier. donny, you didn't see it. i'm going to show you a portion. there's a bit of news that relates. he needed nearly 4,000 signatures to make a run for new york city comptroller. he got 27,000. it's possible his top competition scott stringer could challenge their validity. spitzer made a surprise entry into the race earlier this week and already at least one poll shows him with a lead and donny,

i ask for your opinion on this because it's i think really tough for someone to come back from what he did. and for a number of reasons. and yet, the poll is showing he's in the lead and a lot of people are saying the way he has presented himself especially on an interview on this show may have had something to do with it. do we have a portion of that, alex? i'll let you take a look. here are the polls. and then this is what happened at the very end of our interview with him a few days ago. >> as personal as you can answer this question, don't give me a pat answer, don't give me one that you prepare in your mind, how are you different than you were five, six years ago? what has changed personally? >> a lot of pain. a lot of pain. >>. >> that's it? >> you go through that pain, you change. >> that was after 15 minutes of me asking him questions about since he broke the law, whether

or not we could ever trust him again to pay the city's bills, let alone anything else, then joe going after him several times about whether or not he can be trusted after what he did and how you actually move past that and what it was that drove it and mark halperin asking him about six or seven questions on the same issue and then finally we talked about what he wanted to do for the job, and then it ended that way. >> fascinating. actually that was the first time i saw that. it was incredibly compelling. here's the good news for spitzer and what he's doing right. first of all, the fact that he's going for an office, a comptroller office, low-level office, the reason he's ahead off the bat, such name awareness versus an unknown thing that you pop immediately, that's what's happening with weiner also in the mayoral race. you have these well-known figures, whether liked, disliked, so polarizing, they're still known. they get the pass for that. another thing happening i think also on a much bigger macro social thing. i think we're evolving to a society that extramarital

affairs, infidelities, sexual indiscretions, i think people just don't care that much anymore. i think we've come to a place where whether it's the internet, whether it is everything is so -- we've been so overwhelmed, oh, my god, what are we going to see next, a governor impregnating his housekeeper that i think with time, and with true contrition is what you saw there, that was true contrition, the sexiest thing in the world is to take somebody down and the next sexiest thing is to bring them back up. spitzer, you're seeing a new society now with a new level of forgiveness and elasticity of understanding of human flaws. >> donny, i think you're right. you can go down the line and a crisis that in the moment feels like the worst thing that's ever happened in the history of the world, eventually passes whether you talk about a president of the united states, you talk about tiger woods, you talk about athletes, celebrities,

politicians. the storms pass and if you handle it the right way, lay low, as mark sanford did,ant knee weiner has done, spitzer is doing now, you come out, confront it, talk about every question asked about it, it passes and people forgive you. >> key point is authenticity and honesty. >> joe? >> speaking of that, mika, authenticity, after we got off the show a lot of people were asking whether you believed that he was really crying, was he really upset, was it all just a bad act? you talked to me right afterwards and said that you could tell it was, again, and you've been as tough a critic on spitzer as anybody, but you said it was very clear in person a few feet away, it was very authentic and he was, in fact, very upset. >> he was shaking. he definitely was. and the questions that we put before him were not just the questions. people have asked him the

questions before. we did a repeated pounding of questions, first from me, then from you, then halperin and back to me, and we basically made him lay it all out and he talked about everything from personal indiscretion to, you know, sexual flaws or whatever, anything that we wanted to ask he was there ready to answer and to answer -- seriously and not making fun of himself and why he wanted to serve. i will tell you, i am still thinking about whether or not i would vote for him. so -- that's -- i am very -- there's something about a human being that comes forward with the truth and faces it and has the guts to own up to his or her mistakes and everyone makes them. >> i wouldn't say guts, because that's the only thing to do. i wouldn't give him credit for having the guts to own up to his mistakes. that's survival. to not own -- it would take more

guts to not own up. that's not brave. >> i think not owning them is a cowardly and i have seen politicians doing that. >> i'm going to turn it around the other way. he would have zero percent of possibility of ever getting elected or any redemption had he not. i wouldn't call a gutty move. i would call it the only move. i think it's interesting you sometimes forget these are people. about six months -- i know eliot and six months ago i saw him walking down fifth avenue. baseball hat by himself. you could see, you don't understand the level of humiliation people go through when you're somebody like that who's on top of the world and then you basically have this huge scarlet letter. the man has clearly suffered and forever paid his dues. does the american public give him a second chance? i think because it's a lower office i think they do. >> i'm glad that we can be this too shall pass society, that's nice, but when it comes down to your enemy's enemy is my friend, scott stringer is getting some very powerful financial donors

because of the enemies that spitzer made on wall street and scott stringer is a popular manhattan borough president. it will be interesting to see how that goes because while we can all sit around here and i think you did a great job, halperin did a great job, joe did a great job of asking those questions and finally revealing those layers kind of pulling back the onion layers, but still, you know -- >> thomas is quick. >> the voters may forgive but the enemies won't. >> it's the ken lagowns of the world who hate this guy will put tens of millions of dollars in. >> oh, my goodness. it's interesting. i speak only on a human level. >> yeah. >> i think politics aside he still has perhaps an uphill battle. look, it's not necessarily the personal foibles, everyone has them, but the breaking of the law that i'm not sure i can get around as a voter. coming up on "morning joe," senator elizabeth warren joins the conversation. also the moderator of "meet the

press," david gregory. we'll talk to former white house adviser melody barnes and later from the film "the hunt" actor mads mickelson joins us. up next the top story in the politico playbook and new polls showing hillary clinton fairing against chris christie should they both run for president in 2016. first here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> mika, last night was rough in washington, d.c. thunderstorms plagued the area. they dropped so much rain so quickly, water rescues were actually needed outside of d.c. in the town of centerville. those thunderstorms are now rolling across the chesapeake, still in maryland here, trying to head over towards delaware. in general everything will be drifting in this direction, but it's going to cause a slow morning commute and there's still a lot of roads with water on them. look how much rain we got. this is the centerville area, d.c. right here. 6.75 inches estimated there. of course, that caused some epic flooding.

for the rest of today, the clouds will keep it cooler in the mid-atlantic with the rain. thunderstorms and flooding. the southeast most likely this afternoon from atlanta through south carolina, north carolina, and then over the weekend, thunderstorms will continue on and off throughout the southeast. the midwest is very hot today. but we may cool it off a little bit there around areas like dallas, 95 on sunday. so washington, d.c., the worst of the weather is over with from last night. we're still recovering with a lot of water left on the roads. give yourself a little extra time this morning. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. out there owning it.

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28 past the hour. time to take a look at the morning papers. the san diego union tribune, san diego mayor bob filner is under fire after his political allies

came forward with allegations of sexual harassment. at a press conference three long-time supporters called on him to resign, quote, over numerous instances of sexual harassment including city employees, oh, wow. he released a statement of apology later in the day. >> i am embarrassed to admit i have failed to fully respect the women who worked for me and with me and at times i have intimidated them. it's a good thing that behavior that would have been tolerated in the past is being called out in this generation for what it is, inappropriate and wrong. i am also humbled to admit i need help. i have begun to work with professionals to make changes in my behavior and approach. >> in the "new york daily news" celebrity chef paula deen has fired her lawyers and hired a high profile team that specializes in wrongful termination and other employment matters. this comes a week after deen was let go of her long-time agent

following a tearful appearance on the "today" show that didn't really turn out the way she had planned. >> that didn't -- i'm not sure i would have advised her to do that. >> yeah. >> let's move on to the "new york times." >> i would have fired myself. >> new fallout from the obama administration's recent decision to allow emergency contraception pills available to all ages without a prescription. according to the "times" nurses offices and clinics in as many as 50 new york city schools are now handing out the pill to girls as young as 13 without parental consent. similar programs exist in schools in baltimore, chicago, and oakland. >> wow. 13. "usa today," dna evidence is linking another [ inaudible ] to the famous boston strangler nearly 50 years after the murder. according to the authorities, dna taken from the body of 19-year-old [ inaudible ] who was killed in her apartment in 1964 shows a match to albert

desalvo. while serving prison time for other crimes he confessed to 11 of the boston strangler murders but was never convicted of them. he later recanted his confession. >> let's go to the "washington post," a maryland man swam five hours in the dark to save his family after their 16-foot long boat capsized in a storm. john franklin rigs reached the shoreline and went to the first house he saw to call 911. rigs' sister, 7-year-old father and two children were clinging to the boat when the coast guard pulled them out of the water. wow. that's a chilling story. time for politico. >> the chief white house correspondent is, of course, mike allen, he's got a look at the playbook. mike, good morning. >> good morning. happy friday. >> oh, yes! >> the weekend has begun with that. >> and happy birthday to andrea mitchell's dad, 99 today. >> wow. >> can you believe that? >> right. >> russ levin in new hampshire,

his passions are baseball, politics and andrea mitchell. his wife cecil -- >> willard scott there. >> smucker's -- >> married 72 years. dad is going strong. >> wow. that's fantastic. happy birthday to him. mike allen has all the details on everyone's birthday. >> that's right. >> on the map net. >> yes, he does. >> talk hillary clinton. if money was a determining factor hillary clinton might think twice about going back to public office. according to the "new york times" former first lady and secretary of state and senator and everything else and potential 2016 candidate making about $200,000 per appearance on the speaking circuit, about as much as her husband bill clinton makes. this comes as a new poll out this morning shows a hypothetical why not, 2016 matchup between hillary and governor chris christie of new jersey. secretary clinton leads christie by six points. in march she had an eight-point lead. obviously the polls are premature and hypothetical and

fun to talk about. what about the speeches? is she being strategic in the way she takes them, positioning herself perhaps for a run? >> very much so. and as you suggest, it's not about money for secretary clinton. their family has plenty of money. bill clinton has done very well from his memoirs, his speaking. they both could make a killing by doing appearances together. which they haven't done yet. but people around here looking very much toward a race and you can see in the numbers from quinnipiac why not only does she do better than chris christie but she has the highest favoribility rating of any person or institution of this poll, 55% of people still like her. the other big piece of news in this poll, willie, is how strong chris christie is. the most important number in this poll for chris christie is 42 and that's his favoribility among democrats. that shows real possibility for chris christie if he were to

run, to win over people from the middle, from the other side. now hillary clinton is ahead of him in the poll, but chris christie in his poll would beat vice president biden and how is this for a matchup, quinnipiac says vice president biden versus senator rand paul, 42/42. >> wow. a dead heat. if rand paul runs for president. howard dean, if hillary clinton decides to run for president, is there any dispute in the democratic party that she would be the best candidate and i'm including joe biden in that group? >> well, there's no question between the two of them she's the best candidate. i think hillary will win the nomination and presidency if she runs. but the one caveat is it's not often in america we go back a generation. it happened from carter to reagan. some pain to go back far enough to figure out when the last time before that had happened. so that's the one thing that

hillary has got. she's of my generation, not of the new, upcoming generation out of the barack obama generation. that's the only weakness she's really got. i think she's going to win if she runs for the nomination and the presidency. >> as a democrat do you hope a next generation candidate as you put it emerges? >> there will be a next generation candidate. she's not going to get a passes in the election. i'm pretty sure martin o'malley is going to run. who knows if andrew cuomo will. a long list of people interested in running. but, you know, they struggle with name recognition problem. the most interesting thing about this poll, in my view, is that she's under 50%. that's a little problematic. simply because she's 100% name recognition. same problem spitzer and weiner have in new york. they're 100% name recognition. the people they're running against barely have 50%. i would not say these are a done

deal yet. >> not a done deal but to be clear, she's under 50% against chris christie who's well known himself and is ahead of him, has been ahead of him by 16 points in two polls now. >> i got to believe that chris christie can't have anything close to 100% name recognition out in places like california and nebraska and stuff like that. >> don't tell governor christie that. that's an impressive number for him. >> you know, mika and willie, you guys will remember when we started doing this show in, what, late may of 2007. >> yep. >> everybody that came on, were 100% certain it was going to be giuliani versus clinton. >> right. >> everybody from the south, the subway, everybody from the west, everybody from both ideological sides, everybody knew it was going to be giuliani and clinton and, of course, we got neither. so i -- i -- you know, i love hillary and i can't imagine

anybody coming between her and the presidency this time but, you know, there's a long, long way to go. >> the difference, though, is i don't think there's a barack obama who's going to emerge, a flaming supernova if you will, to come on to the scene and sort of steal her moment. >> the thing that's going to automatically give her -- there will be a very formidable opponent because the media will make it as such otherwise there will be no story. whoever that is -- >> donny, that's the question, that is the question about hillary clinton, the media savaged hillary clinton. i always said the media was biased against republicans and they have been biased against republicans. i've never seen the media more biased against any single candidate than they were hillary clinton in 2007 and 2008. the question is, does the media give hilalary a fair shot next time, the media biased towards hillary next time to compensate for 2008. >> the answer is no, they don't give her a fair shot because the media is biased against

frontrunners. >> that's the point. >> that's what they do. they're biased against all frontrunners and she's going to have a rough ride in the media because of that. the media believes it's their job to make sure nobody gets a coronation. >> i don't know. i don't know -- >> except -- >> if i'm selling newspapers, i'm not selling them with hillary, i'm selling them with the anti-hillary, whether conscious or not, that's what happens. >> i was just going to say the one notable exception is when howard dean was the frontrunner throughout 2003, going into 2004, they gave you a free pass. >> they did for a while. then when they -- >> i'm joking, baby. >> great free pass the night of the iowa primary, didn't they? >> i'm joking. >> i think the fact that she's a woman -- >> i've always said, howard, they were tough on you from alabama to alaska, arizona, arkansas, california, colorado and connecticut. >> but they also loved me coming up. they loved me. they helped make me coming up because they wanted somebody to shake things up. when they got them, they decided

they would pick somebody else. >> they just talk. it's fine. thomas and i agree. >> on what? >> they were great on you, they were tough on john kerry. the second you went ahead of john kerry suddenly they switched. >> you all are wrong and just like with president obama, i told you he would win and it would be for a lot of reasons, but the number one would be that he is groundbreaking on a number of levels and hillary clinton will be as well because she would be the first woman president and that story, the media will swoon all over and by the way, what else do you got, media, against hillary clinton that she can't handle? i take a look at her. >> bill clinton is the first husband. >> come on. >> it's going to happen if she decides. >> i gri with mika. >> you are wrong. >> i'm not saying she's not going to get it. they're going to create a faux. there will be a formidable faux. >> you started a good conversation. we'll see you. >> happy birthday sid mitchell. >> coming up, derek jeter's

return -- >> all right. >> jeter returns to the big leagues. >> all righty then. >> how the crowd greeted him. you can probably figure that out. "morning joe" will be right back. [ tap ] [ tap ] ♪ 'cause tonight [ tap ] ♪ we'll share the same dream ♪ ♪ at the dark end of the street ♪ ♪ ♪ you and me ♪ you and me ♪ you and me ♪

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joe? come on now. you know you want to.

sing it. >> what? >> achy breaky heart. come on. turn to the side. >> you know, i don't have to put up with this. >> let me see. i think he looks like billy ray cyrus. >> bubba watson. >> no. pull it to the side. >> or you should just start singing achy breaky. >> i like it long like that. >> it's bubba watson. >> we're going back to the '80s. >> "anchorman 2" look. >> more achy breaky. >> joe never forgets his roots. going back to the '80s, pensacola, florida, right there. >> exactly. >> tease it up. sports, derek jeter returned to the yankee lineup for the first time this season after the ankle injury. he was welcomed back. ♪ it's so good to be back >> derek jeter, of course,

getting a standing ovation from the afternoon crowd. in his first at-bat swinging at the first pitch, a dribbler up the first baseline. >> butter fingers. >> on purpose. >> thomas roberts believed he mishandled that on purpose to get jeter on base. >> totally. butter fingers. >> doesn't look great running down the line but got there. fourth at-bat, another grounder. comes up slow, the first baseline, girardi takes him out of the game. complaint of tightness in the quad. he's scheduled to have an mri on that muscle this morning but great to see jeter back at yankee stadium. nightmare for any politician, forgetting the name of your local baseball team. can't do this. harry reid on the floor of the senate yesterday. >> davey johnson is a manager of the national mets, his team we're so happy to have here in washington. >> the national mets? >> yeah. >> reid's favorite local team the national mets. wow. couple hours later the senator took to twitter to clarify, a picture of him with nationals

manager davey johnson. >> when in doubt just talk about the orioles. >> national mets. how do you foremu late that. >> lot of problems in the senate yesterday. >> willie, what does that mean, the national mets? >> i'm working through that. >> i mean -- >> the metropolitan -- >> what is that? >> i don't know. >> it means maybe it's time to go. >> the pirate red sox come on. he's just throwing teams together. >> oh. that's always -- >> what's he doing? >> remember when senator kennedy was talking about the sam my souser and mike mcglor. >> oh. >> keep sports out of the senate. >> still ahead senator elizabeth warren will join us. >> such a girl crush. >> i do. i think farmers care more about the land

than probably anyone else. we've had this farm for 30 years. we raise black and red angus cattle. we also produce natural gas. that's how we make our living and that's how we can pass the land and water back to future generations. people should make up their own mind what's best for them. all i can say is it has worked well for us.

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50 past the hour. time now for must-read opinion pages. i was going to choose eugene robinson, but joe, you -- alex tells me you have one. >> i have one and you know, willie geist, to quote the great david gates with bread, sometimes a picture paints a thousand words. >> oh, gosh. >> if you want to know where america is right now, okay, you can read all the genes, those pointy-head intelligent northeast liberal types their op-eds or just watch this as david gates says, this tells you where america is right now. >> oh. >> sharks took the rest.

they took my grandfather. so i really hate sharks. >> now i really hate sharks too. >> look out. for sharks. what are we going to do? >> you got it. oh, my gosh, there's too many of them. >> we're going to need a bigger chopper. >> wow. >> i'll tell you -- >> willie, seriously, i mean is this not the best must read section. that shark went through a billboard. >> unbelievable. >> a billboard. >> on a serious note, this is the way cable television is now one hit makes a network almost defines them. >> sci-fi. >> donny, please, seriously, when you -- when you talk through a falling star, just shut up. don't an inlize this. just live it. >> tell me to shut up, but point well taken.

who am i to actually get in the way of this. >> hollywood landmashes. >> come on, guys, sometimes you just have to let it breathe. shus everybody be quiet. 18th hole masters final putt. let's watch this. >> oh. >> all right. >> they'rir tacking the electri grid. >> this is the scenario. mine was earned in djibouti, africa. 2004.

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all right. let's do better. >> i saw you addressing this earlier this morning and want to bring it back for the "morning joe" audience. mika's favorite reporter. julie tremle out of war up in rhode island. apparently on a bear on the loose so julie is informing the viewers what to do. >> julie was given a story. you tell viewers what to do when a bear attacks. how many times as a local reporter have you been given that story. okay. julie. julie, went with it. >> julie crushes it. >> she crushes it. >> here she is. >> we here at nbc 10 figured we should put together a few tips to help protect yourself should you come across a curious bear. according to experts you should avoid direct eye contact with the bear, don't run away, instead back off slowly. wave your arms to let the animal know you're a human. don't yell. stay quiet, unless the bear attacks. then scream and throw things at

the bear. if the bear attacks, curl up into a ball on your side or lay flat on your stomach. and above all, stay calm. in cranston, julie tremle, nbc 10 news the night team. >> i love her. she's fantastic. >> at the end of the day she says just kind of get in a ball and die. the advice when all else fails. >> it's bad news for you if you're that close to a bear. no news director will believe that. she want the story and jewjuliet watchable. >> what do you do if a shark falls out of the sky. >> we'll address that. >> ever done a stand-up like that. >> yeah. in the old days, i'm sure you have too, right? >> not the old days. i mean -- >> couple years ago. >> i've got some doozy. >> what was the craziest? >> i believe holding up a dog and showing his new plastic surgery in the -- >> whoa whoa whoa. what? hold on. stop right there. >> stop right there. >> the this all started my

downfall at cbs. >> they're called nudicals and you can purchase them on-line. >> why would you do that? >> why? >> you did a cbs piece? >> is this a vanity play or medical -- >> horrified. >> you were holding the dog, the -- >> i held the dog up to demonstrate -- >> dog's confidence. >> apparently the dog's owners, mostly men, can't handle their dogs not having -- >> wow. >> nudicals. >> been neutered and then put them back on. >> you did this for what? >> shortly before -- >> what network. >> shortly before i started working with you. cbs. it was the kicker on the "cbs evening news". >> orientation to bob's show. >> came out to bob's face after the story aired and he looked stricken. >> horrified. >> i thought he would never speak to me again. >> guys in the control room if we don't have that tape by the end of the hour, you're all fired. up next, harold ford, melody

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you can't just wait here and wait for sharks to rain down on is again. we need to arm ourselves with something more powerful than these. >> what were you thinking? >> that store has everything we need. >> instead of letting live sharks rain down on people we're going to get in that chopper and throw bombs into the tornado. blasting those bastards to bits. >> okay. now we have gone too far.

>> yeah. >> too much. >> this is like -- it's beating a dead horse. >> are you saying we jumped the shark, mika? >> wow. wow. >> i don't like you. >> you know -- >> there's a guy just tweeted, who -- who's -- rob delaney tweeted i don't usually like wes anderson but "sharknado" is great. >> stop. please. >> wonder how the train the sharks to fly. >> very wes-y doesn't it. >> this isn't going to work. >> a joke three people got. we better move on to news. what do you got in news today some. >> well, welcome back, everyone. >> stop it. what do you got? >> it's looking a little better. >> what? >> the movie -- >> yeah. >> oh. >> my mullet. >> yes. what did you do, push it back a little bit? >> i tried to -- >> get a ponytail. joining us now we have msnbc political analyst and visiting professor at nyu and former

democratic congressman harold ford jr. doesn't he look a little achy breaky this morning. >> the where the guy played the baseball player not kind of washed up, funny -- >> yeah. >> joe looks like that. >> oh, my lord. you need a hair cut so badly. >> [ inaudible ]. >> is that what you're saying. >> that's me. great show. >> it will look better soon. former -- >> i'm southbound -- >> msnbc political analyst steve schmidt with us. >> good morning. >> great to have you on board. from washington, the moderator of "meet the press," probably rethinking his appearance this morning. >> no. >> after he saw the open, david gregory. >> hey, mika, i'm just wondering why joe doesn't, when you say good morning, he doesn't say, with his joe scarborough -- >> exactly. perfect. joe, do that next time. and pulitzer-prize winning columnist and associate editor

of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. >> oh, lord. >> there it is. >> actually, you look good. it's just different. it's just different. >> hey, gene written anything we can talk about? >> yes. he has a great piece on your party. which we'll -- >> let's do it now. >> love it. all right. eugene, your latest piece is entitled "the party of no still". >> i'll do anything to get you all off of my hair. go ahead. >> i'm sorry. going to kill me later. watching republicans convince themselves that killing immigration reform actually helps the gop is excruciating and i wish somebody would make it stop. this line of argument holds that the senate bill must be killed because it does not end illegal immigration for all time. it kdoes not fix the illegal immigration system for all time and it is really long. the gop should not waste time and effort chasing after latino and asian american votes and

should concentrate winning working class whites with an economic message for the striving middle class. most house republicans have nothing to worry about for the time being. their districts are safe. but the gop's fortunes in national contests and eventually in statewide races will be increasingly dim. maybe they'll wake up when texas begins to change from red to blue. in the meantime it is sad to see a once great political party carry on as if whistling past the graveyard were a plan. joe? >> well, i -- let me go to steve schmidt. do you agree with gene? >> couldn't agree more. it's absolutely right. if you're going to be a national political party you compete for every vote, everywhere. you take a conservative message, you bring it into the inner cities and talk about empowerment, you talk about creating policies to climb the economic ladder, and that's how you win african-american votes, hispanic votes. in the notion that we're going to be the all-white party, is

a -- is a -- is a -- is just a sad, sad state of affairs for the party of lincoln and the party of reagan that won 49 states. >> joe, why -- why are you -- why is the party still in this -- i feel like i could have read this a year ago, two years ago, three years ago. >> well, i mean, you know, the thing is, everybody's always fighting the last war as we say and so republicans got pounded among hispanics but they didn't just get pounded among hispanics because they didn't support immigration reform. they got pounded among hispanics because the iowa caucuses became a contest on who could be the most anti-immigrant. i think we're, you know, i think the republican party can do something short of all at one time holding hands and embracing barack obama's version of immigration reform. they can run presidential campaigns where they don't bash

immigrants. they can run presidential campaigns where they support legalization and not citizenship which a lot of americans would consider to be, you know, amnesty. they can say listen, we're going to support the dream act. we are going to support the legalization of workers, immigrant workers, but if you want to become a citizen, you're going to have to stand in line with everybody else around the world and play by the same rules that people have to play by if they're emigrating from eastern europe or asia or other parts of the world. it's not -- it's just not an all or nothing proposition here. and yes, republicans got slaughtered in 2012 and slaughtered in 2012 because mitt romney decided he was going to go as extreme as he could possibly go on beingp anti-immigrant and it cost him dearly when the election came around. does that mean we have to go in

the other direction. the media is painting this conservatives have to embrace barack obama's vision of immigration reform or they're doomed to lose. that's not the truth. >> joe, my question, even if it's not all or nothing, i think it is something or nothing. so far republicans are not willing to do something. they could come out and pass their version of the dream act tomorrow if they wanted to. they could do all the things you just mentioned, but they don't. and in fact, what they transmit is not in difference but hostility still toward immigrants and that is really driving down their numbers among latinos, asian americans. now there are other policy questions that i think if they're really going to appeal to minority voters, they perhaps need to examine or reexamine, but this is a threshold issue for a lot of these communities and they're not even trying to cross the threshold right now. >> so i want to move to

something that's a little different but slightly related in the grand scheme of things here. david gregory you have senators harry reid and mitch mcconnell on sunday's "meet the press." after what i'm about to show you, my question is going to be why and what are you going to ask them? look at what happened yesterday. >> no majority leader wants written on his tombstone that he presided over the end of the senate. well, if this majority leader caves to the fringes and lets this happen, i'm afraid that's exactly what they'll right. these are dark days in the history of the senate. i hate that we have come to this point. we've witnessed the majority leader break his word to the united states senate. >> no matter how often my friend rudely talks about me not breaking my word, i'm not going to respond talking about how many times he's broken his word.

>> it makes me sad. all my members are angry. i'm more sad about it. >> i guess he follows, i hope not, the demagog theory the more you say something, if it's false, people start believing it. >> this is really a sad, sad day for the united states senate and if we don't pull back from the brink here, my friend the majority leader will be remembered as the worst leader of the senate ever. >> okay. david, the two -- i mean, they were tangling over -- >> football helmets for that "meet the press." >> yeah. >> what did you say? >> going to need some football helmets for sunday. >> yeah. i mean it's -- it's so personal and also so dysfunctional which only is going to reinforce what people think about washington. and the threats that are on the margins of all of this is that if this goes through, then republicans are going to try to put a stop to all business, whatever is actually getting done, in the senate. so you get even less that's done.

i don't think people are following the ins and outs of the rule change but understand a lot of nominees are being blocked. we're not talking about judicial nominees. that's not what this fight is about. but other executive nominees. the reality is both sides when they have been in the minority and majority, have sung a different tune on this issue of the rule change which only again i think fuels critics who will charge that these leaders are being hypocritical about this. sn>> gene robinson? >> well, yeah. i mean, look, it's -- why has it gotten to this point? david is right that this rule has been used by both sides over the years, but it's been used a lot more by the republicans this time. they've effectively blocked not just judicial nominations but executive nominations by the president in a way that i think would frustrate anybody and frankly should frustrate the american people. you elect a president, the

president gets to appoint his people. you don't like them, you kick them out the next election. that's the way it's supposed to work. it's not being allowed to work by the sort of obstructionist strategy. i don't know what else you want harry reid to do but take it to the drink. >> harold, you served up there. when you get beyond the childish behavior of people talking about how sad it is their friends are the worst people who have ever served in the united states congress, this idea of changing the rules for the filibuster, this is a narrow change, talking about the president's appointees, agency level, cabinet level as well s is it dangerous for harry reid to do this because there will come a day as joe said in our last hour, when democrats will be in the minority and not have the power to philly buster. >> joe and i didn't serve in the senate. the house rules are different. watching how this works, i don't think this is the problem. i think it's a personnel issue as much as anything. you know, if they want to change these rules, i think it would probably help things move along a little better, you have the president's nominees able to

serve. you wouldn't have gaps in absences that could cause difficulty in getting things done. watching this, if you're a pedestrian, an american who works every day to make the country work, this just reinforces what you saw at the end of the year when they couldn't get the fiscal cliff done. every issue they have not been able to do. to watch these adults behave like this. >> a story slightly related and then just housekeeping, on to eliot spitzer and hillary clinton since we have david and steve here. first, the house finally passed a farm bill. with one omission. food stamps. >> and money for local food banks. >> for the first time in 40 years the bill does not include the social safety program with a bitter debate on the floor, the bill passed narrowly without a single democratic vote. take a look. >> you tell me how in the world we can have a farm bill and separate food and nutrition out

from it. >> i would say it's one of the worst things you've done but there's such stiff competition for that honor that i can't really fully say that. >> you are attempting to defend food stamps. yes, you are and place poor people which includes children and the elderly and veterans in a position that none of you would want to be in. >> this is a shame! mitt romney was right, you all do not care about the 47%. shame on you! >> all right. for decades the inclusion of food stamps bridged urban and rural interests in congress, but both sides have sparred over the provisions. the bill heads back to the senate where members will try to reconcile the two chambers plans. barack obama has vowed to veto any bill that does not cover the food stamp program. joe? >> gene robinson, this is how actually it used to be southern democrats and northeast urban democrats would be able to pass a farm bill together because

urban democrats hated the farm subsidies where you pay farmers not to plant crops and the southern democrats didn't really care about food stamps. that has been divided now and breaks up this coalition. >> well, it breaking balls it up. you're absolutely right. this was a marriage of convenience of these issues and it was a way for congress re reliably to get two things done that everyone agreed needed to be done. and it shows what happens when, you know, frankly the new republicans have come in and successfully disrupted the way things used to get done, but they haven't found a new way of getting things done. so it's -- i can only imagine how frustrated the american people are at kind of watching these established ways of doing things fall apart. may not have been the greatest ways of doing things but at least stuff got done. nothing gets done now.

>> can i say as well, i think if there's a larger point, and mika, what you're seeing, take immigration, seeing it now with health care, what you see a lot of conservatives in congress railing against, are these larger, sweeping government programs. we saw on the campaign trail in 2012, republicans railing against the president for the expansion of assistance for the poor and how these programs swell to make an anti-you know record argument on the economy for president obama. here on immigration not wanting to do a comprehensive bill because they don't have trust in the government to implement it, trying to do smaller pieces. >> couple more stories before we go to a break. eliot spitzer needed nearly 4,000 signatures to make a run for new york city comptroller and he got 27,000. it's possible his top competition scott stringer could

challenge their validity. spitzer made a surprise entry into the race earlier this week and already at least one poll shows him with a lead. steve schmidt have you been following? >> i have. >> what do you think? >> i think he's a formidable candidate for the office of comptroller. the effort to disqualify signatures won't be successful. you have 27,000, you will have 4,000 certainly that are qualified. he has a deep valley to climb out of but we have seen whether mark sanford and some of the others be able to do it. >> david gregory? >> yeah. i mean, it's a little bit confounding when you watch the early stages of this, but name recognition and the power of celebrity, negative or positive, can certainly transcend a lot. i think, you know, the sanford example after a fair amount of time, making a kind of narrow case, i think that's important too. you know, sort of narrow case that's made for office, the kind of office that he's pursuing, you know, puts him at least in

the arena. we just have to see whether there's enough opposition that begins to, you know, come together in response to him being more formidable as steve says, that ultimately derails him. >> all right. and one more story about hillary clinton. according to the "new york times" hillary clinton is taking in about $200,000 per appearance on the paid speaking circuit. that's about as much as her husband, former president bill clinton makes for domestic speeches. this comes as a new quinnipiac poll out this morning shows a hypothetical 2016 matchup between hillary clinton and governor chris christie. clinton leads christie by six points, 46 to 40. in march she had led an eight-point lead. joe, i still argue if she wants it, she's got it. >> i still argue that it's too early, but you never know. steve schmidt, things change very quickly. in this case, hillary clinton

obviously looks like -- you look at what's happening around her, it looks like people are getting in line, people that have supported hillary in the past are trying to get together right now with pacs. you'll hear people on the outside go oh, my gosh, it's way too early, what's wrong with you people for even talking about this, why are pollsters taking polls. you know why? because team clinton is starting to come together. they're talking. they're coalescing. >> totally is. >> it's happening all over the place. if people don't think joe biden and his supporters aren't talking about this regularly and that governors that are trying to challenge her, people are starting to move right now. they're starting to try to line up support. so it's fascinating. i suspect hillary will play coy some time. people around her are not. >> she's been making a lot of money to give the speeches and also speaking to big associations, and to big groups, to be able to stake out some positions and keep herself in

the middle of the debate, whether it's health care, immigration, what's happening in the middle east. so she'll be able to continue to do that and do it slightly under the radar even though there's so many reporters will be watching and looking for what she's saying. >> i think it's difficult to see how she loses in a democratic primary, but it is very difficult for the incumbent party to win a third presidential term. the last time it happened, ronald reagan had a 59% approval rating as he was nearing t inin his eight years. president obama is in the mid 40s right now and you look at macro political condition in the country, it's hard to see how that mid 40s number has upward pressure as opposed to downward pressure exerted on it. >> joe? >> and gene robinson, also, i don't want to sound like jon meacham here, but before george h.w. bush followed ronald reagan the last time that happened was when martin van burren got elected. so it's not easy for the same

party to continue and to stay in office, but it may happen here. but there are, though, it's not going to be a coronation. the economy is going to continue, economists say, to stagger along. we're not going to have morning in america three years from now. >> well, and, you know, the truth is, we don't really know, joe. i mean it is -- it's certainly early to tell where the economy is going to be and it's way early to tell who the republican party is going to run for president and what sort of shape both parties are going to be in then, whether there are deep divisions in both parties or they're really united behind a candidate and behind a set of ideas. so, you know, i remember last election cycle we were saying how difficult it was for an incumbent president to win re-election when unemployment was over 7%, or 7.5%. it happened. >> and then he ran against mitt romney. >> well, yeah. see who's going to run?

>> one other big difference between the two times. enormous demographic change and until republicans begin to appreciate the kinds of things they need to do to attract women, younger voters and latino voters they're going to have a harder time. makes it easier to break this time than perhaps we saw in recent elections. >> and also, steve schmidt, here we are three years out, and, you know, i could tell you four years out, 1996, people are already saying george w. bush was running in 2000 and you knew george w. bush was going to run in 2000. there are just republicans right now have a big, fat question mark over their party. some people go maybe jeb, but i don't know. it's the bush name. his mom doesn't even want him to run. chris christie, is he going to be confined to jersey. i mean there is not a national republican candidate out there that people can coalesce around. >> no. there is certainly not. when you give consideration to hillary clinton's candidacy, one of the things interesting

strategically the degree to which she has transitioned from a very polarizing figure to the most popular figure ek cue manically at her ability to draw i think republican women in a perspective presidential contest. but if you look at the republican field, i think we will certainly be in a better position than we were four years ago with the reality show contestants that we had standing up there next to mitt romney. we're going to have some serious people and we're going to have a caliber of candidates that's a head and shoulder above. these guys will need to get up there and hopefully a few women and fight it out and see who emerges from the scrum, someone who can communicate to the american people, somebody who can articulate a vision, someone who can talk about how to move up the economic ladder. >> if you're wrong on some of these key social issues, cutting, eliminating food stamp programs, does that bode well for the party? >> one of the things that our candidates will have to do, much the same way that george bush did in 2000, is put distance between themselves and the

congressional brand of the party. you can't run for president saying that i'm the republican skungsal guy. i just -- you'll get killed. they're the most unpopular institution in the country. >> new compassionate conservati conservatism. >> steve, you exist -- >> listen, bill -- i'm sorry, willie, go ahead. >> you live in the highest reaches of the republican party, talk to the most important and influential people. is there one name out of that group where people are most excited and enthused about? >> i don't think there's one name in particular but whether it's jeb bush, whether it's chris christie, rand paul certainly has his fans out there, i think that there is a wide number of people and i think that there tends to be a focus on the washington wing, the senators, we have some very effective governors out there in the party that have the ability to differentiate themselves from a really broken washington brand. >> i think one question, joe, i don't know what you think about this, that -- who emerges who's got enough credibility with

both, you know, the social wing of the party but this tea party wing in congress and in the states, that can -- has enough credibility there who can transcend? i think that's what rubio is facing now. is he losing some of that trust among the tea party folks. does a scott walker have it. who is able to go into the primaries with that kind of credibility? >> that is critical. it needs to be somebody actually that rises above it all. you know, tea party members now have turned on paul ryan. you read what a lot of people are saying about ryan being a supporter of tarp, of immigration reform. marco rubio has so many challenges right now. these are tough times for him as well. you know, i hate to keep going back to ronald reagan, but it is usually a governor like reagan that can come in that can transcend a lot of the infighting in washington, d.c., and pull both sides in. but you're not going to get tea party support by doing what mitt

romney tried to do back in 2012 and that is, playing to the tea party members. ronald reagan always said, anybody that wants to support me can support me. okay. if you want to support me, great, i'm here. if you don't, don't support me. that's your business. i'm not going to do whatever it takes to win your vote. and he remained a transformational figure and got all wings of the party in because of that. we need somebody that is not as craven in seeking the support of tea party members as we've seen in the past because it just doesn't come across as being believable. >> all right. david gregory, thanks very much. we'll be watching "meet the press" on sunday. >> whoa. >> steve, thank you as well. eugene, your column is on-line and in "the washington post" as well. harold, stay with us. >> keep it real, david. >> i think we found willie, i think we found the nudicals. >> we have the clip. have you signed off on it? >> i am going to sign off on it

momentarily. won best actor at cannes for his performance in "the hunt" actor mads mikkelsen tackles the role of hannibal elector. joins us in a few minutes. tom costello live in san francisco with the latest on the crash investigation of flight 214. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. "i'm part of an american success story," "that starts with one of the world's most advanced distribution systems," "and one of the most efficient trucking networks," "with safe, experienced drivers." "we work directly with manufacturers," "eliminating costly markups," "and buy directly from local farmers in every region of the country." "when you see our low prices, remember the wheels turning behind the scenes, delivering for millions of americans, everyday. "dedication: that's the real walmart" [ tap ] ♪ 'cause tonight [ tap ] ♪ we'll share the same dream ♪

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all right. 30 past the hour. joining the table former director of white house domestic policy council and ceo of melody barnes solution. melody barnes. is that great name for a company? >> she also has a great husband. >> really? >> i want to meet him. >> harold's chief of staff. >> my dear friend. >> look at this. >> i like the solutions part. right to the point. >> we're going to catch up with you next block and talk about the stories of the day. an update right now on the crash of flight 214 where there are growing questions about the types of seat belts widely used on jetliners. joining us now from san francisco, nbc's tom costello with that story.

tom? >> hey, good morning, mika. i want to quickly take you out to runway 28 left. they have been working all night to get this plane picked up. the wreckage of it picked up off the runway. a short time ago they had a bit of a spot fire break out. the reason is they have been cutting this plane up into pieces using cutting torches. the fire department had to douse it quickly. the bottom line the challenge for them, they have to get the tiniest pieces of debris off the runway, repair the landing lights, patch the asphalt in order to get this airport back up and running to full throttle again. from the ntsb dramatic photos of the debris from flight 214 including rocks and boulders from the seawall and this photo showing the extensive fire damage in the economy section of the plane. had passengers not escaped as quickly as they did, the number of dead and injured would have surely been higher. in seoul, some of the flight attendants have now returned home. >> translator: we're lucky to

come home. there are still several colleagues left back in san francisco. it breaks my heart when i think of them. >> reporter: back on the runway, salvage crews have begun moving the wreckage to a remote location of the airfield. san francisco is hoping to repair and reopen runway left by sunday or monday and investigators looking into why the pilots of flight 214 struggled to line up properly for landing, then failed to monitor their air speed, say the flight data recorder shows the plane's engines and automated systems were working properly at the time of the crash. >> there is no anonmow lus behavior of the auto pilot, of the flight director and auto notles. >> reporter: the question, did the crew understand how to use the automated systems if that's a critical question because you may recall the pilot said their auto throttle system didn't kick in and boost their speed when they came in and they started to stall, but veteran 777 captains have told us the auto throttle system is not designed to work

that way. if you're already configured for a landing and coming in and below 100 feet or so, the auto throttle system assumes you're going to land. so the question is whether this crew understood how to use the automated systems in one of the most sophisticated planes out there. back to you. >> tom costello, thank you. coming up, defense attorneys are set to deliver closing arguments this morning in the murder case against george zimmerman. msnbc legal analyst lisa bloom joins us next when "morning joe" comes right back. ♪ pnc virtual wallet®. for seeing the big financial picture. for knowing the days your money is going out, and when it's coming in. for having danger days, to warn you when you're running a little low. for help seeing your money in a whole new light

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. a teenager is dead. he is dead through no fault of his own. he is dead because another man made assumptions. he is dead not just because the man made those assumptions because he acted upon those assumptions. and unfortunately, unfortunately, because his assumptions were wrong, trayvon benjamin martino longer walks on this earth. >> that was how the prosecution began its closing argument yesterday in the george zimmerman trial. today, the defense will make its case and joining us now, msnbc

legal analyst lisa bloom, as we watch this come to a close, what stands out to you as the bottom line when you make reflections as to how you think this will go, which i won't ask you exactly what you think the outcome will be, but what do you think the bottom line will be? you've watched every second of this. >> i have. the defense has put forward a consistent theory of what happened. they say george zimmerman was down on his back. trayvon martin was on top. ground and pound mma style assaulting him and zimmerman pulled the gun and shot him in self-defense. the prosecution has failed to put forth an alternate theory. they've raised a lot of questions. the trial is upside down. normally in a case the prosecution has a very strong theory that they're offering over and over again and the defense is raising questions. the prosecution in this case and in every case has the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. i just don't think they put it away yesterday for the jury. >> you're answering the question mika said she wasn't going to ask you. do you see an acquittal here? >> yeah.

>> like yogi berra i don't like to make predictions especially about the future. i think the evidence is there if the jury wants to put it together themselves, the jury should not have to put it together themselves. the prosecution should have put it away yesterday. they have one more chance today. >> give a 30-second compilation of what would make him guilty if it was put together properly. >> george zimmerman had the gun holstered behind him inside his pants with his shirt and jacket over it. if he's down on his back he says trayvon martin saw the gun and reached for the gun. how do you see through a person's body to a gun that's holstered inside of his pants. >> told not to -- >> that's the critical issue. he was told not to follow. if i'm on the defense i would say he did follow him, he did make assumptions and he did profile him and that's wrong. he's not on trial on that. as obnoxious as that is that's not illegal. the prosecution needs to focus on the fight. clearly trayvon martin did nothing wrong until the fight. during the fight did he cross

the line and assault george zimmerman? >> you think even though they are now going to be able to look at a lesser charge of manslaughter and not have to focus on the intent? >> i think the intent is the easiest part of the case for prosecution. you have zimmerman using profanity, "f" punk, that's minutes before the shooting. he's still calling him a suspect in custody. even on fox news he said he has no regret and god's plan. that's ill wil and hatred. that's the easiest part of the case. the hardest part is self-defense and the prosecution needed to hit hard this was not self-defense. give the jury another image other than zimmerman down on his back being assaulted. they didn't do that. >> lisa bloom, we'll be watching your coverage. thank you so much. still ahead on "morning joe," why senator elizabeth warren says banking should be boring. her plan to keep the financial giants from taking the same kind of risks that crippled the economy all over again. keep it here on "morning joe."

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45 past the hour. look at the markets. they'll open at an all-time high this morning. stocks surged yesterday on reassurances from the fed that the central bank will keep pumping stimulus into the economy. the fed is buying about $85 billion in bonds every month to keep interest rates low. chairman ben bernanke said the policy will continue, quote, for the foreseeable future. melody, as a business owner, melody barnes solutions, as well as having been on the inside while washington bickers looks like the markets have their own path. what do you make of it? >> i think that's exactly right. it's scuttling some of the plans that republicans have had to make the economy a big issue. i meean there are without questions still a lot of troubles and problems and see division between the wealthier and poor but this is setting up a stage for an economy that's

recovering, the jobs numbers that are consistently holding steady and getting better and i think that's leading to the bickering taking place in congress, as republicans try to figure out what their message is going to be as the economy starts to recover. >> and it really runs the gamut that obama care, perhaps, is leading to more jobs, but more part-time jobs, they're trying to parse the good news into little pieces of bad news but it might be fair to an extent, harold? >> this surging in the market is largely if not exclusively due to what the fed is doing. look at some of the fundamentals and it's not quite there yet. you look at the disconnect and melody touched on between the haves and those who have a good education and good job and those that don't having a hard time finding employment and a steady wage. that has to be the focus of congress and i think the president going forward and there are great efforts on the part of the white house and congress, but they need to double down and focus with a greater certainty about the things they want to do. >> still ahead -- >> this is all about the fed here. >> still ahead from james bond's

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that was a scene from the new film "the hunt."

joining us now, the film's star, mas mickelson. "the hunt" is a story about how a lie become, the truth. it looks like it drives a man crazy. this character is wrongly accused of being a pedophile. >> this is a man who insists on fighting this battle in a civilized manner but he's up against emotions and it's a battle he's bound to lose. >> wow. why did you take on this role? what challenged you? >> i thought it was a beautiful script, heartbreaking script, also a very provoking script and frustrating because it's very hard to point a finger at anyone. everyone is doing the right thing. i can't put my anger out there and the audience cannot point a finger either and say "that's a bad guy." it culminates in a big snowball effect. >> that's so frightening when

you think about how lives can be destroyed in a situation like that. tell us a little bit more about the movie itself and the story line. the setting. and i don't want to know what happens but i get a sense you get a look inside the mind of someone who's trying not to lose everything. >> this is a man who's trying to get back on his feet. he's been newly divorced. he's been fired from his job as a teacher because the school closed down. and we're meeting him when he's getting back on his feet. he's working in a kindergarten. there's a little girl that has a little innocent crush on him. and he rejects her and then she tells a little innocent lie and it just rolls from there. >> danish, danish movie with subtitles. do you think it will play in america? >> we're crossing our fingers. it's a difficult thing but hopefully there will be a few people. >> it looks incredible. >> you have shown an amazing

ability. >> range. >> to delve into these characters like this, i mean, a lot of times tough characters. i enjoyed you in "casino royale" as did my wife. this here is a different kind of character, twisted and conflicted and tormented in some ways. how do you do that? how do you find yourself going in and out of those kinds of characters? because you play great villains. it appears you are able to connect with this character in a very unique way. >> if you have a good script you can lean on that. the problems always come around we it's not working. this script was very beautiful from the very beginning. as an actor, it's not super easy but it's easier when the script is as good as this one. >> how do you prepare for this kind of role? one of the things i've read about this movie, it doesn't go to -- it doesn't play the emotion in a big, big way. it's very controlled.

but at the same type, it's such an intense and powerful issue. how to you prepare for that? >> the preparation is often with the director and the scripts. in this case, the preparation is also very much with the kids. i was having a lot of scenes with that little girl we saw there. so for me, it was making her feel comfortable around me so we could get a friendship and start working. >> you've had quite a year. title role in the nbc series "hannibal." and also "a royal affair" which was nominated for an oscar and now "the hunt." it premieres today in select theaters. you can, as i mentioned, catch mas mikkelson on "hannibal" which was picked up for a second season so congratulations. up next, eliot spitzer takes another step toward returning to political office. what he needs to do further to rehab his image. plus, going nuclear.

the leaders of the senate in a war of words, if that's what you call it, over the use of the filibuster. more "morning joe" straight ahead. all business purchases. so you can capture your receipts, and manage them online with jot, the latest app from ink. so you can spend less time doing paperwork. and more time doing paperwork. ink from chase. so you can. mhandle more than 165 billionl letters and packages a year. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer?

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♪

>> claudia, move. ♪ shark fighter >> it's 8:00 a.m. on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. you should really wake up. or not. back with us on set, donny deutsch, thomas roberts, howard dean in washington. >> i get home from dinner last night, on twitter, every tweet, from the smart est people in politics was about "shark nado." i have no idea what channel. i find "sharknado." magnificent.

i ian ziering from "90210." >> so just a bunch of washed up people -- >> oh, that hurts. >> sometimes progressive art is not for everybody. then for people like us who are waiting for it, we soak it in, we take it. i'm just thankful today. that's all i can say. >> if you build it, if you build it, they will come. >> oh, god. >> some people, joe, just aren't ready for tornadoes full of sharks that kill people on land. that's their problem. >> this is a divided country. democratic against republican. liberal against conservative. willie, last night, for two short hours. >> hands across the aisle. >> we came together. >> guess what we're doing today? >> what's that? >> we have elizabeth warren coming on the show. i'm so excited. she's working on a bipartisan bill that is really, quite frankly, exactly what she went to washington to do.

intended to prevent the next financial crisis. don't we look forward to that, joe? >> what, she went to washington to draft a bill that nobody's going to pass, is that really why she went to washington? >> you stop. okay. you know what, i have a feeling you might want to sit this one out if that's your attitude, okay. >> no, i'm just saying. nothing's passed in washington right now. it's the most miserable existence unless you intentionally want to block action from happening. >> i haven't given up hope in elizabeth warren though. so we will be talking to her a little bit later. first, we'll get to our top story of the morning. later today, 24 days after the murder trial of george zimmerman began, the defense will deliver its closing argument. as nbc's ron mott reports, weeks

of dramatic testimony. >> a teenager is dead. he is dead through no fault of his own. he is dead because another man made assumptions. >> reporter: the state started its closing in a less explosive fashion than it opened. >> [ bleep ] always get away. >> reporter: but made the same argument about the killing to the the all women jury. that george zimmerman should go to prison for profiling and shooting the unarmed teenager last year. >> why does this defendant get out of the car if he thinks that trayvon martin is a threat to him? why? why? because he's got a gun. he's got the equalizer. >> reporter: with zimmerman's and martin's parents all in court for the first time since day one -- >> [ bleep ] always get away. >> reporter: the prosecutor says

zimmerman sized up martin as a criminal during a call to police. >> i will submit to you he uttered it under his breath and that itself indicates ill will and hatred. >> reporter: for a second straight day -- >> he's saying that armpits -- how does he get the gun out? >> reporter: the dummy was thrown into the mix. >> you see where he's pointing to? did you see where he's grabbing? where he's got his firearm? >> reporter: with the prosecutor questioning zimmerman's account of his struggle with martin. >> this was never an easy case forseeped to get more difficult. it may not be enough for the crime of murder. >> reporter: earlier spark, flew as both sides argued over lesser charges. >> doesn't the court realize this was a trick by the state? just when i thought this case couldn't get any more bizarre, the state is seeking third degree murder based on child abuse? >> reporter: martin was 17 when he was killed. the judge denied the third

degree murder charge but ruled the jury may consider manslaughter in lieu of second degree murder. zimmerman's attorney objected to any lesser charge. >> you are in greagreement with that? >> reporter: zimmerman pleaded not guilty, saying he shot martin in self-defense after being attacked. >> they should be require to prove it if they can, and if they can't prove it, then that is the failing of the prosecuti prosecution. >> so now it's a matter of time. that was ron mott reporting. thomas, you've been following this case. what do you make of both sides? >> it's been a wild one to watch. the defense i think court observers would say have provided enough holes in the prosecution's theory which really hasn't come together all that much till the very end where the prosecution wants that mannequin introduced, almost conceded to the fact that trayvon martin was on top during this altercation that went down. so we're going to watch what the -- you know, what we see

from the defense today. and then the prosecution's going to have the last word. they're going to take the final hour to come back and leave in the minds of the jury where they want to go. it was interesting in that report we saw there, the attempt by the state to bring in the lesser charge of felony murder and the third degree based on child abuse. now, obviously, in the state of florida, trayvon martin is considered to be a child because he was only 17 years old. the judge had issue with intent on this. because they were trying to describe the intent of being george zimmerman carrying this gun. obviously, he had intent to use it on trayvon martin. did he have an intent to take his life or just wound him in that altercation? the judge was fishy on that, so that will not be included. she just didn't feel that would be a proper way to go. >> it's a matter of time. we'll be watching your coverage throughout the day. meanwhi meanwhile, up on capitol hill, if you were watching what was happening in washington, you would see this.

>> no majority leader wants written on his tombstone he presided over the end of the senate. well, if this majority leader caves to the fringes, and lets this happen, i'm afraid that's exactly what they'll write. these are dark days in the history of the senate. i hate we have come to this point. we witness the majority leader break his word to the united states senate. >> no matter how often my friend rudely talks about me not breaking my word, i'm not going to respond talking about how many times he's broken his word. >> it makes me sad. all the members are angry. i'm more sad about it. >> i guess he follows a demagogue theory the more you say something that's false people start believing it. >> this is really a sad, sad day for the united states senate. and if we don't pull back from the brink here, my friend the majority

remembered as the worst leader of the senate ever. >> tangled over reid's plan to go nuclear and blow up traditional senate rulings. it all stems from continued efforts of republicans to block president obama's appointments. this has been going on for years now literally. reid wants to alter the dynamic by requiring a simple majority to change senate rules. so that something could actually happen. and to filibuster on an executive branch nominee could be broken with just 51 votes instead of the current 60 vote threshold so maybe something could happen. but instead what we watch is these two guys droning on about how much they don't like each other. >> yeah, you know, harry reid may in fact be remembered as a sub par majority leader presiding over some of the worst days in the history of the senate in modern history.

he has been a shadow of what george mitchell was, what bob dole was, what tom daschle was. people even in our time have been. but if, in fact, howard dean, he is remembered as a less than effective majority leader, it sure as hell won't be because he changed filibuster rules that actually helped things get done in the united states senate. >> it is a very interesting debate, because it shows the depths to which the senate has already sunk long before either of these two folks were in their present positions. what you've got is a group of people who basically put their party in front of their country. and it's the -- getting rid of the filibuster is a serious step. because the constitution protects the rights of the minority. it's one of the things that makes this political situation in this country a great country.

unlike egypt where morsi got into trouble because he didn't care about the rights of any minority. and to see this happen is a huge step but i think it probably has to happen. i don't see how a small group of people can tie up the entire country which is what's been going on for five years under mcconnell. i hope the democrats will stick with him. >> all right. i don't disagree at all with that. sort of pathetic we're at this stage right now. >> i think so too, i agree, pathetic, outrageous. it's why politics is essentially becoming irrelevant. >> almost. almost. >> the thing is democrats just have to realize that as i always try to explain to my republican friends when we were in the majority, we won't be in the majority forever. and what we do now is going to be you'd by democrats to justify what they do when we're in the minority. democrats just need to understand, and i'm perfectly

fine with this. in fact, i would like to see things start moving in the senate. so democrats just need to understand that when you have 51 republicans in charge, that a bill by ted cruz for instance is not going to be able to be held up by filibuster. >> that's actually -- that's not what they're proposing. what they're proposing is month milder than that. they're proposing the majority be respected on the matter of the president's appointments. i think they odd to go a little further and allow the president's judicial appointments to also be considered without a filibuster. i wouldn't go as far -- the president -- and reid hasn't gone so far as suggesting that bills be exempt from the filibuster. i think that's right. >> let me put it this way. when ted cruz is nominated to the supreme court, democrats aren't going to be able to stop. does that make you feel better? >> yes, that makes me feel

better. >> all right. >> that is what democrats need to understand what they're saying. >> i agree with that. this is serious. >> republicans are going to have a judicial nominee that democrats will find offensive and they won't be able to stop it with a filibuster and that's perfectly fine with me. >> okay, can i move on to some other news please? because i don't think that bickering on capitol hill deserves any more attention. maybe elizabeth warren can help us out. >> what i find interesting, before we get off those two guys viscerally, that those are the two faces of the two parties. that's not where this country is right now. >> maybe we need to focus on someone else. >> it's really interesting how you look at that. i don't think either party would say "that's our guy." >> no, no. >> and there will be changes a coming. >> i've got two other news items. we will talk to i think a future leader, one who already is, but i think she will break out as

someone who can finally break whatever it is that we just saw happening there. eliot spitzer was on the show earlier. d donny, you didn't see it. there's a bit of news today that sort of relates. he needed nearly 4,000 signatures to make a run for new york city comptroller. he got 27,000. it's possible his top competition scott stringer could challenge their validity. spitzer made a surprise entry into the race earlier this week. already at least one poll shows him with the lead. donny, i ask for your opinion on this, because it's i think really tough for someone to come back from what he did. and for a number of reasons. and yet the poll showing he's in the lead. a lot of people are saying the way he is presenting himself, especially in an interview on this show, may have had something to do with it. do we have a portion of that? all right. i'll let you take a look. here are the polls. this is what happened the very end of our interview with him

just a few days ago. take a look. >> as personally as you can answer this question, don't give me a pat answer, don't give me one you prepared in your mind. how are you different than you were five, six years ago? what has changed personally -- >> a lot of pain. >> -- of who you are? >> a lot of pain. >> that's it? >> yeah. you go through that pain, you change. >> here's the good news for spitzer. first of all, the fact he's going for an office, a lower level office, there's such name awareness. you pop immediately. that's what's happening with weiner also in the mayoral race. these well-known figures. they're still known. they get the big pass. there's another thing happening on a much bigger macro social thing. i think we're evolving to a society that extramarital affairs, infidelities, sexual

indiscreti indiscretions, i think people just don't care that much anymore. i think we've come to a place, whether it's the internet, whether it is everything is so -- we've been so overwhelmed, oh, my god, what are we going to see next? a governor impregnating his housekeeper? i think with time and with true contrition is what you saw there, that was true contrition, the sexiest thing in the world is to take somebody down and the next sexiest thing is to bring them back up. even spitzer that has a tougher road than weiner because of the hypocrisy issue, you're seeing a new society now with a new level of forgiveness and a new level of elasticity of understanding of human flaws. >> still ahead, nbc news political director chuck todd will be with us on the set. and the senator from massachusetts elizabeth warren. she's rolling out a new plan to stop the next financial crisis before it happens. think about that. can you imagine? stopping something in washington

before it happens. it's amazing. but first, here's bill karens with a check on the forecast. >> it looks like a decollision weekend forecast but a miserable friday morning in the mid-atlantic after torrential rain in d.c. last night that required water rescues. heavy rain continues across the chesapeake. that bright red and yellow, it's just pouring right now in areas of maryland and delaware. the weekend forecast will have additional clouds and rain. a little cooler in the southeast. still very hot in texas. 101 today in dallas. as we go through the weekend, still some scattered storms there from atlanta down to the southeast. and the beaches aren't going to be pretty in north carolina and south carolina. watch out for rip currents and high waves there. by the time we get to sunday, we clear it out in the mid-atlantic, especially in the northeast. next week, typical summertime pattern. then it gets hot. it looks like a heat wave is going to grip month of the eastern half of the country come

the middle of next week. could be mid-90s from new york city all the way down to d.c. next week, major league baseball's all-star game. "morning joe" will be live at city field. this weekend, check out the 5 k fun run in brooklyn. benefits sandy relief. features greats like doc good and tony la russa and tony robinson. the race gets under way at 8:00. a lot of fun next week. geoff: i'm the kind of guy who doesn't like being sold to. the last thing i want is to feel like someone is giving me a sales pitch, especially when it comes to my investments. you want a broker you can trust. a lot of guys at the other firms seemed more focused on selling than their clients. that's why i stopped working at my old brokerage and became a financial consultant with charles schwab.

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all right, 20 past the hour. joining us on set, nbc news chief political director and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. and melody brown. and on capitol hill, senator elizabeth warren. very good to have you on board this morning, senator. >> good to be here. >> i understand you're pushing a new bipartisan piece of legislation that you say will prevent future banking crises. we want to talk about that and hear if you think that's even possible given the landscape in washington. i first want to get a sense of how you're doing. melody and i both know you. her words to describe you are balanced, common sense, practical. i can't imagine you fit -- what are you doing in washington? how's that going for you? >> you know, i actually like it. because i'll tell you, i came here to work on certain things. and i came here to fight for

hard working families. and you come here and you get a chance to do that. and that really is good. there are a lot of tools in the tool box here in washington. there are hearings and getting agencies to do what they should be doing. and getting to introduce legislation like the legislation that senator mccain and senator cantwell and senator king and i introduced last night. let me put it this way, look, my alternative is to throw a shoe at the television set when i get frustrated. at least when i come here i can actually work on legislation. i can work on trying to make a difference. and i like that. >> it's one way to look at it. we tend to throw shoes so that's true. so let's get to the bill here that you would like to separate traditional banks from financial service institutions that deal in investment banking, swaps, hedge funds and private equity. also separate deposit institutions from new products like derivatives. explain all that, how this would

work, also, why hasn't it happened already? >> it actually did happen already. it happened in 1933 after the great depression. when we separated what's called commercial banking, that's your checking account, savings account, the part that has fdic insurance, from all the risk taking activities, the gambling that takes place on wall street. we built a big wall between those two and it worked for nearly 50 years. it was solid. we didn't have a lot of trouble with the banks. we got rid of this kind of boom and bust cycle in the banking industry. and we built a good strong middle class. but the banks wanted those profits you get from the high risk gambling and the high risk gambling wanted access to the money in those checking accounts and in those deposit accounts. and so they kept hammering on washington. come on, change it, change it, change it. the regulators started opening

up loopholes in that act. and then finally in 1999 congress just got rid of what was left of the old glass steagall law. we hit the crisis in 2008. now senator cantwell and i are saying let's do this again. let's put a good strong glass steagall in place. it's a 21st century view of it. because you got to close up some loopholes. and you've got to account for some new fancy things that got invented after the original glass steagall was passed. but it's the same basic principle. if you want to take risks, do it on wall street, do it somewhere else without deposit money that's insured by the federal government. banking should be boring. that's what it's about. >> it should be boring. i have chuck todd here with me. nbc's political director. it sounds so sensible. is the senator's heart going to

be broken? it sounds bipartisan. it sounds like it could potentially happen. >> no, i think it's an impressive smart group of four people pushing this i mean, so i'm impressed. it's the way to get something off the ground. senator, i am curious to get your take as to why this didn't happen in dodd/frank, right. and i know, look, there's been some -- there's always been a lot of behind the scene reporting, why didn't the white house push this, why didn't geithner do it, why didn't -- the role larry summers may or may not have played both in '99 as treasury secretary when he testified on the hill in favor of the repeal. why didn't this get included in dodd/frank? >> you got to be looking at that, right? >> you do. do remember, when we adopted dodd/frank in 2010, there were a whole lot moving parts. there were people who said, look, we're putting a lot of new

restrictions in place be at financial institutions. let's get these under way. the problem we've got right now is you remember in 2008, part of of what people talked about is there's too much concentration in the banking industry. that's part of the reason that the whole system was at risk and we ended up with too big to fail. since then, the biggest four financial institutions are 30% bigger than they were. i'm going to put it back to you this way. we have tried some pieces that have wound some of the risk out of the system. okay, fine, nobody has to go back and point any fingers about it. it's just that now we need to do some more because it's not enough. >> given that, joe, i think you probably agree, that barks s a bigger than ever and the facts are correct. what is the possibility this sees the light of day given the

pace of things and the tone things in washington right now? >> that's a question i was going to ask the senator. senator, so who's it is opposition going to be? i think most of us around the table have lamented the fact that too big to fail has got be even bigger. the only presidential candidate i heard talking about breaking u the banks in a serious way was jon huntsman. so there wasn't a lot of courage shown out there on the campaign trail in 2012. what about in the senate? who's going to be opposing this commonsense solution? >> well, you know, look, i'll start it by saying you do what you think is right. you get out there and propose what we should be proposing. nobody has to propose it if you won't get out there and fight for it in the first place. somebody's going to have to stand up and oppose it rather than that just being, you know, the state of play. remember, people said weer in

got a consumer financial protection bureau. they said that's not possible, the banks will oppose it, it will never happen. at the end of the day, we got that agency. it's a good strong tough agency. the way i look at this, you don't get anything if you don't fight for it. so i want to get out there. i'm going to fight for it. look who i've got for a partner. i've got john mccain for a partner. could you ask for a better partner? angus cane, senator cartwell. if people want to take on risks and threaten the economy, let them make that defense, but we got to have that fight if we're going to make any kind of change at all. >> senator, can you just put it in terms of, you know, for the average viewer, if this becomes law what does wells fargo, this is a bank that a lot of people, you know, it's on the corners in many suburbs in america, what does wells fargo look like after this bill should it pass and be

signed into law? >> basically it looks just the same. if you've got a checking account there or pass book savings there. what looks different is how much risk there is in the overall banking system. >> so they don't get to -- what is it, they do not do investments anymore? they're sort of prevented from doing wall street? or do they have to set up a separate firm essentially? >> they effectively will likely break apart so that there will be the old boring banking, the part we like, the part we see on our street corners, and there will still be the part that goes out and makes all the investments and takes all the risk. the only difference is when they take those risks, they can't get access to your savings account money. they can't get access to your checking account money. and that's how we think it should be. both of those activities can occur, just not together in the same big financial institution. >> senator, thank you so much, we greatly appreciate it and good luck. >> thank you. >> mika, chuck asks a very good

question. consumers are going to want to know how this impacts them. i will tell you, i'm a bank of america customer, i love bank of america. i don't want any of that to change but i think we're just talking about drain iing risk fm a lot of the banks. >> listen, i'm all for it. i think it should have been done a while ago. i understand why it hasn't. it's not all good reasons. i'm glad elizabeth warren is there. we want to thank the senator for being on the show with us. we want to change pace right now because the defense is about to make closing arguments in the george zimmerman trial. we want to go to lisa bloom with what we can expect in just a matter of moments. lisa. >> as you can see, the attorneys are at a side bar going over any last-minute legal issues that may have arisen this morning. then we expect the closing argument to begin momentarily from mark o'mara for the defense that will go for several hours.

after that, the prosecution will have a chance to do a rebuttal closing argument. probably for about an hour or so. the judge will instruct the jury on the law and the jury will go out and deliberate the fate of george zimmerman. they have murder 2 or acquittal. >> when we look at the timing of this, there are indicators that show this could go quickly. the jury is smaller than usual. explain that. >> right, this is only a six person jury. that's standard in florida except in death penalty cases. and they've been sequestered, meaning they've been away from their families and friends. they haven't been able to go on the internet or watch television or listen to the radio for about four weeks since the beginning of jury selection since they were chose be for this trial. i would imagine with six people you have less to talk about. you can get to the issue more quickly. i'm sure they want to get home. all of that points to probably a

quicker verdict than usual in a high profile case. >> i would add because it's six women it would move quickly and efficiently. everybody started laughing nervously because 9% of all joking is true and i'm actually extremely serious here that women are organized and they'll get the job done. >> and consensus builders. >> six nonangry women versus 12 angry men. >> i'm not cracking jokes, i think it's an interesting dynamic. i haven't heard of an all women jury before. it's not that i, you know, maybe i've missed it, i don't study trials for a living. having said that, it's the first time i've covered one where it's six women. i think it will move quickly. >> right. they will have to pick a foreperson. then they will have to go over the evidence. the trial has gone on for three week. anything can happen obviously. they can deliberate on the weekend.

if the verdict comes back on the weekend, she's going to announce it on the weekend, even though the public safety officials asked her to hold it for a weekday. the judge said no in deference to the sequestered jury i think. once they reach that verdict, she's going to announce it whenever it comes. >> so bottom line, what we're about to watch as the defense makes the closing arguments, was there anything in yesterday's arguments, close arguments, that they're going to have to respond to? >> definitely george zimmerman lies. all of the inconsistencies in the four or five stories he gave to law enforcement. i would expect the defense to say, look, when somebody tell, the same story in detail, over and over again, of course there are going to be inconsistencies. george zimmerman saying he did not follow trayvon martin after the police told him not to. he was simply going to look for a street sign, to let the police know what street he was on. there were only three streets in that neighborhood. he lives there.

he's the neighborhood watch commander. really, he didn't know the name of the street sign? on the re-enactment video, he says he was looking also for a number, a house number. right there on the video, you can see the house number. that's important because it goes to the heart of the case. was he stalking, was he hunting down trayvon martin, as the prosecution contends, or was he simply following somebody he thought was suspicious to report it to police? that's one of the key issues in the case. >> the jury is entering the courtroom. the closing arguments will be starting very soon. i take it everything you just described right now in terms of what led up to ultimately the death trayvon martin, the question will be, will it matter when they're discussing this in the jury room and they try and figure out who did what, when and where in those final moments. >> that's right. and i think the judge is given standard admonitions. making sure they haven't listened to anything, watched anything, et cetera.

i also expect the defense in their closing to hone in on george zimmerman injuries. there's no question that he had some injuries. it looks as though he's got lacerations on the back of his head. the prosecution says yeah, he's got some injuries, but they weren't life threatening. they don't reflect the extreme nature of the situation george zimmerman always said he found himself in. the defense is going to say how many times are you supposed to get your head pounded on the concrete before you defend yourself? the defense put on a strong expert witness, dr. di maio, who said all of the evidence was consistent with the defense version of the case. >> closing arguments beginning right now. let's listen in. >> thank you, your honor. good morning, ladies and gentlemen. of course obviously i want to

thank you on behalf of judge nelson, mr. zimmerman, co-counsel don west, the entire defense team. the interns who have just given their life to this case for the last year or so. the prosecution team. and without sounding, you know, over the top about it, sort of the citizens of seminole county because you've taken on a responsibility that few people have the opportunity to or the obligation to. and even more so than most 'cause you may not know this but most trials last a day or two. they don't last several weeks. and it is very few trials, very few where there is enough of a concern that we have to sequester the jury. so you guys have given not just your attention during the day but sort of your life for 24 hours a day even more so in effect than we have. i appreciate that on behalf of everybody we just spoke about. strange the way it happens that we have a system that's been

ongoing for a couple hundred years and we intentionally bring in people who know as little as possible about the system and tell them to make the most important decisions within it. that's what we've asked you to do. i have some fears i want to talk to you about in that regard. because when we talked to you in jury selection, talked about sort of what this process is and how you have to come to us, i you'd words like unique, strange even, as far as the system that you're now involved in. we're used to it. we do it every day. sort of like doctors with blood. you just -- you get used to it. it's part of what you do. we deal with things like autopsy photographs and jury instructions and evidence and witnesses who may or may not remember things or may or may not tell the truth. witnesses who come with biases.

i couldn't do it if i was in a hospital but i can do it in a law office. yet we ask you to come in and to take on all of our rules and all of our regulations and to apply them as you've done it your entire life. the reason why it's difficult, you're completely unused to it. you don't know how to apply a standard beyond a reasonable doubt. you just don't. you don't know how to wait till you go back in that room to have any thought or any impression about how this case has gone so far. it's impossible. we're not really asking you to do that but we sort of are. because what we said to you is come from your homes, come from your jobs, sit with us for a month, get rid of i guess almost everything as to how you decide things in your life except bring your common sense. we talked about that.

leave that outside. take on somewhat artificially -- i certainly don't mean inappropriate or inproper. but this sort of unusual standard that we're asking you to take on. and my fear is that you will default what you're used to. you will default to the idea that you make decisions in a split second like all of us do. that you can't help but have a first impression. if i were to walk in today let's say just as an example. walked in. like this. you would just have an impression. what in god's name is he doing with his sunglasses on and who does he think he is? what's with the pinky ring? i put that on because this case

got some publicity and i became known as some pinky ring wearing attorney. actually it's my dad's high school ring and it's never been on my pinky. that's all it takes for an impression. we keep that with us. you might have an impression of george zimmerman. you may have an impression of him because he's sitting at the ds table. and that maybe as we talked about, he's not just a citizen accused but maybe he is a defendant, maybe he has something he has to defend. maybe because the state attorney's office decided to charge him, he has to do something wrong. maybe that's the impression you have. unfortunately, we're not going to ask you not to have impressions, that's absurd. my fear, i was telling you about it, is if that allows you to sort of diminish or minimize your task that you've taken on

here, that it works against my client. because when -- even when we talk about things like common sense, we want you to use your common sense. be careful with your common sense. i know it's a dangerous thing to say. be careful with your common sense because common sense is the way we run our everyday lives. in order to work. in order to live. in order to deal with our children and our parents. i mentioned as an example driving today. you guys didn't drive today but we did. you know, you presume people are going to drive in their lane and not just cut you off. it's these assumptions that we make -- >> excuse me, i'm so sorry. there's twitter -- sorry. >> that's okay, i appreciate you noticing. and i'm sorry to interrupt. >> no, no, not at all.

i think wheat wait now because it may have to be restarted. my concern is that it may, in fact, work against my client, because if you start using those same processes that we're you'd to everyday, make a decision, move on, that suddenly and unintentionally, you're going to minimize or diminish this standard that has to be applied in this case it and i'm afraid of that for this reason. if you do that, not only is it going to go against my client, and i don't want that, but any verdict you come up with is going to be sort of a compromised verdict. a verdict that's not based upon the standards that you agreed to, and i'm not blaming you for not doing it, that you agreed to, and that is the only way that this system really works. we talked about the difference in civil cases, in criminal

cases, in jury selection. we talked about the fact if this was a civil case you would go back in the jury room and say, you know, the state wants money and we have to decide, half, 51%, whatever it might be. that's the standard. and we talked that i think that's probably the standard we use in everyday lives. everything but those most important decisions. even when the decision is made to move out of state. to come down to florida. to move your life here. we talked about maybe that's a decision which is sort of similar to beyond a reasonable doubt. i don't know about that. i think that you make a decision like that. you weigh the consequences. you weigh the possibilities. but you never are certain. you never look at a situation like that and say, i've resolved all variables and all variables are in favor of this. what you basically do is you

look at it, it's an opportunity or alternative or necessity. you think about how you weigh what you can weigh. you accept what you have to accept. and then you make the decision. i would argue to you, i would submit to you, that's not what you can do here today. i think that what you have to do is be absolutely vigilant. diligent in looking at this case and deciding it with a standard foreign to you for one that you have to take on. now, that doesn't mean that you have to go back there and wrestle over whether or not officer ramondo, did he have medals on the right side of his chest, testifying or the left side of his chest? what does matter are those significant issues of whether or not the state has proven their case. and on those essential elements, in those essential facts, you have to look at that. because my fear, mr. zimmerman's fear, is failing to do that, you

will do some of what the state has asked you to do. they asked you to do it in voir dire. we talked about assumptions. they asked you to do it in opening when they yess eyelled words. they asked you to do it throughout the entirety of their case. so far, they even asked you to do it in closing. you are not a premise -- the judge is going to tell you. i'll spend some time on it again. to the extent that my argument or insight or presentation differs from what the court tells you, listen to what the court tells you. if i get too far afield, one of the -- either the judge or the state will remind me. but within that context, it's a very, very difficult standard. it is one where you have to look

at it and be very vigilant to make sure when you're looking at this case you're not making assumptions that help you decide the case. assumptions presume a lack of evidence. because if you have to presume something, you don't know it. and if you don't know it, it hasn't been proven. and if it hasn't been proven as the instruction tells you, it's just not there. and you can't consider it. you can't fill in the gaps. you can't connect the dots for the state attorney's office in this case. you're not allowed to. so i'll give you a couple examples. they're not utterly significant but i'll give you a couple examples. what do you know about george zimmerman? well, use your memory but you know he went to college. he was in neighborhood watch. he lived there a couple years. i think you know he's married because we mentioned his wife's

name i believe. you know that his mom and dad are still around because they testified. you don't know a lot more about him than that. there are a few more things. i'm not going to have a complete review all the evidence. but you don't know a lot about him. to the extent that there are questions or issues that you don't know about george zimmerman, we're done with the evidence. you're not getting any more information from the state attorney's office to prove their case against george zimmerman. don't assume it. don't presume it. don't connect dots. don't fill in the blanks with anything. i'm not saying you'll be sinister in doing that. i'm just saying no matter what it is. that's when we say to you this case is to be decided on the evidence presented in court, it sounds sort of grandiose almost. well being we're going to on the

evidence of the case, there is nothing else. the problem is, if we're not careful, as we do in our everyday lives, you will connect the dots when you're not supposed to. you will make those assumptiass. you will do that. because you know what, it's natural, it is very natural. but not in a criminal courtroom. it is not only unnatural, it is inappropriate. what do you know about trayvon martin? not much either. you're not supposed to. what happened that day is what happened that day. what i don't think you should do is fill in any gaps at all. connect any dots for him either. for any fact. any witness. if the decision was made by the state not to present additional evidence to you, do not presume. do not assume. and do not give any the benefit any doubt except for george zimmerman.

because one, you said you would. two, that's the only way whatever verdict you come up with is going to be just and it's going to be fair. so one filter, be careful. address my fear, if you would, by just being careful. just making sure that when you're back there talking and somebody says, well, you know, he's sort of this or i really think -- that one other of you just says, i hear you, sort of thinking it too, can't do it. let's just take that thought, that very natural extrapolation and put it to the side. and you might say to yourself since it's the state who carries the burden alone, you know, something that's what the state didn't give us. that's what they didn't show to us. so let's look at the jury instructions and see if it matters. does it matter where officer armando is wearing his medals? no. but if it is a significant

issue, it's something you need to consider and decide in a case of whether or not george zimmerman committed second degree murder, than sit back and say, i have to look at the instructions and the instructions say that reasonable doubt can come from lack of evidence as well as it can come from a conflict in the evidence. the reason why we tell you and you're instructed by the court that george zimmerman need not prove anything is precisely that reason. again, a strange system. anyone with children know that you want to get them separated and you want to get the story from both sides. that's the only way you'll figure it out. and then you know would stole the cookies. who gave the cookie to the other one to cover up their crime, whatever it might be. you get the idea because you get them both. so why does he have that benefit? why does he come before you and say you know what, decided not to testify. and then you get to sit back and

go wait a minute, my assumption is i want to hear from him. now, this case obviously is different thanner tos because you've heard from him. time and time and time again. you've heard from him. telling you what happened that night. but you know what, even if we didn't put on a statement, you still would have to go back there and say, i'm not considering that. what? why do we take away that commonsense presumption of finding out all the information that we can about a case? because we've already talked about it. if you want to take away somebody's liberty, they got to prove the case. the burden is on the state. it goes back a long, long way. i've got a quote to talk to you about. a couple of them actually. john adams, 1770, when we sort

started this experiment a couple hundred years ago. god, i guess it's 250 now. it's more important than innocence be protected than that the guilty be punished. it sounds as if i'm asking you to let my guilty client go. i'm not. he's not guilty of anything but protecting his own life. guilty and crimes that are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. but if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizens say whether i do good or whether i do evil is immaterial. for innocence itself is no protection. and it is such an idea of that take hold in the minds of the citizens, then it would be the end of security what sore. so ever. i have a quote in my office that

says it in a different way. it also talked about this is not a death penalty case. obviously, that was a death penalty case where they were talking about a guy going to the gallows and the question was condemning somebody and not being absolutely certain as to your decision. in sending him to the gallows. not because he was guilty but because maybe he was innocent and maybe you just didn't know. so that's why we have a system that puts so much of a burden properly on the state attorney's office in this case. to make sure that we don't cut any corners and we don't make any assumptions. this is a compliment to you because thomas jefferson talked to you guys about 200 years ago as well when he said, i consider trial by jury as the only oranger ever yet imagined by man, by which government can be held to the principles of its constitution. that's you guys. he didn't -- i think he was talking about jurors in general but it applies to you as well.

we talked about living the constitution. well, planned or not, you guys are it. you are living the constitution. we'll go over a little bit of it. i talked to you about it already. this is a solemn matter. we don't take this lightly. whether it's through jokes or kidding around or you see us smiling at each other or whatever, this is a serious, serious matter for mr. zimmerman and it's an utterly serious matter for you. i don't say that to scold you into acting a certain way but just to make sure that we don't do what the state has asked you to do on a counselor of occasions now. you know what, you guys figure it out. it's an assumption, worry about this. it's interesting in a case like this because i call this case the bizarro case in my practice

because it sometimes seems turned upside down to me. not saying you should agree with that but it's just a perspective i have in this case. how many could have beens have you heard from the state in this case? how many what ifs have you heard from the state in this case? i don't think anyway they don't get to ask you that. i don't thing they get to say to you, what do you think? no, no, no. no, no, no. what have i proven to you? what have i convinced you beyond a reasonable doubt occurred in this case so much so that you don't have any reasonable doubt as to those issues that i presented to you? they are supposed to use words like certainty and definite. and without question. beyond a reasonable doubt. no other explanation.

these are the words and phrases of good prosecutors. i used to be one, i know, i've asked then. what aren't good words of good prosecutors are maybe, what if, i hope so, you figure it out, could have been. those are the assumptions that please do not make. do not cheapen your role in this case by doing anything less. holding on to the burden they said in the beginning of the case they would gladly accept and prove to you. the upside down nature of it. that's what defense attorneys do if you really think about it. you want to know some of the underbelly of criminal defense work. we're the ones that live in could have beens and what ifs. you know what, reasonable doubt.

what if, blah blah blah blah blah. or, you know, it could have been. could have been that it happened this way. and that could have been that reasonable hypothesis of innocence. we'll talk about that in a sec. not a sec, it's going to be some time this hour i hope. could have been. that where defense attorneys learn to practice. and words that they learn to bring to a jury. i'm not going to do any of that with you today. i want you to know exactly what happened that night. i don't want you to presume anything. i would like you to presume whatever for my client's benefit. in this type of a case, we're going to do something that will probably upset or enrage defense attorneys anywhere who are listening to this case. of course at the risk of

confusing you, i'm going to take a side trip for just a few minutes. i'm going to take on the obligation to prove to you my client is innocent. something i absolutely do not have to do. it is the opposite. because as you know the state carries the burden. i'm going to say that probably a dozen times before we're done. we love our charts. i've got a couple charts for you. which tell, you what reasonable doubt is. at least my argument as to what reasonable doubt is.

your honor, can i block the view of the jury? >> that's fine, go ahead. thanks very much, i appreciate this. i'm going to use that for something else i think. thank you. graphic understanding of what reasonable doubt is. and if it's wrong, he can talk to you when i'm done, let him point out where it's wrong and you can make that decision. this is what we talked about. what might happen. and how convinced you might be.

easy. just not guilty. proven. highly unlikely. less than likely. i think you get the point. ask you to read through it and nod your head in agreement with each one. the reality is, until you get to the idea of concept of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, you just don't get it. what stays in c cicics examine. that presumption of innocence never dissipates till the state proves their case beyond a reasonable doubt which really makes sense. it took us from the king's days where he decided if you're guilty or not to your days where you get to. so this is what happens in a criminal case. the state has to take you from