input. >> bobby ghosh? >> putin is a dangerous guy. we should all be very, very scared. >> you have learned my father well. thank you very much. if it's way too early, what time is it? it's time for "morning joe." but now, it's time for "the daily rundown" with chuck todd. have a wonderful weekend, everybody. as russia crosses the "ts" and dots the "is" on adding crimea, putin fights back with sanctions of his own for top politicians, and they're ready to wear them as a badge of honor. also this morning, illinois governor pat quinn is here, fresh off his primary win and ahead of a potentially rocky road to re-election. a tdr 50 look at the pension problems plaguing the land of lincoln. plus, a ton of 2016 headlines this week thank you might have missed amid all the other news, some of it in quotes, major and minor moves that turned heads, raised

eyebrows, and turned up the chatter that actually does really matter. good morning from washington. it's friday, march 21st, 2014. this is "the daily rundown." day two of spring, right? feels pretty good out there. we begin with the latest developments on the intense search for any sign of that missing malaysian jetliner that was carrying 239 passengers and crew. it's now been almost two weeks since the plane disappeared, and with darkness falling in that part of the world over the indian ocean there, today's air search is just concluded moments ago, and no new clues. the weather is better, but not ideal. and crews from australia, new zealand, and the united states have turned up nothing in their search for those pieces of debris spotted off the coast of perth from a satellite. all of search planes have returned empty handed. five military civilian aircraft had been scouring the area. this one shows a larger piece of debris about 79 feet long. there's also the smaller piece of debris about 16 feet long.

investigators call these blurry pictures their best, most credible lead yet since the plane vanished 14 days ago. and the size of the debris indicates something plane-sized could be floating either on top of the indian ocean or just below the surface. of course, the location piqued the interests of investigators, since it's along the plane's possible flight path, about 1,500 miles southwest of perth, australia. now, the u.s. navy p-8a poseidon like this one took off for the search area a few hours ago. it's one of the navy's most advanced long-range planes, and it can fly as low as 1,000 feet for an extended period of time, which allows it to get helicopter-like visuals down near the surface. an australian naval ship should arrive on the scene by sunday. but flight crews say the seas are rough and the winds picked up over the last five hours. meanwhile, in malaysia, family members were briefed behind

closed doors for about two hours overnight. some are obviously still very angry, including anger now directed at the australian government for releasing those satellite images publicly without giving the families a heads-up first. it's criticism that australia's prime minister took to heart, but also decided to defend his own decision. >> the cause of the understandable state of anxiety and apprehension that they're in, we also owe it to them to give them information as soon as it's to hand. >> there are now only 16 days of battery life left on the pinger that helps locate the black box from the plane. we're 14 days into the most expansive international search in modern history. malaysian investigators say they're holding out hope that crews will find something soon that somehow confirms those grainy satellite images. nbc's bill nealy has just gotten to australia for us, an he's in

perth, which has become the new staging area for this massive search. bill, obviously, it's nightfall, so the search is off for today. >> reporter: yes, good morning, chuck, from perth. the center of a lot of hopes, a lot of optimism, and the air base from which australian and american planes have been scouring the coast off western australia, looking for any debris, any sign of that missing plane. it is, as you said, the most extensive search for any missing plane ever recorded. now, two australian planes have come back. the crew of the first one said that actually visibility was quite good. they could see for about six miles, but they saw no debris and nothing unusual. exactly the same when the second plane came in. the u.s. navy poseidon plane that you mentioned is due in here in about an hour's time. it has been, we think, doing what it did yesterday, scouring the area for about three hours,

flying at 5,000 feet, and then dipping to 1,000 feet. if it sees anything on the radar. we will know in about an hour's time whether they've actually seen anything significant. but at the minute, it's not good after the end of the second day. >> anything major that's going to be added to the search teams starting when day breaks? >> reporter: well, it's a plus and a minus. there will be an australian ship that will be joining the search. there is an indian and chinese vessel also joining. but that u.s. poseidon plane will not fly tomorrow. they're citing routine maintenance and required rest for the crew. i have to say that is raising some eyebrows in australia, because this is the most intensive search, and it seems slightly odd that after two days one of the main and indeed the most high-tech plane would not, in fact, join for a third day. >> wow, we'll see if they end up changing their mind based on us

making this a little more public this morning. bill neely in perth, australia, for us. bill, glad you got there safely. >> joining us is greg feith, former senior investigator with the national transportation and safety board. and, greg, you know, we've used all sorts of cliches, needle in a haystack, but that's what this feels like. these two grainy satellite images. nothing yet to be confirmed. with the visuals from these planes. >> chuck, this is probably the hardest part, because while these are the better resolution satellite photos, especially than the chinese photos, these aren't really all that much better. and there's always been a question about could they be better? is there another set of these types of photographs that show better resolution? and as we talked earlier in the week, this part of the ocean -- or this part of the world isn't covered by satellites. i mean, everybody's got their good stuff trained on the hot spots of the world. >> sure. >> and so, when this photograph

was taken, it was taken by a -- a satellite that just had that level of resolution. so it's really going to be the airplanes getting on station that are going to give us the high-res pictures once they identify they're, in fact, over the area. >> an oceanographer in "the new york times" said this -- called it the worst place you could lose a plane when trying to find it, is this part of the indian ocean. >> when you look at the various currents, you look at the state of the weather, the sea state that's constantly changing, the fact that we had, yesterday, 9 to 12-foot swells and waves, i mean the distribution of the wreckage, if it had been in clusters and had it been on the surface at one point, a lot of it may be submerged by now and definitely distributed over a very large area. >> well, it doesn't sound -- it sounds somewhat pessimistic for searchers at this point. greg feith joining us from colorado. greg, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. let's turn to moscow where the russian parliament has

officially sealed the deal to redraw the boundaries of eastern europe and expand russia's territory for the first time since world war ii. this morning, the upper house of parliament approved the treaty to annex crimea one day after a nearly unanimous vote in the lower house. vladimir putin signed it a short time later. of course, the united states is trying to make moscow pay for that decision. on thursday, president obama expanded the list of folks that are going to be hit with sanctions. it includes now 20 officials and members of putin's inner circle, including his chief of staff and the speaker of the state duma. a russian bank that serves putin's entourage was also sanctioned. that's a big development. >> this is not our preferred outcome. these sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the russian economy, but could also be disruptive to the global economy. however, russia must know that further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community. >> russia tried a p.r. stunt and

retaliated by leveling "sanctions," put those in air quotes, against harry reid and four other senators. three white house officials were also on this sanction list. of course, the lawmakers responded in a series of defiant and almost exclamitory statements. dan coates said he was honored. senator menendez responded by saying, so be it. and then senator mccain who joked he would have to cancel his trip to siberia. meanwhile, new evidence that the u.s. sanctions are actually taking a bite out. the russian economy. following president obama's announcement, moscow's benchmark index fell more than 2% in friday stock trading. that russian stock market as a whole has lost 10% this month, and this morning, the fich credit agency rating warned it would downgrade their credit rating.

standard & poor's said the same thing on thursday. this is where the rubber hits the road. richard engel joins me live from eastern ukraine. richard, we're seeing the house sanctions could actually have a real impact on russia, but obviously, the great fear now is will he move -- will putin move in on eastern ukraine? what's it like on the ground there? >> reporter: well, that is the question, clearly on everyone's mind here, russia moved in, took over crimea, now made that even more formal today. it was already a done deal. now it's an officially done deal. the question people across the world are asking -- will russian troops come in and take eastern ukraine and take southern ukraine? there are a lot of russian nationals here, russian speakers in the area. a lot of people who, frankly, would like to be part of russia, who live in this area. that's been a constant argument that moscow has been putting forward, saying that the people in southern-eastern ukraine want

to join up with russia. there are also about 20,000 russian troops just across the border, many of them elite troops, also heavy weapons, helicopters. so many people here are wondering, are we going to see the other shoe drop? but the question is, will the sanctions prevent that? will the -- so far, fairly specific and not very far-reaching sanctions have to be reinforced? the sanctions we've seen so far have been for a couple dozen key individuals in russia. one bank, in particular, bank rocea, will the sanctions be followed up by threats from washington to really go after the economy of russia by sanctioning the oil and gas sector. >> well, you brought up that, and russia's smp bank, visa and mastercard, announced they won't provide services now for another bank, russia's smp bank. this is where you suddenly have credit agencies, you have the international financial community now jumping in.

it's one thing when it was a political fight between the united states and russia. this is where you have to wonder if this starts to have an impact on putin. >> reporter: it also would not be that easy to come across here. there's been discussion among some military planners in the pentagon that russia wants a land bridge, wants a corridor between mainland russia and crimea. well, in order to do that, you'd have to take over at least 300 kilometers of territory in the ukraine, and a band that would at least be several kilometers wide. those also include several hundred thousand people living in those areas, a couple of major urban centers, as well. so if russia did want to do this, it would incur more sanctions. it would send the economy further down, and there might have to be some military fighting, as well. so it is not a foregone conclusion that russia's going to do this.

also, today, on another political development, you can see how ukraine is moving in the opposite direction. the government of kiev signed an association agreement with europe. so while russia is trying to solidify crimea, maybe even have some more overtures in the east and south, the government in kiev signed this landmark agreement, really, having closer economic and political ties with the e.u. >> and that, of course, is what putin had been fighting all along. richard engel in eastern ukraine for us. richard, thanks. we're keeping an eye on any of the developments on the missing plane, what's going on in the ukraine. that's coming up. we'll hear from the navy ship commanding the u.s. search operation. up next, though, illinois governor pat quinn is here on his state's pension problems and his fight for re-election. it's part of tdr 50's look ahead. this week, it's been about illinois. speaking of looking ahead,

here's today's politics planner. we can't forget after noon today, not a lot is getting done around here. a bunch of cool ncaa games that people in washington care about. the big one, of course, is 6:55, george washington colonials versus memphis, and another team that involves charlottesville that my producer brook seems to care so much about. uva. whatever that spells. whatever! coming up, though, we'll tell you about our special online tdr bracket challenge. that's coming up later in the show, so stick around. ly transferred money from his bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america.

iwe don't back down. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com

but when we start worrying about tomorrow, we miss out on what matters today. ♪ at axa, we offer advice and help you break down your retirement goals into small, manageable steps. because when you plan for tomorrow, it helps you live for today. can we help you take a small step? for advice, retirement, and life insurance, connect with axa.

week three of the tdr 50 is wrapping up, illinois, of course, is our focus this week. we've had a closer look today at the state's devastating pension

problem. it's one that puts the state in a $100 billion hole and will likely be a defining issue for the governor's race this fall. the democratic incumbent pat quinn has long insisted he inherited this financial mess, a pension system chronically underfunded and couldn't meet its obligation, but he said he should get credit for the pension overhaul he signed last december that he says will get the state back on track. >> it was hard. it was painful. it took political courage. but together, we got the job done. today, we can tell the people of illinois we stopped the bleeding. we turned the corner. and illinois is making a comeback. >> the legislation raises the retirement age for many state workers, scales back cost of living increases in an attempt to save $145 billion over the next 30 years, and it keeps the pension system solvent. but it's also left quinn fighting a two-front war, one

against republicans, including the newly nominated republican, rauner, and support groups including labor unions. the labor unions have been putting a whole bunch of money, been upset, and they're actually challenging the overhaul in court, a claim that the law violates the state's constitution, they say, and the pension benefits may not be diminished or impaired. meanwhile, the state's economy continues to suffer. moody's investor services has put chicago three levels above junk bond status, the lowest credit rating of any major city outside of detroit. the state of illinois fares worse. moody's has given it the lowest credit rating of any state in the country. joining me now, governor of illinois, pat quinn. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, chuck. how you doing? >> i'm okay. let's start with this credit rating issue. you've done this pension overhaul that was politically pretty painful for you, especially on the democratic side of the aisle.

but it hasn't moved the needle yet on your credit rating. why is that? >> well, number one, moody's actually saluted our pension reform and said it was probably the most far-reaching pension reform ever done in our country. and we have more work to do, obvio obviously. but doing the pension reform was necessary. our state is making a comeback. we're one of the largest economies in the world. the 19th largest. and we've been able, i think, to grow the economy in the midwest. we've created more jobs than any other state. and we're going to do more work in the next couple of months with our budget. and i think it'll be well received by the credit agencies, but most importantly, by the people of illinois. >> do you think in 20 years we'll still have pensions, even in government? >> yes, i do. i think they have to be properly funded at all times, and since i became governor five years ago, every year we put the proper amount into the pension funds. that didn't occur before i came here. i inherited a very large problem

of $100 billion deficit. but we do hard things. sometimes they're not popular, but they're not necessary for everyday people to have a good economy. >> you want to make raising the minimum wage a big part of your re-election campaign. you launched a new tv ad on it. but i'm trying -- i'm doing a little math here. you're proposing to move it up to $10.10. you have a democrat -- you have large democratic majorities in the state legislature. why aren't you just passing this right now? if this is important legislation to get done -- [ snapping fingers ] -- why not do it now? it looks like you simply want it as a campaign issue. >> it's been part of my life. i organize people, i organize consumer groups, and i've organized efforts to raise the minimum wage in the past that were successful in illinois. minimum wage is $8.25, a dollar above the federal minimum wage. we want to go over $10. anytime you have a movement you have to build a majority, in the house and the senate, but most importantly from people across our state. and that's exactly what we're doing. we had martin sheen in town last

week -- >> wait a minute. you can't get this passed in a democratic assembly that you've got a 20-plus seat majority and a democratic state senate? you have a 20-plus seat -- you can't get this passed tomorrow? >> it passed out of committee yesterday in the illinois senate, $10.65, minimum wage. >> okay. >> i want to point out, anytime you have a change, it's important to bring people with you and educate the folks of illinois on how important this is. there's a principle as old as the bible, that if you work 40 hours a week, you shouldn't have to live in poverty. and i think this is a fundamental principle that we want to carry out across our state, and indeed across our country. the president's committed to raising the minimum wage, and so am i. >> i know that you're going to be doing -- releasing your budget, i assume, very, very soon. you said you would do it in the next week or two. >> next wednesday. >> next wednesday, okay. we got the date. >> yes. >> you're talking about the temporary tax increases that were put through to deal with the lower -- the receipt problem illinois had a few years ago.

they're set to expire, and the tax rates automatically come down in 2015. the question is -- are you committed to allowing those tax rates to sunset, these tax increases? or are you looking for alternative ways to keep some of the tax increases in place? >> i'm going to speak about the budget next wednesday. i do believe in a tax code that promotes economic growth and is fair. i think we should take a lesson from pope francis who last year said, you have to have an economy with a human purpose where no one is left out. and so, our tax code in illinois needs to reflect those fundamental values. we have to invest in education and human services, public safety. at the same time, we have a growing economy. so i'll lay out, i think, a very fair plan that's good for the people and good for jobs. >> so it sounds like some of the tax increases are going to remain. you're just not sure which ones. >> well, since i've been governor, we've been able to double the value of the earned income tax credit in our state. that's a tax-relief measure for working families raising kids

that whether it's ronald reagan or bill clinton or barack obama, they all believe in that principle of the earned income tax credit. working people getting tax relief. and i'm going to focus on that, as well. i've been able to do it already in illinois, and want to keep on that path. >> fair enough. governor, you did divert your answer there a little bit. but we'll find out wednesday. all right. we'll find out wednesday. governor pat quinn, thanks for coming on this morning. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. our tdr 50, the illinois rising stars. which three democrats and three republicans made our list? that coming up at the end of the hour. names and faces you'll need to know in the coming years in the land of lincoln. and from new faces to one that's been around for a very long time, the first number in today's databank. at least $40,000. that's how much a republican superpac is estimated to be spending on a new not-so-subtle attack ad against congressman ralph hall, 90 years old, and

was first elected to congress when jimmy carter was president. he is facing another run in a runoff. his opponent is not associated with the ad, and denies he wants to make hall's age an issue in this race, but boy, does this tv ad do that. another record holder, name the states that did not exist yet the last time the chicago cubs won a world series. sorry, grandma. you won't have to wait nearly as long as the cubs to claim your prize. be first to tweet the right answer to @chucktodd, and you'll get the on-air shoutout. keep it here for the answer. but way too many aren't. why? because selling their funds makes them more money. which makes you wonder. isn't that a conflict? search "proprietary mutual funds". yikes!! then go to e*trade. we've got over 8,000 mutual funds and not one of them has our name on it. we're in the business of finding the right investments for you. e*trade. less for us, more for you. the fund's prospectus contains its investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other important information

and should be read and considered carefully before investing. for a current prospectus visit www.etrade.com/mutualfunds. predibut, manufacturings a prettin the united states do. means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done. how was prugh.ce? that bad? i dropped 2 balls, mom. eye on the ball! that's all it is. eye on the ball. that's a good tip. i'll try it. by the way, bill... this is delicious! so many grilled tastes and textures. and all the nutrition i need. go on. no really. top notch. (laughing)

there it is - there ya go. new american grill from kibbles 'n bits... go together like... food 'n family. [ mala body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure

or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions, or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. a bummer of a number in today's databank, and it impacts a lot of fans. the number is 95%, the percentage of people who made a wrong pick in at least the first 12 hours of the men's ncaa tournament. the biggest bracket buster was

dayton's upset of ohio state. and harvard picked off the win. 1% of brackets tracked by espn survived the night without a blemish. speaking of brackets, we have the own tdr march madness style happening this year. i'm calling it the presidential near-misses. we've compiled 64 great americans that we can't believe never became commander in chief. you can see the full bracket on our website later today, and next week, you will make your picks. we'll have a great little final four by the time the real final four is happening. we'll start the voting next week, so if you're a ben franklin fan or an aaron burr aficionado, or ever wondered what general sherman would have done if he never was sherman-esque, go to rundown.msnbc.com to vote for your presidential near-miss picks and move them along to the next round. and if you play the game, you might like have a lock like this. look at congressman john lewis, an online temptation after his

office posted video of him dancing to the hit pherrell song, "happy." getting a great car with 42 highway miles per gallon makes it like two deals in one. salesperson #1: point is there's never been a better time to buy a jetta tdi clean diesel. avo: during the first ever volkswagen tdi clean diesel event get a great deal on a jetta tdi. it gets 42 highway miles per gallon. and get a $1,000 fuel reward card. it's like two deals in one. volkswagen has the most tdi clean diesel models of any brand. hurry in and get a $1,000 fuel reward card and 0.9% apr for 60 months on tdi models. ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you outlive your money? uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need.

well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today.

start building your confident retirement today. so i tri ed dependrt building your confident retirement today. so i it really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. hi-ya! and i tried a baking class. one weekend can make all the difference. unlike the bargain brand, depend gives you the confidence of new fit-flex® protection. it's a smooth and comfortable fit with more lycra strands.

it's our best protection. take your weekend on with a free sample at depend.com it's about the most inaccessible spot that you could imagine on the face of the earth. but if there is anything down there, we will find it. >> you heard him. australia's prime minister promised distraught families overnight the search will go on, even though crews have found no signs of the passenger jet carrying 239 people and, of course, passengers and crew. keir simmons has more on how the families are coping on kuala lumpur. keir, they were not happy about those satellite images. >> reporter: yeah, they really weren't, and they really are worried. of course, now, they find themselves waiting again, having to wait all these days. they woke up yesterday, chuck, with the news from australia. they wake up today and not

knowing really still what that news means. and they are also frustrated, they had a meeting for two hours with officials. they came out afterwards and told us they'd asked a lot of questions, but didn't feel like they got any answers, any difference in what they had already been hearing. and stunningly, chuck, at this meeting, apparently, they were asked to fill out a form to say if they wanted to be contacted if there was any urgent news to tell them. we're two weeks in, two weeks later they're being asked if they want to do that. meanwhile, you saw those terrible scenes with the mother coming to try to talk to reporters here and being carried away in tears. well now, here, they have police and security making sure only media come into the media hotel. so real frustration amongst many of the relatives. at the same time, there are efforts being made, chuck, by the malaysian authorities, bringing in counselors to try and help them, it's just a really difficult time, chuck. >> yeah, i can only imagine. but that form thing, i can only imagine how that just impacted them and drove some of them over

the edge. keir simmons in kuala lumpur, thaush. the u.s. navy's 7th fleet has been in the thick of things since early on. commander marks joins me from manila where he's on the "uss blue ridge." what can you tell us about search conditions? i know it's dark, so basically the search is called off for the night. >> yes, our p-8 poseidon, which is flying out of perth, australia, wrapped up its flight just a couple of hours ago. the p-8 is our fixed-wing patrol aircraft, the newest and latest technology we have. and they fly in nine-hour chunks of time, really long flights. this location, as mentioned, is such a long distance away, so it takes three to four hours just to get there. once they get there, they have about three or so hours on station, and then they have to fly back. so it's a challenge getting way out to that site.

they flew out there today, actually they'll past two days, flew over that area. we've not seen any indication of wreckage or debris associated with an airliner. >> commander, our reporter on the ground in perth, australia, said authorities there are a little concerned to find out that you're not going to be sending the plane out tomorrow, because of maintenance issues. is there any way to change that schedule of routine maintenance to continue the momentum on the search? >> well, there are no maintenance issues at all. this is planned and routine maintenance. it's impossible to fly every single day, and we watch the fatigue level of both our personnel and our equipment very carefully. that's just not the u.s. navy. that's every single navy and every single aircraft. so we watch our pilots and our air crew. we watch their fatigue level.

mentally taxing job to fly and look at that radar screen for nine hours straight. and then, also, we watch the fatigue on our equipment. i mean, just like you can't run a person for 24 hours straight, you can't run an aircraft for 24 hours straight. so everyone needs to do maintenance. it's a rotation. this is very normal and very planned. >> all right. commander marks there, thank you very much, coming from manila for us, before we take a short break. it might be -- it could be -- it is -- it's clam chowder, everybody! that's what they're serving at harry caray's tavern at chicago navy's pier. my best harry caray. [ female announcer ] birdhouse plans. nacho pans.

glass on floors. daily chores. for the little mishaps you feel use neosporin to help you heal. it kills germs so you heal four days faster. neosporin. use with band-aid brand bandages.

marge: you know, there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious, and a good source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify.

see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? (meowright on cue. (laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder it's the only one cats ask for by name. as you know, on friday, we like to do our "the daily rundown" roundup of all things 2016. this coming monday, two political powerhouses will be together. former florida governor jeb bush

has invited former secretary of state hillary clinton to speak at an education conference he's leading in dallas. on wednesday, jeb bush appeared with common core supporters and acknowledged the educational standards have become a lightning rod, particularly for conservatives, saying this, trust me, i know. there are a whole lot of people who are standing up to this avalanche. bush is also acting more like a 2016 candidate. he has a packed speech this morning in broward county. he'll fund raise on sunday, and later on in the week, raising money for new mexico governor martinez and he ends next week speaking to the influential doenlers at the jewish coalition meeting taking place in las vegas. meanwhile, clinton has been everywhere this week. she joked about speculation on her future to a group of publishers on wednesday in new york city. >> i was leaving the state department, stepping off that high-wire of american diplomacy.

there'd be no more interview requests. no frantic media speculation about my plans. just peace and quiet -- [ laughter ] -- in our little old chappaqua farmhouse up in the attic where i hang out. it has not exactly worked out that way. >> also on wednesday, hillary clinton appeared to distance herself, at least rhetorically from the president, on iran, telling the american jewish congress she's doubtful about the prospects of a nuclear deal. the odds are not good. i am also personally skeptical that the iranians would follow through and deliver. but this is a development that is worth testing. she also added, when americans of all faiths look at israel, we see a homeland for a people long oppressed in a democracy that has to defend itself at every turn. it's a speech you could argue you wouldn't necessarily heard president obama give. today, by the way, at arizona state university, all the clintons -- hillary, bill, and chelsea -- will kick off the clinton global initiative university for young leaders.

the guy, by the way, supposed to be clinton's most formidable republican opponent, new jersey chris christie, was asked about the bridge scandal for the first time at a new jersey town hall. he was quizzed about the firing of bridget ann kelly, and he said if she had told the truth, she would have been fired anyway. the question was, what was she fired for? lying to you or the act itself? and christie for the first time made it clear it was the act itself, as well. back at home in wisconsin for a week of town hall meetings, congressman paul ryan seemed to be challenged from the right on foreign aid and immigration, and from the left on his comments last week that a, quote, tailspin of culture in our inner cities means generations of men are not even thinking about working. >> -- understand how you guys can't take care of our country, and yet they've always got plenty of money for everyone else. our foreign aid has to have strings with it. >> put a moratorium on all

immigration until the american people get back to work. >> people coming, trying to make a better life for themselves, and that's a good thing. >> the bottom line is this. this statement was not true. that's a code word for black. >> there is nothing whatsoever about race in my comments at all. it had nothing to do with race. >> on wednesday, kentucky senator rand paul took his case for civil liberties to one of the most historically liberal campuses in the country, u.c. berkeley, where he called the intelligence community, quote, drunk with power, and he took on president obama and even his own party. >> i find it ironic that the first african-american president has, without compunction, allowed this raw vast of power by the nsa. certainly, j. edgar hoovers spying on martin luther king and others in the civil rights movement should give us all pause. >> paul, who walked on stage to the lyrics "i get knocked down

but i get up again," told the crowd, remember when domino's finally admitted they have bad crust. think republican party. admit it. bad crust. we need a different kind of party. his challenge to gop orthodoxy goes a lot farther than repackaging. remember the nsa security apparatus began under a republican president, and in the past was enthusiastically supported by the republican party. apparently, that's changing. also, don't miss the fact that three senators paul mentioned by name during speech all caucus with the democrats, dianne feinstein, ron wyden and the independent bernie sanders. texas senator ted cruz continues to distance himself from rand paul. in iowa, he was asked whether he agrees with rand paul that the gop can agree to disagree on social issues so that they don't alienate younger voters. >> there are some who say the republican party should no longer stand for life. i don't agree with them. there are some who say the republican party should no longer stand for traditional marriage. i don't agree with them, either. i think we should deny to def d

defend -- continue to defend our shared values. >> it sounds like you disagree with senator paul? >> i'll let him characterize his views. >> joining me now on the msnbc contributor chris aliza. there are a lot of people running stories about clinton's noncandidacy. without, apparently, seeing what's in front of them. it's not an un-candidacy. she's all over the place. >> how can you argue she's not running? >> i don't know if she would even argue she's not at this point. >> there's no reason for her to say, hey, i'm going to run. there's a lot of reasons not to say that. she's out there. >> she's doing real spade work, stuff you're supposed to do. >> one thing that strikes me about the piece you did, there's hillary clinton on the democratic side. >> yeah. >> and nobody else. >> right. >> and on the republican side, there is this incredibly vigorous debate going on with very different kinds of candidates. you could make the case that there are six different republican candidates who

credibly have a path to the nomination. and they stand for extremely different versions of the republican party. >> and, you know, we talk about the big names on the republican side. jeb is making real moves. this is -- >> yeah. >> -- this is not just getting involved in the great mentioning. he's making real moves. yes, he hasn't started a pac yet or things like that, but this common-core defense, he knows in a real republican primary it would become fodder -- >> oh, absolutely. >> -- and taking it on now. his foundation is running d digital ads. >> i was, two months ago, skeptical about jeb bush. we always talk about it, it never happens. then i started talking to people. and they said, he's more interested than most people think. then, after the florida '13 special election -- >> right. >> -- some folks aligned with him. said, hey, just so you know, jeb was pretty active in that election. >> that's right. >> but you would never sort of do that sort of thing -- so i think he is quite clearly more than just, "oh, my name is

mentioned." he's quite clearly more than that. i still think the big hurdle is he does not like the rough-and-tumble politics, but i think -- i think he sees this is the moment. >> it is. >> if he wants to run as president, now is -- 2016 is the time. >> -- he wants to run on his own record. he doesn't want to run on defending himself. >> yes. >> speaking of running on your own record, rand paul had an interesting interview today, susan, where he was asked about his father's -- some of his father's stances. he said in this interview, hey, you know, george w. bush wasn't measured against his father all the time. well, but george w. bush spent his entire 2000 campaign trying to show differences he had with his father. rand and ron have very similar agreements on many of the major issues of the day. >> they do, although they do have quite different emphasis. and rand paul is a more traditional politician in some

ways than rand paul ever was. and he's also -- what's so interesting about rand paul is he actually takes interesting, thoughtful positions at odds with his party. the nsa is an example -- all this -- all this work he's doing with democrats, like with eric holder, on the issue of prison reform. this is quite a different profile from ron paul. you know, it seems to me he may be in a position to get the advantage, the association with his father, that kind of group of libertarians who like the paul family. but i think, to me, he's having success in becoming a broader politician. >> very quickly, bernie sanders made it clear that he basically if you ask me to run, i'll do if. >> right. >> we don't know if it's as a democrat or as an independent. >> sure. >> he's not a registered democrat. >> a self-described socialist, as he says. >> frankly, i could see him grabbing the green party election. a problem for hillary clinton. >> a much big problem -- and i think we agree, you and ai agree, there will be a challenge to the left of hillary clinton.

i don't think it will be a likely challenge. but if it's a third party, 5%, 6% of the vote, that's a bigger problem. >> suddenly oregon is in play in a general election, suddenly washington state. interesting things there. interesting. thank you, both. trivia time. >> the chicago cubs last won the world series in 1908, back when we had 46 states. the states that were missing, new mexico, arizona, alaska, and hawaii. grandma, you missed one of the states. sorry for making fun of the cubs. congratulations to today's winner, jack fuller. send your trivia to daily r rundown. we'll be back with your illinois rising stars. to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list

actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. feeding your lawn need not be so difficult neighbors. get a load of this bad boy. whoa. this snap spreader system from scotts is snap-crackin' simple -- just snap, lock, and go. [ scott ] feed your lawn. feed it!

just snap, lock, and go. iwe don't back down. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com it's friday. take away time, as we have been goog. if you wrap up the focus on illinois, it's time for the rising stars. some names you may not know now,

but names you should know because you may hear from them a few years down the road. they could be your next candidates for governor and senator. we're going to start with the democrats. first name up is will burns. burns is currently serving his first term as alderman for chicago's fourth ward which includes president obama's old neighborhood of hyde park. he's a former senate staffer to the president. a state representative and a friend of mayor rahm emanuel. many of our experts call him a serious contender for congress when some of the older african-american candidates decide not to run. he said nothing beats being an alderman in terms of hands on work, but he is quoting as saying congress lets you shape the national discourse. next up, bridget gainer. slee has been the cook county commissioner for the past five years and there's talk she'll become chicago's first female mayor since jane burn. his name was even floated for the position back in 2011. the chicago native began her career as a community organizer in new york city, and has 20 years experience in the

nonprofit public and private sectors. she also has tied to washington. she's the cousin of the retiring sergeant in arms terry gaynor. our last democrat on the list, will gusardy. the 26-year-old former journalist won to beat illinois's 29th house district. he's expected to win the seat. in 2012, he lost to barrios for the same seat by fewer than 20 votes. this time around, he received big endorsements from several unions. now, let's go to our republican side of the aisle. first up, what's the card say. there he is, aaron lawler. the 32-year-old is the lake county board chairman. the board voted unanimously in 2012 to bring in the newcomer. he was an aide to senator mark kirk when kirk was still in congress. his focus is fiscal conservatism and he represents the type of younger republican the gop is

desperately seeking. focus on fiscal issue. next up, illinois state representative darlene singer. she hopes she is on her way to d.c. to represent illinois's 11th district. she clinched the gop nomination tuesday with 37% of the vote in what was a very crowded primary. she'll take on sort of second-time freshman democratic congressman bill foster. he was in, he was out in the fall. last but not least on our list is a newcomer of sorts, doug truex. a health care executive, lost the republican nomination of the senate seat in this week's primary against state senator jimober vice. but he lost to a better known and better funded rival by just 12 percentage points wrrnl that's got national republicans taking notice and a lot of people think he's still part of their future. chris jansing is coming up with the latest on the search for the plane and a debate about hillary clinton, the old will she or won't she? if you look at what's going on in front of you, she's acting

like a candidate. es beeping ] ♪ [ cellphone rings ] hello? [ male announcer ] over 12,000 financial advisors. good, good. good. over $700 billion dollars in assets under care. let me just put this away. [ male announcer ] how did edward jones get so big? could you teach our kids that trick? [ male announcer ] by not acting that way. ok, last quarter... [ male announcer ] it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪ makes sense of investing. my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves.

don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer, take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners... ...or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctors about all medicines you take. pradaxa side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem... ...ask your doctor about reducing the risk of stroke with pradaxa. don't worry! the united states postal service will get it there on time with priority mail flat rate shipping. ♪ whoo-hoo! ♪

[ male announcer ] our priority has always been saving the day. because our priority... amazing! [ male announcer ] ...is you! the amazing spider-man 2 delivered by the united states postal service. the ama♪ing spider-man 2 ♪ ♪ told ya you could do it. (dad vo) i want her to be safe. so, i taught her what i could and got her a subaru. (girl) piece of cake. ♪ (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. america's favorite lasagna. topped with a mouth-watering blend of fresh cheese and aged parmesan. it makes our lasagna a delicious centerpiece for this table this table and your table. stouffer's. america's favorite lasagna.

what does vladimir putin have planned next? russia and the u.s. trade sanctions over crimea. is this the end of it or just the start? part of the president's domestic plan, get back to talking about the economy and helping women. >> i want to make sure my daughters are getting the same chances as men. >> and when it comes to women, there may be no one more closely watched right now than hillary clinton. the debate over the wait. if she bows out, has the will she or won't she delay hurt democrats who do want to get into the race? good morning, i'm chris jansing. more countries now joining the international hunt for missing malaysia airlines flight 370. after a second day failed produce any sign of two pieces of debris identified by satellite, it's just after 10:00 p.m. there and the search will resume on the morning. on the way to