>> i think so. and what i learned today is chris christie -- >> i'm doing an all-you-can-eat buffet. >> -- still in good form. if it's way too early, it's "morning joe." stick around. it's exciting. >> right here, kristen welker. >> have a great weekend! and as always, thank you. for your patience. >> thanks, guys, great to have you in washington. trenton makes the world takes. breaking news this hour on the heels of his team of lawyers saying he's in the clear, governor christie plans to make the case himself at a press conference just hours from now. on the other end of the country, recovery efforts continue and the death toll is expected to rise even more from the tragic mudslide that wiped out a rural area outside of seattle. and across the pacific, the search area for missing malaysian airlines flight 370 shifts as even more new debris is spotted and the weather finally makes a turn to help the search. and a very good morning to

you from washington. it is friday, march 28th, 2014. and this is "the daily rundown." i'm kristen welker in for chuck todd, who is continuing to travel with the president. we start with the grueling search for the missing in the wake of that devastating mudslide in washington state, and worries the death toll will rise dramatically over the next few hours. the search is slow-going, because crews are still in rescue mode as they sift through the mile-wide mudslide that wiped out an entire neighborhood saturday in oso north of seattle. for the first time, search teams allowed a photographer to get these pictures of the rescue effort. at least 26 people were killed, but crews have only been able to recover 17 bodies so far. as many as 90 others could be missing. now, late last night, the fire chief said he is not giving up. >> we're still in a rescue mode here. as far as i'm concerned, we're still in a rescue mode. i haven't lost hope yet, and there's a lot of people up there that haven't lost hope yet. and so, we're not going to run big, huge, heavy equipment over

areas where we may collapse something where we could have a survivor. >> the sheer amount of mud in the search area is just overwhelming. it's enough to fill the empire state building 11 times over. and the weight of the mud is equal to 50 empire state buildings. moving all of that mud is an enormous undertaking. the search organizers will give another update to reporters about three hours from now. nbc's jennifer bourqueland joins us live near the search area in arlington. what is the latest there? >> reporter: the latest here, kristen, is exactly what you've said -- a very tedious search. it is almost cubic foot by cubic foot that they have to go through and do what they're calling forensic digging, where they are in -- they'll dig a little bit, make sure there's nothing that will collapse, and then they sift through it almost like an archaeological site, to see what clues there might be to who might have been there, and if there might be victims nearby.

the reason, the death toll has not risen, although they have been pulling bodies out of the rubble, is they have not been able to get those bodies back to the medical examiner's office and become a part of the official record. so late last night, we did get the official word, one more body was made officially confirmed as among the dead, so that brings that up to 17. but the fire chief did tell us last night he did expect that death toll to rise significantly, in the press briefing that's going to happen about three hours from now, we're expecting them to do their morning briefing and give us an update. because the medical examiners and the state mortuary team that's come in to assist has been working around the clock on this, trying to be respectful, but also get the paperwork done and get the families notified, get those bodies identified, and also continue to search for any glimmer of hope of any survivors. kristen? >> all right, jennifer, thank you so much for your reporting this morning. we really appreciate it.

and i am joined now by congresswoman susan delbenny who represents the people living in the mudslide areas. thank you for joining me. our thoughts going out to your community, our condolences. i know you've been speaking to the victims' families. how are they holding up through this incredibly difficult time? >> you know, it is -- it's been -- it has been incredibly difficult time. this is an incredible community, though. people have come together. everyone is volunteering in any way they can. every time folks have asked for volunteers, there's been huge lines. people stepping up, making food, helping support the first responders. there's been an incredible offer. i was up in darrington and arlington yesterday, and folks are still committed and are totally focused on doing everything they can to help their neighbors, to help the families, and to help in the search efforts. >> and, congresswoman, we heard

the fire chief say that there is still some hope that they might find survivors. is there really hope at this point that there still might be some survivors out there? or is this turning into more of a recovery mission? >> the scale of this disaster is something, i think, people don't really comprehend. it is massive. there is so much area to be covered, and it is a very, very dangerous area right now. i was up at the site yesterday, and you've got rubble, mud, water. it's very, very difficult situation. so there are areas that people are still trying to get to as part of the search and rescue effort. everyone is doing everything they can and very, very committed to continue to -- to look for anyone who might be out there. but it is a vast area that needs to be covered. >> and do the people who live

there right now, do they understand sort of the depths of the dangers? and i know a report went out 15 years ago saying that a mudslide like this could take place. should these houses have been allowed to be built in the first place, do you think, congresswoman? >> i think there's going to be definitely an effort after we get through this to look at information and for people to understand what caused this, what can be done in the future. but right now, we're 100% focused on working with the families, doing everything we can in the search and rescue efforts. that's where everyone's focused right now. that's where our communities are focused. and that's where all of our attention is. but there'll be a time, as well, to look at information and to understand what happened so we can learn going forward. >> okay, congresswoman delbene, we appreciate it, and our thoughts are with your community during this difficult time. >> thank you.

new jersey governor chris christie will make his case at a press conference later this afternoon, a day after lawyers hired by his office cleared him of wrongdoing in the george washington bridge lane closure scandal. after a 10-week review, a team of lawyers from the firm gibson, dunn issued a 360-page report which they say exonerates the governor. >> governor christie had no involvement in the decision to close these lanes and no prior knowledge of it. not a shred of evidence of it. so, yes, our findings today are a vindication of governor christie and what he said all along. >> last night, in an interview with abc news, christie said the report exonerates him, and that he did nothing to inspire the lane closures. take a listen. >> this report says that i had no knowledge of it before it happened. nor did i authorize it. or have anything to do with it. and that's the truth.

sometimes people do inexplicably stupid things. >> the report blames former port authority official david wildstein, saying the plan to target the democratic mayor of ft. lee was, quote, wildstein's idea, like so many other crazy ones he'd had before that, never got off the ground. >> he seemed to have all sorts of bizarre personal and political animus towards a variety of people. >> the lawyers hired by christie's office implicate his former deputy chief of staff, bridget kelly, even implying a personal relationship between kelly and christie's former top advisor, bill steppian, may have colored kelly's judgment. quote, at some point after steppian's departure to run the campaign, kelly and steppian became personally involved, although by early august 2013, their personal relationship had cooled, apparently at steppian's choice, and they largely stopped speaking.

in a statement an attorney for bill steppian says the report bolsters his claims that he had no involvement in the bridge scandal, saying, quote, there is no support for the notion implied by his summary banishment that mr. steppian was blameworthy this this incident. steppian's lawyer calls the gratuitous reference to his dating relationship to bridget kelly, a quote, unfortunate distraction. according to the report, wildstein says he told christie about it september 11th last year while the two were at a commemoration ceremony. last night, christie responded to those claims. >> i don't have any recollection of him saying anything. but i'll tell you this, i'll tell you what he didn't say, he didn't say, hey, by the way, governor, i'm closing down some lanes on the george washington bridge to stick it to the mayor, is that okay? that i'd remember. >> christie says he has not ruled out running for president telling abc news last night, i think they love me in iowa. but some critics are questioning

the timing of the release ahead of a 2016 cattle call in las vegas, and critics charge the christie report is incomplete, though christie's lawyers say they interviewed him, the report does not include transcripts or details on precisely what he was asked or what he said. hoboken mayor dawn zimmer fired off a statement saying randy mastro could have written his report the day he was hired and save the taxpayers the $1 million in fees he billed in generating this one-sided whitewash of serious misconduct by the christie administration. some strong words there. nbc national investigative correspondent michael isikoff is here with me, and nbc's ron allen is live in trenton, ahead of the news conference. ron, i want to start with you. what are we expecting to hear from the governor later today? >> well, i think you've heard it all in the interview with abc and from his lawyers. i'm sure he's going to stick very close to those talking points essentially. this is a -- clearly a mobilized, thought-through defense taking place here on the

part of the governor. there's a 2:30 press conference here. the last time we had a big press conference, it lasted two hours. he answered all the questions. he didn't go off-script, and this report that's been released by lawyers allied with him, he's going to stick to that very closely. it said that he is blameless. but the report raises so many unanswered questions. it never explains exactly why this whole episode happened. and as you pointed out, christie participated in the investigation, discussion with these lawyers, but what he said, what he was asked has not been revealed. i think the bottom line is that there are many other investigations going on in the u.s. attorney's office, in the state legislature here, at the port authority itself, and those will be seen as more credible by christie's critics. of course, he is speaking beyond this. he's speaking to the nation to some extent, because he still has apparently presidential aspirations. he's talking to his allies, his supporters, potential fund-raisers, potential donors

who he's been talking to to try to raise money. so again, there's -- i don't think there'll be anything very surprising this afternoon. christie is very comfortable in this sort of format. he's kind of that every-man guy. he gave diane the colorful quotes last night about how this was incredibly stupid. there'll probably be more of that. again, the bottom line is, i'm not sure how much further we get with that investigation, because there's so many unanswered questions. >> and i want to pick up on that point that ron raises, these unanswered questions, michael. the report doesn't identify a motive here, and it also says that wildstein actually told christie about the bridge closures while they were going on, something christie had adamantly said he didn't know about. how critical are those two pieces in this report? >> that is very much the ball game at this point. the report is incomplete at this point, because we don't have david wildstein's account of what appears to be the critical conversation on september 11th

when he's with governor christie, and according to two aides to the governor, in the report, wildstein told him something. >> right. >> about a traffic study, a traffic issue, exactly what he told him we don't know. we know the governor doesn't remember the conversation. but we clearly have to hear david wildstein's account before anybody can close the book on this matter. >> what stood out to you? because i know that you found some of this report actually enlightening. a lot of people have dismissed it. you did find some important -- >> look, there's a lot of granular detail in there. there's e-mails we hadn't seen before. it's very damning towards bridget kelly. it discloses at one point she asked an aide to actually delete an incriminating e-mail when there was an internal investigation going on. but at the end of the day, it is the governor's report, it's the governor's defense. you know, two things that they left out, to me, one is we don't have a transcript or notes or an account of exactly what governor christie said and what he was asked. but more significantly, just to

give you a sense of how sort of one-sided this report was, it notes that kelly, wildstein, spepian, didn't cooperate, invoked the fifth amendment rights, and said adverse inferences can be drawn from that. when it comes david sampson, the governor's guy, the guy he appointed to chair the port authority and was, you know, overseeing all of this, he also didn't cooperate. he also didn't tell his story to the governor's investigators, because he's under investigation. it makes no reference to adverse inferences being drawn from that, so one question that, you know, i think people might want to ask governor christie today is, what does he think of the fact that his own guy, david sampson, didn't cooperate in his own investigation? does that disturb him? does it bother him that the chairman of the port authority wouldn't cooperate in this probe? >> let's talk about the timing of this. we know that governor christie, other republicans heading to las

vegas for this event, sheldon adelson will be there watching the potential candidates very closely. >> yes, exactly. >> the adelson primary. is this part of christie's attempt to turn the corner so he can potentially run in 2016? >> absolutely. adelson is the biggest money man in american politics. he pumped $92 million into the 2012 election. who he backs in the republican primary is going to carry a lot of weight. christie needed a credible narrative of these events in order to take any presidential hopes forward. i think he got a narrative. how credible it is, we're going to have to wait and see until we hear all of the other pieces. >> i know we'll be watching this press conference very closely. michael isikoff, thank you so much for all of your reporting on this. ron allen, thanks to you. coming up next, developing news on the search for flight 370. new data has significantly shifted the search area, and just this morning a plane spotted wreckage in that new

area. we'll get the very latest next. and here's a look at today's politics planner. very busy day overseas, and we'll also see governor christie at 2:30, of course, right here on msnbc. we'll get a preview of the president's meeting with king abdullah from chuck in just a few minutes. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you're watching one of the biggest financial services companies in the country at work. hey. thanks for coming over. hey. [ male announcer ] how did it come to be? yours? ah. not anymore. it's a very short story. come on in. [ male announcer ] by meeting you more than halfway. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen

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the search for flight 370 shifted overnight after crews spotted new debris floating in a different part of the southern indian ocean. australian search crews used new radar data to shift the search area about 683 miles northeast of the area they've been covering for the past few days. now, after teams moved the search area, an australian

flight crew reported spotting debris. still, none of the ships in the area have actually collected anything. nbc's ian williams brings us up to speed on the aerial search based in perth, australia. mean, what's the latest, and will the weather conditions allow them to resume searching? >> reporter: hi, kristen. i want to bring you up to date. a short while ago, the australian search authorities released some new information, and they say that no less than five aircraft today spotted what they call multiple objects out there in the new search area. they took photographs and those photographs are being examined overnight. interestingly, they say a new zealand aircraft spotted a number of objects, which they describe as being white or light in color. now, significantly, that was re-located by an australian aircraft. that's not happened before. it's been difficult for

secondary confirmation of these things. the australian aircraft saw what it called blue-gray rectangular objects. the authorities whoer are being cautious and they say they can't confirm anything, and certainly not whether these are related to flight 370 until those objects have been collected by ship, and they've tasked a chinese ship, which is the first into the search area, to go and try and pick them up saturday. now, the weather was good out there today. the area where this search has shifted to generally has a better weather pattern, and it's not so far from mainland australia. so the aircraft can spend more time over there. but these certainly seem to be a pretty important -- a pretty important lead, kristen. >> thank you for those breaking developments, ian. certainly important. we appreciate it. we appreciate your continued reporting on this story. time now for the first number in today's "data bank." 6 million.

on thursday, the white house announced that over 6 million people had signed up for health insurance using the federal and state exchanges. exceeding the administration's revised target with just three days left until the march 31st open-enrollment deadline. the number of people seeking insurance has surged in recent days with more than 1.5 million visits to healthcare.gov on wednesday alone. and coming up, democratic senator heidi highcamp on challenges in her country. who was governor the last time north dakota's legislature considered a proposal to change the state's name? the first person to tweet the correct answer to @dailyrundown will get an on-air shoutout. the answer and much more coming up on "the daily rundown." stay with us. if i can impart one lesson to a

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could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.s everybody knows that. well, did you know bad news doesn't always travel fast?

(clears throat) hi mister tompkins. todd? you're fired. well, gotta run. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. and we have some more

breaking news to tell you about this morning. congressman mike rogers, chairman of the house intelligence committee, just announced that he's not seeking re-election in november. the seven-term michigan republican and former fbi agent is a prominent voice on national security issues. rogers told a detroit radio station that he plans to host a radio show of his own. his decision brings the number of retirements this term to 22. ten democrats and 12 republicans. president obama wrapped up the european leg of his trip this morning by calling on russian president vladimir putin to pull back troops on the border of ukraine and begin direct negotiations with the ukrainian government. in an interview with cbs' scott pelley, taped shortly before he left rome, the president assured putin again the u.s. has no intention of putting troops on the ground in ukraine and said putin's aggressive moves are an expression of deep-seeded resentment about the fall of the soviet union. >> he may be entirely misreading the west. he's certainly misreading

american foreign policy. we have no interest in encircling russia. we have no interest in ukraine beyond letting the ukrainian people make their own decisions about their own lives. >> chuck todd is traveling with the president and filed this report before he left rome. >> reporter: this is the last stop of the president's trip. this was tacked on. we knew the first part had been well planned in advance. saudi arabia was tacked on in the end. it's being done for diplomatic reasons. the personal relationship between the president and the king is not great. the king feels as if the president doesn't pay him enough deference on you name the issue, but particularly the issues of concern to saudi arabia, whether it's the middle east peace process. but, of course, the big one is syria, never mind the iran nuclear negotiations. this will be a tough meeting for the president. the two aren't very friendly. they don't necessarily see eye to eye. of course, one of the sidebar issues of this visit is this

issue where saudi arabia denied a visa for one of our colleagues, and i know i keep harping on this and bringing it up, but it truly is outrageous. the white house reporter for "the jerusalem post" not being given a visa in time. it seems to be done with political reason. it's making the issues between united states and saudi arabia not as tight as they once were, and actions like this with saudi arabia will make it harder for them in the future to have the same political impact and savvy and connection they had inside the united states that they once had. it's going to make it harder for them to get it again if they keep playing games like this. so it will be interesting to see if the president himself brings this up with the king. something to watch for on this last stop, as you saw yesterday, the president was pretty tired. he'll be more well rested for the next stop. so we'll see in saudi arabia. >> all right, chuck, thanks. time now for our next "data bank" number.

100,000. that's how many russian troops are in position on the ukrainian border according to a top ukrainian defense official. the figure is much higher than u.s. and western officials estimates of 20,000 to 50,000 troops. a senior u.s. official said the report of 100,000 troops on the border was, quote, way too high. shifting gears by the way, the first round of the tdr march madness is almost over. voting is under way now for the modern era bracket. colin powell, john mccain, hillary clinton, who's your pick for history's top white house contender or pretender who never made it to 1600 pennsylvania avenue? go to rundown.msnbc.com to cast your votes, and we'll unveil all of the winners from the round of 64 next week. and voting for the round. we asked people a question, how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old.

i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪

today, tdr 50 is looking more closely at issues surrounding native americans, a

sometimes forgotten slice of american society. while the dakotas don't have the largest native american population in the country, it's becoming a mie ining a mike row microcosm. several native american tribes lived beside each other. but as they my gralted west in the 1980s, the u.s. government pushed native americans out, either by force or placing them on reservations. today, more than 42,000 native americans still live in north dakota. more than ten tribes are represented, including the sioux, the cree and chippewa. the legacy of tribal members across the country shows they're facing more than their share of troubling issues. according to census data in recent years, more than four in ten native americans in north dakota lived below the poverty

line. the graduation rate is just shy of 50%, far below the national average. at the same time, crime levels have spiked among native americans nationwide. nearly a third will be subjected to domestic violence in their lifetime. one in three native american women will be raped. and the incidents of violent crime among native americans is twice the national average. now, last year the administration convened the first meeting of a group focused on reducing violence against children in tribal nations, part of president obama's ongoing promise to address issues of native americans. >> standing up for tribal sovereignty, increasing economic opportunity, protecting native homelands. this is the foundation we can build on. this is the progress we can make together. >> and my colleague luke russert spoke to north dakota democratic senator heidi heitkamp, member of the committee on indian affairs, and asked her about the biggest issues facing the native

american population in her state. >> i think it's economic development and unemployment, both are factors which lead to extreme poverty, which leads to a lot of other issues. there also is a -- is a unique situation in terms of jurisdictional challenges that make it difficult many times to receive capital, to kind of convince folks to make investments on the reservation. honestly, the other thing i see is that we sign treaty rights with the tribes and ant vuls been forthcoming with our obligation under those treaties. so these are problems that won't be fixed in a generation, but if we don't tackle them today, they certainly won't be fixed in two generations. >> you bring up the jurisdictional issue, which is one i find fascinating. do you think this extreme poverty and the lack of economic development, does that come from the autonomy that's been given the native americans? or does it come from the government being apathetic to their concerns and the problems

they face? >> i think it comes from years of systematically having a policy in america where we are into disestablishment of the reservations, and then re-establish the reservations, and as a result self-governance becomes an incredible challenge, and individuals kind of don't know their place. and one of the measures we think is absolutely significant to building back the culture and building back the opportunity is the native american language bill, which is critical to many of the tribes to preserve their language, because that's the beginning of preserving their culture. and so, we're going to work really hard on all of these things. but the thing that i look at the most is how do we create a condition that is human for people to live? we've got housing on reservations where black mold is all the way up the wall. no house in north dakota except on the reservation, you wouldn't be allowed to live there. but on the reservation, you are. so the reason why -- it's not that people are cruel, it's just

there's no other housing. we have to fix the education. we have to fix the housing. we have to make sure we've got the right kind of public safety. but at the same time, we've got to encourage the entrepreneurship that i know that's there. we've got to provide the support for economic development and for employment, which i think in the long run is the solution. >> one interesting thing that's happened in your state is there's been a tremendous economic boom due to the natural gas and oil that's been found. some of that has been located on native american lands. are you confident that situations that have arisen from the native americans feeling there could be encroachment on their lands due to that energy boom, can those be figured out? could you see a day where some of the impoverished native american tribes actually profit heavily from the energy found on their lands? >> i think you're already seeing that at the (unintelligible), which really is in the bowl of the bakken. it's some of the richest places

to extract the oil. and so, they're trying to balance the impact on society like we are all over north dakota. trying to imbalance the impact on the environment, balance the impact on society. and then invest the resources that both the tribe and the individual members are receiving to help continue to grow economic development. and so, it's not our only tribe in north dakota. we've got the turtle mountain chippewa just to the east of the bakken. they're hoping that they won't have to travel so far, that they can look at spinoff industries. so i see what's happening in the oil patch as a real opportunity for employment throughout north dakota. you're seeing it in the eastern side where we're doing oil field service work, building tanks that we couldn't find employment to do in the west. and so, i think there's some real opportunity. we just need to figure out how we're going to get investment there so that they can develop those opportunities and meet the challenges of the people that they serve.

>> all right. and here's the next number in today's "data bank." 2,500. that's the number of pages of new clinton white house documents set to be released today by the national archives. today's document dump is expected to include papers from former clinton speech writer michael waldman and records from president clinton's farewell address to the nation. about 8,000 pages of documents have been released so far. and our dakota rising stars are coming up later this hour. names and faces you'll need to know in coming years. but first, the tdr 50 soup of the day. they're serving up broccoli-cheese soup at the smiling moose deli in rapid city, south dakota. sure does sound good! and we'll be right back after a quick break, everyone. when you have diabetes like i do,

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just three blocks from the white house. the country's capital city could vote out a one-term mayor for the second election in a row. three years ago, current mayor vincent gray ousted adrien fente from office, winning large majorities in african-american neighborhoods east of the anacostia river. now, he is mired in a campaign. bowser has widened the field into a two-person race. bowser has the support of 28% of likely democratic voters to gray's 26%. no other candidate gets more than 11% of the vote. bowser, who was hand-picked by fente to fill his d.c. city council seat, says that after seven years in d.c. government, she is ready to run. just months ago, gray looked like a shoe-in for a second term, and then a local businessman pleaded guilty to raising more than $2 million in

illegal donations for federal and local campaigns, including the mayor who hasn't been charged with anything and denies prosecutor's claims that he knew about the scheme. but in our poll, just 16% of democrats say they believe gray did nothing wrong. 30% believe he did something ill league. another 36% believe his behavior was unethical. now, for some d.c. residents, the case is a reminder that despite the city's economic boom, it's still saddled with the reputation for inefficiency and corruption. in the last three years, three d.c. city council members have pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges. for some, it's a reminder of the marion barry era. barry, nicknamed d.c.'s mayor for life, served four terms. he was re-elected in 1994 after a six-month stay in federal prison for smoking crack cocaine. this week, in the campaign's final televised debate, gray again denied the latest allegations. >> i did nothing.

i've said over and over again that i did nothing. there was no wrongdoing involved in this on my part. and all i can do is repeat what i've said before. >> people know all of the allegations. they know that there may be an indictment. they know that the mayor deserves the presumption of innocence, and still they say they don't trust this mayor. what residents of the district of columbia said is they want a fresh start. >> joining me now, two veteran d.c. watchers, wrc news4 political reporter tom sherwood and colby king, a pulitzer prize winning columnist for the "washington post." thank you for being here. i'm excited about this caution. tom, let me start with you. we've seen bowser move ahead in the final days, but it's still very close. is this all about the corruption allegations against mayor gray at this point, or is it because bowser's run a pretty good campaign? >> well, the corruption allegations around the mayor are like a wet blanket over the city. the city is doing fantastically

on many level the -- economically, crime. all the good things an incumbent would have to run to cruise to re-election. but the scandal from 2010 is holding over the mayor's head. bowser was way behind in january in the "washington post" poll. she has zoomed ahead as jeffrey thompson businessman has pleaded guilty to the shadow campaign that helped in 2010. it's not so much that gray says he's innocent, he did nothing wrong. he won't tell us what he did do during 2010. and it's dragging him down. he's static in the polls, and she's moving up. >> colby, talk about the legacy of dysfunction and corruption in washington, d.c. certainly not the only city that has been plagued by corruption. we have obviously seen that just this week. but still, this is something that voters care about. to what extent could this election be about turning a page on the history of corruption? >> well, i don't think it will turn the page completely and just forget about the whole thing.

this is a problem that is endemic to government, local governments. you can go around the country, and you will find examples of corruption. >> mm-hmm. >> you do have the mood among the voters that they're sick of it, they're tired of it, and it's reflected in the polls and why the mayor is stuck where he is. the polls suggest people are satisfied with the direction of the city. satisfied with the direction of the government. as tom said, there's been improvements. you can't call the government inefficient anymore. on the other hand, the drip, drip, drip of resignations, resignations, resignations because of corruption and convictions is what's hurting the city right now. >> there's been an effort of reform ever since tony williams became mayor. the city was nearly bankrupt in the '90s. tony williams came in, changed a lot of things around. adrien fente came in, changed a lot of things around, including schools. and mayor gray, a lot of the people thought he would not do it. he has done that, too. but he's got this scandal hanging over his head. >> to what extent, tom, is it significant that washington, d.c., could have a mayor again

for the first time in years, something that we saw in new york, obviously a female candidate got very close. but she seems to have a real shot at this. >> she does, because again, she's moving up in the polls, and they're quite confident in her campaign, she'll win on tuesday. we haven't had a female mayor since the early '90s, sharon pratt dixon was elected back then. wasn't a particularly good mayor, in fact left the city in bad financial shape. bowser hasn't proved herself beyond being a decent council member. constituent service, ethics reform stuff. there's a real question about whether or not she will be a good hands-on mayor/manager like adrien fente was, or does she have enough experience? we don't know until she gets in the office, if she does. >> colby, part of the discussion in this election, and again i use new york because they obviously just had a mayor's race recently, is this idea that there are two washington, d.c.s,

one that is moving forward economically and then one that's getting left behind. is that something, in a message, a populous message, bowser has harnessed to try to move forward? or is she seen as someone -- >> no, this is another de blasio. she's not running that kind of a campaign. she, along with all of the others, talk about creating one city, as the mayor does, too. there's recognition that there's an area of the city, large area of the city, that's economically lagging behind the more prominent side. but this is not an issue that is prominent in the race in terms of, like, class warfare in the city. that's not what we have here in the district of columbia. not this time. >> why is there -- may i ask a question? why is there so much racial disparity? fente, gray, 2010, and black-white vote. why are we headed toward that? >> i'm not sure that's exactly the case. you see in bowser's case, she runs very well with white voters. as a matter of fact -- >> her ward represents white and black. >> yes. but she's running well in the

other minority white wards, as well. >> and wire running out of time, gentlemen, but very quickly your prediction for tuesday? >> i would make a prediction of what the voters will do, but i do think we're ready for major changes, and mainly because mayor vincent gray has not spoken out about what he knew about his 2010 campaign. >> first time we've had an election that's key. >> thank you so much for being here. we really appreciate it. >> all right. we should note that chuck's wife is advising the bowser campaign. trivia time now, george sinner was governor in 1989 when the

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time now for our tdr 50, dakota rising stars. we will start with the democrats. first up is north dakota state senator mark snyder, who you see here. first elected in 2009, snyder has quickly risen through the ranks and served as state senator. politics runs in the family. his father is the chairman of the democratic party and his. jasper is the usda's rural development director for north dakota, a position president obama appointed him to in 2009. he was a candidate for statewide office when he ran

unsuccessfully for state insurance commissioner in 2008. before that he represented the house of representatives. he comes from a family with high name recognition and could likely be a candidate for statewide office again in the coming years. and now, we head to south dakota for our third democrat. the 29-year-old is currently in her third term, representing sioux falls. she's the state's minority whip and first lgbt person ever elected in the state. last year she was recognized by the white house as a champion of change and invited to d.c. to share her ideas on winning the future. our final democrat is south dakota state senator, here he is, billy sutton. sutton was a rising rodeo star before an accident before a competition practice left him paralyzed from the waist down. since then he is the senate's

assistant minority leader. now we want to move to the republicans. and brian kalk, the first up here, announced this week he will seek the republican party endorsement to run for his second six-year determine. kalk regulates everything from coal mining, gas lining, telecommunications in the state. and next up is drew riggly, north dakota lieutenant governor. in 2001, president bush nominated him to be u.s. attorney and once confirmed, he gained recognition during a high profile kidnapping and murder case. many of the experts believe riggly has his eye on the governor's mansion. our third republican, the sioux falls law maker has one huge advantage, his name, he's the son and grandson of former south dakota governors and is widely considered a potential

gubernatorial himself. and our last rising star is cory brown, he is state senator, of course. and with that, we are out of time. thanks so much for joining us everyone. have a great friday. chris jansing is next. at afraud could meanuld blower credit scores. and higher mortgage rates. it's a problem waiting to happen. check your credit score, check your credit report at experian.com.

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new focus, the search area shifts for malaysian airlines flight 370, and this morning, a chance they've spotted debris. 6 million and counting, obamacare hits a milestone, though republicans say it's no reason to celebrate. and the tenth richest man in the world is going to put all his money behind one republican candidate in 2016, so this weekend, chris christie, jeb bush, scott walker, and john kasich are going all-in, vegas style, trying to win the shelden adelson primary. this morning, more movement in what's being seen as a well orchestrated