♪ >> hey, everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. it is wednesday, april 23rd. welcome to "way too early," a show not intimidated to ivy in the outfield. mike barnicle is with us, making us look at what it like to be here in 1914. he's not wandering through the field confused at all. >> we begin overseas where the united states and ukraine are sending very strong signals to russia about the regional price there is. the u.s. is deploying hundreds troops. more than 400 troops will be deployed to estonia, latvia and

lithuania. and two men, including a local politician, were reportedly found tortured to death in the eastern part of the country. vice president biden is back in the u.s. this morning and he said the u.s. will give ukraine $50 million in support. and said now moscow is fueling the unrest in ukraine. >> we call on russia stop hiding men and sewing unrest in ukraine. we have been clear more provocative behavior by russia will lead to more costs and to greater isolation. >> nbc news has confirmed an american has been detained in ukraine.

we'll keep you posted on that. >> back here at home the u.s. sport is come offinging off a v day. the supreme court upholds the michigan law to ban racial preferences in university admissions. >> justice kennedy said though the issue may be emotional, it should not be beyond the reach of voters. >> it is a victory for the citizens of michigan who overwhelmingly voted in 2006 to require equal treatment to our outstanding universities. >> but justice sotomayor said it

does guarantee them meanleful and equal access to that process. maris jones says the decision is a setback. >> it complicates things more than they are already. it's creating a new era of racism, a new crippjim crowe. >> and areo's says, the justices are skeptical of the business. >> there is a new measure to the impact of inequality in america.

middle class families in the u.s. are no longer the richest in the world. according to the analysis, incomes are growing faster in other countries than here at home. median income rose by 20% in canada and britain oaf the last ten years but was unchanged in the u.s. the "new york times" said it's a result of international workers developing their skills faster and a lower minimum wage in the united states. >> and kentucky, north carolina, louisiana and arkansas are states where president obama lost in 2012. today the president's disapproval numbers in those states tops out at 60%. while that's often a predictor, the candidates seem to be bucking the trend. congressman pryor holds a lead

over cotton, and senator mary landrieu has an early lead and is still evolving her lead. now, republicans will likely need to beat at least two of those democratic incumbents to win control of the senate. >> senator rand paul was in chicago yesterday for an event focusing on education. the potential presidential candidate suggested the lack of long-term experience in washington can be a good thing for a candidate seeking higher office. bob dole was asked if any gop contenders to mount a challenge against hillary clinton. dole said, quote, a number of the younger members, first termers all running for president, now i don't think they've got enough experience yesterday. senator rand paul said i think in some ways when you have people who are career

politicians, they've been beaten down by the system, may you can have too much experience in this sense that i think over long periods of time lose their zeal for change in washington. senator rand said he never attacked president obama before running and successfully obtaining the white house. >> president obama will embark on a four-leg asian tour as they look to highlight what's been dofd the u.s. pivot the region. the president met with families of victims and first responders of the deadly landslide in washington. >> the index rose 7 points yesterday for its longest winning streak since september.

steve sedgwick is live for us in london for what could be another banner day. >> it could be a banner day for the tech sector. today facebook, today apple, we've got dow chemical and procter & gamble as well but it's the former two that i think will capture most of the interest. the market rallying six days in a row on the back of pretty decent earnings. not good news for jetblue yesterday. airline pilots, majority of them, 71% voted to join the airline pilots association union. the company already warned earlier in the year that could put benefits and pay up. that is a concern for jetblue at a time of increasing competition. back to you. >> appreciate it. still ahead on "way too early from wrigley field," understanding the significance of the 100th anniversary. we'll talk to mike barnicle

about what this field means to baseball and chicago. this field is fantastic. >> and the ruling on the pirates/brewers ball. we'll talk about that when we come back on a special edition of "way too early" from wrigley field! all stations come over to mission a for a final go.

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they're why we make life less complicated. it's about people. we are volvo of sweden. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. and now we take you to beautiful wrigley field. >> the boys that were there would give me the own ya, own

ya. and then it was another pitched strike. i stepped out of the box and by that time they were over there going crazy. i look down to center field and i pointed. i said i'm going to hit the next pitched ball right past the flagpole. well, the good lord must have been with me. everybody, welcome back to "way too early" and a special celebration of wrigley field turning 100 years old. it really is fantastic and we have our resident baseball historian here about the significance of wrigley field turning 100 years old. this is a fantastic field, we have to be sure not to call it a stadium. >> it's a ballpark. there's big difference between a

ballpark and a stadium. this is a great ballpark. there's so much here, from tinker, to evans to chance. 105 years since they won a world series here. last time they were in the world series, 1945. they have so many great players, ferguson, maddux, andre dawson, sammy sosa played here. just a terrific place to watch a game here. the confines are so close. >> ernie confines, he coined "friendly confines" here. is there a curse? you bring up the issue of winning a world series so -- >> supposedly there was a guy by the name of billy, who owned billy goat tavern and he tried to bring his goat here and was thrown out. and supposedly he left and said

"the cubs will never win." is there a curse? not really. there was no pitching. they need better players, more pitching. theo epstein, my guy from boston, jed hoya from the red sox, they're rebuilding the club. >> that means investing in the farm league and building up through the bench, right? >> they had no farm system when t the rickets bought the team. >> mike barnicle, good to have you here early. >> let's play, too, man. >> i asked him to run the bases with me. he said no. last night was a fantastic game. bottom five, chicago up by 2 when they blast one deep to right field.

and the cubbies never give up the lead. i left and i heard the roar of the crowd. i was leaving to take my nap -- >> you have o get up at 2:00al. >> i think my leaving was good luck. >> there she goes. welcome to the 500 home run club albert pujols. >> he becomes the 26th major league ball player to hit 500 home runs. >> the first inning, here's ellsbury with a fifth two-run double. yanks go on to take the series

9-2. sorry. >> the bruins won, though. >> okay. you got that going for you. >> major league baseball suspending four players after the brawl between the brewers and pirates. carlos gomez is out for three games. the bulls are looking to even their first round series to the wizard. chicago with a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter but washington didn't quit. they force it into overtime with a crazy play. that eventually end up in the hands -- the dunk. he misses the free throw. now it too cold to talk this morning. >> the blackhawks are in the playoffs and they're pretty good. >> all even between the raptors

and the nets. they go friday into brooklyn. we'll see what they do with the nets. toronto mayor rob ford was spotted rooting on the hometown raptors. the announcer was not impressed with his seats, twitter wasn't impressed with his jacket. it was a little form fitting. >> oh, yeah. looks like me! >> it's a little snuggy. let's get a check on your weather. bill karins back in new york. bill, i went with the gloves. broke them out. >> one of the coldest spots in the country is right where you're standing this morning, thomas. i'm sorry i can't be out there with you. are you doing the hand warmers? >> no, i just went with the gloves. i was too lazy to hit the hand warmers together. but i can do that on the commercial break. >> it is chilly in chicago for the crew there. it's 36 with a wind chill of 31.

that's coat and jacket and glove weather for you. it by far the coldest spot in the entire country. so luck would have it that "morning joe" would be there that morning. >> last night we saw the rain push off the northeast coast. it all dried off for the most part. there will be showers in northern new england this morning. we have a rain storm and severe weather heading into the central plains. if you're in oklahoma, kansas, you have to keep an eye to the sky. there will be isolated strong storms and isolated tornadoes with us today, reaching oklahoma city late this evening in that i-35 corridor. a coolish day. 51 today for a high with a chance of some showers later on today. so not the best of forecasts. >> all right, bill. thanks, buddy. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the chicago cubs has a rich history. willie geist is going to take us

through it. and then when we come back here, he may be the most recognizable broadcaster in baseball history. we'll tell you the story of the man who brought the cubs into the home of the chicago cubs for decade, harry caray, live from wrigley field when we come back.

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♪ ♪ hey, everybody. welcome back. today we are celebrating the 100th birthday of wrigley field. it is fantastic place to be. tell your friends the ballpark cost $250,000 to build and opened only 49 days after the ground breaking ceremony in 1914. originally there was no upper deck, only bleacher seating for fans, the marquee was added in 1934 and the iconic scoreboard and ivy were added in 1937. i want to speak to my brother from the team here, louis bergdorf. >> hey. >> i left, i get outside getting

in the car and i hear everybody in the car going crazy. the cubs would go ahead and win it. normally they would have the big white flag, the "w" flying up there to prove that they won. >> it's a great field here. the cubs have been host to a long line of great broadcasters but none of them have been more famous than the man who sang the seventh inning stretch, the one, the only harry caray. >> 8/8/88, that's the date and this bud's for you, bill murray. >> harry caray's glasses are as thick as the voices that

carries. >> the crowd is wild. holy cow. >> caray spent 36 years behind the mic before joining the cubs in 1982. the gapes weren't always exciting but harry made them entertaining. >> i was always thinking about what who s he going to do next? >> i don't know what the big deal of crackerjack is. did you ever go and look for a prize and find no prize? >> if you were starving and you were a hot dog? would you eat yourself? i would. i'd be so delicious. >> he was joined in the booth by celebrities and presidents but it was his singing during the seventh inning stretch that became the thing of legends. >> oh, goodness gracious, when he would sing that, i'd go organization, my goodness, harry. you're really not a singer. >> harry passed away in 1998 but

his traditions and love of the cubs will be passed down for generations to come. >> i think that harry, in my opinion, was the best announcer ever in baseball. and i don't think they'll be another one because they don't come around like him. ♪ at the old ball game hey! >> once in a lifetime broadcaster for sure. looking at the inside of the booth and really is amazing and certainly when you get to end up on "saturday night live," you know you've made your mark. for cubbies fans, harry caray is a special guy. what kind of hot dog would you do, louis? >> i think it runs in the family, the broadcasting gene. his son announced games for three decades and his grandson announces games now. we're talking about hot dogs

here. the chicago style hot dog is unparalleled. i mean, you have tomatoes, you have mustard, no ketchup on this dog, okay? you have pickles, you have the celery salt, okay? and i've had about 15 of these dogs. yesterday i went all over chicago, i tasted what chicago had to offer. they were unbelievable and that will be coming up later on in the show. >> he is our official hot dog correspondent, which is going to be great. we appreciate you taking us in the gut for us. >> i feel pretty good. 100% beef. >> and david letterman invited steven colbert to the show and they decided to make a little keepsake for that moment. that's next. stick around. woman: how did we do it last time? man: i don't know...i forget. scott: hello, neighbors.

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morning. you just think it's going to get warmer here at wrigley field. it's getting colder. we have a lot more special coverage coming up. among some of the great guests and segments, ernie banks and a look inside the wrigley locker room. it's going to be a great morning. "morning joe" starts right now! >> you know, there is nothing -- you know, mike barnicle always talks about it. >> yeah. >> the sox getting out, baseball, it's time to put the storm shutters up. it's just like, you know, when you throw that first pitch out. sheila e.