mitchell reports," guns galore. in georgia, this hour, governor nathan deal will fight a new law for licensed gun owners to carry their firearms in more places than you will believe. critics call it the guns everywhere bill. president obama was greeted by u.s. ambassador caroline kennedy in tokyo, his first stop on his long-delayed asia issue. starting off with a gourmet suchy dinner hosted by japan's prime minister. >> that's good sushi right there. and sneak peek. david letterman welcomes the next late show host to the ed sullivan theater as stephen colbert gets a look at his new digs. >> i will do whatever you have done. >> no, no, no. >> i will do whatever you have done. >> no, you don't want to do that. no. >> it seems to have gone pretty

well, dave. and good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we begin today in georgia where governor nathan deal is about to sign a bill into law that would drastically change where people can carry their firearms? gabe gutierrez is live in georgia. gabe, this goes beyond anything we've seen anywhere else in the country. >> reporter: hi there, andrea. many gun control advocates are calling this the most extreme gun bill in america. putting georgia with among the most lenient gun laws in the country. as you mentioned, governor nathan deal is about to start that signing ceremony. it should start any minute now. and georgia lawmakers will speak

first and then the governor will sign this into law. more than 100 people or so have already gathered behind me. the supporters of this bill insist this bill is not extreme. they say it's simply about allowing licensed gun owners in georgia to carry their weapons into more places. for example, bars. before this new law, gun owners could not bring their firearms into a bar unless the property owner specifically allowed it. this new law reverses the emphasis and says that if you have a permit, you can bring your weapon into a bar unless the owner specifically forbids it. as for churches, before it was illegal to bring your weapons into a place of worship. now church leaders will be allowed to allow their congregations to bring weapons to churches. and it also loosens restrictions in schools, airports, and government buildings. now, many law enforcement agencies are slamming this bill, mostly for a provision that prevents officers from asking to see a gun owner's permit, unless

they believe that person has committed a crime. again, this is very controversial, has attracted a lot of attention here in georgia, has attracted a lot of attention for many years. georgia lawmakers passed it last month on the last day of the legislative session after they stripped an even more controversial provision that would have allowed guns on college campuses. the bill signing ceremony is getting under way right now. after the governor signs it, the law will take effect july 1st. andrea? >> gabe gutierrez with the latest. thank you so much. and of course, it is an election year as well in georgia. he is up for reelection. mark glaze is the executive director of every town for gun safety. launched by new york mayor michael bloomberg. your immediate reaction to this bill which is being signed as we speak into law? >> the glass is half full. a year ago this bill would have been much worse. and folks in georgia would have

had everything they wanted. instead of moms and mayors and a lot of committed citizens who would like to keep their kids safe, this bill is a lot less bad than it might have been, for example. we managed to get a provision stripp eped out that would allo weapons on campuses. nevertheless, it's not a great bill. there's a lot of progress being made in other parts of the country, so progress is going in the right direction. >> i was referring to the political campaign. jason carter, the grandson of jimmy carter, was on with chuck todd on "the daily rundown" yesterday. he's a democratic hopeful, running against this republican governor. chuck tried to pin him down on this very law. >> we worked across the aisle to try to make the bill better than it was when it first started. i think we succeeded in that. but ultimately, you're talking about people who have a license to carry in a state where the second amendment is incredibly

important. >> do you think that teachers should be armed in schools? do you think that would help with potential -- dealing with a potential mass school shooter? >> i think we've done is allowed communities to make those decisions for themselves. there's not an issue that i know of that's more geographically polarizing than guns. >> now, you've got jason carter, a democrat, who is refusing to criticize this bill. in fact, supporting it, and saying it fits with the second amendment rights which are very, very important in georgia. what traction can you gain against that kind of opposition, even from the democratic party? >> well, first of all, i think something he says is right, which is the regional differences matter. there are places like bozeman, montana, that make sense that don't make sense in new york city. but the more specific point whether to arm teachers, there were armed guards at virginia tech and columbine, and it simply didn't make any

difference. because the people who intend to commit suicide intend to commit suicide and outarm the guards. i make that factual point about that solution. >> georgia is hardly the wild west. it's not montana, it doesn't have that tradition. it does have the southern tradition. only 20 months ago, a 20-year-old armed with a gun walked into an elementary school in decatur, georgia, and was thankfully talked down by the heroic school employee. >> right. >> antoinette perry. >> i think the nra decided it really needed a win and wanted to make a demonstration project out of georgia. but we've had major victories just today, for example, in arizona, where governor jan brewer, who is not a liberal, vetoed two very bad gun bills that would have allowed open carry of guns in public buildings. in tennessee, we managed to beat back a law that would have allowed open carry of guns for parks where kids play.

in places like austin, texas, local officials say you have to have a background check. governor scott walker said if you're a domestic abuser, you cannot keep your guns. in washington state, we passed a law saying the same thing. there are great victories all over the country. you just can't focus on georgia. the momentum is shifting in favor of common-sense laws that do nothing to keep guns from law-abiding gun owners. >> is mike bloomberg's pact going to target some of the democrats who are endangered, although mark pryor's ten points up, but others in red states who have refused to be critical of guns, and could make the difference? their election, or defeat could make the election different whether democrats hold on to the senate. >> that's a decision for the mayor to make. i think we would rather have harry reid in control of the senate. he's been a great hero on this issue, and most of our votes come from democrats.

but when you're a single issue organization and a democrat votes the way a republican does, that person is of no more use to you than a republican would be. what we would rather do is support democrats who do the right thing, and realize in a state like arkansas, where mark pryor comes from, 84% of the public want universal background checks. much of the burden of gun violence falls on the african-american community, which mark pryor really needs to turn out to win. we hope he sees the light and changes his view on that subject. i think he'll reap the benefit of that. >> mike bloomberg is putting $50 million into this effort which is more than what the nra spends in a year. >> that's right. but as the mayor has said, this is not about money or matching dollar for dollar, it's about getting out there into the grass roots and grinding it out. because most people agree with us about background checks, but needing tougher enforcement of current laws. you just have to get out and find those people who have not found a way to get involved.

but they do want to get involved because they want to know their kids are going to come home safely. that's what every town is trying to do, get them to vote for people who want common-sense gun laws. that's how you change the culture and the laws. >> thank you very much for being with us. just as that ceremony continues in georgia, we've been watching, and that bill is about to be signed into law. thank you. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. right now, president obama is halfway around the world in japan. it's the beginning of a critical trip to four nations in asia, beginning in tokyo with talks with a key u.s. ally about a range of geopolitical issues. chuck todd is traveling with the president and filed this report for us from tokyo. >> reporter: andrea, the president is now asleep after his first night here in tokyo. the president landed just before dinnertime and had a chance to have a one-on-one dinner with japanese prime minister. they ate at the most famous sushi restaurant which normally patrons spend all of 20 minutes eating this very expensive sushi

meal. the president and prime minister abe got to spend a little more than 20 minutes talking. in many ways the dinner is emblematic of what the entire trip is about, and that is to show love for the allies of the united states, particularly the japanese and south koreans. both countries have not been so happy about the outreach the united states has been doing as of late, talk about michelle obama's goodwill tour of china just a month ago. all of those moves have made japan and south korea wonder, gee, you know, is the united states somehow taking them for granted. and so in many ways, the point of this trip is to show diplomatic love. and to show that the president and united states will play favorites in asia and that the favorites are japan and south korea. and there are going to be a few items this will come into play. one is, of course, the trade agreement that the united states wants to have essentially with

every asian country not named china in order to have an economic check against china, called the tpp. whether real progress will be made or not, i'm skeptical of, because of the election year circumstance in the united states. and the second, of course, is what's going on in the ukraine. the japanese are watching this very closely as the russians attempt to redraw the borders in eastern europe. they have their own territorial dispute with china. they want to know how resolute is 9 united states going to be in backing ukraine because they want the same resoluteness as japan and china have this back-and-forth over the islands in the china sea. but the big picture is diplomatic maintenance, particularly with the first two stops that we're making here, andrea, japan and south korea. >> our thanks to chuck todd in tokyo. now to the ferry disaster. new reports that the ship was grossly overloaded with cargo. here's nbc's bill nealy with the details.

>> reporter: these are the teenagers boarding the ferry, one younger girl skipping. what they didn't know and what's now clear is that it was severely overloaded. it left port with three times the recommended maximum cargo load. shipping containers seen here spilling into the sea. when the crew steered the ship to the right, prosecutors suspect cargo shifted, unbalancing the ship. the cargo was more than half the ferry's weight. it never recovered, sinking fast. in another twist, it appears the students shouldn't have been on that ferry in the first place, they were booked on another one. but the ships were switched. >> that was, of course, nbc's bill neely reporting on the tragedy. divers are breaking through walls in the ferry trying to reach more passengers trapped inside. the numbers of bodies brought to shore has now passed 150.

when we come back, we'll have an exclusive report live from havana. on allen gross, the jailed usaid contractor. we'll be talking to them in havana, coming up next. (music) defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. calcium citrate plus d.

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in havana today, high-level meetings in cuba over the detention of allen gross who has been in prison for four years. he's a u.s. government contractor sentenced to 15 years after being charged with crimes against the cuban state for distributing communication information. scott gilbert is allen gross' attorney and joins me from havana.

scott, thank you very much for being with us. first of all, how is allen gross? gi you are the most recent person to talk to him. >> andrea, allen is not doing well. he's been confined for nearly five years. he lost 11 to 12 pounds in his hunger strike. and he told me yesterday emphatically that may 2nd, which marks his 65th birthday, will be the last birthday that he marks in cuba, one way or the other. >> what does he mean by that, one way or the other? >> alan means that he does not intend to endure another year of this solitary confinement. and that he will return to the united states before his 66th birthday, dead or alive. >> scott, you met with the foreign minister, i think this is the highest level meeting with rodriguez, i understand this morning. what did he tell you about some

possibility of negotiation for alan gross' release? some negotiation with the u.s. government? >> i met with the foreign minister this morning for nearly two hours. judy gross and i had met with him in havana nearly one year ago. and mr. rodriguez reiterated what he had told us last year, which is that the cuban government is interested in meeting with officials from the united states at the highest levels of both governments, to discuss the release of alan gross with no preconditions. >> what do they want? i know that they're saying no preconditions. but do they want the release of one of the cuban prisoners here in the united states, the four remaining? >> the cubans want to sit down with the united states and reach a negotiated resolution. we have asked the president to engage, to have the administration participate in

such a negotiation. and we believe that the administration should do whatever it takes to free alan, who was in cuba in the first place on u.s. government business. >> what is the response from the administration, from the state department, or the white house? >> we have not received any response. we are not aware of any response to the cubans' invitation, which has now been outstanding for nearly one year. and we deal with officials from -- i'm sorry. >> no, you go ahead. >> i was going to say that we meet frequently with officials from the cuban government, as well as from the united states. and we are not aware, and certainly the cubans are not aware of any ongoing discussions with the united states concerning alan gross. >> what are the conditions of his imprisonment?

when you got to see him, is he in solitary? what about his food? what are the other conditions? >> alan spends his life in a small room with two other inmates. he's in that room 23 hours a day in his pajamas. he is fed in that room. he lives in that room. he is let out for about one hour a day to exercise in a walled courtyard, where you really can't see the sky. and his food is, i would describe as limited, and mediocre. and alan has lost 110 pounds since he was incarcerated. he spends his days confined, while his family that he loves, his wife, his children are forced to live their lives without him. and he participates in those

lives only by short phone calls twice a week. that's what alan has endured for five years. and that is what his sentence would cause him to endure for an additional decade. at this point, the administration has not gotten involved, even to sit down with the cuban government to discuss the appropriate issues concerning his release. >> so your message, and his message to the state department is? >> our message really is to the president of the united states. and it is president obama, please engage on this issue. we understand the world's a complicated place. we understand the world will not become less complicated, but please engage on this issue. sit down with the cuban

government. try to reach a resolution. do what you can do to bring alan gross back to his country. make serving your government in a foreign country mean something. >> and when you said that alan's message to the world today is that he will not suffer another birthday in prison, that after this may 2nd, he will come home before next year one way or the other, dead or alive, do you think that he's a threat to his own life? would he be threatening to kill himself? >> i think alan can be volatile, as would anybody be confined in this situation. and i take alan's statement, not as a threat, but as an expression of extraordinary frustration and determination. and as he said to me yesterday,

continued hope. and alan hopes that the united states government will spend the time that it takes to get involved. we'll prioritize this issue sufficiently, that it gets the attention from the white house, that it and he and this issue deserve. >> scott gilbert, thanks to you. our regards. i know you're going to be seeing alan gross again, and of course, to judy gross and the gross family. thank you very much. >> thank you, andrea. and talk about must-see tv. this is a live broadcast from nasa today. two american astronauts performing a space walk outside the international space station. they were replacing a piece of equipment that nasa tweeted that the space walk was quick and clean. it may have been routine to them, but it looks quite remarkable to us back here on earth. you, my friend are a master of diversification.

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hillary clinton is a presumptive democratic nominee. but what about an all-woman ticket? joining us for our daily fix, or senior political analyst, and double down author from the atlantic, welcome both. mark, you've covered hillary for so many years. i don't know what your latest take is on whether she is running or isn't running, or hasn't decided yet. but what about the number two on a hillary clinton ticket and the number of women, potential democratic women candidates who could fill that ticket? >> i'm ready to skip right over that and talk about who's going to be in the second-term cabinet. you know, i think that she will, if she runs, and i'm still in that minority of people who just have a sneaking suspicion that

she might not, but if she runs i think she'll have plenty of time to figure out who her running mate would be. and bill went against the conventional wisdom, he thinks a lot of people who had the traits he had, in terms of age, i think that it's not impossible that hillary clinton would pick a woman. but i think the odds are against it, simply because there's a bunch of men who i think she would feel closer to. and without a doubt, if she's the nominee of the democratic party, i think she'll pick someone who she's had a strong, longtime relationship with for a running mate. >> molly, better than anyone, she has seen up close the tensions, the potential rivalries of a vice presidential choice, watching it as an inside and outside the cabinet. >> absolutely. in addition to what mark saying this is hilariously premature,

and taking for granted hillary will be on the top of the ticket, it's a reflection of the day and age we live in. it used to be that ticket balancing was about whether your running mate was from the same region or same age. it was taken for granted it would be another old white dude. now ticket balancing reflects more considerations than that. it's similar to the conversation we had when obama was thinking about picking hillary to be his running mate, and was america ready for two break-throughs at once or did we have to take it one at a time. i think both will be ingredients as hillary makes this decision. >> i like in "the new york times" story, bob schrum's comment, we've had centuries of two white guys, or guys, but not two women. what would be wrong with that, molly? >> yeah, and i don't think it really is a question of whether the american people are ready for that. although they might not be. but i think we've seen such a

wide acceptance of women politicians, that more of the quotes in that story seem to be about the nervousness in the republican party of what they would do, sort of to play defense on this score, to not be seen as having, you know, two old white guys on their ticket, what would they be doing about it. it does seem like we've crossed into a new era of whether people are ready to accept politicians who are not old white dudes. >> and in that line, mark, there are a lot of women in both parties, strong women who are beginning to play leadership roles. you've got some senators, and elizabeth warren out with her new book, elizabeth warren on rachel madow last night. >> they were spending more than $1 million a day lobbying against financial reform. but remember, we won. and here's the thing. not only did we win, we got an agency that in the short time

it's been alive, has already put more than $3 billion back into the pockets of families who got cheated on mortgages and credit cards. now, the next time somebody tells me we can't change anything, i have four words for them -- consumer financial protect bureau. >> she's got a tailor-made issue if she runs. she said on "the view" today she's not running for president this time around. but this is a woman who does not have to reinvent herself, or create a resume. she's got the resume. >> i think what's so impressive about secretary clinton as well as some of the women senators, their model leadership now is a hybrid. they're competing by kind of the old rules that men mostly created and lived by. they're competing every bit on those terms, getting legislation through. but they're doing it in some ways in a stylistic way that's different from the way most men have governed and led. i think they're getting a lot of attention on the merits because

they're an impressive group of leaders. getting things on in old terrain and leading in a new direction. i think that's what you see a lot of thusm in the democratic party for hillary clinton. people see that as a different style of leadership. republicans are still having a hard time matching it. >> there are two women senators from new hampshire, there are two women senators, from different parties, but two women senators for years and years, diane feinstein and barbara boxer from california. as well, we've got nine women senate chairs right now. only 20 women senators, but 9 of those women, molly, are chairs of important committees. >> to mark's point, there is some political science research that says that voters do slightly prefer female candidates, in part because of some of the positive stereotypes that they hold about women. the idea that women are somehow more conciliatory or nurturing. i'm not a particularly nurturing person, i think you only have to

look at someone like sarah palin to see someone can be just as competent as male politicians in a lot of cases. but there are -- there is some evidence that voters do tend to ascribe these sort of stereo typical feminine qualities to candidates in a way that helps women. >> molly ball, thank you so much. mark hoffman, thank you for being with us. see you later. meanwhile, the past, present and future on the late show last night, stephen colbert paid a visit to the ed sullivan theater with letterman. letterman will be retiring from the show sometime next year. as the soon-to-be host reveals, it wasn't always his ambition to work at the late show. >> you actually got a job, or were an intern or tried to get a job here? >> no, i did not actually try to be an intern here. i was accepted as an intern here. and i did not take the internship. >> why is that? >> because you did not pay people.

>> that doesn't sound foolish to me. >> it's an expensive city. dave, i've got to ask, the next job i'm taking here, it pays. >> i have nothing to do with that. [ grunting ]

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we are volvo of sweden. with no sign yet that russia is complying with last week's agreement to disarm and give up government buildings held across eastern ukraine, the kiev government is now calling for renewal of military operations against pro-russian militants. and to counter the continued russian military exercises along ukraine's border. the u.s. is sending 600 troops to the bal ticks for military exercises starting today in poland. joining me from donetsk in eastern ukraine, jim maceda. jim, thanks very much. it seems like there is an escalation of tensions, not de-escalation as envisioned in last week's meetings. i know it's very noisy there

where you are. >> reporter: that's right. it does feel like a re-escalate, or escalation, and not a de de-escalation. ukraine's acting president, that's exactly what happened when he called on his security forces to take back the towns and buildings today, occupied by those pro-russian militia, that happened after one of two bodies with torture marks found in a river next to slavonsk, one of the strongholds not far from us here. one body was initially identified on saturday as being a local politician, rubak from the president's own party, who was seen scuffling with locals last week trying to replace a russian flag that had been put up over his town hall. he's a councilman, with a

ukrainian flag. people manning barricades here in eastern ukraine, andrea, are telling us that they're worried now about this relaunch of the offensive, not so much because of the ukrainian military. we've seen them in action. and they look pretty inept at counterinsurgency, to say the least. but the ultra-nationalist paramilitaries who are believed to be at least in this region to have launched that lethal attack on sunday, on that pro-russian checkpoint, just the kind of provocation that might justify a major intervention by russian troops as the foreign minister lavrov said today, an attack on russians is an attack on russia. we presume that would include not just russian citizens, though he left that question mark open, perhaps russian speakers as well. back to you. >> and jim, is there any update on simon, the american journalist working for vice

news who has been taken, and we don't know exactly what his -- we know he has been very active in covering the news in crimea, and eastern ukraine, and was taken, i think, a day or two ago. >> reporter: that's right. we haven't seen simon since tuesday morning. he is a highly regarded tv journalist, a journalist's journalist. he does investigative pieces. he's done 30 extremely hard-hitting points on the conflicts in ukraine, crimea first and then ukraine. his stuff appears on hbo, on the bbc. and as you say, it was confirmed today to be in the hands of the pro-russian militia who controls slaveansk. the insurgents who say they're holding him, they're doing so, they said, pending an investigation, their own investigation into what was

called his bad activities. and by that, meaning spy activities for the kiev government and right sector, that ultra-nationalist group. the state department coming out today strongly condemning not just simon's detention, but the detention of all journalists, and the kidnappings which have been spiked as of late, and called on russia to use all of its leverage to release him and to release the others, and to do so immediately. andrea? >> jim maceda, an update from a very noisy donetsk. thank you for pressing on. in good news today for the "12 years a slave" oscar winner, she'll be featured on the "people's" cover for this issue. she had a moving very acceptance

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before swinging for a home run. [ crowd cheering ] good is choosing not to overshoot the moon, but to land right on it and do some experiments. ♪ so start your day off good with a coffee that's good cup after cup. maxwell house. ♪ good to the last drop . in south carolina, the police chief said she was fired because of her sexual orientation. crystal moore is a 23-year veteran of the force, and the first female police chief. she was fired a week ago by the new mayor who was secretly recorded by a council member making homophobic remarks. take a listen to this. >> i'll say this to anybody's face, i would much rather have somebody who drank, and drank too much, taking care of my

child than i had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children. because that ain't the damn way that it's supposed to be. >> mayor bullard told our nbc affiliate he could not go into details, but that moore was not fired for being gay. >> sexuality had nothing to do with it. >> nothing at all. nothing at all. not a thing. >> at a council meeting last night, members voted unanimously that moore performed all her duties. crystal moore joins me now with south carolina state representative james smith. thank you both for being with us. well, police chief moore, tell me the story, how did you get fired and what did the mayor say? or did he do it in person? >> yes, ma'am, he did it in person. we had just had our council meeting on the 10th. and we actually -- he read the

resolution. i had done my report. i was fixing to sit down. and he asked me to stand. he read the resolution for may 15th for peace officers week. and he actually acknowledged in front of everybody that we were doing a really wonderful job for the town, me and the officers. finished -- we finished our council meeting. on saturday we had our town festival. everything went well. monday i came to work, continued on the usual routines, which there's always something going on, so i was busy answering calls. then on tuesday, we had a grievance meeting for a fellow employee, and there was some issues on the policy. we went to the mayor and told him there were some questions about the members on the grievance committee not going along with what the policy stated. and within ten minutes, he called me back to his office. inside was him and the town attorney. and he told me to read the

reprimands. he told me i didn't have to sign them. it was up to me. and i read them out loud. i realized they were bogus and i stood up and asked, can i talk to my attorney, and he said, no, you need to sign these. or no, he said, are you going to sign these? excuse me. i said, no, sir, i'm going to talk to my attorney. he said, your service is then no longer needed, turn in your badge and your keys. so i turned in my belongings to the officers. and i left. >> representative smith, is there any recourse here? do you have any doubt why the police chief was fired? >> i don't have any doubt. i believe chief moore completely here. unfortunately, that's the issue. you know, mayor bullard's comments absolutely do not reflect the values of the vast majority of south carolinaians and certainly the citizens of latta, as you see by the

outpouring of support for chief moore. many think it's against the law to terminate someone for whether it's race, national origin, religion or sexual orientation. that's where unfortunately south carolina law falls short, and where we're trying to make a change here. and most folks thought, we don't need this because it doesn't happen. well, unfortunately what we're facing now and seeing with chief moore's situation is that it is very much needed. >> well, in fact, i don't even think there is a federal law. there's been attempts in congress, but i don't think there's been a federal law that pertains here, is that correct? >> that is correct. i think a bill passed the senate a couple of times, but never congress. but it's clearly needed. i think it reflects the values to have those protections in place. and to support -- you look at the career chief moore's led, and it's been one of absolute exemplary service. she's widely supported by the

community there, because she's done a wonderful job. and she ought to have these protections. they ought to be in place. and she ought to have an action to pursue. but i believe her 100%. >> thank you chief moore, and thank you, representative smith. i'm glad the council had the response they did last night and we'll continue to follow the case and stay in close touch. thank you so much for being with us today. >> thank you, ma'am. >> thank you, andrea. and to baseball, it is the national pastime. making wrigley field one of our most treasured national monuments. the historic ballpark is celebrating its 100th birthday today. the home of the then chicago federals, they're going to wear special uniforms with that, today, and, of course, the cubs. able to keep many of the old school charm to the scoreboard to the outfield wall. legend has it babe ruth pointed to where he was going to hit that home run, and then did. and it was the first stadium to play organ music.

and how could we talk about wrigley field without remembering legendary announcer har harry carrey singing "take me out to the ball game" in the seventh inning stretch. you, my friend are a master of diversification. who would have thought three cheese lasagna would go with chocolate cake and ceviche? the same guy who thought that small caps and bond funds would go with a merging markets. it's a masterpiece. thanks. clearly you are type e. you made it phil. welcome home. now what's our strategy with the fondue? diversifying your portfolio? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*?

(dad) just feather it out. (son) ok. feather it out. (dad) all right. that's ok. (dad) put it in second, put it in second. (dad) slow it down. put the clutch in, break it, break it. (dad) just like i showed you.

dad, you didn't show me, you showed him. dad, he's gonna wreck the car! (dad) he's not gonna wreck the car. (dad) no fighting in the road, please. (dad) put your blinker on. (son) you didn't even give me a chance! (dad) ok. (mom vo) we got the new subaru because nothing could break our old one. (dad) ok. (son) what the heck? let go of my seat! (mom vo) i hope the same goes for my husband. (dad) you guys are doing a great job. seriously. (announcer) love a car that lasts. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours. mark is back with us. mark, bob dole, 90 years old, touring kansas this week. there were times in the recent years where bob dole, of course, grievously injured in world war ii. here he is in kansas making, i'd call it a victory tour of his home state, and his roots. pretty extraordinary. >> yeah. i don't have to guess, i know for a fact you wish as i do hearing the stories about his tour, that we were there covering it.

incredible man, who's out there with a message. and by all accounts, pretty sharp still about the state of his party. a guy who is often criticized, was criticized even when he was active, as being too much of a centrist, too much of a compromiser. he's still one of the most thoughtful people around today, about how the republican party is still in need of a makeover in terms of its national image. >> you can relate, of course, to dan's comment in his piece today, saying i thought i was a conservative, but we've got some in congress that are so far right that they're about to fall out of the capitol. mincing no words about the people he thinks are obstructionists in the republican party not getting things done. it was bob dole who compromised on the budget agreements back in 1991. and made those agreements possible. and did lead to the defeat, some would say, of george bush 41.

but george bush was recently recognized by the profiles in courage group from the john f. kennedy library for doing exactly that. >> senator dole certainly honored for his military service and long service in the senate. the message he's out there with, you can be conservative, by the republican party right now is not being led across the board by people who understand how to win elections. great message for him, for kansas and the country. >> thank you for that. it's great to see you, mark. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow we've got a big show, authors right here, and "the new york times" cooper on the controversial hairstyle ban for african-american women in the army. don't miss it. "ronan farrow daily" is up next. . the conditions in new york state are great for business. new york is ranked #2 in the nation

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our word today, commitment. a new gun bill just signed in georgia shows how committed the

second amendment are to them to having guns everywhere. some stays are committed to lethal injection. whatever's in the syringe. and why some critics in a new book about gay marriage are committed to slamming its author. is that fair? also, i am committed to you. for the next hour. >> critics are calling it the guns everywhere bill, but it's the safe carry protection act. >> to say i'm allowed to bring a gun to church, a gun to an unsecured government building, if that isn't extreme, i don't know what is. it is the most aggressive show of force from the u.s. since the crisis began. >> the pentagon is sending 600 u.s. soldiers starting in poland. followed by lithuania, latvia and estonia. so far, 11 crew members have been arrested or detained. >> the equipment wouldn't work, says this crew man.