good afternoon. this is the reid report. i'm joy reid live from chicago. our top story, russia begins military drills as ukraine engages the militias. how will the u.s. respond. >> it's a matter of days and not weeks. assuming that they do not follow through, we will follow through on what we said. >> we'll discuss what could happen if the u.s. is drawn into the escalating crisis in europe. we're also following developments out of israel, where prime minister benjamin netanyahu has declared peace talks over. and what if everything you knew about the 2014 elections is wrong? what if obamacare turns out to be better politically for democrats than republicans? we'll discuss that and how minority voters determine who

holds congress after november. we'll use some of our time in the windy city to discuss crime, guns and how the federal government is getting involved in chicago's most intractable problem. we start with the ongoing crisis in ukraine, and how the u.s. plans to respond to a situation that's now dangerously close to war. president obama is in tokyo today, part of a seven-day, four-country tour to promote commerce and a trade deal. even as the president tries to pivot east, as a check on the growing power of china, it's vladimir putin and his designs on ukraine that keeps drawing the president back to the west. the russian leader has called the latest ukrainian efforts to oust pro-russian forces from government buildings in east ukraine, quote, a brave crime. with putin threatening consequences in response. ukraine's government says as many as five separatists are dead in fighting today. after thursday's truce failed to unseat pro-russian forces from those government bultdings.

the attacks come on the same day as a funeral for a man allegedly kidnapped by pro-russian forces. late wednesday eastern time, president obama said russia has, quote, days, not weeks, to comply with the agreement. but he also indicated the response to russia's provocation cannot be made by the u.s. alone. >> additional sanctions may not change mr. putin's calculus. that's possible. how well they change his calculus in part depends on not just us applying sanctions, but also the cooperation of other countries. >> and the diplomatic correspondent for the "washington post." so, ann, how grave is this crisis? at what point can we begin calling this a civil war? >> well, it's not to the point of civil war yet. but the last 24 hours have been very, very worrisome to

everyone, to the united states, to the u.n. secretary-general who issued a very dire statement earlier today. and certainly to the ukrainians who are worried that the russian troop movement is the first wave of an invasion. >> we're going to take a commercial break. we'll take a quick break and we'll come right back and continue talking with ann from the "washington post." we'll be right back. humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today,

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all right. we have solved our audio problems, and we now have ann, diplomatic correspondent for the "washington post." we do now have you, ann, so thank you for your patience. >> thank you. >> let me ask you again, about this crisis. at what point do we begin to

describe it as a civil war? >> well, it could be described as a civil war at the point when russian forces really fully invaded the eastern areas of ukraine, and ukrainian forces fought back. we're not there yet. but the last 24 hours have been really deeply worrisome to many people watching this, and certainly to the ukrainians as well. for the first time, they have issued an explicit threat to answer force with force, and say that they will not tolerate a military incursion, similar to the one that russia launched in crimea a month ago, saying that the ukrainian prime minister saying we learned our lesson there and we'll fight back this time. it's not there yet, but it's worrisome. >> they say they're not going to tolerate what happened in crimea. but we have a situation where that government cannot even get the russian forces to leave their government buildings.

are you hearing any sort of a plan to escalate on the ground to at least get that done? because that i think is when people looking from the outside looking in, makes the government look incredibly weak. >> right. those irregulars who have occupied government buildings in several cities and towns were supposed to be gone by now, under terms of an agreement reached a week ago, and russia said it would help make that happen. it hasn't. now, there's a question about whether russia has full control over those irregulars, but certainly if vladimir putin had gone on television the other day or did so today, and said, come on, everybody, give it up, they would have a whole lot less of a nationalist standing, and mandate to keep occupying those buildings. the fact that it hasn't happened raises questions about the ukrainian government's ability to do any of this on its own. and were they to actually undertake a military operation,

huge questions about how far they could take it. they do have an army, but it would be no match for the russians. >> and i want to play something on what president obama said. he's been getting a lot of pressure from senator john mccain about the idea that we're not arming the ukrainians, we're not escalating our own military rhetoric. this is what president obama had to say about the idea of drawing the red line in general and the u.s.'s obligation. >> the implication of the question, i think, is that each and every time a country violates one of those norms, the united states should go to war. or stand prepared to engage militarily. if it doesn't, then somehow we're not serious about those norms. well, that's not the case. >> so, ann, talk about the conundrum, that's the president speaking in japan, that the u.s. will not go to war over this. but you see the military escalation on the part of the irregulars.

the u.s. is in a box here. what can the u.s. do short of ratcheting up our own military response to actually get some movement on peace in the ukraine? >> what obama is saying there is, we are not the global policeman, and every single time something awful happens around the world, it is not incumbent on the united states to fight about it. that's a very common-sense reduction of much of his foreign policy. but it also then immediately begs the question of, okay, well, if you're not going to fight about it, and you're not also going to fight at arm's length by providing arms, which isn't going to happen anytime soon in the ukrainian context, then what other than talking are you really willing to do? and there obama's answer in ukraine, as it has been elsewhere, is economic sanctions. and that's essentially using the

marketplace as your battlefield. and the -- in the russian context, that's a difficult one. the sanctions applied so far have not seemed to be in any way a deterrent to putin or russian action, and the further sanctions that the president talked about, and you teased there in your opening, would essentially be more of the same. they would be sanctions against individuals, as opposed to sanctions against broad sectors of the russian economy, like oil and gas and defense. we're not there yet. >> okay. i want to shift gears real quick and talk about the middle east. israel announced it's suspending peace talks after rivals forced a new alliance with hamas. take a listen to what benjamin netanyahu said to andrea mitchell a short time ago. >> if it moves forward, peace

moves backwards. it's really, as the state department yesterday, the ball is in the palestinian court. i hope they dribble it in the right direction. >> hardly a surprise that the middle east peace foiled again. but what do you make of this latest development? >> yeah, who knew nine months of talking and they didn't get anywhere. you know, it's hit repeat. however, this is a sad day. this has been the signature effort for john kerry and his state department for the whole of his first year-plus in office. they really did try. and if a boss thought the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas thought that the reconciliation with hamas would be some kind of bargaining chip and a way to force additional concessions from israel, it appears he miscalculated. this is something israel simply will not tolerate. and if they were looking for an excuse to walk away from talks, and i don't know that they were,

but if they were looking for it, they've got one. >> indeed. thanks so much, ann. appreciate it. >> thank you. now, to dangerous developments in afghanistan. today three americans were shot and killed at a charity hospital for children. today a fourth american was also injured. police tell nbc news the gunman was a security guard at the cure hospital in kabul. the victims include dr. jerry huhmanos, and a father and son there to meet him. the cure hospital is run by a faith-based charity based out of pennsylvania. meanwhile, in just a few hours, a nevada rancher is expected to hold a news conference. some of his first comments that reported on virulent racist language made by the folk hero after an event on saturday. the bundy events have become a regular occurrence, and becoming more popular of some on the right. he's fighting to not pay $1 million in back fees he owes the

federal government. and to promote his unique interpretation of the constitution. the "times" story reports it included this, i want to tell you one more thing i know about the negro. and only go downhill from there. black americans, he said, quote, they abort their young children, they put their young men in jail because they never learn how to pick cotton. i've often wondered if they're better off as slaves picking cotton, or are they better off under government subsidy. they didn't get no more freedom, they got less freedom. republicans, including senators ted cruz, rand paul who once embraced the rancher's fight have not surprisingly backed away from him since the comments became public. nevada's democratic senator harry reid who called bundy a domestic terrorist, now called bundy a hateful racist. earlier today bundy appeared on a local radio show to not defend, but to respond.

the short version, he didn't say black people were better off, he was just wondering if they were. >> you know, i'm wondering, are they happier now under this government subsidy system than they were when they were slaves and they was able to have their family structure together, and chickens and garden, and the people have something to do? and so in my mind, i'm wondering, are they better off being slaves in that sense, or better off being slaves to the united states government in the sense of subsidy? i'm wondering. the statement was right. i am wondering. >> the mind reels. christie thompson is an investigative reporter, and john rossen is a political journalist in nevada. john, damage control that isn't damage control. how much of a problem is the

bundy latest batch of comments, for instance, for somebody like adean heller? >> dean heller gave the "times" spokeswoman who did that statement, which i thought was hilarious, and how tortured it was that he said he disagrees in the most strenuous way. but now we've answered the question everyone wanted to know, what is dinner table talk like up on bundy's ranch? they wonder about the plight of the negro, and whether slavery would have been better. these comments are -- they're almost a parody. i have to tell you the truth, joy, when i first read them last night, i had to go back and read them again, because adam is one of the better reporters in the country. i thought i was reading a parody somewhere instead of adam -- by the way, he taped it. you know, bundy first tried to back away from it, with alex jones, who has been all over this. he's one of the far right crazies.

first said he said it was taken out of context, as if there was a proper context for that. governor san da vol just put out a statement that said this doesn't represent the values of nevadans. it doesn't represent the values of anybody living generally in the year 2014. it's like there's this anachronistic community up on the bundy ranch where they chat about how it's better to be african-americans to be in slavery. the mind reels, as you say, joy. i think you're understating it. >> it's like is adam ready for the onion now? i want to ask you one other question, john, about inside nevada. obviously the bundy love has been really picked up by the far right elements like alex jones, but also by mainstream conservatives like sean hannity on fox news. i'm wondering inside nevada, has there been discomfort before these comments with bundy, or is there now sort of an about-face?

there are still people camped out across from that ranch defending this guy with guns. >> i think there's a lot of discomfort here. we had five conservative legislators just yesterday send a letter to the head of a public lands committee asking for an investigation. it read like something taken from a right-wing conspiracy blog. their suspicions of outside government forces, were there any elected officials involved, a clear reference to harry reid who's been part of the conspiracy theories that have been going around. but there have been some politicians, to their credit, who have done the smart thing here and kept their mouth shut. cliven bundy was a phony symbol in the first place. this is a guy who's a law breaker who's been living for free, grazing his cattle on federal land for 20 years. the blm did not handle this the right way, but now it's okay, the guy's a racist, but the blm still did a bad thing. you have the chairman of a house committee say that a few minutes

ago, joy. i think it's going to be fascinating to watch which ones run away and which ones say, okay, we don't agree with him, but he was still wrong. >> and getting lots and lots of federal subsidies, as most ranchers do. christie, the other thing that was disturbing, even before cliven bundy revealed himself in this very special way, is this notion that you do actually have these militia groups gathering at his ranch, to defend him, essentially to threaten the federal government that they shouldn't dare come down and enforce the law? tell us a little bit about the militia groups and who they are and who constitutes them. >> it's interesting when i spoke to some of cliven bundy's supporters before these comments were made. it wasn't just militia groups that were down there. i think what brought the case a lot of attention is he did manage to draw a lot of conse e conservatives that weren't part of the extremist groups. but who i spoke to had a concern about their image. they were trying to reject the idea that they were extremists,

that they were far right. and trying to distance themselves from some of the more militia patriot groups of the 1990s that had direct ties with some of these white supremists. now that you have their figurehead coming out and saying, like you mentioned, really appalling, blatantly racist statements, i think it's really going to halt a lot of the momentum that was building, a lot of which was coming from people who weren't necessarily part of these militia groups. >> i suspect a lot of people are going to say, who's cliven bundy, on that side of the spectrum very soon. christie thompson and john rossen, thanks very much to both of you. >> thanks for having us. coming up in our political strategy session, what the republicans thought was a sure winner for them could turn out to be a winner for democrats. ♪ you have to let me know [ female announcer ] when sweet and salty come together, the taste is irresistible. sweet and salty nut bars by nature valley. nature at its most delicious.

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coming up, forget obamacare, forget the economy, we read between the lines on the issue that matters more to voters than any of the others.

but first, time for the stories you can't stop buzzing about on social media. president obama is on a tour of asia, meeting with vips like the japanese prime minister and dealing with lots of political footballs. or as we yankees call it, soccer. soccer with a robot, to be exact. >> mr. president, i'm a humanoid robot, it is a pleasure to meet you. >> nice meeting you, too. >> good job! >> kricritics have been kickingm for bowing to a foreign power, that being a robot. he's showing he's with it, sending tweets like this one, quote, when the president plays soccer with a robot, you know the future is now. from a robot to rover. or in this case, ben. secretary of state john kerry

bought his 1-year-old dog ben to the state department for take your daughters and sons to work day today. >> this is ben, everybody. sit. sit. sit. he's learning. he's 1 year old yesterday, two days ago. oops. sit. he's learning, slowly, but he's getting there. >> now if you didn't know, ben is so plugged in, he has his own twitter account. you can find him at diplomutt. no tweets, just barks. still cute, though. now to a pitcher in the doghouse. for the new york yankees, michael pineta has been caught with pine tar again and his name is trending. in fenway park last night, he was ejected from the game when the boston objected to a sticky substance on his neck. he was also accused of having pine tar on his hands during a home game against the yankees

chief rivals. unlike last time, he was admitting his wrongdoing saying, i apologize to my team and everybody. i learned from this mistake and it won't happen again. you still crack jokes like this on twitter saying, you guys are going to feel likeewhen you learn about his hereditary pine tar secretion disease. he could be suspended, and i'll be more afraid of a social media lashing, but that's just me. join the conversation about this, and more, with fellow readers on facebook, twitter, instagram and msnbc.com. ♪ i know a thing about an ira ♪ and i got the tools ♪ to do it my way ♪ i got a lock on equities ♪ that's why i'm type e ♪ ♪ that's why i'm tyyyyype eeeee, ♪

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[ female announcer ] f provokes lust. ♪ it elicits pride... incites envy... ♪ ...and unleashes wrath. ♪ temptation comes in many heart-pounding forms. but only one letter. "f". the performance marque from lexus. so, what if everything you've heard so far about the 2014 midterms was wrong? or at least not ascertain as you thought it was. the conventional wisdom up to now is obamacare and its ongoing unpopularity specifically with independents and republicans meant certain doom for the

democrats and high likelihood that the republicans would take control of the senate. republicans are practically spiking the ball and democrats are running scared, but what if that is not quite true. two states where the republican governors and legislatures flat-out, no way, no how, we don't want your money, president obama, period. something really interesting is going on. "the daily beast" michael writes it ought to be easy for right-wing republicans to get reelected in those states. recent polls showed them dangling off the cliff. in cahoots with friendly legislators, those republican lawmakers are passing laws that would prevent any future governor from accepting medicaid money. they're so sure that the people hate obamacare that they'll hate it forever. now, to be clear, that's medicaid money that could be providing affordable health care, to an estimated 600,000 georgians, and 78,000 kansans

president rather than helping those republican governors cruise to reelection, both nathan deal in georgia and sam brown in kansas are in reelection iffyness. what's going on here? part of the problem for the no way, no how, never team is that polls show even republicans, in some southern states, are tired of hearing about repealing obamacare. this "new york times" kaiser poll finds a majority would rather congress improve the president's signature health care law than repeal and replace it. after 50 votes to repeal the affordable care act, and 24 states refusing to expand medicaid, leaving about 5 million people uninsured as a result, republicans are discovering that just yelling repeal, and even withholding medicaid coverage from their own citizens isn't working exactly like they thought it would. now republicans are trying a new tact, and some of them are claiming the real problem with obamacare is that it doesn't cover enough people. that is according to kevin mccarthy.

so maybe, just maybe, as this "new york times" forecast predicts, it's democrats who are starting to gain the advantage on health care. and not, as nate silver predicts last month, the gop. if that's true, what are democrats doing about it? msnbc contributor jimmy williams and tara are our big strategy panel today. i'm going to go right to ladies first. because one of the answers, tara, to what democrats are doing about it, comes in kentucky. where a democrat named elizabeth jensen is actually running on the affordable care act. she's not saying it by name. but take a listen to a radio ad that miss jensen is running and i'll get your response on the other side. >> i often say kentucky moms like me get more done before noon than congress gets done in a week. barr voted 19 times to repeal health care reform. i was disappointed. thanks to governor ba sheer, kentucky connect provision

health care to kentuckyians who had no insurance. but barr voted to end connect. >> tara, is this the way to run and win on obamacare? >> absolutely. i've been saying this forever. i've been shouting it from the roo rooftops. the last time i was on your show i said you with see a more emboldened democratic party. the rollout of the affordable care act, yes, it is important how you start. but it is far more important how you finish. the democrats finished very strong. the administration finished very strong in terms of getting people to sign up through the exchanges, and the numbers speak for themselves. the math speaks for themselves. i think what is particularly stunning, in the face of this significant fear and smear campaign, that the republicans have been launching and lobbying for the past four years, the law still got people to sign up. and you know what that tells you? that tells you how badly people

really wanted and needed health care. and the democrats need to own it, and not apologize. >> jimmy, talking about southern states here. kentucky, let's go to louisiana, where mary landrieu is essent l essentially running a gubernatorial campaign. talking about a doubling down saying it's a solid law that needs improvement. my opponent offers nothing but repeal, repeal, repeal. is she right? >> she is right. here's the distinction we have to understand about the governors' races versus the house races versus the senate houses. house races, 17 house republicans are sitting in districts that barack obama won. i'll bet you a lot of those folks are probably worried at this point about their reelection, if they're not retiring already. if you're running in a district that no matter what you do, your crazy constituents are your crazy constituents. that is a completely different matter when you're a state senator, or senator running

statewide or governor running statewide. that is exactly why you're finding people like nathan deal. don't forget nickie in south carolina. she's got something like 200,000 people in that state that could have been helped by medicaid. what did chris christie do? he took medicaid money. when you're running statewide, you don't have the insulation of just having a gerrymandered district full of right wingers. you have an entire state that you have to answer to. that's why mary landrieu, who voted for obama, own it, and say it's going to work and go after it. so should some of the democrats that will run statewide for governor, absolutely. >> and tara, we just put up the list of the incumbents in trouble, right? looking at where that landscape is. of course, it is in the red states, montana, louisiana, alaska, et cetera. let's look at the dean of political prognostication.

let's look at nathan deal. i think it's fascinating, and jason carter. these are two races that larry is looking at. not saying they're leaning democrat, but definitely not a slam dunk into ruby red states. these should be easy peasy lemon squeezy to quote michael. >> things are changing. when you look at moral mondays and some 6 the movements going on in the southern states, something is afoot. i think what's important for democrats to do is tap into these grass roots movements that are springing up all over the south. and they represent people to push back on the part of progress i was, because of some of these really extreme laws that have been passed at the local level. they created a lot of anger, a lot of dissent. i think a lot of people have realized what a mistake it was not to come out in these off-year elections. i think it's important for the democratic party to really tap into this movement, and this momentum that's rising up from

the grass roots. because that's where you're going to get your support and that's where the support is needed. >> jimmy, on the other side of that, "the new york times" talking about white southerners, their loyalty to the republican party is now basically approaching percentage-wise african-americans' loyalty to the republican party. talking about how polarized politics are along those lines. talk to me how the demographics play into the republican strategy. because this is the base they're counting on to come out for them in big numbers in the midterms. but are those same voters starting to notice that they're not getting the medicaid expansion when they paid the taxes for it? >> the biggest takers are the southern states controlled by republicans. most of the welfare dollars go to? those states. they really ought though rethink that. there's something bigger going on here. if you don't believe me, just ask reince priebus. he put out the great autopsy of the republican party and said they're going to die if we don't

appeal to other people besides old white people per se. he didn't say that, but that's basically what the report said. old white people eventually die. and if you don't replace the old white people with 35 and under, white women, latino men, latino women, african-americans, et cetera, et cetera, because your policies don't work for those people, like not expanding medicaid, or doing an exchange or whatever the issue is, marriage equality, then they're not going to vote for you, and they're not going to vote for your party. that's why there's a bigger problem for the republicans in the country at this point. the south is changing. if you told me in 1992, when i moved to washington, d.c., that a black man would run for president, in the next 20 years and win virginia twice, i would say you were smoking something illegal. he almost won it twice. he only lost south carolina and

georgia by 52% and 53% to mccain and romney. he won florida twice. rick scott is in big trouble. tara's right, the dynamics are changing and the republican party better get with it or they're going to become extinct in the next ten years. >> you know about old white people? they, too, get sick and need health care. jimmy williams, and tara, you guys are a great panel. we appreciate it. >> thank you. next, to the crisis here in chicago. an epidemic of violence is claiming more lives here than in iraq and afghanistan. what will it take to end the bloodshed? we'll talk solutions next on e "the reid report." for the first time the fda is proposing new regulations for e-cigarettes. [male announcer] ortho crime files.

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you can't even come to the park and enjoy yourself without this happening. like they shouldn't worry about violence. >> i'm not going to do it. >> we can't let the rise in temperature predict the forecast for violence on the city streets of chicago. >> any child where that laughter has been replaced by the familiarity of gun violence has their childhood taken from them. >> unfortunately a bad week. it doesn't wipe out what's happened over the last two years, but it's a wakeup call that we have a lot of work to do. >> that couldn't be more true, following the holiday weekend in chicago marked by excessive violence. some 40 people shot, at least 9 fatally, and dozens wounded. it's gotten so bad, chicago is

called america's murder capital. while locals have taken to calling their hometown chiraq. two stories from easter weekend, a teenager pushing a man in a wheelchair down south michigan avenue is shot twice in the abdomen in a drive-by shooting. story two, on the day before his 11th birthday, a boy riding his new bike in a south side neighborhood is fatally shot in the head in a drive-by shooting. the stories go on and on. sadly, there's no end to them. the easter weekend shootings came as federal authorities announced the specialized crimes unit to help rein in the gun culture. the announcement was low key made without a news conference or press release. when mayor rahm emanuel was asked about it monday, he didn't appear to have been filled in on any of the details, telling the paper, i don't know whether it means more resources, i don't know what it exactly is, but i'm pleased they're doing it. the goal of the 16-member task

force appears to be to lock up violent criminals. it's a step for sure, but does it appear the bigger picture of the problem facing the city. thank you so much for being here, jameala. you are in my city and i am in yours. so the story of these shootings that took place over easter weekend sort of brought back the story of violence in chicago. i want to read you something from nbc news.com. it talks about the murder having gone down and then it got warm. murders fell almost 20% citywide last year. according to the department data, in the first quarter of 2014 saw the fewest murders since 1958. but then the mercury started to rise. over the last two weekends, the first warm ones in the city this year, shootings spiked. from what you understand, was there some trigger to the sudden spasm of violence after you had started to see violent crimes going down? >> you know, the spike in

violent crimes when the weather -- when the temperature increases is not a new phenomenon, and it's something we've experienced in chicago for many, many years. it's something that cities across the country experience. you're outside, having a barbecue, someone gets into an altercation, and a gun is pulled. chicago has a brutally cold winter, so there are lots of less opportunities for people to be outside shooting. and getting into altercations with one another. but i don't think there's anything deeper to it than that. >> you know, one of the things that to me is the most tragic, becoming a cultural thing, in a kanye west song of calling chicago chiraq. i see where you've talked about that, and it's painful to hear the chicagoans using that term to describe this community. i guess the tie to it, and we did a stat coming in, there were more murders in chicago over the course of the year than u.s.

deaths in iraq or afghanistan. what do you think when you hear people calling chicago chiraq? >> i find it absolutely heartbreaking. i find it to be unacceptable, particularly for people who are over the age of 25. i think it's irresponsible for someone like kanye west or someone in the public eye to put the mantle or idea of chiraq on our city. it's not something to be proud of. it's tragic, it's embarrassing, and it's inaccurate in a lot of ways. even though there's been more deaths of citizens in chicago than american deaths in iraq, we're not the murder capital of the country. but i think in the death that you mentioned earlier, the shooting of the boy who was pushing the man in the wheelchair, they took place in 1994. the culture of violence we're seeing in chicago is not something new. it's something that i grew up with. it's something that people 10, 15, 20 years older than me grew up with. but we're living in a 24-hour

news cycle. there was no internet in 1994 to speak of. there was no twitter. you didn't have the nation's president coming from chicago. and living blocks from where a lot of these crimes took place. so there's a number of reasons why there's such an interest in what's happening in chicago right now. and that's certainly not to say it's not a crisis situation, or that it isn't something that the country should be concerned about. but i think for us to really look at how we get to a place where chiraq becomes a cover line for newspapers across the country, there's a lot more to it than simply chicago is a violent place. >> and talk about just briefly as we wrap up, the role of policing in this. how much have the police responded in a way that has been helpful and is there ways it's not helpful? >> there's been questions about the role of police in chicago for many, many years, dating back to, you know, the '60s, and the murders of fred hampton and mark clark. and the violent acts that were carried out against law-abiding

citizens at the hands of the chicago police. it's a relationship between the community and the police that i wouldn't say is beyond repair, but in serious need of repair. you know, when you know there are consequences on the streets of chicago for being labeled as the, quote unquote, snitch or participating in policing, we have a serious problem. but if we don't have police that represent the needs of the community, or who understand the community, or come from the community, you know, one has to wonder, how can these people adequately address the situation that's going on in our streets. how can they talk to gang members. how can they talk guns out of the hands of young people. and we have not seen that from the current chief of police, nor the last one. we haven't seen a strategy that works yet. >> i think rather than the rhetoric and slogans, i think you make an excellent point there needs to be solutions that need to come from the chicago community. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you, joy. update now op the graduation

backlash in topeka, kansas. the white house said first lady michelle obama will speak to the seniors the day before their official graduation ceremony. the scheduling change comes after more than 2,000 people signed a petition asking the school district to reconsider. they claim the first lady's visit would restrict streets and take focus off the students and their achievements. ♪ here's a good one seattle... what did geico say to the mariner? we could save you a boatload! ♪ foghorn sounds loudly ♪ what's seattle's favorite noise?

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the back seat of my subaru is where she grew up. what? (announcer) the 2015 subaru forester (girl) what? (announcer) built to be there for your family. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. when we asked viewers of this show, our readers, what's important to you, and what do you want to talk more about? hands down, your answer is 2014. are republicans really going to take over the senate? how are the democrats putting the fight back to early voting, and will they actually run on obama care? here's the thing. no poll can really tell you what's going to happen this far out from election. sorry, pollster friends. whether you believe nate silver or still even listening to karl rove, they're still that,

probabilities. while they're strategizing how best to gain in the midterms, moving the polling places to the hinter lands or requiring voters to show up with a birth certificate and driver's license or note from their mom, or pushing to put marijuana legalization on minimum wage on the ballot, putting the koch brothers on blast, the reality is, there really is only one dynamic that matters when it comes to our elections, and it is this. those voters who most favor government, who are most aware of their need for a strong federal government on fair wages, aid to the poor and the elderly, or universal 4e89 care, those voters who tend to -- those voters tend to vote more often in presidential years, they tend to focus on the president and more likely to become disenchanted with the president and voting itself when things go wrong. the voters most likely to say they dislike government, whether they depend on things like social security or medicare or federal subsidies, for the

cattle ranch, for instance, or demand smaller and smaller government because they see the federal benefits, those voters tend to vote more regularly, and from the bottom up. in midterm elections, when the state legislatures and governor and every member of the house are being eleblgd. this pew research center actually studied this back in 2006. what they found is that regular voters are more interested in local politics, believe the citizens' duty to always vote, feel guilty when they don't vote and more likely to describe themselves as angry with government. than intermittent voters. translation, the only strategy that actually matters in our elections is yours. will you act on, let's say, what you think your interests are, when there's no president on the ballot to motivate you, and despite the strategic barriers in front of you. that's not a question for the democrats or the republicans and their respective political machines, it's a question for you. that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you back here tomorrow

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this thursday on "the cycle," we're in for a dangerous several days for much of the nation. march hail, dangerous winds, even tornadoes could be in stale. i'm abby huntsman, up-to-the-minute details as they happen this hour. cycling now, potentially historic vote by one of college football's most prominent teams. will northwestern players form a union? sports, sports, sports, reporting in for sports. i don't think you're supposed to have the tar on your neck. >> politics goes to the dogs today. we got to paws for this moment at the state department this morning. i'm just saying, i think secretary kerry misunderstood the whole take your child to work day thing. >> all of that, plus take a trip

down abby's road. you may be pulled over by a detective. we've been very clear about the fact that there's not going to be a military solution to the problem in ukraine. but we have already applied sanctions that have had an impact on the russian economy. and we have continued to hold up the prospect, the possibility to resolve this issue diplomatically. >> day two of president obama's pacific tour dominated by ukraine and putin, instead of japan and prime minister abe. the president has some much-needed down time at 4:00 a.m. there, before saying farewell to the japanese emperor. up next, south korea later tonight. the president is holding firm to his hope of resolving the ukraine crisis diplomatically. the same goes for japan's