>> the creator and writer of "veep," he actually wrote that whole white house correspondents dinner spoof with julia louis-dreyfus and joe biden. got a tip on that, but he's a great guy. he's really got his finger on the pulse of d.c. and he's british. >> and he's british! >> who'd have thunk. >> from a crumbling empire. >> crumbles. >> hey, if it's way too early, mark halperin, what time is it? >> it is "morning joe." right now stay tuned for mr. charles todd. >> i love charles, he's in charge. gone to carolina in my mind. vulnerable democrat kay hagan could find out today who's her midterm matchup. will the gop establishment prevail or will a last-minute house call force a senate primary runoff? plus, more heat and drought.

more superstorms and floods. more damage and more money to fix it. those are the daunting headlines of a new climate report from the white house this morning. we'll talk to white house counselor john pedesta about what action the white house should be expected to do. and ohio may brag about being home to the most presidents, but why hasn't there been one from there in nearly a century? a tdr 50 take on why the road to the white house never starts in ohio anymore, even if it finishes there. good morning from washington. it's tuesday, may 6, 2014. take a listen. there it is. you know what the music means. there are people voting somewhere, because it's tuesday, but it's not just any tuesday. it is the start of a six-week gauntlet. half the country is going to be headed to the polls over the next six weeks and it all starts today in three states. so let's get right to my first reads of the morning. just soak in the music, right? doesn't that make you feel good?

get you fired up? polls are open right now in north carolina, ohio and indiana, and it's a primary hat trick, kicks off this may mayhem. a month-long series of primary contests, stretches across nearly a dozen states from the deep south to the great plains and on to the pacific northwest. today the race to watch is in the tar heel state. it's the latest round in the epic battle over the last four years that's been the tea party versus the establishment inside the republican party. today it's a battle for the u.s. senate nomination in north carolina. it will go a long way toward setting the narrative which will develop over the next month. does the tea party movement have any bite left and will republicans snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and lose the prospect of losing control of the senate if they end up nominating weaker, general election candidates. that's what this next six weeks is about. thom tillis, backed by the chamber of commerce and american crossroads has the advantage in what is a very crowded eight-way

primary. it's clear tillis will be the top vote-getter. will he break the next 40% vote getter to avoid a runoff. he must win that 40% to avoid a july 15th, deep in the summer runoff. tea party groups are divided between physician greg brannon, libertarian tea party activist who supports a return to the gold standard and tillis' closest competition so far and then there's mark harris, bap tis minister who has the support from more evangelical christians that are in north carolina. the race has become somewhat of a 2016 proxy fight. if you need to understand the divisions inside the republican electorate in north carolina, all you need to do is look at the potential presidential candidates who decided to weigh in on the primary. how do we know tillis is the establishment pick? jeb bush backed him. in a tweet jeb wrote tomorrow is election day. join conservatives across north carolina in supporting @thom tillis, a proven leader running for u.s. senate.

mitt romney also announced his support for tillis on monday. but in case it isn't clear that brannon is the libertarian favorite, yesterday kentucky senator rand paul didn't just tweet for him, he stumped for him in charlotte, pointing to brannon's experience with health care laws as an ob/gyn to draw contrast with tillis and making not so veiled criticisms of the establishment side of the party. >> i see a lot of people who are working class, blue collar workers. i see people of every different race and ethnic group, much more so than i do in the republican group. >> and then there's former arkansas governor mike huckabee, he's endorsed and campaigned for the evangelical favorite, mark harris. the person who may be watching the margins tonight very closely, though, is actually the democrat in this race, the north carolina incumbent, kay hagan. she is likely to benefit the most if no one cracks 40 and the republican race has to stretch out for another two and a half more months. the hagan campaign is trying to

weaken tillis and boost his republican competition. most recently paying for mailers to republican voters saying tillis called the health care law, greaquote, a great idea an they echoed that claim in some radio spots. >> politicians, these days you got to watch them close, real close. here's republican senate candidate thom tillis describing obamacare. >> it's a great idea. >> that's right. thom tillis called obamacare a great idea. tillis even supported an obamacare exchange in north carolina. so thom tillis thinks he can attack kay hagan over something he calls a great idea? >> the origins, by the way, of that great idea, quote, it was an interview several months ago. tillis was critical of the health care law before concluding that it was a great idea that can't be paid for. it's a quote he says with sarcasm that hagan took out of context. we'll bring you much more on all of the other primary races to watch today over the next hour. but we had to start with that

big one. now let's turn to the other big political headline this morning. just a half hour ago the white house released what it calls the most comprehensive scientific assessment ever generated on climate change and its impact across every region of america and major sectors of the economy. but will the president take any meaningful action in the long run? can he change the politics on this? today's 1300-page report shows the average temperature in the u.s. has gone up at least 1.3 to 1.9 degrees since record keeping began in 1895. more than 80% of that temperature rise has happened just since 1980. in fact according to this report, the last decade was the hottest ever recorded in the united states. today's new climate assessment predicts that temperatures will rise another 2 degrees over the next few decades. in fact this rise in temperatures brings different problems to different parts of the country. in the northwest, according to this report, more coastal flooding will happen.

in the southeast, it would mean more severe hurricanes. the midwest would suffer more droughts followed by flash flooding and in the southwest, more drought. water resources will be strained in the northwest. alaska could get an earlier thaw. what does that do? it would impact the ecosystem. and then there's hawaii, which could also suffer from the rising temperatures as well. experts say we're seeing the effects of climate change just this week. an extremely dry winter has contributed to this massive wildfire that's consumed 3,000 acres in central oklahoma. california is in the middle of a massive drought, measuring only 18% of the usual snowpack in the sierra nevadas. the climate assessment predicts the opposite problem for the gulf states and the atlantic seaboard. this week pensacola is dealing with widespread flash flooding, something they haven't seen in decades. experts say rising sea levels and storm surge could cause even more damage like we saw with superstorm sandy. sunday the u.n. general

secretary made this dire warning on the issue. >> if we do not take another direction, all our plans to increase prosperity and security will be undone. >> in political terms, president obama's power seems very limited. last june the president pledged to cut carbon emissions and require more fuel efficient cars. last month a federal appeals court ruled the epa can enforce emissions standards on coal and oil-fired power plants. but on the hill in january, the house energy and commerce committee voted down an amendment that would even acknowledge climate change is taking place. every republican on the committee voted no. the president talks in broad terms about climate change, most notably in his second inaugural address. >> we will respond to the threat of climate change. knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.

>> so far we've heard a lot about the problem without seeing solutions that can weather this hostile climate that's in congress. i'm joined now by the senior adviser to the president, in many ways the architect of what we saw today in this plan. good morning to you, sir. >> it's good to be with you, chuck. >> obviously the hardest part of dealing with the climate issue is the politics behind it, and it seems to me, and correct me if i'm wrong, the report today, the president's time that he's going to be spending with meteorologists today in interviews, it seepz thms that e made the decision that you hope to change the perception of the climate issue by having people view it through the prism of weather. fair? >> well, i think this is the most comprehensive, authoritative report ever put out on the climate impacts on the united states. i think it's actionable science. i think it will help people really understand what's happening in every region of the

country and that, i think, can lead to political action. so, you know, the president will be talking to meteorologists who, i think, have an important role in public education on this topic. you know, we look forward to further action. the one thing i disagreed in your setup, you did a great job on the report, but we have the capacity to do a lot in this area. we've already done a substantial amount to reduce emissions from some autos -- >> let's go through that. >> and from power plants. >> the emissions front and on -- and on raising the standards, that power is there. i guess walk me through what it is you believe you can do unilaterally, but what is it that can't be done without congress? >> well, we're going to move forward with rules to regulation the emissions coming from existing power plants, which will have health benefits for the public across the country. that will be coming forward, a proposal on that will be coming forward in june.

we're doubling the amount of renewable energy on public lands. we're increasing the efficiency of appliances, both in the commercial sector as well as in the home appliance sector through action by the department of energy. we've had the biggest expansion of renewable energy in really on record, ten times the amount of solar power deployed since the president came to office, triple the amount of wind, so a lot is going on. there's a lot of action to take. it would be helpful to have congress move forward. for example, the senate intends to consider a bill on more energy efficiency this week but we're working with the private sector as well as with our public authorities to move forward. if they can't begin to act. you know, you noted this great number of republican members who voted against the idea that climate change is even happening, and i think maybe we'll send them all a copy of

this report and they'll be able to see what 300 of the leading scientists in the u.s. said and it's been peer reviewed, including by people from the oil and gas industry. >> does the president still believe that clean coal technology is a possibility, that there is such a thing as a clean coal technology? >> well, the department of energy continues to invest in carbon capture and sequestration. i think there's a -- that's an important investment in the future in research and development, because coal is not only burned obviously in the united states but across the world. the biggest increases in coal-burning fire -- coal-fired electricity is in china and now increasingly in india. >> and let me ask you one final thing on keystone. i know you said when you came into this job you recused yourself on lobbying, i guess, against keystone. you were active -- >> no, i didn't say that, chuck. >> okay. explain to me what you did. >> i said i wouldn't work on it because my views were well known

and i think people might question whether i was impartial about it, so i'm not working on keystone. and as i noted, my views are well known on keystone. >> but when we're looking at this and climate, the president is going to be asked about keystone today. where are we on this? >> well, it's under review by the department of state. they just noted that as a result of the nebraska court decision, the route is now in -- is up in the air so they're going to have to wait for that court decision until they can finalize the interagency review and then make a final decision. >> i guess i don't understand why you did sort of say you weren't going to lobby on the issue. why not? >> why do you keep use the word lobbying, chuck? >> okay, you know what i mean. lobbying -- why not make your case to the president? >> the president knows my views on keystone. and i think that -- again, i think people would have questioned by impartiality, but my views are well known on keystone. >> all right.

john podesta, we'll be watching this. the president sits down with a slew of meteorologists this afternoon to talk more about this report, is that correct? >> that's right. >> all right, john podesta, white house senior counselor on this climate report. thanks, sir. >> thanks, john. an elite military unit is heading to odessa was the crisis in the region escalates. i'll have the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee here next to talk about what he'd like to see the administration do. new developments in nigeria, boko haram reportedly just kidnapped eight more girls and we're hearing for the first time from one of the nigerian teenagers who escaped the kidnapping. first a look at today's planner. as we told you, people are voting today. ohio, indiana, north carolina. but there's other stuff going on today. there's an important foreign relations hearing on ukraine. we'll be right back. ion...i'm n. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me.

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ukrainian leaders are in a desperate fight to keep their country from splitting apart. the government in kiev says new military operations have left dozens dead. the unrest that has spread across eastern ukraine and south to odessa where at least 40 people died friday. white house press secretary jay carney addressed the violence monday. >> the events in odessa dramatically underscore the need for an immediate deescalation of tensions in ukraine. the violence and efforts to destabilize the country must end. >> kiev leaders have since fired the acting governor of odessa and are sending in elite national guard unit to try to keep the peace. the question is, what can the u.s. do about this? joining me is new jersey democratic senator bob menendez. his committee is holding a hearing on ukraine later this afternoon. i know we're already tight on your schedule there, senator, my apologies for that. let me start right away. there is not -- it doesn't seem

anything we've done so far with sanctions, with the europeans, with the united states, has worked to get putin to back off. what do you do now? >> well, this is a question of continuing escalation of the pressures so that it's part of putin's equation not to enter eastern ukraine. although at this point without sending any of his troops over, although we believe he has some special forces in eastern ukraine and certainly intelligence entities that are part of creating the unrest in various cities across eastern ukrai ukraine, he is probably acquiring a lot of what he wants without having his troops cross into eastern ukraine, and that's creating a turmoil for the ukrainian government, creating separatist movements, and so the bottom line in my view is what we've done has been the right

calibration, but we need more of it. so we need to look at companies like rosneft, gazprom and the arm exporter that's sending arms, for example, into syria and contemplate sanctioning companies as well as individuals, and i think those three, which the first two are creating enormous disruption in energy supplies in ukraine and threaten other elements of europe as well would be pretty hard hitting. >> would you do this without the europeans if necessary? >> well, look, i think that the europeans are important. we have a $40 billion marketplace with russia. they have a $500 billion marketplace with russia. we need the europeans to understand that it's in their own continental security that these issues are being fought out over. they're a little bit more cautious and calibrating about it, but so far american

leadership has brought them to a certain point. i think american leadership may be necessary to bring them further down the road. but we'll alternately pursue the military invasion. >> define what american leadership is on that. is that doing sectoral sanctions on our own and hoping the europeans follow rather than waiting for the europeans to agree? >> i think there are several more individuals who can be sanctioned. there's a few more. and then looking at specific companies, which are targeted, not necessarily sectoral, are important. and then the last one that you consider are sectoral, but i think there's still some more to be done in targeted sanctions that aren't sectoral that i think the european union would join us with and would hopefully get the russians not to enter eastern ukraine. >> what would you tell a

constituent about what u.s. national interest is in ukraine? >> well, first of all, it is about making sure that countries that are trying to move to the west into democracy, which means that we ultimately are more engaged in commerce and less likely to have any conflict with them, is in the national interest of the united states and also the world is watching what's happening in the ukraine. china is watching to see what the united states and europe do as it relates to russia's aggression. they're looking at territories in the south china sea that japan and south korea claim, which are our allies, and saying, well, if the west does nothing here against putin, why not advance against those territories. iran, that's negotiating with us across the table as to their nuclear weapons program will decide we can take this negotiation farther to our benefit because at the end of the day the west won't do

anything. i could go through a half a dozen countries in the world for which we have critical interests that are going to be calibrating based upon what we do here. >> and i know trying to read putin's mind is a task that not everybody succeeds at these days. do you believe he just thought the u.s. would walk away, europe would just sort of let him do this the way, frankly, europe has let him do this in smaller areas close to the soviet union or the old soviet union as he's been reaching out to these old republics. did he just assume that we'd all look the other way? >> no, i think putin tests the extent to which the united states and europe will act. i mean you saw it in georgia, you see it in moldova now, of course in ukraine. and as i've said to our european allies when i met with them both here and earlier this year in brussels, they have to calibrate

at what point their own security is involved and what messages they send to the russians. but putin only understands strength, and either military or economic strength. we're certainly not talking about military actions here, but we can clearly send him an economic message. and since russia's economy is no longer the old soviet union command and control economy, its economy can be affected by our collective actions. >> do you want this action -- before i let you go, do you want the u.s. to take more action before the may 25th elections? >> well, i want to do everything possible to make sure the may 25th election takes place. i think that's an important foundation for ukraine moving forward. i think we should calibrate what is necessary to do that. we'll have to see that as each day passes by. you know, this friday, may 9th, is victory day for the russians, what they consider the victory over the nazis. and in putin's, you know, painting of the picture of

fascism, i think this friday will be a milestone we'll have to watch. >> senator bob menendez, thank you for coming on. again, i know we held you over a little longer than we said. my apologies for that. thank you, sir. with news this morning of eight more abductions, there's mounting concern for hundreds of teenage girls that were kidnapped from their school in nigeria three weeks ago. now for the first time we're getting an eyene neswitness accf what happened during the kidnapping. one of the 16-year-old girls who escaped spoke to the associated press. she said at first when the armed men burst into their school, the students were relieved. the men said this, don't worry, we're soldiers. nothing is going to happen to you. but the girls soon realized the men were members of a terror group, a group by the name of boko haram. she said there were too many gunmen to count, but as soon as they saw an opportunity, she says, quote, we ran and ran, so fast. that is how i saved myself. i had no time to be scared. i was just running.

demonstrations are now being held across the u.s. and the world, but the nigerian government seems paralyzed. andrea mitchell has been covering this story very closely. >> the leader of the nigerian terrorist group declaring monday what the world already knew, that his group, boko haram, had kidnapped the girls, saying i will sell them in the market by allah. i will sell women. boko haram, which means western education is a sin, had captured more than 300 teenager girls from a government boarding school in northeast nigeria. some already sold across the border into cameroon and chad, say officials there, but more than 200 remain captive. >> these are the girls who are triumphing in high school, they're on a road to become nurses, doctors, teachers, and now they're being sold for $12 each. >> now international outrage from tweets to the streets. activists and celebrities. hillary clinton, malala, the

pakistani girl who survived a taliban attack, mary j. blige, all joining in a social media campaign with the #bringbackourgirls. >> give kudos to all the brave people that pushed it on social media. now it's not only about social media activism but people are going out there to protest, raise their voices, sign the petitions and push for accountability. >> reporter: nigerian senior jennifer helped organize a rally later today in washington. but so far the u.s. has limited its involvement. >> is the president considering sending american troops or perhaps special forces into nigeria if asked to help find these young women? >> i have not heard of such a request or consideration. >> if it's requested would the president consider that? >> it's speculation but i have not heard even -- >> u.s. officials say they would help, but as you heard there from jay carney, nigeria simply hasn't asked. the world economic forum is gathering this week in, guess what, nigeria's capital, so there are a lot of international

leaders that are expected to put even more pressure on nigeria's president to do something to bring these girls home. well, you know what we say here, if it's tuesday, someone is voting somewhere. there's a lot of somewheres today. more on what to watch as you watch the returns tonight. but first, today's tdr 50 trivia question. who is the most senior democratic woman in the house? we already -- we just gave you the clue, it's a tdr 50 question. you know what state we're profiling this week, right? figure it out. first person to tweet the correct answer to @chucktodd and @dailyrundown will get the on-air shoutout. the answer is coming up on "the daily rundown." [ male announcer ] imagine this cute blob is metamucil.

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craig robinson. the brother-in-law to the president was fired from his position yesterday after six seasons with the team. in those years as head coach, robinson failed to take the beavers to the ncaa or nit tournaments, but he will leave the school as its fourth winningest coach. oregon state had no basketball program before he got there. he had three years left in his contract and is owed more than $4 million by oregon state. the first family has often attended oregon state basketball games when they played against teams in washington. in fact craig robinson made it a priority to make sure every winter he scheduled somebody, gw, au, even georgetown. up next, the democrat trying to unseat ohio's republican governor. and on thursday, you don't want to miss this, i've got an exclusive sitdown with the senate majority leader, harry reid. what isn't there to talk about? we'll talk about a lot, including the democrats' fight to try to keep control of the senate and what he plans to do this year as an agenda to get

anything done in congress. much more of course ahead on tdr in 180 seconds. we'll be right back. hey. i'm ted and this is rudy. say "hi" rudy. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] i'd do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. that's why i'm so excited about these new milk-bone brushing chews. whoa, i'm not the only one. it's a brilliant new way to take care of his teeth. clinically proven as effective as brushing. ok, here you go. have you ever seen a dog brush his own teeth? the twist and nub design cleans all the way down to the gum line, even reaching the back teeth. they taste like a treat, but they clean like a toothbrush. nothing says you care like a milk-bone brushing chew. [ barks ] nothing says you care like a milk-bone brushing chew. ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your lifestyle in retirement? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need.

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turning back now to our top story, of course, in politics. if it's tuesday, somebody is voting somewhere. and today it's in primaries in north carolina, indiana and ohio. today's primary election in north carolina will be the first time voters go to the polls since the state's new voting law was passed in august. the highest profile part of the law, the photo i.d. requirement does not go into effect until 2016. advocates on both sides will be watching the impact on the ban on same-day voter restrags and the restrictions on early voting. gop senate nomination in north carolina may be the top prize but the senate race is far from the only race we're watching. republican congressman walter jones faces the most serious political threat of his two-decade career in congress

from former bush administration official taylor griffin. this is your typical establishment versus tea party. jones is an anti-war republican and griffin has questioned jones' republican credential. in the seventh district, republican outside groups, chamber of commerce, american action networks have spent $400,000 on ads supporting james rosier. rosier lost to retiring democratic congressman mike mcintyre in 2012. in north carolina's second district, clay aiken is hoping to follow in the footsteps of celebrities turned politicians like sonny bono, al franken and ronald reagan but he's hard a a slam dunk. ray ellmers is -- moving on to indiana, a state known for wild challenges in the past. just recently think about

senator richard luger's defeat by richard murdoch back in 2012. but there are two republican membe members facing tea party challenges. we'll see if those folks pop in the results tonight. we'll also be watching how the fallout of the state's same-sex marriage vote ends up playing out. three republican legislatures in the northeast part of the state in indiana are facing primary challenges after the general assembly delayed the enactment of the constitutional amendment until at least 2016. finally in ohio, congressman john boehner's challenge from j.d. winteregg who is known for losing his job after making fun of boehner's name may be taking up oxygen. it's the first test of the fire brand republican governors elected on 2010 who are on the ballot this year. the governor is in better shape than anyone would have predicted

after he got bogged down in his unsuccessful fight to change the collective bargaining agreements in ohio. his job rating has gone from a low of 30% in march of 2011 to 51% in a february poll in quinnipiac. meanwhile the unemployment rate has steadily dropped. it's down from 9.1% when he was sworn into office to 6.1% in march. he is touting that turn-around in new campaign ads. >> i've always had a sort of an underdog mentality about things, because, you know, because you have power or because you have wealth, so what? economic growth and prosperity shouldn't be limited to a few. >> his democratic opponent is former fbi agent and current cuyahoga county executive ed fitzgerald. he faces nominal primary opposition from an unemployed dayton area man by the name of larry eli, a former male dancer who has filed no campaign

finance reports or paperwork other than his 1300 signatures that he needed to actually get on the ballot. so what about this governor's race that's going to be a lot more heated in the fall? i've got cuyahoga county executive and the likely democratic nominee, ed fitzgerald, on the phone with me campaigning around the state. mr. fitzgerald, good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, how are you? >> let me just ask you this. i showed the basic message of john kasich when he was trying to unseat governor strickland four years ago, was mostly focused on the economy. you look at the economic indicators, the numbers look pretty good. what's the fireable offense as far as you're concerned? >> yeah. because we're actually living with the reality behind those numbers, so to give you a perfect example. in the march job numbers, for instance, in ohio, according to the bureau of labor statistics, it showed that our unemployment rate went down by 0.3 of a point

and that was actually resulted in a net creation in a state of 11 million people of 600 jobs. everything else was people leaving the labor market. and so you really have kind of a tale of two cities here because you have certain statistics that the governor likes to cite, but if you ask most people in ohio if they agree with him that the economy is a miracle, they don't see it at all. this is a state that is still very much struggling and actually as you and i are talking, i'm on my way to a town in southeast ohio where 1,000 people lost their job last year and governor has refused to even speak to them about the situation. so this is still a state where especially middle class people around working people are still very much struggling. >> do you think that the -- there's been an unintended consequence of the president's re-election campaign in ohio touting the fact that the economy improved in ohio, touting the fact that the auto bailout as far as the president was concerned worked in ohio?

do you think that ended up oddly benefitting john kasi krcch tod that the unemployment rate is down because of it and this has helped him because there is a feeling in the state that things are better? >> well, i mean it's helped in that after senate bill 5, which was the anti-labor provision back in 2011, his re-election numbers were typically in the low 30s. and now his re-election numbers are typically in the low 40s. so, you know, i suppose it might have helped to some extent, but he averages a re-election number of 43%, 44%. last fall by public policy polling which had him winning every single -- all through 2010, has us tied at 44% apiece. i do think that the auto rescue was very popular in ohio. unfortunately for john kasich, he like mitt romney was opposed to it. so he just has a very mixed

record. he's trying to mark himself as a presidential candidate. it's not going over very well here because, again, it's not just his talking points on it, it's what people are actually experiencing on a daily basis. >> all right. ed fitzgerald, i'm going to leave it there. i know you're campaigning around the state today. as this race gets more heated, i assume i'll have you back on the show as well as the governor. thanks for coming on. stay safe on the trail. up next, why ohio hasn't fielded a presidential candidate in almost a century. that's right, it's tdr 50 time coming up. our deep, deep look at the states that we all love around the country and this week it's ohio. that brings us to the soup of the day. today we went to cincinnati's famous montgomery inn boathouse to find out what they're serving up. by the way, they overlook the ohio river. today the soup of the day there is cream of chicken soup. we'll be right back. vo: once upon a time there was a boy who traveled to a faraway place

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at first glance, it would seem like a pretty easy question and answer. which state is home to the most u.s. presidents? but it's all about how you phrase the question. both virginia and ohio claim to be the home to the most presidents. on virginia's tourism website, it says virginia provided four of the first five presidents of the united states, eight in all, more than any other state. on the page for ohio secretary of state it reads this. quote, more of our country's presidents come from ohio than any other state. so who has the bragging rights and who's correct? who will get the pinnochio and politico fact? let's go back and take a look. the key is william henry harrison. he is the most important name on this list and here's why. he's claimed by ohio as well as virginia. okay. ohio became a major industrial state after the civil war and sent three presidents in a row to the white house in the late 1800s. ulyss ulysses s. grant was born there but left to join the military. he was joined by hayes and

garfield. from garfield we skip ahead to benjamin harrison who moved to indiana. then there was william mckinley. william howard taft was also born in ohio, cincinnati, and warren harding served in the ohio senate, was elected the state's lieutenant governor and represented ohio in congress. that brings us to william henry harrison, born in virginia. he's still claimed by the buckeye state since he served in the military in ohio. he married an ohio girl. he moved his family to the state and served as an ohio congressman and senator before becoming president. well, joining me now, "new york times" columnist and author, gail collins and she's the author of a william henry harris harrison biography. gail, i didn't know this until yesterday that you are the world's most foremost expert on william henry harrison. >> that's overwhelming. >> so explain this -- so where do you come down? does he belong to ohio? does he belong to virginia? >> you know, there's a southern

saying about just because a kitten is born in the oven doesn't make it a muffin. he was born in virginia. he left. wherever you run for office from is where you're from. william henry harrison was definitely from ohio. >> so you would tell the virginia state board of tourism, sorry, you're not the mother of presidents anymore. this moniker belongs to ohio. >> maybe you can be the mother of the presidents but whoever raised them was ohio, so no, sorry, virginia. >> well, that's fair enough. you know, what's been interesting when we are having a little bit of fun with this, neither state -- here's a state that has provided 15 presidents separately since there is the disputed eighth on each side, but it's been 100 years since either state has done so. do we look at it because ohio is maybe such a swing state and there's so much time and energy poured into it that candidates there don't end up as presidential candidates, they get beaten up?

is there any reason for this or do we think this is just a historical happenstance? >> well, it's partly just because the sun trcountry's cen moved. when ohio was having its heyday and virginia was having its vie heyday, they were the points of the economic center of the entire country, and it is that, you know, the country has gotten bigger and moved farther, and the most amazing thing about ohio is that all of the presidents had disastrous presidencies. poor ohio is lucky they didn't have anymore presidents, because a cup coll of them were assassinated and william henry died a couple of months after office, and grant and hardy had scandals, and hays stole the election and just as well for ohio that we are moving forward. >> and this is an interesting point, is there a successful ohio president? >> well, william howard taft did

well, and after the first term, his mentor turned on him and ran as a third-party candidate and destroyed the chances of another term. but he was probably the most succe successful. >> and since you are the foremost expert of william he y henry? >>le with, i loved him because he had kids who had kids and supporting 90 million people, and so he spent the entire presidential life scrambling for the money. he was the chief clerk of the courts in cincinnati when he was running for president, because he needed the cash. >> that is interesting. anyway, gail collins, and a lot of moniker and parts of the

resume, and now we have one more that should always be included in the bio. >> i am honored. >> the foremost living expert on william henry harrison. thank you. >> and marcy kaptur is the most senior woman in the house, and we gave you a clue when we said it was a tdr question. and the winner is robplacek. send your questions to the daily rundown. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas.

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take away time and there is one more point i want to make about the upcoming may primaries, and that is turnout. we know it matters, but there are different ways to assess what the turnout means. since 2012, i have noticed that we have seen the voter turnout down in races across the country, and why is that? well, let me tell you the

numbers first. new jersey governor chris christie won the election in 2013 by a landslide, but it was the lowest turn out for a gubernatorial race since 1990. and in new jersey, that number in 1999 was nearly 37% in virginia. and let me tell you about the record low turnouts in mayor's cities. l.a. elected a new mayor and only 23% vote and the lowest in years. and new york city set a new low when they elected a new mayor and that is 24%, and in boston, that number was 38%. so the question is whether this trend for 2012, and 2012 was a turnout that was a down election, and is it a unintended question of polarization? i think it is. but keep an eye on one party, and if it is to ignite a change, more voters will turn out to the polls, and we saw it in '06 and

'07 and even 2010, and if it is just about politics, then the base will show up and not the persuadables or the folks in the middle, and that is what is going on and why we are seeing a trend on this. and that is it for the "daily rundown" and coming up next is chris jansing. i will see you tomorrow. hi, i'm meteorologist bill karins and on this tuesday, nice travel weather a across the nation. some rain out there in the northern plains, but we are free of thunderstorm activity today, and that is good for the turbulence reasons, but it is going to be windy and warm for pretty much the southeast through the midwest today as it is 90 degrees in san antonio. have great day. prep for his presentation. and when steve is perfectly prepped, ya know what he brings? and that's how you'll increase market share. any questions?

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get tout vote. house speaker john boehner and clay aiken, two big names in primaries across the states, and we will tell you why north carolina is the one to watch. and a hard-line from the white house as the president takes a new climate report straight to the meteorologists. is extreme weather eer in the forecast? the white house is drawing the bold battle lines over the climate change. and bridgegate is back. a former christie aide is expected to testify this hour about what she knew as the new jersey governor tries to keep the 2016 buzz alive.