you know at least it rained. it would have been weird to have a beautiful spring day and have nobody show up. maybe next year they'll get their 30 million, you never know. or tomorrow. tomorrow, tomorrow, always a day away. keep faith. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. southern california remains a tinder box as thousands of firefighters look to get the upper hand on the wildfires. plus, heavy smoke posing new health scares this morning. the second leg. all eyes on derby winner, california chrome continuing its run for the triple crown. we'll go live to the preakness stakes in baltimore. hamming up it? don't miss my interview with don draper and his new role on the baseball diamond. brown versus the board of education 60 years after the landmark decision, have our nation's classrooms taken a step in the wrong direction? >> so today by some measures our schools are as segregated as

they were when dr. king gave his final speech. good morning, everyone. welcome to weekends with alex bit. here's what's happening new this morning. president obama on the offense in his weekly address saying he'll work to cut red tape from major transportation infrastructure projects with or without support from republicans. >> if congress doesn't act by the end of this summer, federal funding for transportation of these projects will run out. they have to put some of their projects on hold. in fact, some already are because congress won't clear up its own gridlock. if congress fails to act, nearly 700,000 jobs would be at risk over the next year. >> meantime, republicans are focusing their weekly address on the growing veterans affairs probe including reports of delays in care and falsifying

records at veterans hospitals. here's senator john mccain. >> it's been more than a month of allegations is that some 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the phoenix va were first made public. to date the obama administration has failed to respond in an effective manner. this has created in our veterans' community a crisis of confidence towards the va, the very agency that was established to care for them. >> and the fallout continues. va secretary eric shinseki has accepted the resignation of the undersecretary. he was set to retire later this year but his resignation is effective immediately. the first lady is challenging graduates. michelle obama spoke last night. it's the 60th anniversary of brown versus the board of

education which put an end to school segregation. >> many districts in this country have actually pulled back on efforts to integrate their schools. and many communities have become less diverse as folks have moved from cities to suburbs. so today by some measures our schools are as segregated as they were back when dr. king gave his final speech. >> nbc's kristin welker is at the white house with us. with a beautiful saturday morning to you. it looks beautiful behind you. kristen, i know there was some controversy ahead of the first lady's trip to kansas. how did it all turn out? >> reporter: she got a warm welcome, alex. i'll give you some background. the first lady was originally scheduled to speak today, the actual anniversary of brown versus board of education. students, family members complained there wouldn't be

enough seats. it would be limited if she was to speak today. she moved her speech to last night and ultimately everyone was happy with that resolution. the first lady's main message last night is that brown versus board of education is still being decided every day. she called on the students, the next generation, to continue to fight for diversity and to continue to fight against discrimination. now her comments come as we're just getting this new study from ucla which shows that in some states, new york, michigan, illinois, schools are bmging more segregated and have become more segregated in recent years. the first lady made a call to action yesterday. take a listen to a little bit more of what she had to say. >> there is no court case against believing in stereotypes or thinking that certain kinds of hateful jokes or comments are funny. so the answers to many of our challenges today can't necessarily be found in our

laws. these changes also need to take place in our hearts and in our minds. >> reporter: now we didn't hear from president obama obama publicly yesterday about this anniversary. i'm told that he really wanted the first lady's comments to stand on their own. he did meet privately with some of the family members of the plaintiffs from brown versus board of education as well as some members of the legal defense fund of the naacp and, of course, he did release a statement marking the importance of this anniversary, this 60 years since brown versus board of education. >> you mentioned the president. another statement is also the international day of homophobia and transphobia. the president released a statement. what did he say there? >> reporter: he did. the administration saying this day comes as we're marking the 60th anniversary of brown versus education. i'll read you what president obama's statement said. quote, at a time when tragically

we're seeing a time to oppress lgbt persons, we call on people to help with the equal rights of lgbt brothers and sisters and ensuring that they're treated with dignity. this is the ninth anniversary and it's being celebrated in 120 countries around the world, alex. another important milestone, alex, this is the tenth anniversary that same-sex marriage was legalized in massachusetts. "the boston globe" marking the day by highlighting a same-sex couple you see there on the front page. since then 17 states have legalized same-sex marriage, including washington, d.c., but, alex, as you know, this continues to be an incredibly hot button issue. just this past week conservatives met here in the washington, d.c., area to reaffirm their values, one of them their fight against same-sex marriage.

so this is something that is an incredibly divisive issue. >> yeah, may 17th, mark it down. thank you, kristin welker. a victory lap for india's prime minister. his party wiped out the congress party which has long dominated that country's politics. it's seen as a victory. president obama congratulated the new winner and invited him to the white house. developing now, the crews battling the cocos wild fire, they say flames are 50% contained. it's one of multiple fires burning including one of three fires burning near camp pendleton. jennifer is joining me from camp pendleton. also hearing about smoke reports turning health concerns in the

region, jennifer? >> reporter: yes, absolutely. the weather has been tough and the smoke is staying put. as strange as that seems, that is good news for firefighters because as the weather turns and comes in from the ocean, the breeze comes in, it's now keeping some of the air in place so the weather and the smoke is standing still over a lot of southern california regions. there have been some health advisories issues because of all the particulate matter in the air. today as we feel outside the weather is crisper. it's cooler and you can see behind me the city lights and ocean is farther behind me to the west. nice thin layer of fog. that's what we can expect later on this afternoon to be the best help for firefighters. the biggest firefighting tool that they have is the weather, and it's the one they can't control, alex. >> yeah. the weather there, the

temperatures will help out a lot. what about people who have been arrested in connection with these fires. a 57-year-old man who he was charged just yesterday, i believe. >> yes. he was actually arrested for adding brush to a fire about 150 acre fire that's already out and pleaded not guilty to arson charges yesterday. there were also two teenagers that were arrested after most of these fires had gotten started. they're not believed to be connected to any of the massive wildfires that have been burning, but it does raise some eyebrows. three people in the last few days arrested for arson, alex. >> nbc's jennifer bjorklund, thank you. a springtime snowfall, yeah, i said snowfall right there in the midwest. there's the proof. a dusting fell in michigan's upper peninsula. snow fell in chicago. virginia, too much rain. baltimore, the track conditions

are pretty sloppy for the pimlico after the heavy rains on friday. will it dry up in time? nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer is here with the forecast. good morning, dylan. >> good morning, alex. after two inches of rain in baltimore, we are going to see things improve. it's drying out. the weather looks pretty nice especially in parts of the mid-atlantic down into baltimore. the heaviest of the rain is moving into new england. we also have some lighter to moderate rain showers moving through northern arkansas and into parts of the southeast. you can see in baltimore, no rain. there could be a spotty shower later today. we are still looking at the two inches of rain creating sloppy conditions on the track. either way, weather wise it looks partly cloudy with temperatures in the lower 70s. it's also going to be dry out in the southwest. california really needs the rain. you can see with high pressure in control, they are not going to get it. temperatures are still high. 80 in los angeles. cooler in san francisco. in the hot zone, that's where it

is going to stay in the 80s and 90s with that dry wind. not helping firefighters out that way. elsewhere across the country the warmest temperatures along the south. san antonio, texas, 80 degrees. east coast. after a rainey day should dry out temperatures in the low to mid 70s. elsewhere we are looking for a couple of spotty thunderstorms in denver. dry down through florida. we will get showers in the southeast. tomorrow still looking good in the northeast. 65 in chicago so starting to warm up. still stays dry. l.a.'s temperature should drop down into the lower 70s. any relief we can get with the heat is looking good. >> dylan dreyer, thank you for that. this morning in turkey, a fire broke out in the mine where rescue workers were searching for the last of the missing in that country's worse ever mining disaster. moments ago two more bodies were found. joining me now from soma, turkey, is richard engel.

with a good day to you, richard, where are the recovery efforts this morning? where do they stand? >> good morning. turkish officials say that they have recovered about 300 bodies so far. they don't believe there are many bodies still inside the mine, and they don't think there are any survivors, but the recovery efforts have been hampered once again today because this fire in the mine, the fire that initially caused the tragedy which recovery workers and management have put out occasionally have once again resumed slowing down the efforts to remove these last what turkish officials say, bodies in the mine. there was a lot of anger in the community not just because the recovery operation has been fairly slow. we don't have a final death count here, although it appears it will probably be just over 300, but their anger is at the response of the turkish government. many in soma, this is the

miner's hometown, believe that the turkish government has been callous and insensitive to this worst ever mining tragedy in turkish history. for the second straight day today in soma, there have been violent clashes. protestors, some of them the family members of the miners took to the streets to denounce the government. the government today and yesterday sent in riot police with tear gas and water cannons. today at least ten lawyers who were out on the streets expressing solidarity with the miners were detained. they are also angry here because of a video that has emerged that appears to show prime minister erdogan while he was surrounded by an angry mob slaning a man. a turkish paper quoted erdogan, you boo the prime minister, you get slapped. that pretty much encapsulates how many here see the government's response, sending in the riot police and the prime minister slapping demonstrators.

>> yeah. >> the prime minister's office says there's no evidence that he hit anyone. >> you know, richard, you know this country very well. you were there for the violent protests in istanbul over this past year. do you get a sense that the anger against prime minister erdogan is reaching a breaking point? >> reporter: it's very hard to know, and we've been having this discussion ourselves over the last several days because erdogan has been accused and his entire government and his family have been accused of corruption. about a year ago there was that violent month when protesters were attacked in istanbul in the park if you remember. there were still trials going on in this country when the police are being accused of excessive force. there have been other times when protesters have gone out into the streets only to be tear gassed and clubbed and arrested. journalists are behind bars suh

there ha -- so there have been a number of incidents. many times people thought this is going to be the one that pushes erdogan over the edge. there have been elections fairly recently. erdogan's party did well. he's still managing to hold on because the economy in this country is still fairly strong. it's been showing signs of weakness recently but in general over the last decade, which is when erdogan has been in power, the turkish economy has been strong. >> very interesting. thank you to that insight. appreciate it. the war against chocolate milk in connecticut also ready to run but will kentucky derby winner california chrome continue his winning streak to the triple crown? aleve... ...for all day relief. "start your engines" and that's epic, bro, we've forgotten just how good good is. good is setting a personal best before going for a world record.

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senator john mccain is issuing some sharp criticism this morning in reaction to the widening va scandal. >> i respect the important role

of the inspector general, but my fellow veterans can't wait the many months it may take to issue its report. they need answers, accountability and leadership from this administration and congress now. clearly the va is suffering from a systemic cultural problem that congress cannot resolve with peace meal responses. well, the senator's comments come after the resignation from the undersecretary of the va. long appointment waits, treatment delays and falsified records. let's bring in two guests, a good morning to both of you. lynn to you first. republicans, are they going to be satisfied with this resignation? is that going to be enough? >> no, it's not. good morning, alex. here's what's going to happen. the republicans are going to keep calling for shinseki's resignation at the same time that they'll be asking him to

show them how he's going to do some tangible improvements in the system even while waiting for the inspector general reports and whether their investigations may be launched out there about this horrible situation. >> yeah. ed, you write in your recent article eric shinseki is safe on call toll hill for now and echoing the sentiments of john mccain, you quote senator johnny isaacson of georgia. he's been ill served which is part of the systemic problem. so -- or he's been oblivious is what he goes on to say to all that's happened here. how do you see this playing out? >> well, you know, he survived really the first full week of full blown attention on this because -- mr. shinseki because he has maintained mr. etty good relationships with lawmakers through the years. they understand he's been trying over the course of the obama administration to work on back log, homeless veterans, for example. this is potentially the tip of a

very big iceberg. lawmakers increasingly concerned that there could be similar situations in their own states. the scandal couldn't come at a worse time. you have benghazi, the scandal at the irs. the election is approaching. this is pointing out the obama administration isn't running the government as well as it should and republicans should have more oversight control by taking control of the senate. so far calls for resignations have come from more partisan republicans and from republican congressional candidates. you look at guys like john mccain, johnny isaacson and house speaker john boehner. they haven't gone there yet. i think if shinseki can demonstrate he's taking some steps, perhaps he'll save himself while trying to clean up the department. guys, i want to get back to benghazi and i put it that way. we've been talking about it and it seems to be heating up. we have speaker john boehner who has selected seven republicans

for a special house committee. now there's a senate republican calling for a select senate panel on benghazi. so what was it that senate republicans missed that from boehner? why create another select committee when we're trying to consolidate? >> part of it is that there's interim competitiveness. it also may be that the democrats have a little different approach and maybe wanting to join in to that panel. it's still up in the air about what they're going to do on the house probe. what is interesting here is that when you have a select panel, they can go across the board. they're not limited by authority that a specific committee might have and that's why the republicans who are fueling this are arguing they need a select committee, because you need somebody to get the big view and even though the opponents of these committees say we've done this before, the argument back

is, well, no one has done it who could go across the board and try to connect dots in a different way. >> for fear of not getting to this next topic i'm going to lead with you on this, ed, regarding new jersey governor chris christie. he's set to meet with jewish leaders in new york city delivering a keynote address at an awards gala. it is the appearance coming after he reportedly apologized to super donor sheldon adelson, for using the term occupied territories. what do you expect to hear from governor christie and are there still any doubts whether he will run? >> i think he made it clear in an appearance in washington that he's certainly thinking about it and taking steps to prepare to run. part of it is just dealing with the situation over in his own state regarding the traffic jams at the bridge, but clearly, you know, making appearances in washington, going to las vegas, having this event here in new york, all signs that he continues to lay the groundwork. he made the argument this week

that bridgegate is going to be an afterthought by the time we get around to primary season. we'll wait and see. i would expect that some of his opponents might hang it outs as an example of potential mismanagement of the state. he's clearly willing, eager and focused of running as president and laying the groundwork. i think the big potential problem for him is whether someone like jeb bush gets in. he could potentially suck the room dry of all the types of donors and support he would get for people like for example jewish donors in the northeast corridor. a big chunk of money not only for him but other potential candidates. he's clearly thinking about it and we'll see how the next few months go. >> ed o'keefe and lynn sweet, good to have you both here. thank you. >> take care. the kill switch. it's the last thing thieves want you to be able to do with your phone. we're going to explain it next in our three big money headlines. jon hamm tells me why he will always be partial to done draper.

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in today's three big headlines, making the switch. regina lewis. with a good morning, regina, our first headline, making the switch. that's something police think might help stop smart phones. >> it's called the kill switch. this week minnesota became the first state to enact the law that in july 2015 all smart phones will have something called a kill switch which enables you to disable or kill the phone remotely should it be stolen. i didn't realize, alex, a very big issue, last year, 3.1 million americans said they lost their phone. a third of all robberies involved a smartphone. of course, if you're able to kill it and disable it making it the functional equivalent of a paper weight, there goes the

ability to steal. >> what about claims adjuster and better news on the economy. >> jobs claims, joblessness was adjusted below 300,000. that's a seven year low. now we're back to prerecession levels. typically what happens is when job claims go down, that is followed by an increase in hiring or maybe even increase in wages so the real question now becomes will that pattern hold. could this be a precursor to a real comeback? >> okay. let's hope. >> finally on the home front, some positive news for folks looking to buy a house. >> yeah, well, the 30 year fixed mortgage is 4.2%. that's a 6-month low. not as low as last year. gives you a runway should you want to refinance. housing starts up this week but not so much in the suburbs. interestingly it was more about multi-family house, apartments, if you will, closer to cities. housing starts are a big economic driver. they drive so much spending. when you think about it, what's the first thing you do when you get a new place, you head to

home depot, a garbage can, mattress, television. the housing numbers have broad ramifications. >> pretty positive big money headlines. thank you so much. good to see you. regina lewis. >> sure. now this news. an update on tuesday's mine disaster in turkey. here's an update by the numbers. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance.

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bevin. joining me, mark murray. good saturday morning to you, mark. >> good morning, alex. >> how is it looking for senate tore mcconnell and what are the headlines for tuesday? >> senator mcconnell is looking pretty. nbc marist poll showed mitch mcconnell a 32 point lead over matt bevin. huge lead. mcconnell's biggest challenge will be a general election. the same poll found him one point be ahead of allyson grimes, the democratic challenger. some of the other things we'll be watching on super tuesday is that exact kind of establishment versus tea party and so mitch mcconnell seems to be doing pretty well against tea party challenger matt bevin. in georgia, david purdue and jack kingston. two established people out over some other tea party folks. right now it looks like it might be a very good tuesday for the republican establishment. >> yeah. let me head to november. in addition to the kentucky senatorial race, you have

another three states where the senate races are really heating up. let's talk about those and why you want to watch them. >> there are three. the first one that's important is for the arkansas senate. our nbc marist poll ended up showing mark prior had an lead over tom cotton. it shows democrats can win in southern states. alex, i think this race will be very close. this is one of the southern red state races that we'll see. the other race i'm interested in is colorado senate. for the opposite reason. this is one of the blue purple states. president obama won colorado twice. the question is can senator mark udall, the incumbent, hold on. he has a challenge from republican cory gardner. the third one is the louisiana senate. the reason we'll watch this. we won't have an outcome until december. louisiana holds its elections a little bit differently. it's a free-for-all on election day in november. in the top two people if no one

gets above 50% have a december race. alex, it's very possible we might not know the control of the senate until december, not in november. >> oh, good. another cliff-hanger. when you look at some of the biggest domestic debates right now, we're talking same-sex marriage, legalizing marijuana. how important are the gubernatorial races this year in terms of policy? >> oh, well the gubernatorial races are always important. you're right, alex. the states are always seen as the laboratories of democracy. they're the ones pushing a lot of change before it gets to washington, d.c. also just as importantly, these gubernatorial races allow the big rising stars to the party to come forward and the democrats, you know, outside of hillary clinton if she decides to run in 2016, their bench is starting to look pretty weak. they want to be able to use the gubernatorial contests in places like pennsylvania to have up and coming rising stars in their

party. similarly, republicans want to hold on to their gubernatorial edge that they have in the 50 state mansions across the country. it's always important. we pay a lot of attention to the senate and house races because we're here in washington, d.c., alex. the gubernatorial races are just as important if not more so. >> do you think there's a possibility of a shift in direction with all of these in play with 36 seats? >> possibly. both republicans and democrats have vulnerable incumbent so for democrats, they're eyeing the governor's mansion in florida, in maine, in pennsylvania. the governors -- the republican governors there pretty unpopular according to polling. there might be competitive races particularly when it comes to florida and then maine. alex, republicans are looking in illinois the incumbent democratic governor there is unpopular as well as maybe even connecticut, too. both parties have their eyes on taking over some of those

governor's mansions. >> yeah. we cannot talk about the gubernatorial races without mentioning the idaho debate this week. >> uh-huh. >> at the request of the governor, all the contenders in this race were invited. not surprisingly there were a couple of interesting characters, shall we say, that came out of the woodwork. self-proclaimed biker, harley brown. here are some of the highlights. tune in, everyone. here it is. >> mr. brown, your closing remarks. >> well, this has been a great honor. after god told me he was going to make me president i went out and got the presidential seal tattooed on my arm. i was living in fat jack's cellar because my ex-wife gave me trumped up restraining order. one day a bishop came over. i says, yeah, you mind putting that in writing? he said, sure, you have your choice, folks, a cowboy, a

curmudgeon, a biker or a normal guy. take your pick. thank you very much for leaving it up to you. >> oh, my gosh. they called this a dastardly fete of political genius. do you think this? this kind of a side show that we're seeing, is that going to work to paint the governor as the only reasonable option for a normal guy? >> alex, there's one other point. the governor, butch otter, is receiving a tea party challenge from russ vulcher. so if you wanted to be able to take away any momentum, this is their one debate they're having before the primary on tuesday. if you wanted to take away any momentum from fulcher, have two other people on the stage. there was another man by the name of walt bays who said some very interesting things there as well. you make the debate about these people and not about the challengers to be able to

outshine the incumbent governor. that's what the strategy was. the governor, butch otter, demanded that the other people participate. >> there has to be proud parents in the state of west virginia. there was a big surprise. 17-year-old sarah blair beat out the incumbent, larry cump. do you think she can make it? she's not in college. >> she's 17 but this is a very republican district in west virginia, alex. all indications are that she's probably going to win. it's important to note that her father is a state senator from west virginia. pretty good name i.d. the thing i thought most interesting about the whole race, she couldn't even vote for herself. she's too young. but it looks like that west virginia might have a very, very young state legislator come next year. >> okay. we shall see. with your help as always, mark murray. thank you so much. >> thanks, alex. we voyage to the bottom of the earth to make an alarming

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connecticut fof nor jan molloy is refusing to sign a bill banning chocolate milk. a startling new warning from nasa. melting glaciers in western apartment arctic ka has reached the point of no return. it tracks glacial movement in nearly two decades. joining me, michael mann, author of the hockey stick and the climate wars. michael, welcome to you. just how bad is this? >> hi, alex. it's good to be with you this morning. this is something many of us have feared for some time. we've learned now that the antarctic ice sheet or a large part of the antarctic ice sheet, the west antarctic ice sheet has

gun an inevitable collapse which will contribute to sea level rise. ultimately about 3 meters, 9 or 10 feet of sea level rise. that means that we're going to see more sea level rise than we had originally envisioned over the next several centuries. >> okay. but beyond raising the sea level and potential flooding, what other meteorological effects of melting glaciers? >> if you look around the world, it's not just the melting of the ice sheet, there's the loss of the sea ice. if we look at the decline of sea ice in the arctic over the past several decades, the changes are taking place faster than we had expected. faster than the models have predicted. that could have a fairly widespread cons is he kwengs for the larger pattern of climate change. if you lose that, it means the earth absorbs more of the

incoming heat from the sun. that means the globe warms faster. it's what we sometimes call a positive feedback. it's a bad thing. it's an aggravating effect. it's a vicious cycle. the decrease in arctic sea ice may be changing the pattern of the jet stream perhaps in a way that gives us the very odd weather patterns that we saw in the u.s. this past winter. >> and nasa calling this, michael, as we were indicating at the top here, an irreversible state of decline. is there anything that can be done to mitigate the damage? >> well, unfortunately not. what's happened here is that if you look at antarctica, it's sort of shaped like a bowl because there's a huge mass of ice on the continent. that mass of ice spills out over the oceans and forms what we call ice shelves. the ice shelves actually provide buttressing. they stabilize the inland ice, and what's happened now is there's been enough melting from beneath those ice shelves because of the warming of the

southern ocean that the inland ice is losing that stabilization and that means it's going to begin to calve icebergs into the southern ocean. it will raise sea level. >> as you know climate change has become intract bli political. we saw that when senator marco rubio was asked about his stance. >> how big a threat is climate change? >> i don't agree with the notion that some are putting out there, including scientists, that somehow there are actions that we could take that would impact our climate. our climate is always changing. >> let me get this straight. you do not think human activity, the pro tux can of c o2 is causing warming? >> i do not believe that human activity is causing the dramatic changes to the climate the way the scientists are portraying it. i do not believe that the laws they propose we pass will do anything about it except it will destroy our economy. >> what's your reaction to that? >> well, it's unfortunate, of course, to hear words like that

coming from a very high level representative of our government, in this case influential senator. you know, the science is very clear here. the u.s. national academy of sciences, all of the major scientific societies in the u.s., the american physical society, the american chemical society, more than 30 other physical societies, the world's scientists have reached a consensus. climate change is real. global warming is real. it's caused by us and it's going to be a problem if we don't do something about it. now there is a worthy political debate, a worthy policy debate to be had about what we do about this problem, but there is no longer a legitimate debate to be had about whether the problem exists or whether there are risks. >> michael, in just a couple of seconds can you respond to the article you wrote how the keystone pipeline, do you think that plan is dead in the water? >> well, i don't know. i hope it is because if we build the keystone xl pipeline and we start exploiting this very dirty

and expensive tar sands oil, then it means that we are committed to decades of going in the wrong direction. at a time where we need to bring our global carbon emissions down, we would be adding to them and worsening the problem of climate change. >> michael mann, many thanks for your insights. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> it is madman jon hamm in a big screen role. does he prefer to be a sports agent over an ad exec? i'll talk to him next. oh! the name your price tool! you tell them how much you want to pay, and they help you find a policy that fits your budget. i told you to wear something comfortable! this is a polyester blend! whoa! uh...little help? i got you! unh!

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the star of "madmen" is making a new pitch this weekend. it's a story about a sports agent who turns to india to find his next big star. ♪ >> how are you going to know if anyone can throw it if you have your eyes shut? >> i can hear it. that was about a 43. >> bin go. >> joining me now is john hamm.

do you love baseball and can you throw a wicked fastball? >> well, i don't know how wicked it would be, and i don't know how fast it would be, but i can throw a ball. we'll put it that way. i do love baseball. i was born and raised in st. louis so it's kind of in our dna there. i'm a fan. >> that may be part of the reason you did this film. it's been described as "jerry mcguire" meets "slum dog millionaire." >> first of all, it's nice to be compared to two movies i like, but what made me do is something neither of those have. it's a story that's incredibly inspirational. it's a story about a couple kids getting an opportunity to succeed against all odds.

and really working their tails off and succeeding against all odds. not only that but it's a story about my character who kind of comes up with an out of the box idea, sees it through to completion and changes his life basically because of it. it's a bit of a departure from the guy i play in my day job. >> talk about your day job. is he is the anti-don draper? what makes him different? >> i don't think he's anti don draper, in the same way -- i can't think of another person. like fonz si is different than don draper. >> what character do you like better? >> well, i will always be partial to don draper since i've

live lived with him for ten years, but he's not the greatest guy. he has his moments, but he's not the greatest guy. but j.b. is a real person. it's different portraying an actual human being that you can have a conversation with because you're standing next to the person that went through the actual story that you're telling. >> is that tougher to do that, to play a real person? do you feel the pressure tough get it light or are you allowed your own interpretation? >> i think both. you definitely don't want to be false in your portrayal because the guy is right there and can say that didn't happen that way. j.b. has been incredibly helpful to the film and incredibly giving of his time and of his story. we're so happy to tell it it.

it's an inspirational story, it's ans a operational story, it's heartwarming, it's a great message for kids. this idea that if you work hard enough you can achieve what you want seems to be getting lost in this generation of just like, no, i deserve everything. not to turn this into a social political discussion, but it's a lovely message. and the boys that the story focuses on are two of the greatest kids you'll ever get a chance to meet. i was inspired by their story. i hope other people are as well. >> tell me who you think will be going to the theaters this weekend to see "million dollar arm." family affair? >> definitely. another reason why i chose the film. it's nice to be in a movie that my friends can take their kids to and not be embarrassed. so, yeah, it's for all ages. >> it's on my list of things to

see this weekend. john hamm, thank you so much. have a good one. >> thank you, you too. that's a wrap of this hour. join me at noon eastern. vagt ahead "up." you don't know "aarp" thanks to the aarp tek program, this guy is spying on his new grandson. aarp tek gets people better connected to technology, to better connect with each other. with social media, digital devices and apps. if you don't think "hashtag love dad" when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp" find more surprising possibilities and get to know us at aarp.org/possibilities predibut, manufacturings a prettin the united states do. means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs.

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another e tea party revolt brewing? good morning and thanks for getting up with us. overnight, public anger has continued to grow in the wake of the coal mine fire in turkey that's killed 301 miners. yesterday the government of turkey sent in riot police to remove the families of the miners from outside the mine. it's not because they need to contain the protesters because they have been peaceful and lighted candles and lined up mining helmets to represent the