seek. >> mitch mcconnell survives the tea party but it is his democratic challenger who questions his kentucky wild cat decreed k. he claw back to keep his senate seat? drone justice, classified material will become public record on how the white house takes out american tariffs overseas. and tara the tackler, remember that cat? it was a hero. now she's honored on the pitcher's mound. the video you must see to believe. this is "way too early"! >> hey sh everybody. good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, may 21st. welcome to "way too early." a show that was a dog person kind of show until we met tara the cat. and jen is not keeping an eye on my pocket square today. it was a little banged up in the open. pocket square. hash tag. all right. so let's get to our top story today. the stage is set for november's

critical mid terms with several races in the books. republicans fended off threats from the tea party own multiple fronts. we want to start in kentucky. mitch mcconnell brushed back a challenge from businessman matt bevin. oefd calls the race immediately after the polls close. he is now going to face allison grimes who won easily in her contest. it promises to be a tough and expensive race. one democrats see as a real opportunity to knock off a republican incumbent and there are two candidates in the general election. last night a third name was getting a lot of attention. >> my opponent is in this race because president obama and harry reid want her in the race. the president who sold obama care to us on a mountain of lies. president obama's candidates preach independence but they practice loyalty above all else. and tonight i'm confident of

this. kentuckians are not going to be deceived. allison grimes is president obama's candidate. >> mitch mcconnell would have you believe that president obama is on kentucky's 2014 election ballot. president obama is not on tennessee's 2014 election ballot. nothing about this election will change who is in the white house but we can change who is in washington, d.c. and finally put someone for the commonwealth of kentucky. senator mcconnell, this race is between you and me. that's the name that appears on the ballot. >> a real slugfest going on there. ran paul delivered a message celebrating her victory. he called on party to come

together and promised to campaign across the state. grimes hit her opponent on women's issues. >> i'm here to tell you to night my fellow kentuckians, i am not an empty dress. i am not a rubber stamp, and i'm not a cheerleader. i am a strong, kentucky woman who an independent their. as kentucky's next united states senator, i'll answer to the people of this state. i won't answer to the president no matter who he or she might be. as a proud kentucky woman, i will speak for myself and no kentucky woman, mitch mcconnell will sit on the back bench. >> she is good with the presidential pro nouns there. in oregon, a pediatric neurosurgeon won the republican nomination for the u.s. senate race. she allegedly harassed her

ex-husband and former boyfriend. now on the other side, jeff americaly defeated a pair of challengers. he issued a memo before the race was called describing his opponent as deeply flawed. georgia's republican race for senate isn't quite so simple. the top two contenders facing a runoff election, there is businessman david purdue and jack kingston beating out more conservative candidates. now they go toe to toe and what is essentially a third campaign. the winner will take on democrat michelle nunn who skated to victory. she avoided attacks from republicans who are more focused on one another. but as our poll pointed thought month, nearly 40% of registered voters were unshare of nunn or had never even heard of her. in pennsylvania, even the backing of the clintons couldn't secure victory for a long time support woehr also happens to be their inlaw. last night former congresswoman

marjorie margolies lost her race by a 2-1 margin. her son married chelsea clinton in 2010. however, she served one term in congress in the 90s but lost re-election after voting for president clinton's budget. they helped fundraise in her come back attempt. her opponent is brendan boil who will now head to the general election in a district that is heavily favored for democrats. so it's been a really good week for advocates of marriage equality. pennsylvania is the latest state to overturn a gay marriage ban after a federal judge declared it to be unconstitutional. republican governor tom corbin haend said whether he'll appeal this ruling. however, couples gathered out site city halls across the state to celebrate the decision. official officials predicted an onslaught of marriage applications for today. pennsylvania follows a rulings in oregon overturning a marriage equality ban. there are 29 states that allow for same sex marriage or have struck down a ban. 44% of the u.s. population now lives in a state that has marge

equality. turning now to overseas news. a pair of car bokimbings in ni year gentleman left people dead with scores injured. car bombs tore through joss. the explosions were half an hour apart. witnesses say the second blast it killed rescue workers who rushed to the original scene. although no one has claimed the attacks, terror officials say it bears the hallmark of boko haram, the group that kidnapped 276 schoolgirls a month ago. there could be an explanation for the u.s. of drones to kill americans overseas. the justice department not going to appeal a court order to release the reasonings behind the decision. it take several weeks before the memo can be redakted. they say the government could order the killings of american citizens if they were operational leaders of al qaeda

or an associated force. the official says that leak was factored into the decision to make these memos public. we move on to business news for the day. stocks fell for the first time in three days after quarterly earnings from several retailers disappointed wall street. we have a live from cnbc headquarters with more on. this. >> good morning. stock futures are higher right now. it was a tough day forever markets on tuesday with the dow closing at a three week low. several retailers and comments from a federal reserve official says interest rate hikes may come sooner rather than later if the economy keeps improving. we get minutes out from last month's fed meeting and earnings from lowe's and target as the first earnings report since ousting the ceo. the recalls keep stacking up for general motors. the automaker announcing four separate action onz tuesday affecting 2.4 million vehicles worldwide. no deaths have been linked to

the latest recalls but the problems are serious enough for gm to halt sales of those cars and trucks. gm has recalled 13.6 million vehicles in the u.s. since early february. that's more than the total number of cars it sold in this country in the past five years. >> let's talk about the wage protest. we'll see another round of those today outside of mcdonald's. you know, they're united around the world really globally. we've been watching protests of people fighting back trying to get higher wages at fast food restaurants. >> as many as 2,000 protesters are expected outside the fast food giants' headquarters in illinois today. and more may show up at the shareholder meeting on thursday. they're seeking $15 an hour. the right to form a union without fear of retaliation from management. they plan to be very visible to the shareholders and executives including ceo john thompson. we respect everyone's right to protest peacefully. something to watch for, tom. >> we certainly will watch. thank you, my dear.

i appreciate it. >> a new lawsuit is once again questioning the culture of the nfl. eight former players are suing the league claiming the nfl knowingly used illegal narcotics to get injured players back on to the field of play. the lawsuit is seeking unspecified financial damages and wants the league to fund a program to help current and former players with addictions and injuries related to their use of those drugs. lawyers stla are more than 500 other former players that have signed on to this lawsuit. now this is the second high profile case against the nfl. you may recall last year the league settled a case that claimed the nfl concealed the risk of concussions from players. that case was settled for $765 million. so despite a great play-off and the league's draft lottery, the dark cloud of donald sterling continues to overshadow the nba. the "l.a. times" has obtained a 30-page document listing allegations the league will use to try to remove sterng ve ster owner. they accuse him of destroying evidence and providing false and

misleading information. sterling and his wife are not estranged and according to the report, the woman at the center of the controversy, was asked by sterling to lie to the nba saying it wasn't his voice on the recordings. now the commissioner adam silver couldn't avoid the controversy while speaking with reporters saying he is beyond angry over sterling's racist remarks. >> i know we're doing the right thing here. this is an unprecedented proceeding. will there be bumps in the road? presumably yes. mr. sterling, on one hand at least in his cnn interview indicated a willingness to accept the judgment of his owner-parters, niz lawyers are saying otherwise. >> sterling has until next tuesday to respond to the nba charge that's he violated the teeing's constitution. the hearing officially begins on june 3rd. crazy and some what disturbing scene from houston this morning. take a peek at. this a man caught on camera dancing neighboringed in the streets. apparently he was high on em balming fluid. we have seen some weird things

on the road before. so we want to break things up for a wednesday. for our twitter question, what are the weirdest things you've seen on the road? you know, when you nudge someone in the car and say that is the weirdest thing i've ever seen. tweet your answers to "way too early." we'll put the best ones up in the show. still ahead, the pacers look to hold on to home court advantage in the eastern conference finals. but lebron and wade have plans that they want to go down quietly. and stephen colbert has a few reasons why hillary clinton should stay out of the 2016 race for president. we'll hear from him around the cooler and that story and a check on the weather when "way too early" comes right back. >> susan lucci the 19th time was a charm. she won a day time emmy last night. her first win but her 19th nomination. she plays erica kane on "all my children" and thus ends the

longest losing streak in day time television. tigers, both of you. tigers? don't be modest. i see how you've been investing. setting long term goals. diversifying. dip! you got our attention. we did? of course. you're type e* well, i have been researching retirement strategies. well that's what type e*s do. welcome home. taking control of your retirement? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right.

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here we go. time for sports. start with the only play-off game last night, heat and pacers in the nba's eastern conference finals. straight to the second half. lance stephenson looking to put miami in a two-game hole. stephen son tied a career play-off high, 25 points in that game. lebron james and dwyane wade turned it up in the fourth. they either scored or assisted on every point in that quarter. james and wade combined for 25 points in an 87-83 win to even up the series at one game each. tonight the spurs look to go up two games to none at home against the thunder in game two of the western conference finals. who got lucky in the nba draft lottery last night? who? >> the second pick will be made by -- the milwaukee bucks and that means that the number one pick in the 2014 nba draft goes

to the cleveland cavaliers. >> that's right. cleveland. >> who? sounded like an owl. the calves win the number one pick for the second straight year and for the third time in the past four milwaukee gets the second pick followed by the sixers. >> cleveland is on fire. they also have johnny manziel. cleveland is the place to be. >> but didn't they get -- they got pan for the pick last year, right? >> yeah. >> we'll forget about that. >> all right. we're moving on. to the nfl now. the league has its location for super bowl lii coming up in 018. so where? >> football lii in 2018 will be played in minnesota. congratulations. >> minnesota! >> the media is so excited about aminnesota in february. >> bundle up. >> fantastic. all that stuff we had for sochi, you know, for the cold, we can break out for. this minneapolis beat out indianapolis and new orleans for this honor. the game will be played in the new vikings stadium that is

currently under construction. but, yeah. so 2018. >> the game is fine. a lot of people travel. there it is minnesota in the middle of winter. >> it's not as sexy as new orleans could be. to baseball now, yankees visiting the cubs. tanaka started the season 6-0. his luck ran out last night. 'loud a career high four runs in six innings, notching his first mlb loss after a 6-1 cubs victory. my sister was at that game last night. she on one of the roof top bars. >> who is she rooting for? >> she's an orioles fan so she was probably just drinking. >> we go to the miners. it started with an argument between albuquerque teammates miguel olivio. he has to be restrained before and after charging alex ferero. things escalated. the next inning, the two go at it. olivio bites a chunk out of his ear. see thim there?

he reportedly required plastic surgery. no charges have been filed yet. they're trying to put together a reel minor leaguers of albuquerque. >> the isotopes. >> jen likes that. always bring it back to "real housewives." we go back to the majors. indians show what it means to block out all distractions during an interview. >> the middle of the shrineup with him and victor is really probably not a better, you know, back to back hirtz especially with how hot they are now. you know, there will be times when you make pitches to them and they still get hits. you just have to try your best to not let that affect you. >> look at the composure of this guy, folks. >> what do you think a win like that last night does for the ball club? >> i mean hopefully it gets us a little bit of momentum, something to build off of. >> they're hitting 525. they go at him with a fastball. you don't mind that as long as you don't walk him.

>> you look like a powdered sugar donut. >> yeah, i saw baby powder flying across there. >> it's like a nickelodeon event. he keeps his cool. as for the game, the indians beat the tigers. >> how long was the interview? >> i don't know. he's very serious. >> you are like that? are you bothered easily? >> i'm bothered easily. easily. easily. yeah. >> all right. this morning we're dealing with some showers and storms if you're in d.c., if you're in kentucky, virginia, even through all of the ohio valley, today is one of the days bring the umbrella with you. we're going to see showers and storms. we had big storms in northern illinois and iowa with large hail. now we're dealing with right lane. also for southern misch, detroit has right lane, cleveland light rain. there is even very heavy rain and thunderstorms coming down from erie just all the way down to central pennsylvania. some will make its way to philadelphia, baltimore and d.c. this morning. then maybe another round of storms later today.

it's not like yesterday. there will be more humidity and showers and storms in the east. southeast, you're looking gorgeous number problems across the west. >> we'll take it. thanks, bill. >> coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," i have to fix this thing. i can never take being baby powdered, bill. i can't even take a crooked pocket square. the war of words is eating up between allison grimes and mitch mcconnell. it looks like nothing is going to be off-limits. when we come back here, we're going to huddle around the water cooler. damn this thing. i even have my double stick tapest how did the cat manage to throw out the first pitch at the minor league baseball game? look at this. magic pocket square. pocket square time. all right. we're back after. this mine was earned in korea in 1953.

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. welcome back, everybody. we took a look at a map showing the current state of marriage equality across the country. after afederal judge struck down a ban in pennsylvania now, 29 states allow for same sex marriage. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that less than two years nag december 2012, just nine states recognized marriage equality. let's huddle around the water cooler and check in with lewis who will give us an update of stephen colbert on why hillary shouldn't run. >> that's right. let's find out why he thinks

hillary shouldn't run for president in 2016. >> given the months she just had, i actually doubt very much whether she actually will run for president in 2016. >> folks, i believe i mean why would hillary run in the past few months? she's faced new benghazi allegations, the return of monica lewinsky, karl rove's speculating on her brain damage, and rumors of the only way she goot to the white house in the first place was by sleeping with the president. now, a lie probably. >> now thomas, she made national news when she lept in action to save a small boy from a neighborhood dog and now tara the cat is being rewarded every heroic cat should be by throwing the first pitchout at a minor league baseball game. >> who is that? >> the question on everyone's mind, how did the cat throw a baseball? here's your answer.

not exactly a strike but -- >> he throw the cat? >> no. he threw the ball there. >> okay. >> not exactly a strike. it wasn't the worst first pitch i've ever seen. the ball was attached to fishing line which is why it appears to be hovering there. this is at last night's bakers feel game. >> tara is better at football. she is more of a tackler. >> she is more of a tackler, yeah. more of a football player. >> thank you. super cat. earlier we asked wlau is the weirdest thing you've ever seen on the road. we have some of the best responses. >> so michael says here's a camel riding in the back of a truck in kuwait. >> that's something you don't see every day. >> don't see that every day at all. >> and it's down. >> yeah. it's like just chillin'. it's sitting down. bizarre. then our friend tweeted us again, he said i saw the geico bodybuilder tv ad being shot on seventh avenue up the street

from where thomas roberts does "way too early." >> we can't show ut individuyou. >> thank you. >> coming up next on "way too early," the stories in the day ahead and "morning joe" is moments away. we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is.

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welcome back, everybody. let's toss it over to "morning joe." the 9/11 museum opens the doors today. the display includes thousands of artifacts and oral histories including voice mails from victims as well as tributes from survivors and family members. the exhibit opens at 9:00 a.m. and it will cost $24. mcdonald's the world's biggest fast food chain faces more protest this is morning with 2,000 protesters expected to gather outside its headquarters in illinois. employees are calling for wages to increase to $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. president obama will sign a proclamation designating the oregon mountains deserts peeks in new mexico as a new national monument. this will protect the nearly

500,000 acres of land which also contains native-american land. that is going to do it for "way too early". "morning joe" is next. stick around. we all know that senator mcconnell has been in washington a little too long. so out of touch that he can't tell the difference between a duke jersey and a university of kentucky. well, let me set the record straight tonight for our senior senator who is out of touch with the commonwealth of kentucky, we all know washington is broken. it's not working for kentucky. and after 30 years, it is mitch mcconnell at the center of the gridlock of obstruction and extreme partisan