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 partisanship that we

see. >> what an attack from a female of all things. good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, may 21st, welcome to "morning joe." thomas, you're awake with us. we have senior political editor and white house correspondent ben stein. we have so many notes today. are you prepared? >> and the host of "way too early" thomas roberts. and from capitol hill ron fornier. ron, good to have you. >> news on the obama administration? >> what? >> yeah, if you look over, willie, closer at sam's notes, mika and i can see, half of them are chemistry notes. >> oak, okay. >> huge advantage. a.p. calc. the. >> i was going to say, i was

never in that class. >> i don't even understand -- what is that? what is going on there? >> forget it. >> a math class i took, seriously, in ninth grade. >> oh, my goodness. >> 1960, they can't have that. >> yep, yep. well, we're counting something. the stage is set for november's midterms. several key primary races now in the books as "usa today" that republicans have enough threats from the tea party on multiple fronts. let's start in kentucky that's the big one where senate leader mitch mcconnell won. mcconnell, he'll now face who you just heard from allison lunder gren grimes who easily won they are contest. and that promises to be an expensive and tough race. sees it as an opportunity to knock off a republican incumbent.

there are two in the general election, but last night, a third name was getting a lot of attention. take a look. >> my opponent is in this race because barack obama and harry reid want her to be in this race. a vote for my opponent is to vote for obama care. barack 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. alison lundergan grimes is barack obama's candidate. >> mitch mcconnell would have you believe that president obama is on kentucky's 2014 election ballot. president obama is not on kentucky'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. >> now, she is a female candidate. >> yes, she is. >> and this is yesterday. >> yes. >> you know what i mean? >> yes, she is a doctor what -- >> it was mitch mcconnell talking about another candidate, he was so impressed with her that he said she is a female neurosurgeon. i stopped in my tracks. are you kidding me? did you have to check, like a veterinarian, seriously. who uses the word "female?" >> you call a woman a female? my boss is a female. arianna is a female. really?

sam, trust me, you have not -- >> i haven't. >> was he more surprised she was a woman or a doctor? >> i think she was surprised she was a female. >> what else happened last night? >> that was senator rand paul delivering a message celebrating mcconnell's victory. he called on the party to come together and promises to campaign across the state on behalf of the republican leader. he chimed in as well. meanwhile, the woman we're talking about alison lundergan grimes hit her opponent on women issues. >> i'm hear to tell you i am not an empty dress, i'm not a rubber stamp and i'm not a cheerleader. i'm a strong kentucky woman who is an independent thinker as kentucky 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. >> well -- >> that's quite -- >> and so it begins. >> i have a feeling this one's going to get a little dirty, this race? >> you think? >> in a good way. >> you know, i don't know, it's obviously, she has a tough -- she has a tough road. this is a state that is republican. he is likely to take in some of's bevan supporters who said they would never vote for him, whatever the cause of the election. but they're going to come back and likely vote republican. so she's got a tough road. but i do think it's going to be -- he's in one of the worse

position incumbent senators in the country. >> you know what, maybe so, but he oozes warmth. like a warm blanket. >> he doesn't that going for him. but i was in louisville this past weekend, there are so many things named after mitch mcconnell in the state of kentucky. he has done so much to that state with respect to bringing home bacon and making sure that this name is on it. i think that will ultimately take -- >> can i ask you what took to you louisville this weekend? >> bourbon, actually. nothing actually. on the trail. >> oh, we'll talk about that. >> you're distracted, willie. >> you know what's interesting, willie, how far we are away from last fall with government shutdown, with the republicans at war. civil war, civil war. you could say it's a civil war. it was an open outright fighting.

and you look, before the final votes were tallied, mitch mcconnell had gotten a check from erick erickson, influential conservative blogger. and then you had freedomwork, the senate majority fund. all of these groups trying to beat him, immediately, saying we're on his side. >> well -- >> that just wouldn't have happened last fall. >> i know you'll say, well, gee, that's just a safe thing. but, no, these groups, this was a movement who was defined by what jim demint said which was i'd rather have 30 people in the senate who think like me. than have the majority of republicans in the senate. and, you know, we talked about it after the government shutdown blew up, you can tell all of these groups have felt pressure since then from republican donors and conservatives. saying we want harry reid out as majority leader. boy, you saw it. there's no civil war in the

republican party, at least from what i saw. >> i think part of it, too, they realize they picked the wrong guy in matt bevan. >> cockfighting. >> they should have researched more on the cockfighting thing. it's the scarborough doctrine. i think you're seeing more of that now. maybe a correction to what happened two years ago and before that, we want to keep our conservative principles, but we have to win above else because of barack obama and harry reid. >> right. it's all a passage of time. 2010 happened in the republican party. because republicans from 2000 to 2008 were absolutely shameful on big government spending. on big deficits and big debt. i'll be self-serving saindon i was one of the few people on the national scale that was saying it over those eight years but by

2010 there were a lot of conservatives saying wait a second, why do we want republicans in charge again like the bush years. i think enough passage of time comes when they come together. >> i want to get to casey. but first, let's get ron to chime in. ron, any chance that mitch mcconnell will be bumped up by the bevan -- you know, the fight to win the primary at least? >> yeah, i agree with everything everybody there was saying. including i think he's in for a pretty good fight. she's one heck of a candidate. what was a really impressive performance last night. so it's going to be a tough fight. i just agree that the establishment won last night. i agree that the republicans have got the best slate of candidates. scott cheney and his friends at the chamber of commerce, they won, they got the slate. and i wonder, chuck, if we look back, are we going to say that

the establishment won or has the tea party won? this has been a party moved farther to the right by the tea party. we may have gotten the best candidates out of the pack. but they're still very conserve candidates, much more conservative than they would have been four or eight years ago. and harder to elect overall. and the scheme of things comparatively to the other folks on the ballot. but a very conservative group of candidates i think is caste of where we are. >> think of that, ron, i mean, so many conserve is tiffs have been called rhinos over the fast three or four years when they're conservative candidates. i've always said it's never been about ideology, it's about resentment. we nominated a lot of oily stupid people in 2010 and 2012. i'm not even talking about their positions. just generally unskilled, bad amateurs run 2010 through 2012. because they oozed of

resentment. the next time you can ooze of resentment, don't be stupid on the campaign trail. they were. >> my point is, tell me if you disagree, the smarter group of candidates are pretty darn conservative than they were had it not been for the tea party? >> yeah. i think again, on economic issue, mika, that's a great thing. because republican spending from 2001 to 2009 was shameful. >> so ron was talking about how impressive -- >> of course, democratic spending was worse. >> right. ron was talking about how mitch mcconnell's opponent is looking fairly impressive let's bring in nbc news political reporter casey hunt is live in louisville, kentucky. casey, you've got a sneak peek at her next piece of strategy. >> reporter: hey, mika, yeah, let's not forget that a big part of this race is going to be a race to define alison grimes coming out in the wake of this

primary. her campaign is trying to do that. they're send herg to beattiville, kentucky where is where mcconnell made that comment it's not his job to bring jobs to kentucky. they're going up with this ad on the air. >> this is a frustrating time for the economy. people are struggling, people are working harder for less. and here in kentucky we feel it more than most. it seems no matter how many elections we have nothing gets better in washington, it only gets worse. in both political parties, if we keep sending them back, nothing will change. >> reporter: so, she goes on to say that she wouldn't answer to any president, as we saw her say in her speech last night as well. clearly attempts to try to portray her as the fresh face who will change things in washington in contrast to mcconnell. mika. >> right. fresh face, independent thinker, separated from the obama presidency. you definitely saw her making that case fair and strongly. let's go to oregon, monica

webby, a pediatric neurosurgeon, i can't help but call her female now. she faced allegations that she allegedly harassed her ex-husband and former boyfriend. he issued a memo before the republican race was called describe be had his opponent as deeply flawed. merkley is founding the first seat since 2008. >> what do you think about allegations. and they were allegations. i think one of the guys is actually working for her now. i'm just curious, as i saw news anchors reading this story i was sitting there think they go would be the first people complaining in the green room. going it was a divorce. it was a whatever. and how dare the new york post or "the daily news" write about

just some allegation. and i'm just curious. >> yeah. >> i don't know, is that fair game? >> no. and i want to know what he did. >> know what she did? >> no, i want to know what he did? >> what who did? >> the man she hit. >> one of the police reports said she threw a pad of paper. in the police report as cokie roberts was reading yesterday it was either a cut or a bruise and it may have been a zit. >> you know what they say, a paper cut is the worst kind of cut. >> the deepest of all. >> other than of course -- >> other than a hacking cut. but a paper cut is like number two. but, no, why do news people, why are the news people talking about this? and of these allegations. i just -- maybe that's how we want to deal with politics, that's fine. >> well, there's also a blogger's picture. i think we were talking about it

yesterday in the round of dirty politics and things that are not fair game. thomas. >> i think that's definitely right. when you don't have something that you can tangibly go after that makes more sense, you get a little down in the mud. so that's what's happening here. and we've seen male politicians that have been vilified for being cads for things going on in their personal lives. it doesn't make it fair, it doesn't make it right, but it gets people talking about it. >> i think it's perfectly failure -- i think it's perfectly fair to discuss this. i just don't think it should be the determine tiff issue on this candidate. i mean, i've determined this. on the one hand, i feel like it's her personal life. we don't know the true story. on the other hand someone mentioned to me what if se and it was a male politics accused of harassment of throwing something. >> i'm sorry, that would be different, actually. if the guy were 6'4" and threw

something -- well, i just seems like an unbelievably cheap shot. and that happens in politics. but should the media be covering -- >> but they should be -- >> but merkley is already saying she's, quote, deeply flawed. and the code stuff starts. >> i believe they should cover it. it shouldn't be a huge story. >> if there's anyone at this table that hasn't had a fight with someone they that they love deeply that it's gotten intense, please stand up. >> yeah. >> mine never says -- mine are never police reports. >> no zits on your police reports? >> no. you have great skin. georgia, the republican race in the senate isn't really clear cut, but the top two contenders are facing a runoff that's going

to last forever. >> businessman david perdue and jack kingston. the winner will take on democrat michelle nun who skated to victory. so far, she's managed to avoid a tax on republicans that are more focused on each other. more than 40% of voters in the state were either unsure of nunn or had never heard of her. >> i think it's going to be a fascinating election. every week we go, oh, republicans are going to take 800 seats and then next week, no, this poll -- but when you look at what's shaping up in kentucky, and you look at what's shaping up in louisiana, and luke at what's shaping up in georgia, you could have three democratic women. even though, in louisiana, marry landreau is lagging in the poll. >> she'll be back. >> she's going to be back. you could have a very big republican night. a very big democratic night.

the control of congress is up to the house. >> louisiana and carolina and georgia. that georgia race is brutal. to raise money for nine weeks, like 2 1/2 months, it's a third. and only then when you get into the runoff are you into the general election. it's one of those inside/outside. kingston has been there for 11 terms but then there's this man who is the outsider. it will be an interesting race. >> it's like the siege of stalingrad. >> kingston's opponent has tons of money. he's but 10 million bucks in this race already. >> this is an establishment versus tea party battle, even though kingston is not a tea party guy. perdue is mr. chamber of commerce. mr. republican establishment. he's sort of the aura, or the

essence of bob dole oozes out of this guy. he is an establishment republican if there ever was one. >> and i think the republicans are going to regret a nine-week runoff. that favors obviously nunn. >> i think the thing that you got going in the general election in georgia and arkansas, dynasty democrats. sons and daughters of famous democratic candidates using that brand to push back against the obama brand. when sam was on the bourbon trail i was on the barbecue trail in arkansas last week -- >> cheap shot, ron. >> i was on the barbecue trail with a little bit of bourbon watching mark pryor, the son of david pryor, trying to push back what is a very deep anti-obama sentiment in arkansas. he's actually doing fairly well, because of that brand that can hold back a national wave but also because of peculiarities of

state politics, his opponent isn't the best candidate out there. it's interesting to see how the democrats have insulated themselves from obama with candidates. we have a lot more to cover. joe are there any gm cars that haven't been recalled? i'd like to know. that is what one paper is asking as gm finds even more safety problems with their vehicles. plus, this morning, one group is raising serious questions about our nation's national security. should we pay more or less attention if it's coming from the people who first led the department of homeland security. and two pages in an arizona high school yearbook are drawing both angry calls and strong reports. what's on those pages that has it so split but first bill karins' report. >> good morning. guys. yesterday, very impressive hail fell in iowa and illinois. we're talking some large stuff. smashed windshields.

this is golf ball to baseball sized hail from a neighborhood in illinois and also iowa saw up to two-inch hail. look at that. very impressive. as far as this morning goes, we're not going to see anything like that. we do have rain out there, carter umbrella in the ohio valley, mideast and mid-atlantic, we've got showers and storms heading your way. northern michigan, northern ohio, from toledo and cleveland, we've got showers four. as we go throughout the day, all of that is going to push down. we have a lot of rain in central pennsylvania, that's going to head down from baltimore and d.c. the humidity is up. it's not going to rain all day but you will see downpours. other areas are looking really nice. the southeast is actually beautiful. humidity still relatively low. temperatures there in the 80s. middle of the country not too many problems. as we go from the late afternoon into this evening, we will see severe storms, not tornadoes. we will be dealing with large hail and damaging winds. anywhere in the yellow area from

st. louis all the way to washington, d.c. and the richmond area, back to ohio, we do have a charges strong storms today. as i mentioned we're starting to feel like summer and act like summer with storms every afternoon. even new york city is going to be nice and toasty today. more "morning joe" when we come back. ♪ you can't always get what you want ♪

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>> i don't hate. i just feel sorry for you all. let's take a look at the "morning papers." "usa today," general motors another recall for 2.4 million trucks and cars. automaker already issued 24 recalls this year. gm with the faulty ignition switches. >> and the journal, fbi thinking about relaxing its policy for marijuana smokers. it's funny -- no, i mean -- i mean, you probably don't want really healthy guys that are outside a whole lot to like go on cyberpatrol. no, i'm serious. you know how i joked about pot. but chances are you probably want a pot smoking guy that never goes outside, you know what i'm saying? >> director -- >> you know seriously, what do

they want, a guy pumping weights four hours in the gym. you want guys -- dave axelrod said you want know what the back room was like during the 2012 campaign, he said most of those guys had moss growing on them. those are the people you want that charge of your cyberalerts. anyway, the bureau should amend the policy and let as many dope smokers go into -- he didn't exactly say it that way. >> oh, my lord, nip who smoked weed in the last three years. >> that's only about 90% of most americans out there who would know how to track down cybercriminals. . by the way, if you've ever listened to alternative music, you cannot do this. a national high school is getting national high school for a two-inch spread with students who are pregnant or have babies.

critics say the photos of young families displayed make teen pregnancy look appealing. the principal declined to comment. a district spokesperson says it's not what it expects to see in yearbooks. >> okay. i thought it was the other side. i thought they were doing it to shame these people. >> i don't know. >> that's tough because these kids are a part of school. >> well, they're a part of the school and they've got kids and they're staying in school and they're not dropping out. >> they should be in the yearbook. >> they should be in the yearbook. >> i'm going out on a limb here. >> by the way, teen pregnancy is not an epidemic right now. if you look at it comparatively. i think the rates have dropped. of course, i'm making this up like i make up most i say here but i think i read that. >> i understand the issue of not wanting to make it attractive, but you don't cut people out. >> no, you include people, if

they're staying in school, working through that, unbelievable challenge. >> are you happy? >> of course. >> okay. then read the next story. >> from "the washington post" were, a woman is in big trouble for dancing in a video tribute to pharrell's song "happy." the clip was viewed by more than 165,000 people before attracting the attention of the conservative police groups in iran. the dance is to repent in a publicly tell la vised address. boy, that sounds like a fun country to live in. are you kidding me? >> yeah. makes you realize -- ♪ >> so the dangers of drugs and carrying around -- the part of the song where he claps on his knees where we go -- >> but for a different reason,

but you're not going to get arrest. >> because i'm also texting at the same time. >> i'm going to make you apologize to kate. >> take us to politico. >> joining us on the political playbook, mr. john harris. >> willie, good morning. >> we were talking about the elections. the primaries in pennsylvania, even the backing of bill and hillary clinton could not before support for one of the charlies. tell us about. >> marge jjorie margolii "s." shp she got blown out. brendan boyle won it handily. it looks like marjorie marge goal lease' career is probably

over. >> a political ad, bill clinton on the stump for the stump here. >> sure. >> if you send marjorie to congress, she'll make you proud. i'm not coming here saying vote for her because 20 years ago, she saved the economy. she'll take initiative. she'll stand up when you need to stand up. and i think america will be a better place and this district will be well served if you elect her. >> i'm marjorie margolies asking for your vote. that's why i approve this message. >> brendan boyle moves on easily in that race. >> quickly, before i let you go, while we're talking about the clintons, keystone groups, people who oppose the keystone pipeline trying to bring hillary clinton into this fight? >> she's made it clear that the pipeline fight is not one worth having. just let it go. including aggressive ones like friends of theirs have sent her

a letter urging her to come out for forcefully against this. you want green support, you kill this pipeline. >> by the way she was secretary of state when the state department put out these reports saying the damage to the environment was marginal. john, thank you. still ahead. tara the cat. remember tara the cat, chased the dog away saved a 10-year-old boy. cashing in on ten minutes of fame. we'll show you how. plus, alleged drug use in the nfl, not the kind you're thinking of. dave ziron going to break it down for us. ♪

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game two of the eastern conference finals, heat and pacers, heat trying to even this up. last game. second half, stevenson of indiana, trying to put in a two-game hole. a career high and lebron and d-wade turn it up in the fourth quarter. they either score order assisted in every every point in the

fourth quarter. evened up the series one game apiece. tonight, the spurs look to go up two games at home in games against the thunder. sports editor of the nation dave zirin, he's the author of brazil's dance with the world cup." we're going to talk about the book in a second, you've been doing so much reporting on the nfl. your lawsuit once again with the culture of the national football league. eight players suing the football league saying they knowingly allowed using illegal narcotics as painkillers. . lawyers say there are more than 500 other former players who have signed on to this lawsuit. it's the second high-profile case against the nfl. last year, the league settled a $765 million case that revealed the nfl concealed the risk of

concussion to players. dave, if you follow the nfl, if you play football, you know this is going on. they take shots to get back in the game. but now the spotlight is on all of these issue, whether concussions or drugs in the league. >> exactly. this is about shifting norms. how we understand how the sausage is made in the nfl. for decades we didn't care. culturally we didn't care. now in the nfl everything is under the microscope. you mention any given sunday, you can go back to the north dallas 40, decades ago, that talked about these practices. but yet what seemed as okay and acceptable in the 1980 sotomayor now being looked at in a different light. and i'll tell you, the ironic thing is if players were can asked about this at the time, they would say yes, shoot me up, get me on the field, do what you have to do. but that doesn't excuse the

medical professionals from getting involved. >> i'm sure the nfl does it in a more sophisticated fashion but i'm also seeing this is a problem at the high school and college level. >> it gets to them what it neens play football in the united states. you get on the feed. >> what what's the consensus on how david stern -- roger goodell and the nfl worried about this stuff? >> i think what they're worried about, it's a generational worry. the same way that boxing is the most popular sport in this country in 1970. it's like an accordion being closed. just slowly letting out the music. slowly being squeezed out. the idea that the nfl will be like death by a thousand cuts. it will be five this year or five years but what do you do in 20 or 30 years when players don't want to play football.

it all comes from the united states almost entirely, unless, of course, you're a lonesome kicker, but if you have a lot of moms saying we don't want our kids doing this anymore. a lot of dads, too. then the nfl finds itself in a situation what's our future going to look like. >> you hear a lot of parents turning to soccer which spins us into your book "brazil's dance with the devil." two years from now, we get the olympics. how is brazil preparing are they ready? >> no they're not ready. this is the biggest protest in 30 years. this is say huge story. imagine mass protests in new york city against pizza. it's like brazil, and people are marching on soccer stadiums. so with the book, what it tries to do is explain why. when i was there, it says statistics are like a man kini, they show so much but they hide

the most important parts. and we can talk about statistics all day. about the death and about the thousands of people who have been displaced. but at the end of the day, the ainger it's less about statistics and ordinary people were promised that with the world cup and olympics would come a higher standard of living. instead, things like health care, education have been gutted. >> it seems like brazil got the world cup four years early. >> yeah, absolutely. >> and i'm not sure why fifa keeps doing this. south africa which sounded enthused when they announced it, everybody to stay away, logistics are going to be a nightmare. they were. they had a lot of abandoned places. and doing it again with brazil. >> exactly. part of it these tournaments are tied to the country's growth rates. we want to be in emerging economies, we want to be in places that have the money. when they gave it to brazil they

were having growth rates of 5%, 10% a year. it's now under 1% a year. they're having to take money out of social services to pay for stadiums. >> what happens when this is done? are there any economic effects in building a stadium and then abandoning? >> yeah, people started using in greece the structures for squatting. homeless shelters. >> can i ask you, how did donald sterling stay in the nba as long as he did? david stern had to know, he had to know this guy was -- >> well, everyone did. >> that this guy was a pig. how did he -- why was this not before for sterling? >> that's a question for david stern. donald sterling, there have been articles written about him, his

racism, his mass sogny. and there are reports made about this. and the poorest residents of los angeles, the black guy, he's given this lead for so long. and this is a question that david stern should have to answer. adam silver who is replacing him is the one to shoulder this burden. >> there's a new report in "the new york times" that sterling actually went to v. stiviano several weeks ago and asked her to say that they adapted that tape. >> wow. >> dave, great to see you, congratulations on the book. "brazil's dance with the devil." it's a great read. thanks a lot. up next, ron fornier asks in his latest piece, how dumb does obama think we are? ron's question we'll try to answer next in "the opinion

pages."

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all right. time for the must read opinion pages. i could really listen to this song for a long time. the music on this show is really good. >> you just don't want to read the op-ed lines. >> i don't know, can a female do that? can she read? >> ron fornier writes how dumb does obama think we are, news quizz, president obama and his communication team hope that americans are, one one, dumb, two, distracts, three, numb, to government and four, all of the boston. answer, all of the above. >> that answer along with utter competence are the best explanations for why the white

house thought it could get away with claiming that the departure of veterans affairs official report petzle. and there is no question that this is a termination of his job there before he was planning to go. chef of staff denis mcdonough told cbs' major garrett last week, no, this was neither a termination nor a house cleaning. it was a scapegoating. >> ron, i want to go back to the fantastic mr. fox and a quote where the george clooney character says "what is this? amateur night in dixie." i can't believe how clumsily this is handled but somebody thinks we are. >> that's a good point. the communication team in the white house, again and again, they take, you know, a bad

policy bump. they take a controversy, they take a scandal. and instead of addressing it honestly and openly and showing some accountability, they try to be too cute. they try to win a cycle and lose the public's trust. >> this guy said that he was -- they announced he was going to be out last year. denis mcdonough who we like, a lot of people like, says double down. >> they said he was fired. he wasn't fired. jay carney said with a straight face that the american legion supported this move. they said it right on their website. i think jay forgot we have this thing called the internet. so it's really clumsy. if you go back on the policy of this, obviously, the v.a. has been a troubled agency for a long time. obviously, the winding down of the two words that the president has done in keeping his word with what the majority wants has overwhelmed the system.

but also, obviously, he's been in office six years, this agency needs radical reform and he has done nothing about it. then when he gets called on it then when we have obvious corruption and obvious ill-serving of these veterans, instead of holding somebody accountable, instead of taking quick action to radically reform it, they do a song and dance and spin game. i call it the 20th century media strategy dealing with 21st century crisis. >> ron, thank you for that. still ahead -- >> you're welcome. >> you've made a good point. we got an an opportunity to tour peter max's legendary space. in the 7:00 a.m. hour. up next, tara the cat is up for saving her owner. next in news you can't use. here at fidelity, we give you

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given the months you just had, i actually doubt very much she actually will run for president in 2016. >> folks, i believe as priebus. i mean, why would hillary run in the past few months? she's faced new benghazi allegations, the return of monica lewinsky, karl rove speculating on her brain damage.

and rumors that the only way she got to the white house in the first place was by sleeping with the president. [ laughter ] now a lie, probably. >> my god -- >> a little late night for you there. now we're going to do "news you can't lose" animal edition. >> good. >> she made national news headlines when she leapt into action to save a small neighborhood boy from a dog. now tara the cat is being rewarded the way every cat should be rewarded by throwing out the first pitch at a minor league ball game. in everyone's mind how does tara the cat throw a baseball? >> wait a minute. >> here is your answer. >> whoo! the answer is, not very well. >> that's so weird. >> this is not -- >> she's trying to throw side arm. let the cat warm up. >> guys, are you serious?

this is what they did for tara the cat? >> this is in bakersfield. >> first of all, i'm sure that cat doesn't appreciate being brought out like that and held by all of those people. >> it's probably better in a bag. >> cat in a bag? >> cat in a bag. we've seen how they take it -- >> no. >> i mean, being shoved from a bag. >> no, joe. >> you know that colonel likes to feel secure. they like to feel secure. >> yes. right. and a story about a bear cub. a very heroic bear cub. >> a bear cub finds itself in a precarious situation. >> oh! >> pulled the cub off the road. >> i want to see that again. >> oh, my goodness. >> look how cute. >> i pick it up in the back of the neck, she just took it by the head. you do it by the scruff.

>> do you have another story? >> yeah. >> and he told a local news crew he couldn't bring himself to leave it there. he took it ohm, on the way to drop the moose off, he stopped at a coffee shop where the baby drew a crowd. the moose is going to wind up in an animal shelter. >> oh, my goodness. these are good ones. can i see the bear again? that is so cute. >> that is news you can't use. >> can we now have the squirrel? >> no, i like the bear. >> i'm saving that for friday. >> i know, we have to go. coming up at the top of the hour, tom costello has a report coming up. anyone planning on flying this summer won't want to miss. new airline rules that would impact all passengers. the question is, will they help or hurt? and gm just announced its 29th recall of the year. can the company rebound from this p.r. nightmare. donny deutsch joins us and he's

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top of the hour, a live look at capitol hill. welcome back to "morning joe." sam stein is still with us. joining the table the editor of the weekly standard bill crystal. >> how are you? >> i'm good. >> and i saw actually bill kristol first. and then i saw what they're supposed to be wearing, sort of the hamptons. >> no socks, ahead of the memorial day weekend. no socks. it's only wednesday. >> i can pull that off and you can't. don't do that. >> you're too excited to do that. >> that's the problem, those shoes, though, have enough dignity to actually wear socks. >> thank you for that trivia. >> there's a reason why i don't

wear socks, i have no dignity. >> okay. >> you are a member of the chosen -- you are the chosen people. you need to at least wear socks, donny. >> we have evolved -- >> it's in the book of gesis. >> okay. >> certainly, it's in the middle of leviticus. >> whoever that is. >> i'm one of those progressive jews we got away from sock wearing. >> be who you are. >> might you have something to say today? >> i'm sorry? >> might you have something for me today? >> you know, i actually -- >> we have a lot to talk about. why midterms are being called the victory for the republican establishment. the race in kentucky between allison lundergan grimes and mitch mcconnell is taking shape. mika, she's actually getting better. >> yeah, a lot to talk about. first, it's safe to say, it's

not been a good year for gm. yesterday, the company issued another round of recalls, prompts "usa today" to ask "are that there any gm cars that haven't been recalled?" so far this year, the company has issued 29 recalls including 16 this quarter. the latest including about 2.4 million trucks and cars land likely cost the company an additional $200 million. last week, gm was fined $35 million over its faulty ignition switch which was linked to at least 13 deaths. gm's stock was down 3.4% on tuesday. donny, what's wrong with gm? >> i've worked over the years with a lot of gm brands, pontiac, saturn. you notice the brands i worked on no longer exist. you might want to take note of that. here's the good news for gm. to put a play on it. using the word play.

horrible consumers had the ability to move on if the company gets it right. gm has to be out in front -- >> what's wrong with them? >> it was a broken company for years. i mean, prebankruptcy, this was a company on the balls of its behind. built and obviously working on economic model with legacy health care. not playing on that but it was a model that could no longer exist. you can't forgive this. desperate companies do desperate things. shame on them. it's a new gm and they have to get it right. >> they have to look at the way they do business. thus, more recalls. >> but you have to take complete accountability. there is a playbook for this. companies that have done it right, companies that have done it wrong. you have to say this is unacceptable. >> you mean, like the obama administration? >> well, that was a hanging -- >> that was a hanging curveball.

>> they listen to you. i gather eric shinseki is meeting with president obama. the v.a. is not hanging on for the sake of hanging on, he can say he did his best. the system was overrun but it's not good for him, it's not good for the country, obviously. what's the point? can he reform it any better than a new person? no. >> and bill, this is an unnecessary scandal for the obama administration as he's been in power for six years. but as for 20, 30 years, the v.a. has been the worst bureaucracy. we've got 10, 12 years of war that's obviously overwhelming the system. that's natural. when fournier was here, fournier was talking about jay carney and how they've been handling this crisis. forget about policy, they are so horrible at crisis management six years in, i don't get it.

>> donny would agree with this, sometimes, there are just limits to spin. with the economy, spin matters. but this isn't about public relations. there are actually people out they're not getting served by the v.a. i think the straw that broke that camel's back was the manipulation of the doctrine. hospitals can make mistakes, bureaucracies can be slow, but you can't have people -- >> the doctor can't get information. at that point, if you're present, you got to say i'm shocked. he said he's mad as hell. but if you're mad as hell you don't -- a resignation has been accepted. >> we have another story where the president learns about this from news reports. >> well, if they were to say he didn't know about it from news report, the magical question is what did you do when you knew about it?

the comeback is we put money and it was the predecessor. but that leads to the question of what good is the money for? and that leads to is liberalism or progressiveness in this point the right thing? i don't think there's any good answers here. as you mentioned, the v.a. is a terrible bureaucracy. it was a promise on the campaign trail and the more logical question follows, where did you fail? >> and sam has the right to say this. and they hailed the v.a. as a success story. >> well, it's about bureaucracy. >> not only did they spin -- guys, they missed -- >> mitt romney proposed a partial voucher program for people who weren't happy with the way they were getting served with the v.a. we got attacked by that. and one reason that the obama administration has dug in so much if you acknowledge there's a problem, you have to do it.

>> and i guess you guys just answered the question why are we fighting, with the v.a., the obvious -- you can't give it away on the v.a., if you give it away on the v.a., you have the danger of people saying that's what happens when you have government-run health care. i'm not equating the two. we'll let others make that fight. that may explain why they've been so stupid in spinning the v.a. crisis. it's obvious for everyone out there. >> regardless of what you think of health care or not. the rollout of obamacare, did anybody get fired? it was a complete mess. this is a failure of a promise. where is the resolute action where is the conviction that the president is mad at hell? we need to see it. i suggest maybe when he meets at 10:00 with shinseki there could be something clear and swift out of that. the stage is set for

november's midterms with several key primary races now in the books. as "usa today" frames it, republicans fended off threats from the tea party on multiple fronts. let's start in kentucky where senate minority leader brushed back a challenge by matt bevan. mcconnell righted bevan with double digits. he'll now face alison lundergan grimes who will also run easily in her primary contest. it promises to be a tough and expensive race. one democrat sees that as an opportunity to knock off an incumbent republican. there are two candidates in the general election, grimes and mcconnell, but last night, a third name was given a lot of attention. my opponents is in this race because barack obama and harry reid want her to be in race. a vote for my opponent is a vote for obamacare. and the president who sold it to us on a mountain of lies. barack obama's candidates preach

candidates but they practice loyalty above all else. tonight, i'm confident of this, kentuckians are not going to be deceived. alison lundergan grimes is barack obama's candidate. >> mitch mcconnell would have you believe that president obama is on kentucky's 2014 election ballot. president obama is not on kentucky'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 to the commonwealth of kentucky. senator mcconnell, this race is between you and me. that's the name that appears on the ballot. >> you know, that's actually not

true. in off-year elections. but -- >> well done. >> -- yeah, i've heard from reporters that are mainstream reporters from what are considered to be liberal publications that she's not that good of a candidate. she looks pretty good there. i think she's improving. >> we discussed this last week, i think she's a weak candidate. i've never thought that -- i think she's pretty good. i think if you are for mitch mcconnell you could persuade yourself in you're moderate in kentucky, vote for her is not voting for president obama. >> we remember at 98 obviously where we not '98 was repeated in '94, democrat has a good year. think about this, bill, this race is shaping up. it's either going to be a big night or big year for democrats or republicans and it comes down to four women. grimes, nunn in georgia, hagen in and landreau.

>> and another one in november, in west virginia. >> she will win. >> certainly. >> and wehby now in organize. and i would think that's a 50/50 race. very strong candidate. and in michigan. the 42-year-old iraq war vet. so there are four republican women who could defeat democratic men. three of them could defeat democrats. >> we have eight seats. cappa is probe the safest. >> chuck, we don't know how this is going to break. this is going to be a race for november. >> well, not only that, you can have the national wins go one place. but senate races are in many

ways, they're sometimes, in their own cocoon. that's going to be what makes chi s kentucky c-- you know, in some way, kentucky doesn't fit the national narrative. you think, well, geez, it goes in that direction. kentucky is one of the few states where obama did worse than john kerry from '04 to '08 so none of it makes any sense. except that kentucky is about whether does it become a referendum on mitch mcconnell or not. we know what he's going to do. the next 30 days are about making this a national election. saying, you may not like me, but if you vote for her, you're actually helping out barack obama and the national democrats. to me, i think what's decided in

the first 30 to 60 days, rather than the last 30 to 60. because mcconnell's coming out swinging, there are new ads coming out this morning. by the way he didn't hide how he was going to run against grimes. he laid it out in a mitch mccouldn't way. i've got my power point presentation. she's this. she's this on coal. with obama, check, check, check. >> she actually said a couple things at the end that surprised me. an interesting quote, something about right to work. i mean, she kind of moved left and right and it's just going to be a great race. i want to, bill, really quickly, i want tow i guess as a republican, i should be thinking six years in, the six-year itch. every time i think about it we get hammered. think about it, these six-year races they have been nightmares for republicans.

in '86 during reagan's run. clinton in '98, we were shocked. and 2006, nancy pelosi made speaker of the house two years after karl rove is talk about a permanent majority. i can't relax and think, boy, this is going to be a great year because we haven't fared well six years into past presidents. >> the out party usually does well with the exception of the six-year race. in a certain way, it should be a good year for republicans. and i think republicans have good candidates this year. not because they've beaten back the tea party people. and establishment tea party. if you look state by state with, establishment tea party. you say is tom cotton an attractive candidate, dan sullivan, they've got iraq and afghanistan vets. they're 39, and 42. >> tell me about that? >> it's good. >> the bad news, and i know why

you're nervous and i'm nervous, too, the republicans in washington are treading water. they think, we're getting a wave, the wave is going to carry us over. i get nervous when i see that. it could happen. sometimes, the waters are okay and the waves and you tread along the way. but i think the failure of the republican leadership to have an agenda to push the issues. >> i couldn't agree more. >> and with that legislation here -- >> bill, if you watch the tape of grimes and mcconnell, you just come in fresh and you see mcconnell who was yesterday to your point treading, and you see grimes, and that's all in your face, you and me, let's go. one looks like a winner and one looks like a loser. he is. >> you're exactly right, about, when newt gingrich got in trouble when we starting going after newt gingrich sat there.

he didn't have issues to push. he was under the fence of -- he was playing four corners -- >> i'll say it again, when you go 90 miles an hour, nobody stops you. if mitch mcconnell would have said, instead of making it his opponent, hey, let me tell what you we're do we're pushing to get jobs back. >> what we'll do next year if we have the majority. why say if i were a swing voter out there, i'd say, i'm tempted to vote for the republican, maybe inclined to vote for the republican. but what is the congress going to pass? they're not running aggressively on that. and what's the alternative to obamacare? >> you know what they're saying is, there are now reports out this morning that democratic donors are telling barack obama's people, we're tired of this. we give you money, and you guys don't do anything. democrats are saying that. you say that as a republican, and that's a legitimate question. chuck todd, if mitch mcconnell becomes the majority leader,

what does it mean for america, any more than if harry reid stays majority leader? there are some fed-up people that are invested in this country, invested in the political system. invested in democracy. just look at it and say why? what's going to happen in the next two years, other than hillary clinton's going to run against some unnamed republican? >> yeah, right. and i'll tell you, watching mcconnell that was the one questionable move that i thought mcconnell made that go dwrors point when he said, hey, i'm looking forward to be being the offensive coordinator. you got a chance to elect the snort majority leader. he was very much embracing it. but, okay, what does that mean? you know, all of his quotes, his entire agenda for six years has been to stop president obama's agenda. and it goes he doesn't have that answer, other than what is the republican agenda other than to stall out and run out the clock for last two years of obama's presidency. and i think that is going to be a challenge for republicans.

okay, if you get the senate and the house, what are you going to do with it with barack obama in the presidency? is it basically you're saying let's go with stalemate. we already have stalemate. that's status quo, right? >> like donny said, you get the sense to elect the majority leader. you get the chance to have me. whatever happened to i would be honored to serve you which i didn't see anywhere in mitch mcconnell's words. >> you know, i agree with that, then to just add to the quotes, you do get the sense that republican party were living every day as if it were october 201 2013. and the website is totally malfunctioning. there has been a bit of reduction in the last years that has taken the wind out of the sails for the republican party. >> i do disagree. we knew that was coming. we all said that was coming

three years ago. and then we said, it's going to back out. the deficit and debt are going to go. >> as an issue that people care about in the campaign, i don't think it matters as much as it did in 2011. i think as bill pointed out there needs to be a few more issues other than the keystone pipeline. >> we've got to reclaim -- i know we've got to go to break, mika. but bill was talk about conservative populism. and there are roads that go to baja, the closer you are, the bigger the houses were. i always knew when i was down there i saw no scarborough for congress stickers. but when you go three rows up, you'd see boats and pickup trucks. i knew they were going to get

the wealthy doctors and lawyers. i knew i was going win -- we've got people in your own neighborhood. i said, that's all right. for every one of me there are like ten people that actually work hard, that's sort of a joke, and they're going to vote for me. bill, we used to be that party. i think rick santorum is actually on to something. and there was an article in "the wall street journal," we have policies that we can pursue that help working class people and middle class people. but we're scared to get out of this rut that helps us define us at 1%. >> and taking on big businesses. let's get rid of the health companies and president obama said i need the insurance companies to get 5 to $7 billion of money next year. >> break out of the big banks. >> in florida, community banks

are the banks that make the loans to small businesses that help out. leave aside the big new york city banks. they can have their own fights with regulators. the community banks are the ones responsible. the community banks have to have capital. >> that's right. >> why do they have to have -- siege and regulatory apparatus. there are a lot of medium-sized things you can do that goes to the part of the working man. >> and republicans, bill talks about this all the time, talking to a republican group with my book, i said, hey, listen, the 1% are always going to take care of themselves. they've got lawyers. they've got accountants. they've got consultants. let them -- you know, we need to worry about the other 99%. and i've got to tell you, everybody in the room is like hell ya. because they're as disconnected from the 1% as everybody else. i don't understand why republicans in washington don't understand that. >> look, i'm not going to argue. i'm going to thank bill for something i agree on pertaining

to the banks. chuck todd, thank you very much. we'll be watching "the daily rundown." >> it's going to be a big show, chuck. you've got a lot to cover, don't you? >> yeah, buddy. and more on mississippi, guys. >> whoo. >> wow. >> that thing got nasty again yesterday. >> did it really? >> mitch mcdaniels is going to melt it down. still ahead, airline rules that could affect all of you flying this year. and up next, the event that took place at the white house yesterday that could never happen before. that story is next. [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪

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first lady michelle obama hosted the first ever talent contest. actor kal penn. how are you? >> good. how are you? >> good. this looked fun. >> it was a lot of fun. >> set the scene for us. >> this is the president's committee on arts and humanities has a program culled turn around arts. it was designed to turn around math and reading scores. and eight underperforming schools in the country. that pilot program is expanding to 35 schools. the first lady wanted to honor those part of the first schools. >> they can move? >> they're great. >> a lot of actors and actresses were there? >> yeah. >> we have a surprise guest? >> the president came out at the end and made comments on the importance of the arts as part of the stance on policy. >> was it the winner of the

talent show or just showing off their talents and combined talent? >> exactly. it's more what the kids were accomplishing. >> so everybody say winner? >> exactly. >> so this is -- the central question or the central debate is whether the government should fund the arts? >> true. >> that's what this is about, right? >> i don't think this is what this is about. in our opinion that's an archaic conversation. in 11 states, overall, their test scores, their attendance, all the things i mentioned are being turned around astronomically. and it's a 70/30 split. it's being funded by the federal government and it's not like it's a silver bullet but it does great work and answers whether we should contribute to the fund. >> could make a difference. >> yeah. >> talking about the president.

talking about the states and everything else, where are we in 2014 as far as fund for the arts? >> look, i went to a public high school for the arts. i will always say i wish there would be more funding. >> how did that make a difference in your life? >> i would not have been an actor, so if you want the fiscal argument, have rye contribute might taxes back in terms what i got out of my education, absolutely. it instills confidence beyond that in both myself and in kids. a lot of times communities have given up on these schools. these kids after exposed to the arts come in with their heads held high. they want to engage in class. they're thought dropping out much. >> 6 million students don't have access to arts and music. think about that. >> right. and most in low-income communities. >> none at all? >> correct. >> when kids see you back do they bring up "harold and

kumar." >> thanks to that. we're below that cutoff line. >> and "breaking brad" you're working with that? >> my new show, it's called "battle creek." i play a cop. very different from the "harold and kumar" movies. we shot the pilot. david schiller is behind it and brian singer. it was fantastic. i loved it. >> kal penn, thank you. >> thank you. still ahead -- >> go "harold and dkumar." >> i can switch it up. >> his education has given back with all the millions he's received. >> i wish. if "battle creek" does well, we'll talk. still ahead, tom costello is at reagan national airport. tom, what do you have coming up? >> reporter: mika, good morning. the obama administration wants

to allow more transparency in ticket prices. they should include all the fees up front or else disclosure. more "morning joe" coming up in just a minute. all stations come over to mission a for a final go. this is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock.

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millions of americans are expected to travel this weekend for the memorial day holiday. kicking off the summer travel scene -- >> are you traveling this summer or not? >> no. i just give up on travel. >> you just quit, right? just stay in westchester county? >> you know what, yes, in my basement. >> with all the lights turned off? >> yep. that sounds pretty good to me. >> with dogs and cats. i can't wait. now the government is going to require airlines and booking sites to be honest about their fees for others who may travel. nbc's tom costello is at reagan national in washington. tom? >> reporter: i'm spending the week in my double wide. the government says they're talking about fees that they charge for carry-ons, bags, and to travel early. and all the booking online fees that you might not see right away. it's one of the chief complaints

you hear from airline travelers, the price for an airline ticket is rarely the final price we all end up paying. >> even though you're looking at it online, it does not state about any extra fees or extra charges online. >> it's frustrating. they're charging for everybody. >> reporter: now the department of transportation tells nbc news it will propose new rules that would require airlines and travel websites to be far more honest up front about feets they charge. >> we want to make sure that when consumers are buying tickets they understand the full costs that are lowered into that ticket at the very beginning that way, they can make smarter choices. >> reporter: among the new rules requiring airlines to disclose extra charges, seats, carry-on bags or surcharges. rules that would allow fliers to cancel a refer vagz made within 24 hours without penalty a week from departure.

for the first time, online booking sites would be treated like booking agents requiring them to disclose their fees. travel experts generally sa-a plod. >> i think on all the caughts expedia and travelers, it's a fair and huge benefit for travelers. >> reporter: back at the airports, nostalgia for the golden days of flyi gflying. >> they should be more passenger friendly. >> reporter: this is really the latest in the obama administration's passenger bill of rights. you may recall several years ago, the obama administration ruled these rights out after so many people were stuck sitting on a tarmac for hours on end. they've outlined that. and pretty much eliminated the problem. now this is the next stage. as for the airlines here in washington, they say they're studying the rules but generally they support transparency and

guidance. >> tom, how are the airlines doing this summer? how are they doing financially? there have been ups and downs but are they gaining traction financially? >> reporter: every airline will tell you when it comes to the health of their bottom line it depends on how much competition is out there, and more importantly, the price of jet fuel. so how they do every quarter depends on the price of oil on the world market. and jet fuel. and to what agree it heads against it. >> all right. if you really get angry at regulation, then, you know what, be a better company and be transparent tab. and then we won't have to do this. >> and tom did not know they went from cashews to almonds and it's just not -- >> oh, my gosh. >> and for those of you that don't live on the upper east side on donny's blog -- >> we're so unhappy you that couldn't fly friday.

>> donny not only has a jet -- >> a fleet. >> i'm sorry, it's a helicopter. a helicopter is just bragging. this morning, one group is raising some serious questions about our nation's national security. former governor tom ridge is our guest. also ahead, the launch into the leadership with the president just a few feet away. dr. ben carson joins us. stay with us. [ male announcer ] people all over the world know us,

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as the company that's all about printing. but did you know we also support hospitals using electronic health records for more than 30 million patients? or that our software helps over 20 million smartphone users remotely configure e-mail every month? or how about processing nearly $5 billion in electronic toll payments a year? in fact, today's xerox is working in surprising ways to help companies simplify the way work gets done and life gets lived. with xerox, you're ready for real business. ♪ all right. here with us now from capitol hill former homeland security secretary tom ridge. he's part of a full-page ad in "the wall street journal." calling for changes in the way we look at the nation's national security. particularly as it pertains to homeland security which he would

know a thing or two about. >> mr. secretary, we always hear the same thing, we heard the fbi director say a couple days ago. they come in, the government servants, whether democrats, republicans, whether not partisan at all, and they're always you shocked about how dangerous it is out there. and what they don't know of civilians once they're in. it's a dangerous world out there and we've kind of forgotten that. >> i think you're right. it's a risk we're able to manage that, frankly, if one of the leading agencies to reduce the risk a terrorist attack and to enhance security and safety of this country is homeland security. and you have the secretary and his or her team running up to a congressional oversight committee across the board, a system, and you and i both having served in the legislative branch, understand the importance of checks and balances. separate of powers and congressional oversight. but the system right now is

flawed. it's byzantine, it's antiquated. it's dysfunctional. other than that, it's just fine. >> what's the solution, governor? >> the solution is for the leaders of both parties and both chambers to pull their members in together and say it's not about turf up here. we have secretaries and their team reported over 100 committees and subcommittees. that's not wait we help mature a new agency. and how we make it a more efficient and effective agency. i mean, the ad speaks very clearly. you've got the three homeland security secretaries. the former heads of the cia, nsa, fbi, the entire 9/11 commission. by the way, it was one of about 41 recommendations that the congress and the united states, remember, it was their commission that had chosen not to adhere to. to take that into consideration. so i think the leaders have to just say to the members of the house and senate, i know y'all would like to have a piece of this action, the turf you ought to be worried about is the

united states and not committee jurisdiction. it's got to be a leadership change. >> mr. secretary, i'd like to ask you what is the most functional aspect of the homeland security? give us the specifics what need to be changed. >> well, the specifics are, you are spending a great deal of time on the hill dealing with issues -- there's no single group of legislators that take a look at the department in its totality that can understand how it went from 180,000 to 240,000 people. >> and the 9/11 commission, to those actually on this ad, one of the things they're talking about doing is streamlining this process. here we are, 11, 12 years after 9/11, and my gosh, it's the same exact -- you guys are complaining, democrats, republicans, all of these agencies duplicative and wasteful. byzantine, antiquated. it reads like the 9/11 report. >> well, it does.

and sadly -- let's face it, the other day there was a dedication of a memorial in new york. we did it shanksville. we did it at pentagon. since 9/11, we've.9/11 commission. since 9/11, we've had national security experts pleading and begging the congress of the united states, the individual members, particularly the leadership give up some of this jurisdiction. you don't need 100 committees and subcommittees. you ought to be working more closely on a day-to-day basis with a core group. i testified on capitol hill more frequently or my team, than the secretary of defense and we had two wars going on in iraq and afghanistan. it's to disparate. you don't have a group of men and women who focus on the department. >> this is so bipartisan. tom ridge, janet napolitano, you go down the list.

republicans and democrats, shoulder to shoulder, who have had this burden placed on their shoulders saying this is just crazy. just back off. >> this is a reoccurring issue that we've talked about streamlining, making it more efficient. having accountability and it doesn't seem to get done. it's not a complete non sequitur but it's a sequitur, i guess. you said climate change is one of the primary threats to national security. i wonder as you watch in the months and weeks, your own party, the republican party, shy away from its existence. marco rubio, i wonder if you could talk about that -- >> okay, this is a non sequitur. >> i'm just saying. >> let me give you an uneducated -- i'm not a scientist. but let me just tell you my personal point of view. it's really difficult for me to

believe that millions of tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a good thing. so it's let's start with that premise. and regardless of whether or not you believe that there have been several interesting studies in the past week or two where they talk about the effect of the icebergs and the peril to major urban areas around our coast. at the end of the day is it a potential challenge for us? yes. could it bring destruction and economic damage and don't appreciate the fact that it's happening and do something in anticipation of it happening? that's a real problem.

>> your opinion on gitmo. is that black and white? or is it a gray area a dozen years later? i've said many. times before, the concern that other nations and other leaders about guantanamo wasn't that we took individuals and put them there. so it wasn't the place, it was the absence of adjudication as to whether or not they should be detained permanently there. and with our legal system we're finally addressing that issue. >> all right, tom rich, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. >> nice to join you again. >> thank you. >> great having you. >> this morning pat sajak may want to buy a vowel. >> what he tweeted out that turned a lot of heads. >> what? >> you're watching.

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welcome back to "morning joe." >> there's so much back story here. "wheel of fortune" host pat

sajak had tough words for environmentalists on his twitter page. he tweeted "i now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. good night. the conservative host later followed up with a tweet reading, quote, sometimes it's fun to poke a stick at any hornets nest just to hear the buzzing. >> he did the stick thing in april, too, when he tweeted. he said damn the consequences, i'm hereby proclaiming my heterosexuality. >> what? >> yeah. he's got some good stuff. >> mika is still recovering. >> coming up at the top of the hour after mika recovers, a big

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we all know that senator

mcconnell has been in washington a little bit 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, obstruction and extreme partisanship that we seek. >> good morning. it's 8:00 on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. on the west coast, as you take a live look at new york city. isn't it beautiful, though? >> it's absolutely gorgeous. >> with the sunset. along with us, thomas roberts, sam stein who has himself notes

and on capitol hill, ron fornier. >> he's written an incredible article. >> well, we're counting something this morning. stage is set for november's mid term. several key primary races now in the books as "usa today" frames it, republicans fended off threats from the tea party on multiple front. let's start in kentucky where senate minority leader easily brushed back a challenge from bevins. he'll now face alison lundergran grimes, who easily won her race. it promises to be a tough race. now, there are two candidates in the general election but last night a third name was getting a lot of attention. take a look. >> my opponent is in this race because barack obama and harry reid want her to be in this

race. a vote for my opponent is a vote for obamacare and the president who sold it to us on a mountain of lies. barack obama's candidates preach independence but practice loyalty above all else. and tonight i'm confident of this. kentuckyians are not going to be deceived. alison lundergran grimes is barack obama's candidate. >> mitch mcconnell would have you believe that president obama is on kentucky's 2014 election ballot. president obama is not on kentucky'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 pick someone from the commonwealth of kentucky. senator mcconnell, this race is

between and me, that's the name that appears on the ballot. >> now she is a female candidate. >> she is. and you don't need to check. >> i missed yesterday. >> it was mitch mcconnell talking about another candidate and he was so impressed with her that he said she is a female, i believe neurosurgeon. and i stopped -- i stopped in my tracks. i'm like are you kidding me? did you have to check? like a veterinarian or something? seriously. who uses the word "female". >> well, i do. >> you call a woman a female? >> no, i don't say that. so your say my dog is a female. arianna's a female. >> i may have. >> trust me, you have not done it. >> was he more surprised she was

a woman or she's a doctor? >> i think he was surprised she was a female. >> so what else happened last night? >> that was senator rand paul delivering a message celebrating mcconnell's victory. he called on the party to come together and promised a campaign across the straight on behalf of the republican leader. meanwhile, the woman we're talking about, alison lundergran grimes, hit her opponent on women's issues. >> i'm here to tell you tonight, my fellow kentuckyians, i am not an empty dress, i am not a rubber stamp and i am not a cheerleader. i am a strong kentucky woman who is an independent thinker has kentucky's next united states senator, i'll answer to the people of this state. i wouldn't answer to the president, no matter who or she might be. [ cheers and applause ] as a proud kentucky woman, i

will speak for myself and no kentucky woman, mitch mcconnell, will sit on the back bench. >> well -- >> and so it begins. >> so it begins. >> i have a feeling someone's going to great little dirty in this race. they might not like each other by the end. >> in a good way. >> it's obvious she has a tough road. he is likely to take in some of those bevin supporters who would never vote for him, whatever the cause of the election, but they're going to come back and likely vote republican anyway. she's got a tough road to haul. it going to be a fascinating race. he's one of the worst positioned incumbent senators in the

country. >> he just -- >> i was in kentucky, there are so many things named after mitch mcconnell in the state of kentucky. he has done so much with respect to that state with respect to bringing home bacon and making sure his name is on it. >> what took you to louisville this weekend? >> bourbon actually. >> on the trail? >> yeah, on the trail. bakers & lewis. >> we'll talk about that later. >> what's interesting is how far we are away from last fall with the government shutdown, when the republicans said war, civil war. you can say it was a civil war. it was an open outright fighting. and you look before the final votes were tallied, mitch mcconnell had gotten a check

from eric eriksson, the influence conservative blogger and then you have freedom works, all of these groups that were trying to beat him immediately saying we're on his side. that's just what never happened last fall. a lot of people say, gee, that's just the safe thing to do. no, these groups -- this was a movement that was defined by what jim demint said, which was i'd rather have 30 people in the senate that think like me than have a majority of republicans in the senate. we talked about it after the government shutdown blew up. can you tell all of these groups have felt pressure since then from republican donors and conservative thinkers. we want harry reid out as majority leader. there's no civil war in the republican party, at least from what we saw last night. >> i think part of it, too, is they realize they picked the wrong guy in matt bevin.

>> say it one more time. cock fight zpg they should have researched f researched more in the cock fighting rink. it may be a correction to what happened two years ago and before that. we want to keep our conservative principles but we have to win above all else. >> and it's all a passage of time. 2010 happened in the republican party because republicans from 2000 to 2008 were absolutely shameful on big government spending, on big deficits and big debt and i'll be self-serving and say i'm one of the few people saying it over those eight years but by 2010 there were a lot of conservatives saying wait a second, why do we want republicans in charge again?

i think enough passage of time has come where -- >> time possibility mcconnell might be bumped up by the bevin -- the fight to win the primary at least? >> i agree with everything everybody was saying, including i think he's in for a pretty good fight. she was one heck of a candidate. that was a really impressive performance last night. it going to be a tough fight. i just wonder -- i agree that the establishment won last night, i agree that republicans got the best slate of candidates they could. scott reid and his friends of chamber of commerce got the right slate. i wonder when we look back at this last couple of years, are we really going to say the establishment won or has the tea party really won? i didn't see any moderates nominating yesterday. this was a party moved further to the right by the tea party. we may have gotten the best

candidates out of the pack. but they're still very conservative, much more conservative than they would have been. i think they're harder to elect, a very conservative group of candidates that is indicative of where we are -- >> so many conservatives have been called rhinos over the last three, four years. and i've always said it's never been about ideology, it been about resentment. and so we nominated a lot of really stupid people in 2010 and 2012. i'm not even talking their position. just genuinely bad, unskilled amateurs to run in 2010 and 2012 because they oozed of resentment. you can ooze of resentment. just don't be stupid on the campaign trail and they were. >> tell me if you agree the

smarter group of candidates were smarter than they were if it hadn't been for the tea party. >> i think on economic issues, me mika, that's a great thing because republican spending from 2001 to 2009 shameful. democratic spending was worse of course. >> let's bring in nbc news political reporter kasie hunt. you've got a sneak peek at her next strategy. >> the next piece is going to be the race to define alison grimes coming out of the wake of this primary. her campaign is trying to do this today, sending her to where mcconnell made the statement it's not his job to bring jobs

to kentucky. >> this is a tough time in kentucky, people are struggling, working harder for less and here in kentucky we feel it more than most. it seems no matter how many elections we have, nothing gets better in washington, it only gets worse. a lot of that is because of the people at the top in both political parties. if we keep sending them back, nothing will change. >> reporter: she goes on to say she wouldn't answer to any president, as we saw her say in her speech last night. it clearly an attempt to try to portray her as a fresh face who will change things in washington, in contrast to mcconnell. >> fresh face, independent thinker, separated from the obama presidency. you definitely saw her making that case very strongly. let's go to oregon, casey. moni monica wehby won more than 50%

of the vote. jeff merkely issued a member describing his opponent as deeply flawed. >> let me ask you, what do you think about -- so there are these allegations that were allegations and i think one of the guys is actually working for her now. >> really? >> i'm just curious, as i saw news anchors reading this story, i was sitting there thinking they would be the first people complaining in the green room going, "it was a divorce" or "it was a whatever" or "how day the new york post write about some allegation." is that fair game? >> no, i want to know what he

did. >> what she did? >> no, i want to know what he did. >> what who did? >> the woman she hit. >> it was either a cut or -- >> she threw a pad of paper. >> you know what they say, a paper cut is the worst kind of cut. >> the deepest of all. >> i don't mean to make light of this. >> why are news people talking about this? and on these allegations, i just man maybe that's how we want to do our politics? that's fine. >> we were talking about yesterday in the realm of dirty politics and things that are not fair game. thomas. >> i think you're right, this is definitely dirty when you don't have something you can

tangibleably going after that makes more sense, you get down in the mud. we've seen male politicians being cads. it doesn't make it fair or make it right but it gets people talking about it and it could be problematic for them. >> i think it perfectly fair to discuss this. i just don't think it should be the determinative issue in this campaign. i've been torn on this. on the one hand i feel like it personalized, we don't know the true story here. on the other hand, someone mentioned to me that what if she was a male politician and she was the one -- and it was a male politician accused of harassment. >> i'm sorry, that would be different actually. >> and i guess that's -- >> if the guy were 6'4" and threw something, i don't know. it seems like an unbelievably cheap shot. and that happens in politics but should be media be offering --

>> but merkley is already saying she's deeply flawed, which the code stuff starts. >> i think they should cover it but it shouldn't be the determinative issue. i certainly think it's worth at least talking about it. >> if there's anyone at the table who hasn't had a fight with someone deeply that hasn't gotten a little intense, a show of hands at this table. >> nothing on my police reports. >> this morning -- >> we don't want to go down the same pathway as many nations that have cheated us. i think about ancient rome. very powerful. no one could challenge them militarily. but what happened to them? they destroyed themselves from

within. moral decay, fiscal irresponsibility. they destroyed themselves. >> his criticism of the country with president obama sitting just a few feet away thrust him into the national spotlight. dr. ben carson is ahead. >> he was your commencement speaker. >> 20 years ago this month. we're going to be reunited. >> coming up, former general stanley mcchrystal. but first, here is bill karins with the forecast. >> well, good morning. >> we had two impressive things yesterday, the hail in illinois and iowa was off the charts.

baseball hail falling from the sky, smashed wind shields and dented cars. that's huge chunks of ice falling from the sky. and then let me show you this time lapsed video of a thunderstorm, a super cell thunderstorm in denver. it looks very impressive. it is time lapsed so it is moving faster than in real life. but just the lightning, the speed it's moving at the camera and everything else involved with it was pretty cool. that did not produce any damage by the way. love time lapse. so for today the worst of the weather has now been going from areas around erie, central pennsylvania, light rain and even a pfew downpours. we can go all the way to central p.a. and watch the downpours. new york city is on the northern edge of it. for the most part the worst edge will be from d.c. to philly and

buffalo. pittsburgh, we'll see another round of storms in areas of kansas near denver. a lot of the country is looking at a beautiful day. we've had an awesome weather pattern in the southeast for the last week that tens today. a little cool around minneapolis. 64 and mostly sunny is not too bad. as we go to the upcoming weekend, the northeast is the part we're going to see the unsettled weather. it's going to feel like summer as we head to memorial day weekend from chicago all the way to the ohio valley. you're watching "morning joe." avo: with expedia

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current senior fellow to the jackson institute for global affairs at yale university, retired general stan mcchrystal. first of all, talk about yale. what's happening at yale? >> yale is really in great shape. not because i'm there. specifically, though, the opportunity that you're being given up there and the thrill for these students to be able, just talk about it. >> the jackson institute was formed to essentially give a global affairs focus to part of the university. what it's done is bring people with me along with others to

give student as chance to focus broadly. i teach leadership, have an amazing opportunity to bring 20 graduate and undergraduate students together in the spring and it's a great time. >> let talk about the young men and women who were in afghanistan who are still over there. how are we doing in afghanistan? any concerns right now? >> there's always concerns but i think's great reason for hope and optimism, that the young men and women have done so much. afghanistan is not the afghanistan of 2001. everybody will throw out the number of children in school and what not but i think the basic truth is afghanistan is moved on from that era. it not going to move back. it will have its problems in the future. it's think there's 42% of the populations, 14 years of age were under. they now have been in an opportunity to go to school, have a different kind of life so afghanistan is going to move from where it is, not from where

it was. >> is it -- the state of having vertigo, to move from working with 18, 19, 20-year-old men and women in combat in the worst of situations and i'm not knocking the kid at yale, i'd love my kids to go to yale but shaping those lives and working with those men and women to going to yale where it's a completely different mindset. what's that like? have you ever looked out and said, oh, my god, these are the kids the same age of the kids that were fighting and dying? >> i do and they're not as different as you would think. >> that's what i want to ask. >> this young generation wants to make a difference. they search for it in different ways. the young men and women that go in the service go that way.

the young men and women the yale are looking for a way to make a difference, not just to make their fortune but to make a difference for the better. it an extraordinary common denominator that they've got a desire to do something. >> such a big desire to make a difference and not to do it the traditional way either. it's a lot of entrepreneurship there. let's talk about the franklin project, talking about making your big change. tell us about it. >> absolutely. america has a lot of challenges in front it have and there are lots of ways they could go about it. simply arguing about it is not going to solve very many of them. i think we have to expand the concept of citizenship in america. the best way to do that in my view is to start with young people and give them an opportunity for experience of a service year, and that's what the project is about, giving every young person in america the opportunity to do a year of paid national service, a broad range of things that would be almost the equivalent of a

military experience, but it would serve something bigger than themselves, it would allow them to work with people they wouldn't otherwise meet, it would allow them to do something that leaves a mark, not just on the nation but on themselves. >> that's unifying. wouldn't it be unifying for this country? >> it would be unifies in the near term and in the long term it would change about the way they think about themselves and the way they think about the responsibility of the nation. i think it would change the number of people who would vote, who would participate. i think it would be the most fundamentally substantive thing we could do to really help america in the long term. >> it's been reported this morning that the president is going to meet with secretary shinseki coming up at 10:00 a.m. and there have been people who have been calling for shinseki to resign.

what's your feeling about the current state of our v.a. system and whether or not shinseki should step aside? >> first, two things. when our young money and women are asked to go to combat, they do it. they don't ask questions because they assume that the nation counts on them. and when they come back and later in their life they need veterans administration help, they assume that the covenant between them and the nation will be met. so i think obviously for all the right reasons, we need to live up to that. we need to remember the veterans administration does some great work and the health care many veterans receive is rated very hi highly and it's much appreciated. but it's a big bureaucracy. but if it needs to be fixed, i think that's what we need to do, instead of talking whether it's right or wrong, nothing is completely right or wrong. >> what is the problem with the v.a.? people always said is i.r.s. the worst agency to deal with?

i can always can somebody on the line and say stop jerking around my consistent or get your stuff off their property. and the i.r.s. would always look into and get back to you. the v.a., it was a slow roll, they didn't care. that was in the 90s. here we are 10, 11 years after two wars. why can't we fix the system for men and women that have done so much for us? >> veterans deserve a concierge-like treatment. i think the medical treatment they receive is very good. but i'm not an expert. the frustration is with bureaucracy. that's what we should focus on, that's what we should help people with because that's pretty daunting. >> if you can get to the treatment, you hear a lot of positive things from the consumers. it's a problem getting that

treatment, flight. >> -- right? >> let's focus on what the real problems are and fix those. >> it seems in recent years we've begun to have a better understanding of the types of injuries veterans suffer. i'm wondering whether you feel we need to expand what we think of treatment for returning soldiers and in what ways we can do it. >> i think we need to understand what someone goes to war, they come back different. they don't always come back damaged, they come back more experienced, better. we need to open the conversation, be more accepting but not fall into the temptation that if somebody comes back to combat that they're automatically damaged and that they're not going to be able to fit into society or be a great

employee. >> brad pitt is playing new a movie. how does that make you feel? >> well, we'll see. >> strong jaw line. look at that. >> brad pitt is probably going to play me in a movie at some point, too. >> probably not. >> general, thank you so much. as always, we appreciate you being here and thank you for your service. i look forward to working with you on the franklin project. sounds absolutely great. >> thanks so much. >> coming up, some are calling him a rising star in the republican party but what he run for president? a lot of people want him to. dr. ben carson will be here later. you, my friend are a master of diversification.

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we don't want to go down the same pathway as many other pinnacle nations that have preceded us. i think about ancient rome. very powerful. nobody could even challenge them militarily. but what happened to them? they destroyed themselves from within. moral decay, fiscal irresponsibility, they destroyed themselves. and if you don't think that can happen to america, you get out your books and you start

reading. >> dr. ben carson put himself on the map by giving that critical speech at the nation prayer breakfast. dr. carson joins us now. i got to say, you got a great co-writer. candy carson. >> right. >> so you're working with your wife. >> yeah. the first four books i did with professional co-writers. the last one i did with my wife, and she reminds me that it's the first one that hit number one on the "new york times" best seller list. so i said i'll do all the rest of them with her. >> as you get older, things a long time ago seemed like they were a lot closer. for some reason i thought you gave that national prayer breakfast speech in 1990 or something because so much has given to y-- happened to you in past year, hasn't it? >> i thought i was going to play golf and learn languages.

it hasn't turned out that way. >> a lot of people talking to you about running for president. you were saying you can't even get in elevators when people say "run, ben, run." are you considering it? >> it certainly wasn't in my plan. i'm hopeful that someone who really wants to be president will come along and really catch fire and then it won't be an issue. >> then can you play golf and you can learn how to play the organ and you won't be running around campaigning. >> when we read identify one nati -- "one nation," what are we going to learn? >> i want people to understand that we, the american people, are not the country's enemies. the real enemies are those people trying to divide us into every little possible group. any crack they drive a wedge into to create, you know, gender wars, race wars, income wars, age wars, any kind of war there

is. you know, that's completely not who we are. that's why we're called the united states of america, one of the reasons we were able to rise to the pinnacle so quickly is because we learned how to use our resources together and we had a common vision and we know who we were. we don't even know who we are anymore. >> you know, a lot of people, though, your critics would say you've said some things that are divisive about gays, comparing the country to nazi germany. you don't really think the country is like nazi, germany? >> i talk about how people will take one word or one phrase and try to characterize -- >> you know, they don't do that if you're on the golf course. but if you're thinking about running for president -- are you learning as you go you say some things that sort of blow up and you regret them later? >> i'm learning how people try

to use these things to incite, you know, hatred and things like that. i'm understanding that one of the reasons i wrote the book is so that other people can understand that, too, because we need to just get away from all of that silliness. and talk about what someone is actually talking about, not grab some word or some phrase and say you people need to be inflamed about this because did you hear what he said? it's because they really don't want to talk about the actual substance. >> so what is, if you were running for president, what would your top issue be? >> well, right now i think we have to turn the ship around before it goes off the niagara falls. and the thing that is most likely to destroy us right now is our national debt. $17.5 trillion on the way to 18. if you wanted to pay that back at a rate of $10 million a day, it would take you 4,700 years. that's just ridiculous. the reason we can do that is

because our dollar is the reserve currency of the world. if it weren't, we could not print money and it may not be soon. >> do you think republicans have learned their lesson? we had big government republicanism during the bush years. do you think we finally learned our lesson that big government republicanism is not better than big government liberalism? >> i hope democrats and republicans have learned that because it threatens the future of our children and our grandchildren. i grew up in detroit and it used to be prosperous. where is it now. stop white ith the ideaology an start dealing with facts and evidence. >> you've had a crazy year. it looks like it's only going to get crazier. you're going to go on a national bus tour that's starting may 31st. tell us about it. >> we're going to start in florida and cover the south,

texas, oklahoma, multiple cities a day. it will be kind of fun. i've never done anything like that. i've seen it on television so it should be kind of cool. >> we will know over the coming year and we'll call your wife to find out if your handicap gets lower in golf, you're not running for president. >> well, being president doesn't exclude playing golf. >> well, we found that out. there have been quite a few presidents that love golfing. maybe that's how you get your handicap lower, get elected and then start golfing more. thank you for being with us. >> coming up, his artwork has inspired generations. we take a behind-the-scenes look at the very impressive peter max studio and peter max himself. it's crazy. we'll show you that when we come back.

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classic psychedelic creations, 50 years. that's five times as long as sam stein as been alive. now he's designed new paintings for of cover of ten magazines that make up the premiere lifestyle and publishing company mitch media. in conjunction with these great covers, mika and i had the honor of speaking with the legendary artist. we dropped by his famous studio on the upper west side to talk about his career, his inspiration and the famous friends who have influenced his work. ♪ ♪ >> so this is where it all happens? >> this is where it happens. 24/7. creativity, creativity, creativity. that's all i do. >> so many iconic photos here. of course mick jagger there, a beautiful one of marilyn monroe and --

>> lady liberty right there. >> i think the recognize the two. >> we have over here piano. signed to peter love ringo. >> he writes to peter love ringo -- a star, dot, dot, dot. >> look at this, ringo, john, george and paul here. some more paul. sinatra. >> sinatra -- i've done in my life almost how many thousands of covers? >> thousands and thousands. this ship comes to new york every sunday it parks and then it goes to bermuda. and it's the biggest ship in the world. >> this is the woodstock stage. >> oh, man! >> in front of that stage were almost a million kids and the stage is almost a half a mile long. >> 50 years for an artist of commercial success, i know how

hard it is to sort of gain recognition but to keep this and to have it last 50 years, what do you think is the key? >> you know, it's just being present, letting creativity come through. >> and you have a deejay that works here? is that true? >> joe is the deejay, he sits around the corner. he just puts music up. >> is that for any reason? >> it just inspires me. music is like the beat of the day. it fuels the creativity. >> what do you think your most defining piece is? >> there are so many defining pieces, you know? painting the liberty was a big thing because it was like the emblem. it was the symbol of the united states of america. it's got so much notorietnotori. then i painted so many unbelievable people like the dalai lama, j.f. kennedy, probably close to 800 unbelieve shl portraits. >> oh, my gosh. >> oh, man!

unbelievable. i'm blown away. >> thank you. ♪ ♪ >> that is a picture! >> that is a picture. very bright. peter max's original artwork for mitch media will be auctioned on charitybuzz.com to benefit the hugh main society of the united states. >> that's a heck of a studio, man. how he does that. >> yeah. >> that portrait is going to be obje auctioned off of you two? >> no -- >> up next, google's plan for world dominance now includes advertising on everything from your car to your thermostat. business before the bell is next.

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business before the bell now with brian sullivan. hey, thomas, by the way -- >> don't be uncomfortable. >> these little things right there, google actually has eyeballs on each one of those. >> and if you look closely, joe,

you know what you'll see? >> you'll see brian sullivan naked on a bicycle running over a squirrel. brian? >> it was rollerblades, not bike by the way. >> typical behavior at home. >> what are you talking about? >> no, it was neighborhood on a bicycle running offerver a squi? >> let's go to the google story because i'm running out of time. i like your strategy. google in an s.e.c. filing yesterday effectively hinting toward advisements on refrigerators, they were stats, stuff in your home. they call it the internet of everything. you got heaters, fridges, basically saying we could in the future see advertisements on the stuff that is internet connected at home. picture that, you go to turn your they were stat up, an ad for a sweater company pops up in your home. google says it's limited to the

privacy policy but it's out there. as russia moves further away from its dependence on western gas or vice versa, china and russia signing a $400 billion, with a "b," gas deal. so russia moving east as russia looks to end its alliance on russian gas. thank you for your show. my father was a vet, grandfather was a heart. we did an investigation last year, a 30-minute piece, i tweeted the link. it's really disturbing of all that's happening in some of these have. >> -- v.a. hospitals around the country. legionnaires outbreaks, et cetera. >> appreciate you giving the viewers that information. the president is going to be talking to general shinseki. we'll see if any news comes out of that. coming up next, you're going to

have to explain to me the naked squirrel or whatever that was. >> i will. i'm meteorologist bail karins. on this wednesday, thunderstorms will be widespread in the ohio valley and the northeast. we're not talking tornadoes. we'll could get high winds and large hail. fwook h back to ohio, indiana and kentucky. much of the west is enjoying a beautiful wednesday. unlimited. as in, no limits on your hard-earned cash back. as in no more dealing with those rotating categories. the quicksilver card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. don't settle for anything less. i'll keep asking. what's in your wallet?

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>> the kentucky race is really interesting. >> alison lundergran grimes is trying to beat mitch mcconnell. >> brian sullivan was trying to say the picture of him naked trying to run over a squirrel was a fake. what other pictures do you have? it wasn't a bicycle, it was rollerblades? are there more? are you kidding me? >> if we could go back to this picture. this is a perfect segue to chuck todd's show. "the daily rundown" is next. get ready for a kentucky horse race. mitch mcconnell didn't hide his strategy in his victory speech last night and alison lundergran grimes didn't hold back either. today a look at the key counties that will make or break her bid to pull the big upset.