talk about it, the more questions you have. it is one of the more fascinating and possibly disturbing decisions and events that i've seen in a long time in news. michael steele? >> what i learned is what joe manchin put on the table, that there's more to this epa decision that should be uncovered and discovered about cost and the effect that this policy is going to have. >> jeremy. >> i learned that you cannot apply the lessons of the tea party nationally to what's happening in mississippi and that we should be prepared for maybe a little bit of a surprise tonight. >> gene? >> shock, horror, people in appalachia where they mine coal don't really like -- >> no, they don't. we'll end on that note. if it's way too early, it's time for "morning joe." now it's time for "the daily rundown." chuck is abroad with the president, you'll hear from him too. have a good day. crazy eights. a major mess in mississippi and eyebrow-raising rumble in iowa and a likely coronation in california.

that's a far cry from the fight four years ago. just some of the big highlights as eight states head to the polls for the first primary of june. also this morning, president obama faces new questions over the deal to bring home an american p.o.w. nbc news has just learned the u.s. army is preparing to launch a full high-level inquiry into the circumstances surrounding bowe bergdahl's disappearance in afghanistan. plus, guess who else is voting today? syria. and there's actually more than one candidate on the ballot. but is it a real election if bashar al assad is expected to cruise to victory again? good morning from washington. it's tuesday, june 3rd, 2014, and this is "the daily rundown." i'm chris cillizza in for chuck todd. it is decision day. more voters are likely to cast ballots today than on any other primary day this year. polls are open in eight states from coast to coast. get ready for a late night. some of the biggest races on the ballot are in california, where returns won't start coming in

until 11:00 p.m. eastern time. but first stay on the east coast and mississippi, where the tea party's last real chance to knock off a republican senator arrives. the race is between six-term incumbent thad cochran and conservative challenger and state senator chris mcdaniel. it is going down to the wire. >> if we can unseat a 42-year incumbent, it will send shock waves through the system. and for the first time in years, those men and women in washington will look down to mississippi and say what just happened down there? knock the walls down, mississippians. knock the walls down. >> for the republican majority, as chairman of the appropriations committee, i can help stop wasteful spending and make sure our conservative principles are at the forefront of our policy decisions. >> now, this fight was supposed to be about cochran's long

tenure in washington and his willingness to work across the aisle. instead, the last three weeks of the race have been dominated by a bizarre attempt by four mcdaniel supporters of illegally photograph cochran's ailing wife in a nursing home. yesterday nbc's kasie hunt asked mcdaniel about it all. >> what matters in this race are the issues. that's just another distraction, something else he wants to talk about. i understand he wants to attack me but we can debate tonight if you wish. if he'll come down, we'll debate him tonight somewhere. >> the mcdaniel campaign is accusing cochran to resorting to recruiting democrats to vote in the republican party after an unknown group called all citizens for mississippi placed these ads in african-american newspapers in the jackson area touting cochran's support for ear marks for historically black colleges and for the food stamp program. >> i'm not going to tell people, you know, how to vote or when to vote or what primary to choose. >> but is this a sign that

you're very concerned about losing this race, asking democrats to vote in the primary to cross lines? >> no, i'm not asking them to do that, i'm asking them to go vote. >> but a group supporting your group with a photo in the ad. >> no, my position is that mississippians should turn out and vote for whoever they want to vote for. >> here's an important note. if no one breaks 50% today in mississippi, the race will be decided in three weeks' time in a june 24th runoff. if mcdaniel wins tonight, will the state's republican establishment sit on their hands and give democrat and former congressman travis childers an opening in what is a pretty republican state? moving west to iowa, state senator joni ernst is the clear front runner, well ahead of the pack in a recent des moines register poll. the only question is whether ernst who rose to obscurity thanks to a provocative tv ad

can crack the 35% barrier and claim the nomination outright. if he gets more than 35%, she would avoid a june 14th state convention. florida senator marco rubio campaigned for ernst in urbandale yesterday. >> come november of this year, the whole country may be up late watching the returns from iowa because the choice you make here could very well be the difference between another two years of harry reid as majority leader or a new day for our country. >> let's stop bruce braley's way, the washington way, because it is not working. >> and finally in california, democratic governor jerry brown is coasting to re-election, while republicans do everything in their power to avoid ending up with tea party backed tim donnelly as their gubernatorial nominee. he is a former minuteman still on probation for carrying a loaded gun into an airport.

karl rove has warned republicans mr. donnelly is quite prone to sharing the weird recesses and corners of his mind and it could be really problematic for the gop saying, quote, it will be used to tarnish not only the california republican party but they'll throw it at everybody else on the ballot, kashkari, the $700 billion man has climbed in the polls and is now even with donnelly. on monday, hundreds of thousands of republicans received a robocall from former massachusetts mitt romney on kashkari's behalf. that means the top two candidates regardless of party will compete in the fall. we wanted to check in on all three of these races and we'll snau start in mississippi with perry bacon who is live in jackson. perry, this is sort of the big race -- good morning. this is the big race of the day. let's talk about where things stand, particularly after this last three weeks in which mcdaniel has been forced to

fight back allegations that he was involved in some way, shape or form with the filming and video of senator cochran's wife in a nursing home. >> reporter: it's pretty clear mcdaniel is surging four weeks ago. the scandal has really changed the shape of this race and what people are talking about. it's become how the voters see this and some worry it will dampen down turnout. we assume mcdaniel has an intense amount of voters and maybe a higher turnout helps cochran. we just don't know. the scandal has changed the race and it's really too close to call here. people are not sure who's going to win today and it may come down to voters choosing at the last second. cochran yesterday emphasized he wants to repeal obamacare, he's very conservative himself. he's trying to play up that and make sure if you're a tea party person and conservative and not sure about the new guy, you can stick with cochran and he'll stand up for conservative values. >> i mentioned it earlier but i think it's important to note and

i want you to explain it to people, obviously cochran and mcdaniel are the two we know about in the race but there's a third candidate and there's a possibility that no one gets the 50% they need and we're talking about this race in three weeks' time. explain. >> reporter: exactly. 50% is a threshold for this race to win. if they don't they'll have three more weeks and will be very discouraging to voters here. people here i've talked to are very eager to see this race end so three weeks more will not be desired with mississippi voters, particularly since you've had a flood of outside money here. this has become the tea party's really last stand in this primary so i think they would flood in even more money if it came down to three more weeks in this competition. >> thank you, perry. turning to the senate race in iowa, radio iowa's o.k. hernandezs henderson joins us from

johnstown, iowa. is joni ernst going to have 35% or higher avoiding that state convention? what say you? >> it seems likely. the real question is really how big the turnout. it may be incredibly low. if that happens, i think that's better for ernst and worse for some of her competitors who may not even come close to her. she may be over 40% if turnout is very low. >> kay, i want to -- this race, there are a lot of candidates running, many of them not all that well defined. are you surprised by ernst's emergence here? she's certainly going to be the front runner. she was in the state senate. i assume you've covered her. does it surprise you that she's sitting where she is today? >> she was a competent senator, able to make her case on legislation pending in the state legislature. so she had skills -- communication skills. i think the real thing that has

catapulted her ahead is that she's been able to amass support from both the tea party wing of the party with sarah palin's endorsement and the establishment wing of the party with mitt romney's endorsement and she had some well-timed and well-themed commercials that were just -- you know, they just vaulted her into the conversation among republicans. >> who'd have thought castrating hogs would have such a tremendous electoral impact. we'll have one of the other candidates in the field on the phone later. thank you, kay henderson. turning to california, let me bring in sema meta. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me on. >> let's start with this. we'll have tim donnelly on later in the show but let's talk about why does the republican establishment so not want mr. donnelly as their nominee? >> tim donnelly first came into the public eye as a leader of the minuteman border patrol. he made a number of incendiary statements about illegal

immigrants. he compared illegal immigration to a war. every couple of weeks we've had controversial statements where he said controversial things about -- he compared president obama's gun policy to that of adolf hitler's. he also remains on probation and holds events at shooting ranges. she compared his rival saying he was trying to bring -- he tried to connect him to sharia law. he's a hindu of indian descent. a number of members of the establishment worry that he could a a drag if he's at the top of the ticket. >> how much of this really matter in the actual governor's race? jerry brown, who seems like he has been governor of california for basically roughly his entire life, he's in a very strong position and will cruise to be the democratic nominee. it's california, he's likely to win. how much does who the republicans nominate matter? >> i think most people agree barring some major change jerry brown will be re-elected in november. but the california republican party is at a historic low.

they have 28% voter registration and they're at a pivotal moment. some people argue depending on which candidate they go with, the more sort of mainstream candidate or the more tea party conservative candidate this could set the tone for the party for the next several years. >> thanks, seema, i appreciate it. >> thank you. let me bring in "the washington post" chief political correspondent, my friend and mentor dan balz, author of "the take" which you have to read and also a tremendous book, "decision 2012" about the 2012 election, as the title might suggest. dan, you've been in mississippi. let's just start there. we had perry on talking about it. this was the one race where it seemed as though the tea party senate conservative fund club for growth, all the tea party groups got behind a credible, serious, elected official in chris mcdaniel and this was the one they thought they could get. do they get it? >> it's certainly possible at this point. i think what we've seen over the last four or five days is a

nervousness on the part of the cochran forces and an effort to really rally people who might otherwise not be ready to turn out. what we've seen is the hailey barbour network out there cranking up warnings, we could lose this race, this race is really close, it's important to vote. i think the other thing that's interesting, chris, listening to the clips of senator cochran, this is a different cochran than i heard last week. when he talks about being chairman of the appropriations committee and saying i can be there to cut spending, when i saw him in front of an audience last week, one of the things he said, he was in a local hospital in a rural area that he had helped preserve and save with some loans, what he said then was i can be here to help mississippi get its fair share. so he's caught up with where the tea party message is, and that's what he's focused on in these last few days to reassure people

that he is conservative enough for them. >> in listening to the clip, it's fascinating. this is a guy who's been in the senate since, i believe, 1978. who for a very long time never had anything to worry about because he chaired the senate appropriations committee and he was able to dole out money in the state. he does talk some, as you mentioned last week, he still does talk some about what he's done for the state and what he can do. that message seems to me to be far less effective than it might have even been five years ago, given how people view politicians. >> it is less effective. he's got a couple of problems. one is simply longevity in washington. that always becomes a problem for some politicians. the second is just the dislike of washington that you see all across the country. that's not unique to mississippi. but he is of washington as much as he is of mississippi to some people in the electorate. and the third is, as you say, he's been a pork barreler over the years and proud of it and

mississippians have been proud of the fact. >> that dynamic just fundamentally changed. >> that changed and mcdaniel is riding that. we'll see. the structure of the race is such that he ought to be able to pull this out, but you don't know -- >> depending on who votes. >> that's right. >> i want to use mississippi as a window. you were in new orleans over the weekend, republican leadership conference. hale barbour working hard for cochran said we need to focus on unity, not division, we need to focus on what unites us. what does this race tell us about where the republican party is in their very public fight over what it should look like heading into 2016? >> a couple of things. one is on a lot of policy issues republicans are united. thad cochran would like to repeal or certainly change obamacare, as mcdaniel would. thad cochran is talking about cutting spending, as is mcdaniel. the republicans agree across the

board on a lot of those issues. but there is a major difference in terms of style, in their approach to it. and chris mcdaniel represents a wing of the party that wants to be more confrontational, less willing to compromise, more basic convictions, defending the constitution, and the hailey barbours of the world and presumably the cochrans of the world are sometimes you do have to compromise, that governing requires compromise and you have to be able to do that. >> and this is their last best shot for the tea party. we shall see. live pictures of warsaw, poland, where the president is heading to a meeting with european leaders. the president is being dogged by questions surrounding the release of p.o.w. bowe bergdahl. you can see those remarks from the president right here on msnbc. later today, chicago mayor rahm emanuel will be on "the tonight show" with jimmy fallon. back in three minutes with more tdr. ♪

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there are new developments surrounding released american p.o.w. bowe bergdahl. nbc has learned the army is gearing up for an inquiry into his conduct and circumstances surrounding his capture. despite that, president obama is standing by his decision to release taliban prisoners in exchange for bergdahl, a controversy that has now followed him all the way to europe. warsaw is the first stop on the president's three-nation tour through poland, belgium and france, culminating with the 70th anniversary of the d-day invasion on friday. this morning president obama met with polish leaders to express solidarity, particularly in the face of russian aggression in ukraine. but at the first opportunity, the president was asked about bergdahl, and he -- and reports that he deliberately walked away from his platoon in afghanistan.

>> regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an american soldier back if he's held in captivity, period. full stop. we don't condition that. >> military officials have now revealed that six american soldiers were killed during 90 days spent searching for bergdahl in afghanistan. a medic, who served with bergdahl, wants him held accountable for what he did. >> he willfully left. he had premeditated, planned out and left at a very specific time when there was -- the dark of the night. he deserted not only the army, but he also left myself and my platoon and my company to clean up his mess. >> as i mentioned, nbc news has learned the army is preparing to launch a full high-level inquiry into bergdahl's capture and the deaths of those six soldiers.

the inquiry will determine if an investigation into possible criminal charges is warranted. on his facebook page, martin dempsey wrote our army's leaders will not look away from misconduct if it occurred, end quote. this morning president obama also defended the release of five taliban prisoners, saying that he doesn't believe it's contrary to american security interests, and he insisted there is a historic precedent for this kind of exchange. >> this is what happens at the end of wars. that was true for george washington, that was true for abraham lincoln, that was true for fdr, that's been true every combat situation, that at some point you make sure that you try to get your folks back. and that's the right thing to do. >> tomorrow president obama will meet with the new president-elect of ukraine where the military has launched new attacks on the pro-russian rebels in the east. he then heads to brussels for a g-7 meeting and talks with

british prime minister david cameron. on thursday president obama will be in paris for dinner with the french president. then the two men head to normandy on friday where they will visit omaha beach and mark the 70th anniversary of d-day. our own chuck todd is traveling with the president and he joins me now from warsaw. chuck, a lot of bowe bergdahl today from the president. >> reporter: there is. before i get to bergdahl, i'll just sort of top out, remember the whole purpose of this trip and sort of the rescheduling of it was all designed to do some symbolic pushback at putin for his meddling in ukraine. remember originally the president was going to be headed to sochi, russia, where the g-8 meeting was going to be held. then it was determined that coming to poland was the right way for the president to symbolically reassure all of europe, particularly the rest of eastern europe that the united states would be there and to stand up -- be willing to stand up to russian aggression.

the president announced today a billion dollar fund to contribute to european security. but it is notable that he also lectured the rest of the europeans. he left poland out of it. he said poland does pay their fair share into nato but lectured the rest of the european countries and said they needed to start spending more on defense, not spending less. the decline in defense spending particularly when it comes to nato was a trend that needed to come to an end. let's go to bergdahl. a major shift in tone by the administration over the last 48 hours. we've gone from susan rice saying that bowe bergdahl served with honor and distinction on a sunday show to today where you have the president -- you have defense secretary chuck hagel, you have joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey, all at least acknowledging the possibility that there is some questions about how bowe bergdahl ended up in the hands of the taliban, did he desert. you've got martin dempsey essentially saying there will be an investigation, guaranteeing there will be an investigation. and the president defending his

actions less having to do about bergdahl and more having to do with the principle of never leaving a man behind. but i tell you another story that's going to pop up and another story line that's going to catch some fire and it goes to an answer that the president gave at this morning press conference when he said this is what happens at the end of wars, talking about the concern of getting your prisoners back. the fact that this was classified as a prisoner exchange does -- what does that mean for the rest of the gitmo detainees. are we considering them p.o.w.s, these five were we considering them p.o.w.s in the same way we classified bowe bergdahl as a p.o.w. and that's why they were made eligible as transfer or part of a prisoner exchange. these are some questions that i think the administration hasn't had to answer yet. they're likely going to be the next round of questions that they have to answer for. but it's clear, chris, that i think that most of this trip he's going to get overshadowed by questions surrounding the decision-making process, how

congress was told, whether they should have been told more, and what kind of assurances are there having to do with these five detainees that were released. like how quickly can the u.s. monitor their movements. and it is interesting how politically nervous even some democrats are. let's take a listen to what hillary clinton said yesterday. she defended the decision, but also put some distance between herself and the decision. take a listen. >> you don't want to see these five prisoners go back to combat, you know, there's a lot that you don't want to have happen. on the other hand, you also don't want an american citizen if you can avoid it, especially a soldier, to die in captivity. so i think we have a long way to go before we really know how this is going to play out. >> reporter: and it's that last part, you can see a long way to go before we know how this plays out. that's where you're going to see

a concentration of questions having to do with what is the future of the rest of the detainees. are they going to be considered prisoners of war, eligible for some form of release now that the war is coming to an end. so there's going to be a lot more questions that this raises beyond just the bowe bergdahl disappearance in the first place, chris. >> now, i know you're abroad and you're focused on the president, but i also know your political bengt. big day, june 3rd. we've got eight states, mississippi, california, all over the country. give our viewers sort of what you're watching. >> reporter: i'd say the three most important things to watch are the trends to watch, obviously mississippi above and beyond anything, that is the marquee race. you guys have done a lot on that and the real question is if mcdaniel wins, what happens? is this an indiana scenario? are there disenchanted cochran supporters, high-level people, that come out refusing to endorse mcdaniel or refusing to

support or maybe even supporting the democratic -- likely democratic nominee, travis childers. never mind if this thing ends up in a runoff, which of course is always possible because there is this third candidate on the ballot. but that is -- you know, the tea party has a lot on the line in that one, we all know. a win here sort of salvages their 2014, sort of preserves some of their potential political power and political influence. losing here and while they may blame the candidate and blame the whole shenanigans surrounding the taking of that picture of cochran's bed-ridden wife, it will sort of put an exclamation point on what has turned out to be so far a bad political year in 2014 for the tea party. the other notable races that i'm most focused on, iowa, jon joni ernst. outside groups have spent more money on her behalf than joni herself in her own primary. perhaps this is the new normal, we'll see h this more and more in primary campaigns. but it is unprecedented that

outside groups and in this case you have some tea party groups, mainstream business groups like the chamber, all sort of supporting her and propping her up. but you do have to ask yourself why hasn't she been able to capitalize and raise more money on her own behalf, spend more money on her own behalf. do you really want to be going into a long-term general election where you're relying almost exclusively on outside groups. and then there's california. while jerry brown -- the jerry brown race, he's going to win re-election and might win by a big number, could get over 60%, an unprecedented number. but if the republicans nominate tim donnelly as their candidate, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the republicans in that state handle him. do they totally distance themselves? do they say they're not going to be supportive? does he hurt down the ballot? there are a lot of interesting congressional races on the ballot. so those are among the three most interesting story lines i think of this election. and then i'll add a fourth and it's the lack of action in south dakota. how did tom daschle and harry

reid allow personal politics to get in the way and personal petty rivalries to get in the way to not make south dakota competitive. it is an amazing backstory there. there was a pretty good column about that this morning. >> handing over a senate seat, i agree. chuck todd, political analysis from warsaw, thank you. >> reporter: all right, my friend. still ahead we'll go live to bowe bergdahl's hometown where his friends and family are fighting back against the anger and controversy surrounding his release. plus a landmark vote in seattle that could foretell big changes for other big cities. first, today's trivia question. what's the shortest term ever served by a california governor? be the first person to tweet the correct answer to @dailyrundown to get an on-air shoutout. that answer and more coming up on "the daily rundown." [ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action.

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today's data bank, 15. the seattle city council voted to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour, the highest in the united states. the measure received unanimous support by the council is expected to be signed by seattle's mayor later today. the increase will be gradually implemented over the next several years. seattle mayor ed murray will join our own andrea mitchell today at 12:30 p.m. on "andrea mitchell reports." be sure to tune in. you know what we say here, if it's tuesday, someone's voting somewhere. we'll have much more on today's primaries still ahead. next, syrians are also going to the polls today. we're back in three minutes with more tdr. ♪

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bashar al assad is expected to win a third seven-year term in office. his opponents are a little known businessman educated in the united states and a member of parliament representing the war-torn city of aleppo. 15 million syrians are eligible to vote. the government has set up 11,000 ballot boxes at 9,000 polling places with beefed-up security. but any opposition to assad has effectively been blocked out and voting is only being allowed in government-controlled areas. the fighting continues despite the election. nbc news cannot confirm this amateur video showing a clash just outside of damascus. and then there are the refugees, 2.5 million refugees have either been excluded or are boycotting the election. several hundred thousand refugees did cast a ballot at neighboring embassies. president assad got 98% of the vote when he ran unopposed seven years ago. analysts predict he'll get an

even higher percentage of the vote this time. polls close at noon eastern timtim time. what, if anything, will an assad victory mean for syria. is this an election or is it not? >> it is a show of democracy and an emphasis on the word "show." this is bashar assad essentially telling his supporters i am still here and telling his opponents i am still here. this is not so much an election as him sort of poking the eye at the international community that has been opposed to him as well as the rebels that have been fighting him for the past three and a half years. >> so, bobby, why allow -- he got elected with 98% of the vote unopposed seven years ago. why allow anyone else on the ballot at all? this is -- this is in theory a choice. there are three options. why not run unopposed again?

>> it's a little bit of window dressing. it is him saying, oh, you want democracy? here have a little democracy. he has two opponents, one of whom who has not been heard from in the election campaign and the other has supported his actions against the rebels so this is not so much a competition as a victory parade already. >> and the last one, bobby, which is syria was so in the news here in the united states for such a long time and it's fallen off the front page and off the lead of the news. what is the status there? and does this election, i hesitate to put it in quotes, though i'm not sure if we should or not, but what does this election tell us or say about the future of syria? again, if anything? >> well, the sad news is that assad is indeed taken back a lot of territory that the rebels fought so hard to hold. he has completely flattened the old city of homs, which used to be the rebel capital, and his

forces are making progress. the rebels are outgunned, outnumbered, don't have the kind of international support they need. assad has planes and a complete willingness to kill as many innocent people as is necessary to regain the territory, so the balance is very much in his favor. the election is not going to change anything at all except to give assad an opportunity to do some more propaganda. but the facts on the ground are very depressing indeed. >> thank you, bobby. appreciate your time. >> any time. time for the next number in today's data bank, and it's 15 again. not because we got sick of that number but because it's a good number. this time it's the number of former nfl players who have filed the latest lawsuit against the league related to concussion injuries. this list includes one very recognizable name, hall of fame quarterback former miami dolphin dan marino.

marino joins over 4800 players, that is right, 4800 players who are suing the league alleging the nfl misled them over the effects of concussions. the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and medical monitoring. a federal judge rejected a proposed $765 million settlement with players earlier this year. up next, we're hitting the trail with a couple of the candidates, hoping to make it to november after today's primaries. but first, our tdr 50 soup of the day comes from nada's pastries in sherman oaks, california, just outside los angeles. they're serving up caldo verde, maybe rooting for portugal in the upcoming world cup. we will be right back. te. the numbers are impressive. over 400,000 new private sector jobs... making new york state number two in the nation in new private sector job creation... with 10 regional development strategies to fit your business needs. and now it's even better

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actual candidates. in california, tea party-backed tim donnelly and former t.a.r.p. boss neel kashkari are fighting to take on governor jerry brown in the fall. the results could be critical to the future of the state republican party. california assemblassemblyman t donnelly joins me on the phone now. i want to start with this. karl rove has said that it would be very problematic not just in california but across the country if you are the republican party nominee for governor. why is he wrong? >> karl who? >> karl rove. >> oh, you mean the architect of the destruction of the conservative movement. well, you know what, if karl rove is against me, then the people are with me because he is -- i wear his opposition as a badge of honor. look, the political parties in

california have failed the people. that's why the fastest-growing party is neither. >> assemblyman, why -- it's not just karl rove, it's the former governor of the state, pete wilson, a republican, who has warned against putting you as the republican nominee. tell me why you believe -- why do you believe that, for lack of a better word, the party establishment is so concerned about the prospect of you being their standard bearer? >> because i got here without their permission and they can't control me. and look, the bottom line is there's a whole lot of people in california that care about what happens in california. and the people on your list are not among them. they come into california, they take a bunch of money and they take it out and use it in elections in other states because nobody believes we can win here. and if you put up a traditional republican, if you use the same playbook they used in the past, i think it was einstein who said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and

over and over again. we put up mitt romney. he was too rich to win because he couldn't relate to the people. that was one of his biggest failings. he just couldn't connect. we put up meg whitman in 2010. epic fail. and the republican party got to 28% of the electorate in california by putting up people who are out of touch. i am running around the state in a bus called the liberty express. i've got a car with 370,000 miles on it. you know what? i've got democrats working on my campaign who disagree with me on major issues. i've been endorsed by rob schneider because democrats are not the enemy. tyranny is the enemy of freedom. when you look around, we've got way too many modern-day examples of tyranny with the nsa and irs and all these other things. >> assemblyman donnelly, we'll be following you and the liberty bus today, thank you for your time. >> thank you. turning to the republican senate race in iowa, will

joni ernst crack 35% of the vote and win the republican nomination outright? here's somebody trying to stop her. sam clovis is running against ernst and he joins me now on the phone. sir, you were at 11% in a recent poll. it seems as though the only question is will joni ernst get to 35% of the vote or not tonight. is that the right question we should be asking? >> i think you ought to be talking to her about that. i'm not interested in that particular point. i think we have a very crowded field. i think that if you take a look at the poll, and i think you need to take a look at the cross tabs and i think you'll find that the support is very soft. there's no definitive real leader. i think it's as much as name recognition as it is commitment to a candidate. so i think there's going to be a lot of dynamics in play today. we've got weather systems moving through that will have an effect. we've had a lot of other factors to look at, so i think we're a long ways from determining who

the next senator from iowa is going to be. >> and quickly, mr. clovis, i wanted to ask you if joni ernst is the nominee, would you endorse her? would you be comfortable with her as the republican nominee, comfortable with her as a republican nominee? >> well, in the state of iowa, we will unify as republicans and one of the things that has been stumping on across the state is the fact that i think that we have all republicans have in common and that is the constitution, and we can get behind the constitution, and we can unify behind, that and that is all of the candidates ought to embrace that. >> mr. clovis, thank you for the time, and good luck tonight. coming up, we are live in hailey, idaho, as bowe bergdahl's family and friends await his return. >> and the shortest time for the return is five days. two days after the inauguration, milton latham was elected to fill the vacancy of nathan broderick who had been killed in

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serious questions are being raised about the capture and release of army sergeant bowe bergdahl, but back in his hometown of hailey, idaho, folks are trying to keep the con tr controversy at arm's length, because preparations have been five years in the making for the homecoming. and the mayor says that the city respectfully requests that people do not prejudge this young man. we will focus on the release of bowe bergdahl and the family and the family who live here. >> well, it is a relief for the whole valley that he comes home. >> we didn't know if we would see him again, but i am glad, of course, and i'm looking forward to seeing what the outcome of all of this is going to be. >> and janet shamlian joining us

from hailey, idaho, and a big day. talk to us about it. >> well, it unusual, chris, that this news release was issued by the city of hailey for them saying, hey, don't judge this guy, and they were being swamped with e-mails and tweets that they should not be holding this celebration for bowe when he returns home. their thought is that this is a member of our community who has been missing five years and if it was your child, and the conditions under which he released would not matter to you, and you would want your child home and so just some time that he is released and coming home here. and if you talk to the people around town, there is some frustration that this criticism is coming their way. they want to enjoy the moment. they are planning a big homecoming for the 28th of june. they don't know whether bowe will be here or not, but it is a celebration nonetheless, and they are trying to enjoy the moment aside from the con troe vver si. chris, back to you.

>> and janet shamlian, thank you, and amazing scene behind you and i can see it. thank you for your time. that it is for this edition of the "daily rundown" and coming up next on msnbc is chris jansing with much more of the reactions of bow burg dal's release and the army inquiry that is about to be started. i'm meteorologist bill karins, and the big concern this afternoon and into the evening is the severe weather outbreak which could include a few strong tornados and the area of greatest concern is nebraska and also northern kansas and southern iowa and later tonight through northern missouri and central illinois and including the areas north of krns kansas and widespread wind damage is possible. up, ya know what happens? i think the numbers speak for themselves.

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yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. global stage this morning defending a sacred mission to return u.s. prisoners of war. >> period. full stop. >> but as the controversy over bowe bergdahl continues, we talk to a soldier who served with him and he has five years of pent-up questions. >> eight is enough, and primary days in states from coast to coast, and we will breakdown the key rates from iowa to mississippi and a couple of races that you may not know, but worth keeping an eye on. and cold country politics, the president is swinging hard

at climate change, but the democrats want no part of it. what is the political strategy for 2014 and beyond? good morning. i'm chris jansing and beginning with the u.s. army ready to launch a high level inquiry into the ka capture and disappearance of sergeant bowe bergdahl. it is confirmed that he walked away from the outpost without a weapon and just a compass and a water. and in a nine-day search operation, six soldiers died. he could face criminal charges if he were found guilty of misconduct, and nbc news confirm ed the army inquiry this morning, and earlier than that, president obama defended the questions to secure his release on the first leg of the four-day v visit to europe. the president stood by the decision to exchange five taliban detainees for bergdahl despite the allegations that he had abbandoned the post in afghanistan.