come on, do it. do it! >> mika, you have to come over here. come on. come on. >> the headline in "discover" magazine. >> apparently brown bears like -- >> no, no, no. >> oral sex. >> bear sex. >> we're not on delay. >> we're not on delay, joe. >> it's in "discover" magazine. it's totally legitimate. that's scientific truth. >> bears -- >> say good-bye for the last time. >> i had nothing to do with it. chuck todd coming up. chuck, take it away, buddy. new conflict, old rivalries. washington travels back in time as politicians play the iraq blame game. and secretary of state john kerry tells nbc that nothing is off the table. what does nothing mean? follow the leader. it's election day on capitol hill. with just a few hours to go before votes are cast, the

candidates for leaders shift posts, make their final pitches. plus we're digging deeper into our new poll from immigration to climate change to education. the wide divide between the tea party and, well, everyone else. good morning from washington. it's thursday, june 19th, 2014. this is "the daily rundown." also this hour, meet the man who's about to receive the nation's highest award for brave re, as we say farewell to another american hero. let's get right to my first reads of the morning. we begin in iraq. fierce fighting is ongoing at an oil refine rein the north and there are reports of deadly bombing in baghdad itself. the debate is still raging inside the white house as president obama weighs his options in responding to the chaos in iraq. but today we heard from a critical voice, a former commander of coalition forces in iraq, general david petraeus. at a conference in london he warned against an air campaign, and he said this. quote, this cannot be the united states being the air force for

shia militias or a shia on sunni arab fight. folks, this is a big deal that petraeus is essentially on the president's side on this one, arguing that air strikes could end up fueling a sectarian war. now, he's for doing something if there is major political reform by maliki, not minor. nevertheless, secretary of state john kerry told my ole pal, savannah guthrie, that no final decisions have been made. here's part of that exclusive interview that aired on the "today" show. >> nothing is off the table. all options are still available to the president. the president has not made a decision on those options. we are very intensely vetting each of the possibilities. >> keep in mind, by the way, secretary kerry internally is the strongest advocate for significant action. he'd like to see it sooner rather than later and he wants a little symbolic shock and awe. as we reported yesterday, the idea of a shock and awe campaign simply isn't a viable option, according to military leaders.

as joint chiefs chairman general martin dempsey told a senate committee wednesday, they simply don't have the targets. >> these forces are very much intermingled. it's not as easy as looking at an iphone video of a convoy and then immediately striking it. >> that said, the u.s. is working to get better intelligence. they have been sending reconnaissance aircraft on 24/7 missions over iraq. they include navy, fa-18s and unmanned global hawk drones. president obama met with congressional leaders wednesday to talk things over. and it really was a consultation, not a phony consultation. whenever he does decide -- whatever he decides to do, we expect it to have three parts. the first will be a political part, including some sort of promise of reform or actual reaction from prime minister maliki. the second will be a form of military assistance. maybe it's drone strikes, maybe it's special ops, maybe it's both. the third will try to address the need to improve the iraqi

security forces. that could mean sending more trainers in, could mean more resources, i.e. more weapons. but let's go back to the first point. maliki addressed the iraqi people on wednesday. it was not a message of inclusion. instead he attacked his political opponents for joining countries in the region in what he says is a sinister plot to break up iraq. in that interview on "today," secretary kerry made it clear the u.s. is not trying to prop up the current iraqi government. >> nothing that the president decides to do is going to be focused specifically on prime minister maliki. it is focused on the people of iraq. >> but it may benefit maliki. >> sunni, kurd. well, that's up to the people of iraq to decide. >> of course back in washington, the iraq blame game is in full swing. during a discussion at the american enterprise institute, senator john mccain called on president obama to do more that galvanize public support behind action in iraq. >> it requires a president who will sit in the oval office and

look into the camera and say, my fellow americans, what's happening in iraq and syria today is a direct threat to the united states of america. that way is how you get the american people to understand what's at stake here. and i say this -- i shouldn't say it, but it doesn't mean going to play golf. >> even former vice president cheney decided to get into the act. he slammed the obama administration in a wall street journal op-ed and had a video launching a new group called alliance for a strong america. >> the policies of the last six years have left america diminished and weakened. our enemies no longer fear us. our allies no longer trust us. >> by the way, at about 7:00 last night, that group sent out a fund-raising e-mail based on all of that. now democrats are firing back at cheney from the floor of the senate as well as the white house briefing room. >> if there's one thing that this country does not need, it's

that we should be taking advice from dick cheney on wars. being on the wrong side of dick cheney is to be on the right side of history. >> rarely has a u.s. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many, talking about the situation in iraq and the middle east generally. >> which president was he talking about? >> joining me now is one of the most influential voices on military matters inside the democratic party, army veteran and rhode island democratic senator jack reed. of course senator reed serves on the armed services committee. senator, good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, chuck. >> so i want to actually get you to respond first to david petraeus. there's been -- it's amazing to me how people want to assume where petraeus is on certain things when it comes to iraq. obviously he was the man behind the successful surge back in 2006-2007. but he seems to be in a place that many are not even here,

which is don't do anything that basically backs this maliki government in any form. what do you say to that? >> i think he's exactly right. david is one of the most thoughtful and experienced people that has actually led forces in iraq, understands the cost, particularly to the young men and women he led. his advice i think is extraordinarily sound. what maliki has done is he's politicized the military and militaryized the politics. unless he begins to reform his own government, reach out to be inclusive, and also create a military that is based on merit, not on loyalty to maliki, then what we do is probably not going to be dispositive at all.

i think david's viewpoint is his great experience, great expertise and his commitment to do what he thinks best for this country, his country. >> there's so few people that are considered nonor bipartisan, i think it's pretty fair to say david petraeus is one of those few people these days. >> he's a professional. >> senator, let me ask you, should the bar be no military assistance, no military help from the united states until maliki goes? >> no. i think what the pressure has to be, and it has to be relentless and not just the united states but the world community, maliki has to reform and become an effective leader. if not, then we have to, i think, not we really, but the iraqi people have to ask themselves will they continue to tie their faith to this one individual. but i think at some times maliki has surprised us. in 2008 he took decisive action against the shia militia in basra, even before we were ready to move. he has to understand that not

only his country but his own longevity is threatened and he has to begin to be more pragmatic, more practical and more inclusive. >> you know, though, every report that i've been hearing about, i know vice president biden, who's got the best personal relationship with maliki talked to him yesterday, but everything you hear is that he's spouting off conspiracy theories that he's nowhere near sort of confronting the idea that he's part of the problem. >> unfortunately, i'm hearing that too, chuck. that seems to be a persistent pattern where he will sort of think first of himself, unfortunately, not of his country and then, second, a web of intrigue, always against him, always against his personality rather than looking out and seeing what he can do for his nation. but despite that, in this crisis he has to recognize that change has to take place. he has to get competent leaders that are leading these units, these iraqi units. he has to go ahead and begin to

have a real dialogue with the sunni community as well as the kurdish community. and i think and hope he can do that, because that is the critical issue at the moment. if he can do that, then we have some traction. if he doesn't do that, then there's very little traction for his government and our efforts in iraq. >> you know, at one point he used the phrase iraqi people, and i say this and i ask this because i wonder is that really possible? is this a country that can support a democracy right now, or does it really need to partition itself? >> it's a country that has obviously significant lines of demarcation between kurds, sunni and shia. and then within those communities tribal animosities. so this gets down into the real sort of detailed nitty-gritty of different competing tribes,

different competing sectarian groups, but i think the notion of an iraq government with its differences is something that does appeal to the vast majority of iraqis. they understand that they would be better off in terms of their future if they could hold together. now, that might mean a reformation of their government, a more federation form. one of the realities too is there's been this discussion over the years of let's just divide it up into nice, neat sectarian areas. some of those areas have a lot of oil. others don't. so it begs the basic question, how are some of these areas going to support themselves. so i think that's a simplistic approach. but the reality is, and i think, that most iraqis see the value in trying to hold together, even though they recognize the differences are profound. >> you're one of the people that probably has more right to back seat drive on iraq than anybody. you voted against giving president bush authorization to conduct this war back in the

day, so let me ask you this. do you think president obama should go to congress and get some sort of affirmation for whatever he does? he doesn't probably constitutionally need to. would you like to see him do that? >> i think it clearly depends on what course of action that he chooses. as you indicated, there is a significant ramping up of intelligence activities for our benefit as much as for the benefit of the iraqi security forces. we have in the area moved a carrier battle group, we have surface ships, we have the military power, but until there's a clear sort of plan of action and until that crosses a threshold where there's a significant involvement, i think the president has sufficient authority to not only conduct intelligence operations, but to particularly take out individual targets, isis individuals who pose a threat not just to iraq but to the world community and the united states. >> and very quickly, do you

think we'll ever rescind this authority, this sort of war authority that the president has, president bush had it, president obama has it. do you think we'll rescind it before president obama leaves office? >> i think we'll rescind it eventually, but the problem i think is first you have to replace it with something that allows the president, not just president obama but any president the ability to preempt terrorist groups that are challenging us in an immediate fashion. and then second, honestly, the climate here is less about sort of coming together in a deliberative way, and that was i think in the wake of 9/11, that was clearly the case. we were one congress, one people. we were going to give and we did give president bush the authority to move into afghanistan and to take appropriate action against al qaeda. that climate has changed dramatically. >> yeah, well, you say that. that's for sure. senator jack reed, leading democrat on military affairs of

course from rhode island. thanks very much. up next, it's election day on capitol hill. everything you need to know about today's gop leadership vote. but first a look ahead at today's big politics planner. you know the big stuff, but there's a little 2016 cattle call going on. if you're bored at lunch, go over to the faith and freedom coalition conference and check out ted cruz, marco rubio, a few others speaking at that one. you're watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] there's a gap out there. that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve. at humana, we believe if healthcare changes,

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listen, personal setbacks are never easy but i'm an optimistic person. i don't necessarily think you can judge things that happen at the current time, but i think later we'll look back and see what seemed really bad was actually good. so i'm very optimistic. >> so if it's thursday, somebody

is voting somewhere, right? well, anyway, that somewhere is in washington, d.c. congressman eric cantor's stunning loss last week has launched an equally fierce campaign for his leadership job and, therefore, another leadership post. this afternoon in an election which may not feature white smoke but echos the secrecy and jockeying for power of a papal conclave, house republicans will gather behind closed doors to elect a new republican majority leader and then decide whether, and if it's congressman kevin mccarthy, the current majority whip, then they have to hold another election for his job. of course mccarthy is being challenged by raul labrador, a very late challenge. >> congressman, you tried to oust speaker boehner. wouldn't it be awkward trying to vote for him? >> i think that's the great part about this. i can work with speaker boehner and make speaker boehner stronger. when people that trust me see that things are coming out of

the leadership team, they're actually going to be excited that there was somebody like myself there at the table. >> labrador's attempt to run as the conservative alternative has been complicated a bit by his past support for some immigration reform. he dropped out of the house's gang of eight a year ago but that hasn't placated some conservatives on this issue. >> we have this fair pledge out there, i know you know what it is. will you today say you will not engage to any of this push for foreign workers or guest workers or an immigration reform pathway while barack obama is president? will you agree to those principles? >> no, i will not, laura. i think we need to -- >> so you're where cantor is, because he won't either? >> no, no, i'm very different than eric cantor. i wouldn't have been talking about -- i have made it very clear for the last year that we shouldn't have a bill for immigration reform in the house of representatives. >> with mccarthy the heavy favorite for the number two job, the drama has moved to the battle for the house republicans number three poervgts the

majority whip. the rain has become a regional ideological battle. louisiana congressman steve scalise is running as the southern alternative. right now none of the top six republican leaders come from south of richmond. he is saying go, get it, scalise. >> we're in a really good spot and we're going to get some votes from the few undecideds that remain. if your opponent's strategy is to come in second, i'm here to help them achieve their goal. >> the challenger is pete roskum. current leadership is wary to weigh in on behalf of a supposed moderate blue state republican and aren't doing too much to help him now. 117 votes are needed to win outright on a first ballot. if no candidate wins a majority, the candidate with the least number of votes will be eliminated and voting will advance to a second ballot. marlin stutzman is likely to be

eliminated after the first ballot which makes him the wild card in this race. joining me now, robert costa, nbc's luke russert. luke, let me start with you. let's start with the majority leader post. the likely bar, if you were to assume raul labrador's number is what, what is he likely to get, what is the hard core anti-leadership vote that will vote against anything boehner wants, no matter what he asks for, that labrador is likely to get? >> well, you always have the liberty caucus as we call them here on capitol hill, chuck, or the kamikaze caucus, depending on which gop leadership aide you talk, to but that's usually around 30. i think the over/under for labrador is probably about 50 votes. you'll probably have those extreme guys to the right like the steve kings, the thomas masseys of the world who kinds of come here with the idea they want to blow up business as usual. i also think you'll get some people in there that don't think kevin mccarthy has done a good job, who want to protest him

being majority leader. there are some folks upset about the process. they thought this election happened too quickly. one week after was the leadership's way of steam rolling mccarthy through so they'll protest against that. if for some reason this was not done on the first ballot, that would be a bigger upset than what happened to cantor last week from how we're reading these tea leaves. >> robert, the third race there, the big battle for the third post. steve scalise, how does he lose? it does feel like everything is sort of building around him, but how does he lose? if he loses today, why would it happen? >> i don't think it's going to happen. i was here at the capitol early this morning meeting with boehner allies. a lot of them last night turned toward scalise. they believe that voting for him for whip protects john boehner this fall because it appeases concern afternoons in the conference who as luke said are frustrated. the only way he loses is if marlin stutzman, this indiana wild card, throws his support

behind roskam and that puts raskam over the edge. >> luke, watching this back and forth a little bit, if you're john boehner, do you -- are you secretly now probably hoping scalise does win because you need that protection, that if it ends up being three blue state guys again, roskam in the number three post, that it only maybe gins up the conservative angst? >> chuck, i can speak for bob too, we both have had the privilege of seeing the scalise whip count at some point during this process under the condition of anonymity. there are committee chairmen on there, people close to john boehner and people close to leadership. you're starting to see the boehner coalition move over for that specific reason. steve scalise has run on this idea that he's going to be the red state guy that represents red state issues and we can't have all these blue states and purple states representing us. he wants to do that. every aide i've spoken to within

leadership have all said this. steve scalise is conservative but is not your usual republican conservative. he's a catholic guy from new orleans. he's somebody we feel we can work with and do business with and that's something john boehner is aware of. if john boehner will stay longer, which he probably will now, he would want a guy like steve scalise to give him in cover. >> mr. costa, in the who replaces boehner sweepstakes, if it's mccarthy or scalise, who's the speaker in waiting? >> remember, mccarthy was the chief recruiter for house republicans in 2010 with the tea party wave. the question i have, chuck, is those who stayed on the sidelines now, paul ryan may be looking toward 2016. we're not really sure where they're going politically. do they step up in the fall if mccarthy has a weak summer and weak fall. those are the questions on the

minds of house rinse. could mccarthy be taken out if boehner remains strong. that's going to be an open debate. >> luke russert, robert costa, good stuff. fun election to cover. you never know what's going to happen, but it does look like mccakaurcarty how big is his wi can mccarthy pull it out. thank you, guys. time now for the first number in today's data bank. 1,220. that's the number of days that jay carney served as white house press secretary. carney held his final white house briefing yesterday. he walked into the briefing room one last time to his own at-bat music to the band guided by voices blader over the speakers. carney said that he loved every minute of every day on the job. deputy press secretary replaces carney at the podium officially, i believe, monday. coming up next, the famous quarterback throws a hail mary in the mississippi senate race.

plus it was once a symbol of american expansion, so why has st. louis been stuck in a slump for so long? that's our tdr 50 focus this week. but first, today's tdr 50 trivia question. how many republicans have served as missouri secretary of state since 1945? the first person to tweet the correct answer will get the on-air shoutout. the answer and more is coming up on tdr. ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ don't stop now, come on mony ♪ come on, yeah ♪ i say yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ 'cause you make me feel ♪ like a pony ♪ so good ♪ like a pony ♪ so good ♪ like a pony [ male announcer ] the sentra with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. spread your joy. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ mony mony innovation that excites. when laquinta.com sends him a ready for you alert the second his room is ready, ya know what salesman alan ames becomes? i think the numbers speak for themselves.

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well, it's a full-on blitz in mississippi, with just five days to go before the runoff between chris mcdaniel and the now underdog income bent republican senator thad cochran. former nfl quarterback brett favre is getting in the race, backing cochran in this new ad released by the u.s. chamber of commerce. >> if learned through football that strong leadership can be the difference between winning and losing. and when it comes to our state's future, trust me, mississippi can win. and win big with thad cochran

has our strong voice from washington. >> as you know, favre is from gulfport, mississippi, and he coached high school football in hattiesburg, an area of south mississippi, where challenger chris mcdaniel has strong support. by the way, favre went to southern mississippi for college. mcdaniel has the backing of people such as sarah palin, rick santorum and game show host chuck woolery. we'll stick to our sports theme here. back here in washington, the redskins are vowing to appeal the latest hit to their name. yesterday the patent office voted to revoke six of the washington redskins' trademarks, saying the team name is disparaging to native americans. the ruling is another blow for the team who in recent months has faced increasing criticism and demands to change their name. the redskins are vowing to appeal this ruling saying we are confident we will prevail once again. this has happened one other time. if the ruling stands others will be allowed to sell redskins merchandise which would be a huge financial blow to the league because the redskins share their merchandising rights with the 30 other nfl teams.

only one team controls their own merchandising rights. that is the dallas cowboys. so now this could actually pressure the team. folks, this is probably the way the name actually changes, because it's hitting dan snyder and roger goodell in the pocketbook. time now for one more sports item. and it's another number in today's data bank. it's 284. that's the number of no-hitters thrown in major league baseball history. last night the l.a. dodgers added to that total. pitcher clayton kershaw, the best pitcher in the game, became the latest pitcher to be added to the list. the 26-year-old lefty struck out 15 batters. it was a fantastic game. frankly it should have been a perfect game but for one error. led the dodgers to an 8-0 win against the colorado rockies. second no-hitter for tof the yer the dodgers. this might have been one of the greatest no-hitters pitched in a regular season going. up next, going beyond the call of duty. today our nation's highest

military honor will be bestowed upon a marine corporal named kyle carpenter. first, our tdr soup of the day comes from chesterfield, missouri. se serving up forest mushroom and brie soup. it's got cheese in it, so why not. we'll be right back. helps reduce the risk of heart disease. it seems that 80 is the new 18. grannies, bless your heart, you are bringing sexy back! eat up. keep heart-healthy. live long. for a healthy heart, eat the 100% natural whole grain goodness of post shredded wheat. doctors recommend it. how do i win?ight.everyone wins. because we're streaming the movie that you love. well, how do i win? because we ordered that weird thing that you love from the pizza place. how do you win, dad? because i used the citi thankyou card and got two times the points on alllllll of this.

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today a 24-year-old marine corporal will become only the second living marine to serve in iraq or afghanistan and receive the nation's highest award for valor in combat. william kyle carpenter was wounded fighting the taliban in southern afghanistan in november of 2010. carpenter's buddies say he jumped on a grenade to save the life of a fellow marine. it cost carpenter's right eye, most of his teeth and shattered his jaw and arm. nbc military analyst colonel jack jacobs got to talk to corporal carpenter about what happened that day.

>> i was in marjah, afghanistan. it was november 21st of 2010. it was my first combat deployment over there. myself and a good buddy of mine, a fellow marine, fellow fire team and squad member, we were on top of a roof together and an attack was started and grenades were thrown inside the compound and one landed on top of the roof with us. i don't remember anything in the moments leading up to him. >> they got in pretty close to get grenades in there. >> they did. they came in very quickly right after we had moved in. we were, you know, not caught off guard, we were kind of always ready, as you know, for anything to happen at any time over there. but as far as just getting in the compound and starting to settle in, they attacked. i couldn't really hear or see anything just because of my vision and my ruptured ear

drums. but through those few short seconds i got more and more tired. towards the end of it after i had my final few thoughts and i kind of had come to terms that i wasn't making it through this, yeah, i was just really tired. i just wanted to go to sleep. >> go to sleep? >> yeah. >> yeah, i think you've come to grips with the situation after a while. you realize -- have you talked -- when you talk to the other recipients, they'll tell you the same thing, that they thought it was over. but if it was going to be over, it was over and not much you can do about it. they were going to go out in a blaze of glory. >> right, yeah. >> most of all they wanted to take care of their buddies. >> yes, sir. >> what happened to the guys who were -- the marines who were down below, who were not on the roof? >> they made it to me very quickly. the second the attack started, they realized a grenade had gone off on the roof. as quick as they could get geared up, they made it up the ladder and i absolutely credit them with saving my life and the

quick response was just incredible. >> colonel jacobs joins me now. i was just fascinated by your comment there and frankly this is only something that i think that you can be able to say to someone like him, which is this idea that every -- just about every medal of honor recipient had the same thing go through their mind, they assumed it was over. >> yeah, and that happens not just to people who reef any award for valor but people in combat generally. when times are really, really difficult, you get the feeling, especially if you're wounded, that you're all in it together, you've got to be for one another. if you're going to go out in a blaze of glory, you're going to do whatever you need to do in order to take care of each other. >> now, this is a little bit different, this medal of honor citation, because i guess there was some question about whether they could ever prove it beyond a reasonable doubt of what happened. explain. >> well, you have to have witness statements from at least two or three, i think. this was a relatively low

building, and carpenter and his marine buddy were on the roof of this low building. the rest of the marines in his squad were at the base of it. so they were able to piece together exactly the sequence of events and they were able to testify about that. they got up onto the roof very, very quickly and their testimony with that of the marine whom kyle tried to save, those things went together to produce exactly what the account was. >> i'm just so glad you did this and we can see more of your interview with kyle carpenter all day long. we'll have a lot more of it on our website and a lot more of it this afternoon. live coverage of course of the medal of honor ceremony begins here on msnbc at 2:00 eastern. well, on a day that we're honoring service and sacrifice at the white house, we're saying farewell to another war hero. someone all of us got to know during our special coverage of the 70th anniversary of d-day just a couple weeks ago. corporal jack schlagel was with

it in normandy less than two weeks ago. we've since learned that he's died at the age of 90. you remember his story. he was just 19 years old when he parachuted into occupied france june 6th as part of the 82nd airborne. he was the last man out of his c-47 transport plane before it plunged to the ground in flames. he landed in a small town in france that still hails him today as a hero. he visited the street that's named after him with my colleague, peter alexander. >> you wanted it to be named 508 after the unit. >> right. so many young men died, wounded, never got any type of medal. i get a little emotional. all my comrades that died in some of this action that they are not here to get the same type of honor. and it is very honoring for me to have all these people here

and they appreciate what the americans did. >> schlegel and some of his buddies were captured four times by the germans, escaping each time. a story he shared with us. >> how did you escape being a p.o.w. >> how did i escape? >> yes. >> chuck, in three months i was captured, recaptured, captured, recaptured, captured, recaptured. and the worst experience i went through, the third time i was captured by the ss in a unit when i was fighting with the free french, they took us to gestapo headquarters and they broke all my fingers and my thumb. i still have scars from there. >> he was an unforgettable character and an incredible story teller. >> i was in a tent with the other guys and patton gave me my first purple heart. and i had a drink of johnny

walker black label with patton. and my wife don't believe it, but the language patton used, he was really something, you know. >> boy, he was something else. his story, his patriotism that day moved a lot of us, touched a nerve with a lot of you out there. a lot of viewers who tweeted that day things like this. such a gift listening to jack schlegel share his life's stories. thanks for highlighting this day, these men. one viewer called these stories factual and another called the stories priceless. schlegel returned to normandy on the 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th anniversaries of d-day. he told me he was hoping to be there on the 75th. corporal jack schlegel was 90 years old. from alaska, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology.

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the west, a city founded as the territorial capital of the louisiana territory. it hosted the summer olympics and the world's fair in 1904, seemed poised to grow into one of the largest and most consequential cities not just in the united states but perhaps in the world, but it didn't happen. today the city remains in the midst of a series of downtown and neighborhood revitalization projects, trying to plug a population drain that's been going on for decades. from 1900 to 1920 st. louis was the fourth largest city in the united states. but then it started to slide. it was the seventh in 1930, by 1940 and 1950 st. louis had 857,000 residents. following world war ii a huge influx of african-americans from the south flooded into the city looking for work. at the same time, many of the industrial jobs began to dry up as companies moved away or simply shut down. then you had white flight. many white residents left the city to follow those jobs. it began a long process that saw the population cut in half, while those that remained went from majority white to majority

african-american. in 1950 whites in st. louis outnumbered african-americans 4-1. by 2010 whites were in the minority. national trend played a role as well. in the 1950s people were moving out of the cities and into the suburbs all over the country. in many places the cities simply expanded to keep the residents within their boundaries. that didn't happen in st. louis. there's a quirk in the way the city limits had been drawn preventing st. louis from following suit. back in 1876 boundaries were drawn to divide the city from st. louis county, ceiling the city at 61 square miles. by the 1950s construction inside the city limits had maxed out. over the years the older buildings fell into disrepair and decay. while other cities were able to annex smaller communities, st. louis never could and it cost it precious financial resources as more and more residents fled to the burbs. in addition the city's decision to allow major highways to cut through some historic neighborhoods like north st. louis not only undermined those neighborhoods but then made it easier for workers to commute

without having to live there. it's named one of the best cities in the country to start a business. in addition it's one of just a handful of cities eligible for federal money under the strong city, strong communities initiative of the while the city is working to create pockets of growth, the overall population trend continues to go down, a drop of 60% over the last 60 years. the reason i highlight this is because so many other cities are seeing growth and it's not happening in st. louis. don marsh is host of "st. louis on the air" on st. louis public radio. so, don, the reason i want to highlight it is it is this opposite trend. all around the country, you're seeing a growth of city states in many ways and cities governing themselves and it's really a boom time to be a big major urban city in america today. st. louis is just not following suit. >> not yet, chuck. and thank you for having me. not yet, but i think we're on

the verge of something pretty big here. i suspect that has been said before, but there are a lot of very positive signs in the city of st. louis. a lot of young people are coming in, a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of startups are beginning. there's a lot of new construction taking place. i think there's a lot of reasons to be very optimistic about where the city of st. louis is heading. but don't forget we're part of the show-me state. and things do move slowly here, as you indicated. we abdicated to chicago a hundred years ago and we're still reeling from that, i think. >> it's interesting that you put it that way because it really was st. louis and chicago and in many ways which was going to be the big midwestern city. looking back, is it this decision to keep the city small? is it the decision to cut highways through? what do you see it as? >> oh, i think there are a number of issues. going back to the 1800s. you talked about the divorce between st. louis city and county. st. louis is a city-county that is surrounded by a county with

93 municipalities. there's a fragmentation issue here. some political leaders would deny that that's really an issue, but it is. you've got 93 municipalities, 93 piecesis. you have 93 pieces of political turf and the politicians don't want to give that up. you have some 60 police departments, school districts, fire departments, all working separately. it's not a very efficient way to run a railroad as they say. it's certainly not an efficient way to run these governments here. >> do you believe that racial politics plays a role in this? >> i think it's huge. particularly when they talk about the city and the county getting together again, one of the things that you have to remember is the dominance of the african-american community here is the majority. there are a lot of good and successful black politicians here. if the city and the county ever merged or got together, that would dilute their political cloud. you can understand why they

perhaps would not be too eager to see that power diluted. >> the thing about st. louis, i've got relatives there, a lot of ties there, there's such a pride regionally about st. louis, and yet, the city does get oddly ignored even by local suburban residents who sit there and say, i love being from st. louis, i love the cardinals. it is sort of -- it's an odd bifurcation. >> when they leave st. louis and go someplace else and people ask where they're from, they say st. louis. they don't say clayton. st. louis has an infor yort complex. we've talked about that a lot on the air. i think it's because it hasn't achieved what it was destined to achieved a century ago. a century is a long time to be pouting on having not been ago successful as it could have been.

>> you do top world series titles. that's an opportunity distinction that st. louis has over chicago. thank you very much. >> thank you. in nearly 70 years two republicans have served as missouri secretary of state. here's why we asked the question. both of them were named blount. the only two republican secretaries of state in a half a centur century. congratulations to today's winner, kendall bailey. we'll be right back. when sales rep steve hatfield books at laquinta.com, he gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready.

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1968. look how divergent they are from here with the other fellow nontea party republicans, let alone the rest of america. it's not just immigration. let's look at common core. of course the education standards, the idea of having some sort of select national standards, not something run by the federal government. overall, incredible support, near 60%. we don't get 60% support for anything these days anymore. look where the tea party is, almost completely opposite on the opposite side of where non tea party republicans here. let's move to climate change, same thing, 61% basically saying that climate change needs action and it's real. look at this disparity among tea party republicans and compared to the rest of republicans. so it is stunning when you look at all that. what does it all mean? we talk about red versus blue a lot. but the fact that one half of one major party has this divergent of a view from members of their own party let alone the

country shows why it's so difficult right now for the gop to simply govern. it's also a 2016 challenge for the republicans, the only group that's enthusiastic about voting, your potential primary voters are tea party republicans. if you are jeb bush and you support common core and immigration, how do you win them over. it's clear from bobby jindal's announcement that he plans to block it as a way to appeal to those voters. but does that help him if he becomes a nominee. that's it for this edition of t"the daily rundown." 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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