assists, and is the unanimous choice for the mvp. >> when the clock hit triple zeros what's the first thing that ran through your mind? >> as about dam time. it's about dam time. >> good morning. finally did it. took a couple years. it's friday, june 2nd. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set we have the executive editor at random house, pulitzer prize hisser to zan and "time" magazine contributor jon meacham to give us insights on lebron. the chairman of deutsch incorporated, donny deutsch, give it signsights on anything. >> not since jim baucus, has there been a blazer worn. >> mike barnicle, yep. hi, mike. how is that "way too early." a little too early for you.

>> no, it was fine. >> he rocked it on the sports. >> been up since 3:00. >> in miami, telemundo's jose diaz-balart. and in washington, senior national correspondent from bloomberg business week, josh green. good to have josh on board given one of the headlines, the bank downgrade. >> jon meacham, compare yesterday, last night, with what happened on 14 june 1940. >> it's 1980. >> no, no, no. >> 14th of june, 1940, when hitler's troops rolled into paris and occupied that great city and you had people crying. i mean, compare the two ents. >> why would you do that? >> well, because, i mean you have -- >> two great, great horrors in western civilization. >> dark hours. >> darkest of hours.

who was our churchhill who will lead us from this grim, grim, epic. >> i was talking to my son last night about what john maynard cane said. >> how old is your son? >> he's 10. >> go ahead. >> he's very interested in this. he hung up actually, like the great depression was like the dark ages. it lasted for 400 years. >> yeah. >> no one knew why. that's what we're entering. >> i will make a historical reference. all kidding aside -- >> i need a -- >> no, this is very interesting. >> first there was an arrogant press conference. >> when i get near the pulitzer prize winner things happen in my pores. >> why do we wait -- >> never say that again. >> we've had two guests leave in washington. they want no part of this. >> this is a very -- >> i don't want to hear anything about pores. >> not only because lebron james is very unlikable, it sets up we are in the te in this world where it's fair and unfair and the heat are an unfair team. it's stacked.

we don't like that. just like big business/small business. everybody feels the world is stacked against them. the heat are the embodiment. >> another theory you hate the heat so much. they're not in your town. >> oh, look at the smug faced jose diaz-balart. >> part of the reason why the heat have become such a loathsome team is because of the questions that are asked of their stars, like lebron james, after they win a title the question is, you've been through so much, you've suffered so much pain. >> poor guy. >> they make $40 million, $50 million what pain are we talking about? >> a fake story. >> what about last year, after he loses and they ask him to explain and he basically says, oh you know what, all you guys will go back into your trailers. i get to be me. i get to be me for the next 365 days. >> i went back in my trailer and we were fine. >> hey, guys, just a question, again objective question, coming in to do "morning joe" this

morning, 4:30 in the morning. >> yeah. >> when you guys were coming into work, were there celebrations in the streets because there are nba champs anywhere? >> no. just because barnicle was awake. >> just wondering. >> jose the question is -- >> how do you tell the difference in south beach? >> that's true too. >> all rightp. >> that's a good point. >> we have a lot to get to. >> yesterday we had a bloomberg poll out that showed actually the president way head by 47 points. we have a couple different polls out -- i think mike bloomberg was asking his friends on the upper east side those questions himself. but we have two new polls out this morning that show a tad different story. >> we do. they show a tightening race between president obama and mitt romney. pew research finds among all registered voters the president holds a four-point lead over mitt romney. >> looks closer. >> just a tad bit. while the associated press showing romney up two points from a month ago, but still

trailing the president 47 to 44%. later today, president obama will address a group of influence a.m. latino officials in florida one week -- well you know, you got -- >> coincidence. >> you have to meet the people. >> it is the season. >> yes, it is. >> of the latino. >> if it's -- >> as the zombies once sang. >> if it's the right thing to do and happens to be politically smart that's just good. >> that is a two-fer. >> after announcing his administration would not deport some 800,000 children brought to this country illegally by their parents, mitt romney, yesterday, he cut the cord and was clear about this. >> bold. he was bold. >> he was bold and, of course, this is the follow-up i talked about how i've been in a turkish prison the past three weeks. his idea during the primary season in iowa was to deport all illegal immigrants to turkish prisons. let's see if he softened up his stance since the primary season and the iowa caucuses.

>> some people have asked if i will let stand the president's executive order. the answer is that i will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president's temporary measure. as president, i won't settle for stop-g stop-gap measures. i'll work with republicans and democrats to build a long-term solution. he may admit that he hasn't kept every promise. and he'll probably say that even though you aren't better off today than were you four years ago things could be worse. he'll imply that you don't really have an alternative. i believe he's taking your vote for granted. i've come here today with a very simple message, you do have an alternative. your vote should be respected and your voice is more important now than ever before. >> jose, we know there's a subtle change of tone since the

iowa caucuses. there is, of course, no threat of turkish prisons. no sum marry executions. no fingernail removal. >> no self-deportation. >> yeah. none of that stuff. it seems that mitt romney is moving to the center on this issue and it seems as if president obama is finally starting to move the direction he promised to move four years ago. >> yeah. that's very interesting. i think that these closing polls, these tightening polls may have something to do with this. but i got to tell you, probably one of mitt romney's better speeches in front of the organization of national elected latino leaders. there were a few things. he pounded on the economic story and the economic reality that as you know the hispanic community is hit with 11% official unemployment. the unemployment in places like texas and nevada and florida and california, for the most part is a lot higher than that.

and then, you know, he actually confronted the issues that the president started putting the conversation straight in the center of our headlines when he made that announcement a couple fridays ago that -- and mika, i think more than 800,000 people. it would be 1.4 million people that could benefit by the president's decision on immigration. >> am i missing something? did he say anything there? that was a good speech? he said nothing. >> no, he didn't. >> listen -- >> let's talk about what he said. >> we're going to -- >> i'm sorry. >> no. >> what that means, get off the set. >> all right. >> i thought it was party time. that's what i thought this meant. >> exactly. >> you were just having a spasm. >> exactly. >> another story to get to. this happened late yesterday. global markets are reeling today as moody's downgrades 15 of the world's largest banks. citigroup, goldman sachs, bank

of america, jpmorgan chase and morgan stanley joined several banks in the downgrade. officials said these banks were vulnerable to quote outside losses creating fears they would not be able to repay their debts in times of severe financial crisis. the downgrade marks the first time since 2007 that maddy's has taken across-the-board action against the banks. give us a sense of where this goes from here. >> the headline is worse than the actual news. this is bad news for the banks because a downgrade means they're probably going to face higher borrowing costs and some of them may have to post collateral now which will squeeze their profit margins. this doesn't come as a huge shock and most investors were expecting this. you saw morgan stanley in afterhours trading rallying last night. the initial reaction wasn't one of panic and investors being upset. the obvious criticism is why

now, why three years after the financial crisis are these cuts coming? and i think part of the answer is that these ratings agencies which got such a black eye in the financial crisis are kind of playg a game of catch up. >> mike barnicle, that's the question i was going to ask you, josh. you're absolutely right. i don't think it was -- you didn't sense any surprise along wall street or within the markets about this downgrade. it was anticipated, it was expected but the downgrade by moody's is given by a ratings agency that seemingly completely missed everything in late 2000 and all of 2008. >> right. part of the reason for the lack of surprise i think was that moody's had placed all these banks under review back in february. and since then, you did see there that the ratings drop a bit and so when the official announcement came yesterday, as i said, it wasn't a big shock. i think the other thing to keep in mind here is that ratings agencies don't get a whole lot of respect anymore.

if you remember, standard & poor's downgraded u.s. debt last year and since then u.s. borrowing costs have fallen to record lows. so investors in markets are making up their own minds about u.s. stocks and about these bank stocks too. >> we'll come back to this. other big stories this morning, the political fallout continues after a key congressional committee found attorney general eric holder in contempt over his refusal to turn over documents relating to fast and furious. a botched atf gun sting that resulted in the death of a u.s. border agent. republican speaker of the house john boehner continued to be vocal on the issue, hinting that the white house may be involved in a coverup. >> the decision to invoke executive privilege is an admission and the white house officials were involved in decisions that misled the congress and have covered up the truth. what is the obama administration hiding in fast and furious?

>> boehner intends to bring a contempt vote before the full congress next week. the contempt vote came in response to president obama's first use of executive privilege to block the release of some 1300 pages of documents about the case. white house press secretary jay carney bristoled during reporters' questions yesterday. >> is there not a legitimate investigative and oversight -- >> look i think -- >> responsibility to find out what the department of justice knew when they were giving false information to congress? >> i think that matter has been thoroughly discussed in congressional testimony including nine appearances by the attorney general, including the 600 -- 7600 documents that have been provided. the issue -- look, i would refer you to a leading member of congress in the republican party who himself called this politics. >> can you say categorically that there is no -- there has been no cover-up. >> absolutely. >> nothing being covered up by

the justice department, by the white house as far as your involvement in -- >> the attorney general -- >> the initial -- but in the -- >> the attorney general referred this matter to the inspector general. the inspector general has full access to all documents we are discussing right now. >> the investigation began in 2010 after border patrol agent brian terry was shot and killed by a gun involved in the fast and furious. >> jose, what's going on here? because yesterday, terry's parents released a statement saying, quote, our son lost his life protecting this nation and it's very disappointed that we're now faced with an administration that seems more concerned with protecting themselves rather than revealing the truth behind operation fast and furious. if my son had been killed working for the united states and the law enforcement capacity, there had been a

botched raid or a botched program, put together byhe administration, and the administration wanted to block the united states from hearing about it, for its people, i would be a little upset. what's going on here? >> and add to this, joe, what about the 55,000 people that have died in mexico because of the drug cartel wars? what about the little kids that on a daily basis almost are dying in the streets of mexico because of gang violence between one gang and the other, the shoot-outs, you know, little kids are caught in the cross fire. what about the violence that continues to occur in mexico, all because of american drug consumption. i may add. and all of this together, has, i think, frustrated many. i'm not sure that the congress and a publicing here hearing it place to air out this botched federal program. i have to tell you something,

the fact of the matter is that no one has really -- no heads have rolled, real people in authority that were behind this operation. you know, where are those people that organized this operation and where are they, you know, out of a job, for example? >> and mike, nobody talks about it, certainly, rarely talks about it on the nightly news, any of the nightly news programs. there's been all this dead silence over this raid and also over the much bigger issue, which jose just brought up, that it's more dangerous, as you've said, in juarez than in baghdad. >> we have a story coming up about the taliban shooting up a lakeside resort outside of kabul, afghanistan, in which 14 or 15 civilians are killed and yet, it's safer per capty pa, you can prove this, it's safer living in kabul, afghanistan, than it is living in see ya dad

juarez mexico right across our border and we pay zero attention to it. >> i think the fundamental question here about -- it is the republicans on the hill that needed to be telling this story better. i think that a lot of folks are hearing about this first and foremost as a subpoena showdown fight against the president, and then it moves into a political realm that is just chaotic. there's a basic narrative here that -- >> what's the story? what was fast and furious? >> what was fast and furious? what was the raid. matter of fundamental political communication that could make this much more front and center and go to this question about mexico which is, you know, dam near a failed state. >> donny, the administration has distribution there's no doubt fast and furious has been botched. there's no doubt the administration wants to prevent

information from coming out during an election year because it would be embarrassing for them. the republicans have every right to do what they're doing. to push as hard as they're pushing. and the parents want answers. the american people i'm sure that know about this, want answers. at the same time, it's always dangerous politically, just politically, election year, to start holding members of the administration in contempt because it makes i look political, draws a bigger divide, and i would say for republicans, distracts from issue number one which is economy, economy, economy. >> yeah. i think the republicans quickly want to get back to the economy and just to shift for a second -- not to shift but stay on this. this is unfortunately this is not going to be an issue that stays in the public consciousness for a while. it's an important issue and tragic for that family but at the end of the day it's always going to come back to jobs and

on the democratic side, say six out of ten are still better op. i don't know where this story goes for either side. >> speaking of juking and jiving, what sort of throwback 1970s retro disco bar are you going to be going to tonight singing "sister sledge" songs in that jacket right there? >> i want you to answer this honestly. >> is there like a cruise ship off the hamptons that just goes around the hamptons? jim backus. >> ted knight. >> that actually is captain -- >> i'll be tony you be the can tain. >> will you go home, does your wife say to you -- what is with donny, is he threatening to you? are you jealous? >> no. >> are you upset he's more handsome. >> these are for my kids. >> my kids gave me this. >> caddie shack. judge --

>> jh green, josh -- >> snails. >> who was the judge in caddie shack? >> snails. >> your honor -- >> you're all jealous. >> you're all jealous. >> what was the question that judge snails asked danny? >> one of the great questions. do you like being good or bad or something. what was that again? >> are you a gentleman? but you know, it's been a while since i watched "caddie shack." for the record he looks pretty good. he could be selling scotch. >> captain and tin kneel too. >> talk about your pores later. >> do you want to do what is right? or what is wrong? >> how about a fresco. >> i'll be your cruise director. we can head that way. >> jose diaz-balart, thank you. >> thanks. >> stay with us, josh. by the way, i've got to say, to willie geist great point a few weeks ago, there is -- donny is

wearing a snake skin watch. there is no snake in nature that is that color. i just -- i just want to say for the record. i'm from florida. >> coming up, we'll talk to louisiana governor bobby jindal before he attends mitt romney's weekend retreat in utah and governor of maryland martin o'malley will be here on set. up next the top stories in the politico playbook plus, willie's week in review. first, bill karins with a check on the weekend forecast. bill? >> good morning, mika. the heat wave will be ending today for areas of the northeast but will end with a bang. thunderstorms will roll through all the big cities later this afternoon. keep that in mind for your afternoon travels on i-95. by the way, it's a very hot morning. this is the warmest morning in washington, d.c., since 1991. so this is just an indication this was an extreme heat wave. the forecast today, does include the chance of some damaging thunderstorms. those areas in yellow, watch out late this afternoon. baltimore, d.c., philly and new york, all included in that risk of very strong storms.

let me talk about your weekend forecast. because we have to watch the gulf of mexico carefully. we could have a tropical system developing. anywhere near the beaches from florida, mississippi, alabama, possibly even coastal louisiana we have to watch that but the hot weather will really dominate the map. check out denver, 96 today. dallas, 95. as we go through the weekend, we're going to see the temperatures soar near 100. this way the summer is setting up, it's one area of the country or another that's going to be very, very hot and it looks like it's going to be the midwest down through the south central's turn. washington, d.c., thunderstorms this afternoon. couple more hours and your heat wave is over. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ]

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egypt's election committee says it will not announce the presidential runoff winner

tomorrow after all. the oup has to review hundreds of complaints about the voting. >> hundreds of complaints? you know what that's called in florida? the best, most efficient election in the history of florida. what are you doing? take the money and run. you get more complaints a night in boca raton at an olive garden. salad bar plates are very small. i can't keep going back. >> 26 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." with us now, chief white house correspondent for politico mike allen with the morning playbook. we've been talking about the fast and furious controversy, mike. tell us a little bit about how politico is looking at the dynamic evolving between the president and speaker boehner. >> mika, but first, happy

friday. >> oh, thank you mike. >> we really need that. >> how was the birthday yesterday? >> how was your birthday yesterday, mike? >> i have my birthday suit here. >> oh. >> from al lane, got the ticket pocket. it's tight. >> oh. okay. >> i love it! hey, i don't know what it means but i love it. >> birthday suit naked? >> what's a ticket pocket? >> let me ask you, why don't you put your own birthday in the playbook? it's sort of self-indulgent but -- >> i do. my brother scott was born a year to the day after me, so i was born on june 24th, 1964, he was born on june 24th, 1965. my mother always said he was your first birthday present. i was like couldn't i have a scooter. it's fun. we celebrate together scott's birthday, dr. scott allen is always in playbook and that's how people know it's my birthday. >> great story. >> that's adorable. >> you know who else -- whose

birthday it is? mary joe scarborough. a good southern name. mary jo scarborough turns 80 today. >> wow. >> happy birthday. born june 22nd, 1932. the fourth child in the heart of the great depression. >> and let's see, on her 9th birthday, hitler invadeded the soviet union. >> i'm sure they had an extra slice of birthday cake for that. >> my mother had said all throughout grade school -- >> terrible. >> my mother had said in rural dalton, georgia, all throughout grade school, never trust that bastard mol low tof. he will turn around an stab you in the back. >> even ribbon drop couldn't do it. >> what did mary jo do when you were born? >> what is that? >> she cried. said she cried for nine months. >> with joy.

>> well, joy came later. >> i would say consternation, pain, turmoil. >> comes and goes. >> self-hatred. anyh anyhow, mike allen, take it away. >> yeah. so for months, both president obama and speaker boehner wanted to avoid this confrontation for some of the reasons that you've been talking about. mr. meacham was talking about how the republicans should have explained it better but the reason they haven't, speaker boehner wanted to avert his gaze from this. he wanted chairman issa over at the oversight committee to be doing this and for months, he pushed the committee to find some other way to deal with this, but they -- the leadership started getting increasing pressure from their members and eventually boehner was convinced to go this hardline way. the white house also didn't want this. they've been pushing the idea that they're transparent, most transparent administration in history. you might have heard that a time or two.

they don't want this in the election year. it's a distraction from what both sides want to talk about. but it got going so far down this track that they both decided that they needed to dig in. so our congressional reporters ink that even next week, if the justice department dumps a lot of documents on the hill, that they still may go ahead with this contempt vote. >> jon meacham, darrell issa was a man to my relief at least who said, listen, the white house needs to worry more about accountants than attorneys and the chairman meant that. >> right. >> i think you have a lot of members that have been pushing issa, pushing boehner, be pushing everybody this direction. because they understand, this is not the way you win swing voters in pennsylvania. this is not the way you win elections in november. >> you don't. and i mean, it goes back to dan burton and the pumpkin. remember. >> i was there -- >> it was weird, i was just thinking about that.

>> i was holding that pumpkin and he almost shot me. >> dan burton, republican in the mid '90s shot a pumpkin in an attempt to show that vince foster could not have shot himself the way it was alleged. >> which, of course, he didn't. >> that's how insane the mid-clinton years became and i think that politically as you've said, it's nightmarish. with mike, what is the next act here? is there a compromise or now both sides dug in? >> i think the justice department is going to put a lot of documents up there and i think the hill will not be satisfied. >> all right. mike allen, thank you so much. >> happy weekend. get the ticket pocket. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday mom. mary jo scarborough. >> mary jo. still ahead, a preview of "meet the press" with david gregory and "washington post" columnist eugene robinson and next, sports with mike barnicle. keep it on "morning joe."

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at 36 past the hour time to take a look at some of the headlinein the morning papers.

what do you have? >> tell you what, there is some good news from the bad economy. the "usa today" showing in their headline that gas prices could actually drop to below $3 a gallon by fall. we were talking about possibly 4 or $5 a gallon. that's good news for consumers. >> especially with summer here now. front page of the "new york times" elite women put new spin on an old debate. we'll have this guest on the show, monday morning. but it's an incredible piece written by her about why women can't have it all. jobs, career, children, how it's not possible. >> i know -- >> and it's a great debate. >> this next story very important for you, the boston red sox, they are coming back, came back last night and won, three-run comeback. so the sox actually doing fairly well right now and also, me kashgs "the new york times,"

this is a great story, when secretary eigh secretariette, i have that framed in my house. >> by your bar. >> the final stretch of the belmont in 19, when secretary eight won the triple crown in '73 he did it by setting records at the end of the derby, belmont but not the preakness. this week that changed after 39 years modern technology confirmed what many suspected all along that the track's electronic timer was off by at least a second. this week, the maryland racing commission voted to lower secretariette's official time giving him the record for each of the triple crown races. >> let's go to the "washington post." some of the nation's pizza chains are banding together in unity pushing back against a government plan that would require large food chains to disclose calorie counts on menus. something required in new york city and a small number of states. domino's pizza did the math and

argued there are 34 million possible topping and crust combinations when someone orders a pie, far too many to list on a menu. here's the deal, it's not good for you. you can have it once in a while but in general you shouldn't go there. how's that for some information. >> it's not good for you, friends. it's great for you. and the sunday "parade" parade organized itineraries for six road trips across the country, all planned entirely around food! >> "parade" i love you -- >> from critters to sweet potato ham biscuits "parade" has you covered. let's go to mike barnicle. >> if you need more cover. >> with sports. >> let me tell you, finally people you've been waiting for this. the news about what happened in the nba finals last night. well lebron james won. king james finally crowned as the miami heat blew out the thunder last night to claim the nba title in front of their home fans down in south beach. let's go to the highlights,

second quarter, heat fast break, mario chalmers finds lebron gave the heat 17-point lead. kevin durant hits a three, draws within 13 of the heat. only three-pointer for the thunder in the first half. durant had 32 points in a losing effort. third quarter, lebron drives, kicks it out to shane battier. lebron 13 assists with 26 points, 11 rebounds, his first triple-double of the year, only fifth player ever to have a triple-double in a title-clenching game. later in the quarter, dwyane wade, finds lebron, top of the key, lebron drives, makes a move around kendrick perkins, gets the two. up by 19. the thunder get sloppy. kevin durant loses the ball. chris bosh gets it. dwyane wade uses the stutter step to get the lay-up and foul. wade had 20 points. maybe the most surprising

performance of the night mike miller, hits his seventh three pointer of the game in the ta third quarter. 23 points. that is coming off the bench. until last night miller hadn't hit a three-pointer all series. three minutes to play, the outcome i hand. coach eric spoelstra took lebron and dwyane wade out of the game. big-time appuse from the crowd. waiting 612 years for this moment. james and wade, lot of scrutiny on them since lebron announced he took his talent to miami two years ago. clock winds down in miami, all the disappointment disappears. the collapse seems like a distant memory of last year. lebron james and the heat are champions. look at the confetti. everybody applauding. cheering. yelling. clueless. miami won 121-106. only reason to stay watching the great announcer mike breen listen to him all day. lebron a unanimous choice for mvp like i'm getting to the who cares point of this thing.

oh, man. do we have a sound bite here? all right. let's skip the whole thing. red sox won. red sox won. will middlebrooks two-run homer bottom of the eighth. let's hear it for the red sox. >> boo! >> we're going to come back and look into josh green's new column in bloomberg business week and how the democrats will contend with the gop cash pile. we'll be right back. ♪ how are things on the west coast? ♪

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week, who's with us now from washington writes this how democrats will contend with the gop's cash pile -- >> can i ask you a question before we go to the full screen. >> fine. >> i've read josh's story. josh, exactly -- tell me how this cover goes along with your story because i don't get it. >> i get the tough assignments. a cover story on the porn industry and here i am writing about republicans and democrats. you know i drew the short straw in the editorial meeting this week. >> interesting. >> just for the friends at home, republicans here, democrats here. go ahead. we just had to break it down for you. >> the 2012 election will measure a lot of things, but one of the most important is whether we've reached a point in politics where money is the chief determinant of who wins a race or just a big advantage that can still be overcome with effort and planning. from the white house on down, the sudden infusion of huge sums of money into races facilitated by the supreme court's citizens united decision in 2010, is changing the way the two parties

approach campaigns. many republicans are now enjoying a pronounced advantage while their democratic opponents struggle to adapt. in 2008, obama outspent john mccain three to one. this time, his advisers expect to see him outspent three to one, not nearly so bad as wisconsin, but a disadvantage nonetheless. so josh, have we crossed -- i think that's a great question. can -- for example, hope and change and small donations that we saw help a lot last time around, go up against big money or is it over? >> well, there are a couple things that are different this time around. that hope and change has diminished somewhat, but the other one is we've had the citizens united supreme court decision which has brought a lot more money into politics and it's led to what i think is going to be an interesting moment in november to a question of can democrats keep up with the spending? by and large, republicans are outspending democrats. democrats can't keep up.

and so they've got to find another way to compete. >> yeah. and i also think that the -- is it true at this point, that the only way to compete is to get the super pac money going in your direction. is it not any more a message? >> not necessarily. the big test we're going to see in the fall democrats instead of trying to outraise republicans, which they don't think they can do and that's true from obama all the way on down to senate, state house races, what they're doing instead is trying to pursue a strategy of out organizing and really turning out a grassroots effort to overcome the financial disadvantage. it's not just the re-election campaign. obama was about this last time, this big turnout effort, but if you talk to, for instance, the afl-cio is going to not advertise very much on television this cycle and instead, they're putting all their money into a big ground game to try and overcome these ads. it's a real clash of strategies that's been caused by this

emerging financial imbalance. >> you know, josh, it's not entirely inappropriate that the cover story this week is about pornography because this is a version of political pornography. the vast sums o money being raised on both sides which automatically means the vast amounts of time that both candidates have to spend on raising money rather than talking to the country about what they're going to do about the economy. >> that's right. and again, i think it goes back to the citizens united decision. i was at a briefing given by the afl-cio's political director on wednesday who said they went back and did a pretty rigorous analysis of how money has affected politics just since that decision in 2010 and what they found was that it put a whole lot more races into play. the money did. it broadened the field. of course that ad -- that forces candidates in those races to go out and raise even more money. you have this kind of upward spiral of the need to raise more

money which puts more of a premium on fund-raising, less of a premium on governing and doing policy. >> jon meacham? >> yeah. i think it's a brilliant point and piece. i would say that the least of our problems is having candidates out raising money because at least they're out doing it and talking and are somewhat accountable. the real issue are the independent expenditures which -- for which there is no transparency, no accountability, people who are harvesting checks and flooding money in. candidates at least have to talk. >> and donny, as far as getting around a message of if you're -- if you're working for gm and you got 200 commercials for every one ford commercial doesn't matter how good the ford commercial is, i remember back in 2008, living in northern virginia, and i remember be i would be watching football on weekends and barack obama would have 200 negative spots on john

mccain. remember the grainy images of john mccain. >> sure. >> he's going to raise your taxes and then john mccain would have o and that went throughout the entire fall where they just swamped mccain and you can't organize around that. you can't strategize around that. >> no. >> if you have as big of a cash advantage as obama had over mccain mccain is dead. this year the shoe may be on the other foot. >> along those lines, super pac money is supposed to be separate from the candidates but this weekend karl rove will be in deer valley at the campaign with mitt romney and he's running the biggest super pacs. somebody has to explain that. >> meacham's point. >> josh, you don't have the cover story on bloomberg business week because you have porn on the cover. great piece. >> jon meacham has the cover story in "time." >> yes. >> is it about porn. >> yeah. exactly, the american dream. >> this is where he says the american dream doesn't exist. this week three weeks ago he

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guess what? if it's friday it's time for willie's week in review. p. >> that's a clown question, bro. >> at number three, a clown question. bro. >> i don't want to answer that question. that's a clown question, bro.

senate majority leader harry reid of nevada channelled washington national's star bryce harper whose locker room response to a reporter's question became a national catch phrase. >> i'm not answering that. that's a clown question, bro. >> senator reid thought long and hard about his answer to a capital hill reporter's question this week before settling on the bryce harper retort. ♪ >> i don't want to answer that question. that's a clown question, bro. >> here's hoping senator reid now answers all public questions with names that end in bro. >> don't taiz me, bro. don't it's me. >> at number two, king james. >> the miami heat are once again nba champions, lebron james captures that elusive title he so desperately coveted. >> two years after lebron james turned himself into an nba

villain by breaking up with cleveland on national tv -- >> this fall, this is very tough, this fall i'm going to take my talents to south beach and join the miami heat. >> and then guaranteeing every championship until the end of time. >> not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven. >> the league mvp delivered on the hype, taking his talents to the first of all those nba titles. >> when the clock hit triple zeros, what's the first thing that ran through your mind? >> it's about dam time. >> and the number one story of the week. >> excuse me, sir. it's not time for questions, sir. not while i'm speaking. >> an eventful week for president obama actually began late last week during his call and response announcement of a shift in immigration policy. >> this is the right thing to do for the american people. i didn't ask for an argument. i'm answering your question.

>> mitt romney was unmoved by the president's new position. >> he saves these sort of things until four and a half months before the general election. >> president obama also headlined the g-20 summit in mexico. it included a photo op with russian president vladimir putt than looked like two people out to dinner as they finalized their dirce. then there was the invocation of executive privilege over the atf gun running operation named after a vin diesel car movie. >> i live my life a quarter mile at a time. nothing else matters. >> and how much did the president know about this? >> it shouldn't be a political witch hunt. >> senator harry reid, what's your take on this whole fast and furious deal, bro? >> i don't want to answer that question. that's a clown question, bro. >> up next, the democratic governor of maryland martin o'malley joins the table with mark halperin. keep it right here on "morning joe." we're here at walmart with the burtons, who love movies.

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t there.n your wallet? - one serving of cheese is the size of four dice. one serving of cereal, a baseball. and one serving of fruit, a tennis ball. - you know, both parties agree. our kids can be healthier... the more you know. president obama has been running a contest called dinner with barack. you enter on-line and if you're selected you get to have a meal with the president. dinner with barack has been so successful that apparently now joe biden wants in on the action. yeah. they have a new -- take a look. pretty cool. >> today, the white house

invites you to enter a new contest called lunch without joe biden. it's a way for supporters to enjoy a relaxing lunch without joe biden going on and on with one of his stories. like the time his wife jill got a bad hair cut or the one about his dog dutch and the squirrel he chased. it takes about 45 minutes to tell and in the end the squirrel gets away. dear god. enter now, go to lunch without joe biden.com. let's do this. >> i don't think that's funny. i don't think that's nice at all. why are you laughing? >> i think it's cute. >> it was. >> if joe thinks it's cute -- >> we love having lunch with joe. who wouldn't want to have lunch with joe. >> rather that lunch with joe than just about anybody. >> he has a lot of stories. >> they're all great stories. >> he likes to talk and hold hands. it's true. >> and hug. >> welcome back to "morning joe." he's a hugger. jon meacham is still with us. >> he has?

>> he's a hand holder. >> during a seance in wilmington. >> he's a connecter. >> well, you're a cold episcopalian that doesn't believe in heaven. who wants to hold your hand. >> appropriate, and wonderful loving way. >> you know who else is loving? the governor of maryland also the chairmanf the democratic governors association. >> just like a snuggy bear. >> governor martin o'malley. he is america's snuggie bear. >> look at that face. >> also we've got msnbc and "time" magazine senior political analyst mark halperin. mark, let's begin with, you know, these polls, there's this bloomberg poll out yesterday, that showed and it was by a reputable pollster, very reputable pollster, but showed president obama was up by 78 points and we don't -- >> come on. >> margin of error three. >> little joke now. >> this was yesterday. i don't know. it just didn't seem right. new polls out this morning show that something remarkable

happened overnight. the race thtened a good bit between obama and romney. pew research found -- >> all registered voters the president holds a four-point lead over mitt romney, 50 to 46. the ap shows romney up two moinz from a month ago but trailing the president 47 to 44%. there you go. >> we're in june. these polls are, obviously, mark, going to be all over the place. but let's talk about the dynamics of the last week or two. what are you seeing out there? you're on the campaign trail all the time. >> presidents -- >> dirty finger nails to prove it. >> the president is not above 50 which is a danger zone for any republican but not so far from 50. there are states in the south where the president is going to be just creamed and there are states like california and new york where he's probably going to win handily. national polls are easier and cheaper to do but in the states we've not seen during -- since the president's bad run we've not seen that many state polls but the ones we've seen are pretty encouraging for the

president. >> the president looks good, for instance, in ohio. >> and in florida. >> and in florida. quinnipiac poll was out yesterday in florida that shows the president ahead by four points. if the president is ahead by four points in my home state that's big problems for romney because that is such a republican state. >> i think the two sort of moving targets, one is is there a point at which bad economic news breaks the president's back? is there a point which the country says this isn't the right guy? we're not there yet, obviously. we may not get there. can governor romney introduce himself more with his running mate, with the convention, debates so people find him to be acceptable. he still has problems. every focus group i hear about people have some reservations about governor romney but they don't have a lot of data either. >> and governor, the obama team, also, concerned? there are some blind spots they're concerned about as well. do you agree as well this is going to go down to the very end? there's going to be a tight race to the end? >> i think it will be pretty close to the end but i do think that at the end of this race,

when people have to make a decision, it will come down to whether or not the economy is getting better over the longer arc of the president's years of service, or whether it's getting worse. and clearly some of the main indicators, the 27 months in a row positive job creation, foreclosures lower than when he took office, the unemployment, i mean, whether it ticks up this month or that month, i think more importantly people will look over the longer arc, are things better or are they getting worse? i know overall i think people would have to conclude they're getting better even many of the republican governors like rick scott in florida who was slapped on the wrist by governor romney for saying that things are getting better in florida. >> fascinating report jon meacham that apparently reportedly, give us the sourcing for this, reportedly rick scott, governor of florida, was told i guess bloomberg reported it, that mitt romney said to rick scott, stop talking to me about how great the economy is going

in florida. you're not helping. >> be quiet about the good news. >> and could spread from florida because the governor of virginia likes to talk about how good his economy is doing, the governor of ohio, the governor of michigan, the governor of pennsylvania. >> let's talk about ohio for a second. ohio numbers have been improving now for a year now. if i'm john kasich, and in the 30s i'm going to go around talk about how the economy keeps getting better. if i'm rick scott and my approval rating as a republican governor is in the 30s i'm going to be the first to say, unemployment has dropped 2 percentage points over the past year. >> florida is back. >> each of the states you've mentioned, are obviously the ones in place. when you say people are going to look at the 27 months, what percentage of the electorate do you think those people are? what is the -- what's the number that's in play? >> in terms of the undecideds? >> people who are convinceble? >> i think that -- >> is it ten. >> everybody is in play in a

sense. look, it's about turnout, it's about enthusiasm. yes, it's about the 10% in the middle who are legitimately undecided but also about your own base saying you know what, i'm enthused enough to get engaged with, you know, maybe my father-in-law, that doesn't want to vote for my candidate and actually go to battle here. one of the tough things, one of the very good things for the president among people is that in the midwest, most folks realize that the auto industry didn't turn itself around, that was the result of presidential action of a presidential choice. and so in ohio, and michigan, and other places everyone knows that their economy is very much related to manufacturing and to the auto industry and that's probably one of the more compelling contrasting stories between president obama's active approach to getting people back to work and governor romney's sort of sit back and let market forces figure this out. >> question is, is the obama re-election campaign being aggressive enough about that. do you think the president was pandering to latino voters with

his executive order. >> what the president was doing was being consistent with that notion of an american dream that is always growing, that is always expanding. >> timing is a little suspect. come on. i mean, you know. >> i don't know. >> come on. don't be so cynical. i'm sure he'll say that mitt romney was not pandering to hispanic voters when he softened his stance. >> i won't say that. >> oh. >> really? >> i think mitt romney has one of the more extreme positions on immigration of any of the republican candidates. >> sounded -- listen to him last night. he sounded like -- sounded warm and fuzzy. >> etch-a-sketch. >> here's mitt romney. >> ready to hug spb. >> some people have asked if i will let stand the president's executive order. the answer is, that i will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president's temporary measure. as president, i won't settle for stop gap measures. i'll work with republicans and

democrats to build a long-term solution. he may admit that he hasn't kept every promise. and he'll probably say that even though you aren't better off today than were you four years ago, things could be worse. he'll imply that you don't really have an alternative. i believe he's taking your vote for granted. i've come here today with a very simple message. you do have an alternative. your vote should be respected. and your voice is more important now than ever before. >> you know, it seems to me, mark halperin f i'm looking at the former governor of massachusetts and i'm a hispanic voter, i'm thinking that if he does have a fault, it may be that he cares too much. that mitt romney right there -- >> he might move into your house to help with the chores. >> yeah. >> help with the chores. that is a mitt romney that just cares to a fault. not quite the fire breathing mitt romney that we saw in iowa

five months ago, is it? >> i mean, there's a different tone and he isn't have very many new things to say and didn't address with any specificity about how he felt about the s substance of the president's decision ability what to do with young people who don't want to be deported. the overall speech i thought for him was pretty good on the economy. his convention speech will be like the speeche gave yesterday. he's not trying to win with specifics. he's trying to win by saying the economy is not working. >> jon meacham, do you have a question for the governor who many believe will run for president four years from now? >> governor, are you running for president four years from now. >> i'm focused on doing everything i can to help president obama exceaccelerate nation. >> do you have political ambitions. >> do everything i can to get my people back to work and do our part. >> this question about the -- what percentage of the electorate is really in play, because you know, there's the great story about there was an article in 1961 about one of the

kennedy's aides saying he was coresy catingly brilliant and jfk said another 10,000 votes in illinois and you would be coresy catingly stupid. john kerry same state, gerld ford, same question. what are we talking about? what state should we be watching on election night? do you think it will come down to ohio, pennsylvania? what do you think it is? >> i think that in many ways it is a repeat of the last election. so i think that many of the same states that were in play then are going to be in play now. we're talking north carolina, virginia, ohio, midwest, washington state, i think those are all places that are in play. i think there is a very fundamentally strikingly different view between these two candidates. these two alternatives about eir vision for where our country is headed. and i think that our job as

democrats is to make sure that we frame this race in terms of who is going to move our country forward versus who wants to take our country back. nostalgia is not all it used to be. i don't want to go back to the job losses of the bush administration, the wars without end, climbing deficits. most people realize our country needs a more balanced approach, need to keep pace with our parents and grandparents that our country can continue to create jobs and expand opportunity but we need to do our part as well. that is a vision that is president obama's vision that is not one that is shared by many people who now control the republican party. i was watching those remarks on immigration. could you imagine governor romney standing up and talking to the tea party caucus that now steers the republican house and saying, by golly, we need to do these things? give me a break. we need to make a couple of big changes in the fall when it comes to our congress and the

functionality of it. they go on these fishing expeditions when the transportation bill is languishes. kids are about to have to pay twice the interest in college affordability and instead, they're going on -- off on these other tangents. we need to get our congress working again with our president. >> you spend a lot of time with rich people as head of the democratic governors, some are reluctant to give to super pacs, big advantage to mitt romney, should democrats give to super pacs and why? >> which camera would you like me to look at? i think all of us need to do everything we can for the country that we believe in and carry in our heart and that's true of people of limited means, people of great means. you can't just sit back on the sidelines and say, oh because the extreme right is trying to buy this election, we're going to unilaterally disarm. >> you would like rich liberals to try to buy it too. >> i think we all need to put our oars in the water and row forward. democrats of means need to stop being so precious about the

magic wand that the president hasn't waved on this issue or that issue. my goodness, i thought we were a working and electing a president not a magician here. this is the real world, there's ups, there's downs, it's not a perfect place and i think our president is doing a very good job in a very complex and challenging environment and i think the democrats of means should stop being so precious. put their oar in the water and start rowing forward. >> thank you for answering the question. that would be an answer as opposed to a sidestep. governor o'malley, thank you very much. >> thank you, governor. appreciate it. great to see you next. >> coming up louisiana governor bobby jindal, and eugene robinson and a preview of "meet the press" with david gregory. keep it here on "morning joe." with the capital one cash rewards card you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her.

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joining us now from baton

rouge -- >> are you being sarcastic? >> totally. what's it called. >> hold on one second. hold on a second. it is dmd and it's this amazing panoramic. we'll put it up for the next break. >> whole segment. >> whole segment, yeah. >> joining us from baton rouge, louisiana, the republican governor of that state and supporter of the romney campaign, governor bobby jindal. good to have you on the show this morning. >> he's very excited. if you're in louisiana, right. >> yeah. >> and try to figure out a fun place to go because new orleans, baton rouge, such a boring state, where do you go? >> pensacola? >> you go to utah. >> that's where he's going tonight. >> exactly. >> yes. >> you're going to have fun out in utah, aren't you,governor? what's going on out there? >> good morning. thank you for having me. they took our jazz, the jazz move from louisiana to utah several years ago. we're going to see what we can do about getting that name back.

i am going to be going to utah later tonight, be there a couple days with the romney folks ability creating jobs in the private sector. thank you for having me back on the show, guys. >> great to have you back. what does mitt romney need to do to create jobs, to get us out of this economic funk that we're in? >> you know, i think that the governor has outlined a very detailed plan. he needs to remind voters this may be the most important election, politicians always say this, most important election in our adult life times. this election is not about who's the best speaker, who looks best on tv, most charismatic guy, this is about two very different views of america. you may remember last week, obviously, both candidates were in ohio giving competing speeches on the economy. you heard two very different visions. it really is, do we go down a path of where europe is or go down the american path. president obama talked about growing the public sector. governor romney is talking about growing the private sector. you really couldn't have two

more different candidates, one is talking about president obama has run up trillion dollar deficits, grown the government to 24% of the economy, stimulus after stimulus in an attempt to grow federalpending hasn't worked. governor romney on the other hand is talking about energy policies that allows us to produce more energy at home, talking about repealing obama care, cutting taxes, cutting spending. the most important thing governor romney can do is make sure voters understand it's not ability personality or speaking styles, it's about two different visions for america. >> we've been talking some about the post-citizens united world this morning. i'm wondering how your feeling about the state of our politics in terms of these independent expenditures? are you happy wit the world after that supreme court decision or do you think that we still need some reform? >> well, look, a couple things. certainly i don't think any american is happy with the barrage of negative attack ads and things that fill the tv airwaves and come into our

e-mail boxes and fill our mailboxes. look, politics has gotten more coarse. you see these attacks, sometimes personal attacks. look where we were four years ago. president obama said that he would go through the publicly financed campaign system. when he realized he could outraise senator mccain and break records, decided not to do that. now four years later the playing field is a little more level. i think president obama will be able to raise upwards of a billion dollars. i think governor romney will be able to be competitive to get his message out. i personally think that, you know, again, i think that free speech is a good thing in this country, good thing people can get their ideas out. i think voters are smart enough to sort through all the nonsense. i think there are going to be a lot of distractions this campaign cycle. you've heard from the obama side them talk about what mitt romney did in high school, you heard him talk about his dog. this election is not about any of that. i think the american voters are smart enough to sift through that nonsense and realize this

is about two different visions. president obama can't run on his record. 23 million unemployed, under employed americans. he said at the beginning of his term if they didn't turn around the economy in three years, one-term president. promised to cut the deficit in half. trillion dollar plus deficits each year, health care premiums $2500 with obama care that's not happening. he is adviser said unemployment would be below 8% with the $800 billion stimulus bill. he can't run on his record. he has to attack mitt romney and attack governor romney, but i think the voters will see through that. >> governor jindal, donny deutsch, as far as obama's record the one thing he does have interestingly enough the pew poll said six out of ten americans said they were better off today than three years ago. on top of that, i think the big issue he gotten, romney talked about the immigration yesterday and clearly as far as i'm concerned it was kind of a nonspeech. he's 30 points behind with the hispanics and some of the things he said earlier in the campaign about immigration, how does he ever recover from that? if both sides agree, the math on

the hispanics doesn't add up and he has to close that gap by ten points yet been on record as saying he's against the dream act, very tough on immigration, how does he ever make up that difference with the hispanic vote and if he doesn't he loses? >> two things. first of all let's talk about the economy whether we are better off than four years ago. half a million more americans are unemployed than the day the president took office. you looked a median income has gone down, median family worth, two decade low, 30% of mortgages are under water. look at any objective economic indicators we are not better off. if the voters go in the booth asking themselves that one question am i better off than four years ago i think mitt romney wins this election going away. in terms of immigration, look at what the president has done with his executive order, pandering, clearly treating the symptoms not the root cause of our immigration challenges in this country. nobody is arguing the status quo

is acceptable. we need to reform our laws. mitt romney has outlined very specific principles talking about increasing the numbers for legal immigrants with the skills we need to grow our economy, removing the caps on countries where they hit those caps quickly. he's talked about speegtsds up the processing of seasonal work visas. many years those visas aren't processed in time to make sense for workers who want to come and employers who want to hire them. reforming the green card and other systems to unify families, cracking down on coyotes smuggling folks across the border. he has said that we've got to secure the border. what the in the has done -- it may have been good politics but he's treating the symptoms not the root cause of the problems. >> governor, jon meacham has a question. >> quickly, and just want to make sure i understood, are you saying we are not better off than we were three years ago, that the economy is not in a better place than we were in -- when president obama took office?

>> i'm saying if you look at all those statistic absolutely we're not better op fewer americans, we got more -- half a million fewer jobs, we've got again, income you look at asset levels going down, you look at government debt it has gone up, the president's not outlined a vision plan for getting us back on a path of growing our economyp. he continues to double down on a failed strategy. this what is was remarkable to me. up until now this president has been a gifted speaker, able to change the polls just by giving a great -- he's been one of the best speakers in my adult lifetime watching politicians give speeches. the speech in ohio nearly an hour long fell flat. same policies that haven't worked. he's basically -- it was -- we went from hope and change to divide and blame. now all of a sudden he's trying to run against president bush, eight years too late for that, offering the same old policies and now trying to divide us based on class lines, on race lines, on gender lines, and any lines to help him get re-elected, absolutely i think

the american people aren't better off. >> governor jobby jindal thank you very much. >> have fun in utah. >> good luck in utah. >> thank you, guys. thank you for having me. >> talk to you soon. >> let's go to washington now, we have the moderator of "meet the press." david gregory. and associate editor of the washington post and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. david,ew and ap polls showing mitt romney and president obama within a few points of each other. do we read into this as anything significant? >> not quite the bloomberg poll. >> no. >> right. you guys have been talki about it already this morning. you know, the national polls i think are going to bump along this way for quite a while. and i think one of the reasons is people are starting to settle in taking a look at these two candidates. you to say that mitt romney has come out of the primaries in pretty good shape. not only from a fund-raising point of view but message point of view. everything he does is about a singular message on the economy. his immigration speech, the way

he's wading into immigration politics is to try to reintroduce himself to voters who are not on his side at this point, with primarily an economic message and he's basically punting on immigration reform saying we'll take that up at some point. but he doesn't want to get into the business of shifting his position from where he was in the primary. all of that together, and more bad economic news, means that we're in for a tight race as we go through this summer. >> no doubt about it. jon meacham you won a pulitzer prize you must have a smart question to ask. >> actually they don't go together. >> really? >> they don't. >> almost an inverse relationship to tell you the truth. >> you don't hear enough about inverse relationships. but -- i have a question. >> i just wonder, we -- a lot of times when i'm out at donny's estate in the hamptons. >> on the dock. >> drinking my thais. >> in a cigarette boat? in our long cigarette holders, what would it be like if a

pulitzer prize winner ever asked another pulitzer prize winner a question. like stars colliding. >> gene, how are you doing? >> how are you doing? how are you? >> gene is a much taller pulitzer prize winner. i do want to ask david quickly on this independent expenditure question, are you seeing any polling any sign that these sort of process issues that matter so much to us, are actually cutting? >> well, i do think that there is going to be a backlash this year. i mean as i talked to people in different places that i travel, again, the level of disgust with washington and washington's inability to get anything done resonates deeply. and for anybody who's in a state where, you know, their vote matters great deal they are already inundated by these independent ads. i think there's just going to be an accumulation of negativity here that's going to turn a lot of voters. i'm not saying it's not going to work in the end.

this year, because there's so much distaste for how the process is run and how washington doesn't work, that there's some backlash ahead. >> it's funny. you took the words out of my mouth. there's a level of tonnage that -- and gene i love your point on this -- that gets to the point where it just pushes viewers back so much -- >> wait. >> i just got to stop you right here, donny and then let you continue your question and everybody at home can call me rude. please, search lux u.s. next u.s. for all of the articles talking about the tonnage of 30-second negative hit ads barack obama had four years ago. as senator bob kerrey said, we democrats are all hypocrites because we complained about money in campaigning, for our kir entire life but now we have a massive advantage, we are all sud-silent. now you're shocked. >> no. no, you're missing my point. >> i'm not talking about -- >> i'm not missing your point. >> you are missing my point.

i wasn't talking about democrats or republica. talking from an advertising point of view, what david was saying -- listen, joe, let me finish. >> disadvantage now among democrats so you're talking about it. >> joe, i'm not! you're wrong. you're hearing birdies. >> go back four years ago. >> what i am saying is, sometimes we're getting to that moment in time where maybe viewers whether democrat or republican the messages get so overwhelming they shut down and it starts to backfire. i think mr. gene robinson, pulitzer prize, back be me up on this. >> hope and change. >> donny, i will back you up on that because i actually think it's ironic that in a year when we're all talking about how much money is coming in and the 30-second ads, this in the end can be i think will turn out to be a ground game election. because i do think people are kind of turned off, not terribly excited about this election, and i think it's going to be in large measure a contest between

who can get their voters out. and get some level of excitement on the ground and actually get them to the polls and so it might be that old-fashioned get out the vote effort that really turns this election. >> meacham? >> gene, i wanted to ask you inside washington question physically, one of the things -- >> how can you do that if y're in manhattan? >> because he's there. >> oh. >> by the way, you just saw the pulitzer prizes. >> it's the pulitzer connection we have. >> we haven't done enough of that. one of the things you hear constantly is, that president obama doesn't talk to anyone. particularly on the hill. i'm just wondering how much of that feels as though it's a self-reinforcing narrative at this point and how much is real? >> you know, i think some of it is real. he's not -- he's not just

inherently the sort of gregarious back-slapping that we've become used to that some other presidents were. he's more interest -- sticks more to his inner circle. you know, he can carry that to an extreme. it's clearly true that the president talks to people and he -- when he's trying to get legislation through he brings people in. looks how he uses his golf outings. doesn't use them in the political way tt say bill clinton did, to twist arms and to curry favors and this and that. he uses them to relax. >> david gregory, mitt romney after taking a harsh stand on immigration, throughout the primary process, seems to be the kier and gentler general election candidate now. should we expect more of this moving forward? >> i loved your line about his fault is that he just cares too much. >> maybe he does care too much. maybe he just cares too much

about latinos. >> the reality for mitt romney is that before he ran for president, h imploerds republican leaders on capitol hill to get some kind of comprehensive plan done. he didn'tant to be a republican candidate with immigration over his head. they failed to do so. democrats failed to do so. and he had to run in a puff tough primary where he had to run to the right of his competition on the issue of immigration and here he is. one of the reasons he does not want to offer a plannow, a, it's too difficult to get your arms around it but within the republican party there is not consensus about any path to citizenship. president bush found that out. senator mccain found that out. president obama has also found that out. not just among republicans but among democrats. here he wants to be critical of the president where he can and frankly, change the message and make it a straight economic message, try to reintroduce himself as someone who will work on economic growth for americans and help in the hispanic

community, help small business owners. that is a message that can certainly have some res sew nence. i don't know it's enough to help him mitigate how much damage has been done to the republican party. >> who do you have on "meet the press.." >> marco rubio and his role in this campaign and immigration as well. >> all right. >> whether he's been vetted. do you think he's been vetted? >> yes? >> we're also -- i'm being reminded as well, we have issa to talk about fast and furious. >> this is massive. >> david, thank you so much. >> thanks, guys. >> gene, thank you as well. we'll read your column today in "the washington post" everyone should. still ahead, he spent four decades in the music business, as president of the capital records signing some of the biggest names in the business. now joe smith will join us as he donates hundreds of priceless interviews with rock legends from bo diddley bob dillon.

keep it here on "morning joe."

welcome back to "morning joe." quick weather update. happy you don't live in new york city and not breathing this air.

it's not the freshest. third day of the heat wave in new york. temperatures already in the 80s. heat indexes getting into the mid 80s. this will be weekend will be much better. feels like 87 degrees in philadelphia and 86 in d.c. one of the warmest morning in many, many years throughout this region. thunderstorms will cool everyone off this afternoon. maybe even a few severe thunderstorms. watch out for damaging winds as you drive home from work today along i-95. also, down in the gulf of mexico, we could have a tropical storm developing today. anyone down ere in the panhandle of florida, west florida, louisiana we'll keep an eye on that. tell you what, the heat very intense the next three days especially from denver to dallas to oklahoma city. our friends in the pacific northwest, seattle, after a couple nice days, down in the low 60s for highs this weekend with on and off showers. really not much is going to change this upcoming weekend. we're hot in the middle of the country and if you're joining us on the west coast more of the same. california is warm but the northwest definitely rainy and

very cool. we'll keep an eye on the tropical storm through the weekend. coming up next on "morning joe" the former president of capital records the one and only joe smith. stay tuned. ♪sic plays throughout

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summer in new york state has something different for everyone to love. discover what you love. visit ilovenewyork.com to plan your summer trip now. welcome back to "morning joe." the former president of capital records, joe smith and the man who's signings include jimi hendrix, van morrison and the eagles during joe smith's four decades in the music business he worked with some of the biggest names in the industry and got them to share their thoughts with him for his 1988 book "off

the record" an oral history of popular music. joe is now donating more than 230 hours worth of audio clips from those interviews to the library of congress and he joins us now to share some of those audio treasures. welcome to the show. >> thank you very much. >> mr. smith, thank you so much. and as we begin, of course, you were telling us a story about how you actually had dinner with one of the biggest rock stars we all know, dr. brzezinski. >> well yes. >> at state dinner. >> the man cooked. he was -- a guy like that -- >> educating him on rock and roll. thank you for doing that. >> i have so many questions to ask you. i want to start with a clip, this paul mccartney talking about drugs, sergeant pepper and possibly the greatest album of all time. >> take a listen. >> that was one hell of a period, completely different like another lifetime. we were like different people by then. cause the drugs thing, you have to remember in the '60s, there was this new thing which had always been there with

musicians, the jazz musicians and stuff, but we'd just become introduced to it through the sort of the hippie kind of thing that was happening then. and sergeant pepper owes a lot to drugs, to pot and stuff. we were never out of it on the floor like you hear about stone sessions where they couldn't wake the guitarist up. it was never that. we were always sort a lite bit sort of merry or whatever it was, but it certainly made our minds go we can do that. if we can do that why couldn't we do that. >> and, of course, what's so fascinating is you know these guys so well, signed so many of them so well, so they tell you things they wouldn't tell any other -- >> absolutely. i was an insider. i wasn't going to do any expose of any bad habits otherwise the grateful dead would have been wiped off the face of the earth if i talked about them. >> yeah. >> these stories are all terrific. in that book, i have done an hour or an hour and a half with

everybody on tape. we had to squeeze them down to two pages. for the first time i'm listening to the interviews. bo diddley, mick jagger. >> wow. >> they blow through -- strip down suc a legend has been built up around the beatles and dillon and the stones, but by you talking to them off the record. >> right. >> they blow up a lot of these -- a lot of these ideas. for instance, bob dillon, in the 1960s at the end, john lennon had the famous you know song god where he basically said i don't believe in the '60s. he wasn't alone. neither did bob dillon. let's take a listen to this. >> was it frustrating sometimes people want to lock you into their memories into the '60s? >> you know, it's like paul from jefferson airplane, paul cantor. if you can remember anything about the '60s you weren't

really there. you know. that's pretty much correct on it. i can't imagine people making such a big fuss over the '60s. unless things are so dull now that they just have to, you know, think of some time where times were better. you think back, it wasn't really that much better, you know what i mean. it was tougher in so many different ways, you know. i'm not really a nostalgic person, so i just don't buy into the '60s thing like a lot of people seem to do. >> you talked about bob dillon and the lasting impact he's had. >> well, as i went through all these people, so many said, then i heard dillon. or then i heard the beatles. and their whole life changed. or then i heard something else. but bob dillon was supreme. i have a lot of singers who

followed the trail with bob dillon on this -- in this book and -- but what he just said, he would never say to anybody else. he just said it, that the '60s he doesn't remember very much about them. i had the grateful dead. you want to talk about space city and acid and they claimed i would never understand their music until i dropped some acid with them. i never breathed, drank or ate around them. and one night in new york, they were playing a club and i was at a restaurant nearby, it was very ld, i got up there, ran up the stairs and garcia said how are you doing? i said i'm freezing. he said i'll get you coffee. i said no, no, no. i'll get my own coffee. >> i'm good. >> hold on. >> just from the two clips we've heard these are extraordinary sessions. i'm wondering what were the settings? were they appointments? did you do them on the fly? >> i would -- i had access to all at their own homes. some in my office. some on the fly. that wherever they were appearing, i would show up with a microphone, if i could get an

hour, hour and half with them. and -- but everybody cooperated pretty good when i got -- and didn't ask the questions that a fan club magazine would ask. just as you heard with these people, you know, you get -- dig down underneath them. >> and so often, you ask people, whether it's politicians or whether it's media types, you ask questions. and the questions have been asked a million times, and guess what? the person just presses a button. >> yeah. >> and they answer -- the prearched question. you asked david bowie a question about the questions of performing. and you actually get a great answer. let's take a listen. >> have you set yourself up to be measured by a different standard that you just can't go out and make a record and do a tour, that you have to be someone that -- is the pressure on you to do that? >> to do a tour? >> just to be someone -- not to make the 14th david bowie record, but now you've got to be the glassspider. >> yeah. i don't -- i'm not sure. i think i might have helped myself in that way, saving

myself being entrapped by that with the serious moonlight tour. it helped an awful lot to just go out without a character and just do it on the strength of the -- a body of work. however, i had done that before. in 1976 was the last time i did a character performance, which was the thin white. after that, i toured in '78. i think it's the least known of any tours i've done. but that was the first time i had sort of stripped away anything that had to do with character. and i just went out and performed a body of work. and i felt so happy doing that. and almost a sense of relief in a way that i could go out and see my own sons without having to -- >> be someone. >> be somebody, yeah. be somebody else, rather. >> i don't know if there is a simple answer to this question. but if anybody can answer it, it's you. is there any single human thread to all these artists? after you sit back and after the hundreds of hours and the range of geniuses is so wide, but is

there any human single truth that kind of brings them all together? >> with the early rock and rollers, everly brothers and all of that, insecurity. always thought that next hit was going to be the last one and people would tell them that, too. now, in the last several years, they're surrounded by managers and agents who tell them everything is terrific. but there is enormous insecurity. are they going to be able to do it again? i saw it with frank sinatra. is this a good record? i said, what do you care? it's going to be played and people are going to buy it. but they take great interest in their business, and the songs they would pick out. >> interestg. >> was there one artist that stood out to you that you -- that you walked in, even being cold-eyed professional that knew what this was about at the end of the day, that you walked into a room and saw them play and just said, oh, my god. >> you mean -- >> that's magic. >> perform? >> perform. or any song you heard that stopped you in your tracks and said this is the special one.

>> well, i refer back to sinatra, who is not in the book, and that was a whole story, too. he had just been ripped apart by kitty kelly in a book. and he wouldn't do any interviews. and i was running his record company at the time. and i said, frank. but city in the control room when he recorded strangers in the night. >> oh, wow. >> that was a kick. because the doobie doobie do in the end of it, he just did it. wow. >> and listening to james taylor's first record. he came with his manager, they sat across the desk from me and played it. and it's a funny story on that. i said there's not enough music. his deal is you've got $20,000 to start, $20,000 whe you finish the album. and i told him, that's not enough music. so they did an instrumental called sweet for 20 g. >> funny. >> it was to get the money. >> absolutely fascinating. >> i love it. >> the audiotapes being donated

to the library of congress. and the book is "off the record: an oral history of popular music." joe smith, thank you so much. >> thank you so much, mr. smith. >> pleasure to be here. more "morning joe" in just a moment. ♪

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♪ coming up next, new polls

show a tight race for the white house getting even tighter. also, the summer of love. "vanity fair" takes us back to the summer that said goodbye to mad men and hello to the hippy. a full hour of "morning joe" is straight ahead. ♪ piro.obert over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side.

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♪ good morning! it's 8:00 on the east coast. 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. time to wake up, everybody. welcome back to "morning joe."

as you take a live look at new york city, back with us on-set, jon meacham. >> he's dreamy. >> yes. we have donny deutsch. >> he's too tall to love. >> yes. and mark barnicle. yeah. >> i got a call from kate upton's agent. there's a -- there's going to be a restraining order enacted. i'm calling ari to help out. >> in miami, tell municipal dough's jose, diaz-balart. and "business week's" josh green. >> a bloomberg poll shows the president was ahead by 47 points. we have a couple different polls out. i think mike bloomberg was actually asking his friends on the upper east side those questions himself. but we have two new polls out this morning that show a tad different story. >> we do.

they show a tightening race between president obama and mitt romney. pew research finds among all registered voters, the president holds a four-point lead over mitt romney, 50-46%. just a tad bit. while the associated press showing romney up two points from a month ago, but still trailing the president, 47-44%. later today, president obama will address a group of influential latino officials in florida, one week -- well, you know. you've got -- >> coincidence. you know, it is the season. >> yes, it is. >> of the latino. >> hey, if approximate it's -- >> as the zombieses once sang. >> if it's the right thing to do and happens to be politically smart, that's just good. one week after announcing his administration would not deport some 800,000 children brought to this country illegally by their parents. mitt romney, he finally just -- yesterday he cut the cord and he just was clear about this. >> he was bold. and, of course, this is a follow-up. i talked about how i've been in

the turkish prison for the past three weeks. of course, his idea during the primary season in iowa was to deport all illegal immigrants to turkish prisons. let's see if he softened up his stance since the primary season and the iowa caucuses. >> some people have asked if i will let stand the president's executive order. the answer is that i will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president's temporary measure. as president, i won't settle for stopgap measures. i'll work with republicans and democrats to build a long-term solution. he may admit that he hasn't kept every promise, and he'll probably say that even though you aren't better off today than were you four years ago, things could be worse he'll imply you don't really have an alternative. i believe he's taking your vote for granted.

i've come here today with a very simple message. you do have an alternative. your vote should be respected. and your voice is more important now than ever before. >> jose, we notice a subtle change of tone since the iowa caucuses. there is, of course, no threat of turkish prisons, no summary executions. no fingernail removal. >> no self deportation. >> yeah. none of that stuff either. it seems that mitt romney is moving to the center on this issue. and it seems as if president obama is finally starting to move the direction he promised to move four years ago. >> yeah, that's very interesting. you know, i think that these closing polls -- these tightening polls may have something to do with this. but i've got to tell you, it was probably one of mitt romney's better speeches. in front of nalae, the

organization of national elected latino leaders. he pounded on the economic story and the economic reality that, as you know, the hispanic community is hit with 11% official unemployment. the unemployment in places like texas and nevada and florida and california. for the most part is a lot higher than that. and then, you know, he actually confronted the issues that the president started putting conversations straight in the center of our headlines when he made that announcement a couple fridays ago. and mika, i think it's more than 800,000 people. it would be 1.4 million people that could be benefited by this president's decision on immigration. >> another big story to get to this morning. this happened late yesterday. global markets reeling today as moody's down grades citigroup, bank of americ jpmorgan chase and morgan stanley joined several banks in the downgrade.

officials said these banks were vulnerable to outside losses, creating fears they would not be able to repay their debts in time of severe financial crisis. the downgrade marks the first time since 2007 that moody's has taken across the board action against the banks. josh, give us a sense of where this goes from here. >> well, i think the headline is a little bit worse than the actual news. this is bad news for the banks, because a downgrade means they're probably going to face higher borrowing costs and some may have to post collateral now, which will squeeze their profit margins, but this doesn't come as a huge shock. and most investors were expecting this. and you actually saw some of these shares like morgan stanley and after hours trading rallying last night. so the initial reaction wasn't one of panic and investors being upset. the obvious criticism here is why now? why three years after the financial crisis are these cuts coming? and i think part of the answer is that these ratings agencies,

which got such a black eye in the financial crisis are kind of playing a game of catch-up. >> mike barnicle. >> actually, that's the question i was going to ask you, josh. you're absolutely right. i don't think it was -- at least you didn't sense any surprise along wall street or within the markets about this downgrade. it was anticipated, it was expected, but the downgrade by moody's is given by a ratings agency that seemingly completely missed everything in late 2000 and all of 2008. >> right. well, part of the reason for the lack of surprise, i think, was that moody's had placed all these banks under review back in february. and since then, you did see there that the ratings drop a bit. so when the official announcement came yesterday, as i said, it wasn't a big shock. i think the other thing to keep inind here is that ratings agencies don't get a whole lot of respect anymore. if you remember standard & poor's downgraded the u.s. debt

last year, and since then, u.s. borrowing costs have fallen to record lose. so investors in markets are making up their own minds about u.s. stocks and about these bank stocks, too. >> all right. we'll come back to this. other big stories this morning, the political fallout continues after a key congressional committee found attorney genericled holler in if contempt over his refusal to turn over documents relating to fast and furious, a botched atf gun sting that resulted in the death of a u.s. border agent. republican speaker of the house, john boehner, continued to be vocal on the issue, hinting the white house may be involved in a cover-up. >> the decision to invoke executive privilege is an admission the white house officials were involved in decisions that misled the congress and have covered up the truth. so what does the -- is the obama administration hiding in fast and furious? >> boehner intends to bring a contempt vote next week, in

response to president obama's first use of executive privilege to block the release of some 1,300 pages of documents about the case. white house press secretary jay carney bristled during reporters' queions yesterday. >> is there not legitimate, investigative and oversight responsibility to find out what department of justice knew when they were giving false information to congress? >> first of all, i think that matter has been thoroughly discussed in congressional testimony, including nine appearances by the attorney general, including the 600 -- 7,600 documents that have been provided. the issue -- look, i would refer you to a leading member of congress in the republican party who himself called this politics. >> can you say categorically there has been no cover-up? >> absolutely. >> there's nothing being covered up by the justice department, by the white house? >> again, the attorney

general -- >> the attorney general -- the attorney general referred this matter to the expeindependenter general much the inspector general has full access to all documents we are discussing right now. >> the investigation began in 2010 after border patrol agent brian terry was shot and killed by a gun involved in the fast and furious program. >> jose, what's going on here? because yesterday, terry's parents released a statement saying, quote, our son lost his life protecting this nation, and it's very disappointing that we're now faced with an administration that seems more concerned with protecting themselves rather than revealing the truth behind operation fast and furious. if my son had been killed working for the united states in a law enforcement capacity, there had been a botched raid or a botched program put together by the administration, and the administration wanted to block

the united states from hearing about it, its people, i would be a little upset. what's going on here? >> well, and add to this, joe, what about the 55,000 people that have died in mexico because of the drug cartel wars? what about the little kids that on a daily basis almost are dying in the streets of mexico because of gang violence tween one gang and the other, the shootouts, little kids are caught in the crossfire? what about the violence that continues to occur in mexico all because of american drug consumption, i may add. and all of this together has i think frustrated many. now, i'm not sure that the congress and a public hearing is the best place to air out all information about this botched federal program. but i've got to tell you something. you know, the fact of the matter is that no one has really -- no heads have rolled.

real people in authority that were behind this operation, you know -- where are those people that organize this operation and where are they, you know, out of a job, for example? >> and mike, nobody talks about it, certainly. rarely talks about it on the nightly news. there's been almost dead silence over this raid. and also over the much bigger issue which jose just brought up, that it's more dangerous, as you said, in juarez than in baghdad. >> safer per capita living in kabul, afghanistan, than it is living in juarez, mexico, right across our border. and we pay zero attention to it. zero. >> i think the -- the fundamental question here -- it is the republicans on the hill that needed to be telling this story better. i think that a lot of folks are

hearing about this first and foremost as a subpoena, showdown, fight against the president, and then it moves into a political realm that is just chaotic. there's a basic narrative here that -- >> what's the story -- what was fast & furious. >> what was fast & furious, what was a raid. a matter of fundamental political communication that could make this a much more front and center -- and go to this question about mexico, which is, you know, damn near a failed state. >> and donny, the administration, there's no doubt fast & furious has been botched. there's no doubt, the administration wants to prevent information from coming out during an election year, because it would be embarrassing for them. the republicans have every right to do what they're doing, to push as hard as they're pushing. and the parents want answers. the american people, i'm sure, that know about this want answers. at the same time, it's always dangerous politically, just

politically, election year to start holding members of the administration in contempt, because it makes it look political, draws a bigger divide, and i would say for republicans distracts from issue number one, which is economy, economy, economy. >> yeah. i think the republicans quickly want to get back to the economy. and just to shift for a -- not to shift, but to stay on this, this is -- unfortunately, this is not going to be an issue that stays in the public consciousness for a while. it's an important issue and obviously tragic for the family. but at the end of the day we can juke and jive and it's always going to come back to sides. democratically, say, guess what, 6 out of 10 are still better off. so i don't know where this story goes. coming up next, the summer of love, "vanity fair" takes us back to 1967 when a summer of sex, drugs and rock n roll would change the american way of life. also, we'll take wall

street's temperature coming off the dow's 250-point selloff. cnbc's brian sullivan joins us for that. plus, willie's week in review. but first, bill karins with a check on the weekend forecast. >> mika, in the northeast, you enjoy your forecast this weekend. not so much this morning. i'm a little disappointed. yesterday we thought we could get up to 100, it came close in d.c., but we didn't hit 100 in any locate. very impressive, but didn't hit the triple digits. thunderstorms late this afternoon. some on the strong side. could see some widespread damaging winds. so watch out driving home today from d.c. all the way up to southern portis of connecticut. the big story as we go throughout this afternoon is the high temperatures. then the thunderstorms will bring the relief for the weekend. so how does the weekend look? from texas to oklahoma, kansas to missouri, the heat is going to spread. denver, near 100 all weekend long. and our friends in the pacific northwest, you're going to see a chilly weekend. let me take you through. first your friday. watch denver and dallas.

temperatures continue to soar. today mid 90s. as we go through your saturday, near 100-degree heat. if it's not the east coast, it's the midwest. we're bouncing around, one spot from another, with this really dangerous heat. and also, we're very dry ithe middle of the country. the corn crops are going to be very disappointing. we're really struggling with the drought conditions now. indiana through illinois. your sunday forecast, the northwest is still kind of chilly. and the other thing we have to watch, i think by sunday we'll probably have a tropical storm in the gulf of mexico that could be heading somewhere from north florida or maybe florida itself the beginning of next week. if you live down there, keep that in mind. have a wonderful weekend, everyone. st. louis, near 100 by sunday. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. ♪ wouldn't you love somebody to love ♪ ♪

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♪ if you're going to san francisco ♪ the hait-ashbury district of san francisco began to emerge in january of 1966 as a mecca of the hippies. in it their own words, those who are turned on and tuned in. >> what we have in the united states is a model of existence which is based upon a small family unit, many people live in suburbia. a job from 8:00 to 5:00. two cars in the garage, a house, a washer and dryer. that's kind of the model of istence. we in this kind of new evolving

community find this model is not really relevant to the planet earth. >> that was in 1967. nbc news report on the emerging hippy scene in san francisco's hait-ashbury. here with us now is writer for "vanity fair," sheila weller who writes about the summer of love and in it, she writes in part, in a 25-square block area of san francisco in the summer of 1967, an ex attic mushroom, dividing american culture to before and after unparalleled since world war ii. if you were between 15 and 30 that year, it was almost impossible to resist the lure of that transcendent, pure-driven season of glamour, ecstasy and utopianism. it was billed as the summer of love and creators did not deploy a single publicist. yet the phenomenon washed over,

like the martini-sipping madmen era and rushing in a series of awakenings that irreversibly changed our way of life. >> i'm in, i'm all in. >> singn us up. >> so sheila, there were moments in time, in places you could talk abo seattle, 1991. >> okay. athens, georgia, 1977, london in '64. but 1967 in this small area, it seemed to encapsulate something, really an entire generation in that one summer. >> that was the beginning of the american counter culture. it really was. and do you want me to roll back a little bit? >> re. >> to where it started? >> roll back. >> okay. it was very regional, actually. it started like in 1960, '62, '63. a group of artists, musicians in san franciscstate, students, had this love affair with the

post gold rush, barberry coast, san francisco, and would find old clothes in dumpsters outside homes. so they wore these edwardian clothes, started making music, lived communally, and started taking lsd, which at the time was a very communal, love-enhancing substance. and this is kind of where it started. >> and, of course, the grateful dead were at the center of that. and basically wrote the sound track. >> they absolutely did. jerry garcia was a young music teacher, a guitarist in palo alto. he was the center of attention. he was incredibly charismatic. and he started doing the sound track for the acid trips, which were the acid parties arranged by ken keezy who wrote "one flew over the cuckoo's nest."

>> so when did america decide something big was happening and tom wolf went out and wrote about that entire scene? >> yes, he did. he got there early. and what was amazing is you think of tom wolf, this little white suit and cynical new york air. but he was taken by how spiritual it was. so he got there early, and then the media started that they started doing these dances, having these communal dances at two ballrooms in san francisco. the fillmore and the avalon. they were ecstatic dances. people wore clothes, as one person said, seven different centuries in one room. there were local groups, jefferson airplane, grateful dead, quicksilver messenger service. and it became this mecca. young people around the country heard about san francisco, started moving there. there was a political group, anarchist group giving away free food, opening up free stores.

and the media came by itself. nobody crafted a media plan. nobody hired a publicist. an explosive phenomenon. >> and tom wolf is always ahead of the curve. >> you talk about no media plan. there was no media. just a half hour a day on the network news for the world to see what was going on. yet in our lifetime, there has not been a revolution like that. >> not like that, right. yeah, you think today, everybody has got ten publicists and all that. but the media came by themselves. i brought -- do you want me to read the beginning of a press release? i love this. when the people that -- people in the hait realized the media was coming in, right -- in may, they sat in a little table and read this. listen to this. announcement to the people of hait-ashbury. to all the peoples of the world, all upper case. to the sons, daughters, to mankind. and to all the weavings of life's glorious loom. in this moment for need for true communication may the father of all people and all things guide

us as his humble servants in a deep understanding of one another. this summer, the youth of the world are making a holy pilgrimage to our city, et cetera, et cetera. they were dead serious about this. there was a sense of ecstasy that is something we could laugh at today, but it was very real. it was a sense that they were establishing a utopian community. >> if you were going to pick a movie, a piece of music and a tv show that were kind of all the -- because that really was the media. all we had was network news. i don't know if there is one, but if you were going symbolize that generation. >> that move moment. >> that moment. obviously, the same way the clothing changed -- what was the first movie? what was the first tv show that captured this? >> tv and movies were way behind. it was only music. >> they just never did. >> they didn't, yeah. >> i will tell you this. there was a moment, i think, if anybody came close to capturing it, the moment right before the tipping point, right before they fell off the cliff, i think mike

nickelson, "the graduate." dustin hoffman going up to uc-berkeley, and you have actually what we saw this year with "madmen." i don't know if you watch "madmen." >> oh, yeah. >> but the extraordinary scene where don's wife gives him tomorrow never knows, which is the song on "revolution" the precursor to the next album "sergeant pepper." and you see the divide right there. >> and don didn't get it. >> he didn't get it. he's a sinatra guy, took it off. but i think "the graduate." >> i agree. >> but it's funny how movies and the tv shows, they never figured it out. and it was always embarrassing. you go back and look at some attempts. >> i am going to give you one thing. "monterey pop". >> that was amazing. >> and one of the things you notice how beautiful everybody was, including the people in the audience.

>> have you seen that? >> no, i don't even know the mov movie. >> "monterey pop," it's a documentary. i think everybody was there. janice was there, jimmy was there. i think the who. >> that was the beginning of jimmy. it was -- two years before. >> actually -- it was actually wo woodstock was -- i don't want to be disrespectful of a generation to find -- but i think you would agree with me. woodstock was a bit overblown, a bit celebratory, look at us, we're a million strong. monterey pop festival, that was in its purist form, and that's when they were at their best. >> yeah. the very beginning of it. >> intensity. >> it's an extraordinary film and i'm glad you brought it up. i've got to see it again. let's talk about -- i remember george harrison talking about getting out to the scene. and he said by the time he got there, it was too late. that it was very beautiful for a very short time.

and then it fell off a cliff. the excess. and he said by the time i got there, i think it was in '68 -- >> well, '67, even. >> the kids were -- he said the kids were pathetic, and it was just a very sad scene. >> right. everybody i interviewed said the real summer of love for them was 1966. when it was this esoteric community, a real community. and they thought it was a utopian community. theoster artists who compared themselves to at that at that lose le trek. all living on one street, hait and ashbury, hanging out together. herb cain, who was the columnist for "the san francisco chronicle" walked into one of the boutiques one day, saw them all and said they're different than the beat nicks and had to come up with a name for them and came up with the name hippies and that's how that started. >> you can't separate from june 19 -- did i say '68?

i meant '67. june, 1967, sergeant pepper and suddenly -- you know, the tentacles of youth from london to san francisco across the world come together. >> right. and i hear that's grace slick in the background. another amazing thing. this spontaneous zeitgeist thing. it would take sam phillips and barry gordy to come up with two women as different as grace slick and janice joplin. and they just emerged. grace slick was this icy, aristocrat aristocratic, high-society, knock you dead with her sarcasm beauty. and janice joplin was this loving, needy, desperate, vulnerable white middle class texas blues singer. you know. and they were the queens. and that had a lot to do with it. >> shell la weller, thank you so much. >> eight years later, disco. >> i've got to say, though. i still -- you can still listen

to the music. this summer at some point i'll be driving around, and i will turn on "somebody to love" and turn it all the way up. and it's just the urgency. amazing. >> white rabbit. he wrote it. >> you can listen to white rabbit. >> sheila weller, new issue of "vanity fair." thank you so much. coming up, the supreme court yet to hand down its ruling on health care. but are celebrations already in the works? >> they're actually dropping acid in san francisco right now. >> mike allen is next.

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gloinl health care law, whether they would be celebrating or spinning. mike. >> i think we're going to see a little bit of both.

the republican side is feeling really good. they feel like it's almost a win-win for them. that if part of it is struck wn, it makes the president look weak. if it's upheld, it will excite their base. house speaker john boehner has said there will be no spiking of the football. and just the fact that the former football player from ohio has to say that shows sort of how they're feeling. but there may be plenty of others to spike the football for him. politico has obtained an invitation sent out by freedom works for tuesday. we don't even know if the ruling will be out by then. it could come any time next week, where he's going to have a celebration. a tea party group has already arranged for everyone within two hours of washington to come for a rally at the supreme court. but on the more serious side, we're seeing a preview of the tack that both sides are going to take.

republicans if it goes their way are going to say this is a slap in the face to an overreaching congress and white house. on the other side, if the part of the law is struck down and the white house thinks that is certainly possible, they'll be out defending, implementing the parts that are left which are the more popular parts anyway. and if it stays, groups on the left are going to be out taking credit for it. so we'll see ads online with the left taking credit. >> mike, do you think that -- what would you anticipate or based on your reporting, what would you see as governor romney's strategy, how front and center will he be, depending on what the court decides? >> no, that's a great point. as you know, mark, they're low-keying this. the romney campaign doesn't want to overreach or spike the football themselves. they know there will be pley of people on their side who are excited if there's a big ruling. this is a tough issue for romney anyway. so he's going to let the other side do most of the talking for

him. >> all right, mike allen, thank you. happy friday. have a great weekend. >> happy weekend. >> happy weekend. up next, how wall street is helping u.s. veterans back from the war zone get back to work. >> there's so many challenges, so many challenges for these veterans. we've talked about it time and time again. i know fred wilpon has been working on this. >> yes, he has. >> and we've actually got a good story about -- >> operation mend. >> operation mend and a hopeful way forward. willie has been involved with. >> we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." ♪ ♪

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♪ 43 past the hour. we're on the air now. he doesn't have a -- joining us now, retired brigadier general,

deutsche bank, mike fleming, part of the group v.o.w.s., veterans on wall street, which helps raise money for veterans assistance programs, one of those programs getting help is operation mend. we know them well. helps wounded iraq and afghanistan war vets. joining us, as well, the co medical director of operation mend and chief reconstructive surgery at ucla medical center, kodi azari. thank you for being with us. general fleming, i know you prefer to be called mike, so general, let me first of -- >> exactly. >> let me commend you. one of the things that frustrates us so much on this set is you have men and women going over to iraq, afghanistan, giving their all, coming home and being -- going from the front lines to the unemployment lines. >> right. >> talk about what happened yesterday on wall street. >> we have veterans on wall street coalition. it's a coalition of five financial institute, deutsche bank, citi, bank america, credit

suisse, goldman sachs. and what we had last year and this year, the job fair, 500 veterans there to learn about being on wall street. also had a symposium where we did training for the veterans to help them with the transitions. and we had a fund-raising event last night, raised $3 million between our coalition in the last two years for veterans' causes. >> fantastic. and getting vets back to work, right? >> absolutely. last year, we -- of course yesterday was when the job fair was. but the job fair last year, we hired over 300 vets through the job fair. >> great start. >> dr. azari, operation mend, we've seen the work firsthand with willie. it's amazing, because you all through multiple reconstructive surgies for these wounded soldiers are able to give them the difference between having a life and not having one again. how -- what are the numbers you can tell us in terms of how many vets need this type of work, and are still waiting or are in the process of it? >> well, one is -- we're a partnership. we're indeed a true partnership

between the military and the civilian world. just like what v.o.w.'s is doing, the military through the v.a. system and brooke army medical center and walter reed. we're here to partner with them, to help do more. because the need is too much. i will tell you, for example, for our institution, the number of patients that we've taken care of is over 50. yet that includes over 1,000 flights that we have had to arrange and pay for. they need multiple -- >> you're talking about a public/private partnership. >> absolutely. >> and this seems to be a model that we can use in other areas, as well. not only employment, but also reconstructive surgery. we always talk about fred wilpon, who is actually trying to team up -- the mets' owner, those that are challenged in mental health, trying to team up some of the best schools in the

country with v.a. clinics. it looks like you guys are putting together a game plan that others could follow. >> we've really learned. i wish you could have been there last night at v.o.w.s. we're so grateful for their support. we had wounded service members that came back that were truly injured. we took care of them as far as their injuries are concerned. and they were here last night, and they met people for jobs. it was wonderful to see how the public and the private sectors are working together. along with the military. this is a true partnership. >> general, thank you for your service, and both of you for all of your work on this. people watching and want to be involved in this these programs, what can they do? >> great question. i think one of the things we're trying to do is inspire the private sector to do more wi. the government is doing great things. i work in jacksonville. we started the jacksonville military veterans coalition. the mayor is involved with it. it's a public/private partnership, where we have businesses who are on a city of jacksonville website. and we have almost 80 companies that are part of that. so it's really the private

sector really to use creativity. because the government is going today their part, but really, we're hoping to inspire the private sector to do more within their communities. >> i love it. general mike fleming and dr. kodi azari, thank you so much. >> general, thank you so much. great to see you again. we worked together. you reminded me, we worked together up on the hill. >> did you fall asleep in the hearings? >> did great. helped florida. >> really? that's nice. when we return, willie's week in review.

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♪ if it's friday, it'sime for willie's week in review. >> that's a clown question, bro. >> at number three, a clown question, bro. >> i don't want to answer that question. that's a clown question, bro. >> senate majority leader harry reid of nevada channelled washington nationals star, and las vegas native, bryce harper, whose locker response to a reporter's question became a national catch phrase. >> i'm not answering that. that's a clown question, bro. >> senator reid thought long and hard about his answer to a capitol hill reporter's question

this week before settling on the bryce harper retort. >> i don't want to answer that question. that's a clown question, bro. >> here's hoping senator reid now answers all public questions with memes that end in bro. >> don't tase me, bro! don't tase me! >> number two, king james. >> the miami heat are once again nba champions. lebron james captures that elusive title he so desperately coveted. >> nearly two years after lebron james turned himself into an nba villain by breaking up with cleveland on national tv -- >> this fall, man, this is very tough. this fall i'm going to take my talents to south beach and join the miami heat. >> and then guaranteeing every championship but til the end of time -- >> not two, not three, not four, not five, not six. not seven.

>> the league mvp delivered on the hype, taking his talents to the first of all those nba titles. >> when the clock hit triple zeros, what's the first thing that ran through your mind? >> it's about damn time. >> and the number-one story of the week. >> excuse me, sir. it's not time for questions, sir. not while i'm speaking. >> an eventful week for president obama actually began late last week during his call-in response announcement of a shift in immigration policy. >> this is the right thing to do for the american people. i didn't ask for an argument. i'm answering your question. >> mitt romney was unmoved by the president's new position. >> he saves these sort of things until four and a half months before the general election. >> president obama also headlined the g-20 summit in mexico. it included a photo op with russian president vladimir tyutin putin that looked like two people out to dinner as they finalized their divorce.

then there was the invocation of executive privilege over the atf gun-running operation, named after a vin diesel car movie. >> i live my life a quarter mile at a time. nothing else matters. >> how much did the president know about this? >> it shouldn't be a political witch hunt. >> senator harry reid, what's your take on this whole fast & furious deal, bro? >> i don't want to answer that question. that's a clown question, bro. >> yeah. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? when i found out my irregular heartbeat

put me at 5 times greater risk of a stroke, my first thoughts were about my wife, and my family. i have the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin, but my doctor put me on pradaxa instead to reduce my risk of stroke. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate) reduced stroke risk 35% better than warfarin. and unlike warfarin, with pradaxa, there's no need for regular blood tests. that's really important to me. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners,

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if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? abe lincoln. here's a guy who had his hands full, and still found time to hunt vampires. god bless you, abe. a lot of people -- by the way, when you buy the ticket for the movie, all of the facts and the activities in the movie have been authenticated by historian doris kearns-goodwin. >> i don't know if that's the case. welcome back to "morning joe." as we listen to the sounds of 1967, jefferson airplane. what have you learned, mika? >> two things. monday we have a guest on the show who is going to talk about why women cannot have it all, unequivocally.

it's not possible. i already knew that. we'll talk to her about that. it will be good. also, it is an amazing woman's birthday today. >> mary jo scarborough, mom! happy 80th birthday today, june 22nd, 1932. a great day. and i will be seeing you tonight. >> happy birthday, mary jo. >> what have you learned? >> about this new app, dmd, awesome photo app for the iphone. we recommend it. >> this is -- it is panorama, and you can, like, take -- >> you get the full capture. me trying to get jon meacham to sit next to me and he looks very scared. >> rock n roll will never die. >> i don't care what people say. >> it's friday. >> if it's way too early, it is "morning joe." now stick around for chuck. is chuck in today? >> is it still luke? >> why not? chuck. >> oh, it's luke. >> luke! "the daily rundown." have a great weekend, everybody.

thank you for watching us this week. today, the president gets his turn speaking to a key group of latino officials in florida. one week after ordering an end to deportation of some illegal immigrants. yesterday, mitt romney told the same group that the president has let them down. what's at stake? the critical hispanic vote in florida and beyond. new general election polling shows president obama holding his early-year lead, and ahead of mitt romney on social issues. but is that enough to overcome the republicans' lead on how to best deal with the lagging economy? is . and no budget, no pay. we'll talk to a bipartisan coalition of house lawmakers trying to use a threat of no congressional pay to force leadership into getting something, anything done. good morning from washington, it's friday, june 22nd, 2012, this is "the daily rundown," i'm luke russert in for chuck todd. let's get to the first reads of this morning. this afternoon, the president will make his case to hispanics in orlando, florid