democrats are hoping to get secretary of state allison grimes into the race. it will be tough for a democrat whether it's ashley judd or grimes or anyone. mitt romney got 60% of the vote in a democratic year. this will be an off year. this will be tough. it's one thing for democrats to win a race in kentucky, but this is a senate race. >> it's difficult to face ashley judd. have real madness, but let's focus on the brackets. >> this is the final first round matchups. jesse helms, the senator from north carolina facing off with ted stevens. the father of modern conservatism and howard baker, the senate leader in the 1970s and 80s going off against joe biden, someone who is currently vice president. he is in the contest and a lot of people didn't make it. >> 2014, we focus on march madness. we will ask to you go to first read.com. vote on the latest senate march madness matchup. coming up next, we will talk to two former members of congress from virginia about the fights over immigration and guns and also a new poll number on the old dominion's fight for the gov

whether it is ashley judd, allison grimes, someone else.mney after all ended up getting 60% of the vote in kentucky in 2012. and remember, that was a democratic leaning year. of course, the obama campaign didn't campaign in kentucky but kentucky is a pretty tough state for democrats. >> do we know any more scoop behind her decision? that sounds like a thoughtful message that she put out. but any more? was she worried that she wouldn't have support from big name democrats? >> she would have plenty of support. plenty of money. and it would have been the most watched senate contest for 2014. you and i had she gotten into this race would be talking about that kentucky senate race from the summer of 2014 to the fall. it would have had a tremendous am of publicity. perhaps one thing might have been having the stomach to have that kind of fight. but also, the chances of victory. it is one thing for al franken to win in minnesota as we saw. also, elizabeth warren to win in massachusetts in 2012. it would be very difficult for ashley judd to have wo

jerry lundigrin, father of allison grimes, supported hillary clinton heavily.to the clinton library, gives to all of hillary's things. when bill clinton came to that dinner, he privately met with allison and jerry, her father. allison is like the daughter of a mini establishment in the state. the further complicating factor is that, though, the lundigrin people are at war with the current governor -- >> that's too much. >> it's not too much. it's not too much. >> it all comes out in the wash. >> what judd has to hope is there's a fracture in the establishment of the democratic party. bill clinton will have to heal. >> bill clinton, very popular in the country. i think he's a stalking horse for hillary clinton running for president. very active next year, is that part of this, bill clinton building the wall for hillary? >> i'm sure bill clinton would like to have mcconnell out of there if he could possibly make that happen so when hillary is -- one thing about relationships, guess who catered chelsea's wedding, jerry, allison grimes' father. >> i love to learn.

race, they might be better off. >> and allison grimes has the support of hillary and bill clinton. it looks like that would be a race where hillary clinton may well weigh in. the daughter of the democratic official helpful to clintons. >> her father, former democratic state party chairman and close to bill clinton. >> thank you both so much. great to see you closer at least. chris cillizza. >>> up next, the latest on nelson mandala's condition as the 94-year-old former south african leader and world icon returns to the hospital. this is "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc. so if you have a flat tire, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge

allison grimes' father is very good friends with bill clinton.rceived as knocking either candidate out of the race. i would say on the gay marriage, when it comes back -- >> hold that point. you're taking us to our next point, when we come back. could we see a pro same-sex marriage republican running for president in 2016? also, starbucks' ceo howard schultz has a clear message for a shareholder that disagreed with his support for same-sex marriage. take your money and go. that's next. we're going to talk about that. the brain trust is here. alright, bring the model in on the set! ah beautiful. work the camera... work it...work it! those hands. oooh la la! magnifique! what's your secret? what? huh? dawn? how can this be? [ female announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty helps lock in skin's natural moisture to improve the look and feel of hands in 5 uses. [ sponge ] gotta hand it to your beautiful hands, huh? [ female announcer ] love it, or get double your money back. dawn does more. [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. [ bop ] [ bop ] [ bop ]

now there's talk about kentucky secretary of state allison grimes and you're a louisville native, ifur read on what's going on here. could either one of these women beat mitch mcconnell? >> i have been talking to people down there from both parties. two dynamics going on. there was a lot of buzz about ashley judd in november, december, and even now, but a lot of the democrats in kentucky think she's too liberal for that state and they're pushing allison grimes who is secretary of state there. they view her as more electable. the other thing that's interesting is mitch mcconnell not beloved among all republicans there either. his approval rating among republicans not great and there's some talk of a tea party challenger to him. you could end up with a situation where ashley judd and mitch mcconnell are challengers. >> how about, susan, with former president bill clinton. he's the ultimate politician, right? he's getting involved. what is his role here as he meets with both judd and grimes? >> he says -- there are sources close to him who say he's met with both, encouraged both, would

allison grimes has been the state -- >> secretary of state. >> secretary of state for just a year.est way to have a clean record in public office is to not be there very long and someone new in office and with a powerful family in the state. her dad is a union leader. her dad has been the state party chairman. so people love the idea of her running at a state political event. bill clinton took her aside and ad a 35-minute conversation said we are reporting that both he and secretary clinton would support her if she decided to run. >> obviously, love, michael steele, to have judd run whether she is running from tennessee or or san francisco. >> doesn't matter where she woru she would would be a great candidate to run against. mcconnell's concern is not who the democrats are going to put up. it's how he is going to navigate a primary potentially should someone to his right get into that, or he gets some kind of noise or pressure. i'mcurious, though, mike, if the democrats are beginning to do this tinkering, how is ashley judd perceived by the base? is she getting any momentum with th

most likely as the secretary of state, allison grimes. if they can get her in, fine.she gets in, if she clears the field, we'll see. i know the obama people don't want judd. the kentucky establishment don't want judd but nobody else wants to run. all the establishment democrats want to wait for the governor's race in 2015. >> kentucky has become such a red state. it is so hard to unseat. >> but democrats still win the governorship. they have a shot, a long shot. >> howard fineman, i won't use the nickname again. >> let's kill it. >> you are what you like. that would make me a fedora. you'll find out in a minute, i think. the intriguing new facebook favorite. when did you know that grandma was the one? when her sister dumped me. grandpa was my dad a good athlete? no. oh dad, you remember my friend alex? yeah. the one that had the work done... good to see you. where do we go when we die? the ground. who's your girlfriend? his name is chad. and that's where babies come from. [ male announcer ] sometimes being too transparent can be a bad thing. this looks good! [ male an

including former president bill clinton, are trying to court another candidate, another female, allison lundergan grimes. ms. judd will make her announcement later this spring, a claim she has denied. her sister said of course i'd vote for her. i don't agree with anything she says half the time. we're so different. but i love my sister. >>> president obama's initiative to reduce violence in this country has been severely weakened. democratic majority leader harry reid said a ban on assault weapons. >> right now her amendment using the most optimistic numbers has less than 40 votes. that's not 60. i have no get something on the floor so we can have votes on that issue and the other issues that i talked about. and that's what i'm going to try to do. i'm not going to try to put something on the floor that won't succeed. i want something that will succeed. >>> senator dianne feinstein who sponsored the ban was irritated. she said, obviously i'm disappointed. i tried my best, but my best, i guess, was not good enough. you'd think the congress would listen, but they clearly listen to the national rifle associ

they've been touting another person, a secretary of state, her name is allison grimes, and they thinkd among republicans, mitch mcconnell has always in kentucky been more feared than loved, and his approval rating is pretty low, below 40% in polls, and there's a tea party republican, matthew bevin, who's been talking to the tea party groups down there and trying to get the kind of rand paul coalition behind him, and he's thinking about challenging mcconnell in the primary. so judd versus mcconnell is anything but certain right now. >> here's the thing, perry. what about the $7 million that mitch mcconnell allegedly has in this war chest? this campaign war chest? >> $7 million is a lot of money, but when you're a candidate like mitch mcconnell and you're so well-known already, there are a lot of people who if a good -- if craig melvin ran in the republican primary down there and you had the right views, they'd rather have you -- mitch mcconnell has been a senator down there since 1984. he could spend every dollar -- >> perry, i love the idea of a craig melvin, but i just don't know whe

one of the names emerging is 34-year-old allison lundergan grimes, the kentucky secretary of state.n't even said she's decided to run. >>> they're calling it a vote-a-rama. in the chamber that's usually slow to move. senators will be allowed to offer unlimited amendments to the budget. >>> attorney general eric holder is back to work today after taking leave to do his civic duty. the former judge reported for jury duty yesterday. he was dismissed. >>> and a new children's book teaches kids about the national debt. now, the villain in "mr. penny and the dragon of domeville" is a dragon that eats money, designed to represent a bloated federal government. the author says he wants to remind kids and their families that the country is in trouble. >>> and if you read only one thing this morning, a lot of pundits have predicted the new pope, francis, may surprise people. well, today the "new york times" reports on how he once suggested compromise on gay marriage. up on our facebook page. a trimmer? no. we got nothing. we just bought our first house, we're on a budget. we're not ready for s

>> allison grimes, the secretary of state.ight now he is doing everything he cannot to have a challenge from the right and so far there isn't one on the horizon. if he does his work right, he won't get one. >> miss grimes is much tougher opponent. she is young and just in office and doesn't have a record. >> encouraged by bill clinton. >> right. >> who is apparently said that both he and secretary clinton will support her. her father former party chairman wired through the state and can put together a campaign quickly. you will not have the circus you would have ashley judd. you'll have an actual campaign and senator mcconnell's approval ratings is not what he wants. he would rather talk about somebody being from san francisco. >> ashleyly judd was much easier to defeat and lampoon. this is a guy who looks at his internals and see he is unpopular despite the fact it's a very conservative state. >> why is he unpopular? >> because he's a really conservative guy who has a track record for getting involved in in the most ideologic

the report said former president clinton is also encouraged kentucky secretary of state allison grimest into the race as well. >> right. >> why -- first of all, why is bill clinton so interested in this race and why would he be encouraging a cat fight? >> it is my understanding, i hope you didn't say cat fight because it's two women. it is my understanding that this happened -- >> wildcats. kentucky wildcats. >> different times actually. initially, a conversation with ashley judd i think some time ago and then only recently with the secretary of state. and look, i think any -- if you are a person who believes in having a strong party and a deep bench, you want to try to encourage as many good people to think about it because, look, the likelihood is both of them might -- will not likely run. why not encourage good people to think about it? and particularly women. it is very hard to get women to run for statewide office. so i think it's -- i don't think it's a problem to have such an embarrassment of riches. i would also just remind you that the clintons have sort of family connections,

he brought up the name of the secretary of state allison lundergan grimes.le she didn't shut the door on ashley judd, he didn't say we would love to have her in. he said they have a deep bench in kentucky. so they haven't exactly embraced her. >> afraid she's going to nationalize it and cause problems for the democrats in kentucky who run a little bit to the right of this administration. >> yeah. that's a real fear of theirs. so he's just saying we're not committing to ashley judd. she's one of the names out there. she might be the candidate but we're not there yet. >> bill: i think that's smart to go slow on that. there's a big story here about healthcare workers that you've been reporting on, igor. but first kathleen's on the line from chicago. hey, kathleen. >> good morning. i haven't talked to you in awhile mr. press. >> bill: i'm glad you called. >> caller: let me say this before i get interrupted. i see why the republicans dislike this president. we have a smart president. this man knows what he's doing. he knows how to do it. he would go et this count