grimes needs clinton. let's start out with what, perry, you think that bill clinton has to offer allison lundergan grimes from her campaign point of view? >> the two things he offers. one is he has this great credibility on the economy. you heard both of them talk the other day. bill clinton talked about the minimum wage, allison grimes did. they think his experience in the 1990s when the economy was booming is great for their campaign. the second thing they think is important is, steve beshear, the governor mentioned this actually, a lot of people here are not sure, does grimes have a chance to win. mitch mcconnell always has had a chance to win. bill clinton coming here shows people in kentucky and people nationally this is a real race if bill clinton thinks that she can win, maybe she can win. >> it's interesting that you say people have questions about whether or not allison lundergan grimes has a chance. do the polls believe those polls or do they say the polls are outliars? >> reporter: no, they bleeft polls here. more like mcconnell is so strong. he's won so many times. bill clinton compared in 2008. i

allison lundergan grimes has a good story to tell. she comes from a family that's well-known. political family. but more important, what mitch mcconnell represents is not about republican or democrat, it's that he represents somebody who's been there for too long. he becomes part of the establishment. that's the issue in this race. the most recent polling we've seen here not only has the race tied, but has mcconnell's approval rating lower than president obama's rating in kentucky. gwen: when you say -- you're talking about the general election. >> the general election. >> has it started to affect mcconnell's ability to do his job in washington? >> we saw mcconnell and bevin didn't have very good weeks. where they got in the last week, they got in tight spots. and for mcconnell, it was being forced by senator ted cruz in filibustering the debt ceiling vote. mcconnell was then forced to cast a vote. and the plan was for no republican to cast a vote on that. because lifting the debt ceiling is like lighting a fire underneath the tea party people. and he was forced to do so as pa

at the same time, possibly take down matt bevin, possibly take down allison grime grimes. his number against bevin looks strong at this point. he holds a 5-29 lea s s a 55-29. but two years ago, dick lug re had a 55-30 lead over richard murdoch. mcconnell understands the threat and he sees it's he's prepared to take it off. >> joseph, where did he stray from the majority of voters in kentucky? >> i think more than anything, it's just the level of fatigue that you get with a politician after they've represented you for 30 years. senator mcconnell was first elected to the senate in 1984. he had served a term and a half as a jefferson county judge executive, the top executive position in the largest county in kentucky for a term and a half before that. that's a long time. and you tend to make some enemies over time. and nthen on top of that, you have this tea party wave taking effect that just doesn't agree with some of the things he's done over the years. mcconnell has been a deal cutter. he's gone out and worked with the democrats on occasion. he's fought with them quite a

he is supporting allison grime. she is running to unseat mitch mcconnell.ined from the campaign trail in louisville. erin, since you are on the trail, let's start with you. give us an idea why clinton chose kentucky for this first 2014 campaign stop? >> well, first of all, this race is very close. democrats are very excited about the prospect of unseating the republican leader. he has been in the senate almost 30 years. it will be very hard to do. as for why bill clinton chose this race. he goes way back with the candidate's family. almost 30 years, in fact. allison grimes father, jerry lundergrand was twice the chairman of the kentucky democratic party and also chaired hillary clinton's campaign in the state and has a catering company called lundy's and catered some of the inaugural events in 1993. i believe we have a picture of allison grimes giving some flowers to bill and hillary clinton from 1993. more recently, he catered chelsea clinton's wedding. there is a lot of loyalty here. >> paul steinhauser, on the subject of going way back, lundergrand grime

most popular active politician in the country and will make his first 2014 campaign stop for allison grimes. >> she understands how the issues debated in washington affect the people in kentucky. >> check out the ice boulders literally swallowing this pickup truck. >> the polar vortex is at it again. >> when i hear the forecast, i want to scream. >> since we sat down have you used cocaine or other illegal drugs? >> i don't use illegal drugs. >> first up today, breaking news, president obama tells the pentagon to have plans in place to pull all troops from afghanistan by the end of this year. let's talk more about this. i'll bring in chuck todd, nbc news political director and host of "the daily rundown." i'm a big fan, happy you could come on. >> thanks, congratulations on day two. >> this came out of a phone call president obama just had with the afghan leader, hamid karzai in a very detailed readout that by the way the white house doesn't provide, including about the topic discussed in this case has to do with a potential agreement between the united states and afghan government about kee

so that's why i feel like there's this connection to allison grimes, who will likely, i would expect, do well with the women's vote in kentucky. >> you said this earlier, karen, that it's a two-for. i think rand paul is trying to kill two birds with one stone. so trying to distract the kentucky electorate from allison and trying to help mitch mcconnell out, but i also think that this is ultimately about rand paul. he's trying to differentiate himself come the 2016. at least a dozen folks are going to be running, maybe two dozen folks. he's trying to figure out what is something that gets the bases going? well, it's talking about bill clinton. so he's trying to separate himself out from the pack and then maybe let's say he makes it into the general, maybe indirectly it's trying to hit at hillary. directly he really can't hit her, so he's just trying to put himself forward at whatever cost. >> well, and jared, i'm going to play a little bit of sound because rand paul, not surprisingly, hit hillary clinton on none other than benghazi. let's take a listen. >> but then the cue dee gra and

. >>> democratic groups are -- wendy davis have been called abortion barbie, and allison grimes who was called an empty dress. meanwhile, there are signs of division between the republican party's mainstream and its right wing. senator ted cruise of texas refused to endorse the senior senator from texas in his re-election bid against a tea party challenger. >> i'm leeblg going to stay out, and that is true outside of texas and inside of texas many congressional races. i like john cornyn. he and i have worked together very closely. we've agreed on the vast majority of things. there are some areas in which we've disagreed. >> cruz has been criticized for involving himself in other races. >>> well, we have a new troef of text messages that's been released in the george washington bridge scandal, and it shows more vin district courtive language. you'll remember ann kelly famously wrote time for traffic problems in fort lee. in this wave of texts that began six days later wildstein and kelly have -- wildstein said the rabbi has officially pissed me off. kelly said leerl we can't cause traffi

now, allison grimes gave this long speech about the bill clinton economy.he never mentioned barack obama. that's one of her problems. he's unpopular in the state of kentucky. and mitch mcconnell was just asked about bill clinton being there, and he said, he came down my last two elections and i won, so keep him coming. >> some of the dems would like bill clinton rather than barack obama by his side. what about the fact that currently, barack obama, not very popular there. do you think kentucky, though, would actually dump mitch mcconnell for this young woman? >> mitch mcconnell has a problem that all incumbents have. and mitch mcconnell has been magnified, because he has the title, leader. voters everywhere don't like incumbents. they especlly don't like incumbents with titles, because they view them as responsible for the problem. i've seen some of the internal polling in kentucky, and the voters in kentucky are mad at mitch mcconnell, because they view him as part of the problem in washington. now, bill clinton said it himself, mitch mcconnell's a very cr

allison grimes being the other. they tried to nail her down about what exactly she would change in obamacare. her statement is always it's not working. she won't go into much detail and no one has been able to nail her down on that. if she's trying to run a campaign and be as vague as possible on liberal issues where kentuckyans are not with her and talk about mitch mcconnell as much as possible. >> the kentucky exchange is working, arguably, better than any. it was the first one that seemed to be up and running and working while the federal government was trying to get its act together. does this make it hard er for mcconnell to run against healthcare? i think i saw a stat. more people have signed up in kentucky through the healthcare exchange there in that state than actually voted for barack obama in 2012. >> reporter: yeah. i was out in eastern kentucky, in some of those coal mining counties where obama is very unpopular. i was in perry county where literally more people have health insurance under the law in th

clinton's appearance on behalf of allison lundgren grimes is his first campaign stop in this the 2014ons. here's what the former president said only a few moments ago. >> well, i've reached the age now i'm not running for anything. i can tell you exactly what i think. and since i'm not in office, you can ignore it. >> although sometimes when i was in office, i thought people were ignoring it. i told somebody once, being president is a lot like being superintendent of a big cemetery. we're living in kind of a crazy time, because so much of politics is dominated by mass media and big money, that what works in an election is exactly the reverse of what works when the election is over. here's what i want you to know. you know, since i left office, i worked all over america and all over the world. and i've, blessed to do the work i've done and we've created a lot of jobs, we've saved a lot of lives. >> let's go to kentucky. our erin mcpike is standing by in louisville. erin, how significant is president clinton's appearance in this race? >> reporter: well, wolf, bill clinton won this state

we want to show you a photo of allison grimes meeting the clintons in 1993.er father cater events and chelsea clinton's wedding. those should help her in this campaign. >> mitch mcconnel is leading the charge to sweep senate democrats from power in this year's midterm elections. >> these people need to be stopped. a good way is make me the majority leader of the united states senate november. >> he has to win re-election first. that may prove harder than the past four times. >> kentucky is thought of not deep red but reddish. reddish. >> now remember him, bill clinton carried the typically blue you grass state in both presidential elections in the 90s. he campaigned against mcconnel in the tougher than expected race in 2008. he's making his first big stop on the 2014 campaign trail. >> we've got to have more willing to reach across the aisle. >> campaigning for the 35-year-old star recruit. >> i'm allison grimes. with your help i will be the next united states senator from kentucky. >> grimes is secretary of state and was attorney in lexington. her father sha

there's any particular reason for conservatives to be upset about my performance. >> reporter: allison grimes must be some women about ready to make things happen. >> reporter: grimes is secretary of state and comes from a powerful political family. she's a pro-coal, pro-labor democrat who wants to raise the minimum wage, and she's energizing women who she says mitch mcconnell has left behind. are you prepared for the scrutiny? >> for the past seven months, we've endured $6 million worth of negative, nasty attacks. and if anything, i think it's shown that this home grown kentuckyian is ready to go to battle. >> reporter: i want to ask about president barack obama. would you want him to come down and campaign? >> it's about putting the people of this state first, and i speak for myself and don't need any other surrogate to do that. i stand in stark contrast to the president in many of his ideas and platforms. >> reporter: national republicans have cast you as obama girl and one of the national spokes people refer to you assen empty dress. >> yes. >> reporter: do you think those are appropriate

the last major poll i fell in kentucky had hidden behind the emocrat, allison m grimes -- allison londonwe like having you in new york. oner cook with us this week bloomberg television in new york. robert wolf as well. this hour of "bloomberg surveillance." are getting into the habit of apologies after embarrassing public appearances. we will talk about it. ♪ morning, "bloomberg surveillance." this matters now to robert wolf, chief executive officer at 32 advisors and a golfing partner of the president. he says they want to buy mr. wolff suggested the rest of the world should take a further interest in foreign direct investment into the u.s. it is down in recent years, let's start with why. why is fdi down? >> since september 11, we have become more protectionist, we do not have immigration reform. some people say there is a labor arbitrage away from the u.s., some would say we are overregulated. we have little of law. >> where does foreign direct investment come from, the u.k., china? >> it is any foreign entity that uilds, buys, or invests in america. it is everyone, what we have seen

health care has left the president not so popular in red states like kentucky, where democrat allison grimesying to take senate republican leader mitch mcconnell's seat, so she's instead turning to surrogates like former president bill clinton. >> it makes a big difference who wins this election. >> and when pressed yesterday on why the current president is not out there helping vulnerable senate democrats, even harry reid suggested the former president may be a better asset. >> we do have one president who has been going everyplace, and that's clinton. >> today, senate democrats launched a major counteroffensive on health care. >> despite all that good news, there's plenty of horror stories untold. all of them untrue. >> john thune fired back, reid owes americans all across the country an apology for suggesting they're lying. >> we have been on the floor reading constituent mail in our offices from families and individuals who have been adversery affected and harmed by obamacare because of cancelled coverages and higher premiums and higher deductibles. >> by the end of the day, reid was bac

we saw how effective he is on the campaign stump when he was in kentucky for allison grimes, but problems in the president c famously that she'll be forced to deal with. >> speaking of relitigating the clinton presidency, let's turn to the tea party. interesting things coming on the fifth anniversary of the tea party. chris, i want to ask our latest nbc news wall street journal poll shows as the tea party turns five, support is low, 24% support the movement, 65% do not support it. the highest we should say of th 30%. what does this say about how strong this party is and about the potential future of the tea party? >> so i think as you mentioned, the highest support has ever been is 30%. it's not exactly a massive drop in tea party support. i think this was always a niche appeal and niche group. i would say just because of niche appeal and group, doesn't mean the tea party doesn't retain power. we saw it in the 2010 election clearly that the tea party does retain power and mike castle, a sitting republican member of congress running for senate in delaware, lost to christine o'donnell, shar

if you're allison grimes, you like seeing that ad on the air. mitch mcconnell is all about power. use that same argument another way. the second thing is that if you had a vote in, among republicans in the senate now between ted cruz and barack obama and it were a secret vote, ted cruz would lose to barack obama. they are so angry at him, putting all those republicans on the line, having to vote responsibly on the debt ceiling. but it is a great old legislative trick to make sure no one is the last vote in. when i covered the state legislature in albany. the assembly, there were 150. so 76 was a majority. and it was always said that 76 was a close vote, 77 was a landslide. because if it was 77, they arranged who got to vote for it and against it, depending on who was in a safe and unsafe district. >> and alex, the -- what about going forward with mcconnell? i mean, if there's going to be some governing here, it's got to be done in both bodies. we see boehner's problems, we've seen his frustrations. we've always seen him go with votes from the other party. mcconnell it seems to me

on tuesday bill clinton will be campaigning with allison grimes, the democrat running in kentucky against mcconnell trying to challenge him in the general election. the next day hillary clinton will be speak being at the university of miami. then come march 4th we'll see texas senate primary, john cornyn versus steve stockman. cpac republican conference will take place two days later starting on march 6th. then a very big congressional special election in florida on march 11th. so craig, a lot of stuff for us to talk about in the next two or three weeks. >> have a good weekend, my friend. still ahead all eyes on arizona governor jan brewer and whether she will sign that controversial bill that critics say allow discrimination based on religious beliefs. we're going to talk to the executive director of the arizona democratic party. ogena® pore refining cleanser. alpha-hydroxy and exfoliating beads work to clean and tighten pores so they can look half their size. pores...shrink 'em down to size! [ female announcer ] pore refining cleanser. neutrogena®. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life.

the bigger challenge might be the general election against democrat allison grimes, who will have a lothind her, wolf. >> coming up, assuming he gets the republican nomination. >> that's right. >> we'll see what happens. that's why we like covering politics. peter, thanks very much. >>> so are democrats big fans of bruce springsteen? would republicans rather listen to country music? pandora says it has figured out how your music choices reveal your politics and wants to turn that knowledge into profit. cnn correspondent laurie segall joining us from new york right now. let's talk a little bit about this. some folks will watch various shows, listen to various music, that may not necessarily reflect their political positions. but they like the shows. so is this an accurate reflection of a political agenda, shall we say? >> reporter: sure. look, i share your sentiment. just because, you know, someone potentially listens to country music doesn't mean they're necessarily republican. but the key here and what pandora is doing, when you sign up for this app, you sign up with your zip code. and

. >> and is mcconnell's camp looking past the may primary and concerned about allison grimes?y are not looking past the may primary, but they are trying to fight a two-front war. and essentially what senator mcconnell is trying to do is to make it a proxy war for people like the senate conservative fund and the other tea party groups that have backed mike lee and ted cruz in the past. what senator mcconnell want ss a donnybrook and a big battle fought right here in kentucky between him and the groups. he does not want to just beat matt devin, but the tea party, t too. >> and what about alison grimes sending out a mock birthday card to mitch mcconnell, and she wants to point out the age that it is 72, and that is getting negative headlines. >> right. well, what you are seeing right now from the grimes' campaign is that they are figuring out how to get the footing. so far this year, it is a campaign made up of gimmicks. right now, she needs to start thinking about how does she want to introduce herself to the kentucky voters. if she doesn't, mitch mcconnell will and it is going

. >>> first, we're going to kentucky where senate candidate allison grimes may shun obama as a surrogate, but clinton is there in the bluegrass state today. et a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one. like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. oh, it's great. yeah. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. ♪ new at&t mobile share value plans for business. our best value plans ever. for example, you can get 10 gigs of data to share. and 5 lines would be $175 a month. plus you can add a line anytime for $15 a month. sharing's never been better for business. ♪ sharing's never been better for business. you want a loan to build you can't do that.ica? nobody builds factories in the us anymore... you can't do that. using american raw materials makes no sense... you can't do that. you want to hire workers here in the states? they're too expensive, you can

country, the former president is the big attraction in kentucky for democratic senate hopeful allison grimes not all that eager to have the current president come to the blue grass state for her. >> i want to ask you about president barack obama, would you want him to come down and campaign for you? >> this race is one that's about putting the people of this state first. and i speak for myself and don't need any other surrogate to do that. >> unless bill clinton is there. now the fugitive, ukraine's former president still on the run. we'll have the report from richard engel following the trail in kiev. senator kirsten gillibrand joining me after another setback to get a senate vote against sexual saults in the military. >> what does it say about a body after having seen so many brave survivors in the military walk through the halls of this congress for over a year now, we can't even give them the decency of a debate on the reform they so deeply believe in. >> late night vice, joe biden, that is, teaming up with amy poehler for the debut of "late night with seth myers", only one was willing t

. >> by the way, bill clinton will campaign for kentucky democratic candidate allison grimes later this month, and is expected to fund raise in arkansas, georgia, louisiana, and republicans are trying to put new states in play. former rnc chair gillespie may be an underdog, but they argue the candidacy a symbol of national environment favorable to them. still, republicans are saddled with an unpopular party brand, a problem for the handful of republican members of congress campaigning for the senate. democrats are using last fall's shutdown against them at every opportunity. montana congressman steve danes is doing his best to soften his image in a new ad, and expect to see a lot more like it, particularly from the house incumbents trying for the promotion. >> i'm running for the u.s. senate, because we need solutions, and washington needs montana common sense. >> finally, of course, there are at least a half dozen republican senate incumbents facing primary challenges that could at the very least batter them, drain them of war chests heading into the general election. over the weekend,

country, the former president is the big attraction in kentucky for democratic senate hopeful allison grimesme to the blue grass state for her. >> i want to ask you about president barack obama, would you want him to come down and campaign for you? >> this race is one that's about putting the people of this state first. and i speak for myself and don't need any other surrogate to do that. >> unless bill clinton is there. now the fugitive, ukraine's former president still on the run. we'll have the report from richard engel following the trail in kiev. senator kirsten gillibrand joining me after another setback to get

you've seen already in kentucky, a pretty conservative state, allison grimes, a senate candidate thereg this issue hard. it's popular among republican-leaning voters. >> and in terms of -- the other thing we're hearing is that they may also use a discharge petition as a tactic to get through immigration reform or get to immigration reform, i should say. this is another issue where republicans are really in a jam between 2014 and 2016 ambitions. >> that's right. and the discharge petitions rarely work as procedural maneuve maneuvers. however, i find what's interesting comparing the immigration discharge me tipeti to the minimum wage one. the minimum wage will be used in large part as a political move to show the contrast between republicans and democrats in 2014. now, those who want a discharge petition on immigration reform are hoping that perhaps a few republicans who are on the fence on immigration reform may not sign the discharge petition but then will be pressured into maybe pressuring then their leadership to move immigration reform ahead this year. >> and perry, just finally a q

allison grimes is a more credible candidate against mitch mcconnell.s this just part of solidification of america? you know, ronald reagan was -- fication oflebri america yeah go you know, ronald reagan was a bit of a trailblazer, but more celebrities appear to be publicted in holding office. >> they are used to being in the public eye and when they go to big events they rub elbows with politicians. politics is glamorous when viewed through the hollywood lens. you see people like arnold schwarzenegger becoming governor in california. other celebrities look at that and think why not me echo >> does it actually makes sense, because when you speak to business people for example, who business --reat great political leaders, they say they would not want the spotlight on their personal life. but for somebody who goes from reality tv to politics, it is not a big jump. >> they are used to it, and what's more, they like it, so yes, bring it on. onple say we are hollywood the potomac. everything crazy rolls east eventually. now we have many more ronald reagan's.

. >> allison grimes. that's direct.arry kentucky in 1996, he was joined at a preelection rally in the state by what then university of kentucky basketball coach? >> oh my god, i know this. jim call perry. >> it was john call perry. very close. >> the u mass coach. >> 200 point question. president obama apologized this week for saying that pursuing a skilled trade career would probably make you more money that if you got a degree in this? we'll actual time. it's art history. that's the end of the round. kate, moving to 300 points in that round. patrick at minus 300, john falling to zero but you'll all within one question of each over because this is the ph.d. level. this is the 30 0 point round. this is where the champions are crowned. a really high score in this game could put you in the tournament of champions. the final round, 100 seconds on the clock. the 300-point round. this republican senator testified that his state capital this week in favor of a proposal to restore voting right to convicted felons. time. it's r

matt bevin, but we see numbers he' trails behind a brand-new democratic challenger here in allison london-grimesclinton was out campaigning for. what you're seeinging in that pause is the calculation of you know what, i messed with mcconnell a lot. this is not the week for me to pile on. and in that pause is the political grand standing that i think characterizes ted cruz. a guy who wants us to believe he's a true believer. i think those are great in both party, but he's proved to be a guy full of machinations. >> but in that moment he knows his crazy tea party audience that eats his pudding that somehow the fight to stop obamacare worked. they believe that. that he knows they're listening too. and he knew he had that line ready after the word leader. it's what's stencilled on his door. they get it. i'm not actually calling him a leader. this is the most minimal way i can -- >> it was almost like the quietest dog whistle you could ever hear. >> it was perfect. let's hear some of what he said about the leadership in his party in washington. >> should mitch mcconnell be the senate republican leade

bill clinton was in the great state of kentucky today speaking at a fund-raiser there for allison lundergan-grimesat who's looking to unseat republican leader mitch mcconnell. mcconnell is facing perhaps the tough et senate election of his career. that's not to say he hasn't had primary problems before. back in 2010, there was a race for an open seat in kentucky left vacant by jim bunning's retirement. republican primary that year saw a guy you might recognize, rand paul. but he wasn't big rand paul at the time and he was the underdog going up against kentucky secretary of state trey grayson. grayson was mcconnell's main man. he was said to have hand picked grayson and, of course, publicly endorsed him. then when the election came around, rand paul crushed mcconnell's man, grayson, at the polls. in other words, mitch mcconnell, one of the most powerful republicans in washington, no one argues that, but he couldn't carry trey grayson to victory in a primary in his home state at which point mcconnell may have realized something. he had a self-preservation problem. he went out and hired rabid paul's

ahead of midterms in 2016, hitting campaign trail in kentucky for mcconnell challenger allison lunde green grimes, joining us now. ed rollins. >> my pleasure. lou: bubba on the campaign trail in kentucky going after the minority leader mitch mcconnell. but history said, mcconnell does wel when bubba comes to town. >> no one votesor an endoement they vote for the candidate, mcconnell has bn majority leader f a long time, minority leader for a long time, he has produced f kentucky he is a tough person. i can't tell you one personhat he elected and he was very popular, it is just been 18 years since clinton been on a ballot,e couldo i he could raise money but he is not going to make anyone vote for a candidate if they don't want to. lou: grimes was circumstance spec about presidentbama saying she di did not need a serogate coming down, she could speak for herself, another place with the president is an uncongress political force. >> theresident cannot do much for his candidates this time. he has to be on ballot whether or not he wants to because obamacare will be on front and center, it may give sen

ahead of midterms in 2016, hitting campaign trail in kentucky for mcconnell challenger allison lunder green grimesg us now. ed rollins. >> my pleasure. lou: bubba on the campaign trail in kentucky going after the minority leader mitch mcconnell. but history said, mcconnell does well when bubba comes to town. >> no one votes for an endorsement they vote for the candidate, mcconnell has been majority leader for a long time, minority leader for a long time, he has produced for kentucky he is a tough person. i can't tell you one person that he elected and he was very popular, it is just been 18 years since clinton been on a ballot, he could do if he could raise money but he is not going to make anyone vote for a candidate if they don't want to. lou: grimes was circumstance spec about president obama saying she di did not need a serogate coming down, she could speak for herself, another place with the president is an uncongress political force. >> the president cannot do much for his candidates this time. he has to be on ballot whether or not he wants to because obamacare will be on front and center, i

former president bill clinton travelled to kentucky to help campaign for allison grimes.dential election and is still popular in kentucky with close political ties to allison's father, jerry. here me is introducing the former president. >> i will tell you when we first learned at the beginning of this month that the president would be able to be here in kentucky, this month, we were worried, how in the heck in two weeks would we be able to reach out across the commonwealth? how would we be able to fill hundreds of seats, especially for a luncheon? but as i look out today at this standing room only, soldout crowd -- [ cheers and applause ] -- i think -- i think it goes without saying that kentucky is clinton country! >> okay, joe -- [ laughter ] stop it. i just -- yeah, take it. just take it. i'm just down the line, the report reporter journalist today. >> i think what's funny, is she's talking about the drawing power of a guy who was president, what, 12 years ago, however long ago. >> unbelievable. >> and yet the sitting president is not welcome in her state. >> stop it.

calling it the hottest senate race in the country, but it's turning out that his race against allison grimesat endangered. another example, the wendy davis race in texas, stand with wendy, running against the current state attorney general, greg abbott. texas very republican. larry says that even though wendy davis is going to get a ton of attention, doesn't have a real chance of winning. andrew cuomo in new york, a virtual lock. governor scott walker in wisconsin, governor john kasich, all of the races that we love to talk about, but when you look at the fundamentals of the race, look at the states, these people really aren't that endangered. >> politico's mike allen, still ahead. >>> matt lauer talks with jay leno and jimmy fallon. hear what jay has planned for his final show and what jimmy has up his sleeve for his debut. >>> plus, my conversation with cindy leive as the magazine turns 75 years old. mine was earned in korea in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation.

secretary of state allison lunder again grimes. she was a teenager when she was president.ntons at their inauguration in 1993. surrounded by senators in washington, mcconnell brushed off clinton's visit. >> every time he comes, it is good for me. >> reporter: perhaps but clinton is the biggest draw. fueled by nostalgia for the past and a hope that hillary clinton runs for the white house. one person not mentioned, president obama. you didn't mention president obama once in your speech. why is president clinton such a bigger draw? >> for me, president clinton is a friend, a mentor and an adviser. >> reporter: we caught up with clinton and asked if democrats could maintain control of the senate. >> i think so. they're going to have to work for it, though. >> reporter: bill clinton in high demand hoping to rise to the rescue. jeff zeleny, abc news, louisville, kentucky. >> another former president, jimmy carter, expressing grave concern about the bitter unrest in venezuela. he is planning a trip there to meet with both sides. maduro ousted three officials from caracas. they wi