i am joined by bob franken.morning. >> good morning. >> you can talk all you want this morning. as we watch the events play out in baltimore, ted cruz is criticizing president obama say saying has inflamed racial tensions. that's quite a statement. >> he's not the first conservative to do that. i think the rationale is he has inflamed racial tensions because he has the audacity to be black. there are many conservatives who don't accept the legitimacy of a black president and he is pandering to hem. >> this weekend he condemned the looters saying they need to be treated like criminals and their action is not a protest or a statement. is cruz looking for more of the president or is this just campaign rhetoric? >> i think what you have this president obama is often a dammed if you don't, dammed if you don't situation. many people in the black community would say he's being a little bit even handed and a little bit too much meaning the president, and that in fact that the protests even though they are certainly not

time to bring in bob franken who joins us from washington. good morning to you. >> good morning. it's definitely young. let's talk about this. you just made the politically correct comment. >> this could set off a lot today. "the new york times" is reporting hillary clinton may have used her influence as secretary of state to support the interests of donors who made large contributions to the clinton foundation. how so. >> this is a mind numbingly detailed report in the new york times which has to be juxtaposed with another article. the point of the article is that russia has through a series of financial maneuvers, corners about 20% of the uranium facilities in the united states. where it's mined. this followed a long long years of contributions to a variety of the people who were involved in all these transactions to the clinton foundations. so the point is that this all occurred while secretary of state hillary clinton was, in fact, the secretary of state, and is suggestion is that the political opponents are going to make, that there was somehow some ethical line that was cro

we are joined by bob franken.. >> i think that's probably a very appropriate way to describe the candidates. >> let's start with something that is pretty shocking to some people when you look at the numbers. super pacs from raised $31 million for ted cruz. does that surprise you? >> it surprises me yes, but it has to surprise the other candidates who i don't think for a moment thought that he had that kind of fund raising clout. we should point butt, by theout that gives him a lot of money. that means the other candidates are going to have to accelerate their fund raising. he's going to make a battle out of there. >> and i want to switch gears. the white house is creating a gender neutral restroom. it's the theme of inclusiveness. are these issues only ones that a second term president could truly address? >> it's really difficult to gauge because what's happened in the united states is we've had a remarkable reversal on attitudes toward the various communities that have alternative lifestyles and in this particul

in washington let's bring in bob franken. in a nicely suit there. nicely-fitted suit.arng to you. >> i wouldn't go that far but at least as far as tv can see. >> you're looking good. >> between that facebook post by michelle balkman and the last comments and we almost need to take a shower. >> it was rough. and wait a second. let's talk about robert menendez. he's one of few sitting senators in indict indict indicted. how strong is the case? >> the prosecutors would say they have a strong case. it's been a year-long investigation that he and his close friend, a an eye doctor who lives in florida involved in some influence pedaling and men endez says he's going to fight but thus far the federal government is proceeding aggressively. >> and menendez is temporarily stepping down as a ranking democrat on the foreign relations committee. let's look at the effects. what could this mean for u.s. foreign policies. >> he joined the. s in his opposition to any emerging deal from with between iran and the united states, and he had also been opposed. he's a cuban immigrant. he has

i am joined now by syndicated columnist bob franken. good morning. >> good morning. christie stuck in traffic on the gorge washington bridge. >> you went there. you don't stop. straight out of the gate. george w bush told an audience she's one of jeb bush's biggest problems and that's why you won't see him out there campaigning for him. let's break this down. did he announce jeb is running? >> >> i suppose so but i don't think that there's anything round about about it except jeb bush in a round about way has pretty much said he's going to be running for president. >> you know does the former president have a pretty good point about being more of a liability than an asset for his brother? >> at the moment george w. bush does not have what is regarded as one of the best presidencies in history. i think the bush name would be used against him if he ran, wink, wink. >> and as we reported earlier, new jersey governor took a swipe at jeb bush's foreign and domestic policy but given his rhetoric and background, how strong of a candidate would christy be? >> that's really a