he had a tea party booster of the chris mcdaniel's campaign.ery man, at first nobody seemed to know who he was, why he'd been arrested, why he'd be connected to this case. but then, oh, look, there he is, shaking hands with chris mcdaniel at a tea party meetup in hattiesburg. and look at the caption. he is chris mcdaniel's sometime radio cohost, with a special name he only uses on the radio, john butter. that connection was first made by a website called practical politicking. well, today investigators say they believe that chris mcdaniel's radio co-host was kind of the hub of the whole thing. he was at the center of the alleged tawdry nursing home sting video scheme. they say he was the one who was in touch with all the other suspects who had been arrested. as this scandal has unfolded, day after day, in mississippi, as we get closer to next week's primary, both of the campaigns have insisted they had nothing to do with what happened in the nursing home. chris mcdaniel insisted that first of all. how dare you try to tie me to this. but so far,

chris mcdaniel has tried hard to distance himself from the incident and he got some help from the d.awho said mcdaniel's team is not involved but the fact remains there's a common thread between the four who have been charged. they're all mcdaniel supporters, number one. but it goes deeper than that. mike mayfield is an active volunteer for mcdaniel's come play. >> richard sager is a gym teacher, who grew up with mcdaniel. all three have been charged with conspiracy. sager faces obstruction of and now faces 20 years in jail. he said any suggestion he's involved is slander and lies. and sam hall joins me now on the phone. mr. hall, let me ask you this. this is obviously -- i just had senator jerry moran, head of the nrc, he hinted more stuff is going to come out this weekend. what do you know? >> well, i know that you were talking about the district attorney saying that they had cleared the mcdaniel campaign, and he's clarified those remarks to say nobody's cleared yet that the investigation is ongoing. we know they're still looking at a couple of other things but i think probably the

now chris mcdaniel's radio co-host, fund-raiser and hometown friend charged with felonies. e mcdaniel campaign scandal spreads. had enough? >> mcdaniel has fired back, accusing cochran's campaign of shameful slander that goes beyond childish pranks. >> you've probably seen thad cochran's negative attack ads. newspapers call them shameless. i call them outrageous. but nobody said changing washington, d.c. was going to be easy. >> this election can't come soon enough. the race is getting uglier by the day. the district attorney says more arrests may be coming, and he also says that while there's no evidence that chris mcdaniel was involved, he also has not been cleared yet. joining me now is ricky cole, chairman of the mississippi democratic party. thank you for coming on the show tonight, ricky. >> thank you, reverend, i appreciate it. >> so, ricky, politics down there can be pretty rough. but have you ever seen anything like this? >> this is some of the worst i've ever seen, reverend. it's to the point now where we hear from republicans who want to vote in our democratic pri

but it's a very different story in mississippi, where chris mcdaniel, who is often called the next ted was supposed to sail to victory, be the tea party's best hope of bringing down an incumbent in the gop. but now his campaign is wrapped up in a downright bizarre scandal. dana bash is "outfront" with the story. >> reporter: a conservative blogger is in jail, arrested for breaking into this mississippi nursing home to photograph u.s. senatored that cochran's ailing wife, suffering from dementia. >> it's the worst. >> reporter: in gnaw ad, cochran's campaign points fingers at his gop challenger, chris mcdaniel. >> posting video of senatored that cochran's wife in a nursing home? had enough? >> reporter: and it gets even deeper in the mississippi mud. cochran supporters argue the reason the blogger took his wife's picture was to feed questions about cochrane and long-time aide kay webber, who has traveled extensively with the senator on the taxpayer dime. cochran calls it part of her job and suggestions of anything untoward sexist. this republican primary was supposed to be about the str

two weeks before the primary, republican candidate from kansas city, chris mcdaniel, is really having a tough time distancing himself from the online attack video that included a likely illegal image of his opponent's bedridden wife. some supporters have been arrested. how damaging is this for the party overall? >> if it continues to be tied to chris mcdaniel's campaign, and so far several of his big supporters have been tied to this, it could be a big problem. this is election season, a primary season, establishment republicans are trying to circle the wagons and beat back the tea party challengers. they haven't been able to do that in the past few cycles. and so far the establishment has been successful. this was an area where they were focused, on that mcdaniel campaign. but if the allegations continue to be at the surface, it's a problem. >> the video of his bedridden wife suffering from the late stages of dementia too. we are on rsvp watch with the redskins inviting senator harry reid to attend a game. amend -- amid his calls to change the team name. will attend on respectfully d

as the chris mcdaniel campaign has spent. all of this money and much he has raised in spending his own campaign is coming from out of state. it's an unusual time but mcconnell has handled it well. >> and what do you look at when you look at georgia, for instance? do you have real concerns about michelle nunn who has run a much better campaign than most people would ever have expected for a novice? >> her father is a highly regarded man who is a great senator and he's highly regarded in both parties but the good news for rpz, he's not running. we'll see today -- we'll get an idea today who will be our nominee because it definitely will be a runoff for the republicans. i think accurately it was said earlier that the two people that are most identified as kind of tea party outsider candidate two congressman are not going to get into the runoff and the runoff is going to be between a businessman, former secretary of state who's a playlady and ther one congressman who could get in the runoff. but there's going to be a runoff in ju

chris mcdaniel supporter charged with a felony for posting a video of senator thad cochran's wife in tuesday, the mcdaniel campaign realized they needed to respond with their own ad. >> you've probably seen senator cochran's ad. i call them shameless. nobody said change is going to easy. >> even though there were four arrests, mcdaniel insists members of his team were not involved. come ran's campaign got a boost this week when he was endorsed by former mississippi republican and former senate majority leader trent lott. >> this is trent lott. thad is up for reelection and i'm proud to support him. >> republicans aren't the only ones on the ballot. democrats are, too, and some democrats are rooting hard for chris mcdaniel. the front-runner in the democratic primary is former congressman travis childers, who has stayed away from the controversy mostly but he wants to remind voters who is doing the mud slinging. >> while i have no control, i want mississippi to know there is a democratic candidate who is interested in their future. >> there's concern the entire incident may turn voters

reported backer of chris mcdaniel is under arrest, the charge breaking into the assisted living residence of the wife of u.s. senator cochran all to take pictures. >> yes, you heard that right. a 28-year-old mcdaniel supporter broke into nursing home where cochran's wife resided for the past 13 years, bedridden and ailing with dementia, to take a picture for an online hit piece on cochran. that's creepy but that's not all. three other individuals arrested in what is looking like a watergate-style con conspiracy to break into a nursing hiem and all four of the alleged conspirators are mcdaniel supporters, one on the board of directors of the mississippi tea party. prosecutors say they were others who knew about the video and there could be more arrests on the way. the question is whether it leads back to chris mcdaniel. joining me is slate political reporter who just left the state of mississippi covering this on the ground, dave, first of all, what were they doing? were these tea party activists breaking into the home and others conspireing to break into the home of a woman suffering from

. >> reporter: in a new ad, cochran's campaign points fingers at his gop challenger, chris mcdaniel.g video of senator chad cochran's wife in a nursing home, is that enough? >> reporter: and it gets even deeper in the mississippi mud. cochran supporters argue the reason the blogger took his wife's picture was to feed questions about cochran and longtime aide, kay weber, who's traveled extensively with the senator on the taxpayer dime. cochran's campaign calls it part of her job and suggestions of anything untoward sexist. this republican primary was supposed to be about the struggle of ideas within the gop. >> chris mcdaniels. >> reporter: a young tea party backed upstart challenging a fellow republican for being out of touch and too entrenched in washington after 36 years in the senate. >> dana bash. >> reporter: now chris mcdaniel is fending off questions about whether his campaign had anything to do with photographing his opponent's sick wife. >> our campaign had absolutely no connection to that whatsoe r whatsoever. >> reporter: you personally, when did you find out about the bre

he's battling chris mcdaniel for what many in the tea party see as a chance to oust a moderate incumbent. last friday, a pro mcdaniel blogger was i a rested for sneaking into the nursing home where cochran's life lives and taking a photo of her. mcdaniel denied involvement in the incident. there's little evidence to suggest a relationship. yesterday, three more men, all support eers of mcdaniel were charged as co-conspirators. one of the men, mark mayfield, is the leader of the madison country republican tea party and the vice chairman of the mississippi tea party, which endorsed mcdaniel. again, it's important to note that mcdaniel has not been tied to the incident, but his reaction has raised some eyebrows. when a reporter for the hill newspaper caught up with mcdaniel after the morning after the initial arrest, he denied knowing about it. reporter december scribed him as visibly surprised and quoted him as saying i don't guess i've been awake long enough to see what's happened. except for the fact that he'd already been informed about it. his campaign manager had already called cochra

chris mcdaniel states the senator tea party hope going up against six term incumbent senator cochranof mississippi. he looks like he is poised to lose after a very promising campaign with a lot of his support on tuesday. further of his supporters and were jailed with breaking into senator cochran's wife's nursing home and photograph her and chris mcdaniel's bus broke down yesterday when asked by a reporter this week when he personally knew about the report of the gin, he refused to answer and said we are going to focus on his record. he doesn't have a good answer for the the incident. it's all the commercials and the entire ganel. i think is he going to lose. >> strange story. >> president obama terrible speech at west point. it used to be said he can't govern but at least can he can give a good speech. that can't be said anymore. the pediatric research. our anchor bret baier has just written a book about special heart congenital heart disease it comes out next week. every cent of the proceeds will go to cardiac charities so right now, before the commercial, get online and preorder w

up to it, including a possible connection to cochran's opponent, the campaign of state senator chris mcdanielis first extensive public comments on the issue, mcdaniel went on paul gallow's talk radio show for what he thought might be a friendly interview. instead he ran into a buzz saw. he began by categorically denying his people had any link to the blogger, clayton kelly, but had a tough time explaining why his campaign manager knew about the connection before it was revealed to police and why he denied knowledge about the incident hours after his campaign manager said he knew about it. >> i said, whoa, stop right there pup kn there. you know our campaign's position -- >> but she didn't tell you there was an arrest. >> stop there. i can explain this. >> i can't imagine your campaign manager -- >> i was asleep. >> she called you and told you there was a problem? what did she say? >> she said, chris, we have an interview involving ms. cochran. i said let me do this, let me get up, let me take a shower. >> you got to the craft fair and you didn't call her back? >> paul, no, we're busy. >> when

there is so far no evidence of a direct connection to chris mcdaniel's campaign. they charge that he did know about the video and did not alert authorities. where the cochran campaign did after they learned about it. >> reporter: neither senator cochran or senator mcdaniel would do an interview. the cochran campaign canceled an interview we had scheduled. mcdaniels denied any involvement in this. bill: how are the issues shaping up? >> reporter: senator cochran represented the state of mississippi for sick terms in the senate now. during the days of earmarks he brought a lot back to the state and promised if republicans take control of the senate he will do right by mississippi. chris mcdaniel the tea party challenger that cochran who is 78 years old is out of touch and not conservative enough to represent mississippi. >> he voted to fund obamacare for the reason he voted for the bailouts and every other silly program he voted for the last 42 years. he did it because he doesn't have any fight left in him. reporter: mcdone a.m. has been gaining ground on cochran sin

against his primary opponent chris mcdaniel, cochran team called mcdaniels's campaign explanation ofabout the nursing home video and when it knew it, quote, inconsistent. mcdaniels has condemned the video and denied having involvement in it and new batch of arrests isn't helping his cause. clarion ledger newspaper reported the following. paper also reported that john merry who was charged on thursday but too ill to be arrested that he is frequently cohosted a radio show with mcdaniel. "the washington post" was told mcdaniel and his team have not been cleared in the case. mississippi is the last stand for the tea party in this year's primaries. nursing home story will it cost their candidate a primary or cost republicans a race they never thought they would have to worry about in the fall. suzy kim is back at the table and jonathan martin and crystal ball and also joining us who is covering all things is ben starry. you are mr. 2014 msnbc.com. did they sort of win in a backhanded way these other primaries? here is where they have a shot or until this story broke have a shot to take ou

at about 7:45 on saturday morning, chris mcdaniel's campaign manager left this message for cochran'spaign manager. >> i know that chris is very upset about it, and we just felt like he needed to have a personal phone call, certainly with you, but he really wanted to have one with senator cochrane if that could be at all possible. >> chris is very upset. but how did he know? the story wasn't reported on the clarion ledger website until 9:24 a.m. and at 9:47 a.m., mcdonnell -- mcdaniel's spokesman said he knew nothing about the arrest or the news. even mcdaniels himself told a reporter that morning that he had no idea about the story, saying, quote, i don't guess i had been awake long enough to see what's happened. he also said the man in custody doesn't ring a bell. but here's a photo that kelly posted of himself with mcdaniel on facebook. that man, he says, doesn't ring a bell. the mcdaniels campaign said they would never in a million year condone kelly's action, but is there more to the story? the investigation is on in mississippi. joining me now is alexandra jaffio, a reporter for

thad cochran is facing off by a tea party senator by the name of chris mcdaniel.ogger clayton kelly was finally arrested after allegedly conspiring to take photo cochran's ailing wife in an alzheimer's unit where she lives. all four involved are expected to appear before a grand jury this summer. mcdaniel hasn't handled it well, come across almost overly defensive and publicly angry. perhaps he's angry because he legitimately has nothing to do with this, but even in his prepared response ad, he came across with a little too much vitriol. sarah palin plans to campaign with his in ellisville, mississippi. after recording a radio ad on his behalf. >> chris mcdaniel is the type of guy who will fight for us, he will fight for our values. please join me in supporting a true conservative who will be one of the good guy. >> but here's the bottom line. if mcdaniel does win, you may need to put mississippi on the competitive map in november. he's become so angry, it has that murdoch feel to it. cochran and his supporters will have a hard time rallying around mcdaniel. this

is an opportunity to take down an incumbent republican senator, and the indications were that chris mcdaniel on the glide path to give him a run for his money, but this h is going to throw all of that into the uncertainty right now, and the reason being is that it is the issue driving the race now, and this is the story that everybody is focused on and chris mcdaniel says i have no involvement or knowledge of it, and my campaign had nothing to do with it, but when you look at the four folks, they were all mcdaniel supporters, and it is very tough for the mcdaniel campaign to explain away. >> what is on the way next week? >> two runoffs in texas. one for lieutenant governor, and ralph hall, the 91-year-old congressman is in a runoff there, and watching the races in the lone staffer state, and in the v.a. story, craig, it is not going away, and it has political can ramifications. >> no, it is not. and mark murray, having a great memorial day weekend. >> thank you, you, too. >> and a massive amount of beef recall containing a rare bug is start agent the start of memorial day weekend. it is one

nevertheless the next morning away 7:45, chris mcdaniels' campaign manager called the cochran campaigntalk about it. she left a voice mail. the connection to cochran wasn't revealed by police up nearly two hours later. that is to the public. mcdaniels' campaign says their campaign manager deduced rose cochran was the target based on a quote, preponderance of evidence. and says we have no idea clayton kelly is, but later in the call she indicates she has known him for a few months. >> there was some stuff several months ago where this guy was doing some insane stuff online. we found out about it, chris and i immediately put a bunch of volunteers on trying to find who was the source of a lot of ugly rumors and nasty stuff. >> kelly claims to have met him on at least one occasion. mcdaniels was asked about it and at the time said he knew nothing about it. his campaign said he wasn't fully believriefed until an hou later. >> i know chris is very upset about it and we just felt like that he needed to have a personal phone call. certainly with you, but he really wanted to have one with senat

. >> the worst, chris mcdaniels supporter charged with a felony for posting video of thad cochran's wifeg home. had enough? >> say yes to our strong conservative leader thad cochran. joining me now, chris cillizza, msnbc contributor and editor of post politics.com. if you looked at the primary calendar and one of big stories of the 2010 and 2012 election was republicans not getting their preferred candidates ending republican incumbents, you would have circled, june 3rd, long time appropriator, the kind of member who hasn't had a real race in a long time and may not have the apparatus ready to go. chris mcdaniel, tea party backed uniting tea party folks. i think had this nursing home issue not come up and essentially the add touches on it. this is a story that someone who sports mcdaniel, he has no real contact with but someone who sports mcdaniel snuck into the nursing home in which cochran's wife has been for a decade, and took footage of her and posted it on the internet. had that not happened, i think we might be talking about thad cochran losing this race. i think it will probably s

four men who support tea party candidate chris mcdaniel have been charged for their alleged role in photographingncumbent senator thad cochran's wife who is in hospice. he was charged for photographing rose cochran and posting a video online. then yesterday three more mississippi men were accused of conspireing with kelly. john mary occasionally hosted a radio show with mcdaniel. another of the accused is mark mayfield. he's a chairman of the state tea party. reportedly donated to mcdaniel's campaign and helped campaign for him. but his attorney claims the arrest is politically motivated. mcdaniel has claimed total innocence in all of this and condemned the alleged brief of privacy. his campaign issued a statement reading, as we have said from day one the violation of the privacy of mrs. cochran is reprehensib reprehensible. any individuals involved in this crime should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. >>> waiting list may have left 40 vets dead. three va officials failed to show up on why -- given rise to claims of stone walling. mike kirk is calling into question $16 million in bonu

long time senator and i think 76 years old is being challenged by a state senator by the name of chris mcdaniele people are describing that as the tea party's last stand here. how is that race going? >> i think that is the one that, you know, the republican party is most concerned about in terms of their incumbents, mr. cochran has been hit pretty hard, he's been an appropriate for, spendi and he's got quite a fierce changes coming from this competitor. this is going to be an interesting race, because one of the things like for instance in the mcconnell bevin race, is there wasn't a huge amount of difference between the candidates. >> on policy. >> on policy, on policy. that's why some of these challenges have fallen flat. i think what's challenging about the mississippi race is that you have a contrast there in terms of spending policy and stuff like that, which is why that is proving to be a little bit more competitive of a race. >> you're still picking cochran, right? >> i still think he's got the competitive advantage. >> when we come back, four years after haiti's devastating outbreak, is

just a short time ago he announced a big endorsement for chris mcdaniel, the tea party insurgent candidate in the state of mississippi who's trying to unseat six-term senator thad cochran in the primary. that race is turning out to be a real dog fight. >> definitely. okay, john roberts. have a good time in my hometown there. and work hard, too, of course. okay. >>> moving on now, there are questions swirling around a sports legend, why federal investigators are looking into the business dealings of pro golfer phil mickelson and his possible ties to a billionaire activist investor and a renowned vegas gambler. plus, reaction pouring in on the release of the only american soldier held captive for nearly five years in afghanistan. okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition inharge™. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart i

>> if it continues to be tied to chris mcdaniel's campaign, and so far several of his big supportersthis, it could be a big problem. this is election season, a primary season, establishment republicans are trying to circle the wagons and beat back the tea party challengers. they haven't been able to do that, and so far the establishment has been successful. this was an area where they were focused, on that mcdaniel campaign. but if the allegations continue to be at the surface, it's a problem. >> the video of his bedridden wife suffering from and dementia. we are on rsvp watch with the redskins inviting senator harry reid to attend a game. will attend on respectfully decline? >> this is a tough one. he's never backed down from a confrontation. neither has redskins owner dad snyder. the redskins are not going to roll over easy on the name change. they haven't been, and really calling harry reid out on this. it would be a circus if he attended. it's unlikely and unseemly if he did so. you never know, he's not one to back down. >>> to the president's surprise visit to troops in afghanis

long-time senator and i think 76 years old, being challenged by state senator by the name of chris mcdanielsome people are describing that as the tea party's last stand here. how is that race going? >> yeah, i think this is the one that, you know, republican party is most concerned about in terms of their incumbents. mr. cochran has been hit pretty hard, appropriate are, spending and quite a fierce challenge coming from this competitor. but this is going to be an interesting race though, paul, because unlike some of these other races, one of the things, for instance, in the mcconnell-bevin race, there wasn't necessarily huge amounts of differences between the candidates. >> on policy, on policy. >> on policy. and that's why some of these challenges have fallen flat. i think what's interesting about the mississippi race, you have a little bit more of a contrast there in terms of, for instance, spending policy and stuff like that. which is why that is proven to be a little bit more competitive of a race. >> you still picking cochran though, right? >> i think he's still got the built-in advant

so there's been no direct connection yet to chris mcdaniel, but it was made clear by this reporting theewspaper in mississippi at the very least he knows these guys that were arrested yesterday. he looked like he was on his heels in that radio interview yesterday. my question is what advantage was that going to give a campaign to have that photo released and posted online? >> that's what i -- yeah. don't get it. >> i don't know what it is. if it was, in fact, orchestrated, what did they think it was going to come out of it? >> it was ignorant. they were trying to suggest that thad cochran had abandoned his wife in hospice for all of these years while he was campaigning. it's perverted and stupid. but that's what extreme groups do. i think it's finally blown up in one of these candidate's faces. >> it definitely has. >> whether they had direct or indirect knowledge of what was going on, he certainly looks slippery at the end. >> very. lawmakers are turning up the heat on va officials over the scandal of waiting lists that have left as many as 40 veterans dead if not more. three va offici

fred is the incumbent then and chris mcdaniel has the edge. he seems to be faltering a little bit in the closing weeks of the race helped in part by some activist bloggers who took some really devious steps and took some very nasty film of his wife who has been disabled in a home for about 15 years. they're not associated with the mcdaniel campaign, but there is a lot of ugly innuendo as far as we know. no reason to believe they're associated, it's offended the sensibilities of a lot of mississippians. that plays to his favor. that's in two weeks. gwen: is it bad news, let's cycle back. we have talked about the bad news for democrats, but i'm curious about whether democrats are sitting back here and watch this happen, or whether they like the republicans who sat there and said, here is a problem, let's fix it, let's get better candidates and take the tea party seriously this time. are democrats figuring how to set themselves up for the fall so they don't get run over by the new discipline on the part of republicans? >> i think they do. i think

then there's mississippi where chris mcdaniel is trying to unseat thad cochran. blogger has been charged with felony for taking a picture and posting a photo online of cochran's wife who was in nursing home. what? the blogger clayton thomas kelly is a mcdaniel supporter. but what's the point of this? how would that not backfire? >> politics these days has become more and more nonsense. >> mcdaniel has condemn's the blogger's actions. first of all, we'll be hearing from kasie hunt in the next hour. big conversation on the midterms and what's going on with those primaries. but what do you make of those polls and how it looks it's playing out on the campaign trail? >> start with the politico poll. the important part there is the poll was just in competitive house and senate areas. it's not a national poll. it's where the elections will be decided and republicans have a decisive advantage. and the fact that 90% of people have very passionate feelings about health care shows you that is the singular issue of the campaign and does tilt the republicans' way. which is th

he's a supporter of cochran's challenger, chris mcdaniel.fact that came to light as soon as he was arrested. and when several other mcdaniel supporters were arrested and accused of conspiracy, the campaign sought to use the episode to tarnish mcdaniel. >> it just gets worst. now his friends charged with felonies. the mcdaniel scandal spreads. had enough? >> mcdaniel has repeatedly denied any role in all of this and pointed out that the campaign knew about kelly and the photographs for two weeks before going to authorities. and this week mcdaniel released a new ad firing back. >> you have probably seen the negative attack ads. newspapers called them shameless, i called them outrageo outrageous, but nobody said change in washington, d.c. was going to be easy. >> there's no doubt this has been a huge distraction. senator cochran's team sees this as a ticket to victory. the tea party has swung and missed a lot this primary season. cochran is the last incumbent. the money has poured into the state from tea party groups opposing cochran. in a new

saturday morning, chris mcdaniel himself was told.nager called cochran's campaign manager. after telling the reporter he didn't know what was going on, he hadn't been fully briefed. the most recent one conducted last month has senator cochran leading by 17 points. this is one of the last remaining races when the tea party was going to have a chance of knocking off the republican candidate. i'm guessing it is likely not the event of this weekend that is going to help mcdaniel's close the gap. still ahead, graduation day for college seniors. will the announced commencement speaker be the one at the podium? the politics changing the writ of passage. is it for the better? there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. low dues... great terms... let's close. new at&t mobile share value plans. our best value plans ever for business. but add brand new belongings from nationwide insurance... ...and we'll replace destr

my loser chris mcdaniel, in fact, that mississippi state senator whose campaign has been thrown into question because of these blogger accusations. >> charles? >> winner is general c.c. in egypt. there is an election coming up he is going to win and he will be the president probably dictate for life, which is the way it works in egypt. loser, the myth of the republican civil war. tea party activist not silking sulking away. bodes very well for republicans in november. >> that is it for the panel. stay tuned for last week's box office giant. ♪ in life, there are things you want to touch, and some you just don't. introducing the kohler touchless toilet. the no-touch flush for your home. was killed june 28,2005 in afghanistan. my husband's death was the hardest thing i've ever faced. the special operations warrior foundation stepped in to help. now you can help, too. purchase new cherry 5-hour energy now through july thirty-first and a portion of each sale benefits special operations warrior foundation to help families of fallen heroes. i will always miss my dad, but thanks to special o

mississippi tea party activists and supporters of chris mcdaniel, running against thad cochran in mississippi. the problem for mcdaniel, the primary is in early june. i spoke with the madison county mississippi district attorney last night. he said the investigation is ongoing. no one has been cleared. that's not to say mcdaniel is a suspect nor is his campaign, but this issue is a mess. it's festering and now four men supporters of mcdaniel are in custody. >> it really does sort of make the skin crawl. this went into this hospice facility and sam, let's talk about the political fallout for this. mcdaniel gave an interview about this where he denied having known about it and there are questions about the timeline of how much he knew and when. take a listen to that. >> i can't imagine your camping manager not telling you -- >> it's the nature. i was asleep. she called me -- >> she called you and told you that there was a problem and -- >> she did. >> what did she say? >> she said, chris, we have an issue involving miss cochran. i said let me get up and take a shower and you can fully brief me

chris. this primary is still a couple weeks away and the polling out of mississippi is pretty spotty but mcdanielecame a real darling of the right wing media trying to take out cochran in which the dominant narrative has been the return of the gop establishment. and curiously, recently stories have been popping up in conservative media outlets pushing rumors that the incumbent thad cochran, whose wife has been in a nursing home for 14 years with progressive dementia, that cochran was engaged in an affair with a staffer. we have absolutely no confirmation of this rumor nor does anyone else but has been pushed hard in stories like this one on brightburn.com. on friday in an absolutely insane development, a blogger named clayton kelly, who is a mcdaniel supporter, was arrested for allegedly sneaking into the nursing home in which thad cochran's wife lives, photographing her as part of a gutter attack on cochran himself. it appears to be related to the attacks on cochran over the alleged affair and sheds light on just why it is the tea party has been so effective in the last four years in bending the

the battle between the incumbent senator thad cochran and tea party challenger chris mcdaniel took aseveral of mcdaniel's supporters were placed under arrest for alley conspiring to take an illegal photo of senator congrecochra cochran's wife who is in a nursing home. this is a very, very ugly story. give us the very latest. >> it is an odd story. i suppose we shouldn't be too surprised about things happening in politics. the plot seems to be thickening with these additional arrests. in connection with this political blogger who was arrested last week accused of taking this photograph of thad cochran's wife who is bedridden. we know mcdaniel campaign says they had nothing to do with this. we know kelly has been a supporter of the mcdaniel campaign. the campaign says he's not a volunteer, he's not a staffer. we know one of the additional three men arrested yesterday, one of them is a local lawyer. he's a local tea party leader. mcdonneaniel's campaign have go a lot support from the tea party. i can tell you mcdaniel's campaign says they're not involved. here's the statement. as we hav

chris mcdaniel a tea party favorite, his campaign manager called cochran saturday to say about kelly'sct. >> we have no idea who he is. there was stuff several months ago where this guy was doing some insane stuff online. we found out about it, chris and immediately got volunteers to find the source. >> they told fox news no one on staff made contact with the accused man but kelly did have his photo taken with mcdaniel. they said their man leading cochran but the polls were conducted before news of the arrest broke, megyn? >> we are seeing new questions being raised about the nightmare in the veterans affairs medical system and what it may reveal about the future of obamacare. charles is a fox news contributor, columnist and author of things that matter which is still on "the new york times" best sellers list. great to see you. tonight as we see how wide-spread the scandal is, over 19 va facilities involved in this and not just long wait times but more and more the covering up of the wait times says what to you about government health care and obama care in the united states? >> well,

now, chris mcdaniel is fending off questions about whether his campaign had anything to do with photographinge. >> our campaign had absolutely no connection with that whatsoever. >> you personally, when did you find out about the break-in? >> we're going to focus on his record right now. >> god bless the tea party. >> i am not going to washington d.c. to be a member of a cocktail circuit or to make back room deals. i'm going up there to fight and defend the constitution. >> mississippi republicans and democrats say come on, cochran has been there a long time, he's a good public servant. >> i say name one fight that the senator has led against barack obama? name one time that he has raised his voice. >> for the tea party movement after a string of primary losses this year, mcdaniel has been their great hope, the best chance of toppling a republican especially after this stumble. >> the tea party is something i don't really know a lot about. >> millions of dollars pouring into mississippi against cochran come from a who's who of tea party groups. but like other republican incumbents, this year,

thad cochran goes against chris mcdaniel, who the best chance of a conservative alternative tea party sitting incumbent. that may be their best chance. you have to win to have a voice within the party. >> chris, i want to talk about a topic we addressed yesterday. the ongoing fallout from "the new york times" decision to oust jill abram son. there are a number of things that led up to the decision, but it now appears that discussions about her compensation was among the issues that set the stage for her oust. talk about the optics of this for "the new york times." >> well, look, what i don't want to be seen is as stirring it up of a competitor. the reality of the situation -- >> go ahead, chris. >> i know ruth is going to stir it up. >> i read a piece in the new yorker. that's a really tough piece with all of the salary information that she was paid, what other people were paid. this is the problem with dismissals. it's rarely a clean break. several people said you should give jill the worst week in washington. number one, she lives in new york city. but i don't know that the times ha

i also wouldn't sell chris mcdaniels in mississippi short just yet. and i think also in georgia we have another issue, similar issue as we do in kentucky where democrats have a fairly strong female candidate who if perdue and kingston end up sort of getting like very far out on the right over the next several weeks they are going to have a hard time running in the general both as conservatives and as a man against a strong female candidate. >> it's interesting to compare the primaries today to like 2010, for example, where senator jim demint famously said i rather have 30 marco rubos in the senate than 60 arlen suspecters. we know how that year turned out. luke was hitting on this earlier republicans were wanting someone that could win the general election more than anything else and they kicked the flawed tea party candidates to the curb. we're done with this. i want to start winning. it makes the chances taking the senate much higher. >> one thing that's in play is that in order to appease the base, have these victories they moved their candidates f

senator when voters in mississippi go to the polls, incumbent senator thad cochran is battling chris mcdaniely there. mcdaniel, the tea party candidate is guest getting a boost from sarah palin. and he won the endorsement of pennsylvania senator and presidential candidate rick santorum. mcdonnell had a rocky couple weeks after supporters were arrested after allegedly conspiring to take photos of his bedridden wife. [ dennis ] it's always the same dilemma -- who gets the allstate safe driving bonus check. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. problem is...this isn't zach. it's a friend of a friend who was at zach's party and stole his camera. but zach's got it covered... with allstate renters insurance. [ female announcer ] protect your valuables for as low as $4 a month when you add renters insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 866-906-8500 now. w

. >> meet the real chris mcdaniel, a personal injury class action trial lawyer using the courts on seekmous pay day. >> some people see this as a battle between the establishment versus the tea party. >> i would say the tea party and the chamber of commerce actually have a lot in common. we believe it's when a handful of bad actors take over the tea party that things get out of hand. >> and reed doesn't shy away from naming names. >> senator conservative fund that raises money to try to defeat the senate majority leader. this would be unheard of 20 years ago.the senate majority l. this would be unheard of 20 years ago. >> and the club for growth. >> it's morphed into a dangerous operation that recruits trial lawyers to run against members of congress that have an over 90% record with the business community. it's absurd. >> scott reed was executive director of the gop in 1994 when it won control of both the house and senate for the first time in 40 years. in 1996, he ran bob dole's presidential campaign. now a political consultant, he decided to get aggressively involved in primaries so

voters in mississippi go to the polls, incumbent senator thad cochran is battling state senator chris mcdanielpublican primary there. mcdaniel, the tea party candidate, is getting a boost from sarah palin. and he won the endorsement of pennsylvania senator and presidential candidate rick santorum. mcdonnell had a rocky couple weeks after supporters were arrested after allegedly conspiring to take photos of cochran's bedridden wife. we will be right back. [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain. it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor

this year is not until june 3rd in mississippi when senator cochran faces a stiff challenge from chris mcdanielthis made getting a win in nebraska so key without which fundraising could start to dry up. >>> so when it comes to taking on the establishment, a win in nebraska might be as good as it gets. >> a cullum nis for the "washington post." i'm struck by the way tea party success has begun to be measured by the success of their fratricide. not in defeating democrats, but republicans. >> how many scalps they can put up on the wall. it doesn't matter whose scalp it is. one of the tea party groups, the outside groups, freedom works, switched horses during the race because they looked like maybe this guy is going to win. there wasn't a lot of ideological difference in this race and arguably the main opponent who lost to sass coming at him from the right on issues such as immigration. really what i think we've seen is the establishment and the tea party have sort of merged. the establishment politicians have learned to fight back by co-opting the tea party in sounding like them. >> that's an inte

there are some polls showing that chris mcdaniel does have an edge, but the polling is sort of unreliable in that state. and this whole controversy about the snooping on cochran's wife in a nursing home, we'll see how that actually plays out come next week, june 3rd, which is the critical primary date there. but that is the one chance that the tea party folks do have an opportunity to take down an incumbent, someone who has not prepared for this kind of challenge, but right now it appears he probably has a slight advantage going into that event. >> the panel will be sticking with me. and still ahead, another nba owner stirs up troefrs when he talks about race. and later, no lunch for you. you may not believe what some republicans in congress want to take away from america's neediest kids this summer. stay with us. >> i don't even know how i could say words like that. and i'm so sorry. and i'm so apologetic. >> that was clippers' owner donald sterling taking back his words of intolerance. as well as reminding us what the cowardly lion looks like without makeup. nobody told us to expect it.

only one week away from mississippi's senate primary between incoumbent senator thad cochran and chris mcdaniel and downright dirty after a blogger was arrested for taking a picture of cochran's bed-ridden wife in a nursing home. three others have been arrested in connection with the incident. we'll be covering this race very closely in the coming days right here on tdr as we approach june 3rd. >>> up next, possible breakthrough in the search for those hundreds of missing nigerian school girls. plus an historic trip that the pope makes, puts himself in the middle of the middle east peace minefield. >>> first, our tdr soup of the day comes from malvern, pennsylvania, historic general warren inn. they're serving snapper turtle soup today. the question is is it snapping turtle or snapper and turtle. we'll have to get a clarification. we'll be right back. what are you doing? there's no dip in that bowl. they're new pringles tortillas. so good, they don't need dip. mmmm... not bad, right? i'll have some more! that's a double dip! you... double dipped... new pringles tortillas. you dip 'em or don't.

and then you have the incumbent in mississippi running against an upstart lawyer thomas chris mcdanielnly is in trouble, not because of ideological dispute but because one of the supporters broke into footageg home to film of cochran's wife who's suffering from dementia. the blogger is now in jail. is nearly ask that important. really no chance of democrats will win in the fall. still an interesting look at the tea party dynamic. >> even if the tea party does not make headway and does not republicans have moved to the right in the past few years? >> i guess that depends on your political view. interesting thing we have seen over the past few weeks in the early primaries is not only does the establishment party moved to the right but some tea parties have moved to the left. a case like the man who won the senate primary but an established guy who called on mitch mcconnell and said i am looking forward to serving with you. a very right wing house speaker in north carolina. adopting the tea party positions. not a lot of room between the tea party and establishment anymore. the tea party i