is where we begin again tonight, nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it's been a grueling week of increasing political pressure from members of his party, so the president finally acquiesced and in his words, regretfully accepted the resignation of hhis embattled v.a. secretary. in announcing his departure, the president went out of his way to praise him. >> i am grateful for his service as are veterans across the country. i think rick's judgment that he could not carry out the next stages of reform without being a distraction himself. so my assessment was unfortunately he was right. >> reporter: it was only in april that reports of veterans possibly dying while waiting to be seen at a v.a. medical center in phoenix began to surface nationally, leading to investigations over whether staffers deliberately put the right wait times. a grilling on capitol hill and eventually hundreds of calls for shinseki's resignation. 90 minutes before his final meeting with the president as v.a. secretary, shinseki

chuck todd is the host of the daily rundown here on msnbc. a couple of things. my punch about this year, and you probably have your own hunches that the people on the democratic side who may withstand even a tsunami are the ones with strong family roots in the state. whether it's begich alaska. you have the big democrat in kentucky running. does that work? do you think that can work based on your sense of history? these two women may have a better shot, even though they're novices in many ways than some of the more regular democrats in there including imcome bents. >> the democrats are counting on it. we've seen marry landrieu overperform democratic performance in louisiana time and time again. boone landrieu's daughter gets through. they trust the brand prk they trust the name. when she makes the case, right? when a family heir of sorts, a member of the political dynasty whatever you want to call them says i put louisiana, arkansas, georgia, kentucky, whatever it is first, an older voter in midterm might say, you know i did know sam nun. he was pretty good. i d

chuck todd, thank you as well. we'll watch you on "the daily

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chuck todd, chris christie in terms of his appearance there and the whole story of chris christie being the butt of some jokes, what do you make of what happened over the weekend? >> that one joel mchale riff that you guys played, that was brilliant. that was just really well delivered. he hit the timing and it was pretty funny. but i agree with you. i saw governor christie.

our political director, chuck todd. former communications director for the obama administration anita dunn, and congressman from utah, jason chaffetz. welcome to all of you. all right, chuck todd, you got some humor there. you also maybe had some clues 20 -- about 2016. >> some clues? there's even a third joke you didn't do about showing him moving out of the oval office and everything said hold for hillary, hold for hillary. you know, people say, oh, it's just joking, it's just humor and all this. there are people that are supporters of biden that get a little cranky about how easily the president talks about hillary clinton as his successor now, and it is sort of this fait accompli among a lot of democratic donors and elites, that that's just what it is. the baton is about to be handed to here and it's up to bill clinton, buzz she want to run for bill clinton's third term or barack obama's third term. she gets the choice, but the president certainly sees her as the heir apparent. >> and almost this making fun, kathlee

and from washington, nbc news white house correspondent and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. chuck and chuck. we're going to talk about your chart and the minimum wage in just a moment. that was a good dinner. >> it was a great dinner. i enjoyed it. president was good. and mchale was good. >> mchale was adorable. here are some of the highlights from the responsibilities dinner. >> olympic snow boarding medalist is here. we cannot believe what they do. death defying feats. haven't seen someone pull a 180 that fast since rand paul disinvited that nevada rancher from this dinner. as a general rule, things don't end well if the sentence started, "let me tell you something i know about the negro." just a tip for you. don't start your sentence that way. now that it's 2014, washington is obsessed on the midterms. folks are saying that with my sagging poll numbers, my fellow democrats don't really want me campaigning with them. and i don't think that's true, although i did notice the other day that sasha needed a speaker at career day and she invited bill clinton. >> mr. president, yo

more from our white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck? >> reporter: lester, a new warning from president obama to russian president putin today if he's caught meddling in the ukrainian election on may 25th. >> in short, they are making a weak russian economy even weaker. moreover, if russia continues on its current course, we have a range of tools at our disposal including sanctions that would target sectors of the russian economy. >> reporter: now, chancellor merkel and president talked about those tools today and here's what they agreed to. that beyond targeting individuals, they're going to have the new sanctions aimed at russian banking, weapons production, and energy. germany relies on russian energy, but merkel agreed to this to include it as long as her country's inevitable economic pain is shared with other countries. now, today's little meeting with president and merkel didn't go so well, apparently. the president still walking on egg shells over the whole nsa revelation that the u.s. spied on chancellor merkel. asked whether som

made those comments on the air today to our chief white house correspondent political director chuck todd. chuck is with us from the white house tonight. chuck, without exception, this is the position you hear on edward snowden where you are. >> reporter: that's right. here at the white house, he was channelling rage, frankly, that you sometimes hear from about edward snowden. i've had a similar experience with staffers, particularly in the national security wing, who when you talk about this, they want to have a sober conversation, and say, look, we're not going to get into a back and forth about edward snowden and you poke for just a second and hear that tone that secretary kerry was doing. that wasn't political theater. sometimes you hear anger that's political theater. that's real rage. the anger at edward snowden has to do with not the theft itself but the selective leak that they hate, that they believe is undermined america's standing in the world and the diplomatic standing between, say, america and germany. and think about this, brian, john kerry's the guy that ends up in europe

i want to go to msnbc political news correspondent and news director chuck todd.on't know if you heard john yarmuth just on, and not surprising that he said that obamacare is going to help alison grimes, and what about in oregon? >> well, what is interesting about to dday is that it show cases the good and the bad and the ugly of health kcare. a you talked about kentucky, and i don't know if it is going to hurt her, but it is not going to help her as much as others. and oregon tried to run its own exchange and fraught with problems and one of the worst in the country and so bad that they had to extend enrollment, and so bad to ask the federal government the take over essentially, and unclear whether they will ever be able to build a state exchange for build one for the next year. so republicans love the opportunity that is here in this e respect, because there is a physician monica webby who they like to see republican nomination to show about what the unease of competence to run health care, and i bring it up, because it is tough for her, and she has a tea party

our political director and chief white house director chuck todd is with us as the heavens have opened in washington. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it was perhaps the biggest campaign promise president obama made to bring an to end the wars in iraq and afghanistan before end of his presidency. with the president's announcement today some are wondering if we're ending the war in afghanistan or beginning a new phase. it's america's longest war, over 12 years. started in direct response to 9/11. >> the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. >> reporter: it's a war that has taken its toll of blood and treasure. more than 2300 americans killed since november 2001. more than 19,000 wounded in action. it's produced ten medal of honor recipients. nearly three quarters of a trillion dollars in military spending and aid. and at its peak over 100,000 american troops deployed. a war the president inherited and pledged to end. >> america's combat mission will be over by the end of this year. >> and after a surprise visit to troops on sunday, the p

our report tonight from our chief white house correspondent chuck todd. >> reporter: hillary clinton is used to being on the defensive as on the day she testified about benghazi in her wayneing days at secretary of state. >> the fact is, we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or guys out for a walk one night decided they'd go kill some americans. what difference at this point does it make? >> reporter: you be it wasn't just an compass exasperated clinton, recovering from the healthcare of her life, wearing lenss for double vision. >> i still have lingering effects from falling on my head and having the blood clot. but the doctors say that will all recede. >> reporter: before attacks, attacks on the presumed presidential front runner, including benghazi, russia, nigeria, even the lewinsky scandal, but her personal health had been off limits until this morning. the new york post reported carl rove went there, using the highly charged phrase brain damage in a speech. rove disputed that account. >> i said she didn't have brain damage, she had a health episode. this will

i think it was wonderful. >> and you can catch more of chuck todd's exclusive interview on "the daily" at 9:00 am eastern. >>> most admired first lady over the last 25 years? nbc news/wall street journal poll finds it's a tie between barbara bush and hillary clinton for 27%, michelle obama comes in next at 24% and laura bush has 17%. if we look at just michelle obama and hillary clinton, there is a narrow 3%. >>> state senator dan patrick. ♪ won't let them see that i'm a phony radio disk jockey ♪ >> oh, wow, okay. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> it is friday. that means kevin cerelli is with us. >> happy mother's day to my mom. >> an early one. you're such a good boy. let's get to that new nbc ne news/washington journal poll. actually a tie, as we mentioned, between barbara bush and hillary clinton as the most admired first lady in the last 25 years. >> both of these women will have huge roles to play in the 2016 election, hillary clinton, former secretary of state, clear front-runner, but barbara bush has said she's not sure if she wants her son, on this mother's

chuck todd, thank you as well.head in our 8:00 hour, senator joe manchin and senator tim kaine. and army veteran wes moore with a special look at vets overcoming extreme obstacles when they return from serving abroad. plus democrats say republicans are just playing politics by harping on benghazi. our next guest says they're just afraid to confront the truth. republican congressman peter king standing by. and then louis takes us behind the scenes for a look at the white house correspondents dinner. his look. and it's awkward and weird and all over the place. >> louis, i'm sure zbln lots of celebrities. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. >> it's a genuine thrill to be here in washington, d.c., the city that started the whole crack smoking mayor craze. between rob ford, justin bieber, and ted cruz, you just want to tell canada, hey, hey, relax. we already have a florida. ♪ [ male announcer ] staples has everything you need to get your client's attention. from brochures to business cards to banners. e

and chuck todd, we'll see you at 8:00 and we'll give you an update on the lawsuit. >> on my foot. >> story on tattoos. did you get a tat, chuck? >> you'll have to wait to find out. i may have started the process. it's hard not to get caught up. >> stop. >> also coming up -- >> the odds were stacked against us. everybody told us we weren't supposed to be here. we moved from apartment to apartment. >> kevin durant's mother joins us after that emotional speech by her son. and the rules for top earning women different than they are for men. yes. we'll talk about all that when we come back. ♪ really... so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 dollars a month? yup. all five of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. 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. when laquinta.com sends him a ready for you alert the second his room i

joining me is nbc news political director and white house correspondent, chuck todd host of "the daily rundown" and "washington post" columnist at the brookings institute. chuck i'll start with you. before we get to foreign policy and the president's works earlier, breaking news regarding the v.a. i think we can call it a scandal now. eric shinseki has been briefed on the inspector general's report and released these words have i have reviewed the report and the findings are reprehensible to me. what happens to the secretary at this point? >> it sure feels like, you can't predict what the president will do. he's always very hesitant to what some in the white house refer to as "feeding the washington, d.c. beast when official washington starts clamoring for a firing or resignation or some sort of political head type of thing. you can certainly feel as if what limited support the president was offering general shinseki last week, and it was limited, he didn't stand behind him the way he had stood behind him a week earlier at the time. he was very clear. he had said specifically, that he

nbc political director chuck todd. appreciate you being here. >> good jb on the trivia this morning. >> you know what? i live for trivia. this is my life. thank you, sir. appreciate it. >>> still ahead, we've got more ground to cover on today's big races including the battle between the republican establishment and the tea partiers that's pushing them farther and farther to the right. michael steele joins me next. and later, president obama's controversial judicial nominee and why progressives including civil rights leaders are speaking out and saying absolutely no thanks. all stations come over to mission a for a final go. this is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male an

joining me now on this critical primary day, chuck todd, political director and host of "the daily rundown" and jonathan martin and chris cillizza managing editor of postpolitics.com. chuck, let's rundown the key decisions in key states. >> you know what the beauty of today is, we get to say coast to coast. atlantic ocean to pacific ocean, we have it covered here. the big story of today is a big fizzle with the tea party, they could go 0 for 3 in big republican primaries, kentucky, you already previewed the show as a general election match-up looking forward to allison grimes and mitch mcconnell, six months ago we thought matt bevin it could be neck and neck. you can see the establishment struck back there and in georgia, everybody is battling to co-opt the message and he doesn't want to sound like he's a establishment guy. the ones that the establishment feared are trailing. that's definitely among the different storys. what else is interesting is it highlights the different themes this election season will have as well. the reliance the democrats have on women to save the senate. here ar

chuck todd, nbc news chief white house correspondent and david bennett. gentlemen, first with you, chuck, the politics of this thing, time is everything in politics, timing is. the president made clear a week ago when he set this mouse trap he'd wait until the i.g. reported. the i.g. reported late today with a bad report. the president said if the report was bad, he was going to act. in fact, he said pretty clearly shinseki would act himself to remove himself, in not so many words, but pretty darn clearly. what's the president doing now? >> well, look, they are making it clear, they seem to be creating momentum, if you want to call it that, for shinseki's exit. perhaps it's to give him room to make the decision himself, but when you see the things that they've done behind the scenes, a senior aide told my colleague that shinseki is considered on probation for the past week. this, obviously, this i.g. report doesn't help that probation status that the president was unofficially putting him on very well. you have the democratic politics on this, so, for inst

we'll find out for sure tomorrow. >> thank you, chuck todd.nd you can watch chuck todd all week at 9:00 a.m. eastern. here on msnbc. >> jack kingston has been in washington for more than two decades but georgia voters don't want more washington big spending experience. so what did desperate jack kingston do? what all politicians do, he lashed out falsely at david perdue. >> that ad there from georgia republican front-runner david perdue targeting who he sees is the closest competitor, jack kingston. to discuss this race, we have joe klein. >> good to be here. >> let's start with the point that matt bevin raced in his campaign against mitch mcconnell, saying mitch mcconnell hasn't stood up against barack obama. i don't think for the most rabid right wing audience that rings true. >> yes, it does, for the most rabid right wing audience. given -- i disagree a little bit with chuck because given the amount of apathy out there, this isn't like 2010 when they wanted to burn down everything. given the amount of apathy out there, i think that a lot mo

. >> edward snowden with brian williams, joining me now, chuck todd, nbc justice correspondent pete williams, and msnbc national security analyst michael leiter. pete, first to you, he's clearly saying i want to come home, negotiate with me, make me a deal. what kind of deal if anything would eric holder and the justice department be willing to offer to edward snowden? >> well, they made it pretty clear that what snowden really wants, come home, all is forgiven, clem enltcy is not going to happen. so what really is the question here is, does he have enough to offer the government in exchange for some kind of reduced sentence? the three statutes he's charged with carry a maximum each of ten years in prison. not clear whether the sentences would be concurrent or consecutive but he could be facing that at the minimum, five or ten years in prison. the question is what he'll say, i can give a full accounting of what i did but doesn't retain the documents himself. and often times in these cases if somebody can give the documents back, that helps. he turned them over to journalists and could say, i

and her health was a question. >> and chuck todd, let me go to you.ions about hillary clinton's health. this is not to justify anything that's happened, just following up on what mika said. there was a tinge of truth to this. it is something that was asked before. and it will probably be asked again as we move forward. >> and remember, they were very secretive about everything particularly in the first couple of weeks. it felt like we didn't get the details. it took a long time to get it out which is par for the course when it comes to the clintons on these things. in a weird way, karl rove did the clintons a favor. in this respect. now which i think is a legitimate thing to ask of every single presidential candidate. show us your health records. give the public, show the public your health records. it is, i think it'll be an important question to chris christie. it'll be an important question to jeb bush and hillary clinton, joe biden, whoever. and now the clintons can say you're doing the bidding of karl rove. you know, that is in an odd way how kar

chuck todd, now to you, my friend.on before, chuck, and mark halperin and i were talking. i said well, why doesn't jay carney, a guy like i an awful lot, why doesn't jay just say no? i'm not going to go out here and be put in this position. somebody said you can't do that. well, mike mccurry did it. other press secretaries have done it. it's a real balancing act, i understand. and it's extraordinarily difficult. but does jay not have a fairly tough relationship with the press corps that he has to stand in front of every day? >> i say yes, but it's not jay's doing that it's a tough press corps. this is sort of six years, honestly eight years of sort of dealing -- look. i think there has been in the worst development in white house staffs over the last two decades has been i think the entire press office is too big. i think there's almost too much. and so when you have so many individuals dedicated to press communications, right, and communicating with press, then you're going to slip into over-spinning. you're going to

. >> chuck todd joins our conversation coming up in a couple minutes. stay with us.ll we are fine tuning these small cells that improve coverage, capacity and quality of the network. it means you'll be able t post from the breakroom. great! did it hurt? when you fell from heaven (awkward laugh) ...a little.. (laughs) im sorry, i have to go. at&t is building you a better network. 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. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. i tr ied now what it means to serve. depend last weekend. it really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. unlike the bargain brand, depend gives you new fit-flex®, our best protection. it's a smooth and comfortable fit with more lycra strands. get

he needed to come out with a lot more reforms. >> chuck todd, why send the president out to say something about the va, when he's not ready to take bolder action? >> this was an attempt to stop the political bleeding that was taking place. i apologize when we're talking about serious medical issues. >> but it's a metaphor. >> that's what's going on here is this has become a political problem for the white house. the president himself hadn't spoken on it publicly since asia. okay? and the trip to asia, which for me feels like months ago. it was about three, four weeks ago. so there needed to be a sense of, he had to come out and say something. you know, this is -- there are going to be people who are saying, why isn't he firing shinseki, why isn't he doing something more dramatic to at least give a sense of urgency to solving the problem. and a sense of buying political time. you know, the more politically expedient thing to do is hang shinseki out to dry, bring some political stability to the situation. but if you look, this is his pattern. he never does this. it's always very, very -- al

crab legs. >> he's going to have a lot of crabs. >> he's going to get a lot of crabs. >> chuck todd, spondent. chuck, big news out of washington. specifically on benghazi. you end up -- we end up finding out that the white house was directing susan rice to stick on the talking points that it was a video, it was a video, it was a video. and told her specifically that it had nothing to do -- to make sure that people knew it had nothing to do with barack obama's foreign policy. how significant of a development is this for susan rice, the white house, and hillary clinton moving forward? >> i know that you're shocked that any administration would worry about how their foreign policy is being portrayed in a crisis moment. it's shocking. >> no. that's not so shocking as much as it is how shocked and stunned and deeply saddened they acted afterwards and said this is a cia report and how dare you second guess the cia or say that susan rice is political. this is a pretty big embarrassment for the white house, is it not? >> they were overly defensive in the moment. at the time they believed the

up next, senator pat toomey, chuck todd, david gregory and howard dean. event with my mom emily brzezinski to discuss art, politics, and balancing both in the white house years. that's saturday in connecticut. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ to truck guys, the truck is everything. and when you put them in charge of making an unbeatable truck... ... good things happen. this is the ram 1500. the 2014 motor trend truck of the year and first ever back-to-back champion. guts. glory. ram. >>> i don't want to ever hear about that again, barnicle. joining us now, senator pat toomey. and in washington chief white house correspondent and political director and host of "daily rundown," chuck todd. and the moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. and here on set, former governor of vermont and former chairman of the democratic national committee, howard dean. and joe, thank god you are on location. because, well, he could flip the table. >> oh, i know. >> we could be a table flipping round table. >> it's happened before, mika. i suspect it'

joining me chuck todd, political director, chief white house, host of "the daily rundown" on msnbc. watching duelling speeches between alison lundegran grimes and mitch mcconnell. made me realize just how gnarly this race is going to be. between the two. >> it is. it is going to be expensive. no shortage of money. by the way the first attack ad goes up with the local new that is airing tonight in louisville and lexington. my understanding. the super pac on behalf of mcconnell. going up with the first attack ad on grimes. in many ways i think the first, 30 days of this general election at least the tone that is set, how does she handle the onslaught coming. mcconnell knows how to win ugly. he has done this before. he is comfortable doing it that way. she is going to have to be ready for what is bare knuckle fight there, chris. >> chuck, there is a model. there is a path forward for alison lundegran grimes. unlike say, a state like texas where wendy davis is running. or does not have a primary night. doesn't hatch any state wide elected democrats. a lot of states, kentucky has a quite

let's bring in the host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. chuck, thanks for being here. i know this is late night for you. i appreciate it. >> late night and early morning, it will all run together. >> exactly right. if you stay up late enough, it isn't late at all. >> that's right. >> chuck, let me ask you about the conversation i was just having with kasie how mitch mcconnell is set up for the fight against alison lundergan grimes in november after this tea party challenge. the best i can tell is the big advantage that grimes has right now she's in some polling up against mcconnell by double digits or another poll by seven points among women voters. she's a 35-year-old woman. he's been in the senate for 30 years and is not a woman. do you understand how those dynamics will play out for him and how they plan on working on that? >> i think this is the line. the playbook of survival has been a no holds barred -- a rip your face off the opponent kind of campaign er. he's cold-blooded in that political, calculating way that has made him a political figure, feared and respec

chuck todd and kasie hunt are standing by for that.ak down the battle states. races from oregon to pennsylvania to the deep south. despite big money from the senate conservatives fund, tea party candidate matt bevin trails mitch mcconnell. the senate majority leader is shown an cruise control up 20 points. but the same poll shows mcconnell trailing likely democratic challenger alison lundergan grimes. saxby chambliss is retiring opening up a power vacuum in the state. the latest marist poll shows democrat michelle nunn leading or neck and neck with each republican candidate. political reporter kasie hunt traveled to georgia in our latest states of play. ♪ >> reporter: the pecan trees on the nunn family farm are rooted in history. >> we're going experimentation with cucumbers and zucchini. >> reporter: it was here that michelle nunn's father sam launched a storied senate career. >> i have a father that taught me you can make an enormous difference when you enter the public arena with a real statesmanlike perspective. >> reporter: republ

and coming up next, chuck todd goes one on one with harry reid. why the senate majority leader hopes for some healthy competition in the next democratic presidential primary. really? that's next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. sfx: car unlock beep. vo: david's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. nowchoose one option fromith red lothe wood-fire grill,trios! one signature shrimp dish, and a pasta. all on one plate. three delicious choices. all for $15.99 for a limited time only! come sea food differently today! ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you outlive your money? uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you

the soup is in d.c. >> that was my colleague chuck todd. finally, anyone with small kids at home has probably seen the academy award winning film "frozen." these u.s. marines are no exception. take a look at this video. ♪ see don't feel ♪ don't let them know ♪ now they know >> these guys obviously know the words. but watch what happens when the song reaches a climax and the young queen lets down her hair. ♪ never going back ♪ the past is in the past let it go ♪ ♪ let it go [ cheering ] hoo-rah! the performance review. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. >>> president obama welcomed teacher of the year finalists to the white house. he also recognized a teacher from baltimore as national

>> coming up, chuck todd and "the daily rundown" next. >>> majority rules.y exclusive interview with senate majority leader harry reid. he pulls no punches and has some fancy footwork when it comes to 2016. and jim clyburn on the sights and sounds that shape his politics and what he expects to hear and see in 2015. plus, we heard nina turner lay out her side and today the man she would like to knock out of office, republican john husted. good morning. this is thursday, may 8, 2014. i'll get to my first sitdown, harry reid. he's a study in contrast, mild mannered and sharp tongued. he knows the rule book better than anyone. a man who never let's opponents forget. he was also an amateur boxer and is apparently not afraid of a fight. he's become the 2014 boogie man that republicans are looking for. what nancy pelosi was to campaigns in 2010, senate republicans are hoping to do to harry reid in 2014. i sat down with reid, as you'll see, when it comes to his hard-nosed legislative style, he's unapologetic. we hit a lot of issues under the sun, beginning with whet

our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd starts us off here tonight with more. chuck? >> reporter: good evening, lester. amid the growing political pressure over allegations involving falsifications of patient wait times at va medical centers, the president displayed annoyance and frustration as he finally addressed the scandal, but for many, his words of outrage were not enough. >> today, i want every veteran to know, we are going to fix whatever is wrong. >> reporter: following his close-door meeting with eric shinseki, the president tried to reassure veterans. >> if these allegations turn out to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and i will not tolerate it, period. >> reporter: the president ordered preliminary results next week, and while standing by shinseki, there were no long-term promises of job security. >> but i have said to rick and i said it to him today, i want to see, you know, what the results of these reports are, and there is going to be accountability. >> reporter: today at american legion post 67 north of miami, veterans had

chuck todd has your primary preview. >> storyline number one battle for the soul of the gop.ill feature the latest round in the tea party versus establishment primaries, a battle the establishment has been winning. in kentucky, matt bev vin struggled to oust mitch mcconnell. it won't be easy for him to get the folks back. they could prove crucial in the fall. in georgia senate the two tea party congressman faded it's three establishment backed candidates fighting for the top two slots. in idaho's second district, mike simpson appears poised fosh the challenge. democrats and women, both as candidates and voters michelle nun and allison grimes are among a strong group of female candidates but republicans have a good story to tell, there are potentially strong female senate candidates in west virginia, iowa and michigan and after tuesday oregon may be added to the list. both nunn and grimes are part of another key theme, democrats banking on famous or powerful political families to win in red states, other key candidates on tuesday's ballot, am mark pryor, son of david. these fo

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and chuck todd will interview the minority leader tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.rn. >>> and a "vanity fair" monica lewinsky breaks her lifelong with the affair with president clinton and deeps regrets what happened. >>> congressman michael grimm speaking on geraldo rivera's radio show argued that those hard hit by sandy are facing worst circumstances than his own. >> in all sincerity, i'm one of the luckiest members of congress. and i say that because there are salt of the earth people in my district. hard working people. >> after a lengthy debate, the new york state senate voted 52-8 tuesday to make yogurt the official state snack of new york. i didn't even know there was a state snack. a memo on the bill offers this justification says, quote, yogurt say healthy food that tastes great. yogurt is also an important economic driver across our state. in fact, new york is now the number one processor of yogurt in the country. >>> forget about yogurt. hillary clinton was asked to name her guilty pleasure while at a health care conference. here's her answer. >> ahh, let

joining me chuck todd, political director, chief white house, host of "the daily rundown" on msnbc. watching duelling speeches between alison lundegran grimes and mitch mcconnell. made me realize just how gnarly this race is going to be. between the two. >> it is. it is going to be expensive. no shortage of money. by the way the first attack ad goes up with the local new that is airing tonight in louisville and lexington. my understanding. the super pac on behalf of mcconnell. going up with the first attack ad on grimes. in many ways i think the first, 30 days of this general election at least the tone that is set, how does she handle the onslaught coming. mcconnell knows how to win ugly. he has done this before. he is comfortable doing it that way. she is going to have to be ready for what is bare knuckle fight there, chris. >> chuck, there is a model. there is a path forward for alison lundegran grimes. unlike say, a state like texas where wendy davis is running. or does not have a primary night. doesn't hatch any state wide elected democrats. a lot of states, kentucky has a quite

chuck todd joins me now. always a pleasure to have you on. the big lead seems to be the gop establishment in all likelihood trouncing of these tea party candidates, in a must be of states it seems they've done that byco opting themes like perdue and kingston in georgia. do you think the candidates risk maybe becoming too fringed for mainstream elect tore rat? >> as we point to three different bullet points and georgia is the best example of the co-opting of the tea party. if you look in kentucky what mcconnell did, he instead said do you know who matt bevin and he's not qualified to be a united states senator. he went the disqualifying route and georgia it's theco-opting route and in idaho, the defensive route. this is the mike simpson who cast every vote, needed to pass legislation and simpson was the legislative conservative and businessman's republican. but in all three cases you see the different formulas of stopping the tea party, either defining the opponent early and d disqualifying them and then there's sort of a third wild card we ha

our colleague chuck todd was on earlier, and saying that it is not a situation where the navy s.e.a.l.s will swoop in and try to regs cue the girls, and if that is not the case, what are we waiting to see happen here? >> and secretary of state john kerry saying it is going to be coming and you can expect days and not weeks. this is some of the specifics, it will include military intelligence, and fbi forensics investigators and hostage negotiators and satellite imagining, and electronic eavesdropping and the drone bases could be a part of this as well. the question surrounding this assistance of the united states is offering is how well will they work with the nigerian officials once they arrive and how smoothly is that process and the that transition going to take place? tamron, this is all happening as the international outrage is mounting for something to be done. there have been protests for the past several days both abroad here in the united states as well as one yesterday that took place outside of what is now the shuttered nigerian embassy. there is and online campaign that has

get the lay of the land tonight from our political director and chief white house correspondent, chuck todd. >> reporter: if you want to understand the tea party struggles this year look no further than mitch mcconnell. tea partiers would like to knock him off as they see a washington sell out. >> the center of it is right here in kentucky. >> reporter: but tea partiers are under attack. mcconnell's aggressive campaign is reason number one why the tea party has struggled, established republicans have taken the tea party head on. georgia is another battleground where the tea party was hoping to get its hands on another senate seat. but the two most prominent tea party candidates, are trailing badly. that illustrates reason number two why the tea party has struggled. establishment republicans have played up their credentials and blurred the line of what tea party means. >> do you consider yourself a member of the tea party? >> tell me what that is. i have many ideals we agree on. >> i support so much of the tea party values when it comes time to less government and lower taxes. >> reporter: t

first, our nbc political director chuck todd is here with his first read on the week ahead of politicsk t. >> as you know, it is super tuesday, or the closest thing we have. six states coast to coast will vote in primaries and it showcases all the big national story lines of this election season. >> reporter: stir line number one, the battle for the soul of the gop. three states tuesday will feature the latest round in the tea party versus establishment primaries. a battle the establishment has been winning. in kentucky, republican matt bevan has struggled in his quest to oust mitch mcconnell. but keep an eye on the size of the anti-mcconnell gop vote. it won't be easy for him to get these folks back. in georgia's senate, two tea party congressmen have faded. it's three establishment backed candidates that are fighting for the top two slots in the july runoff. and in idaho's second house district, mike simpson appears poised to survive his tea party challenge. the tea party could go 0 for 3 tuesday. story line number two, democrats and women. both as candidates and voters. the party is

i think he was talking to chuck todd.el steele is an nbc analyst and former chairman of the republican national committee. mike, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> we saw what happened in the last couple of cycles where tea party candidates, won primaries, and as a result some would say the democrats kept control of the senate. this result was a victory for the mainstream, mitt romney supported candidate in a three-way primary. >> right. absolutely it was. it was certainly a good example of how the establishment, the moneyed interest within the gop have learned how to triangulate against the tea party. and identify candidates, business oriented candidates, some with long records, some with short records, but with a solid record in the community. if they can take to the community and make a broader appeal. i think the test is two-fold now. sort of rubbing the base's nose in their success. there are more primaries obviously coming up, andrea, so you want to make sure you're bringing people into the fold, not pushing them