on friday, a man by the name of clayton kelly was arrested for illegally obtaining the images and is with a felony charge of exploiting a vulnerable int primary campaign itself. at 11:40 that night, the arrest was reported on a local mississippi blog, but it did not identify the connection to miss cochran. nevertheless the next morning away 7:45, chris mcdaniels' campaign manager called the cochran campaign to talk 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.

i thought it was a classy response and he deserves a ton of credit for doing it my loser is clayton kelly, the tea party activist who filmed rose cochran, the wife of senatorred that cochran in her nursing gnome mississippi. you can't let politics come before humanity. >> >> my winner is julio, entering the national stage and likely to be a democratic candidate in the national level in the future. 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

. >>> police say clayton kelly a conservative blogger and supporter of conklin's primary opponent postedotos online of congress link's bed-ridden wife. conklin's opponent denies it. >>> the 82-year-old robert copeland won't even apologize. the police commissioner sending a defiant e-mail writing the current occupant of the white house meets and exceeds the criteria, my criteria, for using that word. the police commission is independently elected. some town officials say they have no power to remove this man, despite the public outcry. >> the reason that mitt romney is weighing is besides the fact it's irreprehensible is because romney has a house there. >>> new calls for trained engineers from sleep apnea after it was revealed that the operate esche of the derailment in new york suffers from this. no cause discovered yet in the accident, no screening requirements and metro-north has said that a final decision has yet to be made. >>> a bizarre scene in southern california, dozens of foul fish washing up in a boat in delray. officials are still trying to clean up the mess. officials say th

he began by categorically denying his people had any link to the blogger, clayton kelly, but had a toughexplaining 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 gallow asked him why he didn't bring the information to the police, mcdaniel said they tried to deal with it internally and then suggested that cochran's team may have held on to the information to use it for political gain. frankly the story has consumed this election all of a sudden in

and this weekend, a conservative blogger named clayton kelly was arrested, accused of sneaking into hersing home and photographing this bedridden woman. her photo was then posted online as part of an anti-cochran/pro mcdaniel video that was being called a hit piece. the story is bad enough. but a new voice mail is raising more questions, specifically what did the mcdaniel campaign know. at about 7:45 on saturday morning, chris mcdaniel's campaign manager left this message for cochran's campaign 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 wha

clayton kelly, a conservative tea partyier who supports mcdaniel was arrested for photographing the incumbent senator thad cochran's wife in hospice care being treated for dementia. he posted that video online and it parked a lot of outrage. three more mcdanl yell supporters have been accused of being in on the plot. what's going on down there, robert? >> ronan, four men have been arrested and charged with conspiracy. 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 the

it brings the total to four, including blogger clayton kelly who have been arrested on this issue lasteek. chris mcdaniel has tried hard to distance himself from the incident and he got some help from the d.a. who 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 i

on friday in an absolutely insane development, a blogger named clayton kelly, who is a mcdaniel supporterwas 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 republican party to its will. because the costs of primary challenges are so high for incumbents and establishment figures high in money, in time, in reputation, they're so high that even when the tea party loses, it wins because they've made those who cross them pay a price. whatever the result and whoever ends up heading to washington from the great state of mississippi, they will go there thinking in the back of their mind, how the heck do i avoid slogging through something as ugly as that the next time around. joining me now, robert costa for "the washington post" and, robert, that has been the dominant narrative. this is the sort of empire strik

blogger clayton kelly was finally arrested after allegedly conspiring to take photo cochran's ailingfe 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 will linger in a bitter way. and democrats do have a joe donnelly-like candidate as a potential playe

the blogger clayton kelly posted the picture as part of a video in support of cochran's opponent in t in the senate primary. the mcdaniel campaign has condemned the incident and distancing itself from the blogger. joining me now, kasie hunt. obviously people wonder what is the motivation here if this blogger thought he would help a candidate that he was supporting, how would this picture ever do that. >> it's not clear at this point exactly what his motive was. but we know this is an extraordinarily sordid episode in our politics. no wonder americans are so fed up with the system. the mcdaniel campaign reached out to the cochran campaign. the cochran campaign disputes that. the timing of the phone call actually casts more suspicion on the mcdaniel campaign. they also point out the communications, computer, cell phones from this blogger are now being looked over by the police department and that could potentially lead back to the mcdaniel campaign. another recent development is mcdan cell was supposed to have an editorial board meeting today with the newspaper down in mississippi, appa

best chance to knock off an incumbent but this incident could change that. 28-year-old blogger clayton kellyf pearl, mississippi was ordered held on $100,000 bond sunday following his arrest friday for allegedly sneaking into an assisted living facility in madison, photographing a woman named rose cochran and uploading the images to youtube. kelly faces a felony charge of exploding a vulnerable adult. rose cochran is the wife of the sixth term republican fighting for reelection. chris mcdaniel a tea party favorite, his campaign manager called cochran saturday to say about kelly's act. >> 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 medic

. >> the morning after clayton kelly was arrested, the mcdaniel's campaign manager left a voice mail message on the counterpart of the cochran campaign. it was nearly two hours before it was learned the arrest was tied to the photographing of cochran's wife. listen to what she says. >> i've been upmost of the night. got some information about an arrest that occurred. and kurt, i need chris to speak with senator cochran. we don't knee this guy. we have no idea who he is. he's been arrested trying to do one of the most despeckle things i have ever heard of. but i have just demanded that our staff not get involved in aspects of senator cochran's personal life. this is a campaign about political issues. chris is very upset about it. and we felt he needed to have a personal phone call certainly with you. but he really wanted to have one with senator cochran if you think that could be at all possible. >> so now let's go through the time line of how things unfolded that morning. according to a campaign statement about 7:30 a.m., mcdaniel was, quote, notified only briefly of the incident. ab

blogger clayton kelly was arrested last week for taking pictures of rose cochran and posting them onlinerday three more mississippi men were accused of conspireing with kelly. the jackson clairon-ledger reports that john mary hosted radio show with mcdaniel. and another has reportedly donated to mcdaniel's campaign, hosted a fund raiser, and helped campaign for him. but mayfield's attorney says the arrest is politically motivated. mcdaniel condemned the alleged breach of privacy. his campaign issued a statement reading this. as we have said since day one, the violation of the privacy of mrs. cochran is out of bounds for politics and is reprehensible. any individuals who were involved in this crime should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. in a recent radio interview, mcdaniel denied his staff had any knowledge of his activities. but mcdaniel really struggled to explain why he denied knowing about the incident hours after his campaign manager had called him to tell him about it. >> basically she said some things about ms. cochran and i said, whoa, stop right there. i said you

officials say blogger clayton thomas kelly illegally photographed rose cochran at the nursing home where she has lived for 13 years. cochran's republican primary opponent denies involvement. >>> 50 democratic senators have sent letters to nfl commissioner roger goodell urging the league to endorse a name change for the washington redskins. the senators cite the quick action taken by the nba in the donald sterling case. the owner of the redskins so frar refuses to change the name. >>> up next, a u.s. marine in jail in mexico. how he got there and how president obama figures in. be sure to check out tonight's grapevine by going to my blog. also get there from our home page. >>> the mother of a u.s. marine being held in a mexican jail is asking president obama for help. senior correspondent adam housley has the story of an international incident that reportedly began with a wrong turn. >> reporter: for six weeks, decorated u.s. marine sergeant andrew tam reesy has sat in mexican jails for apparently taking a wrong turn at the border south of san diego. despite quickly admitting to mexican a

people other than clayton kelly, the blogger arrested for the break in.supporter of cochran's challenger, chris mcdaniel. it's a 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 t

my worst of the week is going to go to clayton kelly for facing charges with connection of sneaking intog a picture of senator cochran's wife, who is in the hospital and now is facing charges, so not good there. >> not cool. >> not cool. all right, guys. also to you, and joe watkins. have a good one, guys. that's a wrap up of "weekends with alex witt." up next, craig melvin is in the house. you got the bargain kind? you need a bunch of those to clean this mess. then i'll use a bunch of them. then how is that a bargain? [ sighs ] no, that's too many -- it's not gonna fit! whoa! cascade kitchen and math counselor. here's a solution. one pac of cascade complete cleans tough food better than six pacs of the bargain brand combined. so you can tackle tough messes the first time. that is more like it. how are you with taxes? [ laughs ] [ counselor ] and for even more cleaning power, try cascade platinum. [ laughs ] don't just visit hawaii. visit tripadvisor hawaii. with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your li

. >> reporter: blogger clayton kelly supports tea party candidate chris mcdaniel who's challenging thad's ill and posting them on this website. >> just a source of a lot of ugly rumors and nasty stuff. we wanted it squashed. >> reporter: in nearby texas, there are just days until a runoff election. lieutenant governor david dewhurst is distancing himself from documents suggesting opponent dan patrick once attempted suicide. >> the race took a bizarre turn thursday night with the release of court documents showing he was hospitalized for depression in the '80s. >> reporter: meanwhile in oregon, these are the headlines the day before primary voting ends. according to the police report, quote, monica has pulled his hair, slapped him, and thrown items at him. but negative campaigning has a mixed track record. it's easy to remember the attacks that worked. like this one against michael dukakis. >> gordon kidnapped a couple repeatedly raping his girlfriend. a weekend pass. dukakis on crime. >> reporter: in a close race with rand paul, jack conway's campaign ran this. >> why did rand paul tie

clayton thomas kelly.oduced with the photos apparently suggested that thad cochran was cheating on his ailing wife. all this is playing out as cochran's career hang in the balance. the mississippi primary is now ten days away on june 3rd. there wasn't much polling have reputable outlets but they say the race is close each before the nursing home episode. national tea party groups poured more than $2 million in mcdaniels campaign. so far this primary season republican establishment have defeated their tea party challenger but this looms as the tear tea party's last chance to knock off a big named republican. he was elected to the senate 36 years ago into the house six years before that so that is 42 years in washington. his voting record is conservative but not nearly as conservative as his fellow senate republicans according to ratings from the american conservative union. he is very low key and he hasn't been that visible in mississippi during this campaign. but cochran's campaign clearly sees the bizarre

the blogger clayton thomas kelly is a mcdaniel supporter. but what's the point of this?ow 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 the reason they have that lead. you have that broader environment. then inside of that, the big story of the campaign has been that the establishment has been able to get better candidates, to get more money in to support thos

police say conservative blogger and avid mcdaniel supporters clayton thomas kelly entered a nursing home and photographed cochran's wife rose, who suffers from advanced dementia. police say kelly later posted that photo online. >> this would be one of the lowest blows ever in politics, if not the lowest. just reading about it makes you want to take a shower. >> so, what's the motivation of focusing on a woman who's been bedridden for 14 years? for weeks down in mississippi, a whisper campaign has been waged to imply that cochran hasn't been faithful or supportive of his bedridden wife. for the record, the mcdaniel campaign says it has nothing to do with the incident, but the cochran campaign believes otherwise. matt and savannah, it's pretty nasty out there. >> yeah, i was going to say politics still a nasty business. thank you very much. >>> let's take a look at a major development at the trial of oscar pistorius. the judge laying out the specifics of the sprinter's psychiatric evaluation. "today" national investigative correspondent jeff rossen is here. he's got the latest on all this.

> 20-year-old blogger clayton thomas was held on bond, following his arrest friday for sneaking into a assisted living facility and photographing the wife of senator cochran. kelly who allegedly uploaded the images to youtube faces a felony charge of exploiting a vulnerable adult. in her call, melanie sojourner, for chris mcdonnell also told cochran's campaign manager. >> there was some stuff several months ago where this guy was doing some insane stuff on line. we found out about it. chris and i really siked a bunch of volunteering on trying to who was the source. >> no one on staff ever had any contact with kely. sojourner made her call before rose cochran's name had even been disclosed. the incidents basic details were already circulating. and they claim it is waited three weeks before reporting i the crime. >> whatever the real facts are, i don't think hard evidence is needed here in a political context because politically this is a disaster for mcdaniel. >> the mcdaniel cited two polls showing their man leading cochran. the surveys that were conducted assume lower turnout rates than will likely be seen on primary day, june 3rd. >> still ahead, the epa wants