the de facto head of the republican party in state, haley barbour. also haley barbour's whole family dynasty which controls the republican party in the state, plus the whole republican congressional delegation from the state, plus the national republican senatorial committee, plus the u.s. chamber of commerce, plus republican household names like john mccain who was down there yesterday and today campaigning for senator thad cochran. what nobody knew before today was whether or not that sort of institutional in-state organic home-grown support from the machine that is mississippi republican politics, whether that was going to be able to make a difference on the ground in the state. i mean, we've seen tea party upstarts in other states, right, that have lots of loud national support from outside groups that get a lot of press, they get a lot of facetime on fox news and stuff. we've seen them not be able to deliver on election day. you may remember, for example, that we saw that in nevada when sharron angle beat the republican establishment to get the

they had former governor haley barbour helping them out in the state.had a lot of outside money. they outspent mcdaniel by 6-1. they had the chamber of commerce, the republican establishment, and they got out there and they turned out the vote, which in this kind of a tight primary race is what victory is all about. and they formed a coalition that is kind of unheard of in politics these days, including african americans. go ahead, wolf. >> all right. we see charlie rangel. he's got a close contest in new york city. he wants to get reelected. he wants to win this democratic congressional primary. he is facing a significant challenge from adriano espaillat. let's listen to charlie rangel for a moment. >> i have the same anticipation about this race as all of you. and so we don't need a whole lot of numbers to tell you how good we feel, how proud we feel. we were able to bring together people and cultures. >> all right. so we don't have really great audio. charlie rangel speaking. alexandra field is on the scene for us right now. right now, alexandralexan

haley barbour will join us next. >>> also, the hot seat. after a contentious hearing last night on the lost irs e-mails, darrell issa is back for a second round today. >> yes or no, please. you're a hostile witness. yes or no, were you hired -- there will be order. >> i'm not a hostile witness. >> yes, you are. cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... oh yeah, and frosted! what's your most favorite of all? hmm...the kind i have with you. me too. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain, and improve daily physical function so moving is easier. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of

smart operatives can pull it off he has haley barbour on his side and maybe it will work but going to be tough. gwen: haley barbour two nephews and kansas talking about pat roberts who is also with the next most endangered incumbent. we seem to be clicking as we go down. thank you very much and welcome to "washington week," robert. finally tonight, how do you solve a problem like bowe bergdahl? the army sergeant who apparently walked away from his post the latest flashpoint of disagreement between the white house and congress. the mutual distrust was on display this week. when defense secretary chuck hagel went to capitol hill. >> i never said i don't trust the congress. those are your words. >> no, no. your actions -- >> i didn't say -- you said i said it. >> your actions demonstrate, mr. secretary, that you do not trust congress because you would not -- >> now my actions. >> the ranking member, something like this. your actions say you don't trust congress. i get it. gwen: everybody had their wheaties that day, mark. where do things stand tonight? >> well, as we all just saw, things

haley barbour is from the most maherful family in mississippi politics. haley barbour is probably the most powerful influential lobbyist in the united states. he made sure after that first election go-round. they were going to put together as much momentum for thad cochran. he was first elected in 1978 during the carter administration. >> i thought it was 36 years ago. >> 1971. i don't know. >> '72, i guess it is. i was one year old. >> megan, what barber did, he -- and this has all been discussed. he put together -- a late coalition of liberal democrats to turn out for cochran. they know cochran is a big spender, and if he can bring money back to the state, he'll do it. importantly, we'll see black liberal democrats in mississippi. ricky cole came on my radio show a few days ago, he said, i see walking around money being dolled out on the streets here. he was dismayed about this. he said, look, democrats should vote in democratic primaries, republicans should vote in republican primaries. look, when the establishment has as much on the line as they do in

i talked to haley barbour right after cochran fell behind and wound up going into that runoff. he says we need to remind people that even democrats in the state who can vote, because it is an open primary, that chris mcdaniel, the tea party opponent, is against federal funding for education. the problem for them is, is the republican base, is the republican party at that point right now where they can make this message? , thereama, common core was an article written up about how that is what has been firing up the base there. in virginia --aw those two issues. is this going to be an election where a candidate says i bring home federal funds, you want me to be there -- that's going to be a key question. also whether or not thad cochran

of course, haley barbour and the republican establishment swooped down to try to save senator cochran. it's not just saving an incumbent senator who is a part of the establishment, primarily because -- not because he's conservative, but he's a statesman swooping down because it has larger implications for the party. we're just two weeks out from when house majority leader eric cantor went down in shocking defeat at the hands oh of tea party candidate. if senator cochran goes down, a republican, long-time conservative goes down in defeat to another person who is not only a tea party darling but has no problem seeking votes from members of militias and members of the klan, then the republican party establishment is in serious, serious trouble. and, you know, we talk a lot about whether the tea party is up or down, the establishment is back, look, the tea party has taken over the republican party. it's just a matter of how the establishment is going to sort of get that tea party to learn how to govern. that's the only thing the establishment can do right now. >> let's take another look a

and you've got governor -- former governor haley barbour and his relatives who have really been all-inmazing thing would be beating haley barbour's machine which mcdaniel seems on the vernal of doing. >> how much of this is thad cochran's out of shape, he's the senior senator, he hasn't had a challenge like this? >> i think that's a lot of it, he's been there a long time. he didn't really want to run, a lot of people say, and was pushed into it because he was going to be chair of the appropriations committeeif the republicans took over and mississippi wanted the money. here's my fantasy. mcdaniel wins and travis childers, the conservative democrat, is a pretty strong candidate. the democrats hold the senate by one seat winning mississippi in november. >> we're saving that video, e.j., for the night that that becomes that video for the night that comes true. thank you for joining me. >> welcome back. >> chris hayes is up next. >> good evening from new york, i'm clays hayes. we have a big night with the debut of our later all in america series coming up shortly. we begin in iraq where se

i talked to haley barbour right after cochran fell behind and wound up going into that runoff. he says we need to remind people that even democrats in the state who can vote, because it is an open primary, that chris mcdaniel, the tea party opponent, is against federal funding for education. the problem for them is, is the republican base, is the republican party at that point right now where they can make this message? , thereama, common core was an article written up about how that is what has been firing up the base there. in virginia --aw those two issues. is this going to be an election where a candidate says i bring home federal funds, you want me to be there -- that's going to be a key question. also whether or not thad cochran -- he has not shown that he is completely on top of everything in the past couple of weeks. his first article saying he didn't remember who she was after she had interviewed him a half-hour earlier. you saw an interview this week on fox where he didn't know what happened in the air at cantor race and says he wasn't following -- in the eric cantor

haley barbour discussed the 40th president, but with a somewhat different perspective. >> i've learned a lot from ronald reagan. and i admire what i've learned. but the one thing that he never deviated from was, we are here to improve the lot and life of our country and our people, and sometimes that takes compromise. every day of the reagan presidency, he compromised on everything. he passed reagan economic plan in 1981. do you think he got everything he wanted? no. social security reform, immigration reform, the reagan tax reform bill. he had to compromise on all those things. >> turn now to two big republican primaries one day away. iowa, joni ernst has a commanding lead. she is leading the closest challenger by 20 points. it's a different story in mississippi, which has been call would the nastiest race in the country. the real clear politics average of recent polling shows a dead heat between that'd cochran and tea party challenger chris mcdaniel. he received a boost over the weekend from none other than cz sarah palin, they need a change and he can shake things up. he's faced cri

are headed to a runoff in a race which is said to cost about $12.4 million, outside grubs like haley barbour'sservatives are being leaned on for more money. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends this isn't exactly the first time barber's name has been involved with big money politics. his bid to debeat musgrove is considered the most expensive campaign in mississippi history carrying a final price tag of more than $18 million. time for the cooler. go pro video cameras are all the rage among budding film makers. extreme athletes like them as well. now the camera is demonstrating another use. this is video from south africa where one mountain biker was recording his ride when suddenly a man with guns runs to stop him. the rider gives up his bike sunglasses and cell phone without protest as the go pro on his helmet records the entire incident. the thieves didn't ask for the camera. too bad for them because police were able to identify and arrest every single one of them with the help of the go pro footage. that's a commercial. good video, too. >>> on "wheel of fortune" we have a con

he had haley barbour, former governor of mississippi, his political machine behind him. had outspent his challenger by 6 to 1 and he had organizations outside the state like the chamber of commerce who were coming in and said, you know, we're not going to lose this seat so the republican game plan to take over the senate which i'd like to do is now very much on course because they don't have to spend money anymore in the state. >> they're not worried. >> and he did get apparently, anecdotally a lot of support from african-americans who are democrats. >> it's a republican primary. most -- most african-americans in mississippi are democrats. >> but they're allowed to vote. >> their open primary. and there are rules and i doubt this is a model going forward for most republicans. this these are unique circumstances down there, but on this issue of the tea party's success, i don't think you can really judge it in the wins and losses. the tea party does not have a lot of wins under their belt in this election cycle and if you're looking at how you're influencing the republican

rudy came up with the principles we went the principles event throughout the 17 people from haley barbour to add follmer. from michael barone two.five, don rumsfeld. we found that these were all -- these principles float throughout them. even your ron burke who heads up the ayn rand society foundation. these court rates resume and i think we get too caught up in trying to fight each other over policy differences. >> another question? >> he said the american american revolution was more of an evolution in a revolution. i was wondering what are your thoughts on the relevance of the declaration and its ideals to the way in which the con duchenne and is the thinking conservative should be united on? >> that is a really good question. my wife is an attorney and she believes in black letter law. other will believe in using the declaration. i think that is a question eon my ability. but i will tell you that we live in two nations we get a piece of work recently and they asked the people what they think about abortion and almost cases. you may have seen the research. fascinating. 75% of people in

. >> kasie, why is my friend haley barbour so tough for dock ran are who is 76? to hang it up at some point. why is haley pushing so forward hard for him? >> there is loyalty to senator cochran in the state and basis in the argument that senator cochran delivered a lot for the state over the course of his tenure. that's the argument he's making as he tries to broaden his electorate and reach out to democrats or african-american voters and saying, hey, i delivered for mississippi. state senator chris mcdaniel said he may not have voted for hurricane katrina. he may cut defense. that explains why senator mccain was here. one of the fundamental things is people didn't think senator cochran could lose last time around. if you talk to republicans on the establishment said they are saying people woke up, realized senator cochran might be in danger. if he does win tonight it's part of the reason he would be able to pull it out. >> we have been successful and pork doesn't work anymore. it's about the $17 are trillion in debt. paying for the future. >> do you know what els

and he has gotten support of john mccain and haley barbour of mississippi and the chamber of commerce. but despite all of this, cochrane is in the race of his life against tea party challenger, chris mcdaniel. he has run a very feisty, anti-government campaign, and he has gotten the support of tea party darlings like sarah palin and rick santorum. but he has a history of racism when he was a tom radio host. and a lot of republicans are fearful, if the tea party makes a statement. and if chris mcdaniel wins, the democrats have a chance in it in the fall. chalmers, a congressman, and if democrats are able to look at mississippi and say, hey, we may have a chance to put this in play, that makes the math that much more difficult and for republicans to knock off the democrats and tak take care conl of the senate. >> what's different about mississippi. >> the difference is that thad cochran has not run a good campaign. he has had self-inflicted wounds, and he didn't know about cantor last week. and he has made a big deal of spending. mcdaniels that we need to cut government spending, and th

i talked to haley barbour today, the former governor of mississippi, who said people need to be reminded outside groups are there, they're not concerned about mississippi, that chris mcdaniel who is the state senator going against cochran, it would be against all federal funding for education, for example, and they really feel like the grounding was part of the problem for cochran. only about ten days ago we learned that the national republican senate committee was able to get into mississippi to help out when they found that the ground game was kind of non-existent. without that you may have had cochran lose last night. we got to this point where he is just below 50 because a third candidate wound up with 1.5%. they have to get to 50%. so we'll have three more weeks of this. one operative tonight told me they expect $5 million to $7 million more spent between both sides over just the next three weeks in mississippi, which is a very inexpensive state to spend in. >> woodruff: are established republicans going to be as excited about supporting thad cochran now that he's in the runoff? >>

he had the power on his side, the political team of haley barbour. he outspent him by 6-1, lots of ads running and get out the vote ground game which is really important in this kind of a primary. he b. mcdaniel. as you point out, this candidate is not going away. he is not happy about it. we don't know what he is going to do but he thinks he got robbed. >> he is not very happy. he sounds angry indeed. i want to check out another important race, new york city, cnn projects there is a winner. charlie rangel will be the democratic nominee in the 13th district in new york once again. that represents harlem and some of the other areas in new york city. a close race but we project he will defeat his democratic challenger. alexandra field is in harlem for us and you had a chance to catch up with the congressman, tell us what it was about. >> he was not making himself scarce tonight. this is a candidate, a congressman he showed he had every confidence says and i was going on. he was going to win this, he came up on stage, he rallied and spoke to them for ab

there's no doubt about it, not just the phone machine there, but the machine of politics under haley barbour, senator john mccain went down there, you had the governor, phil bryant do an ad for him, he even brought in brett favre for an ad, of course, the famous green bay packer quarterback. >> is it too early, bret as we look toward the general election in november, where most observers think this could be a good year for republicans, but the white house being under fire as they are, with the irs scandal, lois lerner, the v.a. and iraq, what's happening there? are we seeing a pattern emerging that this might be insurmountable for democrats come november? or is it too early to tell? >> it's a little too early to tell. you ask most people around washington and most people who watch this closely, they're leaning now toward more 70-30, 80-20 that it goes to the republicans for senate control come november. just looking at the polls and the right track wrong wrong track, some place like mississippi, whoever won tonight they were going to win in mississippi as the republican there, other places,

there's a lot of bad blood between haley barbour who's kind of the official head of the republican party in reality here in mississippi, and mcdaniel or things mcdaniel did when barbour was governor. at the same time, this is a very poor state and why the electeds want cochran to win. their view is he can bring more earmarks back. no matter who they have in the senate, they need that person to get earmarks to the state. this is a very poor state, and protect their military bases. you saw mccain today in an interview already hinting he would find a way to work with mcdaniel down the line. people here are acknowledging mcdaniel is likely to win. i think you will see a unity event after the election and people joining with him and saying he can serve us the same way trent lott did and cochran did as well. >> perry bacon jr., nbc news senior political reporter from mississippi tonight. perry, thanks for being with us. great to you again. thanks, man. >>> all right. very busy night tonight. there are democrats thinking about supporting a republican. as opposed to not just the mississippi stor

he is the establishment republican, supported by haley barbour and these mississippi major figures.ere you've got this younger generation and a tea party challenger campaigning against bringing home the pork. >> two things, one on the run-off. if it goes to take runoff, thad cochran is not going to win. a runoff will be in july and will be a smaller turnout. mcdaniel has the core conservative support that cochran lacks. i'm not sure it will, but if it does. the other thing, it's fascinating, this is someone elected in the late 1970s, chaired the senate appropriations committee and was considered untouchable because of how much money he brought back to the state for that very reason, which throughout the 80s and 90s and early 2000s was a valuable thing to do. it turns out now the idea of sort of bringing money from washington, getting washington to spend even if it's in a state like mississippi, is less popular. i think casey is right. a week ago i would have said cochran, a month ago mcdaniel. >> what say you today? >> i think it's really close. the assumptions people have that coch

in 2012 haley barbour suspended -- cleared his whole record.sting that after all of that suddenly brett favre's in the political business. this seems like an arrangement to me. >> ben, do you think the tea party candidate has a good shot of winning? >> i do. i think this is desperation. as one caller said this week because i was talking about this in mississippi, they said, you know, brett favre there's one thing that he and thad cochran have in common. they both don't know when to retire and they always want to hang around for just one more season. one in football. one politically. i think thad cochran's in serious danger here. >> all right. >> and i think he probably should have taken his victory lap and retired. >> we saw certainly a recent upheaval by a tea party candidate. but let's turn to potential presidential candidate republican senator rand paul. he says that the u.s. should stop giving aid to certain countries. take a listen. >> american tax dollars are often flowing to crun countries that are doing this. pakistan has gotten billion

and i think that's why a lot of the political community was skeptical and thad cochran with the haley barbourhine in mississippi would pull that off and that's what they ended up doing. if you look at the 24 african-american majority in the states. cochran gaining 10,000 votes out of that, his margin of victory was only 6700 votes. and in one county where jackson is, 70% african-american, he wound up 6700 votes he netted out there so that's 85% of the margin he wound up winning. so a really interesting effort by their campaign one that really i don't think's been seen before. >> ifill: and mcdaniel picked up, turned out at well, picked up his vote count as well, but as your opinion saying for cochran, much more -- and mcdaniel can't challenge, this right, there's no way he can run as an independent? >> no, he missed the march 1 deadline and can't run answer independent. i don't think it will help him. his appeal is not with independents and democrats who would be able to vote in the diswren election. this was an open primary which is why democrats and independents were able to vote. but if he

we've seen the likes of haley barbour in mississippi come together and say, we're going to fight back, because we don't want you to take over our party. >> in 2010, the republicans believed they lost about a half dozen seat because they had unqualified challengers representing the tea party who lost to democrats. they didn't want to see history repeat itself. cochran's race became a proxy battle for the fight within the republican party. there was a ton of money and all kinds of resources on the ground that were put into it. >> you surprised charlie rangel eeked out this victory? >> i know he's a survivor, right, it was only a couple years ago where he was censured by the house which is very rare and he fought back. look, back in 2012, he barely won by 1,100 votes. charlie rangel's a fighter. clearly, the machine win, right, the machine wins. >> in the rangel race, bmarack obama stayed out of it. remember, rangel endorsed clinton early on in his campaign. he was censured on the floor, stripped of his chairmanship of the powerful house ways and means committee. obama said that he ought

. >> well, the first thing was you saw haley barbour, a big cochran ally say look, you don't need this guy mcdaniel in there because he's going to be against all-- for example, federal funding of education. well, funny things happened over the last couple of weeks because mcdaniel has backtracked on that statement. so you've actually had batt candidates kind of become a little more liberal, oddly. >> woodruff: well, so that's in the south. and let's quickly talk about two other races, move all the way up north to new york state. it's i guess the central part of the date, utica, binghamton this is a race, another republican incumbent, he hasn't been around as long as cochran but he is a congressman facing a conservative challenge. >> two term congressman richard hanna going up against a state representative named claudia penney, nobody else has taken up this brat pack mentality is what she's calling it. she says she wants to be part of the brat pack because dave brat is who wound up taking out eric cantor. she has raised a whole lot of money off of this. she has had a lot of support fro

i talked to haley barbour right after cochran fell behind and wound up going into that runoff. he says we need to remind people that even democrats in the state who can vote, because it is an open primary, that chris mcdaniel, the tea party opponent, is against federal funding for education. the problem for them is, is the republican base, is the republican party at that point right now where they can make this message? , thereama, common core was an article written up about how that is what has been firing up the base there. in virginia --aw those two issues. is this going to be an election where a candidate says i bring home federal funds, you want me to be there -- that's going to be a key question. also whether or not thad cochran -- he has not shown that he is completely on top of everything in the past couple of weeks. his first article saying he didn't remember who she was after she had interviewed him a half-hour earlier. you saw an interview this week on fox where he didn't know what happened in the air at cantor race and says he wasn't following -- in the eric cantor

we saw that sort of at the republican leadership conference, haley barbour stood up and sort of talkpeal to more diverse audiences. not much applause. then you had another person stand up and say no one asked liberals to compromise their position so why must we compromise on ours. so clearly they know -- >> there is a much deeper issue than just duplicity and one audience. one is the tectonics of the party. i have had grover norquist on stage with rahm emanuel. in this case the bigger issue is how can you have the pantheon of leadership be calling for immigration reform, yet have you a highly empowered turbo charge faction that's really just disrupting everything. that's the bigger issue. why do they need to be duplicitous? >> we leave it there. my thanks to the panel this afternoon. i will see you back here next weekend at 4:00 p.m. eastern. now they're part of our 2 for $25 guest favorites! featuring your all time favorite creamy chicken alfredo and seductive shrimp mezzaluna. it's our most inspired 2 for $25 ever. at olive garden. hey! so i'm looking at my bill, and my fico® credi

they lost because all the political forces in mississippi including the barbours, and haley barbour islmost like god in mississippi, number one. number two, the cochran forces were very clever to appeal to democratic voters. it is an open primary. there's nothing illegal about it. i think it was democrat irk voters that probably made the difference. >> let's look at that question. david, it seems like cochran eked out this victory in part due to these democratic voters and actually specifically african-american voters seemed to turn out. this is one example i found interesting. hinds county, mississippi, 70% black, didn't play any role in the june 3rd primary, yet in this recent runoff cochran won with 72%, 18,000 votes. he got new voters out and in particular democratic and black voters. mcdaniel took issue with that. should voters take issue with that? anything deceptive about snit. >> a host of folks woke up this morning having voted republican the first time and they get to celebrate a victory and potentially have advanced their ideas and said, gosh, voting republican felt pretty g

the business wing of the party, the kind of haley barbour, the establishment wing, they view everythingning and their view was we want to get over line and win this election. we will bring in democrats, he will bring in whoever we want to. that's a real core difference. the difference between sort of a real purist part of the party and a real part of the party that thinks about winning more than anything else. that division is going to come through again. that's why mitt romney in 2012 had to say he was so opposed to immigration reform to get the nomination. the question is not is a tea party president going to win the nomination in 2016, but probably more how much does an establishment person have to appeal to the tea party to get the nomination in the first place? >> well, so ryan, one area of agreement between these two wings, what is the disapproval rating for president obama? see it up there. 94% for republicans among the steadfast gop, 96% among the business gop. i guess i wonder, you can see some of the other ones up there, too. i guess i wonder how much of this can get resolved

. >> john mccain visited, haley barbour, from mississippi. how does this affect the entire u.s.nd across the nation? >> if he had lost the primary, democrats would have gone to try to win the seat and that may give them a pickup possibility. theone who wants republicans to take back the senate -- and gives the republican establishment a way to argue that not only can they stop at the tea party -- but they got african-american voters and that is something that the party wants to do, nationally. >> what are the best practices the establishment has learned to take on the tea party? >> don't spend all of your money on television ads. center cochran with an anti-tea party message. he said i have enough establishment and credibility that idea funding for education and disaster relief. that is trying to redefine the republican party. that message in a southern state like mississippi played well. >> the victory last night was only 51% to 49% and the tea party is still alive and where -- alive and well. >> they challenged that and i don't think that they will get far, there is no recount

sad thad cochrane organized and he organized on the ground with a powerful group to help him, haley barbour'slitical machine and he won fair and square. you don't like the rules, change them. >> he knows how to win. >> he knows mississippi. stand by. we have more to discuss. we're going to continue this conversation. we'll also talk about president obama's dismissal of john boehner's plans to file a lawsuit over the president's use of executive action. the president calling it a stunt. >>> and a massive change impacting millions of people. many of them don't even note about it. we have details of what this map reveals. did you know a ten-second test could help your business avoid hours of delay caused by slow internet from the phone company? that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. c

in cochrane's corner was national party chair haley barbour, senator john mccain, the u.s. chamber of commerce, the establishment. mcdaniel had sarah palin and the senate conservative pac and the club for growth, the tea party. the major policy difference between cochrane and the challenger, their views on what to to with federal fund iing. cochrane has a track record of funneling federal dollars from 2008 to 2010 alone he secured . 2.6 billion in earmarks for projects in mississippi. that was before the earmark ban, a tea party concoction which he opposed. he used to be really good at this. and assuredly that contributed to the fact that mississippi gets nearly half of its general revenue from federal dollars, the most of any state in the country. mcdaniel's supporters attacked cochrane for bringing home the bacon. >> in mississippi thad cochran's name is on many buildings. it's on bailouts, tax hikes and debt, lots of at the time. >> the tea parties to not like pork with their tea. in the end cochran, however, won in no small part of his efficacy to getting money. cochran

endorsed that it has something to do with his relationship with former mississippi governor h l haley barbour favre's brother. barbour denies any involvement with the advertisement. then there's the bestiality of it all. no, seriously. the suggestion of bestiality, the misconstruing of a nonsexual harassment of animals into bestiality. the okay, let me explain. last week senator cochran tried to connect with his audience by reminiscing about childhood christmases spent at his father's family in a rural area near hattiesberg. and he said, quote, it was fun. it was an adventure to be out there in the country and see what goes on, picking up pecans and all that kinds of indecent things with animals. now they said it was clear he was joking about harassing livestock or wildlife but that didn't stop the now or never pac supporting mcdaniel from airing this radio ad. >> tell thad cochran you're no farm animal and you're not going to take being on the end of this so-called funny longer. >> senator cochran is asking african-americans, who typically don't vote to come out. the mississippi conservative

haley barbour, though, also discussed the 40th president seems to be something the republicans do, 30ed a different perspective of the ronald reagan he knew. >> i learned a lot from ronald reagan. i admire what i learned. but the one thing he never deviated from was we are here to wloouf the life of our country and our people. and sometimes that takes compromise. every day of the reagan presidency, raug compromised on everything. he passed the reagan economic plan in 1981. you think he got everything he wanted? no. he got immigration reform, reagan tax reform bill. he had to compromise on all those things. >> reagan did compromise. he sold grain to the soviets. >> when ted cruz is president he will make compromises. i just said that to make mika turn white. but when reagan was in opposition, he was a fierce opponent of the carter administration. i think in that respect cruz is -- >> panama canal treaty. >> did we forget this guy we talk about in the past, this president reagan, increased the size of government and increased taxes. now, when republicans are running for office they say

he had the support of haley barbour and others. the guy on the left, chris mg daniel the tea party favorite, it was a squeaker. thad cochran 51% to 49% to chris mcdaniel who now says there is a real good chance he could contest this. >> it goes back to the fact that some in mississippi, you can vote as long as you don't vote in both primaries. open primary regardless of party. you can get in there and vote. and what mcdaniel is says cochran did is get into some of the communities, like the black community and up the showing for the voting polls now and really paint his point here in the primary as someone who is this money hacker. he's going to get in and strip away any federal assistance. that was his claim here. still came away shy with a victory. mcdaniel said i'm not giving up. nighttime -- not time to surrender yet. >> there is something a bit strange, there is something a bit unusual about a republican primary that's decided by liberal democrats. we have to be absolutely certain that the republican primary was won by republic

i talked to haley barbour right after cochran fell behind and wound up going into that runoff.says we need to remind people that even democrats in the state who can vote, because it is an open primary, that chris mcdaniel, the tea party opponent, is against federal funding for education. the problem for them is, is the republican base, is the republican party at that point right now where they can make this message? , thereama, common core was an article written up about how that is what has been firing up the base there. in virginia --aw those two issues. is this going to be an election where a candidate says i bring home federal funds, you want me to be there -- that's going to be a key question. also whether or not thad cochran -- he has not shown that he is completely on top of everything in the past couple of weeks. his first article saying he didn't remember who she was after she had interviewed him a half-hour earlier. you saw an interview this week on fox where he didn't know what happened in the air at cantor race and says he wasn't following -- in the eric cantor race

cochran has very little money and bailed out by really haley barbour's family. is running his ampaign and the running of chris mcdaniels going to have to lean heavily, more broke than he already has been and other groups have been helping out. this is really a race that is, yeah, one of the few this year that really shows that the tea party establishment in a very clear contrast that the establishment is winning most of these because cochran had a i start and a local guy think it's going to be tough for him to pull out in the next couple of weeks. host: let's go to iowa and what happened there in the open seat for the retiring senator tom harken and the republican primary. >> well, first-term snart which is really unknown going into this had some backings early on. t didn't look necessarily like she was ready for the primary and had this add with hog cass strapings and made a pig squeal andied with over 50% of the vote in a crowded primary vote sand going to be a nomination that's going to be a very tough out and is going to be facing off against congressman bru