mark halperin was political analyst at time. this week marks the beginning of the primaries ahead of november's mid-term elections. republicans challenge democrats for control of the senate and a battle for the g.o.p. for the party's future. pleased to have mark halperin and john heilemann at this table as this thing has come to be known in the public. congratulations. >> happy to be with you on this day. >> charlie: i'm happy for that. i think you said, mark, there's a chance to do something we've never been able to do. what is that? >> well, it's to be at the center of a startup of an organization that's going cover american politics in a way that appeals to both of us because it will involve storytelling, the american political story, as you know, is a great story. every year, there's no story as consistently big in politics. stories come and go, natural disasters, et cetera, but it's a great big story we spent both our careers covering and a great organization with a lot of resources and a tradition of excellence and journal

mark halperin, our good friend actually tweeted us.witter. >> i smell what the halperin is cooking on my twitter app. >> and john said i wish there was a wood elf button that would eliminate the internet trolls. >> i agree with that. >>> next on "way too early," a look at the stories to be talked about ahead. and "morning joe" is just moments away. ♪ we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase i make a lot of purchases for my business. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ]

msnbc, "time" magazine analyst mark halperin is here. former treasury official and "morning joe" analyst, my travel agent, steve rattner. and in washington, pulitzer prize winning columnist of "the washington post", eugene robinson. >> what are you going to do for your birthday? >> i'm going to go to sleep. hopefully nor a long time. >> that's a good present. >> i'm going sleep for a very long time. maybe more like a putting a dog down kind of way. >> 21st version of timothy leary. >> i like how your arianna and dr. brzezinski is the same. >> yes. one is a female voice. >> it's very zsa zsa gabor. >> your zsa zsa is very good. >> you are stunning. >> we had fun last night -- moving on away from the birthday -- at the national magazine awards. have you ever been to that? it's really a great event. so well organized. great crowd. i think they were all drunk. >> they were not drunk. >> i do, i think they were. our friend was there. >> it was a great night. national geographic took some home. >> bon appetit magazine cleaned up. >> the new yo

mark halperin and nick kalposori.we go, the question for weeks now, who are you wearing today? >> nick said entree, sneaking some french in because he's a bit of a show off. i'll work some japanese in here. [ speaking foreign language ] >> wow, i just thought it was a casual button down. thank you, mark halperin. excellent as always. ari goto. >>> coming up next, trading in the armored suit for a steak knife. i'll talk with them next. ♪ why do results matter so much? it's probably because they are the measurement of everything we do. for a wireless company, results come down to coverage speed and legendary reliability. so go ahead, stream, game or video chat. that's why verizon built americas largest 4g lte network. because the only thing that really matters are the results you get. so for the best devices the best network and for best results, use verizon. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping

with us on set we have "morning joe" contributor mark halperin. hello.nything going on in your life? former treasury official steve rattner. and in washington associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst eugene robinson. tom just walked in as well. >> hi. how are you doing today? >> very dapper today. >> you as well. >> so big day today. we had jim gaffigan on yesterday. it was nice of him to come here. part of a rollout. yesterday he had his obsessed thing that he ripped off from you. >> kind of twisted it up a bit. >> his entire face was made out of doughnuts. >> that was good. >> but of course that was all a big lead-in today. obsessed out in paperback. >> yes, it is. it is out in paperback. and i still hear from a lot of people about it who have a very unhealthy relationship with food that can connect very well with this book. and so we'll be talking about it more at a conference coming up in hartford. >> oh, good. that's great. >> out in paperback today. thank you. >> congratulations. >> thank you. very much. i'm going to move ont

i am pleased to have mark halperin and john heilemann. this is great. >> happy to be with you on this day. >> happy for that. i think you said, mark, there is a chance to do something we have never been able to do. what is that? >> it is to be at the center of a startup. an organization that will cover american politics in a way that appeals to both of us because it will involve storytelling. the american political story as you know it. it is a great story. there is no story as big. stories come and go. it is a great big story that we both spent our careers covering and it is a chance within a great organization with a lot of resources and division and tradition of excellence in journalism to create a startup. to be the founders of something that will hopefully represent all we have learned about journalism and how to call -- cover politics in the digital age. >> we know how good you guys are and we know from appearing on the show and "morning joe" and a lot of other places. tell me what it will look like and smell like and feel like. >>

"morning joe's" contributor mark halperin. and al hunt and white house correspondent for the associated julie tace. and welcome, everyone. >> good morning. >> inquiring. >> okay. >> i don't want to stay with the contributor title. is there something jels. >> ironically, do you contribute. >> i know. why not be called contributor. >> all right. let's start with hillary clinton. by the way, i have an incredible event last night, raising money for homeless new yorkers and there were protesters outside. but inside, a lot of money was raised to help house the 22,000 children in new york that are homeless right now. 52,000. the highest number since the great impression. i mean, it's unspeakable. and this organization ran this, doing everything they can. a little sleepy this morning, but loved every moment. >>> let's go to politics. hillary clinton is reining in some of the biggest pieces of domestic policy. clinton talked that. she told health officials she was struck by the latest health care poll. >> a small majority of americans

. >> hey, if it's way too early, mark halperin, what time is it? >> it is "morning joe." right now stay tuned for mr. charles todd. >> i love charles, he's in charge. >>> gone to carolina in my mind. vulnerable democrat kay hagan could find out today who's her midterm matchup. will the gop establishment prevail or will a last-minute house call force a senate primary runoff? >>> plus, more heat and drought. more superstorms and floods. more damage and more money to fix it. those are the daunting headlines of a new climate report from the white house this morning. we'll talk to white house counselor john pedesta about what action the white house should be expected to do. >>> and ohio may brag about being home to the most presidents, but why hasn't there been one from there in nearly a century? a tdr 50 take on why the road to the white house never starts in ohio anymore, even if it finishes there. >>> good morning from washington. it's tuesday, may 6, 2014. take a listen. there it is. you know what the music means. there are people voting somewhere, because it's tuesday, bu

bush, nicole wallace, mark halperin, donny deutsch with important information.nd in washington, columnist and associate editor of "the washington post," msnbc political analyst and a man who has important news mr. eugene robinson. good to see you in d.c. >> good to see you. >> joe and mika have the morning off. there's things to be talked about this morning. the post has a story that can't not be talked about. most importantly there's donny deutsch. we have a realtime correction here. >> i've had my publishers up all night over this. these are the kind of things, they seem small, these details. next thing you know, they're writing about me kissing mike barnicle. >> look in the camera and ask for a correction. >> i would like a correction because i was there four hours earlier. >> this is why republicans don't trust the lame stream media. you can tour with sarah palin and, like, seriously have -- >> you know, i know you've been through this before. >> what an ordeal. >> i'm reported to be in central park at times when i'm nowhere near central park. not by a newsp

. >> "morning joe" contributor mark halperin.or you in a few minutes, but first let's go to the news. >> the latest on jill abramson. there is more fallout today after the firing of executive editor jill abramson. "the times" is now waging a pr battle to save face after reports she was dismissed because she complained about receiving less pay than her male predecessor. yesterday they tried to reassure staffers that there was no foul play writing in a memo, quote, it is simply not true that jill's compensation was less than her predecessors. her pay is comparable than that to executive editors. in fact, in 2013 her last full year in the role, her total compensation package was more than 10% higher than that of her predecessor bill keller in his last full year as executive editor which was back in 2010. it was also higher than his compensation than in any previous year. but the new yorker's ken auletta writes arthur salzburger and abramson had a fraught relationship almost from the start of her tenure as editor. he found her lackin