with us now, national affairs editor for "new york" magazine and msnbc political analyst john heilemannhi, john. >> hi. >> and msnbc and "time" magazine senior political analyst mark halperin. halperin. and in washington, pulitzer prize-winning columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, yew queen eu robinson. >> it was an exciting day. >> why? >> cpac began. >> i thought it was very colorful. >> very good. very exciting. a lot of people that are going to be written about in "game change '14." exactly. anybody make an impression? >> chris christie and ted cruz made big impressions. >> in fact, i think what you do in a case like this, mark halperin, john heilemann, let the stories speak for itself. the conservative political action conference better known as cpac is under way in washington, d.c. the annual event giving party leaders the chance to talk directly with the conservative base. and yesterday the speakers list was a roster of potential 2016 candidates. ted cruz, one of the crowd favorites was first up, speaking for 18 minutes without a t

. >> national editor for "new york" magazine, john heilemann in washington, d.c. ep him in a box there. >> that's good. that's good. john in a box. a little known fact. did you like that? shot in the box. we will market that. tm, if you tweet that, john in a box, you have a t at the end. we already own it. we own it! so a little known fact about you. you go, i don't know any sports. i went over this weekend, of course, we are having cat training courses other there. i was over there. you wouldn't believe. 14 cats being trained and running all over the place. up on the wall, mika brought in, harold, you won't believe this, she has 64 screens, right? and i asked why. dumb me. she has watched, not only every single game, but she's got like this ncaa package where you can actually see the locker room talks. >> how are your brackets doing, boys? >> she is perfect. she only missed one. she thought michigan was going to win. you've gotten every one right but she had michigan going all the way. >> harold likes that. >> i do have things to forecast and map my personality. >

and john heilemann. i'll explain that. i'll explain that, john heilemann.oins the conversation as well. keep it right here on "morning joe." ♪ will you bring me sorrow questions remain ♪ [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. a seven day cruise to alaska or the caribbean from just $549. that's seven days to either marvel at mayan ruins... savor the very best local flavors... or sail in glistening glacier bay. with a cruise line voted best in alaska. a seven day cruise to alaska or the caribbean from just $549. call your travel agent or 1.888.book.now for this limited time offer. princess

anyway, thank you, john heilemann, sir. you were great as always tonight. thank you, jonathan capehart. may you vat it with all the joy you can fine. >>> coming up, dick cheney told us how to pronounce his name this week got five deferments from a war he fully supported. when is he going to exit the stage and stop his war whooping? >>> also, look at where republicans are now eliminating weekend voting, the time when many african americans go to the polls. wisconsin republicans, they just want to be fair. anyway, plus, the senate versus the cia. late night tv is now focusing on dianne feinstein's who is right in her battle with the agency. >>> finally, let me finish tonight with the irish, like me. and that is "hardball," the place for politics. you can separate runway ridiculousness... from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do w

brown apologized yesterday for those remarks there is still this sympathy, john heilemann. you constantly hear republicans say we've got to cut entitlements. it seems like republicans better be focusing on what democrats promise to do on issues like choice or they're going to get their asses handed to them this november. your thoughts. >> boy, there is a lot to say there, chris. >> i have a lot to say. >> i know you do. there is no doubt that democrats need to rally their troops if they're going to hold the line. it's very unlikely they're going to advance much in the midterm elections this november. and there is no doubt they have to rally the troops because the republican electorate in an off year is already fired up. it's going to be more fired up. they have a very pointed message, specifically on health care, but more broadly on entitlements as you say, so democrats need to get their forces out there and get them rallied around something whether that's around opposition to the republican party or a positive vision like increasing the minimum wage. democrats have got to

john heilemann is here to take us through it. this is an absolutely unbelievable issue.three hours but the '40s, sinatra. guthrie. fitzgerald. pete seger. burt bacharach and talking about all of the extraordinary songs that came out of the history factory. nothing like it before and nothing like it since. let's go to the 1960s and talk about one of the quintessential new york bands, the velvet underground. >> one of our covers -- we have eight covers of the magazine this week. they are out different subscribers get different covers and some in the newsstands and some in people's homes. lou reed one of the iconic issues we have on the front of the magazine this week. velvet underground a great essay on this issue by richard hell making the development why he came over the years to appreciate them as the greatest rock 'n' roll band ever. beautifully written piece by him and very strong. >> two new york boys and, my god, so iconic. i love them. i love them. i love them. paul simon and art garfunkel. >> a fantastic piece. >> what a shot. >> a lot of things through this issue

brown apologized yesterday for those remarks there is still this sympathy, john heilemann. you constantly hear republicans say we've got to cut entitlements. entitlements, if you look at -- are social security and medicare mainly and yet they keep saying we've got to cut back on government, we've got to cut back on all the safety net entitlement stuff and yet they don't pay a price for it 34ri9ically. i'm determined they pay a price for their words like every politicians should. your thoughts, it seems the democrats better be focusing on what republicans are promising to do on issues like choice. on issues like voter suppression, or they're going to get their asses handed to them this november. your thoughts? >> boy, there is a lot to say there, chris. >> i have a lot to say. >> i know you do. there is no doubt that democrats need to rally their troops if they're going to hold the line. it's very unlikely they're going to advance much in the midterm elections this november. and there is no doubt they have to rally the troops because the republican electorate in an off year

john heilemann is here to talk a little bit about the '40s and '50s and '60s and '70s yesterday so let'ss. you have to talk about ma donna and public enemy and beastie boys and sonic youth and a different kind of music in new york. >> three big genres of music. you talk about hip-hop and we go back to the '70s describing how graham learned to manipulate records on a turn table and find out where the beats were. spike lee telling about how he got chuck dee to fight the power, do the right thing. the beastie boys. all of those great hip-hop bands. you have the dance genre and madonna who describe dance culture across the decades and starting with sonic youth and back in the '80s all the way up through the brooklyn sea now and other bands that have dominated the indy world. again, three massive movements of music spring up here in new york city. >> you talk about the origins of hip-hop. d.j. cool herk in there starting in his basement, 1520 sedgwick avenue in the bronx. a lot of people say hip-hop was born in that room. and then jay-z and puffy & biggie and j. lo coming out during that time