we expected they would be doing some kind of opposition research on ashley judd as ashley judd movedd a decision on running, but these guys were obviously going to play it as ugly as could be imagined. >> oh, absolutely. and look, on one hand whereas i do not condone what they were doing and if i were part of a campaign, wouldn't feel comfortable with that line of attack, we know that's the way the game is played. we both worked in politics long enough to know that's part of the unfortunate reality. what i find priceless is the classic deflection. if you're going to sit in a room, say this is how we're going to attack somebody, be a man, have the guts to defend that, right, when you go out. don't try to deflect by saying oh, these nixonian tactics, which as far as i understand from this afternoon, they haven't been able to prove any of that is true. >> ana marie cox, the flaw in this attack strategy is that you cannot successfully attack someone in politics for something they have written about themselves, something they have talked about publicly. in fact, it is something that would

we'll hear some of the plans to discredit ashley judd who at one point was considering a run for his senate seat. first, let's get to the news lines here at 5:30 a.m. at 30 rock in new york city. we start with the gun showdown over the legislation which begins the debate at least in earnest tomorrow when the senate will consider whether or not to begin debate on the high profile issue. a threat to filibuster the bill by a group of conservatives seems to be losing a little bit of steam. democrats and several republicans are knocking down the idea saying the measure deserves a vote. one way or the other. that was the message being pushed to lawmakers yesterday by the relatives of some of those lost in the newtown shooting and repeated by vice president joe biden at the white house. >> now it's time for every man and woman in the senate to stand up and say yai or nay. i'm for or i'm against. tragedy to traumatize a nation and after all the thinking and debate and discussion with the majority of american people thinking the proposal the president put forward make absolute sense. the clim

the core of what could be a ready-made tv attack ad questioning judd's loyalty to the blue grass state. they showed a potential willingness to get personal and nasty. >> she's, clearly, this sounds extreme, but she is emotionally unbalanced. i mean it's been documented. jesse can go in and chapter and verse in an autobiography. >> reporter: judd has decided against running. but today she put out a statement condemning mcconnell for, quote, the politics of personal destruction. "mother jones" posted 11 minutes of the two-hour meeting today. >> this is what was given to us, and it's what we worked with. >> reporter: mcconnell believes he was the victim of a bugging operation masterminded by political opponents. >> also unknown to us at the time were bugging our headquarters, quite a nixonian move. this is what you get from the political left in america these days. >> reporter: late yesterday the mcconnell campaign hired a security firm to sweep the louisville campaign office for recording devices and guess what? found nothing. today the mcconnell campaign did ask the fbi to investigate a

cenk: you remember last week a controversy with mitch mcconnell and ashley judd, ashley judd decided to run against him. turns out there was a recording of mcconnell and his staff digging up dirt on ashley judd. >> mother jones magazine, publishing a tape recording of the private session revealing possible campaign plans to attack judd's admissions of a personal struggle with depression. >> is it fair game for you to question someone's mental health or their religion in a strategy session? >> apparently they were bugging our headquarters, this is what you get. cenk: that's interesting. asking the question three different times he never answered the question whether it was appropriate to talk about ashley judd's mental well being in a strategy session. turns out that progress kentucky a liberal super pac according to jacob conway, did listen in from outside the doorway, and record it. now, meanwhile, the citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington are saying if mcconnell was talking about strategy political strategy in attacks against opponents on government time, that would

first whether all this planning against ashley judd was fair game.ant to show you one more clip about that relating to her mental health which they apparently wanted to question. cenk: kemp, is that fair game? >> that's really difficult to say, whether or not that is fair game. clearly, it's definitely questionable. it's not something you typically bring up at a political campaign is the opponent's mental health. in the past, it has been used, 1972 thomas eagle to know, george mcgovern's running mate had to leave the ticket. whether or not they would have actually used that against ashley judd is something of a question. they pretty much threw everything that they had at her even before she actually declared she was rung and before she eventually dropped out. it's a question of whether or not they would have used it, and i think that probably, if anything, would have been sort of a last gasp thing they would have used. cenk: this is yet another example of politics that are pervasive in washington d.c. cenk: we do here people laughing throughout the t

a senate leader and his team caught on tape scheming about potential rival ashley judd, targeting her mental state. >> she's clearly emotionally unbalanced. >> the hidden recording revealed, next. before copd... i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. with copd, i thought i'd miss our family tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today, we

judd has since announced she's out of the race. >>> our second story "outfront," secret recordings. this is not watergate. the fbi says it's looking in to how a recording of mitch mcconnell political aides in the hands of a reporter at a liberal magazine, discussing ways to attack potential rival ashley judd. mcconnell's campaign says that the office was bugged. that would be a big deal if true. fbi is involved. our jim acosta is "outfront." >> reporter: even though he's not up for re-election for more than a year, mitch mcconnell is gearing up. in an audio recording of "mother jones," mcconnell can be heard in what sounds like a typical strategy session discussing opponents back in february. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: later on, a strategist runs through the opposition research on actress ashley judd who at the time considering a run for mcconnell's seat. judd has since announced she's out of the race. >> can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she suffered some suicidal tendencies. >> reporter: campaign staffers contacted the fbi which is now looking in

and wouldn't you if you were related to the judds? mcconnell is asking the fbi to investigate the leak even going so far as to refer to it as watergate tactics. it is like watergate because it is a story about trying to smear a democratic candidate. for more on this, i'm pleased to be joined by tonight's panel of nonexperts. welcome to the show direct from l.a., writer and performer jennifer rawlings who has performed in over 300 military shows. i went to haiti with her. comedian jeff kreisler, author of get rich cheating and comedienne and blogger leighann lord returning to the show. thank you, all. for those of us who are not politicians, it may seem egregious and mean. isn't the standard research for any campaign? >> boeing, brides and kickbacks they're on target. >> john: this isn't unusual. >> that's reassuring to me to know there are villains in the world. mitch mcconnell fits everything. frankly, it is great he might want to bring mental health into the debate. we can talk about ashley judd in sixth grade or his voting record.

according to judd's individualsor, a small group of democrats helped push judd out of the race.hole story? judd's adviser jonathan miller joins me along with jonathan millbank. jonathan, you wanted judd to run. she's got name recognition, beautiful woman. she's got money. she's got connections. she's got a lot of things that are really important for a candidate for public office. so why do you think she was sabotaged? >> well, you know, i think that what happened was there are two groups of people that were being quoted most of all in the news media whether they were on the record or behind the scenes. and some of them wanted another candidate, secretary of state aliceson leonard. but others sought to either profit from her working on her campaign or would love to have a friend in the u.s. senate. then kind of ironically on the other side, you had people who weren't friends of secretary grimes who wanted to push her into the senate race so she would be running for governor or lieutenant governor back home because she might be a rife afl up with of the preferred candidates. so re

you don't get ashley judd and you listen to ashley judd.s another not a woman that ought to be committed. who doesn't have some mental health problems. not all of us seek professional help. that's the only difference. >> a lot of people are on anti-dprelings medication. >> this is a race for the united states senate. >> that's race about the issues of where you stand. >> that's legitimate. where is she on healthcare? where is she on immigration? where is she on nuclear weapons? where is she on the death penalty? not -- bow how can we destroy her personally? is she a good enough christian? how many times in the last year did she go to church? she maybe a little wiggy. uh-uh. >> that's the kind of politics we all should con democrat. talk to eliot spitzer. good friend, form ter governor of new york coming up in the next segment. heard around country and seen on current tv this is "the bill press show." satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >>

on the tape you can hear them going after ashley judd on her values, on her religion. and even on her mental health. >> she's clearly -- this sounds extreme. but she is emotionally unbalanced. i mean, it's been documented. jesse can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she suffered some suicidal tendencies. >> emotional unbalanced? suicidal tendencies? this is ugly stuff being said by the campaign manager for senator mcconnell. ashley judd has courageously talked about her battle with depression. she was raped three times. she was a victim of child abuse. and considered suicide as a sixth grader. did the mcconnell team think that would be good material for a campaign ad? today ashley judd hit back, saying, quote, reexpected nothing less from mitch mcconnell and his campaign to take a personal struggle, such as depression, which many americans cope with on a daily basis, and turn it into a laughing matter. she's right. this is no laughing matter. and there's no joke about how low senator mcconnell is apparently willing to go. joining me now is

judd has since announced she's out of the race. >> can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she suffered some suicidal tendencies. >> reporter: campaign staffers contacted the fbi which is now looking in to the matter. a campaign manager told cnn the meeting was in a private, closed, locked conference room. among a half-dozen long-time mcconnell aides like a family meeting. the campaign insists this was no leak. more like a watergate-style break-in. >> quite nixonian move. >> reporter: mcconnell blamed progress kentucky which is already smeared the senator's wife. >> the opinion of your campaign staff in kentucky that your office there was bugged and was it appropriate for members of your staff to talk about ashley judd's bouts with depression as a potential campaign issue? >> well, as you know, last month my wife's ethnicity was attacked by a left-wing group in kentucky and then apparently they also bugged my headquarters. >> reporter: outraged that mcconnell staff would target the past struggles, a pokes person said this is yet another example of the polit

cbs news, mcconnell aides secretly tape ripping ashley judd. msnbc, ashley judd smear tape.d whack-a-moles on ashley judd and other foes in recording. and joining me is tony, and mark hannah adjunct professor at the new school and former aide to john kerry and president barack obama, gentlemen, welcome, it's interesting, two stories emerging, what did he say, is it news worthy and one is, did somebody break the law in bugging the campaign headquarters of the top republican in the u.s. senate? and let me ask you, mark, let me sort of flip this around. let's forget that he's a republican. a top u.s. senator has his or her campaign headquarters bugged. that's his claim, right? we don't know whether he was or wasn't, we know that somebody in whom we place public trust is telling us he was bugged, is that a story that the media should be covering, whether he was the victim of a crime? >> if he was in fact the victim of a crime, absolutely. and if the fbi investigation comes back and reveals he was, senator mcconnell, in fact bugged i'm sure that each of the outlets that you cited

we hear the campaign discussing judd's comments on christianity.ant you all to take a listen to this. this is the same tape. >> i know this is sort of a sensitive subject but you-- >> michael: so donnie, it's worth noting that they did say this was a sensitive subject. how do war rooms deal with sensitive subjects? >> let me tart by reminding about something that begunked di gandhi said.i like your christ, it's the christians that you have. this false story about a war on christianity, and how liberals are against christians because they're liberals, i personally--i'm a christian, but i'm a democrat because i'm a christian, not in spite of it. this is typical right-wing political bull that they're throwing. >> michael: you could not have put it better. the gan dhi example is important. it's not just ashley judd but team mitch described another possible challenger, alice lundergand and her support for the democratic party platform. take a listen. : >> michael: to smart to use his name in a sentence. donnie, before we let you go, is it worse for mitc

kasie, great to see you. >> thanks for having me. >>> should ashley judd reconsider running now that opposition playbook has been revealed? ben serb that's one of the biggest problems in this country, people running for public office are only concerned with whether they can win an not concerned about what they have to offer. from john decrease mcconned has made it evident the willingness to win at any cost. keep the conversation going on. that's going to wrap thing up for me today. see you back here tomorrow at 11:00. some great deaths, bernie sanders on the president's budget, senator jeff flake on the possible immigration deal and congressman mike thompson. >>> "now with alex wagner" comes your way next. the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. campbell's. all stations come over to mithis 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 softwa

ashley judd decided not to unseat mitch mcconnell next year.fore she filed out, mcconnell's staff was plotting their defeat and the plan was not pretty. we know that because the secret strategy session was caught on tape. and now the fbi is involved. here's cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: even though he's not up for reelection for more than a year, mitch mcconnell has been gearing up for a muddy kentucky horse race. and an audio recording obtained by "mother jones," mcconnell can be heard in what's considered a typical strategy session. discussing with his campaign advisers back in february. >> later on, one strategist runs through the campaign's opposition research on actress ashley judd who at the time was considering a run for mcconnell's seat. judd has since announced she's out of the race. >> about she suffered and was hospitalized for 42 days and had a mental breakdown in the '90s. >> the staffers contacted the fbi which is now looking into the matter. a campaign manager told cnn the meeting was in a privat

ashley judd had no chance in kentucky. >> stephanie: why not?ate. >> that's my biggest problem with herr, too. >> if she wants to run for senate and i'm all for her -- >> you have to understand local issues. the only way to do that is to live there. >> on a senatorial level -- >> stephanie: there have been a couple of excellent carpet baggers senators. >> in terms of eastern kentucky and the coal mining aspect of things, mountain top removal coal mining which has been protected by the uppers in the -- especially the republican party but in the general kentucky government for five decades now is all about the decimation of what makes kentucky special as far as i'm concerned. literally flattening of the hills of kentucky. and the sloth from that, the coal dust, the rem ant dirt and all of that -- the remnant dirt destroys farm land, wipes out the health of communities creates generational disease and at a certain point the idea of having a low-paying job that gives you a debilitating illness is not a reason to continue that practice. in my way of

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this is from the ashley judd tape from mcconnell headquarters. >> ashley judd, based on our researchack of needles because there's so much stuff. >> stephanie: so hilarious all of it. ashley judd, tape in mcconnell headquarters. >> she's clearly -- unbalanced. we can document that. go in and chapter and verse from her autobiography. >> stephanie: it reminds me the commercials we mock for anti-depressants. have you ever felt uneasy or depressed? yes! i'm human! really depressed and considered? >> yes. >> then you need -- >> stephanie: yes, of course. >> i have emotions. >> take -- may cause exploding brain syndrome. may cause an eel to eat your intestines. >> stephanie: it may cause you to think that's a good idea. >> also, unbeknownst to us, they were bugging our headquarters, quite a nixonian move. this is what you get from the political left in america these days. >> stephanie: horrible. they'll stop at nothing! >> trying to destroy a candidate. we'll stop at nothing. >> stephanie: wow, i can't believe -- how much you want to bet that's going to come out too. the second part of the

but let me read part of ashley judd's statement, domenico. she said this is yet another example of the politics of personal destruction that embody mitch mcconnell and are pervasive in washington, d.c. we expected nothing less from mitch mcconnell and his camp than to take a personal struggle such as depression which many americans cope with on a daily basis and turn it into a laughing matter. that's the statement from ashley judd. but mother jones, let me read as well what they set out. they said they have no comment on an fbi investigation but they received the tape through a source that they have not identified. >> yeah, and what's interesting, is that they seem to indicate that it was not the product of watergate style bugging which could be something to watch as we try to figure out who did leak there and how did that, how did this wind up coming about. again, a lot of this looks unsavory, it doesn't sound so great. but it is the way a lot of raw politics, it is exposing the raw politics of a lot of these campaigns. >> let me play a port

. >> presenter, the first person we'll focus on, ashley judd. basically refer to her as sort of the oppo research situation where there's a -- >> you have the emotionally imbalanced part, howard, back to you. tell me what this says about voters. they're going to know about it tomorrow morning and tonight. >> well, i think mitch mrk come, as he said, was pursuing the whac-a-mole -- >> explain. >> just like in that arcade game, you take out your big rubber mallet and hit an opposing target over the head with it to make them go back in their hole. that's what mitch mcconnell's operating theory has always been. they were preemptively trying to do this to anybody who might dare to run against mitch mcconnell last year in his senate re-election race. >> now it's ashley judd who has pulled out of the race. let's watch what he says. >> don't forget, chris, i reported in the "huffington post" a number of weeks ago that she had been telling some other people that she was in. but at the end she changed her mind. i think one reason might have been, even tho

and the landscape work together. >> safer: today, antelope play among judd's boxes. in a row, not made out of ticky-tacky but of concrete. >> joe cabezuela: we don't understand the art. it's different, you know. we're used to portraits of cattle, windmills, cowboys. >> safer: joe cabezuela is a community leader among marfa's hispanics, who make up 75% of the town. it's a place where tolerance once had its limits, depending on which side of the tracks you came from. >> cabezuela: back when i was growing up, a mexican kid couldn't go out with an anglo girl. i mean, it was... you know, they still went out. the parents didn't know about it, but... ( laughs ) >> safer: but these days, anglos, hispanics, tourists and marfans old and new all rub elbows. >> woman #1: do you roast the jalapenos? >> woman #2: no. >> safer: and most everybody agrees the newcomers have given marfa a new face. >> cabezuela: marfa would have been a little old dusty town had they not come in and sort of, like, revived it, you know. >> safer: has the economy improved for the hispanic community? >> c

at the time judd was talked about as a potential challenger. democrats deny bugging the office and a spokesperson released a statement about the tape reading in part, this is yet another example of politics of personal destruction embody mitch mcconnell and are pervasive in washington, d.c.. >> the obama administration believes north korea likely completed launch preparations and could conduct a test fire at any time aaccording to cnn. this on the same day the north told foreign companies and tour yifs to get out of south korea analysts say an attack is unlikely and the north is trying to raise anxieties but america's top miller commander says the pursuit of nuclear weapons represents a clear threat to the u.s. and allies in the region. >> a court hear kog determine whether the nfl faces lawsuits dating back years over concussion related brain injuries. abc news reporter ty hernandez with more from new york. >> today, darker side of a game. a court hearing to determine whether nfl could be sued over head injuries. injuries kevin turner believes

hollywood star ashley judd.avila with the clandestine recording and controversy it is sparking. >> if ashley judd thought the hollywood movie business was cut throat, welcome to politic politics. with most powerful republican in the senate minority leader mcconnell heard plotting to crush the actresses now abandoned potential campaign against him during secret strategy meeting. if mother jones magazine today publishing a tape recording of the private session. revealing possible campaign plans to attack judd admission of personal struggle with depression. >> if she's emotionally unbalanced. >>reporter: and her religious belief. in her book that her aide read carefully the movie star said like st. francis she believes in a god close to niche and talks to animals. >> fair game for to you question someone mental health or the religious sensibility in a strategy session like that. >> apparently bugging our head quarter. quite a bad move. this is what you get from the political left in america these days. >>reporter:

publicly we were respectful to ashley judd.have run a comprehensive campaign, but to try to throw negative, negative smears at us because we were simply having a meeting about publicly available information, just doesn't hold any water. >> megyn: before i let you go. the fbi has been pulling surveillance footage. is there a video camera outside of this second floor conference room where you had this meeting in question? >> not the security floor conference room, but the secure lobby on the first floor. to get up, you have to do so you have to get on the elevator and pass the security cameras. >> megyn: there you go. if it's these two guys, the fbi will figure it out. >> thank you, megyn, it's a pleasure. >> megyn: all the best. fox news alert. an event more than 60 years in the make something about to unfold at the white house. and this afternoon president obama will award nation's highest military honor to an army chaplain who made the ultimate sacrifice. this was incredible. the year was 1950 when the chaplain, who you see th

and in that strategy session mcconnell and his aides talked abo about judd who will challenge him in the next race. mental health problems and reporter asked the senator about this at a news conference. >> is it fair game for you to question someone's mental health or their religious sensibilities in a strategy session like that? >> as i indicated, last month they were attacking my wife's ethnicity. and then, apparently, unbeknownst to us at the time, they were bugging our headquarters. quite a nixonian move. >> he ducked the question whether it is appropriate to be talk about it. the initial press coverage was the outrage for these strategists to be sort of talking about negative information on ashley judd and kind of glossing over the fact initially that this meeting was viciously taped. >> perhaps. i think this is the case of the journalist. you can have your cake and eat it, too. interesting to cover the strategy session. we don't get an ear in these strategy sessions very often. strategy sessions are very often like this and more taped and released. also true there was sketchy s

wynonna judd.nd how she and her husband put their life back together after a near-fatal accident. >>> this is "piers morgan live." a smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear force and warned the moment of explosion is approaching fast. pyongyang is threatening to restart a nuclear reactor that shut down five years ago. the white house responds, quote, north korea should stop its provocative threats and instead concentrate on abiding by its international obligations. washington is also sending missiles to guam. how worried should we be? joining me is pj crowley, former assistant secretary of state under president obama and also a professor at george washington university. pj crowley, are we heading to any kind of nuclear conflict with north korea here? >> i really don't think so. the bottom line is, north korea is crazy but they're not suicidal. the kim family business, they want that to continue. the kim family reign, they want to continue. so they'll make a lot of noise. but i don't think that the

but if ashley judd were in the race, this would probably be a much bigger story. >> sure.much more fun conversation is when people come back with information about your own candidate. >> right. because people do research on themselves. >> that is a much tougher conversation than the one about the opponent. what usually gets people in trouble when the surreptitious tapes come out is when something is confirmed about the candidate that people sort of suspect deep down inside. so remember the moment with senator george allen in virginia. everyone sort of thought george allen had kind of a weird background when it came to racial sensitivity issues. when that came out it became a big way of confirming something people thought underneath. this doesn't really tell you anything about mitch mcconnell. >> he is a tough political operative. >> right. look, the big channel for the campaign is this is mcconnell's words about his opponent and i think if i'm inside that campaign my goal right now is to make sure that there are only the campaign staff talking about this and then you get i

heidi klum comes to the rescue and a hugely embarrassing moment for the dancing judd. you're watching "early today." joo >>> welcome back to "early today." leave the umbrella behind, grab the sunglasses in cases. temperatures in the 70s in many cases. vegas at 84. phoenix at 91. then as we go into wednesday, much more of the same. the changes come three days from now. that's when a lot of people will break the umbrella back out from san francisco northward. a weak storm comes through providing light rain for many. that's three days from now. enjoy it until then. >> snow in some of the hills? what do you think? >> i don't know, too warm. >> i'm always thinking of springtime skiing, that's why. >>> now is your chance to own pieces of hollywood history. over 800 iconic hollywood props and costumes are hitting the auction block later this week. even marilyn monroe's bra from "some like it hot" is up for bidding at $88,000. >>> "dancing with the stars" had a bit of an awkward moment when len goodman criticized win oyno judd's dancing skills. >> you're like mt. rushmore, you

we have also reached out to ashley judd. we have not gotten a response from that camp. i want to bring in our tuesday political power panel. ann kornbluth from "washington post," karen hunter and republican strategist hogan gidley. great to have you here. we will not be playing these audio tapes out of an abundance of legal caution because of where these tapes were recorded and the one party consent rule and blah, blah, blah. but you can check it out yourself on mother jones. hogan, someone at mother jones has identified a campaign aide as the one who is talking about ashley judd's mental health in these tapes. they say on there that she clearly, this sounds extreme, but she's emotionally unbalanced. it's been documented. you can go into chapter and verse from her auto biography, she was hospitalized for 42 days when she had a mental breakdown in the 1990s. we know your political background of working on santorum's presidential campaign. is this something that will be fair game because it was in an autobiography or does this hit below the belt? >> for a campaign to dire

most notably, actress ashley judd who was toying at that time with the idea of challenging mcconnell. it was a challenge mcconnell and his campaign took very seriously. and on that february 2nd, he and his political inner circle had a private meeting where in blunt language they outline for mcconnell's benefit how they could attack a judd candidacy. what they didn't know was that it would all be caught on tape. >> the first person we'll focus on, ashley judd. basically i would refer to her as sort of the oppo research situation where there's a haystack of needles. just because truly, there's such a wealth of material. >> mother jones magazine obtained 11 1/2 minutes of sound from what is a two-hour meeting. basically the first 11 minutes of the meeting where the mcconnell team showed a potential willingness at times to get pretty personal and nasty. >> she's clearly, this sounds extreme, but she is emotionally unbalanced. i mean, it's been documented. jesse can go in chapter and verse from her auto biography. >> yesterday judd who made the decision weeks ago not to run called the tape

ashley judd, the actress. now the senator's office says someone bugged their meeting. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel from capitol hill. >> yes, the campaign manager is accusing the left of using watergate-style tactics to bug his headquarters. senator mcconnell up for reelection in 2014. it's no secret that democrats would love to defeat him. i'm told the senator republican campaign is working with the fbi in louisville about the-- talking to them about these recordings. mcconnell campaign manager says quote, obviously, a recording device of some kind was placed in senator mcconnell's campaign office without consent. by whom and how that was accomplished presumably will be result after criminal investigation. at the time of the recording, actress ashley judd was considering challenging mcconnell so there's questions of her ties to tennessee and votes at the 2012 convention. and preparing to take on judd's position suggesting she's anti-coal, her position on climate change and favoring cap and trade. they also play a recording of judd saying san francisc

that's the one thing i can tell you for sure. >> and ashley judd's spokesperson has issued a statement is yet another example of the politics of personal destruction that embody mitch mcconnell and are pervasive in washington, d.c. we expected nothing less than mitch mcconnell and his camp than to take a personal struggle such as depression which many americans cope with on a daily basis and turn it into a laughing matter. every day it become clear how much we need change in washington from this kind of rhetoric and actions. so they are going after her on personal stuff and she is acknowledging that and firing back at him. and you're right. this is not going away. meanwhile, the gun debate will continue. 2:00, the vice president, the attorney general, and they will of course, the vice president will be talking to joe scarborough tomorrow for "morning joe" on thursday at a town hall meeting on guns. this is the key week. guns, immigration, now i'm hearing maybe monday is the day for immigration. that they need a couple more days to pull this all together. >> a huge week and i would say

which aides to senate republican leader mitch mcconnell laughed as someone described actress ashley judd as mentally imbalanced. at one point she was considering running for his senate seat. his spokesperson blasted mcconnell with blasting her. mcconnell today would not talk about the recording except to blame the left for bugging his office. the liberal and san francisco-based publication "mother jones" says the recording was given to them with the assurance it was not the product of a watergate style bugging. >>> overseas the u.s. is prepared to battle north korea if necessary. that's what the admiral sam lock here said, he can't recall a more tense time on the korean peninsula. he say it is u.s. will be able to shoot downey north korean missile but only recommends intercepting it if it threatens the u.s. or any of our allies. today japan employed missile interceptors around tokyo and posted destroyers offshore. >>> this icon nick image of the saddam hussein statue seen around the world. many thought the fall would have meant a peaceful transition to democracy. today insurgent attacks

he is talking about let's go after ashley judd for her mental health issues.high ground to talk b how horrible everybody is. >> the complaining to people complaining that they got caught doing so. >> right. >> is what they are doing? >> in connection to that, i have missed his moral outrage over all of the other taping incidents we have had in the past couple of years. there have been a number of taping incidents where there were some right-wing bloggers who had taped -- set up an incident at parenthood attempting to be pumps seeking abortions for prostitutes. >> james o'keefe. >> james o'keefe. thank you. >> with him doing because i haven't heard about him in awhile. james 0 cave had attempted to bug senator maryland renewlandrieu. it seems his outrage is being caught at his own behavior. >> how about obama was heard talks talk being guns and bibles. >> yeah. something like that. again, no outrage there. >> good point? >> conservatives used that a great deal against obama. i think we could agree taking people isn't okay. it's not a good -- inc., it's a pretty

"dancing with the stars" had an awkward moment last night when the judge criticized wynona judd's dancing>> well, you're like mount rushmore. you look magnificent but you don't move. it had no rhythm. there was no hip action. you kept going wrong. you know, i don't want to be nasty to anyone. i know how hard this is -- >> no, you don't. >> bruno. >> ouch. well the stars came out for tomorrow hanks broadway debut and nora efron's lucky guy. regis philbin, larry david, barbara walters, martin short and mayor bloomberg approximate. he did not get a soda at the concession stand by the way. heidi klum saved her son and a nanny in a dangerous riptide. jay leno and jimmy fallon decided to sing away the tonight show rumors. ♪ tonight, tonight ♪ >> they like each other. i'm betty nguyen. this is first look. way too early starts right now. >>> good tuesday morning to you. i'm peter alexander. this is way too early. obviously not just a clever name. thanks for getting up with us today. we appreciate it. it is tuesday, april 2nd. there's a lot going on. we'll start with connecticut lawmakers upping t

. >> sean: and ashley judd. >> this compromise bill, where they tell us what it's going to do, but won't let us read the bill, this fake poll about 90% supporting these idiotic counterproductive gun proposals of the democrats that will make it more difficult for the law-abiding protecting the innocent to get guns. i mean, where is that poll? can we see that poll? they lie to people in polls. a universal background checks, 40% of guns aren't subject to a background check. that is a lie, said to be a lie by "the washington post." all guns sold by a licensed gun dealer, including guns at gun shows, more than 90% of guns at gun shows, are sold by licensed gun dealers. all subject to background checks. >> sean: you know who's been the biggest advocate, helped the gun industry sell more guns, more than any other person? that would be barack obama. >> salesman of the year at every gun show. >> sean: in new york, for example, under mayor gallon, violent crime dropped 56%, murders down by 2/3, robberies fell 67%, aggravated assault. everything went down. >> not only that, but there's straight gun

secret tapes released by "mother jones" we hear mcconnell's campaign staff planning how to bring down judd in case she decided to run against him. now an ethics watch dog is filing a complaint calling on officials to investigate whether mcconnell broke the law by using senate staff and resources to conduct research against judd. it's a serious allegation, an issue that surfaced on these mcconnell campaign tapes. >> so i'll just preface my comments that this reflects the work of a lot of folks. josh, jesse, fill, lots of la's. >> it's probably referred to legislative aides, staff member and not on taxpayers' dimes and this is the question tonight. did one of the most powerful republicans in washington break federal law? let's try and get an answer. joining me now is melanie shown, executive director of the watchdog group crew. they filed the ethics complaint. let me thank you for being here tonight. >> well, it's a pleasure to be with you. >> let me ask straight out, why did your group call for the investigation into the mcconnell campaign? >> well, look, if senator mcconnell was misusing h

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ashley judd calls it evidence of senator mcconnell's politics of destruction. she announced last month she's not running for senate and perhaps we know now why. george? >> "mother jones" also had that one about mitt romney too, that 47%. do we have any idea at all how this tape might have been made? >> reporter: it's difficult to tell. this is a small group. just his strategists in that one room, so it's possible that one of them leaked it. maybe they were angry, didn't get paid, something like that. it's also possible there was a bug in the room. that's at least what the mcconnell people say but no evidence of that yet. >> to be continued. >>> now to that elaborate hoax that was targeting televangelist joes osteen. a fake website saying the famous pastor had given up the christian faith went viral. osteen came out to deny and this morning, the hoaxster is coming out to say why he did it. >> reporter: the idea that televangelist joel osteen was giving up his ministry made headlines around the world. >> all is well. i still have my faith. nothing is changed. >>

fbi probes ashley judd tape. you know, there's something here -- i'm not a media critic, howard. we have howard here and we have david corn here, two real pros. why did the media go for the second game of the double header. the big story is what it's going to say about the story of mitch mcconnell. everyone went after the red herring. by whom? mitch mcconnell. the story here is what's going on in the room and he turned it into who told you. >> two ways, and the media went for it, by and large, because the magic letters "fbi," they carry a whole lot of weight. that's number one. the other thing he did and his aides did is scream about the left conspiracy. >> but the key thing there is, and i wrote a piece for huff post about this just now, talking about my sources in kentucky, mitch mcconnell still, even to this day, has a problem with the conservative base. >> losing the primary. >> of the republican party in kentucky. at the bottom of the transcript david got, there's a throwaway line the aides say, don't worry, boss, we're going to look at the primary challengers, too. >> let's

specifically, actress ashley judd, who i wanted to run.listen to a few clips of this recording. [ muffled audio ] >> ashley judd, a person -- [ inaudible ] >> she's clearly emotionally unbalanced. chapter and verse and autobiography about she suffered from suicidal tendencies, she was hospitalized for 42 days and had a mental breakdown. clearly a traditional american family. she described having children as selfish and thinks it's unconscionable to breed. she also is critical of fathers giving away their daughters in marriage ceremonies. she says it's a common vestige of male domestinion over a woma reproductive status. >> the senator's office is saying someone may have bugged their office before the meeting. the fbi has been called in to investigate. when ask good what happened, senator mcconnell had this to say earlier -- >> last month they were attacking my wife's ethnicity. and then apparently also unbeknownst to us at the time they were bugging our headquarters. a nixonion move. this is what you get from the political left in america

i mean, it's been documented. >> that is a reference to ashley judd. respond in part by saying this -- we expected nothing less from mitch mcconnell and his camp to take a personal struggle such as depression, which many americans cope with on a daily basis, and turn it into a laughing matter." is discussion of a possible attack on mental health lines now politics as usual, david? is that the standard we would expect from a man as robust, arodite, as the great mitch mcconnell? >> the interesting thing is if you listen to the whole tape, you see mitch mcconnell doesn't participate that much. he's there listening. but at no time does he say, i don't want to do this, i don't want to go there, i don't want to go into her mental health history, i don't want to go into her religious views. there was plenty of material about policy matters, climate change, coal, supporting obama, supporting obama care that would have given him enough material for a senate race in kentucky. that i think is all fair game. and yet here is the guy who is the leading republican, r

wynonna judd, she's not stealing no scores, wynonna judd, "dancing with the stars." prom. rocker. >> not with the pole, no. >> you didn't do the pole? >> but i think wynonna is trying. she's getting in there. d.l. hughley, did you guys see d.l. hughley? >> yeah. >> what did you think? >> some white men can't jump. some black men can't dance. >> what is andy telling you about how this is going? >> andy is doing great. he is loving life and he's loving the show. he's doing it. d.l. is trying. d.l. hughley is trying but he's funny and that's keeping people, you know, keeping them -- >> do you think andy can go the distance? >> i absolutely believe andy can go the distance. it's coming out. you see that quirkiness, that boyish charm. andy, i think he's going to go far. >> at the end of the day people want to see people who can really dance. how much does his charm and hard work -- >> you think he can't dance? >> every week -- >> he got the bigger improvement -- >> everybody wants to see a story which is why the all-stars didn't do so well. they like the story, they like