mary landrieu leads by more than 20 points. that's a little misleading. landrieu is going to need 50% to avoid a runoff. it does show she's very much in that game. finally in kentucky, republican institution mitch mcconnell is barely fending off allison lundergan grimes. 44% to 43% the margin there. joining me, howard fineman and michael tomasky. howard, i'll start with you. we've always known kentucky is going to be a dog fight. we've had indications that arkansas was a little more favorable to democrats than people had been thinking, so in one sense this is confirming there have been a sense for a little while now, but the big take away for me, when i take a step back, it's almost shocking to think of the south, this region that's moved so decisively against president obama, none are states he carried in 2012, the south could be the salvation of democrats in 2014. >> well, it's remarkable, because in part, obamacare, which the republicans staked everything on, while it still might be a problem even in some of these southern states for sure, is not quite

landrieu: thank you, mr. president. i think that we have prepared to have a -- several unanimous consent requests regarding the issue of how to care for veterans in our country. i first want to begin by thanking senator sanders for his extraordinary leadership on the issue of caring for and supporting veterans, their families, their dependents, and the communities in which veterans live. there's been no stronger voice on the senate floor for veterans on either side of the aisle than senator sanders, and i really appreciate his leadership. he has been spending a great deal of time on the floor explaining the importance of his legislation. he's joined me today to talk further about it. but inside of this very important major piece of legislation, there is a piece of it that passed the house unanimously that would authorize the construction of 27 major medical facility leases in 18 states and in puerto rico. one -- two of which would be in lazy. one in -- in louisiana, one in lafayette, one the in lake charles. i've been l

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marry landrieu tops the republican field by more than 20 points.lthough she'll have to survive a runoff if she can't get 50%. and kay hagan holds a slight lead over her opponents. the new website we love called the upshot, nate joins us now. it was interesting in the south you write democratic incumbents have won 85% of the time since 1990. 70% of time since 2000. so we hear doom and gloom. the power of the incumbency is quite strong. >> it is. and i think that the case against being so strong mainly comes from 2010 when democratic house incumbents were almost uniformly defeated. but then just two years later in 012, democratic senators were relocated and significantly outperformed president obama in southern stretches of the states. bill nelson did 16 points better than the president. and the president lost arkansas and louisiana by 17 and 24 points. so if nelson who is not the world's strongest candidate can do 16 points better than the president in the florida panhandle, it's not hard for imagine how mary landrieu or mark pryor could do so well

the controversy surrounding senator mary landrieu's ad campaign. fine, losing a head is worth than losing a tooth. >>> and around the watercooler, that john hand or john draper hanging out on "sesame street." how we know it's definitely not the character from "mad man men." wait till you see. ♪ you can tell me how to get how to get to sesame street ♪ they're who we protect. they're why we make life less complicated. it's about people. we are volvo of sweden. i'm bethand i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can. >>> okay. so earlier in the show, we talked about former new york city mayor mic

mary landrieu chairs the energy committee. there is nobody that has more power to impact the largest industry in her state other than her, and even if republicans take the senate, she'll be number two on that committee which is much better than a republican freshman floating around the senate who doesn't have the position and the power she does. that's another example of how you can localize her strengths and i think it will trump some of the national factors. >> and i think in a senate race when you're talking about statewide, when you're talking about a lot of money and attention paid, candidates have more of an opportunity to run on their own personal characteristics, their own policies and sort of dissociate with the national mood but erikka, we have a little bit of 2016 news that i want to talk to you about, jeb bush at a union league club luncheon today with cardinal dolan here in new york made the most sort of direct comments yet about whether or not he will run for president in response to a question from the audience

i want to talk about the mary landrieu ad.he's trying to use incumbency to her advantage, saying you might hate me but if you replace me, that person is going to be 97th or 98th in senior iity. >> there are states like the dakotas and south carolina and louisiana where they've had powerful senators in the past, specific industries are related to that state. there is appreciation for what a powerful senator in washington can do. look, my thing about this is after going through that list, i was wondering if i should leave the table. no. i think it's called making lemon -- lemonade out of a lemon. she's an incumbent, she's been there, that's what you're dealt with and it's an effective way to make a new positive. >> first off, we all got to get a laugh because she's not an actress but she plays one on tv. the ad's not really about incumbency. it's a weak attempt for her to distance herself from the president's energy policies. i think it's noteworthy that that's what the phony part is. she's voted over 90% of the time with presid

you bring a mary landrieu in louisiana.e is one of her as doing exactly what you were talking about. [video clip] i i am mary landrieu and approved this message. beenr years, she has a washington to many respect for louisiana. >> when it comes to gas reduction in the nation. >> like stopping offshore drilling. >> nothing about this makes sense. just louisiana. it is 300,000 people they go to work everyday in this industry. you cannot just beat up on them. >> when we were cheated out of oil royalties. >> antiochus in here and listen to the federal government say we cannot share a penny with you? i will not rest until this injustice is fixed. >> and see one. now as the chairman of the energy committee -- >> you think there are budget fairy godmother's out there that you can wave a magic wand? powerfulse to the most position in a senate of louisiana. >> we produce oil and gas. that is the message to the president. my job is to represent the taxpayers and this country. host: democrat mary landrieu in her ad, what was she trying

mary landrieu did. they have different approaches. the success of the law here will boost democratic chances, some s say. but that remains to be seen. i'm kind of doubtful about that. first, the people who got insurance under obamacare are a lower demographic, they're less likely to vote. second, people who lost insurance or had to pay more, have a stronger motivation to vote than people who gained insurance. third, even the people who gained insurance may not be happy with the high deductibles and the narrow networks that we have under the new system. they have not stepped up and said what it's doing for people of kentucky. obama is too bad a brand for defensem democrats to get close to at this point. once they see some polling, we'll see something of a shift. grimes has to say more than she has said about this to look credible. >> perry, kentucky native perry, a really interesting story for yahoo news about this. look at how the politics are playing out in kentucky and you went to one district, correct me if i'm wrong, the stop stat

and the mary landrieu ad is typical of what we're seeing from races throughout this country. whereas democrats are running from it, distancing themselves, talking about things they've done, they won't talk about the fact they were the deciding vote, they were out there advocating for it. in my opinion, i hope they take the president's advice, frankly, for our sake. but race after race, the reason that we're expanding the map that oregon, minnesota, new hampshire, virginia, are getting more and more into play because it's working. >> none of that is true. oregon, virginia, new hampshire are actually becoming more and more -- >> really? >> separate from that. separate from that. only three people. only three places in the country where people agree with you that obamacare's number one, number two, number three issue. that's national committee headquarters and the senate committee headquarters. the american people could not be more clear that they want to get back to talking about -- >> i hope you do believe that. i really hope, hope you believe that's true. because i will -- i

they're not running on specific needs in their state, shaheen and landrieu you just mentioned.hey understand that a midterm race is really about the president and his policies. it's about president obama and health care. is that not the case? >> what's the case is each of these candidates have to run their own race. they have to talk about and focus on the issue that is are important to their constituents, and what's also true is if you look at the success rate and the track record of these incumbent members, mark pryor, mary landrieu, mark begich, they're all ahead of any of their republican opponents and these republicans are mired in a civil war where the tea party has won, and they are consistently nominating the most extreme candidates and we're on offense in states as well. so you've got georgia and kentucky and even mississippi where we have a very good chance to pick up those seats. so this election is going to be quite competitive but we have to turn our voters out. >> would you like to see hillary clinton campaigning? >> i'm confident hillary clinton is going to be he

>> mary landrieu should be so lucky to be in this position today. no. truthfully there is not a legal pathway for this pipeline to flow just yet. the nebraska case is a serious issue. it is going to the nebraska supreme court. it has to be settled before we have a clear thoroughfare for this to happen. but on the other side of this -- and jobs aside -- and jobs are important. i think this is -- mitch mcconnell called this a shovel-ready project. jobs aside, the risks are extraordinary high with moving a pipeline through the heart of this country. you're going to have leaks, you're going to have spills and environmental impacts so we have to measure what those impacts are on the other side of this thing. the actual direct jobs to building the pipeline aren't nearly as many as some of the proponents would say that they are. will there be more subway jobs? will there be more? you have to figure that into the equation. i'm glad it's been punted down the road so there is more time to study this but mary landrieu and others should be so lucky. >> mitch mcconn

mary landrieu and mark pryor seem to be in the fight of their life. are you desperate to get something on the board zbrp especially on the heels of obamacare and that not being too successful for them. >>> the drone strikes targeting terrorists in yemen. what we are learning about these attacks today. and the feds have okayed powder alcohol. yep. powdered alcohol. just add water to make booze. is that really a good idea? >>> also, a recent satellite image shows something mysterious in scotland's loch ness. some claiming it is the loch ness monster. so that brings us to our facebook question of the day -- what do you think this satellite image actually is? tweet me. use the #le did ttherealstory. >>> a chaotic scene on easter sunday as a car crashes into a church. this happened in florida. police in ft. myers say the car slammed into the packed church just as the annual easter concert was about to begin injuring 21 people. church members used jacks to lift the car off people who were trapped underneath the debris. the driver said she was simply looking

mary landrieu, up for re-election in louisiana, released this statement. decision is irresponsible, unnecessary and unacceptable by making it clear that they will not move the process forward until there is a resolution in a lawsuit in nebraska the administration is sending a signal that the small minority who oppose the pipeline can tie up the in court forever. >>> jason riley, elise vee back, and charles krauthammer. >> this is not about delay. it's about trying to kill the project. it also demonstrates to me how how driven the president is. you've got democrats senator landrieu in tough senate races, mark begich in alaska is another one. the president doesn't care. you've got labor leaders saying, mr. president, tens of thousands jobs, well-paying union jobs. he doesn't care. the only group that has his ear is the radical greens. this is what he has to offer them, obstruction on purely symbolic basis. >> environmental groups, like tom stiers group is putting a lot of his own money in his election. this is rotten eggs for transcanada and good news on goo

remember, senator landrieu, not to pick on her. she was the senator who said it was the cleanest oil produced in north america. you be the judge. now, pryor, warn he, landrieu, what are they? they're all up for re-election. they're red state democrats and they're worried about keeping their jobs. they are afraid of their own shadows in a re-election year and there's no reason for it. look at the numbers in pryor's state of arkansas be 79% of the folks in that state think there should be an increase to at least $8.50 an hour. in warner's state of virginia, 58%. they want to bring the hike up to $9.25 an hour. in landrieu's state of louisiana, wow, 73% support an increase to $8.50 an hour. what is it about these democrats that can't stand up and say, i'm for the minimum wage and we're going to get this done and you can count on me. that's what the president is saying. meanwhile, tom carper, he got kind of luck yimpl you see there is no recent polling on minimum wage in delaware. it is so popular, why would they poll for that? but her

but having said that, landrieu is playing a very fine line here. it's important for jobs and your state and elsewhere, and jobs in general, but the fear is that environmentalists and those concerned about another gulf-type disaster get ticked off. are you afraid about ticking that group off? >> if you say -- first, let's make it keir, it is environmentally better to ship it by pipeline down to the coast, where on the gulf coast, using american environmental standards it well be refined into usable products. it's environmentally more harmful to pipe it to the pacific coast, ship it to canada, so that they can refine it with lax environmental standards, and that stuff blows over to us. so i would say the environmental sound thing to ship it by pipe down to to gulf coast and i don't have problems with that. we have some of the safest pipelines in the world in the united states. >> but congressman, i had darryl hannah here yesterday and she was pointing to -- a big environmentalist. chained herself to the white house fence and protested opening up in k

and the reason i do that is because mary landrieu is a really experienced politician. and she, today, for the first time, of any democrat in the south, said, i'm going to campaign on not repealing obamacare. that means other democrats are going to do this. and they're going to go after these guys who all voted to deny medicaid and all these -- hundreds of thousands of people with no health insurance, because of that. they're going to go after these candidates, these tea party people like tom cotton and the guy, cassidy, and all these people, after them for voting no, no, no, and let's take it away. and when somebody has breast cancer and they get health insurance, which they were denied for years because of barack obama, well, all of a sudden, those guys are on defense. and when you're playing defense in politics, you are losing. and that's what's going to happen to the republicans. they're going to be playing defense and a lot of them are going to lose. >> the mark begich ad uses exactly that example. i also think it's interesting, i want to show you a clip of an ad,

. >>> and in ad senator mary landrieu from louisiana reclaims a senate hearing from last year.ng to rules that prohibits videos in campaigns. in the standard, she uses the opportunity to fix a flub. take a listen. >> do you think that there are a bunch of fairy godmothers out there that just wish a magic wand. >> do you think there are a bunch of fairy godmothers out there that just wave a magic wand? >> and the photo of this connecticut senator richard murphy and richard blumenthal, quote, the exact moment when the selfie stopped being cool. >>> and aaron at the "washington post" joins me for first politics. good morning, aaron, thanks or four being here. >> thanks for having here. >> do you believe in the princeton study that says that america is where the rich rule? >> well, i think this puts into words and studies something that we've all suspected for a while is somewhat true. you know, the advent of the lobbying industry means that people who fund money into politics generally have more of a say in what kind of legislation ultimately gets produced. i'm sure there are plen

this is round two against mary landrieu. landrieu., well-connected, a famous name in the state, she is an incumbent, but it looks like the size of this spending in this ad, the toughness of having an iraq veteran being the voice of this ad can probably do some harm to her reelection process. martha: it could. mary landrieu has been in tough senate in the past, and she has prevailed. she is a shrewd politicians and she claims she has in many ways distanced herself from some of the things that are coming her way. she has also come out in favor of the keystone pipeline, which puts her in a difficult position for the big money on her side of the fence. let's listen to bit of mary landrieu's ad currently running in louisiana. >> four years as she is forced washington louisiana. >> the administration calls are simply wrong when it comes to oil and gas production in this nation. martha: how do you think that will cut it for her? the big money on the other side of the fence will not support her because of that. >> welcome a look, think it wil

mary landrieu, the chairman of the senate energy committee, she issued a statement really criticizingistration for its delay, and she just issued her first ad in louisiana running on her ability to get things done on energy in washington, and so for people like her and udall in colorado where the pipeline would have a part, they're really struggling with the administration right now. they need something else to talk about, and the administration is just not helping them out. >> 11 senate democrats, including several of those running for re-election had sent a letter to the president recently asking for a decision, a final decision whether to go ahead by the end of may. senator, by delaying again, is it smart politics on the part of the administration because you don't tick off or maybe you tick off both sides equally, but at least you don't finally disappoint the environmentalists on one side or the independent voters and conservative states where. >> well, first, chris, let me say i am shocked at the cynicism implicit in this line of questioning that politics intrude in important dec

but politically, think about it if you're running against kay landrieu -- i mean, mary landrieu in north carolina. they've refused expansion. what do you say about that? do you say it's a good thing that those people don't get health care? in pennsylvania, our governor did not join the expansion and there are 600,000 pennsylvanians without health care. but additionally, it's 1.2 million of federal money that would come into the pennsylvania economy that we've turned down. and $110 million to. pn hospitals sna th s that they getting. or in arkansas, you ear running against mark pryor, do you want oball ma care to be repealed so the people on medicaid because the arkansas governor expanded they're going to be kicked off? the people on the exchanges will be kicked off? what does mitch mcconnell say about those 370,000 kentuckyians that are on the most successful state exchange in the country, thanks to the leadership of governor brasheer. it's a devil's choice for them. >> i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you both for your time tonight. have a great holiday weekend. >> you, too. t

it allows people like mary landrieu, all of whom have come out and condemned, i don't understand whathite house is doing, a lot better than if he real zi does not want to approve the pipeline, better than canceling that project in the midst of a re-election race. it is not their ideal outcome but worgs the by far. >> karen, let me play devil's advocate. if you're mary landrieu and saying reelect me, i'm so powerful, i have a real impact and chair of the senate energy committee, and you can't persuade the state department and president to approve this pipeline after six years, what does that say about your power? >> it does put some of these democrats in a bad spot but the other concern that the white house has is keeping the base energized and especially the base that opens up their wallets and writes checks energized and we've seen a number of moves on the part of this president this year. he backed off of change cpi and budget which would have cut social security benefits or reduced them. he backed off of trade promotion authority. he's done a number of moves to sort of satisfy the

yes, senator landrieu has asked me very forcefully to move forward on this provision on more than one occasion. and my response to senator landrieu, who voted for the comprehensive legislation, unlike thing, senator vitter, is the same. and second of all, what the veterans organizations of this country want is for the united states congress to recognize the very, very serious problems facing the veterans community. what i can tell my colleague from louisiana is that to the best of my knowledge, the veterans organizations have been to your office, and we are trying to get some specific objections as to why you are not supporting this legislation. and we have not gotten that. so i would say to my colleague from louisiana, come forward, tell me what you disagree with, what you have not really done yet. and i look forward to working with you. i agree we have got to work together. i am offering you that opportunity. tell me what you don't like. let's get a piece of legislation that the veterans of this country need and want and will be proud of. and with that, madam president, i believe i

now you have some moderate democrats like landrieu who's up for reelection pushing this. it shows by the administration waiting so long to decide it they've guaranteed it's a midterm election issue. >>> the former irs official at the center of the tax agency's targeting scandal is under even more pressure tonight to talk. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel on the latest move against lois lerner. >> contempt report is ordered. >> reporter: by 21-12 party line vote, the house is recommended that they find lois lerners in contempt of congress for refusing to answer the questions about targeting of conservative groups. last may lerner told the committee she was innocent. >> that's not the way our system works! you have to answer the other side's questions! i think these questions are fair. the tea party is very dangerous. dangerous to whom? who, ms. lerner? who thinks they're dangerous? you? >> the american taxpayers certainly don't get to plead the fifth and escape all accountability when the irs audits them. >> reporter: democrats say if getting lerner to talk i

and mary landrieu said it is unacceptab unacceptable, and unnecessary. and mark begich, i am appalled for the foot dragging on this keystone project. and swipes from mitch mcconnell commenting on the president's year of action saying i guess he was not serious about having a pen and a phone. and let's bring in aisha moody mills from thegrio.com, and republican aid joe watkins. let's start with you, aisha, not mincing the words there, but t net-net, how does this hurt them? >> well, i don't necessarily think it hurts them, but it is a delay. you know, the reality is that there is a much bigger picture to the happen in the midterm elections and making this decision was calculated in that the president wants to create time and space where his decision is not going to affect anything politically, and not going to be seen as a political gesture. >> and joe, i want to play a little bit of sound from you, from the dnc chair debbie w wassermann schultz. >> as a member of congress who represents hundreds of thousands of people of florida i want to make shure that

and mary landrieu has a solid lead. there's going to a runoff between the top two candidates, that one will get much closer. in kentucky the one state where the democrats have a chance to get mitch mcconnell in kentucky, we have a makings of a true tossup. this shows all these races across the south are very competitive. it may seem surprising that they could save democrats. for the last two generations, it's been the south that's been transferred. obama lost the deep south by huge margins, 20 points in arkansas and kentucky in to 12. obama's approval ratings are dismal. but they have done better than you might think in dixie southern democratic incumbents have won 77% of the time since 2000. when there's been open races republicans have been able to pick up seats. republicans focus in the south as across the country has been on health care, or as they are phrasing it, obamacare, obamacare, obamacare. three quarters of general election spots for house and senate races so far have attacked the affordable care act. here's

i mean, if you look at mary landrieu's statement, i think she's outraged, outraged.e are in politics. she's so outraged she can attack president obama who has 20% approval rating in her state. i think she's not too outrablged. probably pretty happy. we're going forward. it is clearly -- this is the political decision where the bases split it in obama's party between people like mary landrieu who were nervous and want the pipeline approved and want to see it create jobs and environmentals who don't. keystone has become something more than a pipe lien. it's now become a symbol, and president obama's doneors many of whom are californians and environmentalists, i think would stop giving money and criticize them sharply if he approved his pipeline. i think that's what is the big dominator in this issue. >> you want our leaders to make quick decisions on complicated issues, but let's move forward to talk about sean parker, the billionaire who helped found napster, who helped devise facebook. this guy is letting us than he is moving toward becoming a bigger financial force

and of course, it is going to be interesting to see if somebody like mary landrieu plans to have a tvhis information and right now, we have not seen the democrats do that at all, and when mary landrieu went up with the health care ad in december, she said she was holding president obama's feet to the fire to make these changes, and so it is going to be interesting in the red states and the blue and the purple states with the key contests of what messaging is going to be on health care. we know about the republicans, but we don't know so much about the democrats' message. >> well, this is information new that they were not going to have to arm themselves with if they choose to go that way with the strategy. very interesting. thank you, mark. >> thank you, tamron. >> and a setback in the looking of the missing malaysian flight. the submarine was unable to complete the first mission, because it has reached maximum operating depth, and it came back to surface and downloaded six hours of data, and found nothing. but they plan to the launch it again. >>> and parents and students are walking

the mary landrieu attitude is typical of the races from around this country.ciding vote, that they were out there advocating for it, they're talking about how they can distance themselves from it. >> do you agree with that, jason? >> yeah, look, you can't win about i running away from this, because everyone knows the democrats are responsible. the problem you have with a lot of democrats is they want to take credit for the good things in obamacare, but they don't want to actually say affordable care act. that is not a winning strategy. the democrats are going to have to own up to this bill, warts and all, and see what the consequences are in 2014. if you try to run away from it, next year it will drag you town. >> do you think, robert, that obamacare, the affordable care act, has it maybe turned a corner? >> i don't think we know yet, alex. the political reality is what we just talked about a few moments ago. the reality is, the young people that we think signed up, but we don't know how many actually signed up that are young people, are probably not going to

it is bad for landrieu and mark pryor in arkansas. i think it is negative for democrats across the board totally outweighed by tom steyer who says if you aproef keystone, my money goes away. the white house sayses they need that money to win the senate. we need to counter balance that with $100 million from tom steyer. they are making the calculation that's more important than another sort of hit against conservative state democrats, landrieu, pryor, i don't know if they are right about that. they may be wrong ultimately, but clearly they have made the decision. you can hang one piece of substance, you can say you are delaying this because of in nebraska the court has said we're going to review the process by which this was approved to go through nebraska keystone. so that doesn't mean the administration couldn't say right now we are for it, but at least it gives them the peg to say, we're unsure what's going to happen. there could be a new route based on what happens in nebraska. so we'll wait until this court plays its way out. it i

we're talking about what's happening in louisiana with mary landrieu.ve the first ad out for re-election. take a peek. >> for years she forced washington to respect louisiana. >> administration's policies are simply wrong when it comes to oil and gas production in this nation. >> like stopping offshore drilling. >> nothing about this moratorium makes sense. >> now as the new chairman of the energy committee -- >> do you think there's fairy god mothers out there that wave a magical wapd? >> -- she holds the strongest position for louisiana. >> that's the message we told to the president. my eyes are on the people i represent, the taxpayers, and this country. >> so feisty incumbent, the title theme here, will not rest. how does it do? >> that's right. this is really surprising at a time almost everyone is running away from d.c. this ad that goes up statewide in louisiana today and "morning joe" viewers are seeing it for the first time, she's talking about what she's done. so i told the president what i did. i'm chairman of the energy committee. so she's s

atkins. >> thank you chair landrieu. i want to thank you and certainly ranking member murkowski for putting a mission. it's very important to it's been two years in the making. there's been a lot of activity associated with our industry. we're american electric power. we serve 11 states. it's been certainly an area where we are very focused on the activities associated with the grid. we have the largest transmission system in the country. we are one of the largest generated in the country as well. when you look at some of the issues that have occurred over the winter, it makes us think about all the above strategy, this actually includes voltage reduction and perhaps load shedding. that's not a good place to be, particularly in the extreme. when people are living through extreme cold or extreme heat, people die in their homes as a result. that's something i think we are very concerned about. so a month ago i made headlines when they said that 89% of the generation that aep will retire in the 2015 was called upon to meet

no mary landrieu, big surprise there, no mark begich. but i will say what i think makes this so difficult to make sense of politically is because the facts don't really apply in the debate over obamacare. if you look at the 7.1 million figure, i think if obama had announced yesterday they signed up 14 million people on monday, republicans still would be saying the same thing. now, of course democrats don't want to run on this and that makes it difficult, but there was an interesting poll that came out a couple of days ago from "the washington post" that has given republicans some reason for alarm because what that poll showed was support for the law across the board is actually rising and it's up to almost half of americans now. >> it is. john, we were talking about this yesterday that a lot of those numbers of supporters democrats coming home, of course what's going to make this debate separate from, let's say, national polls is the fact that the senate in 2014 is going to be fought on republican grounds. they have the high ground and t

louisiana senator mary landrieu reacting, quote, saying the decision is irresponsible, unnecessary and unacceptable. alaska senator mark begich says, quote, i am frankly appalled at the continued foot-dragging by this administration on the keystone project. canada's ambassador to the u.s. expresses his disappointment as he points to evidence which shows the oil is heading to the south now in a more environmentally dangerous way. >> it's getting there on rail, and on truck. and they, of course, have higher ghgs, according to the state department. >> emissions. >> yes, higher ghgs emissions, higher risk on a safety side and it's higher cost. >> reporter: the keystone xl could eventually support about 42,000 jobs and carry 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day. the government isn't saying how long the review will take. in washington, elizabeth prann, fox news. >>> all right, thank you for that. >>> a powerful 7 point magnitude earthquake seven miles off shore in the pacific ocean. no reports of injuries. a tsunami warning was in effect but has since been cancelled for the area and the nearby

louisiana, mary landrieu.laska mark begich doing much better, republicans planning to go into the majority in the senate might not -- might want to check their strategy mid-april. and recalibrate it. >> yeah. i think they might. i mean, joe, as you know having run races, it's not easy to knock off an incumbent. number one. there are just structural r reasons why that's not an easy thing to do. democrats seem to have a bit of a breeze at their back. i don't know if we could call it a wind yet, but it looks much better for the party now than it did before. but just to ask senator murphy, is there an overall democratic message for this midterm election? is it -- we hear a lot about the koch brothers. we hear a lot about the ryan budget. but is there a single message that democrats are going to try to get across to hold the senate and to, who knows, make gains in the house? >> well, there absolutely is. this is all about giving a fair shot to the middle class. that economic dynamic. which is the reason why preside

mary landrieu. she's pushing for the referendum on medicaid expansion. and let me quote her, since you brought it up. she says the governor has clearly put his political future ahead of the future of the state of louisiana. let the people decide what is fair, whether they want to expand or use over $16 billion in federal funds. now, this is a democrat senator up for re-election in a red state. is medicaid going to be a good issue for her? >> it is. it's going to be a good issue in other red states. this is what some democrats don't seem to get. in florida, 59% of the voters support it. in georgia, same thing. you've got michelle nun in georgia, jason carter in georgia. they've been a little wobbly on the affordable care act. the politics are generally turning around, but they're really turning around when it comes to medicaid. >> there's so much chaos in the gop when it comes to health care, mitch mcconnell has a new ad out talking about the law. listen to this. >> mitch mcconnell, he's not a show horse. mitch is a genuine kentucky workhorse. last year h

mary landrieu.senator from louisiana, an oil-producing state, also mark from alaska and someone from north dakota. they're for the keystone pipeline. so they're going to get it both ways. they're going to say, look, the environmental lists are going to get a lot of money and pay money into the coffer, yet we can run in favor of keystone. >> that's the virtue for the president of kicking this issue past the election. this isn't exactly leadership. obviously been sitting on this for five to six years. so, you reside like to see a decision. but if they can keep mary landrieu in louisiana and others who are nominally pro energy from having to defend a bad decision in washington and still get tom spire's money that it a win-win for democrats. >> on the right, the conservative moment, coach koch brothers donate and they're called antiamerican and on the left you do something similar, bigger money, and you're allowed to keep the chamber open. >> the double standard is pretty appalling. when you talk about

>> you saw mary landrieu make the same kind of statement.hey'll distance themselves from the president on this issue. there is a fig leaf for this. or might be a more legitimate reason why they had to delay this. there's litigation in nebraska. the clearances for this pipeline are not all in place. and so there are some substantive reasons to delay this. what it does indicate to me, though, is that the chances of this being approved long term have gone down significantly. i would expect -- i don't have any inside information on this. it's clearly a decision that hasn't been made. i think the odds of the president approving the pipeline after the election have just gone down. >> okay. perry bacon jr., jonathan alter, always good to talk to you. >>> in office politics, what you didn't know about tamryn hall and something that pays tribute to an important part of her life. [ female announcer ] when sweet and salty come together, the taste is irresistible. sweet and salty nut bars by nature valley. nature at its most delicious. [ girl ] my mom,

answer your question, it is smart politics. >> but it is also not an unmitigated disaster for mary landrieuke mary to say distance themselves from the administration and prove they're independent. >> ron, are you going to say something? >> i just want to mention this. this is also foreign policy sh u. if you think about who is going to benefit most if we don't do the pipeline is venezuela. they produce the same oil that canada does. that's an issue we need to think about. who is our neighbor? who is our friend? who we reallyñr want to benefit from this? >> particularly at a timeÑi whe people say we should be in an energy war with russia. >> energy Ñiindependence, it really does in this caseÑi trum the environmental concerns. >> george, want to switch subjects on you. this week "the washington post" and guardian newspaper received the highÑi aestward in newspapering, the pulitzer prize based on leaks of edward snowden. then snowden appeared on that four hour call in show where putin took questions from people in the audience, questions from people calling up all over and there was a prerepor