mark kirk is truly a great american.e's a person that reaches out, he doesn't look at the r or the d, he looks at the job we have and as americans how we fix things, how he protects in illinois, we're both americans working for this great country. >> obviously we're all rooting for him to come back and get on the senate floor. thank you for your time. >> chris, thank you for helping us. >> and from the senator from west virginia to the man who recorded the ballad the last public hanging in virginia, earl scruggs as we mentioned, he died today at his home in nashville at the age of 88. he is playing us out of this and we'll be right back. ♪ there's another way to help eliminate litter box dust: purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder on dust. and our improved formulas neutralize odors better than ever in multiple-cat homes. so it's easier to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. two of the most important are energy security and

senator mark kirk who you know is not doing well, we love him and think about him.spoke with him. we all spend our prayers to mark kirk. congressman aaron schock. he's in the audience. right back there. congress woman judy bigart. we knew he flew around with dan. so we're appreciative. oh. i forgot congressman don bold. >> bob dole. >> bob dole. >> close. >> let's see. house speaker tom cross. senate president. our entire state of illinois delegates. and you know what i have to do? i have to tonight because i didn't get a chance to do this properly. i have to thank our friends in puerto rico. we were treated so warmly, so graciously, so loving. it was a great experience. but governor luis fortuno. his first lady. we so love her. committee woman zori fanadas, ron coffman, james garcia and all elected leaders. there were so many that helped us there. especially the delegates' volunteers. and the people of puerto rico for their support. thank you, puerto rico. now i get to sort of just say what's in my heart. you know, mitt and i have been in a lot of states. we've gon

we all send our prayers to sent to mark kirk. we also have a congressman in the audience. right back there. congressman -- a diverse woman to be bigger. -- tadros moment judy biggert. i forgot congressman dan bold. bob dold -- bob dole. [laughter] our entire state of illinois delegates and you know what i have to do, i have to thank our friends in puerto rico. [applause] we were treated so warmly, so graciously, so loving. i t was a great experience for us. thank you so much. thank you, everybody. there were so many that help us there, especially the delegates and volunteers and the people of puerto rico for their support. thank you, puerto rico. now, i get to stay within my heart be. -- say what is in my heart. you know, mitt and i have got to every part of this country. i am so moved by the people of this country that are counting on someone to go to washington and to take things in their hands in six itv. -- fix it. [applause] >> fix it! fix it! >> everything you are experiencing tonight -- we want to take this country back. we are feeling as though strong, arms of gove

gregg: why didn't mark kirk, and john thune, republicans, cast a vote. >> mark kirk is recovering fromtroke. so he hasn't been there in weeks. gregg: right. >> john thune was not there all day. i honestly don't know what his conflict was but he was not there all day. gregg: yeah. energy secretary steven chu, told "the wall street journal" and i'll quote, this was several years ago, 2009. they we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasolines to levels in europe which at the time was eight or nine dollars. do you think the president and secretary chu truly want the price to go up? >> yes. i think their energy policy from the beginning has been to get the price of gasoline up so that other alternative fuels can be more competitive. and i think that had a very unfortunately, effective policy at pushing that. the president doesn't want to admit that on the eve of a big election but secretary chu laid it out very clearly and he hasn't hidden from it and said it directly as you just quoted. gregg: yeah. the president has also said he has not been given enough time, his administration

republican senatorial committee believes that the decision will not stand a colleague of senator mark kirk says that the senator's mind is sharp and he is coming back as he continues to recover from a stroke at the rehabilitation institute of chicago john shimkus says he has no doubt that the senator can cast knowledgeable votes today gov. quinn is appealing the fema decision not to help downstate areas that were destroyed by tornadoes or earlier this month the tornado that's what your harrisburg was one of many that hit the midwest over two weeks ago fema assessed the damage but denied the state's request for federal assistance fema found that private insurance state funding and charities would be enough gov. quinn is submitting an official appeal today it includes more information on damages and explains why a full recovery may be impossible without fema assistance powerful storms and tornadoes swept across southeast michigan yesterday this tornado was caught on camera as it passed through dexter the town took the brunt of that storm more than 100 homes were damaged by tornadoes hailston

dick durbin and sen mark kirk. more and no soldiers collector serve and afghanistan ceremony held international national guard armory in north riverside today. 244th army liaison working on border security afghanistan and pakistan meet counterparts away from families of 400 days. returning winter 2013240 and know it national guardsmen serving in afghanistan problem most voters encounter into the booth long list of unknown judges on the ballot how do you know who to choose and president of not turning for all that would magic and a familiar voice to push re-election message whoa! i'd love a set like this... ...well, i'd like a pony. we used kmart layaway - paid it off over 8 weeks. with kmart layaway shop 1000s of items across dozens of departments, all year long. there's layaway, and there's kmart layaway. s neruno absolute front-runner republican presidential race illinois could play a pivotal role this year early voting is running higher cook county clerk david orr 77% increase and republican voters compared to r

gingrich holds events there ron paul will be and champaign urbana senator dick durbin and senator mark kirk representatives met this morning on capitol hill with federal emergency management agency administrator craig fugate dick durbin called for the meeting after fema announced sunday that federal assistance to five southern illinois counties devastated by severe storms and tornadoes would be denied in order to discuss the state's appeal to that decision seven people were killed when the storms and tornadoes ripped through the city of harrisburg last month both senators and the governor have criticized the fema decision the chicago bears revealed today that it knew that brandon marshall was in trouble with the law before acquired him the bears picked him up in a trade with the miami dolphins the general manager phil emery said he went ahead with that deal even though he is accused of punching a woman outside a club over the weekend ray emery said that he has high hopes for brandon martial who was arrested twice for suspicion of domestic violence >>the bulls guard derrick rose is ok after

he doll well in illinois and follow the mark kirk model and run as a fiscal conservative and win big here, i think. >> the most recent poll had mitt romney at 35% and santorum at 31%. is that too close for comfort? >> this is a delegate hunt right now. senator santorum is not on the ballot for the congressional district. he is eligible for 44 of the 54 delegates to be voted on. we give out 69. 15 of those are super delegates. governor romney is in good shape and the war start and he has a ground game started. he has to campaign hard and he won't win everything, but we will walk out with a lot of delegates. >> what happened where santorum didn't get on the ballot. how difficult is it for a candidate to get on all the ballots, all the congressional delegation ballots in illinois. >> when you live in the state of illinois, there is a lot of weirdness and it's terribly difficult to get on the ballot. i tried to change the rules and we will try to reform it. you have to get a bunch of signatures and it's usually a volunteer effort. we did it for mccain. i'm not faulting the santorum campa

senator dick durbin contacted fellow senator mark kirk's office to plan a joint appeal. harrisburg's mayor couldn't believe the decision. we are definitely owed those answers. we need to find out how the decision was made, who made the decision and why. it is my goal to take care bar citizens and make them whole again without help we will not be able to make some people hold. the mayor says he hopes president obama will visit devastation for himself. here in the chicago area thunderstorms have moved out and we are bracing for record heat. . > truly raremiracle truly rare meteorological history. we could have record highs in the next seven days. record heat unusually early this year. . > also coming up. more fallout from the soldiers rampaged in afghanistan. heart terrorism expert tells us about threats of retaliation. and a final push for votes in the south as the gop candidates prepare for tomorrow's primaries in mississippi and alabama. i'm carol, and this is my cvs pharmacist. i had to switch my insurance plan. but then my prescriptions got more expensive. i felt help

senator mark kirk who is unfortunately not able to be with us tonight -- [applause] not able to be withnight that they flee is recovering well was the primary author of this legislation. .. through its welcome decision to seize iranian purchases starting in july which is a step in the right direction. and the oil purchases starting in july which is a step in the right direction. now the administration has attempted to rely on this ambiguity of its military policy by claiming at every stage that it continues to keep all options on the table. we've seen a talking point will not detour iran. [applause] look, what is needed when it comes to iran is the one thing the administration hasn't yet provided and that is a clear declaratory policy that states what we will do and why. here's the administration's mistake. here's the administration's mistake in attempting to preserve all options it has inadvertently blurred the most important one, and that is a determined military campaign to end iran's nuclear program. [applause] the administration has used the same language about preserving of option

it is a little more of a conservative electorate than the mark kirks of the world who's a moderate republican.s. senator today. >> we're going to find out how much rick santorum knows about business. i had a business executive tell me one time, you can't beat pr, you can't eat pr, you have to make the numbers work sooner or later. what -- i want to ask you, chuck, what is going to be mitt romney's strategy when it comes to message in illinois? the numbers that you just put up, undeniable. he's all over the advertising. but what does he have to do in illinois to make sure he wins that state? >> well, i think, and what's interesting, as you see, he's putting up some of his own money now. before they left it all to the super pac. the super pac does the negative ads, all of the santorum is not electable and santorum is not a real conservative, he's a washington guy, former lobbyist. they're going to continue on that messaging. what you're going to see romney do, they seem to need to have a positive message, talk about their plan, talk a little bit more about what they want to do on the tax front.

it is a little more of a conservative electorate than the mark kirks of the world who's a moderate republican.s. senator today. >> we're going to find out how much rick santorum knows about business. i had a business executive tell me one time, you can't beat pr, you can't eat pr, you have to make the numbers work sooner or later. what -- i want to ask you, chuck, what is going to be mitt romney's strategy when it comes to message in illinois? the numbers that you just put up, undeniable. he's all over the advertising. but what does he have to do in illinois to make sure he wins that state? >> well, i think, and what's interesting, as you see, he's putting up some of his own money now. before they left it all to the super pac. the super pac does the negative ads, all of the santorum is not electable and santorum is not a real conservative, he's a washington guy, former lobbyist. they're going to continue on that messaging. what you're going to see romney do, they seem to need to have a positive message, talk about their plan, talk a little bit more about what they want to do on the tax front.

mike crapo is one of the co-authors and mark kirk from illinois. obviously, lisa murkowski.to go down to the senate floor today and make that speech in favor of the bill was very courageous. my understanding is that republican senators are experiencing enormous pressure to oppose the violence against women act. it's really astonishing. this is a bill, as you say, that has had near-unanimous, bipartisan support in the past. the law provides programs for battered women. who thinks it's okay to allow an immigrant woman to have to be stuck in a violent relationship? and you know, the new bill recognizes the special issues that immigrant women face. for example, sometimes if their husband or their intimate partner is their sponsor, that person may have control of their documents. and so you need these special things. and yet the republicans are saying, oh, no, if it's immigrants, we don't want it. this is only unifying our side to really win these elections in 2012. >> no, you're right. but let me also say, i see you've got some other very good news knew. the afl-cio in their exe

. >> yeah, but the way to win in illinois is a moderate like mark kirk did, winning overwhelmingly throughoutstate. that's the message governor romney had. he's going to have a billig nig here, big win. i think you'll see a big change here in illinois. >> do you like the phrase lightweight? do you think that's a nice way to talk about a political opponent when you've been fighting it out after 24 fights? is that improving the dialogue or reducing it? >> i'll let the political consultants answer that. >> that's your candidate's lingo. do you like it? >> he's comparing him to president obama, and the reality is, when president obama -- that's why we're going to get someone in the white house who has some hands on business sector experience. >> had you ever met the president? do you ever get the sense he's a lightweight? i can understand a philosophical debate where you say, this guy, our president a lightweight? that's the least effective categorization of him, i would think. >> experiencewise, yeah, he is a lightweight. we lived with him a long time, chris. we had a lot of respect for him, we

in illinois that the only issue that really matters is being a fiscal conservative and that's why mark kirk won, he was a fiscal conservative. i think that's why mitt romney will do so well here on tuesday. >> okay. we'll get a response in just a little bit. back to you, pat. one of the republicans who has not endorsed in your state, a former republican governor, said this quote. i haven't deducted down in the ranks that kind of enthusiasm. there just doesn't yet seem to be that interest. do you think mitt romney is the kind of guy who gets people excited? >> i love governor edgar. he lives in arizona in the winter. hasn't walked the precinct in 25 years. he's opining on excitement amongst the ranks in the republican party. >> it's been the issue. does he have it? >> i think he does. this analysis from out of state and people who aren't on the ground in illinois is amusing. the people in this state are concerned with the economy. the obama economy. the pat quinn economy. they're concerned about jobs and getting the state going again. so the rest of this is, i think, a bunch of nonsense. we

senate mark kirk who is a social moderate, but a fiscal con receive tiff, whconservative who won electionss a good example. rick santorum is expected to get away from the suburbs to the far western suburbs of the city of chicago and down state. this too is an open primary. democrats and independents can participate. alisyn: that always makes it interesting. steve brown, thank you for a preview. bill: we are hearing from the obama administration that it feels the pain for you, that americans are feeling at pump, but some republicans say the white house is all talk no action. here is john john cornyn from our program last hour. >> the problem is you isn't just listen to what the president and his administration say about oil price, you have to watch what they do. and what they have done is create pair year, after barrier to more domestic production of oil here in the united states. bill: meanwhile what he's talking about is the national average right now at $3.81 a gallon. up 30-cents from a month ago. 70 democratic lawmakers now saying president obama can do more. one of them is with me, ne

senator mark kirk, who is unfortunately notable to be with us tonight -- [applause] -- not able to be with us tonight but thankfully is recovering well was the primary author of this legislation. [applause] and i know he'll remain vigilant enensuring that the administration will not administer waivers. and by the failure of the administration congress was forced to act, and the president, who initially oppose add strong sanction strategy, was ultimately forced to accept it against his original wishes. and now the administration is making, candidly, another mistake. just as it initially tooth rely predominantly on negotiations. it's now relying too heavily on sanctions, whether by the u.s. or by the eu, through its welcomed decision to cease iranian oil purchases starting in july, which is a step in the right direction. now the administration has attempted to rely on this ambiguity of its military policy by claiming at every stage it continues to keep all options on the table. but this is not a policy. it's a talking point. and as we have seen, talking point will not deter iran. [appla

senator mark kirk and i had an agreed-to bipartisan approach. we put together bipartisan committees. we each found our favorite nominee. we submitted the nominee to one another. we asked for approval. we got the approval. we have two extraordinarily good people here: john lee, proposed by senator kirk -- pardon me. john lee, proposed by me and jay tharp proposed by senator kirk. both came out of committee without controversy. two excellent nominees sitting on the calendar. for goodness sakes, i ask my colleagues why would you do this? it isn't fair to these individuals. it isn't fair to senator kirk, and it isn't fair to this process. let's move these tphaeuplts forward as -- names forward as quickly as possible. i yield the floor. i see senator sessions is here. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: this week the average price of the gallon of gas is $4. the national unemployment rate is 8.3%. and if one includes those who are frustrated, so frustrated they've stopped looking for work altog

think about mark kirk. he's more the mold of romney.hey tend to be more moderate republicans who do well in illinois. think about the history of illinois governors has not been the history of far right governors. i think romney is more suited to the state than santorum. doesn't mean santorum can't win. you will be more surprised if he wins than romney. >> there's a premise if santorum got romney one-on-one, he had a chance to beat him. the premise gingrich's withdrawal or collapse would help santorum. it wasn't obviously true. there are a lot of gingrich voters. he was speaker of the house, they will go to romney. that myth may explode. people say well, if he gets them one-on-one, he can beat them thchlt is basically one-on-one. a fair amount of gingrich supporters go to romney rather than santorum. >> in 2008, tim russert would always say barack obama would overperform by 5% in the exit polls. at the beginning of the night and going into the campaigns, we thought barack obama was going to do well and hillary would close it late in the

this to be the old mark kirk district. they would choose the nominee to face. it shows people where the real energy is. >> what chance do you have of doing that? >> my guess would be pretty low. i think there has been a lot of attention paid to the idea that they are making a comeback. when you take a look at the size of the majority in the ankle of the incline, i think it will be a really tall order. from what we are seeing, you do not see this tremendous frustration and anger that you might expect from some of the polls out there. when you add in all the factors, i am not sure you get the 25 seats you need especially given there are states where barack obama will not run nearly as well. i would say it would be very tough. >> what about the senate? things looked pretty good for republicans. then you had olympia snowe step down in maine. now it is a tossup. in massachusetts, scott brown is in a dogfight with elizabeth more. to republicans have a legitimate shot at winning back the senate? >> i think they do. it does not look as good as it did six months ago. th

kirk >>mark: the big stories we're following, the search for a missing teenager enters its seventh day. she vanished last friday when she was headed to school. investigators are still classified as as a missing persons case. it has not yet been classified as an abduction. there is a 4 day clinic at the oakland coliseum that offer free dental work, x- rays, eye exams and other tax cuts. the man in france accused of killing seven people has been captured >>erica: we have a lot of changes over the next several days. for today and tomorrow a mix of sun and clouds. for the most part we will be dry with temperatures and below '60s. as we head into the weekend. the widespread, moderate- heavy rain. you will need to keep an umbrella handy. here is a look at current conditions right outside the door. we will show you where temperatures will go into the afternoon and walking to the timeline of the next storm coming up in my next report. it is time for a check on the morning commute. the 80 approach to the bay bridge is backed up to the berkeley curve. the 880 approach is not backed up at all. on

to a great friend of israel who is not here tonight, senator mark cooke the co-author the search for menendez iran sanctions act >> senator kirk you are watching this tonight. please get well soon. america needs you, israel needs you. i send you best wishes for a speedy recovery. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, i want to recognize tonight, would you please stand up. [ applause ] >> he was born in belgium. his parents hid him with a christian family during the holocaust in world war 2. his father and many other members of his family were murdered at auschwitz. his mother served the holocaust and returned to reclaim him and brought him to israel. he became one of israel's greatest and bravest generals. [ applause ] >> today he serves as minister in my cabinet. [ applause ] >> his life is the story of the jewish people. the story of a stateless people who became a strong and strong nation able to defend itself. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, israel must always reserve the right to defend itself. [ applause ] >> i want to recognize israel's ambassador to the united states, michael orrin. michael you are doing an outst

kirk out of illinois, who we hope is recovering as we speak. >> thank you for having me back. i'm talking to my good friend markshe's going to come back. i need him with me to help me fight these fights, and he's just a great guy. bill: i hope so. listen, senator, why is it this way? >> i really can't tell you. you mean why are we divided on some of these issues. bill: and why do we see the veterans in such a hole after the enormous sacrifices they do every day. >> every agency has worked very hard to make sure they do everything we can to get the vets back in the workforce. we are trying to connect the dots, there are 29 of us in this veteran's caucus. we are bringing awareness to this. i hire a vet. everyone has a way of showing how patriotic as we are as americans. we fly the flag, we have yellow ribbons and we are all out there and we really do appreciate every opportunity we have to be a free american because of what the veterans have done. if you really want to show it now, this is the way to do it. bill: what would you tell our viewers? how can they help? >> basically, is if you're hiring vets, if you hav