i heard rob portman talk about presidential leadership.cember after the speaker decided he couldn't bring back a package that would get a majority of his own party in the house he didn't want to meet with the president one on one any more. having that conversation in public reinforced by whatever conversations people want to have could be useful. one of the main impediments to moving forward obviously has been the republican position on revenue. they have taken the position that you cannot close one tax loophole, eliminate one tax break for the purpose of reducing the deficit. that every dollar you raise in terms of eliminating tax rate has to go into reducing rates or some other -- as if democrats said we agree this is not a high priority spending program so let's cut that spending program but you've got to backfill the spending dollar for dollar. why should tax expenditures which are a form of spending to the tax code get totally different treatment in these negotiations? yet that is obviously independent. >> as gene sperling pointed out

rob portman in ohio.lso seeing an 18 opinion point drop and one of the senators is kelly ayotte from new hampshire who is facing angry voters back home as she works to try to defend that vote against become checks for criminals. >> i took a lot of heat. i will say from even members of my own party didn't like the fact i went to debate on this issue because we can have strong disagreements but ultimately everything should be debated and discussed. >> then we showed the pp poll a couple of days ago. her approval rating down 15 percentage points. can i say i shocked a lot of people a couple of days ago when i said something about ted cruz. when ted cruz actually sat down, had the guts to actually sit down and talk to the newtown family members and explain why he was against the bill. and kelly ayotte, you and i have both seen a lot of congressman and congresswomen hide in their offices. maybe she had to do this but she had to know. >> this was previously scheduled. >> she had to know she couldn't cancel it a

we're joined by two senators on that committee, rob portman and bob menendez from new jersey, tom priceharles rangel. let me begin with senator portman. the allegations have been looked at the white house, the inspector of the irs and this house committee has had its hearings. no one at the white house knew about the wrong doing in cincinnati. do you accept that first of all? and given that, what's the most important unanswered questions at your hearing this week? >> well, george, first, we just don't know yet. there was an audit done by an inspector general. a bipartisan investigation is necessary. i also think that special counsel is going to end up being necessary here. what we do know politics was put ahead of the public interest. it was done in two of the most sensitive areas of our government. and second, our national security. second, look, i was one of the people that sent a letter, in march a year ago, what's going on here? we're hearing from all of these consecutive groups. there seems to be targeting. the irs apparently took a look at it. responded to our letter, indicated th

i'm looking to see. >> let's get to rob portman. defending the company's tax policy and a special hearing. check it out. > apple has real operations in real places with apple employees selling real products to real customers. we pay all of the taxes we owe every single dollar. we don't stash money on some caribbean island. >> and senator rob portman, a member of the senate on investigations, was one of the senators questioned cook, he joins us now, good morning, senator, it's great to see you. >> good morning, thanks for having me back on, guys. >> i shouldn't admit. i need a commentary thing all the time, rob. but i watched you and i was cheering your questions. a lot of times, the public, the only people they see initially are people like carl levin and others talking. and then finally the officers get up in front of them and answer the actual questions. it's like night and day. and the one thing that i think might have happened yesterday, it was really useful in highlighting something needs to be done so that our economy can grow

and all it's "tanks" to ohio's senator rob portman and congressman jim jordan. it's a brave stance for these fiscal conservatives. congressman jordan who represents lima ohio where the tanks are manufactured defended the cost saying, quote, the one area where we are supposed to spend tax payer money is in defense of the country. the other area, you know, his district. and if the army doesn't really want them, that's fine. these two have voted to cut funding to all kinds of services and the tanks can help fill the gaps. for instance, meals on wheels got hit by the sequester. let's replace it with breads on treads. ( cheers and applause ). i mean, one of these tanks can barrage the elderly with sticky buns from three miles away. and we may not be able to pay for cancer patients' medicine anymore, but we can offer them one last bad-ass day of adventure. and it's not just the social services. i mean in the military the blue angels' budget has been splashed but it will be just as exciting to watch the gray tankles. oh, they're making another square. the best part is

rob portman say there is no choice.he president said he will not use the debt ceiling as a negotiation tool. how is it not inevitable? >> look, the president has been very clear. he is not negotiating on the debt limit. he believes the era of anyone threatening -- >> arguably he has done it twice. even at the end of the year, the idea of negotiating, but there has been negotiation through it in some form, has there not? >> there was in 2011. what we saw was how harmful that was, the idea that the united states to, in all that we have done in 200 plus years since alexander hamilton to build up our credit rating, are full faith and credit, i think when the president saw what happened in 2011 and saw the hit to the confidence, the economy, are standing -- our standing, he made the right decision. he will not negotiate on the debt limit. no one should never threatened a default of the united states as a way of getting their budget through. >> you are not thinking it will be used to trigger budget talks? >> no one for any re

senator rob portman ohio of lost a net of 18 points. new hampshire republican kelly ayotte has slid 15 points. >> stephen: poor kelly ayotte. apparently new hampshire voters don't want to change their state motto to live free and die. but, folks, to win the fight against these enormously popular modest gun regulations, we can't care about the voters. we can't care about coherent argument. we can't even care about what feels right. we have to go beyond all previous experience of political engagement and human interaction and achieve what i believe the zen buddhists call satori, wherein we are but empty vessels waiting to be filled. these senators must reach a state beyond truthiness, a complete nonattachment to anything other than keeping their jobs. and that's the word. ( cheers and applause ). >> welcome back, everybody. my guest tonight is the hip hop duo behind the sit song thrift shop which is the same place... please welcome mclemore and ryan lewis. thank you. >> how are you doing. stephen: ryan, thanks for coming, man. very excite

we have folks like ken mel man and rob portman who are on the right side.ut you'll notice whenever one of these guys come to do the right thing it's always because they have a personal reason. rob portman has a kid who is gay. ken mel man himself comes out and then is for equal rights. when these people before they knew somebody were willing to throw us under the bus. u agree with wilson that's important for our community to work those angles but i also think it's important to recognize that 98% of the hate is coming from the gop. >> it is hate, too. let's be very clear about that. do you think that john roberts, supreme court justice gives a damn about equal rights for americans rchl i think john roberts is a corporatist. i think he is there to rule on a whole lot of tax an corporate issues. i think that's why he was put in. i think maybe he does care, he doesn't care. i don't think he wants to go down in history as anybody who has taken away rights that have been earned from people. he's not that naive. he would not want that to be his legacy. >> what doe

. >> yes, sandstrom had been infectioned with portmannitis named for ohio senator rob portman who reversed his position on gay marriage after finding out his son was gay. i had hoped sandstrom's case was not too severe. >> we should have comprehensive immigration reform. >> wow. you were really far gone. >> this is about human beings. this is about people's lives. >> how are you feeling? do you have a feverness we have to make sure that they have a pathway to citizenship. a glimmer of hope. >> your ears are very warm. you seem a little warm up here. of course sandstrom supporters in utah were devastating. but the beautiful thing about compassion is that when given, it is returned tenfold. >> i was called a traitor, a latino lover. one person said i was exkrement that should be flushed down a toilet. i don't want to use the real word. >> dood do o, fessest, gah gah, do head. do do butt. >> i was cow towning, i was called a panderer. >> what about [bleep] ball -- [bleep]. >> i that kind of refers to the time i was called exkrement to be flushed down the toilet. >> i needed to know sandstrom'

i read your piece in yt national review" about senator rob portman and his thoughts on the irs and tea republican says "it seems unlikely that people would target groups based on their ideology without some direction." so it's not just the tea party folks we saw this morning who are furious, is is t? >> that's right. there's a lot of speculation right now within the right about the conservative movement about the white house's involvement. of course, there's no direct link yet, but the concern on the right is basically this. there's a sense that eric holder, the attorney general, is quite close to the president. and they think that he -- if he was up to something, or if the administration, the bureaucrats were up to something, the obama white house in some way, may have known. that's why you're going to see subpoenas, investigations continue. the president may have felt like he settled a lot of these issues with his press conferences today and yesterday. when i talked to senate republicans, when i talked to house republicans, they're just starting, martin. they feel this is really an i

you've been in this town as long as rob portman, perhaps longer.h his analysis that the debt ceiling fair or not has been the trigger to force these big deals when they happened? >> i agree with him that i think historically there has been surrounding the debt ceiling from time to time other issues that have been associated with the debt limit in terms of consideration. what i don't agree with him is that this is analogous to other situations. after all, for the first time in 2011, when they took us to the brink, they being the republicans, took us to the brink of default, that was the first time in history that we had been downgraded, the first time the crisis was really perceived to be real in the sense that a party or a group in the party, and in this case, the republican party thought that the default was an acceptable alternative that you could take the national debt, the credit worthiness of the united states, hostage, in order to accomplish an objective. one thing we discussed last night, chuck, was that neither the president nor ourselves a

from ohio. -- senator rob portman.applause] the joke and never gets old. ,very time he gets introduced the audience will live to regret the joke. anyway, with about i bring out gene sperling, chairman of the president's national economic council. [applause] a man of many budget wars, a veteran. here, mr.e last word sperling. >> my privilege. house are on the white side of things meaning you are probably aware of where the level of conversation are. i will start with basically the same question. what is the status of the talks? have they truly begun between the president and senate republicans? that seems to be where this is headed. is it fair to say it's formally begun or not? >> i would say but you have seen the president do is doing everything he can to create the conditions for a bipartisan agreement. you see that by the fact that he was willing to keep his offer to speaker boehner on the table, even put it in his budget even after the speaker had pulled it back. yet seen it in the out -- has done to senate republic

ohio republican rob portman did just that last night at an event in washington. he was also careful to point out that he has a long record of supporting drug prevention programs. portman is considered a likely presidential candidate in 2016. >> ah, yes, but did he inhale? >>> all right, time for weather across the nation. it'll be wet in the southeast. and that will go into the ohio valley and parts of the mid-atlantic as well, thunderstorms rumbling across the middle of the nation. and there will be showers from california into the rockies. >> temperatures will be just about normal for most of the country right along the canadian border. readings will be about five degrees above normal. it will be cooler than usual in the southern corners. >> all right, coming up, congress changing the way we all shop online. >>> and bracing for a new cyberbattle. the online attack coming today and how it could mess with your digital domain. >>> and we will return to the morning's breaking news, the incredible story from cleveland. three women missing for years found alive. the

. >> rob portman says the reason the story is so important is because the power to attack is the mostensitive area of government. >>> thank you so much. peter doocy. i was about to call him steve his dad. >>> the deadly attack in benghazi. the top white house advisor refuse to do say exactly where the president was that night. he even called the president's where ds abouts irrelevant. >> what did the president do the rest of that night to pursue benghazi? >> the president was kept up to date on this from the moment it started until the end. it is a horrible tragedy. these are people that he sent abroad whose lives are at risk and people who worked for him. i realize there's a conspiracy theory rumors since the night it happened. but there has been an independent review of this they provided 250,000 pages of documents out there with 11 hearings 20 staff briefings. >> what did the president do that night? >> he was in constant touch that night with national security team and kept up to date. >> you wouldn't say he didn't go off to the secretary of state except for the one time when the

lisa murkowski, mark begich, dean heller, rob portman in ohio, all voted against background checks, allseen their poll numbers drop since. in every one of those polls constituents say the vote against background checks makes it less likely that senator will ever get their vote. if you wonder why joe manchin says he is not giving up on the issue and is bringing this background thing back up for vote with whatever tweaks are needed to pass it, those are the poll numbers that are why. also, this kind of pressure is why. here is another new ad. this starts running tomorrow. watch this. >> i'm a grandmother, a hunter, and a gun owner. i've been the victim of a home invasion. i hid my girls in a closet, called for help, aimed the handgun at the door and waited. guns can protect us, but we're less safe with guns in the wrong hands. 79% of montana voters support background checks, so why did senator max backus vote against us. now that you're retiring, please put montana first. >> a new ad from the progressive change campaign committee. it is running tomorrow and also running in d.c. follows th

and john stanton, the washington bureau chief of "buzzfeed" interviewing senator rob portman from ohioe. john joins us in studio this morning to bring -- did you bring some brews with you? >> it is a little early yet. >> hey, you would be surprised how early we crack them open here man. last one was green head gin here at 8:30. >> i've always operated under the notion if the banks aren't open, it is too early. >> bill: we've even had anchor steve beer in here. >> we have d.c. brau coming in. good event last night. >> bill: congratulations. we have one little clip from your interview maybe the most important question of all that you asked senator portman at all >> like a dirty hippy with the long hair. did you ever smoke weed? [ laughter ] >> this is all off the record, right? >> right. just you and me. >> yes. >> you did. >> yes. i think i've been asked that now in 20 years three times. >> bill: the man is an honest man, huh? >> you look like a dirty hippy. >> you look like a prep school hippy. long hair. playing hackie sack or something. >> bill: you saw the long hair and you knew. po

your colleague, senator rob portman from ohio, apparently gave an interview with several reporters last week and he suggested it was impossible for the president not to know about this much earlier because there were news reports about it. as long as a year ago. what is your reaction to that? >> well there were news reports out there. there was, the terms of the irs commissioner, one of the reasons i said last tuesday at our leadership press conference he needed to be removed is he clearly knew about it and didn't, wouldn't give the right answer to a ways and means committee, to three different members of congress who wrote letters. he writes letters back and basically leads everybody to believe this isn't happening. if the president didn't know about it, i think the president needs to find out why he didn't know about it and be sure that that never happens again. these are, these issues are too big for the president not to know about. is, this is not on benghazi. the president said it was a sideshow. it is not a sideshow at all when we find out now that the facts are not what the ameri

senator rob portman of ohio lost a net of 18 points. i thought he was untouchable. according to the quinnipiac poll, senator pat toomey of pennsylvania who was the partner in the deal, picked up a net seven points since the vote. the washington examiner's tim carney is with me now. also sam stein is politics editor of "the huffington post." whatever your view, i thought your analysis was great in that column. it showed something new on the republican side. the enormous power of the hardliner, the tough guys, led by cruz, led by mike lee, and, of course, rand paul to basically draw the line. you cannot support expanded background checks. not at the 30-clip rounds. 30-round clips. not at the assault weapons. you can't vote for that, and that's what -- >> and it works. it's an inside/outside game. there are other groups that do this in washington, too. here you have the most conservative senators. they stand up. they take a stand. in this case, it's public letter saying we're not going to allow a vote on it. and then when senators and congressmen go back to their distr

because of their votes against background checks, meet the founding members, senators jeff flake, rob portmand kelly ayotte. after voting "no" on background checks, they saw their poll numbers tank back home. flake's approval rating plunged to a dismal 32%. portman's took a net drop of 18 points. and ayotte was a rising star in the gop but now she's falling fast. that's what happens when 75% of your voters in your state support background checks and you vote against it. senator ayotte saw that firsthand in town hall meetings back home. >> you don't want to regulate guns. >> you had mentioned that owners of gun stores, that the extended background checks would cost. i'm just wondering why the burden of my mother being gunned down in the hall of her elementary school isn't as important as that. >> now these republicans are trying to spin their way out of trouble. senator flake said, i've always supported background checks. senator portman wrote a letter to which he insisted of a background check and senator ayotte wrote an op-ed claim supporting background checks. sounds great but it's not real

in fact, it's own architect rob portman has defounded it. and representative michele bachmann one of the most notorious congressional gay baiters in recent memory, has just announced she will not run for re-election. with all of that good news, except for mc mc miss bachmann i'm a co-moodan while the boy scouts of america recently greed to admit boys who were openly guy also is keeping it's ban on gay scout leaders for mother let's go to candace gingrich jones half sister of former republican speaker newt gringrich thank you for joining us. >> i'm happy to be here. please call me candace. >> john: thank you. according to a poll, 1% voted supported the president. >> i think there is a tendency to kind of pigeon pigeonhole all of us not taking into account as much as there are people across the spectrum that means they're going to be some people in that spectrum who are more conservative. whether it's fiscally consider or some other issues involved in the republican party. it shows the diversity of the whole community. >> john: of course and b

that was rob portman making the debt ceiling threat, not somebody more idea logical. there's no incentive for republicans to make a deal with a weaker hand. it may be the last window the white house has. republicans of the house are going to run into a pr problem if they don't even pretend they want to negotiate with snalt democrats. they have refused to name their -- to the conference committee to begin their process of hammering out a real deal. yesterday, congressman ryan had an odd explanation as to why they're not doing that. >> when does the clock start? >> so, we do want to go to conference, but when we have a good chance of getting something done. the president should get create for putting chain cpi out there. wasn't in our budget, wasn't in patty's budget. if we go to congress early, i can guarantee you'll see votes on the house floor prior to going to conference where nobody votes and it makes it that much harder to be part of the final agreement. >> what's paul ryan talking about? republicans are afraid that house democrats will be able to bring up poison

. >> and the ohio senator rob portman said a special prosecutor could be needed to investigate the scandal. he said he is not ready to call for one just yet. >> it may be necessary to have a special council. even the house doesn't have the powers that a special council has. special council can enpanel a grand jury. it is a criminal prosecution. i am not calling for a special prosecutor now because i understand we have to let the process work out. hopefully my skepticism will be proven wrong. >> nbc senior political editor mark murray is here for more on this. welcome, sir. interesting new polls here. 76% of americans do feel that there should be a special prosecutor to investigate the irs. however, when we see it should be a higher priority investigating the issues or the unemployment and the economy? 22% say the top issue. it is an interesting gift the gop has been given. obviously americans are concerns about the irs. they can't overplay their hand. the economy has to be there. something john boehner has been saying since day one of the scandal. >> overreach is such a big issue and some

rob portman down 18 point since october as well, jonathan. >> that's arizona. classic pro gun state. their senator, very popular there, is just tanking. ohio, a bell weather state as we know. if these numbers hold up over time, and i hate it say this, one of the ways the passion might stay in thissish sue if god for bid, there's another shooting. at that point everything gets inflamed again. the one thing we know is that these things happen a lot in america. so there might be fresh fuel for this and the most fascinating dimension of this to me is that those who lost family members in newtown are joining the political debate. they're not sitting on the side lines grieving but jumping into the fray. and this is a hugely important development. >> jonathan, you bring up, god for bid, we have another shooting, where there is a lots of life. here have you a situation, and i'll go back to the tea party and those heated town halls, we may not need another tragedy for those who would like to see gun control legislation sensible common sense, whatever you want to call it

people in that room, all those people who applauded in that room are sending a message to her, to rob portman, and to a lot of other senators who voted no, thinking that was the politically safe vote. jeff flake is another one. i think they are discovering that for the first time, really, the politics of this may be quite different than they were before. and that a lot of the energy is actually on the side of people who want to pass sane gun laws. so i think we are going to see this come back, and i still think it's going to pass the senate. the house then will have to deal with. >> and republican senator pat toomey, coauthor of the bill that should have passed, has made things more difficult for republicans politically by what he said in philadelphia. let's listen to this. >> i thought that we had settled on a really common sense approach that ought to be able to achieve a consensus. i think in the end we didn't, because our politics have become so polarized. and there are people on my side who didn't want to be perceived to be helping something that the president wants to accomplish, simply

it's a message to rob portman.s a message to a lot of democrats, those four democrats who didn't vote for us. they better vote the right way if there's a revote or we've got to get a revote. >> absolutely. >> i think we need a permission structure, to use the president's latest phrase, to get these guys and women back into game again. a permission structure where they can find a way to say, i was sort of right but now i'm going to be really right. i'm going to do it right this time. erica, great to meet you. you are a star for me right now obviously. your mom must have been unbelievable. >> she was. thank you. >> ed rendell, as always, sir, thank you. >>> we'll be right back after this. you hurt my feelings, todd. i did? when visa signature asked everybody what upgraded experiences really mattered... you suggested luxury car service instead of "strength training with patrick willis." come on todd! flap them chicken wings. [ grunts ] well, i travel a lot and umm... [ male announcer ] at visa signature, every upgrade

there's pressure on rob portman in ohio who voted no. i think this is going to come back for a vote tweaked so that people who voted no on the first one can say this is slightly different. i think the big difference between this fight and almost every other fight we've had on guns is you're seeing the newtown families. like that courageous young woman involved, and you're seeing a lot of americans making those calls. i think one of the things that may have gone wrong in the strategy for this in the first round is that supporters organized all kinds of thing, including vigils that were very moving. i think the nra and their allies organized a lot more phone calls to the hill. i think you're going to see an emphasis on the pro-gun reform groups saying, okay, members of congress are going to start hearing from us. you're already seeing that happen to the senators, some of the senators who voted no. >> e.j. and manu, thanks, guys. good to see you both. >> good to be with you. >>> taking you to a developing story now. live pictures at the ros

it's a message to rob portman. it's a message to a lot of democrats, those four democrats who didn't vote for us. they better vote the right way if there's a revote or we've got to get a revote. >> absolutely. >> i think we need a permission structure, to use the president's latest phrase, to get these guys and women back into game again. a permission structure where they can find a way to say, i was sort of right but now i'm going to be really right. i'm going to do it right this time. erica, great to meet you. you are a star for me right now obviously. your mom must have been unbelievable. >> she was. thank you. >> ed rendell, as always, sir, thank you. >>> we'll be right back after this. why let constipation weigh you down? as soon as you feel it, try miralax. it works differently than other laxatives. it draws water into your colon to unblock your system naturally. don't wait to feel great. miralax. take the miralax pledge to feel better sooner. get a reward like a beauty treatment, a dance class or a $5 gift c

senator rob portman of ohio became the first sitting republican senator to come out for gay marriage. coming out of the closet. portman's revelation then led to a parade of senators declaring their support for marriage equality. today, a majority of the u.s. senate is in favor of allowing loving and committed same-sex couples to enjoy all the rights and responsibilities that are true to marriage. then there's the supreme court which heard arguments in two cases that could end the so-called defense of marriage act and california's state constitutional ban on same-sex marria marriage. but for all those amazing steps forward in the march to lgbt equality, we have witnessed a few stunning steps backward in just the last seven days. one week ago tonight, mark carson was murdered because he was gay. right here in new york city in the heart of greenwich village, the capital of gay america. on wednesday, senate judiciary chairman patrick leahy reluctantly pulled a provision from the immigration reform bill that would have allowed americans to sponsor their same-sex foreign born spouses for gr

it's a message to rob portman.s a message to a lot of democrats, those four democrats who didn't vote for us. they better vote the right way if there's a revote or we've got to get a revote. >> absolutely. >> i think we need a permission structure, to use the president's latest phrase, to get these guys and women back into game again. but we can still help you see your big picture. with the fidelity guided portfolio summary, you choose which accounts to track and use fidelity's analytics to spot trends, gain insights, and figure out what you want to do next. all in one place. i'm meredith stoddard and i helped create the fidelity guided portfolio summary. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. trust your instincts to make the call. to treat my low testosterone, my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or any

the irs in to talk to our commission headed up by senator bob kerrey of nebraska and congressman rob portmanfrom ohio and i asked i talked to my conservative frienns, many of these groups being audited, talk to my left of center friends, any of your friends being audited, no. i said why don't you share with me how you make these decisions and convince me that it is not what it looks like, terribly political and the response was you really are going to have to trust us at which point john kerry said we exhausted this issue, let's move on. this time around there is a repubbican house that is not going to allow this into let's move on. get to the bottom of this because it happens too often. stuart: is going to be on the back burner for much of the summer, granted the house has an ongoing investigation. that gives everybody the excuse to say i can't talk about this because it is under investigation. if they appoint a special prosecutor nothing will be leaked for a couple years. it will be put way down the road. >> remember, some of the people who have been the targets of these investigations can

. >> and yesterday we heard from another republican lawmaker, senator rob portman of ohio, calling for to look into the case. lori, back to you. lori: so, this isn't settled by any means. we've got two more hearings on capitol hill this week. my goodness. ashley: all the layers being peeled away. for more on the irs's scandal we're joined by fox news senior judicial analyst, judge andrew napolitano. judge, we talked about this. it may not be illegal. it may be unconstitutional. but as for criminal activity it will be hard to prove if it is there at all. >> the behavior which the irs has admitted is not criminal. it is unconstitutional. er here is what they have admitted to. they admitted to applying greater scrutiny to documents filed by taxpayers seeking exemption from the ordinary tax rules because of the speech of those taxpayers so they have preated people differently because of their speech. that is prohibited by the first amendment and they have treated people differently for unlawful or unconstitutional basis. that violates the fifth amendment, the equal protection clause which

martha: rob portman addressings hundreds of tea party members about the irs scandal at a meeting in cincinnati. he called for a special prosecutor to investigate. some there went even further. watch some of this. >> there is only one way to fix this, abolish the irs, isn't it? >> that march 14th letter to the irs said, what is going on? this doesn't make any sense to us because we're hearing from tea party folks all around the state of ohio they're getting these onerous questionnaires, the george, mentioned question about praying. we didn't get that in ohio but we got a lot of questions that were inappropriate. martha: where is this going? rogue agents at the irs cincinnati office were originally blamed for singling out conservative groups. but documents later surged knowledge of the policy were far more widespread in the agency. a lot of questions there. bill: a bit of a different storm to talk about now. incredible video from illinois, floodwaters crashing into a college. this is surveillance video. the water is so powerful, shatters the glass doors at carl sandberg college, flooding the bui

i think this all feeds senator rob portman's call this weekend for the need nor a special counsel.r portman by the way is a terrific republican on this. he's down to earth, he's not -- ears not being hysterical, he's being very calm and matter-of-fact in saying that we need a special counsel in this. of course a special counsel could be bad news for the administration, because whenever a special counsel gets into a situation it becomes not only who knew what when, but are you providing a truthful rendering of events that have occurred? and that is always where administrations get tripped up with special counsel investigations. jon: right. and republicans have been criticized for trying to politicize the scandals, if they hand it over to a special counsel does that that i can away the stench of politics from it all? >>i think it helps. they are definitely being accused, concern lee by the spokes people coming out of the white house, for being -- for politicizing this. right now you look at the polls that came out this weekend, and a majority ever americans actually think that these

rob portman from ohio, swing state, republican.ting, compared to last october, a lot's happened but down nearly 20 points. lisa murkowski, alaska, down february since february. ayotte, down 15 point. and mark begich down six, and not sure if you can read much into that but the question we were posing this last block, they were 60 votes, not that far off. i can look at this and say, maybe you can put ayotte, maybe heller, maybe begich is scared of some issue, and then this whole issue of a republican-controlled house of representatives where you have almost none of those republicans coming from districts that president obama kaertd last year. what do he we think of universal background checks being passed this year? >> i'm bullish. say the senate passes something, it would have to have republican support and it's focused on john boehner. you don't have to say yes, but will you let the congress vote on this? hopefully at some point he would say yes. and then you have to have 16 republican votes. given the momentum that would come fro