Transcripts For MSNBCW The Daily Rundown 20140508

And sounds that shape his politics and what he expects to hear and see in 2015. Plus, we heard nina turner lay out her side and today the man she would like to knock out of office, republican john husted. Good morning. This is thursday, may 8, 2014. Ill get to my first sitdown, harry reid. Hes a study in contrast, mild mannered and sharp tongued. He knows the rule book better than anyone. A man who never lets opponents forget. He was also an amateur boxer and is apparently not afraid of a fight. Hes become the 2014 boogie man that republicans are looking for. What nancy pelosi was to campaigns in 2010, Senate Republicans are hoping to do to harry reid in 2014. I sat down with reid, as youll see, when it comes to his hardnosed legislative style, hes unapologetic. We hit a lot of issues under the sun, beginning with whether democrats will get anything done this year in the senate. I had to overcome over 500 fill i busters. 500. During the six years that Lyndon Johnson was leader, he had to overcome one. Mine, over 500. And its because of the deal they made right after obama was elected. So i hope that they will suddenly change. I think weve had some ideas during this last little bit thats been important. Weve had the house directed by boehner say lets do a budget and he instructed ryan to work with the budget chair over here, senator murray, and we came up with a budget. He also decided, the speaker, that we should stop playing around with the debt ceiling. During the reagan years, we increased the debt 18 times. Weve struggled since obama was elected. Boehner said lets stop struggling. So we did that easily. We needed a spending bill. The speaker decided lets do a spending bill and we did that, led by over here shelby and mccullski. On things that even Rick Santorum wants done, we should do something on minimum wage. That sounds like a long answer to say you dont expect much to get the president s desk. Its a long answer to say unless they change, we cant get things done, things that the American People want. Minimum wage. Pay equity. Those kind of things. Let me stop you at minimum wage. This is it seems it doesnt seem like theres any deal making going on. And i say this and youve probably heard a few of this talk about this on the air, i talked about it with senator santorum, you brought him up. If you could get republicans to agree to 9 an hour, would you take that deal . Chuck, i am known for a lot of things, but one thing ive been known for is a deal maker. Thats what i did. I ran the floor for senator daschle for all those years and you can ask republicans then, who were here then, i was the guy they came to to get things done. I know that well. Right now on minimum wage. It seems that we should have a wage that would get people out of poverty. Thats what 10. 10, that wasnt just a funny number i understand that. The president just a year ago had 9 is what he proposed. The answer is we can do a lot of things on minimum wage. But youre not budging from the number . No. But there are things we can still do and im waiting to hear from someone. But the number, someone after all these years should be able to work 40 hours really hard and be out of poverty. So you would not negotiate on the number. Youll negotiate on other parts of it but not on the 10. 10. There are lots of other things we can negotiate on. My saying this should open the door to my republican colleagues. There are things we can do. Im willing to work with you. Let me ask you on this, i just ran into a republican senator. I said what are you doing here . I said im sitting down with senator reid. He said ask him why there have only been eight republican amendments voted on over the years . They feel as if they dont get a chance to vote on their own amendments. Its an easy question to answer. Why have i had to overcome 500 filibusters on motions that mean nothing except to eat up time. We were given the assurance that will could be no motions to proceed necessary. Of course that lasted about a week and a half. So i say to my republican friends, let us get on these bills. We use of hundreds and hundreds of hours on waste. On the floor today i said everybody be aware out there in tv land, why are we doing nothing today . Because we are now in another filibuster. Keep in mind that im sure the bill that they were talking about today is Energy Efficiency. Its about the energy bill. Weve been working on that for a year. I have used different illustrations you had the greased pig. Working with my Senate Republican colleagues reminds me of chasing one of these little pigs in a greased pig contest. I used greased pig, i used the shell game because thats what it is. Listen. Listen to this. It was held up a year ago for a lot of reasons, one of which was david witter said he believes that people who work here for us shouldnt have health care. Okay . It wasnt health care. It was getting the it was getting the subsidy. Its getting health care. Dont be playing his game. He wanted to stop staff from getting health care. Its what he wanted. Every other business in america who their employer helps them with health care, Major Business and we should be a Major Business. There are 6,500 employees here in the senate. So he held that up and there were other people who held it up. So i was told, come on, lets see what we can do because we cant do things out here on the floor. Lets see if ron widen can do something with murkowski and the committee to come up with something and they did. They came up with some good bipartisan efforts. It increased the bills betterment so much. So thats done. They come to me, seven republicans, and say, okay, we need to pass this bill, its so important to the country. I say, good, ill do that. So then they come to me and say, okay, that agreement, i want to change it a little bit. That was right before the easter recess. What we want to do is have a n nonbinding vote on keystone. I say, okay, lets do it. Then they come back after recess and say we want to change it now. We want a real vote. I say, okay, well change the agreement again. Youll do an up or down vote on keystone if it has no amendments, youll do that tomorrow . Yes, yes. Theyve said we agree on that but lets change it again. On things that are so on their face its an evident to kill the bill. You feel like theyre poison pills. This whole process for the senate, at least for me its interesting. I know for some folks that is this idea theres a bipartisan criticism of you and mcconnell and also somewhat a boehner and pelosi that the leadership over the last three or four congresses has it and too much control of the political process and Committee Ranking members dont have the same influence to do things on their own. You hear the grumblings, you never hear the names with it, you hear theyre being told by leadership they cant cut deals on their own. What do you say to that criticism . I love deal cutters. I have a number of them in my caucus, i tease them about them being my meddlers in chief. Top carper, chuck shuman, dick sherman, mary landrieu. I want them to work. And remember what i did what i became the leader. I strengthened the committee system. We have not had a single task force since ive been the leader because i have strengthened the committee system. The problem is you have a Committee Like the Judiciary Committee that puts out lots of stuff. It cant move on the floor. The energy committee. Dr. Coburn himself has held up hundreds of things. Hundreds of things. And the republicans over here wont buck him. You dont believe democrats play any role in this . It feels like a tit for tat game. I dont mean to use this process words but theres no belief theres any tit for tat here . In modern journalism, everything you do is a tit for tat. You wont call things the way they exist. Whats happening here is the republicans stop everything from happening. Theres no question that the meeting took place. You can give me the tit for tat all you want, but the fact is we want to legislate. We want to take votes. Do you believe how much of the republican conference do you think wants to legislate and how much do you think they dont want . Theres some argument that says legislation equals more government so i think there are a number of republicans. The Republican Party in the congress, not in the country, but the Republican Party in the congress has lost the middle. Theres no middle anymore. The first term, which was a congress where we got more done than any in history. Susan collins is still here. Bless her heart. Lamar alexander tries. Rob portman is a kindhearted man, he tries. Take this Energy Efficiency bill for example. We have seven republicans who said they would support this bill. Comes right down to it because of this thing they always come back, we dont have enough amendments, even though we added ten to the bill. They talked johnny eisens out of it. We cant get anything done. You stood up for general shinseki. There is a sense of frustration obviously with how the v. A. Works. You know the back log. Frankly, i could argue the v. A. Has been under criticism for decades, plural. How do you restore confidence in the v. A. Without firing shinseki or asking he to resign . Theres clear lay confidence problem. Listen, theres a lot of criticism of the veterans administration. We have back logs of cases that shouldnt be as big as it is. Understand what this good man, shinseki, is dealing with. Hes no question of his patriotism. Hes a disabled veteran from the vietnam conflict. Hes the same guy that they fired during the Bush Administration because he said iraqs not going so well, we need more soldiers over here, they fired him. Because of the iraq war and afghanistan war, millions of people have been put in the system that didnt exist there before. Its not just people who have been driving trucks. These are people who have been injured. Tens of thousands of them. And post Traumatic Stress syndrome. A lot of problems here. So hes working and its a hard job he has. Its easy in washington, this kind of washington talk. Try to find somebody better than this man you dont think theres somebody out there better than him to run this job . No. I mean, its easy to fire him, things will be a lot better. Firing this good man is not going to make it any better. Speaking of secretary shinseki, will the fourstar general in charge of the v. A. Be able to hold on to his job . My colleague over at the pentagon, he got an exclusive with shinseki yesterday. Here is what shinseki told mik. Are you willing to accept full responsibility . I am. And thats the reason the i. G. Is down there doing the investigation. They want you to resign or be fired. Will you resign . I would say i serve at the pleasure of the president. I also have much more of my interview with majority leader harry reid ahead, including what hes saying about his own political future, his take on who should run for president in 2016 and a surprising accusation against the owner of the Washington Redskins. Theres a lot more well have tomorrow as well, by the way. As tdr 50 rolls through the buckeye state, weve got ohio secretary of state john husted here for his side of this debate and fight over voting rights. But first, a look at todays planner. As president obama continues a west coast swing, that is all fundraising today in california. Youre watching the daily rundown only on msnbc. Our clients need a lot of attention. Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. Low dues. Great terms. Lets close. New at t mobile share value plans. Our best value plans ever for business. Let that phrase sit with you for a second. Unlimited. As in, no limits on your hardearned cash back. As in no more dealing with those rotating categories. The quicksilver card from capital one. Unlimited 1. 5 cash back on everything you purchase, every day. Dont settle for anything less. Ill keep asking. Whats in your wallet . That corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. Ill keep asking. And yet, theres someone around the office who hasnt had a Performance Review in a while. Someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. Im looking at you phone company dsl. Check your speed. See how fast your internet can be. Switch now and add voice and tv for 34. 90. Comcast business built for business. In our tdr 50 tour this week, were in ohio. Its been a week since the aclu filed a lawsuit challenging a raft of new measures that will challenge voting issues. Heres what the suit claims. That by cutting back early voting opportunities, the Ohio Legislature and specifically secretary of state john husted are impacting tens of thousands of lowincome, elderly and africanamerican voters. On wednesday you heard candidate for secretary of state nina turner say husted is deliberately cutting voters out of the process. The lawsuits have been filed time and time against him because he has been using his policies to suppress the vote. None of this is by happenstance that the aclu is suing him, that the league of women voters is suing him, the naacp and other black churches are suing him. Its not about me. It is about the voters in the state of ohio. Joining me now, essentially to respond to yesterdays accusation, ohios republican secretary of state, john husted joins me. Nice to see you, sir. Chuck, nice to be with you. Well, let me just give you a chance to respond to your opponents accusation there. Well, theres a lot there. Its very interesting. We dont have election day in ohio, we have election month. You literally can vote without ever leaving home. We send everybody an absentee ballot request. They have a month to vote from home plus a month to vote in person at the local board of elections in 13 hours on election day at over 9,000 locations across the straight. We have actually done exactly what the aclu sent a letter to me in 2012 asking me to do. They literally said please, secretary of state, john husted, implement fair and uniform standards across the state of hai ohio, not different standards in 88 different counties as was the previous practice. We did that and two years later they filed a lawsuit asking to go back to the old system. Let me ask you the bottom line is there a lot of people who doesnt want peace about this. The schedule that were using right now literally was a bipartisan recommendation from democrats and republicans who run elections at the local level. I guess my question is is why did you make the decision to round down . You could have rounded up and said i want fair and uniform elections and the standard has been sunday, were going to do these two sundays, expand the hours and make sure every voting jurisdiction has the hours. You could have rounded up and you decided to round down. Thats not exactly why did you do that . Thats not true, chuck. Actually, the legislature shortened the early voting period. Why are they rounding down . Because of problems in a swing state like ohio. Thats not me, chuck. Thats the legislature. Do you think they made a mistake . Do you wish they didnt do that . What i want is a bipartisan solution. A partisan solution to these issues never is going to satisfy anybody. The only bipartisan solution on the table was a schedule that was given to us by the democrats and republicans who run the local elections. And what they wanted was a 28day schedule that allowed saturdays and during president ial elections, chuck, we will have sundays. But there are 2 million fewer voters during these offterm elections and boards of elections wanted to have says and not sundays. I dont understand that decision and i understand, look, i know there are other states that do worse things but why should a voter have more access to the polls in a president ial year and not arguably in a year, in a midterm year, and i understand the turnout differences but as far as a an ohio citizens are concerned, the midterm elections are more important to their every day lives. Go ahead. Look at the facts. Im fine with that. Im fine with any of these proposals. There are hundreds of schedules you can use and have a fair system of elections. We have to look at where ohio sits compared to other states. New york you vote for one day. Joe bidens delaware, one day. Barack obamas illinois, 15 days. In ohio, we vote for a month. We have sunday voting. None of those states have sunday vote. We have saturday voting, they dont. I literally send every single voter in the state an absentee ballot request where they can vote for a month without leaving home. You cant argue that ohio somehow is trying to fit into this National Narrative that the democrats want to say about us. Were doing a great job of making it easy to vote and hard to cheat here. People like senator turn aer do things like she voted to cancel friday voting and i had to defend the law that she voted for and then she complains i defended it. Its a bunch of hypocrisy. You talked about the bipartisan thing. Ive been at ththinking about t for a while. I dont mean to undermine your job title. Do you think the person who oversees elections of states in general that they shouldnt be a member of the Political Parties . It doesnt matter what a democratic secretary of state does, a republican is going to question that persons motives. In swing states, its a very difficult job, theres no question about it because no matter what you do people are going to complain. But i would say theres two ways you can look at it. When its an elected official, at least can you hold them accountable, at least you can publicly complain about me if i do something wrong and then i should be able to look at chuck todd and the rest of the people in america and ohio and explain what were doing and why were accountable. When you appoint somebody, then they send a hide behind the shield of, well, i was appointed or im not partisan and then they can act in partisan ways and theres no ways to hold them accountable. Im perfectly fine with being held accountable, to go out and explain why we made it easy to vote and how to cheat in ohio and why thats working in americas most hotly contested swing state. You bring an important point, which is ohio has a lot more openness in voting than many states. Thanks for coming on, secretary husted. Well be watching. Time for todays number in the data bank. 47. The number of days in marylands gubernatorial primaries. Democrats running for the states top seat and one of the primaries will win the governors chair, they share the stage in their first of three planned debates last night. It was moderated by my pal daufd gregory. Anthony brown leading the field to replace martin omalley. One of the main issues was the rollout of the states botched health care exchange. Up next, new details on another atrocity in nigeria allegedly carried out by the same group that kidnapped those school girls. Plus is russia really retreating from ukraine or is putin playing some games . But first, todays tdr trivia question. Who is the first ohioan to serve as Senate Majority leader . The answer and more is coming up in 180 seconds. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. Grossemisconduct. Ortho crime files. Disturbing the pantry. A house, under siege. Homeowner calls in the big guns. Say helto home defense max. With the onetouch continuousspray wand. Kills bugs inside. And prevents new ones for up to a year. Guaranteed. Nothing to see here people. Ortho home defense max. Get order. Get ortho®. You wouldnt have it she any other way. Our toes. But your erectile dysfunction it could be a question of blood flow. Cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be Ready Anytime the moments right. You can be more confident in your ability to be ready. And the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess. Side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. To avoid longterm injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about experiencing cialis for daily use and a free 30tablet trial. He gets a ready for you alert the second his room is ready. When sales rep Steve Hatfield books at laquinta. Com, so he knows exactly when he can prep for his presentation. And when steve is perfectly prepped, ya know what he brings . And thats how youll increase market share. Any questions . Can i get an a, steve . Yes three as amazing sales he brings his agame la quinta inns and suites is ready for you, so youll be ready for business. The ready for you alert, only at laquinta. Com la quinta tigers, both of you. Tigers . Dont be modest. I see how youve been investing. Setting long term goals. Diversifying. Dip you got our attention. We did . Of course. Youre type e well, i have been researching retirement strategies. Well thats what type e s do. Welcome home. Taking control of your retirement . E trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. Are you type e . The radical Islamic Group behind kidnapping 200 Nigerian School girls is being blamed for an attack on a northeastern village monday. Boko haram reportedly attacked them using local grenade launchers. That town is just north of the town where the Nigerian School girls were taken captive on april 14th. The u. S. Has pledged some for the of military and Law Enforcement help, mostly advisers on the ground to help for the search for the girls. Canada and Great Britain are helping as well. Michelle obama is joining the growing internet campaign. They have been daerelict, in my view, in protecting boys and girls over the last years. And president obama talked about it as well. We only need to look at todays headlines, the devastation in syria, the murders and kidnappings in nigeria, the sectarian conflicts, the tribal conflicts, to see that we have not yet extinguished mans darkest impulses. There are some bad stories out there that are being told to children, and theyre learning to hate early. Theyre learning to fear those who are not like them early. Nigerian police are now of r offering a 300,000 reward for information that leads to the rescue of the school girls. Now to eastern ukraine. There are new signs that Vladimir Putin may emphasis on may no longer be calling the shots for the insurgency. The referendum would give the region more independence from kiev and could be a step toward joining the Russian Federation but its not sure if the insurgencys pockets of control are signs of movement broad enough to pass the measure. At the same time, Vladimir Putin is giving lip service to deescalation but hasnt backed it up. He promised his troops would pull back from the ukrainian border. American International Officials say they have yet to see the actual pullback and they say putin needs to do more to ease this crisis. Keir simmons is live in donetsk. Is putin saying he doesnt want the referendum publicly but private live he does but wants distance here . Whats going on here . Reporter thats what everyone is asking themselves and inevitably with president putin, every time he makes a move, everyone gets subjected into the analysis and trying to figure out exactly what he is up to. As you mentioned, whats really perplexing is for him to announce that the military are pulling back from the border and then for that to be visibly clear according to the west anyway, that russia isnt doing that. And at the same time to make this announcement he wants these separatists here to delay the referendum and for them to then say, well, we dont want to do that, when they are prorussian, when we always considered them to be very close to russia. Weve seen the ballot papers, chuck, and they very clearly say that this is a republic, eastern ukraine, and it should be independent. Its very clear what they are asking for in this vote on sunday. The question, as you say, has putin lost control or is all this just tactics . Chuck . Keir simmons, well be finding that out. Theres a new survey that claims a large majority of ukrainians want to keep ukraine ukraine. Up next, what Senate Leader harry reid will and wont say about who should be the nominee for 2016. A more tdr right after the break. Ameriprise asked people a simple question can you keep your lifestyle in retirement . I dont want to think about the alternative. I dont even know how to answer that. I mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. I try not to worry, but you worry. What happens when your paychecks stop . Because everyone has retirement questions. Ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. To get the real answers you need. Start building your confident retirement today. Could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads youd take that test, right . Well, what are you waiting for . You could literally be done with the test by now. Now you could have done it twice. This is awkward. Check your speed. See how fast your internet can be. Switch now and add voice and tv for 34. 90. Comcast business built for business. We are the thinkers. The job jugglers. The up allnighters. And the ones who turn ideas into action. Weve made our passions our lifes work. We strive for the moments where we can say, i did it we are entrepreneurs who started it all. With a signature. Legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. And were here to help start yours. Back now with another number from todays data bank, 195. Thats the number of iowans who get a surprise visit from Vice President biden in d. C. Last night. Why iowa, you might ask . The v. P. Showed up unexpectedly for a Greater Des Moines Partnership on their visit to washington to lobby members of congress. The Vice President made headlines in september when he attended senator tom harkins annual steak fry fundraiser in the hawk eye state, which of course brings us to 2016, which is something now with more of my exclusive interview with Senate Majority leader harry reid. Reid, by the way, a ruthless campaigner in public and behind the scenes, we know of his early urging for barack obama to run in 2008. Is he eager to get back into the trenches in 2016. I asked him about his political future for himself and who he thinks is on the short list for the white house . You going to run again in 2016 . Sure. What would make you not run . Thats very more personal . Yeah. 2016, who do you want to share the ballot with . Who do you want on the top of the ticket in nevada representing the democrats . I think its pretty clear we have democrats that are viable and i think the republicans, unless they change, they change, they cant elect a president. Theyve done everything to dump on women, theyve done everything to dump on hispanics, africanamericans, asians, gay and lesbians. Who else have i left off . Is there a republican candidate you fear for the republicans that you think could win . I would hope that Newt Gingrich would run. Im scared to death of him. You say that with tongue in cheek. In all seriousness, who do you think would be their strongest candidate . I dont see anybody out there. On the democratic side, you didnt mention any names. Im not going to. I have a few names. Everyone knows i love the clintons. I wont see more. Including chelsea. Do you think there should be a healthy primary process . Rarely do i think primaries are healthy . Is that right . You dont think theyre good for democrats . For anybody. Why is that . Why go to all the trouble . It would nice to have people anointed im being facetious. I thought you were. You think it would be better for Hillary Clinton if she has a serious democratic rival . I believe the primary with obama and clinton was an extremely healthy process. I think it was portfolwonderful. People learned about these two people you were a big proponent of barack obama in 2008, not to say you werent saying nice things about Hillary Clinton, and you did. What about her is she is she prepared to be a better candidate today because of 08 . I did not campaign for either one of them. I know that. But do you believe cease a better candidate today . Than she was . Yes. Sure. Being secretary of state, what a terribly difficult, difficult job. And even her critics said that she did a wonderful job as secretary of state. Do you have any advice for her in what she should do to not make some of the to not trip up it wouldnt be saying much about me if i were to give the clintons any political advice. Why not . Because they wrote the book on it. You think theyre the best in the business on your side of the aisle . I think theyve shown that theyre really good. You know, we do a lot of the things i do a lot of the things that i learned from the clintons. Tomorrow on the show, ill bring you more of my interview with senator reid, including his full explanation of why he believes all billionaires are not alike. His attack on the Koch Brothers and his defense of billionaire sheldon adelman. The House Senate Committee issued a subpoena between general shinseki and some vets waited more than a year for care and some died while waiting. Several members of congress and veterans organizations are calling for the secretary to resign. Up next, a little southern exposure. Congressman jim clyburn will be here next. But before the break, our tdr soup of the day takes us to the rock n roll of fame in cleveland. Theyre not serving soup, theyre serving chilli. Is chilli soup. Well be back. Have an impact locally. Were using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. The trucks are reliable, thats good for business. But they also reduce emissions, and thats good for everyone. It makes me feel very good about the future of our company. meowright on cue. laughs its more than just a meal, its meow mix mealtime. With wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder its the only one cats ask for by name. By now you probably heard about a latenight call that my next guest received from an angry former president by the name of bill clinton, but its the surrounding political attention and what it means for the next election that might be worth noting. Jim clyburn, the third most democrat in the house says he was awakened with a 2 15 a. M. Phone call. He says the former president was upset that Hillary Clinton got whipped in that nights primary. Bill clintons speech the next day made the campaign suddenly feel personal. Clyburn says clinton minimized the win as it was a black southern event. The former president explained hillarys loss by saying Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in 84 and 88 and obama ran a Good Campaign here. He says the president ial reelection proved that the primary was not a black or southern event. Representative clyburn believes the climate is changing. His book is titled blessed experiences, genuinely southern, proudly black. Im joined by congressman james clyburn. Im going to quickly get through this clinton thing because i know you talked about it a lot. You saw Hillary Clintons reaction to hillary running. People that expected obama over clinton, do you think you were the only one that got a rough phone call from bill clinton when that happened . I doubt that very seriously. You think thats left some scar tissue . Well, i think so. There are a lot of people who are not allowing the party to get beyond that. You think thats still there . With some people. Donors, fundraisers, people like that . I dont think the clintons. Ive had conversation with Hillary Clinton, ive talked to bill clinton several times. The word is of all the people who have gotten over it, Hillary Clinton has gotten it over with the easiest. She was great to have breakfast with the secretary of state. My wife there was. We had a great time. I like her a whole lot. I hope she runs. Youre saying im proudly southern and im proudly back. I look at southern Politics Today and tell me why the south isnt segregated the same as it was before. It seems, okay, you have your black congressional seats and your white congressional seats. It feels somewhat it is not a unified south these days. Well, theres a lot of unity in the south. Theres not a lot of unianimity in the south. I separate the two. When i was coming along, it was zero. In 1970 when i first ran for office, there was absolutely no blacks serving in the legislature. So weve gone from zero and weve made some significant forward steps. But when you have this taking place, when everybodys on the outside, then youre unified. But then when one or two get in, it means that some are left out. That causes other kinds of Political Considerations to come into play. And so the is going through some growing pain, the pendulum goes back and forth and its now moving a little more to the right than it was moving 20 years ago. Are you concerned, particularly in the south that whites vote disproportionately republican now almost in the in some cases, and some states and mississippi, South Carolina and alabama are three of them and almost in this great of numbers that blacks vote for the democrats that it is that racially polarized. Yes, it is. I do believe well work through that. Remember, during the 50s and 60s when we were sitting in and trying to pass civil rights laws. We had that polarization. We got through it. 64, 65, 72 and then things began to move harmoniously and now things are drifting back. Is this a generational thing . Do you think we need one more generation . It is generational. Let me ask you about benghazi there seems to be a split in the leadership. We should not. You want a boycott . Yes. Weve had four hearings. Four in the house and one independent and ben himself one month ago, just one month ago said we should not be doing this. We should not have a select complity and we should not be disrupting the work that has been done. So what happened all of a sudden . All of a sudden the tea party has flexed his muscle. They found a new email that the white house disclosed. Thats what they would say. Have a press conference, disclose it and go forward. You dont need to have a hearing if youve got the evidence, why are we having a hearing . With that. I will leave it it there. The book. Blessed experiences. Make sure youre getting it on amazon. It was republican robert taft who is the first and only ohioan to serve as majority leader of the senate congratulations to koby nelson. Well be right back. If i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing ive learned is my philosophy is real simple American Express open forum is an online community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make Smart Business decisions. If you mess up, fess up. Be your partners best partner. We built it for our members, but its open for everyone. Theres not one way to do something. No details too small. American express open forum. This is what membership is. This is what membership does. To prepare our kids to compete main todays economy . Way woman a wellrounded education that focuses on science, math, and Career Training for students who dont choose college. Man and thats exactly what superintendent of Public Education Tom Torlakson has been working on. Woman because every Student Needs the real world skills for the jobs of tomorrow. Man torlaksons Career Readiness initiative is helping schools expand job and Technical Training across the state because it makes a difference. Woman so tell Tom Torlakson to keep fighting for the career and Technical Training our students need. Dog oh, boy mattress discounters oh, boy mattress discounters memorial day sale. Whats this . A queen size sealy gel memory Foam Mattress for just 497 . Mattress discounters has the Largest Selection of memory Foam Mattresses under one roof. Comforpedic, icomfort, optimum, and, wow, four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection . Dont miss the memorial day sale. Mattress discounters honestly, the offseason isnt ive got a lot to do. Thats why i got my surface. Its great for watching game film and drawing up plays. Its got onenote, so i can stay on top of my todo list, which has been absolutely absurd since the big game. With skype, its just really easy to stay in touch with the kids i work with. Alright, russell you are good to go alright, fellas. Alright, russ. Back to work takeaway time. Nfl draft starts tonight so we thought we would leave you with a football takeaway from my interview with senator harry reid. He has repeatedly called for the Washington Redskins to change their name. I asked them about it. Heres the exchange. You were pretty aggressive on calling on the chairman, nfl commissioner Roger Goodell to take control of the redskins name. Have you had a conversation with dan snider and have you tried to convince him personally to make this change . No. I dont know the man. I dont know him at all. I do believe i have 22 tribal organizations, and snyder, like he does everything, ryes to buy them off. Did he do that in your state some. Sure. Yeah. And after i made this statement they were supposed to go pick it up at the new car dealer. He bought them cars . I dont know. I only know of one. Theres the allegation that harry reids claiming that dan snyder, for at least one tribe in nevada bought a car in order to get their support on not changing the name. Thats it for this edition of the daily rundown. It will raise a few eyebrows in the district. Coming up next is chris jansing. Ill see you tomorrow. Im meteorologist bill cairns. Well see strong thunderstorms erupting this afternoon into this evening. A few of them could contain tornadoes. Were especially watching areas of southern minnesota and iowa for those storms and well also see a chance of large hail and damaging winds from texas to minnesota. Have a great day. So he knows exactly when he can check in and power up before his big meeting. And when alan gets all powered up, ya know what happens . I think the numbers speak for themselves. Im sold hes a selling machine put it there. And there, and there, and there. La quinta inns suites is ready for you, so youll be ready for business. The ready for you alert, only a laquinta. Com la quinta [ female announcer ] theres a gap out there. Thats keeping you apart from the healthcare you deserve. But if healthcare changes. If it becomes simpler. The gap begins to close. When frustration and paperwork decrease. When doctors are better connected. When grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home. The gap closes even more. And you begin to live a healthier, happier life. So lets simplify things. Lets close the gap between people and care. I know what my money is doing. Between people and care. I rebalanced my portfolio on my phone. You know what else i can do on my phone . Place trades, get free real time quotes and teleport myself to aruba. I wish. agent ill walk you guys through every step. There are a lot of buyers for a house like yours. husband thats good to know. Right now senators getting their first look to replace Kathleen Sebelius in health and human services. How will republicans react to her rollout. The gop is still fundraising off that deadly attack one day after the head of the new select Committee Said they shouldnt. And stand his ground. Congress subpoenas the secretary of Veterans Affairs this morning who for now says he will not step down over allegations that vets died while waiting for health care. Good morning. Im chris jansing. The worldwide protest over hundreds of missing Nigerian School girls is growing. Rallies planned today in denver and los angeles and then you have this from the first lady. The front page of conservative new york post, there she shows the bring back our girls and she also tweeted our prayers are with the missing nigerian girls and their families and its time for