Snack . No. Did the sponsor consider as the potential state snack, raisins. Did the sponsor consider perhaps pres els as the official state snack . Never. Never i never did and i never shall what if the pretzel was dipped in yogurt, would that been could we consider that would be two in one. Oh, my god. This guy is batman. What say you, senator hasselhoff . Yogurt would be the state
snack. The pretzel would not. The pretzel if so dipped would be the yogurt delivery method for which designation i refer you to the subcommittee on snack transportation. Good morning. It is friday. Can you finally believe it . Its the day before mothers day weekend, you guys. Just remember. Friday, may 9th. On set donnie deutsch, mark heilemann, Mike Barnicle, and npr Senior Analyst coky roberts. And the former director of the cia, retired general michael hayden. So joe, a great group this morning. And you have a great weekend mothers day for you. Your mothers coming up to spend time with you. I know youre excited. Worried. A little scared, but excited. Actually we have a piece on her galore of the forest. Does she bring the chain saw everywhere she goes . You will see her with it. Its scary. We have an incredible panel to talk about this. Ukraine is voicing concern this morning one day after prorussian militants defied a crest by Vladimir Putin. The anniversary today nazi germanys surrender to russia. They intend in crimea a victory lap. He was out in moscows parade this morning. Crimean flags were on display. Final preps are underway in Eastern Ukraine for this weekends vote on independence. Despite putins calls for dialogue between the countries,
there are still strong signs they have a long way to go. Oversaw a series of exercises including rocket launches, military vehicles. Prorussian militants are continuing to take over buildings. Hundreds of separatists took over government buildings after ukrainian soldiers fled. Theyre taking over tv stations. Joe, it continues. It does continue. Coky, roberts, obviously it continued irritant for the president of the United States and our allies that care in europe. So what does it mean for the president . What does it mean for this crisis if Vladimir Putin does take a victory lap and go to a victory parade in crimea . An area that russia basically just annexed. Its a continuing problem for the president. And the sense that theres just
total weakness here is pervasive now. That were not doing anything thats making any difference. That putin is saying dont have this referendum, please. He knows perfectly well theyre going to do it and theyre going to vote to separate. Its going to be a continuing irritant unless the United States and nato really do get their act together. General hayden, im getting tired of people saying theres little the president can do. I think theres lots the president can do short of firing a shot. We could actually make our Strategic Alliance with the poles much tougher, much stronger, and actually send a stronger message by putting more American Forces in a place where they want us to be. No, i think youre right, joe. We had an understanding with the russians we would not deploy in the new states of nato inEastern Europe, poland, and the baltic states. Frankly what russia has done in crimea and the threat in ukraine, i think that agreement is null and void. We should just put nato forces where they should be to be responsive to current threats. We need to teach putin that actions have consequences. Youre right. We put 150 paratroopers in each of the baltic states. I think the commitment that were willing to get serious there would be an Important Message to putin. We took three divisions out of germany over the past five years. It wouldnt be bad for mr. Putin to believe that we might put one of those divisions back in poland. And the defense, the Missile Defense system that we walked away from and insulted our polish allies, maybe we need to
talk about putting that back in there if were told this is putin flexing his muscles to try to impress the russian people. The consequences of having a lot of american troops, a lot of nato troops in poland will actually undercut it and send a strong message that perhaps this wasnt the best play for him. That actions do have consequences. Right now they have no consequences for putin. I think youre right, joe. There are things we can do in the whole russian reset. We did an awful lot of things to accommodate russian interest and russian concerns. My personal view, this is hard stuff. My personal view is we overachieved. We dont need to overachieve any longer. Our friends in Eastern Europe wonder where we have gone. Now we have an opportunity to go back. And joe, let me give you one other concrete recommendation. We dont have to send american troops to ukraine. Lord knows were not going to do that. What about advisers . Look. The ukrainians, the new government in kiev lacks the ability to govern, to mount military or even police activity. I dont think we should be reluctant to send people there who can revise them on how to handle the current situation. Well touch back in on this. Obviously a huge developing story. Turning to some politics now. Governor Chris Christies problems in new jersey are more about budgets than bridges these days. As politico notes today, the republicans latest challenge centers on the States Economic struggles. That was made clear on sunday with a giant front page headline in the starledger. Right now the garden states unemployment is well above the national average. The Real Estate Market is also in tough shape. The administration is facing a 1 billion budget gap. And the States Credit rating has been downgraded. The numbers threaten to undercut
the Governors National message of an economic miracle in new jersey. John heilemann, might this be the bigger story if he jumps into the fray . Its always been a big issue. That the economy in new jersey was not that strong and it would be hard to sell. It was the one thing people looked at beyond the personal issues, behind temperament issues. The one substantive thing people pointed to back then, its going tor hard to sell a new jersey miracle. There are things theyve gotten done over time, thats why governors have a good chance. But if you dont have a record like that, Everything Else has to be working. If you dont have the economy and your personal image is dented, its a difficult sell. Everyone is trying to figure where this is going to go. Thats one of the problems with being governor. Youre there every day. And affects real people in a state. Coky roberts. We remember the massachusetts miracle when he ran for president and it disassembled because of Dukakis Campaign was flawed. It was not exactly what he was selling to the country. This, too, in new jersey it looks like. Its not miraculous. New jersey has had a lot of trouble recovering from Hurricane Sandy and that is legit. But Chris Christie, really, theres no there there. The only thing hes got going for him is he won a lot of voters that most republicans dont win in his reelection bid at a time he was riding high in
response to his response to the hurricane. And no hurricane, no economy, bridgegate, and republicans who dont like northeastern moderates in their view anyway. I dont see anything going for christie. Donnie, branding Chris Christie, where is he now . His whole talk about getting them done. All of a sudden hes not getting it done. When you put that combination as far as john said with bridgegate and this, its damaged. Theres the obamacare issue for the midterms that can be a difficult subject for Senate Democrats locked in tight reelection battles. Perhaps no one faces a tougher challenge than that of kay hagan of North Carolina. These are the headlines this morning online. Huffington post, endangered dem comes out swinging at obamacare. And the washington post,
vulnerable dem offers a strong case for obamacare. Yesterday during the hearing for kathleen sebelius, she offered her support of the Affordable Care act. Last year our governor decided against expanding the states medicaid program. And as a result, about 500,000 people who would have qualified for coverage through medicaid are now not able to do so. Speaking of the Charlotte News and observer, hagan goes further. In the interview she bites off republican interests by asking about the benefits. She explains i voted for it. I think there are common sense fixes that must be made to this bill. But i also talked to people in North Carolina who have seen the difference it has made in their lives. Joe, we talked about this and
whether or not democrats should equivocate or even push away anything to do with obamacare. Shes doubling down. It was one of the things we thought they should do. No doubt about it. Weve been saying it over the past month, been saying if you voted for obamacare you need to campaign on obamacare. Because youre not going to be able to run away from it. Donnie deutsche as i saw all the time in politics, nobody stops you if youre going 90 miles an hour forward. You do that plus hammer on the component weve been talking about here that democrats should use against republicans if they voted for the bill and theyre stuck in this corner. Talk about the Medicaid Expansion. A lot of americans dont understand why people in their state wouldnt support Medicaid Expansion that other states are getting. And it seems to me you look at the polling, this is one part of obamacare along with the preexisting conditions issue, along with more portability, along with allowing your children to stay on until
theyre 26 that actually do connect with individual voters. Absolutely. You know, its very interesting. All of a sudden republicans have shifted the megaphone from kill obamacare to benghazi. Now they double down. Exactly what she did. You have the proof this is working. And to me i dont think you can go at it strong enough. Like i said, very quiet on the right. Hey, donnie. Dont you agree with me, donnie . You have to personalize it. If you can get jane johnson in raleigh, her younger son had been bumped off of insurance. He needed this treatment. He didnt have it. Theyd been kicked off insurance rolls. But after president obama blah blah blah. And then you tell the story, show the personal story. Then suddenly its not about barack obama. Its not about nancy pelosi saying all the things she said
about the bill. Its not all the ugly way the lobbyist got their fingers in the pie. Its about this person in raleigh, North Carolina, everybody can urns. Suddenly you take it out of washington and bring it to North Carolina. Its personalized. That may be more of a winning position. Voters vote for me. And im also going to contrast it back to the benghazi thing which is not me. You may agree, disagree, it may infuriate you. This whether i can pay for my frosted flakes, these are the things that affect me. I think kay hagan is setting the playbook right. The fallout is growing in the scandal surrounding the department of veterans affairs. Subpoenas have been handed to executives including secretary shinseki. So far shinseki has resisted called by top veterans groups to set aside the departments response has angered congress
and family members of the dead. Sally says when her father went to the hospital for urgent care, the staff refused to treat him. And told him to see his primary va doctor instead. Heres nbcs jim miklaszewski. Reporter sally lost her fatherinlaw to cancer last november. And she blames his death on the va hospital in phoenix. Im sorry im shake, but they were dwik to dismiss my pop. Reporter she says when they went to the hospital for urgent care, the staff refused to treat him and told him to see his primary doctor. He waited months but died before he could get an appointment. All the people that are a part of this, they should be held accountable. Because its a crime. You know, delayed care is denied care. Secretary shinseki will testify on capitol hill next week. Joe . You know, general hayden, when people came up to me and asked me about my time in
congress, they talk about irs must have been horrible to deal with, you know, Social Security administration would be horrible to deal with. I said no, ironically, despite the fact i had more veterans in my distract than anybody else, i could call the irs and get things done. The va, they didnt care who i was, where i was from. It was the worst bureaucracy and it was always the slow roll. It was bad then. My god. The stories coming out now, absolutely horrific. Why cant we take better care of the men and women who take care of us . Joe, i know Eric Shinseki a bit. A good and honorable man. Hes got to be appalled by the information thats now coming out. But with regard to the veterans administration, youre right. Its a paperbased bureaucracy. And what eric was trying to do was to move it into the digital age which is a good thing. But at the same time, he had this entire new generation of veterans coming out of iraq and
afghanistan that were swelling their rolls. Look, if he were ever to turn to me for advice on this crisis, based on my time at cia, get the facts, get them quickly, and get them out. That would be my counsel to him right now. Cokie roberts, this is thats awfully good advice for pretty much everything. Exactly. Everything. Particularly anything that seems to be under investigation. Get the facts, get them quickly, and get them out. And with any luck bury your opponents with them. But the va has a legitimate problem which is its ununderfunded agency with so many veterans coming in. And still veterans from past wars very much to be supported. So we still have, thankfully, world war ii veterans around and their widows and children. And you go on from war after war
after that. Korea, vietnam, iraq, afghanistan. And a lot of veterans in this country. Obviously we have a huge debt to them. But were not paying it as a country. Its not just the va not doing it. Its the u. S. Thats not doing it. Cokie, you have lived the largest part of your life in washington, d. C. Your family is in washington. Your father, your mom. You yourself. It strikes me is there is no other issue so fraught with hypocrisy than what is happening now with the va. Its been going on for decades. Its not just now. Its not just general shinseki and yet the members of Congress Stand up and applaud the troops, they have their bumper stickers, support the troops. And yet they do very little to straighten out the va in at least a three to four to fivedecade long issue. It is. And one of the reasons for it, mike, you talk about the number of years ive been here. When i was growing up almost
every member of congress was a veteran. They came in after world war ii in two huge classes of 46 and 48 and they had tremendous understanding of what veterans lives were like. Now hardly anybody in congress has served in the military. And of course weve lost in the last year the world war ii vets are gone. And so its a completely different attitude. And so as you say, a lot of lip service, but not a lot of cash. No, not at all. Mika, just reading a tweet here from jaycaruso and this is a peek into why were scared of obamacare. There is a real fear when you have the federal government taking over health care and dont think for a second when people see this happening with our most important men and women who defended us, that theyre not afraid it could happen to them. It could happen to their family members. This va scandal exposes a decades of inefficiencies that need to be vixed up. I couldnt agree with the general more. Theres no question the va needs to be cleaned up. General hayden, thank you much for being on at this early hour. Still ahead, mitt romney joins us for an exclusive interview. At 8 00, katie couric is here with her latest on the Food Industrys secret. And how to find success. Bishop t. D. Jakes is here. Ahead in this hour, first round of the nfl draft. Alltime great Deion Sanders will be here in just a bit. And this weekend, joe and i are going to be participating in a special event with my mother Emily Brzezinski the sculptor. We will be talking about art and politics and balancing both in the white house years. Lets go now, though, to bill kairns for a check on the forecast. Bill . Mothers day. Mothers day forecast coming up. You may get a good crowd there on saturday especially if it rains. We are watching rain move through new york city. Some heavy down pours. Even some lightning with this. As we go throughout the middle of the peak of our rush hour. Thats going to cause some delays obviously. And a wider view shows more showers behind it. Theyre not alone. Wet weather there in the middle of the country. As we go throughout the afternoon, look at d. C. Its almost like summertime. Much cooler. Boston only at 58. Big changes as youre traveling through the northeast with temperature and rain. Middle of the country, lots of rain today. Back up towards chicago through mech memphis. As we go through the afternoon, this is where we focus the
severe weather. We didnt have fatalities or injuries from tornadoes yesterday. Watch out from indianapolis, st. Louis, memphis, little rock to dallas to houston. Heres your forecast as we take you through your weekend. Were watching those storms today. Southeast all the way up through chicago and around new york city this morning. On saturday, quickmoving down pours possible for many of us. But look how warm it is. Its almost summerlike conditions out there across the nation. And finally for mom, your mothers day forecast, its not going to rain out all day in the midwest. But we will see a storm bringing rain in the afternoon and evening hours. The northea