The first openly gay player drafted in a major american sport. The big question now, what happens next . Will michael sam make the team . We explore that. I think clearly this is the issue that the democrats have been running away from. Democrats havent missed it. The strategy for 2014 on the sunday morning talkfest. An about will . It could be a landmark move. Others say its a disaster. Reaction ahead. Msnbcs ronan farrow talks about his irish roots and a Famous Family member connected to hollywood ofiesteryear. Hello, everyone, its hoon in the east, 9 00 out west. Heres whats happening right now. 249th pick in the 2014 nfl draft, michael sam, defensive end. Better late than never. In the seventh round with just seven picks left, michael sam became the first openly gay player to be drafted in the nfl. Sam later spoke to knbc affiliate ksdk after getting the big news. I am overwhelmed. Im excited. And im proud to be a ram. As the weekend went by, what were you feeling like as draft pick after draft pick went by and the picks were dwindling to a precious few . Oh, i knew i would get picked somewhere. Every team that passed me, i was thinking how im going to sack their quarterback. Joining me now, sports ed tor for the nation. Good to see you, dave. Good to see you, too, alex. Were you as confident as he was . He said, i knew i was going to be picked, im thinking about sacking every qb. He is absolutely right to say that. Thats exactly the right answer. Thats what every coach wants to hear. Thats what Everyone Wants to hear. That he is making names and making lists about who hes going to pay back for having fallen so far. But i was starting to get very concerned he wasnt going to get picked. I think that would have been very ugly for the nfl, given that michael sam before he came out was pegged to be roughly a fourth or fifth round draft pick, and to see all the teams go by, see all the names go by, see players get drafted who actually had lower draft grades than michael sam, frankly, i was concerned. But it was a very happy ending to a very tense day. Concern, or do you think it was wrong . Do you think he should have been picked higher . Im looking at all the pros out there, and veterans that have put out tweets saying, you should go for, get this guy. Do you agree . Yeah. Honestly, its a complicated question that has to do with the fact that michael sam performed at a very high level in college. He was the Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year. He also had a terrible nfl combine that was very highly publicized. Thats when hes timed on his weightlifting, sprints, all the rest of it. A lot of scouts and a lot of teams were using that as validation, justification, or you could perhaps argue cover for not bringing in the, quote unquote, distraction that was michael sam. The tragedy of the narrative, its inherently a homophobic narrative. Is that michael sams problem or the teams problem . Thats why it would have been so ugly if he hadnt been picked at all. Im glad he was picked. Frankly, im both glad that jeff fisher, the coach and the guy who runs the rams had the courage to draft him. Im also saddened this is still something that takes courage to do. Lets look at what he has ahead of him. Training camp in july. Whats that look like for him . Its going to be very inte e intense. The good news is hes going to a team that has a loaded defense, great players like robert quinn, chris long. Theyve already sent welcoming tweets, messages to michael sam, so they are going to be inviting him in the training camp. They have a very creative defensive scheme that can take advantage of the fact that he can play in situational spots, a little slow to be a linebacker, a little too small to be a defensive end. Which is why he wasnt the firstround draft pick. But its a good situation for michael sam. He went to missouri, so st. Louis is kind of like his home away from home. Hell get a lot of support that way. What are his chances of actually making the team, do you think . I think his chances are good to make the team. There will be a lot of scrutiny. Thats going to bring with it its own burdens. When you consider the fast that michael sam has been playing in front of crowds of 70,000, 80,000 people in the toughest conference in college football, i dont think hes going to be fazed at all by the spotlight. I think it will be michael sams abilities versus the other people trying to make this roster. I think its a very, very good chance of making this team. Im curious, how many seventhround players do usually make the cut . Its interesting, because lately, the scouting has gotten so advanced in the nfl, that more than they used to, and the fact that the draft is now less than it used to, like for a long time the last pick in the draft is still mr. Irrelevant. If you were the last pick in which was a very long draft, there was little chance you would make the team. Now its routine for mr. Irrelevant to make the franchise. They become pro bowlers, like colston for the new orleans saints. It happens. And it could happen for michael sam. You were just saying how you were sad we had to have this conversation about a gay player, playing in the nfl. And while i totally agree, at the risk of speculating, do you think there was any pressure from the nfl for a team to draft him so they could avoid any negative pr if he wasnt picked . Im sure there was some concern from the nfl offices. Theyre incredibly an image conscious group. But that was butting up against the institutional issues that exist in the nfl. These institutional issues are averse to, frankly, players who try to control their own narrative. Whether theyre straight, gay, or what have you. If youre an independent minded thinker, thats something the nfl has had a lot of problems with. Sam is someone who tried to control his own narrative. As soon as he took that approach for the process, i knew that would butt against how the nfl operates on a team by team basis. Speaking of independent thinkers, same to you, dave. Good to see you, as always. Thank you so much, alex. A white house official said president obama is adding his congratulations to michael sam, the rams and the nfl. Lgbt americans prove every day show you should be judged by what you do, not who you are. Were closely monitoring the Severe Weather across the midwest this mothers day, just a day after a tornado ripped through a motown about 30 miles east of kansas city, knocking down trees and power lines. Weather channel meteorologist dr. Greg postel has more on todays weather flaring up across the heartland. Good afternoon, greg. Thanks, alex. Very broad area of Severe Weather is possible today, all the way from the great lakes down to the Southern Plains. Lets look at the map. Were really all modes of Severe Weather in play today. Hail possibilities, and even chance of tornadoes from the Southern Plains up through the Northern Plains and western great lakes. Its up in here where i think the tornado risk is highest in parts of northern kansas. Hawa iowa, nebraska, even parts of missouri. We have a powerful system right out here. That is helping bring warm and unstable air northward. Now its going to fuel the thunderstorms later on today. Look at some of these high temperatures that we have forecasted. Mid80s. You know thats enough to get big storms going. So lets time it out for everybody as we move through the region. I think the worst of all thunderstorms will be near this low and near that warm front, right in this zone later on this evening, beginning about 4 00, 5 00 in the afternoon and going through 7 00, 8 00 tonight. Thats when the biggest tornado threat will be across this zone. And overnight it may turn into a nasty squall line with high winds rolling across iowa, and continuing through the night with a hail threat as well. Going to be a long day. And a long night. Alex, back to you. Greg postel, thank you. New information about the tragic hot air balloon accident in virginia. Including one victims chilling last comments on the instagram about the trip. Luke is in virginia for us. Luke, good afternoon to you. What have we learned about the victims . Reporter yeah, good afternoon, alex. The search is ongoing for the remains of the third victim. Two have been found. As the search goes and continues, weve learned a lot about all three people who were aboard that hot air balloon that crashed on friday. The balloon was coming in for a landing when it hit a live wire that sparked a fire. The fire spread quickly. Reporter with the flames cutting the balloon off from the basket, leaving the three passengers to a horrific fate. We have had reports, weve also seen video that people have provided us, that does appear to have two individuals who possibly leaped, or possibly fell from the basket. Reporter bradley saw the balloon ungulfed in flames. They were screaming for anybody to help them. Sweet, jesus, help me, im going to die. Reporter one of those killed is the pilot dan kirk, the owner of the balloon, seen here in the video posted on his companys website. The other two onboard were part of the staff and Womens Basketball team at the university of richmond. But the university is saying it extends its prayers and thoughts to the families of jenny doyle and natally lewis. Seen here together on doyles instagram account. Before the flight, in another photo posted on instagram, doyle wrote, quote, getting ready to go up in a hot air balloon today. Tried it at 6 30 a. M. , but it was too foggy. Well go up this evening. Anxiety. Crews are still searching for lewis, with her family saying in a statement, we remain hopeful and ask for your continued prayers. Meanwhile, as for the investigation we will examine the man, the machine, and the environment. The onscene investigation will consist of reporter the ntsb sent a letter to the faa calling for an increased oversight of how hot air balloons operate within the United States. Hot air balloon accidents are rare. The ntsb recently said they want the faa to have oversight specifically on how theyre licensed, and regulated. Thanks so much, luke russert. Developing now to cheers of, we are russia. Separatists in Eastern Ukraine are turning out in large numbers today to vote on whether to split from the country, and create their own socalled peoples republics. Just how legitimate the vote is, depends on who you ask. Nbcs Richard Engels in donetsk, ukraine, with the latest. Richard, i know youve geetd pictures out today of barricades, even molotov cocktails at the ready. What happened with this referendum today . And has there been any violence . Reporter first of all, this referendum is only considered legitimate by the people who are voting it. The government of ukraine, which is recognized by europe and the United States, calls this referendum absolutely illegal. Washington said it will not recognize it. But still, people are coming out, and its hard to know exactly how many people have been voting, because it is something about ad hoc referendum, there are no international monitors here. Theres no real centralized system. The ballot papers arent they dont have any special markings on them, theyre just regular pieces of paper that have been printed up. And pretty much everyone we spoke to actually, every person we spoke to who was voting in this referendum, said they were voting for independence, to break away from ukraine. If you didnt agree with that position, you wouldnt have bothered to go out and vote in this referendum. You asked if it is creating an environment of tension and violence. It certainly is. Earlier today, we were in the city of maripol just south of here. The city is ringed by ukrainian soldiers. You have to pass through Ukrainian Military checkpoints. The center of the city is controlled by the russian community, the socalled russian separatists who were voting in the refer eren duendum that wan break away from the army. It is a very tense situation. Richard, the u. S. State Department Said if russia continues to destabilize Eastern Ukraine, the u. S. Is going to move very quickly to impose greater costs on russia. Do you see russia pushing similar referendum in other areas of ukraine and will todays vote trigger more sanctions do you think . Reporter i think were also oversimplifying this situation to a degree. It is not just russia that is inflaming the situation on the ground, and causing all of the problems. The ukrainian government, the new government that took over in a revolution in kiev, is launching these Counterterrorism Operations against the prorussian xhungcommunities. The one that took place today, and a few days ago, are very bloody. Theyll kill civilians, theyll go on night raids and cause a lot of damage. And whenever these counterterrorist operations are launched, always by the government in kiev, always against the prorussian community, a lot of members of this prorussian community become antagonized and believe the new government in kiev doesnt represent them. So there is clearly an international dynamic here, where russia is supporting these prorussian separatists and supporting the moves to break away. But the more violence there is, the more you have grass roots support for this. Richard, thank you so much. All in on obamacare. Fully embracing the Affordable Care act in North Carolina. Is this the first wave in a political sea change . Ronan farrell unplugged, straight ahead. I saw this red, blistery, rash and i felt this horrible pain on one side of my back. I had 16 magic shows to do. I didnt know how i was going to be able to do these shows with this kind of pain that i was in. I told my wife what i had. She went on the internet and said i think you have shingles. I could feel the shock in my back and it was like wow its got to get better than this or im in big trouble. Female narrator the mattress price wars are on the mattress price wars are on at sleep train. We challenged the manufacturers to offer even lower prices. 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As you well know, the Nigerian Government has appeared to be either unable or unwilling to make a legitimate effort to rescue these girls. How extensive should americas role be on the ground . You heard secretary hagel say were going to do anything we can to deploy all resources possible. These nigerian girls were in the right place at the right time. Its time for the United States and the National Authority to give our best opportunity to get the girls returned safely. They can use our expertise, they can use our knowledge of law enforcement. We can be on the ground to help them do the rescue thats necessary, the search thats necessary, and making sure theyre doing the right thing. I am pleased the United States is working with the International Community to help in the rescue. As you are well aware, this is not the first heinous act from boko haram. Countless innocent civilians have been killed in recent years. You said boko haram needs to be brought to justice. Why now . Weve been following their attempts to terrorize people for years. We have a responsibility with the International Community to bring terrorist groups to justice. We have interests in this group well before this kidnapping. This kidnapping has made the front pages of every newspaper in the world, as it should. It shocked the conscience of the civilized world. It gives us now, i think, more unity and more priority to bring this group to justice. Back stateside, your colleague, senator kay hagan, made headlines this past week when in the confirmation hearing she gave a support of obamacare and indicated she is going to run on that, in her reelection campaign. Would you advise all democrats to run on it in the midterms . I think senator hagans doing absolutely the right thing. More and more americans understand the importance of the Affordable Care act. Mothers day, particularly women understand that they now have full coverage, being a woman is no longer a preexisting condition. Families can keep their Adult Children on their insurance policies to age 26. Seniors are now finding they have comprehensive Preventive Health care. More and more people understanding the advantage of the Affordable Care act, they want to work on it and improve it, they dont want it repealed. Senator hagan is doing the right thing. Do you think the senate is in play at all this year for republicans . Obviously, the focus of this election is going to be on the control of the United States senate. Theres a lot of highly visible campaigns. I firmly believe that the t democrats will maintain control of the United States senate. Its going to be its going to be closely watched. Lets look at ukraine now, sir. Todays votes that are out there, does that change anything at all . And despite its objections, do you anticipate russia will declare the referendum legitimate . Im sure russia will do everything they can to