0 monday reminding republicans of statements they made on background checks just a few months ago. >> all of us, republicans and democrats, have recognized that we need more effective and broader background checks. >> i think there is discussion or chatter about strengthening and improving the background checks. >> i want to take it beyond discussion and chatter. can we get you on the record saying you think that will likely pass through congress, the idea of universal background checks. >> and if it is something you can vote for. >> i think it is a reasonable step forward. >> okay. >> reid will have enough troubles keeping democrats in line. they remain cagey on what kind of background check legislation they'll support. at least five republican senators have promised to filibuster any gun legislation. others like senator lindsey graham said they will allow an up or down vote. while the nra appears to be winning the gunfight on a federal level, it is a different story in the states. more than three months after the newtown shootings, state lawmakers in connecticut introduced one of the strictest gun control bills in the country. bipartisan compromise announced by state legislators on monday bans the sale of high capacity magazines. though it includes a grandfather clauseers of those magazines to keep them. it expands the states assault weapons ban, mandates that offenders convicted of weapons offenses register with the state and calls for background checks for private gun sales. bill is expected to go to both houses of the general assembly on wednesday. one thing to have tough new gun laws in connecticut, another to have them in colorado. that's where the president will travel tomorrow and he's going to be pushing gun legislation at a police academy. in the wake of newtown, colorado governor john hickenlooper signed bills requiring background checks for private and online gun sales, banning magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. so it has been very interesting to watch this. one other thing you got to keep an eye on when it comes to the nra. they have probably going to win this fight here in washington. the question for them, though, is have they alienated the democratic party. are they no longer the most powerful bipartisan lobbying group in this town? and in the future, when there are democratic control of the house and the senate at the same time, it is inevitable, we know the stuff goes back and forth, will they regret the fact that they have done this short-term strategy and burned a bridge with democrats in the long term? moving on, we're most likely just a few weeks away from the obama administration's final decision on whether to give the keystone pipeline a thumbs up or thumbs down. on the eve of the keystone decision, safe to say nearly every environmentalist in washington believes the president will let this happen. but don't underestimate the impact that this story might have on the approval process. a 65-year-old pipeline ruptured in the town of mayflower, arkansas, 22 miles spewing thousands of barrels of oil through a housing development, across lawns and down residential streets. >> so that is a pipeline that is busted and has flooded the neighborhood. and is going all the way to the drain at the end of the street. the smell is unbelievable. i mean, look. incredible. and that is oil. >> oil on the streets of a residential community. exxon is still cleaning up the spill. the question is will pictures like these give environmentalists another opportunity to lobby the president and the new secretary of state john kerry on keystone. last night on chris hayes' new show "all in," one argued the damage in arkansas is nothing compared to what keystone could create. >> right now the spill we're seeing in arkansas is a devastating problem. and the real shocker about it as you alluded to is that this pipeline carries one tenth of what the proposed xl pipeline would carry. imagine the photos we're seeing from arkansas times ten. >> it has been interesting when it comes to the president on energy. he announced expanded oil drilling off the coast of american shores on the east coast. and then a few weeks later, the bp oil spill happened. then that was put an end to. he announced an expanded licenses for nuclear power plants. and then the japanese disaster happened. and that was halted. does this end up halting keystone? remember, timing is everything in politics and policy. finally, if it is tuesday, somebody is voting somewhere. that somewhere is in south carolina's first congressional district today. former governor mark sanford is trying to make a political comeback. sanford faces charleston county councilman curtis bostic in the republican runoff for his old congressional seat. sanford finished with 37% of the vote to bostic's 13%. he has all the name and i.d. a candidate could ask for. he's favored to win today. he'll never count out surprises in american politics. bostic, counting on the support of evangelical voters in this district, is doing his best to capitalize on sanford's past sins. and while sanford runs on his fiscally conservative credentials and tries to explain them away, they met in a debate on thursday. >> the events of 2009 absolutely represent a failure on my part for which there were and will always be at some level consequences. but this does not mean because you've had a failure in your personal life that you cannot step back into life again. >> the whole show that should governor be the candidate facing the democrat we'll lose this seat and lose it needlessly because of this issue of trust. a compromised candidate is not what we need. >> while sanford's former english teacher gives his character a stamp of approval in a new ad, bostic's wife stars in an ad where the fact they had a 25-year-old marriage is hard to miss. >> he has a great number of followers out there, just like me. other little old ladies, retired teachers who are fiscally conservative. >> in 2002, our commitment to life was seriously tested coming off cancer treatments, doctors were shocked i had become pregnant. curtis and i trusted god and chose life. and as for the child, meet steven. >> most of the other 14 candidates in the primary quickly lined up behind sanford. bostic did get some help in the final stretch from former u.s. senator and presidential candidate rick santorum. >> someone who is a strong conservative on fiscal issues, strong conservative on national security issue and strong conservative on moral issues. you see from the polling, this could be a tough general election and you need someone who is not going to be playing defense. someone playing offense. >> bostic win would be a form of vindication for santorum. he had a disappointing third place finnish south carolina's primary last year. polls close at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. if sanford wins, the democratic party and the congressional campaign arm faces this question. does it spend money half a million dollars to help elizabeth bush get over the top. she had $200,000 in cash on hand when her campaign filed with the s.e.c. her brother, stephen colbert, is hosting two high dollar fund-raisers on her behalf in the coming weeks. this is a red district and colbert bush needs a lot of money to be competitive. even if she wins on may 7th, it is likely she'll have a difficult time holding on to the seat in 2014. they're evaluating the race to see whether they are going to spend any money. colbert bush's campaign released internal polling to show national democrats she's viable. poll shows her leading both sanford and bostic. remember, this is a district that mitt romney won by 18 points. much more to come here on the good old tuesday "daily rundown" including new saber rattling from north korea as kim jong-un announces he's reopening a nuclear reactor. plus, former arkansas senator blanch lincoln on the oil spill in her state and what it means for the keystone pipeline. first, a look ahead at today's politics planner. president's first public event actually will start before the end of this hour. so we will be throwing to the president as he talks about brain research and expanded federal dollars for that. most people think that after an accident, you'll have to pay five hundred bucks for your deductible. the truth? 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