You know this story. He was riding in a motorcade in dallas, sitting next to his wife. Shots rang out from lee harvey oswald. Those were the four times that u. S. President s were assassinated. But one of the more recent close calls actually happened in 1981. Just over 30 years ago. It was on president ronald reagan. He was just 69 days into his presidency when this happened. He was leaving a speaking engagement. Thats when he was shot, along with three others outside of a hotel in washington, d. C. Reagan was shot in the chest. He was shot in the lower right arm. He survived, but he did have a punctured lung and suffered heavy internal bleeding. Now, the man who shot and wounded reagan and the three others that day was this man, John Hinckley jr. And his reason for doing it, it was the actress jodie foster. He said he did it because he had such strong feelings for her. He was obsessed with her. He thought this might somehow impress her or get her attention. Hinkley went to trial in 1982. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity. And since then, hes been under Psychiatric Care at a hospital in washington, d. C. Now, two months ago, that hospital, along with hinkleys attorney, barry levine, made a plea to a federal court judge that he should be released fulltime into the custody of his mother. Levine argued that his client, that John Hinckley is, quote, clinically ready for the next step in treatment, to be set free and treated as an outpatient. Now, the judge has still not decided on that request. He has given no specific timeline on when he will decide on that request. But its a tough case for that attorney to argue. The attorney whose client is the last man who came very close to assassinating a United States president. And that lawyer, the man making that argument, that John Hinckley should be released to the custody of his mother, that lawyer, we have now learned, is facing a new challenge. Hes now representing former house speaker, Dennis Hastert. Dennis hastert who was indicted last week for bank fraud and for lying to the fbi. Since that indictment last week, we have not seen the former house speaker. Hes basically been in hiding. He was supposed to be arraigned this week. That arraignment was then postponed until next week. And for almost a week now, we have not known the name of hasterts lawyer. But now levines name has turned up in Court Documents. So, levines job, as Dennis Hasterts attorney, that job is not getting easier. And its not necessarily because of Dennis Hasterts indictment itself. That indictment is actually pretty boring. It basically accuses hastert of bank fraud and of lying to the fbi. These are charges that stem from some kind of private arrangement the former speaker allegedly made to pay more than 3 million in cash to someone identified in Court Documents as individual a. Payments to conceal some kind of past misconduct that the indictment alleges occurred while hastert was a High School Teacher and wrestling coach in the small town of yorkville, illinois. And the bigger reason that hasterts lawyers job isnt getting easier has nothing to do with the indictment, because its actually the stuff that is going on around the indictment. He started to talk about his relationship with Denny Hastert and told me that they had been sexual and i was flabbergasted. Now, that, that interview you just saw a clip of right there, that is part of a latebreaking interview that nbc news got just today. And were going to run a lot more of it for you later in this segment. That is the kind of stuff thats been swirling around since that indictment landed. Allegations from Anonymous Sources about the conduct that the former house speaker, that Dennis Hastert, was trying so hard to conceal. But he was paying a former student that they had sexually abused hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep quiet. Essentially, hush money. Those are the allegations, those are the talk, the chatter thats been swirling. Theres a question of whether the allegations might go beyond that one individual, individual a, who was named in the indictment. It has all, though, been anonymous. At least until now. Abc news ran an interview this morning with a woman who says that her brother, Steve Reinboldt, told her that he was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Dennis Hastert. Now, this is the first time that a person has been identified as a possible victim of speaker hastert by name. I asked him, stevie, when was your first samesex experience. He just looked at me and said, it was with Dennis Hastert. And i just i know i was stunned. I said, why didnt you ever tell anybody, stevie . I mean, he was your teacher. Why didnt you ever tell anybody . He just looked at me and said, who is ever going to believe me . In this town, who is ever going to believe me . 20 years ago in 1995, her brother passed away. She alleges that speaker hastert came to her brothers funeral that year and that she then confronted him in the parking lot. I just looked at him and i said, i want to know why you did what you did to my brother . He just stood there and stared at me. And i just continued to say, i want you to know that your secret didnt die in there with my brother and i want you to remember that im out here. And that i know. And she says that took place in 1995. And then she says that she tried for years after that to get news organizations to pursue the story, to pursue this story about her brother and hastert. And she tried with no luck. Then she says that two weeks ago she was contacted by the fbi. And that they wanted to talk to her about hastert. There are no words to describe what it felt like to you know, it was just like, stevie, weve done it. Its going to happen. We got him. That interview aired on abc news today. Then, hours after that interview aired, a friend and a classmate of Steve Reinboldt spoke to nbc news about these allegations. And he asked us to conceal his identity. He told nbc what he says Steve Reinboldt told him years ago. He started to talk about his relationship with Denny Hastert and told me that they had been sexual, and i was flabbergasted. I said, what do you mean . And he said, well, we would do things sexually and it would sometimes start with a massage. And we didnt go much further into that. Now, we should say, nbc news cannot independently verify any part of this story. Nbc has made repeated attempts to reach Dennis Hastert without success. Weve also reached out to the former speakers attorney, mr. Levine. We did not hear back from him today. Now, hastert is due in court in person next week, on june 9th, at 2 00 p. M. Central time 3 00 p. M. Eastern time. Joining us now is lynn sweet, the Washington Bureau chief for the chicago suntimes. Lynn thanks for taking a few minutes. So this is one of these stories, you can see, over last week, it has slowly grown. Where you had this very mysterious indictment. Then you had some reporting about who individual a or the nature of the relationship with individual a might be. Now we have somebody else coming forward and saying, hey, heres somebody else, by name. How big do you think this could get . How expansive do you think this could get . Well, right now, theres even a third person who you havent mentioned yet, that was interviewed by the fbi. The chicago suntimes and other news outlets reported this last week, so now there are three. And one of whom has been identified. So, i dont want to speculate in terms of if other people will come forward. I think you have plenty right now, steve, just really with three people, who the fbi has talked to three people whose cases the fbi has been interested in. Thats plenty. And in terms of hasterts response, theres been no response from Dennis Hastert at this point. We are, in some way, going to hear from him next week. Is there any indication what he might be saying . Is he going to deny all of this . We just dont know. No one has seen him. No one has acted as a spokesman for him. His son, ethan, is a lawyer in a chicago law firm. We have not heard from him, his other son, or any family members. So there has just been total silence. So it is a mystery where Denny Hastert is hiding. It is a mystery who individual a is. On tuesday, if he comes to court and pleads, we may not know a lot more officially in the court record. If hastert decides to go towards a trial, well, then well know more. What strikes me as i was thinking about this today is the funeral, Steve Reinboldts funeral that his sister is describing took place in 1995. And shes saying she confronted Dennis Hastert in the parking lot, at the funeral, told him, i know your secret. And its just three years later, in 1998, that Bob Livingston is supposed to become the speaker of the house, a sex scandal causes him to resign, and republicans turn to Dennis Hastert, because hes supposed to be mr. Clean. This guy then takes charge as speaker of the house, knowing three years earlier, this woman had confronted him, supposedly saying, i know your secret. Its hard for me to imagine how he could even do that. Well, also remember, he locked in the votes for speaker on the day that the house voted to impeach bill clinton, who is in trouble, in part because of his affair with monica lewinsky. His legal trouble was on other grounds, but we all know about the lewinsky saga. This is interesting, because one of his associates who i talked to today wondered why this woman who did come to the news organizations in 2006, why she didnt try to speak up just in those weeks when he locked in the votes and before he was elected speaker in january of 1999. If there was a whiff of scandal or controversy around denny, his support might have just disappeared. So, she is coming forward now, though, in the context of the fbi having officially said that there was misconduct. The indictment doesnt say what, just says some misconduct dating down to the days when he was a High School Teacher and wrestling coach team. Certainly suggestive, isnt it . So, that, i think, perhaps, im guessing, emboldened her into wanting to finally come public in a very big way. And again, next week, we will at least see Dennis Hastert in public. We will hear from him, at least through his lawyer, maybe more from that. So that is the next, perhaps the next shoe to drop in the story. Lynn sweet, Washington Bureau chief for the chicago suntimes, appreciate you taking a few minutes tonight. Thank you. Thank you, steve. Just ahead, a look at some of what you might call predictable responses from her republican rivals to Hillary Clintons call for automatic Voter Registration. Stay with us. [announcer]when we make beyond natural dry dog and cat foods. We start with real meat as the first ingredient. We leave out corn,wheat and soy. And we own where our dry food is made100 percent can other brands say all that . For nutrition you can trust and your pet will enjoy. Does your food go beyond . Learn more at purinabeyond. Com. Now with the xfinity tv go app, you can watch live tv anytime. Its never been easier with so Many Networks all in one place. Get live tv whenever you want. The xfinity tv go app. Now with live tv on the go. Enjoy over wifi or on Verizon Wireless 4g lte. Plus enjoy special savings when you purchase any new Verizon Wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. Visit comcast. Com wireless to learn more. All right. We have a lot to get to tonight, including the Republican Party strategy to responding to two major events this week. Hillary clintons push for voting changes and the National Dialogue around Caitlin Jenner. We also have a look at this weekends big triple crown attempt. All that and a lot more, ahead. Next. Expected wait time 55 minutes. Your call is important to us. Thank you for your patience. Waiter vo in the nation, we know how it feels when you arent treated like a priority. We do things differently. Well take care of it. Vo we put members first. Join the nation. Thank you. Nationwide is on your side audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. The only thing left to fear is you imagination. Nissan. Innovation that excites. I believe we should go even further to strengthen Voting Rights in america. So today im calling for universal automatic Voter Registration registration, every citizen in every state in the union. They need time to stop being surprised when Hillary Clinton gives a big speech staking out turf on the left. Since shes announced her run for president , shes gone much farther to the left than anyone expected. Yesterday, the topic was Voting Rights. Speaking in houston, not only did clinton call for universal automatic Voter Registration when everyone turns 18 years old, and also, 20 days of early voting nationwide, she also went after specific republican president ial candidates by name, for voting restrictions theyve implemented in their states. Here in texas, former governor rick perry signed a law that a federal court said was actually written with the purpose of discriminating against minority voters. He applauded when the Voting Rights act was gutted. In wisconsin, Governor Scott walker cut back early voting and signed legislation that would make it harder for College Students to vote. In new jersey, governor Chris Christie vetoed legislation to extend early voting. And in florida, when jeb bush was governor, state authorities conducted a deeply flawed purge of voters before the president ial election in 2000. Today, republicans are systemically and deliberately trying to stop millions of american citizens from voting. What part of democracy are they afraid of . Thats Hillary Clinton yesterday going after her potential republican opponents, on Voting Rights. And then today, those republican candidates got a chance to respond. Scott walker did not hold back, saying that clintons criticism, quote, defies logic. Once again, Hillary Clintons extreme views are far outside the mainstream. And others chimed in as well. I like hillary. But ive got to tell you, the idea that were going to divide americans and were going to use demagoguery, i dont like it. I like hillary, personally. Shes been kind to me. I like her. Im not for her, for president , obviously. But, you know, you cant get into that demagoguery and divide the country. Secretary clinton doesnt know the first thing about Voting Rights in new jersey or any other states that she attacked. And my sense is that she just wants an opportunity to commit greater acts of voter fraud around the country. Well, i think it makes sense to have a photo i. D. To be able to vote. When i got on the airline to come up here yesterday, i had to show my photo i. D. She just went into my home state and dissed every person who supports having an identification to either get on an airplane or to vote. And thats highly popular. Obviously, thats quite a range of responses there, but none of those responses really actually responded to clintons proposals. What do those candidates think, for instance, about her call to automatically register everyone to vote when they turn 18 . Or what do they think about the idea of a minimum of 20 days of early voting in every state in america . No real responses to those questions. Now, among voters, these were popular proposals, as you can see on your screen right there. At some point, republicans will probably have to take a position on them. Hillary clinton has now given three major policy speeches in this campaign, and every time shes done so, she comes out sounding more liberal than most people were expecting. She surprises the democratic base. She surprises them in a way that they like. And yet when you look at her actual proposals, theyre not necessarily that far to the left of public opinion. A lot of what shes calling for is actually popular across the board. And shes framing all of this in ways that could put republicans in an awkward spot. Back in april, clinton decided to make the very first policy speech of her campaign about the issue of criminal justice reform. About the idea of reducing incarceration rates and demilitarizing the police. These are popular ideas. You can see that on your screen. Then clinton moved on to the topic of immigration. Once again, she went much farther than Immigration Reform advocates had been expecting. She said she would go beyond the reforms that president obama has made through executive action. And she called out the republican candidates on one of their more unpopular positions. Clinton pointed out that the republican candidates do not generally support a path to citizenship, but the American People do. Hillary clinton is stake out ownership of these broadly popular positions while the 19 or so republican candidates have to spend months trying to outflank each other on the right. It remains to be seen, though, where she can keep those policy debates on her terms. Joining us now is msnbc political correspondent, casey hutt. She is on the ground in des moines, iowa. Nice to see you, casey. Another big weekend, a republican cattle call, of sorts. But let me ask you what Hillary Clinton is doing here. Shes intentionally picking a fight here. Its one thick to give a speech and say, hey, i want universal registration, i want 20 days of early voting, but when you call out republicans by name, republican candidates by name, shes looking for the responses she got today. She is looking for those responses, steve. And think about what this does for these republican candidates. If they go on the record at this stage in the campaign and they say that they disagree with her on these things, that might be what the republican primary electorate wants to hear, but in a general election, thats a difficult position to stick to when youre looking at somebody who is trying to build on what democrats would call the coalition of the ascendant. Think about what Hillary Clinton has to do here. What her concern might be. Its whether or not those minority voter who is came out in droves for president obama, they support Hillary Clinton, but the question is whether or not shes going to show up. And this is definitely designed to motivate voters like that. And the more that the Clinton Campaign can put these republicans on the record, on these issues, where theyre going to push them, further to the right, the better off they feel theyre going to be when it comes time for the general election. And the longer that fight drags out, the longer the primary goes on, the more ways they can do this, the better off theyre going to be. This is where we say, it depends if she can keep the debate on her terms, because on the terms she laid out today, as youre saying, shes on pretty popular turf and shes potentially putting the republicans in an awkward spot. But when we Start Talking about these issues of voter restrictions and voter i. D. The issue that republicans are always talking about is this idea of voter i. D. Of passing laws that say, when you show up at the polls, youve got to show some form of identification. Democrats very much generally oppose that. And Hillary Clinton didnt touch that. Heres a poll on that question, do you think people should show an i. D. To vote . This is from 2012. Look at that, 77 say yes, 20 say no. So there is a little bit of a risk here for Hillary Clinton. There is a risk there, steve. And i think youre hearing voter i. D. Is one of those areas that republicans are able to seize on, because voters respond to this idea that you shouldnt be allowed to cheat the system. And thats how voter i. D. Is framed. Its, this is, you know, were trying to prevent fraud. You have to show, you know, you need an i. D. To drive a car, for example. There are just many ways in which people interact with these i. D. S in their regular lives. They seem to understand it. Scott walker, for example, talks about voter i. D. In every single one of his stump speeches. And its one of the biggest applause lines of all the things he talks about. It does get wild applause. So i think its telling that she steered clear of that and into this other territory where she is on solid, polltested ground, if you will. Well see. Another big speech coming up pretty soon. We learned shell be on Roosevelt Island in new york city giving her first formal kickoff speech just a little over a week from now. Msnbc little correspondent, casey hunt, from des moines. Thanks for the time tonight. Steve, nice to see you. All right. This week, Caitlin Jenner sparked a National Dialogue, but the republicans running for president have stayed noticeably silent on what she talked about. Is this a strategy or a problem for republicans, thats ahead. It took Serena Williams years to master the two handed backhand. But only one shot to master the chase mobile app. Technology designed for you. So you can easily master the way you bank. Bennys the oldest dog in the shelter. He needed help all day so i adopted him. When my back pain flared up, i thought id have to give him away. I tried tylenol but it was 6 pills a day. With aleve its just 2 pills, all day. Now im back aleve. All day strong. There we go. Lease an mkz for 289 a month, plus competitive owners and lessees get 500 bonus cash, only at your lincoln dealer. Happy anniversary dinner, darlin im messing up every dish, pot, and plate. To show my love. Tada all this devotion only calls for a little bit of dawn ultra. Now even more concentrated. Just one bottle has the grease cleaning power of two bottles of this other liquid. You still got it, romeo. A drop of dawn and grease is gone. Youve heard of a winwin, right . What about a winwinwin . Pick up the limited edition metallic droid turbo by motorola. Waterrepellent. Up to 48hour battery life and ballistic nylon back. Thats your first win. Plus, its only on verizon. The 1 network. Theres your next win. Now for final win. Get 250 when you trade in any smartphone. And get 10 gigs of data for 80 a month and 15 per line. The winwinwin. A new way to save without settling. Only on verizon. All right. Chart imitates life. Lets start with a little civics 101. The u. S. Constitutions separation of powers gives the president the power to appoint judges, but only with the advice and consent of the United States senate. And when the senate is controlled by the opposition party, well, you might think that means the end of the consent part. But not always. For instance, toward the end of the george w. Bush presidency, thats back in june of 2007, thats when the democrats had been in control of both houses of congress for about five months, back then, president bush still managed to get some of his judicial picks through the democratic controlled senate. As of todays date, eight years ago, as of june 5th, in that year, 2007, as of then senate under democratic leader harry reid, had confirmed 18 of president bushs judicial nominees. And three of those were Appellate Court judges. Now, as of this same exact point in the obama presidency, as of june 5th, 2015, after five months after republicans took back control of the senate, here is how many of the president s judicial picks under senator Mitch Mcconnells leadership has confirmed. Four. And of those four, none are Appellate Court nominees. Now, whats driving this slowdown . Well, you can call it payback politics. When democrats were in the senate back in 2013, republicans were filibustering a lot of president obamas nominees and democrats got sick of it, so they decided to change the rules. They went with what is called the nuclear option, which made it a lot tougher for the Minority Party, for the republicans back then to stop judicial confirmations. But now democrats are the Minority Party in the senate and they will be for at least the next 18 months, and the republican leader, mitch mcconnell, the majority leader, is making it clear that he has no plans to stop blocking obamas nominees in that time. And my last question goes to judicial nominations. I am one of those people who wouldnt confirm another judge, given the antics they pulled last year, but what is the situation visavis federal judicial nominations in the process in the senate right now . Well, so far, the only judges weve confirmed have been Federal District judges that have been signed off on by republican senators. And do you expect that that will continue to be the case for the balance of this session . I think thats highly likely, yeah. And when you hear that cliche about elections having consequences, well, this is a perfect example of it. Republicans won back control of the senate last november, and when it comes to confirming judges now, theyve decided to do a lot of advising and almost no consenting. You show up. You stay up. You listen. You laugh. You worry. You do whatever it takes to take care of your family. And when its time to plan for your familys future were here for you. Were legalzoom, and for over 10 years weve helped families just like yours with wills and living trusts. So when youre ready start with us. Doing the right thing has never been easier. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. Guys, its just the two of you. The setting is just right. But heres the thing, about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. Well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. And you only take it when you need it. Ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in Blood Pressure. Side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. To avoid longterm injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. Stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. Ask your doctor about viagra. Out of 42 vehicles based on 6 different criteria, why did a panel of 11 automotive experts name the Volkswagen Golf motor trends 2015 car of the year . Well give you four good reasons. The Volkswagen Golf. Starting at 19,295, theres an awardwinning golf for everyone. Seems like weve hit a road block. That reminds me. Anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea. Gas, bloating . Yes one Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day helps defend against occasional digestive issues. With three types of good bacteria. Live the regular life. Phillips. This week, the world met Caitlin Jenner. Call me caitlin she said on the cover of vanity fair magazine. Caitlins big announcement of her transition received lots of positive feedback and attention and it was one of the biggest pop culture stories of the week. But not everyone took the news in stride. Bruce jenner is now Caitlin Jenner. I want you to check out the new vanity fair cover. What the hell is going on what do you think of all that . Its the era that were living in, right . It is. Rome, final days. But thats fine. You know, people act like im trying to be politically ladies and gentlemen, if you want one snapshot of just how corrupt, how morally corrupt, how morally bent, how morally twisted, how morally confused, how morally bankrupt we have become, all youve got to do is take a look at the cover of vanity fair magazine. This quest to redefine normalcy has another component to it, which is to redefine the new weirdos. And thats us, folks. Conservatives and republicans are the new weirdos, the new kooks. And that is part of the political objective here in normalizing all of this really marginal behavior. I mean, if less than 1 of the population is engaging in it, its marginalized behavior. It isnt normal, no matter how you define it. The backlash from some on the right regarding Caitlin Jenners transition to a woman comes at a rather awkward time, at least in terms of national politics. Its just a week after a new gallup poll shows that americans overall are moving to the left on many cultural issues. And that is creating a dilemma for the republicans who are running for president , as they confront one of the biggest pop culture stories of the year. So far, at least, they are not handling this like you might expect them to. They actually seem to have decided to hit the pause button. This week, Mike Huckabee was in orlando, florida, for one of those candidate cattle calls, and as he finished a q a session with reporters and walked towards the door, a reporter stopped him to ask him about Caitlin Jenners announcement this week. His response, quote, not going there. And the walked out of the room. The awareness on Mike Huckabees part not to answer that question, not to go there, strongly suggests that he gets what a land mine he might set off by answering that question. And that is a pretty big change for huckabee. After all, just a few months ago, he asserted if republicans stopped standing their ground on conservative views, on samesex marriage and abortion, he might leave the party entirely. This week, some tape from february resurfaced, in which huckabee joked about pretending to be transgender. Now, i wish someone would have told me when i was in high school that i could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in p. E. Im pretty sure i would have found my feminine side and said, coach, i think id rather shower with the girls today. So even Mike Huckabee says he doesnt want to see socialist issues avoided in the party, even he is now taking a step back and biting his tongue on this topic. Granted, not everyone is treating this with kid gloves. George pataki is not among the top tier of republican candidates in the field right now, but he is a moderate when it comes to cultural issues. And this week, he was asked about those comments from huckabee back in february. Are his comments appropriate . Well, i think it was meant in humor. Obviously, he didnt mean it seriously. But i think the more important point is we should give people their dignity and let them make their own decisions. People often make decisions that i dont agree with. But in a government where its supposed to be of the people, if someone chooses a path thats different from mine, we should respect that as opposed to mocking it or in any way trying to prevent that. So were hearing that from george pataki. Were hearing nothing from huckabee right now, and were not really hearing any condemnation of Caitlin Jenner from any of the gop candidates. The base of their Party Remains very conservative on cultural issues, but the broader country is moving, really, has moved to the left on many of these issues. So are we seeing evidence here that the republican candidates for president get this . And that theyre changing their tune because of it . Joining us now is robert costa, National Political reporter at the washington post. He wrote about the republican response to Caitlin Jenner today. Robert, thanks for joining us. I was actually in orlando when that incident happened not really an incident, but when Mike Huckabee was asked about Caitlin Jenner this week and looked at the reporter and said, not going there and left the room and it really struck me because of what we just showed there. Do you read that the same way, that maybe Mike Huckabee and others like him in the Republican Party are recognizing this moment of the country moving to the left and maybe rethinking what they might have said in an earlier time . I think so. And it was fascinating for me to report this piece for the post, because i kept calling around to different campaigns. And first thing they would say, off the record, they didnt want to have any kind of on the record comment about Caitlin Jenner. But i said, does this person, does caitlin offend the candidate . No. Does it offend you as an adviser . They said no. But theyre reluctant to weigh in. On that front, i want to play this. Its a clip of Rick Santorum, its from a few weeks ago. He was asked about when the news first broke about Bruce Jenners transition. He was asked about it, he said, if jenners said hes a woman, then hes a woman, and then went on to clarify it by saying this. Lets play this clip. If bruce jenner says hes a woman, then im not going to argue with him. I know what anatomically and biologically he is, and that doesnt change by himself identifying himself. You know, his genetics and dna isnt changing, but out of respect, im not going as you said, im not going to argue whether Bruce Jenners a woman with bruce jenner. Im going to treat him with dignity and respect and thats what i said. Santorum hasnt said anything this week since that vanity fair cover came out. Maybe that in and of itself says something, that Rick Santorum hasnt. But the fact that Rick Santorum went as far as he went in that interview signals some kind of a change here. Rick santorums emblematic of what these candidates are all going through. So he gives that statement to a reporter, that if Caitlin Jenner says shes a woman, shes a woman. And then he had to talk to breitbart, the conservative news site to walk it back and soften his comments, went up on facebook with another comment, gave more interviews explaining, that though thats his personal view, hes not advocating for any policy change. This is why no one wants to interact or engage. They thought this was going to be a political fight this summer on samesex marriage, maybe a legislative fight, now its a cultural battle, a cultural moment, and thats tougher to deal with. What do you think thats going to look like . We had a segment where Hillary Clinton thinks shes got the republicans on the defensive, where she kind of wants to bait them. She thinks she can score points in the general election in 2016. I imagine this is an area, broadly speaking, cultural issues, where democrats hope they can get republicans to say very provocative things in the primary season this year, where maybe they can paint republicans into a corner where they take positions that are going to haunt them in the general election. How is this going to affect the republican race that we see unfold over the next six months . Well, they all have to grapple with the general election. So, is the nomination worth having if youre going to run a campaign in the general thats really socially conservative campaign, thats not going to be able to reach out to those young voters, who see Something Like Caitlin Jenner, an episode like Caitlin Jenner or social issues in general as a litmus test, where the republicans stand really matters to them, and thats the only way to have an entreaty to convince them on other issues. Jeb bush has talked a lot about compassion and expanding the partys reach. How far does he go in talking about transgender issues and gay rights . Robert costa, National Political reporter with the washington post, thanks for your time tonight. Thank you. Still ahead, the most fun way to lose money this weekend. And goodbye to one of the greatest gotcha websites ever. Stay with us. Can your make up do this . Covergirl introduces makeup with super powers. New outlast lipstick. Long wear super powered by moisture. The super sizer the new mascara you twirl on to super size your lashes and your eyes. And new Stay Luminous Foundation stay naturally luminous all day. Makeup super powered. From easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. You wouldnt order szechuan without checking the spice level. It really opens the passages. Waiter. Water. So why would you invest without checking brokercheck . Check your broker with brokercheck. 73 of americans try. To cook healthy meals. Yet up to 90 fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. Lets do more. Add one a day mens 50 . Complete with key nutrients we may need. Plus it helps support healthy Blood Pressure with vitamin d and magnesium. They held viewing hours today for the late beau biden, son of Vice President joe biden. The former delaware attorney general died last weekend at the age of 46. Today, the public was welcomed to the viewing at st. Anthony of padwa Roman Catholic church in wilmington, delaware, just as they were welcomed at a service yesterday when beau biden lay in honor at the delaware State Capitol in dover. The Vice President and his family greeted hundreds of mourners afterwards yesterday and tomorrow morning, in fact, there will be a funeral mass for beau biden at st. Anthony of padwa, again in wilmington. Again, that will be open to the public. Today, the White House Press secretary said the president and his family have grown very close to the bidens. He said the first family is taking the loss of beau biden personally. And its president obama himself who will be giving the eulogy tomorrow for his Vice President s son. That funeral mass for beau biden is scheduled to begin at 10 30 tomorrow morning. Ill be anchoring special live coverage here on this network starting at 10 00 a. M. Well be right back. Love loud, live loud polident. Fresher dentures. For those breathless moments. Hug loud, live loud, polident. We spend a lot of time online around here. But with all this speed from xfinity, its all good. Hey, why dont we do some homework for a change . Gary, you too. Dad. Work stuff. Yes lovin the new design konichiwa hirosan. Five minutes. All this speed is very empowering. Check out the new hardware. With the Fastest Internet available, xfinity is perfect for people who need to get a lot done at home. And now you can go even faster. Weve just increased the speeds on two of our most popular plans. So youve probably heard the expression, won it by a nose, right . That phrase was essentially built for this situation, right here. This is the finish of the Belmont Stakes horse race back in 1998. Now, one of these horses, im not going to tell you which one is a horse named real quiet. Real quiet back in 1998 was trying to become the first horse to win the triple crown in 20 years. Real quiet had won the Kentucky Derby. He had won the preakness. All he needed to do that year was win the Belmont Stakes to complete the triple crown and to attain horse racing immorality. In 1988 real quiet was about to make history. Here is the absolutely unforgettable ending to that race called by the legendary dave johnson. As they arrive at the top of the stretch, real quiet is taking the lead, hes coming to the eight pole. 20 years in the waiting, one fur long to go. But here comes his rival, victory gallup, as they come to the final 16th, imploring real quiet to hold on, victory gallup, a final surge, its going to be very close. Heres the wire. Its too close to call was it real quiet or was it victory gallup . A picture is worth a thousand words. This photo is worth 5 million. Oh, no. History in the waiting on hold until we get that photo finish. A photo finish with history on the line. And then the photo dashed those dreams. It revealed that real quiet had lost that race, lost it by a nose to that rival horse, victory gallup, who came out of nowhere to stun real quiet at the last possible second. The triple crown has been for a long time now one of sports most illusive achievements. Even if youre not a horse racing fan, you know that the triple crown is a big deal. In order to win it, you need to first win the Kentucky Derby. That is the race with all the fancy hats and the mint juleps. And then you need to win the preakness stakes two weeks after that. And finally, three weeks later, you need to win the Belmont Stakes. This has only been done 11 times in history. No horse has managed to pull it off in nearly 40 years. Not since 1978, when the legendary horse affirmed won all three races. But this year, tomorrow, there is a chance, a real chance for history to be made all over again. You may have heard that a horse called american pharaoh has that chance. This weekend, to win the triple crown. American pharaoh won the Kentucky Derby last month. He then won the preakness stakes by a huge margin two weeks later. And now this weekend at belmont park, here in new york, he has the chance to win the Belmont Stakes and to take the triple crown. But heres the thing about going for the triple crown. It has been almost incredibly out of reach for every horse in recent years. Many horses have tried. They have been in this position and they have all failed, often in epic fashion. Charismatic, not going to get it done. Its a photo finish and the triple crown will go unclaimed for the 21st year in a row. And war emblems quest for the triple crown, he did not break alertly. War emblem was off. War emblem has given way. No triple crown for the 24th year. Funny side is doing his best, but hes dropping back. Empire maker has won the 135th Belmont Stakes. In 2004s test of the champions, smarty jones had the crowned jewel in his sights. Smarty jones enters the stretch to the roar of 120,000 but birdstone is going to make him earn it today. The whip is out on smarty jones. Its been 26 years. Its just one furlong away. Birdstone is upstart. Theyre coming down to the finish. Can smarty jones hold on . Here comes birdstone. Birdstone surges past. Birdstone wins the Belmont Stakes. Actually, i should clarify here for a second. Thats not the legendary announcer dave johnson, thats the track announcer from belmont park. Anyway, that is the recent history here that American Pharoah can contending with. They consistently lose in the Belmont Stakes, often lose to long shot horses in that race. Just in the last 15 years since 2000, there have been six horses that have gone to the triple crown and none of those horses have won it. That is part of why the triple crown is such a feat because it is so hard to pull off. And this is the horse theyre trying to pull off tomorrow. This is American Pharoah arriving in style on tuesday afternoon by a private jet. He arrived in part with his name because his owner is americanegyptian. Hes a 3 5 favorite. That means if you bet 5 on American Pharoah to win and he wins, youll win 3. A lot of people are going to bet on him tomorrow for the chance to say they were a part of history. But now, think of all that history. That history of futility in this race. All those horses that came into the brink of history and that left as losers. Then think of what damon runyon said which is that hell go broke playing favorites. With that in mind may i please present what i have decided to call the degenerate gamblers guide to losing all of your money on tomorrows race. Are you with me . Heres the plan. Were going to take the favorite, American Pharoah and throw it out. Hes a loser. Get him out of here. Instead of betting on American Pharoah, were going to take a long shot. We have a lot of options, too. Here is the rest of the field. My eyes naturally gravitate to a horse named frammento. The longest of the long shots. A 301 shot on that board. But consider this, frammentos trainer has twice now spoiled the triple crown in the Belmont Stakes. With a horse that had 301 odds. He did it in 2004 and he did it in 2008. So if youre looking for the ultimate underdog tomorrow, frammento is your guy. Or how about keen ice. He clocks in at 201 in the odds right now. You can make some real scratch with those long shots. But now, here it is, the moment youve been waiting for. Here is who im going with. This is my official release. For the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes, i like a horse whose trainer knows the track, whose jockey knows the track, whose long shot is long enough to win me some real money, but not so long that its a crazy and irresponsible pick even though it is a crazy and irresponsible pick which means i like a horse named materiality. Roll in the dough with me here. My career record betting this race is 1 in 18. About maybe this is my year or maybe its a year for history. The first triple crown winner in 37 years. That is what American Pharoah is going for tomorrow with the entire country watching. That race is tomorrow on nbc. The main event will take place around 6 50 eastern time with all that history on the line tomorrow night. Well be right back. Audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. The only thing left to fear is you imagination. Nissan. Innovation that excites. You pay your Auto Insurance premium every month on the dot. Youre like the poster child for paying on time. And then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. No big deal. Until your Insurance Company jacks up your rates. You freak out. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . Hey insurance companies, news flash. Nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. Start the interview with a firm handshake. Ay,no dont do that try new head shoulders instant relief. It cools on contact, and also keeps you 100 flake free. Try new head shoulders instant relief. For cooling relief in a snap. If you cant put a feeling into words, why try . At 62,000 brush movements per minute Philips Sonicare leaves your mouth with a level of clean like youve never felt before. Innovation and you. Ilips sonicare. Your credit is in pretty good shape. Chuck, i know i have a 798 fico score thanks to experian. Com. Kaboom. Get your credit swagger on. Become a member of experian credit tracker and find out your fico score powered by experian. When i started at the shelter, no one wanted benny. So i adopted him. Hes older so he needs my help all day. When my back pain flared up i was afraid i would have to give him away. I took tylenol at first but i had to take 6 pills to get through the day. Then my friend said, try aleve. Just 2 pills, all day. And now, im back for my best bud aleve. All day strong. And try aleve pm now with an easy open cap. This week, twitter officially killed off a website named pollup whoops. A lot of you dont know me about me but one of the things i was terrified is being out too late at night, maybe having a few too many cocktails and then deciding it would be a good idea to go on twitter and saying something that may be a little embarrassing and then later having to apologize. Seriously, that is one of my nightmares. If i actually admit, for example, that if im excited about the movie entourage, but when i come to my senses, i can delete that. My twitter shape can be washed away for good. But not everyone is so lucky. The reason for that is twofold. One, im just not that famous where everyone is going to notice it right away. And number two, im not a politician. And the main reason politicians in particular have been unable to enjoy the cleansing power of the delete button on twitter has been that site. It has been politwoops. Since 2012 politwoops has been gathering and meeting these tweets from our elected officials. These tweets get elected for a variety of reasons. Often its because of a simple spelling or grammar mistake. Not all deleted tweets are created equal. Politwoops works to catch politicians messages that are no longer advantageous. It was a big deal with politicians going out of their way at first to welcome home bergdahl, but apparently some of these people changed their minds when the political winds shifted. Many deleted their celebratory messages. Joni ernst deleted her thoughts and prayers. I take them all back she said. And like this one, senator ted cruz did a little shopping today with mike lee in houston and that is a tiger skin rug there with senators cruz and lee. Ted cruz took a lot of heat from Animal Rights groups about this picture. For about a week and then he took it down. But mostly, this is just fun to see what politicians tweet out. For example, this tweet from texas congressman Raul Labrador who said this me likey broke girls. And then Henry Cuellar said this to arsenio hall hey, next time well meet outside the room. This is from congressman darrel isa and its to rachel, simulating rachel maddow. I feel like this is going to be the last time im allowed to host her show. Politwoops has been taken down with the idea that these public statements for our publicly elected officials should be public, but twister has apparently decided otherwise. Farewell politwhoops. We are going to miss you. We already do. Everybody meeting me at midnight for the entourage movie, save a seat for me. Im on my way. Up until my next show, good night. New fears today in colorado. Is there a serial sniper on the loose . And how are police trying to connect the dots in separate shootings . The duggar family saga still playing out. Now the sisters are reacting in a new interview saying they are being revictimized. Out west a developing weather story at this hour. Hurricane blanca gaining strength and heading for land. The forecast, next