Transcripts For MSNBCW Up WSteve Kornacki 20140518

Obama has gotten 300 of his judicial nominees confirmed. 300. At the same point in his presidency, george w. Bush got through 35 fewer confirmations than obama to this point. Progress is being made to clear that. We know what to thank for that, right . In november of last year, harry reid triggered the socalled Nuclear Option. He did away with filibusters on most nominations and made it impossible for members of the Minority Party to block the nominations. No more 60 votes. Thats the idea, anyway. But the Nuclear Option didnt fix everything, either. Theres still something called the blue slip. For a nominee to get a confirmation, both senators from that nominee state must sign off on it. They have to submit a blue slip consenting to the nominee getting a hearing. If they dont, the nomination dies. The blue slip is an old Senate Tradition but the rules of it have changed over the years. When republicans controlled the white house under george w. Bush, they did away with it and democrats lost some of their power through bushs court picks. When democrats won back the senate in 2006, the new chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy brought it back and gave his party a check on bushs judicial appointments. The democrats control the white house and the senate, leahy kept that rule in place. Republicans are exploiting it to great effect. They used blue slips to hold up 11 obama nominees and kept 30 seats on the bench empty. The white house said since the republicans will object no matter what, they are not going to fill the seat for the time being. If you are the white house, how do you get around it . You can cut deals with the republicans. Its moved away for several democratic georgia nominees in return for obama nominating Michael Boggs for a federal court. They wanted Michael Boggs nominated or themd keep blocking the judges obama wanted to put on the bench. The white house made that deal. All hell is breaking loose among democrats on capitol hill. Temperatures fighting their own president on this. Bogs is a state judge in georgia. Before that, a member of the state legislature. A conservative democratic member of the state legislature. While in that job, he posted names of doctors who supported abortions, with the number they performed. Opposing gay boy scout leaders, backed the amend to ban gay marriage and voted to remove a confederate battle emblem from georgias state flag. This is the man president obama agreed to nominate as part of the deal. This past tuesday, boggs got his hearing before the Senate Judiciary and the senators bounced about the emblem on the flag. I found one of the most challenging things of being a legislature was deciding when to vote the will of my constituents and when to vote the will of myself and my conscience. Other legislatures struggle with it. I struggle with it regularly, on that issue, particularly. The overwhelming majority of the constituents in the county i represented, which contained a minority population, that i was not ignorant of. Those constituents provide georgians get the opportunity to vote. Thats why i cast the vote the way i did. However, im glad the flag was changed. I look back and you voted twice on this. The first time, in 2001, there was no referendum. Where do you stand now on reproductive rights or a womans right to choose . My personal opinion on the matters, it would be inappropriate, in violation of the code of conduct of georgia on those matters. The legislature you have a prolife voting record, you supported traditional marriage. My personal opinion was, at the time, over a decade ago that i was in support of the proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned samesex marriage. My opinion may or may not have changed as many peoples have over the past decade. For my vote, i have to have certainty and i dont know quite how to get it in view of this record. So, i want to just put that on the table, publicly. Thank you, senator. Since that hearing, the top democrat in the senate, harry reid came out in opposition to boggs, others have done the same or expressed serious reservations. In a meeting, one of obamas closest advisers rk members of the black caucus shared their concern. They sent harry reid a letter thanking him for opposing the nomination saying the cbc stands with you. David scott, a cbc member from georgia did more. The it will go down as one of the worst acts of this president. Article two, second two says the President Shall nominate and advise and consent. Is that what really happened to bring us to the boggs nomination . What does have to happen for a democratic president to get a nominee from a red state through a democrat these days. Even in a post nuclear senate. Katie is from the Washington Post. Josh is a correspondent from the New York Times and casy is a political reporter for nbc news. This is an interesting one for me for a couple reasons. We just heard it there, listening to boggs at this hearing. Some of these issues, gay marriage comes to mind. A lot of people have changed the past ten years. If you are going to hold it a lot of democrats ten years ago were supporting banning gay marriage. His answer was weird. He said i may or may not have changed on that. Hes leaving it out there for democrats to read the best of intentions but hes not really saying hes changed on it. Theres this whole other, talk about the abortion doctors and named posted online. He says it was a mistake. He gave his answer on the battle flag. Al franken was inconsistent. Dianne feinstein said its hard to see who this guy is. Its normal to be vague about policy positions. Itis standard in judicial hearings. Whats remarkable about this and why democrats are so resist tent is they feel we have a Democratic Senate and president , we ought to be able to get justices on the bench. I think thats the reason for the resistance. If they are angry, be angry with pat leahy. This seems dumber to me than waiting so long to change the filibuster rules. It was a durable institution where the democrats say we have the protection of it when we are in the minority and it will help us block undesirable nominees. The rules have changed over time. Theres no reason to expect a Republican Senate wont revert back to the rule they had last time where you dont have the blue slip. Leahy is giving power to the republicans he cant expect back in return. Hes written an oped. This is the advice and consent role. When the thing is a veto point, its not advice, its a decision delegated to the other party. The history of blue slips, it was a tool used by a southern segregationist when they controlled key chairmanships to keep prointegration judges from getting appointments. It is striking when you look at what josh is saying, the rules that changed is lined up with whatever the Majority Party sees as their best interest. Republicans got it back in 1994 and reinstituted the blue slip rule. It raises the question, pat leahy said he would revisit the rule if he thinks its being abused. Is this a case of abuse, though . Pat leahy is an institutionist and loves it power of the senate. The blue slip gives more power to individual senators. This is something you are interested in keeping together. If you pull it out a little and look at it more broadly, why do they want to push through the package of eight or so judges this is a part of . They are concerned they are going to lose the senate overall. The white house made the calculation, its worth pushing him through in exchange for the nominees on the list. Thats part of why you have seen majority leader reid pushing so many executive decisions through. Its one thing the senate has been highly or at least a little bit. Follow that up a little bit then. If republicans win back the senate this year, the expectation with the white house and democrats, they are not getting anything through in the last two years of obamas presidency . They are not going to be particularly willing to move through judicial nominations in por tick lar. I would be reluctant to cast them. Im sure the Republican Congress on the whole is interested in sending obama legislation he is not interested in signing. This one comes to mind as something where one of the cases against this the democrats make, there are seven judges who are part of this. You are talking district judges and court appeal judges. You are talking seven. Four of them are being picked by the republican senators here. Three are the white houses pick. It raises the question if the republicans control the senate is this what they would like . If you are democrats now, this is an all or nothing deal. Are we looking at im looking at the names here. A democrat from alaska says hes against it. Debbie stabenow. It looks like democrats are lining up in sync against it. Capitol hill is tough terrain for the Obama Administration with democrats. Itis not easy at this point. The white house said they have only had seven nominations opposed by democrats. Theres boggs and david barren who is being opposed because he wrote judicial opinions on using drones. You know, it shows that the Obama Administration has an up hill battle. Going into midterms, its tough treading with democrats in congress. On wednesday, we have the quote, this was jay carney. The president believes each senator should vote as he or she sees fit. All are qualified, that includes judge boggs. Not a ringing endorsement. Some were making the case of look, if we are going to get people through and the blue slip rule exists, this is what we have to do. Would you rather get none of the nominees through . Is the white house backing off this and taking heat from the senators and liberal groups it doesnt want fingerprints on it anymore . In some ways. Its set in motion at this point. They are backing off a bit. They have received so much optician. It was their choice and they cut a deal. You are right. They are not kind of putting their fingerprints on this now as things are moving through capitol hill. We have to squeeze one break in here. I want to talk about what happens. If democrats kill the nomination, how does this fit in with the broader issue of rules or form in the senate . We had the Nuclear Option partially triggered . I want to talk about it in the broader context after this. 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Comforpedic, icomfort, optimum, and wow, four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection, even a queen size sealy gel memory Foam Mattress for just 497. The Memorial Day Sale is ending soon. Mattress discounters so, so much attention has been paid in the last year, last six months to filibuster reform. The headline last fall was harry reid changed the rules on judicial nominations. We are seeing if you have the blue slip, you know, procedure in place in the committee, it doesnt matter if you have the filibuster. Do you expect, you know, you were saying it is on pat leahy here. Its surprising theres not much pressure before this. Is this a turning point moment . We could be at that point except the democrats are likely to lose the senate in a few months. We had six years with a democratic president and its taken them all this time to realize they were shooting themselves in the foot with the rules. If they get rid of the blue slip, maybe they are doing a favor for the republican who is are going to come in majority. Now the republicans could do that and say it was pats own choice. I can understand why he would be resistant to do that now. Its a shift they should have made years ago. This rule either still exists or taken off the books now. Republicans will want that. It will still be a democratic president. They want the ability to block. Right. But if they won the 2016 president ial election they take it off the books. I think they moved it two or three times during the bush years alone. Thats the key. The Senate Traditions are deep traditions but change depending on the party. The flip side, if the democrats hold the senate, its not impossible they hang on. Do you think the last two years of the Obama Presidency with the clock ticking theres an effort to get through when talking judicial picks is there going to be a more aggressive move . Of course. Reid has senator reed ramped that up in the last six months or so. I think that eesz why they changed the rules when they changed the rules, right . I think if you look more broadly in the context of the senate itself, what we are seeing is this battle between these old institutionists and this crowd of newer. Many Democratic Senators never served in a Republican Senate. They have not had the experience of what its like to be in the minority. Thats part of what reid is balancing as he makes the decisions. He opposed the pick. He gets to decide what shows up on the senate floor and what doesnt. At the end of the day, its his per ogtive. Is this group of more liberal senators who have come in in recent years and who are not comfortable with the filibuster rules and the traditions like the blue slips and whether its positive on the whole for the senate is a question senators are debating. There are many, like senator pat leahy who think the old way of doing things got more done in the long run. Theres the generational divide in the senate where the average age is 68 years old is weird. Is carl levin, a democrat from michigan, a defender of the filibuster. He was against the reform. Pat leahy is the most Senior Member of the senate, elected 40 years ago. The question is, when you look at sort of the politics of this right now, what do you expect to happen here . Republicans have 45 votes. Basically, this guy, boggs and other picks, this is the best they could do to get judges confirmed. Say 45 want to vote for it, six democrats need to vote for it as well. I guess five. Right, that would be fascinating. Do you think theres five or six for Michael Boggs at this point . Maybe among the more conservative democrats. If it gets torpedoed, they need it for the midterms, essentially. The statement in public is ambivalent. I think yeah. Its also how much the white house needs to Keep Congress during the midterm elections. They really need it. Its a question right now. If they can get this through, its one more thing in their ledger they can say they have in their column going toward the midterms. On some of these nominations, you saw the president s pick to lead the civil rights division, the department of justice go down unexpectedly. Biden was there ready to break the tie and the whole thing blew up in flames and could cause problems. I have yet to see everything that convinces me the white house has a complete understanding of how this is going to go down. There are groups, there are abortion Rights Groups, gay Rights Groups pushing hard against this nomination. If the white house, behind the scenes starts trying to exert the same kind of pressure, its a battle we havent seen much in the obama years. Democrats on democrats. Well keep an eye on it in the days and weeks ahead. Michael boggs brings more who are against the white houses pick. I want to thank casey hunt for coming in. See you later in the hour. Arnold schwarzenegger as governor and Ronald Reagan as governor elect a celebrity author for a powerful Senior Member of congress. She joins us next for her first, National Television interview. E. We give you your fico® score each month for free awesomesauce wow the only person i know that says that is. Lisa . Julie . at discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Get the it card and see your fico® credit score. For 175 dollars a month . So our business can be on at ts network yup. All five of you for 175. Our clients need a lot of attention. Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. Low dues. Great terms. Lets close. New at t mobile share value plans. Our best value plans ever for business. Reckless seeding. 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Epic Classical Music stops music resumes music stops music resumes [announcer] purina pro plans bioavailable formulas deliver optimal nutrient absorption. [owner] come on. [announcer] purina pro plan. Nutrition that performs. What do katy perry, ava longoria and Jesse Ventura have in common . They are supporting the same person for congress. Mary williamson is a best selling author and a spiritual adviser for the stars. Shes running as an independent. She represents it House District where a lot of stars live. Beverly hills, santa monica, they are all parts of the district she is running in. Running in the New York Times magazine, she called it quote the botox belt. Normally, an independent candidate would have no chance of winning a congressional race and she is a long shot, but the rules are different in california where they have what is known as a jungle primary. Every candidate from every party or no party runs on the same ballot, the top two finishers faceoff, even if they are from the same party. In the race to take waxmans place, there are 18 candidates now running. Among them, wendy gruel, near the elected mayor of los angeles last year. Matt miller, a commentator who has been a guest on this network and on this show, even, once or twice. Ted lue, a strong base of support. It may not take that many votes to make it to the general election. Of course, mixing hollywood with politics is old hat in california. Its the state that made Arnold Schwarzenegger governor and took a man who starred in a move with a chimpanzee and made him governor, now president. Now, a spiritual counselor to celebrities is trying to launch her career in the shadows of tinseltown. The opponents who won the endorsement of the los angeles times, she can counter that with this, an endorsement song released this week. Unless we start a revolution awaken from this frozen demanding today this is how they play politics in the botox belt. To talk about the truly unique congressional race, we are joined by mary williamson, she joins us live from los angeles where its 5 30 in the morning. Thank you for getting up, we appreciate it. Let me start by asking you, running for an independent as congress. There are such a strong party system in this country and such partisan gridlock in washington as an independent, what do you think it is you could accomplish that you couldnt as a member of the party. Thank you for having me on. I would like to say, if i may about the things you said already. Certain the people that supported my candidacy have, but so has Jennifer Gran hol m and others. Thats important. I also have to say, if you want to go totetotoe on how much botox is in manhattan compared to l. A. , l. A. Will take you on. I have to push back a little bit. When you ask about in terms of running as an independent . Yeah. Its so important. I think people are remembering, two parties are not Political Parties are not mentioned in the u. S. Constitution or the declaration of independence and George Washington warns us against them. Its sucking the oxygen out of public discourse. An important thing to be concerned are as disturbing to the people on the right as they are on the left. I have been a democrat all my life. I think the direction of both parties is disturbing. Im not saying the parties are the same. They are not. The issue of money in politics, which is to which both parties are beholden, i think we need more independents calling on the system. I think people from outside the two party system are able to do that in a way that people shackled within it are not. How does that work in the u. S. House where party line discipline is so important . The story we have seen for the entire Obama Presidency. This is not much of an oversimplification. If president obama is for it, the democrats in the house are opposing it, the republicans are against it. This started with the stimulus. It started with the first thing the Obama Administration put forth. Health care, not a single republican vote in the house. We are talking reform. Managed to get a handful of republican votes. Right now, the republicans are terrified to put it on the floor for a vote. How does an independent function in that . I would caucus with the democrats. More importantly, you are proving the point, we need 18 independents. That is what would break this. We need independents. We have angus king. They dont lack influence and power. We need independents. Everything im describing there, i mean, wouldnt democrats break that, too. No, you cant. Thats why you have the gridl k gridlock. If you have 18, thats what i think is the added value my candidacy brings. If los angeles sends one to congress, that happens to be me, an independent to get the money out of politics, it will start a fire in the country. Look what l. A. Did. There will be more independents. You have a few of those in the house. Then you have the trim tab and a situation where the gridlock is broken and only then. Im not saying one woman can go to congress and fix everything. We need a new movement. Americans need to disenthrall ourselves from the belief that it has to be through the parties. Abolition didnt come from a major party. Civil rights didnt come from a major party. The major party is the status quo. We dont need to perpetuate the status quo. We need to disrupt the political status quo. I understand what you are saying. Im wondering if the story of the obama era that we have seen, its asm smessay metric. What we have seen, i just seen it in the house so many times, i mean, i take the specifically talk about the issue of immigration where, you know, the story of the reason why we dont have Immigration Reform is specific to the Republican Party. Its the internal politics of the Republican Party. Republicans are afraid of losing primaries to challengers who say you voted to give amnesty to illegal immigrants. Thats the line they are scared of having yulsed against them. A House Speaker scared of a mutiny to put it on the floor. Its not about a need for democrats, but changing the culture in the Republican Party. I dont see how the difference between having an independent from california versus having a democrat, i dont see how that changes it. I didnt say having an independent from california rather than a democrat is going to change it. But having an independent, the issue for me is not just that im running as an independent. Im running as a progressive. Running as a progressive, theres a new progressivism in america today. Corporate, multinational corporate takeover is an issue which, if looked at seriously is as disturbing to someone on the right as it is to someone on the left. Its not just a culture in the Republican Party, its the United States of america. Too Many Americans are not awake to whats happening here. The parties are playing one game and the political elite are playing one game. Whats happening inside the American Mind is whats important. More people say thag is what i want to represent and that is what i remember sent. The same conversation is going on around the country. Its not just this inside game. Thats whats wrong with politics. Everything you are talking about has to do with politics as a spectator sport. What they are doing, the real issue is what they are doing is posing to what matters in america. The American People recognizing that we are losing democracy. There is a cancer eating our democracy. Money forces have an influence on the functioning of our government that is disproportionate as to represent a dismantling of our democratic foundation. We have gone from a government of the people by the people for the people to a government by a few people for a few people. That is whats going on. Democracy is not just broken in washington, its broken here. This activation within people. So the citizen lockout. The average citizen is locked out of appropriate educational access and economic opportunity. As the American People awaken and send more people to washington who dont want to talk about the game, but want to talk about a pattern interrumt of whats going on in this country tharks is what will change things. I want to thank you. You are a candidate for congress in californias 33rd district. Thank you for coming on. In october, corey booker departed for city hall. What did he leave behind . An amazing piece on reforming education, not just in knew wark, new jersey but america. 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Plus, free sameday delivery, setup, and removal of your old set. When brands compete, you save. Mattress price wars are on now at sleep train. Your ticket to a better nights sleep maybe you remember this moment, corey booker, Chris Christie, Mark Zuckerberg on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2010. He announced his education reform. Take a listen. The first project will be 100 million dlarls challenge grant. 100 million . [ applause ] 100 million. That was the money zuckerberg committed on that day to the new Jersey Public School system. Supposed to be the beginning of the turn around for education in newark, to transform the city into a National Model for what the education could do. Winfrey said why newark. As recounted, he gestured toward booker and christie and said newark is because i believe in these guys. We are setting up a 100 million challenge grant for mayor booker and governor christie to have the flexibility they need to turn newark into a symbol of Educational Excellence for the nation. This was a big moment for Chris Christie and corey booker who were coming into their own. It was a bipartisan moment. They got great press out of it. It was good politics for both of them. Whatever happened after that moment . Where are things now, 3 1 2 years later. We know about christies bridgegate headaches povting from new jersey to the National Republican snat. Booker stepped down last year when he won a special election for the u. S. Senate. This week, his legacy as mayor and the educational reform that they championed publicly suffered a rebuke at the hands of newarks voters. Tuesday, newark held their first post corey booker election for may mayor. The son of the late poet, bookers nemesis on the citys council and served at newarks high school. They tried to oust him. State appointed superintendent Camie Anderson has become a lightning rod in newark. Shes considered an outsider and shes white in a School District thats only had africanamerican superintendents in the last four decades. It struck some residents as odd. With all the money pouring in, why close schools . One in four schools in newark are slated to be closed or turned into Charter Schools. The progress has been hard to measure. Bookers prom nance has brought attention and big money to a city with crime for decades. Residents have been asking themselves who is profiting from this. More over, a lot of residents have felt left out. When Mark Zuckerberg announced the gift, it came to a surprise to the nation and the parents of Newark School children. The group called education reform, a National Group that promotes Charter Schools and receives Financial Support from hedge fund and wall street donors. They poured 2 million into the race on behalf of his opponent. When he took the stage to declare victory, affirmed the outsider sentiment of the vote saying we told them about money in a democracy. Broad street should be more important than wall street. Corey booker was a celebrity mayor and education was supposed to be his legacy. What does it say that voters in his own city revolted against his signature project . What does it mean for the educational reform project nationally. They talked of making newark the Charter School of america. Is the tide turning or is Something Else going on. The nbc education correspondent is joining us. We have the director of africanamerican studies at the university of connecticut. I start with you in wake forest. Can you put what we are seeing this week, what we saw this week in newark in National Context for us . That was the goal of cory booker, Chris Christie and Mark Zuckerberg to make newark the Charter School capital. 25 of schools are going to be closed or turned into charters. Now voters are trying to put the brakes on it. Does it say anything about the Political Climate or the Charter Movement nationally . Reporter its way to early to tell if they are going to succeed in that effort. The question of success of Charter Schools is being evaluated across the country. Theres a report out a few years ago that talked about public Charter Schools have about the same record. There is a lot of reason for people to be concerned about whether they think or whether Charter Schools can be the magic bullet, if you will, for helping children succeed in schools. Particularly children located in heavy minority areas, which is another part of being in a large, minority area. Also, there is large poverty. So many children attending the schools in newark, so many of them, upwards of 70 and 80 qualify for free and reduced price lunch. There are issues there people are dealing with as well. Will it succeed . Again, it is way too early to tell. There are some who say that even the notion of thinking you can succeed at this in a matter of one or two years is shortsighted. Education reform is something that takes a long time. The places i have been to across the country have succeeded upwards of 2,000 to 3,000 in a high school. It took them ten years before they were able to turn the school from a place that was failing to one that is a model school in massachusetts. A state that is one of the leading states in this country for educating kids. So, a lot of the conversation now might be kind of early. A lot of the promises of what people can do may be sort of early. People have to maybe think again about this. One of the thing that is happens in this country, we are a country that had a desire to get things quickly. We want drivethrough solutions for everything. Education did not get in the mess it did overnight and will not get out overnight. Theres evidence all over the country to support that. Full disclosure, you know the mayor of newark, you went to school with him. What do you make of whats happened in newark in the last, three, four years leading up to the terms of politics of education in newark. I mean, there is and there was a lot of frustration. Thats putting it mildly about the Public School system in newark. You have an ambitious reform plan. 100,000 coming in from Mark Zuckerberg. What is your take on why its not settled well with voters. I was a classmate with him. That doesnt really impact my perspective on why i think it happened to voters. The principle of democracy, popular will counts. So, making a case for education reform, nothing that people can oppose. The school, the parents, the children in that School System recognize a great deal of difficulties and underachievement and recognize them and understand more intimately than those outside could have. However, the way in which this was approached was almost tailor made to alienate parents. People did not feel they were up vested or consulted or their opinions mattered. Very much top down. As i was Walking Around newark, i went to various polling places and struck up a conversation with one man. He said he was voting for him. I asked why. He said they got 100 million, then started closing schools. From where i stand, they probably pocketed the money. No one is going to say they are corruption and not accusing them of corruption, but theres the sentiment that people cannot recognize the idea they were flush with all this cash given the fact newark is a School System that doesnt lack for cash, then all of a sudden the schools are closing. The divide, it sort of, you dont want to oversimplify things. The Teachers Union is on his side and the Big Education reform, the Charter Movement, you know, is on the other side. What i want to talk about, we have to squeeze a break in here. What i want to talk about when we come back, there are suggestions theres more Common Ground than we think. Lets talk about that when we come back. Predicting the future is a pretty difficult thing to do. But, manufacturing in the United States means advanced technology. We learned that Technology Allows us to be craft oriented. No ones losing their job. Theres no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. The technology is actually creating new jobs. Siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done. Mayo . Corn dogs . You are so outta here aah [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of greattasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. Nutrition in charge™. I got more advice than i knew what to do with. What i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. 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When you talk to, this is one thing that comes, i was reading about the race this week. When you actually talk to him more, the mayor of newark, he actually agrees with and shares it critique of the Public Education system that the Charter School crowd puts out there. He served as a principal and doing the same things people were talking ability, lengthening school days and teachers not pulling their weight that would be better off, better served not in that institution. Hes clear about the pragmatic concerns. Hes isolated. I think theres a number of parents, a good number of parents who feel the same way. Theres something to be said for people working within a particular community, especially newark. More than any midsized American City i can think of, newark has a fiercely independent streak and a pride about newark, we can handle our own problems, we are from newark and we are internally focused here. We are up against the clock here, but i want to go with you because you are in Winston Salem for a reason. This is a story that exploded overnight. You were there for jill abramson, the former editor of the New York Times. Tell us what you are expecting today and the latest you are hearing about that story . Reporter well, one of the things you know, this is Jill Abramsons first public appearance since she was abruptly dismissed as editor of the New York Times. Theres a question about whether she was paid as much as male predecessors or an attitude too rough for some. Sparks of controversy about whether or not women are held to a different standard than men in leadership positions. We havent heard from her yesterday. We heard from a publisher of the New York Times. He says this has nothing to do with a question of pay, it was about management style. In a statement released, i heard repeatedly news from colleagues, women and men about a series of issues, failure to consult and bring people with her. The public mistreatment of colleagues. She has been aviced before she needed to change. She did not do that. She was dismissed on wednesday. A lot of controversy. All right. My thanks to you in Winston Salem. Jill abramson will be giving one of many highly anticipated speeches this year. Some so controversial, they are not going to happen. We will talk about that later. Plus, the Tea Party Challenger Mitch Mcconnell had to get through first. Less than 48 hours the polls will be open in kentucky. The candidate running joins us live, next. You think youll need when you retire . Then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. I was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. Im going to have to rethink this thing. Its hard to imagine how much well need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. So maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. Wbecame your business. Y for passion. Etirement. At t can help simplify how you manage it. So you can focus on what you love most. When everyone and everything works together, business just sings. The hours are now counting down to the opening of the polls in kentucky. It did not go up to Mitch Mcconnell. He will join me live to talk about his chances after this. Its meow mix mealtime. With wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, its the only one cats ask for by name. Because you cant beat zero heartburn. Woo hoo [ male announcer ] prilosec otc is the number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. I know what my money is doing. For 8 straight years. I rebalanced my portfolio on my phone. You know what else i can do on my phone . Place trades, get free real time quotes and teleport myself to aruba. I wish. This is mike. His long race day starts with back pain. And a choice. Take 4 advil in a day which is 2 aleve. For all day relief. Start your engines all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. Step seven point two one two. Verify and lock. Command is locked. Five seconds. Three, two, one. Standing by for capture. The most Innovative Software on the planet. Dragon is captured. Is connecting todays leading companies to places beyond it. Siemens. Answers. Improving everything from booking to baggage claim. Were raising the bar on flying and tomorrow well raise it yet again. It is the Marquee Senate race this year. Mitch mcconnell facing a race in kentucky. Polls showed him locked in a dead heat with a democratic candidate. Republican friendly groups are geared up to defend mcconnell. They are pledging to spend more money on his reelection than any race in the country. Theres a catch. For that race to happen, mcconnell has to win the republican nomination. He has to win the primary against matt becven. He came to the race with a serious personal bank account and signs that conservative groups would have his back. The Republican Party has seen several senators toppled by Tea Party Challengers think of bob bennett in 2010. It seemed hardly out of the question that mcconnell would become the next victim. It hasnt worked that way. Freedom works, the tea party citizen fund, groups that played major roles backed off the kentucky primary spending only a fraction on this race leaving bevin to spend at least 1 million of his own to keep pace. Bevin raising taxes on high income earners last year. He found himself on the receiving end of attacks from mcconnell and his cut throat political operation. Hes delivering on the promise he made to the New York Times in march to quote, crush the tea party. He blasted mcconnell for supporting the bank bailout. Bevin got into hot water after speaking at an event supporting cock fighting. According to an nbc news poll released, bevin trailed mcconnell 32 points. Bevin was closer in a different poll. Polls are opening in kentucky in less than 48 hours. Bevin doesnt have much time to turn that around. Is Mitch Mcconnell on the verge of surviving what once was a primary threat . If it does, what does it say about the Tea Party Event . A name that took down republicans in 2010 and 2012. So far, 2014, doesnt have much to show for itself. Joining us from louisville. Look, i hate to be the bearer of bad news but im sure you have heard it. This is the front page of the Huffington Post with your race up there, losing battle. They have you down by 20. They have you down by 32. People look at this and say, they think of the tea party uprising in kentucky four years ago where rand paul won the senate seat. He was way ahead. You are coming in 2030 points down. The first question, what happened . This is not where a lot of people thought this race would be right now. Why arent you closer . Anyone who thought this raise would be in a different race is not a good student of political history. The difference between running for an open seat, which is what he was doing and most were doing and running for a seat with an incumbent and leader in the senate to boot is unprecedented. Never in political history has a congressional leader been defeated. This is some kind of a cake walk was not the intention. What is your expectation for tuesday . Are you at a point where you think i want to crack 40 to make a statement . What are you trying to accomplish . I intend to win. Trust me, well win. We have the passion and sentiment. For those who sit in washington d. C. And speak to one another in the echo chamber that passes for the media, often and fail to be out here on the ground talking to people, noting that for every mcconnell sign that exists anywhere and they are few and far between, theres 20 to 25 signs for our campaign, not just in one spot, but across the breath of this state. The passion, the enthusiasm, the grass roots is on our side. It becomes a function of who will turn out to vote. The voters will decide. Its fantastic for Huffington Post or whoever you alluded to to claim this, that and the other thing, they have no stake in this race t. Voters of kentucky will decide in 48 hours. Let me ask you this. The bank bailout is an indictment against mechancconne that you made. When democrats look at him, they see him as the face of sort of reflexive opposition to president obama, the president s agenda. The guy who said early in the Obama Presidency, the number one goal of the Republican Party is to defeat barack obama, the guy who authored this strategy in the senate of voting no on everything to deny obama the appearance of bipartisanship on anything. Is that one of the reasons this has been a struggle for you . Is there room to the right of mcconnell in this race, when thats the role hes played in National Politics for these years . What you are touching on, steve, is an example of a man who says one thing, certainly says one thing in kentucky, then does a different thing when he goes to washington, d. C. Tell me one thing, one thing, including making obama a oneterm president. Name one thing barack obama wanted in the first five, six years of his presidency hes not been able to get because of Mitch Mcconnell. Nominations. Until he changed the filibuster rule. Theres not a single one that hasnt come through. You have the atomic or Nuclear Option that harry reid utilized to get appointments to the d. C. Court of appeals. Its not the case. There is zero, nothing Mitch Mcconnell stopped barack obama on. Part of that is a function of being the Minority Party in the senate. The republicans dont have the votes there. I mean are you saying take an issue like obamacare. Mitch mcconnell is as against it as anybody else. Do you think that secretly Mitch Mcconnell is okay with obamacare existing. Is that the criticism here . I dont think its secret, frankly. If you look at what he does and not listen to what he says when hes running political ads around the campaign trail, the man is not a conservative. Not everyon a little. If you think he is, look alt his votes. The house set forward a continuing resolution minus the funding for this. Harry reid and Mitch Mcconnell said by voting for it, utilizing republican votes, which could not have happened, even though the senate was controlled by democrats, it could not have happened without Mitch Mcconnells support. Thats what he did. Ensured the funding of this. Hes not a man he can tell us hes against it. When is the last time you heard him say he wanted to yank it out . Now hes for fixing and patching. He is not a conservative and not doing anything to fight the obama agenda and using his minority status as a reason for doing it. That inability to represent his inconstituents is why hes vulnerable and going to lose this. Let me ask you this. Rand paul, rand paul is one of the faces of the tea party uprising, the conservative grass roots uprising we have seen in this country for the last four, five, six years. It was your state of kentucky where he won that primary in 2010. That was a signature moment. Rand paul has endorsed Mitch Mcconnell and supporting him in this race. His former Campaign Manager is running Mitch Mcconnells campaign. Why isnt rand paul with you . Its interesting. The Campaign Manager had to hold his nose to do it. That has been publicly made known. Hes done a terrible job. This is the Worst Campaign mcconnell has run in a long time, which im grateful for. With respect to rand pauls support, how ringing has that endorsement appeared to any of you in the press in recent days, weeks and months . He made the endorsement before i was in the race. Hes one vote. He will vote one time in two days and so will i. Im sure we will vote for the same candidate. But theres between him you think rand paul is going to vote for you on tuesday . Thats what you believe . I cant speak for who he is going to vote for. Rand can tell you. The people of kentucky are not cheap. They will vote for who they want to vote for. This is why i feel good about this race. Are you disappointed in rand paul . He make as lot of, you know, people who disagree with him or agree with him, this is your quote about rand paul. He knows full well that we are cut from very, very similar cloth and he and Mitch Mcconnell are not. He understands that. Thats what you believe about where he is. Publicly hes with Mitch Mcconnell. Has he disappointed you in not having your back publicly . No. No, again, he made the commitment before i was in the race. Hes sticking to that commitment. I respect rand. Hes doing a great job as a u. S. Senator. Im grateful for him. I voted for him in the primary and the general. I will tell you this, every group that coalesced with hind him is with me. The polls will be the only the ballot box will be the only poll that matters. Im telling you, we are doing well. You watch the one that is come out in the next 48 hours. That gap is going to close quickly. When mcconnell ran 30 years ago, he was down 20 with a week to do. He won that race. This is the way we are in kentucky. We dont wear our Political Sentiment on our sleeve, we just dont. If you are not successful on tuesday, i understand you think you are going to be, if you are not, you will not endorse the democratic runner. Would you support Mitch Mcconnell if hes the candidate this november . If im not successful . Thats crazy talk. I do intend for this to be a moot point, but i have never supported a democrat over a republican. I am not going to support allison grind because she doesnt represent who we are as kentucky yans. The people supporting her are not people in line with the ideology of kentucky. To that end, i dont feel she would represent who we are. Thats why im in this race, to give kentucky the option of choosing someone who will represent them, not come back with a voting score card, but a voice for them. This is who we are. We need someone to fight for us. Its interesting point. This is the new bluegrass poll. 5535. The 35 supporting you, if you dont win, 39 will back Mitch Mcconnell, 25 allison lund lundergangrimes. Do you think Mitch Mcconnell can win in november . No, because of apathy. Please, understand this. People in kentucky, this isnt some kind of a group thing. People are very independent thinkers. They will vote for who they want. The reality is they will vote for who they want to vote for. Thats how it should be. Do i think he can win in november . I dont think he can. For those who worry about keeping his seat, they better pay close attention in the primary. She runs against him by being young and new and not him. These are the things that are counter points that dont work against me. To that end, i will infuse a sense of energy like she will. We are forlsed to talk about issues, vision for the future and life experience. I could win on all those fronts against her. Judgment day for the republicans in kentucky. 48 hours away. Matt, thank you for joining us this morning. Appreciate the time. We checked in with the other candidates in kentucky, Allison Grimes and Mitch Mcconnell, they are welcome on the show anytime. Ugh. Heartburn. Did someone say burn . Try alka seltzer reliefchews. They work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. Mmm. Amazing. Yeah, i get that a lot. Alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. Enjoy the relief. All right. Joining us now to talk about the challenges the gop establishment is facing in kentucky and other key races is msnbc contributor, perry bacon. He is live for us now in louisville, in his home state of kentucky. You are the perfect person to talk to after that interview we had. A couple things struck me about what matt bevin told us. I understand, even facing discouraging poll numbers you have to be confident at the end. Take a listen to what he said, then ill ask you about it. The man is not a conservative and not doing anything to fight the obama agenda and using his minority status as an excuse for doing nothing. That type of cowardness and that inability to represent his constituents is why hes vulnerable. A year ago when matt bevin and others were delivering this, maybe Mitch Mcconnell could be in trouble in this primary. Im looking at the numbers. The Tea Party Groups that arent there now. Am i missing something or do you think we could be in for a surprise tuesday . I dont. I dont think you are missing anything, steve. The polls have been challenging. Two challenges, its not clear the problem with Mitch Mcconnell. You talk to voters here, mcconnell never made the mistake like charlie crist, he never hugged obama. He voted the right way. Theres a poll today that shows, asks people do you think Mitch Mcconnell has been in washington to long . Im experienced. You dont want to trade him in for a rookie. The majority agree with mcconnell, its more valuable to have an experienced senator than hes old and been there too long. So, how do we interpret what happened on tuesday. Say Mitch Mcconnell wins on tuesday and we seen the story now in a few primaries where you have the quote unquote established candidate and the Tea Party Candidate. The republican candidate learned how to nip the tea party things in the bud, did they learn to assert themselves . Mitch mcconnell is not too conservative. Hes not tuch for republicans. Is there a case to be made as well, the establishment has sort of been so afraid of the tea party, they adopted all the tea party views and rhetoric and theres no difference between them . I think both those cases are right. The first thing is, mcconnell knew there was a chance for a primary and he avoided the Richard Lugar in indiana. Mcconnell meeting the tea party activists. The moment barack obama wanted it he knew there would be a challenger and hes working hard. The difference between a Tea Party Candidate and a mcconnell candidate, i dont see where the difference is. Mitch mcconnell is loud and proud for appealing obamacare. Look at tom tillis in north carolina. The candidates in georgia. The Tea Party Candidates are losing. The mainstream candidates are extremely conservative. A man who might win the georgia primary is one of the most conservative members in the house, even though hes not a Tea Party Candidate. You have seen the room for the Tea Party Candidates to run to the right. Its not there anymore. You are seeing it in race after race. I want to get to that georgia primary in a minute. Theres indication at the last minute democrats are trying to get mischiefous in terms of helping to pick their opponent. Ill get to that in a second. Set this up for us if you will, if this is the race we are expecting, Mitch Mcconnell versus alson grimes, basically a dead heat. What is the biggest key for alson grimes. What has to happen for them to do that. She thooz make the campaign about Mitch Mcconnell. Mcconnell did a great job in the campaign about him and bevin going to cockfighting rallies. People in the polls show they are tired of mcconnell. If the race is about mcconnell, he will lose. Grimes has to make sure the race is not about her or barack obama. Right. The thing to remember about Mitch Mcconnell, 30 years in the senate. Hes had close reelection races in kentucky before. This is not a widely beloved senator in kentucky. Getting to georgia, open senate seat in georgia. Hes retiring. This is a state democrats are going to run. Michelle nun, the daughter of sam nunn. A brand name in georgia politics. These are the only two where democrats think they can get the republican seat. This is what the republican primary looks like now. A run off between the top two. The interesting thing about this is no clear Tea Party Candidate emerged in this. Kingston theres no clear Tea Party Candidate. Is that the story of georgia, in the absence of that, this guy perdue, hes the establishment candidate. Hes going to be in position because the tea party never got their act together . He had the most money. Hes campaigned aggressively. He is, like i said, on the issues himself. Hes not given a lot of room to the right. Hes very conservative on most key issues. The tea party split up into a lot of parts in that race as well. In brown and gingrich are not great candidates there. They have made a lot of gas and not a lot of money. At the end of the day, georgia is a conservative state. All the candidates are in the same close ideological. The republicans have done a good job. You are not going to have a todd aiken style from perdue or kingston. Brown and gingrey you were hoping for. The interesting piece of news is democrats are pushing perdue. They indicated he would support more revenue. More taxes and democrats are joining that pile on. They see a chance, maybe, to deny him the nomination. I say keep looking out. Well find out tuesday what happens in georgia, kentucky. Idaho, the fun governors race will be decided in two days as well. Perry bacon. The dirty tricks going on in mississippi politics. Thats next. I dont want to think about the alternative. I dont even know how to answer that. I mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. I try not to worry, but you worry. What happens when your paychecks stop . Because everyone has retirement questions. Ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. To get the real answers you need. Start building your confident retirement today. When you didnt dread when youbedtime becausenner with anticipaof heartburn. Itation. When damage to your esophagus caused by acid reflux disease wasnt always on your mind. Thats when you knew nexium was the Prescription Medication for you. 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We strive for the moments where we can say, i did it we are entrepreneurs who started it all. With a signature. Legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. And were here to help start yours. Only two weeks to go until the mississippi primary. This morning, voters are waking up to a bizarre development. The Tea Party Challenger trying to knock him off. That candidate, that Tea Party Challenger is Chris Mcdaniel, a Mississippi State senator. Two weeks to go until the elections tensions running high. A blogger who supports the campaign broke into the nursing home where Thad Cochrans wife lives, snuck into the room, took photographs and posted pictures of her. The world of low down dirty politics, this is the lowest, dirtiest, most invasive thing one could do. Now, the fallout. The questions. Mcdaniels Campaign Said she called the Cochran Campaign condolences. The time she gave before making the call is before they published word of the bloggers arrest, raising the question, how did she know . When asked about the arrest, he said he hadnt heard about it at all. The Communications Director was questioned. He said he knew nothing. They werent doing themselves any favors here. Theres no evidence or suggestion the campaign was involved. All day yesterday, it couldnt get the story straight of when it learned of the arrest of the blogger that broke into the nursing home to take pictures of Thad Cochrans wife. What they knew and when they knew it is what they are trying to put out. They released a final statement saying they learned of the story ear early saturday morning. 7 30 a. M. Saturday morning, Chris Mcdaniel himself was told. Not long after that, the Campaign Manager called cochrans Campaign Manager. After telling the reporter he didnt know what was going on, he hadnt been fully briefed. The most recent one conducted last month has senator cochran leading by 17 points. This is one of the last remaining races when the tea party was going to have a chance of knocking off the republican candidate. Im guessing it is likely not the event of this weekend that is going to help mcdaniels close the gap. Still ahead, Graduation Day for college seniors. Will the announced Commencement Speaker be the one at the podium . The politics changing the writ of passage. Is it for the better . Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. Low dues. Great terms. Lets close. New at t mobile share value plans. Our best value plans ever for business. But add brand new belongings from nationwide insurance. And well replace destroyed or stolen items with brandnew versions. We take care of the heat, so you dont get burned. Just another way we put members first, because we dont have shareholders. Join the nation. Nationwide is on your side if you are graduating or knowing someone who is and attending a ceremony today, you might hear secretary of state john kerry speaking at yale or richards speaking at a college. John legend is going to deliver the commencement address at the university of penn penn pennsyl thats tomorrow. If you are at rutgers, you will not hear from former secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. Christine lagarde will not be at Smith College commencement. Robert birgeneau will be absent from haverfords festivities. Some members at the school petitioned against them for various reasons. They each backed out, one by one. The imf chief said she wished to preserve the sell bra tour spirit of commencement day. Graduation season generates an outrage over who gets to speak. This is not a new trend, but one picking up steam in recent years. In 2009, president obama spoke at notre dame, despite protests against his prochoice stance. Ann colder canceled in 2010 after students crowded the entrance of the hall where she was going to appear. Last year, robert under george w. Bush withdrew after building a case to go to war in iraq. What purpose do the speeches mean anyway . The benefit of the students, faculty or the students . The students face the real world should commencement speeches of what is an institution of Higher Learning shield them to opposing points of view. This tradition lost its appeal. Is it time to think differently about college commencement. Here to talk about this, katie from the Washington Post talked about how political the speeches have become, josh is back and the president of the naacp of brooklyn. Katie, ill start with you because in some ways, this is an internal story, right . Right. Theres the famous story of Hillary Clinton in 1968, the republican senator from massachusetts was the speaker. Hillary clinton is the student speaker. Hillary clinton gets on stage and blasts ed with him sitting right there. Is she going to be president some day . I dont know. Theres all sorts of stories like that. Is it true that this season theres been more of it and theres sort of the west reasserting itself on campus . Do you see that going on . Its disinvocation season. People who were invited are disinvitie inine ining themselv. They have counted the number of times they have been protested against or withdrawn since 1987 and theres been 145 instances and 100 of those in the last five years. Its a trend thats been ramping up in the past five years. Can you put an ideology on the trend . Is it more liberals protesting against, you know, speakers they dont like . Is it as much conservatives . Equal on both sides . Theres a bit of imbalance. It cuts both ways. People protested against kathleen sebelius. Many institutions of Higher Learning have a more liberal plant. When you invite someone with a more conservative stance, people tend to protest. Thats been going on. They have been successful in getting people to be able to step down. You know robert, last year, his stance for the iraq war conflicted with the quaker principles at the school. Its been across the board but definitely been more for conservative republicans. The one thats probably got the most attention has been rutgers, Condoleezza Rice slated to speak, then she backed out. She paid 35,000, too. I didnt know it was such a lucrative gig. Timothy egan writing in the New York Times. For guidance, these son sors could have consulted the rutgers Student Mission statement. We embrace difference in cultivating inclusiveness and respect of both people and points of view. Commencement stages will ho home to nothing what do you make of the argument that students dont like Condoleezza Rices politics or the bush administration. Itis what college is about. Its the experience of being at school. We need to ask ourselves a question in terms of trend, not on students and faculty protesting it. They have every right to do so. If they would like to ask the question in terms of universities and committees to identify the speakers. What is the change and the trend in that context . Are people bringing folks who would help the university make money no matter their political leaning . I thought another professor mentioned students and faculty were politicizing an issue. You politicized it by selecting a person like Condoleezza Rice. They have every right to protest. As a consumer, i have invested this amount of money leaving this school with i dont know how much loans. If i decide to get together with faculty and students to protest someone who would potentially speak at what is supposed to be a sell bra tour day for me, they have every right to do so. What do you make of the argument . Theres no bright rule. We make social norms about what views are okay to express in public and which arent . What are issues we can disagree about and people can come and speak and be honored. I think we talked about this a lot on the prop 8 issue where you have the ceo of mazilla. It was out of silicon valley. Its a case by case decision. I think students are within their rights to protest. The speakers are withdrawaling, not that the schools are rescinding the invitation. At the same time, christine la guard, the head of the imf who withdrew from smith under protest. They had every right to protest, but i think it was a mistake to do so. I think shell well within the view of economic policy, a path breaker as a woman, one of the top global leaders. I think she would have been a great Commencement Speaker for smith. I think its a judgment call for students and yuruniversities to make. We are not talking about the speakers coming to give a lecture or to promote opposing views during the school year. We are talking about at commencement. When i finish in terms of saying making this lasting, you know, comment or lesson to you. Maybe i dont want that. Maybe i want my day to reflect that. This goes both ways whether its liberal or more conservative. I would standup for every right for a university that has more conservatives bringing someone who is prochoice. At rutgers, for instance, the decision to bring in Condoleezza Rice in the first place, we talk about the students protesting it, but theres a decision, a conscious decision made fwi university. What is behind that decision . Do you have a sense of what it is students would get from hearing from Condoleezza Rice . I dont know about rutgers and their choice, but i spoke to someone at the university of illinois on a Senate Faculty that is supposed to bring in a Commencement Speaker. They had a few Business People and looked back and forth. We didnt like this guys business practices, this guy might be controversial, we are not sure about this person. They brought in an alumni that is an astronaut. Everyone loves an astronaut. It depends on the school and why they bring in someone and how they bring it in. Im not sure about rutgers, but theres a lot of thought put into it. Its not a one off, well bring this person in. Theres a lot of thought. In some places, a lot of money going into it. Not only money, but the Honorary Degree for some. Do you want in terms of the students and faculty, does this person align with the universitys mission and why we would give them a degree. We have to squeeze a break in here. You talk about the time and the effort that goes into selecting the speakers. I had a running bet about who i said bill cosby is going to be our Commencement Speaker. We did not get bill cosby. We got significantly lower profile. 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I had a few too many to drink the night before the ceremony. I want to go to the football field and listen to him. It might have been a great life changing speech, but i missed the governor of puerto rico. Who was yours . I dont remember. It didnt matter. I graduated from Boston University the year after you. Our speaker didnt show up. We had the president of Austin University and i remember nothing he said. All i remember is it was cold. He was there to collect more checks. Exactly. Pay my loans right to him. I graduated from harvard in 2005. A guy with a Childrens Book out at the time. I dont remember much from the speech. Everybody likes john. Two years after me, bill gates was the Commencement Speaker and he gave a great speech about finding the ways to do the most good. Focused on his foundation. The Gates Foundation is controversial. A lot of people from the left have objections to it. I think that was a speech you could take a lot away from. Its the reason to be open to speakers who you might have disagreements with who you can learn a lot from. Thats the point here, too. The question of how the speaker decides to use the occasion. I remember when i was a kid, my cousin graduated from eastern connecticut state university. I had, i was a 12yearold political dork and Jesse Jackson was the speaker. I was excited. Congratulations to my cousin, but i wasnt going to go. It was a speech i look back now and go, i dont know in terms of like, you are the graduate there and you want practical life lessons. Is the speaker a platform to advance a political agenda or a platform to Say Something that might be relevant and meaningful to theyeah, i think also, you k, i dont know what the tradition is in terms of picking a Commencement Speaker. I know theres a committee. Whats wrong with having student say . Maybe going back to High School Days in terms of the speaker at our high school graduation. Like we had some say in that. So what is wrong with having that something that speaks personal to the graduating class. My high school Commencement Speaker was the vice chairman of the Massachusetts School committee. He told us over and over again to have a bhag. A big, hairy, audacious goal. I dont have one. But i remember that. At harvard i know the way that process works is the commencement address is very driven by institutional forces. The class they address on the previous day is driven by students. Youre sort of given two commencement addresses. One is like this is who we want to come speak to us. We had tim russert my year. And in a lot of cases they pick more comedic speakers. But i think it strikes a nice balance where students have a lot of input into the process. Theres time to hear from different voices. I know. I know. Absolutely. Why couldnt he come across the river . I dont understand that. Why should we know today . Our answer is right after this. 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The white house announced they will hold a forum on youth concussions. Its on may 29th but expect in the next week to hear more about that. This is been a big issue in the nfl. Its an issue that is quite important. Janet yellen will give the commencement address for nyu at yankee stadium. If youve ever wanted to see the Federal Reserve chair speak to a crowd of tens of thousands at a baseball stadium, this is your opportunity. And the vice chair for the fed nominee, stan fisher may come up early this week. Rand paul is threatening to delay the nomination. Part of the National Baseball stadium tour, i think. Also one more important thing, the Belmont Stakes on nbc is going to matter this year. We may, for the first time in 36 years since 1978 have a triple kraun winner. California chrome who was the favorite in the california derby and won and went off if in the favorite in the preakness and also won, will be going for the triple crown at belmont park three weeks the from yesterday. Three weeks from this weekend. A lot of times they win the first two and lutz the third. I have a different feeling about this one, though. Thanks for getting up this morning. We will be back next weekend saturday and sunday. Everybody stay here. Melissa harris perry is coming up next with an alarming report with children as young as 7 working in americas tobacco fields and risking h their health. Well see you next week here on up. Have a great week. And a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for. All day relief. Hmm. [bell ring] roll sound action afghanistan, in 2009. Orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once its earned, usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. Because it offers a superior level of protection. And because usaas commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an Auto Insurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. 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Im dorian morn in for melissa harrisperry. You may have seen me as a guest before, but as