this week that i want to circle back on about how everything is more difficult. but let s when it comes to energy, but let s do that. first i usually do the news. i know. but i want the kid. he apparently has this show where he does the news, so does he really? he ll be okay. yeah, it s called way too early. when does it come on? anyhow, let s give willie geist a chance to do the news. take it away. i get no respect. that show is on have day of the week at 5:30. crews will position a smaller containment dome into place today in hopes of capping the leaking oil well in the gulf of mexico. this latest effort comes as congress learns there were a slew of problems that may have cribbed to last month s disaster. according to internal corporate documents a blowout preventer that was supposed to stop the spill had faulty wiring, sealing problems and a dead battery. however, bp s president warns, people should not draw any
mortgage companies, in turn, funded congressional campaigns, providing more than $626 million in contributions over the last 20 years. 52% to democrats, 48% to republicans. and in recent months, wall street has actually stepped up contributions to both parties. wall street, the big banks, still have a phenomenal power over congress. in fact, some experts argue the financial reform bill now being debated by the senate does not go nearly far enough to prevent another meltdown. however, senate majority leader harry reid says the bill provides the strongest protections ever against wall street greed. and of course, willie, members of congress always insist that campaign contributions don t influence their decision. of course they don t, lisa. it s outrageous you would even imply that. who would raise such an issue? lisa myers, thank you very
nbc s senior inves gatetive correspondent lisa myers is in washington. good morning. reporter: good morning, willie. good morning, mike. as you guys probably notice, congress has spent a lot of energy lately bashing wall street. but experts say that ain assessing blame for the crisis, congress also needs to look in the mirror it s cozy relationship with wall street led to lax rules that enabled the meltdown to happen. do you swear the testimony you re about to give will be the truth, the we ll reporter: the senate s investigation of what caused the financial meltdown has zeroed in on many villains. we ve got no regrets. you ought to have plenty of regrets. reporter: mortgage lenders gave liar loans that couldn t be replayed. federal regulators were asleep at the switch. credit rating agencies gave inflated ratings to investments that turned out to be junk. and investment banks like goldman sachs, made billions, feeding bonds over toxic mortgages into the economy where
the larger anti-democratic story that s going out there as well. as we go to break, real quick prediction. where are you right for you on the house of representatives? how close are you? where do you put republicans now? are they at 30, 35 seats? if you just count them up, they re in the 30s. but to be honest, my gut tells me it s going over 40. i think we re on if the election were held today, i think it would go over 40. if you count it up, it s in the 30s right now. charlie cook, thanks for being a part of our dysfunctional family. thanks for working through it. it s all right. love you guys. take care. despite your dysfunction. yes, and there is a lot of that. or because of your dysfunction. yeah, exactly. no, don t make him feel like it s a good thing. willie, weights coming up next? a lot of dysfunction. coming up, the politico playbook, why next tuesday, may 18th is shaping up to the biggest day in politics this year. details next with politico s
profiling. the city council voted overwhelmingly yesterday to stop doing business with arizona unless the law is is repealed. the mayor of los angeles has already said he will approve the legislation. despite that action and recent nationwide protests, another number to show you from the nbc poll, 64% of americans, nearly two-thirds, support arizona s immigration law. the one that requires police enforcing other laws to question a person about his immigration status if the cops have reasonable suspicion the person is is in the country illegally. only 34% say they oppose the law. pretty incredible number. joe, no interruptions. let s send it back over to joe and mika. well done. all right. willie, he did such a great he did a great job. seriously, why would i interrupt him? oh, really. is that what you re saying? no, he s a real pro. so you feel you need to interrupt me because i m doing such a bad job that you want to fill the void of stupidity with