plus, rest easy, mitch mcconnell. actress ashley judd has decided not to challenge the minority leader for his senate seat. the kentucky tea leaves or the bluegrass just ahead. >>> if you love one, you can love two. what if all three people love each other and they want the benefits and all that. who among us should deny those three people their love? where does this freedom to do what you want stuff stop? you can have, you have one woman and two guys in a marriage and the woman could be impregnated by the two, and voila, you've got a family. >> what to do when you know you're wrong but terrified of being right. republicans can't quite figure out how to change with the country. reince priebus deduced that something is afoot. >> if you're basically losing for 24 years, something has to happen in our party. >> could that something be an embrace of marriage equality? >> my position is that marriage is between a man and a woman, but my other position is that you also treat people with dignity and respect and love and grac

mitch mcconnell is from louisville. mitch mcconnell has never been well liked out in the state. i can tell you having spent five years in kentucky that ashley judd, for all of her hollywood ties, could out-country and out-kentucky mitch mcconnell in that state. at least that's what she could try to do. >> this is a little bit psychobabble but this is what we like to. alex wagner, imagine you're mitch mcconnell. he is a pro. he's very smart politically, very cagy, if you will. he's thinking right now, would he rather run against a no face boring guy from the locality, worked his way up as a local lawyer, whatever the typical candidate, or this wildcard? >> i think he'd rather run against the no face boring guy as you say, chris. if only because, as you pointed out, she's going to inject a ton of excitement. she has the eyeballs. there's going to be enthusiasm. she's going to have access to the ground game if the obama campaign infrastructure works with her on this. there are going to be high dollar donors who come into the race. it will be a high-profile race. mitch mcconnell wou

plus, rest easy, mitch mcconnell. actress ashley judd has decided not to challenge the minority leader for his senate seat. the kentucky tea leaves or the bluegrass just ahead. looking for a litter with natural ingredients that helps neutralize odors. discover tidy cats pure nature. uniquely formulated with cedar, pine, and corn. so will bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller powerful sheet. look! one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with bounty select-a-size. love two. what if all three people love each other and they want the benefits and all that. who among us should deny those three people their love? where does this freedom to do what you want stuff stop? you can have, you have one woman and two guys in a marriage and the woman could be impregnated by the two, and voila, you've got a family. >> what to do when you know you're wrong but terrified of being right. republicans can't quite figure out how to change with the country. rein

plus, rest easy, mitch mcconnell. actress ashley judd has decided not to challenge the minority leader for his senate seat. the kentucky tea leaves or the bluegrass just ahead. morning, brian! love your passat! um. listen, gary. i bought the last one. nice try. says right here you can get one for $199 a month. you can't believe the lame-stream media, gary. they're all gone. maybe i'll get one. [ male announcer ] now everyone's going to want one. you can't have the same car as me, gary! i'm gettin' one. nope! [ male announcer ] volkswagen springtoberfest is here and there's no better time to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease one of four volkswagen models for under $200 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. okay why? more is better than less because if stuff is not le-- if there is more less stuff then you might want to have some more and your parents just don't let you because there's only a little bit. right. we want more, we want more. like you really like it, you want more. right. i

we want to make the issue mitch mcconnell. the number one obstructionist to getting things done in washington. the guy who said the indefensible statement that our number one priority is making barack obama a one-term president. no, senator, your number one priority was jobs for the american people. you got it wrong and don't deserve to be re-elected. >> you just -- the governor just anticipated my entire closing statement tonight. but that's the whole question. >> sorry. >> how can you defend mcconnell if his number one goal is nemesis? he wanted to be a nemesis to president obama. that was his goal. let's get back to the question of politics. is it smart for party leaders to influence like bill clinton did, influence the direction of the nomination candidate? >> these days if you're a washington candidate in a primary, it can be very problematic. if you get too much washington all over it, it becomes a real problem. >> what about bill clinton support? >> i'm talking about the republican primary. the democratic primary might

mitch mcconnell, are you ready for some drama? here comes ashley judd. the movie star who's been on the big screen over two decades. she starred on tv and on broadway and now she's ready for a new role. "the huffington post" reports that ashley judd is ready to run for senate. mitch mcconnell, get ready for some fun. more on the kentucky derby ahead. all right that's a fifth-floor problem... ok. not in my house! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! no no no! not today! ha ha ha! ha ha ha! jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? happier than dikembe mutumbo blocking a shot. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! but lately she's been coming in with less gray than usual. what's she up to? the new root touch-up by nice'n easy has the most shade choices, designed to match even salon color in just 10 minutes. with the new root touch-up,

in the end, comes down to what mitch mcconnell brings to the table. he is a complex politician in a sense, obviously has a real deficit of trust in kentucky, otherwise his poll numbers wouldn't be that bad. however, he is sort of a known quantity there. he has done a lot for the state that you and i know and no one else in the national media comprehend because it is local. he brought so much money back to that state, people know and trust him for that. he is a pretty good politician when it comes to state politics. it is not a walk in the park because his numbers are in this poor state that they are currently. >> nia, sam is right, i don't know everything he has done for kentucky. i know he slapped his name on some federal buildings. >> that's true. >> in kentucky which is kind of a sleazy thing to do. but apparently kentucky, they don't know what he has done. numbers are terrible. here is a robo poll from harper polling, run by someone that used to work for mcconnell. so if there's ever going to be a favorable mcconnell poll it will come from here, m

mitch mcconnell, speaker boehner, they seem to have figured it out. i see them standig up and talking about regular orders. that is a command us moment. >> it is very important. however we got into this mess, weust find a way to solve it. the best way is to follow regular order. which means letting the american people know what we are voting on and unlike when the democrats were in charge. >> how about a budget? >> the law says the president was supposed to submit his budget are very poor. it is now almost march 4 and we have never seen it yet. the house has each year passed a budget. we just had paul ryan they are and the budget he will submit this time will balance in 10 years. we are going to get this right. we are going to offer the american people a plan to get the federal government in order by making smart choices and changers that will grow the economy and get on a better path. lou: does this complement the other leaders on capitol hill? what took so long? >> is a tough and challenging place. we made mistakes along the way. the important thing

. >> well, it is -- i guess the reason i'm asking it is so many people pointed to when mitch mcconnell said his number one goal was to see that the president was a one-term president. the president has committed to you and others that he wants to do what he can to help turn the house democratic. isn't that kind of the same thing? >> no, it isn't at all. >> that you shouldn't look at the prism of the next election. >> no, it's completely different, but thank you for the question. it's completely different. because when mitch mcconnell said that, he was talking about stopping, obstructing initiatives to create jobs, stopping initiatives that would show bipartisanship on the part of the president. they want to show that he couldn't make -- come to agreement with the republicans simply -- didn't matter what the subject was. they were not going to support it. the role of the leader of the party and the country is the president of the united states. >> you don't see this right away turning into a legislative breakthroughs on big deals about the budget or any of that stuff? >> i certainly hop

for knocking out mitch mcconnell. >> guess who catered chelsea's wedding? >> bill lundegran, alison's father. >> i love this because it's all the connections that make so much sense and nobody ever hears about them. thank you. excellent name on st. patrick's week. >>> get your pencils ready. when we return, i'm going to tell you what you can do for victims of gun violence in this country, especially those kids up in newtown, connecticut. you can do something. it's not hard. it's doable. you do it tonight. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ bop ] [ bop ] you can do that all you want, i don't like v8 juice. [ male announcer ] how about v8 v-fusion. a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit. but what you taste is the fruit. so even you... could've had a v8. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't h

how speaker john boehner and mitch mcconnell seem to have finally figured out things. the republican leaders unveiled a new perspective on how to deal with a divided capital and are now insisting that those emergency negotiations with the president on crucial issues and public policy choices we longer be negotiated in private meetings between the president and the republican leaders. instead, they are restoring regular order in the house and senate. senator mitch mcconnell releasing the following statement ter this mornings fruitless meeting with the president at the white house. he said we will have opportunity to ensure that funding is at the level that we promised while working on solutions for making spending reductions more intelligent than the across-the-board cuts of the president. but i want to make clear that any solutions will be done through the regular ord with input from both sides of the aisle in public debate. how speaker john boehner's office confirms that the house will only look to resolve the sequester issue through regular order as well. speaker joh

with this, mitch mcconnell, you have officially killed "the harlem shake." this is, like, this is really delayed. this is really delayed. >> it's killed so bad it's coming back. >> i thought that it was a decent video. >>> ever wondered what a famous person would sound like, conan o'brien has. >> we melded hillary clinton and steven tyler. >> i just want to tell you, i'm going to tell you to keep it together. because the whole world is watching you. >> taylor swift and harry styles. >> i don't really talk about my love life. i kind of sing about it a lot. music is a way of understanding what i'm feeling. >> finally, you asked for it. president obama and nicki minaj. >> i would like to everyone to know how singing, lo and behold there are tons of girls and tons of boys that appreciate all of that craziness. >> is that legal? >> you can't go wrong. y >> how about you and i morphed together. >> go ahead and read the tease. >> i have an e-mail from your girlfriend. >> sorry, i can't do lunch today. >> thanks, bill. still ahead on "way too early" -- why are you a

mcconnell, while ashley judd can raise a ton of money, she can double the amount of money mitch mcconnell can raise. he can now count on raising 60. >> i'm not convinced that ashley judd isn't a mitch mcconnell plant. look, the problem is that ashley judd is a hollywood tennessee liberal in a state that elects democrats, but they are conservative-minded democrats. this is not the kind of person to take out mcconnell. what i'd say -- >> especially someone like mcconnell. >> this is what usually happens when you can't find somebody so you go celebrity. i've seen republicans do this numerous times. >> name i.d. will not help at all. >> that's what's so odd is that there are -- the democratic bench in kentucky is about as healthy as it is in any state. >> right. >> they have got a democratic governor, a democratic secretary of state who is open to running for this seat, i've been told by people very familiar with the thinking. so there's chandler, who's now an ex-member of congress who's run statewide before himself, held lower statewide office. there are plenty of candidates on the bench, so

she seems kind of tailor made for mitch mcconnell's campaign style, which is sort of slash and burn. make it all about the opponent and make it extremely negative. there's a lot of turf there. there's a lot of fodder and some in kentucky privately expressed a view that maybe they would be better off, some democrats, with a more unknown candidate who is more of a blank slate and where the republicans and mcconnell's allies have to work a little bit harder to make the race all about the democrat. that said, she would also be able to raise a ton of money which could be used both by her campaign and by a super pac supporting her campaign to turn that around and try to make it all about mitch mcconnell and as you put it and as they would probably put it, his record of obstruction. >> angela, the conservative website the daily caller appears somewhat interested in ashley judd. here is a small sampling of the steady stream of headlines about everything from her once dating michael bolton, the singer, to the fact she's appeared nude in the movies to cherry picking comments she's made over th

because when mitch mcconnell said that, he was talking about stopping, obstructing initiatives to create jobs, stopping initiatives that would show bipartisanship on the part of the president. they want to show that he couldn't make -- come to agreement with the republicans

it is absolutely mitch mcconnell. see, what's going on is mitch mek connell is running for election. and he's afraid of a tea bagger running against him . >> i mean, you had the new york times, for example. reporting that there are republicans happy with the sequester. congressman scalise called it, quote, a big victory. an congressman mulvaney said sequester was a welcomed development. who is this a big victory for, exactly? >> it's a big victory for mitch mcconnell. those new freshmen over in the house don't understand what's going to happen. when you start laying off air traffic controllers and there's a 90 minute delay on every flight going to chicago and you have the whole airline system slowed down in the entire country, then america is going to see what's happened. oh, when they come and there's nobody to open up the national space museum in washington, d.c. for tourists to come in, there's going to be a hundred thousand effects that will happen because of all of this that will happen little by little by little

mitch mcconnell will join me in a moment. first we want to take you to just outside tampa, florida where demolition is under way to the home where the sinkhole formed killing the owner of the house, jeff bush. authorities made the decision to stop searching for bush who was swallowed up by the 600 foot sinkhole thursday night. we will keep following you this story and bring you updates throughout the hour. >>> back to the top story, more than a year to work things out, hours before mandatory budget cuts were triggered, the president called democrats and republicans to the white house, his first bipartisan leadership meeting since december. the meeting led up to expectation but nothing happened. no ongoing negotiations. if you have visions of somebody somewhere pulling an all-nighter or two to get this fixed, doesn't seem in the works. >> i am not a dictator. i'm the president. so ultimately if mitch mcconnell or john boehner say we need to go catch a plane, i can't have secret service block the doorway. >> joining me from his

mitch mcconnell has been a survivor. and with ashley judd throwing her hat into the ring, you know, potentially, do you think that she would just be labeled as this hollywood liberal that's coming in to try to just make a ruckus for him, but he could overall win? >> the people of kentucky first and foremost, want to vote for somebody that they're comfortable with. they aren't comfortable with mitch mcconnell. they never have been. he's been a begrudging victor in most of his races. they like ashley judd. she's a university of kentucky graduate. she goes to many of the home basketball games. she leads cheers there. so again, she is a very widely popular figure in kentucky. and i think these labels of hollywood liberal just aren't going to stick. >> and real quickly, before i let you go, i want to get your take on what happened earlier today in the senate. this feisty exchange between senators ted cruz and dianne feinstein. just before the senate judiciary committee passed feinstein's assault weapons ban. take a listen. >>

how relieved is mitch mcconnell, chris cillizza? i'm going to ask you about that. >> sure. >> you broke that story. >> i beat her to the tweet by two minutes, so i'm taking credit for it. in the twitter verse, that's a big beat. >> i actually think, andrea, there's an argument to be made and a lot of smart folks advising ashley judd on a potential candidacy. her personal charisma, her star power, her ability to draw money and attention to the race. would make it difficult for mitch mcconnell. i would put myself on the other side. mitch mcconnell has been elected and re-elected, ever since 1974 by making the race about his democratic opponent. ashley judd she has lived her life in the sort of entertainment world, not the political world. many of the statements she made are perfectly fine in the entertainment world. but they would not have played as well in the political world. i think it would have given mitch mcconnell lots and lots of fodder to paint her as an out of touch, liberal hollywood elitist who didn't know kentuckyians. de

talk about mitch mcconnell's role in all of this. the president obviously had dinner with 12 republican senators last week. the bottom line is there will have to be some deal with leadership, meanwhile, mitch mcconnell is up for re-election. he is facing pressure from the left and the right. he is concerned about shoring up his right flank. does that make things more complicated in terms of striking a deal? >> i think that you've seen mitch mcconnell take an increasingly tough line against taxes. he was the architect of the fiscal cliff deal with vice president joe biden and that included tax increases for upper income taxpayers as well as ending the social security pay roll tax cut. since then, he said no new taxes. of course as you mentioned, that he is worried about a possible primary challenge ahead of 2014. his tough line is going to be something that will be difficult to navigate around from the white house's perspective. i talked to a bunch of the republican senators last week who met with the president. they said we'll talk w

she's going big foot everybody else, but mitch mcconnell -- she will be a national target. he will, you know, run against hollywood, she's going to be a carpetbagger, he's going to find a lot of her environmental feelings extremist and job killing. as she pointed outer ler, she's going to talk about kentucky values and whether or not she shares them. mitch mccobble has a tough battle ahead. is he in? is he out? is he an obstructist or a bipartisan dealmaker? that's a fine straddle for him to be making, even though he's so important here in leadership, his numbers at home are not that great, so it's going to be a high-profile national race, but i think it's going to be difficult for both of them, and at this point i'm not willing to pick a winner. >> manu, what do we think about mitch mcconnell's vulnerability right now in kentucky? >> he first is worried about a primary challenge. no opponent has yet emerged to take him on, but they're certainly away of that. against judd they had an internal poll at the end of last year that had him ahead at the start of the race, but only

he's saying, we're the young party, mitch mcconnell. we're the young party. let's take on these golden agers here. let's listen to him. >> don't tell me democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a rerun of the "golden girls." we have rand paul, we've got marco rubio, paul ryan and a slew of smart, young, and energetic governors ready to take america into the future. and the other guys, they got hillary and joe biden. >> okay. let me get to the politics of this. you're good at this, gene. you've been an editor. he's thinking about tomorrow morning. he knew he just stepped on it. he made what could be a sexist, and certainly was an ageist comment. you're referring to hillary. who's younger than him, by the way, by five years. >> absolutely. >> being one of the "golden girls" which is a popular show. his shot was negative. he covered his butt by throwing biden under the bus. >> what else could he do at that point? >> he heard those footsteps coming his direction. >> he realized he had said something

mitch mcconnell wasn't on that list. tell us what your read on the invites is. >> well, this was a list put together by lindsey graham, and it really reflects his view of the senate. you've got the mccain-graham-ayotte kind of -- we now call them the new three amigos where you can talking about defense interests. you have people like saxby chambliss that sht going to seek re-election. they've always been considered sort of cooler heads. then you've got two tea party senators, pat thoomey of pennsylvania and ron johnson of wisconsin who do not have a relationship with the president like the others because they weren't in the senate when he was here. it was an interesting mix of bringing people together who represent different parts of the republican party of the moment. it's important for them to go without the leadership. i've heard many times from republicans that this applies to democrats as well. when are you in the leadership, you have almost no running room. everything you say is, in effect, then policy for your par

mitch mcconnell would lose a primary. any compromise that includes any new tax on this will do that. >> so that's -- i mean, that's a huge piece of the puzzle. john cornyn is going to get primaried from the right, as will mitch mcconnell. speaker boehner's speakership is constantly up for debate. i mean, what's the likelihood that any kind of deal making happens before the 2014 midterms? >> it's slim. chuck's point is exactly right, and it's hard to argue. joy's point is also right. there are going to be people who disop organization atley feel this, and so in those districts, especially, in plays where there is either a republican governor and/or you have republican house districts, there is going to be a lot of complaining at the local level. >> would you be willing to lose your job in no, most people are not willing to lose their jobs. >> he took heat over the fiscal cliff deal, and this is where he is drawing a bit of a line. >> john boehner then said multiple times, this has become the sort of phrase of john boehner,

the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says they do. let's discuss what's going on in our strategy session. joining us the democratic strategist donna brazill. the republican strategist anna navarro both cnn political contributors. here is the republican leader in the senate mitch mcconnell. here is the sound bite. don't tell me democrats are the party of the future when their presidential ticket for 2016 is shaping up to look like a re-run of "the golden girls." you know, we got rand paul, marco rubio, paul ryan, and a slew of smart, young, and energetic governors ready to take america into the future. and the other guys got hillary and joe biden. >> he's laughing but does he have a point? >> absolutely not. first of all the theme of that wonderful sitcom was thank you for being a friend. mitch mcconnell will take miami because as you well know that is where the tv series was based. we'll take the senior vote, women's vote. but you know what? mitch mcconnell is running scared so trying to make it up as he goes along. >> he may have his

is that what is going on here with mitch mcconnell and ashley judd? >> i think the ashley judd situation is a total anomaly. and 90% was being spent on negative ads. and la meanting that you can las were expected to spend 30 hours a week dialing for dollars. and you were talking about this ilts at a minimum 30 hours. you're not being able to go through the regular order. the reason things aren't getting done on capitol hill and and members are going home, go across the country, states like arkansas, it's hard to raise that kind of money in arkansas and smaller states. you have to travel nationally to raise those dollars. and, again, still not knowing what you can anticipate in terms of both the party moneys and the super pacs that come into your state. i had no idea i'd have that kind of money against me in 2010 coming from outside of our state. it's a tough thing. and, again, getting things done on capitol hill means members have to be focused, they have to be there. you know, they have to be in committee and talking about these things. coming to the

where does that leave mitch mcconnell? and developing news from south africa, former president nelson mandela back in the hospital, battling another lung infection. we'll go to south africa to get an update on his condition straight ahead. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. we make meeting times, lunch times and conference times. but what we'd rather be making are tee times. tee times are the offic

senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, john cornyn, and rising star, ted cruz. "newsweek's" david frum makes sense of it all quoting public polling saying, "the out size influence of hard-line elements in the party base is doing to the gop what supporters of gene mccarthy and george mcgovern did to the democratic party in the late 1960s and early 1970s, radicalizing its image and standing in the way of its revitalization." let us bring in health magee, vice president of policy and outreach at demos and michael tomsskey for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." heather, please help me to understand what is happening here. what does it say to you that folks like mitch mcconnell and john cornyn, both of whom are likely to face primary challenges in 2014, feel the need to sign on to the rand paul budget? >> we've lost our way. we've officially lost our way. you know, i actually curled up with this 106-page document today with a warm cup of tea. >> what could be cozier. >> and maybe it's the tenth anniversary of the iraq war, but i closed it and said, this is like a shoc

mitch mcconnell is deeply unpopular. but judd's past statements in support of obama and against coal, a major employer in kentucky, will certainly haunt her. >> going into it, you have to consider her an underdog, as any democrat would be against mitch mcconnell, especially with the record of public statements she has. it is going to be hard to overcome. >> judd does have major advantages. she'll be able to raise a ton of money. she has incredible name recognition. if she gets into the race, political analysts say, it will be epic. mitch mcconnell is a very powerful man. >> as we learned, she'll be able to handle all of the mud-slinging, doing her own stunts. >> she's tough. she's tough. >>> a lot of other news overnight. once again, ron claiborne. >>> in the new, the taliban is claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing in afghanistan this morning that killed nine civilians. the group says the attack was a message to u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel who is there on his first official visit. >>> at the vatican, a ch

what about the $7 million that mitch mcconnell allegedly has in this war chest? this campaign war chest? >> $7 million is a lot of money, but when you're a candidate like mitch mcconnell and you're so well-known already, there are a lot of people who if a good -- if craig melvin ran in the republican primary down there and you had the right views, they'd rather have you -- mitch mcconnell has been a senator down there since 1984. he could spend every dollar -- >> perry, i love the idea of a craig melvin, but i just don't know where he stands. >> you know what, we're not playing this game. >> i could almost see the attack ad, where does craig melvin stand. >> robert costa, we'll come to you, you're the safest one right now. no question that the race itself down in kentucky has already gotten a little ugly, even though judd hasn't even said that she's in the race at all. this is mitch mcconnell taking a shot at a left-wing group at cpac from a few days ago. he's talking about this questionable tweet about his wife. take a listen. >> don't tell me. don't tell me we'

judd will reportedly announce by early may if she will challenge mitch mcconnell in kentucky. erin mcpike joining me now from washington. good to see you. >> you, too. >> so for those who don't know, judd has been very involved recently in politics. and she campaigned for president obama during the 2008 and 12012 campaigns. is she getting a lot of pressure from people to say she needs to put that harvard kennedy school government masters degree to good use in terms of running for office? >> well, ashley judd is making repeated trips to washington while she considers taking on mitch mcconnell. she's here again this weekend to give back to back speeches on some of her pet issues, . when she announces her decision, it will be around the time of the kentucky derby. but republicans think the attention she will get this weekend for aligning herself with these more liberal causes make for an odd way to roll out a senate campaign in the south. now already republicans are slamming her for supporting president obama who of course remains unpopular and a much more conservative kentucky.

would be against mitch mcconnell, especially with the record of public statements she has. it will be hard to overcome. >> she will be able to raise a ton of money. incredible name recognition. if she gets into the race, it will be epic. mitch mcconnell is a very powerful man. >> she'll be able to handle the mud-slinging, doing her own stunts. >> she's tough. >>> a lot of other news overnight. once again, ron claiborne. >>> in the new, the taliban is claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing in afghanistan this morning that killed naive civilians. the group says the attack was message to chuck hagel, there on his first official visit. >>> at the vatican, a chimney has been installed on the sis teen cham. the conclave begins on tuesday. >>> and los angeles is hoping to become the second city, after london, to host three olympic games. the major of los angeles has sent a letter to the u.s. olympic committee putting his city in the running for the 2024 games. >>> police escorts are not just for people like justin bieber. they're for beavers in oregon. this one got help goi

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. >>> senate republican leader mitch mcconnell lashing out at a left-wing group for what he is calling a racial slur against his while the group, progress kentucky, ignited controversy when it drew a connection between former labor secretary elaine chow and the practice of outsourcing to asia. chow was born in taiwan. mcconnell defended his wife and said his re-election campaign has already begun, saying, "elaine chow is just as much an american as any of the rest of them." in fact, she had to go through a lot more to become an american, it went on to say. >> the race will take care of itself in 2014 i must stay has started early, a left wing group down here in kentucky already issued racial slurs against my wife and already questioned my own patriotism, so the left is fully engaged down here in kentucky. they would love to take out the republican leader of the senate. >> mcconnell says it's not the first time this type of thing has happened. >>> you on your way home? >> yes, ma'am. >> so, you're not gonna be here in town when these cuts kick it? >> they call me back, i'll be back. >>

mcconnell. >>> things aren't getting any easier for the u.s. relationship with afghanistan after they accused the american government of. working with the taliban. hamid karzai says a pair of bombings were, quote, in service of america suggesting the violence was made at convincing the people that international services were needed z beyond the 2014 withdrawal. the comments coincided with defense secretary chuck hagel's first trip to afghanistan since being appointed to the job. >> the united states was unilaterally working with the taliban in trying to negotiate anything. the fact is any prospect for peace or political settlement, that has to be led by the afghans. i've always believed that it is wise for nations to engage and to reach out. that does not mean that you are going to negotiate, we may never get to that point. i think it's far more preferable than war. >> nbc's mike taibbi is reporting. >> reporter: that's his first trip to afghanistan. there was supposed to be a joint press confer

and mitch mcconnell announced he will not be co-starring in any romantic comedies with

mcconnell who is dead set against that. that's why you set the outreach to paul ryan, the chairman of the budget committee perhaps in hopes of maybe doing an in-run around the leadership. gwen: does what happen in washington matter when it comes to wall street or when it comes to these job numbers? is washington action or inaction driving the markets at all or depressing them? >> oh, absolutely. i would say that the main reason that the stock market has had such a good strong start to the year is because washington didn't tank the economy of doing a variety of silly things like defaulting on the national debt. the absence of a negative is a positive. gwen: it goes without saying that there is a lot of distrust in washington. each side assumes that the other is acting in bad faith especially when it comes to this budget cuts we're talking about. >> the republicans are using the c.r., the continued resolution to fund the government to put in their sequester cuts. they're playing games again. >> clearly, people are tired of th

so, ultimately, if mitch mcconnell or john boehner say we need to go to catch a plane, i can't have secret service block the doorway. right? >> i'm sorry to interrupt -- >> i understand. and i know that this has been some of the conventional wisdom that's been floating around washington that somehow, even though most people agree that i'm being reasonable, that most people agree i'm presenting a fair deal. the fact that they don't take it means that i should somehow, you know, do a jeddi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what's right. well, you know, they're elected. we have a constitutional system of government. the speaker of the house and the leader of the senate and all those folks have responsibilities. what i can do is i can make the best possible case for why we need to do the right thing. i can speak to the american people about the consequences of the decisions that congress is making or the lack of decision making by congress. but, ultimately, it's a choice they make and this idea that somehow there's a secret formula or secret sauce to get speaker boehner or mit