attention at the expense of secretary clinton. ukraines vote for the future of their country. and the sterlings go on a p.r. blitz to save their ownership of the clippers. this is "way too early." hey, everybody, good morning, i'm thomas roberts. it's monday, may 21th. welcome to "way too early," the show that was not nominated for mom of the year but is not ruling out a run for next year. but wi send a big hug to moms out there. hope you had a great mother's day weekend. we start off with our top story. russian sec ratists are declaring victory over two areas in ukraine. in one region 90% of voters backed the single question on the ballot whether there should

be greater self-rule. with long lines, makeshift polling places and no international monitors, the vote's me le jit mat si is being in question. in one town national guardsmen opened fire on a crowd where voting was taking place np in other places, the air was much more festive with songs blaring and many hailing this heavy referend referendum. a drone strike killed two people in a car in yemen. and "the new york times" revealed that a couple weeks ago a special ops commander killed two civilians who tried to kidnap them while in a barbershop. they are tracking down islamist

insurgents creating some resentment in the country and yesterday a suicide bomber killed ten soldiers. it's a revenge attack for the crackdowns. the secret service drawing attention. this time for reportedly diverting assets from the white house to protect the personal friend of the director of the agency. "the washington post" first published this report over the weekend. it's back to two months in 2011 when agents were sent to a rural area of maryland. it was known as operation moonlight and agents who patrol the white house grounds were told that the director was concerned his assistant was being harassed by her neighbor. the secret service opened an investigation and acknowledged that they performed welfare checks at the home, but the prowler unit does not have a specific assignment adding that they only lasted a few days and were brief drive byes at the

home. chuck hagel says after ten years of war, it should be no surprise that troops would need ongoing care once they returned home from the battlefield. today there's a massive backlog for those waiting for treatment. we missed it adding it's not good enough. the comments came sunday in response to a e growing scandal where vets died while waiting for medical attention. the department's secretary will testify on capitol hill as congress investigates and how they are calling for the jury room's resignation. for now he continues to have the pentagon's support. >> there's no one who understands accountability more than the general. >> does he have your support now? >> i do support the general, but there's no margin here. if any variation of this occurred all the way along the

chain, accountability is going to have to be upheld here because we can never let this kind of outrage, if all of this is true, stand in this country. >> turning to 2016 politics, if anybody believed that marco rubio was still on the fence shs his latest interview is leaving little doubt he will seek the oval office. rubio insists he is qualified for the job and goes as far as a pledge to an all or nothing campaign if he decides to run. >> if i decide to run for president, i will not have some sort of exit strategy to run for the senate. that will be a decision not to run for reelection. if you want to be president of the united states you run for president. you don't run for president with an eject button that allows you to go on an exit route. >> do you think you're ready to be president? >> i will be 43 this month, but

the other thing that people don't realize, i have served in public office for the better part of 14 years. most importantly i think a president has to have a clear vision of where the country needs to go and clear ideas how to get it there. we're blessed in our party to have a number of people who fit that criteria. >> there are a number of people in their party. this is where senator rubio took shots at the democratic challenger hillary clinton and her recent record. >> she's going to be bragging about her time in the state department. whether it's defailed reset with russia or the failure in benghazi. >> what grade do you give her? >> i don't think she has a passing grade. because if you look at the diplomacy pursued in her time in state department, it's failed everywhere in the world. if she's going to run on her record as secretary of state, she's also going to have to answer for its massive failures.

>> the bodies of three people aboard a hot air balloon that caught fire in virginia over the weekend have been recovered. witnesses say the balloon was coming in to land when it hit a power line. some said they heard two explosions from the balloon. they say at one point the gand la and the balloon separated and the balloon took off. aboard were a pilot and two passengers. doyle posted this photo saying getting ready to go up in a hot air balloon today. will go up this evening. #anxiety. the university held a moment of silence during commencement. donald sterling and his estranged wife are speaking out. he sat down for an interview where he spoke about his racist recordings saying, when i listen to that tape i don't even know how i can say words like that. i don't know why the girl had me

say those things. i was baited. that's not the way i talk. i don't talk about people ever. i talk about ideas. i'm not a racist. i made a terrible mistake. am i entitled to one mistake? of course. am i entitled to one mistake? it's a terrible mistake and i'll never do it again. his wife has weighed in on her husband's racist rant in an interview with barbara walters. >> is donald sterling a racist? >> i have never heard him say racial things. it was horrible when i heard it. i mean, it was just degrading and it made me sick to hear it. but as far as a racist, i don't really think he is a racist. >> do you think your husband should apologize? >> absolutely. >> she also says she believes

her husband has early onset of dementia and she will be filing for divorce. let's shift our attention to talk about business for this monday. the markets will look to build off a positive end of last week. all three markets posted gains on friday as several internet stocks rebounded from lows. green arrows for friday. we'll check in with jeff cutmore live in london to give us a preview. >> good morning, thomas. so another record close for the dow here. it looks like we're going to push on from that in the early part of this week. there's something the traders are getting nervous about. that's the fact that the nasdaq seems to be stalling at these price levels. keep your eye on the action. it could be that some of these markets are rolling over. we are at nosebleed altitude now that we're at record territory. 2.6 million cars recalled, it's been a terrible story for

general motors this whole recall issue. now they have a bit more bad news. it seems that they are difficult to deal with. a survey of suppliers showing that in a number of areas including open communications, protection of intellectual property, gm just doesn't cut it. interesting, that survey topped by toyota and honda. the suppliers saying those two are the best of the bunch. back to you. >> this caught our attention too. ibm is looking to cash in on the software from watson. what's the impact on the sale for this? >> yeah, this is a fascinating story. i love these kind of boy zone sci-fi stories. so watson three years ago managed to win "jeopardy." this is not a box of bolts stuck together. this machine is capable of

learning, according to the scientists who built it. the issue now is how can ibm exploit what they have created. so they are now setting up a new business unit. they put $1 billion behind the bar for this. what they want to do is encourage government, hospitals, big store retailers and others to come to them for this kind of software. because they think it would fit neatly into the big data crunching that a lot of these operators are doing. so ibm hoping watson pays big for them. back to you, thomas. >> thank you. we're going to keep along this trend talking about creative innovation. there's new technology to help you control your dreams. it's allowing people to remain lucid. a targeted electrical current lets patients control their dreams. tweet us your responses. we're going to put the cleanest

ones on the air coming up later in the show. still ahead on "way too early," the clippers stage an impressive comeback. did they have the energy to even the series out? what a great game. a scary moment in iowa. what led to the traffic stop and what happened to that officer. that story and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. good job!

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your k-cup purchase with coupon. staples. make more happen. my golden years will not just be gold plated. i had 3 different 401(k)s. e*trade offers rollover options and a retirement planning calculator. now i know "when" i'm going to retire. not "if." time for sports. a pair of game four matchups in the nba playoffs. want to start with the pacers and wizards. thinks not looking good for indiana, trailing 17. but they fight back. george scored 39.

indiana surges back for the 95-92 win and a series lead heading back to indiana. that wis was the game that watched. the thunder dominating the clippers for most of the game. the clips had a comeback in the fourth. chris paul getting the l.a. the closest it had been in the entire half. crawford drills the lee to give l.a. its first lead of the game. the clippers hang on for the 101-99 victory. they end up even up the series 2-2. the nets host miami tonight in game four and the blazers try to get on board. >> i wasn't watching. i saw you tweeting about it. >> it's like freaky sunday. it's like roles have reversed. >> it was good. >> to the ice now for the

stanley cup playoff matchups. look at this. score! >> the play to be made right back in. drops it off. puts on the brakes. got it back and the shot blocked. score! >> fighting there at the end. the rangers force the game seven after beating the penguins. now tonight the bruins look to wrap things up tonight against montreal. they host the kings in game five. michael sam is the first openly gay football player to be draft drafted in the nfl and fans want a piece of history. on saturday the rams selected michael sam in the seventh round. an nfl source reports that demand for sam's jersey is ridiculous. the rookie doesn't even have an official number yet. the rams put number 10 on their

website because he was the team's tenth pick. the white house released a statement acknowledging this moment. the president congratulates michael sam, the rams and the nfl for taking an important step forward in our nation's journey. americans prove every day that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are. >> there's going to be such drama to see if he makes the team. seventh. round picks are borderline whether they make the team. >> it's been about his talent and ability. he didn't do so well at the combine. so it's all about the work. >> it's going to be a great story. >> but fans already trying to get ahead of it by getting the engine jersey. >> he needs to make some money off the jersey. >> listen to this. russia probably could have used him during the olympics. we're talking vladimir putin suited up for the night. hockey league festival took place in sochi. this happened over the weekend. it left defenders weak at the

knees. the competition was no match for the skills. his team won 21-4. for those four people that got goals, they are missing. i'm just kidding. we want to get a check on your weather. >> yesterday mother's day was cruel. we had tornadoes, we had snow, the midwest was just a mess yesterday. it will be better today. let me start with one of the areas that got hit by the tornado when it went through yesterday. this was a huge tornado. it was reportedly about a half mile wide on the ground. it was on the ground for 30 minutes through nebraska. it was mostly rural areas. all those red triangles is where we were watching that huge tornado yesterday. thankfully it did lift and dissipate as it approached lincoln and omaha. kansas got hit hard and chicago some strong winds.

this morning kansas city has more storms. there's rain in iowa. no tornado threat like we saw yesterday. and how about colorado? it's snowing this morning in colorado. that's crucial. that's all snow there. for today the areas of concern if we're going to get any tornadoes, northern missouri, eastern iowa and it's a lot of heavy rain in texas. we need the rain. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," voters in eastern ukraine hit the ballot box to show their support for independence. we'll tell you what this means for the future of the country and the standoff between russia and the u.s. and we'll huddle around the walter cooler. barbara walters is talking shop. back after this.

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earlier in the show we told you about an investigation into the secret service. tell your friends the secret service was originally created in 1865 to fight counterfeit currency as part of the treasury department. it would not begin daily protection until 1902 soon

afterthe assassination of president mckinley. let's check out what's going on in the cooler today. >> let's start with an incredible video. if you're looking a flawless way to get out of a traffic stop, we may have found it. >> i need officers to respond. >> that's pretty quick thinking by that officer. he got hit in the head with a tree branch. this happened in iowa. both the officer and the driver were not seriously hurt. >> mother nature has attacked me. send backup. >> the driver was pulled over for driving without headlights on. the car was totalled.

>> wouldn't believe it unless it was captured on video. >> the very lovely charlize theron hosted "saturday night live." but barbara walters store the show. >> if you were a man, i would be all over you like butter on beans. >> andlet me tell everyone here, mariah carey is more vivacious in 3-d. >> i was in a hot tub with henry kissinger. we speculated about our nation's future, listened to some harry chapin and made sweet love till the morning sun. >> we're huge fans and you have always been a personal inspiration to me as a news anchor. >> well, but i'm a real news anchor. i'm a serious person. i'm not like some fake anchor like you or colin.

>> but you're a co-host on "the view." >> i love that barbara can take it in stride. >> she was great. did you have a favorite when you look back at those clips? >> i liked them all. >> thank you. appreciate it. earlier we asked you for your ideal dream. technology can make us lucid. we have some of the best responses. the clean ones? >> we got some great responses today. our favorite is instead of fighting for a living i was a news anchor. blain says, much like my last answer it involves one direction #cryforhelp. and morgan said, not the best answer, but don't want anything to control my dreams. dreams are part of our souls.

>> we have a young journalist who said his ideal dream is to have his own show on msnbc. so stay the course. it could happen. next on "way too early" a look at the big stories we'll be talking about. "morning joe" just moments away. i make a lot of purchases for my business. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. but do you really? [ female announcer ] neutrogena® makeup remover erases 99% of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. can your makeup remover do that?

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let's get a check on the day ahead. the kremlin is calling on the ukrainian government to negotiate with eastern part ofts country after a weekend referendum. separatists declared victory after voting to give two areas greating sovereignty. the legitimate si is under heavy scrutiny. the world soccer cup team will announce its prelim roster today. training begins on wednesday and the coach will have until june 2nd to announce his final team ahead of the tournament in brazil. and the washington monument reopens today after being closed for some 32 months for repairs. the monument suffered 150 cracks following an earthquake back in august of 2011. public tours will resume today

at 1:00 p.m. looks beautiful. that's going to do it for a monday edition of "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. so barbara, you're stepping down over after 50 years as a tv journalist. do you have any tips on how to achieve that kind of success? >> develop a signature voice that no one will forget. >> wait. is that not your real voice? >> no. this is my real voice. ello, i'm barbara wawa. the softer the news, the softer the focus on the lens. for example, an interview with the president, okay? an interview with a kardashian. president, kardashian. do not be afraid to ask the