Leader not holding back. I thought the reference to my favorite punk scaband, insane. What was it . Malignant clown show. Malignant clown show. A good one best 1990s bunk scaband out there. Close cousin to the Insane Clown Posse out of detroit. Yeah, of course. Fantastic. That a Malignant Clown show. This as Top Republican in the Senate Releases an fbi memo that fails to prove any, any, of the accusations against President Joe Biden and his son hunter. And the people said, oh, how nice. The republicans now have their own steele dossier. Yeah. Plus, Kevin Mccarthy made a secret promise to trump. And speaking of the form period well play his ominous comments that seem to be calls for a january 6 response to his legal issues. Heres the problem. Willie a lot of problems there there are a lot of problems but he needs to read the room. This does not help him with jack smith. I dont know. Maybe this helped him with a Contract Dispute in new jersey when hed throw words around like that. Threatening stuff. Doesnt help with jack smith. Does it . No. I had the same thought when i heard that last night, which is, youre about, likely, about to be indicted for part of the indictment, for inciting a riot. It would be wild, Everything Else getting people to go to the capitol and now sort of implying that your supporters might do that again, if the Justice Department does, in fact, indict you. Not the best legal strategy, though. I dont even know which lawyers he has around him anymore if they can mention that to him, but it doesnt appear to be breaking through any legal advice he may be getting. Hes just going to keep being him. Its a Malignant Clown show. With us, former white house Director Of Communications, of President Obama. Jennifer palmieri and Associate Editor of the Washington Post and msnbc political analyst Eugene Robinson and white house editor for politico sam stein, filling in for the very, very lazy jonathan lemire. Wow. Seriously. How many days is that guy going to take off . Your words. Your words. Yeah. So lazy. This might be the second second day in five years hes taken off . I dont know. Now, look. We have sam and what do we call that . A Malignant Clown show. Oh, stop thats terrible. Im joking. Joking. Listen, so so we have Everybody Whining how joe bidens going to do so terribly, and Everybody Whining about a thirdparty candidate. Everybody whining about everything, because this is what the democrats do. Well and the Obama Administration when their campaign talked about bedwetting. Excessive bedwetting going on there and we showed a poll yesterday showing tnt losing by five points to joe biden, 4944 . Another came out, media showed joe biden crushing donald trump even with a thirdparty candidate. Interesting part. Despite having concerns, new polling shows most americans are not open to voting for a thirdparty ticket in 2024. In the latest Monmouth University survey just 30 of registered voters say they would definitely or probably consider Voting Third Party, if biden and trump are the leading names on the to 24 ballot. As for how a nameless Third Party Ticket could impact a 2024 rematch between the current and former president , the poll shows it may actually help biden without a thirdparty option, the Sho S Biden Beating Trump by seven points. 37 to 40 . With a thirdparty ticket on the ballot, bidens victory over trump grows to 9 points. 37 to 28 . So so, willie, looking at this. First of all, i mean, this is the second day we have polls out that show joe biden easily beating donald trump. Thumping him. On this thirdparty ballot, we all think its going to hurt joe biden, hurt joe biden, people are with donald trump. Doesnt look that way here and in other polls. Looks like people are saying, i dont like donald trump at all. Give me another option. Ill never vote for joe biden. Ill never vote for a democrat, but give me a thirdparty option. We see there, there are actual softness in Donald Trumps numbers and joe biden looking better than ever. Yeah. That cuts against the conventional wisdom. Everything weve been hearing which is if someone like joe manchin were to jump in the race it would only hurt joe biden and hope to get donald trump reelected to be president. Curious how you read into those numbers, because every other poll weve seen says people dont like the matchup. They dont like the choices. They dont want donald trump against joe biden and they dont want to see this movie again. And yet when you actually put the question directly to them, 30 of them want to see a third party, but it actually helps joe biden and, again in that headtohead, i think it was seven points again, the one we saw yesterday was five points. You have joe biden up seven points in this Monmouth Poll over donald trump. For all the panicking, as joe says, going on in the democratic party. The numbers look pretty good for joe biden. Looking at my phone, because i already have two Text Messages from democrats who i dont like to use the term bedwetting because i find it crude, who are freaking out about this poll, because that is what democrats do, joe. Youre right. We do freak out, but its also while were still a Republic Standing because we overworry about elections and whats going to happen in them. This is interesting. Not sure i trust it. The first time ive seen a poll where theres a thirdparty option that did benefit biden as opposed to trump. Although, or at least didnt hurt biden, but there is a lot of concern that if you have, that trumps numbers, and every other poll ive seen this, are very strong. If you have, there are people have a thirdparty option, that that is likely to take away from biden, because biden is winning some disgruntled republicans and independents over. Now, continuing in the role of the party pooper here for democrats ill say talking about the poll from yesterday, which had biden winning 4945 over trump. A national poll. Thats great. Look at Battleground States. Use wisconsin as an example. Got to get to 270. These states are not static. Theyre changing. So wisconsin, for example, has a higher level of white, noncollege educated voters in 2024 than it had in 2020. That cohort of voters has favored trump as opposed to biden. So these poll numbers are all great, but, you know,y still have to, got to get to 270 and theres concerns about when you look underneath the hood, what are those numbers like in each of these Battleground States . In terms of the third party, you know, only 30 open to voting for a, you know, either thirdparty option, but jill stein only needed to get in a very, the very small digits of support in wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania to win the election for donald trump. So i think the third Party Remains still a very, very significant threat to joe biden. Yeah. Yeah. The ptsd is strong with this one. There is no post about it, joe. Its just traumatic stress. Exactly it is it is traumatic stress. Sam why didnt she just say on the two best days of polling for joe biden, why didnt she just say, we dont deserve good things. Where republicans say, we may not deserve it but were going to take it. That when you see these polls youre looking at it going, well, this is a trend line in a positive direction you know . Happy days are here again. When you look at, when i look at wisconsin what do i see . A judges race conservatives called the most important race in that state, in a decade and democrats won by 11 points. Yes, things are not static. Things are breaking. Maybe its because im not a democrat. Im still an independent. So im not overly negative yet. Things are breaking, in democrats way. Won by a landslide in wisconsin in Supreme Court judicial race republicans called the most important race of their time. Democrats won in kansas. They won in kentucky on abortion. They have so many things breaking their way. Not just the indictments, but the overturning of roe. So many things good going in their direction and donald trump is looking crazier and crazier every day. Why i always i dont talk about National Polls usually. I talk about the suburbs of atlanta. Theyll never go for trump again. It suburbs of philly will never go to trump again. Of milwaukee, never go for trump again. Especially postroe, and i hope the power of positive thinking did not trigger jen or any other democrats out there, but, look. Its okay to be happy. Its okay to smile. Its okay no, its not. Its okay to be positive, sam. No, its not. Oh, oh. Hell no. First of all let me agree with jen. Bed wetting is a crude disgusting term and should be banished from the airwaves. Never mention it again. Secondly, jen did make, you know, i think, a very valid if not cup half empty case for democrats heading into 2024. It is a race in certain states. Its not a national race. Right . You have to look at wisconsin and pennsylvania. And this, i guess, would be a question i would sort of direct to eugene here which is, if you look at that thirdparty ticket, right, and scared about it, its theres no you have to look at two thirdparty tickets. The manchin one, no labels. It would draw centrists away from biden. And the other, cornell, take a couple points. A few key thousand votes in critical states away from biden in what jen is reliving sort of a jill stein scenario. Right . I dont want to trig ter again, but that is what happened. You are plugged in, eugene, you know the people. Which do they fear the most . Do they fear the the manchintype run or do they fear the cornel west small Percentage Points liberal enthusiasm just being drained from them . Well, the answer, of course, because theyre democrats, is both. You know . But before i get to that, though, let me im shocked we havent yet mentioned, 12 minutes into the show, we havent mentioned the one real, big story In Washington today, which is the nfl owners approved the sale of the Washington Football team. The commanders. Oh, yeah. Dan snyder. The Long National nightmare is over. And you know, everything is bright and sunny again. Yes so right. Our Malignant Clown show is over. So so lets all, you know, how can anybody have negative thoughts on a day like that . Its just its amazing. Good question. Third party . My general view has been that a third party would probably hurt joe biden, but now we have some data indicating maybe it wouldnt. I think thats a good thing. And i think the polling has been good harks just been good for biden, and im perfectly willing to say, you know, great and and spend the day not worrying. My resolution for the day is not to worry, and to celebrate the end of a terrible era here In Washington football. There you go, gene. Thats the spirit. Been almost a quarter century under the Snyder Family with the redskins commanders now officially its over, gene. Congrats to you. Talking about this interview donald trump did earlier this week. It was in iowa, a radio show in iowa. The former president asked about the possibility of jail time stemming from special counsel jack smiths investigation. Here is trumps answer. Is it something that concerns you of, you know, of the people making sure that they dont go out of their right mind, if Something Like that happens . Because i know what im thinking of could happen if that, for example, they do, say jack smith says okay. I am going to put donald trump in jail . I think its a very dangerous thing to even talk about. Okay. Because we do have a tremendously passionate group of voters and i mean, maybe you know, maybe 100, 150, never seen anything like it. Much more passion in 2020 and much more passion than they had in 2016. I think it would be very dangerous. Joe, much more passion than they had in 2020 implying it could be even worse than you saw around the 2020 election. Obviously just appallingly dangerous stuff to say given the recent history in this country and also as you pointed out earlier, very stupid, as he perhaps comes under indictment here for the events around the 2020 election. Yeah. I dont know if donald trump understands. What do you think hes doing . Hes talking like a mobster. It would be a shame, dangerous for jack smith. Wouldnt want to riot. And theyre more dangerous now than in 2020 or 2016. Could be worse. Gene, hes just so stupid. He really is. Yeah, yeah. He just doesnt understand. Hes going up against the feds. He doesnt understand that he cant bully and bluster and threaten his way out of criminal charges that are coming, because he broke the law. Because he stole Nuclear Secrets, because he stole secret plans to attack iran, because he stole secret military secrets, because he has, people all around him, all around him, on January The 6th, that are testifying against him. No democrats. No moderate republicans. All trumpers all the trump everybody that he ever hired has gone before the grand jury. Everybody that was around him January The 6th went before the grand jury. All trumpers. And hes going to be charged for some of the most serious crimes in america, and his response . His response, instead of talking to his lawyers saying, hey. Get me a deal. I dont know what its going to look like, but get me a deal. Because theyve got me dead. My own people are people testifying against me. Get me a deal. Instead of that he goes on an iowa radio show and like a mobster threatens jack smith. Has he not looked at pictures of jack smith . This guy looks like the judge on andor all right . Yes, yes. He looks like the guy who takes the good guy from the star wars galaxy and throws him into jail for life. He doesnt understand. Im scared. You just scared me by putting this picture up. Like what does he think . Does he think jack smith is going to be intimidated by moblike threats, gene . Yeah. And thats not going to happen. Looks like a, jack smith, looks like a pretty intense guy and like hes not going to take any of this from donald trump. I think trump just doesnt know what else to do. He obviously sees the walls closing in on him. The indictments coming. Someone must have told him, let him know what the Conviction Rate is in federal court, which is well over 90 of defendants who were charged either get guilty or convicted, and it is this is a, a tough situation for him, and rather than, than make a deal, and rather than try to, you know, somehow keep his freedom, he does this. It can only make things worse for him. It can only make things worse for him, but he just doesnt know what else to do. Doesnt no better. Hes going to run harder and harder and harder to win the esidency so he can try to pardon himself. Thats i think thats his ultimate move. Its reminiscent of The Stand Back and stand by that he said to the crowd. Theres a lot of i think, i agree with joe on this one point. Although heilemann texted me to say not to let you mao, mao, me about the Monmouth Poll. Said what he said yesterday, very moblike. Right . But he did another interview earlier in the week where he was asked, seems like he kind of liked these indictments. He said, no, it bothers me. A little moment of vulnerability he was showing that, know, this stuff is getting to him. Well, coming up were going to actually by the way, John Heilemann also texting me. What did he say . Lazy . He says that, of course, also just talking about the poll. Disturbs him theres a poll that actually shows thing, going well for joe biden. Also a message from Debbie Dingell for you when we have a moment, about that. Oh, oh, boy so no, no, no. So does debbie think that bidens going to lose michigan because if she does, i mean, i will bet her, like, a couple of detroit Tiger Baseball tickets against red sox tickets that bidens going to win michigan if he goes up against trump. So i think bidens going to win michigan if he i think biden is going to win reelection, win michigan, win wisconsin, win pennsylvania. But it does mean its going to be easy or by five points. What debbie wants you to know is, she says, im not bedwetting. Im in union halls, in union halls is really, its concerning. The president of the uaw is, uaws up for grabs. Trump spoke with them. Biden spoke with them. Theyre trying to win them over. I still think in the end this is going to be okay, because democrats do get it together, but, you know, these states are concerning. How you asked questions about the thirdparty candidate matters a lot. Well, you know, i feel really good about the thirdparty states. Again, i feel good about the thirdparty states because donald trump did worse in them in 2020 than in 2016. And in 2022, you look at all of the swing states. They broke. A lot more for democrats and that they did for republicans. The same, not bedwetting. What do we call it . The same ptsd. Yes. Gripped the democratic party. All we heard, willie, the red wave. Hand wringing. A good one. Oh, theres going to be a red wave. I dont mika does it seem like a red wave to you . She said, no, it doesnt seem validate how you feel. I validate how everybody feels. Okay . Willie, here are the thing. I will say this. Im glad the democrats are panicked when the sun comes can out and dan snyder leaves the washington whatever theyre called now. Im glad that theyre panicking, because that means theyre going to work harder. Thats it. I remember the thing that freaked me out around my Campaign Offices were, you know, nobody ever dared, say, more than one time, hey, hey, joe. We got this one in the bag. Exactly thats when, you know, when File Cabinets started going over. I would fool will ferrell with a trident. I understand that. This is what republicans dont understand. Right . Because theyve gotten so crazy. They forgot what used to make them great on the campaign trail, which was organizing, getting out, getting people to vote. Democrats over the past two or three cycles figured it out. I get what Debbie Dingell is saying but if youre a union member going, hey, do i support joe biden or not . Unemployment record lows, manufacturing exploding across america, a dollar generational highs against the with americans economy doing better than its done in ages with our gdp at 25 trillion while china is stagnant in 17 trillion. Youre a union member and wages are growing . Like, real wages against inflation are growing. You got a question on who youre going to support . Ah yeah. Give him the union halls and ask what kind of glue theyre sniffing because joe biden has been the best president for unions theyve had since, i dont know who . Who . Help me out here. Lbj . Yeah. Could be lbj. I mean, first of all, joe, you ought to run for something. Youre pretty good at this. We should talk about that some day. Nah. But the democrats and joe biden do have a good story to tell, and they should be worried about telling it. I think thats true, and then the other side of it is, heres the alternative. Sort of make that 2020 case again. Do you really want to go back to that . Do you really want to go back to the trump years . Do you really want to go back to the guy whos currently sitting on trial in a courtroom In Washington, or sitting on trial in a courtroom in florida. Or wherever he ends up next year, which when the trial is taking play. Or a jail cell there is the sidebyside binary choice. To yur point as jen points out, 2016 sort of made people a little gun shy about counting their chickens before they hatch. Maybe 2004 also. And in 20 and again in 2022 it was people, grass roots. It was activists, democrats working hard doing the oldfashioned stuff, getting people to come out and vote that frankly changed the course of history in this country. And i think they need to be mindful of that and they are clearly as jen says, that this is going to be a close race. Even though its donald trump and a lot of people think he shouldnt go back to the white house. Its going to be close and take a lot of hard work to beat him. Going to be close. All right. So, coming up on morning joe Jackie Alemany of the Washington Post joining us with latest who testified from the Federal Grand Jury Hearing Evidence on the January 6th Riot and also attempts to overthrow the election. Well be right back. From prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. Now as youre thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. My late fatherinlaw lit up a room, but his vision dimmed with age. He had amd. I didnt know it then, but it can progress to ga, an advanced form of the disease. His struggle with vision loss from amd made me want to help you see Warning Signs of ga. 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Thanks to clearer skin with skyrizi this is my moment. Theres nothing on my skin and that means everything nothing is everything nows the time. Ask your doctor about skyrizi, the 1 dermatologistprescribed biologic in psoriasis. Learn how abbvie could help you save. Hey bud. Wow. Whats all this . Hawaii was too expensive so i brought it here. You know with priceline you could actually take that trip for less than all this. I made a horrible mistake. Go to your happy price priceline will wufl is one of the president s body men. The guy that carried tic tacs a comb and sort of around the president to ensure that administrative tasks like that were fulfilled, and he is depicted in photographs. He was apparently with the president back and forth to the ellipse and to the oval office on january 6th. That was a lead investigators for the January 6th Committee describes the latest witness to appear before the Federal Grand Jury Hearing Evidence about the january 6th insurrection, and Donald Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 election. William russell testified yesterday. He is a longtime aide to the former president who was reportedly by trumps side for most of the day on january 6th, 2021, although he has previously testified before the grand jury, russells level of cooperation is unclear, since he still works for the trump campaign. We did, though, get a possible hint as to why prosecutors are questioning him, in a bizarre scene that played out during an un Unrelated Court proceeding. The same building he was being questioned his lawyer showed up late for a different client. What was that . Bank fraud . A. Client sentenced for his role on january 6th. When the judge pressed why he was late, he didnt want to leave russell alone with the special counsels prosecutors because hi client was being asked questions which potentially involved Executive Privilege. That could indicate that the doj is questioning russell to help piece together trumps words and actions from the day of the insurrection. The judge then sent a u. S. Marshal to summon the dojs prosecutors to the courtroom where they had a tense, private discussion at the bench. Thats fascinating. Bring in congressional investigations reporter for the Washington Post Jackie Alemany. An msnbc contributor. Jackie what more do you know about William Russell and what he might be sharing . Sharing with the Federal Grand Jury . Yeah. Mika, an extraordinary scene that played out yesterday in the d. C. Courthouse when Stan Woodward showed up late to the sentencing of federico because of the length of the questioning of his client, will russell. You know, the January 6th Committee and now jack smiths team of prosecutors has most likely put together a very comprehensive account of that day on january 6th and trumps actions, but there is no one perhaps more close to the president during that time period, and maybe who knows him better than the bodyman. As weve seen, you know, for example, with someone like walt nada, trumps coconspirator in the maralago documents case replaced will wufl as the bodyman postpresidency. Someone who follows the president around all the time. Knows all of sort of most inmitt details and could get a view into trumps mindset on that day. Of course, there are already other countless people, witnesses who have testified to the, to jack smiths team. We know that, for example, during the January 6th Committee we heard from people like nicholas luna, julie radford, all aides to ivanka trump and former President Trump who detailed some of the events leading up to the January 6th Rally, where trump whipped up the crowd into a fever prior to them attacking the u. S. Capitol. Where trump was on the phone with former Vice President mike pence at the time then Vice President head of the electoral certification. We had people who had said that trump, the conversation was extremely heated. We heard from ivanka trump said the president had never taken such a tone with the Vice President. We called him a wimp. The p word. Again, Will Russells Testimony could still be really important for jack smith in terms of wrapping up this investigation. Jackie, its sam stein here. I want to talk about sort of a side figure in all of this. The attorney, Stan Woodward, who seems to represent basically everyone in trump world, in these various charges that theyre facing. He was involved in a weird situation yesterday, involving William Russell, running from one trial to another. I havent been able to wrap my head around this, but sure you have. How does having one sort of consecutive tissue Defense Attorney impact these kinds cases, if at all. Yes. Certainly a headscratching situation that is set up, but its definitely a common one. Past president s have also used this kind of joint defense situation, and it definitely raises a lot of sort of obvious questions about Information Sharing and the ability for witnesses to kind of All Strategize and come to some sort of agreement on testimony, but at the end of the day, theres only so much that you know, these lawyers, these Defense Lawyers can do. You know, questions for example, yesterday the big issue that woodward revealed to the federal judge, mcfadden who scolded him for showing up late to the sentencing was that, you know, he said to the judge, im late because the prosecutors, jack smiths prosecutors were infringing on my clients claims of Executive Privilege. And that the questioning ran late, but some Something Like that weve already seen the court overrule those sorts of claims and ultimately compel these witnesses to be truthful. Weve already also seen charges pressed against trump confidants and allies, people like walt nada for making false statements. There is a lot on the line here. A lot more so than was on the line for some of these people who simply declined to cooperated with the congressional investigation, although i must note will russell is someone, not someone that the January 6th Committee actually reached out to, nor interviewed. Thats crazy. A lot going on In Washington. Jackie alemany, thank you so much. Gene robinson, you just look at, you look at this lawyer running from one trumprelated case to another trumprelated case. From january 6th to another, and gee, will justice everen done . Think about all the people in jail now because of January The 6th, because of donald trump. Think about donald trump all indictments against donald trump. Go back and thinking a all of the people who worked for donald trump, his National Security advisor. Like, indicted, arrested, indicted. Like, charged. His campaign manager, charged. Sent to jail. His assistant campaign manager, gates. Charged. Sent to jail. His political director, steve bannon, i guess counsel to the president , you know, charged. Right . Right . And charged and and found guilty and then pardoned and there may be another charge out there. The dude in south florida, the nixon dude with the funny glasses. I forget his name right now. Like, arrested. Whats that . Whats his name again . Stone. Roger stone. Thats right. For some reason i always forget rogers name. Roger like, arrested, charged. Its just its crazy. I mean, how many people, if we had a running list, connected to donald trump, his administration, his campaign who have already been charged and convicted for crimes. Theres never been a presidency close to this. No. Theres never anything like this, because theres never been the kind of rampant criminality and insanity we saw in the trump presidency, and so a whole lot of lawyers are you know, shopping for new yachts, i guess, because, assuming theyre getting paid. And like, my one question is, whos paying this lawyer whos running back and forth from case to case . In any event, yes. This is a level of criminality proven criminality and increasingly punished criminality that weve never seen before. In our history. I hope we never see again. But its got to be a message to, to anybody who gets, you know, a phone call, a subpoena from jack smith, go in. Tell the truth. These claims of Executive Privilege have basically all been denied. That argument isnt working. Go in, Tell The Truth. Youll be a whole lot better off than if you try to stonewall in some way, because if do you that, youre likely to end up, you know, in jail. I mean, thats kind of where a lot of people are headed, and look at, you know, walt nauta, who came in and essentially lied to smiths prosecutors and said he didnt know anything about documents, and it turned out he was moving boxes of them and now, you know, hes a criminal defendant, on federal charges. So i dont know if people are getting this message that the thing to do is, you better Tell The Truth and cooperate, but if theyre not, theyre going to pay the consequences. Yeah. Im so glad you brought that up. I mean, so many people lied for the fbi, and related to donald trump. Always ends badly for them. And youre also right about Executive Privilege. The Roberts Court is not buying it. It its related to January The 6th, the Roberts Court has already said, no Executive Privilege for things that may have been said in commission of a crime. So youre so right there. And one other thing, gene, youre so right on. I mean, its been horrible for america, but you talk about glory days for the washington, d. C. Criminal bar since donald trump came to town. I mean, he has been a full employment act for all of them. Still ahead, Vice President Kamala Harris going to florida to deliver approval of new standards on how black history will be taught, including some really perverse stuff, talking about how slavery helped slaves. Reverend al sharpton here and weigh in on that, plus President Biden takes endorsement from a farright congresswoman and takes on the road to philly. Well show you how Marjorie Taylor greene is helping Boost Bidenomics and also ahead my conversation with Patrick Mahomes star Sillian Murphy and Robert Downey jr. 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Introducing the next generation 10g network. Only from xfinity. The United States capitol at 6 45 on a friday morning. Vice president Kamala Harris will visit florida today to address the states new standards for teaching black history in schools. Earlier this week the states Board Of Education approved new guidelines that includes teaching students that some black people benefited from slavery because it taught them useful skills. The white house says the Vice President now will deliver remarks in jacksonville to highlight the administrations efforts to protect fundamental freedoms. The visit comes a day after harris speech in indianapolis where she blasted states banning books. And speaking of our children, extremists passbook bans to prevent them from learning our true history. Book bans in this year of our lord 2023. And while they do this, check it out. They push forward revisionist history. Just yesterday in the state of florida they decided middle School Students will be taught that enslaved people benefitted from slavery they insult us in an attempt to gaslight us and we will not stand for it. Joining us now, host of Msnbcs Politicsnation president of the National Action network reverend al sharpton. Rev, good morning. I had to dig in and read this i thought the headline couldnt be true. Here it is. A 216page document from the Florida State Board Of Education. One section that reads, slaves developed sequels in some instances could be applied for their personal benefits. Never thought id see both sidesism of slavery caught in public schools. Well, it is not only insulting it is humiliating, and it really is dangerous, because it will instruct young people, if it is allowed to go forward, not only a distorted version of American History, but it robs us from seeing where we are. When you see the Vice President going to florida today to really give National Spotlight to this it shows also how far the countrys gone, that you have a firsttime in the history of the country a woman, and black woman as Vice President that came from a history of slavery. So to distort how brutal slavery is is like saying an abused woman, a man says i abused her trying to get her bad lineage out her, family curses out of her. I mean it is absolutely absurd, insulting and it is not only a distortion of American History but it robs from us the progress that we have made. Therefore, the progress we must continue. And i couldnt think of anything more egregious to do to young people, so im glad that Vice President is going to florida to underline this. Well, and talking about this, rev, you actually have also, the requirement for teachers to engage in both sidesism. To talk about, for instance, the infamous 1920 massacre in florida that actually was described by many as one of the most single bloody days in American History for this type of masker against black people. The guidelines say teachers must also teach acts of violence in massacres like this against black people, the acts of violence, black people may have committed in that massacre. Again a massacre against black people in florida, because a black man tried to vote. This would be akin to saying if youre in warsaw, you must teach. Not only how nazis massacred the jews, but if the jews did anything in the Warsaw Uprising to try to defend themselves against the nazi massacre, you must teach those acts of violence against Nazi Stormtroopers as well. Its grotesque. It is so grtesque and obscene. Yes. Its just unthinkable this is happening in 2023, but this is Ron Desantiss florida, and could be Ron Desantiss america. It is absolutely ron desantis florida, and when we look at that he is the most, the second most popular candidate, according to polls, even though hes a distant, from trump. So your choice is trump or desantis, whos brought about this, in this country, at this time. Those of us that want to rise above that have to really push back. Like the Vice President s visit, and stand together. I mean, you and i came from different political perspectives but stand together. Thats why Martin Luther king iii invited you to be with us on August 26th Showing there are people that will people that will stand together and Tell The Truth about what happened in the country so we can heal. You cant bring the country together unless were honest about what happened. Yes, tell both sides, but tell both sides in a real way. Dont try to equate things that are not equal and not fair. You know, joe, one of the things that i was saying to someone last night when i got the call the Vice President was going. Its very personal to many of us. In 2007, a new york paper, the New York Daily News did a whole tracing of my background. Found out that my family was owned by a family in edgefield, south carolina, alexander sharpton. Thats who My Great Grandfather was owned by. I went down and even saw the plantation My Great Grandfather worked at. It never occurred to me until that day, every time i write my name or hear my name, im saying the name of the owners of My Great Grandfather. Thats the Property Name of us. Thats how personal it is. To think my grandson or whomever in my family in florida could learn thisfl benefited us, thate didnt even know our names, we didnt know our history and was made to work with no wages and act like there was some benefit to that, its a personal slap in the face of all americans, and weic all ought to resist it and stand together like you and i have,i joe. Rev, you know this history. I have a similar Family History in south carolina. You talk about the history of slavery. Its incredible that florida would go revisionist on that and say we benefited from it somehow. But there are entire episodes of african American History that are actually American History that simply still are not taught. Theres whats called the red summer of 1919, for example. Troops coming home from world war i. There was a lot of turmoil in the country. There were antiblack riots in cities across the country that year, especially in the summer, what was called the red summer. That episode is hardly ever taught anywhere in our schools, yet it was a really big deal. Howg can we not only fight the revisionism, but how can we get just the basics of the African American story, which is the american story, told . I think that we must continue to fight to make sure that those stories are told, and i think that when we see the Department Of Education federally should be pushing these out, pushing these local School Boards and state School Boards to tell the entire story of what happened with blacks, of what happened with others. I dont think we tell the true story of what happened to a lot of poor whites. And i think it is something not to cover up. Its something to expose because it makes us stronger and it makes us better, and to really try and eliminate the truth does not make it untrue. It makes us unwise as a country and as a people, and i think we have to look at it that way. Reverend al sharpton, thank you very much. So well ssaid, and well be covering this much more in the weeks to come. Thank you, rev. Talk for a min hut, if you will you were talking about the march in august. Remind everybody about the 60th anniversary, the martha youre putting together. 60 years later Martin Luther king iii and Andrea Waters King has called for this march to stand together against hate crimes, stand together against voter rights erosion in many states, against gun violence. Jonathan greenblatt of the antidefamation league, the urban league, Asian American groups, latino groups and all of our lgbtq groups are coming together. Its a march to say 60 years ago dr. King and minnie came together and talked about a dream, going to the same place, lincoln memorial. Who promised abe lincoln that wed bring the country together. Thats why were not going to the jefferson monument, but lincoln made the promise. Thats why king was there 60 years ago. Thats why were going there on the anniversary. Thats why we want people like you there with us, because we must u show in this time of hat crimes rising against all sectors, that were going to stand together. We will not go backwards. Honored with the invitation, rev and will be honored to be there. Still ahead a House Democrat exposes the hypocrisy within the Republican Party when it comes to the biden family and foreign countries. Well play for you those comments. One of our next guests poses this question. Is the sheer stupidity of republican politics breaking through . Special correspondent at vanity fair, Molly Jane Bass joining us ahead with her new column. Thats all ahead on morning joe. Mn thats all ahead on morning joe. Nexium 24hr prevents Heartburn Acid before it begins. Get allday and allnight Heartburn Acid prevention with just one pill a day. Choose acid prevention. Choose nexium. Hi, my names steve. I lost 138 pounds on golo choose acid prevention. And i kept it off. Golos changed my life in so many ways. Before, i was over 300 pounds. Now, i literally have the ability to take a shirt off and go Out In The Sun where i would have never done that before. Try golo. It works. You like that bone . I got a great price on it. Did you see my tail when that chewy box showed up . Oh, i saw it. Sorry about the vase. Can we just say vase like normal people . Fine. I always wondered what it would be like to have a tail. Maybe you did one time. And maybe a thousand years from now, ill be tailless using that chewy app to get you great prices on treats. Im pretty sure it takes more than a thousand years vase. Pets arent just pets. Theyre more. Vase [announcer] save more on what they love with everyday great prices at chewy. Air Whooshing box thudding for too long, Big Pharmaceutical Companies have bought off politicians so they can get away with ripping us off. Thats changing now. Joe biden just capped the price of insulin for seniors at 35 a month. Gave medicare the power to negotiate lower Prescription Drug prices. And prices are already starting to go down. The outofpocket cost is dropping for 27 drugs. [narrator] learn how the Inflation Reduction Act will save you money. Joe biden had the largest Public Investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what fdr started, that lbj expanded on, and joe biden is attempting to complete. Programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, world poverty, transportation, medicare, medicaid, labor unions, and he still is working on it. As you may have seen, apparently 40 Million People watched. Marjorie taylor greene, the very conservative gentlelady, said biden is doing things like roosevelt, created these jobs and i never had an endorsement from her before. One of the best endorsements i think ive ever seen, joe biden highlighting that inadvertent endorsement from Marjorie Taylor greene. Was it inadvertent . She meant everything she said. She just didnt get that it was a good problem, but she meant into. Whats so funny, willie, shes actually speaking out against medicare, attacking medicare, attacking medicaid, attacking, as she said, great advances in infrastructure, great advances in health care, great advances in all of these things that, well, the overwhelming majority of americans want him to do. They want all of their leaders to do. I guess she thinks its a negative thing. It turned out to be a hell of an ad. I think thats what happens when you spend too much time in the narrow social media podcast world, in that bubble, and you here the echoes unanimously almost people want medicare, rely on medicare, in her own district in north georgia, of course. Man, you couldnt have scripted that any better, building on the legacy of fdr and lbj and on and on. Truly, i said the other morning she sounded like a dnc sleeper agent. The more i hear that, i wonder if shes up to Something Else because it is so flattering of President Biden. Welcome back to morning joe, it is friday. Who is glad its friday . Anybody . Oh, yeah. July 21st. Jen palmieri, Eugene Robinson still with us. Joining the conversation the host of the podcast on brand where Donny Deutsch, Donny Deutsch joins us. Thats a lot. I wasnt going to say anything because people really dont like it when i comment on done anys appearance. They think its reverse sexism. Hes got a tan. Hes going blue today. Hes moved beyond the oceans 11 look. Also with us, host of the Incredible Fast Politics podcast molly jongfast. Always great to see you. A nameless Third Party Ticket could potentially help joe biden in a hypothetical rematch against donald trump . So look at this. Without a third party option the survey shows biden beating trump by seven points, 47 to 40 . With a Third Party Ticket on the ballot, vied dens victory over trump grows to nine points, 37 to 28 . A lot of people, John Heilemann being one of them, distracted by the third party option here. We dont know what the third party option is going to be. Lets talk about some trim lines. I dont know. I guess its post maybe its with news of inflation going down in a big way. Maybe its news of americas economy being better than the economy of just about anybody elses in the world. Maybe its a great nato summit. Yesterday we had a poll that showed joe biden up 49 to 44 . Yesterday we had a poll showing him up by seven points. That was yesterday, a Quinnipiac Poll yesterday an emerson poll today showing him up by seven points. Many saying this is a brutal poll for donald trump. Lets circle back and say what you and i have been saying from the very beginning. Any indictment i cant believe we have to even say this, but you have to say this in the podcast and the pundit world. Any indictment is a bad indictment. The fact that a couple months ago one jokingly put the over under on the indictments for donald trump when people said he was never going to be indicted, at 2 1 2 and probably will blow past that. Possibly indicted in georgia and new jersey. Republicans will be dealing with a guy who has four or five indictments against him. Got a new york judge saying he raped e. Jean carroll. Hes got January 6th Riots behind him, an attempt to overthrow an election behind him. This doesnt really poll well in the suburbs of atlanta and philly and detroit. All of this wining about how bad things are from democrats, im not seeing it. I think its pretty good. Theres two tracks. Theres the biden track and theres the trump track. Lets look at the biden track. You mentioned it. Just the economic numbers are stunningly good everywhere you go. Its finally theres a delay. We talked a lot about it on the show that, wait a second, every number is so good, the wage numbers, the unemployment numbers, the gdp numbers, the manufacturing numbers. The Consumer Sentiment numbers are starting to catch up with that. If youre going to look at a trim line, youre going to say that economically it looks like things are staying on track and will continue to go in that direction. Then you go on the trump track, and you go about 500 days from the election. What good can happen for trump Going Forward thats going to start to push those poll numbers in the other direction. Its hard to come up with anything. Were probably looking at, as you said, another one or two indictments. Is trump going to come up with a new policy . He has no policies. Its going to take the Suburb Voters in philadelphia and make them forget january 6th . Its hard to prognosticate and say whats going to cause trump to go forward and force biden to go back . Every trend is starting to percolate in that direction that is pro biden. I think the problem here for anybody arguing against this, joe, is that when donald trump went down the escalator, nobody thought he could win the presidency, and everyone who said that was completely wrong. People laughed and thought its impossible. You have a situation now where he is a former president and he has done things like take very bad acts and normalize them, whether its rape, whether its saying to a female attorney about a woman who accused him of defamation, sexual abuse, youre not my type, whether its hush money to a porn star he had an affair with, whether inciting riots. Hes taken very bad things and normalized them. Hes desensitized the public to how bad they are. Look at Kevin Mccarthy. The guy has federal indictments coming his way and on him, and the weight of federal indictments do not sTop Republican politicians including the speaker of the house to try and somehow normalize what happened on january 6th. So that will cause a little bit of concern about what can happen during the president ial election. So, yes, theyre trying to normalize it to their detriment. I havent said this before, but itches just thinking about this last night. It was like 2 00 in the morning and i woke up and said, oh, my god, yes exactly. Its one of those things. It occurred to me that since donald trump, the great disrupter got elected in 2016, because of all of this, trump republicans lost in 2017, in 2018, in 2019, in 2020. Let me continue, because i have to remind people of this once in a while, especially republicans. 2021, 2022. The red wave. Oh, the red wave. Oh, wait. It was a sprinkle. A light little sprinkle. 2022, 2023, losers, losers, losers because they tried to normalize something that cant be normalized. Willie, if you want to know how Bad Donald Trump plays in the suburbs, think about the list that mika talked about. She didnt even get to him stealing Nuclear Secrets from a government skiff and taking them to his beach house in florida and then lying to the Justice Department, lying to the fbi about those documents, about documents regarding an invasion of iran, documents regarding the most Top Secret Military secrets. No, we didnt even get to that. So, yes, i do understand why people are so upset about this. We have found that gravity has returned. We have found a Supreme Court bought and paid for by certain activists, that donald trump turned over to, right . A Supreme Court has the lowest Approval Rating ever among the American People. They overturn a 50year precedent that 70 of americans support, a womans right to choose. Guess what . There are consequences to all of this, willie, just like theyll be consequences to all the things that Mika Points Out and the ones she didnt even get to, like stealing Nuclear Secrets. And given all of that, the question of our time in politics, it seems to me, is why republicans keep coming back for more from donald trump. Thank you, sir, may i have another . They keep getting paddled by donald trump and asking for another one. It really is. Its a staggering thing to watch. It asks the question whether theyll allow themselves to be steamed roll, forced to more dr. Ozes and herschel walkers. Molly, its part of what youre writing about in your new piece just posted at vanity fair in which molly writes, quote, as new york democrat Richie Tr Res told me, no one or nothing in america safe from the sheer stupidity of modern republican politics. The acronyms like dei and esg, barbie, hunter biden, trans6 people. Ted cruz called a scene in barbie Chinese Communist propaganda. So even so, its an Open Question whether democrats can effectively make the point of jamming through amendments targeting Transgender Service members in the Defense Bill Last week was a reminder of growing extremism in the house. California democrat ro khanna emailed me, molly writes. She goes on to write democrats need to do more to call this out and highlight how out of touch the current agenda is with what americans actually care about. There should be less time spent on Conspiracy Theories and with aggressive popular policies and more time spent on bringing back manufacturing and lowering the cost of gas and food. All of that from mollys new piece in vanity fair. A case in point a couple days ago, the Oversight Committee hearing about hunter biden when Marjorie Taylor greene was holding up poster boardsize photographs of a naked hunter biden to make some point unclear. But thats where they are right now. Yeah, irn credible stuff. Not what congress is meant to look like. This is just part of it. Between the gas stoves and the propaganda. Look, Kevin Mccarthy has been tasked by trump with expunging the impeachments, right . Thats what hes spending his time doing now, is trying to expunge his impeachments, to placate trump. So much of the house gop is about placating trump. I almost feel like showing videos of these hearings is so incredibly persuasive and shocking. The stuff theyre doing in these hearings is crazy. The things they said to Director Wray who was republican Director Wray, you had Congress People accusing him of being against conservatives, trying to ruin the Republican Party. He was appointed by trump. He was originally appointed by bush. This guy is not a liberal. Its just wild stuff. So case in point right here, republican senator Chuck Grassley of iowa released a redacted fbi memo yesterday that some republicans say proves joe biden and his son hunter took bribes. Many of the same republicans im sure agree it involves allegations made by a confidential informant in 2020 about hunters alleged Business Dealings when he served on the board of Ukrainian Energy company. The claims have never been verified and even Top Republicans have the knowledge they cannot confirm whether the information is true. Congressman jamie raskin of maryland, the top democrat on the House Oversight panel yesterday picked apart the claims in a lengthy statement arguing in part, quote, this fbi document repours the unfair vied, secondhand, yearsold allegations relayed by a confidential source who said he could not provide veracity of the allegations. He highlights how the source of the information was at the center of a Pressure Campaign by Rudy Giuliani in 2019 and 2020 on behalf of then President Trump. When interviewed the source directly denied these allegations. This is still dossier squared for republicans. Senator grassley admitted, he said the quiet part out loud, he didnt care if the allegations were true or not. Take a listen. Were not interested in whether or not the accusations against Vice President biden are accurate or not. Were responsible for making sure the fbi does its job. What . Gene, again, to lie about a document at the time they were talking about i guess impeaching wray or whatever. Wray talked to them. Again, its one thing after another after another. Durham supposedly is going to show this conspiracy between the fbi and hillary clinton. He makes a fool of himself. You have comer time and time again talking about informants who end up being like chinese agents or foreign i dont know exactly what they are. But theyre doing the business of the Chinese Communist party illegally. Theyre funnelly iranian oil, smuggling it illegally to the communist chinese. Theyre illegal arms dealers. You go down the list, and then youve got these other people who are supposedly these irs informants who basically get up there and go, yeah, it was actually donald trump when i was complaining it was donald trump who was president then and it was trumps irs and trumps Justice Department in 2018. Here we have a document, again, thats complete nonsense, and you have Chuck Grassley going i dont care whether hes guilty or not. Were just trying to create chaos. Right. The aim of all this is not to connect the dots. Its just to throw out a whole bunch of dots that dont connect, just to try to create this atmosphere around President Biden that he must have done something wrong. Im glad you mentioned the irs agents because, again, this happened while donald trump was president. So if there were interference in the investigation of hunter biden which, according to the council, the federal prosecutor who was leading the investigation, there was no interference. He was able to bring whatever charges he wanted to bring. It was totally his decision. But if it was being interfered with, it was being interfered with by Donald Trumps Justice Department. Its just insane, but, again, the dots dont connect. They were supposed to, as Senator Grassley revealed, theyre just supposed to muddy up President Biden and create this impression that somehow hes done something wrong and hes corrupt, because the comparison is inevitably drawn with donald trump who actually is corrupt. They have to try to drag biden down to that level. Democratic president ial candidate robert f. Kennedy jr. Testified yesterday before the house republicanled socalled Weaponization Committee its been a bust, too. On the issue of censorship the hearing was often very contentious between kennedy and the democrats on the committee who called him a menace to society, who did not deserve the platforms republicans gave him. Kennedy has a long history of making controversial comments, most recently coming under fire from members of his own family for pushing antisemitic tropes about covid. Democratic congressman Jerry Connolly of virginia gave an especially passionate rebuke of how the republicans were using kennedy for cynical political purposes. Ive been in this congress 15 years, and i never thought wed descend to this level of orwellian dystopia. Suddenly the tools of the trade are not to get at the truth, but to distract, distort, deflect and dissemble. To disagree is censorship. To try to correct the facts is to infringe on my right of free speech. No matter what you think, mr. Kennedy, and i revere your name, youre not here to propound your case for censorship. You are here for cynical reasons to be used politically by that side of the aisle to embarrass the president of the United States, and youre an enabler in that effort today. It brings shame on a storied name that i revere. You know, donnie, ive known bobby for a long time. I like him. Ive always liked him. Always been a good guy to me, and a smart guy. I remember maybe 20 years ago hearing him give an impassioned speech on the environment, and it was a really, really compelling speech. Gifted, gifted, gifted orator. Im sure the Family Members are at a loss about the antisemitic tropes that hes throwing out there, at a loss about what Conspiracy Theory after another. Were not going to give their names. Mika and i were having a conversation with people who have been friends with the kennedys for a very long time. They love bobby, jr. They love him, love the whole family. They say hes a very compelling guy, very gifted guy. He can pull you in. They, too, are at a total loss about this guy being overtaken by one Conspiracy Theory after another after another after another. I think for the Family Members who have sat by quietly all this time, i think the antisemitic trope about covid being targeted genetically, i think that was a final straw. What bobby always does, he throws something out there like trump, i cant believe im saying it, when he gets called out, he says no, no, i never said that. You go back and look at the tape and you see he actually said that. Its always framed in a way where he can pull back if it blows back in his face. Whats the danger . Whats the problem . The problem is he has said that antisemitic trope and that virus out online, and for all the Conspiracy Theorists that are following him, that takes root. It grows. Its jews who pay for that, maybe by being shouted at and taunted on the streets. Maybe its by having a rock thrown at the synagogue. Maybe its by people going in and shooting up synagogues. Im talking about antisemitism in general. Not talking about did this specific antisemitic trope. Im saying its so reckless and irresponsible, for people who have known bobby for a long time, much better than me, in fact, its heartbreaking. You said the quiet part out loud. The parallels between trump and Bobby Kennedy, jr. , are kind of stunning. Both very charismatic Media Figures that understand the media. As you said, theyll throw these grenades out and let them explode and then walk away and go, well, i didnt do anything. Hes taking the greatest Family Brand Name in u. S. History, kennedy, and dumping all over it. The kennedys have had a lot of tragedies over the years. I cant think of any greater blemish than what hes doing out there. I think hes not well. I think theres something you can explain all you want, but for him to throw out the controversy he throws in the latest antisemitic trope, i think hes fallen and cant get up. I think theres something very wrong with Bobby Kennedy jr. Going back to one of the earlier segments in the show, god forbid this lunatic decides to run as a third party, the damage that would do. This is a very dangerous guy with a very store read name that is casting a dark shadow over us. Molly, its interesting to see how some i guess libertarians or conservatives who are done with donald trump have sort of put their arms around Bobby Kennedy jr. As a guy by their perception who, like trump, is railing against the establishment, questioning received knowledge and conventional wisdom and on and on. Hes doing much worse than that. This isnt new. The Vaccine Stuff hes been doing for a generation and hurt a lot of people with that, his Conspiracy Theory about vaccines. Its been interesting how House Republicans have i dont know that theyve fully embraced him, but they like what hes saying. Theys plat formed him. Its not because they want him to be president. This is a very craven ploy. Remember they want to have a third party not because a Third Party Trump may never win the popular vote. He hasnt either. He just needs to win the electoral college. You get a Bobby Kennedy jr. On the ticket and you get those votes and you could see another trump presidency. So i think ultimately this is really a play to hurt biden. They know the economy is good. They know biden is does pretty well and is pretty electable and tends to overperform. This is sort of a desperate ploy to hurt biden. By the way, the Kennedy Family has gone to the bidens and let them know they do not support his candidacy, and they understand it is being cynically used by republicans, by donald trump, by steve bannon, by roger stone, by all of these people to do nothing but actually help anti Democratic Forces in america. Its really unfortunate. Molly jongfast, thank you so much. Her new piece is on line for vanity fair. Donny, youll be back in the fourth hour with another issue of brand up brand down. Looking just as sharp. Just what i do in the fourth hour, by the way, i take my tie off. No. I do because i want people to understand the branding of morning joe. By the fourth hour things are more relaxed. Ill be back, but i wont have my tie. What youre saying is thats going to help you out in the hamptons tonight, right . Yeah. Still ahead on morning joe thats stupid. A big concern over the growing use of unregulated Artificial Intelligence tools. A number of top tech firms have committed to meet a new set of ai safeguards. Well speak with National Security Council Spokesperson john kirby about the agreement brokered by the white house. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. We heard a lot about the bidens, the bidens, the biden family, biden associates. Bidens, plural, the s, what does the ap apostrophe mean. But not joe biden. Why . He didnt do anything. This has nothing to do with him. My colleagues talked about foreign countries, foreign entities, trying to make it all scary for the American People. Of course President Trump got 5. 4 million from the chinese while he was president because they were leasing space in trump tower. He goes out and air kisses president xi, totally perfect. Jared kushner gets 2 million from the saudis even though he oversaw mid east peace. Ivanka trump is doing business with the chinese while shes working in the white house. Totally beautiful. Why do i bring that up . They want to say you have credibility. The problem is they have none, they have no credibility. Because youre here at their behest, their lack of credibility questions your credibility, nopt because of you personally, but because of what theyve done over the last several years. Done over the last several years. Limu emu doug what do we always say, son . Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance. So you only pay for what you need. Thats my boy. Now you get out there, and you make us proud, huh . Bye, uncle limu. Stay off the freeways only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. From prom dresses only pay to workoutsu need. And new adventures you hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. Now as youre thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. upbeat music constant contacts advanced automation lets you send the right message at the right time, every time. constant contact. Helping the small stand tall. vo in two seconds, Eric Will Realize Const man ontact. [laughs] vo theyre gonna need more space. Gotta sell the house. vo oh. Open houses or, skip the hassles and sell with confidence to opendoor. Wow. vo request a cash offer at Opendoor Dot Com welcome back to morning joe. 7 33 here on the east coast. Beautiful live picture of the United States capitol on a friday morning. Since russias exit from the black sea grain deal on monday, attacks on Ukrainian Port cities have intensified with the city of odesa being struck by missiles every night. Its goif nor saying russia has switched to attacking agricultural targets in the area. One strike on an odesa Grain Terminal destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley. Ukraine is countering with its own. It would consider any ships making for ukraine ports to be carrying military cargo. The next day ukraine said it would view ships the same way if theyre bound for russian or russianheld ports. Joining us now, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the white house, retired rear admiral john kirby. Admiral, good morning. Its good to see you. I want to talk about the ai meeting at the white house in just a moment. But an update from you, sir, about whats going on in ukraine. I know a 1. 3 billion package was announced by the white house, more funding going to ukraine. The Cluster Munitions provided by the United States being used by the Ukrainian Military in the eastern part of the country. How is this muchtalkedabout counteroffensive for ukraine going . Thanks, willie. Every day they make a little progress. In some cases its a dozen or so kilometers a day, whether thats up around bakhmut or further down towards the south. They are making progress. Its slow. Its slow for a couple of reasons. Theyre running into a Defense Perimeter Set by the russians thats quite deep. Theyre running into minefields before they can get to the entrenchments. Going through minefields when youre being shelled is very difficult. They still have the challenges that weather can provide. Theres some reasons why theyre not as happy that theyre not happy, not going as fast or as far as they would like. The counteroffensive is producing vicious fighting all along the front and the russians are giving it right back. The president has said time and time again that the United States is with ukraine for the long haul. I guess the question for a lot of people watching this morning is how long will that haul be . One of our reporters who has covered the war closely saying the proposals from each side with just untenable to the other. To putin, it means getting ukraines land. To ukraine it means getting back its land. Neither side can live with that. How do you see the next six months, potentially the next year . Where can there be some movement . Its difficult to know what six months it will look like or a year from now. Certainly this counteroffensive is not going to end any time soon. I think were clearly looking at weeks if not months of additional fighting along this counteroffensive and to see if it can make the kind of breakthrough that can force mr. Putin to sit down at the negotiating table. As you introduced me, willie, its pretty clear he has no signs of wanting to let up and no indication that hes willing to sit down and talk to president zelenskyy. Quite the contrary, now theyre striking at the grain in odesa and continue deep missile strikes inside ukraine as well as, of course, the counteroffensive. Theres just no sign that the fighting is going to let up any time soon. Thats why when the president talks about it, he talks about for as long as it takes. We dont know what thats actually going to play out to be. Its important that we all stay unified and resolve to stay with ukraine. Of course, coming out of the nato summit, i think you can see, the whole world could see, how united the International Community is to support ukraine. You mentioned the big package this week. There will be yet another coming from the United States to support the United States on the battlefield. John, its Eugene Robinson. Its been reported that ukraine is now using some of the Cluster Munitions that the United States has provided. Yeah. Im just wondering how you as a career military man, how you feel about that. When putin used those weapons, if im not mistaken, a lot of people considered the way he used them to be a war crime. How do you feel i understand theres a rationale for providing them, but how do you feel about that as someone who has been in the military and who has studied warfare for a long time . These are very effective weapons systems. I certainly understand the concerns about them. The president didnt make this decision in a cavalier fashion at all. He struggled with it. I understand the struggle that he had with that. That they are very effective weapons systems. Early reports were getting is that the ukrainians are using them very efficiently and in the appropriate manner. In other words, theyre going after russia Offensive Units that are deep behind the lines. As i talked about with willie, they have multiple lines of defense. If you can get behind those lines and disrupt their units and actually kill some russian personnel, you can make that defense harder for the russians. Every indication weve been getting from the ukrainians and they have been thinking us informed as to how theyre using these Cluster Munitions are they doing it appropriate, the way the weapons are supposed to be used. Theyre discriminate in what theyre hitting and trying to go after personnel, command and control, those kinds of functions by the russians. Thus far, they have been doing exactly what they said and promised they would do with these Cluster Munitions. I do want to remind you, gene, this is a bridging solution, well provide them for only as long as we need to, until we can get the Production Rate of regular Artillery Rounds back up to speed, at a level where we can do that more efficiently for the ukrainians. Admiral, i want to ask you about the meeting between the administration and seven top Artificial Intelligence companies at the white house today. Theyre going to agree to a number of various guardrails as they develop technology. Amazon, google, meta, microsoft, theyve all agreed to various guardrails, and thats great. I dont want to minimize the importance of companies coming forward and working with the administration to try and create a safe future as ai becomes a reality in our lives, but how does this prevent bad actors . First of all, these seven companies are some of the most impactful in the ai ecosystem, and they will able to set standards that other actors and other companies will follow. I want to stress that while all these commitments fall into three buckets, safety, security and trust. Theres some terrific individual details in them. I wont go into it right now. Theres a terrific set of commitments here. Theyre all voluntary. Thats for sure. Were also going to work with congress. The president intends to work with congress on an Executive Order that can pursue legislation, that can help us codify this across the country and also give us the tools to hold bad actors accountable. We recognize exactly the risk were talking about. These commitments wont cover all these risks, but we are going to continue to work on getting some sort of legislation in place to hold these folks accountable. All right. National Security Council coordinator for Strategic Communications at the white house, retired rear admiral john kirby, thank you very much. Its good to have you on. Happy friday. Coming up, well look into a major effort to reach black voters ahead of the 2024 election, plus new reporting on a possible charge for donald trump in the Georgia Election case and when it could happen. Thats all ahead on morning joe. s all ahead on morning joe. upbeat music constant contacts advanced automation lets you send the right message at the right time, every time. constant contact. Helping the small stand tall. Power e trades easytouse tools, like dynamic charting and riskreward analysis help make trading feel effortless. And its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. E trade from Morgan Stanley. With powerful, easytouse tools, Power E Trade makes complex trading easier. React to fastmoving markets with dynamic charting and a Futures Ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you wont miss an opportunity. E trade from Morgan Stanley 3. 2. 1. Why didnt we do this last year . 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We exercise. I noticed i wasnt as sharp as i used to be. My wife introduced me to prevagen and so i said yeah, ill try it out. I noticed that i felt sharper, i felt like i was able to respond to things quicker. And i thought, yeah, it works for me. Prevagen. At stores everywhere without a prescription. I know youre tired. I am, too. But what if i told you being tired was a good thing when youre a sleeping giant, and needing a moment to breathe is necessary when you breathe life into this country. What if i told you there was a win just on the other side of tomorrow . Would you give up then . What if i told you you were the heartbeat of this country, always have been, always will be the most powerful thing it never created. What would you do . How would you feel . Would you feel how much you are loved . Would you feel how much you are feared . Would you realize youve faced more than this already and youve won every time . Thats a snippet of an ad by the rolling sea action fund. The pact supports the congressional black caucus. Its goal is to mobilize black voters ahead of the 2024 election in an effort to flip the house back to a democratic majority. Joining us now, action Fund Director campbell wallace. Its good to have you. We saw the ad. Talk more if you could about what the strategy is to make that a reality. Well, thank you so much for having me here today. Rolling sea action fund is my love letter to black voters. It is really making sure that we understand that black voters are the cornerstone of the democratic party, but also champions of american democracy. When black voters turn out, democracy wins. For everyone watching at home, please check us out on rollingsea. Org. Thats a great ad and very moving and inspirational, different for political ads. Theres a lot of democrats concerned about dropoff in support for biden among black voters, dropoff in support of republicans in general uly, numbers inching up in the African American community. Talk about why you think thats happening and what youre going to try to two to combat that in 204. For sure. Black voters, when you talk to them frequently often and early, they turn out in droves. We turn out 80 black women. Black women. Black women are the best voters in america, most consistent from either party. Yes. We want to make sure were talking to them early, frequently. Targeting districts that have about 8 or more of black Voting Age Population because we know that when we when black america wins, america wins. Niccara, is there any geographical focus to this effort . Are you focusing on the big metros, philadelphia, atlanta . Where is the focus . Where black people are, were talking to them. That means urban voters, rural voters. We know black people are not a monolith. Im a product of this. My family is from texas. My mom is from baltimore. My family is from everywhere. Were going to make sure were talking to black voters in the north, the south, everywhere. Niccara, great to have you on the show. Just like every other voter, for black voters its the economy. We god a good number last week. What else other than the economy do you feel black voters are focused on as they head into the voting booth next year . I think were focused on voting rights, on this extreme security that has now attacked affirmative action, attacked everything about us. Now we know we have to fight like hell to make sure we protect american democracy. All right. The executive director, thank you very much f b morning. Well be following every step of the way. Up next, jack smiths grand jury. Heres new testimony from a person very close to donald trump. Well tell you who it is, and how much access they had to the former president that day. Plus, the state of florida tries to both sides the teaching of slavery in public schools. Well explain that troubling new standard ahead on morning joe. Im a bear. Im coming out of hibernation after the best nap of my life. 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At 54 past the hour, we began in North Carolina with the herald sun has a touchdown of a tornado east of raleigh. Its east of a Pfizer Production facility and injured more than a dozen people. The plant produces anaesthesia, and nearly 25 of all injectable medications used in hospitals. Officialsay t damage will likely lead to longterm shortages. In illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports they are on track to report one of its largest declines in homicides. According to a new report that looked at crime data from 30 cities, homicides are down 9. 4 for the first half of this year. Still, the rate is 24 higher than we saw in 2019. And The Tennesseean reports the state will allow students to move to fourth grade despite scoring low on the states Reading Assessment. A total of 60 of third graders fell short of the proficiency threshold in this years standardized test, putting them at risk of being held back. Parents could appeal the decision if they can show their child has performed better in another Reading Assessment or that they faced hardships around the time the standardized test was administered. And still ahead on morning joe, House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries with some harsh words for his republican colleagues on the heels of several gopled hearings this week. Well play that new sound for you. Plus, donald trump appears to issue a new threat when asked about the possibility of jail time stemming from special counsel jack smiths investigation. Morning joe is coming right back. Vestigation. Morning joe is coming right back the thought of getting screened for colon cancer made me queasy. But now ive found a way thats right for me. Feels more easy. My doc and i agreed. I pick the time. Todays a good day. I screened with cologuard and did it my way cologuard is a oneofa kind way to screen for colon cancer thats effective and noninvasive. 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Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. I brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein. Those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks uuuhhhh. Here, ill take that woohoo ensure max protein, 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar. Enter the 10,000 powered by protein max challenge. The republican hearings that have unfolded over the last few days and throughout this entire congress are a Malignant Clown show that are not designed to address issues that impact the health, the safety, and the economic wellbeing of the American People, but instead Peddle Outlandish and outofcontrol Conspiracy Theories. You know its so true. Thats house leader Hakeem Jeffries not holding back. Willie, i thought the reference to my favorite punk band, insane. What was it . Malignant clown show. Malignant clown show. Malignant clown show. Best 1990s punk band out there. A close cousin, joe, to the Insane Clown Posse out of detroit. But still, that aint Malignant Clown show. He makes a good point. This comes as a Top Republican in the Senate Releases an fbi memo that fails to prove any any of the accusations against President Joe Biden and his son, hunter. The people said, oh, how nice. The republicans now have their own steele dossier. Plus, Kevin Mccarthy responds to reporting that he made a promise to donald trump as an olive branch because the House Speaker has not publicly endorsed trumps 2024 campaign, and speaking of the former president , well play for you his ominous comments that seem to be calling for a january 6thstyle response to his legal excuse. Heres the problem. Willie there are a lot of problems there. Th. He needs to read the room. This does not help him with jack smith. I dont know. No. Maybe this helped him with a Contract Dispute in new jersey when you throw words around like that. Threatening stuff. It doesnt help with jack smith, does snit. No. I had the same thought when i heard that last night which is, youre about likely about to be indicted for part of the indictment for inciting a riot. It will be wild getting everybody else to go to the capitol, and now youre sort of implying your supporters might do that again if the Justice Department does, in fact, indict you. Not the best legal strategy though. I dont even know which lawyers he has around him anymore, if they can mention that to him, but it doesnt appear to be breaking through any legal advice he may be getting. Hes just going to keep being him. Yeah. Its a Malignant Clown show. With us, we have former white house Director Of Communications for President Obama, jennifer palmieri, pulitzer prizewinning columnist and msnbc political analyst, eugene roberts, and sam stein filling in for the very, very, very lazy jonathan lemere. I mean jeez. Your words. Yeah. So lazy. This might be the second the second day in five years hes taken off . I dont know. We have sam, and what do we call that . A Malignant Clown show. No, stop. Thats terrible. Im joking. So we have Everybody Whining about how joe bidens going to do so terribly, and we have Everybody Whining about a third party candidate. We have Everybody Whining about everything because this is what the democrats do. Its the Obama Administration when their campaign talked about bedwetting. The polling shows donald trump losing losing by five points to joe biden 49 to 44 . Another one came out which said it calls it a brutal poll showing joe biden crushing donald trump even with a third party candidate. Well, thats the interesting part here. Despite having some concerns about both President Joe Biden and former president donald trump, new polling shows most americans are not open to voting for a Third Party Ticket in 2024. In the latest university survey, just 30 of registered voters say they would definitely or probably consider Voting Third Party if biden and trump are the leading names on the 2024 ballot. As for how a nameless Third Party Ticket could impact a 2024 rematch between the current and former president , the poll shows it may actually help biden. Without a third party option, the survey shows biden beating trump by 7 points. With a Third Party Ticket on the ballot, bidens victory over trump grows to nine points. 37 to 28 . So so willie, looking at this, i mean, first of all, this is like a day we have polls up. Joe biden easily beating donald trump. Thumping on, and on this third party, we think its going to hurt joe biden, its going to hurt joe biden. It doesnt look that way. It doesnt look this way in some other polls. People are saying, i dont like donald trump at all. Give me another option. Ill never vote for joe biden. Ill never vote for a democrat, but give me a third party option, and we actually see there, theres some actual softness in Donald Trumps numbers, and joe biden looking better than ever. Yeah, that cuts against the conventional wisdom, everything we have been hearing which is if someone like joe manchin were to jump in the race, it would only hurt joe biden and help to get donald trump reelected to be president. Jen, im curious how you read into those numbers because every other poll weve seen says people dont like the matchup. They dont like their choices. They dont want donald trump against joe biden, and they dont want to see this movie again, and yet when you actually put the question directly to them, 30 of them want to see a third party, but it actually helps joe biden, and again in that head to head, and i think it was seven points again, the one we saw yesterday was five points. You have joe biden up seven points and this monomyth poll, and all the panicking thats been going on in the democratic party, those numbers at least in these last several polls look pretty good for joe biden. So i was just looking at my phone because i already have two Text Messages from democrats who i dont like to use the term bedwetting because i find it crude, but are very who are freaking out about this poll because that is what democrats do, joe. Youre right. We do freak out, but its also why theyre still Republic Standing, because we overworry about elections and whats going to happen in them. This this is interesting. Im not sure that i trust it. Its the first time ive seen a poll where there is a third party option that did benefit biden as opposed to trump, although or at least just didnt hurt biden, but there is, you know, but there is a lot of concern that if you have that trumps numbers and every other poll that i have seen has shown this, are have strong, and if people have a third party option, that that is likely to take away from biden because he is winning over disgruntled republicans and independents over. Now continuing in the role of the party pooper for democrats, ill say talking about the poll from yesterday which had biden winning 4945 over trump, thats a national poll. Thats great. When you look at Battleground States and ill use wisconsin as an example, you know, you got to get to 270. These states are not static. Theyre changing, and so wisconsin for example, has a higher level of white, noncollege educated voters in 2024 than it had in 2020, that cohort of voters, you know, has favored trump as opposed to biden. So these poll numbers are all great, but, you know, you still have to you still have to get to 270, and theres concerns about when you look underneath the hood what those numbers are going to be like in each of these Battleground States and then in terms of the third party, you know, great, only 30 are open to voting for a third, you know, either a third party option, but jill stein only needed to get very small digits of support in wisconsin, michigan, and pennsylvania to win the election for donald trump. So i think third Party Remains a very, very significant threat to joe biden. Yeah. Yeah. The ptsd is strong with this one. Theres no its just traumatic stress. Exactly. It is traumatic stress. Sam, why didnt she just say on the two best days of polling for joe biden, why didnt she just say we dont deserve good things . Republicans say, we may not deserve it, but were going to take it, but when you see these polls, you look at them and go, this is a trend line in a positive direction. Happy days are here again. When i look at wisconsin, what do i see . I see a judges race that conservatives call the most important race in that state in a decade, and democrats win by 11 points, yes. Things are not static. Things are breaking. Maybe its because im not a democrat. Im still an independent, so im not overly negative yet. Things are breaking, in democrats way. They won by a landslide in wisconsin in Supreme Court judicial race, what republicans call the most important race of their time. Democrats won this kansas. They won they won in kentucky on abortion. They have so many things that are breaking their way, not just the indictments, but the roe the overturning of roe. So many things good going in their direction, and donald trump is looking crazier and crazier every day. Thats why i dont talk about National Polls usually. I talk about the suburbs of atlanta. Theyll never go for trump again. The suburbs of philly. Theyll never go for trump again. The suburbs of detroit, theyll never go for trump again. The suburbs of milwaukee, theyll never go for trump again, especially postroe, and i hope the power of positiving this did not trigger jen or any of the other democrats out there, but look. Its okay to be happy. Its okay to smile. No, its not. Its okay to be positive, sam. No, its not. Its not, okay. Let me just agree with jen. Bedwetting is a crude, disgusting term. It should be banished from the air waves. Lets never mention it again, and secondly, jen did make a, you know, i think a very valid, if not, maybe cup half empty case for being for democrats heading into 2024. It is a race in certain states. Its not a national race. You have to look at wisconsin and pennsylvania. This i guess will be a question i would sort of direct to eugene here which is, you know, if you look at that Third Party Ticket, right . And youre scared about it, there is not you have to look at two Third Party Tickets. Theres the manchin one thats no labels. It would draw centrist and maybe republicans who would be open to biden. It could draw them away from biden, but the other one is a cornell west type who could take a couple of Percentage Points in critical states away from biden in what jen is, you know, reliving a sort of, like, jill stein scenario, right . I dont want to trigger it again, but that is what happened. You are plugged in, gene. Which one do they actually fear the most, right . Do they fear the manchintype run or do they fear the cornell west small Percentage Points liberal enthusiasm being just drained from them . Well, the answer of course, because theyre democrats is both, but before i get to that though, let me im shocked that we havent yet mentioned were, what . 12 minutes into the show, and we havent mentioned the one real big story In Washington today which is the nfl owners approved the sale of the Washington Football team, the commanders from dan snyder to josh harris. Our Long National nightmare is over, and, you know, everything is bright and sunny again. So yes. Okay. Malignant clown show is over. So lets all, you know, so how can anybody have negative thoughts on a day like that . Thats just its amazing. Good question. Third party my general view has been that a third party would probably hurt joe biden, but now we have some data indicating maybe it wouldnt. I think thats a good thing, and i think i think its just been good for biden, and im perfectly willing to say, you know, great, and spend the day not worrying. My resolution for today is not to worry and to celebrate the end of a terrible era here In Washington football. There you go, gene. Thats the spirit. Yeah, its been almost a quarter of a century under the Snyder Family with the redskins commanders and now it officially is over, gene. Congrats to you. We were talking about this interview that donald trump did earlier this week that was in iowa. A radio show in iowa. The former president was asked about the possibility of jail time stemming from special counsel jack smiths investigation. Here is trumps answer. Is it something that concerns you of, you know, of the people making sure that they dont go out of their right mind if Something Like that happens . Because i know what im thinking of could happen if that for example, they do say jack smith says, okay. Im going to put donald trump in jail. I think its a very dangerous thing to even talk about. Okay. Because we do have a tremendously passionate group of voters, and i mean, maybe, you know maybe 100, 150, ive never seen anything like it. Much more passion than they had in 2020, and much more passion than they had in 2016. I think it would be very dangerous. Joe, much more passion than they had in 2020, implying it could be worse than the 2020 election. Appallingly dangerous stuff given the recent history in this country, and also as i pointed out earlier, very stupid as he perhaps comes under indictment around the 2020 election. I dont know if donald trump understands what do you think hes doing . Hes talking like a mobster. Yeah. It would be a shame it would be very dangerous for jack smith. Wouldnt want another riot. And theyre more dangerous now than they were in 2020 or 2016. Could be worse. Gene, hes just so stupid. It really is. Yeah. He just doesnt understand. Hes going up against the feds. He doesnt understand that he cant bully and bluster and threaten his way out of criminal charges that are coming because he broke the law, because he stole Nuclear Secrets, because he stole secret plans to attack iran, because he stole secret military secrets because he has people all around him all around him on January The 6th who are testifying against him. No democrats. No moderate republicans. All trumpers. All the trump everybody that he ever hired has gone before the grand jury. Everybody that was around him January The 6th went before the grand jury. All trumpers, and hes going to be charged for some of the most serious crimes in america, and his response his response, instead of talking to his lawyers saying, hey. Get me a deal. I dont know what its going to look like, but get me a deal because theyve got me there. My own people are the people testifying against me. Instead of that, he goes on an iowa radio show and like a mobster, threatens jack smith. Has he not looked at pictures of jack smith . This guy looks like the judge on andor, all right . Yes. He looks like the guy that takes the good guy from the star wars galaxy and throws him into jail for life. He doesnt understand oh my god. Look at him. Im scared. You just scared me by putting this picture up. Yeah, yeah. Does he think jack smith is going to be intimidated by moblike threats, gene . Yeah. And thats not going to happen. Jack smith looks like a pretty intense guy, and he looks like hes not going to take any of this from donald trump. I think trump doesnt know what else to do. He obviously sees the walls closing in on him. The indictments coming. Someone must have told him or let him know what the Conviction Rate is in federal court which is well over 90 of defendants who are charged either plea guilty or get convicted, and it is this is a tough situation for him and rather than than make a deal and rather than try to, you know, somehow keep his freedom, he does this. It can only make things worse for him. Coming up, the grand jury investigating Donald Trumps alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election hears from a former white house aide who was with the president on january 6th. Well have that new reporting next on morning joe. W reporti next on morning joe. Trying to control my asthma felt anything but normal. Enough was enough. I talked to an asthma specialist and found out my severe asthma is driven by eosinophils, a type of asthma nucala can help control. Now, fewer asthma attacks and less oral steroids thats my nunormal with nucala. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. 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Hes the one that carried, you know, tic tacs and a comb and was around the president to ensure that administrative tasks like that were fulfilled, and he isdy de is depicted in photographs and he was in the ellipse to the oval office on january 6th. That was the latest witness to appear before a Federal Grand Jury hearing about the insurrection and Donald Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 election. William russell testified yesterday. Hes a longtime aide to the former president who was reportedly by trumps side for most of the day on january 6, 2021, although he has previously testified before the grand jury. His level of cooperation is unclear since he still works for the trump campaign. We did though get a possible hint as to why prosecutors are questioning him in a bizarre scene that played out during an Unrelated Court proceeding. In the same building where russell was being questioned, his lawyer showed up late for a hearing for a different client. Oh, wow. Busy lawyer. What was it, like, bank fraud . What was it . No, it was a client who was sentenced for his role on january 6th. The lawyer said he didnt want to leave russell alone with the special counsels prosecutors because his client was, quote, being asked questions which potentially involved Executive Privilege. That could indicate that the doj is questioning russell to help piece together trumps words and actions from the day of the insurrection. The judge then sent a u. S. Marshal to summon the dojs prosecutors to the courtroom where they had a tense, private discussion at the bench. Thats fascinating. Lets bring in congressional investigative reporter. Shes an msnbc contributor and what else do you know about William Russell and what he might be sharing with the Federal Grand Jury . Yeah, mika. It was an extraordinary scene that played out yesterday in the d. C. Courthouse when Stan Woodward showed up late to the hearing of a january 6th defendant because of the length of the questioning of his client, will russell. You know, the January 6th Committee is now jack smiths team of prosecutors has most likely put together a very comprehensive account of that day on january 6th, and trumps actions, but theres no one who was perhaps more close to the president during that time period and maybe who knows him better than the bodyman. As weve already seen, you know, for example with someone like walt nada, the coconspirator who replaced will russell as the bodyman postpresidency. This man follows the president around all the time, knows all the most intimate details and could give a really clear and detailed, insightful view into trumps mindset on that day. There were already countless other people, witnesses who have testified to the jack smiths team. We know that for example during the January 6th Committee, we heard from people, these are all aids who detailed some of the events leading up to the January 6th Rally where trump whipped them up prior to attacking the u. S. Capitol, where trump was on the phone with former Vice President mike pence at the time thenVice President , head of the electoral certification. We had people who had said that trump the conversation was extremely heated. We heard from ivanka trump who said that, you know, the president had never taken such a tone with the Vice President , that he called him a wimp, the p word, but, you know, Will Russells Testimony could still be very important for smith in terms of wrapping up the final stage of this investigation. Hey, jackie. Its sam stein here. I want to talk about sort of a side figure in all this. The attorney Stan Woodward who seems to represent basically everyone in trump world in these various charges that theyre facing. He was involved in a weird situation yesterday involving William Russell from one trial to another. I havent been able to kind of wrap my head around this, but im sure you have. How does having one connective tissue Defense Attorney impact these types of cases, if at all . Yeah, sam. Well, its certainly a headscratching situation that is set up, but its definitely a common one. Past president s have also used this kind of joint defense situation, and it definitely raises a lot of sort of obvious questions about Information Sharing and the ability for witnesses to kind of All Strategize and come to some sort of agreement on testimony, but at the end of the day, theres only so much that, you know, can be done. At the sentencing, he said, im late because the prosecutors jack smiths prosecutors were infringing on my clients claims of Executive Privilege, and that the questioning ran late, and weve seen the court overrule those sorts of claims and ultimately compel these witnesses to be truthful. Weve already also seen charges pressed against trump confidants and allies, people like walt for ming false statements. There is a lot on the line here, a lot more so than was for these people who simply declined to cooperate with the investigation. I must note that will russell is not someone that the January 6th Committee actually reached out to nor interviewed. Coming up, floridas Board Of Education now has approved controversial new standards for how black history will be taught in schools. Reverend al sharpton joins us to weigh in and get details on that next on morning joe. And get t next on morning joe. Nly pay for what you need. You could save 700 dollars just by switching. 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The white house says the Vice President now will deliver remarks in jacksonville to highlight the administrations efforts to, quote, protect fundamental freedoms. The speech comes a day after harris visited indianapolis where she blasted states that are banning books. And speaking of our children, extremists pass book bans to prevent them from learning our true history. Book bans in this year of our lord 2023. And while they do this, check it out. They push forward revisionist history. Just yesterday in the state of florida, they decided middle School Students will be taught that enslaved people benefitted from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it. Joining us now, the host of msnbcs politics nation, president of the National Action network, reverend al sharpton. Rev, good morning. I had to dig in and read this because i thought the headline couldnt be true, but here it is. One section that reads, slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefits. I never thought i would see both sidesism of slavery taught in public schools. Well, it is not only insulting. It is humiliating, and it really is dangerous because it will instruct young people if it is allowed to go forward, not only of a distorted version of American History, but it robs us from seeing where we are. When you see the Vice President going to florida today to really give National Spotlight to this, it shows also how far the countrys gone that you have a firsttime in the history of the country, a woman and a black woman, a woman of color as Vice President that came from a history of slavery. So to distort how brutal slavery is is like saying an abused woman, a man say i abused her because i was trying to get her bad lineage out of her, other family curses out of her. I mean, it is absolutely absurd, insulting, and it is not only a distortion of American History, but it robs from us the progress that we have made, therefore, the progress we must continue, and i couldnt think of anything their egregious to do to young people. Im glad that the Vice President is going to underline this. I tell you of both sidesism, rev. You actually have also the requirement for teachers to engage in both sidesism, to talk about, like, for instance, the infamous 1920 massacre in florida that actually was described by many as one of the most single bloody days in American History for this type of massacre against black people. The guidelines say that teachers must also teach acts of violence in massacres like this against black people or what acts of violence black people may have committed in that massacre. A massacre against black people in florida because a black man tried to vote. This would be akin to saying if you are in warsaw, you must teach not only how the nazis massacred the jews, but if the jews did anything in the warsaw ghetto upriing to try to defend themselves against the nazi massacre, you must teach those acts of violence against Nazi Stormtroopers as well. Its just ggrotesque. Its so grotesque and obscene. Rev, its just unthinkable that this is happening in 2023, but this is ron desantis florida and could be ron desantis america. It is absolutely ron desantis florida, and when we look at that he is the most the second most popular candidate or as according to the polls, you know, hes a distance from trump, so you charge its trump or desantis whos brought about this in this country at this time. Those of us that want to rise above that have to really push back like the Vice President s visit and stand together. I mean, you and i came from different political perspectives, but stand together. Thats why Martin Luther king iii and i have invited you to be our guest In Washington for the march on washington commemorating on august 26th to show that there are people that will stand together and Tell The Truth about what happened in the country so we can heal. You cant bring the country together unless we are honest about what happened. Yes, tell both sides, but tell both sides in a real way. Dont try to equate things that are not equal and not fair. You know, joe, one of the things that i was saying to someone last night when i got the call the Vice President was going. Its very personal to many of us. In 2007, a new york paper, the New York Daily News did a whole tracing of my background and found out my family was owned by alexander sharpton. Thats who my greatgrandfather was owned by. I visited the plantation my greatgrandfather worked at. It never occurred to me until that day, every time i write my name or hear my name, im saying the name of the owners of my greatgrandfather. Thats not our name. We dont know our name. Thats the Property Name of us. Thats how personal it is. So to think that my grandson or whomever in my family in florida could learn this benefitted us, that we didnt even know our names, we didnt know our history, and was made to work with no wages and act like there was some benefit to that, its a personal slap in the face of all americans, and we all ought to resist it and stand together like you and i have, joe. Coming up, after a week of court action from new york to d. C. , to florida and more, one of our next guests argues americas new political reality in short, is donald trump fulltime defendant. Susan glosser joins us with her new piece for the new yorker, ahead on morning joe. Ing joe. Subway refreshed everything. And now, theyre slicing their meats fresh. 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Featuring fresh Artisan Bread piled high with tender roast beef, smothered with melty provolone cheese, just enough Chipotle Mayo and served with hot au jus for dipping. Try the roast beef or pastrami french dips today. Only at togos. Christopher nolan highly anticipated film oppemheimer premieres today. Ahead of the opening and before the actors strike began, joe sat down with nolan and oppemheimer star Cillian Murphy to discuss. I want to ask you about the return of the summer blockbuster. We talked about back to the future. Ghostbusters. Empire strikes back. Weve really moved away from that. I got a sense yesterday for the first time that this is a movie thats really going to draw people back, and this is like the return of the summer blockbuster, isnt it . I think theres always a wonderful place in the culture for the big screen. For oppemheimer i chose to shoot large film, imax film, and we wanted to put that up on the biggest screen possible and bring people together and have them go through this mans extraordinary experiences, the crazy paradoxes, the great drama he found himself at the center of. You can really give the audience a feeling of what its like to be present in the experience of what it must it have been like to see and hear and feel the unleashing of Nuclear Power for the first time. But the sound track also played such a central role in this movie, especially toward that blast. Its phenomenal. I think, you know, chris as always used the music so extraordinarily in his movies and south, you know . And i think this for me, this movie takes it to another level. Ludwig did the score, and his wife serena is a violinist, and pretty soon these incredible sounds, they would take things. They would do sort of horror movielike clusters, and then coming together in harmony. Its always a thrill, and i see one of christophers movies. You know youre in there, but theres been this incredible reign. Youve taken the lead. Yeah. And not just the lead not just any lead role, but in one of the most defining figures really of our time. It was an absolute gift, and i didnt expect it, like, i know the way chris works, and i know what he expects. I know the level of excellence he expects and the kind of rigor he demands and the prep he demands. Theres so much information out there, so you have to choose carefully about what you absorb. There were so many elements to it, you know, the physicality, the voice, the kind of iconography about the way he walked, the pipe, and there were just details over that period, and it was really rewarding. Talking about the community. I mean, you guys all work together. Emily blunt said it was like summer camp. Maybe for her. I was going to say, maybe for her, but she said everybody came together and ate at the end of the day. We had a few margaritas. In terms of the ensemble of actors, for me every single day was a gift. Working with emily who ive worked with before, so i think that really helped give the history to to, you know, oppemheimer. It was quite a coincidence, this biography, Walter Isaacson wrote the einstein biography in 2007, and of course, the two connect throughout the movie. The thing about walters biography of einstein that is h wasnt the greatest mathematician. He wasnt the greatest guy in the lab, but he visualized things like the theory of relatively. I collaborated with kip thorn, the Nobel Prize Winning physicists. One of the things that kip taught me is that physics is not all about math. Its also about intuition. The intuition of physicists is key to oppenheimer because its about relatability. Thats an important part of the breakthroughs that have changed the world. Here we have this guy whos brilliant, and yet he needs his wife to tell him get in there, keep fighting. Seems at times his head was in the clouds. His wife kept saying, fight, fight, fight. Oppenheimer had that blind spot. He was an idealist and it may have caught up to him politically. In terms of oppenheimer leading the Manhattan Project, he wasnt the obvious choice. They called him the great synthesizer because there was many things he could do and he could put a lot together. But he wasnt the natural first choice. When they gave him the role, he was extraordinary. Kitty saw that in him as well. Thats why she really pushed him. They sustained that relationship that they really needed each other. From the outside it would appear entirely dysfunctional. Its a really morally complex film where as the protagonist gets closer to goal, its like chuck yeager breaks the speed of sound. To get closer you sort of have this sick feeling in your stomach because you know its about to happen, but theres that great line with oppenheimer and his friend where his friend says can we trust ourselves with this. I dont know if we can be trusted, but i know that he cant. The key thing when you study the history of the Manhattan Project and where that went, as you start to look at the genesis of the project, there are a few surprising things that become apparent, the first being that the germans split the atom prior to world war ii. So theres a race that starts as it becomes apparent whats going to happen with the nazis quest for world domination. They also have the best physicists in the world. They had to do this and they had to do it before the nazis did it. You want desperately for them to succeed and yet that success is so doubleedged and complex. Can you talk about the timeline of this movie . We had to shoot relatively quickly. What we figured out early on is the energy of this story all comes from the performances. So we sort of went back to an earier period in our careers where theres no monitor, no playback, no fussing around. We really put our actors into the scene and just did it. When i walk down the set, it just hits you, you know, the reality. They threw this town up in the middle of the desert out of nowhere because thats where he felt romantically attached to this place. Its always the case with chriss films. The actor experiences the world as the character would, and it brings something to the performance. And oppenheimer was a brilliant, brilliant scientist and yet he was so disconnected with what was going on right after that time, because right after the war, suddenly the attention does turn to the soviets. I think he was after trinity and what happened in japan, he was one of the most recognizable people in the world. Then slowly he had to reposition himself afterwards and figure out where he stood about it all. Its a very unusual journey to take for the actor sort of morally. It was really interesting to play. Probably its much more human because none of us are clear cut and definitive in what we believe to be right all of the time. That was joes conversation with oppenheimers Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy. In our next hour, see joes exclusive sitdown with Robert Downey jr. Who plays oppenheimers nemesis louis straws. And watch the documentary to end all war at 10 00 p. M. Eastern on msnbc and streaming right now on peacock. Well be right back with much more morning joe. L be right b more morning joe. Tired muscles and joints were keeping me from my family. Now i can be myself again. Blueemu supports healthy muscles and joints. Blueemu, it works fast, and you wont stink. I need it cool at night. You trying to ice me out of the bed . Baby, only on game nights. 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Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Talk to your asthma specialist to see if oncemonthly nucala may be right for you. And learn about savings at nucala. Com theres more to your life than asthma. Find your nunormal with nucala. I left my heart in San Francisco high on a hill it called to me it is 6 00 a. M. In San Francisco. Welcome back to the fourth hour of morning joe. We begin with some sad breaking news. Singer and music icon tony bennett has died. Thats according to a statement from his publicist provided to nbc news. Bennett often said his lifelong ambition was to create a hit catalog rather than hit records. He released more than 70 albums, bringing him 19 competitive grammys, all but two after he reached his 60s and enjoyed deep and lasting affection from fans and fellow artists. Tony bennett sang with lady gaga, billy joel, frank sinatra, among many others throughout his career. Back in 2016, bennett was diagnosed with alzheimers disease. At this moment, there is no specific cause for his death. Tony bennett was 96 years old, just two weeks short of his birthday. Lets bring in bestselling author curt anderson. Curt, youve interviewed tony bennett, talked to him. What an extraordinary iconic figure and an iconic figure whose reach moved across generation after generation after generation. Yeah. He was a big star from the old days when i was a toddler, right . I remember listening to his music with my mom in the kitchen when she was making me sandwiches at age 3, 4, 5. So here he is 60some years later still making records and having this whole new career really that began when he was 70. He did records with cindy lapper and lady gaga and billy joel and others. Unlike some of the other not flashes in the pan, but people came and went in the 50s and 60s of his generation, he stuck around, because he was a lovely singer and all of that. But in my experience, spending an hour with him once talking to him, he was just a lovely human being, which is hard to fake. Im certain that people loved working with him when they rediscovered him in his last three decades of life, because he was just such a mensch. He had this whole philanthropic side of arts, funding it. He lived a great, long life. Of people who deserve to live great, long lives, he was one of them. His unbelievable catalog of songs and his unbelievable voice, this is about a story about the human brain and love, and in his final years there was this incredible set of moments where tony bennett couldnt remember a lot but he could remember his songs and the music. It says a lot about the human spirit. It says a lot about the human spirit. It also says so much about the extraordinary power of music. My mother, who had a masters in music and played music her entire life, suffered from dementia. Even when she forgot peoples names, she would sit down at the piano and could play misty, a song that i grew up hearing being played in the living room. And kurt, when you talk about tony bennett to somebody that may be a little younger, theyll all talk about what he did with lady gaga at a time when he couldnt remember a lot of names, but he could remember his classics, he could remember the hits. And he remembered her name on stage. [ laughter ] and he remembers her name on stage. Again, an extraordinary story about an extraordinary man, but also, my god, the power of music shone through. It really does. He also never had these dark areas of his biography that the sinatras of the world and all these people of his generation had inevitably, because theyre human. He sang beautifully and lived beautifully, it seems to me. Tony bennett, again, iconic singer songwriter dead at the age of 96 after an incredible career, an incredible life. Again, just hearing his voice brings tears to my eyes, because he broke through so many barriers in terms of not just his music, but in terms of being a man in his 80s and 90s as a performer having some of his greatest moments on stage, being so much later in life. He just transcended generations in terms of being able to break through with his music. You talk about music activating the brain, joe, and i was there with you with your mom when she would be able to come really back through music. I think, again, it is music that triggers the brain, but what is music . Its love. Thats what tony bennett embodied, joy and love. Every video that you see of him performing, you see love coming through his words and his songs and through his music. No doubt about it. Well, obviously well be following this throughout the day on msnbc. Lets now turn to the latest news. All right. Well start with politics and grand jurors In Washington hearing new testimony from a former white house aide in the special counsels investigation into the 2020 election. It comes as former President Trump learned this week he is a target of that probe. Nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent Garrett Haake has the latest. Reporter donald trump overnight hammering away at the special counsel he believes will soon indict him for a second time. Thats called election interference and its called weaponization of the justice system. Reporter according to two attorneys with direct knowledge of the letter, it outlines three broad categories of potential charges including conspiracy to defraud the u. S. , deprivation of rights and tampering with a witness, and offers mr. Trump four days to come to washington and testify. But those four days have now passed, the former president remaining at his new jersey golf club, where he hosted a movie screening thursday. Its a big and vicious witch hunt. The real victim isnt me. The real victim is now. Reporter In Washington, the special counsel investigation continuing thursday, with prosecutors spending hours behind closed doors with former Trump White House aide will russell in his third appearance before the grand jury. Russell still works for trumps reelection campaign. While on capitol hill mr. Trumps congressional allies pushed for a symbolic vote exsponge his two impeachments. Its writing a wrong. Its erasing these wrongs. Yeah. Good luck with it. Nbcs Garrett Haake reporting. And jim, lets be very clear. When donald trump goes im not the victim, youre the victim, a victim of january 6th, a victim of all the things donald trump spun up and the hatred that he spewed out. The victims were those cops that got bludgeoned nearly to death and several took their own lives. Several will never be the same again. There are also other people that got beaten up and who ran for their lives. My gosh, yes, even Kevin Mccarthy, who was scared to death, so scared that he was calling, screaming at trump and swearing at him to call off his mob, his angry mob. And now, yes, some of the victims are the people who were suckers. They were Donald Trumps suckers. I always say its like jim and Tammy Faye Baker and the ptl club suckering my grandma and other people to be part of their scam. These people were suckers too, but unfortunately, it wasnt just their Social Security checks donald trump was taking from them. It was their liberty, because they told the judge as they were about to be sentenced to jail they were only doing what donald trump told them to do. Lets be very clear here. Donald trump, not the victim. The people that hes speaking to, not the victim. The victims were the cops that got beaten with american flags and those people who lost their freedom because of donald trump. You know, it seems like in a time of disinformation and when trump lives in his own reality, its hard to see any kind of accountability. Youre right when you see the people that rioted that day, a lot of them sadly thought they were doing the right thing. They really thought they were defending the country, because the president of the United States told them. Theyve been held accountable. Now you see finally at the root of the big lie, that in a matter of days hes going to be held accountable too. We have a staff writer at the new yorker. Your new piece is entitled finally, the trump case weve been waiting for. You write, this convergence of campaign and courtroom is a toxic mix of unprecedented in the american experiment. The prospect of trump returning to the white house is an existential one for american democracy, a political test from which there is no escaping. I think, joe, thats one of the reasons why democrats or republicans even who love this country are concerned, its that the normalization of so many things by donald trump, it is a potential that he could win. There is a possibility. This is the case at the end of the day that so many people have been waiting for, because they want donald trump held accountable for the horrors of january 6th. Well, thats right. This has also been unprecedented already to have a former president of the United States as a criminal defendant, but theres a sense that some of those cases, you know, the hush money case in new york, for example, even the classified documents case brought by federal prosecutors, those are very significant criminal issues, but they dont get at the very heart of Donald Trumps offense against the constitutional system in the way that this perspective new indictment does. Of course, theres also the issue of Donald Trumps victims, the chumps who went along with his call to storm the capitol, theyve been convicted, more than a thousand of them. Yet, no one has been charged who essentially incited and organized and pushed this attempt to overturn the 2020 election. It does get to the heart of the matter, but and there is a big but you look at the calendar. The calendar is really freaking me out. Theres no possible way this is going to be resolved before the primaries are well under way. I think thats a disaster for democracy. Think about how unfair this is. We always talked about jen palmieri on what happened on september 15th, 2008, when wall street banks, greed and schemes destroyed millions and millions of peoples lives, their savings accounts, everything, bankruptcy, just completely destroyed so Many Americans. And yet the biggest, most powerful bankers, the people that were plotting and scheming on how to put together credit default swaps so they could keep lying to consumers and keep making money, none of them got sent to jail. Here we are with donald trump, same exact thing. Working class people bought into this scheme that brutally went up and attacked Police Officers because they believed their country was being taken away, because donald trump lied to them. They are the ones who are sitting in jail, over a thousand of them charged, and yet the guy at the top of this scheme, the guy at the top of this lie is sitting fat, dumb and pretty in maralago flying around the world on his 757 jets. The things are really connected, because i think it was that so Many Americans felt no one was held accountable in 2008 that helped give rise to a lot of the americans who backed President Trump felt. Susan, youre freaked out that that case wont get resolved before the election. You think that him being held accountable will matter, that it will actually break through. You think that that means the people who have doubted, who have believed the big lie, who have doubted those of us who call them on it, you think this will be the thing that makes people finally see what hes been saying is a dangerous lie . You know, weve been waiting and waiting. Ive seen so many moments at which people were convinced, whether it was the courts or Something Else would come and solve the donald trump problem in our politics. Now it seems to me were headed for a real collision course in which you have the prospect of millions of Republican Voters voting for donald trump. Not only is he the frontrunner, but Ron Desantiss campaign is more or less collapsing. Trump could run up millions of votes before the trial has even begun in this case or certainly before it is resolved in way way or the other. Then you have a situation in which the nominee is still actively a defendant in a serious criminal case. Its a game of the clock and the calendar. I think that rather than resolving the issue one way or the other, as perhaps it might have done had they produced this indictment before 2 1 2 years after the events in question, now you have a situation where it could actually create a bigger crisis in the country when the politics and the law collide like this. Susan glasser, thank you very much. Her new piece is online for the new yorker. Kurt, you are the writer of the new series command z, where a trio of time travelers from the future are given the unenviable task of returning to the year where america crossed its point of no return, 2023. This is historic, literally. Well be dipping into the past to make some critical fixes there that will, in turn, make the future, our present right now, more livable, fair and decent for everyone. Whoa. Were going back to the moment theyve determined was americas last Inflection Point, to 2023. You put a wormhole in a washing machine . Its a cosmic string generator, disguised as a highend dryer. It requires ingesting a synthetic substance related to psychedelics and playing the theme song from the movie mahogany. Sounds crazy, right . But it works. I have so many questions. It does sound crazy. Its all to make a very important point. Ive got to ask you before we get into the details of this, you have Steven Soderberg, one of the great directors of our time, teaming up with you on this. You guys have a really cutting edge way of distributing it, to get out an extraordinarily important message. Why dont you, first of all, talk about the uniqueness of all of this . Thanks. By the way, steven red the book that inspired this at the same time you did, joe, and very nicely put me on the show. He said what can we do . These big issues of Climate Change and wall street power and political corruption and all thats wrong, how can we transmit this into a story and a piece of entertainment that will be accessible and fun to all kinds of people . So we ended up doing that and creating this kooky series. He decis really committed to t independent idea of making things and getting them out. So he decided instead of putting it on where his shows tended to be, on max or any of the other big corporate streamers, that given the message were putting out here in command z that it made sense to put it out himself. It is available at commandzseries. Com, which is a platform created by Steven Soderberg. All of the proceeds are going to great charities. Thats how hes doing it, which seems at this moment of strikes in the entertainment business, with the writers guild, including myself, on strike and sagaftra on strike and these big streamers who have dominated the online Motion Picture and Television Business for the last decade, no, we dont have to do it that way. We can just put it out there, and if it sounds interesting to you, you can go stream it and pay 8 and there you are. When the internet started, there was all this talk of exactly this kind of thing happening. Thats what it enabled. But then these big giants got into the business and suddenly overspent, and that was the place to go. They dominated it, and now theyre having their correction moment. So i love that were out there just as this independent production being absolutely independent in the way it gets out there as well. You know, kurt, what i think is so great about this, it looks really kooky and strange. I tell you, it works, because if you look at so many movies that have tried to tackle Climate Change, god, most of them are so plodding and selfrighteous, so overblown artistically. I think hamfisted is the best way to say it. Hit them in the funny bone, thats where they expect it the least. Mika and i were talking about this yesterday. Again, i think everybody is talking about this now. Thats exactly right. Were at an Inflection Point right now in 2023. This is the Inflection Point. Americans either wake up now or they will never wake up. Ive got to say, kurt, ive never an an alarmist on this stuff, like florida is going to be underwater in 15 years and stuff like that. I will tell you, though, this is all moving exponentially. The danger is going so quickly. At some point, were going to get past the point of no return. Actually, i know its satire and fun, but i think this series hits it right. 2023 is the Inflection Point. Well, i share that absolutely with you. And we make a joke out of that as part of our time travel premise that, in fact, july 17th, this monday which is in the show the day that the wormhole in this time travel fable exists. We are at exactly that Inflection Point. Im with you. I have been an antialarmist maybe too long. I think in climate and all the other ways that we have messed up our economy unnecessarily for the benefit of the rich are really at a tipping point. We spen a lot of time talking about the threats to democracy, which is also a subject of this show, but these material threats of Global Warming are not going to get better unless we make them better. Thats the thing. This sense that we have that nothing is fixable, well, it is. I think anyway you can tell these stories to nudge people along and get them engaged, it doesnt have to be all, oh my god, you know, its the end of the world homework. That has its place and should be here. As you say, do it with humor and satire and have the nutrition embedded within that form. Thats the way steven and i decided would be a good way to do it. It worked extremely well. Kurt anderson, thank you. I love it. Kurts new series directed by Steven Soderberg is available for purchase exclusively on commandzseries. Com. All proceeds will be donated to childrens aid and Boston University center for antiracist research. There is much more ahead on morning joe. Before we go to break, though, we want to bring our conversation to a close where it began this hour, on the life and legacy of grammy Award Winning singer tony bennett, who has died at the age of 96. Nbcs Morgan Radford takes a look back at his iconic career. Oh, the good Life Reporter tony bennett, the great singer of the Great American songbook. The way you look tonight reporter his music defining a generation with tuxedos, big bands and smokey jazz joints. But before he was tony, he was Anthony Dominick benedetto, born and raised by a singer mother in queens, new york. They said we love the way you paint and we love the way you sing. Thats who i am. Reporter he dropped out of high school to support his family at age 16, and was later drafted by the army, serving in world war ii. I decided when i get out of the army, im going to go into show business. Reporter he got his big break when bob hope saw him singing in a new York City Club and hired him with one suggestion, that he change his name to tony bennett. The best is yet to come and, baby, wont that be fine reporter a star was born. San francisco reporter in 1962, bennett topped the charts with his hit i left my heart in San Francisco, winning his first of many grammys. As his career skyrocketed, he also became an activist in the civil rights movement, while developing his other love, painting. When you get lucky enough to nail one thing that really looks good, its really a quiet celebration. Reporter but there was a dark underbelly to his success. Bennett developed a drug addiction in the 70s and took a tenyear hiatus. He made a comeback in the 80s. Bennett married three times and raised four children. In 2007, he tied the knot with susan crow after the two dated for decades. Meanwhile, his popularity continued to surge in the 2000s when he recorded duets with paul mccartney, elton john and lady gaga. My whole life i love what i do. Reporter in 2021, the sing i revealed his alzheimers diagnosis. A final farewell, but a lasting legacy. What i life, im in love reporter morgan ratford, nbc news new york. News new york. First, theres an idea and you do something about it for the first time with godaddy. Then before you know it, it is a life changer. you make your first sale. Small business first. Never stopped coming. we did it and you have a partner that always puts you first way. no way start today at godaddy. Com. The first time you made a sale online with godaddy was also the first time you heard of a town named dinosaur, colorado. We just got an order from dinosaur, colorado. Start an easy to build, powerful website for free with a partner that always puts you first. Start for free at godaddy. Com from prom dresses to workouts with a partner that always puts you first. And new adventures you hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. Now as youre thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. We have a pretty significant update in the classified documents trial against former President Trump. Judge aileen cannon just filed a document announcing a date for the trial for the maralago documents case. That date is that the case will begin may 20th, 2024, in ft. Pierce, florida. There are also Numerous Court dates prior to trial listed for various motions. So a lot will be happening before may 20th, 2024. There was a lot of discussion about what the date should be or could be. Both sides wanted something completely different, joe. Well, they did. Judge cannon, of course, remember, she had been roundly criticized and rebuked by the conservative 11th circuit for some past decisions. So there was some skepticism of her ability to handle this case in a fair and impartial way. I tell you, i think most attorneys i spoke with thought that the feds date at the end of december was probably too soon, because of how complex the case was and thought that Donald Trumps attorneys suggestion that it be held after the election in 2025, also unrealistic. Im an attorney, but i have no grasp of just how complex a case like this could be. When you look at the mountains of evidence that the federal government has against donald trump, you look at the files. You look at the fact were talking about classified documents. Its an extraordinarily complicated case. I must say may 20th, 2024, seems very reasonable. It seems like a reasonable date. It seems like its far enough in the future to be fair to the defendant. After the primaries. But if youre a judge, youre not looking at that. I think this date makes an awful lot of sense. So we will see as we move forward. Obviously theres going to be a lot of coverage between now and then, a lot of court dates too. Politico broke the news this week that the House Foreign Affairs chair Michael Mccall a has asked ken buck to be the lead negotiator for as many as four authorizations for the use of military force. Congressman buck joins us now. He served on the house judiciary and the Foreign Affairs committee. Every time this comes up, you know, there are some issues that come up and you know where democrats are going to be and you know where republicans are going to be. On my time in the Armed Services committee when this issue would come up about authorizations for war powers, everything got scrambled. Sometimes you would have some really leftwing democrats, really rightwing republicans agreeing together for different reasons. But in this case it does really just make common sense for everybody that we cant keep going back to these old authorizations for war and that we have to sort through it. So how are you doing that . Thanks, joe. I think this is really a constitutional issue. It is the job of congress to declare war and to make sure we authorize the use of military force. I have reached out to the various parts of the Republican Party. There are democrats who are working on it with us. We will move forward. I really think this is an issue where we could get 350 votes. Now, there will be some parts of this that are going to be tricky and basically that involves the reauthorization making sure that we are giving President Biden the ability to move forward with the military force, but its in the specific way and it should have a sunset on it so it isnt a blank check that we are giving future president s. At some point, this is really an article one question. Do we believe that the power of war rests with congress or not . At the end of the day, its a constitutional question. It is. Thats really where the rub has been in the past. The executive branch wants to maintain as much of this power as possible. The Congressional Branch wants to make sure were doing our job. But the really important thing to me, joe, is when Congress Says we are giving you the authority to engage in this military action, it binds congress, at least on a moral level, to make sure that we fund appropriately and make sure that our members in Armed Services are protected the very best that we can. Were giving them the equipment, training and a very specific mission. This lines up with the powell doctrine, where when you have americans that are sent off to war, we know why theyre being sent off to war. Its very specific. We understand what goals need to be achieved before they come back home. Also, as colin powell said from what he learned from vietnam, you have to have the support of the American People before you go off to war. Again, thats whats so important about this, is congress, obviously, closest to the people, congress should be the ones authorizing the wars. I think most americans have no idea that were still operating under authorization of military force from 20 years ago. I know when i worked for President Obama this was an issue where if we had to take military action in iraq, it was a lot of democrats that were concerned about congress not stepping up to authorize this itself. Why do you think its taken 20 years to get to this point . And is this a shared problem between congress and president s not wanting to act, congress not wanting to own the responsibility . Why are we in this situation where 20 years later were still operating under these old ideas . I give chairman mccall credit for deciding this is the time weve got to do it. We have military forces around the world, but the time we are using the thoughtful process we should be using, i think is now. The reason we havent done it before is because if a republican president stood up and said, i want to go into this area, republicans would sport him. Democrat president wanted to do it, democrats would support it. It was more of a partisanship before. Right now theres somewhat of a lull. Before anything heats up, its time to give thought to this. Its a great idea. Chairman mccall has been a forceful advocate for freedom in ukraine and pushing back against russian aggression. Im curious. Could you give us some insight . We talked about the spring offensive. Right now it seems to hit a roadblock. What can you tell us thats not classified about the state of the war right now, and what are some of the things that you think the United States should be doing moving forward to ultimately bring this to a peaceful settlement . Joe, the answer to your second question is everything. I think america has an obligation to our nato allies. Nato allies certainly have an obligation to ukraine also. But this is a strategic part of the world and an area that, if we had allowed russia to continue through ukraine, we would be in a much worse situation. I think whatever weapons they need, whatever support we can give them, other than american boots on the ground, i think is necessary to make sure ukraine is successful. I dont know how to define success. I dont know whether its a pre2014 border or a post2014 border, but we need to make sure that ukraine makes that decision, that ukraine has the ability to do the kinds of things they need to do militarily. Russia has set up a very Strong Defense line. Thats really why this recent initiative has not gone as well as ukraine had hoped. There are weapons we can give them. We should not be slow walking these weapons. Weve got to do this in a time frame that makes sense. Im saying this personally. Thank you, congressman, for supporting the ukrainian people. Thank you for supporting freedom in the west and pushing back against russian aggression. It means so much, not just for the people of ukraine, but for the people of poland, estonia, lithuania, latvia, all across central and eastern europe. We thank you. Thank you. All right. Coming up, my conversation with another member of the allstar cast from oppenheimer. Robert downey jr. Plays oppenheimers nemesis. Morning joe is coming right back. Morning joe is coming right back hi, my names steve. I lost 138 pounds on golo and i kept it off. So with other diets, you just feel like youre muscling your way through it. The reason why i like golo is plain and simple, it was easy. I didnt have to grit my teeth and do a diet. Golos a lifestyle change and you make the change and it stays off. Golos changed my life in so many ways. I sleep better, i eat better. Took my shirt off for the first time in 25 years. Its golo. Its all golo. Its smarter, its better, it will change your life forever. Voltaren. The joy of movement. Welcome back. All this week we have brought you joes interviews with the allstar cast of the new summer blockbuster oppenheimer, which hit theaters today. Here now is his conversation with Robert Downey, jr. , recorded before the actors union went on strike, in which he discusses his portrayal of louis straws, oppenheimers reallife nemesis. So i walk into the screening a couple of weeks ago. A guy says to me, you know this movie is three hours . I said, you know what else is three hours . End game. We the compare threehour movies. So you get to the end of this, and its one of the most emotionally complex movies ive ever seen, especially in a summer blockbuster format. Yeah. Its funny. I mean, obviously its entertainment. Its a big summer film. But its a little different from the norm in that i think it activates these constellations of existential dialogue. I mean, were still living in the atomic age, for better or worse. This movie is more timely now than at any point since the cold war with current events. Yeah. And, again, chris was drawn to it. Like with great directors, it becomes kind of an obsession. Then he was casting it. So you can never predict when something youre going to be involved in is culturally relevant. The russians have a bomb. Were supposed to be years ahead of them. What were you guys doing in los alamos . The story requires all of these characters, some of which are obviously household names like cillian playing oppenheimer. Then theres the lesserknown folks i found really compelling like getting to play louis strauss, who i think was a really fascinating american character. When i left the theater, i went home and i actually started looking into it. I go, was this really the only guy to get rejected by the senate . He by the senate from like the 20s, he was, he was a very complicated character, and of course he got some things terribly wrong. He also got some things right, didnt he . Couldnt agree more. Thats the great thing about this story is none of the characters are entirely heroic or antagonistic, and so i think all the more its like, you know, forget this reaching across the aisle. Were all in the aisle, and weve all always been in the aisle as americans, and that time and i study it too, im fascinated by that midcentury kind of, you know, the mutually assured destruction era that i grew up in, the rule book, the cover and all that. To think about it, we were raised in this time of immense potential threat at all times. So that was the undercurrent of our generation. Are we back there now . Are we less safe now than we were during the height of the cold war . Some would say yes. And so much of strausss action in that movie is driven by resentment, wasnt it . Yeah. Resentment of oppenheimer. I think resentment underneath it perhaps the fact that more people arent familiar with who he is nowadays i dont think would sit well with him. I think he deserves to be acknowledged for his Great Service to this country, but i believe i just love the idea that a rivalry or a feeling blown off by someone you admire could lead to the kind of actions that occur. Its the idea too, you know, that an adolescent experience about something that has global ramifications is we all knead to grow up and take a little more responsibility for the fact that its not about us. Its about this, you know, this planet we share and how fragile it is. Forget the great history lesson. Its also just an amazing cinematic experience, and yet, i think its talking about all these things that we can just subtly relate to in just our daytoday lives. Ive never had an experience like i had here where the hero that youre following and the usa, come on, beat the germans, youre moving there, and its the strangest thing. Again, unlike the right stuff or a lot of these other movies, the closer you get to the moment of achievement sort of the sicker, you know, you get the sickening feeling. Whether youre a real student of that period in history like i would say we are, or if youre just someone whos saying, yeah, i know that that occurred and now thrill me by retelling that story in a way thats relevant, you know. When i first saw it, even just from the first ten seconds of the film because he really knows chris nolan is a purist. Chris nolan is really in a class by himself for his love of the magic of cinema and how to bring that to an audience and so, you know, a lot of people are saying its his greatest film. And that is saying something. Thats saying a lot. Christopher nolan, talk about how meticulous he was on details. I mean, i heard down to the coat and the tie that you were wearing. Yeah. I mean, everything. Is he like that as a director as far as your movements and what you do, where you go . Its a funny thing because, you know, weve been around this American Culture for some time. Were used to the people who are very control oriented and sometimes the experience isnt great, but even though he was sure that i should be wearing this yellow tie, he was also incredibly free in his lack of judgment about many of the other details. He said just trust that all the details are going to be accurate and then were going to go for something truthful. So for me it was an unforgettable kind of a once in a lifetime thing. Wow, oppenheimer is in theaters today. Finally everyone gets to see it. An extraordinary movie, if you can see it in imax, see it in imax. That brings us to Donny Deutsch. Hes starting with brand up barbinheimer. First of all, joe, great job with all the oppenheimer folks. Really riveting stuff. Oh, yeah. The interesting thing is theres been a complete pop for double feature buying for the combination of both oppenheimer and barbie opening today, and amc theatres said theyve sold 20,000 tickets people buying for both movies. Its just its the first time this has kind of ever happened that people are double featuring. You couldnt have any more extreme type movies. Two major blockbusters, and the double feature is back, and youre seeing it in theaters. Lets talk about the flash. Brand up or brand down . Huge disaster. This has been the greatest superhero flop of any movie ever. Its done 99 million. Just to give you an idea it cost 200 million to make, 150 million to market. Theyre going to lose 200 million. It dropped off 72 in the second week. No movie has ever been as big a disaster as this. This is the superhero flop of all time. Oh, my lord, what about burger king . This ones for mika. Its burger king brazil. I dont know if you want to go to rio, but the bottom line is this is that in celebration of barbie, theyre coming up with what theyre calling their pink cheeseburger, which is a cheeseburger with bacon bits on top, special pink sauce thats got a smoky flavor. You get a frosty with it that has i cant even look at it. That has pink nesquik in it, and a doughnut with pink frosting. That looks pretty good, no . Thats disgusting. What is store insurance and why is it brand down . You know, this is joe, i know how you feel about the yankees and the pinstripes. The pinstripes are kind of iconic. You would never touch we see a lot of teams with uniforms that have the patches on them. The yankeess have held off until now. A Little Known Company called star insurance is paying 25 million to have their patch on the yankees pinstripe. It will be debuted tonight. Nothing is sacred anymore. The pinstripes will have a patch on it. Its not even like some huge company, its star insurance. If you sell out, man, make sure its to nike. Make sure its to meta or something. All right. Come on, im for it, good for star insurance. Good on them. Number five, sleep divorce. What is that . 33 of all adults say that at some point they sleep in separate bedrooms all the time or some of the time because somebodys stealing the covers or somebody is snoring. 43 of millennials, 22 of boomers. Thats really a startling number. A lot of people realizing a happy marriage is not necessarily not making love but sleeping in separate bedrooms. Okay. On that note, Donny Deutsch, thank you. Were not going to ask you anything personal about that. These are just statements of whats happening in the world. You dont have to ask us anything separate, but we dont sleep in separate bedrooms. Oh, my god. That does it for us this morning. Thank you, donny. Goodbye. Bye, donny. Now as we close this week, we remember the late music icon tony bennett, and we want to leave you with words from nancy pelosi recognizing bennett back in 2019 during a joint session of congress. I want to acknowledge tony bennett, who is here with us today as well. Thank you, tony. [ applause ] he helped he helped he helped free the concentration camps during the time of world war ii. He marched with Martin Luther king. He is a true american patriot. Thank you, tony. warehouse ambience introducing togos new french dip sandwiches featuring fresh Artisan Bread piled high with tender roast beef, smothered with melty provolone cheese and served with hot au jus for dipping. Try the roast beef or pastrami french dips today only at togos right now on ana cabrera reports, several breaking news stories as we come on the air. An icon has passed away. Tony bennett has died at the age of 96. Well have a look back at his life and incredible legacy. More breaking news, a judge setting the date for Donald Trumps classified documents trial, may 20th, 2024. Why that date, and what it could mean. Plus, the expanding case against the suspected gilgo beach serial killer, the murders in other states that now have law enforcements attention. And later, its the moment weve all been