Ephemeral legislation. Yeah. That went from being the word of the day a couple days ago, to now i think its the word of the week. Ephemeral or malodorous, its one of the two. Its still early. We have a couple hours ahead. Maybe we can find another one. Meanwhile, the Florida Governor is seizing on a potential weakness in trumps third president ial bid. Well show you what he had to say about that, and how he responded to questions about his last name. Is it desantis, is it December Desantis . Did he answer it . He did, and it was unrevealing. Huh. Republicans are still upset with Kevin Mccarthy over the Debt Ceiling Deal. Wah. One calling for a day of reckoning. Are you kidding me . It is a day of reckoning for the extremists, who thought that they were going to be able to hold, not only congress and Kevin Mccarthy and the president hostage, but also hold the United States economy hostage. They werent able to do it. These guys struck a deal, and struck a deal that passed overwhelmingly. Plus, well show you liz cheneys latest comments on a possible president ial bid. It comes ahead of announcements expected next week from Chris Christie and mike pence. Good morning. Welcome to morning joe. It is friday, guys. Can you believe it . Im not sure if i believe it. It is june 2nd. I feel like summer is officially started. Everyone should take a vacation. Along with joe, willie and me, we have the host of Way Too Early, White House Bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. Former aide to the george w. Bush white house and state departments, and whatd we find out yesterday, yale grad. Yeah, yale grad. Colombia grad. Its a shock. I know it is shocking. Not at all, actually. Pulitzer prizewinning columnist and Associate Editor of the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson is with us. Cofounder of axios, mike allen is with us. Good to have you all on board. Mike, get us started. Do it. Good morning on the first friday in june. It is a happy friday. So cute. I love him. Were ready to go now. The Senate Passed the bipartisan Biden Mccarthy Debt Ceiling Bill last night, ensuring the u. S. Will not default on its debt. 6336 with more democrats voting for the deal than republicans. The bill now heads to the president , and then itll be signed into law by President Biden. In response to the bills passage, biden thanked Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell for their work, and also noted, quote, no one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake, this bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the american people. You know, the thing is, the measure of just what a Big Blanking Deal This was those are bidens words. To borrow from joe biden after the Affordable Care act passed, you just go back to a week ago. You look at all of the headlines talking about how we were in crisis, we werent going to get this done. The huffington post, trouble ahead for debt deal. Bbc, Debt Ceiling Crisis looms as talks end with no deal in sight. Most people were predicting this was going to be a massive crisis. The fact that joe biden was able to do what joe biden was able to do once again, and that Kevin Mccarthy basically stared down the extremists in his own caucus. Mmhmm, give him that. Its a really big deal. Columnist David Ignatius has a piece in the Washington Post titled biden is delivering on his most farfetched pledge compromise. David writes, in part, this. The president s Con Genital Centrism is easy to criticize, especially in this era of hard, polarizing views. He is a conciliator, a dealmaker, likes saying yes and has trouble saying no. He is also riskaverse, and he avoid escalation when facing potential catastrophe. Whether it is war with russia or a budget default. One memorable moment in The Budget Drama came when representative chip roy, one of the most fanatical gop die hards, sputtered that deal was a turd sandwich. The majority of republicans decided to eat it. Bidens stavistic embrace of mccarthy, two white, male Irish Catholics cutting a deal in private, is hardly a summit of american politics. My whole soul is in this, bringing america together, biden said at his inauguration. He meant it. This week, he delivered. He not only delivered this week, he has been delivering for quite some time, willie. I mean, you look at i said this, make no mistake, biden crushed the extremes once again and cleared out a space in the middle big enough to drive a truck through. He may have trouble riding a bike or walking across the stage theres that. But the mann knows how to get things done in d. C. Better than any president since reagan. Just a pop culture moment, i went to see Neil Young In Concert A Couple years ago. Somebody dragged me out. I never go out at night to watch concerts. But im a huge neil young fan. Was watching, and people were shouting songs from the balcony, play old man. Neil young just stopped. He was plugging his guitar into his amp. He just stopped, turned around and looked up and he said, ya know, ive done this before. Like, just let me do what im gonna do. The whole place roared. That reminds me of biden. Theres no substitute for experience. This guy has done it before. You look at how he, once again, defied expectations, not only from the haters but from his own party. Its a pretty remarkable record. You look at the Bipartisan Legislation, and anybody who would mock that, willie, please, show me a president in the last 25 years, the last quarter century, thats had more Bipartisan Legislation thats joe biden. And this was his theory of the case, as david got to in that piece when he was running in 2020. Hes been there before. Hes experienced. He knows how to work across the aisle. A lot of people roll their eyes at that, oh, that doesnt really happen anymore. We watched it happen the last couple weeks, particularly the last few days. Give Speaker Mccarthy credit, as well. They got serious when it was time to be serious. Jonathan lemire, it is a stark contrast to donald trump, whose theory of the case was, im an outsider in 2016. Im going to go turn over the tables in washington. Im going to go break a bunch of stuff. Im going to do it the way no one has ever done it to get things done. Now, joe biden is offering that contrast of, okay, you saw how that went for four years. Let me sit here quietly, calmly. Yes, i might be getting up there in years as they acknowledge, but i still know how to get things done in washington. He and the Republican Leadership did it. Yeah, bidens pitch since day one has been bipartisanship and experience, his commitment to trying to work across the aisle, which he successfully did with the Infrastructure Bill and did it again here. He has done things with democrats alone when needed, the Inflation Reduction Act to name one, but he prefers to walk across the aisle, to take the temperature down. And he has enshrined the achievements of his first two years. They werent touched in this deal. Its an important thing the white house says. Also, we should note, the white house sort of ceded the Messaging Space to republicans the last couple weeks that kept the president out of the fray. Democrats said, we should be in there. Were losing the politics of this. It was a deliberate strategy. I got new reporting that goes behind the scenes of that. The white house feels they got a really good deal here. If they were seen gloating or crowing about it, republicans might be less supportive of it and lose votes. They decided to wait. The victory lap will come another day. They feel this is important for the country, and this idea of the president being sort of above the fray, being the calm, steady happened, thats a nice contrast against the hysterical republicans, they say, before 2024. Well, it didnt give republicans a oneonone matchup with biden, and it kept him above the fray which, at the time, it did seem there were moments when perhaps biden could have seemed like he was more in it. Especially, i mean, this really got to the very, very, very end of the ticking time bomb. They got it done, but its incredible, last week, we had a congressional member who was voicing his deep, deep concern that a bill was actually going to pass. That some kind of deal would ever be reached between these two parties. I think that this is definitely a win for biden. It shows that he can create compromise and that theres some competence there. That is what so Many American voters, both sides of the aisle, really want at the end of the day. I mean, gene robinson, you look, im just looking back, just looking back at it. An article back a couple months ago. It said, why biden is getting more bipartisan laws than anyone expected actually, it was from a year ago i was skeptical he could convince republicans to support anything. I was wrong, jonathan says. Jonathan is being, you know i love reading his columns. He is always honest about when hes had blind spots. But most people were saying, biden, come on. This old guy is living in 1974, 1974. There is no such thing as bipartisan deal anymore. But he gets them done, and he gets them done, just like elise and willie said, by keeping quiet. By not going around crowing about, oh, theyre doing this or that. Not insulting them, letting them have their day. They talk about how biden is getting taken advantage of, and then they get the deal done. Its kind of like how pros do it. Yeah. It was very professional. Look, look at that vote in the house. The vote in the house, it was a huge bipartisan majority, more than 300 votes in this package. Did you think youd ever see that happen, given how polarized the politics are right now . I thought that was amazing. The second observation is that i think this negotiation actually started back during the state of the union address. Remember when President Biden sort of jedi mind tricked the republicans into all pledging loudly, they would never touch Social Security and medicare and medicaid . That was all off the table. So he set the terms for this discussion long before it even began. I think at the white house and in biden world, they must be hoping that the republicans and others continue to underestimate him, continue to think that hes, you know, old and dottering and has no idea whats going on, because theyre getting their pockets picked on a regular basis, and hes get things done. So the underestimating that we have been following for years now, i also think is a little bit of a Media Narrative or a problem that the media is confronting. David rothkopf put out a whole thread the other day, talking about bidens presidency and how the media struggles for balance because if you cover it positively, youre somehow doing Something Wrong, when the only thing, it seems, the only criticism that those on the right can find is his age. The counter to that is what we are seeing right now, wisdom, years of experience, years of mistakes, years of living life. Right. Living through hardship. You know, No Matter What you think of him or what side of the aisle you are on, this man is wise, and he is putting it to use and keeping his head down. Right. I just, you know, you even look at the end of the day, he got the deal done. What can you say . Of course he got the deal done. David rothkopf is exactly right. If you go in day in and day out, youre in the media, and all you hear in the media day in and day out is, oh, youre liberal, youre bias, legacy, media, all the stupid stuff they say. Oh, theyre in the tank for biden, this, that or the other. You are, and it makes people twitch, well, maybe we shouldnt say the truth. For instance, that not only has he passed more Bipartisan Legislation than any other president this century, hes also helped with the reconstruction of nato, the flexing of americas muscle around china, whether its in the philippines or in guam or in australia or in japan. I mean, you actually have, for the first time, china back on their heels. Theres a reason theyre not talking to us right now. Theres a reason why theyre being petulant. Its because weve flexed our muscles all around the areas where they were hoping to be aggressive and hoping to move. So youve got that in Foreign Policy. You have nato, which donald trump wanted to tear to pieces, tighter than ever before. This morning, this morning, in helsinki, americas Secretary Of State will be delivering, in a country that has an 800mile border with putins russia, will be delivering a speech on how catastrophic this war has been for Vladimir Putin and russias military. Guess what . Hes doing it from a country thats in nato, russias worst, worst nightmare. This would have never happened under donald trump. Or, dare i say, any other president. Joe biden has figured out how to do that. Can somebody say, oh, biden is doing a great job . No, but i can. Biden is doing a great job. I say that as somebody who is very critical of his withdrawal of troops from afghanistan, somebody who has been very critical of the southern border and the signals he sent earlybo hasnt moved fast enough to take care of the humanitarian crisis. Theres points we can point out that hes made mistakes on, but, taken in total, hes done a pretty damn great job. Its not reflective, of course, in a lot of the polls. Because you know what . Along with passing more legislation than anybody else in the past 20 years, he fell off a bike. Along with pushing back china and expanding the u. S. Military presence around china that actually stops them from being aggressive, even more aggressive, he tripped over a sandbag. I hope hes okay. That looked like it hurt. Hes fine. Its perhaps the bumping of the head when he got off marine one when he got back to the white house that may have hurt even more. But you have all of these distractions, mike allen. You and i have been in washington long enough to know a couple things. Getting things done legislatively and on a Foreign Policy level, something president s havent been able to do this century. Two, a lot in the Mainstream Establishment Media are afraid to say that because the trump right and the right wing are constantly working it. You cant say that. Youre bias. Youre with the biden crime family, this, that. Rothkopf, i think, was right. Yeah, joe, youre exactly right. And you dont have to cover it positively. Cover it clinically, the way axios does. Exactly. Pull back the camera. Take a look. What are we seeing . We have talked about compromise, competence, and this is the wily side of joe biden. Three takeaways. Some Companion Reporting to jonathan lemires point about the white house wanting a deliberate contrast with the republicans. The other thing the white house deliberately did in lying low was to give Kevin Mccarthy the space he needed with his right wing. The view in the white house, im told, was, let them beat their chest. Let them huff and puff. Hes going to do what he needs to do to get the votes he needs to get from his right, which he did. And the president in the end will get that win. Second, people are seeing washington work, and you were talking about the disconnect between what President Biden is accomplishing, where the economy is, and where peoples sentiment is, their view of the country is still very, very bleak. But people want washington to work. We didnt go right up to the cliff. Monday, right, is the date that default was supposed to kick in, the latest date from treasury secretary janet yellen. So for once, Congress Getting something done a few hours before we had to. The third one, joe, that speaks to your point about how much hes done, when you step back and look at the totality of whats been accomplishments in these two years, the chips act, the infrastructure act, a lot of that money is still being spent. Hes going to have a lot to talk about and show as he runs for reelection. Guys, to underline something gene said about the vote total in the house, this bill got 314 vote, cleared the house by nearly 200 votes. We dont see that very often. Within the space of 24 hours after it made it through the house, it got 63 votes to clear that 60vote hurdle in the sen senate. The president will sign it today. Theres a larger point. Theres the view that the inmates run the asylum in washington, and weve seen it has been, but here, the extremists stay where they belong, on the extremes. People came together to get something done at a time where there could have been a catastrophe on the other side of it if cooler heads had not prevailed here. Well, you know, whats the local news thing . If it bleeds, it leads. If it bleeds, it leads. Gene robinson, you know, if somebody screams, it leads. If they go to a mic and Say Something outrageous, if it is mtg or somebody else, it leads. We sat there and listened to these people at the beginning of this Congress Talk over and over again about how they owned Kevin Mccarthy, they owned. They were going to be the people who whatever. You know, talking about biden here. Mccarthy crushed all those people, too. He wont tell them that, but he basically said, were going to do what he wants us to do or were voting him out. Over 300 votes . No, youre not. Willie brought up the other things. Look at the v. A. Bill on the burn pits that extremist were against because biden was for it. The republicans crawled back because they knew it was popular. The china competitive bipartisan bill. The chips act, a bipartisan bill. The Infrastructure Bill, the gun safety bill. I could go on and on, gene. These extremists are getting crushed over and over again. Yeah, i mean, joe biden has always been a centerleft politician, and thats where hes always been. Thats where he is now. You know, this idea in republican circles that hes, you know, practically the son of marx and ingles, you know, he represents delaware, the corporate state. Hes joe biden. He is a centrist democrat, and thats the way he has approached the presidency, and hes had success. With Kevin Mccarthy, when we watch those 15 embarrassing ballots he needed to become speaker, i confess that i did not imagine that he would be able to wrangle his very slim majority as well as he has done thus far. He came through this, and he managed to marginalize those on the extreme, extreme right, and he let them mouth off and say whatever they wanted. But, in the end, he delivered. That surprised me, and i think it surprised a lot of people. He certainly did. Just like biden, he let people shoot their mouth off, attack him, in his own party, attack him, insult him, and he put his head down. For people who havent been on the floor, havent been a part of it, im telling you, when you think a vote is going to be close, expecting 225, 230 votes maybe, you see something go over 300 on the big board, and suddenly, you realize something is afoot. That was a huge win in the house. It was a huge win in the senate. I will say, lets look at the people with experience. Joe biden. Joe biden wasnt freaking out. He did a little gesturing early on, i think, you know, when he was on a foreign trip. I think he said something tough and may have regretted it. He and mccarthy got on a phone call, everything is fine. Biden was, like, he now this was going to get done. And Mitch Mcconnell, what was mcconnell saying all along . Relax, its going to get done. Like, the people who had been around knew they were going to figure out how to get the votes. So President Biden will address the nation at 7 00 eastern about the debt ceiling, about the debt deal, and also you know he will be generate to all those involved on both sides of the aisle that helped get a deal done. Yeah. Joe mentioned President Bidens fall yesterday. The white house says he is doing just fine after he tripped and fell during the air force Academy Graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs yesterday. He was quickly helped up by Secret Service and pointed to something on the stage. The White House Communications staff says the president tripped over a sandbag on the platform. The president returned to his seat on stage, ceremony continued. Afterwards, he shook hands with the graduates and posed for selfies. When asked about the spill later in the day, heres what President Biden had to say. I got sandbagged. Oh, my god. He did the gig. Okay. Donald trump was asked about bidens fall during a fox news town hall meeting. You cant fall, just cant fall, No Matter What. You cant allow it to happen. I better not allow, especially after saying this, i better not allow it to happen with me. You know, in his response, trump acknowledged so interesting. His own concerns about falling after a speech at west point back in 2020, when he was seen walking very carefully down a ramp. He made reference to that, saying, you know, basically, basically, jonathan lemire, was kind of like, its dangerous out there. He said, that serious stuff, its very dangerous out there. You dont want to fall. But bidens fall yesterday im glad hes okay. It looked like a hard fall. Glad he got up. Sandbagged. He was okay with it. Obviously, though, again, biden is talking tonight. Weve been talking about things that actually do matter, the legislation. At the same time, theres some people in the campaign, im sure, this were going, oh, come on. Come on. Yeah. No doubt there. First of all, a rare moment of selfawareness from donald trump there, to acknowledge that he also had some trouble Walking Around, actually at a service graduation. Apparently, those are tough for commanders in chief. Yes, in terms of President Biden, white house says he is fine. It was a hard fall. He tripped over a sandbag that was on stage. He was clearly in pain afterwards. He was ginger as he gingerly sat down afterwards, but he continued throughout the ceremony, got back on air force one. He did bump his head on the marine one as he stepped off the helicopter on the white house lawn. Oh. He seems to be fine. Yes, on a serious note, this is, and youre right, we have spent, correctly, the majority of this block talking about the Debt Ceiling Bill and the accomplishment, but president s do fall. They do. They trip and fall. President obama did a few times. But no president has been 81 years old and ran for reelection while they did so. His age is an issue here. The republicans immediately jumped on this. They blasted it all over social media. The white house was very quick to be defensive. They pride themselves, this white house, on being above the fray. We dont engage on twitter. Yesterday, they were all over twitter because they knew, they know, polls show that americans do have concerns about the president s age. This is going to be a story line. They have to deal with it. But they feel like they have. They feel like voters in 2020 know how old joe biden was, know how old he is now, like the job he is doing, and he seems like he is fine. Gene, he keeps rolling up achievements. You roll up one achievement after another, you can go to the voters and lay that out. Yeah. This does remind me of another president that was constantly mocked and ridiculed for falling, that you and i will remember, gerald ford. Gerald ford, right. That guy, in the words of elvis costello, that guy could not stand up for falling down. Like me, and ill say i do it, too, bumped his head all the time. Whatever he was walking through, it seems like his cranium always found the bottom of a door. Yeah. But, but it was sort of it caught on, and people started talking about it, started looking for it. Yeah. Just like they are now with joe biden. Yeah, they did. I remember ford, ironically, ford was probably one of the certainly one of the better, maybe one of the best athletes ever to be president. Yeah. Yes. You know, he stumbled occasionally. Because of height, you and i both have thick layers of scar tissue on our heads from bumping our heads, right, everywhere. Yeah. Because, you know, door frames are not always made for tall people. You know, again, this is an issue. Age is an issue, of course. If it ends up being biden and trump, were talking, what, three years or Something Like that, not talking about a huge difference. Theyre both two older men who would be running to be president. Were just glad that the president didnt suffer an injury. After all, he rides around on his bike. He fell off his bike once. He knocks around, but i think theyve managed to tamp this one down. Of course, it will be, you know, on fox and other networks. It will be shown again and again and again because thats what they do. Yeah. Okay. Still ahead on morning joe, 2024 white house hopefuls donald trump and ron desantis are sparring over how long they could each serve as president. Well show you its kind of getting ugly. The new back and forth fight between the two. On republican violence, it is so sad to see. A lot going on there. Plus, what former President Trump is saying about reports that special counsel jack smiths office has a recording of him discussing a classified document he kept after leaving the white house, and what he says, it has to to with his poll numbers. Whatd he say, it was a perfect line . Something like that. Ahead, russian missiles strike ukraines capital for the sixth day in a row. Well have the latest on the relentless attacks. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin. Despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. It disrupts my skin with rash. But now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. Rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. Its one pill, once a day. Many taking rinvoq saw clear or almostclear skin while some saw up to 100 clear skin. And, they felt dramatic and fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. Thats rinvoq relief. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. Serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin cancer, death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. People 50 and older with at least one Heart Disease risk factor have higher risks. Dont take if allergic to rinvoq, as serious reactions can occur. Tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. Disrupt the itch and rash of eczema. Talk to your doctor about rinvoq. Learn how abbvie can help you save. Theres a different way to treat hiv. Its everyothermonth, injectable cabenuva. For adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, longacting Hiv Treatment you can get every other month. Cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. Its two injections, given by my healthcare provider, every other month. Its one less thing to think about while traveling. Hiv pills arent on my mind. A quick change in my plans is no big deal. Dont receive cabenuva if youre allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. Serious side effects include allergic reactions postinjection reactions, Liver Problems, and depression. If you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. Tell your doctor if you have Liver Problems or Mental Health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. Some of the most common side effects include injectionsite reactions, fever, and tiredness. If you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. Every other month, and im good to go. Ask your doctor about everyothermonth cabenuva. Made a big mistake, just like you dont change your name in the middle of an election. Changed his name in the middle of the election. You do it before or after, but ideally, you dont do it at all. I liked it before anyway, i liked his name better before. Should we tell him that . Its sort of changed the name. Its syllabolic. Theres been confusion over your last name and the pronunciation. To correct the record, what is it . This is ridiculous, the stupid things. Listen, the way to pronounce my last name, winner. Well, i guess its stupid if he called himself desantis his entire life, and then the last year, he called him dasantis. I mean, its like, i dont know, willie, its kind of strange. But its okay. Its not a big deal. Well call him whatever he wants to be called. This is trivial but getting more strange by the moment. Which is it . Like we said, we want to call him whatever he would like to be called, but he wont say it when asked directly about it. When he was sworn into his recent term, the Chief Justice in florida said desantis, and he repeated it as dasantis. Wed like to nail it down as we move through a long president ial campaign. When im saying desantis, i feel like im making fun of him, but im saying what he is saying. Thats what his parents called him, because thats what he called himself. Maybe he doesnt like the duh in it. He called himself desantis. Earlier, we heard him whats your name . Seriously, its not a dumb question. He ought to be able to answer that. Now, on to weightier issues here. Elise, we have the Secretary Of State, who yesterday was in oslo meeting with the Foreign Ministers there, talking about nato, strengthening the bonds of nato, strengthening this historic alliance, talking about pushing back against russias aggression and russias invasion. This morning, Secretary Of State Antony Blinken is in helsinki, and if you look at the map, he is in helsinki in a country that has been historically at war with russia, had an uneasy relationship with them. Theyve got, what, 600, 800 miles of border with russia . I think for putin, whats most galling, it is two hours by car from st. Petersburg, where he was born and where he grew up. As Admiral Stavridis said, you look at sweden, look at finland, you look at eestonia, latvia, nato is in the process of turning the baltic sea into a nato lake. Blinken talked about putins historical strategic failure, and talked about the 100,000 casualties, just unbelievable, in the last six months. Vladimir putin has not only damaged himself economically, but hes gutted russias military might and russia as a world power. You look at the map, and it is stunning to see how nato is his entire neighborhood. If not already a nato country, theyre trying to join up, you know, with the exception of belarus. I just do, though, im excited that later in the show we have a discussion on a pretty important time in the debate over if in the ukraine war. We can get bogged down, putting up more weapons, prolonging the violence, or push for negotiations. Itll be interesting to see how this proceeds the next few months. Id be really surprised if we didnt see some move toward negotiations after this socalled Spring Offensive takes place. Well see what the impact of that is because thatll certainly shape the contours of any negotiated peace. Mike allen, feel free to comment on blinkens trip or whatever else youre working on today. What are you looking at . Joe, one thing that leaped out at me in Secretary Blinkens remarks, he talked about peace, looking beyond war, a just and lasting peace. Were also seeing more and more reporting about rebuilding ukraine and how much people in ukraine are living normal lives in one window, and in others, sheer terror. Other things were looking at, joe, pulling back the camera on this week thats going to turn out to be historic because of these twin deals. We talked about the wiliness, the compromise of President Biden. Eugene robinson eluded to this, we have to talk about how strong Speaker Mccarthy emerges from this. The numbers were bigger than you think. You see him Walking Around the capitol, a spring in his step, and you know why. We werent sure he was still going to be speaker at this time. Right. He is stronger, too. And you saw a little nod from one professional to another. President biden not only giving him his space, but biden, twice, in public statements, saying that Kevin Mccarthy negotiated in good faith. Thats not the usual rhetoric. Thats a hat tip, one leader to another. Grateful. No doubt about it. A lot of grace. As David Ignatius pointed out with the colorful assessment of the deal, if mccarthy was serving up turd sandwiches, he served up a lot this week, over 300. Put that on your mcdonalds sign. Over 300 turd sandwiches served. Ew. Thank you for that colorful assessment, chip roy. Really quickly, mike, lets talk about Serious Business here. I know you and vandehei kids, you guys went over and watched a couple Soccer Matches in england. How did that go . Yeah, so my First Premier League game in wales. This was graduation trip and project, Actual Research by jim vandeheis son, james, who graduates saturday from college. Yay. He and his friend, liam walsh, were in swansea learning about the economics of soccer. The economics of soccer are as difficult as the economics of media. Turned out not to be a great business. But we got to see the very best in the world, those Premier League players. Were a football, lacrosse family, so i asked the guys about the style of soccer play. Joe, you can appreciate this. They were talking about how much faster it was than the u. S. , how much more precise. It was fun to hear these two young men, off to play soccer in college, their dream, watching other professionals at the top of their game. Right. Sounds nice. Let me say, were going to willie, i need to bring you in real quickly. I already talked to mike about this. Were going to lean on vandehei to give us some cheese heads and tickets to a packers game this fall. We all need to go descend on lambeau field, and were counting on vandehei to make it happen for all of us. You know, ive never been to lambeau field. Its a big hole in my life. Same here, have to go. Id love to do i. Seems like vandehei is the man to get us in the building. Lets do it. Willie, we have a brat for you. Okay. Oh, yeah. The cofounder of axios, mike allen, thank you very much. Happy weekend. Happy friday. Go pack. Have a good one. Coming up, nasa is on a mission to expand cooperation in space. Well speak with nasa administraor bill nelson about what the future holds in the exploration of the final frontier. Plus, the former mayor of new orleans is here, marking 20 years as the head of the National Urban league. Morning joe will be right back. My name is wendy, im 51 years old, and im a hospital administrator. When i talk to patients you can just see from here up when youre wearing a mask. And i have noticed those lines beginning to really become not so much moderate but more severe. Im still wendy and i got botox® cosmetic. And im really happy with the results because theyre very subtle, and i feel like i look like myself, but just less lines. Botox® cosmetic is fda approved, to temporarily make frown lines, crows feet and forehead lines look better. The effects of botox® cosmetic may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or Muscle Weakness maybe a sign of a life threatening condition. Do not receive botox® cosmetic if you have a skin infection. Side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyebrow, Eyelid Drooping and eyelid swelling. Tell your doctor about your medical history. Muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins. As these may increase the risk of serious side effects. See for yourself at botoxcosmetic. 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 representative sorry, i didnt get that. Oh buddy you need a hug. You also need consumer cellular. Get the exact same coverage as the nations leading carriers and 100 us based customer support. Starting at 20. Consumer cellular. For copd, ask your doctor about breztri. Breztri gives you better breathing, symptom improvement, and helps prevent flareups. Breztri wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. It is not for asthma. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Dont take breztri more than prescribed. Breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vison changes, or eye pain occur. If you have copd ask your doctor about breztri. The virus that causes shingles is sleeping. In 99 of people over 50. And it could strike at any time. Think youre not at risk . Wake up. Because shingles could wake up in you. If youre over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. While he was still mayor, marc came to los angeles. The rodney king meeting, that just awakened people here in ferguson, baltimore, north charleston, south carolina, the list goes on and on. We had the Tamir Rice Case in the city of cleveland, and so the first person i called was marc, because he understood from the work hed done in policing in new orleans and the stuff that was happening all around the country, he knew as an urban League Leader, that i was going to have to be prepared. A look at the tenure of president and ceo of the National Urban league, marc morial, who, today, is celebrating 20 years leading that organization. Marc joins us now. Good morning. Congratulations. Thank you. Good morning, good morning. Been quite a ride. I bet i has. Im just starting. Youre just starting, and i know your greatest, lets get this done, your greatest a i accomplishment, of course, is marrying michelle miller. Of course. Put that aside. During your tenure, i want to start on the positive because theres so much to talk about in terms of challenges for black america. What do you think the greatest accomplishment during your tenure would be . Let me talk about america. I think the election of barack obama and the idea that a black man could get elected president in 2008 is a significant accomplishment. No way it would have been predicted, foreshadowed or foreseen. As well as, i dont think anyone would have foreshadowed the election of a president like donald trump. It indicates that in the 20 years ive been at the league, its been a Roller Coaster Ride for the nation and issues on racial justice. Im proud always. In this work, i get a chance to work with incredible people, men and women from all backgrounds, and the people on the front lines in the urban league, its Partner Organizations and civil rights business, labor and the Faith Community, who represent, i think, this coalition of people who are really striving to build this next generation of america, who are striving to build an america that stands and understands both the good and bad of its past, but it is trying to create a good future. At the league, im proud that, you know, we took a Proud Organization that was sort of more in the 20th century and rebuild it, rebranded it, repositioned it, restrategized it. The National Urban league is five times as large. It reaches six times as many people. Every program in the direct Services World we do with our affiliates. We have a whole new generation, a young generation of leaders at the local level, the young professionals. Its been a dramatic transformation. Were just one of many institutions, organizations, and civil rights, Social Justice and the like who are in this fight for now and our future as a nation. Marc, congratulations. Thanks. You just detailed some of the successes and accomplishments. Lets hear you talk about some of the challenges you think you have faced during your 20 years so far and are still very much on the horizon. When i took over, 9 11 had just occurred, then katrina hit, then we had the great recession, the obama election, and covid. I think the period from the killing of Trayvon Martin all the way through the present with george floyd and beyond, i think the Police Killings have been the most jarring, challenging, difficult, defining issues that have occurred in this time that ive had a chance to lead the organization. Because were struggling with this, the rate of killings is unacceptable. The spike and rise in gun violence and mass killings is jarring. You know, it focus i focused on it in a very special way during two International Trips i took in the last year. You go abroad and go to these countries, maybe not, quote, as prosperous as the United States in some cases, but then underneath, they dont have the gun violence problem. Its not an obsession. The fear, the security, the concerns, the way it impacts peoples lives, thats been a tremendous, i think, challenge thats been a through line all the way through. When i got to new york, i remember distinctly, there was a movement to repeal the rockefeller drug laws. It was the beginning of this movement, if you will, for civil rights and Social Justice in the country. We focus on economics, so we have stood up reentry programs to help stand up citizens. We started an effort to work on Business Growth and development, to help people become homeowners. But these numbers lag, the disparity that exists in the country, it is almost frozen in the sense of suspended animation. So while im proud of the work, the challenge is tremendous. Marc, first, congratulations. Youve been head of the urban league now longer than Vernon Jordan was, probably longer than Whitney Young was. Yeah. To be mentioned with those names, it just says a lot about you and what youve been able to accomplish. But lets talk about the that economic focus. The fact is, the gap between Black And White wealth is as large as its ever been. How do you crack that . Its one thing to talk about incomes and you can make some progress in that, maybe some backsliding, but that wealth gap has been persistent. It is generational. It perpetuates itself. How do we finally crack that . Gene, whats stunning in the 20 years ive been at the league is, weve actually lost ground when it comes to black homeowner ship. We were nearly at 50 of all black people being homeowners in 2005 06 period. Now, were down to the low 40s once again. Whats stunning is how you can step forward and then dramatically, if you will, move back. I think it requires a new, much more significant commitment, and i think ill say, where can the congress, on the heels of this debt deal, focus . Focus on poverty. Focus on lifting up those with the child tax credit, minimum wage. If you lift the bottom, youll ultimately help the wealth gap. I was in a meeting last night with a number of africanamerican Investment Bankers and the leaders of major companies. Gene, we have to build an economic business, businesses of size and scale in the black community, in the Latino Community in this country. The wherewithal and the expertise is there. Those that control the Capital Markets have to be more committed to it. If they are, it is absolutely doable. It operates on multiple levels. Confront poverty, help people at the lowest ends of the spectrum have dignity and a living wage, and then help those aspiring to become homeowners, as well. Knock the barriers out of the way. Create down payment assistance programs. Create, if you will, and i say, these types of things are going to benefit black americans. They need to be focused, but theres going to be benefits for so many others if we do this. Our programmatic work has expanded. The work we do to help people become business owners, homeowners, its expired. Gene, there needs to be a commitment from the public and private sectors to do this anew. This is the Achilles Tendon of america, the racial wealth gap and the overall gap in income that we face. President and ceo of the National Urban league, marc morial, congratulations on 20 years. Thanks, mika. Well look ahead to 20 more. Appreciate you all. Thanks for having me all the time. Thank you. We appreciate you. Thanks. Still ahead, well look at the stories making front page headlines across the country, including another republican Governor Sending National Guard troops to the southern border. Plus, ron desantis loses his temper on a reporter while on the Campaign Trail. Well show you the strange moment just ahead on morning joe. Takes over . woman what if all i do isnt enough . Or what if i can do diabetes differently . avo now you can with onceweekly mounjaro. Mounjaro helps your body regulate blood sugar, and mounjaro can help decrease how much food you eat. 3 out of 4 people reached an a1c of less than 7 . Plus people taking Mounjaro Lost up to 25 pounds. Mounjaro is not for people with Type 1 Diabetes or children. Dont take mounjaro, if youre allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Stop mounjaro, and call your doctor right away, if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, vision changes, or diabetic retinopathy. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis and gallbladder problems. Taking mounjaro with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. Tell your doctor if youre nursing, pregnant, or plan to be. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea which can cause dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. woman i can do diabetes differently with mounjaro. avo ask your doctor about onceweekly mounjaro. Whenever youre hungry, theres a deal on the subway app. Buy one footlong, get one 50 off in the subway app today. Now thats a deal worth celebrating. Man, what are you doing . get it before its gone on the subway app. I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish thing these days. The forces that divide us are deep, and they are real. We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace. Only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. Yeah, but you fell off a bike. Okay, stop, no. That was President Bidens inaugural speech, promising to work with the other side of the aisle. The Debt Ceiling Deal shows he can deliver on something that many thought was not possible. And, and that would be a bipartisan agreement on disagreeing with joe biden, willie, when i remember when President Biden said that. He had so many people in the Democratic Party mocking him, saying thats not how things worked around here anymore. That he is out of touch, out of date. That was from an era and a century long past. You had republicans saying the same thing. Of course, think about this, just think about the context of that speech. That was 14 days after january 6th. Yeah. My lord. Yup. That was in the middle of donald trump and a lot of people on the far right, and, unfortunately, some the middle right, saying the election was stolen. Yet, in the middle tensions were very high. In the middle of that time, tensions higher at that inauguration than any inauguration since Abraham Lincolns first in 1861. Yet, even with that context, joe biden believed in the goodness of america, and he also understood the need to getting both sides working together with malice toward none. Pretty incredible, whats been accomplished. You know what . Lets go ahead and put Mitch Mcconnell in there for some of that legislation in the senate. Lets put Kevin Mccarthy in there, as well, for being a respectful partner, both of them respectful toward each other during this Debt Ceiling Deal. Ask anybody that knows anything about the economy, it had to pass. Yeah, there were moments a few weeks ago, you referenced something that President Biden said, Kevin Mccarthy came out of the early white house meeting with some criticism, and it was leaked out that he said joe biden was a liar. You thought, okay, is this thing going to go sideways with the stakes this high . About two weeks ago, serious people got serious because the problem was so deadly serious. They got the job done. Youre right, to listen to that clip, that is two weeks after january 6th. Two weeks after january 6th, he was calling for that kind of calm and bipartisanship. There was a lot of eye rolling and a lot of people saying, clearly, take two weeks ago as an example, thats not how washington works anymore. Its not where we are. But you said something important, which is that joe biden believes that. He does believe it. You know, hes been there since 1972, having to get things done as a United States senator, having to broker massive deals on a Health Care Package as Vice President , and now a lot of legislation when you tick through the list in this first year and a half or so. He believes in it. He believes that bipartisanship is important, that it can still work, despite what the extremes were yelling about for the last several weeks. He got in the room with Speaker Mccarthy and, to their credit, got something important done. Jonathan lemire, elise jordan and Eugene Robinson still with us. We have msnbc contributor Mike Barnicle joining us. Author and president ial historian doris Kearns Goodwin. Doris, i remember after january 6th, Anne Applebaum writing a column in the atlantic, saying, we have to figure out how to deal with trump supporters, 77 million people. We have to figure out how to bring them back into the mainstream of american political thought. It sort of, you know, like Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural, talking about with malice toward none after the south had been responsible for the killing of about 650,000 americans. Anne got absolutely eviscerated by people, talking about how naive she was, that we can never forgive, can never forget. We can never deal with these people again. Its a good thing joe biden agreed more with Anne Applebaum than her critics, because a hell of a lot has been done just because joe biden believed, well, in the good heart of a lot of americans. And, you know, joe, what you and willie have both said, is you have to believe its possible to make it possible. Maybe the fact that he was there, so the many years ago when it did work, allows you to believe it can work again. So many people in congress in the recent years have only seen the broken congress. That is correct. So they dont believe it. But it is a different idea for what a deal mean. Think about what trump says, you know, he says, all these people who say making a deal when both sides feel good, thats a bunch of crap, he said. What matters is winning, and i always win. What youve seen in the last week is a deal that was made that satisfies both sides. Both sides giving credit. One of the this old harry truman said, amazing what you can accomplish when you dont care who gets the credit. It worked during lbj, what works in world war ii when you had a mission where all sides could work together, and the congressmen and senators had been in the war, world war ii, the korean war, 50s, 60s, 70s. Thank god we have somebody who has been around for a while, knows it can work and brought it back on both sides of the aisle. This is a moment to celebrate. You know, mike, i was there when you had bill clinton and Newt Gingrich going after each other. Two guys that had absolutely no use for each other in many ways. You know, government shutdowns, impeachments. Yet, you talk to both of those men, and they will tell you, even during impeachment, they were talking about concerns about Saddam Hussein in iraq. Even during government shutdowns, john kasich was patiently going over to the white house, sitting with leon panetta. There was the white, hot noise down here, and then there was this signal that they stayed focused on. That was getting things done. Im reminded of what tip oneills son told Chris Matthews about his relationship with ronald reagan. He said, the only thing my dad hated more than Ronald Reagans ideology was getting nothing done for the american people. So they learned how to work together, learned how to be friends, learned how to put america first. Well, you know, joe, i mean, part of the reason, part of the answer as to what happened, the successful event that concluded last night in the senate, is joe bidens roots. Its joe bidens human nature. I mean, the roots of joe biden are really in the United States senate. I think if you think about it and look back at it and talk to him about it, he will tell you that after he lost his wife and daughter, the senate gave him purpose. It gave him a reason to live. Two guys in the United States senate helped save his life in that sense. Mike mansfield and ted kennedy. Both of them convinced joe biden then not to leave the senate in grief, to stay and work. So he stayed, and he worked. All these years later, he gets Kevin Mccarthy in front of him. The two of them, both men severely underestimated all their political lives, both the president and the speaker of the house Kevin Mccarthy. Guess what . Within human nature, within the realm of human nature, each of those guys finds something in the other. They find something in the other that they like. That begins a discussion, a longterm discussion that results in what happened last night in the passage of this bill that saved United States economy in the United States senate. Thats joe bidens life. Well see about Kevin Mccarthy. Well see if he can continue with that convivial, lets get along aspect, lets see what we can get done for the american people, as you just said. But the roots of it are in joe bidens dedication to the United States senate and dedication to getting something done. While that all is true, we were talking earlier about the turd sandwich. I dont want to be the punch bowl, but i have a question. I have a question. Yes . This is great, getting things done. Definitely, joe biden and Kevin Mccarthy, as joe biden will even say, they worked together, but didnt they have to in in case . No. Hmm, do either of them want to be responsible for the country failing on the debt ceiling . I mean, it seems to me that if they were going to come together on something, it would be Something Like this, with the deadline, where each side doesnt so my question is, is everything that were talking about transferable to other things, like a legislation on guns or Womens Health . Because i think theres a lot of people out there going, thats great, well celebrate, but this was money already spent. Of course we had to pay our debts. What about me . What about guns . What about Womens Health . What about the fact that the two sides cant seem to agree on what the country polls show, really want to see some movement on . Well, again, theres not going to be a complete disconnect from human nature. Also, Idealogical Beliefs that people have held firmly most of their lives. Again, you look back over the past year or two, what great legislators do is they look for deals. They say, okay, we disagree on these 99 things. Whats one thing that we can agree on . Okay. They pass infrastructure legislation. Then they say, okay, we disagree on these 99 things, and we really disagree on guns. Lets come together and figure out how we can pass Gun Safety Legislation that even the most aggressive supporters of Gun Safety Legislation will say, you know what, its a good step forward. Thats how you do it. Constantly, youre constantly building. You build, yeah. We can sit and focus, willie, on legislators can sit and focus on all the things they disagree on, or they can say, you know what, vets need help with burn pits. You know what . China is eating our lunch when it comes to chips, semiconductor chips. You know what . We have to be more competitive in this realm with china. They come together, and they pass Bipartisan Legislation. Theres a lot of things that both sides are going to be unhappy about, but thats that is the nature of it. It is madisonian democracy. It is divided government. It is meant to frustrate the extremes. It is meant to frustrate wouldbe tyrants. Its been working now for over, what, 230 years. Yeah, and thats what President Biden said in his Statement Last night after this legislation made its way through the senate, relatively quickly, by the way, less than 24 hours, with 63 votes. He said, nobody gets everything they want in a negotiation. We all know that. We got some things. They got some things. We got together, and we did this to keep the economy alive for the next year and a half or so. Eugene robinson, were not naive here, on the record with Kevin Mccarthys record and many republicans who did the right thing here. Were not saying it is going to be rosy Going Forward. Were saying that it is possible to do big things, perhaps, when a lot of people had written off that idea in washington. Yeah, i mean, mika is right, in that i do not expect there to be substantial, really, really meaningful progress on gun control. No. Talk about Gun Safety Legislation. We got some of that passed, but nothing really about guns themselves. I dont expect this house to do anything that i would really approve of on Womens Health and womens reproductive rights. I dont see that coming. But, you have to be heartened and encouraged by the fact that, yes, it was averting a disaster that didnt have to happen and couldnt happen, the default of the United States. Nonetheless, they came one a deal that didnt just, you know, push the can down the road for two, three months or whatever. You know, it is until 2025, which is, again, not as great as i would have liked to have seen it, but it is better than i expected, frankly. They came out with a deal that does certainly less damage than was possible from my point of view, than was conceconceivable. So you have to say, this is a good this is a good day. This was, in the end, a good week, i think, for american democracy. One more item this block. Former President Donald Trump is reacting to the report that special counsel jack smiths office has obtained a recording of trump discussing a classified document that he took with him after leaving the white house. Nbc news confirmed the report, citing a source directly particular with the matter, though nbc news has not heard the recording itself. In the conversation, which was taped in july of 2021, trump reportedly acknowledged that the Planning Document he took was related to iran and that it was classified. The source tells nbc news the recording was made during a meeting at trumps golf club in bedminster, new jersey, and included people who were helping former white house Chief Of Staff mark meadows write his memoir. The source adds the tape was played during testimony provided to the grand jury that has been investigating trumps handling of classified documents. Yesterday, trump said he doesnt know anything about it. That everything he did was right, and that he is only being investigated because his poll numbers keep going up. My poll numbers went down, it would all end. You know, every time my poll goes up, i say, uhoh, this is a problem. But we had a poll today that showed i was 44 points above number two and beating biden by 11 points. Beating biden by 11 points and 15 and 16 points in some of them, and he is not doing well against biden. Just everything he said, i mean, it reminds me of the last jedi. Everything he just said there was wrong. It really was. No need to even tick through it. I will say, though, doris, you look at the two cases that should cause donald trump the most concern, georgia and at least in my opinion, georgia and the documents case. Theyve got the tapes. Theyve got the receipts. Right. Theyve got his own voice. The voice that the grand jury heard. He can call it witch hunt all he wants, but theyve got him dead to right on intent, on stealing the documents. Just talk about the history, if you will, of tapes taking politicians down. I mean, absolutely. When you think about what may happen to President Trump, former President Trump, tapes will be, if it is, the ending of it. Not only the georgia case, not only this document case, but even in the e. Jean carroll case, the Access Hollywood cape was shown to the jury. He was on tape saying, shes not my type, and then there is a picture, and he thinks its his former wife. Then, of course, you have the mother of all tapes when nixon has the smoking tape ordering the fbi to coverup the investigation of the watergate burglary. I have a funny story to tell you about tapes, since they played a hard part in our history. There was a man named pepsicola head don kendal. He talked to me ten years after he knew i worked with Lyndon Johnson on the memoirs. He said when nixon first came into power, he asked kendall to go to the ranch to talk to johnson about some sensitive matter. Johnson is working on the memoir. He says, how can i remember what happened ten years ago, five years ago . The only chapters that are good, i had a tape machine in the oval office, i had verbatim conversations, and those chapters are very good. Tell nixon nothing is better than a taping system, and there it begins. You have them on record. They say things. Is that great . I couldnt wait to tell you that story. Oh, no oh, my gosh. Jonathan lemire. Certainly, despite the former president s bravado, those close to him that i talked to in the last 24, 48 hours, since it was reported the special counsel has this tape and had for months, theyre deeply alarmed. They agree with your assessment, joe. The two things that worry them the most are the georgia case and now this one with the maralago and the documents. Jonathan, it is interesting, let Me Interrupt For A Second and have you continue here. It is so interesting, youre hearing that reporting, because i started hearing that a week ago, that despite the bravado, trump himself and people close to trump are really, really concerned about the documents case. And they understand that hes pused. Busted. I heard that a week ago. Im wondering if this tape had something to do with that. People who have been whistling past the graveyard the last five, six, seven years, theres been a change around trumps people, and they know he is busted. Even trump deeply concerned about this. Yeah. One of the tells, this dates back from his presidency, too, No Matter What he says publicly, it is the tone on social media that gives it away. Weve had a series of all cap screeds in recent days on truth social about the investigations. Thats another clue that this is something that is deeply concerning him. Elise, there has been reporting in the wall street journal, other places, suggesting jack smith is about to wrap up the maralago documents portion of his investigation. January 6th is still going. Thatll take a while and, truthfully, itll be a harder one to charge. Trump people think that, too. On this one, they think it is close. Theyre really, really worried. They look at a hole in the calendar there, Fulton County d. A. Staked out a claim to mid to late summer. Theres plenty of time between now and then for jack smith to do something. There certainly is, but i wonder even if there is a huge there there. Donald trump has no shame, and so is he actually going to concede and bow down, much in the way that no. Richard nixon did . We know the answer is no. I would ask doris, what differentiates donald trump in all of these instances of being publicly shamed and, yet, just being unrelenting and pushing forward No Matter What politically . Well, i think it is not only what is differentiating with him, and he can say, you know, im never wrong, i will never acknowledge an error, in the unlikely sense i ever do one, make an error. More importantly, you had the Republican Party and the people that were important in nixons mind coming to him and saying, you have got to resign from office. Thats what we need. Not just whatever trump is going to say, we have to have the people who can go to him and say, this is it. Too many lawsuits. Well be caught up in this next year. You have to step down. Whether or not hell listen, you need the pressure on him Going Forward. Hugh scott and goldwater were the ones who told nixon in the oval office that time was up, no longer with us. Two things. First of all, maralago stuff, the january 6th stuff, thats going to resolve itself. The georgia stuff, thats going to resolve itself in court. The larger problem for the country is, whats wrong with us . When you hear this man, when you look at this man, how is it that he maintains such solid support in the Republican Party . Its a mystery that we have to resolve. We have to find out the answer to it because it poses a Clear And Present Danger to our democracy. Weve already seen that once. A return would be curtains for the United States of america. No question. Doris Kearns Goodwin oh, doris, go ahead. I was just going to say, ive been looking at various announcement speeches from the earlier republicans. You look at bush 41, he say, i dont hate government. Im proud of my service. I want government to work for all the people. You look at bush 43, he said, i want prosperity for all. I want a conservative ideology with a compassionate heart. Where is that Republican Party . Those are the people we need to do what mike is saying, to go forward and bring us out of this Trump Disaster that weve lived in in these last couple years. All right. There you go. Doris Kearns Goodwin, thank you so much. You can watch the docuseries fdr that doris is the Executive Producer of. So good. Its available on History Channel on demand. History. Com and on hulu. Still ahead on morning joe, russia has launched a relentless series of Missile Attacks on kyiv this week. Well have the very latest on ukraines efforts to keep up with the bombardments. And one of our next guests argues President Biden is more fearful than the ukrainians are. Well read from that new piece. Plus, a live report from iowa following former President Trumps swing through the state yesterday. As we go to break, omg, willie. I mean, jack is excited about this. What do you have planned for sunday today . So excited. I assume jack is a euphoria fan because i have one of the brightest, young stars in hollywood this sunday. Sydney sweeney, the star, one of the stars of euphoria, one of the stars in the first season of the white lotus, and now she is playing nsa contractor Reality Winner, remember her . She leaked the material and went to prison several years. She is playing Reality Winner in a new film called reality. Truly fun to sit down and talk with her. Shes done so much in her rise in the last five years on these massive hbo shows. Sydney sweeney coming up this weekend on nbc on sunday today. Well be right back here on morning joe. Somedays, i cover up because of my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Now i feel free to bare my skin, thanks to skyrizi. uplifting music nothing is everything im celebrating my clearer skin. My way. With skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. In another study, most people had 90 clearer skin, even at 5 years. And skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. Serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. 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. Representative sorry, i didnt get that. Oh buddy you need a hug. You also need consumer cellular. Get the exact same coverage as the nations leading carriers and 100 us based customer support. Starting at 20. Consumer cellular. For copd, ask your doctor about breztri. Breztri gives you better breathing, symptom improvement, and helps prevent flareups. Breztri wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. It is not for asthma. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Dont take breztri more than prescribed. Breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vison changes, or eye pain occur. If you have copd ask your doctor about breztri. cheering vison changes, or eye pain occur. Imagine youre doing something you love. Rsv could cut it short. Rsv is a contagious virus that usually causes mild symptoms, but can cause more severe infections that may lead to hospitalizations, in adults 60 and older and adults with certain underlying conditions, like copd, asthma, or congestive heart failure. Talk to your doctor and visit cutshortrsv. Com. Live your best day, every day with the power of the gelflex grid. Sleep better. Live purple. Welcome back to morning joe. Beautiful, beautiful morning, isnt it . Shot of the white house. I love june. You love june. What a great month, just beautiful. Beautiful month in new york, connecticut, all the way down to washington, d. C. You know, willie, we were talking about, mika and i no. Off camera. Yeah. Talking about summer, june, how much i love it. She was talking about that it reminds her, you know, all these other things. Brought up op shorts. Remember those . Op shorts. Yes. I said, did your boyfriend wear op shorts . Those were problematic. Tank top, Reflector Sunglasses . Flipflops. She said, why, yes, in fact, he did. No, he didnt. Wow. That really jogs the memory. In my memory, they were young. They were a short short, like theyd come up high and almost have a Corduroy Texture to them, if im remembering them correctly. Yeah. Joe, like me, you were just a straight up, Old Fashioned jorts guy, you let the string dangle, and youd walk down the beach with the Metal Detecter. Great times. Everybody, stop, no. Cut it high. The Metal Detecter is great. You walk on the beach, and you have your cutoff shorts. I will tell you, mika, it really, it gets people talking to ya. Willie. You can go wherever you want. Excuse me, maam. Excuse me. Do you remember cargo pants . Of course, yeah, with the pockets down the side. We have a question. Thats a different look. Yeah, i have a question for ya. What to you think the over under is on how many pockets t. J. s cargo shorts had . Wow, i wouldnt be surprised if he is wearing them right now in that control room. It is a hot day in new york city. I am not, no. About to be 90 degrees or Something Like that. It is a good day for a cargo short or op, depending on your taste. Okay. Or painters pants. Remember those . Op shorts are so triggering. Okay. Lets move on. Something happened to mika, theres trauma there. Something happened. Theres a lot. Alex said, good luck with a turn here. Making a transition here. Hold on. Ive got it. Ive got it. Really . Yeah, you command attention and respect and plow forward. Im more like distraction. Should i throw this cup . Nope. A short while ago, Secretary Of State Antony Blinken delivered a speech in the capital of natos newest ally, comparing the history of the finnish people to that of the ukrainians. He also highlighted how russias aggression against ukraine has been a strategic failure. It wasnt hard for fins to imagine themselves in the ukrainian shoes. Theyd walked in them in november 1939, when the soviet Union Invaded finland. Like president putins socalled special operation against ukraine, the soviet union falsely accused finland of provoking. When you look at the strategic objectives, russia is no worse off today than before its invasion of ukraine, militarily, economically, geopolitically. Where putin aimed to project strength, hes revealed weakness. Where he sought to divide, he is united. What he tried to prevent, hes precipitated. That outcome is no accident. Its the direct result of the courage and solidarity of the ukrainian people and the deliberate, decisive, swift action that we and our partners have taken to support ukraine. All right. With us now, we have former Supreme Allied Commander of nato, retired four Star Navy Admiral James Stavridis. Chief International Analyst for nbc news. Also, contributing writer at the atlantic, corey shakey, the director of Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise institute. Thank you, both, so much for being with us. Admiral, obviously a very important speech given the timing and also given the location, in helsinki, the newest member of nato that happens to have 600 or 800 miles of border with putins russia. Talk about the importance of the Secretary Of State going there and delivering the very strong message that this has been a strategic failure geopolitically, militarily and economically. Indeed, it has. By the way, just a shoutout to the Biden International Diplomatic Security team. Picture the trump administration, two years into it. Theyre blowing up National Security advisers. They fired the Secretary Of State. They have a new Chief Of Staff, trying to bring order, new Secretary Of Defense after my and koris good friend jim mattis resigns. Chaos in the team. With tony blinken, jake sullivan, lloyd austin, they are smooth, they are stepping up, and they are dealing with hard problems. That is a platform. When i saw them admitted to nay nato, my heart leaped. Tiny nation, but an immense, long border, and they can defend that border. 5 million people, they have universal conscription, draft. People train. They have good equipment. They can put a couple hundred thousand troops in the field in a matter of months. They have more artillery pieces, howitzers, which have become more important than any other nation in europe, and they have the history that tony blinken shared with us. 1939, google The Winter War. Not the movie with captain america, the actual winter war between the soviet union and finland. The fins fought them to a standstill. Pretty remarkable story. Good piece of history. This is a great day for nato. Admiral, underscoring the significance of this day for nato, the next nato summit is this july in lithuania. President biden, of course, will attend. He is also expected to make a stop in helsinki. He will be there, too, welcoming them to the alliance. Its not just the Secretary Of State, the president will be there, as well. Lets talk about the state of the conflict that, of course, spurred finlands Ascension Into nato. Russia has been launching a number of strikes at civilian targets recently. Were waiting, the world is waiting for the Spring Counteroffensive from ukraine. Whats your estimation as to what you think will happen . First of all, the Spring Offensive, i think, effectively started about a week to ten days ago, with Shaping Operations all along that long front. That front is probably close to 500 miles. Number two, the russians have no idea where the punch is going to land when the summer part of this offensive begins. I kind of liken it to dday. Think back to the germans trying to defense all along the coast of france. They dont know where the hammer blow on the 6th of june, by the way, nice historical echo there, is going to come from the ukrainians. Look for a pretty effective ukrainian counteroffensive. But heres the bad news, there is a second war going on. Its the air war. Here, putin is on the front foot. He is launching multiple Cruise Missile attacks, manned aircraft flying over. The ukrainians dont yet have complete control of the air space over their country. Its a tale of two wars, jonathan. I think youve got a ground war which is going to go pretty well for the ukrainians. You have an air war, not going to go so well. Those two things will be imbalanced. Lets hope by the end of the year, you get to a point where both sides have bled out enough that theyd be willing to come to the negotiating table. Thats our best hope. Kori, your piece is biden is more fearful than the ukrainians are. You get at this idea of the Biden Administration and the president himself not wanting to escalate this war. Obviously supportive of ukraine from the very beginning, Yauk Ukrainians acknowledge they might have already lost this war without the support of the United States. They also say because President Biden hasnt wanted to escalate this in some way and make it a wider war, that it has perhaps slowed their progress a bit. Absolutely. As James Stavridis just said, you know, we have hesitated to provide or permit allies to provide ukraine with the Fighter Aircraft that would permit them to have dominance over their own air space. We are also denying them the ability to retaliate against the strikes that russia is posing imposing on ukrainian cities. Were not letting them strike back at the russian lcations from which those are launched. Those are two really important restrictions were putting on the ukrainian war effort. And i think the reason is that the Biden Administration, they are justified in being concerned about escalation, but the Policy Choices theyre making, which is lets not cross any perceived russian red lines, that encourages russia to threaten us with escalation. A better response would be to reinforce deterrence by arguing that if we see the russians moving to escalate, we will increase the support we are giving to ukraine. We will provide them the intelligence and the weapons to preempt any russian escalation. And we will, nato will reinforce ukraine further, and any russians responsible for escalatory moves will see them either hunted down and taken to the hague or hunted down and killed. I think thats the way to prevent escalation. Admiral, we saw a clip coming into this segment from Secretary Blinken speaking in helsinki before nato. Theres another gathering of nato in oslo early next week. My question is, given your familiarity with all the players within nato, what is the level of insecurity within nato membership about the political situation in the United States of america Going Forward . Yeah, its significant. Lets be honest, our allies, partners and friends, not just in nato, look at our divisions here and feel that is our achilles heel. I think theyre correct. In my view, there is no secret problem that the United States cannot overcome if we can come together to address it. So a bit of good news on this morning, i think, was the debt deal. It shows the center holding. On china, stepping up and facing china. The center is holding. Theres a Bipartisan Committee looking into our relationship with china. On ukraine, the center is holding. Pop quiz, whats the only capital city that Mitch Mcconnell and nancy pelosi have both visited . That would be kyiv, ukraine. I think the center will hold. If it does, we will be able to surmount these challenges. If it does not, the world will be far weaker and far more distorted. So, kori, let me ask you just a historical question. Lets step back a bit. Id love to hear the admirals response, as well. Antony blinken talking this morning about the 100,000 casualties the russians have already absorbed. Theyve underperformed in a way that few, id say nobody could have predicted. So this is sort of this is the 30,000 foot question, sort of a historical question. Admiral talked about Russia Underperforming horribly in The Winter War starting in 1939. We had, of course, the german invasion of june of 41. Yes, ultimately, they were repelled, but they were repelled more because of the size of the land mass and just because the russians were willing to absorb tens of millions of deaths of their own people. You look at 1989, just the sudden collapse of the warsaw pact, the war coming down, the collapse of the wall in 91. Again, all these examples of overestimations of russian might. Here we are 2023, once again staring at the great bear that, once again, radically underperformed and ends up being far weaker. What is it militarily, what is it culturally, what is it politically that always makes the Russian Military far weaker than our intel analysts and the world expect they are . Well, i think militaies are only as strong as the social compact and the political cohesion of the country that they represent. And i agree with your underlying argument, that, first of all, it is very difficult to tell how good an army is until you fight it. Second of all, the registration military may be much more brittle than we are assessing them to be. It could be that, you know, i disagree with jim a little bit. I think the best case isnt both sides bleeding out to a stalemate. I think its a reasonable, optimistic outcome that the russians, when confronted with the ukrainian offensive, that the brittleness of the Russian Military shows and they prove incapable of even defending the existing positions. You know, i would add one other thought, agreeing with kori. Its dont underestimate russia again. This is a nation that can take a lot of punches. Go back to world war ii. They took a million casualties in a single battle, the battle of stalingrad. Go back and reread one day in the life of ivan danesovich, also resilience. These are tough people. I am hopeful there is a striking series of successes by the ukrainians in the land war, and i agree with kori, that could show some brittleness and help move it toward a negotiated ending. That could look Something Like the korean war. Its too soon to decide that were going to run this table. There are many challenges ahead. Retired four Star Navy Admiral James Stavridis and contributing writer at the atlantic, kori schake, thank you, both, for your insights this morning. Coming up, from Flight Attendant to best selling author of a book being made into a major motion picture, that is the trajectory of our next guest, whose latest project could be headed down the same path. Novelest est novelist t. J. Newm joins the table straight ahead on morning joe. Stay off the freeways only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Hey all, so i just downloaded the experian app because i wanted to check my fico® score, but it does so much more. This thing shows you your fico® score, you can get your credit card recommendations, and it shows you ways to save money. Do so much more than get your fico® score. Download the experian app now. 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. I need it cool at night. You trying to ice me out of the bed . no way baby, only on game nights. You know you are retired right . Am i . Ya save 50 on the sleep Number Limited Edition smart bed. Plus, free Home Delivery when you add an adjustable base. Only at sleep number. Your record label is taking off. But so is your sound engineer. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. Indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. Visit indeed. Com hire were traveling all across america, talking to people about their hearts. Hows the heart . Good. You sure . I think so. How do you know . Let me show you something. Put two fingers right on those pads. Look at that thats your heart that is pretty awesome. With kardiamobile, you can take a medicalgrade ekg in just 30 seconds, from anywhere. Kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. Kardiamobile is now available for just 79. Order at kardia. Com or amazon. Mama, growing up. You were so good to me. You worked hard to save for my future. So now. I want to thank you. I started investing with vanguard to help take care of you, like you took care of me. Te quiero, mama. Only at vanguard youre more than just an investor youre an owner. Helping you take care of the ones you love. Thats the value of ownership. Mika, this is going to be a tough segment. It is. I mean, truths are going to be told here. Yeah. They need to be told. I know. Mika gets on flights. No. And when the cart comes down, she stands on top of the cart and sings my way. No, i dont. Im so concerned about this. Anyway. All right. So, why dont you give them the back story here . The back story is our next guest was a Flight Attendant. Yeah. Out of Los Angeles International airport. T. J. Knew her. Apparently, she was serving on one of the flight we were on. Im scared about it. I wonder if you sang my way. She is a writer in her spare time. She thought of a book idea while in the air one day that she didnt want to forget. She scribbled to forget so she scribbled it down on a napkin midflight and it would become the central theme behind her first novel. Newman would go on to pitch a book idea to over 40 different publishers before one believed in her. This is such a know your value story. It turned out to be a good pet as newmans novel, falling would debut at number two on the New York Times bestseller list and marked simon and schusters fastest selling hard cover debut since 2004. In a heated bidding war, Nbc Universal bought the film rights to falling for seven figures. Her highly anticipated second novel hits shelves this week. Its entitled drowning, the rescue of flight 1241 and like her first book set off a bidding war with Warner Brothers nabbing it for 1. 5 million. This is an incredible story. T. J. Newman joins us now. This is crazy i want to hear it all. But were we nice on the flight . Were we having a flight . Did mika get up and sing, try to entertain, what happened . Oh, my god, were you the worst . You were lovely. It was a morning flight from new york to l. A. I remember it because im watching you guys in the morning and you were as kind as generous as you are on the show. And mika didnt try to sing . She didnt do that . There was no singalong but hearing that was an option, im kind of disappointed it didnt happen. Exactly all right. So, t. J. , ive got to say i would like a story about the story, because this is the sort of thing you hear about somebody writing an idea on a napkin. I love it. Getting turned down by 39 publishers. I love it the 40th takes it. Fastest selling novel since 2004. And then a massive bidding war. Its an incredible story. What do you think made this all work so extraordinarily well for you . Having a dream, having a good idea, and refusing to stop doing the hard work until i got everything that i wanted. I knew that the concept was great and i knew that if i could find the right person that saw what i saw, the potential of what that story could be and how it could connect with readers, i knew that it would be something. And so each of those rejections as they came in, and you said 39. I just want to say it was 41, because i felt every single one of those 41, so i really want to make sure that theyre all in there, because i felt those 41 rejections. And when i wanted to pull the plug, i would just remind myself that i didnt come this far just to come this far and i would keep going. And i got my one and only yes on 42, but it only takes one. Thats such a cool story, t. J. Good morning, its willie geist. I want to hear specifics about drowning the new novel. You wrote that open letter in deadline which was so inspiring. It was an open letter to dreamers. People think i should start a business or write a book. That sounds too hard and i dont know where to begin or what to do. What is your message to people who sit and dream about those things but think theres too many obstacles in the way or dont know the people. Whats your message to them . Why not you . I didnt know anyone in publishing, i didnt know anyone in the film industry. I just knew what i wanted and knew what my dream was. People want you to believe that if you dont have those things, if you dont have an in, if you dont have a family name, if you dont have a connection, its not going to be possible to you and i am living proof that thats not true. Why not you . Somebody is going to break through. Why not you . Im so inspired by your story, as someone whos been working on history for years and years and i wonder if its ever going to be completed. How long did you work on your initial novel . And you were doing it in solitude because as you well know, writing is such a solitary act. How did you keep your spirit and your drive . Absolutely writing is a solitary act and i actually wrote my first book on the plane. I would write by hand in the gal ley. If i couldnt believe in myself, i would lean on the people around me. Not many people knew what i was doing but the people that did know would encourage me. When i would get selfdoubt which you of course get especially when i get love and rejection, the people that care about me would say no, no, keep going. That would reminding myself to keep going. Its so interesting, t. J. , and i know we have to go, but were you in were you in the room during these pitches or on the zoom or whatever it was, the 41 of them that didnt go well . Thats kind of the hardest part. As a writer, a lot of the time its a silent rejection. You send your stuff off and sometimes you dont even hear back, which is the worst of all because it feels like hope. You dont hear and you think they havent got in contact yet. And i got my 42nd one and so the rest of those rejections are they just werent the right fit, but i found it. All right. Tell us about the book, drowning, the rescue of flight 1421. Drowning tells the story of that flight, a flight from honolulu to San Francisco that crashes into the ocean six minutes after takeoff. The passengers immediately evacuate until an explosion forces those who didnt get out in time to close the doors. Its too late. The plane floods and sinks with 12 people trapped inside, including a father and his 11yearold daughter. So now their only hope at survival lies with an elite rescue team on the surface led by her mother and his soontobe exwife. Wow. Im intrigued that shes got her pitches down. I think shes got the pitches down. She should be in the room, by the way, publisher. The book is drowning, the rescue of flight 1421. Its available now. So exciting. T. J. Newman, thank you. Its great to meet you. Thank you for coming on the show. Congratulations. Thank you so much. And thank you for having me on. And thank you for being so lovely on that flight. Its always nice when you meet people of note that youve respected and admired from afar and theyre just as lovely as what you think they are. Thank god. Okay, up next thank you, t. J. President biden takes a tumble at a graduation ceremony. Well show you how he played it off later at the white house, its pretty funny. Meanwhile ron desantis cant seem to land on a pronunciation for his last name. In fact, i just said it wrong. Ron desantis. He called himself desantis, he called himself desantis and halfway through the speech, he called himself dimaggio. This guy is all over the place. We have him dodging a question about it yesterday. That moment is also ahead. Morning joe is coming right back. 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. Im your overly competitive brother. Check. Psych and im about to steal this game from you just like i stole kelly carter in high school. You got no game dude, thats a foul and now youre ready to settle the score. Game over. And if you dont have the right Home Insurance coverage, well, you could end up paying for all this yourself. So get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem, yeah, like me. Thanks, bro. Take a lap, rookie. Real mature. I dont like the term woke because i hear woke, woke, woke. Half the people cant even define it, they dont know what it is. These poorly performing woke financial scams. The era of woke and weaponized government is over. We will demolish woke tyranny. It has now gone woke at the top levels. With the woke and all this nonsense, they want to go woke. I dont like the term woke. Half the people cant define it, they dont know what it is. He likes it then he doesnt. Does he know what it is . Says it all the time. Perhaps. Former President Trump doesnt like the term woke at least when Governor Ron Desantis uses it. You know what term i dont like, efemoral. Yet i catch myself all the time talking about efemoral legislation. I think its now the word of the week. Efemoral or malodorous, one of the two. Its still early, weve got a couple of hours ahead of us. Meanwhile, the Florida Governor is seizing on a potential weakness in trumps third president ial bid. Well show you what he had to say about that and how he responded to questions about his last name. Is it desantis. He had his own answer for that and it was completely unrevealing. Okay. Also ahead, some republicans in the house are still upset with speaker Kevin Mccarthy over the Debt Ceiling Deal with one calling for a day of reckoning. Are you kidding me . It is a day of reckoning for the extremists who thought that they were going to be able to hold not only congress and Kevin Mccarthy and the president hostage, but also hold the United States economy hostage. They werent able to do it. These guys struck a deal, and struck a deal that passed overwhelmly. Plus well show you liz cheneys latest comments on a possible president ial bid. It comes ahead of announcements expected next week from Chris Christie and mike pence. Good morning and welcome to morning joe. It is friday, guys. Can you believe it . Im not sure if i believe it. Its june 2nd. I feel like summer has officially started. Everyone should take a vacation. Along with joe, willie and me we have the host of Way Too Early White House Bureau chief at politico jonathan lemire. Former aid to the george w. Bush white house and a yale grad. Shes so elite. Elise jordan. It is a shock. I know its shocking. Not at all actually. Pulitzer prizewinning columnist and Associate Editor of the watering post Eugene Robinson is with us and cofounder of axios, mike allen is with us. Great to have you all on board. Mike, get us started. And good morning on the first friday in june. Its a happy friday i love him. Were ready to go now. The Senate Passed the bipartisan Biden Mccarthy Debt Ceiling Bill last night ensuring the u. S. Will not default on its debt. The final vote was 63 yays to 44 34 nays. In response to the passage, biden thanks Chuck Schumer and Mitch Mcconnell for their work and also noted, vote, no one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake, this bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the american people. The other thing is the measure just what a Big Blanking Deal This was, to borrow from Vice President joe biden after the Affordable Care act passed, you just go back to a week ago. You look at all of the headlines talking about how we were in crisis. We werent going to get this done. The huffington post, trouble ahead for the debt deal. Bbc, Debt Ceiling Crisis looms as talks end with no deal in sight. It just went on and on. I think most people were predicting that this was going to be a massive crisis. The fact that joe biden was able to do what joe biden was able to do, once again, and that Kevin Mccarthy basically stared down the extremists in his own caucus. Uhhuh. A really big deal. David ignatius has a peace in the Washington Post saying biden is dlifing on his most farfetched pledge, compromise. David writes in part this. The president s congenital 17 terrorism is easy to criticize, especially in this era of hard, polarizing views. Hes a conciliator, a deal maker who likes to say yes an has trouble saying no. Hes also riskaverse and he avoids escalation when facing potential catastrophe, whether its war with russia or a budget default. One memorable moment in The Budget Drama came when representative chip roy, one of the most fanatical gop diehards, sputtered that the deal was a turd sandwich. Well, a majority of republicans decided to eat it. Bidens embrace of mccarthy, two white, male Irish Catholics cutting a deal in private, is hardly the summit of american politics, but it was a goodfaith negotiation that solved a big problem. My whole soul is in this, bringing america together, biden said at his inauguration. He meant it, and this week he delivered. Not only delivered this week, hes been delivering for quite some time, willie. You look i said this. Make no mistake. Biden crushed the extremes once again and cleared out a space in the middle big enough to drive a truck through. He may have trouble riding a bike or walking across the stage theres that. But the man knows how to get things done in d. C. Better than any president since reagan. And just a pop culture moment, i went to see Neil Young In Concert A Couple of years ago. Somebody dragged me out. I never go out at night to watch concerts, but im a huge neil young fan. I was watching and people were shouting songs from the balcony. And neil young just stopped. He was plugging his guitar into his amp. He just stopped, turned around, looked up and he said, you know, ive done this before. Like just let me do what im going to do. The whole place roared. That reminds me of biden. Theres no substitute for experience. This guys done it before. You look at how he once again, once again defied expectations not only from the haters but his own party. And its a pretty remarkable record. You look at the Bipartisan Legislation. Anybody who would mock that, willie, please, show me a president in the last quarter century thats had more Bipartisan Legislation than joe biden. And this was his theory of the case, as david got to in that piece when he was running in 2020. Hes been there before, hes experienced, he knows how to work across the aisle. A lot of people rolled their eyes at that. That doesnt really happen anymore. We just watched it happen the last couple of weeks, particularly the last few days. Give Speaker Mccarthy credit as well of the they got serious when it was time to be serious. Jonathan lemire, its a stark contrast to donald trump who was case was im an outsider in 2016. Im going to go turn over the tables in washington, break a bunch of stuff, do it the way no ones done it to get things done. Joe biden is saying we saw how that went the last four years. Im sitting here quietly, calmly, but i still know how to get things done in washington and he and the Republican Leadership did it. Bidens pitch from day one has been bipartisanship and experience. His experience to work across the aisle. He did that with the Infrastructure Bill and did it again here. He has had he has done things with democrats alone when needed. The Inflation Reduction Act, to name one. But he prefers to work across the aisle, to take the temperature down. And he has enshrined the achievements of his first two years. They werent touched in this deal. Its an important thing the white house says. Also we should note, the white house sort of ceded the Messaging Space to republicans and kept the president out of it, above the fray. That annoyed some democrats. They said we should be in there, were losing the politics of this. This was a deliberate strategy. Ive got new reporting that goes behind the scenes. The white house felt like they got a really good deal. But if they were seen gloating or crowing about it, republicans might have been less supportive. They decided to wait. The victory lap will come another day. They felt like this was important for the country and this idea of the president being above the fray and the calm, steady hand, thats a nice contrast against the hysterical republicans before 2024. Well, it didnt give republicans a oneonone matchup with biden and it kept him above the fray which at the time it did seem there were moments when perhaps biden could have seemed like he was more in it. This really got to the very, very, very end of the ticking time bomb. And they got it done. But its incredible. Just last week we had a congressional member who was voicing his deep, deep concern that a bill was actually going to pass. That some kind of deal would ever be reached between these two parties. So i think that this is definitely a win for biden. It shows that he can create compromise and that theres some competence there and that is what so Many American voters, both sides of the aisle, really want at the end of the day. Gene robinson, you look. Im just looking back. Just looking back at a jonathan shade article back a couple of months ago. And he said why biden is ggt more bipartisan laws than anyone expected actually it was a year ago. I was skeptical that he could convince republicans to support anything. I was wrong, jonathan says. And jonathan is being i love reading his columns. Hes always honest about when hes had blind spots. But most people were saying biden, come on. This old guy is living in 1974, 1975. There is no such thing as bipartisan deals anymore. But he gets them done. And he gets them done just like elise and willie said by keeping quiet. By not crowing that theyre doing this or doing that. By not insulting them. Letting them have their day. Letting them go around and talk about how biden is getting taken advantage of. And then biden gets the deal done. Its kind of its kind of like the way pros do it. Yeah. It was very professional. And look, look at that vote in the house. The vote in the house, it was a huge bipartisan majority. Massive. More than 300 votes for this package. Did you think you would ever see that happen, given how polarized our politics are right now. I thought that was amazing. The second observation is that i think this negotiation actually started back during the state of the union address. Remember when President Biden sort of jedi mind tricked the republicans into all pledging loudly they would never touch Social Security and medicare and medicaid. And so that was all off the table. And so he set the terms for this discussion long before it even began. I think at the white house and in biden world, they must be hoping that the republicans and others continue to underestimate him, continue to think that hes old and doddering and has no idea whats going on because theyre getting their pockets picked on a regular basis and hes getting things done. So the underestimating that we have been following for years now i also thinkes a Media Narrative or problem that the media is confronting. David put out a whole thread the other day talking about bidens presidency and how the media struggles for balance because if you cover it positively, youre somehow doing Something Wrong when the only thing it seems, the only criticism that those on the right can find is his age. And the counter to that is what were seeing right now, wisdom, years of experience, years of mistakes, years of living life and living through hardship and, you know, No Matter What you think of him or what side of the aisle youre on, this man is wise and he is putting it to use. Right. And keeping his head down. And i just you even look at the end of the day, he got the deal done. What can you say . Of course he got the deal done and david is exactly right. If you go around day in and day out and youre in the media and all you hear in the media is, oh, youre liberal, youre biased, legacy media, all the stupid stuff they say. Oh, theyre in the tank for biden, this, that and the other, you are, it makes people twitch and say, well, maybe we shouldnt say the truth. Like, for instance, not only has he passed more Bipartisan Legislation than any other president this century, hes also helped with the reconstruction of nato, the flexing of americas muscle around china, whether its in the philippines or in guam or in australia or in japan. I mean you actually have for the first time china back on their heels. Theres a reason theyre not talking to us right now. Theres a reason why theyre being petulant, and its because weve flexed our missiles all around the areas where they were hoping to be aggressive and hoping to move. So youve got that Foreign Policy. Youve got nato, which donald trump wanted to tear to pieces, tighter than ever before. And this morning, this morning in helsinki, americas Secretary Of State will be delivering in a country that has an 800mile border with putins russia, will be delivering a speech on how catastrophic this war has been for Vladimir Putin and russias military. And guess what, hes doing it from a country thats in nato, russias worst, worst nightmare. This would have never happened under donald trump or, dare i say, any other president. Joe biden has figured out how to do that. Can somebody say, oh, biden is doing a great no, but i can. Biden is doing a great job. And i say that as somebody who was very critical of his withdrawal of troops from afghanistan, somebody thats been very critical of the southern border and the signals that he sent early on on the southern border, hasnt moved fast enough to take care of that humanitarian crisis. There are things we can point out that hes made mistakes on, right . But taken in total, hes done a pretty damn great job. Its not reflected, of course, in a lot of the polls because you know why . Along with passing more legislation than anybody else in the past 20 years, he fell off a bike. Along with pushing back china and expanding the u. S. Military presence around china in a way that actually stops them from being aggressive, even more aggressive, he tripped over a sandbag. I hope hes okay. It looked like it hurt. Hes fine. Perhaps the bumping of the head getting off marine one when he got back to the white house may have hurt even more. But you have all of these distractions, mike allen. But you and i have been in washington long enough to know a couple of things. One, biden is getting things done legislatively and on the Foreign Policy level in a way that a lot of president s have not been able to do this century. And two, a lot in the Mainstream Establishment Media are afraid to say that because the trump right and the right wing are constantly working the rest. You cant say that. You cant say that he did good. Youre missed. Youre with the biden crime family. Rothkauf i think was right. Joe, youre exactly right. And you dont have to cover it positively, cover it clinically the way axios does. Pull back the camera, take a look, what are we seeing . We talked about compromise, competence, and this is the wily side of joe biden, right . So three takeaways here. One, some Companion Reporting to jonathan lemires point about the white house wanted a deliberate contrast with republicans. The other thing the white house deliberately did in lying low was to give Kevin Mccarthy the space he needed with his right wing. The view in the white house im told was let them beat their chest, let them huff and puff, and hes going to do what he needs to do to get the votes he needs to get from his right, which he did, and the president in the end will get that win. Second, people are seeing washington work. You were talking about the disconnect between what President Biden is accomplishing where the economy is and where peoples sentiment is, their view of the country still very, very bleak. But people want washington to work. And we didnt go right up to the cliff. Monday, right, is the date that default was supposed to kick in, the latest date from treasury secretary janet yellen, so for once Congress Getting something done a few hours before he had to. And the third one, joe, that speaks to your point about how much hes done when you step back and look at the totality of whats been accomplished in these two years, the c. H. I. P. S. Act, the infrastructure act, a lot of that money is still being spent so hes going to have a lot to talk about and show as he runs for reelection. Guys, to underline something gene said about the vote total in the house, this bill got 314 votes, cleared the house by nearly 200 votes. We dont see that very often. In the space of 24 hours after it made it through the house, it got 63 votes to clear that 60vote hurdle in the senate. The president will sign it today. So theres a larger point there. Theres this idea that the inmates run the asylum in washington and the extremists have taken over and all that. In some ways weve seen that happen. But at the end of the day the extremists stayed where they belong, on the extremes, and people came together to get something done where there could have been a catastrophe on the other side of it if cooler heads had not prevailed here. Well, whats the local news thing, if it bleeds, it leads . If it bleeds, it leads. Gene robinson, if somebody screams, it leads. If they go to a mic and Say Something outrageous, if its mtg or somebody else, it leads. We sat there and listened to these people at the beginning of this Congress Talk about how they owned Kevin Mccarthy. They were going to be the people who whoever. Were talking about biden here. Mccarthy crushed all of those people too. He wont tell them that, but they basically said hes going to do what were going to do or were going to vote him out. Oh, really . Over 300 votes . No, youre not. And willie also brought up some of the other things. You look at the va bill on the burn pits that these extremists were against because biden was for it. A lot of republicans came crawling back because they knew it was so popular. The china competitive bill, a bipartisan bill. The c. H. I. P. S. Act, a bipartisan bill, the Infrastructure Bill, the gun safety bill. I could go on and on, gene. These extremists are getting crushed over and over again. Yeah. Joe biden has always been, you know, a center politician. And thats where hes always been, thats where he is now, and, you know, this idea in republican circles that hes practically the son of marx and ingalls. Thats not joe biden. He represents delaware, the corporate state. You know, hes joe biden. Hes a centrist democrat and thats the way he has approached his presidency. Hes had a lot of success. Ive got to say one other thing about Kevin Mccarthy. You know, when we all watched those 15 embarrassing ballots he needed to become speaker, i confess that i did not imagine that he would be able to wrangle his very slim majority as well as he has done thus far. You know, he came through this and he managed to marginalize those on the extreme, extreme right. He let them mouth off and say whatever they wanted. But in the end, he delivered. And so that surprised me and i think it surprised a lot of people. Coming up, what the white house is saying about a sandbag getting the better of President Biden yesterday during an event in colorado. Plus, what former President Trump had to say about his own close call with a slippery ramp, when morning joe comes right back. G joe comes right back i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Thanks to skyrizi, im on my way with clearer skin. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. And skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. Serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. Nothing on my skin means everything nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. Learn how abbvie could help you save. The subway series is elevating your favorite subs. Why mess with the sweet onion teriyaki, chuck . Man, this aint messin, its perfectin with marinated chicken and double cheese. Sweet and savory. Kinda like you and me, chuck. Bye, peyton. Try the refreshed favorites at subway today. Joe mentioned President Bidens fall yesterday. The white house says hes doing just fine after he tripped and fell during the air force Academy Graduation ceremony in Colorado Springs yesterday. He was quickly helped up by Secret Service and pointed to something on the stage. The white house communication staff says the president tripped over a sandbag on the platform. The president returned to his seat onstage. The ceremony continued. Afterwards, he shook hands with the graduates and posed for selfies. When asked about the spill later in the day, heres what President Biden had to say. I got sandbagged. Oh, my god. Okay. He did a jig. Donald trump was asked about President Bidens fall yesterday during a fox news town hall meeting. Take a look. You cant fall. You just cant fall, No Matter What. Just cant allow it to happen. I better not allow it especially after saying this, i better not allow it to happen with me. You know, in his response trump acknowledged his own concerns about falling after a speech at west point back in 2020 when he was seen walking very carefully down a ramp and he made reference to that saying, you know, basically, jonathan lemire, its kind of like its dangerous out there. He said thats serious stuff. And its very dangerous out there. And you dont want to fall. But bidens fall yesterday im glad hes okay. It looked like a hard fall. Glad he got up. Sandbagged. And he was okay with it. But obviously, though, again, biden is talking tonight. Weve been talking about things that actually do matter, the legislation. At the same time, theres some people in the campaign im sure that are going, oh, come on. Yeah, no doubt. First of all, a rare moment of selfawareness from donald trump to acknowledge that he also had some trouble Walking Around actually at a service Academy Graduation. Those things apparently are tough for commanders in chief. But in terms of President Biden, the white house says he is fine, it was a hard fall. He tripped over a sandbag that was there on stage. He was clearly in some pain afterwards. He gingerly sat down afterwards but he continued throughout the ceremony, got back on air force one. He did bump his head on marine one as he stepped off the helicopter on the white house lawn but he seems fine. On a serious note, this is, and you are right, we have spent correctly the majority of this block talking about the Debt Ceiling Bill and that accomplishment. But president s do fall. They do. They trip and fall. President obama did a few times. But no president has ever been 81 years old and run for reelection when he did so. His age is an issue here. The republicans immediately jumped on this and blasted all over social media. The white house was very quick to be defensive. They pride themselves, this white house, of being above the fray. Yesterday they were all over twitter because they knew, they know polls show that americans do have concerns about the president s age. This is going to be a story line they have to deal with. But they have they feel like they have. They feel like voters now who joe biden is, he knows what hes doing. Is it ron desantis or deesantis. What hes saying about changing the pronunciation of his own name. Morning joe is coming right back. Name morning joe is coming right back only pay for what you need. With the money we saved, we tried electric unicycles. I think ive got it doggypaddle only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. 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 oh booking. Com, im going to somewhere, anywhere. A beach house, a treehouse, honestly i dont care find the perfect Vacation Rental for you booking. Com, booking. Yeah. As a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. So start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for Small Business comcast business mobile. Flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. All on the most reliable 5g network, with no line activation fees or term contracts. Saving you up to 75 a year. And its only available to comcast Business Internet customers. So boost your bottom line by switching today. Comcast business. Powering possibilities™. We moved out of the city so our little sophie could appreciate nature. But then he got us tmobile home internet. I was just trying to improve our signal, so some of the trees had to go. I mightve taken it a step too far. chainsaw revs tree crashes chainsaw continues daughter screams lets pretend for a second that you didnt let down your entire family. What would that reality look like . Well i guess i wouldve gotten us xfinity. And wed have a better view. Do you need mulch . What, we have a ton of mulch. Theres been some confusion over your last name and the pronunciation. Im just wondering to correct the record, what is it . Oh, its ridiculous. The way to pronounce my last name, winner. So, well, i guess its stupid if he called himself desantis his entire life and then the last year he called himself desantis. I mean its like i dont know, willie, its kinda strange but its okay, its not a big deal. Well call him whatever he wants to be called. This is trivial, but its getting more strange by the moment. Which is it . Like we said, we want to call him whatever hed like to be called but he wont even say it when asked directly about it. When he was sworn into his most recent term, the Chief Justice in florida did desantis and he repeated it as desantis so were all over the place. Again, not a big deal. Wed just like to nail it down as we move through a long president ial campaign. I feel like when im saying desantis, i feel like im making fun of him, but im not. Im saying what hes saying. I think thats what his parents called him because thats what he called himself. Maybe he doesnt like the duh in it. Desantis. And then he stopped recently. But in an announcement earlier we heard him talk about desantis. Whats your name . Seriously, its not a dumb question. You ought to be able to answer that. Now to weightier issues here, elise, we have the Secretary Of State, who yesterday was in oslo, meeting with the Foreign Ministers there, talking about, again, nato, strengthening the bonds of nato, strengthening this historic alliance, talking about pushing back against russias aggression and russias invasion. And this morning Secretary Of State Antony Blinken is in helsinki. If you just look at that map, hes in helsinki in a country thats been historically at war with russia, had an uneasy relationship with them. They have got, what, 600, 800 miles of border with russia. And i think for putin, whats most galling, its a country thats like two hours away by car from st. Petersburg. From where he was born and where he grew up. But as Admiral Stavridis said, you look at sweden, finland, latvia, nato is in the process of turning the baltic sea into a nato lake. Its pretty extraordinary. This morning blinken talked about putins historical strategic failure and talked about the 100,000 casualties, just unbelievable, in the last six months. Vladimir putin has not only damaged himself economically, but hes also gutted moscows military might and russia as a world power. You look at that map and it really is just stunning to see how nato is his entire neighborhood. If not already a nato country, theyre trying to join up with the exception of belarus. I think its a pretty important time in the debate over the ukraine war, because we can continue and keep getting bogged down and putting more money, putting more weapons, prolonging the violence, or we can try to push for negotiations. And so its interesting to see how this proceeds over the next few months. Id be really surprised if we didnt see some move toward negotiations after the socalled Spring Offensive takes place and well see what the impact of that is, because that will certainly shape the contours of any negotiated piece. Mike allen, feel free to comment on blinkens trip or whatever else youre working on today. What are you looking at . Yeah, joe. One thing that leaked out at me in Secretary Blinkens remarks is he started talking about peace, looking beyond war, just and lasting peace. Were also seeing more and more reporting about rebuilding ukraine and how much people in ukraine live normal lives in one window and in others sheer terror. Other things that were looking at, joe, pulling back the camera on this week thats going to turn out to be historic because of these twin deals. Weve talked about the wilyness, the compromise, the competence of President Biden. We also have to say and Eugene Robinson alied to this, how surprisingly strong Speaker Mccarthy emerges from this. Those numbers were bigger than you think. You see him Walking Around the capitol, a spring in his step. And you know what, we werent sure that he was still going to be speaker at this time. Right. So hes stronger too. And you saw a little nod from one professional to another. President biden not only giving him the space but biden twice in public statements saying that Kevin Mccarthy negotiated in good faith. Thats not the usual rhetoric, thats a hat tip one leader to another. Coming up, the former mayor of new orleans, marc morial is here. He joins us to mark 20 years as the head of the National Urban league. Morning joe will be right back. Will be right back realtor. Com in a whisper can we even afford this house . Maybe jacob can finally get a job. The house whisperer this house says use realtor. Com to see homes in your budget. Youre staying in school, jacob realtor. Com. To each their home. For copd, ask your doctor about breztri. Breztri gives you better breathing, symptom improvement, and helps prevent flareups. Breztri wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. It is not for asthma. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Dont take breztri more than prescribed. Breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vison changes, or eye pain occur. If you have copd ask your doctor about breztri. Living with diabetes . Glucerna protein smart has your number with 30 grams of protein. Scientifically designed with carbsteady to help you manage your blood sugar. And more protein to keep you moving with diabetes. Glucerna live every moment the subway series is getting an upgrade the new 19 the pickleball club. Who knew the subway series could get even better . Me, i knew. Maybe you should host a commercial then. Sure, okay. Subway series just keeps getting better. Subway series every day, businesses everywhere are asking. Is it possible . With comcast business. It is. Is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address operations issues . We can help with that. Can we provide health care virtually anywhere . We can help with that, too. Is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations . Yeah absolutely. With global secure networking from comcast business. Its not just possible. Its happening. While he was still mayor, marc came to los angeles. The rodney king beating, that just awakened people here in ferguson, baltimore, north charleston, south carolina. The list goes on and on. We had the Tamir Rice Case in the city of cleveland. So the first person i called was marc because he understood from the work he had done in policing in new orleans and the stuff that was happening all around the country, he knew as an urban League Leader that i was going to have to be prepared. A look at the tenure of president and ceo of the National Urban league, marc morial, who today is celebrating 20 years leading that organization. Marc joins us now. Good morning. Congratulations. Thank you. Good morning, good morning. Its been quite a ride. I bet it has. And it just started. Youre just starting and i know lets just get this done, your greatest applicator is marrying michelle miller. Of course, of course. But put that aside, during your tenure, i want to start on the positive because there is so much to talk about in terms of challenges for black america. But what do you think the greatest accomplishment or touchpoint during your tenure on a positive level would be . You know, i think let me just talk about america. I think the election of barack obama and the idea that a black man could get elected president in 2008 is a significant accomplishment. No way it would have been predicted, foreshadowed or foreseen. As well as i dont think anyone would have foreshadowed the election of a president like donald trump. It indicates that in the 20 years ive been at the league, it has been a Roller Coaster Ride. Yeah. For the nation and a Roller Coaster Ride on issues of racial justice. But im proud always because in this work i get a chance to work with incredible people, men and women, from all backgrounds. People on the front lines in the urban league. Its Partner Organizations and civil rights, business, labor and the Faith Community who represent this coalition of people who are really striving to build this next generation of america. Were striving to build an america which stands and understands both the good and the bad of its past. But its trying to create a great future. At the league, im proud that, you know, we took a Proud Organization that was sort of more in the 20th century and rebuilt it, rebranded it, repositioned it, restrategized it. So the National Urban league is five times as large. It reaches six times as many people. Every program in the direct services we do with our affiliates, weve got a whole new generation, a young generation of leaders at the local level, the young professionals. Its been a dramatic transformation. Were just one of many institutions, organizations, in civil rights, Social Justice and the like who are in this fight for now and our future as a nation. Coming up, nasa is on a mission to expand cooperation in space. Well speak with nasa administrator bill nelson about what the future holds and the exploration of the final frontier. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. When you sleep more deeply, you wake up more energized. Introducing purples new mattresses our unique gel flex grid draws away heat, helping you fall asleep faster. It relieves pressure for less ow, and more ahhh. and instantly adapts as you move, without ever disturbing your partner. Amazing. Sleep better. Live purple. Save 800 off mattress sets at our memorial day event. Visit purple. Com or a store near you. More and more countries are using Satellite Technology to power smart devices. Meanwhile, cnbc reports the pentagon just awarded spacex with a starlink project. Thats the satellite Internet Company thats been instrumental to ukraines defense efforts this past year. On thursday, the pentagon inked a deal to purchase starlink satellite internet terminals. The terminals in ukraine arrived four days after Russian Troops poured over the nations border last february. That comes as Biden Administration officials continue to visit poland amid russias war in ukraine. The latest is nasa administrator bill nelson there to underscore the importance of Space Exploration and science to American Leadership around the globe. What are you doing in warsaw with my brother, and is he behaving . Your brother sends his love. He is a great ambassador for the United States. We have had a ball together. We have been with students. We have been with government leaders, the whole deal. We, hopefully, are doing a Good Days Work for the United States. So, administrator nelson, you have obviously a message youre sending to the people of poland. Recently, youve been visited by president macron of france, by the Prime Minister of japan, by the head of south koreas government to nasa. It used to be us against them, everybody had their own space program. Space race. Talk about this new collaborative approach, because you really, really emphasize that, that in the future space is going to be a collaborative effort. Indeed. As a matter of fact, i came from spain, where we met with the president and then the king of spain. They are all space enthusiasts, and so too here in poland as well. We go back to the moon this time after 40, 50plus years and we go back as an international mission. Our efforts in lowearth orbit, in the space station, its an International Space station. We do that because, as we venture out into the cosmos, going to the moon to work, to live, to create, to invent, in order to go to mars, we go with our international friends, and we go in a Public Private partnership. We go with our commercial partners. So were here in poland to encourage the polish government to increase their activity in space. Theyre very involved with the European Space agency, which we directly work with, but we also work bilaterally with poland and all these other countries as well. We talked about the starlink deal with the pentagon early on, just talking about the military impact of space. Talk about that as we move forward. How important is it as we work collaboratively with our allies, how important is it for Americas National defense that we continue to stay engaged in space . Well, space is the place now. When you get to the national defense, space has become absolutely essential. And, thus, you will see the increased activity with regard to protecting our ourselves as our adversaries increase their ability as well. Nasa has the good fortune of being in the civilian part of space, and thats where we are a unifying factor. We bring people together, not the least of which is the irony on earth we are having such difficulty with the russians. But we built the space station together, we operate it together, and its a very professional relationship between our cosmonauts and our astronauts. But when it comes to our problems on earth, of course, president putin is doing the unimaginable of what hes doing in ukraine. Nasa administrator bill nelson, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. Thank you so much. Its just before the top of the fourth hour of morning joe. Jonathan lemire and elise jordan are back with us. Were getting into your final hour of the week. Dont mess this up. 25 hours a week this man is not well. He looks as tired as chris sales shoulder. Its rough. So well rested. Do you like my tie . Were having some conversations over at the side of the studio. If two people come up, just walk away. We might have you removed. Were having a discussion about this. You take him out of the game . Well, you think he can make it to the end . Whos the reliever . Whos in the bullpen . Elise. Thank you for your vote of confidence. On the mound. Somethings not right. Oh boy. Here comes alex cora. He looks exhausted. Dont worry about reading lips, because he swears so much. He take sale out of the game. Lets get to the breaking Economic News this hour. The latest jobs report shows employers added 339,000 jobs last month. That is much higher than economists expectations of 190,000. The Unemployment Rate is at 3. 7 , just above the lowest level since 1969. Lets bring in cnbcs christina partsenemolos. You went through and explained the differences in whats expected and what actually happened. Thats 150,000 Different Number of jobs than we anticipated. March and april, those numbers were also higher. There were no major increases in any particular sector aside from health care, construction and transportation. What we did see is the unemployment level, actually ticked a little higher from 3. 7 to 3. 5 . That looks a little bad because more people are seeking unemployment benefits. But weve seen this before, especially since covid. History has shown us that people tend to maybe lose a job, but then they find a job in another sector less than seven weeks later. Our economy is still strong, but there is a disconnect between the jobs report and the market. Because if the economy keeps chugging along and our hourly wages increase, that means inflation may stay higher, and then the fed will have to step in and keep raising Interest Rates. That means credit cards, mortgage, debts will be more expensive for all of us. Thats the big debate. What is the fed going to do at their next meeting . My question to you is, did you see the finale of succession. I am watching it tonight with my husband. Ive been busy throughout the week with work and longer hours. Thats my friday night excitement plan. This entire newsroom around me is exactly like the show. I put my lunch in that same pantry they showed on the show as well. I wish i could tilt the camera to show you. Thank you as always. Great to have you on this morning. Quickly, the economy, you talk to people who have been following the economy for years and they keep saying theyre just shocked by the resiliency of the economy. The fed keeps raising Interest Rates, everybody keeps expecting a recession. Theyve been talking about a recession for a year, year and a half. Weve been surprised by these job numbers eight times now, because you would think the higher Interest Rates would slow down the jobs growth. All right. Theres new back and forth going on between former President Trump and Florida Governor ron desantis. The two are sparring over the length of time they could each serve as president. It started with desantis arguing that republicans need a twoterm president to achieve the partys goals. Trump, who would be term limited is pushing back on that. Take a look at how this played out. Leadership at the end of the day, its not about entertainment, its not about building a brand or virtue signaling. Its about producing results. You really need a very disciplined, energetic president willing to spit nails and fight the needed battles every single day for eight years. When i heard desantis go out and talk about eight years, we need eight years. You dont need eight years. You need six months. We can turn this thing around so quickly. Who the hell wants to wait eight years . You dont need it. Ill have it turned around, fully turned around. Anyone who tells you ill take care of it in one day or six months, theyre selling you a bill of goods. No ones going to get it done in a day or six months. But we will as a twoterm president be able to get this done. Governor, do you think its a mistake for former President Trump to say he could turn around the country in six months . No i said to tame the deep state you need two turns. Hes not going to be able to nix the deep state in six months. He had four years. Give me a break. Obviously theres a lot you can do on day one. Can you tame the deep state in a day or six months . If he says he can do it in six months, why didnt he do it in the four years that he had . Oh my god. Elise, you know, do they give him a word and they program it in to him, tame the deep state . Again, going back to succession its like logan roys famous line where he told his kids i love you, but you are not serious people. I keep waiting for ron desantis to become serious. Thats not going to happen. I dont know why. Maybe because he speaks in complete sentences, you think at some point some republican will figure out that being a serious person is the best alternative to donald trump. Hes talking like a robot. He cant just say donald trump failed last time, he had four years, his gdp numbers were worse than seven other president s. Hes not good at this job. He couldnt do it. Instead he goes, it will take more time to tame the deep state. They ask him a followup. It will take more time to tame the deep state. They ask him a question, he goes, deep state. Seriously. These are not serious people. Stop being its such a mistake for desantis to try to be another more extreme version of donald trump when plenty of republican primary voters still want the original version. He doesnt he try to differentiate himself . He could have gone down another path of trying to be a more serious conservative alternative. No. Youve gotten so into these culture wars that even you have donald trump stepping back a little bit from the word woke, donald trump himself not wanting to make a big deal over woke, talk about a change in tune. But you look at the poll that was in a leaked memo obtained from axios by trumps pollster. It was in five key states. If you look at what they found, desantis and trump, without knowing any of desantis positions, voters were a little bit more into desantis, although he still trailed by quite a margin. Once voters learned about desantis positions on Social Security and medicare and book banning, his popularity plummeted. Once voters get to know desantis, they dont even like some of the stuff he has done. Of course, mr. Sixweek abortion ban, i mean stop right there. I could be wrong, but it seems that this is becoming a unifying issue when it comes to both sides. You talk about the sixweek abortion ban, you talk about the book banning. Heres the thing. He can talk about how its not book banning all he wants. Then you go to one of the reddest counties in florida and you have teachers and parents and students talking to the school board saying were going to quit our jobs. The last two months have been the most heinous two months for us. The hatred spewed towards teachers because of ron desantis attempt to turn his president ial election into some crusade against woke. Theres this money quote from one teacher in this county that went for desantis by 25 or 30 points north of tampa. She said to the school board, hey, you guys think im trying to turn your kids gay . Im not trying to turn your kids gay. Ive got bad news, some of them were just born gay. I teach math. Im too busy trying to teach math to try to turn your kids gay. Most of the audience, most of the students, most of the people were on the teachers side. This is a small, small sliver and they keep drilling down lower, which makes them republicans that think that somehow im criticizing the Republican Party here. No. It goes back to what ive been saying nonstop for the past two years. Youre making yourself more unelectable. Youre driving away more parents. Youre driving away more suburban voters. Youre driving away more educated people. According to the demographics, youre driving away the very people who really would like an excuse to vote for you. Lets go to des moines, iowa, to Vaughn Hillyard and New York Times opinion columnist david french. David, hes like a robot. The deep state, woke, war on woke. Its like talk like a human being to us. But this is what were hearing from so many people on the far right. Theyre just undercutting the ability of candidates that you want to be democrats to actually win elections. Yeah. I think at least on the bright side he is taking on trump now. I feel like hes making the exactly same mistake that ted cruz did in 2016, which was, to say, wait a minute, trumps support is because of his positions and ill outflank him and be more conservative than him, more pugilistic than him. What they dont get is, the actual support for trump is because of the person less than the position. You saw it in that town hall last night in iowa. When hes angry and firm with putin, trust him. Thats right. When hes more loving and accepting of putin, trust him, thats right. Theres this incredible amount of trust in him as the person. Its not just the position, they trust him to take the position he needs to take in the moment. Thats the core bond here. The core bond is this trust they have in him as a human being. Look, its like entering a parallel universe to watch it in action, to turn on fox news and to see a completely obsequious sean hannity and talk about the faces in the crowd. Thats the challenge that all republican contenders face, not just ron desantis, is breaking that bond. How do you do it . Do you do it by taking on trumps positions . Do you do it by taking on trump the person . The thing thats disturbing to me, honestly, is nobodys solved that yet. Nobody has shown the way quite yet on how to do that. So vaughn, im going to come to you. I dont think you have to actually offer an opinion as a reporter to say that donald trump is an entertainer. I want to double down on what david french said. It seems to me that ron desantis is making the same mistake that ted cruz made in 2016, which is to be angrier, to be more pugilistic, to be more hostile, to snarl more. Listen to trumps schtick on stage, and then go back to listen to sinatra live at the sands in 1965. There are parallels both of them are playing the crowd like the pros that they are as far as being entertainers. On one side hes got trump the entertainer, which i personally think is a fascist and a danger to the future of the republic. But they dont think that. They see this guy they love laughing with, the whole world, right . On the other side youve got ron desantis, dour, angry, snarling about the deep senate, snarling about wokism, much like ted cruz in 2016. Reporter right. I appreciate the deference on the opinion, but i think theres two metric points. Sean hannity during that town hall suggested to trump expressing concern among some republicans that his constant attacks on other republicans is alienating some part of the american electorate and is costing them elections. As soon as hannity began to asked donald trump why he makes those attacks, the crowd there at that town hall, which was filled with republican voters, started booing sean hannity. The second metric id use is, the fact that ron desantis and these other republicans have allowed over the last six years for trump to create the republican Playing Field of facts. One example from last night was the statement from donald trump to the iowa crowd that he gave farmers across the country 28 billion in payments during his administration. Thats just false. Its false. The american taxpayers gave 28 billion in payouts to American Farmers to compensate them for their losses stemming from his trade war with china. China did not pay in tariffs 28 billion to American Farmers. But over the last years, donald trump has been allowed to consistently say that. Outside of that town hall with kaitlan collins, you have not seen donald trump get pushback from journalists, because he hasnt sat down for interviews with journalists. The one group that could have pushed back over the years were republican lawmakers. That is what makes this so difficult. Youre going to lose to him on the personality. The crowd booed when sean hannity asked why he attacked. And youre going to lose to him on policy, because for years now donald trump has created a false understanding of this electorate of what the actual policies and facts are around those very conversations. Lets talk about Governor Desantis here. There were a lot of questions about his retail political skills, how he would interact with voters on the trail. Hes had some events. He was in iowa, where you are. Hes also been in New Hampshire. He snapped at an a. P. Reporter yesterday for asking a Pretty Simple question and he said, are you blind when the a. P. Reporter was asking why dont you take questions from the audience. How do republicans think ron desantis first days on the stump have gone . Reporter the folks around desantis, including his super pac, believe that ron desantis and their political operation is going to outwork donald trump. He had six stops here in iowa, flew overnight to New Hampshire. Frankly, donald trump usually just flies in and flies out here. Notably tomorrow is senator joannie ernests roast and ride. Donald trump will flot be here donald trump. They can at least put him in the position to continue to meet voters at least that they are going to be able to make the case he is listening to them and getting to know them. One other note id like to make is that Casey Desantis notably has been on the Campaign Trail with him every step of the way. Donald trump is a oneman show, comparatively. You have recently returned from a trip to ukraine. As we know, not just a political issue in the upcoming republican primary, its a matter of life and death for so many ukrainians and for our own National Security interests. Can you talk about what you learned and your impressions and how you think the biden strategy is progressing . Yeah. Theres a couple of things that you notice pretty immediately when you go to kyiv. This is not a new observation. Its just a simple depth of resolve of the ukrainians in government and Civil Society and ordinary, average, everyday ukraines thats unique. That resolve is incredibly encouraging when you see that valor married to American Technology and how incredibly effective its been on the battlefield. Theres Something Else you dont see quite as much. That is, ukrainians understand the depth of their challenge when theyre facing this much bigger country with much greater resources. I fear that some of our cheer leading here in the United States has led us to believe its going to be easier than it really will be for ukraine to prevail in this war. Our commitment has to be deep and prolonged. We have to be in it for the long haul. While joe biden has been slow on providing some weapons systems, his great quality so far is he says thats the key question republicans are going to have to answer. They cant dodge that. They have to stay clearly in it for the long haul. If theyre not, that should be a very material factor in voters minds. Quite frankly, this is the most important conflict in the world right now. Of course donald trump says he could finish this war in 24 hours, which is nonsense. It is fascinating how the two leading republicans are trying to dodge the issue. David, while you were over there covering a very real war with great consequences across the globe, the phony culture wars have been exploding even more. I want to bring up one example especially. The far right continue attacking chickfila and continue to attack their ceo, calling them woke. Last night even somebody got on a Cable Network and attacked chickfila and made a racist comment about it. Theyre taking this way too far. I want to read you, for all the right wingers and the socalled christians who are attacking chickfila because theyre too woke, chickfila said, we are committed to ensuring mutual respect, understanding and dignity everywhere we work. Listen to how woke this is. Our purpose is to glorify god and have a positive impact on all who come into contact with chickfila. And they talk about how humility is their central value and believing in the best in others is what they think they need to do with their culture of belonging and humility. So while you were out of the country, we were talking about this. I talked about how everybody on the right getting so angry about the fact that the ceo of chickfila actually shined the shoes of a black man on stage. I said, yeah, that is socalled christians who have actually never read the red letters. The rest of us, the second we see that, what do we think of . Jesus washing the disciples. The pope does this every year. Here we have the pope in a holy thursday ritual symbolizing humility, pope francis washed and dried the feet of a dozen residents of a rome juvenile prison, assuring them of their dignity and telling them any of us can fall into sin. This is straight out of the gospel of john. These idiots who claim that theyre christians who harass chickfila for talking about humility and mutual respect, really it shows how off the rails theyve gone. It is really remarkable. Just think that chickfila, heres an institution that isnt just one of the best fast food restaurants in america, but one that institutionally has committed itself to a number of good causes, led by people who are outspoken christians, but in this very online christian right, youre not really a christian unless youre an intolerant culture warrior. Theyre constantly looking for the camels nose of progressivism thats sneaking under the tent. Theyre constantly looking for cultural enemies. The boycott list is just going to keep growing longer, because very few people actually agree with the full platform of the most intolerant parts of the christian right. Each boycott gets more attention. But at some point you just kind of have to let other people live their lives and let other people express their values without demanding that everyone conform specifically to your program before youll patronize their establishment. Thats no way to live. Great example of this. Clayton kershaw, the extraordinary dodgers pitcher, hes a dedicated christian along with his wife. They have charities. They focus on their faith. They focus on helping other people through their faith. The dodgers had an event that they personally found offensive, even though clayton never used those words. He said, you know, im against people making fun of anybodys religion, not just mine. So what did he do . He didnt say we should boycott this group. No. He asked the dodgers if they would have a night celebrating christians and the christian faith. The dodgers said sure. So youre exactly right. Okay, if these people want to do things i find offensive, im not going to scream and yell and screech. Clayton kershaw says i want to show people an alternative, what we are. That sounds like exactly what youre talking about. Its a great response. Its a Great American pluralistic response. Hey, if theres speech i dont like, my answer to bad speech is better speech. My answer to your speech is my speech. Im not trying to punish you, but i am trying to answer you. I think that is one thing that is a different way of approaching these cultural battles where instead of saying im trying to suppress you, im trying to get you fired, im trying to put you out of business, im trying to answer you. In some circumstances, im going to debate with you in good will. Rather than punishing and trying to silence what we do instead is we answer and we speak. New york times opinion columnist david french, thank you very much. Great conversation. Have a great weekend. Coming up, another republican governor is sending National Guard troops to the southern border. Plus, a Major Tech Company is taking a stand on working remotely. Well tell you who it is and what their new policy is. Ou whod what their new policy is you were always so dedicated. We worked hard to build up the shop, save for college and our retirement. But we got there, thanks to our advisor and vanguard. Now i see who all that hard work was for. It was always for you. Seeing you carry on our legacy im so proud. At vanguard, youre more than just an investor, youre an owner. Setting up the future for the ones you love. Thats the value of ownership. [typing] you were made to act spontaneously. We were made to help plan accordingly. What are you talking about . Are you blind . What . Are you blind . Are you blind . Are you blind . Are you blind . Are you blind . Sir, with the glasses, are you literally blind . Im concerned you might be in danger. These are expensive raybans, jackass. I was just looking out for you. You did great by the way. Thanks. Are you blind . Are you blind . Are you blind . Oh my god. Ron desantis yesterday in New Hampshire channelling his inner andy from the office. It was strange to see him sort of yelling at that reporter. I think hes missing something. Because when trump does it, hes sort of half joking, gets the audience involved. Im not saying its right, but ron desantis is just nasty to reporters. I dont know. Im not sure how this is going to fly. Well watch it. In other news, facebooks Parent Company meta is requiring its employees assigned to an office to come in to work three days a week starting in september. The move will not affect workers who currently have remote positions, the company said in a statement. The new mandate only applies to employees who are already coming in to the office on some days. The change is meant to foster the collaboration, relationships and culture necessary for employees to do their best work, a Company Spokesperson said. Its time now to look at the morning papers. We begin in virginia, where the Bristol Herald courier has a feature on Governor Glenn Youngkin sending troops to the southern border to texas. He says they will help secure the border and reduce the flow of fentanyl. The move comes at the request of Texas Governor greg abbott. The boston globe leads with massachusetts owing the federal government 2. 5 billion, a routine audit discovered. The state accidentally used federal money to fund jobless benefits during the pandemic. The payments should have been made by the state. Its not clear how this mistake was made. The Labor Department declined to comment, but quote, said it is working with the state on options to rectify the situation. The Capital Gazette reports the intention to raise teachers salaries to an 8,000 increase. If approved, the new salaries would take effect july 1st. The goal is to have starting salaries hit 60,000 by fiscal year 2026. Officials say raising wages will help hire and retain teachers. And finally, the arkansas democrat gazette has a feature on medicare to cover alzheimers drugs that receive full fda approval. They granted an accelerated pathway in january. Medicare says if it receives that green light, physicians will have to collect and report data on the medication in order for eligible patients to get full coverage. So this weekend, close to 200 mayors from around the country will gather for the annual conference of mayors meeting being held in columbus, ohio. In addition to tackling issues like gun violence and homelessness, this year the local leaders will focus on the Mental Health crisis plaguing americans all across the country. Joining us now from the meeting is the mayor of reno, nevada. She is also serving as the Vice President of the u. S. Conference on mayors. On monday, she will be sworn in as the groups next president. Thank you very much for coming on the show. Congratulations on everything. Lets get right down to work. On Mental Illness, how much does this play a role in the crisis of homelessness that cities are seeing across the country . And what are some of the ideas that mayors can bring to the table to really tackle it . Well, it is massive. We know over 70 of this crisis thats happening is due to Mental Illness and addiction. None of us should have to have our loved ones arrested to get Mental Health help or treatment in this country. I think its a dirty dark secret that we have been talking about for decades. It is devastating our cities truly and figuratively. What a lot of people dont know and why mayors are here and its so critical is that we need federal legislation to pass. So mayors are going to be fighting hard. The reason we need it is the majority of funding goes to the counties and to our states. It never comes to the cities. That is really, really challenging for us. Remember, we are at ground zero. Its our First Responders dealing with this and our e. R. S getting impacted. We have a major crisis at the city level because we cant seem to get that funding. Ive been working for five years with my state and county to get a 24 7 crisis center. Its five years in the making and were just now getting that money to the cities. So the cities have to be at the table. That is incredibly broken. We know mayors arent getting the resources or funding. We have the biggest impact. 71 of our homeless congregate in cities. We need to get them treatment. The policies are very, very broken. Weve got to bring back acute care hospitals, you know, treating our Mental Illness in our jails is absolutely not working. Quite honestly, leaving people on the streets, the way that we see our cities right now is very, very cruel, inhumane. Its a humanitarian crisis and we need to do something completely different. When youre treating Mental Illness in jails or on the street, thats treating it after something terrible has happened. Were getting to the point where youre treating someone whos had a complete and massive life breakdown and is either living on the streets or in jail and the trauma that comes with that. Im curious if there will be any collective effort to address Mental Illness in schools in our young people. We do have a generation right now that data is showing going into young adulthood and dealing with massive Mental Health issues, depression, loneliness. What about trying to address the issue before it explodes out of control and social emotional training in schools . Thats exactly right. We have to be proactive instead of reactive. Government is very good at being reactive. Weve got to get into our schools early and often. Here is a staggering statistic. Its 49 of ages 1824 are experiencing anxiety and depression. What does that look like for our future . We have got to get to schools early and often. Its about prevention. Its about education. What scares me the most, out of that 49 , how many of them will use drugs to combat this . Weve got a major crisis on our hands. Its the stigma that no one has wanted to talk about. I know firsthand i lost my brother and my sister to Mental Illness. Guess what . I had to have them arrested to get help. I had to take them to e. R. S to get help where they fix broken bones, not broken brains. That has got to change. We have got to have access to treatment and to therapy. We also probably should make it mandated if you put somebody on a 72hour hold that they get treatment afterwards for a period of time when theyre suicidal. Those are very critical ways in which we can treat that. Its very important. Were not talking about it enough. I think its the number one crisis affecting america. If you look everywhere, youre see it on your streets. People are going untreated. Were treating them in our jails, and its unacceptable. You just mentioned the issue of drugs being a part of this terrible equation. So many cities across this country dealing with the scourge of opioids. How can that be part of the plan here . What is the organizations effort to try to fight use and abuse in cities across the country . Weve had mayors really tackle this head on. I was one of them. Mayor nan whaley from dayton, ohio, was one. We sued the opioid manufacturers. We know what devastating impacts they have had at the ground level in our cities. We do have to take a very tough approach when it comes to drugs. We have to have access to treatment. Treatment in our country is very expensive. If you know anyone thats been through drug or alcohol treatment, its very expensive. Quite frankly, only the people that can obtain it have insurance or money. We also have to get really strict on drugs. If you think about it, fentanyl right now, these drugs were calling weapons of mass destruction, thats what they are when they can kill hundreds if not thousands of people. We need to start treating it as such. Weve got to take a very strong approach and look at ways theyre coming into this country, how theyre getting distributed. We have got to be very stern on the approaches that we take and have a zero tolerance policy for distribution. Thank you very much for coming on. Wed love to have you back and talk more about these issues. Coming up, the Broadway Musical shocked is nominated for nine tony awards with alex newell up for best featured actor. Alex joins the table next on morning joe. Alex joins the table next on morning joe. If we want a more viable future for our kids, we need to find more sustainable ways of doing things. Americas plastic makers are investing billions of dollars in new technologies and creating Plastic Products that are more recyclable. Durable. And dependable. Our goal is a cleaner, healthier planet for generations to come. For a better tomorrow, were focused on making plastics better today. Dove invited women who wanted their damaged hair trimmed. Yes, i need a trim. I just want to be able to cut the damage. We tried dove instead. So, still need that trim . Oh my gosh i am actually shocked i dont need a haircut. Dont trim daily damage. Stop it with dove. What do we always say, son . Liberty mutual customizes your car insurance. So you only pay for what you need. Thats my boy. Stay off the freeways only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Realtor. Com in a whisper if we use Kevins College fund, we can afford this house. The house whisperer this house says use realtor. Com to find options within your budget. Good luck young man. Realtor. Com to each their home. My mom says that breyers is made with real milk. I think i can hear the mooing. Breyers Natural Vanilla is made with 100 grade a milk and cream. And only sustainably farmed vanilla. Better starts with breyers. Im independently owned i wont change who ill always be woman im independently owned oh my god, i love it. That is broadway star alex newell singing independently owned in the musical shocked. Its a performance that gets alex a standing ovation every night. Shocked is a new musical that opened april 4th and has already scored nine tony nominations. I think i see why. Joining us now is tony nominee alex newell who plays lulu in the musical. I could watch you sing all night long. Thank you. That is so amazing. You get a standing o every night. Tell us about shucked and your fabulous character. Shucked is a farm to fable. It takes place in a small county called cobb county. Our corn is dying and somebody has to fix it. First of all, congratulations. Thank you. Secondly, tell us what drew you to the role, and what is it like night after night to deliver a performance with that much energy and get that kind of feedback from the audience. Goodness. I read scripts daily. When i got this one, it was so funny. Coming out of a pandemic, not that its over, weve missed so much joy and laughter and light. And forgetting about that for 2 hours and 30 minutes is beautiful. To scream that song eight shows a week, its so fun. Its cathartic. I kind of black out during that time of singing the song, because youre putting so much life and love into a story thats kind of mirroring my own. Its lovely. To have that reaction, its crazy. I never see it because theres so many lights on me many light trying to find my breath again. Wow. But you hear it i assume . I do, i hear something. We started talking about at the end of the night when the shows over, what is that like for you, two and a half hours you spent yourself completely there. I try to get in my car and get directly in the bed immediately. Im not wasting time. You might occasionally find me at a nice little cocktail bar getting something to lubricate the throat back down. For the most part im in the bed trying to get some sleep. You have had such a career already. You were on bully, Kelly Clarkson even gave you a standing ovation. Yes. But this review from the New York Times, its what every performer has to dream of. Youre called youre called a full blown let me get it right. This is you as a full blown comic creation, and youre just a total breakout. How did it feel to get that kind of rave review . One, the New York Times, thank you. I have to say that, but because kindness is the last thing sometimes. But to hear that is just so wonderful. You know, ive been doing this a very long time. I started musical theater when i was like 14, which is kind of late, and to kind of be in this position now is just so beautiful because it means that youre standing in your own purpose and your work is paying off at the end of the day. You know, alex, watching you sing, especially independently owned, its always so fascinating and amazing to me to see someone totally knowing their space and owning it, and im just wondering for anyone and even because i think this type of advice is universal, how do you find that confidence as a performer . Oh, its nine times out of ten fake. You fake it until you make it. You really do. You have to fake it until you believe it your own self. You have to really trial and error. I started my career when i was 18 on glee. I graduated high school and moved directly to los angeles to be on my Favorite Television show. And i didnt know myself at 18. What 18yearold does know themselves, especially when theyre just coming out of high school, so a lot of trial and error, living in l. A. By myself, not having my support system, and kind of growing in that, and ive had the fortune of doing that for from 18 to now 30, so thats really where it comes from most days. Wow, shucked the Broadway Musical is playing right now at the nederlander theater in new york city. Alex newell, a big star. It is great to meet you. Thank you so much for coming on the show this morning. Thank you. And good luck with the tonys. Well be rooting for you. Congratulations. Thank you. Well be right back with much more morning joe. Theres a different way to treat hiv. Its everyothermonth, injectable cabenuva. For adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, longacting Hiv Treatment you can get every other month. Cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. Its two injections, given by my healthcare provider, every other month. Its one less thing to think about while traveling. Hiv pills arent on my mind. A quick change in my plans is no big deal. Dont receive cabenuva if youre allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. Serious side effects include allergic reactions postinjection reactions, Liver Problems, and depression. If you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. Tell your doctor if you have Liver Problems or Mental Health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. Some of the most common side effects include injectionsite reactions, fever, and tiredness. If you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. Every other month, and im good to go. Ask your doctor about everyothermonth cabenuva. Age is just a number, and mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for Muscle Health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. Boost® high protein. Now available in cinnabon® bakeryinspired flavor. Learn more at boost. Com tv you talked to the fbi director Christopher Wray on the phone yesterday, right, and youre trying to get a look at this document. From what i understand, he says youre okay to come to the bureau and look at it . Is that the case, and is that good enough for you . Well, its not good enough for me. We asked for the document a month ago. Its been subpoenaed. He ought to respond to a subpoena. Were doing the constitutional job of oversight. I have read that document. If he would read it and its an unclassified document, he admits it exists, and we arent 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. Quote, we arent interested in whether or not the accusations against vice President Biden are accurate or not. That is from republican senator chuck grassley. Jonathan lemire, more proof that the investigations are i mean, hes saying it right out loud. Hes telling us these are just, what, political . He said it right out loud. He should also probably get the president s title right, its President Biden now, and its very reminiscent of what comer said a week or so back when he acknowledged that his investigations were also about trying to drive bidens poll numbers down. These might be these admissions might be whats called a freudian slip. Give up the game. What youre really thinking. They might want to take a look, elise and jonathan at whether or not this is working. If it is all political, is it helping them politically . Is it helpful to go after president joe bidens surviving son . Does it really hurt the president . Did the president do anything wrong . Is it even connected with what hunter biden did or didnt do compared to the last presidency, former President Donald Trump facing indictment after indictment after indictment possibly in front of him. I dont think this is helping them, jonathan. No, id say not and this week is a testament to joe biden focusing on getting the job done. It doesnt matter that he fell on the stage in colorado. Its about getting the debt limit ceiling passed and getting ready for the 2024 election. All right, that does it for us this morning. Ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. Hello, and happy friday. It is 10 00 eastern. Im ana cabrera reporting from new york. This morning we have breaking Economic News, and its good. The latest jobs report out a short time ago defying expectations, blasting past what analysts predicted, well dive into what the number reveals about the jobs market and our economy. Plus, more breaking news, the deal is done