Transcripts For MSNBCW Morning Joe 20190710

Wrapped up. Jim vandehide thank you so much. Our viewers can sign up for the news letter. Sign up. Axios. Com. Im Geoff Bennett alongside alex witt, morning joe starts right now. Theyre using multiple signs, freddy. Darn it. Ive never taken a heater in my life. Man, that was hard guys. Oh, that was unfair, freddy. Wow. It was a strike. Throw a strike. Swing the bat. That was a good take, freddy. Thanks, guys. I thought he was going heater there. Got in with a breaking ball, freddy, youre a for instance for doing that. Okay. You try hitting a Justin Verlander curve ball with your ear filled with joe buck. It aint easy. That is ugly stuff. Good morning and welcome to morning joe, its wednesday, july 10th, along with mika, willie and me, we have mike barnicle, National Correspondent for political news and nbc, author of the red and blue, Steve Kornacki, Washington Bureau chief, susan page and the cofounder and ceo of axios, jim vandeheit, what do you think about that. Trying to hit a Justin Verlander curve ball while youre yakking it up with joe buck. That was one of the most enjoyable games i have watched in years. Not only Freddie Freeman who is very funny, asking for the signs, but the three houston players in the field at the same time, all wired up, talking about how exhausted they were from running from first to third, it was spectacularly fun to watch. That was a great night for baseball. The game was close, 43, the American League won. You had kristen yelich, the brewers outfielder, chatting with the guys in the booth, the right fielder, a blast hit to left field, he would run and chase it down. Sorry guys, what were we talking about, as he threw it back in the infield. Great job by fox. All right. Were following a number of stories this morning. Mika. We have new reporting from nbc news, detailing how Migrant Children held in a border station in yuma, arizona, not only told government investigators about unsanitary conditions, but also Sexual Assault and retaliation by Border Agents. Well talk about that. A federal judge rejects the Trump Administrations bid to replace the team of lawyers involved in the dispute over adding a Citizenship Question to the 2020 census. A federal Appeals Court appears ready to deal a blow to former president obamas Signature Health care law. A new twist in the ongoing Michael Flynn sentencing process as government lawyers draw up plans for flynn to be the star witness at his former Business Partners upcoming trial. And day two of former Fighter Pilot amy mcgraths bid to unseat Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell, her announcement on our show generated a lot of buzz, trending on twitter for most of the day, along with the hash tag, ditch mitch. We begin this morning with President Donald Trump saying hes quote not a fan of registered sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, a contrast from his comments in an october 2002 article in new York Magazine in which hes quoted as saying, i have known jeff for 15 years. This was back in 2002, terrific guy, hes a lot of fun to be with. Its even said that he likes beautiful women as much as i do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, jeffrey enjoys his social life. Heres what trump told reporters at the white house yesterday. Anybody else . You said he was a terrific guy. I knew him like everybody in palm beach knew him. He was a fixture in palm beach. I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I dont think ive spoken to him for 15 years. I wasnt a fan. A long time ago, id say maybe 15 years. I was not a fan of his. That i can tell you. I was not a fan of his. Well, willie, he was actually a fan of his for a very long time. In fact, one time trump shut down the entire resort and had calendar models come down, asked somebody to bring calendar models down for a vip event and when the organizer of it came down, he realized that the only two people in attendance at this event were donald trump and Jeffrey Epstein. They go back a long way. Yeah, that was in 1992 in maralago. Theres an excellent New York Times report that details the relationship between donald trump and Jeffrey Epstein. It does get into that night when it was you the two of them and a bunch of quote, calendar models at maralago. It sounds like there was a falling out was more over business than it was over anything personal. Meanwhile, there are calls for the resignation of labor secretary alex acosta, and they continue to intensify, but so far on the democratic side. Hes being newly criticized in his role for a 2008 nonprosecution agreement that allowed epstein to forego the possibility of a heavier jail sentence for sex Crimes Involving minors and served a 13 month jail term with much spent in work release. Multiple Top Democrats say acosta needs to go, including all the Senate Democrats who voted to confirm him in 2017. No republicans in congress have joined them. That includes senator ben sasse who vocally demanded an investigation into the Justice Departments handling of epstein but has refrained for calling for acostas resignation. The nonprosecution agreement looks like it protected people who were raping those little girls in palm beach. I dont want to comment about the particular people inside the chain of command in the department of justice ten years ago because theres an Ongoing Investigation that the office of professional responsibility is conducting and theyre going to be reporting back to us in the Judiciary Committee and then well have a lot more to say. Acosta weighed in on the latest charges against Jeffrey Epstein, writing in a series of tweets yesterday, quote, the crimes committed by epstein are horrific. Im pleased that new york prosecutors are moving forward with the case based on new evidence. With the evidence available more than a decade ago, federal prosecutors insisted that epstein go to jail, register as a sex offender and put the world on notice that he was a sexual predator. Now that new evidence and additional testimony is available, the new york prosecution offers an important opportunity to more fully bring him to justice. Miami herald investigative journalist who spent two years interviewing women and girls who say they were sexually abused by epstein responded to acosta on twitter, writing, except the evidence shows you had the evidence, remember the 53 page indictment, the phone records, the trash pulls, the flight manifest, the witnesses who worked for epstein, so susan page, that is julie brown who really reopened this case as the attorneys in the Southern District of new york indicated two days ago at their press conference, they said new journalism, new reporting helped us along here. They met privately, kept it secret from the victims. Did things that were unconventional to put it mildly. Kudos to julie brown and the miami herald for pursuing this. This was a scandal in plain sight. This is something the administration could have done more to pursue when they were vetting mr. Acosta for the cabinet role. Its something that senators could have done more to pursue, particularly republicans who were controlling the senate, when they voted unanimously on the republican side to confirm him and now i think its all up to President Trump on whether he wants to take the heat for keeping mr. Acosta in his cabinet. He defended him yesterday, but it reminded me a bit of scott pruitt at the epa, defended by the president , kept in the job for a while until finally he was defended, then dumped. Jim, what is the future of alex acosta, listening to the president talk about him, say he felt badly for him, but you all are reporting at axios, theres not a ton of goodwill to begin with because of alex acosta, not because of this, but because of the way he has done his job as labor secretary. Its bad news, i think, for the acosta that you have so many people inside the white house leaking out that they werent happy with him before any of this. They claim he hasnt moved fast enough on regulatory fronts that they wanted him to move on. Mick mulvaney white house chief of staff thinks this is problematic, and its going to get worse. Its going to go back to the media. Theres going to be more and more reporting from the miami herald and others about what evidence did acosta have when he was making that decision. Its going to be revisited again. That continues to be a big story. Trump has no real loyalty to him. If he thinks hes problematic, hell dump him and move on. Thats why acosta got on twitter. Hes being told, you have to defend yourself. You look stupid here. If this doesnt go away, youre going away. Jim, you wonder how republicans could answer questions about acosta like do you think he should step down, if he had even half the evidence back in 2007 as julie brown reports, if he had half the evidence, how could a republican face the camera and say he should stay in his job. Heres what President Trump said yesterday about his embattled cabinet official. You know, i met secretary acosta when i made the deal to bring him into the administration. I can tell you that for 2 1 2 years, hes been an excellent secretary of labor. You know, if you go back and look at everybody elses decisions, whether its a u. S. Attorney or an assistantst attorn assistant attorney or a judge, you go back and look at their past decisions, you would wish they did it a different way. I do hear there were a lot of people involved in that decision, not just him. I can only say this from what i know and what i do know is that hes been a great, really great secretary of labor. The rest of it well have to look at. Well have to look at it very carefully but youre talking about a long time ago, and it was a decision made i think not by him but by a lot of people. I feel very badly, actually, for secretary acosta, because ive known him as being somebody that works so hard and has done such a good job. I feel very badly about what whole situation. If you go back and look at everybody elses decisions whether its a u. S. Attorney or assistant u. S. Attorney, or a judge, you go back 12 or jim, this is just incredible. Well let the president s comments sit there, and we can just, you know, wonder exactly who else on this planet who has served in the presidency would respond this way to a story like this, and someone in his cabinet under fire like this. But whatever. I digress. Talk to me about how republicans stand by quietly when this person is serving as a cabinet secretary who clearly, clearly made kind of a fool of process and in many ways protected epstein. Yeah, so far they have, by the way, very few if any have come out and said he needs to go. I think it gets a lot harder as time goes on because who the hell wants to be out there defending anything that has to do with the abuse of young girls. Its an awful situation. What epstein did was atrocious and anyone whos out there defending parts of it, even if you can make the case it was complicated and there are different pieces of evidence and other people involved in the process politically, i dont think its one republicans are going to want to make. What i was saying earlier, theyre getting clear signals from the white house that they dont want to stand behind and that people were fed up with him, even before this. So it will be interesting to watch over the next 48 hours, what you guys were saying earlier, that Trump Defends someone until he doesnt. He can say youre the greatest person now, and he could fire you on twitter 15 minutes from now. Its happened before. It will happen again. You know, steve, jim is so right on that. The president could Say Something completely opposite at 10 00 this morning to what he said yesterday. One of the nuggets in here that will move this case forward, the public case that were talking about occurred during the press conference the other day held by the u. S. Attorney for the Southern District here in manhattan, and they are clearly intent on looking at that nonprosecution agreement in florida. How is it made . Who made the deal . What were the aspects of the deal and that is going to be an even bigger story. I think thats the other element of this too. The story just in terms of the prosecution, the story in terms of the case against epstein and everything that went on a decade ago is going to stay in the news. Its not going to go away. Its not like theres an eruption this week and the things that are going to happen over the next few days. This story is going to keep popping up. Every time the story pops up, the same questions being asked now are going to be raised. The same questions about acosta are going to be raised. I agree with what seems to be the consensus here. We have seen this with trump before, we have seen a tepid vote of confidence, he leaves himself wiggle room there. Hes clearly trying to gauge the public realask public reaction. And i wouldnt be surprised if he hear something in a different direction. We have a lot coming up with julia aimsley. Steve kornacki, we lost ross perot passing away at the age of 89. Talk about his legacy and his impact on the elections. I think ross perot, he ushered in a new era of american politics, and an era that were living in now, and that ultimately produced a generation on donald trump. Ross perot in 1992, i think the historical significance of that election is, remember, thats the first post cold war president ial election. Thats the first election after the fall of soviet communism. I think there were new tensions and anxieties in the United States, sort of domestically that were coming to the floor that were going to define our politics. The media had evolved in a way that someone like ross perot could emerge. There was one cable news outlet. There was cnn. A decade old, and at 9 00 p. M. , you had larry king live, and larry king would have an old entertainer from hollywoods glory days and the next night, a business tycoon. Two days later, george h. W. Bush, won the New Hampshire primary but it was humbling, his opponent pat buchanan had got 40 . You had bill clinton. Paul songus was making noise, and larry king said would you think about running for president , i tell you what, if you the people are serious about it, you register my name in all 50 states and ill do it. It was taken as an empty promise, almost a nonanswer, and yet almost overnight, in an age before you had the internet like you have told. We didnt have a viral culture, a Grass Roots Movement did spring up. Eight weeks after that, they handed in 250,000 signatures in the state of texas to get ross perot on the ballot. By the late spring of 92, he was running in first place in the national polls, ahead of bush, ahead of clinton, there was serious talk that he could win the presidency, that he could win the electoral college. As the scrutiny intensified, things changed for per rot, the were a lot of precursors to what ended up happening with trump a decade later. We think about the years that changed politics. A lot of people obviously look back at 1966 for the beginning of the reagan revolution. 1974, the watergate babies as they were called. You can go through the years, but 1992, specifically that month that Steve Kornacki just talked about, 1992, a turning point in american politics, it really defines this era. Ross perot, launching his bid on larry king, and also pat buchanan, humbling george h. W. Bush. When i ran two years ago later, i found there was far more energy at the united we stand meetings, which is per rots grp than there was with the Republican Party. Most of the people who worked on my first campaign, a long shot campaign, were perot united we stand people, and i found out very quickly that the party of george h. W. Bush was no longer the party of bush. This was amalgamation of perot and buchanan, and i think it still is. I covered that 1992 race for news day and heres another lesson among the others that steve mentioned from that that apply today and apply to trumps surprise win in 2016. I dont think we took perot seriously enough as a credible candidate in 1992. It took a while for i think the news media to understand that if it was conceivable he could win, unlikely, conceivable he led for a while in june of 1992 and he represented something important we needed to Pay Attention to, and i do think it started a lot of the politics we see unfolding today. The populism, the concern about trade, the dissatisfaction and suspicion of the washington establishment. It wasnt new wu it got a lot more intense with new, it got a lot more intense with ross perot. He managed to tap it in a way that should have told us a lot about the coming days of donald trump. Steve perot got 19 in 1992. The bush family have long contended that ross perot cost george bush a second term. Do the facts, do the numbers bear that out . They dont. There was incredible personal animosity between the bushes and perots, theres a whole back story. The exit poll asked voters if perot werent on the ballot, the exact same number chose bush as clinton. You had a realtime experiment, from the middle of july until the start of october, perot wasnt in the race. You saw polling for a bush, c p clinton race for ten weeks. There wasnt a single poll where bush led bill clinton. Clinton led double digits when it was a headtohead race. When i mentioned perot getting in 92, george h. W. Bush was severely weakened before anyone named ross per rot, and there w a lot of buchanan d dissatisfaction on the right. Jerry brown in 92 ran a gorilla campaign, and paul on the deficit, which was perots signature issue, there were brown voters, and buchanan voters. A lot of voters in that coalition. Were going to have the new nbc reporting about Migrant Children describing misconduct by Border Agents in arizona. Plus, President Trump tweeted last night that democrats are coming after Mitch Mcconnell. Well show you what the Senate Majority leader is saying about the retired marine Fighter Pilot. Amy mcgraths new bid to unseat him. Morning joe is back in a moment. You have said part of it is 180 billion. May i finish . May i finish . It was a simple question. Youve already finished. Was youve already finished that a speaker is just a speaker. Or that the journey cant be the destination. Most people havent driven a lincoln. 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Call, visit or click today. I think they do a great job, but you know how it should be taken care of, number one, tell them not to come because its illegal. And i have seen some of those places and they are run beautifully. They are clean, they are good. They do a great job. They do a great job. Theyre crowded because the democrats will not give us any relief from these loopholes. All right. That was President Trump on friday. Allegations of Sexual Assault and retaliation for protesters are among the latest claims of poor treatment and conditions that Migrant Children are facing at the u. S. Border. According to information collected by government case managers and obtained by nbc news, dozens of children held at a detention facility in yuma, arizona, have reported these horrendous conditions. A 16yearold gboy said when thy complained about the taste of the food and water they were given, the Border Patrol agents took the mats out of their cells in retaliation, forcing them to sleep on hard concrete. A teenage girl said an officer put his hands inside her bra, pulled down her underwear and groped her as part of a routine pat down, in front of other immigrants and officers. According to a report of her account, the girl said she felt embarrassed as the officer was speaking in english to other officers and laughing during the entire process. In response to the allegations, a Border Patrol spokesperson said the allegations do not align with common practice at our facilities and will be fully investigated. Its important to note that the allegation of Sexual Assault is already under investigation by the department of Homeland Securitys office of Inspector General. Lets bring in the coauthor of this report, correspondent for nbc news, julia aimsley, and overall i have been interested in how much access we have to the realities inside these facilities. These case managers obviously work for the government. Much can one really see . How much transparency is there . Theres a lot of transparency once we got our hands on these document, mika. These are from testimonies, from accounts that caseworkers did with children after they left customs and Border Protection custody and went to health and human services. They go through anything they may have encountered on their way to them, and a lot of children talked about the conditions in yuma, arizona. The thing is, you and me, mika, were finding out about this now. The government has had these reports, many since april, they span from midapril to midjune. The question is why werent we notified about this, why wasnt there more done. We know theres an Inspector General investigation into the Sexual Assault allegation which was horrifying, but they couldnt answer basic questions like is that officer there, was he penalized at all for anything that happened like this. At first, that initial intake, and this is a piece of the transparency, that initial intake said that the child was receiving counselling but they were not referring the allegation to an investigation. So it might be a matter of justice too late for some of these children. From a bigger picture, too, we have seen allegations, not just allegations, we have seen firsthand how terrible the conditions have been for children at border stations in Rio Grande Valley and el paso, and now in yuma, arizona. The overcrowding, the unsanitary conditions. This goes a step further. It spans outside of texas, and it isnt just a matter overcrowding, theres misconduct here and a lack of accountability of these officers. Who has oversight here, besides the media and you and jacob soberof. Whos job is it to make sure these kids are being taken care of properly. There are a number of bodies. You could have oversight abilities from congress. Of course they have to have their hands on these documents before thek go forward and know that the allegations they can go forward and they know that the allegations exist. Customs and Border Protection has their own investigative body but sometimes we see the bucket passed around, one thing gets pushed from one to another. Not everybody actually has the ability to prosecute a lot of this. The same thing happened when the Inspector General was sending investigators to Border Patrol stations across texas and they were alerting in these internal management reports that there were problems but we couldnt see swift action taken because it all seemed to sort of stay within dhs and it took a lot of time before it came to the public eye and congress started asking questions too. Julia ainsley, thank you very much for your ongoing reporting on this. Thank you. Still ahead on morning joe. I find myself once again in the same position as president obama, we both opposed rep reparations, and we both are the descendants of slave owners. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell likens himself to former president barack obama while brushing off a question about his great great grandfathers owning slaves. Well address those new comments next on morning joe. ll addres next on morning joe. When i book at hilton. Com i get to select my room from the floor plan. Free wifi. 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There is a very high cost in politics for celebrating the trump style, what is most personally painful to me as a person of the Christian Faith is the cost to the christian witness, nonchalantly, in favor of a political leader, strong should rule over the weak, justice has no intrinsic worth. Moral values are socially constructed and subjective is troubling enough but there is also the undeniable hypocrisy of people who once made moral character and especially sexual fidelity central to their political calculus and who are now embracing a man of boundless corruptions. Dont forget, trump was essentially named an unindicted coconspirator in a scheme to make hush money payments to a porn star who alleged she had an affair with him while he was married to his third wife who had just given birth to their son. While on the Pacific Coast last week, i had lunch with carol copak whom ive known for many years and who has played an Important Role in my christian pill g pilgrimage. She lamented the effect this moral fraeak show is having on the Younger Generation the were using an entire generation. Theyre just gone. Its one of the worst things to happen to the church. With us now, reporter for the Washington Post, eugene scott, and eugene, i mean, this is something that, you know, we saw, i guess, i have to say, its mildly now with bill clinton with the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal and had an impact on teenagers, and what the meaning of this is. Im not going to relive it. This is different. Theres a lack of care about any core here, and is it possible that this presidency is impacting the evangelical community and taking away their core values. Absolutely. And peter makes a very important point. Youll see that millennials and well see soon, generation z are disconnecting from conservative communities in part because of a lack of interest and a lack of confidence that these communities hold the same values that they have professed for years, and one of the reasons why they do that or they believe that is because they see in the political sphere what conservative evangelicals are supporting and what theyre not supporting. We have seen recently in another pew poll that no Group Supports keeping refugees out of the u. S. At higher rates than conservative white evangelicals and you have young voters, millennials being one of the larger voter blocks who care about these issues, they want to see a religious Community Care as well. And right now thats not what they see. You know, jim, this is a dramat dramatic shift and what pete waner touches on are openness to refugees, not talking about illegal immigration, im talking about refugees for whom people can legally seek refugee status, and this is a shift that has gone along with trump. Their views have bent, and gotten actually closer to donald trump. It hasnt gone the other way, and whats so fascinating as pete wehner points out, were talking about the core of jesuss message, whether youre a believer or not, you read the gospel and the core is in matthew 25, jesus says if you want to know whether youre going to go to heaven or not, its whether you help the poor, whether you help the hungry, i mean, thats the core of the message. You can look at the story, the good samaritan, things that white evangelicals have been taught their entire lives, and things that they actually were doing when i went over to hurricane katrina, i saw a lot of evangelical organizations, before the government was doing their job properly. They were there helping. This is a pretty radical departure. Sg it shows the danger of when you have a faith, when you have christianity collide with politics. If you go back a decade ago, and you would have painted the portrait of donald trump and told the evangelical community, this is the guy youre going to be wholeheartedly embracing, people would have said theres no way that could happen. And trump in private remarks in astonishment that christians are his base. His numbers are higher among evangelical chr evangelical christians than george bushes were. Even look at the refugee question, its because theyre viewing that question through a political lens. They see refugees and they think its a fight over the wall or immigration, and all of those steps now have become political and trump knows this, and hes really putting a lot of thought into how do i get higher turnout among evangelical christians, he know he has credibility, largely because of the court, a little bit because of his language, but the court. Christians feel under attack, they disagree with the country is going on abortion and they look at what trump is doing in terms of the two justices he has put on the court, what he said about abortion, and for whatever reason, they then suspend disbelief on a lot of other topics that in the past i dont think a lot of christians would have tolerated. Theres still a lot of christians that dont tolerate this. Its a big segment of the older evangelical community. 68 saying theres no responsibility to take care of the immigrants as they cross into the United States, that there are Church Groups doing incredible work down at the border, you know, evangelical groups down at the border and have been for many many years. There are evangelicals who put out an open letter against the muslim ban. There are people standing up in the religious community but that is a political question. That 68 is a defense of donald trump, a man that many of them have said, look, we elected a president , not a saint, a guy who would stand up for us. And i think there are many people, i would include myself in the many people who know that there are multiple issues on the table in the course of this campaign for the presidency. Theres the border, there is, you know, the future of nato, there is the middle east and things like that, but i think the core of the campaign is what this man, this one man has done to alter our country. We now have the acceptance of abnormality as a huge underlying issue in this campaign, and in every day American Life and the acceptance of cruelty, the acceptance of missole judof eacs an obligation to address these issues in some form of fashion. What happens is it has altered the reality of america and the image of america around the world. And what a bitter bitter irony that you have a Political Movement that you now have a subset of the church, Steve Kornacki, that is so obsessed with the appointment of federal judges over the treatment of young children, worried about the unborn and seemingly dismissing how children are treated, how infants are treated, how toddlers are treated, how these children on the border are being abused. There is no doubt, and i know this as someone who grew up in the Southern Baptist church. There is no doubt that the single motivating factor overriding almost every other factor is the appointment of federal judges. So the appointment of federal judges now trump actually what jesus writes about in matthew 25, talks about in the gospels about taking care of the poor, the disadvantages, the hungry, the thirsty. Yeah, i mean, its been fascinating, for all the reasons that have been pointed out here to figure out the relationship between evangelicals and donald trump plolitically and how this alliance came to be and you point to federal judges, george w. Bush appointed all sort of conservative federal squjudges,o and wasnt doing necessarily as well with evangelicals as trump. The best explanation from talking to folks that i can come up with is i think theres been a broader, outside of our politics, theres been a broader shift in our culture. Its a generations long thing, but since bush has been president as well, where the culture, itself, i think has grown rapidly more secular, has grown rapidly more liberal in areas. Guy marriage over the last couple of years, all sorts of different questions there. And i think more and more conservative evangelicals have looked to the courts for protection and for carve out when it comes to religious liberty, the culture is moving so fast thin this direction, th courts are what can protect our own liberty. I think that is what made that issue so important to evangelical christians, compared to where testifies when george w. Bush was president. You know, susan page, tim carney points out that evangelical has now become a label that doesnt necessarily mean that youre a church goer. And evangelicals who attend church regularly vote for donald trump in far lower numbers than those who just selfidentify as evangelicals. You know, the trend with white evangelicals did not start with donald trump. It was a trend that began before that, though he has certainly exacerbated it. And i think the main reason is a more singular focus by white evangelicals on the issue of abortion. Its made the approach to politics more transactional, its made white evangelicals able to say they dont care about President Trumps personal behavior, they care about his willingness to take whatever steps are necessary to oppose abortion rights and he has delivered for them in a variety of ways including importantly in his court appointments. One other thing, interesting that in the pugh poll, the most support for taking care of refugees came from people without a religious organization. 2 3 of those see a responsibility to take care of refugees. I think that is interesting. It goes to the fact that some people see this not as a religious imperative but a moral one, and i think thats what we see reflected, a broader American Value with people without a rmeligious affiliatio, not one affiliated with their particular faith. You know and that should be shameful, mika to those evangelicals saying they dont have the responsibility to give a cup of water in jesuss name. All the things, again that you can read, matthew, mark, luke and john, all the things they supposed supposedly were taught their entire life they are throwing to the side because of the appointment of federal judges. It is that simple. It is that simple. That is the overriding factor and its shameful. And susan page said, it didnt just start with donald trump. This was also the case with george w. Bush. I told you the story of a pastor i knew in pensacola who had to sit down during the w years and actually tell people in his church that you can be a christian and still not support george w. Bush. The merger of politics and religion has really infected the chur church, and its of course the church thats going to pay for it in the long run. Considering the consideration we just had, we throw this story out there for you this morning. The Washington Post reports that this weekend, a miami area strip club will hold a Golf Tournament at President Trumps club in florida in which golfers can pay for a dancer to serve as their caddy girl why they play. The marketing director for the strip club told the post. That there would be no nudity at the resort and on the course the caddies would wear pink mini skirts and what he called a sexy white polo. The Trump Organization told the post the event is for a worthwhile cause, a miami Childrens Charity but said they were not aware that they crewus the trump name and family crest in advertisements. Lovely. Jim. Susan page, thank you both. Still to come, the Trump Administration has a new setback in its fight to add a controversial Citizenship Question to the 2020 census, a federal judge has denied the request to switch up the legal team. The president isnt done weighing his options. The latest on that court battle ahead on morning joe. On that c ahead on morning joe can my side be firm . And my side super soft . With the sleep number 360 smart bed you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. So, can it help us fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. Will it help me keep up with him . Yup. So, ill wake up ready for anything . Oh, weve got your back. So, you can really promise better sleep . Not promise. Prove. And now, save up to 600 on select sleep number 360 smart beds. Only for a limited time. Who used expedia to book the Vacation Rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. Expedia. Everything you need to go. Welcome back, the u. S. Womens National Team will celebrate its fourth world cup title with a ticker tape parade in new york city today. The parade kicks off this morning at 9 30 from battery park in lower manhattan, and will move along the stretch of broadway known as the canyon of heroes. Ending in a ceremony at city hall. Afterwards, the players are expected to fly to los angeles to attend the espy awards. Meanwhile, the u. S. Womens fight for pay equity has reached capitol hill. As democratic senator joe manchin of West Virginia yesterday introduced a bill that would block federal funding for the mens tournament when the u. S. Co hosts in 2026 until the u. S. Soccer federation agrees to provide equal pay for both National Teams. And you know what, one of the arguments, joe, might be, that more people are watching. We were in a bar in nantucket, and the place was going wild for this team. Wild. It was incredible. So the interest is there. It is. Coming up, a growing number of democrats are calling for labor secretary alex acosta to resign, and apparently white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney wants him out as well. Senator tim kaine who has spent months pressing the Justice Department about its investigation into acostas handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case a decade ago will be our guest. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. When the hot sun hits your ice cream lick fast like a cookie dough ninja. Apply that same speed to the ford hurry up and save sales event. For the First Time Ever get 20 estimated savings on select ford models, plus earn complimentary maintenance through fordpass rewards. It all adds up. Dont you love math . So get here asap because tasty deals and summer go fast. 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Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. But were also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. You know, i met secretary acosta when i made the deal to bring him into the administration. I can tell you that for 2 1 2 years, hes been just an excellent secretary of labor. You know, if you go back and look at everybody elses decisions, whether its a u. S. Attorney or an assistant u. S. Attorney or a judge, you go back 12 or 15 years ago or 20 years ago and look at their past decisions, i would think you would probably find that they would wish they had maybe did it a different way. I do hear that there were a lot of people involved in that decision, not just him. I can only say this, from what i know and what i do know is that hes been a great, really great secretary of labor. The rest of it well have to look at, well have to look at it very carefully. Youre talking about a long time ago. There was a decision made, i think, not by him but by a lot of people. I feel very badly, actually for secretary acosta because i have known him as being somebody that works so hard, and has done such a good job. I feel very badly about that whole situation. President trump yesterday on labor secretary alex acosta has calls from democrats for acosta to resign intensify over his role in a 2008 nonprosecution agreement that allowed Jeffrey Epstein to forego the possibility of heavier jail time for sex Crimes Involving minors. Serving a 13 month jail term with much spent in work release. Welcome back to morning joe on wednesday, july 10th. Still with us, msnbc contributor, michael barnacle, Political Correspondent for msnbc news Steve Kornacki. Reporter for the Washington Post, eugene scott and joining the conversation, former u. S. Senator, now an msnbc political analyst, Claire Mccaskill, and Senior Writer at politico, coauthor of the play book and an msnbc political contributor, jake sherman, along with joe, willie, and me. Well get to more on acosta in just a moment. First some breaking news just now, the uks ambassador to the u. S. , Sir Kim Darroch has resigned. It follows leaked cabled that he had written that President Trump is inept, insecure, and incompetent. Trump responded ton twitter, calling darroch a wacky ambassador, a stupid guy, a pompous fool, and somebody not well liked or thought of. Trump tweeted that the u. S. , quote will no longer deal with him. Regardless of the accuracy of the ambassadors comments, you obviously, if you are britain cant have an ambassador dealing with the American Administration if those cables are leaked. Again, its certainly no judgment, actually, on what he said in those cables regarding whether he was correct or not, its just obviously the d discretion or lack thereof that put him in a position that he had to resign. Somebody leaked these and he couldnt continue knowing what the president felt about him, with the administration knowing the way he felt about him. But President Trump going on a lengthy tirade on twitter yesterday morning about the ambassador, sort of made the point about President Trump being insecure, i think. I dont think theres a ton in those leaked cables that most people would dispute. Obviously you cant continue on the way he had presented himself in speaking about the president of the United States. I dont think anybodys surprised that he stepped aside. And youre right, willie, theres nothing the president could have done to confirm the uk ambassadors suspicions or his observations more than the lengthy twitter tirade that he let spew forth afterward. And truly, one of the most insecure people ever to hold high office in america. Also not true as many people have pointed out that the ambassador was not well liked even among white house staff, people in the west wing, they enjoyed his company. They thought he was a good guy and a good ambassador. The president reacting to what he saw in the cables but not speaking for many of the people in the administration or in the american government. Well im sure you saw the George Conway tweet. He happens to be married to somebody high up in the administration who let the world know how much certain members of the Trump Administration loved the uk ambassador, and would go to every single event that they were invited to go to at the british embassy. George conway may have had some insight into that question. Lets take a turn now to calls for the resignation of labor secretary alex acosta. They continue to intensify on the democratic side. Acosta is being criticized newly for his role in a 2008 nonprosecution agreement that allowed epstein to forego the possibility of a heavier jail sentence for sex Crimes Involving minors, and serve a 13month county jail term, much of it spent in work release where he could leave and go to work six days a week. Multiple Top Democrats say acosta must go now, including all Senate Democrats who voted to confirm him in 2017. So far, no republicans in congress have joined them, mika. Wow. So labor secretary alex acosta weighed in on the latest charges against Jeffrey Epstein, writing in a series of tweets, the crimes committed by epstein are horrific, and i am pleased that new york prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence with the evidence available more than a decade ago, federal prosecutors insisted that epstein go to jail, register as a sex offender. Now that new evidence and additional testimony is available, the new york prosecution offers an opportunity to more fully bring him to justice. Yeah. Miami herald investigative journalist, julie brown who spent more than two years interviewing at least 60 women and girls who say they were sexually abused by epstein responded to acosta on twitter writing, except the record shows you had the evidence in 2007. Remember the 53page indictment, the phone records, the trash polls, the flight man teifests,e witnesses who worked for epstein. Even in his defense, acosta is trying to, it appears, transform the truth to his liking. Claire, you voted him in along with many others. Whats your take on this cabinet secretary now and what should his future be . Well, first, i wish i could have that one back. Im embarrassed that i voted for that guy. You know, there is some context. The guy who was nominated right before him was horrific. A crusader in my state against roe v. Wade, against the minimum wage, against working people in general, so there was this oh, we got rid of the really bad enjoy, and we obviously i didnt focus enough on what he had done as the u. S. Attorney in the Southern District of florida. You know, i think he should resign, obviously, immediately. He should not hold this office any longer. I do think that a hearing would be helpful. I wish the senate would have a hearing about this. One of the committees, maybe, that did his confirmation, look at what really happened here. Whats unusual about this, mika, is as a former states attorney who handled 99. 9 of the sex crimes that occurred in the jurisdiction, thats what state prosecutors do, typically feds dont do sex crimes. Typically they dont hit jurisdiction. If its interstate. But if theres interstate component, like these young women being basically trafficked, then it becomes federal. So the feds took it and then they handed it back to the state for sentencing. Which is really unusual. I would like to hear from the states attorney what their role was in this. I would like to hear acosta answer some very significant questions about how these two Law Enforcement organizations, the states attorney and the federal prosecutors Work Together on this, clearly his legal team that came from acostas law firm, Kirkland Ellis is where acosta worked and thats where a lot of these lawyers, these big time lawyers came from, that were defending epstein. That obviously impacted him, which shows he doesnt have the strength to stand up in difficult circumstances and he should go today. Yeah. Oh, my gosh, absolutely. Jake sherman. Mick mulvaney believes that acosta should go as well, but not necessarily for the same reason that claire and others explain. Well, mulvaney and many people in the administration have voiced private concerns that hes not been as aggressive as the Business Community wants and some of their objectives of rolling back regulations and other policy objectives but frankly, this is, i think and a lot of people in the administration think its papering over the real reason, which is a drip drip of these allegations and a constant focus on the secretary is not helpful for the president. And the real question to me and senator mccaskill might know this better is every democrat by the end of the week is going to call on him to resign. The political cost is nil, and people, if you dont call for him to resign as a democrat, people will wonder, why. At what point do republicans feel they need to call on him to resign. My guess, my gut reaction would be if its somebody in a tough state. Theres a lot of time until election day. Many republicans, Lisa Murkowski told my colleague that shes not talking about this, and she feels very comfortable with him and his explanation is good enough for her. I dont know when republicans start making this an issue for the white house. At this point they are not. It seems to me that a couple of likely people that are really sweating it right now are j joanie ernst. Hes significantly under water in iowa. Martha mcsally who is an appointed senator, she lost her election. Women senators who are in touch races. Susan collins. Another good example. I think all three of those women are in a tough spot if they are going to talk about sex trafficking and theyre not going to stand up on this. I think theyre going to hear about it over and over and over again next year. Claire, so add ivanka trump to that. Yep, yep. One of her big platforms is sex trafficking and she has held all of these little press conferences where she puts herself with people fighting sex trafficking. Let me explain that her fathers former friend that he knew for decades is now, you know, being finally taken to task on these issues and theres a lot of terms being thrown around here, so for jernst, ivanka trump. Were not talking about underaged women, were talking about children, the rape, the abuse of children. And the trafficking. The trafficking of children. So ivanka, a call out to you, we need your help. Since this is your platform, we would very much like for you to care about these children who were raped and assaulted at the hands of grown men who thought they could get away with it, apparently, because they had the law wired. Claire, do i have anything wrong here and is my terminology in the legal field correct, this is sexual abuse and rape of children, correct, its not underaged women . What does that mean . Well, i mean, my legal mind is like going crazy right now because it depends on the facts as to whether or not it is a Sexual Assault or a rape or a sodomy, and i dont know what the individual facts are in all of these instances, but clearly theres a conspiracy to traffic children for sex. Another name that ought to be taking a hard look at this is rob portman. He and i did a multiyear investigation into back page, which is a major source of child trafficking on the internet, and we were able to shut down back pa page through that investigation and he worked very hard along with the antitrafficking community and others in congress to get in legislation passed. It would be very interesting to see if rob portman steps up because he owns this issue in the senate, and now i bet hes hiding from taking this to where it needs to go. All of these people you have mentioned have the opportunity to actually bring to task the prosecutor that did a sweetheart deal and then actually lied to the victims who had been raped, lied to the victims who had been trafficked sexually, the underaged victims. Lied to all of these people, did not give them the information that they needed and in fact, we just had the determination a couple of months ago that this deal actually was improper and illegal, willie, and that of course is whats opened all of that up. We have talked about the impact, though, on possible members of congress. By the way, i had cory gardner in colorado did that, and thom tillis in North Carolina to that. Those are two of the more vulnerable members along with joanie ernst and others, and also an impact on donald trump. Here you have a man who, again, shut down maralago, brought in all of these calendar models, so he and Jeffrey Epstein in 2001, 2002 could have a party just these two men with all of these calendar girls as they were called and he said he was a terrific guy. Now of course hes claiming through selective amnesia, as the Washington Post calls it, that he never really was close to him. The facts just done bear that out. No, they were friends despite what he has been saying over the last couple of days. Its documented they were friends. They spent time together in maralago, time in new york city. There are stories and photos. Its all there. I think these relationships with very powerful people, including donald trump, including president clinton is really why theres such an intense focus on this. Who is involved . We learned more, not just about donald trump and bill clinton but powerful men who are in the orbit of mr. Steepstein, and eue scott, a lot of questions people have had about this is how many more young women and girls were raped, how many young women and girls suffered or were assaulted by mr. Epstein in the time since he received that sweetheart deal where he spent 13 months in a kr county jail where he was picked up in a limo to go to woork. He had palm beach Security Officers with him, paid for by palm beach county. We had an interview with savannah guthrie, she talked to a new accuser, a young woman who says she was raped by Jeffrey Epstein inside his new york city townhouse, thats a new interview on the today show a couple of minutes ago. When mr. Acosta says this new information came to light, and im glad that the Southern District of new york is looking at it, he had eleven years ago a 53page indictment that laid out chapter and verse what Jeffrey Epstein was doing, and he didnt do anything about it. And thats part of why democratic senator Chuck Schumer had said that he would like to see acosta come before lawmakers in a hearing to answer these questions. He also would like a report from the Justice Department made public so that lawmakers and the public could have a better idea in the role he played or did not play in helping reach the conclusion that was made in this epstein case. The real questions many voters have about the misuse, mistreatment, i should say and abuse of young people, of children, of girls, related to this case, related to the minors and cages, in which we have a new report from nbc, enduring sexual abuse, would leave a cloud over the Trump Administrations decision to put the best people in positions of power and influence as they try to shape the president s vision for what america could be. We know that concerns about the mistreatment and abuse of youth and minors really did hurt the Republican Party in 2018 in the midterm elections and these are things that the president should be thinking about as he heads into the 2020 election, and he really needs the support of women voter, many of whom have expressed concern about how situations like this and others can lead them to choose against trump out of concern that women and young girls are not in the best care under this current administration. Lets stop and recap what we have been talking about here for the past few minutes. And its above politics. Were talking about an institution in the United States senate where its extremely polarized. We all admit that. On this particular issue here, were talking about the protection of children and were talking about an era of politics when sitting United States senators cannot make up their mind to take a step toward protecting children, and its all on paper, the evidence is all there. The nonprosecution agreement in florida, cut in secret, the victims not being told, and still today, we have United States senators dropping their duty in essence over a very simple prospect. Can you help us protect children. Right. And you know what, were going to continue to follow this story. It just feels like there is a possibility, there may be many others involved as well. So we will stay on it and keep covering it. Now to this, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell is vowing a fight after democrat amy mcgrath officially announced her campaign to oust him in what could be one of the 2020 elections biggest congressional races. Mcgraths announcement on our show yesterday generated tons of buzz, trending on twitter for most of the day along with the hash tag ditch mitch. The former Fighter Pilot was one of the most prominent Democratic Congressional candidates during last years midterm elections, narrowly losing her bid to unseu unseat andy barr. Speaking on capitol hill, mcconnell was asked if hes worried about mcgrath as an opponent. Unlike a lot of my members, i wont name names, i enjoy campaigning. As you know, i have had a few of them. And it will be a spirited race, particularly since i have become leader of my party in the senate, ive noticed i get more attention than i used to. President trump tweeted democrats are coming after our great kentucky senator, Mitch Mcconnell. Why would kentucky ever think of giving up the most powerful position in congress. Boy, what a drain the swamp thing to say. The Senate Majority leader, for a freshman senator with little power in what will hopefully be the minority party, we need mitch and the senate to keep america great. Claire mccaskill, my how things have changed. It does not seem, though, like mitchs team is too concerned right now. They responded to the claims that this was going to be a block buster race by saying, yes, mcgrath is block buster, mitch is netflix. So away we go. Yeah, i got to tell you, they are really worried. They may act like theyre not. Because theres a real outsider, insider, dynamic here, and thats a powerful dynamic in todays politics. I dont care if youre a democrat or a republican, if youre of washington, you got to be worried if a marine Fighter Pilot is coming after you because that just signals outsider. This is not someone whos of washington. Now, shes going to have to be very careful because this is a conservative state, you know, she is going to have to appeal to the suburban vote skpers and reassure them that she gets they cant afford to retire, and weve got to figure out a way not to get so far in debt that our grandchildren are faced with horrific choices in terms of funding programs in america. But i have talked to her. Shes strong, shes smart, and she really has a fire in her belly about going after this race, and going after who and by the way, shell have plenty of money. The money is going to pour into this woman for all the right reasons, so if Mitch Mcconnell and his team say theyre not worried, thats because theyre used to winning by fighting dirty, and i have a feeling that fighting dirty against this candidate is not going to work. Its interesting, donald trump ran adds an outsider, he personified the outside populist candidate, and now hes appealing to the people of kentucky to vote for the swampiest person, vote for the guy who knows the swamp better than anybody else. Whos been up to his neck in the swamp longer than anybody else, who can bring home the bacon better than anybody else. You talk about crossing your messages, thats what the President Trump is doing, and at least what i found in change elections, the last thing people care about, for the most part, if they want change, theyre not looking at the person who can quote bring home the bacon. They want change. You know, actually, donald trump made a similar argument when republicans were looking to oust john boehner in a speakers election. Not a lot of people remember that, but donald trump who was a golf buddy of John Boehners made that argument back about five years ago. I want to play devils advocate, and we laid this out in the play book in the afternoon edition yesterday. Kentucky is a state that voted by 30 points for donald trump. Amy mcgrath, while i agree that she has a lot of up side and a lot of interesting elements to her candidacy, lost the easiest district for a democrat to win in the best year for democrats in more than a decade in her race against andy barr. Why do you think that is, jake . What was the buzz afterward, did they blame her as a candidate . Very much so. D. C. Democrats did not want her, despite what they say now, did not want her to win that primary. She ran against the former mayer of lexington, kentucky, jim gray, who was popular, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee didnt outwardly support gray, they did not think she was a good candidate. I dont care what they say now. She raised 8 million. Andy barr raised 5 million. She still lost by 3 percentage points. Mitch mcconnell in 2014, ran against allison lundgren, won her election by 21 points, and mcconnell beat her by 16. Im not saying every race is analogous, but i understand shes an interesting candidate in a year that we dont know what donald trump is going to look like in 2020. This is a red red red state. And you have to assume if donald trump, even if his margin gets cut in half to 15 points, you have to imagine a lot of donald trump, amy mcgrath voters and i dont know if i see that. Im not predicting that mcconnell is going to win, but this is not as easy as d. C. Democrats would like to make it seem. Totally agree. Theres a bit of a beto orourke effect here which is to say nationally democrats are going to invest a lot in amy mcgrath, a lot of money because they would like to see her take out Mitch Mcconnell the way they wanted to see beto orourke take out ted cruz in texas. The opportunity to go after ted cruz was too much for most democratic donors to pass up. Orourke was able to get some polls in the final few months of that campaign that suggested he had a shot, and i think that increased donors appetite. I agree with what jake is saying. To put this in perspective, we talk about how polarized our pl politics have become in the age of red and blue. Hum how many times has somebody run against an incumbent senator where the president is carrying na state, let alone by 30 points as trump did in kentucky. There are two examples of this since 2000 of it actually happening and they come with massive ast massives massive asterisks, stevens was convicted of federal corruption charges a week before the election, he lost by a point. The other example is in Claire Mccaskills home state of missouri and the asterisk was the democratic challenger, was killed in a plane crash just before the election. His name remained on the ballot, and he unseated as george w. Bush carried the state by 3 points, unseated the incumbent by john ashkroft. Mcgrath is trying to pull it off in a state. What gives you the optimism. First of all, i dont think trump will win by 25, 30 points, i think trumps numbers are going to be depressed. I think if she runs a smart campaign, and learned i think from the last campaign, i can list, and i know steve can list a lot of senators who lost big campaigns before they were elected senator. Im one of them. And the there are, in fact, the senate is littered with people who lost big campaigns and turned around as little as two years later and succeeded. I get it, this is tough. I get it, kentucky is a hard state. Believe me, i feel it. I get it. But i do know this, that i was much closer to my opponent than the 20 points donald trump won missouri by, and i was the insider. And my opponent was the outsider and i just think we are minimizing the insider outsider deal in this election, and i think next year is going to be another insider outsider election. And Steve Kornacki, it does depend on whether, how much of a change election it is. If people like where they are, if they like where they are economically. If they dont want much of a change, that obviously helps Mitch Mcconnell, but in a change election, where you have the least popular senator in america in his home state, in Mitch Mcconnell. If the tide goes out for republicans in 2020 as the tide went out for republicans in 2018, you may see what happened to senior senators in 1980 and 1994 for the Democratic Party happen to Mitch Mcconnell in 2020. But so much can change obviously between now and election day 2020. No, and look, absolutely, and nobody i always say, nobody has zero chance. We will see what happens. Its possible that amy mcgrath surprises me and pulls this out. The one thing i would say though, is when you make the 2018 comparison, we saw two americas in 2018, though. We saw a change election take place in sort of the suburbs of america, and we saw a stand with trump election occur in indiana, tennessee, in missouri. And frankly in kentucky. I think amy mcgrath was a very good candidate in 2018 in ner congressional district. I think in her congressional district. I think amy mcgrath tapped into the passions of the Democratic Base not just in her district but nationally, and its why she raised so much money. I think she did as well as a democrat could do in that district in a great year for democrats nationally, and she still lost that district. I think thats the reality of kentucky and states like kentucky right now. Rough landscape. Steve kornacki, thank you very much. Jake sherman, well be reading the politico playbook this morning, and eugene scott, well be reading your new reporting in the Washington Post. Thank you all. Coming up, government lawyers have dropped plans to have former National Security adviser, Michael Flynn testify at an upcoming trial. Well talk about why his cooperation deal could be in jeopardy. Morning joe is back in a moment. Jeopardy morning joe is back in a moment i want it that way. I cant believe it. That karl brought his karaoke machine . Aint nothing but a heartache. No, i cant believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my Car Insurance with geico. I never wanna hear you say. No, kevin. No, kevin believe it geico could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. When you have diabetes, geico could save you fifteen percent dietary choices are crucial to help manage blood sugar, but it can be difficult to find a balanced solution. Try greattasting boost glucose control. The patented blend of protein, fat, and carbs is part of a balanced formula thats clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. 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With the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose levels any time, without fingersticks. Ask your doctor to write a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at freestylelibre. Us in a move that could complicate his efforts to obtain a lenient sentence to lying to federal agents, President Trumps first National Security adviser, Michael Flynn has backed off planned testimony in a federal case against a former business associate. Flynn was set to be the governments star witness at that trial, which deals with foreign lobbying work, however, the prosecution now suggests in Court Filings that they do not believe flynn would tell the truth on the stand. They now believe he is a coconspirator, rather than a cooperating witness. That is quite a change. That is the president s first National Security adviser. Joining us now, senior Legal Affairs, josh gerstein, following this case closely. Whats happening with Michael Flynn . Well, you know, this has been a long time coming, joe and mika, its been about a year and a half or so since flynn pleaded guilty and that whole time we were wondering would this agreement hold . You had flynns family members and associates out there walloping special Counsel Robert Mueller and a month ago, you had flynn abruptly change lawyers and bring in sydney powell who is just a critic of the mueller prosecution, and we thought at some point, flynn is going to try to withdraw his plea, back out of the deal. Something has to give, and now just in the last week, it turns out whats giving is that prosecutors say flynn is shifting in his testimony about some of his conduct. They now dont trust him enough to put him on the stand, and he may not testify at this trial that is supposed to begin next week, which is the whole reason his sentencing has been post poe po postponed for the last several months. I have to assume hes in big trouble in terms of doing prison time. The judge before said you need to do more cooperating because im about to throw you in jail, which is why one of the delays happened. What im trying to figure out here is has there been some signal on a pardon . Has there been some back Channel Communication to flynn, if you start sitting down, and behaving nicely, well take care of you later because it really does appear that he is completely backtracked and theres no question in my mind if he comes in front of the judge now, after basically blowing up this agreement, he gets sentenced to five years, right . I dont know that he would necessarily get five years, but hes definitely looking at jail time, and before prosecutors werent even recommending that he get a prison sentence at all, and the judge thats handling flynns case seemed to be surprised, maybe even angry by these developments. He issued an order saying he wants an explanation from the government by 5 00 p. M. Today basically about whether flynn is still considered a cooperating witness. I do think the subject matter that flynn is supposedly getting shifty about in his testimony could ease the way for a pardon down the road. Hes minimizing his conduct relating to being an agent for turkey during the president ial campaign, during President Trumps president ial campaign, where flynn was a top adviser, of course, and if he minimizes what he did there, and suggests he really wasnt acting as a Foreign Agent right in the middle, an undeclared Foreign Agent in the middle of the president ial campaign, maybe that helps with some of the optics of a trump pardon if that becomes his move later on in this saga. You know, there is an interesting development, because flynn has manafort to look at, and to see how terrible a turn his life took when he was uncooperative. Theres the possibility that the state of pennsylvania could possibly bring charges, possible attempted kidnapping charges for the turkish dissident that flynn apparently reportedly was talking to turkey about. Time will tell whether this development is really an effort to help shore up his image with trump as opposed to looking after him and his family. I think this new legal team has convinced him that he is not in that much jeopardy. If youre his lawyer, you have to look after him, not the president. I think its really a problem that this man is now going to do much more time than he ever would have done because hes changed lawyers who may not be advising him in his best interests but in the best interests of President Trump. All right. Senior Legal Affairs contributor at politico, josh gerstein, thank you very much. Thank you. And mika, we just got some breaking news from nbc. Kasie hunt is reporting that mcgraph raised a record 2. 5 million on the first day of her is that the campaign. Isz i gue i guess a lot of people ended up going to amy mcgrath. Com. I think she broke some records with her fundraising. Certainly. And let me quickly put in here, one thing to remember about this is even if she doesnt succeed, she is going to distract the fundraising apparatus of the Republican Party into kentucky. Theres going to be a lot of money spent in kentucky that wouldnt have been spent otherwise. Its not going to arizona. Its not going to iowa, its not going to florida, so its a winwin for Chuck Schumer. Claire, thats actually a great point because you hear some complaints, people are worried that this would be like beto, in 2018, that a lot of money will go into texas. Actually, it is different. Instead of defending ted cruzs seat, and there are many republicans who claim that ted cruz is one of the least liked members in the United States senate, you actually have the head of the Republican Party. You actually have the majority leader whos being challenged and you and i have both seen what happens then. The majority leader, whoever that majority leader is, is not a selfless character. It is batting down the hatches and you take money from wherever you need to take money from and if its a question of does mitch save his own seat or mcsallys seat, tilliss seat in North Carolina, does he save gardners seat, in colorado, does he save the seat in iowa, that is not a close call, Mitch Mcconnell saves Mitch Mcconnells seat. Absolutely. Well be following these numbers. Amid growing calls for labor secretary alex acostas resignation, Senate Democrats are pressing the doj for an update on its internal investigation of the sweetheart deal given to Jeffrey Epstein a decade ago. Senator tim kaine is leading the call for that accountability and the virginia democrat joins us now. Tim kaine is a member of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees as well. Senator kaine, the plea deal that Jeffrey Epstein got, i mean, what more do we need to learn about it and what needs to happen moving forward in terms of process . Is there any way to hold alex acosta accountable . Mika, i think we need to hold him accountable. When we had the hearing for alex acosta before our committee, the Health Committee in march of 2017, i asked him about this sweetheart deal of a lifetime, and he sort of alternatively defended the deal but claimed he wasnt that involved in the details. Three things that happened since then, his answers were completely unconvincing, and thats why i opposed him. Since that time, the miami herald has done an amazing job of digging into how the deal was put together, very very sleazy, second, a federal judge in miami ruled that the deal was illegal because the u. S. Attorneys office under acostas direction didnt notify the victims, in fact, affirmatively hid the deal from the victims so they wouldnt know about it, and finally you got the new epstein indictments. I think this new information, its causing democrats and republicans to basically rethink the acosta situation so members of both parties are pushing on doj to complete the analysis of the plea deal. Were counting on the new prosecution in the Southern District of new york to finally, finally give these women the justice that they have been seeking for now more than a decade. And i think that there is a increase pressure on secretary acosta to resign, but even if he resigns, were not going to stop digging into this. Hey, senator kaine, its willie geist, good to see you this morning. I want to underline, urps ayou k him about this epstein deal and vote against him to your credit. I want to ask you about your colleagues on the republican side in the senate. So far we havent heard anything from them. You have good relationships with them, just like Claire Mccaskill did in the senate. What is this theyre saying about this, is this a hill theyre willing to die on, this man is an accused sex trafficker of girls . Its interesting. We came back after a week long recess monday night. The epstein indictments had just come out and this has been a major discussion in and around this place as claire would know. This is the kind of thing everybody is talking about. A couple of the republicans have come out, ben sasse, susan collins, and others expressed concern. John kennedy of louisiana yesterday expressed deep concern about the plea deal. We got to get to the bottom of it. So you are starting to see republicans now really have serious questions about what happened. The outrageous thing about this, the deal was illegal because they didnt tell the victims. It was secret, they hid it from the victims, it was the cushiest deal ever. When alex acosta cut a deal allowing epstein to plead guilty to prostitution charges, these girls were not prostitutes. They were Human Trafficking victims and basically allowing him to plead guilty to a prostitution charge was like revictimizing, some of these girls were 14yearold middle schoolers, when epstein was preying upon them, and acosta letting him plead to a prostitution charge is like pouring salt in the wounds that these young ladies experienced at the time. It looks like they may finally get justice, thank god. I wanted to clarify, i made it sound like it was acosta, its epstein whos the accused sex trafficker. It was acosta who gave him the sweetheart deal. Do you see movement from the republicans down the road. Do you think there will be enough pressure on the white house that he has to resign . I think hes going to have to resign. Yesterday President Trump tweeted out that he felt very badly for secretary acosta. I feel very badly for the dozens and dozens of women who were victimized by this guy, not by the prosecutor who cut a sweetheart deal for him. Senator kaine, help me out here, i realize much of the world has just passed me by, but you were just talking about various republican senators who are deeply concerned, highly troubled about what happened, were talking about children. Were talking about 14yearold children being trafficked sexually. Being flown to an island in the caribbean, being flown from new york to florida. How about a little bit more than im deeply troubled, deeply concerned, what is wrong with this former party called the Republican Party, what is wrong here . I mean, obviously no republican is standing up and being equivocal about Jeffrey Epstein. The guy is a monster. The question is a acosta, and i the time in march of 2017, i was the only one raising this at the hearing, i was telling my colleagues, folks, theres a big problem here. For my colleagues, some of the facts werent yet clear. Now the facts are clear. The deal was illegal. The court has found that. The miami herald has exposed how sleazy it was, and epstein is charged again. I hope this may move some of my colleagues from the wait and see or well let the president decide into a more active camp, and michael, heres why its so important. The secretary of labor oversees Human Trafficking enforcement, Human Trafficking claims, what victim of trafficking is going to think under secretary acosta that they are going to be protected by a department of labor when this guy sided with the trafficker against the victims in such an egregious case. You got to move him aside just so you can put somebody in that position who people would have confidence could actually enforce and protect trafficking victims. Hey, tim, its claire, i just want everyone to know, this is not the only example i can cite of tim kaine seeing around corners. Tim kaine has a tendency to look down the line and see what consequences might be, and he did that with acosta, i didnt, good on you. I know you have a hearing today on saudi arabia arms sales, this is a leader who killed somebody who was working as a journalist in america, murdered him in a foreign embassy. It is still on the bestie list of the president. They all love him in the white house. Talk about whats going on here in terms of a constitutional crisis as it relates to arms sales to saudi arabia and what this administration is doing that is unprecedented. Well, claire, im going to really go into this at the hearing today. The number of bizarre steps that this president has taken to protect saudi arabia from scrutiny, you know, we repudiate the saudi war in yemen, and the president vetoes our repudiation. We stop arm sales after the khashoggi murder, and the president does an end around on us and says theres a National Emergency requiring the arms sales. Were going to get into all of this today. Why does this president feel like hes got to be the guy carrying the briefcase for the saudi royal family. You compare it with whats going on right now, this president , were fighting with the uk. The uk ambassador has just resigned, what this president does is he filghts with our allies, and cozies up to dictators, all around the world and the saudi example is probably one of the chief examples of that, and were going to get into it all at the hearing today. Thats great. Senator tim kaine, thank you very much. Absolutely. Good luck with all of that. Still ahead on morning joe, senator and 2020 candidate, elizabeth for the breakup of bi Tech Companies. And next week, capitol hill is set to hold a hearing on the issue. Our next guest says its time for lawmakers to get involved but carefully. Youre watching morning joe. Well be back in two minutes. Acs lets get down to business. The business of family time. And downtime. And you time. And forgetting what time it is. Altogether. Modernized comfort inns and suites have been refreshed because when your business is making time, our business is you. Get the lowest price guaranteed on all Choice Hotels when you book direct at choicehotels. Com. Four representatives from the countrys Largest Tech Companies are scheduled to testify before Congress Next week to discuss Online Platforms and market power. The hearing is the beginning of the years long debate in washington whether to limit the reach and influence of tech giants over u. S. Markets in the personal lives of americans. According to the democratled panel, attendees including executives google, amazon, facebook and apple. Joining us now aurth authoriaut professor Margaret Omeara out with a new book the code. Great to see you. Great to be here. I know this is a huge question to start with. How did Silicon Valley remake america . Whats different about the country, other than the obvious, the technology and the way theyve changed our lives. But this relationship with washington . Yeah, well, the relationship with washington has been present all along through the history of Silicon Valley. I start the book in the 1940s with the manhattan project. I end with yesterday, pretty much. What i wanted to showle how Silicon Valley with all of this unique place, entrepreneurs, people who are thinking differently, but it has been woven into the story of politics. Story of social change. You cant separate the two and its the product of modern america. And its changed the way other institutions work. Obviously in the last few years with the election, facebook, how it lets foreign entities into its technology on twitter, the president s use of twitter. Whos allowed to be on twitter, what you can and cant say, how are they managing that right now . How is Mark Zuckerberg managing that now, or people like jack dorsey . I think the Silicon Valleys culture has been headsdown focus on technology. And its been techno optimistic, right . You connect the tech, we solve the worlds problems through the tool, the computer hardware and software. And its been present in the valley for a long time. Now the companies have grown so large. They have this outworld presence in the world and market lives. An entrepreneur said is right several years ago saying software is in the world. What is the responsibility of those Software Companies and its users and lawmakers to come together and figure out a new way to go forward. Joe has a question. Joe . Margaret, this reminds me so much of the bells, i mean, the bells got huge. And they eventually got broken up. The question is how have these Tech Companies been able to evade regulation the way they have it is the wild, wild west. And it seems as if the rules that apply to other mediums just dont apply to them. How long do they think they can maintain that status quo . Yeah. Well, joe, dial back to the 1990s when you were in congress, right . Remember the early days the early days of commercial internet. And these were these companies were making a case with lawmakers, both the democrats in the white house and republicans eager to lead congress, that they should not be regulated, that they should regulate themselves. And that they should not be treated like media companies. Because at the time it made sense. It made a lot of sense. The internet was new. It was evolving. Google doesnt exist. Facebook didnt exist. Amazon had been in business for a couple years. It was a very different world. So, youve got this universe out in Silicon Valley that is all over the world, driven by a few people, young, worldly, smart, now very wealthy, the world with ego in all of this. Yeah. Well, look, lets go back a few years in time. And think about how we were talking about Silicon Valley. How politicians were talking about Silicon Valley. There was this belief, the techno optimism of the valley had affected everyone, you know. That there was this incredible possibility. Look, Silicon Valley, this Tech Industry has done amazing things. Lets not forget were Walking Around with supercomputers in our pockets, smartphones. There have been amazing innovations. So, how do we find a way to celebrate that optimism, the innovation, the entrepreneurship and yet find a balance. Thats the challenge. Good luck. The book is the code. Silicon valley and the making of america. Thank you so much. President trump once reportedly called Jeffrey Epstein a terrific guy. Now it appears the president has changed his tune about the wealthy sex offender. Well play you the new sound. Plus, weve reported on the unsanitary and crowded positions on Border Patrol facilities in texas. And now Migrant Children in arizona are alleging abuse by Border Patrol agents. That new reporting is ahead. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. I didnt have to call 911. Help. And i didnt have to come get you. Because you didnt have another heart attack. Not today. You took our conversation about your chronic coronary Artery Disease to heart. Even with a stent procedure, your condition can get worse over time, and keep you at risk of blood clots. So you added xarelto®, to help keep you protected. Xarelto®, when taken with lowdose aspirin, is proven to further reduce the risk of blood clots that can cause heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death in people with chronic cad. 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Are you doing enough . Ask your doctor if its time for xarelto®. To learn more about cost and how janssen can help, visit xarelto. Com. Hi. Maria ramirez mom maria Maria Ramirez. Mcdonalds is committing 150 Million Dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs. Prof Maria Ramirez mom and dad Maria Ramirez to help more employees achieve their dreams. Good morning. Welcome to morning joe. Its wednesday july 10th. Along with mika, willie and me, we have nbc contributor mike barnicle. National author. And susan page. And cofounder of axios. Weve got a new report from nbc news detailing how Migrant Children held in a border station in youll that, arizona not only told investigators about unsanitary conditions but also Sexual Assault and retaliation by Border Agents. Well talk about that. A federal judge rejects the Trump Administrations bid to replace a team of lawyers involved in a dispute over adding a Citizenship Question to the 2020 census. A federal Appeals Court appears ready to deal and former president obamas Signature Health care law. A new twist in the ongoing Michael Flynn sentencing process as government lawyers drop plans for flynn to be a star witness at his former Business Partners upcoming trial. And day two of former Fighter Pilot amy mcgraths bid to unseat Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell. Her announcement on our show yesterday generated a lot of buzz, trending on twitter for most of the day. Along with the ditchmitch. But we begin this morning with President Donald Trump saying hes, quote, not a fan of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In contrast to his comments in october 2002 article in new York Magazine saying ive known jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. Hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as i do. And many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, jeffrey enjoys his social life. Heres what President Trump told reporters yesterday. Well, i knew him like everybody in palm beach knew him. As beam in palm beach knew him, he was a fixture in palm beach. I had a falling out. I dont think ive spoken to him in 15 years. Yeah, a long time ago. That i can tell you, i was not a fan of his. Well, willie, he was actually a fan of his for a very long time. In fact, one time, trump shut down the entire resort and had calendar models come down, asked somebody to bring calendar models down for vip event. And when the organizer it came down, he realized that the only two people in attendance at this event were donald trump and Jeffrey Epstein. They go back a long way. Yeah, that was in 1992 at maralago. Theres an excellent the New York Times piece that people can read online on the details, a relationship over time, between President Trump, or donald trump and Jeffrey Epstein and it does get into that night it was just the two of them and a bunch of calendar models down in maralago. It sounds like its falling out. The president said it was more over business than anything personal. Meanwhile there are calls for the resignation of labor secretary alex acosta, and they continue continue to intensify. But so far only on the democratic side. Acosta is being newly criticized in his role of an agreement that allowed epstein to forego the possibility of a heavier jail sentence involving minors and serve a 13month jail term most of it in work release. Multiple democrats say acosta needs to go including all of the Senate Democrats who voted to confirm him in 2017. So far, no republicans in congress have joined him. That includes senator ben sasse who vocally demanded an investigation into the Justice Departments investigation of epstein. The nonprosecution agreement looks like it protected people who were raping those little girls in palm beach. I dont want to comment about the particular people inside the chain of command in the department of justice ten years ago, because theres an Ongoing Investigation now that the office of professional responsibility is conducting and theyre going to be reporting back to us in the Judiciary Committee and then well have a lot more to say. Accost tall weighed in on the latest charges writing in a series of tweets yesterday, quote, the crimes admitted by epstein are horrific. I am pleased that new york prosecutors are moving forward with it. With the evidence available more than a decade ago, federal prosecutors insisted that epstein go to jail, register as a sex offender and put the world on notice that he was a sexual predator. Acosta went on, now that new evidence and additional testimony is available, the new york prosecution offers an important opportunity to more fully bring him to justice. Miami herald investigative journalist julie k. Brown who spent two years interviewing more than 60 women and girls who said they were sexually abused by epstein writing, except the record shows that you the evidence in 2007, remember the 53page indictment, the phone records, the trash pulls, the flight manifests, the witnesses who worked for epstein . So it was julie brown who really reopened this case as the attorneys in new york indicated in the press conference they said new journalism, new reporting helped us along here. Thats from the miami herald. But acosta is claiming theres new information. And there are also details of how he arrived at the nonprosecution with epstein. Which means he meant privately with epsteins lawyers. They kept it secret from the victims. Crude dokudos to julie Brown Miami Herald for pursuing this. This was a scandal in plain sight. This is something that the administration could have done more when they were vetting mr. Acosta for the cabinet role. And its something that senators could have done more, especially republicans controlling the senate when they voted unanimously on the republican side to confirm him. And now i think its all up to President Trump on whether he wants to take the heat for keeping mr. Acosta in the cabinet. He defended it yesterday but reminded me of scott pruitt who he kept in the job for a while, until finally, he was defended then dumped. Jim vanden hyde, what is the future . You are reporting in axios, theres not a ton of goodwill for alex acosta, not because of this, its important to say, but because of the way hes done his job as labor secretary. Yeah, i think its bad news for acosta when you have so many people in the white house leaking how they werent really happy with him. They claim he hasnt moved fast enough on the fronts they want him to move on. They made it known that Mick Mulvaney thinks this is going to be problematic. The problem is, it goes back to the media. Theres more and more evidence of what evidence did acosta have then making that decision. Its going to be revisited again. Its going to continue to be a big story. Trump has no loyalty, if he thinks its problematic, hell dump him. Thats why acosta got on twitter yesterday. Hes being today, you got to defend yourself. Youll look stupid here. Still ahead on morning joe, the poor treatment of migrant treatment isnt just contained to texas. Nbc news has new reporting about kids in arizona alleging that Border Agents took away sleeping mats, called them derogatory names and in one ace Sexual Assault. Julyial ainsley has been following the crisis at the border. She joins us next. First to bill karins with the forecast. Good morning, mika and joe. We just got word from the Hurricane Center that were not yet tracking what will eventually be a tropical depression or Tropical Storm barry today and tomorrow. They say its still being organized. Theyre going to investigate it later on this afternoon and later this again. The storms widespread over the gulf but no organized area of low pressure. Almost all of our computer models believe this will become a patrol storm. And the european model having it become a hurricane. It looks like were targeting anywhere from central louisiana towards the texas louisiana coastal areas. Thats the area that could get direct impact. Where the landfall will be, were going to get a ton of rainfall out of this. From baton rouge, to new orleans, central mississippi, 3 to 7inch range and some could get a foot of rain. We have a lot of water still in the Mississippi River from the spring flooding. We saw major flooding just from that. Then with the storm surge coming in, areas like new orleans, youre expecting the highest water levels in the Mississippi River in 70 years in new york city. Its supposed to be one foot below the levee height. And were watching it closely over the next few days. The other weather head line. The heat is on. Heat warning for oklahoma city. Temperatures are going to feel like 105 to 110. Some of the hot spots, shreveport, tulsa, and the big story we do not yet have a tropical system to track in the gulf. Were expecting that later on tonight or tomorrow morning at this time. Heading into jersey city, we are looking right across into new york from jersey city. Beautiful day, low humidity, of course. We got the big parade, the tickertape, for the womens team this morning. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Johnson johnson is a baby company. But were also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. This melting pot of impacted species. Everywhere is going to get touched by climate change. You should know the location of a decent bathroom. 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According to information collected by government case managers on stabtained by nbc n dozens of children held at a detention facility at youll that, arizona have reported these horrendous conditions. A 16yearold guatemalan boy said when he and others in his cell complained about the taste of the food and water they were given, the Border Patrol agents took the mats out of their cells in retaliation forcing them to sleep on hard concrete. A teenage girl from honduras said an officer put her hands inside her bra, pulled down her understand wear and groped her as part of a routine patdown in front of other immigrants and officers. The girl said she felt embarrassed as the officer was speaking in english to other officers and laughing during the entire process. In response to the allegations, a boater patrol spokesperson said the allegations do not align with common practice at our facilities. And will be fully investigated. Its important to note that the allegation of Sexual Assault is already under investigation by the department of Homeland Securitys office of Inspector General. Lets bring in the coauthor of this report, correspondent for nbc news julia ainsley. Julia, overall, ive been interested in how much access we have to the realities inside these facilities. These case managers, obviously, work for the government. How much can one really see . How much transparency is there . Theres a lot of transparency once she got her hands on these doubts, mika. These are from testimony and accounts that caseworkers did with children after theyd left Customs Border protections custody and went to health and human services. They go through anything they may have encountered on their way to them. And a lot of children talked about the conditions in yuma, arizona. The thing is, you and me, were finding out about this, but the government has had these reports from april. Many of these span from midapril to june. The question is why wasnt we notified about this, why wasnt more done. Yes, we know theres an Inspector General investigation into the Sexual Assault allegation which is horrifying as you just said but didnt answer questions like is that officer still there . Is he still employed . Was he penalized for anything that happened like this . First that initial intake said that the child was receiving counseling, but they were not referring the allegation to an investigation. So it might be a matter of justice too late for some of these children. From a bigger picture, too, weve seen allegations, not just allegations, weve seen first hand how terrible the conditions have been for children in border stations in Rio Grande Valley and el paso, and now in yuma, arizona. The overcrowding, the unsanitary conditions. This goes a step further because it shows that is spans outside of texas and it isnt just a matter of overcrowding. Theres actually misconduct here and frankly accountability of the officer. Julia who has the oversight here besides the media and Jacob Soboroff reporting on this relentlessly, whose job is it to make sure the kids are being taken care of properly . Thats a good question. There are a number of bodies. We have the Oversight Committee from congress. Of course, they have to have their hands on these documents before they can go forward and know that the allegations exist. Dhs has an Inspector General. An office of responsibility. Customs has their own investigative body. Sometimes, we see the bucket get pushed around, from one thing to another. Not everybody actually has the ability to prosecute. A lot of this stays as an internal report. The same thing happened when the Inspector General was sending boater patrol agents across texas and they were alerting that there were problems but we couldnt see swift action taken. Because it all seemed to sort of stay within dhs. And it took a lot of time before it came to the public eye and congress started asking questions, too. Julia ainsley, thank you for your ongoing reporting on this. Coming up, he was one of the most colorful candidates to ever run for the white house. Were remembering the selfmade texas billionaire ross perot. Next on morning joe. And i recently had hi, ia heart attack. It changed my life. But im a survivor. After my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta. Its for people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack. Brilinta is taken with a lowdose aspirin. No more than 100 milligrams as it affects how well brilinta works. Brilinta helps keep platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. In a clinical study, brilinta worked better than plavix. Brilinta reduced the chance of having another heart attack. Or dying from one. 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Yes, may i finish . May i finish, its a simple question. Well, youve already finished. Steve kornacki, we lost ross perot yesterday, passing away at the age of 89. Talk about his impact on elections . I think ross perot, he ushered in a new era of american politics that were living in now and ultimately produced a generation on. Ross perot in 1982, i think the historical significance of that election, thats the first postcold war president ial election. Thats the first election after the fall of soviet communism. I think there were new tensions and anxieties in the United States sort of domestically, coming to the fore, that were going to define our politics. He launched his campaign for president on cable news. There was one cable news outlet in 1980. There was no ms. No fox news. It was cnn. We had larry king live. One night, larry would have a business tycoon, whatever. February 82, ross perot was on there. Two days later, george bush, his opponent, pat buchanan, bill clinton, paul tsongas was making noise. Paul went on larry kings show and larry king said, would you think about running for president . Perot said, ill tell you what, if you the people are that serious about it you register my name in all 50 states, and ill do it. It was taken as an empty promise, sort of a nonsense. And yet, in an overnight, we didnt have the internet like we do, a Grassroots Movement sprang up. They handed in 258,000 signatures in texas for ross perot. By the late spring of 92, he was running in first place in the national polls, ahead of bush, ahead of clinton. There was serious talk that he could actually win the presidency and the electoral college. Of course, as the scrutiny intensified things changed for perot. I think there were a lot of precursors in that 1992 race. Its interesting, we think about all of the years that changed politics. A lot of people obviously look back at 1966, for the beginning of the reagan revolution. 1974, the watergate babies, as they were called. You can go through the years. But 1992, specifically that month that Steve Kornacki just talked about, 1992, a turning point in american politics that really defines this era, ross perot, of course, launching his bid on larry king. And pat buchanan humbling george h. W. Bush. When i ran two years later, i found there was far more energy at the united we stand meetings which is perots group than the Republican Party. Most of the people that worked on my campaign, a long shot campaign were perot united we stand people. And i found out very quickly that the party of george h. W. Bush was no longer the party of bush, it was an amalgamation of bush and perot. Ien i think it still is. And i covered that 1992 race for news day. And it applied to trumps surprise win in 2016, i dont think we took perot seriously enough as a credible candidate in 1992. It took a while for, i think, the news media to understand that if it was conceivable that he could win, unlikely, but conceivable, he led in june 1992. But he led what we needed to Pay Attention to. And it started the politics that we see today pop the pop puulis and the trade and it got intense with ross perot. Even though he was an eccentric guy, he managed to tap it that told us about the coming days of donald trump. Steve got 19 in 1992, george h. W. Bush and the bush family as susan can tell you have long contended that ross perot cost george bush a second term. Do the facts, do the numbers bear that out . They dont. There was incredible personal animosity between the bushes and perot. There was a whole backstory there. The perot voters were asked if he wasnt on the ballot, who would you choose . They would choose bill clinton. From the middle of july until the start of october, perot actually wasnt in the race. He actually was in the spring, backed out and came back in. And there wasnt a single poll during that time including the day after the Republican Convention when bush led over clinton. When i mentioned perot getting in february 92, at least going on larry king in february 92, remember that george h. W. Bush was already severely weakened before anybody mentioned the name ross perot. His Approval Rating was down in the 30s. Buchanan got more than 40 . The economy was in a bad place in 1992. And there was a lot of buchanan disaffection on the right that perot tapped into. We forget there was stuff going on the left that he tapped into, jerry brown ran a guerilla campaign. And tsongas voters, brown voters, buchanan voters, there were a lot of voters in that pro92 coalition. Coming up, House Democrats are issuing an oversight battle by the Trump Administration by preparing a dozen new subpoenas. Well talk to a member of the house Judiciary Committee about who they want to hear from, and why. Next on morning joe. 25 of your mouth. 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Did you ever tell him your age . I told the recruiter, i mentioned it in front of him, yes. You were 14 years old. Yes, he knew very well my age. He knew exactly, you know, who he was hanging out with. Did Jeffrey Epstein rape you . Yeah, he raped me. Forcefully raped me. Knew exactly what he was doing. And i dont think what hurts even more so if i wasnt afraid to come forward sooner, maybe he wouldnt have done it to other girls. I feel really guilty. Allrose is not part of the federal indictment unsealed this week. That refers to three unidentified victims. She never contacted the authorities to tell her story but she says she did tell at least four people about the epstein encounter several years after they occurred. Reached by nbc news, all four confirmed that she told them years ago she had been sexually assaulted by epstein. Epsteins lawyers did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In previous requests, epstein lawyers have said to have challenged all roses credibility. This will likely call for labor secretary alex acosta to resign. Acosta is under fire for the agreement that allowed epstein to forego the possibility of a heavier jail sentence for sex Crimes Involving minors. And serve a 13month jail term with much of it spent in work release. Acosta was the u. S. Attorney in miami at the time. Joining us now, a member of the house Judiciary Committee Democratic Congress wwoman debb muceral from florida. Congresswoman how are they responding to the calls for acosta to resign . Will they join you . I havent heard any might have colleagues joining me, but as a mother, mika, it is just atrocious to hear the words of that young woman recall the times when epstein raped her. This was a criminal who was engaged in sex trafficking using minors for sexual abuse and assault. And i believe and i said this back in february that secretary acosta did break the law. This is about justice for the victims. He disregarded the law when he had to consult the victims, when he agreed to a plea bargain deal which is why he should resign. So, are you getting any support, at least even behind the scenes from your republican counterparts . I mean, i would think this could be an issue that you can all agree on. What is going on in terms of a total across the board call for his resignation, for the corruption that he has brought to the table here by handling the case the way he did . You would think that this is the redline where we can come together here in congress and across america and say we will not stand for sexual abuse against young girls. I havent heard anything from my republican colleagues. That is not to say that they dont agree with me. But i do believe this is a moment where we have to decide who we are as americans and what were going to stand for which is why i believe acosta to resign. Congresswoman, on a different topic, you invited the democrats running for president to the facility in homestead, florida, the migrant facility there. What do you want them to see, and what do you think should be done . I thought it was important if theyre coming to miami for the president ial debate, i thought it was important to see everything happening in miami, 30 miles south of downtown miami. We have the detention facility. I want them to know were holding 3,000 children in a prisonlike facility. We have separated them from their families at the border. They are living in highly regimented prisonlike conditions. They have family members here in the United States. Approximately 80 of them do have a family member, and they remain in this for profit detention facility for more than, 40, 50, 60 days. As they go along the campaign trail, they need to keep in mind what is happening in america today. I thought it was important for them to join me. And i was pleased that most of them did come down to the homestead detention facility. You sent a letter to the office of Refugee Resettlement sounding an alarm with whats happening at that migrant facility in homestead. Have you heard back . I have not heard back. Ive been asking the same questions now for months since i took office back in january. And i did say if i did not receive responses to my questions, i will start seeking legal action. They have broken several rules, including the fact of not allowing people like me a congresswoman, also senator harris, and senator gillibrand notal allowing us entry, although we are allowed by law to conduct oversight. We will see if i receive some of those answers. Very important questions, for example, how many kids are they detaining at this moment right now . Home of those children have family members here in the United States. Well see if they respond to my question. Congresswoman, youre in the Judiciary Committee, youre in the majority, in the state of florida, a nonprosecution agreement was proposed and settled on in the Jeffrey Epstein case. There were private lawyers there but some of the lawyers there work for the United States government and work for the United States attorneys office. What are the prospects of having a hearing so that the public can find out, what were the details, how were they arrived at, was there any quid pro quo, what happened in that agreement, when the agreement, the nonprosecution agreement, was devised and settled upon . I think its important to bring secretary accoosta and ha a hearing. I do know that we have had those discussions here. We will have a meeting later on today which i will bring this up. But the most important thing is, he was the ultimate decisionmaker. And he knew as the u. S. Attorney that he had to follow the law and consulted with the victims. When i found out in february that he had not done that, that he did not follow the basic rule of consulting with the victims as he agreed in a plea deal that it showed me that we have no trust in secretary acosta, and he needs to resign from his post. Tomorrow, the house Judiciary Committee will vote to authorize subpoenas for 12 former special Counsel Robert Muellers special probe witnesses. Among the people expected to be called include jared kushner, former National Security adviser Michael Flynn, former chief of staff john kelly. Former attorney general jeff sessions, rod roasenstein and corey lewandowski. The Judiciary Committees action theres almost certainly meet resistance from the white house which has already blocked testimony from other former senior aides. Politico points out that the current and former white house aides are unlikely to comply with the subpoenas. The decision is more complicated for witnesses like lewandowski who had no official role with the white house, yet remains close to trump. So congresswoman, what does happen if they defy the subpoenas . We should expect that. Do you guys have a plan . We will take it to the courts, mika. This is why i believe that it is so important for us to start an impeachment inquiry. I came out just a few weeks ago, after hours of listening to experts and the testimony of prosecutors. We will be voting tomorrow to approve these subpoenas. But not just to look and understand as to what happened during the Trump Campaign and after he took office on obstruction of justice charges. But also to talk about the family separation policies. The policies, john kelly has many questions for him. He sits on the board of a for Profit Company thats managing the home detention facility. So this is going to be a very important moment for to us start getting to the truth. This is, again, educating the American Public which is so important to question mueller next week. And bring in all other fact witnesses which are, you know, the people that you just named, rod rosenstein, john kelly, jared kushner. After reading that mueller report, i can assure you that we need to hear from them what exactly happened during the campaign and after President Trump took office. Congresswoman, has there been enough attention on hhs in terms of their responsibility here . You referenced writing a letter to the office orr, that is in charge of actually supervising these children once theyre in this country. My experience was dhs had a tendency to point to hhs. And hhs had a tendency to point to dhs. This is called the old, its not my problem, its theirs. Do you think theres been enough effort to really call the secretary of hhs in, because after so many days, as you know, the responsibility another children shift from the department of Homeland Security to the department of health and human services. And secretary azar who runs that agency, i dont think ive seen him sweat enough about their failures to supervise these children, especially the children as you say have family in this country. What is going on in terms of holding hhs accountable . That is a great point that you bring up. We actually had a hearing on family separation. We had ccp, hhs, dhs, and one of the things i find troubling is theres so much incompetence in all of those agencies. The lack of communication. Yes, secretary azar has a lot of arrogance to him. I know he visited the center actually that friday we came with the president ial candidates to visit when we were not allowed in. He was actually in miami that day. And when you see and hear him in the interview, he thinks that everything is going well. Hes not answering questions, the same question ive posed time and time again. I do believe we need to hold him accountable. This is about having children being locked up. We have two crises. We have one in the border, where weve seen horrific images of children sleeping on concrete. Being quarantined because they have a fever. The older kids, 8, 10 years old taking care of younger kids. Not having the basic necessities. And another crisis in homestead which is almost 3,000 kids being locked up so this company can profit from keeping them inside away from their families. It is a travesty. And i am here, every single day, putting pressure on the agencies, our duty, our job here on congress is to conduct oversight. And that is exactly what were doing. So, one more for you, the Trump Administration was dealt another blow in its fight to add a Citizenship Question to next years census. As a federal judge blocked all but two of the Justice Departments 11 ninth inning legal team substitutions. Meaning those lawyers who reportedly expressed ethical and legal concerns, arguing the case after a Supreme Court swipe will have to continue, unless the Justice Department can provide an adequate and specific explanation for their withdrawal. U. S. District Justice Jesse furman called the request patently deficient. And lacking at fa ining satisfa reasons. The dojs three paragraph report and not good enough. The news landed hard, President Trump on twitter railed against the quote obamaappointed judge and questioned whether the denial was a first. The Justice Department has the option to resubmit its request to replace attorneys. So, congresswoman, will House Republicans play any role in this ongoing battle . Or is this going to the courts . I believe that at this moment, we are truly entering a constitutional crisis. When you have a president thats disregarding the Supreme Courts ruling. The citizen question should not be on the census. It will undercount very important communities, especially in my area, in south florida. I think that this president disregards the rule of law. And he will probably continue to fight this, because this president does not like to lose. But the Supreme Court, as you mentioned, ruled against it. Theres not enough evidence as to why the president wants to include this question, except to undercount important communities, communities of color, that are affected, particularly in the south florida area which is where i represent. All right. Congresswoman deb by muse ca carspowell. Thank you. In the hands of the courts and federal judges in this case, seems skeptical that president obamas Signature Health care law can survive. What it means for 20 million americans insurance next on morning joe. Applebees all you can eat is back. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. 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Before you send your teen to college. Make sure you help protect them. Talk to your teens doctor. About meningitis b vaccination. Welcome back to morning joe. This is a live look at the canyon of heroes. And gosh, people are already lining up, getting ready to welcome their heroes who are having a ticker tape parade today. This is in new york city and this is incredible. The u. S. Women National Team, joe, theyve made it into the big leagues. This is one of those moments that confirms that yet again. You know, so often we see people trying to talk up other sports that theres just not an interest in. Nobody has had to talk up u. S. Womens soccer. Wherever you went in the country, there were sports bars that were packed with young and old alike, willie, and it was just the support was at a fevered pitch. It was so good not only for soccer, it was especially good for womens sports. Yeah, and theyve been good for a long time. They won the last world cup, too. Theyre a joy to watch. They play with complete joy. Theyre players you can get behind. I love their celebrations. They werent showing up their opponent, they were just exuding joy on the world stage. Its something theyve worked their whole lives for. My sons birthday was on monday. He got a u. S. Womens National Team jersey for his birthday and he was wearing it all over the place. Thats not my daughter, its my son. People were excited about this team and ricefghtfully so and ct wait to watch them celebrate in new york today. The question, mika, people lined up on the picket line, do they have equal pay signs . They need to. Lets hope the women there celebrating have signs and theyre even on the floats holding up signs, we need equal pay. Moving on now, a federal Appeals Court appears to have a blow to Barack Obamas health care law. They seemed inclined to rule that the poor provision of obamacare is unconstitutional. The judges hit lawyers defending the law with questions on whether the laws individual mandate is, in fact, unconstitutional and whether the entire law could stand without it. Yesterdays hearings marked the latest development in a 2018 lawsuit by 18 republicanleaning states claiming that the absence of a tax con veverts the law in an unconstitutional order to u. S. Citizens to buy a product. A lower court judge ruled in december that it did and that the entire law must be negated as a result, which includes popular provisions such as protection for preexisting conditions. This is a big story that we need to follow. Especially with what our next guest has to say. Joining us now, editor in chief of cosmopolitan magazine, jessica pells. The magazine has recently taken a closer look at concerns readers are most interested in ahead of the 2020 election, including health care. So jess, lets back up and talk about why hearing from your readers is so important. How many readers do you have and what is the age demographic were talking about here . Cosmo reaches 76 million readers every month and the majority of them are millennials. The things about millennials and genz, theyll make up about 20 and 50 of who the president will govern. They are seen as serious needs that the candidates should address in a substantive way. So you looked at these young voters and took a look at what was important to them, and top of the list was health care . Yes. Dig into the numbers and tell us what they said. Yes. I think it may be surprising to some people that for millennials, the number bun concern in this election cycle is health care, but our internal data told us that 72 of the cosmo audience Prioritize Health care over even the elimination of student debt, which considering the fact that the average College Graduate in this country carries 37,000 of student debt, is a pretty big deal. It tracks that for my audience, cost is the reason theyre focused on health care. Its expensive to be healthy in this country even if you are insured. Aside from the monthly cost that comes out of your paycheck, there are basic needs that may be only covered in part or not at all, like Birth Control, dental, vision, Mental Health rehab. One of my readers put it a great way when she said that people should not be denied care or quality of care just because of their income. And the truth is that millennials believe that the wealthy dont have a right to Better Health or longer lives. 83 of my audience says that they View Health Care as a basic human right. Do you think your readers know whats in the obamacare protections . Do you think they know that for the first time, they had a right to get Birth Control through their insurance policies at work . Do you think they understood the protection for preexisting conditions, all of these being blown up right now in the courts by the Trump Administration . I do, i do. For 41 of my audience, theyre getting their Health Insurance on their parents plan, so thats another reason why theyre focused on health care, is at age 27 they will age out and have foto figure out a plan. But yes, i think theyre absolutely aware. And particularly when it comes to accessing Birth Control, that is under attack. And the Trump Administration is attempting to make it easier for religiousbased employers to deny Birth Control coverage. All right, jess pells, were going to continue this conversation at knowyourvalue. Com, so check out my website for this. We can dig deeper into these numbers and what matters to women especially in terms of their health care. Cosmopolitans latest issue hits stands on july 16. Love that. So, willie, wrap it up. What are your final thoughts . I think thats a fascinating number, that 37 number of millennials and genz. Thats a big potential voting block candidates should read through. Im excited, clair, about the parade happening. I think the parade is exciting but im wanting people to get after the recruiters in the epstein case. This woman that recruited a High School Girl for sex, they need to be held accountable under criminal law. That does it for us this morning. Jeff bennett picks up the coverage right now. Good morning. Im jeff bennett in for stephanie ruhle, and we begin with breaking news. The uk envoy resigning this morning after he accused the president of being incompetent. Whats the British Ambassador saying about his decision to step down this morning . Reporter jeff, good morning to you. Bottom line the ambassador is sending the signal that his position had become untenable because of those leaked cables. Let me read a little