Transcripts For MSNBCW Morning Joe 20190819

That it would be a little fast and we both got we had some mishaps with altitude and cold and it was incredibly challenging and im so glad i did it but im so glad to be back. I thank katty kay and willie geist for stepping up with me and letting me have that time with my daughter. And you were just you were fine. You just are smoking a cigar and hanging out. You were worried. I wasnt doing well. She had the group had a Satellite Phone and there was going to be a checkin every day because it is it is its not it can be dangerous. The most dangerous thing that it was a little dangerous. Youll ever do. Yeah. She was supposed to call in every day for 30 seconds and say, were here. Were doing fine. Were moving forward tomorrow. But the phones froze up. It was unusually cold and i guess cell reception is not always great from arctic zones. So yeah, a little joe was a little mad. I was nervous. I was not mad, i was very nervous. Ill post pictures later. Kind of like the moon landing. It was crazy. We went photographic evidence because a lot of people arent going to be sure that you didnt do this on a sound stage in burbank. So lets get photographic evidence later this week. It was an incredible trip. But congratulations to you and your daughter. What an extraordinary thing and just for people that know, you know, i was reading up while she was radio silent for three days and do this in eight or nine days. Even if youre an experienced hiker go eight or nine days, they went 5 1 2 days. They were over there and warned. Listen, you cant do this in 5 1 2 days, and mika is no, i just want to go up there and get it done and come back. Yeah. That was rough. Good to be back. Im glad youre back. It was wonderful. Mrs. Scarborough, congratulations. Thank you. Lets get to the news. We begin with a key finding from the latest nbc news wall street journal when asked about the reelection, a combined 40 of registered voters say theyll definitely or probably vote for him. While a combined 52 said they would definitely or probably vote for the democratic candidate. Those numbers are virtually unchanged from about nine months ago. The president did manage to harden support among his pace with a six point increase in the percentage of voters who say theyll definitely vote for him now at 29 . Joe . So Steve Kornacki, of course, back in the old days which wasnt so long ago if you were a candidate and your reelect was below 50 , it was time to really start worrying for president s obviously its its become a much tougher road to hoe even though the last three have been reelected. My question, how worried should trump and his team be with this 40 reelect number and secondly, especially because its much lower in the states that matter the most. But secondly, how is barack obama faring at this same time . I mean he had a pretty rough stretch in 2011, did he not . Yeah. Remember at about this time in 2011 you had the failure for barack obama of that supposed grand bargain with john boehner with republicans in congress, the debt ceiling showdown. So the summer of 2011 was kind of a low point for Barack Obamas presidency looking ahead to his reelection. I was looking though at our august 2011 nbc news wall street journal poll sizing up obama at that point of his presidency versus mitt romney who ended up being of course the republican nominee in 2012 and obama was a point up in our poll at that point. 4746 over mitt romney. I think one of the differences, obama obviously as i say it was a rough stretch in 2011. He had a middling approval lating for that rating for that second part of the first term and one of the differences when you look at his polling profile versus Donald Trumps, the number who say they wont vote for trump, who disapprove of trump consistently. You have to go back a long ways in our polling now to find a less than a majority saying they dont disapprove of donald trump, that high disapproval number for donald trump is different. As you say, we dont have a head to head here in ours, but we have fox news polling over the last couple of days that shows donald trump losing double digits to prospective democratic opponents in 2020. The other thing i would point out again, i mentioned the fox news poll, the other big difference that jumps out me is this. The reason when you strip Everything Else away, i think that donald trump was able to get himself elected in 2016 was on election day you took a certain type of voter. A voter who said i have a negative view of donald trump. And i have a negative view of Hillary Clinton. I dont like both of the candidates. Those voters broke decisively for donald trump. The margin in the exit poll was 47 for trump and 30 for clinton. They didnt like either but they broke for trump. In the new fox news poll they look at voters who say they dont like trump and they dont like biden. And right now in this fox news poll they are breaking for biden by a 33 point margin. Thats the biggest difference i have seen in polling right now. That is a huge difference and jon meacham, i really think historically if historians can look back at the Donald Trump Campaign and presidency with a bit of detachment its very hard right now, but they may look back just like they looked back at 1980 with Ronald Reagan saying are you better off today than you were four years ago. They may look back at the 2016 campaign and the phrase that fits that campaign the most tightly the most effective for him was what do you have to lose . Of course, he was aiming it at black voters but there are a lot of white voters, rich bankers, a lot of other people, a lot of whatever, you name the demographic. Hispanic business people, a lot of people looked at that and said, well, you know, wait a second. Hes right. The bushes and the clintons have not been a bargain over the past 30 years, what do we have to lose . That vanishes immediately when youre suddenly the guy thats sitting behind the desk in the oval office. He doesnt have that advantage and now that advantage will go to biden or sanders or whomever who wins the democratic nomination. Yeah. Whoever wins the democratic nomination is the great xfactor here. But the history of this youre right. There were ten president ial elections between 1980 and 2016 and a bush or a clinton was on 80 of the National Tickets which is a remarkable thing to sit back and think about. Steve talked about one of the few years where one wasnt in 08 and 12. So it was a i would argue a reactive vote. You know, even if you voted for the imcumbent, you werent by and large doing it out of great positivity about him. As the numbers show. It was a case of basically they were saying to washington, if youre going to act like a bunch of professional wrestlers well send you one and now people have seen what thats like. And the answer to what have you got to lose turns out to be quite a lot. Culturally and now as we see the economy moving in the direction it seems to be moving, there may be even a more precise answer there. So the great question for the era is going to be was 2016 an aberration or the beginning of a significantly longer chapter of a reactive and nativist period of american politics . Well, and if you just look at the demographics, if you look at the data, if you just look at the numbers it is going to be an aberration. Because the numbers do not add up to the brand of politics that donald trump is practicing having any Lasting Impact in american politics. It will not. And mika, again, you look at not only the reelect the 40 reelect, there are a lot of states where donald trump is doing extraordinarily well. In the deep south and in some of the plains states but that reelect is far lower in michigan. It was in the low 30s last time i checked. And wisconsin, low 30s. Pennsylvania, low 30s. Hes upside down in those states. According to fox news, upside down in all of those states and is getting getting beaten very badly by Bernie Sanders. Yeah. Professed socialist. So he has a long way to go and again the most important thing, mika, we were talking about this while you were scaling mount kilimanjaro, the most important thing to remember is again, hes got a really Strong Economy going right now. Even with the Strong Economy, hes really struggling. So that can you imagine what would happen to those numbers if the economy took a tumble . We certainly hope it doesnt. We hope the any stays really strong. But youre right though. Thats actually thats what people are really worried about inside the white house right now. Absolutely. President trump though is pushing back about that. Growing concerns that youre hearing from inside the white house and from ceos across the country of a possible recession. The president and some of his aides spent the weekend trying to downplay those worries following last weeks volatility in the stock market. While preparing to depart new jersey to return to the white house yesterday, trump was asked about the likelihood a recession could be looming. I dont see a recession. I mean, the world is in a recession right now. And although thats too big a statement. A lot of the economies say that now were preparing for a recession, that no president is immune to the recession and its up to the government yeah. Phil, honestly im prepared for everything. I dont think were having a recession. Were doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich. I gave a tremendous tax cut and theyre loaded up with money. When you go and analyze the curve, the curve always means that about two years later maybe youll go thats a long time, two years. But i dont think so. Interest rates are low. I could be helped out by the fed. But the fed doesnt like helping me too much. I sure dont see a recession. We had some blockbuster retail sales consumer numbers towards the back end of last week. Really blockbuster numbers and in fact despite a lot of worries with the volatile stock market most economists on wall street towards the opened of the week had been marking up the forecasts for the third and fourth quarter. That echoes our view. You know, what we have got here consumers are working at higher wages. They are spending at a rapid pace. Theyre actually saving also while theyre spending. Thats an ideal situation, so i think actually the second half of the economy is going to be very good in 2019. Despite the strong talk by the president and his top aides, Jonathan Lemire, you have new reporting that suggests there are concerns within the administration over a possible recession. And what it could mean for next years election. Reading from your piece, quote, trump advisers fear a weakened economy could hurt him with moderate republicans and independents who were giving him a pass on the rhetoric. They see few options for reversing course should the economy slip. Though trump has expressed private worries about wall street hes skeptical about the weaker Economic Indicators wondering if the media and the establishment figures are manipulating the data to make him look bad. Trumps skepticism has been reinforced by white house officials who have long been inclined to show him rosier economic assessments. The New York Times reiterates that trump has repeated the claims in private discussions with aides and allies insisting that his critics are trying to take away what he sees as his calling card for reelection. Trump has been agitated in discussions about the economy and by the news medias reporting of warnings of a possible recession. The times has said that forces that do not want him to be win have been overstating the damage the trade war has caused an several aides agree with him that the news media is overplaying the economic fears, adding to his feeling of being justified. Joe, the question i have for you the challenge for the media has been sometimes how to characterize the things that have come out of the president s mouth and the things that hes done and said in a way that is as objective as possible. As right down the middle as possible because some of them are so incendiary. Some of the things he says are basically racist and its been difficult to just report on it because when you say what the president says it sounds horrible. Its not us. Its him. Hes got a very extreme way of communicating his hatred. Well, when if you just look at just the numbers the numbers are the numbers. If you look at and i talked about Jonathan Lemire, what paul singer wrote last week. A concern of an extraordinarily damaging reversal on the economy. This is not this is not just people in the media. There are a lot of people who are very concerned and obviously the medias responsibility is not to be caught sleeping. I think a lot of us were caught sleeping in 2007, 2008 when we didnt understand what was going on in the big banks. We didnt understand the credit default swaps. We didnt understand the crisis that was coming. So certainly when people like paul singer are warning of a coming economic crisis there is a responsibility for everybody to be a bit more alert. I personally i dont know economics that well. I was reading Sports Illustrated in the back of my university of alabama econ 101 class i dont see it coming because Consumer Confidence is so high and because the United States economy is so much stronger than the rest of the worlds. My biggest concern is that what the trade war is doing to economies of those we trade with the most. It seems to me that may be the biggest challenge to short term and long term challenge to our economy. Yeah. And joe, let me first say that mika was on the adventure last week but we were far not confident of her ability to survive the week than yours. Well, i have to i have to say that three days in, i didnt think i was going to make it. He was a mess. You can only have so many big macs while youre in mourning. Oh, my god. Yeah. Again, radio simmer down. Radio silence. Its like apollo 13 goes around to the other side of the mean and you cant hear from tom hanks. Tom, are you okay, but that was three days for me. While she was on the peak smoking a cigarette saying, look at how beautiful this is. That and the red sox struggles are not good for your health. No, its not. The worries ott of the white house though is exactly the economy. This has been all along the president s number one argue. Hes overseeing a Strong Economy and no doubt its not strong for every american, and no doubt he inherited it from barack obama it was on the rise when he took office. But the economy has been good under this president and hes tied his fortunes to the stock market in an unprecedented way. So as we have seen such volatility in the last week or two, that has really unnerved both him and the people around him. As you just read from the piece, you know, theres aides whether its about the economy or foreign policy, people around the president have been presented him the best Case Scenarios knowing he can react very strongly when he sees the numbers he doesnt like. Sees information he doesnt like. Thats always been the case. Thats been a challenge for people around him to sort of present him on a an honest assessment as to whats gone on. But the president has not accepted any responsibility. The aides suggest he into down the trade war with china seeing that as the number one thing thats rattling the markets but instead hes blaming the fed. Asking for more Interest Rate cuts than hes received. We have seen him trying to ram up up other distractions. Reiterating the culture war divisions including the two democratic congresswomen, the situation with israel in the last two days. That hes trying to make the case that the economy is his number one argument. If it slows down, they know theyre in trouble. Theyre seeing the same poll numbers that we are. They are seeing that if he cant make that argument and provide frankly cover, cover for republicans, cover for some that sliver of independents who are willing to look the other way. Who are perhaps bothered by some of the racist rhetoric but theyre willing to go along with it because the economy is doing good, doing well for their business or checking account, if that goes away hes going to have a very hard time making the case for reelection. Very hard case. And when the debate when donald Trump Supporters are having to defend statements that the majority of americans think are racist, thats a problem. Of course, his defenders in the media even there was a column in the wall street journal talking about how what trump is saying is not racist. Well, over half of americans disagree with that, a majority of americans in a recent poll said they believe that donald trump is racist. Thats a real challenge for obviously any swing voters. And as far as the trade war goes, mika, i actually heard this on fox news last week. Somebody expressing real concern that the chinese already know that donald trump the only sort of economic trick he has left in his bag is to come to a resolution on the trade war with china to get the economy going. Well, if we all know that, then the chinese leaders know that. Xi knows that. And so xi will drive a harder bargain with donald trump and at the end of the day, the man who wrote a book on the art of the deal while he was losing more money than any american alive will have to strike another bad deal with the chinese because they know hes timing all this for his reelection. Hes going to push the trade war as long as he can, and then as he gets into the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020, okay, lets do a trade deal with china and try to amp the economy up. The chinese know that, so obviously Donald Trumps position at the table is going to significantly weakened and American Consumers and farmers continue to be hurt. Im worried about his knee jerk strategy to try to deflect people from what is really happening because the economy is like driving a boat. Things kind of happen after you have turned the wheel. And this president s not doing to get the reactions he wants in this economy if hes not careful. Adrienne elrod, lets talk about the democrats. What is the challenge for democrats, for the democratic president ial candidates as it pertains to discussing the economy . Because, again, the president has a way of turning things against people and making it look like they want something bad to happen. And at the same time, they do need to give americans some clear talk about what the options are. Yeah. Youre right, mika. I think the challenge for Democratic Candidates on this is first of all the recession is happening, a recession is happening. So you have to simply acknowledge this is going on. And move forward but i think that Democratic Candidates can reiterate why the tax cut bill is bad. You know, the fact that Many Americans are not working at jobs even if the Unemployment Rate is below 4 . Many americans are not working in jobs they want. Many americans had to leave good paying jobs for meerng mediocre jobs they didnt sign up for. Its working for corporate american so continuing to hone in on that message and focus on what the democrats would do if they full control of the congress and the white house, but you have to stay steady on this message because as we know, mika, its a poll and poll, time after time has shown that americans are not feeling this positive economy that we have right now. So you couple that with going in to a recession or at least starting to feel the initial effects of a recession, its really bad for trump. Thats why look, right now with a 40 reelect number and a recession that looks like its on the way to happening, this guy is not going to get reelected right now. Thats why i think all along he has been playing this base strategy where hes been focussing on that 32 to 33 of americans who will be with him in his own words even if he shot somebody on fifth avenue. But hes done nothing to grow those moderate his support among moderate americans and independent swing voters. Thats the 4 to 5 thats doing to make this decision in this election cycle so now that hes going into recession it does look like whatever bets he had on trying to rely on a good economy for that small 4 to 5 that will ultimately decide this election is not going to work. Well, but eddie, the challenge for the democrats and i think you and i may disagree here so id love to get your thoughts is the belief that the democrats a lot of the democrats are just not being realistic in a country thats got a 22 trillion debt. I retweeted a parody website that said 6yearold girl saying why dont we give everything away for free surges to the top of democratic polls. So its there is a healthy skepticism not just of Donald Trumps trade wars but also of the belief that we can have everybody can have free health care, free education. All debt for education is forgiven. Illegal immigrants will be Given Health Care for life. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This is for swing voters, it seems to me democrats need to be very careful about promising more than they can deliver because thats what donald trump did in 2016. Well, youre right. We do disagree on this. I think its important for democrats to put forward, joe, kind of aspirational claims that reflect the values that distinguish them from the republicans and particularly from donald trump. Im thinking of a quotation from the late toni morrison. The time has ended for us to apologize for bleeding hearts because the opposite is no heart at all. So i think its important in this moment for the democrats to put forward clearly an agenda that reflects their values. Then when we think about the economy and we think about donald trump and his minions as he unleashed them this sunday, it makes sense to me to be fair theyre going out and saying that the economy is okay its strong, thats what theyre supposed to do but when we think of the harvard economists and chicago economists the indica r indicators are were on the way to the recession. Were coming off the sugar high of the tax cut and the trade war, we need to be prepared. Then we think about again last we think of larry kudlow. He is not very good on this, right . In 2007, he did he said we were strong. He did not see like many of us the 2008 recession on the horizon. So we need to be skeptical of kudlow, but we need to understand what their doing. I think the democrats need to be clear about their values, be aspirational in how they talk about them so they can present a stark contrast between what we have and what we aspire to be. What they take themselves to be that is. Well, you had the quote about not having any heart at all, but does barack obama does not have any heart at all because the party thinks his Health Care Reform plan which he and democrats fought for tooth and nail had to struggle for two years to get that passed and it still cost the Democratic Party 1,000 legislative seats over the next eight years. I mean, if politics is the art of the possible why run around on the campaign trail and save this tape because i know im right. Save this tape. Theyre making promises on the campaign trail they will never be able to fulfill and if you dont believe me, ask barack obama or nancy pelosi or anybody who was there during the fight for obamacare, for the Affordable Care act. How does barack obama go from being the most popular democrat and the most enlightened force on the face of the earth for most democrats to suddenly being a man with no heart at all with his policies being retrograde and overly conservative . Well, we have to be careful in how we characterize this, right . So theres a sense in which theres an argument that was being had among democrats about health care. Barack obama made a case. He won in a certain way, but there were other people within the context of that argument arguing for him to go a bit further. So it seems to me, joe, that in the context but, eddie, he couldnt go further though. If youre debating this on a cable news show or in a princeton classroom, you can say that. But barack obama only got 50 votes. Right. It was the one of the most difficult legislative fights in recent American History and he still barely got there. So it wasnt a question of what barack obama wanted. It was a question of what was possible and by the way, eddie, he had 59 Democratic Senators then. But what well do i think what the democrats are going to show and its interesting i said we what i think the democrats are trying to do and what the country is trying to do is shift the center of gravity. The idea of what is possible cannot be determined by republicans today. I can understand the limitations around politics, but the idea of whats possible cant be determined by an ideology that is revealed to be bankrupt, joe. So it seems to me that as long as we allow that ideological frame to determine how we imagine moving forward in the context of this country we will find ourselves over and over again in this particular place trying to figure out how well help everyday working people. Fair or not Jonathan Lemire, it breaks my heart that eddie glaude said that Barack Obamas ideology was bankrupt because oh, joe. Because i thought he was a pretty popular guy. But anyway, go ahead. I was going to say that argument is one that the republicans and donald trump will make. The idea that the democrats even if things slow down for the white house and the economy stalls theyre going to make the argument that democrats plans are unrealistic. Theyre out of step with the mainstream. As much as the Trump Campaign reelection message is sort of flailing at the moment, whether it remains to be seen or not, whether its effective or not remains to be seen. There are limited tools at their disposal to get the economy going. Youre right, the china trade deal may help, but you know the Interest Rate cuts unlikely. Theres no sense of a infrastructure plan or stimulus spending. There isnt seeming to be much they can do unless of course they buy greenland. Oh, my exactly. The dream is still alive. The dream is still alive. Mika, the possibility of the United States Congress Passing medicare for all, passing health care for illegal immigrants, the possibility of forgiving all student debt is no more likely than Donald Trumps failed promises from 2016 Promising Health care for all that would be cheaper, better, lower deductibles. Lower premiums. Again, democrats and republicans alike should be realistic on the campaign trail and tell people what you can do. Right. And make it realistic. Make it sound completely realistic because thats what it should be. Still ahead on morning joe, one of the Top Democrats on the Armed Services committee, congressman Anthony Brown. Hes now calling for an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Plus, updates of several of the big stories from over the weekend from the protests in hong kong to the 2020 campaign trail. Where joe biden is praising the quote good republicans out there. But first, lets go to bill karins with a check on the forecast. 16,000 foot climb in five days, very impressive. All right, lets get to the forecast. We saw a significant travel delay at areas of new york city last night with the thunderstorms, four hour delays. So its catchup day. All of the storm reports from yesterday. We wont be as bad but there will be some delays. 76 Million People under heat advisories or warnings today. New york city, philadelphia, heat advisories. Well get the thunderstorms this afternoon. Airport delays are possible from new york city to philadelphia, maybe a scattered storm around d. C. Then the middle of the week things begin to change on wednesday. Thats when a cold front will come down with some significant rainfall and storms from st. Louis to new york city to d. C. And then by the time we get to friday the end of the week, at least the northern half of the country gets a break from the summer heat. This is a very typical summer month right now. Right now, middle of august its hot and humid just about everywhere including new york city. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Lets get down to business. The business of atlanta on monday. Cincinnati on tuesday. Philly on wednesday. And thursday back to cincinnati. Modernized comfort inns and suites have been refreshed because when your business keeps going, our business is you. Get the lowest price guaranteed on all Choice Hotels when you book direct at choicehotels. Com. And this is me now i got Liberty Mutual. They customized my Car Insurance, so i only pay for what i need. On the lottery, got hair plugs, and started working out. And so can you only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Hi, its real milk, just00 farmwithout the lactose, id. So you can enjoy it even if youre sensitive. Now, ive heard people say lactaid isnt real milk. Ok, well, if it isnt real then, i guess those things over there cant actually be cows. Must be some kind of really big dogs, then. Sit bad dog. From the 5am wakers, to the 6am sleepers. Everyone uses their phone differently and in different places. Thats why Xfinity Mobile created a Wireless Network that auto connects you to millions of secure wifi hot spots. And the best lte everywhere else. Xfinity mobile is a different kind of Wireless Network designed to save you money. Save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. Plus get 250 back when you buy an eligible phone. Click, call or visit a store today. Amid President Trumps trade war with china, americans support for free trade with countries reaches a any high according to the latest nbc news wall street journal poll. Almost twothirds of americans say they support free trade, a seven point increase from the last time the question was asked in 2017. 27 said they did not support free trade. Down ten points. Well, jon meacham, two things that donald trump has been good for. Free trade and gun control. Numbers going up in both areas. They are. And i wonder because steve would know these numbers peter than anybody, does that number move in terms of the populist fever chart really starting i guess the modern era starting with perot in 92 or is this also is this a polling question where if youre asking for if youre for free trade you say yes because you dont want to be seen as against it, but on election day you vote for what you think build a wall to protect your job. Yeah. I think this is one of those theres some long term questions there that youre getting at there in terms of sort of the modern era evolution of the economy. But the movement reads more as more trump specific. Sort of at a piece on the opinion of the wall. How he made the wall the signature issue and yet opposition to the wall has grown in reaction to trump. If you look back in 2015 in our polling on this question of the attitude towards free trade, basically free trade was a plus 10 issue. This is as donald trump was getting into the president ial race, now couple of years later, couple of years into the Trump Administration as you show in that poll its a plus 27 issue. I think part has to do with the reaction to what youre showing with the tariffs here. Again, one of the ironies i think in politics. This happens if you have a democratic or a republican president. The public has kind of a contrarian streak where i think i think the administration does x and the public moves towards y. You were talking about this with obamacare. Barack obama when he got elected in 2008, the country the polling was pretty overwhelming. Voters trusted him over the democrats over health care and democrats enacted obamacare in 2009 and 2010 and by the 2010 midterms the voters preferred the republicans on health care and then the country moves to free trade. So the tariffs defined this presidency. But adrienne, how do the democrats manage this doing forward . What sort of minefields do certain candidates with views about trade need to avoid . Well, look, i think this is an opening for democrats to really focus on the trump tariffs and the damage it has done to Many Americans, especially those in the midwestern states. That went for trump in 2016 thats where you can draw a contrast. You know, i think the media in large part, not this show, but some other outlets have focused on some of those farmers out there in the midwest who have said, oh, you know, i know trump is doing the right thing on china. I trust him that, you know, these tariffs as much as theyre hurting me i trust that hes making the right decision. But i think were starting to see more and more people come out and say you know what, these tariffs are really bad for me. Were going into the possible recession and this is bad for me and i think the democrats have to draw a contrast there. Then, jonathan, i want to touch quickly on background checks. I was absolutely astounded by the fact that 89 of americans, democrats and republicans in this poll, support background checks. To me, if i was advising a democratic candidate right now, i would have every single candidate focusing on gun safety, gun control. Theyre talking about it. But i would make this the biggest platform at least going in to september and forcing congress to act on this issue. Its more significant than red flag laws. More and more americans want background checks. I would focus heavily on gun control because this is something that transcends democrats and republicans across the board. Congress is failing to act. This is a real opening. To me thats the bigger opening right now. From this poll for democrats. Well, it is a big opening. By the way, the talking points happen to be the truth. Nine out of ten americans support expanded background checks. That means an overwhelming majority of republicans support background checks. A majority of republicans support the background checks and its just two or three lobbyists in washington, d. C. Who oppose it. And only 10 of americans one in ten, 90 of americans want to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. Out of hands of domestic abusers. Out of those who are not mentally capable of safely having a gun. It is a simple issue not just for democrats but for republicans and republican primaries. If i were running today i would use that in a second. And id gain votes in the republican primary from it. Jon meacham, i want to go back to you. And, you know, Steve Kornacki brought up the point that the best thing for the Affordable Care act was donald trump, just like the best thing for expanded background checks and the best thing for our free trade was a donald trump presidency. The pew poll showed earlier this summer that actually what people view as racism and a majority of americans view their president as a racist, is actually made more americans sensitive on the issue of race. And made more americans more open minded when it comes to the issue of race. Its what we talked about for some time, which is the reaction against Donald Trumps most extreme traits. Could it also be that and talk about perot that the only thing that in the end that could cure this itch for populism would be the enactment of populist policies themselves which end up hurting american farmers, American Consumers, people that shop at walmart. People that shop at best buy. People that go into the grocery store. Populism may end up being the ultimate cure for populism. Thats a great point. Its you know, its both ross perot in 92 and pat buchanan in 92 and 96 and you had the american first, very charged phrase from the 1930s but a more isolationist and that america is being ripped off which is what President Trump has been saying in various media forums through the years. Thats a very appealing message. It goes way, way back in american life. One of the fascinating things to me and we have talked about this before is to what extent economic populism has been replaced by cultural populism. From 68 forward. Interestingly trump kind of blends the two in a way thats sewell four us i would argue. I owe this to grace sasser and he ran the Democratic Party which is like being the Radar Operator in pearl what are for. Can you imagine a worst job . But we were talking the other day and he and he said interestingly trump wants to take us back to 1955. And Vice President biden is appealing to a kind of cultural ethos, political ethos of 1965. Where you have big legislative action, where you cooperate with republicans, where johnson can that schoolchildren will know two names, lincoln and dirksen. You want that kind of world. And the great question is, you know, in a crazingly diverse country where so much of the Democratic Base at least the base that we hear from on twitter and everywhere else wants to move forward. Which of those two competing american narratives, the reaction of 55 or the broadening story of 65, which of those do we want Going Forward . All right, up next, the democratic president ial democrats like to tout the number of small dollar donors who give to their campaigns but what about the big money . Well, well lay out the most influential democratic donors next on morning joe. Mothat a handle is just a is jushandle. Ir. Or that you cant be both inside and outside. Most people havent driven a lincoln. Discover the lincoln approach to craftsmanship at the lincoln summer invitation. 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If you are taking asthma medicines, do not change or stop your asthma medicine without talking to your doctor. Help heal your skin from within. Ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. He borrowed billions donald trump failed as a businessman. And left a trail of bankruptcy and broken promises. He hasnt changed. I started a tiny investment business, and over 27 years, grew it successfully to 36 billion dollars. Im tom steyer and i approve this message. Im running for president because unlike other candidates, i can go head to head with donald trump on the economy, and expose him fo what he is a fraud and a failure. Almost all of the democratic president ial candidates have sworn off help from super pacs. But while some wealthy progressives are looking to endorse to sway the primaries others are biding their time until a nominee emerges. Joining us now, National Correspondent for new york magazine, gabriel debenedetti. Hes here with the latest piece entitled the most influential democratic donors whose money are the 2020 hopefuls are gunning for. I guess the question which one are they gunning for and how much are they going to give . Well, thats a great question. I mean, right now we obviously dont know but number one on the list that i drew up there was michael bloomberg. Hes a great example of someone who has a lot of money to spend. Hell spend up to half a billion dollars if not more in trying to get trump out. But like a lot of these liberal billionaires theyre watching the race. Trying to figure out the shape of this thing. Bloomberg for example doesnt really like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. So theyre trying to bide their time and all the democrats are focused on the smaller donations because you have donald trump, you know, courting all of these republican billionaires. Hes getting a ton of money and building this massive stockpile for his campaign. So you have a bunch of democratic billionaires waiting in the wings. Not too many have weighed in yet. Tom steyer had a lot of money to spend but well spend it on himself. What sort of is that fueled by a fear of a backlash by have you seen that theyre trying to get the money. Huge money is already coming in on the republican side. So why are they staying away . For the one side, absolutely theyre afraid of backlash. Its not a good look right now in the democratic primary to be talking to too many billionaires about Year Campaign strategy. Another part which is a Strategic Point that a lot like to make, when they talk about the corrupting power of big money, its a point they absolutely believe in they get a lot of small dollar donations and so you have Bernie Sanders, you have Elizabeth Warren. Raising a ton of money almost more than anyone else in the race, not more than everyone else, but most other people. Largely on a message, im not talking to the mega donors or the billionaires. Thats a potent message for someone. Do you see it playing out where the democratic billionaires will land . Theres an expectation at the top of the socalled establishment that when theres a nominee there will be a number of super pacs, the dnc, all sorts of groups that will come in and you know take money from big donors or from everyone to swoop in and try to you know, get donald trump out of office. Their idea basically is listen, we know that big dollar donations are not the direction to go for the most part. But that we dont have time for purity in politics. Thats a case for example Hillary Clinton used to make a lot. I traveled around the country with her and she used to taught about the corrupting power in democrats. Steyer is interesting too because theres the open question of whether hell get on the debate stage Going Forward with the other candidates and the other thing about steyer you mentioned too, you have the bloomberg type of billionaire who is apprehensive when it comes to a warren or sanders but here is steyer, willing to spend money in the campaign and run on a strident progressive message. If he gets on the stage in these debates where do you think his presidency can go . Hes very well known to the American Public largely because of the ads hes been running for the last few years. He has been the democrats biggest donor so a lot of people are kind of you know, not thrilled hes pumping the money into his own campaign but if he gets on stage hell be fairly progressive. The candidate he was the saying the most positive things about other than jay inslee is Elizabeth Warren. Now Elizabeth Warren isnt thrilled that steyer is running because shes saying we dont need more billionaires in our politics. We dont need someone pumping hundreds of millions into his own campaign which is what steyer said hell do. Gabriel, thank you very much. Well be reading your reporting in new york magazine. I appreciate your coming on this morning. Coming up we reported last week that trump was interested this buying green land. Turns out it wasnt a joke and green land doesnt seem to think the joke is that funny. Plus, the president predicts the New York Times will go out of business following the papers launch of a new initiative on slavery and race in america. Peter baker is here with a fact check. He joins us next on morning joe. Announcer at fidelity were leading the charge on value. We have stock and bond index funds with lower Expense Ratios than comparable vanguard funds. And the industrys first true zero Expense Ratio index funds offered directly to investors. 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Neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repairs dermproven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. Making wrinkles look so last week. Rapid wrinkle repair® pair with new retinol oil for 2x the wrinkle fighting power. Neutrogena® nbc news has confirmed that President Trump has talked about possibly buying greenland. Yeah. Of course he [ bleep ] did. Of course he did. Speculation on trumps comments rose to such a point this week that greenlands premier had to issue a statement saying, greenland is not for sale. So if you had 2 1 2 years in your office pool of when a world leader would have to tell trump you cant buy our country, congratulations. Youre a big winner. John oliver with his take on President Trumps apparent interest in buying greenland. Speaking to reporters yesterday, the president said it would benefit both the United States and denmark. Well, greenland, i dont know. It got released somehow, but it was something we talked about. Denmark essentially opens it, were very good allies with denmark. We protect denmark like we protect large portions of the world so the concept came up. I said certainly id be strategically its interesting. And wed be interested but well talk to them a little bit. Its not number one on the burner i can tell you that. Greenlands ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted on friday, greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals. The purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, Renewable Energy and is a new frontier for adventure tourism. Were open for business, but not for sale. Jonathan lemire, i think this is a very good idea. In fact, we can move one of the red sox spring Training Camps there. And i dont know, maybe i dont know. Move a aaa team. So many opportunities for us in greenland. I agree. I think that my sense is that the white house advisers perhaps the president was looking at a map, it was one of the globes that has the distorted huge versions of greenland and it looked like a continent and its a good place to build a golf course. But the president is scheduled to go to denmark in a couple of weeks. So dont be surprised if on the way back he stops, plants the flag in green land and we go from there. I love it. Well, jefferson had his Louisiana Purchase. Mika, donald trump wants greenland. Great. As you can see the a. P. s Jonathan Lemire is still with us along with professor at Princeton University eddie glaude jr. Historian, author of the soul of america and from vanderbilt university, jon meacham. Joining the conversation, professor of history at tulane university, Walter Isaacson. Senior adviser at moveon. Org and an msnbc contributor, karine jeanpierre. And chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times, peter baker is with us this morning. Good to have you on board this hour. A lot going on. Yeah. We have a lot going on. Peter, obviously last hour we talked about the polls, the president s reelect at 40 . Fears of the economy, the New York Times and others reporting that actually while the president is speaking with confidence about the economy, publicly, that inside the white house there are growing fears of a coming recession. Well, thats exactly right. And the president s already sort of laying out the groundwork for whos going to be responsible. And its not going to be him. Its going to be us. The media, jay powell, the fed chair, its going tock to be all sort of actors out there he has decided in advance are the ones who are trying to undermine the economy in his view. So either way hes going to, you know, portray it as an argument to the people that he needs to be the one in charge because hes the only one who can either a keep it going or b bring it back if it tends to go down. Yeah. So in the latest piece for the Washington Post entitled trump has one playbook and very few plays left, trumps statements over the past few days have broadened the focus once again something fundamental about him. He has little understanding of what it means to govern. He would rather tweet from the bleachers. Meanwhile, a new fox news poll of the 2020 campaign showed trump losing to every democrat tested. More telling was the incumbent president did not break 40 against any of them. Polls are polls and the election is more than a year away but those numbers should concern the president s advisers. Trump is following the same limited playbook that got him elected whether those tactics have the same potency they once did will determine his and the countrys future. Meanwhile, Serious Problems are in front of him and hes struggling to find the answers and Walter Isaacson, dan set up that part of his piece with all the turmoil going on with israel and all the turmoil going on with the economy and yet, donald trump came back from a rally and what did he tweet . That he had broken elton johns attendance record in a New Hampshire hockey arena. As dan said, he loves to tweet from the sidelines. Hes just not really sure how to do his job. Exactly. I mean, he loves to govern like a Reality Tv Show star which gets us back to greenland. I want to push back on you, joe. Id prefer you not to compare that to the Louisiana Purchase which actually had some value to people like us. I mean this is different. And jeffersons different. You know, donald trump is being buoyed by the economy and i think thats just as its always been the number one issue. As we see the fragility in the economy and in europe and in the chinese economy. I think that somebody who cant break 40 in the polls when people have unemployment thats low and think the economy is doing well, if there is any i think theres already signs of it bad softening. If we watch the long term bond market do the way its going, i think hes in real trouble with those poll numbers. And this notion of being a goof ball on the sidelines tweeting about his rally size will start to wear real thin. John, the white house is worried about the economy but one thing that we have seen is that donald trump by constantly talking about how great the economy is every day, that its doing better than ever before and hes had history breaking numbers in the economy and we will win he says even as there are growing fears of a rising recession really does contrast so much with barack obama who is always afraid to talk about the economic recovery because he was always thinking about those that were still being left behind. But this is a this is a page right out of Henry Kissinger where in politics perception is reality and certainly for donald trump he knows that. So he keeps talking about how great the economy is. Yeah. Ill defer to professor isaacson on dr. Kissinger. But i think that one of the things we have to be careful of is, you know, there was that wonderful opening scene of the guns of august, Barbara Tuchman. If you have Barbara Tuchman in the tool for 703 a. M. Thats pretty good. She lays out the funeral of edward vii. How that was the sign of she closes it with a quote that the old world ending the First World War creating the modern world and theres a royal retainer who says at the end, all the old buoys that marked the channels of our lives have been blown away. Looking at the old incredible line. Looking at the crowned heads of europe that would be destroyed by the rise of nationalism and the terror in the trenches and the modernity that came out of world war i. Donald trump may not be world war i, but at least hes in the same zip code. I think all the buoys that have marked our lives in terms of our political conversations with are blown away. And the focus here seems to me is on the margin of plus or minus 5 or so in about six states. You know, if youre running for president as a democrat right now youre basically running for governor of those formerly blue states. Pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin. And florida. And if you can convince enough of those folks and maybe theyre mythic, but i think they even myths have a certain amount of truth, you convince people who are on the other side of the gun issue, who are on the other side of the rhetorically racial issue, those who dont want the country to be defined by these images from the border who actually understand that the american story is one of reaching out, not of clinching our fists, you get enough of those folks and this era is truly an aberration as opposed to a more sustained, successful run for the kind of populism we were talking about. And by the way, i reread this summer the guns of august by Barbara Tuchman. Going back and reading it again, it is an extraordinary book. But i will say, mika, though, that while world war i gave us the bolsheviks and ultimately hitler, donald trump will probably give us joe biden and expanded background checks. So im not so sure the lights of europe in america are going out and we wont see them turn on again for a very long time. I do think that there will be a correction to what we have seen over the past three years. Well, a new initiative from the New York Times launched yesterday that observes the 400th anniversary of the beginning of american slavery has drawn criticism from some members of the Republican Party. According to the times the 1619 project aims to reframe the countrys history understanding 1619 as our true founding. And placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black americans at the very center of the story. We tell ourselves about who we are. In what he describes as a repudiation of the New York Times slogan all the news thats fit to print, former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich wrote on twitter, quote, the New York Times 1619 project should make its slogan all the propaganda we want to brainwash you with. Not quite as pithy. What . After slate published a transcript of leaked recordings of the times executive editor at a town hall meeting discussing a shift in the papers focus from the trump russia affair to an examination to issues of race, President Trump railed against the paper on twitter writing quote, the failing New York Times in one of the most devastating portrayals got caught by a leaker theyre shifting from the phony russian collusion narrative, mueller report, blah blah blah, to a racism witchhunt. Im going to stop reading that because i have read enough already. So peter baker, talk about the 1619 project and why the New York Times decided to move forward with it. Well, i think its a real commentary on our times that a look back at our history of slavery and racial divide over 400 years is seen by the president , at least his allies through the lens of their partisanship which is rather remarkable. This isnt about donald trump. But he wants to make it about donald trump and he does make everything about donald trump. Thats a rather extraordinary thing. If you look at the special section that we published yesterday i dont think trumps name is in there. I think its all about you know the rather deep and important history that led us to this point. We look at all sorts of things. This happens to be one project that were doing. We have done other projects on other topics. Not everything in the world is actually about donald trump. So its hard to believe. Exactly. Amazing. But peter, certainly the timing though, it comes at a time when as i have said before over half of americans say their president is racist. We have been talking about racist chants at rallies. We have been race has been front and center over the past two or three weeks since that North Carolina rally had people chanting send them home. So are you saying that this is a complete coincidence . Well, the 1619 project isnt about today. We may get to the point that we start to look at issues of today but look at what were talking about, were talking about history at this point. Where we came from. But youre right that race is a big issue and thats what dean was talking about in the town hall the other way. It has been twisted and distorted for political reasons by people who want to make something out of it that its not. He said lets cover the big story today and one of the big stories today certainly is race in this country and who made it a big story today one of the people who made it a big story today is of course President Trump. So were not concocting a witch hunt. We are trying to cover whats going on and were not the ones who said that congresswomen of color should go back to countries they were never from. Were not the ones who you know, attacked baltimore as a rat infested district. You know, the one who were not the ones who said that president obama wasnt born in this country, that would be President Trump. Looking at race in the context of President Trump is looking at the story thats right in front of us. Yeah. Karine jeanpierre, me thinks he protests too much. This is a look at history and maybe its a good time to take a look at history. There may be some connection in that way, but what do you make of the president and then Newt Gingrich going after this wonderful look at our nations past and what we can learn from it . Yeah. Just incredibly important piece that the New York Times is doing. I want to thank Nicole Hannah jones for being one of the leaders and pushing this forward with her colleagues so thank you to her. I think the vitriol from the right and donald trump it just shows on the pushback on this is it shows how scared they are. Right . We have to we have to come to terms that this country was indeed built on the back of slaves, period. Full stop. And what the New York Times is doing, theyre just speaking the truth. Speaking the truth to power and thats incredibly important and for those who are saying that this is partisan or this is threatening to their world view, theyre the very ones who need to hear this. Its important for all of us to hear and to really learn about, many of us did not learn about this history. About the history of black the black history and slavery in this country. You know . This countrys original sin after what was the genocide of indigenous people. This is critical. Its key. Its key for us. Key for our children and its also important to know how were moving forward as a country. To know our history. How do we move forward. Well, it seems to me that, you know, the distinction that jon meacham made earlier about america the american story is reaching out as opposed to a closed fist, thats part of the story we tell ourselves, to fortify a particularly idealized version of who we are. When we measure that against our practices we know that reaching out has always been aspirational in some ways. That the reality of our lives have been defined in some ways by our limitations. What the 1619 project does when you shift the story of america from the plymouth from Plymouth Rock to jamestown, the contradictions of the country come into full view. So what we see is this idea of slavery over determining the very ways in which we understand the notions of liberty and freedom and equality. And how we have been grappling with that since the founding. And how the lies that we have told ourselves, right, whether its the dunning school, reconstruction or john burgees and how slavery was a mistake as opposed to a systemic effort that generated and define as country, when we tell the story really we can understand why atlanta traffic is the way it is. We can understand why the racial gap is the way it is. We can understand why sugar in louisiana functions the i what it functions. Right . So one of the special things about the issue it takes immediate today issues, concerns and shows us the history, demonstrates the history how we have gotten to this point. And trump has unsettled the sentiment at the bottom of the politics and we cant put it back. By the way, people should read it because you put your finger on it. Its about traffic in atlanta, its about sugar in louisiana. This is the best journalistic project in my memory and people who criticize it, should read it, see the interactive things and figure out, okay, lets do the medicine and how thats been affected. I was astonished this weekend when i read this project. And New York Times should be really applauded. And one other thing. Dean bakay that things that leaked he said all the right things and people should read his transcript as well. By the way, as somebody born in the suburbs of atlanta, georgia, if you can explain whats happening on i75 and i85 over the past 40 years you deserve a pulitzer prize. So did peter, did anybody expect this project to be controversial . Obviously, you know over a dozen american president s at our founding had slaves. So obviously it has been an extraordinarily tragic part of the american experience. Of course, america has fed and freed more people in the history of the world than anybody else. America was the first country majority white country to elect a black president. America, you know, in many ways, far more progressive on race than most of the rest of the world but still, we have a long way to go, dont we . Yeah. I dont think we can look in the mirror and not look back on our history. To understand who we are and where we came from. It is important to look back at these 400 years and whats remarkable of course one of the things thats remarkable is the Republican Party that has, you know, a pretty good story at the founding to tell when it comes to the issue of slavery in this country and to watch todays president see it only through the lens of a partisan attack on him is a real you know its a story about how things have changed and where we are. Its you know, its sad that a journalistic effort, an effort thats intended to help inform and, you know, move the conversation in this country is distorted for political purposes. All right. Peter baker, thank you so much for being with us. We really do appreciate it. So jon meacham, the i think one of the more important questions of the trump era for historians i believe have been how do we sort through this history that we read about in the 1619 project without throwing away the contributions of a man that you wrote about, jefferson. Or madison. Founder of the constitution which actually still provides constitutional checks and safeguards that protect all americans. Because it seems to me that in the future, populists and demagogues would prefer that we be separated completely from our heritage and that our heritage that we say okay, well, you know, all of those guys back there were racists. So nothing that madison left us, nothing that jefferson left us is worthy of paying attention. Lets create our own new world in the image of donald trump or whoever the president that follows him is. How do you separate as somebody that wrote about jefferson, how do you separate jeffersons sins from jeffersons virtues . A man that ken burns called the man of the millennium. Well, you dont separate them. Because theyre inseparable. If youre looking for if either right or left is looking for some perfect for a paragon of virtue or a complete villain, you look not in vain you look pretty hard. To go to my friend professor glaudes point i think that if you dont look at history in its whole, you do two things. One is you foreclose the possibility of learning from it. Which is pointless. The other is we dont give due credit to those who sacrificed and died and bled to get us to this point. So you have to look back. 1619 is a great example because the last july 30th i think was the first day of the First Representative Assembly of popular government more or less in the new world. Followed in several weeks by the arrival of the ship that was called the white lion that dutch man of war that brought the enslaved africans to the new world. So there in a period of two or three weeks you had the two fundamental contradictions of American History. You had a push for liberty and you had enslavement. As Samuel Johnson said later why is it we hear the loudest cries for liberty from those who live on the yelps of the negroes . Why is it our hypocrisy sits at the heart of our history . Thats inarguable and yet if you love this country as everybody around this conversation does, you know that when were at our best we reach beyond that ship, you reach for liberation. And my entire argument about the utility of history in this moment and any moment is that if we dont recognize that we are fallen, frail, fallible, sinful, we do best when we do the right thing 51 of the time because thats a pretty good ratio of success, if we dont see that, if we dont strive to do that, then we slide ever farther away from the ideal that jefferson articulated and the fact that he failed to meet it should not isolate him. It should make him more relevant for gods sake because who among us doesnt do that every day . And why wouldnt the republic which is the fullest manifestation of our hearts and minds be exactly like that . And i insist if you dont if i may, that a useful narrative for the country is that we do best when we listen to our better angels as opposed to our worst instincts. And that that drama, that drama of perpetual conflict unto this day is in fact the central story of American History. And that if we dont push forward and we dont tell ourselves that we can do good things despite our sins then the whole enterprise collapses. Yeah. Eddie, we have been talking about this for some time and actually talking about writing something about the give and take of this, except for the fact that were both too busy right here, right now, to get to it. But we have talked about this. Like for instance, lets talk about jefferson. Again, many have thought he was the man of the millennium because he was the first person in a dramatic way pushed the notion of the right of the individual over the right of the monarch. Of course, at the time it was for white people. Today were still talking about madisonian democracy and checks and balances as a way to limit Donald Trumps grasp for power. How do you balance these with your students . We have talked about how john does it and of course a brilliant approach. But whats your approach with your students on this very vexing question . Right, i mean, i teach jeffersons notes for example alongside david walkers appeal. His 1829 appeal and in some ways walkers appeal is a response to jeffersons clip in the notes that perhaps we will determine the relative inferiority of black people on the operating table. Jefferson was one of the first to make the argument or to associate black inferiority with the physical body in some ways. So i read, you know, engaging in what the late taking someone who we think of as a founding father and reading him over and against someone who is responding to the underside of his arguments. I think its really important and i think john hit it on the head. We cant make a choice between people being wholly virtuous and wholly evil. Complexity is our only safety, not simplicity and the like. It seems like we cant this is where i kind of disagree with john. Not a disagreement but a temperamental difference. I dont rush or jump to the better angels story. I kind of stay at the bottom of the cellar for a bit. To kind of understand what moves us about. What are the terrors that cause us to make the choices that we make. And it seems to me, joe, that if we come to terms with the history of slavery, if we understand if we understand how it moves us about, if we understand the ways in which it has defined the region that you and i are from and walter that were from, then maybe we can open the doors for us to be different. But constantly were trying to evade. Were not trying to look. So the way in which i teach jefferson is that yes, he offered us x, y and z, but hes a very complicated figure. I understand that jefferson can come to me, as a hero, only when i have come to terms with the ugliness of who he is. And it may be the case that i might have to put him aside for a while. So that i can come to him on my own terms. Its the same way i read emerson. The same way i read whitman. This stuff cannot be stuffed down the throats of folk who have borne the burden of their contradiction. Thats what we have to do. It seems to me. I know thats kind of complicated and convoluted but its what we have to do. No. Really quickly, were its were doing this at princeton with Woodrow Wilson. The princeton of Woodrow Wilson does not exist today. You have students who are Walking Around their campus who are black, who are women, who want to possess princeton as their own but they cant seen as late comers. They cant be thought of as people who should be grateful that theyre there. Princeton has to tell a story of itself that includes them. As integral, and the United States has to tell a story of itself that includes all of its people as constituented. It doesnt end with slavery. Im so glad you brought up Woodrow Wilson. This is a conversation not only had to be had with Woodrow Wilson, but race people who have been seen as heroes on the issue of race even. Lbj and the language he used. The attacks against Richard Nixon in 1957 because he thought nixon was too far forward on the issue of race. We had George Marshall whos long been a hero for basically saving doing what he did along with harry truman to save western europe from communism in the late 1940s and yet his views on race were repugnant in many respects. This is something though actually, eddie, what you said its not complicated. Its actually very straightforward. Lets teach lets show the ugliness of this original sin that the effects of which we still feel 400 years later and then with eyes wide open then, mika, we can move forward and look at the contributions not only of jefferson and madison and washington but also wilson and lbj and everybody else. Yeah. Another really fabulous conversation. Still ahead on morning joe well, were looking at afghanistan. Were talking to afghanistan both the government and also talking to the taliban, having good discussions. Well see what happens. We have got it down to probably 13,000 people. And well be bringing it down a little bit more. Then well decide whether or not well be staying longer or not. Were having very good discussions with the taliban. Were having very good discussions with the Afghan Government. Well, the u. S. May be nearing a deal with the taliban. Even as the violence in afghanistan continues without stop. Well talk about it with congressman Anthony Brown from the Armed Services committee. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Every day, visionaries are creating the future. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. 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Tv just keeps getting better. This is xfinity x1. Featuring the Emmy Awardwinning voice remote. Streaming Services Without changing passwords and input. Live sports with realtime stats and scores. Access to the most 4k content. And your movies and shows to go. The best tv experience is the best tv value. Xfinity x1. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Xfinity. The future of awesome. Joining us now vice chair of the house Armed Services Committee Democratic congressman Anthony Brown of maryland. He is a veteran of the iraq war and a recipient of the bronze star. Its very good to have you on the show. Congressman, a couple of questions for you. First of all lets talk about afghanistan. Donald trump considering removing all troops from afghanistan. Obviously, a real tragedy this weekend. Lets talk about it. Sure. Look, clearly we want to bring our boys and girls home. We have been in afghanistan for far too long. 18, 19 years on a very important yet dangerous mission. But i would caution the president to stay away from a time based withdrawal and this idea that, you know, were going to withdraw troops just to meet a 2020 election here in this country. I think that puts the taliban back in the drivers seat. All right. Mika . Well, at this point what do you think the president and the way hes discussing this issue impacts or even tries to explain what exactly our goals are in the region . I dont think hes really explaining a whole lot. I mean, you know, we went in to afghanistan 18, 19 years ago because the taliban was supporting violent extremists, al qaeda, that were responsible for what happened on 9 11. Until we can get the taliban to commit to a ceasefire, to renouncing violence by al qaeda and other extremists and also to bring the Afghan Government to the negotiating table im not that optimistic that negotiations with the taliban will be successful. So again, i support reducing the troops but you have to set conditions and drive towards those conditions. I dont think the president is doing that. You also took a trip with recently with nancy pelosi to the northern triangle. Tell us what you saw. Sure. We visited guatemala, el salvador and honduras and what we walked away with was a very clear commitment that the United States needs to resume foreign aid to that region. We were focusing on what the pushback factors were, why were so many people migrating to the United States and theres a real reason. Theres political persecution. Theres gang violence. Theres youth violence. Theres a lack of economic opportunity. So when this administration, the Trump Administration withheld aid back in march it only made conditions worse. And thats why i think it was important that nancy pelosi this weekend along with senators cautioned the administration that if were going to reach a budget deal in september, we have to resume foreign aid not only to the northern triangle but to other nations and regions around the globe. Congressman, you spoke about your concerns about the president s plan in afghanistan. Hes also said repeatedly that isis has been 100 wiped out. From the meese. But yet the pentagon Inspector General said that the u. S. Withdrawal there has led to isis resurgence in both syria and iraq. Whats your concerns here . What should the u. S. Being do there . Should the u. S. Be keeping more of a presence there . Well, look, isis is an ideology. Its not just a physical caliphate. And i believe that you need a combination of a few things. One is i do think you need a small military presence but more importantly you need a strong and robust diplomatic effort. We havent seen any of that in syria. Also investments in development, providing Economic Opportunities in these regions so that youre not contributing to or at least youre addressing some of the underlying factors that attract mostly young men to the extreme ideological views. So the administration hasnt laid out a strategy and i think the president has it wrong when he claims that isis is defeated. Congressman, its Walter Isaacson here. Let me take you back to afghanistan. Weve had this horrific attack in the past day, more than 60 People Killed at a wedding ceremony. The taliban is denying that theyre involved. What does that tell you about our situation in trying to negotiate with the taliban and do you have any hope that something can come out of that . Look, what we know is that the taliban has been involved in supporting a lot of violence in afghanistan. I mean, this year in afghanistan i think we have seen 1,500 afghanis killed. We continue to see u. S. Service men and women killed. So whether the taliban will take responsibility for this particular mass shooting or killing or not i think we still need to require the taliban to renounce violence in the support to extreme violence groups in afghanistan. Were not going to achieve peace. The Afghan Government is not going to be able to resume governance in that country unless the taliban unconditionally agrees to renouncing violence. With that, and only then, i think should the United States consider withdrawing troops. Congressman, this is eddie glaude. You recently said that you were in favor of impeachment inquiry. Help us understand your thinking here and why did you decide at this point to do in to say this . Sure. My thinking has been consistent along the way. I think in the mueller report, at least ten lines of obstruction were laid out and the Judiciary Committee has been and should continue to pursue those. I think we have a president who is a racist, misogynist and xenophob xenophobic, a danger to our country and thats why i voted with 14 of the 22 democrats in the Judiciary Committee that voted not to table representative greens impeachment resolution, but instead send it to the Judiciary Committee to be considered. Jerry nadler the chairman says theyre now in informal impeachment proceedings i support that and ill support whatever the Judiciary Committee brings to the floor regarding impeachment. They have got a lot of work to do. Theyre doing it. And im grateful for that. Congressman Anthony Brown, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. Coming up, active shooter drills and the demand for bulletproof backpacks are signs of the times and now thats a major topic on the captain trail with students themselvesing asking the candidates how they plan to protect them. Well discuss that, next on morning joe. At, next on morning joe. And i recently had hi, ia heart attack. 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Tell your doctor about bleeding new or unexpected shortness of breath any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. If you recently had a heart attack, ask your doctor if brilinta is right for you. My heart is worth brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. As Democratic White House hopefuls continue to make the rounds on the campaign trail, nearly every candidate has faced the same emotional question from children. Msnbc correspondent Garrett Haake is joining with us the story. Well, it used to be if the candidate called on a kid they were look for a softball question and now theyre getting anything but as children and their parents are pressing these candidates to do something, anything, to stop gun violence. They have become heart breaking hallmarks of the campaign trail. Children in classrooms and town halls letting candidates know theyre scared. So what would you as president do to make schools and other places safer . Reporter the fear of gun violence in schools now so profound its not just parents asking candidates the tough questions. Its kids like 8yearold scout home schooled in New Hampshire, called on by cory booker. One of the reasons were home schooled is that my mom thinks that its not safe for children to be in Public Schools because of the shootings. And i want to know what you plan to do about the shootings. Scout, i want you to know that of all the president ial candidates theres nobody with more than a fire in me to solve this problems. Reporter scouts father chris encouraged them to ask the question. I let them though never to be involved. Reporter and sometimes the questions are emotional. As beto orourke found out. Im afraid ill go to school one day and will never come out. Im sorry. Reporter sometimes its the candidates most like andrew yang parents themselves who get overwhelmed. I have a 6 and a 3yearold boy, i was imagining the one of them that got shot and the other saw it. Reporter the candidates show much of themselves in their answers. Elizabeth warren, the concerned mom. As one of the grownups im really sorry you have to ask that question. Reporter joe biden who lost a daughter in a car crash and a son to cancer, the grieving father. I understand what its like to lose a kid. I have lost two of them. The fact of the matter is that your generation understands this better than anybody. And its why its going to change. Its going to change. Reporter the next generation too young to vote, too scared to stay silent, pushing president ial candidates to act. And guys, over the weekend we got hard data to back up what im hearing on the trail. Our new nbc news wall street journal shows 90 of the americans support expanded pack ground checks and even a majority backing banning some semiautomatic weapons. This is what im hearing on the campaign trail and if a next president ial candidate cant act in this environment i dont know how anybody could. Karine here. I wanted to ask you we saw andrew yangs reaction to someone telling him a story about their loss. What can candidates do to stand out on this . Like what else can be could be done for them to really elevate this issue in a way that voters feel like theyre being heard, especially the young votes who are asking them the question. Most of the candidates came out with specific policy plans on this. I mean its the idea of you know i feel you, i want to work on this is the campaign equivalent of thoughts and prayers. Beto orourke went further he said hed propose a mandatory buy back program for assault weapons. Thats something that Eric Swalwell was talking about, cory booker was talking about the gun registration a federal registration system. These are things that have not been discussed in the past for worries that the democrats might demagogue them. But beto orourke says if they accuse you of being a crazy socialist have good ideas, so if youre going to be accused of taking the guns off the street come up with a good way. Garrett haake. The key issue for democrats for sure. Up next, joe biden has been criticized in the past for talking about working with republicans but hes once again reaffirming his ability to reach across the aisle. Even if it gets him in trouble. Thats next. As we go to break a look at whats happening this week at knowyourvalue. Com. I sat down with at know your value. Com. I sat down with kasie hunt who is soon going to be welcoming her first baby into the world. We talk about her expectations and also fears like everything goes through your mind, what is going to hatppen to my show, wht is going to happen to my job. And we let her know. We talk about all of that, know your value. Com. Morning joe is back in a moment. Om morning joe is back in a moment announcer fidelity is redefining value for investors with zero account fees for brokerage accounts, and zero minimums to open an account. We have Fidelity Mutual funds with zero minimum investment. And only fidelity offers four zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. Because when you invest with fidelity, all those zeros really add up. So, maybe ill win saved by zero so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Ecommerce deliveries to homes they give us excellent customer otservice, every time. E. Our 18 year old was in an accident. Usaa took care of her car rental, and getting her car towed. All i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. 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I get in trouble for saying that with democrats, but the truth of the matter is, every time we ever got in trouble with our administration, remember who got sent up to capitol hill to fix it, me. Because they know i respect the other team. Biden added that many conservatives are being intimidated to act in adherence with President Trump. And Walter Isaacson, interesting that this could be a controversial sentiment in any age, in any party, talking about working with the other party would somehow be a negative. It doesnt seem that joe biden cares, he will talk about it any way. Yeah, i actually respect biden for this. First the question of whether it makes political sense. I think that there are a lot of people in this country, myself included, who say this has been pretty exhausting, this polarization, this hatred, that it would be really good to go through a period in which we wouldnt have to wake up with all due respect to morning joe and this show to all sorts of crises that blow up in the middle of the night because weve gotten as to partisan about everything. We were talking about it in between, how every single issue that has come along with fr om z really to guns to immigration has become so polarized when it used to not be. We were talking about linden johnson. Bob worked being he was able to work beingacross aisle. So we need to come back to the time where everything is not a democrat versus republican thing. And joe biden is indeed somebody who i think can do that. So that makes me respect him. And no offense taken, it would be great if we could talk about the red sox a lot more. Exactly. Kareem, what do you think, is it a vercontroversial move for biden to talk about how he is going for keep fighting to be bipartisan . I think that we are just living in a different time. Thats what i think. I think that you have the leader of the Republican Party who is donald trump who defends white nationalism, who divides and conquers and espouses hate. And you have republicans on the hill who look the other way. They dont do anything to actually stop this president or speak up in a real way that has an effect on this president. And so i just it is not what democrats want to hear because we see with our very own eyes what is happening. Especially the last 2 1 2 years under this presidency. All right. Thank you so much. Lets hope that in the future washington can be far less partisan than it has been over the past 20, 25 years. Still ahead, the key findings from our latest nbc wall street journal poll and what they mean for the president s reelection bid. Plus the president and his aides are publicly down playing recession fears, but behind the scenes, it is a far different story. Jonathan lemire has that reporting. And were back in two minutes. E, quietly running the world. Creating jobs and fueling the economy. Youre Small Business owners, and theres nothing small about your business. Thats why with dell Small Business technology advisors. Youll get tailored product solutions, expert tech advice and oneonone partnership. To help your Small Business do big things. Call an advisor today at 877buydell [its funny what happens when people get together. Holiday inn. Holiday inn express. Were there. So you can be too. And i dont add trup the years. S. But what i do count on. Is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. Boost® high protein. Be up for life. I think the economy is in a risky place right now and every day that goes by, donald trump makes it worse. I dont think that were having a recession, were doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich. I gave a tremendous tax cut and they are loaded up with money. Well, okay then. It is the economy, it is jobs, it is the 2020 election. Good morning, everyone. And welcome to morning jmorni. We have Jonathan Lemire with us. And also, professor at principal ton and also author of the red and the blue, Steve Kornacki. Former chief of staff to the dccc and also on Hillary Clintons president ial campaign is with us. And historian and author of the soul of america and from vanderbilt university, jon meacham is with us. It is great to have you all on board with us this morning. Mika, i spent a couple days off last week and i spent those days pushing myself is seeing how many big macs and how many orders of popeyes Fried Chicken i could have. I worked really hard. Drove to west texas to get what a burger. But tell us how you spent it. The longest weve been apart i think. I went up mt. Kilimanjaro with my daughter, amelia. And it was actually a little hairy. We did the six day instead of the two week. And we were warned that it would be a little fast and we both got we had some mishaps with altitude and cold. And it was incredibly challenging. And im so glad i did it, but im so glad to be back. Thanks for letting me have that time with my daughter. And you were just you were fine. You just smoking a cigar and hanging out. Right . Yeah, i wasnt really doing well to be honest with you. I wasnt doing well. Her group had a Satellite Phone and there was going to be a checkin every day because it is a it can be dangerous. It is the most dangerous thing that you will ever do. It was a little dangerous. And she was supposed to call in every day for 30 seconds and say were here, were doing fine, were moving forward tomorrow. But the phones froze up. It was unusually cold. And i guess cell reception is not always great from arctic zones. So, yeah, a little joe was a little mad. I was nervous. I was not mad, i was very nervous. Ill have pictures later. But kind of like the moon landing. We want photographic evidence because a lot of people wont be convinced that you didnt did it on a sound stage in burbank. But congratulations to you and your daughter. What an extraordinary thing. And just for people that know, i was reading up while she was radio silent for three days and they said you do it in eight or nine days. Even if you are an experienced hiker, go eight or nine days. And they went this i in five anf days. Is said listen, you cant do it in five and a half days. And mika was like no, get there and get it done and come back. Good to be back. Im glad youre back. Mrs. Scarborough, congratulations. And lets get to the news. A key finding from the latest poll, when asked when president s reelection, a combined 40 of registered voters say that they will definitely or probably vote for him. While a combined 52 said that they would definitely or probably vote for the did democratic candidate. Those numbers are virtually unchanged from about nine months ago. The president did manage to harden support among his base with a 6 increase in the percentage of voters who say they will definitely strovote f him now at 29 . Steve core increakocorkornac old days which wasnt so long ago, if you were a candidate and your reelect was below 50 , it was time to really start worrying. For president s obviously, it has become a much tougher road to hoe even though of course the last lee have been reelected. My question, how worried should donald trump and his team be with this 40 reelect number and secondly, especially because it is much lower in the states that matter the most, but secondly, how is barack obama fairing at this same time . He had a pretty rough stretch in 2011, did he not . Yeah. Remember, back to this time in 2011, you had the failure for barack obama of that supposed grand bargain with john boehner with republicans in congress. The whole debt ceiling showdown. So the summer of 2011 was kind of a low point for Barack Obamas presidency looking ahead to his reelection. I was just looking though at our august 2011 nbc wall street journal poll sizing up obama at that point of his presidency versus mitt romney who ended up of course being the republican nominee in 2012, obama was a point up in our poll at that point, 47 to 46 over mitt romney. I think one of the differences, as i say it was a rough stretch. He had other rough stretches. One of the differences though i think that you see when you look at his polling profile versus Donald Trumps, you put it up there, the number who say that they wont vote for trump, the number who say that they disapprove of trump consistently, you got to go back a pretty long ways in our polling now to find a less than a majority saying that they disapprove of donald trump as president. That high disapproval number for President Trump is a little different. As you say, we dont have a head to head here in ours, but fox news polling shows that donald trump losing double digits to perspective democratic opponents in 2020. And the other thing that i would point out again i mentioned the fox news poll, the other big difference that jumps out at me is this, the reason when you trip Everything Else away i think that donald trump was able to get himself elected in 2016 was on election day, took a certain type of voter, a voter who said i have a negative view of donald trump and i have a negative view of Hillary Clinton. I dont like both of the candidates. Those voters broke decisively for donald trump. The margin in the exit poll was 47 for trump and 30 for clinton. They didnt like either, but they broke no trump. In the new fox news poll, they look at voters who say they dont like trump and they dont like biden. And right now in this fox news poll, they are breaking for biden by a 33 point margin. That is the biggest difference ive seen in polling right now. That is a huge difference. And jon meacham, i really think historically if historians can when we get past this moment look back at the Donald Trump Campaign and presidency with a bit of deta detachme detachment, it is very hard right now, but they may look back just like they look back at 1980 with Ronald Reagan saying are you better off today than you were 40 years ago, they may look back at the 2016 campaign and the phrase that fits that campaign thenes nesmost tightly most effective for him, what do you have to lose. Of course he was aiming at black voters, but there are a lot of white voters, a lot of rich bankers, a lot of other people, a lot of whatever you name the demographic, hispanic, businesspeop businesspeople, a lot of people looked at that and said wait a second, hes right. The bushes and clintons have not been a bargain over the past 30 years. What do we have to lose. That vanishes immediately when you suddenly are the guy sitting behind the desk in the oval office. He doesnt have that advantage. And now that advantage will go to biden or sanders or whomever wins the democratic nomination. Well, the whoever wins the democratic nomination is the great x factor here. But the history of this, youre right. There were 10 president ial elections between 1980 and 2016 and a bush or a clinton was on 80 of those National Tickets. Which is really remarkable thing to sit back and think about. Steve just talked about one of the few years where one wasnt both in 08 and 12. So it was a i would argue a reactive vote. You know, even if you voted for the incumbent, you werent by and large doing it out of great positivity about him as the numbers show. It was a case of basically they were saying to washington if you are going to act like a bunch of professional wrestler, well send you one. And now people have seen what that is like. And the answer to what have you got to lose turns out to be quite a lot. Culturally. And now as we see the economy moving in the direction it seems to be moving, there may be even a more precise answer there. So the great question for the era is going to be was 2016 anner race or was it the beginning of a significantly longer chapter of a reactive and nature nativest period of politics. And if you look at the data and numbers, it will be anner race becau aberration because the numbers do not add up to the brand of politics that donald trump is practicing having any Lasting Impact in american politics. It will knnot. Mika, again, you look at not only the reelect, the 40 reelect, there are a lot of states where donald trump is doing extra ordinarily well in the deep south and in some of the plain states. But that reelect is far lower in michigan. It was in the low 30s last time i checked. Wisconsin, low 30s. Pennsylvania, low 30s. He is upside down in those states according to fox news. Upside down in all of those states. And it is getting actually beaten very badly by Bernie Sanders. A professed socialist. So he has a long way to go. And again, the most important thing, we were talking about this while you were scaling mt. Kilimanjaro, the most important thing to remember is, again, he has a really Strong Economy going right now. And even with a Strong Economy, hes really struggling. So can you manage what would happen to those numbers if the economy took a tumble. We certainly hope it didnt. We hope the economy stays really strong. But youre right, though, actually that is what people are really worried about inside the white house right now. Absolutely. Still ahead, white house advisers say they are confident about the economic forecast. The president himself may be a little less assured though. Well run through jonathan lemi lemires new reporting on that next. Res new reporting on that next sir, youre a broker. What do you charge for online equity trades . 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Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya®. Get clearer. Janssen can help you explore cost support options. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Ecommerce deliveries to homes quietly running the world. Creating jobs and fueling the economy. Youre Small Business owners, and theres nothing small about your business. Thats why with dell Small Business technology advisors. Youll get tailored product solutions, expert tech advice and oneonone partnership. To help your Small Business do big things. Call an advisor today at 877buydell hey i live on my own now ive got xfinity, because i like to live life in the fast lane. Unlike my parents. You rambling about xfinity again . Youre so cute when you get excited. Anyways. Ive got their app right here, i can troubleshoot. I can schedule a time for them to call me back, its great you have our number programmed in . Ya i dont even know your phone anymore. Excuse me . what . I dont know your phone number. Aw well. He doesnt know our phone number you have our fax number, obviously. Todays xfinity service. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Ill pass. Growing concerns that you are hearing from inside the white house and from ceos across the country of a possible recession. The president and some of his aides spent the weekend trying to downplay those worries following last weeks volatility in the stock market. While preparing to depart new jersey to return to the white house yesterday, trump was asked about the likelihood recession could be looming. I dont see a recession. The world is in a recession right now and although that is a lot of economists say that no president is immune from a recession and that it is now yeah, phil, honestly, im prepared for everything. I dont think that were having a recession. Were doing tremendously well. Our consumers are rich. I gave a tremendous tax cut. And they are loaded up with money. When you go in and analyze the curve, the curve always means that about two years later, maybe you will go that is a long time, two years. But i dont think so. Interest rates are low. I think i could be helped out by the fed. But the fed doesnt like helping me too much. I slur dont sure dont see. We had some blockbuster retail sales, consumernumbers, really blockbuster numbers. And in fact despite a lot of worries with the volatile stock market, most economists on wall street towards the end of the week had been marking up their forecasts for the third and fourth quarter. That echos our view. You know, what we have here, consumers are working at higher wages. They are spending at a rapid pace. They are actually saving also while spending. An ideal situation. So i think the second half of the economy will be very good in 2019. Despite the strong talk by the president and his top aide, Jonathan Lemire, you have new reporting that suggests that there are concerns within the administration over a possible recession. And what it could mean for next years election. Read frommiing from your piece, virsz fear a weakened economy would hurt him with moderate republicans and independent writers who have been willing to give him a pass. And advisers see few options for reversing course should the economy start to slip. Jonathan adds though trump has expressed private worries about wall street, he is also skeptical about some of the weaker economic indicates one d indicators wondering if the media are manipulating the data to make him look back. Trump skepticism has been reinforced by white house officials who have long been inclined to only show him rosier economic assessments. The New York Times reiterates writing that trump has repeated the claims in private discussions with aides and allies insisting that his critics are trying to take away what he sees as his calling card for reelection. Trump hasa been agitated by reporting of a possible recession. Times adds trump has said forces that do not want him to win have been overstating the damage this trade war has caused and several aides degree with him that the news media is overplaying the economic fears adding to his feeling of being justified jo joe, the que for you, the challenge for the media has been sometimes how to characterize the things that have come out of president s mouth and the things that hes done and said in a way that is as objective as possible, as right are down the middle as possible, because some of them are so incendiary. Some of the things that he says are basically racist. And it has been difficult to just report on it because when you say what the president says, it stounds horrible. It is not us, it is him. He has a very extreme way of communicating his hatred. Well, when if you look at the numbers the number are the numbers. And i talked about what paul singer wrote last week, a concern of extraordinarily damaging reversal on the economy, this is not just people in the media, there are a lot of people who are very concerned and obviously the medias responsibility is not to be caught sleeping. I think a lot of us were caught sleeping in 2007, 2008 when we didnt understand what was going on in the big banks. We didnt understand the credit default swaps. We didnt understand the crisis that was coming. So several when people like paul singer are warning of a coming economic crisis, there is a responsibility for everybody to be a bit more alert. I personally dont know economics that well, i was reading Sports Illustrated in the back of my university of alabama econ 101 class. I dont see it coming because Consumer Confidence is so high and because the United States economy is so much stronger than the rest of the worlds. My biggest concern is what the trade war is doing to the economies of those that we trade with the most. Seems to me that may be the biggest challenge to short term and long time challenge to our economy. Yeah, and joe, let me first say that mika was on the adventure last week, but we were more confidence of her ability to survive the week than hers. I got to say hold on three days in, i didnt think that i was going to make it. You can only have so many big macs while you are in mourning. Oh, my god. Again, radio silence. And it is like apollo 13 goes around to the other side of the moon and you cant hear from tom hanks. Youre like tom, are you okay but that was three days for me. While shes sitting on the peak smoking a cigarette going look how beautiful this is. Yeah, combination of her silence and red sox struggles is not good for your health. But the worries out of the white house is the economy. This has been the president s number one argument for reelection, he is overseeing a Strong Economy. And no doubt it is not strong for every american. No doubt he inhir rited a lot of it from president obama. It was really on the on the rise when donald trump took office. But the economy has been good under this president and he has tied his fortunes to the stock market in an unprecedented way. So as we have even thave seen t volatility, that has unnerved him and the people around him. As you read, whether about the economy or foreign policy, people around the president have always been inclined to present him best Case Scenarios knowing that he can react very strongly when he sees information that he doesnt like. So that is always the case and that has been a challenge for people around him to sort of present him honest assessments as to what is going on. But the president has certainly at this point not accepted any responsibility himself. Aides have susuggested trying t down the trade war. He hasnt been willing to do that, instead blaming the fed. Weve seen him try to ramp up other distractions reiterating some of the ccan culture war divisions. He is trying to make the case that the economy is his number one argument. And if it slows down, they know they are in trouble. They are seeing the same poll numbers that we are, they are seeing that ifthey have cant make that argument and provide frankly cover for republicans, cover for that sliver of independents who are willing to look the other way, perhaps bothered by some of the devise sis policies and racist rhetoric that they are willing to go along with it because the economy is good. Coming up, well look at how the democrats are sizing up the economic picture against their own financial plans. Adrienne elrod with thoughts on that next. Elrod with thoughts that next. Do you have concerns about mild memory loss related to aging . Prevagen is the number one pharmacistrecommended memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Repair the enamel on a daily basis. With the new pronamel repair toothpaste we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. Its innovative. My goto toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. Its something we take personally, and believe in passionately. Its the idea that if our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated . Thats exactly how we care for you. With answers and actions. To hear your concerns, quiet your fears, lift your spirits. 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But i also think that Democratic Candidates can reiterate why the tax cut bill was bad, you know, the fact that Many Americans are not working at job, Unemployment Rate at below 4 , Many Americans are not working in jobs that they want, leaving good paying jobs for mediocre jobs that they didnt sign up for. The tax bill is not working for middle class americans. So continuing to hone in on that message. And focus on what democratic would do if they had full control of congress and of course if they had control of the white house. But you have to staed stay say this message. As poll after poll has shown, a lot of americans are not feeling this positive economy that we have. And so you couple that with going into a recession or at least feeling the initial effects of a recession . It is really bad for trump. So right now with a 40 reelect number, and a recession that looks like it is on the way to happening, this guy is not going to get reelected right now. So that is why i think all along he has been playing this base strategy where he has been focusing on the 32 to 33 of americans who will be with him in his own words even if he shot somebody on 5th avenue. But hes done nothing to grow those moderate46 support among moderate americans. And independent swing voters. That is the 4 to 5 that will make this decision in the election cycle. So now that it is going into a recession, it does look like whatever bets he had on trying to rely on a good economy for that small 4 to 5 that will ultimately decide this election is not going to work. Coming up, President Trump is asked about his plan for middle east peace. Well talk about that and israels move to ban two of congressional critics. Former mayor of jerusalem joins us next. M joins us next. Announcer only fidelity offers four zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. And we have zero account fees for brokerage accounts. At fidelity those zeros really add up. 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Which helps keep people outside from accessing your passwords, credit cards and cameras. And people inside from accidentally visiting sites that arent secure. And if someone trys well let you know. Xfi advanced security. If its connected, its protected. Call, click, or visit a store today. I probably will wait, but we may put out pieces of it. We have some verity talented people. Our great ambassador and others. We have very talented people. But that is probably the toughest deal of all. Peace between the israelis and palestinians because they have been decades of hate. And it is tough to make a deal when there is that much hate. But i think that ive helped it by saying look, until there is a deal, we wont pay you anymore. That was President Trump yesterday speaking about his plans for middle east peace. Meanwhile, democrats in congress are reportedly weighing whether to take action be against top u. S. And israeli diplomats after israels decision to bar Congress Women omilhan omar and Rashida Tlaib from visiting the country. Seemingly at you Donald Trumps urging. Two sources familiar with the discussions tell mcclatchy that about a dozen lawmakers including senior jewish members are considering a statement of no confidence in israels ambassador to the u. S. While an Inspector General investigation could be opened. And there is a entitled four lessons from israels clash. And in which he writes for the state 6 israel, the lesson has to be respect the u. S. Congress and all its members. No, they are not all wise or good or just. Its not as individuals that they command respect though but as members of a legislative body. And, no, it is not an equal twoway relationship. For Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu, the lesson should be dont bet so big on donald trump. The relationship is bigger than people, parties and politics. For those covering these issueses how many more lessons do you need of the bottom rest bad faith of tlaib and omar on israel issues . A politician who will certify that she is prepared to set aside herred a advocacy of boycotts to visit her grandmother and then the next say that it would kill a piece of me to do so should be handled with extreme care. For friends of israel, cool down. Many seem to feel that the entry into congress in 2018 of these two israel boycotters represents some unprecedented challenge. It does not. Joining us now, former mayor of jerusalem who is currently a member of the legislative branch of the israeli government. Jonathan lemire and Walter Isaacson back with us as well. Thank you so much for being with us. Obviously a lot of focus when this first happened on israel not allowing these two members of congress in. David french and others have been looking more closely though at the organization that they were aligning themselves with. Instead of going with other members, they chose a controversial outfit to partner with on that trip. Talk about that organization and the concern that that raised in israel. Well, i want to remind you that just last week we had 70 members of congress both democrats and republicans visit israel. And there is an israeli law that says very clearly if somebody crosses the line and it becomes a supporter, an economic war against israel, aligned very closely with terrorist organizations, they will be denied entry. And just a few years back under president obama, the United States of america denied entry to an Israeli Parliament member. He was perceived as a racist and was not allowed entry to the United States of america. It is exactly the same mirror image. And we understood that america has their policies, they are well accepted. And we have our own policies. It has nothing to do with the fact that it is a congresswoman. It has a lot do with the fact that they have crossed the line and they have become a supporter of the Boycott Movement and against israel. So we will defend ourselves. It has everything do with israel security, nothing to do with american politics. In your estimation, was it done on behest of President Trump . No. Actually, i myself said that im willing to meet the two Congress Women if they are coming with an open heart and they want to learn and experience like all of the other congressmen and women of the United States of america which are our partner. Regardless of their ideology, if they are a democrat or republican. And im still willing to meet them if they come with an open heart t heart. But we saw their itinerary, they were denied entry because the itinerary was not to come and learn and speak to people, it was very, very clear, part of the bds movement. And by the way when they said when congresswoman tlaib said she wants to come and see her grandma, she was allowed entry if that was the purpose of the trip. So it is very clear that unfortunately, she hates israel more than she loves her grandma. And there are a number of democrats beyond these two who are critical of this decision that israel was initially barring them from entering the country. Are you not concerned that this has become as to politicized that israel will have to deal with democrats and republicans Going Forward long after these two Congress Members are out of office and long after President Trump is out of office . I am concerned. I do think that both sides, israel and the United States, have to consider the relationship as a bipartisan relationship and respect each others policies. We may disagree and lets agree to disagree, but we are democracies. We share the same values. And israel in this specific case very very clearly, they crossed the line. It is illegal in israel, we will not bds movement to enter the state of israel for our own defense. We are unfortunately people want to destroy us and eliminate israel off the man and that is the role of bds. Is so we will not allow entry regardless if they are congressmen or women or just general public. You and i were talking right before we went on the air and you were talking about trumps peace plan, we dont unite know wh quite know what would be in it. And you talked about flee thith anybodies that would have to be in the plan. I didnt hear you mention two state solution. Do you still believe well get to a two state solution . Iz realsrael demonstrated th know how to strive for peace with do you still we still should get to a two state solution . My point is three elements for peace. First is separation, civil separation. The second is making sure israels army can control every inch of judah and samaria. And third is joint economies. There are certain areas that we should promote that in a big way im still not hearings answer of the question. You tell me what that is. Civil separation is an autonomy for the palestinians. Is that state . Depends on the definition of a state. Many people want to have their own army as a state. Were against that. Israel will not allow an army look what is happening unfortunately in gaza. We must never allow that to happen. So let me ask you this question. You made an equivalence between bds and people who want to destroy the israeli state. Yes. Is that an overexaggeration . No. And then the second question is, is it consistent with the democracy as you self describe to then pass a law because to my ear, it under sos liounds li africa and those criticizing apartheid and they were perceived. So what does it means a a democracy to deny people who hold a bds position but who arent claiming to make the claim that israel should not exist . That seems to be a bit overstated. The leaders of bds are the same leaders of terrorist organizations. They get funded the same and they are part of a very, very clearly learn the facts. We know the facts very well. We have good intelligence in understanding who supports the bds, who created it. And they are the economic arm to hurt israel to divest from israel, to hurt us. And so we are very clear that we will defend ourselves against people that want to hit us as terrorists and people that want to hurt us on the economic side. So make that very, very clear distinction. Israel is a democracy. Show me another one democracy in the middle east, one, not even one except israel and our security is precious to us and we will use everything all the means we have to secure the state of israel which is the only democracy in the middle east. Im sure that let me she is welcome to visit her grandmother. And actually as i said earlier, id be happy to meet her if she comes with an open mind and an open heart to listen and learn the other sides agenda. So im sure that many people who support israel may be concerned with you drawing a moral equivalence between terrorists who blow up israelis and people who are calling for economic boycotts. Could you draw that line a bit more clearly for snus. It is the same goal of people to destroy and hurt israel. No, one goal is to blow up and kill people. And there are other people who have called for boycotts of israel who im sure dont want for Young Children on either side to get blown up. So is it really the same thing . You should look at what happened this israel in the last two weeks. Incitements and fighting against israel both on the economic side and on the Israeli Border from gaza and in the temple mount, we saw young people incited. And we had unfortunately a lot of terror in our region in our country. They are all linked together. Tanld be it would be naive to think that you can separate the two. If you learn a bit of intelligence, you see the direct cosh lags between le correlation of the leaders of the terror organizations and close ties with the bds movement. That is very clear to us. And so we will defend ourselves and sometimes even if it doesnt look the my he is, and nicest a that people are not necessarily on our side, but we will continue defending ourselves. We have no other alternative to draw that line. You are still welcome to come to israel. If you are part of the bds movement, you will be denied industry. That is fine. And as a long time defender and supporter of israel, that certainly is your right just like the United States has a right to determine which legislators come to our country. I just believe that it is an over generalizatigeneralization company or colleagues that divest from israel in the United States is the same as a terror organization. That is not what youre saying, is it . Im saying that the leaders of bds have that exact intention. And they are trying to make that more and more common all over the world and we have to fight that. And people that support bds have to be condemned. If im not mistaken, it is illegal in United States and israel do Something Like that. So my expectation from our partners, democratic partners in america, is to align interests and not seek the differences between us. Because we have so much more in common than we have differences. And Border Security and border policies, america has its own, we respect it even though we may not like everything. And many israelis would like to enter america and are denied entry which is fine. That is america as a democracy. It is part of your right. And so it is ours. Did you get the answer for the question . I think it is a part of well, he believes that it is the same. I do not. I believe that people of good faith can call for a divestmente with that without being compared to terrorists. But if you are talking about the leaders of those organizations, that is something that everybody should look closely at. Nir, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you so much for g with us. Is staying happy and healthy. So, i add protein, vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. Boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. All with guaranteed great taste. And now try new boost® peaches and creme natural flavor. With 27 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. Boost®. Be up for life™. Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance, hmm. Exactly. So you only pay for what you need. Nice. But, uh. Whats up with your. Partner . Not again. Limu thats your reflection. Only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty right now, congress is working to end surprise medical billing. Thats when patients are hit with medical bills they thought would be covered by insurance. 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I was in the back yard chasing Lightning Bugs and none of my friends could see them but i could see them and i was like, wow. Look at that. Then they could see them and i would bottle them. I sort of liken the job of an artist to that. You just see what glows to you. Everyone else sees something different. You know, the thing you can see illuminates before your eyes and you bottle it and share it with other people so that is the story of art. Youve gone from being a song writer to being a writer of a memoir. Talk about those two creative processes and how were they different for you . Were there any times you got half way through the memoir and said this is just too tough im going back to the piano . No. I actually found it easier to write a book. I felt like when i am writing a song there is very little real estate for words. You have to get your point across very quickly. And, i mean, can i ask you something . Did you coin moscow mitch . Was that . You know, i actually did. Yes. That is great lyric writing because it gets something across super fast and super poetically where like most of us would Say Something way too long like guy who wont pass election reform mitch. Thats not it doesnt have a literation. So i think that is amazing. You know what . It is a lot like you said with lyric writing. Ive been writing songs since i was 12 or 13 years old. Then i got into politics and actually found having to give speeches all the time made me a better song writer when i left that because with speeches you couldnt go more than 30 seconds without giving them a joke or giving them a punch line. I looked back at a lot of songs i wrote and i said wait a second. Thats three and a half minutes. After about a minute and a half its all the same. You have to constantly build on this. Im wondering about these two processes you are part of. How do you think theyll help each other . I thought i had more real estate than i did when it came to writing a book. The illusion was that, oh, ive got this whole, huge book, and i dont have to be economical anymore and, actually, you do. Which is sort of part of my argument when i go to bat for having music in schools is just what you said. It makes you a better public speaker. And in order to understand how you speak in public, or how you write anything, or how you form an idea, its good to understand that you need to be economical and its good to understand cadence and rhythm and melody and the best speechwriters are very musical in their oration. One of your latest singles dips into politics with mr. Peepers. Rod rosenstein . Rod rosenstein. They call thiem mr. Peepers and some thugs will smash his glass if hes gone and peeped the wrong thing then theyll burn his names to ashes what i did with Rod Rosenstein is the Washington Post asked me to write a song about anthony scaramucci. While i thought that was entertaining, i didnt feel to write that. And i asked them, can i write about this Rod Rosenstein fellow . This is before he was really in the hot seat. It appeared to me he was going to be. I was just thinking about his position as a human being in government, as a bureaucrat, and as a lawyer. They dont have a very popular people dont think highly of a bureaucrat or a lawyer. And i think its Great Service to human kind. We have people taking care of our garbage, taking care of our kids, we have people farming. You have to have someone in government crunching the numbers and figuring out where the money goes and making this stuff work. You have to have people watching your back legally. And i dont understand why we just rake these people over the coals all the time instead of celebrate them like the American Workers they are. So i looked at Rod Rosenstein and i thought hes getting ready to get creamed. Thats really not fair. He is not going to pick up the mic or twitter or anything. He is going to stay on his side of things. So i thought he needs his own defense attorney, which i decided to be. All right. The new book is a dream about Lightning Bugs. A life of music and cheap lessons. Thank you very much. It was great talking to you. We appreciate you being here. Nice to talk to you too. Thanks for having me. That does it for us this morning. Thanks so much for watching us always. Stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. Hi there. Im stephanie ruhle. It is monday, august 19th and here is what is happening now. The president of the United States has a message for the american people. Dont worry about a recession. No matter what the experts are telling you. I dont see a recession. I mean, the world is in a recession right now. I tell you what. I sure dont see a recession. We have the strongest economy in the world. Money is coming here for a stock market. The money is pouring into the u. S. Like never before and like no other country has ever experienced. Money is flowing into the United States where the hottest, were the hottest, really the only game in town. What i can tell you with certainty is well have a Strong Economy through 2020 and beyond. We are doing great on our consumer is really strong and it looks like theyre going to be for a long time. Peter navarro cannot tell you with certainty what wl