This one infectious Disease Doc told me last week, riGht To stop this virus with social distancing is like trying to drive a nail through jello. Great one, laura. What else . Theres more than ample evidence that Hydroxychloroquine Savvis lives. Now theyre saying that 120,000 to 130,000 could die from covid by august. What . yeah, what . were not going to hit those numbers until june. But in the meantime, its trying to get back to what really matters. I would hope that within maybe the last couple of months, well be able to do rallies. Yes, rallies lets get out there and spread until were dead this has been this week in covid history. All right. Were going to let that one speak for itself. Good Morning And Welcome to Morning Joe. Its friday, May 7th. Its friday with us, we have professor at the lyndon b. Johnson school of public affairs at the university of texas, Msnbc Contributor victoria defrancesco soto. White House Correspondent for Politico And Author of the playbook, eugene daniels. Hes also an Msnbc Contributor. And former aid to the george w. Bush white House And State departments, Elise Jordan is with us. Along with willie and me and joe has the morning off this morning, but weve got this. Lets start this Friday Morning with some positive news, okay, in the fight against the coronavirus. Here in the u. S. , covid19 infections are now at their lowest levels in seven months. The u. S. Averaged about 48,000 new cases per day over the past week. Thats a 13 improvement over the week before and the first time since october that average daily cases have dipped below 50,000. According to axios, over half of all american adults have now received at least one shot of a vaccine and 41 of adults are fully vaccinated. Deaths and serious illnesses related to the Coronavirus Have dropped significantly. This is hopeful, hopeful especially for our young people, willie, when need to get back into society. No question about it. And speaking of those young people, mika, moderna released new Data Yesterday showing its Coronavirus Vaccine is 96 effective in children ages 12 to 17. The Vaccine Trial for teenagers involved more than 3,200 participants. Just 12 cases of coronavirus were recorded during the two weeks after teens got their first dose. Moderna says it so far has not identified any serious safety concerns. Well keep an eye on that. Meanwhile, two new study show the Pfizer Biontech Vaccine is highly effective against virus variants. Researchers used realworld data from over 4,000 people vaccinated in qatar and israel, at a time when the uk and South African variants were circulating in those areas. Both studies suggest that the vaccine is effective against both strains and highly effective at preventing serious illness from the virus. Mika . This is good news. Well follow it. We still have to watch whats happening Around The World with the coronavirus, but at least some good news on the forefront right here. In politics this morning, there are several developments when it comes to republicanled states altering Election Laws. In other words, solutions in search of a problem, as they chase Donald Trumps Big Lie that the 2020 vote was stolen from him. In a moment, were going to tell you about whats going on in texas, but first, to florida, where governor Ron Desantis signed into law new Voting Restrictions yesterday. The Associated Press called It A, quote, misleading, madeforTv Ceremony, intended for the Republican Partys far right. Desantis held the Signing Ceremony live on Fox News and Fox News only. And as you can see, positioned himself for the camera so he could make a presentation to the fox audience. All other news organizations, Including Local Press, were not allowed in. A columnist at the sunsentinel tweeted, News Media barred from entry at signing of controversial elections bill. A spokeswoman said the signing is a fox exclusive. A reporter said the signing of a law that will affect all floridians and there wont be a camera from a Florida Tv Station allowed inside. This is not normal. A spokesperson for desantis later said, the governor did not sign the actual bill on camera. Oh, this is fantastic, and the event was purely ceremonial. So it was a Fake Bill . Heres how the governor explained it. We were happy to give them the exclusive on that and i think it went really, really well. But thats broadcast to millions of people, not just obviously throughout the whole country, but a huge number of people in florida are watching that. We had a crowd we probably had A Thousand people in the crowd that were really cheering on. Who does he sound like . And its just crazy. So he signs a fake version of a bill. The crowd desantis just referred to was actually a group from Donald Trumps fan club. They were already in place at a West Palm Beach Hotel And Desantis addressed the group before the live event on fox. Fox news released a statement saying the show did not request or mandate that the signing be exclusive. But willie, this is the bigger issue here is not the game being played with fox here and fox being used in whatever way its being used. But the laws that hes signing, when you look at whats going on in florida, not necessary in florida, but really, to really continue to reinforce and validate Donald Trump and his Big Lie and the bigger conversation is that trump has not gone away and hes planting roots. Well, this law and others like it In Georgia and texas and across the country are built on the foundation of that lie. That the 2020 election was not safe and secure, despite everything we know about it. And despite, by the way, what Governor Desantis said back in february, he was touting the Election Process in florida as having been safe and secure. Lets talk about the details of the new law. It adds some new hurdles to voting by mail. It limits who can collect and drop off ballots and makes it more difficult to provide water for voters waiting in line. The big question, why was it needed . In 2014, 2016, and 2018, republicans outnumbered democrats in the mailin vote, but in 2020, democrats dominated there, as more voters requested mailin ballots during the pandemic. Governor desantis claims the law will restore confidence in the states elections, yet Donald Trump won florida and there have been no legitimate allegations or evidence of widespread Voter Fraud. The ap has called florida a model for what voting should look like in america. Governor desantis himself, as i said, has praised how well the state manages its elections. The Way Florida did it, i think, inspires confidence. I think thats how elections should be run. Rather than us be at the center of a Bush Versus Gore in 2020, were now being looked at as the state that did it right and the state that these other states should emulate. The result of 2020 from an administrative perspective was that florida had the most transparent and efficient election anywhere in the country. That was Governor Desantis himself in february, a couple of months ago. As The New York Times notes, the state has now weakened key parts of the Voting Infrastructure built after that 2000 election fiasco. Lets bring in national political reporter for politico, someone who knows florida politics as well as anybody, Mark Caputo. Mark, good morning. Its good to see you. So first of all, the Spectacle Yesterday of the Fox News exclusive. Governor Desantis Broadcasting to a national audience about a State Law and also the particulars of what this bill does. What did you make of what you saw yesterday . Desantis exploded out of nowhere on the statewide political scene in 2018. And the reason he was able to win the republican primary outside of getting trumps endorsement was his constant appearances on fox. In fact, thats what helped him get The Endorsement from trump in the first place. Trump was always able to see him on his favorite network. We had calculated at one point that the amount of money in free tv time that he got on fox is what kept him competitive with his better known republican rival, adam putnam. So Desantis And Fox go hand in glove, Chocolate And Peanut butter. In this regard, its probably no surprise. Also, desantis reverted back to being a rightwing conservative politician. There was a lot of negative and i think in many respects bad national Media Coverage of florida regarding his response to covid. He didnt get that in conservative media. So his instincts not to Trust Mainstream News Media were just reinforced. In that regard as well, hes sort of kind of coming home. Here, it just looks like this was just a spur of the Moment Decision by desantis. He was going to do this Fox Show anyway. He wanted to be able to bring something to the table. And hes got his eyes on 2024. But right now in the superduper shadow primary thats going on in the Republican Party, desantis is a frontrunner if not the frontrunner for taking Donald Trumps mantle in 2024, assuming that Donald Trump doesnt run. You combine all of these factors together and th doesnt come as much of a surprise. One of the animating principles in the Republican Party right now is the hatred of the mainstream News Media, so the more criticism Ron Desantis can get for things like signing an elections restrictions bill, the better it is for him as he eyes both his reelection in 2022 and a possible bid for president in 2024. So, mark, lets put the spectacle to the side and talk about the substance of the law that was passed in the state of florida. We just heard directly from the mouth of Governor Desantis, his own praise for the Election Process in november and again in february, how well it was run in florida. How few problems there actually were. What does this new law do and why was he compelled to pass it . The law actually i guess im going to say something that is going to get me in trouble in that, its not as bad as the critics say it is. Yet, it was premised on a lie. That is, there was not widespread systemic Voter Fraud. Either in florida or nationwide. Or in Swing States that cost Donald Trump the election. And this was a reaction to that. And as you pointed out, Ron Desantis had talked about, hey, we did it right in florida. Were a model. The problem is, the former president had got the base so stirred up that these politicians had to react. So they made some changes around the edges. They made the request for Absentee Ballots, he could get them for two general elections in a row, now you can just get them from one general election in the midterm. There are more restrictions on what some people call ballot harvesting, which is when other people can drop off your ballot. Im in miamidade, the biggest county in the state. We already have some of those restrictions in place anyway. And in The End, what you have here was a solution in search of a problem. And, you know, i cant say that im glad i do live in florida as far as voting, because we have 30 days of voting by mail still. Most states dont have that. We have eight days of inperson early voting before Election Day, as a minimum. Here h miamidade county, weve got 14 days of that. And then youve got Election Day voting. So those abilities to cast ballots were not restricted. But these kind of smaller, minor changes that were made, things that do make It A little tougher for some folks to register to vote or some folks to cast their Absentee Ballots were made. There were also changes made in drop boxes, as well. Those were done largely to kind of placate the base and say, you wanted us to do something, now weve done something. Politicos Mark Caputo, i think you put It All into context perfectly and we want to take that and move across the country and pull out and look at It All. Hours after Governor Ron desan tice signed those new Voting Restriction laws, texas emerged as the next state to push forward with one of its own. The republican majority in the Texas State Legislature Mutual Fund to debate a controversial Voting Bill that they say will protect from election fraud. Democrats have vowed to file more than 100 amendments aimed at either derailing the legislation or at least limiting its impact if it is passed. During yesterdays house debate, the House Sponsor of the bill was unable to cite a single case of Voter Fraud in texas. Thats the key there. The Texas Bill would, among a slew of other reforms, Ban Election officials from proactively mailing out absentee pl ballots or applications, empower partisan Poll Watchers and make it harder to remove them for bad behavior. And set strict new rules for assisting voters. Victoria defrancesco soto, talk about how this move in texas could impact voters or overall what you see happening here. Well, mika, we see a lot of similarities with florida. Governor Greg Abbott himself conceded there were no Voting Irregularities in the 2020 election. We also heard from another Election Official who said that the 2020 election was smooth and secure. So the Head Scratcher is, why do we see these Voting Enhancements or these Voting Security bills as a top priority for the state. And as you pointed out, yesterday, the author of the bill was asked pointblank, why do we need these bills if nothing is broken. And the answer he was fumbling and Mumbling On was, well, we dont have to wait for something bad to happen in order to do this. But the issue is that what youre doing in passing these bills is curtailing peoples democratic riGht To vote. Here in texas, like anywhere else, its a numbers game. The democrats are in the minority and we think they dont have the votes to block this bill. But what we saw Yesterday Afternoon through the wee hours of the morning was the Texas Delegation fighting hard to lessen the harm of the bill. Were still waiting for the final vote, for it to go to conference committee. But it looks like the democratic delegation was able to tamp down on some of the most stringent criminalization provisions, for simple errors in registering and Election Officials doing that. Also making it less easy for partisan Poll Watchers. It seems like they were able to slim that down, as well. But the thing that does remain and that really hurts texans, especially texans of color, is the ability to send out Mail Ballot requests. We saw that in Harris County where houston is located, did that 2. 5 million voters were able to very easily Request Mailin ballots. That is definitely not on the table. That is going to be taken away. We see all of these cuts, right . Death by A Thousand cuts to Voting Rights here in texas. Very troublesome and worrisome, mika . I want to bring up Elise Jordan on why this matters. These las based on the notion that there was widespread Voter Fraud. These laws based on lies. These laws validating the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Its growing the belief, by the way, that January 6th didnt matter either. It is going on fox, governor Ron Desantis with a stunt, signing a Fake Bill that, you know, isnt the real bill, but he signed it somewhere else, but doing a stunt on live tv to fox viewers, lapping It All up, millions of people. Again, all based on a lie and a stunt to grow that belief that the election was stolen. It points to two things. First of all, to the really pathetic nature of these leaders to lead. Thats number one. But number two, lets just admit it. Trump is clawing his way back. He is so angry that he won fairly that he is going to do whatever he can to try to feed that lie. Using whatever Power Or Authority he has over these pathetic republicans who have no spines, who are so scared of him, even though they could be done with him, they could be free of him, and they could put him behind them if they would just say and do the riGht Thing. Instead, theyre propping up Elise Stefanick and, you know, forcing her to move away from her own Core Values that she expressed publicly years ago when trump was first running. She expressed very strong statements about his statements towards women, the way he treated other countries, that he didnt think were up to par. Elise stefanick talked about how the president did not represent Americas Core values and now shes being used as a mouthpiece to this terrible message that Kevin Mccarthy once carried by someone whos capable of carrying it. Trust me, its not Liz Cheney, because she will not lie to The American people and she will not prop up a Cult Leader and his unbelievable lie that could destabilize this country for administrations to come. If you heard Bob Gates on our Show Yesterday, you would be very worried about the years to come and trumps impact on our democracy. So, elise, i mean, first of all, how many ways can we count how many times trump has thrown people away and yet these idiots follow him. I guess my question to you, is there a direct connection between whats happening in florida and texas and what went down In Georgia with these Voting Laws that could further destabilize our country on the foreign stage . Mika, its petrifying. And you look at how these politicians are so shameless and they just really have no sense of decency and theyre willing to use their offices to promote a lie. And i like that Mark Caputo pointed out that the Election Law in florida is a lot of theater, because thats what this is. 9 11 happened, traumatic, so many people died on american soil. Were stuck with Security Theater at our airports for the rest of our lives. Now with this, how are our election going to fundamentally change because Donald Trump is a selfinflicted trauma with this imaginary crisis and so we have state Politicians Clamoring to placate dear leader who is out of office at his political grave in maralago with this Election Theater Nonsense playing on Fox News in the Fox News early 2021 primary. Thats all it is. So i think of americas grand tradition of standing for democracy in the world and how that was so important to our Core Values, to the Post World War ii order. And now you look at this Election Nonsense where politicians are clamoring to have fewer americans vote easily just because of Donald Trump skbrus because Donald Trump still will not concede that he lost an election. And its incredible. It is. Eugene daniels, you listen to Mark Caputo give a cleareyed assessment of that law and says it changes some things around the margin, but the point of all of this is to nod to Donald Trumps lie, because thats what the party has to do. If you listen to congresswoman Elise Stefanick talking on the radio yesterday, doing interviews to shore up her support among Donald Trump supporters by reinforcing the idea that there was something wrong with the 2020 election, that we have to secure our elections. This is all again built on that foundation of the lie perpetuated by Donald Trump. But State By State By state and in congress up on capitol hill, nearly every member, every republican member, every elected official feels that they have to for their own political future not to Donald Trump. Oh, absolutely. We dont even really hear from Donald Trump as much as we used to when he was president. Facebook is keeping him off, hes not on twitter. Hes not doing as many interviews. Were getting those statements that seem written as if they were on twitter. So whats happening is all of these republicans, even if theyre not hearing directly from him, they are guesstimating what Donald Trump would do or say in that situation to them. Depending on what they would do. And thats a really interesting way to run a party. Off Republican Party who the question isnt, is our leader Donald Trump. That isnt the question. The question is, do they have a party that operates at the whim of someone named Donald Trump. And thats where the Republican Party is. And thats where theyve been for a really long time. And there was this period after January 6th, we all remember it, where even republicans were like, you know what, Maybe Trumpism and Donald Trump arent what we want in our party. And they were explicIt About that. Mccarthy was explicIt About that. Mcconnell was explicIt About that. And weve seen, and its been kind of shocking, just quickly, over the last 100 or so days, how quickly the Republican Party has just kind of returned back to trumpism, as the main force of that party and Thats Something were seeing with Liz Cheney possibly being ousted and Elise Stefanick and her star rising, because simply what shes doing is parroting Donald Trump and thinking about the things he would want her to say. This isnt a party that talks about policy, weve been talking about that, talking about transkids. Its not a party are you conservative enough or did you support him enough. If that was the case, Liz Cheney would not have been being attacked. Because according to 538, who focused on and kept track of congressional voting, in members of congress, 92. 9 of the time Liz Cheney voted with Donald Trump. And caputo is right, and i say that because hes my colleague, but also because its true, in all of this, if they use the word Election Integrity, election restrictions, all of that is tied up into the same thing. They rye to say this is a more nuanced conversation, but it doesnt matter. Like mika said, this is a solution looking for a problem. And Thats Something thats really concerning Voting Rights and theyre pushing for democrats to fix thing that republicans are kind of breaking here with hr1 and hr4, which is a Voting Rights act that would put key provisions back into the Voting Rights act that were taken out by the supreme court. And Thats Something that at this point, its hard to see it get through the senate and get passed and get to Joe Bidens desk. But that is where people are putting a lot of their time and efforts in, is hoping that democrats at some point are able to shore up the federal aspect of this, because states are moving forward with these voting restrictive laws. So coming up, were going to run through the evolution of congresswoman elise efanick. She praised President Trump as The Voice of the Republican Party in an interview yesterday, but she wasnt always such a vocal supporter. I wonder what changed . Plus, as lawmakers negotiate a longawaited Police Reform bill, our next guest argues that reforming qualified immunity will never resolve police violence. Youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. Youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. This is a gamechanger, who dares to be fearless even when her bladder leaks. Our softest, smoothest fabric keeping her comfortable, protected, and undeniably sleek. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Are you managing your diabetes. Using fingersticks . Depend. With the new Freestyle Libre 2 system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose with a painless, onesecond scan. And now with optional alarms, you can choose to be notified if you go too high or too low. And for those who qualify, the Freestyle Libre 2 system is now covered by medicare. Ask your doctor for a prescription. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at Freestyle Libre 2 Dot U. S. Wealth is your first big investment. Worth is a partner to help share the load. Wealth is saving a little extra. Worth is knowing its never too late to start or too early. Wealth helps you retire. Worth is knowing why. Principal. For all its worth. Keeping your Oysters Business growing has you swamped. You need to hire. I need indeed indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a Resume Data Base claim your seventyfivedollar credit when you post your first job at indeed. Com promo [sfx psst psst] allergies dont have to be scary. Spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. Psst psst all good so youre a Small Business, or a big one. You were thriving, but then. Oh. Ah. Okay. Plan, pivot. How do you bounce back . You dont, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. Powered by the largest Gig Speed Network in america. But is it secure . Sure its secure. And even if the power goes down, your connection doesnt. So how do i do this . You dont do this. We do this, together. Bounce forward, with comcast business. Voters are speaking loudly and clearly. President trump is the leader and The Voice of the Republican Party. The job of the Conference Chair is to represent the majority of the House Republicans. The vast majority of the House Republicans support President Trump and they also support his focus on Election Integrity and election security. The job of the Conference Chair is not to attack fellow members of his Conference And Attack President Trump, its to unify, so that our voters know that they can count on us to deliver results and win back the majority and take the gavel away from Nancy Pelosi once and for all. Congresswoman Elise Stefanick of New York speaking there yesterday on sebastian gorkas Radio Show. I question whether she was reading. She also spoke with Steve Bannon for his podcast. She is poised to become the next house republican Conference Chairwoman as the majority of her Party Units against Liz Cheney and with former president Donald Trump. But stefanick was not always a Lockstep Trump supporter. In 2016, she skipped the Gop Convention and refused to mention trumps name when asked if she would vote for him. Later that year, she criticized trump after the release of the Access Hollywood tape. In 2017, she opposed his signature tax cut. In 2018, she disagreed with trumps proposed withdrawal from syria. It wasnt until 2019 during trumps first impeachment that she became one of his most outspoken defenders. As the l. A. Times frames it, it was a Headscratching Personality Shift for those who knew her as a lowkey moderate. In fact, according to 538. Com, while cheney has voted 92. 9 of the time with trump and his position on actual issues, Liz Cheney, 98. 9 voting with trump, stefanick only did so 77. 7 of the time. What more do you need . Willie . The editors of the National Review say in a new editorial, Liz Cheney is not the problem. They write this, quote, at The End of the day, the Problem Isnt that cheney is making controversial statements, the problem is that republicans consider her obviously true statements to be controversial. It isnt cheney who is preventing republicans from moving on and repairing the wounds from the 2020 election, it is trump himself. Six months after being defeated, he still wont drop it. In statements and Tv Appearances and in impromptu speeches to small crowds at maralago, these statements are divisive and false, yet the same people now coming after cheney, dont raise a peep about them. Cheney has been accused of distracting from the fight against biden, when some trump supporters have displayed more passion about taking her out than opposing bidens 6 Trillion agenda. If cheneys enemies think we should be talking about biden and not trump, theyve certainly picked a funny way to show it. That is from the National Review, of course, a conservative publication. Elise jordan, when you look at Elise Stefanick, her story is kind of a parable of the Trump Era for republicans. I would call her an Elise Jordan republican. She worked in the bush White House, she worked on president Ial Campaign for Mitt Romney and paul ryan, she worked for Tim Pawlenty for a while, a moderate republican. And a switch was flipped and she realized, like so many republicans, that the way to keep power and to evaluate your own position is to hug Donald Trump as closely as possible. Willie, its been sad for me to watch the evolution of Elise Stefanick. She was in the bush White House at the same time. She had a really great reputation as being super sharp, hard Work Welcome in the chief of staffs office. Ive watched her career with interest and her rise and it has been striking how quickly she turned the switch and was willing to just go for craven political power and ignore what she had previously espousd as her principles. And its sad to see someone like Elise Stefanick going and bowing at the altar of gorka and Steve Bannon with this Election Nonsense. Shes better than that, i want to believe, but shes not showing us that at all right now and its really disappointing. Were going to come back to this. But we want to turn now to the latest on the debate over Police Reform. Republican senator Tim Scott says a bipartisan deal is closer than ever. One major point of focus is a compromise on qualified immunity. That is the legal protection given to officers that make it difficult for people to sue them. Democrats have long targeted as a key change required in Police Reform. But our next guest says that isnt the answer to Fixing Policing in america. Joining us now, former member of president Obamas Task Force on 21st century policing, cedric alexander. Hes the former public Safety Director of Dekalb County In Georgia. Now an Msnbc Law Enforcement analyst. His latest Opinion Piece for the Washington Post is entitled, why reforming qualified immunity will never resolve police violence. Thank you for coming back on the show. Ill add to that question that is your headline and say, why cant it be a part of reforming it . It cant be the reform in and of itself, mika, and heres why. Even though theres compelling arguments on both sides of the aisle around qualified immunity, certainly the left make a tremendous and compelling argument. But so does the right and someone like myself, whos been a former Chief Of Police whos. A Police Officer understand it from both sides of the aisle. But heres whats going to make a difference. Not qualified immunity in and of itself. All that allows for is for communities and cities to get into these civil litigations around Police Misconduct that is costing them millions and billions of dollars across this country every year. Whats going to make the difference, quite frankly, weve got to go back and we have to look at how were going to reform police and acknowledge the fact that police in and of itself cannot be the only source of public safety. We need to narrow that scope, as i indicated in the article, and we need to train them to that measure. And then we need to train others who are more capable and more better trained and equipped to enter into communities that are suffering with a great deal of homelessness, mental illness, et cetera. Those social rs issues that creates this dynamic and puts them in a position of taking action as something theyre not training to do and then we get into this whole area of civil discourse. I think its important for us to recognize as well, mika, that we need to look at who were requiring to be Police Officers today. We have to be the best and the brightest, but that means they have to be well trained, to be well educated, and have the ability to have great Critical Thinking as part of the process and the Work Day do every day in a very complex and diverse community across this country. So we have to train them, make sure that we have supervision in place that holds them responsible and a healthy Police Department that make sure that the values of that officer and that Department Lines up with that of that community. Thats how you reduce the likelihood of civil cases that we see so much of. Not just saying qualified immunity in and of itself is going to fix this. Its not. Theres great arguments on both sides, but in order to fix this, what i am presenting in this article is some solutions to think about from a national level, if they want to do some reform, think about reforms of how you can be impactful, congress, on both side of the aisle, thats going to be longterm and its going to be significant to the benefit of communities across this country. That is just not going to resolve in lets get rid of qualified immunity. No, lets look at how rereform policing for the betterment of the community. Cedric, its willie geist. Great to have you on this morning. Youve been in Law Enforcement for years. We respect your opinion on this. The debate inside qualified immunity right now in congress seems to be that republicans dont want a specific officer to be able to be sued, to be held accountable. The compromise seems to be, we could sue the Police Department itself, and this is frankly a budgetary question for municipalities. They cant afford to be sued again and again. Do you see any compromise in there where it could be on the Police Department, it could be on the city, and not the individual officer . I think thats going to require a whole lot of conversation, willie, but i think the conversation is theyre stuck on this whole qualified immunity, lets get rid of It All together. Here again there are great arguments on both sides. I as a Police Officer wanting to be able to go out and do my job if im responding to come to your home or wherever. I and i may have to make a decision in a Split Second and i cant be concerned about whether i will be personally sued or not. The cases in which im referring to are the cases that are truly egregious. Cases that we see occur very often across this country, where we see horrible police behavior. Those are the cases in which we need to consider whether those officers need to be personally be held responsible. But when it comes back to lets not sue the city, lets sue the Police Department, i dont understand that one, because Police Departments get their budgets from the city. So youre still suing the city. But i think Theres Room for conversation, but i think what they really need to look at, willie, is the fact that in this country, if were going to reform policing the ways in which i am suggesting and others are suggesting, were going to see a reduction in these civil cases and youll see these cases be more resolved. But in these cases where were seeing officers being totally egregious, Police Misconduct in this country, we somehow have got to make sure that cities and Police Departments are not held responsible for those types of egregious actions that is costing the communities millions of dollars in which they cannot afford. Cedric alexander, thank you very much for coming back on the show. We will see you soon for sure. And coming up, our next guest slams new York Citys Decision To, quote, Scrap One of childhoods greatest pleasures in favor of a rehash of the pandemic life. Well explain it, next on Morning J. On Morning J. Cal our confident forever plan is possible with a cfp® professional. A cfp® professional can help you build a complete financial plan. Visit letsmakeaplan. Org to find your cfp® professional. Ive got the brains youve got the looks lets make lots of Money Youve got the brawn ive got the brains lets make lots of uh uh uh oohhh theres a lot of opportunities with allstate, drivers who switched saved over 700. Saving is easy when youre in good hands. Allstate click or call to switch today. Before Nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable Nights Sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. Now, that dream. Is her reality. Nexium 24hr stops acid before It Starts, for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . Youre strong. You power through chronic migraine 15 or more headache days a month,. Each lasting 4 hours or more. Botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. So, if you havent tried botox® for your chronic migraine,. Check with your doctor if botox® is right for you, and if samples are available. Effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing,. Speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness. Can be signs of a life threatening condition. Side effects may include allergic reactions. Neck and Injection Site pain. Fatigue, and headache. Dont receive botox® if theres a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, Muscle Or Nerve conditions. And medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious Side Effects. Most patients may pay as little as 0 for botox®. So, text to see how you can save. Botox® has been preventing headaches and migraines before they even start for 10 years. So, ask your doctor about botox® today. Find your rhythm. Your happy place. So, ask your doctor about botox® today. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergenc. After my car accident, Wondnder Whahatmy C cas. So i called the Barnes Firm. Im rich barnes. Youour Cidedentase E Woh than insurance offered . Call the Barnes Firm now to find out. Yoyou Ght T beurprpris call the Barnes Firm now when that car hit my motorcycle, Yoyou Ght T Beurprpris Insurance wasnt fair. So i called the Barnes Firm, it was the best call i couldve made. Call the Barnes Firm now, and find out what your case could be worth. Call one eight hundred, Eight Million the following schools are closed today. Shelbyville, ogdenville, ogdenville tech, and springfield elementary, and lastly, springfield Elementary School is open. No and its open season on savings at springfield menswear, which is closed. Everyones off but us. Ahh. The Snow Day. One of the classic joys of childhood. But in new York City, the Department Of Education just announced this week that all Snow Days next year will be replaced by remote learning thanks, pandemic. Joining us now, columnist for The New York Times and Msnbc Contributor, michelle goldberg. Your latest piece, michelle, is called, save our Snow Days. And you write in part, there were weeks in 2020 where one of my children just a few years into Elementary School would fall asleep crying almost every night, listing all the things theyd lost and the months which then turned into a year theyd never get back. So i was apoplectic, perhaps, unreasonably so, when the new York City Department Of Education announced on tuesday that it was replacing Snow Days with remote learning days for the coming school year. It seems like callousness, Bordering On Cruelty to Scrap One of childhoods greatest pleasures in favor of a rehash of pandemic life. The Department Of Education insists that the calendar has given it little option but to eliminate Snow Days if meeting a rigid 180day Benchmark means forcing children to relive an experience from the pandemic rather than play in the snow, then the benchmark is a problem. Michelle, how about like, meeting in the middle and having Snow Days be reduced days, so they can play in the snow and do like three hours of school . I personally, i never want to see remote learning again. I think that it should be a tool that you can use in lifeanddeath circumstances. But i really see this as a failure to recognize just how awful this was for parents and children. I mean, for obvious reasons, you didnt get to read the whole top of my story, but the thing that my child and im using genderneutral language, because im not going to say which one of my children it was, but the thing that my child sobbed about the most, the thing that made them say sometimes i wish i wasnt alive was Zoom School, the utter misery of being stuck on Zoom School. When they return to fulltime school, i never want to see this again unless it is a matter of life and death. And part of what worries about this, there are a lot of schools that say, now we have this technology, so we dont need to have Snow Days anymore. And i think that theres going to be a Creeping Normalization of remote school, because theres this bureaucratic incentive that you have the technology, youve invested all of this money into it, you might as well use it. And so you can imagine, you know, all sorts of reasons for schools to decide, okay, kids are going to go home, but their parents are now going to be responsible for, you know, kind of proctering remote learning. And i just i think that there should be again, i think this is a tool that they should use only in emergencies. But i also think that when they approach what school is going to look like next year, theres two competing things they have to take into account. There is certainly learning Loss And Everyone is worried about that, but theres also been a loss of joy, a loss of happiness, a loss of memories. And that is as important for schools to keep in mind. A lot of kids, my kids are very privileged and its been hard for them. Its been much, much, much harder for many other kids, who are dealing with greater amounts of trauma. And you know, when i was speaking to congressman jamal bohman, who used to be a principal in the bronx in addition to many other positions in the education system, he was saying that, you know, kids deal with trauma through play. They deal with trauma through friendship. And so we really need to be emphasizing those things next year. Hey, michelle, its willie. As a new York City parent, im with you, Snow Days a great. Theres nothing better than being out in Riverside Park with half the city, but the truth is, its not great for all new York City parents. There are a lot of people who, when a Snow Day comes up and their kid is home, theyve got nowhere to go with them. So while our experience is a good one on Snow Days, there are an awful lot of parents in the city who cant do anything but a Snow Day other than miss a day of work. Thats absolutely true and thats why Snow Days are very limited. Were talking about one day a year, one or two days a year at most, which is why taking It Away in favor of thinking this is going to have anything to do with increasing their session a reasonable argument. Br for those parents, and i understand, there are a lot of them, how does forcing them to oversee remote learning make things any easier, right . Thats more work for a parent who has to stay home. So, victoria, i know texas probably doesnt deal with Snow Days, although this past year was kind of interesting, you know, with Ted Cruz going to some sort of sunny vacation while snow was descending upon your state. But thats a different story. But i take it you have a question for michelle as well. In terms of the impact on education. I do. And look, i agree with you that Zoom School, especially for our younger kids, is not ideal. However, we do know that theres a spectrum. And that there are some kids for whom Zoom Schooling actually did work. So i think where do you see the role of zoom within elementary education, because, michelle, what im hearing is scrap all of it rather than going in and using it in more measured doses. My own feeling is that if it worked for some kids, thats fine and they should have access to it. In my own experience of it was that it was actively harmful. I would like to see no use of Zoom School, except in cases of really life or death. And again, Theres Something ironic here. The whole reason that theyre talking about well, we can nt we need to make up all of this last learning so we need to have Zoom School on days where in the past would have been days for playing and celebration, the reason they need to do that is because Zoom School was so ineffective. So more Zoom School is not going to help that. Michelle goldberg, thank you so much. Thank you. I do agree. Have a great weekend. Still ahead, several encouraging developments in the fight against covid, plus florida governor Ron Desantis puts on a literal show, as he signs into law new Voting Restrictions claiming to fix a system that No One said was broken. Morning joe is back in a moment. Broken Morning Joe is back in a moment what happens to your Body Language when your underarms are cared for . It shows our new dove advanced Care Formula is effective. And kind to skin, leaving underarms cared for and you. More confident and carefree. At jackson hewitt, we offer safe and easy ways to file with a skilled Tax Pro. Securely drop off your documents, have them picked up, or upload them, and work with a Tax Pro online from home. Safe and easy ways to file that work around you. Limu emu. And doug. And work with a Tax Pro online from home. So then i said to him, you oughta customize your Car Insurance with Liberty Mutual, so you only pay for what you need. Oh um, doug can we talk about something other than work, its the weekend. Yeah, yeah. [ squawk ] hot dog or. Chicken . [ squawk ] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Oh, i had never seen a picture of her until i got on ancestry. It was like touching the past. My great aunt signed up to serve in the Union Army as a field nurse. My great grandmother started a legacy of education in my family. Didnt know she ran for state office. Ended up opening her own restaurant in san francisco. Paralee wharton elder, lupe gonzalez, mary sawyers, margaret ross. Theres a lot of life that she lived. Who are the strong women in your family . [sfx kids laughing] [sfx bikes passing] [sfx fire truck siren] onstar, we see them. Okay. Mother and child in vehicle. Mother is unable to exit the vehicle. Injuries are unknown. Thank you, onstar. My son, is he okay . Your sons fine. Thank you. There was something in the road. Its okay. Youre safe now. We actually have some great news to pass on. Coronavirus case in the united states have just hIt A sevenmonth low. I can tell its even starting to affect my outlook. Can you feel it when youre out . Now if im in the supermarket or a Grocery Store and i see someone having a meltdown about wearing masks, im like, well, lets hear em out. Welcome back to Morning Joe. Its friday, may 7th Joe has the morning off. Along with willie and me, we have white House Reporter for politico, eugene daniels. Msnbc contributor, mike barnicle. Editor at large for the nonprofit newsroom, the 19th and an Msnbc Contributor, Erin Haynes joins us. Contributor to the conservative website the bulwark, Tim Miller is back. He previously served as Communications Director for Jeb Bush and spokesman for the republican national committee. And Donny Deutsch is with us, as well. Hes host of the new podcast launching next week. Its entitled unbrand with Donny Deutsch. Yeah, donny, we cant see you in that podcast. How can you handle that . Actually, you can on youtube. And its just a quick 30 seconds on it. Oh, look at that the whole premise is Everything Today is a brand. Every person, every institution, every religion, every Facebook Page is a brand. I interview with a big celebrity. My first interview is michael j. Fox. We break down his brand. Youll probably see some of your favorite morning hosts on the show talking about their brands. Im pretty excited. I like it. Yeah, thats it. Good stuff. Youll see willie on there one day, joe. Oh, thats nice. How about mika . Mika, well, oh, yeah, mika, also. Thats right. And mike. Everybody. Everybody youre seeing on screen here will be on there. Do we have to . Hes going to have his black tshirt on, willie, and hes going to be going like this. You can just see it, leaning in. Look at that. I got old. I got old. Its over no more black tshirt its over. Donny has a good stylist, but in this case, he pulled one of the tshirts out of his young Daughters Drawer and put it on. Just a mixup in the wash there. Small. Yep, super small and stretchy. I wear suits on the air. Thats the most important thing. Mike barnicle is my personal stylist. Okay. Congrats, donny. The podcast is called on brand, keep your clothes on, Donny Deutsch. Thank you. This morning, there are several developments when it comes to republicanled states altering Election Laws, in other words, solutions in search of a problem as they chase Donald Trumps Big Lie that the 2020 vote was stolen from him. Well start in florida, where governor Ron Desantis signed into law new Voting Restrictions yesterday, but then he did something different on tv. He signed a fake piece of paper. The Associated Press called It A misleading made for Tv Ceremony intended for the Republican Partys far right. Desantis held the Signing Ceremony live on Fox News yesterday morning, shutting out all other news organizations, Including Local Press in florida. A columnist at the sunsentinel tweeted News Media barred from entry at signing of controversial elections bill. Desantis spokeswoman said Bill Signing is a fox exclusive. A reporter for the local Cbs Affiliate tweeted, the signing of a law that will affect all floridians and there wont be a camera from a Florida Tv Station allowed inside. Fox news released a statement saying the show did not request or mandate that the signing be exclusive and willie, you know, its just one of many little small chipping away at the way things are done here in the united states of america. Freedom of the press, but also, this sort of fake Dog And Pony show, this fake signing, where its done just for the camera. Just for one camera that feeds to one audience. Millions of people that follow Donald Trump. Yeah, and this is a State Law that applies to all floridians who vote, so ostensibly you would want to get that news out through local Media Outlets and not just those who watch nationally on Fox News. That was the spectacle of what happened yesterday. Lets talk about whats inside this law. It limits who can collect and drop off ballots. It makes it more difficult to provide water for voters waiting in line. In our last hour, Mark Caputo who follows politics as closely as anybody explains how the law makes marginal changes, some of which are already in place in certain counties. The big question, then, why was this needed . In 2014, 16, and 18, republicans outnumbered democrats in the mailin vote, but in 2020, democrats dominated there as more voters requested mailin ballots during the pandemic. Governor desantis claims the law will restore confidence in the states elections, yesterday Donald Trump won florida and there have been no legitimate allegations or evidence of widespread Voter Fraud there the ap has called florida a model for what voting should look like in america. Ron desantis himself praised how well the state manages its elections. The Way Florida did it, i think, inspires confidence. I think thats how elections should be run. Rather than us be at the center of a Bush Versus Gore in 2020, were now being looked at as a state that did it right and the state that these other states should emulate. The result from 2020 from an administrative perspective was that florida had the most transparent and efficient election anywhere in the country. So Tim Miller, this is not revolutionary change to the way people vote in the state of florida. It sort of nibbles around the edges and is really just theatrical in many ways. A nod to former President Trump and those who continue to push the lie that there was fraud around the 2020 election. Yeah, thanks, willie. Im still reeling a little bit over the donnie tshirt discourse. We all are. I think what youre saying about the theater of this is what is important. This is about one thing and this is why this was an exclusive signing for Fox News. This is a Show Being put on for Donald Trump supporters. And there were no problems in florida. Florida was a model. Florida did a great job with counting ballots, did a great job with ballot security. You know, in an election that went on for days and days, florida had a call, not the call i wanted, but they had a call pretty early on election night, frankly. And so all of this is a way to maybe on the margins clamp down the democratic vote. A vote voters of color, younger voters, maybe voters who are off at college that use mailin ballots, while mostly putting on a Pr Stunt that helps to continue the mythology around the Big Lie. And that is, i think, the real problem here. Is that you see that for republican politicians to stay in good standing with their voters, they need to go along with this myth that the election was somehow fraudulent and something needs to be done to make their voters feel better, when, you know, all of that is nonsense. All of that is putting feelings over their facts. Its not what how conservative guidance should go. Ron mentioned 2000, the state of Florida Made Changes because they needed to make changes in 2000. So weve seen the positive results of that in 2020. Now theyre making changes to make Donald Trump feel better, to maybe on the margins make it harder for democrats to vote in the state and this youre seeing in states all across the country. Yep, just hours after governor Ron Desantis signed new Voting Restrictions, texas emerged as the next state to push forward with one of its own. The republican majority in the Texas State Legislature moved to debate a controversial Voting Bill that they say will protect from election fraud. Democrats have vowed to file more than 100 amendments aimed at either derailing the legislation or at least limiting its impact if it is passed. During yesterdays debate, the House Sponsor of the bill was unable to site a single case of Voter Fraud in texas. It would Ban Election officials from proactively mailing out Absentee Ballots or applications, empower partisan Poll Watchers to make it harder to remove them for bad Behavior And Set strict riles for assisting voters. And then there is arizona, where we knew the republicancommissioned recount of the president ial election in Maricopa County was ridiculous. Now we know it may actually violate federal law. The head of the civil Rights Division questioned the security of the more than 2 Million ballots that are being recounted by a private contractor. Arizona officials are pushing back with plans to tell the Justice Department there is no need for federal involvement. Supporters of the audIt Are supporting some of the most outlandish claims to back their case. As Nbc News reported, the private companies hired by Arizona Senate republicans to recount millions of ballots from the 2020 election are concerned about possible antifa attacks and plan to use Uv Lights to hunt for fraud. Internal documents released as part of a legal battle with democrats offer a, quote, Detailed Look at the conspiratorial thinking behind the extraordinary Partisan Hunt for fraud, some six months after former president Donald Trump lost the election and began pushing the lie that it was stolen from him. According to one Election Law expert, quote, it would be comic comical if it werent so scary. Erin haynes, what are the potential consequences down the line of what we see happening here today . A couple of things, mika. The first one is, youre starting to see a pattern. Places like arizona, places like florida, placing like georgia where governor Brian Kemp also signed the Voter Suppression laws there without cameras there and with only republican lawmakers flanking him under that photo of a plantation. Meanwhile, mark canon, the representative who tried to get into the room to be a witness to that signing was arrested, because he did not want her on hand to witness what was happening, the solution that continues to be in search of a problem. In arizona, you had the Press Fighting to get into that socalled audit, to witness that process and to be able to report on that process to the citizens of arizona and to the country. You know, that was a fiGht That they had to have, even as that state was claiming that they needed to verify the Election Results in arizona yet again. And now you have Ron Desantis, Governor Desantis down in florida signing his, that legislation outside of the view of most cameras, with the exception of Fox News. And the reason this is problematic is because, you know, all of these gop leaders are using this solution in search of a problem as a way to perpetuate the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the election and that Joe Biden lost. But i think as a press, what we need to be thinking about is the reframing of the Big Lie at this point. I mean, here we are, A Hundred days plus now into the biden harris administration. It is clear to a majority of americans that President Biden did win the election, that President Trump did lose the election, but the Big Lie now that i think that people need to be paying attention to and that we must continue to, you know, Push Back against, is the lie that Election Integrity something thats being threatened in this Country And Something that needs to be addressed. That is the Big Lie that republicans are pushing now and that is the Big Lie that is moving through statehouses in the wake of the Big Lie that President Trump tried to push unsuccessfully, because as we know, even as we speak, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are governing. Donny deutsch, as erin just indicated, florida, texas, they are just 2 of 43 states in this country at last count, 43 State Legislatures dominated by republicans that are trying to really fix Election Laws, because apparently, thats the only way republicans can win a national election is to deny the results or try to fix it for themselves. And yet what were talking about, these statements by State Legislatures to alter and make tougher Election Laws, making it impossible for people to vote or very difficult for people to vote, i would consider that to be secondary to the larger issue and the larger issue would be, is the damage that Donald Trump has done to our country, to our institutions, is it permanent, is it lasting, or is it temporary . Whats your view . Great question, mike. I want to go back to the three or four images of desantis youve been putting up there, one had 13 or 14 women, one had men, and another had men, all white. Lets call that what this is. What image is up there is very, very calculated. To me, this is one more instance of the Republican Party saying, what you cant do versus the democratic party saying what we can do. We can help infrastructure, we can help education, we can help job. And in answer to your question, is Donald Trump permanent . Its permanent until a transformational figure comes forward. Right now everything is trump, because its a blank piece of paper. Theres No One home. The front leaders in the Republican Party are people who have been defeated by Donald Trump or sucking his kneecaps. There will be one person, somebody will come forward and say guess what, this is not about whats right or wrong, im about taking america back from the democrats, from the soberists. And i like Donald Trump im not talking about me but this is what he has to say, dont make It About right or wrong, make It About winning and losing and basically saying, this is a losing strategy that we are on. There will be a transformational figure, he or she has just not shown their face yet. Its a person, not an issue. Until a person comes forward, people will still follow Donald Trump because Theres Nobody else home. And among the people speaking directly to Donald Trump, Governor Desantis was one of them, but congresswoman Elise Stefanick is another, appears poised to become the next Conference Chairwoman was a majority of their party have united against Liz Cheney and with former President Trump. The new York Congresswoman voiced her unwavering Support Yesterday for the former president. The voters are speaking loudly and clearly. President trump is The Voice and the leader of the Republican Party. The job of the Conference Chair is to represent the majority of House Republicans. The vast majority of the House Republicans support President Trump and they also support his focus on election security. The job of the Conference Chair is not to attack fellow members of the Conference And Attack President Trump, its to unify, so that our voters know that they can count on us to deliver results and win back the majority and take the gavel away from Nancy Pelosi once and for all. Congresswoman stefanick speaking there yesterday on the Radio Show of sebastian gorka, a fervent supporter of President Trump, former adviser. Heres Republican Senator Lindsey Graham weighing in on Liz Cheney and the future of the Republican Party. I would just say to my republican colleagues, can we move forward without President Trump . The answer is no. Ive always liked Liz Cheney with but shes made a determination that the Republican Party cant grow with President Trump. Ive determined we cant grow without him. So Tim Miller, as a lifelong republican, someone whos worked for Jeb Bush and worked in republican politics for most of your adult life, what do you make of the way this is playing out . When i listen to Lindsey Graham there, i think back to that night of January 6th, where he pounded the podium there and said on the senate chamber, you know, im out, im done. Weve had a long relationship, me and Donald Trump, but its over. We heard Kevin Mccarthy condemning what he saw at the capitol. Mitch mcconnell, yet, Liz Cheney is being singled out because shes simply saying that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and its time to move on and focus on the things that we all say we believe in as conservatives. The astonishing thing is the times they both mentioned the emcee of weddings down at maralago, Donald Trump. This is not a man who has a job or necessarily any influence. So i think that elise really gives away the game in that interview, where she goes to talk to one of Donald Trumps, you know, this is a competitive category, but one of his most insane, you know, former staffers who has now gone on to kind of a mago media career. She goes to his podcast to lavish praise upon Donald Trump and you see what this race with Liz Cheney for Conference Chair is about. Its about fealty to this former guy who lost, as donny points out. So i worked with both of the people in the last two clips. Lindsay when he endorsed jeb in 2016. I spent a lot of time On The Road with shim. He would go on and about how Big Gotted Donald Trump is, how much of a racist he is. How much he is going to divide the party. Elise worked with me at the rnc when we put out that famed autopsy that said that the party needs to expand our reach beyond white men, do better with women in the suburbs, do better with communities of color. Both of these folks know better, they do. But they see that right now to be successful in the party, to be successful in conservative media, to get the likes and the retweets, you need to continue lavish praise on Donald Trump. And that is what theyre doing. And that is what this Conference Chair race is about between cheney and stefanick, nothing else. And i wrote about this for the bulwark. Just really quick. There was this great, horrific quote in the Washington Post in early november that said, whats the downside for humoring him . Whats the downside for humoring him over the Big Lie . We al saw what the downside was on January 6th. Yet today, four months after the insurrection, Elise Stefanick is saying, whats the downside for humoring him a little bit longer . Thats the difference between her and Liz Cheney and thats what the race is about. And also, i would love to ask Elise Stefanick if perhaps instead of going on podcasts and Radio Shows where she can have her prepared notes in front of her to answer some questions, because im really curious. And i think Peggy Noonan puts it best in the wall street journal. I would like to know what she thinks about the January 6th riots. Liz cheney confronts a house of cowards. To suggest that the rally was simply a rowdy and raucous events, just some goofballs dressed in antelope horns. But she reminds us, the intention of the rioters wasnt to roam the halls and yell, it was something grave and dark, to disrupt and prevent the constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College Votes in the 2020 president ial election. Listen to that. That was scheduled to occur in congress that day. That act of tabulating is more than two centuries old, formalizes and validated the election outcome, physically represents the peaceful transfer of power and has never been stopped or disrupted. Look at this. What happened on 1 6 was an assault on the constitutional order. Cheney has called for a hard January 6th called hard for a January 6th commission to investigate formally what happened that day. Which is a problem for some republicans, not because they dont want to relitigate the past, but because there are members who are uneasy about what such a probe might unearth about their own actions. Here is the problem of House Republicans. No matter how protrump they show themselves to be, there will always be someone back home who is trumpier. Theyre jumpy and scared, fear a primary challenge and probably dont know deep down the inquisitions wont stop with miss cheney. Theyll be asked about this, what they did this day, what they thouGht This day, what they said to President Trump about this. And my question to Elise Stefanick, eugene daniels, is what does she think about this day . Does she believe the election was rigged and stolen . Does she truly believe these people were fight for what was right . What does she really, truly believe . Its hard to know. We talked about how Elise Stefanick went from this person who did not wasnt very trumpian. She was considered a moderate and that is something that weve kind of watched that what Donald Trump has done to this party and to republicans is that he has shown them, he can forgive anything if you have and show complete public loyalty to him, right . We saw Lindsey Graham as a perfect example, Donald Trump gave his nobody out at a rally and they became besties over the four years of the Trump Presidency. And you know, how republicans Liz Cheney has talked about. Democrats want this. There was spoede to be this bipartisan commission, kind of a 9 11style Commission looking at January 6th. The issue was, for 9 11, those were foreign actors that attacked us. Right here, these are people that are in this country and the reasons that they did it, not from my reading of it, not from anyone on this Panels Reading of it, from the own reading of it is that they did this because Donald Trump told them to. They said they did this because of this lie that was perpetuated not just by Donald Trump and not just on January 6th, but by republicans for months. This idea, as tim put it, of humoring Donald Trump and something that we had this conversation of for years, frankly, was whether or not we should take him seriously, but not literally. And the thing is, we should have always taken him both. You know, the time when he lost the iowa caucuses in 2016, if we can remember that far back, he said that Ted Cruz won only because of Voter Fraud. When he won the 2016 election, Donald Trump said Hillary Clinton only won the popular vote because of illegal votes in california. The idea of humoring him, were watching the actual effects of that. Were watching these trump Supporters Attack Congress and run through the halls and have a noose for the Vice President , the then Vice President of the united states, all of these things are something that we should have as a country should have brought us together to have serious conversation about the things we care about, the things that matter, and that is yet to happen and part of that is because republicans are so scared that Donald Trump is going to i guess, now, release a statement about him. He cant tweet, he cant be on facebook. He can call into fox. But those are the things that are operating within the Republican Party and its not policy. Mika, to answer your question briefly, Congresswoman Stefanick condemned the violence on January 6th after it happened, put out pro forma statements apt about the violence, but she was one of the chairpeople that was perpetuating the lie that brouGht Those people to the capitol. And even after the building had been cleared, she continued with her objections to the certification of the vote that would make Joe Biden President Of The United States and it continues even today, to say there were irregularities, there are things we need to look at in the process when she knows full well thats not true. Yeah. Veteran pollster, Frank Luntz told. The New York times Cara Swisher that former President Trumps campaign to undermine faith and elections could backfire on the Republican Party. Lets take a listen. I think the greater impact. This could cost the republicans the majority in the house in 2022. What Donald Trump is saying, hes telling people, its not worth it to vote. Donald trump single handedly May Cause people not to vote and he may be the greatest tool in the democrats arsenal to keep control of the House And Senate in 2022. If republicans lose the majority in the house, they will lay the blame at the feet of Donald Trump for telling people its not worth it to vote. If they do, Donny Deutsch, i think theres a lot of risk and again i point back to the interview that we had on Morning Joe yesterday with Bob Gates. Its going to take a few administrations for people Around The World to believe that these forces that really took hold in the last administration are truly gone. It will take a cycle or two. But i want to say again to the republicans watching, Donald Trump is a losing proposition. Those images that we were playing of people storming the capitol, thats all you have to say about Donald Trump so what is so insane about the republicans, and by the way, he will be indicted between now and the next election, he is unelectable. Donald trump is unelectable. You are fools. Forget right or wrong, you are losers with Donald Trump. Get that in your thick, dumb, skulls. Mike barnicle . Ive been thinking, tim, about something you said a couple of moments ago about Lindsey Graham and hanging with lindsay during the course of campaigns, when he was crushing trump with you. A similar thing occurred to me with Lindsey Graham at Laguardia Airport a while ago. But my question to you, and i know more republicans than i do, clearly. But it seems to me that one of the obstacles to progress in this country is that we are now dominated in legislatures can by a series of people who measure time by the moment. They have no sense of history, it seems to me. They have no sense that five, ten years down the road, they will have no idea how they arrived at. How do we have so many people who think that history is the moment . I think part of it is because theyre rewarded in the moment. I think politicians right now get Immediate Feedback, right . Immediate feedback from voters, Immediate Feedback on social media. They know what works and what doesnt work. They get to test things out. Thats part of it. But let me tell you, this is going to get worse and not better no matter what happens in the midterm. I had to shake my head at that Frank Luntz comment. They didnt blame him in november. Hay didnt blame him after he cost republicans the senate in two senate seats In Georgia. I dont know what makes somebody think that hell be blamed in 2022. And whether republicans pick up seats or lose seats, theres this churn that senators who maybe didnt act courageously, but have this sense of history, people like Richard Burr or richard shelby, theyre retiring and theyre going to be replaced with people who have bought into the Maga Mindset of owning the libs as being the most important thing to do. Of appealing to the base with the most outlandish attacks of people they hate. When you look at who will come in alabama, it might be mo brooks, who is one of the people who pushed the insurrection i think that youll see this churn to make the problem that youve identified even worse, no matter what kind of a net output is on the seat. Tim miller and Donny Deutsch, thank you both very much for being on the show this morning. Donny deutsch has his new podcast launching next week, entitled muscles in my tny black shirt. On brand with Donny Deutsch is really the name. Here is that moment from our Show Yesterday that i just mentioned when joe asked former Defense Secretary Bob gates about the lasting effects of the Trump Presidency on americas diplomatic relations. Our alliances are a unique asset. I think that one of the most positive aspects of the biden administration so far is reestablishing these relationships with our allies and trying to restrengthen our alliances. But ill tell you, i think that the damage thats been done during the Trump Administration in terms of those alliances is not going to be put behind us in four months or in a year or two. I think that weve created an element of doubt in our allies, and now their worry is, is Joe Biden a oneoff . And will America Return To trumplike policies toward our allies after biden leaves office . So, in all honesty, i think it will take at least two presidencies, President Biden and his successor, adhering to those alliances making clear we will keep our commitments and be there for our allies before they begin to regain confidence. Joining us now, former u. S. Ambassador to ukraine, Bill Taylor and the president and the ceo of the nonpartisan, nonprofit partnership for Public Service, max steyer. The group held a conversation about Rebuilding Institutions as part of Public Service recognition week. And i really appreciate you both being on. And want to talk a great deal about that. But first, ambassador, i would just like you to comment on what we just played, which is Bob Gates talking about that element of doubt that still remains Around The World for the united states of america. Do you agree with that . And what is it going to take beyond, by the way, not having images like the January 6th riot, what is it going to take to restore trust Around The World . Mika, i think Secretary Gates is right in general. It wont last as long as hes concerned it might. That is, weve had conversations with ukrainians, many ukrainians. The ukrainians as an example are very eager for the united states to be back. The ukrainians were worried that that might jeopardize their relations with the united states. And so to have Secretary Blinken be there yesterday was a strong signal that they welcomed. They were so appreciative that the united states will send its Secretary Of State in one of the first foreign visits to kiev. So it was, i think we can recover. I think we are recovering as Secretary Gates said, and i think it will, i think it will happen. Ambassador taylor, its willie geist, great to have you on this morning. To remind our viewers, youre one of the people who in realtime sounded the alarm about what was happening with the Trump Administration and ukraine. You thought it was crazy to withhold Security Assistance in exchange for politics, looking into Joe Bidens family, for example. So let me ask you about how things are different now than people believe they are. How has President Biden handled ukraine, how has he handled russia differently than did former President Trump . Thats an easy up with, willie. Theres an enormous difference between President Trump and President Biden. Lets just think about phone calls. President Biden First calls president zelensky and says, were totally with you. And then he calls President Putin. This was about a month ago, when President Putin was amassing large troops and President Biden told President Putin, back off. The second thing he said which was very interesting is, mr. Putin, this is a heads up, were going to put sanctions, more sanctions on you very shortly. And sure enough, two days later, the united states nound more sanctions against the russians. And President Biden says, maybe we can get together knowing that if President Putin were to invade ukraine, than that summit would never happen. Or if President Putin were to kill navalny, that would never happen. That kind of direct message from President Biden to President Putin with a precall to president zelensky was a presentation of the kind of work that is very important that the new administration is doing. This scandal you found yourself in the middle of, not involved in, but in the middle of with those Text Messages and sounding the alarm has come back into the headlines in the last couple of weeks, as the fbi raided the offices of Rudy Giuliani in connection to the ukraine investigation. Do you have any doubt now as you look back on it, more ambassador, about what was happening there, that the Trump Administration was, in fact, withholding Security Assistance to get political dirt on Joe Biden . Theres no doubt. Theres no doubt. Thats been made clear over and over during the discussions. The system, however, pushed back hard. That Decision To hold back on Security Systems was made only at the very top, but it had the effect of delaying and causing doubt, going back to your earlier comment, causing doubt about the united states in ukraine. Were we going to provide that assistance to an ally, to a partner, whos fighting the russians on the front line. So there were doubts there, but the system, the united states has institutions, we were talking about institutions here this week, in Government Service and Public Service, the institutions prevailed. And that decision, bad decision was overturned and it continues again. Max steyer, off of what Ambassador Taylor just mentioned, the institutions that govern us, the institutions that work for us, not only here in the united states, but Around The World. We were talking earlier, prior to your appearance about the damage thats been done to our institutions over the last four years. Could you measure the damage thats been done and how long will it take to make any progress to restore those institutions, as well as the Publics Faith in the integrity of the institutions . Wonderful question and unfortunately, i think this is going to be a longterm reinvestment that well need. I would argue that our government has suffered decades of rust, and we had an administration, the last one that came in with a sledge hammer. A little over 6 of the federal workforce is under the age of 30. That number is under 3 when you look at i. T. Professionals in the federal government. If you look at the moral of the workforce writ large, its about 14 to 15 points lower than you would see in a Comparison Group in the private sector. At the same time, we have extraordinary civil servants. We have extraordinary public servants like Ambassador Taylor who have amazing expertise that they are using on behalf of The American public. Our public servants are incredible assets and theyre committed to the Public Good. And that combination of expertise and Public Good is what makes our Government Work in such a wonderful way. We have so many problems, if we want to continue to address those problems successfully, we need to make sure were investing in those institutions and those institutions ultimately are people, public servants. Thats why were trying to celebrate them this week, but we need that longerterm investment to ensure we can meet the problems of tomorrow. Again, both to you mr. Steyer and to Ambassador Taylor. This question is directed. Our institutions operate overseas. There was a recent poll in the european union, taken in the Urine Union that showed a Devastate Lack of Confidence And Respect for the united states in just the short period of four years. Theres soon to be a new chancellor in berlin, there will be an election in france. How has what has happened impacted our prestige, our standing, our word in europe . I think thats a really fundamental issue for us. Our success as a nation depends on the capability of our government, the capability of our public servants, and often the vision that we offer the rest of the world that we represent. Our government is really fundamental to our democracy. Democracy is the Core Value that we offer the rest of the world. So we need to rebuild our internal institutions, the workforce that we have to support our society and in doing that, we need to understand that its also how were perceived by the rest of the world that really matters. Well, i guess final note to you ambassador, in terms of how were doing in that respect, and including the news of the day, of these new laws being put in place in florida and texas, kind of validating this whole the election was stolen notion. Im not the best person to talk about the Election Laws, but i can comment on the question you raised about our standing in the world and our ability to provide leadership. In particular in europe. So Scare Blinken is in london and ukraine, and his welcome is very pronounced. Its very clear that the europeans, weve got differences with the europeans, but they really are eager for the united states to be back. Theyre very eager for us to be there at the table. They want to lead, we want to lead. There are certain areas that we can both work together on, and they know theyre stronger if were with them. Were welcomed back. Theyre eager to have us. Secretary blinken riGht There in Kiev Yesterday is a good demonstration of how were back. Ambassador Bill Taylor, max steyer, both, thank you very much for being on this morning. And coming up, a possible breath of fresh air. What one top Health Official is saying about when we might be able to ease indoor Mask Mandates. Morning joe is coming right back. Joe is coming right back as your business changes, the United States Postal Service is changing with it. With ecommerce that runs at the speed of now. Next Day And Twoday shipping nationwide, and returns right from the doorstep. Its a whole New World out there. Lets not keep it waiting. Introducing Voltaren Arthritis Pain gel. The first full Prescription Strength out there. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel. Available over the counter. Voltaren is powerful Arthritis Pain Relief in a gel. Voltaren. The joy of movement. Its coming back to you now. Real pants. Find amex offers to save on the brands you love. One of the many things you can expect when youre with amex. She thouGht That squirrel on your brandnew at Screen Tv was an actual squirrel. Leave it. Purchase protection for what you didnt see coming one of the many things you can expect when youre with amex. Hey google, turn up the heat. Some days, you just dont have it. Not my uncle, though. Hes taking trulicity for his type 2 diabetes and now, hes really on his game. Onceweekly trulicity lowers your a1c by helping your body release the insulin its already making. Most people reached an a1c under 7 . Plus, trulicity can lower your risk of cardiovascular events. It can also help you lose up to 10 pounds. Trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. It isnt for people with type 1 diabetes. Its not approved for use in children. Dont take trulicity if youre allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome Type 2. Stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a Lump Or Swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. Serious Side Effects may include pancreatitis. Taking trulicity with Sulfonylurea Or Insulin raises low blood sugar risk. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration, and may worsen kidney problems. Show your world whats truly inside. Ask your doctor about onceweekly trulicity. Find your rhythm. Your happy place. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergenc. Wanna help kids get their homework done . Well, an internet connections a good start. But kids also need computers. And sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. So why not hook community centers up with wifi . For kids like us, and all the amazing things were gonna learn. Over the next 10 years, comcast is committing 1 Billion to reach 50 Million lowincome americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. I hope youre ready. cause we are. 45 past the hour. With cases of the coronavirus down and vaccinations up, former Fda Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says its time to start easing back indoor mask requirements. Heres what he told Shep Smith last night on cnbc. When do you think the cdc can have a meaningful conversation about lifting the Mask Mandates indoors . I think we can do it right around now. Now . I think we should start lifting these restrictions as i think we should start lifting these restrictions as aggressively as we put them in. If we do start seeing outbreaks again, the only way to earn public credibility is to demonstrate that youre willing to relax these provisions when the situation improves. Thats what gives you the credibility to implement than when things worsen. As we get into may and see prevalence levels decline further, i dont think you have to continue these Mask Mandates. I think over the course of this month, well see the picture improve sharply enough that by The End of the month, were going to be lifting these Mask Mandates. Certainly outdoors, but i think youll see municipalities lift the Mask Mandates for indoors, as well. The cdcs most recent guideline still recommends wearing masks during all indoor gatherings, even if you are vaccinated. That is a very interesting opinion. Still ahead, we learned yesterday that unemployment claims fell again last week, as the Labor Market tries to make a come back. Well see if the trend holds when the Jobs Report is released in the next hour. Youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. Hour youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. Its my 5 52 wokeuplikethis migraine medicine. Its ubrelvy. For anytime, anywhere migraine strikes, without worrying if its too late, or where i am. One dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours. Unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. Do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. Most common Side Effects were nausea and tiredness. Ask about ubrelvy. The anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. Limu Emu Doug ask hey limu elvy. [ squawks ] how great is it that we get to tell everybody how Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . I mean it. Oh, sorry. [ laughter ] woops [ laughter ] good Evening Meow nope. Oh. What . Im an emu ah ha ha. No, buddy buddy, its a filter only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty this is our block. Our place. Our people. Our block, its just like yours. Full of the people who shaped you. They all deserve Care And Access to the vaccine. No matter their address, income, or skin color. Not having a ride to get the vaccine. Cant be the reason you dont get it. You wanna help . Donate a ride today. Stay restless with the icon that does the same. The rx, crafted by lexus. Get 0. 9 Apr Financing on the 2021 rx 350. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. Okay, everyone, dont forget, Mothers Day is this sunday and we want to highlight how powerful women shape future generations. Our next guests latest book focuses on the important role mowers played in the rights of three civil rights icons. Joining us now, author, advocate and educator, Anna Maleka tubs. Her new book is entitled the three mothers, history the mothers of Martin Luther King jr. , Mall Conx and James Baldwin shaped a nation. What a beautiful concept for a book. I love it. And i know youre right in the way we honor the mothers is to tell their stories. So why dont we start with mlk. Well, thank you so much for having me, mika. Good morning. Mlk junior, his mother, alberto Williams King was an incredible social activist. She believes faith could be be faith without social justice, that if you were a religious leader, you had to believe you were fighting for the oppressed, making sure you were using your privileges to advanced the Freedom Cause forward. So she participated in marches and in boycotts. She was an incredible instrumentalist and a singer. And now lets move to Malcolm X. All of these women really inspired what has happened. And what their sons were able to do. Malcolm xs mother, louise little. Absolutely. And louise littles case, perhaps the connection is even more obvious to her son. She was also an activist. She believed in pan africanism, black independence, black pride. So she is part of the marcus garby movement. She writes for the negro world newspaper, she believes that you stand up for yourself no matter the cost. And you stand up for your worth and you demand to be treated with dignity and the respect that you deserve. And finally, emma baldwin, James Baldwins mother. Yes. Emma bertid baldwin, she was a writer. She believed that she could help other people through the darkness, through their own pain, through her writing. So everybody who knew her, she would give them these letters to help them see the world differently, find more healing, find more progress. And its not a coincidence that her son becomes the famous writer, James Baldwin, who calls himself a witness to the power of light. We want to bring in erin hanes who has a question for you. Thank you for this book because i enjoyed reading and learning more about these women. Im from atlanta and Alberta King is someone i learned a lot about growing up, also her tragic death. I know Martin Luther Kings mother, Malcolm Xs mother, they had tragic endlings. Im wondering if you can talk about that a little bIt And really why you felt like it was important to talk about these women whose gifts ended up being imparted in such a way. I appreciate that question. Its trou we need to provide more context on what happened in these womens lives. It reminds us where we are as a Nation Today and the connections to our history. And when were thinking about black motherhood and black women hood. With Alberta King, she was assassinated in her church after losing her second son in suspicious circumstances. As well as louise little who, again, is this radical activist and, therefore, her and her family and her husband are persecuted by groups like the kkk and the black legion, another white supremacist group, and she was put away against her will for 25 years of life. And not because she had, quote unquote, gone crazy, which is with what weve heard in history for so long, but that a white male doctor diagnosed her with dementia saying she was imagining being discriminated against. Anna, congratulations on the book. When we talk about Martin Luther Kings mother, my goodness, she not only brought him into the ebenezer baptist church, but also introduced this idea of nonviolent resistance to her son. An idea he carried and changed the world. It was incredible. And when i started writing this book, i knew they were going to be interesting, i knew they deserved to be told. I didnt set out to say because alberta did this, Malcolm X did this. But what was surprising to me is how obvious the connections were between the mothers and their sons. And it made it more clear that we erased them intentionally. There are direct connections to the womens work before they became mothers, as activists, as creators in their own right, as changing systems around them for freedom, for equality and the sons were well aware of their mothers impact on their lives. The book is the three mothers how the mothers shaped a nation. Anna malaka tubs, thank you very much. Great book. Just in time for Mothers Day. Still ahead, vaccinations are up and cases are down. Coronavirus infections across the country have hit their lowest levels in months. Plus, florida governor Ron Desantis signs new Voting Restrictions into law and members of the Media Werent allowed to cover the event, except for Fox News. Well explain why, Morning Joe will be right back. L explain wh will be right back this is how you become the best [music youre the best by joe esposito] [music youre the best by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] dont get mad. Get E Trade and take charge of your finances today. [sfx kids laughing] [sfx bikes passing] [sfx fire truck siren] onstar, we see them. Okay. Mother and child in vehicle. Mother is unable to exit the vehicle. Injuries are unknown. Thank you, onstar. My son, is he okay . Your sons fine. Thank you. There was something in the road. Its okay. Youre safe now. The bennetts really know how to put their wifi to work. Its okay. Whether its work work. Works for me. School work. It worked or a work out. Oh im working. Theyve got xfinity, which delivers wifi faster than a gig for all their devices. Its more than enough to keep everyone working. Can your internet do that . This is work this is hard now xfinity delivers wifi speed faster than a gig. That means youll have Gig Speed over wifi to power a house full of devices. Learn more about Gig Speed today. Covid history. As we begin may 2020, President Trump sooths an ailing nation. Its all working out. Its all working out. Its horrible that we have to go through it, but its all working out. Yes, everything is going gangbusters. If only the mean old media was on board. I am greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has ever seen. They always said nobody got treated worse than lincoln. I believe i am treated worse. Penny for your thoughts, abe. Oh, yes, that. And lets not forget who this hurts the most. To the people that have lost someone, there is nobody that has taken it harder than me. Nobody has taken it harder or gotten over it faster. Were opening up the country again. Who would have ever thought we were going to be saying that. A reopening. America is back in business, but not everyone loves the plan. Namely a nefarious gang of nair do wells named the experts. The experts. They know better than us. Listening to the experts being wrong on everything database. Dont these experts trust The American people . The experts have been telling us that hundreds of thousands of people are going to die. Yeah, those stupid experts. And now its time for Laura Ingrams infectious disease corner. Trying to stop this virus with social distancing is like trying to drive a nail through jello. What else . Now theyre sigh that 134,000 could die by covid of august. What . Yeah. What . Were not going to hear those numbers until june. But in the meantime, its time to get back to what really matters. And i would hope that within maybe the last couple of months, well be able to do rallies. Yes. Rallies. Lets get out there and spread until were dead. This has been this week in covid history. Were going to let that one speak for itself. Good Morning And Welcome to Morning Joe. Its friday, May 7th. Its friday. With us, we have professor at the linden b. Johnson school of public affairs at the University School of texas, msnbc victoria desoto, White House Correspondent he with Politico Eugene daniels, also an Msnbc Contributor. And former aide to the george w. Bush white House And State departments Elise Jordan is with us along with willie and me and joe has the morning off this morning, but we got this. Lets start this Friday Morning with some positive news, okay, in the fight against the coronavirus. Here in the u. S. , covid19 infections are now at their lowest levels in seven months. The u. S. Averaged about 48,000 cases per day over the past week. Thats a 13 improvement over the week before and its the first time since october that average daily cases have dipped below 50,000. According to axios, over half of all american adults have now received at least one shot of the vaccine and 41 of adults are fully vaccinated. Deaths and serious ill pss have dropped significantly, as well. This is hopeful, hopeful especially for our young people, willie, who need to get back into society. No question about it. And moderna released new Data Yesterday showing its Coronavirus Vaccine is 96 effective in children ages 12 to 17. The Vaccine Trial for teenage ergs involved more than 3,200 participants. Moderna says it so far has not identified any serious safety concerns. Well keep an eye on that. Meanwhile, two new studies show the Pfizer Biontech Vaccine is highly effective against variants. Both studies show the vaccines are highly effective against both strains. This is good news. Well follow it. We have to watch whats happening Around The World with the coronavirus, but at least some good news on the forefront right here. In politics this morning, there are several developments when it comes to republicanled states altering Election Laws. In other words, solutions in search of a problem as they chase Donald Trumps Big Lie that the 2020 vote was stolen from him. In a moment, were going to tell you about going on in texas, but first to florida where governor Ron Desantis signed into law new Voting Restrictions yesterday. The Associated Press called It A, quote, misleading made for Tv Ceremony intended for the Republican Partys far right. Desandis held the Signing Ceremony live on Fox News and on Fox News only and positioned himself for the cameras so he could make a presentation to the fox audience. All other news organizations, clul Including Local Press, were not allowed in. A columnist at the Sun Sentinel tweeted News Media barred from entry at signing of controversial elections bill. Desantis Spokes Woman says the Bill Signing is a fox exclusive. It was tweeted the signing of a law that will affect all floridans and there wont be a camera from a Florida Tv Station allowed inside. This is not normal. A Spokes Woman for desantis said the governor did not sign the actual bill on camera. Oh, this is fantastic. And the event was purely ceremonial. So it was a Fake Bill . Here is how the governor explained it. We were happy to give them the exclusive on that and i think it well really, really well, but thats broadcast to millions of people not just in and obviously throughout the whole country, but a huge number of people in florida are watching that. We had a crowd we probably had A Thousand people in the crowd that were really cheering on. Who does he sound like . Its crazy. The crowd desantis just referred to was a group from Donald Trumps fan club. They were already in place at a West Palm Beach hotel. Fox news released a statement saying the show did not request or mandate that the signing be exclusive. But, willie, the bigger issue here the big issue is not fox being used in whatever ways its being used, but the laws that hes signing. All of this is when you look at whats going on in florida, not necessary in florida, but the bigger conversation is that trump has not gone away and hes planting roots. This law and laws like It Are built on that lie. And despite what Governor Desantis said back in february, he was touting the Election Process in florida having been safe and secure. The details of the new law, It Adds new hurdles to voting by mail. It limits who can collect and drop off ballots and makes it more difficult to provide water waiting for voters in line. Why was it needed . In 2016, 2014, 2018, republicans outnumbered democrats in the mailin vote, but in 2020 democrats dominated there. Yet Donald Trump won florida. The ap has called florida a model for what voting should look like in america. Governor desantis has praised how well florida has managed its elections. The Way Florida did it, i think that inspires confidence. I think thats how elections should be run. Rather than us be at the center of a Bush Versus Gore in 202 wrb were now being looked at as the state that did it right. The result of 2020 from an administrative perspective was florida had the most transparent and efficient election anywhere in the country. That is Governor Desantis himself just in february, a couple of months ago. As The New York Times notes, the state has weakened key parts of the Voting Infrastructure built after that 2000 election fiasco. Lets bring in national political reporter for politico, someone who knows florida politics as well as anybody, Mark Caputo. First of all, the Spectacle Yesterday of the Fox News exclusive, Governor Desantis broadcasting to a national audience about a State Law and the particulars of what this bill does. What did you make of what you saw yesterday . Kind of like desantis goes home. Desantis exploded out of nowhere on the statewide political scene in 2018. And the reason why he was able to get the primary was his contact appearances on fox. Thats what helped hem get The Endorsement from trump in the first place. We calculated at one point that the amount of money he got, free airtime, on fox was double that of his rival. So Desantis And Fox go hand and glove, Chocolate And Peanut butter. In this regard, its probably no surprise. Desantis, increasingly, amid the pandemic reverted back to being a more reactionary right wing conservative politician. There was a lot of negative and i think in many respects bad national Media Coverage of florida regarding his response to covid. He didnt get that in conservative media. And so his instincts not to Trust Mainstream News Media were reinforced. Here, it just looks like this, from what we understand, was a spur of the Moment Decision by desantis. He was going to do this Fox Show, anyway. He wanted to bring something to the table and hes got his eyes on 2024. Right now in kind of the really early super duper primary, the shadow primary thats going on in the Republican Party, desantis is a frontrunner if not the frontrunner for taking Donald Trumps mantle in 2024, assuming that Donald Trump doesnt run. You combine all of these factors together and this doesnt come as much of a surprise. One of the animating principles in the Republican Party right now is the hatred of the mainstream News Media. So the more criticism Ron Desantis can get for things like signing an elections restrictions bill, the better it is for him as he eyes both his reelection in 2022 and a possible bid for president in 2021. Politicos Mark Caputo, thank you very much. Coming up, Alesse Stefaniks unwavering support for Donald Trump. In todays Republican Party, that you thats enough for a big promotion. Well show you her evolution, straight ahead on Morning Joe. Straight ahead on Morning Joe. Hey lily, i need a new Wireless Plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. Oh, we can help with that. Okay, imagine this. Your mover, rob, hes on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. We cut to downtown, your Sales Rep Lisa has to send some files, asap so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. Yeah i shouldve just led with that. With at t business. You can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need. How great is it that we get to tell everybody how Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . I mean it. Uhoh, sorry. Oh. What . Im an emu no, buddy only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. My plaque psoriasis. The itching. The burning. The stinging. My skin was no longer mine. My psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen. Painful. Emerge tremfyant™. With tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. Tremfya® is the only medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fiGht Them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a Vaccine Or Plan to. Tremfya®. Emerge tremfyant™. Janssen can help you explore Cost Support options. Just over a year ago, i was drowning in credit card debt. Sofi helped me pay off twentythree thousand dollars of credit card debt. They helped me consolidate all of that into one low monthly payment. They make you feel like its an honor for them to help you out. I went from sleepless nights to getting my money right. So thank you. New projects means new project managers. So thank you. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. Claim your Seventy Five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed. Com home. Hooh. That Spin Class was brutal. Well you can try using the buicks massaging seat. Oohh yeah, thats nice. Can i use Apple Carplay to put some music on . Sure, its wireless. Pick something we all like. Ok. Hold on. Whats your buicks wifi password . buickenvision2021. oh, you should pick something stronger. Thats really predictable. Thats a really tight spot. Dont worry. I used to hate parallel parking. [all together] me too. Hey. You really outdid yourself. Yes, we did. The Allnew Buick envision. An suv built around you. All of you. The voters are speaking loudly and clearly. President trump is the leader and The Voice of the Republican Party. The job of the Conference Chair is to represent the majority of the House Republicans. The vast majority of the House Republicans support President Trump. And they also support his focus on Election Integrity and election security. The job of the conference here is not to attack fellow members of the Conference And Attack President Trump. Its to unify so that our voters know that they can count on us to deliver results and win back the majority and take the gavel away from Nancy Pelosi once and for all. Congresswoman Alesse Stefanik of New York speaking yesterday on sebastian gorkas Radio Show. I question whether she was reading. She also spoke with Steve Banyan for his podcast. She is poised to become the next house republican Conference Chair woman as the majority of her party reunites against Liz Cheney. And with former president Donald Trump. But stephanic was not always a Lock Step Trump supporter. In 2016, she skipped the Gop Convention and refused to mention trumps name when asked if she would vote for him. Later that year, she criticized trump after the release of the Access Hollywood tape. In 2017, she opposed his signature tax cut. In 2018, she disagreed with trumps proposed withdrawal from syria. It wasnt until 2019, during trumps first impeachment that she became one of his most outspoken defenders as the l. A. Times framed it, it was a Head Scratching Specialty shift for those who knew her as a low key moderate. According to 538. Com, while cheney has voted 92. 9 of the time with trump and his position on actual issues, Liz Cheney, 98. 9 voting with trump, stefanik only did so 77. 7 of the time. What more do you need . Coming up, Police Reform, where that combustible issue stands on capitol hill. Next on Morning Joe. Next on Morning Joe. When traders tell us how to make thinkorswim even better, we listen. Like jack. He wanted a streamlined version he could access anywhere, no download necessary. And kim. She wanted to execute a preset Trade Strategy in seconds. So we gave em thinkorswim web. Because platforms this innovative, arent just made for traders theyre made by them. Thinkorswim trading. From td ameritrade. [announcer] meet the Ninja Foodi Air fry oven. Thinkorswim trading. Make familysized meals fast. And because its a ninja foodi, it can do things no other oven can, like flip away. The Ninja Foodi Air fry oven, the oven that crisps and flips away. Magenta . Magenta crying Magenta Announcer the epson ecotank. No more cartridges. Just lots of ink. Print whatever makes you happy. The epson ecotank. Just fill and chill. Obsession has many names, this is ours. The lexus is. All in on the sports sedan. Lease the 2021 is 300 for 369 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. I think the sketchy website i bouGht This turtle from stole all of my info. Ooh, have you looked on the bright side . Discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. giggling thats my turtle. Fraud protection. Discover. Something brighter. Among my patients i often see them have Teeth Sensitivity as well as gum issues. Does it worry me . Absolutely. Sensodyne Sensitivity And Gum gives us a dual Action Effect that really takes care of both our Teeth Sensitivity as well as our gum issues. Theres no question its something that i would recommend. We want to turn now to the latest on the debate over Police Reform. Republican senate Tim Scott says a bipartisan deal is closer than ever. One major point of focus is a compromise on qualified immunity. That is the legal protection given to officers that make it difficult for people to sue them. Democrats have long targeted as a key change required in Police Reform. But our next guest says that isnt the answer to Fixing Policing in america. Joining us now, former member of President Trump Task Force on 21st century policing. Now on Msnbc Law Enforcement analyst, his latest Opinion Piece for the Washington Post is entitled why reforming qualified immunity will never resolve police violence. Thank you for coming back on the show. I guess ill add to that question that is your headline and say why couldnt it be a part of reforming it . Well, it cant be the reform in and of itself, mika. And here is why. Even though there is compelling arguments on both sides of the ale around qualified immunity, certainly the left make a tremendous and compelling argument, but so does the right in someone like myself who has been a former Chief Of Police, who has been a Police Officer do understand it from both sides of the aisle. But here is what ask going to make a dinners. Not qualifying immunity in and of itself. All that allows is for communities and cities to get into litigations around Police Misconduct that is costing them millions and billions of dollars across this country every year. What is going to make the difference, quite frankly, we have to go back and look at how were going to reform police, and we have to acknowledge the fact that police in and of itself cannot be the only source of public safety. We need to find exactly what it is that we want our Police Officers to do. We need to narrow that scope, as i indicated in the article, and we need to train them from that measure and then we need to train others for a more capable and more better trained and equipped to communities that are suffering with a great deal of homelessness, mental illness, etcetera. That creates this dynamic and puts them in the position of taking action in something theyre not trained to do. And then we get into this whole area of civil discourse. So i think its important for us to recognize, as well, mika, that we need to look at who were hire to go be Police Officers today. We have to have the best and the brightest, but that has to mean they must be well trained. They have to be well educated. And they have to have the ability to have great Critical Thinking as part of the process and the work that they do every day and a very complex, in a very diverse community across this country. So we have to train them, we have to make sure we have supervision in place that holds them responsible and you have a healthy Police Department that is going to make sure that the values of that officer and of that Department Lines up with that of that community. Thats how we reduce the likelihood of civil cases that we see so much of. Not just saying qualified noon immunity in and of itself, its not. Theres great arguments on both sides. But in order to fix this, what i am presenting in this article is some solutions to think about from a national level. If they want to do some reform, think about reforms of how you can impact congress on both sides of the aisle thats going to be longterm and its going on be significant to the benefit of communities across this country. That is jiflt just not going to resolve and lets get rid of qualified immunity. No, lets look at how we reform policing for the betterment of the community. Cedric alexander, thank you. The april Jobs Report will be released just moments from now. Were going to check in with Cnbc Business before the bell. Youre watching Morning Joe. B. Youre watching Morning Joe. Incomparable design makes it beautiful. State of the art technology, makes it brilliant. The visionary lexus nx. Lease the 2021 nx 300 for 349 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. In the Romo Household we take things to the max oh yeah honey, you still in bed . Yep bye thats why we love Skechers Max cushioning footwear. Theyve maxed out the cushion for extreme comfort. Its like walking on clouds big, comfy ones oh yeah finding new routes to reach your customers, and new ways for them to reach you. Is what business is all about. Its what the United States Postal Service has always been about. So as your business changes, were changing with it. With ecommerce that runs at the speed of now. Next Day And Twoday shipping nationwide. Same Day Shipping across town. Returns right from the doorstep, and deliveries seven days a week. Its a whole New World out there. Lets not keep it waiting. Before discovering Nexium 24hr its to treat herworld frequent heartburn, marie could only imagine enjoying freshly squeezed orange juice. Now no fruit is forbidden. Nexium 24hr stops acid before It Starts for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . Ive got the brains youve got the looks lets make lots of Money Youve got the brawn ive got the brains lets make lots of uh uh uh oohhh theres a lot of opportunities with allstate, drivers who switched saved over 700. Saving is easy when youre in good hands. Allstate click or call to switch today. Breaking news on the economy, the Labor Department just released the monthly Jobs Report. 266,000 jobs were added in april. Economists expected 1 Million new jobs last month. The Unemployment Rate ticked up to 6. 1 from 6 . Lets talk about this. Whats going on . Lets bring in Nbc News senior Business Correspondent and Msnbc Anchor Stephanie ruhl. What do you make of those numbers . This is a big disappointment and its a big surprise. We were expecting A Million jobs to have come back and we thought we would see Unemployment Dip below 6 probably around 5. 8 . And where its especially surprising is read any newspaper, walk down any main street. Small and big businesses are saying it every day. Theyre struggling to bring workers back. We have an enormous amount of open jobs out there. And one place you can actually see that is wage increases. You saw wages tick up and we also hear that. We talk to businesses every day. Theyre saying they cannot bring people back to work and thats pushing wages higher, which is a positive because, remember, democrats have been trying to get the federal minimum wage pushed up to 15 and they havent been able to do it. But its happening naturally. So its very interesting that were seeing this top line only 266,000 jobs added because i can tell you, last week i personally werent to a Job Fair in atlantic city, nine casinos were there with 1800 open jobs. Only 20 people showed up. And one of the reasons people are talking about is because of these extended unemployment benefits are paying people very well. Bank of america actually calculated it. So anyone who was making last year 32,000 or less, if theyre not working now, theyre making more money staying at home. And thats pushing quite a few people to stay at least three september when these benefits run out and maybe between now and then, were going to see wages push even higher. But across the board, when you look at that number, 266, i guarantee economists, labor specialists are scratching their heads. Nobody thouGht The number would be this low. So, stef, how do we square all the good news that weve been getting on the economy . Just yet yesterday, we hIt Another record low for the pandemic of jobless claims. And also all this money thats been pumped into the economy and into the trillions from the federal government, whats going on here . Its really hard to compute because we do have very, very good data out there. Its one of the reasons were starting to see this inflation pressure. You know, go to the Grocery Store, go to the Hardware Store because of shortages out there and because theres all this money in the system, things are starting to cost more and more. So while its surprising and disappointing to see that number only at 266,000, i guarantee you, you call almost any business out there, theyll say theyre trying to hire people for any shift, every shift, any day. I want to get Cnbcs Dom chu in here for his take on it. What do you make of it . This is one of those things where it is a hugely disappointing number. It shows again there are perhaps many more job openings in america out there going unfilled right now. So people are not adding employment here. You went over the until numbers, that 266,000 number. The Labor Force Participation rate pretty much unchanged, around 61. 7 . Just to give you some context, it was around 63. 4 . So the number of people actually going out there and, working prepandemic was 63. 4 . 61. 7 is where it is right now. Average hourly earnings, we did see a tick higher there indicating some tightness in the Labor Markets, as well. Economists were expecting a slight decline of about. 1 year over year. Instead, it comes in. 3 higher year over year. So, again we are seeing some tightness in these numbers, as well. With regard to where some of the job moves were in terms of gains and losses, were digesting a lot of these here, but manufacturing employment actually edged down about 18,000 jobs following gains in the last two months. We also saw job losses in motor vehicles and parts down 27,000, as well. Professional and business services is something we want to take a look at here. We saw some of those in terms of temporary Help Decline by 111,000 over that span. So thats an interesting move there, as well. The other parts we want to take a look at, again, overall within retail, you can see some of those, retail trade employment, little change down 15,000. So overall, this seems to, again, spin this narrative that there are job openings out there right now, but that there are just not enough people to go and fill them. This is large, small alike, trying to find workers and not being able to do it. This is going to be something that will be interesting to be addressed by those folks over at the White House and the council economic advisers to talk a little bIt About that dynamic and whether or not there are any policies that are going to happen down the line to maybe promote more people to get back into the workforce. Stef, anecdotally, ive heard a lot of the same things youve been talking about this morning, especially among people who run restaurants. They cannot find people to go back to work. And a large part of it, anecdotally, im told, has to do with the benefits that these people have been receiving. So the question is, you cant rescind the benefits. What happens to the Labor Market over the next two to three months if this continues, people simply saying hey, im making more at home than i would go in working for you . People are saying that and we are seeing that. And if youre talking about folks who run restaurants, you should at least expect for the next few months, the husband, the wife, the grandmother, the grandfather, and all the kids to be working at that restaurant at least for the next few months. But when those benefits run out, a lot of businesses will have figured out how to be more productive with less workers and there may be less jobs. The way we structure unemployment is one size fits all. We dont offer partial unemployment. So theres a lot of business thats are trying to reopen and they want to bring part time workers back, but if youre only getting offered 20 hours a week and you get full time unemployment, it doesnt make financial sense. This might spark some industries to change the way they pay workers. Many people left the service last year when all the jobs got wiped out and they went to warehouse jobs. They went to a walmart and Amazon Warehouse where they were making 16 an hour plus benefits to start. A restaurant that is saying were going to pay you 2 Bucks an hour and lets roll the dice and see if you get big tips today. People cant support themselves and support their family on that. So this might, while its uncomfortable right now case this shift to raise the minimum wage or start to change the way we have unemployment benefits or change how were paying people, for example, in the service industry. Just to join the chorus on this, ive talked to restaurant owners and other Small Business owners and say i know everyone is excited the economy is about to reopen again about, but i cant be open five or seven nights a week. I dont have enough people working here. So does this look to you, immediate reactions are flatly stunned by this number. Does this look to you like a blip or the beginning of a slide here . So it depends on many of the things that you guys have been speaking about trend wise. What needs to happen is you need to see more people able to or wanting to come back to work. And a lot of that could be related to pay policies, minimum wage levels, living wage levels, that sort of thing. But to the conversation about what is happening with, like you said, the restaurants and Leisure Side of things, its such a key focus because it was probably the hardest hit during the pandemic. Just to put some of the numbers from the bureau of labor statistics around the conversation you guys are having. It is right now the Leisure And Hospitality sector driving the most of this. 331,000 jobs, again, increasing in the Leisure And Hospitality business. More than half of the increase was in food services and drinking places. Job gains occurred in amusements, gambling and recreation, plus 73,000 there and hotel accommodations plus 54,000. But here is the rub, though. It says although Leisure And Hospitality added 5. 4 million jobs over the year, employment in the industry is still down by 2. 8 million or nearly 17 since February Of 2020 prior to pandemic. So if you talk about and by the way, these are at leefls for many parts of the country in major metro areas where there are still dining restrictions in place. Many of those dont get lifted, at least not in the New York area, until the middle of this month here. In connecticut where i live, its going up on may 19th. At that point when you start to have more of the 50 goes to A Hundred percent capacity, then do you start seeing any more of a need for those workers to come back . Thats going to be the real issue here because were hearing those anecdotes. To mikes point, the anecdotes about long lines, people wanting to get served because they want to go to restaurants. So when these things go full without restrictions, thats going to be the real tell. Thats going to happen the next two months. So well probably see the Lag Effect in the next two to three Jobs Reports. Cnbcs dom chu. Thank you. And stephanie ruhl, thank you, as well. President biden will be making remarks about the april Jobs Report from the White House at 11 30 eastern time this morning. So we certainly will be carrying that here on msnbc. We turn now to the week long Conversation Weve been having with Pulitzer Prize winning Author Annette gordon reed for her new book on juneteenth. Also joining us, David Blight and Mike Barnacle is still with us. So how history shapes the historian. Here is what you write in the book about being a black texan and a historian, quote, thinking of past events and people who lived long ago and observing the process of change over time satisfies my deep interest in the past on its own terms. I dont feel hostage to others conceptions of what texas should mean to me. Or accept that texas belongs to exclusively to any group of people who lived or live there. Being a black person and a texan then are not in opposition. You also write about integrating a Town School in texas. After everything that had happened. And in some ways, i am so fascinated by your story and the story of other young black children growing up in texas and going in to integrated schools. But in some ways, its such an invalidating experience because its not talking about what has been happening riGht There. Well, it was a stressful time. This was ten years after brown and they were still resisting. And to go into an allwhite school from having been in kindergarten and the black school because quite a thing. I was prepared for it. It was something that i i knew it was important. People talk about it. I would just go to school. And i did it normally. But it was, i understand now, an amazing time. I sort of wonder about the little girls that did that. But this was the 60s and everybody felt black people were on the move and it was the thing to do. David blight, the value of that is sort of a shared sense of not being alone. Well, indeed. Thank you, mika. Hello, annette. Ive only had your book 24 hours and i cant put it down. Thank you. What a nice thing to say. Here is what i really want to ask you. As you well know, historians dont often turn to auto biography. Im not saying this is a complete Auto Biogrophy by any means. But it is an i pronoun. The best auto biographies come from those people who live a tofrom lifetime. From there to here. How did you turn to autobiography here and why . And if Theres Something about texas and new england and New York that just compelled you to do it. Well, you know, i think ive had an interesting story. I write about other peoples lives. I spent forever talking about the jeffersons and randolphs and i just decided that this is a kind of writing i wanted to do. I grew up thinking i wanted to be a writer. I didnt grow up thinking i was going the be specifically a historian or a professor. I wanted to be a writer. And this is the kind of James Baldwin was my hero, remains my hero. This is the kind of writing i always imagined when i was a teenager that i would be doing. So as i you know, i started taking piano lessons again last year. I guess this is something in my old age that im trying to recapture my youth or something. But this is the kind of writing i thought i would be doing and this was an occasion. We were in the middle of a pandemic. I was thinking about my family, thinking about my parents, people who were no longer with me as we were going through this very stressful time here in manhattan. And it did seem the moment to try it, to give It A shot. And it brought back memories of the kind of writing i did as a kid, as a teenager and as a young person. So im returning to my roots in a way. Annette, you write in your book and this would be an interesting question for david, as well, about how we talk about historical figures and the perils of admiring them. People want the individuals from the past they admire to be right on the question of race, no matter how wrong they actually were. So that admiring such people poses no problem. Not many of them were right on the question of race which at a minimum requires believing in the equal humanity of africanamericans. What does this mean for black texans, thinking of the texas of the past . You could apply this to so many historical figures, flawed men, flawed women, and its come up and bubbled up in this conversation about statues, even, in the last couple of years. Well, its difficult to think about how you relate to that. Young people at colleges all over the country now are beginning to ask these questions. Once you integrate places, once you have different types of people coming into institutions, do they remain the same . Do they admire the same things . Do they present themselves in the same way . And the difficulty is, i think people didnt think about this is that once you have new people coming in, theyre going to have new ideas about what is you know, what is acceptable. They want to see themselves in the stories that are presented on campus, either visually or in books and so forth. So its going to be the idea of being more inclusive. And i know thats a term that some people see as a pejorative. I dont. But the idea of bringing different perspectives in will naturally come as you have more people involved in the mix. So this is a difficult process of sorting all of this stuff out. We have hundreds of years of history that have brought us to this particular point and it is a moment of reflection. And there is nothing its going to be a difficult conversations, but Theres Nothing wrong with that. Im sure david agrees with that, right . Yeah, david, whats your view on that . Our friend Jon Meacham talks about not writing or thinking about historical figures as sort of these mayorbled busts, but as layered men and women of history. Its what makes great historical figures interesting. The more human they are, the more interesting they are. You know, i grew up in a with a sense of place, too. Flint, michigan, which is a far cry from conroe, texas, i can tell you. But theres a good deal in this book about history, myth and that horrible world called revisionism. But, yeah, we are drawn to figures that are alternatives to the old great Man Theory of history. I came of age as a high School Teacher in the 1970s when we were inventing courses on black history whether we where i firs interested in frederick douglass. And a whole world opened up. Over my lifetime of studying douglass, i came to realize, yes, he was a great man in 100 ways, but a fascinated, flawed human being. All humans are sometimes say. But its part of this whole mixture of separating what we like to call history from what is mythology, and my god, you havent went to William Travis Jr. High school, at least he went to junior american high school for poets so there wasnt any politics. Lowell and whittier, didnt know of any. But we are about the jeffersons and hemingways and so on and some of the other figures, be we are about revealing these figures in history through biography or through social history in all of their humanity. Thats what history is supposed to do. Those who just still insist on a Progress Narrative rooted in greatness are in for a new story. Always have been. No, i mean, this is about us. Its how we respond to these things. The people were who they were. Historians tried to bring those people to the floor and its up to audiences and americans, particularly if youre talking about uighurs in history. To be mature enough to understand you take the good with the bad. Sometimes the bad is good enough you cant stand it, but for the most part, we are talking about human beings and for the most part they have something of value to offer us. The book is on juneteenth and that includes your morning residency. David, thank you and congratulations for the book and thank you for the terrific qualifications this week. Coming up many americans have faced mental health issues like Anxiety And Depression as the Coronavirus Pandemic dragged on. Up next were taking a look at some of the women making a difference in that area, a big difference. Before we go to break, willie, what have you have planned for Sunday Today . Coming up on Sunday Today this weekend, my best is michael b. Jordan, one of the biggest stars in all of hollywood. Great conversation. Hes playing a new Tom Clancy Character in a great movie without Remorse And Talk with the black Panther Chadwick Boseman and, yes, his title of sexiest man alive. Michael b. Jordan on Sunday Today. Be right back on Morning Joe. Ooo. You gonna eat that at lesliepalooza . What . Whos coming to that . Everyones coming, everybody. You, her, me, all of us. Brushing only reaches everyones coming, everybody. 25 of your mouth. Listerine® cleans virtually 100 . Helping to prevent Gum Disease and bad breath. Never settle for 25 . Always go for 100. Bring out the bold™ my nunormal . Fewer asthma attacks with nucala. A oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Nucala reduces eosinophils, a key cause of severe asthma. Nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, Tongue Or Trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, Injection Site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Ask your doctor about nucala. Find your nunormal with nucala. Ive talked to teachers across this country and one thing the educators say to me, jill, we need more help with mental health. Its a big problem. And after this pandemic, its going to be even greater. Shes right. Dr. Jill biden over one year ago correctly predicting the effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on americans mental health. A recent poll from The American psychiatric association shows more people reporting mental health effects from this pandemic this year than last year, but its more than just the pandemic, its the importance of our mental health all the time. Its always been a critical issue that is coming out into the forefront of a mainstream medical issue. In fact, more than 50 will be diagnosed with a mental Illness Or Disorder at some point in their lifetime, which is why its important to honor the trailblazers in the mental health field. As part of our 50 over 50 series, were looking at a few women all over the age of 50 who are leading the way. Lets bring in chief content officers of forbes media and editor of forbes randall lane. I love this list because each name on it should be at the top. All very different contributions to this field, but lets start with ceci morken, shes 63 years old and ceo of headspace, something i know well. Right. Headspace, she only started there she started there in early 2020, so that was an incredible time to start. She started at coo, exactly when the pandemic started. Its a meditation app. All of a sudden downloads doubled. She was faced with a lot of challenges so she responded. She made it free for first responders and free for the unemployed. Companies are using it to help their stayathome workers and now they have 695 Million users in 190 countries. Shes been promoted to ceo and founders gave her the key to the car basically because of the job shes done over this last year. If anyone doesnt know what headspace is or doesnt know what mindfulness is, download the app and start riGht There. Second on the list, dr. Beverly daniel tatum. Shes 66. I love these women, theyre well over 50. Well over 50. And theyre just making a huge impact, making waves, wielding power. Shes the President Emeritus of spelman college. Shes also a psychologist. Tell us about her. Incredible career and now shes having a renaissance. She wrote a very, very influential, important book, why are all of the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria . Very influential and talking about race relations. All of a sudden shes over 50 and has a big seller again. 23 later hits the bestseller list. Shes very, very influential in the idea for us to move beyond talking about race and racism. We have to talk about it. And shes really leading that discussion. Then weve got dr. Marsha linehan. Shes 78 and shes the developer and found esh of dialectal behavioral therapy. Something i write a lot about on the know your Value Website and i talk a lot about on the air. It is now being seed as widely useful for all types of behavioral issues and mental health issues. Its focused on mindfulness, effective implementation of interperson skills, think washington now, Stress Tolerance and emotion regulation. It sounds so basic, and its because it is. What she created could actually change the world. Thats right. And it is. The key word is empathy. And she brought empathy that was treated that was looked down upon. She said if we accept what provides us distress rather than trying to change it, we can change the individual. That way she changed psychology and now its used for disorders and substance abuse. Shes really changed the entire field and in doing so changing the world. It fascinating to see whats happening. Next week we will be hosting two of one of her greatest followers. They are the doctors on the forefront of dbt at the mcclain hospital, Blazia Geary and jillian galin. They have a book at now, dbt for dummies. What it is is taking that treatment that used to be so focused and now offering it to all so families can really get the help that they need. The unsung hero is dr. Samantha metzger brody. Shes 52. Shes the distinguished Professor And Chair of the department of psychiatry at the university of North Carolina at chapel hill. Forbes randall lane, thank you very much. We cant wait for the big list to be revealed. Go to knowyourvalue. Com or forbes. Com and click on 50 over 50. That does it for us this morning. Stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. Hi, there, im Stephanie Ruhle live at Msnbc Headquarters here in new York City. It is friday, May 7th and we start with breaking news on the economic front. The April Jobs number is in. 266,000 jobs added last month, a hugely disappointing number. Weve been expecting A Million or more. The Unemployment Rate actually ticked up slightly to 6. 1 . Ive got to go straiGht To the White House and bring Peter Alexander in, along with the chairman of the council of economic