And theyre still going to the Feed Stores and getting ivermectin. Can you believe that joe rogan, Eating Dewormers for cows. Yeah. Joe rogan who contracted covid and attributed his recovery to ivermectin. Did he do that . Yeah. He said he got better because he ate cattle dewormer. He said he ateivermectin, yes. So he attributed his recovery to that. But to your point, a guy like jim justice, a republican in the state of West Virginia, a guy like nick saban, these are not the elites that people who wont get the vaccine have been tauGht To distrust. So its not the media, its not dr. Fauci, its not a democrat. These are people they trust in their lives saying clearly and by The Way, Mitch Mcconnell did again yesterday, too, go get the vaccine. He said these Conspiracy Theories out there, he said are insane, go protect yourself and your family and our Community And State and lets get through this. And it does come from, you know, Tommy Tubberville in alabama. Nick saban in alabama. Got the Head Football Coach of Ole Miss, lane kiffin, the entire team is vaccinated. As you know in mississippi and alabama, these Football Coaches hold a special place in popular culture. So the resistance, the lies of what theyre saying on facebook every day, just overwhelming. Right. Absolutely. Were not talking about t cells, Herd Immunity, were not talking about science or Common Sense. Nobody is tracking you. If youre worried about that, why are you walking around with your phone. If you dont like needles, stop with the tattoos. Cutting to the chase. We talk about texas, florida. My Home State of mississippi is getting hit. Tate reeves, devastating, we have children dying, schools closing. We need to listen, we need to find some Common Sense in all this. Well be talking more about this. Also with us, Host And Executive producer of showtimes the circu, John Heileman. By The Way, for the record, John Heileman was taking Cattle Deworming products long before it was en vogue. You see what happened to him. Long before. This should tell you everything you need to know. You guys are giving rogan a hard time, and i have to say back when i had covid, You Guys both youre familiar with the great state of maine what i learned in maine this summer is that lobster food, Lobster Glue it turns out, in mass quantities cures your covid but it gives you 100 immunity, so im up to the eyes with lobster droppings. I dont want to say more. Is that what you were told . Does it also cure thats what i learned in many maine, yeah. Good to know. There are different things. Dont give rogan a hard time. You go to a different part of maine than we do. Thats certainly true. We love you, heileman. Big news. We have big news. Or should i say the Wall Street Journal has big news. Taliban leaders will reportedly allow close to 200 americans and other foreign citizens to fly out of the Country Today. Officials tell the Wall Street Journal the group will be flown to qatar before relocating elsewhere. This marks the first departure of u. S. Citizens since the Military Mission in afghanistan officially ended on August 31st. Its unclear if these americans are among those who were stranded on charter flights earlier this week. Joe, again, a little bit more work on the biden administration, on the part of working to get people out of afghanistan beyond the deadline, and i think its important to note, no matter what you think about the decision to leave, that the president was warning people for quite some time, i believe since last april. Yeah. Since april. It was one warning after another warning after another warning. There was a story in Nbc News about a guy who was a contractor, kept being warned to leave and just his family tried to get him out of there, he said ill just stay here, im fine. Sort of a Fixit Sort of guy, and hes a hostage over there right now. But there are americans who getting out now willie, but you look at these 200 americans, and lets hope there are a lot more. You look at the 120,000 or so that people weve already air lifted out of there. The extraordinary bravery of our Men And Women In Uniform and american officials and our allies that have allowed this to happen. And ill tell you what, the further we get away from the chaos of that first day, the more people are looking at sort of more of a global view of whats happened there and said, wait a second, american troops and this country doing some pretty extraordinary things there. So matthew van dyke, who is the hes the founder of sons of liberty international, a veteran, talks about when he was a prisoner in syria. He actually tweeted this a day or two ago. I initially criticized biden for afghanistan comparing it to the fall of saigon. He writes, he proved me wrong. The past few weeks rescuing 120,000 in kabul was incredible and historic. The use of Carrot And Stick on the taliban was extraordinary. This story is still being written we dont know how its going to end up right now. But the people who have been whooping it up on twitter, and again ive been very critical of us leaving afghanistan. The people whooping it up on twitter saying this is the worst thing thats ever happened and drawing parallels with saigon have missed the mark. The numbers arent close. Obviously, 13 american service members were killed, a lot of people think the evacuations could have started sooner to avoid the chaos that led to the death of the service members. Whats interesting from this number from the journal this morning, were told theres 100 to 200 americans left in the country. So where does that leave us, if there are 200 american passport holders, i think this includes some foreigners also who have passports to get out of the country. So i dont think its all americans. But this would represent, a large chunk of The Americans remaining in the country who want to leave the Country And Show at least in this case the taliban, that the american government has been forced into a relationship now with to trust them to get people out, at least in this one case is upholding its end of the bargain here. You have to look at qatar and what theyve been doing. I think were talking to the Foreign Ministry this week or next week about what qatar is doing, being a gobetween between the united states and also the taliban. But, eddie, the great tragedy, as willie said, the 13 american service Men And Women who died there, just true heroes who understood, understood because the warnings were going, we were hearing the warnings about isis coming in and they knew that, man, they were in danger. And they were still talking about how they love their job. They were still risking their lives and its just so tragic. And yet, what they have done, along with our other military Men And Women and other officials, again, Freed 120, 130,000 people, saved Tens Of Thousands of lives. One of the greatest humanitarian missions that weve done. And i think we can all concede that. No matter your position with regards to afghanistan. We should be able to. We should be able to. And yet, a lot of people who are on twitter and have oped pieces are still looking back to the first day and ignoring everything our Men And Women In Uniform have done since then. Absolutely. It seems like were in a moment where everyone is trying to make political hay of everything. Everything. No matter what it is. I think even as we laud these 200 folk coming out. We have to be mindful of all the afghans who helped us while we were there. We have to raise questions and concerns about their safety but we can marvel at this achievement. We can. You look at the achieves over the past week, past two weeks, John Heileman, and, you know, i think we got maybe we got 7,000 people out of saigon, were at 125,000, lets hope we get up to 140,000 or so, 150,000 or so people. And it is its just been an extraordinary achievement that i think sometimes we as a country were so caught up in the political Back And Forth, that sometimes we just we cant see the forest for the trees. This is this is pretty incredible. Again, i say this as somebody who has been against the withdrawal of afghanistan since Donald Trump was trying to bring the taliban to camp david. Right. Yeah. Look, joe, i think the thing with you and the thing that we all, at various times, that took our eye off the ball on, which the administration never took its eye off the ball, was the macro existential, the fundamental choice, is this war over or not . Are we going to get out . Are we going to accept the fact that we lost this war and end it now . The administration was always with the vast majority of the american public on that, where Donald Trump was as you said a second ago, and theres a position that says we should have tried to make this into North And South korea, make it into germany, have a small set of troops there to try to stabilize the region there, et cetera, et cetera. Respectable point of view, i know its your point of view, but its not where the american people are. In the end we were going to come back to that, 70, 75 of the american people wanted to end the war, wanted to end it now. I think the administration had that long view throughout. I think there are two large questions that carry forward from there. One is the questioned eddie raised, i think there will be questions going on for a long time, not how the evacuation was run because that i agree with you and history will say this was an incredibly successful operation to get the all The Americans, almost all The Americans out safely. Again, we know about the ones who died in the Car Bomb and some still left behind but the vast majority of americans are out. But theres the question what about the afghan allies, the moral obligation that america had to those people who fought alongside americans and tried to help americans the last 20 years. What happens to them . And then the other long term question, which is does afghanistan now become a e are a renewed center for Terrorist Activity. Will it become that again . If it becomes that again, there will be questions raised about whether we should have kept a small force there to keep that from happening. But those are questions for another day. You are so right, something i acknowledged, i understand by wanting to keep people in afghanistan, keeping american troops in afghanistan, that im in the minority. I know 75 of americans agree with what Joe Biden has done here in getting americans out. And i do understand the logic of, hey, youre either in or youre out. And if you keep a small force there what youre doing is youre just prolonging a presence there. 75 of americans wanted our troops out. I will say, i want to be clear with everybody, im not interested in keeping american troops in places like afghanistan to rebuild countries. Weve learned over the past 20 years that doesnt work. I want american troops there to intimidate and kill bad people and i want us to be able to strike out. Whether its in syria, going after isis like we did, or whether its in afghanistan going after isis. Thats my point. But again, im in the minority here. And i certainly boy, i respect people who say enough is enough is enough. But, willie, i think we confirmed it . Yes. Nbc news confirmed this. Raf sanchez tells us two sources familiar with the matter will take a flight, 200 americans and other nationalities to leave from kabul to doha today. This is happening. As the biden administration manages the end of the war in afghanistan, its now also managing the resurgence of covid at home. Today the president will lay out what it says is a new plan to attack the spread of covid19. President biden will deliver a speech this evening expected to urge private businesses, schools and federal agencies to institute stricter Vaccine Mandates, the White House will announce six areas of focus, vaccinating the unvaccinated. Furthering protection for the vaccinated. Keeping schools open. Increasing testing and requiring masking. Protecting our economic recovery. And improving care for those with covid19. Lets spring in shannon pettypiece. It speaks to the gravity of the problem and the fact that covid is back with us in a big way that the president feels he need thes to make a major address to the Country Today to layout a new plan. And reset the strategy to some extent. Through the summer so much of the Strategy And Focus was on vaccinations, getting as many people vaccinated as possible. The idea was we could vaccinate our way out of the pandemic and that was the only way out of the pandemic. Now as you see from the bullet points, the white House Official has put out, youre seeing them broaden that a bit. Not only, of course, is there still going to be an emphasis on vaccines, but there is an acknowledgement even with vaccines we are seeing Breakthrough Infections we are seeing the people vaccinated, hospitalized increasing, not an enormous amount but you are seeing an Up Tick in people vaccinated. Of course, we are still months away potentially from children under 12 being vaccinated. And were likely weeks away from having a booster cleared by the fda for the moderna vaccine. In the interim there is an acknowledgement that there is more that has to be done. Thats why well hear the President Talking about things like an emphasis on how to keep schools open safely. Weve seen hundreds of schools closed already and were barely passed labor day, theres Tens Of Thousands of students and teachers and staff in quarantine. So part of the School Plan im told is going to talk about increasing testing, encourage schools to use some of the funds from the covid Relief Bill for rapid testing, to try to find those asymptomatic cases. Talk about things like ventilation in schools. You also saw on that list, better treatments for people who are ill so trying to increase use of antibodies, trying to find what are some of the tools and things and various levers that the federal government has that they cannot only deploy but really encourage and get out publicly and push companies and local governments to do like Vaccine Mandates and other things were expecting to hear about today. Let me ask you about the mandate. We heard the president doesnt have the power to issue a federal mandate. What more can the president say . What pressure for mandates maybe on Air Travel and other places like that . You mentioned Air Travel. Thats The Big One out there that medical experts have said the federal government probably has some legal authority to main mandate. I dont have reporting thats coming today. Thats on the table. Other otherwise what the federal government can do with mandate, its chipping around the edges. Where the big effect for mandates is going to come is local levels. The Los Angeles School board is going to discuss a Vaccine Mandate for students and staff there. You have colleges put mandates, more employers putting mandates. And one Thing Experts can do is say to those institutions we have your back. If youre a big company and put a mandate in place, the federal government will support you if its challenged. Same thing to state and local governments. They can endorse it. There may be a few areas they can strengthen mandates at the federal level. Well see at 5 00 eastern time when the president makes that speech. So Pediatric Covid cases are surging to record highs as millions of students across the Country Return to the classrooms this week. The most recent data from the American Academy Of Pediatrics shows weekly Pediatric Covid cases have surpassed 250,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic. About one in four new coronavirus cases are now in children. Boy, thats really different from the first wave, isnt it . Put them back to school with the Delta Variant and there you go, especially in florida without masks. Nbc News Correspondent Kerry sanders has more. Reporter the return to the classroom potentially dangerous with a quarter of all new covid cases now children. And with families at odds over how to keep their kids safe. The battle over masks still raging with a judge ruling florida must stop enforcing mask bans. A major blow to republican governor Ron Desantis. We see dictator like behavior is what hes doing. Reporter in miami a warning from the Schools Superintendent after three teachers and ten other School Employees died from covid since school began. All of them unvaccinated. The narrative about mandatory Mask Policies or the elimination of those have been absolutely political in nature. And that, quite frankly, as an educator, as a father, it bothers me, because children should not be political pawns in this political chess game. And we need to get past that. Reporter in just a week, nationwide, nearly 252,000 kids testing positive for covid. Like 11yearold levi, four days in an austin texas hospital. There was some fear and dark thoughts that crept in, but thankfully he started to get better quickly once he was in the hospital. Reporter serious Illness And Death is rare among children. But parents jeff and katy felt helpless. As his temperature spiked to 103. He was on high flow oxygen. Levi, too young to get vaccinated. Its past time for people to take the virus seriously. Its affecting our kids now. And i have a lot of big feelings about it all. Reporter katie who was vaccinated now quarantined from the rest of the family with a break through case. Breakthrough infections happen. Theyre rare but they happen. Its more likely to happen when you have an unvaccinated household member, in this case a child who cant be vaccinated. You look at the numbers and its so frightening. You see whats happening with children in schools. John heileman, starting to see numbers move much more on Vaccine Mandates on allowing schools to mask people, possibly Vaccine Mandates for planes, you certainly would want it for teachers, we see the tragedy in florida, the teachers and members of School Districts dying unvaccinated. But teachers going into the classroom, school workers going into the classroom, unvaccinated, put Children At Risk who cant get the vaccine. Right. And i think, joe, you know what you and i and mika, as weve been talking about this the last couple of months what weve been seeing is how the Delta Variant has very visibly raised the price of stupid, right. And because its raised the price of stupid and weve been able to see the consequences of entrenched stupidity both in the Vaccine Resistance movements of various kinds in the Horse Glue and lobster meal, my joke earlier, for people doing crazy things to helps that are contrary to science. And the price of that has gone up. And concurrently with that is weve now started to see, as the price of stupid has gone up, what the political fallout of that is. And for a while, we watched as people like Ron Desantis were able to, in some ways, defy gravity as the cost of stupid were borne by many floridans and the stupid politics that went along with that, seem to be allow desantis to maintain a certain kind of political stability in a weird way, given the strength of this the endurance of the stupidity of the stupid caucus. Now as the cost of stupid has risen and weve turned the corner on the numbers moved on mandates and people finally getting to the point where the Tipping Point has reached saying we cant go on this way, that has had an impact as you see it on Governor Desantis numbers on other politicians who rode the stupid wave. And the time is running out. You can see it across the board in a lot of political research across the country for governors who had, for a long time, benefitted from being in that place. Its become untenable and i think well see the Corner Turn in a dramatic way across the board in a lot of data we see. The cost of stupid, also, it goes up for politicians. And you see people moving towards vaccines as it gets more personal. I think one of the more telling numbers is the fact that 90 of Senior Citizens yeah. People who a disproportionate share of people who spend time on facebook or who watch certain people who spread disinformation, nine out of ten seniors, despite all the stupid that they ingest every day from these stupid conspiracy websites, theyre vaccinated. Yeah. Why . Because they know. Its one thing to run around barking about, you know, and complaining about this, dr. Fauci this, dr. Fauci that. If youre a senior citizen, nine out of ten go, wait a second. Im going to die if i dont take this. So theyre taking it. Were seeing it, as john said, the cost of swallowing the Conspiracy Theory Whole is adding up. Its people you know, its a community, a neighbor, child, as it shuts down your Childs School they understand that. But this political fight in the middle of a pandemic has led people to defend things like ivermectin, which is used by humans just not for covid. Its used to treat head lice. Otherwise its used in livestock to deworm. The Cdc And Fda said if you take this in large quantities it hurts your body but because we take this out, its a political fight. Now i have to jump into a corner and defend the horse deworming drug. Where you work at princeton theres a Vaccine Mandate if you want to step On Campus. And not alone. Lsu and other places are doing that. What has been the reaction to that . I know youre just back in school. Was there push back . Whats it like On Campus. For the most part, people think its reasonable. We are mandaing to take tests every week. So the Testing Regime is robust. Folks have to wear masks in buildings. Youre still uncomfortable, i have a class of 130 students, and theyre all around and theyre all masked in class but were trying to make our way through. Were delighted to be back On Campus together. Whats interesting, i was thinking about this. You would think when we see our kids in Hospital Beds Intubated that would have an impact. But then i think about sandy hook. You would think, we would probably have reasonable Gun Control laws after that, right . Right. But here our kids are in danger and we have folk still out here making these arguments and making those statements. I think of what dr. Osterholm said a few weeks ago, its science, dont play the numbers game. If you dont get the vaccine, the virus will find you. So theres your choice. It will find you. And it really is the delta is incredibly contagious, it will find you. Like John Calipari said, it may still find you if you get the vaccine but you get through it okay. Exactly. Good point. I got breaking News Alert from new York Post Last Night, looked at it, and they talked about the new 99 . And the new 99 are the people who are dying from Covid Are who are having serious complications from covid. And the new 99 are the people who arent vaccinated. This isnt hard at all. For people, you sit there and for a second when youre talking about the students having masks. Youre saying, man, what a pain that must be. And then i thought about all of our children and all of our childrens friends, who last year were at home and they were missing middle school, missing high school, they were missing college, their first year of college. Again, this is what weve been preaching for so long now which is this is this isnt some woke movement. This is, for me science. About saving small business. This is for me about helping entrepreneurs like Grow Jobs in communities. For me its about getting our kids back in school. For me its about worrying about childrens mental health, which was savaged last year because they had to stay home. We have a choice now. Yes. And its also for me about saving lives, saving our childrens lives, saving our seniors lives. Theres nothing woke about this. This is about getting us all back. Yeah. Folks are talking about woke, you know, talking about wokeness in this context, thats just a red herring. Right. Thats all that is. When i see my students and see those freshmen and their eyes are dancing, even behind a mask, when i see them walking outside and they have these broad smiles and you hear the chatter. Yesterday im teaching The Souls Of Black Folk and i have all these students and i want to come from behind the podium and get close to them, but I Cant, and i tell them that, i said one of the things we lost in covid is a sense of intimacy, touch, but were here. Were here. We have to think we know we have to figure out how to do this thing differently, post covid. But we have to be smart. We have to stop being stupid. Speaking of being stupid, i went to princeton, i dont know if you know that. You did . Yeah. Passing through on the turnpike . I bought a tshirt and the Security Guy said were going to have to ask you to leave, joe, or we have to cuff you to the Radar Id like a princeton tshirt. Sweatshirt. Yes. How great would it be to take an eddie class. Yes. And John Heileman was joking about eating lobster guano. Its a joke. Its a joke. Its a joke. I think we clarified that. Still ahead on Morning Joe, white House Press Secretary Jen Psaki joins us ahead of the president s remarks on tackling covid. Plus Senate Majority leader, Chuck Schumer is brushing off Joe Manchins demand to pause on a 3. 5 trillion economic package. And the largest remaining confederate statue in america gets taken down. It marks a victory for civil rights activists, but some like former President Trump are criticizing the move. Also ahead at least five lawsuits have been filed against a new Voting Bill signed into law by texas this week, including one from the naacp. Well speak to the head of that organization, Derrick Johnson, next on Morning Joe. Son, next on Morning Joe. Welcome to allstate. Where you can pay a little less and enjoy the ride a little more. Now, get new lower Auto Rates with allstate. Because better protection costs a whole lot less. Youre in good hands with allstate. Click or call for a lower Auto Rate today. Psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful. Tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. Some patients even felt less fatigued. 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. vo this is a place for ambition. Tremfya®. Emerge tremfyant™. A forge of progress. A unicorn in training. A corner to build a legacy. A vision for tomorrow. A fresh start. A blank canvas. A second act. A renewed company culture. A temple for ideas. And a place to make your mark. Loopnet. The most popular place to find a space. The Dove Beauty Bar makes my skin feel fresh. Ive encouraged serena my Best Friend to switch. Feels moisturized and clean. My friend stefanie, her skin was dry. Im like girl you better get you some dove. She hooked me up. With a quarter moisturising cream, Dove Cleans effectively and cares beautifully. The texas law, it does make it easier than ever before for anybody to go cast a ballot. It does also, however, make sure it is harder for people to cheat at the Ballot Box in texas. Now lets make this final. Election integrity is now law in the state of texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on tuesday, signing into law a new Voting Bill. Im curious, so i guess theres a lot of cheating in texas . John heileman, i didnt follow it closely. Lets check the numbers here. In my job i dont have to follow politics or news closely maybe you can help me. Thats why we have you here. Theres a lot of cheating i guess in texas. Do they do this Election Integrity law where he goes, and now you Cant Cheat in texas. So how many arrests were there in texas, big state, what were there, 20, 30, 50, 200 people arrested for cheating. Let me check my notes. Yeah, that number is zero, joe. Zero. What about georgia, because georgia talked about Election Integrity, Georgia Big state also, 1,000, 2,000 people, they obviously had a problem or they wouldnt have had to pass a law. How many people arrested there . I believe that number is also zero. There may be one. One or two who voted, who committed Election Fraud on Donald Trumps side. But the number is fewer than three. Isnt that something. Joining us now Derrick Johnson the President And Ceo Of Naacp whose Texas Chapter filed suit against that states new Voting Law the day it was signed. Derrick, i dont get it. Cleanest elections ever run, Donald Trumps own Security Guy said, and more people coming out to vote, no fraud, widespread Voter Fraud in texas or georgia and yet theyre still passing laws and claiming that theyve now made a good situation great. This is people who are scared of democracy. You know, when you have true democracy as a representative of all the citizens of the state. So the legal Defense Fund filed the lawsuit, many others filed the lawsuit, but this is something im familiar with and youre familiar with, joe. Youre from alabama im from mississippi. Weve seen the demographics shifting and the people who had power are shifting. This is not 1950s, its 2021. And yet were seeing it in every state. Its almost its just reflective, its in florida, georgia, arizona, where all these republican legislatures are, and they keep making fools of themselves. Look at whats going on in arizona. Its the outcome of having four years of someone in office who was able to able white Supremist Dogma dictate the policy. Individuals like you who recognize the republican party is the party of ideals and concepts and build on a platform thats more inclusive, not a party to reemerge white Supremist Behavior that should not be a part of our system. This is built on a fallacy, of course. The foundation is there were problems with the 2020 election, the election was stolen from Donald Trump and now all of this is a legislative nod to Conspiracy Theories signed by the governor. So as you look at it, what does it do to voters of color that youve been focused on and worried about . It limits access to the voting box, limits mailin balloting, it does everything necessary to win elections by inches. Elections are not about thousands of people when its about a few People Poll by poll. We have a Leadership Program we product called redemption, and it talks about the elections of 1875 and much of what is taking place now, if you read this book, some of the misinformation we read in the book is being repeated if you look at what took place in 1960, whether its in South Carolina or georgia, its the same thing revisited. We have to look towards a future. Stop allowing issues of the past keep reemerging. Its not a southern problem, its a national problem now and thats unfortunate. Eddie jump in. Good to see you. You have the suits that are taking place, moving through the courts, you have grass roots activism, your organization, the poor peoples campaign, national action network. With what should the democratic party be doing . We hear talk but what should we be seeing as we sign Governor Abbott and other states trying to restrict Voting Rights for not only black and brown but poor people, disabled and the like, what should we expect . You cannot out organization voter suppression. The house have done their job, theres a bill in front of the senate. There should not be a question about a procedural rule, this is the substance of outcome, protecting the riGht To vote and protecting the constitution. So democrats, republicans, anyone who loves the country needs to address the question in front of the senate. How do we pass legislation to allow for federal oversight in support for citizens to cast an effective ballot. President johnson, the John Lewis bill, which the Roberts Court said, you need to pass this, you need to update this. So theyve done it now in the house, hr4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill. And every republicans opposing it or most republicans are opposing it, you think how much things have changed in 2006 when the civil Rights Bill was reauthorized, overwhelming number of republicans supported it. 98 to nothing. Senator lott, who wasnt friends of the civil rights voted for the bill. I was in the senate when it happened and watched it. At the end of the day, if republicans cannot muster 10 votes to support a commission to investigate an insurrection, we should not expect them to support Voting Rights. But we must demand that democrats ensure that americans are allowed to cast an effective ballot so the proceed, rule conversation, and lets look at John Lewis Act plus those things that reverse what weve seen in the last three months in state legislative bodies across the country. 2006, again, the reauthorization, 98 to nothing, it passes 98 to nothing now you cant find a republican who supports it. Its unfortunate. The question is, Will Political Party dictate the rights under our constitution or will the rights under our constitution allow for political parties to invest in ideals to expand . What were seeing with the republican party now, they are unable to attract new members to the party because they are myopic with what they think should take place. This is not 1940, this is 2021. If the political party is to grow, it needs to attract people. I have a friend in mississippi who used to be an active black republican, it got so bad, he said I Cant stand the white supremacy within the party, he quit the party. Thats unfortunate. Thank you for being on this morning. We appreciate it. Coming up, former President Trump grows nostalgic for the days of The Civil War . Well explain next on Morning Joe. 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. struggling Vehicle Sounds think Premium Cant be capable . Think again. energetic music introducing the first ever at4 lineup. Premium and capable. Thats professional grade from gmc. I just heard something amazing now for the first time one medication was approved to treat and prevent migraines. Dont take if allergic to nurtec. 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Yoyou Ght T beurprpris all right. It had tow erred over richmond, virginia for more than a Decade But Yesterday the city brought down a statue of robert e. Lee. Shaquille bruster reports. Reporter tonight a site not seen in more than a century. The large e remaining confederate statue in america, honoring robert e. Lee, taken down. We were eccstatic. Reporter ten days after the murder of George Floyd last year and amid calls for racial justice across the country, Governor Ralph Northam ordered the statue to be removed. To have the statues put up for the purpose of refighting the civil War Shouldnt be there. Reporter last week the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously cleared The Way. Your view of the statue changed over time. Yes. How so . First i thouGht This was richmond history, for whatever thats worth. And then i felt its time, it needs to go. Its a symbol, its an object of bronze and granite. Reporter some say its part of history. It is part of our hutsry whether good or bad. Reporter a Community Focussing on the future. Im a little older than you, but we grew up in the south. I remember my Mississippi School that american flag, the confederate flag flying over it. Took a lot of us, a lot of white southerners a while, longer than it should have, to understand the confederate flag, the battle flag, understanding when it was put up and why it was put up. Took too long. But robert e. Lee we put in the next category because robert e. Lee we grew up in the south Hearing Robert e. Lee, yes, he fought in the south but he was only following virginia and if virginia had gone with the union he would have gone with the union, he was a gentleman warrior, the greatest general in u. S. History. They taught lee at West Point and even West Point generals wed have on the show would talk about robert e. Lee. And i remember seeing an Atlanta Journal constitutional article that said the two most admired people in the south were Martin Luther King and robert e. Lee, talking about the split. I will tell you there are still a lot of progressive democrats, especially in the state of virginia, who still have warm feelings about robert e. Lee, im just explaining the region. And this has taken much longer and i would put myself at the top of that list. Along with everybody else. That there was a Blind Spot with lee especially. But we were talking about this and you told me the most incredible story about your education. Eighth grade, magnolia high school, one of my favorite teachers she had a microphone, she tauGht The civil war in a beautiful and profound way, it was cinematic, i remember the ironclads battling against each other, but she taught it from the Vantage Point of the confederacy, so the heroes were robert e. Lee, stone wall jackson. Stonewall jackson was a character. He was full of personality. I was attracted to it. When she described the Confederacy Lost Ground when he was killed because he was the real strategic mind of the confederacy, i me, this black kid. You mourned the passing of stonewall jackson. What the hell. I cant. So im a southerner in that sense. But understand these statues are monuments not to any particular history theyre monuments to an ideology. Coming through this, well be in these moments where our environment will change, we begin to celebrate and symbolize the values that reflect this really diverse country. Its going to take us a while to get there. I think robert e. Lee, Growing Up, held a special place for a lot of people who would say well, he didnt join because of slavery and, you know, he was he was a gentleman, and it helps southerners say well, lets just ill say his name, Famed Historian Shelby Foote said on The Civil War documentary, ken burns civil war documentary, that the civil War Wasnt about slavery, that was Shelby Foote, preeminent historian of The Civil War. It reminds me, ill put myself at the front of the line, it reminds me of what joan wrote in the collection of short stories, stories we tell ourselves to go to sleep. I think you file all of that under this for southerners to say this is about the arrogance of the yankees, the arrogance of the northeast, the arrogance of people looking down on us, and looking for these symbols put up before we were born to push back on civil rights, to push back on the progress that was in the process of being made on the front end of civil rights. Im thinking about C Van Woodward who wrote a book entitled the strange career of jim crow,. Great book. Great book. He said The Civil War was a Falling Out between white men and the reconciliation was a reconciliation on the backs of black men. The Falling Out led to our freedom, the Reconciliation Led to our basic reenslavement. So the statues are a reflection of that. The statues that popped up across the south and north, in princeton university, across the board, all of that is a reflection of the nation choosing to turn its back on the idea that we are genuinely multiracial democracy. Were still battling, fighting the choice we made. So that statue coming down in virginia, in richmond, is just an indication of the Swirling Winds around us. I know we have to go, but willie, for people not from the south, for people who havent lived in the south, for people not familiar with the culture of virginia, it is hard to overstate what a cultural earthquake the removal of that robert e. Lee statue in the middle of richmond, virginia is. I know people say, you know, he confederate, this is an easy call. Yes, in 2021 its an easy call. Im just saying if you had said five years ago that robert e. Lee statue in richmond was coming down, nobody would have believed you, at least in the state of virginia. Thats the centerpiece of monument avenue. You heard it from the woman saying that was a part of our history maybe we didnt agree with what he did but that was part of our history, part of richmond and over the last year or so shes changed her thought of that. This is the outcome. On momentum avenue, this is the capital of the confederacy. There is one statue remaining standing and it is Arthur Ashe, the great tennis player. So the confederate leaders are gone but Arthur Ashe remains. Ahead well get reporting from qatar. Plus white House Press Secretary Jen Psaki joins us ahead of President Bidens Speech Today on new strategies to fiGht The pandemic, how will the white House Address the rise in cases among children. Were back in just 90 seconds. Were back in just 90 seconds. Thank you to the baseball writers, all but one of you, who voted for me. My trainers, Gene Monahan Steve donahue, i see you here. I just want to apologize now. Sorry i lied to you for all of those years but it was my responsibility to go out and play every day. I had one goal during my career, and that was to win more than everyone else, and we did. You know, there was only one thing in my life i wanted to be. And that was a short stop for the new York Yankees and now im a yankee forever. The one common thread with us On Stage is we understand theres no One Individual bigger than the game. The game goes on. It goes on because of the great fans we have. So take care of it, respect it, protect it, dont take the time you have to plau for granted. Remember the most important thing like i said earlier, its more than just a game. So thank you all once again. Its been a hell of a ride. Welcome back to Morning Joe. Its thursday, September 9th what are we looking at, willie . Derek jeter. Lemire is here he had a good season or two, season and a half. You know how you know that was a big deal, Michael Jordan flew to cooperstown, showed up to be there for derrick jeter. What made jeter great . I think hes they focus on his leadership and what he meant to the franchise. I think often his statistics are overlooked. 3,400 career hits, 14 time allstar, won five World Series. He was a good hitter, Clutch Hitter and he was the face of the franchise, in many ways the Way Lebron james has lived up to the hype in his life, not gotten into trouble, done the riGht Thing most of the time. Derek jeter was the same way. Playing as the face of the biggest franchise in the world and he never got into trouble, had some fun but did it on his own terms and just won. As he said yesterday thats all he wanted to do in his life and by all accounts, a great guy, comes from a great family, great parents and now he has a family of his own. So he he was he had the intangibles yes, but his numbers when you stack them up were incredible too. One of the things, a stat i heard over the past day or two, may have heard it from you, i dont know, but led the yankees in singles. Yeah. I must say, when youre Growing Up within youre not going i want to lead the yankees in singles. Thats exactly what id want a player to be, because everybody is swinging for the fences now. When i see the shifts i want somebody that Can Slap it between first and second base. All of them Ground Balls to second base. That would be a hit. That would be a hit. Just slap it through. A guy that knows how to get on and is not swinging for the fences but getting it done. Thats how you win games, World Series. He is sixth alltime in hits, it pains me to say. Couldnt field a Ground Ball to his left. E easy. Undeniable, Hall Of Famer. Thanks. There. Hes a Hall Of Famer and i will say, you know, i amusing moment i was helping coach my sons little League Team a few years ago and a nice couple came up and said they recognized me from the show. I thanked them. And a few minutes later i realized it was Derek Jeters parents. No way. They were at your Kids Baseball Game . Reporter thats right, jeters Sisters Kid was on the opposing team. I would say, they couldnt have been classier. Again, this is all and they had to know, if they watch, they had to know youre a Red Sox fan. They did know. They may have heard the story of what you yelled in the bar after they lost the World Series. Im sure they did and set it aside. You should be ashamed. Classer than me. Look, ive grown up. We destroy the video of this tape, immediately afterwards here. You grudgingly admitted that Derek Jeter might belong in the hall of fame. I think john was the hold out vote, one person did not put him in the hall of fame. It took you a long time to tell the story. It hurts him. It hurts. Look at him, hes tortured. You look at what the new York Yankees did in large part of Derek Jeter won the World Series in 96 98, 99, 2020. And they did it with that guy, it wasnt like him swinging and hitting Home Runs and dropping the bat and staring at it, looking over the fence. It was him playing baseball, just say it, jonathan, The Way we would like our kids to play baseball. Youre right. Hes a team player, god loving. Youre right about that. I think the Hype About Jeter in New York was too much. One more thing, we tease about the big payroll with the yankees, but the two key members of the team were home grown Guys Jeter and rivera. Theyre both yankees, came up through the system. Andy pettis. Yeah. But Jeet Erand Rivera were the signature guys. And ill say it again, Derek Jeter deserves to be the hall of fame. Can we move on. Lets talk about the Wild Card standings no. We have eve talked about this, one of the great Derek Jeter moments of all times, 2001 World Series, a month after September 11th, we all remember what that felt like. President bush comes to Yankee Stadium to throw out the first pitch he has a Flack Jacket on and he wants to throw a strike. So he calls on jeter to warm him up. Theyre down under the stay stadium, having a catch, jeter warms up the president. The president says im ready, hes walking out, the president is obviously worried about it and jeter says, mr. President , dont bounce it theyll boo you. And, of course, famously he threw a dart. That was just a great pitch. That reminds me of another moment where right after 9 11 hes going upper west side, theyre all cheering Bush And Rudy giuliani said you see all of these people . Yeah. And Rudy Giuliani goes not one of them voted for you. Last night well well say this because it may be the last Red Sox win of the year. But if it is the last Red Sox win of the year, what a win it was. I think, im serious, hunter infroe, do we have tape here . After hitting a go ahead Home Run, hes right field, ball misplayed, very Red Sox September Thing to do. Look at this throw from third base oh my gosh. Hunter renfro does that all the time. One of the great throws. And he had another throw Last Night jonathan. He threw out two runners on the base Last Night. Leads the league in assists. That throw was 320 feet. Its deep the Triangle At Fenway was so deep, that was a rocket. To get the last Out Of The Game at third base. They seemed on the verge of blowing again, a series of catastrophic losses, they got a Home Run they needed. Thats my man going for third place in that position. Why is he going, hes in Scoring Position anyway. I mean this seriously, theres no other player in major League Baseball that could have thrown that guy out at third base. Hunter renfro has made we were booing this guy in april. He couldnt buy a hit in april. We dont boo our players at fenway. No. But we were going who is this guy, i remember he was playing against the as, just ball up against the wall, he says im going to get it done. This guy has done that all year. Ive never seen an arm like it. The accuracy for how long . Over 300 feet. And hit for 25 plus Home Runs, signed for 3 Million, he was a bargain. And that throw puts you on top of the Wild Card race. Lets been honest were the third and fourth best teams in the divisions. The Blue Jays are going to pass us at any minute. And as alex pointed out, we got Hunter Renfro from the rays. Okay. But theres no doubt, the yankees and the Red Sox, you know what, were fighting for fourth place now because the Blue Jays have won like seven in a row. Theyre hot. Theyre a good team. Lets make the turn now. We have developing news this morning out of afghanistan where a qatari flight carrying 200 people made up of americans and other nationalities is expected to depart from kabul to doha today, two sources familiar with the matter confirm to Nbc News. This would be the first international Passenger Flight from kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport since august 30th. Joining us Raf Sanchez from doha, qatar. You confirmed this for us, what more can you tell us . Reporter mika, good morning. Thats right, two sources familiar with the matter saying they expect later today A Flight Carrying Americans and foreign nationals will take off from Kabul And Land here in doha, qatar. We expect about 200 people on the flight. We dont know how many of them are going to be americans. The State Department has said there are about 100 u. S. Citizens still in afghanistan and trying to escape. Assuming this goes smoothly and The Americans and foreign Nationals Touchdown safely here in doha, this would be a big moment. This would be the first international passenger fliGht To take off from that airport since u. S. Forces withdrew from it in the middle of the night on august 30th. To a certain extent, this would be a vindication of the biden Administrations Belief that it is possible to continue evacuating americans from afghanistan, even without u. S. Troops on the ground. That is a belief, of course, that they have taken a lot of heat for, both at home and abroad. Now this flight would not take off without the cooperation of the taliban. They are in complete control of afghanistan, of kabul, and of that airport. And there have been weeks now, of quiet diplomacy to try to get the airport up and running again. As you can imagine, there are a lot of issues here. Some of them are technical, how do you get the taliban to safely operate a very complicated Air Traffic Control system. But a lot has to do with security. Can civilian airliners safely Land And Takeoff at an airport controlled by the taliban that is threatened by isisk. What we dont know at this point is whether Todays Arrangement is scalable. Is this going to be the first of many flights that comes out of kabul or is this a oneoff exceptional arrangement to get this plane off the ground . Now, this is not a silver bullet. We know for several days a number of charter flights that were supposed to carry both americans and afghan allies have been prevented from taking off in northern afghanistan. The taliban not letting those flights take off. The State Department taking criticism from democrats and republicans for not doing more. But guys, again, we are expecting sometime later today a qatari passenger fliGht To bring a number of americans safely out of kabul here to doha, qatar. Raf sanchez reporting for us from doha, qatar. Joining us now, white House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Jen, why dont we start there. Thank you for being on. Good morning. If all goes well here, can we expect more flights like the this . Is the taliban going to provide an environment that allows for more flights like this . Thats certainly our objective, mika. I cant get into details for Security Reasons because we want to keep people safe trying to debart afghanistan. Our objective has been to work with our partners in the region to get the airport operational and get people who want to depart out of the country. American citizens, legal permanent residents, others with who fought alongside us the last 20 years. Thats what weve been working around the clock to do. Weve been tossing around numbers, 120,000 People Air lifted, its extraordinary. Do you know what the number is up to right now and is there a rough number that the administration would like to reach . Well, we dont want to put a cap on it, its about 124,000 we evacuated. The vast majority are vulnerable afghans, majority of those have come to the united states. There are still people in afghanistan who may be eligible for some of our programs who havent yet applied. What were focused on now is getting the airports up and going. Some will help get people out who want to depart. We moved some people over land the last weekend. Well do more to have that. And we have to press the taliban to work with us to allow people to depart who want to depart. Thats something the united states and the Global Community will be watching for as well. Lets talk about qatar. I have not been a fan of them because it seems they have made alliances with a lot of groups i consider to be bad actors across the Middle East. In this case its certainly good to have an ally and they are an Awe Ally to have an ally that is walking through this and serving as a gobetween between the united states and the taliban. Talk about what theyre doing on the ground and why they may be whats helping to make a difference between what we saw in the taliban 20 years ago and what were seeing right now, some cooperation. What you said is important for people to understand. Just because were working with a country, were,ing with turkey as well. It doesnt mean we validate everything they do in the world. But what were doing with our partners in qatar, if Secretary Of State was there, were working to get the civilian airport up and operational. That will ensure people that want to depart, something the taliban committed to, can depart on airlines. It will ensure the World Food Program other international organizations are able to get humanitarian assistance into afghanistan, which is key. Were working to get that through regional airports as well. But the qataris have sent people in to get the airport up and run, theyre a gobetween between us and the taliban. And theyre a partner were going to be relying on. Good morning, jen. Good morning. The president said in that August 31st people theres 100 to 200 americans in afghanistan with an intention to leave. If there are 200 people on the plane today, i know not all americans, how many are out of the country and what does that leave inside afghanistan by your count . I expect well continue to have updated numbers later today and the days ahead. The State Department has the most updated numbers, it was around 100. This is confusing for people watching but at times some people may not have decided to depart afghanistan yet, even today. They may be dual citizens we want to leave the door open if they decide a week from now, three months from now, they can depart. Thats a reason we have a broad range in these numbers. We have people that say i havent decided yet, talk to me in a week. Its right around 100 right now and were working to get the american citizens who want to depart out of the country. I know thats kind of a Fluid Number as you point out, but is it fair to say youre getting close with this flight and others, to getting every american who wants to leave afghanistan out of the country. Are you close . Thats what were working toward, absolutely. Are you close now . Were getting closer. Lets talk about the covid Relief Plan and the speech the president is going to make at 5 00 today. Six points weve laid them out earlier in the show. Why did the president feel like in this moment in time as we look at the spikes in numbers, the increased pediatric cases, new alarms this morning from dr. Fauci about the daily case numbers, where is the president going to point the american people and why does he think this is important right now . Well, the president knows that covid and addressing the pandemic, getting it under control, is the number one, two, and three issue on most americans list right now for things theyre concerned about. So hell give an update on the progress we made but he wants to lay out and build on what weve done. A big part of that is getting people vaccinated who are unvaccinated. We know if you look across the country, i know you all have been talking about hospitalizations of kids, which is horrifying, saddening makes people freaked out but we know it works. We know masking works. Getting Everyone Eligible in your household vaccinated works. We know getting teachers vaccinated works. We know that having kids surrounded by vaccinated people works. He wants to lay out the steps of what we did over the summer, more requirements for federal workers for private sector employees as well. More testing to ensure we know who has covid and who might spread it. Making sure small businesses survive. Thats what youll hear the President Talk about today. Good morning. So many not vaccinated seem committed to staying that way. What more can this administration be doing to reach out to those who to this point have refused to get the shot . And secondly, as im sure youre hearing theres a frustration from those who have been vaccinated, followed the guidelines, who are still seeing schools closed, people get sick and blaming those who are unvaccinated from the virus. How do you assuage those. And Whats Protection for the vaccinated. Let me take your last question first, hes talked about boosters. Thats a way to help get people a greater level of protection. As it relates to people vaccinated, yes, people are frustrated. Were seeing that across the country. There are about 80 Million unvaccinated about 175 Million who are. People are looking at the safety of their kids, Family Members who are immunocompromised. Theyre frustrated people are not getting vaccinated. What weve seen the past couple months are mandates, requirements, making it so workers in the federal government or others have to get vaccinated. Weve seen the Work And Weve seen it become more popular. When e talk about protecting people. We have to make sure testing is available. I live in virginia i would probably have to drive an hour to buy a test. They should be more accessible to people across the country. So this is really about, hes going to speak directly to vaccinated people and their frustrations and he wants them to hear how were going to build on what weve done to date to get the virus under control and to return to some version of normal in this country. Jen, i wanted to ask you what irsaying about mandates, whats the most the president can do legally, constitutionally, as it pertains to mandates, and is he going to do it . My biggest concern is children at this point with the Delta Variant being highly transmissible and a vaccine not yet being available for children. It seems to me, mandates are The Way to go. There are certain people who will not do it and we need to be protected. Youre right, mika. And as you know, i have two little kids. Im so thrilled that my School District has put requirements in place. But every parent should have that Assurance And Comfort sending their kids to school. 90 of teachers are vaccinated now, it should be higher, it should be 100 . We should put in place measures and this is what the president will talk about today, to ensure some sense of calm that the School Districts are putting in many Place E measures. We Cant Declare that every person has to be vaccinated. School districts can do that, leaders in states can push School Districts to do that. Companies can do that and make those requirements for employees. Thats something some larger companies have done, thats a model. Those are all pieces the president is going to talk about today. He doesnt want parents to fear their children going to school every day like many across the country and certain states do. I want to finish where we began that was with the Wall Street Journal breaking the news of the 200 americans that are coming out. We talked before on the show about how the administration since april has given 19, 20 warnings to americans constantly warning them to get out of afghanistan for a variety of reasons. You talked about the fact that while some people may not understand it on twitter, we have dual citizenships and a lot of people still want to stay there. Do you have i know you all have been reaching out nonstop, but do you have a rough number of americans there who do want to get out . That you all are still working on . Sure, joe. Its right around 100. And there are some people the reason theres a range, you touched on this, some people may not have decided yet. Their reasons vary, some people lived there their entire lives, some people want to take 50 Family Members with them. There are a range of reasons, personal, this is their home as much as we in the united states look at it and say why wouldnt everybody want to leave, its a hard decision. Its right around 100 and were working every day to help those who want to leave get out and obviously flights would be a key step forward. Thank you so much, Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Thank you. We had a story on Nbc One Person whose family kept begging him to leave was a fixit guy. He was going around and his business was over there and he didnt want to leave. They kept warning him to leave. He didnt leave. He got kidnapped and lets hope that qatar can help out being a gobetween to getting him home too. But there are a lot of people that stayed there for their own reasons. I heard people shocked, people wanted to stay in afghanistan . Yes, there are americans with dual citizenship who have families in afghanistan and right now theyre trying to figure out, do i want to come to america without my family or do i want to stay here where i was born, stay with my family. There are a lot of complicated questions. The question is how many americans are still there, which is what we were trying to get at with jen, who want to leave. And is this flight with the taliban, a one off or are they going to allow commercial flights to come in and get out the people that want. This begs the question of the allies and interpreters that need to get out of the country. She said theres about 100 there focused on. Thats one plane get them out. Yeah. I know theres several planes over there that are there to bring americans home and were waiting to see. We talked about qatar before. Its also important to remember that despite complications in that relationship, the largest u. S. Air base in the Middle East and the most strategic without a doubt. In qatar. Still ahead on Morning Joe, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer said democrats are moving full speed ahead on a 3. 5 trillion Spending Package despite Party Infighting over the price tag. Plus, Senator Angus King recently recovered from a break through case of coronavirus. He says having a vaccine saved his life. The senator joins us next. Youre watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. Ure watchi well be right back. Trelegy for copd. Birds flyin high, you know how i feel. Breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. Its a new dawn. If youve been taking copd sitting down, its time to make a stand. Start a new day with trelegy. No oncedaily Copd Medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. It also helps prevent future flareups. 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Pop Rock Music singers safelite repair, safelite replace. Hey google. Its moving day. And while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her Xfinity Internet and tv services. It only takes about a minute. Wait, a minute . But what have you been doing for the last two hours . Delegating . Oh, good one. Move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. Xfinity makes moving easy. Go online to transfer your services in about a minute. Get started today. Welcome back to Morning Joe. Its half past the hour. Live look at the capital. Cloudy day in washington. Joining us now a member of the intelligence and armed Services Committees, independent Senator Angus King of maine. Were headed back to your state. Are you okay . He looks like hes in front of your fireplace. I know. That looks like my fireplace. Im in maine. Please tell us how youre doing. I know you have a piece and were going to talk about afghanistan. Wed like to hear how youre doing with your health. You say the vaccine saved your life. I had what they call a Breakthrough Case, i was vaccinated in january, early february and i dont know where i picked it up, it may have been at the senate at that Allnight Session because three of my colleagues tested positive the same day a couple of weeks ago. In any case, it was the worst Head Cold you ever had, cough, fever off and on, achy joints for three or four days. It was pretty bad. And here are the numbers, 99 of the people in the Hospital Today with Covid Are not vaccinated. Well over 90 of the people like myself who got vaccinated and then got the Breakthrough Case havent had to go to the hospital. I dont want you to spread it too widely, dont tell anybody, but im 77 years old and i have a history of respiratory issues. And so, you know, i think theres a reasonable chance you could have i could have been one of those people you saw in the hospital with the mask on and it could have been, you know, very serious. It was a scary experience. But, you know, here i am, somebody said how do you feel yesterday . I said, well, i dont feel like climbing Mount Washington, but i didnt feel like climbing Mount Washington before so its okay. Just do it in your car, get a bumper sticker. Yeah. Whats it like in maine . We know you had a high Vaccination Rate there, a lot of people are getting their shots. Whats the state of coronavirus in maine . Theres a lot of concern in schools as those have opened up now, pediatric cases on the rise. What does it look like where you are . We had an upsurge like everybody else. But here i think the most startling number, i saw these a week or two ago, in terms of deaths per 100,000, Per Capita, our rate is onefourth of South Dakota and onethird of florida and texas. And South Dakota is a pretty good comparison because theyre similar states, rural states, a couple large towns and the difference is political leadership. Our governor took it seriously, took a lot of heat for imposing Mask Mandates and curfews and those things early on, and we know in South Dakota they havent done those kinds of things. So were its tough. Were having an upsurge but relative to the rest of the country were doing quite well. The problem politically, i used to be a governor, its hard to demonstrate something that doesnt happen. If you put a curfew on and your bar is closed, you know the hit youre taking. What you dont know is that curfew may have saved your Sisters Life or your Grandmothers Life or something. And thats hard to measure. Thats why i go back to the Per Capita figures which i think are revealing and indicate taking this seriously from the beginning has paid off in maine. Maines Vaccination Rate is up near 72 , which puts it at the top of the states doing well. You wrote a piece for time magazine. You write, though i believe that mistakes were made, the rush to assign blame to the president and his team is unfair at this point. There will be plenty of time this fall for the committees to decide what went wrong and right. In their rush to assign blame to biden, the critics largely ignore this elephant in the room, that it wasnt our job to stop the taliban in kandahar. The Layer Complexity or waiting for more information doesnt make for the most compelling Television Or Analysis but it doesnt make it less important we search for it for ourselves or for the Men And Women who served who deserve clear answers to difficult questions. Senator king, lets walk through that a little bit what do you believe were some of the mistakes made in terms of starting evacuations earlier, abandoning bagram Air Base too early. Whats the best Case Scenario for how things stand . Based on your interview with Jen Psaki just before i came on, i think i counted and the word complicated was used four or five times. This is complicated. A perfect example is, i was one of those who was really aggressive back in may and june about starting the evacuation of the translaters, the people who helped us, the socalled s. I. V. S and pushing and making speeches on the floor and calling the White House and all of those things. But on june 25th, the president of afghanistan directly asked President Biden not to start that evacuation because he was afraid it would demoralize the country and lead to the collapse of the government, which, in fact, happened eventually. But the point im only making is, its a complicated decision. And there are all of these things, Closing Bagram is another example. I was one of critical of that, on the other hand it would have taken probably another 5,000 troops to defend bagram. And it was further from kabul than the airport. And it would have provided an additional outlet but, you know, again it was a kind of Judgment Call in terms of putting our troops in Harms Way versus what was the most effective way to do this massive evacuation. I think one of the most important questions well be looking for is, when did we know how fast this was going to happen . In other words, a lot of the discussion was it would be b months and years before the taliban could takeover, that the government would hold out and then, of course, it happened in like seven or eight days. So thats a question we have to examine. There are going to be hearings next week in various committees. I know armed services has one scheduled. Foreign services will do some work i suspect in foreign intelligence. I believe in ready, aim, fire and not ready fire aim blame. People comparing it to saigon like two days after the first day of evacuations. Of course, theres an example talking about how quickly things go. Theres an example of a huge difference where this fell in seven days and afghan and saigon, saigon we got out in 73, fell in 75. But you talk about counter factuals. Its important. For instance, the curfew, its hard to say what the counter factual would be if you didnt put the curfew in place. Here, we had invested for 20 years in an afghan government, in an afghan army. We were getting out. And you had the president of afghanistan say, do not start removing all the interpreters now. Dont make a mad rush for the exit, because if you do, confidence in the government will drop. Confidence in the army will drop and well collapse. And if youre leaving, if the united states is leaving and this is the government thats staying behind to fiGht The taliban, you got to give deference to the president of afghanistan. Yes, we know what happened at the end of the day. But all the people squawking on twitter right now every 15 seconds attacking Joe Biden for listening to the president of afghanistan at that point, saying dont do that. You know, its very easy to do that. It is extraordinarily complicated to figure out what would have happened. We will never know. But we do know that the people that were staying behind to fiGht The taliban, who told us they were going to fiGht The taliban, said please, dont start this Mass Withdrawal because itll cause the country to collapse faster. And the White House said they did pay deference to the Afghan President s request, and the collapse underscored and reaffirmed their decision to leave in the first place because what good would another year or two years or five years have been if they were going to collapse anyway. Senator i want to ask about whos still in afghanistan and theres concerns about whether afghanistan will be a Safe Haven for terrorists again. We saw the devastating Terror Attack a week or so back that claimed more than a dozen american lives. What do you make of the threats by isisk or other groups in afghanistan, what threat do they pose to the united states and west . I think they do pose a threat. We cant ignore it, we cant say weve done it and theres no more terrorist threat. But theres uncovered terrorist territory, whether its yemen, parts of syria. I remember being in an armed Services Committee and hearing this haven for terrorist argument. I thouGht Thats the Domino Nearry of the 21st century, the theory that justifies us sending troops practically anywhere. We cant minimize it, but the question is, what would have been accomplished by another 20 years in afghanistan . And these Terrorist Groups you have to be ready to combat them. Im worried were pivoting to competition with russia and china, and the Terror Threat is over, theyre not. Those characters on September 11th killed 3,000 people, they would have killed 3 Million if they could have. Thats my concern is them getting ahold a weapon of mass destruction. Joe manchin, democrat of West Virginia your colleague said its time to hit pause on this conversation on the 3. 5 trld infrastructure bill. Hed like it to be 1. 5 or something in that range. Chuck schumer said no we are going full speed ahead, was his term. We want to go forward. We think getting this done is so important. Of course, given the thin margins in the senate we cant go full speed ahead without joe manchin. How does this play out . I think theyre going to its going to play out with a lot of discussions for sure. One thing that hasnt come through in the discussion, everybody talks about a 3. 5 trillion plan. Its over ten years. Whatever the size of the plan were talking about, its over 10 years. Its not a one year huge investment. The second thing to think about on this, i look back to the middle of the 20th century, the two most important investments in our country that led to the boom of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, were the highway infrastructure, the g. I. Bill, which sent the middle class to college and built this country. Today, for example, Child Care, everybody is looking for workers. Here in maine theyre hiring theres a Hiring Sign in front of every business. If youve got if youre a single mom or single dad and have a 7 or 9yearold, if you cant get Child Care or the School Isnt Operating because of covid, you cant go to work. So Thats Part of the infrastructure thats necessary in order to put americans to work. So what im going to do is take the take the pieces one at a time, look at them, are there places where they can be adjusted and trimmed . Does it have to be the size that the president initially proposed . The other thing about this plan that i think ouGht To deserve some commentary is, its paid for. Thats something new around in washington. The very fact were debating how to pay for it rather than putting it on the Credit Card is progress. Theres going to be debate about some of those provisions, particularly revenue provisions, but i think thats a worthwhile discussion. But itll be a good, solid discussion. Joe manchin doesnt get pushed around, hes going to do what he thinks is right. I think in the end were going to come to some agreement that will work for the american people. Senator angus king. Thank you. Be, great to have you on. A pleasure. Coming up covid cases among children are surging across the country. The president of the largest Teachers Union joins the table for a look at how kids and teachers can be kept safe in the classroom. Teachers can be kept safe in the classroom. 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Joining us now, president of the national Education Association, the largest Teachers Union and Labor Union in the country. Becky pringle joins us. Graed great to see you again. Its good to be with you, mika. What a boring time for you. Nothing going on. This is way too much. It is. It is. Who put you in this position . Well, you know, they say to me, becky, you ran for this position, so dont complain now. You dont choose the environment in which you lead, but i am absolutely honored to represent educators all over this country. I spent my Day Yesterday in new jersey and pennsylvania, my hometown, im a philly girl, meeting with educators and students. And i could see the sparkle in their eye. You just as importantly socially. By The Way, by the time i got to my fourth child, we were having the kindergarten talk, we have the best. Im like, it will take care of itself. Teaching green, right. Its like about social. I want to know how my childs doing socially with the kids. Thats the Key And Weve seen how important teachers are to the development of all of our childrens lives. Absolutely. They in our living rooms. You know, my two grown children moved in with me for the entire pandemic. March 2020 . What is going on . They were here. Have they left . I just brouGht Them back to New York on saturday. But i told my fourmonthold grew into a twoyearold and my 8yearold who had virtual learning in my basement, third grade, is now so excited to go on to fourth Grade Inperson Learning here in New York. And we are doing everything, as a grandmother, let me tell you, i am doing everything can i to keep him safe. You know what we need to do. We know what we need to do. Everyone that can be vaccinated must be vaccinated. End of story. Period, thats exactly right. Guess what, we have kids my granddaughter, she cant be vaccinated. My grandson either. We have to do everything to keep them safe. We know wearing masks saves lives. Why are we having this manufactured debate on masks . You can explain that to me, joe . No, I Cant. I cannot explain. You can explain to me pause you are actually smarter than i, can you explain to me what weve learned over the past year about the difference between online learning and being in front of a teacher in class . Because it seems to me from the little bit that ive read about this, it is the truly disadvantaged, the children of the truly disadvantaged who suffer the most in that setting . As i listen to teachers and watched my grandson and listen to teach yourself talk about that not just our teachers. Its that entire education, the food source, youll of them. As we listen to them talk about what they did to excite their schools and be creative if their learning. The Teacher Yesterday said she actually had a different costume on every day leading up to halloween and the kid voted on what her Halloween Costume would be. Things like that they were doing virtually. They were building relationships and doing the best to nurture them. When i talked to them yesterday, when they had those kids in front of them this week, it was what we have been seeing all year. There is nothing like being in person with your students. Thats why were fighting so hard to make sure most of our schools are opened now to inperson learning. Weve got to keep them opened. Thats the key. The only way we will do that is if we keep them safe. How do we do that . Everyone who can be vaccinated gets vaccinated. Everyone wears max. We make sure we have a robust and accessible Testing Program and all of the layered of mitigation strategies, you cant forget about them, washing hands, cleaning surfaces, one of the biggest for the educators was ventilation. Weve had a chance over the summer to work to make sure the ventilation systems are. As you said, dr. Fauci said this two days ago, the best we can do in schools is get everybody vaccinated who can get vaccinated until we get learn and under and making in schools. So what as you talk to your municipal at the nea, what is the percentage vaccinated . Have they been receptive to this. You know we supported everyone and President Biden supports us. It led to we have just about 90 of educators are the highest vaccinated groups. For that reason, we are trusted voices in our community. So we are right now partnering with the department of education and we are using those trusted ambassadors to go into the community, especially communities of color. We are still seeing some hesitancy to get those Vaccination Rates up amongst the adults, but also to encourage them to level it up to get the vaccinations as well. The president has been talking about Mandates Today in his speech, at 5 00, new York City has done that in its schools. You got to be vaccinated. If you are a teacher, an adult, l. A. Is headed that way as well. Does the Nea Support Teacher mandates for vaccination . We believe the Covid Vaccination should be required, just like all the other vaccinations, which is another point to make. This is not new for us. No. Its not new. So we it should . It should be required. We do know that there have to be accommodations, there always have to be. What we are asking is that you work with educators and their units to make sure you put those accommodations in place and, and make sure you have that robust Testing Program as well. Thats absolutely critical. All riGht The president to the national Education Association betsy pringle, thank you so much, its great to see you again. Can i thank you, thank you for encouraging women to stand in their power. Educators all over this country are looking to the work that are you doing. I just want to say on behalf of them. Oh my goodness, thank you very, very much. I really appreciate it. Becky pringle. Still ahead a closer look at what President Biden will say today as he lace out a new strategy against covid. Plus, a new look at americas wars, then and now. Well reflect on World War ii for a generation while casting an eye on whats tran mired in the 20 years since 9 11. That conversation is just ahead on Morning Joe. Conversation on Morning Joe. 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. Before treating your chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more, youre not the only one with questions about botox®. Botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start, with about 10 minutes of treatment once every 3 months. So, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you, and if a sample is available. 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Why in the world do we have to come up with these crazy ideas and theyre crazy ideas that the vaccines got something in it and its tracing people wherever they go and the same very people saying that are carrying their cell phones around. I mean, cmon, cmon. I love that guy. That was virginias republican governor jim justice growing exasperated with Vaccine Conspiracy theories as the number of covid patients in State Icus has reached an alltime high. Good morning, welcome to Morning Joe. By The Way, that governor that goes to what we were talking about yesterday, there are a lot of leaders in a lot or states. We talked about southern States Yesterday that have stepped out, told people to stop being crazy and theyre still going to their Feed Stores and getting. Ivermectin. You can believe joe rogan. He contracted covid and attributed his recovery to ivermectin. Cmon, did he do that . He was talking about that on his podcast. He said he got better because he ate cating dewormer . Yes, he attributed part of his recovery to that drug, whatever it is. Yeah, but to your point, a guy like governor jim justice, a trusted republican in the state of West Virginia, a guy like John Calipari, the Head Coach in kentucky, nick saban. These are not the elites that people who have been tauGht To distrust. So its not the media, its not draw. Its not a democrat. These are people they trust in their lives saying pretty clearly, by The Way, Mitch Mcconnell did again yesterday, too. Go get the vaccine. He said these conspiracy theorists are insane. Go protect yourself and your family and our community and our state, let get through this. It does come from, you know, Tommy Tuberville in alabama. Nick saban in alabama, the Head Football Coach Ole Miss Lane Grifrd is vaccinated you know in mississippi and alabama, these Football Coaches, hold a special place in popular culture. So the resistance, the lies they are saying on facebook every day, its just overwhelming. Absolutely. Were not talking about tcells, Herd Immunity or science, Common Sense. Nobody is tracking you. If you are worried about that, why are you walking around with your phone . If you dont like needles. Cutting to the chase. We talk about texas, florida, our Home State of mississippi, we have children dying, we have schools closing. We need to listen. We need to find some Common Sense. Well be talking a lot more about this coming up. Also with us Nbc News and msnbc national affairs analyst Host And Executive producer of showtime s the Circus And H the high Water Podcast and the recount John Heilemann. There is news out of afghanistan, Taliban Leaders will allow close to 200 americans and foreign citizens to fly out of the Country Today. Nbc news confirms reporting from the Wall Street Journal that the group will be flown to qatar before relocating elsewhere. This will mark the first departure of u. S. Citizens since the Military Mission in afghanistan officially ended on August 31st. Its unclear if these americans are among those who were stranded on chartered flights out of Afghanistans Airport earlier this week. Joe, again, a little bit more work on the biden administration on the part of working to get people out of afghanistan beyond the deadline. I think its important to note no matter what you think about the decision to leave that the president was warning people for quite some time. I believe since last april. Yes, since april. And it was warning after another warning, there was a story about a guy who was a contractor, kept being warned, delayed, and just his family tried to get him out of there. He said, ill just stay here. Im fine and a sort of fixit guy. Hes a hostage now. There are americans getting out now, willie. But you look at these 200 americans, lets hope there are a lot more, you look at the 120,000 or so that people weve already airlifted out of there. The extraordinary bravery of our Men And Women In Uniform and american officials and our allies that have allowed this to happen and i tell you what, the further we get away from the chaos of that first day, the more that people are looking at sort of more of a global view of whats happened there and said, wait a second, person troops in this country doing some pretty extraordinary things there. So mathew van dyke, who is the, hes the founder of sons of liberty international, a veteran, talks about when he was a prisoner in syria. He actually tweeted this, a day or two ago. I initially criticize biden for afghanistan, compareic it to the fall of saigon. He writes, he proved me wrong the past few weeks rescuing 120,000 in kabul was incredible and historic. The State Policy on the taliban was brilliant. The military achievements extraordinary. This story is still being written. We dont know how its going to end up right now. But the people who have been whooping it up on twitter, again, i have been very critical, the people whoong it up on twitter saying this is the worst thing thats ever happened and drawing parallels with saigon have missed the mark. The numbers arent even close. Obviously, theyre the 13 american service members who were killed. A lot think these vaccinations could have started sooner to avoid the chaos. Whats interesting about this number from the journal this morning, the 200 number, we have been told there were 100 to 200 left in the country. Where does that leave us if there are not 200 american passport holders. I think this includes foreigners with passports to get out of the country. Its all americans. This would represent if you believe that number, a large chunk of The Americans remaining in the country who want to leave the Country And Show at least in this case alabama, the american government has been forced into a relationship now with, to trust them to help get these people out, at least in this one case in upholding its end of the bargain just here. You got to look at qatar and what they will be doing. I think we will be talking to a Foreign Ministry this week what qatar is doing being a gobetween, between the united states and also the taliban. Eddie, there is the great tragedy as willie said, 13 american service Men And Women who died there, true heroes who understood because the warnings were going that we were hearing the warnings of isis coming in and they knew that, man, they were if danger and they were still talking about how they loved their job, they were still risking their livings and its just so tragic and, yet, what they have done along with our other military Men And Women and other officials it again Freed 120 130,000 people, saved Tens Of Thousands of lives, one of the greatest humanitarian missions that weve done. I think we can all concede that, no matter your position with regard to afghanistan. We should be able to. We should be able. A lot of people who president on twitter and have oped pieces are still looking back to the first day and ignoreing everything you Men And Women In Uniform have done since then. It seems were at the moment where people are trying to make political hey of everything. Everything. We can concede this claim. I think even as we laud this 200 folk coming out, which still have to be mindful of all of those afghans who helped us, while we were there. The folks still there. We still have to raise questions and concerns about their safety. But key can still marvel at this achievement. John heilman, you look at the achievements over the past two weeks, and i think maybe we got 7,000 people out of saigon were at 125 now. Lets hope we get up to 145,000 so people. It has just been an extraordinary achievement that i think sometimes we as a country, we are so caught up in the political Back And Forth that sometimes we just, we cant see the forest through the trees. This is pretty incredible. I say this as somebody who has been against the withdraw of afghanistan since Donald Trump was trying to bring the taliban to camp david. Right. Look, joe, i think the thing with you and the thing that we all, you know, at various times that took its eye on, which was the large question, on the macroexistential, the fundamental choice is this war over or fought . Are we going to get out . Are we going to accept the fact that we lost this war and end it now . The administration was always with the vast majority of the american public on that. Which is where Donald Trump was as you said a second ago. There is a total respectable position that says we should have tried to make this into North And South korea, to make it into germany, make it into have a small set of troops there, trying to stabilize the region, et cetera, et cetera. Its a respectable point of view. I know its your point of view. Its not where the american people are. In the end we were going to come back to that, something like 70 to 75 of people wanted to end this war now. I think the administration had that long view throughout. Now i do think there are two large questions that carry forward from there. One of them is the Question Eddie just raised, which i think there will be questions about going on for a very long time. Not how the evacuation was run. That i agree with you. I think history again will say this is an incredibly successful operation to get the, all of The Americans, almost all of The Americans out safely again. We know about the ones who died in that Car Bomb. There are some left behind. The vast majority of americans are out. There is this large question about what about the afghan allies . The moral obligation that america had to those people who fought alongside americans and tried to help americans for the last 20 years . What happens to them . I think people will raise questions about that for a long time. The other longterm question that goes to your point, which is does afghanistan now become a renewed center for Terrorist Activity that threatens america . It has not been for the last 20 years. Lit become that again . If it becomes that again, there will be longterm questions raids whether we should have kept a small force there in order to keep those from happening. Those are questions for another day. Still ahead, a preview of the president s new Battle Plan against covid. He is set to layout a revamped strategy today. Will it put a dent in the surge of new cases . Are you watching Morning Joe. Well be right back. Morning j. Well be right back. vo this is more than glass and steel. And stone. Its awe. Beauty. The measure of progress. Its where people meet people. Where cultures and bonds are made between us. Where we create things together. Open each others minds. Raise each others ambitions. And do together, what we cant do apart. This is space for dreams. Loopnet. The most popular place to find a space. Age is just a number. And mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. 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It is managing covid here at Ohio Today the President Will Layout what it says is a new plan to attack the spread of covid19. President biden will deliver a speech this evening expected to urge private businesses, schools and federal agencies to institute stricter Vaccine Mandates. The White House will announce six areas of focus, vaccinating the unvaccinated. Furthering protection for the vaccinated. Keeping schools safely opened. Increasing testing and requiring masking, protecting our economic recovery and improving care for those who do have covid19. Senior white House Correspondent for Nbc News digital, shannon pettypiece, it speaks to the gravity of the program, the president feels he needs to make a la Josh Address to layout a new plan. And reset the strategy to some event. Through the summer, so much of the strategy and the focus was on vaccinations, getting as many people vaccinated as possible. The idea was we could vaccinate our way out of this pandemic and that was going to be our only way out of the pandemic. Now as you see from those bullet points, the white House Official has put out, you see them broaden that a bit. Not only, of course, is there going to be an emphasis on vaccines, but there is an acknowledgment that even with vaccines out there, we are continuing to see break through infections, we are seeing the percentage of people who are vaccinated, who are hospitalized increasing, not an enormous amount. You see a slight uptick in the percentage of the patients vaccinated. Still with remonths away potentially from children under 12 being able to be vaccinated. We are likely weeks away from having a booster cleared for the moderna vaccine. So in the interim, there is Ac Knowledgement that there is a lot more that has to be done. Thats why we will hear the President Talking about an emphasis on how to keep schools opened safely. We have seen hundreds of schools closed already him we are barely past labor day. There is Tens Of Thousands of teachers and staff in quarantine so a part of that School Plan i am told will talk about increasing testing, trying to encourage schools to use some of those funds from the covid Relief Bill for rapid testing, to try to find those asymptomatic testing, talk about ventilation in schools. We also saw on that list better treatments for people who are ill. So trying to increase use of monoclonal antibodies, trying to find what are some of the tools and the things and the various levers that the federal government has that they cannot only deploy and encourage and get out there publicly and push companies and local governments to do like Vaccine Mandates and other things. Let me ask you about those mandates. To this point what we heard from the White House is the president doesnt believe the federal government has the power to issue a mandate. They are probably right about that so what more can the president say and pressure to have mandates maybe in Air Travel, for example, and other places like that . Reporter yeah, you mentioned Air Travel. Thats like the pig one out there that medical experts said the federal government probably has some legal authority to mandate. I dont have any reporting to indicate coming today thats on the table. But that the a big one out there. Otherwise, well it comes to what the federal government can do with mandates, its sort of tipping around the edges, where the bigesque for mandates is going to come is on local levels, the Los Angeles School board is going to be discussing a Vaccine Mandate for students and staff there. You have colleges putting mandates, more employers putting mandates and one thing that experts say that the federal government can do is say to those institution, weve got your back. If you are a big company and you put a mandate in place, the federal government will support you if its challenge, same thing to state and local governments. So they certainly endorse it. There is maybe a few little areas where they can strengthen it. Thats what we will hear today. Shannon pettypiece, thanks so much. Coming up, for a second time a Florida Judge ruled against governor Ron Desantis and his efforts to ban Mask Mandates in schools. What it means for that states fight against covid, still ahead on Morning Joe. Fight against covid, still ahead on Morning Joe. Ayy, ayy, ayy yeah, we fancy like applebees on a Date Night got that Bourbon Street Steak with the oreo shake get some whipped cream on the top too two straws, one check, girl, i got you bougie like natty in the Styrofoam Squeaksqueakin in the Truck Bed all The Way home some alabamajamma, she my dixieland delight ayy, thats how we do, how we do, fancy like, oh find your rhythm. Your happy place. 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It easier than ever before for anybody to go cast a ballot. That does also, however, make sure that it is harder for people to cheat at the Ballot Box in texas. Now lets make this final. Election integrity is now a law in the state of texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday Signing into law a new Voting Bill. I am curious, so i guess there is a lot of cheating in texas. Tom heilemann, i didnt follow it closely in my job, i dont have to follow politics and news closely. Maybe you can help me out here. Thats why we have you here. There is a lot of cheating in texas, they have do this Election Integrity law. Now you Cant Cheat. How many arrests in a big state, what were there, 20, 30, 50, 200 people arrested for cheating . I think let me check my notes. Yeah, that number is zero, joe. Zero. What about georgia . Because georgia talked about Election Integrity, georgia, a big state also, 1,000, 2,000 people . Because they obviously had a serious problem or else they wouldnt have had to pass an Election Integrity law. How many people arrested there . Yeah, i believe that number is zero. There may be one or two who voted committed Election Fraud on Donald Trumps side, the numbers fewer than three. Small. Joining us now, derek johnson, the President And Ceo of the naacp whose Texas Chapter filed suit against that states new Voting Law the day it was signed. I dont get it. I dont get it the cleanest election ever run Donald Trumps Security Guy said and more people coming out to vote no fraud, widespread Voter Fraud in texas or Georgia Or Anything and yet theyre still passing laws and claiming that theyve now made a good situation great. This is people who are scared of democracy. You know when have you two Democracy Representative of all the citizens of the state. So the legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit. Many of us filed a lawsuit. But this is something i am familiar with. Joe you are familiar w. Are you from alabama. I live in mississippi. We have seen year after year where the demographics are shifting and people are scared that the power they thouGht They should have is not being shared by more people who are actually paying taxes, who are participating in this democracy, saying ways in which they would not have imagined. This is not 1950s 2021. Yet, were seeing it in every state. Its almost just reflective. Its in florida, Arizona Arksz where all these republican legislatures are. They keep making fools of themselves, you wonder whats going on in arizona. Its the outcome, someone in the office who is able to allow you the dogma dictate the public policy. We have to push back. Corporations in texas, individuals like you who recognize the republican party is a party of ideals and concepts and building a platform thats more inclusive, not a party to reemerge white Supremacist Behavior that should not be a part of our system. Naacp President And Ceo derek johnson, thank you. And coming up. What team is jumpoff . We will be at the far side of the line at zero 100. Speed is the key. Hes in good hands. Yeah. No hang tough. One of our next guests was in the band of brothers which premiered 20 years ago today. Actor Ron Livingston joins us along with our friend Roger Bennett who is in a podcast revisits that remarkable show and its role in chronicling the greatest generation. Thats just ahead on Morning Joe. Generation. Thats just ahead on Morning Joe. So then i said to him, you oughta customize your Car Insurance with Liberty Mutual, so you only pay for what you need. Hot dog or. Chicken . Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Ive spent centuries evolving with the world. Thats the nature of being the economy. Observing investors choose assets to balance risk and reward. With one element securing portfolios, time after time. Gold. Agile and liquid. A proven protector. 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A little rainy. 20 years ago today the Hbo Mini Series band of brothers premiered, gripping audiences with the true story of World War iis 506 parachute regiment. Two days later a terrorist attack would plunge america into war again. Now the actors are reuniting to reflect on Hbos Band of Brothers Podcast. Joining us now the host of the band of Brothers Podcast, Roger Bennett and actor Ron Livingston who portrayed captain lewis nixon, iii, in the mini series. I tell you one thing about the current, they sure clean up good. Yeah. We need some little more, son. Beethoven. Thats not mozart. Thats beethoven. Wow. Incredible ron, im sort of stammering here because for people that werent around at the time who may have been too young, i drove around in the days after 9 11 watching band of brothers, getting the sound track, listening to it over and over. It was just is this extraordinary moment in time I Cant put into words. You talked to people who watched band of brothers those weeks after 9 11 and it really resonated. Talk about that, talk about what it meant to you to be a part of this extraordinary moment in america. Well we, in our first episodes aired on September 9th. So we had a watch party, a bunch of the guys got together to watch it together. Thats the last pre9 11 event that i remember. Its sort of after that Moment Everything changed. And i think the show, it just went kind of handinhand with what was going on and it still is, 20 years later, you know, were getting out of the war that began shortly after the show aired. And i think there is a lot of parallels to it. And its to me also really caught up in that time. Yeah, Roger Bennett, tell me about this podcast and why you decided to do this. I adore band of brothers. Watching it for my first time September 9th, 2001. It represented everything thats great about the america i grew up with, filled with empathy, courage, every day heroism. Global leadership. Following these with which ive always associated america and last summer but in june 2020, there were approximately 300,000 second World War veterans still alive. But by June 2021 that number dwindled to just 1200,000. The youngest now are in their late 90s and when you read those numbers, it becomes clear, jay, why the band of Brothers Story becomes more important and ever more popular year on year, more and more young people find their story on hbo. Because its the remarkable many Enand Witness and tell their stories themselves. I think its unfathomable to imagine what would happen if it fades from more national consciousness. You know i watch band of brothers every year, the complete episodes, all of them. And this year as i finished watching it about two weeks ago. Given the poison of our politics today, it strikes me that band of brothers, the podcast, the series, itself, might cause some people to reflect on the fact that the united states of america is a force for good. Yeah, there is a reason the band of brothers is a zo remarkable and in interviewing him in episode one and Tom Hanks in the Ep Log of the podcast, these actors, dedicated themselves to authenticity to honoring the truth of the stories of the second World War. I grew one my grandfather. He was a desert rat. He wouldnt talk about his experiences. Hed just say thank god The Americans came in and saved us and much of the telling is the guns of and a half rhone, the dirty dozen. The Job Wait and the crew stripped away the myth oleyesing. In the first episode, Tom Hanks said to me, anyone seeing this for the first time need to say, this is not a celebration of nostalgia. This is an examination of the human condition. He wants people to ask themselves, what do you think, what would you do . Its really wrong and the cards, theyre true telling. The sacrifice you went through to really bring Louis Nixon truly to stage. Thats whats incredible about this. I wouldnt, in talking about band of brothers i very refer to my sacrifice, because i didnt really sacrifice. It was a huge opportunity to me. I was an honor to be a part of. You know to speak to your point, i think you can phrase it another way, you know, america is a force for good. The people, i would phrase it this way, the people of america can do just about anything when they pull together. The story of band of brothers would be very different if half the country was against it and when the rations came out and when it was time to enlist and you know half the country said, no, were not doing that. It wouldnt be the same story. So to me thats what i take away the band of brothers, a group of people pulling together and operating in a way that individuals just cant. Hey, ron, its willie geist. Im curious about your connections to the events of World War ii in europe and what you knew about it beforehand, before you stepped into this project . Because you got a Great Book to base it on, steve Ambroses Book and to him hanks and Stephen Spielberg driving it. Until you speak to the men that pushed into europe all over all that months, it doesnt really you cant fully accept the gravity of the enterprise they undertook, how unlikely success felt and the sacrifices they made so the world, frankly, could be saved . You know, my Moms Dad was a survivor of the baton death march. He was pretty much the duration of the war as a p. O. W. In philippines and japan. That was probably the extent of my knowledge of the direct experience of the war and even that, he just never talked about it until band of brothers came out. I think in our family, thats one of the great gifts of it was it sparked the possibility of a conversation and ive heard that time and time again from children of veterans of World War ii that say, you know, when that show came on, my dad who for 40, 50, 60 years had never brought it up, wouldnt go there. All of a sudden he felt like he could tell his story. You know, roger, there were moments back when i first saw this in 2001, there were moments Men Mika and i were watching it, about a year ago, that i dissolved, just dissolved into tears and in part of it was because it wasnt a two dimensional war story. You had, of course, the Character Ron played, nixon, a guy who was tortured. Other men who turned the war turned them into ghosts. You had the complicated story of sphere who had one of the more heroic moments of the entire movie. It was very, a very threedimensional war, not the glorification of war, that showed all sides. Weve got Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg to thank for that theyve dedicated themselves to cre 88 saving private ryan and realized that was not enough. They wanted to return to this theme over and over and create a Band Width to bring in your authentic stories. These true stories, stripping away the mythology and like you and like thousands across america, i watched band of brothers on an annual basis to reemerge myself and i foyed a new detail, a if you story, a new line. For me also, joe, the most powerful band of brothers back in april in the early days of covid when the pandemic was swirling across manhattan and paralyzing the world. I was trapped in and i taught my 10yearold Kid and every night, i introduced him to band of brothers, who watched episode after episode. It was true what you said, against the chaos of our reality, our presentday reality to immerse ourselves in a different idea of america. The idea that i grew up with to be honest. I am self sacrificed and these men did incredible things. They survived and many went back and became taxi driving, jantors, just every day men as ron said, didnt talk about it. And as Tom Hanks says in the Opening Ed sewed to the podcast, there were moments in history in which impossible things, unimaginable things have come to pass because likeminded people decided to get together and make it so that is the magic of the easy company story. Unlike your father and so many people so many heroes at the end when dickwithers looks into the cool camera and asked if he was a he. Reporter he says the heroes were the men that didnt come back. It was so true to life and so moving. I go es the final question we have, is when are you going to do a 12part Podcast Series on Office Space . Thats what willie and i really want to know. I was going to say, listen to rons episode. The first episode of this podcast. Will you just see an actor with incredible rage. Exactly. Incredible. The band of Brothers Podcast is out today. Ron livington and Roger Bennett. Thank you both very, very much. We really look forward to it. Thank you, guys. It really again its hard to explain how important this movie was, this series, for so many people. You know, talking to Jeff Bukas many years ago, i said, how in the world do You Guys do this . Jeff said, well, anybody has done a series like this before, for hbo, this was crazy. You know who gave testimony green light at the end to do it . Jack welch . His father. Really, he called his dad, he goes, dald, look, i am thinking about doing this. It is a huge gamble. But i think this story needs to be told. His dad said, you need to do this. You need to do this. It changed tv. It changed tv. It was such a revolution. It was mesmerizing. It was history. We dont teach history very well in this country of ours. It changed everything, The Way people looked at the industry it changed the view of the united states of america in its war on a lot of people unfamiliar wit really. And it was an emotional searing experience to watch all of those episodes one after the other and i do watch it every year and every year the same thing occurs to me at several points during watching it. I become quite emotional. Yeah. You tear up watching this. I get it. Coming up, the latest chapter in a weeks long fight over making children in florida schools after a Judges Decision now prohibits the state from enforcing sanctions on school boards requiring students to wear masks. But governor Ron Desantis still isnt backing down. Where his administrations legal challenge stands is next on Morning Joe but before we go to break, willie, who do have you on Sunday Today . As promised yesterday, Steve Martin. They get together. Boom. They left the set yesterday, went to midtown manhattan, sat down with these two guys for about an hour. Its a rare twoman sitdown. If you get Steve Martin and marty short together, Ut Everything i hope it would be. A little jimini. He delivered his favorite jimini line in Character Martin short. The two met on the set of three amigos. The first is he made a dig at him. He looked at his Art Collection and said how you can afford all this art . Because ive seen your work. And that was the foundation of their relationship and it continues exactly like that to this day some they got this great new Hulu Show called only murders in the building. It costars selena gomez, in a brilliant cast. It is incredibly funny. What a privilege to sit down with these two for an hour. Full conversation this weekend on Sunday Today. Cant wait for it. Wait for t ive lost count of how many asthma attacks ive had. But my nunormal with nucala . Fewer asthma attacks. 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Governor Ron Desantis is appealing the decision to the states District Court. In a hearing held remotely, just really ridiculous, Leon County Circuit judge John Cooper lifted automatic stay of his decision last week that desantis and State Education officials exceeded authority by imposing both the Blanket Ban on the Mask Mandate and financial penalties on local school boards that defy it. Judge cooper noted, quote, we are not in normal times and the Delta Variant is more infectious to children than last years coronavirus. Cooper also seemed to go out of his way to point out he frequently ruled in favor of florida governors in the past, according to the ap. Joining us, State Attorney for palm beach county, Dave Aaronburg and senior adviser for the government reform committee. He is now april adviser. How ridiculous that the hearing is happening because of covid. What happened, dave. Good morning, joe, mika. It was a win for local School Districts. This is the same judge that ruled for them on the underlying issue of Mask Mandates in school. Yesterdays ruling said Governor Desantis Cant Start defunding school pending appeals. That victory could be shortlived because now desantis is appealing to the first District Court of appeals which is more conservative. The appellate court judges in florida are overwhelmingly appointed by republican governors. Hasnt been a democratic governor in florida since 1998. And the appellate court could reinstate the stay that Judge Cooper rejected. But it is still another stinging Court Defeat for Governor Desantis, in a string of defeats. He lost the underlying case, this hearing, lost the matter over his antivaccine passport law, the ridiculous legislation that says private Companies Cant ask their customers for proof of vaccinations. He lost a social Media Law that says Facebook And Twitter cant ban Donald Trump and maga figures. He lost so many faces, he is the Bishop Sycamore of republican governors. Look at that. We dont have time to explain. High school football, espn, a whole thing there. Curt, among the extraordinary parts of the story, the idea that a republican governor, self described conservative wants to take the power in tallahassee and push it down and tell School Districts what to do. Weve had so many superintendents on, theyre teachers, educators, theyre like i am not interested in a big fight with the governor, i want my kids and teachers to be safe, parents mostly agree they should be in masks, yet i am getting pressure and having funding taken away by the governor. When i hear this going on, i think what party does Ron Desantis belong to. Republicans are saying we want big government out of The Way. We want decisions made at the local level, bow likal officials. We should trust The School boards and superintendents and people closest to people being governed. And he is trying a big mandate thats illegal on everybody else. What party do you actually belong to. Were seeing now this is all playing a major toll on his popularity. When you try to run for the presidency at the expense of your own constituency, this is what happens and he is paying the price. And he has done that, whether it is stepping on local governments, local decision makers or stepping on private businesses, local businesses. And science. And telling them they cant do what they think is best for their company. It is hard to believe. I am not sure where the republican party thinks this ends, not well. Law enforcement at the u. S. Capitol is preparing for a rally of former President Trump supporters who are planning to descend on washington next week. What could go wrong . Along with other security measures, Capitol Police Plan to reinstall a fence around the capitol building. Such fencing remained in place for six months after the January 6th riot. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold a Security Briefing for congressional leaders next monday, days before the justice for jay six rally, scheduled september 18th. The event organized by a group led by a former Trump Campaign Staffer and is meant to show support for capitol rioters who have been charged for what they did. Organizers say they want the event to be peaceful, they released a brief statement that reads we have a robust Security Posture planned for september 18th. All available staff will be working. Lets be clear, these people are coming to celebrate a mob that beat the hell out of Law Enforcement officers with american flags. Yeah. I was standing Last Night at the 9 11 memorial. I am thinking to myself, the republican party has gone from being a party that talked about Freedom And Liberty to a party thats literally holding a rally for domestic terrorists. Insurrectionists. In this country, egging it on. Whether they say they want violence, they want violence. Theyre posturing for a worse outcome than January 6th, it is unamerican and complete betrayal of american values. Celebration for seditionists. Thats what it looks like. Department of justice needs to go up the ladder to go after the leaders of the riots. Right now, we have hundreds of arrests of People Trespassing for lesser offenses. If you dont prosecute people at the top of the food chain, then January 6th was a dress rehearsal. Thanks so much. Thank you, guys. Great to have you both on. Willie, it is kind of unbelievable, theyre having an event. It is unbelievable, celebrating seditionists being sent to jail. Justice for j6, justice for people arrested for participating and beating up the police officers on January 6th. They turned villains into heroes. I hope we dont see violence like on January 6th. That does it for us. Stephanie ruhle picks up coverage right now. Hi there. I am stephanie ruhle. It is thursday, September 9th. Lets get smarter. This morning, President Biden and the White House are gearing up to unveil what they say is a major new approach to deal with covid, a six Point Plan to fiGht The variant and get the country back on a more sustainable path. Lets go straiGht To them. Steph, evacuating the unvaccinated. More than a quarter of this country. Step two, further protection for the vaccinated that may or may not need the booster shot. Step three, Keeping Schools safely open. Thats obviously a huge one. More than 750,000 cases of covid were recorded among children in the last month before school began. Today, the Los Angeles School board could vote to impose a Vaccine Mandate for school kids there. Remember, thats the second largest district in this country. Point four, increasing testing and pushing Mask Mandates. Point five. Protecting our economic recovery. And point six, improving care for those that contracted covid19. It seems to hit all the right notes. The real questions are about how much more the administration can do. Here are the facts