social media with posts that could defy the judge's orders. we'll get legal analysis on that new development. also ahead, 9 latest warning from the pentagon about potential disruptions to troop readiness and military relations. we're learning about more provocative news from russia and china's navys off the coast of alaska. good morning. welcome to "way too early" on monday, august 8th. i'm jonathan lemire. thank you for starting your day and week with us. we begin with a flurry of action. just days after being formally charged for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, trump spent the weekend testing the limits of the judge assigned to that case. now during thursday's arraignment the magistrate judge warned trump against interfering in the case telling him that his bond could be revoked if he tried to influence a juror, threaten or bribe a witness or if he retaliated. despite telling the judge he understood her warning, just one day later the former president posted on his social media site, quote, if you go after me, i'm coming after you. that message set off alarm bells within the justice department where special counsel jack smith quickly asked a judge to impose a protective order in the case to block trump from sharing evidence turned over to his defense team on his social media site. the doj's request stated this, if the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details or, for example, grand jury transcripts obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful reaction. the judge gave them until 5:00 this afternoon to respond to the doj request. they asked for a three-day extension, something that the doj balked at. in a response filing smith wrote this, rather than spend time complying with the court's order, the defendant drafted a filing as to why he did not have time to review and consider the five-page pro posted protective order. the judge concurred with prosecutors and shot down trump's request to have today's deadline pushed back. meanwhile, while this was going on, the former president continued to go after those involved in the case over the weekend despite being explicitly warned not to do so. his targets included former president mike pence and jack smith was a target both on social media and on this speech in alabama. >> deranged jack smith. doesn't he look deranged? have you seen the picture? he's a deranged human being. we're getting stronger by the day. somebody said you should treat him nicer. maybe he would be nice. let me tell you, this guy is a lost soul. bad guy. >> purple robes. meanwhile, donald trump's lawyer, john lauro says former vice president, mike pence, would make an appearance in the defense for the 2020 election case. pence, however, appears to be refuting that claim. take a listen. >> mike pence will be one of our best witnesses at trial. i read his book very carefully. and if he testifies consistent with his book, then president trump will be acquitted for these reasons. number one, mr. pence recognizes that john eastman, who is giving legal advice, was a renowned legal scholar. number two, mike pence there was an ask for it to be debated in different arenas. you may think somebody is acting inappropriately. mr. pence who's a lawyer never said to mr. trump i think what you're doing is criminal. that's very important. >> you can look at the tweets and public statements the president made all the way up to the night before and the morning of. look, what the president was convinced, it seemed to me, in december was i had some right to object or overturn electoral results. no vice president or any one person has the right too do that. he was talking about rejecting votes and then his lawyers suggested we return votes to the states. frankly, the day before january 6th, if memory serves, they came back, his lawyers did, and said we want you to reject votes outright. they were asking me to overturn the election. i had no right to overturn the election. >> lots to discuss and thankfully joining us now former assistant u.s. attorney for the district of columbia, an nbc news and msnbc legal analyst. glen kirshner. where does president trump's defense snand they've floated a number of them, first amendment and his attorney debuted on a number of shows yesterday. is there any snert how might they stand up in court? >> they won't stand up in court. let's be clear what's going on here, jonathan. john lauro is a mouth piece for donald trump. he's not an honest broker of the law or the facts. frankly, that's not his job, although i will say i'm really disappointed when he continues to try to i think mislead the public by saying everything is protected by the first amendment. everything my client said. yes, the first amendment protects words. words can also constitute crimes. when people enter into a conspiracy, guess what, they ordinarily use words to do it. they get together and agree to do it. once one co-conspiritor takes one step, an overt act, the crime of conspiracy is complete. so i was so disappointed because john lauro knows better when i was in court in the overflow courtroom on thursday and i heard him say the following, and i was furiously take being verbatim notes and we've gotten a transcript. when he said he couldn't possibly propose a trial date as he was ordered by the court to do because there was going to be so much discovery provided by the prosecution, he said the following. he said, your honor, obviously in a case of this magnitude there might be a massive amount of discovery and information that we would have to look through in order to make that determination, that is propoing a trial date. then he said something that infuriated me. we expect to vigorously address every bit on behalf of donald trump and often behalf of the american people. he doesn't represent the interests of the american people. he represents solely and exclusively the rights and interests of his client. what he was doing there, and it was playing to those of us in the room, is he was trying to bolster and mimic and parrot his client's claims that they're not prosecuting me, they're prosecuting you. i hope judge tanya chudkin will take him to task, not only his client, because he really does need to abide by the rules of ethics. >> so let's talk about these inflammatory posts and comments from trump over the weekend. his one about -- his first one there about coming after you, his campaign explained away. it was vague enough that one wonders if that would have any merit. some are explicit about the judge and pens and did he violate the magistrate's warnings? what kind of consequences for a man who is not just a defendant but running for sflez. >> yeah, great question. i think he came very close to violating the conditions of his release, though as i listen to the magistrate judge talk through the dos and don'ts of his pretrial lease, there will be some wiggle room. that's okay. all of it will be cleared up soon by judge chud kin that arguably violated his rights, there may be a hearing to address the apparent violations. >> glen kirshner, thank you. i'm sure we'll speak with you again soon. we'll be covering that hearing later today. still ahead here on "way too early," israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu indicating how he'll move forward with his government's judicial overhaul. what he says is the only thing left on the table. plus, an historic first. both the army and the marines are without leaders as republican senator tommy tuberville continues to block hundreds of nominations. the warning about the american readiness. you're watching "way too early." we'll be right back. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv (christina) wanna know the secret ingredient to running my business? 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(vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. trying vapes to quit smoking might feel like progress, but with 3x more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes - vapes increase cravings - trapping you in an endless craving loop. nicorette reduces cravings until they're gone for good. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv welcome back. israel's prime minister appears to be walking back his original plans to overhaul his nation's judicial system. in an interview with bloomberg news netanyahu expressed a willingness to stop short of implementing every change that had been originally proposed by his government, specifically netanyahu said he still wants to change the makeup of israel's judge selection committee but not pursue any additional steps of reform after that. parts of that plan have been passed through israel's parliament. at this point netanyahu has not publicly said it. for the first time in history, the army and marines are operating without a chief. it's prompting warnings from the pentagon about potential disruptions to troop readiness as well as military relationships. defense secretary lloyd austin said the absence of senate confirmed leaders could impact the effectiveness of the armed forces and strain international alliances. the holdup in confirming the next army chief and marine commandant are more than 300 nominations stalled by tommy tuberville who disagrees with the pentagon's policy regarding travel reimbursements with out of state abortion or reproductive care. he's blamed democrats saying they should schedule individual votes. individual votes on each nomination could be time consuming and diverse attention. elsewhere, the parents of a 25-year-old man are breathing easier after the u.s. coast guard found their son in a partially submerged boat that was 12 miles off the florida coast. nbc news correspondent marissa parra has more on the dramatic rescue of the man missing for nearly two days. >> in the moments of a miraculous rescue grate did i tud hits this mother like a wave. >> we cannot thank everybody. we just want to say thank you so much. >> this was her son charles gregory just hours before. the 25-year-old seen hugging his knees alone and lost at sea for almost two days after a fishing trip gone wrong. >> he lost his engine. when he got swept out to sea. his vessel got capsized. he lost everything. >> reporter: the clock was ticking. he had no food, no water. >> at any time marine life would be a concern. >> rescuers desperate spotted a sight for sore eyes early saturday morning. there was the 25-year-old waiving at them from a boat half full. >> we didn't want his legs to give out underneath him. >> loaded on to a guernsey on land, charles gives his parents a frantic weak sign he's okay. >> there's a god out there. i grave up hope. i should never give up hope. >> we are certainly glad he's okay. still ahead here, a historic exit from the world cup from the world cup from the women's national team. we'll have the highlights from their truly heartbreaking loss. plus, bad blood spills over leading to a wild brawl in cleveland. that's all straight ahead. we'll be right back. introducing the easy unlock. bring your at&t locked phone and t-mobile will pay it off and give you one of the latest 5g smart phones free! free your phone now at t-mobile! feeling sluggish or weighed down? it could be a sign that your digestive system isn't at its best. metamucil gummies make it easy to get the fiber you need. promoting your digestive health for a better you. metamucil gummies. the easy way to get your daily fiber. pepcid complete works fast and lasts for powerful heartburn relief. with an antacid that starts working in seconds- and a acid reducer that relieves occasional heartburn all day. other brands can't do both. pepcid complete. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv if she scores, sweden wins. the u.s. is out. if not, another round of penalties. hurtig. did it go in? waiting on a signal. wow. sweden wins. >> defeat by a fraction of an inch. that ball just barely crossed the line and the u.s. women's national team has been knocked out of the world cup. following a goalless 90 minutes plus extra time, the u.s. bid to win an unprecedented third consecutive title ended yesterday on penalty kicks. meagan rapinoe, sophia smith, kelly o'hara all missed kicks from the penalty spot before sweden converted to clinch the shootout 5-4. it is the earliest exit in tournament history for the u.s. women in only this team's second perked nalt at this shootout on the stage. they end the tournament on a 238 minute scoring drought, the longest in women's world cup history. remarkable run. there was some positive news for american women. simone biles is a champion. she returned at the u.s. classic outside of chicago. she won the all around balance beam and floor titles. she also had the highest score on vault. biles' return follows a two-year hiatus after she bowed out of the tokyo olympic games due to mental health issues. to basketball now and the white sox tim anderson did not play yesterday for chicago in what the team claimed was a planned day off but the white sox are also preparing for an extended period without their shortstop who is facing a multi-game fight against jose ramirez. the infielder squared off and started throwing legit punches in the sixth inning sparking a bench clearing brawl. ramirez decked anderson. teams expect to hear from the league about disciplinary action. we can expect very lengthy suspensions there. to cincinnati now and a rough welcome to the big leagues for reds rookie ryan richardson. the 23-year-old righthander gave up two home runs on the first two pitches of his major league career. that is tough. we will say this, that richardson would rebound from that extraordinarily rocky start to add two hitless innings. he finished with four hits, four runs, three walks, two strikeouts. nats beat the reds 6-3. i had the misfortune of being at fenway park as the red sox got crushed by the toronto bluejays 13-1. great weather, great seats up on the monster. embarrassing effort by the bo sox. time for the weather. let's go to meteorologist michelle grossman for the forecast. how is it looking out there? >> hey there, jonathan. great to see you. off to a good start. stormy start. dangerous heat continuing. we have wet weather following this morning in parts of the northeast, ohio valley. we'll get a little break and we have the chance of seeing storms later on this afternoon. you can see lightning in parts of the ohio valley. 87 million people impacted by the risk of severe weather. into the south central states. we could see strong storms there as well. we can see winds gusting at 65 miles per hour. you can see a few tornadoes, heavy rainfall, too. looking at the chance for flash flooding. always concerned about that this time of year. rainfall up to 2 inches. and the blue and four inches of rain in some spots. that's a concern as we go throughout the afternoon and evening hours. we're concerned, too, about the dangerous heat continuing. we're looking at 70 million people impacted from southern california. the south central states into the southeast. jonathan, some spots will feel like 115 today. back to you. >> all right. michelle grossman, thank you so very much. still ahead here on "way too early," president biden takes a trip out west this week. we'll take a look at the key battleground states he'll be visiting and what's on his agenda. plus, we'll dive into a new report on why the 2023 special election results are leaving some democrats feeling optimistic ahead of 2024. 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unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. and it's all right here. streaming was never this easy, you know. this is the way. you really went all out didn't you? um, it's called commitment. could you turn down the volume? here, you can try. get way more into what your into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. welcome back to "way too early." it is 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast. 2:30 out west. i'm jonathan lemire. thank for being with us. when it comes to special elections this year, democrats are feeling pretty optimistic. abc news reports an analysis from 538 shows democrats have outperformed the partisan teams in 38 elections. last month the democratic candidate in a wisconsin state assembly election lost by seven points in an area where republicans have a 22 point advantage. and where trump beat biden by nearly 17 points in 2020. in may the democrat in a new hampshire special election for a statehouse seat won by 43 points nearly doubling the party's estimated 23-point advantage in that district. so according to the report operatives from the left and right believe the recent success by democrats can be tied to public support for abortion access and divisiveness over donald trump's possible re-election bid. but republicans, as you might imagine, warned not to read too much into the special elections and for what they might mean for next year. special elections do typically have lower voter turnout and less money promoting them. there will be a lot of money in next year's election. joining us now white house reporter for the associated press. that's good news for democrats who are not used to, frankly, feeling good about these things. democrats tend to worry about election results. it comes as the white house is really trying to lean in on economic issues saying, hey, the economy is doing better than polls would suggest. that's going to be one of the themes of the president's trip. he heads out west on a multi-state trip today. >> president biden is leaving today for a few days out west. he'll be in arizona, new mexico and utah. he has a couple of campaign fundraisers. this is a domestic policy victory lap. he'll be talking about climate programs, the inflation reduction act. he's expected to expand the national monument near the grand canyon in arizona and he'll be talking about veterans health care in salt lake city. he'll visit a veterans hospital there. this is important for the president personally and be also it's affected hundreds of thousands of veterans around the country who received expanded benefits under a law he signed a year ago. >> we should note, arizona one of the true battleground states on the map next year. new mexico sometimes in play. making sure to spend a little bit of time there. you mentioned veterans melt care. this week does mark the one year victory of the pact act. it's an overlooked accomplishment of the last couple of years. i know you've got brand-new reporting, good reporting where you spoke to veterans and their families about the impact of this law. tell us what you learned. >> yeah. a lot of the veterans said this law has made an enormous difference in their life. some said in the past they used to feel not as positive with the va. they didn't feel they were getting the care and benefits they deserved. they feel in recent years that's changed. under the pact act if you had exposure to burn pits or the toxic substances while serving abroad, you're eligible for expanded benefits. that money has really changed some people's lives. they can move into larger homes, families, they can put money away for college, things like that. it has a big impact with a lot of people. for the president, his son served in iraq and the president's always believed the burn pits in iraq led to his son's brain cancer. for him there's a policy aspect, personal feeling he's making progress on behalf of his son as well. >> and, chris, lastly, real quick, the president and his team obviously going to maintain their vow of silence about all of the legal issues surrounding donald trump. give us a sense, they have to be pleased with the contrast after trump is making headline after headline and the president doing the people's business. >> biden basically, he's keeping his head down to keep working on the issues that matter to people. getting attention is going to be hard. the country is riveted. it's hard to tune in for a ribbon cutting when he's being hauled into court on charges related to january 6th. nonetheless, they hope this kind of shows -- proving the case that biden laid out to the american people a couple of years ago that he can get things done, that he can have bipartisan accomplishments and his predecessor, former president trump is all about himself, all but noise and they hope that holds up next year as well. >> white house reporter for the associated press, chris maguerian. terrific reporting this morning. coming up here, cnbc joins us live with this morning's business headlines and an early look at the markets which are up so far this morning. we'll get insight on the week ahead for wall street next. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. it ain't my dad's razor, dad. ay watch it! it's from gillettelabs. this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face... gamechanga! ...while the flexdisc contours to it. so the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke. for the ultimate gillette shave. the best a man can get is gillettelabs. time now for business and for that let's bring in cnbc's reporter joining us live from london. investors looking at more corporate earnings as well as key inflation readings this week. how's the market shaping up on the first hours of this monday morning? >> yeah. pt suddenly some nervous training. good morning. it's been a week where we've had to take in some earnings numbers that have shaped the market. we got on friday the nonfarm payrolls numbers or the unemployment figures, right? the expectation was that 200,000 jobs would have been created in the month of july. in fact, it was only 187,000 jobs that were created, which means that the u.s. economy is clearly cooling off ever so slightly or not growing as robustly as perhaps the fed would like. it does mean that the impact of those higher interest rates is beginning to take shape and get into the market. so it might get the fed to reconsider any substantial hikes from this point on. plus unemployment, however, did come in better than expected at 3.5%. it does give you a clear sense that, yes, things are slowing down but they are stabilizing somewhat. not necessarily headed towards a recession, but you're quite right. thursday's inflation print becomes the main talking point for this week. >> all right. we'll certainly be watching that. the warren buffett's berkshire thath way posted impressive news over the weekend. what did they share? >> yes, this one is a story of those higher interest rates and stock valuation. what basically happened they reported an operating margin of 10 billion u.s. dollars, the highest operating profit effectively for this company. up 6.% from $9.42 billion they reported a year ago in the same quarter. all of that on the back of the likes of apple having grown 14% thus far. 18% alone in the second quarter. it gives a clear amount of growth. they are at $177 billion of apple stocks. chevron is the other stock they own, that dropped1%. s&p 500 has grown. and good data and even the stockpile climbing to 150 billion u.s. dollars. >> and a real quick last one for you. three weeks into its run, "barbie," an absolute blockbuster continues to make history. tell us more. >> yeah. so that now is just about to pass that fated $1 billion mark, right, at the box office. can you believe it? it's continuing to rise even more sharply than "oppenheimer." more and more consumers go out to head to the cinema. this may actually be what the cinema has needed post covid-19 as well. in anticipation for more numbers coming through to the cinema. that is exactly what we're getting on this one. $1 billion is the mark. "barbie" continuing to turn heads. >> the summer of "barbie." live from london. thank you as always. still ahead here on "way too early," both russian and chinese ships were spotted near alaska over the weekend. we'll take a closer look at the response by the u.s. and the rising tension with both countries. "way too early" will be right back. was not letting me run the show. so, we switched to verizon business internet. they have business grade internet, nationwide. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand for a better night sleep. ( sfx: ding, ding, ding.) so now, he wakes up feeling like himself. ( sfx: crowd cheering ) the reigning family room middle-weight champion. ( ♪♪ ) get the rest to be your best with zzzquil. it's non-habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. better days start with zzzquil nights. and try zzzquil purezzzs melatonin gummies. 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(vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. welcome back. the united states dispatched four warships and a recon plane last week in response to another episode in international waters. eleven russian and chinese ships have approached alaska's aleutian islands. what's believed by experts to be the largest flotilla yet to approach alaskan waters. they never crossed into the waters and they were shadowed as they approached. it's reporting the journal cites the u.s. northern command saying the movement was, quote, not considered a threat. however, it's the latest international incident in a series of standoffs between the u.s. and either china or russia, and in this case both, amid rising tensions in the pacific and of course russia's ongoing invasion of ukraine. joining us now, former spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the united nations. she worked at the nsc and the treasury department. great to see you. this, of course, happens against the backdrop of escalating violence in the russia-ukraine conflict as well as these peace talks being held in saudi arabia. the russians weren't present but the ukrainians were there as well as a number of other nations. what's your read as to what, if anything, came out of those talks? >> right. such a dichotomy, right? you have escalating war inside russia, inside ukraine and you have growing threat, as you mentioned, coming from the russian side. you're setting it against what happened in saudi arabia. this is the second round of peace talks. the first was in copenhagen. now you have the second one hosted by saudi arabia. the significant part of that one is you had china attend. china did not attend the talks in copenhagen. all 40 nations that attended agreed that russian troops need to leave ukraine and that ukrainian land needs to be returned to ukraine. and china was on board with that. that's major. that's significant. especially when you think about the rhetoric they were saying in europe when at a certain point they were talking about how all soviet states were russian. that is a significant step forward but it is -- and it's great amid this escalatory behavior because that is inevitable when you are talking about a war of this kind. >> certainly we're seeing more strikes within russia and russians have increased the number of attacks in ukraine in recent days as well. because the ukraine war has dominated so many headlines, other international hot spots have slipped below the radar. one you've had is the crisis in armenia, azerbaijan. give us an update. >> i'm so glad you asked about this. it's not getting any coverage. it is in part happening due to what's happening in ukraine. what's happening is you've got an area called nagorno-karbakh. it is a territory governed by ethnic armenians who live there for centuries. it's a long story of how this happened, dates back to the soviet era and before that, the fact is there is one road that connects armenia to land in aze nagorno-karabakh. that's where they get the food and medicine. azerbaijan has been blockading the road. since mid-june, all traffic has been stopped completely, so no humanitarian aid, nothing coming from humanitarian organizations into the area, effectively starving 120,000 people there. the root of this, on one hand, while the dictator of azerbaijan feels emboldened to do this because the world is distracted by ukraine, because russia isn't emboldened to tell them to stop. on the other hand, it is a very clear sign of ethnic cleansing. you'd think with the history of ethnic cleansing, we could see it happening and identify it, but it is happening. it is happening under our eyes. folks on capitol hill have been loud on calling on the biden administration to put a stop to it because we have tools. we could threaten diplomatic consequences. azerbaijan gives oil to -- sells oil to western europe at a time we're trying to push russian oil off the market. >> important story and one that deserves a spotlight. so glad you brought it to us this morning. former spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the united nations, thank you. we will speak again soon. we appreciate it. up next on "way too early," the white house fed up with republicans taking credit for infrastructure that they voted against. well, the west wing is reminding americans on who's getting the job done. what they're doing across the country. coming up on "morning joe," a judge warned trump against making threats during his arraignment. what he said that led jack smith to request a protective order. plus, top aides in trump's inner circle could be trial witnesses in his three indictments. a fourth indictment could be on the way. how this puts those aides in a bind as the former president's cases advance. also ahead, the war on wokeness may not be a winning strategy. a look at what gop voters really want republican candidates to prioritize. "morning joe" is just a few short minutes away. 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(vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. welcome back to "way too early." the biden administration is doing more to show voters which projects across the country are a result of the bipartisan infrastructure law. some construction sites have signs which actually say that. i've seen a few myself. it seems to be to stop republicans from taking credit for projects they didn't vote for. one is tommy tuberville, that guy again, as he posted on social media that his state was receiving crucial funds for broadband access. the thing is, senator tuberville did not vote in favor of it. and president joe biden trlled him online later that day, posting, "see you at the groundbreaking." joining us now, senior politics reporter jonathan allen. good to see you again. this is part of the white house's play to try to get more credit for the economy. the polls, as we've been documenting for quite some time now, suggest americans still don't feel great about the state of the economy, but conomic measures by almost any metric show things are going pretty well. the white house is trying to push the message out there. do you think it is breaking through? >> well, number one, jonathan, there is a technical term for what senator tuberville and some of the other republicans have done. hoodspa, vote against and then take credit for it. voters say please rather than thank you, but to remind voters, it gives predicate for voters to take you seriously. this person does what they say. barack obama did similar things with infrastructure projects. remember multiple presidents taking credit for checks that went out to people, including president trump. this is well within the range of normal politics, and it's probably smart for biden to make sure he gets credit for that rather than folks who voted against it. >> certainly so. some democrats acknowledge the economy, despite the good numbers, is a place of potential vulnerability next year. jonathan, let's talk about mike pence. someone who has had trouble getting much traction in the 2024 race in the gop nomination. but he finds himself in the spotlight right now because of the indictments last week of donald trump for his efforts to overturn the election. trump targeted pence on social media. we heard a lot from pence in recent days pushing back. how is the pence camp trying to use this moment to try to get some momentum? let's remember, he actually hasn't even qualified for the first debate yet. >> that's right, jonathan. they have hats and other things that say "too honest," which is basically donald trump's criticism of mike pence. it's such a fascinating position. perhaps the most interesting character in this entire, in this entire moment. his testimony, his notes will be part of the prosecution of donald trump, and on the campaign trail, he has trouble completely distaning himself from the man. interesting to watch what mike pence does over the coming weeks and whether he's able to get on the debate stage and make the point he has, which is that he acted in the best interest of the nation. lastly, vivek ramaswamy is unknown, but he has gaining momentum with his positions. he ran into a stumble on june juneteenth, the holiday. >> he said it is a made up holiday. he put out a message a couple months ago commemorating juneteenth. he has to figure that out and come up with a position that's solid for the next june 19th, i think. >> some speculated he might be playing to be a potential trump running mate. we shall see. senior nbc news national politics reporter jonathan allen, great stuff as always. we appreciate it. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. he said the president asked him to violate the constitution, which is asking him to break the law. >> he never said -- no, that's wrong. that's wrong. a technical violation of the constitution is not a violation of criminal law. that's just plain wrong. to say that is contrary to decades of -- >> we're -- >> -- legal statutes. >> all right. let's get this straight. a technical violation of the united states constitution, that donald trump said he wanted to terminate. the you're keeping score at home, donald trump's lawyer moved from this being about the first amendment. >> free speech. >> free speech which, of course, it's not. in effect, it was laid out in the first couple lines of the indictment that it is not about free speech. to suddenly