Transcripts For MSNBCW Way 20240704

Survival to take the precedence over the best interests of israel. He has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in gaza, which pushing support for israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah. The highest ranking jewish elected official in the United States calling for a Leadership Change in israel, now five months into its war with hamas. Well have more of Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumers important comments and the reaction to them straight ahead. Plus, an update on Donald Trumps efforts to get his classified documents case dismissed. Well have expert legal analysis for you on that in just a moment. And while trump was in a courtroom, President Biden was on the Campaign Trail in another key midwest battleground state. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this friday, march 15th. Its friday. We made it. Barely. Im jonathan lemire, thanks for starting your day with us. And well begin this morning with a series of developments in Donald Trumps legal cases beginning with the judge in his classified documents case denying one of the expresident s requests to have the charges against him dismissed. Trumps legal team tried to argue that the law on National Security secrets is simply too vague, but judge Aileen Cannon ruled hours after the hearing that a dismissal over vagueness right now would be, quote, premature and better suited to be addressed later in connection with jury instruction briefing. Cannon did not rule on the other motion from which trumps team, which claimed the former president believed he was allowed to keep the documents at his personal records because of the president ial records act. The judge appeared skeptical of that argument yesterday saying at one point its difficult to see how this gets you to the dismissal of an indictment, no timetable yet on that decision. Meanwhile, just days before donald trump was set to face his first criminal trial, a historic first criminal trial, weve learned that the hush money case brought by the manhattan d. A. s office will likely be postponed. Trumps lawyers want to push the trial back by 90 days. In a new court filing yesterday, the d. A. s office said it doesnt oppose a brief delay but asked that it not exceed 30 days. At issue is about 31,000 pages of additional records the manhattan d. A. s office received this week from federal prosecutors in new york. Trumps legal team requested more time to review the material, and the d. A. s office responded saying it wouldnt oppose on adjournment. The judge presiding over the case has not yet ruled on a delay. The trial is currently set to begin very soon, march 25th. And now it looks like it could be late april or beyond. And then elsewhere on the trump legal front in georgia now, a decision is expected today over whether Fulton County District Attorney fani willis will be disqualified from the trump election interference case. In an interview with local station wsb in atlanta yesterday, judge scott mcafee, who is presiding over the case, said hed made a promise to everybody about the time line of his ruling and that he plans to keep it. Take a listen. I need to make sure i say exactly what i want to. Should be out tomorrow. So the message i always want to convey no ruling of mine is every going to we based on politics. Ill going to be following the law the best i understand. Trump and several of his Codefendants Have Accused Willis of misconduct and financially benefitting from a romantic relationship she had with special prosecutor nathan wade, who she hired on the case. In a hearing last month, both willis and wade acknowledged the relationship but insisted it started after wade was hired. Joining us now, former assistant District Attorney for manhattan, catherine christian. Hes also a legal analyst for nbc news and msnbc. Catherine, thanks for joining us this morning. So a lot of legal news to get through. Lets take it one at a time. First, trumps lawyers are trying to connect his classified documents case to President Bidens case, and the Special Counsel in that matter deciding not to press charges. Do you think that argument will work for trump and whats your read on judge cannon who at this point has been trump friendly moving against him yesterday . Well, it should work for him because even Special Counsel hur, the biden Special Counsel said there are significant differences between what donald trump is accused of doing and what joe biden did. Donald trump, remember, is not just that he allegedly willfully retained documents, hes charged with eight counts regarding obstructing, you know, not complying with the grand jury subpoena. And then when he complied with it, he only half complied, false statements. Hes allegedly altered or tried to have the Security Footage altered. So he is in a very different position than joe biden was. Joe biden complied. Joe biden, you know, was cooperative. Donald trump did everything he could to not comply. And dont forget there was a Search Warrant that had to be executed on maralago in order to get documents. So its a very different effectual scenario that donald trump is in than joe biden was in. Lets move to manhattan now. We have for quite some time been talking about march, the end of march and the end of this month as being the beginning of the historic first criminal trial for a former president. Now as we pushed to at least 30 days and i know some who believe it may be delayed further thanimate. The ithis is trumps strategy, push everything off as long as they can closer to the election or beyond it. You have said this trial delay is embarrassing for the d. A. s office. Tell me why and why you think this thing will actually begin. Its embarrassing not for anything they do, quite frankly. Its outrageous the United States attorney for the Southern District of new york would do this 30,000page Document Dump just this week and indicating theyre giving even more. In New York State prosecutors some say are have onerous Vov Discovery demands but just say theyre tough requirements. They are required to turn over 35 days after an indictment of all material that is relevant to the Subject Matter of a case. And theyre also required for material thats not in their custody or control, which would be in the federal prosecutors office, to make good faith and diligent efforts to get that material. And the manhattan d. A. s office has said they made a good faith effort to get the material from the Southern District of new york. In fact, last year they received material and they only receive a subset of the material from the Southern District of new york. Why didnt the Southern District of new york give the entire set instead of a subset, youll have to ask the Southern District of new york. Its always embarrassing for a d. A. s office or any prosecutor when they say were ready for trial, were ready to go, were all set, and then a week and a half before theyre like, okay, we are ready for trial, but well consent to at least 30 days because of all this New Discovery that had to be turned over. And we will have to see when the trial actually begins. Lastly and briefly, whats your prediction out of georgia today . What will the judge decide in its effort there . Hes going to follow the law. And the law is theres an actual Conflict Of Interest that the defense had to prove, its my belief they did not prove this d. A. Had a personal stake or interest in the outcome. They did not prove that she had a calculated plan to poison the defendants in the minds of the skraurs. Jurors. That would be the standard. And if the judge follows that standard, she made unforced errors. That does not mean theres an actual Conflict Of Interest. All right, we will have to we of course at msnbc will be following those developments later today. Legal analyst for nbc news and msnbc catherine christian, thank you so much for starting us off this morning. In washington, the Washington Post is going on the offensive in the republicanled Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden. Today white House Counsel ed sisical will send a letter to House Speaker mike johnson declaring the investigation over. He decries the long annual gop probe noting its largely turned up evidence of nothing. He writes this. The majority is wasting even more time on abusive steps by trying to reinterview witnesses who already testified, perhaps hoping the facts will be different the second time around. Enough is enough. It is obviously time to move on, mr. Speaker. This impeachment is over. Theres too much important work to be done for the American People to continue wasting time on the charade. Still ahead here on Way Too Early, well bring you Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumers harsh words for israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. Plus the latest on the growing humanitarian crisis unfolding in haiti as Hundreds Of Americans struggle to get out of that country as it descends into chaos. Those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. Weather when we com right back heres to Getting Better with age. Heres to beating these two every thursday. Help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need. Without the stuff you dont. So, heres to now. Boost. [street noise] [car door shuts] [paparazzi taking pictures] introducing, neds plaque psoriasis. Ned, ned, who are you wearing . He thinks his flaky red patches are all people see otezla is the 1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. Ned . Otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking. With no routine blood tests required. Doctors have been prescribing otezla for nearly a decade. Otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. Dont use otezla if youre allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can happen. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. With clearer skin movie night, is a groovy night live in the moment. Ask your doctor about otezla. Business. Live in the moment. Its not a ninetofive proposition. Its all day and into the night. Its all the things that keep this world turning. The gotos that keep us going. The places we cheer. And check in. They all choose the advanced Network Solutions and round the Clock Partnership from Comcast Business. See why Comcast Business powers more Small Businesses than anyone else. Get started for 49. 99 a month plus ask how to get up to an 800 prepaid card. Dont wait call today. Welcome back. We want to bring you this significant story now. Senate majority Chuck Schumer is calling for new leadership in izisrael. The highest ranking jewish elected official in the United States delivered a pointed speech on the senate floor yesterday criticizing israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus actions amid the war in gaza and his refusal to create a twostate solution. The u. S. Government should demand that israel conduct itself with a future twostate solution in mind. We should not be forced into a position of unequivocally supporting the actions of an Israeli Government that include bigots who reject the idea of a palestinian state. Israel is a democracy. Five months into this conflict, it is clear that israelis need to take stock of the situation and ask must we change course at this critical juncture . I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open Decision Making process about the future of israel. As a lifelong supporter of israel, it has become clear to me Netanyahu Coalition no longer fits the needs of israel after october 7th. The world has changed radically since then, and the israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past. Schumers speech stunned officials both in washington and jerusalem. To be clear, schumer, an Ardent Supporter of the jewish state for decades, his issue is not with israel but netanyahu. And more and more democrats have been condemning israels conduct in the war. Netanyahus Political Party responded to schumers comments saying israel is not a Banana Republic and, quote, Senator Schumer is expected to respect israels elected government and not undermine it. To be clear schumer said they would have elections to replace netanyahu. Meanwhile, the situation in haiti is growing more and more dire as lawless Gang Violence overwhelms the island nation. Right now Hundreds Of Americans are among those struggling to get out of the country. Nbc news correspondent Gabe Gutierrez has more. A catastrophe is unfolding in haiti. Each day people running for their lives. The Gang Violence in portauprince Now Trapping Americans caught in the cross fire. Hundreds of stranded u. S. Citizens registering with the state department. We just want to go home. Stuck in a makeshift hotel. Shes desperate to get back taflorida in time for her daughters wedding. Instead shes ducking for cover. We did hear gunfire like right outside of the gate and it was very scary. And we all went running and turned off the lights and hid in our room until it went away. Amid concerns the max exodus from haiti, the Dominican Republic is increasing patrols with its border, and the u. S. Is considering temporarily housing haitian migrants at Guantanamo Bay like it had done before. In the dominican border town, haitians were briefly allowed to cross into this closed off market. But if they went too far we saw bus after Bus Deporting them. This widow, mother of six, told us she was desperate for food. We dont have work, we dont have a president. We have nothing, she says. The u. N. Just announcing that its launching an air bridge, essentially a humanitarian corridor in the sky to bring over humanitarian aid from the Dominican Republic across the border into haiti. We also met one who says hes from miami but recently visited family in haiti. A gang overtook his bus leading with no passport and no way out. They took all my stuff, my documents, my bags, my phones, my money that i had in my pocket. This is the edge of chaos. A humanitarian crisis at yet another border. Our thanks to Gabe Gutierrez there, and of course well keep you posted on the situation in the days ahead. Next up here well turn to sports. March madness almost here, but the conference tournaments are already providing plenty of upsets. Meanwhile there are some possibly positive news for yankees fans after their teams ace met with a respected surgeon. Well have all of that, some nfl moves, and a check on the Weekend Forecast next. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch . Does he need to go to puppy school . Get his little Puppy Diploma . How much have i been spending on this little guy . When your questions about life turn into questions about money. Theres erica. The virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. Only from bank of america. Anthony this making you uncomfortable . And plgood. Arter. When youve got Type 2 Diabetes like me, you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack or worse death. Even when meeting your a1c goal. Discomfort can help you act. Im not trying to scare you. Im empowering you. To get real with your health care provider. Talk to them about lowering your risk of stroke, heart attack or death. Game plan has been executed perfectly by the wolf pack throughout this game. Gets it back. And nc state wins it over, but here in the quarterfinals they knock off the number 2 seed. Dukes March Madness resume takes a bit of a hit yesterday as the 11th ranked blue devils were knocked out of the acc tournament in a loss last night. Duke dropping its first conference tournament since 2013. They received a buy to get into the quarters. Now to some of the latest moves across the nfl. Free agency still happening, and Chicago Bears made their biggest splash of this period yesterday, Acquiring Star Receiver Keenan Alen from the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a fourth ranked draft pick. Alan is coming off his fifth season with a 100 receptions, which is tied for the third most in legal history. Hes still really good, nice move for the bears. In kansas city the super bowl champion cheaps are adding a Playmaker Set to sign the former cardinals receiver on a oneyear deal. His talent has always been bigger than his resume. Meanwhile the Washington Commanders sent their starting quarterback to seattle in a swap of draft picks. Sam howell now expected to be the backup for the sea hawks smith. The commanders signed Marcus Mariota in free agency and expected to sign a quarterback in the number 2 pick in the upcoming nfl draft. To Major League Baseball now. New york yankee fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief at least for now about ace pitcher garret cole. Cole will not need surgery on his ailing right elbow. That conclusion was reportedly reached after coles appointment with a renowned Orthopedic Surgeon in los angeles this week. The righthander is expected to be shutdown for at least a month, probably wont face Big League Hitters until late may or early june. It remains unclear who will be the yankees opening day star. Now to drama on the links in yesterdays opening round in the pga Players Championship. Rory mcllroy was the center of a controversial ball drop following a second tee shot drop into the water right there. Opponents questioning whether mcllroys hit above or below the red hazard line as it bounced into the water, which would be the difference of having to drop back by the tee or where the ball went. Mcllroy was comfortable by saying it was above the line and escaped the hole with a double bogey. He went onto tie a Players Championship record to finish for a share of the first round league. But the shot of the day belonged to a golfer named ryan fox. Kind of takes that club up and out, a little bit of a hold off fade there with the wedge. This could be really good. Look out, throws it in for the hole in one. Thrilling the crowd with an ace and golfers set to tee off for round 2 in about two hours. And to protennis and the buzz at the indian wells open in california. A swarm of bees forced a nearly two hour delay in yesterdays quarterfinal match. He swatted at the bugs flying around him before running for cover as players suspended just 19 minutes in the match. Dozens of bees attached themselves to the overhead camera that roams the court. Look at that. Before they were were escorted away by a man with a vacuum. Thats pretty terrifying. Time now for the weather and lets go to meteorologist Angie Lassman for the forecast. Severe weather. Yes, scary situations last night in parts of the midwest. We had multiple storm reports, eight of those and we do have videos from one of the worst we have not received the damage report from just yet. This is in winchester, indiana, you can see the twister moving across that area. It happened here if you look at our graphic about 7 39 is when the first Tornado Warning was issued for folks there. You can see lengthy ohio or another hard hit areas about 727 is when those warnings were issued. They had about 20 to 25 minutes when those twisters worked through. Unfortunately, we are getting plenty of reports of damage from those locations. The good news this morning is that all the watches and warnings have since expired. Although we still have a point of robust thunderstorms working across much of this region. Weve got thunderstorms across parts of the midatlantic. Weve got some working through parts of the south, and this is going to be the story here through the rest of the afternoon really and into the evening hours. We have the potential to see not as large of an area under severe risk through the day today, but still have a chance to see large hail in a couple of spots across the country, 6 Million People potentially impacted by that. Austin, san antonio, has a chance to see tennis ball sized hail. A lot going on. Weve got a couple of spots that will deal with rain mainly through the southern plains, but plenty of parades going on. Boston looks like a spot that might have trouble on sunday when it comes to the rain. New york, chicago, temperatures mostly sunny on both locations. The only thing chicago will have to worry about, jonathan, is some gusty winds. Well learn more as the sun comes up just how bad things were. Angie lassman, thanks so much. President biden made a visit to Battleground Michigan yesterday but didnt meet with a particular set of voters who have been deeply critical of some of his policies. What that could mean for his campaign ahead of november next on Way Too Early. Of november on Way Too Early. In 99 of people over 50. Its lying dormant, waiting. And could reactivate. Shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. And it could wake at any time. Think youre not at risk for shingles . Its time to wake up. Because shingles could wake up in you. If youre over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. 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Boost. Heres morikawa in a tough spot. Off the Comcast Business van. Look out where did the ball go . Oh, wait there it is. Back in to play and thats in what an impossible shot welcome back to Way Too Early. It is 5 30 a. M. On the east coast, 2 30 out west on this friday morning. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for being with us. President biden is back in washington after campaigning in michigan yesterday, mobilizing volunteers in his election fight against former president trump. Biden visited the city of saginaw, a diverse area with a plurality of black and latino voters in an effort to reach out to minority voters across the state. He did not meet with the states arab and Muslim Community leaders despite the states large arab and Muslim Community. This comes after 13 of voters in last months michigan primary chose uncommitted, protesting the president s handling of the war in gaza. Other white house officials, however, did meet privately with some arab and Muslim Leaders in chicago while biden was in michigan. Joining us now White House Bureau chief for the Washington Post. Tolu, so good to see you this morning. Lets talk about the president s trip to michigan yesterday and the choice not to meet with the arab and Muslim Leaders who have been so critical of his handling of the war in gauze op. What was behind that, and are there plans to meet with him down the road . There have been multiple plans to try to get white house officials and Arab American leaders in a room talking and debating about the president s policies. One of the reasons the president did not do that during this trip is that theres not very much that he can say to appease these voters who are very upset about his policies. He was hoping that at this point there could be a ceasefire, a sixweek ceasefire in gaza that would allow humanitarian aid to start flowing in bigger numbers and allow people to start making plans for the future and putting an end to these hostilities, but that has not been able to be achieved yet, and so not wanting to leave because you dont have something tangible to offer these leaders is one of the things in the back of the president s mind. He realizes theres a lot of unhappiness about him in the key states, states like michigan where we saw the huge number of voters voting uncommitted in a state going to be critical to his reelection. Hes hoping he can have something more tangible to offer these leaders at a future meeting in the future. Certainly the war in gaza bringing down his number of young voters which he so desperately needs. What is the Biden Campaigns pitch there . How do they hope to bring those voters back in the fold . And much like the arab or muslim leader voters, probably not going to break for donald trump. But in november might stay home or vote for a third party candidate, and that would really hurt President Bidens chances. Yeah, weve seen Polling Showing that, you know, the president s Third Party Options are hurting biden more than trump in a number of cases. There are a number of people arent happy with either choice. And biden needs to get support of those voters in 2024 and one of the things theyre doing is really trying to make a binary choice, fist going after the third party option saying they do not stand a vote and a vote for a third party is essentially a vote for a second term for donald trump, but also making a clear choice via their advertisements, President Bidens rhetoric saying this is an election about the democracy democracy being on the ballot, and if you dont vote for biden youre voting for another term for trump and trump is becoming more extreme, authoritarian. Whether or not that message plays with young voters, that remains to be seen, but theyre trying to make this a stark choice and make voters really think before having a protest vote or staying home in november. Come back soon. White house bureau chief for the Washington Post, thank you for joining us this morning. Still ahead, well go live to cnbc for an early look whats driving markets this morning. Plus u. S. Retail sales ticked up in february, but the gain was weaker than expected. Well break down the latest Consumer Spending report when we come right back. When we come right back. Did you know. 80 of women are struggling with hair damage . Just like i was. Dryness and frizz could be damaged hair that cant retain moisture. New pantene miracle rescue deep conditioner, with firstofitskind melting prov pearls. Locks in moisture to repair 6 months of damage in one wash, without weigh down. Guaranteed or your money back for resilient, healthylooking hair. If you know, you know its pantene. Time now for business, and for that lets bring in cnbcs Charlotte Reed who joins us live from london. Charlotte, good morning. Investors are looking ahead to another busy day of Economic Data including consumer sentiment, import prices and industrial production. How is wall street shaping up in Early Morning hours . Good morning, john. U. S. Futures are flat this morning after hot Inflation Data spooked wall street yesterday. U. S. Markets and treasury yields came under pressure after february wholesale prices. It came in hotter than expected 0. 6 on the months above expectations. Year on year thats 1. 6 , so thats the biggest move since the september last year. And these ppi figures come on the back of Consumer Price index that also came hotter than expected earlier in the week. So european markets are also mixed this morning trying to digest these numbers. All right, well, sales at u. S. Retailers rebounded last month amid high Interest Rates and steeper prices for every day goods. What does this say about Consumer Spending even as it didnt quite meet expectations . Investors are really watching these retail numbers trying to gauge how the economy is doing. And then as you say we saw a modest rebound after a steep decline in january. So around 0. 6 on the months, however, that was below expectation. Investor read the numbers as the economy is strong but cooling. So februarys numbers were lifted in part by higher gas prices and auto sales and building materials. Some dmaes believe the combination of a stubborn inflation with an economy are still growing meaning the fed can wait longer potentially to start raising Interest Rates. Theres been a lot of debate about the future of tiktok here in the United States. Italy fining the social media app millions of dollars for failing to protect minors. Tell us about it. Well, italys Competition Watchdog has fined tiktok 11 million for not taking adequate measures on content potentially harmful to young and vulnerable users. Regulators say potential videos showing selfharm had been spreading through profiling algorithms. Now, tiktoks spokesperson said in a statement they disagree with the decision that the platform had restricted visibility of these videos for minors. Now, of course in the u. S. Tiktok is facing a ban unless its owner Chinas Bytedance sell it after six months after being passed in the House Of Representatives on wednesday. Lawmakers view tiktok poses a National Security threat over data of u. S. Users, potentially falling in the hands of the chinese government. John . 11 million, hardly a significant sum for the company the size of tiktok. A statement made and well keep watching its fate here in the United States. Charlotte reed, thank you and have a good weekend. Up next here russians are heading to the polls ahead of a threeday president ial election that president Vladimir Putin is certain to win again. Well discuss what six more years under putin might look like when Way Too Early comes right back. [ ] if youre only using facial moisturizer in the morning, did you know, the best time for skin renewal is at night . Add Olay Retinol24 to your nighttime skincare routine. It combines Hydrating Moisturizers with powerful retinoids to renew millions of Surface Skin Cells while you sleep. Plus, it hydrates better than a 100 retinol cream. Wake up to smoother, youngerlooking skin with Olay Retinol24. Learn more at olay. Com this has been medifacts for olay. [street noise] [car door shuts] [paparazzi taking pictures] introducing, neds plaque psoriasis. Ned, ned, who are you wearing . He thinks his flaky red patches are all people see otezla is the 1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. Ned . Otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking. With no routine blood tests required. Doctors have been prescribing otezla for nearly a decade. Otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. Dont use otezla if youre allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can happen. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. With clearer skin movie night, is a groovy night live in the moment. Ask your doctor about otezla. You can make money the hard way as a bullfighter live in the moment. Or a human cannonball. Or save money the easy way, with xfinity mobile. Existing customers can get a free line of our most popular unlimited plan for a year not only will you save hundreds but youll also be joining millions who have connected to americas most reliable 5g network. Sure is a lot safer than becoming a stuntman for money. Get a free line of unlimited intro for a year when you buy one unlimited line. Visit xfinitymobile. Com today to learn more. Youre looking at live pictures from moscow where the polls are open in russia this morning with the nations first president ial election since 2018 now set to run through sunday. As you might imagine, russian president Vladimir Putin is expected to easily secure a fifth term as president extending his rule by six more years. This is not exactly the most free and fair election. The ap reports putin is running virtually unchallenged as his political opponents are either in jail, in exile abroad, or in the case of Alexei Navalny, deceased. The ap adds observers believe theres little to no expectation the election will indeed be free and fair as ballots are counted across 11 different time zones including the illegally annexed regions of ukraine. Joining us now former fbi Special Agent and National Security analyst for nbc news and msnbc, clint watts. Good morning, clint, thanks for being here. Youre following the situation on the ground in this conflict including a series of Drone Strikes that ukraines has been able to pull off in russia. Give us an update on those and the fighting in front on the ukraine side. Jonathan, really interesting how the battle has changed two years in. What youre seeing ukrainians do because they are starved for resources is doing some Strategic Drone strikes in key locations. So what theyre doing is actually going into russia with these Drone Strikes. Moscow resides a few hundred miles up here to the north, but youre seeing Drone Strikes hit oil reserves here to the east of moscow, and also down here in whats known as the main Logistical Center that supplies the Russian Troops inside ukraine. So you have Drone Strikes all inside russia, and thats really to send a message i think to the russian people on the day theyre going to the polls, dont forget what that situation is and take that battle home. You saw russian strikes around the kharkiv area going after television infrastructure. The battle around the front lines has not changed very much. If you just look whats been going here very consistently over the last few months the russians are making small and i mean small incremental gains using many, many troops around places like bakhmut and in adivka. That battle line is somewhat static, the ukrainians trying tocurve resources while the russians are committing reserves in a very dynamic way. The question is will they achieve a break out through those offensive lines. Reports coming in now Missile Strikes in odesa at this moment as well. Clint, Vladimir Putin widely expected to win. Hes basically running unopposed. It wasnt about a year or so back where it seemed like his grip on power was weakening. The mutiny with prigozhin and things have stabilized for putin and comes after navalnys death. Give us your sense what another six years of putin in power will look like for russia and the world. Its really fascinate, jonathan. A year ago we were talking about is this the end of putin in his fifth term. Hes going to easily take a sixth term and he has no challengers because a month ago Alexei Navalny was suspected of being killed in that prison. Everyone thinks that. If you look back a few months before prigozhin mysteriously dies in that aircraft which was the group around a year before and made only gains for the russian military. So looking forward there is no domestic opposition to putin inside russia. And the russian economy is surprisingly doing quite well. Add to that some Battlefield Gains recently inside ukraine. Putin is in a much better position domestically include russia now than he was a year ago, and he sent a clear message to russians. He wont be opposed, and if he is those Opposition Leaders will be eliminated. Clint, lastly, we heard again from putin this week about the threat of using weapons, first time hes said that in a few months. The u. S. To be clear say they dont believe the posture has changed, but why do you think putin is playing that card again in. I think, jonathan, theres a couple things that have come up. Every year we see some sort of Nuclear Threat or chemical threat or some sort of disinformation about it. What it does is it strikes fear into your opponents the war could escalate. You might remember a couple weeks ago president macron made comments about maybe the United States cant support with weapons, france would send in troops or support with troops or be more deliberate. And youre seeing eu and nato Allies Step Up and donate massive amounts of equipment off the top for their governments, small ipcomparison. Hes trying to send a message that the war if it were to escalate he would use nuclear weapons. Thats a way to mostly incite fear, give some pause and create that emotional and tactical space to do what he wants. Clint watts, we appreciate it. And we should underscore as russia does make those advances and putin seems poised to secure another term in office, the United States seems ukraine. Up next on Way Too Early, donald trump has been Holding Meetings with several potential cabinet picks, and is now considering a Hedge Fund Billionaire to be his Treasury Secretary if he wins in november. Well tell you who that is and bring you the latest from the Campaign Trail. Then coming up on morning joe, the latest in trumps legal troubles as a florida judge denies one of his efforts to tea rail the federal documents case while the manhattan District Attorney says he will not oppose a delay in trumps upcoming hush money trial. The new evidence that just became available and what that evidence and the delay could mean for the former president. Also ahead, well show you mikas sitdown interview with Personal Finance expert suze orman and get her take on the state of the economy. You wont want to miss that. Morning joe, just moments away. Away. 12 hours of relief. 12 hours mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from Chest Congestion and any cough, day or night. Mucinex dm. Its comeback season. Now try Mucinex Instasoothe sore throat medicated drops. ella fashion moves fast. Now try Mucinex Instasoothe Setting Trends is our business. We need to scale with customer demand. In real time. jen so we partner with verizon. Their solution for us . A private 5g network. ella we now get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. marquis with a custom private 5g network. Our customers get what they want, when they want it. jen now were even smarter and ready for whats next. vo achieve enterprise intelligence. Its your vision, its your verizon. Hey asthmas got you going through it . 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There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting and in terms of also, the theft and the bad management of entitlements. Tremendous bad management of entitlements. Theres tremendous amounts of thing, numbers of things can you do. So i dont, you know, necessarily agree with the statement. I know that theyre going to end up weakening Social Security, because the country is weak. After days of backlash following that cnbc interview trump is trying to change his tune. In an interview with far right breitbart he will never do anything to hurt Social Security or medicare. The Biden Administration responded trying to cut by billions of med kaye every year in office. Confirmed monday wants to try again if elected and now his campaign thinks he can trick voters because they kel the pulitzer winners at breitbart the opposite. Stark there from wilmington. With speculation mounting around who trump will pick to be his running mate new reporting reveals the former president has been informally interviews potential Cabinet Members and trump discussed possibility of Hedge Fund Billionaire john paulsen. A substantial trump donor recently hosts a 1 million per person fundraiser for trump at maralago. Earlier this primary season trump mentioned paulsen during a speech as a Potential Fit at treasury saying, he makes a hell of a lot of money. Joining us now, Politics Editor for bloomberg laura davison. Good to see you, laura. So trumps last Treasury Secretary steven mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, Extraordinary Wealthy And Commerce Secretary william ross and we know trump prioritizes money and the people he likes to surround himself with. Tell us more what we know about paulsen if that was a potential pick and who else touch might be looking at . Wealthy, worth more than 4 billion and has been a big trump supporter. Hosted this fundraiser a couple months ago, another one already on the calendar. Expect to see the people trump is looking at are also people attending, hosting and writing big checks for these fundraisers. This is something trump is looking closely at. Hes also looking at other folks to be treasury. This will be a key post. Other big finance names, jeff yass, noticeably a big investor in tiktok, another wall street name and familiar name bob lighthizer, key Trade Officer for the trump administration. And trump met yas suddenly flipping on Whether Tiktok should be banned. Talk about the Social Security and medicare issue here. Facts are an inconvenient thing for donald trump as the Biden Campaign points out. Pe did in fact try to cut it trial in office and sutted again this week he might. The president s campaign pounced on it and biden himself on the road in the midwest this week talked about it. Tell us how big of a role this issue will be between now and november . This is going play a huge issue. Of course, the majority of voters are people who are nearing retirement or will be, are already retired. Medicare and Social Security are key pillars of kind of peoples everyday wellbeing. Its notable nikki haley, Donald Trumps opponent in the primary race just until a few days ago, she was, had plans to cut Social Security, raise Retirement Age and donald trump went after her for that aggressively. We see a pivot to the general election saying, oh, maybe i might do something with Social Security and medicare and so this is going to be a key Tension Point and something that democrats feel like they have the upper hand on with voters. Lets talk about project 2025, which is trump loyalists extreme plans to remake the federal government in trumps image, if he were to be reelected. Slash parts of bureaucracy stack others with ideologues. Talk what weve learned what project 2025 would look like and what kind of warnings are democrats sounding . Yes. This is a project the Heritage Foundation is heading up and basically its two parts. One, a bunch of policy doctrine. Publish hundreds if not thousands of pages sort of policy prescriptions for a second Trump White House as well as started taking in resumes and vetting potential candidates for trumps second term if he were to win. Important to note here project 2025 and the Trump Campaign dont necessarily get along. Not necessarily working in lockstep. The Trump Campaign poohpoohed efforts saying they dont work for us. Well decide whos in the Trump White House. Trump is famous for deciding he likes someone, then changing his mind last minute. Something democrats sounded the alarm on saying look, these are expositions. We should look closely what this project is and attention between the people heading this up as well as the Trump Campaign who doesnt like when others speak for him or make Policy Decisions for him. Real tension there certainly. Also we should note again that once trump took over the rnc they ousted about 60 staffers there again. Some believed not sufficiently loyal. As far as 2025 goes, so Many Democrats point out saying, look, think about the stakes of the next election. With that would change in our country. If trump. To win again. We will certainly keep an eye on it and appreciate the reporting this morning from laura davison, Politics Editor from bloomberg. Appreciate it. Thanks to all of you for getting up Way Too Early on this friday and all week long. Morning joe starts right now. Take time to write. I need to make sure i say exactly what i want to and i plan to get everyone. This week . Should be out tomorrow. So the message i always want to convey, no ruling of mine is ever based on politics. Im going to follow the law best i understand