Transcripts For MSNBCW First Look 20200526

Good morning, everybody. I hope you all enjoyed your memorial day. It is tuesday, may 26th. And im yasmin vossoughian. America and the world saw two very different displays of leadership this memorial day. One from the president who made two public appearances yesterday without wearing a face mask. The other from former Vice President joe biden who emerged from his home for the first time in two months yesterday wearing a face mask. The president participated in the traditional wreath laying cemetery at Arlington National cemetery and spoke at baltimores ft. Mchenry as the death toll from coronavirus inches closer to 100,000. The president declared the service of americas Fallen Soldiers to those serving on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. In recent months, our nation and the world have been engaged in a new form of battle against an invisible enemy. Once more, the men and women of the United States military have answered the kale to duty and raced into danger. Tens of thousands of Service Members and National Guardsmen are on the front lines of our war against this terrible virus. Joe biden laid a wreath honoring Fallen Soldiers at a delaware war memorial and urged americans to, quote, never forget their sacrifices. It is the first time that hes been outside of his home since march 15th. Biden, his wife and the members of his security detail all wore face masks. The former Vice President and his staff were so diligent when it came to social distancing. At one point, an aid could be heard telling reporters to, quote, back up when they tried to press in closer. Biden caught the president s attention, of course. Trump repeated a picture of biden quoting, this might help explain why trump doesnt like to wear a mask in public. By the way, were all looking like that wearing a mask diligently because its important. So despite the u. S. Nearing 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the memorial day holiday brought photos and videos of crowds taken over the weekend are prompting concerns about a resurgence from the virus. That number is 5. 5 million. Videos of jam packed pool parties at lake of the oh czars in missouri on saturday showed hundreds of people blatantly ignoring signs to practice social distancing. It has prompted the county to issue a travel advisory and the Kansas City Health director is calling for all of the attendees to selfquarantine. And in point pleasant, new jersey, yesterday, a crowd of hundreds of people, many of them without masks to open the state. Later governor murphy drased the issue insisting his focus is on public safety. And now at least 10 medical and pharmaceutical companies are testing their vaccines and the latest to add to that list is novavax. It has begun human testing in phase one for its vaccine, which will include 130 Healthy People ages 18 to 59 in australia. The study expects results in july and if it is deemed safe to proceed a second phase will begin in multiple countries, including the United States with a broader age range and a stronger focus on if the risk of the coronavirus is actually reduced. Novavax received 138 million in funding which is backed by bill gates. Novavax predicts it could produce up to 100 million doses just this year and possibly more than 1 billion next year. And as the death toll nears 100,000, the coronavirus has hit hardest in areas that vote democratic. The same areas that voted for Hillary Clinton back in 2016. Counties won by President Trump in 2016 have reported just 27 of virus cases and 21 of deaths. Even though they represent represent 45 of the population. How to combat it and how quickly and completely to reopen. Joining me now, julia manchester. Great to see you on this tuesday morning. Thanks for getting up early with us. I want to talk about this stark contrast that were seeing first for the former Vice President joe biden and President Trump during memorial day celebration. Certainly a split screen moment where you saw the president not wearing a staff. His staff, it seems, for the most part not wearing a mask around him, and then you see biden with everybody around him, including himself and his wife, dr. Jill biden, wearing a mask. What type of message does that send . These two split screen moments yesterday of men running against each other for the upcoming november election . Yasmin, its amazing how something as simple as wearing a mask here in the United States amid the Global Pandemic has become such a political message, if you will. President trump not wearing a mask very much goes along with his messaging throughout the pandemic that hes essentially making his own rules for himself. Remember, a top aide to Vice President mike pence whose press secretary tested positive and shes, of course, married to one of President Trumps top aides. So there are people very close to the president who have tested positive and he has continued to not wear a mask. And i think it goes to show you how much he wants to get back to normal, if you will, and how much hes trying to make his own rules. Joe biden, on the other hand, is really trying to set an example essentially wearing a mask showing, you know, what he believes the public should be doing. He is essentially then saying that he should continue to follow cdc guidelines, follow the science and such and that is what youre seeing joe biden do. So two very stark differences and one very important thing to point out for both of these men. Theyre both over the age of 70 and theyre both very susceptible to this virus, as well. So lets go back to this report that i find fascinating and i understand it, as well. The hardest hit areas are primarily in dense areas like new york, los angeles, so on and to forth. If you think about the tourism industry, so it makes sense, but what do you think it means for the democrats as we head towards the november election . How could this affect the ballot box . I think in a way this could drive out the democratic vote. And in a lot of these hard hit communities, this could drive up the urgency to go out and vote. Two very different populations and how theyre responding to this. And i think for democrats, youre going to see them continue to drive home this message of this is a Public Health crisis, we need to put on the brakes, not reopen too quickly, but youre going to continue to see republicans, President Trump supporters, to really publicize those unemployment numbers that are very high and really emphasize the need to get the economy back to normal because we know that is something President Trump has campaigned on. Really in 2016 and throughout his presidency. Julia manchester, my friend, stay close. I will talk to you again in just a little bit. So as the nation observed memorial day yesterday, the president took to twitter to insult a marine officer and congressman conor lamb calling him a, quote, american fraud. Just a week before the states primary, trump threw his support behind Shawn Parnell, an Army Combat Veteran running for lambs 17th congressional district. While misspelling lambs name, the president sweeted Shawn Parnell is an american hero. Connor lamm, with two ms, will kill 2a, voteded to impeach on nothing. A total and complete sean parnell endorsement. However, lamm was one of 15 democrats to not vote for Speaker Pelosi back in 2019. In a response, lamm tweeted in part that republicans have been, quote, lying about my record since the day i became a candidate. Still ahead, the latest over the legal battle over mailin ballots. Republicans are now setting their sights on california. And later, the World Health Organization is out with a warn background a second peak where the coronavirus is declining. Those stories plus a check on your weather with bill karins when we come back. Er with bill when we come back. Still fresh. Unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums and possibly tooth loss. Help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. Leave bleeding gums behind. Parodontax. Welcome back, everybody. The Republican National Committee Filed suit on sunday against California Governor Gavin Newsom for an executive order to send every registered voter a ballot by mail for this years election. In a tweet announcing the action, Republican Party chair woman Ronna Mcdaniel called newsomes order a radical plan and a, quote, recipe for disaster that would create more opportunities for fraud and destroy the confidence californians deserve to have in their elections. The suit is joined by California Republicans and the Republican Congressional Committee argues the order deprives californians of their constitutional right to vote by making fraudulent voting inevitable. It follows a complaint filed that the governor is making, quote, an unlawful attempt to super seated and replace election law. Newsome said the ballot is important, but it is not a xwut for locations. Joining me now with more, danny cevallos. Great to see you on this tuesday morning. So let me get this straight here. Youve got the rnc basically saying that california voters are being deprovided of their constitutional right to vote because they can choose to vote by mail. So at this point, it seems like governor new so masome is sayin have the choice, you can use this ballot arriving in your mailbox at your house or if there are physical locations, if is the key word, if there are physical locations open in november, you can go there, as well. What do you make of this argument . The deprivation argument made by the plaintiffs in this case goes like this. That if you send out ballots and you allow everyone to vote by mail, that invites voter fraud. And voter fraud dilutes the votes of the people who vote lawfully. In fact, it arguably risks them having their vote not counted at all when the inevitable challenge comes in court to actually invalidate these ballots that were sent in. Thats the argument, at least, in the complaint, that voter dilution will occur even though more people are voting because they may be fraudulent votes. Youre going to dilute the votes of the people who lawfully voted. But what about the fact that im sure the governor, you know, making the argument that this could feasibly stem the spread, stop the spread of the coronavirus if we are, in fact, in a phase two of this thing resurging in the fall and we are in the midst of a november election, especially for those that are more susceptible to getting a more extreme form of this virus and allowing to participate an election by mailin ballot versus having to go into a physical location. It then gives them the opportunity to, in fact, vote, otherwise they would not have that opportunity if, in fact, they want to stay safe. There is no question in the intent he and the Public Policy behind governor newsomes order is to avoid increased infection. The argument against it by the rnc and the congressman and all the other plaintiffs is by doing so, you are sending votes youre not creating a system that has enough procedural safeguards. Youre sending ballots out to all registered voters and that could include people who are dead, people who are registered in multiple places. When you do that, then youre inviting disaster. Thats the argument. On the other hand, you have governors and states trying to figure out a way to cope with this pandemic and also ensure a valid election in november. Well, it seems like this is going to be a fight that will take us to november and a solution needs to be found, considering what we are facing with regard to this pandemic. Danny cevallos, thank you, as always. Still ahead, as more and more states reopen, there is an ongoing debate about places of worship. The president has deemed churches essential and now some are fighting to open their doors. We are back in a moment. S. We are back in a moment. Welcome back, everybody. There is a battle being wage dollars over reopening houses of worship. Nbcs Lee Alexander has more on this. The separation between church and state is facing a new test as houses of worship nationwide fight to open their doors. In minnesota with malls starting to reopen, some pasters announcing theyre doing the same. Now governor tim walls is changing course. We have a solid plan that if followed can keep people safe. In florida, catholic mass will be allowed to resume in miami dade and broward counties. We have built a plan to slowly allow people to enter our parish buildings. And california governor newsome issued strict guidelines for allowing Worship Centers to reopen in the coming weeks. And rather than passing a collection plate, worshippers are encouraged to use a stationary box or online giving. At blessed sack meant in massachusetts, they are taking notes. In order for people to come to church, they have to register. For weeks, Health Officials have traced outbreaks to houses of worship. Thats why many leaders say its still too soon. Right now, its truly irresponsible to open the doors of our chuch. In atlanta, pastor kevin muriel says this sanctuary could sit empty for months. 500 african methodist churches will be closed for months. If we can ensure any parishioner is safe without any risk, thats when well come back. All right. Our thanks to nbc thes Blain Alexander for that report. Lets switch gears and get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. Good morning to you, yasmin. Great to see you once again. Over storms possible in areas of the northern plains. We were drenched yesterday in areas of south florida. Thats goes to exit a little bit during the day today. So we see three areas of rain. One near kansas city, houston, corpus christi. Then theres the rain off the florida east coast. As we go throughout the day today, a lot of the rain will be shifting offer the texas southeast coast. In houston, the weather will be improving. Bu montana towards lake charles. As we go throughout this afternoon, heavy rain over the little rock area. A chance of flash flooding up to lincoln, nebraska. Here is the forecast for where the heaviest rains will be. You see hit and miss all through areas of the south. Were get to go that time of year, its warm, its humid. And in the afternoon, youre going to get those storms from mississippi through alabama. And if we do get any severe storms today, from des moines, mason city, lacrosse into areas of northern wisconsin, a few tornados, large hail and damaging winds possible and these storms should stay just south of the minneapolis st. Paul area. For todays forecast, were warming it up in the northeast. Boston should be near 80 degrees today. Temperatures 77 to 78. Well notice that that warmth continues throughout much of the country. Take a look in the west, yasmin. Were going on be about 108 to 110 in phoenix the whole entire rest of the week. Major heat wave and record heat in the west. Well talk about that coming up. Thank you, bill. Still ahead, as the nation nears 100,000 coronavirus deaths, the president is defending his golf outings over the weekend. The president has repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine for treating coronavirus, but the World Health Organization is raising concerns. D Health Organs raising concerns you wouldnt accept an incomplete job from anyone else. So why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms which most pills dont. Get allinone allergy relief for 24 hours, with flonase. Since your ancestors served in world war two. Which most pills dont. Many of their stories remain untold. Find and honor the veterans in your family. Their stories live on at ancestry. There are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. Welcome back, everybody. Im yasmin vossoughian. Were going to begin this half hour as a trial looking into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and treating coronavirus patients being temporarily suspended for safety concerns. The director of the World Health Organization making the announcement just yesterday saying in part this, the executive group has implemented a temporary pause within the solidarity trial. While the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board. The director noted that the drug is still generally seen as safe in treating malaria. In an interview over the weekend, President Trump said he had, quote, just finished taking a twoweek course of the drug. The medication he has vigorously promoted as a preventive or a curative treatment for the coronavirus. And President Trump yesterday continue to go defend his golf outings over memorial day weekend as the u. S. Coronavirus death toll is approaching 100,000 lives lost. In a series of tweets, the president argued that he played, quote, to get outside for a little exercise before complaining about the medias scrutiny. And then tried to deflect attention elsewhere writing in part this, some stories about the fact that in order to get outside and perhaps even a little exercise i played golf over the weekend, the fake and totally corrupt news makes it sound like a mortal sin. They are truly deranged. They dont mention sleepy joes poor work ethic or all of the time obama spent on the golf course, often flying to hawaii in a big fully loaded 747 to play. What did that do to the socalled Carbon Footprint . Obama played 98 rounds of golf through this point in his presidency. By comparison, trump has spent all or part of 248 days at a golf course. Nuller reports that at this point in his presidency, obama made three vacations to hawaii. By comparison, trump has made 30 trips to palm beach totalling over 51,000 miles. And the president is threatening to pull the Republican National convention from charlotte, north carolina, over the states reopening strategy. Democratic governor roy cooper, quote, is still in shutdown mode and unable to guarantee that by august we will be allowed full attendance in the arena. Trump added if the governor did not respond immediately he would be forced to find another location. Having a sense now is absolutely essential because of the immense preparations that are involved and we look forward to working with governor cooper, getting a Swift Response and if needs be, if needs be, moving the National Convention to a state that is farther along on reopening and can say with confidence that we can gather there. So the New York Times is reporting that republicans discussed peari discussed baring down the convention and trump has questioned whether the convention cannot be held in a Hotel Ballroom in florida, a state run by a republican governor. He has denied that doral is on the short list in response because it is not big enough. The convention draws upwards of 50,000 people. Hard to socially distance with that many people. Joining me to talk more about this is julia manchester. We knew this was in the pipeline, right . It would surface whether or not to hold these big over the top conventions as we are in the midst of dealing with this pandemic. What do you make of the president s threats to pull the Republican National convention from charlotte . Its really not surprising. President trump was probably in this strategy of threatening to pull the convention, thinking about that. But going back to this debate even with President Trumps decision not to wear a mask, this just shows his leadership style and how hes essentially trying to make his own rules and guidelines through this pandemic. He does not necessarily want to, you know, be adhering by a lot of these guidelines that call for maybe smaller crowds because thats not his own personal style. President trump really thrives in these big rallylike settings that make him look like a rock star to his supporters and across the media stage. So i think hes going to continue to push for that. And i think the rnc, judging by them being lock step with him in the past, is going to back him up on this. So you have been reporting about religious leaders and governors being add odds. What more are you hearing about this . Well, essentially, i think, you know, this was a move, definitely catered towards a very important part of President Trumps political base, evangelicals. And a lot of evangelical leaders across the country say its important to reopen. Usualers, for example, wear masks, having people over the age of 65 years of older staying home. But this is definitely something that they have President Trumps ear on and that they wanted to continue to meet in person. So i think this is President Trump catering towards like i said that critical part of space. I havent heard half capacity. I did speak to brian gibson, Mega Church Pastor who has locations in amarillo, texas, as well as in kentucky. And he says his church is adhering by local guidelines with capped capacities. For example, if a guideline says he can only fill his church to 30 capacity, thats what they will do. Still ahead, everybody, the World Health Organizations new warning about a second peak of Coronavirus Infections. Your first look at morning joe is back in a moment. I dont keep track of regrets and i dont add up the years, but what i do count on. Is boost high protein. And now, theres boost mobility. With key nutrients to help support. Joints, muscles, and bones. Try boost mobility, with added collagen. The first and only full prescription strength nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel available overthecounter. New voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. Voltaren. The joy of movement. Welcome back, everybody. In an online briefing yesterday, the World Health Organization warned that countries where Coronavirus Infections are declining could still face, quote, an immediate second peak if they let up on measures too soon. We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down that its going to keep going down and were going to get a number of months to get ready for a second wave. Right now, countries around the world in Southeast Asia have to continue to put in place the Public Health and social measures, the surveillance measures, Public Health measures, the testing measures and a comprehensive strategy to assure that we continue on a downward trajectory and we dont have an immediate second peak. Thousands of shops are expected to reopen in the uk next month with nonessential retail slated to open on june 15th. Dprooes has allowed cafes and restaurants to reopen. Italy, one of the hardest hit countries in this pandemic recorded its lowest number of new cases since february. South korea reported 19 new cases and china had 17 new cases as india reported a big jump in cases for the seventh straight day. And the white house announce ago ban on foreign travelers arriving here in the United States reporting that the surge in cases since there. Brazil now latin americas hardest hit country has a number of confirmed covid19 cases and has seen its numbers surge in recent days. The president s order states that foreigners who were in brazil two weeks prior to their attempted entry to the United States would not be allowed into the country under this ban. However, this does not apply to u. S. Citizens or legal permanent residents and their spouses, parents or their children. With that, i want to bring back nbc meteorologist bill karins standing by for us. Bill, as we were talking about this new warning from the World Health Organization, you cant help but think as we look at this downward trajectory and areas beginning to open across the country, we cannot let up on the gas per the guidelines and the protections to ensure that we continue to keep these case numbers down and we dont yet have another spike. Yeah. I dont think anyone is saying theyre low enough. Lets put it that way. Well show you how many we had yesterday on a holiday weekend. So today is the day, ufrl unfortunately we are with going to hit 100 fatalities. Right now, we are sitting a little over 99,000. Yesterday it was a holiday, obviously. But we had 13 states that reported no fatalities and that was the highest since ive been keeping track. A number of fatalities reported yesterday was a little over 500. And you can see on that daily bar graph here, we had the significant drop over the holiday weekend. The two lowest days that weve had since late march. And you can see a downward trend. During the workweek, we get higher numbers so i expect that number to jump as we go throughout the day today. And its not like the number of new cases has completely fallen off. At the peak, we were averaging between 30,000 and 35,000 a day. We had 20,000 new cases yesterday and thats approximately now one out of every 200 americans has tested positive for the coronavirus. So lets go back to the weather. Areas of concern yesterday was the heavy rain off the coast of florida. The Hurricane Center is now saying this has a 20 chance of developing into a tropical depression. Even if it does, all its really going to do is bring heavy rain along the florida coast and up into south carolina. Why is that important . We have that spacex. Theyre hoping tomorrow, wednesday at about 4 32 p. M. For that liftoff. There is chance of showers and storms so that could be an issue. It was almost 100 yesterday in sacramento. We will see temperatures surge, we have excessive heat warnings for about 14 million people. Fresno, 103. Yasmin, this heat wave out west is going to last into next weekend. So its not like its going to go away anytime soon. Thats the last thing we need is a hot summer. A lot of public pools are closed. Its not fun. Yeah. Thank you, bill. Still ahead, everybody, we are going to go live to cnbc for an early look at what is happening on wall street. As we go to break, a positive update on an nba great who is battling the coronavirus. Basketball hall of Famer Patrick Ewing back home following a short hospital stay after testing positive for covid19. Ewings son providing the update yesterday tweeting thanks to the Health Care Workers who treated his dad, my father is now home and getting better. Were going to continue to watch his symptoms and follow the cdc guidelines. The 57yearold former New York Knicks star announced his diagnosis on friday night while revealing he was being treated at a local hospital. The announcement included a statement from georgetown where ewing just completed his third season and said no other members of the team or staff had tested positive for the coronavirus. Were back in a moment. Were back in a moment i dont keep track of regrets and i dont add up the years, but what i do count on. Is boost high protein. And now, theres boost mobility. With key nutrients to help support. Joints, muscles, and bones. Try boost mobility, with added collagen. So heres to the strong, who trust in our performance and comfortable, longlasting protection. Because your strength is supported by ours. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Welcome back, everybody. Stock futures are pointing higher this morning on hopes of reopening and a Coronavirus Vaccine could be around the corner. Jewel anna is joining us this morning. Give us an outlook for the stock markets this morning. Wall street is poised for a stronger start to trade on this holiday shortened week. A couple of things driving markets higher this morning, one is optimism around the reopening of not only the u. S. Economy, but economies around the world. As measures, these lockdown measures are eased across europe. And then on the yesterday, u. S. Biotech firm novavax started human trials for its candidate vaccine. This is in addition to last week, we heard from moderna, positive news on their candidate vaccine. Putting it together, optimism on moving forward from an Economic Perspective and also on the vaccine front. In terms of the latest data, key, highfrequency indicators investors watch are pointing to this concept we are past the worst of the shutdown. Air travel, hotel bookings, mortgage applications, all suggest the worst of the coronavirus shutdowns may be behind us. The april data and much of the may data was very, very negative, suggesting we have seen a very severe downturn. We are now on the other side of it. All of this is supporting Market Sentiment this morning. Yasmin . Restaurants could have been some of the hardest hit amidst the shutdown. A lot of cities working with du. How is that working . That is right. The Restaurant Business has been very hard hit here. Part of the problem moving forward, as the different cities around the United States reopen, is restaurants are already a very low margin business when theyre operating at full capacity. As they open up and they are mandated to operate at lower capacity, they have to find other ways to make their business profitable. Restaurants are working with governments, city governments, around the United States to create seating outside. Tampa, for example, has launched a Pilot Program where restaurants will find it easier to set up tables in parking lots, sidewalks, and on certain streets. The prevailing view is that it is safer to be outside versus inside. A lot of cities around the u. S. Are trialing programs like this. Will big problem, will people return when restaurants open their doors . As long as the weather is good, im all about eating outside. Better ambiance. Same here. Julianna tatelbaum live from london. Thank you. Coming up next, axios one big thing. Coming up on morning joe, keeping americas Grocery Stores open and in stock. Employees risk their lives daily on the front lines. The hazards faced by them along with other essential workers ahead. Morning joe is moments away. Yp for a fingerstick. With the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you dont have to. With a painless, onesecond scan you can check your glucose with a smart phone or reader so you can stay in the moment. No matter where you are or what youre doing. Ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at freestylelibre. Us. I but what i do count on. Ts anis boost high protein. Rs, and now, theres boost mobility. With key nutrients to help support. Joints, muscles, and bones. Try boost mobility, with added collagen. Sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Among my patisensitivity as well tas gum issues. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Does it worry me . Absolutely. New sensodyne sensitivity gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. Theres no question its something that i would recommend. Im szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. We do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; its important. We walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. Weve both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. After about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didnt notice before. Its still helping me. I still notice a difference. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Welcome back, everybody. Joining me now with a look at axios a. M. , National Political reporter for axios, jonathan swan. Good morning to you and great to see you on a tuesday morning. You, too. Talk to us about axios one big thing today. We take you inside the secret talks that have been going on for six months now to completely overhaul the Republican Party platform. Theres a little asterisk next to this, which is that, usually, and in this case, as well, theres going to be, you know, a huge, extensive negotiation among 112 delegates at the convention. The fact is, there has been a small group of people in the white house, in the campaign, reporting to jared kushner, who have been having these quiet talks for the last six months, unbeknownst to the state Party Delegates who are going to be voting on this and some leaders around the country. Jared kushner said in a meeting in december when they were planning this out that he wants a onepage platform. He wants Something Like the ten principles that they believe in. This is a huge change. Usually, the republican platform is a sprawling document, laying out everything from the policy on, you know, positions towards russia and china to social issues and everything else. Kushner wants to radically overhaul it, turn it into this onepage document. It is going to be a huge fight. This sounds very sort of wonky, but it is going to be a huge fight. The delegates live for these battles every four years over what goes into the platform. There are so many Interest Groups involved. Its not going to be an easy feat to completely remake the platform with the Republican Party. So what could this new platform look like, first and foremost . Secondly, what is kushners ultimate motive here . Does he have the president on board . His motive is political. Sources who have heard kushner, hes kept this very, very tight. Most people in the white house didnt even know this is happening. In some of these meetings, kushner has said repeatedly that he doesnt want there to be any mention he uses this example all the time of gay conversion therapy. Now, that phrase doesnt crop up in the 2016 platform, but it does in sort of coded language, about parents and the right to manage their childrens care. So what hes trying to do, and what hes trying to say internally, is he wants to get rid of anything in the platform that could alienate people or remove or push people away from the party, and keep it very broad and big picture. Now, thats going to be a big problem. Weve already heard from people, social conservatives, people who are hardcore conservative act vits in t activists who are not going to go along with the approach. This is where i get to the fight over content and what goes into the platform. His motives are definitely political. Jonathan swan, my friend, thank you, as always. I will be reading axios a. M. In just a little while. You can sign up for the newsletter at signup. Axios. Com. That does it for me on this tuesday morning. Im yasmin vossoughian. Morn joeg staing joe starts. Good morning and welcome to morning joe. It is tuesday, may 26th. Along with joe, willie, and me, we have washington anchor for bbc world news america, katty kay. And politics editor for the daily beast, sam stein joins us this morning. So this was yesterdays memorial day split screen. Joe biden following the governments guidance on wearing a mask in public. When you say leading by example. You mean the government. You mean Donald Trumps administrations guidance. Correct. Theres joe biden. Joe and jill. Doing what the white house said you need to do. Wearing masks as they recognize memorial day. First time theyre out in a long time. Then President Trump, no mask. Awkwardly standing. Trump made two public appearances yesterday without wearing a face mask. Biden, who emerged from his home for the first time in two months yesterday, wore one. The president participated in the traditionsal wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National cemetery, and then spoke at baltimores fort mchenry. Comparing the service to those serving on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Joe biden laid a wreath honoring Fallen Soldiers at a delaware war memorial, and urged americans to, quote, never forget their sacrifices. Biden, his wife, and the members of his security detail, all wore face masks. The former Vice President and his staff were diligent when it came to socia