These are the slicers. They slice people up. They wanted me to walk up and go like this. Some of the president at his rally in Pennsylvania Last Night and much, much more of that. Good morning, everyone. Its friday, august 3rd. Welcome to morning joe. We have a number of important developments to get through this morning, including a stark warning from the intel community. Russia is at it again. Theyve got the publics attention, but what about the president s . Does he care . Whats going on . Plus, dan coats speaks truth to power, again. The director of National Intelligence admits he still does not know what the president told Vladimir Putin last month in helsinki. Think about it. The director of National Intelligence. And ivanka trump says that it was a low point for her when the separations of children from their family were happening
Former GOP representative Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezinski interview newsmakers, politicians and pundits about the issues of the day. Barletta or candidates across the country, republican candidates. Theres a reason im asking. Im going completely around the table, rapid fire here. David ignatius, well take you next. Especially specifically on the media and on russia. Your take on the president last night. Well, its as if we have two governments. One government that states responsible policies drawn from what our Intelligence Agencies have discovered Issuing Warnings to State Governments, doing the business of government, and then we have this other government, this other ring in our National Circus in which the president conducts a daily antielitist rant, the principle targets are people in the media. Ate to say it, were the best thing hes got going for him. He doesnt have other issues besides rousing the public to think se are elitiselitist, to s phrase enemies, but hes
making us the central theme of his campaign. We have to see that right in the eyes, but it is as if, mika, theyre two separate rings to this circus now. Yeah. And it seems like some people are beginning to really understand that. Especially he was going after generals last night. Jon meacham, anybody in history, a figure in history, that parallels whats happening with this president . I think its joe mccarthy. As if mccarthy had become president to go to johns point about it getting old. Roy cohn, Joe Mccarthys counsel and Donald Trumps. Sometimes you dont have to make this stuff up. It falls in your lap. He wrote a book about mccarthy saying, a. , he bought anticommunism the way other people buy a used car, it was just a vehicle to take over the American Politics and particularly in the right wing,
cbs news had an amazing poll stunning. People defined themselves as strong trump supporters. 90 of people who say their information from trump they believe is accurate. 60 from friends or family they believe is accurate. 10 from the media. Think about it again. People in that audience, we have to describe them as strong trump supporters. If their friend or Family Member told them something theyre less likely to believe it than that goff ball up there, Crazy Uncle Donny. Going back to the two governments david brought up, Crazy Uncle Donny, a figure we continue to have completely unaccountable to even his own staff and no repercussion. We were talk this today, chris wray, bolton, this is a fact, this is a fact, their boss gets onstage and says its not. Crazy uncle donny talking to his base stunningly regardless what
he says will continue to go, but but the voters will speak in november. They will. And 33 , 34 , yes, a lot of vote in the primary, but a wave of likes have never been seen before. My take is this. Its blunt. Fair to say. Ive been there before and i did it when it wasnt cool to do. Im going to do it again. Hes not well. Thats the bottom line. Theres no way nine knows donald trump but has not bought in in some way could watch him last night and not come away with the feeling that the president of the United States is completely unhinged and getting worse by the day. Perhaps the stress is really squeezing in on him. Its interesting that a former Reality Tv Star and colleague of trump is releasing a book with the title unhinged. This is a woman who knew him during his reality show days, very well. And then went with him to the white house and in it she describes a reaction to a man
that she had known for over a decade who is in a state of mental decline. Its a concern weve voiced on this show during the campaign and over the last tumultuous 18 months. Try and find someone whos not politically invested or too fearful of donald trump or the Republican Party who knew the man a decade ago who will tell you that his mental state has not deteriorated erratically over the past few years or changed or come out in some way. It is transforming what were watching. You will not find that person from Donald Trumps past. If theyre telling you the truth. We were told of his unfitness for office by those closest to him on the campaign and we saw it ourselves up close in the December 2015 interview in which he first pledged his fealty to Vladimir Putin. Let me tell you, you can pull that interview up. Its a little embarrassing, but i will say you can see in our faces in realtime us kind of going from jovial and fun to
state of mind watching that rally last night, and with that we go to the major developments yesterday. Willie . I mentioned those National Security directors in the white house yesterday. They gathered in the Briefing Room reportedly at the president s personal instruction, top National Security and intel officials delivering a strong and clear message about russias continued interference in the u. S. Election process. This threat is not going away. As i have said consistently, russia attempted to interfere with the last election, and continues to engage in maligned Influence Operations to this day. This is a threat we need to take extremely seriously and to tackle and respond to with fierce determination and focus. The Intelligence Community continues to be concerned about the threats of upcoming u. S. Elections. Both the midterms and the president ial elections of 2020. In regards to russian involvement in the Midterm Elections, we continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by russia to try to weaken and divide the United States. These efforts are not exclusive to this election or future elections but certainly cover issues relevant to the election. Our focus here today is simply to tell the American People we acknowledge the threat. It is real. It is continuing, and were doing everything we can to have a legitimate election that the American People can have trust in. In addition that that, it goes beyond the elections. It goes to russias intent to undermine our democratic value, drive a wedge between our allies and do a number of other nefarious things. Our democracy itself is in the cross hairs. Free and Fair Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and it has become clear that they are the target of our
adversaries who seek as the dni just said to sow discourt and undermine our way of life. During the day in the white house Briefing Room, a pretty clear message. Fast forward a few hours later. This is what the president said in that rally in pennsylvania. In helsinki i had a great meeting with putin. We discussed everything. Had a great meet. I had a great meeting. We got along really well. By the way, thats a good thing. Not a bad thing. Thats a really good thing. Now, were being hindered by the russian hoax. Its a hoax. Okay . Ill tell you what. Russias very unhappy that trump won. That i can tell you. But i got along great with putin. And everybody said, wow. That was great that was great. A couple hours later i started hearing these reports that, you
know, they wanted me to walk up, heres the podium here. They wanted me to walk up and go like this son of a they wanted me to go up and have a boxing match. I said, whatever happened to diplomacy . And, by the way whatever happened to diplomacy . And know . I used to study not too much diplomacy. I said, whatever happened to getting everything you want . So theres a lot in there, obviously. President putin at that Press Conference in helsinki said very clearly he wanted President Trump to win, the then donald trump to become president. Twice. Davis ignatius, walk through this. What we heard yesterday is not a new conclusion. Wa whats the Intelligence Agencies came to in january 2017, 19 months ago, just going
out stating its still happening and continues in the 2018 Midterm Elections. So why would President Trump, if reporting is President Trump sent them out to do that only to undercut that a couple hours later . Obviously, its a mystery in some ways, but what ive sensed since the Helsinki Summit is that in the public, i know dan coats in his famous interview with andrea mitchell, he was stuned by what he didnt know, but he just, you know, told the truth. Question after question. Secretary mattis, ive listened to Secretary Mattis speak at a dinner in public. Hes gone into the press rooms, followed into the pentagon, much more forthright about what he sees and thinks is going on. Some of that from Secretary Pompeo at the state department. I was interested to see kristen
nielsen, Dhs Secretary often backed up by criticism from President Trump saying emphatically, our democracy is in the cross hairs. Theyre using Strong Language to describe to the public what they say. And then you have the president , its almost like lawyers talk about jury nullification. Going to the jury. What those people tell you is not as important as these te Terrible Outrages down me and minimizing it. Its not the first time a politician has gone the other way from his administration and tried to arouse the base completely independent of what the government does every day. Right. I think the question that were facing, were going to get an answer in a couple months. What the public makes of this weird two twostage circus, twogovernment thing were watching, but it was good to see the senior officials of our government be so emphatic and
clear in stating the truth as they understand it. Those men and women dont stand up there in the white house Briefing Room without the president knowing about it and probably signing off on it. Is he giving himself cover saying we have come out strongly against russia and then can continue to say that its a hoax on twitter and at rallies . I actually there theres two tracks. Has to cover himself on the security side. Doesnt want to seem weak here, but as he went after mueller and the team and tried to bring them down, i think hes trying to he knows what hes done, and i think hes trying to build up putin so when we do find out what his dealings were, hes not seemed as such the bad guy. Hes basically just doing a Reverse Mueller to help himself, that the facts come out and we say, oh, well, putins not such a bad guy. The president s been telling us that that. We can be friends with him, so whatever hes done wont seem as bad. Lots of evidence of contrary,
that Vladimir Putin is not such a bad guy. We know that, but as donny mentioned. The people who believe in donald trump believe what he says and they will to the end. Can we ask republicans a question . Based on what the entire Intelligence Community has said, why, two weeks ago, they voted down an amendment to spend an additional 250 million to make our election safer . Actually said, no. We dont want to spend that money to protect our election. I have a question for mr. Meacham, i often do, john, call you up tuesday and thursday nights to get Historical Perspective. Everybody tosses the word impeachment around. If we have a president whose job is to serve and protect this country. Protect this country. And its clear his entire Intelligence Team said this is a threat and when you think about a threat. God forbid we had elections and the day after it came out they were truly tampered with, wed have chaos in the streets. So if the president denies that, why is that not an Impeachable Offense . Any Historical Perspective in a
situation like this . No different than a missile aimed at us, that our intelligence he says, no, its not. Were okay. Why is that in his basic job not in the most simplistic terms an Impeachable Offense . I think it would be. The phrase in the constitution as you know, donny. I appreciate youre setting me up for this, is treason, bribery and other high crimes or misdemeanors and treason is defined as giving aid and comfort to an enemy, and so i think that would fall clearly within the definition if a majority of the house and if twothirds of the senate wanted to do it. Gerald ford once said that, an Impeachable Offense is whatever a certain number of legislators think it is at any given time. One of the issues about impeachment is in the Constitutional ConventionJames Madison and others did not want it to be a weapon to fight what they administration. Immediately for it to move to an impeachable one. Our three big impeachments, andrew jackson, richard nixon, bill clinton, but this would fall within it clearly. Midterm election is essential here. What ive been hearing and you all, too, im sure. Democrats do extremely well on the generic ballot around the country. When impeachment comes up, that number, im told, goes down somewhat. Which is an interesting dichotomy. I think people still have some regret over the bill clinton episode. So i dont think the country broadly put is there yet, but i think if you have a democratic majority in the house and i think it entirely depends on what Director Mueller comes back with. Mueller is the iceberg in American Politics. We see the tip. We dont know whats below, and
its coming. All right. Also i want to get to this story. Its important. This week the passing of former congressman, mayor and United States marine ron dellums. Ron was a former u. S. Representative and oakland mayor known for helping found the Congressional Black Caucus and speaking out against apartheid in south africa. Joe describes ron as a progressive hero who was a fierce advocate for all the liberal causes he embraced but managed at the same time to be a man respected and beloved by conservatives and liberals alike. And joe wrote on twitter, one of the great surprises in congress was meeting this guy and loving every second around him. Ron dellums and i rarely voted together, but he was beloved and respected by everyone from john lewis to tom delay. Ron was a marine. A dedicated Public Servant and a great american. Ron dellums was 82. Well be right back. Hey allergy muddlers. Are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec®. Its starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. Woman it felt great not having hepatitis c. Its like a load off my shoulders. I was just excited for it to be over. Harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of Chronic Hepatitis c. Its been prescribed to more than a quarter Million People and is proven to cure up to 99 of patients who have had no prior treatment with 12 weeks. Certain patients can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. Before starting harvoni your doctor will test to see if youve ever had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious Liver Problems during and after harvoni treatment. Tell your doctor if youve ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. Taking amiodarone with harvoni can cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. Common side effects of harvoni include tiredness, headache and weakness. Ready to let go of hep c . Ask your hep c specialist about harvoni. Of former Trump Campaignaid Paul Manafort. Yesterday prosecutes sought to knock down an arg