we ll go over what exactly happened and what it could mean for putin s leadership as well as the war in ukraine. plus, republicans continue to veer toward an electoral cliff, backing former president trump despite his mounting legal challenges, even as many voters are deeply disturbed by his multiple indictments. perhaps that s why president biden is leading trump in a 2024 matchup. and a year after the supreme court stripped away abortion rights, the high court s approval rating is in the basement at just 31%. we re breaking down the new poll numbers just ahead. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is monday, june 26th. joe is off this morning. we begin with this weekend s developing news out of russia, where the head of the mercenary group, wagner, launched the most direct challenge to vladimir putin s grip on power in his 19 years as president. it started on friday when yevgeny prigozhin, the leader of a private army, posted a video to social media. in it, h
welcome to msnbc s special coverage in tonight s iowa caucus. i am ari melber here with jen psaki for the next hour. great to be here. as we count on to the caucus results coming later tonight with candidates making their final push is. here s what they had to say. today is the day we make history because we do do you guys know anybody who has gonna vote for haley or desantis? yes, i do. and i m gonna try to persuade you can t sit home, even if you vote and then passed away, it s worth it. you can be the most worthless republican in america, but if you kiss the ring, he will say you are wonderful. it s just because he has an excellent record of service. what do you think about when people say, well, iowa is still trump country? i think that is wrong. some iowans, you just heard, pushing back on efforts for tonight s story before voters weigh in. it should happen in the next few hours. while trump does have a lead in the final poll, with haley rising, a
numbers soaring and think the race is over. how about the year 2000. fighting for the nomination texas governor george w. bush. out of nowhere maverick senator john mccain. people were surprised when the bush coronation turned into a cage match. if you don t take care of social security, my friend, that s all hat and no cattle. that s cute. they are always cutest when they are true. it s not true. brian: bush would get the nomination and face al gore. it was not a tough battle. bradley would not win a primary. so much for the so-called experts. who could forget 2004. howard dean led john edwards, richard gephardt and john kerry in the polls. people would love howard dean but he finished almost as fast as he rose with the dean scream in california. we are going back to washington, d.c. to take back the white house. brian: former new york mayor rudy giuliani was leading in those polls. governor mike huckabee stole into prominence from behind. remember tv start fred thom
numbers soaring and think the race is over. how about the year 2000. fighting for the nomination texas governor george w. bush. out of nowhere maverick senator john mccain. people were surprised when the bush coronation turned into a cage match. if you don t take care of social security, my friend, that s all hat and no cattle. that s cute. they are always cutest when they are true. it s not true. brian: bush would get the nomination and face al gore. it was not a tough battle. bradley would not win a primary. so much for the so-called experts. who could forget 2004. howard dean led john edwards, richard gephardt and john kerry in the polls. people would love howard dean but he finished almost as fast as he rose with the dean scream in california. we are going back to washington, d.c. to take back the white house. brian: former new york mayor rudy giuliani was leading in those polls. governor mike huckabee stole into prominence from behind. remember tv start fred thom
friday and chris christie is said to be on the verge. this is in addition to already declared challengers nikki haley, asa hutchinson, and viv ecoramaswami. he will decide before june. meanwhile, names being floated for a so-called unity ticket, the idea from the bipartisan group no labels, include democratic senator joe manchin, independent senator kyrsten sinema, and republican larry rolling hogan, the former maryland governor. trump s biggest obstacle still seems to be his own legal entanglements. among them his recent self-incriminating remarks on cnn regarding jack smith s case about the withheld mar-a-lago documents and the investigation into interference in the 2020 election by fulton county, georgia, d.a. fondy willis who signaled a decision from her could be coming in early august. so into this fray finally steps ron desantis. joining me to discuss is gary fineout. he writes for florida playbook for politico. previously worked in the associated press. nice to s