to do down there than what trump is trying to achieve, which is more showboating. >> to remind voters, donald trump himself said, hey, preserve immigration as a campaign issue. therefore, the republicans made that bill go away. biden going to say, "i was going to sign it." jen palmieri, thank you for joining us this morning. thanks to all you've for getting up with us "way too early" on a very busy thursday morning. a jam-packed "morning joe" starts right now. put a fine sort of, you know, finish on this. comer is the chairman of this house oversight committee looking at hunter biden's business dealings. this went on for the better part of six hours. a lot of stuff they have on hunter. they've been trying to connect a lot of that stuff to dad. i wasn't attending this behind closed doors meeting, neither were you, though your sources are far better. i'm wondering if there's stuff they connected to dad because

comer's remarks were short. if he found anything that was, he would have leapt at the chance to say it. >> you would think that he would have led the entire commentary just a few moments ago with whatever he seems to have found. >> that was fox news host neil cavuto, not buying what james comer was trying to sell on capitol hill yesterday. we're going to go through hunter biden's closed door testimony to the house oversight committee later in the show here. plus, the end of an era for senate republicans. the party's longest serving leader in the upper chamber is stepping down at the end of the year. we'll take a look at mitch mcconnell's legacy and who might replace him. of course, we're going to talk about the shocking news we all heard yesterday. the death of beloved comedian and actor richard lewis. we'll talk about that and play for you some of joe's interview with him, which happened just several weeks ago.

good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, february 29th. with us, we have the host of "way too early" and white house bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire. and former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments, elise jordan. willie, there is so much going on this morning. of course, we start with that shocking news from the supreme court, though some may say this could be the supreme court making sure it is doing its due diligence, given the gravity of everything that is at stake. >> certainly not the end of the story here but a delay at the very least. the supreme court has agreed now to consider former president trump's claim of presidential immunity in his federal election interference case. the conservative court's decision to hear the case will further delay a potential trial. the high court scheduled arguments for april 22nd, and a final ruling might not come until the end of the term in

june. if the court rules in favor of trump, the special counsel's charges would be dismissed. the u.s. court of appeals unanimously ruled trump does not have absolute immunity. if the supreme court affirms that, the delay still would push the start of the trial probably into the fall. let's bring in former litigator and msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin and former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst joyce vance. good morning to you both. lisa, let's pause for a moment. this was shocking news to a lot of people, but let's talk about what this decision is and what it is not. it does not mean that the supreme court agrees that donald trump has presidential immunity. it means that they're going to hear the case, possibly that he does have immunity, and at least knock this down into the fall. >> that's right. willie, the way in which the order yesterday was phrased is also a little bit telling. the question that the supreme court has agreed to resolve is a narrow one. it is whether and, if so, to

what extent, a former president has immunity for his official acts. or his official acts as alleged. one of the things that is concerning about the way the question is presented is alleged according to whom? if you ask jack smith, the way that the indictment is framed, none of the acts for which they are trying to hold former president trump criminally accountable were, in fact, official. that a president plays no official role in the administration of federal presidential elections. and so the way that this is phrased is slightly troubling, even for those who might push back and say, this is the supreme court trying to button up an important issue that is percolating in at least two federal courts right now and is likely to recur in the georgia case, should it move beyond the

issue of fani willis' disqualification. >> a lot of concern and reaction to this. what is going on, another delay tactic? looking down the pike, and you look at how this is going to be seen in history, i mean, i don't see a reality, maybe you can correct me, in which the supreme court doesn't agree with the decision that has already been made, that a president has immunity and can have s.e.a.l. team six take out people he wants them to take out. i don't think they'll go that way. in the history books, they will be able to show that every stone was unturned every step of the way in this. having said that, there is concern about losing time and this going beyond the election. what are your thoughts? >> right. i think it is an interesting observation, mika. i'm reminded that bill barr, who was one of donald trump's attorney generals, used to say that history is written by the winners. i think that's the concern here.

whether the supreme court has given trump such a big win by adding two more months of delay onto this case that it makes it more difficult for donald trump to be portrayed as the criminal that many people who have looked at this evidence believe he should be portrayed as. i agree the supreme court is extremely unlikely to reach any other conclusion other than donald trump specifically, and they don't need to talk about all presidents here, that's unnecessary. they can look at donald trump and say, this individual, this former president is not entitled to any form of immunity for his effort to interfere with an election. they don't need to talk about all potential crimes a president could commit. they don't need to talk about whether or not a president's official acts might be cloaked in immunity. for instance, when he is making time-pressure decisions on the battlefield. that's something jack smith argued in the past doesn't need

to be a part of this case. but for the court to look at donald trump's conduct here and reach any conclusion other than the fact that he can be prosecuted in the criminal justice system would be tantamount to saying that presidents are, in fact, above the law, that donald trump is above the law, and that, not to be dramatic about it, would be the end of one of the most cherished principles of democracy, that no man is above the law. >> you're not being dramatic at all. that's what is at stake here. jonathan lemire, you can't separate this, yes, a legal question, from the politics. the idea for donald trump and his legal team has been to delay, delay, delay. if he can get himself re-elected in november, he becomes president, he controls effectively the justice department. he can make all of this go away. as you look at the calendar, the supreme court rulings come out in june, sometimes in mid-june. a trial, we're hearing, may not start until september/october. i know joyce is skeptical it can even get under way before the election begins. this, in many ways, helps donald

trump's cause as he looks to have this stuff just go away. >> so many democrats reached out yesterday, like, i can't believe he is going to get away with it again. there is this frustration that trump always seems to escape, to slip the hook. a few things here. yes, that's the legal analysis and is probably right, the supreme court should take the case even if we do expect they agree with the lower court. let's talk about the presidential campaign and the timelines here of the four cases. we know the georgia case has become a mess. it's also sprawling to begin with. that one always was perceived to probably not start until 2025. the classified documents case in mar-a-lago, there's real reasons for delay there because of the sensitive materials. also, trump pulled a friendly judge who seemed to be willing to go away with the delay tactics. this case now may not happen until the fall or perhaps after the election. if trump wins, he can wave his hand and make his attorney general make this go away. that leaves the new york case, scheduled to start in a few

weeks. it is perceived by most as the weakest case, one that might not carry prison time were he to be convicted. at the end of this, it is what biden aides have been saying all along. we can't bank on the courts to bail us out. it's very clear that's the case. they simply have to win this election in the campaign. >> that's the true. jen palmieri, our friend, was on your show earlier and said exactly that. she has never thought that the defeat of donald trump is going to come in the courts. i completely agree. while i think, you know, for many reasons, it's unfortunate that trump always seems to escape justice, at the same time, we don't want our judges and our rule of law being dictated by political timetable. and likely, i talked to a supreme court insider yesterday who told me it seems likely that the colorado ruling, that that case, that trump will win, probably, the court. in this case, trump will lose. very likely, both could be

almost unanimous, and the court could be unified in these decisions. if that happens, it is a good show of strength for the rule of law in america, just that the process has gone through the steps. >> yeah, i think that is clearly right. lisa, let's set aside the politics and go back to the legal merits. what should we expect? they've agreed to hear this now in april. what does that look like? what timeline should we anticipate for a decision? if you will, assuming elise is right and they rule against trump in this case and a trial does proceed, judge chutkan said she'll give the parties time to prepare. when is your best guess when that could come to trial? >> let's start with the math remaining. when donald trump's case was paused to allow for further consideration of the immunity issue, there were 88 days left to trial. judge chutkan publicly committed herself to giving donald trump

around seven months to prepare for trial. we have to assume she takes the 88-day remainder fairly seriously. she has also said, including through a pre-questionnaire that went out to perspective jurors in the washington area, that this is a trial that will take around three months. you have to build into the calendar, that 88 days plus 90 days to try the case, if you think that this is going to happen before the election. that's why folks like me are asking the supreme court, why didn't you act like you're running out of time? time is quickly elapsing here. there are folks who believe the supreme court could rule quickly after the april 22nd oral argument. our friend, neil, for example, believes there can be a ruling in early may. on the other hand, if you believe the court is likely to push this decision until the end of the term in june, which usually ends at the very end of

june or july 1st, like our friend judge michael luttig, then you're really in a crunch with respect to the calendar and if and when a trial can begin. there is also, finally, the question of department of justice policy. i've heard a number of folks on our air and other places say, wait a second, the department of justice prohibits taking steps in a case like this 60 to 90 days before an election. that's not my understanding of doj policy, which prohibits overt investigative steps, not the trying of a case. for importantly, when this case is tried will be up to judge tanya chutkan if and when the case is returned to her. in that instance, i believe that judge chutkan would proceed even if we are well into general election territory at that point. >> lisa, i caught the "hamilton" reference in there nonstop, very nice.

joyce vance, you said yesterday you think it is unlikely we see this trial before the election for all the reasons that lisa just laid out here. what kind of a timeline, given your experience in the courts, is realistic for people to expect here? >> it is possible there can be an aggressive timeline where the sun, the moon, and the stars line up and this case gets to trial. but i'll tell you, willie, 25 years of trying cases at doj, these things don't run like clock work. there is administrative time after the ruling to get the mandate back down to the district court so judge chutkan can get back to work. it'd be a mistake for her, and i don't think we'll see her give trump any less time to prepare for trial than she'd initially said he would get. that's the 88 days or so that's left on his trial prep clock for the amount of time this case has

been stayed while the appeal has been under way. the reason you don't want to shorten that time is, of course, that gives trump the ability to argue, if he is convicted and the case goes on appeal, that he was denied his due process rights. what we really don't want is this case to be reversed on appeal if there is a conviction. beyond that, all sorts of things get in the way. witnesses can get sick. the judge may have other events on her calendar once the case comes back. we expect her to make efforts to get this case priority, but there is also early voting in the background of all of this. not everyone will vote on november 5th. voting in some of the key states will start 30, 40 days in advance of that. so the possibility that this case could have a jury struck, get through the evidence, give the jury time to render a verdict, and have all of that accomplished before people begin voting is unlikely at this

point. elise mentioned colorado. a judge in illinois ruled former president trump's name should be removed from the upcoming state gop primary ballot but put her order on hold until tomorrow in anticipation of an appeal. decisions in colorado and maine, the judge based her ruling on the 14th amendment ban on insurrectionists holding office. here we go again. the supreme court is reviewing the colorado decision currently. a trump campaign spokesman blasted the ruling, calling it unconstitutional, and said they'll quickly appeal the illinois republican primary which is set to take place on march 19th. this is a case, joyce, where the supreme court does need to give some clarity to. at this point, colorado is not the only state trying this.

>> that's right. it's likely that more states will add to this list as time goes on. we see what's coming from the supreme court, but i saw eight votes there for colorado to lose and donald trump to stay on the ballot. to elise's point, i think the supreme court is sending a clear message to the country. voters, we're going to put the decision in this election in your hands. >> wow. joyce, thank you very much. this is, obviously, not the only issue that donald trump is facing. he has a lot of money to pay up in his civil fraud trial, and there are some issues that he has to deal with on that. because he plans to appeal. joyce vance and lisa rubin, thank you, both. still ahead on "morning joe," we're going to go through the big stories coming out of capitol hill. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell stepping down at the end of the year.

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sleep number does that. now, save up to $1,000 on select sleep number smart beds. plus, special financing. shop now at sleepnumber.com it is extremely disturbing to see the lack of professionalism, lack of grounding, and the abuse of public resources, of public power, in order to pursue something that truly, whose point at this juncture is very unclear. >> this whole thing really has been a tremendous waste of our legislative time and the people's resources. >> i cannot believe that they have found a new allow. it is so embarrassing to sit in

the room for an hour while they try to weave conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory that only embarrasses them further. >> it's very clear that there's no there there. >> democrats on the oversight committee reacting to yesterday's closed door deposition by hunter biden, who struck a defiant and emotional tone during his testimony as part of the gop-led impeachment inquiry into his father, president biden. hunter condemned the investigation as a partisan political pursuit that was based on a false premise and fueled by lies and reiterated his stance that he never involved his father in any of his business dealings. while also acknowledging mistakes he had made, pointing to his battle with addiction. here's told during the seven-hour long closed door deposition, there were what's being described as heated

moments between republicans and democrats regarding interruptions during lines of questioning. after his testimony, hunter said it went great. republicans have yet to turn up any evidence in their impeachment investigation. joining us now, congressional investigations reporter for "the washington post," jackie alemany, and senior political columnist for "politico," jonathan martin. good the to have you both with us this morning. jackie, i'll start with you. is there anything republicans came up with of substance, and at what point are people going to say this is taking away from other incredibly important issues of our time, like foreign aid and government shutdowns and real needs of the american people? >> mika, if anything, republicans have to reckon with the fact that i've been told by several sources who were in the room for that extended hearing yesterday that hunter biden happened to be one of the most

prepared, disciplined, and on message witnesses they've had appear before the committee yet, who spoke very eloquently about a broad swath of evidence, some unsubstantiated, some presented in sort of dribs and drabs, text messages and communications, that james comer and republicans have cherry-picked from the mountain of records they have obtained so far. and there has been still no there there. for anyone who thought this was going to be the smoking gun, the star witness, it disappointed. hunter biden, instead, spoke of instances that republicans have pointed to as wrongdoing as examples of him under the spell of addiction, being drunk or high at the time of those communications and, quite frankly, as someone in the room told me in a readout, that he was lying about some of the times where he said his father was present to certain business people, like text messages that

have been often referenced where he was in communications with a chinese associate that he was doing business with and texted him in a whatsapp message that he was with his father right now. he said during that deposition that that was actually a lie and that he was under the influence. i think this all goes back to the bigger story about hunter biden right now, which is that he is determined to stay sober and has viewed this as key to his father's re-election and it's key to battle down these accusations, all of which, so far, are unsubstantiated, that his father was directly involved with any of his business dealings with foreign associates. >> so, jackie, you'd think after a series of humiliating setbacks for this committee, the latest being the arrest of mr. smirnov who, at one time, was a star witness, who now the justice department is saying he made it all up, you'd think the committee would walk away.

chairman comer made it clear, his smoke but no fire yet investigation, said, we heard things in hunter biden's testimony that need further review, suggesting, we're going to keep this ball in the air with insinuations and suggestions but no evidence there was wrongdoing here. is that the goal, to keep this alive through the election? >> that is a typical comer tactic, to lob allegations across cable news and conserve ty media that have been unyou been unsubstantiated time and time again. i assume we'll continue to see it but to a lesser extent. fox news has quieted on several fronts of covering somesations making, and colleagues have not been ha happy with his

media-centric approach, speaking about things, and then when you look at it further, the evidence has fallen flat. fortunately for him, we'll be turning to the senate impeachment trial, which is another discussion in terms of whether those are substantiated articles of impeachment against mayorkas. it is certainly counterprogramming to give comer and the house oversight and judiciary committees a bit of cover from an investigation that, in its totality so far, has been a failure. >> well, there was another piece of major news on capitol hill yesterday. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell announced he will be stepping down as the upper chamber's republican leader this november and leaving the senate at the end of his term in 2026. the 82-year-old mcconnell explained his decision on the senate floor. >> one of life's most underappreciated talents is to

know when it is time to move on to life's next chapter. so i stand before you today, mr. president, and my colleagues, to say this will be my last term as republican leader of the senate. i'm immensely proud of the accomplishments i've played some role in obtaining for the american people. i still have enough gas in my tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics, and i intend to do so with all the enthusiasm with which they've become accustom. >> first elected to the senate from kentucky in 1984, mcconnell has led the gop caucus since 2007, making him the longest serving party leader in the senate's history. jonathan martin, you're writing about this. what's the reaction to the announcement, and who are the contenders waiting in the wings

potentially to replace him? >> well, the reaction is not surprise on the news but surprise on the timing. i think it was widely assumed, mika, he'd step down from his leadership post after the elections this fall. the fact that he revealed this in february, justyear, i think speaks to the political challenges that he's facing. this has not been a pleasant season for mitch mcconnell. somebody he despises, donald trump, is about to be his party's nominee for the third consecutive campaign. his party is drifting towards an isolationism that he finds, frankly, revolting. and he is perhaps most painfully of all seeing his own power sort of ebbing in the senate. he's coveted being senate leader for years and years. he finally got the job and served, obviously, breaking the record as the longest serving senate leader only to see his power slow at the end as a handful of younger colleagues

have challenged him. it's not been pleasant for him. i think he is trying to get ahead of the jailer, if you will. he's trying to go out on his own terms. he doesn't want to be forced out by a doctor's orders or rebellion of his colleagues. he's trying to do it now and make the best of a tough situation. look, there are three obvious figures who are looking at this in the current senate. all named john. john of wyoming, john thune, john of texas. i think it depends on who wins the presidential election. if trump win, this is his party. he wants to have a say in who the next leader is. he could find somebody beyond the three johns. if trump loses, and this is purely a choice of the senators, i think john thune starts out with an advantage. >> let's speak about mitch mb mcconnell's legacy, a relationship with trump,

inconsistent. he didn't vote to convict trump in the second impeachment trial. >> crucial. >> had he whipped votes there, maybe donald trump would not be running for office again right now. >> exactly. >> he's also said he'd probably endorse trump again. >> sure. >> it seems to me, speak about his time, what he meant to the upper chamber, but it impact may have been on the judiciary. >> the sweep of his career in the senate, there's no landmark piece of legislation that he's really connected to. he'll be best known in history for how he shaped the supreme court. he sat on one nomination for almost a year, and he moved the second within a matter of weeks. getting the 6-3 conservative majority on the court, i think, is central to his legacy. that's irony, the man he despises, they are linked, the conjoined twins of the gop, mcconnell and trump. those are the judges that, of

course, trump put forward and mcconnell confirmed that have so shaped this court. the same judges that overturned roe v. wade and probably ensured that mcconnell would be in his last term in the minority. >> is it a done deal that mcconnell will endorse trump, and how soon are you hearing it'll be? could he possibly keep it out there, float it, and hold off for a bit. >> i wrote in my column today at "politico" about this. he is going to support trump. it's a matter of when, not if. mitch mcconnell is a man of the senate and a party man. politics for him is first, second, and third. he'll get on board with the nominee. i don't think he'll do so with enthusiasm, but he wants to retake control of the senate. he recognizes a divided party is going to undermine his party's chances of taking back control of the senate. he wants the party singing with

one voice about their nominee and will do that. look, mcconnell knows what happened in 2016 with trump created challenges for his party and he wants to be on board with walking away from the leadership with a majority rather than a minority. shortly after announcing his retirement, the freedom caucus mocked mcconnell, writing on social media, quote, "our thoughts are with our democrat colleagues in the senate on the retirement of their co-majority leader mitch mcconnell." then they put, "d-ukraine." "no need to wait until november. senate republicans should immediately represent a republican leader." my head hurts. jackie alemany, come on. we have a lot on the table moving forward. they did avert a government shutdown, but speaking of whether you're a republican or a democrat, the republicans don't look like republicans now at

this point at least in the house. i don't know who they are, but perhaps, you know, arms of putin through trump in some way, as we, day by day, watch ukrainians die every day because they're not getting the much-needed aid. a government shutdown slightly averted. what about foreign aid? >> jonathan says that there was no rebellion that forced mcconnell out, per se, but i think there was a bit of a quiet implicit rebellion at play here. and a growing number of senators who were starting to side and be a little bit more like their house counterparts. we've talked about this before. the senate usually views themselves as the more disciplined and deliberative body. they try to steer clear of the partisan politics. the last episode we saw over the past two months over the border bill, a bill demanded by republicans, crafted by james lankford, then shortly thereafter killed by house republicans, hard liners, donald

trump, and then, you know, a number of conservatives in the senate who tagged along and suddenly did this dramatic and shocking 180 on the bill was a rebellion in and of itself. the writing was on the wall for mcconnell, along with a number of other things. someone yesterday, senator susan collins, said the death of his sister-in-law, as well, was potentially a contributing factor there. it's amazing to think how reviled mcconnell has been by democrats and now what is exactly in store with them, for them in terms of who they're going to see next. this is a generational change we're about to see happen with a likely maga disciple to head up senate. someone who is ultimately going to be a bit more sympathetic to the likely republican

frontrunner and presidential candidate. the house freedom caucus is -- that's the perfect example of the way they have caused this interparty chaos, and it is the perfect snapshot and a microcosm of what is happening in the republican party right now. >> "the washington post"'s jackie alemany, as always, thank you very much. senior political columnist for "politico," jonathan martin, thank you, as well. his piece is online now. willie? los angeles woman who was arrested in russia is set to appear in court for the first time today. ksenia karelina was arrested, accused of raising funds for the ukraine army. she was arrested in the same city as "the wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich. in moscow, president vladimir putin has wrapped up his state

of the nation address. he began the speech praising citizens for their unity amid the war in ukraine. saying russia is, quote, defending itself sovereignty and security in protecting our compatriots. joining us from london, he's been watching this, chief international correspondent keir simmons. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: willie, some news first of all. you mentioned ksenia there. we've heard from the russian court that she has lost her appeal. honestly, that was to be expected, i guess. she lost her appeal. she was looking to not be held before her trial. she has not won that. there will now be another hearing on the 6th of april. again, if evan gershkovich's case is anything to go by, and they are two different kinds of cases, he's accused of e espionage, she accused of treason, then likely that 6th of

april date will pass, too, without her being released. as you mentioned, an unnerving split screen today, with president putin giving his federal address, more than two hours, again threatening the west, even while the court was hearing karolina's case. it was the first time her case has been heard since charged with treason. she is accused of making a donation to a ukrainian charity of less than $52. meanwhile, talking about president putin's speech, being shown on giant screens around moscow. he's been highlighting those recent advances in ukraine. although, of course, the battlefield there does remain largely unchanged. he says in the speech he bows at the feet of the russian heros, called for a moment of silence for the soldiers, he says, his words, who are going through the mincer of war.

then moving on to talk about the west wanting to destroy russia. saying, we, too, have weapons that can strike targets on their territory. that appears to be a threat, a frankly thinly veiled, nuclear threat, response to president macron, in a speech who made headlines earlier in the week, talked about the potential that europe, that nato should send soldiers to ukraine, put boots on the ground in ukraine. putin is two weeks from an election. he's been making campaign stops. pictured in the cockpit of a nuclear bomber. again now in the speech making threats towards the west while saying, we are a pillar of democracy, even though when russia votes, of course, there will be one certain winner. >> yeah. we should note, ksenia, the ballerina, lives in california.

has dual citizenship in the united states and russia. a critic of the war in russia now arrested and, as keir reported moments ago, her appeal was denied. she will remain in prison. the state department says it is working on her case. keir, as you listen to vladimir putin's speech today, his long, annual speech to the nation, do you get the sense in recent weeks, and perhaps months, that he is emboldened watching what is happening in the united states? which is to say, the united states congress can't get the ukraine funding that president zelenskyy says is so desperately needed at this hour. is putin emboldened by the fact that he's not pushing that to ukraine? >> i think he is emboldened. i also think he is as resentful as ever. it is interesting that, you know, president macron of france makes this speech in which he talks about nato putting boots on the ground in ukraine and

that president putin responds to that within days. in a speech as important as this, he didn't mention president macron by name, but it was absolutely clear what he was referring to and what he was responding to. in some ways, what you're really seeing is the same president putin, the same president putin who has been justifying the invasion of ukraine. the same president putin who has been railing against nato for so many years. >> the same president putin getting support from many republicans in the united states congress right now. nbc's keir simmons in london, thanks so much, as always. up next here, we'll take a look at how political campaigns are using artificial intelligence in some positive ways this election season. nbc's morgan radford joins us to explain that when "morning joe" comes right back.

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welcome back. 42 past the hour. when it comes to the 2024 campaign season, artificial intelligence is already playing a role. earlier this month, the fcc made a.i. generated voices in robocalls illegal. nbc news correspondent morgan radford has been looking into all of this, and she joins us now. morgan, you find that some campaigns are hoping a.i. can still be used for good. tell us about it. >> for good, mika. it's not quite in the way you think. the ads aren't coming to your tv screen or phone, but they're showing up in subtle ways. in fact, one organization is

aiming to make campaigns cheaper and more efficient. they're hoping to use a.i. to essentially turbocharge some of the work that campaigns do every single day. take a look. >> this just in. >> surge of 80,000 illegals yesterday. >> reporter: it's been both a political weapon and a political issue. >> do you think theture enough ? >> reporter: one organization is embracing artificial intelligence as a campaign strategy. >> you have a fast and intelligent assistant. >> reporter: they're using it to create emails, getting a high-tech edge over the competition. >> everything we do is a.i. aided, meaning the human puts in the request, puts in the context, and also edits it afterwards. it's not a.i. spitting out an email or a.i. spitting out an ad and a human doesn't look at it. that's not where we are. >> reporter: it's not just hands off the wheel, the computer does its thing.

>> yes. >> reporter: it is a strategy they first tested in the virginia statehouse races in 2023. >> we did an experiment across 14 campaigns. we tested a.i. aided emails. what we found is that a.i. aided emails had about a 3.5 to 4.5 times increase in productivity versus the human only emails. >> reporter: productivity, you could get more marketing materials out there, more emails, more communication to voters faster. >> not just faster but better. we measured the dollars raised per work hour. it's not just about more, it's about can these be as good or better? >> reporter: now, they're rolling out a new set of a.i. tools, which they plan to use this election year to help democratic candidates across hundreds of races. you've pulled up top performing emails in the past. then what happens now? >> you ask the tool to generate, in this case, i'll say, two new email options based on what worked. >> reporter: there it is. it is working. is this an example of an email?

>> yeah, two options. you can see it gives a subject line and then it does the body for you. >> reporter: wow. this looks like it was written by a real person. this looks specific. it gives a catchy subject line. it did this in less than a minute. >> oh, it did it in about 15 seconds, yeah. >> reporter: and it comes at a critical time. >> your vote makes a difference in november, not this tuesday. >> reporter: earlier this year, a.i. generated voices in robocalls were made illegal, and eight states passed laws regulating a.i. in some form, which is why some democracy experts warn that any a.i. generated campaign material should be used with caution. >> the challenge is that this is early days for the technology. we don't fully understand it yet. a.i. makes mistakes, hallucinates and can create bias

for the campaigns. >> reporter: they take it seriously. >> there are malicious uses of a.i. that can be used in elections and i am worried about that, but i'm also worried we're not having a balanced conversation and the party is going to get left behind on a.i. because they are leading from a place of fear. >> reporter: a new technology coming to a campaign near you. >> when she says the party, of course, she's talking about the democrats because that's her organization's focus. this technology is not only being used to help democrats. brad parscale, trump's former campaign manager, also founded a digital firm that advertises of a.i. capabilities for campaigns. house leaders recently launched a bipartisan task force dealing specifically with artificialobjl capability for material created by a.i. >> fast-moving stuff here. >> very fast. >> what is the next frontier on

the technology. >> it is interesting. of course, you could have, in theory, the perfect tv ad, right? they're saying images and television, that's not out of the realm of possibility. more specifically, what's fascinating here, is that they're using a.i. to analyze voter data so they can affect voter turnout. they've already used this in 700 different campaigns. imagine, now they know exactly what language is working, which email subject lines are making people click, and that's what's helping them sort of progress to the next frontier. >> nbc's morgan radford, we love having you on. thank you very much for coming on this morning. still ahead, member of the armed services committee, senator angus king will join the conversation as he urges the white house to provide humanitarian relief to gaza civilians. "morning joe" will be right back.

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visit xfinitymobile.com today to learn more. president biden underwent his annual physical yesterday and remains a healthy, active, and robust 81-year-old who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency. that's according to his physician. white house physician dr. kevin 'connor states biden says he feels well, and there are no new concerns. dr. o'connor found no issues with his neurological system after a detailed exam. biden is currently being treated for sleep apnea, managed afib, elevated cholesterol, spinal art

arthritis, and tingling or numbness in the feet. all things previously being treated. >> mr. president, how did you -- >> everything's squared away. >> anything concerning that americans should know about? >> they think i look too young. >> jonathan lemire, there was a lot to say about the physical that former president trump had with his doctor, who is actually now a maga member of congress. just full circle here. when he had choice words for trump's health that seemed a little out of step. what to you make of how president biden is handling all the talk about his age and now the physical? also, i think there's a prescription that he forgot to put on there. that is to not eat ice cream because it will be the lead on

fox news for 24 hours and cause the hosts to completely meltdown. for the health of fox news hosts, he probably should stop eating ice cream. >> yeah, the president not lactose intolerant. we know that much for sure. you were mentioning dr. jackson's evaluation of trump, more that he was an idonis. he is under scrutiny for handing out medication during his years at the white house. it was the president's annual physical, and it was a standard check-up. no changes from a year ago. there, of course, has been a lot of speculation about the president's age and his cognitive function. he was not given a cognitive aptitude test yesterday. his doctor felt it wasn't necessary. the president joked there that the voters are concerned that he might be too young for the job. we're seeing the president employ some humor in recent weeks as there's been more scrutiny about his age.

this was done at walter reed medical center, and the president is said to be perfectly capable of holding the job. coming up, we'll get back to the top stories this morning. the supreme court's decision to hear arguments on donald trump's immunity claim. we'll have more expert legal analysis for you next up on "morning joe." why choose a sleep number smart bed? can i make my side softer? i like my side firmer. sleep number does that. save 40% on the sleep number special edition smart bed. plus, zero percent interest for 48 months. shop now at sleepnumber.com struggling with the highs and lows of bipolar 1? ask about vraylar. because you are greater than your bipolar 1, and you can help take control

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this is a momentous decision. just to hear this case. there was no reason in this world for the supreme court to take this case. my colleagues and i filed what would be considered a very, very

narrow brief, saying that if there is one thing that a president can never be immune from, it's violation of the executive vesting clause of the constitution. >> retired u.s. court of appeals judge j. michael luttig reacting to the supreme court's decision to add donald trump's immunity claim to its docket. welcome back to "morning joe" on this thursday, february 29th. jonathan lemire, elise jordan are still with us. joining the conversation, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle. nbc news and msnbc political analyst, former u.s. senator claire mccaskill. she is co-host of the msnbc podcast, "how to win 2024." and the host of the podcast "on brand with donny deutsch," donny deutsch is with us, as well. willie, a lot of concern

rippling through the airwaves yesterday about this decision and the worry that it ultimately delays the case against donald trump until it is too late. >> it definitely delays it, but the question is for how long? there are concerns among some people who say this may not be heard before the election now. if donald trump is re-elected, he can make it go away. with donald trump's immunity claim headed to the supreme court, it is likely his federal election interference trial will be delayed by several months at least. senior legal correspondent laura jarrett has details. >> reporter: the u.s. supreme court deciding to weigh in on a critical issue that could make or break the special counsel's case against former president trump. agreeing to decide whether mr. trump should be shielded from prosecution by claiming presidential immunity for the acts he took leading up to january 6th. those acts the basis for the criminal election interference case he's now facing this court.

the move further delaying any trial in the case likely for months. if mr. trump wins, the charges would be dismissed. arguments set for april 22nd. saying former president trump has become citizen trump with the same options as any other criminal defendant. trump hoped it'd be put on pause, saying he was wrongly prosecuted for official acts that happened while he was still in office. >> if you have a president without immunity, he'll never be free to do anything because the opposing party will always indict him as soon as he leaves the white house. >> reporter: the high court already set to decide another legal battle for the republican frontrunner, hearing arguments last month over colorado's move to ban him from the ballot. the justices sounding skeptical of the ability to disqualify hiy time. >> laura jarrett reporting for us there. joining us now is legal analyst

and former federal prosecutor andrew weissmann. he is co-author of the new book, "the trump indictments, the charging documents with commentary." andrew, good morning. i'm curious to hear your reaction to this ruling that we heard yesterday, at least this idea that the supreme court will hear arguments on april 22nd. arguments come down in late june. you can schedule months between june and when the trial may start. we're close to election day at that point. some say this is the supreme court saying we adjudicated this. we heard it, insuling itself from criticism, and then ruling that, no, the president does not have full immunity. what is your sense of things, number one? number two, how long may this delay the trial? >> well, i'm very pessimistic. i do not have the view they took this case because they're going to hand out a win to donald trump in the colorado case, but here, they're going to essentially give him a defeat by

saying there is no presidential immunity in this case. yes, of course, i think ultimately, they will not grant immunity in this case, but they have given him the win because the d.c. case, let's just face it, is on life support now. it is really, really hard to figure out how this case gets to trial before the election. i think that's the end result of what they did here. they may ultimately say that he does not have immunity, but, in fact, he will have been given immunity because the case will not go to trial before the election. if joe biden wins, the case goes forward. if he loses, the case is over. it is worth noting the other big picture item. any normal politician, any person accused of a crime they did not do would want to clear his name. what's happening here is the reason one thinks it is a win for donald trump is he is trying to avoid at all costs the facts

of what happened that are charged in this indictment, that they do not get represented in court where facts actually matter and people will hear it. so he can continue to say publicly that this is a smear campaign by the adversary and avoid having this confronted by a jury to assess those claims that he is making publicly. >> supreme court is certainly helping donald trump's legal team's strategy of delaying this, kicking it down the road. hope he wins election and can make it disappear. do you believe on the merits the supreme court made the right decision here to hear the arguments? >> i don't. i think this is a frivolous argument. this is a case where even if you thought there might be some circumstance where a president could be immune with respect to certain actions he takes within his or her official capacity,

this is surely not the case. as judge luttig has said and submitted a brief, when you're dealing with the crimes alleged here, illegally staying in office, that is an absolute violation of the constitution. i think that this is really improvident. by granting the stay, they essentially are saying that he is facto immune. i think they shouldn't have taken the care. they'll give trump a win here and in the colorado case, as well, i think. >> claire mccaskill, what do you think of andrew's assessment, basically giving him immunity through delay? >> yeah, i think andrew is right. i think that balloons and confetti dropped from the sky at mar-a-lago yesterday. this case now is -- i don't

believe it'll be tried before the election. and is a trial in september or october even a good thing for donald trump? does it make him more embrace, you know, the i'm being victimized, that, you know, your government is trying to keep me from you. clearly, when he started getting indicted, his support solidified in the republican primary. it didn't go away. it got stronger. so, you know, what, then maybe they try him after the election? if he loses, you know, i don't know. if he wins, i don't know. i bet this was a 5-3 deal. i bet you it was. i bet mcconnell leaving, frankly, maybe is kind of some weirdness that mcconnell announced he is leaving the same day the people he pushed through

in ways that totally busted norms of the united states senate for confirmation decided to give trump a win and not hold him accountable before the voters have a chance to weigh in. >> sort of an appropriate capstone in some ways to mcconnell's legacy. andrew weissmann, if this were to happen in the fall, donald trump will be in the courtroom da after day, and in the stretch run, we can already hear his complaints about that. if you're right and this trial doesn't happen, that'll mean more than likely, and let's get your assessment, that the only trial that happen this year before the election will be the new york city fraud trial. most analysts believe it is the weakest, probably the least politically damaging as well as weakest on the merits. give us your take. do you think that'll be the only one that does happen? and play it out for us. what does that trial look like? even if he is convicted, what punishment would he face? >> so i do agree.

i think, as i said, i think the d.c. case is basically on life support. i think that the case that will go is the one in manhattan. it is scheduled for march 25th. that is going to go. i don't think i'd phrase it as the weakest. in many ways, people think of it as the weakest because when you compare it to the other indictments, it is the least serious. let's get real, if any of us were indicted in 91 felony counts, we wouldn't be thinking, oh, well, this dozen or so is not that important. these are serious charges. the federal and state judge described it as much. i don't know what will happen. we will see. it is obviously the state's burden to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. i should note the prosecution team and the defense team in the new york case are excellent,

experienced lawyers. that might differentiate this case from other cases we've seen. i think if there is a conviction, there is a serious possibility of donald trump going to jail and serving time here. if only because we know from the state court judge overseeing this case that he's already said in a pretrial ruling that he views these as serious crimes. i think he is right in the assessment. >> many people, not members of the bar, obviously, wonder about the pace of play here. the supreme court took several weeks to make the decision to accept this case for hearings. they set the hearings up several weeks down the road. the case of play begins when the alleged crime was committed january 6th, 2021. as a veteran of the justice department, do you have any rational explanation for why it

took attorney general garland so long to implement the levers of justice and appoint a special prosecutor in this case? >> those are excellent questions. there are two types of delay here that are really not justifiable. one has to do with the supreme court, that the supreme court could have heard this case when jack smith said after the district court ruled -- remember, jack smith said, supreme court, why don't you hear the case now instead of having it go through the appellate process? they could have done that. they could have also ruled on this most recent application in less than two weeks. it took them two weeks to issue a decision. then as you note, they've waited now, not hearing the case for two more months. timing is clearly not pressing. for the department of justice, it is a fair criticism that merrick garland's justice department took so long before appointing jack smith and

investigating. the most charitable, i think, explanation could be that merrick garland really wanted to set the department and have its norms be that we're not focus ong the political cases. we're trying to restore the department of justice to the rule of law. it was clear that was a mistake in strategy when you have crimes of this importance committed by a former president. so that is clearly a main reason we're in this situation now with a race against the clock. >> legal analyst and former federal prosecutor andrew weissmann, thank you very much for your analysis this morning. donny, it is interesting. i think for those who see donald trump as a threat to democracy, the message here is don't be sitting back, waiting for the courts to do the job for you. democrats need to show up the vote. >> you took the words out of my mouth. silver lining, there could have

been a laying back of democrats. let the courts handle it. 25% of republicans in the last poll said if he was convicted, he was unfit for office. i think that would change over time, frankly, but this is a wake-up call. this is, you know what? it's only going to be on you, the voter. that is it. i think it'll motivate people. i was seeing this ruling yesterday or the announcement, and i was like, how can i get to the polls? i think it is going to, in a certain way, galvanize. put this together with roe, with this latest ruling by the supreme court what they're going to hear. i think democrats now know, you know what? it's on us. there is nobody else. there is no guardian angel that will make sure this happens. i think the concern about the democrats turning out as far as their base being fractured, this is going to be a motivational force. >> as mentioned earlier, claire, we know republicans will be motivated to turn out for donald trump. particularly, i think this new york case, a lot of them laugh

off and say, this is a witch hunt, this isn't real. but weigh in on what mika and donny just said. do we think it'll galvanize democrats? for months now, the biden campaign has been privately saying they weren't banking on the trials at all. they did not view them as a magic bullet. they know they're only going to win this election if they outwork trump on the campaign trail. >> yeah. listen, this whole thing in michigan has been overblown. 2012, there was exactly 10.9% of the voters voting against barack obama for his second term. this time, there was 13%, and there was a huge campaign to vote noncommitted. there's not a huge difference between the two years. twice as many people voted against donald trump in the republican primary than voted against joe biden in the democratic primary. biden got 78%.

and the reason the number was bigger in michigan on noncommitted is because a lot of people voted. we don't know whose who voted against trump were democrats trying to help haley because they can't stand joe biden. i think this is a situation where the biden white house is exactly right. stay focused on our supporters, on motivated, our supporters. you know what the biggest motivation for that is? donald trump. it'll continue to be donald trump. last night, i'm walking along the streets in new york. people are talking to me and saying, oh, we've really got to go, man. we've got to go. this is really important. people sense that this is an urgent situation for the country. our best weapon in november is donald j. trump. we're going to get to other news this morning, but this actually could be a challenge for president biden in the

presidential election. here in america, dozens of people were killed in a crowd of palestinians waiting for aid in gaza city, according to health officials. some of the video may be extremely disturbing. according to israeli defense forces, residents surrounded an aid truck and looted the supplies. the says people were injured amid the trampling and pushing. however, a source tells nbc news the crowd approached idf troops in a manner that posed a threat, so they responded with live fire. the source says the incident is underreview. this comes as u.s. officials tell "axios" the biden administration is considering air dropping more aid into gaza because land deliveries are becoming increasingly difficult. joining us now, independent senator angus king of maine. he is a member of the senate

armed services and intelligence committees. thank you for coming on the show this morning. how do you assess the israeli approach to the war at this point? president biden has called the response over the top at one point. yet, netanyahu seems so defiant about moving forward with this war in a devastating manner for palestinians. at what point is this going to become an international problem and also a political problem for president biden? >> i want to talk about exactly what you raise as the conduct of the war. i was in a meeting in tell achieve about six, eight weeks ago, with benjamin netanyahu. i looked him in the eye and said, "i believe that the bombing campaign is counterproductive. it is for whatever damage it is

doing to hamas, it's doing more damage to israel and israel's standing in the world, to world opinion, and i think nobody questions, i don't think, israel's right to defend itself against terrorism. >> right. >> on the other hand, the manner in which it is being done, that's the problem. that's why i'm releasing a letter this morning to the white house to bring a hospital ship to gaza to try to break through some of what you talk about, about the difficulty of getting support to the palestinian people. >> senator, good morning. i want to ask you more. the idea of bringing the naval ship in from the waters. james stavridis, our friend and military analyst here on nbc news mentioned it. what would it look like that's different from the trucks getting in? the concern is hamas loots the aid and it doesn't get into the hands of the people who need it. how would a navy ship remedy that? >> well, the whole idea is to

cut through some of the complications. the problem is, the border crossings, checkpoints, other checkpoints, and trucks have been reunloaded and -- reloaded. then there are the problems at the border of gaza. jack reid and i are suggesting this is a way to cut through this and get the aid directly. we're talking now about two pieces. one is a hospital ship. hamas does hide under hospitals and civilian infrastructure. this is a way to get urgently needed medical support to people. the ship is offshore. there would be shuttles back and forth. the french are already doing this. it is proving effective. we have greater capability. it is something -- i got the idea from admiral stavridis. he wrote an article about this, and this just makes sense. maybe air lifts. there are too many

complications. there's one other important point, willie, that hasn't gotten much play. in most war zones, civilians leave. syria, they left. in ukraine, millions went over into poland. in this case, they can't leave for a couple of reasons. hamas won't let them leave. they're being trapped by this terrorist organization. also, you showed the map, the southern border of gaza borders egypt. egypt is literally building a wall to keep the palestinian refugees out of egypt, to keep them trapped in gaza. so that's one of the things that really complicated the situation. the civilians have nowhere to go, and we have to try to cut through that. that's why a hospital ship is one way to do it. another is to bring aid in by the sea, to stage it on cypress

or somewhere nearby. one container ship carries 800 truckloads of supplies, which is desperately needed. we need to figure out how to get it there. air lift is another idea. that's the problem, we have to cut through the blockages at the border and get them to the people that need it. >> yeah, it is a question we've been asking for four months now, what about egypt? as you point out, egypt shows no interest in accepting the refugees. in fact, building a wall there. let me ask about the policy president biden signalled a few days before the michigan vote, that a cease-fire, a temporary cease-fire could be imminent. a break of several weeks to get the aid in quickly. israel and hamas both said, i don't know what he is talking about. there's not going to be a cease-fire given the conditions, israel says, that hamas is asking for here. you've got voters in michigan and across the united states saying we want a permanent cease-fire. that's a non-starter, obviously. what is something reasonable to expect, a pause, perhaps, to get at least the aid in before the fighting resumes?

>> well, i think maybe the steps toward a cease-fire is one way to go. for the israelis to back off on the bombing campaign, for example. then hamas backs off -- another thing that hasn't been publicized, since october 7th, hamas fired something on the order of 15,000 rockets into civilian areas of israel. now, israel, fortunately, has the iron dome, preventing damage from most of the rockets. okay. so stop the bombing. stop the rockets. then work toward the release of the hostages and then a permanent ceasecease-fire. the cease-fire has to apply to both sides. hamas can't say, well, we're going to keep firing rockets and arming and building tunnels and all the things they're doing. a cease-fire, i think we could step into it through a process

of, first, the israelis backing off on the bombing campaign. as i said, i think it is doing more harm than good. then that could open the opportunity for a back off by hamas. then perhaps we can move to release hostages and some democratic -- i'm sorry -- some diplomatic solution, which is exactly what ultimately has to happen. >> donny deutsch, i want to bring you in. you can take a question to the senator if you'd like. i'm curious, you know, the concept of bringing this hospital ship to help the civil civilians and other options are coming from the u.s. decisions president biden has to make and push for, what president biden has to do to help end the war and get the hostages home. he should do everything he can do. but is there a decision here for israel, as well?

when everybody talks about biden losing the arab vote, the youth vote, because of his position with israel or how this war is being conducted, israel depends on its partnership with the united states of america. doesn't israel need the youth vote and the arab vote and support from america just as much? >> yes. let me also make a point. hamas does not want a cease-fire. that's been proven time and time again. >> right. you started this off by showing the carnage in gaza, and that's all young people see. young people today, on college campuses, they're being accosted if they're pro-israel. they've lost the narrative with young people. i'm going to put something out there that may seem controversial.

there needs to be a reset. if i was israel and i wanted to kind of take back some of the narrative, there was a 47-minute film i saw and a few people saw. israel has not released it out of respect to the families. what it was was footage that the idf took from the terrorists that showed the raping and the destruction and the beheading and killing of babies and the burning of babies and the jubilation that these terrorists showed as they called their mothers to say they killed jews with their bare hands. as we saw a jewish corpse dragged through the streets and the gazans cheering, that footage needs to be shown. there needs to be a marker in history. >> yes. >> just like the footage of the holocaust was a marker in history. yes, israel would love a cease-fire, but israel needs to take out hamas. if they don't take them out, this will happen again. young people need to see that. that needs to be put in front of every person on this planet. yes, israel is responding, but

let's put a marker in history of what these savages have done and what now is a response to it. >> senator king, off of what donny just pointed out, the brutality, the savagery of what took place on october 7th, i would like for you to think about that for a second, and then take us back to the meeting you had with netanyahu in tel-aviv a few weeks ago. in the interim, after october 7th, israel began the following week by dropping 2,000-pound bombs on one of the most congested areas on earth, gaza. over 30,000 people have been killed, largely palestinian, in gaza. many of them children. with american munitions largely during that time. today, or when you were meeting with president netanyahu -- prime minister netanyahu, what

was his response to your suggestion to him that israel is overdoing it in approach to the bombing? what was his response? and do you think that netanyahu, we have an ally or a foe? >> well, i think his response was a kind of stony, non-response. he listened. i wasn't the only one there. there were other members of the senate that were there, who all made the same point. one of the points that was made was that israel is losing a generation of supporters. support is eroding among young people in the country. they're seeing the images. israel has gone about this in such a sort of heavy-handed, regardless of the consequences way, and that's -- he didn't

have much of a response. he sat there and listened. the meeting went more than an hour. i said what donny said. i said, you may be winning the ground war, and i'm not even sure of that, but you're certainly losing the information war. that's part of it. the other piece, i'm hearing rumblings of palestinians in gaza who are starting to talk about, wait a minute, hamas got us into this. and think of the money that hamas built -- hundreds of millions of dollars have come into gaza the last few years, and they could have built an amazing society on the mediterranean sea. instead, they built tunnels. those tunnels, if they were straightened out, would go from washington to boston. i mean, that's where -- they've stolen the money of the

palestinian people to turn gaza into a fortress. then the basis for offensive weapons. so this is a really complicated situation. what's not complicated, there are people who need help. there are innocent civilians in gaza who need help. we have to cut through the checkpoints and that kind of thing to get the help they need. to me, admiral stavridis, as he usually does, has it right. let's bring a ship in there that can provide badly needed medical supplies and medical help on the ship, to get away from the whole idea of whether or not it's a hospital that's hiding hamas, and we can make a difference in those people's lives. plus, we can say, hey, the u.s. really does care about this. we're not just standing by and handing the keys to this whole thing to benjamin netanyahu. we'll be sure people get help that they ought to in a timely way. >> independent senator angus

king of maine, thank you so much for coming on this morning. we really appreciate it. thank you, sir. coming up, we are remembering stand-up comedian and "curb your enthusiasm" actor richard lewis. we'll discuss the legacy he left behind and show you joe's sit-down interview with lewis just a few months ago. plus, president biden and donald trump are both planning to visit the southern border today. we'll dive into the politics behind their trips and their conflicting messages, as immigration takes center stage. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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a run. the coroner's office determined she died from blunt force trauma to the head. a man named jose antonio ibarra has been arrested on charges of assault and murder in connection to her death. federal authorities say he entered the u.s. illegally in 2022 and was arrested at least once before. georgia governor kemp and former president trump blaming president biden, accuing his administration of failed policies at the border. for its part, the white house sent its condolences to riley's family. meanwhile, president biden and former president trump will make visits to texas border towns today. the white house says president biden will meet with border patrol agents and local officials in brownsville, texas, to discuss the need for bipartisan border reform legislation. about 330 miles away in eagle pass, texas, trump is scheduled to give remarks of his own. joining us now, the independent mayor of san antonio, ron

nirenberg. he'll meet with president biden today. before we get to the details of policy proposed, the legislation in the senate, just a clear-eyed view from you as the mayor of san antonio about the crisis, the problem at the border as you see it. how bad is it? how is it impacting your city? >> i would characterize this more as a political crisis sis than immigration crisis, willie. you know, there's 114 million displaced people across the world. we're seeing certainly a surge of migrants at the southern border. we have for years under multiple administrations here in san antonio. we are 150 some odd miles from the border. we've had 600,000 migrants since january 2023 through our community. we've seen these under trump, under biden, administrations far beyond that. what is different here is a

level of demagoguery that's being played out by extreme maga republicans at the behest of trump. you know, the hallmark of the trump administration immigration policies was the separation of families at the border. something that the overwhelming majority of americans oppose. he did not, could not, would not do what president biden has done, which is reach across the aisle, work with a good faith group of bipartisan centers, and come up with solutions to the issues at hand. we're going to be meeting with the president. the president will be meeting with a number of folks including the border agencies who are starving for the resources the republicans in the house will not give them, in order to deal with this issue. we're going to advocate for the bipartisan border bill negotiated by, again, good faith senators on both sides of the aisle that are solutions to the issues at hand. >> and a solution the house of representatives long called for and now turning its back on now

that it's in front of them. in new york city, for example, chicago, as you know talking to fellow mayors, it is a crisis. migrant crisis, trying to care for hundreds of thousands, in some cases when you talk about new york city, migrants who come here. are you not seeing that same impact on san antonio? in many ways, there is demagoguery, and it is a political crisis, but it is a real crisis to a lot of cities. >> there's no doubt. we do see local impacts. we've had 600,000 migrants come through a city of 1.5 million people. san antonio is the seventh largest city in the united states but it'll quickly overwhelm that many community with that many migrants coming through in that period of time. we've had great cooperation with the white house and the department of homeland security and secretary mayorkas on the resources needed to deal with that issue in light of congressional inaction. we've worked quite well.

we've had a migrant resource center in order to do really three things. which is to maintain order, protect public safety, and treat people who come through our city with some basic dignity and compassion, which every human being deserves. you know, we can't control here in the local communities whether we're san antonio or chicago or new york, who actually comes across the border. those are the domain of the federal government. what we can do is deal with the impacts. we've had great cooperation with the federal government in that regard. i will say this, in the national security bill that currently is at the feet of mike johnson, there were the resources necessary to deal with those local impacts. those local impacts will not stop if there are no solutions from a policy legislative perspective at the border. not only are they holding local communities at the border hostage. they're holding every other city in the nation that's dealing

with the immigration issue yesterday, hostage issues, as well, with the inane politics. >> mayor, what would you change about the bipartisan bill that congress has not passed yet, or would you support just going forward with it in its current incarnation? >> i and many of my peer mayors on both sides of the aisle support this bipartisan border bill. it's not perfect. many people, including myself, would like to see other elements to it. it's not -- it stops short of being comprehensive, but this is a -- the biggest step on modernizing our current immigration system that has happened in the last 30 years. so it is definitely worthy of consideration and debate and passage from a local communities perspective. but, you know, dealing with the dreamers, you know, accelerating work permits, to a greater extent, those are things that we

should negotiate, but this bipartisan border deal that was worked out, again, in good faith with president biden in a bipartisan group of republican and democratic mayors -- excuse me -- senators is worthy of passage, and we fully support it. >> san antonio mayor niremberg who will be meeting with the president today, we appreciate you being with us this morning. mika, it is true, many republicans are demagoguing on this issue, as we said. speaker johnson and others in the house have called for reform. they say if you can do something about the border, then we can talk about ukraine. bipartisan legislation in the senate comes to them, and they turn their back on it. but it's a real crisis as we know living in new york city. you can ask mayor adams about that and cities across the crown tri. and just last week, border patrol announced it has more than 250,000 -- about 250,000 encounters with migrants at the border in the month of december, which was an all-time record. >> same question for claire and

donny. claire, i'll start with you. politically, we've got these dueling border visits today. you know republicans will say that the border is all biden's problem, and they won't talk about the deal that was on the table that they passed on so far. politically, how do they fight for the message to get out there that, again, something could have been done, something could still be done, but republicans have been the ones who have been stalling it? >> first, good on the biden white house for going to the border today. >> yeah. >> ignoring this problem would be a huge mistake. so the fact that they're going to go down and the coverage now today will not be donald trump demagoguing. it will be joe biden at the border, with the border patrol, who endorses this bill. the most extreme people in the country that know the most about it, that are facing the southern border every day, support this

bill. that's the message of the white house. the only reason it's not passing is because they'd rather use it as a political issue than solve the problem. if they stay disciplined about repeating that message over and over again, it will get through. but don't make any mistake about this. this is real. 58% of independents right now see illegal immigration as a major issue. i'm not talking about the 90% of republicans. i'm talking about the independents that joe biden has to have in november, has to have. >> picking up where claire was, i was wrong. i came on a few weeks ago and said, you know what? people are not paying attention. they're not going to understand the republicans are the ones standing in the way. tom suozzi who ran in the congressional third district here in new york for santos' seat proved the democrats can use immigration offensively. he went on record. he made it all about immigration. look, the other side is standing in the way. he won that election. that's a playbook for it. as claire said, look, immigration, one could argue, is going to be the issue.

basically, the democrats can go on the offense. they need to own it. also, biden, i wish there was some grand gesture, i don't know the mechanics, executive, whatever, somehow own immigration and take it away from republicans so they can't do it. >> well, the bipartisan deal was step one. going to the border is step two. i mean, it's like, see you at the groundbreaking. he performs for the american people and republicans try to take credit for it. in this case, they're trying to blame him for something he offered them. donny and claire, thank you, both. coming up on "morning joe" -- >> i talk about my drug addiction and alcoholism. i'm sober almost 30 years. so that's part of my story. >> is that -- do you consider that one of your great accomplishments? >> without question. you know, 30 years is a long time without a drink or a drug. >> wow. that was actor and stand-up

comedian richard lewis talking to joe about his struggles with addiction and how he recovered. this interview happened just weeks ago. we'll show you more of his comedic work and why he meant so much to so many. "morning joe" will be right back.

at one point, right after i finished playing in about 2001, i was taking about 50 vicodin and 10 oxycontin a day. the 10 oxycontin equate to one equals, never with water or anything like that. it's a good thing though i'm not really a drinker. i would have died for sure. >> that's former nba star rex chapman in 2019 discussing his addiction to opioids. chapman got sober in 2014 after his arrest for shoplifting

earlier that year that resulted in about 18-month probation sentence. he details all this and much more in his new memoir entitled "it's hard for me to live with me." rex is with us. i have been a fan of you for a very long time and really following your journey since your days in basketball. big picture here to sit back and put all this down on the page to kind of spill it and talk through it, what did it feel like? was it therapeutic? was it difficult? why did you want to tell the world about this story? >> oh, man, willie. thanks for having me on. i'm a big fan. have been for a long time. this book's tough. i didn't realize how tough it would be to write and it to go through this process with seth davis who was terrific. i feel a bit conflicted sitting here today being celebrated for screwing up my life in a spectacular fashion. while it's also a very tough time for my family. my ex-wife who's just a rock

star, our kids. this is opening up a lot of old wounds for them. maybe some new ones publicly. so i just need to acknowledge that before we go further, but i'm hopeful this book will help my kids, help them see me in a different, better light, going forward doing things better than i used to, and for others. i know when i was going through the depths of it, i wasn't willing to listen to anyone, and sometimes the smallest thing can make a difference. you can listen to someone and change your outlook and be on your way. >> rex, congratulations on the book. so many people now know you for your basketball, but also your twitter persona. you've become such a popular follow spreading good news. this book though is a lot of difficult news as you say. tell us a little bit about how you first developed this problem and some of your path to get out. >> yeah, you know, i grew up

pretty much wide open, just going, running around crazy, playing basketball, chasing girls, going to the racetrack. i didn't realize that, you know, my going to the track which i'd done with my dad since i was little, i didn't realize that was something that not all dads did. i thought everybody does that. that's what men do when they grow up. they gamble and do all that stuff. i didn't realize that when i was doing it most of the time, i was just running from some other problem that i had, and i could get away for four, five hours and get into the racing forum and escape. it's not healthy for me, and i would do it all the time. you lose money and you chase money. when i finished playing, i had a huge void to fill, i believe, and i started filling that right away when i got out of playing. i had an appendicitis and the doctor gave me oxycontin, and i never touched a basketball again. i had three more years left again. i lost all interest in everything else, and just spiraled.

>> rex, writing the book, sitting down writing the book, even with seth working with you -- >> yeah. >> -- that's a long, dark tunnel that you are coming through writing that book. >> yeah. >> did you hate the person that you were writing about when you were writing about him? >> it's a really -- it's spot on, and still do. you know, i think i'd kind of gotten past a lot of that stuff, the guilt and shame and a lot of that stuff. going over the process the past two years has brought a lot of that flooding back. i had a panic attack -- i had a panic attack in college over something that was unrelated to basketball, and i'd forgotten about it for years and years and remembered it during the writing of this book and thought it was poignant and should put it in there, and about six months ago when we were wrapping up this project, i had another panic attack. fortunately my girlfriend whitney, she was there, and she

took great care of me for a few days, and some of this stuff is just -- it's hard to talk about, and i think i've compartmentalized a lot of it, tried to, you know, i stole from an apple store. every now and then, i sit with with that and go, how? what? why? i would have never done something like that prior to drugs. i have to think. so it's just -- it's all come flooding back, but i also know it's -- secrets aren't good for me, and if i can share a little bit of my pain, hopefully somebody else will get a little something from it. >> so rex, you're so unbelievably inspiing on social media, and i look at what you have documented here in your life, so much rock bottom from losing $400,000 in one day in vegas, from almost dying on your

way to rehab, getting arrested, but i think this part here that i'm about to read might be rock bottom. and you say this. you're arrested, you appear in front of the judge. they let you out, and you have no way to get home. so i start walking toward the freeway. my mind in a total fog, it's hot, and after 20 minutes, my son zeke finds me and pulls up in his car. he gets out, comes around to hug me, starts bawling. he keeps asking me over and over if i'm okay. i know i'm sad, but i don't really feel it. i barely console him. that is what life is like when you're addicted to drugs. you just go numb. here i am, worst moment of my life, worst moment of his too. zeke is completely broken up and yet i don't even shed a tear. so rex, how did you go from almost dying, from rock bottom,

from feeling nothing to living again? >> it's been really hard, and it's hard to hear that every time, you know. that's not even the worst though. like, the day before that, the police showed up to my apartment and my son was there, and i saw it was the police, and i asked my son to lie to the police and tell them i wasn't there. that's just despicable, and he did it, and then he left for class. ten minutes later, i went out the door and the cops got me. they pulled me over, and then he picked me up the next day and i still didn't have tears for him. it's something that, you know, those are the things that i just kind of live with, and, you know, it's good to talk about them from time to time, because they happened, but again, one reason why i'm trying to do this differently going forward. i embarrassed myself, my family,

my mom and dad, my sister, my kids, my ex-wife, all of my friends' kids that looked up to me and look up to me. i thought if i'm going to live, i need to do this better and try to make them proud of me again in some way, form, or fashion. >> so you end the book writing about the love that you have for your kids. quote, i know that a lot of addicts lose their families and never get them back, yet i'm still close to my kids. i guess i must have done something right. i love those four people more than i can ever put into words. for them to love me back after every i put them through? that's my championship right there. the book is entitled "it's hard for me to live with me." rex chapman, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. thank you. >> thank you, mika. thank you.

>> take care. coming up, what we're learning about hunter biden's closed-door testimony yesterday as republicans ramp up their effort to impeach his father, president biden. we're back in one minute. ♪♪ t biden. we're back in one minute ♪ why choose a sleep number smart bed? can i make my side softer? i like my side firmer. sleep number does that. save 40% on the sleep number special edition smart bed. plus, zero percent interest for 48 months. shop now at sleepnumber.com whoa, how did you defeat them? with a little kung fu strength and by connecting my devices to the most powerful force of all. skadoosh. hah, huh? cool right? amazing. harness the power of xfinity internet and stay connected to the things you love. ah, they'll be like this for hours. hello dad, hello dad, hello da.

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far better. i'm wondering if there is stuff that they connected to dad because comer's remarks were very short and if he found something, he would have leapt at the chance to say it. >> you would think he would have led the entire commentary just a few moments ago with whatever he seems to have found. >> that was a fox news host, neil cavuto, not buying what james comer was trying to sell on capitol hill yesterday. we'll go through the testimony to the house oversight committee later in the show. plus, the end of an era for senate republicans. the party's longest serving leader in the upper chamber is stepping down at the end of the year. we'll take a look at mitch mcconnell's legacy and who might

replace him. so good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, february 29th. with us, we have the host of "way too early" and white house chief at politico, jonathan lemire, and former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments, elise jordan. willie, there is so much going on this morning, but of course, we start with that shocking news from the supreme court, although some may say this could be the supreme court making sure it's doing its due diligence given the gravity of everything that is at stake. >> certainly not the end of the story here, but a delay at the very least. the supreme court has agreed now to consider former president trump's claim of presidential immunity in his federal election interference case. the conservative court's decision to hear the case will further delay a potential trial. the high court has scheduled arguments for april 22nd and a final ruling might not come

until months later at the end of the term in june. if the court rules in favor of trump, the special counsel's charges would be dismissed. the u.s. court of appeals unanimously ruled that trump does not have absolute immunity, but the delay would push the start of the trial probably into the fall. let's bring in former litigator and msnbc legal correspondent, lisa rubin, and legal analyst, joyce vance. good morning to you both. lisa, let's pause for a moment. this was shocking news to a lot of people, but let's talk about what this decision is, and what it is not. it does not mean that the supreme court agrees that donald trump has presidential immunity. it means that they're going to hear the case possibly that he does have immunity, and at least knock this down into the fall. >> that's right, and willie, the way in which the order yesterday was phrased is also a little bit telling. the question that the supreme court has agreed to resolve is a narrow one that's whether and if

so, to what extent a former president has immunity for his official acts, and -- or his official acts as alleged, and one of the things that's really i think concerning about the way that the question is presented is alleged according to whom? because if you ask jack smith, the way that the indictment is framed, none of the acts for which they are trying to hold former president trump criminally accountable were, in fact, official, that a president plays no official role in the administration of federal presidential elections, and so the way that this is phrased is slightly troubling even for those who might push back and say, this is the supreme court trying to button up an important issue that is percolating in at least two federal courts right now, and is likely to recur in the georgia case and beyond.

>> joy vance, a lot of concern and reaction to this. what's going on? another delay tactic, but when you look down the pike, and you look at how this is going to be seen in history, i mean, i don't see a reality. maybe you can correct me in which the supreme court doesn't agree with the decision that has already been made, that a president somehow has immunity and can have s.e.a.l. team six take out people that he wants to take out. i don't think they're going to go that way, but in the history books, they will be able to show that every stone was unturned every step of the way in this. having said that, there is such concern about losing time and this going beyond the election. what are your thoughts? >> right. so i think it's an interesting observation, mika, and i'm reminded that bill barr who was one of donald trump's attorney generals used to say that history is written by the winners, and i think that's the

concern here, whether the supreme court has given trump such a big win by adding ten more months of delay onto this case, that it makes it more difficult for donald trump to be portrayed as the criminal that many people who have looked at this evidence believe he should be portrayed as. i agree that the supreme court is extremely unlikely to reach any conclusion other than donald trump specifically and they don't need to talk about all presidents here. that's unnecessary. they can look at donald trump and say, this individual, this former president is not entitled to any form of immunity for his effort to interfere with an election. they don't need to talk about all potential crimes a president could commit. they don't need to talk whether or not a president's official acts might be cloaked in immunity, for instance when he's making time-pressured decisions on the battlefield. that's something jack smith has argued in the past doesn't need

to be a part of this case, but for the court the look at donald trump's conduct here and reach any conclusion other than the fact that he can be prosecuted in the criminal justice system would be tantamount to saying that presidents are, in fact, above the law, that donald trump is above the law, and that, you know, not to be dramatic about it, but would be the end of one of the most cherished principles of democracy. that no one is above the law. >> i don't think you're being dramatic. that's at stake here. this is a legal question from the politics. the idea for donald trump and his legal team has been to delay, delay, delay. if he can get himself re-elected in november, he becomes president, he controls effectively the justice department. he can make all of this go away, and as you look at the calendar, the rulings come out in june. a trial we're hearing may not start until september, october. joyce is skeptical it could even get under way before the election begins. this does in many ways help

donald trump's cause as he looks to have this stuff just go away. >> yeah. so many democrats reached out to me yesterday just, like, i can't believe he's going to get away with it again. there's a sense of frustration that trump always seems to escape, to slip the hook. a few things here. yes, that's the legal analysis and it's probably right in some ways. the supreme court should take the case even if we suspect they will agree with the lower court, but let's talk about the presidential campaign and the timelines here of the four cases. we know that the georgia case has become a bit of a mess, and it's also sprawling to begin with. that is always perceived to be until 2025. the case in mar-a-lago, there are real reasons for delay because of the sensitive materials, but there was a judge who seems to go along with the delay tactics. this may not happen until the fall where if trump wins, he can make his attorney general make this go away. that simply leaves the new york case which is scheduled to start in a few weeks, but it's

perceived by most, elise, as the weakest case, one that might not even carry prison time were he to be convicted. when we come to the end of this, it's what the biden campaign has been saying all along. we can't bank on the courts to bail us out. it's becoming very clear that's the case. they're simply going to have to win this election in the campaign. >> that's the truth, and jen palmieri, our friend was on your show earlier and said exactly that. she has never thought that the defeat of donald trump is going to come in the courts and i completely agree, and while i think, you know, for many reasons, it's unfortunate that trump always seems to escape justice, at the same time, we don't want our judges and our rule of law being dictated by a political timetable, and likely -- i talked to a supreme court insider yesterday who told me it seems likely that the colorado ruling, that that case that trump will win probably, the court.

in this case, trump will lose and that very likely both could be almost unanimous and the court could be pretty unified in these decisions, and so if that happens, it is a good show of strength for the rule of law in america just that the process has gone through the steps. >> yeah. lisa, let's set aside the politics now. what should we expect? they've agreed to hear this now in april. what does that look like? what sort of timeline should we anticipate for a decision, and if you will, if assuming elise is right and they rule against trump in this case and a trial does proceed, judge chutkan has said, she'll give the parties time to prepare. what's your best guess as to when that will come to trial? >> let's start, john, with the math that's remaining. when donald trump's case was paused to allow for further consideration of the immunity issue, there were 88 days left to trial. judge chutkan has publicly committed herself to giving

donald trump around seven months to prepare for trial. we assume she takes that 88-day remainder seriously. she has also said including through a prequestionnaire that went out to prospective jurors in the washington area that this is a trial that will take around three months. so you have to build into the calendar that 88 days, plus 90 days to try the case. if you think this is going to happen before the election, and that's why folks like me are asking the supreme court, why didn't you write, like, you're running out of time because time is quickly elapsing here. there are folks who believe that the supreme court could rule quickly after the april 22nd oral argument. our friend neil is one who believes that the court will render ruling by sometime in early may. on the other hand, if you believe that the court is likely to push this decision until the end of the term in june, which usually ends at the very end of

june or july 1st like our friend judge michael alluded, then you're really in a crunch with respect to the calendar and if and when a trial can begin. there's also finally the question of department of justice policy. i've heard a number of folks on our air and other places say, well, wait a second. the department of justice prohibits taking steps in a case like this 60 to 90 days before an election. that's not my understanding of doj policy which prohibits overt investigative steps, not the trying of a case, but more importantly, the department of justice won't be in control of when this case is tried. that will be up to judge tanya chutkan if and when the case is returned to her, and in that instance, i believe that judge chutkan would proceed even if we are well into generallisa, i the "hamilton" reference in

there. nonstop, nice. you think it's unlikely for this trial, for all the reasons lisa laid out here. what timeline given the courts is realistic for people to expect here? >> right. i mean, it's possible that there could be an aggressive timeline where the sun and the moon and the stars line up and this case gets to trial, but i'll tell you, willie, 25 years of trying cases at doj, these things don't run like clockwork. for one thing, there's some administrative time that it takes after the supreme court issues its ruling to get the mandate back down to the district court so that judge chutkan can get back to work, and it would be a mistake for her, and i don't think we'll see her give trump any less time to prepare for trial than she had initially said he would get. that's the 88 days or so that's left on his trial prep clock for the amount of time that this

case has been stayed while the appeal's been under way. the reason you don't want to shorten that time is of course, that gives trump the ability to argue if he's convicted and the case goes on appeal that he was denied his due process rights and what we really don't want to see is get this reversed on appeal if there is a conviction. beyond that, there are all sorts of things that get in the way. witnesses can get sick. the judge may have some other events on her calendar once this case comes back. we suspect she'll make every effort to give this case priority, but there are some realities, and of course, there's early voting lurking in the background of all of this. not everyone will vote on november 5th. voting in some of the key states will start 30, 40 days in advance of that. so the possibility that this case could have a jury struck, get all the way through the evidence, give the jury time to render a verdict, and have all of that accomplished before people begin voting is pretty unlikely at this point.

coming up, we'll get to hunter biden's day on capitol hill, and what lawmakers are saying about his closed-door deposition as part of the gop-led impeachment inquiry into president biden. "morning joe" is coming right back. president biden. "morning joe" is coming right back ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or

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i think it is extremely disturbing to see the lack of professionalism, the lack of grounding, and the abuse of public resources and abuse of public power in order to pursue something that truly, whose points at this juncture is really unclear. >> this whole thing really has been a tremendous waste of our

legislative time and the people's resources. >> i cannot believe that they have found a new low. it is so embarrassing to sit in the room for an hour while they try to weave conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory that only embarrasses them further. >> it's very clear there's no there there. >> democrats on the oversight committee reacting to yesterday's closed-door deposition by hunter biden who struck a defiant and emotional tone during his testimony as part of the gop-led impeachment inquiry into his father, president biden. hunter condemned the investigation as a partisan political pursuit that was based on a false premise and fueled by lies, and reiterated his stance that he never involved his father in any of his business dealings while also acknowledging mistakes he had made, pointing to his battle with addiction. we're told during the nearly

seven-hour-long closed-door deposition there were what's being described as heated moments between republicans and democrats regarding interruptions during lines of questioning. after his testimony, hunter said his deposition went great. so far republicans have yet to turn up any evidence in their impeachment investigation. joining us now, congressional investigations reporter for "the washington post," jackie alemany, and jonathan martin. good to have you both with us this morning. jackie, i'll start with you. is there anything that republicans came up with, substance, and at what point are people going to say, this is taking away from other incredibly important issues of our time? like foreign aid and government shutdowns and actual real needs of the american people? >> yeah, mika. i think if anything, republicans

will have to reckon with the fact that i have been told by several sources who were in the room for that extended hearing yesterday that hunter biden happened to be one of the most prepared, disciplined, and on message witnesses that they have had appear before the committee yet who spoke very eloquently about a broad swath of evidence, some of it unsubstantiated, some of it contextless, text messages and communications that james comer and republicans have cherry-picked from the mountain of records they have obtained so far, and there has been still no there there. for anyone who thought this would be the smoking gun, the star witness, it certainly disappointed and hunter biden instead spoke of a lot of instance that is republicans have pointed to as wrongdoing as examples of him under the spell of addiction, being drunk or high at the time of those communications and quite frankly, as someone in the room told me in a readout, that he was lying about some of the

times where he said his father was present to certain businesspeople like this one text message that has often been referenced where he was in communications with a chinese associate that he was doing business with, and texted him in a whatsapp message that he was with his father right now. he said during that deposition that that was actually a lie, and that he was under the influence. i think this all goes back to the really bigger story about hunter biden right now, which is that he is determined to stay sober and has viewed this as key to his father's re-election and as key to batting down the accusations all of which so far are unsubstantiated, that his father was directly involved with any of his business dealings with foreign associates. >> so jackie, you would think after a series of humiliating setbacks for this committee, the latest being the arrest of mr. smirnoff who at one time was a star witness that the fbi and justice department now say was making everything up, claims of

bribes that joe biden received, that he did not receive, you would think this committee might walk away, but james comer made it clear his smoke, but no fire yet investigation saying, we've heard some contradictory things that need further review suggesting that we're going to keep this ball in the air with insinuations and suggestions, but no evidence there was wrongdoing here. is that the goal here just to keep this alive through the election? >> that is, willie, a typical comerian tactic to continue to muddy the waters and lob allegations across cable news and conservative media that have been proven unsub tantuated time and time again. i imagine we are going to continue to see that, but perhaps to a lesser extent. even fox news that has quieted on several fronts of covering some of the accusations comer's been making and he has been facing criticism from his colleagues who have not been happy with his media

process-centric approach where he has put forward, again, this contextless, cherry-picked evidence, gone and spoken about it, and then the evidence has when you looked into it a little bit further, fallen quite flat, but fortunately for him, we're all going to be turning to the senate impeachment trial, which is a whole other discussion in terms of whether or not that is -- those are substantiated, and they'll get the oversight committee hearings cover from an investigation that in its totality so far has been a failure. coming up, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has announced he's stepping down from his leadership position later this year. we'll take a look at his legacy and the race to replace him. "morning joe" is back in a moment. to replace him. "morning joe" is back in a moment

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there's another piece of major news on capitol hill yesterday. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell announced he will be stepping down as the upper chamber's republican leader this november and leaving the senate at the end of his term in 2026. the 82-year-old mcconnell explained his decision on the senate floor. >> one of life's most underappreciated talents is to know when it's time to move onto life's next chapter. so i stand before you today, mr. president and my colleagues to say this will be my last term as republican leader of the senate. i'm proud of the accomplishments i've played some role in obtaining for the american

people. i still have enough gas in my tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics, and i intend to do so with all the enthusiasm with which they've become accustomed. >> first elected to the senate from kentucky in 1984, mcconnell has led the gop caucus since 2007 making him the longest serving party leader in the senate's history. jonathan martin, you're writing about this. what's the reaction first of all to his announcement? and also who are the contenders waiting in the wings potentially to replace him? >> well, the reaction is not surprise on the news, but surprise on the timing. i think what's widely assumed, m mika, is he would step down after the election this fall. the fact he revealed this in february, i think speaks to the political challenges that he's facing, and this has not been a pleasant season for mitch mcconnell, somebody that he

despises, donald trump, is about to become his party's nominee for the third consecutive campaign. his party is drifting towards a sort of isolationism that he finds frankly revolting, and he is perhaps most painfully of all, seeing his own power sort of ebbing in the senate, and he has coveted being senate leader for years and years. he finally got the job and he served of coursely breaking the record as the longest serving senator only to see his power really, really sort of slow at the end as a handful of younger colleagues have challenged him. it's not been pleasant for him and i think he's trying to get ahead of the jailer here if you will. he's trying to go out on his own terms. he does not want to be forced out by either a doctor's orders or a rebellion of his colleagues and he's trying to do it now and make the best of a tough situation. look. there's three obvious figures who are looking at this. they're all named john. that's john barrasso of wyoming,

john corning of texas, and john thune of minnesota. that's the shorthand, mika. i think this is hugely contingent on who wins the presidential election. if trump wins, this is still his party. i think he wants to have a say in who the next leader is, and he could find somebody beyond the three johns. if trump loses, and this is purely a choice of the senators, i think john thune starts with an advantage. >> so john, let's speak about mitch mcconnell's legacy here. you have sort of a contentious relationship with trump, and let's remember he didn't vote to convict trump in that second impeachment trial. >> crucial, yeah. >> which had he with votes there, maybe donald trump would not be running for office again right now. >> exactly. >> he would probably endorse trump again. >> sure. >> it seems to me, speak about his time in the upper chamber, but his impact might have been on the judiciary. >> if you look at the sweep of his career in the senate, there's no landmark piece of

legislation that he's really connected to. he's going to be best known, i think in history, for how he shaped the supreme court. he sat on one nomination for almost a year and he moved the second within a matter of weeks, and i think getting that 6-3 serve majority on the court i think is central to his legacy, and that's the great irony because the man he despises, he will go down in history, they are the conjoined twins of the late gop, donald trump and mitch mcconnell because those are the judges that of course, trump put forward and mcconnell confirmed that have so shaped this court. >> yeah. >> and by the way, they overturned roe v. wade, and mcconnell served his final two years in the minority. >> is it a done deal that mcconnell still will endorse trump and how soon are you hearing that it will be? or could this possibly -- could

he possibly keep it out there, float it and hold off for a bit? >> i wrote in my column today in politico about this. he's going to support trump. it's a matter of when, not if. mitch mcconnell is a man of the senate. he's also a party man. he's a partisan through and through. politics for him is first, second, and third, and he's going to get on board with the nominee. i don't think he'll do so with any enthusiasm, but he wants to retake control of the senate and i think he recognizes a divided party. that would undermine his party's chances, and he wants to have the party singing with one voice about their nominee and he'll do that. mcconnell knows that what happened in 2016 with trump created challenges for his party and he wants to be, i think on board with walking away from the leadership with a majority rather than a minority. >> so shortly after announcing his retirement, the house freedom caucus mocked mcconnell writing on social media, quote, our thoughts are with our

democrat colleagues in the senate on the retirement of their co-majority leader mitch mcconnell, and then they put, d-ukraine. no need to wait until november. senate republicans should immediately elect a republican minority leader. my head hurts. jackie alemany -- >> right? >> i mean, come on. we've got a lot on the table moving forward. they did avert a government shutdown, but speaking of whether you're a republican or a democrat, the republicans don't look like republicans now, at this point at least in the house. i don't know who they are, but perhaps, you know, arms of putin through trump in some way as we, day by day, watch ukrainians die every day because they're not getting the much needed aid. a government shutdown slightly averted, what about foreign aid? >> yeah. well, you know, jonathan says that there was no rebellion that

forced mcconnell out per se, but i think there was a bit of a quite, implicit rebellion at play here, and a growing number of senators who actually were starting to side and be a little bit more like their house counterparts. we've talked about this before. the senate usually views themselves as the more disciplined and deliberative body. they try to steer clear of this partisan politics, but i think the last episode that we saw over the past two months over this border bill, a bill that was demanded by republicans, crafted by james langford, and then shortly thereafter killed by house republicans hardliners donald trump and then, you know, a number of conservatives in the senate who tagged along and suddenly did this very dramatic and shocking 180 on the bill. it was a rebellion in and of itself, and i think the writing was on the wall for mcconnell, along with a number of other things that were going on. someone yesterday -- it was senator susan collins that said

that the death of his sister-in-law as well was potentially a contributing factor there, but it's sort of amazing to take a step back and think about how reviled mcconnell has been by democrats and now what is exactly in store with them, for them in terms of who they're going to see next, that this is a big generational change that we're about to m disciple to head up the front-runner and presidential candidate. the house caucus, that's the perfect example of the way they have caused this utter interparty chaos, and it's the perfect snapshot and a microcosm of what is happening in the republican party right now. coming up, an update the case of a los angeles woman

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city as evan gesh wits. she's saying russia was, quote, defending its sovereignty and security and protecting our compatriots. joining us from london is nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons.

>> you mentioned ksenia karelina there. we have now heard from that russian court that she has lost her appeal. honestly that was to be expected, i guess, that she lost her appeal. she was looking to not be held before her trial. she has not won that. shell -- there will now be another hearing on the 6th of april. so again, if evan gesh wits's case is anything to go by, that's it. she's accused of treason and they will pass too without her being released. as you mentioned, an unnerving split screen today with president putin giving his federal address, more than two hours threatening the west even while the court was hearing karelina's case.

it's the first time her case has been heard since she's been charged with treason. willie, she's accused of making a donation to a ukrainian charity of less than $52. meanwhile just talking about president putin's speech being shown on giant screens around moscow. he's been highlighting that, although the battlefield does remain unchanged. he says in the speech he bows at the feet of russian heroes, called for a minute's silence for the soldiers. he says, these are the men going through themincer of war and saying, we too have weapons that can strike targets on their territory. now that appears to be a threat, a frankly thinly veiled nuclear threat, a response to president macron who in a speech that made headlines earlier in the week,

talked about the potential that europe, that nato should send soldiers to ukraine, put boots on the ground in ukraine. putin is two weeks from an election. he's again in this speech making threats towards the west while saying we are a pillar of democracy even though when russia votes, of course, there will be one certain winner. >> ksenia karelina, the 33-year-old ballerina lives in california. she has dual citizenship in both the united states and in russia. a critic of the war in russia now arrested and as keir just reported moments ago, her appeal was denied so she will remain in prison. the state department says it is working on her case. keir, as you listened to vladimir putin's speech today, his long annual speech to the nation, do you get the sense in

recent weeks, perhaps months he has been emboldened by the fact that the united states can't get that funding? is putin emboldened by the fact that the united states is not pushing that aid toward ukraine? >> reporter: i think he's emboldened, but i also think he is as resentful as ever, and i just think it's really interesting that, you know, president macron of france makes this -- a speech in which he talks about potentially nato putting boots on the ground in ukraine, and president putin responds to that within days in a speech as important as this. he didn't mention president mac ron by name, but it was absolutely clear what he was referring to and what he was responding to. i think in some ways what you are really seeing is the same president putin, the same president putin who has been justifying the invasion of

ukraine, the same president putin who's been railing against nato for so many years. coming up, the united states is weighing whether to air drop aid into gaza as the united nations warns famine is almost inevitable. we'll be joined by democratic senator chris coons who just visited the region when "morning joe" comes right back. e region g joe" comes right back.

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♪♪ 52 past the hour. women wanting to advance their careers may want to consider learning a game predominantly played by men, poker. that's what entrepreneur, fin tech disrupter jenny just believes. jenny, who created power poker,

an education platform for women to learn the game, recently teamed up with the esteemed kellogg school of management at northwestern university. it will offer a poker-playing program to teach women lessons that include risk-taking, stepping out of their comfort zone and avoiding decision making traps. here's jenny talking about poker and how she believes it teaches women skills they need to succeed in and out of the office. >> when i found out about poker through teaching my daughter, i learned with her in 2019. as i progressed learning, as she progressed learning, i realized all these years i've been playing poker in my career and i

just didn't know it. i realized it actually wasn't about poker. it's actually skills around money. and poker just became a vehicle for teaching these skills. >> let's bring in maggie mcgrath and huma abedin. huma, jenny was a speaker at our inaugural 30/50 summit. she said her goal was to teach 1 million women how to play poker. what was the difference she wanted to make in the working world for women with this goal? >> when she spoke at that inaugural summit, i was there. i didn't think i could relate to anything she was talking about. i thought poker was about money and it was a game. the way she talks about the skills one can learn, i think

it's very relevant for the workplace. we're told that our brain can be a muscle and how to use that muscle. and the skills it teaches you, how to make strategic decisions and how to bolster your emotional resilience. these decisions can help you in the workplace. i have been invited to two separate poker playing groups in the last couple of years inspired by jenny at your inaugural conference. i always say no, because who has time for this. i'm going to make time. >> you nailed it when you said i never considered poker because i thought it was about money and it was a game. yes, it is about money and it is a game out there in the world of negotiating and taking risks. that's why you should play poker. >> that's exactly right. >> forbes has written about how

poker skills can translate into other areas of life. tell us about it. >> that's right. this week we published an interview with jen shahade, a world poker champion. if you think about all the signals you get from other players at the poker table, it's really a training ground for identifying patterns and using your intuition to interpret what those patterns mean and make decisions. my favorite piece of advice is that poker can teach women how to take risks, how to be aggressive and then how to balance risk-taking and being aggressive with being patient. she says at the poker table, you can be too aggressive and lose your chips. but if you are too patient, you

can miss out on winnings. >> we're going to be talking a lot about how women can advance their careers at the 30/50 summit in abu dhabi, which is next week, tuesday march 5th through friday the 8th. we're going to be offering an unparalleled experience in cross-cultural and intergenerational networking between very powerful women promising next-level personal and professional impact for this international women's day. we'll be honoring ien cos. also, we're going to really be taking into consideration the global challenges women are facing right now due to the events of the past year. we'll be taking a realtime look at how we can preserve and protect our rights and help women around the world. tell us about who's getting the

lifetime achievement award. >> you nailed it about the inspiration and the guidance i think women are going to take away from this conference this year. our lifetime achievement honoree is the former president of liberia. someone did not know who she was and what she did as the first democratically elected president in africa, led her country through conflict resolution. we talk so often about the conflicts in the world taking place, what's happening in the middle east, europe and africa. to see a woman so inspiring who led her country successfully and now she could just retire and go

off into the sunset, but she has chosen to stay committed to leading young women and inspiring them and teaching them leadership skills. >> maggie, we're always going to be two torch of freedom awardees this year. >> we are honored to be able to give the torch of freedom award to a holocaust survivor rabbi, surviving horrific atrocities and using platforms to advocate for human rights and religious tolerance and advocate against hate. nadia in 2014 during the genocide in iraq was taken captive by isis, forced into slavery and abused until she was able to escape.

elisa had to take refugee in a bunker in the dutch woods at age 9 to hide from nazi patrols. today she is a rabbi and speaks to schools and makes sure students understand her experience. nadia advocates for the yzidi people. we're all honored to have them at the summit. >> thank you so much. i'll see you guys really soon. for more details on the upcoming 30/50 summit visit forbes.com or knowyourvalue.com. it's 6 a.m. on the west coast, 9 a.m. in the east. we begin with the supreme court

agreeing to consider former president trump's claim of presidential immunity in his federal election interference case. in a brief order, the court said it would hear arguments in april, but it could take months for the court to issue an opinion. in the meantime, jack smith's case is on hold, meaning, no trial can take place. and even if the supreme court ultimately rules against trump, the intervention puts the trial's start date in question. in essence, some would say giving him immunity possibly. joining us now, ari melber and dave aronberg. i'll ask you both the same question. were you surprised at this ruling? >> i was shocked, mika. the five justices who granted the stay threw sand in the gears of justice and further

delegitimatized the supreme court in the eyes of so many. the d.c. circuit court of appeals decision was powerful, comprehensive and convincing. this whole issue of absolute immunity is an easy one. it's a legal layup. there's a reason why we left the crown 250 years ago, because we have a president, not a king. this whole issue is a certain loser for trump. he wins by losing, because now it's unlikely the case will go to trial before the election. not impossible, just unlikely. although the mar-a-lago documents case is the strongest case, judge cannon has slow-walked it. the d.c. case had the right judge in judge chutkan. it was built for speed. it was only four counts and no codefendants. not even jack smith can ensure

that the rule of law will prevail. a lot of the blame goes to the supreme court, but some of that is also on the shoulders of risk-averse merrick garland. >> in a way, one of our guests earlier in the show said this sort of gives him immunity in some ways. >> yeah. the whole thing is whether this is going to be a process that holds donald trump accountable. accountable doesn't mean he has to be convicted. it doesn't mean he's guilty. it means a day in court. if a jury of his peers acquits him, good for him. that's the system. and if he's convicted, then the rest of the united states can understand through this process what it means if somebody gets caught stealing an election. the supreme court's action in all likelihood, based on what we know about the calendar, prevents that from happen. we're having a debate on whether there should be a trial and the

supreme court prevents a trial. that short circuits the debate. the court thinks it's being savvy. this is the supreme court thinking the rest of us are stupid, that we don't pay attention. i think in a way it's very obvious from how the court is acting on this one they're trying to game it. they think they can do the pr and still claim afterwards that even though they prevented a trial, they still support a trial. i think many might see through it. >> we have jonathan lemire, elise jordan and mike barnicle with us. it's interesting because i respect the court. i think they'll come out in trump's favor with the colorado

case. who knows? but in this case, is the president immune from ordering seal team six to take out one of his opponents? this is not a question that it seems needs a lot of pondering. i don't know if i'm oversimplifying things. >> the generous approach to this is they felt like this is a weighty enough matter that they have to weigh in even if the answer is sort of obvious. in terms of tactics, we are in a campaign year. this is going to slow things down. most experts we've had on the show this morning have suggested they don't think, even if the supreme court acts with some haste, they don't think it will be feasible to get a trial in place before the election, because judge chutkan has promised the trump side plenty of time to prepare. there's been this thought among democrats that donald trump

always seems to get away with it. this seems like a step towards him, once again, getting away with it. he's facing four trials. at this point, it seems at most one, the new york case, which is the least serious of the cases, can happen this year. it seems like the fate of this election and the fate potentially of our democracy is not going to be decided in one of these courtrooms. it's going to be on the campaign trail. >> i think you're absolutely right about that. one of the thoughts that has been rumbling through my diseased mind for the last 24 hours is how did we get here? when you consider over the last eight years the damage that has been done to the true direction of the united states of america is enormous. yesterday's news day, i would submit, was packed with irony. it begins in the morning with

the announcement by mitch mcconnell that he is retiring. mitch mcconnell, who begged the united states supreme court, who fixed the supreme court, prevented a president of the united states from naming a supreme court justice. mitch mcconnell, who with a single wave of his hand could have resulted in getting donald trump impeached and thus taken off the board in terms of being still a candidate for president of the united states. and then we have the supreme court decision yesterday and we have the time frame involved. the alleged crime was committed on january 6th, 2021. it took an enormous amount of time for merrick garland and the department of justice to retain jack smith as special prosecutor. over a year's time was lost between the time of the original

crime, the alleged crime, and when the special prosecutor took office. now we have the supreme court trying to come up with an answer. two months from now they'll start arguments over it. an answer to something i wonder has ever been posed before, does the president of the united states have a right to immunity if he shoots and kills someone on 5th avenue. where are we? >> great question. where are we? we're in a tough spot, not just politically with how you may feel about trump, but as a republic. i think people can feel that. some people throw up their hands and are exhausted by it. others are redoubling their efforts. where are we? cheating is effective. that's why a lot of people cheat. violence is effective.

violence can work. it was violence that has now been convicted of sedition that actually delayed the certification of then president-elect biden. january 6th wasn't a failed plot. it was a plot that resulted in the certification happening later. there were two bombs placed at both party headquarters that did not go off. the supreme court through mcconnell and other means does not reflect anything like a relationship with the people's votes over the years. so all of these things have accrued where cheating and other tactics have been rewarded. now, whether donald trump is significantly tied to a deliberate criminal intent on january 6th, it's supposed to be a legal question. i don't think it should be resolved by local politicians on the ballot issue.

i don't think it should be resolved at the voting booth, because many people may cheer on anti-democratic efforts by their side. it's supposed to be resolved in the courtroom. now we have the highest court in the land saying, wait, we're going to get involved to make sure it probably doesn't get resolved in the courtroom. that's why this has this orwellian double talk. we as a country have to look at certain traditions and norms and figure out which ones still work today and which may have been so easily beaten through a cheating level of video game play by trump and others where you say the founders didn't expect someone quite like this and they didn't have the rules quite like this. and the supreme court seems to think their press releases, their pr and effort to say they

got involved is more than actually letting the courts have their say. that's an ironic and deeply hypocritical position if that's where they land. >> is there any legal reason i'm missing on why this case is delayed and why this supreme court seems to be slow walking this a little bit? >> elise, it is maddening. the supreme court knows there's a consequential election in november. yet they show no urgency in setting the date of oral argument for april 22nd. a more cynical view is to view it as them putting their thumb on the scale. when trump needed an expedited oral argument for his colorado case, the supreme court complied. when trump wanted to delay the d.c. case to avoid facing the music, the supreme court here

complied. back in december the court blocked jack smith's attempt to skip over the d.c. court of appeals and go straight to the supreme court. then when the supreme court got the case, they sat on their decision for two weeks. they granted a stay, which they didn't have to. then they rejected jack smith's proposal of oral argument in march. instead they settled on this april 22nd date, which is the last week the court is scheduled to hear arguments this term. if you choose not to decide, you'll still have made a choice. a delay is a choice. when the supreme court wants to move quickly, they can like in bush v gore in 2000. no cavalry is coming to save our democracy. only the voters can do that.

onto this now. we have an update. gaza health officials say an attack on a crowd waiting for aid has killed at least 100 people. nbc news cannot independently verify that death toll at this point. the attack happened early this morning in the northern part of the enclave. i want to warn you the video we're about to show you may be extremely disturbing. israel defense forces released this video saying residents surrounded an aid truck and looted supplies. the idf says people were injured amid the pushing and trampling. however, a source tells nbc news the crowd approached idf troops in a manner that posed a threat. so they responded with live fire. the source says the incident is under review.

this comes as a u.s. official tells nbc news the biden administration is considering air dropping more aid into gaza, because land deliveries are becoming increasingly difficult, especially as the desperation increases. joining us from london with more is josh lederman. what do we know about what happened here? >> reporter: just as we have seen so many times before, the circumstances around this incident today are very much in dispute. in the gaza strip, authorities are calling this simply a massacre by israeli troops, who they say opened fire on these desperate palestinians who were simply trying to get food and other basic supplies they need so badly. but as you pointed out, the israelis are making clear that they believe that this was a stampede that erupted when palestinians were swarming aid

trucks trying to deliver aid to the northern gaza strip, which has been basically cut off from the rest of gaza for months now after israel ordered all the civilians there to evacuate. those who have remained in northern gaza have been some of the most deeply affected by the humanitarian crisis. now, how many of the deaths that are now being reported there are a result of some type of a stampede versus the israeli live fire that that israeli official is now acknowledging took place today remains to be seen. that will be part of the investigation. but something has become crystal clear in this incident today. the humanitarian crisis in gaza and the violence as a result of the war there are no longer distinct calamities for people in the gaza strip. these are now the same thing, because the increasing levels of

desperation and hunger that the u.n. warns is approaching famine is leading many gazans to take drastic steps to get food, medicine and water. the israeli bombardment and war there is making it difficult, near impossible, aid groups say, to get into the gaza strip and safely deliver it to the people who need it most. many of these aid groups say it has been weeks and even months since they have been able to safely operate in the northern gaza strip. as the death toll climbs above 30,000 people, approaching 1.5% of the pre-war population of the gaza strip, we see how the humanitarian crisis and the war are now fuelling each other. >> thank you very much for your reporting there. joining us now, democratic senator chris coons of delaware, a member of the foreign relations committee and recently returned from a trip to the

middle east. perfect timing to have you on. how does president biden make clear our commitment to israel but also to innocent civilians here caught in the middle of this horrendous war? >> good morning. many of us here in the senate are communicating forcefully both through in-person meetings with israel's prime minister, president, ambassador, with whom i'll meet later today, and with our own president joe biden. the urgency of addressing the crushing humanitarian needs of gaza. yesterday, i met with the sister of one of the hostages being held in the tunnels beneath gaza by hamas. it bears repeating that those hostages have been there 145 days and that hamas could end this almost any time by releasing the hostages and

achieving a ceasefire deal with israel. israel could make a significant change almost any day that would improve the humanitarian relief and access for millions of palestinians in gaza suffering as a result of this war. when i had a chance to meet with prime minister netanyahu in israel, i pressed him on being clear that he will lose support in the senate and from the united states if he goes ahead with a ground offensive at scale into rafah. prime minister netanyahu says he has to finish the job, that there are four hamas combat brigades still sheltering, still active in rafah. and while i understand and respect the obligation of israel to defend their citizens against a renewed attack by hamas, how he can possibly separate out these fighters from the millions of refugees who have fled to rafah from other parts of gaza, i don't understand. so i have pressed the qatari

leadership, egyptian leadership, israeli leadership to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire before ramadan. i know president biden has been dedicating a huge amount of time and energy and effort to encouraging that's fire and hostage deal. let us all pray that's what happens in the coming days. it would unlock opportunity in lebanon and in iraq as well that were an important part of my visits there. senator blumenthal was with me for these visits. and the stability of jordan, the stability of lebanon and the idf is responding and in iraq, where american troops are exposed, we are still there as part of the counter isis mission. we need to do a stronger job of defending our troops in that

region. we can deploy modern systems to help protect them from drones. president biden took decisive steps after the deaths of three american reservists killed at tower 22 in jordan. as a result, we've enjoyed weeks of no further attacks by the iranian militia. make no mistake, this is a complex problem and the united states needs to show we are on the side of the humanitarian relief demands of gazans and we are not going to abandon the middle east and allow iran to simply overrun lebanon, iraq and the rest of the region. >> we want to turn you to the border now. dueling visits from former president trump and president joe biden. republicans scuttled a border deal that enjoyed bipartisan support in the upper chamber.

what should president biden's message today? >> president biden's message should be simple, that he from his first state of the union as president has called on congress to act to legislatively give him the authorities and the resources that he needs to address our southern border. we had that package ready to go here in the senate just a few weeks ago. james lankford led the republican side of those negotiations. in the end, he and senators murphy and sinema put on the table a proposal that would have dramatically increased the powers of the president and resources to interdict fentanyl and improve border security. president trump started calling for that to not be passed immediately so he could have an issue. former president trump has a lot of explaining to do in texas

today. don't take my word for it. brandon judd, head of the border patrol union endorsed that plan saying it was the best possible path forward. we had a solution. republicans rejected it. i am the president who wants to fix this border crisis and have an immigration system that is safe, legal and humane. >> democratic senator chris coons of delaware, thank you very much for coming on this morning. coming up on "morning joe" -- >> hey, what's my problem? for me, i have bad posture. i have low self esteem. i'm unhappy about it. i could blame my parents. i want to blame my parents for practically everything. after high school, said what should i do? they said, well, we think you should run away with the circus. that wasn't good for me.

>> we'll take a look back at the life and career of comedian richard lewis and show you part of his conversation with joe from just a few months ago. "morning joe" will be right back. a few months ago "morning joe" will be right back s i could be. so i hired body doubles to help me out. splurgy tina loves a hotel near rodeo drive. oh tina! wild tina booked a farm stay to ride this horse. glenn close?! with millions of possibilities you can book whoever you want to be. that's my line! booking.com booking.yeah power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley power e*trade's easy-to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans help you find new trading opportunities,

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get tickets! skadoosh. get tickets! we learned yesterday that richard lewis, the long-time standup comedian and comic actor died tuesday night after suffering a heart attack in his los angeles home. nbc's sam brock takes a look at his long and accomplished career. >> reporter: beloved american comedian and actor richard lewis. most recently known for his role on "curb your enthusiasm" show casing his energy.

he has died at the age of 76, his spokesperson saying he passed away peacefully at his home in los angeles after suffering a heart attack. lewis was dealing with parkinson's disease. >> i'm eccentric. i can't imagine having someone want to live with me. >> reporter: opening up about his struggles with addiction. he was a mainstay on the late-night circuit. >> welcome richard lewis. >> this show is practically as important as having sex to me. >> reporter: decades later, his close friend larry david writing tonight of lewis, "he had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest, but today he made me sob, and for that i'll never forgive him."

>> i'm putting you in my will. >> don't do that. >> it's done. you're in. >> in rhythm and under each other's skin until the very end. >> nbc's sam brock with that report. just a few months ago, joe went out to the "curb" production offices in california and sat down with richard lewis. here's part of their conversation. >> i was 50 when larry came over to my house. i was 50. i was trying to figure out what am i going to do now. you know, i still was going to be in standup. i only retired standup after 50 years a few years back. he tells me about this show idea. he says do you want to play yourself? larry says to me, you're not like gregory peck. why don't you consider this? i said, all right, i'll play myself. i figure if i play richard lewis, there's no way i'm getting an acting role again, not knowing this show is going to last for 23 years. >> you really play yourself very

well. >> i do. >> richard lewis is abe lincoln. it would have been a whole other film. >> let's talk about how special it is for you and for your friend that you're here in the final season. you've had a really tough three years. >> yeah, i have. it's been an interesting journey for me. you know, i finished standup after 50 years on my own terms, the best i've ever been on stage. so that was good. i did it half a century. enough. then all of a sudden, i was just inundated with hell. i had back surgery, sciatica. during that season, i'm not sure if it was before or after surgery, the crew was so loving

to me. they would wheel me across wiltshire boulevard in a wheelchair to get to set. they did that because larry loves me. >> and they filmed in restaurants so you could be sitting down, right? >> that was the first time they helped me. i had four surgeries and i was diagnosed last year with parkinson's disease. so i missed one season except for one episode in season 11. larry and i, we both know that one of the funniest lines that we will ever do together, the mayor is giving a speech and i'm mocking him. he looks at me and he goes, when are you going to die already? and i was so stunned by that, but it was so funny and he brought it on jimmy kimmel. jimmy said, how can you say that? larry said, no, no, he was

laughing. he said he was the only guy in the world that i could say that to and understand that i love him. >> we were born in the same hospital. he was already mocking me about my umbilical cord. >> of course. >> if only i could have lassoed him. i'm doing well. quite frankly, i fell into this advocacy role. i'm not sure if i am an advocate, but i talk about my drug addiction and alcoholism. i'm sober almost 30 years. so that's part of my story. >> do you consider that one of your great accomplishments? >> without question. 30 years is a long time without a drink or a drug. i don't have a family. we've been together 25 years. i found a great woman who just loves me and has been my

caregiver, particularly when it's been difficult with the parkinson's. and i couldn't be happier. >> upon word of the death of richard lewis, larry david, you really got a sense of their relationship in that interview there. he tweeted out there. he had a rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest, but today he made me sob, and for that i'll never forgive him. elise jordan, richard lewis was funny, but that was a friendship that stared not in the crib, in the hospital. >> richard lewis was such a sweet man. that really came across even when his comedy could be biting. i think what most came across from him was just his kindness. i was a big fan. i felt like a friend died yesterday. i think so many of his fans did

too. >> yeah. so funny. also so honest and vulnerable about his addictions and his struggles with his health near the end as well. such an important part of that show. he'll really be missed. >> the word vulnerable is key to understanding richard lewis. i never knew richard lewis until about ten years ago. i get a text from someone identifying themselves as richard lewis. it was the real richard lewis. i was surprised at the text. why is he texting me? i'm a nobody. but we developed a texting relationship and a phone call relationship. he would call about myriad topics, sometimes in the news, sometimes about politics, sometimes about himself. what always came through, as mentioned, he was both sweet, vulnerable and terribly insecure at a certain level. >> he wrote a beautiful book that i started reading last

night. he spoke about his addiction, but i didn't know the depths of it. it really is an important book and contribution that will outlive his comedy even. coming up, cnbc is plot lining women who are setting standards and what it takes to thrive in the business world today. and coming up, i spoke with olympic figure skating bronze medalist gracie gold. she's out with a new book entitled "out of shape, worthless loser, a memoir of figure skating, effing it up and figuring it out." she writes about her rise to stardom during the 2014 sochi olympics and her struggles she was facing, including an eating disorder, the pressure to

minimize her mental health struggles and more. here's gracie talking about her unrelenting pursuit of perfectionism and how it took a toll on her mental health. >> perfectionism was a really big issue for me. it is a double-edged sword because all those traits that perfectionism gave me, the drive to be the best at literally everything, i have never really been relaxed a day in my life, but also it feels like i could do nothing correct. at some point, i felt like throwing in the towel. what i didn't realize for a long time is as i started to become more agitated, having a lack of energy, i didn't want to go out or be social. i didn't understand what was happening as i was entering into a massive depressive episode. i thought depression was how my health book in school told me, everything is blue and you cry a

lot and people bring you casseroles and it's after some really traumatic events. i didn't realize mental health issues present in a variety of ways. it took me a long time to find the words to explain that. >> and you can watch my entire interview with gracie gold at knowyourvalue.com. we'll be right back. we'll be right back.

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cnbc is honoring 50 diverse women who have moved the needle in the past year, making their mark in fields across the spectrum, from business and tech to sports and medicine. the inaugural cnbc changemakers list celebrates women who are using their leadership positions

to change the world. joining us now, cnbc senior media and tech correspondent julia burston. she has a book "why women lead." you know i love this. let's start with how you put this together, how you got it all organized, lined up and then ultimately who is on this list? >> well, we're so excited about this list. we had over 700 nominations, and we had the guidance of an amazing advisory board of business leaders to help us figure out which quantitative and qualitative metrics to consider. we wanted to highlight women with reach and impact and particularly to focus in on their accomplishments over the past year. what we got is a list with a huge amount of diversity, women

in 17 different industries. we have women who are using technology to change the philanthropic world, which is an unusual angle for a business list. what we're really trying to do is include women. we have four women in sports. we have high-profile women like taylor swift and tracee ellis ross and women who are innovating across green energy and health care as well. actually, the biggest sector represented was the health care space. >> let's look at some of these categories like purpose and profit. women are really exploding in so many different fields. so narrow it down for us. we'll start with these changemakers. take it away. >> we found there were a range of women on the list figuring out how to build businesses that did good but also did well, so

really aligning the success of their companies with having an social or environmental or greater impact on health. a couple of these women i'm going to point out is one who runs repurpose global, working to minimize plastic created by companies and remove that plastic from the environment. she's making money while doing something that has a good environmental impact. or jessica chang trying to bring down the cost of child care. or a company that does formula. she addressed the formula shortage and created healthy alternatives to the formula that is out there. the company hello heart is addressing heart health helping consumers, but also helping employers bring down their costs. >> also women who are creating new businesses.

tell us about them. >> so many women on the list identified gaps in the market, said there are industries that are existing that are maybe helping male consumers, but are overlooking people like me. kate rider and this whole other category of women who are creating new solutions for renewable energy. kathy hannon has dandelion energy which is trying to get the business of geothermal energy as a renewable surgery source. and a woman working on a company that transforms carbon dioxide into fuel. >> congratulations on the release of this list.

thank you so much. coming up, doc brown and marty mcfly are now on broadway. we go "back to the future" next on "morning joe." o "back to the on "morning joe. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. this looks like an actual farm. it looked cute on the app. ( ♪♪ ) meanwhile, at a vrbo... when other vacation rentals aren't what they're cracked up to be, try one where you'll know what you get.

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♪♪ >> great scott! this is dr. brown, and this is my time machine. >> a time machine? ♪♪ >> you're a slacker mcfly. ♪♪ >> 1955.

>> hey, mcfly, i thought i told you never to come in here. >> they will meet. they will fall in love. they will get married, and neither you nor your siblings will ever be born. >> this is heavy. >> so good, "a blast from the past" takes center stage, back to the future which starred michael j. fox has been transformed into a hit musical. joining us now the two stars of the show, roger bart who plays doc brown and casey likes who takes on the role of marty mcfly. my family saw this. my kids absolutely adored it, so great fun, but i have to ask, what is the challenge, roger, of taking on such iconic characters and bringing them to life on stage? >> it's a real privilege to do them, and the reason they are iconic, of course, is because they're so well-written and so well-performed and are usually in giant hits. and christopher lloyd is a very special actor. every time you see him in

something, you can't sort of ever forget what he does. you know, he's a fantastic guy, and i'll never be able to sort of do exactly what he does. but i lift sort of the fun things he brings to the screen and make them my own. so it's a great honor to do it. >> so casey, same question to you. obviously michael j. fox, the cast gave their blessing to this. talk to us a little bit about what it was like sort of stepping into this character and also what you might have learned from michael? >> yeah, i really -- it's funny because i've been given the privilege of doing -- and so has roger, doing a lot of characters that come with a large expectation from a lot of fans, and i think every time that i do that, i think you kind of have to figure out what makes those characters so iconic. and i think what i wanted to do is i wanted to take what michael did, distill it down into whatever made him so special,

and then take the things that make me so special and mold them into one character. so i think when people see that you respect what they love, i think they're willing to go on your journey, and try something new. >> you know, not that it matters to anyone, but just the clip that we showed coming in here of that play made me want to go see the play tonight. >> that's the point. our press team did a good job. >> yeah, it was incredible. let me ask you both, the adaptation of the screen play and this iconic movie as you pointed out to the stage, how difficult was that and how true is it to the movie? >> well, you know, bob gayle and our director john rando and the design team really tried to kind of re-create the first part of the back to the future series. we to basically that story, and we've added a bunch of songs that are new songs and wonderful

songs. you know, the -- they were very masterful in trying to re-create the feeling for a lot of people who saw back to the future the first time in 1985 and to re-create that experience for people. if you've seen it back in the day or who are seeing it for the first time. we pretty much stick to the original. >> yeah, it's very close to what you know and love, and then it's also a different show every night because we can't always stay on script, which is -- >> that's great. >> which is fun. it's just me trying to keep up with him. >> we stay very much on script. >> every single night. are we on the same show? what show are you doing? >> never stray -- it's like the bible. >> it really is. >> we really respect the writers. >> of course. i understand that. >> bob gayle's right after camera. >> from just that snippet, the car looks pretty close to the car in the movie. what is it like?

what is that prop, that very unique, iconic prop? >> it's actually a little smaller on stage, but you would never be able to tell from the audience. it's a little bit like a go cart in there for me when i'm driving it around, but it's great. i mean, it's just like -- it's this multi, many million dollar thing that has just been created for broadway that's never been seen before, and it does a lot of things. >> they created an enormous amount of fun magic in the theater. >> fun magic in the theater, "back to the future" the musical is playing right here in garden city. thank you both for joining us today. congratulations on the production. that does it for us this morning, "morning joe" will be back tomorrow. ana cabrera picks up our coverage after a quick final break. a picks up our coverage after a quick final break. everyone. baby: liberty. oh! baby: liberty. how many people did you tell? only pay for what you need.

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