already taken credit for that. that just shows you, again, the political pressure that putin is under at home, and the fact that he's still trying to take more territory in ukraine. >> yeah, isis-k taking credit and proviing evidence that they were responsible, still not changing putin's narrative to at least place some of the blame on ukraine. covering a lot of ground for us this morning, laura thank you, as always. thanks for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. the one constant through all the years, ray, has been baseball. america's ruled by it like an army of steamrollers. it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. but baseball has marked the time. this field, this game, it's a part of our past, ray. it reminds us of all that once

was good, and it could be again. oh, people will come, ray. people will most definitely come. >> yes, they will. that will start today. i mean, mika got chills and wiped tears from her eyes a couple times. >> actually kind of hot in this sweater. >> i understand that. i have to watch that movie again, willie. i watch movies over and over again, by the way. >> sure, same. >> why not? that's an amazing scene, also. kevin costner drives off and the van comes around, james earl jones says two words, "moonlight graham." getting chills. you know, some people see that and don't understand, think it's very hokey.

when i hear that, i think of my dad taking me when i was a 5-year-old kid to atlanta, fulton county stadium. he'd get the scorebook out. my dad would always keep score, taught us how to keep score. by the time we got a little older, we'd be keeping score. like doris kearns goodwin talks about in ken burns' documentary. i remember taking joey, my son, to fenway in '99 to the all-star game. tears, looking to the left and right of me, tears coming out of grown men, you know, coming down, streaking grown men's facts. just about the all-century team. my children growing up, i have pictures of all my kids grown up, you know, from 3 to 5 to 10, now, jack, who loves your show, little jack who is now 6'4". >> yes. >> when we're driving in the car, we're talking about the red

sox. >> they are. >> we're talking about baseball. it connects. it really does connect generations. today, jack and i will be just as excited watching the red sox opening game as my dad and i were 50 something years ago at atlanta fulton county stadium, watching the atlanta braves. >> if you want another quote from "field of dreams," "dad, do you want to play catch?" if that doesn't melt you. we grew up a different way, because that gets me every time, having a catch with your dad. the beautiful thing about opening day is that everybody has a shot. even the boston red sox. jonathan lemire is about to disagree. >> it's not true. >> everybody has a shot on opening day, as we launch today. the new york yankees, jonathan lemire, you're excited about them playing the houston astros. obviously up against whatever cheating system they've devised

this season, making it a little more difficult. you're pessimistic about the red sox' chances, but it's here. but we're coming into spring, the weather is getting better, and the teams are taking the field. >> opening day, and for the red sox, the season is over. they are disappointing their fans this offseason. they did very little. we certainly, joe and i and mike, all expect another last-place finish. frankly, a lot of fan anger towards the team this year. still, it is opening day. it's a national holiday. it's the beginning of spring in most ways, even though it is raining here in new york. we've already gotten a couple rainouts. mets won't play today. but it is a beautiful thing, a sign of hope and renewal. it is the best. sox are on the west coast, too late for me to stay up and watch live tonight, but i'll watch this weekend with my sons, who are as big of fans as you guys are with your kids and i am with my dad. it is always special, even

though this season will likely end with pain and misery, joe. >> i don't understand, jonathan. everybody is 0-0. i looked in the standings -- >> we're somehow last. >> they have it 2 1/2 games back. i'm looking, like, we're all 0-0. how do we start 2 1/2 games back? it's bad. i'll be watching tonight. i know you can't believe that, but alabama plays unc in the sweet 16. >> yeah. >> that's at 9:30 tonight. i think out on the west coast. i'll have to stay up for that. the red sox start at 10:00. i'll be worthless tomorrow morning, but it'll be worth it. reverend al, i want to talk about a man you came to know and grow and love. just a great man, a great man, you know? i see these far left-wing progressives that'll pick out a vote here or a vote there and

just absolutely trash him even in death. that shows you the real lack of humanity in politics. it's disgusting, because joe lieberman was a public servant his entire life. he was a great man. you didn't have to agree with him 100% of the time, and you didn't agree with him 100% of the time, but you ran for president with him, got to know him, and got an understanding of just what a throwback he was to the politics of old. he would talk to john mccain, lindsey graham. he would talk to republicans on the other side. he would work to get things done. he's just so beloved in the state of connecticut and beyond, rev. >> no question about it. in 2004, we both went to the democratic primaries. i remember when i entered the race, i had -- was on the opposite side of the democratic

party from joe lieberman. joe lieberman was considered a part of the democratic leadership council, the dlc, sort of what we considered right-wing of the democratic party. i was on the left. i was surprised the first day i came for the first debate i was in. he welcomed me. he walked over and said, "glad you're here. glad you're going to express yourself. anybody pick on you, you come to me." we kind of got along. we didn't agree on many of the issues. i was anti the iraq war. he was very much pro. but after every debate, he would come and talk and meet my daughters. he was a gentleman and one that really believed in what he believed, though i didn't agree with it, he believed it. he was not demagogic. he was not the performative politics we see now. he was a genuine, decent guy. so when i heard of his passing yesterday, i immediately told

people, no, you can't judge him by what we may agree with politically. you have to judge people by what they believe. he believed it, but he was not a human being that dealt with acrimony and dealt with the kind of demagoguery that has polluted politics now. i wish his family all of the best because joe lieberman believed in this country. he might have looked at it through different lenses. >> you know, that decency and civility that rev al brings up is actually even more an important part of his legacy now, given the disgraceful display that we're seeing in our politics now and the danger that we're seeing in our politics now. senator lieberman's family announced yesterday thatd by complications from a fall in his home. he was a four-term senator, representing connecticut from 1989 to 2006. then he switched to being an independent before retiring in

2013. he was the first jewish candidate on a major party's presidential ticket when al gore picked him as his running mate in the 2000 presidential election. lieberman was 82. he was a family friend. he and his wife knew my parents well. it also brings me back to my early days as a reporter in connecticut. lieberman and dodd were the connecticut senators. richard blumenthal was the attorney general. >> they were all so respectful and decent and kind. >> they were incredible. as i said, he became an independent. that's the story here in his legacy. he disagreed with his party but always civil, always a gentleman, always about finding common ground. >> finding common ground. willie, while the progressives on the far left may have disagreed with him and may have their issues with him still, most of americans are looking

for somebody that finds political space, that people like joe lieberman -- oh, there's lindsey graham back when he was one of those people. joe lieberman. susan collins. sam nunn. howard baker. those were the type of people that would work in the center of american politics. i hear it all the time. i know there are extremes and freaks on both sides, and i know the maga extremists are causing a real concern to those of us that love american capitalism and love american democracy. i speak for myself. but joe lieberman, sam nunn, howard baker, john mccain, if people want to know why congress isn't working, it's because those people are gone. because those people get voted out, other than susan collins. those people get voted out if

they try to deal with the other side. that's why washington -- >> they're leaving. >> people love to bitch and whine about how broken washington, d.c., is, and then they send extremist freaks up to represent them. if they want to know why washington is broken, it is because of them. because they don't elect more people like john ccain, joe lieberman, like sam nunn, like howard baker anymore. and lindsey graham, he forgot who he was. >> yeah, lindsey graham is in all of these photographs, right? he was john mccain's right hand, a good friend of senator joe lieberman. look at senator graham now. you're right, senator lieberman frustrated with the iraq war vote. cost him a primary in connecticut when he was running. became an independent and won that way. endorsed mccain for the presidency when barack obama was running. did come around and endorse hillary clinton in 2016 and joe

biden in 2020. he represents a different era. as we talk about how he looks even better in hindsight, in the year 2000, he and al gore, despite their objections to the supreme court decision to stop the counting of the ballots in florida, they walked away. they conceded the election. >> right. >> which was notable at the time but not viewed, perhaps, in the way it should be viewed now. donald trump, of course, continues his lie about the election that he lost by many, many more votes in 2020. i think maybe history smiles a little wider on senator lieberman today even because of the way he conducted himself after that election. obviously, he continued to protest years later. but he was a man from a different time. as you say, joe, they are vanishing very quickly, men like senator joe lieberman, in washington. >> and we are poorer as a nation for it. >> yeah, absolutely. >> you look at congress. well, we're going to be talking throughout the show this morning to people who knew joe

lieberman very well, who ran against him. they're all going to be joining us throughout the four hours to examine his legacy as it pertains to the challenges that we are confronting today. but we have some new polling to tell you about that shows you a tight general election race between joe biden and donald trump. in the first from quinnipiac university, biden leads trump by three points, 48% to 45% among registered voters. that's within the poll's margin of error. that follows polling this week that shows a neck-in-neck battle for key swing states. the latest bloomberg/morning consult poll, trump and biden are tied at 45% in michigan, in pennsylvania, and in wisconsin, biden leads by a single point, which is within the margin of error. very close. with us, we have special correspondent at "vanity fair," and host of "the fast politics" podcast, molly jong-fast. she is an msnbc political

analyst. and also with us this morning, conservative attorney george conway back with us. also, one more thing. the new polling also shows that donald trump has a big problem -- >> well, of course. >> -- with women voters. >> yeah. >> in the quinnipiac university survey, 60% of women say they plan to vote for joe biden compared to just 35% for trump. if that happens in november, it would be a three-point improvement on biden's 2020 numbers, a year when women cast more votes than ever before and turned out at higher rates than men. it would also mean a seven-point drop in support for trump. >> molly, by the way, you look at these numbers. i think we're going to be seeing sort of a post state of the union lift for joe biden for quite some time. the republicans are such idiots when it comes to approaching joe biden. again, newt gingrich said it

after '22, after they were idiots again and underestimated biden and the democrats. they lost. gingrich said, "you know, we just keep underestimating this guy, the same way that democrats underestimated eisenhower and reagan." they kept getting peat. here we go again. and, again, we have a special election, not in massachusetts, right? not in the berkshires. >> right. >> but in alabama, a republican district. >> mm-hmm. >> and a woman running on ivf, running on women's issues that impact men, too. >> maryland lands. >> she wins in a landslide in alabama. now, you're looking at this polling. >> she's going to be on today. >> we're only in march. we're only in march, and, you know, all these democrats that have been whining so much, the numbers are showing, this is going to be a tight race.

you know what? there's a reason that the biden administration, why people in this white house are as confident as they are. they believe they've got a candidate that they can pound politically from now until november, and they believe that they have an issue in women's rights, women's health care, and democracy that are going to carry them and democrats to victory. and if you looked at anything the past couple years, you have to say they know what they're talking about. >> alabama is a great example because they really painted themselves into a corner with this idea that a five-celled embryo is somehow a person. it stopped ivf in the state, then the governor indemnified ivf clinics. that means if you kill a five-celled embryonic person, you are somehow legally okay. i mean, this is -- you know,

this is what happens, and this has happened a lot with republican legislation, they sort of never think through the legislation. they decide embryos are people, and this won't cause any problems. in fact, it causes problems with birth control and ivf. now, in alabama, the democrat won by 23 points. like, this is not normal. this is an electorate that is really worried that they're not going to be able to get birth control and ivf. the things that, you know, are miracles of modern science that we as, you know -- that make america great, right? >> it's not just a miracle of modern science, which, again, extraordinary. i don't know a family that's not touched by it. >> yeah. >> including our own. it's just glorious for moms and dads that don't think they're going to be able to have babies, to be able to have babies. that's the positive side of it

as we talk about it. on the negative side, i'm just reading this abc news headline. >> that's just chilling. >> a 13-year-old rape victim. let's stop right there. think about it, moms and dads. grand moms and grand dads. because of donald trump, who has bragged repeatedly that he terminated a woman's right to choose, because of donald trump, young rape victims are having state-forced births. in this case, a 13-year-old victim has a baby amid confusion over the state's ban. >> and the baby actually is how they convicted the rapist. this little girl was raped in a

yard and was too scared to talk about it. her mother only found out about this when she went to the hospital very sick. then that is when the chaos started for this mom who worked several jobs, who is living on the edge, just trying to get by. she noticed her daughter had become withdrawn, was changing, and then, of course, this revelation in the hospital. but there was all this confusion. can you get the abortion health care you need? they didn't know. people were talking to her about her having to leave the state. this mom didn't have the $1,500 or whatever was necessary to get to another state. literally had to decide on going through with the pregnancy because she didn't understand what was available to her because of all the new laws in place. people were giving her the sense that she would have to leave the state to get an abortion. >> molly, doctors, doctors -- >> she would have -- it actually

would have applied to her. >> doctors don't understand a lot of it. >> the law. >> a lot of times, doctors are scared to perform this because donald trump bragged about terminating roe v. wade, bragged about sending it to the states. the state legislatures, as you said, they make the most extreme bills to play to their most extreme elements, and you end up having 10-year-old rape victims in ohio having to flee the state. 13-year-old rape victims here confused, having to carry the baby to term because they were raped. this is donald trump's america now. >> yeah. >> this is donald trump's america. >> i would add that it is, you know -- this post-roe america is not a safe place to be a pregnant woman. that's what we're seeing. we're seeing doctors -- i mean, this report out last week showed that in louisiana, doctors tried the to treat -- the ob-gyns are

treating after 12 weeks because before 12 weeks, it's more of a chance to miscarry. things are only getting worse in this post-roe america. 1973, the reason roe v. wade was decided so broadly by a fairly conservative court was because of doctors afraid to treat, afraid to be jailed or fined or lose their lineses. that's what we're going back to. >> we have this issue front and center in this presidential campaign, also the legal issues donald trump is facing. less than 24 hours after he was hit with a gag order in his upcoming hush money trial, trump has repeatedly lashed out again at the judge overseeing the case. on truth social yesterday, trump called the judge missed and conflicted. he also criticized the judge's daughter, saying she used an image of him behind bars as a p.

that claim is false. the court system says it is bogus. trump must refrain from discussing witnesses, jury, lawyers, staff, and employees in the district attorney's office. the order did not mention the judge and his family. george conway, not a violation of the gag order because he's going after the judge and not witnesses, potential jurors, but donald trump continues down this road, to no one's surprise, lying about a fake twitter account he thinks he saw. >> yup. lying, intimidating, bullying, that's donald trump at his worst. that's donald trump always. he's always going to find the one thing that he can do, if there is a list of things he cannot do and doesn't think he can get away with, and he has no compunction about it, no conscience. at some point, i think he'll end up violating the gag order, and it'll be an interesting moment.

he's arguably already violated other gag orders but he'll pushing the envelope as much as possible. particularly when he gets to the courtroom on april 15th and has to sit there and listen to the arguments against him. >> yeah, you know, jonathan lemire, we've been talking a lot about all the money that donald trump is going to have to pay. you look at how much of it is self-inflicted. about $90 million of that is self-inflicted. with e. jean carroll, the case was over, and he started defaming her again. so the case is over. he pays, i don't know, $5 million, $10 million, a lot of money for other people, but trump would say not for himself. then he ignores everything, starts defaming her again, repeatedly. this time, the court comes back and they make a decision. i think jury made a decision. we have to do something to stop him from defaming this woman.

you'd think a $5 million, $10 million verdict would be enough, but, no, it wasn't. so much of this whining, i mean, as is always the case with donald trump, so much of his problems are self-inflicted problems. here we go again. i don't want to hear people say, oh, well, if he ends up going to jail for a couple of nights, for violating this order, you know, it's on donald trump. it's on him. the rest of us, all 340 million americans, would not get away with what donald trump gets away with. mark that down. 340 million of us would not get away with trashing a judge. >> not even close. >> and lying about the judge's daughter. >> for all the complaining. >> i practiced law for a few years, and i practiced law long enough to know that if you did something like this in northwest

florida, you would be sent to jail for a night or two to think about it. >> yeah, it is a two-tiered system of justice, but donald trump has the advantage, unlike what he always says. we should be clear, this gag order is largely because of worries about threats of violence. many people attached to this trial and others have received threats from trump supporters. this is an effort to try to tamp that down, to get trump to stay quiet. you know, but he can't help himself. as you just chronicled, he has gotten himself in so much trouble because he simply condition stop talking or truthing on his social media site. rev, that's sort of what -- first of all a, it'll have implications for his criminal trial. we've been living with this for so long now, that trump is in legal trouble, it'll still be charging when he actually, as the former president, sits in a courtroom in a month's time and faces criminal charges. also, that's the political problem for trump. he can't stop talking. famously, he was disciplined for, like, the last two weeks of the 2016 campaign.

that did help him as he came back to beat hillary clinton. but the biden campaign firmly believes, the more trump talks, the more he gets himself in trouble, legally and politically, the better it is for the president. >> i think they're right. i think that trump will continue talking, and they will continue the biden and democrats to benefit from it. he appears unhinged to the voters. but i think we must realize that donald trump wants to provoke a confrontation. he wants to play martyr, and he wants them to answer him, come down on him, so he can play to his base. see what they're doing to me? not that he is provoked it. i mean, to attack a judge's daughter and a judge who said, don't do these kinds of things, and as you rightfully said, violence being threatened. we're not doing this to stop free speech. we're doing this because people are being threatened and potential jurors will be

concerned. it shows the irresponsibility of someone that you would want to put back behind the chair in the oval office. it is absolutely, to me, frightening. >> george conway and molly, george, you first. i think, first of all, the reason for these gag orders, as jonathan lemire pointed out, is because of the fear of violence, of retribution, and donald trump is proven on that point in many different ways. we could talk for four hours about all the different ways he has threatened people. then, of course, we have january 6th. i just have to say, i was watching one of his networks, because i like to see what trump voters are hearing from places that call themselves news networks, and they were talking about january 6th in a discussion, in a discourse about us, actually. saying that we want to put out there that january 6th was more than just a little thing. that is the problem with the

discourse. >> let's just come out and say it. you can hear on fox news people saying that nothing was wrong with january 6th. >> you can have -- yeah, if someone believes it was a little thing, you can still talk about it. >> they said, that network, you know, they sit there and people who watch the network think january 6th was an important event. you're sitting there going, wait a second, were there nazi newspapers in the 1930s saying, you know, some people think it was a bad thing. the fact that donald trump has numbed people so much that the same people who said it was a horrible thing on january 7th are now coming back into the cult, back into the folds, going, you know, some people actually are stupid enough to say that that was a really terrible thing.

mind-employee mind-blowing to me. >> that can't be the debate. >> mind-blowing to me that they are actually able to say that on a network that's paid dearly for election lies. >> absolutely. i mean, they've created their own little bubble. it is a little bubble that trump lives in and that all of the people, a lot of the people who support him live in. the question is, what do the people in the middle think? the people in the middle don't want that chaos. they don't really want the chaos. they're not thinking about donald trump quite yet, as much as all of us do, because they're not -- it's only march. i think, you know, the strategy that the biden campaign has, which is going to be to keep pounding on him and keep pointing out the crazy, keep pointing out the abnormal in donald trump is the right one because it is going to actually have, as i like to say, kind of a feedback effect. the more you pound on him, and they have the resources and it seems like they have the idea

that they're going to really pound on him in a way that they did not in 2020, you provoke him. you get more of the kind of conduct that you can point to and say, this man should not be anywhere near the steering wheel of an ice cream truck, let alone the oval office. so i think, you know, the dynamics are going to work in favor of -- i think they'll hurt donald trump as he becomes more and more exposed and faces more pressure from these criminal cases. >> i think so. again, the fact that they are living in a bubble, that donald trump is living in a bubble, this reminds me so much, molly, of 2012, where mitt romney and his team watched fox news and nothing else. they looked at websites that told them they were up by 11 points in the gallup poll. they believed until election night in what they were hearing inside that bubble. it's happening again. whether you're a fascist or a

cult member or an insurrectionist or a weirdo or just a freak or just a confused person that stumbled in the wrong direction, that is a bubble that has led to republicans losing in 2017, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23. so little idiots over there that say i'm a left-winger or something, first of all, i've got a 95% acu rating. i'm more conservative than any of them. i was part of congress and a big part of the reason, if anybody was around, they'll tell you, that we balanced the budget for four years in a row for the first time, and the only time in 100 years. so when i say all of this, and say, wake up, you're in a bubble, i'm saying it as a

conservative. these cult members will look at anybody, will look at liz cheney who i think also has a 95% acu rating, will look at me, will look at george conway, who liberals hated most of his life, will look at all these other people who gave their lives to the conservative cause, that are saying, wake up. wake up, you're going to lose. this guy is a huckster. they don't listen. >> well -- >> instead, they try to shoot the messenger who is trying to help them. >> thank god, right? this is this very autocratic vision for america. you know, look, we have one party that is not believing right now in the tenants of democracy. liz cheney, george conway, they're doing this because they are worried about american democracy, right? this is no longer about left or right. this is about our system of government versus some other fevered -- trumpy fever dream.

i do -- again, george and i are friends. we disagree vehemently on many, many, many things, including abortion, which we fight about all the time, and judges in the supreme court. but we also agree in democracy. we fight about the supreme court all the time. [ laughter ] >> this is what it's all about, actually, right here, and this is what is lacking in our discourse, our political discourse. >> right. >> joey heard them fighting. they fight. >> and the republicans -- it's true. >> they fight. >> and the republicans you named, you know, their crime in their party is that they spoke their mind. the problem we're seeing right now is you have a lot of people on the media that leans to the right and has that take, that they are right now cutting down people for speaking their mind. they are right now cutting down people who speak their mind despite who pays them. >> they -- >> and they are proving that

they take one for the team every day. you don't know what you're watching. >> they actually admitted over the past week. >> time and time again. >> they said, i would never say anything that my boss doesn't want me to say. >> rnc. >> they said it on the assured d never speak their mind if their boss didn't want them speaking their mind. >> no core values. >> we believe -- >> please keep talking about it. sorry, go ahead. i was talking to my friends over there. >> that's one of the reasons why when the tucker carlson stuff was going on and all the texts came out, americans got to read

the texts. they found out, oh, wait a second, they're lying to us on the air. this is not what they believe. they're lying to us because we're seeing the texts of what they really believe. it's the same thing here. when they go, i would never say anything my boss didn't want me -- >> that i truly believe in my heart. >> what planet are they on? >> planet tucker. >> george, i have to finish with you. one of my favorite moments outside of this, damn, we talk politics for four hours. outside of this, i get off the air and i just don't talk politics. but if i'm walking through an airport and somebody makes the mistake of saying i used to like you when you were a conservative -- >> please don't do that. it's not good. >> really, i go down the list of issues. where are you on this? where are you on this? i'll tell you what, you're a liberal on spending if you support donald trump.

you're a liberal. you go down the list of things. it is so funny, george. you and i were conservatives and are conservatives, but we were conservatives when some of these women on fox news who call us liberals were still playing with their barbies. of course, ava brawn edition. we were fighting for conservative values. [ laughter ] we were fighting for conservative values, to balance the budget, to reform welfare, fighting to hold democratic administrations accountable when they were in grade school and have done it our entire life. what is the difference? when an anti-democratic fascist-leaning guy wants to be president of the united states, they're like, you know what? we're americans first. let's work with other people who support democracy. >> yeah, absolutely right. i mean, the republican party and the conservative movement are no

longer about conservatism and no longer about the republic. it's about donald trump. it's a cult. it's basically people will -- you know, it's a party that didn't have a platform in 2020. couldn't agree on a platform. they don't believe in anything. donald trump could turn around tomorrow on anything but, i guess, vaccines, i guess that's the one thing he doesn't dare cross the base on, and he could say anything and they'll say, yeah, that's right. that's right. as long as they think he's being opposed by the people they decided they don't like. you know, that's no way to run a political party. it's self-destructive. it doesn't get anywhere. it doesn't help the country in any respect, which is why, you know, it's so good that we're remembering joe lieberman. all politics is the art of the possible. these people don't care about what's possible, don't care about reality at all. >> conservative attorney george

conway, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. molly jong-fast, thank you, as well. before we go to break, a few stories making headlines this morning. russia is stepping up its efforts to prevent further u.s. support for ukraine. according to "the new york times," russian intel operatives are using technology to amplify arguments for american isolationism ahead of the fall elections, citing u.s. officials and independent researchers. "the times" reports russia may be preparing to make a strong push to support candidates who oppose aiding ukraine or who seek to withdraw the united states from nato. the paper reports russian intelligence agencies are actively replicating and distorting legitimate news sites in an effort to undermine future aid for ukraine. we'll stay on that. willie? the white house, meanwhile, says the israeli government has agreed to reschedule now the

visit to washington. yesterday, officials announced they're working to find a convenient date for both parties. the president asked to meet with leaders to discuss alternatives to a ground offensive in rafah where a million people have sought refuge. a delegation was supposed to come this week, but netanyahu canceled the trip after the united states allowed the u.n. to pass a cease-fire resolution. a little hint of progress, jonathan lemire. this was obviously a huge point of contention between the two sides. the defense ministers, defense secretary austin met in washington, but netanyahu cancelling this trip was a huge rift. >> white house aides told me they felt like this was more about him playing to domestic political audiences at home. he is facing heat for a measure that might conscript ultra orthodox jews into the military. he needed to show he was standing up to the white house and keeping options open for, potentially, a full assault into

rafah, which israelis support. president biden and his aides do not. that was the point of the meeting. a flashpoint looms here, whether or not israel and washington can agree on what sort of operation will happen in rafah. biden's team pushing israel to be mindful to limit civilian casualties there and the humanitarian crisis. yes, a step in the right direction. the date yet has not been scheduled, but it also goes to show, and i reported this last night, that so much of president biden's foreign policy, he basis it on personal relationships. that's across the globe. netanyahu is someone he's known for a very long time. that hasn't helped him here. netanyahu has his own political futures he is prioritizing, and the president and his aides frustrated with the situation. >> the trip is back on. doesn't mean netanyahu is not going to go into rafah. it may be symbolic. ahead, ned lamont and richard blumenthal join us to talk about the life and legacy of their former state senator, joe lieberman, who died at 82.

plus, the latest from baltimore as officials have identified two victims from the underwater rubble in the aftermath of the collapse of the key bridge. you're watching "morning joe." we're coming right back.

for people who feel limited by the unpredictability of generalized myasthenia gravis and who are anti-achr antibody positive, season to season, ultomiris is continuous symptom control, with improvement in activities of daily living. it is reduced muscle weakness. and ultomiris is the only long-acting gmg treatment with the freedom of just 6 to 7 infusions per year, for a predictable routine i can count on. ultomiris can lower your immune system's ability to fight infections, increasing your chance of serious meningococcal infections, which may become life-threatening or fatal, and other types of infections.

complete or update meningococcal vaccines at least 2 weeks before starting ultomiris. if ultomiris is urgent, you should also receive antibiotics with your vaccines. before starting ultomiris, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions and medications. ultomiris can cause reactions such as back pain, tiredness, dizziness, limb discomfort, or bad taste. ultomiris is moving forward with continuous symptom control. ask your neurologist about starting ultomiris. voices of people with cidp: cidp disrupts. cidp derails. let's be honest... all: cidp sucks! voices of people with cidp: but living with cidp doesn't have to. when you sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com, you'll find inspiration in real patient stories, helpful tips, reliable information, and more. cidp can be tough. but finding hope just got a little easier. sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com. all: be heard. be hopeful. be you.

welcome back to "morning joe." quite a shot of new york city. it's a big night tonight in the big apple. it's shaping up to be one of the biggest nights in democratic politics since president biden's inauguration. former presidents obama and clinton will join biden in new york city for an hours long fundraiser, including moderators

conversations with stephen colbert and a lineup of musical performances, including ben platt, lizzo, and queen latifah. >> it'll be good. >> it'll be amazing. the massive effort which is expected to host over 5,000 people already raised over $25 million for biden, according to his re-election campaign. in addition to the main event, first lady dr. jill biden will be hosting an afterparty at radio city music hall with an additional 500 guests. obama and clinton are trying to expand biden's cash advantage over former president trump. in the latest filings, biden soared over the former president with a whopping $40 million cash advantage, and the great news is that biden voters won't have to pay legal bills for joe biden. he uses the money for the campaign. >> yeah. >> he doesn't have, like, you know, massive allegations, 88

counts. >> well, he doesn't have family members inside the dnc making sure that the money that comes in goes straight to legal bills first. they have that set up at the rnc. man, that's going to cause some real problems. what's not going to cause problems, rev, is any rift between the current democratic president and the past democratic president. "the new york times" has a great article detailing the history of these two men's relationship, president biden and president obama. it says, it wasn't always smooth. they didn't always agree with each other. it took a little while for them to warm up to each other, but they have been become good friends, trusted allies. barack obama, and i think every democrat can really be grateful for this, barack obama is all in. he is focused on helping joe biden win this election. >> no doubt about it. even those that are close to a

former president, obama will tell you he's all in. i was able in the eight years that president obama was in the white house to have a lot of access when we would talk about criminal justice issues, civil rights issues. i can tell you that i watched both then vice president biden and president obama really come together on issues. joe biden was one of the first to advocate dealing with lgbtq rights and same-sex marriage. i was in meetings where he was advocating, yes, we need to deal with police reform. this is before george floyd. this was around other issues. they had a meeting of the minds and developed a synergy that moved the country forward. i think when you look at the affordable care act, what we call obamacare, you have to deal with the fingerprints of joe biden there pushing all the way and working for president obama.

tonight is a culmination of a bond and a friendship that didn't start with them always agreeing on things, but they learned how to work together for the good of the country. >> also represents a slight change in tactics for former president obama as he views the elections. he's fancied himself as the closer, you know, in 2016, in 2020, appearing at the end of the race with a bunch of rallies. big crowds, lot of enthusiasm. we expect that again, but he is playing more of an active role, more behind the scenes. he and president biden speak frequency. obama also calls the white house chief of staff, offering strategy, expressing worry that it is possible trump can win again. he is pushing biden earlier this time than he has in the past. >> that'll continue tonight at radio city music hall, also joined by president clinton. donald trump will soon receive briefings from the u.s. intelligence community, even as he faces several criminal charges, accusing him of mishandling classified

information. intel briefings for presidential nominees are standard practice. the house is expected to debate new legislation that could change the rules regarding who can receive classified information. joining us now here in new york, nbc news capitol hill correspondent julie tsirkin. great to see you in new york. >> thank you. >> let's talk about the religion -- legislation by mikie sherrill. it could apply to trump. >> it was important, the timing of this. we have reported that despite former president trump being indicted for holding on to the classified documents improperly, he is going to start receiving the briefings soon anyway. that is something that mikie sherrill, a former federal prosecutor, a navy pilot, that's what she told me yesterday on the phone. we were talking about this. she was like, i can't believe somebody who was indicted for doing the very thing that he is now going to have more access to, that's still going to go on. obviously, this process happened since 1952.

the intelligence community isn't planning on stopping it now, but this is also a dig at her colleague from new jersey, senator bob menendez, who has refused to step aside, even though more than 30 of his democratic colleagues in the senate called on him to do so. he still attends classified briefings. he stepped down as the chair of the foreign relations committee after the september indictment and the superseding indictment since. he's been around, introducing bills, getting the classified information, attending briefings on ukraine. now, sherrill is introducing this legislation to force him and really force any candidate who is either running for federal office, is currently in federal office, from obtaining and viewing classified information if they were charged with bribery, acting as a foreign agent or obstructing justice, all three charges that, of course, applies to menendez. >> among the 18 counts and indictment against him, being an illegal foreign agent of the egyptian government, yet he is still receiving the briefings. what future does this bill have? does it look like it might go

through? obviously, with donald trump and everything we've talked about for months and months down at mar-a-lago, bringing classified documents to the beach club, obstructing the investigation to retrieve them, there are a lot of people interested in seeing him perhaps not have access to current intelligence. >> there are. i don't think part of the list is house speaker mike johnson and his republican allies, especially in the house, who support him, who think there is a double standard even when it comes to president biden not being charged. although the two cases are so different with the classified documents. look, i don't think it is going to go anywhere in terms of passing on the house floor. it is clear that sherrill is, yes, targeting menendez, but this is also a dig at the former president, too. senator fetterman from pennsylvania had similar legislation in the form of a resolution that didn't go anywhere, even though that chamber is controlled by senate majority leader chuck schumer, who is a democrat, who has not called on menendez to step aside. but it is interesting. it is democrats continuing to pile onto menendez who said he

is not going anywhere. as we reported first, is still considering running for independent. mikie sherrill told me yesterday, this is, frankly, trump-like behavior, including trying to fundraise to pay his legal bills. >> you mentioned speaker johnson. let's talk about the latest on his efforts to hold on to his job. marjorie taylor greene says she'll put forward this motion to vacate. do we think it'll happen? are democrats going to bail out johnson? >> look, we've been talking about this for months now. we had reporting in january that not only did some democrats, moderates mainly, raise this idea of saving johnson because they see what could be worse in a potentially speaker jordan, especially when it comes to the issue of ukraine. i want to be clear, that's what this would likely be tied to. they raise this in front of president biden in the white house. this is something they have not been quiet about. in recent weeks, tom suozzi, who won in new york, he said he would come out and save a johnson, too. look, there has been a lot of backlash and anger even over this recess as congress has been

out to marjorie taylor greene's motion to vacate. it is not privileged, meaning there is no timeline for when house leadership needs to put this on the floor. it caught everyone by surprise, including johnson, who hasn't commented on this, by the way. in our reporting just before they left town for recess, we know johnson, he knows aid to ukraine is important. this is not rank and file johnson. this is somebody who has been receiving briefings. he knows not only do we have to aid ukraine, but a lot of the money will go to replenishing our own stockpiles and military readiness. how does he do it and keep his job? i think personally the motion to vacate weakens republicans' leverage to try and put their own aid package on the floor. you can have senate democrats especially, who passed the $95 billion aid package not only to ukraine but also to israel, to gaza, and to the indo-pacific, be like, why do we need to play your games now if you're being threatened by one of your own? >> julie, is it not the fear of any of the republicans that they would be perceived as aiding

putin and aiding the fact that you're dealing with ukraine, not as helping ukraine but as stopping putin and stopping those that want to bring nato down, as well as the aid that is needed there for military presence of the united states to be protected? >> absolutely, that's a fear. that is something that republicans, like senator lindsey graham in the senate, have been trying to say, even as his friend and ally, former president trump, has been railing against it. you've seen the flip-flop even from graham. deep down inside, of course they know this is something they have to do. certainly, not passing this would enable putin. as mika pointed to the headline from "the new york times," there are real isolationists, especially in the house, but also in the senate. this is not the house is wonky and the senate is still the senate. this is bleeding into both chambers now, and it'll be really hard for johnson to figure out how to muscle this

through while keeping his job. yes, democrats said they would save him, but that's not going to bode well for him in his own re-election efforts in november and trying to hold on to power now that he has it. >> all of this music to the ears of vladimir putin. keep that funding away from ukraine. julie tsirkin, great to have you in new york. >> thank you. coming up, we'll explain how russian disinformation is expanding beyond american politics, now to the royal family of great britain. also ahead, new reporting on the rnc. trump advisors now involved in the interview process. a specific question they're asking potential hires around the 2020 election. it's all ahead on "morning joe." it's basically tennis for babies, but for adults. it should be called wiffle tennis. pickle! yeah, aw! whoo! ♪♪ these guys are intense. we got nothing to worry about. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement.

or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right? got him. good game. thanks for coming to our clinic, first one's free. (♪♪) there's two things a young man wanna be - a cowboy or a gangster. and a gangster's outta style. i got back to my roots... we come from a long line of cowboys. my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my aunt even rode horses. when i see all of us out here on this ranch, i see how far our legacy can go. (♪♪)

♪♪ with fastsigns, signage that gets you noticed turns hot lots into homes. ♪♪ fastsigns. make your statement. ♪ ♪ relax into a caribbean state of mind. visit sandals.com or call 1-800 sandals.

her uncle's unhappy. relax i'm sensing ann state underlying issue. it's t-mobile. it started when we tried to get him under a new plan. but they they unexpectedly unraveled their “price lock” guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the “un-carrier”. you sing about “price lock” on those commercials. “the price lock, the price lock...” so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for.

people are still talking about this. former president trump is trying to sell $60 bibles. trump selling the bible, yeah. if mike pence was selling copies of "50 shades of grey," you

know? >> yeah, the guy about to go on trial for paying hush money to cover up an affair for a porn star is selling bibles. because it is a trump bible, most of the ten commandments are blacked out. >> this has come as no surprise to anyone, making a prophet is trump's religion. his jesus famously said, it is easier if a camel to go through the eye of a needle if you pay me four easy installments of $19.99. act now. disciples are standing by. >> it's just -- yeah. welcome back to "morning joe." >> willie, i mean, i had a pastor text me a couple days ago. is there no bottom to this? >> no, no. >> he is cross-promoting a bible. by the way, a bible he knos absolutely nothing about. >> mixed with the bill of rights and the constitution. >> and lee greenwood.

>> not a christian at all. >> it's not crazy if you're donald trump. >> no. >> andmiah jeremiah talks about people who follow idols and make themselves worthless. jeremiah holds up pretty well in 2024. >> yeah. i mean, $60, first of all, he wants you to pay for what he calls his bible. there is no your bible or my bible or rev's bible or anybody else's. it's my bible. $60. we know where the money is going, not the campaign. there's a lot of legal bills that need to be paid. fair that with the $400 sneakers. who knows what else he'll sell? we should defer to reverend al sharpton on questions of the bible here. blasphemy comes to mind. >> certainly. i think that people ought to realize how offensive this is. >> yeah. >> to those of us that really

believe in the bible. he is doing this during holy week. >> yeah. >> i mean, tomorrow is good friday. sunday is easter. of all of the times you want to hustle using the bible, why would you do it during holy week, which is really a spit in the face of people who believe in the bible from a christian point of view. i wonder how many ministers, conservative evangelicals will go to their pulpit tomorrow or on sunday, easter, using the trump bible. they ought to be defrumped if they try to act like this is anything other than what it is, a hustle. when i was growing up, i was licensed in the pentecostal church, the largest black pentecostal church at the time, washington temple. they were respected. every once in a while, a huckster evangelist would come through and sell blessed oils and blessed cloth. let's remember, this man has

sold pieces of his garments that he went to court with. >> yes. >> he has sold sneakers now. gold sneakers with red bottoms, now bibles. if he is not like the old hustlers that used to use tents to go on old ladies that believed that this was the way to god, then i don't know what is. and for those in the evangelical community not to come out and say, wait a minute, during holy week, that's a step too far, makes us wonder where their commitment really is. >> that's the thing, guys. if you have no values or principles, it's all the same stuff. it's a bible or sneakers or water, it's steak, all the same to donald trump, a way to make some money. >> yeah. >> david french -- >> he needs it. >> -- wrote on threads, said, if you call yourself a christian and this doesn't disturb you, i don't know what to say. >> yeah. i mean, you just can't make sense of it. joining the conversation, we

have former chair of the republican national committee and co-host of msnbc's "the weekend," michael steele joins us. also with us this morning, former senior aide to both the biden and clinton campaigns, adrienne elrod is with us. >> adrienne, we showed some polls earlier today, and i'll ask if, t.j., you can scramble around and find those again. there are two sets of polls that have come out this week that have done what i thought was going to happen. i thought it was going to happen because, you know, republicans have been so stupid, driving down expectations for joe biden. they should say, he is the greatest speaker of all time. every time i went into a debate, i'd be like, you know, i can't believe i'm going to be on the same stage with him. i'm scared to death. instead, they are all going, joe biden can't complete a sentence. he's so dumb. he's such an idiot. then he gets up and crushes it at the state of the union address. so that age question, you look at these polls, the age question is sinking now.

here, of course, is a general election poll from the three states that matter. this is a poll that just came out this morning, the quinnipiac, that shows joe biden up, 48%, 45%. we have a long, long way to go, and there are polls that show donald trump ahead. this is just the latest quinnipiac poll that shows biden ahead. there's no doubt that that confidence, the biden white house felt it the past several months. >> mm-hmm. >> you're starting to see some of these poll numbers and go, huh, maybe, once again, they may just know what they're talking about. >> yeah, that's exactly right, joe. look, when you've gotten things done, when you've passed four major economic bills, put the first black woman on the supreme court, you know, worked to lower student loan debt, the list goes on and on, kept the nato alliance together, added two countries to it, the list goes on and on. of course, president biden knew how important the state of the

union was because you are capturing the attention of millions and millions and millions of americans. of course, people across the globe, too. what matters is capturing the american voters who are not always tuned into the election, who are not watching cable news 24 hours a day. that was a big moment for them. what they saw in the moment, joe, to your point, is, number one, president biden talking about what he's done. number two, talking about how his policies that he's passed and implemented into law are helping the american people. number three, what his plans are for a second term, how he is going to help americans in the future. he made a strong case of how to -- why he needs to be re-elected. you contrast that with trump, who is in court half the time, who is selling bibles and tennis shoes, you know, who is using divisive rhetoric to divide the country. >> golfing. >> the contrast is only going to become more clear as we get closer to the election. >> i'm just going to add, golfing and then posting about

his great golfing, as if it was big, massive news that the world desperately needed to hear about, with lots of all caps. >> willie. >> it's just fabulous. >> the joke of it all, of course, with people who are members of his club. >> he picks up the ball and puts it in the hole. >> crazily enough, i went to an event last night. >> oh, my god. if it wasn't so sad. >> we were talking to a guy who golfed regularly with him in the past. i said, oh, so you've golfed with him, too, huh? what did you -- he goes, he cheats. >> shocker. >> can't play. >> the guy was laughing about it. this is a republican guy. i bet he voted for him in '16 and maybe '20. he's not going to vote for him in '24. he talked about how he'd brag about the club championships he'd have. when we'd interview him back before he was in the white house or in politics, you'd go into his office and he'd go, "this is

the club trophy i won here. this is the club trophy." no self-awareness to the fact that he somehow magically wins club championships, even when he missed the first day or two. he'll give himself the advantage. i mean, it is really -- >> they all -- >> -- crazy. they stand around clapping. he is able to bend reality even when it has to do with golf scores. >> yeah, it is meaningless, but it is a microcosm of all of it, isn't it? the cheating, people applauding, letting him do it, handing him a trophy for doing it afterwards. remember, this is the guy with fake magazine covers made of himself. >> exactly. >> "time" magazine, stuff like that. >> yeah. >> he's the guy, joe, you maybe played with sometimes. you get to the end of the hole, and you watched him spray it into the woods, hit it to the water, four-putt, and go, what'd you get? he goes, put me down for a 4. really?

that is donald trump playing golf. >> speaking of which, as we wander way off the path here, i know you are a big movie star now and you don't have time. you've been on "curb." >> oh. >> amazing. >> so you probably don't have time in between all of your meetings with agents, but have you seen the "curb" this season with lori loughlin golfing? >> yes. >> the greatest. >> completely leans into the, i'm a cheater. it was -- i wonder how larry pitched that to her? hey, we want you to come on the show and -- >> make fun of yourself. >> -- make fun of yourself and be just the consummate cheater. >> a brilliant stroke of casting by larry and the team over there, and she agreed to it. we don't want to give it away because people will watch it afterward. >> so good. >> lori loughlin, you know what he's been involved with the last several years. on the golf course, really leaning into the story line

about her, you know, perhaps bending the rules sometimes in life. >> bending the rules, exactly. bringing this back on course. >> can you? >> i'll try. >> it's hard. >> you guys will know, this is something important about donald trump's personality that we learned more and more about him along the way. if somebody pitched that to him, said, you can make fun of yourself because you cheat at golf, and we can make this "curb" about you, he wouldn't get it. >> yeah. >> this is the thing, he doesn't -- >> well -- >> -- get it. doesn't get humor. >> -- in the first gridiron, they had a professional comedian come in and write jokes for donald trump to read. the first one was a joke about the crowd size in the gridiron room. he read it, looked up, and he said, that's not funny. i don't get it. >> there ya go. >> yeah, that's -- >> leave that there. >> -- all you need, right? >> self-awareness, not a

strength, yeah. >> yeah. >> not his strength. >> worse than that. embracing donald trump's big lie appears to be a requirement for anybody who wants to work at the rnc. "the washington post" reports those seeking employment at the organization after a trump-backed purge this month have been asked in job interviews if they believe the 2020 election was stolen. according to the paper, trump advisors in recent days have quizzed multiple employees who had worked in key 2024 states and are reapplying for jobs. the questions about the 2020 election were open-ended to people familiar with the questioning. as one former rnc employee asked, quote, "if you say the election wasn't stolen, do you really think you're going to get hired?" in a statement, an rnc and trump spokeswoman defended the questioning as candidates being asked about their work experience.

she added, quote, "we want experienced staff with meaningful views on how elections are won and lost and real experience-based opinions about what happens in the trenches." oh, this is so unfortunately rich. >> well, it really is. and if you look, michael steele, in the "wall street journal," they have a story. mcdaniel saga shows the peril of election denialism. that's what this is all about. of course, the editorial page can do fan service and try to play, you know, for the cheap seats. but the reporters at "the wall street journal" actually wrote the story. this is about election denialism. election denialism lost in 2020. it lost in 2022. it lost in 2023. it will lose in 2024. i mean, it is such a loser,

michael. still, they cling to it. now, if you have an rnc that's packed with election deniers, again, people bending reality to suit their purposes, then they're in that bubble that we were talking about earlier, that mitt romney's campaign was in in 2012 when they watched fox news and conservative websites and thought they were going to win in a landslide. >> yeah, it is the prereqprereq. that was part of the purge in the first place. i talked to a few people who, unfortunately, were in the mix of that. the reality of it was, they want people who are thinking and view 2020 in a particular way. so you get everybody out. you get people back in who are all about the same mission, which is election denialism and setting up and being a bunker, if you will, for what will come in a november election. this is all an extension and part of what you see growing out

of the heritage 2025 plan. they're looking to remake the federal government with people who are election deniers, people who are, like you were talking about, all the folks at the golf courses patting donald trump politely, just handing him trophies because he wants them. the trophies that he wants are for people to acknowledge his world view that the election was stolen. that's the first prerequisite. once you step into that, once you get into that ooze, you're covered. the rest of it doesn't matter because everything else will flow from that moment. so, yeah, it's not surprising. the rnc, you know -- the fact that lara trump is the co-chair and folks are doing interviews with the co-chair. let me tell you, the co-chair of the rnc is not the chairman, but you wouldn't know that from the way this is playing out.

again, this is all part of the trumpification of the party. it's their lockdown on the leadership. that leadership now is purging out the folks who actually do the grassroots work, who know, beyond the nonsense of people have experience -- experience? you're hiring people who are sycophants. they're not experienced. how do you fire people who have set up an operation and then bring in people who have no clue how the operation was set up to run it? it's going to be a hot mess. the mess, as you know, joe, is all about getting trump his bibles and getting trump his shoes and pushing out the brand in order to collect the cash to pay for his bills. that's it. >> donald trump does have his daughter-in-law, lara trump, as the co-chair of the rnc. our colleague, garrett haake, interviewed her yesterday and asked her, despite donald trump going out every time he's in public and talking about a rigged election in 2020, if that's the rnc's position, as

well. >> is it going to be the position of the rnc in 2024 that the 2020 election was not fairly decided or that it was stolen somehow? >> well, i think we're past that. i think that's in the past. we learned a lot. certainly, we took a lot of notes. right now, we have 23 states that have 78 lawsuits in these states to ensure that it is harder to cheat and easier to vote. >> adrienne, she's saying, we're past that, but we want to make sure it is harder to cheat. there was no cheating in 2020. >> zero. >> we can go through the 65 court cases, the supreme court, the members of donald trump's own administration, the people at his right hand, all the testimony before the january 6th committee. we can go through that again. there was no cheating. the election was not rigged. joe biden is the president of the united states. yet, she says, we're past it, but we're a wink to it, as well. >> absolutely, absolutely. she knew exactly what she was saying in the moment and how that would carry on as we continue to talk about that interview. look, i worked at party committees before. i worked in the democratic congressional campaign

committee, with the dnc on and off the past eight years. the fact you'd have a litmus test like this as a staffer in the interview -- first of all, it'll be harder to get qualified staffers in the job. as a qualified staffer who worked on campaigns, who has the experience you need, whether it is digital, communications, field, whatever the experience is to work at the rnc, they're not going to get qualified people in the jobs. that's plain and simple, unless the people are lying and saying, yeah, maybe i have 15 to 20 years working on elections and i do think this election in 2020 was rigged or was not legitimate or whatever. they'd likely be lying. when you look back, and obviously chairman steele had perspective on this, too, when you look at the experienced staffers i don't you need at a senior level, especially at the rnc, you need people who have been doing this for 20, 25 years. before the trumpism and maga, you know, ism and all this case into play. they're doing themselves -- i mean, what do i care? the rnc, i think they're doing

themselves a disservice. >> it's not just that 20 20 is a litmus test, but they believe january 6th was political discourse, their words. michael steele, adrienne makes a point, this being a challenge to bring in qualified staffers. we've beendiscussions trump's campaign is at a disadvantage. last week was a good data point. president biden was in wisconsin. they had, like, three dozen or so offices open just in that state. republicans don't have any. i reported earlier this week, the trump campaign had to pull down a planned event in arizona to try to save money. he's going back on the road next week to wisconsin, finally. talk about some of the structural disadvantages the rnc and trump find itself having. >> real quick on that. the infrastructure is the thing and goes back to what i was saying. folks that were fired and pushed out were the pu ones who were building the infrastructure. you're seven months out from a national election. you have to have an

understanding in wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, arizona, key battleground states, how you're going to operationalize that race. it starts with the people who are spending time there, getting the grassroots in place, and building the infrastructure. they're not doing that. this is a trump tower, right? trump at the top of it. everything funnels up to him. there is no expansion into the communities to build out that network. >> all right. adrienne elrod, thank you so much. michael steele, thank you, as well. we'll be watching "the weekend" saturday and sunday. >> of course we will. >> 8:00 a.m. eastern. >> starts our weekend off right. >> yes, it does. still ahead on "morning joe," today is opening day in major league baseball. did you know that? mlb network's mark derosa will join us for a preview before the teams take to the field. >> this is big. first, connecticut governor ned lamont is standing by. he joins us to talk about the passing of his friend and former

home state senator, joe lieberman. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. this is our future, ma. godaddy airo. creates a logo, website, even social posts... in minutes! -how? -a.i. (impressed) ay i like it! who wants to come see the future?! get your business online in minutes with godaddy airo

at bombas, we're obsessed with comfort. softness. quality. because your basic things should be your best things. one purchased equals one donated. visit bombas.com and get 20% off your first order.

(♪♪) i'm getting vaccinated with pfizer's pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. so am i. because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. come on. i already got a pneumonia vaccine, but i'm asking about the added protection of prevnar 20®. if you're 19 or older with certain chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, copd, or heart disease, or are 65 or older, you are at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. prevnar 20® is approved in adults

to help prevent infections from 20 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. in just one dose. don't get prevnar 20® if you've had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. adults with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects were pain and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, fatigue, headache, and joint pain. i want to be able to keep my plans. i don't want to risk ending up in the hospital with pneumococcal pneumonia. that's why i chose prevnar 20®. ask your doctor or pharmacist about the pfizer vaccine for pneumococcal pneumonia. [bell dings] are you good? no, i think i'm late on my car insurance. good thing the general gives you a break when you need it. yeah, with flexible payment options to keep you covered. just tag us in. like right now?! oh...i was talking about insurance.

ouaaaahhhh! [bell dings] for a great low rate, go with the general. there is an old saying, behind every successful man, there is a surprised mother-in-law. [ laughter ] [ applause ] well, i can tell ya, that this week, that's been particularly true. >> wow. what a sweet moment. former u.s. senator and vice presidential candidate joe lieberman has died at the age of 82. >> hard to believe. >> no, it was shocking news when it happened yesterday. his family released a statement announcing his death due to complications from a fall. the four-term senator represented connecticut from

1989 to 2006 as a democrat, then switched to independent before retiring in 2013. lieberman was the first jewish candidate on a major party's presidential ticket when al gore picked him as his running mate in the 2000 presidential election. lieberman's legacy would be marked by his independent streak. he lost the democratic primary in connecticut in 2006 because of his support of the iraq war but still won the election as an independent. in 2008, he supported his long-time friend and republican, the late senator john mccain, in his election against president barack obama. lieberman, who was also a founding chairman of the no labels, the centrist third-party group, he disagreed with his party. he left his party, but there was never a lack of civility. >> right. >> in fact, he brought -- i think he brought the discourse to a new level, a level that we

have lost today. >> certainly have. he moved to the center, and he always was a bit of a centrist. we always remained civil, even with those who he may have engaged in political combat with. on that note, why don't we bring in one of those men. >> perfect timing. >> he was a fierce competitor of joe lieberman and, later, a great friend. tomorrow, of course, will be memorializing him as a service. democratic governor ned lamont of connecticut. he ran against senator lieberman in 2006 and began speaking at his memorial service tomorrow. governor, we'll turn it over to you. tell us, tell us about joe lieberman. >> mika, joe, really nice to see ya. i wish it was happier circumstances. look, he and chris dodd were a heck of a team representing our state for many years in the u.s. senate.

as you point out, he was a man of great conviction and principle and always with civility. he and i have both moaned what's happened over the last decade of years. you know, we started on the wrong foot. you know, i challenged him in a primary. he strongly supported the president's war in iraq, president bush, and i strongly opposed it. we had a battle royal about that. when the race was over and he won, we shook hands, and, you know, agreed to move forward together. i did get to see him just a few months ago. we were at the al alfalfa club. we said, we didn't agree about the war in iraq, but we agree about what we ought to be doing in ukraine. i think president trump's supporters and house of representatives are, you know, feckless and wimpy when it comes to standing up to putin and

standing up for the ukrainian defense. >> yeah. >> he said, here's what we can agree upon, ned. we agreed to stay in touch. unfortunately, in touch is going to be tomorrow at the memorial service. >> you know, governor, you and he share so much in common. i remember when you were first running for governor of connecticut. me hearing from my connecticut friends how radical you were going to be and how left wing. it was just so toxic in hartford. after you got elected, i said, how is he doing? they were shocked from day one. you reached out, you worked with republicans, don't vilify them. that's something we saw in senator lieberman. he would do the same thing. with john mccain, with lindsey graham, when lindsey graham was interested in such things. it was pretty remarkable. but as you know very well, it is

a great way to actually get things done for the american people. >> exactly right, joe. senator lieberman was happy looking up at connecticut, you know, sort of following his lead in terms of civility and independence. we worked on poet sides of the unanimous. it is a contrast to what is going on in washington, d.c., which was dismaying to the senator. >> ned, governor, sorry, as i just remember at this point, right now it's my dad's birthday today. i just remembered. >> oh, my gosh. >> which i was thinking of my dad because my dad was similar to lieberman, and they were friends because of their search for the conversation that led to civil discourse, that led to appreciation and acceptance of

one another. i wonder, as you're thinking of how to put it into words, i know you'll be speaking at his memorial service, at his funeral, how do you put into words the legacy of joe lieberman in that respect? >> like your dad, mika, he was certainly a man of great principle and conviction and stuck to his guns. we didn't always agree, but he never wavered. in our challenge in 2006, he could have called for a negotiated solution or change his position on iraq, and he never did. i did didn't. that's why we had a good battle there. more importantly, the fact we could be friends afterward, and friends these many years later. that's what we miss in washington, d.c., and i think, really, that's what a lot of us remember about joe lieberman.

he and john mccain, as you point out, and lindsey graham, the three amigos, them working different sides of the aisle was something to watch. you don't see it often in washington these days. >> no, you don't. well, democratic governor ned lamont of connecticut, we thank you for coming on the show this morning. at the last minute last night, we reached out, and thank you very much for responding positively and coming in. we appreciate you. >> thank you. >> thank you, ned. and our love to hadassa from joe, me, and all of us here. coming up, this week marks one year since "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich was wrongfully detained in russia. what "the journal" is doing to help. we'll be right back. ight back.

ego, the number one rated brand in cordless outdoor power brings you the select cut mower. customize the cut with three interchangeable blades. it cuts for over an hour on a single charge. ego - exclusively at lowe's, ace and ego authorized dealers. - [narrator] we just signed the lease on our third shop. my assistant went to customink.com to get new uniforms with all the locations. he found great products, uploaded new art, and had boxes sent to all the shops. custom ink makes it so easy. get started today at customink.com.

evan will be released, but it is complicated to get there.

there are a lot of different people and governments involved. i think, you know, we just have to be patient and optimistic, as ella says. >> what keeps you optimistic every day? >> well, i think if you let the pessimism in, the game is over. our saying in the family is, we're moving forward. >> it sounds like evan does everything he can to keep your spirits up. >> yes, yes. i think for both of us. we exchange those notes. we are moving forward, and we want you to keep going. he says that he's fighting. he's fighting. >> that is the mother of wrongfully detained american journalist evan gershkovich, speaking out ahead of tomorrow, which marks one year since gershkovich was taken into custody in russia. on tuesday, a court in moscow extended his pretrial detention for a fifth time. according to a statement from the court's news service, evan has been ordered now to stay in

prison until the end of june. joining us now, the publisher of the "wall street journal" and ceo of dow jones, mr. lature, thank you for being here. i know how agonizing the last year has been for all of you in your organization, particularly staff and friends of evan at "the wall street journal." can you speak to how much engagement you've been able to have with russia through diplomacy, through the state department, and just to kind of keep tabs on evan? >> keeping tabs on evan is very difficult in autocracy, keeping touch with russia is complicated. not just for us but also for the u.s. government. visits to his prison are sparse. once a week from our lawyers, our russian lawyers who, incidentally, are under an nda. they cannot speak about this case to us, even though they're working for us.

u.s. consulate, u.s. embassy, from time to time, pays visits. now, there's correspondence. his friends correspond with him and are writing back and forth. his parents went over to russia just once, saw him for a couple minutes during one of the hearings that we've now grown accustomed to, where evan is in a glass cage. it's hard to really penetrate, you know, through his prison walls and really understand what's going on there. we're told he's in good spirits. we're told that he's reading and that during the one hour he is allowed to be outside, he exercises. he has a cell mate with whom he converses. he is resilient. that's what we're told. >> are there moments of hope? i mean, obviously, this is very discouraging when you have an extension of three months now, pretrial detention now going into june.

you know, there will probably be another one after that. i guess the same question that george stephanopoulos asked evan's mother, what gives you hope as an organization that you can bring evan home? >> well, the support has been so tremendous. in the course of the past year, that has only grown. if there is anything that drives cases like these, public support makes a big difference. you have to help make a case like this, evan's case, a priority. in order to do that, you have to have the groundswell, that spotlight. the fact that that spotlight has not gone away, the fact that the administration speaks with some regularity to their commitment to free evan, that gives me hope. throughout this year, there have been moments of intense hope and ups and downs, and we have to live with that. at some point, there is going to be a circuit breaker, and he is going to get out. >> to continue awareness, "the wall street journal" is currently engaging in a 24-hour

livestream reading of evan's work to keep the spotlight on what's going on as the year anniversary approaches. you started to hint about the biden administration, their efforts. can you give us details on what they say they're trying to do, what hopes they have to broker a deal here, which is made that much more complicated because of what is happening in ukraine? >> so i can't give specifics about the day-to-day, but the president has spoken out in the open about his support and his commitment to bring evan home. that has happened multiple times throughout the past year. there are, at times, involvement from the white house. i'm personally convinced of that. our team interacts with the white house on this. the state department is heavily involved. there is a special department within the state department, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. it's a small team dedicated to cases like these. it's a lot of activity. that's the official diplomacy,

the administration. then there's also what i would call private diplomacy. a lot of people who are unseen, either in official capacity or unofficial capacity, working on behalf of evan. so you take all of that together, there is a lot of activity. that said, until evan is out, right, this is binary. he is either in prison or he's out. so far, you know, we're not done with that job. the administration is not done with that job. >> mika has a question for you. mika? >> there's so many constraints that you have, that you're working with in this situation. i know you had mentioned it's important to raise awareness about this. for people who may be able to lend their support or just keep the word out there, tell us the different ways in which you are doing that, how you are stepping up and amplifying the effort to raise awareness about evan. >> yeah, thank you, mika. for anyone at home who wants to

contribute, there's a slew of options available on wsj.com/evan. that's where you see how you can write a letter to him or participate in the many, many other actions that are taking place. there is a read-a-thon taking place today. it was a show of force yesterday in front of our office. there are many actions around the clock taking place. that's the place to check it. >> publisher of the "wall street journal," almar latour, thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you for being here. >> keep us posted. >> thank you for your support. >> we appreciate it. before we go to break, the internet was flooded with conspiracy theories about kate middleton in the days before she revealed her cancer diagnosis. now, we are learning that at least part of that frenzy was fueled by a russian disinformation operation. british researchers at cardiff

university in wales say social media accounts posted theories about middleton to a kremlin network that spread lies in the past about ukraine. "the new york times" reports the influence campaign appeared calculated to inflame divisions, deepen a sense of chaos in society, and erode trust in institutions. in this case, the british royal family and the news media. it is not clear who might have hired the disinformation network to go after catherine, but it has a track record of campaigns to undermine the countries and people at odds with the kremlin. frightening. still ahead, we'll be joined by the newest member of alabama's statehouse. maryland lands following her special election victory on tuesday, thanks to a campaign centered on reproductive health care. "morning joe" will be right back.

meet the traveling trio. the thrill seeker. the soul searcher. and - ahoy! it's the explorer! each helping to protect their money with chase. woah, a lost card isn't keeping this thrill seeker down. lost her card, not the vibe. the soul searcher, is finding his identity, and helping to protect it. hey! oh yeah, the explorer! she's looking to dive deeper... all while chase looks out for her. because these friends have chase. alerts that help check. tools that help protect. one bank that puts you in control. chase. make more of what's yours. hi, i'm kim, and i lost 67 pounds on golo. when i go out with people, they expect me to eat like a bird. they are shocked by the amount of food i eat while losing weight. with golo, i don't need a cheat day because i get to eat the foods i like any day of the week.

only purple's gel flex grid passes the raw egg test. no other mattress cradles your body and simultaneously supports your spine. memory foam doesn't come close. get your best sleep guaranteed right now! save up to $400. visit purple.com or a store near you. voices of people with cidp: cidp disrupts. cidp derails. let's be honest... all: cidp sucks! voices of people with cidp: but living with cidp doesn't have to. when you sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com, you'll find inspiration in real patient stories, helpful tips, reliable information, and more. cidp can be tough. but finding hope just got a little easier. sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com. all: be heard. be hopeful. be you. from the #1 rated brand in cordless outdoor power,

the ego zero-turn riding mower with e-steer technology. drives like a car, turns on a dime. and it cuts up to 2.5 acres on a single charge. exclusively lowes, ace, and ego authorized

dream again. this season, anything can happen. >> ryan cranston getting us fired up for today's opening day, baseball is back. in game in the bronx because it is raining in new york. yankees begin their season in

houston. 26 teams will be getting started on their quest to dethrone the rangers, who captured the first title in the franchise's 63-year history. a guy who played for the rangers, mlb analyst mark derosa. great to see you, my friend. despite the fact, as i say, you torched us in the early '90s at burden catholic as one of the best quarterbacks in history. let's not dwell on that. >> let's move on. >> a guy who played the game, managed at the world baseball classic, a great analyst, what are you looking for today on opening day? >> yeah, i think for me, in the league today. obviously opening day's a special day today. everyone feels like they got a chance to go out and win themselves a division, but there's a few teams obviously. the dodgers, i look at the top three in their lineup with betts

and ohtani and freddie freeman and there hasn't been a better one-two-three punch in the lineup since the '27 or '29 yankees. that's what i'm talking about. for the yankees, it's outhouse or castle this year. juan soto is the right piece in that lineup. we'll see if the rotation holds suit until cole comes back. texas rangers, arizona went to the world series last year and shocked a lot of people. who's the teams that are going to shock this year? so a lot to look at today going into opening day. >> mark, talking about that dodgers team, you're right. it's one of the best lineups we've ever seen assembled, but in the last week or so, all the questions around shohei ohtani, the scandal around that contract. he said his bookie was a guy who was stealing money from him. does that story impact him or the dodgers at all?

>> certainly i think there's going to be a ton of media around the dodgers, irregardless of the situation, but it's going to add to it no question, is can he drown out the noise? the expectation for him this year, he's not going to be on the mound, but they're expecting 40 or 50 homers for this guy stealing bags, 100 rbis. so freddie freeman went on record yesterday saying a lot of it is staying in-house, and they'll be able to eliminate the noise. there's two active investigations that are going to go on into the middle of the season before we have the right answers. to sit here and speculate on it would be foolish of me, but i would be hard-pressed to think it's not on the back of his mind every time he goes to the yard. >> it would be hard not to be. let's talk about another team in the national league that frankly didn't get as many headlines, but could be just as good as the dodgers and that's the atlanta

braves. they have put up historic numbers a year ago. they bring their young core back, frankly on very cheap deals even. give us your expectations for atlanta, with chris sales coming back. >> it was the fall classic. first off, i live in atlanta so it's a little easy, if i want to go out to dinner, i got to pick them, but i do believe spencer strider, they're against the phillies, but strider gets a chance to win the cy young. max fried, and their gm has done a magnificent job kind of structuring the contracts to give them a chance at length for an extended period of time. yeah. i think the atlanta braves are poised to go right back to the world series. >> let's talk about those possible surprise teams. i don't think anyone on the planet would have predicted a

diamondbacks/rangers world series. my red sox won't be in contention, but if you had to pick a couple of teams who could be under the radar, who would you say? >> eliminate your red sox for not going out and addressing some of the starting rotation, but devers, they're going to hit, right? we'll see how that plays out. i think an interesting team for me, and an interesting division is the n.l. west. i think everyone's got chalk the dodgers will win the division, but after, that i like the way the san francisco giants kind of waited for the market to fall to them. they brought in a lot of guys. matt chapman, blake snell, jung-ho lee to play their rotation in the second half. i think the giants take a major step forward. i also think san diego may be addition by subtraction, soto going to new york and they turn

and pivot to dylan cease. i think there's a lot to like. i think both centrals are wide open in both divisions. i don't know any n.l. central, if the cardinals' rotation, if age can hold up over 162. we'll see starting today. >> cubs fans will see you have them in the wild card as well. >> i do. >> chicago cubs having a good season according to mark derosa. your mvp pick is mookie betts and your a.l. pick is aaron judge. is that because he's healthy now with protection in the lineup with soto? >> i think over the last two, three years, watching as many games as i have, he's the best hitter in the sport, and he has to do minimal work to get maximum result at the plate with his size and frame at 6'7." it's a simple move. he controls the strike zone.

all he has to do is touch it in that ballpark and it disappears and if he's going to play center field for the vast majority of the season, can you find a more valuable piece than aaron judge? >> i hope you're right, mark derosa. you usually are, and wise of you to pick those braves. mlb network analyst mark derosa with us. you can see him leading up to the network's telecast of the dodgers and cardinals this afternoon. thank you so much. see you, man. >> good to see you. two democratic heavyweights expected to join biden tonight to raise about $25 million. plus, we'll dig into new polling that shows a tight race in the general election matchup between president biden and donald trump. "morning joe's" coming right back. donald trump "morning joe's" coming right back

look - i'm not a young guy. that's no secret. but here's the deal — i understand how to get things done for the american people. i led the country through the covid crisis. today we have the strongest economy in the world. i passed a law that lowers prescription drug prices. caps insulin at $35 a month for seniors. for four years donald trump tried to pass an infrastructure law and he failed. i got it done. now we're rebuilding america. i passed the biggest law in history to combat climate change because our future depends on it. donald trump took away the freedom of women to choose. i'm determined to make roe v. wade the law of the land again. donald trump believes the job of the president is to take care of donald trump. i believe the job of the president is to fight for you, the american people. and that's what i'm doing. i'm joe biden and i approve this message. look, i'm very young, energetic, and handsome. what the hell am i doing this for?

[laughs] why choose a sleep number smart bed? can it keep me warm when i'm cold? wait, no, i'm always hot. sleep number does that. now, save $1,000 on our most popular sleep number smart bed. plus, special financing. ends saturday. shop now at sleepnumber.com. the all new godaddy airo helps you get your business online in minutes with the power of ai... ...with a perfect name, a great logo, and a beautiful website. just start with a domain, a few clicks, and you're in business. make now the future at godaddy.com/airo

what do you want your legacy to be when the history books are written? >> i guess they hope they say

that i believed in bipartisanship, and as a result, i lived it. i practiced it. as a result, i got a lot of things done. >> reverend al, i want to talk about a man that you came to know and grow and love. i just -- just a great man. a great man, you know. i see these far-left wing progressives that will pick out a vote here or a vote there and just absolutely trashing even in death, and that shows the real lack of humanity in politics, and it's disgusting because joe lieberman was a public servant his entire life. he was a great man. you didn't have to agree with him 100% of the time and you didn't agree with him 100% of the time, but you ran for president with him, got to know him, and got an understanding of

just what -- what a throwback he was to the politics of old where he would talk to john mccain, lindsey graham. he would talk to republicans on the other side. he would work to get things done, and -- and he's just so beloved in the state of connecticut and beyond, rev. >> no. no question about it, and in 2004, we both were in the democratic primaries, and i remember when i entered the race. i was on the opposite side of the democratic party from joe lieberman. joe lieberman was considered a part of the democratic leadership council, the dlc, sort of what we considered right-wing of the democratic party. i was on the left, and i was surprised the first day i came for the first debate i was in. he welcomed in. he walked over and said, glad you're here. glad you're going to express

yourself. anybody picking on you, you come to me, and we kind of got along. we didn't agree on many of the issues. i was anti-the iraq war. he was very pro, but after the debate, he would come and talk and meet my daughters, and he was a gentleman and one that really believed in what he believe ed. though i didn't agree with it, he believed it. he was not demagogic. he was not the performative politicians we see now, and he was a genuine, decent guy. so when i heard of his passing yesterday, i immediately told people no. you can't judge him by what we may agree with politically. you have to judge people by what they believe. he believed it, but he was not a human being that dealt with acrimony or the kind of demagoguery that has polluted politics now, and i wish his family all the best because joe

lieberman believed in his country. he might have looked at it through different lenses. >> that decency and civility that rev brings up is an important part of his legacy now given the disgraceful display we're seeing in our politics now and the danger we're seeing in our politics now. senator lieberman's family announced yesterday that his death was caused by complications from a fall in his home. he was a four-term senator. he represented the great state of connecticut from 1989 to 2006. then he switched to being an independent before retiring in 2013. he was the first jewish candidate on a major party's presidential ticket when al gore picked him as his running mate in the 2000 presidential election. lieberman was 82 and i should just say he was a family friend. he and his wife knew my parents well, and it also brings me back to my early days as a reporter in connecticut. lieberman and dodd were the connecticut senators.

>> you say he was always -- >> richard was the attorney general. >> they were decent and kind. >> they were incredible, and, you know, as i said, he became an independent, and that's the story here in his legacy. he disagreed with his party, but always civil. always a gentleman. always about finding common ground. >> well, finding common ground and willie, while the progressives on the far left may have disagreed and him and they have their issues with him still, most of americans are looking for somebody that finds political space, that people like joe lieberman -- there's lindsey graham back when he was one of those people. joe lieberman, susan collins, sam nunn, howard baker. those were the type of people that would work in the center of american politics. i hear it all the time.

i know there are extremes and freaks on both sides and i know the maga extremists are causing a real concern to those of us who love american capitalism and love american democracy. i speak for myself, but joe lieberman, sam nunn, howard baker, john mccain -- if people want to know why congress isn't working, it's because those people are gone. because those people get voted out other than susan collins. those people get voted out if they try to deal with the other side. that's why washington, you know, people -- people love to bitch and wine how broken washington, d.c. and then send extremists are brought up to represent them. it's because of them. they don't elect people like john mccain or sam nunn or

howard baker, and lindsey graham, he forgot who he was. >> lindsey graham's in all of these photographs, right? he was john mccain's right hand, a good friend of senator joe lieberman and look at lindsey graham now. you're right. senator lieberman frustrated democrats with his iraq war vote. he won re-election and became an independent. he endorsed john mccain in 2008 for the presidency when barack obama was running, and ultimately came around and did endorse hillary clinton in 2016 and joe biden in 2020, but he definitely represents a different era, and as we talk about how he looks even better in hindsight, in the year 2000, he and al gore, despite their objections to the supreme court decision to stop the counting of the ballots in florida, they walked away. they conceded the election. >> right. >> which was notable at the time, but not viewed perhaps in the way it should be viewed now because donald trump, of course, continues his lie about election

that he lost by many, many, many more votes in 2020. i think maybe history smiles a little wider on senator lieberman today even because of the way he conducted himself after that election. obviously he continued to protest years later, but he was a man from a different time, and as you say, joe, they are vanishing very quickly, men like senator joe lieberman in washington. >> and we are poor as a nation for it. >> yes, absolutely. >> you just look at congress. >> we have some new polling to tell you about that shows you a tight general election race between joe biden and donald trump. in the first from quinnipiac university, biden leads trump by three points, 48% to 45% among registered voters. that's within the poll's margin of error. that follows polling this week that shows a neck and neck battle for the key swing states.

in the bloomberg consult poll, trump and biden are tied in michigan, pennsylvania, and in wisconsin. biden leads by a single point which is within the margin of error. very close. with us, we have special correspondent at "vanity fair," and host of the "vast politics" podcast, mary john fast. she's an msnbc political analyst and also with us, political conservative attorney, george conway back with us. the new polling also shows that donald trump has a big problem -- >> well, of course. >> -- with women voters. in the quinnipiac survey, 60% of women say they plan to vote for joe biden compared to 35% for trump. if that happens in november, it would be a three-point improvement on biden's 2020 numbers, a year when women cast more votes than ever before and turned out at higher rates than men. it would also mean a seven-point drop in support for trump. >> by the way, you look at these

numbers, i think we're going to be seeing sort of a post-state of the union lift for joe biden for quite some time because the republicans are -- they're such idiots when it comes to approaching joe biden, and again, newt gingrich said it after '22, after they were idiots again, and underestimated biden and the democrats, and they lost. gingrich said, you know, we just keep underestimaing this guy, the same way that democrats underestimated eisenhower and reagan, and they kept getting beat. so here we go again, and again, we have a special election not in massachusetts, right? not in the berkshires, but in alabama. >> oh wow, yeah. >> in a republican district, and a woman running on ivf, running on women's issues that impact men too. she wins in a landslide in

alabama and now you're looking at this polling, things, and again -- >> she's going to be on today. >> we're only in march. we're only in march, and, you know, all these democrats that have been whining so much, the numbers are showing, this is going to be a tight race, but you know what? there's a reason the biden administration, why people in this white house are as confident as they are. they believe they've got a candidate that they can pound political from now until november and they believe that they have an issue in a women's rights, women's health care, and democracy that are going to carry them and democrats to victory, and my god. if you looked at anything over the past couple of years, you've got to say, well, they know what they're talking about. >> yeah. i mean, alabama's such a great example because they really painted themselves into a corner with this idea that a

five-celled embryo is somehow a person, and you saw it stopped ivf in the state. then the governor indemnified ivf clinics and that means if you kill a five-celled embryonic person, you are legally somehow okay. this happens a lot with republican legislation. they started everything through the legislation so they decide embryos are people, and this won't cause any problems, and, in fact, it causes problems with birth control and ivf, and now you're seeing, i mean, in alabama, the democrat won by 23 points. like, this is not normal. this is an electorate that is really worried that they're not going to be able to get birth control and ivf, and the things that, you know, these miracles of modern science that we as, you know, that make america great, right? >> well, it's not just a miracle of modern science which, you

know, is again extraordinary, and i don't know a family that's not touched by it. >> yeah. >> including our own, and it's just -- it's just glorious for moms and dads that don't think they're going to be able to have babies, to be able to have babies. that's the positive side of it as we talk about it. on the negative side, i'm just reading this abc news headline. >> just tom. >> a 13-year-old rape victim -- let's just stop right there. >> mm-hmm. >> think about it, moms and dads. grandmoms and granddads. because of donald trump who has bragged repeatedly that he terminated a woman's right to choose, because of donald trump, young rape victims are having

state-forced births, and in this case, a 13-year-old rape victim has baby amid confusion -- >> and the dna from the baby actually is how they convicted the rapist. this little girl was raped in a yard and was too scared to talk about it and her mother only found out about this when she went to the hospital very sick, and then that is when the chaos started for this mom who worked several jobs, who was living on the edge just trying to get by. she noticed her daughter had become withdrawn, was changing, and then of course, this revelation in the hospital, but there was all this confusion. can you get the abortion health care you need? they didn't know. people were talking to her about her having to leave the state, and this mom didn't have the $1,500 or whatever was necessary to get to another state,

literally had to decide ongoing through with the pregnancy because she didn't understand what was available to her because of all the new laws in place. people were giving her the sense she would have to leave the state to get an abortion. >> and molly, doctors -- >> she would have applied. it actually would have applied to her. >> doctors don't understand a lot of this. a lot of times, doctors are scared to perform this because donald trump bragged about terminating roe v. wade and bragged about sending it to the states, and then the state legislatures, as you said, they make the most extreme bills to play to their most extreme elements, and you end up having 10-year-old rape victims in ohio having to flee the state, 13-year-old rape victims here -- >> she has a baby. >> just confused having to carry their -- the baby to term because they were raped, and this is donald trump's america

now. >> yeah. >> this is donald trumps a america. >> and i would add that it is, you know, this post-roe america is not a safe place to be a pregnant woman. that's what we're seeing. we're seeing doctors and this report out last week showed that in louisiana, doctors tried to treat the og/gyns are trying to treat after 12 weeks because they're worried about getting blamed for miscarriages because they're more likely to miscarry. we're already a country that struggles with maternal fetal health, and it's only getting worse in this post-roe america, and look. in 1973, the reason that roe v. wade was decided so broadly by a fairly conservative court was because of doctors afraid to treat, afraid to be jailed or fined or lose their licenses, and that's what we're going back to. coming up, not even a day after being hit with a gag order in this hush money trial, donald trump is lashing out at the judge overseeing the case. we'll have the latest on the

former president's legal issues. "morning joe" is coming right back. coming right back smile! you found it. the feeling of finding psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up. or finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once-daily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection,

liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family. it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. there's only one sotyktu, so ask for it by name. so clearly you. sotyktu. when you put in the effort, but it starts to frizz... you skipped a step. tresemmé silk serum. use before styling for three days of weightlessly smooth hair that frizz can't beat. new tresemmé keratin smooth collection. >> tech: cracked windshield? schedule with safelite, and we'll come to you to fix it. >> tech vo: this customer was enjoying her morning walk. we texted her when we were on our way. and she could track us and see exactly when we'd arrive.

>> woman: i have a few more minutes. let's go! >> tech vo: we came to her with service that fit her schedule. >> woman: you must be pascal. >> tech: nice to meet you. >> tech vo: we got right to work, with a replacement she could trust. we come to you for free! schedule now for free mobile service at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ at bombas, we're obsessed with socks. tees. and underwear. because your basic things should be your best things. one purchased equals one donated. visit bombas.com and get 20% off your first order. some people just know that the best rate for you, is a rate based on you, with allstate. because you know the right way to save. stop! save with drivewise and get a rate based on you. you're in good hands with allstate. morikawa on 18. save with drivewise and get a rate based on you. he is really boxed in here. not a good spot... eh.. he's in trouble... [ chuckles ] let's see how this plays out.

off the comcast business van. where is this going? - look out! into the vending area. oh! - oh, not the fries! w-wait a second... where did the ball go? guys, do we have it? oh wait, there it is! look out! -back into play and... aw no, it's in the water. it is over for collin. - or is it? are you kidding me? you got to be kidding me. rolling towards the cup, and it's in the hole! can you believe it? what an impossible shot brought to you by comcast business. how about that alligator?

less than 24 hours after he was hit with a gag order in his upcoming hush money trial, donald trump has lashed out again at the judge overseeing the case. on truth social yesterday, trump called the judge biased and conflicted. he also criticized the judge's daughter saying she used an image of him behind bars as a social media profile picture, but that claim is false. the new york state court system

says the account is bogus. under the gag order, trump must refrain from discussing witnesses, jurors, and employees in the manhattan district attorney's office. the order did not mention the judge and his family. technically not a violation of the gag order because she's going after the judge and not witnesses or potential jurors. no no one's surprise, he's lying about a fake twitter account that he thinks he saw. >> yep. lying, intimidating, bullying. that's donald trump at his worst and that's donald trump always, and he's always going to find the one thing that he can do if there's a list of things that he cannot do, and if he doesn't think he can get away with, and he has no conpunction about it, and he's arguably already violated other gag orders, but we're going to see him pushing the envelope as much as

possible, particularly when he actually gets into that courtroom on april 15th and has to sit there and listen to all the evidence against him or listen to the arguments against him. >> yeah, you know, jonathan lemire, we have been talking a lot about all the money that donald trump is going to have to pay. you look at -- look at how much of it is self-inflicted. about $90 million that is self-inflicted with e. jean carroll. that case was over, and he just started defaming her again. you know, so the case is over. he pays, i don't know. $5 million, $10 million. it's a lot of money for other people, but trump would say not for himself, and then he ignores everything, starting defaming her again repeatedly, and this time the court comes back and they make a decision. i think the jury made the decision. we've got to do something to stop him from defaming this woman because you would think a $5 million or $10 million verdict would be enough, but no. it wasn't.

so much of this whining. i mean as is always the case with donald trump, so many of his problems are self-inflicted problems and here we go again. so i don't want to hear people say, oh, well, if he ends up going to jail for a couple of nights, for violating this order, you know, it's on donald trump. it's on him. the rest of us, 340 million americans would not get away with what donald trump gets away with. mark that down. 340 million of us would not get away with trashing a judge -- >> not even close. >> -- and -- and lying about the judge's daughter. i -- >> for all the complaining. >> i practiced law for a few years, and i practiced law long enough to know that if you did something like this in northwest florida, you would be sent to jail for a night or two to think about it. >> it is a two-tiered system of

justice, but donald trump's got the advantage unlike what is what he always says, and we should be clear. this gag order is largely because of worries about threats of violence. there are many people attached to this trial, and others have received threats from trump's supporters. this is an effort here to try to tamp that down and try to get trump to stay quiet. you know, but he can't help himself. as you just chronicled, he has gotten himself in so much trouble because he simply can't stop talking or "truthing" on his social media site, and reverend, that's what first of all, will have implications for his criminal trial, and we have been living with this for so long, that trump will be in legal trouble, but it'll be jarring that a first former president will sit in a courtroom for a month's time, but that's the political problem for trump is that he can't stop talking. famously he was disciplined for, like, the last two weeks of the 2016 campaign, and that did help him as he came back to beat hillary clinton, but the biden campaign, they firmly believe the more trump talks, the more

he gets himself in trouble legally and politically, the better it is for the president. >> i think they're right. i think that trump will continue talking, and they will continue the biden and democrats to benefit from it because he appears unhinged to the voters, but i think he must realize that donald trump wants to provoke a confrontation. he wants to play martyr and he wants them to answer him, come down on him so he can play to his base, see what they're doing to me? not that he's provoked it. i mean, to attack a judge's daughter and a judge who just said, don't do these kinds of things, and as you rightfully say, with violence being threatened. we're not doing this to stop free speech. we're doing this because people are being threatened and potential jurors will be concerned. i think it shows the irresponsibility of someone that you would want to put back in behind the chair in the oval

office. it's absolutely, to me, frightening. >> well, george conway and molly, george, you first. i mean, i think first of all, the reason for these gag orders as john lemire pointed out, is because of the fear of violence and retribution, and donald trump has proven on that point in many different ways. we could talk for four hours about the different ways he has threatened people, and then of course, we have january 6th, and i was watching one of his networks because i like to see what trump voters are hearing from places that call themselves news networks, and they were talking about january 6th in a discussion, in a discourse about us actually, and saying that we want to put out there that january 6th was more than just a little thing, and that is the problem with the discourse. >> let's just come out and say it. you hear -- you can hear on fox news, people saying that nothing was wrong with january 6th for

the most part. >> if someone believes it was a little thing -- >> that network, they actually sit there and people that watch that network actually think january 6th was an important event, and you're sitting there going, wait a second. were there -- >> more than a little thing. >> were there nazi newspapers in the 1930s saying -- there's some people that think that was a bad thing. the fact that donald trump has numbed people so much that the same people who said it was a horrible thing on january the 7th are now coming back into the cult, back into the folds going -- some people are actually stupid enough to say that was a really terrible thing. mind-blowing to me. mind-blowing to me. >> that can't be the debate. >> that they actually are able to say that on a network that's

paid dearly for election lies. >> well, absolutely. i mean, they've created their own little bubble. it's a little bubble that trump lives in, and that all of the people who -- a lot of the people who support him live in, but the question is, what do the people in the middle think? and the people in the middle don't want that chaos. they don't really want that chaos. they're not thinking about donald trump quite yet as much as all of us do because they're not -- it's only march, and so i think that, you know, the strategy that the biden campaign has, which is going to be to keep pounding on him and keep pointing out the crazy, keep pointing out the abnormal in donald trump is the right one because it's going to actually have, as i like to say, kind of a feedback effect. the more you pound on him, and they have the resources and it seems like they have the idea that they're going to really pound on him in a way that they did not in 2020, you provoke him, and you get more of the

kind of conduct that you can point to and say, this man should not be anywhere near the steering wheel of an ice cream truck let alone the oval office. so i think, you know, i think that the dynamics are going to work in favor of -- they're going to hurt donald trump as he becomes more and more exposed and faces more pressure from these cases. coming up, president biden will hold a major fund-raiser tonight in new york alongside his predecessors, barack obama and bill clinton. we'll have a preview of that ahead on "morning joe." of that ahead on "morning joe.

nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. i was on a journey for a really long time to find some relief.

cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it.

do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night. there's always a fresh deal on the subway app. how about bogo 50% off footlongs? like the irresistible philly. what'd you got to say klay? there's nothing better than a sub— —sorry buddy. this deal is so big, we had to cut your screen time to fit it all in. order now in the subway app.

it's shaping up to be one of the biggest nights in democratic politics since president biden's inauguration. former presidents obama and clinton will join biden in new york city for an hours-long fund-raiser with stephen colbert and a lineup of musical performances including queen latifah and ben platt. i love her. >> jordan did it. >> it's going to be amazing. the massive effort which is expected to host over 5,000 people has already raised over $25 million for biden according to his re-election campaign. in addition to the main event, first lady dr. jill biden will be hosting an after party at radio city music hall with an

additional 500 guests. they're trying to expand biden's cash advantage over donald trump. in the latest filings, biden soared over the former president with a whopping $40 million cash advantage, and the great news is that biden voters won't have to pay any legal bills for joe biden. he uses the money for the campaign. >> yeah. >> he doesn't have, like -- >> no. >> -- massive allegations, 88 counts. things like that. >> he doesn't have family members inside the dnc making sure that the money that comes in goes straight to legal bills first. they have that set up at the rnc and man, that's going to cause some real problems, but what's not going to cause problems, rev s any rift between the current democratic president and the past democratic president, "the new york times" has a great article detailing the history of these two men's relationship, president biden and president obama, and says, it wasn't always smooth. they didn't always agree with

each other. it took a little while for them to warm up to each other, but they have become good friends, trusted allies, and barack obama, and i think every democrat can really be grateful for this. barack obama is all in. he is focused on helping joe biden win this election. >> no doubt about it, and even those that are close to former president obama would tell you he's all in. i was able in the eight years that president obama was in the white house, to have a lot of access when we would talk about criminal justice issues, civil rights issues, and i can tell you that i watched both then-vice president biden and president obama really come together on issues. joe biden was one of the first to advocate dealing with lgbtq rights and same-sex marriage. i was in meetings where he

wassed a -- advocating with yes, we need to deal with police reform. this was before george floyd. this was around other issues and they had a meeting of the minds and developed a synergy that moved the country forward, and i think when you look at the affordable care act, at what we call obamacare, you have to deal with the fingerprints of joe biden there pushing all the way, and working the hill for president obama. so i think tonight is a culmination of a bond and a friendship that didn't start with them always agreeing on things, but they learned how to work together for the good of the country. >> it also represents a slight change in tactics for former president obama. he's really fancied himself as the closer, you know, in 2016, and 2020, sort of appearing just at the end of the race with a bunch of rallies. big crowds and a bunch of enthusiasm. we're expecting that again, but this time he's more behind the

scenes. he's talked to election campaign officials, expressing worry about a close race and how it's possible trump could win again, but he is pushing biden earlier this time than he has in the past. >> and that will continue tonight across the street from here at radio city music hall joined also by president clinton. meanwhile, former president donald trump will begin to receive briefings from the u.s. intelligence community even as he faces several criminal charges accusing him of mishandling classified information. intel briefings from presidential nominees are standard practice, but the house is expected to debate new legislation that could change the rules regarding who can receive classified information. joining us now in new york, nbc news capitol hill correspondent julie circa. it's great to see you in new york. >> thank you. >> let's talk about this legislation proposed by the congresswoman of new jersey. this comes after robert menendez, but also now.

>> despite former president trump being indicted, he's going to start receiving these briefings soon anyway, and she was a former federal prosecutor and a navy pilot. she told me this yesterday on the phone when we were talking about this. she said, i can't believe that somebody who was indicted for doing the very thing that he's now going to have more access to, that's still going to go on. this process has happened since 1952, and the intelligence community isn't planning on stopping it now, but this is also a dig at her colleague from new jersey, senator bob menendez who has refused to step aside even though more than 30 of his democratic colleagues in the senate have called on him to do so. he still attends classified briefings. he stepped down at the chair of the foreign relations committee after the indictment and the superseding indictment since. he's still been around offering bills, and now sherrill is

offering legislation to really force any candidate who is either running for federal office, is currently in federal office from obtaining and viewing classified information if they were charged with bribery, acting as a foreign agent, or obstruction of justice, all tree that apply to menendez here. >> and being an illegal foreign agent of the egyptian government, but he's receiving those briefings. what future does this have, this bill? does it look like it's something that might go through? obviously with donald trump and everything that we've talked about for months and months down in mar-a-lago bringing classified documents to the beach club, obstructing the investigation to retrieve them, there are a lot of people interested in seeing him not have access to current intelligence. >> there are, but i don't think part of that list is house speaker mike johnson and his republican allies, especially in the house who support him, who think there's a double standard even when it comes to president biden not being charged, although the two cases are so

different with those classified documents. i don't think it's going to go anywhere in terms of passing on the house floor. sherrill is targeting menendez, but this is a dig at the former president here too. senator john fetterman had similar legislation in the form of a resolution that didn't go anywhere even though that chamber is controlled by senate majority leader chuck schumer who has not called on menendez to step aside, but it is interesting. it's democrats continuing to pile onto menendez who said he's not going anywhere, and as we reported first, is still considering running for independent, and mikie sherrill told me yesterday, this is frankly, trump-like behavior including trying to fund-raise potentially to pay his legal bills. coming up, we're take a look at the life and legacy at former senator joe lieberman. we'll talk to his former colleague from connecticut, senator richard blumenthal about his 50-year relationship with the candidate. "morning joe" is back in a minute. the candidate. "morning joe" is back in a minute

why choose a sleep number smart bed? can i make my side softer? i like my side firmer. sleep number does that. now, save $1,000 on our most popular sleep number smart bed. plus, special financing. ends saturday. shop now at sleepnumber.com.

(♪♪) [shaking] itchy pet? (♪♪)

with chewy, save 20% on your first pharmacy order so you can put an end to the itch. get flea and tick medication delivered right to your door. [panting] ego, the number one rated brand in cordless outdoor power brings you the select cut mower. customize the cut with three interchangeable blades. it cuts for over an hour on a single charge. ego - exclusively at lowe's, ace and ego

not all caitlin clarks are the same. caitlin clark. city planner. just like not all internet providers are the same. don't settle. you want fast. get fast. you want reliable. get reliable. you want powerful. get powerful. get real deal speed, reliability and power with xfinity. she shoots from here? that's kinda my thing.

a few stories making headlines this morning, russia is stepping up its efforts to prevent further u.s. support for ukraine. according to the "new york times," russian intel operatives are using technology to amplify arguments for american isolationism ahead of the fall election citing u.s. officials and independent researchers. "the times" reports russia may be preparing to make a strong push to support candidates who oppose aiding ukraine or seek to withdraw the united states from nato. the paper reports russian intelligence agencies are actively replicating and distorting legitimate news sites in an effort to undermine future aid for ukraine. we'll stay on that. willie? the white house meanwhile, says the israeli government has agreed to reschedule now, that visit to washington. yesterday officials announced they're working to find a convenient date for both parties. the president asked to meet with israeli leaders to discuss

alternatives to a ground offensive in rafah where more than a million people have sought refuge. the delegation was supposed to come to washington this week, but prime minister benjamin netanyahu canceled that trip after the united states allowed the u.n. to pass a ceasefire resolution. a little hint of progress. jonathan lemire, this is a huge point of contention between the two sides. defense ministers and defense secretary austin did meet in washington, but netanyahu canceling this trip was seen as a huge riff between them, and hopefully bridging that gap. >> white house aides told me they felt like this was more about him playing to his domestic political audiences at home. he's facing real heat for a measure there that might strip orthodox jews into the military. he was needing to look like he was standing up to the white house and keeping his options open for potentially a full-on assault into rafah, which israelis very much support, though president biden and his aides did not. that's the point.

it looms here, whether or not they can agree on what sort of operation will happen in rafah. biden's team, of course, very pushing israel to be very mindful to limit civilian casualties there in the humanitarian crisis, but yes. a step in the right direction. the date yet has not been scheduled, but it also does go to show, and i reported this last night, that some of president biden's foreign policy, he bases it on he believes personal relationships. that's across the globe, and netanyahu's someone he's known for a very long time. that hasn't helped him here. netanyahu has his own political future that he's prioritizing, and the president and his aides, frustrated with the situation. it only grows. coming up, the biden administration has announced a bill to boost electric vehicles and more. we'll talk more about that just ahead on "morning joe." we'll talk more about that just ahead on "morning joe.

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, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley

if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer. but opdivo plus yervoy is the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is not chemotherapy, it works differently. it helps your immune system fight cancer in 2 different ways. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea;

constipation; severe stomach pain; severe nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. your search for 2 immunotherapies starts here. ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. a chance to live longer. choosing a treatment for your chronic migraine - ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more - can be overwhelming. so, ask your doctor about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start. it's the #1 prescribed branded chronic migraine treatment. so far, more than 5 million botox® treatments have been given to over eight hundred and fifty thousand chronic migraine patients. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks

after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. in a survey, 92% of current users said they wish they'd talked to their doctor and started botox® sooner. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you. learn how abbvie could help you save on botox®.

my baby has, you know, an underdeveloped brain, a hearts, lungs, kidneys, just complete organ devastation and the baby would not survive. when i heard the news, when we really understood the full impact of the news, i mean, the rug had been pulled out from underneath us. i couldn't imagine how this happened. i cried for days as we were trying to sort everything out. it seems so unfair. the doctors all advised that i terminate the pregnancy, all

three doctors said this is absolutely what you need to do, your health is at risk. these babies don't often survive to birth and can die in utero. this isn't just my story. this is our story. it's the story of thousands of women every year who must grapple with nonviable pregnancy and potentially fatal complications. it's the story of thousands of families who cannot afford to travel hundreds of miles to get the care they need. and it's the story of where maga extremists are devising new and cruel ways to deny our most basic freedoms. they don't understand or care about women's health, but i do. >> that was new alabama state representative marilyn lands telling her heartbreaking abortion story.

lands flipped alabama's tenth district for democrats this week, running on a platform of repealing her state's restrictive abortion law and protecting access to ivf. she joins us now. also claire mccaskill with us for this conversation. congratulations on your race. ms. lands, a lot of people are looking at the results in your race as an indication of what's to come for republicans given their very extreme views on women's health care and being the why in what drew people to the polls to vote for you. do you agree with that in terms of the outcome? >> absolutely. one of the things that we saw and observed at the precincts that day was more women were

voting than normal. so i think our message resonated with voters and they were very motivated to come out and vote in this special election, which has notoriously low turnout rates, but we did much better than expected. >> did you get feedback on a local level for sharing your story, such a deeply personal and devastating story? >> because of it, i heard so many other stories. i was really blown away by the amount of women and families that shared their own stories of heartbreak and struggle. >> claire, first of all, congratulations. having served in a state legislature, i know that you have challenges ahead, especially in one that's as dominated as alabama's by people whose views are much different than yours.

let me ask you this question. do you think the majority of alabamans believe the state's the gone too far, regardless of how they may feel about whether abortion may be a legal choice? do you think the ivf decision made a difference in terms of how people viewed your particular election? >> i do. i especially think it resonated well in this district up here in north alabama, which tends to be a little different than the rest of the state, but i wouldn't be surprised to see that it resonates just as well in other parts of the state and especially the south. >> have you reached out to your future republican colleagues yet? knowing what you're walking into, you will not be able to accomplish anything if you do not try to work across the aisle and find some like-minded people

who are willing to pull back on the extreme position alabama has taken? >> absolutely. i have reached out to our local madison county delegation. i have heard from many of the other members. i plan to be a bridge builder. that's really who i am. i have a very collaborative leadership style. i plan to seek first to understand that we're being understood. my approach is all about relationship building. >> love it. if you could help me with your next campaign, finish this sentence for me, marilyn lands flipped district 10 because -- >> because she wanted something different and knew that the people of alabama want something different too. we're tired of politics as usual, and we want to move forward. >> alabama state representative marilyn lands, thank you very much for sharing your story and thank you for coming on this

morning. congratulations. >> thank you. thank you so much. >> take care. we are now just before the top of the hour, the fourth hour of "morning joe." it's just before 6:00 a.m. on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. in the east. we'll start with president biden and donald trump in new york city today, the president with a major fundraising event tonight that includes obama and clinton, an event that's expected to include 5,000 people, bringing in $25 million. gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: this morning, the biden campaign is preparing to host a star-studded fundraiser with three presidents, biden, obama and clinton in a conversation moderated by late night host steven colbert. also lizzo, queen latifah and

ben platt will be there, among other celebrities. >> i know i'm only 40 years old, times two, plus one. >> reporter: the president's poll numbers are ticking up, but are still shaky. at this time in 2020 biden was leading trump by six points. now it's a statistical tie. former president obama is taking an increasingly active role in the campaign. >> right now, the presumptive nominee for the republican party for president says he wants to repeal the entirety of the aca. >> reporter: mr. trump is firing back, saying he doesn't want to terminate obamacare, just make it better, even though he's said repeatedly he wants to replace it. >> we're repealing and replacing obamacare. >> reporter: the judge presiding over his hush money trial in new

york and he's talking about nypd officer jonathan diller killed this week in the line of duty. both heading to events, another split-screen moment with the campaign intensifying. >> joining us now historian jon meacham and mike memoli, jonathan lemire back with us as well. mike, the president will be just across 50th street here later this evening. >> a little bit of a circus in town. >> a little bit of a circus in town with three presidents in one place for sure. most interesting to a lot of people here is the role of barack obama, the former president stepping out now not just as a closer coming in at the end of the campaign, but really stepping forward given all the back stories we've heard about rifts between the obama camp and the biden camp, making

it very clear he is going to be out here for president biden. >> i'm told the former president is all in. they know how much is at stake in this election. i'm told their teams are talking multiple times a day, if not every day. just friday barack obama was at the white house, complimenting in the private conversation the president on the state of the union, talking about how great it was. i think that's part of this event tonight beyond just raising $25 million, a huge sum. the biden campaign has all sorts of statistics about how this stacks up to what trump isn't raising. this is going to showcase, despite whatever doubts democrats have about whether biden can do it, they are behind him. the entire party up and down the ticket is behind him.

bill clinton was 50 when he ran against george bush at 63. what was interesting as part of the reporting we've done ahead of this event, you talk to the dole campaign, the mccain campaign. they say, we were frustrating that age was an issue, but bob dole didn't lose because of his age. he lost because of the economy. the clinton campaign put newt gingrich around his neck. the argument from barack obama was so powerful at a time when george w. bush had low approval ratings. it's how to balance looking to the past and the fond memories i'm sure these three men will share, but also how to look to the future. president biden will lay out his vision of the future. >> the difference on that age issue this time, is he's running against a 77-year-old who truly

has trouble stringing thoughts together. >> the biden campaign points outlook who's been out on the road. i was in north carolina with him the other day. he's been to every battleground state and then sum. in that same time, donald trump has only held one public campaign event. >> this is a significant moment, three presidents in the same moment. it will snarl traffic here around 30 rock, but it's an exhibition of the power of the presidency, the gravitas that comes with that office. what sort of arguments can they make describing what they've done, what joe biden still plans to do versus what donald trump has done and threatened to do? >> well, you have a panoply here, three democratic presidents who can argue implicitly that for all of their imperfections and flaws and

dreams deferred that they couldn't get to, they were normal. they governed over largely peace and prosperity, not enough prosperity, which is part of the backlash we're seeing with trump. but when is there ever enough prosperity? i think it's an emblem, an embodiment of, look, democrats need to come home. i think it's safe to say still that a large part of the delta in the polling for president biden is that a lot of democrats are lukewarm about him. the point that both president clinton, who has never drawn a nonpolitical breath and can still do precincts in rural arkansas from 1974 -- i don't advise asking, because he really

can -- and president obama who had that jeffersonian thing where he wanted to appear to be above politics, but he's an illinois politician who won races at a very young age. they need the party to grow up, to stand with president biden, because of what the alternative represents. the alternative represents a very personal change to all three of these guys. think about that for a second. you have trump, who defeated secretary clinton, who brought bill clinton's accusers to a presidential debate. anybody remember that one? president obama, obviously the birth certificate, the racist argument against him, and of course president biden. people like me often want

politics to be with drums. this is a very raw personal business. all three of these guys really want to send donald trump back to either trump tower up the road or florida. >> we may have our divisions in the party, but the stakes are too high. this is the beginning of bringing it back together. claire, new polling shows what we all know is going to be a tight general election between joe biden and donald trump. this first poll from quinnipiac university, biden leads trump by three points among registered voters. that's within the margin of error. there is a neck-and-next battle in key swing states. in michigan and pennsylvania tied and leading by one point in

wisconsin. 60% of women say they will vote for joe biden, compared to 35% for trump. if that's the way it plays out in november, it will be a three-point improvement over 2020. it also means a seven-point drop for donald trump. claire, what do you see in these numbers? >> i see the dobbs decision. i see the cumulative effect of a man who was a serial adulterer. i was at that debate that meacham just referred to. i really wanted hillary clinton to say the difference between you, donald trump, and me is when i made notes before got for better or worse i meant it and i stayed with my husband through rocky waters and we are happy today. you change wives like a lot of men change shirts. so the idea that this contrast

of where are the republican leaders who served with donald trump? they're not endoring him, his attorney, his vice president. what about former republican presidents? they won't go near this guy. this really is a contrast here. i think we spent a lot of time talking about biden and the noncommitted voters and his age. it's time to talk about the fact that donald trump has not brought the republican party together. there is a real schism there. it's one that the biden campaign is beginning to take advantage of. i think they're perfectly poised right now to continue to drive these numbers, coalesce the coalition, make sure everybody's in the tent and as happy as possible with different views on

different issues and make sure we put this guy in the bin of history. >> they're making no effort to coalesce the republican party whatsoever. president biden has made a point even in nevada a few days ago, saying these polls don't mean anything at this point. maybe he's right about that, but they do like the trend line particularly there those midwestern states. >> the fundamental conviction of the biden team is the people who will decide this election are not tuned into this race right now. they are going to tune in this fall. it's all about building a solid foundation. yeah, you want to see these trend lines, because they've seen the moment trump emerged as the nominee as a critical moment to ramp it up. you think about the fundraiser tonight. they're going to spend a lot of time together beyond just that

one conversation with stephen colbert. they're going to film video content, podcasts, all sorts of things that can be used to reach those voters who aren't watching us, who aren't reading the news media. it's part of the strategy to get to voters where they are rather than trying to work through us, frankly. this morning we're also taking time to remember the life and legacy of former senator and vice presidential candidate joe lieberman. the family of the long-time politician said he died yesterday in new york due to complications from a fall. he was 82 years old. one of his close friends of more than 50 years, connecticut senator richard blumenthal posted about their special relationship, stating he was a fierce advocate, a man of deep conscience and conviction and a courageous leader who sought to bridge gaps and bring people together. i second that. and senator richard blumenthal joins us now.

i remember covering both of you when you were the attorney general and it was lieberman and dodd. tell us what you think joe lieberman's legacy is, especially in these divisive times. >> thank you for having me. thank you for recalling those great days. i think his legacy will be that he was bipartisan. he was ferociously independent, but he really prided himself on bringing people together and bridging gaps. he was a strong believer in democratic values, an advocate for reproductive rights, gay rights, environmental values and consumer protections, but he was a maverick, like his good friend

john mccain. i'll tell you the quality that i will always remember about him. he was a listener. he really listened to people. i disagreed with him on various issues, like the iraq war, but he was always willing to listen. i think that will be part of his legacy as well. >> good morning, richard. like you, my time with joe lieberman pales in comparison with the years of your friendship, but i certainly know he was a man who listened. i like to tell the story i came to washington as a freshman. you know a freshman senator doesn't have much pull anywhere, but i talked to joe lieberman about changing the seating plan in the homeland security committee so it went republican, democrat, republican, democrat, instead of one party on one side of the dais and the other on the

other side. he immediately said what a great idea, claire, and he did endorsing john mccain. i remember coming back to the senate as a declared independent and those who wanted to remove him as chairman of homeland security. what was that like for joe lieberman? >> i think it was a really tough time for him personally. i disagreed with him in his decision to back john mccain as a democrat, as a supporter of barack obama. he had gained the respect and

admiration of many of his colleagues because he was a thinker. he made up his mind based on facts, on science. i think that's one of the reasons why he opposed donald trump in 2016, again in 2020. i think he would have opposed donald trump this year ultimately and back joe biden. i think he was at heart a democrat. when joe lieberman was elected to the united states senate, i ran for attorney general and i succeeded joe lieberman. joe lieberman loved to say that one of his friends told him that connecticut got a better united states senator and a better attorney general. he had a sense of humility about himself. we love self-deprecating

stories. joe lieberman had a sense he needed to listen to others in the united states senate. i think that's why he regained the chairmanship of the homeland security committee. >> we have photographs of joe lieberman and lindsey graham and john mccain, that bipartisan leadership where they had the best interests of the country in mind and weren't just following a politician like so many are now. >> who knew the first decade of the 21st century would end up being the good old days? sort of a fascinating development. but i was thinking about lieberman, whose life intersected with so many vital figures, al gore, who elevated

him, put him on the ticket, a historic first in 2000. also think about the cast of characters there in 2004, 2006 and 2008, as difficult as the iraq war was and heading into the financial crisis of 2008. you had both senator kerry who thought about a ticket with john mccain. john mccain thought about a ticket with joe lieberman. we can't make a fetish of bipartisanship, but it's a very interesting question given the polarization of the hour. what might have happened if some combination of john kerry and joe lieberman and john mccain had gone to the country with more of a fusion ticket? might not have worked, obviously, but it's one of those interesting counter factuals

that it couldn't have led to anything worse than what we've had in recent years. i think that some of that spirit needs to be kindled and preserved. >> senator richard blumenthal, thank you very much. mike memoli, claire mccaskill and jon meacham, thank you all very much for coming on this morning. coming up on "morning joe," the epa has finalized new rules on vehicle emissions as the administration seeks to accelerate the auto industry's switch to electric cars. the head of volkswagon will join us to talk about how his company is navigating the transition. avn

when my doctor gave me breztri for my copd, things changed for me. breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare—ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma.

tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri. knock, knock. number one broker here for the number one hit maker. -thanks for swinging by, carl. -no problem. so what are all those for? uh, this lets me adjust the base, add more guitar, maybe some drums. -wow. so many choices. -yeah. like schwab. i can get full service wealth management, advice, invest on my own, and trade on thinkorswim. you know carl is the only front man you need. (phone rings) oh, i gotta take this, carl. it's schwab. schwab. (feedback rings) have a choice in how you invest

last night someone had a liquor store in new jersey bought the only winning ticket

for the billion dollar mega millions jackpot. it's odd when you walk into a liquor store on a tuesday and make a good decision, you know? [ laughter ] >> yep, there's a new billionaire in new jersey. i have a feeling you're going to be able to see that pinkie ring from space. seriously, if the sun reflects off that thing during the eclipse, it's going to look like a scene from oppenheimer. officials in new york city are one step closer to implementing a congestion pricing plan. the plan calls for a $15 toll for most passenger calls that drive into manhattan south of 60th street during daytime hours. one of the interesting notes about this is that actually they

singled out tj. they're going to charge him double. i don't know why the man can put his name in the bill. there will be challenges from six lawsuits before he goes into effect. >> because he drives a bug. the biden administration recently announced a new set of carbon emission -- >> like herbie the bug. >> i love bugs. it will accelerate the industry's transition to electric vehicles. under the new rules, the environmental protection agency expects that electric vehicles could account for more than half of all car sales by 2032, up from just 7.6% in 2023. major automotive companies racing to convert to electric vehicles, including volkswagon, the german auto maker is

prioritizing a push to sell more evs in the u.s. around around the world, like the all-electric take on the classic vw microbus. >> i need it now. >> joining us now, president and ceo of volkswagon, pablo di si. >> pablo, i had a -- >> convertible bug. >> no, a vw sort of bus. >> that's embarrassing. you drove the vw bus. >> whatever you call it, i don't know, but it is awesome. it was great. but i've been waiting and i know we're here to talk about everything important, but i have been waiting for your new vw bus -- >> he seriously wants one. >> for years now.

when? when can i get one of these things? literally five years i've been waiting for this. >> good morning, joe. thanks for having me. after this interview, we can go downstairs and i drove on the bus today, the american version. listen, you don't need to wait until the year end. we're going to launch the bus later this year. by q4 of this year we're going to be launching the bus. we're creating a lot of traffic congestion here in norm because -- new york because everybody was taking selfies. >> is the bug gone forever? >> for the time being, it is. we don't have any plans for the moment. but we'll have the bus by year

end. >> pablo, i'm going to hold you to this. >> i'll be proud of you getting an ev. >> i love it. let's talk about the huge debate going on in the united states right now about electric vehicles, are we pushing too fast. we always have this happening to us where we're trying to move ahead and there's always a question of are we moving ahead as a country faster on an idea than consumers are ready to latch onto? what are your thoughts? >> there are two key pieces of legislation going on at the same time that are critical to the u.s. the first one is the inflation reduction act, which is transformative because it's going to bring all the jobs and research and development into the u.s. in the next couple years, and the epa ruling you

just alluded to. i think the epa ruling is the most aggressive piece of legislation for the environment. we're going to be saving over 7 billion co2 tons on a five-year period. the future is electric for volkswagon. there's no doubt about it. and we're going to need to work together with the automakers and the government to build infrastructure as time goes by. >> i want to ask you about the infrastructure side. some of the frustrations of some people waiting in line for a charge or not knowing where the next charging station will be. you guys are ready on your side, making the electric vehicles. the infrastructure has to catch up, is that fair to say? >> absolutely. we've been building the id4 in our factory in chattanooga in

tennessee since last year. we're the only foreign automaker which gets the $7500 credit. the consumer loves the vehicle, but from a convenience point of view when they need to charge it, they need more infrastructure. volkswagon is doing their part with electrify america and others will do their part. >> what role has president biden's inflation reduction act played? >> i think the ira is a great piece of legislation not only to bring the manufacturing jobs and the innovation. there's also a portion

allocating to energy and infrastructure. there are many companies outside the automotive world investing. i think it's a question of time and not ten years, 20 years. the next five or six years we're going to see a huge transformation of infrastructure in the u.s. we're going to go into cities like new york and how we're going to put chargers into some of these high-rise buildings. when you have the complete package, people would be more willing to go into this transition faster. >> the criticism is the bill is going to put people out of work in the auto industry. you just told us your plant is in chattanooga and there's jobs clearly being created there. what's your answer to that criticism? >> it's going to add jobs. when you look at the ecosystem, in the combustion engine, the

factory you didn't have, which we do now in chattanooga. the perimeter will be broader and jobs will be a little bit different than the past. >> and construction of all the charging stations to go along with it as well. >> most importantly it's the innovation. to me, the inflation reduction act, again, it's great legislation because it not only brings the manufacturing jobs, but it brings innovation into the u.s. in some areas we're ahead, in some areas we're behind in the u.s. versus the world. this will speed up our transition. >> we'll let you get back downstairs to your beautiful electric bus. joe is going to be first in line at his dealership. >> thank you. i'm still thinking a bug with big bumpers all around it in bright pink. >> give him a couple years. >> bring back the bug. >> i'll see you downstairs, joe.

>> i love it. >> thank you very much. >> president and ceo of volkswagon group of america, pablo, thank you very much. coming up, we'll take a look at headlines. coming up, we'll tk at headlines 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 of your symptoms with vraylar. some medicines only treat the lows or highs. vraylar treats depressive, acute manic, and mixed episodes of bipolar 1 in adults. proven full-spectrum relief for all bipolar 1 symptoms. and in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles or confusion which may mean a life-threatening reaction or uncontrollable muscle movements which may be permanent. high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, weight gain and high cholesterol may occur. movement dysfunction and restlessness are common side effects. sleepiness and stomach issues are also common. side effects may not appear for several weeks. ask about vraylar and learn how abbvie could help you save. hey! asthma's got you going through it?

grab nucala for fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask an asthma specialist if nucala is right for you.

we are learning new information about the deadly collision involving a massive cargo ship that brought down the key bridge in baltimore. it comes as crews have recovered the bodies of two victims. nbc news correspondent tom costello has more. >> reporter: in baltimore this morning a clearer picture now emerging of the disastrous crash that brought down the francis scott key bridge. ntsb investigators have for the first time boarded the cargo

ship, still covered in mangled metal. >> it's just utter devastation. >> reporter: along with initial interviews with the crew, investigators have downloaded the voice data recorder. the initial timeline shows alarms started sounding at 1:24 a.m. tuesday. two minutes later the ship's pilot made an urgent call for any nearby tug boats to assist. the pilot radioed again a minute later saying the ship had lost all power. traffic cameras showed the ship approaching the bridge. before the feed cuts out two minutes later when the massive vessel struck the span. >> the ship had no tugs at all helping it navigate through the waters before it hit the bridge? >> that is correct. it's a straight shot through the channel. so there are no tugs with the vessel at that time. >> reporter: police dispatch audio shows officers radioed to stop traffic less than 30 seconds after that distress

call, showing officers discussing the crew on the bridge in the moments before the collapse. >> once you get here, i'll go grab workers on the key bridge and stop the outerloop. >> the whole bridge just fell down. >> reporter: nearly 25 feet below the water's surface, dive teams have discovered a pickup truck with two victims inside. authorities are called off the search for four remaining victims, saying the water is too treacherous. maryland's governor sharing how one survivor walked away from the ordeal. >> he saw the bridge fall right after he moved off. it was because of the first responder telling him to move off the bridge. >> reporter: now the focus shifts to the daunting task of reopening this vital port with concerns of supply chain disruptions. >> we're concerned about implications that will ripple

out beyond the immediate region. >> that is tom costello reporting. still ahead, a new series tells the true story of a jewish family separated at the start of world war ii. the stars of "we were the lucky ones" and the author of the book that inspired the series join us next on "morning joe." ning joe." : cidp disrupts. cidp derails. let's be honest... all: cidp sucks! voices of people with cidp: but living with cidp doesn't have to. when you sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com, you'll find inspiration in real patient stories, helpful tips, reliable information, and more. cidp can be tough. but finding hope just got a little easier. sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com. all: be heard. be hopeful. be you. it's hard to run a business on your own. make it easier on

yourself. with shopify, you have everything you need to sell online and in person. you can have your inventory, payments, and customers in sync across all the places you sell. it doesn't have to be lonely at the top. join the millions to finding success on their own terms. start your journey with a free trial today.

there's nothing better than a subway series footlong. except when you add on an all new footlong sidekick. we're talking a $2 footlong churro. $3 footlong pretzel and a five dollar footlong cookie. every epic footlong deserves the perfect sidekick. order one with your favorite subway series sub today. [coughing] copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler,

trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful. when you put in the effort, but it starts to frizz... you skipped a step. tresemmé silk serum. use before styling for three days of weightlessly smooth hair that frizz can't beat. new tresemmé keratin smooth collection. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. i was on a journey for a really long time to find some relief.

cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. [indiscernible] >> the germans are already at our doorstep. ♪♪ >> all of europe is a war zone.

>> let our family be our light. ♪♪ >> that is a look at the new hulu mini series "we were the lucky ones" based on the "new york times" best-selling book of the same title. it follows members of a jewish family in poland after they endured the holocaust as they were separated in world war ii. good morning to you all. thanks for being here. this is an extraordinary series. georgia, i have to start with you, because this is the story of your family. you can talk to us about what it's like to see it on the screen now after being in the pages of the book for so long. just a little background on the story, which you only learned as

a teenager. >> yes. part of my life for the last 28 years dates back the origin story to when i was 15 and a high school english teacher assigned us a product to interview a relative. i sat down with my grandmother caroline. that's when i discovered my grandfather's story. i learned that i was a quarter jewish, that i came from a family of holocaust survivors. it left me with a lot of questions. i met some family members at a family reunion years later and started hearing some pieces of the family narrative. they were stories unlike anything i'd ever heard before. i was 21 years old and i realized someone needs to capture these and write them down. i set off in 2008 to do that to honor the family members, to get it to paper and tell it in a way that my kids could pick it up and relate to it.

took about a decade before the book came out in 2017. then my dear friend tommy kale called and said how would you like to bring this to the screen together? it was incredible. we found an incredible cast, incredible group of writers. as a granddaughter, i had spent so long imagining what my grandfather's life would have been like in those years and his siblings and parents and to see it come to life through the unbelievable performances of this cast and through the sets, the hair and makeup, the costumes and the props, every aspect of the show suddenly became so real. i felt like i came to know my

ancestors in a new way. i'm so excited and feel so lucky to be a part of it. >> for you to have the responsibility of carrying for this story and telling it the right way, how did it impact you? >> i found it so compelling. first thing i read the book we didn't have scripts yet when the creative team approached me to be a part of this. initially when i have a project based on history, i'm a little hesitant. i ask the question, why tell this now? what does this project have to say? sometimes it's fiction. the truth is important. the research that georgia and her family did into her family history and the background just was so deep and rich in your writing. these were stories that i hadn't

seen explored before in film or television, particularly the grandfather's story, the story of a refugee who's just trying to find a country that will let him in while he searches for his family. it was just a great opportunity. >> joey, you play the sister. how does she fit into this story? >> she's the youngest of the siblings. she goes on a very wild journey. when we first meet her, she's a very young girl with a lot of ambitions. she's a bit naive but in a sweet way and has a lot of gusto about her. our story takes place over nine years and we see her grow up really, really fast. she gets thrust into this role in the family of keeping everyone as safe as possible by maneuvering things to move everyone around, get false papers going. she's orchestrating as much as

she possibly can. helena likes to -- it was really hard for her when she couldn't have control of a situation, because she's really good at orchestrating. she's also going through really human things in the middle of this too, like love and the complicated feelings of love. she was the joy of a lifetime to play and the honor of a lifetime to bring georgia's story to life and her family. it's unbelievable. it's beyond words to describe how much it means. helena is one i've ever played in the world. it was a big responsibility. it was such an honor. >> joe. >> and georgia, let's talk about -- i mean, lucky does a lot of work here, the word lucky. i mean, in poland 3 million jews at the start of the war, and 90%

annihilated by the holocaust, by the war, across poland, and in your family's hometown, 300,000 jews at the start of the war. only 300 survived out of that. the fact that your family was able to survive is just extraordinary. >> yeah, they truly were a statistical anomaly, and when i first set out in my research, i think that was one of the things that struck me the most was just how unusual their story was, and you know, i think we took some liberties in the series to really try to tell the story of the greater holocaust and sort of what was happening all around them. they were so lucky in the sense that they didn't end up in the camps. they were able to use their false i.d.s to stay in hiding,

to move around, but we -- we decided to, for example, show a scene of yakob, he didn't experience that in real life, but we thought it was important to tell that story and also to tell the stories of the significant others of the court's siblings whose families were not so lucky. yeah, and you know, certainly they were prepared. they had plans. they would try to stay one step ahead. their decisions that they were making often in a split second could have turned out either way, right? so i think they were prepared. they were resourceful, but luck certainly played a huge role in their story. >> tell us about the unintentional timeliness of this series. there's a war in eastern europe. there's been a rise in anti-semitism, and of course the terror attacks of october 7th as well. >> it's incredibly timely. this is a story about, you know,

what happens when hate goes unchecked, and i think we need to continue telling these stories about the holocaust and, you know, the truth matters in these situations too. we don't want these events to repeat themselves, and i think that's why we need to keep the history alive. >> joe, you've said that too. you both have done such a good job around this saying we have to teach our generation that doesn't really know a lot about the holocaust and maybe this is one way to do it. >> yeah, i mean, you know, i think that the goal with teaching and, you know -- i always hate to say that this show is going to like teach people something because it sounds like we're trying to educate. it's like we're trying to show a gorgeous story that is compelling, and it is -- you want t see what's going to happen. you care so much about this family. i just hope that for any group of people, it just shows people to have some compassion, you know, real compassion for others that you have no idea what their life has been like or what

they're going through, and that goes for every group of people out there, so. >> it's an extraordinary series. you all have done such a good job bringing this book to life. amazing story. the first three episodes of "we were the lucky ones" premiers today on hulu. new episodes coming out every week. co-stars joey king, logan lerman. >> thank you so much. this was lovely. >> we'll be right back with more "morning joe."

time now for a look at some of the morning papers, the bradenton herald reports that the battle between florida governor ron desantis and disney appears to have simmered down as the settlement between the two was announced yesterday. disney agreed to close two outstanding state lawsuits involving the central florida oversight district related to the company self-governance and

land development. however, the company has not dropped its federal lawsuit against desantis. disney alleges desantis retaliated against the company for speaking out against the controversial education bill dubbed the don't say gay law by critics. the desert sun reports that fast food workers in california are losing their jobs as more restaurant chains get ready to meet a new $20 minimum wage that goes into effect next week. many businesses intend to ax hundreds of jobs as well as cut back on hours and institute hiring freezes. governor gavin newsom signed the fast act last year that requires fast food chains with 60 or more locations nationwide to raise their wage minimums. and finally, in north carolina, the news and record reports that for the second year in a row consumers are facing

sticker shock over the price of eggs ahead of easter and passover. the average price for a dozen eggs was 2.99 last month, up from 1.59 three years earlier. market demand, growing costs and avian flu are all responsible for the increase in prices. >> so that is tough news. willie, you know what else is tough news? i'm opening my mlb app, the red sox of course. >> he's very excited. >> 0-0, haven't played a game, just since the show started four hours ago, we are now 3 1/2 behind. >> you slipped another game? >> in fairness, our show is the length of two major league baseball games now, so you may have dropped a game since the show began. go yankees, i think i speak for america when i say go yankees. >> you don't. >> joe, i'll give you a roll tide tonight and i have to say for my parents and family, go

illini tonight. big night of sports. good luck with the sox. that does it for us this morning, we'll be right back here tomorrow morning. josé diaz-balart picks up the coverage in 90 seconds. >> tech: at safelite, we'll take care of fixing your windshield. but did you know we can take care of your insurance claim? that means less stress for you. >> woman: thanks. >> tech: my pleasure. have a good one. >> woman: you too. >> tech: schedule today at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪♪ with fastsigns, create factory grade visual solutions to perfect your process. ♪♪ fastsigns. make your statement™. hi, i'm jason. i've lost 228 pounds on golo. ♪ ♪♪ i don't ever want to go back to wearing a 4xl shirt or not being able to climb up stairs without taking a break. so i'm committed to golo for life. (♪♪) [shaking]

itchy pet? (♪♪) with chewy, save 20% on your first pharmacy order so you can put an end to the itch. get flea and tick medication delivered right to your door. [panting] there's nothing better than a subway series footlong. except when you add a new footlong sidekick. except when you add a new footlong sidekick. like the all american club. with the new footlong pretzel. they're the perfect team. are you and that sidekick having a moment? don't judge us. every epic footlong deserves the perfect sidekick. good morning, it is 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific, i'm josé diaz-balart in for ana cabrera. happening this hour in georgia,