there's classified documents in this stuff. he knew he had them over the course of the next year talking to his lawyers and they told him to turn them over. he knew it when the fbi told him we keep finding stuff in the stuff you're turning over. it will in the way judge cannon handles things drag it out just a little bit more. >> a grand jury indictment came down on june 8, 2023. anyone's guess whether we get to the second anniversary. bradley moss, thank you so much for your time tonight. >> have a good night. that is our show for this evening. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. this case was about the illegal choices the defendant made while in the throes of addiction, his choice to lie on a government form when he bought a gun and the choice to then possess that gun. no one in this country is above the law. everyone must be accountable for their actions, even this

defendant. >> that was special counsel david weiss speaking to reporters after a jury found hunter biden guilty on three felony counts in this federal gun trial. we'll go over the key take-aways including what hunter's sentence could look like, how president biden reacted, and what one juror is now saying about what happened during deliberations. plus, we'll break down new poll numbers that show who voters in key battleground states say they believe is best to handle the economy ahead of november's election. and also, despite his long running feud with donald trump, senator mitch mcconnell says he will attend a meeting with the former president this week. their first face-to-face meeting in four years. we'll talk about what to expect from that.

good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this wednesday, june 12th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us, and we have a lot to get to this morning, and we will begin here. a jury has found hunter biden guilty on all three felony gun charges in his federal trial. the jury reached its verdict yesterday in wilmington, delaware, after only about three hours of deliberations split over two days. the president's son had pleaded not guilty to the three counts tied to lying on a federal gun application about his drug use. sources inside the defense room tell nbc news that following the verdict hunter biden thanked everyone in the room by name, hugged them, and tried to raise their spirits. he later issued this public statement. "i am more grateful today for the love and support i experienced this last week from melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than i am disappointed by the outcome. recovery is possible by the

grace of god, and i am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time." hunter biden could face-up to 25 years in prison, and each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000. no sentencing date has been set, but under federal sentencing guild line recommendations and as a first-time offender, "the new york times" points out that someone in hunter biden's position typically would face 15 to 21 months behind bars, significantly a lighter sentence. special counsel david weiss spoke briefly to reporters following the verdict. >> no one in this country is above the law. everyone must be accountable for their actions, even this defendant. however, hunter biden should no more accountable than any other citizen convicted of this same conduct. the prosecution has been and will continue to be committed to this principle and to the

principles of federal prosecution in carrying out its responsibilities. >> both hunter biden and his attorney have indicated that they plan to appeal. president biden issued a statement reacting to his son's guilty verdict. it reads in part this. "i will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as hunter considers an appeal. jill and i will always be there for hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. nothing will ever change that." last week president biden said he will not pardon his son. the president also had an emotional reunion with hunter late yesterday. the two hugged on the tarmac after the president changed his schedule and flew to delaware following an event in d.c. preceding his departure from italy early this morning. hunter biden's guilty verdict comes as former president trump was found guilty of all 34

charges against him in his new york hush money trial a couple weeks ago. while the trump campaign decried the former president's verdict they were quick to call hunter biden's as distractions. >> well, first, let's remember this was joe biden's corrupt doj that tried to negotiate a sweetheart plea deal with outside immunity unrelated to this case. >> there are two tiers of justice, and again they wanted to let him off of everything. >> and now i see the law being used in sort of these ticky-tacky ways missing the main point which would have been the biden family corruption and just trying to ensnare president trump because he's winning. >> do you think the department of justice is still weaponized against conservatives even though we see nice verdict today? >> absolutely. when they tell school moms they're domestic terrorists because they don't like what's

being taught in their classrooms we still can go into it, yes, ma'am. >> they're sticking with their talking points despite the facts. meanwhile, a juror in the hunter biden trial spoke just moments after the verdict was read. in an anonymous interview with nbc news juror number 10 insisted the decision to vote guilty was not based on any political leanings. >> it was not politically motivated. politics never played in anything that we said in the jury room and as we were deliberating. of course we spent the last five days together and yesterday and today, and we were not allowed to talk about any of the case until the trial was over. like i told a lot of reporters, i've seen a lot worse than

hunter. so honestly, i don't think putting hunter in jail is going to help anybody. i hope that -- i hope that hunter is clean, and i hope that his sobriety is going well, and i hope it continues to go well. >> we should note the jurors in this case are talking out even anonymously while no one, no one in the trump case has had for fear of retribution. now let's bring in state attorney for palm beach county, dave aronberg. dave, good to see you this morning. first let's get your broad take-aways. what was your reaction to the guilty verdict? >> i was not surprised, jonathan. i thought this was a cut and dry case. the prosecution had the facts and law on their side. hunter biden's own words came back to hunt him.

he wrote an auto birog aef talking about being in the throes of the addiction at the time he purchased this gun. and he was in denial. but, look, his own words came back to hurt him because his text messages right after he bought the gun, the day after indicated that he was going to buy drugs from a drug dealer named mooky, and then two days after he bought the gun he was texting his daughter that he was on a car in wilmington smoking crack. so that's why i thought the prosecutors had him. now, whether they should have brought this case, whether this was selective prosecution is another matter. and i agree with a jury that i think that the doj probably should have had bigger fish to fry, and i wonder would he have been prosecuted had his name been hunter smith? but it is what it is, and i think the jury did the right thing in the following the evidence and the law. >> we'll have far more on the political fallout of this later in the show, but i noted in some of my reporting last night that president biden has told

associates in recent weeks exactly what you just said. he believes if he weren't running for re-election, hunter biden would have gotten that plea deal last summer that would have kept him out of prison, but that fell apart. so, dave, what do we tink? what potential sentence realistically will hunter biden face? >> i think probably probation. now, they're going to look at a lot of things, for example, his lack of a rap sheet, the fact that he was in the throes of addiction during this time. he didn't hold onto the gun very long. after it was disposed of by his then-girlfriend he didn't get it back and never used it. there are a lot of factors in play that tell me the prosecutors may just ask for probation, and even if they don't i think the judge is more likely than not to give him probation, i don't so see what is served by throwing him in prison. i think he has a bigger problem in california during the trial that's upcoming later this year on tax charges. you don't want to mess with the irs.

but when it comes to this case, this is a statute that's rarely prosecuted, rarely used in a stand alone charge. usually it's a add on. then the prosecutors will add on this charge of buying a gun while they're in the throes of addiction or if there's drugs found on them at the time. also this statute thrown out by the supreme court which is very pro-gun these days, very second amechlt, all these factors tell me that i think hunter biden is more likely than not to just get probation in this case. >> and you're more likely to -- do you think there's any strength there? >> i think it's tough based on the facts. the facts are pretty clear in this case. their best chance on appeal is go to the conservative judges and justices and to say this is an unconstitutional statute. the fifth circuit county of

appeal a very conservative court throughout this statute. they have to declare once and for all this statute is unconstitutional, it's vague and puts restrictions on your law-abiding citizens who are trying to exercise their second amendment rights. it is ironic, jonathan, you have people on the right who are very pro-gun, very pro-second amendment who are now applauding this conviction. it's a topsy-turvy political world we're living in. >> no doubt. we'll have much more on the politics of this a little later in the show. state attorney for palm beach county, dave aronberg, thank you for starting us off this morning. we appreciate it. next up here just hours after his son's verdict on gun charges, president biden touted his efforts to strengthen gun safety legislation. we'll bring you some of his new remarks. plus, we'll take a look at some of last night's consequential primary results from races across the country. those stories and a check on sports and weather as the sun starts from up behind the u.s.

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welcome back. just hours after he learned of his son's guilty verdict, president biden delivered remarks at a major gun reform event yesterday. speaking to every town's gun sense university, the president touted his administration's work on gun safety and his plan if he wins again in november. >> you're changing the nation, you really are. you're changing the nation. it builds upon the dozens of executive actions my administration has taken to reduce gun violence, more than any of my predecessors. everything from cracking down to gun trafficking and so much more. folks, we're not stopping there. it's time once again to do what i did when i was a senator. ban assault weapons.

>> the president's speech as you can hear was briefly interrupted by pro-palestinian protesters calling on him to stop the war in gaza. instead of ignoring the interruption, the president addressed it. take a listen. >> four more years! four more years! >> folks, they care. in the children have been lost. >> important issues both gaza and guns. now, new polling finds improving views about president biden's ability to manage the economy. according to the latest numbers from the financial times and the university of michigan, 41% of registered voters trust donald trump more to handle the economy compared today 37% who say they trust biden more. as recently as february trump's lead over biden was 11 points

when that same question was asked, now just 4. overall voters rank the economy as their most important issue by a wide margin, 24 points ahead of the future of social security and medicare. immigration comes third along with crime. now, let's take a look at some of last night's primary results. republican congresswoman nancy mace of south carolina did defeat a well funded primary challenger who had the backing of former speaker kevin mccarthy. mace, of course, one of the eight republicans who voted to oust mccarthy last year. in north dakota trump backed congressman kelly armstrong won the state's republican nomination for governor. outgoing governor doug burgham had supported the challenger in that race, marking a rare split between trump and one of his potential vp contenders. and in nevada army veteran sam brown who received a late endorsement from donald trump won the state's gop senate primary. he'll take on democratic senator

jacky rosen this november in what's expected to be one of the most competitive senate races in the country this year. >> next up here we'll take a turn to sports and bring you a preview of tonight's game three of the nba finals. plus, we'll explain the beef keeping joey chestnut out of this year's nathan's famous hot dog eating contest, a contest he's dominated for so long. we'll bring you that next. o long we'll bring you that next. touge 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.

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deep right field. at the wall, and it's off the base of the fence. this game is tied. riley green demolishes a baseball, and he's not done. here he comes. lakers lead. a rock around the bases for riley green. >> that was a little league grand slam for the detroit

tigers. riley green clearing the bases with a triple hit off-the-wall right center field in the third inning, and then he scored the go ahead run on that throwing error, but the washington nationals took advantage of the tiger's late game miscues and went onto beat them 5-4 in extras. another stellar performance on the mound from pittsburgh pirates phenom rookie paul skenes. he received a standing ovation from the cardinals crowd -- those are some knowledgeable fans -- when he was pulled from the game in the seventh. we turn now to the nba finals. the dallas mavericks will host the boston celtics tonight in game three. the celtics might be playing without center christof

porzingis with a left leg injury he suffered in game two on sunday. porzingis had just come back for game one after missing more than five weeks with a calf strain. long issues and celtics babied him all yearlong, wept back, injured again. 50/50 it seems like he'll be able to play if he does play, probably limit. how will the celtics adjust, this is concern boston fans have had all yearlong. the mavs will try to hand the celtics their first road loss of the post-season to try to cut their series deficit in half. meanwhile a third of golf's four major championships, the u.s. open, will tee off tomorrow at pine hurst country club in north carolina. tiger woods who has faired even worse in majors after returning to competitive golf after he was jurred in a car crash in february 2021, despite all that tiger expressed confidence in

his game ahead of this week's tournament. >> do you feel like your body right now is in a spot that you can win this tournament, has it approved enough you feel like you have the strength to carry for four rounds? >> yeah, i do. i do feel like i have the strength to be able to do it. it's just a matter of doing it. this golf course is going to test every single aspect of your game especially mentally, and just the mental discipline that it takes to play this particular golf course, and it's going to take a lot. >> in a stunning headline here, joey chestnut will not compete in the nathan's famous hot dog eating contest next month. the perennial champion has been banned from the fourth of july event because of his reported sponsorship deal with the competing brand named impossible foods. in a statement yesterday major league eating said in part this, "we are devastated to learn joey chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant

based hot dogs rather than competing." . in a series of posts on twitter "x" chestnut wrote he was gutted to learn about his ban. he said his decision will deprive the great fans of the holiday's usual joy and entertainment. chestnut has won the annual coney island contest 16 times in a row. i'm not going to watch any of this footage. he's also won the last eight straight years. he ate a world record 86 hot dugs and buns in 2021 and did 62 last year to retain his title. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. crew here can attest i closed my eyes at the very end of that reel. >> i too shielded my eyes. i'm so sorry, joey chestnut, but i can't look at that this early in the morning but i can look at this. i'll tell you about the forecast instead. we've got a whole lot of run already fallen across the state of florida and more to come. 7 million people under these

flood watches right now, and you can see how unsettled it at this hour, and it's going to remain like that not just through the day but the next couple of days. we've got a stationary front hanging out and more tropical moisture to tap into. and by the way already happening over places that received anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of rain yesterday, likely some more flooding concerns here through the day today and probably through the rest of the week. you can see why. rainfall up to 15 inches will be possible in parts of southwest florida. meanwhile out west is the heat that gets your attention. 18 million people are under those alerts at this time, and temperatures expected to hit the triple digits once again in phoenix today. but notice omaha, chicago headed to the 90s. by the time we get into tomorrow, the 90s will spread closer to the east coast. we've got richmond and charlotte into the 90s, 85 degrees and cincinnati and detroit will also hit the 90s. >> angie lassman, thank you as always. coming up here on "way too early" we'll look ahead to

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welcome back to "way too early." it is precisely 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this wednesday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. the g7 summit is set to begin tomorrow in southeast italy bringing together a host of

world leaders including president joe biden. for another year the war in ukraine will loom heavy over the proceedings. politico eu reports that a potential loan deal to provide $50 billion to ukraine by selling off russian assets has hit a snag in discussions between european leaders and the united states. the talks will likely continue at the summit and beyond it in order to get this deal done, according to this reporting. joining us now white house reporter for bloomberg, akala gardener. thanks for being here this morning. so the president leaves in just a couple hours heading to italy. today the travel day the summit begins tomorrow and having a press conference with president zelenskyy of ukraine while he's there. walk us through what else is on the agenda? what else do they hope to accomplish? >> they've been negotiating for months to sort of tap these frozen russian assets as waway to help fund ukraine for the rest of the year and also into 2025. what has been really unclear about this deal is who exactly

is left holding the bag for these assets, say, for example, if the war ends early? because this really depends on those assets staying immobilized for a couple of years for those profits to really pay off that loan. so that's still really unclear. if this is not made, this could be a huge blow to the u.s. and they believe this could be announced this week, so that would be a very awkward situation for them to be put in because officials have been discussing this for months now. usually these things have already been worked out, their teams haven't landed together. >> we should expect to hear from the president much like they did last week in france ahead of the d-day anniversary a push to defend democracy in ukraine and beyond. let's turp to back here at home. the fallout from the hunter biden conviction. let's start on the political side. aides and those close to the president have said for months they didn't think the trajectory of this case would change much.

now the verdict has come and it's guilty what's the early sense this will play out politically? >> i think aides are right this is probably have little to no impact on the electorate. particularly for democrats, independents, folks biden really needs to turn out, but it was an awkward moment yesterday for biden to be speaking at this event with gun control advocates just hours after that conviction from hunter biden. and what's been interesting from trump and republicans is they have said this conviction i just a distraction, they don't think it amounts to much, they wanted the justice department to go further even though this seems to undermine trump's claims this department is weaponized and now we've seen them bring a conviction which was also historic for president biden and the president as well. >> first of all they're making claimwise no evidence whatsoever

the gun charge was to cover up for corruption oilgss. that's been thoroughly investigated and nothing was there. president biden did not stop the prosecution of his own son. even if the political fallout is limited and hunter is just one remaining son. we showed earlier his embrace with him on the tarmac yesterday in wilmington. the family was gathered last night there in delaware. what is the level of concern among those close to the mr. president on how this will weigh on him in these crucial months after the election and as he awaits to see if his son potentially could face prison time. >> i think the real question is how is it going to weigh on him going forward? because we still have another case. of course hunter biden is facing tax charges in september in california. but the way biden has dealt with this is he's said it from i'm a dad, i love my son. me and jill support our son. we've seen family members day in and day out continue to support hunter, and that is certainly a stark contrast with donald trump who is largely without family for most of his trial and at that huge press conference when

he was convicted. >> and biden aides are preparing for the idea trump would be on the attack. thank you for your reporting. next up here we'll go live to cnbc for an early look what's driving the day on wall street as the federal reserve is expected to announce a decision on interest rates later today. plus the united kingdom showed no economic growth last month despite claims of a turn around. what we're learning from the latest labor report and what it could mean for us back here in the united states. "way too early" will be back in a moment. s. "way too early" will be back in a moment

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♪ ♪ [ engine revving ] listen. horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going. ♪ ♪ [ engine revving ] oh now we're torquin'! the dodge hornet r/t. the totally torqued-out crossover. -remember when i said we need to screen for colon cancer? -was that after i texted the age to screen was now 45? [both] because i said cologuard®! -hey there! -where did he come from? -yup, with me you can screen at home. just talk to your provider. [both] we'll screen with cologuard and do it my way. cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45+ at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for me, cologuard. time now for business. for that let's bring in cnbc's silvia amaro, who joins us live from london. good morning, silvia. so stock futures rose slightly overnight as investors anxiously

await the federal reserve's interest rate decision and consumer inflation data for may, both coming later today. what should we expect? >> exactly. it is a very busy day for equity markets. but, indeed, futures do suggest it could be a bit of a higher start to the trading session on wall street. this is after we saw a mixed session on tuesday. however, the s&p and the nasdaq, they both posted fresh record highs. and a lot of that had to do with tech -- tech sector being the best performer yesterday. now today, as you mention, all eyes are both on the cpoo print and the fed rate decision. when it comes to inflation data the expectations that we'll see annual rate of 3.4% and change from the previous reading, but know that investors will also be keeping a close eye on the commentary from jerome powell. now, previously the fed had

guided we should expect about three rate cuts this year, however going into today's rate decision markets expect the fed will go for lower rate cuts. just a reminder for our viewers at the moment markets are only pricing in one rate cut for 2024, so let's see what sort of commentary we'll get from the fed in terms of the outlook for potential rate cuts. >> yeah, really an important moment there. we will, of course, have complete coverage. hitting other headlines britain's economic recovery grinded to a halt in the run up to that country's general election slated for july 4th. so what have we learned from the latest report, and what could it mean for the u.s. economy? >> so the data we got this morning was definitely a little bit disappointing, really. just to give you an idea the latest gdp print basically showed no growth in the month of april after we saw a 0.4% month on month increase in the month of -- in march i should say. however, though, this

precipitate actually is even more important at this stage when we are approaching the general election. and yesterday we heard from the prime minister rishi sunak announcing tax cuts of about 17 billion pounds. it could actually sound it's quite significant, but some members in his party believe this number is not high enough. and looking at the opinion polls it does seem the conservative party is struggling and the labor party might be the one forming the next government here in the u.k. >> a lot of good news for president sunak and of course having the coverage of that economic forum coming out of the g7 in italy. cnbc's silva amaro, live from london thank you as always. the leader of hamas appears to be putting off a cease-fire in hopes more bloodshed could help his cause. we're going to dig into that reporting next on "way too early." on "way too early.

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today, as we gather, one and only one thing stands in the way of this deal happening. and that's hamas. so my primary and first message today to every government, to every multilateral institution, to every humanitarian organization that wants to relieve the massive suffering in gaza -- get hamas to take the deal. press them publicly, press them privately. and hamas should not require much convincing. after all, the proposal is nearly identical to one that hamas itself proposed on may 6th. >> that was secretary of state antony blinken in jordan yesterday urging leaders in the middle east to pressure hamas into accepting the latest u.n.-backed cease-fire deal. hamas later then responded to the proposal, but it appears some gaps still remain and they said there was room for positivity, but they didn't

complete the agreement. this comes as blinken continues his latest diplomatic blitz throughout the middle east. he's in qatar right now, and yesterday the secretary of state spent the morning in israel before then going onto jordan. in jordan he met that country's king and took part in a conference focused on the humanitarian response within gaza. meanwhile, the leader of hamas has reportedly been resisting pressure to agree to a cease-fire deal with israel because he thinks more fighting will work to his advantage. "the wall street journal" has obtained messages sinwar has set. the journal reports that he's, quote, shown a cold disregard for human life and made clear he believes israel has more to lose from the war than hamas. he called civilian losses in national liberation conflicts a necessary sacrifice. in more recent ones simwar told

officials we have the israelis right where we want the em. the comments come as the hamas run gaza health ministry say more than 40,000 people have been killed in gaza since the start of the war. it's not known how many of these are militants, but as the journal notes the scale of the collateral damage is unprecedented. let's now bring in former fbi special agent and national security analyst for nbc news and msnbc, clint watts. clint, good to see you again. let's start with the hamas piece of this. explain to us the power structure within this group. how much influence does simwar have over the direction of the war and over those political leaders who are trying to engage in cease-fire talks? >> jonathan, it's a multi-part structure. you've got a political wing and a military wing. and simwar is part of the military wing, not really been seen publicly since the war broke out october 7th, seems to wield incredible power and it

seems is probably inside that area of gaza, which also just points to some of the other leaders which have either been killed or seen in other locations that are oftentimes outside gaza. so he seems to wield incredible power over the negotiation process because he is basically with the hamas multiple wing. i think it's confusing how to navigate who is really in control. and i think that's what secretary blinken was saying at one point, this may come down to swaying the opinion of one man, and that one man could be simwar. >> let's talk about where things stand in this cease-fire proposal. there was another renewed burst of optimism yesterday when hamas did finally respond. they asked for a concrete time line regarding the permanent end of the war in gaza and withdrawal of troops from the strip there. how feasible are those requests? >> yeah, the time line is probably a real sticking point because you just don't know how

long some of these phases will take. the process is really broken into three parts versus an initial cease-fire with prisoner swaps and withdrawal from populated areas. the second part would be a whole withdrawal from gaza, and the third would be an exchange of remaining bodies and then a reconstruction effort. that all is probably difficult for either side to really commit to. they just won't know how long it will take to do each part of that. so i think hamas is using that as a sticking point, but as you noted simwar's messages about negotiations seems to suggest the longer this goes on, the more civilian casualties there are, he sees that to his benefit politically and also suggests as you noted with the notion of the french-algerian war of the 1950s, which was a very bloody and long war for algerian independence, that the longer it goes on, now you're talking about an insurgency versus an a counter insurgency. we know after 20 years in iraq

and afghanistan how difficult those processes will be. >> simwar definitely showing no value of human life there. give us an update where things stand in rafah, israel. we had the hostage rescue the other day, some sort of tactical efforts. no full on invasion just yet. what should we be looking for? >> yeah, i think it's probably a balancing act of the israeli military looking to see if they can rescue some hostages through these surgical missions, but even in this case a surgical mission rescue of four hostages, they lost some troops, many we operation. this is urban warfare at its most intense. you've got the entire civilian population, really have been pushed down to rafah from the beginning. now you have a military encircling it. having to go house-to-house, that is a small operation in urban warfare. and i think anything else in rafah and why this peace settlement is so important, anything else would be extremely

intense. you would see israeli military casualties, and you would also see more palestinians killed in this battle as well. so it's just not a good situation at all, looking forward, if this continues. >> clint watts, we really appreciate the analysis. please come back soon. thank you for joining us this morning. up next here, donald trump is set so meet with congressional republicans tomorrow in washington. what we're learning about that meeting, as the presumptive gop nominee looks to shore up more support. and then, coming up on "morning joe," we'll bring you expert legal analysis on hunter biden's guilty verdict, as well as the president's reaction and the impact it could have on the 2024 race. plus, democratic governor wes moore of maryland will be a guest, as baltimore reopens its shipping channel after that deadly bridge collapse. also ahead, the dating nightmare. why more and more young women say they are struggling to find a partner. the features editor of "the cut"

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tomorrow, former president donald trump and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell will meet face-to-face for the first time in more than three years. trump and mcconnell have not spoken since december of 2020, when mcconnell publicly congratulated biden for winning the presidential election. mcconnell, the longest serving senate leader in u.s. history has made clear of his distaste for trump, but yet still endorsed him back in march. joining us now to talk more on this is msnbc political analyst, brandon buck. he was a communication strategist and former aid to house speakers, ryan and boehner. brian, good to see you this morning. does anything about this meeting surprise you, that mcconnell has agreed to meet with trump, and why do you think this meeting with trump and republicans on the hill matters? >> yeah, mitch mcconnell hates donald trump, but he loves the idea ofwinning back the majority, securing his legacy

more than anything. he'll put his pride aside. you have your party's nominee, you're going to plan for the next year, it's a normal thing that the party leader would do. obviously, they have a very strained relationship. i'll be very interested to see how trump treats mcconnell in that meeting. these are awkward, sometimes very small, intimate settings. and trump is known to call out friends or jeer at rivals. so i think there will be some tension in the room, but i imagine mcconnell will sit there very quietly, say very little, and he's not going to be leader next year. he'll allow others to set the agenda. >> so elsewhere, the republican party, we had some primary results last night, including nancy mace surviving a challenge backed by former speaker kevin mccarthy. what's your take? >> it was an interesting play by kevin mccarthy. he went around and found a lot of money from some rich votes to go after a sitting member who voted to oust him. i'm with kevin mccarthy in sentiment. that the eight people that voted

him out did some real damage to the institution and really broke it for a long time. but nancy mace never really showed any signs of vulnerability. it was a long shot to begin with. and the fact that we have so many member-on-member primaries or members challenging each other is really toxic for the institution. while kevin mccarthy was trying to fight back against these forces that are eating the house conference from the inside, i think he's only adding to it, because you've got this primary this week, you've got bob good next week. it seems like every week, you have a house republican member who has to worry about their primary, and that is the exact dynamic that has hurt us. at the end of the day, it's as if you have donald trump on your side, though. that's what's been proven time and time again. bob good, the virginia congressman who's likely to lose his primary next week, hard line conservative still potentially could lose hi primary. it's because donald trump is coming after him. here in this case, donald trump didn't go after nancy mays, and that proved on the difference. >> let's turn so some other 2024

story lines. we've been covering it all morning. hunter president biden, guilty verdict yesterday. aides from both campaigns don't really think it will play, have changed much of the structure of the race. what's your analysis? does it become anything that the republicans will use or are they hamstrung by the fact that, wait a minute, hunter biden is not on the ballot, donald trump is. he just got convicted, too. >> i think there's been some wishful thinking that this will end some of the republican conspiracy theories about all of this, you know, showing that obviously the justice department isn't solely being used to go after donald trump. i don't think you can really worry about people like that. they've made up their mind and they're not going to be swayed by facts like this. i'm most interested to see how this is handled in the debate. you would think that joe biden would come at donald trump for being a convicted felon. not hard to see donald trump coming right back at joe biden in very personal ways and how the president would respond to something like that. that could be a very powerful

moment and may handcuff joe biden a little bit. >> i have some reporting on this. the biden campaign is still going to lean into convicted felon, biden himself will probably on occasion do the same, potentially even at the debate, and some aides are encouraging or at least talking among themselves that if trump does come after biden about hunter, which i'm sure he will, president biden will take it personally, that maybe it would be okay flash some anger. that would be a normal, personal, human response. and americans, a lot can really sympathize about people who's struggling with addiction. >> if he's able to rise above it, that would be smart. this is the thing we're arguing about, whose conviction is worse and doesn't inspire a lot of the gravity of the moment that we should be talking about. i don't think in the end -- at the end of the day, either conviction is really what people are going to be voting on. and so it's -- to the point you're getting at, can someone change the dynamic around it?

can they rise above it in a positive way and potentially joe biden is well positioned to do that. >> but for that and so many other reasons, that debate now just two weeks or so away looms a very important marker in this race. we really appreciate you being here. msnbc political analyst, brandon buck. thank you, as always. come back soon. and thanks to all of you for getting up way too early on this wednesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. the contrast today is just staggering. apparently when a republican is convicted, it's weaponization, but when a democrat is convicted, the president's son, no less, that's justice. i mean, give me a break. do republicans still believe that president biden is weaponizing the justice system? because if he is, he's sure doing a lousy job. and as usual, the only trump derangement syndrome going on around here is on the other side of the aisle. people say that biden orchestrated the quick of his ow