out on x are offensive to ordinary people. just offensive. that's not what life is all about in america for most people. most people want to know about what's going to happen to my family, what's going to happen to me two years from now, four years from now, the term of a presidency. they don't want to look backward, if you check the rear view mirror all the time, you're going to get in an accident. they want to look forward. that's what trump refuses to do. the past. elections were stolen, immigrants killing people, tough stuff. >> we'll hear more about that mike barnicle next. we'll stroll over to the "morning joe" desk next. thanks for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. this isn't rally, this is a different kind of thing. today, we'll talk about one

subject, then we'll go back to the other because we sort of love that don't we -- no, it's important -- they say it's the most important subject. i'm not sure it is. but they say it's the most important. inflation is the most important, but that's part of economy. >> all right. donald trump undermining what his campaign had hyped as a significant economic address. the former president was light on policy and heavy on personal attacks. we'll show you more of what he said straight ahead. meanwhile, the economy is the top issue for president biden, as it appears his administration is going to pull off the soft landing he predicted. also ahead, we'll go through the normal things suburban women care about, uh-huh, that's according to vice president nominee jd vance. what he thinks is normal. and republican governor greg abbott of texas is promising to keep bussing migrants to northern cities.

but there's one big problem with that plan. we will explain. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, august 15th. along with willie and me, we have the host of "way too early" white house bureau chief of politico jonathan lemire msnbc contributor mike barnicle, co-host of nbc's "the weekend" former adviser and spokesperson to kamala harris symone sanders-townsend. and u.s. correspondent for bb dr. news katty kay is with us this morning. and business news on the economy this morning, willie. it appears donald trump is sort of struggling to cope with that news. >> yeah, this is the front page of the "wall street journal" screaming headline above the fold "inflation hits lowest level since 2021." donald trump gave in asheville, north carolina what was supposed to be an economic address. he said, i guess i'll have to talk about the economy but don't worry, we'll get to the other

good stuff. if you were just tuning in at the end of "way too early," we got a tour of market basket locations from massachusetts to tewkesbury. and aaron judge hitting his 300 career home run in chicago last night. becoming the fastest player in major league history to 300. second place, mike barnicle? >> ralph kiner. >> very good. even you guys, red sox the way i felt about mookie betts have to appreciate aaron judge. >> absolutely. in addition to being a skillful and great and powerful hitter, batsman, he's also an extraordinary human being. >> he is. >> good guy. >> okay. i'll add to that. >> you can do market basket if

you want. >> aaron judge is nothing but great. remember that first playoffs, the astros just dominated. the league adjusted to him. to his credit, he adjusted back and he's been one of the biggest single hitters in the league. hits for walks, power. people don't realize -- he's 32. let's not say he's going to catch barry bonds. this is not a record. he and soto are powering that lineup and the yankees. >> to that point, that home run came because they intentionally walked juan soto to get to aaron judge, soto had homered in four consecutive bats. you're right, he's having a monster season in almost any category in major league baseball including batting average. >> he'll be mvp. new data as mika mentioned u.s. inflation has lit its lowest level until three years.

great news for americans in the economy. president biden yesterday touting his economic policies when asked about those new numbers. >> inflation -- mr. president -- >> yes, yes, i told her to have a soft landing. we're going to have a soft landing. my policies are working. start writing that way, okay? >> start writing that way, he's getting loose these days. >> let's be clear, the president has had his misgivings with the press coverage. but that's also a bit of a mic drop moment. he's said for a while, we're on track to have this soft landing. he and the administration telling people, we'll get there. be patient. and this is the president who, symone, is obviously engaged in

day-to-day policy and helping his vice president run but it's let's be clear has an eye on his legacy. >> absolutely. that clip is a man on his way out. that's joe biden saying, look, y'all going to keep playing with me for the next six months, i'm going to play with y'all. when it comes to the economy, inflation just cooling -- that's happening on its own, right? the biden administration has been putting pressure on some of the companies which, frankly, what we're going to hear some of from vice president harris is my understanding in her economic speech she plans to give friday. and what the administration has -- junk fees, junk fees is not something everybody across the board understanding, some of the little fees tacked on, the american people going on to that, talking about the company making record profits. if the prices had not come down, and we saw companies like target lower prices across the board. pressure has to be put on some

of these corporate entities. and so, the administration has taken a turn in the last couple of months to do just that which i think coupled with the other work it has done, the administration has done on the economy and policies, is why we're seeing the numbers we're seeing right now. it doesn't just happen. but joe biden, look, now, give meal the credit. >> and, mika, we've talked about this, the economy has been so strong except for inflation. and it's still nagging. >> right. >> and it's still too high. that was a good number. >> yes, it was. >> when you listen to donald trump's speech, he's talking about inflation and hellhole of violent crime. and migrants blooding across the border where the numbers are down. he's got a speech that he's programmed, his greatest hits, that just don't measure up to the facts right now in the country. >> well, he was supposed to deliver an economic-focused speech yesterday in north

carolina. but, just as you put, willie, minutes after taking the stage, he questioned the significance of the economy in november's election. and, again, veered off several times to personal taxi on vice president kamala harris. take a look. >> now, this is a little bit different day because this is -- this is what we're talking about, a thing called the economy. they wanted to do a speech on the economy. a lot of people are very devastated by what's happened with inflation and all of the other things. so we're doing -- intellectual speech. we're all intellectuals today. today, we're doing it. and we're doing it right now. and it's very important. they say it's the most important subject. i think crime is right there. i think the border is right there, personally. we have a lot of important subjects because our country has become a third world nation. we literally are a third world nation. we're a banana republic in so many ways, and we're not going

to let that happen because we're a free for all. we went from a totally disrespectful -- nobody thinks she can win. she was totally disrespected. the most unpopular vice president in the history of our country. for nearly four years, kamala has crackled as the american economy has burned. what happened to that laugh? that's why they keep her off stage. that's why it's disappeared. that's the laugh of a crazy person, i'll tell you. she's crazy. they told her, don't laugh. don't laugh. no, it's -- you know, her laugh is career-threatening. they said don't laugh. she doesn't laugh. smart. but some day, it's going to come out. that's the laugh of a person

with big problems. we're not going to let this incompetent socialist lunatic keep breaking our economy for four more years and destroy our country. on election day, we're going to tell her that we've had enough, that we can't take any more, kamala. you're doing a horrible job. you know why she hasn't done an interview, because she's not smart. she's not intintelligent, and we got through enough of that with this guy crooked joe. >> do you still want to laugh, mika? >> ssymone, i do feel the need o laugh. actually kamala's laugh, her on tiktok, she's killing it with the young people. all of those things that people on the far right are putting out there it's like look how crazy. young people love, and she's becoming an internet sensation

for laughing. for saying things. and then enjoying a joke. or actually answering questions from young people that are funny. and it's just sort of interesting to watch all of this turn on its head for republicans who think it's going badly for her. but don't miss the part where it's going really well. or when you do, you actually have to grasp and say that her crowds are created by a.i. so, katty, i tried to follow that. and this is the interesting thing about donald trump. and it's important for those preparing to debate him or interview him. because he goes on so many strange tangents, that you can't keep up to a point. and then when he realizes he's not going anywhere, he just starts attacking someone personally. i think he was talking about the economy. i think he said it was an important subject. but then he moved to the border. and talked about, you know, this

third world nation that we live in. the united states of america. and then said that the economy was in a free fall. and then at that point, perhaps, i don't know, maybe he didn't realize he didn't know what he was talking about, or maybe he just lost his train of thought, then he goes into these attacks against kamala harris but again, you know in the world of tiktok and in the world of campaign coverage, the very things he's talking about, a lot of people really love. >> yeah. donald trump doesn't really like giving policy speeches. he doesn't really like policy. he'd much -- he feels it hems him in a bit and pins him down to ideas that he might have to deliver on. he tends to prefer the personal which is why he goes on the attack on the personal. i had lunch with somebody who advises him said, every week

spent not talking on immigration and crime is minutes long. then you have an hour-plus long speech. and about ten minutes of it economic policy, basically cutting taxes. and the rest of it is like you say, mika, kind of meandering into the personal. because that's just where he feels more comfortable. when it comes to debating him, i think donald trump is one of the hardest people to debate. i think kamala harris is excited about the prospect of debating him. he's not an easy person -- ask anyone who has debated him, he's not an easy person to debate, because democrats have to be careful not to underestimate. yes, kamala harris is a tiktok phenomenon, but they have to make sure that those young people turn out and vote. and be careful in prepping for the debate, right, because it's not going to be easy for them. >> michael, as you listen to that speech, with that carnage

tone, reminds me of the line that josh shapiro said, which i won't repeat here, hey, man, stop s-talking america. why do you hold this country in such low regard? most americans are proud of this place we live in. we want to improve it every day. we've got a ways to go to make it the place it should be and can be. but the joy that we see at the vice president's rallies that uplifts these crowds, versus what you see in that speech, the contrast is really stark. and it's a contrast that the harris campaign likes to see. >> yeah. it's literally -- the campaign is yesterday versus tomorrow. i mean, we just saw yesterday. we saw a man standing there on the stage saying we are literally a third world country. i don't know anyone who believes we are literally a third world country. and the thing about the trump campaign now that makes me wonder a lot about it is suzie

miles running the campaign, extremely good at what they do, but they seem to have lost control of their candidate. their candidate has a tired, 20-year-old act. we just saw it. updates with figures from the past two or three years. but it's a tired old act. the election is stolen, third world country, crime is up. immigrants are going to rape your daughter. all sorts of fear factors and a lot of it, a lot of it with huge ugly racial overtones, especially when it comes to the kamala. and you wonder how long will it be before he really goes out of control. and i think what's going to happen is when that debate occurs, he's in the ring with the vice president of the united states, a woman, a very sophisticated, very intelligent woman, and she hammers him like a prosecutor and doesn't let him

off the hook, he will go -- i can't say it -- >> yeah. >> yeah. >> but something will snap in him and that will be it. >> and certainly, there's that juxtaposition of cop versus con. convicted felon. you mentioned suzie wiles, the campaign for now. about his team, we should note in every presidential campaign donald trump has ever run, he's fired his campaign manager in month of august, 3 for 3. this could be number four -- or 2 for 3 and this could be number three. i think what happens, they're not going to be able to adjust to the change at the top of the democratic ticket. and we're going to see another news conference from trump today for exactly that reason. he's upset with the staff. and he's his best messenger. >> and the problem is putting

him out there, we just see this again. we mentioned hugo lowell. let's bring in the senior political correspondent for "the guardian" out with the new piece, top trump advisers out with turmoil. hugo, good morning. let's continue the conversation. jon just mentioned, two well-regarded political operators at the top of his campaign. are their jobs in trouble? >> look, the sharks are circling. and it's been a bad enough month, previous month for the trump campaign that there are -- it's real and perceived, i think, starting to look at the trump leadership team. and really start to tell trump, you know, you got to get rid of these guys, and you got to reset and you got to do it now. and the meeting that, you know, consistently comes up in kind of people's minds around the campaign is the second meeting

that happened between trump, laura carrie anne conway where they discuss strategy positions. conway told us she did not talk about titles or mention any names or said that anyone should be fired. but the takeaway from that meeting for the leadership is she's coming for their jobs. or at least they had such a bad month that she felt emboldened enough that they had to go. as jon said, summertime is a bad month for the trump campaign historically. in '16, steve bannon. and there's some concern this could be in the offing. >> hugo, there's been some

reporting that donald trump at this point is unhappy with the choice of jd vance as his running mate. that he perhaps would have preferred someone else. this is him deflecting, obviously, what's happened over the last four weeks, blaming somebody else as if it's jd vance's fault how things are going. but are you picking up on that, any buyer's remorse? >> yeah, i think there was some remorse when the comments came out. i think it's kind of shifted a little bit, whoever has the last word with trump, and the last word with trump at the moment is, you know, jd vance could continue to be okay for us. because if you think of it from the trump campaign perspective, one thing that jd vance does is targets a demographic that the trump campaign is trying to turn out and that's the white vote. and jd vance does speak to the

demographic. he won't sour on his running mate to say, look, this is a guy that can get out a key demographic for us in november, so you need to stick with him regardless of how you feel. >> all right. senior political correspondent for "the guardian," hugo lowell, thank you for being on with us. in an interview on fox news, donald trump's running mate senator jd vance suggested that suburban women don't care about reproductive rights. take a listen to his answer when asked about whether they care about that issue. >> first of all, i don't buy that, laura, i think most americans care about what americans care about, they care about inflation, they care about public safety in the street where is their kids play. look as donald trump has said, he wants the american people at the state level to decide abortion policy. and you compare that to the democrats who want to do nationalized taxpayer-funded abortion up to the moment of

birth. i think donald trump is actually trying to identify the reasonable compromise where he lets california figure out their abortion policy, alabama and ohio figure out their policy. that's the approach and the approach that is respecting the american people. >> so many lies in there. we'll get to that. harris' running made governor tim walz hit back on vance's remarks, writing it's pretty normal to respect a woman's right to make her own health care decisions. and someone may want to tell jd vance there are no abortions up to the moment of birth. this what they use to break down the conversation because what they don't want to deal with is the fact that abortion is health care and a woman with a can be

sterilized. and they do need doctors, not doctors afraid of the new laws and leave them bleeding out home to be sterilized. that's all, simply leaving them without health care. so i hope that jd takes a look at what abortion is. it is health care. and nobody's doing an abortion in the ninth month or when the baby is out of the body, as donald trump says. not only are they idiots, but it's beyond insulting after what donald trump and his supreme court picks have done to women's health care in this country. >> absolutely, mika. here, here, to everything you just said. as a former campaign staffer, it really makes me wonder, what are the preps, who is speaking to senator vance before he goes out and says things like this. because it's live in the face of reality that people across this country, men and women, are

living in. i don't think senator vance and some in the republican apparatus understand when they say oh, well, alabama should be able to decide, california, michigan, so on, so forth. what we're setting up in this country, with people all over america, is that if you're a woman in this country, your ability to make decisions about your own body depends on where you live. what your zip code is. and in many respects how much money you have. if you have the ability to travel out the state. if the health care that you need is not able to be administered in the state that you live in. and god hope you that can live to get the health care you need. that is the health crisis confronting women in this country. i think abortion is a kitchen table issue for folks. it is an economic issue. and it is something absolutely on the fronts of minds of every person in this country, especially if you live in a state where there's a total abortion ban or partial abortion

ban. and, frankly, a lot of battleground states fall into that category. >> symone, thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," the biden administration has struck a deal to lower the cost of several medical drugs under medicare. health and human services secretary javier becerra will join us. , ukrainian troops continue to push into the country capturing dozens of russian soldiers. >> but first, steve rattner fact-facting donald trump. we'll be right back.

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economic miracle, and they quickly turned it into an economic nightmare. >> steve, this is an oft-repeated claim by donald trump that he had the strongest economy of all time. now he's saying he handed joe biden an economic miracle. >> not only not even the strongest economy, but the last two presidents. the best measure in economy is the gdp growth rate. when you compare the two. and i have adjusted out covid in fairness to both presidents, although when you see it doesn't actually change the picture. trump grew his economy at a rate of 2.6 per year which is not actually a bad rate. biden grew his economy at 3.5% a year. if you take out the effects of covid, the disparity is even greater. i've done this as honestly as i

can do it, no matter how you do, even with 5,000 years of economies around the world. secondly, you can look at jobs. that's a very important thing in the economy for americans. again, i've adjusted the effects of covid. 182,000 jobs a month on average created by trump. 270,000 jobs a month created by biden. again, if you take out covid, is the disparity is far greater. so that is one of his most preposterous claims. >> numbers, we were cooking along and then covid came along. but even adjusted for covid, you're saying joe biden has had the better economy. all right. let's move on to energy. this is former president trump talking yesterday about american energy independence. >> we manager independent four years ago. think about it. today, we're getting energy from venezuela in the form of tar.

>> steve, what do the numbers show? >> first of all, we were never energy independent under donald trump. in fact, never energy independent since 1950. the reports did in fact decline. this is going back to mid-2000s, it's not something he particularly did. continued under president biden. and lo and behold, when we aenergy independent was when we exported more oil than imported. trump is hung up on venezuela. i'm not sure why he seems to like dictators but in this case he doesn't like it as much. he has said that venezuela oil is very heavy and very polluting. but look what happened with venezuela oil. over trump, 3.2 billion barrels

a day. and under biden, 1.7 million barrels a day of venezuelan oil. so the idea that somehow biden is the one who brought in all of the venezuelan oil is absolutely contradicted by the numbers. >> as often the case is exactly the opposite. as donald trump, in fact we're not running on venezuelan tar. let's talk about migrant crime. donald trump in north carolina went on a tangent that he claims is a surge in migrant crime. >> they all said i was wrong when i said migrant crime would reach epidemic proportions. it's much worse than epidemic proportions. we have a new category. it's called migrant crime. and it's going to end up being the worst category of all. >> all right, steve, what does the data show? >> it was supposed to be an

economic speech and he can't help himself, he has to get off to migration and the border. first of all, talking crime in general, he likes to think the country is in the middle of some crime wave, that is actually not true. violent crime for 100,000 people has dropped 26% for joe biden. down to 294. and what is even more amazing, and the fact end of trump's administration, slightly higher than when it began, or certainly, at best, most favorably, you can't see any improvement understand trump's administration. all of the improvement has been understand the biden administration. now, there's the fallacy of migrant crime. if you read "the new york post," of course, you think all crime is committed by migrants. in fact, we've talked about this i think before. but it's really quite dramatic. if you break crime down between native-born americans, documented immigrants and undocumented immigrants.

you can see the native-born crime rate is actually higher for documented immigrants and way higher than for undocumented immigrants. that's true whether you look at violent crime, violent crime. and for the undocumented immigrants it's not totally surprising, they don't want to get sent back to wherever they came from, so they tend to behave themselves better than a lot of americans and documented immigrants. so this is a complete fiction that donald trump has created. >> and steve, right on cue "the new york post's" poster child in handcuffs. great charts, telling the truth as always with data, steve. before i let you know, i'll ask you about the inflation number that came down 2.9% year over year. what does that mean for the economy? >> yeah, this is good news. even trump briefly acknowledged

it. the lowest inflation rate since 2021. getting close to the fed's target of 2%. and consumers are starting to pull back and the economy is starting to weaken a little bit is pretty much solidified a rate cut by the fed in september. that's good news for homeowners. that's good news for borowers and getting the economy going and politically good news for the harris ticket. >> steve rattner, so good to get the data from steve as we punch through the lies we hear every day. migrant crime has surged but border officials actually saying they're seeing a drop in migrant crossings. nbc's julie ansley joins us with what has led to the change. "morning joe" is coming right back. oe" is coming right back

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♪♪ beautiful shot of new york city at 38 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." several towns along the southwest border report a major drop in migrant border crossings. so much so that in texas, republican governor greg abbott's controversial program of bussing migrants to other states has slowed to a trickle. joining us live from el paso,

texas, is nbc news homeland security correspondent julia ainsley. julia, what's behind the dramatic drop? >> reporter: well, mika, i'm here in downtown el paso. i've spoken to you and willie and joe right here outside of sacred heart church in the past where there have been hundreds of migrants sleeping behind me. i can tell you now, it's completely quiet. the numbers have fallen dramatically. in the last week, they've seen border crossing down. over 4,000 in may, 8,000 in december. it's a number of factors. the biden administration is pointing, of course, to the fact it dropped in june, with a style asylum restriction. unless the numbers get to below 1500 per day which they haven't

so far. there are isn't some nationalities that they can turn back to mexico. others are quickly deported. there has been a slight increase on the northern border. other people are pointing to mexico increasing. and of course, the hot weather always plays a factor this time of year. really what it's done in texas, it means texas governor greg abbott's plans have come to a trickle. he's promised to keep bussing them. there are rumors they might bus to chicago during the dnc next week, but that's going to be really hard to do mika, simply, because there aren't enough people to fill the buses. we've talked to cities that have received buses in the past. they say they've, by and large, stopped. new york, denver and chicago all have stopped receiving them as of june. the chicago suburb received one in june. chicago itself hasn't received any migrants since christmas. cities like l.a. and

philadelphia haven't seen any there since january. d.c. hasn't gotten any migrants from the texas buses since last year. again, these are just the buses that texas governor greg abbott was paying for. there are still plenty of migrants that cross the border and try to find their way to those cities. by and large, a lot of those programs meant to show a political message aren't as easy to carry out simply because of the numbers here, mika. >> julia, you mentioned the mexican government has restricted visas. away from the border. there has been some concern earlier this year that the government might sort of play politics with the border. and perhaps open up some of the numbers coming up to the border, ahead of the election. what's the thinking on that now, that kamala harris is atop the ticket on the u.s. side? how much is the american government kind of in negotiations and in talks with the mexican government to keep those numbers down? >> reporter: yeah. when i talk to officials of the

mexican government, they have a pretty open dialogue, even if it isn't at the higher levels, people are constantly talking about fentanyl, arms trafficking. that's something that the mexican government cares a lot about. they'll soon have a newly instated president that agrees with the policies of the current administration. and they're increased by three times. that didn't mean deportation. sometimes, a lot of humanitarians don't like this, they would take the migrants to the northern border and bring them back down south, as a way to try to frustrate them for reach the northern border. all of that is because they speak so often with the biden administration. yes, if you're reading the tea leaves here, it might be that they want to keep the numbers low with the administration. they say they'll work with the trump administration, biden,

harris, it's so important to work with the mexican government but they do want to help the biden administration on this issue in particular. >> nbc news homeland security correspondent julia ainsley, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. and still ahead on "morning joe," veteran pollster frank lance joins us say they go aren't voting for president biden but now they'll support vice president kamala harris. he'll explain the sudden shift in enthusiasm. plus, we'll bring you the latest on the israel/hamas war. john kirby will be our guest. also said, jimi hendrix, janis joplin and the who. those are some of the iconic musicians who performed at woodstock 55 years ago today.

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leads with a probe by the mexican government claims that a prominent cartel leader was kidnapped and illegally handed over to u.s. agents. the leader wrote that he was kidnapped and flown to new mexico where agents were waiting for him. it's against the law to abduct mexican citizens and hand them over to authorities in another country. in the star tribune mpox, the world health organization declared a global health emergency yesterday due to the rapid spread of the virus, formerly called monkeypox. it seems to be deadlier. the outbreak 3.2%. the "san francisco chronicle" reports that the

number of overdose deaths in the city are down for the second straight month. the number of reported fatal overdoses fell a significant decrease since last year. it's also the lowest number of deaths since the city began releasing such data in 2020. and the philadelphia inquirer is showcasing a newborn sumatran orangutan, making the first appearance at the philadelphia zoo. look how cute. oh, my gosh. according to zookeepers, this is the first successful birth of the species at the zoo in 15 population of only 14,000 left on the island of sumatra. experts attribute their endangered status to deforestation and climate change. very cute, really. >> very cute. >> ah. >> welcome. >> i want one. i like that. >> i was going to make an animal

transition to this next story but i'll leave it to the side. "the washington post" -- >> it's sitting there. actually too easy. i'm going to leave it there. >> you've got the bear story. >> that's what i was doing, mike. come on. >> road kill. >> exactly. >> cut it up. >> exactly. >> eat it, bike mistakenly in your car, go to a steak house and the sauce is so good. >> four bottles all the time in my refrigerator. >> and you go there and it's cash only. >> you stop in central park before you head out to laguardia. >> exactly. >> so there's our ham-fisted transition. "the washington post" is reporting independent presidential canned day robert kennedy j tried to meet with kamala harris last week. he told "the post" he wanted to discuss the possibility of serving in a potential harris administration, perhaps as a cabinet secretary if he throws his support behind her campaign.

people familiar with the conversation say harris and her advisers have not responded with an offer to meet nor have they shown any interest in his proposal. >> what a surprise. >> this follows a meeting between kennedy and donald trump discussing a similar policy role and endorsement. that, too, resulted in no agreement, so like a lot of people, john, robert f. kennedy jr. sees where the wind has shifted at the moment and hedging his bets. >> no surprise that the vice president and her team want nothing to do with this. kennedy, of course, a legendary name in democratic politics but his own family has renounced most of his stances, particularly on vaccines, and there have been moments where he seemed like he was actively working with the trump campaign where the two men had a phone call a few weeks ago in which kennedy seemed to suggest, yes, i can help you win. >> yeah. >> but mike, it does just go to show though where the fall of this man and his -- and his last name, but also he still plays could play a little bit of

election. his support has definitely dropped. he was double digits, now low single digits, and in some of the really close states, he could make a difference, but the sense now is he might take more votes away from trump than harris. >> yeah. whatever votes he's taking from either of the candidates, his votes seemingly are dwindling with each passing week. his candidacy has been weakened considerably by himself. >> yeah. >> i mean, the crazy story about the bear in central park just -- >> come on. >> bobby has always had a lot of crazy stories to tell you over the years. i've known him for a long, long time. my family has known him for a long, long time, and he tells you some stories about haunted houses and bears in central park, and the strength of his kendsy -- the weakness of his candidacy is clearly apparent and why would the vice president's campaign want anything to do with him? of course not. >> not just bears but some of his policy ideas as well and as amy walter told us yesterday about the data, looks like now with kamala harris in the race

he's pulling much more from donald trump than he is from vice president harris. still ahead, we'll go live to chicago for how the city is preparing for next week's democratic national convention, a much different event than it was going to be about a month ago. "morning joe" is coming right back. h ago. "morning joe" is coming right back so this is pickleball? 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.

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what does a robot know about love? it takes a human to translate that leap in our hearts into something we can see and hold. etsy. according to a new report former president trump is furious at his campaign staff for letting him make the terrible decision of picking j.d. vance as his vp. yeah.

[ applause ] trump regrets pairing up with vance. he's like this is why i always sign a pre-nup. this is why, exactly how. why i always -- [ laughter ] the impression changes. i guess you can tell the news really made vance upset. i mean, check out his eyeliner today. it was just rough. i mean -- meanwhile, ahead of the democratic national convention, kamala harris and tim walz are taking a bus tour together through pennsylvania. this is interesting. [ cheers and applause ] this is interesting. it's the same bus that democrats threw president biden under. >> oh. . >> okay. welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, august 15. president biden may get the soft landing that he predicted. we'll show you his reaction yesterday to some good news that came across on inflation. we'll get a live report also from chicago ahead of the start

of the democratic national convention on monday. and willie geist, i have to say, i was looking at that fallon clip about these reports that he was making fun of of donald trump, just absolutely hating his pick for vice president j.d. vance, and you're hearing this behind the scenes that he either wants to make a change or can't stand him, and it's so interesting because j.d. vance hated donald trump, and he outwardly said that, so i'm really trying to understand how this relationship ever had a chance. >> yeah. j.d. vance is a never trumper from way back about apparently he saw the light at some point when he wanted to become vice president. this is donald trump quietly privately telling people that it's j.d. vance's fault when the truth of the matter is every time donald trump goes out on the stage as he did in north carolina yesterday he becomes worse and he reveals more of himself and turns off more voters potentially, and the other side of that is that vice president harris has had such a

successful launch over the last three weeks or so. he's kind of spinning out and trying to find somebody else to blame. we'll have more on that in a moment, but first, today, marks a critical point in negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in gaza. cia director bill burns will join the head of mossad and qatar's prime minister and head of intelligence in doha to discuss the terms of a potential deal, according to a diplomat briefed on those talks who tells nbc news mediators are expected to consult with hamas afterward. this week iranian officials told reuters retaliation against israel for the deaths of hamas leader and hezbollah commander last month hinges on whether a deal can be reached. joining us now, white house national security communications adviser and assistant to the president, retired rear admiral john kirby. admiral, good morning. always great to have you with us. so, what are the expectations of the president and the white house about what could come out of this deal? a lot of people skeptical when hamas is involved.

a terrorist death cult on the other side of this negotiation. what is realistic to expect here? >> what we're really trying to get done is closing the gaps and actually fleshing out some of the implementation details of this cease-fire deal. we think that that's absolutely an achievable outcome here. now whether we'll come out with everything fleshed out and it's all done, i can't be perfectly predicted. the talks haven't actually gotten started today, but we're hoping that over the course of the coming hours we can get some of those implementation details knocked out, and we can start to -- to chart a path for a way forward here. >> admiral, is it possible for you or anyone to explain the level of frustration within the white house and within the oval office to the seeming obstacles that have been put down continually by the prime minister of israel with regard to settling peace talks and releasing the hostages? >> well, i would remind people

that this is an israeli proposal. the framework of this deal that we're talking about right now in doha was designed by prime minister netanyahu and his team. it's their proposal. it requires compromise on both side, mike, not just one side but both sides. they have got to show some leadership here and be able to nail down the final details. the gaps can be narrowed. there's no question about it. we'll really talking about the -- the things we're talking about now is how the deal would be implemented, not necessarily the deal itself if that makes sense, and so it has been hard work for all of us. we all want to see it get done. i wouldn't say that we're focused on frustration so much as we're focused on really trying to get this to closure and put in as much energy in it as we possibly can. the president talked about this just the other day. he's not given up, and he still has hope. we all kind of feed on that hope here, too, as well. >> admiral good morning. let's talk about the iran piece of this. there's been some reporting that they are linking their possible

retaliation to israel with the success or failure of this deal. has the white house believed that's the case, and then is there any better sense as to what their retaliation could look like, when and where? >> it could be the case, jonathan, that -- that they are -- that they are considering their actions based on what comes out of doha and how close we can get to a cease-fire. i certainly can't speak with authority for the supreme leader and his thinking, but as the president indicated, that could be the case. more critically, we want to get the cease-fire deal in place because we want to get the cease-fire deal in place, and we want to get the hostages home. as for any possible attack by the iranians, we are monitoring as closely as we can. we believe that, and we've said that something could happen as soon as the coming days. we just don't know, and it's difficult to assess at this point that if they attack, and if they conduct some sort of

assault through missiles or drones how big that would be, what the scope would be, how long it would take place overtime. we've got to be ready for everything which is why we've adjusted our defense posture in the region. >> admiral, moving to russia, russia's evacuating more citizens from its border regions as ukraine continues to push its way through the area. the country's military commander says his forces captured more than 100 russian soldiers just yesterday. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy said they would eventually be used in a prisoner swap as kyiv's claims gains in its incursion, it's also carried out its longest drone strike of the war hitting four russian military airfields overnight heading into wednesday. a ukrainian security source told reuters the attack was intended to hurt russia's ability to use

warplanes for gliding bomb attacks, so give us the latest. these developments, do they change the game dramatically for ukraine, and where does the united states stand on these incursions? >> i think it's too soon to know whether it changes the game dramatically for ukraine right now. the ukrainians should be the ones speaking to their operations, of course. we're focused on making sure that they have the tools and capabilities to defend themselves. there will be additional security packages coming -- in coming days as you've seen, every couple of weeks or so, but i think it's just too soon to know whether what they are doing on the ground there is going have a major impact on the pace of the war and the outcome of the war or sort of where it's going over the course of the rest of the summer and into the fall. and we have been very, very clear and consistent that we really want to see a ukraine focus on defending themselves against this aggression inside,

of course, their borders. we don't encourage and we don't enable attacks outside of ukraine except for in those exigent circumstances where we believe just over the border they are facing some imminent threats. >> admiral president putin, of course, has tried to promote himself as mr. security with inside russia. is it your understanding that this incursion into russian territory might have had any impact on kind of his reputation amongst the russian people and would that have any knock on the prospects for prospects for negotiations? >> again, i think it's too soon. i think a lot depends on how mr. putin responds and reacts to what the ukrainians are doing, with what force and what resources. there's been some public reports out there that -- that he's looking to call out more conscripts. that is something that has in the past had an effect on the russian people. i mean, that hits them right at home, you know, when you're

calling up teenagers to fight in the army. so we'll have to see what he does, how he reacts and what effect that might have on him at home. i think it's important though if we take a step back from what's going on around kursk and just look -- i mean, he continued, mr. putin continues to be a man further isolated and under more pressure than ever because of what he's doing in ukraine. still reaching out to north korea and iran for military capabilities, trying to get china to come on board to help him with some of those military capabilities, and he's getting some in terms of subcomponents for some systems. this is a man whose economy now is fairly, although it's still running, it's running as a wartime economy under some emergency procedures and things that he's put in place. >> white house national security communications adviser and assistant to the president, retired rear admiral john dish, thank you. always great to the have you on the show. >> yes. >> appreciate it. >> former president donald trump campaigned in north carolina last night with what was billed

as a speech focused on the economy. nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake was at the rally in asheville last night and brings us the latest. >> reporter: former president trump in battleground north carolina taking aim at vice president harris' record on the economy. >> kamala declared that tackling inflation will be a day one priority. think of it for her, but day one for kamala was three and a half years ago. why hasn't she done it? >> blasting harris for nearly 20% rise in prize over the last four years. >> does anyone hear feel richer under kamala harris than crooked joe? than you were during the trump administration? is anything less expensive under kamala harris and crooked joe? >> reporter: trump accusing harris of stealing his proposal to end taxes on tips which he announced months ago and she adopted over the weekend. >> and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality

workers. >> remember, a couple days ago, and we will have no tax on tips. i said that was my plan. >> reporter: and making this new pledge. >> to help seniors on fixed incomes who are suffering the ravages of inflation, there will be no tax on social security. we're going to stop it. >> reporter: but in a speech billed as an address on the economy, trump constantly veering off message. >> that's the laugh of a crazy person. >> reporter: back to his frequent playbook of insulting harris. >> you know why she hasn't done an interview? because she's not smart. >> reporter: all despite growing criticism from fellow republicans as democrats gain momentum. former trump rival turned supporter nikki haley. >> the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. it's not going to win talking about what race kamala harris is. it's not going to win talking about whether she's dumb. >> reporter: meanwhile, harris will appear with president biden at an economic event and will speak on the economy on friday, also in this critical

battleground state. >> wow. so jonathan lemire, it does seem like the trump campaign is having trouble finding its footing amid the news that's coming our way on the economy, but also i think they are struggling with how to attack kamala harris in an effective way. it seems to be backfiring. >> they certainly haven't found an effective message just yet. you see trump trying things out. even silly things like trying different nicknames. he hasn't found one that he likes for the vice president. >> yeah. >> he's questioned her racial identity which so many republicans have said, no, we don't want to do that. nikki haley just the latest republican to say stop talking about crowds. talk about the issues, but i noted the line in garrett's piece there. quote, trump constantly veering off message. if i had a dime any time we said that in the last eight years, and that's the frustration with the fellow republicans and his advisers right now they can't get him to focus, and that's because he is panicked. he can read the polls. he knows he's losing.

he knows that there are some developments with his criminal cases up ahead including a sentencing, and they have not been able to adjust to this new campaign, and willie, we should note, the economy still loomts large. had some good news. trump talked about that a bit yesterday and vice president harris will and part of her message will be about inflation and also to our conversation earlier, price gouging, particularly at grocery stores, an issue americans know and feel as she inherits this biden economy, if she will. she knows largely good news but in a couple of places and issues she needs to separate herself with a new message. >> inflation is down but still too high. walmart came up and said their sales are up 4%. things moving in the right direction. just four days ahead now until the democratic national convention in chicago. the city's police department finalizing its massive security operation to keep the event safe with protests expected there as well. for more let's bring in nbc news

correspondent shaquille brewster, shaq, good morning. so you talked to the head of chicago's police department about potential threats there. what did you learn? >> good morning. well, when you go around chicago and you see the fencing, the security fencing around that perimeter going up, the final planning exercises are under way, and the chicago police department is saying that they are ready for this massive undertaking that is securing the democratic national convention. they say that this is something that they have been preparing for for about two years, that this is something that they are familiar with. they know how to deal with and handle these large security events, but, of course, looming over all of this are the protests that are expected. we can expect to see some of the protests, others and groups back in court today as there's a legal back and forth over not just the route that they will take during some of these marches and parades, but what they will be able to bring to some of these demonstrations. but they say they are expecting 20,000 to 25,000 demonstrators

largely on monday, the first day of the convention. i spoke to the top cop for chicago's police department, superintendent larry snelling, about not just the protests but the overall threat posture. listen to what he told me. any specific credible threat facing the dnc right now? >> at this point i -- no. when we talk about something that's written in stone, no. however, when we hear threats, when we hear -- we know that there's a possibility of a threat, we still have plans and measures in place to make sure that we can respond -- respond to or prevent anything like that from occurring. we're not going to allow people to show up to chicago and commit acts of violence against our residence, visitors. we will put an end to that as soon as we see it. so do we want to clash with people? absolutely not. do we want to have fights in the

streets with people? absolutely not, but i -- i want to make one thing clear. i want to make this perfectly clear. we need to know the difference between rioting and protesting. >> the superintendent went on to say that those who are coming to chicago and plan to demonstration peacefully, the chicago police department will be there to protect them and even encourage them in their first amendment right. i should also add that chicago is also getting assistance from more than a dozen, from dozens, in his words, departments across the state of illinois. the superintendent says these officers will not be on patrol in neighborhoods. instead, they will be inside the perimeter helping to backfill the chicago police department, and he also says that those officers will be screened, provided with 12 to 18 hours of training and also provided body cameras. willie? >> we'll get our first look, as you said, at this dynamic on monday, just a few days from

now. nbc news correspondent shaquille brewster from chicago this morning. shaq, thanks so much. mike, we heard from the superintendent of police. they don't want fights in the street. we know some of the people going to this protest and other protests are looking for a fight. they want that visual. they want to see them -- they want to be arrested and want to get pushed around a little bit for the visibility of their causes, but obviously the memory of '68 in chicago hangs over this. >> oh, certainly. i was there in 1968, and it was literally a riot, a street riot. grant park across the street from the old conrad hilton hotel, the blackstone hotel, mobs of young people, and the protest then, of course, was the war, vietnam. largely overshadowing the convention and overshadowing the candidacy of hubert humphrey and overshadowing the withdrawal of lyndon b. johnson earlier that year. quite a year, quite a spectacle. i don't expect we'll ever see anything like that in chicago this next week. i would hope we would not,

but -- but not a good time for america in 1968. >> no, no. don't want to look back. still, we're not going back is what the campaign says. still ahead on "morning joe," our next guest says kamala harris is bringing out people who were not interested in voting for either donald trump or joe biden. longtime pollster and political strategist frank luntz spoke with harris supporters and joins us next with what he learned. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. what causes a curve down there? is it peyronie's disease? will it get worse? how common is it? who can i talk to? can this be treated? stop typing. start talking to a specialized urologist. because it could be peyronie's disease, or pd. it's a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. and an estimated 1 in 10 men may have it. but pd can be treated even without surgery. say goodbye to searching online.

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stay connected during your move with the best in home wifi. easily transfer your services in the xfinity app. bring on the good stuff. it is 20 past the hour. a live look at chicago, the site of next week's democratic national convention, and ahead that have convention, we're seeing a surge in enthusiasm for the kamala harris campaign. in new polling from ugov and "the economist with the with the 53% of harris supporters say they are extremely enthusiastic to vote this november compared to 48% for donald trump supporters. in a poll conducted last month before president joe biden's withdrawal from the 2024 race, just 37% of his supporters said they were extremely enthusiastic to vote, while 51% of trump's supporters said the same.

joining us now longtime pollster and political strategist frank luntz. frank, tell us about this new focus group that you led with voters who did not support biden's campaign a few weeks ago but now they say they support the candidacy of kamala harris. what happened? what did they say? >> they are tired of trump's abuse and of trump's personality. they still question whether harris is mainstream or extreme. they are eager to return to a normalcy in the country, and most importantly their issue agenda, inflation, immigration is america's agenda, but they are younger than the average voter. they are more female than the average voter, and in fact what is unique about them is you're going to see how many young women are participating now. they are the ones that switched. they are the ones who went either from undecided or supporting kennedy, and you've notice that had kennedy's

numbers have completely imploded. they either supported kennedy, trump or undecided, and they are so excited about this younger, fresher woman running that you can see it and feel it in their intensity, in their passion and in their desire for change. >> so let's listen to some of the answers to the first question that you asked the focus group about why they are now supporting vice president kamala harris' campaign. >> what has vice president harris said or done that have turned you into a harris supporter, at least at this moment, when you weren't supporting joe biden 14 days ago? eric, i'm going to start with you. >> for me it's more of an issue with donald trump and the options that are now available. >> primarily because of the lack of respect coming from the right

side of the party. i do believe the far right has come over. >> i switched because j.d. vance scares the heck out of me and that joe was just a little bit too old to have some fresh blood and to have some focus and to have somebody who is not a misogynist has made me happy again. >> based on, you know, her -- her presence, her intelligence and even if i don't agree with all her policies i trust that she will have good judgment. >> i actually was a trump voter in '16 and '20, and -- and it was despite his personality and a lot of the other extra issues. however, when he chose j.d. vance it kind of pushed me over to have an open mind. >> i don't want to be taken over by christian nationalists with project 2025. the debate was a disaster, and the rnc looked like a wrestling

match, and j.d. vance is probably the most unlikable american i can possibly think of to run our country. i just feel like we need to take the party back, and it's not going to happen if trump or another republican is in office right this second. >> wow, frank. tell us more. i mean, it seems like j.d. vance played a big role in the changes and shifting altitudes in this campaign. >> well, what's happening right now is that initially when joe biden was the democratic nominee, trump was playing on his turf, reaching out to his voters, and that's why you saw two, three, maybe even a four-point advantage for trump. these were people who were disappointed, disengaged with the democratic party. now it's exactly the opposite. these are ex-republicans, ebbs conservatives who are looking at trump and his personality, the hold trump/vance ticket and they

are saying this is not what i want. i want to be clear out about this. the two issues that matter the most are immigration and inflation, and on those issues donald trump still has the advantage over harris, but on these personality traits, harris has a tremendous advantage over trump, and there are people who have voted for trump in 2020 that will not vote for him again because they are tired of his rude and abusive behavior. he is literally losing this election, and i'm starting to wonder does he want to lose? is this something that's going on inside his head simply because he doesn't want to be president for four more years because no sane person would campaign the way donald trump is campaigning. >> yeah. he's exhausting a lot of people. perhaps even himself. frank, good morning. so you asked the focus group also to describe vice president harris in one word. here's some of the answers frank got. >> intelligent. >> she's ready.

>> eric? >> -- >> kristen? >> relatable. >> larry. >> energetic. >> celia. >> annoying. >> louise. >> qualified. >> carrie. >> qualified was my word, too. >> bella. >> vibrant. >> robota? >> unique. >> sheila. >> informed. >> kimberly. >> grounded. >> aaron? >> i like grounded. >> so frank, positive it sounds like for the most part talking about kamala harris. again, i'm sure you picked this up more broadly in your conversation with the focus group, just a striking distance from where this race was a month ago in the way people were feeling about a potential democratic candidate. >> you can't even compare these responses to what was happening 30 days ago, and i remind you, this is before the convention. >> yeah. >> she's getting a convention bounce before the convention, so one wonders what it's going to

be like exactly eight days from right now. they are not set in stone. i do want to emphasize that this election is still so close. it's still so inconsistent in its who has got the lead, but that said, all the wind is propelling harris forward, and in the end they are giving him -- they are giving her a chance not only to be heard, not only a second look, but they are not considering where she was in 2019 and 2020. this is a complete re-evaluation, and if i'm the trump campaign right now, and i'm watching this, i am scared as hell because all the negativity, all the hostility right now is directed at him because he's still doing the same politics of 2016 and 2020, and it's 2024. one last thing. can you talk about attributes. can you talk about issues or you can talk about current conditions. current conditions are beginning

to favor harris as inflation comes down and the economy appears to be strong. issues still favor donald trump, but the attributes are overwhelmingly in harris' favor. that's why she loves this campaign and donald trump is playing right into her playbook. >> so frank. >> wow. >> the vice president's candidacy is historic, but outside of trump's attacks on her race, there's been not that much discussion about her race, the fact that she would be the first female president. certainly nothing like it was in 2016 during hillary clinton's campaign. when you talk to voters in this group or others, how much are they focused on that? >> younger women are absolutely focused on that because they see someone who looks like them, and they can't emphasize that enough. it's a validation of who they are and what they want to be, and for trump to be rude about that or abusive about that is a big mistake. harris reminds some men of their

first wife. donald trump reminds women of their first husband's divorce lawyer, and he needs to back off and be a lot quieter. >> pollster frank luntz, thanks for joining us this morning. fascinating. coming up, a look back at images from woodstock with the man who photographed those rock legends on stage 55 years ago today. we'll be right back. 55 years a today. we'll be right back. [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.

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that is one of the most iconic musical performances of all time, the great jimi hendrix playing "the star spangled banner" at woodstock in 1969 which began 55 years ago today. other legendary acts at the festival joan baez, joe cocker, graham nash, cosby and the. who joining us at the site of woodstock in bethel, new york, the musical photographer henry diltz. in addition to being the official flagstaffer to document woodstock in 1969, he returned to chronicle the 25th anniversary concert. great to have you with us, and so cool to see you standing on the site of what was just an incredible event 55 years ago. >> there he is, revealing it like superman. >> this is -- >> take us become -- go ahead. this is the farm where there

were 450,000 people on it, 55 years ago today. >> so henry, take us back through those three days. correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't that hendricks's performance of "the star spangled banner" at 10:00 in the morning. in other words, it was going on all day at all hours. what was it like to be there in the middle of it? >> it was amazing. we were gobsmacked. you know. they expected a crowd of maybe 50,000, but when 450,000 showed up, everybody was scrambling, you know, to get everything working, but it was wonderful. it was three days of peace and love and music and unity, and the feeling of freedom. it was wonderful, you know. we're all peace and love hippies. we were against the war in vietnam. we didn't want to get drafted, and then we all came here because michael lang wanted to

have three days of peace and love and music, and by golly, he pulled it off, and it was partly his spirit that made it all happen, but everybody shared. there wasn't enough food. there wasn't enough water. everybody shared everything, and it was, you know, unity, which is -- which is -- which is what we need rather than dividing and inciting. we need to -- to unify and be inspired, and i think woodstock is a symbol of that. >> henry, one of the classic acts that performed at woodstock in 1969 was the root of a great movie made about eight years later written by beau goldman, not bill goldman. the movie was called "the rhodes" and the act that the movie is based on is janis joplin. tell us about photographing and hanging with janis joplin in

1969. >> she was amazing. i had an all ash damage access pass so i got to be right up close. i was the closest person to the stage of 450,000 people, and i was on stage and right in front of the stage. she was amazing. i had seen her a few times before, but before, what a soul, what a heart, what a sound she made. it was beautiful. but, i mean, there were so many. i mean, joe crocker was so great and crosby, stills and nash were so great and, of course, jimi hendrix. when he played "the star spangled banner," at first i was like ten yards away from him photographing him, and it was kind of surprising, like wait a minute we were against the government and against the war, and it seemed like what is he playing? that's their song? not our song? and then -- but then you thought, well, wait a minute, he's reclaiming it for us, and it was such a final act of unity that was so beautiful on his

part. >> you know, henry. it's -- it's hard for people who were not born and witnessed 1969 and janis joplin and all those great acts that you saw, but years later reflecting upon it, the fact that woodstock occurred is sort of an intermission in the war on vietnam and that crazy age of the 1960s. >> yeah. >> did you talk about the impact that it had on people right there, right then in the midst of a war, 1969? it was still a bloody year in vietnam, and yet this seemed to be a harbinger of what was to come perhaps. >> well, i mean, remember, it was music. >> yeah. >> that's the main thing. all the best acts in the land all playing, you know, hour after hour for three days. that was amazing. that was the main thing. it was really, really beautiful music, and everybody was there to enjoy it, you know, and there were no fights. there were no arguments or anything. it was -- it was just peace and

love and music so i'm -- >> henry, is it true that you could have gotten high in albany from the drift of the smoke from woodstock? >> yeah. god's herb. it was part of the hibby generation, you know. i'm here all week at bethel at the site to celebrate that great festival, and then on friday night we have a show of photos at woodstock '94 in saugerties where that festival happened at the opus gallery, and then on saturday i'll be in the town of woodstock, and we're having a big slide show there at the bayersville theater. we'll show all these pictures that were taken. >> henry, today we have cochilla and burning man, huge festivals, glastonbury in the uk as well. why was woodstock not repeated

after the incredible success of it and the huge iconic popularity of it? why didn't it happen again in the years after? >> you know, maybe angels. there was something in the air, you know. we needed that in our country. we needed that feeling of togetherness. our generation of peace and love hippies. we really need that had to prove, you know, the point that the national guard at one point almost came and shut it down. toys a disaster. there's too many people. we've got to shut it down. this was no disaster. it's peace and love, and that's what it was. it was really a symbol of unity and -- and great music. >> henry, i like to think you parked your car somewhere on the new york state thruway and marched in with all those kids with your all-access pass to get those pictures. >> yeah. >> no. i had a rented stationwagen parked behind the stage actually which i slept in for an hour or two now and then. >> oh, my gosh. well, if you are in the upstate

new york area, you can see more of henry's photographs this saturday. that's august 17 as the bayersville theater in woodstock, new york. he was the man, as he said, front and center right at the stage taking all those iconic pictures. henry diltz, great to see you today. >> thanks. peace and love, ringo starr. >> coming up next, the biden administration making an announcement just this morning about prescription drug prices. we'll get new details from health and human services secretary javier becerra straight ahead on "morning joe." a straight ahead on "morning joe." what does a robot know about love? it takes a human to translate that leap in our hearts into something we can see and hold. etsy.

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some news now. for the first time medicare has negotiated the cost of prescription drugs directly with drug manufacturers. this morning the biden administration is announcing new lower prices for some of the most expensive drugs out there, including major medications that manage diabetes, prevent strokes and blood clots. the discounted prices see a drop of up to 79%. the white house says the savings are so significant if they had been in place last year it would have saved medicare $6 billion. joining us now, u.s. department

of health and human services secretary javier becerra. mr. secretary, these drugs -- these are drugs many people take to -- to basically stay alive so what are the savings that they are going to see? when does it begin? how does it work? how did you do this? >> yeah. so it -- it is done. the negotiations are done. the prices are now final. they will be now put into the system and take effect for people to see on january 1st, 2026. it was a long process. almost a year of negotiation, and as you said the savings are significant more than what the congressional budget office, the budget estimator for congress said it would be. >> so what kind of a difference are people going to see actually at the cash register picking up their drugs at the pharmacy? you've got drugs like eloquis and jardiens and drugs for heart

disease and kidney failure. give us an idea on what the drugs are. >> the system was made so complicated so that way people can take money without being obvious, but in the program, medicare, the program -- you and i as taxpayers and folks who work to be able to earn their medicare, we all pay through our taxes to shore up the medicare program, and then once you're a medicare beneficiary you sometimes have to add a co-payment out of your own pocket for that drug you're about to get. the co-payments, what you pay out of pocket will come down. in fact, the estimate is by about $1.5 billion for those americans who take these ten drugs because we were able to drive the cost of each of those significantly so the program medicare saves as you said, about $6 billion in this first year, but americans who are beneficiaries within medicaid -- excuse me, medicare, who have to

pay out of pocket will save an additional, about a billion and a half dollars collectively. >> if you are in medicare d, how much are you going to save in january for 2016, and why isn't it january 1, 2025? >> well, we would love it to be september 1, 2024, but you have to give time for the new pricing to take into -- to get inputted into the system all over the country. congress called for it to be effective in january, 2026. we're going to start the negotiation for the next round of 15 drugs that will take the -- the prices will take effect in january of 2027. i can't give you the specific number because each person has different insurance within the medicare program. they pay a different amount out of pocket, but they will save money because we're reducing the overall cost of drugs and therefore, the insurers within medicare can save money and pass that onto those who are on the

system. >> mr. secretary, i have kind of a little two-part. to follow up on what mike was just saying, it seems implausible in this day and age of things moving so fast that it would take a year just to get drug prices in the system. can't that be done much quicker than that if it's really just a kind of internet thing? and second, is what impact might this have on research and development which is something that drug companies say is the reason they can't lower prices? >> katty, we could input it and have it in effect sooner, but by law, it's supposed to take effect january 1, 2026. by law, we had to announce the price negotiation completion of it by september 1st of this year. we're slightly ahead, but the congress, when they passed this reduction act, prescription drug provision, they were specific on a lot of the items and one of them was when we had to complete the negotiations and when those new prices would take effect. congress could change that and say, we would rather have them take effect as quickly as

possible. we'll then do everything we can to implement whenever they say, but january 1, 2026, is when they take effect. the second question, katty was? >> what drug companies often say. >> we'll listen to what the drug companies say to their investors. they've said they can absorb these savings that medicare will see. they've never indicated that they're going to have to cut back on their research and development. innovation will continue because we reduced the price. they're still making money. >> all right. hhs secretary, xavier becerra. thank you so much. we'll be watching this. >> thank you. >> all the best. still ahead on "morning joe," we have new reporting on the turmoil inside the trump campaign. it comes as the former president ignores pleas from allies and advisers to stop with the personal attacks on vice

president kamala harris. also ahead? >> if you believe, you shall be saved. you shall be saved. you shall be saved. >> that was a look at the new netflix movie "the deliverance" which tells the story of strange occurrences that threaten to tear a family apart. academy award-nominated actress andra day and the director, lee daniels, will join us live in studio to tell us about their new film. "morning joe" is coming right back. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel,

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this isn't a rally. this is a different kind of thing today. today we're going to talk about one subject and then we'll start going back to the other because we sort of love that, don't we? but it's an important -- it's an important subject. they say it's the most important subject. i'm not sure it is, but they say it's the most important subject. inflation is the most important, but that's part of economy. >> all right. donald trump undermining what his campaign had hyped as a significant economic address.

the former president was light on policy and heavy on personal attacks. we'll show you more of what he said straight ahead. meanwhile, the economy is the top issue for president biden as it appears his administration is going to pull off the soft landing he predicted. also ahead, we'll go through the, quote, normal things suburban women care about. mm-hmm. that's according to vice president nominee jd vance. what he thinks is normal. and republican governor greg abbott of texas is promising to keep busing migrants to northern cities, but there's one big problem with that plan. we will explain. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, august 15th. along with willie and me, we have the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire, msnbc contributor mike barnicle, the the former senior adviser

and chief spokesperson to vice president kamala harris, symone sanders-townsend, and u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay is with us, and big news on the economy this morning, and it appears donald trump is sort of struggling to cope with that new. >> yeah. this is the front page of the "wall street journal's" screaming headline above the fold. inflation hits lowest level since 2021. donald trump gave last night in asheville, north carolina, what was supposed to be an economic policy address. he said, i guess i have to talk about the economy, but don't worry. we'll get to the other stuff in a little bit. we'll play some of that. also if you missed the end of "way too early," we had a tour of the market baskets. one topic you guys, i noticed a glaring omission from your segment was aaron judge. >> oh, here we go. >> hitting his 300th career home run in chicago last night,

becoming the fastest player in major league history to 300. second place, mike barnicle? do you have an answer? >> ralph kiner. >> right. even mookie betts, as a yankee fan, you have to appreciate aaron judge. >> in addition to being a skillful and great and powerful it her, batsman, he's also a really extraordinary human being. he's a good guy. >> he is. >> okay. [ laughter ] >> dramatic pause. >> i'll add to that. >> you can do market basket instead if you want. >> aaron judge is undeniably great, and what was so impressive was when he had that monstrous rookie season, the league adjusted to him, and then he adjusted back, and he's been one of the single best hitters in the league over the last few years. hits for an average, and draws walks and he hits for power. he's older than people realize. east 32. let's not say he's going to

catch barry bonds now. this is not a career home run record, but it goes to show just how good he is, and he and soto are powering that lineup and the yankees into that area. >> he intentionally walked juan soto. >> why would you do that? >> to get to aaron judge. he had four consecutive at-bat homers. he's leading in almost every offensive category including batting average. he's second in the league in average. >> he'll be mvp. >> he should be the mvp. more on the market basket in a minute. u.s. inflation has hit its lowest level in three years. great news for americans for the economy. could now set up the federal reserve to cut interest rates soon. president biden yesterday touting his economic policies when asked about those new numbers. >> inflation, mr. president. >> yes, yes, yes. i told you we were going to have a soft landing. our policies are working.

start writing that way, okay? >> start writing that way. he's feeling a little loose these days, is he not? >> media critic, president joe biden. let's be clear. the president has had his misgivings with some of the press coverage, and only of his frustrations and that's a mic drop moment. he's not wrong. he has said for a while, we're on track to have this soft landing. >> thank you. >> and he and the administration have put together policies that they kept telling the american people,, like, we'll get there. be patient, and a lot of economic indicators have been good for a while. inflation was number one, and we're getting good news there, and this is a president who, symone, is obviously engaged in the day-to-day policy, and helping his vice president run, but also let's g clear. he has an eye on his legacy. >> absolutely. that clip was -- that's a man on his way out. that's joe biden saying, look, now. y'all going to keep playing with me for these next six months. i'm going to play with y'all. i think when it comes to the economy, inflation now cooling is not just happening on its

own, right? it's not just going down on its own. the biden administration has been putting pressure on some of the companies which frankly is what we're going to hear some of from vice president harris is my understanding in her economic speech she plans to give on friday, but what this administration has done when it comes to junk fees, right? junk fees is not something i think everyone across the board understands, right? some of these little fees that are tacking onto american people and going after companies after that, talking about the fact they've made these companies that have made record profits and yet the prices have not come down. yet we see companies like target lower a number of prices across the board. that doesn't happen because companies feel good. pressure has to be put on some of these corporate entities, and so the administration is taking a turn in the last couple of months to do just that, which i think coupled with the other work that it has done, the administration has done on the economy and the policies, is why we are seeing the numbers we're seeing now. it doesn't just happen, and i think that's what i'm hearing from joe biden. he's, like, look, now. give me the credit. >> mika, we've talked about

this. the economy has been so strong except for inflation, and it's still nagging and it's still too high, but that was a good number yesterday. so when you listen to donald trump's speech last night -- >> yes, there was. >> -- it was almost like something that had been written months or years ago, when he's talking about inflation, and about a hell hole of violent crime when violent crime numbers are of course, down across the country. when migrants flooding across the border, well, those numbers are down too. he's got a speech that he's programmed. his greatest hits, that just don't measure up to the facts right now in the country. >> well, he was supposed to deliver an economic-focussed speech yesterday in north carolina, but just as you put, willie, minutes after taking the stage, he questioned the significance of the economy in november's election, and again, veered off several times to personal attacks on vice president kamala harris. take a look. >> now this is a little bit

different day because we're talking about a thing called the economy. they wanted to do a speech on the economy. a lot of people are very devastated by what's happened with inflation and all of the other things. so we're doing this as a intellectual speech. intelluals. they say it's the most important subject. i think crime is right there, and the border is right there personally. we have a lot of important subjects because our country has become a third world nation. we literally are a third world nation. we're a banana republic in so many ways and we're not going to let that happen because we're starting a free fall. she went from being a totally disrespected person six weeks ago. nobody thought she had a chance. and i don't think she can possibly win. if she does, our country is finished if you want to know the truth, but she was totally disrespected. the most unpopular vice president in the history of our

country. for nearly four years, kamala has crackled as the american economy has burned. what happened to her laugh? i haven't heard that laugh in about a week. that's why they keep her off the stage. that's why she's disappeared. that's the laugh of a crazy person. i will tell you. if you haven't -- it's a crazy -- she's crazy. they told her, don't laugh. don't laugh. you know, it's -- no. her laugh is career-threatening. they said, she has that laugh. she doesn't laugh anymore. it's smart, but someday it's going to come out. that's the laugh of a person with some big problems. we're not going to let this incompetent socialist lunatic keep breaking our economy for four more years. it'll destroy our country. on election day, we're going to tell her that we have had enough, that we can't take anymore, kamala.

you're doing a horrible job. do you know why she hasn't done an interview? because she's not smart. she's not intelligent, and we've gone through enough of that with this guy, crooked joe. >> that's sort of overwhelming. [ laughter ] >> i just feel the need to laugh, mika. >> symone, like, i do feel the need to laugh, and actually kamala's laugh -- her on tiktok, she is killing it with the young people and all those things that people in the far-right are putting out there is, like, look how crazy. young people love, and she's becoming an internet sensation for laughing, for saying things, and then enjoying a joke or actually answering questions from young people that are funny, and it's just sort of interesting to watch all this turn on its head for republicans who think it's going badly for her, but don't miss the part

where it's going really well or when you do, you actually have to grasp and say that her crowds are created by a.i. so katty, i tried to follow that, and this is the interesting thing about donald trump, and it's -- it's important for those preparing to debate him or interview him because he goes on so many strange tangents that you can't keep up to a point, and then when he realizes he's not going anywhere, he just starts attacking someone personally. i think he was talking about the economy, and i think he said it was an important subject, but then he moved to the border and talked about, you know, this third world nation that we live in, the united states of america, and then said that the economy was in a free fall, and then at that point, when perhaps -- i don't know. maybe he realized he didn't know what he was talking about or maybe he just lost his train of

thought. then he goes into these attacks against kamala harris, but again, on, you know, in the world of tiktok and in the world of campaign coverage, the very things he's talking about, a lot of people really love. >> yeah. donald trump doesn't really like giving policy speeches. he doesn't really like policy. he feels that kind of hemming a bit, and he tends to prefer the personal which is why he goes onto -- on an attack. i had lunch with somebody that's advising him and speaks to him every week. he said, every minute not spent talking about the economy and immigration and crime is minutes lost. there you have an hour-plus-long speech, and about ten minutes of it is economic policy which is basically cutting taxes and the rest of it is like you say, meanderings into the personal because that's where he feels more comfortable. when it comes to debating him, i think donald trump is one of the

hardest people to debate. i think kamala harris is excited about the prospect of both debaing him. he's not an easy person to debate, and democrats have to be careful how not to underestimate, yes, things are moving in his direction, and kamala is a phenomena at the moment, but you have to make sure young people turn out and vote, and historically young people turn out to vote in lower numbers than older people, and this is not going to be easy for them. >> you know, as you listen to that speech and the tone that donald trump brings, the american carnage tone, reminded of the line that josh shapiro uses which i won't repeat here, and he says, hey, man. stop s-talking america. we're imperfect and we've got things to work on. the border could be better, but why do you hold this country in such low regard? you wonder, and there's a core group that connects with, but

most americans are proud of this place we live in. we want to improve it every day. we've got a ways to go to make it the place that it should be and can be, but the joy that we see at the vice president's rallies that uplifts these crowds versus what you see in that speech, the contrast is really stark and it's a contrast that the harris campaign likes to see. >> yeah. it's literally the campaign of yesterday versus tomorrow. i mean, we just saw yesterday. we saw a man standing there on the stage and saying, we are literally a third world country. i don't know anyone who believes we are literally a third world country. >> of course, not. >> and the thing about the trump campaign now that makes me wonder a lot about it is suzie wilds, extremely good at what they do, but they seem to have lost control of their candidate. their candidate has a tired, 20-year-old act. we just saw it. he updates it with some figures from the past two or three years, but it's a tired, old

act. the election was stolen. we're a third world country. crime is up. immigrants are going to rape your daughter. all sorts of fear factors and a lot of it, a lot of it with huge, huge, ugly racial overtones especially when it comes to the vice president, and you wonder how long will it be before he really goes out of control, and i think what's going to happen is when that debate occurs, and he's in the ring with the vice president of the united states, a woman, a very sophisticated, very intelligent woman, and she hammers him like a prosecutor and doesn't let him off the hook, he will go, like, i can't say it, but something will snap in him, and that will be it. >> and certainly there is that juxtaposition of cop versus con, prosecutor versus convicted felon and that's still a major issue here.

you mentioned suzie wiles and las vita. we should mention trump has fired his campaign manager in the month of august, three for three. this could be number four, and this is -- two for three, and this would be number three, and there is growing unhappiness they have not been able to adjust to what the change at the top of the democratic ticket and we're going to see another news conference from trump today for exactly that reason. he's upset with his staff and he feels like only he can turn this around. he's his best messenger so that's why he's going in front of them. >> the problem is putting him out there. he thinks it helps him, but i think most of his advisers disagree. coming up, we'll talk to "the guardian's" hugo lowell on what he calls the trump campaign's worst month of 2024. that's next on "morning joe." 204 that's next on "morning joe.

we mentioned hugo lowell. let's bring in the senior political correspondent for "the guardian" out with new reporting. his piece titled "top trumped a

viedsers in turmoil after campaign's worst month of 2024." john just mentioned it. two well-regarded political operators at the top of this campaign. are their jobs in trouble? >> the sharks are circling and it has been a bad enough previous month for the trump campaign that there are -- and i mean real and perceived, that are starting to look at the trump campaign's leadership team, and really starlet to tell trump, you know, you've got to get rid of these gee guys and you've got to reset and you've got to do it now, and the thing that consistently comes up is this august 2nd meeting that happened between trump, lara trump, and kellyanne conway where they discussed strategy and policy positions, and kellyanne conway told us she did not talk about anyone's titles or mention any names or said anyone should be fired, but the

takeaway from that meeting for the trump campaign leadership was kellyanne's coming for their jobs or at least they had such a bad month that kellyanne felt emboldened enough to make a play or felt emboldened enough to kind of suggest that, you know, they needed to go, and the takeaway for the campaign is they have to take this very, very seriously, you know, as john said, summertime is a bad month for the trump campaign historically. in '16, they brought in kellyanne conway and then they had stepien. trump makes changes and there is some concern now this could be there. >> hugo, there's been some reporting now that donald trump is at this point, unhappy with the choice of jd vance as his running mate, that he perhaps would have preferred someone else. this is him deflecting obviously what's been happening over the last four weeks to blame somebody else as if it's jd

vance's fault for what he says out there. are you picking up any of that? regret or buyer's remorse? >> there was some remorse when the childless cat comments came out. there's been a shift, and as everyone said, whoever has the last word with trump, and the last word with trump at the moment is, you know, jd vance could continue to be okay for us because if you think about it from the trump campaign's perspective, the one thing that jd vance does, it targets a very specific demographic that the campaign is trying to turn out, and that's the white male vote and kind of my colleagues have also reported on this, but jd vance does speak to that demographic and they think, you know, if there is one way they can pitch at trump in a way he won't sour on his running mate, it's to say, look. this is a guy that can get on a key demographic for us in november and so you need to stick with him, you know, regardless of how you feel at this point. still ahead on "morning joe," steve rattner is ahead

with charts. he's a fact checker on the economy. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. re watching" we'll be right back.

when kamala lays out her fake economic plan this week, probably will be a copy of my plan because basically what's -- that's what she does. we had the strongest economy in history. i gave harris and biden an economic miracle and they quickly turned it into an economic nightmare. if harris wins this election, the result will be a kamala economic crash, a 1929-style depression. 1929. when i win the election, we will

immediately begin a brand-new trump economic boom. it'll be a boom. we're going to turn this country around so fast. many people say that the only reason the stock market is up is because people think i am going to win. did you ever hear that? but there was one day a couple of weeks ago when they weren't thinking that, and you saw what happened. they take credit for a lot of things they shouldn't be taking credit for. >> during his speech in north carolina yesterday, donald trump made several false claims about the economy and what he accomplished during his time in office. joining us now, the fact check, "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner. at the southwest wall, great to see you. let's dive right in. first up, here is what donald trump said yesterday about the economy during his administration. >> we had the strongest economy in history. there's never been a country

that had an economy like us. i gave harris and biden an economic miracle and they quickly turned it into an economic nightmare. >> see, this is an often repeated claim by donald trump that he had the strongest economy of all-time and now he's adding he handed joe biden an economic miracle. what's the truth about that? >> not only did he not have the strongest economy of all-time, he did not have the strongest economy of the last two presidents, himself and joe biden. let's take a look at the facts. the strongest -- the best measurement of an economy is its growth rate, gdp growth rate and when you compare the two, and i have adjusted out covid in fairness to both presidents although it doesn't change the picture. trump had an economy at 2.6% a year, and that's not a bad rate. that excludes covid, and biden's is 3.5%. if you take out the effects of covid, the disparity is even greater. i've done this as honestly as i

can do, and no matter how you do it, it doesn't come out in trump's favor. secondly you can look at jobs. that's an important thing in an economy obviously to americans and again, i've adjusted out the effects of covid. 182,000 jobs on average a month created by trump. 271,000 jobs on average create by biden. again, if you take out covid, the disparity is far greater. so that is one of his most preposterous claim. >> the numbers don't lie, and he has made that point, and we were cooking along and covid came, and that's not my fault. we can talk about how he handled covid and even adjusted for covid, you're saying joe biden has had the better economy. let's move onto energy. this is former president trump talking yesterday about american oil production and energy independence. >> we were energy independent four years ago. think of it. today we're getting energy from venezuela in the form of tar.

>> steve, what do the numbers show? >> well, first of all, we were never energy independent under donald trump. in fact, we really haven't been energy independent going back until sometime before 1950. you can see that the amount of oil imports that we had during trump did, in fact, decline. this is part of a long progression. it goes back to the mid-2000s. it's nothing he particularly did. it continued under biden, and lo and behold, the first time we were energy independent as it comes to oil, was in 2023 when we exported a bit more oil than we imported. now trump is hung up on venezuela. i'm not sure why. he usually likes dictators. in this case, he seems to not like it as much. it's a fact that trump said, venezuelan oil is bad oil. it's very heavy and very polluting, but look what happened to venezuelan oil imports over the last 7 1/2 years. under trump, we averaged 10.3 million barrels of venezuelan oil a day coming into

this country. under biden, we're down to 1.7 billion barrels a day of venezuelan oil. so the idea that somehow biden is the one who brought in all this venezuelan oil is absolutely directly contradicted by the numbers. >> as is often the case, exactly the opposite is true of what donald trump said. we're not running on venezuelan tar. let's talk about migrant crime. donald trump yesterday in north carolina went on a tangent about what he claims is a surge in migrant crime. here's what he said. >> they all said i was wrong when i said that migrant crime would reach epidemic proportions and now it's much worse than that. it's a lot worse than epidemic proportions. it's beyond control. we have a new category of crime. it's called migrant crime, and i think it's going to end up being the worst category of all. >> steve, what does the data show? >> it was supposed to be an economic speech, but he can't

help himself and he has to get off on things like migration and the border, and all that stuff, but the facts are not what he said. let's talk about crime in general. he likes to think the country is in the middle of some crime wave. that is actually not true. violent crime per 100,000 people has dropped 26% under joe biden with an average of 398 per 100,000 people, down to 294. in fact, at the end of trump's administration, slightly higher than when it began, or certainly at best, most favorably, you can't see any improvement under trump's administration. all the improvement has been under the biden administration. now there's the fallacy of migrant crime. if you read the "new york post," you would think all crime is committed by migrants, but, in fact, and i think we've talked about this before, but it's really quite dramatic. if you break crime down between native-born americans, documented immigrants and undocumented immigrants, you can

see that native-born american crime rate is higher that it is for documented immigrants and way higher than it is for undocumented immigrants. that's true whether you look at violent crime, whether you look at property crime, whether you look at drug violations. the fact is immigrants actually commit fewer crimes than americans and for the undocumented immigrants, it's not totally surprising. they don't want to get sent back to wherever they came from so they tend to behave themselves better than a lot of americans and undocumented immigrants. this is a complete fiction that donald trump has created. >> and steve, right on cue, the "new york post" has an 11-year-old venezuelan child in handcuffs talking about the problem you outlined. great charts and telling the truth with data. before i let you go, i want to ask you about the inflation number yesterday that came down 2.9% year over year. what does it mean for the economy? >> this was really good news, and even trump exhale, i think, briefly acknowledged it yesterday. it's the lowest inflation rate we have had since 2021.

it's broken below 3%. it's getting close to the fed's target of 2%. that combined with some suggestions that consumers are starting to pull back, that the economy is starting to weaken a little bit, has pretty much solidified a rate cut by the fed in september, and that's good news for homeowners. that's good news for borrowers. it's good news for generally getting the economy going a little bit faster, and of course, politically it's good news for the harris ticket. >> all right. steve rattner, thanks so much. so important to stop and get the data from steve as we punch through some of these lies we hear every day. steve, thanks so much. as steve mentioned, donald trump is claiming migrant crime has surged, but border officials actually say they're seeing a drop in migrant crossings. nbc's julie ainsley joins us from el paso with new reporting on what has led to this change. "morning joe" is coming right back. t back

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several towns along the southwest border report a major drop in migrant border crossings. so much so that in texas, republican governor greg abbott's controversial program of busing migrants to other states has slowed to a trickle. joining us live from el paso, texas is homeland security correspondent julia ainsley. julia, what's behind the dramatic drop? >> well, mika, i'm here in downtown el paso.

i've spoken to you and willie and joe right here from outside sacred heart church many times in the past where there have been hundreds of migrants sleeping behind me. i can tell you right now it's completely quiet. the numbers have fallen so dramatically, just in the last few weeks. they've seen border crossings under 2,000 per day at the legal border crossings. that's down from 4,000 in may and over 8,000 in december. it's a number of factors, but the biden administration is pointing to the fact this came in june. that big latest drop we've seen when the president rolled out his asylum restriction that is allows border patrol to keep anyone from claiming asylum if they cross the border illegally unless the numbers get below 1,500 per day, which they haven't yet so far. now there are some nationalities that they can turn back to mexico. others are quickly deported, and there have been a slight increase on the northern border. other people i've spoken to are

in mexico, and placing their predictions and the weather plays a fact they are time of year, but really what it's done here in texas is it means the texas governor greg abbott's plans to bus migrants have really come to a trickle. he's promised to keep busing them. there are rumors he might try to bus some migrants to chicago during the dnc next week, but that's going to be really hard for him to do, mika, simply because there aren't enough people to fill those buses and when we've talked to people from the cities that have received buses in the past, they say they've by and large stopped. new york, denver, and chicago all have stopped receiving them as of june. the chicago suburb received one in june. chicago itself hasn't received any migrants since christmas. cities like l.a. and philadelphia haven't seen any migrants there since january. d.c. hasn't gotten any migrants from those texas buses since last year. again, these are just the buses that texas governor greg abbott was paying for to send migrants as a political message.

there are still plenty of migrants who do cross the border and try to find their way to those cities, but by and large, a lot of those programs that were meant to go show a little message aren't as easy to carry out, simply because of the numbers here, mika. >> julia, i know that the mexican government has done a lot. you mentioned it. they've restricted visas for people coming into the country and kept people away from the northern border. there has been some concern, or there was earlier this year that the government might sort of play politics with the border and perhaps open up some of the numbers coming up to the border ahead of the election. what's the thinking on that now that kamala harris is at the top of the ticket on the u.s. side? i mean, how much is the american government kind of in negotiations and in talks with the mexican government to keep those numbers down? >> you know, when i talked to officials in the mexican government, they have a pretty open dialogue. even if it isn't at the highest levels, people lower down are constantly talking about fentanyl, about immigration, about arms trafficking. that's something the mexican government cares a lot about,

and as you know, they are -- they will soon have a newly instated president who really agrees a lot with the policies of the current administration, and they have been able to increase their intradictions of u.s.-bound migrants by three times and that doesn't always mean deportation. sometimes and a lot of humanitarian advocates, they will interdict migrants from the border and bring them back down south as a way to frustrate them or keep them from reaching the northern border. they speak so often with the biden administration, and if you're reading the tea leaves here, it may be that it's because they want to keep these numbers low before an election, and they'll say they will work with the trump administration, harris, biden, whoever is here. it's so important for the mexican government to work with the u.s. government. the sense i get is they want to help the biden administration on this issue in particular. coming up, from texas to florida. we're going to break down the latest polling from that state, and what it says about the

presidential campaign. "morning joe" is back in a moment. tial campaign. "morning joe" is back in a moment

perfection with a touch of sweet redemption. undefeated south carolina has won its third national championship. >> that's dawn staley, head coach of university of south carolina's women's basketball team celebrating with her squad in april after winning the ncaa women's national championship against top-seeded rival iowa hawkeyes. it was the most viewed women's college basketball game ever, and coach staley was also honored on "forbes" and know your values 50 over 50 list

which came out early they are month. 54 years young, she is one of the highest paid coaches in women's college basketball. not to mention a three-time olympic gold medalist and hall of fame point guard. that's a career that keeps on ticking, and coach staley joins us now along with the editor of "forbes," maggie mcgrath, my partner in these lists. dawn, congratulations on making the list. you've carved out an incredible legacy as one of the country's foremost basketball coaches of any gender. did you ever imagine as a much younger woman, maybe in your 20s, your career after the age of 50? >> i did not. i didn't even want to be a coach. so i didn't know what i wanted to be or what i wanted to do. i knew that i wanted to be in sports, and quite naturally just growing up where i grew up, i

knew i wanted to impact lives, and what manner, i didn't know it was going to be in coaching, but i'm so glad, you know, i followed god's plan in doing something that i was probably uncomfortable doing when i took the job 24 years ago at temple university. >> now coach staley, you won three olympic gold medals at the summer games between 1996 and 2004, and i'm curious. since you just returned from the paris games where the u.s. women's basketball team defeated france for their eighth straight olympic gold medal, how has the perception of women in sports changed from when you were a player? >> the perception is we're more popular now, you know, i think now, and we're more free. i will say that. we're able to live our best lives. we're able to have perspective on a wide range of subjects, and

i know some are unpopular to some, but i mean, we live in this world where things are happening all around us, and we can't just shut up and dribble. we have -- we have perspective. things impact us. that happens in our country, in our world, and we represent our country in the olympic games. so i think it's a movement that i don't see we'll go back to 20, 30 years ago, and it's a great movement because just like any have a wide range of perspective they can give that can actually move the change in our society. >> we seem to be in a major moment for women in sports, especially from viewership, that

perspective. it's been historic. olympic stars like simone biles, katie ledecky, an increase in sponsorships and much more. where do you think this is coming from, and where do you think it's going? >> well, one, i don't think it's a fad. i think this is -- and i've said thisplenty of times. i think women's sports have been held back for a very long time. now we're in a place where we're in high demand. there's room for everybody, but in a way in which we have to do it strategically where it makes sense. i'm glad we're in this place. it's definitely a movement that people are joining in. i'm on "morning joe."

never -- like, i watch "morning joe" every morning, but never would i have imagined that i would be on the show. >> that's amazing. >> coach staley, in 2021 you became one of the highest-paid coaches in women's basketball. what did you learn from those negotiations and what's your advice to other women making a big ask to their own bosses? >> what i learned is things aren't as easy as my male counterparts. sometimes you have to exude a little bit of patience and confidence and knowing your worth and not taking anything less. i don't think everybody can approach it this way, but i had to strike when the iron was hot. that was three years ago. that was three years ago.

now, the iron still is hot. like, we just won a national championship, an undefeated season. so we're back at those negotiating tables and trying to figure out where we are. you have to be unafraid to go back. now, three years ago was a big payout. by no means do i do this for money, because i would do this just for the straight pride of being one of the best, because that's what i set out to do growing up in the housing projects in north philly, is to be the best. we live in a world where you need to be paid for your successes, just like everybody else. >> you need to know your value. the negotiating, is it fair to say it doesn't just happen in one phone call? you have to be able to put your number down and wait it out. >> usually -- i mean, i'm going

to say this. usually when a football coach is successful, their contract is done before the ball game. that's within a month. so when women more than likely -- and i'm going to say myself. we could start negotiating in april. we're in august, and it's still not done yet. but i'm not concerned. i really am not concerned. i know these things take time. you have to have some patience about you, because you want it done correctly. so this might be my last contract. so i do have to be patient to make sure all the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted in a way that everybody's happy, i'm happy, the university is happy, the athletic department is happy and my representation

is happy. >> so note to everybody involved, dawn staley knows her value, okay? so show her the money. thank you very much. it is an honor to have you on our list. maggie mcgrath, thank you as always. you can read more about coach staley and all the women who made the 50 over 50 list at knowyourvalue.com and forbes.com. coming up on "morning joe," one of the reasons democrats were concerned about president biden running for reelection, was his impact on down-ballot races. there's new polling that shows the impact now that vice president harris is at the top of the ticket. plus, we'll hear from gen z voters in two key swing states as they weigh in on the driving issues this november. that's all straight ahead on the fourth hour of "morning joe." d e

fourth hour of "morning joe.

pretty shot of san francisco, just about the top of the hour. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." it's 6:00 a.m. on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with donald trump's speech in north carolina, which was billed as a significant economic address, but instead quickly veered off into a lot of insults for his opponent. garrett haake has the latest. >> reporter: overnight in the tar heel state, former president

donald trump on the attack. >> is anything less expensive under kamala harris and crooked joe? >> reporter: the attacks coming even as we earned wednesday the inflation rate cooled in july to the lowest level since the pandemic ended. president biden asked earlier by nbc's gabe gutierrez if the u.s. had beaten inflation. >> yes, yes, yes. >> reporter: but the trump campaign sees inflation as a key highlight. >> kamala harris declared that tackling inflation would be a day-one priority. but day one for kamala was 3 1/2 years ago. why hasn't she done it? >> reporter: the harris campaign releasing a statement saying, if trump gets power middle class taxes will go up by $2500 a year. trump veered into the personal

attacks on harris that republican allies have been urging him to avoid. >> we have stupid people like kamala and joe running our country. her laugh is career-threatening. you know why she hasn't done an interview? because she's not smart. >> reporter: trump's running mate jd vance once again in the spotlight for his past comments about women. this 2020 podcast interview in which he discusses the positive role of grandparents in children's lives under new scrutiny. >> they spoil him, but it makes him a much better human being to have exposure to his grandparents. and the evidence on this, by the way, is super clear. >> that's the whole purpose of the post menopausal female in theory. let me ask you a question. >> please. >> when your child was born, did your in-laws and particularly your mother-in-law show up in

some huge way? >> she lived with us for a year. >> i didn't know the answer. that was weird unadvertised feature of marrying an indian woman. >> it's the whole purpose of the post-menopausal female. jd vance says yeah. he's doing so well with women. that's just fantastic for the trump campaign. he's a fantastic asset. he just exudes, i don't know, visceral hatred. we have the president of the national action network and host of msnbc's "politics nation" reverend al sharpton and washington bureau chief at usa today, susan page. am i overstaing the reaction from women across america when we hear from jd vance about our

role, our value, and what we're good for? >> i think he's done a lot for the democratic ticket here, first with childless cat ladies and then the role of post-menopausal women. conservative, liberal, moderate, democrat, independent generally would not sign onto this role at various phases in their life. >> that speech was billed as a big economic address. his laboring through the idea this was supposed to be a conventional address, well, they want me to talk about the economy, they tell me it's the biggest issue in the country. i don't know if that's true. i think it's crime. so this idea of republicans if he can just stay to the issues, he'll beat kamala harris. you've known the man for i don't know how long. does he ever stay to the issues, or does it always veer off into

his personal grievances? >> even before he was in politics, it was always the hype. i think what people don't recognize, donald trump convinces himself of the myths he's going to sell, whether it's a building or the presidency, he convinces himself. it's totally immaterial what you want to talk about. it's what he wants to sell at the moment. the reason they cannot get him back on message is the message is not good. when you see inflation down under 3%, they act like he has a good message to give. it's just let him try to distract people. if you look at the economy and where we are, we saw the charts this morning, clearly there is no good message. one of the things they're trying to sell people won't buy. you cannot sell a message and act like, well, he's off message. the message is not good for you.

>> we talked about it earlier this morning as well as going over steve ratner's charts. the warning signs are there if you're a trump campaign official. we saw him pushing back, "they want me to do this." we have public and private grievances with people running his campaign. he's grown unhappy with vance and also his campaign leadership staff. this is the time of year he typically jetisons advisors. he is his own best messenger and he's trying to get control of his campaign again. he's been flailing and hasn't been able to land a single political punch on vice president harris. today is going to be another effort to goad her into doing a press conference of her own, but also suggesting he knows best and he's going to continue the

attacks. >> it's been interesting since the change of candidate here over the last 3 1/2 weeks to watch former president trump find the message, find the critique of kamala harris. they've hit around immigration, because president biden put her in charge of immigration. those numbers are getting better. he's talking about crime. those numbers are getting better. talking about inflation, those numbers are getting better. he sort of veers off into these strange attacks that don't seem to be landing except with maybe a sliver of his base that she's dumb, her laugh is odd and somehow career threatening, as he put it yesterday. he can't help but settle on his critique of vice president harris. >> when the republican convention ended, this election seemed to be trump's to lose. i think it is now kamala harris' race to lose. it's not that she's guaranteed

to win, but the momentum is on her side. if she had a good convention, a good debate, it's hard to see how trump regains the stature and the momentum he had. the outcome is certainly not determined. this race continues to be very close. but everything from the movement we've seen in the polls to the inflation numbers today are helpful to kamala harris in her effort to win in november. >> democratic senate candidates continue to run strong in every presidential swing state. new data from the cook political report this morning shows democrats have increased their margin in every race except wisconsin. in arizona, congressman reuben gallego lead by nine points in michigan. congresswoman elissa slotkin leads by eight. in nevada, senator jackie rosen leads her opponent by 18 points. that state was home to the

closest senate race in 2022. in pennsylvania, democratic senator bob casey leads by 13 points. and in wisconsin, senator tammy baldwin leads by seven points. that number is down five points since may. all of those leads are outside the margins of error. let's bring in democratic pollster fernand aamondi. tell us how some of these races may have been impacted by the change of joe biden to kamala harris as the presidential nominee. >> it looks like, by all accounts, christmas has come in august for the democrats. these are extraordinary polls with remarkable movement. and absolutely it can be attributed to the new energy, the new momentum that has come

in the direct aftermath of the change of the ticket now with kamala harris on top for democrats. this is a game changer, mika, because what it also does is it changes completely the dynamics of the race. it now means that money gushers of fundraising support are going to flow into these states as these races look more solid for democrats. then there's the extrapolation of that. now it looks like you be able to flip the senate. and it looks like the path to 270 is getting wider and stronger and clearer for kamala harris. that's really good news for democrats, obviously doomsday for republicans. >> this is the result that a lot of people running for office on the democratic side were hoping to see with the change at the

top of the ticket. even president biden himself said it in an interview over the weekend, one of the most compelling arguments he got when he made his decision to step aside was that he was hearing from chuck schumer and other people that he was going to cost potentially democrats the senate and the house. >> absolutely. i think that was a concern he said to some of us even after he'd made the stigs. i think it's critical, because if you don't have not only the white house but also the senate and the house, you can't pass a lot of the legislation that you as the president or a presidential candidate would promise. so you need both/and, particularly when you've had a supreme court that has rolled back a lot of the things you need to legislate now, like women's right to choose, like affirmative action, like voting rights. i think it is imperative they run the whole ticket, not just the top of the ticket if we're going to get something done. >> and these polls now show vice

president kamala harris leading former president donald trump by three points in the key battleground state of pennsylvania according to the latest polling from quinnipiac university. harris holds a 50% to 40% lead among likely voters in the state. that is within the margin of error. there's also a new poll out of florida which shows harris has cut trump's lead in half. in the latest florida atlantic university main street research poll trump holds a three-point lead, 50% to 47% among likely voters in the state. that is likely within the poll's margin of error. in a june survey conducted when president joe biden was still the presumptive democratic

nominee, trump led by six points. it is something that she's getting closer. >> it is. again, success begets success as this campaign has just captured the imagination of america. states like florida now maybe don't look like they're going to necessarily go for harris, but they potentially are in play. now, that doesn't mean that i think the harris campaign should take their eyes off of the states that are going to get them to 270, because as we know, unfortunately campaign time is finite now, campaign resources are finite. before the harris campaign says do we invest in florida, i would think they'd probably say let's lock down, pennsylvania,

michigan, wisconsin, north carolina, georgia and nevada. these elections take on a life of their own. donald trump is running the worst special campaign in american history. i don't think that's hyperbole given what we've seen. anything could happen. the beauty is, if i think kamala harris is going to win florida, it may happen without her having to spend massive resources here and still keeping her eye on the ball of those states that are going to get her to 270. >> the gop still has a decent path to control the upper chamber, but this is obviously very good news for vice president harris. most i've talked to in the campaign think florida is still out of reach, but the republicans might have to spend time and money there, which in itself would be a win for the democrats. north carolina suddenly looms so large. i want to get your take, susan,

a state that the biden team had largely written off a few months ago now very much back. the republicans have an incendiary gubernatorial candidate that democrats are certainly going to make much notice of. vice president kamala harris is heading there tomorrow. >> it's not just that republicans have a path to control the senate. i think you'd have to say republicans are still favored to take control of the senate. if republicans pick up west virginia -- hard to imagine that they won't -- then there is no margin for error for democrats. even if they win the white house, they can't lose another democratic-held senate seat. there are several in danger. not out of the woods in the senate, but certainly a brighter picture for the senate than just a few weeks ago. in north carolina, there's a reason both candidates are spending time there. it is suddenly an extremely

competitive state. it looked out of reach for joe biden. it looks like it's in reach for kamala harris. that would give her kind of a cushion with other swing states if she could take north carolina. >> washington bureau chief at usa today, susan page, thank you very much. coming up on "morning joe," another set of key inflation data was released moments ago along with earnings for the world's largest retailer. we'll dive into what it all means for the nation's economy when cnbc's andrew ross sorkin joins us. also ahead, the latest on two american astronauts who have been stuck on the international space station for more than two months. we'll be right back. o months we'll be right back. what does a robot know about love? how to translate that leap inside the human heart

into something we can see and hold. the fingerprints we leave behind show how determined we are to give the world a piece of ourselves. etsy.

that's a live picture of the

international space station, whatever time it may be up there, where two american astronauts are stranded right now. much more on that story in just a moment. first, new economic data crossing just moments ago. retail sales grew by 1% last month, well above expectations. let's go straight to our good friend andrew ross sorkin. andrew, good morning. tell us about the number. >> good morning. a great number. you know, for anybody who said we were left for dead or that the consumer was not still there, this number, i think, puts an end to that. it gives a better sense that maybe we really are at a soft landing. when the markets were tanking two weeks ago, there was a sense of was there a recession coming, and people got very, very anxious. but if you look at the markets today, we are almost back to

where we were before. this should give people an idea we might even be in a bit of an expansion, growing at 1.1%. i think that is going to create some momentum and also i think gives people some hope that the economy is in a bit better shape than maybe the worst folks had feared. having said that, if you'd indulge me, we have earnings this morning from walmart, biggest retailer, one of the biggest employers in the country, and it came in way better than expected. people are saying, look, if walmart is good, that's fantastic. if you look underneath, it's great for walmart, but there's also the possibility that people are getting a little bit -- and this goes against what i said about retail sales more broadly, that people are still spending but they're getting choicier

about how they're spending their money. people are spending at walmart and amazon, but not necessarily everywhere. some of the spoils are coming to places that are discounting. if you were going to buy a 70-inch tv before, now people are buying a 65-inch tv. >> 75 inches, that's a huge tv. you got that in the man cave down there? >> no. i think we only have a 48 inch. >> that's small, actually. i'd like to see somewhere in between those two numbers. yesterday an encouraging number on inflation, today an encouraging number on retail sales. what kind of pictures are the experts looking at broadly now for the united states' economy? >> there is this idea we are in a softish, ish landing.

that's where we're coming out. president biden said the other day we were going to have a softish landing, and he is providing under his administration a softish landing. i think we'll know a lot more as the fall progresses and we'll see where the election goes. but i also feel like the big thing we're going to now watch is september and what does the federal reserve do around interest rates and interest rate cuts specifically. the expectation even just two days ago was actually things were not so great, so maybe a 50 basis point decrease. now maybe people are talking about only 25 basis points. there is this very strange good news/bad news thing that keeps happening, which is, the markets want interest rates to be lower. a 50 basis point lowering would be better for the, quote, markets and the economy, but you don't want to do that if you think things are actually not so bad. >> right. joe biden's economy, man. >> yep. >> cnbc's andrew ross sorkin,

thank you so much. we appreciate it. get your projector. the 70 inches, you could have 100 inches. you can make it as big as you want or as little you want. you must need one thing. >> i still don't get the glare during the daytime. >> they're so good now. not only do they address the glare issues and you can totally see the tv, but you don't have to have it in the middle lined up. you can have it to the side and it calibrates to the wall in front of you. >> we'll talk offline. >> i'll send you a picture of what to get. now to the story willie mentioned. two american astronauts have now been stuck on the international space station for over two

months on what was supposed to be a ten-day trip. nasa is still trying to figure out how to bring them ohm. tom costello has the latest. >> reporter: for astronauts butch wilmore and suni williams, a new deadline when they might be returning back to earth with nasa saying it hopes to decide before the end of the month the best way to get them home. the pair launched into space in june as the first crude test of boeing starliner. it was supposed to be a ten-day mission, but helium leaks and problems with the propulsion system have left it and the crew docked at the international space station for two months. the problem is those thrusters are needed for safe reentry. >> the big concern is having a successful deorbit burn, making sure the prop system works just the way it need to all the way

through the deorbit burn. >> reporter: nasa engineers on the ground have been trying to troubleshoot the problem. the risks associated with human space travel can lead to delays and the decision making process can get complicated. >> the reason it's so hard is because you're putting people inside of this. you want to make sure you get the spaceship back, but you sure want to get the crew back. >> reporter: the space station has two docking ports for capsules, and both are being used. one potential scenario would be sending starliner back without its crew and leaving two of the four seats open on an upcoming space flight to the mission so williams and wilmore could return with that team, but that would mean keeping them in space until february. >> we are humans, and this is

hard on crew members and their families. we take that into account, but again, as professional astronauts they're prepared for this and they're doing great. >> that's a long time. tom costello with that report. and coming up, a new thriller tells the story of a family battling two very different demons. one is emotional and one is real. grammy-award winning singer and oscar-nominated actress andra day joins lee daniels to discuss "the deliverance." that's next on "morning joe." that n'sext on "morning joe. amen clark. if you have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that you'll definitely want to hear. depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special needs plan. all these plans include a

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remember, before we get started, whatever it says to you, do not listen to it. it will play on your heart. it will play on your mind. my name is apostle bernice

james. the other person present is ebony jackson. father, we ask that you cleanse and sanctify us for this deliverance. get back. >> if you believe, you shall be saved. you shall be saved. >> that's a look at the new thriller "the deliverance." a mother moves into a new home

for a fresh start, but strange things start to happen. joining us academy award winning actress andra day and academy award winning director of the film lee daniels. good morning. >> good morning. lee, i want to start with you and ask you what brought you this story, because i was reading about it and reminded myself i'd heard about this ten years ago in gary, indiana, inspired by true events. what made you think this would be a good film? >> i wasn't going to do it after "precious," because that's when it was brought to me. it was horror, and i believe in good spirits and bad spirits coming onto me, so i didn't want to be a part of it. but i just felt like it was timely now, because we're in dark times. i'm trying to scare you to your

higher power. for me, it's jesus. it's allah or buddha or whoever, but we are in dark times and we need to find our higher power. my job was to scary into finding it. >> this does this. you said when you were reading the script, you couldn't read it past a certain hour of the night. >> i had to sleep. my imagination is too crazy, so i would have recreated everything in my room. a, i had no hesitation because of him. so he was the factor for me. i was like, great, we had just done "billy". >> "united states versus billy holiday" an extraordinary film. you were nominated for an academy award. >> he brought this to me.

my hesitation was it's dealing with so much paranormal and demonic activity. i'm a praying person. i'm a christian. that's kind of how i find my way into everything, is i pray about it. as i started to navigate this, i was reminded these are things, these are spirits. i believe in the spirit realm as well. i think those are things that we need to remember we do have authority over. there's a lot of people now that need to step into their power. i needed to be reminded that we have authority over these things and they are underfoot. i loved the story, because it shows her overcoming these things, not just the demons possessing her kids, but the generational trauma and her own demons she needs to heal to be a

great mother. >> lee, we are friends. i know you have a deeper side to you than the public persona. when you talk about we're in a dark period, is part of your concern with this film is that people manipulate people, even people in the church manipulate people when we're in a dark space, because we're more vulnerable. talk about that. >> i think even the church, i think those that are truly spiritual will understand the film. but people into the politics of the church are going to say, oh, we can't see that because there's cursing, or we can't see that because there's horror. this is about finding your higher power. for me it's jesus, but i think there are a lot of frauds that are in the church that this film will expose. >> andra, tell us a little more about your character. and this is based on real

events. tell us a little bit about how this is set up and what drew you to this role. >> she was drunk. start there. >> is that what i drew from it? i'm kidding. >> i was drawn to her, a, she's a single mother and she was a budding alcoholic. she's really struggling with her own addiction. she's struggling with her own faith and healing. there's a lot of generational trauma that she's not necessarily trying to resolve at the beginning, but she hasn't even acknowledged that it's there. but at the same time she's trying not to inflict these same issues on her children. it's very hard to do when you

don't spend time examining the things that hurt us. you watch the dynamic of race. she grew up in this neighborhood. she has this white mother. we understand the trauma that was there. she experienced abuse by her mother, because her mother was an addict. it's looking at that, the racial dynamic and then the faith dynamic and also the dynamic of the system. they're trying to take her kids from her, and she's not being not even believed, she's not being listened to. there is something that happens inside in the culture and we hear black women speak about all the time of not being heard. she's trying to show up and be a great mom to her kids. i'm not a mother, but i understand just needing to be

heard. >> she's fighting social services for her children back. >> thank you for the details. >> she's fighting social services. they think she's beating the kids. and she's also fighting the demon in her house that's beating the kids. >> her character ebony gets a visit from a social worker played by actress monique. >> i'm not here to make your life harder or difficult. my priority is the welfare of the children. >> we getting by. my mom moved in. she's helping us. >> you been drinking? >> i drink sometimes, like everybody else does. >> yeah, you been drinking. >> how much longer we got to do

this, cynthia? >> till i say we stop. look, their father came into court and made allegations that there was drugging, drinking and neglect in this home. >> he said that because he wanted custody of our kids. he wants to take them off to iraq with nowhere for them to live. >> we know the agreement we had with the state that you can maintain custody of your kids as long as i monitor the situation. >> i love monique. >> she's amazing. i was thinking about the cast as i watched that. you have oscar-level actors in almost every scene, add in glenn close, by the way. what a cast you assembled for this. >> incredible. what i love is i'm back to work with monique after a strange sort of situation and i got a chance to work.

she's immersed into this world and she's exquisite. >> it's an extraordinary film. it's "the deliverance." congrats to you both, andra day, lee daniels, thanks for being here today. i'm going to let you and rev catch up again. [ laughter ]. coming up, how the harris/walz campaign is having an impact. is having an impact.

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ticket appears to have energized voters in two key states. a "new york times" analysis shows that democrats are now outpacing republicans in voter registration in pennsylvania and north carolina, even among unaffiliated voters. there are signs of optimism for democrats. in north carolina, registrations for women and voters under 30 who didn't sign up with a party jumped in the week following president biden dropping out. joining us now, director at the institute of politics at harvard university, msnbc contributor john dell voel pay. "the power of z," he conducted two focus groups with voters in north carolina and minnesota. we're going to hear from those

voters in just a moment. first, explain the project for us. >> thanks again so much for having me, mika. so many times i come on your set to talk about the numbers and statistics and impact i think gen z and younger voters will make at the ballot box. today what i'm delivering is the humanity behind those numbers, the story of a generation that was born into the great recession that turned into adulthood during the chaos of trump and the trauma of covid. this is their story. this is the origin story of gen z, and it's quite moving when you hear the story in their own words. >> i'm 20 years old. why is a one-bedroom apartment $1600? rent prices is outrageous. then these jobs, they're bare

minimum jobs. i'm supposed to be in customer service. before i was a server working in fast food restaurants. nothing against them, love it. why are you yelling at me over a burger? it's one of those type of things like the work/life, trying to balance school, trying to balance finding housing, it's just overhypered. like i waited all my life to grow up into this? >> my parents never owned a house. there were many times we were homeless. being homeless before 18 as a kid, it makes you ponder a lot. >> a lot of people assume that homeless people don't have jobs or are on drugs. i kept a full-time job when i was homeless. everything is so expensive these days, what do you prioritize? do you prioritize eating over having a home? >> i think my biggest stress right now is anything financial.

minimum wage hasn't changed since you were 22, but the price of an apartment has tripled, you know. we as gen z, i feel like i've been talking about this a lot, we have to have three jobs just to make ends meet. that's not fun money. that's so we're not homeless on the streets. gen x might not agree, but i think gen z has to work three times as hard and not get any of the payout. >> it's impossible. young people, the potential of having a home, owning it, just put that away. it's impossible to rent. they make the greatest point out there, and i just wonder if candidates will address that in this presidential campaign on down because the cost of living for young people is impossible. >> you're right there. and there is a trend that i have been seeing in my work that is

really worth this conversation, which is multiple members of virtually every focus group that i conduct with the young americans, whether it is young or otherwise, and i don't recruit them this way, tell me they have already struggled with being homeless. when we grew up, the idea of being homeless, sadly, was a vietnam vet who was left behind or someone struggling deeply with mental health challenges or substance abuse. now the definition of being homeless is extended to hard working, every day young people who are just trying to do their best, to get a job, to pay for school and to try to knit together first and last month's rent. in north carolina, i believe, the minimum wage is $8 an hour. it is not that much higher in minnesota where the other focus group was. meanwhile, as you saw, charlotte is struggling with $1,600 a

month for a one-bedroom apartment. it's not even about a house. it is about a roof over your head right now. >> yeah. in this exchange, the gen z voters talk about their governor, who is kamala harris' running mate, tim walz. >> doesn't own any stocks in anywhere. he also doesn't have any real estate or other assets. he's just like a guy. like a normal guy, which is really appealing. >> that's why i think tim walz is so exciting for me for him to be vice president. like he's more of a person than these politicians are. most of these politicians were born with a lot of their money. they have never really experienced being lower class or what it's like to be an average american person. >> he used to be a football coach like for a local team. and, again, very low-paying job. you know, not a job you are in because you want to make a lot of money. >> although he is a gun owner,

he's put into legislature, stronger gun reform. he has a daughter who it sounds as though he has a very good relationship with and she has communicated with him about her -- her opinions on school shootings and how that has affected her and also taken that in and changed his opinions. >> and finally, here are the young voters discussing what they think the future will look like once their generation takes over. >> when you are in charge, how would you like things to be different? >> i hope things are a lot more respectful. and i think the way, you know, voting has gone so far and just, i mean, how passionate our generation seems to be about these things and hopefully that translates into actual, you know, policy change and societal change. >> 10, 15 years from now when gen z people are in office making changes, it will be a positive thing because we have

seen what it's like to hit rock bottom. we have seen what it's like to have a wwe match instead of a debate. we have seen what it's like to have a nation literally divided 50/50 between two people that they don't even like themselves. >> john, as you went through this and you end with how they project the future, do you get a sense that they, with all that they had to say, that they're hopeful about the future for themselves and for the country? >> well, i think it is two separate questions, reverend al. they seem to be more hopeful about the country than they are about themselves and their own feeling of instability right now. that came through through the groups. they have faith in themselves that they have a shared set of values, shared set of priorities and an openness to working through to find solutions.

however, in the near term, several members of these focus groups were unsure, again to the point i talked about, how they're going to make next month's rent, how they're going to pay back their college debt, how the family can live a full life. the idea of the american dream for so many of these young people is a daydream now, day by day by day with young people struggling. i'm hopeful during this came -- campaign we can give people faith and hope that they're individualized to live their best life. >> director of polling at harvard university, thank you very much for bringing that all to us. we appreciate it. and we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." much more "morning joe." limu, someone needs to customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. let's fly! (inaudible sounds)

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the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. we end the show with some breaking news. this just in, donald trump's

running mate, senator jd vance has accepted two debates again to minnesota governor tim walz. one on september 18th on cnn and another on october 1st on cbs. we should note that governor walz has agreed to the october 1st debate so far. so we shall see what happens. but at least we got one on the books. willy, your thoughts? >> i think the consensus on the table is we're good with one. the vice presidential debate seems like plenty. john, final thoughts here, aaron judge, 300th career home run, faster than any player in the history of baseball. i know you want to expand on that a little bit. and also, donald trump had that rally yesterday. again holding a news conference at bedminister today. we will be out doing what he does. >> i will refrain from comments on aaron judge here at the end of the show. first, yes, it is good we're

having a debate. we need one, not two. we will hear from the former president today. as we have been talking about all morning long, a sense of frustration and flailing from his campaign. they have simply not adjusted to vice president harris being on the top of the ticket. he went out there last week. didn't go well. he takes a try today. >> some will announce that the campaign is going. he's replacing them. the only thing he can do to help himself in this race is to replace the candidate, him. >> and that seems unlikely. most of all this morning, it was nice to reunite the reverend al sharpton with the director lee daniels. >> we didn't a deliverance. >> all right, rev. thanks, everybody. we will see you back here tomorrow morning. anna cabrera picks up the coverage right now. right now on "ana cabrera reports," we're following breaking news out of hollywood. an arrest just made in connection with th