♪ the dutch people today paid tribute to their own. >> six days of confusion and indignity ended at last. >> a solemn procession across the dutch countryside. >> the sight of 40 hearses tell one painful fraction of this story. but the dignified science of those who stood and watched tells another. >> i couldn't say good-bye. they'll be in my heart forever.

>> two more ukrainian fighter jets were shot down. >> many wondered if whoever shot down the malaysian plane would lay low. today they got their answer. >> this airport is open. there's no reason whatsoever for the mistake in faa decision. >> asian authorities have now lifted their ban on the flights to tel aviv. >> i think security is overreacting. >> i feel very secure. >> one plane did land. secretary of state john kerry's jet. >> through the dawn of a 16th day, the shelling shows no sign of ending. >> and hamas sees no ceasefire unless the israeli blockade is lifted. >> we need to find a way forward, and it's not violence. >> good morning. it is a busy thursday, july 24th.

welcome to "morning joe." with us on set we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle, senior political editor and white house correspondent for "the huffington post" sam stein. john heilemann and thomas roberts. you're here and not running in. >> i know. thank you for that. >> we gave you some time. also with us from washington, senior fellow and former deputy of secretary defense ian brzezinski. i know him. so much news to get to. we'll begin with a situation in the middle east. late last night the faa lifted a ban on american flights into tel aviv. critics of the administration accuse president obama and the faa of enforcing the ban as an economic boycott. but former new york mayor michael bloomberg who flew in a show of solidarity to israel was

outraged when asked if there were ulterior motives. >> if you're not safe here, i don't know where you feel safe. i think the administration is reacting in political reaction. >> political reasons for that? >> of course. why would you think that? why would you accuse your agencies -- by asking the question you're implying that our government does things for political reasons. maybe every once in awhile they do, but it's your job to prove it. i personally take it as an offense. >> okay. let's try and understand what's going on here. i believe the former mayor who you know i love went there critical of the restrictions. correct? are we all in agreement of that? some fear with benjamin netanyahu and is critical of the restrictions. so what's with being so

difficult on the questions? why go? >> well, i think he was making a straightforward point. >> what's his point? >> he thinks that the restrictions are mistaken but not driven by a political motive by the administration or faa to try to punish israel for what it's doing. >> but why'd you laugh when you watched that? >> i didn't laugh. it's always interesting to see two great men in a state of haggling on television. >> what's the haggling over, sam? >> i have no idea. i think they were in agreement there. >> what happened? >> it was a weird interview. i don't know what to say. >> he had a long flight. didn't feel safe. >> it's an 11-hour flight. >> i think he accused wolf to drum up a controversy when he's asking a question to a politician who has direct ties to washington, d.c. >> what's this about? >> exactly. and then the blames wolf for asking him a question. i saw that live yesterday. i was amazed.

>> john kerry claims headway is being made in a ceasefire. but leaders are casting doubt on a potential breakthrough. one member says it will take at least 15 days to neutrali izize tunnels in the country. until then the bloodshed will continue. 724 palestinians dead. 29 since midnight alone. this morning a school in gaza was hit by incoming israeli fire. a boy lo-- man lost his sons, mother, sister in a fire over the weekend. >> i found my mother was thrown in the wreckage of the flat. and i found the leg of my son coming out of the wreckage.

so i realized at this moment that nobody's going to survive from inside. >> the all-out assault on both side continues so much so that an astronaut tweeted this photo taken from the international space station of explosions and rocket fire. let's go now to gaza. ayman mohyeldin is standing by. we saw part of our interview with that grieving father and husband. bring us to the latest so far today. >> reporter: good morning. as it has been, every morning you wake up and you get a sense of what happens overnight. most of the time it's some disturbing news as results of the overnight air strikes. this morning has been no different. today's concentration was in the southern part of gaza. we are getting preliminary reports from eyewitnesses and residents in the area in the southern part of gaza that overnight at least several

israeli shells landed in a neighborhood killing up to 40 people. again, we're still getting the initial reports. according to eyewitnesses on the ground, palestinian eyewitnesses on the ground. overnight there was intense shelling. a group of families huddled together to try to make their way out of that scene of where the shelling was taking place. according to some of those who survived, they, too, were under attack. we don't know what the motivations were or whether or not there was gunfire being returned back. but horrific descriptions we're getting about what may have happened overnight. the death toll you mentioned now well above 700 on the palestinian side and at least 35 israelis killed. the humanitarian situation continues to worsen. i know it sounds like we're saying it over and over again. but the u.n. is making an appeal for the international community. today the spokesperson frp one of the agencies here said, quote, there is no place safe left for any civilians in gaza.

it gives you a sense of the desperation that even the u.n. is working under as one of their own facilities today came under attack by israeli fire. mika? >> all right, ayman, thank you so much. we'll have guests on both sides of this conflict out here. moving on now, the eu will be debating sanctions against russia today amid fresh concerns about how much that country's aiding pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. the rebels say this video which nbc news could not verify shows the wreckage of the ukrainian fighter jet. it's one of two taken out near where flight 17 went down one week ago. the two war planes were shot down from russian territory. a leader of the rebels now says they had possession of the buk

missile system that was used to take down flight 17. the crisis led to a brawl in ukraine's parliament. lawmakers fought in the aisle over a presidential decree to call up more reserves to defend the border against russian troops. the majority of the lawmakers approved the measure. let's stop right here. want to get to ian. first of all, what do you make of the reaction in ukraine? the downing of the jet liners? then i want to back up to the big picture in what we're waiting to see from europe, specifically germany. ian? >> well, mika, good morning. it's been six months since russia invaded ukraine ab annexed crimea, and got this insurgency in ukraine. it's been seven days since the strikedown of mh-17. the response has been nothing

but stern rhetoric and limited action. that's not going to change putin's copulous. we need to see if they will impose sanctions that will really hurt the russian economy. i don't think they're ready to do that. >> what will hold them back at this point and what exactly -- everybody says we have to wait for germany. what exactly are we expecting? >> the problem with u.s. policy is it's been allowed to be shaped and limited by the lowest common denominator in europe. that's been the hesitancy of the germans and the french to impose for sanctions. that is not a recipe for success. leading from behind is not going to lead the europeans to a more forceful, more firm, more resolved posture.

>> sam stein? >> the problem right here is can you have a united sanction? doe you go guard or try to provide all at once. the key on that yesterday was this fighting between france and england over who is the one with respect to russia. france coming back saying russian oligarchs are resting in london. when you don't have a united european front, it puts that pressure on putin to stop influencing what's happening there. and i think the question remains. how do you get europe to act in one cohesive, comprehensive step? >> ian, what would tougher measures include in your estimation? >> i think we have to move from -- we have to move beyond parking sanctions which impose asset freezes, financial

restrictions, travel bans on individuals and entities to more systemic sanctions that really attack the russian economy on a sectoral basis. it should be the energy sector and the financial sector. similar to what we did in iran. we were able to create a context that made it easier for the europeans to fall behind and support us. this should be the approach the administration takes. >> all right. i want to show now some of the most poignant pictures you'll see so far in this story. it was a day of national mourning in the netherlands as the first bodies of the victims arrived. the country's king and queen joined the mourners as 40 coffins were taken to 40 different hearses. two more planes with victims are expected to arrive later today. the ceremony also involved -- if you'll call it that -- the hearse driving through the streets and just thousands and thousands of people standing to show their respect. >> it was very moving, actually.

the hour and a half drive from the airport to the mortuary where the remains are received. such a small country as you indicated. thousands upon thousands of people lining the highways and overpasses. it was quite a moving scene. >> and after seeing these pictures, you wonder if the netherlands are perhaps the leaders in europe on the levels of sort of dignity in the face of this and moral high ground. i'll show you a poll that will back that up at this point because they are invested in russia and they are saying so what, crack down. let's bring in a dutch-american journal u.s. who has been following the story in the netherlands. first of all, your response, and your thoughts as the victims are being brought home. >> we are a very small country. holland is a small country. it's true. we're basically 16 million people. twice the siess of new york

city. in holland everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who was on the plane. everybody on those overpass on the way of the hearses is looking at somebody that they know, somebody they may know or may have known through somebody else. that brings together a small country. and then there is this sort of sign or this signal of dignity after those five, six days of undignified behavior in eastern ukraine. holland was set up perfectly to show the world we can do this different. we can actually do it in a dignified way. >> you have companies like shell, the netherlands' largest corporation. dutch pension funds are also heavily invested in the company's stock. and yet in the largest dutch newspaper you have this poll that shows a majority support new sanctions. 78% of dutch are in favor of

sanctions even if it harms their economy. it's interesting we can get that from a country who has been so deeply impacted in every way and would be deeply impacted by sanctions. are there questions about why it's taking so long for others to follow suit? >> yes, there are questions. but we were slow ourselves. we're very small. we're not used to talks -- like america. when america talks in a tragedy like this, things happen, the world moves. when holland talks, nobody really listens for the first few day. we need the american president to do it for us or the european union. and that's hard. you need all the companies to line up for you to express the outrage. being small is a disadvantage in this tragedy. and we also don't have the american senators who directly say on tv we need to do military action, we need to secure the perimeter, secure the crash site. we, the dutch, they don't do that. there's none of that on television or in the national debate.

so it took time. and now finally, yes, we are heavily invested in russia. i think after china and germany, we're the biggest trade partner with russia. if we put ourselves on the line and beef up the sanctions that would happen today, we would get hit. and the people still want it, because they're mad. they're angry. and they want to show the world. but if we can't, i don't know. >> let me turn the question around. if there are not severe sanctions, if for some reason russia passes through this without being impacted greatly, vladimir putin personally, what do you suggest is next? >> well, i think what will happen is what's happened in the past. in the past our responses have been tactical sanctions. and russia's response has been to stoke up further the insurgents to arm them. as we saw providing them increasingly sophisticated weapons including the buk

missile that shot down mh-17. if the response continues to be weak, we should expect putin to continue and perhaps go against other countries in the space of the former soviet union. >> thomas? >> ian, as we look at what's taking place with the european union and as mikhail points out there, holland's influence on the eu. when the lesser is not listened to there, what is the point of the muscle, the collective point of the eu if they cannot do something to sanction russia to get its attention? >> it would be left lying to waste, so to speak. i'm amazed at the disproportion in this situation. the eu is an integrated global

economy. it gets 78% of its imported gas from russia. russia is a $2 trillion gas station with only one customer. the eu. so there's a lot of leverage the eu has. if there was an economic showdown, yes the eu would have a price to pay. it would be painful, but the eu's been on three years of growth. small growth, but positive growth. russia is a teetering economy. if there was an economic showdown built around severe sanctions by the west, it would be a body blow to the russian economy. >> all right. we're going to get to other news and return to this. there is renewed scrutiny this morning over lethal injections after what opponents of the death penalty are calling another botched execution. this one happened in arizona where it took joseph wood nearly two hours to die. witnesses say it was a troubling scene as the convicted murderer repeatedly gasped and snorted. >> to watch a man lay there for an hour and 40 minutes gulping

air, i can lighten it to if you catch a fish and throw it on the shore. >> he was clearly struggling for breath. and that's atypical. usually an execution takes 10, 11 minutes and you see virtually nothing. >> wood's attorney filed for a stay which the supreme court denied after he was pronounced dead. it was the first time arizona used the drug, but three other states encountered problems in the past. woed was convicted in 1991 of killing his ex-girlfriend debbie deets and her father gene at the family's body shop. it's interesting to get this perspective which makes sense, the family says it's wrong to focus on how he died instead of the crimes he committed. >> everybody b here from what i heard said it was excruciating.

you don't know what excruciating is. what's excruciating is seeing your dad lying there in a pool of blood, seeing your sister lying there in a pool of blood. this man deserved it. and i shouldn't really call him a man. he deserved everything he had coming to him. >> according to the arizona department of corrections, medical professionals in charge confirm eed wood was comatose through the procedure and never in pain or distress. republican governor jan brewer says -- >> how would they know? >> i know. then the question is after you hear the victims' relatives speak is the question she posed. brewer said wood died in a lawful matter but is concerned about how long it lasted and will order a full investigation. sam stein? >> listen, i sympathize with the victims' family. >> i do too. >> i don't need to say this, but just because we're questioning the execution of this man doesn't mean we sympathize with

this man. he's a monster, he was sentenced to die. but this is the second or third really botched execution in recent memory. in which we've had had to wonder whether we are actually doing this properly. and there's a shroud of secrecy of lethal drugs in the bodies. because the courts won't let people say who manufactures the drugs. but if we're going to legally kill people, if that's going to be our law, we need to figure out how to do this in a more humane practice. we are, i think, the fifth most executions behind china, iran, iraq, and saudi arabia. that's quite a list to be on. >> one of the most interesting things about the death penalty is this series of controversy around how it is carried out were preceded by controversies

of wrongful convictions. we've had 20 years of successive blows to the credibility of capital punishment. wherever you think about it, clearly there are people who have been put to death wrongly. and people worry about the way we put people to death is wrong. we're getting to the point we may have a debate that is a debate that's been in the offing for a long time about whether there is still a national consensus behind the practice in general and the principle behind it. >> the estimate for the wrongful deaths, the most recent strieste is 1 in every 12 people are innocent. >> someone who had 20 years to prove his innocence. he was on death row. again, as we look at -- >> yes, correct. >> as we look at the criticalness of what it means to put people legally to death and humanely, obviously there is something going wrong. that this is not the way it's supposed to happen effectively.

it's not working. seeing the family members talk about what it means to them, what they had to endure does help put it in perspective as this is evaluated. >> the problem with the national debate over the death penalty is it's an internal problem. it becomes so highly emotional that you lose any threat of common sense. the death penalty for my money is a deterrent only to the person being executed. the vast majority of homicides are committed in an instant, in a rage, an emotional rage among lovers or partners or strangers, whatever. deterrence plays no factor in that. the ultimate deterrent if we were to choose to use it is the certainty of life in prison. no parole. the certainty of life in hell of prison. >> that would do it. still ahead on "morning joe," distinguished for extraordinary acts of heroism,

the most recent medal of honor recipient sergeant ryan pitts joins us. plus we'll get to the bottom of this brooklyn bridge flag mystery. heilemann? >> i have no comments on my whereabouts. >> let's just say the news on this is not better. it's ira means for the future of facebook. and how police were able to bring down a carjacking suspect. but first bill kairns with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. we finally had a hot summer day across much of the country yesterday. great lakes, you're the exception, of course. we had big thunderstorms rolling through the northeast last night. now those have pushed off the coast and dissipated. but down in virginia, from d.c. southwards, we saw rain to greet you this morning. it's crossing i-95 as we speak. just some showers this morning. improving this afternoon.

in virginia and north carolina we'll keep the storms right through the day. here's your forecast for today. going to be a beautiful day especially in the afternoon after we get rid of the clouds. from philadelphia northwards, just an enjoyable day. it was a very hot day. now, just because the great lakes is chilly, we've been very hot in the west. it was 103 in salt lake city yesterday. 97 in dallas yesterday. and today the heat continues to bake. we should be 100 in dallas. here's what's interesting. we're stuck in this weather pattern, and even as we go into next week, another polar invasion. can you believe it? this is two in the month alone. but next week we're looking at minus 10 to minus 20 degree temperatures compared to average in the great lakes and ohio valley. they're complaining they haven't had a summer from chicago to detroit. it doesn't look like it'll return any time soon.

washington, d.c., some showers. we'll get clearing this afternoon leading to what should be a beautiful weekend. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ who's more excited about back to school savings at staples? the moms? or the dads? with guaranteed low prices on notebooks, it's definitely the dads. staples. make more happen for less. ahhh! what is it? there are no marshmallows in this box of lucky charms! huh... weird... seriously? what? they're magically delicious the summer of this.mmer. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. where memories will be forged into the sand.

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and rack up points to use towards the things you really want. now get 50% off all new smartphones. ♪ time now to take a look at the morning papers from our parade of papers. the seattle times, president obama has declared a state of emergency in washington as one of the worst wildfires in state history continues to burn. over 2500 firefighters are battling the massive fire which has spread over a quarter million acres. one person killed and nearly 500 homes evacuated. officials say the fire is over 50% contained. >> "the new york times" shows ase acetaminophen may not be as good

as thought to relieve back pain. found that difference between the recovery it took that took acetaminophen and a placebo. >> i could have told you that about back pain. >> nice. u.s. today, evauthorities say t suspects in stub hub would use stored credit card information to rack up ticket orders which they would later resell for a profit. the thieves are accused of stealing more than $1.6 million worth of tickets, john heilemann. was that you? >> i'm his stubhub. >> mike is my stubhub. >> go ahead, thomas. >> "wall street journal" is now reporting that facebook is trying to make it easier for you

to find content on the web without leaving its website or app. they're working on new ways to incorporate all sorts of content searches. it was last week that facebook celebrated shakira's 100 millionth like. that's a first for the company. the page has become the page of facebook where fans can watch her music, buy her music, and get updates about future appearances. >> the daily mail, chances are you may be standing next to a millionaire in new york. one out of every 25 new yorkers make seven figures. new york city ranks fourth on the worldwide list behind monaco, zurich, and geneva. >> and they say we're out of touch with the real people. >> the new york daily news is reporting rich or not that a study out suggests new yorkers have the blues. >> i think they do.

>> new york city is the unhappiest town in the u.s. according to a study. researchers asked residents how satisfied they are in their lives and factored in race, marital status. the unhappiest are pittsburgh, louisville, milwaukee, and detroit. >> i don't get it. >> detroit maybe. they're shutting people's water off in detroit. >> unbelievable. >> milwaukee is full of happy people. >> absolutely. >> people love their brewers. >> why are people unhappy in new york, you think? >> i found out i'm unhappy i'm walking next to millionaires. >> that might be one of them. >> the happiest places include richmond, norfolk, virginia -- >> no. >> okay. this study is just bogus. >> stop it. >> i have lived in several of those places. very happy people.

>> people are happy in washington because they're so self-aware. >> that could be. >> they are clueless. >> they have no idea that they're wreaking havoc on our country. >> they know it's a misery pit. >> i don't think they do. >> it's not a happy place. >> i live there. >> yes. and maybe the reason people are so unhappy is stanwood is there. >> let's move to the los angeles times. a family was asked to get off a southwest flight after tweeting a negative review of the airline's service. the father says he sent his tweet after he experienced poor service from a southwest employee at their their departing gate. they were later told to delete the tweet in order to board. after the employee mentioned she felt, quote, threatened for her

safety. we weren't there. shush. southwest says -- yeah, what was the tweet? i think we know. it wasn't -- they made him delete it but i think it was something about the rudest -- you know -- >> how big was his twitter account? some random dude, nine followers, take down that tweet. >> this doesn't make sense. >> makes me want to follow him now. >> it kind of proved the guy's point. >> exactly. >> that's something you would do. >> people who run those twitter accounts at the airlines are crotchety sometimes. >> it's hard. >> let's take you to the denver post where a tv news helicopter got the last moments o after dramatic run. a man broke into a house with a gun crashing through the garage in the stolen suv. police had been looking for the guy in connection with a string.

the suspect makes his way towards a busy interstate where after being stuck in a ditch he attempts to steal another vehicle. police catch up to him. and with help of bystanders, he is taken into custody. but he's armed there. running down the street with the gun. but the cop takes him down. >> that's when you would use that choke hold. >> there you go. >> i don't know why you like that so much. >> i like the guy in the shorts coming to help out. >> because the cop wins. >> okay, fine. the whole thing's sad. okay. joining us now with the politico playbook, the ceo of politico jim vandehei. jim, we're starting this morning politico with the clinton wars. really? now, why? what's going on? in the d.c. suburbs? what's going on? >> this is a house race to watch. barbara comstock who anybody from the old clinton days knows. she was the lead investigator.

and now she's running for a seat. i think she's on the odds on favorite to win in virginia. it's sort of a rehash of the '90s wars. she's got all the ken starr figures from the '90s supporting her. running against her you have terry mcauliffe who is involved with the clintons in the '90s. paul begala in this piece trashing her. she's saying shes going to come back to washington and be a reprisal of what we saw in the 1990s. and it's one of the closer races. she's an interesting person, a workaholic, and been a thorn in the clintons' side. >> is this northern virginia, jim? >> yeah. frank wolf's district not far from d.c. relatively a swing district. it's one that mitt romney won. it's one republicans should win, but it's close enough if you

have terry mcauliffe and others pouring money into it, given her name it makes it one of the few competitive house races. >> jim vandehei, thank you very much. coming up, round two of the tony dungy explanation tour. the former coach's message to michael sam next in "morning joe" sports. he doesn't stop. ♪ you make a great team.

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♪ welcome back, everybody. here we go. time for sports. trying to explain away his comments tony dungy told dan patrick his words would not have been a big deal if they were about jonathan martin who left the organization after being bullied by a teammate. >> if we had the same quote or comment, nobody's going to play those quotes two months or three months later and try to say that, you know, there's any more to it than what was actually said. >> dungy also went on in that interview with a message specifically for michael sam. >> i would want to wish him the best and let him know, you know,

i have no bitterness or animosity towards him even though i don't agree with his lifestyle. i love him. and i wish him the best and i'd love to say that to him. >> you know, couldn't he just have left out that one comment? couldn't he? why you got to? why did he have to go there? feels the need. sorry. am i wrong? am i out of place here? >> he's always been straightforward about his beliefs. >> that's fine, but we're trying to -- i think we're trying to make amends right now. >> he clearly doesn't stop talking. >> just i love him and i wish him the best would be really nice. right? probably the right thing to do opposed to what he did which was the wrong thing to do which was to just get another dig in there on his opinions that he should keep to himself. anyhow. >> okay. >> i'm going to clean my purse out now. >> okay. let's switch gears. to baseball in atlanta.

one out and a man on third. >> full count. and right to the shortstop on contact. hayward headed home. he avoided a tag and safe. >> would get a great move there making it back to third thanks to slick base running. >> talk about lazy defense. look at that. what a lazy tag. >> like the matrix. >> they can't conduct a rundown. >> guys never played pickle? come on. >> scary moment in seattle between the mets and mariners. takes a fastball to the helmet. that hit him in the forehead. he laid on the ground for several seconds before walking off the field under his own power. this is the second game in a row he's been hit by a pitch. he stayed in after getti inting plunked on the hand the night

before. a strange game to show you between the nationals and rockies where one member of each team refused to leave the field. >> there's one player from each team not about to leave the field. >> we've got a standoff going between barnes and barrett. providing sun screen. the game's about to start, so barrett put a helmet on. >> and look, barnes wants to do rock paper scissors to see who leaves the field first. >> there's no way they can let him stand there. barnes is on the field. >> denard span steps out, jordan baker just whistled at brandon barnes and told him to get off the field. >> this is going to be everywhere on every highlight reel. and barrett wins. >> i don't know what he won there. the nats lose the game 6-4. not sure what all that was for. coming up next, mika's must

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the only bb cream with the wrinkle fighting power of roc retinol. new from roc. ♪ time now for the must read opinion pages. just want to take a politico reporting here that as the president was in the west coast yesterday to meet with donors from two top democratic superpacs, they were kept out. they were left on the gravel path outside not even within the sight of former costco ceo's house in the seattle suburbs. and there's some concern there. reporters were pressing as to why they couldn't go in and see the fund raiser. little more open coverage given the nature of the event. and white house secretary said not this time.

>> taxpayer dollars are paying for the trip out west. there is a right to have some sort of coverage here. i agree with the press. they're clamping down way too much on things like this. >> some might argue why. >> not asking to sit in the room but give us a sampling of what they're doing with their time. >> at least the garage or something. >> do we know what portions are paid by the democratic national committee? >> you're right. a portion is paid by the dnc. they say, you know, they siphon off that stuff. but, you know, these are divvied up between actually presidential events, these trips. the speeches that he gives and the fund raisers. and so just to get out west there is a portion of taxpayer money that goes to it. but even without that i think the press is entitled to know who has the president's ear. and, you know, getting a little bit of access from the white house on that front is an

important thing and shouldn't be stifled. >> here's some opinions on the president's fund raising. this is from "the wall street journal." obama to the world, drop dead. as the world burns the president spent this week fiddling at fund raisers in the living rooms of five democratic party fat cats. as white house communications director jennifer malmieri famously explained, changing the president's fund raising schedule can have the unintended consequence of unduly alarming the american people or creating a false sense of crisis. who's alarmed in what false sense of crisis? putin's masked men in eastern ukraine shot an ash out of the air just about the time israel and hamas commenced their death struggle. this week the original 9/11 commission put out an update

saying the complacency that led to 9/11 is happening again. how to explain to someone who claims he can run the country out of his back pocket while he flies from fund raiser to fund raiser. not even the white house of lyndon johnson was so purely politicized. >> seems over the top. >> i think that is over the top. i think he can run the country wherever he is. given the fact he's fund raising, might it also make sense to set up situations where you talk to the press and make statements about it. if you don't want to unduly scare the people. aren't you supposed to send messages? make statements? calm the american people? speak to us? make sure he leads? >> yeah. and i think the claim of the white house are two things. one of which is hypocritical

which is this notion we don't want to engage in political theater yet they're constantly engaging in polite theater. if you're going to say this president has the ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. he should walk and chew gum at the same time. and the truth is in the president's case, he needs to do both. >> it's really, really hard to -- you know, the fund raising aspect of it is -- it's necessary, quite frankly. i don't think it's being balanced with el. >> with the midterm elections coming up, the president has a right to raise funds for democratic candidates. democratic candidates want him to do that. he should be doing that. there's no reason to not be doing both things at the same time. plenty of hours in the day. coming up, a group of kayakers go for the ride of their lives. news you can't use next. ♪ st signed up for your credit report site and i have a problem. i need to speak with your fraud resolution department.

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yes. >> what? >> star wars theme music. >> is that what that is? i would have never known. >> there was a big movie called "star wars." >> i watched five minutes of one of them and thought it was so weird. and walked out. are you a trekkie? >> well those are two different things. star wars is a movie.

star trek is a show. >> so just when you thought that american politicians couldn't fall lower, now comes this. new words on how popular iconic star wars characters are in the eyes of the public. turns out even darth vader does better than some 2016 contenders. the net favorability ratings of luke sky walker and han solo and darth vader top hillary clinton, mike huckabee, and rand paul. >> all right. so a few kayakers in argentina had quite the experience when they not only found themselves near breaching humpback whales but also got taken for a ride. these creatures lifted the riders out of the water before setting them down and going on

their way. the kayakers have shared their trip with 2 million youtube viewers. >> that is so cute. wouldn't you be scared? >> yes. >> my gosh. >> what are you doing going out there with a camera? >> for moments like that. coming up at the top of the hour, the calls for a ceasefire continue to grow, but israel's attacks on hamas go into its 17th day. plus we'll go live to ukraine and amsterdam for the latest in the downing of mh-17. how much help are separatists getting from moscow? and we'll try to solve the white flag mystery. it's not funny what happened there. we'll be talking about that and much more when "morning joe" returns. you owned your car for four years.

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♪ the dutch people today paid tribute to their own. >> six days of confusion and indignity ended at last. >> a solemn procession across the dutch countryside. >> the sight of 40 hearses tells one painful story. but the dignified silence of those who stood and watched tell another. >> i can't say good-bye. they're in my heart forever. >> two more ukrainian fighter jets were shot down.

>> many woundered if whoever sht down the malaysian plane would lay low. today they got their answer. >> this airport is open. there's no reason whatsoever for the mistake in the faa mistake. >> they have now lifted their ban on american flights out of tel aviv. >> if you don't feel safe here, i don't know where you'd feel safe. i think the state department is overreacting. >> how secure do you feel? >> i feel very secure. >> secretary of state kerry's jet landed. >> through the dawn of a 16th day the remorseless shelling shows no sign of ending. >> hamas sees no ceasefire unless the israeli blockade is lifted. >> we need to find the way forward, and it's not violence. >> welcome back to "morning joe." joining the table now the editor of the weekly standard bill kristol is with us.

good to have you with us. joe kline. the cover of this week's new issue is cold war ii. and in washington nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. thank you so much for that. >> you bet. >> we're going to get to all these major developing stories in just a second. we're also a little bit later going to get a live report because police in new york are still trying to figure out who swapped out the american flags on top of the brooklyn bridge for these white flags. dozens of special team detectives have been assigned to the case. some of whom normally work counterterrorism operations. officials say they have the nicknames of this four or five suspects and are trying to find exactly who they are. andrea, i have some people saying this is art let it be. i don't think so.

it's a big problem. >> it's a big problem. they've got the video so presumably they're going to get to it. and we expect that the nypd is supposed to have counterterror operations in all of these places. iconic bridges. nothing could be more iconic than the brooklyn bridge. >> i find it astounding. so we'll be getting a live report from the scene there. we're going to begin this hour with the situation in the middle east. late last night the faa lifted the ban on american flights into tel aviv. critics of the administration accused obama and the faa of enforcing the ban as an economic boycott. but former new york mayor michael bloomberg who flew to israel was outraged when asked if there were any ulterior motives behind the restrictions. >> if you don't feel safe here, i don't know where you'd feel

safe. i think the state department is overreacting. >> political reasons for that? >> that's -- why would you think that? >> did you think that? i'm asking you. >> ridiculous. it's an outrage for you to accuse one of our agencies. by asking the question you're implying our government does things for political reasons. maybe once in awhile they do but it's your job to prove it. i personally take offense. anybody want -- bill kristol? >> i think mike bloomberg was rattled by having to fly commercial for the first time in 20 years or something. >> i don't understand though. >> it's a legitimate question to ask. that was ted cruz's question. did john kerry talk to the faa those are reasonable questions to ask. >> joe? >> it's a reasonable question to ask. >> okay. then he might have been a little tired. all right. let's move on. secretary of state john kerry

claims headway is being made in reaching a ceasefire. but they are casting doubt on a potential breakthrough. one israeli cabinet member says it will take at least a few days for them to neutralize militant tunnels into the country. until then the bloodshed continues. 724 palestinians dead. 29 since midnight alone. this morning a u.n. school in gaza was hit by incoming israeli fire. one man lost his mother, sister, two sons, and his wife pregnant with their third child in a strike over the weekend. >> i had a look on the corridor of the flat. i saw my mother was flown on the record of the flat. and e found the leg of my son coming out of this wreckage. so i realized at this moment that nobody's going to survive

from inside. >> i want to go to andrea mitchell. the assault on both side continued so much that a german astronaut tweeted this photo taken from the international space station showing the rocket fire and explosions as they were happening. andrea, what is the hope in terms of john kerry's efforts especially when you see such unspeakable tragedy? a family decimated. this isn't stopping. >> it's overwhelming. but there doesn't seem to be anything except so-called marginal progress. yesterday he was meeting with the palestinian authority. but he's not meeting with hamas. i mean, hamas is under influence or alive gned in some ways. but hamas is brokering this so-called deal. it doesn't strike me from talking to people on both sides that either side has an interest

right now in a ceasefire. hamas is still demanding long-term changes to the black kad -- blockade of gaza. and israel wants to do something about the tunnels that are much more extensive than originally thought. neither side wants to stop it at this point. >> joe kline, if one of hamas' goals was to ensnare, enmesh the army within gaza -- >> that was their main goal. >> -- and to raise this specter of civilian casualties, they've succeeded in that one goal. >> i think there's been a failure of reporting on our side about the extent of the israeli operation. which compared to 2009, that was really want destruction. the ground offensive is in only

one neighborhood of the east gaza city. the targets, schools, mosques. that's where they store the guns. that's where they store the arms. and it's terrible that families and children are being killed, but that is precisely hamas' purpose in starting this mess. >> andrea? >> let me just say that one thing -- first of all, from the perspective of our people on the ground, joe, it's not one neighborhood. but i'm not there. i can't verify that. i can just tell you what our reporters are saying. richard engel has reported ambulances being targeted, schools, hospitals. but i don't think there's any denying that there have been misfires. >> it's war, andrea. >> i know it's war. but let me make one other point. they have now taken one step further which is going back to their policy of demolishing the

homes of relatives. relatives in the west bank. relatives of those who are the alleged perpetrators. and this is a very controversial policy because it is ascribing guilt to relations who are not even on the scene. and the long-term impact of that to the future -- the reporting comes not only from our own people but from all of the respected newspapers. i'm not talking about either side's claims. either the idf or the so-called gaza health authorities. i'm talking about what "the new york times," "the wall street journal," "the washington post" correspondents on the scene are reporting. >> you know, i think that it's pretty well known that i've been very critical of israel in the past. especially their activities on the west bank and the expansion of settlements and i still am. but in this case i spent the last couple of days talking to

members of the israeli peace movement. you know, people like orrin neer who is the spokesman for americans for peace now. and he called this a just war. he studies these things very, very carefully. and i think that in this case we have to present more nuanced reporting. you know, i see no evidence that the ground war has expanded the ground war. not the air strikes. the ground war has expanded beyond that one neighborhood. >> quickly, andrea. >> the air strikes from outer space, from 200 miles up the air war is a very big part of piit. i'm not saying who started it or a whether the rocketing from gaza isn't part of it. both sides are now a vested interest. what israel has discovered is the most extensive underground tunnel operations well beyond what their intelligence indicated. and they are determined to get that out and hamas is using

human shields. there's no question about that. but the people who are caught in the middle are the people of gaza. that's the asim industymmetry h. >> there's no mystery. it was started by hamas. israel has no belief in going back into gaza. they got out of gaza. i the last thing they want to do is send any young israeli into gaza. israel said this has to stop. egypt said it had to stop. u.s. government said it had to stop. it didn't stop. >> much more to get to. the eu today debated top new sanctions against russia which could include a ban on stock purchases on russian banks. it comes amid fresh concerns about how much that country is aiding pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. the rebels say this video which nbc news could not verify so far

shows the wreckage of a downed ukrainian fighter jet. it's one of two aircraft taken out yesterday about 20 miles from where flight 17 went down one week ago. a top commander for the rebels now admits they had possession of the buk missile system that was likely used to target flight 17. we are getting more and more evidence here. joining us now, nbc news correspondent keir simmons live from eastern ukraine with the latest. keir? >> reporter: good morning. the fighting, those jets came down about 15 miles in that direction. so the war has erupted again as you say. but what really takes your breath away is that even after a week from when mh-17 went down, i'm still able to stand this close to the wreckage. and that if i just take you over in this direction, on the other side of the road here, people's possessions are still lying by the side of the road

uncollected. you can see what a fire ball this was. this is just one of them. across in the field up there, our camera man will give you a look, those are the inspectors who are here doing their work. the investigators who are doing their work looking for evidence about what happened to the plane here. but mika, toi have to tell you, while we were here this morning we found a piece of human remains marked by a white flag and hadn't received it. next to it was a child's shoe. it looked like the age of one of my daughters, actually, two years old. it's really, really disturbing. because you're looking at those pictures in the netherlands of those bodies being taken back and trying to give them some dignity but even though these investigators over here are

working, it's a really slow process. >> a slow process, keir, and you are able almost to walk on the wreckage. i mean, i know you're not going to, but it's not cordoned off. and it doesn't seem to be being protected. >> reporter: that's right. you're right. we've been really careful to not touch anything while we've been here for obvious reasons. but you can just walk on this road. when you say car donned off, that's the cordon there and that's it. there are men armed down the road here. and they are guarding the investigators who are working in the field. so at times these pro-russian rebels do arrive on the scene escorting the western investigators. there are times we're here and there isn't anyone here at all. you wonder when the process is going to start of them clearing this wreckage, maybe taking it somewhere to be analyzed and

when perhaps is someone going to come and get people's things. that's the kind of questions you find yourself asking when you're here for this many days. >> bill kristol, across the street where keir started his report, he was literally standing amidst the wreckage. >> it's terrible. let's be clear about who's starting this war. it's russian-backed separatists who are firing now, having taken down a civilian airliner a year ago. they are cheerfully firing missiles at ukrainian planes. i suppose ukrainian civilians not on military missions as we know are legitimate targets and no one cares about them. but of course understandably when a huge civilian airliner goes down, it's a bigger thing. as in the hamas case, the destruction is terrible, war is terrible. but let's be clear about who is responsible for this. this is putin providing these arms to russian-backed separatists as part of his

strategy to snatch back part of ukraine. and the question is is the west going to be serious about dealing with putin at all? >> on the cover of the magazine is this story. a reporter on the ground there makes a strong argument that the u.s. isn't going to be willing to do anything. you know, it's in the europeans' back yard and, you know, they have been enslaved by russian oil and gas. you know, before we get to sanctions, before we get to putin, you have to ask yourself has our culture, has our world become so desensitized to basic elements of human life and death that we can sit there and watch this field still filled with body parts and belongings to the dead, 298 of them, and there's no real visible sense of international or certainly european combined with american

outrage. >> condemnation. >> at what is going on here for a week. >> well, the netherlands is offering it up. >> it's outrageous. >> let me ask you a question. what's the cover line? >> cold war ii. >> so we all know the cold war was the fundamental aspect of it was the threat of nuclear annihilation on both sides. so how far can this go? how much like the old cold war could this new cold war get to? >> we'll see over time. it depends on how ruthless putin wants to be. my feeling about this particular case is there's an argument that could be made that eastern ukraine have been historically part of russia. and, you know, they should be able to determine their own destiny. but, you know, if putin uses this and as a lesson if he takes this as an educational moment as

the president would say and moves into other areas like the baltic states and so on, you know, there's going to come a time when the west is going to have to respond. >> our thanks to keir simmons. joining us now from amsterdam, katy tur. katy, you've been covering the scene as the bodies of the victims started to come home. a poignant, heart breaking scene that has happened there over the past 24 hours. >> reporter: you know, it's the exact opposite of what keir's seeing in the ukraine. all of that inhumanity that he's observing in that wreckage where he's unfortunately and disgustingly still finding bodies and remains and the belongings of these people. the opposite of that is here in the netherlands where the dutch people have really come together to show some respect and restore some of that dignity. 40 bodies landed yesterday. they were given 40 separate coffins. they were loaded into 40 hearses

and they were taken along this really solemn processional through the dutch countryside where people came out to pay their respects. people were asked not to line the streets, but they came out anyway to say good-bye, to honor those that were lost to pay tribute and to watch as they came here just outside of amsterdam. this is where the identification process is going to begin to take place. now depending on the condition of the bodies and we're told the condition is not good, it could take days, weeks, or months. these families still have quite a bit of time before they're going to see some closure. once they do positively identify them, though, there's not going to be a lot of red tape. they'll be given back directly to e the families so they can have their funerals, memorials, ceremonies. they can begin to put this behind them and remember them. if they're not from the netherlands even though most of these passengers were, they will be immediately repatriated. but im tell you. you see a lot of funerals in

this business. you see a lot of really solemn things and the dutch have just come out in full force. and they have shown the world how to honor people. especially when they've been so dishonored given what we're seeing still in the ukraine. >> katy, the netherlands obviously mass a close relationship with russia economically were more so than other countries. yet there seems to be a support for sanctions where you are. >> reporter: which is a big deal for them to come out and support sanctions. they're russia's third biggest trading partner. the biggest importer of oil and gas is the netherlands. as for exports, they do a lot of exporting. agriculture mostly. flowers to cheese and eggs to machinery. since putin took power, the expoerts of this country have quadrupled to $7 billion. that's quite a lot of money and quite a lot at stake. so boycotts or sanctions or a

bad relationship with russia would be very costly with them so they're treading on very thin ice. they're having to weigh what the people of this country want and what they're demanding that there's some justice for their loved ones. and the economic safety of this country. >> really when you think about it, that does say it all. the west has gotten very good in honoring victims and paying due respects. we're a civilized nation, so we treat the dead appropriately and so forth, but are we not willing to fight for it. the dutch is one of the most -- they've done everything for putin in the past. but now it took this to be serious about it. if they're going let economic relations overcome the killing murder of -- >> evil. that's the choice here. sacrifice in the face of evil or not standing up to evil. and the netherlands seems ready to do that. according to polls there in a

major dutch newspaper, 78% support sanctions even though it hurts them directly economically. waiting on other countries. katy tur, thank you so much. bill kristol, thank you as well. bill klein, thank you as well. still ahead, police are looking for five suspects wanted in can eonnection to the brookl bridge flag swap. plus he's the survivor of an attack. sergeant ryan pitts will join us in a bit. next. you're watching "morning joe." when folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well:

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ways is unprecedently isolated. hamas is isolated today in the arab world. it was hamas that said no to a ceasefire proposal. it was hamas that said no to a ceasefire that abbas endorsed. i think hamas has a major problem today we the people of gaza. you've seen tin the papers they can't express their opinion. the people of gaza didn't want that war. >> that was yesterday on "morning joe." this morning the palestinian liberation organization's representative to the united states. mr. ambassador, thank you for being on this morning. >> thank you. >> i believe it was a week ago that you said it was a matter of time before there would be a ceasefire. has that type passed?

>> well, i think no, the time has not passed. i think our intensive efforts being undertaken right now by different parties including president abbas in coordination of the secretary of state, egypt, and other regional players. iss reel has intensified its attacks against the gaza strip over the last week. so far 735 palestinians have been killed. 4500 wounded. including 160 children, 90 elderly. 82% of the casualties are civilians. the excessive use of force is not contributing positively to the efforts to reach a ceasefire. >> i understand that you believe that. what are the requirements necessary from your perspective for the fighting to stop? >> we always perceived this as being a political problem. i listen to the gentleman who

was earlier on. he said israel withdrew from the gaza strip and the palestinians are attacking israel. this is not true. israel pulled its troops in 2005 but it's still under israeli military occupation. palestinians are living in an open jail air prison there. they are not allowed to move in and out. there is a political problem that needs to be addressed. ceasefire is a necessity. is an urgent necessity. but in addition to that, the root causes, underlining causes of this conflict must be addressed. >> andrea mitchell, jump in. >> ambassador, because of the death toll and the obvious fact that gazans are trapped there and subject to the fire, the return fire from the rocketing that began with gaza, why not a

ceasefire now and then address all the issues of the blockade? because if hamas continues to insist on going beyond the egyptian proposal that the arab league and palestinian authorities and others did support for a ceasefire first and then negotiate all of the outstanding obvious issues. this will continue and more and more people -- your people will die. >> well, two things here. first of all, all the efforts now are being focused on the egyptian initiative introducing elements into the initiative that egypt proposed ten days ago in order to be satisfactory to all parties. the second thing, andrea, as you recall israel in 2012 accepted the 2012 understandings. everybody including u.s. administration, include israel, are looking for a return to

2012. one aspect of that that understanding was lifting the blocka blockade. and did not comply with the aspect of lifting the blockade. so the palestinian people, the palestinian leadership all agree that there must be a lifting of this blockade on the gaza strip as part of any agreement to reach a ceasefire. of course we are interested in stopping the bloodshed. israel is much more powerful than the palestinians. we understand that, but there has to be a political aspect with guarantees. >> joe klein. >> yeah. ambassador, how has -- how have these events affected the relationship between the palestinian authority and hamas? early on president abbas said if it were established as it pretty well has been now that hamas kidnapped and murdered those three kids that the unity deal

would be broken. also that -- you know, those sanctions were imposed only after the government was overthrown by a hamas coup. is there still a unity government there? >> well, first of all i would disagree with you on who kidnapped the three teenage settlers and murdered them. even israel is saying today whoever acted acted individually and that hamas did not issue the order. so i would be cautious here not to assign blame. secondly we do have a national consensus government formed on june 2nd. i think that development is playing a positive factor in the ongoing efforts right now to reach political solution to this conflict. the fact that president abbas is the head of that national consensus government has proven to be a positive factor in these

efforts. >> okay. sam stein. >> first off i want to say i don't think you actually answered andrea's question about why there can't be a ceasefire and then negotiation of the blockade. i'd like you to take a second stab at that. the question i want to ask is do you believe that the u.s. government, secretary kerry specifically, should be talking directly to hamas. i know he's talking to netanyahu, but hamas has been the one that scuttled the previous attempts of a ceasefire. in your estimation, would it make any sense for the u.s. government to be directly engaging hamas? >> well, i think the u.s. is engaging president abbas who represents the palestinian national consensus government. i think eventually the united states and all the parties should be talking to all different factions within the palestinian society. and back to the ceasefire, i think i did answer. i said that we need a ceasefire. it's an urgent necessity for the

palestinian people because we are paying a heavy price in erm t terms of civilian casualties. at the same time there has to be a political solution to this problem. we don't want this to happen again in a year or two years. there has to be a political solution in order to end the conflict. >> can you do that after the cease foo ir? zblit can be done together. >> no it can't. >> it has to be a ceasefire and very clear follow-up steps. in the previous attacks in 2008, 2009, and in 2012, israel promised to work to lift the blockade and they have not kept their promise. >> ambassador, thank you very much for being on the show. >> thank you. coming up, more questions surrounding the brooklyn bridge flag swap. police are looking for suspects and believe it may have been an inside job. those details next when "morning joe" returns. ♪

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were bleached white. nbc news correspondent jeff rossen has the latest. >> reporter: good morning. as we've been talking about, this has become a real headache and embarrassment for the city of new york. so the nypd trying to double down on security this morning on the brooklyn bridge. these counterterrorism officers positioned here. there's a scooter going back and forth on the walkway and we've seen an nypd chopper flying in the air too. also new information on the investigation itself. police still don't know who it is, but sources tell nbc news that the suspects four or five of them on the videotape are in their early 20s. one of them carries something that looks like a skate board. it all comes down to grainy surveillance footage now. the nypd comparing security footage from the incident from footage from other cameras in that area hoping to make an identification. they know it was multiple people, they just don't know

who. >> though the official footage may be grainy, there are ways in which to corroborate that footage given that time who's in the area. eyewitnesses may come forward. >> reporter: the nypd is also going online scanning social media for any leads. hoping the suspects will brag about their exploits. >> this does not look like a drunken stunt. that type of planning targeting this structure indicates that others might want to copy cat or see it as a vulnerability. >> reporter: police believe the cowl pretties know the bridge well and may have been in restricted areas here before. they may have climbing experience. advanced enough to get around a locked security gate. and they now the exact size catering tins to bring to cover the lights on the towers. for all the talk of security at landmarks, new yorkers now losing their patience. >> it is a concern because it could be a security issue. >> that's what it leaves me with

is curiosity about what else could possibly happen. >> reporter: investigators are also working on forensics here. are there any fingerprints on the flag or anywhere else up and down the brooklyn bridge seeing to identify the suspects. if it was a stunt to get the attention of officials, it certainly worked. not only here in new york city but across the country. think about it, brooklyn bridge one of the biggest terror togethers in the nation. one of the biggest land marks. they were able to pull this off here. what does that mean? would they pull things off in other cities? you can bet many are paying close attention this morning. >> that was jeff rossen. thank you. andrea mitchell because i'm not taking you guys seriously. to jeff's questions which are quite serious, how did that happen? >> well, they've got to figure this one out. but just yesterday and the day before we were here in

washington hearing a report from lee hamilton and tom cain ten years after their 9/11 report saying that some of the key recommendations had still not been implemented. the most important one being that homeland security reports to more than 90 congressional committees and subcommittees. so congress has refused to streamline the oversight of all of these homeland committee actions. and that they still have a lot of work to do on the fixes from 9/11. so you just have to ask yourself how could new york city, the biggest target potentially in the nation not be more secure than to let perhaps their pranksters and kids with skate boards, but it can be even worse. we saw the dive from the top of the freedom tower. there have been too many incidents. >> when you climbed up the side of the bridge, did you wear that black rubber body suit? >> seriously. >> i'm the only one at this

table probably that goes back and forth along the brooklyn bridge. >> this is not funny. >> they have cop stations on each side of the bridge. as you might know, after a lot of years in which nothing has happened, a lot of those cops are taking a nap. there's a lot of -- there's not a lot of intensity in the surveillance that's going on there. the cop cars are stationed there at the end of the bridge, but there's a fair amount of the cars might be empty on some occasions. or snoozing. >> it's not sleeping. my husband did a story on this. it's texting. they're on their phones a lot. and it's something to look at. another thing the nypd should look at. >> it took a lot of planning. really. >> somebody missed something there happening at the brooklyn bridge. andrea mitchell, thank you. we'll be tuning into "andrea mitchell reports" today at noon. thank you so much. up next, for nearly two hours he defended his post until the very end holding off taliban fighters until re-enforcements

could come in. the latest recipient of the medal of honor joins us next with his story.

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♪ valor was everywhere that day and the real heroes are the nine men who made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us could return home. it is their names, not mine, that i want people to know. specialist sergio abad. corporal jonathan ayers. corporal jason bogar. sergeant israel garcia. corporal jason hobader. corporal matthew phillips.

corporal pruit rainey. >> very poignant moment there. it was earlier this week that president obama awarded the medal of honor to retired staff sergeant ryan pitts for defending an outpost in afghanistan all by himself in 2008 during one of the deadliest conflicts in the u.s. mission in afghanistan. and retired staff sergeant pitts joins us on set here in new york. great to have you here. congratulations. that had to be a huge honor for you to receive this medal. but you take the time there to talk about those who lost their lives on that day. this was in 2008. take us back to that day. >> it was early morning and it seemed like almost any other day. and then heard a burst of machine gun fire from the north. and then rpgs hit our position and the whole valley erupted as about 200 fighters attacked 40

americans. >> you were 22 at the time. you're now just 28 years old. but 22 at the time. what was going through your mind at that time? because this was towards the end of the time that you were supposed to be there, correct? >> we'd be there about 14 months app and we were about three weeks from going home. you know, for me what was going through my mind, i was wounded early on, but i'm watching all these other guys fight, returning fire. running to reinforced positions. i just felt i had to do my part like everybody else. >> you know, ryan, you know obviously what happened that day never leaves you. the memories of it, the noise, the clamor, the casualties. talk to us about the weight that you carry each and every day. you mentioned your brothers who died that day. talk about how they must be with you at moments of every day.

you see a cloud formation, you hear a song on the radio, something that will trip wire your mind back to them in that day. >> there are different triggers. but i think of all of them every day. some days i think about certain ones more than others. i remember funny stories if there's another similar experience. when i play poker it reminds me of rainey and phillips. they like to play poker. but i think of them all the time. >> can i ask you what reintegration is like? what does our army, political system do helping people get back into society. how has the medical care been for you personally six years after this event? >> there was a lot of support for reintegration.

there were numerous classes we took for us to get out and to do internships. as far as medical care, it was phenomenal at walter reed. it's been positive. >> so there are also ways in which you try and move on, but keep the men that you lost, your brothers, with you. you've had some beautiful moments in your life since you came back. including receiving the medal of honor which was also two years to the day, correct? that the you married to amy. who is standing behind you there. hi, amy. >> hi, amy. >> how are you? and also i noticed you had a very firm hand shake. and then we have this. this is you -- we have video of you i think at the stock exchange yesterday. was that yesterday morning? >> yes. >> what the -- you broke it. >> he told me to make sure everybody could hear it. that's all i was trying to do. >> it snapped.

>> always a soldier following orders. >> i love the facial expression there. >> everybody heard it, for sure. thank you. so much for your service. for your sacrifice. we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ when laquinta.com sends him a ready for you alert the second his room is ready, ya know what salesman alan ames becomes? i think the numbers speak for themselves.

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okay. coming up at the top of the hour, mixed messages in the middle east as secretary kerry cites progress towards a cease-fire, however israeli officials say they need more time. plus new attempts to secure the crash site of flight 17. the latest developments out of eastern ukraine. and then a wild scene, crime scene ending in dramatic fashion, all caught on tape. how the police were able to apprehend an armed gunman in colorado. all that and more when "morning joe" returns.

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♪ >> the dutch people today paid tribute to their own. >> six days of confusion and indignity ended at last. >> a solemn procession across the dutch countryside. >> the sights of 40 hearses tells one painful fraction of this story, but the dignified silence of those who stood and watched tells another. >> two more ukrainian fighter jets were shot down. >> many wondered if whoever shot down the malaysian plane would lay low. today they got their answer. >> this airport is open. there's no reason whatsoever for the mistaken faa decision. >> aviation authorities have now lifted their ban on american flights in and out of tel aviv. >> if you don't feel safe here, i don't know how you'll feel safe. >> how secure do you feel? >> i feel very secure. >> one american plane did land in tel aviv, secretary of state

john kerry's official jet. >> with hopes of a cease-fire, through the dawn of a 16th day, the remorseless shelling shows no sign of end. >> and hamas sees no cease-fire unless the israeli blockade is lifted. >> we need to find a way forward, and it's not violence. it's 8:00 a.m. on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. on the west coast as you take a live look at new york city. with us on set, mike barnicle, sam stein and john heilemann. and in washington, ian brzezinski. so much news to get to. let's get right into it. we're going to begin with a situation in the middle east. late last night the faa lifted a ban on american flights into tel aviv. critics of the administration accuse president obama and the faa of enforcing the ban as an economic boycott. but former new york mayor michael bloomberg, who flew el al in a show of solidarity to

israel was outraged when asked if there was ulterior motives behind the restrictions. >> if you don't feel safe here i dhn where you'll feel safe. i think the state department is overreacting. >> political reasons for that? >> don't be ridiculous. why do you think that? it's an outrage for you to accuse one of our agencies by asking the question. you're implying that our government does things for political reasons and maybe every once in a while they do but it's your job to prove it. just the allegation against our government i personally take as an offense. >> okay. let's try and understand what's going on here. because, i believe, that the former mayor, who you know i love, went there critical of the restrictions. correct? are we all in agreement of that? >> yes. >> and did some theater with benjamin netanyahu to let everyone know how safe it is and is critical of the restrictions, john heilemann.

so what's with being so difficult on the questions? why go? >> well, i think he was making a straightforward point. >> what's his point? >> he thinks the restrictions are mistaken but not driven by a political motive by the administration or by the faa to try to punish israel for what it's doing. >> okay. but why did you laugh when you watched that sound bite. >> i didn't laugh, it's always interesting to see two great men in a state of -- a bit of haggling on television. >> what's the haggling over, sam? >> i have no idea. i think they were in agreement, i couldn't really tell. >> what happened? >> it was a weird interview. i don't know what to say about it. >> he had a long flight on a commercial airline. >> exactly. it's an 11-hour flight. >> it's a contradiction of trying to accuse wolf to gen up a controversy when he is asking him a legitimate question with a man that has direct ties to washington, d.c. i saw that live yesterday, i was amazed by the interview.

secretary of state john kerry meanwhile claims headway is being made in reaching a cease-fire, but hamas leaders and israeli leaders are casting doubt on a potential breakthrough. one israeli cabinet member says it will take at least a few days for them to neutralize militant tunnels in the country. until then, the bloodshed continues. 32 israeli soldiers killed, 724 palestinians dead. 29 since midnight alone. this morning a u.n. school in gaza was hit by incoming israeli fire. hassan lost his mother, sister, two sons and his wife who was pregnant with their third child in a strike over the weekend. >> i had to look on the corridor of the flat and i found my mother was thrown on the wreckage of the flat. i found the leg of my son coming out of the wreckage. so i realized at this moment

that nobody is going to survive from inside. >> the all-out assault on both sides continues, so much so that a german astronaut tweeted this photo taken from the international space station of explosions and rocket fire. let's go now to gaza. nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin is standing by. ayman, we saw part of your interview this morning with that grieving father and husband. bring us up to date on the latest so far today. >> reporter: good morning, mika. well, you know, as it has been every morning, you wake up and you get a sense of what happens overnight. most of the time it's some disturbing news about some of the results of the overnight air strikes. this morning has been no different. today's concentration has been in the southern part of gaza. we are getting preliminary reports and we emphasize these are preliminary reports that we're getting from eyewitnesses and residents in the area in the southern part of gaza that overnight at least several israeli shells landed in the

vicinity of a residential neighborhood, killing up to 40 people. now again, we're still getting the initial reports. according to eyewitnesses on the ground, palestinian eyewitnesses on the ground, overnight there was intense shelling. a group of families huddled together to try to make their way out of that scene where the shelling was taking place. according to some of those who survived, they too came under attack as they were trying to leave under the cover of darkness. we don't know what the motivations were or whether or not there was any gunfire being returned from the palestinian side to the israelis, but some horrific descriptions about what may have happened overnight in the southern part of the gaza strip. the death toll well above 700 on the palestinian side and at least 35 israelis killed, including 32 israeli soldiers. the humanitarian situation continues to worsen. i know it sounds like we're saying it over and over again, but the u.n. really is making an appeal for the international community. today the spokesperson for one of the u.n. agencies here literally said, quote, there is no place safe left for any

civilians in gaza, so it gives you a sense of the desperation that even the u.n. is working under as one of their own facilities today came under attack by israeli fire. mika. moving on now, the e.u. will be debating tough new sanctions against russia today and the fresh concerns about how much that country is aiding pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. the rebels say this video, which nbc news could not verify, shows the wreckage of the downed ukrainian fighter jet. it's one of two aircraft taken out yet about 20 miles from where malaysia airlines flight 17 went down one week ago. a top ukrainian official says the two warplanes were shot down from russian territory. a top commander for the rebels now admits they had possession of the buk missile system that was likely used to target flight 17. he also says it is possible the system was sent back to russia after the tragedy. the crisis led to an all-out brawl in ukraine's parliament.

lawmakers fought in the aisle over a presidential decree to call up more reserves to defend the border against russian troops. the majority of the lawmakers approved the measure. let's stop right here. i want to get to ian. first of all, what do you make of the reaction in ukraine, the downing of the jet liners, and then i want to back up to the big picture in terms of what we're waiting to see from europe, specifically germany. ian? >> well, mika, good morning. good morning to you all. you know, it's been six months since russia invaded ukraine, annexed crimea and stocked up this insurgency and it's been seven days since the tragic shootdown of mh-17. the sad reality of the west response has been nothing but stern rhetoric and limited action. that's not going to change putin's calculus. so it's really europe's moment

today. it's going to be interesting to see if they can stand up, buck up and really impose sanctions that will hurt the russian economy. i'm not confident they're ready to do that but we should keep our fingers crossed. >> what would hold them back at this point, and what exactly -- everyone is saying we will have to wait for germany, it will be so key what angela ameriinela m. what are we expecting? >> the problem with u.s. policy is been allowed to be shaped by europe. they need to provide harsher sanctions, to provide more tangible support for ukraine security. that is not a recipe for success in european policy. leading from behind is not going to lead the europeans to a more forceful, more firm, more resolved posture. >> sam stein? >> i mean the problem right here is can you have a united sanctions regime essentially. do you go lead forward as we an

said or do you try to build a coalition and then try to present all the sanctions at once. the key development that i saw yesterday was this fighting between france and england over who is the purer one with respect to dealing with russia and england sniping at france for selling helicopters and france saying russian oligarchs are resting comfortably in london. so when you don't have a united european front it becomes a lot tougher to put that pressure on putin to essentially get out of eastern ukraine, stop influencing what's happening there. i think the question remains how do you get europe to act in one cohesive, comprehensive step. >> ian, what would tougher measures include in your estimation? >> i think we have to move from -- we have to move beyond targeted sanctions, which basically imposed asset freezes, financial restrictions, travel bans on individuals and entities to more systemic sanctions that attack really the russian economy on a sectoral basis.

the primary targets should be the energy sector and the financial sector. in a way similar to what we did with iran. we were able to create a context that made it easier for the europeans to fall behind and support us. this should be the approach the administration takes. >> all right. i want to show now some of the most poignant pictures you'll see so far in this story. it was a day of national mourning in the netherlands as the first bodies of the victims arrived. the country's king and queen joined the mourners as 40 coffins were taken to 40 different hearses. two more planes with victims are expected to arrive later today. the ceremony also involved, if you'll call it that, the hearse driving through the streets and thousands and thousands of people standing to show their respect for the victims. >> yeah, it was -- it was very moving actually. i mean the hour and a half drive from the airport to the mortuary where the remains are received.

it's such a small country, as you indicated thousands upon thousands of people lining the highways and the byways and the overpasses. it was quite a moving scene. >> and after seeing these pictures, you wonder if the netherlands are perhaps the leaders in europe on the levels of sort of dignity in the face of this and moral high ground. i'll show you a poll that will back that up at this point because they are invested in russia and they are saying so what, crack down. let's bring in michiel vos. first of all, your response and your thoughts as the victims are being brought home. >> we are a very small country. holland is a very small country and it's true. we're like basically 60 million people, twice the size of new york city. so everybody in holland either knows somebody who knows somebody who was on the plane, so a day of national mourning is an instant community bringer. everybody on those overpasses,

along the way of those 40 hearses is looking at something that they know, somebody that they may know or may have known through somebody else and it brings together a small country. and then there is this sort of sign -- yeah, this signal of dignity after those five, six days of undignified behavior in the eastern ukraine. so holland in a way was set up perfectly to show the world, okay, we can do this different. we can actually, you know, do it in a dignified way and that's what happened, i think. >> so you have companies like shell is the netherlands largest corporation, $7 billion in oil and gas assets that are in russia, dutch pension funds are also heavily invested in the company stock and it goes on, and yet in the largest dutch daily newspaper, you have this poll that shows a majority support new sanctions. 78% of dutch are in favor of sanctions, even if it harms their economy. it's interesting we can get that from a country that has been so

deeply impacted in every way and would be deeply impacted by sanctions. are there questions about why it's taking so long for others to follow suit? >> yes, there are questions. but we were slow ourselves. we're very small. like we're not used to talk -- like america, when america talks in a tragedy like this, things happen. the world moves. when holland talks, nobody really listens for the first few days. we need the american president to do it for us or the european union and that's hard because you need all those countries lined up to do something for you, to express that outrage. so being small is a disadvantage in this tragedy. we are basically never heard of, and we also don't have the american senators who directly say on tv we need to do military action, we need to secure the perimeter, secure the crash site. we, the dutch, they don't do that. there's none of that on television or in the national debate. so it took time. and now finally, yes, we are heavily invested in russia. i think after china and germany, we're the biggest investor in

russia, the biggest trade partner with russia. so if we put ourselves on the line and, you know, beef up the sanctions that would happen today, we would get hit and the people still want it because they are mad. they're angry. they want to show the world. but if we can, i don't know. >> so let me turn the question around. if there are not severe sanctions, if for some reason russia passes through this without really being impacted greatly, vladimir putin personally, what do you suggest is next? >> well, i think what will happen is what's happened in the past. you know, in the past our responses have been tactical sanctions and some limited support to the ukrainians and russia's response has been to actually stoke up further the insurgents, to arm them, as we saw providing increasingly sophisticated weapons, including the buk sa-11. if u.s.'s response and the

europe response is weak, we should expect him to ramp up and go against other countries in the space of the former soviet union. >> thomas. >> so, ian, as we look at what's taking place with the european union, and has michiel points out, what's the point of the e.u. if the least among them or the lesser influential among them is not listened to, what is the point of the muscle, the collective point of the e.u. if they cannot then do something collectively to sanction russia to get its attention? >> well, in this case the enormous potential to the e.u. would be left lying to waste, so to speak. i'm amazed by the economic disproportion between the e.u. and russia in this situation. the e.u. is a $12 trillion globally integrated economy. it gets what, some 30% of its imported gas, not total use but imported gas from russia. russia is a $2 trillion gas

station with only one customer, the e.u. so there's a lot of leverage the e.u. has. if there was an economic showdown, yes, the e.u. would have a price to pay. it would be painful. but the e.u. has been on three years of growth, small growth but positive growth. russia is a teetering economy. if there was an economic showdown built around severe sanctions by the west, it would be a body blow to the russian economy. still ahead on "morning joe," the latest on washington state's wildfires. what officials are now doing to contain it. and a family is kicked off their flight after dad sends a disgruntled tweet. we'll show you -- we'll show you what he said. some might agree with what the father tweeted, you never know. plus the city one survey has named the unhappiest in the united states. which one could that be? >> new haven. >> new haven, connecticut? what's wrong with you. that's terrible! most awesome pizza.

>> frank peppy's and sally's. >> oh my -- >> what, the pizza place? but first here's bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> misbehaving right, mika, as always. good morning, everyone. we're happy today. it's not a bad day across the country. we don't have a lot of severe weather to talk about, nothing in the tropics to worry about, it's just a hot summer morning in many spots of the west. yesterday, by the way, salt lake city, you don't think of that as a hot location, 103 degrees. phoenix 114, so that's even hot by your standards, and much of the country saw a steamy day. it has changed in the east. this weather pattern has been with us ever since the spring. the great lakes, ohio valley continue to be unusually chilly. indianapolis, by the way, is on pace for their coldest july ever recorded. with this forecast coming towards the end of july, that's not going to change so the cool weather pattern remains in the great lakes today. as we go towards next week,

especially talking monday, tuesday, wednesday, another polar invasion from the north, the second one in july. it was bad enough with the first one and now we're getting a second one, but it does look like temperatures are going to be very cool. chicago, detroit, all through michigan. not a great time to be on vacation up there if you want to go to the pool or lake. look at indianapolis on monday with a high of only 73 degrees in the middle of the summer. let's take you to the west coast where you're going to enjoy another pretty quiet day there in l.a. the interior west is hot but you haven't had a hot summer in l.a. with a lot of marine clouds. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas.

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time now to take a look at the morning papers from our parade of papers, "the seattle times," president obama has declared a state of emergency in washington as one of the worst wildfires in state history continues to burn. over 2500 firefighters are battling the massive fire which has spread across more than a quarter million acres. one person was killed and nearly 500 homes have been evacuated. officials say the fire is over 50% contained. "the new york times," a new study showing acetaminophen, the active ingredient in tylenol, may not be as effective as once thought when it comes to alleviating lower back pain. research conducted at the university in australia found no difference between the recovery time of those who took acetaminophen and those that took a placebo. the medication has been proven effective for headaches, toothaches and pain after surgery. >> i could have told you that about back pain. >> all right, "usa today," seven

people have been arrested in connection with the global cyber crime ring which illegally accessed 1600 stubhub accounts and purchased tickets. authorities say the suspects would access customer accounts and use the stored credit card information to rack up ticket orders which they would later resell for a profit. the thieves are accused of stealing more than $1.6 million worth of tickets, john heilemann. is that you? >> i'm his stubhub. >> mike is my stubhub. >> mike barnicle. go ahead, thomas. >> "the wall street journal" is reporting that facebook is trying to make it easier for you to find content on the web without leaving its website or app. the company's engineers are working on new ways to incorporate all sorts of content searches beyond person-to-person connections. it was last week that facebook celebrated shakira's 100 millionth like. the pop star's page is a prime

example of facebook where fans can buy her music, and get updates about future appearances. "the daily mail" if you're walking on the streets of manhattan, chances are you may be standing next to a millionaire. a new study says one out of every 25 new yorkers makes seven figures. that's nearly 5% of all individuals living in the big apple. new york city ranks fourth on the worldwide list, behind monaco, zurich and geneva. >> and they say we're out of touch with the real people. so "the new york daily news" is reporting that a study suggests new yorkers may have the blues. >> i agree, i think they do. >> according to the national bureau of economic research, new york city is the unhappiest town in the u.s. researchers asked residents how satisfied they are in their lives and factored in race, education, marital status and family size. rounding out the top five unhappiest towns are pittsburgh, louisville, milwaukee and detroit. >> i don't buy that at all.

pittsburgh, louisville, milwaukee, no. detroit, maybe. they're shutting people's water off in detroit. >> unbelievable story. >> milwaukee, people are very happy there. people love their brewers. >> why are people unhappy in new york. >> i just found out i'm unhappy because i'm walking next to millionaires all the time and i'm not one of them. so let's turn that frown upside down and into a smile. the happiest places include richmond, norfolk, virginia. washington, d.c. >> no way. >> oh, my god. >> okay. this study is just bogus on every point. >> i have lived in several of those places. very happy people. >> atlanta. >> my god. >> maybe they're happy in washington because they're so unself aware. >> that could be. >> that could be a little bit of a psychosis. they're so clueless that they're happy. they have no idea that they're wreaking havoc on our country, getting nothing done. >> they know. >> no, i don't think they do.

>> it's a misery pit. >> it's not a happy place. i lived there. >> people are so unhappy because sam lives there. >> all right, fine. let's move to the "los angeles time" a minneapolis family says they were asked to get off a southwest flight after tweeting a negative review of the airline's service. the father says he sent his tweet after he experienced poor service from a southwest employee at their departing gate. the family was later instructed to delete the tweet to -- >> oh, no, come on. >> this is america. >> after the employee mentioned she felt, quote, threatened for her safety. i don't know, we weren't there. what was the tweet? i think we know. >> how nasty was it? >> they made them delete it, but i think it was something about the rudest, you know -- >> how big was his twitter account? that's the key. >> what the heck? >> nine followers. >> some random deal with nine

followers. >> did they go to his twitter? this doesn't make any sense. >> it makes me want to follow him now, though. >> it kind of proved the guy's point. >> exactly. >> what thin skin, geez. >> i know. >> sounds like something you would do. >> i wouldn't tweet it. people who run those twitter accounts at the airlines are a little crotchety sometimes. >> it's hard, though. it's hard dealing with people. let's get to "the denver post" where a tv news helicopter captured the final moments of a dramatic manhunt. wait until you see. this a carjacking suspect broke into a house carrying a gun, crashing through the garage in a stolen suv. police had been looking for the guy in connection with a string of alleged crimes. so he makes his way toward a busy interstate where after getting stuck in a ditch he takes off on foot attempting to steal another vehicle. police catch up to him and with some help of bystanders the man is taken into custody but you can see he's armed right there. the cop gets him, tackles him, takes him down. >> chokehold. >> that's when you would use

that chokehold. >> down you go. >> i don't know why you like that. let's move on. the whole thing is sad. okay. joining us now with political playbook, the president and ceo of politico, jim vandehei. jim, we're starting this morning, politico, with the clinton wars. really? what's going on? in the d.c. suburbs? what's going on? >> it's a delicious house race to watch. barbara caomstock who people in washington knows from the clinton days, she was the lead investigator and now she's running for a seat she probably will win. i think she's the odds-on favorite to win in the suburbs of virginia. it's sort of a rehash of those '90s wars. she's got congressman burton, david bossi, ken star, all these figures from the '90s supporting her. running against her you have terry mcauliffe, who is now the

governor but was intimately involved with the clintons. you've got paul pegala trashing her. he's been saying she'll come back to washington and be a reprisal of what we saw in the 1990s. it's one of the closer races. she's an interesting person, a workaholic and somebody who's been a thorn in the clintons' side forever. if hillary clinton were to win, this town never changes. >> is this northern virginia, jim? >> yep. she's not that far out. frank wolf's district, not far from d.c. relatively a swing district. it's one that mitt romney won, it's one republicans should win but it's close enough that if you have terry mcauliffe and other democrats pouring money into it, given who she is, given her fame especially in democratic clinton circles, it makes it one of the few competitive house races to actually watch. >> jim vandehei, thank you. the flight ban into israel has been lifted but does a threat still persist? we'll speak to someone who knows a lot about keeping airlines

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we are following breaking news this morning out of africa. yet another missing plane.

an air algerie flight went off radar about 50 minutes into the flight. there are said to be 110 passengers and six crew members on board. dozens of french passengers are believed to be on that flight. a french minister says the plane was lost over mali. the faa considers flying over mali risky given fighting with al qaeda-linked insurgents. if there's more information we'll bring it to you immediately. while we're on the issue of air safety, it's certainly a topic of concern following the downing of malaysia flight 17 and the u.s. decision to halt flights into tel aviv for 24 hours. that flight ban was lifted overnight. joining us to talk about this the former director of security for el al airlines, isaac yeffet. thank you very much for being on the show this morning. first of all, your thoughts on

the ban into -- it was in response to a rocket -- a strike that landed about a mile from the airport. that seems to make sense, does it not? >> no. >> no? >> i don't think this is the reason to instruct the u.s. airlines to stop flying to israel. two weeks the war between israel and the terrorist organization hamas was day and night and every day hamas sent rockets toward israel. between 100 and 150 rockets every day. nothing happens. the airlines are flying in a secure area. the rockets cannot hit the aircraft. israel invented anti-missiles by the name of iron dome that blow any missile that might cause any

damage. so nothing happened in the war so -- >> i understand where you're coming from here. but from the other point of view, from the american point of view, from our point of view in terms of airline security. we're not talking about passengers getting on a plane going through security. we are talking about an occasion during the calamity, the chaos of war, when close to an airport a rocket-propelled grenade carried by someone from hamas or some terrorist organization having come through the tunnel with an rpg, a shoulder-held rpg could take a plane out of the sky just as it landed in its most vulnerable point like that. not missile, not nothing, boom, like that. >> i just spoke this morning with the captain from iran 747 and he made it very clear that these rockets cannot hit any aircraft within our air because these rockets are only against land, not against anything on air.

>> i understand. please try to understand this point of view. a rocket-propelled grenade is not a missile. it is something that within 200 yards, most vulnerable point for a plane coming in right on the runway, you can be right beneath it or taking off, an rpg, you can hit a plane. >> my answer to this, that's why we invented the anti-rockets that take any rockets on air. >> you're not understanding what i'm saying. >> i think i do understand. if you will allow me just to finish. >> sure. >> the anti-rockets invented to hit any rockets or any missile that will be sent toward israel and there is any chance to damage or to cause any harm to human being or anyone else, this rocket by the name of iron dome will hit and destroy the

rockets, so the chances are so slim that i don't think that for this we have to stop flying from the united states to israel and the results, all the european immediately follow the instruction of the faa. now, the faa, thank god, i'm glad that they cancelled -- they changed their decision and they allow the american airlines to fly back to israel, and immediately after that the european decided and made a statement they are going to fly pack to israel. >> sam. >> you've said that you think this was a political decision, correct? >> i don't want to say now -- i don't want to go into politics. >> you said there is politics behind this. >> i don't want to discuss about politics, but i think that from security point of view, i don't think -- >> well, i just want to make sure. you said in the fast forum that you thought there was politics behind this. >> politics? >> yes. >> no, i said i hope there is no

politics behind this. that's what i said. >> i was just wondering. there's a historical perspective here which is in the '91 gulf war flights were suspended into tel aviv because of concerns about safety and i think the viewers would want to know that it wasn't just american airlines that suspended flights but air canada, for instance, also suspended their flights. so you would agree there was widespread legitimate concerns and dismiss the idea there was some u.s. boycott going on. >> we know who is leading in this world. when the united states decides to cancel flights for security point of view, do you expect canada to continue flying or european? once the usa decided to allow now the u.s. air carriers to fly to israel, look, magic, canada and -- all europe decided now we can fly back. >> magic or just, you know, confirming that it was safe. one or the other. >> but the contradiction would be if iron dome is so successful

and that it is safe, security concerns aside from the faa, then what is the reason that we're watching israel go into gaza and try to decimate hamas because of the rockets that they're launching? it's a contradiction in terms of safety concerns, it's a contradiction in terms of the incursion. >> it's not only the hamas rockets. it's all of the tunnels. dozens of tunnels that they did and spent all the millions of dollars instead of giving to the refugees, to their people, they spent it to build a tunnel that go from gaza strip toward israeli territory. and in no time when they cross the tunnel, they go to innocent families that live in the israeli territory and do massacre. this is what caused israel to go to war. and number two, israel just said they would not withdraw until they will clean all of the

tunnels that are risking the life of the israeli citizens. >> i think we all can agree we're hoping for a cease-fire sometime soon, isaac yeffet. thank you so much for your perspective. still ahead, apple's smart watch, facebook's earnings and geopolitics weighing heavy on the markets. business before the bell next. honey, look i got one to land. uh-huh there's good more... honey, look at all these smart rewards points verizon just gave me. ooh, you got a buddy.

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>> are you excited that it's always in airplane mode? >> oh, yeah, that's good. >> i just like that it has an apple insignia on the back. >> so you would buy anything? >> pretty much anything from apple. >> it is an embarrassment -- >> wow, that is embarrassing. >> an embarrassment of riches talking to good people. business before the bell with cnbc's sara eisen. sara, so that was a good ad for apple knowing that people will pretty much buy anything with their name on it. brief us on what's going on with apple and how the markets are looking. >> i don't know with apple. i just want to tell you that apple was a major topic of discussion on wall street because people here are really excited about the new product refresh, including the iwatch, as claim as some people think it may be because apple is spending 36% more on r & d in the last quarter and that was sort of a hint, hint that something big

and exciting is coming because they're spending more. so maybe, maybe it will be a game-changer like the iphone. >> mika, you had that, didn't you? >> no, i have the samsung. it actually works pretty well. >> but you don't wear it anymore. >> i don't. i like it right here. a nice big tablet. tablet phone. tab phone. >> some are bigger than the 1950 de soto. >> beyond apple i just want to mention good news on the economy here just breaking. jobless claims, the number of americans filing for unemployment claims, below 300,000. in fact the lowest level since february, 2006. it's a big deal. it continues to point to improvement in this labor market. also want to mention some breaking news on walmart, a company that we follow obviously very closely here. the head of the u.s., the ceo of the u.s. division of walmart, bill simon, has resigned this

morning n his place will be the head of the international markets. he covered china and japan. it's just an interesting move because walmart has been suffering with decreased traffic, with trying to match those low prices and it's been having trouble with its u.s. sales. so potentially an interesting strategy change by walmart. we'll have to watch. the stock didn't react too much but it does look like we're starting off positive here on wall street. better earnings. >> thanks, sara. sara eisen, as always, great to see you. coming up next, new questions about death penalty procedures after an arizona inmate stayed alive long enough for lawyers to file an emergency stay. we'll have reaction to that. keep it locked in on "morning joe." we're back in a moment. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we've always been at the forefront of advanced electronics. providing technology to get more detail... ♪ detect hidden threats... ♪

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there is renewed scrutiny of lethal injections this morning after what opponents of the death penalty are calling another botched execution. it happened in arizona where it took joseph wood nearly two hours to die. witnesses say it was a troubling scene as the convicted murderer repeatedly gasped and snorted. joining us now nbc news correspondent hallie jackson. what's the latest in terms of especially what arizona officials are saying? >> what the governor is doing, mika. the governor wants a review now of this execution and a district court is ordering the state to preserve evidence.

witnesses described the scene during the hour and 57 minutes it took to execute joseph wood. >> you could hear a deep snoring, sucking air sound. and this went on for more than an hour and a half. >> family members of his victims see nothing wrong with what happened. >> everybody is more worried about did he suffer. who really suffered was my dad and my sister when they were killed. >> wood had been on death row since those murders in 1989. his lawyers appealed, questioning the controversial cocktail of drugs that put him to death. the same combination used in an execution that took 25 minutes in ohio in january. >> why the state would pick those two same drugs for mr. wood's execution, i don't know. >> reporter: arizona's state aclu wants executions put on hold. the corrections department says it followed protocol and governor jan brewer says while she's concerned about the length of the execution, it was legal. for jeannie brown, who has waited years to see her family's

killer put to death, it was simply two more hours waiting for justice. >> this man deserved it and i shouldn't really call him a man. he deserved everything he had coming to him. >> remember, it was a botched execution in oklahoma this spring that really set off that national debate about lethal injection. in that instance clayton lockett was pronounced dead after 43 minutes, mika. >> thank you very much. you know, it's hard to believe that they still use that caulk -- that drug cocktail at this point. it didn't work now obviously more than once. >> well, the issue is they don't have a cocktail, a set of -- a mix of drugs they know that is foolproof and people have been asking to get more information about what drugs are being used. authorities are saying no, you can't have that information because we're worried that the manufacturers would be targeted by groups, by people concerned about the death penalty. but we are a country is very rare in the fact that we do

capital punishment. there is saudi arabia, iran and iraq that do capital punishment. if we're going to continue having this, we need to figure out how to do it more humanely. all right. that does it for us here on "morning joe." chalk todd is up next with much more on the ukraine plus an interview with congressman james clyburn about the immigration crisis on the border. have a great day. (vo) get ready! fancy feast broths. they're irresistabowl... completely unbelievabowl... totally delectabowl. real silky smooth or creamy broths. everything she's been waiting for. carefully crafted with real seafood, real veggies, and never any by-products or fillers. wow! being a cat just got more enjoyabowl. fancy feast broths. wow served daily.

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well, the clock is ticking on congress to see if they can do anything on a border bill before heading home. we'll get the latest on what kind of bill can make it through the house or the senate with democratic congressman jim clyburn as well as a senator. the ban on u.s. airliners into israel ban has been lifted as secretary kerry tries to bring the violence to a temporary end. and also this morning, democrats are hoping for a wave of women voters to bring them success in november. how much of an uphill fight will that be? good morning from washington. it's thursday, july 24th, 2014, this is "the daily rundown." just seven days before congress heads home.