mcdonnell and his wife. the jury is made up of four women and eight men. the senate is expected to vote on the nomination of robert mcdonald to be the next secretary of on the next secret veteran affairs. to fix the troubled agency. later, the rnc will hold their fire harry reid rally on capitol hill and aimed at getting voters to elect republicans to the senate in the upcoming mid terms. that is going to do it. a tuesday edition of "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ >> flares have turned night into borrowed daylight in the skies over the gaza strip. >> today was supposed to be a cease-fire it didn't work. >> intense fighting prevented investigators reaching the crash site of mh-17 for the second day running. >> much more substantial

sanctions will come into place across broad sectors of the russian economy. >> two americans are fighting a for their lives. >> the spread of a dangerous illness like ebola is no longer somebody else's progress. >> now three-month examination by "the new york times" clams that governor cuomo's office deeply compromised the panel's work. >> if you had watched the movie to the end, the name of the movie would have been "independence." you named it "interference." >> donald sterling lost again today. >> go clippers! >> a victorious shelly sterling emerged from the courtroom and she can now move ahead with her plans to sell the los angeles clippers. >> stephen a. smith addressing the fire storm he triggered with his choice of words. >> to say what i said was accomplish is an understatement. >> you hit somebody, they hit you back. don't be surprised!

>> oh, we will get to that. that is a big debate here. good morning, everyone. it's tuesday, july 29th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set senior political editor and white house correspondent for the huffington post is sam stein, sitting next to willie. hi, willie. managing editor for the news website bobby ghosh and pulitzer prize winning editor and with the "the washington post," eugene robinson. you know what i'm talking about whoopi goldberg and stephen a. smith controversy. they were fighting about this yesterday because of comments made. have you been following that? >> i heard about it. i didn't get to see it but i look forward to it. >> we will lay it all out but it's definitely one of the old debates renewed in a very different way. we begin this morning in the middle east where the crisis between israeli and hamas is now in its fourth week and the hopes for a resolution appear to be dwindling. last night air strikes lit up the sky in the center of gaza

city as israeli hit key hamas locations. the targets including a tv station and the home of one of the group's top leaders. the strikes came as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu delivered a national tv address. he warned of an extended conflict and said, quote, there is no war more just than this. israeli and hamas are trading blame for an attack that left nine palestinian children dead and dozens injured. palestinian officials say israeli air strikes hit a park as children were playing on swings. israeli, however, says militants in gaza fired the rockets which failed to reach the intended targets and that brings the death toll to more than 1,100 palestinians, according to officials there. 53 israeli soldiers have been killed, including four yesterday, as well as three civilians in israeli. joining us no from you gaza nbc news foreign correspondent ayman

mohyeldin. >> reporter: last night was a marked difference in terms of where we are here in gaza city. it's a scene we have seen throughout other parts of gaza but yesterday the fighting arrived in gaza city and 35,000 people live here. late flares were dropped early in the evening 3:00 p.m. local time and paved the way for a series of intense shelling that targeted, among other things, the gaza port, the house of hamas leader here in gaza, and others. there are also this morning, disturbing news about the humanitarian situation here according to the spokesperson who is in charge of the gaza electrical power tank, two fuel tanks belonging to that tank were hit and caught on fire and still burning well into the hours of this afternoon. as a result of that now, they say the representatives at the power plant a humanitarian disaster is going to unfold

here. 1.8 million who depend on all types of electricity for water, sanitation, and other subinfrastructure needs are now wa without power and no place to store the fuel burning for the last couple of hours. a sense to what the palestinians are waking up to this morning. the death toll continues to find. along the front lines, there is still fighting taking place. hamas militants were able to, yesterday, fire at israeli soldiers and infiltrate across the border into israeli with some of these tunnels, so it shows you that the situation here is still very tense to say the least. mika? >> ayman, it's willie. good to see you this morning. is there any changing pressure over the last four weeks inside among palestinians about what they should be doing here in terms of stepping back? as these civilian casualties mount, as they see women and children being carried into hospital and many of them dead

and some of them wounded. have they thought twice now and said maybe we should step back from this or are they only emboldened by the ongoing attacks from israeli? >> reporter: here it's important to make the distinction between hamas and palestinian factions and ordinary palestinian people who are bearing the brunt of this. when you speak to ordinary palestinians they feel they are reaching a point of desperation. they feel the situation is very much out of their hands. the political factions and the military wings of these political factions still remain very defiant and emboldened and they say their backs up against the war and they have nothing to lose and living a life under siege the past seven years and for them this is now about fighting until the end and that end is a struggle for them and they want to continue the struggle to get the international community for once and for all live the siege and that is how they are portraying it and how a lot of the palestinian factions and representatives we are speaking

to are saying that is what this struggle is about. >> ayman, thank you. on capitol hill, kirsten gillibrand and ted cruz came together and announced a resolution criticizing using civilians. the israeli press is pushing a cease-fire that the reports claim would be more beneficial to hamas. secretary kerry is standing by his actions. >> make no mistake, when the people of israeli are rushing to bomb shelters, when innocent israeli and palestinian teenagers are abducted and murdered, when hundreds of innocent civilians have lost their lives, i will, and we will make no apologies for our actions. in a column that you entitled kerry's gaza blunder.

in part you write this. secretary of state john kerry has made a significant mistake how he is pursuing a gaza cease-fire and not surprising he has upset both the israelis and some moderate palestinians. kerry's error has been to put so much emphasis on achieving a quick halt to the bloodshed that he has solidified the role of hamas, the unpopular islamist group that leads gaza, along with the two hard line nations that and in the process he has undercut not only the israelis but the egyptians and the fatah movement that runs the palestinian authority all of which want to see an end to hamas rule in gaza. david ignatius, i see what you're saying and i'm wondering how it's possible to blunder something that has been devolving for decades. >> the gaza mess is not john kerry's fault but it's a tragedy that has been going on as you say for so many years. i think the mistake kerry made

in seeking a cease-fire quickly in this intractable conflict without thinking about a pathway for the future so that the situation in gaza wouldn't simply revert to the status quo which we see means another war and another round of misery two years, three years ahead. kerry's first effort was with egypt when he got to the middle east, he tried to use egyptian mediation to broker a cease-fire and that didn't work. so he then turned away from the egyptians who were right next to gaza who are angry at hamas, almost as angry as israeli itself is, and turn to the hamas friends in turkey and in qatar and try to use them as the mediamea meadmea mediators for the cease-fire. he then upset palestinians and moderate palestinians and others in the region who thought he was enfranchising the region who

were obstacles to peace. if one thing i hope secretary kerry can do is get back on the track of finding a more stable and permanent transition to a future where hamas is not the only dominant force in gaza. >> we are bringing this back to you. but, bobby, jump in and take it to david. when you listen to leaders on all sides of this conflict, it doesn't sound like there is a lot of room for negotiation. first of all, i'm not sure what you would hold off any call for a cease-fire for because they are not stopping and they are not pulling back. rhetoric especially on the side, i'm sorry, of benjamin netanyahu seems to get tougher and tougher every day. having said that, what do you think is possible at this point? >> nothing until the shooting stops. until the shooting stops, nothing is possible. i think that explains kerry's sort of sense of urgency. it's not like this was his first attempt as david pointed out. he did try to work through the egyptians. that did not work. the egyptians no longer under general, no longer have the

flun influence in gaza they used to. the position is now so small it might as well not exist. so it's unlikely that you're going to get a immediate if egypt is a mediator. i can see the sense in trying to work through them. obviously, there was something inarticulate in the way kerry presented his proposal, but the response from egypt has been beyond caustic and so counterproductive. this is a guy trying to solve a problem. there is a global uproar. president obama called netanyahu two days ago and called for immediate cease-fire, basically, the same thing kerry is saying. stop the shooting now. instead the israeli officials speaking many of them speaking off the record or speaking without attribution are mounting pile on top of john kerry who wants to just be ahead. >> it's difficult for americans

to accept something is beyond their reach, betweut isn't it possible this is a conflict, america despite its great power cannot exert its influence without two parties who want to come to the table and speak to each other? >> if history proves this is not a conflict that american can just solve. my view is -- and this is a view that has evolved over the years -- it's just better to be involved than not involved. just saying you guys are crazy, call us when you're ready to talk seriously, both of you. you know, that's a tempting position but, in fact, that doesn't work. that tends to make things worse. i think we need to be involved. my question for david ignatius, turkey is a nato member, a major country. so why not work through turkey to try to resolve this, especially given, as bobby pointed out, the lack of

influence that egypt has right now? of course, it used to under the muslim brotherhood but it certainly doesn't now. so why not go to a government like that of turkey to try to work something out with hamas? >> well, it's a reasonable question. obviously, one that secretary kerry thought. if turkey could create working with the u.s., a stable situation in gaza, if turkey could deliver negotiators among the gazan within hamas or any other faction that could negotiate the kind of cease-fire and longer term arrangements for gaza that would lead to stability, i would have no quarrel with it but there is no evidence that is possible. what is unfortunate here is that in april, secretary kerry recognized that in the agreement between fatah, the more moderate palestinian faction, and hamas,

for fatah and the palestinian authority to take control in gaza, which they agreed to do, was the opportunity to negotiate something longer lasting. i think my biggest regret, gene, is secretary kerry turned away from that sensible longer term program that would actually get at what is wrong and went for the very short term 24-hour cease-fire which, as we have seen, is falling apart because there isn't a structure yet that can create stability. >> okay. we are going to get to the other crisis, foreign policy crisis, the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17 and russia now pushing back against sanctions and saying it will only embolden in a moment. i want to get to domestic politic as well. a follow-up to a story we talked about yesterday. new york governor andrew cuomo is pushing back hard against allegations his office interfered with a political ethics commission one he put in

place and stems from a front page article last week in "the new york times" which alleges cuomo's office squashed certain subpoenas that would have looked into the governor's own dealings. the governor emphatically denies this and saying no proof. one to a media firm connected to new york's democratic party. now one of the firm's three co-chairs at the center of the "times" story fitzpatrick is claiming that the panel was, indeed independent. he says, quote, the bottom line is that nobody interfered with me or my co-chairs. governor cuomo quick to praise the press conference yesterday in a news conference in buffalo. >> when you look at the facts, this moreland commission performed exactly the function they were supposed to perform. we passed a law that happen brought historic reform to the state. it was an overwhelming success and the commissioners have not gotten the credit that they

deserve. independent. they were talking to people from the second floor. of course, they were. of course they were and they were talking to people from the senate and the assembly and the good government groups. it's not -- independence is will never talk to anyone, it's that they exercised their independent judgment. >> but despite yesterday's denials, e-mails obtained by "the times" showed, quote, mr. fitzpatrick had privatelily expressed frustration with meddling by the governor's office and cuomo needs to understand this is an independent commission and needs to be treated as such. yesterday, the governor disputed "the times" characterization of the remarks. >> read it again. >> the second floor needs to understand this is an independent commission and needs to be treated as such. >> okay. so what he is saying, at some

point in time, is larry is having a conversation with him and larry is advocating a point. that is true. follow the movie to the conclusion. and what does chairman fitzpatrick say? no. resoundingly, no. what does the chairman's actions show? no. resoundingly, no! because he rejected the request! the rejection is ioion is ipso statement of independence because he said no. and he could, and he did. if you had watched the movie to the end, the name of the movie would have been "independence." you named it "inference."

>> all right. so, sam, i special to governor cuomo. most of it was off the record last night about this because he saw our very heated conversation here on the show. also, we were sort of having a hard time getting through the quote, his very defensive quote about the commission that he created. but he says while "the times" is making a conclusion, that doesn't necessarily say it's true and that they have gone too far in their conclusion. while it may look like you can make a connection, you actually can't. and even the members of the panel say that the commission was independent. anybody? >> i mean, the question, i guess, is how much influence can you exert without the panel actually responding to your influence and does that matter? cuomo is saying the panel was ultimately independent because they said no to the request but the request was still made and influencing meddling in its own

right. >> why can't a request be made? >> it depends how you want to -- do you want the commission to be completely independent from the other parts of the government? and i think when you establish, most people when they establish an ethics commission, yeah, you don't want anybody meddling in their influences and you want them to investigate and not have any contact with the outside world. boom. but cuomo is saying there is a gray area and that they do need to talk to other elements of government and they need to talk to other officials to do their work. i think part of the problem is cuomo has he is a secretive governor the entire time and now he is speaking out, people have a tough time sort of reconciling -- >> i will say my own personal, i would like -- i would love for him to come on. it's one thing to do a press conference really far away. i understand. we talked about the different reasons why he doesn't really want to do a lot of interviews right now. but i'm wondering if he should. you know? and it would help a lot because it seems incredibly defensive.

sort of pushing back saying, don't you understand what this looks like? >> this is someone who has tried to control the narrative around him from day one. and i think doing an interview in this form sort of counterintuitive everything he has done as governor and it shows. this is someone who did interfere in the broadest sense of the world in the ethics commission and that is someone who likes to have a control of the environs around him. >> governor cuomo came into the office i'm going to clean up albany and new york and said it over and over and over again and that was the whole impetus for his campaign. now if he can clean up albany unless it pertains to him is what the problem is. gene, you read through "the new york times" piece this morning. his office says to "the times" a patient staffed by the executive cannot investigate the executive. so then "the new york times" asked governor cuomo about that apparent contradiction there. he said i never said it couldn't

investigate me. see, facts matter, even for "the new york times." it appears his own office can't quite get the story straight. >> yeah. it's very confusing. and one wondering about, you know, that -- the question you were jug talking about, why is governor cuomo, why is his style so secretive and why is everything so behind closed doors? especially the workings of a commission that is supposed to clean up all of the corruption and problems in albany. you would think that at least he would be more forthcoming and sort of open about -- about how this is working, what he is trying to accomplish and how he is doing it, and i think that just generates more suspicion and makes people wonder what this is really about. >> you know, the secretiveness, i think, comes off what appears to be a reticence to be tv interviews because potentially he might not want to get involved in the presidential politics conversation.

2016 might be waiting or ready for hillary, depending on where he has been. you know what? i think he should do an interview on this. i told him that. i really do. i think that this is taking a life of its own. still ahead on "morning joe," everything you wanted to know about richard nixon, not pertaining to watergate. historian douglas brinkley is here with thousands of hours of audio from the 37th president. a decisive ruling in donald sterling's bid to block the sale of the l.a. clippers but is it finally enough to stop the defiant owner? and espn stephen a. smith and his apology for his controversial comments on domestic violence which sent the ladies of "the view" especially whoopi goldberg into a very provocative and heated discussion. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> mika, did you see the pictures from outside of boston yesterday? a tornado? >> oh, my gosh. yeah. >> we had a tornado in connecticut two days ago and then yesterday up there outside of boston. this is very rare.

this was actually near the coast. only about 10 to 15 miles north of downtown boston. there was 120-mile-per-hour winds and ef-2 tornado went right through this highly populated industrial area and fortunately no injuries. can you imagine that? look at the huge trees that came down. a picturesque picture in los angeles. you can see a tornado twisting there but it stayed harmlessly over the open fields. yesterday in new england wind damage and a lot of cleanup and trees down. storm system that produced a tornado is gone. so the lower humidity has moved it. cooler temperatures. it's going to be an absolutely gorgeous day today and you can feel it outside. probably didn't need your air-conditioning last night. many areas top out to the low 70s to the 80s for a high. this picture just out from yosemite national park. a small fire formed last night

and now, all of a sudden, it's starting to spread and look at that active fire in yosemite national park. we will watch that today. again, it's a small fire now. but potential there is to grow. of course, the california drought, everyone knows how dry it is. the low humidity is not just in the northeast. appreciate it this morning. little rock, memphis, all the way through atlanta, a gorgeous day and it's like early fall throughout much of the country and that includes new york city. what a gorgeous day! lunch outside! light jacket, maybe even for some heading out the door this morning in july! you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪ after nine days i let the horse run free because the desert had turned to sea ♪ but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country,

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now, that's progressive. time now to take a look at the morning papers. we will start with the l.a. times. the $2 billion sale of the los angeles clippers to former microsoft ceo steve ballmer will go through after a judge ruled against team owner donald sterling yesterday.

the court sided with shelly sterling saying she had negotiated a good deal for the clippers and had the authority to take away her husband's control of the family trust. doing so after doctors determined he was mentally unfit to manage his affairs. under the ruling, donald sterling can't delay the sale from going forward as he appeals the case. >> poor donald sterling. only gets $2 billion. >> it's almost over. "the washington post" police in washington, d.c. are scrambling to deal with a new ruling that lifted the ban on carrying legally registered handguns in the nation's capital and comes after a federal judge ruled the district ban on firearms possession in public is unconstitutional. they are wanting to appeal to let new gun carry regulations. gene robinson, how is this playing in d.c.? >> not well at all. you know, i haven't seen anybody walking around, you know, strapped the last day or so. but, you know, the crazy thing

is that people in the district of columbia overwhelmingly want gun control and they support gun control. they don't want people, you know, owning handguns, much less carrying them around in the street, however, congress and the courts are essentially saying, no, go ahead, shoot it out. >> let's go to the richard times dispatch. the fourth circuit appeals court struck down virginia's ban on same sexy marria-sex marriage. as other states are in the fourth circuit. it does not have a direct impact on gay marriage in other states the attorney general in north carolina says it means the ban will eventually be struck down. a new studied finds that a third of americans delinquent in debt and on the ground $5,200. that includes credit card bills and medical bills and child

support. southern states have the largest number of people who are late on their bills. that includes alabama, florida, texas, and out west in nevada. "the san francisco chronicle" two men are accused of squating in a palm springs california condo they found on a website. the bothers had been living in the condo for over a month and refused to leave, despite only paying for 30 days. since the brothers had been living in the condo for more than 30 days, they are protected by california's tenant laws but that is not the only problem they are having on the web. the called air b&b squatters raised $40,000 on kick-starter for a video game that appears to have been abandoned. angry owners were redirected to another game's kick-starter play looking to raise another $25,000. >> what does that mean? >> these guys are taking advantage of every internet function out there. they are living for free and they are raising known a game

that apparently doesn't exist. kind of brilliant. >> the california -- >> the tenant law? it serves a purpose but not that purpose. >> so they can't leave. >> i don't know what the hell is going on in california but that is histoysterical. >> this is a movie by the people who made "pineapple express." coming up following a headline grabbing, whoopi goldberg jumps to stephen a. smith's defense. we will also explain what this has to do with baseball. oh, my! sports is next. i think that is sports. ♪

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♪ i might have to close my eyes because i think i'm going to glinflinch if i see the ball coming. does that look like a good spot? >> yeah, sure. >> ah! >> are you all right? >> oh! >> i could hear that one whipping by me. >> what an off day. >> yes!

>> terrible! >> that is the best picture in baseball right there. clayton kershaw of the l.a. dodgers are jimmy kimmel playing a little game last night. the nfl thought it had moved on from ray rice domestic violence arrest when he was suspended for two games for his alleged striking of his then fiancee in a casino early this year. mitchell beedle making these comments after saying this. >> we also have to make sure that we learn as much as we can about elements of provocation. not there is real provocation but the elements of provocation. you got to make sure you address it because what we got to do is do what we can to try to prevent

the situation from happening in in any way. >> so yesterday, stephen a. smith offered an apology. >> my words came across that it is somehow it is a woman's fault. this was not my intent and not what i was trying to say. yet the failure to clearly articulate something different lies squarely on my shoulders. to say what i actually said was foolish is an understatement. to say i was wrong is obvious. to apologize, to say i'm sorry doesn't do the matter its problem justice, to be quite honestly but i do sincerely apologize. >> all of this got the ladies of "the view" talking leading to this passionate exchange between whoopi goldberg and her co-host. >> i want to say for a man hitting a woman, unless his life is in jeopardy. >> i'm sorry. >> he knocked her out. he knocked her out cold. >> i'm sorry. if you hit somebody, you cannot be sure you are not going to get hit back. you have to teach women, do not

live with this idea that men have the chivalry thing still with them. don't assume that that is still in place. >> right. >> so don't be surprised if you hit a man and he hits you back! you don't hit -- >> use it. >> listen. you hit somebody, they hit you back. don't be surprised. >> wow. you know, i think it could devolve no a really bad conversation that could get incredibly bad reaction because, obviously, what stephen a. smith said got an incredibly huge, terrible reaction which led to his apology, which i will just say i think it completely outweighs exactly what he said. he was trying to to have a constructive conversation but the bottom line is, unfortunately, there is an unequivocal truth. men may not hit women in any circumstance. it is hard to have an honest

conversation in saying that. but i think what whoopi said had value too. i do. >> i think you just don't hit a woman, period. you stop. >> that's a given. you think stephen smith didn't know that? i just think, you know, he got -- >> his comments underscored a -- >> to be curious and have a conversation. >> but if it's a steadfast rule. >> he shouldn't have used, in my view, the word provocation was a poor choice of words. >> does anybody want to try to have this conversation? >> maybe what he was trying to say everybody stop hitting everybody else or something else. but provocation is a provocation. >> but to have this conversation beyond a man should not hit a woman is impossible to have without a backlash. >> because there is no situation in which you can say a woman has put this man in a place where he need to strike back. no such situation exists, short of maybe the woman threatening the man's life. >> of course. >> i think if that is the basis

of the conversation, then there is really not much to talk about, to be honest with you. >> it's not just men hitting women. i got into a fair number of scraps when i was a kid. my father and teachers always said afterwards, you don't hit anybody. you walk away. >> men don't hit women and women don't hit men. you don't hit anybody. you leave it there. >> i would say it's one thing to defend yourself if a man or woman is coming at you. if you're ray rice and you can bench press 400 pounds and you can suppress the woman and you don't need to knock her out. >> the big problem here is the two-game suspension for ray rice which seems so lenient compared to anybody else. >> you suspend him for far more games than other people were suspended for their -- so. >> all right. let's go to japan on a slightly different note. an actress with a background in

martial arts breaks boxes with her head before throwing out the ceremonial pitch. >> what is that? >> wow. >> how about that? >> that's crazy! >> awesome. >> rifles ovals one of our favo first pitches of all time. this that is a rhythmic gymnast. >> which way do you go? i think i take the rhythmic gymnast. >> it's crazy. >> break the bricks one more time so we can render a decision here. >> i'm going with the bricks. >> we haven't seen the pitch is the only thing. >> finish the job! >> i think that was it. >> you got to finish the job. still ahead, how iowa has turned from a small caucus state into a year-long tourist destination and mark leibovich is here with his columnist. the latest in the ups and towns of the toronto mayor rob ford.

oh, no! don't do it! oh, no! we will be right back with more "morning joe." ♪

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lease this 2014 ats for around $299 a month and make this the summer of style. ♪ >> 45 past the hour. joining us is chief national correspondent for "the new york times" leibovich. your piece in the upcoming issue takes a look at the politics of iowa and how one state turned its adorable little caucus into a year-round tourist destination and you write in part this. iowa may be a flat landlocked state with six electoral votes but it has become the premier tourist destination for political brown-nosers. if there is one thing every republican presidential candidate can agree upon, it is that branstad represents the

peak of american leadership, if not the pinnacle of all human achievement. homage must be paid. we want iowa to be the envy of the whole nation he told me in the parking lot. not just because we have the first in the nation caucuses, no, of course, not. certainly natural for the governor of new jersey to check out the cows here in the middle of july. iowa is going in the right direction branstad continued and the rest of the country is going in the wrong direction. while he is milking this political little sort of first stop thing that iowa has going, mark? >> yes, he is. the thing that i wanted to look at was the anthropology of the early state. we have had iowa and hamp as the early primary states for a long time but in case of terry branstad the long time governor has been running the state on and off since the '80s it is a study of incredible exhulltation

how wonderful of a person he is and people falling all over themselves how great terry branstad is. >> who are the worst defenders? >> well, everyone. >> everyone? >> it's one oof another. i spent a day with chris christie there last week in iowa and he -- chris christie, it was actually the day of the ground invasion of gaza. it was also the day, i think the day after the plane went down in ukraine. and mr. tell it like it is, tough talking new jersey governor, you were expecting he was going to weigh in on the subject but, no, no. he was very concerned, mostly about talking about how great terry branstad is and how much of a legend he is and also how inspired he has been by the governor of iowa. >> you point out, mark, christie, perry and jindal have all passed through iowa this year. is there any indication or any evidence that all this butt kissing helps? helps a would-be presidential

candidate? does it work to go in a couple of years out and kind of make your way across the state? >> i think, obviously, you need to pay attention to iowa if you want to do well in iowa or new hampshire. i think what is interesting and new now it's starting two, three, years out. >> yeah. >> it used to be there was an off-season. it's like so much in american life now. you see christmas decorations on sale in the spring. you see people lobbying for the oscars the week after the academy awards ended the year before. there is really no off-season and that certainly has proven true in presidential politics also. >> gene? >> mark, is there any indication or did you see any that people in iowa are getting sick of all of this? do they really accept that chris christie is actually there for the cows? >> you mean he is not? >> i think they would get fed up with all of this stuff. >> i think on the contrary, i think they love it.

i think from a strictly economic standpoint it's probably great for the state. a lot of national media comes through. it's fun for them. i don't think there is any major downside, although i think it's important we tell it like it is, which is that, look. i mean, this is not necessarily a natural, you know, recitation of the rhythm of american life, yet this is part of the excess that has taken hold in so many areas. >> but, i mean, it's not full-proof obviously, because mike huckabee won in 2008 and rick santorum run in 2012 and neither ended up as president, at least as far as i can tell. >> you're wrong, sam. >> oh. >> in iowa, there are actually pictures of mike huckabee and rick santorum as our president. it can cut both ways like anything. barack obama would not be president today if it weren't for iowa so you don't know what impact it will have.

>> it is really bizarre. mark is right. why we have a system because we all go to iowa. >> you can write this state. >> let's have a rotation of states. >> you should. >> just do one for every state. can you do one for every single state capitol? >> you could have a handbook. >> mark, thank you. we will be reading your column at "nytimes.com." dr. nancy snyderman will be here to explain how much risk to the u.s. with the ebola outbreak. first, toronto politics at its finest and another classic from rob ford. yes, that is rob ford. he is going to break it. news you can't use is next. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes? lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort.

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the mayor managed to get a little bit of exercise in over the weekend. on sunday, he and his brother doug went to the opening of a dinosaur themed playground where they took the opportunity to break in the brand-new see-saw. >> woo! >> oh, okay. wee! i got you. >> no.

>> look at him. gracefully. watching rob ford work a see-saw makes me fear for mrs. ford's life. >> that is rob ford after the two-month stint in rehab and comes out campaigning for re-election. he and his brother good ole doug get after it on the see-saw. >> look at the kids looking at them. >> does he have staph? that is the first question. is there an advance here? >> who is the guy saying, mayor ford, this is a brilliant picture. get on that see-saw with your brother. >> i think the fun continued. >> please stop. >> i think the fun continued. he tried to go up the rope climb. >> what the heck? >> what is he doing? >> the greatest. we are so glad he is back in our lives. >> i would take my children home. >> do the right thing.

>> do it for us, please. mika, you'll love this one. baby ilee and pit bull puppy clyde. bouncy seat. look at clyde gets up there. isley's mom has been instagraming photos of the two together. come on. how cute is this? >> oh, my god! >> baby and puppy. >> oh, my goodness. >> i love that baby! >> posted last week has 2 million views. >> he's a pit bull, too. people say bad things about bpi bulls. >> they can be great. last week this photo bomb by queen elizabeth smiling at two australian hockey players sneaking in there and not to be outdone. prince harry gave a grin of the commonwealth games last night. one of the men made this his facebook profile pick and you would do the same.

>> a little crazy there. coming up at the top of the hour, a path to victory. how democrat mitchell nunn planned to win a u.s. senate seat and how that plan could backfire. benjamin netanyahu is facing a lot of questions. new sanctions against vladimir putin and russian officials reportedly entering a third phase and we will explain what that means when andrea mitchell joins us. we will be right back with more "morning joe." ♪ you owned your car for four years. you named it brad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together. two boyfriends. three jobs. you're like "nothing can replace brad!" then liberty mutual calls. and you break into your happy dance.

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♪ >> flares have turned night into broad daylight in the skies over the gaza strip. >> today was supposed to be a cease-fire. it didn't work. >> an explosion on a busy street where children were playing. >> israeli says it was a stray hamas rocket. >> hamas doesn't accept that. and used the attack on the children as a reason to go on the offensive. >> intense fighting prevented investigators reaching the crash site of mh-17 for the second day running. >> much more substantial sanctions will come into place across broad sectors of the russian economy. >> two americans are fighting for their lives.

infected with the deadly ebola virus. >> the spread of a dangerous illness like ebola is no longer somebody else's progress. >> last july, andrew cuomo pointed a special commission to tackle public corruption. >> now three-month examination by "the new york times" claims that governor cuomo's office deeply compromised the panel's work. >> if you had watched the movie to the end, the name of the movie would have been "independence." you named it "interference." >> we will get to that story in a moment. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now from washington, nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of "andrea mitchell reports" andrea mitchell. senior editor at the "the new republic" julia yanfey. good to have you both with us. the west increasing pressure on vladimir putin. president obama and leaders of several european countries agreed to a sweeping new set of

sanctions. they will target defense, energy, and financial industries in russia. moscow, however, remains defiant. the country's foreign minister downplayed the impact of the sanctions and warned they will would only make russia stronger and more independent. in another sign of stepped-up tensions, moscow is now accused of violating a 1987 nuclear missile treaty by testing cruise missiles as early as 2008. u.s. officials say president obama addressed the issue in a letter to putin, calling it a, quote, very serious matter. meanwhile, ukrainian investigators say flight 17's black box has revealed a massive explosive decompression brought down the jet and the shrapnel destroyed the plane. u.s. forces are making their way toward the crash site after another fighting with russian rebels. kiev says they gained controlled of two towns in eastern ukraine and more battles under way. the clashes are being blamed for

50 deaths between the two sides and 800 civilians have been killed there since mid april. the newest human rights chief is calling for a full investigation who shot down flight 17, adding that it may be considered a war crime. andrea, i want to start with you here. set the scene for us, first, in terms of russia's response, at least in their words, to the sanctions. >> well, russia will be tough rhetorically and doesn't mean the sanctions won't hurt. i want to look at the details of these sanctions when they are finally explained to all of us later today, because up until now, they have been giving france a pass, a waiver for arm sales that were already agreed to. any time you grandfather arm sales to russia, that is a big loophole in these sanctions. in any case, it is described to me as the toughest set of sanctions yet and it's clearly getting russia's attention. the fact is that europe is pretty organized now by the

president and in sync with the united states because russia has been firing live artillery across the border. there is plenty of evidence of that. plus marbling its forces along the border to move more sophisticated efforts into the milit militia. that is being more aggressive. >> julie, conventional wisdom the last week or so that european countries were hesitant to go along with tougher sanctions because of the impact the sanctions might have on their own economies. it looks like europe, at least for now, has moved past that? >> that's right. the fact of the matter is that, you know, it's a two-way street and, you know, as much as europe is dependent on russia for certain things, like energy, russia is dependent upon europe. it gets 40% of its food and medicine from europe. so it goes both ways. so if one party shuts off --

basically, the consensus is also the russian economy would crumble a lot faster and much more devastating fashion than the european economy would. >> where is this going to go? what is the strongest measure that can be taken on the part of europe to unequivocally depend what is happening. >> it is a big issue and i think what europe is scared of is the kind of the wildcard that is putin's behavior. he has shown time and again that he can do really unpredictable things. things that, you know, will hurt his opponent but also hurt him, but he decides it's worth the pain. so i think what europe is scared of is that russia will turn off the energy tap, which, you know, for some european countries, they get as little as 10% of their energy from russia. some eu countries get as much as 100 of their energy from russia

so that would really hurt. >> the netherlands which is most severely affected by the tragedy of the malaysian airliner and the horrible impact on the dutch. the netherlands their pension funds are all tied up in shell and other major corporations so they are going to take a huge hit from this from whatever sanctions do take place. it's also finance. it's the banking in the uk. the brits have been tough about this but when putin was first flexing his muscles toward crimea everybody was caving in because they are integrated they are with russia economically. >> bobby, the other sort of level of thinking in this is a point you just brought up and that is if russia gives more sophisticated weapons to the rebels, do we do the same for the ukrainian military and start jumping in that way? >> if russia has gone to the point where it's shelling across the border in support of the rebels, then what -- how can we make sure the ukrainian military doesn't get completely pounded

on this? andrea, has there been any discussion on that in d.c.? >> more of the risks. >> yeah. there is real concern about the risks because there have been principally republicans on the hill, the usual hard-line conservative arms committee folks like mccain and graham who have been saying why aren't we arming the ukrainians. oerds is the fear at the pentagon and elsewhere. once you give the sophisticated weapons to the ukraine government, you'll have the same possible tragic result that you had the separatists. they are not really ready to run these things that you're thenes situation. the best thing help with the ukrainians on the intelligence and see where the weapons are on the opposition side. the analysis is that russia has escalated so dramatically in the last couple of weeks because the kiev government was making progress against the separatists in eastern ukraine and gaining

territory and that is why the fighting. the fighting was even as keir simmons was showing us yesterday, they were fighting right around the crash site. >> julie, there is a level of sanctions the west and the world community could do to take putin to pause and step back. up until now the sanctions have only emboldened him and allowed to say to his own people it's us against the world. >> i don't think it's -- in a certain sense, it has stopped him from doing certain things. you know, there are people in moscow who say that for a period of about four days in april, russian troops were poised to go across the border into ukraine and that it was because of sanctions that he didn't give them the order to go across the border. publicly, though, the problem with sanctions also is the more you sanction vladimir putin, the less he can actually give you what you want. because of all the image that he has portrayed in russia for the

last, you know, what, 14 years he is standing up to the west. the more the west pressures him to do something, the less likely he is to do it. so unless there is kind of something happening behind the scenes where they are offering putin an off ramp where he can, you know, tout something at home as a win, as something that he was able to bring home, and to get out of it, you know, on his terms and to save face, i don't think we are going to see much movement on the russian side. >> julie ioffe, thank you very much. we turn to the middle east. the crisis between israeli and hamas in its fourth week. hopes for a resolution app to be dwindling. israeli hit key hamas locations overnight. the targets including hamas tv station and the home of one of the group's top leaders. the strikes came as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu delivered a national tv address.

he warned of an extended conflict and said, quote, there is no war more just than this. israeli and hamas are trading blame for an attack that left nine palestinian children dead and dozens injured. palestinian officials say israeli air strikes hit a park as children were playing on swings. israeli, however, says militants in gaza fired the rockets which failed to reach the intended targets and that brings the death toll to more than 1,100 palestinians, according to officials there. 53 israeli soldiers have been killed, including four yesterday, as well as three civilians in israeli. secretary of state john kerry is facing criticism now in the israeli press for pushing a cease-fire that reports claim would be more beneficial to hamas. secretary kerry is standing by its actions. >> make no mistake, when the people of israeli are rushing to bomb shelters, when innocent israeli and palestinian teenagers are abducted and murdered, when hundreds of innocent civilians have lost

their lives, i will, and we will make no apologies for our engagement. >> andrea, we had had a discussion with david ignatius who has a pretty blistering piece on john kerry. >> he did. >> yeah. there is sort of the concept that he put on the table about sort of this giving hamas kind of more of a platform. but i have to say i'm not sure what anyone can do at this point. that would be productive when you hear what all three -- leaders on all sides of this are saying. >> well, what kerry was trying to do with the support and sort of alliance of ban ki-moon and the u.n. and many other people in the world is get a cease-fire to stop the killing and that was viewed in israeli as a way of, you know, tying their hands because they felt they had to deal with the tunnels, they had to deal with the long-range rockets. and so i have never frankly seen

such blistering personal criticism on the left and the right in the israeli press. the israeli people, 87% according to channel 10's polling yesterday, the prime time top station, the top channel in israeli, 87% popularity what the government is doing and pushing it now to be even tougher. so kerry is just being blistered in israeli and it will inevitably hurt his effectiveness in the short term. he was already being blamed for the long term peace negotiations for nine months that, you know, collapsed. i think that, you know, susan rice came our show yesterday and defended him and the white house is trying to rally around. reports he is still trying to resurrect some sort of cease-fire but the focus now i'm told is on a short-term cease-fire, not on the long-term relationships. of course, ignatius criticism is that in some way, he has empowered hamas by going to

qatar and hamas sponsors and trying to engage them. >> i want to bring in some washington nbc news chief white house correspondent and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. we will get to a couple of political stories with you but sam first has a question. >> we have gone through a list of horribles in the world basically from ukraine to the middle east. we haven't even touched on the ebola virus. when i talk to white house officials they have a calm about it they are on top of these things, but it seems pretty clear that a narrative is developing of a world that is basically out of control. from your conversations with the administration officials, how are they prioritizing these issues and grasping with the sheer number of them all? >> funny you say that. i had the very similar conversation it sounds like that you had and it's my understanding that president himself is trying to project more calm and some on his staff are eyes wide open saying when the global chaos going to stop

and the president sort of trying to say, hey, this is about a globally connected world. we see more of the problem, more of them are at our doorsteps because there's not many and because the united states is the only super power. he is trying to project calm with his own staff to sort of keep everybody at bay. i think as for the prioritization they see it right now as two priorities and that is you see where john kerry is. there is a reason they sent kerry to the middle east. a, what is going on with russia and the decision they made. they got the europeans on board and we will find out in about a month. i think you have to realistically give the sanctions about a month and we will find out in about a month if what the u.s. has been calling for some time which is serious sanctions from europe, will it actually change putin's behavior in ukraine? >> chuck, on the question of israeli. obviously, now the israeli press and some members of the government there have been

openly critical of john kerry, openly critical of the obama administration. what is happening privately between the united states, the white house specifically, and israeli to try to mend that fence a little bit? >> well, look. you already have the ambassador here who is the israeli ambassador of the united states. he is very close to netanyahu. he has been trying to ratchet the rhetoric back here look. there has been distrust between the obama administration and netanyahu's administration basically from the beginning since president obama came in and it's never really -- the rifts have never really healed and there is time they scab over, but the wounds never go away and it's very easy to start up. and remember who the missing player is. the last time there was a hot war between israeli and gaza, you had a member of the muslim brotherhood in charge of egypt, mohammed morsi. regardless of everybody's criticisms of morsi as a leader inside egypt and these other

issues, on this particular issue he was somebody that helped broker the last major truce between gaza and israeli and right now egypt is not a legitimate player in the eyes of hamas. >> chuck, we want to get you in on some domestic politics here. michelle nunn's campaign brushing off the leaks of her victory plan in the state of georgia that calls for the candidate to spend 80% of her time raising money. conservative national review released a atrophy of her strategy memos giving a rare glimpse in inside a campaign. her campaign highlighted what they saw as her biggest vulnerabilities including running the points of life when irs filing show may have provided money to an organization accused of having loose ties to hamas. also a memo highlighting what the campaign saw as an opportunity in the jewish community saying, quote, michelle's position on israeli were largely determined the level support there adding that her message was tbd, nunn is

locked in a tight race with david perdue. her campaign doesn't dispute the authenticity of the document writing in a statement, quote. chuck, these plans exist on every campaign. >> of course. >> is we have got one in the spotlight this morning. >> absolutely. look. this is why you hire political consultants and you can them in some way do due diligence on yourself. that is what this was. this sort of, you know, what are her vulnerabilities and what should be working on and focus on and how are the republicans going to attack her. in many ways exactly what you pay a political consultant to come up with is to, you know, look through her background and all of this stuff. here it is. it's the equivalent in football terms of the new england patriots getting a copy of the

new york jets playbook although i guess you could argue the jets playbook they could have and it wouldn't matter because it's the jets. the point is it's seeing the other team's playbook. the republicans are pouncing saying she is all image conscience and she is trying to portray she is new to politics and another image want that beel this stuff. it's an uphill battle to run as a democrat in georgia and she is trying to be authentic. in this day and age when authenticity matters this makes it look like oh, my god, it's esche everybody's worst stereotype what politicians look like. the seen in "simpsons." >> gene, 80% of -- i guess it

sounds crazy, but -- >> welcome to reality. >> might she be the only one that does that? >> it's how it works these day. dialing for dollars 24/7 basically. it looks kind of crazy and artificial when it's all written down like this but i think chuck is absolutely right. this is what candidates do and what political consultants do and this is what it's like to run for office these days. especially for a senate seat. >> the major embarrassment might not be for michelle nunn. it's how money driven the political process is. >> everybody, actually. andrea mitchell, thank you. we will be watching "andrea mitchell reports" at noon on msnbc. chuck todd, see you after "morning joe." the cuban missile crisis retold. one of the definitive moments in u.s. history. up next, the quest for

10,000 steps. how running just five minutes a day can literally save your life. dr. nancy snyderman is standing by with that. you're watching "morning joe." ♪

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♪ president obama has been briefed on the deadly outbreak of the ebola virus in west africa has that left nearly 700 people dead. a hospital in nigeria has been shut down and quarantined after an infection there. joining us now on the set is nbc news chief medical, dr. nancy snyderman. we are trying to put into perspective the risk of its spreading and what is happening

there because it is a resurgence. >> he let's talk about ebola. it's a brilliant spectacular virus in that it kills magnificently and shockingly people get sick very quickly and nausea and high fever and 104 and is 105 and have kidney fail and die. it's like a big wildfire but it's not a smart virus like hiv and doesn't now how to get to one person to another and keep itself live. we normally see these ebola outbreaks has are isolated and go kaboom. now we have seen an ebola outbreak jump a border and last week a man who had a fever got on an airplane and ended up in another country and died several days later. so, for the first time, the world health organization, the centers for disease control is speaking to foreign countries to

sort of talk about border control, screening passengers before getting on airplanes. no doubt this is very little risk to the united states. however, it does mean that if you are an aide worker and traveled to western africa and you talk to your doctor, where you've been in the world now has to be part of your basic history and physical. it can no longer be, well, i just had a sore throat and fever for a few days without saying, have you been out of the country? >> oh, my gosh. and also the person with the fever what came and then died. >> right. >> you were talking about screening? >> right. as you and i in maknow screenin to get on an airplane is minimal at best if any screening at all. health care workers saying maybe let's take your temperature. you just don't get on that plane. if a patient were to arrive in

the united states and look like that, that person would be immediately isolated and hospitalized. the only way to really shut this down is treat it like a wildfire. if there are brush fires popping here and there, you have to make sure they are all out. the challenge is, especially for this person who got on the airplane and maybe came into contact with at least we know 65 people, follow that chain link fence everywhere, find out all of those people he may have been in contact with and you have to make sure you do reasonable surveillance. >> how does the virus spread human-to-human? >> it's very much direct contact. saliva, vomit, diarrhea, maybe semen, we are not sure. but because aide workers when you see them in the field are in these hazmat suits. >> right. >> what concerns us is one of the american women who is infected and now being treated, her job was just to take off the hazmat suits and help bleach down the guys getting out. she was not even in direct contact. so the death rate from ebola is

as high as 90% in. in this current outbreak it's hovering around 68%. the idea is jump in early because if you can stop the kidneys from going into failure. >> we will get to this new study. gene has a quick question. >> my question was just that, nancy. first world medical treatment, do we think that death rate would be lower than the 90% or even the 60%? >> probably, gene. so what we are running into right now is people, particularly in guinea and sierra leone haven't seen this before because this is a new illness in these countries. at the same time, they are seeing ebola kill neighbors and friends and family, the red cross is coming in and catholic charities is coming in. some villagers are seeing western medicine come in at the same time family members are dying and stoke the fear that outsiders have brought the illness. so that need for western

medicine and sort of old beliefs and -- i'm going to say, you know, like the voodoo kind of home medicine that you see in many villages, it's all colliding. so aide workers have talked about 17-year-olds with machetes stopping their cars, cutting down trees, and putting up road blocks to keep aide workers out. so they really want aide workers to work with local elders who are respected to try to demystify this. it's horrific. and i should say in this part of the world, ritual bathing of the dead is part of the custom but if you touch someone who is dead you're going to get the virus. >> let's now turn to this new study from the journal of the american college of cardiology on running. >> fascinating study. you know, we have been told before to run -- to work out an hour a day and you're going to live longer. impossible for most people. >> right. >> this study looked at over 55,000 people and showed that

for runners, the reduction of heart disease and stroke is 30% or so. but even for the average person, if you run five minutes a day, you can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by almost 50%. so that use it or lose it, a little bit is better than nothing is significant. >> five minutes at like a dead sprint? >> no, just five minutes a day. >> sam wants to know how. >> how bad can i run? >> mika, i'm not a runner. never loved it and never got that endorphin high and never figured out what is so great to it. mika love to get out there and run. i would like to wave them on. but i am very conscious of how much i walk a day. if you're not a runner, at least get in 10,000 steps. on the weekend, 25,000 steps. >> i would think that is doable for a lot of folks and it's really nice and probably has the same benefit. >> about three years ago, yes. >> 25,000 steps seems like a lot. >> on a weekend, absolutely

doable. >> i think edition to bars. >> make sure you're drinking the dark alcohol because that stuff is good for your heart. >> all i drink. >> nancy, it's basically 30 to 60 minutes a week. let's say you took the low end 30 minutes a week. you could run twice a week, 15 minutes? that is doable for everybody. >> i do something every day. there was a study about three or four years ago looking at very fit men with no risk factors for heart disease and stroke. their jobs, however, were desk jobs. and they found that sitting at a desk was an independent risk factor for having heart attack. >> why you need a treadmill desk. have you seen those? >> al roker has one. he walks all day long. >> we should get them here. >> show it on the air. >> everyone else is on their treadmills watching. everyone says i watch you from my treadmill every morning. i feel jealous! >> trip on them. i like that. >> nancy, thank you so much. great to see you. ahead outrage in new york city as residents in a luckry

apartment building want a separate door for the so-called affordable units. really? we will break down the city's so-called "poor door" policies. keep it right here on "morning joe." ♪ somewhere out on that horizon ♪ ♪ out beyond the neon lights i know there must be somebody ♪ vo: this is the summer.

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♪ 35 past of the hour. hi, thomas. >> hi, mika. >> you're here. okay. two of our favorite senators here on "morning joe" is pushing legislation to close down a branch of the commerce department that they say is obsolete and they say it's also a waste of taxpayer claire mccaskill and tomcoal burn. the office doesn't make any money doing it. they have actually lost money. 9 out of 10 years. in fact, the reporters of all those government reports offered online can be found on other sites and almost always free of charge. that's why they named their bill the, quote, let me fooling that for you act.

mccaskill saying a government agency for paying for things after realizing they could get it for free elsewhere. good foy. she noted a tiny banner at the top of the branch's website informing consumers of that fact seems awfully difficult to read. yep, you could get rid of that. anybody disagree? >> i know nothing about this agency. so i'm going to reserve judgment but it seems like if you did google something. >> let me google that for you. up next, the stakes have never been higher than back channel. a piece of historical future set during the cuban missile crisis that takes us to the brink of world war iii. keep it here on "morning joe." that is coming up. ♪

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i call upon chairman to halt

and eliminate this clan dah stein and stable relations between our two nations. i call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination and to join in a historic effort to end the perilist arms race and transform the history of man. our goal is not the victory of mig might, but the vindication of right. both peace and freedom. here in this hemisphere and we hope around the world, god willing, that goal will be achieved. >> that was october of 1962. the cuban missile crisis put the u.s. and soviet union and a military face-off. what went on behind the scenes to avoid a full-out war. with us is "the new york times" best selling author, steven l. carter who is out with his

latest novel "back channel." great to have you back on the show. >> thank you. >> congratulations on this. we will also talk about the poor door controversy here in new york city coming up which i think is fascinating. you reimagined, speaking of fascinating, the cuban missile crisis and you bring in a couple of different aspects to this. the game of chess and young woman by the name of margo jensen. >> here, there's two historical facts that i worked with. one is that president kennedy really did have an affair with a 19-year-old college student that did actually overlap the cuban missile crisis. second, behind the official negotiations, there was an unofficial negotiation, a secret negotiation only a few people knew about in the white house. my fictional premise supposed the affair with the college student didn't really happen but a cover for the secret negotiations. >> okay.

take it from there. that affair did happen with kennedy, correct? >> i really did have an affair with a 19-year-old but my fictional 19-year-old he does not have an affair with but she is asked to pretend to have an affair with the president using his reputation as it were as the cover so that she can ferry messages between him and an official of the soviet embassy. >> when we look back on the history of what that time meant for the world internationally it was a big chess game and trying to figure it out and a lot of it went with the national thought leaders who could think like the luck of trying to figure out the situation. why does chess play to prominently for you in your books? you say you're an amateur at chess, which i doubt. >> no, i'm an absolute amateur. but what chess involves is figuring out what your opponent is going to do and not letting your opponent know what you are going to do.

when you look at foreign policy crises today and there are a lot of them and a lot of people criticizing the president or supporting him and a lot of the criticism i think is undeserved. foreign policy is hard. but the one piece of advice that i would give, if ever asked, wanting to learn from this crisis what kennedy did, he kept guessing. whether kennedy was willing to push the button or not. we still don't know. keeping his opponent off balance that way and keeping his cards so close to his vest and his close advisers didn't know i think was the successful completion of the crisis. >> discussion of the difficulties of writing and melding the two together. >> i think written seven or eight works of nonfiction and it is my sixth novel. you're right. to me writing novels is harder and writing historical novels is

particularly difficult. it appeals to me as a scholar. i get to do the research and i try in this novel to bring washington, d.c. to 1962 to life and it all takes place in europe and so on but i try to bring the city to life as it really would have been. i have a a lot of real historical characters in the novels, not only the kennedy brothers and national security adviser but people like bobby fisher, the chess champion and others. to me half the fun of it is trying to make sure i have to the extent possible my facts right and that takes a lot of time. >> why not go full nonfiction and retell the story of what happened from a purely historical end? >> but i like to tell stories. people like to read the stories. >> you have a story to tell. >> i do. >> i want to bring you to real life for a second. as you have written in bloomberg view about the corridor controversy here in new york city and you write in part this. everyone is mad about the poor door. this is the name critics bestowed upon the separate entrance for the affordable housing units on the western

side of manhattan. it is a little outrageous but some of it may be optical. the separate entrance for the cheaper units which is hardly heard of in manhattan real estate is part of a consequence of the very policies that new york is trying to enforce. so the title of this is "the poor door concept is nothing new in u.s. cities." i don't think that makes it okay. >> it's not okay. >> it's not okay. >> no, it's not okay. it's a terrible thing, but new york is one of the most economically segregated cities in the united states. well studied. already in new york city, there is an enormous separation between where the with to do live and where the poor live. >> right but to have the poor people who live in the affordable part of that building bringing in a separate door is bringing us to a past time. >> i'm agreeing. the way to resolve this, is number one, the economic

segregation in new york we have the sections of the city that are rich and sections that are poor and tend to not overlap with each other is number one. second the way to solve the problem of affordable housing is not only to reduce some of the regulations that make it expensive to build housing but to get people with actual money they can go out and find a place to live that meets their standards rather than some standard that was designed by the city itself. >> stephen, in talking about this specific building on the upper west side and also to the divide in the city, a lot of people being priced out of living in manhattan directly. if i understand about the building, the residents in one section say the higher cost apartments are not going to share the same amenities and same floors. it's like two separate buildings built in one structural space so that these builders are getting the big tax exemptions and kick-backs from the city? >> i agree. what i would do i would stomp giving the builders those benefits. what the builders do with these

benefits and not only build separate spaces and extra benefits to sell off for millions of dollars. what the city is doing for this program is subsidizing the construction from luxury housing where builders make billions of dollars. >> >> you have a lot of buildings in manhattan have the separate entrances we both object to and the only way we are going to stop that is stop giving them the subsidy which they are happy to get. >> why put the affordable housing units in the building? >> more housing can be built you may have someone else put in -- >> good to have you back on the show. >> a pleasure. >> up next, will voters hurt the democrats this november? we are going to explore in the mojo polling place. plus the nixon tapes you never heard.

historian douglas brinkley will be on the set and some of these are fantastic. did you hear some of these? >> yes. family friendly. >> yeah. we will be right back. ♪ shopping online is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. start shopping online from a list of top-rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge.

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25-year-old junior bishop dressed as spider-man took a photo with two people, and when the couple attempted to give the man $1, bishop says he only takes 5s, 10s, and 20s. a police officer overheard the conversation and stepped in and told the couple they could donate whatever they wanted. the police officer asked for bishop's i.d. and he said he didn't have an i.d.. >> his real name's peter parker. i guess the real question everybody has in this situation is, did batman think that the police were justified? >> somebody get choked, just like that, you know what mine? he can get choked for that. you know what i mean? >> bruce, bruce -- we can see your face, bruce! >> oh, my gosh.

that is too much. all right, to politics now. there are some circles, which is just as funny, sometimes, there are some circles of the republican party that would like to see mitt romney make another run for the presidency in two years. and as "morning joe" polling analyst derek kips reports, there's a whole group of voters who wish the former governor were in the white house right now. >> it appears some americans may be having buyer's remorse about their decision to re-elect president barack obama to a second term. despite the fact that president obama beat mitt romney in 2012, 51-47 in the popular vote, a recent cnn poll shows if the election were held today, mitt romney would be the people's choice, topping the president, 53-44. and according to gallup's recent survey, the president's approval rating has flatlined at 43%. it's a number of that has the gop hoping to capitalize come november. >> the cnn poll further reveals that 45% of americans believe that president obama has expanded his presidential power too much, with only 3 in 10 saying the president's actions have been about right.

however, despite the president's low approval rating, the president doesn't seem to buy the gop's legislative agenda of lawsuits and impeachment either. by a 57-41 margin, americans say house republicans should not file the lawsuit challenging the president's health plan. with even fewer supporting the gop's growing calls for impeachment. >> if the gop truly hopes to capitalize on the president's weak approval numbers in the midterms, lawsuits and impeachment may not be the best option to do so. guys, back to you. >> okay, gene, just chime in on the buyer's remorse. is it fair? >> well, look, this is that phase of a presidency where people have seen him for six years and things are not going well in the world and, but they don't like the republicans either. i think, just not at a great move. so that's where i think we are. >> we're not in a good place. up next, andrew cuomo defends the ethics commission that he commissioned, as a new report suggests that his office isn't completely free of guilt.

we'll talk about that. plus, a senate candidate's strategy for a victory is leaked, revealing an inside look at the game of politics and the role of money. and then as the crisis in the middle east taking a toll on the relationship between the u.s. and israel? nbc's kate snowe joins with us a live report from tel aviv. all of that and much more when "morning joe" returns. as long as i've lived in iowa, there's always been wind. (strauss' blue danube playing)

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flares have turned night into broad daylight in the skies over the gaza strip. >> today was supposed to be a cease-fire. it didn't work. >> an explosion on a busy street where children were playing. >> israel says it was a stray hamas rocket. >> hamas doesn't accept that, and uses the attack on the children as a reason to go on the offensive. >> intense fighting prevented investigators reaching the crash site of mh-17 for the second day running. >> much more substantial sanctions will come into place across broad sectors of the russian economy. >> two americans are fighting for their lives, infected with the deadly ebola virus. >> the spread of a dangerous illness like ebola is no longer someone else's problem. >> last july, governor andrew cuomo created a special commission to tackle public corruption. >> and now, a three-month

examination by "the new york times" claims that governor cuomo's office deeply compromised the panel's work. >> if you had watched the movie to the end, the name of the movie would have been "independence." you named it "interference." >> welcome back to "morning joe." sam stein, eugene robinson still with us. joining us now, columnist for "bloomberg view," al hunt, in new york. i'm confused. first time on the set here in new york. >> is it really? >> it's usually a d.c. thing with al. >> my dream has been to be with mika in new york and finally -- >> that's one way to put it. >> and with steve. >> what about me, al. >> don't leave sam out. >> former mccain campaign strategist and msnbc political analyst, steve schmidt is here as well. nice to have you on board. >> thank you, mika. let's start with breaking news, as the crisis between israel and hamas enters its fourth week, nbc news has confirmed moments ago that two

u.n. staff members were killed in gaza today. the new barrage of strikes came as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu delivered a national tv address, warning of an extended conflict there. joining us now from tel aviv, nbc news correspondent, kate snowe with the latest. kate? >> reporter: good morning, mika. secretary of state john kerry is still pushing all the parties for an end to the bloodshed here, but i have to tell you, he faces an uphill battle in israel, because look at what the public and the press are saying about john kerry. here's the headline in this morning's paper, it says obama and kerry are playing with fire. overnight, more explosions in gaza. this morning, the main power plant took a hit, columns of smoke are still rising. israel confirmed ten soldiers died yesterday, pushing the number of military deaths over 50, the highest casualty count since a war in the north in 2006. that's only increasing israel's

resolve to keep going, and it helps explain why it's been so tough for john kerry to negotiate a peace deal. >> i just want to say a very few words, quickly about the events in gaza. >> kerry's been soundly criticized in the israeli media for the way he pushed for a cease-fire. a columnist for the liberal newspaper says senior government officials in jerusalem described carri kerry's cease-fire proposal as a strategic attack. >> it's not just that kerry and the obama administration is taking the side of the palestinians, but in the arab world in general over israel. and the feeling is that this america led by this president won't actually be there when it matters for israel's security needs. >> one paper called kerry a nudnnik. >> somebody coming again and again and again and doesn't do much. >> reporter: the coffee crowd in tel aviv thinks kerry is out of his league. >> he thinks he can make some agreement, he can write some nice words, some nice statements. come on. get real. >> reporter: the obama

administration spent monday bending over backwards to defend kerry. >> the reality is that john kerry, on behalf of the united states, has been working every step of the way with israel in support of our shared interests. >> reporter: so here's the situation. a lot of analysts are worried that kerry, with all this kerry bashing going on, is going to lose some of his power to even negotiate some kind of cease-fire, let alone a lasting peace over here. and meantime, while all the diplomats are talking, more than 70 palestinians were killed in that fighting overnight. >> sam stein? >> kate, i had a question for you. the israel ambassador to the united states yesterday spoke out in defense, actually, of john kerry, and tried to minimize the distance between the netanyahu government and the secretary of state. do you pick up any sense that the israeli government thinks that the talk has been

overblown, or what is the imperative for them in having the ambassador come out and saying something like that? >> reporter: publicly, they still want to talk about their alliance with the u.s. they need america as an ally. behind the scenes, it's harder to say. the sense from here, when you talk to the people, at least, is that israelis, they're not giving up. they don't want a cease-fire. they're not going to stop this offensive, because they strongly believe that those tunnels still exist and that they haven't yet demilitaryized hamas. that's the mood on the street that benjamin netanyahu is dealing with here. and of course, he has to balance that with the diplomacy. >> nbc's kate snowe in tel aviv, thanks so much. al, you heard netanyahu in the past 24 hours pulling this just war. kerry, obviously, the secretary of state in the crosshairs of criticism. and you know, at what point, really, is he to blame for continued fighting, when all sides of this are so at each other's throats, literally, and show no sign of backing down. it's almost like the criticism

of kerry is an excuse to keep fighting, instead of to listen and to stop. >> it's kind of hard to blame john kerry for -- >> for trying. >> for fighting in the middle east. he may have made a tactical mistake. i don't know enough about what's on the ground there. but to say that john kerry is not a friend of israel. to say that john kerry is somehow trying to help hamas is just utter and complete nonsense. >> it's ludicrous. >> and i think for the israeli -- those israelis who perpetuate that are going to find it self-defeating. >> they're not only perpetuating it, this time it's being stirred up as an excuse not to consider a cease-fire, which, i mean, at this point, we're looking at day after day after day of video of civilians and children, getting caught in these massacre. >> i think the key quote from yesterday was when netanyahu talked about continuing this operation until they closed all of the tunnels from gaza into israel. that could be a serious and long-term operation in terms of the war hostilities. and it suggests that israeli is

in this mind-set where they want to, you know, figuratively, mow the lawn, chop down hamas's military capabilities for now, for a couple of years, and they'll have to end up coming back. and my question for everyone who talks about this is what is the long-term strategic objective of israel here? i'm having trouble figuring out what they're trying to do in the long run. what replaces hamas as the military outfit of the palestinians? >> and does it spread to the west bank? >> steve? >> look, the reason there is fighting now, today, is 100% entirely the fault of hamas. this is a terrorist organization. the lobbing of missiles into israel, the attacks on the civilian populations in israel have precipitated this crisis. and the strategic goal of the israeli nation, of the israeli army is to demilitaryize, to disarm, to defang hamas. and they have sustained casualties, great sacrifice on the part of the israeli people. and it should be the job of the

government of the united states in this situation, to communicate with absolute moral clarity that we will stand side-by-side with israel. that we will not give cover to those who draw false equivalence with the two sides. the images on television are tragic, because all war is tragic. but the israeli people don't live in the fantastical world of washington, d.c. the threats that they face are real, they are lethal, and the people that you just saw being interviewed in cafes have a visceral understanding of that in a way that our policy makers can't seem to at an intellectual level. >> and i don't want to start a -- because every conversation usually results in an emotional back and forth, and i don't want to get there. i think, in theory, that's fine. but you can't just ignore the severe humanitarian crisis that's going on in gaza, as well as the civilian casualties. we can't have a foreign policy

in a vacuum. yes, it makes sense to stand with israel. yes, israel has vulnerability from hamas. but at the same time, there are clearly issues in elements of the palestinian cause that resonate with the american public, and certainly with the european public and the world public that can't just be wiped away. >> who is that you're negotiating with? >> that's the great question. >> when the people that you are trying to do a deal with do not recognize at any level your legitimacy -- >> nothing, exactly. >> the hamas chief said -- >> that's true! >> gene, jump in? >> the question, to me, steve, is, okay, who are you negotiating with? well, if you don't want to negotiate with hamas, because that's the opposite party, under any circumstances, and the only way to get at hamas is essentially through the people, the civilians who live in gaza, there's a problem there. and we can't ignore that problem, that if the only way you can get at hamas is, you

know, killing thousands, potentially, before this is over, of civilians in gaza, there's a real question there, that we can't just look past. and you know, there's a question of proportionality here and i think it's, you know, i can understand, you know, i know what israelis feel, i know how under attack they feel, with good reason. but there is a question of proportionality. and in the end, can you bomb hamas into oblivion? can you totally get rid of hamas? and if so, isn't it replaced by something very much like hamas? >> or worse. >> or worse. >> well, look, at the end of the day, you have a densely packed civilian population. hamas operates within that civilian population. they use that civilian population to hide weapons

systems, to hide rocket systems. the israeli army does everything it can conceivably do to avoid civilian casualties in its operation. this is a moral country. this is a moral fighting force. what is happening in any war, where there are civilian casualties, where there is collateral damage, it is very tragic. but now that this has begun, it must be finished. >> sure. >> and the israeli army must be supported by this country in its quest to do as much damage to disarm hamas and to demilitaryize them, to degrade them, and to weaken them as much as possible or these losses will have been in vain. and the secretary of state should not be drawing false equivalence between the two sides. >> i don't think he did draw -- he did not draw a false equivalence, steve. that's just not right. he tried to get a cease-fire. you can argue that was a mistake. >> but to what -- >> to end violence. >> but the strategic goal here should be the degrading of

hamas, not the -- the strategic goal is not the achievement of a cease-fi cease-fire. a cease-fire achieved without a degraded hamas means we will likely see more military con fli flikt in the future. now that this has begun, there is only one way for it to end, and that is for hamas to be defanged to the largest stent as possible. >> we're saying, what happens? what are the ramifications of a defanged hamas? as eugene possible, i don't think any of us know this, but is it a possibility that what replaces hamas in gaza could end up being worse. it could be a series of terrorist groups or terror cells that we have no control over, that provide no social services to the people of gaza. those are the questions we're not grappling with. we have a very short-term mind-set about this conflict when we should be thinking about the long-term. >> it's entirely possible that it could be worse. and if it is worse, then the israeli army will need to continue into -- >> and here we are. >> this is why these conversations -- >> i want to get two political stories in this block, before we go to break. first this one, u.s. senate

hopeful michelle nun's campaign is brushing off the leak in georgia. it calls for the candidate to spend 80% of her time raising money. the conservative national review released a trove of nunn's international campaign strategies. it highlighted her biggest vulnerabilitie vulnerabilities, including her work, an organization that may have loose ties to hamas. and there's a memo highlighting what the campaign saw as an opportunity in the jewish community. saying, quote, michelle's position on israel will largely determine the level of support, adding that her message was tbd. nunn is currently locked in a tight race with georgia businessman, david perdue. her campaign doesn't dispute the authenticity of the document. writing in a statement, quote, this was a draft of a document

that was written eight months ago. like all good plans, they change. but what hasn't changed is all the more clear today, that michelle's components are going to mischaracterization, to mischaracterize her work and her positions, and part of what we've always done is prepare for the false things that are going to be said. i'm not sure if that's in response to what happened or not, but that's their response. al, are you surprised by anything in the memo when you know the inner workings of politics? >> no, i'm really not. >> i'm not. it hurts, but i'm -- i can't stand that 80% of her time has to be -- >> you wish you didn't have campaigns, where you spend 80% of your time. >> but you do. >> points of light, as i recall, was a george bush foundation, a george bush initiative. look, it's embarrassing and it doesn't help. michelle nunn is a very strong accompanied. is the best single opportunity to win a republican seat. her father is still revered in the state of georgia. he's running with jimmy carter's grandson. and they've got a shot in a red state, in a year that's not going to be -- >> you must have written tons of

these memos. has anyone -- >> what stands out? >> i have a couple of reactions. first off, she's only spending 80% of her time raising money? >> only?! good god! >> i'm serious about this. my line to candidates has always been, you're going to submit about 90% of your time raising money. in that this is a revelation to anybody is just shocking to me. look, this is what american politics is like. candidates spend more than 80% of their time, spend much more like 90% of their time raising must be. and that's how broken the system is. and then the second part of it is, and i've been for a long time now, in a campaign. i just don't hand out paper around the table. everything gets put on the dry erase board. the notion that you're going to put this into long strategic memos and pass out 100 copies is beyond crazy. >> well, this one was accidentally posted online, which is even crazier. >> oh, come on! >> that's how they got it. who would post that online? >> the former campaign aides. >> look, when i was running the

arnold schwarzenegger campaign, we got a call from the l.a. times one day, saying they had hours of taped conversations, we had no idea how they got them. we eventually figured out, with arnold schwarzenegger talking, you know, in, you know, you know, off the cuff. and i love him to death, but let me assure you -- >> that's good stuff. >> -- he's a colorful character. and i always thought hours of arnold schwarzenegger tapes with nothing particularly damaging in the media was the equivalent of a 747 doing an emergency landing in lower manhattan and doing no damage and hurting no one. >> so you can survive this thing. >> you can. >> sam -- >> in 2008, the obama campaign accidentally sent us their district by district plan from february through june. went through every district. and when i called him up and said, it's terrific, they said, you can't print that, and i said, i can, and they said, we have lots of plans, and i said,

send us every one and we'll print every one. >> and they survived. >> i got a memo about how to court a high-profile donor and what it was going to entail and how they were going to talk to the guy. it was what would you expect they wanted to do to a high-profile donor, but it was hugely embarrassing to have something like that revealed in public. i don't know what happened to the donor. i assume he department donate. >> probably ambassador of lu luxembou luxembourg. i remember infamously the in 2008, the giuliani campaign memo about how he was going to run for president was leaked and obviously that didn't turn out well for giuliani. >> we're also following a story with andrew cuomo. you seen this? new york governor andrew cuomo pushing back hard against allegations that his office interfered with a political ethics commission, a commission he himself put in place. it stems from a front-page article last week in "the new york times" which alleges cuomo's office squashed certain subpoenas is that would have looked into the governor's own

dealings. including one to a media firm connected to new york's democratic party. but now, one of the firm's three co-chairs at the center of "the times" story, william j. fitzpatri fitzpatrick, is claiming that the panel was, indeed independent. he says, quote, the bottom line is that no one interfered with me or my co-chairs. but disappoint yesterday's denials, e-mails obtained by "the times" show that fitzpatrick had expressed frustration with meddling with the governor's office. at one point, e-mailing that mr. cuomo's office needs to understand that this is an independent commission and needs to be treated as such. yesterday, the governor disputed "the times" characterization of the remarks. >> read it again. >> the second floor, larry, needs to understand that an independent commission needs to be treated as such. >> okay, so what he's saying is that at some point in time, larry is having a conversation with him and larry is advocating a point. that's what that is saying.

that is true. follow the movie to the conclusion. and what does chairman fitzpatrick say? no, resoundingly, no. what does the chairman's actions show. no. resoundingly no. because he rejected the request. the rejection is ipso facto a statement of independence because he said no. and he could and he did. if you had watched the movie to the end, the name of the movie would have been "independence." you named it "interference." >> okay. so, i want to get steve's take on this. the governor is -- has also said -- i spoke to him on the phone yesterday, most of it off

the record, but denying vehemently that he didn't -- they did not squash subpoenas. so "the times" is making a connection that everyone is running with. and the question is, in terms of looking at his response here and looking at the story as it was laid out, the actual facts making no connections, just the facts, is he in trouble in any way? >> no. and by the way, what i think is, and what he said, i find very compelling. and i think he is correct. and my advice to him would be to speak no more of this matter ever again forever. if the chairman of the commission says that i was not interfered with, and as the governor just went through, and the e-mail to me is dispositive of the fact that he asserted his independence, did not yield to political pressure in a conversation with a political aide who was trying to make a point, and there's no actual evidence, just supposition that

there was a quashing of subpoenas, i don't know what the story is here. >> he didn't squash a subpoena? >> i think the answer is no, there is no evidence that subpoenas were squashed politically. so in the context of the story, you understand why he seems a little bit emotional, what his reaction is on that. but i don't know what the basis of the story and the allegation is, given the other facts that we just laid out here. >> i think you're -- i'm not quite so benign on this. he may not have squashed subpoenas, i don't know. i'm not familiar with this story. but what is clear, albany is a cesspool of corruption, they tried to clear it up, they tried to interfere, someone from his office, maybe they didn't succeed. i think andrew cuomo does not look good here. >> and here's a governor, ipso facto, he is in trouble. >> that's a different issue. >> i just wanted to get ipso facto in there. >> people have been trying to clean up albany since the 1920s.

it's always been a sacesspool. the fact that albany is a cesspool has no bearing on this story. >> unless you said you came to albany to clean it up. >> but bring that up in the re-election. is there any evidence that the governor was involved in squashing subpoenas? there's no apparent evidence to me of that. if the chairman of the commission says that -- >> he did shut down the commission. >> there was no political interference. >> that's a problem in its own right. >> it's a problem, i suppose, if people want to make a political argument that he ought not to have closed down the commission. but the notion that, you know, that the story that ran, i think, is absent facts, alleging what he did. >> the question is what is interference, right? >> guys, so we have chris christie on one side of this thing and -- >> tri-state area. >> the tri-state governors are

being looked at, and in both the cases, the optics are very bad. but to the governor's point, there are no facts right now that prove that he quashed subpoenas, right? does anybody have any? okay, we don't. but it doesn't look good. i think that's fair to say. >> closing down the -- >> the optics are bad. >> shutting down a commission that you created and it looks like there may be some timing that would indicate that it might be effective, but you've got no proof. >> you created it because you were a great corruption fighter. >> and then you shut it down. >> but, again, there's no actual fact that chose that. and you could also say that the new jersey governor, you know, tried that as well, saying there are no facts that show i was connected to the lane -- but that did not stop the press from talking about it is and saying these could be connections that could be made. it's an interesting trifecta. all right. we'll revisit this. we'll be following this. and maybe we'll hold a news conference closer to new york city. that would be nice. because that's another optic issue. >> buffalo's not good enough? >> buffalo is hard to get to.

i'm like, are you kidding me, buffalo? now it seems like you're trying to make it far away -- >> tim russert is looking down on you somewhere, be careful, mika. >> i love buffalo, i'm just saying, but if you want to address the story, come to the reporters who are covering it. eugene robinson, thank you, steve schmidt, thank you as well. al hunt, stay with us. 40 years ago after his resignation as president, we'll take a look at some new uncensored tapes from the nixon administration. they're fascinating. and later, the impact of two opposing forces on the modern family dynamic. we'll explain what those forces are with a fascinating new study ahead and the impact of women working and making money and how that potentially affects marriage. but, first, here's bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> morning to you, mika. a lot of activity lately. we had those tornadoes in boston yesterday, one in virginia last week. and then we had that lightning strike on the beach that killed that person in california, three rare events. what's not so rare is summertime

fires in the west. and they continue to spread and we've been having a very active period. these are coming from near yosemite national park, and we're going to watch this area closely today, because they do have the chance to spread with warm temperatures and some breezy conditions out there. in all, we now have 27 large fires burning in the west. it actually died down just a little bit. we had about 36 last week. so some rainfall has been beneficial. this picture came to us overnight. this is from yosemite national park, and you can actually see on here, how active the fire is, right through the middle of the night. a pretty eerie looking picture there. so across the country, we had that storm in new england yesterday, gone. now we're looking at beautiful conditions. no problems with the mid-atlantic, ohio valley. dry air all the way to the south. one area that's needed the rain, new mexico. and you're getting drenched. we've seen too much, too fast, and we have some flash flood warnings. colorado and new mexico, flash flooding. your tuesday forecast, flash flood threat continues for

colorado, new mexico, some afternoon storms in florida. and as we head towards the end of the week, the predominant weather story will be what happens with this tropical disturbance. it looks like it could become tropical storm bertha by the end of the week. somewhere near puerto rico by the time we get to sunday. and it could go somewhere just off the east coast it looks like, next week at this time. so that's good news with that. shouldn't be much of a problem for the lower 48. but our friends in puerto rico, we'll keep a close eye on it. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. over 20 million kids everyday in our country lack access to healthy food. for the first time american kids are slated to live a shorter life span than their parents. it's a problem that we can turn around and change. revolution foods is a company we started to provide access to healthy, affordable, kid-inspired, chef-crafted food.

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one of the first recordings made after president richard nixon installed a private taping system, and an eerie warning from his chief of staff. joining us now, professor of history at rice university, douglas brinkley, who is the father of cassidy, it's cassidy, right, sweetie? yeah, i'm good.

also the co-editor of a new book, "the nixon tapes: richard nixon unfiltered, uncensored, and in his own words." is your dad nice? >> yeah. >> a good writer, right? and cassidy says she's best behaved in the household. i'll let you go figure that out between your brother and sister, because we're going to be talking about inappropriate behavior among pandas, apparently. so cute. so good. we've got a lot of fascinating things to talk about pertaining to your books and these tapes. here's a conversation between president nixon and henry kissinger when they wanted to produce criticism against soviet jews, worried it could harm their secret talks with the soviet union.

what do you think of this conversation? >> henry kissinger, being jewish, is constantly worried he's going to be taken out of being a negotiator in the middle east, anything to do with israel or foreign policy in general, but nixon told halderman, i don't want any jews regarded with foreign policy. so kissinger always trying to overcompensate and being macho. in this case, he says, i don't care about the human right s jes and soviet unions. it's none of our business. we don't ask russia to tell us about african-americans, we

don't care what happens to them. at one point, he says, i don't care basically if they go in gas chambers, it's none of our business. they're in russia, it's not america. he's a realist, kissinger, and this is his real politic vision. >> al, have you been listening to these tapes at all? >> i've listened to some. >> it's fascinating. >> i can't wait to read doug's book. everything about nixon is fascinating. the contradictions, this incredibly smart man who was so insecure, had good policies and did them in the worst possible way. but kissinger also was pandering to him. >> absolutely. and nobody spoke up to the boss. and you have to give kissinger to -- you know, he didn't know he was being tape recorded. nixon had everything voice activated. it wasn't like johnson or kennedy, where they were doing limited taping. this was everything. they even bugged camp david. so you can imagine kissinger, years later, when these come out, you have to be -- you get mortified. but nobody, except halderman, and maybe once or twice, really stands up to the boss. they're afraid of him. >> and kissinger in his defense, pandered to him rhetorically,

but it didn't affect policy. >> often would just do the opposite or at least try to work other channels. in fact, we owe kissinger a little bit of credit in october of 1973 with the yom kippur war, nixon was drinking all the time, completely dissolving, because of the pressure of watergate, and it was kissinger and scowcroft who kept our foreign policy going. >> so had it been today, there could be cameras everywhere. it would be like the kardashians. one of the more humorous exchanges in the book, nixon's conversation with a washington reporter about chinese pandas heading to the national zoo. nixon was apparently amazed at how they mated.

>> pandas are voyeurs. what in the world?! what in the world? >> well, nixon's sort of an odd man. >> yes. >> but, of course, his best moment in history is the 1972 breakthrough to china and the pandas coming to america were a big deal. and on one of the tapes, nixon was talking about the problem of what zoo, san diego, st. louis? and he decided on the national zoo, because he thought the climate was right for pandas. so he started reading a lot about pandas, so far that he was getting into their mating habits with a reporter. >> a real aficionado. so '72, you talk about, that's when the breakthrough he had with china. but when we look at his most powerful years, really is just prior to that. because watergate, you know, '73, as you say, he was drinking

a little more than he should have been. but '71/'72? >> yeah, he was a big deal. he won in '68, improbable as it was. '72, the biggest landslide in american history against george mcgovern. on one of the tapes, he's so victorious, he says, why isn't somebody writing a book about 1972. all that i've accomplished. his sense of grandiosity is extreme. and of course, we know, by '73, watergate just starts ripping him down. and you get a whole new batch of tapes that a man name stanley cutler had put into a book called "abuse of power," a great scholar from wisconsin, and now john deans also adding to that record. >> did you like putting this together? >> it was unbelievable, because my friend, luke nicktor, we had transcripts so high, he's been working on it for a decade. and we went through and edited it down to try to be fair. ones that are historically significant, some lighter moments, and some moments of

dark nixon. >> before we go to break, we're going to bump out with him talking about women who swear, which we ran earlier. it is something to listen to. the book is the nixon tapes. and you can read an excerpt on our site, mojo.msnbc.com. douglas brinkley, thank you so much. thank you, cassidy! your daughter's adorable! always bring her. al hunt, thank you as well. i know you've got to run. tomorrow on "morning joe," we'll continue our look at president nixon. john dean will be our guest for his book, the nixon defense, what he knew and when he knew it. coming up this morning, the revolution at home. how men and women are learning to coexist in a new era of equality, or no coexist. "morning joe" will be right back.

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the dynamics of the american working family are constantly evolving. affected in large part by the economic gains and losses made by women in the family. it creates what the director of the research council, research at the council on contemporary families call the new instability in a piece for "the new york times". she wrote in part this, over the past 40 years, the geography of family life has been destabilized by two powerful forces, pulling in opposite directions. and occasionally scraping against each other. much like tectonic plates. one is the striking progress toward equality between men and women. the other is the equally striking growth of socioeconomic inequality and insecurity. and here with us now to weigh in on these two trends, editor in chief of "glamour," cindy levy, and chairman of myers biz.net, jet myers, the author of the upcoming book, "the future of

men" and "the age of dominant males." we've got to talk. i don't know who's losing more in that. but let's talk about this study. so cindy and jack, and thomas, show us some of the numbers here we're talking about. because there are some real shifts taking place. >> there are definitely shifts. let's talk about gains for women and redefining the ideal family arrangement. the question was asked, how have these two trends impacted the notion of an ideal family relationship based on these numbers. and look at this, we have the ideal family arrangement, 1977, two-thirds believed the husband should work, and the wife should be at home. now, 2012, we've got one third believe that the husband should work and the wife should be at home. so, obviously, there is huge gains in terms of how families are looking at who's going outside the home to work. >> and add one more outcome to that, looking at divorce, which is so interesting as well. >> so marriage 101, we look at the 1980s.

if the wife was better educated, divorce was more likely. in the 1990s, if the wife is better educated, there is no e added divorce risk. >> let's stop there with this new instability. what's happening? cindy and then jack? >> what's happening is work is a reality of women's lives. and it is basically holding up the american economy. and most americans are pretty fine with that. i mean, the statistics that you just showed, showing how people's views towards women bringing home the bacon have changed are remarkable. you know, there used to be this idea that that was a men's world. and now, particularly, young men and women think, you know what, as long as there's bacon coming into the home, i'm good. it doesn't matter who's brought it. >> it's not just a push for equality anymore, it's a necessity. i look at the next generation as girls are going to work. >> it's not about having it all as some sort of greedy or selfish choice. it's about, this is what the economy and everybody's family is -- >> but it is impacting the family, jack? >> there are clear economic -- >> and marriages. >> it's impacting across all society, culture, business,

education, politics. but the reality is that in 2015, for the first time, women will surpass men in the workforce, in managerial and professional jobs, in 1970, men represented over 75%. today, they represent only 45% of managerial and professional jobs. and while women's income has been increasing since 1970, about 25%, men's income has been flat. so while we have more women in the workforce, there's still overall family income, even with more two-family homes is declining. and that's the real challenge. that we can't raise total income, even as more women are entering the workforce. >> interesting results from this, also, in terms of who does the housework. who bears the brunt of the family responsibilities. >> well, there was this study last year, that got a lot of attention, that hinted that couples in which men do more of the housework or at least their fair share, actually have less

sex. and that turns out not to be true. i'm pretty sure it was a rumor started by a guy who did not want to unload the dishwasher. >> it's a good one! >> but i think that speaks to something that jack just raised. as women gain in education, they are not actually raising their risk of divorce. that has been a long-standing fear among a lot of women. and it was based on the fact that it used to be true, up until about the 1990s. but one of the things that "the times" piece points out, is that for the last couple of years, couples where women have equivalent or greater education than their husband, have more stable marriages than those where women are lagging behind. and that's reassuring. >> and even where there's a working husband and a working wife, the working wife still does on average 25% more housework than child care. and in working homes where there's a working wife and a working husband, the husband still has 40 minutes more per day of leisure time. so women are -- there's definitely not a balance -- >> it's almost matching up.

but in your new book and talking about the age of men and male dominance lacking, is that, and these numbers may contribute to that. the fact that when couples are getting together, men and women, they're deciding that their personal and professional lives don't need to be mutually exclusive. and they can achieve these dreams together, communicate about it, talk about it, and achieve it together. it seems like that's the big difference we're seeing in modern relationships. >> it is a balance. and a good man today is not defined by his conquests. >> he's just hard to find. >> that's the opening line of my book. >> very good! okay. very good. it is so interesting, because i think we're kind of in the middle of all of this, these challenges, watching, and reading this article, it was sort of like, i don't know where this is going. >> i think part of what it means is that the definition of being a great man and a great provider has changed. it doesn't necessarily mean that you are doing the providing as a man. you might also need to support your wife if she needs to go back to school to increase her earning power. move across the country to take

another job. all the things that wives have traditionally done for their husbands, it's a two-way street. >> thank you both for being on the show. come back when your book comes out. still ahead, new earnings from wall street, including new concerns from bp over russian sanctions. business before the bell is next.

welcome back, everybody. "business before the bell" now with cnbc's sarah eisen. >> bp warned about further sanctions if the eu and the u.s., as they're discussing, but economic sanctions on russia. it could have, according to bp, a material adverse affect on their operations in russia. remember, bp has about 20% stake in rosnef, which is a major russian energy giant, controlled by the state. so obviously these countries that do business there are

starting to worry about more sanctions as discussed. also i want to mention some moral outrage today. okay cupid, the offline dating site, apparently has been lying to its users, doing all sorts of social experiments, taking away pictures, taking away content on professional. and get this, telling people that they were 90% matched when, really, they were only a 30% match, which, guys, they found actually worked in terms of the number of correspondences. people are pretty upset about that. but okcupid says, this is what websites do. >> doesn't that mean that people will just keep shopping on okcupid? >> or it doesn't matter. >> good point, sarah eisen, you're the best. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? [ male announcer ] the average kid texts 20 words per minute.

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very quickly, what we learned today. sam? >> if you just run five minutes between bars, every time you go to a bar, you'll have a healthy life. >> thomas? >> i learned, substitute the word "bounce" for "jack" in any sentence. >> i have no idea what you're talking about. >> that does it for us today. chuck picks things up with thedathe daily rundown in just a minute.

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where memories will be forged into the sand. and then hung on a wall for years to come. get out there, with over 50,000 hotels at $150 dollars or less. expedia. find yours. a world of uncertainty. from the middle east to europe to africa, america sees a steady stream of bad news with little hope on the international horizon. is it the president's duty to fix this disconnect in a world that's more connected than ever? back at home, one of the toughest 2014 fights could be scott walker's in wisconsin. can democrat mary burke sink his third bid in four years in dealing a troubling blow to any presidential future? she'll be here this morning. plus, nunn too pleased. a private campaign n