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all right. good morning, everyone. top of the hour. look at us here. hello. bobblehead. >> what are you doing -- >> do we have one of those? >> where are they? claire mccaskill requested two of your bobbleheads. >> i was very surprised. you're going to be bobblehead night. i didn't think that it would turn out well. it turned out great. >> it looks exactly like you. >> it does. i got to say, when you throw it through the air at my head, i found that it didn't hurt as much as i was afraid it was going to hurt. everybody got them and throwing at me. >> captures all of your personality. >> i'm not sure why they're not here. your staff failed. >> it was great time down there.

everyone is so wonderful. >> donny deutsch is here. i can't wait. we're going to show clips of it later. >> what are you doing in 1999? >> i don't know. why? i can't remember. >> what were you doing in 1999? >> i was living in washington, d.c. working at the brookings institution. >> what was your position? >> i was vice president there in charge of their foreign policy. >> what were you doing -- >> the mother at the table remembers nothing. >> i was campaigning for al gore. were you looking for a transition? >> eugene robinson, what are you doing in 1999? >> i was editing "the washington post" style section going to theater a lot. >> i was in my fourth term in congress, i think. third or fourth term in

congress. i had just launched an independent newspaper called "the florida sun." and a lot of our stories pertain to al gore running for president, thinking about running for president in 1999. turn it up. ♪ >> al gore may consider launching a presidential campaign. the 67-year-old former vice president is talking about whether there is a path financially and politically. >> and an unidentified member of gore's inner circle asked to be quoting pouring lukewarm water rather than cold water on speculation. a spokesman was quoted on the record saying extremely unlikely he'll run. this music makes this story interesting. his hometown paper --

♪ so tonight i'm going to party like it's 1999 ♪ >> reports are flat out incorrect. i love this. we read a headline and talk about how it's not true. thank god for the music. gore won the national popular vote against george w. bush in 2000. i just sighed. >> a recount battle in the state of florida where jeb bush was governor and jeb weighed in yesterday. >> my first reaction was really? i don't know. look, he's qualified. there's a lot of disarray in the democratic party. most of the focus it seems to me which is on our race which is wild and willie as well. when you have the presumptive front runner and then losing to bernie sanders in new hampshire and race tightening in other

places, i'm sure that people like joe biden and al gore are seriously considering it. what do i know? i'm trying to get through each day here and doing it with passion and conviction and enthusiasm and can't control what al gore is thinking. >> we need more music. >> why would -- why would, donny deutsch -- al gore, john kerry, joe biden, not think about it. every day in the newspaper another story about the fbi servers. i see the press spinning wildly at some of the clinton camp saying it's not an investigation of hillary clinton. they are finding out that she's sending top secret e-mails on an unprotected homebrewed server bought by a small business in denver, colorado, talking about drone strikes and other highly sensitive information that she knew -- that she knew was highly classified.

forget the markings. she knew. you talk to anybody in the intel agencies and they will tell you that the presumption is on you. you have to know you're sending classified information. she's losing to bernie sanders now in new hampshire by seven points. why wouldn't joe biden, why wouldn't al gore and john kerry say we have to step in. >> americans are tired of hillary clinton. there comes a point in time where she comes on the tv -- hillary clinton is very competent and very bright. americans have fallen out of like with her. it's that simple. >> hold on. >> are you tired of her? >> i think hillary at this point regardless of her skill set would not be an effective leader because her fault or not, the country is polarized.

she cannot lead effectively. she'll not be able to bring this country together. >> that's the trump problem. the echo chamber and sort of the folks who do this for a living are sick of her, i'm not sure america is. >> by the way, i talk to a lot of new york democrats, blue, automatically hillary backers, and -- you talk to these people. i have not found too many people at this point -- >> i got to tell you the bigger problem. she has some really tough defenders. >> i know. >> i will tell you by in large most democrats, powerful democrats i talk to around dinner tables or lunch tables, they know the e-mail scandal is going to get worse. they know there's more in the clinton foundation. they're exhausted. they basically have said we've been doing this for 20 years and this is no way to start the

campaign. that's democrats. that's not republicans. these are around the dinner table, around the lunch table powerful democrats saying we just can't do this. >> automatically you think would be -- >> i heard this sitting around in the hospital the past couple of weeks. just a lot of real general talk about the election. there is a fatigue. let's just do the facts at this point. i think the trump issue is similar to clinton issue. it doesn't matter how we feel. biden and gore mighti inbe thing about presidential bid. according to one official, there's a conversation about a news article about a cia drone operation and according to mcclatchy, they first found sensitive information back in may. it's unclear how that data was

secured after it was discovered. the managers of hillary clinton's server reportedly turned the hardware over this week and we told you before that clinton's lawyer had a thumb drive with thousands of e-mails on it. mcclatchy reports they sent him a safe to secure it in. >> the state department, the intel agencies, are setting themselves up for scathing reviews in the future. i talked to a top intel person three days ago by phone who told me this is very simple. if there's classified information outside of the agency, the first immediate concern is for the fbi to go secure it and then conduct the investigation and this top intel leader said to me it's unprecedented that the state department and intel agencies

and the white house knew and the fbi knew for as long as they knew that there was classified top secret material outside of their domain unsecured and they allowed it to stay that way because it was hillary clinton. they suggested when this blows up that it isn't just hillary clinton who is going to be facing charges if there are any charges to be faced or it's not just hillary clinton who is going to be possibly losing -- not losing her job but there are people in the state department that are covering up for hillary clinton every day. there are people in the intel agencies that are allowing her to get away with things that nobody else would. this leader told me you know classified information is out there. it's very simple two-step process. you immediately secure it. and then you bring it into the facility and then you conduct the investigation.

state department has been absolutely shameful in how lax they've been pursuing this. they've not been straightforward because it's hillary clinton. it wasn't until the ig of the intel agency started talking about this. the ig of the state department started talking about this that there was movement on this at all. is this not the entire intel system and the state department system breaking down and failing for political purposes? >> normally -- >> think about it. in any other case, just be honest -- in any other position, any other person would this ever have been allowed to have this much top secret information to be out of these agencies? >> the short answer is no. you would say as you secure the information then you do a damage assessment. a risk assessment. you get ahold of it and you see

what was there and what might have happened to it and if so what might have gotten ahold of it. >> how quickly would they have secured it? >> traditionally on standard operating procedures you do that in a new york minute. >> you do it immediately. >> do we understand the consequence for the agencies for the intel agencies, for the state department, that it is again you immediately secure the classified information. immediately. and then you conduct the investigation. the state department failed miserably. intel agencies have failed miserably. >> they did not follow standard operating procedures, those people will be accountable. >> there are people in the state department who every day including now you are consciously doing what you're not supposed to do to keep america safe. there are people in the intel agencies that have consciously decided not to do what is required to keep america safe. there are people in the fbi that

drag their feet forever consciously to not do what was required to do under every other circumstance to keep america safe. you secure the classified information and then you bring it in and then you begin the investigation. they did everything backwards here. a lot of people are going to be held liable when this blows up. >> and if not, isn't that kind of disturbing? >> well, look, i think that's a great preview of what we're going to hear probably next fall about hillary clinton and about the e-mail server. >> hold on. hold on. what are you talking about? i talk to a guy who votes democratic who is one of the top intel agency people who said this is what happens every day. gene, are you not concerned that proceeding for protecting classified information has been

ignored for months? >> well, yeah, i'm concerned. here's what i'm concerned about. what i think is concerning about the hillary clinton story, saga, and we'll hear the rest of it i'm sure is why did she set up her own private e-mail server in her house. it's clear that there was an intent to keep in her hands and in her possession communications that more properly belonged to the u.s. government and i think that's something that people get their arms around and get their minds around and -- >> you took 20 seconds to say something we knew about a long time ago. what joe is talking about is those people now around this who

aren't really doing their job and if she did that, isn't that a problem? we know she did that. it was scrubbed. let's not pretend that the truth doesn't exist. let's not hedge around it because we're frightened. >> exactly. no. and why do you wipe the server clean? i think those are questions that people can't understand and that people are going to ask and people are going to want the answers. i do think, however, that mika is essentially right that i don't think this is at this point going to have a huge impact on hillary clinton or her chances of winning the nomination. >> mika never said that. >> gene, can i ask you a question? i believe hillary clinton would be having the same exact set of problems if the e-mail scandal

was not there. the american populous has just turned off to her. >> i disagree. >> if that's true, then they won't vote for her and we'll be talking about somebody else. i'm not entirely sure that that's true. you know, i think hillary clinton has more political standing in this country than those of us who cover her more closely and have covered her for 30 years or whatever. >> let me clarify -- >> i think there's less of a national fatigue. >> what i said was, you know, inside the echo chamber or whatever you want to call it, i think we're with hillary clinton like trump. we're still not getting the answers to e-mail questions which are good questions. they are legitimate questions. and the campaigns act like it doesn't exist and almost treat the american people like they're

stupid. having said that, i'm not sure this has filtered out completely. maybe some people inside the media don't like him. america seems to like him. i'm not sure where hillary clinton is. she's still probably the nominee. i've been sitting in fairfax hospital for the past week listening to folks coming in and out of the hospital and meeting people, talking to people sort of out of the work scene, they have questions about these e-mails. i've never seen people more interested in this story going i don't get it. why did she do that? >> and it obviously is showing up in the polls in a big way on whether she's honest and trustworthy and you look at bernie sanders seven points ahead in new hampshire, that wouldn't have just happened. my questions earlier had nothing to do with politics. my questions had to do with national security agencies letting americans down out of fear or political reasons. you know, i want to go with this. i think the headline that knocks it the most, this whole scandal

is "new york post" today. >> joe, the great thing -- >> it's not the great thing. >> they are using sharon stone -- what they're secretly saying with sharon stone is age is not an issue for hillary clinton. that's what they are saying. >> you can go now. i'm not going to show -- >> there's a very important subtext to that. they are disagreeing -- >> stop, joe. that's not sharon stone. >> they are using sharon stone to say there's no fatigue and donny deutsch, as always, you are wrong. as i said, "new york post" my favorite paper and paper of record as far as i'm concerned. >> still ahead, much, much more of this. don't look now. you should have looked a few minutes ago. mika is looking at these

pictures. donald trump may actually be trying to win. he may actually be trying to win in iowa. our next guests are at the iowa state fair. and this morning, israel's ambassador to the u.s. always a great honor. i will say it, mika won't, it's always a great honor to have ron dermer. and also senator chuck grassley on the political battleground in iowa. >> and rick stengel will be on. >> we'll talk about the state department's online war against isis. look at sharon.

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>> we didn't hear him. do you want to try again? okay. after two months as a candidate, donald trump is looking to strengthen his grip on the front runner status by building up an on the ground operation.

okay. a ground game. the des moines register reports that trump opened his first campaign office in west des moines. their blue campaign buzz emblazened with trump and slogan make america great again is a secretary campaign office. "the washington post" reports that trump has ten paid staffers on the ground and experienced leadership team. trump is scheduled to return to iowa tomorrow to campaign at the state fair. that's going to be such a spectacle. he will touch down by private helicopter and visit the famous butter cow. last month the paper's editorial board called on him to drop out of the race and he barred reporters from covering his events. >> donny deutsch, we'll go to bob kosta who wrote this. can you turn that sharon stone

nude picture upside down. it's hard to focus on the question there with sharon stone naked staring at me. so you asked something that you've known donald for a long time. we've known donald for a long time. we were asking a very interesting question. which was does he want to win? >> i love donald. donald is a good man. he's a great father. i judge a person by he's got three great kids who love him. people around him or loyal forever. he's loyal to people. >> takes care of them well. >> he loves the game, the hunt, he wants to win. i don't know -- if i bumped into him tomorrow, i would say, dude, do you really want to be president? the actual job of it? >> do you want to win or -- >> when you're a real estate developer, you want to close the deal and move on. >> it's a.d.d. >> if he takes office the first day and he wants to do something and there's something called congress that won't let him do it, he's going to say what do you mean i can't -- i don't know

if it's in his core to actually want the actual job if the job speck was put in front of him. i don't know if he thought that through. he's saying i'm going to blow this up. >> he's been talking about it for 30 years. maybe we're underestimating -- >> at the end of the day does he really want to? >> we'll talk to him next time he calls in. let's bring in political reporter for "the washington post" robert kosta who wrote that "washington post" piece. what evidence do you have that trump actually is seeing this through and planning the long game and expecting to win? >> i tell you, will there be any other image that defines the weekend than donald trump getting off that helicopter at the iowa state fair, fried oreos, corn dogs that make america great again hat will be the big image. he has santorum's guy from last

night and driving this big blue bus around the state. going to walmart parking lots signing up people day after day. >> it sounds like trump is working more on building a grassroots campaign in iowa than mike huckabee did in 2008 and of course huckabee won in 2008 with almost no ground game. >> that's right. i don't know anyone else that has more staffers than trump. ten people full time paid on the ground in iowa. he's also bringing new people into the process. know what the first question most people ask when they come up to this donald trump bus is? what's a caucus? they've never been involved in the political process. that could help trump expand his coalition. >> that's amazing. one thing i saw in the latest iowa poll that was surprising to me was donald trump won in every single category in the latest poll among evangelicals and moderates and just every group. tell me what evangelicals say to you when you talk to them about donald trump and why they're

supporting a guy who said when asked in the church said that he had never asked god for forgiveness and didn't feel a need to. does not go along the lines of the type of candidate in church forums that gets the evangelical vote. why? >> our sense is there's a bit of an unease about trump. they like his honesty. as much as they love their faith and want that central in the political process, they can't stand the political system and are frustrated with the republican party so they'll give trump a listen. >> in des moines, iowa, we have kasie hunt -- >> do you think she got a ride on the helicopter? >> probably. no. actually not. what are some of the key things to look for this weekend? >> well, all things not trump

and i think this is all going to fly under the radar because bob is right the big image is that helicopter touching down. i think there are some questions about scott walker first of all. he's fallen back in some of those polls in iowa since the debate and this is really a must win place for him. i think watching how he does at the soap box is going to be key. i also think picking up just on the energy that you can feel on the ground that we had martin o'malley at the soap box yesterday and he wandered around the fair and most people were watching the tv cameras hanging around with him saying who is that guy? you get a sense here of what voters actually think. i'm curious to think if jeb bush brings a lot of energy. he's at the fair this morning. i think a lot of it is going to be what is this donald trump appearance like. you'll be interested to know that donald trump tried to offer children at the fair rides on his helicopter but the state fair official said no way. not happening. >> i love it. >> let me ask you and bob --

i'll expand this question. i noticed scott walker was dropping in the iowa polls. isn't it safe to say that iowa is a must-win state for scott walker? he can't come in distant second or third in iowa and make it out of there. bob, let me start with you. >> there's probably three lanes coming out of iowa. you're going to have establishment guys that will be rubio or bush and conservative movement guys cruz, huckabee or walker and outsider carson or trump. if walker does not get that bounce, where does he win? new hampshire is tough for him. south carolina is crowded. iowa is crucial. it's critical. >> it is. kasey, it's not just candidates, it's food as well, right? >> funny you should ask. there were only a handful of candidates here yesterday so i decided to wander around a bit and try delicacies available here. there are more than 75 foods available on a stick at the iowa state fair.

most of them are fried. you can get anything from a fried peanut butter and jelly to old staple a corn dog. what you can't get is a calorie count. >> throw it in there. >> do you know how many corn dogs you sell in a day? fresh fried apple pie. what could be more american. >> you can put cinnamon and sugar on it. >> hot dogs. funnel cake. deep fried dill pickles. cajun cheese on a stick. >> i put this in here? >> stick it in there. >> there you go. come back later and we'll put you to work. >> this is the first year for fried apple pie, which i have to say is delicious. they fry fresh apples. it may be the only fresh thing i saw going into a fryer

yesterday. >> there was a lot of stuff there i would not eat but fried apple pies. >> richard wants to rain on your parade. >> is there any policy issue other than personalities, donald trump's helicopter and fried food, do people have concerns they'll press any candidate about? >> i think common core is a big issue here. we heard that come up on the soap box quite a bit. that's something that republican voters in particular are really concerned about. one of the great things about the soap box is you hear policy issues on both sides because you're going to have bernie sanders here tomorrow and we had martin o'malley yesterday. two different policy conversations going on on both sides. it's rare to have all that go on in one area. democrats focus on minimum wage and also on education but in the reverse talking about the education cuts here. that's the main thing at this

point. there's also ethanol as a classic issue in iowa and some republicans are going to face some heat for potentially flip-flopping on that issue. >> we are vegan so what would happen if we came up to iowa. what would we do? >> there are in fact vegan corn dogs available here at the iowa state fair. also gluten free corn dogs. it seems to be expanding. it's a new thing. >> you're going to need detox after this. we'll talk. thank you very much. >> i have to say my favorite are fried oreos. they are awesome if you ever get a chance to come out here. >> i would eat a whole box. thank you. that would be -- >> that sounds great. >> coming up, what do the political insiders say who will drop out of the presidential race first? >> mika can't read because donny keeps showing sharon stone. >> mike allen has that and what democrats in iowa and new hampshire are saying about joe biden's potential run. keep it right here.

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>> joining us from washington, chief white house correspondent mike allen. you have more polling out. one of the questions you asked them is simply can donald trump

win? what do they say? >> mika, 60-40 they say he can't win. what they're saying is that a lot of what we're seeing in polls now is what they call whisky courage. it's easy to say you're for donald trump at the moment. these are people that bob costa was talking about. we're also seeing that number is 40% of insiders and these are the party officials, elected officials, in both iowa and new hampshire say it's possible. it's being taken much more seriously. >> who do they think is going to win, mike? >> in iowa people are still thinking that scott walker is going to come back. you talked about how essential that is to him and in new hampshire you have a crazy situation where so many candidates depending on new hampshire, jeb has to do well. kasich has to do well.

christie has to do well. marco depending on if he doesn't get south carolina. so in new hampshire, there's huge scramble. >> bob costa, it seems the shakeout from the first debate was not only that trump maintained in the debate but walker and bush took a fall. i know jeb's camp loves to say nothing to see here move along, move along. >> maybe that's the smart thing to do. >> cop out of "the simpson'frms" what about the walker campaign? do they understand they didn't connect. >> walker's appeal and strategy is slow and steady wins the race. they are nervous because they see carson is rising. trump is rising. outsider coalition is big. new hampshire, the big story is kasich. the way kasich is rising there

is mccain type figure doing town halls, it's getting attention in that state. >> so the question is how many does what mike discovered in terms of whether or not trump can win should be taken -- i think ultimately everyone is wondering where this is going. i don't think we can ask the question. >> the thing is ask that question a month from now if the numbers are the same it will be 50-50. if you ask that question a month ago, mike, i'm sure it would have been 80-20 he can't. now it's 60-40. a month from now i suspect even insiders if trump is still holding will hold poll position and say there's a 50-50 shot. you see those numbers move just as you see his approval ratings inside the republican party move up. >> joe what we're seeing here is can trump convert. maybe in his mind and in a lot of people's mind, this candidacy was a joke at first. he's clearly caught on. clearly tapped into something.

now as we saw with bob's reporting on the ground people in iowa, his campaign manager, his political director flying around the country hiring people in early states. they say they're going to start to do policy papers. so will he start to take his candidacy seriously is the next big question. >> who do they think will be the first to drop out in iowa? >> this was another question we asked our political insiders and political caucus. this weekend there was a clear answer and same answer in iowa and new hampshire. rick perry. they say that this week we found out he wasn't paying his staff and just hasn't gotten that second look that he was hoping for. we have another funny piece up on the site today. 199 things the most donald trump things that donald trump has ever said and one of them was about rick perry and he said just last month rick perry put on glasses to make himself look

smart. people see through the glasses. that seems to be true of our political insiders as well. >> you said rick perry the same time. he's not going to be able to launch. >> everyone on the conservative side of the race is hoping this field gets more marrow. if not, a political outsider could survive. a lot of campaigns i'm talking to maybe the same with mike, if you go after trump, it may not help your poll numbers. you may see poll numbers plummet. people are resistant watching what happened with paul and perry. >> political insiders 94% say biden could not win. >> that's right. in new hampshire. 94% of dems say no chance for joe. similarly discouraging number. 78% in iowa. and there's two reasons why. of course it's late. secretary clinton has this incredible organization. but the other point that they

made to us is there's no lane for us for him. he won't feel the burn on the left. they're too similar. >> feel the burn. mike allen, happy friday. >> we love to feel the burn. coming up next, a story that richard haas says is the single most interesting story in the world right now. >> i'm shocked you picked sharon stone. i can't believe that.

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and this guy won't just surf the web. he'll touch it. scribble on it. and share it. because these kids will grow up with windows 10. get started today. windows 10. a more human way to do. earlier this morning in greece, lawmakers approved a draft of the country's third bailout deal in the last five years worth about $95 billion and will involve sweeping spending cuts and tax increases. >> they'll probably never happen. one of the things that's happening here is the splits within the greek government and ruling party, i would never bet that all of these reforms are going to happen raising retirement age, cutting

government spending, somewhere down the road there will be other train wrecks with greece. this will not go smoothly. >> overnight in china, the country's central bank raised the value of the yuan against the u.s. dollar. richard, you say the chinese economy is the most interesting story in the world right now. explain. >> this is the world's second largest economy and it ain't going well. you had the government intervene in the stock markets the other day. they panicked. you have currency moving down. chinese exports. this is a ruling party in china that's based its legitimacy on one thing. economic success. the economy, the official numbers say the economy is growing at 7%. it's barely growing half that. it's probably growing closer to 4%. in china that's not enough. >> why has it slowed down? >> all sorts of reasons. they're trying to switch the model from an export-led model, which doesn't work anymore because to the rest of the world they're absorbing enough exports

but domestic demand isn't there. you can't move people from the countryside to the city more than once. low hanging fruit is gone. the easy days of chinese economic growth is over. what you're going to see then is not just slower economic growth but more and more political protests and you're going to see the party continuing to tighten up. china is heading for extremely difficult year of history. >> how fascinating. it's what i've been saying is going to happen for five years and i hate to say i tell you so but this sounded just like what everybody was saying about japan in '87, '88, '89, '90. they're going to overtake us. they bought pebble beach. they're going to overtake us, they bought 30 rock. i'm not diminishing how massive china is and how they are going to be a huge player on the world stage over the next 50 years, but there's a lot of overselling on china here. there are a lot of people that

set their hair on fire talking about how they're going to crush america and we were going to be china's grainry. it's not working out that way. >> also raises real questions about "the chinese threat." so many people have this dark view of china. it's possible as things get worse at home they'll get more adventurist abroad but the question is how to maintain stability amongst economic slowdown. we have tiananmen square. you'll see significant protests in china. i would say the chinese leadership have demographic issues, they have pollution issues, they have economic issues. not easy. >> i asked jon huntsman after he came back from china, i said what is the one thing the chinese government wants? do they want to expand? do they want to dominate? what do they want? what do communist want? he said they only want one thing.

9% growth. if they don't have 9% growth all of the problems that covers up starts bubbling to the surface and things can get bad fairly quickly for them. >> if they're lucky they have half of that and this is not a recipe for political stability. >> coming up, the moment we've all been waiting for. i'm so excited. >> sharon stone is in the green room? >> we're going to get our first look at donny's new tv show, which we're both in. >> this is amazing. >> recurring roles. "morning joe" is back in a moment. this is going to be so good. we'll be right back.

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wonderful, crazy mornings. we figure you probably don't have time to wait on hold. that's why at xfinity we're hard at work, building new apps like this one that lets you choose a time for us to call you. so instead of waiting on hold, we'll call you when things are just as wonderful... [phone rings] but a little less crazy. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

>> it's not really usually that clear on an august day. i noticed yesterday -- >> it's been a beautiful week. >> it felt like fall. the sun was coming in at night. >> speaking of fall -- >> it feels like in the morning it's cool. >> we have a sneak peek at donny's new original comedy. he has a show. what's the network? >> usa network. >> it's called -- this is crazy, i don't know where he got this, donny debuting on november 10th on usa. take a look. >> dad, you didn't sleep with her. >> love your show. >> thank you. i just help people. >> tell everyone what happened? >> i sent this picture to my boyfriend. it went viral.

>> bring it around. >> that's your camera over there. say patrick, you're a little bayh. >> patrick, i'm going to [ bleep ] you. >> we got a super nut. >> you deserve to be on but just to ensure it would happen slept with your coach. >> that's disgusting. >> did you not see "forest gump?" she had to sleep with that fat guy because she loved forest gump. >> what? >> three beautiful foxy at 50 and beyond women. >> most importantly physical exercise is kegles. you can do it anywhere in the world. >> remember when we did a show about no sexting, you just sexted the universe. >> are you saying you're gay? >> how could anybody possibly think i'm gay?

>> you do like to wear those snug v-neck t-shirts. >> i work out a lot. i like to show off my build. >> i love that. look at how ripped i look. am i this big? >> yes. >> i think so. >> that's your real closet in your bedroom. >> how do you know that? how do you know what donny's closet in his bedroom looks like? >> i know what his bed looks like. he's got a long closet and it goes into a gym so he can look at himself and go back into his bedroom. >> i want to know how mika has all of this information. >> because we did the shoot. >> we did a shoot for "morning joe." so, mika, what do you think? >> i can't wait to be on it. it looks really funny. it looks really funny. >> "morning joe" is in two episodes. >> you have some stars coming on the show. >> we have christie brinkley.

we got kathie lee and hoda. >> it's so good. >> christie brinkley, i do a show about women over 50 reaching their sexual peak and i find christie brinkley and it's an episode we call pubic hypocrisy grooming about what men and women both do and she dumps me -- pubic hypocrisy. >> are you a hypocrite? >> it's men and women. maybe there are differing criteria that we're judged by. >> stop. >> are you saying that you're a hypocrite because you're holding her to a standard that you don't hold yourself to. >> what's wrong with you guys? >> she's calling you a hypocrite. >> i'm not asking her. >> this is the whole episode. >> i wonder what the latest

grooming habits are. i'm not up to speed. >> this sounds an awful lot -- can we get mika rolling around here. i think this sounds -- there's a little bit of larry david in this. >> there's only one person who would be interested in that kind of thing and that's you. because you -- >> the demo is joe. >> i'm going to be there. how about you? coming up, this is a transition. one of the hardest segues in the history of "morning joe." two more democratic senators back the iran deal as opponents flood the airwaves with critical ads, we've got israeli ambassador to the united states joining us on set. we'll not ask about this hypocrisy or sharon stone. plus, john kerry becomes the first secretary of state in 70 years to visit cuba. we'll go to andrea mitchell. she's live in havana. we'll head back to the iowa

state fair. chuck todd is going to be joining us and he'll bring in his big interview with donald trump this weekend. >> that will be good. this guy first roamed the earth over 65 million years ago. like our van. yeah. we need to sell it.

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yesterday, mark halperin lit up twitter as a possible challenger against hillary clinton in 2016. >> the honorable al gore. the republican party doesn't have a candidate today who can

beat her. that could change over time. there is clearly some unhappiness with her and it's huge in the political community huge recognition as strong as she is in many ways, she's not shown herself to be without vulnerability during this book tour. i don't know if al gore will run against her. i don't think anybody has his strengths. he would come in as an underdog. he wouldn't have to do very well against her in order to be seen as a victor. he's one the iowa caucuses. she hasn't. >> wow. >> that was mark halperin last year predicting al gore might think about getting into the 2016 mix. welcome back to "morning joe." donny deutsch is still with us. you really know how to take the show down a notch. i love it. >> gene robinson and robert costa still with us and the

steve kornaccorkornacki and amys with us. >> so there's talk in the camp that al gore may be thinking about running. >> an unidentified member of gore's inner circle asked to pour lukewarm water rather than cold water on speculation. the reports are flat out incorrect says his hometown paper. joe biden is reaching out to democrats on the ground in early states to gauge how quickly and if he should organize a campaign. "the new york times" reports that biden is on vacation in south carolina and used the time to have an hour-long conversation with the former chairman of the state's democratic party and an outspoken advocate of him joining the race. a final decision is expected next month. >> democrats may be excited about a possible bid by one of

these candidates because, well, the continued drip of news surrounding hillary clinton and the e-mail server that she used as secretary of state. >> ap this morning reports debails of those top secret e-mails discovered. according to officials, one of them is a conversation about a news article about a cia drone operation. according to mcclatchy, u.s. officials first found sensitive classified information back in may though that was not revealed until the last couple of weeks. what's unclear is how that data was secured after it was discovered. the managers of clinton's server reportedly turned the hardware over this week and we told you before that clinton's lawyer had a thumb drive with thousands of e-mails on it. mcclatchy reports when the state department found out, they send him a safe to secure it in. >> and my intel sources have been telling me that when you have sensitive classified

information outside the building, outside the intel agencies, you immediately secure it, bring it in, investigate it. there's a lot of questions that are starting to circulate about why it took them so long to do that. i want to go back to the first issue and bring you in, steve. you know, when there's a new hampshire poll that shows 70 something-year-old socialist ahead of the front runner who is supposed to walk away with it, that's going to create a void. is al gore the guy that's going to fill that void? >> i have a feeling it's not al gore. he's not going to run between gore and biden noise we hear now there's more substance behind biden and moves he's making are pretty real. doubtful he'll get in. you combine those two things. biden talk, gore talk. what that speaks to is what's happening on the democratic side. a year ago, two years ago, we've never seen this before in either

party. the entire party looked at hillary clinton and said it's not even worth putting up a fight. she has overpowering strength in this power. nobody is going to challenge her. >> that's what everyone said about george h.w. bush except a guy named clinton. >> things change in a year. so here we are a year later. nobody got in really except a 73-year-old socialist from vermont. he's leading her in new hampshire and so if you're a democrat and you're get be neti nervous, it's not bernie sanders to beat her for the nomination. someone has to have stature. you come to biden, you come to gore. i don't know too many names out there. >> what about kerry? >> he's 73, 74 years old. he's a defeated presidential candidate who couldn't win in 2004. he's got baggage. >> who was nixon. >> i've seen the name mentioned. you have to go through these guys first. you have to go through biden first and go through gore first and if you get a no and if hillary is vulnerable and there's this thirst, you may see

more kerry talk. >> you have followed these stories. hillary and e-mail server and the news doesn't seem to be getting better. it seems to be -- it reminds me a bit on a larger scale of what was happening to chris christie where he's the king of the republican party. and then there's one investigation after another investigation and there's a drip, drip, drip, and prosecutors, feds, state, local, all of these things going on. do you sense that this e-mail story is going to be around for some time and that it is going to be enough to make a democratic party a bit more nervous? >> i think it already has. that's what you see in these stories about joe biden and al gore. the question to me in terms of the long-term political impact of it is this. if you talk to the clinton people they're going to tell you, look, two years ago look at where hillary clinton was and peak she was and we knew she would fall back to earth. we knew numbers that defined the

clintons for 20 plus years were going to reattach themselves to her. they also would say, look, in the 1990s bill clinton had terrible ratings on honesty and he won the white house twice. we think she can win with bad numbers. the question to me is does it get worse than that? i haven't seen evidence yet that when you look at those numbers there, those are bill clinton's numbers from the '90s. >> for those listening on radio, 37% say she's trustworthy. 57% say no. that was bill clinton's numbers when he was president of the united states, not when he was running for president in 1991-1992. >> that's the distinction there in "the washington post" reporting a month ago that trustworthiness was driven down by the democratic party and that her own constituents are finding her less and less honest. that's a problem in a democratic primary. a poll that came out last week found that among democratic voters, 44% were looking at

bernie sanders. another 9% at joe biden. that means 53% of democratic voters are not hillary. that's a problem. >> the question is who is the democrat that can step in and big foot bernie, take bernie's and everybody else's scraps and end up head to head with hillary clinton. >> joe biden. >> well, i'm not sure to tell you the truth. i'm just not sure whether either biden or gore or kerry could come in at this point and take the nomination away from hillary clinton. i suppose it's possible. you know, if there is perceived a need for somebody else to get into the race, i'm just not sure we've heard the name yet. i'm not sure what that name would be. you know, let's see how this evolves and let's see not just how her numbers evolve but we

may have to get to iowa and get to new hampshire before we know what's actually going to happen. >> i actually think the name is al gore. anybody who has seen him speak lately or talk to him, the one thing on gore is that he's stiff. he's got this attitude now i don't give a crap and i'll say it like it is. not to compare him to trump, but if people start to listen and he pops forward, you'll see a very energized gore 2.0 that has to your point kind of the stature but really gets rid of some of the rust which hurt him in the first place and would be an exciting candidate. >> one name that i'm sure he wishes that we would mention, martin o'malley, eyeing this race all along and waiting for weakness in hillary clinton and maybe he's finally finding his opportunity. >> with martin and you look at the polls and martin is on the show and is impressive but jim webb is sitting in virginia polling better than martin

o'malley. >> i think the problem with o'malley is he diagnosed the opening that was there on the democratic side. the opening that's there is for somebody like bernie sanders now. it was never martin o'malley. here's the thing i'm also looking at. the problem that hillary has right now. i think about this. she's losing in one poll in new hampshire. next door neighbor state for bernie sanders. look in iowa, a state that likes the outsider and more liberal candidate, bernie sanders is only 19 points down against hillary clinton in iowa right now. if bernie sanders could put together the one-two punch of iowa and then turn around and win new hampshire, i know the other states after that set up nicely for hillary clinton but psychologically, how does the democratic party handle it in hillary clinton goes 0 for 2 in the first two contests. >> by the way, i think it's far more possible that bernie sanders wins iowa six months from now than new hampshire. i think you're exactly right.

i think iowa once again possibly a real problem for hillary. i guess the main thing is i don't see anything in the headlines about the e-mail server, about the secured information that suggests this is going to go away. the longer this story goes, the more troubling the headlines, the more troubling the information, it's now as we were saying earlier a question of the entire federal government and national security apparatus and -- >> why we can't move beyond this. >> and clinton people can't move beyond it right now because there are a lot of really troubling questions out there. we just learned today that the state department was so concerned about the e-mails that they had not wiped out that the state department took a safe over there to have her secure the e-mails there. that in and of itself is majorly disturbing because the state department should have seized them at once and bring them over

and put them in a secure location. this is a story i think that's got legs for sometime. >> they're sending a safe over, they're considering it serious so how can the campaign call it nonsense? >> right. >> donald trump, my gosh, 13 past the hour. we're just starting with donald trump. >> we haven't talked about donald trump for 13 minutes. >> my goodness. donald trump looking to strengthen his grip by building up his ground operation. the des moines register reports that trump opened his first campaign office in west des moines. the campaign's iowa director says their blue campaign bus with the slogan make america great again is a second campaign office. "the washington post" reports that trump has ten paid staffers on the ground and experienced leadership team. trump is scheduled to return to iowa tomorrow to campaign to the state fair. the post reports he'll touch down by private helicopter and visit the famous butter cow. unlike other candidates, trump

will not speak at the des moines register's soap box. last month the paper's editorial board called on him to drop out of the race and he barred their reporters from covering his events. >> let's go to the iowa state fair in des moines where trump wanted to drive kids around in his helicopter and fair officials said no thank you. we have moderator for "meet the press" chuck todd with us and bob costa from "the washington post" still with us. we'll get him to report on his story. chuck, let's first go to you. what else is this state fair going to be about this year other than a lot of really unhealthy food and donald trump's helicopter? >> well, i was going to say i'm trying to remember the last chaotic scene that i remember here at the state fair was when sarah palin was still flirting with a run for president. she came to the state fair. really hot day. and it ground the place to a halt. i have a feeling that when trump -- he did -- we hear while

he can't give rides in his helicopter, he does -- it took a little bit of effort for him to get permission to get the permits to fly his helicopter here. so this will be quite the spectacle of just watching him land and then the chaos that will ensue and what fried food does he put in his mouth? i'll be curious how he handles people handing him food. you know this about him, i don't know how he's going to handle that. >> it's going to be very interesting. it reminds me of robert downey, jr., in "iron man." he never allows anyone to hand something to him directly. i don't know if donald can get away with that in iowa. with sarah palin when they ate pizza in new york city, infamously ate his with a fork. i don't think you can get away

with that in iowa. chuck, i want to go to bob costa quickly and get your reaction to bob's story front page of "the washington post." don't look now but donald trump is playing to win in iowa. tell us about it, bob. >> he has a big blue bus that goes to small towns, walmart parking lot by walmart parking lot signing up voters. they got a ground game. they have santorum's old guy. trump people are paying attention. >> any evidence they're starting to move toward an organization that would help him with the caucus? >> huge. they got 10 staffers on the ground in iowa. they've got people across the state. they're leading the polls. they really believe they're cutting into huckabee, carson, scott walker, he's dipped in the polls. they think if they can bring in new people to the process, people who don't even know what a caucus is, they can have a different kind of coalition. >> there's no doubt, chuck, that when you see all those people walking around the state fair, it will be a lot like 2008 when

you had chuck norris introducing mike huckabee and these people that never voted in the caucus before came flooding in and i saw them getting their names and e-mails and cell phone numbers at the door. and then obviously that worked. >> look, every person that runs for president, they think they're going to be the candidate that gets a whole bunch of people that never participated in the process to show up. and 90% of the time those candidates fail to do that. but the ones -- there are ones that pull it off. barack obama got new people to show up. you're right about himike huckabee. he got new people to show up. pat robertson got people to show up in 1998. it's a strategy that rarely works but when it does, it works in a big way because your opponents don't see it coming because the people that you have suddenly showing up are people that hadn't been identified, people that weren't part of the normal universe.

i think that's why many of us look at trump and have our doubts that he can do well here. at the same time go, however, if he does get new people to commit and show up, you can see how he could change the calculus. >> chuck, we'll look forward to your exclusive interview with donald trump on this sunday's "meet the press." >> exclusive. that's the key. on sunday, he's not going to be -- >> very hard to book. >> you're saying this week i'm not going to be able to turn to nickelodeon and see donald trump's sunday morning interview with spongebob. >> the spongebob interview i think they are using one of those sea foams. that is in a fishbowl. this will be out of water. total out of water and out of body experience. >> face to face. >> thank you so much, chuck. we got andrea mitchell in havana. let me ask quickly, can trump win the iowa caucus?

>> i suppose if he gets his ground game going. but right now republican primary voters are looking for a strong leader. that's the number one -- >> is that a yes? >> it's a yes now but as the moment of truth comes, will they poll the lever for donald trump? >> can he win? >> absolutely. >> i think he can win iowa. we remember 2008. we went to a mike huckabee event. there's usually people all over the place. no handlers. we walked through the crowded room. we asked is mike backstage? i think so. do you want to come back and check? we go backstage. nobody is there. we walk through a back door wondering where he is. there's a bus. we go out to the bus. there's one college kid and he goes, hey, is mike in there? yeah. opens the door. we go in and there's mike huckabee with his family sitting on the bus. that was his organization. >> you ended up on stage with

him. >> and he won. he won. donald trump now not only is starting to organize more than that, he has bob costa says more people on the ground than anybody else in iowa. you watch. it will be a madhouse this weekend. barack obama's big lift in 2008 came the first time was in south carolina when oprah attended a rally with him and that celebrity -- >> so you're pinning it on celebrity. at the moment the evangelical vote is in play. ben carson is doing very well among iowa evangelicals. >> celebrity is putting him on a different plain. it lowers expectations and allows him to get away with more. but the celebrity is a big draw. >> imagine if that celebrity got a ground game. >> that's what's happening right now. that's why people like scott walker are no longer thinking that donald trump is a joke. >> he's not saying --

>> four years ago i said he'll never run. i have resisted this time saying he can't win. he can't poll this off. i'm glad he has. this is going farther than most people -- >> resist. now to havana, it's been 7 0 years since the u.s. secretary of state visits cuba but that changes today when john kerry lands in havana to formally reopen the u.s. embassy later this morning. joining us from havana, cuba, nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell, what a day. >> it is an amazing day, mika and joe and the gang up there. a beautiful day in havana. behind me what is now a u.s. embassy but missing the flag. we see the flag. you can barely see it behind the fence. it will be raised on the flagpole there and that's a ceremony that's going to be about 9:45 eastern. kerry and a large delegation, congressional delegation on their way now from washington.

already left andrews air force base. there are three gentlemen, three former marines, who are going to play a central and really important emotional role in all of this. they are larry morris, jim tracy and mike east. these are three marines that lowered that flag in 1961 when diplomatic relations were broken after the cuban missile crisis and revolution and everything went south. they are going to be handing that flag to the current marines who guard the embassy and raise it today and what could be greater than the stars and stripes being raised on this embassy. that's not to say there aren't a lot of issues and there will be a big one today. they are not inviting cuban dissidents to this ceremony. instead they will be invited later to the residence of the chief here who is nominated to be the ambassador. that's being criticized.

there's no press coverage of it. that's one of the questions that everyone is going to be asking john kerry when we do interviews later today. kerry has told our colleague that he's going to do a walk about and go to old havana and try to meet people. a day of ceremony and we hope some surprises as well. i'll be here at noon with a lot of guests including senators and also importantly, joe, i know you know this gentleman, carlos gutierrez exiled from cuba and left here when he was seven and coming back for the first time today. >> andrea mitchell live in havana. thank you very much. >> richard, other than the symbolism, there's a lot of symbolism here, what's the real world effect of this? the impact of hillary clinton going to -- not hillary clinton -- secretary kerry going to havana and relations being reopened?

>> probably reduces the isolation of the united states in this part of the world because virtually every other country in the western hemisphere has relations. this is a big roll of the dice. until this administration, policy was cubans would have to open up and we would relax some of the terms of our isolation of cuba. what the administration has done is turned it on its head. they have taken something of a gamble and said let's open things up with cuba and hopefully that will set in motion a dynamic that cuba will begin to open up even more economically and politically. >> that's the same bet that the president is making on a cosmic scale with iran. president obama is no jimmy carter, a man who obsessed over human rights. you have dissidents that have been brushed aside. the same with iran. you still have americans held in iran. this president is making a cosmic gamble and that gamble is that by opening relations with these countries, they're going

to begin behaving more within the norms of international community. >> iran is something that's different. that's why in some ways the debate about iran is far more intense than the debate is here about cuba. >> all right. richard, thank you. bob costa, amy holmes, eugene robinson and steve ka. >> we'll talk trump tonight. >> remember to resist. >> it's not hard anymore. it was at the beginning. i think it stretched so long now. >> the answer to the question why it was difficult before is something you need to look at. >> all right. >> all right. coming up next, we' keep it her

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>> they kidnapped little kids from neighboring villages and

put bullets in their heads and killed them in front of the villagers and said we'll run our bombs out of here. that's who we're making a deal with. every politician who is involved in this will be held accountable. they will have blood on their hands. a vote for this deal means more money for iranian terrorism. what do you think they'll do when they get more money? >> that was an ad in iran nuclear deal featuring retired staff sergeant wounded by an iranian bomb in iraq. it comes as two more democratic senators announced they'll support the deal. israel's ambassador to the united states, ron dermer with us. so, mr. ambassador -- >> good to be with you. >> good to have you on the set. >> this is exciting. i just saw the president talking about how this is such an easy

decision and anybody that doesn't support this decision is either ignorant or lying. that's what he said at american university, one of the most unfortunate speeches in a very long time that any president has given. yet the american people in the latest poll show they disagree with the president on this issue more than any other issue. does that surprise you? >> not at all. iran has been at war with the united states for 36 years and counting. i think a lot of americans remember 1979 when they took over the embassy and held americans hostage. they remember 1982 with blowing up of the marine barracks. they remember iran helping blow up a u.s. embassy in africa in the 1990s and they certainly remember as you saw in that commercial, the killing of american soldiers both in afghanistan and iraq that iran is directly responsible for. the military commander of the revolutionary guard who you saw those reports went to russia now when he's under sanctions. he's the person who gives the orders for those ieds.

>> sanctions are being lifted from him. i got a call from an ambassador from a gulf state that was just absolutely stunned who was going to be able to skate free after this. let me ask you this though. >> he was probably stunned and afraid. >> he is afraid. >> it's not just a problem for israel. it's a problem for our neighbors and for the world. >> i'm a sitting senator. i'm a democrat. i don't know what i'm going to do on this deal. you tell me don't do the deal. but what's the alternative because the president is telling me if there's no deal, then iran is free to move toward a bomb with absolutely no constraints. at least here we have ten years. what is the alternative? the president says there's no alternative. what's the alternative? >> iran is not free. it's facing a headwind of sanctions. tomorrow if this deal goes through, iran will have a fully legal program and have a ta

tailwind of sanctions relief. >> what if i vote for? >> the alternative is to restore policy that existed before the interim agreement was signed. >> russia won't go along with that. this is what a senator would say to you. russia is not going along. i doubt france and england will go along. >> the u.n. security council resolution now. if congress says no and iran decides not to abide by this deal, the u.n. security council sanctions will remain. all american sanctions will remain. europeans don't do business with iran and turn themselves away from a $18 trillion u.s. economy. they're not going to do business with a country that accounts for less than 1% of global capital flows and turn themselves from new york financial system, which is probably close to 50% of global capital. it's not going to happen. >> don't we push them even closer to russia? don't they go with a deal with putin who helps them to start developing the bomb? >> you have the military commander of the revolutionary guard getting on a plane and

going to russia. you're going to move them closer to russia? they're pretty close now. >> the assumption this deal goes through with or without a presidential veto ultimately, what is israel going to want from the united states in order to feel less insecure as a result of the deal? >> that's just not a discussion we're having right now. we're not talking about the day after. it's not because the administration doesn't want to have that discussion with us. they reached out to us as they reached out to the arab states in the region. let's talk about the day after. we see a tornado coming at us that will knock out the whole village and people ask let's have a talk about what we do after tornadoes have gone through. we say let's stop the tornado from coming through. if we don't succeed in stopping this and preventing this very bad deal from happening, then that's the time to have that conversation. israel is not prepared to have that conversation today. >> mr. ambassador, withhat was r reaction to secretary kerry's

comments that israel would be blamed if this deal didn't go through? >> i know secretary kerry. i don't believe there was any ill intent. it's important to make clear when the president of the united states and the secretary of state and others say that they believe that this deal is better for america and better for israel, i believe they're being sincere. i just think their judgment is wrong about what the consequences of this deal will be in the real world. this deal does not block iran's path to a weapon. if that were the case, you would have israeli people dancing around 24/7. this deal paves iran's path to not only a nuclear weapon but a nuclear arsenal. if they don't cheat, that will happen in the second decade and not in the first decade and a decade is a long time in a life of politics. it's the blink of an eye in the life of a country. >> do have the ability to take out nuclear facilities if they do cheat? >> israel has the ability to defend. >> will you? >> israel retains the right to defend itself.

deal or no deal. >> do you foresee a day when israel will allow nuclear weapons in iran? >> no. >> you know what, the united states doesn't either. that's good. >> there's agreement. don't disagreement as to what this deal looks like. >> i think there's consensus that iran cannot have nuclear weapons. what's the threshold is tolerable versus intolerable and how much enriched material and what scale of enrichment and that's what the long-term debate will be once the duration of this agreement expire it will be a real question for israel and the united states if we get to that point. what's tolerable and what's intolerable. >> you either deal with iran's capability or you have a change in behavior. this deal deals with neither. it leaves the capability and it creates a situation where a decade from now iran can be a greater sponsor of terror than it is today. a greater threat to countries in the region. a greater threat to israel and the united states which it will

be because of what it's developing and they don't need to sneak in or break into the nuclear club. they can walk right in. >> thank you so much. >> coming up, he's vowing to place holds on nominees for the state department until he gets answers about hillary clinton's use of personal e-mail. senate judiciary chairman chuck grassley is next from the site of the iowa state fair. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

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>> 39 past the hour. joining us from des moines, chairman of the senate judiciary committee, republican senator chuck grassley of iowa. good to have you on the show this morning. >> senator, thank you for being with us. we understand that you have some real concerns about the way hillary clinton handled her e-mail server and her demanding questions from the state department. tell us about it. >> my concerns are bigger than hillary clinton. they deal with whether or not our national security is going to be preserved and also the extent to which classified information should only be seen by people that have clearance to do that. and it's also an issue of whether or not the laws are going to be abided by and so this goes along with my oversight of 35 years of any executive branch being republican or democrat. >> okay. >> richard? >> senator, what is it

essentially then you think should be done at this point? what is it that would reassure you in this situation? >> well, i have written eight letters and i heard in your introduction to me before the break that i held up 21 state department nominations to make sure that we get answers to our letters. right now all i can do is raise the questions. they deal with what we've already talked about, national security is classified information being handled right and is the inspector general of the intelligence community getting the information that he needs and all of e-mails to make sure that he can go through them to see what classified information was maybe not handled properly and then to see what they are going to do to make sure the law is enforced.

prosecution comes under the executive branch of government. >> let's talk about jeb bush. he's obviously having some problems early on. are you going to walk around with jeb today at the fair? >> i will be. i will be with kasich and rubio. i spend two days at the state fair. that's what i'll be doing. i'll do it with any candidate that wants me to as long as they do it the days that i'm here. >> what do you think about donald trump coming today in a helicopter. is he fit to be the republican nominee? >> well, you know, we won't know who is fit to be republican nominee until you get to about december and have all of these debates and all of those sorts of things. we're very inviting to invite anybody in. 17 is a big crowd. if you ask me who would be the best candidate for president

right now, i can't tell you. i have great faith in the process, both caucus process as well as a primary process in the other states and i think the cream rises to the surface and if trump is part of that cream, he'll rise. >> do you have any concerns about donald trump? >> we won't know that until you get into it. i think that the extent to which people talk issues and present their program is the best way to get the support of iowans. >> senator chuck grassley, we'll let you off the hook. thank you so much. >> have fun today. have fun today. >> it's great to have you on the show. thank you. up next, how is the united states fighting the growing online influence of isis? >> we talk about this all the time on the show. that's the battleground. >> it really is. we're joined by the man of the state department tasked with that job and our friend, richard

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>> u.s. defense and intelligence officials have confirmed to nbc news that they believe isis used chemical weapons this week against kurdish fighters in iraq. it's believed muster gas was used. joining us now, undersecretary for public affairs at the state department richard stengel. good to have you back on the show this morning. >> nice to be back. >> we're concerned about what's going on online. the battle we hear about day in and day out seems to be generated from social media. the administration has been criticized for not doing enough. get us up to date. what are you doing? >> there's an information battlefield that parallels the

military battlefield used in a sophisticated way. it turns out that radicalization like politics is local. there's not a mass message that increases the flow of foreign fighters. it's very, very specific and they use individual messages to individual people. there's no such thing as a lone wolf really because it's hundreds of people that are trying to get that -- >> how do we stop that? >> there's a microinformation battle which we're doing better than people realize. part of it is that most journalists and people that don't read arabic. the battle is in arabic. if you look at their popularity as a marketing campaign and i used to understand marketing, they have a 4% popularity in the muslim world of 1.6 million muslims. is that a winning marketing strategy? no. that's still quite a lot of people. but what people don't realize is that it's not like their messaging is sophisticated and taking nice young men staying home with their moms and getting in the fight in syria.

they are tapping into young sunni men who are without jobs, anger, without education, they're not creating that market, they're exploiting that market. >> in the last 24 hours "the new york times" ran a sickening story about how girls and women were put into slavery and raped. is there any way you can use a story like that in order to reduce the appeal of isis? >> one of the things that we do in our digital outreach is we use a fact based system to say, you know what, the caliphate isn't heaven on earth. it's an awful place. we're doing a train of e-mails about sexual exploitation, sexual trafficking, part of the very nature of that organization. those fact based messages work. i'll come back to this idea, it's not about u.s. versus isis messaging. it's about muslim world versus isil in messaging and part of what we're trying to do that

people don't see is to amplify and platform those messages from around the world by muslims get help us? >> we just opened this messaging center, arabic for the right way, the right path. we're trying to do messaging centers like that all around the world. we're seeing the rise of anti-isil messaging from the muslim world. if you google daesh which is the arabic world for isil, you'll see more anti-isil messaging than pro. but part of it is in fact western media, people think they're winning because we see it on nbc and cbs and msnbc. >> last year at this time, we were talking about the thousands of european muslims who were recruited and enticed to join

isis. the explanation is they hadn't been integrated into society, they couldn't find a job. are your surprised at the number of americans who don't face those situations who are also enticed. >> i think the number of muslim americans is a great success story. first generation muslim americans already are achieving higher income than average americans. a bish american success story. the number of mosques has grown ten times since 9/11. >> that news doesn't break out in 140 characters though. >> i travel around the world and people say, do you have mosques in america? are women allowed to wear head scarves in america? it saddens me. >> what's the responsibility of google, of facebook, of twitter, of other people who help spread this hateful message? >> i think there's a unanimity of interest for us because they don't want their ecoosphere

polluted by that message. >> it is polluted. your interest and twitter's interest and google's interest and facebook, it's not the same interest. you have an interest of doing whatever it takes to wipe out isis. online. their interest is not being seen as somebody that's interrupted the free flow of information. >> but they also don't want that kind of poisonous hate speech in their mediums. >> why don't they get rid of it. >> they are. twitter took down 10,000 handles a couple months ago. they're pretty adept at reconstituting themselves. >> what about youtube? >> youtube takes down videos all the time. in fact, one of the things i would like us to do is put a warning before those isil videos and say this is a load of crap you're about to watch and it's not true. that's something we're thinking about doing. >> interesting challenge. >> great challenge. on the front line.

>> can i talk about my friend ron dermer being on before me? >> only if you agree with him. >> then i have to go. >> very good to have you here. >> you didn't agree with him. >> i don't always agree with you. here's what i would say to my good friend ron who i met in israel many years ago. the israelis and many of the opponents of the deal are saying after 15 years, iran will become, maybe become a nuclear threshold state. if we don't do the deal, they will be a nuclear threshold state three months from now. i don't understand how that's better for israel, how it's beter for the united states, how it's better for everybody in the world. >> you get the last word. and i think it's a good one. we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." wasnthat big steve... hey! come back here, steven stay strong! what's that? you want me to eat you? honey, he didn't say that! he did, very quietly...

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hour, new details emerge about the e-mail server hillary clinton used as secretary of state. the classified information officials reportedly found months ago but didn't secure. we ask why. plus, it isn't just joe biden who's rumored about running in 2016. now there is talk about another former vice president running. his name, gore. al gore. >> okay. >> could be trouble for all the republicans not named donald trump. he's already the front-runner, but now there's news seriouses. reports from the "washington post" on that. also, richard haass discussing

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the ready for you alert, only at lq.com. laquinta! good morning, everyone. top of the hour. look at us here. hello. bobblehead. >> what were you doing -- do we have one of those? >> yeah, where are they? claire mccaskill has requested two. she wants two of you. >> i was very surprised. they say a bobblehead night. >> in pensacola for the blue wahoos baseball team. >> i didn't think that the blue wahoo bobblehead was going to turn out well, right? but it turned out great. >> looks exactly like you.

>> it does. i have to say, when you throw it through the air at my head, aerodynamic, i found it didn't hurt as much as i thought it was going to hurt. >> yeah. >> when everybody got them and were throwing them at me. >> captured your personality as well. >> i'm not sure why they're not here. your staff failed. >> a great time. >> thanks for the bobblehead. donny deutsch is here. i'm in his show. i have a recurring role, right? >> you do. joe is in it also. >> really, you're in it, too. i can't wait. we're going to show clips. >> what were you doing in 1989? >> i don't know, why? i can't remember. >> in 1999. richard, what were you doing in 1999. can we get prince cued up? what were you doing in 1999? >> i was living in washington, d.c., working at the brookings institution. >> brookings institution. what was your position?

>> vice president in charge of foreign policy. >> the mother at the table remembers nothing. >> campaigning al gore. were you looking for a transition? >> eugene robinson, what were you doing in 1999? >> editing the "washington post" style section. i was going to the theater a lot. >> all the men remember what they were doing. >> i was in my fourth term in congress, i think, third or fourth term in congress. i had just launched an independent newspaper called "the florida sun." and a lot of our stories pertained to al gore running for president, thinking about running for president, 1999. turn it up while mika reads this. turn it up. >> al gore may be considering a 2016 presidential campaign, according to some reports. like 1999. anonymous senior democratic source tells buzz feed the 67-year-old former vice president is talking about whether there's a path

financially and politically. >> and an unidentified member of gore's inner circle asked to be quoted, pouring lukewarm water rather than cold water on the speculati speculation. quoted on the record saying it's extremely unlikely he'll run. this story actually makes the story interesting. go ahead. >> we want to hear the chorus and then we'll keep going. >> very good. >> reports are flat out incorrect. i love this. we read a headline and talk about how it's not true. thank god for the music. gore won the national popular vote against george w. bush in 2000 -- hold on. i just saw it. >> retracted recount battle in the state of florida where jeb bush was governor and jeb weighed in yesterday. >> well, the first direction was

really? i don't know. he's qualified. there's a lot of disarray in the democratic party. we -- most of the focus is on our race, which is pretty wild and willy as well. when you have the presumptive front-runner dominating all of a sudden losing to bernie sanders in new hampshire and the race tightening in other place s i'm sure people like joe biden and al gore are seriously considering it. i'm trying to get through each day here, doing it with passion and conviction and enthusiasm. i can't control what al gore is thinking. >> need more music. please. >> why would -- why would donny deutsch, al gore, john kerry, and joe biden not think about it, every day in the -- >> john kerry should think about it. >> every day in the newspaper, another story about the fbi servers. i see the press spinning wildly.

some of the clinton camp saying, well, it's not a investigation of hillary clinton. they're finding out she's sending top secret e-mails on an unpredicted home brewed server. bought by a small business in denver, colorado, talking about drone strikes. and other highly sensitive information that she knew, that she knew was highly classified. forget the markings. she knew, and you talk to anybody in the intel agencies and they will tell you that the presumption is on you. you have to know you're sending around classified information. she's losing to bernie sanders now in new hampshire by saef points. why wouldn't al gore, why wouldn't joe biden, why wouldn't john kerry say, we need to step in? >> they would. the e-mail s actually are just symptom of the problem of hillary. americans are just tired of hillary clinton. there comes a point in time when she comes on tv. she's very competent and bright,

just americans have fallen out of like with her. it's that simple. >> hold on. >> no, no. >> are you tired of her? >> yes. >> i think hillary at this point, regardless of her skill set, would not be an effective leader because her fault or not, the country is polarized when she is -- she cannot lead effectively because she will not be able to bring this country together. >> donny, i think that's the trump problem. i think the echo chamber and sort of the folks who do this for a living are sick of her, not sure america -- i'm not sure america is. >> i really -- by the way. >> let me read the story. >> i talked to a lot of new york democrats, these are automatically hillary backers. you talk to these people. >> i do. >> it's just -- i have not found too many people at this point -- >> i've got to tell you the bigger problem. she has some really tough defenders, but i will tell you,

by and large, most democrats, powerful democrats i talk to around dinner tables or lunch tables, are just like, they know the e-mail scandal is going to get worse. they know there's more in the clinton foundation. and they're exhausted. they basically have said, we have been doing this for 20 years with these clintons and this is no way to start the campaign. >> here's the story -- >> by the way, that's democrats, not republicans. these are around the dinner table, around the lunch table powerful democrats saying we just can't do this. >> automatically you think -- >> i hear this sitting around the hospital talking the past couple weeks. just a lot of real general talk about the election. there is a fatigue, but let's just do the facts at this point. i do think the tump issue is similar to the clinton issue. it doesn't matter how we feel. so biden and gore might be thinking about a presidential bid because of this e-mail thing. the a.p. this morning details those top secret e-mails

discovered, according to one official, one of them is a conversation about a news article about a cia drone operation. and according to mcclatchy, u.s. officials first found sensitive classified information back in may, though that was not revealed until the last couple weeks. what's unclear is how that data was secured after it was discovered. the managers of hillary clinton's server reportedly turned the hardware over this week, and we've told you before that clinton's lawyer had a thumb drive with thousands of e-mails on it. mcclatchy reports when the state department found out, they sent him a safe to secure it in. >> let me stop right there. first of all, richard haass, you know this. the state department, the intel agencies, are setting themselves up for scathing reviews in the future. because i talked to a top intel person three days ago by phone who told me this is very simple.

if there is classified information outside of the agency, the first immediate concern is for the fbi to go secure it, and then conduct the investigation. and this top intel leader said to me, it is unprecedented that the state department and intel agencies and the white house knew and the fbi knew for as long as they knew that there was classified, top-secret material outside of their domain, unsecured, and they allowed it to stay that way because it was hillary clinton. and they said they suggested when this blows up, that it isn't just hillary clinton who is going to be phasing charges, if there are any charges to be faced or not just hillary clinton who is going to be possibly losing -- well, not losing her job, but there are people in the state department

that are covering up for hillary clinton every day. there are people in the intel agencies that are allowing her to get away with things that nobody else would. this leader told me, you know classified information is out there, it's very simple two-step process. you immediately, immediately secure it. and then you bring it into the facility and then you conduct the investigation. state department has been absolutely shameful in how lax they have been pursuing this. they have been stonewalling. they have been lying to the american people. they have not been -- they have not been straightforward because it's hillary clinton. it wasn't until the ig of the intell agency started talking about this. and the i.g. of the state department started talking about this that there was any movement on this at all. is this not the entire intel system and the state department system breaking down and failing for political purposes? >> look, normally -- >> think about it.

any other case. >> talk about process. >> be honest. in any other position, any other person, would this ever have been allowed? this much top-secret information be allowed to stay out of these agencies? >> the short answer is no. you secure the information and then you do a damage assessment, a risk assessment. you basically get ahold of it and see what was there, what might have happened to it, if so, who might have gotten ahold of it? >> how quickly would they have secured it? >> traditionally on their quote/unquote standard operating procedures, you do it in a minute. >> does everyone understand the consequence for the agencies, for the state department. you immediately secure the classified information. immediately. and then you conduct the investigation. the state department's failed miserably. the intel agencies have failed miserably. >> if they can't figure this out, good lord.

>> yeah, those people will be accountable. >> they consciously, there are people in the state department who every day, including now, you're consciously, consciously doing what you're not supposed to do to keep america safe. there are people in intel agencies who have decided not to do what is required to keep people safe. there are people in the fbi who drag their feet forever, consciously to not do what was required to do eveunder every or circumstance to keep america safe. you secure the classified information and then you bring it in and then you begin the investigation. they did everything backwards here. a lot of people are going to be held liable when this blows up. >> and if not, isn't that kind of disturbing, gene? >> well, look. i think that's a great preview of what we're going to hear probably next fall about hillary

clinton, about the e-mail server. >> hold on. >> what are you topping about? i talked to a guy who votes democratic, who is one of the top intel agency people, who said this is what happens every day. gene, are you not concerned that procedure for protecting classified information has been ignored for months? >> well, yeah, i'm concerned. here's what i'm concerned about. what i think is concerning about the hillary clinton story, saga, and we'll hear the rest of it, i'm sure, is why did she set up her own private e-mail server in her house? you know, i think it's clear that there was an intent there to keep in her hands and in her possession communications that more properly actually belonged

to the u.s. government. and i think that's something that people get their arms around and get their minds around -- >> i think you took 20 seconds to say something we knew a whole lot about a whole lot, you know, long time ago. what joe is talking about is now all those people around this who aren't really doing their job. >> yeah. >> and if she did that, isn't that a problem? we know she did that. it was scrubbed. let's not pretend the truth doesn't exist and let's not hedge around it because we're frightened. >> no, no. exactly. and why do you wipe the server clean? i think those are questions that people can't understand and people are going to ask. and people are going to want the answers. i do think, however, that mika is essentially right, that i

don't think this is at this point going to have a huge impact on hillary clinton or her chances of winning the nomination. >> mika never said that. >> gene, can i ask you a question? i believe hillary clinton would be having the same exact set of problems even if this e-mail scandal was not here. her problems are bigger than the e-mail problem. the problem is the american populous has turned off to her. >> i disagree. >> if that's true, then they won't vote for her, and -- >> that's what i was saying. >> i'm not entirely sure that that's true. you know, i think hillary clinton has more political standing in this country than those of us who cover her more closely and have covered her for 30 years or whatever. might think. there certainly is a media fatigue. i think there's a less of a

national fatigue. >> what i said was, inside the echo chamber or whatever you want to call it, we're with hillary clinton like trump, we're still not getting the answers to e-mail questions which are good questions. they're legitimate questions. the campaigns act like it doesn't exist, and almost treat the american people like they're stupid. having said that, i'm not sure -- this has filtered out completely, sort of like the trump people. maybe some people inside the media don't like him. america seems to really like him. i'm not sure where hillary clinton is, she probably still is the nominee. i have been sitting in fairfax hospital for the last week, listening to folks coming in and out, meeting people, talking to people, sort of in the work scene, they have questions about these e-mails. i have never seen people more interested in this story going, i don't get it. why did she do that? >> why would she do that? and it obviously is showing up in the polls in a big way in whether she's honest and

trustworthy. >> bernie sanders having a lead. >> seven points ahead in new hampshire. my questions earlier had nothing to do with politics. my questions had to do with national security agencies letting americans down out of fear or political reasons. donny, i want to go with you. this, i think the headline, the searing headline that knocks it the most, this whole scandal, is the "new york post." >> which is always the paper -- >> explain this to me. >> stop it. >> no, no, see, joe, the great thing about joe is -- >> not the great thing about joe. >> no, no, they're using sharon stone -- >> this is sharon stone? >> they're secretly saying with sharon stone, age is not an issue for hillary clinton. that's what they're saying. >> okay. you can go now. i'm not going to show this. >> it's a very important subtext to that. >> no, stop, joe. that's not sharon stone. >> they're using sharon stone to

say no, there's no fatigue. and donny deutsch, as always, you're wrong. >> oh, my god. >> as i said, "new york post," which is my favorite paper and the paper of record. >> still ahead on "morning joe," much more of this. don't look now. actually, you should have looked a few minutes ago. >> mika is looking at these pictures. donald trump may be actually trying to win. and he may actually be trying to win in iowa. we're joined with a new report along with kasie hunt. they're at the iowa state fair. keep it right here on "morning joe." care of my heart.

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we didn't hear him. do you want to try again, alex? after two months as a candidate, donald trump is hooking to strengthen his grip on the front-runner status by building up an on the ground operation. okay, a ground game. the des moines register reports that trump has opened his first campaign office in west des moines. the campaign's iowa director says their blue campaign blus emblazoned with trump and the slogan make america great again, is essentially a second campaign office. the "washington post" reports that trump has ten paid staffers on the ground and an experienced team. trump is scheduled to return to iowa tomorrow to campaign at the state fair. that is going to be such a spectacle. the post reports he will touch down by private helicopter and visit the famous butter cow.

unlike the other candidates, he won't be speeching at the des moines register soap box. last month, the editors asked him to drop out of the campaign. >> we're going to go to bob and kasie hunt as well. we were asking a very interesting question. can you turn that sharon stone nude picture upside down? thank you. kind of hard to focus on the question there with sharon stone naked staring at me. so you had something, you have known donald for a long time, we have known donald for a long time. we were asking a very interesting question, which w was -- >> does he really -- first, let me preface this, i love donald. he's a great fan, a good father. i judge a person by he's got three great kids who love him, the people around him are loyal forever, he's loyal to people, and he loves the game, the hunt. he wants to win. i don't know, and if i bumped into him tomorrow, i would say,

dude, do you really want to be president? the actual job of it. >> do you want to win or -- >> or be -- when you're a real estate developer, you want to close the deal and move on. by the way, if he takes office, the first day, and all of a sudden, he wants to do something and there'stheni something call congress, and he's going to be like, what do you mean? i don't know if it's in his core to want the actual job, but i don't know if he thought that through because he wants to win. he's saying, i'm going to blow this up. >> he has been talking about it for like 30 years. maybe we're underestimating him. >> i'm not saying he couldn't win. i'm saying at the end of the day, does he really want to win? >> we'll talk to him next time he calls in. for now, let's bring in robert costa. he wrote the "washington post" piece. called an iowa surprise. donald trump is actually trying to win. tell us about it, bob. what evidence do you have that trump actually is seeing this

through, planning the long game, and expecting to win. >> is there any other image that defines the weekend that donald trump getting off that helicopter at the iowa state fair, fried oreos, corn dogs, the make america great again hat, but he has a real iowa operation. he has santorum's guy from last time, chuck lautner helping him out. they're going to walmart parking lots and signing people up day after day. >> wow, so it sounds like actually trump is working more on building a grassroots campaign in iowa than mike huckabee did in 2008. of course, huckabee won in 2008 with almost no ground game. >> i don't know anyone else who has more staffers than trump. ten people full-time paid on the ground in iowa. also bringing new people into the process. the first question most people ask when they go up to the trump bus, what's a caucus.

that could help trump expand his coalition. >> one thing i saw in the latest iowa poll that was surprising to me is that donald trump won in every single category in the latest poll among evangelicals, among moderates, every group. tell me what evangelicals say to you when you talk to them about donald trump and why they're supporting a guy who said when asked in the church, said that he had never asked god for forgiveness, didn't feel a need to. does not go along the lines of the type of candidate the church forums that usually gets the evangelical vote. why? >> we talked to my colleague, phil rucker and i, and our sense is there is a bit of unease about trump. he's a presbyterian, has his faith, but they also like his hone honesty. as much as they love their faith, they can't stand the republican system, and they're

willing to give trump a listen. >> joining us now from the iowa state fair in des moines, is msnbc political correspondent kasie hunt. >> you think she got a ride on the helicopter? >> well, probably. no, no, actually not. kasie, what are some of the key things to look for this weekend? >> well, on all things not trump, and i think this is all going to fly under the radar because i think bob is right. the big image is going to be that helicopter touching down. i think there are questions about scott walker, fist of all. he's fallen back in some of the polls in iowa suns the debate, and this is a must-win place for him. watching how he does at the soapbox is going to be key. i also think picking up on the energy you can feel on the ground, we had martin o'malley at the soapbox yesterday and then he wandered around the fair. most people were watching the couple of tv cameras hanging around him and saying, who is that guy? you can get a sense of what voters actually think. i'm curious to see if jeb bush

can bring a lot of energy. he's at the fair this morning. a lot of it is going to be, what is this donald trump like, and joe, you'll be interested to know that donald trump tried to offer children at the fair rides on his helicopter, but the state fair officials said no way. >> i love it. >> so kasie, let me ask you and bob, i'm going to expand this question out. i notice scott walker was dropping in the iowa polls. isn't it safe to say that iowa is a must-win state for scott walker? he can't come in a distant second or third in iowa and make it out of there. bob, let me start with you. >> there's probably three lanes coming out of iowa. you have the establishment guys, rubio or bush, the conservative movement guys. cruz, huckabee, or walker, and the outside, carson or trump. if walker doesn't get the balance, where does he win? new hampshire is tough for him, south carolina is crowded. iowa is crucial. >> it's not just the candidates.

it's food as well, right? >> funny you should ask. there were only a handful of candidates here yesterday. so i decided to wander around a little bit and try some of the delicacies that are available here. there are more than 75 foods available on a stick at the iowa state fair. most of them are fried. you can get anything from a fried peanut butter and jelly to the old staple, a corndog. what you can't get is a calorie count. >> throw it in there. >> how many corn dogs you sell in a day? >> i would have to kill you. >> fresh american pie. what is more american? >> you can put some sugar on it. >> chilly, hotdogs, funnel cake, deep fried pickles, cajun cheese on a stick. >> this is american cheese. we have hot pepper jack and mozzarella. >> what do i do? >> stick it in there.

yep. >> there we go. >> there you go. >> come back later, we'll put you to work. >> now, this is the first year for the fried apple pie, which i have to say is delicious. they fry fresh apples. i think it might be the only fresh thing i saw going into a fryer yesterday. >> thank you, kasie. >> coming up on "morning joe," the new way that facebook will let you connect to celebrities and other public figures. find out how it works. >> plus, willie liked cleveland so much last week he decided to go back. he joins us next with a special one-on-one with king james. yeah. >> keep it right here on "morning joe." (vo) what's your dog food's first ingredient? corn? wheat? in new purina one true instinct grain free, real chicken is always #1. no corn, wheat or soy. support your active dog's whole body health with purina one.

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i'm going to work on it. >> all right, welcome back to "morning joe." >> i told donny he needs a good southern girl. >> yeah? >> yeah. >> we thought we found one. >> well, we'll see. >> we'll talk. >> one is not enough, i guess. >> not on the air. >> come on, not on the air. >> oh, my god. he can't help himself. >> let's bring in willie geist live in cleveland. you sat down with nba all-star lebron james. tell us all about it. >> hey, guys. one week ago right now, the three of us were sitting at flanaries, one block from where i'm standing here.

mika, you left your tab open. >> help yourself. >> i mostly want to talk about donny's new show, in particular the episode with christie brinkley. we can do that after we talk about lebron james. the story of lebron, grew up in akron, 45 minutes south of here, drafted by the cavs. came back this season, took them to the nba finals. he's dedicated a lot of his charity work to dehelping kids like he was in akron. he made an announcement where he's going to help about 1,000 kids get to college. lebron james just can't miss. carrying the cavaliers to the nba finals in his return to cleveland. showing off his comedy chops in one of the hit movies of the summer. >> sorry to interrupt. >> and on this day in ohio, making a stunning pledge. >> these kids are everything. >> through his charity, the lebron james family foundation,

lebron vows to send qualifying students from his hometown of akron to college on four-year academic scholarships. >> at this rate, we have 1100 kids in our program. if i can put 1100 kids into college free, that means i've done something to give back. >> as an akron teen himself, lebron skipped the awkward years and jumped straight to the cover of "sports illustrated" where he was anointed at 17 the chosen one. >> are you able to look back now at age 30 and say, that was a surreal childhood, that was a surreal high school experience? >> absolutely. and i know i had some things that's not accustomed, that's not going to happen a lot. we're not going to see it a lot. the one thing that blocked me from all that was the friendships i had that i still have today and the mentors i had around me. >> somehow, he lives up to that impossible hype. at 30 years old, he's already played in 11 all-star games, won

four mvp awards, two nba titles and a pair of gold medals. >> do you start thinking despite the fact you're still in your prime, about the end of this run? >> i mean, you can never not think about, you know, what happens next. you know, for me, i've done -- i've been able to check off every goal i had in our league, and now it's just trying to add to it. >> off the court, lebron has become a media powerhouse, with his hollywood coming out party alongside amy schumer and bill hader in "trainwreck." and a production company that just signed a partnership with warner brothers. >> what's up? >> is that where you see the post-basketball life for you, a media mogul? >> we would hope, that's all. it is a passion of mine. everything i do, i have a passion about it. and if we could continue it, i know i don't have to dribble a basketball and fly through the air to do those type of things. >> james has made no secret of

his love for space jam, the 1996 warner brothers movie that starred michael jordan alongside the loon y toons gang. >> will that happen with lebron james in it. >> we hope so. we're missing bugs and taffy and every last one of them. hopefully we can do some great things. >> on the subject of jordan -- lebron in his prime, michael in his prime, one-on-one, who wins the game? >> myself, for sure. i take myself versus anybody. i tell you one thing, they have to have a few wheelchairs and a couple ambulances to get us off the floor. >> so guys, that question and answer came off something michael jordan said at his basketball camp last week when he was asked by a camper, you in your prime, lebron in his prime, one-on-one, who wins. jordan said, come on, it's michael jordan. who do you think, jordan or lebron? >> i go with jordan. >> i go with lebron just because of the physical strength.

>> i go with lebron. >> you posted up shaq, last time we spoke. did you post up lebron? >> what does that mean? >> we took perimeter jump shots. he was there with his two sons who, by the way, are young and incredible basketball players already. we shot around a little bit. i decided looking at his size and speed, it was probably a bad idea to take him into the post. >> we have two votes for lebron and one for michael. who do you pick? >> it's hard for me because i grew up in the jordan era, and i never let anybody top him, but i'm thinking about the one-on-one game and i think he backs michael down and he's quick enough to stay in front of him, but i think it's lebron by that much. >> quick question, because the guy is an icon. seems like a really good guy. >> seems nice. >> really does. >> he -- i have to say, before, during, and after that interview, totally engaging, totally friendly. he also gets it, donny. you come into the league and you're young and it's all about you and playing basketball. he now sees whether it's five years from now or ten years, the

end of his career and he's investing in businesses and relationships with people. he gets that there's something a lot more than basketball out there, so he's always thinkb about things greater than what happens on the court. really, really good guy. totally impressed by him. >> quickly, christie wants you. >> donny's show is going to be amazing. >> i cannot wait. when is it, october? >> november 10th, dude. >> november 10th, i'm in. >> we're all going to go down to the holiday inn on 57th and 11th and smoke cigarettes and watch the season premiere of donny, that's very exciting. >> such, like, a moron. >> we have one more "morning joe" scene to shoot so you have to be in there that day. an up sode where -- >> as long as -- >> everybody thinks i'm gay and i come on for you guys to clear it um, and clearly, the hijinx ensue, basically. >> i think i'm going to take a personal day that day, but thanks for the offer, donny.

>> willie, thank you very much. yeah, help yourself. go back to flanary's, open tab. still ahead, the price of oil hits its lowest level since the great depression. we'll see how that will impact the markets. plus, the letter of the day is "c." but it's not for cookie. "c" for cable. why sesame street will no longer be the show you remember. oh. >> you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. earlier fresher harder and yeah, even on sundays. if that's not what you think of when you think of the united states postal service, watch us deliver.

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>> [ bleep ] i don't give a [ bleep ]. >> i saved this city. and all your worthless lives. i should have let stans kill you all. >> all kinds of ghettos in the world. >> all one ghetto, man. giant gutter in outer space. >> cookie monster, please. i'm begging you. do not eat the letter of the day. >> me not eat letter of day. >> yeah. >> me eat cookie. >> oh. >> i love it. oh, my goodness. >> interesting characters. >> i like it. >> sesame street is going to have interesting new neighbors. elmo, big bird, oscar the grouch, they're moving to hbo after 45 years on pbs. can you believe that? >> no. >> sorry, kind of my favorite show. except for -- okay, the show's

producer signed a five-year deal, but some on social media were outraged saying moving the show to a pay tv service creates a class divide. new episodes will run later on pbs and will stream on pbskids.org for free. >> that's easy. let's go to sorryizen at the new york stock exchange. sara, we have so much to talk about today. not only sesame street, but china flat, oil down. i mean, oil especially, falling to six-year lows. how low can it go? >> it broke $42 a barrel, which is surprising. we're talking about levels we haven't seen since the depth of the global crisis where it was global turmoil in financial markets. the reason oil continues to slide is this continual rebalancing of supply and demand. on one hand, you have the u.s. producing, becoming a major oil producer. at the same time, middle eastern countries are continuing to produce huge amounts of oil,

including iran, which is getting ready to unload a massive amount of oil into the markets. >> let me ask you, why are the saudis, the rest of opec, continuing to keep production high if they just turned off the spigots, they would see prices go up again? >> and their economies do a lot better. a good question. the answer is because you have this new world of u.s. as being a swing producer. and the saudis want to test the u.s. oil producers and try to reclaim some of their market share that they're losing to the united states. so squeezing some of these u.s. producers to try to rebalance the entire equation is very complicated. it's very challenging -- >> basically, they're keeping the market flooded so some of these new start-ups will die on the vine. >> also to keep russia at bay as well. russia took a huge economic hit with the drop of oil prices. >> oent, you have china, which is the second biggest consumer of oil after the united states, slowing down. and that was the big story of

this week, why it's adjusting its currency and everything else. you have to refocus and rebalance the demand side of the oil equation as well, and you add it all up and you'll get sharply lower prices. on the plus side, cheaper gas prices in the u.s. >> one more reason we need donald trump. he beats china all the time. i beat china all the time. >> i thought you were going to say -- >> we'll be right back. no sixth grader's ever sat with the eighth grade girls. but your jansport backpack is

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isn't he gorgeous? such a good boy. tomorrow, nbc stations across the country along with more than 400 animal shelters are taking part in a nationwide initiative by nbc and telemundo called clear the shelters. aimed to help animals find homes. here's nbc's rehema ellis is one of those touching stories. >> it's summer road trip time, but these passengers are getting more than a vacation. they're getting a shot at a new life. five puppies and three adult dogs are making the 600-mile trek from north carolina to westchester, new york. an elaborate caravan of volunteers spending their saturday transporting dogs. final destination, the westchester spca. a no-kill shelter where their chance of being adopted is much higher. among them, 2-year-old katrina, who was rescued from a high-kill

shelter. nationwide, about 7.5 million animals end up in shelters each year. about 4 million are adopted. these newest arrivals have foster parents lined up to take them in until they're ready for adoption. >> hi. >> why bring in more dogs from out of state? >> there's so many dogs across the country that are in need of homes. they're wonderful. these puppies were all scheduled to be put to sleep in high-kill shelters. there's a need in new york. we don't often see puppies here. it's saving lives and making families complete. >> katrina has her family now. >> i fell in love with her at the shelter. >> two girls. two dogs, but the work continues for the westchester spca. >> if everybody wants to grab one. >> with more dogs arriving and each one needing a home. >> oh, i love it. tomorrow, the spca of westchester along with shelters nationwide will be offering reduced adoption fees.

visit clear the shelters.com to find participating shelters near you. i can tell you from my experience because we have three rescues, no, the rabbit is not a rescue. three rescues and they're all just such additions to the family. they're such success stories. >> you have a rabbit? >> a rabbit now. carly brought home a black rabb rabbit. i love the rabbit. >> they don't do much? they're good in theory. >> they're so cute. >> you can't hug them. >> the cats and cajun, they're cute. >> two cats, a rabbit and a dog. there was one rescue that didn't work out. that was spice. >> long story. we'll be back. >> up next, what if anything did we learn. it took serena williams years to master the two handed backhand.

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get started today. windows 10. a more human way to do. welcome back to "morning joe." time to talk about what we learned today. mika, did you learn? >> c is still for cookie. even though it's cable. hbo. >> a lifetime movie called spice coming out about the life oa dog. >> don't do it. >> a very special life. >> the life of spice, a short story. >> like old yeller. >> like the red fern grows. >> there are many rescue stories that end wonderfully like cajun and -- >> and then there's spice. >> poor old spice. >> okay. >> donny is ready to settle

down, right? >> yes. >> with a southern girl. he wants a southern girl. >> i want a southern girl. >> i'm on it. >> oh, my god. all right, if it's way too early, it's "morning joe." as always, thank you for your patience and thanks so much. >> chuck todd is next, right? oh, no. he's not next. >> for anybody who helped on the show putting together this, stick around, we have "the rundown" starting right now. good morning. yp jose diaz-balart. first on "the rundown" this morning, an historic day unfolding about 90 miles from the tip of florida, but the impact is felt here in south florida and around the world. less than an hour from now, the american flag will be raised over the u.s. embassy in cuba for the first time since 1961. among those who will be there to witness it, secretary of state john kerry. he just arrived moments ago.