i need to keep organized. school, grocery shopping. my face can unlock this computer. that's crazy. macbooks are not able to do that. "hey cortana, remind me we have a play date tomorrow at noon" i need that in my world. anything that makes my life easier, i'm using. and windows is doing that. the fact of the matter is, you can find common ground with the other side, without compromising your core beliefs. ladies and gentlemen, vice president joe biden is one of those people. joe and i had many disagreements

on many different issues. i can imagine what he's doing back here. even as we disagreed, we both always understood the need to keep looking for things that we could agree on. because while i'm a republican and joe's a democrat, the fact is, at first, we're both americans. so, mr. vice president, it is an honor to share the stage you today. i was thinking about what i was going to say this morning -- applaud. applaud for joe. >> let's get something straight right off the bat. i don't like john boehner. i love him. >> good morning. it's monday, may 16th. >> that was wonderful. >> i survived prom. >> did you really? that's fantastic.

>> your daughter looked so -- >> ahh! >> i survived prom. >> she looked so gorgeous. >> i survived prom. >> your daughter -- can i say this, too. your daughter looked fantastic, too. you were a little close to her, but, like -- >> what? >> i did not know that you had an 18-year-old daughter. >> yes, actually, she's 27, and she is my daughter. and i know you were trying to get your audience to believe that i might be out with a younger woman. >> 18-year-old. her name was phoebe? >> tiffany. >> what in the world is wrong with you guys? >> what are you talking about? >> hi, mike. with us on set, the legendary commentator -- >> what is so legendary -- >> by the way, what is so legendary about him? >> look at him! >> that i'm still here. >> he's boston's icon. >> if you ask that question, my friend, then you have never been if boston. >> really. go to boston with mike, it's crazy. >> legendary! >> forget it! >> managing editor of bloomberg

politics and cohost of "with all due respect" that airs at 6:00 p.m. on msnbc, mike halperin. advertising, branding, and marketing expert, donny deutsch is with us. >> expert's not bad. >> and nbc news senior white house correspondent, chris jansing as well. >> how was prom? >> long night. up all night. they had a great time. i survived prom. all right, shall we get to -- what? you're troubled. >> i am troubled. >> we have a lot to get to. >> i just wonder if "the new york times" has done again -- >> here we go. >> i'm just wondering if "the new york times" has done again what they have done since the beginning of the trump campaign where they take a fact, they take an essential truth, and then they -- they expand it to such a degree and put it on the front page, above the fold, on sunday. because, remember, we've always said, they always overreach on sunday. they did it with john mccain on

sunday. and they took a, an offhanded, unfortunate remark and turned it into the reason why his campaign was going to collapse. and i could go every sunday. mark, we've seen this time and time and time again. and as i have said, it's in the transcript. everything's in the transcript. i've said it time and time and time again since june. you overreach. and by overreaching, you only play into donald trump's hand. >> that story will go down in history one way or another. >> okay. there you go. now, let me set the scene. >> does that sound like you're forwarding it to the pulitzer committee? >> one way or another. >> so here's what they're talking about. donald trump begins the week under a mountain of bad press. over the weekend, a front page "new york times" article that joe was talking about featured the stories of women who said they'd faced unwanted comments and advances from trump in years gone by at trump tower, at his

home, and backstage at beauty pageants. temple tagert competing in the miss usa pageant at 21 years old told of a series of advances, including that trump introduced himself by kissing her directly on the lips. trump was married to marla maples at the time and he disputes the account. trump tried to dispel many of the details of the story, telling the paper, a lot of things get made up over the years, i have always treated women with great respect and women will tell you that. he puts a final point on twitter, saying, quote, everyone is laughing at "the new york times" for the lame hit piece they did on me and women. i gave them many names of women i've helped they refused to use. wow, i have had many calls from high-ranking people laughing at the stupidity of "the new york times" people. massive fail for that. and why doesn't "the new york times" write the real story on the clintons and women.

the media is totally dishonest. the head of the national party reince priebus played defense on the sunday shows. >> chairman priebus, does that bother you? >> well, you know, a lot of things bother me, chris. obviously, i'm the wrong person to be asking that particular question. but, look -- >> but, wait a minute, why are you the wrong person? you're the chairman of the party. this is your nominee, and they're saying he has mistreated women over the years. >> i think all these stories that come out, and they come out every couple of weeks, people just don't care. i think people look at donald trump and hillary clinton and say, who's going to bring an earthquake to washington, d.c.? i think the bigger issue, when we make these judgments about people are, you know, whether or not individuals are throwing stones in glass houses. and when people are hypocrites, obviously, that's when these stories have an impact. but i don't think donald trump, and his his personal life, are something that people are

looking at and saying, well, i'm surprised he's had girlfriends in the past. that's not what people look at donald trump for. >> and former obama senior strategist, david axelrod, tweeted this. ""the new york times" report on trump's boorish behavior to women is troubling, but did not to surprising findings live up to the big, over the fold play?" >> let me ask you that. did david axelrod have a point? that this was blown up to something. you can tell the truth. you're rolling your eyes. >> the story's very complicated. >> what's the worst allegation? >> what's the maybe -- >> what's the worst allegation of this explosive front page story. >> name it! >> i will comment on this in the spirit reince priebus. >> there's some troubling things in the piece, but there's nothing illegal, there's nothing

even kind of like beyond boorish or politically incorrect, which is built into the donald trump brand. so if that's the best they have in this score -- >> so mike barnicle, i've got two stories. and i did, i kept reading it. because i was trying to figure out, what did he do. because that's the lawyer in me. and you tear through all the documents and then you go, they did this, they did this. i have two things. when he met somebody, he kissed them on the lips as a dpregreet. i will tell you -- >> donny does that to you all the time. >> -- that's not a pleasant thing, but that's a thing. in the thousands of receptions i've had before, women of all ages have come up and kiss me on the lips. i don't like it, i wish they wouldn't have, but i wouldn't have run to "the new york times". >> and he denies it. >> and secondly, he gave a woman a bathing suit to try on. >> that was the lead. >> that's an explosive lead. >> he gave a woman a bathing

suit to try on. when this was unfolding, i expected that she was going to try it on in front of him and he was going to like -- >> they ended up dating. >> instead he goes, you look really good in that. >> here's the deal on donald trump and that story. >> i'm sorry. that's -- >> i've got a lot to say. if this is their lead story on sunday, explosive, above-the-fold, especially consider who he is running against, it's breathtaking. >> it's about 7,500 twills, that's an old phrase for tof type-written things, it's boorish behavior, you wouldn't want it occurring to your daughter by a guy, but it's donald trump. and when it comes to donald trump, it comes with the dinner. people know it, they expect it, they're not surprised. >> what's the most offensive thing that donald trump did in that piece? >> i think the most offensive thing, if true, is some of the

comments he made in the workplace to his employees. >> i want to jump on that, mark -- >> yeah, now, that is -- when you are in the workplace -- >> i think that should be -- >> -- when you make those comments, that's what you put in the lead. not a kiss on the lips. >> guys, i have a lot of -- i have to tell you, i don't want to be glib here. i was reading that and in many ways i was relating to it. donald trump is a feminist. i want to defend him -- >> what? >> i want you to hear something. i ran a company and i was roguish in certain ways. >> by the way, can i say, before you start saying this, you have not been a fan of donald trump's politically. you have said some very -- >> i call it as i see it. >> you have said some very harsh things. >> i want to really defend him. >> go ahead. >> just like me, i ran a company and 9 of my 11 partners were women. i would say things in the workplace, but at the end of the day, it was a meritocracy, women

wouldn't insult men, men wouldn't insult women. he's an equal opportunity insulter. we can't have feminism unless everything is on the table. you want $1 on $1 and not 79 cents on dollar. the same way he will insult a man for eating candy -- >> but we don't get a dollar. >> but that's my exact point. he was before anybody. that's the most male-oriented business -- >> by the way, they talked about how his father ridiculed him for hiring a woman in an important position, and he was scared of his father. you could tell. but in this area, he didn't listen to his father. >> we have all these politicians, the ceos will never say the wrong thing. and yet, the entire -- you know, all of the people running the companies are white males. and then we have a guy like donald, who, yes, says the wrong thing sometimes and can be coarse and boorish, but at the end of the day, you show the real respect for women in

equality, is the way you pay them, you run a meritocracy and treat them just like men. i have done that, and i have done a lot of stupid things and probably kissed women on the lips and said inappropriate things, but at the end of the day to me, it was gender equality across the board. and he's an equal opportunity employer and insulter. that's who he is. >> mika? >> i think the stuff that was said in the workplace points to a pattern of other things that were probably said in the workplace. and i don't really care if they were said to men. i think those are the worst things in the article. and he'll have to answer to that, especially if they are true. >> by the way, thank you -- by the way, mika, have people at news organizations said such things to you over your 20 years in the workplace? oh, i'm sorry, or has it been a lot worse than that? >> um -- >> because i have heard -- >> i've been told to lose weight. >> i have heard what men say to women in the workplace and it's rough. >> look at the treatment of jill abrams by "the times." i mean, come on! >> yeah! i think that when you're in the

beauty pageant business, an article like this, that if that's the most they can find and he runs beauty pageants and -- >> and modeling agencies. >> and tons and tons of young women flock to him in bathing suits and parade themselves across the stage and that's the worst they could find, imagine if bill clinton ran beauty pageants. let's stop right there and not talk about it, okay? >> by the way, donald trump loves women. got it. >> but i have to say, i do think that he has to, he has to look at the way he talks about people objectively. whether they're men or women. and if you're going to be president. >> that's a different discussion. >> it's something that perhaps even he needs to talk about what needs to change. because that's not going to fly. but i don't think he would think it doesn't. >> was the article overblown, mika? >> i think the article might even have wrong information in it. and i know him and he's a germaphobe. it's been hard for him to shake

hands. >> no, he's kissed me on the lips. >> he went to the visual. >> was there one thing or anything in there that surprised you. >> no, that's the issue. >> no, and chris jansing, i think, the i think i'm struggling with here is the article doesn't describe somebody -- it's of an attractive description of someone if you read it. and you don't want -- but at the same time, i think people know this about donald trump. >> know what? >> i don't think this is new. >> know what? >> that he's made these kind of comments before, that he's said things, whether it's carly fiorina or rosie o'donnell, or a woman who is pumping breast milk and he says it's disgusting. these are not surprising comments. you know, i don't think it's going to change anyone's mind. i do think to donny's point, it does raise a different and larger discussion about if you pay a woman for what she does, if you promote a woman in the workplace, particularly in construction industry, where they have nod hat the kinds of

opportunities, does that excuse potentially boorish behavior? if that, indeed, happened. i think that's still a legitimate question. and i do believe, mika, i'm curious what you believe about that. i think it's different if it's a 21-year-old or someone who has worked her way up and is in the business, and with whom you have that kind of equal or close-to-equal relationship. >> exactly. >> no, she's asking me. >> if you're a 21-year-old intern, for instance. >> go ahead. >> that's predatory. >> that's predatory if you do something to a 21-year-old or 23 or 24-year-old intern if you're in a superior position of power. that's harassment. that's predatory. >> okay, guys. i think the bottom line here is that if you're excusing boorish behavior for the fact that perhaps the company is run in a, in a way that really promotes good for women and has equal pay and maybe donald trump has some great statistics on elevating women in his company, i don't

know. but if you look at what was excused in the clinton white house, this article is defunct. it is totally useless. the entire country excused boorish behavior and then some. which is what i was going to say. did you want to say something else? >> no. not at all. i was -- i was just going to say, there's never any excuse for boorish behavior. >> i'm just saying, if you're going to be talking about doing that, let's go back to his main opponent's husband. >> yes, stacking this up with that history, it's -- there's just not even a close comparison. and it's just kind of shocking that "the times" would actually lay this out there. >> when i saw that headline, t was expecting, oh, boy, you know, orgies. >> i'm preying on a 22-year-old intern. >> let's go up to 40,000 feet

here. the next president, assuming it's one of these two, will not be perfect. they'll be a person with a past and a history that a lot of americans will find uncomfortable or worse. but the thing about donald trump is, and this front page "washington post" story that mike and i were talking about earlier, the thing about donald trump is, he's on the offense now in this race. the clinton people are understanding, they're dealing now with a discombobulating situation. she's the favorite, but all this stuff on his side and her side, i don't think is going to settle this election. it's going to be about other things. this is just more stuff. >> and americans are about -- >> but there's stuff on both sides. >> this is the first time a character who's been a private citizen for 40 years and has a dossier as a private citizen for 40 years will be on display. and that's what we've got. this is not a lifelong politician. and it's baked in and ironically, joe, you opened with

this. it allows him to be a victim in this article. and they blew it. but i think the bigger discussion i would love this country to have is, when do we really get equal? he made fun of marco rubio's height. he made fun of carly fiorina's face. i'm not saying either one is not boorish behavior, but it's not a man/woman issue, it's the way he deals with people. in a strange way, he's gender blind. and even some of his stumbles are displays of that. >> that's interesting. >> so why did you say this was going to go down in history one way or another? >> the clinton people that donald trump will lose this election because of the accumulation of stories like that. that he's just not the right person to be -- >> if he loses it, it's one thing. they will just make people afraid. too afraid. that's what this is coming down to. fear of the known, fear of the unknown. >> if he wins, people will look back at stories like this one, because it's "the new york times," and they're going to

say, this is -- these were off the -- off-base for what people were voting on. that people were voting, as reince priebus said yesterday, on who's going to shake up washington. and a guy who has flaws -- you can't argue that he's less likely to shake up washington. he's more likely to shake up washington than she is. and that story did not speak to that issue in a way that hurts him. >> wow. okay. coming up on "morning joe," donald trump and elizabeth warren have been going back and forth over twitter. and mow trump may have a new nickname for her. we'll show you what he told maureen dowd. also this morning, texas governor greg abbott on what he's telling fellow drauz droouz voters about the general election in november. plus, bernie sanders lone supporter in the senate. jeff merkley of oregon joins the table. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> it was cold this morning, very cold. i reached for the gloves and i'm sure i'm not the only one.

the images from northern new england are not pretty. a good reason they tell you not to plant anything until after memorial day, it's snowing right now in northern portions of maine. there's a covering of snow on the ground in many places in northern new england. temperature in new york city is 43. one degree away from our record low for this date. at 33 in columbus, ohio. a little shock in the system as you head outside. the next couple of days, a slow but painful warm-up. get into the 60s in chicago, detroit will be 60s all week, but no 70s in sight for the great lakes, ohio valley, and northeast. d.c. will only be 58 on tuesday. and another rainy day, one of the chilliest mays so far you've ever had there in washington, d.c. the other story, worst weather this morning in the country, flooding is going on right now in areas from corpus christie, up the coast of texas, torrential rains early today. be careful traveling on the roads today. later today, about 2 million people at risk of severe storms. they'll drift towards oklahoma city late today, but tomorrow's a much bigger day, as we're watching almost all of texas

into louisiana with a threat of severe storms. not too many tornadoes this week. this is the peak of the system. we'll take that. washington, d.c., i know you've had a miserable may so far. today is another cold morning, but rainy tomorrow. it doesn't get any better. you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. that show. (woman) now we have to wait forever to see it. (jon bon jovi) with directv, you don't. ♪ you see, we've got the power to turn back time. ♪ ♪ that show you missed, let's just go back and find. ♪ ♪ and let's go back and choose spicy instead of mild. ♪ ♪ and maybe reconsider having that second child. ♪ ♪ see, that's the power to turn back time. ♪ (vo) get the ultimate all included bundle. call 1-800-directv. and it's working moms everywhere who inspired us to work harder. that's why we are putting more food in our salisbury steak dinners and making chicken strips with 100% natural chicken breast. now serving... a better banquet.

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is it a bird? is it a plane? it is a superdelegate! all right. flying over the sky. all right. >> hillary clinton is focusing on kentucky ahead of tomorrow's democratic primary there, and oregon. she held a rally in louisville yesterday, one of five events she's holding in the state ahead of election day. and at one point, she made a derby-themed jabbed at her republican opponent. >> there's a saying in the senate, there are two kinds of senators. there are show horses and workhorses. i have to say, it really, it really lifted my spirits to see exaggerator beaten in the derby. >> but while clinton faces a multi-front war with both bernie sanders and donald trump, "the

washington post" points out in a front page story ongoing concerns about major problems from within. her own supporters have deep concerns about her favorability. their reportedly concerned about poor results with young women and weak polling on questions of trustworthiness and likability. a point of comfort that trump's numbers are worse. >> mike barnicle, you said, coming in, this was a story that you heard most about this weekend. people coming up to you. >> i had three different people tell me that they have been called and asked about the weaknesses, potential weaknesses of hillary clinton's candidacy over the last week or ten days. i think it bears out what you've heard as well, mark. there's one particular quote that gets to the heart of their probing, the clinton people probing other people. it is this. she's -- this is a quote. she's horrible at running, but she's fantastic at governing. a longtime friend and supporter said. and it gets to what we just saw,

that clip on tv, and gets to the conduct of the campaign so far. >> mark halperin, you're hearing the same thing? >> there are two types of democrats in clinton's orbit. thinking, this thing's easy. in the end, trump's ridiculousness will allow her to win. and there are those who are starting to realize, this is asymmetrical warfare with a guy who's been underestimated all year and that her flaws in some ways are biographical flaws, are candidate skill flaws. the flaws in how the public views her are tailor made more trump to pull off one of the great political upsets of all time. she's still the favorite, but everyone should read that story, because it lays bare what the skeptics are worriers in clinton's camp are feeling. >> if i was ever hired to do the clinton campaign, it's very simple. hillary is baked the in. you're not going to make her anymore appealing. you have to scare the bejesus of

people with trump. the risk is just -- okay, i'll stay. that is the game. it's barry goldwater -- >> but she's not the best person in the world equipped to people. >> i'm talking about her people. i'm not saying that's not coming from her, but almost put hillary in a draw and make this about, there's too much at stake. >> but then there's bernie sanders. we've been trying to get our arms around this story for weeks. the crowds he is still drawing. >> thousands of people. >> i'm not sure hillary clinton could get these crowds. >> well, i don't know if she can get these crowds. she doesn't populate these kinds of venues. i will tell you this, there is a belief in them that they think that he still has a chance here. they know the numbers, they're smart people, they talk about super delegates. they talk about very complex legislation that they care about. they know what glass-steagall is. these are folks that are really involved in the process. and i think one of the things that has been hardest for the sanders folks is, they look at

those vulnerabilities that you guys are talking about. they look at who bernie has in his strengths. look at every single state he has been in. who has helped him win? young people. who helped barack obama over the top in 2008 in many critical states? young people. and they don't quite understand why they frankly aren't getting a little more respect from what they feel are the clinton folks in terms of what's going to happen at the national convention. i'm sure you saw what happened in nevada, in las vegas. they had the raucous, some people even said, chaotic convention in spite of the fact that bernie sanders and harry reid said, let's all be very civil, and barbara boxer had to go out on stage and try to calm people down. there is a lot of discontent among the sanders people who feel like they're not getting the respect they think they deserve. and they're continuing to come out to support him. >> and go all the way through the convention. could get messy, chris? >> i don't think that there's -- i was just talking to jeff weaver last night, in his most pointed language, he said to me,

look, we need 25% to be able to get some of these issues out for a wider floor vote, and it could really tie things up, and if we don't feel like we're being respected, if we don't feel like we're being treated the way we should, that's something we're willing to do. so some of the strongest language i've heard from anybody atop his campaign, talking about what they're willing to do at the national convention. >> how far are they willing to go? i mean, would he jump in as an independent? >> no, he's not going to jump in as an independent. he's made it very clear, and i've had a couple of conversations with him over the last week that he absolutely will support the nominee. he just believes at this point, that however narrow the path is, that he could still be that nominee. but i think even more than that, he's got issues that he cares about. whether it's the $15 minimum wage, trade issues, where he's not going to come closer to her on climate change. a whole host of issues that he wants to have heard when he goes to the convention. and he wants his people on that platform committee, who are

going to get those things written into the platform. >> all right. coming up, the must-read opinion pages are next. "morning joe" is back in a moment. ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪ ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪ ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪

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donald trump and elizabeth

warren have been exchanging blows on twitter. he tossed out another shot at the senator by maureen dowd's latest "new york times" piece, titled "the mogul and the babe." she writes, i decided to dispense with satire and simply call donald trump at trump tower on friday to hear about his trip to survey the damage from the volcanic eruption of his imminent nomination. not since pompeii have there been so many people caked in muck and frozen in varying poses of horror. what were speaker ryan's demands? we talked about the success i've had, trump replied. so ryan didn't ask trump to stop making remarks that alienate women? no, trump said. he wants me to be me. so much for the showdown. when i asked him if he had been chided by any republicans for his twitter feud with elizabeth warren, he replied, you mean pocahont pocahontas? so much for reining it in. >> donny deutsch? >> got to let trump be trump. i mean --

>> you think that hurts him? >> no, not at all. >> what hurts him about that? >> mark? >> i think he's -- this is what he's going to do. he's going to be out there and say stuff -- >> does that hurt him? >> no. >> it's his brand. >> it's baked in. >> it's who he is. >> to call someone an indian name, isn't that hurtful? >> that's on the list -- >> not even 74. >> 830. >> and he does what he always does does, picks at a weakness, somebody's weakness. what was his story about harvard with her? >> oh, -- >> that she put that she was native american on the box, in her application for faculty position at harvard years ago. >> so he's hammering her on that nonstop. >> doing a weekly interview with maureen dowd is not something you would advise the republican nominee to do under ordinary circumstances, but -- >> it works for donald. >> donald trump is not hiding.

in the midst of controversy, he goes on tv and does interviews. in the midst of good times, she is not. and that asymmetry, i think, again, is not going to work in her favor. >> the stuff that's going to eventually hurt trump is not the bombastic stuff. in business, i'm not saying this is true or false, there's been a lot of talk, he screws the little grand. that put ss a pin in him. he's no longer the hero of the populist, he's now screwing the little guy. this other stuff is noise and silliness and it's baked in. >> and you'll see a lot of that stuff. >> those are the things we go, hmm -- this other stuff, people actually like it. i know this is insane. it's the show. they bought the pilot and they want to -- >> that's the key, the word show. >> they bought the pilot. now they want to see the series. >> up next, you can't blame a lack of manpower in washington for the administration's policy against isis. >> in those meetings, there were

too many people there. i would go into these meetings and every chair was filled in the situation room. you have have 30 people in there sometimes. what were they doing in there? and everybody had a chance to talk. we rarely got to a conclusion or a decision and too many people talking. and i think that always leads to an ineffective process. >> a new frontline documentary breaks down some 14 years of missed warning signs in terror group's evolutioevolution. filmmaker michael kirk joins us next on "morning joe." proud of you, son. ge! a manufacturer. well that's why i dug this out for you. it's your grandpappy's hammer and he would have wanted you to have it. it meant a lot to him... yes, ge makes powerful machines. but i'll be writing the code that will allow those machines to share information with each other. i'll be changing the way the world works. (interrupting) you can't pick it up, can you?

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cowie's territory. they have a war chest of $2 billion. it's a remarkable success for an organization that was soundly defeated in 2009. >> baghdadi had turned zarqawi's vision into a terrifying reality. >> on the eve of 9/11, we have 400 pledged members. people that pledge allegiance to osama bin laden, but now they have countries. they have armies. they have tanks. they have missiles. they have stuff that osama bin laden did not dream to have in his wildest dreams. >> that was a clip from the new frontline documentary, "the secret history of isis." the film premieres tomorrow at 10:00 eastern time on pbs. and filmmaker michael kirk joins us now. good to have you on. >> thank you. >> this looks incredible. so, what are -- i guess, what is

the most astounding missed opportunity, and, lay out for us the reasons behind these missed opportunities. >> so, for -- ever since the war, ever since 2003, i think i've made seven or eight films in iraq, and each time i say, this is the last one i'm going to make. some time, about five to six months ago, some people came forward, who hadn't spoken before, colin powell is one of them, and i've always wanted to say, so what was that speech all about? it sort of started everything that happened. and another was a cia analyst named nina bacos. they came forward and started to talk about a guy named zarqawi. we thought zarqawi was dead and buried in 2006. but by putting the pieces together, we've sort of organized the way that isis got started clear back then, while the president and the national security -- >> this was in 2006 after zarqawi's death? >> starting in 2001, 2002, right

after -- right as powell is getting ready for the speech. analysts are finding this guy who's been repudiated by al qaeda, osama bin laden doesn't want anything to do with it. >> and also, after the jordanian bombing of the wedding. there were actually sunnis in iraq that started turning against zarqawi. >> in iraq, yes, but not for a long time. he is the guy who pulls together all those defrocked soldiers that got dumped off by paul bremmer back in -- when he first gets there. you have 250,000 armed, unemployed men. you've got this terrorist who's been anointed by colin powell at the speech. and powell tells us, i don't even remember -- i mean, it was sort of a passing reference. you discover that seven minutes of his speech was about this guy nobody had ever heard of. >> let me ask you. let's bring you to present day. i was talking to a diplomat from the middle east who said, actually, what isis has going for it more than anything is the

fact that tehran runs baghdad. if you're a sunni in iraq, there's no way you're fighting for the central government. >> and that's what baghdadi, the heir apparent to zarqawi, has been waiting for over in syria. they almost get him down. petraeus and others tell me they had 37 guys left in 2009. obama comes in, we pull the troops out. these guys head to syria, where there's unrest, which is what they need. they build themselves back up and wait for something bad to happen to the sunni up in the north, as soon as it's bad, they get invited back in. and history gets made by 2014. when, suddenly, as chuck hagel says in our film, suddenly this group comes in. we hadn't been pay attention, we didn't know who they were, and they take over ramadi, mosul, fallujah, and they're in place. and where were we? we're no wrp. >> in realtime today, in terms of dealing with isis and syria and that whole region, we showed a clip, massive number of people sitting on the national security

council meeting. in terms of marrying intelligence to decision making, is the group just too big today to come up with a specific set of decisions to deal with isis? >> well, we're degrading. since 2014, obama kind of wakes up and says, okay -- >> 2014? >> 2014. summer of 2014, says, okay, here we go. america, russia, iran, saudi, lots of people tried to degrade them, right? the shia in baghdad. they are degrading some of the territory, but the problem is isis, a is holding on to lots of land in syria and in northern iraq. and they've also declared a kind of worldwide war, a global war, in paris, in brussels, in 40 affiliates, 90 attacks over the last couple of years. so even though we're degrading, even though there is now a policy to degrade, not put a lot of boots on the ground, but degrade them, what's going to await the next president is what awaited bush and what awaited

obama. both of them failed dramatically over the time, to do anything about isis. and now they're going to have to do something about isis all over the world. >> and you showed chuck hagel a repeating critique, that will be emblazoned in history about barack obama's foreign policy, that they have scores of people, and yet, it's a couple of inexperienced advisers running foreign policy. chuck hagel said, called barack obama the most inexperienced president we've ever had being advised by the most inexperienced group of advisers. >> the interesting something, joe, that i've discovered over making all these films and spending lots of time, last fall i made a netanyahu and obama film. one of the things you discover, no matter how many experts are around him, talented or not, in the end, it's really his decision. even when hillary clinton was secretary of state, in the end, all of it rests in the man in the chair at the white house, the professor, whatever you want to call him, as he kind of reasons and rationalizes through

things, believing if you consider somebody, even still you can talk to them and come to an agreement. but if you have a lot of people at the table and the stakes are very high. so far, he hasn't found the key to unlock what to do about this. >> and the nsa has just become so massive and unwieldy. >> it's a huge organization. and often, it will come with some, in some cases, if you look back at the syria policy, it's come with some unanimity to the president and said, we think eshd you should do this, arming the moderate rebels for a while. >> he just doesn't listen to them. >> frontline investigates the secret history of isis. it airs tomorrow at 10:00 eastern on pbs. everyone should watch that. thank you so much. >> michael, that looks great. >> michael kirk, thank you so much. coming up, our nbc correspondent team breaks down the weekend's big political headlines. nbc's hallie jackson, kasie hunt and kristen welker join us live with their new reporting. we'll be right back with much more "morning joe."

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donald. i'm honored that you asked me to help you find your next vp. i thought one strong option could be a jeb bush. [ both laughing ] marco rubio. >> oh, little marco? i can't ask him to be vp until his parents sign the release form. what about nikki haley?

>> also not interested. >> ted cruz? >> a hard no. >> paul ryan? >> he said, not right now, but he will see you in hell. >> former republican presidential candidate dr. ben carson has seemingly revealed several names on donald trump's vice presidential short list. the trump surrogate and his wife were riding in a car with a "washington post" reporter when news of a new poll broke, listing the best-liked potential running mates. along with carson himself, the list included john kasich, marco rubio, ted cruz, sarah palin, and chris christie. after hearing the results, carson is quoted as saying, those are all people on our list. well, not you, his wife added. carson did later attempt to clarify his comments saying that everyone could potentially be considered, but that doesn't mean they're on the short list. >> huh? >> and how did donald trump react to this news? with a tweet, of course.

the presumptive republican nominee wrote, "the washington post" report on potential vp candidates is wrong. marco rubio and most others mentioned are not under consideration. >> every one of those names would be a wrong, wrong choice. i would like to throw my hat into the ring. donald, i know you watch the show a lot, it would be an interesting ticket. i could take the heat off of you as far as the woman stuff. i want to officially put my name in the ring. >> i'm hearing newt gingrich? >> which would be the single stupidest choice in the history of choices. he -- i go tom ridge. >> i heard it a few weeks ago, this name. >> what not to do. what absolutely not to do, newt gingrich. i would find that -- >> unless you want to lose -- >> yes -- >> first i heard of it was at nancy reagan's funeral. >> really? >> yeah. i can't even fathom. >> from newt gingrich himself? you heard it from? >> no. >> what's the logic of newt gingrich? we're going to have this combative ticket on both sides?

>> you don't need combative. >> you got that covered, yeah, check. >> i, i -- wow. >> coming up, the age of networks. isis took on armies, uber changed transportation, and the next republican nominee redefined politics as we know it. a new book explores the common threads of revolution in a connected world. but first, republican strategist steve schmidt and "the washington post" eugene robinson join the political roundtable. we'll be right back with more "morning joe."

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. the world is more interconnected than ever before. and it's becoming more connected every day. building walls won't change that. but the biggest challenges we face cannot be solved in isolation. facts, evidence, reason, logic. an understanding of science. these are good things. these are qualities you want in people making policy. if you were listening to today's political debate, you might wonder where this strain of anti-intellectualism came from. so, so class of 2016, let me be as clear as i can be, in

politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue. >> that was president obama at rutgers yesterday. welcome back to "morning joe," top of the hour. it's monday, may 16th. donny deutsch is still with us. >> you know i gave the commencement address to the newark air-conditioning academy. >> i'm sure you did. >> how did that go? >> good. >> along with msnbc contributor mike barnicle. alex -- >> alex said you got a cold response. >> no, it was great. >> we also have nbc news senior white house correspondent, chris jansing with us. joining the conversation, former mccain senior campaign strategist and msnbc political analyst, steve schmidt. in washington, pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post," msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson. steve schmidt, you guys were talking about -- everybody was talking about newt gingrich's possible vp of donald trump. and you say that, actually, they're getting that message out

themselves. >> a lot of buzz about this in washington, d.c. the gingrich communication operation, which is not insignificant, has always been robust, is out there pushing this. there's a lot of chatter that newt gingrich is under consideration by the trump campaign. certainly, the gingrich team in washington isn't doing anything to dispel that, as well. >> he did say he wanted someone political. >> he is that. >> joe, give me -- i could give you a hundred reasons why he's the wrong choice. can you give me one reason why he's the right choice? >> i don't think there's sufficient balance. i don't think there's temperamental balance, i don't think there's a sufficient political balance. i think that would be a very imbalanced ticket that would make voters, especially swing voters, especially nervous in the fall. newt gingrich is a force unto himself. as donald trump. i do not think these two

chemical elements put together actually benefit each other. >> steve, you've got women, suburban women, married women who are going to be the swing on this. does gingrich help at all there? >> no, it's also an old ticket. newt gingrich will be 73 years old. and one of the aspects of this election that's really interesting is that we've never not one time in the history of the country, once we've made generational change in the history of the presidency, we've never gone back. barack obama is technically a baby boomer, born in 1961, although culturally i would argue, he is not. and now we're going to go back, have a president who's turning 70 years old, whether it's hillary clinton or donald trump, a 73-year-old vice president, i just don't think that generationally, that makes sense. >> there's also the sense, with gingrich, that you can find few people, more responsible in the minds of men for creating and cementing the sense of divisiveness in washington. the separation of governing and

just, you know, acting out, you know, in opposition, based on nothing. and gene, you know, you've been in washington, obviously, for a long time. newt gingrich seems, to me, to be the symbol of divisiveness. >> well, he kind of is. and i also go back to the temperament issue. and you know, those two elements together, it's like magnesium and fire. it's just -- i don't see how that works. and i don't see how that reassures americans about the obvious questions they would have about a donald trump presidency. newt gingrich doesn't reassure anybody. that there's a kind of a steady hand at the wheel. you know, he's got, you know, ten ideas a minute, one of which might be actually doable and the rest of which are kind of crazy. >> the thing is, newt gingrich without mitt romney's money, very well could have won the republican nomination four years ago. and i would have said the same

thing to newt gingrich, don't select donald trump as your vice president. the two together doesn't make sense. newt gingrich, you know, newt gingrich accomplished a lot. he was an historic figure. you talk about the contract with america, but because of newt gingrich, we balanced the budget for the first time in a generation, balanced it four years in a row since the 1920s, passed welfare reform while liberals were screaming and jumping out of windows saying little children were going to be killed because of newt gingrich and he was such an evil man. we reformed medicare while bill clinton was shamelessly demagoguing it, saying grandma was going to be thrown out in the street, we extended the life of medicare by what he did. he did a lot of things that were historic. newt gingrich, one of the few speerv speakers who actually bent history. he did. that said, within four years of newt being there, he had become too much, even for his own republican house caucus, because he was so divisive, whether it

was his fault or not, he was so divisive that everything we did went down when they wrapped his name around it. and to put trump and gingrich together on a ticket is just inciting a meltdown. >> when they ask americans about this, does donald trump have the right temperament to be president, only 12%, which means basically 90% says no. so now you're going to double down on the temperament issue? and when they ask what's the most appealing thing about him? that he's an outsider. and is there anyone more of a washington insider than newt gingrich? >> i've talked about bob gates before. but if you want to take somebody in the senate, john thune. we know thune, ultimate insider, i mean, he is midwest solid. he's a good man, he's a smart

man. he would be an ideal vice presidential candidate for anybody, but especially for somebody like donald trump. there you have balance in every way. >> condoleezza rice would be the ultimate. let's move on to this now. donald trump begins this week after weekend of really tough newspaper headlines. for instance, the front page "new york times" article featured the stories of women who said they'd faced unwanted comments and advanced from trump in years gone by at trump power, at his homes, and backstage at beauty pageants with his huge color picture on the front. trump tried to dispel many details and stories, telling the paper, quote, a lot of things get made up over the years. i've always treated women with great respect and women will tell you that. he wrote a finer point on things on twitter writing, quote, everyone is laughing at "the new york times" for the lame hit piece they did on me and women. i gave them many women i've

helped they refused to use. wow, i've had many calls from high-ranking people laughing at the stupidity of "the new york times" piece. massive front page for that? and why doesn't the failing "new york times" write the real story on the clintons and women? the media is totally dishonest. the head of the national party, reince priebus, played defense on the sunday shows. >> but, forgive me, it's not whether or not he had girlfriends, the question is whether or not he mistreated women, whether he made unwanted advances, whether he humiliated women in the workplace. i don't understand why you say people don't care about that. and are you going to look into the allegations? >> look, i'm not saying people don't care about, i'm just saying i think the reason he's where he's at is because he represents something much different than the traditional analysis of individual candidates. and yes, everything bothers me, chris. but i don't know the truth of these things. i don't know other than reading an article, whether or not these

things are true. i think it's something that donald trump is going to have to answer questions in regard to. >> and former obama senior strategist, david axelrod tweeted, quote, "the new york times'" support on trump's boorish behavior on women is troubling, but did not so surprising findings live up to the big, over the fold play. david axelrod, mika, suggesting that maybe they overplayed that story because there weren't enough revelations. as a woman, you read the article, what was your take? >> i thought there were some troubling things in it. the lineup story, having the beauty contestants line up and talking about who's hot. the way he talked -- >> of course, that's not what beauty contestants do, line up and -- >> yeah, i know. i also think that the quotes of things he said to people at work make me very uncomfortable. he ran beauty pageants, which are tv events centered around women, mostly, flaunting themselves on television in barely any clothes, bikinis, and

willingly being objectifieobjec. >> exactly. >> so those stories come out of that type of thing. so no one is alleging sexual harassment, although it sounds like it. but no one is alleging it. so i'm uncomfortable with actually the journalism of the story. but if you take each little anecdote, of course, i don't like it at all as a woman. i just, i have to tell you, rae reading this as someone who analyzes these things and looks at the politics of it, and joe, i'll let you take it from here. i think this story helps him. i do. i think it ultimately will create worse problems for hillary clinton. >> why's that? >> because i think what we have here are stories about beauty pageants. no allegations of anything, of any legal wrongdoing. and on the other side, we have real corroborated stories that have been on the front page of every newspaper known to the world that have derailed the

legislative system and led to an impeachment system. >> donald trump treats women better than 99% of the ceos in america. he's a feminist, he pays them equally, he's a meritocracy, and he insults them equally, or on jekty anies them, as he does men. we have to get past this stupid political correctness of ceos and men who are never say the wrong word, but are keeping women down. i respect him and applaud him for this and defend him that he actually treats women and men equal in the workplace. >> both campaigns have liabilities in this area. but donald trump, when you look at the race right now, look at his strategic objectives, he's like a boxer with women on the ropes. so that has been done over his winning the primary. he has a 73% unfavorable rating with women. he's got to be able to bring that down. he's got to change the narrative. so the problem with the story is, and i don't think the story makes his problems worse, but it doesn't help make his problem better. so between today and the last

night of the republican convention, look for ivanka trump, look for a lot of women to be highlighted, to have the spotlight on them. to tell the story, as donny just said, about what it's like to work in the trump organization for women. but he has to be able to get off the ropes, to be able to come into the middle of the ring, to be able to bring those numbers down to an electable level. >> chris jansing, does -- does the point i made about sort of being uncomfortable with the story as a whole given what -- who he's running against, and things that have happened in the past, do you understand what i'm saying? or -- i just can feel the criticism already, although this is my gut. >> i think you're right, in that it's not going to hurt him. i don't know that it helps him. i do think that nobody -- no woman who's ever been in the workplace and had a boss comment about her weight and he

apparently liked to phrase it as, you like your candy? won't be made to feel uncomfortable about that. i do think, though, that when you look at what already he has signaled, that he's willing to do, donald trump, that is, that he's willing to go after bill clinton's infidelities. that he's willing to call out hillary clinton for what he says is being an enabler. i think that's the bigger question that you're bringing up. does it help him? does it provide an opening for him to raise those kinds of questions? and whether or not, not just whether bill clinton crossed the line, but with some of the comments that clinton made about monica lewinsky, how do those play out, or are they just spent. everyone knows the story, everyone has their opinion on it, let's move on. >> mike barnicle, how's this play? i mean, it was a massive "new york times" article. front page sunday. >> yeah, there's nothing new in it, in the sense that there's

nothing surprising. i don't think there's anything in it that's going to surprise any particular person or certainly any voter. there is, obviously, the undercurrent that, you know, do you really want a prospective president of the united states speaking like this or behaving like this? the answer to that is no. but i'm inclined to agree with mika here, that the appearance of that story leads to the second element of the story. you don't want to be hillary clinton's campaign, having to deal with the issue of how her husband treated women. you don't -- >> also, donald trump's behavior is out in the open. he did pageants for decades, and this is what "the new york times," this is what you've got? i mean, and now look at things that happen behind closed doors, that poured out into the open. in the white house. in bill clinton's white house. >> the interesting thing, both play into the brands. the trump brand, even though people don't like him. it's authentic, everything's on the table. the clinton brand, shady

underneath, what's going on behind the scenes. the woman issue is no different than all the other issues. trump, like him or not, what you see is what you get. clinton, you never know, what you're seeing, what you're getting. >> yeah, i don't know. it's an uncomfortable conversation to have, because i would like to say across the board, everything in there is reprehensible. >> another interesting aspect is how each campaign handles it. we've seen how donald trump hanl handles it. >> we know where this is going. how would hillary clinton handle the blowback on her aspect of the issue? >> i guess we're going to find out. hillary clinton is focusing on kentucky ahead of tomorrow's democratic primary there, and oregon. she held a rally in louisville yesterday, one of five events that she's holding in the state ahead of election day. but while clinton faces a multi-front war with both bernie sanders and donald trump, "the washington post" points out ongoing concerns about major problems from within. her own supporters are worried about her favorability. they are reportedly concerned about poor results with young women and weak polling on

questions of trustworthiness and likability. one comfort, that trump's numbers are worse. >> gene robinson, it's obviously your paper. i'm sure you've seen it. we've talked about it last hour. there's a growing concern and the phone calls are starting to emanate out from the clinton campaign to supporters. what's wrong? what are we doing wrong? what do we need to do? talk about the story, gene, and where the clinton campaign finds themselves right now. >> look, the clinton campaign has a candidate who has high negatives and they're so high we would be talking about them a lot more if not for the fact that donald trump's negatives are stratospheric. are much higher. i have argued in the past that the clinton campaign just can't count on that differential to save -- you know, to save the day. that they have to present hillary clinton -- i mean, i

think what the campaign needs to do, frankly, is just stop surrounding her with the bureaucracy of campaign. i think she does much better when she presents herself as herself. and when she meets with voters, when she meets with reporters, when she -- you know, does some of the mechanical things that trump does. obviously, not in the same way trump does it. but when she's more accessible. and when there's less of this sort of corporate campaign shell around her. i think people find that unattractive. and i think that that's something the campaign has to deal with. all of that said, i think, you know, this latest women eruption, "the new york times" story, i don't think that's good for trump. i don't think that's in any way good for trump. and i think in the end, although maybe just slightly, it's good for clinton. >> so, in this "washington post"

story, steve schmidt, peter hart, longtime democratic pollster says this, i'll bring it down to one thing and one thing only. and that is her likability. and in this case, he's suggesting her lack thereof. what do you do with a candidate, to make them more likable? make their public persona more likable? >> there's not a lot you can do. but this isn't a referendum on hillary clinton's likability. it's a choice between hillary clinton and donald trump. so this race is between two of the most unpopular people in the history of american politics. >> do you do what donny deutsch suggested earlier, which is, you just scare the hell out of people, when it comes to donald trump. you just make him unelectable. >> 100%. these elections are a choice. and i think one of the things, when you inverse the proposition here, one of the remarkable things about hillary clinton is this. there's literally no one you can

look at in american politics, governors, for example, who have run for third terms and served third terms as governor, and at the end of that 12 years, people are just sick of you. they're ready for you to move on. look at this. you had two of the most successful leaders of government anywhere in the world, back to back. rudy giuliani, michael bloomberg, after 20 years of winning, of success, time to go in a new direction. hillary clinton has been on the public stage, in our lives, since 1991. it's remarkable. i was 22 years old when bill clinton was elected. if she were to be a two-term president, i'll be 54 years old. there's nobody in the history of the country that's had that much longevity on the public stage, that we would be giving any consideration to electing president of the united states. part of this is in this business, which is a hard, tough business, for someone who has

been that front and center for that long, to be that enduring, is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness. but those numbers, over time, build up to where they are. >> people want to change the channel, you just have to make them afraid to change the channel. that's it. still ahead on "morning joe," what's mitt romney up to? is the former republican nominee now looking at backing an independent candidate with bill kristol? hallie jackson joins us with her new reporting. kristen welker joins us as well. you're watching "morning joe." we'll wrb. we got another one. i have an orc-o-gram for an "owen." that's me. ♪ you should hire stacy drew. ♪ ♪ she wants to change the world with you. ♪ ♪ she can program jet engines to talk and such. ♪ ♪ her biggest weakness is she cares too much. ♪ thank you. my friend really wants a job at ge. mine too. ♪ i'm a wise elf from a far off shire. ♪

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don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song. so welcome back to "morning joe." mika, we just a pretty incredible thing that i think people will be talking about. mark halperin had actually brought over an interview with a woman who was -- >> it was the lead, the bookend, actually, of "the new york times" piece on donald trump. it started with her story and was woven throughout. shoefs the main character.

she was the woman who trump asked to put a bikini on, and she did. >> she was on fox and friends -- >> at mar-a-lago. >> she said she didn't have a negative experience with donald trump. when she talked to "the new york times," she repeatedly asked, this wasn't going to be a hit piece, because i didn't have a negative impact. they assured her several times, it wasn't a hit piece, wasn't going to be her being negative, and she said they took her words and completely spun it and said, quote, i didn't have a negative experience with donald trump. and donny, she dated -- as you've been sating all along, she dated him. >> that's what she says. >> it's okay that he likes women. it's okay he's dated a lot of women. and i'll say it again, every man in business should treat women in business like donald trump does. >> okay. >> well, we're not going to associate ourselves, because we don't know about that. >> -- appears to match the story that we're telling. >> at 6:00 this didn't seem to

make sense. mark halperin, tell us what you just saw? >> someone who was the lead anecdote in "the times" piece and cast in a very negative light, and she said she did not have a negative relationship. it's not surprising since she did date him and have a good relationship. but it just shows the degree to which there's going to be a political fight over this story, but also, i think, "the times" probably -- i don't know if they regret making her the lead, but certainly they did not put, from her point of view, in context, her experience with donald trump, which they cherry picked as negative. >> and if we have team, steve schmitt, we do a three-hour show every day, and a nonstop schedule. tonight we'll finish an event probably at 10:00 or 11:00 -- >> wow, really? >> i wish we had a bigger staff. because we could go back, and i could, if i had time today, i could find probably 15 times since june where i have said on this show "the new york times" and other newspapers, they get a kernel of truth. they exaggerate it, they blow it

up. the mccain story was one of them. and then they run a massive sunday story, and then their coverage monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday is, is this the end of donald trump? and then on friday there is a poll that says, no, it's not the end of donald trump. and that consumes it over the weekend. so many people say, donald trump's so brilliant. no, "the times" overreaches every time ononald trump on these type of stories, and they've done it again. so what do they do? what have i said nonstop since june and july? they've overreached and actually taken a negative for him and turned it into a positive that he can spin against the media. >> that which does not kill him will make him stronger. we've seen that all the way through this campaign. and look, one of the -- we look at our country today and we think about the total collapse of trust in every institution in this country. the media is one of them. and it's stories like that that

contribute to the collapse of trust in journalism, in the media. >> and donald trump has been very, very effective at counterpunching to these stories. it will not upset his supporters. what it will do is it will diminish the credibility and effectiveness on the next line of media stories that come forward. and so one of the good things that will happen for donald trump, with stories like this that are overreaching is that it inoculates him pretty far out from the fall election, from these types of charges. >> look, we're not perfect, the media is not perfect, but i have to tell you, i think "the new york times" will have to answer to this. i think they're going to have to release the transcripts or whatever it is, because this is a completely different story that their, their centerpiece kind of character is now refuting everything that she said and saying it was spun. they're going to have to answer to this. >> is mark halperin still on

camera? >> all right. >> hey, mark, mark, do you remember -- i mean, there have been at least three or four leads that we have been shocked that "the new york times" has written as fact something, in their lead, something that is still factually indispute. as in, inhate to be saying this at 7:25, when kids are eating cereal, but they wrote as lead, donald trump made reference to megyn kelly's menstrual cycle. that is an issue that was on dispute. people that hated donald trump said, of course he did. people that didn't hate trump said, no he didn't. you and i in the middle said, i'm not so sure that's what he was talking about. mika, the same thing. but they have written in leads repeatedly, whether it was a john mccain story or the megyn kelly story, you name the story. now this story, leads and articles that assume the absolute worst of trump, instead

of riding it down the middle and letting readers describe. >> i think the history of the paper's relationship with trump in this campaign has been one of negative coverage and coverage that assumes negative about both his chances and about his fitness for the office. but let's keep in mind, this is a paper that historically has been pretty negative about hillary clinton, too. >> yes, they have. >> so this is the reality. "new york times," most influential newspaper in the country has a history of negative coverage against both these candidates. they should be engaged in tough coverage, but i think in the case of these two candidates, they have a history of being justifiably accused of being biased against them or writing stories tilted against them. and it's going to be fascinating to see going forward if they pick a horse, because right now, they're clearly more anti-trump than anti-clinton. >> but they have, clinton, in the early stages of this campaign, they hammered hillary clinton nonstop, with stories that we thought were very legitimate, but stories that they've had to pull back on from time to time, because they overreached, with the clinton

campaign. >> yeah. i'm very -- i'm stunned by -- >> joe, i guess what the media story is, "the times" is no different than anything else -- everybody overreaches in the media. and maybe you're expecting "the new york times" to say in a rarefied place that doesn't exist in the media. >> "the new york times" is still the new york times. and i think will always be "the new york times." that's why we're talking about them. if this were in another paper, we wouldn't be talking about it this long. they still are the paper of record. >> joining us now, this is what we were going to start the blog anyway, nbc news white house correspondent, kristen welker. >> and in washington, nbc news correspondent, hallie jackson. good to have you both onboard. i guess, hallie, ted cruz did some sort of good-bye video or something? isn't his campaign over? aren't you covering something else thousand? >> it is! we've moved on, or at least i've moved on it. >> good, you're over it. >> he's got a finale video out. there's a couple of interesting

points. it's some of the most blatant hints yet of what cruz wants to do, which is potentially run in 2020. here's some of the video. you can see his campaign manager standing behind him, campaign manager jeff rose saying in this video they have run a nearly regret-free campaign. cruz gets choked up, and i think we're at the end here, which says, "to be continued," that is how the video ends and in it cruz makes reference to reagan in 1976 having lost his bid. it feels like he's obviously got his eyes on the next four years, basically. so when you look at what's happening right now, though in 2016, he is not one of the name being bandied about as this possible third party independent bid person. you've seen a lot of speculation that is mitt romney, you know, are some of these gop strategists involved in the never-trump movement trying to push forward like people like john kasich and ben sasse? sources close to both of those men say they're just not interested in mounting some kind of an independent bid. in fact, on kasich's side, there's a real resentment this is happening now. there's a question of, why

wasn't this happening before when kasich was actually in the race and could have actually gone up against donald trump? the sense now is it's too little, too late, and there's really no path to try to take down trump. it's really a long shot and really late at this point. >> kristen, on the clinton side of things, they're hitting donald trump on his tax returns, yet it's getting overshadowed by so much other noise, but they're trying to attack him on issues and things like tax returns. >> you're absolutely right. that's one of his key issues. there are have been a lot of calls for her to release her speeches. his retort is, he should release his tax returns. they think it speaks to questions about his business record and transparency. they think it does a couple of different things. i've been talking to top democratic strategists who say, right now is really a critical time for hillary clinton to try to deal with some of those likability issues that you guys were talking about, trust issues. he's got to turn that around.

and of course, it's a real challenge, because she's still fighting this primary battle. where is she today? she's in kentucky trying to woo voters there. it's a very close race, tough to poll in that state, we think she probably has a little bit of a lead. but senator sanders could pull out a win there and it doesn't look good for her as she heads into the convention. she wants to have some wins. was that complicates her efforts not just to take on trump, but deal with those issues about likability and trust. >> you're not changing one person's mind about what they think of hillary clinton. >> you know what i was -- i was going to say the same thing. hillary clinton is defined. >> the cake is baked in many ways. >> she got to washington, d.c. in 1972, 1973 at the height of the watergate hearings. she worked for the ways and means committee and she has been there nonstop. she was first lady of arkansas in 1978, when you were a teenager. you know, when i was 3. and she has been there nonstop

and, you know, it is a very fair thing for you to say. for someone to have been in the battle for 30 years and still be relevant, that's saying something of hillary clinton. something pretty significant of her. you know, but, at the same time, donald trump's been in this has for nine months. it makes a lot more sense. you're not going to move somebody's numbers that's been around for 35 years, but somebody that's been in politics for nine months, you can move theirs. >> i think you're right. and that's one of the challenges and clinton officials acknowledge that. that in some ways, in many ways, the cake is baked in terms of how people perceive her. that's one of the reasons why they're eager for president obama to get out on the campaign trail, they see him as a vital attack dog for her. we saw him yesterday and today -- >> i think he would be terrible on the campaign trail. he is, for so many people, the

embodiment of why they want to vote for donald trump. he was weak on paris, he was weak on san bernardino. he has every former defense secretary that's worked for him saying that his foreign policy was a disaster. he was indecisive. you look at the ben rhodes article. his foreign policy apparatus is dysfunctional. one of his former defense secretaries says he's the most inexperienced president ever and he's being advised by the most inexperienced group of advisers ever and that's something that the foreign policy establishment in washington, d.c. agree with. >> if you dislike president obama and his policies, you're going to dislike him and be excited to vote for donald trump, no doubt about that. but he rallies the obama coalition and those young sanders supporters who right now, some of them are saying, we're not going to come out and vote in the fall. so i think he's critical in that sense. >> would you want obama campaigning if you were clinton? >> i think you would want him

campaigning selectively. you don't want him out there and basically carrying her over the goal line. you want to maintain the obama coalition, you want to target him to the right audiences and the right places, but, look, in ohio, in pennsylvania, in florida, in the rust belt states, where donald trump is overperforming expectations in the early ballot tests against hillary clinton, the question is, is does the president help or hurt her in those states? and there's an argument to be made that he doesn't help her in those states. and so, i think you're not going to see him out on the campaign trail as much as we're talking about here this morning. >> all right. kristen welker and hallie jackson, thank you so much. >> thank you so much! >> still ahead this morning, senator jeff merkley, the lone senator who has endorsed bernie sanders for president joins the table. we'll be right back. it takes a lot of work... to run this business. but i really love it.

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38 past the hour. facebook chief operating officer, cheryl sandberg, addressed the graduates of uc berkeley, where she spoke publicly for the first time about the unexpected death of her husband. dave goldberg was the former ceo survey monkey and he died suddenly from cardiac arrhythmia while vacationing in mexico. he was found in a gym after suffering head trauma and blood loss. and she spoke to the graduates

about working through times of loss that come without warning. >> one year and 13 days ago, i lost my husband, dave. dave's death changed me in very profound ways. i learned about the depths of sadness and the brutality of loss. but i also learned that when life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, find the surface, and breathe again. >> her story was incredible. you should look at the speech online. she talks about perspective and -- >> she says, choose joy. >> it was an incredible message. >> it was a great commencement speech. a couple of years ago, a brilliant commencement speech, the former head of special operations command, but that's the best commencement speech so far this cycle. it was deeply moving, a lot of lessons in life, you know, for everybody. everybody should go watch it, read it, really remarkable

speech. by a remarkable person. >> absolutely. up next, we'll talk to texas governor greg abbott, a former cruz supporter, about whether 2016 was only the senator's opening act. stay with us. wrely on the us postal service? because when they ship with us, their business becomes r business. that's why we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. here, there, everywhere. united states postal service priority: you with usaa is awesome. homeowners insurance life insurance automobile insurance i spent 20 years active duty

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america does not have the luxury to get this election wrong. republicans must unite to prevent hillary from continuing the obama agenda, from destroying our constitution. >> joining us now, republican governor, greg abbott of texas. he's the author of the new book, "broken but not unbowed: the fight to fix a broken america." very good to have you on the show. >> good to be with you. thank you so much. >> so what are you going to tell ted cruz supporters? should they support donald trump or not? >> well, in texas, which is where my audience typically is, and that is, it is for them to figure their pathway out. the main thing that we've talked about, or that you just showed

in my convention speech just this past week, that is, as we work our pathway forward, we do have a choice. it's not like none of the above is a potential option. and we see the devastation that hillary clinton would wreck upon the united states of america. she would be far worse than just an extension of the obama agenda. she promises to even worsen the obama agenda. you know, we have a big problem in the state of texas, with regard to our border, with regard to illegal immigration. and based upon the things that she has said so far, she would make that problem even worse. >> so, this is an easy choice for you at this point? >> oh, yeah. and i made it clear from the very beginning that i would be supporting whoever the republican nominee is. and the choices that are on the table, obviously, hillary is the wrong choice for america. the wrong choice for texans. texans will robustly come out and support a campaign against hillary clinton. >> or donald trump? >> but you're not mentioning donald trump? >> donald trump is going to win the state of texas. >> so -- okay. >> interesting, again.

>> so tell us about broken, but unbowed. >> this is a story about my life, but also it parallels the challenges we face in america. most people don't know, i don't even know if the tv can show right now, but i'm in a wheelchair. and when i was 26 years old, i was living in houston, texas, and one day i went out for a jog, and when i went out jogging, a huge oak tree crashed down into any back, leaving me immediately paralyzed and never able to walk again. i know what you're thinking, how slow was i jogging to get hit by a falling tree. >> no. >> not what we were thinking. >> but think about this. you have a young man, whose life is literally broken in half, who is in a hospital and a rehab center for months, questioning whether or not he would ever be able to even work again. and yet lives in a state where a young man whose life is broken in half can rise up and be governor of the great state of

texas, that shows the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that we have in the lone star state. >> that's an incredible story. >> so, you know, obviously, excuse me, there are things obviously worse than losing an election. >> yes! >> you're talking about the loss of the ability to walk. >> yeah. >> it's one of those things that really does put life into perspective. since that time, and i'll tell you something that's kind of hard for people to understand. my life has been better after my accident than before. because it does put life into perspective. and part of the purpose of this book is to serve as an inspiration for others. because here's the reality. everybody in life faces challenges. what's important is not to get caught up in the way in which we're challenged, but allow our lines to be defined by the way we overcome the challenges we face. and the fact is, i spent half of the book writing back, america faces challenges today. and the future of america will be defined not how we're

challenged, but how we respond to those challenges. which was the exact same thing that our founders faced. our founders faced immense challenges. think about what george washington faced in running from the military, from the british through new york, and all the way going back to valley forge and waiting it out and responding to the challenge he faced about undermanned troops, but finding a way toward victory. that has been a part of the american spirit ever since that time. >> you're a big tenth amendment guy, like a lot of texas republicans. the americans with disabilities act, was that a good piece of federal legislation? >> yes, and my injury, by the way, pre-dated the ada. >> so why should washington tell texans why they should have to accommodate people with disabilities. >> why should that -- >> why not leave it up to texans

to decide what kind of accommodations private businesses have to make? >> it is an ongoing issue, but any recall, under the ada, does it not dovetail with regard to the civil rights act, with regard to civil rights protections. and washington has been doing that. we do, as you know, face limitations, because of the tenth amendment. as you probably know, by the way you're asking the question, there probably has -- there has not been a bigger ardent advocate for the tenth amendment. however, we face a problem that i point out in this book. and that is the tenth amendment, as people know it, really doesn't exist. >> no. >> it stopped existing a long time. >> right. in 1985, in the garcia versus san antonio metropolitan transauthority case, the supreme court said, listen, we really can't police the tenth amendment anymore. and states are dependent upon those they send to washington, d.c. to protect their tenth amendment right. that is offensive and that's what this book is all about. >> by the way, for people that

don't know, the tenth amendment says all powers not specifically given to the federal government are reserved for the states and for the people. and it has been an ongoing battle for quite some time. you have been in politics a very long time. a line that sticks out from here is that when you were talking about that when you ran in sixth grade at jettison junior high for an office that you were defeated by, quote, an establishment eighth grader. what exactly is an establishment eighth grader? >> these are people who have been part of the system for years before i got there. i went in and challenged the system, and lost to an establishment eighth grader when i was an up and coming sixth grader. it shows that i was unbowed. i wasn't going to allow the establishment to defeat me, so i came back and began winning

elections. >> what's been your high point in public service? can you pick a time? >> two things. obviously, winning the governorship of the state of texas. and really the symbolism of the fact that a man in a wheelchair whose life is broken, who's a paraplegic, can rise up and be governor of a state. and i pause, because i'm wondering, i think i may be the only person elected statewide who was in a wheelchair at the time they were elected statewide. and i don't know how you want to define and slice and dice fdr in in that regard, but it is highly unusual. it is highly unpredictable. the other thing i'll throw out on the table, which is part of the highlight, and that is, one, when i argued before the united states supreme court, in defense of the ten commandments monument on the texas capital grounds, and won 5-4, this is an essential point, as we sit here today. that 5-4 decision was decided by scalia, who is now gone.

so many of these different issues the country faces that they are taking for granted. the second amendment rights was decided in the 5-4 decision. all of these cases are cases where scalia was the linchpin vote. >> there are a lot of cases that are going to be determined over the next four years. >> there's great stories in this book, especially about your wife and your family and how one year, because you love halloween, you dressed up as a tank. >> and i'm going to make that even better. joe will like this. i'm in a wheelchair, again, people can see, and there are so many fun things you can do with a wheelchair. this goes back in time. but i turned my wheelchair into a tank and i went as michael dukakis. >> all right! "broken but unbowed: the fight to fix a broken america" hits book shelves tomorrow. texas governor greg abbott,

thank you so much. >> governor, thanks for being here. >> appreciate it. still ahead, more worries for hillary clinton. bernie sanders just won't go away and now her own supporters are starting to wonder if she's up task. plus, the story around "the new york times" piece on donald trump's treatment of women takes a big turn this morning. one of the women featured in the piece, the central character, says on tv this morning that "the times" lied to her. that's ahead. "morning joe" is back in a moment.

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up next, it was the big above the fold story in sunday's "new york times" about donald trump crossing the line with women. but trump is tweeting this morning that the entire story was, quote, blown up. we'll explain the new development next on "morning joe." those hot dogs look good. oh yeah, hebrew national. they're all-beef like yours but they're also kosher. is that a big deal? i think so. because not just any beef goes into it. ly certain cuts of kosher beef. i guess they're pretty choosy. oh, honey! here, have some of ours. oh! when your hot dog's kosher, that's a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national

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welcome back to "morning

joe." back with us this hour, legendary columnist -- >> legendary? >> wait a minute. legendary? >> mike barnacle. >> wait, wait, wait. >> he doesn't like it. >> pause right here. pause right here. fine. you guys do that fooling around. i get it, but i'm going to turn it back. you two, talking about legendary, cable tv hall of fame? come on. >> is that happening? >> yes. >> as rod stewart would say, tonight is the night. look at that. cable hall of fame. >> where is this happening? why did i not get invited? >> another honoree is tom rogers. >> where is this event happening? >> it's in boston. >> i wasn't invited either. >> me either and i'm supposedly legendary. >> who is introducing you? i can introduce you? >> katty kay is the host. >> is there live coverage on cable?

>> i'm sure there is. >> we don't deserve it. i don't get. >> all right. >> congratulations. >> also with us, bloomberg politics mark halperin. why aren't you going? >> not invited. hall of famers. >> donny deutsch. >> i say it with just venom in my voice. >> you used to have mogul in there. steve schmidt is with us as well. all right. we've got a lot to cover this hour. there's new pushback on a front page story from "the new york times" over the weekend. the piece features the stories of women who said they faced unwanted comments and advances from donald trump in years gone by at trump tower, at his home, and backstage at beauty pagea pageants. the piece opens with the story

of rowan brewer lane and an account that trump once asked her to change into a bikini while at a pool party. the report out says after she changed he brought me out to the pool and said that is a stunning trump girl, isn't it? and the piece goes on to say that compared to other stories about trump's comments in the past like the ones about rosie o'donnell, the 1990 episode at mar-a-lago that ms. brewer lane described was difference. a debasing face-to-face encounter between mr. trump and a young woman he hardly knew. here's what she said earlier this morning. >> "the new york times" told us several times that they would make sure that my story, that i was telling, came across. they promised several times they would do it accurately. they told me several times and my manager several times that it would not be a hit piece and that my story would come across

the way that i was telling it and honestly, and it absolutely was not. they did take quotes from what i said, and they put a negative connotation on it. they spun it to where it appeared negative. i did not have a negative experience with donald trump and i don't appreciate them making it look like i was saying that it was a negative experience. he never made me feel like i was being demeaned in any way. he never offended me in any way. he was very gracious. i saw him around all types of people, all types of women. he was very kind, thoughtful, generous. he was a gentleman. >> donny? >> look, that says it all. we talked a lot earlier in this show -- >> wow, that's stunning. >> once and for all, they've got to stop with the women stuff with trump. >> let's talk about the story. first of all, who -- deciding to

write this story, the placement of this story, it seemed thin on the surface, and now the pillar of that thin story has come out and said my words have been wretched from their proper context and he was, quote, a gentleman. >> not only that. she witnessed him around so many other women, and this is the story. trump elevates women. he treats them equally in the workplace. yes, he's a flirt and whatnot. this just plays into trump. this is a win for him. he gets to play the victim and say the media is out after me. if i'm hillary clinton, i'm running in the other direction because this is going to blow back on her. >> mika? >> i mean, first of all, from my gut -- i hate pageants. they objectify women. they're walking around on stage in bikinis willingly being objectified. from the beginning, it's a bad deal and makes everybody look bad, in my opinion. i've told donald trump that over

the years. he knows i hate pageants. but then to take -- >> a woman who is in a pageant putting on bikinis and him saying, i'd love to see her in a bikini as a problem -- >> everything in this article is not fun to read. i wouldn't like to read it about anybody. it sounds kind of repugnant and take each scenario. it's not good. nobody is alleging sexual harassment. maybe they should, but nobody is. now you're questioning the validity of everything in the story because of what this woman is saying. and on top of it, what i said to hours ago, what you said two hours ago, now stands even more. our instincts were right. this will only help donald trump. this will only help him. sorry. sorry all the people who are recoiling right now in many ways. i will just tell you this is the same way you recoiled at the concept of his candidacy. >> and we've been broken records.

we can only warn people in the media so much. we can only warn you so much you overreach and end up playing into his hands. they just keep doing it. this is one of the most excessive examples of this, mike. first of all, how does a story like this get born? what happens next? how do you assign it? how does it end up quoting this woman who comes back the next day and says he's a gentleman, a total gentleman. i made sure it wasn't going to be a hit piece. and how does it end up -- david axel axelrod basically said what the hell is "the new york times" doing putting this as a blow out over the top of page one on a sunday? >> there's nothing surprising in the story. absolutely nothing surprising in this story about donald trump. >> now we don't even know if it's true. >> it's true. >> no, we don't know that, mike. >> with donald trump we were talking about this earlier. stuff like this comes with the

dinner. it's an automatic. you expect it. with regard to the woman we just showed -- >> they were able to come up with over 40 years actually -- going around bragging that he is don juan with women. that's the -- they came up with a bathing suit story that ended up not being true, the description of it that he was beinglascivious. >> and the workplace comments, they are worthy of discussion. >> y they are. >> and worthy of reporting and so far unchallenged. the onus is on "the new york times" to explain if this woman's account is true, leading the piece and building some of the piece around her, bad journali journalism. maybe they'll say she's lying. the onus is on them to defend this part of the piece. >> what she said, what we just heard her say is an old and

familiar complaint. she did not say she was misquoted. what she said was the context of her quote is taken out of place. she was assured it was not a hit piece. now whoever said, yeah, don't worry, we're anything to do a favorable piece on you and beauty pageants and trump, we may want to talk to them about it. she doesn't say she was misquoted. the familiar complaint is you just didn't use the rest of what i said. >> you interview me for 30 minutes and then find the phrase that -- >> you guys, it's -- >> if i'm trump running his campaign, i'm finding 20 women over the last 30 years that have worked for me, worked with me and are saying i've never worked with a guy more pro women. yeah, he says some stuff. at the end of the day he promoted me, paid me equally. i get 20 women like that on camera and everything else goes

away. >> they also did tell stories about how trump hired women at times when his father, who he was in fear of professionally, mocked him and ridiculed him for doing it and he stopped with a woman he hired saying, dad, she's the best for the job. >> the intent was to damage donald trump with women. the only thing wound of damaged is "the new york times" credibility. and it undermines their ability to level the next attack against him in the next front page story. that's good for donald trump ultimately. at a strategic level in this campaign, donald trump has to fix his women problem. a 70%-plus unfavorable rating with women. to the point donny made. getting the testimonies of women who worked in the trump organization, talking about his virtues as a leader, as a boss, as someone who furthered their careers, spotlighting them at

the republican convention, he's going to have to unwind those unfavorable numbers and bring them down to an acceptable level to be accepted president of the united states. and so we're going to be in this constant race here. the attempt by the democrats, the media to label donald trump has anti-women and the trump campaign's intent to show that donald trump cares about women, cares about their success and is going to be a good president for women's issues. >> i'll say, mika, while we're sitting here keying in on the mistakes of "the times," this is the difference between a primary election and general election. this would help him a great deal in a primary. in a general election you have much more disengaged voters. have a lot more people say, see that story in the times about how badly donald trump treats women? and that's the danger for trump that it sticks.

>> the press likes to cover stories involving politics and sex. they just do. and any time, on any given day between now and november when there's a story involving politics and sex, it will dominate. you have two candidates. one who is perfectly comfortable tweeting about it, talking about it, defending himself, in a full-throated way and one who is less so. so our job -- >> that's an advantage to him. >> what we do on this show is predict what's going to happen along with analyze what is happening. i can tell you right now "the new york times" just created an opening, a massive opening for donald trump to go to places that nobody else has ever had the guts to go. it's going to very much hurt his opponents. >> are you talking about past and present? >> and present. >> what are you hearing out of the trump campaign? >> before this "new york times" story from the candidate down

they plan to be aggressive on issues related to politics and sex in the clintons. i'll say again it's a difference between what is and what ought to be but donald trump will go on and talk about anything he's ever done and anything he's ever been accused of with bravado and confidence, and she just will not. and it may not be fair and it may not be good for democracy and may not be the most uplifting election we've had, but that's what's going to happen. >> do you agree steve schmidt? >> there's going to be no holds barred. there are guardrails around the issues campaigns have been comfortable talking or not talking about with regard to the clintons. the media has policed it. when attacks are made, they have been dismissed as fringe attacks, not appropriate for the public discourse. and donald trump simply doesn't care. so with those guard rails removed it's no holds barred in the middle of the ring. and to mark halperin's point, which is exactly right, donald trump is not bothered talking about these issues.

it seems to me that the other campaign is much more troubled about it. so that's a huge advantage to the person who is unafraid to level the attack and unafraid with regard to -- with regard to sustaining it. he's not going to back down. he's going to throw a lot of punches and inform a lot of people for the first time in this election who have forgotten about these old stories from 20 years ago. >> not 20 years ago -- >> there's also not so old stories. >> donald trump kissed a woman in a bathsing suit. tell me about the president's relationship with someone named jeffrey epstein. that's your tennis match. jeffrey epstein who has been going to jail for being with underage girls, boys, whatever it is, and bill clinton is a very good friend of his. a lot of plane rides and there

may be questions about that. i'm just telling it like it is. that is the new story that is going to be the ultimate counterattack. >> nobody wants to talk about it, but that's the fact. >> i will say, this was a blind spot for me because i'm not in new york circles. this is something i have been hearing about for a year and a half. i don't know the whole story or anything, but i keep having reporters say this is going to blow up. >> well, i think mark can bear this out as well. there are going to be a series of constant updates from the trump campaign about the life of a former president of the united states, bill clinton, over the last 10, 15 years. what he's been doing, what he does. they are going there. everybody expose they're going there. this is going to be incredibly ugly. >> steve schmidt, do you go there if you're donald trump? do you risk it blowing up in

your face? >> i don't think there's any question they're going to go there. as mike just pointed out, there hasn't been a lot of public discussions about the president's personal life over the last 10 to 15 years. that's going to change. i don't think it's a question of whether donald trump should do it, whether it's good for the election, whether it's good for democracy, good for america. there's a 100% chance he's going there. >> what does that have to do with hillary clinton? >> "the new york times" gave him no choice. >> part of the formulation of the klans going ba-- clintons i going back to the election, i'm going to put my husband in charge of reviving the economy for the coal miners. he's going to be a part of the campaign and the donald trump campaign is going to do everything to make him an issue in the campaign. the trump campaign is going to try to insulate hum from more attacks about his behavior with regard to women n he's going to try to turn the table back on

the democrats. in american politics over the years for the democrats have bludgeoned republicans with the quote/unquote war on women. and donald trump isn't going to take it lying down. he's going to fight back. he's going to fight back hard on it. we've seen in the republican primary, which i'm not sure chem kr -- democrats have a sufficient grasp of, there are no boundaries for the types of attacks he'll make, and these are not ineffective attacks. they tend to do damage. a proclivity to find the weak spot and put the knife in. >> it's sounding like the election of 1800. one of the dirtiest elections. >> it's nothing yet. >> donny keeps saying thus and people in new york keep saying this like this jeffrey epstein thing. is that the bombshell everybody says it is? >> i think republicans will do a lot of stuff like that, but it goes to the larger issue of

trump's ability to dominate. >> but does it blow sghback? does it blow up in their face where women say that has nothing to do with hillary? >> all depends on the facts. >> that's up to hillary. >> you said enabler. that's the word they're on. >> in some of the cases the facts will be uncomfortable for the clintons. >> donald trump's ability to control the agenda, go back to "the washington post" story, the clinton folks understand now better than they did before this is a different kind of opponent. they've never run against anybody like this before and it's going to be difficult because her husband and barack obama and joe biden, they cannot save her. they can help her but they cannot save her. she has to stand up against a guy with better skills. it's a reality of the race. >> mika and i were talking before the league of women voters. you asked me a question about running against a woman. is it harder?

yes, it's harder. and you overplay your hand and it explodes. and it's -- i just -- >> i think it might be different this time. >> i don't know. i think there are going to be a lot of women out there that will go, hey, that's what he did. that's none of her business. i mean it is her business but that's between them, okay? stay out of their lives. stay out of their business. >> she's the favorite. we can't say it enough. she's the favorite. >> certainly going to be interesting to watch. >> okay. >> yes, it is. >> mika -- >> we'll be here to bring it to you every day from the action news team. >> i'm not interested in this. i don't want to do it. it's going to happen, though. >> after 16 years of combined republican and democratic failed foreign policy, you talk to anybody running a country or any

ambassador across the globe. they'll tell you our reputation across the world is shattered. shattered because of barack obama and shattered because of george w. bush. it's a bipartisan complaint. >> it's not going to get better. >> and now we're looking at this for an election. i'm telling you. people across the world are shaking their heads wondering what in the hell has happened to america. >> ain't seen nothing yet. >> and it only gets worse. >> thank you, everybody. have a nice day. >> drive safely. still ahead on "morning joe," i think, the clintons have spent plenty of time in kentucky. presidential campaigns and in 2014 for the midterms to name a few. could the bluegrass state slip away and become bernie sanders' 20th win? we'll go live to kasie hunt covering the clinton campaign this morning. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> let's see if i can add to that gloom and doom. to corpus christi. we had really bad flooding

overnight. still waiting for the sun to come up to see how bad it was. a lot of vehicles got stranded in water. still a lot of roads closed. corpus christi up other in to victoria, especially along the coast. the opposite in northern new england. let me take you into caribou, maine. this video just shot. one inch of snow in caribou, maine, happening right now. this is the second latest they've ever received an inch of snow. beautiful spring weather, huh? the radar, we're finally watching the rain exiting carpus christi. the flood warning in effect until 9:15 in the morning. as far as how much rain fell, 13 inches of rain fell just to the east of town. 10 inches to the north of town. corpus christi to the coast is where we're watching that. it's not snowing in the ohio valley but windchills in the 30s. temperatures starting to rise now that the sun is up. 40 in scranton.

new york city, 1 degree away from your record cold. very chilly out there. beautiful weather in the southeast. watch out for severe weather late today in oklahoma. we'll be watching large hail and damaging winds heading for oklahoma city later today. >> crystal clear beautiful march morning -- i mean may. just doesn't feel like it. we'll be right back. trolling for a gig with braindrone? can't blame you. it's a drone you control with your brain, which controls your thumbs, which control this joystick. no, i'm actually over at the ge booth. we're creating the operating system for industry. it's called predix. it's gonna change the way the world works. ok, i'm telling my brain to tell the drone to get you a copy of my resume. umm, maybe keep your hands on the controller. look out!! ohhhhhhhhhh... you know what, i'm just gonna email it to you. yeah that's probably safer. ok, cool.

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coming up on "morning joe," the wild west. what happened in november neve over the weekend with the democrats. and bernie sanders' lone senate supporter senator jeff merkley talk about whether it could be within bernie's grasp. ♪

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my husband who i'm going to put in charge of revitalizing the economy because, you know, he knows how to do it. and especially in places like coal country and inner cities and other parts of our country that have really been left out. >> 28 past the hour. >> 2 for 1. that's bill clinton, 2 for 1. in kentucky, that works in

kentucky. he won kentucky a couple of times, right? >> joining us from bowling green, kentucky, kasie hunt. hillary clinton is holding an event there later today. what is her strategy ahead of tomorrow's kentucky primary? >> good morning. really aggressive last-minute push from the clinton campaign here in kentucky. as you guys know they had completely gone down off the air waves across the country in the primary. they went back up here in kentucky, and they've put hillary clinton on a pretty aggressive rally schedule. five events in 48 hours almost mirroring in some cases places where sanders had been. both sides say they think it's very close here which is surprising in some ways because of the deep history the clintons have with a state. bill clinton was the last democratic presidential candidate to win kentucky. hillary clinton was here campaigning for grimes against

mcconnell. they have longstanding ties to the state. it should be a place they're able to do really well and dial back some of sanders' momentum in these final contests. but she's got some problems, not the least of which is coal which she was talking about on the trail yesterday. >> i'm the only candidate who has actually put on the table a plan for coal country. a $30 billion plan because i don't think we should leave behind the people who have turned on the lights and powered the factories of the united states for a century. we can't and we must not walk away from them. i feel such a sense of obligation, and we're going to do everything we can to help them get through this transition. >> so that's one aspect of this. her original comments about coal jobs creating problems for her in appalachia.

but the other issue here that i think has flown a little under the radar is the fact that there are a lot of conservative democrats. kentucky has more registered democrats than registered republicans. it's just a relic of how things used to work here. and a lot of those conservatives democrats still vote down ballot for democrats for statewide office. federal office they tend to send republicans. and there is some concern privately among the clinton campaign that a lot of those conservative democrats are people who are trump voters, and, therefore, they are also bernie sanders supporters. so something to keep an eye on for tuesday. >> all right. >> kasie hunt, thank you very much. let's bring in democratic senator jeff merkley of oregon. he's the own u.s. senator to endorse bernie sanders for senate. his state hosts its primary tomorrow and chris jansing also joins the table. >> let's get your response to hillary clinton in coal country. she's going to put people working in coal country out of business. sounds far different now, right?

>> she talked about a transition plan supporting that. bernie came out months ago with a plan to make sure that those who have worked hard to power our country for so long aren't left behind in the shifting economy. >> so bernie sanders also supports a transition? >> absolutely. >> so how is he looking? you think he's going to win your state tomorrow? >> we have no real polling for oregon. one poll that showed clinton ahead but it's been dismissed as not a substantial poll. so we're curious where it all comes out. but i can tell you in terms of the grassroots energy, in my town halls, people come out with bernie buzz a bumper stickers and i haven't seen one hillary button, bumper sticker or comment in the town halls. a lot of that energy comes from independents. they aren't allowed to vote tomorrow. >> the clinton campaign says we only fight in places we can win. why shouldn't your state be a

good place for the democratic front-runner to do well? >> it should be a place. she hasn't paid it a lot of attention. the core issues that face america in terms of creating jobs, in terms of taking on global warming, in terms of money and politics, these issues that bernie is raising and raising passionately, there's no question how deeply he's committed right to his heart. that moves people. and that energy, if secretary clinton is our nominee, and this will all be figured out shortly, if she is our nominee, that energy is going to be needed. the issues bernie is raising are so important to the country. >> don't you know his candidacy and his continuing -- let me ask chris jansing. it hurts hillary clinton at this point. >> they don't believe that. you talk to the folks in the campaign. oh, i thought they were going to walk away with this and just glide to the end. there's obviously this tension between the dnc, the clinton

camp, the sanders camp. i was talking to jeff weaver yesterday, talking about the kerfuffle, the chaos that erupted in nevada. he said there's no question the state democratic party had its finger on the scale for hillary clinton. when you talk about debbie wasserman schultz, they say the same thing. they don't think they're being treated well, being respected. do you think there's an unfairness, a basic unfairness toward bernie sanders that's hurt him? >> well, certainly you have the establishment, democratic structure that came out early and strong for hillary clinton. and so there is probably a built-in bias. i don't think it's worth really dwelling on that. what you have seen islet to the totally unexpected resonance bernie has created. shortly the two candidates are going to have to come together and focus on the fact that they oar. >> how do they do that given this tension and given what we hear from many of his supporters

that they just don't feel as though they can make that jump? >> turn the clock eight years back. clinton, obama. they fought it out through june 7th, june 8th. the pivot began. they came together. future president obama and senator clinton, and they said we have a bigger mission now that we have to work together on. now that's going to take some bridge building. it's going to take those of white house haus who have supported bernie sanders and hillary clinton to come together. it's a conversation that needs to be resolved. we need to take on this self-promoting hux ter, donald trump, who has no policy substance, ignorant on the core issues facing the world whose only value is entertainment on one scandal at one scintillating situation after another. what are we talking about just day after day after day, comments about his past, the

fact he won't release his taxes. >> it's hard to when "the new york times" puts this screaming article across the front of its sunday paper. and does a 40-year deep dive and -- >> to my point. we face a year of a lot of conversation about trump that has been about his outrageous comments, his outrageous positions. when we get into the general election, people are going to ask, what is the substance of your jobs plan. >> so let me ask you, what will -- if bernie sanders were to get out tomorrow, which he wouldn't, would you be able to support hillary clinton the next day? >> oh, yes. we are blessed with two very capable individuals in the democratic side. by the way, it's so important for bernie sanders to stay in and for the clinton campaign. if you want to pull people across, if clinton is the victor, you want to have shown respect to those who took the opposite candidate in the

primary. the voters of oregon, kentucky, new jersey, the dakotas, they need the chance to cast their ballot and have their say before they're courted to unify. >> senator jeff merkley, thank you very much. >> thanks a lot. still ahead, our next guest calls it the seventh sense. what it is and how it could explain everything from donald trump's campaign success to the struggle to wipe out isis. we'll explain ahead on "morning joe."

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propaganda videos that no singer drone strike can destroy. joining us now is co-ceo of kissinger associates, joshua cooper ramo, the author of "the seventh sense -- power, fortune and survival in the age of networks." >> joshua, thanks for being with us. you talk about leaders that are going to thrive in this age. can actually see, feel, sense forces that are invisible to most everyone else. >> that's right. >> and exploit those. >> if you look back at this election, what people will see is the way in which these connected issues are changing the power. why is it the most expensive war on terrorism has produced more terrors and economic policy designed to help the middle class has been shredding it? it's all because there are forces at work in the system today that are -- >> what is the nature of those forces? >> it's not so easy to take out

one note and wipe out the whole system. it's prone to contagion if you look at the way isis has operated. it creates psychological contagions. what i try to do in the book is understand what is it these systems are doing, how does it affect power today and what does that mean for the future? it's a different way of looking at politics. >> if you think about the lives we've led if you're of a certain age. the bedrock of our lives, stable institutions, public education, financial services, congress of the united states, media, newspapers, it seems that the bedrocks of our civilization, where we've lived over however many years are the most threatened by the volatility. >> if you look at this in historical context, the shift to a world of instant constant connection, which is the world i try to discover and describe in the book, is as profound as the enlightenment in the industrial revolution. the enlightenment over a 300-year period wiped out every institution in europe because they were architected for the wrong order. one king, one pope.

didn't make sense when you had this massive democratization. if you look around the world, there's not a single institution more trusted than it was a decade ago. the reason for that is they are architected for older power arrangements and figuring out how to get through that. there are people who know how this works. and the book is to give those who don't know -- >> how do you navigate through this? >> you have to develop this sense when you look at an object, it's not what it appears to be but what it's connected to. the guys who started uber looked at a car which looks like a car seat and they see it as part of a network. trump looked at the world and said the guy with two presidents in the family, four decades of political experience and $150 million in the bank is less powerful than the guy with 5 million twitter followers. this gives you an opportunity to pulse things through the network. it's not difficult. i figured it out. if you don't see those invisible threads, you'll be constantly

surprised. >> besides trump and uber to take advantage of the world. >> it's a lot of people who by definition are not part of those older institutions. if you look at isis. it was an example of looking at them and saying this is just a couple hundred yahoos in trucks with machine guns. in these 30-second videos they had the ability to be more powerful than the sixth fleet. you have a choice today. you'll either capture that and figure it out or be disrupted by it. >> "the seventh sense" is out tomorrow. jonathan cooper ramo. >> that's fantastic. joshua cooper ramo, thank you for being here. >> we're doing our best. >> this is fascinating. >> really exciting. donald trump is hoping he makes his wife melania the second foreign born first lady of the united states. look at the lady who first blazed that trail and how that

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well, do i agree all the time with him? no, i don't. and i tell him that. i tell him my opinions. i tell him what i think. sometimes he listens, sometimes he don't. >> in what areas do you advise him? >> i follow the news from a to z, and i know what's going on.

i'm on the phone with my husband a few times a day. he calls me. i call him. i tell him what's going on. he's on the road. and i give him my opinions. >> that was part of my conversation with melania trump who could become just the second first lady born outside of the united states. the other is louisa adams who also took issue with some of the things her husband said n did. joining us now is author and historian louisa thomas. her new book "louisa" the extraordinary life of mrs. adams. >> thanks for having me. >> first of all, what was it about her life and her story that attracted you to write an entire book on her? >> i came across some of her letters and i was struck by the vivid unusual quality of her voice. i think that we're used to thinking of this history as a bit subtled, kind of marble

statues and oil paintings, and she had this completely unruly, funny, sarcastic at times but vivid quality to her. and as i started learning more about her life i thought, why don't i know more about this person? >> you actually say she helped define the role of first lady in the united states and pushed her husband on slavery and on many other issues. >> it was interesting. there really was no institution of first lady when she came into the white house. no real precedent. her predecessor elizabeth monroe had been often sick and had defined the role as retiring. she kept to herself. did not socialize very much. so louisa had to sort of invent her own role for the office. it was not an office, obviously.

she played a central part in the campaign. as first lady herself she tried to follow some of those conventions and it was really hard. she stayed in her room a lot. she'd eat chocolate, translate french poetry. she understood how vital campaigning was in a way john quincy adams refused to believe. >> mike barnacle? >> you write in part obviously that part of her life was filled with some regret over ever having married into that foomly, that sprawling adams family. >> it was hard to be anonymous. >> why? >> the expectations on the adams and their sense of unbelievable duty was just overwhelming. john quincy adams was told from the earliest age that the future of the republic was up to him. if he didn't embody all of the virtue and all of the republican ideals that his parents have worked so hard to establish,

then all is lost. and that was incredibly hard. both his brothers really struggled with it and sort of unhappy lives. john quincy adams managed to do it in a lot of ways. he managed to have this amazing career. but there were costs. and one of them, his wife was aware of it. >> was there any cost or conversation about the fact she wasn't born in the united states at the time? >> there was. it was an issue. it was an issue more than it is today. nobody is holding melania trump's slovenia birth against donald trump. it makes her an objective interest but not a strike against her whereas at that time, people were still working out what it meant to be an american. and there were rumors about -- there's stories about how louisa and john quincy had stood proxy for the region prince at the christening of the british

minister's child. and there are stories about how she was un-american. it got so intense she took to the newspapers to defend herself. she wrote a campaign biography which only elicited more attacks. politics was as brutal then as it is now. >> we've talked about how ugly the race is going to get. sounds almost as bad as the campaign of 1800. >> back then andrew jackson was a murderer. louisa was a foreigner and john quincy was un-american. there were rumors. rachel jackson actually died before andrew jackson took office, and he blames jackson -- jackson blamed the opposition. it was really ugly. >> strange parallels in some ways. the book is "louisa, the extraordinary life of mrs.

adams." louisa thomas, thank you so much. great to have you on the show. >> thanks for being here. >> congratulations on the book. we're back with much more "morning joe" in just a moment. or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any symptoms of an allergic action, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis and a $200 savings card

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it look like it was a negative experience. he never made me feel like i was being demeaned in any way. he never offended me in any way. he was very gracious. i saw him around all types of people, all types of women. he was very kind, thoughtful, generous. he was a gentleman. >> they were at an evening pool party and he asked her after taking a long tour at mar-a-lago if she brought a bathing suit. she said she had not. he opened a drawer of bathing suits. the story is a little involved but ultimately he asked her to put on one of those bathing suits and then brought her back to the pool and the crowd and essentially asked the crowd, did he think -- did they all think she was a beautiful trump lady. and i recall in my interview with her that she expressed some -- she basically said i was taken aback by this. and that's how it was depicted. people can evaluate the story on

its own merits. >> that was the co-author of "the new york times" piece on donald trump's treatment of women. before that you heard from the woman herself displeased on how this story was characterized in the newspapers. what we learned today, there is so much that we learned today. mike barnacle? >> you know, i learned that we're in for a long, really ugly, ugly slide here through november. i don't know how much of this the country can take. i don't know how much of it i can take. >> how easy it is for people who have blogs to cherry pick comments and choose only to quote what they wish to quote instead of the full picture. i guess i learned that before today, but -- >> that's just the business we're in. what did you learn, mika? >> we're all talking about how ugly it is. i think that this is going to go in a direction that is like nothing we've ever seen before in our lifetime. it's going to get really, really

bad, really ugly. i don't think that. i know that. >> you've been saying it for some time this general election would be extraordinarily rough. it is going to be pretty tough. we were reminded, though, that that's how it was in 1800. and early part of this country. >> i know you do. you were there in 1800. >> you lived it hard. >> democracy. >> a hard turn here. we want to thank the cable hall of fame for being honored tonight. >> yes. we're going to be up in boston. >> we are blown away by this. we thank you very much. that does it for us. steve kornacki picks up the coverage. >> right there in the sweater. >> he's kind of mean, but he picks up the coverage right now. and good morning. i'm steve kornacki. topping the agenda, trump and women. "the new york times" goes after the presumptive republican nominee and says his behavior has crossed the line. t