get a bill pat is focused on combatting zika passed. >> and we'll see if that happens. in the meantime, though, that does it for "way too early." "morning joe" starts right now. >> i don't think it's a story at all. i don't even think it was trump misspeaking. i think trump said what he meant and what he meant was we could stop hillary clinton from being elected. >> he was saying if she gets tapick her judges. that means if she gets to pick judges, she is already the president of the united states. >> you're treating mr. trump's words like he's the most articulate person that ever graced our ears with his words. he is not a politician. he is not a person like you who is very articulate and very well spoken. he is a business person running for president. i don't think the way that he said that and the sequence of his statements, i'm not going to judge him on that because i don't think that's what he meant and i think he can be

inarticulate at times. let's say he was an english professor with a ph.d. in grammar i think we dego low this way and dissect what he said based on the sequence he said it. but i'm not doing that with mr. trump because you can't do that with mr. trump, right? he is a business person and he misspeaks a lot because he doesn't speak for a living. that's the excuse. he misspeaks a lot. what more needs to be said? hello. welcome to "morning joe." congressman duncan hunter trying his best to explain away the comment from donald trump. it's wednesday, august 10th. with us on set we have legendary columnist mike barnicle. managing editor of bloomberg politics and co-host of "with all due respect" and in nashvil nashville, tennessee, john meacham. i'm just wondering how inarticulate do we have to betos

try to understand the twists and turns that some people are making to explain this gaffe. has this been the only gaffe? maybe. here's my question to republican leaders who still endorse trump and we'll show it to you, again, and let you all decide. here's my question. what more does he need to say? what more does he need to do? >> let's show it, again. i don't understand. what more does he need to say to prove that he is not fit to be your nominee? on the campaign trail yesterday, deep division over what donald trump said and what he meant while talking about the second amendment. listen for yourself. >> hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the second amendment. by the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets tapick ho pick her

nothing you can do, folks. the second amendment people, maybe all is. i don't know. but i'll tell you what, that will be a horrible day. >> ph.d.. i don't know what a ph.d. in grammar is, you know. >> the same thing. >> but if you could have a ph.d. in grammar, you know, i would have gotten that. you don't need one of those to just realize that this is, once again, donald trump saying something so completely out of bounds. and this time, so dangerous that the secret service had to even let americans know that they are aware of the comment. >> first time ever. >> first time ever. >> we have the reaction. but let's go around the table first. ton of reaction from washington around the country. >> willie geist just as i was insulted when hillary clinton and hillary clinton's people tried to tell me what was the truth when i knew they were lying after the u.n. press

conference. i was so insulted last night by people trying to tell me what i didn't hear. so insulted. actually, how stupid do they think we are? how stupid do they think we are? >> i was watching this live and i was actually writing something at the time and it caught my ear to the point i stopped and rewound the dvr and did he say what i think he said. he did. you don't need a ph.d. in grammar, you need a ph.d. in logic because what he said was if she gets to pick the judges. >> elected. after she is elected. >> which means she is already president. nominees don't get to pick supreme court justices. she is already president. the explanation and the defense that this was about second amendment and gun rights advocates gathering together to stop her from being elected. >> it's just stupid. mike? >> well, in continuation with

his, trying to delegitimize the election process. his comment about the second amendment yesterday. in a country that is a wash in weapons and guns. in a country that is filled to a certain extent with a lot of anger over what's happened over the last 10 or 15 years. donald trump's candidacy, his candidacy is now toxic to democracy. >> mark halperin you said social media and cable commentators deflect to another topic should think twice and then think again. and you also had said earlier in the day that you, that, obviously, the secret service, you didn't know whether they were going to act on it, but you were sure they were absolutely livid about this threat. >> even if you wanted to give their explanation the benefit of

the doubt, which is hard to do, you can't say things like that and then not come back and not be defiant, but apologetic. without letting this drag on. he wants to talk about the economy today. >> nobody is talking about anything. but the fact that he's suggesting to his supporters that they assassinate, that they assassinate his opponent. >> his supporters can fight back. he can say this isn't what he meant, but you cannot say something like that. have people interpret the way it's been widely interpreted and be defiant without causing more problems. >> john meacham, if you can think of one word that describes this, what would it be? >> disqualifying. i think he crossed a ru ed ed a conyesterdco yesterday. i was like the guy in the back that turned to his wife and said, oh, my god, did you hear that?

you know, it's very clear, common sense what he meant. the key phrase there is, i don't know. you know, it's an attempt. he was almost walking it back as he said it. and, you know, historically, you just cannot have a president of the united states or a candidate for president who talks this way. >> john meacham, he's doing two things here. can you explain what he's doing in that he's putting a suggestion out there to the most unhinged and putting a dog whistle out there. you know, people in the south during dark, difficult times would do the same thing. it's a dog whistle. and then he pulls it back for polite, i was just joking. >> the explanation is particularly pathetic. i mean, it's just, it's oh, i'm

talking about organizing political support to stop. it just doesn't track. you don't need a ph.d. in grammar. you don't need a ph.d. in logic. you need basic, democratic, lower case d common sense. it's dangerous. mike used a great word, toxic. there are three elements that history tells us presidents need to have in their temperament. one is a sense of proportion. one is a sense of humility and ability to learn from mistakes and the third is a sense of dignity. you do represent the state and the government in your person. on all three scores trump falls wefully short. >> the word that has been thrown around many times about donald trump over the course of the past year is facest and i always brushed it back because it was a call to violence. he never crossed that. there was never a call to

violence. there was never a call to an armed uprising. this is the suggestion. that if she's elected president of the united states, the one thing that, "second amendment people" which is an insult to the millions and millions of people who fight to defend the second amendment is to kill her, or to kill judges. talk about, he crossed the line yesterday. >> he crossed the line to disqualify him. the reaction was swift, not just from democrats. he not only implied assassination, he applied that second amendment supporters are all potential assassins. in the general pat pattern of trump damaging everyone and everything he touches. conservative writer wes lewis an awful presidential candidate. she is not, however, a free pass for trump to act boalistically unhinged.

rich galen wrote, has the secret service ever arrested a protecty? the secret service tweeted they were aware of trump's comments. and retired general michael hayden who recently signed a letter with 49 other republican national security officials saying trump would put the country at risk had this to say. >> someone else had said that outside the hall, he would be in the back of the police wagon now with the secret service questioning him. you get to a certain point in this business, you're not just responsible for what you say. you are responsible for what people hear. and that might be a good lesson here. >> the trump campaign responded to the backlash with the statement titled, on dishonest media. "the power of unification." second amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified which gives them great political power and this year voting in record numbers and it won't be for hillary clinton.

it will be for donald trump. trump retweeted support from the nra. they posted donald trump is right if hillary clinton gets to pick her anti-second amendment supreme court judges, there is nothing we can do. >> hold on. he said there was something they could do. that was the entire point. the nra just set them up, mike barnicle. because donald trump did say there's nothing you can do. oh, wait a second, there is something maybe the second amendment people can do once she gets elected. >> i don't know if donald trump realizes the power of his own words or not. i don't know what is in his mind. but the power of words here coming from a presidential candidate -- >> with a rabid following. >> where he can say whatever he wants to say on one day and say something else the next day and something completely different the next day, something completely different the next day and they follow him no matter where he goes. as he said himself, i could

shoot somebody in the middle of fifth avenue and i wouldn't lose a vote. donald trump testifying himself to the power of his own words. so, wouldn't those words suggest the possible assassination of his political opponent, if she were to be elected? then those words have consequences. >> and yesterday's performances will have consequences. already has had consequences. gets to something that jim wrote about on monday and it is a question for the media. and it's a question of whether, do we legitimize donald trump's performances and they are performances, by trying to be objective about it. by bending over backwards to try to be objective about what he said yesterday. i don't think you can be objective about it. >> no, you can't. >> the role of the media in this, is, i think, will come under increasing surveillance. how are we covering this?

what he said yesterday was so out of bounds and so beyond the pail. there is no other -- from his explanation of the second amendment repealing the second amendment. >> that is the problem, mike, you have trump supporters bending over backwards trying to explain his remark. conservative author ann coulter tweeted, i just woke up from a nap to an all new fake media scandal about trump. joking about assassinating hillary. number one it wasn't about assassination. and shortly after winning his primary last night, republican house speaker paul ryan gave trump the benefit of the doubt. >> i've been a little busy today. i heard about this second amendment, sounds like just a joke gone bad. you should never joke about something like that. i never heard the comments, i only heard about the comments. >> is that really what you're going to say?

you're going to say you didn't hear them and therefore you didn't know. paul ryan, enough. >> if you're the highest, if you're the highest ranking republican in america and you have heard that the republican nominee may have threatened or suggested that his political rival is assassinated, especially with the environment that we're in 2016, you actually make it your business to look at the 20-second youtube clip. first of all, i don't believe him. i'm sure he saw it. how busy. i've been in races where you win 80%. you're not that busy. right? i want a primary with 79%, 80%. i'm not too busy to say, somebody say, hey, did you hear the republican nominee, you know, george w. bush just threatened to, you know, you would stop and you would watch it. >> that's heartbreaking to watch. >> it is.

it's -- it is very sad to watch that. this is, this is a whole new level and i hope that paul ryan, when he gets his wits about him this morning will actually do the right thing. this is unspeakable. >> the most charitable explanation you can take out of what donald trump said is that he was talking about defenders in congress of the second amendment standing in the way of the nomination, but that's not what donald trump said. that's the charitable look at it. but the statement the campaign put out was not reflected in what donald trump said. they were defending something that was not what he said. he went on and said something else. him, second amendment people uniting to vote to stop hillary clinton from being president. his surrogates coming out to defend him, including rudy giuliani, even someone who doesn't support him. senator susan collins of maine. >> he was talking about hillary clinton and gun control,

essentially, which is something that has been talked about a lot on the campaign trail. hillary clinton is a gun grabber and everyone knows that if she is in a position to appoint supreme court justices, she will do everything she can to remove the second amendment. so, mr. trump was clearly pointing that out. >> it's not about november, it's after november. >> well, that's actually not what he was talking about because just before that he was saying what could happen. he doesn't want that to happen. >> so, the clinton people, this is how corrupt they are. from their days back in arkansas, they were corrupt. this is how corrupt they are. they spin out that what he meant by that was, that it was a joke and that what he meant by that was that they would kill her. now, okay, now to buy that, you have to be corrupt.

because if you said that to me, i would say to you, are you out of your mind? >> i've been very critical of donald trump, but i don't actually think that's what he was saying. i think he was suggesting that the second amendment advocates across the country might be able to come together to pressure the senate to reject her nominee should she become president. that's how i interpreted it. but it is an example of donald trump's looseness with language that can lead to interpretations such as the one put out by secretary clinton's camp. >> second amendment solutions, mark halperin. it was very painful watching rudy giuliani, a guy i respected for a long time do that reteout. paul ryan is just shocking. >> shocking. >> is paul ryan going to burn up

every last ounce of his reputation and credibility that he's built over 20 years for a life-long liberal manhattan democrat? >> please, paul ryan, go home and spend more time with your family. okay. you need to be grounded. >> ryan now has won his primary and, like every republican, he has said trump doesn't have a blank check. you cannot say something like that and then be defiant. even if you want to credit their explanation, their after the fact explanation. you cannot responsibly say, you know, basically, well, ignore how people are feeling about what he's saying. he is a protecty. he has had threats on his life. donald trump should understand that you cannot say something like that and expect people to just move on if you're defiant. >> mark halperin, everybody, just stop. he can't stop. this is proven again and again and again. he can't stop himself.

he is a train wreck going 1,000 miles an hour. it is about the republicans around him now. the story is about you. and i don't mean to have a nasty tone and i say to paul ryan, go home and spend some time with your family. >> you're a democrat, let me say this. it means nothing coming from you. you're a democrat. >> excuse me. >> it means nothing coming from a democrat to these republicans. >> actually, the democrats are going to win the election. if you want to have a chance, you are going to have to do something that makes sense. >> let me say this to my republican party. you are letting donald trump destroy the party. and you've done it from the beginning. we've said from the very beginning when he started blowing himself up. when paul ryan endorsed him, that it's only going to get worse. and it just keeps getting worse, doesn't it? >> when i say go home and spend time with your family, i mean, look at your children in the eyes and look at your wife in the eyes and really ask if you are doing the right thing because you are doing the wrong

thing by supporting this candidate. you are doing the wrong thing ten times over. you're hurting this country for your political benefit and you're making the wrong play, even in terms of your political benefit. i'm sorry that i'm a democrat and it means nothing coming from me, but i'm telling you, that's how this story ends. >> don't get mad. don't get mad at me here. >> i am. you're mad at me? >> little bit. >> i was making a point that they're just going to say, oh, you're a democrat. >> oh, good. when i turn out to be right like i have been every step of the way, you all can enjoy saying it means nothing coming from me. >> no, no, no, no, you're not going to do that. i was simply making the point that they're listening to you and a lot of them might be saying, oh, she's just a democrat. so, i was going to say, as a republican, i agree with your sentiment. let me say it. i think you've made your point and i think i've made my point. >> okay. >> i wasn't cutting you off and

i wasn't say, i'm just saying a lot of republicans out there would say, oh, she's a democrat. so what does it mean? in fact, we've had people say that to your face. what do you expect michael steele says that. for us to just go home? >> i just can't believe where we're at right now. >> i can't either. i agree with you. i mean, let's unite and not divide. >> before we go -- >> i'm sort of george w. bush that way. >> could i ask john meacham down there in tennessee. you're not in manhattan. so, this has had a chance to wash over you and people you know for nearly a day now. has there ever been anything even close to this in history? >> no. what you get to is the -- this is a terrible analogy to bring up, but you do get to the ferocity of what was going on in texas in 1962 and '63.

there was, you know, an enormous amount of hate. there was an enormous amount of, you know, stevenson was jostled, lady bird johnson was jostled. you know, there was president kennedy said when he went into texas. we're heading into nut country today. so, there is a sense that there's a more fervent atmosphere than needs to be. what is interesting is there a slight disconnect because we saw this in the convention with trump. his rhetoric does not necessarily resonate with folks who. i think a lot of people are in a place where they're actually more positive about the country than trump's rehetoric is. what happened when i saw this yesterday. when my 14-year-old son saw it was, can you really talk like that? and the answer is no. you can't. >> words matter has become the cliche. when you're president of the

united states, words matter. shoot from the hip, as you said, mika. his brand. you can't talk that way when you're president of the united states. maybe we'll just wipe iran off the map. you can't use that stuff. >> you also can't talk like that as a republican nominee. >> that's right. before you get to be president, you shouldn't talk that way p. we have been to the rallies where you have people shouting things, and now you get to this next level. it feels like it's just a chant in the room. but when you have the candidate from the podium talking this way t changes the dynamic totally. you have to be careful, it has to stop. >> people on the right shouldn't try to appease themselves more make themselves feel better saying this is liberal media bias. this isn't a case of that. >> i speak to our conversation from a position of somebody who has been extremely critical of hillary clinton. it's not as if i'm saying what i'm saying for partisan reasons.

i'm actually frightened right now and i can't believe that there are leaders that are allowing this. that their job is to lead. >> and you have been extremely critical of hillary clinton. just at that precise moment since we were going to say the same thing. let's have a republican say it instead of a democrat. just like when you criticize hillary clinton, that has more of an impact than when i criticize hillary clinton. we end this block with other stories making headlines. a blistering new report by the justice department finds the baltimore police department engages in racist practices. city officers routinely violating citizens constitutional rights. the findings show officers regularly stop, search and even arrest african-american residents sometimes using excessive force without justification. the probe which stems from freddy gray's death involved more than six years of records.

also making news, the kansas water park where a 10-year-old died over the weekend is set to reopen today. an autopsy report shows that caleb schwab died of an unspecified neck injury while riding on the world's tallest water slide. the water slide will remain closed despite the park's reopening. finally, former illinois governor rod blagojevicblagojev. he was sent to prison. means blagojevich will have to complete the remaining eight years of his sentence. appearing he apologized telling the court that he was trying to be the best man he can be. >> willie, do you expect start creeping up all over the world.

>> a fine line between what he can and cannot sell us. >> isn't the governor supposed to know? >> everything else is for sale. >> where do they write that down even? they never write that down. you cannot sell. >> he was allowed. >> go to amazon and buy a senator. >> i think you can. >> i know everything. still ahead on "morning joe" a look at a brand-new poll out this morning including swing states that show rust belt strategy slipping away. "morning joe" is coming back in just a moment. it's a golden opportunity to experience breath-taking lexus performance in street-legal form. for a limited time get great offers on our complete line of f sport performance vehicles. at the lexus golden opportunity sales event.

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>> does he have the mental fitness and psychological suitability to the office of the presidency? >> yeah, my answer would be sure. >> sure? >> sure. i mean, he is at least as

reliable as andrew jackson, who was one of the most decisive presidents in american history. >> sure. >> that took a while. that was newt gingrich talking about donald trump yesterday. and he's doing that on "new york times" podcast the runp which has just started. so, john meacham, you got a pulitzer prize for your work on andrew jackson. what, say you, sir, about this most interesting podcast complete with a very pregnant pause. >> well, first thing i think is don't list newt as a reference. i think is the first thing i would say. the second thing, i think that this goes to the jackson point and it goes to what happened yesterday. the thing about andrew jackson, which people forget, is he understood that he had the vices of his virtus. he understood his own

weaknesses. he knew how to manage people that thought he was temperame temperamentally out of whack. he was able to compensate for that and use that. what trump has shown is that he is able to create chaos, but not compensate for it. and i think that the temperamental gap here, the missing piece is that he has shown no capacity to learn from his own mistakes. he's shown very little capacity to admit them. that is a key point for presidents. whether it's andrew jackson or john kennedy learning from the cuban missile crisis or endless examples. if you can't learn from your mistakes, you are not going to be a good president. >> willie, we've seen him get worse. he's gotten so much worse over the past three to four months. you know, yesterday, one more

fabled attempt to make a turn. to read from a teleprompter. you were commenting, he did not -- it's almost as if the guy cannot stand for people not to be talking about him 24 hours a day. and here we are. guess what, if you threaten or suggest the assassination of your political opponent, people will talk about you. >> he made a speech about the economy and read off a teleprompter and and think this means it's a new day. we know who donald trump is. there are a lot of people who like this guy. a lot of people who voted for him, but this is who he is. there is no pivot. >> willie, this is why it's not about him any more. he's not going to change. >> a known commodity. >> republican leaders. it's about them. it is about you. coming up, former governor jennifer granholm and martin

o'malley and peter king. plus, we have a lot of swing state polls that have been coming in that show that, well, donald trump's bad day was just made much worse. some even saying that pennsylvania now looks as if it is out of reach. a must-win state for him. my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis made a simple trip to the grocery store anything but simple. so i had an important conversation with my dermatologist about humira. he explained that humira works inside my body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to my symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear, and many saw 75% and even 90% clearance in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure.

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i'm hillary clinton, and i approve this message. michael hayden: if he governs consistent with some of the things he said as a candidate, i would be very frightened. gillian turner: he's been talking about the option of using a nuclear weapon against our western european allies. max boot: this is not somebody who should be handed the nuclear codes. charles krauthammer: you have to ask yourself, do i want a person of that temperament controlling the nuclear codes? and as of now, i'd have to say no. [bill o'reilly sighs]

up next, donald trump wants to expand the electoral map, but new polls out this morning show he's having trouble defending his home turf. the latest numbers from four key swing states. also a story on the hillary e-mail saga that continues. >> it gets worse. >> sort of a pay to play, mike. state department. >> trying to use the foundation and use the state department to kind of help everybody help themselves. >> well, that's coming up. so, get ready to read that. >> yes, sir. >> and we'll let our people in the booth go to break this time the right time. you guys want to play that, again. i like that song.

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swing state polls getting much more difficult for donald trump to expand. things are close in florida. hillary clinton up one point. they're close in ohio, as well. with clinton leading by just four points. 49-45. the new nbc news/msnbc/"wall street journal" has her up pie five points. she stretched her lead to ten in the quinnipiac poll. in iowa clinton leads by 41. in kansas donald trump leading clinton by just five points. a swing of six points in clinton's favor since july. joining us now, white house correspondent for "huffington post" sam stein and d.c. columnist kristen anderson and in raleigh, north carolina, on the campaign trail nbchallie jackson. sam, as you look inside those

polls still tight in places like ohio and pennsylvania seems to be the one slipping away from donald trump. >> yeah, i mean, every poll is just a snapshot in time and the qu quinnipiac polls. the big picture is pennsylvania slipping away. double-digit clinton lead and if trump was going to pull that inside straight that he needed to, it was on a strategy that involved turning traditionally democratic rust belt states turning it into this camp. if pennsylvania slipping away, his path becomes incredibly tight. it does look like he is not going to be able to pick up pennsylvania at this juncture. >> gets even tougher, kristen, when you look at states like georgia where hillary clinton has the lead in a couple of polls and kansas is tightening up. the republican nominee on the defensive in states where he or she would normally be ahead by double digits and getting

founded by double digits in states like pennsylvania that he has to win. >> donald trump needs to pick up 64 electoral votes worth of states that mitt romney lost. that assumes that he lost every state mitt romney won. but in polling averages, multiple data points, he's losing in georgia. he's losing in north carolina. these are huge problems and make the hole that he has to dig his way out of even deeper. >> well, there's also a new bloomberg politics poll that husband hillary clinton leading donald trump by six points nationally. when you add third-party candidates to that, her lead stands out at 4%. that's an eight-point swing in trump's favor. 60% of voters polled rejected the idea the election is rigged. and one other thing to note, 69% of voters said they would watch a debate between hillary clinton

and donald trump over an nfl game if they were on at the same time. mark halperin. >> if you take the totality of the polling and with the exception of pennsylvania and other state polls, the last set of data further away from democratic conventions better news for trump that he had since the convention. more polling if it continues to settle down. remember, trump has not run tv advertising yet. trump has had a horrible run. if these polls are accurate and our national poll is accurate and these state polls are accurate, pennsylvania are a big part of their current calculus but he is in a much better position. >> except, mike, look, he's in trouble in pennsylvania and he's in trouble in virginia and he's in trouble states republicans must win if they're going to be elected president. >> pennsylvania continues to be gold for republicans and what happens to pattume toumey with

double-digit hillary clinton lead. >> he can come close enough if trump can narrow it. run against a relatively inexperienced candidate. i don't think any of these senate incumbents are dead right now. >> kristen, go ahead, make your point. >> for the most part, if you look at these polls the incumbents for senate are running five, six, seven points ahead of where donald trump is. donald trump can lose the state and these incumbent senators can still get re-elected. if it's numbers like we see in pennsylvania and it really is about how big is trump's margin and how much of a wave can these folks withstand. >> donald trump said yesterday he is like a thorough bred in a horse race. how do they feel realistically

about where they are right now? >> there is a window before labor day that they can try to bounce back in some of this polling and make the turn. donald trump has had that mentality. the idea he is going to kick his campaign into gear after the conventions and after this month, basically. that's what you're hearing when you talk to folks in and around the campaign. you talk about the numbers and you look at support slipping away from donald trump. donald trump among white men, for example, the people who made up a core part of their base. on the ground,an anecdotally i spoke with a man in fayetteville. he was a big trump supporter, but he said, you know what, i have moved him now into the idiot category. i can't believe he would be commander in chief in the oval office that i could trust. he said actually to me we talk about temperament issues all the time. i just don't think donald trump has the temperament to do what it takes. you talk about the polls

slipping and donald trump having, as you said, a horrible couple weeks and a horrible run here. this voter said, i could still change my mind. there is something that donald trump could do to bring some of these skeptical voters back into the fold and bring them back under the tent and he has a little bit of time to do it. what happens after labor day after people start paying attention and what happens after the debate. a couple key points looking narrative wise. >> haley jackson, thank you very much. kristen, thanks to you, as well. coming up on "morning joe" -- >> what we have accomplished here tonight is historic beyaundz words and measure because we have let the spark of a raging fire of righteous population that will lift up the spirit of this nation. as a result of our campaign, people know where ryan stands. the mask has been pulled off, the charade is over. sentiment behind the smirk has been refield. the con is up.

>> wow. >> what percent did he get? >> 16. >> 16%. i guess -- i guess it's true sitting around the camp fire. it only takes a spark. anyway, it's called pass it on. southern baptist. if you believe the narrative going into tuesday, paul ryan was in trouble to hang on to his seat. well, he ended up getting 84% of the vote. the question now is, will he bring trump to bear over his comments about the second amendment. we'll be talking about that story and also hillary clinton's new problems with the e-mail connection between, well, this is what ron was talking about all along. the connection between the clinton foundation and the state department. there were some e-mails released yesterday that suggest there is that connection. we'll dig into that when "morning joe" returns.

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picture of rio this morning. another big day of competition last night michael phelps earned his 14th individual gold medal after taking the 200 meter butterfly last night. phelps won back-to-back olympic crowns in this event in 2004 and 2008. he finished behind chad tensions

building after the pair had not met in a major final since that second place finish in london. phelps celebrated his victory with a finger wag and bring it on gesture to the crowd. this goes back to yesterday. they were in the ready room before the race and at 31 phelps is the oldest olympic gold medalist and the first athlete to win multiple gold medals in four different olympics. but he wasn't finished. after wrapping up his 20th career gold medal phelps followed it up with his 21st gold medal anchoring the men's freestyle relay. the cquartet continued with a

fourth consecutive gold medal. phelps the first olympian to win 21 gold medals brings his career gold medal count to 25. after the victory, the relay squad got a visit from a few of the team usa basketball superstars. you see kevin durant, clay thompson and a bunch of the other guys. katie ledecky. unbelievable. she won the 200 meter freestyle. she has never not won gold in the olympic race she has participated in. she surprised everybody at 15 years old in london and now she is undeniably the best women's swimmer swimmer. good night for team usa. coming up at the top of the hour. susan collins broke with her party giving up her support of donald trump putting pressure on more republicans to follow suit. >> i have great respect for senator collins. in fact, she and i have worked

together on a number of important issues and i think each person has to make their own decision as to who they're going to support for the presidential ticket. we're going to be talking about a new wave of defections may be coming, certainly after donald trump's second amendment comments. also at the top of the hour we're talking about more disturbing connections regarding hillary clinton's e-mails this time linking the clinton foundation with state department business. that and much more when we return on "morning joe." real is making new friends. amazing is getting this close. real is an animal rescue. amazing is over twenty-seven thousand of them. there's only one place where real and amazing live. book a seaworld vacation package and eat free.

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we've just been hearing you're a digital company, yet here you are building a jet engine. well, ge is digital and industrial. like peanut butter and jelly. yeah. ham and cheese. cops and robbers. yeah. nachos and karate. ahh. not that one so much. the rest were really good. socks and shoes. ok, ricky... >> we have essentially two people running and hillary made

it through a small field and i made it through a large field. she got through, i got through. we're stuck with each other. which is fine. welcome back to "morning joe." it's wednesday, august 10th. with us we have veteran columnist mike barnicle and mark halperin and john meacham and msnbc anchor and political correspondent steve ckornaki. >> trump made the most disqualifying statement that he has made so far. is it fair to say? >> i think that's fair to say. john meacham you're, obviously, an acclaimed presidential historian and so much more. but, as you said last hour, there seems to be no parallel here and this remark seems

qualifying, disqualifying on its face. >> he crossed a temperamental rubicon and there's no turning back. >> we'll get to that. okay. i thought we actually had a different lead. but we will hear what trump had to say. >> we can have whatever lead you want, mika. your feelings are the most important thing around this table. willie, is that right? >> it's mika's show. we're all just living in it. >> so -- >> spin the wheel. >> i really don't want to hear donald trump talking about assassinations. >> first, we're going to do, though, let's talk about this hillary story. mike barnicle. a new trove of e-mails that were contained by the conservative watchdog group judicial watch is now raising questions of new links between the state department and the clinton foundation. >> "new york times" today you could file this under things t