may and her parliament will outline the government's legislate of plans. that does it for us on this wednesday morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian along with louis burgdorf and million dollar. now "morning joe." >> i am aware of the obligation that comes with being the first georgia woman elected to congress. >> the more than 12,000 of you who as darkness has kept across this planet have provided a beacon of hope for people here

in georgia, for people across the country and for people around the world, at a time when politics has been dominated by fear and hatred and scapegoating and division, this community stood up, women in this community stood up. [ cheers and applause ] >> georgia is sending karen handel to congress and republicans breathing a little easier this morning in the most expensive house race in american history. handel narrowly kept the district in gop hands. she becomes the first woman ever elected to the capital from georgia, fending off rookie jon ossoff among a blizzard of spending, more than $50 million in all. the turnout was enormous, even eclipsing mid terms in 2014.

ossoff defied polls in the first round of voting getting 48% of the vote but in yesterday's runoff, in spite of a court order allowing new voters and adding 32,000 votes as of this morning, his percentage only increased by 1/100th of a percent. joe? >> i don't think you can overstate the significance for the new congresswoman. for republicans in washington and also for donald trump, this is a district that donald trump only won by one percentage point. we've been bringing this up all along. if democrats were to fall short after all of those marches and all of the madness and a record amount of money spent electing

jon ossoff, if they couldn't win there, if that was going to be a huge setback, now if he had won, even by one percentage point, it would have been a massive victory but as we said all along, all the chips were pushed to the middle of the table here. this was a winner take all and it was a huge win for republicans and a big loss for democrats. it something, miki, we've been asking democratic leaders from the beginning, are you willing to vote for people in your primary process that reflect the districts in which they run and the answer is we finally got to a yes after a lot of nos but they still have a very long way to go. if you have a young guy like that without a family, he's not been in the community, he doesn't live in the community, he doesn't teach sunday school or go to the synagogue every saturday. if he doesn't coach baseball, if

they don't know who he is, then it's a lot easier to stick a picture of nancy pelosi next to jon ossoff and say, oh, if you're voting for this guy, you're voting for nancy pelosi. if you get a guy or a woman that's from the district that people have seen in worship services for 30 years, that know their families, they're at the pta, you know, you get a guy who is a banker, a small community bank that talks, oh, come on now, jim, you know me, i'm going to represent you, i'm not going to represent that nancy pelosi. you know, not even trying to be funny here, it just the truth. and i think that's one of the democrats' biggest challenges coming off the last night. >> absolutely. >> the other is they've got to figure out how to win and going further left is only going to lead to more losses. i read -- i was on twitter last night. this were going crazy.

if you're in the south, you got to speak to the south. republicans forget how to speak to the northeast. they forget how to speak to new england and when barack obama won in 2008, they were the party of george w. bush, they were the party of tom delay and they were the party of newt gingrich and guess what, not a single republican represented anybody in washington in the entire region of new england. that's what democrats have to look at and say how do we get past that and how do we start getting people that reflect the regions that we're trying to win in. >> it really shows the challenge. >> along with joe, willie and me, we have mike barnicle, senior political analyst mark halperin, nbc political analyst and former democratic congressman harold ford jr., and associate editor of commentary magazine noah rothman.

willi willie, it really shows how much work democrats have to do. >> what did democrats take away from these races? granted these are republican districts, we should stipulate that, montana, kansas, last night in south carolina and they were closer than the previous races. tom price won by 23 points, karen handel by 6 points. still, with all the money and energy that democrats threw at this race, what do they have to learn if they want to take back the house in 2018? >> one, we need a message. the message of anti-trump is important to convene people but once you get people there, especially if you want the independent people, independent voters and democrats you stay for you and vote for you, we

have to lay out an agenda. as interesting as these races are in georgia, one of the things that says is maybe the dccc should look more closely at how they organize things. that candidate from south carolina was from there. he came very close and this is a guy that didn't have $25 million spent on his behalf. so maybe they look at that. two, the reality of the national race for democrats and i'm curious to hear barnicle and halperin on this, michigan, ohio, florida, those are the states they have to win nationally to win the presidency. as we move to '18 and see the congressional races there, it will be interesting to see the kind of candidates you recruit there and whether or not you arm those candidates with a real economic message. hillary clinton didn't have an economic message on jobs message. >> it's the same problem. >> as democrats think about how we go forward and how we perhaps

gain a majority again in the house or the senate. >> joe, jump in. >> i just -- democrats have to stop being scared. they're running scared. they're thinking we're going to get a candidate that's further left and further left and further left. even if you're in the center, can you have a strong economic message. you can go after it very aggressively. and by the way, i don't know many republican leaders, i don't know many republican financiers that doesn't believe democrats are still better than even -- have a better than even shot at taking over the house next year. so this certainly doesn't take away from that. by, mike barnicle, one of the ways that we could see a tsunami was coming barack obama as way in 2010 was talking to you every day about what was happening in massachusetts in the special election at about the same time in that period in 2009, a guy named scott brown. scott brown is a guy that got in his pickup truck and he drove

west out of boston and you said the further west you went, the more signs you saw in lifelong democrats' yard and they looked at that guy and said he's one of us. he's a blue class, working class guy, he's a republican but, man, we need to shake things up in washington, d.c. they found somebody for that special election at least that matched massachusetts. and that was the first crack in that wall in massachusetts where republicans had one guy representing him up there at that point. what do you think the democrats need to figure out on how to win in the south, in the midwest and further west? >> well, first of all, the democratic party should figure out you're better off running for something rather than against something. and they're about to get a gift, it appears, from the republican senate majority in the health care bill. so the democrats have to figure out the issues they want to run on. health care is huge one.

it affects everyone in this country. they seem to be more intent on running against donald trump. trump is out there. people know who trump is, they know how they feel about donald trump, they know how they feel about the country. they want to know what are you going to do for me now? they have to figure out what to run for rather than run against donald trump all the time. >> i've been joking that jon ossoff looks like he could have been a walk-on on warren beatty's movie "reds." i know atlanta a little bit, my brother lives in north atlanta. this is not a guy people are going to look at and say i don't think he's going to fall right in loon with nancy pelosi. i'm not knocking him. this guy would win in boston, this guy would win on the west coast. it just harder for him to win even in in highly educated

district. what are you looking at? what are your takeaways this morning? does it come down to, as pat buchanan said, political athleticism and what athlete fits the position you're trying to get him to win? >> it's an unmitigated disaster for the democrats who are about an eighth of the way through donald trump's term. we're an eighth of the way through and to paraphrase pauline kale, most of the people think everyone hates him, everything is going to be a referendum on him. i don't think ossoff was that bad a candidate. you make your case he wasn't a perfect candidate for the district. he wasn't running against the best athlete of all time. the reason this is such a disaster for democrats is they put everything in, as you said, this is a race you could have won and they came up short.

could they have recruited a better candidate than ossoff? it's easy to say if you've got a strong party, we're going to recruit candidates to match the district. so in a lot of the primaries that are coming up that will determine who their nominees are, they can't recruit and be sure they're going to get nominees who are the perfect fit. they're going to get a lot of nominees. so the only silver lining the democrats can look at here is ossoff wasn't the perfect candidate but he was a strong candidate in fund-raising, a strong candidate in enthusiasm. he claimed to be pretty good on the campaign trail. if the liberals think a rech referendum on trump is going to carry them to a majority, that's just not the case, even if they can say what do we want, someone who will rovote for the president's agenda or someone who will.

they voted they will. >> i don't want to offend anybody here but if the democrats want to start winning, i feel like i need to say this. i have a lot of friends and loved ones that have been out in these marches that go, you know, every week they'll be marching about something else. i've been saying all along, if you need to do that, if it makes you feel good, then do that but understand if you want to change america and you want to change the world, you're much better off going into districts campaigning for somebody knocking on doors, handing them flyers, getting thinto phone banks, picking up the phone, recruiting people and finding people that do not look just like you but fits the detective they're running on. this is something republicans did years ago. they didn't just worry about the big prize. they built from school boards up

to ski council people, county level, marching in the streets big picture makes you look good, does not win elections. >> here's what i said to one of my friends that took part in the women's march. they're great, you're shouting in the street, you're chanting and you're singing with people who agree with you. so going out and knocking on doors, as you talked about, gets you listening. and we're seeing the same problem that we've seen all along, the same problem we saw when we had the second in command of the dnc on the show who just seemed to be going off and spouting, come on, men, we're going to be good, we're good. no, what's the message? i think the mistake that democrats make is to think the president is at 36% be there are some obvious problems with the republican party and his presidency. of course people are going to

come to us. no. this is an arse, we have to go for it. >> his message want purely anti-trump. in fact, a lot of progressives thought it was too moderate, that they tried to pant a moderate in this district, talking about spending cuts and things like that and you had groups like move on.org saying we can't run candidates like this we have to stay true to our progressive roots. noah, what's the teakaway if you' -- takeaway if you're a republican thinking about running in 2018? >> it strikes me that democrats are engaged are enthused. the problem is rab voters are not yet demoralized.

what we were saying today, it can't be all about donald trump. if you want to demoralize a republican, you ask them what the republican has majority has done. you're going to remind republican voters why they vote republican in a hurry and we're going to see an approach -- we need to get not only democrats engaged but enthused in the margins. that might work in blue collar districts because we have seen interesting spikes in places look south carolina last night. but i'm not entirely sure that's going to be enough to overtake an incumbency and you've got a lot of incumbents that you're going to have to knock off to remake the majority. >> karen hand e el remains a

republican vote as we go into washington. if you're a republican thinking about retiring, does this change your calculus at all of what 2018 looks look? >> it changes the calculus on two front. republicans feel more fortified and will have the courage to stand with this president on health care and the economic message. two, democrats, we have to leave this progressive thing alone, as mika said, it brings people together. this nonsense that democrats talked about after the '16 election when hillary clinton won by more than 3 million votes, the popular votes, that means nothing. it would have meant something if we had won more governor seats, more house seats, more senate seats. we all know the democrats in the house and senate is as small as

it's been in almost a hundred years. there's no doubt the enthusiasm is there but without a message about cutting taxes and creating jobs and providing more economic security, there's no amount of yelling, no amount of screaming, no amount of pretending where ready that's going to change the fact that we're in the minority. i like the enthusiasm but we've got to translate that to something else. i think the real message this morning is what happened in south carolina? can we have recruited a different candidate in georgia? i think ossoff is a smart guy. could we have identified a better candidate and could we have developed more money in south carolina? >> if we did, i think the rnc would have thrown more money in. i want to talk to you because you've been on the ground and you understand it, if you are in

san francisco, you run like a san francisco candidate. if you're in seattle, you do the same thing. if you're in nebraska, you try to match there. for democrats when they go into the deep south, this is a region that democrats used to dominate. and even when i was in congress and you were in congress, there were democrats there. and some of them were pro-life and some of them were pro-gun but also they were progressive when it came to economics, they were progressive on 90% of the other issues but they checked off the boxes culturally in other districts. i was saying last night if you've got a guy who is with you on 90% of the issues and he's progressive or even if you have a woman that's with you on 80% of the issues but she's catholic

and she's pro-life because she actually believes what her church says and her family's been going out hunting in tennessee for five generations so she's pro second amendment as well. now, there are democrats who actually told me last night when we were going back and forth on twitter, no, that's not called a democrat,s th democrat, that's a republican and -- well, you will never win in the south. talk about that, how democrats are going to have to get a little uncomfortable when they're in the south and do what ronald reagan said, be with somebody if they're with you 80% of the time. >> i think you're going to have to be that way across the country. i'd much have a pro-life democrat, and i'm pro-choice, but a pro-life democrat to support pelosi and schuman to be

leader in the senate than i would the pro-life republican who would vote the other way. people want us back in charge not for to us dictate how they live their lives in their bedrooms. they want us to provide jobs and security. that's how trump won. we're going to find ourselves having this conversation unfortunately for a longer time than we want. >> democrats would be well advised to go back and look at within of the speeches that hubert humphrey gave about the dawn of life, that the democrat party is here not to go into your bedroom and affect you culturally every day but to take care of your lives. >> noah, what's the takeaway here? is the concept of moral hazard blown out of the water for the

ns next year and a half for donald trump? >> the window for legislative achievements has been closing for a time. if they had lost this race, there would be a lot more cold sweats from republicans so they have bought themselves a little more time. like i said before, republicans really do expect to see some legislative achievements out of this congress. they do want to see obamacare appealed, they do want to see tax reform. so they do have some work to do and they bought themselves some time. they would be advised to look at how democrats are overperforming in these races there are enough republicans in hillary clinton districts to retake the house and this should be hanging over their heads like a cloud. >> i agree. >> mika, we've been talking the first 15, 20 minutes about how bad this is for democrats. it is important to say on the other side of it, too, democrats are saying if we show that chart

we just put up there in every special election, democrats come up short but in montana they lost by 6 instead of 21 in november, 7 in kansas instead of 27, in georgia, karen handel outperformed donald trump, which probably speaks to his unpopularity and in south carolina plus 3 whereas in november it was plus 18. so again, most of the smart money probably is still with the democratic party taking over but this should be a wake-up call for the democratic party who has been doing nothing but losing since 2010 in these legislative races. and at some point, you know, i heard last night ossoff get off there saying we've started something great. no, you lost. at some point the time for moral victories is over and sometimes winning is just about winning. they need to learn from this and figure out how to win next year.

>> well, we're going to have much more ahead in this key race. we're going to bring in "the washington post"'s robert costa who has been on the ground reporting in georgia. also ahead we'll speak with kirsten gillibrand and chris murphy and republican senator joe cassidy and tomorrow night joe will be performing at the cutting room. doors open around 7 p.m. joe, save that voice but we'll see you after the break. let's go to bill karins tracking a heat wave and tropical storm. >> down along the coast, cindy is approaching. it's a rainfall problem and already these heavy bands of rains from new orleans back to pensacola and panama city. the track weakens by the time it gets to northern louisiana, a

rainmaker into tennessee and kentucky but it's to the right of the center of landfall we're most concerned with. 16 million people under flood watches. that's what we're concerned about, flash floods from biloxi to mobile, panama city. it does call for six to seven inches of reain. some areas could get over a foot of ran. yesterday vegas tied its all-time high temperature. that's just historic. today's highs easily 102, vegas 1 i apologize, there's really no relief over the weekend. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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i'm gonna just go back to doing what i was doing. find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. the president clearly wants a bill that has heart in it. he believes health care is near and dear to families and individuals. he made it clear from the beginning that was one of his priorities. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. yeah. >> mika, how would you -- who's ever heard of that song before? >> i don't know. i've got to give q a tip of the hat there. that's pretty incredible. if you're a house republican and you went over and you had that big ribbon cutting ceremony in front of trump tower on pennsylvania avenue, you're sitting there thinking, wow, he really does like us now and i

feel really good about myself because the president here, he's slapping my back and saying how great he is. >> was that the celebration with the multitude of white older men and one shamed woman looking down? >> but hold on a second. but later on he said, well, that was a mean bill. that was a mean bill. >> organizatih, those people. they shouldn't have celebrated so much. >> they went out the front door and there were look a series of buses, not to take them back to the house but just to run over. and the senate is working quietly behind the scenes. he's forcing republicans to do all the things that they criticized democrats for a billion times over in 2009, for not being transparent and they're doing the same exact thing, not being transparent. and what does the president say? eh, it needs more heart. he doesn't talk that way but

more heart. even before the senators put it on the bill, he has thrown them under the bus. why do you do anything for this guy? why do you risk your -- >> i've been asking that question for a long time. >> why do you risk your political future for this guy if he's going to just throw you under the bus, which he will? >> senate leader mitch mcconnell said a discussion draft of the senate health care bill will be available tomorrow morning. >> how long will the public have to read this bill? how many days? >> plenty of time? >> a week? >> we've been discussing all the elements of this endlessly for seven years. everybody pretty well understands it. everybody will have adequate time to take a look at it. i think this will be about as transparent as it can be. no transparency would have been added by having hearings in which democrats offered endless

single payor system amendments. >> you wouldn't want them to have time to read it. some republicans are expressing their frustration. >> hold on, hold on, hold on, he said, mika, they're going to have time to read it. what i'm really excited about, i don't know if you've ever heard this before but they are the saucer that cools the coffee. you know they're not going to make the same mistake that republicans in the house made and vote on a bill without knowing how much it's going to cost. there's no way that any senator would vote for this without a cbo score, i'm sure. >> right. and reading that. >> let's just hold them to that standard. we'll get the score and then we can vote. >> i think a lot of them are speed readers. quote, do you know what the health care bill looks like, senator lisa murkowski of alaska asked reporters yesterday, quote, because i don't.

murkowski was not alone on the republican side, including senator mike lee of utah, who is one of 13 members on the working group. take a listen. >> i haven't seen the bill and it has become increasingly apparent in the last few days that even though we thought we were going to be in charge of writing a bill within this working group, it's not being written by us, it's apparently being written by a small members of staffers for republican members in the senate. if you're frustrated by the lack of transparency in this process, i share your fractures wholehearted wholeheartedly. >> are you satisfied with the process? >> no. >> why not? >> for the obvious reason, we used to complain like hell the way the democrats ran the affordable care act and now they're doing the same thing. >> willie, this went on throughout most of the

afternoon. at one point john mccain saying he suspected the russians knew more about the bill because they probably hacked into the republican computers and probably know more about the health care bill than he does. if you can only lose two republicans senators without the bill going down, you do wonder what this, exercise is about. >> ted cruz came out yesterday in an interview and said i haven't seen the bill and i don't know what's going on. so bob corker came out and said we have all these groups who are supposed to advise on the by but at the end of the day, mitch mcconnell and his office are writing the bill. this is a strategy that may work for mitch mcconnell. if he can keep it close and not have obstruction of democrats standing in the way they want to get done and they can just roll it out for a vote and get 50 republicans to vote for it, we

can complain all we want about the way it's conducted but a win is a win if he gets it. >> remember the house process. the original version was scuttled by republicans but had -- when they came out with a second version, it was a similar bill but what got everybody on the table was the fact that leadership needed a win and that's what they're going to put to republican senators, get behind this thing or the rest of the agenda is scuttled and they'd be right in suggesting that. while at the end of the day people will be frustrated with the process as they should be, the alternative is scuttle the ship and i don't think anybody's on board for that. >> mitch mcconnelcconnell's got. do you want to be the one that stands in the way of getting rid of the affordable care act? it's strange they allowed this

myself and to dominate. i guess mike lee is on the wrong subcommittee. in the end i don't think they're going to get rand paul so they can't lose anybody else. >> let me ask a question. both of you know the process. is the priority for mitch mcconnell right now to repeal obamacare, underline obama and the past president himself or is it to pass a bill that's going to help a marriage of americans? >> his priority -- his first priority is to get this issue resolved. if he's not going to be able to get a majority, i think he wants to move on to tax cuts and dealing with the del ceilibt cer dealing with the budget. >> harold. >> i don't mean to cut you off, joe. those are the become ends of the party. >> joe, is there a third option? >> there is a third option and it's neither. i think right now what mitch

mcconnell is doing is he's giving his senators who have run against obamacare for seven years now an opportunity to have an up-or-down vote on obamacare. and they can say -- they can go back to their district if they vote for this and they can say i voted to repeel obamacaal obamat was those liberals in the party or i voted to repeal obamacare but it was the right-wing nuts that stopped us or it was those maniacs over in the house of representatives. we're going to get back at it in the fall and we're going to win, et cetera, et cetera, but they have to be able to go home to their district in august and they have to be able to say they voted against obamacare because that's what they're going to be hearing, which is, mika, you guys own the house, you own the senate, you own the white house and what have you done? and, you know, if you can say i voted for this or i voted to repeal obamacare but look at all

those other terrible congressmen and congress women or senators, that just may be enough in your home district or home state and that's what they have to have more than anything, even the passage of a bill. >> sean spicer said he has to check with the president if the russians hacked the elections. that's next on "morning joe." okay. got it. rumor confirmed. they're playing. -what? -we gotta go. -where? -san francisco. -when? -friday. we gotta go. [ tires screech ] any airline. any hotel. any time.

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>> it's still upside down. >> thanks and see you at the white house. >> coming up, the top -- >> you know, mika, it's a tough enough job as it is. >> it's a hard job. >> he's working for the toughest guy in show business now. i'm sorry, i understand that we laugh at him but that's a tough job that nobody wants. >> and it got off to such an impaired start that it's kind of fruitless to try. >> coming up, we'll dig into the top lawyer lawyering up and we'll dig into the russia investigation when "morning joe" comes right back. just imagine if all the machines at work

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the tapes between the president and james comey, were those tapes made? do they exist?

and will the president be releasing them to the house intelligence committee by friday? >> the president has said he'll make an announcement on this. i expect it this week. when he's ready to make the announcement i'll let you know. how's that? >> just plainly, a yes or no answer, does president trump believe the russians interfered in the elections? >> we have not sat down and talked about that. >> generally speaking, this conversation about russian interference in our elections, there's 16 intelligence agencies that say they did. to the former fbi director said without a doubt -- >> i understand. i've seen the reports. >> does the president share those views? >> i have not sat down and specifically asked him. i'd be glad to get back to you. >> didn't he say it was fake news? >> sean spicer saying he and the

president of the united states have not talked about the issue that has consumed the white house for the first five months of its administration. meanwhile, attorney jeff sessions has

maybe it was the russians maybe it was the chinese that the press secretary, the man who is the vessel who carries the message from the president to the public and to the press has not spoken to the president about this issue. how long can they keep that stone wall up? >> willie, we've seen the most strained relationship between the intelligence community and the commander in chief. the president is rejecting the consensus findinged of the intelligence committee. is he rejecting the counter intelligence concerns that have been raised by the fbi and others inside the intelligence committee if you look at today's "new york times" story about mike flynn and third he's spilling secrets to the russians in the oval office. there is deep consternation.

i talked to intelligence officers and military officers and law enforcement officers all the time and they wonder whether the president gets it and the fact that sean spicer can't acknowledge the most basic thing russia meddled shows how deeply strained this relationship has become. >> jeremy, following up on the strains in the relationship with you explain for people who might not be familiar with the way the cia operates or the nsa operates that they are both basically fact-based operations, not spies, not spooks out there whispering in the dark about the russians. fact-based organizations. >> it's a great point, mike. if you walk into the original headquarters building of lappingly of the cia headquarters there's a phrase there emblazoned on the wall "and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." it's the credo of the intelligence officer to bring forward facts to decision-makers an policy-makers without bias,

favor or fear to speak truth to power and this is what they teach inside the central intelligence agencies and those organizations are not partisan. these are career individuals who have come forward we'll devote our lives, in some cases risk our lives and in some cases give our lives to defend our country. >> jeremy bash thank you very much. coming up, in georgia republican karen handel held on to keep the district red. while everyone congratulates president trump we'll talk about whether or not it was paul ryan who came through in the clutch. and later we'll be joined by senators kirsten gillibrand, chris murphy and joe caffey.

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which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? i am also very well aware of another obligation that comes with tonight's decision by the voters, the obligation of being the first republican woman elected to congress from the great state of georgia. [ cheers and applause ] and a special thanks to the president of the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] [ chant "trump" ] >> wow, inspite of massive outside spending, democrat jon

ossoff has come up short in his bid to flip the sixth congressional trip in georgia. the most expensive house race in american history and karen handel kept hhs tom price's former position red, and the first woman ever elected to congress from georgia. democrats were looking for signs of a national wave in this traditionally republican district but its outcome has been like the others before this year, close but not close enough, joe, and that's, i think fitting into possibly a pattern for democrats in their attempt to sort of find new leadership and press reset. >> they have to press reset. it's something seth moulton said, the congressman from massachusetts last night, the iraq war vet. they have to press reset. they need to stop looking backwards. they need to stop talking about 2016.

they've got to stop having this sort of not a witch hunt, but this purification process, and they've got to build the tent, make it bigger, get more independents in, convert republicans who are offended what's going on in their own party, and i think seth moulton is right, this is a district donald trump won by one percentage point back in the fall. think about this. after all the marches across the nation, after all the millions and millions of dollars spent in this district, after everything that's happened, the madness coming out of the white house, the madness in washington, d.c., the madness surrounding the process of how you reorder one-fifth of the economy, democrats actually did worse in this district in the race last night than they did in the presidential race back in november. there's, i don't think -- well,

mika, i just don't think there's any positive way to spin that. >> no, there is not. >> they have got to get candidates that match the districts better. >> what is this, are we on month six of this presidency and they have the power in congress. so after all the marches, all the money spent, and after nothing being accomplished in washington, i mean really the stage was set for the democrats to get something done, and it really just shows how much the democrats still, how much work needs to be done to rebuild the party. so with joe, willie and me -- go ahead, joe. >> i'm sorry, somebody was talking in my ear. is harold there, i wanted to talk to harold quickly. i keep hammering this over and over again. i am a republican so maybe they won't listen to me as much. let me talk to you about it. it is so critical to find somebody that matches the

district. i remember hearing the reaction to trump's speech from the former democratic kentucky governor, and he talked like democratic candidates used to talk -- >> bashir. >> governor bashir. i remember saying like that's like listening to led zeppelin. that voice from a democrat, like a relic from a different age as paul mccartney would say, but i will tell you, when people talk like that against republicans, it scared the hell out of republicans. when there were people that were culturally lined up with districts across -- like lawton childs. you're just not going to get the best of lawton childs. you're not going to get the best of bob graham in florida politics. when he was a democrat, you weren't going to get the best of zell miller. you weren't going to say he's soft on this, he's soft on that, and all of those people -- they use this nancy pelosi argument.

when they go to washington, d.c., they'll be captive of nancy pelosi. nobody can say anything resembling that of lawton childs or bob extra ham because they were of the communities where they ran and isn't that what democrats need especially in the south right now? >> i think you need that all across the country, but it is probably more evident and more pronounced in the south and midwest where people look to people from their neighborhoods and communities and frankly are focused on a more local politic. i would just add to it, joe, what you said earlier about seth moulton calling for a reset in the party. i think the democratic leadership in washington has to step back and look at not only the absence of a coherent and sustainable economic message, but how the lack of that is handicapping candidates across the country. jon ossoff, i didn't mean to be too critical of the young fellow but there were handicaps in terms of being from that district and looking like he was from that district. he's an attractive, young guy

and i hope he runs again. the reality is without an economic message from washington, without a heat care message and answer to what's happening in washington or appearing more credible on foreign policy issues it's hard to imagine we'll win a lot of districts. i think boils down to michigan, florida, wisconsin, ohio and pennsylvania, states where democrats have won where they have to win again. this georgia race was going to be tough. as mika said from the outset we poured tremendous resources and focused the entire national democratic apparatus on it and we were unable to win as close as he may have come the reality is you have to win these seats, joe, as you said from the outset and we were not winning them. i want an economic message more than anything and want miss pelosi, mr. hoyer, mr. schumer and mr. durbin to recognize we're going to continue to hinder candidates if we don't do than. >> and the it, nc. >> we look at the outside spending money. ossoff is from the district. he doesn't live there now. he grew up there, his family lives there. he's not a carpetbagger.

he grew up in that district. he is of that district. >> didn't have a home there. >> he's not moved from san francisco and flopped down an office. all the money that came from l.a. and san francisco allowed his opponents to say this guy is not of us and not going to vote with us or the way we want him to vote. so along with harold ford jr. we have a senior political analyst matt halpern and in atlanta for "the washington post" and moderator of "washington week" on pbs, "bob costa. bob you were there on the gro d fwroubd last night what made the difference? >> i was with jon ossoff monday night his final event and i listened closely to his pitch. you know what he talked about? climate change. he talked about cynicism in washington. he talked about women's rights, and voting rights.

it was a classic democratic appeal, but i wondered even then on monday night whether this would resonate with the swing republican voter, the skittish republican who may not love president trump. he ran in part as an independent with all of these bipart lan plat tuds. at the end of the day he was as congressman forward was saying someone who did not embody where this district was, and where it may still be going, which is more in a center right direction. democrats have to find the secret sauce to how to win in places like that. >> bob, i had kasie hunt tell us a couple weeks ago that kasie hunt tell us a couple weeks ago he was not comfortable around the voters. he looks so great and speaks so well elegantly. she saw him working rooms and what do you like to do, what are your hobbies? he couldn't name a single hobby. i know this is offensive to people out there, but for

activists, but people vote for candidates who make them comfortable, and mika, like i told you you know as well, you know when you walk into the room whether you have the room or not. at one point i was running in my career -- bob, back to you. at one point i was running my career against somebody that didn't have the rooms i walked into. walk into a southern baptist church, i knew it was my room. i walked into a veterans -- i knew. i didn't have to say anything. there were other places i walked into, i looked around this is going to be rough. that guy didn't have a lot of rooms he could walk into, people said yeah he's just like us. >> yes and no. ossoff did have some limitations when it came to his profile and residency question, came to his age. i'm not arguing that point at all, joe. but i think there was a bigger

issue for ossoff. he didn't have an answer when he was challenged by all the republican superpacks and republican groups about house minority leader nancy pelosi. was he with her or not and he didn't really have a clear message on president trump. he barely mentioned the president in spite of all his supporters could be assistantly i'd talk to them, they really wanted this to be a referendum on president trump. he didn't go in that direction. on the bigger political issues swirling around him in spite of his personal limitations with his profile he didn't have that pointed spear that democrats may need. >> here's what senior congressional correspondent for "the washington post" paul cain writes "s aoff while eschewing the heated anti-trump rhetoric tapped into the online energy of that crowd and raised and spent a record sum but republicans countered with a message that should cause great concern for democrats -- returning to their effort to tie democrats to house minority leader nancy pelosi.

one senior republican involved in the overall effort said that the more the race became national in tone, through the media and the way the voters perceived it here, the easier it was to turn ossoff into a conventional democrat. pelosi's image appeared in almost every ad run by handel, the national republican congressional committee, and its affiliated super pac, the congressional leadership fund. it was reminiscent of the 2010 campaign when she was house speaker and her advisers estimated more than $50 million worth of negative ads ran citing her. that year, democrats lost 63 seats along with the majority." joe? >> yes. you know, mark halpern, it reminds me of that scene in "it's a wonderful life" where there's a run on the bank and jimmy stewart says "bob, you know me." if you want to undercut that strategy, you get somebody from the district -- i know it's not easy, but it is absolutely

critical that democrats do this over the next six months instead of getting somebody that will excite liberal activists. if you have somebody from the district, somebody that's coached a kid's little league baseball, if you have somebody that goes to churches or synagogues with them on the weekends that goes to the pta meetings with them, those, and i know, because i've been through this a few times, those arguments don't work. you go, bob, you know me. i coached your son ten years ago in little league. now, do you think i'm going to follow what nancy pelosi wants me to do or do you think i'm going to follow what you want me to do? and they'll go, we're with you, bob. we're with you. so all of these things, all of the attacks, everything we're talking about this morning that handicaps candidates, just fade away when you have somebody that's of the district, that's in the district, and wasn't just raised and went off to college and came back be congressman but

has roots in the district, people go what they're saying about bob, that's not true. he's going to be with us and not nancy pelosi. >> yesterday "the atlantic" published while the voters were voting a piece by rahm emmanuel who used to head the d triple c and a long time centrist clinton aide and talked about thish u, when they were fighting to win back the majority successfully they recruited people like one example heath shuler in north carolina, former nfl player, very conservative guy, more conservative than bernie sanders or eleez beth warren would like to see dominate the democrat party but he fit the district in north carolina. you'll see part of the finger pointing and second-guessing amongst democrats is, does the party activists, the people who gave all that money in georgia, the people marching in the rallies, the people who are the most vocal, will they tolerate a plan to try to get recruit candidates who actually fit the

districts to determine whether they get back the majority or not? that's the big open question. ossoff was not a total liberal but he let himself be defined by a liberal in part by the advertising again and again linking him to nancy pelosi. >> also, mika, the closing, as bob said, his closing argument was on climate change and all of these other issues instead of -- again, whatever you believe in climate change, i believe in climate change. the last thing we talk about, it's a 2% issue, in i'm running in north atlanta. you talk about jobs. you talk about the do-nothing congress. you talk about getting up there, let's go up there and shake things up. i'll vote with republicans most of the time but they need somebody pulling them back to the center, because they've gotten a little crazy. that's the message you want at the end of your campaign, not the one he gave. >> well, noah, you write in "commentary" magazine about the

republican breaking point in part this "republicans in congress have earned the right to be frustrated by the fact that so few have noticed their efforts to encumber the president. there are, at present, four gop-congressional fact-finding investigations probing russia's interference in the 2016 election skl. it's hard to read a dispatch on the state of politics in washington without tripping over a quotation from an unnamed gop lawmaker rending garments over trump's mishandling of the presidency and the party's electoral mandate. republican members of congress are not lemmings and they will be disinclined to jog off a cliff in service to an unpopular president with few accomplishments under his belt. the minute trump begins to repulse both persuadable independents and the voters who make up the republican base is the minute the floor collapses out from under him." but it hasn't yet and i feel like democrats, you know, there's a sense of can't you see what's happening? you must come with us. no, actually, a lot of people

don't. they're not as in the bubble or they're in their own bubble. >> it's one thing i feel like democrats really want to hear is apocalyptic rhetoric from their representatives and aspiring representatives. you heard that from jon ossoff, darkness descending across the planet. i don't know if that necessarily resonates with swing republican voters and swing republican voters want to see republican accomplishments. they haven't yet and also seen a variety of investigations, they're skeptical of this president. you had four polls now, this month, showing the president with under 40% approval rating but also republicans abandoning ship with fewer than 0% of republicans, sometimes fewer than closer to 70% of republicans approving of this president, that's remarkable especially considering how early the presidency is. if they start beginning to talk about things they want to hear like republican accomplishments, and not necessarily that the sky is falling, they might win some

in congress. >> this was painted by many as a referendum on donald trump and if that was the case the referendum passed. >> right. >> they won, a republican won, karen handel won. democrats say we made up 6 points since november when tom price was lengted by points. jon ossoff made a conscious decision not really to mention trump's name. this was not an election about donald trump on the ground there. so what is the take-away then if you're a candidate running a year from now. should it be a referendum on donald trump, should your campaign be about the president? >> it's a complicated question for republicans. when i was standing in handel's ballroom last night and she thaad the "president of the united states." she did not say president trump's name specifically all the chants broke out "trump, trump, trump" and she smiled and nodded but she didn't continue on the trump point. she moved on in her speech. i think republicans know that

president trump may have escaped this special election with a republican victory but the challenges remain for the republican party because of handel ran her campaign. she did not run with trump. she ran on the classic republican appeals, nancy pelosi, and other issues and president trump remains deeply unpopular. that could change before surrou cloud of the russia investigation and on capitol hill the agenda remains stalled. republicans are not sure how much of a political cost they'll pay for going after the affordable care act. >> all right, well, mark halpern, i wonder when we finally get some sort of outcome on health care, if that will impact and get things to tip one way or the other. we're seeing a nebulousness. >> democrats are confident if the republicans pass the current

plan on health care and tax cuts that would be a political win for them. as discussed a lot of republican voters may be denorral ilzed by next november if there's no accomplishments. if the republicans lost it would have hurt the president's chance to pass legislation but they have to get things done and sell them effectively, so this story where we are today is not where we'll be in november. >> joe, it seems like both parties have uphill challenges. >> they really do. you can look at this i think it was bill kristol last night looked at the numbers and of course the numbers showing a loss for democrats last night, those were easy to find, but if you look at the chart that we've been showing for quite some time, the democrats are down. the republicans are down. there still is a real state of flux, but in politics close just doesn't matter. you either win or you lose and like i said, you know, after

alabama lost to auburn six years in a row, i didn't want to hear about moral victories. it was all b.s. to me. you either win or you lose. and as i was saying to republicans after barack obama got elected and they were lurching too far to the right for most of the districts in new england, if you want to change the country, you have to win elections. marching won't do it. screaming at town hall meetings won't do it. the only thing that does it is organizing, knocking on doors, calling people, driving them to the voting booths, hooking, you know, hooking them up together and thnetwork on facebook and online and doing what barack obama did. everybody talk about barack obama a once in a lifetime candidate, this and that. you know what else? he was smart enough to put a team together that knew how to organize, and drag people out to

the voting booths. i remember reading an article and i won't belabor this too long but i remember reading an article in 2007 talking about all the money that he was raising, and i'm sitting there thinking okay, what are we going to have? is he the howard dean of 2008, a guy that starts out and explodes, and then goes away? no, "new york times" article middle of the summer 2007 said he was spending all of his money on organizing, on building systems to drag out voters a year and a half later, and i looked and a sai said that guy s what he's doing and has a good chance of winning. that's what democrats have to do, less noise, more work, put your head down and work and that's how you win elections. that's the only way you win elections. >> bob costa thanks for being on. >> ob, did you, sorry, were you going to say something? >> well, real quick, i wanted to say one other takeaway as i

leave atlanta is, the russia issue and president trump's handling of these investigations and special counsel when i'm in washington that's a consuming issue for democrats and alarming even some republicans on the ground in georgia, moderate suburban republicans were not talking about russia. if democrats want to win them over they have to perhaps listen to congressman ford talking about the economic message. i don't see russia breaking through yet with republican voters as an issue turning them to the left. >> bob, thank you. still ahead on "morning joe" senator chris murphy joins us after this stunt to get his hands on the senate health care bill. >> we're going to do outside chance we're probably not going to get the bill but we're going to march into the cbo building and ask as nicely as possible, maybe they'll show you a copy of the secret bill so we can bring it out and send it out to the tunnel. >> so? >> news flash, we didn't get the bill. >> that left us with one question, mark halperin, did

that feel maybe a little familiar to you? take a look. >> i found it hilarious the cbo we can't get them on the phone, i haven't seen them quoted anywhere. they act like they want to be the wizard of oz. we're going to look at the man behind the kur tape or at least try and i'm going to attempt to do the unthinkable, which is walk into a government building without an appointment. >> there you go. stunts aside we'll talk about the mounting frustration among both parties -- >> you know? >> yes? >> mika, what's so exciting is cory booker went in there and live tweeted the whole thing and i think he got the bill but it was burning, but he saved a little kitten, and was live tweeting as it went out into the street. just like he did when he was mayor. i don't know, you'll have to look on his twitter feed but i think he periscoped it before realizing that was last year's technology so he facebook lived it. the bill was lost but he saved a

kitten. >> he looked like a superhero. >> yes. >> we'll talk about that, "morning joe" is coming right back. (baby crying) ♪ fly ♪ me to the moon (elegant music) ♪ and let me play (bell rings) tech: when you schedule with safelite autoglass, you get a text when we're on our way. you can see exactly when we'll arrive. i'm micah with safelite. customer: thanks for coming, it's right over here. tech: giving you a few more minutes for what matters most. take care. kids singing: safelite® repair, safelite® replace.

for her compassion and care. he spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. but to help others, they first had to protect themselves. i have afib. even for a nurse, it's complicated... and it puts me at higher risk of stroke. that would be devastating. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself.

once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. xarelto®... to help keep me protected. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner... ...significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. it has similar effectiveness to warfarin. xarelto® works differently. warfarin interferes with at least 6 blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor interacting with less of your body's natural blood-clotting function. for afib patients well-managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of stroke. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you've had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle-related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical

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the most on demand, your entire dvr, top networks, and live sports on the go. included with xfinity tv. xfinity the future of awesome. welcome back to "morning joe." before the break we were talking about what happened last night in georgia in the race in the sixth congressional district and take us deeper inseed, gabe gutierrez in roswell, georgia, and gabe, by the end people just exhausted, wall-to-wall nasty ads with all that money spilling into the district. >> reporter: hey, willie, good morning. here in the atlanta media market people have been seeing those ads for weeks just bombarded with ads, really trying to tie jon ossoff to nancy pelosi, labeling him this extreme liberal with ideas more suited for the west coast than the people of this district. last night karen han tell during her victory speech thanked

donald trump which is interesting because she never embraced donald trump during her actual campaign but thaad majority whip steve scalise. take a listen. >> right up until that tragic day on the ball field steve would drop me a text message every single week, but really and truly, what happened on that ball field was a terrible tragedy, and we need to all continue to lift off steve and the others who were injured that day, and we need to also lift up this nation, so that we can find a more civil way to deal with our disagreements. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: the alexandra shooting had come up in the last few day, there was that small ad by a fringe pac released on youtube as well that mentioned that jon ossoff was, if he won on tuesday, the extreme liberal left, the unhinged left, as this ad called it, would take over,

and it was trying to capitalize on that shooting. both campaigns denounced that ad, but several of the republicans we spoke with said that they really thought that ossoff, they called him a carpetbagger, this whole thing he lived just outside his district and they thought he would fall in line with nancy pelosi, so on the last days it really got ugly here. >> gabe gutierrez reporting from roswell, georgia, after that big election, where karen handel won. thanks so much, gabe. good to see you. joining us from washington, democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut. senator, let's start with that election in georgia. what's your takeaway with the democrat losing a by few points but making up quite a bit of ground since november? >> obviously i would have rather that we won that race, but you know, i went back and looked at 2009, the year after president obama was elected and in 2009, democrats were winning almost every special elections.

in places where we didn't normally, upstate new york and rural pennsylvania. it didn't start turning on democrats until 010 when the massachusetts special election happened. i am amongst those who doesn't think we should read too much into this especially because whether it was the right decision or the wrong decision, ossoff decided not to make trump the central focus of that race and listen, republicans are going to do enormous political damage to themselves if they proceed with this health care bill. i think the american public think this is is theoretical, still not sure that republicans are actually going to jack up everybody's rates by 20%, take insurance from 23 million people in order to pass along attacks for cuts to the wealthy. >> senator, harold ford was talking earlier what democrats

need to do, to win elections in states like georgia and places across the south and the midwest. 'reflective of the conversation we had after the presidential election in november the progressive wing of the democratic party said we need to be more aggressive, we heard that from groups like moveon.org, jon ossoff is too moderate. do you think running as a democrat means you ought to be more progressive or more moderate? >> i think what it means is the democrats have to be hyperfocused on an economic message that tells people that the republican party is all about economic growth for millionaires and billionaires and the democratic party is about economic growth for everybody, and i think robert costa is right, the fact that we have spent so much time talking about russia has been a distraction from what should be the clear contrast between democrats and the trump agenda, which is on economics. when i am back in connecticut i often get on a computer bus and ride it for just an hour to talk to folks that frankly don't

normally call or write my office and i'll just say, they are never talking about issues like russia. they are not talking frankly what's on cable news at night. they're talking about the same things, wages, they're talking about education, they're talking about public safety, and so i think democrats have to be hyper focused on an economic contrast and i think this president is handing it to us, using this administration and presidency to enrich himself and his millionaire friends. we've got to be focused on an economic agenda for everybody else. >> okay senator, let's stay hyper focused on real life here. other than your job, whether you live in hartford, boston or wherever, other than your job one of the things i think concerns a lot of people is the health care plan they have for them and their families. we don't know much about the health care plan that's being devised in the united states senate where you work but one of the things that has leaked out is that perhaps the republicans are going to put forward bloc

grants as a package as part of this health care bill. could you explain, from your understanding so far of the health care bill, what happens to the poor, the elderly, the young, and the sick, if bloc grants go to states instead of being part of a national package in the health care bill? >> well, so bloc grants is a word nobody understands, and republicans like that, because what it really means is massive cuts in medicaid funding. so under the republican plan that came out of the house, they include $880 billion worth of medicaid cuts. president trump in his budge proet poses cutting another $600 billion out of that program. take that all together and that would mean that states will be getting half as much in the coming years as they get currently from medicaid. now, medicaid is not just the program that helps ensure millions and millions of middle class and lower income americans. it also covers nursing home stays for your grandparents, and

for your parents. if these cuts went through, states would literally be rationing care. they would be deciding who gets a nursing home stay and who gets kicked out of the nursing home, deciding which births get covered with insurance and which don't and it would bleed into the rest of the state's budget. if your medicaid dollars bet cut in half you'll backfill that with education dollars and start seeing more states going to four school days a week. there's devastating consequences for this scale of medicaid cuts. people will die. people will get kicked out of nursing homes and state budget also become disasters. >> senator, good morning, harold ford. the focus on the economic message that you highlighted earlier in your remarks give us a sense what the economic message is going forward. i agree with your '09 and '0 analysis. the body of work donald trump has given us is bigger, more offensive and scarier in some

ways than what barack obama did in the first six months. what does a winning message look like for democrats between now and next november? >> this is the most important question for democrats and i think we have to challenge ourselves. i think we were' been hyper confused over the course of the past five years. some of the time we talk about economic growth, some of the time we talk about economic fairness. i don't know whether we've won the economic fairness argument. that sounds like taking money from me to give to somebody else. people right now desperately care about growth, growth in wages, growth in hours, growth in jobs. they just don't have enough money on a daily basis in order to make their lives work, in order to save for retirement, in order to put their kids through college. they want more, so everything democrats talk about when it comes to the economy has to be about more, higher wages, more college education to get them a better job. lower taxes for the folks that we're targeting. i just think we've got to be hyper focused on the question of wage growth and job growth and

don't get scared off by that message because it's been what republicans have been talking about. we get there through building the bottom up, they get through trickle-down. >> i agree with that. i also wonder and worry that when democrats lately talk about any type of message, the message they need to have and i agree with that one, it seems no one is listening and i'm wondering if what's missing is that connection with the voter. and do future democratic leaders need to buck the party a little bit and do a little vocalize some self-examination. you look at trump and republicans who have enriched themselves and their friends. you know what? so did some of the democrats who won the nomination, and won seats across the country. while the one candidate who actually lived by the morals that he spoke of was pushed out, we've got to get back to doing the job of being a good democrat, and then having that economic message. is it fair to say we need to be

a little self-reflective in order to understand that people don't trust democrats right now, just as much as they don't trust republicans. >> yes. no, listen, there are a lot of people who look at the democratic party and aren't sure that we aren't also captive by special interests, and that's not true, but i would argue that that's why a government reform agenda has to be at the forefront of everything we talk about, proudly talk about, getting special interest money out of politics, and then you know, finally you learn this authenticity lesson. that's the lesson we thought we were learning when george bush beat al gore, a lesson we should have learned from 016. me and cory booker and claire mccaskill tell all of our colleagues stop vetting so many of your communications through your press secretary and communications staff. talk directly to voters. say what you really think. don't be afraid of occasionally making mistakes. voters can smell insincerity.

that's a lesson top line democratic candidates have not learned. >> mike barnical wants to know where you got the idea to go to the cbo unannounced? >> yes. no, it was senator brian shotz's idea. we admitted it was absurd but we wanted to ex-poles the absurdity of the situation we're in. we're five days out from a debate on a piece of legislation that will reorder one-fifth of the american health care system and it is a challenge right now to get everybody's attention off of russia and on to health care, and so this exercise yesterday was an effort to do that. >> some call it a brilliant stunt. second, what do you say to liberal activists who argue ossoff was not liberal enough? >> oh, good lord. >> everybody's politics is going to be dictated by the district and state they come from. again i think every democrat has to be focused on this message of

economic growth and i think we're smart to get back to being a big tent party. that's how we grew to have enormous majorities in the house and in the senate in 2010. i'm a progressive democrat, but i think we should be open to a broad group of candidates running across the country. that's how we get a progressive agenda enacted ultimately to welcome a lot of different views into the party. >> senator chris murphy thank you. always good to see you. >> thanks for having me on. just ahead senator gillibrand and later president trump appears to place the blame for the death of otto warmbier, who was desaned in north korea for 17 months at the feet of barack obama's administration. "morning joe" is coming right back. when you booked this trip,

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in a surprising move saudi arabia has changed the order of succession. the defense minister and also the king's son is named the new crowned prince by royal decree. prince mohammed is thought of as a reform-minded technocrat said to be a proponent of change and a western-leaning mind-set.

he recently met with president trump at the white house back in march, a visit hailed as a success in saudi arabia. msnbc's aymon moldin joins us. >> he's 31-year-old and considered about be pro western, he wants to reform the country economically so you're going to be bringing in somebody who at least in the eyes of some bring a lot of stability to the kingdom for many years when he becomes the king. that's significant. there are critics who say he's hot-headed and led the country into war in yemen, taken an anti-hard iranian policy, no room for negotiations with that country and that could exacerbate tensions between the two powerhouses in the region. it will be interesting to see how his ascension plays out. >> what does it mean, aymon to be reform minded culturally. can he change the culture there as well? >> that's going to be the real

test. he is going up an ult ultra conservative massive religious establishment. he wants to privatize the oil industry, wants to try to bring more women into the public space. you'll see him with his western leanings try to push that. the question is whether or not he gets that pushback from the powerful players in the dipping dom and that is the religious clerics. coming up -- aymon thank you. more on the fallout in the loss in last night's special election. we'll ask senator kirsten gillibrand about that and more on "morning joe." think again.

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the future isn't silver suits anit's right now.s, think about it. we can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air. find love anywhere. he's cute. and buy things from, well, everywhere. how? because our phones have evolved. so isn't it time our networks did too? introducing america's largest, most reliable 4g lte combined with the most wifi hotspots. it's a new kind of network. xfinity mobile. joining from us capitol hill, democratic senator kirsten gillibrand of new york. great to have you back on the show, kirsten. thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. >> first of all, any insight, takeaways what have we can learn from what happened? georgia? >> well, to me, it means we need a 50-state stranlg gtegy and ru tough campaigns.

people are fired up and want things to change. i think we can run candidates in districts across the country and we should fight hard to flip the house. >> let me ask you about that. you're quoted all over the place about resisting pushing back even one quote here a week ago i think where you used a profanity, but the bottom line is we need to fight hard. we're angry about what's happening in washington. as someone who has spoken out strongly as well about my concerns about this presidency, do you think that tone is perhaps not, is it productive? >> i think people do have to fight, mika. you got to look, right now we're in a battle on health care and what the republicans are offering is horrible. it could take away insurance for 23 million people. if you have a preexisting condition i don't know you'll be able to afford insurance. if you're 50 to 64, you'll pay who are. if you're a woman you could be discriminated it's terrible. this is an eara where people's

voices matter. they are calling their congressman and going to town halls. i want people to fight against this health care bill. we need to be heard and we need to be heard in every way we can, social media or traditional media or standing outside somebody's office with a sign saying "don't take away my health care." >> senator, it's willie geist. people have said within the last 24 hours republicans saying they have no idea what's on the bill. ted cruz, bob lee, you need three republicans to peel off so this doesn't mass through the senate. are you finding skepticism among republicans about this bill? >> yes i've heard a lot of skepticism and certainly seen it in the media. people are worried. constituents no matter where they live if they have to pay more just because they're 50 years old they're worried. if they have a pre-existing condition i have two friends wh.

i don't know they'd be able to afford any insurance in the republican plan. eight outrageous we've not seen the bill and no process for amendments. nothing we can do to fix it say process. we don't want this bill, we don't want our health care taken away. so, it's about all of us. it's about standing up and being heard. and that's the most powerful thing people can do. >> so senator, republicans don't even know what's in the bill, most of them, it sounds like. how do you know what to protest against? how do you even know what's in the bill to say it's terrible? >> well, we've heard it's going to look a lot like the house bill. if it looks anything like the house bill, we're in trouble. the house bill took away insurance for up to 23 million people and it doesn't have protections for pre-existing conditions. it's a real problem. these aren't small changes. these are huge, drastic changes. and basically, the house bill was a health care bill despised as -- excuse me, a tax cut bill zooi disguised as a health care bill. it was billions of dollars of

tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. it just didn't make any sense. it's not what people need. >> mark? >> senator, why do you think republicans spent so much money linking jon ossoff to nancy pelosi? >> that was just their campaign tactic. what this election tells me is we need to run candidates across this country. i have a couple good candidates that we're supporting through off the sidelines. a woman who's running in pennsylvania, who's a vet, a veteran, houlihan, and we have another veteran, a navy pilot, who's going to run in new jersey. it's exciting. like, we have really good candidates -- >> why do you think they thought that was a good campaign tactic, to link nancy pelosi? >> well, i think that's just typical campaign tragedy. when you run, you run as representing the people that you're representing. if you can say they're not, that's a good tactic. but i think what this country needs is passionate people who care deeply about what's happening in communities who are willing to fight back against special interest, against price gouging in drug companies, against the opioid crisis,

against all the things that are harming people and run from their hearts. and if candidates do that, it doesn't matter where they're running. that's what changes elections and that's what changes outcomes. >> senator, good morning. harold ford. we just had your colleague, chris murphy on and were talking about an economic message for democrats. some have suggested that the absence of one over the last six to nine months has played a role in the outcome of some of these races. first, do you agree with that? and two, what should that message look like? >> the message is about fighting for regular americans and the things that are harming them. this health care debate is a huge economic debate. if you c if you can't afford health care, what are you going to do? when i talk to people across new york who just lost a job, the first thing they're worried about is access to health care. and what they're really angry about is they have to go into poverty, even though they've worked their whole lives, to get access to medicaid. so what we should be working for is medicaid for all. that's the kind of solution people need. and they need to know they can get that job that's available.

whether it's retooling our training so you can get those jobs and really change how we offer that kind of, whether it's apprenticeships or on the job training or specialized training specifically for jobs in that area, that's the kind of reforms that we need to really make the economy work. >> senator, there's another issue out there that very few pe people in public life seem to be talking about. and some time over the next two to three weeks, the american people are going to be told, there's going to be an insertion of another 3,000 to 5,000 troops into afghanistan. 16 years into the war. you're in the armed services committee. what's the objective in afghanistan? >>ti i have to tell you, i don' agree with them often, but i agree with john mccain. in the last session, he said, i don't know what your strategy is. i don't know what strategy the administration has, i don't know what strategy general mattis has, and before we support you putting in another 5,000 troops, we need to know what the plan is, because i don't see one.

and i agree with him, i don't see one. there is no objective tor thought-through strategy. and if you're talking about afghanistan or syria, we're not seeing it. it's a huge problem. so we need leadership that really can bring this country in a better direction, especially when it comes to national security. >> how do you feel about general mattis having more to do with the implementation of policy than the president of the united states? >> well, i was a lone voice in this, but the purpose of the military, specifically the secretary of defense, is to have civilian control. so when we chose a general to be the secretary of defense with no civilian experience, we have to waive that in congress, which i thought was a very ill-advised decision. so now that president trump has said, i'm not going to do anything in terms of deciding the strategy for military action, i'm going to give it to general mattis, now we really don't have civilian control. we don't even have a president who's offering that civilian leadership. so i have concerns. i've had concerns for a very long time. and we are going to push back, certainly as members of the armed services committee, on

getting a real strategy. >> i'm with you. senator kirsten gillibrand, thank you so much for being on the show. good to see you. >> thank you, mika. still ahead, is despite president trump's slumping approval ratings, democrats can't seem to close out these special elections, even in a district where the president barely won last november. steve kornacki will join us with his analysis. plus, republican senator bill cassidy wasn't a fan of the senate's health care bill, but the is it any better. t to me than my vacation. so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. now i can start relaxing even before the vacation begins. your summer vacation is very important. that's why booking.com has great offers up to 40% off now through july 4th. find great deals now at booking.com. booking.yeah!

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i am also very well aware of another obligation that comes with tonight's decision by the voters. the obligation of being the first republican woman elected to congress from the great state of georgia. and a special thanks to the president of the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] >> the more than 12,000 of you who as darkness has crept across this planet, have provided a beacon of hope for people here in georgia, for people across the country.

and for people around the world. at a time when politics has been dominated by fear and hatred and scapegoating and division, this community stood up, women in this community stood up. >> georgia is sending karen handel to congress and republicans breathing a little easier this morning in the most expensive house race in american history. handel narrowly kept the district in gop hands. she becomes the first woman ever elected to the capitol from georgia, fending off rookie democrat, jon ossoff, a mid a blizzard of spending, over $50 million in all. the turnout was enormous, even eclipsing midterms in 2014. ossoff defied polls in the first round of voting, getting 48% of the vote, but in yesterday's runoff, in spite of a court rulirule

ing allowing new registered voters and adding 32,000 votes, as of this morning, his percentage from the first round only increased by one one-hundredth of a percent. joe is in this morning, even though he's fighting laryngitis, to talk about the significance of handel's win. joe? >> well, i don't think you can overstate the significance, obviously, for the new congresswoman, for republicans in washington and also for donald trump. this is a district that donald trump only won by one percentage point. and we've been bringing this up all along. if democrats were to fall short after all of those marches, after all of the madness that's been going on in washington, d.c., after all of the money, a record amount of money spent, electing jon ossoff, if they couldn't win there, that that was going to be a huge setback. now, if he'd won, even by 1 percentage point, it would have

been a massive victory. but as we said all along, you know, all the chips were pushed to the middle of the table here. this is a winner-take-all. and it was a huge win for republicans. and a big loss for democrats. and it's something, mika, you know, we've been asking democratic leaders from the very beginning. are you willing to vote in people in your primary process that reflect the districts in which they run? and the answer is, we've finally got to a yes after a lot of kno, but they still have a very long way to go. if you have a young guy like that without a family, he's not been in the community, he doesn't live in the community, he doesn't teach sunday school or go to the synagogue ovevery saturday, if he doesn't coach baseball, if they don't know who he is, then it's a lot easier to stick a picture of nancy pelosi

next to jon ossoff and say, oh, well, if you're voting for this guy, you're voting for nancy pelosi. if you get a guy or a woman that's from the district, that people have seen in worship services for 30 years, that know their families, they're at the pta, you know, get a guy who's a banker at a small community bank that talks, oh, come on, now, jim. you know me. i'm going to represent you. i'm not going to represent that nancy pelosi, you know, i'm not even trying to be funny here, it's just the truth. and i think that's one of the democrats' biggest challenges coming off of last night. the other is, they've got to figure out how to win and going further left is only going to lead to more losses. i read -- i was on twitter last night. they were going crazy. if you're in the south, you've got to speak to the south. republicans forget how to speak to the northeast. they forget how to speak to new

england. and when barack obama won in 2008, they were the party of george w. bush. they were the party of tom delay. and they were the party of newt gingrich. and guess what, not a single republican represented anybody in washington in the entire region of new england. that's what democrats have to look at and say, how do we get past that and how do we start getting people that reflect the region. >> it really shows the challenge. along with joe, willie, and me, we have veteran columnist and msnbc contributor, mike barnacle. senior political analyst for nbc news and msnbc, mark halperin. msnbc political analyst and professor at the university of michigan school of public policy, former democratic congressman, harold ford jr.. >> good morning. >> and associate editor of commentary magazine, noah rothman. and willie, this really shows just how much work the democrats have to do. >> yeah, what's the message, i think, is one of the big questions. it can't just be anti-trump. harold ford, you're a perfect guy to talk to. a guy who was elected to

congress many times in the south as a democrat. what did democrats take away from these races? granted, these are republican districts, we should stimulate that up-front. montana, kansas, last night, also in south carolina -- >> a very close race there, too. >> and they were closer than thes previous races. tom price won by 23 points, karen handel by 26 points. but still, with all the money and energy that democrats threw at this race still not to win, what do they need to learn to take back the house as they claim they can in 2018? >> a couple of things. one, i think joe summed it up well. i would emphasize two things. we need a message. the message of anti-trump is important to convene people, but once you get people there, especially if you want the independent voters to stay and vote for you and not just yell for you, you've got to lay out what you're doing on jobs, growth, taxes, health care, infrastructure, trade. we have to lay out an agenda. as interesting as the these

races are in georgia, one thing it says, maybe the dccc should do more to organize. that person from south carolina was a businessperson, he was from there. he came very close and didn't have $25 million spent on his behalf. two, the reality of the national race for democrats. and i'm curious to hear barnicle and halperin on this, is that michigan, hawaii, wisconsin, and florida, those are the states that democrats have to be competitive again and win nationally to win the presidency. so as these races move to 18 and see the congressional races there, it will be interesting to see the kind of candidates we recruit there and whether or not you arm those candidates with a real economic message. hillary clinton didn't have a jobs message or an economics message. and it seems to still bhiszing now in the midst of things as democrats think about how we go forward and how we gain a majority in the house and in the senate. >> joe, jump in. >> yeah, democrats have to stop being scared. they're running scared.

they think, we're going to get a candidate that's further left and further left and further left. even if you're in the center, you can have a strong economic message. you can go after it very aggressively. and by the way, i don't know many republican leaders. i don't know many republican financiers that don't believe democrats are still better than even -- have a better than even shot taking over the house next year. so, it certainly doesn't take away from that. but mike barnicle, one of the ways that we can see that a tsunami was coming barack obama's way in 2010 was talking to you every day about what was happening in massachusetts and the special election. and about the same time in that period, in 2009. a guy named scott brown. scott brown is a guy that got in his pickup truck and he drove west out of boston. and you said the further west you went, the more signs you saw

in lifelong democrats' yards. they looked at that guy and said, he's one of us. come on, he's a blue collar, working class guy. he's a republican. but man, we need to shake things up in washington, d.c. they found somebody for that special election, at least, that matched massachusetts. and that was the first crack in that wall in massachusetts, where republicans had one guy representing them up there at that point. what do you think the democrats need to figure out on how to win in the south and the midwest and further west? >> well, first of all, the democratic party should figure out that you're better off running for something rather than against something. and they're about to get a gift, it appears, from the republican senate majority in the health care bill. so the democrats have to figure out the issues they want to run on. health care is a huge one. it affects everyone in this country. they seem to be more intent on running against donald trump. trump is out there. people know who trump is. they know how they feel about

donald trump. they know how they feel about the country. they want to know, what are you going to do for me now? that's what the democratic party has to do, figure out what to run for rather than against donald trump all the time. >> and, you know, mark halperin, we've been saying for the past couple of weeks, i've been joking that jon ossoff looked like he could have been a walk-on in warren beatty's movie "reds." i know atlanta a little bit, i know his family, i know people up there. this is not a guy people are going to look at saying, well, yeah, i don't think he's going to fall right in line with nancy pelosi. and i'm not knocking him. this guy would win in boston. this guy would win on the west coast. it's just harder for him to win even in this highly educated district. what are you looking at? what are your takeaways this morning? and how much of it is just, does it come down to, as pat buchanan

said, political athleticism and what athlete fits the position that you're trying to get him to win. >> this is an unmitigated disaster for the democrats. we're about an eighth of the way through donald trump's term. we're an eighth of the way through. and, you know, to paraphrase pl pauline cale, most of the people any dronald trump is a disaster everyone in the country hates him, everything is going to be a referendum on him. i don't think ossoff was that bad a candidate. i think your point about not being a perfect fit for the district, but it is one of the most educated districts in the country. and he wasn't running against the best political athlete of all time, the new congresswoman-elect. the reason why i think this is such a disaster for democrats is they put everything in, as you said. this was a race that they could have won. and they came up short. and you talk about candidate recruitment. could they have recruited a better candidate than ossoff? the problem is, it's easy to say, if you've got a strong party, we're going to recruit

candidates that match the district. but the liberal wing of the party is ascendant. so in a lot of the primaries coming up that will determine who their nominees are, they can't recruit and make sure they are going to get nominees that are the perfect fit. they're going to get a lot of liberal nominees. a lot of nominees that are maybe too liberal to win. the only silver lining the democrats, i think, can look at here, is ossoff wasn't the perfect candidate, but he was a strong candidate in fund-raising. a strong candidate in enthusiasm. he proved to be pretty able on the campaign trail. they have to look at this and say, the main takeaway for me is, if the liberals think that a referendum on trump is going to carry them to the majority, last night proved that's just not the case, even though donald trump has laid down a record now that voters could look at in that very well-educated district and say, what do we want? someone who will vote for the president's agenda or someone who won't. and they voted for someone will. still ahead on "morning joe," how secretive is the republican health care bill? one of the people on the panel in charge of writing it claims he has not even seen it. that is next on "morning joe."

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the president clearly wants a bill that has heart in it. he believes that health care is something that is near and dear to so many families and individuals. he made it clear from the beginning that that was one of his priorities. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell -- yeah. >> so, mika. >> yeah? >> mika, how would you -- who's ever soheard of that song befor? >> i don't know. >> i've got to give q. a tip of the hat there. that's pretty incredible. so, mika, if you're a house republican -- >> yeah. >> and you went over and had that big ribbon cutting ceremony in front of trump tower on pennsylvania avenue. you're sitting there thinking, wow, he really does like us now. and i feel really good about myself, because the president, here he's slapping my back and

saying how great -- >> was that the rose garden celebration -- >> yeah, that was the rose garden -- >> with a multitude of white older men and one shamed woman looking down. >> yeah, but hold on a second. later on he said, well, that was a mean bill. >> oh, those people! yeah. >> so he threw all of them -- they went out the front door and there was a series of buses not to take them back to the house, just to run over. and here you've got the senate, because he said it was a mean bill, the senate's working quietly behind the scenes. he's forcing republicans to do all the things that they criticize democrats for a billion times over in 2009, for not being transparent. and they're doing the same exact thing, not being transparent. and what does the president say? it needs more heart. he doesn't talk that way, but more heart. so, now, even before the senators put it on the bill, he has thrown them under the bus.

why do you do anything for this guy? well, i -- we've been asking that question -- >> why do you risk your political future for this guy, if he's going to just throw you under the bus, which he always will. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says, quote, a discussion draft of the republican health care bill will be available tomorrow morning. >> how long will the american public have to read this bill? how many days? >> oh, they'll have plenty of time. >> about a week? >> we've been discussing all the elements of this endlessly for seven years. everybody pretty well understands it. everybody will have an adequate time to take a look at it. i think this will be as about as transparent as it could be. no transparency would have been added by having hearings in which democrats offered endless single-payer system amendments. >> you wouldn't want them to have time to read it.

some republicans are expressing their frustration -- >> well, hold on, hold on, hold on. he said -- mika, he said they're going to have time to read it. and what i'm really excited about is, i know, because the senators -- i don't know if you've ever heard this before, but they are the saucer that cools the coffee. you know they're not going to rush into this. >> no. >> and make the same mistake that republicans in the house made and vote on a bill without knowing how much it's going to cost. there's no way. >> yeah. >> that any senator would vote for this without a cbo score, i'm sure. i'm just -- >> right. and reading it -- >> let's just hold them to that standard. we'll get the score and then they can vote. let's hold them to that standard. >> i think a lot of them are speed readers. so do you know -- quote, do you know what the health care bill looks like? republican senator lisa murkowski of alaska asked reporters yesterday, quote, because i don't. murkowski was not alone on the republican side, including senator mike lee of utah, who is

one of 13 members on the working group. take a listen. >> i haven't seen the bill. and it has become increasingly apparent in the last few days that even though we thought we were going to be in charge of writing a bill within this working group, it's not being written by us. it's apparently being written by a small handful of staffers for members of the republican leadership in the senate. so, if you're frustrated by the lack of transparency in this process, i share your frustration. i share it wholeheartedly. >> somebody here in the senate with this health care bill, are you satisfied with the process? >> no. no, of course not. >> why not? >> for the obvious reason. that no one is being shared it. we used to complain like hell when the democrats ran the affordable care act. now they're doing the same thing. >> you know, willie, this went on throughout most of the afternoon. at one point, john mccain saying that he suspected the russians knew more about this bill,

because they probably hacked into the republican computers and actually probably know more about this health care bill than he does. so, if you can only lose two republican senators without the bill going down, you do wonder what this exercise is about. >> well, we talked about and we listened to mike lee who's in the working group. you had ted cruz, who's also in the working group, again, working on this bill, theoretically. he came out yesterday in an interview and said, i haven't seen the bill, i don't know what's going on. bob corker came out, also, noah rothman, and he said, we have all of these groups that are supposed to advise on the bill. but at the end of the day, mitch mcconnell and his office are writing this bill. but let's be honest, though, this is a strategy, so far that may work for mitch mcconnell. if he can keep it close, not have obstruction, as they would call it, from democrats standing in the way of what they want to get done and they can just roll it out for a vote and get 50 republicans to vote for it, we can complain all we want about the way it was conducted, but a win is a win for mcconnell if he gets it. >> yeah, i remember the house

process. the original draft was scuttled by some recalcitrant conservatives who wanted to see a conservative version of reform. but when they came out with the second version, through a variety of consensus and some re-writes, it was a similar bill, but what got everybody on the table was the fact that leadership needed a win. and that's what they're going to put to republican senators. get behind this thing or the rest of the agenda is scuttled. and they would be right in suggesting that. at the end of the day, as people will be frustrated with the process as they should be, the alternative is to scuttle the ship. coming up on "morning joe," breaking news this morning as one of the most controversial ceos in the country, tavravis kalanick, resigns from the company he founded. a are live report from wall street, just ahead. tech: when you schedule with safelite autoglass,

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in a moment, we'll be joined by republican senator bill cassidy, who's been a leading voice on health care reform. but is his own party listening? and streve kornacki, who was up late crunching numbers. but first, let's go to bill

karins. >> the heat wave was historic starting yesterday. let's first go with the immediate threat, that's dealing with tropical storm cindy on the gulf coast. starting to accelerate a little quicker now. maybe hit landfall around 2:00 p.m. between houston and lake charles. the heavy rain bands have moved in. thankfully, some dry air, too. the only thing i'm worried about is that air from pensacola. here's the rain shore path. it rains itself out over the top of arkansas, northern tennessee and mississippi over the next couple of days and because it's a weak storm, it's the rain. 16 million people are under flood watch. the areas in red here, already under flood warnings. heavy overnight rains in these areas. that area from pensacola back to panama city, we'll watch closely for very heavy rain. when we talk about the purples and reds, that's 3 to 5 inches of rain, isolated spots. if we get any training, could see up to 7 inches of rainfall. how about the heat out west?

this continues to be a huge story, las vegas was 117 yesterday. that was tied, the warm test es temperature they ever recorded. this heat dome lingers over this region. today will be about 118 in phoenix. i know about 108 in areas like sakd. so two big stories out there you're going to be watching. again, we're not going to see a huge impact on tropical storm cindy, but we are going to see isolated areas with some really bad, squally weather. new orleans is one of those spots where we have the potential for some nasty storms. the surf is up a little bit on lake pompntchartrain. up next, steve kornacki, he joins the political roundtable. stay tuned.

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tonight, i stand before you extraordinarily humbled and honored at the tremendous privilege and high responsibility that you and the people across the sixth district have given to me to represent you in the united states house

of representatives. >> at a time when politics has been dominated by fear and hatred and scapegoating and division, this community stood up, women in this community stood up. you did. you did. and you picked this campaign up and you picked me up and you picked alicia up and you carried us on your shoulders. >> joining us now, national political correspondent for nbc news and msnbc, steve kornacki. break down the big takeaways from georgia last night. >> yeah, one thing is, you look at the turnout for this thing, this was the highest of the four special elections we had this spring. this was the highest turnout. one of the questions it raises here, did all of theshowered on

thing nationally westbound la n activists that poured in, did that wake up republicans more than it motivated democrats. and was there almost a backlash in this district, almost a hardening of policy identity at the end because of all the attention that was showered here. the most shocking statistic to emerge from last night was actually this. the margin in the fifth district of south carolina, which was the other election held last night, that nobody paid attention to, no national money poured into. that margin is closer than the final margin in the sixth district of georgia. and i think that's because there was no attention on that race in the fifth district of south carolina. the turnout was much lower. dr democrats were at their core more motivate there had and it skewed the results in their dren direction. the takeaway republicans might get from this is there a recipe here from georgia 6 where we can replicate this kind of atmosphere in every other congressional district in 2018.

make the democrat candidate someone they want to rally against as much as they want to rally for. >> you've heard the spin this morning from democrats, yes, we lost, but we made up 16 points from november where tom price won by 23 points. >> no, stop! >> i know that's the spin, but what's the steve kornacki answer to that? >> the comparison, first of all, saying the house race last fall, wow, look at much better we did. there was no house race in georgia 6 last fall. the democratic candidate was a name on the ballot. the media couldn't find a picture of the democratic candidate. the total amount of money he raised for his campaign? zero dollars. he had no money in his campaign. last fall in the general election, donald trump carried this district by one point. that's why democrats were so interested in this race. that's why you had tens of millions of dollars pouring in. if you want to use the house race from 2016 as the benchmark, you have to ask the question, why didn't they spend any money in south carolina? because the house race in south carolina last fall was closer than the house race in georgia. they were looking at the

presidential results. they saw donald trump only one by a point. they thought they could get a win and poured tens of millions of dollars into it and poured basically not a cent into south carolina. >> what were the downsides for ossoff in this district, for talking more about donald trump, for trying to make it more specifically a referendum on the president? >> look, i think he was understanding that this is a republican district, historically. he wanted to come across as sort of -- i think the theory here on his side, the anti-trump stuff will take care of itself. the democratic base that's motivated to get out there, that's going on there anyway. he wanted to be sort of a reassuring figure to sort of the more moderate republican transition of the district. i do wonder, i don't think we can quantify this. we don't have exit polling. i do wonder, in the end, if the fact that he didn't live in the district, if that did sort of rub some of those traditional republican voters of the district the wrong way. hey, ultimately, who is this guy? some young hot shot from outside -- i know he the grew up there, but -- >> that along with the national attention and the big money.

i think it feeds into an old narrative instead of a new one for democrats. >> yeah, no, the outsider factor, i think you're right, it's huge down there, the outside money coming in, the outside endorsers coming in. the attention paid to the focus on this race and a lot of, i think, probably republicans say, enough's enough. this is where i live. he doesn't live here. >> it's a human thing. and i've seen this in politics before. where it feels like outsiders are telling you what to do. are telling you how toll live and what choice to make. i think there's a natural human tendency to rebel against that. >> joining us now, republican senator bill cassidy of louisiana. thanks very much for being on the show this morning. >> good morning. >> before we get to health care, what do you think the republican takeaways are from the big win last night in georgia? >> i think steve's points were right on. i also think that the united states continues to be a center right. they don't want the federal government telling them what to do. somebody mentioned outsiders. the federal government is the the ultimate outsider. and the american people are kind of sick of that.

and so, when bernie sanders says, endorses the fellow, that's the epitome of tell you how to live your lives. again, don't want that. >> all right. let's move on to health care. have you seen the bill? >> no, we've discussed it in great detail, but i have seen writing on a piece of paper, i have not. >> okay. can you tell us what it might look like if you were to see it? >> yeah, there's a lot of effort to stabilize the individual market. obviously, before president trump took office, about 11 states were in a so-called death spiral in the individual market. since, others have joined. you can argue why, and at this point, the person paying $40,000 for insurance doesn't care. they just want it fixed. so there's a lot of effort to that. and there is a lot of consideration on what we do with medicaid, as well. >> i guess, it's hard to ask if you're satisfied with it, when you haven't seen it. do you think you'll get a chance to see it and really read the whole thing, to be able to really say whether or not this

is satisfactory? >> if i don't get to read it, i don't vote for it. if i don't get to study it, i don't vote for it. it's just a question -- we have a pretty detailed discussion as to what we wish to do. i'm not defending the process. i don't like the process. but that said, i can sit around and complain about the process or dig in and try to make it better. >> senator, it's willie geist. good to see you this morning. there are a lot of republicans, not just democrats, who are worried about the rollback of medicaid expansion. can you speak to that, what might be inside the bill for people who are currently enjoying the benefits and are worried they won't be covered if this becomes law? >> there's a couple of ways that can go. let me give the better way. one thing that is not fully appreciated is that the current medicaid expansion is not sustainable for states. states will be picking up 10% of that expense in 2020. for california, that will be $2.2 billion a year. my state, $310 million, much smaller state. you can go around the nation. the states that expanded cannot afford their 10%. there's something that has to be done to make it sustainable for

both the state taxpayer and the federal. we've got to take care of the patient. i'm a doc. we've got to take care of the patient. and that's the sweet spot we're searching more. >> what do you say to someone jake ja john kasich in ohio who says, you cannot do this to hundreds of thousands of people in my state? >> kasich has recommended in private, maybe not in public, rolling back that 138 federal poverty level to 100%. but what you have to do if you do that is for the credits to go for folks getting their insurance through the exchange. it has to be more generous. so there's not a big cliff coming off of 100%. if we can do that, and again, we don't know the size of those credits, yet. i don't, at least. then you can actually transition people and make the program sustainable for the state taxpayer and the federal taxpayer. >> are you comfortable as a senator and as a physician that all those people who benefit from medicaid right now, whose health care is taken care of by medicaid, that they'll be okay? there won't be some big gap in the middle as they transition if this becomes law? >> put it this way.

i can't tell you that. i've not seen writing on a piece of paper. but that's what i'm hoping for. let me mention one thing. something in the patient freedom act, something susan collins and four other republican senators put up, allows something called automatic enrollment. somebody who is eligible for a program is enrolled unless they choose not to be pip a. i asked tom price yesterday, could they put through at waiver process the state applied and the federal government approved for automatic enrollment into medicaid? he said, yes, he thinks he has that authority. think about that. the mentally ill patient living beneath the park bench who currently is never enrolled, but if he is enrolled could get the medication to put him back into society could be enrolled through a process such as this, making him automatically eligible for the medications he needs for wholeness. in that case, this would be an improvement over status quo. >> senator, it's steve kornacki. in the run-up to that special election in georgia yesterday, there was a lot of talk that if the democrat won that race, you might have some wavering

republicans looking at this health care bill, whether if it was in the senate or went back to the house, who looked at it and said, maybe we better think twice before moving forward on this. now that the republican has actually won that race by four points last night, what effect do you think that's going to have on your colleagues as they consider the politics of this bill? >> i think a bigger effect than that is the fact that president trump has both been in a lunch with senators and tweets and interviews said that he thinks the senate bill should be more generous. during the campaign, he said he wanted all covered, caring for pre-existing conditions, eliminating mandates, but lowering premiums. if we can achieve president trump's goals, his contract with the voter, we will have achieved a lot. i think the president's trying to support that effort right now. >> senator cassidy, before we let you go, i want to ask you about your friend and colleague, congressman steve scalise, and if you can share anything about how he's doing today? >> i've just heard kind of through the grapevine staff who know each other, he's tweeting, he's talking. his brain is working. you got a sense that he was in

shock, as a medical term, in shock with low blood pressure, when he went to the hospital. his brain is working wonderfully. he's talking to his family. the doctors are just kind of flabbergasted how quickly he's improved. prayers are working. thoughts going out are appreciated. we're all for scalise. >> well, that is great news. please give him our best, too, senator. >> will do. >> senator bill cassidy, thank you so much, and thank you for that update. top u.s. and chinese officials are set to meet today for high-level talks. the trump administration aims to step up pressure on beijing to rein in north korea, particularly, after the death of otto warmbier, who died just days after being released by the north koreans. president trump issued a somewhat ambiguous tweet yesterday, quote, while i greatly appreciate the efforts of president xi and china to help with north korea, it has not worked out. at least i know china tried. and president trump spoke from the white house about the college student's death.

appearing to lay blame at the feet of barack obama's administratio administration. >> otto, it's a disgrace what happened to otto. it's a total disgrace what happened to otto. that should never, ever be allowed to happen. and frankly, if he were brought home sooner, i think the result would have been a lot different. >> former national security council spokesman for president obama, ned price, issued a statement saying, the former administration had no higher priority than securing the release of americans detained overseas. let's go now to cnbc tea's dominic chu and the breaking news this morning that uber is looking for a new ceo. >> that's right, mika. uber's founder and ceo travis kalanick has resigneded. that's the big breaking news this morning. the story was first reported by "the new york times". it says that kalanick was facing a lot of pressure from investors in this privately held company to step down, a company that's, by the way, worth nearly $70

billion. uber has been dealing, of course, a number of missteps lately, including fighting allegations of sexual harassment, gender bias, intellectual property theft, and that's just among others here. kalanick has also been mourning the death of his mother after a tragic boating accident last month. while travis kalanick is stepping down as the ceo of the company, he's going to remain on the board of directors and in a statement, kalanick said that he loves uber more than anything else in the world and really wants to remove himself as a distraction. but, of course, this just the latest development here. in uber news here, as well, guys, the company announced that it's going to try to mend relationships with some of its drivers by rolling out a new temping function. it's going to allow drivers to tack on gratuity to its ride charges. uber has been criticized in the past by not allowing uber drivers to better their conditions. on the retail front, amazon is shaking things up in the retail

market for apparel. amazon's clothing department is going to be rolling out prime wardrobe. customers will be able to order clothes they think they want and only keep what they really want before returning the rest for free. and of course, this whole thing took a huge hit for other retail stocks like nordstrom, macy's, kohl's, jcpenney, all their stocks fell yesterday. and one last thing on the food front. remember that starbucks unicorn frappuccino thing we talked about in the past? burger king now introducing its own colorful drink, the lucky charms milk shake will be hand spun and feature bit of cereal and the marshmallows. get ready, 740 calories, 17 grams of fat. >> that is so gross. >> 129 grams of carbs and they already have a fruit loops shake. >> hand spun? >> what are they doing? is that a good business move? seriously. that's gross! >> they're trying toartisinal.

>> that's disgusting. it's bad enough that you buy it for your kids, like, you really shouldn't, but you do, and now you're going to make it a shake. >> i don't know. guys, i did try the frappuccino from a journalistic standpoint, that unicorn thing. it was very, very sugary. one of those things i'll probably wake up with a headache from the next day. i might stay away from this particular one. >> yeah. cnbc's dominique chuy, thank you. >> you got it. other news from the fallout of a fatal police shooting in minnesota. we want to warn you, the video you're about to see is very difficult to watch, but an important one to see. authorities have released dash cam video showing the shooting death of philando castile during a traffic stop last year. >> hello, sir. >> your brake lights are out. you only have one active brake light and that's going to be your passenger side one. your third brake light up here is going to be out. do you have your license and

insurance? >> sir, i have to tell you, i do have a firearm on me. >> don't reach for it, then. don't pull it out? >> i'm not pulling it out. >> don't pull it out! >> you just killed my boyfriend! [ bleep ]! he wasn't reaching -- >> don't pull it out! >> he wasn't! >> don't move! >> the aftermath of that shooting was live streamed, you'll remember, on facebook, by castile's girlfriend, sitting in the passenger seat. her name was diamond reynolds. in that police footage, castile is heard telling officer jeronimo yanez that he is a firearm in the car. the officer tells castile three times in seven seconds that he should not reach for the weapon before the officer opens fire. the release of that dash cam video comes just days after officer yanez was found not guilty of manslaughter in castile's death. there also was a young child in

the backseat of that car. coming up next, one of the independent journalists who stood up to vladimir putin and the russian government joins us next. keep it on "morning joe." america's beverage companies have come together to bring you more ways to help reduce calories from sugar. with more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all, smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels, and signs reminding everyone to think balance before choosing their beverages. we know you care about reducing the sugar in your family's diet, and we're working to support your efforts. more beverage choices. smaller portions. less sugar. balanceus.org.

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i was wondering about that. easy boy. nice doggy. what do you think? not bad. what do you think? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ just very plainly, a yes or no answer, does president trump believes that the russian government interfered in the 2016 elections? >> i think i have not sat down and talked to him about that specific thing. obviously we've been dealing with a lot of other issues

today. i'd be glad to touch base -- >> generally speaking, this conversation about russian interference in our elections, there's 16 intelligence agencies that say that they did. the former fbi director said that without a doubt the russians interfered. >> i understand, i've seen the reports. >> does the president share those views? >> i have not sat down and asked him about a specific reaction to them so i'd be glad to touch base and get back to you. >> didn't he say it was fake news, sean? didn't the president say that it was fake news? >> white house press secretary sean spicer says he cannot answer whether the president accepts unanimous intelligence assessments that russia meddled in the 2016 election. joining us now, former editor in chief of the only independent russian national television network, mikhail zeger, he is the author of "all the kremlin's men." he is the recipient of the committee to protect journalists

international press freedom award. welcome to the show. so who are all the kremlin's men and what did you find out? i know you had unprecedented access for this book. >> it took me a long time to ta tape all those off-the-record interviews. i was writing this book for almost seven years trying to interview all the members of putin's inner circle. the protagonist of that book is not vladimir putin himself, that's not his biography. that's all the kremlin's men. and i mean not only the members of his inner circle, but thousands of russian bureaucrats. that's what this book is about. the way, how decisions are taken in russia. that's not really the power that vladimir putin was trying to build during many years, it's based on the ability of thousands of russian bureaucrats

to anticipate what their boss wants them to do. they are always guessing what they're required to do, and they're trying to do that even before any order is taken. >> so -- that sounds familiar. just curious, are there certain figureheads that have more influence over putin? does anybody? >> sure. we've got some kind of bureau that's called the national security council that gathers every saturday. i call them saturday people. and these people are just the main characters of all the chapters of that book. at the same time we've got so-called sunday people. these are the closest friends of vladimir putin. they tend to be the most important businessmen of the country. they cannot influence the

political decisions because that's how vladimir putin sees the checks and balances system, the separation of powers. business aside and political aside. >> so is vladimir putin the most powerful person in russia or not? >> if we choose one, probably he is the one. but his power is usually, i think, exaggerated because he's dependent on that bureaucratic system. he wants to be popular with it. he's not the leader who's supposed to take unpopular decisions. like we usually name charles de gaulle as a strong leader because he made unpopular decision to withdraw french troops or sign a peace treaty with israel. putin is not a man to take unpopular decisions. he wants to be popular within that army of russian bureaucrats. he knows that he's dependent on them, so that's not that black

and white. >> and while we're on the topic, with tensions escalating, u.s. officials say a russian fighter jet intercepted an american spy plane over the baltic sea in international airspace. the russian jet reportedly flew within five feet of the u.s. plane. officials are characterizing the action as both unsafe and unprofessional. the incident happened the same day president trump met with the ukrainian president. white house officials called it a drop-in visit into the oval office. but ahead of the meeting poroshenko said it was important that he meet with president trump rather than vladimir putin. putin and trump are expected to meet at the g20 summit in germany next month. >> there are so many cross currents right now in the united states/russian relationship. there's ukraine, there's syria, flash points all over the world. >> and he is happy with the amount of attention he's getting from american media.

that's probably the best moment of his life. he has reached the status of the most powerful man in the world, as fareed zakaria's documentary called him. so he's very satisfied with that. >> so putin himself has denied any meddling by the russian government in the american presidential election of last november. but as you speak to all these thousands of people that you've interviewed over the years and more recently about the election, do they conceive, do they wink, do they nod to you that, yes, of course the russian government was behind interference in the american election? >> probably that's not -- when you say russian government, probably that's not exactly correct. probably that was some private company in a way -- >> directed by the russian government? >> no. dependent on the russian government, affiliated with russian intelligence services, probably. as in many countries, probably in this country as well, some delicate missions are supposed

to be made not by government agencies themselves, but by the private companies affiliated with the government in a way. so probably that was much more private. i can suppose that that was private and in attempt to give a present for vladimir putin. they guessed that he would love to have that, to hear that, so that could be an attempt to draw his attention. >> all right. the book is "all the kremlin's men," thank you very much for being on the show this morning. and final thoughts given the political news of the morning. i'll start with mike barnicle. georgia, mike barnicle, go. >> it's georgia, jake. chinatown. it's georgia. what did you expect? >> willie geist? >> republican district that donald trump won by only one point. i think steve kornacki made the

important point that in november, tom price ran unopposed so not as shocking as we thought. >> i think democrats made the same mistake with this national exposure without a message and actual candidate. halprin. >> they need soul searching and a new formula. >> that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> good morning. i'm stephanie ruhle with a lot to cover, starting with a democratic defeat. president trump celebrating after republicans hold on to the georgia house seat. >> a special thanks to the president of the united states of america. >> what it means for the trump agenda. double secret legislation goes down, even republicans now complaining as the health care bill speeds forward, but almost no one knows what's actually inside the bill. >> it hasn't been shared. >> i haven't seen the bill. i share your frustration. >> plus robert mueller on capitol hill coordinating his investigation with ng